Basting and Basting

Yesterday afternoon I did something I've been putting off for too long. I basted this charity quilt. No, I didn't make the top. Our guild here in Auburn has us participate in the collection of charity quilts in a variety of way. We can donate a finished top or a finished quilt. We can donate fabric to be put together in kits for tops. We can take a kit and make a quilt top. Or we can quilt a prepared top as I am doing. I was given the top, the backing, the batting, and even the binding.

I've had this in my hands for several months. It's due in November. All the quilts are gathered to be donated to a local charity in December. It's time to finish this project! So this will be the next machine quilting project under my needle.

And while I was in a basting mood (and while the dining room table was still clear) I decided to baste my En Provence, or as I call it, 'Ain't No Sunshine' because I left out the yellow. I'll quilt this one after the donation quilt.

I'm not sure what I'll work on today. But I'll be inside on this rainy day. Lightening struck either our TV or our Directv box early this morning - we'll have to get that fixed or replace before the weekend (college football!) That will be a Hubby chore. 

Have a great day!

A Tiny Bit of Sewing

I didn't get a lot done sewing-wise yesterday, but I did make the flower pot for this block. Today I'll sew the four pieces together. I also need to make more bias strips for the stems.

My primary mission was my hair cut and color. And a trip to Sam's Club. And a trip to drop off donations at the thrift store. Missions accomplished.

I've had a few readers from out of the USA email me to see if we are close to where Harvey hit. No, we are not. I feel so bad for Texas - so much devastation. We are getting the outskirts of rain from Harvey starting today and going on for the next few days. But it will be nothing like Texas got. 

Have a nice day, everyone!

Machine Quilting!!! And ANOTHER Finish!

I did all the machine quilting on my little Christmas Tree quilt yesterday. AND I went into my box of leftover binding and found just the right amount of the perfect red and white polka dot binding, already made. Yippee! Last night I did the hand sewing on the binding. And then I sewed on the button ornaments.

Here's a closeup of some of the buttons. This was a fun little project.

Don't you hate it when this happens? Yup, my tin of safety pins fell. Oops. That's okay...easy to pick up.

I have a new project I really want to start, but I will NOT START until I've finished a couple more smaller projects. I have another painting to finish also.

This morning will be taken up with a hair appointment and a couple of errands. But maybe this afternoon I can accomplish something.

Hope you have a lovely day!

Gardenvale: FINISHED!

Ba-da-BOOM! I finished the binding last night! LOVE this quilt! I ended up making it smaller than planned. I just love a lap quilt - we use them constantly. And we only have so many beds...

The quilt-as-you-go plan worked out great. It's so good to be able to list a finish at long last.

Our weekend was SO busy. Friday night Hubby went to Montgomery with D1 to our SIL1's football game (SIL1 is a coach) - he didn't get home until really late. I stayed home to finish a painting. Saturday we went to Birmingham for the day. We got to visit with D2, SIL2, and their sweet puppy. We also got to see D2's office at her new job, went out to lunch, and shopped at Trader Joe's.

It was a fun day -  but we were exhausted though by the time we got home. Cooper and Mickey were so glad to see us! While we were gone (I'm a bit embarrassed to even post this) Cooper had a snack. What did he eat? The painting I had finished the night before. Oh yes, he did. There was not a scrap left. At least it wasn't something valuable.

Yesterday I painted the same thing yet again. And I'm keeping it HIGH! Yes, I still love him. I just had to laugh. I've learned not to get upset about little things like this - life is too short.

Have a great day!

Ready for Applique

I didn't have time for much sewing yesterday, but I did get these flowers ready to be appliquéd to the background squares.

I did a grocery pickup from Walmart. I went to a different store - in our small city I have the choice of 4 stores, believe it or not! I found almost all the pickup parking spaced filled - crowded! But I didn't have to wait long until my groceries were brought out.

I also work for several hours on a new painting -

And I worked at getting my laundry room put back together -

And I did laundry-

A busy day! This morning we're headed to Birmingham - a quick visit with Daughter 2 and SIL2. We'll be home this afternoon.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

One Day Project...

It was a project day, and I don't mean quilting projects. I went through a large box that we brought back from the storage unit a few weeks ago. A box of quilts! Some are antique hexie quilts and some were my own. And yes, I had a spot prepared for them. Box empty!

And then it was on to the lumber project. Hubby helped glue and screw pieces together.

And then I did the staining. They were dry by last night and we put them in place.

Here's the before of our laundry room....

And here's the after. I wanted wooden shelves over my washer and dryer. So we screwed a skinny board to the edge of a wider board - the skinny board is a lip that covers the front edge of the wire shelves.  Yes, these shelves simply sit on top of the wire shelving. I haven't gotten everything put back yet - some stuff will not live here anymore. I'm happy and I'm glad it only took a day.

Enjoy your day!

Binding and Lumber

I've moved on to the hand stitching on the Gardenvale binding. Yippee! Almost done here!

I went to the big box hardware store yesterday. That guy cut some lumber for me.

This pile came home with me. Hubby got home...he walked all over the house trying to figure out what I had planned. When I told him my idea he was on board. And this project will be easier than making the bed risers...I hope! Maybe we'll work on it today? I'll share when we finish.

Make it a great day!

Quilting, and Binding, and a Burger...

 I worked on the added quilting on Gardenvale yesterday...filling in the gap where the seams meet.  I also made the binding and machine stitched it in place.

And I have these three flowers ready to press and appliqué in place.

A friend told me about this new burger place in town yesterday afternoon. I couldn't stop thinking about it (may have even salivated a bit extra!). Hubby came home from hitting balls a bit late - after 6 pm. He was ready to shower and eat leftovers. NOPE! I told him to get his shower and we were going out to eat.

I let him drive, but told him it was a surprise. He didn't know where we were going until we pulled into the parking lot. That made it extra fun!

I will have to say that Freddy's has a great burger - one of the best I've ever eaten! I had Hatch green chiles on mine - I like a bit of heat. Hubby had a 'normal' burger. The fries were good, but the burger was the best. They also have frozen custard - my waistline was glad I skipped on that! All in all it was worth the splurge and I'll be extra good today!

Have a good day!

A Hand Sewing Eclipse Day!

I stitched my little heart out yesterday. Above - Cooper was my buddy, taking over Hubby's recliner for the morning. First up was Gardenvale. It took most of the day, but I finished all the stitching on the backside. I need to do a bit of machine quilting along the seam lines and then it will be ready for binding.

And in the evening I finished this little Bring Me Flowers block.

We had a 92% totality eclipse here. We could tell it got darker outside, but not like middle-of-the-night dark...more like dusk. We had the TV on during the entire day, watching coverage from around the country. Fun day!

And later in the afternoon....ahhh. A few laps and then I read by the adult only pool. Until football season starts the pools are mostly empty, especially on weekdays. Life is good.

Have a wonderful day!

A New Use for a Quilting Ruler

To hang the curtain rod in the guest bedroom we needed to go 6 inches over and 13.5 inches from the ceiling. Quilting ruler to the rescue! We marked and drilled and got the curtains up.

Nothing fancy, but they're up! You'd never know how much quilting stash I have hidden in that 33.3 cubic feet under the bed. I prefer this bed lower....but I really love all the hidden storage. 

This is a very simple bedroom - all the linens are white. The only color comes from throw pillows and the quilt at the foot of the bed. I know - said quilt is not there yet, but it will be soon. And I need to finally hang some artwork in here.

And the closet - it's not overstuffed any longer. Those hangers contain quilt tops - still to be quilted. The blue cart is my Rodan and Fields stuff - I think I can move it to our master closet. (UPDATE: I did move the blue cart.) And look! There's an empty shelf above! Hooray!

I made some time for machine sewing. I have this Bring Me Flowers block ready for stems and ready to appliqué the circles.

Here in the US many are excited about the eclipse today. No, we didn't buy the special glasses. We're staying inside and watching it on TV. My eyes are too precious to me to even take a chance. Though it is a very cool thing!

Happy Eclipse Day!

A Find!

I dove head first into my guest bedroom closet yesterday. I knew the dust ruffle and curtains were coming later in the day and that made me want to get this done.

There was a Craftsy box on a shelf. Okay. I remember at some point in the last few years ordering a quilt kit from Craftsy when it was on sale. I only would have ordered if it was a big sale! But for the life of me I couldn't remember what it looked like. I had never even opened the shipping box.

Surprise! Oh, I remember now! And I still love this pattern! This came out of the box and will be coming out to play before long.

I made GREAT progress in the closet. The dust ruffle came and is now on the bed. I hope to finish getting this room back together today! Curtains still need to be hung.

I had a fun lunch break. My bestie from college was in town - we fall right back into our friendship when we see each other, like no time has passed.

We ended the day with a sunset golf cart ride with the Mick. (He got a bath yesterday and he smells so good.) Ahhh....

Back to closet and under-the-bed organizing for me - sewing to come SOON!

Black Fabric...Black Thread

I worked a few hours yesterday on the hand stitching on the backside of Gardenvale. Black fabric hand stitched with black thread is hard on the eyes. I can't see to do this unless it's bright daylight with two lamps shining on my work. After dark, I moved to another handwork project. I would guess I'm 40% done with this part.

Here is Mickey...loving on his doughnut. Such a sweet, old fellow!

Black on black makes for a boring blog post. Maybe some color tomorrow? Hope so!

Enjoy your day!

Gardenvale, Quilt Backs, and an Adventure

Gardenvale finally came out to play yesterday! And guess what? It's almost done! I hope to have it finished within a week or so.

And then what? I decided to work on quilt backings. I think one reason I hit a wall in my quilting last week is the fact that I have SO MANY quilt tops that need to be quilted! I've been quilting them myself, but the pile is getting overwhelming.

And so I decided to bite the bullet and have some of these professionally quilted. And that led me to preparing quilt backs. The one above I had to piece. I decided to make a cross pattern for this one, which will be backing I'm a Farmer's Daughter.

I was able to find big enough pieces in my stash to back Marmalade and New Bedford - lucky me! And my stash is reduced! These were delivered to two longarm quilters last night at the guild - off my hands! I like to support all my friends' businesses, so I try to spread my longarm needs around.

And now for my adventure - okay, it's not THAT exciting, but I enjoyed it! The night before, I ordered my groceries on-line from Walmart. Have you heard of their new service? You can order on-line and pick the groceries up at a designated time.

I drove up to the pick up spot today after using the app to let them know I was on the way. An employee came out and loaded all my groceries into my car. BOOM! They made sure to show me all produce to make sure I was happy with their selections. I never had to walk into the store.

There is no charge for this service. What a convenient time saver it was! This may be my new normal!

I meandered home through campus - lots of students are back and it was fun to see all the hubbub.

What will I do today? Hmmm....I think I'll pull out Gardenvale again. It needs lots of hand stitching on the backside before I bind it. I plan to sit in my recliner and stitch away!

Wishing you a happy day!

Curtains!

Back to quilting! I made templates and cut fabric and EVEN made a good start on another Bring Me Flowers block! I moved on to the next pattern for flowers. I really was not happy with how the last one turned out. I love this one! The black stitches are basting - I'll be turning under the edge to appliqué to the background.

I also made curtains yesterday. I had this fabric and decided to use it to make two curtain panels for my sewing room. Easy peasy! They are done and hung.

I was planning to hem all four sides, but I changed my mind when I noticed the cool, fuzzy selvage edges. I ended up leaving this edge raw and it hangs on both sides on the inner long edge. I think it gives it a cool look and made my job much easier.

I also cleared lots of piles and began putting fabric under the guest bed - so far I'm storing my yardage pieces there - bigger pieces to use for backings or focus fabrics. I don't need these often so this is perfect for them. I have more to do, but I've made a great start.

I'm waiting to make up the bed until the new dust ruffle comes. You know it's almost impossible to add a dust ruffle under the mattress without UN-making the bed - no sense in doing this twice.

Today I want to work on Gardenvale. I keep saying this, but I haven't gotten back to it in a long time. I think it would look fantastic in the guest bedroom. Let's hope I can finally make some progress!

Also...I need a favor...do you live in Australia? Or do you have friends or family in Australia? I'm looking to make some connections there. Rodan and Fields is starting business there on September 1 - the first ones on board are going to be at the top of the explosion of this opportunity. Trust me on this. When the business spread to Canada - the first ones to sign on made mega money. Send me an email: juliacwood@mac.com.

I think I've already said that I'm so glad I signed on with R and F. I was so hesitant and doubtful at first. But without a blip in my quilting-for-fun schedule or retirement, I've made more money in 6 months with Rodan and Fields than I did my last 3 years as a quilting professional, including book royalties, teaching fees, magazine sales, etc. And very little time invested in this....hard to believe, but true.

I'm having a little adventure today - I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow! Have a great day!

The Bed is Lifted!

We got a good start yesterday morning. Hubby bought the big chunks of wood, we marked them, and he got busy with his drill and some chisels.

See how the bed leg fits right into the recess he made? Perfect fit. No wobbles! This assures the legs will not slide off the supports.

We put purchased risers on the foot of the bed. BOOM! I have a new dust ruffle (bed skirt) ordered to fit the new height (and new curtains for the room, too). This 'lift' gives me more than 33 cubic feet of storage space (yes, I calculated this - always an engineer). Very HAPPY! That's like a new closet!

I also cleaned out two more drawers for more stuff to live. Where there's a will, there's way!

After we finished this project, we hung a curtain rod in my sewing room. New curtains coming to this room, too...

Today I'll get the bed made and try to get this room put back together. I'm SO ready to SEW again. I still have piles of things everywhere...dining room table, foyer table, counter tops.... I hope all this mess is gone today!

If I don't do anything else in the sewing realm...I at least want to prepare some hand sewing to work on. The last several nights I haven't had anything at the ready. I like my TV time to be productive.

Speaking of TV, I cancelled our trial month of HULU. We finished watching both The Handmaid's Tail and 11.22.63 in record time. I highly recommend both shows. I had already read The Handmaid's Tale book, but not 11.22.63. There were several differences between The Handmaid's Tale book and the show, but they ended the same way. I'm sure I drove Hubby crazy saying, "That wasn't in the book!) during every episode. He wasn't expecting to enjoy The Handmaid's Tale - it was not something he would have ever chosen to watch, but he liked it as much as I did.

Last night we started watching Land Girls on Netflix. So far, so good.

Better get to work! Have a fun day!

Creating a Mess

Yesterday we hit the ground running. And we did make progress in finding more storage space for me and my quilting supplies.

We completely emptied the china cabinet and put things back selectively. I now have an empty shelf in the bottom of the cabinet to use. Happy!

I also cleaned out the craftsman cabinets on the sides of our fireplace - two empty cabinets for my use! Happy.

The next step was the guest bedroom: put the bed on risers to give me storage underneath. Hubby brought home a new set of risers. Easy peasy? Nope, of course not! The legs at the head of the bed are too big to fit in the risers. We mulled and talked and googled our hearts out. The plan now is to make two bed risers from blocks of wood for the head of the bed to match the height of two store bought risers to be used for the foot of the bed.

Things are always more complicated than they seem. But Hubby is headed off this morning to Home Depot to get the wood. Can't wait to get this room put back together! We're also going to hang a curtain rod in here and maybe all this will inspire me to hang some pictures on the wall, too.

Last night I went with two team members to Birmingham for a Rodan and Fields event. It was a packed room full of women (and a few men). This is the first time I've attended one of these and I really didn't know what to expect. I came away so thankful to be a part of this billion dollar business with like minded women (and men). I came away feeling blessed to have made the decision to jump aboard several months ago. I have never been a part of a group of women who are so supportive without being competitive. And I have never seen so many people in one room with such amazing and glowing skin - haha!

Okay, time to get to work! Have a great one!

The Painting

Here's the painting I did on Saturday. This is Daughter 1 and SIL 1's home. SIL 1's birthday (30th!) was yesterday and this was one on his gifts from us.

I think I'm better at painting dogs, but it turned out okay. And he seems to like it - a very good thing! I have two more paintings to do in the near future.

Today I have a big plan and I have Hubby ready to help. We have some boxes. Lots of boxes. And they are sitting around in our bedroom. And our guest room. So we are putting our thinking caps on and trying to figure out where to put some stuff in our little house. I'm tired of looking at these boxes!  We have lots of good ideas already. In fact Hubby's leaving now to buy bed risers to lift the guest bed to provide more storage underneath. BOOM. And that's just the beginning... Hope we make good progress!

Enjoy your day!

Back on Track!

Yay! I got my mojo back! Did I baste the Christmas tree? YES! And I even made another little seasonal quilt - do you like my pumpkin?

AND I basted it, too!

Not to mention I painted the watercolor that's been waiting patiently for me. I'll show it soon - after the recipient has gotten it. I think that's plenty for one day!

AHhhhh.... I knew I'd get it back...just needed a couple of days off.

Have a wonderful day!

Moving Forward!

I'm going to start small today - I'm determined to get back to quilting, so I'll do a small thing. I'm going to baste this little quilt. That's doable, right? I really like this little Christmas tree... it will be fun to embellish.

Yesterday I decided a bit of shopping therapy would be nice. A trip to Ulta. I bought this BB cream to try as foundation. I tried it last night - I think I'm going to LOVE it. I rarely wear makeup, but when I do...

I also treated myself to a new eyelash curler. I've always had short, sparse lashes but R and F Lash Boost has changed that! Yippee!

And... a product to help keep my natural curls from frizzing out. The jury's still out on this...tried it last night, but I'm not sure if I like it or not.

Retail therapy! Good for the soul!

Before I do any quilting though...I'm going to paint! I owe a painting to someone and I'm determined to get it going TODAY!