Archive for February, 2018
February 25th, 2018 - The Sewing Room
Just a quick post. I’ve been working on a real oldie BOM from LizzieBCrea8ive called Piece, Love, & Applique. It’s very time consuming as I have to do some applique on every block. And on my mother’s machine. Oh how I miss my Bernina. I should hear something this week. This BOM would have taken less time if I did it every month when I originally purchased it.  I will post pictures when I’m done. Right now I’m up to Block 7, halfway done. I didn’t include it in my stash report but once again when I’m finished I will do the math. I did cut out some sashing for another old BOM where I actually have the finished blocks.
Fabric used this week: 2.46 yards
Fabric used YTD: 26.97 yards
Fabric added this week: 43.14 yards
Fabric added YTD: 43.14 yards
Net fabric busted: -16.17 yards
In the sewing room, I’ve been sewing almost every day. I managed to sew for a total of 30.5 hours with no sewing at all on Saturday. I took my grandkids to a birthday party for my great nephews and I was just too tired to do any sewing after that. I will certainly make up for it today.
I’m linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life In Pieces for the stash report and 15 Minutes to Sew. Have a wonderful week.
February 18th, 2018 - This Week in My Sewing Room
I feel like I haven’t done anything since I finished “On Ringo Lake”. I think because that quilt was really intense, meaning large, nothing can compare to it. Anyway, upon looking back, I did make 48 blocks, sailboats and chain blocks, as a block exchange for an upcoming retreat. And then I decluttered my cutting table. I must remember to do that every time I finish a quilt. Right!
I did purchase some fabric for the retreat blocks as I do not have any white on white fabric. I can’t believe it but I used most of it in On Ringo Lake.  And this is what my numbers look like this week.
Fabric used this week: 2.64 yards
Fabric used YTD: 24.51 yards
Fabric added this week: 6.5 yards
Fabric added YTD: 43.14 yards
Net fabric busted: -18.63 yards
Here’s my On Ringo Lake quilt top. The setting triangles need trimming but that can be done when I decide to quilt it. I need to figure out a backing. I have a piece of fabric, 5 yards and I need 5.5 yards so I will need to do some piecing.
And here’s my regatta. I also made 24 chain blocks but never thought to take a picture of them. These were supposed to be batiks but the person running this retreat said as long as they were brights, she was fine with that. What I made out of batiks was the boats and the masts.
On the 15 Minutes to Sew challenge, I’ve done pretty good this week. I managed to sew 31 hours. Sometimes I can’t believe how much I sew.
I’m linking up with Kate at Life In Pieces for the 15 Minutes to Sew  and Donna at QuiltPaintCreate for the stash report.
Have a great week!
February 11th, 2018 - My Week in the Sewing Room
Well, it’s been a good week. No emergencies of any kind! I took my mother to the doctor for a follow up appointment and she was good. Blood pressure was still in the low range and her breathing and O2 levels are great. No specialist required. Except for her early January hospital stay. She finally gets to see the surgeon on Tuesday. Hopefully all will be good there. Who wants to go through another colonoscopy after having colon cancer treatment. Not her! She said she’s tired of the whole thing and I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. We will see.
On the fabric front, last week I purchased a load of flannel and it’s all washed up, ready to be used as backings. I need to cut it up because I have no place to put it. All the drawers are full and to think I needed to buy more. I’m a little OCD in the matching department and it has to at least go with the front of the quilt for me to use it. No using the wrong shade green or blue for me.
I managed to cut out 2 jelly roll quilts, one for my sister and one for me because I liked her colour choices. I’ve never made a jelly roll quilt before. Now I want to make another one. These are great as comfort quilts because they are super fast and easy but still really nice when you pick the right colours. My go-to quilt pattern for comfort quilts is Simply Squares and now I think it’s a jelly roll quilt.
I’m linking up with Donna at QuiltPaintCreate for my stash report.
Fabric used this week: 8.54 yards
Fabric used YTD: 22.87 yards
Fabric added this week and YTD: 36.64 yards
Net fabric busted: -14.77 yards
I’ve been sewing most days except for Thursday and Saturday. But looking at my total hours, it doesn’t really matter. I had appointments on Thursday and the grandkids on Saturday and they are still here as I write this. Friday I sewed for 9.5 hours, trying to get On Ringo Lake done. And it’s not done but will be this week. I don’t like to start another project until the one I’m working on is done. So the push is on because I’m going crazy with all these ideas and patterns and fabric to create something new.
I’m linking up with Kate at LifeinPieces for 15 Minutes to Stitch.
Sewing or related activities Sunday to Wednesday : 16 hours
Sewing on Friday: 9.5 hours
Total hours: 25.5 hours
Oh and I had a call about my sewing machine. Apparently it needs a spring that controls the feed dogs and then the tech can see why it doesn’t zigzag on the right once he replaces the spring. So far $7.50 for the spring and $140- for the cleaning/service. I hope it is just a timing issue. Fingers crossed!
February 6th, 2018 - Jelly Roll Flimsy
And here it is, the Jelly Roll Flimsy. All ready to be quilted.
Linking up with Freemotion Quilting by the River. I hope I did that right.
February 5th, 2018 - Jelly Roll Quilts
Here’s what I learned about making a Jelly Roll Quilt.
#1 Make sure you sew all the fabric with right sides up. Apparently I sewed one strip right side up on one end and the wrong side up on the other end.
#2 When using only 20 fabrics, with 2 strips of each colour, change up the order of the second set of strips.
#3 Before sewing the first long, long seam, make sure your strips are not twisted at all. Boy when I got to the last couple of strips, I couldn’t even sew them together because it was a so twisted. I had to cut the end to finish sewing.
#4 Have fun pressing when it’s all done. I should have pressed half way through just to make it more manageable. But then again, it might have been too long for the ironing board.
 Here’s the body of the quilt. All it needs now is a couple of borders and it’s a done deal. Well plus the quilting part of it.
February 5th, 2018 - Buyer Beware
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I bought a couple of bolts of flannel at Joann fabrics. I always measure my fabric before I wash it to check for shrinkage. The bolts are marked as 8 yards. Never assume that there are 8 yards on the bolt. The last one I measured was short a few inches. After washing it, it’s going to be short more than a few. Anyway, moral of the story is, always have the bolts measured. Don’t ever assume the label is correct. I was thinking of emailing Joanns but this isn’t worth it. Next time I buy a bolt, I will be getting it measured.
February 4th, 2018 - The Stash
Well, I didn’t post last week due to my mom being hospitalized. She ended up having pneumonia but her symptoms were so weird. On Saturday, she was so confused, not a normal thing and she ended up in the ER. She had really low blood pressure, a slight fever and this confusion which cleared up once the EMTs got her outside. I immediately started thinking gas leak but they assured me that it wasn’t that. Besides she has monitors in the house. Anyway, the ER did their tests and she had pneumonia in her lower left lung, the silent kind. Boy did she dodge a bullet there!  And still with no indicators that she has pneumonia. She is on the mend, back home where she wants to be.
I did manage to do a lot of hand stitching while she was in hospital. I finished the third panel of Cool Guys and now I’m on the fourth and final piece. Hopefully this will go much faster and won’t languish in the bag for another year. My “One Hour to Sew’ this past week is a little down, only 17 hours of sewing with most of that done in hospital. The week before I managed to sew for 30.5 hours. Still trying to finish On Ringo Lake. It’s taking forever and I really, really want to be done and work on something else! I hope to get it done in the next day or two.
My stash took a giant hit yesterday. Hubby and I went over to Detroit to pick up a few parcels at MyDetroitAddress and decided to check out Joanns to see if there were any deals. I couldn’t believe how much flannel I got! It was one of those “Start the car” deals. I bought 36 plus yards of flannel for $91., that’s about $2.50 per yard. And I couldn’t believe I even found any to buy. Usually the selection is so picked over, you have to get bits and pieces to make up enough for a backing. I use the flannel for backings for comfort quilts that 2 friends and I make for people with life altering illnesses. This makes it easier to give away 12 to 15 quilts a year.
Here is my numbers for the last 2 weeks
Fabric used this week: 1 yard
Fabric used YTD: 14.33 yards
Fabric added this week: 36.64 yards
Fabric added YTD: 36.64 yards
Net stash busted: -22.31 yards
I am going on a sewing/quilting retreat the first weekend in March and my sister is coming too. She has never quilted before and this should be interesting. Anyway, I’m cutting up a jelly roll for her to sew her first quilt. All black, grey and white with a black and red border. It’s going to be gorgeous! That will bring those numbers up and I will be cutting up some backings once I get that flannel washed up. Next week’s report will be looking good!
I’m linking up with Donna for the stash report at QuiltPaintCreate and with Kate at Life-in-Pieces for !5 Minutes to Sew.