Just Saying Hi!

Hello!

I'm checking in.  I haven't got anything crafty to share with you today, but I wanted you to know I was here.

My quilt rack topped with miscellaneous old sewing items.  Hey, I had to show you pictures of something!

Even though I've got nothing to show you right now doesn't mean I haven't been busy.  One thing I was working on was a birthday present.  Since I know the birthday girl reads this blog, I can't very well post it until after she receives it.  Well, the truth is, I can't post it at all because I forgot to take photos before I wrapped it all up and packaged it for the mail.  That was dumb!

The other thing I've been working on is a surprise.  Shh!  I can't tell you about it now, but you will see it in a few weeks.  Why the secrecy?  You'll understand that soon enough, too.

Some of my old sewing baskets.

I have so much I want to do.  It's driving me crazy that I don't have the time!   Once again, I have to lament that working full time really gets in the way of my crafting.

I'll be back tomorrow or the next day to report about my new sewing machine.

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Aunt Peaches Valentine Swap Part II

My three Valentines from the Aunt Peaches Valentines Swap

Valentine’s Day has come and gone.  Mine would have been uneventful (sigh . . .) if not for the Aunt Peaches Valentine swap.  I wrote about that once before here, but that only covered the Valentines I sent.  I also received three Valentines.

The first one I received was from Tya of Craft.Run.Wag.  Isn’t it pretty and super professional looking?  I opened it and thought, “Geez! Mine looks amateurish.”  Well done, Tya! 

The first Valentine to arrive.

The next to arrive was from Patty.  How cute is this matchbox Valentine?  You open it up to find this adorable little felt heart.  Not only that, but the heart is a pin!  So cute!  Thank you, Patty!  I love it.

Cute matchbox Valentine.

With a surprise inside!

And it's a pin to boot.

Last, but not least, was this sweet Valentine from Puja.  Can you imagine gluing on every single one of those tiny hearts?  I’d have glue everywhere.  I’m not a tidy gluer so I admire gluing that is well done and Puja did a great job of it.  The caption inside reads “You are one in a million.” 

The third and final Valentine.

I loved the spirit of this swap and feel lucky to have participated.  Thank you to Tya, Patty and Puja for the Valentines I received.  I love each of them.  And thanks to Aunt Peaches for organizing the whole shebang!

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Highs and Lows in the World of Finance

Here’s my story.  A few months back, I took a pretty darn hefty pay cut so I’ve been living a thriftier than usual life.  I saved all my Christmas and birthday present money and got a good tax refund so I convinced myself that I could splurge a little.  What did I want?  Another sewing machine.

The Brother PQ-1500S - Object of My Desire

Never mind that I already have three sewing machines—my fancy-pants Bernina which I love, my perfectly serviceable serger, and my old faithful Kenmore—I wanted another one to be fully dedicated to use on my quilting frame. The Brother PQ-1500S; a nifty machine that my friend Denise has and that I covet.

So I hemmed and I hawed and I changed my mind at least forty-three times, then I ordered it.  It was done.  Irrevocable.  That sewing machine was on its way.

Not an hour later I got into my car and the air conditioning died. 

Life without A/C in Arizona is hot.

I live in Arizona.  A/C is required.  Sigh.  I was being punished for my frivolousness. 

Oh well, no use crying over it.  I am going to have both a new sewing machine and new A/C in my car so I may as well be excited over it.  Yay!

A sneak peek at a corner of my handkerchief quilt.  You'll see the whole thing when it's done.

I wanted to be ready for the arrival of the Brother PQ-1500S so I spent some time on the weekend readying a couple of quilts for the frame.  The first one you can only have a little peek at.  It’s a handkerchief quilt that I made some time ago.  To get that ready, I needed to piece the backing.  This is a monster-sized quilt . . .  well queen-sized plus a little extra.  I sure am glad I have a frame to put this on.  Gone are the days of trying to shove these big quilts through the tiny sewing machine.  Oy!  My neck hurts just thinking about it.

Second quilt ready for the frame and my new sewing machine.

The second one is a little gem I whipped together recently.  The fabrics (except the border) came from my friend Sue M.  I believe they were leftovers from some project she did as when they arrived they were all bundled together.  Sue has exquisite taste so making something from her scraps is guaranteed to be pretty.  I intend for this to be a charity quilt. 

Closer look--pretty fabrics.

I bought the border, backing and binding fabric.  Okay, it’s been a long time since I paid full price for fabric in a quilt shop.  Holy mackerel, has it gotten expensive!  $11.50 a yard?!  Man, I used to think $8.95 was expensive.  I know, I’m sounding like an old person.  (Why, in my day, fabric only cost a dollar, but we had to walk 5 miles in the snow with no shoes to get it!)  I guess I’m lucky that I inherit scraps from so many people.  I don’t know that I could afford quilting if I didn’t.

Waiting impatiently.

Now, I have to wait impatiently for my new toy to arrive all the while sweating on the way home from work until my A/C gets fixed on my next day off.  I'm not good at delayed gratifiction.

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Blocks from the Past, Catching Up

Awhile back, I did some posts about a group of quilter friends with whom I was doing a block challenge.  Each month we would make four blocks from the book Teach Yourself Blocks from the Past by Marie Henry.  I stayed caught up for three months.  Well, then things fell apart a little.

Everything I've done so far

I've been catching up.  I may actually have shown you some of these blocks before now.  My pile got a little messed up because the cat knocked it off the table when he decided he wanted to sleep where it was sitting.  Darn cat.  Any-who, I think these are the blocks since November.

Road to Fortune

I'm caught up with all the pieced blocks, but I'm still two months behind with the applique blocks.  If I could just spend an hour prepping them, I'd have them done in a couple of evenings.  But, there's just too much fun, creative stuff to do that I put that off.

Union

Jacob's Ladder

Twinkling Star

Friendship Album

Clay's Choice

Baby Bunting

The block above was a b*$&#!  Paper pieced--which I hate--then appliqued to the background.  Oy!  Not fun.

Cake Stand

Gentleman's Fancy

It wasn't until I saw the photo that I realized what a bad job of pressing I had done on that Gentleman's Fancy block.  I'm a little embarrassed to be posting it.

This and That

My goal is to catch up completely--applique blocks and all--by the end of next month.  Wish me luck!

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