About time I say

  I have been hiding away in the sewing room for the last week.  It's my therapy, and place to de-stress, and regain my focus.  Nothing like making a mess, and threads flying to put things into perspective, is there?

  February's NewFO  is now a February Finish!    I started the travel duffle bag and then got sidetracked for a couple of weeks.  This week I got back to it and decided to finish it up.
Zipper in, pull tabs attached, and the end pockets added.....lot of bulk, but I managed to get it done.




   This bag is big....I have it stuffed with 3 large lap quilts, and a travel pillow in this photo.   The bag finishes up at 21" by 12" by 12"---that's a good size bag.
   I love the  bag color, and all the feathers floating on this.  Now, I just need some travel stickers of my own.  Of course, I could just use it for fabric purchases when traveling.....!!

From Mrs. Claus-- my alter ego:
    Two small doll quilts from the fabrics that Doreen picked up for me completed.  One is a pre-printed panel and the other has appliques from a partial border piece of the same panel.  I have 2 more to put together for March.

Easy street mystery progress.....it is quilted and ready for binding.  I met --and passed---my goal for February, which was to get the borders on it.  I also got the label made.  Because of the yellow (overwhelming) fabrics,  I am calling this one....Walking in Sunshine.   Nope, no photo yet until it is bound.  That is on March's list.

   So, I needed  a real NewFO for February.    And I also, feel a need to work with some floral fabrics.  I pulled out an older book, and found this.  It's easy---actually mindless sewing--- and will use up a lot of those extra floral strips that I have stacked up.
   Rectangle blocks, some vertical strips and others horizontal strips,  that are 10" by 6" are put together by value.  My strips are already cut at 2", but a mixture of strip widths could be used.
Right now, I am working on the horizontal strip blocks---about 7 or 8 done.  I have no idea how big it will be.....but I need to make a dent in my stash of floral fabrics.



Voting is going on for  Project Quilting.   This is week 4 entries.  
If it seems a bit quiet around here....you can find me in the sewing room.   Happy stitching.

At week's end...

   It has been a very long week.  I think it is because we missed last weekend ----no rest and all that painting in Charlotte instead.     

    I got an update on the travel with the Furkins and move in. Logan, the big furball, is loving the new house and all the nooks and crannies to explore.  

Songo, the princess cat, traveled well and found herself  a safe zone in the basement.  Nick, the retired champion Whippet,  loves the snow right now and is running circles around the yard.  Phoebe, the alpha personality Jack Russell, is in true form as she has already discovered how to get through/around/under the fence!  But what about Lucy, I asked.  Lucy, the blue eyed rescued hound and my digger of holes, is afraid of the stairs in the house.  She has to be coaxed down or up them.  She's been a part of the family for 5 years, but still she carries such awful "scars and fears" from her early years.  But she's a tough cookie....like me and that's why I love her....she will be fine.   Moving Day was hard work as you can see.   Oh, yeah, the two 2-legged human parents are well and settling in too!

  

  I had several question about the guild challenge, which I have been calling the ugly challenge.  Actually it is Lemons to Lemonade.  The fabric I got is the dark calico print in the photo.  I was lucky, as it's not that bad.   

   So how do I turn this into a lemonade thing.....dilute it out with other fabric is my philosophy.  If  I give the eye lots of space and things to look at, I believe I can hide a half yard of  this calico in a garden quilt.   

  

 This week I began the fusing in earnest.  The stems and vines are even partly stitched down.  One panel is completely fused and I am working on this second one now.    

   Here's hoping next week is more productive, as the month is almost gone.  I also have another class to teach locally soon and I need to re-vamp the worksheets.  I'll add that to March's list  :)

Happy stitching.  

Project Quilting #4

  I really had to focus to get to this this week.  I hated to break my commitment to Project Quilting.    I  have taken on a lot of projects, so I decided to put a little practice into this one..
   Our challenge this week was to incorporate a star into our project...."Wish upon a star..."

    I created the background--night sky--- from blue strips that were sewn and cut apart and then resewn in a random fashion.  This idea is from a tutorial at Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting. 





 The star is free hand drawn and stitched down with a trapunto effect---the easy part of this one!   I needed to practice the Sheer Ribbon Illusion for the challenge for SewCalGal, so a little thread painting followed.
   Instead of the "splat" pattern that I tried before, I went with the streamers.  I realize now that I did not put enough curve into them, just a few twists.   The curves help provide the illusion I think....and I like the "splat" effect a lot more.  



 
 
  

      Shine On is 15" by 25".
Now to get back on schedule.....happy stitching.

Traveling duffle bag

    First, wow, the Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop was awesome.  A lot of very nice/kind comments were left and I really appreciate the love.  If you missed out, click over to the Pinterest page to view all the entries for some loving inspiration.

 I shared a photo of my beginning of the Travel duffle bag on this post.    I'm still working on it.
  This is the end pocket.  It is zippered and has double pleats for fullness of bulky items.  I've  had this travel type fabric in the stash for a while and thought it was a good choice of the theme.  Anyway, the pocket is made separately and then stitched to the end piece, which eventually gets sewn to the bag's body.  I made a couple of changes to how the zipper was attached to the pocket and bag.  Instead of sewing the zipper directly to the pocket, I used a 2 " strip of fabric folded in half , and sewed the folded edge directly to the zipper.  That gives me a cleaner and easier finished edge to work with.  The raw edges of the strip were sewn to the pocket---between the outer fabric and lining.

   
This is the body of the bag with the handles and outer front pocket.  Once again, I made a couple of adjustments....with apologies to Cherie.  My straps are 2" rather than 4".....which made my pocket wider.  Oops, I had already cut it out.
  Not a problem really, it gave me a chance to get creative.  I needed an extra inch on each side.  I used a folded strip of the body fabric as a decorative accent and then added more of the pocket fabric to each side.
  Of course, then I needed to clean up the top and bottom.....I just added a strip of double folded fabric and top-stitched it on.
  I had planned on getting the top zipper in over the weekend, but that did not going to happen.  We got notified of a "hack attack"  and every thing has been haywire.  Everything is fine so far, but you know how much is involved in changing numerous accounts and details.   My best advice is to change your passwords regularly,  make them unrelated, and be sure them are hard to figure out.    I need to listen/ remember/ pay attention  to my own words.  It is the world we are living in today.
   I will be back  in a couple of days.  Till then.... happy stitching.  

Totally unprepared

   It got dark quite abruptly.....and guess why?   Snow, snow, snow.
We were suppose to get a few flurries or a light dusting of snow.  This is how it began.

    Two hours later and  Sir Old Man asked me if I had any dye.  Oh, man,  I was totally unprepared for this.  Looking out the window, all I can think of is, "All this perfect snow going to waste, because I don't have any dye for snow dying."     Guess what I am putting on my next fabric shopping list.  I will be ready.
   Giggle**giggle......The snow dying I am referring to is snow-dying of fabric.  Here's a great link to see what Kathy does at Tamarack Shack  .  I love her backing fabrics.

Surprise mail

     This was a day brightener that came in the mail from  Dolores of the HGTV Message Board group.  Beautiful spring time colors and such a cute little pattern she used.

    The  group of ladies from the HGTV board are such a huge support and encouragement to me and this project.  It is beyond words to really explain the feeling when a package of love arrives unannounced.  I get to enjoy that "Christmas glow" all during the year.
    This one really touched me because this Mrs. Claus is from South Carolina , too.  


Thank you all.   Happy stitching.

Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop

   So glad you stopped by for the Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop. 

 Thanks to Madame Samm and Jane for bringing it all together.

I've been waiting to share a couple of  treats....inspired by candy!
The  question is .... Where do those candy hearts come from?   Made in a factory, or from some place more wonderful and magical?  I like to think they grow in Candyland!   

  I remember playing the game Candyland  when I was young---a long time ago---and with my daughter.  I  drew my inspiration for this mini table topper from the sweet treats with all the cute sayings on them..  Imagine a whole field of  candy hearts ----in just the right fabrics, of course---- just waiting to be picked and labeled for your sweetie.   Appliqued hearts, decorative stitching, a little curved piecing, and add your own secret messages along the border  for  the candies.  Want some more candy inspiration?

     This is Red Hots!    Those tiny cinnamon heart candies are just the thing to inspire me here.  On the first Valentine's Day that I shared with my husband, I gave him a small box of  red hots!   Of course, a few kisses were thrown in too ....but those red hots were memorable.    So when I saw this pattern, it seemed a perfectly sweet thing to make to recall that memory.   

   If you follow me at all, you are aware of my fondness for swirls.  So this pattern just jumped  up and called to me.   Swirls inside the hearts,  and swirls  accenting the hearts.....I had to make this one.

     Layers of different red fabrics create hearts and swirls that spill over the background,  which was perfect to try a few  quilted feathers on.

    The pattern is by  Jane Spolar and is found on the Janome website.    So my special treat for you is the link for the pattern.   

 And I can't forget the label.  I found a red swirl graphic that was just perfect.











   And finally, a fused heart mosaic from last year.
This was a quick  art project based on the tutorial by  Terri Stegmiller.      A great way to use up left over bits and pieces  and then quilt it all down with lots of thread.  I did a simple edging treatment with lace rather than binding on this one.

   Thanks for stopping by and visiting.  Enjoy the rest of the blog hop links below.    Happy stitching.

Friday February 15th

Why Knot Kwilt

NitaDances

Sew Darn Quilt

Quilt-N-Queen

Fiddlesticks and Humility

Moose Stash Quilting

Gypsy Dreamer Quilts

Color My World

Sew We Quilt