Quilting | Quilting Helps you Quit Smoking!

I have finished the Wild Child quilt top.The others wait their turn in various locations around the quilt room where I hide out from sheer terror. I sandwich, I thread the machine, and go.

I am holding my breath, trying to breath through this underlying sense of panic because I quit smoking last Thursday.  The uncertainty of a new to me quilt pattern is edging up that panic.

I pieced a backing for this wild child quilt top that I designed during mmmquilts 30 quilt design challenge. I wanted an all over design and thought an all over wood grain pattern would match the feel of this quilt.

I used Angela Walters video below to get started then I was off, focusing on trying to keep the lines the same distance apart, not bunching up the backing, and making the motif smooth.





I put my head down and focused! the next time I looked up was an hour later! yes! I beat it that time, now I wait for the next wave of withdrawal to come.

My husband and I quit smoking two years ago and took the habit back up when we were selling, renovating, buying, moving, getting married and honeymooning this summer. We were super stressed and it was the only way we knew how to cope with that much stress.

I spent the entire weekend in my sewing room avoiding my dear husband as we were both on edge and felt like picking on each other. I survived by having the quilting challenges to work with.

The all over wood grain is starting to come together and I think it just might turn out great.


Until next time, stay resolute!

Sarah

Linking to  oh Scrap , Move it Forward Monday  , Monday Making  and Main Crush Monday 

Quilting | FAL Q4 - 10 Reasons to Order Pizza

I have posts in my drafts un published. They are perfectly good, they have pictures, they have a touch of humor, a story and even some quilting.  What more could I ask for? yet they go un-published. The psychology of my mind baffles me sometimes.


This time I am just pushing the publish button and hope you enjoy this list of what inspires me, stresses me, entertains me and distracts me in my sewing room on a daily basis.


1. Post Punk Circus

I am sooo looking forward to putting this one together! I give away most of the quilts I make, but once in a while one stays with me. All of the major pieces are complete and ready to assemble.

2. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

I need to choose a quilting pattern for it. Roll up my sleeves, switch feet and get to it.

3. Pink in the Series of Three

This is a client quilt that needs "backing quilting and binding" - (this is the song of my people, you know who you are)


4. Birds in the Series of Three

I haven't even started this one! eek! it is a client quilt too. The same client as above.


5. Swoon in the Series of Three

This one is getting good! I am resisting the urge to desperately want to keep this one. I keep encouraging myself that I can make another one if I really want one. 

6. Wild Child 

waiting for a good thing is hard and not every client can do it so now I get to gift this one or keep it all for myself. 

7. Superman Hooded Towel

My Dear Client has been waiting ever so long for this one. Perhaps I need to take a couple of days from everything shut the door order pizza for all meals and get this stuff done!


8. Kimono

Um, This one is super old and is starting to feel embarrassing.
Finish it Sarah! Finish it.

Maybe my list is too long... I am getting all angsty just writing about all these "loose ends" I am even starting to call them derogatory names! like loose ends (sob)

But I am stubborn and addicted, so I introduce to you,


9. Jeweled Box Stars

this is a leader and ender challenge with Bonnie Hunter. I am doing the traditional pattern instead of the flipped version that Bonnie created.

That's it for me today friends, Until next time, Stay angsty,

Sarah 

Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilting | Grannies Around the World

I made this quilt for my mom for Christmas. I have started many things for family members and not always gotten them finished. This one I crammed until Christmas Eve!

This is the first time I have tried anything fancy for a quilting motif. It is not an all over design and the batting is fairly puffy so I didn't want to quilt too dense. This quilt is wondrously heavy and snuggly at the same time. :) 

I was laughing with a new friend I made at my first quilt guild meeting, about being so bone tired and bleary-eyed trying to meet a deadline and how we keep going. Perseverance my friends, that is the stuff that quilters are made of.

My mom  helped me choose the sashing fabric and the widths for this quilt. I spent a lot of my childhood in my mom's sewing room playing with scraps of fabric and rummaging and admiring her stash.

I am pretty grateful to of had that experience and I will always cherish the 70's inspired fabrics and caftans that I subsequently stole and ruined as a teenager.


I owe my mom some crochet shawls too that I wore everywhere as an "outspoken fashion plate teen" I used to wear the craziest of stuff!


Where are all the freaks? Where are all my fearless brothers and sisters?






No matter; I am tamer but still not trusted to dress myself to "fit in" I do get the "you are wearing that?" or the "you cant come with me if you are wearing that!".

I think that shall be my new aim. more of that.

Here is a song that really perked me up today on CBC Radio Two this morning. I am going to try and keep this jive mojo through the day to inspire me.

Until next time friends, stay fearless.



Sarah




Linking to the following linky parties that are super fun!

Finish it up Friday    and:

Quilting | The Best Thrift Fabric Sale

The best fabric sale ever is coming up again and I debate in my mind, do I need more fabric? hahahahahahahahaaaa (maniacal laugh)



 I was so thrilled with the fabric I found at the church sale in 2017. Each piece of fabric is measured, folded and tagged with bands for sale. If you didn't grab it and put it in your garbage bag while you were looking at it it would be gone as soon as you moved along. There were hundreds of people that attended! It was really fun!

I was feeling guilty about going to the sale this year until I started looking at these pictures and started realizing how much of my fabric I actually used up!

  

The pieces above were two dollars all together! These went into the flying geese quilt and the Cabin quilt.

I haven't used any of the above wool and heavier fabrics. I am working on a big dog bed for the big brown dog. Having these fabrics in my stash enabled me to "go for it" even if I ended up using a couple of other upholstery pieces I had.




The country tomato picknick summer blanket is a dream coming.



And a rug hooking kit! can you believe it! so lovely! I took this out of the hoop rolled it up and added it to my rug hooking stash



These are some knits that are in my stash now.



This upholstery fabric is probably destined for the cabin.



All of this thread cost a dollar fifty or something nuts like that, I have used up all of the yellow and red cones along with various little spools. I am now working my way through the pink, blue, and brown cones.



I think I will go again. I really dig upcycling deeply. I wonder how I would track how much yardage I used in 2017?  I guess I could just measure it... I try not to measure my art though. That settles it! I will go and get materials for my art without worry.

Linking up to Main Crush Monday

Until next time friends, stay Arty.

Sarah

Quilting | Q4, Monsters and Lions and Diamonds Oh My!

I have had a lot on the go. I bet you guys didn't know that. I am going to show you all what I have been working on (winky face). I will show you what occupies my time and the back room as we call it.

1. This awesome Over the Rainbow blanket

Which is almost done.

2. 

The Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds Quilt 

Needs more HST's but is coming along nicely

3. 

Flying out of my Sewing Room Geese

I have several more rows waiting to be attached to this. 

4. 

I Did the Monster Mash 

3 1/2'' squares need I say more... except I think it needs more punch, more color, more je ne ses quoi. 

Things look so different in pictures. I work in a really small space so I don't get to see it layed out much. 

Maybe I should join One Monthly Goal and have things like: Make lighting station, Make design wall, Cut up stash.... lol I don't know, it sounds ambitious. I am looking at going back to night classes and well, there won't be room or time for the fabric in my head. (yes I probably have fabric in my head, it's everywhere else) 

Until then, stay clever my friends. 

Linking up with FALQ4 and Finished or not Friday 

Quilting | The Cabin Blanket

Hi, I finished a quilt. The name changed, the design changed, the purpose changed.... sigh, ART. It is now simple pretty and useful. How wonderful is that!

The cabin blanket that was I making a lot of scrappy HST's for; It is finished! This thing was going to be a duvet cover!?!! what was I thinking?! hahaha you can read about in the link above.

I was not sure If I was going to make it with a symmetrical border or not. I decided not and I worked fantastically! This snuggly cutie has been claimed by my fiance. lol. The blanket and me I guess.

It is so soft and snuggly

It has simple quilting that shows on the back and I love this one more than I planned. Most of the fabrics are from my mom's friend and the annual church fabric sale. 

 It has truly grown on me. Its funny how quilts do that



Linked to em's scrapbag http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.ca/