On the 'Rails"

Here is my Star Struck Quilt on the rails. I loaded it on Sunday and when I advance the quilt, the next row will make me half way done. The binding is already sewn together & ironed & rolled & ready to apply. I even have the LABEL ready. Can you believe that?
I'm supposed to be quilting instead of posting...

Sam

Birthday Gift to SELF

This is what I bought for me, for my birthday. My birthday was last month, but I bought them this month.
Hey? I had to justify the expense somehow, right? And what better way than to say " Happy Birthday to ME"

that is a standard size rotary cutter , set there for size comparison. These little figurines are actually "book ends", there is a plug on thier bottoms to fill with them with sand. As much as these little sweeties cost me, they will NOT be holding books. Ever. Holding dust perhaps, but not books. they will jsut sit there on my shelf in my studio, where I can enjoy them best.

Sam

Ta-Da !

Completely finished.

That's NOT my dog. That's my Grand-Dog. The dog is "Cheese". DD#1 is in Arizona this weekend and since she's not home, he's my shadow. Literally.

I am not a label maker. As a matter-of-fact, since I don't like making labels, I have more than a few that don't have labels. Well, about 10:30 last night I remembered that I had purchased some high-dollar photo transfer pages. I bought them in September 2007. (why do I remember this? Because it was during the quilt walk, and it wasn't the one in 2008) This paper has fabric adherred to it & all you have to do is run it through your printer. any printer. The paper is designed for those photo memory quilts. So you can transfer photos to the fabric, peel the paper and make quilt blocks...

Anyway........I get this brilliant idea ( at 10:30 at night ) to TRY this stuff out. Well, the first challenge was finding the stuff. 11:00, I found it. I'm not a computer genious, so I didn't fiddle with "clip art" or anything. I just got into "Word" and fiddled with the fonts and came up with what I stuck on my quilt. It worked incredibly well. I doubted how well it would work, so I printed 2 (turned the page upside down & printed another "label" on the other end!) and the 2nd one I made I cut off the page & peeled the paper off the fabric, and stuck it in the washer. At midnight.....

Wonder of wonders! It worked. Didn't fade, didn't run. So the first label I made, I sewed on the back of my quilt, and washed it this morning. And now it's on my bed.

Ta-Da !!!

I made a few other labels for quilts that I know #1 when I made & #2 needed a label.

Oh ! the paper is called Color Plus Fabrics. From www.outofmymindprints.com
I got from a vendor at a quilt show, so i know nothing about any other products. Just a shameless plug for a product that I used, works well & I liked it.

Sam

Projects This Week

Monday I made 2 pillow cases to match my Log Cabin Quilt. They came out nice.

And, though i didn't make them THIS week, here are 24 (you're not seeing all 24....)of the Night & Day Blocks. I lack making 22 more. I dont' know if it will only take 46 blocks , or if 46 blocks are too many. I'm winging it. I like them & they look a little different than I normally make. When it's a quilt, I'll like the blocks even better! ha ha !

How do you like that sewing table? That was an old kitchen table that my sister was going to throw out. It had a crack in it. the crack was in a very good place. At least for me! I put the cover of my sewing machine on the table & traced around it & cut the hole out with a jig-saw. I built a 3 sided box under the table with "L" brackets and VOILA! A sewing table.

I have 3 sewing types of sewing machines. Whichever one I happen to be using (I primarily use one of my 4 Featherweights), if the bed isn't level with the table, I just stack magazines under it. Works like a charm. the table was free, my labor was free, and the wood was free. I think I spent $2 on the "L" brackets.

Sam

I won an Award!

Barb awarded me the Lemonade Award!
I am not sure what I did to deserve such an award, but I appreciate it!

It's been a hectic few weeks for me & I fell really good knowing that someone pays attention & cares enough about what's going on in my life!
Barb, I'd invite you for coffee, a chat & a sew in, but I think the we'll have to wait until you're stateside.

Sam

Star Struck Update

I had a green Thimbleberries print in my stash that I WAS going to use on my Star Struck Quilt, but I just didn't LOVE it. I figured if I put that on there, I'd never really like the quilt. Been there & done that before....so when I was at Stitcher's Garden yesterday (getting Christmas Prints...) I got another green print. Oddly enough, it's another thimbleberries print! this one has more gold in it & coordinates a whole lot better than the other one! I love how it will look. My intention is to get the borders on today/tonight. But I'm NOT pushing myself.
I am rather enjoying the beautiful day...and as I sit here typing, my favorite fat dog is lying on the floor snoring.....Ah! What a blissful day!

Oh, yeh, almost forgot. the green print on the right is the one I had in my stash, I just didn't like it. The green print on the left is the one I will use. And that solid brown is the inner border. No clue how I'll quilt it....something...um...GREEN maybe? Ha ! Like leaves or something? We'll see when I get that far.

Sam

Photos Of Christmas Fabric

it was a sunny Sunday today, so I laid these on the floor & shot a pic.

These are the 4 Christmas Fabrics that I bought yesterday.

Adding to the Christmas Stash!

Sam

My Saturday !

Today was a simply gorgeous day! the sun didn't actually SHINE until nearly 3 PM, but it was 60 degrees today. It was splendid in comparison to the past 2 weeks. Of course, since the temperature changed so dramatically so quickly, my ALLERGIES acted up, which means I spent the day alternatley sneezing & blowing my nose. However, I feel like my sinus discomfort was worth it for the day I spent....
It's late as I create this post, so I'll post photos when I get to it...but I went to Franklin today & purchased a green Thimbleberries print for the Star Struck Quilt. I just didnt like what I found in my stash....the one I bought today has a gold tone to it & little gold fluer d'lis (probably get that jargon right...) on it & it compliments the quilt VERY well. I also bought 4 Christmas prints. DD#1 went with me & we chose some really awesome colors. 1 light, 1 red & 1 green & 1 green red gold swirl. All 4 were from the "Christmas" section. This shop has Christmas Prints, year round......Bolts & bolts 7 Bolts of Christmas prints.....
I also got 4 red fat quarters & 4 blue fat quarters. All this from Stitcher's Garden. they are not cheap, but they have more fabric than any shop I have ever been in! AND I like thier new store. The owner said it was smaller than the "other" shop - I didn't see how it was smaller, but then I'm not there everyday either, right?
Then we went to Hobby Lobby. I bought a green butterfly print for the backing of the baby quilt (pictured in the post below) , I bought 2 types of batting too.
I have Warm & Natural on the roll for my long arm , which I really like to quilt on, but I like the drape of the Hobbs Poly Down. I used a 40% off coupon for the battings. Oh! the Other batting is from Fairfield & it's suppposed to be "designed" for machine quilting. I bought that batt with a coupon too. DD#1 bought one & I bought the other. They don't let you use 2 coupons.....At any rate, i also bought some cotton yarn & 2 booklets to knit dishcloths.
After that, we came home, I took an antihistamine & we took a nap. Prine Charming was working in the basement shop onthe Entertainment Unit. (which is going to be GORGEOUS !!!)
That was my day!
i would be sewing the binding on the Log Cabin this evening- but I am very reluctant to sew while taking antihistamins....I am SO sensitive to meds, and I have a medicine head right now.....(but hey, that COULD be used as an excuse for my rotten spelling, right?)
Oh ! I almost forgot. I won an auction today for something I have been trying a LONG time to get. I got a Hummel. No, I dont' collect them. Not in the technical sense of "collect" anyway. I just really like specific figures. I have no intention of starting a collection of figurines....but I DID decide I wanted a FEW. And I got 2 today. I can't wait to get them. I am SO excited. I got the boy & girl "Book Worms". I originally saw the "girl" half of this duo in a Fons & Porter Quilt magazine ,it was in the background of some baby quilt photo - can't even tell you which issue, or which quilt, I just like the Hummel & and just melted when I saw it. I HAD to have it. Or one, or the pair. Well I got the the pair! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait! Honestly? I couldn't tell a newer one from an older one....but, regardless, I got what I wanted! When I get them, ya'll will see them too. I want to put them in my longarm room on the wall shelf. Again, I have NO desire to have a Hummel Collection. None. But there are 2 more I want. The boy & the girl (separate figurines) with the Umbrella. Where it looks like the wind is blowing on their back & they are sitting ??? You know the one I mean? Well, I want those two too. I figure it won't be any time soon, as it took me about a year , or better, to get the Book Worms......at a price I was okay with paying....

Time for sleep!

Sam

Finally Quilted

I have waited since this time last week, but I got the "O" rings for the stitch regulator wheels on my longarm machine & I was able to finish quilting my Log Cabin Quilt. It turned out so nice! I used a floral patterned backing. It's directional, and I don't usually buy directional prints...but I liked this one! The quilt is a huge square, so i am sure the backing being directional won't bother anyone! Not even me.
I quilted it with a thread called Maroon Glace. It's sort of a rosie brown. It blends exceptionally well. It is my most used color (except ecru). I need to re-oder some soon. Since the quilt was browns, it was a very good choice.
Soon as it is bound & has a label on it, I'll post pictures.
I am POSITIVE that DD#1 will offer to "break it in" for me. Isn't she sweet?
Since I couldn't quilt over the weekend, like I had intended, I started & finished a baby quilt. Only it's a BIG baby quilt. Not the baby, the quilt. Remember the green Star Struck Quilt? Well I had peices of the green & cream strips left over & I sewed them into 4-Patch blocks. The blocks do not even have the same green or cream in them. I set the 4-Patch blocks on point with alternate squares of a cream print. I bordered it with a solid brown & then a green/brown floral. It's really nice. I like it a LOT. It's not very girl-lie, and it's not little. Good thing that babies get bigger because this "baby" quilt should las tthe kid until she's 10 years old. Soon as I get it quilted & bound, it will mailed to Alabama to my friend, Melody, that just had a baby girl last week. I think the baby's name is Brindlee. Maybe, I can't remember....
As you can see in the photos, it's pretty big....It is currently un-quilted, and that's a full size bed that it's spread out on! Hey! I did this on the "fly". No pattern, nothing...I just did it! I am sure they'll love it!

Sam

Kitty In The Window

This window is directly across from me , in the bonus room, next to my sewing space.

After 2 weeks of freezing weather, today is gorgeous. I opened the window to get the breeze and to smell the fresh air & the CAT jumped up there to sun herself.

Fiona is such a ham....

Prince Charming's New Toy

Can you guess what this is?

Without searching on the internet, can you guess?

It's the biggest one I have ever seen.

02/02/2009 Edited to Add: No, it is NOT a planer.

02/03/2009 Edited to Add: YEP!! It's a "Jet" Drum Sander 22"-44" It does a great job too! I suppose if I had photographed it in front of my long arm quilting machine, it would have been harder to identify????

Working Man's Truck

This thing is filthy!

Blog Updating

It's been about 2 weeks since I posted. I have done zero sewing, and zero long arm quilting. I have been a little more than self absorbed & didn't feel like posting all my blahs.....I'm over my funk, however, I am NOT over my frustration or stress. Well, I THINK I'm over the stress. ...

You all ever have shingles? 4 times in 8 years, that's how many times I've had them.

DD#2 had ANOTHER car accident. She just had one in September.....totaled this car too, and the one she hit. I can't afford her on my insurance anymore.....She's okay....and soon as the check for the car gets here from the insurance company....She gets what they give us & she has to pay her own car insurance too....I am scared about what her driving history is going to do to our insurance premiums....sky rocket or cancelled, maybe both....

Evidintly this was more stress than I could take, and my shingles acted up! I was SICK, sick, sick and in a great deal of PAIN. I'm a wimp when it comes to meds, makes me physically ill...but the pain was enough to take them & be sick too.

Normally? I am a very "strong" individual. I am not prone to having episodes of illness, or breakdowns or being sick. I'm just not...but , seems like I been there a lot lately....And I take vitiamins...

So, now you know why I have refrained from posting...LIFE, you know? It gets busy...

I did get my Log Cabin quilt loaded onto my long arm machine. I got about 2 rows quilted & I kept breaking the thread. I seem to have a little knick, or tear in the "O" ring that surrounds the wheel on the stitch regulator, so I am stuck until I order another one! Darn it! Finally something for myself on the rails & I hit a wall. Oh well. Maybe I'm not in the right stage of mind to be sewing anyway, right? I am using the pantograph called "Facination" from Willow Leaf Studio. I did this same pantograph on my friend, Kat's, quilt & i really liked the movement of it & decided I use it on one of my own quilts.

Today, after all this nasty weather we have had, is BEAUTIFUL. the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. It seems like SPRING. We even have the back door open & the baby gate up , so that the dogs & cats can go outside & sun themselves on the back deck. It's simply gorgeous.

I'll post when I have something better to write about!!!

Sam

Spaghetti Cupcakes

Remeber back amonth (or longer) ago when I bought that "Hello Cupcake" book?

Here is my 2nd attempt at decorating cupcakes.

the company i work for is having the first round of lay-off's and one of the scale operators is being let go. Friday was her last day. I volunteered to make spaghetti & meatball cupcakes. First off, she's relaly young & really gullible & I used that to my advantage & i did not let anyone know that the cupcakes were NOT real spaghetti & meatballs. The noodles are just squiggled cream cheese frosting, the sauce is strawberry jelly, the meatballs are Ferrer Roche hazelnit Chocolates, and the grated cheese is grated white choclate.

I also made REAL spaghetti & meatballs. making spaghetti & meatballs for 15 was a LOT OF WORK !!! Especialy the meatballs. I mixed & patted 10 pounds of hamburger & sausage to make enough meatballs.

Both were a huge hit & the cupcakes were so sweet to eat. Very nice.

the "stand" is what my very dear neice Capucine got for me for Christmas. I had orginally told her I was wanting something sewing related & then I told her I wanted this cupcake stand, she was confused on how I was going to be using this cupcake stand fpr anything sewing related.......I'm NOT using it for anything sewing related....totally cupcake related.

Sam

Flying Home / Quilt Top

I was surfing around in blog land last week & came across a blog that had a quilt I recognized. I think it was BARB. i hope she didn't get tired of waiting on me to post photos of MY quilt. I made this a long time ago. I KNOW it was longer than 5years. Maybe even 7. I can't remember if I made it BEFORE DD#1 went to college or after she went....no clue. i might do what Barb has done & add additional borders, but I'll do that when i am closer to getting it quilted. i probably WON'T add additional borders to the top portion of the quilt, since it's pretty long.
Sorry Barb, i don't know how to link your blog to my posting...I'll still blog challenged..
Well, here is MY Pam Bono Quilt! Sure had to follow the instructions closely.

Sam

Interesting Block & Following the directions......

I was blog surfing late last night (up with an upset stomach...) and went to a blog that was linked from Bonnie Hunter's site. I think it was called "Quilt Hollow" (quilthollow.blogspot.com) Well, in one of her earlier posts (before Christmas) and she had this neat little quilt with this really grafic postivie/negative block. She had instructions posted for it, and I really wanted to do some sewing, but not too much because (again) I wasn't feeling very well this weekend....
So? I read the instructions, look at the block. Read the instructions, look at the block....I was really really CONFUSED. I tried 3 times to get the block to work with the instructions provided. Well, guess WHY I couldn't get the block to work. Got any ideas? Well, it was because I was using the WRONG ruler. I had made SO many of those little square in a square blocks from the Mystery Quilt that I automatically glossed over the instructions when it said to use the "Companion Angle" ruler and my brain read "Easy Angle" ruler. Both from "EZ". So i tried, extrememly unsuccessfully to construct this block. Which , by te way, is called "Night & Day". Okay, well ! Once I used the correct ruler, it was easy peasy! The directions used 1.25 inch strips. I'm NOT that ambitious, I used 2 inch strips.
the blocks at the top of this post, are the result of following the instructions correctly & using the correct ruler! there are 16 triangles per block. it just seemed intimidating with the 1.25" strips! I did need to "pinwheel" the center seams , on the back where the 4 sub-units all come together, so that the seams lay flat. (Thank you Eleanor Burns, for that little trick!)
maybe I can make a few of these blocks, every once in a while, and then I'll have a quilt!
We'll see!

Oh, I nearly forgot, the ruler onthe RIGHT is the CORRECT ruler. The ruler on the left, was not the correct one to use to make this block. I simply could NOT make it work, no matter how hard I tried. Just not the right angle!

Sam

My Star Struck Quilt

Well, since I struck out on the Mystery Quilt (pun intended)I decided to finish my Star Struck Quilt. I worked on it during the week, not too much this weekend. i haven't felt really well this weekend...
Anyway, i like the way this turned out. I STARTED this quilt in 2007, it's 2009...I TOLD you, I am bad at keeping a timeline/deadline/commitment to myself. But I guess it's a good thing that I make quilts, then, because I can just about pick-up/drop & re-assume any progress I want! SWEET !!
So far, I have bought nothing to complete this quilt. I will not even use any fabric that I bought before Christmas from the shop in Kentucky!
I am going to put a solid brown 2 inch inner border on & a 6 inch green Thimbleberries print for the outer border & the binding. The best part? I EVEN have a backing fabric that has a gold tone to it!
See? This is why I have a stash!
Once I get the borders on, I'll post another photo! Probably won't be until next week, I'm not great at posting onto my blog during the week. Life, it just get's busy, you know?

Sam

Mystery Quilt / Post #2

I confess of 2 things. #1 I looked at all the steps of the Mystery Quilt from Quiltville. #2 I'm horrible at keeping commitments to myself. but y'all have heard me tell you that before....Anyway, I did all of step one & I just got really bored with it. I'll finish it, just not this week. I like my colors, I LOVE Bonnie's colors & I picked as close to her's as I could get with what I have...anyway - I am HORRIBLE and finishing anything on a time line. Just rotten. I hate deadlines. For myself...
So? Here's where it sits until the mood strikes me to finish it or do another step. Sometimes it's a year or 2!! I'm like that, you know!

Sam

Mystery Quilt / Post #1

here are my fabric choices for the mystery quilt "Double Delight".

I am woefully behind, as she has ALREADY posted step #4 and I don't even have step #1 finished yet!

My cutting mat is a lime green one from Wal-Mart and it makes these fabrics look so washed out & I also took the photos at night & it's more than a little dark in upstaris in our bonus room (I do nearly all my sewing at night)...I have shirtings, multiple pinks, multiple blues & multiple browns. I don't have any "cheddars", I am using "golds" or what resembles gold to me. I refuse to go buy more fabric, it's not like I NEED fabric, so I was determined to make it from stash. the only thing I'll consdier as a "need" to purchase, will be borders for this project.....

Speaking of mats, I like this brand, because even though they are the same price as other mats, they are double sided...but dang if they are not the STINKIEST mats! Smells like a skunk took up residence in my sewing area! Blek!

Sam

Star Struck / UFO #3

I was trying to get a 3rd project finished before 2009 rolled in.

I got side tracked making Bonnie Hunter's New Year's mystery quilt.

This IS NOT the mystery quilt, it's what I got done BEFORE I pt it away to start the mystery quilt.

I am absolutely POSITIVE that I started this Star Struck quilt in early 2007. I have piddled with it , on & off, since then but I wanted to finish it before 2009 and I didn't get to it! I have all the sub-units sewn into blocks and I have about 1/3 of the blocks sewn into rows & I grabbed off the sewing table & stuck it on a box so I could start another project.

Once I have all the blocks sewn together, I'll post another photo. I don't have any idea what colors that I want to go with for the borders......The main color of the "stars" in this quilt are dark green & creams. The accent colors are gold & brown. Maybe a solid dark brown inner border & a green print outer border? I have no clue.....and there are NOT enought blocks to go borderless.

Sam