My Turn - She Who Sews

 

When this hop was announced I started looking at my sewing space with a new eye.   I have a problem with organization.  I go from project to project without taking the time to put things away. I just push to the left until things fall off the table. 

 

 

The problem with that plan of action is that my small tools get caught in the push and disappear for long periods of time.

 

This is my solution to the problem, a set of pockets for all of the smallish things including my remote control and while i was at it I added a built in Pin Cushion.  I always have pins in this spot always falling on the floor.

 

So how do you keep the pockets and pin cushion off the floor,  oh you attach them to a much longer piece of these very cool fabrics and end up with a machine cover to boot.

 

Next up, i have this great antique bottle holder

 

 

 

that I stick pens and stuff in to keep them handy

  

 

I thought it could use a box bottom

 

 

and maybe some new color coordinated cups

 

 

 

I also thought that a flatish dish would hold some more of my often used clutter

 

 

 

 

All of these projects were made off the top of my head based on patterns I had made in the past.

 

I was rather pleased with myself since so far they all came out just as I imagined.

 

 

Then there was the basket of odd size . Don't actually know where I had my calculator when I was planning this one.

 

It was supposed to be square.

 

Oh well it's still able to hold the needles and pins as advertised.

 

If I actually use all of the pieces, sewing will be a breeze, only time will tell.

 

Speaking of time, it is time to thank Madame Samm and Cheerleader Carla for all of the time and effort they have put into this wonderful hop.  Thanks also to all of the participants in both parts of this event.  Following are the others who are participating today.

 

 January 31

More Stars in Comanche

 

Stitchin’ By The Lake

 

selina quilts  (me)

 

Jane's Quilting

 

Baa's Amazing Adventures!

 

Quiltscapes

 

 Grandmama's Stories

 

A Little of This and a Little of That

I've been back from vacation for 10 days. They have been very, very busy days.  I started this helmet liner on the plane going on vacation and did some work on it while away and on the return trip.

I finished it when I got home.  My hope is to get 6 done by November.  2 down and 4 to go.

I showed them to a coworker and she mentioned that she wanted to crochet some chemo caps for the hospital where her daughter nurses .I gave her a quick refresher course in crochet, and  I made a cap for her to use as a sample. and then I made 2

and I started a third. They are very easy and kind of addicting.

I have signed up for the BOM for 2014 by Quilt Doodle Designs (see button on my sidebar for details)

The January block is this great Snow Man, well I should say, these great snowmen.

And if you saw my contribution to the Kona hop (see previous post) you know about my new mission to use the HST's left over when I make HST's.

I have no idea what the rest of the blocks will be or if this is the only one that will lend itself to this new mind game of mine.  I figure I will either make a maxi and a  mini quilt or this will be a great start to a wonderful 

Winter Table Runner, either way I can't lose

I also managed to make my contribution for the next Hop which gets posted on Friday, Jan 31.

Yes this is probably the most productive week and a half I have ever had and yes, I did go to work but MJ is away so I didn't need to do dinners or major cleaning when I got home each night  and we had a bunch of snow here.  While I did work from home 1 day and part of another due to the storm I gained the time I usually lose to commuting for crafting.  I also get to go to bed with my crocheting and get in a half hour that I don't normally get because I can leave the lights on with no one complaining.

Please come back and visit on Friday, my day on the She Who Sews  Hop (button is on the side bar).

Waking Up to Kona

Has this been a great hop so far or what?  Lovin the creative work of so many quilters, it just boggles my mind.  I want to begin with a thank you to Carol are wonderful cheerleader and M Samm our head cheerleader for coordinating another wonderful event.  What a great kick off to the new year.

When this hop was announced I knew right off what it was I wanted to do and immediately went out and picked up a Jelly Roll of Sunset to make a 1600 quilt.  That idea lasted for about a week before my brain kicked itself into gear and remembered that when I first saw the pattern Round and Round by Camille Roskelley I knew I would do it at some point in time. Well this turned out to be the perfect time.

This is a heavy HST quilt and I always make my HST this way.  You know square on square and stitch down the diagonal center and chop off the part you don't need.  Well sometimes I go the step further and stitch an additional line so I get these:

It makes me feel like I'm not wasting as much.   Usually I will use the left overs if I start with 3 .5 squares but if I make them with smaller starting squares I have a tendency to give them to a new home.

Anyway I started to make this wonderful top and realized that I wanted it professionally quilted because how  I wanted it quilted is still beyond my current skill level.

It actually is flat but I was fighting off the assistant and this is as flat as I could get it without her dancing on it. So now what am I going to do for this hop.  I know I could just present this as is but we had so much time to do a complete project .....  Oh yeah, I have all of those little HST.  Exactly enough to make a smaller version of this pattern.

Here are several pictures of the little darling in various lights.

We had a lot of sun and a lot of snow and stupid shadows everywhere.

I even tried the floor in the living room with the curtains wide open

I didn't need the strips in the back but I thought it added something to the field of white.

The little quilt came it at approx 42 x 44  and the large version at approx 54 x 58

here is a final shot of them together.

I've had a great time with this kick off to 2014.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit and I hope to see you often throughout  the year.  Please stop by and visit the other hoppers today.

January 13

Creatin’ In The Sticks

Meadowbrook

Cathy’s Chatter

Selina Quilts   (you are here)

Sew Fresh Quilts

The Sassy Quilter

And if you haven't been following along so far, it will be so worth your time to go back and visit them all.

The Cool Down

January is my month to cool down and regroup. The big rush for crafting / quilting things for the holidays is over and I have a real problem slowing down.  It didn't help that this year I did 2 quilt tops the week between Christmas and New Years.

So I found a great little project to wind down with. Helmet Liners for the Troops

                                    picture of the hat portion with the neck portion folder under.

 Last month I was visiting Jeanna over at Slammin the Screen Door (see the link below) and saw this wonderful project she is involved with where she and her coworkers with friends and family knit helmet liners for our troops.

Anyone can help. If you follow the link she explains the why and how and will send the pattern.
http://slamminthescreendoor.blogspot.com/2013/11/operation-warm-and-fuzzy-iii.html

picture of the hat and neck piece from the front

Picture from the side

It would have been good if I had a head model but the front neck part comes up over the chin while the neck section goes down below the collar and a helmet can sit on top of the head portion.

Anyhow it is a great cool down project. And a great way to aid the troops in a small way. It takes one skein of wool and just a few hours.  I hope to get a few done over the next several months.

Almost the last of Christmas 2013

I have 2 more Christmas gifts to deliver.  This is one of them it is supposed to be delivered  today.  Can't post the other because it gets delivered on Friday to a friend who snoops here when she is expecting a gift. (you know who you are JB)

These are decorative dish towels for the holidays.  The hardest part was finding a really nice towel to work with.

I found these at Bed Bath and Beyond. The back is a terry and the front is smooth. They measure in at      17 X 28.

I made her 2 sets,  One is very obviously Christmas, what with the Reindeer and the other set is red stars which can be used for several holidays.

I really like the way these sets turned out.

That's a total of 4 sets for the season.  I think I 'll have to be on the look out for a coupon and get some towels for myself.