PHASE 1: Craft Room Update!

Truth be told, I find that I am not keeping up with my blog because I haven't had anything to write about, also trying to post pictures from my I-Pad to my blog has been a real "joy".  NOT!!!!  I think I may have finally found a way to do it:-)  So far, it is working.

This seems like a yearly event ... clean, re-organize craft room.  So hopefully my plan will enable me to start fresh and maybe for the last time?  lol Or at least not have it a yearly project. 

This is my messy closet ... really want to be able to find "stuff".  I waste so much time looking for "stuff" that I have organized only to loose it again.  Ever have that problem?  Please, make me feel better by saying you do too?  lol I have even called my friend, Charlene, to maybe suggest where I may have filed my "stuff"!

I can't work in too messy of an environment, so solution is just to close the doors.  Clean my work areas.  Kind of put my things away where they kind of go .....  Below is my projected closet re-organization.  It is definitely not to scale, that is my husband's job.  Just showed him the drawing I made  ... he seems to like it.  So, with any luck ... these next rainy/hot/humid days will keep him in doors and play in my closet.  He really is a good builder of things ...  I am getting excited.

Oh, the really bad part of all of this .... to clean out this closet and find a place in my craft room that I can store all of this "stuff".  In the meantime, I still want to be able to sew.  Yes, I want it all ... new storage closet and the building not to disturb my sewing!!

Next project out of this book!

My son feels that I now have enough expertise to make a quilt for his wall.  Or, I do a good enough job to adorn his wall. lol  Gotta love your "children"!!!   So, he actually found a pattern he likes, surprise, he found a few patterns he likes, out of my books.  There is one, down the road, maybe long road, I will make hopefully as an heirloom quilt for him.   NOT IN NEAR FUTURE.....  

I am hoping my new found projects will give me something to write about.  Please stop by and leave a comment on my progress.

Sharon

P.S.:  I am telling myself to give at least 1 hour a day to cleaning out the above mess.  We will see how I do on that one!  Going to have lunch, shall return with hopefully 1 hour under my belt.  Maybe more!  lol

Just Hanging Out In My Back Yard:-)

I enjoy a nice stroll thru my back yard.  All the spring flowers have come and gone and the summer flowers are just about ready to bloom.

But look what is lurking around out there!  I have a husband who is obsessed with planting tomatoes. Now mind you, we are a household of 3 who would do well to have just a couple of plants to feed us all summer into fall.  He tells me every year as we are watering the tomatoes (and flowers, another story) that he will plant just a couple next year.  I am not sure what year he is talking about, but I have yet to see that year!!

He starts out so well, We have raised garden beds ... it use to be a back yard of raised garden beds. lol

Now a nice bed next to our shed.  He planted maybe 12 plants, so innocent looking.  I am thinking .. wow, great.

You see, from previous years we were supplying tomatoes to "friends, family, neighbors, and strangers" unloading our crop.  About August, people were hiding from us when they saw us coming. lol  But, he made a friend of a locally owned fast food chain that loved receiving these, free of charge.  We felt good about this because you just don't want to have these go to waste.

So onto the story of my back yard walk this morning .... Little by little, I would see containers of tomatoes springing up.  He would say, oh got a good deal on them, not buying any more.  Ah, heard that one before.  These things kept cropping up here and there on my patio.  Then because the cement keeps the dirt hot in the containers, plus very dry, he had to find a place to move them.  So, around the house he went placing tomatoes.

Here are a few of his beloved plants.  lol

Starting place

I spy a tomato plant in my flowers:-)

4 of them here .. raised on wood, prettied up for patio. lol

Oh, 2 more innocent looking tomatoes!

1 more on side of house:-)

There are 4 hiding in here among flowers, sorry there are 5!

And one greeting you on the way to the garage door.

I am not really complaining ... his obsession could be worse.  Oh, wait ... it is.  He is well know at our local Lowe's Store, in the plant area.  I finally told the lady that is in charge over there to not sell him anymore flowers .... I was with him at the time.  She laughed and told him that she had some flowers that maybe he missed.  I get no respect.  When I stopped there with my oldest daughter, who is an avid planter also (wonder where she gets that from) the "lady" said she was glad to show her some flowers she may have missed.  lol  Smiling at me the whole time.  She really is a nice lady and it is fun to shop somewhere where you can joke with the staff.  Oh, got a son that has the bug also ...

Anyway, this post is all in good fun today.  My husband's hobby keeps him busy and leaves me more time for my quilting.  Like I don't have an obsession???????

So, if your ever in my neck of the woods come August ... I may have a tomato or two for you.  lol

Sharon

Time to catch up!

I have been away from my sewing for a couple of weeks.  I did manage to make a couple of table runners.  Well, I completed the top for one, and still have to do a border for the other one.

It seems when the good weather comes, I want to spend more time outside on my porch/deck/patio than set in front of my sewing machine.  Usually I have something quite substantial to work on in the evening while watching TV.  But not this year.  I was working on cross-stitch in the evenings, but finished what I was working on, and not in the mood to start another cross-stitch project. I also enjoy reading at this time of year.

So, you ever get your quilt tops done, but really, really don't want to finish the part where you have to sandwich it, pin / baste it / then mark it for quilting?  I truly love the hand quilting part, and put off the part that needs to get done before I can quilt.  Ah, I found a short cut for this table runner project.

Below is the top of my table runner.  It is looking a little pink as I am outside under my red umbrella. lol  Got it basted, wanted to start quilting and skip the marking for hand quilting part.

This is what I found!!  I found a perfect piece of backing for the table runner ... it is Christmas themed, super clever, but the best part of it is that the print is an easy pattern to follow w/o marking it. Instead of quilting from the top, I am quilting from the bottom.   Yes, it looks pink also, but it is red and white with green in the hearts.  I am quilting with green thread.

In less than an hour for sandwiching it and basting ... I could start hand quilting.  The front is looking pretty good to.  Sorry, I'll show that in another blog when I get this completed.

This is working out great .... maybe a few more days of quilting .... and I will have a reversible table-runner to use now and one for "later".  I have patted myself on the back .... and, I may have to use this quick method sometime again .. a fabric with a print that would make a good quilting pattern to follow.  Something with a nice large check maybe.  lol

I am now going to work on my table-runner.  Next pictures will not be under my red umbrella!!  

......

Beautiful Day In Ohio

Finally ... Blue sky's, lots of sun, and of course a breeze, can't have a sunny day w/o that darn breeze to keep it on the cooler side.  But no complaints here, nice to be able to set out on my new deck and smell my roses, yes new roses that actually have a fragrance.

Yesterday as I was sewing I was thinking about the recent finds that have made my sewing easier.    Now most of the sewing community have been using these gadgets for years, but I guess I have been oblivious to them.  Now mind you, I have been sewing for 40 plus years and quilting for more than 20.

These are nothing earth shattering, but I am so glad they are now in my "things" that I can't live without.  Okay, I can live without them, but I would be a cranky, or, crankier person.  lol

I

We will start with the clips.  Oh my gosh, how did I bind quilts without these little things?  Well, first of all, with lots and lots of pins that I constantly jabbed my fingers with!

I also cross-stitch.  I like to color my patterns with colored pencils when I finish a certain area.  I could never get a sharp point on the pencils.  Tried every sharpener out there, battery ones are not strong enough.  The little plastic sharpeners are a joke.  Then, at a recent quilt expo ... they were selling of all things the old metal pencil sharpeners that I knew as a kid.  WOW, why didn't I buy more ... brain never works that way.  Okay, they may be available somewhere else, but these eyes never spotted them.  another lol

Thimbles .... I have tried a few in the last plus 20 years.  My sewing buddy, friend, confidant, and more spotted these at Joann Fabrics.  They are made by Clover, and another WOW, they are terrific.  I use to have to wear a finger cozy on my finger to keep my other thimbles on, because they were always to large.  Small thimbles always to small.  Here again ... need to pick up a couple more to keep in my different areas of sewing.

Oh, looking at that rubber finger?  Used many of these before I retired from office work. But  I found another use for them.  Again, replaced the finger cozy that I wore on my finger to pull my needles up thru fabric.  Really, really works good and grabs those little needles w/o any problems.

My new gadget that I will "never ever" give up, a walking foot for my sewing machine.  I am a hand quilter .. so why would I want one of these for my sewing machine?  Well, I found a fabric panel and a table runner that I wanted to get completed pretty quickly..... So time for a walking foot.  Completed the wall hanging, it leaves a lot to be desired sewing wise.  Sewing a straight line is gonna take a little practice.  Not going to give up, and unless you put your nose directly on my wall hanging you might not see the mis-sews. lol. Don't put your nose on this picture either.

I had this laying under my red umbrella, so unfortunately it looks pink when it is white.  Remember, don't put your nose on the picture to see my crooked stitching!

Time to hit the shower .. This has been an all day process, have more to show but will do at another time.

Hello

Just wanted to say hello and to send a thank you to all who have been visiting my blog to find that I haven't updated anything in a long time.  I have been busy the last couple months working on and finishing projects.  I have a love hate relationship with this computer.  When I think I need to set down and post something, it feels that I shouldn't ... and won't co-operate in showing my pictures.  I will have to break down and ask my computer smart son what the "h---" am I not doing/or am doing wrong.

So ... just wanted to say Hi ... and will be back soon, hopefully.  I find that writing is good therapy and I so need a fix.

Thank you

Sharon

A Little Something Else!

This is something I will be working on very soon.  It is for a special little guy that was born not to long ago😊

Hope to have time to start cutting parts and pieces this week.

Talk at you soon to update you on the progress!

Sharon

WELLCOME SPRING?

Gotta love Mother Nature .... She doesn't believe in looking at the calendar, which says it is spring..  Living in Ohio we don't ever rely on the calendar either.  lol

So, it's been a little while since I sat down to update blog.  I truly have been busy quilting, and still am.  I have even thrown in a couple of "crafting" things the last couple of months also..  My daughter is a wonderful craft designer, tries to pull me in to make some of the things she is doing.  I can honestly say, I don't have the "crafting" gene.  That bowl of plastic eggs below were to all be covered in strips of fabric.  I managed to complete 8?  That bowl was to be full of fabric eggs.  And, because I was going to be ambitious and make a whole lot more, I have 3 bags of plastic eggs in my craft room now waiting to be completed for next year.

This came in a panel of 12 blocks, I noticed that they were hanging from branches of one tree.  But they were not connected together in the panels.  So, I cut the panels apart trimmed them back and built the tree.  I think it came out really well, and it will be on my kitchen wall for spring & summer.

I think I may have started the quilt below late fall/early winter.  I know I had parts and pieces done, but wasn't in a hurry to get this finished.   It was a six part series from McCall's Quilting Magazine that they ran in 2015.  Not wanting the queen size it would have been, I modified it down for a wall quilt, or possibly for my dining room table.  The name of the pattern is Cottage Romance.  I hopefully have only about another week of evening quilting to do on the outer border blocks.

My computer is not co-operating with my downloading pictures, so I guess this is all for now.

Catch you later,

Sharon