Sewing Room

I love checking out blogs when girls show their before and after pictures. I always start cleaning my room and THEN take a picture. I always forget the before picture.....

I don't have a big room, it's like 8 x 12 or something crazy like that. You don't want to go turning around too quick in there or you land on something. Here's 3 pictures of my cutting and sewing area. I have a lot of pincushions on the shelves over my cutting area and above the cork board over my sewing machine is another shelf with some pincushions.I'm in another pincushion swap that ends this week so I'll have more to show next week maybe...

Twice the Charm

Yesterday was an ugly, rainy, cool day so I spent my day cutting out my Twice the Charm kit called "Subtle". It's part of the Main Street Cotton Shop's club. The center of the blocks are a black/brown print and the outside are 48 different charm strips from their Subtle Solids line.

I got all the blocks assembled and I got the rows done but they are not connected...I just couldn't wait though so I took them outside and arranged them on the lawn

I also spent some time and finished up my pincushions for a swap I'm doing with one of my online quilting groups

Can it really be 21 years ago today?

9/9/2009

Can it really be that my "baby" is 21 today? I find it hard to believe but it is true...

Happy 21st Birthday Sarah!!!!

This picture is from last year....We won't be celebrating with her in person this year but we sure will be thinking about her.

Playful

This quilt is 48 x 48 and made with a jelly roll of Thimbleberries "Play Date" fabric. I cut the strips last night and then tonight I assembled it. It was a quick and easy project...now to sandwich and quilt it. Seems I've been asked for quite a few baby quilts lately so I thought I'd make a few to have on hand when they're needed.

What's everyone doing for the holiday weekend?

We leave around noon tomorrow (Sat) to take my youngest to college up in Rhode Island. It's a long boring ride from NJ so I have some woolfelt pincushions cut for buttonholing, a book, and thanks to Vickie, I have the new QUILT SAMPLER to read and browse while riding in the car.

Stay safe and enjoy the weekend. I'll be back Sunday night.

Peggy

Blog Giveaway

You have to go over to the Jolly Jabber and check out her blog giveaway....it's a Fig Tree Jelly Roll and it is part of the new club she's doing....go check it out. http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/

Another One Bites the Dust

YAY....I finished another quilt....well, almost. I have the top done, now to find some backing and get it quilted. I think this is the quickest I've ever assembled a top. I love the pattern and I'm thinking I need to make this again in another colorway.....What do you think?

Peggy

I'm working on another one

I have been working on another quilt for the past 2 days. It's a Heather Mulder Peterson pattern called "Double Takes II" which can be seen here http://ankastreasures.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/double-takes-2-cover-500-x-772.jpg

I bought it with a fabric kit back around Easter but never did anything with it.

Here's what it looked like this morning after making 36 9 inch half square triangles last night

The green fabric at the bottom will be the first border and the pink will be the outside border....first though I have to add white squares to these hst blocks.....

I worked all afternoon on it and here's what it looks like tonight.

Aple Orchard Runner

Yes, Robin talked me into joining a new Block of the Month Club with her back at the beginning of the summer, and this week we got our first kit. It's called Apple Orchard and it's made from all Thimbleberries Fabrics. I cut my kit out last night and after lunch today I assembled it. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I have to sandwich it and do the quilting and binding but I wanted to show you how it looks so far......

CLEANING OUT MY CABINETS

In an effort to clean out my sewing room cabinets and use up the fabric I have I remembered about this Sanctuary fabric that I have and want to use to make a rail fence quilt. I have 14 quarter yard pieces, 2 1 yard pieces and a piece approx 3 yards. I need more in order to make the top but the theme for 2009 is "use it up" not "buy it up" so I can't buy more in order to start.

Here's where you girls come in. Does anyone have some of this fabric that they'd like to SWAP for a Thimbleberries kit? I probably have every kit that they make so all you'd have to do is decide what you'd like and I'd swap with you....within reason of course. I'm not sending you a $100 kit for 2 1 yard pieces now...I'm desperate but not "crazy".... well, some might say I'm crazy but....

OR, I have some Gingham Girls fat quarters, or some New Hats Old Friends fabric by Sandy Gervais......

Please email me and we'll get to swappin....

Peggy

I'm working on it

Michelle, Robin and I are all working on Gail Pan's "Busy Little Christmas Elves" embroidery blocks and we're all doing them in a different colorway. Michelle is doing hers in red, Robin is doing hers in teal, and I'm doing mine in a variegated green. I guess for about a month now once I shut the sewing machine down at night I will sit till almost midnight stitching on my little blocks so I have quite a few done. I'm sure once Michelle returns from her trek across the country she'll have a couple more done too. Robin is only doing hers in between her crows, christmas wishes and a variety of other projects. Well, I decided I'd assemble what I have and got the first row finished earlier tonight. The fabric that I chose as the focus is a white with Christmas lights in multiple colors of green and red so I figured I could use both red and green fabrics in my assembly. If assembled as the instructions are written, the quilt will finish up to be 56 x 56. I'm off to start the assembly of row 2 now.

Peggy

Seaside Quilt

Back on July 31st I ran across Jaybird Quilt's Blog with her post about buying a quilt. The minute I saw the blocks and fabric I knew I had to have the same quilt. I know, I know, I'm a copycat but I just had to, it was so gorgeous! So, I went on the internet and started buying up blocks of the fabric and even stumbled across a gal on Etsy that had a huge bundle of it. I was fully set to make the quilt. The minute the fabric arrived I started cutting and voile...this afternoon we have a finished quilt!

I took some liberties with the borders since I wanted a wider blue border than the designer had planned and I didn't have the big floral she used on her border but I did have a smaller floral, but other than that, I have the same quilt. Off to the quilter it goes tomorrow afternoon!!! It was hard to get a good picture but I think you can get a good idea of how beautiful it looks...

Peggy

A Giveaway

You have to check out Heather Mulder Peterson's giveaway. She has the best patterns and fabric......I'm heading over now to enter to win....

We Have a Winner

Yes folks, we do have a winner...I was going to wait until Saturday to post but heck....we have a winner so I might as well announce it. The winner is Angela at the Country Cellar! I had quite a few girls that guessed my birthday....hmmmmm, wonder how that happened? So, I'll be mailing out Angela's packie either tomorrow or Saturday. Congrats Ange!
PS: My birthday is 12/22/54- YES, I will be 55 this December!!!

A New Blog Giveaway

Michelle is having a blog giveaway....She's got a great pincushion/scrap holder up there to be given away so hop on over and enter to win : http://afwife85.blogspot.com/
Hurry, hurry......

Impatient

I couldn't wait, I'm impatient, I had to cut into the Surf and Sand fabric.....I knew I wouldn't have enough of the stripe to do many blocks but I did get 4 of them done. Each block is 18 X 18 so I only need 9 of them.

This is going to be a GORGEOUS quilt.

I sure hope the stripe gets here soon....I'm anxious to get a few more done....

Blog Giveaway

As promised, I'm having a blog giveaway. While organizing my embroidery bin yesterday I found that I have 2 of the same pattern. It's called "OLD GLORY" by Crabapple Hill. I LOVE Crabapple's patterns but I really don't need 2 of the same pattern so here's a chance for YOU to own this pattern too. I've put together the necessary floss, floss bags, beads and needles. All you need is the time to do the embroidery and make the pillow. Here's what you have to do....Post a comment guessing my birthday and the closest to the actual date will be picked. I will be picking the winner on August 22nd!
PS: it is not 8/22, and I have not celebrated yet this year.

Peggy

Fabric Has Been Found

I had quite a few emails about the fabric I needed and one girl's suggestion of a shop was just the ticket. I've ordered what I need already and it's on it's way...
Thank you Lori for all your help.
Peggy

191 Posts and Still Going

WOW, who would have ever thought I would ever reach 191 posts? Not me, that's for sure.

I think I will celebrate with a blog giveaway tomorrow.....so, check back then.

In the meantime, I decided to cut out the fabric for this Seaside pattern by Nancy Rink. I found a gal on Etsy that was selling yardage from the entire line of Surf and Sand by Marcus Bros. which happens to be the line Nancy used for her quilt so I snatched it up. I got it all washed and pressed and decided yesterday to cut it out, this way, when I'm not busy I can start making the quilt. I got everything cut and then got to the last instruction piece and it says to cut the stripe into 36 strips. HEY....what's up with that? I only have 1/2 a yard of the stripe! So, I'm putting this out there....

Can anyone help me out with 1/2 a yard or more?????

I'm not asking for a hand out, anyone that knows me knows I will be generous in paying for it or swapping for something else you want or need. So....anyone have any??????

Peggy

I'm Done!

I finished Block #1 on my new Berry Picking Block of the Month. Michelle, Robin and Liz are also doing this and we are enjoying the stitching on it. We tried dragging Vickie S into it but she very politely told us to get lost...she wasn't joining another one even though she was lusting over Liz's pile of floss. Vickie just LOVES floss! Said she's got an obsession or something for it LOL.

So, as I was saying, I finished my block. It took 2 weeks from the day it came to attaching the border fabrics. There's a lot of embroidery on it and since it's done on a gorgeous white on white, you have to wash your hands any time you walk away and come back to it. And yes, when you prick your finger, a warning is to put a darn band aid on it, don't just think you've stopped the blood....ask me how I know this.

It is not an easy block to photograph, I think the light pastels and the shiny tone on tones do something to the picture.

It is gorgeous though and I'm anxiously awaiting the next block to get here.

Peggy

Pincushions, continued.........

I thought I'd dig up a few more pincushion pictures...I thought that any of the newbie collector/swappers out there might need some inspiration....This cute flower is made from woolfelt with some buttonhole stitching and some beading. This Mary E pincushion is one from a swap, but not in my posession...anyone out there have one I can get my hot little hands on?We have some roosters, rolling pins, mice, cats, watermelon slices, pretty fabric flowers....the list is endless. Now, don't ask me how "spidey" got in the mix....I'm thinking this picture might just be Robin's or Michelle's and someone...I don't know who that would be, but someone sent a spidey to visit and they put him out as a "watch spidey maybe?".

So, if you're joining a swap or just want to start making and collecting them and need some inspiration, just look here and lemme tell you, the internet is a wealth of information on pincushion patterns. Ask me how I know that... LOL

Pincushions and Can We Ever Have Enough

Yes, I ask that question "Can we ever have enough pincushions?". I for one have to say "NO".

I love pincushions and have them all over the house...not as decorations though, I take one with me wherever I am sewing and kinda forget to grab it when I leave the room.

Lemme show you a picture of some of my favorites and then maybe you'll share some of yours..

These brown Thimbleberries ones that looks sorta like a flower Michelle made for a swap and for some reason I use that ALL the time next to my sewing machine and I have a woolfelt log one seen here (yellow log with pink flower)that I use on my cutting table that Robin gave me quite a few years ago. Most of these I just display on shelves in my sewing room.... I won't even count how many I have but I think when I repaint the sewing room I'm going to make more shelves to display them all on.....then maybe I'll count them.

OH, and I'll be getting at least 6 more in September because Liz from our BPF group just had a sign up for a pincushion swap... I'll show you mine when I get around to finishing them and before I mail them off to Liz.

For now, I'm off to Joann's to get more beads to make more pincushions...

Peggy

Busy Little Elves Update

I finished assembling block # 2a this afternoon.
Cute isn't it?
Unfortunately for me, I don't have any more of the embroidered blocks done so I did some tracing and tonight I'll be sitting doing 2b so I can assemble and finish # 2 tomorrow.

Is anyone else doing these blocks?

Peggy

Busy Little Elves

I finally found a rainy day to finish assembling block 1 of the Busy Little Elves.

I am enjoying working on these a lot.

Now to go and get some more of the blocks embroidered so I can maybe get this done in 2009!

Peggy

More Elfs and a Finish

I finished the embroidery on 2 more of Gail Pan's "Busy Little Elves". These 2 blocks are only 6.5 in and I'm doing them in a green variegated floss. I'm not thrilled with the lack of variegation in this particular DMC floss but I like the colors so I'll continue. I'm sure once all the blocks are done they will look nice, especially since I have some really cute fabric for the borders.

Also, Robin is OBSESSED with Halloween and all the decorations than come with the holiday. She's made her halloweenie list and I am sure she'll make the time to get to all of them. I don't know that I've ever met anyone quite like Robin....I can only imagine what her house looks like at Halloween...... I started this runner in May and finally got the borders on it and ready for quilting....Can't have Robin doing "Halloweenie in August" all by herself now can we? :)

Hello, my name is Peggy and I'm an embroidery addict

Yes, you've read correctly, I'm an embroidery addict all of a sudden....I started with the Cinderberries Girls and moved onto some Bird Brain pieces and now I'm working on at least 4 if not 5 different projects at once.

I did the parts to a table runner at retreat all in gold floss, which is super cute, I have a crow block of the month I'm doing with my friend Deb Smith's quilt shop in Missouri, I have 2 elf Christmas projects going and yesterday I got my kit for my newest block of the month called Berry Picking...it's a Crabapple Hill pattern. I hope I can keep them all straight.....This little elf has his string of lights wrapped around himself and I'm doing this one in a green variegated floss. The "Twas The Night Before Christmas" one here has larger embroidery pieces and I'm doing this one in all garnet red variegated floss. It was supposed to be a block of the month but I'm kind of an impatient annie so I wrote to the shop in Australia and she's mailing me the remaining 6 months of instructions so I can get them going quicker. Once school reopens I will have lots of time to do these stitcheries on lunch and break time.

I WON!!

I won a blog contest about a week ago....it was a BUG A LICIOUS pattern from Cheryl at Willowberry Designs. Today's mail delivery brought the prize...Thank you so much Cheryl for such a fun pattern.

Peggy

I actually turned my machine on tonight

Yes, it's been ages but I did turn my sewing machine on and worked on a small project. Back in May I was at retreat in Indiana and one of the girls, Conni, had an unfortunate accident... We were right in line with a tornado which happened to drop a tree right on her car. Talk about feeling bad....I had downed wires on my car but heck, I was able to drive it back to New Jersey from Indiana...Conni had to buy a new car to get home...We tried to make the best of the retreat even though the tornado the first night kind of put a damper on things. At retreat we swap out quilt blocks, brown bag surprises, mini quilts and even pincushions. Conni and Lori hadn't made pincushions but when us that had put them out on display, and they started to ooh and aah over them Robin, Michelle and I jumped into action and without any patterns or anything we made up a set for each of them, which made both girls very happy...

Well, over 4th of July weekend I was in search of a pattern in an old magazine and Conni said she had it and would send it that week. Well, not only did she send me the pattern, she sent me this kit with a note thanking me for helping her and Lori make up their pincushions and to help make the best of a bad situation.

I love This & That patterns, they work up quickly and are super cute projects so, after dinner tonight I couldn't decide what to work on so I pulled the pattern, charm pack and coordinating fabric out of my project basket and worked on it. It's a note pad holder with a pocket to put the pad in and another to
store your pen or receipts for fabric or anything else you need to hang onto.... It finishes up to be 6 x 9 which is a great size for my travel embroidery bag that I take to school and work on at lunch time. I found lined pad in Staples that fits perfectly and I have my favorite Uncle Sam pen in the other pocket.

Thank You Conni for such a great thank you gift....I really love it!!!

Peggy

Tomatoes

Can you see em? Darn things are so tiny I can barely photograph them....

This is my first attempt in my life to grow tomatoes. Sorry....but I'm a city girl. NO ONE in my city grew any kind of fruit or vegetable. You went to Shop Rite if you wanted those things :) Anyhoo, this year I decided I'd take the plunge and throw one of these tomatoe hangers up on my only backyard tree and see what I get. I have 4 very small tomatoes on the vine.... I'll keep an eye on them and report back as they get bigger. NO, I will not be getting any overalls and a pitchfork, 'cause I don't plan on doing this very often....

Peg

Brown Eyed Susans and Snowmen?

Today was a vacation day for me so I slept in a bit, did a little cleaning, did a little laundry and even did a little sewing. First off though I want to show you a picture of my brown eyed susans...they're one of my favorite outdoor flowers and for some odd reason, they're the one of the only flowers that like growing in my yard. This is just a tiny batch of them...I have hundreds out back.

Then I thought I'd do some catch up sewing. I'm in a birthday block of the month with some gals on the internet. The July girl was asking for a very nice lily block BUT it had 6 set in seams. Well, I can't even get 1 right let alone 6 so I emailed her and she said to make a snowman block. No size or colorway so I just used what I had in my scrap bin and this is what she's getting....

I think he came out kinda cute, i'm just hoping Linda thinks so too.... I kinda made him up as I went along, using a pattern but then I had to alter him a bit to fit the background fabric that I'd already cut..oops.... LOL

I'm going to go outside and peek at my tomatoes and see if they're big enough to get a picure of....

be back later.

Peggy

Good Morning Bloggers..............

Yes, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and it's actually starting to feel like summer...not that I didn't enjoy keeping the windows and doors open with only ceiling fans running and at night throwing a light cotton blanket over me but the family is getting cranky at not being able to enjoy the pool....so, we'll take some warm days for a little while.

I was not working yesterday so I took the opportunity to clean my house and do a little sewing.

My daughter's best friend is getting married in October in Puerto Rico and I'm invited so Jen asked if I'd make her a little quilt. I made the quilt and yesterday made a label for it...

I usually use premade labels but I decided this one needed something special so I designed one myself.

Here's the quilt that I made using the Jamestown blocks that I did monthly from Michelle probably 2 summers ago??????? (sorry for the bad picture, all my quilt holders were out when I wanted to take the picture)

I was so happy with this quilt and it will be hard to part with it but I know Samantha and Jason will appreciate all the work I put into it.

Then last night, exhausted (LOL) from all my hard work, I decided to put my feet up to watch tv and do a little embroidery. I started a new bom called "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with an Aussie designer. I got the first of 7 sections on Monday and put off sitting down with it but I just couldn't help myself yesterday, I had to thread that needle and start stitching....Here's a picture of what I got done last night....I'm using a garnet red variegated so it will have quite a few varieties of red thru it. So far I'm loving how it looks....

I do have some work to do around the house and more laundry today so I am going to have to put this guy aside and get things done around here before I pick it back up again.

Happy Saturday to all.....

Peggy