So Exciting

It's funny what small things can bring happiness into ones life.

This is my new spray bottle. I purchased it at a Sally Beauty Supply store. My "wacky" girlfriend, Kathy, told all the "wackies" about her new find and that she was very happy with the spray range and the rest of us really needed to get one and try it out.  Of course it took me a week or so to get to town but I tell you, I'm very happy with this little bottle. It mists the fabric with a gentleness, much better than my old spray bottle did.

Bye bye old bottle!

Monday, Monday

It's Design Wall Monday which, these days I really enjoy because just knowing that Monday is coming makes me want to get in some sort of sewing. Pop over to Judy's to see what others are doing.

I'm making progress with the hand embroidery.

I've gotten the blocks together & decided it still needed something so I'm adding more vines & leaves. This will take a bit more time but will be well worth it.

I'm loving this look. Notice the markings for the vines.....I'm using that FriXion Pilot pen which when ironed, it disappears.

It's A Start

I finally decided to put my Leafing Through the Year in the frame & began hand quilting. Close your mouths! Laugh out loud! Yes, I'm actually hand quilting this on. Hopefully it'll be finish by May but don't hold me to that!

I used a FriXion Pilot pen to mark the quilt in a cross-hatch design. Surely I can keep most of my meager hand quilting skills on the line.

Photo by Amazon

 

My New Baby

Yep, it's a Rowenta..... my very first one. Usually I buy the cheapest iron I can find because they usually wear out so quickly, but this little baby came highly recommended by one of my girlfriends. So, of course I couldn't resist. So far, so good. It's gets as hot as I need, it doesn't shut off (quilters really don't like it when their irons shut off) and it's light weight..... Love it!!!!

Happy New Year and New BOM

Happy New Year Everyone!

Wow, it's 2012!  I can't believe it. Way back in grade school, 1960s,  I never thought that I'd be living in the 21 century with all these new and marvelous gadgets to play with..... iPhone; iPad; iPod; HD television; Bose radio systems; cars/SUVs with video capability and GPS; e-Cards; Kindle which is a great way to read just about anything (novels, in my case) and saves our "trees;" refrigerators that house TVs; computered recipes, shelves that slide, constrict, and have several temperature controls to store meats, milk, veggies and whatever else you can think of  easily; the ever changing computer and then there are the wonderful embroidery/sewing machines. Alot of these gadgets do several things that make our lives more livable.
But I'm babbling. So allow me to get to the point. I've been working on a new BOM. This one involves loads of hand embroidery fun.  I've named it "Leafing Through The Year" Don't worry, When Nature Calls BOM  will be posted in a day or so.

Link here or at my Sidebar!
This is also Design Wall Monday. Judy has a list of great quilters with some wonderful projects going on. Pop over and check them out.

Through It All & Other Things

Today is my brother's birthday or was. Brother David, that was my nickname for him, was ill all of his life but most of the time you'd never know it.  Not the outside world anyway.  He was a fighter from beginning to end, eighteen months behind me and we fought like cats and dogs as siblings often do. 

Several bloggers with young children had commented about the fighting and their worries of when it would let up.........I laughed and shared me experiences with my brother, the fights, the words, everything but through it all we loved each other and would never allow another to speak ill of the other.....

I miss my brother whose be gone for many years now.  I still laugh at things he'd said or done and all the fun we had fishing and doing chores.

Happy Birthday, Brother David!  I know he's absent from the body.....present with the Lord!

On another note, it's the day before Super Bowl....what to do, what to do.....well, I was digging through my fabric and found this little UFO that I was going to do something with but as things happen, it got pushed to the side and now I have no clue as to what I was going to do.........oh me!

Lookie at what I've gone and purchased to add to my scissor collection.  Isn't she cute and stylish. Perfect for my small scissor clippings.

Here's my BOM blocks to share so far.  Check out my sidebar to get instructions to the "Lazy Hearts" blocks.

Put Down The.........

 See my new baby....it's the Kindle......my mom gave it to for me for Christmas.......OMG......I went crazy.....I mean absolutely C R A Z Z Z Z eeeeeeeeee........
Sewing......who needs to sew.........
Embroidery.....who needs to do machine embroidery when there's reading to be done!
I have had the hardest time putting the thing down........my girlfriend Kathy warned me but I didn't listen..........I needed help and quickly.  So I got out the old trusty timer, set it for 2 hours to read .......with the hopes of stopping when it rang off to do something else......like house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, visiting with the little princesses.............Did it work, you ask?.........................
......................................Well...
......................................................hummmmm......
.................................................................................
....................................................................................YES!
.....................................................................................................I got busy!

I've been thinking about trying my hand at a BOM (Block of the Month).  It will give me a chance to practice my hand embroidery (I'm a true beginner). 
"Lazy Hearts" is a one year BOM project that is whimsical and a fun way to sharpen your skills.   If you'd like to join me, feel free!  I have placed a PDF (on my sidebar) for you to download ...... with all the instructions and patterns. Join the fun, why don't you.
My girlfriend Molly is hosting her second BOM......"Boot Bash"......make sure you check it out, as well.

New Drawers

Gotcha!  I know what you were thinking with my title.  heheheheheheheheh    I purchased another drawer unit and a 24 X 36 inch Formica board. 



I will be taking this little number on all my retreats........each drawer houses threads, scissors, small rulers, fabric squares and every other gadget I could think of.  My sewing chair fits snugly between the 2 drawer units.......Velcro holds the board in place from underneath.......I can't wait to try this out.

On the "Rack"

The other day I was surfing the Net when I ran across a blogger who uses dish racks to hold her rulers when she goes on retreats.  She stated that the dish rack stays packed to be used on the road so that she didn't have to always remember to bring it........great idea.

Here's an example of what I'll be taking on our annual opening deer season retreat.  Anything to make life easier so that you can have more fun!

Bind & Contain

I am always looking for ways to keep my sewing area and travel gear contained and manageable. These two  containers are great for just that situation.  The first holds most of my pre-wound bobbins and the second is for extra feet for my machines and whatever else I can stuff into it.....LOL

This great product is wonderful, the Q-Knot.  These replace the zip-ties that I can never reopen (can you relate).  Anyway, these are make from tough stretchable rubber. I use them not only in my sewing room and all over the house to cinch up those electrical cords but I also take them with me when on retreat. They keep cords out of the way easily.  Another use on retreats, these are great when used as tags to quickly identify machine cases, suitcases, bags, totes and whatever else you can come up with.

I found these at The Container Store but I'm sure you could find them at Office Depot or Max.

Divide and Conquer

I was tired of my threads floating & rolling around in the drawers so I found an inexpensive solution with these interlocking spacers.  Found a couple of packages at The Container Store.  As you can see, you place them in your own configuration......Love it!

Look Into the Light

I was moving things around in my sewing room.......again.......yesterday.....you know re-organizing......anyway, I started pulling like thing together and noticed all the different light sources I've collected over the years.  Some I didn't even bother to photograph and threw in the trash....but these five are special because I've used them in some form or the other when sewing a project.......with varied success.
My favorite is the flexible one second from the left.  It affixes to my machine and gives off light where I need it most.
I've found that the lights that are built into our machines just don't cut it, so I'm always on the lookout for better lighting.  I do prefer lights that can be attached to my machine or on the wall or floor near my machine ....that way it doesn't take up any space around my sewing area.
What about you?  What's your lighting preference?

I Can Explain.......

Does this picture remind you of you......LOL......I can explain all of these.......really I can.

These 3 pair are great for regular sewing. I can't stand the loose thread ends on the backs of my quilts so I use these all the time. I keep a pair on my ironing board, one at my sewing area and one near my cutting mate.  Why, you might ask?  Well usually when I need to use pair, they're way across the room (centimeters...LOL) and I don't want to use time locating them.

These curved scissors are great when embroidering in my hoop.  These babies can get very close to the needle and other hard to reach places.

I used these 2 when cutting paper, stabilizer, tape and even fabric  The blue handle scissors very rarely need sharpening.

More thread snippers. I keep these in my sewing drawer that I take on retreats.

Aren't these cute?  And they really work, too!

Enough said......

How many scissors do you own and operate?

Washers

Not what you were thinking, uh!

These little bobbin washer could make a big difference in your sewing, quilting and machine embroidery life.

My girlfriend, Annie (no blog) introduced them to our group a few months ago when we were all complaining about the bobbin threads always slipping or knotting up.  Annie whipped out a package of washers and handed them out and said, "Just try it....you'll like it."  She was so right. I, for one couldn't believe the difference that little reinforcement hole made...remember those from elementary school.....LOL.....

These washers are make from some sort of plastic so they last a long time. The ones I purchased were designed by Sharon Schamber, author, teacher and master quilter.

If you've had trouble with your bobbin and can't seem to find a solution, you might try the washers.

Thread Stands - Where Do You Stand?

This past weekend, our "wacky" 6-Pac group met at the Deer Camp for some well deserved girl and sewing time.  One of our many discussion was about which stands we prefer using when machine embroidering and which threads we use or don't care for (for another post).  Above are several pics of stands.  The first one is a single stand which I've used many times in my sewing and embroidery ventures. It works well with threads that need to relax a bit before going through the needle.........usually these are threads that are twisted (metallic threads are one example) so the longer it takes to get to the needle, the better.
The next 3 stands are great for machine embroidery projects where you have many thread changes.  They make it easier to place the needed threads within easy reach, placement order, and quick threading which speeds up the embroidery process.
Note the last stand in the above photo. It has a place to store hoops. This particular stand is probably used mainly for thread and hoop storage but as we all know, quilters are very resourceful and can adapt just about anything.
What are your thought on the matter of thread stands? Even if you don't do machine embroidery, having an extra stand can come in handy. I'd love to hear from you.

My New Baby

Meet my new baby........Shark!  Yes you heard it here. Remember I posted awhile back about my Shark steam mop thingy...which by the way works wonders.......I didn't realize I was working so hard with my old mop until I tried the Shark......sorry, I'm beginning to sound like a commercial.  Anyway, while surfing the "Net," (Always a bad idea late at night...hehehehehe) I came across an ad about the Shark iron......after reading all the pros and cons, I decided to buy one and try it out.  Please note:  I've been the proud owner of  irons from brands such as Black & Decker, Proctor Silex, Sunbeam, Panasonic just to name a few.........I have never owned a Rowenta (Way too high a price.....I know what some of you are thinking....by the time I send all my money on these other irons, I could have purchased a great iron such as Rowenta)  I hear you shouting at me......LOL.......Usually, my irons last about a year and a half if I'm lucky.  My mom can't understand the short lifespan...which I always say, "Mom, I'm a quilter, my iron is on all the time."  She usually looks at me like I'm crazy and responds....."Well, turn it off between usage."  She just doesn't understand....."I'm a quilter, there is no down time unless it's bedtime, Mom!"   Sign...big time!      Please weigh in on this topic, I'd love to hear what you think.

The Light

Recently I purchased two "Bendable Bright Light" (BBL)kits for my Pfaff and Janome because I was tired of eye strain and constantly moving my wonderful Ott light which I could never position quite right.  I must say that the BBL is working very well.  It sticks on the side of your machine and doesn't have to be removed when your machine is stored in its case.  I love it....and give the BBL 3 snaps up!

I've just finished putting a border around this little number. If you remember, it's from a retreat back in the fall.  I thought it needed something and ran across the fabric from my stash....can you believe it!!!!!

It now measures 33 1/2" X 38" and once quilted will be displayed on my mom's table as a Fall table-runner.