Happenings 'round here

That title makes it sound like there are happenings. They aren't that many, believe me. 

I had promised my sister that I'd make some bed pads to keep at her house. The short version is that another sister suffers from dementia and is living where the pads are going. You get the picture, I'm sure. I got a reminder text this morning and started working on the pads at noon. I chose ugly, heavy fabrics that I'm sure I wouldn't want for a quilt. 

It's not a difficult chore; there are only four pads. I sewed all the fabrics together much like a pieced backing and loaded the longarm just like a regular quilt. I decided to use the opportunity to practice some motifs and that slowed me down. When finished, I cut it into four pads and finished the edges with the lock-stitch machine.

The other thing slowing me down is Marley. She came by for a sewing lesson and made a pair of shorts. Since it's her first pair, she needed guidance. She's getting really good and will soon be able to complete small projects on her own. 

One other thing happening is that I've been painting again. I'm working on two magnolia paintings and will have something to show you in a day or so. Meanwhile, have a fabulous Friday and weekend!

Mrs. Mary Lee's next finish

Before the flu came for a long visit, I worked on another of Mrs. Mary Lee's quilts. (My parents' neighbor. I wrote about one of her quilts here and about another finish quilt here.) I've had three quilt tops for, uhm, four months already. Anna brought them when she picked up the last ones, but we discussed my getting to them after the holidays. It's after the holidays, so...

For the most part, Anna gives me carte blanche on the quilting. That is the most fun! Stress-free play! And while I do enjoy piecing my own quilts, I really enjoy playing on the longarm. 

Here are a few pictures of the back where, hopefully you can see the quilting.

Thanks for visiting!

Marley and the Machine, or The Bug Bit

Marley has been hanging out with her GramGram and Poppa all week. Entertaining a nine-year-old can be difficult, unless you're willing to ignore the technology in her hands. I'm not. That would, in essence, be ignoring her. 

So how to entertain a nine-year-old? Well, it helps to have a different kind of machine. A sewing machine, of course. She wanted to learn to sew. What grandmother could deny a grandchild such a request? Certainly, not this one.

I put her to work practicing straight lines. Then curvy lines. Then turning corners. She was pretty good at all of them. We started on her project of choice, a pillow to match her room. That was too easy and quick. Nevertheless, on day two we set about making a smaller pillow for Darla, her dog. She needed no instruction and very little help. 

Oh good. I was able to turn on my long-arm and make a few stitches on my own project. However, it was short-lived and we needed yet another project. She asked to make a quilt. Yes, perhaps a quilt would be just the project to occupy her for a while and allow me to work on my quilting. 

She chose the first pieces of fabric, all stripes. I suggested that if she wanted stripes for the whole quilt that we intersperse bright colors with neutrals. She pulled all the stripes she liked, and I cut out the 6½" x 8½" patches using the rotary cutter and showed her how to put them together, pin and stitch. By the end of the day, she had sewn a neutral to each bright. 

There are only eight blocks per row and seven rows, so by noon on Wednesday she finished all the rows. We began working on putting the rows together and she took the quilt top home to show her mom and dad.

Thursday we needed another project because I had not finished my own project on the long-arm, which means her quilt could not get loaded. 

She was off and running when I mentioned making a simple, elastic-waist skirt. I should have looked for a pattern but decided to just take her measurements and cut. Oops. It fits but barely. I may have to make some alterations next week. For now, though, she's thrilled with it. 

And that's been the first week of Marley and the machine. It's possible the sewing bug has gotten to her and bit hard. Let's hope so, anyway. I'd like for her to get another project or two completed before school begins in the hopes it means she'll pick it back up during holidays or next summer. 

Cotton Quilters' Sewing Room Tour

A quick collage of some quilts, tops and blocks, plus
one pic from the visit to my studio.

It would be difficult to have a better sewing day! That's because today we (the Cotton Quilters) toured five sewing spaces. The tour was a huge success! We all had fun. Twenty-two of us showed up and took off for Evergreen, on time. First, my studio which impressed. Rich told me to hand everyone a dust cloth as they walked in, but I served coffee instead.

One piece of furniture at Cleo's that
might go on Rich's project list.

Then it was off to Cleo's house where she had laid out her gorgeous quilts. (No, I didn't have the sense to do that.) We walked around the entire house and enjoyed her quilts and her late mother's costume jewelry. 

At Cleo's house

From there we were off to Pam's, whose husband had enclosed their large back porch. He had added a high shelf with a closet rod completely around the room. She sews beautiful little dresses for her grandchildren. 

At Pam's house

 Then it was lunch at Mrs. Mary's, who had enlisted a few ladies to help out. Pimento cheese sandwiches, shrimp and corn soup, and chips filled us up. She also had enclosed the back porch to make a long room where Gammill could live. Huge windows give lots of natural light.

At Mary C's 

One more home to go--Josie's with the beautiful hand-quilting space. Large windows for natural light, sofas around the perimeter of the room, and a hand-made quilt frame all make the space just about perfect. As if that were not enough, she served coffee and homemade sweets for our lunch dessert.

At Josie's house

 From there I returned home, but almost everyone else was going back to the museum to drop off riders. We started out there so 4-5 people could pile into a vehicle--the idea being that we'd have fewer vehicles to park.

Some of the highlights of our day:

• Getting to know the members of the guild on a more personal level
• Seeing how others set up and organize their sewing spaces
• Discovering ideas that I may incorporate into my own space
• Appreciating members' beautiful quilts
• Seeing their sewing machines and antique pieces
• Traveling around the parish with friends on a beautiful, sunny day with flowers in bloom and newly-plowed fields
• and so much more!

Long-arm Surgery

Ever wonder what the inside of a long-arm looks like? My Innova had a little exploratory surgery. 

First you have to find a good-looking husband with a knack for fixing things and knowledge for solving problems. 

So, there's Richard.

belts and gears in the backside

He took off all the covers except the one that hides the long-arm. Said it's just a metal rod and too much work just for a picture. Considering that I'd already knocked down his light source, I couldn't afford annoying him. 

brain and electrical on the side

rod that makes the needle
 move up and down

Apparently it needed just a little tinkering and a few adjustments. Less than a day of hunkering down with his mechanical mind in high gear. 

close-up of the electrical components

computer board

Way back in 2014 my poor machine sat open at the seams for an entire week. Oh the horror! I showed the inside workings of my Innova then, too. I don't think much has changed inside this machine. There wasn't even much dust--which amazed me the first time, also. The best news is that, according to the best repairman in the universe, we're back in business. I haven't even turned it on. I trust him that much. Plus, he guarantees the work!

More cleaning {scour and scrub 2}

I did a little cleaning when Richard made my new shelving unit, but why stop there? For some unknown reason, there is a table in the studio that I don't need. You know what it became...you probably guessed it: a dumping place for all the stuff that we don't need but it's too good to toss out. 

www.thirdshiftvintage.com

Most of that belonged to other people, some had come home with me when I retired, and some needed to go back to Walmart. We worked on that table early last week because it meant not really dealing with my studio stuff. The good news about some of it: I returned several items to Walmart and found $53. 

www.thirdshiftvintage.com

Eventually, though, I had to get over my emotional self and look at the real problem: I have too much sewing/quilting stuff. I'm working on getting some of that stuff and the emotions under control, and I've made some difficult decisions. 

• New items that I don't need can go to my guild as door prizes
• Fabric that is not 100% quilting cotton will be sold 
• Fabric I can't sell will go to Salvation Army (someone else can wash and use it in charity quilts)
• Fabric that is not good will go into the trash (okay, don't judge--it is fabric)
• Fabric that I don't like (but is quilt quality) can go into a backing stash or be sold

www.thirdshiftvintage.com

Notions are a big problem. I used to make garments, so I have buttons, zippers, lace, etc. Plus, I've tried almost every craft at some point: needlework, beading, sculpting clay, silk flower arranging, and goodness knows what other crafts. I'll try to get into that area of the stash closet once I've moved a few boxes of fabric.


I have no idea how this crazy happened but it probably began many, many years ago when I could barely afford anything for sewing. And it continued for many, many years while I worked and could afford almost anything I wanted. I was very good at bringing in fabric under the guise of other shopping. Do you have ways to sneak fabric in?

pegboard of thread in my studio

Then there were "the Garan gifts." Richard worked at a garment manufacturing plant for 25 years. Garan is the parent company that creates Garanimals clothing for children. There was a plant in Marksville, where he was head mechanic/maintenance supervisor. 

He is such a sweet husband: he'd bring scraps home and my mom and grandmother would make quilts from them. Then the factory closed. Rather than incur the costs of shipping items overseas, the company sold thread, huge pieces of fabric, and other items. Anything that was left was to be thrown in the trash. And so I got quite a few Garan gifts, especially thread, fabric, and elastic. And buttons, hook and eye fasteners, and snaps. And fabric. And thread.

It's time to edit and let some of it go. I hate doing that because it seems as soon as I do, I find a need for some of the things I tossed. Friends tell me I'm silly but it's true, don't you think?

Storage in the Studio {scour and scrub}

I've wanted to do a little cleaning in the studio for a while now. The problems of stuff piled and stacked in every inch of real estate overwhelms me. Additionally, there are things that simply do not belong in the studio. Period.

The new cabinet the middle part
with drawers is what we started with.

I started working on the problems a few weeks ago when I asked Richard to help me. Now, Richard is one of those people who is patient and loving and truly wants to help. Now. Right NOW.

After painting, there's lots of storage in this baby

I tend to forget that he's a "get it done" guy, because he often anticipates my needs, and they just sort of appear when I need them. In this case, there's no way he could anticipate what was happening in my head. Let's face it: my head. 

Right next to the long-arm, it holds all of my thread, rulers, and tools
for the long-arm and a few other items like interfacing and Heat and Bond 

So I asked for help: please take this little bench with the drawers  and build it up so there will be a base with more cabinets on the bottom and a few shelves on the top of the cabinet.  The base came in that afternoon, and I had to stop everything to get it in place. The following day we had plans or an appointment, so it took two days to get the shelves in, but then he had to take them out and do some more work. He's OCD about things being "right." 

I convinced him to help me paint, which means he painted most of the cabinet because I was too slow and didn't do it correctly. But they got painted and look great. 

Oh my! What a little paint will do! I haven't completely finished putting things away in this cabinet, but Richard almost filled it with things he decided needed to be put away. Let's hope I can find it! No matter, I have a wonderful, loving husband.

"Under the Haystack Fast Asleep" ~~ Finish

I've been on a tear in an attempt to use up some of the blue fabric in the stash. It's beginning to become a burden. Actually it's more like seasickness. But I'm determined. I have one more quilt top complete and ready to go on the long arm for quilting. This one, though, is complete and ready to go to a baby boy.  I'm calling it "Under the Haystack Fast Asleep."

Did you notice the green chair. It's part of the set with this orange chair. 

 For this quarter square log cabin, I decided to make the blocks wonky. Talk about add some movement! It may be the reason that I'm sick of working with the quilts. 

Of course, I could just be sick of the weather. Tropical Storm Cindy is doing her job very well. Thunder rolls with very little time between each burst. The puppies are getting hoarse from barking at the thunder.

And in case the weather and the puppies are not enough to entertain, we have an incessant red bird attacking himself against our windows. Now we get one every year (I wonder if it's a family trait) but those have always chosen one window. This guy will attack any window: the bow window in the living room, the window near the long arm, the kitchen window, the window by the machine. 

Quilt Stats
Name:	Under the Haystack Fast Asleep
Size:	40" X 40"
Fabrics:	Variety of blues from stash
Background:	n/a
Binding:	scrap fabrics left from blocks
Pattern:	Wonky Quarter Log Cabin
Quilting:	practice quilting / variety of motifs

It's all well and good to have an extra quilt or two for those times when you need one quick, but you know, I needed a little diversion. That said, I made a pincushion. I bought a new ruler--one for making hexies. It allows measurements for 1" to 5" hexies. So I cut out two 5" pieces, sewed around the block, leaving an opening of course. Then turned it right side out and stuffed it with walnut shells. Easy, easy! I didn't quilt it because truthfully I didn't even think about it. How silly is that? (Maybe don't answer that question. hehe)

Linking up with

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts 

My Quilt Infatuation
Busy Hands Quilts
TGIFF at Slice of Pi

Rolling Along

I made two discoveries today. First if you want an organized space, I have a fast way to make it happen. 

Knock the entire organizer down. Haha  As you pick things up from the floor, you may as well put them in order. It really doesn't take very long to decide, get started, put things away. It all happens rather quickly. Try not to say the words I used...that slows things down.

The other discovery is that babies will sleep and play while you quilt! Dusti called and ask for free babysitting for a couple of hours. A "couple" became five or maybe six. Who keeps track when multi-tasking? 

Don't be fooled by the cute pictures. Great-grandies can scream just as loudly as ordinary grandies. But for the most part we had lots of fun, and DeeDee (that's me) quilted for almost two hours while she napped, played and hiccuped. Apparently babies like long-arms as much as dryers.