Category: Longarm Work

a 3D Quilt? No Way…

How cute is that? Nanette sent me this pattern a while ago to hopefully get me inspired to get quilting. I think it may have worked! If you aren’t familiar with Nanette’s blog, please take a look. I can only aspire/dream to do things as beautiful as she does. She is truly an amazing quilter.

I love this quilt, but I am a crazy dog lady. I had cut it out quite a while ago, so it was just a matter of sewing it together and getting it quilted. I think I may need to do another one in more girly colors. You never know when you might need one for a gift!.

This quilt was so easy to make. The hardest part was making sure that I did not quilt over the ears!

I put this really cute fleece backing on the back so it is super soft. I love putting fleece on the back of baby quilts. It can also be economical because it is usually 60 inches wide.

I quilted this with a plain old meander, but it seemed to be the right thing. It does not take away from the floppy dog ears.

The Recovery – So the surgery recovery is going. There are ups and downs. It is super frustrating for me because I feel it should be over. But that is just me. Good days and bad days. Some days I feel normal other days I feel like a bowl full of jello. SUper frustrating for me. And then there are the headaches. Ugh. I will get there, eventually.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Boo!

I really like Halloween things. However, you can only use them a few weeks of the years. That, however, does not stop me.

I made this table runner almost a year ago at a mini-retreat with my quilting partner in crime, Lynn. I thought it was cute. However, this involved a lot of stitch and flip which I find annoying and wasteful. But I finished it. I had the blocks done last November, but finally sewed them together and put the finishing touches on. I feel like the only thing I make lately are table runners. It is sort of true. Made tons of them after my neck surgery. Smaller projects were easier to focus on.

I decided to quilt this on my long arm. Was initially disastrous. Somehow, not paying attention, I loaded it incorrectly and managed to sew it together. Had to take the pole off to get it off and take out the stitching. Don’t even bother to try and imagine what dumb a$$ thing I did. I am not sure myself. Almost threw it in the trash and then I remembered how much I hated stitch and flip so thought better of it. All that to quilt a lazy meander.

I am adjusting to life with my daughter away at college. It is quite different for me. I call her most nights before I go to bed and she usually calls and texts randomly throughout the day. It helps. Family weekend is at the end of the month, so I will likely go visit then and take her some college necessities.

Now that she is not here, it makes me feel old. I try not to feel that way, but I do. Such is life,

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner…..

Last night my quilt guild, The Marysville Crazy Quilters had their Holiday party. It was also judging for “The Plaid Challenge”.

Great fun and food was had by all!

I placed third in the plaid challenge.

I won $25.00. WooHoo!

How will I spend my riches? I think that I will buy a Creative Grids Ruler with it. I only have 2 and find them very useful. That way I can look at that ruler and remember why I have it. LOL. I am such a dork.

I really do enjoy a creative challenge. Here is some really ugly fabric that does not go together. Go make something with it.

The rules were that you had to have some of every fabric in your quilt. It could be any size of a quilted item.

So, from left to right in the photo the quilts were numbered. I am number 7 (Carpenter star). Number 5 won 1st (looks like a planet in the middle) and #3 was Second (Tumbling blocks).

I think I do have plans to gift this quilt to someone. I know someone who could use a little happy and might appreciate it!

To me, it looks like a “dude” quilt. Not feminine at all. I need to wash it first. I once had a problem with black fabric that had been stored a long time and this was from my stash. I have no idea how old the black was. Better safe than sorry.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

A little bit of work….

So, I managed to get the quilt for my Aunt on the long arm. I am about 2/3rds finished. I have to do a bit and walk away and come back to it. Too much standing kills me. I am getting there. Before, I just could not do it. Now I can do some. I’ll take it. I am using my heart ruler and curly q’s. Initially when I started, It would not sew. Screwed around for an hour did some research and figured out I put my new needle in backwards. Duh.

Quilt Police – So, I saw this photo on Facebook and had a good laugh. I am super critical of myself, always. The quilt police would have a hay day with binding like that. Given the true purpose of this quilt, that should never matter. It was made to keep someone warm and I am sure it did a fabulous job at it.

I follow a lot of groups on Facebook and Instagram, mostly for the pictures of quilts. I am sometimes shocked and appalled at things people say to fellow quilters. “Never ever by fabric at JoAnne’s or Wal-Mart. It is horrible quality”. There are quilters out there that can not afford to buy $12-$15 per yard fabric. Our ancestors, including my grandmother, used old coats, clothes, and feed sacks. Quilts were very often made out of repurposed items.

I was once told that the Kona that JoAnn’s was not the same Kona sold at quilt shops. Honestly, not true. I have bought some at both. Each raveled equally as bad. They felt the same. I do not believe the thread count was different. So, yep I used my 60% off Coupon to buy a large piece of Kona at JoAnn’s over the weekend.

I have also purchased Michael Miller fabrics at Wal-Mart. You just have to look.

Someone is wearing a quilt – I did not watch the met gala, but did see photos of this person wearing a quilt. Thought it was amusing. Turns out that this quilt was actually made by someone’s mother. The photo on the right is of it on a bed at their home. It wound up at a thrift shop and was purchased by a designer to make this…..whatever it is called.

The designer did end up contacting the lady who’s mother made the quilt once it came to light. She just wanted everyone to know that her mother made the quilt that this gentleman wore (rapper I think…can’t remember his name).

So, you never know where a quilt that you make might end up! Who would have thought the red carpet……

Senior Moment – Literally. No, not me (although I have plenty). My daughter is a senior this year., Hard to believe. We had Senior Photo’s taken recently. I cried the night before so I would not do it during the photo shoot. Our Photographer took 350 Photos. Crazy. Pretty sure I had one pose when I was a Senior and that was it. I do like the one with the waterfall, but I have not seen them all yet. That looks like my girl the most.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Wow, I did something else

Sarcasm is abundant in my life.

I read about everyone working on UPO’s, so I got crazy and finished one that has been sitting around for quite a while. My daughter used to be a bookwork. Now that she is older there are things that are far more important. It will be a reminder though. I put the titles of many of the books that I found in her room on the “spines” of the books. If nothing else, it will be memories for her. It only took me about 5 years to finish. It will now go on list of things that need long armed. Hopefully I can get to that soon.

Pillowcases – This is something I can do, that does not make much time, but does get me in the sewing room. I just had 42 picked up from my house that will go to the shelter. It helps me get rid of some of my rather large stash of fabrics. Sometimes when I get some of them out, I really wonder what I was thinking about when I bought them. They do make fabulous pillow cases though.

So, I am slowly working on getting better. To add to all my other issues, I have a heart rate issue. It suddenly goes up for no good reason and it is constantly draining all my energy. Doc gave me something to slow it down which seems to be helping, and I will see a cardiologist in a couple of weeks. It seems that when one thing goes wrong a bunch of other things follow.

Since I have a three day weekend, I am hoping to get some sewing done. I would really like to get the quilt finished that has been on my long arm since my health went AWOL. It has been on there about 6 months, at least. Fingers crossed that it will happen this weekend.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

God Bless the USA

Plaid Challenge Recuperation Top

I finished a top. It took me multiple weeks at a few minutes a day. It is something that would have normally taken me a few hours. It is not complicated in any way.

My quilt guild is doing a “Plaid Challenge“. Everyone brought in a yard of plaid, they were cut up and everyone gets a piece of each to make something quilty.

I found the fabrics pretty ugly, especially all together. I contemplated what I would do with these for some time. I did not want to make something that I would hate. I settled on this carpenter’s star. I thought using black might make it look a little better.

I don’t hate it. I cut this out prior to my surgery. I knew it would be something fairly simple to sew. I started sewing a few minutes a day about a week or so after my surgery. It took me nearly 5 weeks to get this simple top done. I found that very frustrating. I wanted to do more, but just could not.

I tried to use every bit of the fabric. I only had a very little bit left over, so I did not do too bad.

All things considered, I am doing very well according to the doctors. Spinal cord injuries and nerve damage take a long time to recover and may not be 100%. There is not way to know at this point. I do have feeling back in my arms and legs, however I still have some numbness in my fingertips. I am hoping this gets better over time. I am extremely weak, which annoys the crap out of me. I feel like a lazy slob. Super frustrating. I have no patience for this,, but also have no choice. Physical Therapy stars this week, so I will have something new to complain about.

It will be a while before I get back to using the long arm. That takes a bit of effort. I may try in the near future, but just don’t know.

Binding?? Would you use a plaid or stick to black? Let me know what you think.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Mystery Quilt Clue #4 – Getting Weirder

So, I went a bit rogue on this block. I was finding it way to orange (even thought I like orange), I made what was supposed to dark light and vice versa and then rotated the block. It gave it a weird effect, that I find tolerable. Not totally in love it, but it does help the totally orange look that I had enough of.

I have also created a blog for our quilt guild, Marysville Crazy Quilters. Feel free to take a look at some of the quilts and projects my quilting friends are working on. The guild does a lot of charity work, which I like.

Personally, I still feel crazy. I have come to the conclusion that Covid is truly a state of mind. I don’t like it. This Covid state of mind has me less likely to quilt. I find myself staring at the TV or the ceiling of the bedroom and rarely wandering over to my studio. I have to get out of that state of mind. I am struggling to make a few blocks for a mystery quilt. Jeez. I find I do more when I actually have less time to do it. How is that right? I do have plans to make a few Christmas gifts so I better get moving. I also have had a quilt on the longarm for a couple of months. It stares at me as I walk by and yells insults at me for ignoring it. Ugh.

I hope you are all staying safe.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

OMG Finish!

We certainly live in some crazy times.  Fortunately, I am still employed.  Actually, I still go to the office a couple of days a week.  There are not many of us, so we are a good distance apart.  Honda is considered an essential business.  I don’t mind.

I also missed the deadline to post my finish because I really have no idea what the date is or day of the week.  Everything runs together.   Maybe next month.

You would think that being trapped at home would mean more quilting.  But nooooooo.  I find it hard to get motivated.  Every time the news channel comes on I become glued to the TV.  Not sure why there is no good news.

My poor daughter had to spend her “Sweet Sixteen” in quarantine.

About the One monthly Goal Quilt …I love babies so sometimes I just make baby quilts for no reason.  The colors are a bit odd, but they do sort of go together.  No plans for this one.  It will go to the done stack.20200330_140931

For the quilting, I used my heart ruler.  It really took no time at all.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Stay safe and away from every one

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One Monthly Goal…And we’re back

I have not done One Monthly Goal in a while.  Pretty sure it has been a year.  Sort of stopped doing a lot after my sister died.  I did not stop sewing or quilting, I just could not deal with deadlines.

I think it will help me get things done.  It always has in the past, so I am back.  My One Monthly Goal for March 2020 is to completely finish this baby quilt.  It is currently partially quilted and has been this way for several weeks.  I walk by it a lot and totally ignore it.  So, we will finish quilting and get it bound for my goal.20200303_122925

More Pillowcases

I will add 11 more to my donations, bringing my total to 34.  WooHoo.  I like having something I can put together in a few minutes.

Happy Sewing, Happy Quilting

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Interesting Pattern

This is a pattern I tested for Denise at For the Love of Geese.  I believe she calls it “Twilight”.  I am far from a good paper piecer, however, I love the way this one turned out.  I think I will eventually get the hang of things.  It is mostly fabric I had.  The only thing I purchased was the dark blue grunge border.  I think it has a lot going on.  The blues I used was leftover from a fat quarter pack I think that I got 20 years ago.

20191226_202833I am getting the hang of the longarm.  I still struggle a bit with tension, but I used rulers this time and it came out pretty good.  I am happy with my quilting.  It is starting to look way better.

I do not know what I am going to do with this quilt, I have no plans at this time.  I might just look at it for a while.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting