Woe is me!!!

I have sewn several more 15 minutes to play blocks but no pictures for you yet.  When I finally set up my longarm, I had to move all my fabrics and lots of other things to get enough room for "Lizziegirl".  It got time for us to go to NC and I just shoved everything in and took off free as a bird.  I had the shoulder surgery a few days after we got home and actually never got my sewing rooms totally organized.  I started the reorganizing my sewing room yesterday.  Oh my, I stumbled around in there all afternoon, fell on my bum...OUCH!!! Those tile floors are pretty hard and I am sore today.  I finally figured out the best way for me to get things back in order is to move everything out that is not in its correct place.  Thanks Stacy for dropping by at the right time to help me drag everything out.

Bill and Jason moved my new cutting cabinet into the room.  Whoohoooo!  I had been waiting a long time (close to a year) for Bill to fix the drawer.  I had found a cabinet top that was perfect at a thrift store.  So now I have a great cutting surface and a space on the end for pressing.  Anyway, back to the tornado that hit the room...I have refolded my Christmas stash and got them into the two little half cabinets that I had picked up for $5. at a yard sale about a year ago.  They held all my Christmas fabrics and I still had room to store all the panels I have in my stash.  I quit to fix dinner and to rest the shoulder.  I am so happy I did not hurt it worse when I tumbled onto the tile floor.

I have convinced Bill to mount two more single cabinets that had been sitting in the shed for over a year.  He got them into the kitchen and so far, that is as far as he got.  Hope I don't have to wait another year.  I want to put all the towels, kids blankets, diapers and other things that I have to embroidery.  It will eliminate a couple of tubs under my longarm.

My goal is to just get the sewing room organized this week, but I have a busy week so far.  On Monday, I have a Dr. appt and a funeral in the afternoon.  My friend Hobbie's husband passed away after a long illness.  My sit and sew is on Tuesday and Pine Castle Guild is on Thursday and we are having a workshop after guild to learn a folding flower technique.  That leaves Wed and Friday to get this mess cleaned up and I have not checked to see if I have any other distractions that will keep me from getting everything folded and put back.  Fat Chance..

Oh well, decided I should blog a little before I continue my organization.  Til we meet again....

Chloe's quilt

Last week, in digging around through my scrap boxes, I found about 9 little half square triangles from another project.  I decided to make Chloe a quilt...Are you familiar with Chloe?  She is a very special doll for little girls around 3-5.  She is a new type of doll. She is not a baby to play "house" nor  is she a fashion doll to play like "young women".    Chloe is meant to become a little girl's friend and alter ego!  My sweet, precious and dear granddaughter (here after referred to as DGD) absolutely loves Chloe.  When they arrived tonight, I asked her if Chloe was cold on the trip.  She told me she was really cold.  I took her over to the little quilt that I had laid out waiting for her to arrive.   Her little face just lit up so sweetly with a  look of surprise.  She asked "is this really a quilt for Chloe?".  I nodded my head and I got rewarded with a wonderful grin and hug. 

As the car was being unloaded, she grabbed her Mom's hand and pulled her over to the quilt and said "this is Chloe's new quilt".  She immediately started shuffling through the pile of luggage, coats and toys looking for Chloe.  The little quilt was a perfect fit.  I did not know she had gotten a canopy bed for Chloe for Christmas so all this worked out well.  Sometimes it is fun to just make a little something that does not take any thought or much time.  I had started this very late one evening and really did not even have matching thread...DGD did not care.  Her eyes looked right through the imperfections.  I just used some of the decorative stitches for the quilting.  I sat down this afternoon and hand stitched the binding on so it would be finished when she arrived.  It made me happy just looking at her covering Chloe.  My DGD was happy and that really is what counts.  At 5, she already has started building her own stash...If she is with me or her Mom in a quilt store, you can bet it is going to cost you a fat qtr or two before you can leave the store.  She still sleeps with the quilt at in the intro section of this blog.  She likes to "sew".  She always wants her machine out so she can sew when we sew.  I think we have a young quilter blooming. 

I will probably be quiet until the first of the week when things get back to normal.  Until we meet again.....

Trees, ivy and 15 minutes

We had a tree taken up today and boy did it make me a bit nervous.  But they got it out with out tearing down the power and telephone lines.  We have one more to come out, but tree guys have to wait for the snow to melt.  The tree is covered in ivy and that ole ivy will just not die.  Bill has cut the ivy, sprayed roundup on it and tried to pull it off the tree....that ole' stuff just keeps on growing.  It has never even wilted in the snow.  Wish the ones I have tried to pot would be that resilient.  The tree is dying from being smothered.  It is only about 10 feet from the house.  Best to get it down before it dies all the way.

Tonight, I played for much longer than 15 minutes.  I decided to sew bigger blocks.  I made two 12.5 inch blocks.  I then decided the scraps I have here were too disorganized and getting on my nerves.  Everytime I grabbed one out to stitch, a few more fell out on the table and the floor.  I decided I would smooth them out and sort them into chunks, skinny strips of any length and larger strips...over 2" wide. 

I was sorting away when I bumped the sewing table and a brand new can of starch spiraled to the floor busting the little white spray thing clear off.  #$%&(*%.  Right, that was irritating.  I continued to sort from a shoe box stuffed full of scraps.   I bumped the table again and my iron fell to the floor and yes it was still hot and it landed where it could make an interesting change to the floor.  I jumped up, leaned over the sewing machine table and grabbed that baby up.  Floor looks ok, but I did not look too close.  I heard the door down stairs bust open and Bill was heading up the stairs.  I hollered down to him...I'm OK.  He ask me what I was doing and I gave the obvious answer...nothin'. 

I continued for about 38 seconds longer and had another small mishap.  I don't know how I knocked the entire box of scraps to the floor and it hit the sewing machine case first just to ensure those little pieces of confetti fabric spread all over the floor.  I am not stupid and I finally took the hint from my body, picked up the scraps, turned the sewing machine off and came down and put my feet up in the recliner.  Funny how long it takes us sometimes to get the message.  It was after 10 o'clock anyway so it was time to stop and relax.  Here is a picture of the 2 big crazy blocks. 

I have noticed something odd about the blocks.  There is hardly any red in the blocks.  I love red and I must be afraid to make something red or all the red scraps are at home.  Anyway, I might have to use red strips around each block.  I am thinking I will put 4 big blocks together and then add stitching and lots of shiny treasures I have been saving.

I am heading to Waynesville tomorrow afternoon with my friend Sharon.  The quilt store over there has moved and we decided to check out the new location.  Tomorrow morning, I have to get up those stairs and get all that sewing stuff put up because the Jason and his family will be here and they will all sleep in the loft. 

The room looks like a torndo blew thru.  I have the magical ability to sew in an area for 15 minutes and it looks like dynamite went off in the room.  I have pulled everything out have put nothing back that I have used.  BAD GIRL and I know it.  I will be playing tomorrow morning, but it won't be the kind of playing I usually do.  I will be playing vaccuum and dust all those dust bunnies from the fabric fuzz and get that room cleaned up.  Until we meet again....

Apron finished

The silly apron is finally finished.  Before I show you the picture, remember this was just play.  I did finish all the seams where I cut the terry towel.  Also, I hate aprons that have no adjustment in the neck strap.  I just kept adding chuncks of fabric until I figured out how to get that strap going from the waist to the neck and back to the waist to tie.  This way, it can be adjusted high or low and is more comfortable.  I used bias binding for the strap and just folded it over.  I had used a piece of a curtain from the thrift store for the other fabric on the quilt.  I just did not have anything in my stash that looked like it would go with the flip flops.  Anyway,  I learned a lot and it certainly is not perfect..actually far from it.  However, I will either wear it or give it to a my friend Jean.  She likes Key West and cruises and when I bought the towel, I was thinking of her.  If she reads this, she will know it is coming.

I wish I had had more of the fabric for the casing pieces the straps run through.  I could not cut them the  pieces on the bias so they did not want to curve.  I just gathered them a little to make them more curvable.  I might make another apron...something different and a little simpler.  Here she is:

I did have time to play tonight and these are the two blocks...OK, I'm busted.  Yes, some of these are scraps from the apron.  I have really enjoyed making these weird little blocks.  I went to a guild meeting today and then to the quilt store...just too look, but I did find a few yards on sale.  Then off to Wallyworld to pick up milk and some cleaning supplies and then home to do my 15 minutes of play blocks.  These are really fun to do and a monkey with no brain could most likely do them.  I could really be sewing bigger stuff if I could get Bill to cut my fabrics.  He is like a piece of concrete...doesn't budge when it comes to cutting.  He is afraid he will have to be doing all my cutting even when my shoulder and arm heals...Oh well, I can dream.  Here are the next two crazy blocks.  Until we meet again....

Dilemma-cute movie

Today was a slow day.  This afternoon we went to a movie, Dilemma.  It was a cute movie and I saw previews of a couple of girly movies coming out in February that I want to see with my girlfriends.  Before it was time for the movie to start, we ran a few errands and went to dinner.   While we were out, I saw some really cute dish towels.  I bought them and decided I would look in my stash and make an apron.  First, I had to think about how I might make a really cute apron.  The towel has flip flops on it...Big mistake.  So here is another tip. 

     If you are making a new project that you have never made before and you don't have a pattern and you   don't know exactly what you are going to do, DON'T buy a dish towel or fabric that has a directional design. 

I have been working on it for about 3 hours, drinking water the whole time trying to get that thick headedness out of the brain.  I actually have it sewed and I am trying to figure out the ties.  It is a full (top and bottom) apron and I hate those type of aprons where the neck thingy is not adjustable.  Ok, so here is my next tip:

When you are tired and don't know what you are doing and you are clearly very likely to make a mistake cutting something...then you do like the guys...measure twice and then go to bed and sleep on it. 

You will be fresh the next morning things will look much clearer.  For once in my life, I am going to listen to that little smart voice in my head.  I am going to bed and I will look at the apron when I get home tomorrow afternoon.  I will post a picture when it is finished.  I did not do any 15 minute play blocks or spiderweb blocks...but that is the great thing, if I don't want to play, I don't have to play.  Until we meet again....

15 minutes of play and spider web blocks

It was beautiful here today.  The sky was so blue and it was not so cold since the wind was not blowing.  I added a few more 15 minutes to play blocks and also made a couple of spiderweb blocks.  Two tips:

1.  If you are a saver of scraps and you applique, keep those applique scraps that have iron on fusible interfacing on them separate from your regular scraps.  WHY??  Because if your iron touches the back of one of those scraps with with the fusible stuff on it, your iron is going to be very mucked up.  It is hard to remove and if you don't get it all off, it can put black yuck on your next piece of fabric...Ask me how I know!!!

2.  Because you are working with all sorts of bias scraps, when you press, starch the fabric where it will hold it's shape.  Starching will keep those bias edges from stretching.

Making these little blocks has worked well for me since I struggle to cut bigger pieces of fabric.  Cannot wait for this shoulder to get back to normal...However, I will tell you I could not win any contests for accurate cutting before the shoulder surgery.  The quilt police have been on my tale about my cutting talents since I started quilting about 5 years ago.

Here are the pictures of the spiderweb quilt and the 15 minutes of crazy play...ok I adjusted the name to suit me.  You can get the jist of each one of them.  I am sure this will not be the layout of them when I decide what to do with them.  It is just to show a sampling.  When I get them all done, if it is to be a quilt, I will throw them up on my design wall and probably spend all day moving them around until I have them just right...or not. 

Sewing room is a mess, but the camera is charged and waiting for me to take the million dollar picture that I can sell to a newspaper somewhere....Yep, I am just sitting here waiting for that to happen.  Bill is unloading the dishwasher..would that be considered a spectacular picture worth a lot of money??  Until we meet again...

camera does not work when battery dead

Just finished dinner with our friend George.  I made vegetable beef soup with cornbread and lemon pie.  Soup was good...cornbread was a bit different and pie was OK.  I got the kitchen cleaned up and ran upstairs to take a picture of my 2 additional 15 minute play blocks and the spider web blocks I made today.  Guess what?  My camera battery is dead...duh!  Amazing how those little babies won't work with dead batteries...kind of like my portable phones.

I was engrossed in sewing the blocks and I heard a buzzing sound.  When I came down stairs, Bill had been up by the road and had hired this guy to cut one of our trees off.  It was really tall and splitting down the middle...uh ohhh!  I had not noticed it but somehow this guy did convinced Bill the tree would be coming down on the house....no new fabric for me...$150 in tree trimming. 

This "15 minute play thing is getting addicteve.  I now have about 8 blocks.  I am starching them at the point they get larger than 6.5 inches.  Don't know what I am going to do with them but I am sure I will figure out something.  I decided my little pieces of "crazy" would be 6.5"...seemed like a nice size.  Some have been larger and as I trim the pieces, I just slap them on the next block.  I have the camera battery charging now so I can take pictures tomorrow.

It is amazing how I can walk into my sewing room and if I turn the machine on, it takes about 15 minutes for the room to look like a tornado struck.  I am an amazing person that I can destroy a perfectly neat and clean room in such a short time.  I think I learned it from my kids and grandkids.  Anyway, I do excel at making messes.  I have strings all over me and look like I am in need of a good plucking.

Hanging out with my friend Pam tomorrow.  We are meeting at the quilt store so I know that is going to be major trouble.  We are meeting the guys for lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant.  I guess we will hit the thrift stores and see if there are any treasures on the shelves calling our names.  I don't think I will get much sewing done tomorrow.  Until we meet again....

Slow day today

Today  was kind of a slow day.  I did do my "15 minutes of play" block so that makes two more to post.  The blocks are fun, but each block just reminds me I should be working on the spider web quilt which is an unfinished project, UFO.  Maybe I will start doing a block a day for both of them.  Both are scrappy quilts but the pattern is consistent with the spider web quilt.  It is the same block and it is paper-pieced.

When I take pictures of my 15 minute blocks, I will post the spider web blocks also.  Having the goal of one block a day is good for me.  It makes me more productive because I have a goal to meet.  The quilt police doesn't come if you don't do your block, but I will know it.

Sometimes, I am not very productive in anything much less sewing.  I just fondal those little pieces of scraps and thumb through quilt magazines and ponder life.  If I don't have anything to show for my time, it makes me feel non-productive.  Now thinking is not all bad because some days I don't have enough brains to think at all...so maybe it is good afterall.  I can spend hours going through my quilting books.  I am starting to fold over the pages in the magazines for projects I would like to make.  If I lived to be 300, and sewed everyday, I don't think I could do them all.  However, life is full of hope and if we don't have hope and dreams, what do we have?  Until we meet again...

table toppers & 15 minute play blocks

Today was an interesting day.  I finished my 4th "15min play" block.  They were fun to do and Oh my I am using that big tub of unorganized scraps.  I think I am going to make a true crazy quilt out of them.  I have been saving "things" for abut 2 years now.  I have beads, shiny things I have found on the ground, pieces of lace and ribbon, and anything else that I could attach with thread.  I think I will call it "15 minutes of crazy play". 

The top right was the first on....the uuuugggllly one.  The other ones are not that pretty either...but I kind of like the top left one.  I am just grabbing whatever my hand touches in the tub.  As long as it is not already in the block, I used it.  It was actually quite fun and I have lots of scraps.  I spent almost 2 weeks last year cutting them into strips of all sizes and blocks of all sizes.  In other words organized scraps like the recommendation of Bonnie Hunt's scrap system on Quitville.com.  At least that is where I think I got it.  I also have a tub of uncut and a couple of shoeboxes full of scraps.  I think I love scraps.  I am also working on a spider-web paper pieced quilt.  It is on the back shelf at the moment.  I will get back to it when the mood strikes.

Next, the pictures of the table toppers.   I just created something simple for the couch tables and coffee tables in the living room.  Hope to get them quilted when my shoulder gets a little better.  There is a fold in the chevron looking topper.  I had it folded and just unfolded to snap the picture.  The pictures are below.

We shall see what projects tomorrow brings.  It is fun to just sit and see what your mind comes up with ...who knows what tomorrow will bring....until we meet again.

"play" project

I finished my last table topper tonight.  I will post a picture of all three.  2 are flying geese patterns and the coffee table topper is half square triangles made into a sort of chevron pattern.  I was glad I completed that goal for January.

I also did my "play block" for today.  So now I have two.  I am going to try to make one everyday and by the end of Feb, I should have enough for a quilt.  The first one was so random with my scraps that it was what I would term uggggggllllllllllllllyyyyyy.  The second one did not make me want to lose my dinner so I guess that was good.

At the point someone starts reading this, I want to share something each day that I have something worth sharing.  In the last couple of years, I have been trying to learn to free motion quilt.  I originally found it as easy as nailing jello to a tree.  One of the sights I stumbled across was freemotionquilting.blogspot.com.  

Leah Day is the blog owner.  She is one of the most talented young ladies I have run across.  If you are struggling with free motion quilting on your domestic sewing machine, check out her blog.  She has tutorials on how to do close to 200 filler designs.  I sent her my a picture of my pumpkin free motion quilting and a few days later she acutally did pumpkins.  I kind of felt special that I had shown her something.  Actually, I have been practicing some of her patterns on my longarm.

Any body notice how the text color changed...strange isn't it...don't know how to change it back to black.  Guess, since my table toppers have a teal color in them, I have magically gone teal.  I will post the table toppers tomorrow.  It is kind of nice to recap some of my accomplishments daily.  Unfortunately, I have days where I don't feel like I accomplish anything.  I can putz away the day in a heartbeat.  Until we meet again....

Introduction

Hi,  my name is Sherry Creech.  I am a wife, mother of two, grandmother of 4 and friend... maybe to you.  I started this blog to share and discuss quilting, machine embroidery, longarm quilting (newbee) and basically life in general.  I won't be ranting on anything political or religious because the subjects are a might too touchy.  I have been quilting for about 5 years.  When my granddaughter was born, I bought a new Bernina 200 so I could embroidery and sew for her.  I did a few embroidery things for her and started attending guide classes for the Bernina.  There were so many quilts in the shop that I decided I could make a quilt.

I made Emily's quilt as my first quilt.  I did not have a pattern and if it had not been for a neighbor down the street, I might have never got it laid out to sew together.  He stopped by the house looking for my husband and as we stood chatting over the pieces, he started moving them around.  Between the both of us, we got it into a somewhat pleasing arrangement.  Since then, I have made probably about 20+ quilts. 

I have read so many blogs and gotten so much information and learned more than my brain can sort.  I hope this blog will become a helpful blog for others also.  I am currently working on some table toppers...no pattern although I usually do use a pattern.  I am just trying to see what the brain can come up with on it's own.  I will post them when I finish piecing them.  I have pieced two for the couch tables and I am working on the coffee table topper.  I don't know much about blogging, but sometimes it is just nice to chat with other quilters.

I am practicing flying geese on the first two runners and using a different method to make them to determine what is the easiest most accurate way.  I am going to use Eleanor Burns ruler and method next.  I will let you know which way I like best.  I have also just signed up for "15 minutes to play".  I have boxes of scraps and in this process, you just sew scraps any which way to make a block.  You do one a day and soon you will have enough blocks for a crazy quilt.  If you are interested here is the blog:

 http://www.15minutesplay.com/2010/07/got-15-minutes.html

If you have an interest in seeing some of the quilts I have made, let me know and will post them on an online album. 
I have not been sewing much in the last two months because of shoulder surgery in November.  Healing is good, just no patience with not being able to do what I want to do.  Dr. says no physical therapy until 6 months anniversary of surgery.  I move the arm everyday and have gotten real good from the elbow down.  Oh well, no more whining about the shoulder and arm.  It is a new year and I hope to stretch my brain by doing some new things this year.  I guess this answers why I started the blog.  If you read it, send me a note so I will know someone is out there.  Until we meet again....