A great day sewing.

I just had the best day sewing that a person could have. Not only did Jen come over with Holly to sew but my sister Kitty came to sew with us too. A lot of sewing got done in my livingroom. I'm actually working on a SCRAP quilt. For those of you who don't know me this is way out of my safe zone. I don't do scrappy and never have done scrappy. Well I do now. I'm doing the Peaches and Dreams that Regina 1I sucked Jen into doing. Sorry, no picture until the top is done. I did however get the blocks made and assembled and the first two borders on and the third one goes on tomorrow. Then I have to start making the blocks that will be another border and then I think it gets two or three more small borders and it's finished. This scrappy business is very nerve wracking.

Machine Apron Start to Finish

The other night when I was sewing with Jen at my house I was set up on the kitchen table which is a short distance from where she was sewing. She suggested that I turn my threadle machine around and put my FeatherWeight on top to sew. It worked out really well and I liked the look of my two antique Singers being used together.

Today I decided that my Featherweight needed a new machine apron to help protect the top of the treadle and to hold small sewing notions in. I had this fabric in my stash for quite sometime so I took this afternoon when I should have been cleaning and made myself a new one.

Now, it's time to stop sewing for a little while and get my cleaning done.

Turning 20 Again is finished

Well I promised another photo when my Turning 20 Again quilt was finished and it is so here is the picture. I went by Jen's last night and got it on the frame with a little help from her. It took me about 2 hours to quilt it and that was with stopping a few times to sit and to pet Holly. I really like the way it turned out. I came home and worked on the binding and just finished it up. Now it's on to finishing a few more projects. I'm really happy with the quilting I did. No thread breaks at all. The binding is perfect and I really enjoyed the hand sewing of the binding. Well I'm off to another Dr's appointment. Maybe there is some more sewing in my future for tonight.

Update on Holly's Wallhanging

Earlier in the week I showed a picture of a special wallhanging that I made for my very special Granddog, Holly Berry. She happened to be over while I was working on it but she really wasn't allthat interested in it at that time. Saturday night I got to take it over to her house and her Mom, Jen, hung it up right away. It was really cute watching Holly as she walked right up to it and actually checked it out. Now when she eats she doesn't have to look at a blank white wall. I'd have a picture of her with the artwork but of course she can be stubborn and she was in no mood to sit and let me take her picture.

Turning Twenty Again Top is Finished

I finished another top today and that makes me really happy. Last Sunday I started with a batch of 1/2 yard pieces from Moda called Bistro. I've had these fabrics for a while and just wasn't sure what to do with them. I tossed so many ideas around for months and not knowing what to make was driving me crazy. in I finally decided on doing a Turning Twenty Again quilt. I finished it early in the week but still needed to buy fabric for the borders so I got that yesterday. Since my plans for tonight fell through I went ahead and put the borders on the top. I already have the binding made so next it's just pick out a backing from my stash and get her on the quilt frame. I really do like the fabric colors and it was such a simple quilt top to make. Too bad I'm not a coffee drinker but I still like the quilt.

No finishes but lots getting done

I wanted to stop in to let everyone know I'm still sewing up a storm. In the last week I made one quilt top from Turning Twenty Again. All it needs are it's borders and then the quilting and binding done. I picked up the border fabric yesterday now I just need to put it on. I also have been working really hard on one of my UFO's. This is ready to have the backing pieced and then I can put it on the frame and quilt away. I have the bindings made already for both quilts. I just keep on sewing as if I'm obsessed. The next project up is a scrap quilt which will be a first for me. As soon as I get the cutting directions I'm ready to cut and start piecing.

The picture is of the UFO done completely in Southwestern fabrics. I bought this fabric 10 years ago while on a trip to Arizona to visit my sister Karen. Jen and Mike were engaged and I knew I wanted to make them a quilt for a wedding present. They both liked Southwestern colors so I chose these to make an unconventional double wedding ring quilt. I had purchsed so much fabric that not only did I make the wedding quilt but I had tons left over. It sat in my stash for years and since my bedroom has a somewhat Southwestern theme I decided to use it for my quilt. The flying geese panels had been made and just sitting so the other night I dug it all out and didn't go to bed until the top was finished. I promise a picture when it's completed with quilting and it's binding attatched.

Holly's Wallhanging UFO Finished

Quite sometime ago I made a wallhanging for the wall infront of Murphy's dishes. I thought just because he's a dog doesn't mean he should stare at a blank wall while he eats dinner. I had purchased enough fabric and an extra panel and I kept promising my Granddog Holly that I would make her one too. So here we are years later and I came across her panel with the borders and the binding all cut and ready to go. Tonight I decided it was finally time to finish off this UFO. It just so happened that Holly was here with me tonight while I was sewing. I didn't quite get it done before she went home but I'll drop it off for her tomorrow night.

I think it turned out really cute and I even changed it from what Murphy's looked like. I decided to border Holly's in orange so that it would go with the quilt that her Mom, Jen has hanging on the wall in the kitchen. I even did free motion quilting on the wallhanging. Then when I was finished I wanted to personalize it just a little bit more so I decided to embroider by hand a special title on the top. So here it is and it's called "HOLLY'S DINER:. I think it turned out really neat and I can't wait to see it hanging on her wall.

Apron, UFO Finish

Quite a while back I had the bright idea to use these fabrics to make another apron for work. I used all the charm squares I had and then realized that I still needed a pocket on the apron so the apron sat unfinished. I have this thing about having a pocket in everything. Another UFO in my stack of UFO's. A couple of weeks ago I was at Jen's and we were straightening out her sewing studio and she came across the fabrics that I had used in my apron in her scraps. She gathered them all together and told me to take them home and make a pocket so I could use that apron. It took me probably less than 5 minutes to add the pocket and declare the apron finished. It feels great to be finishing up UFO's and getting them out of my stash. One more down but many more to go.

Does anyone out there have a thing about pockets like I do? Maybe it was the era I was brought up in. You always had to have a hankie or a kleenex in your pocket just incase you needed it. I mean how could I use an apron that didn't have a pocket to hold a kleenex? What if I needed to sneeze or blow my nose and I reached for a kleenex and I didn't have one because I didn't have a pocket? What if I needed a place to put a pen and again I had no pocket. Life just isn't complete unless you have pockets...........

Anniversary Half Apron - Start to Finish

Well I've got another start to finish to share with you for this week. I am in true awe of myself and all the sewing that I've done this past week. Something has to be wrong with me. Anyway tomorrow is the 3rd Anniversary of The Patched Works. We're have a big celebration weekend and since I work tomorrow I thought I'd make myself a new apron for the occasion. I used one of the new summer lines we have in the shop. Next time I'd make it a tad wider but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Update on my cupcake placemats.

I delivered the placemats to my sister Kitty last night and she'll hand them off to the special little girls I made them for. Everyone liked them so much and now I can't wait to make some extra ones to have on hand. We laid them out different ways so there are some table runners in my future too.

Cup Cake Placemats, Start to Finish

Back when we were on retreat in Ohio I was able to buy this great pattern in the quilt shop that Jill and Linda work at. I picked up great fabric to use for the frosting on the cupcakes at our shop last week. Monday night I started to make these great cupcakes for two of my Great Nieces, Cassidy and McKenzie. It's so much fun making things for little ones. The pattern was very easy to follow and I can't wait to make more of them to put aside for gifts and maybe even a table runner. I did some free motion quilting on the frosting part of the cupcake and it really brought it to life. Next up a little straight stitching down the lines in the cupcake paper. Last night I made the leaves and they were just to be tacked down but I thought since they are going to get so much use I'd just go ahead and sew them down, add a little stitching on the leaves and then instead of making a yo yo to be the cherry on top I had these great big red buttons that I sewed on. I just know these are going to bring smiles to my Great Niece's and of course they are totally washable.

Pokey Little Puppy book, start to finish

About a week or two ago we got in the new line called The Pokey Little Puppy. I immediately bought the panel that turns into a Golden Book. So, last Friday when a group of us got together at Maureen's house to quilt I took along the panel. I've never made a fabric book before and after reading the directions realized that it wasn't going to be hard to do at all. This book is going to be sent to Ethan who is a very special little Great Nephew who happens to live in Arizona. Now I can't wait to find more panels and make a few more books. Ethan is 9 months old so I hope he enjoys chewing on the book, dragging it around and maybe even throwing it in his grandma's swimming pool. The good thing is it's totally washable and meant to be used, loved and abused. I can always make more........

Scrap Quilt UFO - DONE

A couple of years ago I got all kinds of scraps from one of our MODA lines. I just couldn't throw them away so I took them and thought I could make something out of them. I decided on the Split Rail Fence block and got 19 blocks out of the scraps. The fabric was like I said from Moda and it was called "Peace On Earth. Then I was able to get my hands on a little more fabric so that I could add borders and make one more block. I finished hand sewing the binding on last night so it's another UFO finish. It's not huge by any means but it's going to look great over the back of the sofa during the holidays.

One night last week I was able to go over to Jen's and load the quilt on the frame. I did most of it myself with only a little technical advice from YODA. I then quilted it with only a couple of thread breaks doing a large stipple. It is actually getting easier each time I use the frame. I'm even getting somewhat relaxed while I'm quilting.

Baby Hannah's quilt UFO finish

I've been busy busy sewing up a storm. This baby quilt I finished for my Great Niece that was born two weeks ago. Hannah is my Nephew Sean and his wife's Hennriets first little girl. She is certainly a cutie.

I had received this panel and the backing fabric and the binding when I was at retreat. When I first saw it I knew I just had to make it for Hannah. The front is a whimsical flower pot with big flowers and on the back is a butterfly fabric. The binding matches the front colors and it's purple with dots on it. I added the borders a while ago but all I needed to do was go to Jen's and put it on the frame and quilt away I had alot of fun quilting this one.

UFO Finish, Wall Hanging

I finished this top for a wall hanging when we were at retreat in April. Finally I put it on the quilt frame, quilted it and then put on the binding and hand stitched it down. I really like the colors.
One of these days I need to hang a quilt rack on the wall that I have so I get these wall hangings straight. I believe that sometimes this pattern is called Chinese Coins. Quick and easy to make and I would think you could make it all different sizes.

Start to finish Batik Tote Bag

The last time we all went to a sew in at the Patched Works I took along quite a few different pieces of batiks that I had. I knew I wanted to make one of my sisters a tote bag for helping me out. I pulled out all of the fabric and asked the ladies what combination they thought would look best and this is what we all came up with. I really like the colors on this bag and the picture just doesn't do it justice. The pattern is the all time favorite "Charm Party Tote".

I had so much fun making it and I was really happy that when I gave it to my sister she really liked it and changed her purse right away. I have so much fun making these totes. I think I'm turning into a bag lady.