Snow Shoos

I spent most of yesterday working on my Snowman Thru The Year quilt. I did decide to "snowball" the snowmen and use the shoo-fly block as an alternate block. I think I'll call this quilt "Snow Shoos" Cute, huh?

I have the first two rows sewn together and 2 blocks embroidered (January and June) - don't ask why I did June after January -- it was either an easy block or it just happened to be lying there when I picked it up. However, both of these completed blocks gave me fits when trying to put the snowball corners on.

Here's a picture of the January block. I kept sewing over the "Y" in January and the seam ripper was my best friend. After I sewed the two rows together, I can see where the points don't match up. I also don't know why I decided to use the same blue throughout the top. Maybe. because it was lying there asking to be used up -- I'm not usually that matchy-matchy.

The embroidery is going kinda slow - the lighting in the living room just isn't adequate, but I'm happy with the way it's looking. Of course, from these pictures, you would think that Bailey was doing all of the work and then

got tired and decided to take a rest.







Once again I found myself in Wal-Mart's fabric section and Didn't Buy Anything except a pattern for Kylie's Halloween costume and some embroidery floss. 27 days without buying any fabric!!!!!!!!!!!Woo-hoo.

I'm thinking about going to Lancaster on Tuesday - so I don't know if I can make it until the end of the month without buying fabric.

Well, I'd better go see how far Bailey got with the February block. It's much easier to work on in the daylight.

My goal was that 12 blocks should only take about 12 days - yeah, right. However, I didn't think about putting the top together while I was doing those calculations. So far, I've done 2 blocks in three days. I can't really say that it's easier to work on with the top together. I still have to keep moving the hoop around.

Saturday Musings

WOW - It's the weekend again. I haven't spent much time in my sewing room, nor have I even turned on the computer at home this week.

After spending too much time searching for the Snowman Thru The Year embroidery pattern, I finally found it. I traced the snowmen onto muslin so I have a project to do while watching TV. The new shows will be starting soon. I even had to buy another basket to store the "do while watching TV projects" in.

Kylie and I were going to go shopping today to check out Halloween costumes, but plans changed. This will keep me from buying any fabric for another day - so I've gone 26 days in the month of August without buying any fabric.

OK - Back to my musing on the Snowmen Thru The Year: I don't know why I picked a 7.5" block for the snowmen, I must have had a thought in my head when I did this, but I can't for the life of me, figure out what I was thinking at the time. Don't get me wrong, the design fits nicely on the block, but trying to hoop -up a 6" embroidery hoop on a 8" block is difficult -- to say the least.

I've been playing on paper with how I want to lay out the blocks and I think I want to "snowball" the snowman and use a Shoo-Fly block as the alternate block setting. I found a great piece of fabric in my stash that has snowmen on it and that will work great for a border and possibly the focus fabric in the Shoo-Fly blocks. Should I just sew the alternate blocks and put the quilt top together and then do the embroidery??? It sure would be easier to hoop-up, but I'm second guessing my design layout.

Maybe I should put on a Christmas CD and throw caution to the wind and just go with whatever I decide. There is only 4 months left until Christmas -- 121 crafting days!!!!!! This also has me thinking about the Gingerbread quilt that I was so gung-ho on making last year -- that needs to move up on my "Must Do" list.

However, I'm not getting anything done by sitting here typing and I have a lot of good thoughts in my head right now -- so off to sew I go..............

I'm Actually Sewing Again!!

I've actually spent some time in my sewing room over the weekend. Even though I'm not really a "morning person", I found I was most inspired to work in my sewing room in the early part of the day. Since I didn't have any plans for the weekend, I declared it a "Guilt Free Quilt Weekend.

I had bits and pieces of projects lying around, so I picked up a little flag wallhanging/table-topper and started sewing it together. I also had some more HST's to sew together for my Broken Dishes quilt top, so I sewed them as Leaders and Enders between the flag blocks and sashing. I'm happy to report that I have the top completed, but I'm not happy with it. I wasn't working with a pattern and I think I made the sashings too wide or the flag blocks too small. But done is done - so I'll have to get over it. It will look nice on the dining room table next Fourth of July.....It will probably take me that long to quilt it.

The Broken Dishes is a WIP, that I don't know when, if ever, it will be finished -- I guess as long as I can make HST's, I'll keep working on it.

I even went up to the third floor and brought down two bins of Homespuns that I want to use in my Rooster Quilt http://www.onestitchatatime.com/images/patternmq171.jpg. I just love Meme's patterns - they are so me. I'm addicted to Homespun and have more Homespun than I know what to do with. I have a hard time branching out from Thimbleberries and Homespuns. I just can't wrap myself around bright prints, even though I have lots of FQ's that are bright. However yardage is Thimbleberries, darks and homespuns.

I've actually made it 21 days without buying any fabric!! I don't feel like I have put a dent in any of the fabric that has accumulated here, but, I keep plugging along.

Where Has the Summer Gone?

I can't Believe it's already August. Where has the summer gone?

I've made a commitment to myself to "Not Buy Any Fabric in the Month of August" and so far 13 days into the month, I've stuck with the commitment. However, I haven't done any sewing either. It was either too hot to spend any time in my sewing room - can't run the A/C and an iron at the same time -- so it's fruitless to try to do any piecing.

I've tried just sewing and stacking stuff up on the ironing board for when it cools down, but I never seem to get back to it.

After a week-long hot spell (temps in the high 90's), som nice cool weather has settled in - but, now I just want to be outside, enjoying the weather.

I've spent way too much time sitting and watching TV and knitting. I have 25 baby hats packed up for my guild meeting. I wish I could crank out quilts as fast as I can crank out these baby hats. It's so rewarding when you complete something -- makes you want to jump in and do more.


I stopped at a quilt shop yesterday to buy the Santa's Coming book by Art to Heart (Nancy Halvorsen) and that's all that I bought - I was less than impressed with the selection of stuff in the quilt shop.

Since Bailey was being groomed, and I had some time to kill waiting, I stopped in B&N and picked up a knitting magazine and a craft book on the sale table. The craft book was only $7.98 and had a couple of really cute quilts in it -- must do's. I also decided that I needed to venture out from knitting baby hats and decided that I would teach myself the cable stitch in knitting. After three attempts of casting on and ripping out - I GOT IT. I'm glad that I decided to just start with a cable stitch scarf -- only 36 stitches to cast on and rip out.

The weather has been just gorgeous, and as I sit in my sewing room, biding time to go to Mass, I'm spending too much time on the computer. I need to turn it off and do some sewing - any sewing, just to get back into it.