Enthusiasm again...

I have been enthused to work again.  I started quilting my winter wall hanging on Monday, finishing all the ditch quilting early in the day.  Today, Tuesday, I freemotion stitched around all the applique motifs.  Now I just need to quilt the borders.  I think I will use some swirls and stars for the borders... I don't have any matching thread, so I ordered some more aurifil online, including a light blue I can use for the border quilting.  Now, just have to wait for the package to arrive. 

Having done that, I've run out of projects I want to work on... I have lots of UFOs I COULD be working on, but my enthusiasm is for something new.  There is a new project on the cover of the current issue of Quiltmania magazine.  I am doing this project with 5 friends - we are makiing exchange blocks to make this very pretty quilt called Ryokan:

Each of us is doing two blocks, making 6 copies of each of them.  I'd like to start on this project, but my blocks are #9 and 12 - which won't be out in the magazine until probably February or March (it is being printed in segments spanning three issues).  So I'm kinda stuck in waiting mode. 

Still, I have all this pent-up enthusiasm for working now, so tomorrow after class, I will make SOMEthing... anything... just to work.  Hopefully that will spur me to work on some of my UFOs as well. 

It is supposed to get into the 90s for the next two days - definitely days to stay indoors as much as possible to enjoy the AC.  Maybe I can use this enforced 'inside time' to at least pick my fabrics for my Ryokan blocks.  Or maybe I will work on picking some projects to work on at my guild's quilting retreat in November.  I am trying to find as many hand projects as I can, so I can go to the retreat without my sewing machine.  I hope to have two quilts to bind to bring along - but maybe I should prepare some other hand projects as well... That will give me something to do for the next two days!  I have a plan!

I have also started to make to do lists.  For the past two days, I have taken care of a lot of little projects, errands and such that I have been putting off for a long time - I wrote to my sister, renewed my prescriptions, did some promised computer work.  It feels good to cross things off a list... a sense of accomplishment; endorphins released.  I need to keep these lists going on a daily basis... oh wait, I might actually have to clean the house if I start keeping up on projects lol.  Well, it's still a good idea.

How to Tame Your Bindings.

It rained yesterday and a very little bit today.  I love rain, I call it quilting weather.  I love to sit in my studio and work and watch the rain coming down in the backyard and listen to it hitting the roof.  Yesterday I went to quilting class, stopped by the J-store on the way home to buy some fabric to make the binding for 'Under the Jellicle Moon'.  I found JUST what I was looking for - a white background with kitty paw prints in a neutral palette.  I made the binding while it continued to rain heavily all day.

I inserted an empty spool of aurifil through the hole in an old cd and wound the binding around the spool.  Then I set the spool, cd and binding onto the upright spool holder on my machine.  This makes a great way to hold the binding while I sew it onto the quilt.  Here's a few of pictures of what this looks like.

Here are the components - an empty spool from Aurifil Thread, an old cd, and the binding:

Here's the aurifil spool inserted through the hole in the cd:

Then I wind the binding around the spool.  This picture shows everything assembled and ready to use:

And here it is, set onto the spool holder on my machine, all ready to start sewing:

I use this method to 'tame' the binding - I can't stand working with a tangled jumble of binding.  This method makes it all hands free while I sew.  The binding just unwinds like thread off a spool while I sew.

When you're done, the left over binding just slides right off the spool, and you can store these prewound binding scraps for use in scrappy bindings later on. 

I had my friends over for Mah Jongg today, so while I sat out a couple of games, I sewed on the most of the binding, finishing it up after they left.  Tonight, I did the hand sewing on one side.  Three sides to go.

I am hoping to have it all done by October 29th.  We are having a 'reveal party' for those who were involved in the block of the month series that resulted in this quilt.  I shouldn't have any problem finishing up by then.  However, until I hear back from Road to California on whether or not the quilt has been accepted, I can only work on it in cat-free environments.  This means working on the hand sewing at home is just out.  I will work on it during class time.  If the quilt IS accepted, I want to have to do as little de-furring as possible.

Anyway - hope the little tutorial on how to tame binding helps someone.  Have a great weekend everyone.

Under the Jellicle Moon

I finally named my cat quilt and the quilting on it is done - by a very wonderful quilter named Georganna Hawley.  She custom quilted the entire thing with different motifs for every kitty.  I had to photograph it today without eyes because I needed to submit it to Road to California by the 1st to be juried in.  The kitties will have eyes very soon.

It still needs to be trimmed and bound too, but this is essentially it.  Making this quilt has been an exquisite journey for the past year.  I've loved every minute of it!

Here's a detail shot of one of the kitties showing off some of the great quilting:

Wish me luck with the jury process for Road...  

Paint it Black

So I picked out this lovely charcoal color to paint the trim on our house.  The painters were only supposed to use it on the trim and the fascia boards.

Today I walked out into the backyard and found them painting all the posts on the back patio, which we had wanted to keep white.  I shrugged and said 'oh well' cause I figured it would be too hard to paint them back white again.  White over charcoal might never cover.  Then I forgot all about it.

My husband came home from work and had a fit!  He pointed out that charcoal black support posts all along the back of the house would be invisible at night - people would be walking into them.  Whoops!  I didn't even think of that.  So much for not repainting them white.

Tomorrow I have to tell the painters they need to repaint all the support posts.  Sigh.

I wish the house would somehow juat take care of itself  (like my parents' house always seemed to do when I was a kid and unaware of the all the issues).

On a brighter note, I managed to get some sewing done today.  I pieced two blocks for my mini-group's holiday tablecloth.  I made two fabric postcards that just need a little quilting and embellishment.  Tomorrow I pick up a quilt from the LAQ, and tomorrow night I get to see a production of Candide at the Kentwood Theater.  Saturday I will play D&D again.  Maybe I will sew some more on Sunday.

Tuesday, my mini-group is holding a sew-in.  If I can get the binding on my cat quilt by then, I'll be satisfied.  There just never seems to be enough time to sew - or maybe it's that my sewing time doesn't always correspond to my inspired time?

Working... a little bit

I got the 'bug' to work on a quilt Friday, so I scrambled thru stash and picked fabrics for my winter seasonal wallhanging.  I fused them on Friday, (played D&D on Saturday), edge-stitched the motifs on Sunday, and then I embellished the blocks, sashed and put borders on the quilt Monday.  Today is Wednesday and I managed to get the back and batting cut out, and the quilt basted.  Now all that's left is quilting and binding.  It went together so fast!  I love these little projects.

There was a lot of handwork on this one compared to the others - embroidering the snowman's face and the ice skates, sewing on buttons and beads, but I'm happy with how it came out.

Generally life is good, my son has a job again (yay!) and he's busy with schoolwork as well.  I hope he's happy, he seems to be.  My DH and I are both relatively healthy and doing well.  Really can't ask for more than that I guess, especially these days...  the Dow is up, my depression is not so bad... what's not to smile about!  Also, autumn is here.  The weather will be cooling off soon (I hope).

I love autumn, with the cooling temperatures, the potential of rain, some wonderful cloudy days and the promise of winter!  I call it quilting weather!  I love to sit at my machine on a rainy day and just sew contentedly.  I look forward to curling up under a nice warm quilt and hand-sewing a binding on a frigid winter night. 

I saw a great sign the other day and I just have to share it (please no one take offense, I just thought it was hilarious, but true):

Anyway - have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by.

Should I?

It's just a couple of weeks until the deadline to enter a quilt into the Road to California show.  I just can't decide if I should or not.  I was thinking of seeing if my folk art cats quilt would be accepted by the jurors:

I've really only finished a couple of quilts this year and this is the one I'm proudest of.  It will be quilted by submission date for the show.  I just can't decide whether to enter or not.  The competition at this show is very stiff.  What should I do?

postcards from the edge

I belong to two groups that exchange fabric postcards.  I had a chance to finish making 9 postcards in the past two days.  I mailed all 9 this morning to recipients as far away as Germany, the UK, and Hawaii.  I hope they all arrive safely.  I love making them.  They are lots of fun to create and to receive.  The categories of these 9 were: butterflies, the color purple and the letter B.... sounds a little like Sesame Street there, but it really isn't.

I have received some wonderful cards in these swaps, and I would post some pictures of some of them, but I can't post the ones I've sent.  Perhaps tomorrow I will take some pics of some of the ones I've received and post them here.

Why can't I post pics of the ones I've made, you ask?  Because I killed another computer this morning.  The pics of my latest postcards were on that computer.  I am now on my third computer in a month.  I seem to have the touch of death where hard drives are concerned.  This one I'm using is my husband's old back-up laptop.  I don't think he'll be happy if I kill this one too.

My main computer isn't back from Alienware yet.  I'm still waiting on its return. I called customer service today and all they could confirm was that they received my computer for repair.  No word yet on when it would be done and shipped back.  Sigh.

Anyway - fabric post cards are lots of fun.  There are a lot of tutorials out there on the web about how to make them.  There are groups that swap cards.  If you're interested, check out postcardpizzazz and postcardmailart on yahoo groups.