2/10/13

Caution: Men Working


Matthew and Mike worked all afternoon yesterday on Matthew's senior project for school.  With them otherwise occupied, it was pretty much a lazy day for me.  I did a little embroidery in the morning, then went downstairs and did the cutting for one of my February NewFO projects.  This is a table runner from the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of McCall's Quilting.


These are the fabrics I'm using, now all cut out.


I had a chance to look at the pattern yesterday.  If you can see it, the pointy part of the heart is actually a nine patch and the two "humps" of the heart are half snowball blocks.  It looks pretty simple to put together, and so it shouldn't take me too long...if my sewing machine ever comes back from the shop.  I'm getting desperate now.  I may get out my spare machine, even though I hate using it.  Besides, getting down on my hands and knees to hook up the spare machine is the quickest way to get my Bernina home from the shop.  I've never been a smoker, but from what I'm told, the quickest way to get your lunch to come in a restaurant was to light up a cigarette (when smoking was still allowed in restaurants).

Once I had the cutting done for that, I set about organizing all the floss I purchased for my Quilting Snowladies.


Want to see what 73 skeins of embroidery floss looks like?  Here you go:


I probably have twice as many skeins as I need, but that's okay.  They're inexpensive at 39 cents per skein.  I figure if I run out and have to drive into town for more, I'll spend more than that on gas.  Since I haven't made a project with so many different colors and so many skeins, I wasn't sure how I was going to keep them organized once I had the colors all divided up and together in piles.  I decided to use large safety pins to hold the colors together.  That seemed to work pretty well.  When I'm actually using a skein, I wind them onto the little plastic "spools" that you can find at JoAnn.  If you look at the center top white floss in the image above, you can see one of them.  They work pretty well.  They come with a large ring to keep all the "spools" together, but that is already in use on another project.

Anyway, this image below is the first block I'm going to do shown along with its various floss colors.  Since the muslin fabric I have on order for the foundation hasn't arrived yet, I can't really start on this right away, even though I'm itching to get at it.


And then this morning, I finished up the eighth of eight stitcheries for the Love Me, Love My Cat quilt.  These have been so much fun to work on that I'm almost sorry to finish the last one.


Here are all eight blocks, now finished.



Sorry to be standing in my own shadow while taking these pictures.  Here is what the finished quilt looks like.  I still need to make those four sawtooth stars before I'll be ready to start sewing the blocks together.


These are the fabrics I'm using.


And for finishing all eight stitcheries:



So with that finished, I was left with a bit of a dilemma.  I'm still awaiting the next of the Vintage Miniature Sewing Machine blocks (and getting nervous about how late it is too).  Tomorrow, I'm going to meet up with  Quilting Babcia who writes the Amity Quilter blog.  She and I live relatively close to one another, although neither of us is really very close to anything.  Tomorrow, we are meeting for lunch and then going together to a meeting of the Piecemakers Quilt Guild in McMinnville, Oregon, which is about a half hour down the road from where I live.  She tells me it is a small guild, and it might be just what I've been looking for.  I'm giving it a try anyway.  Quilting Babcia and I have corresponded quite a bit, and so I'm looking forward to meeting her in person.

Anyway, all of that to tell you about my dilemma, which is that I want to take some handwork with me tomorrow.  I can't start my Quilting Snowladies until my fabric arrives.  I could move onto the next blocks of the Gardener's Journal quilt, but I was really wanting to work on something new.  I decided to look at all the small projects I've printed off at various times.  I was looking for something I could stitch up quickly just to pass the time until the fabric arrives and my sewing machine comes home.

Of course, my little buddy was all about helping me pick something else...and the catnip is always a draw besides.


So I ended up pulling out this small project created by Wendy over at Sugarlane Quilts.  You can find Wendy's pattern right here.


I cut a scrap of fabric 7 inches x 10 inches and drew out the design.  I'll use little dribs and drabs of leftover floss to make it, and it should only take a couple of hours max.  I don't have a plan for it, but I'll use it for something...maybe a mug rug, or a little mini wall hanging, or a quilt block...lots of ideas for it.  Also, I have this fabric to use as a border and/or a back.  I'm using floss in the colors that are in the fabric.


So with that, I'm off to plant my tomato seeds.  Matthew and Mike are going to be doing some more work on Matthew's project today, so I'm on my own again for the afternoon...which suits me just fine.

Oh yes, and I'm linking up to:


and then to:






21 comments:

Cath said...

I love the "love me, love my cat" stitchery....wonder if there is one for dogs! Hope you get your sewing machine back soon.....and enjoy the guild!
Cath @ Bits 'n Bobs

Lyndsey said...

Love the kitty stitchery but like Cath would like one about dogs as well. Grrr my H key keeps sticking and I have to go back and insert it. The keyboard needs a clean.

I like the price of your embroidery floss. Here it costs 72p a skein which is about $1.14. On a big purchase like yours that makes a big difference.

Have fun at the Guild tomorrow and I hope your machine is back from the hospital soon.

Kate said...

Love the Love My Cat blocks. They are such fun and the fabrics you have picked, are just going to shine. I'm hoping to start a new project next weekend now that volleyball is over for the month!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Oh, that spare machine would have a been a 'purring' long before now if it were me - thank heavens I have 2 extra machines!! Oh, the kitties are so cute and what a sweet quilt this is going to be. Cute little project to work on in the mean time. Enjoy your outing and can't wait to hear about it.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

Sounds like you had a lovely day. I suggest you get an organizer box for your floss--mine holds about 100 of those plastic spool cards and a bigger slot for a pair of scissors. Simple enough to throw into a tote bag with your stitchery. Not that I'm doing a lot of that lately but handy to have.

Yvette said...

Your cat stitcheries look great. I have the pattern and background fabrics, I just would rather have yours. LOL They are perfect!

Your Snow ladies are going to be adorable!!! I have seen this quilt done and it is wonderful. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Anonymous said...

The snow ladies are great. Another project I would not mind making. NO NO. This is my year for finishes, and little things. Nothing big, But I do so like it. Kathleen http://kathysnest32.wordpress.com/

Lynne said...

I wind my floss around a cardboard bobbin then slip the colour number between the thread and the bobbin. Then I keep the whole lot in numerical order in a storage box designed for the purpose. Why numerical order and not by colour? Because the charts for counted cross stitch work that way! I keep all my "not in use" floss in a separate box.

Quilter Kathy said...

Your cat stitcheries are so adorable...what a great quilt you will have. And the snowmen are just as wonderful!
Thanks for linking up to Slow SUnday Stitching!

Tina T-P said...

Hi Barbara - your blog is beautiful - I;m a friend of the Katnip Lounge crew and saw your message to them on their 1000th post - & I like to see who the other readers are -

I chuckled with I read your paragraph about the embroidery floss - the last time I bought it, it was 10 cents a skein - guess it's been a while. I'm looking forward to seeing your Quilting Snowladies come to life. T.

Debbie said...

I loved seeing all your great projects. I'm going to have to check out the pattern for the quilting snow ladies!

Michele said...

Yeah for free time to do what you want. The pieces are all great, including the new one. Love the sentiment. Have fun with your 2nd day of me time.

Lynette said...

I hate being in limbo waiting for things. LOVE the kitties! I can't believe you already have all the stitcheries finished. How has that much time gone by so quickly? :)

Margaret said...

Hi Barbara. I don't always comment but I follow you every day. My machine, Grace, is sick too. She started puking and has a very loud rattle in her chest so I sent her off to the hospital. The doctor says he will put a rush on her since he knows how much I use her. He will also give her the full spa treatment while he has her. I have a spare machine I picked up at a garage sale. A 1970 Singer. Thelma is ok but doesn't have some of the features I love about Grace. Hope your machine comes back soon.

On another note, I just joined a modern quilt guild about a half hour from where I live. I am like you in that nothing is close to where I live.

Have a great day!

Stella Nemeth said...

The split rings for the bobbins can be purchased at an Office Depot (or Max) or a Staples. They are extremely inexpensive if you get them at an office supply place. If you have multiple projects, you meed multiple rings.

I haven't done the kind of embroidery you are doing since Jr. High. But it was fun then, and just might be fun now. The problem with reading all the blogs is I want to do all the fun things.

Denise :) said...

Barbara, the snow ladies are darling!! And so are your finished cat pieces -- what a sweet quilt that will make!! I hope you have fun at the Piecemaker's meeting...I so enjoy both our guild and our smaller stitcher's group. Thanks for sharing the "Friendship is a Bridge..." pattern ... it's very cute! So...what exactly is Matthew's senior project?! Looks intense! :)

Brown Family said...

Depending how the meet up goes, you could give the bridge to your new (meet) friend!

I am really thinking about doing the Love me, Love my Cat blocks!

Snoodles said...

Like some of your other commenters, I am seriously considering those love my cat blocks! LOL Sweet little buddy looks so soft in that photo...almost like you used a filter. Cool!

LethargicLass said...

Having been a past smoker I can attest that that is true :) I am sad to see the cats go... they were fun stitcheries... but soon we'll see the whole quilt :)

quiltzyx said...

Lots-o-floss! The Love My Cat quilt is getting soooo close to done now - it looks great!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Love your stitching!