Plastic Plates

I recently purchased a pair of yoga pants at a local thrift shop. The previous owner was evidently a lot shorter than I am. The hem had been turned up three times and had bands of iron-on hemming tape holding the shorter hem in place.

When I took the hem down, I had to figure out how to get the residue off the pants. I tried so many different ways!!! I washed and dried them on the hottest settings. I soaked them in vinegar. I tried dipping them in ammonia. I even soaked the hems in Goo-be-gone. I tried ironing cloth to them in hopes that the residue would stick to the cloth. Nothing worked though.

Finally I decided to get some trim tape to decorate the hem and at the same time cover up the hem-tape gunk. I found a cute sparkly trim that was the perfect width. I decided to use a product called Steam-a-Seam to attach the trim to the pants before sewing it down. BIG mistake. The iron neared the trim and instantly the tape melted into a gooey plastic gloppy mess! Oh NO! Now what???

I grabbed a bunch of used dryer sheets to clean the goop off the iron. Then I used them to get some of the black off my ironing board. Finally I put one on the pants to get the goop off. Here is what the pants looked like:

Using the hottest setting I not only removed goop but the old hem tape residue came off!!!

Not perfect but nearly so!

I think the trick was that the dryer sheet was thinner than the pressing cloth I previously had tried. It got hotter and the residue could stick to it better. I am just happy I have yoga pants that don't look so tacky!

Next I want to talk about my Dresden Plate Project. I had tried the white thread for my blanket stitching. Remember what it looked like?

Well, I finally tried the black thread and I think this is the way I will be going. I was surprised that it looked as good as it did. (Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it for better viewing.)

I am also pushing on with the "My Favorite Things" block borders. Here are the pieces laid out to join around the cake block:

I got row three sewed together too.

I am almost done with this month's block:

I decided the two flip  flops needed jazzing up so I found the seashell material and fussy cut out a few to add to the block.

As you know, I do a lot of work by hand. This is my 'mini' studio:

The purple spiral you can see is a scarf I am crocheting. I found the wooden bowl at the thrift shop too. It makes a GREAT yarn bowl! I have pins, needles of several sizes, threads, a scissors, glue, and projects all surrounding my favorite chair in the living room. I can't just sit still and watch TV. I 'listen' to TV more than I actually watch it with my eyes.

It is super duper hot here in Arkansas. Temps have been in the high 90's with the heat indexes in the hundred teens. Thank goodness for air conditioning. Tomorrow night is my monthly guild meeting. I am looking forward to that. I always get inspired.

So, that's the latest from here! I hope you are enjoying the last weeks of summer. Till next time, happy sewing y'all!

Sew, Sew, Sew, Yourself, Gently Down the Stream!

School is in full swing here and I have the house to myself again! I miss my son, but I am enjoying more studio time too!

Today I finished the 30th block for my guild challenge quilt. I will square them up tomorrow and start sewing rows together. I love, love, love this pattern! It is SO forgiving! I am not worried about matching seams and the quilting will be a breeze!

I am anxiously awaiting word from the person I sent this too:

It is a dog kerchief for her poodle.

It is reversible too. There is a dog print on one side and dog bones on the other. I hope it fits her dog!

I have the triangles all sewn on my LE quilt:

Next will be 20 circles, in between each triangle. On the original pattern, these would be flowers with stems. Since I am doing a celestial theme, I am going to use my version of planets. I am auditioning several fabrics for this. I think I will be going with the one that is to the far right in the photo above.

I finished the 6th appliqué block for the Jingle Belle BOM:

Here is a shot of the table that is in the center of my studio:

Here are my orchid plants and two pineapple plants...also in my studio:

That's the latest from my corner of the world! I hope you are having a super creative day! Happy sewing!

Bead Storage

Although I don't have a HUGE stash of beads, I do have some that are kept around for embellishing quilts, dolls, and other things. I store mine in containers in a large spice rack that hangs next to one of my thread storage racks. It works very well for me!

A Little Shopping

It was a big deal for me to give myself permission to splurge and spend $6.50 on a sketchbook! It is just a little one with 5.5" x 8.5" pages. I've already added a second hard cardboard backing to it and plan to embellish this before using it. This embellishing idea is all Jaye's fault. She owes me $6.50 now. :D
I was also able to find the machine needles I've looked for, locally, in several stores. I am going to try that yellow thimble out in hopes that it grabs the needle a bit and makes hand quilting easier. (Rat's fault) Finally those are blending sticks to go along with the sketchbook. I need to get my colored pencils in a container that is friendlier to use than the tin they are in, and I will be all set!
This is the set I have. It looks nice and organized but really it is hard to use. The trays are in a large tin. The trays are stacked upon each other. If you like to sit in a comfy chair like me, it is hard to juggle them without spills! I am always one cat's misstep away from a CATastrophe!

To Jaye and Rat, YES, I have my Creative Prompt done for this week too! I did not cheat though! I added to the prompt from the week before. Now added are two pairs of pears....

Procrastinating

Ok, I admit it. I am stuck. I am avoiding several projects at hand because I am just not sure how I should proceed. OR I am not wanting to face the intricate work on the Unicorn Quilt. I decided to just take a few photos of random thoughts.

First up is a pattern that I was trying to sell. It is one of Karen Stone's and is paper pieced. I have also been trying to figure out what to do with the leftover old fashioned fabric strips. I have the idea that perhaps I should challenge myself to make the pattern, using the leftover fabrics!
Next up is that challenge quilt. I have agonized over how to finish it. I am not as worried about the borders as I am trying to make it unique. My latest idea is to put little fabric buttons on it.
This next photo isn't because I am procrastinating. I just wanted to put up some of my cathedral window blocks because it is so pretty! I am doing most of the sewing by hand and plan to spend a few years on making it. It looks like it has little jewels in it, doesn't it? :) I work on this a little every night while watching TV. I usually get two colored squares sewn down, per night.
At my Pfaff machine, I have the last letter block to make and then a bunch of accent blocks for the U is for Unicorn quilt. I am not working on it though, because it is VERY labor intensive.
At the Juki I have the Cathedral Window block backgrounds. (white muslin) This is the only part I am machine sewing. I stopped in the middle of doing them because the bobbin ran out. To the right are scraps that I am using when I start and stop. I plan to sew them together and make little blocks out of them. The fabric is mostly from the Cathedral Window quilt centers. The fabric is just too pretty and bright to throw away!
Here is a shot, looking out my studio window. There is snow on the ground. This is rare for central Arkansas. It should be perfect sewing weather but instead I am blogging. lol

A More Productive Weekend

I was true to myself and did get some fabric therapy done in the studio. I spent 30 minutes cleaning up the horizontal mess I had left over the past few months. Here are a few before shots:
My cutting table is in the foreground and the quilting frame table is in the back to the left. My ironing board is to the right, under the iron. I told you I had used too much horizontal space to plop things on! The gold lumps of fabric are costume pieces that needed attention. I got ALL the costume repaires and adjustments done this weekend!

What a conglomeration! The TV remote is front center, on top of one of Terri Thayer's books. Going clockwise you can see my Gingher scissors on the left, fabric scraps, a gold costume shirt, a magnetic pin cushion, the smaller hexagon project on the ironing board, my jar of quilt basting pins, my iron, and two of my oldest books on quilting. I was looking at those books for inspiration for the old fashioned quilt I want to make to replace the wedding ring quilt project that I dumped.

Here is an after shot. I can see my cutting table and ironing board again! I also loaded the frame with the Christmas countdown calendars to quilt. I don't strive for perfection, but having SOME order is very pleasing in the studio. The greenish project you can see in the upper left is a medallion quilt project I am going to work on soon. I know the next step I want to take but I don't have the fabric for it out yet.

Here is a shot of the progress I made quilting the calendars.
I am using a gold metallic thread and like how this is turning out.

So it has begun, I think, I hope, I plan! I am back in the studio. Having announced to my very understanding family, that I NEED specific studio time each day, I am now being held accountable for USING that time! lol

TODAY'S GOAL: To finish quilting the calendar quilts.

Stopping this Insanity!!!

Alright!!! Enough is enough!!! It is time to get my rear in gear and DO SOMETHING about this crappy attitude towards my studio!!!

I have more gadgets and fabric than I will ever use up in my lifetime here. I am very blessed that before the economy turned sour I already had a well stocked studio. I used to say I was saving for my retirement years with fabric purchases. Little did I know that a recession/depression would precede that event!!!

There is no excuse as far as supplies go, for me to not work in the studio. And I DO use that word, 'work' in the kindest sense of the word. Studio time is not drudgery time (well it shouldn't be anyway), but rather therapy time or a time of self expression.

Let's examine some of the why's of not working in my studio.

• too busy working outside the home (though I recently quit the bad job)
  
• too busy doing housework (not busy enough if you saw my house right now)
  
• too busy feeling sorry for myself (play the violins for the pity party)
  
• too busy worrying about things in life I cannot change right now (we are all going to die someday)
  
• too busy sabotaging myself with stupid feelings towards my studio, such as saying I am not worthy of having a studio because I will never make money to recoup the costs put into the fabric and supplies in here. (egads, I am always SO NOT WORTHY (GAG))
  
• my art work, craft work, and quilts will never be prize winners. (that is a lie, some have won in the distant past, but still they DID win a ribbon or two)
  
• I will never be a nationally known and sought after teacher in any of the above fields. (I WAS locally though)
  
• I am too old to try new things (and too stubborn)
  
• I should be working outside the home for more money (money, money, money...thank$ ex $pou$e for $caring me for life about money i$$ue$)
  
• I should be cleaning and organizing this house (that is true, but is it really a life-time-all-consuming goal a person needs to aspire to?)
  
• I should be painting and fixing up this house more (did I mention I am not sure what colors to paint or how certain things need to be fixed yet?)
  
• it is a waste of money to cut up expensive fabric and sew it back together in a lackluster quality quilt similar to all the other lackluster quilts we have already (pity party again)
  
• I am tired of trying to make something and have it turn out like crap (oh, and did I mention, PITY PARTY?)
  

Did I beat myself up enough yet?

I have been doing the creative prompt projects and had hoped they would inspire me to get back in the studio. I have also been looking online for different ideas to inspire me. Recently that led to a blog done by Lisa Call. I don't know much about her yet, but she recently posted this blog entry about "How to get stuff done" that caught my eye.

Today I am going to work on setting some goals and utilizing some of Lisa's ideas/inspirations in my own sketch book, to see if I can't get over this crap that I have allowed to creep in and take over my life. I will scan my results into my blog here tomorrow at the latest.

GOAL FOR TODAY: Sketchbook work to organize and commit .... I will try to make a week long schedule, and commit to making a schedule for Saturday and Sunday at the very very least and I will post it along with the two creative prompts I have done but not posted yet.

Hang on everyone, this could be a bumpy ride...or a very boring one!

Mother's Day Rambling

Mother's Day...the day when many of us moms wait and wonder if our kids will remember to take time to call or write to us so that we feel like we are loved and not forgotten. I wish my mom were still alive so I could send her flowers and give her a quick phone call. She was a pretty good mom. :) I feel bad for anyone who doesn't have a mom in their lives that they want to honor today....whether by choice or by circumstances.

I am having a very nice Mother's Day weekend. It started Friday night with an outing to a seafood place for supper. I love seafood and my family does not. When I found a coupon for a free meal for me for Mother's Day, I suggested we go so I could get my fix of fish and shrimp. :D

Saturday we went to the local farmer's market. Again, this is just for me as the family also does not like fruits and vegetables. I bought some delicious tomatoes there.

Next we drove to a quilt shop that I really like. I have only been there once before though, as it is a bit of a distance from the house. I bought some elastic thread for a project I have in mind, a bodkin for threading strings through the bags I plan to make, some gray cotton quilting thread for hand sewing the hexagon quilt, and of course some fabric!
When we got home there was a box on the porch. My daughter had sent me a bouquet of flowers...in PURPLE which is one of my most favorite colors. :) You can see the flowers and quilt shop purchases in the photo above. The fabrics were three Christmas ones that were on sale for 60% off and one retro fabric. Oh, and I splurged on a set of templates too!

There is a story behind the retro fabrics. As you know I have been struggling with that Wedding Ring quilt. One of the fabrics in that quilt was this exact same retro fabric! I might have even purchased it at that very same store last year, but I can't remember for sure. lol I have since decided to sell off the book and the started quilt. (see sidebar if you are interested in it) I am going to do something else with all the retro fabrics I still have and this purchase yesterday will be the main fabric in the project.

Here is a closeup of the floral bouquet my daughter sent me:

Today hubby bought doughnuts for breakfast and will cook something special for supper. I am to have a totally lazy day...mostly in the studio, to enjoy some much needed fabric therapy. I might not even get out of my pajamas! :)

HEXAGON QUILT
When I work on the hexagon quilt, I often have leftover hexes that won't work into the flowers. I attach them to each other and WILL eventually have a scrappy table cloth or table runner...depending on how big it gets.
MOJO
As you know my mojo has been lacking lately. On one of my email lists today, there was a quote that addressed this very thing! I would like to leave you with this quote that might get your mojo working again, if it has taken a leave of absence in your lives:

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.
Frank Tibolt

Finally Back in the Studio

If you are looking for the Whirl-Into-Winter-Giveaway posting on my blog, just click on the snowflake below. That will take you to a page that only has my posting regarding the contest. Don't forget to read the rules for entering!

Today we finished the studio makeover. I am so thrilled by all the work my husband did for me to make this awesome studio! Now I will really have to produce some 'stuff' to justify it. My fabric therapy is worth a lot though. He says I deserve this, and MORE! What a guy! :)

Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it to see more detail. This first shot shows the view from my computer desk chair:
The new cutting table is on the left. The chair Santa brought me is covered with a blanket and sits in front of the Juki in its cabinet. The black bar on the right is the edge of the big lateral file cabinet full of folded fabrics. Straight ahead, on the wall, is my thread collection and the Pfaff sewing machine.


This shot is taken from the corner where the Pfaff and Juki cabinets meet. It shows the cutting table, ironing board, and front window with my five 'plant pets'.
:) You can see part of the new machine quilting frame and the Pfaff Grand Quilter machine there on the right.


This shot is taken in front of the Pfaff in the cabinet. You can see the ironing board and cutting table in the foreground. The big black file cabinet is on the wall. In the corner is my computer.


Here is the wall with the thread on it, above the Pfaff in the cabinet. You can see the Juki on the far wall next to the filing cabinet. The shelves above hold 'stuff' and my TV.


Here is Mr. Handyman himself by the door that leads to the dining room. My studio is set up in what would be considered a living room by some folks. The thread is there on the back wall. There is more shelving above along the wall. You can see more of the machine quilting frame table with storage underneath. In the foreground on the left is the bust of my dress form, with a project on it.

Here is another shot of the machine quilting frame on the customized table that hubby built.

I guess I didn't get the best shots of the quilting frame table, did I? lol I am taking this shot by my front door which is on the same side of the room as the front window and my plant pets.

Ok, I just went and took a better shot of the frame table. Here it is:

I cannot believe I have this! I feel very VERY blessed to have such a wonderful supportive husband. Thank you honey! :)

Thank you all for visiting my blog. My next posting will hopefully have pictures of the projects I will be getting back to, and starting anew. NO MORE EXCUSES NOW!!! lol