Celebrate

Happy 4th of July!

Have a fun and safe day.

Two Finishes

I had two finishes on Sunday. Another book...


I've read several books by this author. This book was very suspenseful, a little gruesome, and had some blatant plugs in the story line for his other books...which I thought was kinda funny.

I also finished one of my three "have to's". I have made so many of these totes I couldn't believe it when I made a mistake...I put the button tab on the front panel instead of the back. And of course I didn't notice it until after it was turned right side out and I was getting ready to top stitch the opening of the bag.


I really really really thought about leaving it there and putting the button on the back, but I couldn't do it. I'm glad I fixed it. I hope my aunt likes it.

Totally Missed It

I missed the Friday Night Sew-In, totally missed it. What was I doing? Well I'm looking for a new sofa and stopped by one store to check out what they had but the real culprit was this book.


Carol O'Connell is one of my favorite authors. She writes very suspenseful murder stories, lots of suspense and not a lot of blood and guts, perfect for me.

Finishing the book took part of Friday night and most of Saturday. Which left Saturday night and Sunday...did I do any quilting? Nope.

My stash used to be fairly organized, but the last few years after I pulled half of it out to find the perfect fabric for a project I've just stuffed everything back where I could find space. The last few months I've been going through all of my non-project designated fabric (stash) then ironing, refolding and sorting by yardage. I have one drawer left to do. Until Saturday everything was stacked in neat piles on the dresser, the bed, and the floor of a spare bedroom. I'm having family visit soon so Saturday and Sunday I put all the fabric away... it is amazing how much more space neat, organized fabric takes. It was the old domino effect...to make room for the fabric I had to clean the sewing room, to clean the sewing room I first had to be able to walk into it which meant picking up the piles of sewing machines, batting, books, patterns, cat toys, shoes and scraps all over the floor. When I was finally able to walk in I found the computer desk and the pile of (insert word of choice) I have been dumping on it, so it had to cleared and cleaned also. Sunday night everything was picked up, put away and cleaned, but no sewing occurred.

I did start another book.

Brownie Points

Okay, I didn't wanna tell ya...cause I really want it...but I get extra brownie points if I do tell ya...

Isn't this just too cute! Mary at Quilt Hollow made it and she is giving it away! Go over and leave a comment if you want to win BUT make sure you tell her I sent you, cause then I get brownie points. Okay, so maybe I could get more than brownie points. Hurry!

Sewed but didn't sew

I know what you're saying "Huh?" Nancy came over to sew for the day...she got lots of paper pieced kimonos made. My picture does not do justice to the fabrics, they are so rich and colorful. She has 8 made and needs to make 12 more, each will be a different fabric. Sorry I didn't get the pattern name.

I sewed but didn't "sew". I was told that cutting and ironing qualify as sewing. I cut out another tote bag, fused all the batting on, cut out the border for the quilt I'm working on, and pressed open all the garland pieces. Inquiring minds want to know what I'm working on...

I'm making Forest Dreams from Judy Hopkins Triangle Free Quilts. Easy quilt, but lots and lots of sub-piecing. I really need to work on the two tote bags I have cut out, so I don't think I'm going to finish piecing the blocks anytime soon.

Isn't she cute?

Her face is so dark it is normally hard to get a good picture of her. She is my psycho kittie, it was 96 degrees here yesterday, guess who spent the hottest part of the day in the garage where it must of been an easy 100+ degrees. She is the only cat I know who demands to be picked up and held then cries when you try to put her down. Have you ever tried to explain to a cat why it is not possible to brush your teeth and hold her at the same time? I have this conversation almost every day.

More Garland?

I've been reading in several blogs that we need to post more about the process and put less emphasis on the finished product...good thing because there is lots of process going on around here and very little finishes.

This may look like the picture I posted a few weeks ago but I swear it isn't...take a closer look, the 4 patches have been ironed open and attached to either a green or cream square. When I started this quilt I wasn't sure how or if I was going to border it. I've decided on a border but I've also decided some of the border fabric needs to be in the blocks also, so I'm going make it a little bit bigger. Sorry Pat, I'll be using up all of those lovely green 4 patches.

Not getting very far

This is my flower garden...

Yes, those are dandelion weeds, I let my back yard lawn die last year with the intent of covering the whole thing with tan bark and maybe a few carpet roses...you can see how far that project got.

This is my vegetable garden...

Yes, that is a grocery store onion that sprouted, so I stuck it in water. It now has lots of roots. I meant to plant it today, but you can see how far that got.

This is another tote bag...

Yes, it is only the fabric, but at least I finally decided on fabric. My aunt is paying me to make a tote bag that she is going to give as a gift. I've made 1...2...3... 9 tote bags in the last 6 months and I have not had this much difficulty picking out fabric. If the bag was for me or I just wanted to make one for no reason, I could have gone into my stash and picked fabric combinations for ten different bags, but because I'm selling this one (sold actually my aunt already paid me) I have been so indecisive about the fabric...will my aunt like it? will her friend like it? do I like it?

Yes, I do like this fabric set. Now lets see how far I get on this project.