Bags, stitcheries, and other random works

Well, my god daughter's jacket is now well and truly done and on its way to the Portland area. I hope it gets there in time for her birthday next week! I added a few goodies into the package as belated b-day gifts for her mother -- so I'm sure I'll hear when it gets there! You can also see here a few of the fabrics I bought last weekend. I mentioned that I had broken my no-buy June vow, here are three of the lovelies. Normally, this wouldn't bother me at all -- I'm not sure buying a gift for a fellow quilter counts as breaking my no-buy pledge. I mean, they're not for ME. But, well, I may have bought some fabrics for myself as well. Just a few. I'll get some photos and fess up properly. In my defense -- it was a sale. A really great sale. And I had an additional percentage off coupon. Oh, and an additional percentage off the next day too. Ok, I'm incorrigible!

On the plus side, now that the jacket is done and gone, I have a few other projects I managed to work on. The first is a bag I made in my first ever quilt class. I've been quilting for six years now (about -- give or take) and I have been meaning to take a class for ages. The new LQS I mentioned awhile ago had a class to make these little bags. I figured it would be a fun and painless way to dive into the whole class thing. I was right. I had a great time at the class and I ended up with a cute purse. And, despite the temptation to buy new fabric for the class, these beauties came straight out of my stash.

Did I learn anything new in the class? Yes and no -- I did put in a magnetic snap for the first time, and a new technique for dealing with the interfacing in the straps. Otherwise, not much new -- but it did tell me that my vague idea to take an absolute beginner course is probably not a good choice. Now if only a quilt shop would offer a -- yes, you've been quilting for awhile but how about a class that can fill in the gaps in your self-taught quilting education -- class. On the plus side, while talking with the owner during the class, I got an invite to demo the clover yo-yo makers (which I LOVE btw) at their "grand opening" celebration. So, I got to spend last Saturday doing my demo thing. That was a ton of fun, and by the end of my demo the shop had sold out of all of their stock of the darned things. I don't know if it had much to do with me -- but I had a great time talking with other quilters and showing off a product I love. Oh, and did I mention the 30% of discount I got on anything I purchased that day? Yeah -- that would be a reason I fell off the no-buy wagon. Other than total lack of self-control of course.

I've also been plugging away at my Christmas quilt. I have a few of the blocks 1/2 done and the fabric colors look sooo good together! I can't wait to have more done and move on to the next step. I've also been working on the embroidery for this one. I finished the boy elf (yes, he still needs to be ironed, but hey, I washed out the iron on transfer pencil) to go with his sister and am now working on the other little ones I'm going to sprinkle into the quilt. I've also changed my mind about some basic design things with this one, so I am going to need to go and buy another charm square pack or two to get the size top I want. Originally I was going to do a 3 x4 block design with borders, but now I think I'm going to do a 4 x 5 block layout. Still not sure about the borders, but I have the feeling I'm going to leave them off.

Other than that -- not much to report here at casa de cornfields. I've been busy working on the paid research gig and trying to get some quilting time in as well. The little one is reluctantly taking her nap and the sound of the computer is making her stir, so I think I'm off to go put together more Christmas blocks. Have a great day!

Mail Call #2 and a Request

Yep -- I do take requests -- if they're reasonable, and I'm able. But first let's wrap up the squishy goodies I got in the mail last week shall we?

The first mailbox goodie was this selection of lovely fat quarters from the ladies over at Blue Meadow Designs. These are from their Bohemian Rhapsody line of fabrics for RJR and the colors are just yummy. Not my usual fabric choices, but I can see having some serious fun playing with these.

The next bundle of fabric love came to me from Sew Mama Sew. It's a yard of a fun fabric from Heather Ross (Lightning Bugs collection by Free Spirit) that reminds me of my first two wheeler bike. Mine was a red and white Schwinn with a banana seat and a little basket. God I loved that thing. I rode it everywhere. Or at least that's what it seemed like. I've been in love with this line for ages, but just never got any of it. And now, she has a new line out with some really fantastic prints that I NEED to get. I sense another obsession coming on.

But wait. Didn't I declare that June was a no-buy month for myself? Didn't I say that I needed to work on (possibly even finish) a project or two before I could buy new fabrics? Did I break my vow? Nope. (ok, well, yes -- but that's the subject for a different post and happened last weekend -- there were extenuating circumstances is all I'm going to say right now). Nope, these two packages of fabric goodness were NOT the product of late night button clicking at online fabric stores (though nothing wrong with that at all). These goodies I WON! Totally free. WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! The lovely ladies at Blue Moon had a giveaway on their blog. While I did NOT win the custom journal cover, they sent "consolation" prizes to those who had commented. What a consolation prize! Thanks Cori and Myra! (and btw -- you really should go check out their blog and site. They have some adorable patterns and photos hanging around). The wonderful fabric from Sew Mama Sew was another blog drawing win. These ladies have a drawing just about every week and give away fabrics, patterns, etc. I won a Free Fabric Friday giveaway that let me choose one yard of anything available in the online store. Do you know how hard it was for me to CHOOSE???? EEEEKKKK! They have such fun fabrics (and some great kitschy stitchery patterns too).

Ok, the commercial endorsement portion of my blog is now over (I realized I was gushing and beginning to sound like a paid advertisement -- but really, give me some free fabric I love and you will find me gushing all over the place). On to the request! Felicia over at Fluffy Flowers posted recently about her Holly Hobby doll from the 70's and asked about what childhood toys we kept tucked away. I mentioned two of my toys I have in boxes and she asked if I would post photos. So here they are...

She's a little bit country. He's a little bit rock-n-roll. And together they are a pure flashback to the 70's TV show "Donnie and Marie". Original costumes, though the shoes, socks (purple of course!) and microphones have long since been lost to the ravages of actually playing with my barbies! Also gone is the stage they came with (a "set" from the show) but I do think I still have the floppy black 45 (ah yes, 45's -- hard to explain these to young people these days when they don't understand records) with the song that came with the playset on it somewhere. I have nothing to PLAY it on mind you -- but I have the 45.

I'm still looking for the Holly Hobby colorforms I mentioned Felicia -- but those are buried in a box that is rather deep in a closet I try not go into very often. (it's scary in there -- and well, there's lots of stuff. Stuff I should get rid of. Stuff I don't want to think about. You know. stuff). If I can find them -- I should also have my Batman set (based on the TV show I believe) and my Scooby Doo set as well -- I'll take pictures of all of them.

And lest you think that Donnie and Marie have NOTHING to do with quilting. Au contraire! As an FYI Marie Osmond is now a quilt fabric designer. The fabrics aren't my cup of tea, but they are kind of pretty. So there, I can connect this random bit of nostalgia to quilting. Phew.

Yet another long winded post, but I am done for the day. Have a great Tuesday and more soon -- projects to share, fabric to fess up to, all sorts of goodness.

Mail Call

I mentioned in my last post that while I was internet impaired a few goodies showed up in my mailbox. Since these goodies are quilting related, I thought I would share the postal offerings.

My first squishy package (ok, so this one wasn't technically a squishy -- it came in a box, but hey -- the contents are squishy) was from my Mom. No, this is not one of my quilts. Don't I wish I could do applique like the work in this one as well as the foundation piecing it represents. Nope, this one is a genuine article 1930's feedsack (and probably some dressmaking and other assorted cottons) top. I love the colors in this one -- bits and pieces from all sorts of prints. There are some cheddars, some bright pinks, lots of blues, lavenders -- a true scrap quilt all the way around.

So why did my Mom send it to me? Well, my dad's sister gave it to me sometime in the early 90's -- long before I had begun to quilt myself. The top was pieced by one of my great grandmothers (which one? I have no clue -- my instinct says it was my grandfather's mother, who was a farmer's wife. But it could have been my German immigrant great grandmother as well -- though not as likely. I know -- bad me for not asking when it was given to me. I may have been told, but I now don't remember. Why not just ask my aunt? She has since passed away so -- no one left who could tell me). When my grandmother died in 1990, my aunt found the blocks for this quilt among her things (again, this could still mean it was made by either of my great grandmothers). She put together the blocks and backed the quilt as a summer spread and gave it to me. At the time I was living in the dorms so it ended up at my parents' house.

Why did I ask for it now? Close to 20 years after I'd received it? Well, I appreciate it more now for one. And two, well, this might be something of a rescue mission. My aunt, lovely woman that she was, was not a quilter per se. Crochet -- oh gods yes. Embroidery, some. Some sewing. But not really a quilter. When she put the backing on this quilt -- she used what was economical and convenient. Namely a sheet. In a, and I'm sorry if anyone out there likes this but blech, a gods awful color somewhere between brown/tan and orange with neither of the good qualities of either of those colors (and I must say -- the color doesn't look that bad in the photo -- but you will have to trust me when I tell you that in person, it is so much worse).

Aside from my aesthetic sensibilities being offended by the backing -- there is also the problem of damage. My aunt used a polyester thread to put on the backing (which is simply folded to the front, not bound on and there is no quilting or tying -- really, a summer spread). Which has, oddly enough, not torn through the feedsack cream backing of the blocks, but the cotton/poly blend sheet. Oh, and notice the polyester batting stuffed in the folded over sheet to make the "binding". So, one of my summer projects is going to be a rescue mission. I'm going to remove the binding, add a new backing of some 30's reproductions (possibly pieced, but also possibly just a solid color) and add a "proper" (yes, I know folding the backing to the front is a perfectly acceptable way to finish a quilt -- I've used it myself, but given what has happened here, I think I want something a bit more stable) binding out of some feed sack reproductions. I am not going to quilt it -- I'm really not sure how well it could handle longarm machine quilting and I don't have the skills (yet) to hand quilt it. At which point it will be ready for generations 4 and 5 (myself and my daughter) to use and love.

I'm going to have to apologize here for the length of this post -- but if I'm ever going to get all the stuff I want to say up and get caught up, this one needs to be long. And maybe the next two or three as well.

My next piece of love from the post office came all the way from Australia!!! A while ago, I had asked Tracey over at ozcountryquiltingmum how she made her chooks she sells at school fairs. I thought they would be a cute little toy for my daughter. Generous soul that she is -- she offered to mail me one. I am continually amazed by the generosity of quilters and crafters the world over. So here is a photo of the package that arrived. Not one, but TWO chooks -- one for dd and one for me! (I still have to re-stuff them, but that is on my list for today!), a bit of the lovely satin she was using for pillows, I'm thinking it would make some lovely sachets for my closet, (not in the photo because I couldn't wrest it away from the two year old who says 'my puse') a lovely little bag (actually, it's in this post -- the white bag with the Winnie the Pooh applique) and a piece of chocolate (also not pictured as it went almost immediately into my stomach -- I suppose I could show you a photo of my cellulite, but, um, that's not fair to the small piece of chocolate, I've had to work a long time for a body this bad). Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Tracey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And finally, for now, (I'm betting there are many people who are celebrating the end of this post) I've had a request from Laurie over at The Wooden Spool for some detail shots of my god daughter's jacket as well as some requests for information (Laurie -- you're "no reply" when you comment -- so I have to do these publicly). So, in order of asking -- Yes, I probably will make another one of these. Probably more than one. My daughter LOVES hers, and when she outgrows it, it will be time for the next size up. She still has two sizes in the pattern before she outgrows it, so I foresee more of them. Also, if you just use the pattern with plain fabric (no quilting) it works up quickly and is still cute -- so it's great for using as baby gifts. Yes, this version is mostly Lakehouse fabrics (last year's version of the DayZ line) with one or two additions from my scrap stash. If you find out that Holly Holderman has a flickr group -- would love to submit the photos! Hope these are the kinds of detail shots you wanted!

That's all for today -- need to run to Target and get a few other things done. I might even get to some quilting time! I still have post office goodies to share (like the two above aren't enough?) and some more of my own work. I also have another photo request or two that I need to get to (need to take the photos first though!). Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Finally!

I'm Baaaaccckkkk. Finally. I was supposed to have my new modem on Monday at the latest. By Tuesday when the UPS guy had made deliveries to two of my neighbors (one of them has a SERIOUS addiction to QVC) I called to see what had happened to my package of Internet goodness. Turns out that when the nice young woman helped me with ordering the modem (and convinced me to sign up for the extended warranty on the new one so I wouldn't have to pay for the replacement) she failed to actually process the shipping for my modem. Hmmn. Many apologies and a promise to send it overnight. Great -- but, well, it was 5:00 pm on Tuesday. This means that "overnight" will get to me on Thursday. Great. And I said such nice things about them in my last post. Oh well, it got here -- for some reason though it was the same exact model as the last one I had to re-install the software (what? it uses something different than it did a week ago?) and I'm back in business. So tonight, I took some time off of sewing to catch up on my blog reading and indulge my Internet addiction fix. It may take me a while to catch up though -- it's amazing how productive everyone has been in the last week!

As for my own productivity -- well, I have been sewing. And I got some great goodies in the mail. And I took my first ever quilting class -- so stuff to say about that and a photo of the project. And a fun invitation I got. But, my, way too much for one post so instead of my usual marathon posts -- I will spread out the joy a bit and post a little at a time. Tonight's menu includes progress on my June goals.

First up tonight (omg -- I just looked at the clock. Ok, so it's this morning!) is my god daughter's jacket. DONE. DONE. DONE. (well, except for the buttons. But I need to go to the local national chain fabric store and buy some. That is on tap for tomorrow -- but those will be purchased and sewn on this weekend and it will be off in the mail on Monday -- plenty of time to get to her for her actual birthday) I really do like how this one turned out. The crosshatching was a pain, but it was so worth it in the end. I also got to play with some free motion quilting and I really like how that turned out as well. And would you believe, that except for the buttons, this one is entirely from scraps and stash! (this says something about my stash, but I'm not entirely sure what) The picture doesn't show the back of the hood -- but I used some of the orange stripe and the hot pink/orange dot for each 1/2.

I've also been working on some embroidery and blocks for the Christmas quilt I'm making for myself. No pictures of the blocks yet (I've only got one done as a test -- the others are in the partial construction stage so not very photo worthy) BUT I have finished the first embroidery and am 1/2 way done with the second. I found the pattern for this little cutie as a free download from Wee Wonderfuls. When I saw them I just knew they needed to play with the Holly Jolly charm packs I bought on the last shop hop. I chose all of the colors from those in the fabrics and just had fun stitching her and her little dolly up. Her brother is about 1/2 done -- so I should have a picture of him in a day or so. She was so much fun to do and I can't wait to see what she looks like with the blocks I am making. I'll try and finish up a few more of them and get a picture.

Other than that -- I finished the project I started in my first ever quilt class (more about this later) but no picture right now and worked on putting together some more embroidery designs for the Christmas quilt. More of those as they get finished. And while it was a slow week for mail of the techie sort -- I got some other squishies I will share with you in another post. I just realized how very late it is -- and that I am going to need all of my energy in the morning to try and keep up with the boundless energy of my own darling toddler. Is it possible to mainline caffeine?

I love technology...

I do. When it works. When it doesn't, you realize how much you have come to rely upon it and how much of a pain it is when you can't use it. *sigh* As I told someone today, "my Internet is sick". For some reason my DSL modem decided to die last night. It took an hour's worth of a tech support phone call to a lovely young man from India (he was probably IN India) to discover the problem though. Then another 1/2 hour phone call this morning to arrange for a new modem to be sent to the house. (very good service from Verizon online btw -- I like to give credit when companies actually have GOOD service!) They said two business days -- if they count today as one of them, then I will be up and running again before the weekend. Anyone but me think that is awfully optimistic? Yep -- so it will probably be Monday before I can get back online from home. Argghhhh!

So, in the meantime, I am on campus using one of the school computers today but that is not an option for most of the weekend. Hmmn...I suppose it means I will have more time for sewing (the extra work I am doing actually REQUIRES a computer to do the research and the library is on limited hours for the summer -- so that actually limits my income as well -- ARRRGHHHHH). So, if I am slow in responding to comments or a bit silent until next week -- well, let's blame the darned modem.

So, have a great weekend everyone -- and if I am not able to say it a Happy Father's Day to all of those celebrating it. I know I need to find something special to do for my own dh -- he's a wonderful father and a great partner, now to figure out how to tell him that!

Ooooops (for those of you on RSS feeds, sorry for the "duplicate" post here for this addition) -- for quilty content, read yesterday's post!

More Progress...

Have you ever had a project that you know SHOULD be cruising right along but it seems to be dragging out of you? Unfortunately, my god daughter's jacket is going this way. I do love the way it's turning out, I'm just not having much fun making it. I think the problem is that this is the 6th time I've made this pattern. And the second time I've done the raw edged applique technique. It turns out differently every time, but still -- I'm bored. I want something new. I want something selfish. I want to play with Christmas fabric! (Remember the charm square packs?) So after this one is finished, I think the pattern is going into semi-retirement. At least until dd grows out of her current version.

BUT -- having said that, there is progress. I've got the two fronts laid out. One has been cross hatched, the other is pinned and waiting for me to sit down at the machine. Then both are getting a bit of experimenting. I've already tried it on the back and I like it so far. The cross hatching I'm doing totally avoids the largest daisies in the jacket. (these are actually left from a panel I used in other projects) Instead, the daisies are getting free motioned following (kind of, ok, so not really) the daisy print. I'm really liking how this is turning out (even from the back) -- but I really dislike doing the cross hatching! Now I have to decide if I want to continue the piecing to include the hood -- or leave well enough alone and use some larger pieces of the orange stripe and hot pink and orange polka dot I have and piece the hood from those. Hmmmn.

Other than that little bit of progress, I've been trying out a new skill. I've been admiring the embroidery work of May Britt at Abyquilt, Anne at Quilting Bebbs, Leigh at cinnamon sticks, and of course Tonya and beginning to re-think my position on handwork. While I'm not quite ready to do anything as fun as Tonya's threadies or her crusty, I do think I could do some simple embroidery. In fact, the Christmas quilt I am thinking about may have an embroidery or two (or three or four, haven't decided yet) in it. Soooo -- I should probably practice first hunh? Well, yeah, that was what I thought. I found this cute little kit at Borders when I was cruising the craft books. Seemed like a way to try it out, with some cute iron-on patterns (the ones in the kit are by the same lady who does these fun and funky embroidery patterns) and a couple of tea towels included for practice. So, I took the plunge. So here you go -- my very first embroidery. Some cute flowers and an Eiffel Tower in honor of Tonya (and yes, it does need to be ironed).

And another shot of a close-up of the stitching. Nothing fancy, just stem stitches. And I followed the advice in the kit about using all six strands. I won't do that again -- it's ok, but it just seems too bulky to me. I did enjoy it, and it was a great sit on the couch project. Full steam ahead then for my Christmas quilt embroidery, and I have a nice little embroidered tea towel as a practice exercise. Now I only have one question -- what does one do with a tea towel? And an embroidered one no less?

Progress Report...

Oh my, where has the time flown? I am having trouble believing it is already Saturday night and my last post was on Monday! Geesh. I meant to post on Wednesday, but, well, life in a house with a two year old is not always predictable.

The consensus from my last post seems to be that my list of things "to-do" is way too long. It may well be. Especially since I found out this week (after I posted my list) that I've gotten a temporary job doing some research. The extra money will be nice, but it means less quilting time. *sigh* I don't suppose anyone out there knows of a kind benefactor who would like to sponsor me to live a life of comfort (not asking for luxury here) while quietly creating quilts and other fabric related crafts? Anyone? Nope -- didn't think so. But, despite this latest wrinkle -- I have made some progress on my list. I have two items done:

• mil's quilt completely cut! YEAH! Now to start sewing (but that was a maybe for this month anyway -- but it would be nice)


• strips for leaders/enders cut and I had enough of the solid white to cut the foundation bodies for my goddaugther's jacket. WOO HOOO! And another 1/2 yard of leftover muslin from another project for the hood! YEAH!

No pictures of these two. The cut strips and wedge shapes for mil's x-mas gift aren't very interesting right now. And while I know you are all perishing to see 48 2.5" strips of white fabric for my leaders/enders project -- well, um, if you really insist I'll take one, but it is kind of boring.

I also began work on my goddaughter's jacket. This one got bumped to near the front of the list because, well, her birthday is July 3rd and well, she's going to be 3. I really want to get her her gift on time. Now, mind you, I still haven't gotten her mother HER birthday gift (which was two days after my daughter's) but still. Bonnie asked for me to use pink. She also said use scraps. Well, hopefully there is enough pink here -- though I'm beginning to think I'm leaning awfully far towards the oranges and greens. But is is mostly from scraps I have from other projects (June No-Buy, one week down how many more to go?). I went a bit crazy with the DayZ fabric from LakeHouse Direct last summer and I have a ton if scraps left from other projects. (ok, so I may also have quite a few 1/2 yards and some yardage left too, but that's a whole 'nother issue). It may sound like I don't like this one -- not true, I am LOVING how this jacket is coming together -- just not sure how Bonnie and my goddaughter are going to feel about my creative license with color selection. We'll see what happens. Now I've got to do the quilting to hold these pieces down and get the fronts arranged and the hood pieces -- then I need to put the whole thing together...ok, enough talking about it. Lots of quilted lines to hold down raw edged applique pieces here I come!

More photos and progress next time -- I have a couple more things in the works. A test for one of my "to-do" list items and another project that wasn't even on the radar until after I made my list. Hope everyone has/had a great weekend and I will try to be better about posting next week.