Reflection time

I'm trying to avoid getting all moody & existential.  Instead of reviewing my life choices, let's talk quilts!

Since January - 

• Completed
• Spousal unit's Asian themed BOTM - FINISHED & in our room
• Libby's bunnies - FINISHED & mailed to Tacoma
• Broken Dishes for my belle soeur - FINISHED & mailed to Japan
• 2 seam X-blocks in yellow & batiks - FINISHED & gifted to friend in Montana
• Tula - Acadia - FINISHED & gifted to a friend in Montana
• On-point QAYC strips - FINISHED & on the bed in my sewing room
• Baby Martin - FINISHED & delivered
• Pink/red/white split rail w/fox minky - FINISHED & delivered to baby Willow
• Loly's baby - FINISHED (including quilting at home) & delivered to baby Jasper
• Made Progress
  • Tiffany stained glass - just needs binding
  • Mystery quilt in yellow to red - just needs binding
• Scattered Showers - about 1/2 way thru the in-house quilting
• Um - honestly can't remember but probably not done...
• Improv Project (à la Joe Cunningham) in orange & yellow
• Rainbow diagonal jelly-roll race
• Started
• Antique Lace for Allie & John - 80% pieced
• Water Lilies - 25% pieced
• Quilt Limbo (no progress since January)
• Turquoise disappearing jelly-roll...thing
• Random 4 patches with blue minky
• Pulse
• half hexi baby quilt
• Neeky's cousins - needs binding
• Vintage butterfly - repair or frame up??
• Pentecost banner - serious remediation required

Too productive to take photos...

... that's my story, anyway.

First week of January:

• The relocated UFO's were sorted & organized at the Vancouver Branch.
• Broken dishes binding was completed,
• Spousal unit's quilt was also bound.

Last week (in spite of stomach flu):

• Baby Martin's quilt got a label & can leave the house.
• Libby's bunny got binding & a label.  Ready to get shipped out!!
• Broken Dishes - also labelled & waiting for transport to Japan!
• Pieced the back for baby jasper & it's sandwiched, ready for quilting

Oh - I've settled on a pattern for 

the ongoing crochet project.

As of bedtime Sunday, 

my count is at 6.

Next up:

• Photos!!
• Quilting for Jasper
• Start a larger crochet project
• Label spousal unit's quilt
• Clear the sewing room bed (yikes)
• (random year end accounting crap because work..ick)

xo

sash

Sums it up

My new quilting motto:

(Thank you Mr Breathed)

And on that note, I'm off to the sewing room,

xo
sash

Boggled Bobbin

I'm doing this:

Fancy Forest

The first class was Sunday.  Sorting & organizing & cutting.  I think there will be a lot of that going on.  Each owl has over 40 pieces.  We're gonna start with the Foxes - those only have about 12.

Clearly, I've lost my mind.

xo
sash

Quite Chuffed

First time I heard (read) it, I thought chuffed was like ticked or bugged - a bad, bent-out-of-shape kinda thing.  But it's not.  It's a good, tickle-with-myself kinda thing.

I admit it.  I'm feeling quite chuffed about how this turned out.

Starry Portal Bargello - Artisan Spirit fabrics with Handspray border

I still have to add the binding but otherwise it's finished!

I'm thrilled with the quilting work that was done by Just Quilting Pdx.  I told her what I sorta wanted & she gave me more than I could have hoped!  This thing is enormous (97" x 97") & she did a beautiful, border to border design that increased the motion, highlighted the fabric, & reduced the pixelated feel of the bargello.

I hope the newlyweds love it.  If not, the manchild will probably just bring it back home with him.  (He's chuffed too).

- sash

NB: Thanks to the kind words after my most recent post.  To those who said they can relate, I'm here any time you need to chat.  Really.  Even if you feel alone, you aren't ever alone.  XOXO - auntiesash.

Are we here to talk or are we here to sew???

Fortunately, I've done better at sewing than I have at blogging about it.

Thursday I cut a bunch of little squares making a negligible dent in my scrap pile.  Hey - at least it's a dent.  The designers on Project Runway could have used my scraps - their intimate wear was a mess.  The one that won? (2nd from the left) Seriously wtf?

Oh well.  It's just possible Katrina & I are not their intended market.

Friday I hit Fabric Depot & got the backing fabric (and some adorable elephant print minky that just HAS to become pillows!).  And more Mary's Best Press.  I love that stuff.

Saturday I had a head cold.  The best I could do was sort through and find more scraps for whatever this four patch project is going to turn into.  Then I took some Vicks and went back to bed.

Sunday I slept in and then, determined to make progress, I got ALL THE COLUMNS TOGETHER!!

Here's the first shot of the center(not ironed yet, clearly):

I think it's cool.  The Manchild likes it.  

Other folks have asked "what's it supposed to be" & "Did you make it offcenter on purpose?"  Harrumph.  

Troglodytes.

Monday I cut all the borders and got the first set sewn on.  There are 2 more sets to go - hope to get that done tonight.

On other fronts, the Quilting Guru embroidered a set of napkins and quilted a matching table runner for a wedding gift.  Impressive, no?  (Apparently so is the resulting mess in her sewing room)

Da Noob has reorganized the sewing area around the new table.  That's an endless task, but enough was done that a WIP was rediscovered!  A disappearing 4 patch project that is about 1/2 way finished.  That will be a fun project to tackle.  This coming week, all artistic effort is being tapped out on the job, so da noob gets a pass.  For now.

And what does Mr Jenkins think of all this sewing? 

 If only he could find a way to express himself.

xoxo

sash

Labor hath occurred

Got a big boost this weekend!

There was organization on all fronts.  

• Da Noob met the goal of assembling her sewing room.  She also may lose her title soon as more brand new quilters are joining our little sewing family.  

(To that point, a quick outing to Fabric Depot happened on Saturday morning.  The Quilt Guru met me there along with a darling in-law who is relearning how to sew.  For now, she is working on clothing for her darling offspring, but soon she will be learning to quilt.  Turns out her gramma is a long arm quilter.  Huh.  It was meant to be!)

• The QG herself not only had the baby blanket ready to quilt (as I predicted) but this weekend she quilted it & bound it.  It's wash and ready for a label.  She also finished quilting ANOTHER project and has started the hand stitching on the binding!  Good work!

• And at my house?  It was full on sewing frenzy.  This quilt is 35 columns wide and each column has 32 pieces in it.  On Friday morning, I had 1/2 the column pieces in baggies and ready to go, and the other 1/2 listed out but not yet cut/sorted.  Last night, I turned off the light on all 35 columns finished & pressed, and the first 18 sewn into pairs and pressed again.

       So I went from about 600 pieces up to 1120 pieces then down to 26 sub-units.  
       Not too shabby, eh?

About 1/2 the columns - ironed

(also one of the most visually confusing pictures ever)

Here are some pictures:

The Manchild pumping iron
(and yes - that is a regular iron.
It just looks like a travel model when he holds it)

All the strips - you can see the pattern starting to form
(although 1/2 of them are upside down so not exactly)

I'm pretty excited about all the progress in this first week of September.  Keep it up, everyone!  And if you wanna join us for the rest of National Sewing Month, just leave a comment!

Gratuitous Cuteness (He's laughing at me - I'm sure of it!)

xo
sash

Plugging along

Reporting in from the field: 

• The third day of Sewing Month saw progress in my bargello project (what was I thinking with this thing?) and I should be able to actually sew things together tonight.  

• The Quilt Guru hasn't checked in but I suspect that there will be a baby quilt ready to bind by this weekend.

• Da Noob had some help setting up the new table (yay for minions!) - and spent about 5 hours sorting fabric.

Awesome, doncha think??

Wonder what the long weekend will bring!!!

xo
sash

Too late now!

Dad would say "you bit off more than you can chew"  As is often the case, he would be mostly right.  As is also often the case, I won't listen, I won't learn, I won't mend my ways, & I'll probably "chew" my way through - but it might be tricky.


I'm not talking about September.

I'm still pretty excited about the challenge I've set myself to do something on a sewing project each day.

That part's ok.

It's this one project.  You know, the bargello quilt I'm making for the manchild's guild buddies who are getting married next month.

I've never actually done a bargello before (although ikat weaving uses some of the same ideas and I've done that).

And I could have chosen a simple undulating pattern.  One that uses the exact same strata in all the columns.

or this

something like this

But does that sound like my style?  Of COURSE not.  First time doing it, important deadline ahead, go big or go home, right?

I'm on about the 5th excel spreadsheet to map this out.  It's way beyond EQ7.

So September 2nd (last night), I made more strata, reviewed the spreadsheet.  Again.  Labelled things and got little bags ready to go.  Tonight I'll be at the lovely Katrina's for Project Runway night, so I had to have everything portable.  My goal for tonight is a little baggy for each column with all the bits inside - ready to sew.

Wish me luck!

Thus it begins...

Reports have come in:



September 1st:
The Quilt Guru marked up a quilt sandwich for free motion work,
Da Noob set a goal for the week of setting up her new sewing table,
And me?  I cut the grey pieces for the bargello quilt I'm working on (a crap ton of pieces)

Onto the next day.  Comment if you want to join in with your own goals for the month!

xoxo
sash

September!!!

I'm gonna make this quick.

Bam!

That's it.  September.  Gonna make this happen.

So everyday this month something sewing will HAPPEN. 

And (theoretically) every day I'll post about it.  

It's only 30 days but just THINK what I could get done!  Not to mention how much more cheerful I will be.

OK - let's do this.  Who's with me???

Tuesday's looking up!

If Monday is a bully, Tuesday is the smart, mean tag-along right behind the bully; less physically overwhelming, but sneaky & manipulative.

In my world, Tuesday is staff meeting day.  It starts early, everyone's in the office at once, I provide breakfast, we review all the jobs, bids, changes, problems, scheduling.

So it's way too early, way too many people, plus shopping, & cooking....  Blech!!!

Also, for some guys, it's the only time all week they come into the office.  So receipts, time cards, change orders, questions, packing slips, ordering, tool repairs, ALL THE THINGS come at me right after the meeting.  It's totally nuts & they are all eager to get back to the job site.

Did I mention that

??

Usually the guys clear out of here & order is restored by 9:30 or 10.  Ah - quiet at last, but that's when Tuesday gets all devious.  

All those pieces of paper, bits of information, & requests - they are floating around me demanding  ATTENTION!    ACTION!    RESOLUTION!    ANSWERS!!

Yeah - Tuesdays are rough.

You know what helps turn my Tuesday around?
     {Tylenol & Dr Pepper?}
Well yeah, normally.  But even better than that?
     {Better than Dr Pepper?  Blasphemy!}
How about an early visit from the mailman?
     {I'm listening}
With a package.
     {Keep talking}
THIS PACKAGE

                   {Oh YEAH!}

Always exciting to get something from Craftsy but this is a surprise.  Well - I ordered it.  But I don't remember really what it is - so right now, it's a surprise.




Wanna see?





Oh cool!  That was quick!  It's the Cotton & Steel Yellow Mystery Fat Quarter Box!  

Craftsy!

They put these on clearance & I managed to get one before they sold out! I LOVE yellow!!!

So let's check this out!!

Ta Da!

Hmmm - 
So that isn't what I was expecting. 
If you had to label this mix of fabrics, would you go with "yellow"?  
Yeah.  Me neither.

Guess it's even more of a surprise than I knew.

I'm still glad to have the Cotton & Steel pieces.  

Look at these prints - really cool images & such interesting colors.



And the hand of this fabric - the way it feels & drapes - it's really beautiful.

It's still Tuesday.  I'm not gonna skip my dose of Dr Pepper. But some soft colorful quilting fabric can make any day a little lighter & brighter, doncha think?

xo
sash

For other Cotton & Steel fabrics, check out Connecting Threads.  Their quilter's candy fabrics are great solids & blenders.  They show up in all my projects.  Their thread is also a really good, standard cotton thread.  I use it for piecing & for hand sewing.

Under my belt

Setting my goal for February I have 2 thoughts in mind.

1) Keep my hands, heart, and mind busy creating so I spend less time stressing, eating, & dithering.

2) Just keep creating - I'll get better!

Inspired by this video:

I'm going to stop worrying about designing the perfect quilt or finding the perfect fabric. I'm even trying to set aside the idea that I must make a quilt for everyone I know and that those quilts must be uniquely designed for them with lovely fabric only I would chose. Oy. It's no wonder I get STUCK and decide to fix a snack & watch quilting videos instead of sewing!!

So I'm going to SEW.

  

My goal for February is to complete a fun, simple quilt top from this layer cake:

Won't that be adorable?

Don't stress it.  Don't feel like I'm failing.  Just sew and create and have fun.

Then maybe the complex, creative, artistic, soul-stirring quilts will be able to bubble to the surface.

If not, I'll still be creating and having fun and DOING something.

So what's your February goal??

XO
sash

Dithering!!!!

Must set goal.

Must post it.

So much dithering!!!!

OK - I'm going to use this pile for inspiration:

Why do my pictures keep ending up upside down???

To turn this pile of Veggie Tales fabric:

Or tipped sideways?

Into a quilt top for a friend who could use a snuggle about now.

So my goal for January's Lovely Finish: Complete a Veggie Tales themed quilt top!

Now I just need to find my cutting table - it must be under this wrapping paper somewhere...

Check out all the January goals at A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015!

Wait is it bi-monthly or.... whatever

So - having missed November entirely, let's just move along, shall we?

I did so WELL on finishes for the first 1/2 of the year.  Let's see if I can at least pull one off here in December.

Over the long weekend, I had some unexpected down time and whipped up a Christmas table runner. 

I used a charm pack of Blitzen by Basic Grey

Charm packs are so adorable!

                

              Pieced, 

                   layered, 
                        quilted,
                             done!!  

How gratifying!

       (And a FINISH picture would go here if I'd thought to take one - d'oh)

Late Breaking News!!  The manchild sent me pictures!

Back - quilting & a little I-made-the-front 48"-&-width-
of-fabric-is-44"-&-why-didn't-I-think-ahead? edge detail

So my goal for December is to make 

two more table runners to give as holiday gifts.

(Here's a close up of the snowmen from the line because they are just so cute!)

xo
sash

One stash becomes two!

     A Lovely Year of Finishes        T-Shirt Quilts 

    T-shirt yarn (but for heaven's sake use a rotary cutter!!) 

       Woot!                   POUF(except I'll knit one)

Happy cutting & quilting & knitting!!!

sash