The Power of a Seam

la de dah... sewing along... nesting seams just the way they should be...

then the moment of truth...

will the seams match up?....

THEY DO!!!  "Oh, I'm getting so good.  I really know what I'm doing.  I'm such a pro."  smug smile

Time for another one.... la de dah... sewing along... nesting seams just the way they should be...

again, the moment of truth...

OH FUDGE!!!  "After all this time sewing and I STILL can't match up seams. I can't sew.  grrrrrrr.  #(%&!@#%*"  big frown.

time for another one....

On My Way Back to One Flower Wednesdays

Hand sewing hexagons flowers is relaxing and enjoyable.  A cup of coffee, some tv to listen to and before you know it, a flower has bloomed.  BUT, tracing all those hexagons and then cutting them with scissors is anything but relaxing and enjoyable!  I tried with a rotary cutter but that was a disaster.  I haven't been in the mood for the tedium, nor have I had time for it, so my Wednesdays have been without flowers for weeks.  

Enter the GO! cutter that Karen so generously lent to me.  I ordered a hexagon die and I'm back in business!

 Perfect hexagons so very quickly and easily!

Look at them all! 

I'll have flowers to show next Wednesday for sure!

Thanks again Karen!

A Quick Finish for A Quick Test

The new foot for my quilting machine is different from the broken one it replaced.  I didn't want to put someone else's quilt on the frame before testing it so I made a quick table runner just to have something to quilt.

 Yep, it worked just fine!

The binding still needs to be done but that can wait...  there's quilting to do!

Happy 1st Birthday Dexter!

As you can tell, Dexter is one fun loving guy! Getting to be more fun every day!  Right, momma?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEXTER!

Happy Birthday Cooper!!!

Happy Birthday to my friend and grandson!

Love you!!!

Hocus Pocus. Must Focus.

So many projects.  So much mess.  I get that having several projects going at once is the norm.  But I make such a mess with just one project.  With multiple projects I gradually lose my cutting table.  It's six feet long and I wind up cutting on two feet of it. Which would be fine if it didn't bother me.... but it does!  If my table is neater my brain functions better.  Must find a way to keep it all neater.

All my blocks are sewn for the first sewing step in Stitch-a-Long with Linda of Thistledown.  No pressure here.  I'm all caught up on this one.

I have a fat quarter collection of Sweet & Sour from Connecting Threads (thanks Jim & Tina!) that I'm turning into these blocks.  It should make a generous sized lap quilt.

My scraps are starting to overflow the giant tote box so I'm starting to iron and cut and organize them using Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System.  It's a slow start, but satisfying.

I have a gazillion of these from another project I started and decided not to finish.  I'd like to start with these and design something for our bed.  Maybe a row quilt.

So I'm turning them into these...

And this is what I'm having the most fun with.  I told Sarah I'd help with her party for the boys' birthdays and she gave me a fun project - bunting!  Bright, fun, festive fabric, isn't it?!

All these and more.  They are taking over the sewing room and overflowing into the guest bedroom and the basement kitchen.   I need to focus. I need a finish. I love working on lots of things. Get tired of one, there's another to have fun with. Get stuck, just move to another project for a while. Works in progress are fine, but somethings I really need a finish.  I had a couple scraps left from the bunting and I'm thinking a little lined zipper pouch will be just the thing to give me a finish.

If I'm ever missing it'll be because I got buried under fabric/project piles and couldn't focus enough to find my way out.

Tea-Lightful

This is a paper piecing pattern by Thistledown & Co.  It can be made with scraps but the fabric kit had such pretty fabrics that I purchased that too.

I quilted what I thought looked like steam rising in the center area.  The second border is quilted with two lines that intersect at the corners.

The binding (first time I ever did a binding in white) is machine stitched with a wavy line in pink thread.

I love this one... so pretty and delicate looking.

Dare I Challenge a GO! Cutter Quilter?

Quilt designer Linda Zokan is hosting a Quilt-a-Long with Linda.  From the fabrics she chose it looked to me like it would be a happy looking quilt so I am quilting along. All my fabric is cut and I'm ready to sew.  It went pretty quickly too.  I'm sure that GO! cutters are faster when cutting applique shapes but strips and squares??? I started to wonder if I could beat someone with a GO! cutter.   Anyone want to go with a real-time challenge?  Do you dare to enter the ring with me?  I'll cut so fast you won't know what hit you.  (Just working on my trash talk scrap talk.)

After three tries I finally found a dark I liked. The brown matches the brown outlines in the focus fabric.  And it was sitting right there next to the focus fabric in the quilt shop but I kept thinking I needed blue.  Once I shook that thought I saw the brown.  Now I have a couple more half yards of blue to add to my stash.

Even my binding is cut and ready to go.

My Heart Melted

Sarah is visiting.  I took the boys to town so she could have a break..but really so I could have fun with Cooper & Dexter. 

As we walked through town (after some time at the park of course) an acquaintance - we'll call her Sue :)  - stopped to talk to Cooper.  He was busy having a conversation with a stone Frog and Toad outside the flower shop so when asked his name he gave it rather distractedly.  He finished his conversation with Frog and Toad and said goodbye to them.  He then turned to Sue and said "and my friend's name is Grandma"   AWWWW.... I'm thought of as a friend... what a great way to be introduced by my grandson.

Stitch-a-long With Linda

I'm following the "Stitch-a-long With Linda" on the Thistledown blog.  It sounds like it will be a relaxed, no pressure project.  If you head on over to her blog you'll find a great list of reasons to go fabric shopping, along with the fabric requirements.

I had to go fabric shopping today.  Really.  My stash just didn't have what I needed.  I wanted bright and happy.  I think I found it.

I chose my focus fabric from the Birdie line by Me and My Sisters.  The yellow and blue are my light and dark.  Then it calls for four more fabrics. The colored dots on the blue background in the upper right will be in the quilt and will also be binding.  Tomorrow we cut!

About Karen

There once was a girl
golden hair , a bit of curl.
A smile so bright and sunny.
She finds lots of things funny.


An apple dress she dared to wear.
Now teasing unending she will bear.
She wore it to look her very best.
It made her stand out from all the rest.


She grew some more.
Different clothes she wore.
She had her own two boys,
and now they are too big for toys.


Her talents, they are so many.
She could make art from a penny.
From fabric and thread, art so fine
You'll be saying "I wish it were mine!"


But wait. There's more to tell you.
There's more she did and can do.


Long ago and so far away
she was heard to say,
"I have a new goal to achieve.
I can do it. I believe!"


She gathered every cent she had
Became soldier lady for dear old Dad.
She studied hard & missed some naps.
All rewarded one day with gowns and caps.


And now she is blessed
with a job that's the best.
She's there when life meets day.
More precious than words can say.


I'm nearly done here
talking about a niece so dear.
Just a bit more.
I hope I don't bore.


She likes coffee and wine.
With hubby she likes to dine.
She likes Sunbonnet Sue.
She likes yellow and blue.
She loves our Lord.
She's seldom bored.
She loves family and friends.
Happy thoughts she freely lends.


My poem is nearly done.
It sure has been fun.
That's all I have to say
Except....


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!