tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28834931228994525802024-03-05T16:35:04.213-06:00Sew Much For Free TimeSew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-11319188143485959972021-03-21T11:06:00.001-05:002021-03-21T11:06:33.273-05:00Project Quilting 12.6 - Ab Intra (From Within)Project Quilting Season 12 has come to an end. I cant beleive that we are at the end of March already! Participating in these challenges, seeing the first 12 weeks of the year as "challenge weeks" and "off weeks" has a way of making time move really fast. Or, maybe just differently. As always, it's been fun to be a part of PQ. I enjoy the structure, the challenges and the creativity, as well as the community.
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This week, Trish challenged us to <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/03/12-6-abintra-challenge-6-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">look within ourselves</a> and create something that represented who we are, or the creative spark that makes us each unique. I don't know why, but as soon as I read the challenge, I kept hearing/thinking "My life is an open book." The phrase popped up in several contexts throughout the first part of the week. Mid-week, I was sitting on the couch in the evening, with no energy or motivation to do anything other than scroll...and I happened across a random post featuring a fabric book. There was the inspiration I needed.
I pulled several fabrics before bed that night, heaped them on the sewing room table, and went to bed. I didn't touch them again until late Saturday afternoon.
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This project breaks one of my fundamental, personal Project Quilting Rules. I have always tried to make things that were "useful" during the challenges, so that I wouldn't be stuck with "Stuff" sitting around. I have a really hard time making, just to make. That's kind of paralyzing at times, and it's probably why I put off working on this challenge until the last 24 hours! I have this arbitrary "rule" and several others I impose on my life, that really do go against my true nature. These rules, and trying to follow them, are what often cause me the most anxiety and stress in my life. They keep me from being me, sometimes, and make me feel less than I am. It was kind of hard to get this project done, because it meant breaking a rule - and that's how life in general feels, lately. Like I'm doing the wrong thing, when I'm doing the things that feel right.
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I filled this little fabric book with the words I know to be true, and the words I want to live by. Not the rules I think I need to follow, but the words that speak to the me I am when nobody/nothing else is putting demands on me or my time or my energy. I created quick little mini quilts filled with fabrics and images that represent both these phases and the best things in my life.
For the few hours it took to create this little book, I was reminded what it felt like to just let go and create. No plan, no rules, no purpose other than the process. I don't know what I"ll do with this book, but that's kind of the point. I need to remember that I don't always have to have a plan. This sweet little object can just exist to be a reminder that its OK to just. be. This is me, ab intra.
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Thank you to <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/03/12-6-abintra-challenge-6-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Kim</a> and Trish for another amazing season. It was fun to be part of the record breaking year. I'm so grateful to have won a couple of prizes this year, and I'm going to treat my self to a PQ hoodie this afternoon! Can't wait for Lucky Season 13!!Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-79743337852387657822021-03-06T18:03:00.001-06:002021-03-06T18:03:10.730-06:00Project Quilting 12.5 - You're CrazyThis week's Project Quilting Theme spotlights ome of the most classic and recognizable forms of traditional quitlng, The Crazy Quillt. I have always been fascinated by Crazy Quilts, the women who made them and the fabrics they were made from. Making something beautiful from bits and pieces in order to preserve memories AND end up with a funnctional quilt totally appeals to every part of my nature. Crazy quilts just get me, I guess. I spent the first part of the week thinking that I would create some crazy quilt style panels to put on a repurosed sweatshirt that my husband threw out a while ago. I am craving a quilted jacket, and thought I'd test the waters with a faux-quilted sweatshirt cardigan. I had a vision, but, as the week went on I realized I would need more time than the challenge alloted to make something I'd actually wear. And, I have my own PQ rule that I can't buy anything new for challenge pieces. I WILL make that sweatshirt cardigan...but I"m going to buy some fun new fabrics for it!
At some point, mid-week, I read a comment that Kim, founder of Project Quilting, posted in response to a participant. She said something like, "You can really go down the rabbit hole with this challenge!" It was one of those "flashbulb" moments I reember learning about in one psychology class or another. In an instant, I had a commplete idea of what I wanted to do for the challenge! And, it pretty much turned out exactly like that vision!
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I started by pulling out some vintage pillowcases that I have held onto for a while, some old lace and ric rac, and a bunch of low volume scraps. Isn't it a pretty pile?
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It took a little time to make this "slab" quilt as you go style, but it sure was fun! I am sure I was't doing this the "right" way, as I frequently ran into corners and odd angles where "stitch and flip" didn't work. I wasn't too concerned. I just folded raw edges over and sewed on top when that happened. And, I had thoughts of going over those spots with some decorative stitches either by machine or hand. That would have been amazing...but, I got so excited to see the bunny that I totally forgot!
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The hardest part, honestly, was deciding which part of the slab the bunny should be cut from. There were so many spots that I loved, either because of the fabrics or the trims. I actually debated turning the whole slab into a pillow because I didn't want to cut it! But, that bunny needed to come to life, and I guess she needed to have that little embroided song bird on her tummy.
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Since there was a lot of crazy quilted goodness left, I decided that some easter eggs would be fun. The eggs and the bunny are all backed with pieces of a vintage quilt that I bought with the intention of using it as a cutter quilt. The quilt is lovely. It's an appliqued rose basket motif and beautifly hand quilted. Much of the red/deep pink that was used for the baskets and flowers is gone or badly frayed, but the green vines are in a bit better shape. It was very stained when I bought it from a friend who specializes in estate sale clean up, but it cleamed up very well with just a gently cycle wash and dry. It was hard to cut into the quilt, it really was. But, it's so damaged that noone but me woujld use it on a bed (and there's just a little too much resigual odor left for me to do that). I will get probably 75 small projects out of this quilt, probably more, which means that it willl be loved and appreciated by many more people than if my firend had just stashed it or used it as pet bedding. So, before I cut into it I thanked the quilter who created it, promised her I'd make lovely things out of it, then turned it around to cut the on the plain side beccause somehow that made me less sad. I like to think that the quilter's spirit approves of her handmade legacy living on.
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And acutally, that quilter's creative spirit might have stuck around a while after I finished the bunny and eggs, because I started crafting and didn't stop! I painted, cut, glued crafted by little heart out all day and all night and some of the next day, too! I even worked up the nerve to cut a little bit more of that quilt, and I LOVE it.
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I suspect that more than one member of my household watched my craft marathon and the small mountain of resulting projects and had a really tough time NOT saying "You're Crazy." They don't get it, and aren't even a bit impressed when I hold up a project and tell them how much it would have cost if I had bought it at a shop. Oh well. If this is what craxy looks like, I'll take it. I'm in good company.
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CHeck out all the rest of the <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/02/12-5-youre-crazy-challenge-5-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">crazy quilter's projects over at Persimon Dreams</a>.Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-16909840654366168792021-02-20T22:46:00.002-06:002021-02-20T22:47:56.161-06:00Project Quilting 12.4 - Snail Trail<p> I almost didn't start a project for this week's Project Quilting Challenge. All week, I just didn't feel like sewing or crafting. I did a bit here and there...a few blocks for a baby clothes quilt I'm making (for an acquaintance)... </p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5YubbD4QPNM3LBJ17Av84F4Hq40TMMYQFt49VGs4tBpbW5XObdCbziXmAfLgcHeU5XwkKT8-0Z0dnsFcY7gVVV3MiFq9ze6dBpOJesdc4MJ6xwQUPiTUB4ELxZchNdcGG3ljKZM-XoCK/s4032/PXL_20210221_031559144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5YubbD4QPNM3LBJ17Av84F4Hq40TMMYQFt49VGs4tBpbW5XObdCbziXmAfLgcHeU5XwkKT8-0Z0dnsFcY7gVVV3MiFq9ze6dBpOJesdc4MJ6xwQUPiTUB4ELxZchNdcGG3ljKZM-XoCK/w480-h640/PXL_20210221_031559144.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I decided to keep a few of the owner's baby clothes as is for this memory quilt. The dresses and little boy jammies are just too cute to cut up! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>and playing around with an idea for spool carrots for my Easter mantel. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kghyphenhyphenLJbbgWV1HKHoQkHxXefQPqFDwYt6FdbpbsaakRxprxNrd9vh-GhxgN2odkbEx8Iikg-lDncT5qgbQhWMKWKgMd8pyZyxNdeHy2CgOyMzOEUhDmtxKhzzIw2aB1ANsemzlx32HMy2/s4032/PXL_20210221_032005520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kghyphenhyphenLJbbgWV1HKHoQkHxXefQPqFDwYt6FdbpbsaakRxprxNrd9vh-GhxgN2odkbEx8Iikg-lDncT5qgbQhWMKWKgMd8pyZyxNdeHy2CgOyMzOEUhDmtxKhzzIw2aB1ANsemzlx32HMy2/w480-h640/PXL_20210221_032005520.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are still a work in progress, but I'm kind of smitten! Primitive spool carrots! Swoon!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>But, several nights I just sat on the couch after dinner and looked at pictures of other people's sewing and crafting projects. It was a long week at school. Inside recesses, standardized testing, substitute teachers...all of those in the same week make things trickier than usual in my Special Ed world. Actually, my trickiest kiddos all had a really good week, but some of my "easy" kids picked up the slack. Things just felt off balance all week, and with a migraine Tuesday through Friday...I had no interest in sewing. I kept an eye on everybody else's "snail trail inspired" challenge pieces as they were being posted and hashtagged. I thought maybe inspiration would strike and I'd find my sew-jo and start a project around mid-week. It didn't. </p><p>On Friday night I decided I'd just make a few snail trail blocks and see where things went. I pulled burgundy and gold (mustard yellow) scraps and made a few 4 squares. The colors were inspired by our trip to Chicago last weekend to visit the Loyola University campus. I am thinking my daughter's wardrobe is going to be heavily populated by those colors in the next few months, as it's looking like that's where she's going to school!! There are still two other possibilities, but, we all liked the Loyola campus, and it just felt like someplace she belonged. She has loved Chicago since she was a little girl, and has thought about going to college there since she started high school. Loyola offers the Chicago experience without being right down town. So, I'm feeling pretty good about the possibilities.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpBJ1iiHbgJwH2I9U_KDkYDSQJo05P3fMP3LUcz_CXumZXR_eScSO1Ls0yEE62Yk9FRmaOJJfKKg2IZ_tqtEdhw142gqt8rw3WJh4onvyEXUbUoPYUO5bLtGghHrY0aenpZex8SXqvzib/s4032/PXL_20210219_035059506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpBJ1iiHbgJwH2I9U_KDkYDSQJo05P3fMP3LUcz_CXumZXR_eScSO1Ls0yEE62Yk9FRmaOJJfKKg2IZ_tqtEdhw142gqt8rw3WJh4onvyEXUbUoPYUO5bLtGghHrY0aenpZex8SXqvzib/s320/PXL_20210219_035059506.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>On Saturday morning, I looked up a couple of snail trail patterns and tutorials. I couldn't find measurements that fit my blocks or my scrap sizes...so...I kind of winged it. I laid my 4-square patch on my mat along one of the diagonal lines to see how big my triangles for the next "round" needed to be. Then I cut squares accordingly, cutting those squares on the diagonal. It worked, more or less. My blocks were a little wonky, but, since I didn't really have a plan yet, I wasn't too worried. It was fun to figure things out as I went along. The block is kind of, but I don't think I'd ever make a quilt worth of them! It's been a while since I've made actual quilt blocks, and I had forgotten how laborious cutting, pressing, trimming, squaring up, etc. can be! These four squares took me a couple hours!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8WbaRAw3aPEXYKlM_sBdW9YQtsQCGI4px6lNN7Rs_krnk19gYgPRCzgg30dey3zai-uWEPRohV6WYp9vQTz_TMa5nxB-lGGhCMRoCR5pE5i2ODGDKUnF1sQtkgyWZWqaccwTtvmDQ3i5/s4032/PXL_20210220_185022423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX8WbaRAw3aPEXYKlM_sBdW9YQtsQCGI4px6lNN7Rs_krnk19gYgPRCzgg30dey3zai-uWEPRohV6WYp9vQTz_TMa5nxB-lGGhCMRoCR5pE5i2ODGDKUnF1sQtkgyWZWqaccwTtvmDQ3i5/s320/PXL_20210220_185022423.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>While I might never make a snail trail quilt, I think I WILL try spiral quilting again! It was perfect for this little mini quilt and it was SO fast! I love the way it looks on the front and the back, too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvmL0CvpKpFUNisZGQUfBtBKpHbtT_AYRLCbX3y-MC3wlQhvQRVpqK7ftsoFRVPDxu-9IVDqw6p2AlsyRvqe_Hsm8NNhGjPWlMPpu5fAP5d4d4F8wk1BaVQRMmfW0hfFG_sWWjBSioywQ/s4032/PXL_20210221_023620594.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvmL0CvpKpFUNisZGQUfBtBKpHbtT_AYRLCbX3y-MC3wlQhvQRVpqK7ftsoFRVPDxu-9IVDqw6p2AlsyRvqe_Hsm8NNhGjPWlMPpu5fAP5d4d4F8wk1BaVQRMmfW0hfFG_sWWjBSioywQ/w480-h640/PXL_20210221_023620594.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>As I was cutting my binding, I was dreading the joining step. It always takes me a few tries and on such a small project, I just wasn't feeling like putting in that much effort. I remembered seeing how someone used a bit of ribbon to cover where the binding ends meet, and decided I would try that. But, Instead of ribbon, I thought I'd put a little message in the binding for my daughter. I remembered a text print that I'd used on the back of a t-shirt quilt several years ago. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hvlXPQQsFxO6nRUtrEqL75ecAcGypdjcyAF1TQs9b9lI0mkD8QxGAcuqHgn3NZSYmR7JiNap_yDbX743eYRKGkoJGn5BV0KaYJav-xAPpd32yv-zIoIXnl5N6n14QHZfz173qBw3u11-/s4032/PXL_20210221_041525455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hvlXPQQsFxO6nRUtrEqL75ecAcGypdjcyAF1TQs9b9lI0mkD8QxGAcuqHgn3NZSYmR7JiNap_yDbX743eYRKGkoJGn5BV0KaYJav-xAPpd32yv-zIoIXnl5N6n14QHZfz173qBw3u11-/w300-h400/PXL_20210221_041525455.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>There were several words I could have used. "Persistence," "Wisdom," "Dream," "Accomplishments." But, "Possibilities" felt right. There are SO many possibilities open to her at this stage in her life, even if it feels like COVID takes something new away every week. She can use this as a large mug/snack rug, or a little wall quilt for her dorm room (fingers and crossed the world is somewhat normal by fall and she can move into a dorm room!). It will be a touch of home and a reminder that the world is FULL of possibilities.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknrAo2xHDfFKGA6mgz3SyC6Dn8WQ2KGTKsfp5j2yPsQOgMImoFoqRteK45EvaQ905PWk5blsSnchAGkQMd5nPkR775djZ0AUkR7AB78vS4xBkybZ5dpjwTRBHGIApYMqqF1q9T9TnjnJe/s4032/PXL_20210221_023747112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknrAo2xHDfFKGA6mgz3SyC6Dn8WQ2KGTKsfp5j2yPsQOgMImoFoqRteK45EvaQ905PWk5blsSnchAGkQMd5nPkR775djZ0AUkR7AB78vS4xBkybZ5dpjwTRBHGIApYMqqF1q9T9TnjnJe/w480-h640/PXL_20210221_023747112.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>I'm really glad I dug in and finished a project this week. Quilting, sewing and crafting are always the best therapy for me. I felt the balance returning and just felt happier as I worked. Plus, its such fun to be a part of the <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/02/12-4-snails-trail-challenge-4-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Project Quilting Challenges</a>. There have been more than 200 entries each week so far this year. Isn't that awesome? More than 600 new "quilts" are out there in the world because of PQ. I can't wait to see what everyone does this week with their snail trail inspired projects. Thanks Kim and Trish for another fun week! Can't believe we're more than half way done with the season!! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-91432336351279354222021-02-06T19:28:00.000-06:002021-02-06T19:28:32.845-06:00Project Quilting 12.3 - Virtual Vacation<p> I am SO in need of a vacation, and I have been, for a very long time. This time last year, I decided it was time to do something about the fact that we have not taken a trip to anywhere but a neighboring state since my teenagers were in elementary school. I planned a California vacation that would have taken us along a good stretch of the coast over our 10 day Spring Break in early April, 2020 "Planned" is kind of a loose term. "Daydreamed" might be more accurate. My youngest daughter (who has cystic fibrosis) had been facing many health challenges for the past year, and I dragged my feet actually making travel arrangements because I just wasn't sure she was going to be well enough for us to go. I had an itinerary and figured we'd wait until mid March to find flights and hotels and a rental car and just wing it. Ha! Mid-March had other plans! We spent the 10 days of Spring Break at home, like the rest of the world. Fortunately, I had NO money tied up in my imaginary vacation. We lost nothing and have had no nightmares related to re-scheduling like so many. Sometimes, hesitation pays!</p><p>A year later, I am still very much in need of a vacation. The snow and cold we're having here is Wisconsin have me longing for the warm sun, the sound of the ocean, sand under my feet and the sweet smell of flowers in the air. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvv25NH3ZT-N8Q0JRQb7k3Z2M3OR7byBeIsJ5z3HaEwzLqDYPo9kTnVitug3qaAjF-f0fLV7JNaD899tqP9e_37kY8Z0ZeG-SlA0HpexZ4P1zHXsqxBtUjhCXe4lpFI7RlTh_3uMbmuRdX/s4032/PXL_20210206_202456713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvv25NH3ZT-N8Q0JRQb7k3Z2M3OR7byBeIsJ5z3HaEwzLqDYPo9kTnVitug3qaAjF-f0fLV7JNaD899tqP9e_37kY8Z0ZeG-SlA0HpexZ4P1zHXsqxBtUjhCXe4lpFI7RlTh_3uMbmuRdX/w300-h400/PXL_20210206_202456713.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>I chose to make tropical flowers the focus of my <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/12-3-virtual-vacation-challenge-3-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Project Quilting</a> piece for this week's theme - Virtual Vacation. I thought about some specific destinations. But, the truth is, I'm not really picky at this point. My dream vacation right now is any place warm and tropical. I could have represented sand, sun and sea, but its the colors in the flowers that I'm craving most in our white covered world right now. </p><p> I cut the hibiscus flower shape from iron-on vinyl on my new Cricut. This is the first time I downloaded an image to use, and the first time I've used the heat transfer vinyl. There's a pretty steep learning curve involved in learning the ins and outs of the Cricut - or at east there is for me. So, incorporating the Cricut into this challenge piece helps meet my goal making one Cricut project per week until I feel like I know what I'm doing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9Gc_CB9__gmWJSWA_0JRgMm4MjtFIcfHDAA-SJIPD1LCh8G0IxzTw6wBbbE-axuVQxS6HrnUCHAZRTpIVkd1eGxDvVgsqZzFkvGQtRc-QnQxnEb8vmC9fFJ7_SQSn9kKnqQC4X7H6bDW/s4032/PXL_20210206_224937858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9Gc_CB9__gmWJSWA_0JRgMm4MjtFIcfHDAA-SJIPD1LCh8G0IxzTw6wBbbE-axuVQxS6HrnUCHAZRTpIVkd1eGxDvVgsqZzFkvGQtRc-QnQxnEb8vmC9fFJ7_SQSn9kKnqQC4X7H6bDW/w300-h400/PXL_20210206_224937858.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>It was really easy and fun to cut the shape and adhere it to my fabric. And I love the way it looks with the favorite print from my stash. It's been quite a while since I have sewn a zipper pouch. I had to look up a tutorial to refresh my memory, and even then, I put the zipper in backward on my first try. But, its all good.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sgyV7nktJjNxgjAD7DUv0zvVsHu82mjktuVxu-63iJ3ytcux3p17m0qs3aUCZfS3iFZIDCYQeIkapgFC_TeJWoMxTXdTG_g8OrdwheNAgsyuMqcSX8htNwklEOBbW4pwuj2WsDzeFu-6/s960/pouch+picture.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sgyV7nktJjNxgjAD7DUv0zvVsHu82mjktuVxu-63iJ3ytcux3p17m0qs3aUCZfS3iFZIDCYQeIkapgFC_TeJWoMxTXdTG_g8OrdwheNAgsyuMqcSX8htNwklEOBbW4pwuj2WsDzeFu-6/w480-h640/pouch+picture.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I ended up with a cute zipper pouch that says "Warm Weather Here I Come" and it will make the perfect bag to throw in my overnight tote this weekend when we finally take a vacation. To Chicago. For a walking tour of a college campus. In snow. And most likely single digit temperatures. Sigh. Someday, these feet will feel sand again.<p></p><p>Pop over to <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/12-3-virtual-vacation-challenge-3-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Kim's blog</a> to see all the marvelous places we Challenge Participants are dreaming of! Judging from the number of Hawaiian and beach themed projects, I think Kim and Trish should maybe plan a quilt retreat on Maui for 2022...ladies? You in?</p><p><br /></p>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-38836551712637700002021-01-24T10:16:00.000-06:002021-01-24T10:16:55.075-06:00Project Quilting 12.2 - Fussy Cut<p> When I think of fussy cutting, I think of novelty prints. From the projects that have already been linked up to this week's <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/12-2-fussy-cut-challenge-2-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Project Quilting Challenge</a>, I am learning that I need to expand my idea! There are so many different ways to interpret the technique! My stash is limited in novelty prints, so I went with a large floral print to use for the challenge. I can't remember how I acquired this Charming Circles ruler. I might have bought it at a quilt show. But, seems to remember that it was part of a swap package years ago. In any case, I've never used it, and this seemed like a good time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPXcqG_cJvQDKA-TstFJNBtQL7sbBNiQS0hed5WVgJXMTW96TvSAbv44ggWEGc9XI07JIDju4knPQH9t5nciRJVILKlKQ7WR1fyF1rm_lXxt742WyuXgxZuao1bGE2JM25OVyTOK-mceG/s4032/PXL_20210122_185841289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPXcqG_cJvQDKA-TstFJNBtQL7sbBNiQS0hed5WVgJXMTW96TvSAbv44ggWEGc9XI07JIDju4knPQH9t5nciRJVILKlKQ7WR1fyF1rm_lXxt742WyuXgxZuao1bGE2JM25OVyTOK-mceG/w300-h400/PXL_20210122_185841289.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Its a fun little tool! I learned that stretch denim is NOT the way to go when using it. And, I don't love my final project. There's not enough contrast between the floral and the denim. And, the flowers aren't oriented quite right. And it doesn't lay flat. It will probably be scrapped and turned into something else. Oh well! They can't all be winners! I had fun, I used a tool that had been sitting around and finally touched some of the denim scraps that have been in a basket for a LONG time! Wins all around. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9WWsuTqJiJkkA7JQndefTA-_61szJpMmGPXS4l-fERd52TSjTEDFtQ_da5dPQljWdf88qZD9Tm-RQGchxggb1KwrVLrSCqxxe15OowR-z3Ogco0Z7L2oXUGkbtXI9NGMKsx4JIDfri9y/s2906/PXL_20210124_144707134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2392" data-original-width="2906" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9WWsuTqJiJkkA7JQndefTA-_61szJpMmGPXS4l-fERd52TSjTEDFtQ_da5dPQljWdf88qZD9Tm-RQGchxggb1KwrVLrSCqxxe15OowR-z3Ogco0Z7L2oXUGkbtXI9NGMKsx4JIDfri9y/w640-h526/PXL_20210124_144707134.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Now I'm off to link up to this week's post over at <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/12-2-fussy-cut-challenge-2-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">Kim's site</a>. Then, I'll get back to my self declared Winter Crafting Weekend. Coffee, slipper socks, cozy clothes and my new Cricut to explore when I'm not sewing! Heavenly! Maybe I'll even come back to do a post when I finish some of my projects.</p><p>Hope you all find a little bit of crafty/sewing bliss this week! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-51526898255519249352021-01-09T17:42:00.001-06:002021-01-09T17:42:19.014-06:00Project Quilting 12.1 - Illuminating and Ultimate Gray<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeyQz-uEMf7HLzIhAzAUZqtu2PcSduunPzt9Ml9errO0dISxi8Rd6FbYiV4AETMfjLssp5oEKtmi04Jze_BcRcZvpdzoEowSYyIMWlIKWldCNEOq7CL6m77E0MlZ3aRYdZzWO4AQeRMO7/s4032/PXL_20210109_222129445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeyQz-uEMf7HLzIhAzAUZqtu2PcSduunPzt9Ml9errO0dISxi8Rd6FbYiV4AETMfjLssp5oEKtmi04Jze_BcRcZvpdzoEowSYyIMWlIKWldCNEOq7CL6m77E0MlZ3aRYdZzWO4AQeRMO7/w480-h640/PXL_20210109_222129445.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I made a little time to make a little quilt! And, I completed the first challenge in Project Quilting Season 12! This week's theme was "Illuminating & Ultimate Gray," also known as Pantone's colors or the year for 2021. I knew, two weeks ago, when my husband painted our laundry the most lovely gray that I'd be adding pops of yellow as I decorated the space. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I knew, when I brought this vintage washboard home from my parent's house last weeked that I'd be hanging it in my "new" laundry room.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And, I knew when Trish (Quiltchicken) and Kim (Persimondreams) posted the first challenge on Sunday that I NEEDED to make a mini quilt for the washboard.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was fortuitous to find the the perfect little clothespins and jute twine as I cleaned out and reorganized my craft room this week. We have work yet to be done in the laundry room, and the washboard needs to be cleaned. But, I couldn't resist propping it up for a picture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So happy to be starting another season of Project Quilting! It's my favorite time of the year!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is so much <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2021/01/12-1-illuminating-ultimate-gray-challenge-1-of-project-quilting-season-12.html">yellow and gray goodness</a> already linked up over at Kim's blog! Check it out!</div><br /><p></p>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-39144265281127482692020-06-21T16:53:00.000-05:002020-06-21T16:53:28.562-05:00Spring SewingThe world continues to be a crazy place, and it's getting crazier. Covid-19, and now, protests against police brutality and racial injustice, riots and just a generally unstable and scary feeling in the world have made it a Spring unlike any other. I don't know what to make of it all. Nothing feels right, yet nothing feels different. We finished the school year, still in a remote learning platform. We have made some small forays back into the real world (back to work for husband and daughter, some shopping trips, some get together with a friend or a couple) but for us, or me, at least the world still feels askew and slower and just... off. But then again, this week has felt like the start of our summer vacation, like nothing is different. I've experienced my usual "I have all the time in the world to do things now, but I can't bring myself to do them." and, "there are 11 weeks that belong to us...but each day gets us closer to the end and it's going to be over too soon!" feelings. I don't know why I struggle so much with these inner conflicts at the start of the summer. In some ways, they've been more pronounced this year because the last three months have felt a bit like a weird not fun vacation. <div><br /></div><div>I have been countering a lot of heavy emotion and anxiety with my favorite escape: sewing. School demands didn't allow me to finish out the Project Quilting Quarantine season, but I've definitely been in my sewing room at least a bit almost every day since March! A first for me. I like it!</div><div><br /></div><div>Like most sewists around the world, I've been sewing masks. They're not mandatory in Wisconsin except for in some businesses but they are recommended by the CDC for the whole country. And we're trying to wear them in all environments outside out own home. Paper masks and other PPE are readily available again and we have plenty of those on hand now. But I prefer a fabric mask most of the time. I put out a Facebook post asking if any friends or family needed hand sewn masks. I was surprised to get nearly 30 requests! So, that's how I spent our first week of Summer. Making masks. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS71FaKF2p-HUbaG9V-GunWq7UEha3V-G5o_xdOyBTdkGrz3x84M51V3FDqS-oYBLGb2a6L-TvJ-7hiTXqDxrfWFM_hIiQxfnxu9e6Zhso8b-VRY6OSfidEcd5xHWZ1ZAZoUC6Zu1w5vj/s4032/IMG_20200612_190623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS71FaKF2p-HUbaG9V-GunWq7UEha3V-G5o_xdOyBTdkGrz3x84M51V3FDqS-oYBLGb2a6L-TvJ-7hiTXqDxrfWFM_hIiQxfnxu9e6Zhso8b-VRY6OSfidEcd5xHWZ1ZAZoUC6Zu1w5vj/w375-h500/IMG_20200612_190623.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Assembly line sewing is supposed to make the process go quickly, but this batch felt like it took a week!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtIIlHHfRMIw4iEbIOvjPtP2zFGcek1eCpgzrRtKAhD5w6_cHKctGO_NWgX-4BAGKOHKUIJ5RFT48uc-ymo2n5KrZWXbehN3c3ecDJ7XKmXEP-Me3eG-M8OdtA6ewxo_7ZPmT19lLXKY4/s4032/IMG_20200615_180031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtIIlHHfRMIw4iEbIOvjPtP2zFGcek1eCpgzrRtKAhD5w6_cHKctGO_NWgX-4BAGKOHKUIJ5RFT48uc-ymo2n5KrZWXbehN3c3ecDJ7XKmXEP-Me3eG-M8OdtA6ewxo_7ZPmT19lLXKY4/s320/IMG_20200615_180031.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KCitcH79rDWEQV4cyxlz5NkpDjriqqK3VDujlO-rEBFoebZPKo62di-D8_H8wvQvnCaImhrldbQvFYVXSMSq4Gu3siPhde9wUw_p8WQ9O4qJbzfvbbXoAVqrgHckk5MFeuVWZUElZ6YG/s4032/IMG_20200616_134745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KCitcH79rDWEQV4cyxlz5NkpDjriqqK3VDujlO-rEBFoebZPKo62di-D8_H8wvQvnCaImhrldbQvFYVXSMSq4Gu3siPhde9wUw_p8WQ9O4qJbzfvbbXoAVqrgHckk5MFeuVWZUElZ6YG/s320/IMG_20200616_134745.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6crYc6TZM5ZfoxC5LvpTur1wJl0R-0U9_Fl320wX5vKgdR5j99mHo6mSAXpxMnAVTjxC9f0pT9Ijj7oVDLwwKN9rU8fwdXg-oAFMQYlMbORhyX9qqzhM6VAfWfTThgnJEye1PbadeZYk/s4032/IMG_20200616_213932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6crYc6TZM5ZfoxC5LvpTur1wJl0R-0U9_Fl320wX5vKgdR5j99mHo6mSAXpxMnAVTjxC9f0pT9Ijj7oVDLwwKN9rU8fwdXg-oAFMQYlMbORhyX9qqzhM6VAfWfTThgnJEye1PbadeZYk/w375-h500/IMG_20200616_213932.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First time making kids' sizes. <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In early May, I also finished a project that had been started pre-Covid. It had been pushed aside for school work and mask making, but I also wanted to just have it done! I had been asked to make a t-shrit quilt for the mother of a young man who died of a drug overdose late last summer. It was an honor, to be sure. But it was also a very heavily emotional task, and that weight seemed to be multiplied by the general weight of the world around me. When the mom (she's a friend of a friend, so I don't really know her) came to pick up her quilt, I just wanted to hug her. She burst into tears seeing it, and the key chain I made from a heart shaped hole I found in one of the shirts. But, we were on my doorstep, in the rain. She was wearing a mask, and it's really not cool to hug people now, due to Covid. I cried for quite a while after that. I suddenly missed that quilt that I had been so anxious to have gone. I missed the world were I would have shown her some of the little details I'd included (like the WI badgers shirt that was SO full of holes I had to hand stitch it to a backing fabric to keep it from falling apart and the shirt that had the sleeves removed, which I raw edge appliqued to make it fit). I cried for her. I can't imagine having only a quilt to hold and not my child. I don't have great pictures of that quilt. It's not mine to photograph and the memories aren't mine to share. But I write about it, because it had a pretty profoud impact on me. And that, I don't want to forget. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1mLz2o1mLMrpE7eMJnP5nly67DWDxhloCiIyEhSi4alfXHxVko766rAhcQ6GyU2mWgkFqV14QAEkIkh4P-ZBvF3osYIkK0q2MYzE6QdXO7ZWDcC02eAwYPmM4KK6-OBldjYp2su4eTbM/s4032/IMG_20200517_154323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1mLz2o1mLMrpE7eMJnP5nly67DWDxhloCiIyEhSi4alfXHxVko766rAhcQ6GyU2mWgkFqV14QAEkIkh4P-ZBvF3osYIkK0q2MYzE6QdXO7ZWDcC02eAwYPmM4KK6-OBldjYp2su4eTbM/w375-h500/IMG_20200517_154323.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I also altered a couple of prom dresses for friends of my oldest daughter. At the time, we didn't know that there wouldn't be a prom this year. We assumed that the district would have something for the juniors over the summer. Now we know that they are just being lumped into next year's junior prom. It's very likely that these girls will get new dresses. so...the yards and yards of haltered hem line are for naught. But, I learned a few new techniques, got to creatively solve some problems that I um, created in the course of the alterations, and, got to make some young ladies smile when their dresses, finally, fit just right. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoeqDcc7t5guCbR608e-fBiTP0dzXbbIt79JAJxpPCSrCCzldODbd9_zVCIL7gCo7Hz_R8FLNGUy-WBK5TpTz3MsP56u79_2ICd5qgwNtcUUc7PhrJX1Xb_Afr8BV86VJ-1eVFR1xdH87/s4032/IMG_20200419_164945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoeqDcc7t5guCbR608e-fBiTP0dzXbbIt79JAJxpPCSrCCzldODbd9_zVCIL7gCo7Hz_R8FLNGUy-WBK5TpTz3MsP56u79_2ICd5qgwNtcUUc7PhrJX1Xb_Afr8BV86VJ-1eVFR1xdH87/w375-h500/IMG_20200419_164945.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dress was a force to be reckoned with! More than 4 yards around the bottom and <br /></td></tr></tbody></table>layer upon layer of tulle! And a horsehair hem, and I added a bustle! Oh my!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXD_hRilIIXCcf5z8dIxABsYibuEWMg4Z__Yg9Gpor44YxCu2Mlk-pmJIUA4QS0KiFA2ZXgwl931ay-YP8hv6f3hwPJaDKoPW4OpZWFxvH_pzlTHWUH0DBFcs8HdyndXTEYxGzkTUtvULH/s4032/IMG_20200419_173502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXD_hRilIIXCcf5z8dIxABsYibuEWMg4Z__Yg9Gpor44YxCu2Mlk-pmJIUA4QS0KiFA2ZXgwl931ay-YP8hv6f3hwPJaDKoPW4OpZWFxvH_pzlTHWUH0DBFcs8HdyndXTEYxGzkTUtvULH/s320/IMG_20200419_173502.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So. . masks, a memory quilt and prom dresses. None of that is on the top of my "fun sewing list". It ALL becomes meditative and stress reducing for me (well. those prom dresses might be the exception) and I love it all. But, not so fun. So, I made sure to make time for that too! </div><div><br /></div><div>In April I noticed a Facebook Posting from a quilt shop in a nearby town - Sew Much More in Waukesha. I've never been there and I don't know why I follow them. They were doing a Safer At Home quilt sew along. The woman whom I assume owns the shop did a series of FaceBook Live posts showing how to make a simple house block. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYu_PXkRtf9qrmTJXL-_uKt8tWdEcEY-g1zpanDgMF-5kTXbBbNW1-oZCzc_TkGhlNg_xtuHkWwZ-MH_Ssc4cIxNS94Ks4dwTAdGWHURtMjoWQ0-idemrkl897A-Qjg5gNCK8Cb-JCifB/s4032/IMG_20200402_215019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYu_PXkRtf9qrmTJXL-_uKt8tWdEcEY-g1zpanDgMF-5kTXbBbNW1-oZCzc_TkGhlNg_xtuHkWwZ-MH_Ssc4cIxNS94Ks4dwTAdGWHURtMjoWQ0-idemrkl897A-Qjg5gNCK8Cb-JCifB/w500-h375/IMG_20200402_215019.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I watched a lot of home improvement shows while working on these little houses. Fitting!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The idea was to create 30 houses for the 30 days of the state''s Safer At Home Order. That order was extended. Then overturned. And I went rouge and added some fences and trees so I don't have 30 houses. But, I DID finish another quilt top, the third since the beginning of the quarantine! And I LOVE it! </div><div> </div><div>It's a combination of scrappy, with bits and bobs of mask fabric and other favorite scraps AND some fat quarters that I've been collecting from quilt shows and shop visits. There's some really OLD stuff in there, mixed with new, and that's my favorite! I truly love every fabric in this quilt, even the scrappy white on white pieces that make up the background. It makes me happy and is the first quilt I've made for me! It will, of course, be used by the entire family, but I made it with ME in mind. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVT_vMgyUB_S8EPgDgCDV7_5Tzznd8fpjreQTajBqEZP4AJ1WKL7VqjitI8xtGXV-DkrjsuyCVXROblZyGMArJdU2lw3PW6W39FsYmL4oJhDJgtxNPfTwZ93s-juVrYNorJ3_Gi6Gvugq4/s4032/IMG_20200428_231720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVT_vMgyUB_S8EPgDgCDV7_5Tzznd8fpjreQTajBqEZP4AJ1WKL7VqjitI8xtGXV-DkrjsuyCVXROblZyGMArJdU2lw3PW6W39FsYmL4oJhDJgtxNPfTwZ93s-juVrYNorJ3_Gi6Gvugq4/w375-h500/IMG_20200428_231720.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqrkvXIL4w_TS9I-2KtGTXSDYi9EB_ViJhWHB_YbvAszczK0N9tqgtklV3EGp-Hg1kaC8NzkRm_BFotyalLKhhkR4CkM5LkE6jbQkMuXzfer_JYsqGB_2cQUTCoLFY9v6c8yGL4fzLBMf/s3264/20200519_184830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqrkvXIL4w_TS9I-2KtGTXSDYi9EB_ViJhWHB_YbvAszczK0N9tqgtklV3EGp-Hg1kaC8NzkRm_BFotyalLKhhkR4CkM5LkE6jbQkMuXzfer_JYsqGB_2cQUTCoLFY9v6c8yGL4fzLBMf/w375-h500/20200519_184830.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was fun to watch this quilt grow!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><br /></div><div>Since this one is special to me, I decided to go a step further and do something special with the quilting, too. This will be the first quilt I send to someone else for long arm quilting! I am SO excited about this! I have a high school friend who has a long arming business in our hometown, and I'll be sending it to her for quilting . I've already purchased good, quilt shop fabric for the back (also a first...I usually only buy fat quarters or half yard cuts at the quilt shop. Buying four yards was a bit of a shock to the wallet!!) and it will pieced and pressed this coming week. Then I'll send it to Angie and wait. I am already a bit giddy with anticipation! This one will get a special label, too. I envision this quilt becoming part of our family history, and my girls using it to help explain to their children what strange time in history this has been. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPa1xyEQRUwaV4-xiDRLULEmLERrvLjhrs0FnN-FYz3beAc-qk1DKbv1UUwD_JFBOAIkq-n_u5g65MJvApH0OOalI8V0EQXdHEwqnzH2aXturTtDXtFDIfSsTCvW5Tp4TTucJBBH08y1l/s2989/IMG_20200530_155538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2989" data-original-width="2645" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPa1xyEQRUwaV4-xiDRLULEmLERrvLjhrs0FnN-FYz3beAc-qk1DKbv1UUwD_JFBOAIkq-n_u5g65MJvApH0OOalI8V0EQXdHEwqnzH2aXturTtDXtFDIfSsTCvW5Tp4TTucJBBH08y1l/w443-h500/IMG_20200530_155538.jpg" width="443" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Also in the "fun" category, I have used this time to check a very long standing WIP off my list. I have finally finished my "Scrappy Stars" quilt! According to Google Photos, I pieced this back in April of 2017. It sat for a long time, and I finally started quilting it last summer. It's simple straight line quilting, but, I wasn't crazy about the way it puckered and pulled, so I kind of abandoned it mid summer. It had been literally, sitting in a heap between my sewing table and the wall since then. When I picked it up again two weeks ago, I discovered that I actually had only about 30 minutes worth of quilting left to do on it. Why? Why didn't I just finish it last summer?!? I remember being disappointed in the quality of the quilting and sad that I would't feel comfortable entering it in the County Fair. It wouldn't have even placed, and that would have bothered me. There's no fair this year, so no need to worry about that!! This summer, I'm quilting just for the joy of it, and WOW do I love this pretty little scrappy quilt! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlT1HK_rZ8DtispnZB8ij6qaOmTkOfmuC_hiO5NaIf4adUjZWSghxPd2BCNKK1ihKNDAo4WECL4SatJnp8IBIMe2rdOVM1h1uR-ZC5Mh0HlpIRNhR3RTpp7OYmUBj7rY_2Qgnik0-Y3Hw/s4032/IMG_20200621_131421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlT1HK_rZ8DtispnZB8ij6qaOmTkOfmuC_hiO5NaIf4adUjZWSghxPd2BCNKK1ihKNDAo4WECL4SatJnp8IBIMe2rdOVM1h1uR-ZC5Mh0HlpIRNhR3RTpp7OYmUBj7rY_2Qgnik0-Y3Hw/w375-h500/IMG_20200621_131421.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div> I LOVE the saturated colors, the subtle stars, the blue binding, the fun backing that brings me a happy memory of our first trip to IKEA a few years ago, and you know what? I don't mind the quilting! In fact, on the back, I really love it! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfXElKL-Y78nJZDD-4A1WTDot9tE-K6tfUZ93wehcAGIQBKAKwKuvxlyr4oOBnizwxT7rZwE6WynuMQrSTyV2Y7J8uOo6zP1L-DX351Wvaca0nGcFrM-ApKCgeweysHznvlRhL57lp5-Y/s4032/IMG_20200621_130959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfXElKL-Y78nJZDD-4A1WTDot9tE-K6tfUZ93wehcAGIQBKAKwKuvxlyr4oOBnizwxT7rZwE6WynuMQrSTyV2Y7J8uOo6zP1L-DX351Wvaca0nGcFrM-ApKCgeweysHznvlRhL57lp5-Y/w375-h500/IMG_20200621_130959.jpg" width="375" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I enjoyed the process of finishing the binding by hand, most of it in my new favorite spot - my front porch. It's not much of a porch, but after 14 years in the house I finally put a chair out there and I've been sitting on it! We have a deck on the other side of the house, but it's often too windy or too hot to enjoy siting there until evening. The front porch is perfect nearly all day long! So, I sat there one morning, and then the next evening to bind this little beauty. I could look at my flower beds, watch and listen to the birds, and wave to an occasional neighbor. Exactly what I needed, and what I'll remember when I look at this quilt. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3S2O2NpHoSWkCma8DKUJKqyTSuUbGxGbL_qqywnmreC9AU_hhHPaSr03U6G0k7HkR0gBpKlOcy7rFr3_EeEwWGh_O3UMmZCKW29BMEdLT-aFKhJnt9lRO2Ti8llQCzGCZE5Y2vmCfkiHL/s4032/IMG_20200620_203453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3S2O2NpHoSWkCma8DKUJKqyTSuUbGxGbL_qqywnmreC9AU_hhHPaSr03U6G0k7HkR0gBpKlOcy7rFr3_EeEwWGh_O3UMmZCKW29BMEdLT-aFKhJnt9lRO2Ti8llQCzGCZE5Y2vmCfkiHL/w375-h500/IMG_20200620_203453.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looked down and realized that the zinnias in the bucket were a perfect match for the backing!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bwUtJO1phc6O4UeOBgL_RyouWkL4RII-iaU126d0SgoC0EXPOQkEYCZfDmcII_JeKBXd_nMWcGrNWO05BtizbdLUdmOb9hn9L7blcfslsy8-8zy69eSsYPrOoPYaR0t4HEfRUmPDvsSU/s4032/IMG_20200620_204409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bwUtJO1phc6O4UeOBgL_RyouWkL4RII-iaU126d0SgoC0EXPOQkEYCZfDmcII_JeKBXd_nMWcGrNWO05BtizbdLUdmOb9hn9L7blcfslsy8-8zy69eSsYPrOoPYaR0t4HEfRUmPDvsSU/w375-h500/IMG_20200620_204409.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I sat and stitched until almost 9:00 on the longest night of summer! Perfect!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div> I'm so happy to have it done. I am not sure what will become of it. I thought I might see if any friends would like it. But it might just get added to the rotation of living room quilts. We'll see. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJuVXlkbR7b7nJ8J0MWuZZoQdq2z-jY5qFSHcIvm-L_oceJ0dEe6ZWvdR_TOT89O_aWwh6sdA8Xl_H9JDcQYMunyXya1e8daNAaBYANZzgc1r2V-FzTxOV6xdFejJB6pOCoZHY8Qkuwit/s4032/IMG_20200621_130934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJuVXlkbR7b7nJ8J0MWuZZoQdq2z-jY5qFSHcIvm-L_oceJ0dEe6ZWvdR_TOT89O_aWwh6sdA8Xl_H9JDcQYMunyXya1e8daNAaBYANZzgc1r2V-FzTxOV6xdFejJB6pOCoZHY8Qkuwit/w375-h500/IMG_20200621_130934.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy, Scrappy Stars.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I made a list of all the other sewing projects I'd like to (or need to) get done this summer. Another t-shirt quilt, at least 10 more masks, a couple of garments...Seems unlikely they will all get done, but, it's going to be fun trying!</div>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-82179783102945295692020-05-02T17:13:00.002-05:002020-05-02T17:13:56.076-05:00Project Quilting Quarantine 3 - VintageAnd here we are. STILL under Safer At Home Orders due to Covid-19. This has gone from being unbelievable to surreal to strangely normal. Things are starting to "open up" again around the country, and even here in Wisconsin, where to official order to limit travel and social interactions is in place until May 26th, there are many people and places inching back toward business as usual. It's so hard to know what to think about this. All of this. Some say we have been under quarantine too long, and some say we still aren't safe. But, that's a discussion for a blog post I won't write.<br />
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This post is about my entry for<a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/04/q-3-vintage-challenge-3-of-project-quilting-quarantine-2020.html"> Project Quilting Quarantine Edition Challenge 3</a>. I'm pretty excited about this sweet little finish! It is unlike anything I've ever entered into PQ, and likely ever will again! It's a good thing that Trish suggested that rules in this "bonus" season were meant to be broken, because: A: this isn't a quilt; B: while technically there are three layers I did not layer them and C: I did no sewing on this unless you want to count some really wonky blanket stitching !<br />
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This week's theme - Vintage - pushed me to finally DO something a couple of treasures I've been keeping in a closet for far too long. I bought a vintage quilt top at a flea market a few years ago for a few dollars. I took the top along with me to the quilt show in Madison the fall after I bought it (I was attending a lecture about dating vintage quilts and the brochure invited attendees to bring along mystery tops to practice on!) and a quilt assessor there confirmed my suspicion that this was pieced sometime between 1920 and 1930. I just love looking at it. The top is made up of 4-patches that look to have been made of clothing. There are seams running through a lot of the blocks and there's a wide variety of patterns and fabric types. Some parts appear to have been hand pieced, but others are clearly machine pieced. Some squares have basting stitches in them so I assume they were made around a template similar to English paper piecing. Others have seam allowances ranging from barely an eighth of an inch to almost half an inch. It's pretty good sized (almost a twin size, I'd say), but there's very little repetition of the fabrics through out the whole of the quilt. I wonder if maybe this was started by one maker and then worked on by another. Maybe it was a community project. I love imagining a scenario where every lady brought a stack of 4-patches to the Grange Meeting or the Quilting Bee and then they traded. Or maybe it shows the development of the skills and circumstances of one quilter as she started out hand piecing and then got her first sewing machine? I wish I knew. I wish I knew why it was never quilted and why some if seemed to be have been ripped off. One edge was particularly bedraggled, like the quilt top got stuck somewhere and was forcibly ripped out. Is there a story there, or just carelessness?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh these prints! I love imagining dresses and aprons that these squares came from!</td></tr>
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It's coming apart in many seams across the whole quilt. There are some squares in the interior that have almost disappeared and some of the edge pieces have been reduced to shreds. I knew I'd never restore it or use it as a quilt. Some people would, I'm sure. But my intention when I bought it was to give it new life by turning the usable parts into other things. However, until this week, this treasure has been in a cloth shopping bag stuffed in a closet. I just never took the time to do anything with it. Until, the word vintage showed up in the Project Quilting post last weekend. I KNEW that this was the time to do SOMETHING with this vintage quilt top. I mean, if you can't get around to a long forgotten project during a quarantine, then when can you?<br />
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In the same closet where this quilt top has been hiding, there lived a plastic zip-loc bag that was handed to me by my mom several years ago. I don't remember exactly when, but it was after her eyesight became too poor for her to sew and before dementia started to steal her away from us. She was in the habit, for several years, of never visiting me (or letting me leave her house) without making sure that I had SOMETHING in my hands as we parted. Sometimes it was a box of high school memories, or a bowl that had belonged to my grandmother. Sometimes it was a Christmas decoration she'd picked up at a thrift store. And, perhaps best of all, sometimes it was a gift from her sewing room to mine. I remember that she said, when handing me the bag, "Here, maybe you can figure out what this was going to be." We laughed about that. About having a project you started that you can't remember, exactly. Now, it breaks my heart a little. She left so many projects unfinished.<br />
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The bag contained a piece of black wool felt cut into an "emblem" shape. In its center she had already appliqued three circles of wool - red, black and gold -with a meticulously even blanket stitch. In the corners of the "emblem" she had stitched red petals. One red petal was accompanied by two green petals around it, and there were 5 more green petals in the plastic bag, along with a tangled bunch of embroidery floss. I wonder now if she stopped stitching because she lost a petal? Or because the floss had become too tangled? I wish I knew. And I wish I knew what it was going to be! I assume it must have been part of a kit she'd picked up at some point. The back of the black piece was odd. Half of it had a rubbery coating on it. Almost like an iron on adhesive. But why would it have been prepped to iron on to something. And why only half? I have only a very few reasons to be sad in my life, but one of my greatest regrets is that I didn't spend time sewing with my mom in my adult life. We both would have loved that, and I wish I had made time for it. I wish she had told me all of her plans for all of her projects. And I wish I had listened more to everything she said, no matter what it was about. I'd love just one more real conversation with her. She is still here, on Earth, but she isn't the mom I knew. For 5 years now she has been slipping away into the shadowy corners of a different place. Not quite here and not quite there. We talk, sometimes, but it is without meaning. And there are so many things I wish I could ask.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-p4ewRdumSlO_hRip02jix6lH4B8p4ZDlOYocl_-DvbPKCQB0yuO2DK5DpoZIVLrFM3fdykg_sLiVomCSYgC9rgewzm1AqoBrcySRqYlF4XJbxWkiCNVcRZSMhPOfPpt2UJOsgsgZMG96/s1600/IMG_20200502_130442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-p4ewRdumSlO_hRip02jix6lH4B8p4ZDlOYocl_-DvbPKCQB0yuO2DK5DpoZIVLrFM3fdykg_sLiVomCSYgC9rgewzm1AqoBrcySRqYlF4XJbxWkiCNVcRZSMhPOfPpt2UJOsgsgZMG96/s320/IMG_20200502_130442.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From her hands to mine. </td></tr>
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It didn't take long for me to know I wanted to use these two "vintage" and precious items together. They didn't exactly "go" together, either in color or style or material. But, somehow, it felt right that they be combined. It hurt a little bit to take my seam ripper to the quilt top and my scissors to the wool piece. But, I reasoned with myself that neither piece was being enjoyed in the state it was in. Better to finish and enjoy them than let them stay undone.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS10ESL5s22J4aMrLNGXfTRQY3aXUmPEhWq7_rSlO4buvNptKgt8Nu8n0jc8w0l97d6EwyZ6V3yge1BZOzKVd978xmccTlXAVp2EVXKYiE-morPXZYN7OjSBOTi-ax0ocCuNcIhGmOQRkR/s1600/IMG_20200502_130615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS10ESL5s22J4aMrLNGXfTRQY3aXUmPEhWq7_rSlO4buvNptKgt8Nu8n0jc8w0l97d6EwyZ6V3yge1BZOzKVd978xmccTlXAVp2EVXKYiE-morPXZYN7OjSBOTi-ax0ocCuNcIhGmOQRkR/s320/IMG_20200502_130615.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two thirds of the people I'm quarantined with preferred he top orientation of the petals. They lost.</td></tr>
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As "luck" would have it I had a lovely triple matted frame in a box in the basement. It had contained a picture of my little girls, but it hadn't seen the light of day in probably longer than the quilt or the wool pieces. It took a bit of effort to create and stitch around a few green petals (I LOVE that I had felt almost the same color green!) and assemble all the various pieces using various implements. But I thoroughly enjoyed the process. It's kind of fun, sometimes, to dive into something having NO idea what you're doing!<br />
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It feels right that many hands contributed to this little gem. My mom's, mine, and all the quilters who came before us. We all shared in the joy of taking bits and pieces and putting them together to create beauty.<br />
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Thanks, Kim and Trish for hosting another week of Project Quilting. Thanks for the inspiration to use and enjoy these vintage treasures!Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-49415254433631009512020-04-19T00:25:00.000-05:002020-04-19T00:25:08.575-05:00Project Quilting Quarantine Challenge 2 - FloralWhen I finished the final Project Quilting Challenge last month, I didn't expect that my next post would be about Project Quilting again so soon! I didn't expect that a month later we would be looking at another 30 days of quarantine here in Wisconsin, and I didn't expect that I wouldn't be going back to school to see and hug my kids again. So much has changed, which is funny because we haven't gone anywhere or done anything! This quarantine life sure is strange.<br />
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Time seems to go by slow and fast all at once. It seems like there is endless time to get things done, and then before I know it, another day is gone. Some days feel like nothing is different, but there is a moment in every day when I am reminded that the world is upside down and wrong right now. This is so unbelievable. I will do a post very soon about my quarantine sewing, particularly mask making. We are living in a time when EVERYONE and her sister seems to be dusting off sewing machines and ordering elastic, and it kind of cracks me up! Imagine it - quilters are saving the world! Anyway, that's a topic for another post. Back to Project Quilting.<br />
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I am grateful that Kim and Trish are organizing some extra challenges for this quarantine time. It seems that not many people are participating, which makes me sad, but I welcome the distraction and having something positive to look foward to. I did not participate in the first one because that week was FILLED with trying to figure out how to teach my special ed students on line and how to hold two IEP meetings on line, not to mention writing those IEP's. But, we were officially on Spring Break this week and I took the week COMPLETELY off from school work. It was a much needed break, which again, seems strange because I haven't been at school in over a month!<br />
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I remembered to check for the posting of the new challenge during out Easter dinner last Sunday. I was happy to see that the theme was "Floral" because, as luck would have it, there was a huge pile of floral scraps on my sewing table at that very moment! I'll show the project that created the pile in my next post. For now trust me when I say it was a very pretty pile! But, what to make? I really didn't want to make another mini quilt. I'm out of room on my small sewing room wall. I don't need a mug rug - I never remember to switch out the one I'm using now. I've got lots of projects going right now and knew that I wanted to bring at least one of them to completion during Break, so my PQ project needed to be small and quick. So, during dinner, I asked my family. "What can I make for Project Quilting that's small and that we need or could use?" "Potholders!" "Coasters!" "A table runner!" Huh. Who knew they'd have such good ideas?<br />
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I decided we really DID need potholders. I recently tossed a few that were nearing 24 years old. But, I've always heard that potholders and oven mitts should be made with Insul-brite, not regular batting. That presented a problem because I don't have any. And I have a self imposed PQ rule that nothing can be purchased for a PQ project. Part of the fun is using up things I have on hand. But, since this is not the regular season and Kim has already said that rules need not apply, I decided it was OK to let that go, just his once. I added a small package of Insul-Brite to our Wal Mart grocery order slated to be picked up later in the week. Its not exactly an "essential" and I wouldn't have made a trip just to get it, but since I get it along with my bread and eggs and toilet paper...why not?<br />
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So, on Friday, I pulled out some of those floral scraps, glanced at a tutorial for a pocket potholder and spent about an hour happily sewing, snipping and binding. It's not perfect. I need more practice binding a circular object. But, it's functional. And it matches my kitchen. And, it's all kinds of floral! But, there were still a LOT of scraps in the pile.<br />
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SO, on Saturday, I cut four little squares of batting, dug back into the scrap pile, sewed, snipped, turned inside out and zig zagged. And, voila! Coasters! Also done in about an hour. I forget how satisfying quick finishes can be.<br />
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Somehow, even with a full week off of school and LOTS of hours spent in the sewing room, none of my "big" projects got done. But, they all got a big closer to being done. And, as it stands today, I"ve got another month of Sew-ical Distancing Time to finish them! <br />
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For now, I'm happy with my pretty little additions to my kitchen! </div>
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-16960774748548777632020-03-22T10:38:00.000-05:002020-03-22T10:38:24.731-05:00Project Quilting 11.6 - Vibrant and VivaciousI am sad that this is the final challenge of Project Quilting for this year. It has been a great way to stretch myself over these last 12 weeks and a great diversion in what has probably been the worst start to a calendar year, ever, in my 49 years! Project Quilting got me through a lot this year. Job struggles, major anxiety, illness with aches and pains, a hospital stay, and now a world Pandemic!<br />
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Creating is ALWAYS a balm for my soul. There simply isn't a better way to quiet my mind and lift my spirits than to sit down at the sewing machine. I just feel better when I work with fabric. It's good to be busy, of course, but the COLORS are the other part of the equation. I think Trish must have realized that when she chose <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/03/11-6-vibrant-and-vivacious-challenge-6-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Vibrant and Vivacious</a> as this week's theme. We are all in need of some color therapy this week, I think.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes it's the simple things, like a happy little pile of Trimmings...</td></tr>
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I'm so excited that my entry for Challenge number 6 is an actual quilt! I've participated in project quilting for two years, but this is the first out of 12 projects that's an actual quilt! I've done mini quilts, baskets, 3-D objects and a key chain, but never a quilt big enough to sit under. Well, this seemed as good a time as any.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is probably from Thursday. I love watching a quilt come together on the design wall!</td></tr>
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On Sunday, it felt like I'd have a TON of time to work on it. By Tuesday, when our school district rolled out our plan for "Continuous Learning" for our students, I was starting to realize that wasn't quite true. Teaching from home is tough! There is a lot to learn, and I'm gong to be knee deep in it for quite some time! But, evenings free and three other people who can make meals and kids old enough to be self sufficient and stolen moments here and there all helped me get this Vibrant and Vivacious little baby quilt done on time!<br />
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The pattern is Doughnuts the Size of Your Head from Crazy Mom Quilts' (Amanda Jean Nyberg) book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-Scrap-Left-Behind-Celebrate-ebook/dp/B01N9T5FUC">No Scrap Left Behind</a>. I was lucky to be able to hear and take class with Amanda Jean a few years ago at the quilt museum in Cedarburg, shortly before she stopped teaching and blogging. I pieced a few of the squares in this quilt that day, but they'd been tucked inside the book on a shelf ever since. I'm so glad this week's challenge pushed me to get them out and make this quilt!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Netflix and tea and pretty scraps...</td></tr>
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Scrappy quilting is my absolute favorite! Did you ever notice how sometimes when you open up a strip set you gasp a little at the combination of colors that you hadn't intentionally created? Is that just me?!? I had lots of ooh and ahhh moments as these strippy squares and triangles came together. Some color combinations just make me so happy. <br />
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I will DEFINITELY be making a quilt in this aqua/coral color way. It makes me smile every time I look at that corner of this quilt!<br />
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To colors in this quilt truly took care of arranging themselves. I did a little editing, of course, and tried get some variation of lights and darks, but for the most part, all the scraps played nicely together. I think the overall effect is pretty stunning!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And now I just want to sew all the remaining strips and make a whole string quilt like this!! SO pretty!</td></tr>
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I would like to have created a larger quilt in this pattern because it would be a great bed quilt for a little girl. But it was a bit of a Herculean effort to get just this size done this week for PQ. I spent most of Saturday in the sewing room! But, it's not like I could have gone anywhere anyway, and it WAS National Quilting day. Maybe some day I will make a this size version. There will always be scraps, after all. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVD6QS7ZcB5A2a8kVEF08fpfZEecjETj6EiXs2e4Sa9sGRAGrYBXzFI8OFdpMghu7-XIWknKg9Mv15u9ynG6MYSRbnU7le8bc7k2gUo1gDsYli-UN9DqD2H4g25DazQpmPMWFbGmcjI6u/s1600/IMG_20200320_135901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieVD6QS7ZcB5A2a8kVEF08fpfZEecjETj6EiXs2e4Sa9sGRAGrYBXzFI8OFdpMghu7-XIWknKg9Mv15u9ynG6MYSRbnU7le8bc7k2gUo1gDsYli-UN9DqD2H4g25DazQpmPMWFbGmcjI6u/s640/IMG_20200320_135901.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I may or may not have squealed a little when I put all of the aqua pieces in. It just makes this quilt, doesn't it??</td></tr>
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I'm proud to have, once again, had everything I needed on hand, even the PERFECT size "scrap" of batting. I got goosebumps when I laid the top out on a piece of batting I"d cut off another project and stashed in the closet. I wish I had taken a picture. It was spot on the right size. That's gotta mean something!! I had nothing large enough for a back. Well, nothing that felt right for this quilt, anyway. Lots of icky old calicoes, but that wouldn't do. So I spent some time piecing a back. I rather like it! <br />
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I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else made this week. The weather here has been cold and dreary. I'd like to get out for a hike in the woods. But its much cozier here under this pretty <strike>lap</strike>, umm, I mean baby quilt. So, maybe I'll stay here on the couch for a bit, and engage in some more color therapy looking at everyone else's Vibrant and Vivacious projects. Be sure to visit blogs, and Instagram pages to say hi to the makers. We ALL need all the virtual connections we can get right now, to off set the isolation. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXNiPelNXrAWapx5_vRZxyAzpVNfXj91bg5bCyFO6irb9Mlya-xJxBNzm0lp6RbNTcJV_BcpCqa4B88V7ndmgclKW0EVBqij9FhnygZgvjzo4NS87jCPrfGwQIxS5Or9H3gy_9HOQYSzN/s1600/IMG_20200322_102155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXNiPelNXrAWapx5_vRZxyAzpVNfXj91bg5bCyFO6irb9Mlya-xJxBNzm0lp6RbNTcJV_BcpCqa4B88V7ndmgclKW0EVBqij9FhnygZgvjzo4NS87jCPrfGwQIxS5Or9H3gy_9HOQYSzN/s640/IMG_20200322_102155.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No babies in this house, but our three living room pets, Joe, Root Beer and Al will enjoy the quilt. These guys have their own personalities and get into all kinds of situations. They keep us connected happy through tough times.</td></tr>
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Kim and Trish if you're reading, THANK YOU for <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/03/11-6-vibrant-and-vivacious-challenge-6-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Project Quilting</a>. Thank you for the community, the outlet for creative energy and the positive distraction that you provide. You guys are awesome and I'd LOVE to quilt with you in real life some day!<br />
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Be well and Stay Safe everyone! <br />
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This quilt measures approximately 42" x 42" and was created by me in Slinger, Wi.Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-41879259390832492312020-03-08T11:34:00.000-05:002020-03-08T11:34:03.150-05:00Project Quilting 11.5 - Give It AwayWhew! This is the lastest minute last minute finish ever! A crazy week that involved tech week, costume alterations, flower table prep, dinner with a friend, LOTS of end of trimester tasks at school and well, just life, meant that I did not work on the challenge...or SEW for fun...ALL WEEK! UUUGGGGGHHH! But, I really want to finish each challenge in Project Quilting this year. <br />
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So, even with one less hour in my weekend thanks to Daylight Savings I got up this morning and make my challenge piece. This week's challenge is to make something with the intention of giving it away.<br />
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I am in the process of making a T-shirt quilt for the friend of a friend who lost her young adult son. There is no time line to finish the quilt...I'm just doing bits and pieces when I have time. When I was cutting apart the shirts a few weeks ago, I could not help to pause and wonder at all the indications of LIFE in those shirts. The paint stains, the stretched out hems, the favorite brands and teams and the holes. One hole, in particular caught my eye. It was a perfect heart shape.<br />
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I thought about that for days. A heart shaped hole. A mother who certainly has an empty spot in her heart, missing her son. I didn't know what I would do with that hole, but I knew it would be something. <br />
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This morning I took the bit of shirt that contained the hole, a bit of the sleeve from another of the shirts and a scrap of denim that I had in the sewing room, and made this quick, rather rough looking key chain. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXZRDXspKKQpDCXydGrOKBDA5DDkn3pwC5oE1AZ15w217mtifQRCuYKPE9_HTVGl_R_ltZKz8PLWxZA0VG479bzIqbx41vGm1XD9Z7GoYlAA8J6plOZI5Gxws6YKT1JDGwEAjn7EKVIUJ/s1600/IMG_20200308_111422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRXZRDXspKKQpDCXydGrOKBDA5DDkn3pwC5oE1AZ15w217mtifQRCuYKPE9_HTVGl_R_ltZKz8PLWxZA0VG479bzIqbx41vGm1XD9Z7GoYlAA8J6plOZI5Gxws6YKT1JDGwEAjn7EKVIUJ/s640/IMG_20200308_111422.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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It isn't quilted. It meets the challenge on the basis that it's three layers. It measures less than 2 inches "square." It's wonky and imperfect. It will find its way to a broken hearted mom well before the quilt is finished. I want her to have something to hold on to while I work.<br />
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It is a small thing, made with great love.<br />
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Linking up with <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/03/11-5-give-it-away-challenge-5-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Kim</a> just minutes before the deadline...<br />
<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-565567101241827552020-02-23T10:55:00.000-06:002020-02-23T10:55:19.292-06:00Project Quilting 11.4Another successful Project Quilting Challenge finish. Another hastily written Sunday Morning blog post! <br />
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I actually started this challenge on Sunday, the day it was posted by <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/02/11-4-birds-in-the-air-challenge-4-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Kim</a> and <a href="http://www.quiltchicken.com/">Trish</a>. The challenge was to incorporate traditional Birds in the Air quilt blocks into a project in some way shape or form. These blocks are made from triangles. While cleaning my sewing table off on Sunday, I found plethora of itty bitty triangles, some finished half square triangles and a whole bunch of vaguely triangular shaped scraps. Perfect. It was a given that those treasures would become my birds in the air blocks. So, I sat down and made three. They were SO cute! SO much fun! I combined them with the already made HST's and decided they could play nicely enough together to be used int he same project. Then I made some more HSTs from the scrap pile to pull it together.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjXw72Hc-GyOW0qYBTFfU9DX4e_nODqllQ2vSnHkiOuuoaGWNE1HldbCRkqYTnltPkbdgPDqhVUURqAwLRUYY7jDX96Zcm8JWcVuD95T8Rf_W2D1MTf_aPBPZUk0AWVOhJp11Be11lcUI/s1600/IMG_20200221_222115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjXw72Hc-GyOW0qYBTFfU9DX4e_nODqllQ2vSnHkiOuuoaGWNE1HldbCRkqYTnltPkbdgPDqhVUURqAwLRUYY7jDX96Zcm8JWcVuD95T8Rf_W2D1MTf_aPBPZUk0AWVOhJp11Be11lcUI/s640/IMG_20200221_222115.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I zen-pieced a bunch of low volumes together to use as half of some HST's . Love the result! </td></tr>
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When I went to bed on Sunday I was't sure what the project was going to be, but I knew I had a start. Sometime on Monday it occurred to me that I could use this challenge to make something I've been wanting to make for myself - a tablet stand! After years of internally rolling my eyes at other people's Netflix addictions I've recently discovered that there are some really GOOD things to watch! Plus, we ditched cable and got Sling, which I can access on my tablet, so now...HALLMARK CHANNEL IN THE SEWING ROOM!!! There is a slight possibility my family will file a missing person's report one day soon, because, truly, there is no reason to come out of there now.<br />
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With lots to watch, plus my tried and true podcasts to listen to, my tablet is my best sewing accessory these days. It deserves its own home. Plus, having it upright makes viewing easier and reduces the likely hood that I will run over the edge with a rotary cutter or loose the tablet under a pile of scraps.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQxaWJVZkiMJ7w8ZyoNBWok7vDLCwnwNa0Cj2nsdZUFTrqv5V7qxjdAkGGNo1JtfbcUu745ahTa1FFe3KeCgenAMfNd2JvPGNKKrtv-NccEsHJ3fdvrkEZTXty14BzPl77hcT8cCo2_1u/s1600/IMG_20200221_214453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQxaWJVZkiMJ7w8ZyoNBWok7vDLCwnwNa0Cj2nsdZUFTrqv5V7qxjdAkGGNo1JtfbcUu745ahTa1FFe3KeCgenAMfNd2JvPGNKKrtv-NccEsHJ3fdvrkEZTXty14BzPl77hcT8cCo2_1u/s640/IMG_20200221_214453.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pink fabric with the birds is the ONE thing here that wasn't scrap. But it kinda had to be in there.</td></tr>
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So, the initial hodgepodge of BITA blocks and HSTs was slowly but surely joined by more through out the week. I consulted several Youtube video tutorials and a few blog posts including <a href="https://factotum-of-arts.com/2013/11/30/tutorial-iphoneipad-stand/">this one</a> by Factotum of Arts to get an idea of how to construct a triangular stand, and then I just kind of went for it. Getting all my blocks in without cutting them was more important to me than the size of the finished project, so it's a bit ridiculously big. But, it's done and I love it.. It is filled with walnut shells for the base and a bunch of fiberfill. I"m so glad to use some of that up. I had an almost full bag of fiberfill left over from stuffing turbans for Aladdin and I just don't use it that often. So, the bit that's inside my new tablet stand makes me very happy indeed. And, I am ridiculously happy to not have just thrown out those itty bitty triangles. They are so cute in those little bird in the air blocks. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sGUOgCtXZOP9MnSq39b_i3bActbktW1TvI24zZOAene3qQvYdWZDBKygvhri4tehOQyxPdlzrBxa1gHHGCRjvWRoPR4A8dJv9JUdp67R7J_u5pCD8JKOfJf8UDrUaXEVQs6RfMFGd_yB/s1600/MVIMG_20200222_161331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sGUOgCtXZOP9MnSq39b_i3bActbktW1TvI24zZOAene3qQvYdWZDBKygvhri4tehOQyxPdlzrBxa1gHHGCRjvWRoPR4A8dJv9JUdp67R7J_u5pCD8JKOfJf8UDrUaXEVQs6RfMFGd_yB/s640/MVIMG_20200222_161331.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virgin River. Are you watching it?? SO Good. And there's some good quilt spotting to be done, too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE_Gc3yuoZZCZhFXzigaz4wR3941Z_sUCSl8hBXiJAkcpu8p6SIsbQsBeb569sEFqMwMdrCYqhnpibN8PtP2moATDoLz9bouJiC0Y20NPNi6t-VnBxa5BA4NFR_gDHtoFHnKfTtNAFroB/s1600/IMG_20200222_161521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE_Gc3yuoZZCZhFXzigaz4wR3941Z_sUCSl8hBXiJAkcpu8p6SIsbQsBeb569sEFqMwMdrCYqhnpibN8PtP2moATDoLz9bouJiC0Y20NPNi6t-VnBxa5BA4NFR_gDHtoFHnKfTtNAFroB/s640/IMG_20200222_161521.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a useful little thing...</td></tr>
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It's hard to see the bird in the air blocks when you look at my tablet stand in use. It's actually hard to see the stand when its in use. But I know they're there, and I'd rather have a cute quilty stand on my table than one ordered from Amazon any day. <br />
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Linking up with <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/02/11-4-birds-in-the-air-challenge-4-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Kim</a> at Persimon Dreams, the Project Quilting Headquarters just under the wire. Again. Fingers crossed for a prize this week!!Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-4458028939298313512020-02-09T11:13:00.001-06:002020-02-09T11:13:46.785-06:00Project Quilting 11.3 - Put A Heart On ItTime for another <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/02/11-3-put-a-heart-on-it-challenge-3-of-project-quilting-season-11.html">Project Quilting Challenge</a>! I knew going in to this one that it would have to be a quick project. Well, I guess they always are for me. I am amazed and astounded at the <a href="https://katiemaytoo.blogspot.com/">people who complete a full sized quilt for a challenge</a>. And, then, do it again two weeks later! How does that happen? In a week filled with parent teacher conferences, high school open house/orientation for my youngest, two IEP's to write, rehearsals for a sketch comedy show that I was in on Saturday night and life in general, I knew I would't sew until Friday. But, OH how I looked forward to Friday! <div>
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I kicked around a few ideas all week. At one point I really wanted to make something useful - not another wall quilt. I kind of wanted to make a tote bag to gift to someone. I had two someones in mind. <div>
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On Friday afternoon, as the work week wrapped up, I started to get an "itch" do make some improv letters. Since it had been "Kindness Week" at school the words "Be Kind" came to mind. I started working at about 6:00 on Friday night (with a beverage and a Hallmark movie on my tablet!). </div>
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These letters were SO FUN! And so freeing. Exactly what my brain needed after a long week. I pulled up a picture of pieced letters as a guide, but then I just went for it. No measuring and no rulers. Just free from cutting with my small rotary cutter and sewing without too much thought, I did unpick a few seams to get a different angle or a skinnier shape. But for the most part, these letters were "One and Done." I wish I'd taken a picture of the pile of scraps generated in the process. It was crazy big and cheerily colorful. What a mess, though!</div>
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When I started I still had a tote bag in mind. But once I got the letters done, it was pretty clear a bag wasn't going to happen. Too big to be practical. Plus, more work to get it done, and I knew I would only have a few hours to finish on Saturday. And, I still had to incorporate a heart. I decided to make 4 hearts using the Cluck Cluck Sew method that I've used before. She has a great <a href="https://cluckclucksew.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Heart-Blocks-Pattern.pdf">free pattern</a> with measurements for these easy peasy hearts in seven different sizes!!! I really love how quickly they go together. Looking at the hearts and letters together I knew that this would have to be another mini wall quilt. Oh well. Maybe next week I'll branch out into new territory. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaaack. Terrible picture. That's what you get at 11:30 pm in a poorly lit sewing room!</td></tr>
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I found a beautiful piece of Art Gallery fabric in my stash that I just had to use for the space around the hearts. It says "I can and I will" over and over again. I think we can all use a reminder now and then that we CAN be kind. Even when it's easier to find fault, or we need to vent our frustrations over someones' actions or even their personality, we CAN be kind, first. I like this reminder that I CAN and I WILL be KIND. Plus, I just really liked the way the print looked with the little hearts. </div>
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On Saturday morning I headed straight back into the sewing room to put the pieces together and to quilt. Because the denim I'd used as the background had a stretch to it, the piece was all kinds of wonky when I started quilting, I decided on match stick quilting to hopefully keep things pretty straight and give it some body. It was more or less successful, although there's definitely still some "wonk" to it. I didn't take the time to hang it well for a picture, and it looks pretty wavy in this one but it actually does hang pretty straight. It's not a fair project, no one is going to be judging it. Its not about perfection its about happy! It made me happy to work on this little quilt, so perfect is a perfect does. Or something like that.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYFZ9nDCQOeJCrThXyxiZAPHqk4qFThI2zS1480cszv11KIMzKAq0nRmEwm9jDfAK4b3_099MHkwdy3TT5dsU2nq5Q_R_Mg3sM3P5psqf6Xd4ANsK4ALD3y16m1lm3-eASeLbGTMKmJN4/s1600/IMG_20200208_123900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYFZ9nDCQOeJCrThXyxiZAPHqk4qFThI2zS1480cszv11KIMzKAq0nRmEwm9jDfAK4b3_099MHkwdy3TT5dsU2nq5Q_R_Mg3sM3P5psqf6Xd4ANsK4ALD3y16m1lm3-eASeLbGTMKmJN4/s400/IMG_20200208_123900.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are few things that are as calming and meditative for me as straight line quilting. This was like a little therapy session! </td></tr>
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I haven't decided on a location for it yet. Maybe in my classroom? Maybe it's a gift for the guidance counselor for her office? Or maybe I'll send it to the wonderful family behind the<a href="https://bekindtoeveryone.com/"> Summer Shirt Project </a>for the work space in their home. I recently won a grab bag of awesome T-Shirts and fun Be Kind To Everyone swag. So maybe this will be a thank you gift to them. This project came to life on its own with very little planning, so it's fitting that its forever home is still undetermined. </div>
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I'm writing this post just an hour and a half before Kim's deadline of noon, Wisconsin time. I'm cozy under a blanket drinking coffee from a heart mug and watching the snow. I've decided to BE KIND to myself today and not go to work in my classroom. I've got plenty to do at home. </div>
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I hope that kindness finds you where ever you are this week! This world needs more of it!</div>
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Linking up with Kim at Persimmon Dreams for<a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/02/11-3-put-a-heart-on-it-challenge-3-of-project-quilting-season-11.html"> Project Quilting Season 11</a> .</div>
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Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-83791776936256152412020-01-25T23:02:00.000-06:002020-01-25T23:02:35.651-06:00Project Quilting 11.2 - Team Colors<br />
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It's like deja vu...all over again. On Saturday, January 26th, 2019 I wrote a <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/01/project-quilting-challenge-102-rw.html">blog post</a> about how I had completed my entry for the second Project Quilting Season 10 challenge. I made a quilt and blogged about it all while inside the walls of Children's Hospital in Milwaukee while my daughter was inpatient, receiving treatments for cystic fibrosis. Here we are, Saturday, January 25th, 2020, and guess what? I'm blogging about completing PQ Season 11 challenge #2...from inside Children's Hospital. It's been a doozy of a year for my 14 year old. We left the hospital last year on February 2. Since then, she has had 4 inpatient stays, this one included, totaling 52 days, so far, plus 9 days of IV treatments at home and an ER visit. That's a lot for a teenager who just wants to be at home in her own bed, hanging out with her sister and friends and going to rehearsals for the musicals she loves to be in. We are all getting tired of this, and hoping that her health will turn a corner SOON and we will go back to staying out of the hospital for YEARS at a time instead of months. <br />
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Anyway. When the challenge for the week was issued by <a href="http://www.quiltchicken.com/">Trish</a> (Quiltchicken) and <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/">Kim</a> (Persimon Dreams) I didn't know that we'd end up back up here on the 11th floor. I also didn't know which team I would pick to represent the theme for the week - "Team Colors." At that time, our beloved Packers hadn't played their final game of the season, yet. Before the game on Sunday night, I decided that if they won, and were therefore headed to the Super Bowl, I'd make a celebratory green and gold mini quilt to display for the big game. Well, my quilt is red, white and blue, representing the colors of our high school and the Slinger School District. So, no Super Bowl for Aaron Rogers and his team. (Incidentally, the challenge theme for the second week last year was Red, White and Blue...weird).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image result for slinger school logo"" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/gymdandy.imgsrv/orgs/581c0a0397b7989647b26b24/logo/ubfcxuwttwwkrlgtorozxhumacgohxoh.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go Owls!</td></tr>
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Before I knew that we'd be coming in to the hospital, I had already decided that this challenge would be completed at "the last minute." Friday was a scheduled day off of school and knew I'd be using any available sewing time prior to that to work on costumes for Aladdin Jr., the middle school production that both my girls are involved in. (My oldest choreographed the show and taught the choreography to 70+ middle schoolers! Now THAT'S a challenge!) I had been looking forward to spending the whole day drinking coffee and working on the challenge piece in my sewing room, while watching a Hallmark Winterfest movie or two on my tablet. I should probably stop making plans like that. Read this <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/02/happy-thoughts.html">post</a> from last year to find out why... But, the hospital stay and lack of time to plan a project and lack of access to supplies meant that I kept things super simple. I literally threw a bunch of red, white and blue scraps, a bit of batting, a largish chunk of backing fabric, a small ruler, rotary cutter and mat, my mini iron and wool mat into a suitcase on the way out the door before coming to the hospital on Thursday. My sewing machine and a box of basic supplies were already in the car because I've been doing costume alterations at rehearsals. (Seventy plus kids who each have two or more costumes. Also a challenge!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphAbLvPEI-TlKofSh7VWW8oBJx92-CRuw4-cFAj_mOlB2srntsGBEHktFy5GG1xfQe4iKlGKXqxBrGqvEsE5hHJcTXxezo7yN66VkhcGLa780j-Q6g8ISXHEWqGAjA3I7qfWbaE38GwUg/s1600/IMG_20200124_142002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphAbLvPEI-TlKofSh7VWW8oBJx92-CRuw4-cFAj_mOlB2srntsGBEHktFy5GG1xfQe4iKlGKXqxBrGqvEsE5hHJcTXxezo7yN66VkhcGLa780j-Q6g8ISXHEWqGAjA3I7qfWbaE38GwUg/s640/IMG_20200124_142002.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my snowy day hospital sewing set up. I love that my scissors and mini iron fit the theme!</td></tr>
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With no real plan in mind, I decided to just start cutting. Then I just started piecing. I still didn't know exactly what I was making. Once I had a red background pieced I decided to add our "Owl Eyes" logo that represents our district. I texted my 17 year old daughter who was planning to come and visit and asked her to print it out for me. There's no way I was going to free hand that! When that was done, I decided to add some borders. Then, I decided I wanted to be done. Quickly. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0ypgOp56MdvWauWPMnGWp7z8FHm9tHZfteBZKpv3tSsFhIiHZaXadAfQHNtB_pEBeCxUQenwPQE6nhLejVG-j-PoarUOVBOtTURQVLqQBVghEcnoVjrZktVXnaNYci1C7vhOVSkLAuDd/s1600/MVIMG_20200125_153911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0ypgOp56MdvWauWPMnGWp7z8FHm9tHZfteBZKpv3tSsFhIiHZaXadAfQHNtB_pEBeCxUQenwPQE6nhLejVG-j-PoarUOVBOtTURQVLqQBVghEcnoVjrZktVXnaNYci1C7vhOVSkLAuDd/s400/MVIMG_20200125_153911.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't look too close! Wonkiness abounds!</td></tr>
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The result is...eh. Kind of a hot mess. Not great stitching around the logo. Pretty bad self binding, because the "chunk of backing was almost but not quite big enough... and I decided to try to make it work instead of cutting and piecing more scraps for binding. It's not my best work. But its done. It makes me think about what Trish said about quilts getting whomped by the "<a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2016/12/words-from-project-quiltings-new.html">ugly stick.</a>" This quilt isn't great, but it served it purpose. I kept my hands busy for several hours, it kept me from getting in my daughter's business in a very small hospital room and bugging her to eat more. It used up some scraps. And, done is done. It fulfilled the challenge. I can now move on and hope that life is a little more predictable for the next.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq_psO6v8D3mepj6iTxCy0Czm6DI7xMZ4eqU9XPE5L1CPfwxRGmCb2Hkg3jL1PiiGdLLxPkwG0vQFSNvZ9GUbIPjq8YPsODyZMlCMenV66AtkkPQBYXvmTIE48M1-VUgan6osi5Cj1lk3/s1600/IMG_20200125_153435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpq_psO6v8D3mepj6iTxCy0Czm6DI7xMZ4eqU9XPE5L1CPfwxRGmCb2Hkg3jL1PiiGdLLxPkwG0vQFSNvZ9GUbIPjq8YPsODyZMlCMenV66AtkkPQBYXvmTIE48M1-VUgan6osi5Cj1lk3/s640/IMG_20200125_153435.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I taped the quilt to the window in the 11th floor parent lounge at the hospital. If you look close (at the background, not the quilt, please) you can see Miller Park. Had I known I'd be able to get this shot, I'd have done a different Team for the challenge! LOL</td></tr>
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This wonky little, kinda ugly piece will be a "table topper" for the "community table" in my classroom where kids can sit and work together or work with a teacher. It's going to end up with pencil shaving and eraser schribbles and marker smudges all over it. And that's OK. It will bring a touch of home to my room at school, and be a good example for my kids that mistakes and imperfection are OK. <br />
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I thought it might be fun to try to re-do some of the shots I took of the mini quilt from this week, last year. So, here are some comparison shots:<br />
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Yes, people look at me oddly while I'm taping things to the windows and walls and taking pictures.<br />
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The next few days will be busy. I'm working Monday but then back to the hospital for Tuesday and Wednesday. I plan to fill those days with looking at everyone else's entries for this challenge Umm. Maybe I shouldn't plan....<br />
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We are hoping that my daughter will make enough progress that she will be able to come home on Wednesday. The show opens Friday night, but even though she will have missed many rehearsals, the director will allow her to join the group numbers if she can be at two rehearsals before opening night. So, if you're reading this, cross your fingers and send a prayer. We'll need all the help we can get!<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-57493371369720104982020-01-11T23:16:00.001-06:002020-01-11T23:16:54.400-06:00Project Quilting 11.1 - Notably Numeric<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Project Quilting is back! SO, I'll be BLOGGING again, at least for the next 12 weeks! Life has been absolutely crazy hectic since my last post and I have barely had time for sewing, let alone writing posts. Stress, constant busy, new job, hospital stays and life in general left me feeling not at all like myself. I decided to take back some time for ME in the new year and started sewing along with the Project Quilting Quilt Along during Christmas break a couple of weeks ago. I ended up not finishing the project, simply because it was going to be too big to hang in my sewing room. It doesn't even fit on my design wall! I will likely take it apart and use the pieces for individual projects in the future, though, because the spools are pretty cute!<br />
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I had so much fun participating in Project Quilting last year, that I'm going to make a go of it again! I have no idea if I'll be able to keep up. Life is still busy with a new job, AND, I'm helping to costume a musical that my daughters are participating in this month. So, we'll see. But I have to at least try! And I'm off to a good start!<br />
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The first challenge issued by Kim and Trish was "Notably Numeric." I enjoy Sudoku and I try to do a puzzle every day, either with paper and pencil or on my phone. So that became the inspiration for my numerical mini quilt . I decided to represent a puzzle in progress, rather than a completed one, because its the process that I enjoy the most, not finishing. Similar to quilting! I grabbed a puzzle book, made one pass over each column and row, filling in the numbers that were easy to find, and then stopped. I used that as my pattern for the nine blocks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the prints in the Elementary line! So cute and So Mathy!<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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I had a fat quarter of a cute number print. There was no selvage, so I can't tell you the maker or the line. If someone recognizes it, please let me know! I decided to use that for my numbers. I had some 1 1/2 inch squares of Elementary by Sweetwater that I knew would be perfect for the "empty" squares. I started fussy cutting numbers from the print, and quickly realized that some of the numbers were not going to work with inch and a half squares. But, I really wanted to use those Elementary squares, and I didn't have another print with numbers that would work. So, I decided to go ahead. I knew I'd have some wonky, chopped off numbers. But this little quilt is only going to hang on the wall behind my sewing machine. Its not getting judged or sold or given away. It's about the process, so, ONWARD!<br />
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I think it turned out pretty cute! And it was a LOT of fun! If by some chance you're reading this and you DIDN'T come from the link on Kim's blog, then you should definitely head over<a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2020/01/11-1-notably-numeric-challenge-1-of-project-quilting-season-11.html"> there</a> to check out all the entries. There are 82 entries linked already, and there are still 13 hours to go until the deadline! Its fun to see how much the challenge grows each year, and even more fun to be a part of it!<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-1374778257174925662019-07-18T22:26:00.000-05:002019-07-18T22:26:07.728-05:00Finish Along Quarter 3 GoalsOh man, LIFE is kicking me around right now. It's been one thing after another for several months. But, I am coming in under the wire to post this because finishing my unfinished projects is important to me. And having a goal really helps. And, its just fun to join in with other people who probably feel the same way!<br />
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I am limiting my list this quarter to the things from the last list that didn't get done. (In other words, the whole list, minus two items.) Progress has been made on at least two of these since making the earlier list, so, there's a good chance those will be in the finished come October. Ummm, I just did a mental run through of the next three months, and that chance might not be so good after all. But, I gotta try!<br />
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<b><u>Scrappy Stars</u></b><br />
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Quilting has begun on this! I'm stuck in the "hate" phase of the love/hate relationship I always have while quilting a quilt. All I'm seeing are mistakes and flaws and batting that is too puffy. I know that the second the binding is on I'll love it again...but, oh I hope I get there quick!<br />
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<u><b>Hello Fall Half Square Triangle Quilt</b></u><br />
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I made some progress last quarter. I decided on a layout, organized the HST's that had been sewn and cut background fabric to make more. I have visions of snuggling under this on the living room couch on the first chilly night this fall. Fingers crossed!<br />
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<b><u>Doll Sized Hospital Gowns</u></b><br />
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Haven't touched these. They are destined for A Doll Like Me. Our 4-H club will be sponsoring a doll or two next month and sending some tied fleece blankets that can be sent to siblings of children receiving dolls.hope I can finish these gowns and send them along at the same time. <br />
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<b><u>Cord Keepers</u></b><br />
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I know, I know. I could finish these the next time I have a half hour to kill. Sewing Velcro on is just so NOT exciting, though. And I have NO purpose for them. There's just no motivation to get them done. And so they sit. Maybe soon they will be done?<br />
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That's it. That's all I'm even going to think about for this quarter. I know there will be other projects that come up including two or three more fabric post cards. And there will be at least one musical to sew for. So, I'll be lucky to get to two of my goals again. But it will feel so good to cross them off the list, even at that!<br />
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Linking up (with mere minutes to go...) to the Finish Along Post at <a href="http://throwawenchintheworks.blogspot.com/2019/07/q3-goal-linkup-for-finish-long.html">Throw a Wrench in the Works</a>. Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-54412272050118688832019-07-09T19:55:00.001-05:002019-07-09T20:00:45.724-05:00Round Robin Mini Quilt Finish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh goodness, life has a way of going awry sometimes! My wonderful mornings spent sewing before going in to teach afternoon 4K evaporated a few days after my last post when I was offered a part time special ed job in the mornings. It was a wonderful way to end the school year. And! It developed into a full time Special Ed job for next year. Which is wonderful, and overwhelming and means I will once again have a long distance relationship with my sewing machine. Long distances between sewing sessions, I mean. What's more, my "regular" afternoon job opened up an opportunity for me to teach summer school, which has been fun and is helping me to fund things I want for my new classroom...so it's great. But, it means that I have not had my usual summer fling with my machine. Poor girl. No fling, no promise of long mornings spent stitching, no regular projects in the coming year. Over the last week, however, with both the Finish Along Quarter Two deadline AND the county fair looming, I have managed to get in an hour or so of sewing a few days. I am much chagrined that I have only two finishes from my<a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/04/quarter-two-finish-along-list.html"> Quarter Two list </a>to report. And a bit embarrassed (and a little proud) that one of those finishes came to be mere hours before the deadline. (I mean, I could have just skipped it, but I bypassed the opportunity for a nap to finish binding so I could do a quick blog entry and link up. There's something to be proud of there, right??)<br />
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This mini quilt has been an unfinished thorn in my side for a while, and now its done! It started out as a round robin project with a quilting pen pal. Somehow in our correspondence with each other, it wasn't clearly communicated that I wanted the center medallion I sent her to end up being a mini quilt for my sewing room wall. After her second round with the quilt, it arrived back to me with six inch borders on an already 18 inch block...and it was HUGE. Too huge for the wall, anyway, and I had no interest in it as a bed or lap quilt. And, as a result of two of us working on it with different skill levels, some of the "rounds" were uneven and the whole quilt was not quite square. The two of us have different color preferences and stashes, too, so, the fabrics she chose did't quite blend with mine. So, the quilt sat and our pen-palship fizzled. In the spirit of the First Quarter Finish Along, I finally removed the wide border, and added a skinny outer border that would make it look "finished", but then I put it away because I worried about how wonky and un-square it was. I was pretty sure that straight line quilting would accentuate the problems and I'd end up with a wavy quilt on my wall.<br />
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I finally decided that done was better than perfect, and chose a quilting pattern. Man, was this fun to quilt with my walking foot!!! So zen-like, quilting row after row. Sewing always relaxes me, but this was like a spa treatment! I really love the look of the "split log cabin" style quilting. As I suspected, however, it did make the un-square (because of a wonky border added by my swap partner) quilt pooch out in the middle. No amount of pressing or trimming would make it lie or hang flat, I 'm afraid. And that's ok, I realized. It will hand on the sewing room wall, and I'll smile when I see it. I will remember that life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful!<br />
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So, today, with a deadline breathing down my neck, I bound it. I used a "trick" for joining the binding ends that I learned when I took my paper piecing class in May. The trick originated with Nancy Zieman (or at least she made it popular and the person who taught me learned it from her...). It's really nifty, and you can watch it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA3DbxeReV0">here</a>. It allowed me to finish up my binding on the first try! No stress! No unpicking! And, while I really wanted to sit on the deck and hand stitch the binding to the back, I needed a really fast finish (deadline, remember?) so I machine stitched it. It's not perfect. But it's done! And, I've decided that I will enter it in the county fair in a few weeks - imperfections and all! I don't expect a ribbon, but this little quilt has a story to tell, so off to the fair she goes!<br />
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I'm linking up with the <a href="https://www.sarahgoerquilts.com/2019/07/01/2019-finish-a-long-quarter-2-finishes-link-up/">Finish Along Second Quarter Finishes</a> post at Sarah Goer Quilts, just in the nick of time! I'll be ending my evening with Carry Out Pizza and some perusing of the fabulous links there! Maybe a beverage, too. It is, after all, summer!<br />
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Time to start thinking about my goals for quarter three! That link up opens tomorrow! I may not have much time to sew, but having a goal gets me in the sewing room when I do find a minute or two!Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-39298151610500164192019-05-06T22:36:00.000-05:002019-05-06T22:36:24.298-05:00Paper Piecing Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Learning to do paper piecing has been on my list for YEARS! I have had a general idea of how it works but have never tried. (Well, I THOUGHT I had a general idea, but after taking a class I have learned that I wasn't quite right...) I always admire the fun paper pieced blocks that I see on Instagram. There is an endless amount of designs! And, after piecing the cactus block for my daughter's Easter Basket, I knew that there HAD to be a better way to create cute picture type blocks than trying to piece teeny tiny squares into triangles and such. </div>
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So, when I noticed that there was a paper piecing class at Mill House Quilts in Waunakee, Wi on the last Friday of my Spring Break, I decided to sign up. Spring Break was kind of yucky this year. The weather was blah, we didn't travel, my daughter had her wisdom teeth out and I had a tooth fixed, there were other appointments and studying for APUSH...not much in the way of fun. Driving, by myself, an hour and a half to take a three hour class and then driving, by myself, home, seemed like just the ticket! </div>
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And it was! Friday was a lovely morning, and it's such a pretty drive. The Rock River and the Craw Fish River both run along the rural highways that I needed to take. With the rain (and April snow) that we've been having, the rivers are both high and very visible from the road. I know that parts of my route had endured some pretty severe flooding recently, but Oh, My! With all the shades of new spring green on the ground and in the trees, and the clear blue morning sky, the river views that I spied on my way to Mill House were just breathtaking. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive there, complete with a cup of coffee and my favorite station on the radio. When that station went out of range I finished with a Beatles CD. Perfect.</div>
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I had never been to Mill House Quilts before. It's a beautiful shop in a really pretty little town. The building, as you can guess from the name, is an old mill that is situated next to the railroad tracks. When I arrived, I headed straight up to the large classroom on the upper level, but I really wanted to explore the shop! It has a cozy and inviting feel, despite its large size. Luckily, there was time for that after class.</div>
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The class was taught by Kathy Doyle . There were only three of us in the class, so we had lots of individualized attention. It was so nice to get to chat with the other ladies, even if I will likely never see them again. I so wish I had real life friends who quilted. I really enjoy those connections. The bit of time spent in this class has strengthened my resolve to get myself to a quilt retreat soon!</div>
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We were told to bring our own paper piecing pattern to the class. Some suggestions were made on the materials list, but evidently those were only available for purchase in the store. Since I had never been there, and it wasn't specified, I didn't know that. I searched online for them, but without luck. I ended up browsing through a LOT of web sites, and settled on some fairly traditional blocks. I took two options along, since I wasn't really sure which would work best. I wanted to do something more....pictorial...but many of those had lots and lots of really tiny pieces and looked very intricate. I knew that if I was going to have a good experience I needed to start out basic and with something I could complete. The other two quilters in the class had chosen the same pattern, and both completed just a small portion of it in the time allotted. But, the little cats and stacks of quilts they did complete were darling!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscx-RFp5eUR_NKfYKbNWxDXBrMpyBHsqDL95pZG5g7tnF0tz4sk4oEA-oluhEmeMDvg47s3yPjPaLEVDdgJM_uygUhyltIIQHTQU3uzcS7EWoafYDH5-nwc2WT6EPZ6HpR5feqtvrnDXZ/s1600/IMG_20190426_105913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1551" data-original-width="1600" height="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscx-RFp5eUR_NKfYKbNWxDXBrMpyBHsqDL95pZG5g7tnF0tz4sk4oEA-oluhEmeMDvg47s3yPjPaLEVDdgJM_uygUhyltIIQHTQU3uzcS7EWoafYDH5-nwc2WT6EPZ6HpR5feqtvrnDXZ/s640/IMG_20190426_105913.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once I understood the process, I was able to work pretty quickly through my little "hummingbird" blocks. The most challenging part was making sure that my fabric was positioned correctly so that it would cover the intended space after sewing. I took more than one seam out because it didn't fit. I learned to use larger pieces, and to always flip before sewing. I think that with practice I will work out a system that works for me, and I think that judging the angle of the pieces will become easier. </div>
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One thing that bothered me a bit about the process is that it seemed to create a lot of waste. Maybe t was because I was using such large pieces to ensure that they covered the space, but I kept feeling like I was ending up with SO many oddly sized scraps that wouldn't really be usable in another way. I suppose that's just a fundamental difference between piecing and paper piecing. But, if anyone has a tips about this, I'd love to hear them!</div>
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I really enjoyed the process of removing the papers once the block was finished. Its so satisfying!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEZjJTfJ7oa2njNyNJHJJECS-hnZWLFxWMnA2e_H2NpoqC1vOk5Ux_qyVyLRv9pkBM4c7aFDBU2PQQOwQcoS2lY0MxrOHTVaq6AqceTusU_v6a4uvZ1LWFmdCcW3mZrLn7TQUlAsVI9eG/s1600/IMG_20190505_204337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1434" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEZjJTfJ7oa2njNyNJHJJECS-hnZWLFxWMnA2e_H2NpoqC1vOk5Ux_qyVyLRv9pkBM4c7aFDBU2PQQOwQcoS2lY0MxrOHTVaq6AqceTusU_v6a4uvZ1LWFmdCcW3mZrLn7TQUlAsVI9eG/s400/IMG_20190505_204337.jpg" width="357" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I keep thinking about making the "star" a neutral and letting the octagon in the center come forward in bold prints.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSlXInaQgkd3XcOoslSuYZP-u8zxgk7sp-FtQuruO0KFfmdE7XWoF2pn4hOiSmHKh2LBJE3fDUDpmXrvA4cg1Nq66UjHetJRI3VJJuYc_jyVb8YlIDpLZ3ObNcI4v6sx8ly9ENIm3XILTW/s1600/IMG_20190505_204607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="622" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSlXInaQgkd3XcOoslSuYZP-u8zxgk7sp-FtQuruO0KFfmdE7XWoF2pn4hOiSmHKh2LBJE3fDUDpmXrvA4cg1Nq66UjHetJRI3VJJuYc_jyVb8YlIDpLZ3ObNcI4v6sx8ly9ENIm3XILTW/s400/IMG_20190505_204607.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Table runner?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaF62IjnwltP5hxO3oJwN05_2IRZF1-jKZj2CeGPlp-wVdp7lOULBQfusCETIwEhtP7jOhQ2m6FNyejiUn4ziCGGtkTk-LpTLQbR-KvQ8EcOxk9SJgrsH_elO8uFFUX9z51K6zqQtDursv/s1600/IMG_20190505_204356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1479" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaF62IjnwltP5hxO3oJwN05_2IRZF1-jKZj2CeGPlp-wVdp7lOULBQfusCETIwEhtP7jOhQ2m6FNyejiUn4ziCGGtkTk-LpTLQbR-KvQ8EcOxk9SJgrsH_elO8uFFUX9z51K6zqQtDursv/s400/IMG_20190505_204356.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It would be fun to quilt the "shadow" of the stars in those open spaces!</td></tr>
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I'm not sure yet what I will do with the 4 cute little blocks I completed during the class. They will hang on the design wall for a bit, as a happy reminder of a lovely day, while I finish some things from my Second Quarter Finish Along list. Eventually, maybe they will become a pillow or a mini quilt or even a table runner. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to do some paper piecing. I hope don't forget how!</div>
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After class, I was in no hurry to rush home. So, I spent about an hour browsing in the shop. There was a lot to see! I generally don't buy fabric without a specific purpose, but I made an exception to celebrate my "spring break adventure." </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmdzWY700C-XJD0W3HV9NEFkEQVKCCFxHZ_IazT35UD04UFJ4nsT-WHYTnB4LwYAsSfpZPZRQlqS4WzRYyZDlJRCOf6iQO_6tehmE8g-N92J6YrxkMOjrhMOCbh37yjkxnqcmeftpc5aW/s1600/IMG_20190505_204955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmdzWY700C-XJD0W3HV9NEFkEQVKCCFxHZ_IazT35UD04UFJ4nsT-WHYTnB4LwYAsSfpZPZRQlqS4WzRYyZDlJRCOf6iQO_6tehmE8g-N92J6YrxkMOjrhMOCbh37yjkxnqcmeftpc5aW/s640/IMG_20190505_204955.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I want to do a table runner based on Stars and Stripes by Thimbleblossoms. I think a lot of my reds and whites will come from these charm packs. And I could't resist this patriotic fat quarter.<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeGjUbG6vo57C6hrjslqjGYjZl9ZRnhpIP4f0aNcu-t0LIuRQrigt6dhNu73ezWg0EBKFwnKt907IzaY__xlMTWt13kLoGBxsPHKSNQqdpyFWrZ3FNSpw-GTbam-_-sG6eJS1Az6bugAg/s1600/IMG_20190505_205140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeGjUbG6vo57C6hrjslqjGYjZl9ZRnhpIP4f0aNcu-t0LIuRQrigt6dhNu73ezWg0EBKFwnKt907IzaY__xlMTWt13kLoGBxsPHKSNQqdpyFWrZ3FNSpw-GTbam-_-sG6eJS1Az6bugAg/s640/IMG_20190505_205140.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swoon! I just love this. This was the end of the bolt, and I don't think there's enough here to make myself a top, but, wouldn't that be cute? Maybe my daughter can make herself something.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFrURkokqyCN3oM839c-jkZeEv-KI7LxhuFHTzsKCC6XWuT9tWKs4oRFbeIfTnEXUquQOxvBHs9htRmeKjmqs1VmKTLYsMYNzeKbdtqN-kArRbj-1eqCe4nXFhxHGsGIVtka0rI6JBJQ0/s1600/IMG_20190505_205111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFrURkokqyCN3oM839c-jkZeEv-KI7LxhuFHTzsKCC6XWuT9tWKs4oRFbeIfTnEXUquQOxvBHs9htRmeKjmqs1VmKTLYsMYNzeKbdtqN-kArRbj-1eqCe4nXFhxHGsGIVtka0rI6JBJQ0/s640/IMG_20190505_205111.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think I'm going to start collecting text prints. Any and all of them. </td></tr>
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I'm so glad I took a day for myself and visited Mill House Quilts. It was such a lovely day. I will visit again, and I won't hesitate to look for more classes to take!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-67649620576303361922019-04-21T22:27:00.000-05:002019-04-21T22:27:38.124-05:00Mini Quilts - A Double FinishMy little "secret sewing" projects that I included on my <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/04/quarter-two-finish-along-list.html">Second Quarter Finish Along list</a> are completed, have been gifted, and can be revealed! Yay!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5_iGmKdWQ9x5Z43B5OQO5-qfw6SJ0-L4RlzpADAEaTUWQI6PfEUOdeT9ntplfXnzckd0FuUQ7takbR9GZtkG3ScTBa0hElRz7EIMp8nejlkXbhw0ijHmA_ODokFKIjK4EZ1SNPleYK6M/s1600/IMG_20190410_094626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5_iGmKdWQ9x5Z43B5OQO5-qfw6SJ0-L4RlzpADAEaTUWQI6PfEUOdeT9ntplfXnzckd0FuUQ7takbR9GZtkG3ScTBa0hElRz7EIMp8nejlkXbhw0ijHmA_ODokFKIjK4EZ1SNPleYK6M/s640/IMG_20190410_094626.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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These two little quilts were made for my sweet, silly daughters. The Easter Bunny tucked them into their baskets this morning. Somehow, the bunny and I managed to keep them secret! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8aDXEOfDDG1b1Hyc6YJ0lG0hnmgG1w9U_L4NkafQGEB0_Dp21WoTKndOJxL8chlWQ8HKDDdWCdPZSnAbRcyAtmbZGLuDWsB2oDxUjsOo94St9sKwSSDYLKbLTG_BAme3yZGKklMzi5Hgp/s1600/IMG_20190419_135443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1427" data-original-width="1600" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8aDXEOfDDG1b1Hyc6YJ0lG0hnmgG1w9U_L4NkafQGEB0_Dp21WoTKndOJxL8chlWQ8HKDDdWCdPZSnAbRcyAtmbZGLuDWsB2oDxUjsOo94St9sKwSSDYLKbLTG_BAme3yZGKklMzi5Hgp/s640/IMG_20190419_135443.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Both patterns were purchased from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/BurlapBlossomPattern?ref=l2-shop-info-avatar&listing_id=674727893">Burlap & Blossom,</a> an adorable Etsy shop. She has a LOT of sweet patterns, and they are all traditional piecing. The patterns were easy to print and easy to follow. I will buy from her again, for sure! I will think twice about making the 6 inch blocks, though. Making half square triangles with squares that start out at 3/4 of an inch is not for the faint of heart!! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmsIkc3fjHYpZh_pAlfg6l-PtbbD54H3jPa5hqQzR2tu__qeKzKSkX2YFimAb9HPMWh5t-S_p8PmGa5jIC0ZFrn1lbhLxDbGLE_ZQYBQjwYOAuR0gNlv4Jb1fSoRjl-D_0sC2JBhlOsO1/s1600/IMG_20190419_135504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmsIkc3fjHYpZh_pAlfg6l-PtbbD54H3jPa5hqQzR2tu__qeKzKSkX2YFimAb9HPMWh5t-S_p8PmGa5jIC0ZFrn1lbhLxDbGLE_ZQYBQjwYOAuR0gNlv4Jb1fSoRjl-D_0sC2JBhlOsO1/s640/IMG_20190419_135504.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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The little flowers on this cactus show how much I struggled with this. Poor things. If I had had more time, and if I wasn't limited to sewing these when the girls were out of the house, I might have re done those parts. But, I figure cactus flowers come in all shapes and sizes. Maybe these were nibbled on by a road runner or an armadillo. I decided to leave them be. And, as a whole, I think this little guy is pretty charming.<br />
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I used the same cute mini dot background for both quilts, and I kind of wish I hadn't. I think that the coffee cup quilt needs more contrast. I LOVE the lid fabric, but it blends too much into the background, and the overall shape gets lost. Again, if I had more time...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8mVvxok-I8UdyHEceCJOWGypIr4RkVB9UZ2mIOcfm7TzpJ-PekaSk4bpWLvMNRGXKD6D30eaXGOx825yaAzC37AoWN_B29oMUhBTS3UPOvB200maxLjv4aqUcW7ogEb2rSqBQk3wDTmm/s1600/20190421_205543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8mVvxok-I8UdyHEceCJOWGypIr4RkVB9UZ2mIOcfm7TzpJ-PekaSk4bpWLvMNRGXKD6D30eaXGOx825yaAzC37AoWN_B29oMUhBTS3UPOvB200maxLjv4aqUcW7ogEb2rSqBQk3wDTmm/s640/20190421_205543.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I'm not sure if the girls will hang the quilts in their rooms, or their lockers or use them as mug rugs. They finish at about 6x9, so they would work for that purpose, too. I do know that these won't be the last minis that I make for my daughters. They are fun and pretty quick to make, and I can envision future dorm room walls covered with quilted memories from Mom. I can dream, right?<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-3446030931029198902019-04-14T13:33:00.000-05:002019-04-14T13:41:00.623-05:00Quarter Two Finish Along List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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When I made my <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-finish-along.html">first quarter</a> Finish Along list in January, April seemed very far way. And so it is now, making my second quarter list. July 1st seems to be an eternity away. Yet, here it is, mid April, in the blink of an eye. Another blink and summer will be here.</div>
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While I didn't finish everything on the first quarter list, having the list to follow definitely helped me to stay focused and committed to finishing some long neglected projects. Between those finishes and the Project Quilting challenges, I logged more than 10 finishes for the quarter. There have been years when I haven't finished that many!</div>
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This quarter's list might be a bit ambitious, given the scope of some of the projects. But, I'll give it a try! Finishing, it turns out, is very satisfying.</div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Scrappy Stars</span></b></u></div>
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This is a finished top, not too big, not too small. It's a good lap or child size. It was started to use up some half square triangles that resulted from two different projects. I also used up a good amount of the squares I had been cutting from scraps. The challenge with this one will be deciding how to quilt it. I'm thinking it will be straight line quilted with the walking foot, if I can master using it. It makes me happy to look at all those bright colors. Can't wait to have his one done!<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Round Robin Mini Quilt</span></u><br />
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This is a carry over from my first quarter list. Some progress has been made...it now has an outer border and is basted. It probably could have been finished last quarter, but, I'm stuck on the quilting. I thought I might do some log cabin like lines in each of the four quarters. But, as I planned that out, I realized that the inner borders are not at all straight I am afraid that linear quilting is going to emphasize how NOT square this mini is. But, I don't have enough free motion practice, yet, to go that route. This is a quilt for me, and will hang on the wall, and will make me smile, simply by virtue of its colors. So, I should probably just go with something straight and simple and get it done. We'll see.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Doll Sized Hospital Gowns</b></span></u><br />
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These were started on a whim in January when Bernie at Needle and Foot posted about the <a href="https://needleandfoot.com/2019/01/25/tiny-gowns-for-a-doll-like-me/">Tiny Gowns</a> she was making for A Doll Like Me. This was during the time that my daughter was in the hospital. On one of the days that snow kept me at home instead of being in the hospital with her, I decided to try my hand at some little hospital gowns, too. I cut and started a few. Might have finished one...I don't remember. When they are all done I'll send a package off to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nannysbabiestoodollslikeme/">Amy </a>so she can included them with the precious dolls she makes, when they are going to a child facing a hospital stay. Perhaps I'll see if I can get a doll sized quilt made to go with it!<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Hello Fall Half Square Triangle Quilt</span></b></u><br />
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This is a LONG time WIP. I don't even remember when it was started. I know, however, that when I bought the charm packs to use as HST leaders and enders I was excited that the greens in the pack matched the green sofa and love seat in our living room. Since the walls had recently been painted an autumn orange color (it's prettier than it sounds) I thought I could make a quick sofa quilt that would go perfectly. Well, the green couches have been gone at least three years. The walls are still pumpkiny though, so it will be a lovely addition. And, while we have an assortment of fleece throws that are used constantly. we don't have an actual adult sized quilt that's used downstairs.<br />
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There's a lot of work needed on it. I have no idea how many HSTs I finished, some are pressed and trimmed (I think) and some are not, there's fabric to do more HSTs if needed, and , oh. I need to decide on a layout. Getting this one done will be a MAJOR accomplishment.<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Cord Keepers</span></b></u><br />
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Like the <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/04/rope-bowl-finish.html">rope bowl</a> on last quarter's list, these are a silly non finish. They need velcro and top stitching. That's it. It will be about a two hour job. They've been sitting in a bin for two years. Enough said.<br />
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<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">6 inch Quilt Squares for Secret Sewing Project</span></b></u><br />
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(This is my first ever secret sewing picture!) In all honestly, these blocks were just recently started. I'm adding these to the list because 1. they qualify as a Work In Progress and 2. because they will be an early finish and I'll get to cross them off the list soon (which Gretchen Rubin says is a good thing to do!). They are little gifties for my girls' Easter baskets (if life lets me get them done in the next week) and I'm keeping them secret in case anyone snoops.<br />
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As I finish my list, snow is falling outside my window. The long, hot days of July seem so very far away. Surely I'll be able to finish all of these projects before then! Right?<br />
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Linking up with the <a href="https://www.sarahgoerquilts.com/2019/04/09/2019-finish-a-long-quarter-2-link-up/">Finish Along</a>, and then off to peek at some others' lists of ambitions.Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-62615635413485057572019-04-11T20:28:00.000-05:002019-04-11T20:28:10.026-05:00Two More Seasonal "Post Cards"I've been enjoying making these fabric "post cards" for my friend. The first four I made for her are <a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/02/seasonal-decorations-and-pretty-pictures.html">here</a>. The latest two feature a cute girl bunny, and a Mason jar with spring flowers.<br />
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I really like the creative process in making these. Since there is no pattern, it takes a bit of work to come up with a design and then get things sized correctly. I like that challenge. I also like the spontaneity involved. More than once I've stated with a Google image, for one element, like the Mason Jar, but then I change and adapt as I go. It's fun to see where they take me, and sometimes I'm surprised. I had been planing to embroider the flowers on the Mason Jar, but then, in the middle of the night, I woke up thinking about a fabric with the perfect flowers on it. Sub conscious, much? The next morning before I went down stairs. I stopped in the sewing room and pulled that fabric out of the stack. So much quicker than embroidery, and so cute, too.<br />
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In looking back at the first set and comparing to the latest, I notice that I have moved away from hand sewing in favor of machine applique. Even the outside edge of these two was machine stitched. This isn't really a conscious decision on my part. I just go with the flow with these and machine stitching just felt right. I won't be surprised if the next few get a bit more hand stitching.<br />
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My plan is to keep making these until my friend has a years' worth. Then, I might try to duplicate some of my designs and make a few more sets. These little cuties make a perfect "in between" project, and I know a few other people who might like to have a set!<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-84803116489769481652019-04-03T21:43:00.000-05:002019-04-03T21:43:38.445-05:00Rope Bowl FinishI don't remember when or why I started this rope bowl. I don't know why it didn't get finished. I DO know that it sat like this...<br />
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a tangled mess...in my Unfinished Projects bin for quite a while. I knew that it wouldn't take much time to finish it, and it seems really silly that it sat for so long! I put it on my<a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-finish-along.html"> First Quarter Finish Along list</a>, hoping that would inspire me to get it out of the bin and into use!<br />
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And now, it's finished!<br />
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Rope Bowls that I've made in the past have been rather floppy, so I was careful to keep this one small and tightly wound. I also zig zagged the heck out of it. It used up lots of partial spools of white thread, which makes me happy! And I have to say, it's pretty sturdy!<br />
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I'm not sure what this pretty little thing is destined for. I don't really have a spot or a need for it. Maybe it will be a "just because" gift for someone. For now, it will sit here on a bookshelf where I can see it as I go upstairs. It just makes me happy to look at it.Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-56031486177481892872019-03-29T21:17:00.001-05:002019-03-29T21:17:37.456-05:00Two Small FinishesThese pretty little squares were on my first quarter F<a href="http://sewmuchforfreetime.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-finish-along.html">inish Along list</a>, and now they are...finished!<br />
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They were made by a quilting friend as part of a round robin exchange we were doing a couple years ago. She made them as cornerstones, set around a medallion that I started. My intention was to have a mini quilt, but I think that must not have been clearly communicated, as her addition would have made the quilt far too big to be a mini.<br />
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The quilt sat around for a while, and I've since lost contact with that friend. That makes me sad, but I do think of her often as I look around my sewing room and see small gifts and things she made for me. And now, I have finished her two blocks and they are part of my room, as well.<br />
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I used these blocks to experiment with the free motion foot that I recently bought for my machine. I knew that the quilting on these would be rocky. This is a brand new skill for me, and in fact this was the FIRST time I had even put the feed dogs down on this machine! And, I know that it is usually recommended to start learning to FMQ with scrap fabric. But, I figured I had little to lose. I wanted to get these off the "In Progress" pile, and I wanted to play around with the foot, and figure out how it worked.<br />
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I pulled Beginner's Guide to Free Motion Quilting by Natalia Bonner from my shelf before I started and read through the first part. It was helpful in getting set up, and I will return to the book as I continue to learn. I jumped in, though, a bit hastily I think. I started with some swirls and probably should have stayed with loops.<br />
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I cringe a bit, looking at the quilting. I almost scrapped these all together and tossed them in the garbage. But, instead, I finished them both with "self binding". One of them is hanging on my sewing room wall, and the other is there to greet my coffee cup and treats on the mornings that I get to sew.<br />
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I hope that years from now, when FMQ has become natural to me, I will look at them and smile at how far I've come! For now, I'm happy to have these done and being used!<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-49904339100310476702019-03-24T10:55:00.002-05:002019-03-24T10:55:52.560-05:00Project Quilting 10.6 - Chocolate Craving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's the final challenge in Season 10 of Project Quilting!<br />
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It has been a blast playing along this year and I'm so happy to have completed all 6 challenges! This week's theme was Craving Chocolate - perfect, because think most of us quilters keep a little secret stash that has noting to do with fabric...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shhh. Don't tell my children...</td></tr>
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There were moments when I didn't think this one was going to get finished. When the challenge theme was posted on Sunday, I was busy wrapping up my daughter's show, and just, in general, exhausted from two weekends of shows. On Monday I had oral surgery (ouch) and spent the next two days feeling pretty crummy. The latter part of the week was spent getting my house ready to host my family on Saturday to celebrate some birthdays. Cleaning and food prep took two whole days out of my quilting time! At 8:00 on Saturday evening, after guests left and the last of the dishes were washed, I headed to the sewing room. I almost threw in the towel in favor of a couple hours on the couch in front of the TV, but, no, I decided that finished was better than perfect and sat down to see what I could do in two hours.<br />
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This is my new Easter table runner! Like several other Project Quilting participants this week, I used the iconic chocolate bunny silhouette. I'm sure the fact that these guys started popping up at the grocery store before the Valentine's hearts were even gone has something to do with that!<br />
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As with the other project quilting challenges, I found that the key to finishing this runner was to not overthink. I also continue to find that the right tools, fabrics and notions are right where I need them to be, when I need them. It's like sewing room magic!<br />
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After deciding to put the chocolate hoppers on a cream background, I found a runner-ish sized rectangle in my low volume fabric stack. It didn't even need to be trimmed or squared up, so that became the background. I had only one brown solid, so these are dark chocolate bunnies, my favorite. I knew I'd want a border of some sort. I decided I liked not having to measure and cut the background, so I went to my messy bin of pre cut strips and found four springy colors in polka dots from a long forgotten jelly roll. <br />
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The dots on the strips are in two shades of each color, so that inspired my thread choices for the background quilting. I actually HAD the right shades of each color! And they looked so cute on my little cake stand ready to be used!<br />
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Originally I was going to just matchstick quilt with straight lines in all the different colors. But, then inspiration struck! I decided to use a zig zag and a decorative flower stitch to make it a bit more Easter egg like. I'd had so much fun doing raw edge applique on my Abdedarius project, so that's what I went with for the bunnies. And, guess what? Right there on the end of the ironing board, was a square of fusible backing that I hadn't put away from last time!! No hunting or searching or even getting up to get it! Win!<br />
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No way was I going to make binding, so I went back to the pre-cut bin to find strips to bind with. The was an 8:30 Saturday night decision, and I literally held my breath, not knowing if I'd find something that would work. But, look at that! The right color and shade for each side. Would you believe it if I told you that the blue one was exactly the right size? An inch shorter and it would not have worked! <br />
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And finally, those bows! Each one of them is made from a ribbon scrap that I pulled out of the box of tiny bits that I save for some unknown reason. Finding just enough in each of the four colors at 9:45 on Saturday night felt like hitting the jackpot! I love that they are each different, so each bunny gets a bit of a personality. And I love that the green one says "Family and Fun". Good words for Easter and Spring Break in my house!<br />
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I walked out of the sewing room at 10:04 p.m with this completed table runner. I'm pretty tickled with the way it looks on my dark kitchen table. Those bunnies really pop, don't they? And, my daughters each immediately claimed a bunny to be "theirs", leaving one each for my husband and me. Four bunnies for my family of four. Not planned, but perfect. Just like so many parts of the process. <br />
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I have to admit that I'm not too happy with the corners of my binding. I truly was in "just get it done" mode at that point, I tried something new for binding (stitching on the back and bringing around to the front to top stitch, which I will definitely try again, but since I used 4 different colors not one continuous strip, I had to make the corners up as I went. It doesn't bother me too much, since when I look at this all I see is the FUN I had making it. But, the corners alone will keep me from entering this in the county fair. That's OK. Project quilting sparked some new ideas and I have plenty of time to finish some fair project before summer.<br />
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I changed thread colors for this project more than I EVER have before. I will admit I sighed heavily each time I changed it while putting on the binding. But, I think I'm over my mental block about it now. It CAN be done, and I won't be so hesitant in the future. <br />
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I just love how this table runner finished up. I am so pleased with the way it came together and I love the feeling of FLOW I get from all the materials and tools being right were I needed them. That's been the feeling in my sewing room since I started participating in Project Quilting! I'm not sure what to attribute this to, but I like to think it has something to do with the collective positive energy that Kim and Trisha and all of the participants put out in to the universe each week! I can't wait to do it again next year!!<br />
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I created this table runner in my sewing room in Slinger, Wisconsin. I'm linking up for the last <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2019/03/10-6-craving-chocolate-challenge-6-of-project-quilting-season-10.html">Project Quilting Challenge </a>of Season 10. Don't forget to visit some of the other contestants and LEAVE COMMENTS! The comments make us all smile, so take a minute and do it!<br />
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<br />Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883493122899452580.post-61369777661619668372019-03-07T22:05:00.002-06:002019-03-07T22:13:09.380-06:00Project Quilting 10.5 - Abcedarius (Alphabet)Abcedarius: of or pertaining to the alphabet. That was our prompt this week for Project Quilting. I knew right away that I wanted to make something for someone to whom I owe a huge T.H.A.N.K.S! Ms. Christine is our classroom aide for 4K and 5K at school. I am teaching 4K this year. It's my first year at that level (and, sadly, likely the last as it was a one year position to fill in for someone on leave). Ms. Christine and I work hard every day to teach the alphabet and a myriad of other things to our 18 little loves. She has been a lifesaver more than once and helps me keep my cool by making sure everything is prepped and ready to go. She handles the most difficult kids with a kind and nurturing touch and treats me to surprises and pick me ups on a regular basis. So. it is only fitting that I express a bit of my thanks with something just for her.<br />
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I knew that her word of the year for 2019 is "Breathe." Well, I actually only knew that because I texted her to ask if she HAD a word of the year about two hours after the challenge theme was posted. Flowers for Spring seemed like a good thing to include, especially since she is allergic to many flowers and can't have fresh ones around.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whew! This is really a rough little sketch! But it got the job done!</td></tr>
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After some sketching, I had a plan. I dug around for the roll of fusible stuff that I was pretty sure I had...somewhere. And, actually, it was just where I expected it to be! It has been just amazing to find that I have all the stuff I've needed for these challenges. It feels good to know I am prepared to do all kinds of crafting, and I don't feel any urge at all to go and buy stuff! There's no need!<br />
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I prepped little patches of all the colors I needed, mostly from charm squares. I couldn't resist that text print for the background. Even more letters! I stuck with my Project Quilting induced mantra - "Just DO, don't think!" - and drew some tulips, complete with the darker color to give them dimension. This is NOT in my comfort zone, but I think they look pretty good!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This makes me smile. Stained ironing board cover and all!</td></tr>
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Staying in the "do it fast so there's no time for overthinking" mode, I printed out the word Breathe in a font I liked, cut and traced the letters, cut them from prepped fabric and cut some wonky squares to go behind them. Next came my favorite part - fusing everything in place. This is SO fun! And so quick! Somehow, I had all of this done by the time I left for work on Monday!<br />
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That evening, I dove into stitching around the tulips, stems and leaves. By chance, I had watched a video tutorial on raw edge applique recently, and was able to apply some pointers it had given. The stitching is not perfect by any means, but I was pretty tickled with the way it turned out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKF9ugg0InFaADEbn7uv5Zw5NabcW6ks9czcgnfuaDulbGSj1vEdDBK1huXokXcwniNWVkxrrEEcLbtGxhLWBSH-od_GKbDSLIK5SYmz1OeG_VLlggaLZn530sR6Zi_XdCrySGCS_0XZ9/s1600/20190306_142303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1121" data-original-width="557" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKF9ugg0InFaADEbn7uv5Zw5NabcW6ks9czcgnfuaDulbGSj1vEdDBK1huXokXcwniNWVkxrrEEcLbtGxhLWBSH-od_GKbDSLIK5SYmz1OeG_VLlggaLZn530sR6Zi_XdCrySGCS_0XZ9/s400/20190306_142303.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
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By bedtime on Tuesday, everything had been fused, stitched, and I was ready to layer and quilt the next morning. On Wednesday I tried out a bunch of different binding options. I decided that the black pin dot would work for the binding and the back. After just a bit of quilting in the background areas, I realized that I had enough excess to do a self binding and without stopping to think about it...that was done, too!<br />
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On Thursday, I added some tabs for hanging to the back, and gifted it to Ms. Christine, complete with a quilt hanger that I found in the closet while looking for the fusible stuff, which just so happened to be the perfect size. Oh, and I gave her a couple of Dr. Pepper's, too.<br />
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This is, I think , my fastest finish for Project Quilting so far. I'm so happy with how it turned out, and I hope it brings smiles to Christine, too!<br />
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To my future self who will probably come back and read this post someday...It is worth noting that this mini quilt was completed during TECH WEEK! For those of you who are not or do not have children involved in theater type things...this is the week leading up to a show. (Sometimes this week is called HELL WEEK...I'll let you speculate as to why.) Whenever anyone is this house is in a show (and we all are, at some point or another during the year...some of us more than once, one of us 4 or 5 times) I end up doing costume sewing. Tech week for me, lately, has involved a lot of alterations or repairs. During the time between finding out the PQ prompt and finishing Ms. Christine's' mini quilt, I also shortened 12 pairs of pants, replaced two zippers, added shoulder straps to 9 strapless dresses, added 7 inches of fabric to the side seams of two dresses, hand stitched heavily sequined straps to shorten them and keep them on the shoulders (8 dresses = 16 straps) , added a panel to a dress that wouldn't zip up all the way and inserted Velcro to replace a zipper that was far too tricky to take out (frilly, fraying fabric). And I went to work. And I cooked. There's a longer list of things I didn't do, but this post isn't about that. Yep. I'm feeling pretty good about this finish and living to tell the story of another tech week!<br />
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Finished mini quilt measures approximately 10 x 13 inches and was created by me, in Slinger, WI.<br />
Linking up to <a href="https://kimlapacek.com/2019/03/10-5-abecedarius-challnege-5-of-project-quilting-season-10.html">Project Quilting 10.5 at Persimon Dreams.</a>Sew Much For Free Timehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05752519140772364873noreply@blogger.com3