Reconstruction

I forgot that I actual did some sewing this weekend. This time I thought I was a huge slacker but then I was looking at the pictures on the camera and came across the back I constructed from the leftover color diamonds and a small piece of black fabric that I've been saving for ?

Because it was a small piece of fabric I thought it would be perfect and not a waste. I'm happy with it. The funny thing is, I've done a small bit of quilting on this piece but I didn't think about the back because it wasn't showing while it sits on my machine.

Have you noticed that I'm not accomplishing much? I have. I'm disturbed by my lack. It's not just with my creative side either. It spills over into my home as well. I feel like a flounder fillet. (BTW, I'm going to patent that)
After much thought, I'm going to reconstruct my life style. I did make a new years resolution to do so and it's only taken me 3 months to really start it.
I'm not being to hard on myself, I kind of figure that life always needs readjusting and work. But there are steps that I need to take for myself.
One, I need to spend more time on my body. I'm not getting any younger and I need to stop making excuses. After spending several hours in the car taking Hubby back and forth to the airport, my hips have been killing me! Well not literally, but I've been mighty uncomfortable.
So it's time to grab the bull by the horns and do something for me and my health.

Two, I've learned that all the years I had lists and schedules for the kids, those lists weren't really for them, they were for my benefit.
Since the children aren't home anymore those lists started to fall by the way side. Well my house is showing it! I thought I could be more of a free spirit and spontaneous. All that has happened is that I have a pile of laundry, one of those closets that you shove and close quickly and a sink of dishes. I've lost my discipline. I've also discovered that I'm a mess (and the house) without it. So I'm back to lists and schedules, affective immediately! I'm tired of being a flounder fillet,  just tired of it.

During morning yoga practice, someone is always keeping a sharp eye on me. I'd rather it be his eyes then his claws. It's really hard to be in downward-facing-dog and have your ponytail attacked!

Today that basket has only one handle. Soon I need to find another trash-basket to fit in the coffee table and hope that it'll fair a better life.
You know our dogs haven't been as destructive as this sweet kitty. He has torn apart more baskets, toys, tassels and more cups have been knocked over than I've ever known. Every day he knocks something down.  You should see my roll of batting!  Just saying, he's a punk! I should also warn you about gibberish emails from me. It hasn't happened yet but it's just a matter of time. I find him laying on the keyboard all the time. I'll come back into the room and find a page filled with characters. And laptops are an invitation to be stepped on and even more exciting when they beep back.  He's a punk!

Back a month or so back I order some Kaffe for a backing (Thanks Jeanie).

It's a keeper and I love it with my hexies. This will be the brightest quilt I'll have ever made.

Here it is. Isn't it so pretty!? I really, really love it!
Just one complaint about Hancocks, maybe two. I ordered this when it was on sale. I put it in my cart and walked away. I came back later and placed the order. A month later I couldn't remember if I ordered  three yards or three half yards. I stressed till it showed up yesterday. Thank goodness I order three yards which on their site means I ordered 6 units. That confuses me and I'm always second guessing myself.
The second complaint, after placing every order I receive an email a day or two later saying that the fabric is back ordered. That is super annoying! In fact once it didn't come in at all and I ended up ordering the same thing from the Fat Quarter Shoppe. And their shipping was so much faster too! So I'm thinking of cutting Hancocks out of my life. Reconstruction.

Ok, I'm done venting, time to get back to my list!
Take care,
Brandie

Pop of Color

I started with an idea of a Spring linen. I had these pastel squares on off white and even a tan plaid. But they just weren't popping. So I changed it up, drastically.

I pulled out a black and I liked how it looked. It made those colors pop! And I think it makes the linen stand out more too.

The next step for this linen, is to layer it with some batting and a backing and treat it like a quilt.

It's a little quilt, only 32 x 32. I was looking for something quick and small. Something to show almost instant gratification. If I didn't have a bunch of errands and household chores, this would have been quicker. But I had to see the dentist for a cleaning and we really needed groceries and I had to go to a couple of meetings and...
After all that I'm hoping to have some sewing time this weekend, even though I have to take Hubby back to the airport on Sunday and pick him back up on Monday. Just a quick trip for him. I think it takes more time for me to drive home then it takes him to reach his office. We may have to invest in a plane so that I can have more sewing time! Kidding

Have a wonderful fabric filled weekend!
Take care, Brandie

Rethink

This weekend Hubby and I went antiquing. We didn't find anything too exciting but I saw and bought this cute little linen. I thought the baskets in each corner were very cute.

I also thought that since the first day of Spring was Yesterday that I'd work on a sweet pastel piece. That was my way of calling out the sun. Kind of the opposite of washing my car, I hoped.

I bought this beautiful color wheel (I messed it up looking at the light to dark strips) thinking it would be perfect to high light those baskets and flowers.

I cut up tiny little squares. (1 3/4 squares)

Than I made a strip to "test" with.
That's when it hit me, too plain.
So I went back to the drawing board, well graph paper and a camera.
Did you know that taking a picture of your quilt (in process) will let you see your quilt with a different eye? It will show you something you may not see. I was too focused on my fabrics and not necessarily on how they looked with the linen.
So I'm off on a different path, except for the diamonds, I like those.

Take care, Brandie

Piping Hot

I buckled down yesterday and finished the quilting and added piping to my Easter basket pillow.
I remember when I started this I was all proud of myself for starting early enough to finish before Easter. Than I got really lazy and let it sit around gathering dust. But I'm happy to say I did finish in time for Easter.

This is the pillow without it's form. 

Boy is it hard to take pictures with a playful cat in the house! I was shoooing him away, picking him up and moving him. It took much longer than necessary just to take a clear shot.

It's also a gray and dreary day, not very good for taking good pictures, besides the fact that I'm not a professional.

As you can see from this picture, Dorian attack the pillow in mid shot. Crazy cat!

And this is the pillow stuffed and ready for the window seat.

Then I got distracted by more zippers.

I saw these cute macaroon zippies and saved the pattern to try them out. It helped that Grandma's zipper box had several small metal zippers.

But after making a few, I started questioning my sanity. These are small little guys.

Hubby said they are only big enough for a chocolate chip. As you can see, there is room fro more than one.

There is room for a quarter or two.

But maybe their purpose is to protect your thimble? I'm not sure, but I've decided that this is it, no more macaroons for me. They are too fiddly and make my hands hurt making them. But I was up for a challenge and I met it head on. So off to a new one!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
Take care, Brandie

Sluggish

I actually drug myself to the machine yesterday and finished the quilting on my Easter pillow.

I'm not sure why I've been so sluggish lately, but I was and still am. Maybe it's the weather?
I had fun quilting and that's what it's all about. So I'm going to convince myself to repeat what I did yesterday.

The back side. Yes it's just batting

I did an echo stitch around all my palm fond feathers. I like all the denseness of the quilting.

It may not be perfect but I'm pleased with it. Maybe someday it'll be perfect, but I'll settle for fun.

Today I'm repairing a 10 year old baby quilt. This quilt has been heavily loved. I will fix what I can and have already told the child that he should retire his blanket. This quilt is so soft and cuddly I kind of can't blame him but this quilt isn't long for the world even with the repairs.

Have a wonderful day and I hope you get time to stitch a few minutes.
Take care, Brandie

Butter

The ideas keep coming. This bag is pieced. You all know how much I love flying geese, so why not put them on a bag?

I really like this combo of red and aqua. It's better looking in person. I just couldn't get it to show it's true colors.

This bag will be mine, unless I come up with another favorite.

What's inside?

I even put in a favorite red lining.
As you can see, someone wanted to know what was so interesting about this "thing".

This someone was just caught on the kitchen island licking "I can't believe it's not butter" out of the tub!
Who's fault is it? Is it his or mine for not putting in right back in the frig?
And this was just after I pushed away from my mug of luke-warm tea!

Yummy butter!

I think he's missing his Daddy because he just will not stop harassing me. Everyday it's something new.

I'm a little worried as to why he's cleaning his feet

Peek a Boo

This here is his Alexander Skarsgard look. "Sexy ain't I"

The days are still not long enough. I haven't felt like I've done much of anything this week except chase a cat. I am entertained that's for sure!

Take care, Brandie

Zippity

Cut into some fabrics I did. I had a hard time making decisions but I keep at it. In fact, I almost stayed up late playing, almost.
Speaking of sleep, last night may have been the first time I feel like I sleep a whole 8 hours. I think I'm getting use to this new time change, finally!

Bag one.
 I used the same design as the original, Except, I added a wrist strap. I did it Liz!
The strap may be too big but I wanted the dots to show. It's all a learning experience.

Then I added a fourth zipper to the back of the bag.

Then I boxed the bottom.

Bag two.
Two zippers on one side.

One zipper on the other side.

And a thinner wrist strap.
Even if these aren't perfect, I know little girls will love them. So I keep on sewing and arranging piles of fabric.
Then I thought, Why not embellishments?

So I added a bit to this unfinished bag.
I still have more ideas.
Today I'm going to tackle a couple of those ideas.

I'm running out of zippers! It's hard to know exactly what I'll need for each bag. I just buy 6 zippers at a time and I'm running out again. I may run out of creativity around the same time I use my last zipper. It may be time to go through each and every one of my Grandmothers zipper, except I think most of those are metal. It may be time to find out!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!
Take care, Brandie

Economy Stimulating

I didn't get any sewing done what-so-ever this weekend. It was rush, rush, rush, all weekend.
Hubby went out of town and at my house that never goes smoothly, We are always missing something or in this case, a suitcase. Now don't miss understand, we have suitcases BUT...
Well some are cloth and he has had problems with those coming back to him after the flight, soaking wet, including his clothes. So those suitcases are just gathering dust in the storage unit.
One of his favorites is a big hard shell case. But this one has it's own problems. It weigh 19 pound unpacked and when you are only allowed 50 ponds, that really cuts into your packing. Also one of the latches has been broken for awhile, courtesy of the airport. So he would use a bright colored strap. But that was lost on the last trip.
So, the night before his early morning flight, we went down and bought a new (much lighter) soft shell suitcase.
We shall see how long this one lasts! Too bad we can't charge the airlines for our investment in the luggage stock! But They are just not careful with the bags.
Since Hubby always travels with some sort of computer "stuff" it's always a hard decision on how much he can carry and what can be sacrificed to the airlines.
This time he will carry it all and I shipped the rest. What a hassle!

Anyhow...
After I dropped him off at the airport (2 hours away).  I took the long way home and visited a favorite fabric store of mine (Beverly's in Rocklin). It's been quite awhile since I've been in there and so I tried not to go crazy and just buy what I thought I'd use in the near future.

These fat-quarters can be useful in just about any project, but I have a couple ideas.
Then I saw this totally useless box and I squealed with delight and it ended up in my basket.

But ain't it just the cutest little thing?! They had them in 3 sizes, this is the smallest. I'm sure I can find a use for it if I think hard enough.

Then I bought a some yardage. If you look real hard you will see the beiges at the top of the picture. Those are always useful and I never have enough. I could have bought more but I will am trying to challenge myself to use more color.

And these fabrics at the bottom, those are my "more color". Of course I see myself whipping up a few more zippy bags because today I have a free day and I'm looking forward to sewing!
Having to do all Hubbies chores is cutting into my day and that time change may be affecting me too. I'm so tired by 8. But I'm making myself stay up till 10. Ridiculous!

Yesterday I went down to the classroom where Sue Spargo was teaching a class. No I didn't take any of her classes, I'm too cheap. But I sure did find as many excuses as I could to walk s-l-o-w-l-y through the room. I was trying to soak it all up. And my plan was to buy her stitch book. BUT I WAS TOO LATE! They had just sold the last one so I came home empty handed. I could have cried. I could still cry...

Anyway before I wet my keyboard, I'm going to go cut into some fabric!
Take care and have a wonderful day!
Brandie

Gobsmacked

Last night at guild, we had Sue Spargo! It was super exciting and I learned sew much! I think just being in near her was enough to make me more creative. I hope!

Her speech gave me new insights on color. Boy did it!
For one, I learned that mustard, lime green and turquoise look wonderful together, really wonderful.

I'm going to try to harness what I saw and learned last night into my way of thinking-working.

Another goal for this year, learn to use more color.
I'm not off to a bad start with those Kaffe hexies!

If you ever get a chance to see Sue, jump on it and go!
If you have a small fortune set aside, take one of her classes.
You will not be disappointed!

I'll leave you now with some pictures of her quilts. Sorry they aren't the best, it's my phone not her quilts.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Brandie