Binding

Oh my goodness! I think it's been too long since I have put a binding on a quilt. Even with a thimble my fingers are SORE !!! The worst part? I am only 1/4 done on DD#1's birthday quilt...........

I sure need to shape up!

Sam

For Non-Quilting Items

Well, I don't know how long I'll keep it up, but I decided that I would create a blog for my sewing that is NOT quilting related. I really DO a lot of sewing & crafts that are NOT quilting.

So if you're bored enough to see what other things, not quilting related, that I might be keeping myself busy with, you can check me out here:

www.samsewsandcrafts.blogspot.com

I warn you though, staying on a computer takes away from my sewing time. So I'll have to see how much time keeping up with 2 blogs will take.........

Ha!

Gotta sew first , right?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Sam

Snow! Not for me........:(

Darn.

We didn't get ANY.

Just a little teeny tiny dusting of it.

There wasn't even any on the bushes outside of my house.

I was SO disappointed. And this Monday would have been a GREAT day to stay home & sew too!

Some truck pulled down the lines at work & our email & internet was down until almost noon. I could have done a LOT of sewing - if I had a reason to stay home!

Snow WOULD have been a good reason.

I am west of Nashville (I work in Nashville) and when it DOES snow - everything around here just shuts down. We don't get foul weather often enough to warrant having the road equipment to keep the roads clean/clear. So ? Everything just stops. Period.

With all the running around I have done in the last month, I sure would have enjoyed another day o sitting around on my butt & just sewing.

Oh well, maybe we'll have SNOW another time.

Sam

Birthday Quilt - Quilted - Not Bound

Here is the finished product. I quilted it today & serged the edges.

Ha !! I made the bed at 9:16 PM just to take these photos...Only a quilter would understand that I think.

This quilt measures 98 X 98 inches square. A little large for a queen size bed, I think. Oh well. DD#1 said she wanted a really warm winter quilt. This one is big enough for her to snuggle up in. I used a high loft poly batting - but I think I quilted it too densley to hold a whole lot of heat. Here's hoping it's size makes up for it's heat retention!!

Prince Charming chose the "Bubbles" pantograph & I chose the palest pink thread that I had - it came out really nice. DD#1 was very proud of it, and said the quilting looked like bubbles even before I told her that they were!

Those are the pillow cases that QB1 & I made on Thursday night. The contrast edge on them is the same as the inner border ont he quilt.

All I loack is the binding - oh and a label. I'm bad at attaching labels!

Sam

This One is Due SUNDAY

December 20th, 1982. WOW. That was a long time ago.

Not so much, really......

That was the day that I gave birth to DD#1. 27 years ago.

Do you know how old I was on that date? Ha ! I was SO young. I was SO dumb. I was all of 18 years old on December 20th, 1982. Turned 19 the following month.

I have come a long way since then. Better yet. DD#1 has come a long way. As scared as I was all that time ago, we didn't do so shabby!

I am so proud of her!

I have been making this quilt to give to her for her birthday on Monday. I finished putting the borders on it......oh....about 10 minutes ago. It's just too late for me to try & doing any quilting on it. I will load it tomorrow morning & quilt it to give to her on Monday. I have 2 different pink threads to use. I am SO uncertain which one to use.........and the pantograph? Ha! I can't begin to guess which one I'll use. Tomorrow is a new day & I will be ready to decide THEN. Maybe Prince Charming will make the choices!

I am absolutely certain that I will not have time to bind it. So I will serge it & give it to her & then get it back to put the binding on it. I also have the pillowcases for her too. I hope to get a photo of her with her *new* quilt on Monday. (Hopefully before next Friday)

I can't wait to get "back in the saddle" to sew! I have missed my routine. QB1 & I need to get cracking on our Pineapple Patch Quilts!!!

Happy Birthday Sarah! - Love, Momma

(I hope she doesn't read my blog until after Monday....)

Sam

P/S - I snapped these photos after 10 PM in our less then well lit bonus room. It's all Pink & Brown. Once I get a picture of it in natural light - you'll be able to see the colors better!!

I'm Baaaccckkk!

I went to AL to spend the week with DD#2 & DGS#1. I went to spend the week so that I could help out with the baby SIL#1 works for a car plant & they are off thru 01/11 - he's a good guy , but I don't feel like I helped out too much with all of them there. I sort of felt like a thrid wheel. Both were great hosts. and the guest room is a wlak through memory lane, as it's all DD#2's old bedroom furniture.......Makes me nostalgic. All that aside, i am very glad that I was there. DD#2 is MY baby & I felt about one inch tall when I had to leave & she teared up & told me she didn't think she could "do it" . Just broke my heart. Makes me cry thinking about it. I guess I was a sort of security blanket for her.

I have some new photos of the baby - I'll load those another time.

Got into Franklin & stopped at JoAnn's Fabrics. Picked up some strapping and a yard of novelty fabric for QB1. I also bought 3 patterns for myself. One skirt, one jeans type pattern & one scoop neck pattern. I bought 2 different types of denim & one khaki.

I have found it increasingly difficult to find clothing that I like a modest style that I am comfortable in, so I decided I would start making my own clothing. Nothing new here, folks, as it's something I have done in the past, but got away from. I like to wear my skirts long & shirts long. Everytime I try to BUY clothing, seems like you have to be a 14 year old flat chested size 2 in order to find anything......I'm tired of trying. I am NOT a size 2 (add about 10 or 12 to that number !, I'm not flat chested & I am SO far away from 14 it's comical!!)At least I'll be able to make t-shirts that don't rise above my waist or choke me to death.

ANYWAYS....

QB1 came over this evening so that we could chat & I cold apply some snaps to a few coloring totes that she has completed. Goodness, that snap-press is a joy to work with. (in all seriousness - I couldn't use snap pliers, my hands couldn't take the pressure needed to make them work right...) We also made a few pillowcases. I made 2 for DD#1 because QB1 needed to see how it was done. the instructions are really hard to understand and since the directions are in black & white - seeing it actually DONE is much easier to understand. We made 2 because I confused MYSELF reading the instructions. I was glad to see QB1 - It's just nicce to be home....

What's that saying? Most quoted by Dorothy? "There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home"? Yeh, that's it!

Sam

2 Weeks Early - Welcome DGS#1

He wasn't waitng until 12/20

Arrived Wednesday 12/09 @ 05:16 AM

8 pounds 5 ounces 20 inches long

Everyone doing very well. He's too big to wear "newborn" size clothes!

Sam

Midas Touch

So? What, exactly, is the opposite of having the midas touch? You ever have one of those days? When everything you TRY to do turns to .... well ..... energy not expended well??? (cleaned that up a lot people!)

This whole weekend was a blur of activity & I don't feel like I accomplished anything. Nothing.

I loaded a customer quilt on Saturday morning. It was supposed to be a 3 hour job. Was it? Not so much. Took me more like 7 hours. I had more problems than I have time to relate to you. Thank goodness that QB1 has a quilt on the rails that is going to be a joy to work on after the weekend that I had!

I made steaks & cheese fries on Saturday night & "the kids" came & joined us for the meal. Sunday I made a pork roast in the crock pot. YUM YUM, it was SO good. I did laundry too & that was it.

Prince Charming started another project for us. This time it's a bench with cubbies for 4 baskets under it & then a shelf on top for 3 more baskets. All in Oak. Then it will have a beadboard back & coat hooks. This will be an all in one unit because it is for our basement to create a sort of "mud room" area to contain/corral all the junk that seems to accumulate where we come in & sit.

It's also the area that is the designated smoking spot for "inside".

It's too cold, right now, for Prince Charming to smoke outside on the deck...so it's down into the basement for the smoking. I DO NOT smoke. Never have. And he hasn't smoked in the house since May of 2008. For that I am proud!

Anyway - it's been a week since I posted.........I feel like I have done NOTHING but I am bone tired from doing it!

Sam