What's Up? Not much!

It seems like it has been a busy week but nothing much accomplished. No additions or uses reported for the stash report. The only thing to show for design wall is the pile of handles for patient bags that I turned right side out after sewing a seam down the long side!! Whoopee!! LOL

I did finish a fleece scarf for my youngest daughter. Brenda picked out the thread color for the machine embroidery when she was home in March. Since I was going down to Minneapolis this weekend for Easter, I wanted to get it done. Course now she has to wait until next winter to wear it. Haven't figured out if I am behind or ahead!! I also delivered her finished Log Cabin quilt. She was very happy to finally get it!!

I think winter might finally be over. It was over 70º F.  Whoopee, Yippee, Wow!!  Last Wednesday, we received over 12 inches of snow. The ground had been almost bare of snow but by the end of day, it looked like this -----   The snow is gone again!! Hope it stays gone.

On Saturday, I attended a maintenance class for my Featherweight sewing machine. It was a very good class and I learned a lot. My little machine is just humming now after a thorough cleaning, lube, and oiling. It should help me to better maintain my other vintage machines.

After the class, I went over to my daughter's place. She lives in Minneapolis. Brenda took me on a tour of the hotel (The Commons) where she works. It is a very uniquely decorated place. We then had a leisurely dinner at the hotel, went back to her place and relaxed for the evening. On Easter morning we went to Ikea and I picked up a little kitchen cart that I wanted for in the sewing room. After Ikea we went to a little place called Hazel's and had a delicious brunch. It was a wonderful time spent with Brenda. Then homeward bound I went. Hubby and son had been left to their own devices and it was time to get home and make sure they hehaved -- Very Big Grin!!

Today was Sew-Sew Monday at Gruber's Quilt Shop in St. Cloud, MN. One of the ladies brought in a quilt she is donating to "Breaking Free." What a great quilt. I worked on my "Talkin' Turkey." Might get it done some year! LOL While we were sewing a whole bus load of Canadian quilters stopped into the shop on their way to Paducah. They were doing a fantastic job of shopping. Hope they are not broke before getting to the quilt show! LOL

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times and see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/04/21/design-wall-april-21-2014/

Hugs, Beth

Stash Report

Used since last report:         0.00 yards

Used year to Date:              0.00 yards

Added since last report:       0.00 yards
Added Year to Date:            6.50 yards

Net Used for 2014:             - 6.50 yards 

Wow!! No additions to the quilt stash. Since I was going to be at a machine embroidery retreat last week, I did add some fleece & twill for embroidery projects.

The machine embroidery retreat was a lot of fun. Here is some "Show & Tell" from attendees:

Sewing machine cover with machine embroidery.

Twister quilt

Applique' quilt

Machine quilted with the embroidery module.

Machine embroidered quilt.

This year we managed to complete or come close to completing more projects. Since they are all a learning process, they do not always turn out exactly as planned but become "Design Opportunities." LOL  Here are a couple of the projects that I worked on.

Embroidery on the front of a vest for my daughter.

Ribbons with embroidery on top for a pillow insert.

Embroidery on one end of a fleece scarf.

Can cozy with name, tablet holder with initial and a blackboard bag assembled all in the hoop.

The blackboard bag was a lot of fun and the saying is so true: "So much fabric, so little time." There are more sayings, as well as, sizes in the embroidery design package I purchased. It just seems like a person always can use or give away these small zippered bags.

The tablet holder will work for paper tablets or the electronic ones. A super fun and simple project using a place mat.

All in all the five days at the retreat was a lot of fun but sure am tired once I arrived home. My friend Maureen and I roomed together again. We had a snow storm the night before we were to come home, so Maureen and others ended up staying an extra night. I did manage to drive home on Friday because I only lived 30 miles away. It was some of the worst roads that we have had for a few years but what can I say --- we live in Minnesota.

Hugs to all and make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times and see what others are doing.

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2014/02/23/stash-report-week-8-2014/

Hugs, Beth

Stash Report and Stuff

Used since last report:         0.00 yards
Used year to Date:            13.50 yards

Added since last report:     0.00 yards
Added Year to Date:           5.50 yards

Net Used for 2013:              8.00 yards

No change to the stash report. Not sure if that is good or so-so!  Means I didn't finish anything that would help reduce the stash. February turned out to be a lost month. There are so many items I had planned to complete and didn't finish any.

I did attend the Machine Embroidery Retreat in February for five days at Grand Casino Mille Lacs, MN. Of course, it took the week before the retreat to organize and find everything that I needed to take. It was a good thing that we only live 30 miles from the retreat because when I was unpacking at the Casino, I was missing my main project bag with all the cut pieces for most of the projects. I would not be able to do a lot of the projects without it. Hubby had so nicely been helping me pack the vehicle and I did not notice the project bag was accidentally set back down in the sewing room and it did not get loaded when we were loading the vehicle. So it was left at home. A nice little round trip was necessary but at least I hadn't lost it.

We finished so many projects and I did not come home with so many UFO's like the last two years. Both Maureen (good friend) and I were so happy with what we accomplished. Finished a name tag and a snappy bag done with bobbin work besides the projects shown below. Two projects I did not do at all. We had a fun time and there were so many of us that know each other that a lot of visiting also took place. I may go next year. Depends on the projects

Flamingo embroidered on Pet Mesh Tote

Cowl fleece scarf with embroidered snowflakes

Embossed bath towel for my guest bathroom

One end of a cutwork placemat. Stabilizer is still on it.

Since watching Bonnie Hunter on QuiltCam (http://quiltville.blogspot.com/) with all her vintage machines, I decided to drag my Singer 99 (3/4 size head) with the Bentwood case out of the closet. I bought her on an auction for $25. Her birthday is 4/2/1931, so she is no youngster.  The pretty little girl needs to be cleaned and oiled. To sew with the machine it has a knee control lever that fits in the slot on the  bottom section of the case (lower right in the picture) in place of a foot pedal. Now I need to find a place to set her up so I can sew on her. Guess I will try to get my treadle machine up and running. The treadle needs a new belt and then I can try her out.

A week ago, my youngest daughter treated me to a stage show in Minneapolis called "Buckets and Tap Shoes" for my birthday. It was so much fun. The two main guys in the show tap danced and drummed on everything except a drum. It was amazing what they were able to do with buckets, pails, water glasses, plastic 55-gallon drums and metal pipes. They even were drumming on the floor.  The theater building the show was in had been saved from demolition and moved to its current location and then renovated.  Due to the smaller size of the audience area, it was such a wonderful friendly informal event. We visited with other attendees even though we didn't know anyone.

Make sure you hop over to Patchwork Times to see how others are doing:

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/03/03/stash-report-week-9-2013/

Beth

Quiet Week

It has been a quiet week. We did have a snowstorm on Tuesday evening into Wednesday. Quit snowing around noon with about 10 - 12 inches of snow. At least I no longer have to worry about snow days, I can sew in between road trips.  Hubby did take me out for Leap Year dinner.  The casino had the buffet for $2.29 each.  I sure can say he is the last of the big spenders!!!  LOL

I am still working on my Orca Bay between activities but did get a set of dish towels machine embroidered.  They are redwork designs but I did them in colors that I thought my daughter Natalie would like.

Guess I'll get back to Orca Bay and keep my nose to the grindstone.  I want to finish the top in the next few days so I can start on the March UFO.  The March UFO number selected is number 8 which is a blue and yellow log cabin. Also, I downloaded two audiobooks from the Library to listen to. I do adore a good mystery.

Beth

Quiet Week in the Sewing Room

Had one of those weeks where I was busy all week but not a lot accomplished in the sewing room. On Tuesday I went bowling (bowled much better then the last two weeks) and after bowling I attended Machine Embroidery Club. Since we will be having a retreat February 20 - 24 for machine embroidery, I wanted to make sure to attend so I could see the projects we will be working on. On Thursday, I attended Featherweight Club (must have a Featherweight machine to attend) and sewed on a binding. On Friday, my Hubby wanted me to go bumming with him. Guess I can't sew all the time and neglect the poor boy!!!   LOL

I did do some sewing on the 38 cancer bags that I have in progress. Have to admit after I do a certain amount on them, I get bored and want to sew on something else. The cancer bags are made out of a variety of fabrics, but decorator weight is the nicest for these bags.

 I took a break from sewing the Cancer Bags and started working on Orca Bay quilt again.  Almost done with all of Part 4, which is red string piecing. I have been cutting up one of the physcian directories that the insurance company sends out each year. The pages are wonderful for the foundation piecing. Tears off very easy. Great way to recycle!!

After the string piecing is done, the block gets squared up.

 I then tear the paper off the back, spritz lightly with water and press flat. After pressing the front and back so it lies good and flat, the square is cut across the strips on the diagonal.

Now I lay my ruler (it is just like the companion angle ruler) on one piece, lining up the 3 1/2" line with the cut diagonal edge and trim off the excess fabric.

For Part 7, I added the pieces from Part 5 (black wing pieces) to the pieces from Part 4. I skipped Part 6 at this time (do have the pieces cut).

Are you confused yet??  Can you tell I tend to work in the order I want to work??  Oh, well!! Makes life interesting. I will get back to Part 6, but I wanted to check that the above units are going to be the correct size. I can understand why Bonnie sets out the steps to the mystery the way she does. She is only trying to keep us from guessing what it was going to look like.  I am so wanting to get this top done.  It also means another UFO quilt top done (some call these flimsies). Love the name "flimsies". 

Beth