Almost Threw In the Towel

I'm at my tipping point with Blogger. I had more than enough of its sh*tnanigans but I've been patient. This time though I almost quit. What happened you ask. None of the posts from the hundred of blogs I follow showed up in my reading list. Not one!! Well, what kind of crappy monster is that ??

Am I to go in my list of blogs I follow and open them one by one to check if you've published a new post?? Like I have nothing to do all day?!! Although, I did see that many haven't post in a very long time. :^(


ANYWHO!! 

I turned on Blogger every other day or so, to check if they'd fixed the problem. I was thinking of publising just one last post with the news that I am moving to Instagram and am cancelling my blogger account when Blogger finally populated my reading list with the latest posts. I was this close. THIS close!! 

Which makes me very sad because I've met so many lovely people and I was missing them these past weeks. 

Moving on. 

This MIA baby quilt was found.
It was safely in a bag with the other
baby quilts but under a different number. Yay! 

You can now see the quilts made for the baby quilt drive in the tab ^Baby Quilt Drive^ on top of this page. I stopped adding the photos when Blogger shunned my reading list. Hopefully, I'll be able to add the others this weekend. I need to take care (or empty) my garden in containers too. The nights are very cold lately. Sigh! It's that time. 

Slow Stitching

The red dye from the chicken fabric started to bleed onto the neutral piece next to it. That's very weird because the quilt hasn't been in water yet. So, why did it start to bleed? Why is the blue-lined piece not affected by it?  

Since we are talking about Friends' Favourite let's check the stats. 

Friends' Favourite Stats: 

If I quilt one block a day, it will be done by March 18, 2027.

Monday, August 24th: required blocks 47 

                                    blocks done 64 - 4 rows finished 

Monday, September 7th: required blocks 61 

                                    blocks done 96 - 6 rows finished 

Monday, September 21th: required blocks 75 

                                    blocks done 128 - 8 rows finished 

The half point has been reached. Yay! Yes, I am doing one row per week so far. I have the firm intention of finishing row 9 this weekend. If I can keep this up the quilt will be done before Christmas. I'm in shock. I didn't thought I could find so much time to quilt. Working only 4 hours per day at the office really helps me accomplish this though. 

On the Crumb Front

Crumb blocks trimmed at 4.5 inches. 

Crumb blocks trimmed at 6.5 inches. 

Picture of the bobs and bits bag taken in June. 

Picture of the same bobs and bits bag this morning. It has the Mary Popping's bag ability of refilling itself, lol. I started yet another bag of bob and bits so I'll stop adding to this one and finally see it diminish. 

I'm thinking of doing a crumb sashing for the crumb star quilt. I keep the end of the rolls of the thermal paper from the payment machine from the office to sew the bits on it. I did one. I won't do a second one. I don't like this technic of sewing on paper. So, this container is now empty and the crumb sashing will be sewn like any other crumb blocks. 

What else have I done? Oh yes. 

Remember these squares I received from Françoise? They were sewn back to back, ready to become a rag quilt. I unstitched them.

There are 44 pairs of these. 

I now have 88 squares and a little hill of used thread. They will become a pieced backing for a baby quilt (or two) at some point. 

The Sewing Room Saga

The reorganization of the sewing room continues. I got this little white shelf cabinet and stuffed it with what needs to be cut to useable sizes. On top and under the ironing board are the containers of the useable sizes I use. On the far right, there's a box of whites and under that some all prepped bindings. 

You might not remember my rainbow shelf so here's an old photo of it. These shelves are next to my computer. Not the best of place for scraps, so . . . 

. . .  the shelves now hold my sewing projects. Well, some of them. 

The milk crates are holding the rainbow scrap baskets and bags. This wall is behind me when I'm at my sewing machine so it's more convenient this way.

It's not perfect but I'm getting there. In the crates on the right, top and middle one, are fabric I either have to cut or add to the bobs and bits bag. Again! Lol. The bottom crate tries to hold the brown scraps. 

In a previous post, I showed photos of our Wednesday Sewing Club in Lucie's garage. Some of you asked about the garage "window" in the photo. Here's another photo of it. 

Her husband made some panels/sections with 1 X 1 inch sticks and covered with screens. They get screwed together every summer and set in the garage door opening. No bugs can sneak in. Such a cool idea.  

This is what the ladies were working on when I was there last. 

I didn't get a photo of what Lucie was working on. Also missed Claire, Sonia, Michelle's projects. Sorry. I'm a bad photographer when I talk. Haha. The garage is now closed for winter. :^(

That's it for now. I wish you all some happy sewing time and good health. 

;^)

(I hope my post gets in your reading list.)

I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there.

Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

Kathy Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching 
Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

This Week Was Fun

And what a week it was! 

First and foremost, my youngest DS told us he got a job. His formation was on Friday (yesterday) and he's starting next Tuesday. It's a contract for 6 weeks and I am SO happy for him. (Six weeks is better than nothing.)

DH finally got back to work (after two weeks at home, nursing a nasty cut on his thumb) with his sore thumb but he managed to tough each and every day out. Yay! 

Some of you asked about MY work at the office. If I start later in the morning, do I work later in the afternoon?  No. My work hours were cut at both ends. (ouch, says my budget.) From 8:30 to 4:30 (lots of weeks until 5pm), I now work from 10am to 2pm. Or at least that's the plan. I still work until 3:30 - 4pm when there are many meetings to help Danika with the clients. Yes, I know, I used to do it all by myself but she doesn't have an ADHD brain (firing on all 8 cylinders) and the load of experience in customer service I have (she's 19, I'm 63, enough said).  I have good hopes for her. 

Also at work this week, I received my own laptop. My email signature now says Administrative Assistant instead of Reception. My new tasks have also been received. Fun! So, this being said: 

let's sew!

 

Some crumb blocks in whatever-comes-out-of-the-bag and more in aqua. (4.5" and 6.5")

Two 18-Bricks blocks. One in Aqua and the other one in Seafoam Green. Is Seafoam part of Aqua, Turquoise, Teal? Well, I thought it was so I made a block. I know! The butterfly print is in both blocks but I had to use what's on hand, right? 

When sewing crumb blocks, I work on a few blocks at a time (like any true ADHD person would do, lol). Some might be sewn together to reach the perfect size, whether it's for 4.5" or 6.5" or a 8.5 X 6.5" block. The pink one, on the right side, might be big enough for a 6.5" square. I'll iron, measure and trim that one today. 

The chair at my sewing desk is now empty. That big pile has been dealt with. (see last post)

Friday night (yesterday), I challenged myself again. 

The Challenge 

I have (at least) three bags and a drawer of rainbow-coloured strings. I have a drawer (like the one in the photo) for neutral (full) and another one of black (half-full). This rainbow one has been overflowing for years, hence the three bags. Obviously, I still can't close the drawer. It is time to stop stuffing bags and to REALLY tackle the problem. So I did.  

The mess 

One bag down, two to go. 

The progress

Once the three bags were done, I went to bed. My legs were so numb from sitting on the floor. So, this morning (Saturday), the sorting continued. 

Empty, at last

Two cups of coffee and one and a half hour later!! 

The result

Plastic bags are hard to photograph. I didn't pay much attention to the size of these strings. I was watching Project Runway on TV. I did remove some bits and bobs that can't be call "strings" by any definitions. I'm sure more can be remove but won't make much of a difference. The black and greys are together. Other groups include whites, beige, dark whites, yellow, light green, dark green, light blue, dark blue, pink, purple, red, orange, brown, multi-coloured and a jelly roll. I haven't bought that jelly roll so it must have come in a gifted bag or was free with a purchase I did at some point. Can't remember. Guess what colour the jelly roll is? Pastel! So, Angela!  I am ready for Pastel month next year. Lol. 

What prompt this challenge: Terry! Have you seen her string quilt? Click on the link. You won't regret it. 

Early in the mornings, now that I start work later, what do I do? Have coffee on the deck with the cats, do stretches and then I'm suppose to be cleaning the sewing room but Friends' Favourite keeps calling me.

It is set in the loft (the game room), not the sewing room

I timed myself and it takes 20 minutes to do one square including stitching the neutral frame around the square. Like this: 

(Little kitty watching you from the upper left corner. )

The quilting in the coloured sashing is another 15-20 minutes. I'm sewing straight (trying to keep it straight) down the middle of the frames and sashing. So, instead of sewing 1/4 inch in the square, I decided to go with 1/2 inch there too. I thought of doing fancy flowers and butterflies, but then thought if I want to finish this soon, better keep it simple. 

I calculated that if I sew one block a day, it would be done by March 18, 2027. That's not counting the sashing part. I wonder if I can finish it before that. Dare to bet?  Lol. 

So, that's what happened this past week. Hopefully, I can sew some more this weekend. How about you? Hope you find time to sew something too. 

Take care. ;^)

And I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there.
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Alycia for Finished or Not Friday
Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching
Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Galactic Project

At work, some of my tasks have changed. The one I'm really happy about is starting at 10am instead of 8:30. It gives me more time to do things in the house while I have the energy to do it. So . . . 

I gave myself a little goal : cleaning the disaster in my sewing room. A little goal, lolll. It's more of a galactic proportion but if I keep at it, a little every morning, it will get done, right?

Because of my super power, (see last post) the top of these boxes was piled high, full of *stuff*. I grabbed all and dumped it on my chair. This is what I have to do this week. And on the sewing machine table, yes, you are right. 

I don't know exactly what's in there but there are flannel backings for the baby quilts and a whole lot of *miscellaneous* fabric. Surprise! 

So, I sorted, cut and/or folded and put away. 

Here’s an example of what’s in the pile. These scraps (maybe 25 pieces) are left over from the fabric we cut for the baby quilt' tops. I didn’t have the time or the energy to trim them and put them away properly when they returned to me. They were just *piled* (stacked). Now, it's time to cut them into useable sizes. 

The end result : (4) 5" triangles, (2) 2.5" triangles, (2) 2.5 X 4.5 rectangles, (8) 3" squares, (8) 2.5" squares, (2) 2" squares, (3) 2' strips of different length, (3) 1.5 X 2.5", (3) 1.5" strip of different length and (1) 1.5' square. I was so happy about this little "clean up" that I grabbed another one and cut some more. 

It's a leftover too but I really don't like this fabric. The teddy bears behind the white grid do something to me and blur my vision. It's worst in person. The camera lens kind of lessen the effect somehow but I think you can see what I mean. Anywho! I was still determined to cut it up. Started with the bigger chunks and worked my way down. 

 

The end result : cut strips at 2.5" for binding; there was enough for 228" long binding. Whoohoo! Then (3) 5" squares, (3) 4.5" squares, (1) 3.5 square, (1) 3" square, (2) 2.5 X 4.5", (4) 2.5" triangles, (3) 2" strips and (2) 2" squares, (2) 1.5" squares and (2) 1.5 X 2.5" rectangles. I'm glad this one is behind me. Phew! 

Needless to say that these cutting sessions are adding bits and bobs in the bag I want to empty. Scraps of fabric will exist as long as the sun rises from the East. Haha.

The chair is still full of stuff. I will continue to work on it this weekend. 

I found this box. Thinking it was leftover fabric again, I thought I could put the fabric away and get rid of the box but, wait! It's a project. 

I had to look it up because I couldn't remember the name of this mystery by Bonnie Hunter back 2016. It's *En Provence*. 

So many pieces cut and sewn but not much put together yet. I gathered everything in a plastic bag with more instructions and set it aside. 

It prompted me to have a place for my "started" projects. It will be easier for me to know what I have and mostly where it is. When I leave for a sewing retreat, I'll just dive into this milk crate and get a few projects out to bring along. As you can see, En Provence didn't stay alone in there for long. Lol. 

A quick scan around the sewing room has revealed more PiGs. I'm sure more will join these one as I continue to declutter.

It brings me to show what I did sew last weekend. (nothing got sewn this past week. Too much cutting! Ha!) 

The purple crumb block you see on my sewing machine in the last post now measures 6.5" square (untrimmed). I added an orange one and a little 4.5" square for the Crumb Star project. I also added the points to this centre to have a second aqua star. This one has dusty rose fabrics from light to very dark. 

I was also able to find enough of these "in-between" reds to finish an 18 Bricks block. 

From dusty rose to bloody orange along with watermelon, salmon, coral pink and tomato reds. All the fun ones are in there. 

Lastly, I got Friends' Favourite on the frame (FINALLY!) and hand-quilted one square. Only 255 to go, lol. 

It's raining here this weekend. More time in the sewing room for me. Hope you get to add a few stitches to whatever project you are working on. 

;^)

And I'll try to catch these talented ladies' link-party. See you there. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

And Sew I Did.

(For some unknown reasons, your comments are not coming to my email box again! So tired of this shenanigan. I'll try to reply in my posts. Thanks for understanding and your patience.) 

or is it "And Sew, I did"? Lol. Either way, I did sew. Whoowhoo!
It was not all orange but some orange went under the needle. 

Edith from Inch by Inch said in her post : 
Orange - symbolizing creativity, passion, and vitality. Well, no wonder I love this colour. Lol.

In the middle of March, I reached the half point on the Friends' Favourite quilt. (See this post)

Since then, I was able to sew 6 more rows. (Plenty of Pink and Orange in there) I do these 4 squares at a time. Meaning the units look like this:  

Yes, everything is included. I'm sure a kitchen sink can be found somewhere in there, lol. By sewing them up this way 2 rows are done at once. Although, there are 2 rows missing, I only have one to go. Yes! I'm at the last "rows". 😁

More photos. These quadrants aren't sewn together yet. 

Rows 7 and 8 to be done this weekend. (partially done this weekend). Yes, I know, Rows 3 and 4 are missing the sashing on the right side. I keep forgetting to add that to the last unit. 

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday. On my way there, the clouds sank! Like a sinkhole. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen clouds do. 

This one was taken from the side window which is tainted a little bit. Mother Nature is having mood swings! 

Anywho!! Back to the sewing room. I'm having mood swings too. The decluttering kind. 

Poor Elvis! Still waiting to be hang on the wall. Sigh! 

This is the mess to the right of my computer desk. It's a mess: agreed and fed up. Those bins hold the flannels and it's quite a task to reach into these because the space is quite narrow, so . . . 

I switched my cat Raven's bed for the bins. He sleeps on this bench while I'm in the sewing room. The bins are now in the middle of the sewing room and they will undergo a major cleaning/decluttering. Again 😁! The little white table with a drawer will be reassigned a position in a bedroom or the playroom. To be determined. 

I am not showing all the decluttering that's happening around here but with all the baby quilt done from my stash, you know that a lot of fabrics are being used and have left the room. 

Always when we clean our sewing rooms, we find little pieces that were meant to be sewn but weren't. Like these:

They became these: 

I did one more Bonus Point block. It's peachy in colour making it a nice transition from pink to orange wouldn't you say? 

Other things were found but were given away. I know I could have done something nice with these but they aren't my style. I prefer to keep my precious time for make things that appeal to me. Out they went. 

Surely you know that decluttering is contagious. While I'm doing my sewing room, my friends were inspired to do theirs. And their stuffs ended up at my place, lol. 

There must be close to 50 magazines. Some I've perused already, took pictures of pattern I want to keep and have disposed of the magazine already. These are the remaining ones. I have all the intentions to go through these this weekend and passed them along. Not keeping one of these. Not one! That's the plan, lol. 

Another thing that came my way because of a friend's decluttering . . . 

Sweet Lucie added 2 borders to this panel and then she put it away. That a long time ago, before we met. Upon rediscovering it in a drawer, she had no feelings for it anymore she said. Then she thought I might like it. Gosh! I don't understand why she thought I would ever like this!! Bwahahahaha! It's blue and purple, so it's hard to photograph. Oh yes! I am SO KEEPING this one!! I have such wonderful friends! 

Another thing I kept for a long time and now decided to recycle it instead. Or upcycle? Whatever! 

This is what I received within a bag of scraps. I set it aside. Well, no longer. I decided to use it. 

The previous owner zigzag stitched the applique, very tightly zigzag stitched it. True to me, I undid it. It was a long and tedious task. Upon removing the first part, the heart, I found way more stitches than I first thought was possible. 

All the branches are connected. Why? Sigh! But having that nice, big piece of white was a prize I wanted to win. So I kept unstitching. This white on white was/will be used many times in Friends' Favourite sashing bits. 😁

To all you mothers out there, I wish you a lovely and pampered Mother's Day. The best hood is motherhood. 🧡

Enjoy! ;^)

Check these ladies' link-party for more inspirations

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!