Monday's Options

I have none! I still have to do some mending. Yuck!! (paste big sigh here)    :-6   Can you see my tongue sticking out at the pile of jeans waiting to be mended ?

Anyway, I did find some time to have some fun.  I did the Apricot Chutney (smells good all over the place) and finished the label for Antique Inspiration.

 So that one is back on the wall. Checked.

And also the Marcus Designer Sew Along is done too. Here is block 4 which I haven't posted yet.

And here is block 5

Oh look! Rebel came to play in my sewing room again. :D  The designer (I believe it is Gloria Parsons from Olde Green Cupboard) planned this block to be made using light/background, black, cheddar and green fabric only.  Oops! I guess I didn't read it right.  But I so love it. Oh I'm gonna do this block again for sure. For a mug rug? Maybe bigger for a placemat? I don't know but I will do it again. Too much fun and it is so cute.

Maybe the background of block 5 is a little too light ? We'll see when the others surround it how it will look then.
So this is it for this Monday, like I've said I have no option. I HAVE to go back to mending (a.k.a. punishment) and cleaning.  I'm half way done with one pair of jean so I think I deserve another piece of chocolate cake. Yea that seems fair!   :D

Until next time ... sssSMiLE ... because it IS pleasant !!

The sewing room is open

I am finally in my sewing room ... for the right reason, and yet I don't have much to show. :(

We had a week of professional development at work. An entire week of just sitting in the conference room doing nothing but brain storming. Do you know how tiring just sitting is? Actually I did do something; I had to take the minutes and come Tuesday, I will put them all in order in a Word document so all my colleagues can read it so they don't forget. Who can forget a week like that? It was torture!! It is so hard for me to stay put for a long time. I need to burn my energy not hoard it. So in the evening, the last thing I wanted to do was to sit in front of the sewing machine. But today it is different.  

I did some clothes mending (so I was in my sewing room but it was boring) and some Plums and Orange Jam (yum).  I did NOT do the Marcus Designer Sew A Long new block ... yet. Will do this later today. I did finish the hand quilting on Antique Inspiration. 

It looks kind of warp-y now that it is done but that's okay with me. So now on to the label making. 

It is a hexie label, of course, like all my labels. Since it is a small decorative quilt, I decided to make a half flower.  I will sew it as close to the edge as I can. I am back stitching the name and my embroidery skill is very rusty. 

The thread is a very light pink just so it looks aged. 

Remember my adventure with sunflower seeds? This is the result! 

So NOT impressed!  Although the birds are already feeding from the puny flowers, I am putting up the bird feeders this weekend. I did learn a lot from this though. I should be able to do better next year. 

Too bad birds don't feed on Rudbeckia. It was a very good summer for them with all the rain we had. They are all over the place.  Around the clothesline post, (which is where I planted them years ago)

in the middle of the garden, 

in the flower bed (which is more weeds than flowers!)

and up to my sewing room window. I love those little suns :)  I let them grow where ever they want. 

Anyway, have to go and finish a few things (have to do Kiwi Jam and some Apricot Chutney too before the end of the weekend, not to mention cleaning) and some sewing too. 

Linking up with Kathy for a Slow Sunday Stitching and Angie at Hexie Weekend. 

Until next time ... sssSM :^)LE ... it brightens up like a little sun too. 

Sunday ... Aaaaahhhh!

A little quiet time is what I am enjoying this Sunday morning. What a week! And to finish it off beautifully, I had two training sessions on Friday on two different computer programs. You know I will forget it during the weekend and will probably remember only half of it comes Monday. Ha! ha! ha! Anyway! That's tomorrow's funny headache.

Right now, all my men are still sleeping so I have the dining room all to myself, with a coffee and some hand sewing. My favorite sewing place, the deck, is all wet from the dew at this time of the year, so I'll settle for the dining table, next to the patio doors. I am working on my Antique Inspiration.

It is doesn't take very long to do one block. The part that is most frustrating is the hoop. Because the quilt is already bind, the hoop doesn't "grip" properly and it keeps slipping off. I try to quilt without it sometimes, especially for the square in the corner of the quilt but, after awhile, I put the hoop back on. 

I have three more blocks to do. Then I will remove the machine quilting around the blocks and redo it by hand. It will look better I think. 

Oops! This one is not completely finished. :)

Hope that you too find some time to stitch a bit. I am linking up with Kathy for a Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Until next time ... ssssSMiLE ... it is stressless. 

EDITING: to link up with Angie from A Quilting Reader's Garden for some eye candy. Hope you will come and pay us a visit. 

This and That on Thursday

This

is done!  Well, until I go back to work and start piecing little diamonds together again, there is nothing more I can add to the Quilt of the Century.  I've attached all the diamonds that were made. So for now, it is done.


That

is finished!! Oh how my thumbs hurt! I am a lefty and living in a right handed world, we (left handed) tend to be ambidextrous and I can cut with both hands.  Therefore both thumbs can't stand the scissors anymore. (Too bad one needs both hands to quilt cause I would learn how to sew two different project simultaneously in a jiffy! Ha! ha! ) But it looks very nice and I like it. I am glad I've tried a new technique and worked with a different medium. This was outside my comfort zone and it will stay a unique child. I shook that quilt as if a rag (ha! ha!) before washing it and it still left a big mess in the washing machine. Named Off Road, it finishes at 54 X 33. (I admire people who do this kind of quilt all the time. Bravo!)


This

is half way done. Another one I am pleased with.  Not perfect but pretty good for a first try if I may blow my own horn. I'll try to finish it before the weekend. Wonder what hubby would think if he were to find out I'm not very good at driving in the ditch... yet!

That

is probably what I'll be working on since the Quilt of the Century is on pause.  I have done this one 2 or 3 years ago in a rush.  The Realtor agent have asked that we put away all personal pictures when selling our home. So my bedroom became very ... plain (not to say naked ... that would be inappropriate!!).

This

was my inspiration. I don't know where this beauty came from.  All I remember is seeing it on Lori's Humble Quilts blog one day and i fell in love.  It went straight to my to-do list and I did do it... well, a little of it.  

I've simply called it Antique Inspiration because that's all I know.  I certainly didn't want to call it something that would remind me of the for sale sign and I don't know the name of the block, so Antique Inspiration it is. I love how each block is different and yet all are the same pattern.  I love that kind of quilts. I did some hand quilting in the negative space but didn't do the blocks because I ran out of time.  So now I will take the time and finish this one properly.  How does one quilt after binding? The same way or is there something I should know before I start? Would it be best if I remove the binding first? I think I will just do a 45 angle line in the square and  around the block too but nothing in the HSTs. Hmmm maybe.

That's that for this Thursday. 

Until next time ... SM ;^)LE ... that is appropriate!

Edited to add the link to Hexies Weekend with Angie at A Quilting Reader's Garden as it is NOT only for hexies projects but really any sewing project at all.  You're welcome to join us.