October

 

 
It is hard to believe that we are saying good bye to yet another month. I feel like I have accomplished much this month. I embellished three turtle costumes for the dogs up the street, I made 18 dog scarves, the costumes for the kids, and the wall hanging that is going on my front door in the morning. This week has been the only week I have not worked any overtime.

I have already decided on my November projects. I want to make a Christmas wall hanging for the front door, pants for Elly, start refurbishment of Erin's bunny for Christmas, the baby quilt for the new baby next door. And cleaning of the house in anticipation of company at Thanksgiving. I will probably squeeze in some overtime into the mix.

In stitches,
Judy

Happy Monday!!

Weekends are never long enough especially when you only get one day. I did not get any where near the sewing machine but had a wonderful time with my mom, two of my sisters, my brother in law and a nephew. We all went to mom's for lunch. Two kinds of homemade soup, bread, salad and homemade cookies.

I do have big sewing plans for this week. I have to start my fall wall hanging for my front door. I only have a few days before the Halloween wall hanging needs to be put away for another year. I also have to take in my sister's dress. She has lost some weight since I finished it and now it is too big. And I have fabric to make a baby quilt for the new baby next door. And of course, I have a little bit of sewing to do for Elly. It is getting cold and she needs new corduroy pants.

I am doing very little sewing for Christmas. Elly is not going to be needing a Christmas dress as they will be in India for Christmas and they do not celebrate Christmas in India. I do have to refurbish a stuffed bunny for my friend's daughter. I have what is left of the bunny and picture. Piece of cake. Elly is getting a flannel nightgown.

In stitches,
Judy

Dog Scarves

This week I was finished 18 dog scarves for the dogs up the street. I made three of each fabric. I also finished Halloween costumes for my son and daughter in law. They were mailed on Tuesday and should have arrived in Brooklyn this afternoon. I am hoping for some good pictures this weekend. And as always I did some overtime this week. In fact, when I got booted off the system today and when it came back up it reverted to Central Standard Time. Not a problem but I did work an entire extra hour.

Linking up with Amanda Jean

In stitches,
Judy

All Done!!

I do not have any pictures to share, but my Halloween emergency sewing is complete. I went to JoAnn's last night and bought felt, hair barrettes, glue, and chenille stems. This morning I drafted the letters {HERSHEY'S} cut them out of grey felt and glued them to the brown felt. Sewed the front to the back and now Nick will be a Hershey Bar. I cut out black seeds for Tania to pin to her red dress. She going to be a strawberry. I also fixed a head piece she can clip into her hair. Leaves and a stem. And I made her a collar of leaves. And Elly is going to be a chocolate covered strawberry. I started and finished today. And it has been mailed and will be in Brooklyn by 3pm Friday. The party is on Saturday. I hope to have pictures to post by the weekend.

I have a little bit of sewing yet to do on the 18 dog scarves for my neighbor. Three dogs and six different prints. Halloween, Fall, Flames, Patriotic, Flamingos, and Owls. Such a busy person I am. But I would not change it for the world.

In stitches,
Judy

Life is what happens....

Life is what happens when you make other plans. Right before 11pm, I get a call from my daughter in law with a Halloween emergency. Elly is going a chocolate covered strawberry and her costume is set. My daughter in law wants to be strawberry. She has red dress with needs black seeds, a neck piece of felt leaves and a head piece of felt leaves. My son is going as a hershey  bar. Lots of brown felt and silver felt letters. I am putting all my other sewing on the back burner and Tuesday is my day off and I need to get my supplies and get sewing and gluing. And I need to mail it on Tuesday in order for them to have it for their party on Saturday. Good thing JoAnn's has their felt on sale this flyer. I am being paid by Amazon Gift Cards. I am saving for a second television.

Wish me luck,
Judy

Sunday

It seems as soon as I finish one project another one jumps on my to do list. I have cut out 18 dogs scarves for the dogs up the street. Halloween, fall, patriotic, flame, flamingos, and owls. I have figured out how to finish the golf club cover. I did not get to work on Elly's pants or cut anymore squares.

The newest project will be a baby quilt for the new baby next door. Lilly is her name and her room is barely pink and soft purple. I have decided to use the quilt on the cover. I have made this before as a patriotic quilt for my front door. The background will be soft pink, the flowers will be various pink prints, the corner stones, backing, and binding with be purple.



So I am off to the sewing room/dining room to make scarves and look for my book. Wish me luck!!

In stitches,
 Judy                                                                                                                                                                   

Sunday plans

My weekend has started. I have big plans for my Sunday. I have already been to the grocery store, my dinner is marinating in the refrigerator, and my sewing machine is ready.

I am going to be making scarves for the dogs up the street, make another golf club cover using a Cincinnati Bengal puppet, and start on my fall wall hanging for my front door. I have fabric to cut into 2.5" squares. So much I want to do and so little time. But I have several books on tape and on my Kindle Fire, so I am set.

I also have four pieces of corduroy to make pants for Elly. Just need a measurement for length. Should not take long to put together.


Ghosts made by my niece and nephew.

In stitches,
Judy

Sewing Time

 I have done a little bit of sewing this week. I have embellished turtle costumes for the dogs up the street. They are rescue dogs and will be attending several events this Halloween. With a needle, some thread and some they are now Ninja Turtles. My neighbor will add the weapons.

This is Roxie and she is a puppy and this will be her first Halloween. Her body language suggests that she might not be overjoyed with getting dressed up.

  I have been busy cutting my 2.5" strips into 2.5" squares.  I have several project in mind for those squares. The fabric in this bin is pretty ugly. It is either fabric I bought at one time or another or it is fabric I have inherited from my sister. The ugly stuff will look better in small doses!


Linking up with Amanda Jean

In stitches,
Judy 

Another Finish

I have been a busy girl this week. I have finished yet another project. I am busily cutting up fabric to start several new projects. I think the sewing and quilting bug has attacked me and I am loving it.

  

If it looks familiar it is because I did another one just like this earlier this summer for my sister. I used the leftovers to construct this one for a client. Linking up with Amanda Jean

In stitches, 
Judy

Best Laid Plans!

I had great plans to sew this evening after my meeting. But there was a slight change in plans. I got a text from neighbor and she wanted to know if I had fixed the golf club cover for her boyfriend. The answer would have been "no" if I answered her. So when I got home, I got down to business. Twenty minutes later this is what I got.

 

 

And I sent her a text with a picture and she and the boyfriend were at my house in minutes. So that project is done and the boyfriend is on the look out for a Cincinnati Bengal's hand puppet for me to fix for his golf club. Tomorrow it will be baby quilt time.

In stitches,
Judy

Plans!

I had all kinds of plans for today. It is my day off. Sewing was high on the list. Somewhere along the way it fell to the bottom. I got up this morning and made a grocery run. Just a few things and several bags later, I was home. Next up was overtime. Besides time and a half, every 5 hours of overtime worked you get a $25 gift card to American Express. I am saving for new television in my basement so I did 3 hours. So far this week, I have completed 5 hours of overtime and it is only Tuesday. Next up was a nap, laundry, a shower, and a meeting. Then a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and then I will be able to sew.

  
I have two projects in the works. One is quilt like I did for my sister earlier this year. It is already cut out and partially sewn together. But I had misplaced it in the rush to declutter the house for the baby's visit earlier this summer. But I have found it and I am ready to sew. Also, I found the fabric I am using in this project . I found the yellow. I will use it for a border, backing and binding. 

In stitches,
Judy

Two Finishes!!

I have been busy this week! I have finished my sister's dress for her presentation tomorrow and it has been safely delivered to her home in Northern Kentucky.

It almost looks like a tunic, but she is just barely 5 foot tall and it is a good length and fits perfectly!! It was not hard to do, but it was an interesting experience. 

I have also gotten a little bit of quilting done this week, too. I hang a wall hanging on my front door instead of a wreath for the holidays or the seasons. I think it is festive. The fabric on the front were a gift and there were already cut and the back is some fabric from my stash. I am quite happy the it has turned out. 

Linking up with Finish it Friday

In stitches,
Judy

Progress

I am making progress on the dress for my sister. I spent a good part of the day reading the directions and getting it ready to cut out. It has a full skirt and the front and back pieces each have an extension piece that you need to tape the front and back before you can cut it out. I have done that and I have done all the cutting. Not without some angst. Some creative placement and creative cutting, I am now ready to sew after work tonight. I am planning to have it ready for a fitting on Saturday. I am going to be busy!!

Still need to start my Halloween wall hanging. Guess that will be my next project. Time to get back to work!!

In stitches,
Judy

Wow!

It has been quite a while since I have posted. My new schedule has started and I think I am going to like it. It seems weird to be off in the evening. I have been doing a little bit of sewing. I have finished up the last of Elly's summer sewing, I have made 3 dog scarves for the dogs up the street, and I have gotten the stuff for my next project. I am making a dress for my sister. Another barter deal. It looks like she will be here for yardwork or house cleaning. No plans set for that yet. And more dog scarves. Not much quilting time at this time. But blogs and magazines are keeping me company. 

Not yet walking but has mastered the standing up part. She is pulling herself up to anything that is standing still. She turned one in the end of August. Gramma did not make her a quilt for her birthday but one is in the planning stage. Guess it will be a Christmas present. 

In stitches,
Judy

My next project

Here is my latest project. I found these tumbler shapes already cut in a bag in my sewing room. I will be using them to make a small wall hanging to put on my front door. And with the leftover pieces I am going to cut out hexies to make a runner for my buffet. I will end up binding the wall hanging in black. And perhaps quilting it with something shiny. We shall see.

My new shift starts on Wednesday.  No more second shift for this gal. I will be working 10-6:30pm and I will be off on Sundays and Tuesdays. I am excited! I see more sewing in my future.

This is a picture of my son, daughter in law and Elly. Elly celebrated her first birthday on Tuesday. Yeah!!

In stitches,
Judy

Looking Up

 
Things are looking up at work. We have had a shift bid and starting the first of September I will no longer work second shift. Yeah!! 10:00am to 6:30pm. Off on Sundays and Tuesdays.  Training did not happen this week like I thought it would. I spent a day and a half in the office and I will continue my regular schedule for the rest of the week. Saturday is 8 hours of overtime!!

Been asked to make Elly's Halloween costume. Not sure what Mom wants but as soon as I know it will be here. Her first birthday is coming up here in a few days. I will not be joining them in Brooklyn for her party. I am sad but work is a bear and I need to be here. Skype is a wonderful thing!!

I am working on a secret hexie project. It is for a friend and since she reads the blog I cannot share it here until she has it in her hands. I am excited about it!!

Time to get ready for work. I am having a visitor right before work. Just found out she is getting married in about 4 weeks. Yeah for Lori!! Must go move the dust around and clean the bathroom and get some lunch. Wow the list keeps growing!

In stitches,
Judy

I found out yesterday, when I logged into my work computer that I am scheduled for another week of training. Yippee!! I need to find my lunch tote again, put gas in my car, and do some laundry. I will be working Monday thru Friday, giving me a weekend off. 

I am hoping that next week I will get to the sewing machine. I miss sewing. I did a bit this week for Elly and I have a bit more to do to finish up her stuff. Then I will make something pretty for me. 

 

I still need to get out and weed the flower bed. It is starting to look unkempt. My list seems to grow every day and I never seem to make any progress. Oh well, that is life and I need to deal with it. 

Time for bed, 
Judy

 

 I have been playing with the project mentioned in the previous post. I have found a fabric from my stash that will work for the border. I have decided to take off the last row that I just put on. It will now be square. I think I like it. I am ready to get to the hand quilting part.

I moved a chest of drawers from my basement to my hallway. I want a place to put my wall hanging and table runners. It also needs a topper. Another project, just what I need.  The chest is old. It was the chest my mom and dad got to put my stuff in when I was born. I had no idea when I put it under my basement stairs that there was stuff in the drawers. It was like Christmas!! I found that extra container of buttons. I had been looking for those for almost a year.





In stitches,
Judy

Catching up!

    

Elly and her mom have gone home and I am sad. It was such a joy to have both of them here for a visit. I am grateful for all the help my sister, Patty, gave me in order to get the house in order and for the loan of the baby stuff. I am gearing up for the next visit the end of September. 

I have been sewing for Elly the last few days. I have several outfits cut of for summer and summer is waning. Soon it will time to get started on the fall and winter wardrobe.

Things have changed at work and there is very little down time, so the hexies have gone to  live in the dining room/sewing room. I am hoping to get them out to play with soon. 

My August project with my sister, Karen, is going to be finishing Elly's summer things and that project . I have been trying to finish it up for almost a year. It is hand pieced and it will be hand quilted and then it will be done and ready to be hung in the living room. It is made with muted colors that remind me of fall. 

In stitches,
Judy

Happy Times!!

These are pictures from Elly's house and helping with the packing.

 Tania and Elly arrived safely on Saturday afternoon after spending time with my sister, Becky and a trip to Graeter's  for ice cream. Everyone had a good time. Once she got here they left to go and see her great grandfather. Elly was a hit and now that she is crawling, she entertained everyone. 

Today we went to a local county park for a picnic. It was a bring your own picnic and lots of sharing. All of my siblings except for my sister, Karen were in attendance.

We had a quiet evening in the front yard on a blanket, alternating between sitting and playing with Gramma's key and standing up. Not much on napping so hoping for a long sleep tonight.

In stitches,
Judy

Today is the day!!

All the cleaning and shopping is done! Now I am counting down the hours until Tania and Elly will be here for their visit. We have a few things planned to do while they are here but mostly it will be just hanging out a Gramma's house.

 This is what I look like in the morning. Slightly dazed and confused!

In stitches,
Judy

Excitement is Building!

Counting down the days!! Saturday cannot come soon enough. These two cuties are coming for a visit. It is a shame that my son is unable to join them, but I understand. There is still a bit of work that needs to be done around here before Saturday. My sister, Patty, is coming tomorrow to help with the cleaning and decluttering. The last couple of weeks have been killer at work. For the moment, the training is done. But you never know when that can change. 
 
This afternoon my mom and my sister, Becky went to see the play Big River at the Showboat Majestic it was a very good production. It was a gorgeous day and there was a lot of traffic on the river and it took some getting used to the swaying of the boat. Cincinnati has a lot to offer and it is nice to check out things in your own backyard. 

There has not been much time to do any quilting and I miss it!! So I have been spending my winding down time checking out quilt blogs and adding to my quilt bucket list. I did pull out that one project that has almost been finished for quite some time. here. I cannot find the yellow fabric for the border so I have going to pull something else out of my stash and use that. I am hoping that this will be my August project and I can start the hand quilting and finish it once and for all!

In stitches,
Judy

 



 

Busy, busy

I would like to say that I have been busy sewing and quilting, but that would be lie. Training has been kicking my butt. I normally work second shift and that is fine with me but for training I had to work day shift. And I had to be in the office, wear nice clothes, and pack a lunch. I seem to get more done in the morning and not so much in the evening. Today will be interesting. I am home and working my regular shift but I have to be in the office for another day of training and a day shift. 

I did spent about 20 minutes yesterday working on my hexies. That made me happy and calmed me down before starting my shift. I also made chili for dinner last night and it was awesome! Of course, I do not use a recipe and I will not be able to duplicate it again.

This is my squirrel friend who visits my porch while I am working. The first time he did this I thought he had died on my porch. No, he just like laying on my porch and eat the seed I put out!!

In stitches,
Judy

 

Stuff

It has been a wild week already and it is only Tuesday! I have training and I have to be in the office the rest of the week and again on Monday. And it is a daytime shift. It is a big change for me. I am trying to figure out how to get everything done in the evening that I normally do in the morning. It is not working. I was hoping to get some overtime in this week, too. Offering cash incentives for overtime besides time and a half. 

This is also putting a crimp in my sewing time. I did get a tiny bit of GFG hexie sewing done last night at my sister's concert. 

But it was more fun watching, my nephew, Neil eat ice cream! He certainly seems to enjoy it. He refused to use the spoon and kept biting the Styrofoam cup to get to the ice cream. 

In stitches,
Judy

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