Sunny Sunday Stitching

Sunny day for stitching.  Just makes you feel great!  Another mug rug completed this morning.  Now time to work on one of my UFO's.   I am also working to learn and complete the mug rugs for the swap.  Learned some more details on applique today.  Now to put it to work.

Going to dig out a baby quilt top that is completed and put the top, batting and back so it is ready to quilt this week.

Watch out sewing work room, I continue to get things more organized and easier to find.  Easier to find and use makes for a happy quilting family.

Stitching and creating!

Stitching up a storm and loving every minute of my day.  We are both stitching today.   Doug has attached the borders on his quilt.  He's now working on his backing project.   I finished another fabric postcard!   had it almost done this week, just had to connect the back with address and message.  Will mail on Tuesday as post office closed tomorrow. 

UFO's:   Finished two mug rugs.  What a fun project to use up scraps, practice free-motion and to learn applique. My own method of applique.  Taking introduction class on Tuesday afternoon.   I have been tossing items for constructing fabric cards in a plastic container.   It made it so easy to then be at work table and put together.

This morning I went to Denise's blog  justquiltin.wordpress.com and downloaded her pattern for "Living The Tweet Life."  Of course, this is a new project added to my list of quilt projects.  Pulled material from my stash and hope to start cutting tonight or will work to complete quilting baby quilt for the guild charity.  This baby quilt has been sitting on back of couch just waiting to be completed.

Off to dinner and then more Sunday stitching later!  Wonder if there are any good movies on later today.

Update on projects! & snowfall

Magic Star quilting progress:  pulled center quilting stitches out and quilted area again.  Second time looks nicer...so I have put it away until next Friday as I have other tasks to get done...BUT

At Sunday Stitchers today I supported folks in getting pages done on their Stitch Bibles.  Fabric pages of stitch samples that they can make on their sewing machines.  We buy these great machines or have small simple ones, but do we really get to know the machine.   The Stitch Bible allows you to attempt and learn the stitches your sewing machine can make.   Now that my stitch bible is complete I can use.   I have a "Stupendous Stitching" art quilt in progress. Working to complete this by end of March.

I came home this afternoon and just had to make my first Fabric Postcard, which can use the decorative stitches I have discovered on my machine.  Attached a picture for readers!

 Now I have put sewing away for a few days as I have student papers to grade and maybe pick up some things around the house!  Will be quilting again on Friday! or will squeeze some time in for therapy after paper grading completed.  

15 " of snow fell Thursday night!

Snow February 8, 2013

Snow came on Thursday night!  Enjoyed all day Friday and Saturday.  Today warm weather and rain is making snow disappear quickly!

I am getting off the computer and blogging and other quilt sites to get my magic star quilted.  I will give you an update later.  Doug is harping as he wants to get on the sewing machine to attach his borders....We need to get the old machines, his grandma's treadle and another one I picked up years ago and see if they work.  I have been thinking these would be good for exercise!

Friday, February 8, after the Michigan snowstorm.  We woke up to 15 inches of beautiful snow and sunshine today.  By 11:00 a.m, I was plowing down the subdivision streets, which had not been plowed, to get to the main road.  I was off to the work session of our "two person  quilting bee."   I spent the afternoon working to complete a table runner!  One side left on hemming the binding to complete and can check this off my project list.  Funny how you get a project going, almost to completion, and then set it aside!  Started the table runner in the fall, so four months later I am finishing.

Watched as my buddy prepared her "material pages" to start her "Stitch Bible."   She did complete one page of stitches.  She has 300 some stitches on her Janome!  Making a "stitch bible" is a great way to introduce yourself to your sewing machine.   When you finish each page of your machine's stitches, you have a nice reference point for the stitches that can be created by you and your sewing machine.   Finished my "Stitch Bible" in December.  A great reference tool for me.

 "Colorful Stars"  Magic Card Trick #1

"Colorful Stars" was a fun wall hanging to put together.  Points and insets were new skills for me. Already have quilt #2 idea.  I am going to use material from my stash with dots.  I am surprised at the large selection available in my stash.   Been thinking that I could put four stars together to make larger wall hanging or lap quilt.

Project completion for February

January projects have been 98% completed.   One quilt top is at quilter's to be completed.  Scrappy Stars and "Stars" Magic Card Trick #1 are both sitting next to sewing machine.  I will be doing the quilting on these in next two weeks!  February projects will be the guild challenge, which will be real challenge for me!  Several ideas sketched out, some material being auditioned and then start cutting and sewing.   Second project will be "Strictly for the Birds"  a pattern being shared by Denise Russart at her blog.  http://justquiltin.wordpress.com/   Check out her blog and her creative quilts patterns.

I took an afternoon break and put together two mug rugs...and re-organized my scrap fabrics.  In the process I found two more quilt tops that are ready to be completed.  So they have been added to project list.

Scraps are being organized by color and others organized by size, the strip width or squares.  Have wonderful scraps but was too cumbersome to get at them.  Explained the system to my husband.   He loved it.  Material selection is better organized and the next scrap quilt can get started.   

Thank you to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville for insightful ideas on organizing.  Also thanks to folks who post their organized sewing rooms on Pinterest!