Friday, June 2, 2017

Lots of little finishes

The last few days have been busy getting some little chores out of the way. I can't show you one of those projects quite yet, but these are almost as good. Don't you love to check things off of a "TO DO" list? I do. It feels so good to know you've accomplished something that's been on your mind. Since I didn't grade papers with a red pen, I'm using purple to check off my list.

1. Quilt repair 
Front side after repair
It isn't often that the neighbors call for a favor despite that we live in a small village and know almost everyone. However, RaRa (her grandmother name) called and asked if I could take a look at one of her favorite quilts. It's a pretty white on one side and a soft, soothing blue on the other. The quilting is simple but effective. She had loved a small hole in it. 



an enhanced picture to
see the repair 

I recommended two patches, one on each side, and re-quilting with a closely matching thread.


I hand-appliqued the patches, adding a small piece of cotton batting to replace the batting that had slushed out during its last machine washing. Then I added the running stitches using four strands of embroidery thread. She picked it up this morning on the way to their camp for the weekend. Check!





2. Summer shorts 

I promised summer shorts for Caki and Sopie a few weeks ago. I brought two pairs to them not long after making the promise. We decided that they were just a bit too long, so I've taken an inch off the leg length. Hopefully, that's going to be the right size. 

My favorite pair...love those butterflies!
 The shorts are finished and ready for the mail. We'll see them in a week, but they love to get mail so this time we're mailing them each a package.

Five for the Rayne girls

Caki's two

Sophie's three have lots of large
creatures and zoo animals
Marley snagged one pair and was promised another, but these were mailed yesterday morning. Check!

Ready to mail tomorrow

3. Sewing quilt labels 
Now why I would do this, I can't say. I did not realized that I'd gotten so far behind. Well, I knew I had a quilt or two that needed the labels stitched on, so I proceeded to figure out which one  or two, perhaps, needed labels stitched on. I knew I'd made the labels and pinned them on, just not finished that last step. 




Guess what? There were seven (7!) waiting for labels! Unbelievable! When you start a bad habit, said habit can really take hold. But I've broken the chain and stitched them all--yes, every single one. The picture above is of the last three, which I stitched down today. The picture below is of all seven quilts completed!





And this picture is of the baby quilts that are complete, labeled, and put away. The larger quilts are in a different place, but put away. Check!

That baby bed rail (thanks Pinterest for the idea) is from the grandchildren. When I saw it dragging around in Rory's shed, I snatched it up. The other rail is hanging in his shed so I couldn't take it. Rory added S hooks and hangs tools on it. 

What chores makes you feel good when you get them checked off a list? 


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5 comments:

Preeti said...

Aw... you are a quilt healer!!! Love the bright shorts :-) And I am proud of you to get the labels in order. Anything else need finishing, I will be sure to call you.
Hugs,
Preeti.

Karen S said...

Well done on catching up with all those tasks. they may be little but they sure add up.
The shorts look perfect for Summer and are obviously very popular.

Kaja said...

Great work and isn't it nice to get lots of chores out of the way? I love crossing things off a list - always makes me feel good and productive.

Anonymous said...

It's so good to see that you've added labels to your quilts! I'd make a small addition to your labels so that future generations will know—where the quilt was made! You have space on your labels to do that.

Mary Marcotte said...

Thanks everybody! I am thrilled to have marked off those chores. Anon, I always leave a small bit of space on the labels so that I can add information when the quilt goes to a new home. You bring up a good point and I'm going to consider adding it. When I run across an old quilt, there's so much info that I'd love to have. There's no way I could include all of the info I'd be asking! I've learned to accept that not every question can be answered on a label but maybe I should answer a few more.