Busy...busy...busy

I know that I've said this before but life is so busy and then times flies.  Why?  Why can't it be slow on weekends and fast during the week?  LOL.  Wouldn't that be nice?  Then I would probably be complaining about how long the work days were.

Let me see what I have been doing.  One of the things that I was doing was driving out to see my sister in law who was nice enough to give me tomatoes from her garden.

I decided to do the YouTube video no cook tomato sauce recipe which is a cold sauce.  After doing that and putting it on top of warm noodles you really wouldn't notice.

So after doing that and making some black beans and rice (with corn) I started to dig out those T-Shirts for the quilts and wall hangings and started to work on them.

 That, of course, made a mess on my floor.

I didn't give up though and soon I had it under control.

That is about 1/2 of the t-shirts.  This weekend I hope to get the rest of them cut out.

I did manage to trim up my redwork trio and soon will look for the rest of it.  LOL.  It was a it and I need to find the rest of it.

I have made some progress on my NOEL too.

I will start working on the red filigree around the L this week.  It is progressing and I might actually get it finished in time for THIS holiday season.  That would be something.  I might actually put up season cross stitch.  :)

Time to get some dinner so I hope everybody has a great day/evening.

Crafting Messes

I didn't report on Friday because I forgot to bring the right color of floss to work on the butterfly block and then I forgot to bring the butterfly block home to work on.  Perhaps this week I can manage to get the butterfly block and the brown floss together.  I was still motivated to do SOMETHING so I pulled out the t-shirts and started to look at them.

I soon discovered that the 12" blocks that I had planned on wouldn't work.  The shirt logos and sayings are too large for a 12" block.  The price that I had quoted the client (it's funny to think that *I* have a client) was for 12" blocks.  Now I have to be 13 1/2" finished blocks.  Will it make that much of a difference in pricing?  Should I do another quote?  Will that 1 1/2" make THAT much of a difference?

Besides that question, I thought I had finished cutting the t-shirts but then discovered a small stack.  That means I will have to cut more.  At least I found out before I started to iron on the interfacing.  I hate to get interrupted from that.  I like to get one thing finished and then start the next phase.  :)

So here is the majority of the t-shirts trimmed down.

Don't they look nice and neat on the table?  Well that is the only nice and neat part of it.  Here's the other side of the story.

Before going to bed last night I picked up the "cut offs" and put them away.  I don't get rid of them until I'm done with the whole quilt since I might have to go back to match up something or add to it.  That's when I found the rest of the t-shirts so it's back to the drawing board.  I will finish that today and then decide if I'll do the interfacing today or another day.

That's about all I did yesterday crafting wise.  I did mix up some home made Bisquick mix and put in the freezer.  It was easy to do and turned out pretty close to the Bisquick.  I hadn't made it before but I made some biscuits with it and they turned out ok.    Here's the recipe:

Homemade Bisquick Mix
by Rachel Paxton (just made it and the biscuit cooked up like when I used Bisquick)

5 cups flour
1/4 cup baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter

Mix dry ingredients together and then use a pastry blender or a fork to mix in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Use immediately or place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 6 months.

It needs to be kept in the freezer because of the butter I have been told.

I hope everybody has a great day and I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Have you seen......

Have you seen  Missouri Star Quilt Company Fall 2016 catalog?  It is their first issue and I just got it today.  I have to admit that I like it.  I love looking through it but then I love looking through catalogs.  This is nicer to me because sometimes I don't want to always stare at a computer screen.  I will stop looking at the screen after 4 pages.  This however, I looked through and already earmarked some pages.

One of the pages that I earrmarked was for what they called Backing and Trims.  It is a page of 108 wide fabric.  That is my favorite to buy because one yard can be used on larger projects or cut up for multiple smaller backs.

I don't know about all the lines that they show, but I do have some Stonehenge Gradations backing and the colors that are represented are pretty close to what you get.  You just need to remember that gradations is like looking at a gem.  It can change somewhat but the overall color is pretty spot on.  I am intrigued by the Chelsea Backing which is like paisleys.  That black and white is REALLY drawing me in.  Good thing it's a small payday or else it would already be on order.  LOL.

I can hear some of you saying "That's nice Bonni but what about the rest of the catalog?"  I think it is nicely laid out.  Certainly catches the eye with the bright colors.  There is more than just fabric in it.  It has notions as well as kits and little extras.  Have you heard of "Couch to Quilt"?  It's a box (ok....others might call it a kit) that has about "$250 worth of goods and services, including machine quilting and binding for just $99.95" (page 72 of the catalog).  What does that mean?  On the next page they tell you what it means.  It means that the supplies included are:

charm pack and border fabric
cutting mat
ruler
rotary cutter
instruction booklet
pair of scissors
thread
pins
seam ripper
free quilting.

Yes, you read that right.  Free Quilting.  According to the catalog "after you get your quilt top sewn together, all you have to do is mail it back to us [Missouri Star Quilt Company] and our fabulous Machine Quilting Department will take care of the rest!  They'll finish up your beautiful creation on a professional longarm quilting machine, and even bind your quilt for free!"

If you'd like your own copy of the their catalog, go to their website and sign up.

https://www.missouriquiltco.com/

They have some great seasonal fabric in this catalog but while you are on their site, check out their deals of the day and sale items.  You might also want to check out their Quilt Snips videos and tutorials on YouTube as well as scroll through their website.  The quilt that is pictured on the cover of their catalog was one that was featured on a tutorial.

The Primetime Olympic coverage is starting so I'll post my progress picture now.  It is Thursday and that means more stitching on the NOEL cross stitch project.

I have more of the green frame done.  The next time I work on the green it will be to fill in the green frame.  I need to work on the red filigree before I move my hoop.  It is coming along.  I am sort of liking this rotation method.  Tomorrow will be back to quilting blocks and it is a butterfly block that I will be working on.

This Saturday is my gaming night so no quilting or cross stitch that day.  Perhaps Sunday I will pull out the box of T-Shirts and figure out what size I will need to cut them.  I looked at a couple and I think 12" finished won't be large enough.  I might have to do 14".

I hope you have a great evening/day.

Hugs to all.

Tuesday and Wednesday updates

I just realized that I didn't post a picture update from yesterday.  Yesterday was a cross stitch day so I worked on my NOEL.  Cross stitch doesn't always show the progress made but I finished backstitching the letter E.  I decided that I needed a break from the reds so I picked up the green.  I still need to do the filigree around the E.

Today, according to my chart is working on the Asian Teaport BOM which dates back a couple (or more) years.  I had these done once but then misplaced the blocks so I am starting all over again.  This is todays block.

Tomorrow is another cross stitch day.  I might pick up on Noel again but I'm not sure.  Guess I will figure it out tomorrow.  LOL.

I'm not working today so I think I am going to lay down.  My ears are bothering me so I'll take a allergy pill.  That is usually one of the first places I notice it.  This morning I woke up with my eyes puffed up a bit.  That's another sign of my allergies.  So it it time to take the pills that me sleepy and I will give him to sleep.  :)

I hope everybody is having a great day. 

1st Day on Schedule

It's Monday and according to my new schedule I made it is work on the Dinosaurs.  I took out my purple dino and managed to finish him up.  I should say that finished him up except for his eye.  I'm not doing the eyes on any of them until the end and then I'll decide if I want that brown circle to be added to them.

That means next Monday when the dino's make it to their rotation, I will be starting on a new one.  It looks like a blue one is next in line.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a cross stitch so I'll have to figure out which one I want to work on.  i might be ripping out one them.  I am thinking that I will redo my Guardian cross stitch.  I have over 1000 stitches in it but I found out that I miscounted how wide it will be.  If I kept on, it would only leave an inch for blocking and framing.  I think that I will start over on larger fabric.  This one is complicated enough so I'm going to want to frame it and that means a mat or something for a border and I will need more than 1" for that.  The fabric won't go to waste.  I will use it for something else.  Now the big question is do I work on one of two Christmas cross stitches or do I continue to work on the birthday present flowers.  Hmm.  I think Noel will win out. I really want to work on the other Christmas one but I don't have all the colors so that can wait a bit.

Then on Wednesday, my day off work, I get to work on the Asian Teapot blocks.  I'm looking to finish one if not two of them on Wednesday.

That's it for my report for tonight.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I hope that everybody has had a great day and will have an even better today tomorrow and remember....

Sunday stitching

Today is somewhat of a quiet day.  I, gasp, cleaned up a corner of the sewing area which unveiled more UFOs or WIPs, etc.  So I thought on a plan.

I plan on working on more than one project each week.  I can hear some of you saying that I'll never finish if I do that but you know what?  I'm not finishing now so it's worth a shot.  My plan is

Monday - quilt block - Dinorawr block
Tuesday - cross stitch
Wednesday - Asian Teapot Block
Thursday - cross stitch
Friday - Butterfly Block.

Saturday and Sundays are Free days.  If I want to work on something I will but if I don't, I won't.  That will still give me time for socializing on every other weekend night (which is what I normally do) but also give me time to start to work on some t-shirt wall hangings that need to be done by November.

This schedule is for finishing the blocks and doesn't count sewing them together or quilting the wall hangings.  That schedule will come later and when it comes, the t-shirt quilts will probably have to take top priority.  

To remind some of you what the Dinorawr blocks look like at this stage and what the Asian teapot blocks look like here are the pictures.  Some of the blocks are already stitched down but I'll keep at them.  I already have the background fabric picked out and I'm not sure I will do sashings.  I like how sashings normally look but am lazy and don't like to work on them.  It's that "pieced" thing again.

The great thing about working on these blocks is that I do my stitching down by hand so I can watch TV, chat on the internet or whatever while still getting this work done.  :)

That's my check in for today.  I hope everybody is having a great day!

Happy Stitching!

Saturday Accomplishments

I feel so accomplished today.  I finally found something that worked to unscrew the two screws holding the plate that covers up the bobbin.  I was still a plain to use because it is only around 1 1/2" tall!  I wonder if I can find a "real" screw driver that would work because I want something a bit more substantial.  Still I can't complain too loudly because it did work.  After cleaning out around the bobbin area (including taking the holder for it out), I reassembled and now the machine is working again.  It's still not working right but it is working so that is good enough for now.  It enabled me to finish this flimsy or "top" which is good since it stopped working after I got it half finished.

It's a Sunbrust Star from the Missouri Star Quilt Company and is done in blacks and grays with a black border.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-grDlGdebQI

Now I have to think what to use for the back and binding.  I've seen enough Half Square Triangles (HST) for a long time.  My machine didn't like going through all the HST so I hope it will work out when it comes to the quilting part.

I also managed to get another block done for the Splendid Sampler BOM.  This is actually a bonus block since we are at the middle of the BOMs.

It is to represent a moon coming over a mountain.  So I have a dark side of the moon thing going on with it but the main thing is that I finished another block!

Maybe tomorrow I'll get some cross stitching done.

Everybody have a great day.

What? Another post? Already?

Hi everybody.  Yes you read that right.  I have something else to post about.  First of all, welcome to August.  Soon summer will be over with and the students go back/come back to school.  So that means I have to get my act together craftwise because I have a t-shirt quilt and two t-shirt wall hangings to get done by November.  Which means I had better save up to get the sewing machine fixed or a new one.  The incentive isn't there right now, or at least I'm not feeling it right now, so I had to kick myself in my butt to do SOMETHING.

So here is what I did.  It's not much but it IS something.  I dug into my scrap fusible Heat n Bond box.  Yes I have a box.  See?

I also keep the scissors which are "safe" to use with paper in it.  It helps hold the paper down so it doesn't fly all around if it gets hit by air from the fan or a/c.

So I found that I am TWO (2) blocks behind on my Adinkra BOMs so I pulled out two scrap pieces that worked, made my templates, and copies it onto the Heant n Bond.

It's hard to see in the picture but the one on the right has pencil drawings from a previous block which I didn't need after all so this time I traced in ink.

I haven't found the right fabric to fuse it to yet but it is a start.

So much of a start that I even think I am working on qualifying to be called this again.

Kat?  Did you get my message about the blue markings on cross stitch fabric?  If not here it is.  I used my blue water soluble marking pens that I use in quilting.  I either spritz the fabric when I'm done, and sometimes have to do it twice, or I will run it under the faucet.  I do this BEFORE I wash my fabric with soap.  I don't want it to set in the fabric.  After it totally dries and I don't see any more blue lines, (never had to wet it more than twice) I gently wash and block the piece.

I hope everybody has a good day/night and enjoy what is left of your summer.