More........

Happy Halloween!



I'm making More.....   No, not s'Mores! 

More zipper bags......

with the help of of one of my supervisors watching me closely....naturally.

I like for the outside fabrics for the bags to be quilted with cotton batting.   Easy, peasy simple FMQ is the way I do it.

Loopy loops on this one.

For sewing things like this I prefer production construction, so I have several different ones all quilted, ready for zippers and linings.

Here's 8 of them finished & ready for me to make the glass beaded zipper pulls.

So that's what I'm doing on this WIP Wednesday.  What are you doing?



I'm linking up to Quiltsy Team Blog for WIP Wednesday.   We are a bunch of busy quilters who like to share, so GO take a look at what others are doing today. 


Thanks for visiting.

What's is This Word...Organization?

Are you organized to perfection?   I try...honestly, I do.   If you are one of those super organized quilters you might not want to even read this.

Every year in January,  I start out the New Year with the very best intentions, ideas, plans & committments and 2012 was no exception.

I made my list of UFO's and tacked it to my display board so I'd see it everyday and told myself I could finish one a month.....(yeah..sure!...lol)  Actually, to give myself some much deserved kudos, 2 of the small quilt projects did get finished and were sold in my Etsy Shop and both of them were OLD projects.


Seems I'm spending too much time every day trying to be organized, when I'm really not.  Sigh.........
My furry friends love to supervise in my sewing room,




so I like to keep my supplies, fabrics, etc., in closed plastic tubs......like this one.  Great for organizing!  Right?

and the smaller plastic shoebox size ones too......

I even started labeling them with the contents..........(as she pats herself on the back again...pat...pat...pat) nothing fancy, just grab a scrap of paper & Sharpie pen.

In case you've forgot what this post is about.......I'll remind you - ORGANIZATION!
Regardless of my best laid out plans, it doesn't always work out.  Remember that list of UFO's and W.I.P.s I talked about??

Well, take a look at it.

Now I can't get the lid on this one!  DRATS!   I either need to sew faster or get a bigger plastic tub......

What do you think??    How do you stay organized with your sewing stuff??

Don't forget to subscribe to my blog, so you don't miss my Free Giveaways....(hint...hint...coming soon.) 


Thanks for visiting.

I LOST IT!

Yup!  Somewhere along the line I lost the month of December....and still haven't found it.  

I was blessed with good sales in my ETSY shop this past holiday time...thanks to all my loyal buyers....and couldn't manage everything ....including putting up a Christmas tree, shopping, cooking and blogging.  Consequently I didn't blog and my shopping ended up being online gift cards for everyone.  Can you believe that one?  I usually make all my gifts for my grown kids and my grandkids..........but not this time.

Sooooooooooo......has everyone made New Years Resolutions?  

Wanna know what mine is?  

Well, you might not want to know, but I'm telling you anyway.  (After all this is my blog and I can do that.)  Besides.......if I keep saying it often enough and  to enough people, I might actually start doing it.

CLEAN OUT AND GET RID OF STUFF! 

and

eventually

even get rid of these too.

Meet Lucy and Samantha.....litter sisters...approximately 4 months old.   (No...that's not what it looks like....it's some of their food they scattered in their litter area.)  They went to SA Spay clinic yesterday for their little tummy surgeries and are recuperating in a crate in my spare bathroom for a couple days.   They are part of  my ongoing "Trap/Fix/Release" cats thing that I am constantly doing. 

There are 5 more kittens to trap and get to the clinic in the next couple weeks.......so wish me luck....I'm going to need it.

In the meantime...........it's back to cutting more squares....cutting more jelly rolls....sewing more items and enjoying my quilting.

Thanks for visiting.

My Entry Pets on Quilts 2011 Contest

If you  are a follower of my blog, you know that I'm a cat lover, cat(s) owner, feral cat colony manager.  So, it was only natural that I wanted to enter Sew Cal Gal's 2011 Pets on Quilts Contest. 

 This is Roxie ....and oh, how she loves to eat.  She's sneaky too....and I hear her crunching in the night when I leave food in her bowl.  I raised her by bottle after her Mama abandoned her at 4 days old.  This particular quilt was made by my daughter as a gift to me after we had been to the International Quilt  Show in Houston.   It says "We went to the quilt show and all we got was everything!"

Here's a couple close ups of the details.....beads on the shoes, ribbon, threads, ribbons, buttons for the eyes....on the 3 Cats who went shopping at the Quilt Show.

Roxie was posing so well for me, I got another Kitty Quilt for her to "inspect".  You do know she's one of my "quilt supervisors", don't you?

This one is called Beach Kitties and I used it for a quilt class in applique that I was teaching. 

I hope you can see the fabric in the background of these blocks, as it's fish underwater. 

My other two cats, Braveheart (the KING)  and his sister, Princess, were getting jealous of all the attention Roxie was getting during our photo session, so here's  Kitty City.  I think this is my favorite quilt of all time that I've made, except for my King Size 1000 Pyramids quilt.

Each block depicts a different cat in a different profession; artist, beauty pageant winner, fireman, Dr., bird watcher, Sheriff, Chef, Pirate, Carmen Miranda, Amelia Earhart, etc.  I bordered it with dimensional prairie points and cat paw fabrics.

Sorry, they're a bit blurry 'cause I was paying attention to the cats....not on my picture taking.  Besides, I have to hurry and get this blog post finished to have time to enter it in Sew Cal Gal's contest...yikes! 

Here's a few close up  pictures of the Kitty City blocks.

Miss Kitty USA

Pierre' the Chef

The Sheriff.



The Bird Watcher

If I haven't bored you senseless .......YET, .....there's more to this Kitty City quilt than meets the eye. 

Did you notice the fruit bowl in the Carmen Miranda block? 

Well, after I was finished with all the detailed quilting (you can see some of the different background quilting in the close up photos) when I was trimming some threads, I cut a small 'v' shaped  hole in the sashing on the bottom of that block.   I was just heartsick, 'cause I was entering it in a Quilt Show that next week. 

I called my sister, told her what happened, and was almost in tears.  She came right over (we live about 1/2 block from each other) and took a look at it, and said......"well, looks like Carmen's fruit bowl spilled some fruit"   She told me to think "outside the box" and I did. 

The fruit appliques falling from her hat and underneath the block were added to cover up the small hole. 

 I added a fish bowl to the Chef's block, a bird's nest to the Bird Watcher.....etc., and what started out as a BIG boo boo, ended up  adding more interest and uniqueness to my Kitty City Quilt.

I was even more pleased when it won a 2nd place ribbon in the Quilt Show.

If I had a glass of wine, I'd  toast to everyone reading this blog....."Here's to quilting, here's to our beloved pets, and here's to winning a prize in the contest, but most of all ....here's to Sew Cal Gal for doing such a great job organizing this"! 

When it's time to vote on

Sew Cal Gal's blog, I hope you'll vote for me.  Thanks.

Thanks for visiting.

Now What?

I've shared about my 3 "furry roomates" before.  But what's a gal to do when the  "chief quilting supervisor" is just too demanding and you want to sew? 

No, you can't have the seam ripper.  I might need it for these stars I'm sewing, and I need it close by.

I save all the little selveges, trim pieces, corners, and slivers of all the fabrics, & battings that I cut with my GO and also when I'm sewing.    Here's the result.

This is one of those LARGE plastic shopping bags...overflowing.

Now What?

Well, you might not think it's very big......so here's another view so you can get some perspective.

Now What?

Grab any old piece of fabric and make a couple quick pillow cases.....any size, any color.  Will this grey polyester work?  Sure.

Now What?

Fill 'em up with those scraps, scatter some catnip inside & sew the ends shut.

Meoooow!  What's this, Mom?   Something new here.   I think I'll check it out.

Ahhhh......these feel pretty good.

Mom's trying to take my picture.  I'll just turn the other way.

She's doing it again.....

At least the scraps are off the floor and the bag is not overflowing!

Now what?

Save some more.........that's what.

Thanks for visiting.

I'm Trained!

Most of my life I was a "dog person".  When I was raising my family, all three of my kids were allergic to cats, so we had dogs.  

When I retired and moved to Texas, my niece's cat was going to have kittens.  I lived alone and thought.....mmmmh!  Maybe I should adopt one of the kittens when they are old enough.   

Well........I did........and this redwork embroidery piece I embroidered 13 years ago.....sums it up perfectly. 

My 3 furry roomates have me totally trained.........

This is Braveheart..and he's the King of the house.  He wasn't very perky in this picture, and I had a difficult time getting him to look at me and keep his eyes open.

This is Princess.....and is Braveheart's litter mate sister.  She is so sweet, loving, no trouble.......and purrs real loud.

]

This is Roxie......and yes, I know she's a fatty.  Her feral Mama  dropped her at my feet out on the front porch when she was about 4 days old, and her eyes weren't even fully opened.  I bottle fed her and she still likes to be in my arms, way up under my chin(s) and cuddle.  Braveheart & Princess only tolerate her and they don't play together.

And.......this is Cinderella.  She's my tame feral cat, outside only....and is responsible for all the feral ones I feed and care for outside.  You can't have an outside cat and feed her on your porch without others in the neighborhood  coming for dinner.

Now don't misunderstand me, I love my furry roomates, but when I went to visit a friend over the weekend, her chocolate lab, Cocoa,  grabbed my heart.  She's a sweetie and made me question........am I really a "cat person"??

Guess I just like "furry, hairy" roomates........sigh!  Which are you?  A cat person, or a dog person?


Thanks for visiting.

Yesterday's results......and Today's too.

What DID I end up doing yesterday?   Yesterday?   What about today?

Woke up today feeling great until my eyes opened......then.......Wham! 

The dirty floors, cat hair and the dust bunnies came into focus and I just knew it had to be done.   I told all three cats......"This house is dirty and we need to spend some time cleaning it today".     They looked the other way....then told me in no uncertain words...... they wanted their breakfast.  NOW!    Ok..ok.  Let me fix my tea first.   We had quite a morning with me trying to get them to pick up their toys.

It's mid afternoon, already and I just finished cleaning!  Whew!  I think I must have vacuumed up a whole cat there was so much cat hair.  It's almost summer and it's my own fault for not brushing these furbabies more.    They love to "help" me when I'm working on my blog too.

Well.......what about yesterday?    Oh yeah,   YESTERDAY.......




Wanna see?

Every once in a while I just got to  do it!

  

Yes!  Just had to clean off the top of my cutting table before I could even think about doing something else.  It helps me see more clearly........(remember about my eyes focusing up above?)

I Still had a lot of  fun, though........cutting with my GO cutter.

I still want to cut some more fun appliques, as I'm going to be offering more of them for sale in my Etsy Shop..........but not today.

This afternoon, I'm going to...........

layer and quilt this batik table runner.  Remember?  It was one of my choices from yesterday.

Thanks for visiting.

Supervisors At It Again!

Are you a quilter who hears the Quilt Police Sirens??  

I'm not even sure with today's quilters, and all the art quilts, raggy quilts, raw edged applique, simple square/rectangle patterns, and computerized long arm stitch designs, that they are even around anymore!   When they try to sneak up on me, I shoo them away and continue to quilt "My Way".

BUT...(and I hope you noticed...that's a big BUT)...there are 3 Supervisors who live with me who are constantly over-looking everything I do and especially my sewing/quilting. 

There's a  small raggedy flannel blanket that stays at the back of my small sewing table in my sewing room in front of the window.  The problem is..........there's only room for one "supervisor" at a time.

It's kinda like 'first dibs, first gets' around here.

Princess was the first one this time, and is a great " quilt supervisor".  She goes to the "office" with the outside window and stays there. 

  

Until Roxie shows up......that is.

  

Roxie  thinks she is the "Chief" Supervisor and that is her place.  She's the fatty one among the supervisors and insists that's her raggy blanket office with the window view.  Look at the look on her face....she is NOT a happy camper.

Roxie is the feral cat I rescued when her Mama dropped this 3-4 day old little fuzzy thing on my porch and ran away.  Her eyes were still closed and she couldn't walk yet, just wiggle.   I bottle fed her every 3-4 hours, made her a special little fleece/flannel "sleeping bag" and her bed was in a pet carrier on the floor beside my bed.

Consequently.....she follows me around the house all the time, and is always in the same room where I am and sometimes she causes problems. 

Sorry......I don't have a picture of what happened next.   Let's just say it got a little noisy and it sure interrupted the "quilting factory worker" from finishing that quilt.


Do you have any quilt "supervisors" in your sewing room?




Thanks for visiting.

Planning Ahead or Not?

I love to plan my quilting projects ahead of time.

We aren't GOing to talk about how cold it is today all over the USA (even though I've had to GO outside two times already to change the outside feral cats water bucket from ice to water).   We are expecting a high of 32 today and the wind is blowing.....so feels like 10.  Yikes!  That's really cold for South Texas. Our local weatherman said we can expect some snow late Thursday.  Whoa!  Nellie!  Wait a minute.  Snow in San Antonio, Tx?  That's what they are saying, so I might be talking about snow in a couple more days, instead of using my GO cutter.

Now, where was I?  Ok...yes, now I remember......we are talking about planning ahead.

Have I told you  I love my GO cutter??  If you don't know the answer to that question then you haven't been reading my blog for the last 6 months, have you?  Nothing's more fun than cutting with it, (well maybe eating some chocolate) so that's what I did yesterday.  (I cut... and ate some chocolate.)  

Don't you just love the combo of chocolate brown & bright pinks?  mmmmh! looks like Valentine Candy.

Thanks to the 2 1/2" strip die, I can cut many, many small squares too!

Yup!  I'm gonna need a bunch of these.

The ideas are just dancing around in my head  how I'm GOing to be using these small squares, and I'm planning ahead for when I get some extra sewing time.

Drats!  I promised myself I'd finish a UFO every month and February is here.  Ok, I'll put the "chocolate & pink" squares away for now. 

Am I really planning ahead or did I just want to use my GO??   I'll never tell.



Thanks for visiting.