Hexies here we come!

The hexie box has come out once again! This time I cut up a few more pieces and will continue to do so as long and my hands hold up! It's so nice to be hand sewing these little hexies in the sunshine! The spring air coming through the house and the rays of the sun warming me up as I soak up the heat and enjoy every moment!

How do you like my little snips? I'd have to go through all my posts to remember where I got them, but they are perfect for my little kit! I wonder if these little scissors would be acceptable on an airplane? Maybe I should go with my daughter to the airport one day when she flies out of Calgary and see if Security lets her through with them? EGADS...if they confiscated them from her I would be somewhat annoyed! I just found these little one's....maybe if I get a duplicate set I can experiment with Security. MAYBE....Security takes stuff like this because THEY like them and want them for themselves! hmmmmmm? Any airline workers out there that can tell if they would be acceptable or not? Drop me a line and let me know! Last time I was on a plane they took my nail clippers.....HEADLINES... hypothetically IF they were not confiscated...

QUILTER ATTACKS FELLOW PASSENGER WITH NAIL CLIPPERS!..... maybe not!

The BEST news is I can hold the hexagon pieces together with my thumb splint, which makes me very happy! It's nice to be sewing these back together once again. Maybe I'll make headway on these units while I sit with Chef and watch TV! Either that or they can come out with me when we go fishing! I can't hold the rod, but I can sure stitch away at these!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Margo

Love mail!

I am crushing on the bright fabric that I won for the contest! This is the one that I entered with my quilt for my daughter into Fon's and Porter's Quilt that you Love contest! You have to love a good magazine! I'll be browsing through this deciding what I'm going to make! I couldn't find a selvage with the name on the above, but the rest of the fabric is called "Dash". Very cute! I think I'm going to use it for my Bionic Gear Bag Notions Tote from Craftsy. I just downloaded the pattern this morning....get this...OVER 50 pages of instructions! Heavens! you get a "bonus" pattern, but honestly! YIKES....it is for "beginners", so I hope that all those pages make it easier to put together! I'll have to find a binder to store it in! ha ha! One of my fellow quilters, Trish, made one and it is just beautiful! She said it had a lot of instructions to it. The finished product was great! If I can make it through one of these bags, I'll be using it for retreats and sew days! It opens up "boxy". You'll have to check out Craftsy under Patterns and then Bags.

Yesterday was spent with The Youngest! We went for pedi's and mani's! Had lunch together and chatted! It's always nice to see your adult children making their way in life. She showed me her new finished quilt. Hopefully she will pass a picture along so that I can show you all! She is a talented girl! Her boyfriend was telling me the plans for a sewing room for her! They have an extra room besides the guest rooms they have. He's already dreaming of having her sewing machine set up in front of a window and thinking about the shelving and drawers she'll need for fabric! Gotta love a man who supports a woman who loves to sew!

As for Chef...he was at home waiting for our new dishwasher! Maytag with stainless steel interior! Yipee! No more hand washing dishes! That is, he has been hand washing dishes since our dishwasher broke down. Don't forget, most of the pots are washed by hand anyways, but having to add the rest of the hand washing..... well, you don't appreciate these appliances as much as when you don't have it anymore! He's been great with my hand giving me trouble! It's nice to have the dishwasher back is all I'm saying!

Maybe after a bit of housekeeping today I'll be in the sewing room!

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Margo

Just a little bit at a time!

I have a whole lot of these going on! I had to un-stitch one completed triangle because I sewed it on wrong, but then I worked it out. I had forgotten to cut that little notch on those triangles that go on the side -- so I made sure I cut them all. My finished square is not 4.5 --it is 4.25". 

- yes I made sure it was a scant 1/4" seam

- yes I made sure that the copy of the pattern was to size {made sure the little box measured out the way it should have}

- yes I cut all the pieces the way I should

- yes I have "pressed" the way I should

so.... now I will have to match the rest of the pieces to make sure they make the same size. I am sure it will all work out! It is just frustrating as all get out when you buy a pattern and it doesn't work out. Maybe it's the thread? Maybe the thread is too thick? Who knows!

Has it stopped me? NO! now I am anxious to get to the other pieces! It will work out I am sure. Sometimes we have to "fudge" a few things and we learn for the next time! I'll have some trimming to do, but that's never stopped me in the past!

The little green owl? He's my timer! I've been trying to spend a minimum of 15 minutes a day in my sewing room! That has been very successful! He motivates me!

I've been struggling with coming home after working all day and I'm tired. The last thing I want to do is "do" something else other than sit and let my mind go blank. I do enjoy quilting though and sewing, so I have promised myself 15 minutes...only 15 minutes out of my day.  I get great pleasure of hearing that timer go off and end up continuing to work after. Rarely do I stop until much later .. which is  great!

This latest quilt is for my son. It will take a while, considering all the pieces that I have cut, but I'm looking forward to piecing it all together!

I am waiting for my friend Karen to finish up quilting one of my mystery quilts that I made. I'll be working on the binding before long! I am almost finished the top to a scrappy quilt that will need to go visit Karen for the "treatment" on her long-arm!  

Maybe a couple of bibs should be sewn up and passed onto my little niece! So many things that I could do! I think I'm on the list to sewing up some curtains as well!

Stay tuned and set your timers!

Happy Quilting everyone!

Margo

It's been a good day!

Nothing is better than being able to "make" for little ones! I think she's going to need these for Easter Brunch!

Reversible is good!

A little bit of batting and a couple of stitches around and done! Now I can bring these along with the carrot tea towel!

Hope you have a wonderful day with loved ones for Easter!

Happy quilting!
Margo

Happy Easter!

Passing on a little Easter goodness! I got two of these kits from my retreat, courtesy of Nimble Thimbles Quilt Club! Love, love, love!

Now I am new to any type of machine applique. That means I am trying out new stitches, new thread and of course what to do with stabilizer. This little project is Phyllis' fault!

 She tackled these at Retreat and said it was pretty easy! 

 Thanks Phyllis! I couldn't be happier with the outcome of these!

I had bought a wee bit of Tear Away a while ago - and had no idea where to start. There was a shiny side and a  sticky side. I put the sticky side down to the back of the tea towel and used my iron to press it a bit. It stuck to the fabric and not to my iron thank goodness!! Who knew! It didn't stick permanently though, but enough that it would let me stitch the pieces down. When I was done -- simple -- it tore away! [duh!] I have so many stabilizers and sticky papers that I have to start labeling everything! I do believe that I need to educate myself on these things! I am very happy with the outcome though! It was tons of fun and took about an hour and a half for each - which included tracing, fusing the pieces to the iron and then stitching around the pieces.

Then I thought, I needed to do the other one! Though on this one I started to stitch everything in phases. I stitched the leaves and then put on the next pieces and stitched those down. It turned out cute! I think I do need practice on my stitching -- but everything gets better with practice, practice, practice! 

Chef Murphy let me put one on the oven handle! We need a little Spring in the kitchen with all this miserable weather we have been having! Last night it was snowing again! Though not enough for it to stay on the ground, but chilly enough to want to stay indoors and sew! I feel like I accomplished something this weekend!

Happy Easter all! God Bless each and everyone!

Margo

Love Craftsy!

I don't know if you knew...but I posted by Stash project with the baskets on a contest that Crafsy had. Remember this photo?

Well that photo went on to win one of the grand prizes for a Stash contest! How exciting! I got to pick a free class! I picked BIG TECHNIQUES FOR SMALL SCRAPS with Sarah Felke! Now in no way am I working for Craftsy, but I found Craftsy on my own a long time ago when they first started up. Why?

#1. I have very limited time to attend a class
#2. I am a very hands-on learner and do not do well with classes where a person stands at the front of the class and lectures
#3. Sometimes it takes repetition on new techniques for things to sink in!
#4. I can watch and work through a class on my own time -- even if it's 2:00 in the morning and I can't sleep!
#5. I get to take classes from amazing teachers without the big price tag.
#6. I can ask as many questions as I want and get an answer back from the teacher! {without those smarties pants out there sighing HEAVILY because they got it and I didn't!}.
#7. Did I mention "selection"? So much to pick from! Not only quilting, but knitting, crochet, gardening, baking.... you get the picture!

So check them out! Craftsy will let you sign up for free and then browse through. OH, and I forgot -- they even have FREE classes! Never been to Quiltcon, but want to know a bit about it without leaving your home? Check it out!

Well what topped the list today is a box that found it's way to my door from Craftsy! I won a box of Craftsy stash on top of the free class!  So exciting! Thank you Craftsy so much! Look at all the lovely fabric I get to play with this weekend!

What a lovely pressie! I think I'll be gazing at this for a bit and thanking my lucky stars!

Craftsy .. you ROCK!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Mrgo