A Machine

That's what I feel like lately.

In addition to sewing and sending out regular orders from my shop, I took on a giant order for a designer in NY for about 50 dresses and skirts.

She has a shop in downtown NYC and is originally from Ghana.

I've been working with ethnic fabrics paired with coordinating linens.

  

 

Lots of chain stitching and moving from station to station - making all the ruffles, ironing a portion on all garments, inserting all the elastic and pinning on the ruffles for machine stitching, heading back to the sewing machine to sew up all the openings and sew on the ruffles....trying to coordinate it all so I don't have to change thread colors every five minutes.....50 times!!

 
It's been a real challenge for me to commit myself to working on several items of the same pattern in a short period of time, but I'm just about done.

All that's left is a lot of hand sewing - buttons and such.

Then, it's all off into the mail and I'm off to visit family in Montana!!

Can't wait!!!

Cravings

I just saw a picture of a stack of delicious whoopie pies in my magazine....

....now I just wish I could see one of them in my hand, making it's way to my mouth!

Funny how a craving hits us and nothing just seems to satisfy until we get that one thing!
Unfortunately, I have absolutely nothing in my house that even closely resembles the taste and texture of one of those light and fluffy chocolatey cookie pies!  Bella seems to be experiencing the same craving.  Nothing satisfies quite like Robert Pattison a good whoopie pie.

So, it looks like I'll have to settle for apple raisin pie and a glass of milk.

*meh*

Naming Game

Whenever I start a new quillow project, I spend a lot of time thinking what unique name I can come up with to adequately describe the quillow in just a word or two (or three, perhaps, if necessary).

I've got my sewing table centered in front of window so it appears I'm sewing in the middle of the yard!

I decided to try Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial for a "stack and whack" block - a simple block that showcases fabric easily.

I had a set of fat eights I purchased from Connecting Threads from their Quilter's Candy collection in dark blues, greens, indigo...naturally, it was on clearance and it was a new set of colors and fabrics for me to work with, so I snagged it.

Anyway, this morning I'm happily sewing away, sipping my cup of coffee and my darling husband traipses in with the coffee pot JUST to fill up my cup.  C'mon - say it with me.....

Awwwwwwwwwww!

I realize that a lot of my posts recently have been full of conversations between my hubby and I, so in keeping with that trend, here's another I'll share with you.

Me:  "Hey babe, help me name my new quillow"

Him:  "Hmmmm.....Looks like it's very greeny and purply"

{I'm thinking descriptive terms like, ocean, lagoon, deep blue, etc.....}

Him:  "You should call it Gurple"...he states as he heads back to the kitchen...

Ummmm...no.  Sometimes I consider him my 4th child - 53 years old and still a child at heart - gotta love it!!!

(BTW ~ if you happen to live near me and speak to my husband occasionally, please don't mention that you read about him on my blog!!!!  Thanks!)

 Anyway, I really enjoyed making these blocks and can't wait to put them together!  I plan on doing the same pattern with my Dr. Seuss fabrics and make a children's quillow.

I'm trying to train myself to use the knife on my sewing machine to cut threads in lieu of grabbing up the scissors all the time.

Do you use your knife?  Do you KNOW you probably have at least one or maybe more knives on your machine?  :)

Tempting...

Sells regularly for $349....web exclusive for $199 at Joann Fabrics.
And this is the full-size one, NOT the GO! Baby!!

Click HERE for more details on this special

I'm not having any luck winning one of these on all the giveaways in blogland so this is SERIOUSLY tempting me!!!

Mary, Mary...

....quite contrary......

....how does your garden grow?

In hexies!!!!

13 down.....      ?     . to go...
nope, still not sure what I'll do, but it will probably be a quilt of some sort.

My husband commented on my sewing the whole thing by hand....

Him:  "I bet you'll charge a lot for that baby!"

Me:  "Oh, I'm not selling it"

Him:  "What?  Why?"

Me:  "Cuz it's for ME"

Him:  "What are you going to do with it?  You don't need a quilt!"

He just doesn't get it, does he.  We just gotta make these things for ourselves whether we need them or not.  We just do!!... right?

A Super Deal!

My sister-in-law is a professional quilter and has taken the plunge and purchased a longarm quilter for her growing quilting business.

Click HERE to see some of her quilting work.

She is graduating from a smaller setup which includes a Janome quilting machine combined with a quilt rack and handles for the machine, which she has up for sale!

She offered it to me but I'm so busy with my clothing business that I don't think I'd ever get the chance to use it.  Plus, I'm just not a bed-sized quilter, ya know.

BUT, it really is a super deal and I'm hoping we can find a good home for it.

Take a peek HERE.

The sewing machine is a Janome 1500P-DBX which is selling for about $800 right now, so to get the whole shebang for $750 is a super deal right off the bat - just for the machine!!!!  She's a very particular and immaculate person when it comes to caring for her tools so I know this machine is in tip-top shape!!

If you're interested, just follow the prompts in the attachment above to send her an email or you can always contact me if you'd like and I can relay any info and make the connection for you.

P.S. She also has a degree in web design so if you're looking for help in that area, she's available!!  :)

My husband knows me too well

...to a “T” (what does that mean anyway?)

After the wild horse adventure yesterday, my husband and I were sitting on the front porch, having our morning coffee, and I saw a ‘lump’ out in the distance of the front yard.  I mentioned that I wondered if the horses left some ‘stuff’ out in the field and if that was evidence.  He said he hoped not because he had to bush hog the front field this week and didn’t really want to be tossing horse piles around with his tractor.

So, I told him later that it definitely was some ‘stuff’ out there and you know what he said?....

“Well, did you clean it up or did you just take a picture of it and put it on your blog?”

He knows me well.

~~~~~~~

Been thinking lately...

I admire the ladies out there that have time to blog, posting tutorials and such, turn out lots of projects, post recipes, decorate their houses AND raise small children - all at the same time.  I go in phases of being willing and able to spend time just blogging about my boring life.  It’s tough.

Last week when I was loaded down, both physically and emotionally, I lay there thinking of all the things I was stressing about.  So many little things added up to just break me down.    I wondered why….

my three, circa 1994...?

And then, my husband reminded me that I used to sew, work a full-time job AND raise 3 children!  I am so glad that part of my life is over.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my children, but I did my time – 18+ year’s worth in a blended family!  I honestly don’t think I could handle it now.

taken shortly after we married, 1993

So, hats off to those of you in blog land that quilt, sew, decorate, cook and raise children – I will never underestimate you and I love to read your blogs and be inspired by all you create!!!

And, in case you haven't heard, Sew Fabulous Quilt Shop is giving away a Farm Fresh fat quarter bundle!

Be sure to stop by and check it out!!

"Wild" Horses

We woke to wild horses tramping around in our front yard this morning.

 While I was still sleeping Bill said he heard what sounded like thunder and peeked outside to see several horses.  Unfortunately, he didn't wake me up (and I sleep with earplugs) so I missed the good part.
They're probably not wild as there is a horse farm behind our house so that's probably where they got loose from.

By the time I got up, they had meandered across the road in front of our land and were in the neighbor's field.  A police car showed up, drove down the driveway beside our house and the horses followed easily.  I was still in my pajamas and bed head but I managed to catch this shot with my phone of the caravan heading back home.

Oh, and I finished another puzzle, got it glued and up on the wall in my sewing room ~ pretty!  This is partly what inspired my desire to start a hexagon project.

P.S.  Sorry, but I couldn't resist sharing it ALL with you!  :)

Settled and Soaked

Remember these?...

I think I've finally settled on a pattern to use for my next quillow.  I always pick up the flyer for Wal-mart's "Quilt of the Month" if I like it, but I usually pass on the fabric.  I pulled this one out and thought it might suit these fabrics...I'm still nailing down which fabrics to use where...

Of course, I'll modify it a bit, cutting off a few rows and columns and adding sufficient border to fit my standard quillow size of 44 x 72.....and one block more for the pillow, of course.

These blocks finish out at 15-3/4" so that will be perfect.  I think this one was from 2009...an oldie!  You can download the pdf here along with several other ones.

I've finally dug myself out from under yet another huge to-do list and backorders so I've had a little fun creating a new brother/sister outfit set for my etsy shop.      Whaddya think?

It's made with Michael Miller's Magical Flower Fairies toile fabric in apple and a coordinating brown mini dot.  I've also ordered the purple colorway and will offer that, too.

Last week was filled with lots of anxiety and (unnecessary) tears so I also celebrated with a wonderful bubble bath and the last slice of coconut cake - yes, I eat in the bathtub!

This weekend we're going to make homemade ice cream and try this idea for a topping - hope I don't blow up the house or anything!

A couple finishes

Back in May we returned from vacation and I had two quillow tops going together.  Remember these:

Well, I've finished both, including hand quilting and they are in my quillow shop!!

I'm just loving how they turned out!

Now, I've got to get cracking on another project because I hate being without any hand quilting.

Several months ago, I purchased these two bolts

and then found some coordinates online and purchased a few fat quarters.

Oh, and I almost forgot that I've got a bit of this fabric, too, also in the line.

There were several more fabrics in this line (Bryant Park by Exclusively Quilters) so it was hard to decide which I wanted to use - especially since I didn't really know what I was going to do!  I still haven't decided on a pattern so that's what I'll probably be working on tomorrow afternoon.  The Quilter magazine used it on their cover in May 2010 and I didn't even realize it until after I had purchased the fabric.  I don't think I'll be using that quilt pattern though.

So......I'm totally open to suggestions if anyone has one!

Anyway, I hope y'all have a lovely 4th of July, doing whatever you do!!  Be safe!

P.S.  I've got lots extra of the first two Bryant Park fabrics pictured so they're available in my etsy fabric shop.