Saturday, September 30, 2017

Rainbow Recap

Ending Orange

September has been a weird month for sewing - done in fits and spurts. 
I may not have done much, but I did devote some time to September's RSC color of orange.

A couple of Chunky Churn Dashes


Two Scrap Jar Stars


Filled in the gaps with green, blue, yellow, and black SJSs that were partially finished.

Scrap Jar Stars
Found RSC16 orange blocks that I am now finishing as leaders and enders

Buckeye Beauties
There was even a bit of orange in a "found" project this month.

Triangle Bliss
Head over to Angela's place, soscrappy, to see other Rainbow Scrap Challenge
participants did with orange this month.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Look What I Found!

Cleaning Benefits

There are many advantages to cleaning up your sewing room periodically. 
These were buried on the outer reaches of my Koala table.

RSC16 - April color
Buried since April of last year!
How convenient that there are a few more days left in September.
More Buckeye Beauty blocks are on my agenda.


Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Wildlife Wednesday

Pushme-Pullyou

Not sure I spelled that right, but that's what I thought of when I saw this
interesting critter on my deck last week.



I couldn't tell if it was coming or going.


I wonder what it will be when it grows up.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Progress!

Tuesday's Tasks

First, an update on Monday.  I needed a recovery day so I spent the entire day at the sewing machine.  I was able to get half the rows into twosies on the quilt I'm calling Triangle Bliss.

Triangle Bliss with potential back fabric
At that point I realized I was going to be short of the coral triangles in my original plan (there were only 16 to start with) which required a little revision that resulted in a large white space at the lower right so I added some HSTs at the bottom.  Then I thought maybe the top needed to balance so I'll take out a bit in the top two rows and add these:


This quilt was inspired by a quilt in Fons & Porters Quilting Quickly, May-June 2015.

Selkie
The video tutorial mentioned at the bottom of the photo is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feOcEVq7hL4.

After a day of happy sewing, I was ready to get back to the studio rearrangement today.  Mr. Hillside decided to go ahead and move his desk even though the chair pad to go on the upstairs carpet has not arrived.  As soon as he had all the major pieces out of the way, I moved the Koala table across the room.

My new workspace!
There's still a lot of surface detritus that needs to be relocated. I am determined to deal with it and not just shuffle it to another surface.  The area where the Koala table had been is now waiting for the quilt frame.


See that shop-vac on the right?  I've been vacuuming everywhere a piece of furniture leaves.  Even though I was trying to be careful, I forgot about the exhaust which resulted in this:


and this:


I should have known better!




Monday, September 25, 2017

Urban Renewal

What's going on in the studio?

For the nine years Queen Mother (invalid MIL) lived with us, my husband and I shared the basement -- Mr. Hillside for his architectural studio, and me for my quilting studio.  Poor Guy, he had to look at my mess all the time, but his side of the room wasn't much better.

I used the upstairs bridge for my "office," but also put a 10' quilting frame up there because it's the only place it would fit.  It's a long story why I didn't do anything with the frame for over 5 years.  My bad!

Now that QM is no longer with us, we have been plotting and planning how we can take over the master suite.  In the meantime, I suggested that since DH is recently retired and eventually we will no longer occupy the upstairs bedroom, he could move HIS office to the bridge and I could have the entire basement!  Don't you think that is a VERY logical (and fair) argument?

However, it's like rearranging dominoes.  You have to move something out in order to move something in, a maddeningly slow process.  We've also pulled all of the QM's things out of storage, trying to make decisions on what we will keep and what to part with.  That, in itself, is hard.

The whole house is a pile of clutter -- stacks and boxes for a yard sale, things waiting for SIL to choose what she wants to keep, items in transit from upstairs to basement and vice versa.


We ARE making progress, though.  The lift went to a pediatric neurological nurse, the hospital bed went to a 90+ woman aging at home, the push chair went to our church for emergencies, the potty chair and walker went to Goodwill, the stand-assist recliner went to Habitat Re-Store, the power wheelchair went back to a medical supply company for parts, and we have a buyer for the HC accessible van!


1-800-GOT-JUNK came to pick up the loveseat and console TV from the QM suite (plus some other junk from around the house); now the room is almost ready for repairs and redecorating.  Happy to report we have finally found a general contractor who will answer our calls and who can do all the little things we need done to get this house ready to sell.  Whew!

So, back to the studio.  The Koala table has been smalled down to its basic size, ready to roll across the room.


The quilt frame, resized to 5' will go where the Koala table has been. 

Grace Pinnacle Frame currently in master bedroom
I will be ordering a new Block Rockit 15 to go on the frame!  And I think the smaller size of the frame and larger size of the machine will make it more likely that I will use it -- that and justifying the extra cost ;-0

One oak book case has been placed on the left side of the fireplace.


All my extraneous bits and packages of batting have already been relocated so that they will be readily accessible to the quilt frame that will go next to it.  The matching bookcase is on the other side of the fireplace.


Right now it's just loaded with stuff, but this bookcase will eventually hold works in progress.  Hubby's old conference table has been moved in front of the windows.


There is room to work on both sides so that I can use it to trim quilts for binding or layer the sandwich for quilting.  The Koala table will go where Mr. H's workstation is now.


We're hoping the new floor mat will arrive Monday so that he can relocate his desk to the bridge, along with his computer, printer, and plotter.  Then I can finally settle back in and start sewing again.


Sunday, September 24, 2017

Scrappy Sunday

Out of the Mounds of Mess

This has been a very frustrating week, dealing with internet issues and trying to stay one step ahead of Mr. Hillside in our urban renewal project (more on that later).

I was raised in the school that you vacuum behind the furniture when you move it, and you wash the windows when you have access to them.  But Mr. H moves things in the dark of night and "thoughtfully" puts heavy iron tables in front of dirty windows.  Bless his heart.

Needless to say, I haven't had much stitching time this week.  But, it's been interesting.

I started with a bag of paired solid triangles.



Frankly, I have no recollection of where/when/how I acquired this bag of triangles!  But it floated to the top as I was moving things for the studio revisions.  There were six different solids already paired with Kona White.  Talk about mindless sewing.


Trimmed on my kitchen counter ...


... and organized on paper plates.  Over 300 pairs trimmed to 2-1/2" ...


... and positioned on my new design wall.

That's as scrappy as I could get this week.  Linking up with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.


Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Killing Time

Mindless Sewing

In between the frustration of no internet and the urban renewal going on in my sewing studio, I been doing some mindless sewing.

Half Square Triangles
Somewhere along the line I inherited / picked up / stole a zip-bag full of half-square triangle pairs.

My kitchen bar cutting station
I've been trimming these every night while dinner cooks.  Six different solids -- dark gray, dark green, peach, gold, and two shades of aqua -- all paired with what appears to be Kona Snow.


Trimmed to 2-1/2", they will finish at 2".  There will be at least 250 of these little gems when I'm done.  At 2" it will take a lot more to make a quilt of any size.  I think I've found a pattern where I can use what I have and fill in with plain snow white.

Stay tuned!

Oh, I forgot to say it was a MOUSE that ate the soap!  Maybe it talked back to its mother.  That was the punishment for me when I was young -- mouth washed out with soap.  Only happened once, believe me!!

Wildlife Wednesday

Rare and Endangered

I was going to show a picture of a Comcast/Xfinity technician/repairman when, wouldn't you know, we were fully functional at 8 a.m. when he called to say he was on his way.  Since we had been functional throughout the night, we assumed everything was fixed and cancelled the call.

So why am I sitting in McDonald's right now, doing this post?


Guess what rare and endangered species took a bite out of this handmade soap.  (Answer in the next post.)

Monday, September 18, 2017

Internet Trouble

Just wanted to let my loyal readers know I'm OK.  Just haven't had reliable internet connections the last few days.  What little time I'm able to get online, I'm busy responding to email and checking other blogs.

Comcast is coming Wednesday.  I hope to be back to normal operation soon thereafter.


Thursday, September 14, 2017

Please Adopt Me #2

Fall Orphan Adoption Event
September 14th, 2017 through September 16th, 2017


Adoption is closed.  Winner has been notified.

Once again Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework is hosting the semi-annual

I have three orphan projects up for adoption, so please be sure to check my other related posts.

#2 - 4-Patch Posey Blocks

I made these blocks as a class demonstration.


4-Patch Posey is a kaleidoscope technique.  


Blocks are cut from a stack of four identical fabric repeats.


There are 14 different blocks that will finish at 6".


Extra fabric is included for blocks or borders.


Quality Free Spirit Fabric by Westminster.


If you would like to adopt this UFO, leave a comment telling me what you plan to do with it.

PLEASE, include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!


I will ship to US only.

Winner will be chosen by random drawing Sunday night, September 17, 2017

Please Adopt Me #3

Fall Orphan Adoption Event
September 14th, 2017 through September 16th, 2017


Adoption is closed.  Winner has been notified.

Once again Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework is hosting the semi-annual

I have three orphan projects up for adoption, so please be sure to check my other related posts.

#3 - Winter Panel

I know I'll never get around to using this panel so thought I'd pass it along.


Nice quality fabric, it measures 24" x 44".


"Sleigh Ride" by John Sloane for Wilmington Prints.



If you would like to adopt this UFO, leave a comment telling me what you plan to do with it.

PLEASE, include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!


I will ship to US only.

Winner will be chosen by random drawing Sunday night, September 17, 2017

Please Adopt Me #1

Fall Orphan Adoption Event
September 14th, 2017 through September 16th, 2017


Adoption is closed.  Winner has been notified.

Once again Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework is hosting the semi-annual

I have three orphan projects up for adoption, so please be sure to check my other related posts.

#1 - Soft Book Panels

I thought these cute panels would make a fun soft book for a baby.  The baby just turned 13! 


I set them at jaunty angles with lots of bright scraps


They have been backed with stabilizer.


There are 8 total; they measure 5-3/4" x 7-1/4".

If you would like to adopt this UFO, leave a comment telling me what you plan to do with it.

PLEASE, include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you when you win!


I will ship to US only.

Winner will be chosen by random drawing Sunday night, September 17, 2017

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Wildlife Wednesday

Eviction Notice Served

This little critter was desperately trying to make his way up the stairs
from the studio to the main floor.

Tree Frog
I have no clue how it got in the house.

I included the leaf in the picture so you could see how little it is.

(I guess it's time to powerwash the deck, huh?)


Monday, September 11, 2017

Catching Up

And Moving Forward

After I assembled the two orange Scrap Jar Stars for September's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I realized I had pieces and parts in the box for some earlier month's colors.  So yesterday I finished another blue and another green SJS.









I decided to throw all of the blocks on the wall to see if I'm even close to having a complete quilt.



Three more blocks will give me a 4x5 setting.  That would be 48" x 60" without sashing or borders.  I have pieces/parts to make another yellow star.


I want to make another mixed-colors-on-black star. Then October's RSC color would make 20!  Just in time to assemble the quilt at Mountain Quilt Camp.  Haven't decided if I'll add sashing between the blocks.  I sorta like the white frame that forms at the intersection of the blocks set together.  If any readers have made one of these quilts with sashing, I'd like to see a picture.

So I'll be making the yellow this Monday.  And linking with Monday Making.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Evacuation

Taking what's critical

My sister-in-law evacuated from Savannah yesterday and headed to her mountain cabin in western North Carolina.  She took meds, important documents, and this.

Cardinal Christmas

I made this for her in 2015.  I'm honored she included it in her prized possessions!




Scrappy Saturday

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for September is
ORANGE

I've long been a fan of orange, have even gone through several "orange phases."
So I assumed I would have plenty of orange scraps.  NOT!

My few minutes of found sewing time this week
resulted in two Scrappy Churn Dash blocks ...

Chunky Churn Dash
... and a couple of Scrap Jar Stars.

Scrap Jar Star - 1
Scrap Jar Star - 2
Granted, the SJSs need some assembly.  The centers are sewn.

The thing that has fascinated me about the RSC this year is the discovery/discernment
of the various shades in each month's color.

Thanks, Angela, for hosting the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I hope you remain safe from Irma.