My Sewing Spot

I have been trying to reorganize - declutter - rearrange my sewing space for a while. I am set up in our living room. I had a 6 foot table in there under the bay window. It took up a lot of space and blocked access to curtains in that window. The window faces south and we need to close the curtains frequently to reduce glare on the TV which is in the south east corner of that room. My son has his spot set up by that window and TV so he can see the TV (legally blind) I wanted to put to use another chair in that room so when we do have the occasional visitor there is an extra chair. But that table was also great to use for cutting. I will miss it for that. We did get a little table slightly bigger than a TV tray table that works OK and my son uses it when he is home for his laptop. I wanted a cutting area and ironing area near the sewing machine and think I finally have come up with a good solution.

This shot is looking from my recliner which is near the bay window. I have the cubby (it's sold for shoes, but works great for fabric!) of scraps under the table (this one is 4 foot). There are fabric pieces cut to size in the rainbow tower drawers starting with 2 inch squares and strips at the top and getting bigger by 1/2 inch all the way down.

This shot is from my husband's recliner.

The wire egg basket works great for holding fabric scraps that I am using for the 4 inch paper pieced Christmas blocks. The big box holds my Civil War Sampler fabrics. The stack of white/off-white fabrics are being used in a scrappy quilt I am using as a Leader/Ender project.

I am using one 15 inch cube for a cutting spot...

 and one for an ironing spot.

An inexpensive letter sorter works well for holding rulers. It is also handy for holding printed quilt patterns and instructions when they are not in use.

This is working well, but I am sure I will tweak it some more. I am thinking of making a hanging ruler holder as this one seems to be a little bit in the way.

I like this idea if I can figure out a place to hang it.

Design Wall Monday

To see what other people are working on go to Judy's page.

Here is my wall...

Nothing more has been done with the Frivols blocks.

I pieced the next five blocks for the Civil War Sampler. I need to do one more to be caught up.

I pieced some more Christmas blocks. There are from Block of the Day.

It is a windy, icy day here. Since I won't be leaving the house guess I will doing some more quilting!

Pinterest

I love Pinterest. I could spend hours and hours looking and pinning.

Last year I created a board - 2015 Pins to Try - and started pinning things I wanted to make during the year. There are only 31 pins. Not that many. Well, guess how many of those pins I actually made.
1 - one - O . N . E.

This one -

I recently made this and am using it.

I wanted to make this one - 

I like that it collapses to take up less room. I thought it would be great for taking to retreat.
But I didn't have the required 4" embroidery hoop and was a little intimidated by this statement -

Fair warning: making these thread catchers is pretty time intensive. Because they're formed around the inside ring of a 4" wooden embroidery hoop (just throw away the outside part, unless you can think of a reason to keep it!), this is an entirely hand-sewn project. Actually, it takes six trips around the 4" hoop before you can call it finished. A lot of hand sewing.

I don't have a lot of extra time so I skipped this one. 

I have this kit -

I got it out of the package and looked at all the fabric, put it away again and haven't had time to look at it again.

I have this one, too -

 
 only mine isn't quilted.

I think these are adorable and would make lovely gifts -

 
again, haven't found the time.
I think I need to quit retire from my job so I have time to do the things on my Pinterest board! That's a good reason to retire, right?!

You know the saying - "I have so much to do now, I can never die."? - Yeah, that's me!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I did not make this quilt, but I do think it is lovely.

Today has been a very lazy day for my family. 

My husband was up at his usual time - 5:30ish to do chores here and 

at my father-in-laws where he has a few cows. Then back home for breakfast. 

We sat around and watched old westerns for a while, then he went back to bed. 

My son slept until just before noon and my husband got up again. 

Then we opened presents. 

We have eaten cookies and candy and had  hamburgers for lunch. 

My husband did chores again.

My son blew up some Tannerite. 

 

 There is beef stew in the slow cooker for supper.  

 I paper pieced some blocks to be used in the future.

 I have pondered my fabric choices for the next Quilter's Exchange that will start in January.

I have decided I need to add 1 or 2 blues, greens and purples since what I have is not enough yardage.

I am worried that the very darkest purple batik on the left is too dark, and that the purple and green batik on top is too light, but they both have the colors in the snowflake batik on top. 

Fortunately, I am going on a fabric shop road trip next week with my Quilter's Exchange friends! 

And, I have pieced the next 3 blocks for the Civil War Sampler we are working on. We are each making our own blocks with our own fabrics. I have 3 more to make before our meeting in January. 

We put everyone's blocks on the design wall so we can see what they all look like together. It is amazing to me that the same block can look so different all because of the fabric choices.

Guess it hasn't been such a lazy day!

And, now my son is asking 'when is supper' so ...

Merry Christmas!

Design Wall Monday

No progress on the quilt on my frame...

I have been knitting though.

A scarf to go with the mittens for my co-workers friend.

A ruffle scarf for a co-worker.

 These mittens, and more, have all been gifted.

And, then there has been candy-making.
My husband likes fudge. Not the soft kind, the kind of hard sugary kind that my grandmother used to make. My parents like divinity and I am the only one in the family who has a sturdy stand mixer to make it with. So Sunday I made some fudge and divinity. The divinity making didn't go so well. I could not get it to stiffen so I had to beat it for a loooong time and then I heard a noise...

I did get the divinity to stiffen and it is now setting up.
A new wire whip has been ordered and should arrive soon. I won't need it again before Christmas so that is ok. I have had my mixer for about 30 years so I think I am pretty lucky I haven't had any other troubles with it or any of its parts.

Go to Judy's page to see what other quilters are working on.

Design Wall Monday

Yay! Actually getting some quilting done!

Also, I have been getting some more knitting done. Another co-worker asked me to knit mittens and a scarf for her friend. She asked for black, green and blue. I like this variegated yarn and added black cuffs. I finished the mittens this weekend and have just started to knit scarf.

And, this is the minimal decorating I do for Christmas.

 A small fiber-optic tree that my husband loves.

And, a Santa hat on my yard rooster.

Go to Judy's page to see what other quilters are doing.

Design Wall Monday

I haven't done much quilting this week.

It seems every flat surface in this house has to have something on it. That includes my quilting frame and ironing board, which my husband refers to as the mail center. I had folded it up recently when we had company and I have to fold it up to use the quilting frame. He asked me to put it out again because he has no where else to put the mail. He likes to spread it out so you can see each individual piece of mail, not stack it. He can't put it on the dining room table. I refer to that table as the farm office because it is covered with his paperwork.

Anyway, the ironing board needs to be cleared off and folded up so I can clean off the quilting frame so I can put a quilt on it. I need to get that T-shirt quilt quilted. And, there are more quilts waiting.

This photo doesn't have the mail on it because I was in the middle of reorganizing my sewing area, but replace that pile of projects with mail and you have a pretty good picture of what it looks like most of the time. I know that some of the stuff that ends up piled there is my stuff, but a lot of it isn't.

I haven't done much sewing either. This quilt is still at the same stage it was last week.

I have been knitting though.
I finished the blanket that is number 2 of this set. I was asked by a co-worker to finish the second blanket that her grandmother had started 10 years ago when she was about to give birth to her twin sons. Her grandmother had finished one blanket, but passed away before she was able to finish the second one.

I put them both in the washer for a little soak. They both came to me with some mystery spots on them which did come out. I then briefly dried them on very low heat. I was worried about the fringe. I was worried it would come loose and fall off. That didn't happen, but the ends did come unraveled on about half the pieces. I replaced them. and wrote a note to the recipient that she should hand wash these blankets.

Hopefully, this week I can get flat surfaces cleaned off and a quilt on the frame.

I really wish I could have a month of time for myself - no work, no cooking, no cleaning, just sewing, knitting, quilting what I want to work on. That will never happen so I just work on my stuff when I have a free moment between other peoples projects.

To see some projects by other people, visit Judy's blog.

Design Wall Monday - Take 2

I started this post this morning, ran out of time before I had to head out the door to work, saved it and closed Blogger.

Well, now I can't find it.

Oh, well.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family met at a restaurant for the first time this year. For quite a few years we had met at my mother's workplace because they have a big dining room, big kitchen with warming ovens and a commercial dishwasher. It was a lot of work, starting early in the day for my mom. It was a long drive for several of the families. Our numbers have been dwindling over the last few years. So, we talked about it and decided to meet at a restaurant more centrally located. No early morning food prep, not several hours long drives, no clean up. It was nice, the food was good, and I hope we do it again next year!

Over the weekend I did get a few things accomplished.

My son and I made these while he was home from school.

 I had shared the recipe on Facebook, tagging me. I asked if he was making them over break and he replied to get the ingredients. He is taking a food prep class at school so I thought it would be good practice for HIM to make them. I assisted :)
He was disappointed thinking they don't taste like Mountain D*w, especially since we used the Aldi version of that beverage instead of the 'real' thing. They were good, but they get their flavor more from the lemon and lime juice than from the beverage.

I finished the top of the T-shirt quilt I have been working on. This is the last pic I got of it before it was all sewn together. I don't have a picture of that because it is too big to a good shot of it all. I was able to find a wide backing in just the right colors so I don't have to piece that. I hope to get it on the quilt frame this week.

I also worked on this project.

I bought the first Frivols by Moda this summer. I  bought on impulse because I liked the fabrics. I thought it make an cute little quilt that might be suitable for a baby quilt. I don't think I will get any more, even though there will be 12, I believe, all with collectible tins. I have decided that I really don't like working with pre-cuts.

I also was given a large box of T-shirts.

The recipient's mother had contacted me in August about making her son a quilt with his college shirts. We discussed having finished for Christmas. I told her I needed the shirts ASAP and she said she would gather them and get back to me. She did not and I forgot about it. The week before Thanksgiving I ran into her and she asked if I could still do the quilt by Christmas. It went from lap to king size and I told her that I would try but probably would not be able to do that. She is ok with that and brought me the shirts 3 days later.

So, I guess I have my work cut out for me for the rest of the month!

To see what other quilters are working on visit Judy's blog.

Design Wall Monday

Here is what I have been working on lately...

My blocks from the quilter's exchange.

 Mu block is Solomon's Star.

These are all my blocks. I haven't decided how I am going to put them together yet. I had them up for a while but now they are put away so I can finish up some other projects.



Like this one... a t-shirt quilt for a retired teacher.
She taught my son when he was in high school. I am still working on putting it together. There are a few 'holes' that I am unable to fill with shirt. I pieced the feather in school colors to fill in one of the holes. Now to figure out what to do with the other ones.

 A new teacher where I work came up to me one day and said, "I hear you knit". I replied that I did. Then she told me about her twin boys who were about to turn 10 and how her grandmother had started baby blankets before they were born but only was able to finish one before she passed away. Would I please finish the second one. It was about 1/4 of the way finished. Of course, I said yes. So this is how I am spending my evenings after hubby has gone to bed. I am about half finished and then will need to add fringe to both. Well, I think I will add fringe. The directions call for fringe. I will see how much yarn is left when the blanket is finished. It looks like there will be enough for fringe.

We got snow over the weekend. I really do not like winter. Most of the kindergarten students will not be dressed for this kind of weather and really do not like inside recess. We keep reminding the parents to send their children to school in warm coats, hats, gloves/mittens and boots when the weather is cold. Some do, a lot do not. We do have extra hats, gloves and a few coats to pass out when necessary and we do have a resource to provide those items if the family needs help. Still they come in sweatshirts, no hats, no gloves and parents complain about their child having to play outside in the cold. I am a firm believer that we all need a little fresh air daily, especially in the germy winter months.