Handwork is fast work!

I'm a fanatic at times. On hyper-drive when I start something that is of great interest. Unable to enjoy the work unless the work is moving forward. Rarely do I sit and appreciate something of my own making. 


However I do stop often and appreciate it for moments. Just moments. But still. Every time I empty my needle, I take a moment. Just a moment. But still.

I look at where I'm going. Appreciate what I've done. Make a few decisions. Thread up and stitch. Fast and furious, off I go again. 

What do you have under your needle?


Edited to add: see my article on AHIQ: Improvisational Utility Quilts. Thanks to Kaja and Ann for putting together this great new blog.

Pin It Weekly #248

The Polka Dot Quilter is a new follower with several quilt boards. I really like her "black & white quilts" board.

Rebeccamata is a new pinner who has only a few boards, but she's gaining ground with her "tatting patterns" board.

Finally, because she has such pretty curls, here are a few pictures of Milly. 

Have a board you'd like me to feature? Leave the address in a comment and you'll be next. 
Have a great week!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: CASTLES

Happy inspiration! Here's hoping these castles from my "castle, home" board inspire you. 

With over 500 pins on this board, choosing just a few was quite difficult. But we must move on to castle quilts. These are all in my "baby, quilts" board.

Embroider more!

I got a new machine--a dedicated embroidery machine! I had no plan to purchase any machine, but then sometimes luck just taps you on the shoulder and has good news to boot!

What happened was that my niece bought this Janome a few years ago thinking she would add embroidery to her small tee shirt business. She changed her mind and, it turns out, she didn't like any part of the machine. She tried a couple of times, but sewing is not in her blood. Poor girl.

So I got a text asking me to help her find someone to buy it--perhaps one of my sewing friends. Oh, what to do, what to do? 

Richard suggested I buy it. I had, after all, talked about buying an embroidery machine but couldn't justify the expense. Besides my Bernina embroiders and I don't have as much interest as I did a few years ago. Hmm, she was asking a fair price...

 Well, you can figure out the rest. The machine came with a box of stabilizers, which were recommended when she bought the machine. Only one roll had been opened.

I decided to open all of the rolls, trim off the cellophane, and wrap the label around the corresponding roll so that I can keep the information with the roll. Otherwise how would I remember which is which? I can remove the tape and tighten the label, which works as a rubber band to keep the fusible from coming off the roll.

Directions for use are printed on a separate sheet, so I tucked it into the center of the roll. 

 And now it's all neatly stored in the shelves near the long-arm with the other fusibles and interfacing. Now to find a minute to read the instruction book and give the machine a run.

New under my needle

I've missed having a small hand-quilting project. It's been almost a month since I finished the orphan quilt block my mom made. I've had an idea squeaking around in my brain, so I decided today (quite randomly) that I'd do something with it. 

All improv and all fun, it's going quite well. It was meant to be a small wall hanging, so it didn't take a great deal of time to put together. I just cut pieces with my scissors and stitched or raw edge applique things on. I even have a small reverse-applique piece (not shown).

Tonight I brought the top and my little basket of tools in to stitch while we watched a movie. I can see small changes already. This one might be fast. Enjoy the sneak peek!

Pin It Weekly #247

Hello Pinners!
I have some interesting news--apparently there are a couple of people who visit my Pinterest board. Check it out--

284.8k monthly viewers

That's what Pinterest counts, anyway. Well, they don't count it in red, I did little color thingy. But the numbers are all Pinterest bean counters. (I don't think I can count that high. I'd look away for a second and forget what I was doing. Ha)

What are they looking at? Well, that's interesting, too. According to the activity button info, Sunday Quilt Inspiration is having a bigger effect than Blogger seems to think.  

So I don't know what to think. It's confusing and I really don't want to try to figure it out, anyway. Let's just say, I'm happy that someone, somewhere, somehow knows what's going on. Chances are those people are much more interested in numbers that belong to other people. But who knows, right?

I'm just going to do what I like doing: pinning and blogging and maybe even a little posting on Instagram, just for a change now and again. 

Isn't this funny?

The following pins are from Laura Shiplett's "fabric crafts board. I really like some of the ideas. Look at the little doll sleeping bags!

Have a great week!