Thursday, March 31, 2011

Charity quilts

Our Guild has many charity projects including making these simple large-strip comfort quilts for hospice patients.  One of the gals in my Bee group received some donated fabric so she washed it and cut it all into kits for making comfort quilts.  I made the above two and finished up the bindings tonight.


Life has been busy in my little world and my crafting/sewing has mostly been put on the back burner.  I noticed that I have not posted anything since March 9th.  What I haven't posted is my machine quilting practice pieces, my Artist's Trading Card creations, some house blocks I made for a quilt-in-progress, several rows of knitting, and the writing I did for a newly formed Writing Club.  (I have not been sitting around twiddling my thumbs.)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mini Table Runner or Candle Mat

This little mat was made from a kit purchased from Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop in Fox River Grove, IL and was designed by Debbie Lazarski.  The kit included the embroidered center square and all the fabrics.  The finished size is 7-1/2 X 17 inches.  Using the quilt-as-you-go method,  the whole project went together easily and quickly.  It will be a gift for a friend.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Organized and ready to proceed

Yes, I finished organizing my fabric room.  I feel great about knowing exactly what I have and where it is located.  I still have many, many UFOs, but they are labeled and listed.  Don't know why that makes me feel better, but it does.



Labeled containers make me happy.

Even the little area where I make an occasional greeting card got cleaned up.  This table was stacked high with stuff that needed a home.  Now I have a nice work area for creating some cards.


I can make cards in between finishing those 22 UFO projects and the 13 project kits that haven't even been started.  I won't mention the 200 books with endless ideas and my three ring binders with hundreds of quilt ideas ripped out of magazines. 


It is all worth it though when you get a phone call like I got tonight.  My Texas cousin called to let me know she received the quilt that I made for her, and she was very happy with the quilt.  It was so good to hear her voice and catch up on family news.  I love making quilts for people who truly appreciate them.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Organize and play

The other day I was at the dollar store and saw jigsaw puzzles - 500 piece jigsaw puzzles.  I was very pleasantly surprised that the puzzle I purchased for $1.00 was well made and enjoyable to put together.  All the pieces interlocked and although the pieces were small, they were just the right size to have them all within reach.

But, I was feeling guilty that I was not working on any of my many, many projects.  So I made labels and sewed them on some recently completed quilts.

A burst of energy hit me yesterday and today so I started a much needed project - re-organizing and folding all my fabric neatly.  Here are the reds, greens, blues and purples.

Today I worked on the beiges, golds, browns, patriotic, flowers, black & white, novelty, whites, flannels, and stripes.

When I took breaks, I worked on an expensive puzzle that I purchased at a book store.
This puzzle was hard to do and I did not like it anywhere near as much as the little puzzle from the dollar store.  These pieces interlocked, but if I breathed wrong they would come apart.  There is a lot of detail and therefore looked like it would be easy, but the details were so small that the pieces were hard to locate on the picture.  Guess who is going back to the Dollar store! ! ! 

This morning I had an "aha" moment while I was doing some journaling.  I worry about all the projects I have to do and about all the fabric, counted cross-stitch, yarn, and crafting supplies I purchased during my working years.  I have felt like I need to use it all up and had set a goal for myself (a few years back) of being done in five years.  Well, I realized this morning that my goal is impossible. There is no way I could possibly finish all the cross-stitch projects, use all the fabric, knit all the yarn, or make use of all the craft supplies.  Nor can I read all the books I have at home.  Nor can I get the house as clean as I think it should be or as organized as I envision in my day-dreams.  My "aha" moment came when it hit me that this is a very good thing!  If I weren't working on my projects and crafts, and if I weren't doing jigsaw puzzles or reading, it would mean that I was too old, too infirm, or disabled. 

 So today I am extremely grateful for the long, long list of things To Do.