Making progress

I have been steadily adding hexies to my GFG and I am making progress in baby steps. I started this over 15 years ago and without much direction. It never dawned on me to sew in rows. I seemed to sew t in a more circular direction. Now it is long enough from the head board to the foot board but the sides look more amoeba-like. It appears the top right hand corner is missing!

  I have a stack of flowers, several stacks of the white hexies for spacers and a bunch of  hexies that need to become flowers.  

I have also learned a lot along the way. Some of the fabrics I have used in the GFG are of questionable origin. But it is too late to take them out. I also notice there are quite a few selvages in the seams of my flowers. A no no now, but again something I did not know before. I also realized that I am a bright print kind of gal. Not many bright prints in the GFG. I am lucky that I still a bunch of the less than bright prints in my stash, so if I need to cut more hexies for flowers, I will be in business. 

Still need to get out and finish the mulch in my yard. It was quite warm and very humid today, so I took a nap after doing my errands. I may get out tonight as the sun goes down and then again first thing in the morning. My work schedule is changing this week. I will be going into the office for training during the day, quite a change from my work at home second shift. Got to find my lunch tote and start packing my lunch and snacks. It is so handy to walk into the kitchen for lunches and snacks! 

Linking up to  Sewing by Moonlight. At the Plum and June Let's Get Acquainted link up!

In stitches,
Judy

Babysitting

 

 
I just spoke with my daughter in law and it is a go. She has to be in Cincinnati for meetings in August. She will be here for the weekend and then the meetings. She will be staying with me and bringing Elly!!
I am so excited! I have not seen them since Easter.

In stitches,
Judy

Yard work

Monday was yard work day at my house. My mom came down to help along with my sister and her three kids. This is part of the barter we decided on. I made a quilt for my sister to give to a co worker and I got yard work in return. We got a lot done, but there is still more to do. It is the middle of July and my mulch is still in bags on my driveway. I did put some mulch down yesterday, but I am not in the mood to do it today.

I did get some work done on my hexies yesterday. We were having system issues yesterday. We are moving a big chunk of our business to the new system and I was unable to log in at yesterday for work. I sat there for 8 hours trying to entertain myself. So I did get hexie time. I understand that things are jumping at work today and I have already logged in, so I am ready to start in a few hours. But I will have my hexies handy for any down time that  comes my way!!

In stitches,
Judy

Progress

I have been working steadily on my old hexie project and I would like to think I am making progress. Not really. It took a while for it to get misshapen and it will take some time to put it back in order.

 My sister, Karen and I are doing one project each month. She had decided for Christmas in July. She is busily stitching on a Christmas Redwork Santa. I am busily thinking of a project to do. I was hoping to have pin basted my Christmas quilt and I could be hand quilting on it. But that has not happened. I have a Lil' Twister project that I want to start. It is too early think about Elly's Christmas dress. It is still early for me to have a project nailed down, so I am good!!

Time to get busy. I have a few projects to complete before it is time for work. Have a great weekend and sew!!

In stitches,
Judy

With time to spare

The birthday party/4th of July celebration is in less than 24 hours from now and Neil's quilt is done. It has been washed and fluffed and it is still a tiny bit damp. It is hanging over the shower rod in the bathroom and will be ready for wrapping in the morning.

The breakfast picnic and stroll around the part of the lake was very nice. We left the park just as it was starting to get hot and sticky. Now the only thing left for me to do today besides working is to make potato salad. I will start that tonight.  I did pull a few weeds and they were so easy to do because we have had quite a bit of rain. Hoping to get back to the weeding after our picnic  tomorrow.

Linking up with Friday Finishes.

In stitches,
Judy

Updates

 

The quilt for my nephew is completely snipped and tomorrow it will get it's wash and fluff. I have been working on my GFG quilt. I have added several hexies to the project but it is going to be a long slow project.

The yard work is coming along nicely. We have gotten a bunch of rain and it is a good and bad thing, I am saving time and money by not watering and it makes weeding easier, but it is so wet outside that it makes weeding a bit treacherous.

Tomorrow is a breakfast picnic and hike and a trip to the the laundromat and I need to make potato salad for our 4th of July picnic/birthday party. It is early in the day and I should be able to get home in time for some weeding. I still have mulch to put down. Working seems to get in the way!!

My sister and I have decided that our July projects should be Christmas related. I had great hopes of having my Christmas quilt pin basted in order to start hand quilting. Not!! I guess I will work on the Lil' Twister wall hanging. And there is always more of Elly's summer wardrobe. So very busy, so little time.

Need to get back upstairs to prepare for work. I need to fill the bird feeder and add some bird seed to the porch for the squirrels and cardinals. I need to get the hummingbird filler hung up and filled.

In stitches,
Judy

Hexies Rule!

  I have dug out my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt out of the closet with the intention of finishing the piecing of the top by the end of 2013. It is still misshapen but I have slowly added pieces to it. I keep it clothe pinned to the trash bag at my desk and I work on it whenever I have a free minute. It is my oldest UFO. Linking up with Judy L.

I was out in the yard, digging in the weeds yesterday. I have weeded all of the flower beds and ready to start round two. I worked so hard yesterday that I have earned myself a new trowel. I bent the old up something terrible. I still have a little bit of planting to do today. I have two pots of begonias to do for my front porch, a few marigolds to put in the pot on the deck, and my herbs to put in the boxes hanging from my deck. The next thing will be mulch.

In stitches,
Judy

The Green One is my Favorite

I made three dresses for Elly and I told my son on the phone the green one is my favorite and this is the picture I got on Tuesday. And I have been reminded that I do that thing with my feet that she is doing.

In stitches,
Judy

It's addictive!!

I have been working on making hexies the last two days and it is addictive. I have cut close to 100 white hexies  and I can glue paste at least while I am waiting for my callers to gather the information I need for their prior authorization. My pile of hexies are growing!! I will soon be adding them to my top. I am so excited.

I like to add a picture to my blog and I do not have a picture of the hexies in the bag up at the sewing machine, but I do have a picture of the quilt I have on my front door. I used to have a basket of ivy that I added flowers or stars as the seasons changed.

In stitches,
Judy

Down Time

 I work in a call center and sometimes I have a bit of down time. So I like to have something to work on. Lately I have been crocheting dish cloths. I have made and given away quite a bunch of them. In fact, if you see me on the street, watch out I might offer you a dish cloth.

Several years ago I made this quilt during my down time at work. It is hand pieced. I would mark the 1/4" seam allowance and away I would go. It is not yet quilted because it will be hand quilted.

So I have prepped all morning for my new down time project. Hexies!! I have cut a good stack of white hexies and today I will start glue basting them. I have finished one so far and I have already learned the glue dries quickly and I had to reapply it times to get around the hexagon. This is such a learning process.

I also spent an hour snipping on Neil's rag quilt. Not much to show for that. But I am trying to do about an hour every day and hope to get it washed and dried this weekend.

In stitches,
Judy

Hexies

This will make my sister, Karen, happy. I have yet again drug out my Grandmother's Flower Garden. It was started more years ago than I can remember. I have been reading lots of blogs about hexies and decided this needed see the light of day and perhaps become a finished project for 2013.

I have finally figured out what needs to be done in order for me to complete it. I used to add pieces to this quilt in a circular manner. Not a good idea, it now misshapen. Also this was started when I was a novice quilter. I noticed there are a few pieces in the quilt top that are not 100% cotton. I am not taking them out but I am not adding any more of them to the quilt top. Also my color palette has definitely changed over the years. I really like bright colors and 30's prints. Not many of them in this quilt. But I still have some similar prints in my stash that will work if I need to make more flowers.

I did find a nice stack of flowers and an equally nice stack of hexies that need to be paper lined. I have here to order pre cut hexie shapes for the paper lining. And I have a new template to use when I cut the white fabric. And the class I took with Darlene Zimmerman, here has given the courage to finish the edge of the quilt.

I need to upstairs and get busy. The last few hours of my weekend is fading fast and I think I am going to put in some overtime tonight.

In stitches,
Judy

Design Wall Monday

I cannot remember the last time I posted something to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. I am trying to stay more focused on quilting and this is the project that I am working on right now.

This is the quilt I am making for my nephew, Neil here, who is having his 2nd birthday later this month. It is now in need of snipping, snipping, and more snipping before it gets a bath and a fluff!!

In stitches,
Judy

Focus

I spent a bit of time reading old posts on my blog. This is a quilting blog. If you read my old  posts you would think that it was a blog about me working over time and a bit of quilting thrown in for good measure.

That is changing as of now. The new focus of the blog will be quilting, a bit of gardening, and a few posts about family. And not much about working.

This is one of two quilts I machine quilted and bound for the raffle at my sister's school. It will be a project I will be involved with as long as my sister is teaching there.

In stitches,
Judy

Sewing

I got a bit of sewing done yesterday before work. The next two dresses for Elly are taking shape. I plan on finishing all of them this weekend and get them in the mail the first of the week. I am getting ready to start my Saturday shift. I am hoping that we are not busy and that I can sew between calls. If not there is always crocheting dish cloths and looking at quilt books and magazines that are piling up. 

Tomorrow is the beginning of my weekend. I am kicking the day off with a stint in the front flower bed. Weeding and planting. Then adding sewing or quilting to the mix. I plan to get lots done!! 

 I guess I need to get moving towards the work computer and the sewing machine. The sooner my day starts the sooner it will be over. Hope everyone has a great sewing or quilting weekend!!

A little bit of my gardening. Flowers from my friend, Barb. And you can see a bit of my weeding.

 In stitches,
Judy

Still no sewing

Still no sewing getting done around here. The sewing machine is still packed up from my class with Darlene Zimmerman. The house could use a bit of attention, but the yard is starting to look much better. I finished the front flowerbed and around the side of the house. It has been weeded and the begonias have been planted. Still needs mulch. I have another flower bed in the front but it is smaller. It needs to be weeded and planted. Today we are to have on and off showers. Great for the plants I have planted and even better for the weeds. They should come out without much work tomorrow. I am going to have to slow down on the weeding and planting on the days I have to work. My body was dragging last night. I work second shift and 11pm is a long day after doing a bunch of yard work. My neighbor mowed both yards last night and it looks really good. 

After my meeting today, I hope to get the sewing machine out and finish two dresses for Elly. We had a lovely Skype conversation on Tuesday. It is a nice way to spend my lunch break at work. 

I must go and get ready to go to my meeting. The sooner I go the sooner I am to getting to the sewing machine.

In stitches,
Judy

Stuff

It has been a most wonderful weekend. Mine is Sunday and Monday. Sunday I took a class with Darlene Zimmerman. I took the Finishing School class and if you ever get a chance to take this class, go for it. I learned so much. Darlene is a hands on teacher and very patience. You are not making a project but making samples to use on your next quilt or one of the many UFO's that are hiding in your sewing room. I have a UFO that is going to get a new lease on life with scallops!

Yesterday I did a road trip with my mom and my sister, Karen. We meandered thru the hills of Boone County Kentucky checking out the quilt barns. They were awesome. We stopped at the Dinsmore Farm for lunch. There was a quilt block on a barn on the property. We had a great time!! My sister was in charge of programming my Garmin and she was forever yelling at the Garmin lady. It was a hoot.

Today is planting day. I have flats of begonias to get in the ground. I have 6 pots that need to be spray painted green and planted with marigolds for my porch steps. I still have weeding to do and mulch to put down. And my work week starts later today.

In stitches.
Judy

Where to begin

I would like to say that I have been sewing so much that there was no time for blogging. But that is not the case. Mostly real life has put my sewing on the back burner. I have cut out several things for Elly's summer wardrobe. It is such fun to sew for a little girl. I sewed for my boys, but they did like wearing dresses!

I am getting to be the queen of bartering. I bartered yard work for a baby quilt. The quilt is done but I am still waiting on my yard work. I have bartered another quilt for a Kindle Fire. I have the Kindle Fire, just waiting on my niece to decide about a quilt. I now have bartered for my grass cutting. My new neighbor will be glad to cut my yard, if I let him use my mower and he can then cut his yard, too. He has a lousy mower and mine is great.

My sister, Karen, and I are doing a project a month. My May project is Elly's summer wardrobe. My June project is to finish the rag quilt for my nephew's birthday. He will be two at the end of June. The blocks are cut but that is all. And everyone should be working with flannel in June. In July we are doing Christmas. I have a Lil Twister pattern ready to go and I want to pin baste my Christmas quilt and start hand quilting. And I am churning out crocheted dish cloths. I do them while I am waiting for my callers to find the information I need to do their Prior Authorizations. A good week I can do 5-6. So if you see me coming watch out, I just might offer you a crocheted dish cloth.

Time to go to Hobby Lobby and get some lace to put on edges of Elly's dresses. I will post pictures of the wardrobe once Elly has them in New York. I want her mommy to see them in person before they show up on the blog.

In stitches,
Judy

Busy, busy

I can finally say that I have been sewing and that makes me happy. I have been hand stitching the binding on several quilts! One is going to my sister and the others will be going to guild meeting with me on Monday.
I have a request to make several walker bags to hand out at the nursing home where my mom did her rehab after her fall. Many, many tease ago I made a walker bag for my grandma. After she passed I got the bag back. When Mom fell, I redid the bag adding purple straps and purple buttons. Now mom's sister in law is sporting the bag.
In stitches,
Judy

Many plans, not much done!

I had such big plans for my weekend and not much was finished. I took down the fabric I had swagged over my living room windows. Don't take down dusty swags minutes before you are to log in and take customer calls. Not a good idea!! I was coughing and clearing my throat for better part of an hour after that. Each window swag was 10 yards of fabric. I will be able to get two self lined panels out of each ten yard piece. I bought rings at JoAnn's today and now I am ready to make the new curtains for my living room. 

I have found a shoebox full of 3 inch nine patch blocks in my basement. I have an idea in my head how to use these for a quilt. I am still trying to use the stuff on hand. And boy is there a lot of stuff here. 

I am finally caving into the hexie craze. Many, many years ago I started a paper pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. At the time I started this quilt I was making it for a king sized water bed. I have a much smaller bed now and I am thinking about working on it again. I have gathered all of my supplies together and I guess I will start working on it again.

I did get my front yard cut. I was not going to do the back yard until today but it has rained on and off most of the day and it is too wet to cut. I also want to start some Moon Flower seeds. I am planning to use some in the back yard by the deck and some in the front yard near the porch. These only bloom at night. 

I was going to bind the three quilts that need binding by next weekend. But they are still sitting on the floor in the living room.  

In stitches,
Judy
   

New Toy

I have a new toy. I think it's going to get me in trouble. I am the proud owner of a Kindle Fire.
No sewing was done yesterday. I have picked up the quilt that I am going to deconstruct and make it into two table cloths. These are supposed to be my April projects. Looks like they are moving to May.
In stitches,
Judy

making progress

I am excited today, I am sewing on baby quilts! I like it when the prep work is done. I cut fabric on Saturday and it has paid off.
I have started dinner already. it is cooler out today and I have black  bean chili in the crock pot.

Time to get ready for work! No more sewing now, but I will bring out the crocheting. Time to work on some dish cloths.
In stitches,
Judy

Sewing

Today was my day off and I got busy quilting first thing in the morning. I have finished quilting another charity quilt. It does need the binding and I will attach that on Tuesday morning. I will then start on the next two quilts. They are both in the same color family so I will be able to chain piece them. I have found a panel in my stash that will work for the fourth quilt I need to make to get caught up with monthly charity quilt quota. I am hoping to finish 12 this year and I am behind.

I was also able to pick up 3 hours of overtime this evening. I only had to take a couple of calls in order to get the phone line shut down. I signed up to do faxes, but I usually get pulled to do phone calls. And I did.

In stitches,
Judy

Updates

Things have been moving along nicely. I have successfully changed the light bulb in my sewing machine twice. The first bulb was a dud and I had to repeat it all over again.

I have finished quilting the baby quilt and now I need to stitch down the binding. 

 
The yard looks a 100% better now that my sister, my mom, Vincent, Lily, and Neil came to work on it. I am bartering with my sister for more yard work from her crew and I am making a baby quilt for her to give as gift.

 
I will not be starting a table cloth for my sister in law. Instead I will cut up the quilt top and make it into two table cloths. I have several patterns in mind to use my 30's prints and make a quilt for my bed.

I spent a good portion of yesterday, while tethered to my work phone, cutting out fabric for several baby quilts, piecing a backing, and pin basting another baby quilt. I am 4 quilts behind for my goal of 12 quilts for 2013. I am hoping to make some good progress this week. 


Off to walk with my mom and my sister and then home to the sewing machine.

In stitches,
Judy     

Almost Done

I am almost done machine quilting the baby quilt. I have gotten a new light bulb for my sewing machine. Now I just have to get back in the machine. But the baby quilt is still attached to the machine, so once I am done with the machine quilting, I will replace the light bulb. 

Next up, is another baby quilt and then cut out the pieces for my sister in law's table cloth. 

This is the pattern I will be using for the table cloth and

this is one of the blocks already finished. 


In stitches,
Judy  

Tuesday

I am definitely making progress. I have finished the zippers except for picking out my basting threads. I have taken out the dead light bulb out of sewing machine, but it a Bernina machine and I need a Bernina bulb. So I am sewing under the light on my ceiling fan. I have got one of the baby quilts pin basted and almost completely machine quilted. I need to get the second one pin basted so it ready to go when I finish the one I am working on.

Last night at guild we had Anita Grossman Soloman speak. She is a hoot and her program was very interesting. I can see her book on Rotary cutting coming to my house very soon. She is in town for the International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati. Sadly, I will not be able to attend. I work second shift and that pretty much precludes me for attending. Of course, I really do not need any more fabrics, patterns, or books so it is a good that I am staying home!!

In stitches,
Judy

Progress

I am making progress on the zippers from the previous post, in fact they are done. Of course, it took most all day and I did not get any other sewing done because the light bulb on my sewing machine has died. It has to be changed at the shop, so when I go and get my taxes this week, I will stop in the shop and get that taken care. I have to piece the backings for the baby quilts and I will run up and do that now and then in the morning I can start quilting them. Meandering. I still think I can get them done in time for the guild meeting. Wish me luck!! It is so nice to have the zippers done and now I am able to get to real sewing!!

 In stitches,
Judy

Missing

I am missing my quilting time. I have a project for my neighbor I am doing and I am about ready to pull out my hair, one strand at a time!! I am replacing zippers in two jackets and the only seam ripper I own is dull!! I am getting up in the morning and going to JoAnn's to get several seam rippers. Tomorrow I am definitely going to get this project finished. I have to baby quilt tops ready to be quilted. Monday night is our guild meeting and I want to have both of these quilts done to turn in for our service project. I am trying to do one quilt each month. I missed February and March meetings and so I am three quilts behind. 

I also have fabric to start on Elly's summer wardrobe. It is so much fun to sew for little girls!! 

This is a picture of Elly at Easter. She is now 7 months old and I made her dress.  Her visit was just too short. 

In stitches,
Judy 

Sewing Mojo

I think my sewing mojo is back. And that is a good thing. I need to busy on Elly's Easter dress. Looks like I am going to be able to shop from stash for dress fabric and from my stash of patterns for a dress pattern. Years ago, I sewed for my god child, Lily. I collected lots of patterns for little girls in various sizes. And as a true quilter, I never throw anything away. After all, I might need that some day!! 

So this afternoon and evening in between calls at work I will replace the zippers in two jackets for my neighbor and cut out the dress for  Elly. I may need to get some lace for the bottom of the skirt, but I will have to figure that out once the dress is done. 

And I think I need a new purse. I am using the black bag I made just before Christmas and I need something new and fun!! I have a huge amount of bag patterns, but I will just grab some fabric from the upstairs stash and go from there. I will decide one a size, grab a zipper, and go from there. I will post tomorrow evening with the results of my sewing weekend. 

In stitches,
Judy  

Still no sewing

Still no sewing done here. I am fighting with a head cold and not giving into it, but not the least bit motivated to sew. I do need to start Elly's Easter dress. They will be here next Friday and the dress is still just a thought. The house also needs cleaning and menus planned. Lots to do and not much time. 

Spring is here in Ohio and I woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground and cold temperatures. The sun is out but that can be so deceiving. The outlook is for more cold weather. 

I have purchased some seeds and want to start them but I will not do that until after the Brooklyn people leave. I do not need a bunch of seed pots cluttering the house. If I cannot dig in the dirt outside, I can at least dig in the dirt in my dining room. I have lots of grand ideas for the yard this summer, but we shall see where that goes. I need to get my lawn mower fixed. First I need to drain out some of the gas before transporting it to the repair shop. Never a dull moment around here!!

In stitches,
Judy

  

 

Stuff

It is hard to believe that it is middle of March, where has all the time gone? I have been working a bit of overtime and that is cutting into my sewing time. I had wanted to make a baby quilt a month for our guild's service project. Not happening, yet, but I have plan. I want to have 12 done by December, so I still have some time left. 

I actually went to JoAnn's today and bought nothing. Amazing. I have looked at dress patterns for Elly's Easter dress but until patterns go on sale, I will not be buying a pattern. I have to look at the patterns I havc left over from my sewing days for Lily, my god child and see if I don't have something that works. 

I will be having company for Easter. My kids and grandbaby are coming from Brooklyn. Yeah!! This will be the first opportunity for Ohio family to meet Elly. It is a shame that my sister, Karen, in Georgia will not be here for Easter. 

My March project is to make a tablecloth for my sister in law. It is a pattern that I have done before, using some of my stash of  30's prints. My aim is to have the top done by the end of the month and the quilting done next month.

In stitches,
Judy
   

Where has all the sewing time gone?

It is Sunday night and where has the sewing time gone? I had big plans for making a Kid's Komfort quilt for our guild meeting tomorrow night and it is still just 20 strips. That is enough for two quilts. I am off on Mondays and the only thing I have to do is get the tags for my car. I am planning on sewing and hopefully get one quilt done for the guild meeting.


It looks like I will be having company for Easter. My kids, grandbaby, and grand dog will be coming for a visit. I am so excited. I am going to be making Elly's Easter dress and bonnet. I have gotten several linen hankies from my sister, Karen and I am making a bonnet from one of them and matching it to the Easter dress. 

My project for March is going to be a quilted tablecloth for my sister in law's banquet table. I am using a pattern I have used in the past and using 30's prints. 

In stitches,
Judy