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Pincushions

April 19, 2014 / Patty

Pincushions are a new interest of mine. They are small, can be interesting, fun to make and usually not too involved so they can be finished quickly. I decided to do a Cathedral Window pincushion and see how that works. My mother in law made sever cathedral window quilts for us and I have always loved them but really didn’t have the patience or interest to do an entire quilt. I do remember tracing and cutting out white squares and patterned squares for her however. She used scraps from many of the clothes I made for my girls when they were little.

For this pincushion, I used some scraps and did a quick job and think I’ll make some more. It’s not my finest sewing job but I had fun.

Oh So Long…

April 11, 2014 / Patty

Oh so long since I’ve been here. I keep thinking about posting and when I get to the computer there are always so many things to do that it slips by again. I’m really getting anxious to start sewing again. Daughter 2 is back on her own and feeling better after chemo and I’m trying to get organized and get my life in order again. Not sure if that will ever happen but I am optimistic!

The month of December was chaotic in many ways. I took a road trip with one of my brothers and got back about the 10th of December. This really limited my getting ready for Christmas events. Never did seem to get organized. One of the things I did spend several months doing however was making folded star Christmas ornaments. I cut all the pieces and kept the supplies next to my rocking chair and every night I made ornaments. I really enjoyed the process and the combinations. As with any project there are some that I liked better than others and some fabrics were better suited to this project and it took me some time to figure it all out. I could continue making these but not sure what else to do with them once they are all complete. I think most folks I know now have one. I guess I could finally open the Etsy story I have registered and sell them. Something to think about and that will remain to be seen. For now however, here is a picture of all that loveliness.

Thread nest

December 13, 2013 / Patty

I have a thread nest in a bowl. These are the remains from stitching the week I was in Palm Springs. Really, I had a good week. A little visiting, some sight-seeing and lots of down time. It really was a good change for me. This has been a hectic and chaotic year. The stitching was for more towels. There are still some folks in my world that don’t have these towels yet and I’m still enjoying working on them.. Not sure when I will stop but until then it’s a great evening activity while I’m watching TV. More to come. It’s that time of year.

On the road again

November 29, 2013 / Patty

Thanksgiving is over and I’m on the road again. Brother and I are off on a road trip to Palm Springs. I’m leaving hubby and daughter number 2 at home to fend for themselves for the week. I really think they are anxious for me to leave and they can eat all the food that I don’t like or fix. I see a menu of Thai, hot sauce and more being consumed for the week. Fine with me. My husband calls my kind of food “North Dakota white” Now I really think lefse and potatoes are just fine! All told, it will be good for all of us to have a break. They have said they would put up the tree while I’m gone and do what other decorating they see fit. It will be surprise.

I’ve been busy making ornaments and have a whole lot of sewing to do when I get home. It would be nice to have the month off and do what I wanted but alas that’s not to be this year.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and I’ll write more from the road.

A Halloween Mat

October 8, 2013 / Patty

A Halloween mat is now on my desk at work. I have this wonderful wooden desk and I hate to put water glasses and coffee cups on the desk. I also don’t like to put food directly on the desk top because let’s face it, it’s really not very clean! This is a desk that has been used by many people over the years and is cleaned by a cleaning team at night and I really don’t know what has been on it . My solution has been a little mat, coaster etc. that will serve several purposes. Protecting the lovely wood and also protecting my lunch. I’ve wanted a new little mat for some time. I’ve used the last one every day for about a year and a half and although I still like it, it was time for a change. I made this little Halloween one in a hurry. I had an idea in mind when I started that didn’t turn out at all like I planned so this was the second choice. It’s fine with me. I like the way it turned out. Kind of sloppy binding job but I’m really the only one that sees it so that’s fine with me. This is about it for my Halloween decorations this year. How about you. Any decorating at your house?

A Big Day at our house!

September 3, 2013 / Patty

Tomorrow will be a big day at our house! It’s daughter’s birthday and also the last two drug chemo day. Although she will still have two more treatments after tomorrow, the end is in sight and those two are not as nasty as the one tomorrow. So we will celebrate! Tomorrow she will still feel ok. Starting Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday will not be very pleasant but she knows that. So tomorrow we will celebrate. The birthday seems to be a significant day to have the last double treatment.

This of course requires a celebration. We will have some family and a couple of friends to have dinner and celebrate. This also requires a few gifts. My kids are very “green” oriented and dislike paper waste including cards. I really can’t just give up the cards because I like them but I can do something about the wrapping so I decided it was time to create re-usable gift bags.

I have to admit that until I found a remnant of birthday fabric at the store the thought had not crossed my mind. So I created three different kinds of bags. The first bag that I did is somewhat narrow and tall. I lined it with orange fabric, put some handles on it and a snap at the top so it could be closed and the contents will stay secret. I think every good birthday gift should be a surprise and hate it when the packaging fails! The second bag is just a drawstring beg. Sort of a medium size that will accommodate many sizes and shapes of gifts. The third bag was an experiment. I wanted a bag that was easy to close but also a little bit fun and different. This is the bag from the cupcake fabric. Although it’s hard to tell from this photo I hemmed the top of the bag, and then sewed colored elastic into the side seam so you can just stretch the band around the top of the bag and it’s securely closed and adds a cute little top to the bag. All in all the gifts are ready for tomorrow, we’ll get the chemo done, dinner will be started in the crock pot before we leave in the morning (pulled pork) and we’ll all be glad when tomorrow is over and the day has been celebrated to the best of our ability!

One For Me

August 26, 2013 / Patty

One for me. I actually decided that I was going to sew something for myself today. The nice thing was that I decided I wanted to do it and actually finished! Now I have to admit it’s not a very complicated sewing job or even very time-consuming but it is something I’ve wanted for several months. A little bag to carry my iPad and maybe a snack in when we go to chemo. We have been going to chemo every week since the beginning of May and only have one month left so I decided I better not puzzle over this any longer but just get ‘er done. I had a piece of fabric that I’ve bought tn both the blue and orange colorways but decided to use the blue. For the lining I used a chrysanthemum print that is not a favorite but looked good with the fabric and actually looks nice in the bag interior. I made simple fabric handles, used iron on batting to give it a little shape, used an elastic band and a spare button and now it’s done. I made a shallow boxed bottom to create a little depth and I think it will be perfect. Just a little bag but a satisfying finish. Yes, one for me.

New ironing table

August 11, 2013 / Patty

I have a new ironing table. Make that I’ve created a new ironing table. It works very well and I’m pleased. My sewing space is very small and compact and my big ironing board will not also fit in the space where I sew. I usually have it set up in my office in the room down the hall. For many things that’s just fine but when I’m in a hurry I just don’t like to get up and walk down the hall. I have used a small ironing board that sits between my sewing machine and my serger. This is ok for small pieces but hard even for longer or larger pieces.

As I’ve read blogs I’ve seen many folks using old wooden tv tables and transforming them into portable ironing tables. They have just purchased these at the local Goodwill store. We have a new Goodwill in my neighborhood and that was my plan. Soon however the lightbulb went off! I had several small plastic folding tables that I had used in my office to hold scanning equipment. These are adjustable height and have been very useful. My office needs have changed however and I had a table I wasn’t using so I decided that I could transform this table to an ironing table.

I started with the table and covered it with quilted ironing board fabric I taped it down on the sides with duct tape.

The next layer was a piece of colorful fabric. I’m very pleased. It works well and is the perfect size.

Zig Zag quilt.

July 14, 2013 / Patty

A new zig zag quilt has been finished! This has been on my design wall for a while as I contemplated what I was going to do. The new parents are Florida Gator fans and wanted this to be a nod to their Gator loyalty. When I looked at the Florida Gator colors however I just couldn’t see making a baby quilt with just blue and orange which are the main colors. Now I actually am fond of both blue and orange with a touch of green but for a baby this seems a bit intense especially when the gender has not been disclosed. Mom and Dad have chosen not to find out ahead of time.

I knew I wanted to use half square triangles but was undecided about the zig zags or make them using arrows. I also wasn’t sure about the colors. This is version number 1.

I ended up using a royal blue, a green an orange and a fabric that was mixed but included those three colors. I had all of these in my stash. I did end up buying a different orange because I wanted one that was brighter with all the white. Once I got the zig zags done I had the dilemma of the border. I cut the half square triangles with my Go cutter and the finished pattern made a 12″ square so I knew that I wanted the border to be about 4″ total but I really didn’t want to use another fabric or re-use one of the fabrics. I stared to play with some quilting software that I had received for Christmas.. EQ7 or Electric Quilt and ended up with alternating squares and rectangle of the white and colored fabrics. One day when I was walking through JoAnn’s in search of something else, I found this stripped fabric that had all the same colors in it as well and knew this would be the perfect fabric binding. The back I also ended up purchasing and that was a piece of yellow flannel with green alligators Finally the baby quilt was ready. Mom and Dad were pleased, I was satisfied and the baby is due in a couple of weeks. Nice to have this one finished and nice to be pleased with the result.

Red, white and blue.

July 4, 2013 / Patty

Red white and blue is the theme for today. Yes, even here in Edmonds it’s a holiday. Our little town has a children’s parade, a regular parade, a holiday run, activities in the park and even fireworks. It’s been fun to drive around town the day before these activities and see the people preparing for this big day. This photo was taken yesterday morning.By 10 pm last night the chairs were elbow to elbow. Too bad it was too dark to take a picture because it certainly made me chuckle.

It has been a quiet day here at our house. I finished the binding on the red, white and blue table runner. It was cut from a remnant that I found at JoAnn’s last summer. It was nice to have it in my stash so when the motivation struck, I was able to pull the fabric, use the AccuQuilt Go cutter and get to work.

We did have some folks stop in the afternoon. Soon we’ll have some barbecued hamburgers and beans. A traditional kind of 4th meal. The sun is out and I may go and finish the baby quilt that is sitting waiting for some batting and quilting. That needs to be finished by next Friday so I’ll have to get in gear. Second choice is to sit in the sun and read. Hope you are having a wonderful day too.

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