(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

New fabric

versus
Unfortunately, I know who's going to win. Sigh. School is back in session.

Wordless Wednesday

Advancement Statement

Just a fancy way of saying "Progress Report" - but when I typed it in, I discovered that I'd used that super original title for a previous blog post. I know, shocking, eh? So I whipped out the trusty thesaurus (my favorite dinosaur) and came up with that beauty you see at the top of the post. You're welcome.

Having no thread is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it forced me to do some prep work that I would have cheerfully ignored. The curse is that I'm finding new projects to do. I meant to take pictures of my personal form of project organization, but I forgot until 17 words ago. So you just get to see mostly finished stuff. And one of those curses.

First, my red and aqua matchbox quilt. This is the one I'm keeping. I can't access the network at home to get the photo of the one I gave away. They're practically identical, so if you cross your eyes whilst looking at this picture, you just might see two.

Apologies, but the grass outside is a tad uneven, so it didn't lay perfectly flat. That, and I had to hurry and take the pictures before Laurel got tired of holding Henry back. When my little man sees a blanket spread out, he views it as a personal invitation to walk to the middle and dance. Hence my hurry.

Here are my three favoritest blocks, though I do love them all. These ones I just love a little bit more than the rest.


And my favorite of the favorites. Strawberries on aqua with red gingham. How awesome is that?
And I think I'm officially burnt out on that pattern for a while, although it is a lot of fun and super cute.

So, as for my crafting curse. I made a "No Thread To Do List" and have been gleefully crossing things off. Then, I was getting out yet another bit of prep to do when I found this:
The quilting elves must have hidden it on the back of the shelf. I have no recollection of purchasing it, but I must have. I know Aaron didn't - you mention "jelly roll" to him and he thinks of dessert. Not that I wouldn't love for him to surprise me with a stack o' jelly rolls, but I know this is my forgetfulness at work, not his thoughtfulness.

So I'm a bit giddy. See, I was going to order one of these to complete a project with another jelly roll. I already have the other one - it's bright, you can't miss it. So now I can just go right ahead and prep the quilt. So excited that I have a bit of instant gratification. I've a mind to buy a few more and "lose" them. But then I'd know I'd lost them. So it wouldn't work.

Monday and the thread sale at JoAnn's couldn't get here any sooner. I want to get back to my sewing machine!

Oh, and today is my half birthday! Just realized it. I think I'll make myself half a cake. Or eat half a cake.

When life gives you lemons...

...or, when you run out of white thread and you're too cheap to go buy more until it's on sale (next week at JoAnn's).

Yep, there I was, cruising along on my HST barn raising quilt. Had 8 rows out of twelve done. And I run out of thread. Curses. Searched the sewing room. I have all kinds of notions - velcro, elastic, ric rac, bias tape, snaps, and colored threads. No white.

So what does a girl do?

She works on other projects. I've had these pillowcases cut out for ages for Laurel's new room decor. Not that she has an old room decor. But when we move and she has her own room again, this is what she'll get:

I didn't make a quilt. Not because I'm a bad mom. Because I already gave her a quilt and there was an incident with grape juice that made me decide that a quilt would be for later. Instead, I found that this quilt from pbteen.com matched perfectly. I've also got some shams to match.

I ironed the rest of my HSTs, cut out some little gifts for Christmas and organized my fabric. But I'm dying to get back to sewing.

Oh, and yesterdays post. Loving those Dutch pinwheels. I need more of that fabric so I can make more blocks. They're even prettier in person.

Happy sewing!

Wordless Wednesday

A Message from my Sponsor

I can count on a few things in my little world.

1. Aaron can always make me laugh.
2. I will never know what it is like to sleep through the night.
3. Pride and Prejudice just keeps getting better (and don't get me started on Colin Firth!).
4. When I get out my sewing machine, Laurel will ask:

"When will you teach me how to sew?"

I've put it off for long enough. First, she had to be able to count and do some basic math. Then, she had to be tall enough to reach the pedal. Well, she's ready. And she wanted to start with clothes for her new chipmunk, Rainbow. Um, no. But she did agree to a pillowcase, tutorial found here.
I bought the Tweety Bird fabric a while back, knowing she was going to want it. Sure enough, it's what she went for first. Thank heaven I bought a yard!

So here's how it went down. We measured. I cut. We measured again. I cut again. Laurel talked to me about everything. Laurel picked out her ric rac color (yellow to match Tweety). I ironed. I pinned. She sewed, VERY slowly. Painfully slowly, but she wanted to be careful and I was patient.

Oh, while I pinned she organized my pin cushion by color. Because it needed to be done.
She learned that there are a lot of steps to sewing. Stopping, pressing, pinning again, trimming corners, then sewing some more. She had fun and kept saying "I'm good at this!"
The finished pillowcase!
Honestly, I did most of the work, and that's okay with me. I wanted her to get bit by the sewing bug and see how fun it is. She'll be starting a little patchwork project with some 2.5" squares I have in my stash. One of her animals, I believe Brownie Bear, has a birthday coming up.

Now, back to my HSTs!
Yes, I share a table with a big ol' box o' crayons. The life of a homeschooler. But aren't they pretty? I ironed them last night and now I'm getting started on putting them together. These are so much fun to play with!

And I'm baking off the best chocolate chip cookies. EVER. Trust me. Try them. You won't be sorry, except that you have to let the dough hang out in the fridge for a day. Resist the urge to eat the dough.

Status Update

Just a quick word from the sewing trenches - oh, who am I kidding. I'm loving every minute of it. If I could drop out of school and spend my days with my sewing machine and my kids, I'd be the happiest camper. But I will take what life gives me and just keep praying for that oh-so-perfect job to come along for Aaron so I can make that little dream come true.

So, um, a status update really should have a photo of what is done. And TWO quilt tops are done. I took a photo of the first one right away, because I gave it away yesterday. But I have yet to get said photo off the camera. But it's coming. I'll post pics of both. And yes, I gave away one of the red/aqua matchbox quilt tops. And it felt so good to do it. A quilt store here in Seattle is taking donations for quilts or quilt tops. If they aren't quilted, they take care of that and then pass them on to women and children at a local shelter. Laurel and I got to talking about it and we thought that a teenage girl would really like something bright and cheery. So we gave one away.

I figured out what I want to do with my two Christmas layer cakes - I'm going to make them up in these two quilt patterns. Both are on Moda Bakeshop - don't make me post links, please!

Okay, I will. The first is called Easy as Cake
This one is called Christmas Packages
But I'm not just making plans for more projects. I'm getting things done, I tell you. I just started sewing on my half-square triangles and I *heart* HSTs! So easy and so quick and just fun. I have all of them cut and sewn for my barn raising quilt - going to iron them first thing in the morning and hopefully have that one done by tomorrow night. Wishful thinking, I know, but a girl's gotta have a dream.