I wish I had some elves!

There are 29 sewing days left until Christmas...I wish I had some elves!



With Christmas fast approaching I have a lot of projects to get moving on.  My  "TO DO LIST" has not seen a lot of activity but I am trying! 

Yesterday I was able to complete piecing the little topper for my daughter.

Today I will decide if I want to add a border or just finish this off as is.

I just love it and want to make some more!  But wait...they aren't on the list.  They will have to wait until I have time!  See, if I had even just one little elf to assist me I could make more!

What would my elves do?

• Clean the house
• Wash the dishes
• Cook the meals (I bet that would be sugar cookies!)
• Do the laundry
• Pre-cut fabrics for projects
• Magically wind my bobbins
• Go to work for me?...No, I don't think so!

Since I don't have to be to work until 4pm today I can try to fit in some sewing.

First I must get some cleaning done and run a few errands.  That will mean battling the Black Friday shopper frenzy.  The errands really have to get done today (Bank, PO, etc...) so I have no choice.

Happy Sewing!  29 days and counting!

Twisting the Night Away...

Sunday was a very productive day for sewing!  FINALLY!!!

My husband didn't feel well so I sent him to bed and he slept for about 5 hours...got up for dinner and went back to bed for the night!  (He feels much better today.)

I worked on a cute sample for the store; wish I could show you it but the design is copyrighted and I don't have permission as of right now to show it.  BUT trust me, it is adorable!!!

Then I took a break to work on what I am going to call "Christmas Twists"!  I decided that I might not get my daughters quilt started :( much less completed and she did ask for a table topper so...the birth of "Christmas Twists"!  I started with some scraps and cut them into 5" squares and assembled them into this.

And I really liked that a lot so I had to sit and ponder the fate of that little top before I proceeded to the next step.  That was REALLY hard to do!  But I pulled myself together and twisted away.  And after I started to build and saw this...

I was glad I continued!  :)  HAPPY...HAPPY!

This was done using a tool called "Lil' Twister" by CS Designs.

Now I cannot wait to see the finished product.  I want to give it to her when I see her on December 8th so she can use it through the holiday season!

Another WIP added to the pile.  I like to have a few of them going so I don't get bogged down into one project.

Happy Sewing!!!

To sash or not to sash...that is the question!

Good Sunday Morning!  Another great day to sew!

Last night I completed the 96 blocks for my Snowball Lap Quilt Gifts.

Remember this...

Well, now I have 3 rows of one quilt sewn together...

I decided to go with a 6x7 layout.  The question is; should I put sashing between the rows? It will not go between each block in the row...just between rows.   What are your thoughts out there in blog land?

I won't be working on this today because I have a few other projects that have been moved up on the long list!
Happy Sewing!



Does it wiggle? Can it jiggle? No, it's BARgello!

Tonight I am starting my first ever BARGELLO project!  I have cut my strips and I am ready to go!  Stay tuned for the progress and finished product...

A HOLIDAY TABLERUNNER!  Most likely a gift for someone!

Here are the strips; cut and ready to sew!

Happy Sewing!

One gift done!

Yippee!  I finally finished one holiday gift.

The Pillowcases for my grandson...DONE!

He loves Curious George and even though these little monkeys aren't the right little monkey aka George I hope he likes them!!!

I had all this fabric (flannel) in my stash so it was easy to get right to it.

The monkey fabric started out as a purchase to make pj's for my husband. I guess he will not be getting those afterall!  Hey, that takes care of another item on my list.  I'll just remove the item titled "Flannel Pajamas for Husband".

Happy Sewing!  Start a quick gift - finish a quick gift!  I feels great!

To Update...

Okay, it is about 4pm...housework is over.  Dinner is started; Country Ribs, Rice and Steamed Sugar Snap Peas.  I also cooked a rocking breakfast; cinnamon pancakes, bacon and eggs!  In addition I started two batches of sauce to freeze AND baked some Oatmeal Cookies!  Mixed up a batch of hamburger patties and froze them for the future!  I was working hard this morning!

Now I can go and sew, sew, sew!

I think I will start with my Grandson's Pillowcases!  Then a project for work!
Doesn't matter much as long as I sew!

I sew when I can...and I sew want to sew today!

I sew want to sew today!  But I must do something really important...

Sew I must CLEAN this house before IT goes on strike!!!
Off to the laundry room for starters...this is sew not fair!

Making Progress...not sew much!

Sew yes...I am sewing and working on my LIST but I must admit to not having progressed as far as I had hoped.  Here is where I am with the "Snowball" throw.  This isn't the final layout because there are 8 more colors to be sewn.  16 colors in all and I cut 6 blocks from each color so I have a total of 96 blocks to be sewn.  But I have a plan...read on...

Original plan was to have the rows 8 blocks X 10 blocks.  Let's start by changing that to 6x6 or 7x7.  The larger size will be too big and more than I want once the planned (in my head) borders are added.  Having said that, I have enough blocks cut and ready to sew for TWO lap quilts using this fabric.  SEW...two lap quilts could be a good thing.  All the cutting done...sew good!

I have been working on a few other projects but I can't show them yet.  One is for the shop so that's a bit of a secret and the others are not ready for the lime light yet!
Happy Sewing!!!

Progress...I think not!

My intent was to sew all day on Sunday...Sew did I...not sew! What is it about your husband calling you every time you sit down to sew!  "Where's this...What's this...Do you have anything for a snack...", on and on and on!  It's amazing to wonder what they do when you are not at home.

Now, don't get me wrong, he is amazing and I love him dearly!  I just wanted to sew!

Anyway I did manage to cut out the squares in prep for his Mom's Christmas Quilt.  I needed 96 of the 6 1/2" squares and 384 of the 2 1/2" squares.  Here is one that I sewed together to see what it will look like.  There are 16 different flannel prints/solids for the blocks.  It will be a snowball pattern with a pieced border with applique yo yo flowers...I think!

I also wanted to show you this absolutely adorable pin cushion I received as a gift from a co-worker.  I love it!  She purchased it at a quilt shop in Texas!

No sewing time today or tomorrow...going to a work seminar for Bernina!

Happy Sewing!

Partridge in a Pear Tree

I haven't gotten to too many gift things but I did work on this little table topper last night.  I am not sure if I want it to be a topper or open one seam and make it a little Christmas Tree Skirt.

I will be purchasing more of this fabric to make a striped runner and that could be a hostess gift for Holiday Partying!

There is more to come but I don't think I will have time to sew today.  Work and then a party to attend.

Happy Sewing!

Not much sewing on the 3rd...but...

I didn't get much done in the world of my sewing room yesterday...a long day at work! Started another project...WHY!!!!  Well, I just wanted to! 
But, this one is not on my list...shame!!!  But I really wanted to since the fabric was already cut.  Having fabric cut and ready to sew is such a great thing.  You can just sit and sew...sew...sew.
Here is a little quilt I designed on EQ6...

It is the first in a series I have planned for small quilts using blocks I like in a different way.

Here is what I sewed yesterday...I now need to work on the piano key border pieces and this virtual quilt will come to life!

What I sewed today...

Wow, two posts in one day!  That's a first for me but I really had to tell you what I sewed today at my sister's house.  First of all we had sew much fun...lots of sewing, a little bit of what I like to call 'reverse sewing', and plenty of laughter!  It was a super day! I started with this kit...



Only because I wanted to finish something.  The darn thing gave me a little bit of trouble...maybe that is where the laughing comes in!  Too much laughter when sewing leads to 'reverse sewing'.  Well I finished it and started to sew the binding but stopped because I can do the hand sewing in front of the TV...here it is!

It finishes 12" square.  Isn't it pretty...my sister loved it and I think I will gift it to her for her birthday as soon as I finish the binding!

Then I decided to work on a quilt from my stash.  I had cut most of the 9 patch squares out about 1 1/2 years ago. 

I sewed 216 of the 2 1/2" squares into rows of 3...now they need to be cut apart, pressed and sewn into 6 1/2" nine patch blocks (24 of  them).  Then I can move on to the star blocks. 

Sew, I would say I accomplished some good sewing today!
Hope you did too...Happy Sewing!





Day 2 of "The List"...

So here it is...the day after I posted my list and here is what I accomplished so far...NOTHING! To be fair I did work late yesterday and did not get home until 9:00pm.  Before I went to work I did sort through some of my stash and made "project piles" so I would say that is a start! Each project is neatly packed in a 2 gallon zip lock bag.  Only problem...they do not all have patterns! :(  I am going to choose as I go on that part...HOHOHO!

The plan is to SEW EVERY DAY!  Even if it is only for a short time, try to get some sewing in every day!  TODAY is a good sew day.  I am going to my sister's and the plan is to SEW...SEW...SEW!  Now I just need to choose a project for today which is easy because they are all packed and ready to roll.

(I will have to take a photo of the project pile)

Hope you have a good SEW DAY!

Time for a list...THE HOLIDAY TO DO LIST!

Now that Halloween is over and November is here I decided that I needed a HOLIDAY TO DO LIST!  Hopefully that will help me accomplish finishing the gifts I need to finish for Holiday Gifting!  They say (who are "they" anyway) that if you put it in writing you make a commitment.  Well, I will give it a try but I promise there will be last minute purchases because something is bound to be left undone!!  HAHAHA...or is that HOHOHO!
Here are a few that I can finish for gifts that have the tops already completed...

3D pinwheels...needs quilting!

Star Sprinkles...needs a border (stumped) and then quilting!

Japanese Geisha's...needs a border and quilting!  Cannot find the perfect black for the border and it really needs to be black!

Who will get these?  I really haven't decided that yet.  Someone on the list perhaps!

You can view my list on the side bar...maybe you are on it!

Happy Sewing!!!