Okay, Blogger--What Gives?

Okay, I ranted about the blogs that I follow being erased from my list. Well, Blogger must have been listening, because just a few minutes later, they were returned.

Thank you, Blogger! Can we be friends again???

A New Adventure

Well, after a summer of not being able to make the bills, the need to homeschool my children (one gifted; one mildly autistic)wins out over returning to my teaching gig. But, we still needed to get some money coming into the household for any "extras" or "fun" that we could even begin to imagine.

Not to mention that my sewing machine is dying and hubby has to work on it each and every time I try to sew for more than 10 minutes or so. Our couch has succumbed to the daily wear and tear (and general disrespect) that my two sons have generously heaped upon it. Add to that the porch and deck that never got built on our house when it was built 5 years ago, and the fact that I haven't had new eyeglasses in 5 years and am starting to have some vision issues. Oh, yeah, don't forget that I have lost 47 lbs. (as of this morning) and I don't have many clothes left that fit.

So, in a moment of pure serendipity, I stumbled across an incredible opportunity. I was invited to a Premier Designs Jewelry party. Needless to say, I am broke, so I made a minimal purchase of small, silver plated earrings. But, the more I looked at the jewelry, the more I was simply impressed with it. I scheduled a party to help my friend out, but eventually, I thought that I could be the Jewelry Lady.

Long story short, this company is amazing, debt free, and based on Biblical principals. So, now I am a Jewelry Lady. I am starting to schedule shows and my kick-off event is on August 14th! I am so excited! I have even been invited to have a booth at a craft show kind of venue. It is all so amazing!!!

If you are in Georgia and would like to know more information, let me know and I will get back with you!

EXPLAIN, please!

I would like to know exactly WHY Blogger just decided to erase all of the blogs that I am following. There were around 100. Now, I will have to take time to try and track them all down again. That makes me so mad!

Technology is supposed to make my life a little easier, not more difficult. UGH!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

well, not exactly in the deep South, but you know what I mean. We are, gulp, 5 months out from Christmas! So, my dining room is looking a little rough with all kinds of Christmas goodness coming together.

Right now, I have cut out pieces to make a certain someone a lap quilt.


And now I am in the middle of cutting up thrifted shirts for a Smokey Mountain Stars Quilt from the Quiltville site. This will be a generous couch quilt for someone special.



Beyond that, I have a log cabin lap quilt ready to go (minus binding) for Christmas day.



So, I am making progress toward all of the gifty goodness! But, there is so much to do and so many secrets to keep--hehehe! Good thing I picked up more shirts at the thrift store today. Got some good colors, even some cool greens!

It's Hard to Keep a Secret!

But, unfortunately, it is very necessary sometimes, especially when the secret involves two matching gift items for nieces' birthdays! I have been dying to post more about them, but I knew that my tech savvy nieces might see them. So....

Without further ado!



This is a purse with two interior pockets made for my 9 year old niece. She seemed to think that it was cool!



This purse is for her big sister who is turning 14! Yikes! She seemed to love that hers was scaled up with a few extra details to differentiate it.

So, I have made two gifts this week. Unfortunately, neither one was a Christmas gift. So, I have to get cracking on that front!

Ruby Blue Quilting Studio: Pillowcases anyone?

Ruby Blue Quilting Studio: Pillowcases anyone?

Tutorial for pillowcase

This is not your ordinary pillowcase method, but a "hot dog" method which leave no unfinished ends to wear out prematurely. I have heard of this method, but didn't know how to do it.

This tutorial is fabulous and makes perfect sense! Check it out for yourself! I know that I will! I'd also love to see pillowcases that YOU have made.

Ruby Blue Quilting Studio: Pillowcases anyone?

Current project

Today, I feel a little like a quilter from during the great depression, cutting buttons off of shirts that are being dissembled for quilt making. Jack, the (seam) ripper makes quick work of this.



Lately, I have been gathering together some older shirts that hubby no longer wears or doesn't like, some homespun looking shirt fabrics from my Mom's stash that was intended to make shirts at one time, and a few shirts I got cheap at GoodWill in order to make a guy quilt for a Christmas gift. Here are some of the shirts.



Here are the other shirts that wouldn't fit into the picture and the homespun fabrics.



I really am getting inspired by some of the quilts that I am finding online that showcase this type of fabric. Some of my favorites are here, here, here, here, and here.

I have some Christmas gift ideas in mind and a few I would like to donate. I keep reading how there are seldom quits donated that are suitable for a man or older boy. These look like they would fit the bill nicely.

Of course, now that my boys are older, I might could make them each a bed quilt that is more "guy" friendly. Oh, so many projects and so little time! But, at least I can shop the GoodWill sales and get cheap fabric!

Life is good!

Check this out!

Tonight, just after midnight, I submitted my first submission to the Stash Manicure blog. So, hop on over HERE and look for my post. I am the one who is not a well known quilter, hasn't written a tutorial or quilt book, and who doesn't have a pattern design company! Hooray for us little gals!

While you are there, send Rae Ann some bloggy love for letting me run with the big (feed?) dogs today!

Whew!

I've been working on some gifty type things lately and while I can't be too forthright about specifics, I am excited about them. DS12 is helping me to pick layouts, colors, etc. and seems to be tolerant of his mom doing continual projects.

For the latest one, I have been using a new (to me) way of connecting quilt as you go blocks together with sashings only on the back. I think it will look very nice, but my machine isn't crazy about sewing through all of the layers at once.

This is pretty much a stash project. I had stashed some completed blocks years ago when my skill set wasn't advanced enough to know how to finish them. They are wonky and show loads of beginner enthusiasm, but not a lot of precision. I love that about them. It reminds me of all of the things I have learned as a quilter and how far I have come. Great gift. Scrappy fabrics with memories attached. No cost. Frugal quilting at it's best!

I can't show you the entire project because of the gifty nature, but I can give you a little hint....

Great News!

I got an email this morning that absolutely blew me away! Rae Ann of the Stash Manicure blog asked me to be a contributor. I will post on July 20th about the purse I just finished.

This is a blog that I frequent for inspiration and the contributors are amazing quilters, designers, organizers--I am completely out of my league, but am loving it!

Look for me here on July 20th!

Finally, a quilty (kind of) project!

The other day, when I took my Mom with me to The Gardener's Quilts in Jackson, I saw this really great purse on display. I checked it out carefully and came home and made my own version of it (sans pattern--can you believe it?).



Here is the interior of the bag. It has 4 pockets, 2 narrow pen/pencil slots, and a look of fabric to hook my keys on. Love it!



The fabric is Nautical and Nice by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I bought a jelly roll to participate in the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. Since my job and family life went haywire, I never did more than a wall hanging with the blocks, so I decided to use the rest in a way that I would enjoy every day.

Ooh! I just bought more Sandy Gervais fabric today! It's a Frolic Jelly Roll and I will be making birthday gifts out of it soon!

Another FAB giveaway!

Check this out. I would love an AccuQuilt Go! cutter, but I know that it's not something I can budget for right now, so these giveaways are wonderful!

A Dream of a Man

My hubby did the most wonderful thing for me tonight. He found a book on our bookshelves about fixing sewing machines. I am sure that I bought it at one point, but I am not mechanical at all.

Well, long story short, he fixed my sewing machine! He hasn't tackled the one that is horribly out of time, but maybe he will. He took my very simple straight stitch machine that wasn't making a reliable seam. I had tried every tension trick that I had ever learned (and made up a couple). He took it apart, found and solved the problem and it now works better (and much more quietly) than when it was new, even.

I pray that there is a new machine in my future so that I can continue to make my Crazy Shortcut Quilts which need some fancy stitches, but I am thrilled that I am not permanently sidelined without any machine.

What a wonderful man!

Fun!

Lately, we have been having some issues. It has been really hard as a family to deal with my lack of an income. Since I am home schooling this year, there is no income to look forard to. It's been a bit of a bummer as we adjust. I was deeply in need of some fun....

Yesterday, I took my Mom to the Gardener's Quilts in Jackson. For her birthday, she wanted to pick out materials to make a friend a quilt for her first grandbaby. So, I took her to their new location.

What a cute little store! It was brightly lit and well organized and Mrs. Jan, the owner, is always wonderful to see. Can't wait to go back when I can buy a bit for me.

They will be offerring a scrap quilting class soon which ultimately ends up with a star quilt. I am really excited because I know of someone who would just LOVE a quilt for Christmas.

They also had an adorable little purse on display, made from jelly roll strips. I really liked it and came home and sorted through jelly roll strips that I already have. I found some of Nautical and Nice by Sandy Gervais in red, white, and blue that fit the bill! I had originally purchased it to do a quilt along, but after doing a few blocks, I couldn't fit it in my schedule. So, instead of feeling really bad about it, I will make my blocks into an adorable wall hanging and use the rest of the strips for my purse. I am so excited!

Can't wait to finish and show pictures!

Not much going on around here

Summertime, and the living's easy! That song keeps rolling through my mind lately. It has seemed both quiet and hectic around here.

While DS13 working with the math tutor has been a rousing success, I had to move all of my sewing and quilting stuff out of the dining room in order to make room for the new home school. I must admit that it looks fantastic without all of my clutter visible, but I have had to pile it up in my bedroom (bleck)!

So, now I am slowly working on the big dig to get my bedroom and bath under control. It started as horrendous on Monday when hubby and I first started tackling it. I have figured out how to make a sewing space, but, good grief, it isn't going to look very nice until I can invest in a nice sewing cabinet that will double as a night stand. Oh well.

Soon, I can resume my creative projects (I hope). I am definitely going to be trying to use up more and more of my stash to help the storage issues that are rampant when it comes to my hobby. Sigh.

Today, it is only moderately horrendous, being about half dug out or so. I will continue plugging along and hope that I can do enough to make a visible difference soon. That helps me to keep plugging along.

That's all for now. Hope to post more interesting stuff soon!