Small Thread Dispenser

Last night I started to work on a Zip It Up case. I had it cut out and started to figure out which pieces went to it, when I realized nothing was matching up. I had cut 3 different projects all in the same fabric and put them all in the bag. I couldn't figure out which pattern they were for either. I finally figured out I had all the binding cut for the large thread dispenser, but had used green instead of the teal. Now I'm thinking I should just make another to use up all this excess binding I already have cut! 

As I was organizing I found all the materials for the small thread dispenser, so I quickly made it up last night. I need to put an elastic and button on it, but it's done. I used scraps of Pinkerville, so the head is cut off, but honestly I don't think I'll even notice and it matches all the other bags I have cut out from this line. Now I just need to get busy and actually sew them up. 

The inside has vinyl pockets. I bought mesh for the Zip It UP and wouldn't you know I have 2 packages of the same color mesh! And LOTS of zippers. I see a few more of these in my future. 

 

Large Thread Dispenser

I fell in love with a thread dispenser pattern I saw in a group on Facebook. I used this leftover piece of Pinkerville, which was 1/4" too small, and quilted it up at dad's house last week. I know the heads are cut off, but it was the right size and I don't think many will be looking at the outside. 

I used 5" pieces with the zippers, so they are a bit wider than the pattern, but I wanted my big Aurifil threads to fit in the pockets. I kept the bottom one the same size, so I could put extras in it. 

I put all my thread in, except the purples and I'm pleased with it, although I think I have it a bit too full and could take some out. 

It was a bit hard to photograph, but you can see that you can see the bottoms of the spools to be able to see the numbers on them. 

I rolled it up and will get a button for it. 

The friend I made the baby quilt for, gave me these beautiful orange roses. It was our high school colors, so they are even more meaningful. 

 

Hand Sewing Binding

Thursday and Friday I was busy sewing binding down by hand, so I could finish these two projects. I sewed the binding on Jungle Friends and used Mikaela's orthodontist appointment and Mathew's Parents First Communion meeting on Thursday to get in quite a bit of stitching on the quilt. I was 2" short of the binding, so I picked some up at The Sewing Center on Thursday and sewed it on to finish up the machine part on Thursday night. It turned out super cute and I was able to finish the hand sewing Friday. 

A high school classmate commissioned me to make this to give to her new grandson, due any day. The mom is my nurse at one of the clinics I go to regularly. She requested golden colors with giraffes, monkeys, and elephants. It turned out better than I hoped. I had a giraffe pattern and had planned to add an elephant pattern I had seen. When I went looking for the monkey pattern, I found a pattern online that was all three and I adjusted it to include the animals she requested. It was the same designer as the original giraffes' pattern, Sew Fresh Quilts. 

I found this panel and decided to make the giraffe to gift with the baby quilt. I think it turned out super cute. 

I have never used the lettering on my machine but didn't feel like dragging out the embroidery machine, so I tried it out for this label. It took me about 4 tried to get it right, but I'm pleased with how it turned out and I was able to match the fabric on the quilt, so it looks like it belongs. I hand sewed it down this morning and will deliver it over lunch today. 

I also finished the hand sewing on the binding for my Sakura Stars table runner. I hope to get it in the mail later this week to my friend for her birthday. It's English Paper Pieced and I started it in July of 2019. 

Saturday we went shopping in Sturgis and Spearfish. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to get out and go for a drive after the bitter cold of the previous two weekends. I worked on block 3 of the Threadology quilt-along Saturday night. I cut one of the large red squares in the wrong direction without realizing it, but I found the fabric pretty easily and was able to re-cut one and finish it up. I'm loving how these blocks look. Hopefully, I'll be able to get at least one more block set done this month. 

Mikaela got her expander put in her mouth on Thursday morning. She's doing well with it so far and is figuring out what she can and can't eat. The biggest struggle is pop and chips. We've had a few meltdowns over pop, but otherwise, she's been loving it. 

Yesterday I cleaned my closet. I took out a bunch of summer clothes and all of my "too big" jeans. I've lost 19 lbs and so far have been keeping it off. I'm really happy with my progress, but it was time for all the clothes to go. It gave our room a nice refresh as I re-organized. It felt so good to get so much done. I look forward to cleaning up my sewing area next. 

Last night I was able to work on my Thread Dispenser. I modified the pattern a bit, so I am hopeful it will work. I just need to put the binding on next. 

 

Thursday night sewing

Last night I finished sewing and pressing the caring heart blocks. I have 14 made, so that should last me through the year. I hope to be able to start sending them out to the guild members who have health challenges. I have received quite a few and I look forward to putting them into a quilt. I used pink scraps I had in my drawer for these. 

Threadology quilt along from 2019 is my APQ UFO challenge for February. I had hoped to get 1 block per week done. We're in the 3rd week and I had only gotten block 1 done, so last night after adding a 6" piece of binding to the Jungle Friends baby quilt, I quickly sewed these up. These are the block 2 blocks and the simple 9 patches went together very quickly (30 minutes). I cut the entire quilt out in Little Snippets and it's very organized by block, so I hope to get another one done this weekend. 

I spent most of yesterday working on the binding of Jungle Friends. I had an hour at the orthodontist and then 1 1/2 hours at the First Communion parents meeting of hand sewing time on the binding. I had ran short by 2" when I put the binding on, so I had to pick more up at The Sewing Center yesterday and sewed it in last night, so I can get it finished this weekend. 

I am also working on the Thread Dispenser, so I need to cut out the pieces that go with the zippers. Only I decided to use green zippers and I need a fabric to go with it or I might use the cream Tula fabric. I'm so thrilled to be able to work on these projects as I am done with all my "customer" quilts. I do enjoy doing these projects, but often my own projects get set aside. I'm ready to work on my own stuff. I keep cutting out more and more projects and I need to just work on them instead of cutting out more. I have at least 5 bags cut out in Pinkerville Unicorns. 

The weather has finally warmed up (14 above 0), so I am looking forward to a weekend with no plans, yet we don't have to worry about the cold. 

 

Wednesday night sewing

This week I have a lot of goals, but I seem to be cleaning off the sewing area, so I can work on those goals. I finished up 7 masks for the kids and their teachers. They went to the fabric stores with me this weekend and they each picked out a few fabrics to make projects. 

I also finished making 7 more caring heart blocks for the quilt guild members. I finished the first step of binding on a baby quilt and a table runner and now I'm hand sewing them down. 

 

Weekend Sewing

This weekend was bitterly cold in the Black Hills of SD. It never reached above 0 for a high. I made this Let's Play Hearts runner by Atkinson Designs using L'amour fabric by Sandy Gervais for Moda. This fabric is 11+ years old as I made my first hexie quilt out of it. 

I spent quite a bit of time on Sunday sewing the diamonds into the edges to give me a place to cut out the fabric so I can add binding. I was so proud of myself for adding the extra two rows at the end, until I realized the two hexies in the center bottom are white instead of cream. 

See the white standing out? Luckily I had the cream grunge with the other fabrics from this line, so I was able to cut new fabric and re-use the hexies. I finished sewing them on and then removed all the  papers while the Daytona 500 was on. It was a perfect way to enjoy my birthday, doing English Paper Piecing with my family. 

My dad's quilt from his grandma was in the quilting room, so I took a picture to show his cousin. She said she got a quilt from their grandma with butterflies too. Quilting ran in both sides of my family. 

 

President's Day Quilting Marathon

Monday was a day off for both the kids and me. I planned to quilt at dad's house and for once the weather didn't prevent us from going. It was cold, but the warmest day in over a week, so we went.  I finished the Jungle Friends baby quilt top on Friday night and quilted it up. It turned out beautiful! I think I'll add a dark gray binding. I used a off white King Tut and Bottomline. The backing is a cream color with gold giraffes. 

I started with this Sukura Stars runner. I finished it up on Sunday night and took out all of the papers while we watched the Daytona race. It's a gift for a very special friend. I hope to have it finished by her birthday. 

I quilted up this Tula Pink Rock Candy table topper. It's made of scraps and I don't know who will receive it, but I'm happy it's quilted. 

I plan to make a sewing thread organizer from ByAnnie and so I decided to quilt it, but I had left very little in the way of backing, so I had to only use 1/4" on each side to attach it to the leaders. It worked and now it's ready to be made into a bag. I have 5 bags cut out in this fabric, so I hope once I put the thread on, I can start making the bags. 

I wanted to quilt some quilts for Quilts for Kyds, so I picked up two. This Star Wars one got a gray/black King Tut thread on it. 

This dog quilt was quilted with a colorful verigated King Tut. 

The backing had silver Bottomline. 

Then I left the biggest ones for last. I quilted up my Hope quilt. I used aqua minkee on the back. It turned out really nice. I used an aqua King Tut on the front. 

I used the same aqua King Tut on the front of this Random Shuffle quilt. I used aqua sparkle minkee on the back of this one. 

I did loops on this one. 

I'm really pleased with all I got done. I would have finished another runner, but I forgot to pack the backing fabric. Six and one half hours later, I had 8 quilts quilted and I was done for. We were able to grab a quick supper and make it to Shooting Sports with 2 minutes to spare.  

Prouty Pottery Mugs

Prouty Pottery is our local pottery shop makes the most beautiful mugs. I love Hester's work, but I have plenty of mugs she made, so I had her make a couple for my bosses/friends at the Sewing Center. I gave her their business card and she created the logo on the front. 

She added their names on the back. 

She used the maroon color of the store logo. 

I am thoroughly impressed by how wonderful the logo is on the mug. www.proutypottery.com and www.rapidcitysewing.com

 

Friday

Friday I laid out my Everyday Handmade Hexie project. I wasn't sure how many more I needed to make, so I wanted to try laying it out. This is going together nicely, but I have quite a few more white hexie flowers to do before I am ready to put it together. 

Hubby got me some wonderful flowers for my birthday and Valentine's Day. 

My best friend from college sent me a really cool magnet frame and these awesome Jackrabbint magnets. It was packaged in the best blue and yellow ribbons too. Go Jacks!

Mikaela wanted to make me a zippered pouch, so she picked purple fat quarters and a purple zipper. We used the Purse Nickities pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. 

I used the ByAnnie Lola pencil case pattern to make a case from my Arrival fabric that I had already had quilted. I had to make it a bit smaller for the piece of fabric I had, but it worked really well. 

Bailey is growing quickly. She's 25lbs and 3 months old. She got her 3rd shot on Friday. 

 

Remembering my mom Delia

Last night I had about 30 minutes and quickly made this wrist wrap for my friend Mitch to match the other one I made him. They are quick and fairly easy. 

Today it has been 10 years since my mom passed away. I still miss her a ton, but I know she's watching over me. 

I pulled out one of her cross stitch kits and I organized the thread. Now if I start it, it will be a miracle. I think I might still have some of her skill left in me. 

Today at lunch I worked on a table runner for my friend. This is the missing end piece. I need one more gray star and then I can put it together I think. I'd like to finish it before her March 1st birthday, but we'll see if that happens. I'm going to give it a try this weekend to see if I can get it to the quilting stage before Monday. 

 I also busily cut out my Grassy Creek Clue 6 at lunch today. I'm not string piecing, so it was time to get them cut and ready to sew. I'll finish cutting the corner triangles tomorrow.