December Sewing in Review

I started out December strong, well the first hour of it! I finished this purse in the wee hours of December 1. It's the Barbados bag and I'll be teaching it in February. I have one started for me, but just didn't find the time to get it made.

Then the month went rather south and I didn't get a whole lot accomplished. We were gone, working our 3rd job, and sick for most of the month. I did finish this Day Break Sample for a class I plan to teach in January. It's a fun little block to make and the class will be a starting point for the whole quilt if anyone is interested. I'm teaching a series of classes this year using the Hex And More Ruler and the Sidekick Ruler. This uses both.

I've always wanted to do a Swoon class, so I finally decided to do it as a one block class. That way people can make a wall hanging or table topper, before committing to the whole quilt. Since the class is during Stock Show I made a western fabric sample, but I also have modern fabric blocks done as well. I still love this block and now that I've made several I've gotten it figured out how to press to make them easier.

I also made this hexie ornament for an exchange with friends. It didn't turn out how I expected, but it was okay.

I worked a lot on my Buggy Barn hexies during work breaks and have almost all the sashing done. Now I need to figure out how I will finish it.

For our niece and nephews this year I made embroidered towels with the kids names. I think they turned out pretty cool. Mikaela helped pick the colors and she has decided she wants one too, so I'll have to get on that. They are quick and easy to do once I make up my mind to set up the embroidery machine.

I was playing with the V5 software when I was making the towels and designed this sweatshirt for Grandma Leslie.

Then I screwed up and forgot to change the design, so I made a second one for Grandma Ann.

Then I made the one I had originally intended for Grandma Ann. It has all 5 grandkids on it. Ed and Steph are expecting in March and I'll try to add the new baby's name, if it will fit. Someone said they just need to plan to only use either the G or D. Grandma Ann loves to accessorize, so hers have some jewelry she plans to wear with them. The 3 sweatshirts are all from my mom's "stash" of embroidery items, so I just went with the sizes that fit.

One of the quilt shops in town is closing and last week I went for their 50% off stuff. I picked up a new stashbuster ruler, a wall hanging hanger, and some yellow batik that will match some horse batik I already have.

For Christmas I received awesome gifts from my little bro and his fiance. Two rulers, a seam ripper and nippers. It was so exciting to get quilty gifts.

I needed a quick gift, so I made up a fleece blanket with embroidery on it. I plan to give it later this week and then will share the embroidery. I didn't have time to commit to a quilt, so a blanket will do for now.

This year I won the staff UFO finish competition. Per capita we beat the customers and Tammy gave me this great box. It already has my mini professional tote in it. It's a WIP that will turn into a UFO tomorrow unless I get some major sewing time tonight. I have the front and back made. The pattern is quite a bit different than the full size professional tote, so I am learning a lot and ripping a lot when I don't read the directions quite right. It's definitely a pattern where people will want to take a class to make it.


With only 40 hours in so far this month, I just haven't gotten a lot accomplished. Looking back I didn't do too bad though. I have a quilt retreat coming up in January and then sewing with friends in February, so I hope to get more accomplished. I have 40+ UFO's on my list for this year, so I hope to get it down to under 10.

Thanksgiving weekend!

This was a busy Thanksgiving Weekend! Paul and I went to my parents Wed. night. Thanksgiving day we went to my bro & SIL's house for a wonderful meal. The guys all went hunting in the morning and afternoon. My sweet niece spent the night at my parents as her parents and Paul were going hunting the next morning. Uncle Paul had to read her a good night story. She was really into Uncle Paul this weekend... it was Uncle Paul's turkey, Uncle Paul's pie, and she was going hunting with Uncle Paul. It was so cute! Uncle Paul even found one of her Christmas presents when he was shopping Fri. night, so I'm sure it'll always be known as the gift Uncle Paul gave me! Paul got two does on Fri. morning, so we headed back as he wanted to spend the weekend at home. We did a bit of shopping on both Fri & Sat.

Friday night I joined friends Jenn, Showna, Heidi, and Gaila as we sewed at Gaila's house. We had lots of fun sewing, chatting, and eating. Gaila gave us each a little coin purse she had made from the last Groovy Girls club. I think it's so super cute. Mine ended up being perfect for my camera, so it's found a place in my purse.

There's a pocket on each side of it.

This weekend Paul and I cleaned, organized, and moved furniture before setting up the Pack and Play for our Little Miss to sleep in. It was a bit tricky to set up, but with Paul's help and reading the directions, we got it done. We also went shopping for a stroller/car seat, so we were busy this weekend. I'm looking forward to another relaxing weekend getting things done next weekend. We have Paul's Christmas party next weekend and an online baby shower, but otherwise, we don't have any plans to travel! Thanks to the Jen's for this awesome Pack N Play! We're going to get so much use out of it.

Aunt Vi's Double Knit Quilt

Last week I was bound and determined to finish Aunt Vi's Double Knit quilt. I made the backing and loaded the quilt on Tues. night. I got about 3 passes done when I realized the last pass had bad tension, so I took it out. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I left it. It was a case of after 10 PM and tired does not make a quilter think straight!  Wed. night I figured out that it just needed to be rethreaded and did a few more passes. I figured if I did about 4 passes a night I could finish in a week. If you haven't worked with Double Knit, it's not fun! It stretches various ways and shifts horribly. But I was determined! Thurs. night I started to do a couple passes and when I was just ready to quit, I realized I only had 2 -3 passes left, so I finished it up and took it off the frame!
I used a blue varigated Robinson Anton thread in both the top and bobbin which worked really well. It turned out awesome, although I went through 10 bobbins! I couldn't get quite 2 passes per bobbin. I realized I should have used bottomline, but oh well, live and learn. I still have a huge cone of the stuff to get rid of.



It was such a rush to finish the quilt that I trimmed it up and packed it up to go to my parents this weekend. Mom and I cut out the binding and I put it on at her house. I still have to sew it to the top, but it will only take me a half hour or so to do that tonight. I'm so glad to have this one finished. Mom is working on a second and third top, so I'm not done by any means, but the next one I think I'm going to just quilt wavy lines through the 9 patch blocks.
It was such a good weekend! The Grand Opening of Fabric City was held on Fri/Sat. There was a Pattern Party by Karri of Blank Quilting and I learned some cool new ideas to use with the 60* ruler. Saturday we had a parade and demos. The crowd was huge and everyone was having a great time. The sale was awesome and I think everyone enjoyed taking home a few new items. It was a fun day!
Sat. night Paul and I went to my parents. I had taken 3 projects I needed mom's big cutting table for. Sat. night I cut out a baby blanket and got it pinned. I hope to get it sewn up in the next few days and then I can show you what we'll be having. I also cut and bound Vi's quilt Sat. night. Sunday, with the "help" of my niece, my mom helped me stack the Cowgirl fabric for a One Block Wonder quilt. I'm so looking forward to starting it. I ended up having to bring about 3 rows home that still need to be cut into triangles, but they are pinned well! It took me about 2 hours to press and cut it out.
Paul and my dad went hunting Sun. morning and got a grouse and several prairie dogs, so Paul was happy, but his shot gun broke, so he'll have to get a new one. He borrowed a gun from my brother and went hunting with my bro and SIL  mid morning and again after lunch for pheasants. It was opening weekend, but they didn't have much luck.
We got back last night in time for me to finish my paper and get it submitted for my class. Paul got packed up and is gone for another week now. I have class 2 nights and a fun sewing night with my friend Jenn scheduled! I'm so looking forward to sewing with her.

I Sewed Tonight!

I actually felt like sewing tonight! I haven't been in the mood, probably because I have a big overwhelming project that needs to be done in a month and I just can't get motivated. Today was the last day of my graduate class and I finished the final paper and turned it in on Thurs., so I feel like all the stress has been released. I spent Friday night with some girlfriends sewing and I had a blast! I have tons of pictures and I finished lots of projects, but that post will have to wait until tomorrow.  Sat. I had to make a pillowcase for my nieces birthday present, so I set up the serger and it took me 20 minutes to make it. I left the quilt/pillowcase with her parents so she should get it on Friday. It's a good thing the quilt has been done for a month. I saw this really cute sewing fabric at FC tonight when I stopped and decided I just had to have it for a pillowcase. The serger was still set up, so I whipped it up tonight. I love it! I also worked on my HST's and got them all sewn before the storm started and I quit and unplugged everything. I just need to cut them all apart now. I just feel like I accomplished so much tonight! It was a great evening of sewing. Now I need to get back to the wedding quilt.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my Amazing mom Delia! She is the strongest, most courageous woman I know. She is truly my inspiration, guiding light, and best girl friend. We do so much together and laugh the whole time. She taught me everything I know about sewing and quilting, starting when I was 7 years old. There isn't a thing she can't sew. We did draw the line at my wedding dress, since we are both procrastinators and didn't want to rush it at the end.
Each and every day I thank God for giving me this amazing woman to raise and nurture me throughout my life. I wouldn't be who I am today without her encouragement and support.
I love you Mom!

Today my mom had her entire family together for lunch and we played tourists in Wall. It was so nice to spend the day with my brothers, spouses, niece, and my parents.

Fast & Furious Weekend

Last weekend we were at my parents. My dad was in the community play. Don't Stop for Daisies. It was set in Britain. Three old ladies move into an old house, where the owner dies and they hide him in the dried up well. They have all escaped from the old ladies home and are believed to be dead. The handy man comes and inspects the well and finds the body. He's just seen the body. The old man is an uncle to the young girl.
She's convinced her uncle was murdered by the 3 old ladies and is freaking out. My dad is the policeman and it was at night, so he has his robe on.

The good dr. in his robe too. They think she's crazy because the old ladies gave her sleeping pills to shut her up.

The guys think she's just crazy so they aren't too concerned.

Paul and dad helped my bro & SIL tin the barn roof all weekend. Ed & Jessie came on Sunday for the play and Ed helped them finish up the barn. Paul and Ed were cutting the last piece to put on the barn.

Here the guys are installing the last piece.

 Paul rode down with my mom Fri. night, so they could get an early start on Sat. I worked on Sat. and then came down after work. We all went to the play Sat. night. My niece is just starting to say words very clearly, so when the guy had a gun she said uh oh. Then another time she said oh no. It was histerical! She would say it when it was dead silent, so everyone would hear her. When my dad came on stage she said papa.  The play was very funny and it's really great that the community comes together to put the performance on 3 times. On Sunday mom and I went with the guys and watched my niece. She's such a cutie. Mom played with her while I wrote my paper. I got a good start on it, but spent most of the night working on it after we got home. I got a 99% on it! I was so excited since it was my first paper for my graduate class.
This weekend I'm off work and hoping to sew for the greater majority of it. I need to start on my next paper, but I plan to do lots of sewing. It's retreat weekend and since I didn't go this year, I'll be sewing virtually with my blogging friends who are there. The use of IM and the webcam will keep us all up to date on our progress. I'm planning to work on a Grids & Grommets purse, my snowball blocks for the quilt along, and a binder cover for my school binder.

Fabric Books

At Christmas I made my niece some fabric books. I was so excited to see her "reading" them when I was at her house. I loved this book as a child, so when it came out in fabric I just had to have it. I ordered a couple. One for my niece and one to keep.

Since they live on a farm, I thought this one was really appropriate.

This by far is my favorite! I found it at the quilt shop and it's all about sewing and numbers. She's going to be a budding seamstress someday.



I embroidered the back of each of the books.

Wanna Be A Cowboy Quilt - Quilted

I finished the quilting on the Wanna Be A Cowboy Quilt Tuesday night. I'm loving how it turned out. I used a fairly tight meader and random stars wherever they fell. I sped up the quilting machine a bit, so I could go faster and it worked great. I'm loving this machine and all I can do with it.

I used a pink/brown verigated King Tut, which worked awesome, with pink Bottomline in the bobbin.

The pink is the rolled up backing on the frame. You can't even see the pink bobbin thread. I'm so excited to have this quilt, quilted. After I get the binding on, I'll probably take it to work and keep it there to look at for a while.

I'm off to finish the shop hop this afternoon! Anyone wanna take bets on if I buy more Wanna Be a Cowboy fabric?? I'm hoping to find the 4.5" 60 degree Creative Grids Strip On Ruler.

Sunday Sewing

Today I got lots of sewing done! I felt so productive after feeling like I haven't done anything all month. I finished the backing for this tablerunner and quilted it up. I put the binding on and started hand sewing the binding down while I was watching Amazing Race tonight.

I put on the final round of the Wanna Be a Cowboy quilt. I took my mom's advice and kept the browns together like a traditional log cabin. Then I put the strip on as the inner border on the top and bottom and then the center fabric is also the top and bottom border.

This is the bottom of the quilt. It ended up about 59"x79" which I think is a good size for a twin bed for my amazing niece. She's getting ready to go to a twin bed, so by the time her birthday rolls around in June I'll have this ready for her. I'm hoping to get a pillowcase made to go with it.

Here's a diagonal vision to show the top and bottom are the only sides with borders. I really love how quick and easy the pattern was, so I'm going to make a baby quilt out of the same fabrics.

I got the backing pieced and hopefully I can load it on the frame tomorrow night. I love how it turned out!
While I did spend a majority of the day quilting, I also spent several hours studying and doing my discussion posting for my graduate class. Usually I tend to leave the studying till the end of the day, but today I did it while Paul was napping, so I got lots done and rewarded myself with sewing after I was done.
Several have asked about the EZ Bob and while I was quilting today I took a few pictures to show how to use it, so I hope to do a post showing how it works tomorrow. Anyone with a Bernina or a frame machine with a metal bobbin case would love the EZ Bob.

Wanna Be A Cowboy Quilt

Last night I stopped and picked up a couple more pieces of fabric to add to the Wanna Be A Cowboy quilt so I could get it to twin size. I put the final two rounds on it and this is originally what it was supposed to look like.

This was originally to be the top and bottom borders. There are no side borders, just a thin strip and then a widered scalloped top.

But the more I looked at it, I like this combination better. When I cut it out I wasn't really thinking and it was quite some time after I had bought the fabric and I bought more than I needed, so I had trouble remember where it was supposed to go in order. So maybe this would be better, but I still needed it bigger. I'm increasing it from 41"x59" to twin size.

So I picked up a couple more fabrics that I hadn't seen before, and more of the red paisley and red flowers, thinking I could add another two to four rounds. The top fabric is the backing, but have plenty, so I could put it in another row on the front.

So I layed it out to see how it would look. What do you think? I'm not crazy about it and I would like to change it up somehow but I'm not sure. I was originally thinking I would just add an 8.5" round, 9.5" round, 10.5" round, and 11.5" round, but then I got to figuring it in my head and it's going to be like 80" wide which is way too wide for a twin quilt. I was hoping to get it about 72"x85-90". My other thought was to do 4 additional rounds, but keep them all at 7.5". What order would you put the additional 4 rounds in? or would you just do two rounds? Which fabrics would you use?

I really would like some opinions since I'm struggling with this quilt.
I have a feeling I'll be doing a baby quilt just like this with the leftovers since I love this fabric so much.

Live Meeting & Sewing

Tonight was the first live meeting of my first graduate class. It was interesting and the hour and a half class went by really quickly. There are three live sessions in the 11 week class, so not too often. I love the comfort of laying in bed and listening to the class online. No hard desk for me! I have 5 research papers to do during the term too. I've gotta get back in the groove with my APA usage. I have the APA nazi as an instructor or so he says. I'm excited to be working on my Masters in Management degree, but I know it's going to take away some of my sewing time.
After class I finished up the tablerunner I was working on Friday. I got it all put together into a top, so I can quilt it after I pick up some thread. I'm not quite sure I like it as it's really long. It's very different than most of the runners I have made. It's made with the Essence line of fabric from Moda.

Then I started on a fun quilt I've been looking forward to making for the past month or so. It's a large log cabin, so I put the first 4 rows on it. I love how it's turning out, but I need to make it bigger. I'm thinking I will have to get a couple other pieces to make it a little bigger before I put on the top and bottom borders.

I layed out the next two "logs" but it's going to be turned into a twin, so i think if I buy two more fabrics I'll be able to make it big enough. The center is the top border.

Paul's Mounted Fish

After 9 months of waiting, the day finally arrived for Paul to pick up his mounted large mouth bass from the taxidermist. He was so excited and it's way bigger than I remember. He caught it last year, 4th of July weekend at my Uncle Tom's dam. The whole family was out there fishing and frying. I did more of the frying than the fishing, but it was still fun. I took lots of pictures of my niece trying to hold the pole. She was just starting to walk then. We always have so much fun fishing with my family. Usually we go catfishing, but last year there was too much flooding, so it wasn't good at the river.
He hung it on our living room wall. The same guy is doing his deer head mount, but it will be another few months before it is done.



While we had upper 40's today, my parents are still in the blizzard area. They had 20+ inches of snow this week and lots of blowing wind. My parents were snowed in as were my brother and family. It's so hard to believe that we have dry streets and they have blocked roads. Maybe by Mother's Day the snow will be gone out there. We still have a 2 foot drift in our front yard, but it's slowly going away.  

Butchering Chickens!

This weekend mom and I were asked to do a quilting demo/quilt show at the County Fair. It went really well on Saturday and I think those that attended learned a lot. We did two different demos, Quilting for the Clueless and Bags, Bags, Bags. After the demos, we shopped in the variety store and found some great fabrics we don't have at the shop. It's always fun to go there as I got fabric and Paul got fishing lures. The store has everything! We had supper and then headed for my parents place. We got changed and loaded up the pickups met up with a cousin, my bro, and my niece and we headed for the river to go fishing. We left about 7PM and it was the perfect evening. There was no wind, it was cool, and there was a full, bright moon. We caught about 10 and they cleaned them about 10:30... but then we caught 5 more and it was about 12:30 before they cleaned the next batch. I caught a 1.6 pound catfish! By 1AM we left for my parents. By the time we got to bed it was nearly 2! My bro asked if we'd help butcher chickens the next morning and I said sure if I got one. Dad and I headed down to my bros at 9 on Sun. morning. I've included a few pictures of the process, but it may be a bit grose, so procede with caution!
We were greeted by the roosters and a few hens. My bro caught the hens. Dad and I held them by the legs to carry them out of the barn.

Holding 2 roosters in my hand.

Then my bro hung them up and cut the throats.

Then he scalded them to get the feathers to come loose.

Dad, SIL, and I picked the feathers from the birds. We did 10 total birds.

This is the first bird I cleaned myself. It's a big roaster bird! It's about the size of a small turkey.

We cleaned them and brazed the hair off and then put them in the cooler. We put them in water and froze the birds to eat over the course of the next year. It was an interesting experience and I learned a lot. It was really hot, 90, but with a breeze it wasn't so bad in the shade. It got to 102 in the afternoon. We got done about 1PM and then went back to my parents where Dad, Paul, and fixed lunch for my mom's birthday. Mom and I had a very enjoyable time visiting and pulling out a few UFO's to work on. We came home early as we knew we would have to deal with the biker traffic. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally started today and there are a ton of bikers out and about in the area.