Same Project...Different Day!

When I start a new project, I always think..."ok..I'll have this done by ....??" but never seem to give myself enough time.  I think I could meet those projected dates if I didn't have other things to do...like computer time, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning a bit, laundry, errands and cat messes, etc.

No more excuses!  Here's the update on the "Zipper Bags Project". 

Have 16 bags finished with the sewing.  

Here's the 6 that are totally complete with glass beads  zipper pulls and for sale in my ETSY Shop.

And I still need to make Glass Beads Zipper pulls for these 10 that are waiting patiently.

Remember a few posts back all my talk about Free Motion Quilting and no more practicing.......just do it?

Well, I did have some fun with FMQ on some of these bags.  They all have different quilting on them even if I made two of the same fabric.  Different sizes too.

Easy quilting here on the elephants. 

FMQ around the flowers printed on the fabric.  (just don't look too closely at the oops!)

Really got "free" doing this one!

I still have some more bag fabrics cut out along with the batting, so whenever I feel like a little FMQ experimenting, I'll do a few more.  But in the meantime, I need to go make more Glass Beads zipper pulls so I can declare all 16 of them finished and ready for my shop.

In the next couple days I plan on making some Disappearing 4 Patch blocks for Quilts for Hurricane Sandy victims.....so are you making some too? 

Thanks for visiting!

More FMQ Fun!

A while ago I shared some of my FMQ (free motion quilting) practice pieces and if you missed that post you can see it here.

Time is always in short supply around here so I decided to stop practicing and start quilting all 12 of the Farm Animals snack mats with FMQ and just GO for it!

I did some basic stippling.......

and some meandering  loopy loops............

and then some curvy S circles......

lots of binding........

 

and they're finally finished and available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

These are perfect if you need a Christmas or Birthday gift for the gal that likes country style decor and animals.

 Fun for sure!

How about you?  Are you still practicing? or just going for it...like I did?

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.

Is it a Hobby, Obsession, Work or a Waste of Time?

When I sat down at the desk to start writing this post, I wondered about the title. ............ maybe you can help me decide.  

I love what I do during the day (and some nights).   Some people call it a hobby, or obsession, and some think it's work and still others think it's a waste of time. 

You might be asking yourself...."what is she talking about this time"?    Why sewing and quilting, naturally.   Is there anything else better to talk about?  Not for me.   Let me explain.

I've been trying to sew up some of this cute flannel that I bought several years ago.  Yes, it was on sale........and I just had to get lots of it!  I think I bought too much....what do you think?  The boxes are overflowing.  Don't believe me?  Here......I'll show you one part of it that I can't even get in my fabric closets.  NO...I'm not showing you the rest of it.  I made good use of one of my AccuQuilt GO boxes too!

After a couple weeks......here's a look/see at what I accomplished with some of that flannel using my rag quilt GO die.

Raggedy Ann & Andy raggy quilt.

Pink Paisley & Butterfly raggy quilt.

Brown and Gold Peace Symbol raggy lap quilt.

Now, GO back and look at that first picture again.........that's 'AFTER' I made these 3 raggy quilts too!   Jeez!  I'd better get to sewing faster, or sleep less.

As most of you know, I have an ETSY Shop...and you can visit it here.   

Keeping it stocked is almost a full time job and keeps me very busy.   But, like I said at the beginning of this post.......I love what I do.

Today I used my GO cutter & cut 3 different fabric colorways into quilt strips for Jelly Rolls; browns, pinks, purples.  That's 180 strips just for today. 

And that doesn't count the 660 fabric charm squares I cut earlier this week. (I didn't take pictures of them at the time 'cause I was on a roll and a cutting frenzy.....but I can show you one of my storage drawers.)

So.....now I ask you.  Is it a hobby, obsession, work, or waste of time?

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.

Sewing Room Explosion

The other day on Facebook I mentioned it looked like a bomb had gone off in my sewing room.  

Well......I think there's been more than one!

When I'm on a cutting frenzy with my GO cutter, that's exactly what happens, and I ignore the messes while working until the job is done.   Have you ever watched the famous Eleanor Burns and her demos or attended one of her Quilt In a Day Classes?   She's hilarious and doesn't pay any attention to the messes, and actually just throws the scraps on the floor and over her shoulder.   I actually do clean it up in between explosions, but there were several bombs in a row.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.   (besides......it's the only excuse that I have.)

Thought I'd give ya'll a partial visual tour of what I'm talking about.  Now you didn't think I'd show the whole sewing room, did you?  No Way!


I use the pages from the many throw-away catalogs I get in the mail to cover my fabrics on the die before rolling through the GO cutter.  It works well, and I end up with perfect quilt squares for my Etsy Shop.

Trash can area.



And with all that cutting, here's my scrap basket that's overflowing; selveges, edges, trimmings, slivers,  etc.  Looks like it's time to make a couple more kitty pillows again and use the scraps for the stuffing.   You can wash & dry them, but last time the pillows got yucky, I just threw them away.

This is just one end of my cutting table with the useable leftovers I need to cut into 2" and 2 1/2" squares.  Ok...I know what you're thinking.  What do the zippers have to do with cutting squares?  I've also been making more zipper bags and just shoved the bin of zippers to the side of the table while I used the GO cutter.

Well......there you have it.  That's what I did over the weekend.


Thanks for visiting.

Names Everywhere......and a Recipe.

You see names on things everyday all over the place;  stores, letter head, business cards, blogs, Etsy shops,  t shirts, facebook pages, purses, email addresses,  eyeglass frames, even burb cloths for babies. (And.....yes, I could make this whole post about finding names on things, but you don't want me to GO there, do you?)

I'm easily distracted and love to GO ......(Sorry about that large GO, but I've done that ever since I won my AccuQuilt GO Cutter last year...and I'm not about to quit now...)   .......from one thing to the next, then start another project, then that one gives me inspiration for another idea.....and on and on.  Maybe that's me.....maybe that's a quilter.....maybe that's just the way it is.  Who knows?

Well, back to what I was talking about......(see...I told you I was easily distracted.)  What was it?    Oh yeah.... another place you can find names. 

But first,  we'll talk about recipes.  What?  Yes...be patient!


RECIPE .........for another place you'll find names!



Take 5-6 sets of these.



Yellow Quilt Fabric 5" Squares



Add  5-6 sets of these:




Black and White Quilt Fabric 5" Squares



Add in some of this:

White Kona Cotton Fabric

Cut into pieces like this:





Toss lightly, mixing well for good assortment.


Sew 3 pieces together randomly.

Serve with a permanent fabric marking pen:  Sign your Name on the white fabric.

And you have 150 Signature Wedding Quilt Blocks for a custom order.  Ahhhh!  Hhhaaa!  another place for names, lots of names.


I love getting distracted with projects like this one;  fun to do, something different, lots of wonderful chain piecing (my favorite thing to do), and I'm happy with the end result. 

Okay......now time for something else!  What's next? 

Wonder what it is???


Thanks for visiting.  

I'm All About Having Fun!

Business trips are just that......for business.  AND.........  when you can arrange to have some pleasure with some of that business, it becomes fun!  That's what I'm all about....having fun with fabrics, quilting, my GO cutter and my ETSY Shop.    

(Maybe I better clarify something first for my new followers.   I love my AccuQuilt GO cutter, and always use a larger font whenever I type the word GO.  There......does that answer your question?) 

With having to GO out of state recently on some business I was able to visit AccuQuilt headquarters in Fremont, Nebraska and even take a tour.  It's a fun business.....for sure. 

I'm telling you that company is nothing but FUN;   quilts on the outside, quilts on the inside, quilts in offices, quilts in the warehouse, fun people, fun colors,  everyone smiling, especially the employees.  It's a Happy Place and a Magical Place. 

Wait a minute......was I visiting Disneyland?  Sure felt like it to me!

Here's what you see driving up to their building.

 
A closer look showing the winning quilt design for their 2011 Barn Quilt Block design contest.

There's even fun on the back of the building with the 2nd place winner's design above the receiving dock.  

Lots of quilts everywhere.....here's a few of them.  (Some of the pictures are blurry....sorry.)

I loved this tree, with the dimensional leaves. 




Wish I had a close up of this one..... the Arabesque Die.



Simple block; circle in a square with corner
triangles.  Fun fabrics! 




Carolyn Robinson from Accuquilt talking about  a custom display.



Do you know which die was used for this butterfly?  Look at
the next picture & caption for your answer.



Close up of the feathers die being used as small birds!  Yes, lots of fun things you can create with some of the designs.  You just have to 'think outside the box'!   Just look at those tiny triangles......all using a GO cutter.


I'll share some more with you next time.....now GO 'like' the
AccuQuilt facebook page  and then GO to the LH sidebar and enter the Camp Quilt Along contest.

You can also get some great quilt ideas by clicking on the Free Patterns picture at the top RH side of this page.


Do I have fun with my GO? and do I like AccuQuilt??  You betcha!  Can't you tell?  I think every quilter should own one!


Thanks for visiting.