Tiny Houses Tiny Trees WIP

I love weekends without big commitments. 

I got a lot done,  

but you'll only get to see the trees today.

I did several small stints at my Janome on Sunday, and the Tiny Houses Tiny Trees was quilted. Later in the evening I sat with the family and sewed on buttons. A few more hours, and it will be ready to hang. I'm getting excited now. 

Someone asked me where I find the time to sew and quilt with all I have going on. We have a very busy household here. If you're interested, read on.

Do you know people that when you try to find a date for a get-together, and they start paging through their calendars into the next 2 months? They're booked solid in their personal lives as well as their professional lives. They will say, "My schedule is crazy! It's not me--it's the kids!" We have 5 kid  from teens into twenties now, but they were all young once long ago. I hear my friends lament, and wish I could tell them this.

I have a dear friend who once told me she only allowed each of her kids to do one outside activity that maintained a schedule, like a sport, twice a year. So, 6 kids on a rotating basis, and not all at once. She limited the craziness in her life by setting limits. She's a smart cookie. I applied a lot of her mommy wisdom to my own life with young kids, and still do. Like, I once bargained with one of our children the opportunity to have a horse instead of playing on a softball team again. It was the same amount of time investment, but spread out over the year, and a regular schedule. My kids did do sports, but when they did, they all took lessons at the same time, like tennis or martial arts. I never felt the guilt that they had to do it all. The free time we gave them was every bit as important as another scheduled activity.

Every one of my children found a unique hobby growing up by not following the norm of 'The Hurried Child'. They all, so far, have carried these interests into adulthood. Forcing them to fill their own time worked.

Your free time is often hard to control, especially during the holidays, so don't burn yourself out this season. Manage your time instead of allowing it to manage you. If you must, mark off your calendars with "Free Time" with a pen--it's non-negotiable. I'm advocating a Slow Holiday, and Less-is-More theme.

This is my effort at holiday decorating so far. I found it at the local store on sale this weekend. I love to give a big, sarcastic, "Whatever!" to my kids now, probably because it was a banned word in our house when they were all little. (Having older kids is really more fun, I'm telling you!) I think it carries the same sentiment, but in a holiday way. 

Doxie Girls, let's go pick up your 3 canine cousins, and make this a sewing day. 

(Shut in a room with 6 dogs.)

(Hmmm.) 

Not sure I'll get a lot done today, but we'll have fun.

A Tiny Post on Tiny Trees

Tiny Holiday Trees 

My little trees I accidentally squished together turned into a sweet wall hanging. I finished it up yesterday as a gift for my friend, Wenda. It was a happy accident, and I was pleased how it turned out.

I used the chance to try out the machine quilting I had in mind for the larger wall hanging, and also the button and pearl embellishments. I think the bling is pretty, but it could easily be made less glammy by using colored buttons on one or all the trees. 

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

 "Tiny Houses, Tiny Trees" came together at last this afternoon. The week before Thanksgiving brings so much extra work and preparation, so this project feels like it's taken forever. It actually hasn't been a week, though. I think I was so anxious to get the piecing done because I'm really looking forward to the next part. Bring on the bling!

Two books that have been on my shelf for several months are both by Aimee Ray. I haven't done much in the way of embroidery, but I started this project with the intention to embellish it. I think embroidery will enhance this project.

Here are another two loaded with ideas. 

I made this block while working on the project, but the trees wound up too close together. It's okay. I learned how 'not to do it', and now I have a piece to practice some techniques on before starting with the actual project.

The wine is chilled and the turkey defrosted. The cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes were cooked today. Tomorrow after the rest is prepped, and while the turkey bakes, I'll be stitching away. My mom will call to ask how the meal prep is going, and once again tell me I should be watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'll just smile. 

May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day wherever you land, and be careful in your travels. And remember, be kind to each other.

Doxie Girls, let's head to bed.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.

Tiny Houses Tiny Trees II

 Tiny Houses Tiny Trees--Work in Progress-WIP

It was a working weekend for me, but I have a lot to show for it this morning. This little project does not show the hours sunk into it. It is a time vampire, but I love how fun it is!

 I had done the remaining tree blocks during the morning. 

Sunday afternoon I started at this point.

Tiny Houses Tiny Trees

I have always had a thing for Teeny Tiny Houses. I always thought it would be So Fun to live with minimal space, and the barest of possessions. One trip to a Disney efficiency room with two girls who were appalled at the lack of privacy changed all that overnight! I'm happy enough now to just look at pictures, Thank You.

This little project started off with the stripey fabric reminding me so much of trees. I thought a little wall hanging with trees would be a nice seasonal touch. 

Quilted Clutch Bags

Somewhere along the Quilting Road, I never learned what a walking foot was, or did, because I had always sewn on a Pfaff. That wonderful old machine with an integrated walking foot! Mine is on the older side now, over 20 years old, and I'm still just as thrilled with it as I was the first day. The only thing that I can't do is quilt a bigger piece on it with the tiny 6 3/4" throat. For that, I need my new Janome. 

All my quilting is done on the Janome now, but I had never just straight stitched a quilt. Once I learned how much fun it was to do free-motion, I couldn't see why someone would even want to do straight stitching. While I love the creativity of free-motion, Fiona's dog bed required a straight stitch because of the bulk. So last weekend it was finally necessary to learn how to use the Janome's walking foot. I 505'd together two cute scraps, and figured it out. Not tough at all, but now I had seen how it could transform my fabric with just that straight stitching, and I was really impressed with the look. I just had to find something to do with my test piece!

So, this little clutch was born, and the idea continued to be refined, ...

Holiday Hip Hot Pad

From here until the first of January, it's a social season. There are invitations to gatherings, parties, and the occasional unexpected company shows up at our doors. There are frequently times when we should be showing up with 'something', and my head goes blank when I'm pushed for a last minute idea. I've been racking my brain for homemade hostess gifts I can make and take, and I always think about what I would want to receive myself. There are the typical things like wine or a small plant, etc., but it seems at the holidays that people bring holiday-themed gifts. I would bet that each one of us here has a little different decorating style for our holidays, and I'm trying to find something that all of us can use, and hopefully appreciate.

Favorite Quilt Scraps Powder Puffs

You may not want to hear this, but it's officially 6 weeks before Christmas, and a week and half before Thanksgiving. The calendar turns whether we're in denial or not. Do you have a list of people expecting a gift from you? Are you interested in some quick projects that are fun to do, and will be one-of-a-kind because you make them? I'll share a few of my secrets with you this week. Let's make this Christmas a low-cost, low-volume holiday, and focus on homemade, which allows us to re-purpose or Upcycle.

Poor Freezing Fiona's New Dog Bed

This is one very large, very warm dog bed made for a deserving dog who can't get warm.

Patchwork Cushion

For all you scrap lovers, this post is for you. 

Here's the story of a family heirloom that no one wanted to sit on. It was too hard.

Feather the Nest-3-Recovering Chair Cushions

Let's start with an After shot to the left, and a Before on the Right. I'm feeling lucky you can't see how stained and dirty that cushion fabric is, but rest assured, it needed replaced.

This is a close-up of the finished seat cushion. What an improvement in both design... 

Project "Feather the Nest"-2

Today is Veteran's Day. Take the opportunity to thank those men and women who gave a great deal to us with their time and devotion to our country. Young and old, they all remember the sacrifices, and are grateful and honored when they know the rest of us remember, too. A simple, "Thank you for your service", is appreciated.

Project "Feather the Nest": Dog Beds

Today is the first of a string of a few stellar autumn days. Sun and mild temperatures for this time of November are fully enjoyable, if not untypical. Here, we've had a keen eye on the weather during our barn project, and every spare moment on dear husband's part has been spent there in both sun and rain. I hope that the remaining material come in an are installed this week. We're all ready for the barn to be done. The Arctic cold front hits us Tuesday night, and I fear for the harsh winter they're predicting to be near on it's heels. Brrr.

I Survived the Zombie (Quilt)

This is Friday, and I'm doing the Happy Dance.

The Zombie quilt is done, done, done. 

Woohoo!

Patch, Donate, Rebuild

Do you have some fabric that you really love? You know, you take it out and look at it, pet it, and decide not to cut into it. It's your favorite, or one of. I have several I've been loving, and not ready to part with in a quilt. This is one, and I needed just a little patch on my jeans where I snagged the knee at the barn. Torn jeans just don't cut it for me, so I parted with a few inches, and made a cute patch. It's raggedy like the boyfriend jeans, functional, and I can enjoy the print. Because my tear had straight edges, I did my best to zigzag them together. Then with your quilt fabric, cut a rectangle, make a tube right sides out, iron it flat with the seam in back, blanket stitch the edges, and hand sew on. The original patchwork. Come spring, I may change it out for something brighter.

Promise Kept and People Met

Yesterday was a Super Sewing Day! I packed it in from morning to night, but it was both productive and fun. 

First Meet-Up at Jo-Ann's

I think this deserves a shout out. We had a ball! Most who came didn't know each other. The company was diverse in age and interest, but everyone came to sew or stitch. No meeting. No agenda. The teenagers took off to walk in the mall together, but came back to observe what we were doing. We create a little hook or picture in their brain, and that is how it all starts for them. That was how most of us started. We watched, and then decided we could do that. About a dozen adults sewed, we laughed, we laughed some more, and kept on sewing. We showed off our work, asked each other how to do things--and someone there always knew how to help. It was actually nice that the room was fairly small. We became well acquainted with whatever our neighbor was working on. The cookie-brownies were a little burned, my own fault, but no one complained. We simply enjoyed the time we shared. 

Get Out of Your Quilting Room and Vote!

            Susan B. Anthony                           Elizabeth Cady Stanton                       Lucy Burns


It's November 4th, and here in the U.S. it's Election Day. Be part of the Process, and get out to Vote! If you're female, and I imagine most of you are, keep in mind the strong women who gave years of their life to the suffrage movement so all women then and after had the right to vote. Can you imagine our world if we didn't? We all have a voice, and our voices count. Make yours heard today. Pay tribute to their legacy. Go vote!

Quilts and Barns

WIP: Zombies back and front

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween..."

The Zombie quilt is coming along just dandy. I finally decided this odd design 'feels' like it belongs here. I snuck in a few good hours this morning, and plunged into the project. It'll be done by evening for my Zombie lover.

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!

Two days left 'til All Hallow's Eve! Don the costumes! Buy the candy!

If you were a good parent, and you had a child who was creeped out by Zombies, Zombie movies, and everything to do with Zombies, what would you do? 

Forgive me now. Or hate me. Meh. Either way, I made him a Zombie quilt. Let me justify this by saying he was nearly 21 at the time I started it, okay? The prints were adorable, and I knew I had to make this quilt. Maybe it would help desensitize him along the way. 

Modern Improv Top Assembled

There's that defining moment when you sew the very last seam, and flip that top open to see what you hope is a beautiful piece of work. Your heart almost stops, and your breath is shallow. I looked. It was good. I hurried upstairs to show my husband, and he said, "That's nice. Is it supposed to look like that?" No, there was no ball game on, and I had woken him up. He was just tired from working on the barn, and I forgave him. But, what was really spectacular was the way the afternoon sun was shining through the quilt, and I said, "Yes! Isn't that neat?"

Brights, Camera, Action!

Do you have a good friend who will give you honest feedback? (If you ask her if your derriere looks big in something, will she tell you the truth?) My mother-in-law is not a good liar, and she is very nice--so she tries hard to pad the truth. Sometimes she'll fudge it a little, but with enough coffee and chocolate I usually get a pretty good read--even with my wild stuff. She'll hem and haw, but I'll keep rearranging until she says it's better than the last one, and I take that as good.

Meet Up at Jo-Ann's. New Towne Mall, Nov. 4th from 6-8:30 p.m.

Currently serving as a storage room, but ready in a flash.

Several local people have expressed to me their desire to have a meet-up. They want to meet other quilters, knitters, etc., and desire something without 'strings attached'--pun intended. In other words, they don't want the commitment of formally joining a guild just now, or taking a class. They just want to do their thing in the company of others, trade ideas, and share some time. Friends, let me announce, we have a Meet Up location and date planned. Woo-hoo!

Deconstructivism

 Yesterday's deconstruction project started on the barn.

What's It All About, Julie?

Happy Wednesday, a.k.a. Hump Day!

What a great week so far! I woke to freshly baked gluten-free pumpkin muffins thanks to a nocturnal teenager. The rain should be taking a break, and we might get a chance to be outside today. The barn is coming down piece by piece this week. The concrete panels are being poured every day, and showing up on site. And yesterday, I spent the day with a good friend. It doesn't get much better than this.

Weekend Recap and Wonky Blocks

I woke up this morning, and took a look at the house. Whoa.
What happened here, and where did the weekend go?

The Autumn Blues-- and Greys, Pinks, Limes, and Citrus

8:40 a.m. and the outside lights haven't turned off yet.

Fall brings grey skies with little sun. We have lots of rainy days here. The plants look tired, and darkness creeps in from both edges of our day. Some of us embrace the change, and some of us are prone to seasonal melancholy. It sneaks up on us. I had a moment the other day when I was thinking of my brother whom we lost a couple years ago. It blind-sided me from out of the blue while I was driving, and I remembered what someone told me along these lines:

If you find yourself caught by the current, breathe slowly, and don't fight it. Swim with it. You will float, and come to shore on your own.

My 'Katie Jump Rope'

This is my interpretation of the Katie Jump Rope pattern. When I first starting back into quilting a year ago, I saw this pattern on the FreeSpirit website, and loved the pattern done with the depression era prints. Most of the fabrics were unavailable then, and I wasn't fully vested in quilting yet. I searched through what stash I had on hand, and filled it out with inexpensive fat quarters from the local fabric and craft store. I bought an acrylic tumbler template from Missouri Quilt Co., and this top came together in just an afternoon. It was close enough to make me very excited.

It's a Couch Day and Finish Up

                                                        Today feels like a couch day. 

There are days when I find motivating myself a tough thing, too. Not today, though. The Doxie Girls may be snoozing away the morning, but I've been finishing up a UFO from last winter. I started yesterday late in the afternoon, and kept at it through dinnertime. Back at the sewing machine by 6 a.m., and I'm down to 2 more rows. I'll have something fun to show you in the morning.

This Is the Barn that Jack Built

From left: Misha the llama, Fitz the alpaca, Evie the horse, and Armand an alpaca

Fall is well upon us here in Ohio. The trees are showing color, brilliant to travel under in the sunlight. That wistful feeling of it all being so temporary is in the air, and I find myself thinking of "The Ants and the Grasshopper". Last year was fierce with deep snow and negative temperatures, and this year's forecast is supposed to be much worse. Can that even be possible?

Improvements and Refinements: Daydream

One of the most valuable tools I've been introduced to so far has been a design wall. It's a novel perspective, (and just really exciting!), to see a work progress from across the room, or to have the luxury of leaving it up, and then popping into the room later to see if I 'm still happy with things. The Daydream quilt has been up since Monday, and I was sure enough of the arrangement that I sewed together the border blocks one morning. Then I worked on something else, and even slept on it. When I'd pop in to peek at it, something just didn't feel right. I dreaded ripping out those 1.5 mm seams.

I'm In the Dog House & Daydream

While it doesn't look like loads of progress, a lot of things happened here yesterday. All the missing blocks were finished. I arranged and re-arranged. Border design was thought through, and fabrics picked from stash.

The Process: From Chaos into Order

We were home just long enough to unpack our few things Sunday afternoon, and I hit the ground running. The end of the week was gearing up to be a busy one, and I saw my window of opportunity to sew. Oh,... it felt good to be back in my space! I had my assortment of what my friend called 'my bits', and still no perfectly clear plan of what I was doing with them. That's where the design wall did its job. 

Sweet Sunday Daydream

I'd say this large block is very Florida-ish. 
Wouldn't you?

The zig-zag is actually a fussy cut chevron, and while I didn't try to match the lines themselves, I did try to balance them opposite each other. It only takes one time of not doing this to see how wonky your block can look--or maybe that's what you're after. Either way, look closely at your patterned fabrics to see if there's an interesting 'fussy cut' hiding inside.

Saturday Daydream

Today let me introduce two large blocks with bold color--one rectangular, the other square.  Both have simple designs, but they play well with others.

Paper Stars-Making Your Own Templates

Come on. 

Look closely at this with me. 

If we look critically at this first star of mine, we'll find a few points that aren't "just so". The horizontal lines in the fabric are all a few degrees off being horizontal. Hmmmm....What-ever! Those little things will not deter me from being pleased as pie with it!

I drew this star out on paper with a pencil compass and ruler, and made a pattern from it.

Thursday's Plan & Daydream

This is Away for a few days. 

We walked to the beach this morning, and it 
was nearly empty at 8 a.m. 

Daydream Tuesday

This is one of those weeks when my time is not my own. It's busy, busy! I sewed fast and furiously yesterday before mowing the pasture, so I hope to be able to show you a block a day while I'm off on a get-away later this week. I'm sure it will be back to 'regular programming as usual' next week.