Costume-Making

Rarely have I spent so much of my sewing time working on Halloween costumes as I have this month. Typically, Halloween celebrating is pretty low on my to-do list. It's just never been a "thing" for me. Decorating the house, lawn ornaments, involved costumes - not my jam. Ever.

However we had an invitation to some friends' for a costume party on Friday night. These are fun people, and so are the other guests we know who would be there. I searched Pinterest for easy "couples" costumes. The easiest one I could find was Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Boom! Voila!

I needed something easy and fast because I didn't even begin looking for ideas until I had less than a week to work with. (Procrastinator!) The Flintstones were cavemen characters, so I knew I could cobble this whole look together with as limited real sewing as possible - I didn't have to hem anything. Raw edges everywhere. It didn't matter if it looked crappy - a cavewoman made it! Hah!

If I had been more timely in my planning, I would have figured out some wig options, since Wilma was a redhead. I found a couple online that would have worked, but time was too limited by the time I began shopping.

Now, you may recall earlier in the month, I was called on by my sweet little nieces to make Harry Potter robes for them to wear to their school Halloween party. These did require a bit more attention to detail, and I was so pleased with the results. The twins were, too. *smile*

Here are some pictures that my brother sent of the girls in their robes. I love how they loved them.

Great little Gryffindors and Ravenclaws don't you think? The girls have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books, so this was a perfect option for them this Halloween. Yay for reading!

I hope you all have a fun Halloween week. Our celebrating is pretty much over, and that's okay with me. No trick-or-treaters will find their way to our door as we are too remote. I now look forward to Thanksgiving.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Christmas Prepping

 In an effort to finish off some works in progress (WIPs) that are cluttering up my sewing room, I picked up a small project that will take just a bit of time and focus to be complete. And the bonus?? It's a small Christmas quilt, so I will have a pretty piece to add to my holiday décor as a wall hanging or table topper.

I am fuzzy on all the particulars surrounding the creation of this little quilt, but what I do recall is that I had dug into my tub of Roman Holiday/3 Sisters fabric remnants and found that I had the makings of these HSTs. I pieced them until I ran out, then used other remnants for a pieced border.

Above is an old (and poorly lit) picture of the quilt parts on the design wall. This shows the pieced border and corner blocks. This old post tells me that this little quilt had its start way back in December of '17. I wouldn't have guessed it was that far back, honestly. Just goes to show that time has a way of getting away from us. Hmm...

I have tried to be diligent and do at least some stitching every day for most of the past week - just 15 or 20 minutes - and at this rate I feel confident that I can claim this as a finish in short order. With the 'big-stitch' technique and the simple Baptist fan design, the stitching goes pretty fast.

Making the stitching even more enjoyable is the new book I have queued up on Audible - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. I have been hearing quite a bit about this book lately, and at just chapter 5 or 6, I am quite enthralled by the tale.

(from Google search)

Big doings in the long arm room tomorrow! We have an electrician coming to install a new ceiling light and fan! I will definitely bring updates on that as they become available!

Hope you are having a great week!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Well! THAT'S finally done!

Gah!! The first big assignment of the semester is the biggest one of the entire semester, and at last, I have finished grading it!

That big whooping noise you might have heard yesterday just after 6pm likely was me beginning my celebration.

I purposely build my classes to get this intimidating assignment out of the was first - both for my students and myself. From here on out, grading will be a cakewalk compared to this one.

Because of the school work, I have very little to share on the blog today. I did spend Saturday sewing here with Sharon, and I have all my jelly roll blocks finished as a result of that. We laid them out on the bed to see the final effect. Click here for when I began the JR quilt.

This picture looks busy at first glance because I have a star quilt on the bed with a large patchwork pillow. I placed my red and white jelly roll blocks right on top -- and of course, Gracie had to get involved.

At this point, I'd made 20 red blocks with white chains and 20 white blocks with red chains for a total of 40 blocks. Where Gracie is standing is a perfect spot for two more blocks, one of each, so I have now made those for a current grand total of 42 blocks. The quilt will be 6 blocks wide and 7 blocks long.

I have made a change -- correcting those 4 blocks in which I'd put the 4-patch part in the center. (click here for the pictorial of that) I was thinking it wouldn't make any difference, but as I laid out the blocks, it did interfere with the (very) subtle secondary pattern that emerges. Unsewing and making them right didn't take too much time, and I'm glad I did it.

By the final few blocks, I was running out of the original partial jelly rolls of La Vie en Rouge by French General/Moda. If you know French General, you know that all their lines play so very well together, so I dug into my FG remnant tub for suitable additions. That tub is quite full, and I could end up making more blocks, but then my quilt would not qualify as a "jelly roll" quilt. I think I will stop here, ending up with a nice-sized lap quilt - a true jelly roll quilt, in other words.

I tell you, the weirdest thing - when both Sharon and I looked at this quilt we could not see those diagonal lines at all. The blocks just looked like a big mess. But through the camera, the diagonals were so pronounced. Isn't that strange? How can a camera view change a quilt so much from a direct eye-view?

I am glad to be back in action here on the blog. Hopefully the rest of the semester will be easier to manage.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Moving Right Along...Slowly

I knew when I agreed to take on the third class at OUC that this fall would begin to feel very hectic. I have been feeling it for about a week, and as a result the long arm room activities have stalled.

The last pictures I shared were from very early in the month, and the long arm was in pieces spread across the floor waiting to be rebuilt. We have done that, and the stall now is the leveling of the table so that the machine stays where I leave it instead of strolling/rolling/listing off to the back or the side. We stopped in to a quilt shop in McArthur last week to pick the brain of a man who sells and operates Tin Lizzies, and he gave us some very good information which we have yet to try. I have every confidence that we will be up and going soon.

The McArthur Quilt Shop has been incredibly helpful in answering my questions about this machine. If I end up needing it, he will even make a house call to fix the problem.

My pictures here are showing a very bare room. I still need to iron and rehang the curtains along with reattaching the curtain hardware. All the outlet covers, vent cover, and switch covers have been reaffixed, although these pictures were taken prior to the fact. I have been giving some thought to what I will use to decorate the walls in this room. Since the long arm takes up so much of the space, there will be very little other furniture in the room, so wall art will be a must.

So besides my three composition classes, what all has been going on around here? Let's recap a few highlights.

Friday was my mother's birthday, and several available family members gathered at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Hillsboro for a fun dinner celebration.

Saturday was DH's birthday, but we both planned to be involved in History Day activities. To celebrate him, we spent Friday on a long Spyder ride to McArthur and Hocking Hills.( That was before going to Hillsboro for dinner.)

History Day was lots of fun and not too much work, as I was quilting, at least. I love talking to folks who stop by; I catch up with people I've not seen in awhile, and I get to hear many reminiscences of quilts and grandmas, and the like.

On Saturday evening friends invited us over for a bonfire/wiener roast.

Sunday saw us busy with sewing Harry Potter robes for my twin nieces - now nearly 12 years old. I will share pictures of that fun in an upcoming post. While the girls and I were busy in the sewing room, their dad (my brother Mark) and DH took a load of bedroom furniture to my sister's in Hillsboro. Finally, my front room is back to normal!

Then Tuesday night, I hosted my card club ladies. I love having them come here, and it had been awhile! They'd not seen our newly painted kitchen table and chairs, nor several other of the home improvements we have made here in the last 6 months or so.

With all this craziness, I am not getting much quilting done. However, I do have Frankfort girls
at Jan's on Friday morning, and Sharon P. is coming for a sewing day on Saturday. Yay! Hopefully, I will have all my essays graded and will be able to enjoy guilt-free quilting.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

History Day

Since 2010, I have volunteered to demonstrate hand quilting for the Greenfield Historical Society's  annual History Day festivities. The big day is always the first Saturday in October, so guess where I will be tomorrow? I've only missed one since 2010, and that was due to strep throat.

I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at the quilts I have worked on for each of those previous History Days. The pink and brown quilt shown below was my project for both 2010 and 2011 - I hardly quilted on it at all in the year between one and the next, but I can say that it is now finished.

In 2012, I worked on Long Road Home. I loved quilting this quilt. Maybe because I love the quilt! It was fun to piece, and it was fun to quilt. I have shared it often here on the blog and on Instagram, and it always gets a lot of praise, which is appreciated because this was a lot of work!

And to prove it, I was still plugging away on Long Road Home the next year, 2013, and it hadn't been ignored like the previous quilt had. I worked on this a long, long time.

And, I'm almost embarrassed to show you the 2014 quilt - yes, it was still Long Road Home. It was a really, really long road, I guess! In my defense, I don't spend a lot of time throughout the year doing hand quilting.(Stating the obvious, duh!) I have a fun '14 picture of sisters who sat down to try their hand at quilting for a bit. Look at how they are concentrating!

In 2015, I worked on this star quilt. I hand pieced all of the star blocks and then hand pieced the top. So I decided that hand quilting was essential. Interestingly, the finished Long Road Home is draped over the chair in the background.

In 2016, I worked on two quilts - one in the big frame and one in a lap frame. I am glad I took two options. The marking tool I used on the big quilt smeared so terribly that I stopped almost immediately. I still have not finished it; I am in a quandary as to removing the graphite markings. Currently it is folded in the closet of my sewing room. The little quilt in the lap frame is finished.

History Day 2017 is the one I missed due to illness. As I have read back through the archived posts, I see that I called it upper respiratory infection, and not strep throat. I was pretty sick, either way.

For History Day 2018, I worked on a simple Thimbleberries quilt - I forget the name - and it will also be the quilt I work on tomorrow. I have done zero stitching on this quilt in this entire year. I am actually looking forward to getting back to it.

If you happen to find yourself near Greenfield, OH, tomorrow or are looking for a fun outing for a fall day, come on over for a visit! The Historical Society owns several buildings, and all will feature displays and activities. Good food will be available, too! Freshly roasted pork for sandwiches are featured every year. MMM-good!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

My Seasonal Table Cloth

My goal of finishing this pumpkin table cloth last month did not happen, therefore I have been determined to do it as early in this month as I could - I mean, it is the month for 'punkins!'

I first wrote about this project in a post from a few weeks back. It was started long, long before, though - like maybe 2 years prior. I had made some progress, but when I couldn't find my stash of Wonder Under, I just stopped, and stuck it all in a plastic tub. Typical.

All those months ago, I had pulled together a variety of oranges and I had a perfect brown for my base. I had even cut out 6 pumpkins.

But, like I said, I needed Wonder Under for the next step. I am sure I let the holiday get away from me, and so rather than get the necessary product, I tucked it away for another day. (That day came two years later, sadly. I am so good at procrastinating; you knew that, right???)

Since I'd made this a goal, I did finally buy the Wonder Under, and I got busy on finishing the table cloth. Tracing already-cut-out shapes was not exactly fun, but doable. Then I applied them to the cloth which  had already cut into a 43" circle.

Next, I had to zigzag stitch the pumpkins onto the cloth, which took me a few days to get to because I had to switch out sewing machines - my Featherweight was up, and it doesn't do zigzag. Finally, today, I "got 'er done."

The lining is not exactly orange, but it was the best I could do as orange isn't typically something I buy in large quantities. This peach/coral by Joanna Figuroa/Moda is close enough. It is a nice feminine feel compared to the festive Halloween look of the front.

Decorating for Halloween has never been a big deal for me, so this is about as festive as I will get.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hello October!

Another new month! Welcome, October!

 

September is done and gone - the months continue to just fly by. I try to make every day count - accomplish something worthwhile each day - I don't want to get to the end of my day and wonder what I did all day long. So let's take a look at the noteworthy accomplishments and activities of the last month.

My collage contains two quilts in the top row, both of which I quilted on my friend Terry's machine. What great practice this was for me! The OSU t-shirt quilt is a donation to my DH's college fraternity, and the blue/white quilt was a wedding gift to Will and Kristi (see center photo of collage). The other top-row picture is of our moving of the garden shed from one side of the backyard to the other with the help of our Mennonite neighbors, Daniel and Harlan.

The middle row of the collage features the one book I spent most of the month with. I had an audiobook of Circe checked out of the library and LOVED it so much that I renewed it and listened to it all the way through a second time. I have never listened to a book twice, so that tells you how enamored I am over it. I will refrain from saying any more until after our book club meets to discuss it. Then there's our newlyweds at the reception. What a fun day it was celebrating them. The last picture in the middle row is of a new quilt I started called Diagonal Madness using Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

The bottom row shows the pumpkin tablecloth I am making. I had hoped to have it complete by the end of September, but I still have a bit yet to do - stitching around each pumpkin and making a backing for it. The middle picture represents my homage to National Sew a Jelly Roll day. I made up a block using two partial jelly rolls of a French General fabric line called La Vie en Rouge. I have made good progress on it. The final pic shows my DH painting the room which will soon house my long arm machine. It has been in the basement - unused - for two years, so it was time for a change.

And about that goal of moving the longarm upstairs by the end of September??? Did I achieve my goal?

Yes, it is moved upstairs. By about 8pm yesterday, we finished lugging all the parts up two flights of stairs. Whew! Since I didn't specify that I wanted it assembled upstairs, I guess I can claim success on the goal. *ha!*

As I begin this new month, I have a house in total havoc. The moving of a bedroom suite out of one bedroom, and a longarm machine into that space has resulted in our having furniture and "stuff" everywhere.

This is what my front room looks like. A dresser, nightstand, headboard, footboard, rungs, mirror, and drawers are spread out all over the place, awaiting delivery to my sister's later this week.

The upstairs hallway is equally cluttered. The other bedroom suite dresser is piled up with miscellaneous items; there's a tall cupboard that will be returning to the bedroom; at the far end, an old sewing table will also be returned to the room. Currently, I have to sidle in to my sewing room through that narrow gap. Besides all of the stuff in these two pictures, in our bedroom we have the actual sewing parts of the longarm. *chaos!*

Hopefully, some normalcy will return to these parts, soon. Of course, I will share all here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!