Stop Nagging Me

So, after the picture of my sewing room went up the tongues did wag! Is nothing sacred? I bared my soul to yo'all and got little support in return. Just wagging fingers and shameful looks! Let ye without sin cast that first remnant!

I know. It was all in good fun. But I'll have you know I can find anything I need in that room. Anytime. Try me.

Some progress has been made. The MIL has come and gone and did sleep in the guest room bed, which was accessible by that time.

I moved my doily rescue collection to themed drawers and am moving my quilt cotton collection to the guest room cabinet. They look so nice on display! I really need to curate the doily collection, but for now it's tidy and awaiting further attention someday.

I am finishing off UFO's. The sister who had a significant birthday last year received her Lucy Neatby  Hot Tamale  socks a whole day before the subsequent birthday. Those peppers were enough to keep anyone from meeting a deadline! That gives her till Dec. 24 to finish that knitted cowl she started for me.  I await with baited breath!

I decided that 2 meters of lace were enough to embellish a blouse and called that job done. I do need to make a blouse yet, but the lace is off the pillow. It was a fairly simple design (for lacers other than me) and I learned a lot from it. Plain white. Perhaps something a bit more exciting next time? Currently trying to finish off the lace trim for a Chanel jacket. It sits in front of the TV awaiting a good movie or something.

Then there was that basket that needed more willow to finish the sides. I soaked some clippings from the backyard and now that's done. It was an ornery basket requiring a lot of brute force. This comes from not clipping my willow in a timely manner. 

This is the jacket that I made from the quilted material. DH says it is truly a 'me' jacket. It feels like wearing a snuggly, says The Great P, and she is correct! If I had to do it over again I would have used a second pattern on the other side rather than going plain. The reverse is really rather blah, and a reversible jacket should give you 2 good looks rather than 1.2.

I loved the pattern! It's the Sachi Jacket. The cut was very easy to adjust for fit and style. I'm wearing a small. I chopped the shoulders back about an inch, took in the sides, shortened the sleeves, lengthened the hem and lessened the collar by just chopping away. It has few seams and they go together easily, even after all that chopping.

I put buttons on both sides, back to back (shank on one side, flat on the other). The buttonholes work for both sides. I used the Pfaff plug in buttonholer. It's one of those things I would spend more money for. It stitches both sides of the buttonhole in the same direction and measures perfect repeats, as it is not swayed by slips or bumps as it stitches. I think both front and back are quite acceptable. The fluff from my quilt batting shows a bit. I may get out a Sharpy and tone that down.

I can see me wearing this a lot.

 

Do You Have Your Pocket Jamie?

This is just what every woman needs.

http://www.starz.com/originals/outlander/extras/extras

Are you an Outlander fan? If so, it would be hard Not to know that this book series is coming to the small screen this summer. Here you can get a 'pocket Jamie' to carry in your purse and pop out at the perfect moment. I've got one. I may get him laminated.

I've always wanted one. Always!

I've been rereading these books by Diana Galbaldon. These books weigh at least a kilo each and took years between each one to be published. Oooh the waiting! Now when I don't have to wait you can really pick up on the subtle things she throws in to tie the books together. Currently I'm waiting for the next book to arrive. I ordered it from the bookstore in her hometown so it will come signed. I am a fan!

And yes, I did pick a bit more fabric the other day. But I have started in on organizing the spare room. After all, the MIL is coming on Thursday and she will want to find the bed. I hope she realizes the effort!

Squirrel!!!

You know how 'Squirrel!' refers to the poor person with ADHD (me) who is so easily distracted by any shiny thing that goes by? Well, in the spring we use that phrase differently at our house.

This oil can was in the garage up in the rafters. It is so jam packed with pine cones that we can't get them back out. Every spring it's a head scratcher to see what the resident squirrels have done in the garage over the winter, and it usually involves copious amounts of cones. One year we threw the cone piles out the door, only to have them trucked back in (as we watched) by a foul mouthed squirrel. He worked faster than we did. We gave up.

I spent the last 2 days working on a new appliquéd quilt top with my peeps. Ooh La La! It's a real blast to work on with friends. Social sewing. I love it! I even learned to hot fix sequins things to make a necklace for my dress block. We're talking about crazy quilting and a puppy quilt next. I love using decorative stitches on my machine, so the crazy quilting is a must. We got a new book in the store for inspiration. A shiny new book! Can we say 'Squirrel!'?

I promised (threatened) myself that I would post a pic of the current state of my sewing room. I need to get the UFO's down to a dull roar. Can you hear them? They yell out in the night, and I love each and every one of them, so the guilt of abandonment is heavy on my shoulders. This picture is a promise to all of you that I will tidy, organize and schedule myself. The fact that I just bought 3 cute embroidery files shall not distract me (sale at Urban Threads, people). I must be strong. Soooo strong.

Yes. It real looks like that. The overflow is in the attic and the guest room. The MIL is coming for a visit soon, so I'm a panicking!

I went to a Pfaff Retreat last weekend. It was 4 days of sewing bliss! Even the local signage seemed to be calling my name. We got to try out new projects and products. It was a constant stream of ideas and possibilities! You always take home some hugely valuable trivia as well from these things.

When using a circular attachment not all stitches look great and sometimes one stitch width or length is better. It takes time to scroll through all your stitches and figure that out. I saved all the good stitches to a folder in my favourites, along with a straight stitch. Now when I use the circular attachment I just need to open that folder. Big time saver! Thanks M! Also I learned to use stitches that go right off the edge if it's a good look. If you need to you can stitch again, just inside that decorative stitch with a satin stitch, just to nail that raw edge down completely. I've got a cute baby quilt top with circles all over it. It's one of the few UFO's from that weekend. I finished most projects up.  What a star! For those of you who keep track, I did get all the fabric quilted and the jacket is almost done - just a bit of binding left. The Great P is also at the same point and her jacket is amazing!

This is a HexNMore ruler block. It goes together sweetly.

Here is a new bag pattern that can be lined (or not) and goes together in about 30 minutes. I love a set of sensible directions!