Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Long Hot Summer

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It’s too darned hot to get out of the house and do anything.  You know, people around here always say they hate the winter because it’s cold and damp, it gets under your skin, it makes your hair frizz, and you just hate to get out in it.  But the same thing can be said about summer.  It’s hot and humid (damp), it gets under your skin, it bubbles out of your skin in the form of perspiration (dare I say SWEAT!), it makes your hair frizz, and you just hate to get out in it.  Honestly, I don’t mind the cold ……… unless we have to go 10 days without power in sub-zero temps like we did a couple of years ago.  But that’s another blog post altogether!  Anyway, we have been under a heat advisory for 3 weeks and I’m getting cabin fever.  So I turned to my sewing machine for entertainment. 
I have been working on several projects.  I have about 7 quilts in various stages of piecing, so I found myself flitting from one to the other.  I’d piece on one until I got to the point where I needed to run to the quilt shop before I could move on, and then rather than go outside and step into my sweltering car, I would just grab another project off the shelf and work on that until I needed to go to the quilt shop before I could progress any further.  No, sadly, I am not the kind of person who purchases all her supplies up front so I don’t get myself into these situations.  I get an idea and purchase all the things to get it to the point that I have it in my head, and then, while I’m getting to that point, I’ll figure out what I’ll do when I get to that point.  This is true of both projects that I design and those projects from purchased patterns.
Case in point, the picture above.  I purchased this pattern, ‘Bluebird’, from Meg Hawkey at Crabapple Hill.  When I purchased it, I already had a large supply of 1930’s and 1940’s pastel reproduction prints and a bolt of white fabric (I use A LOT of white), so I could start this quilt as soon as it arrived.  I made all the nine patch blocks first.  Easy peasy.  Instant gratification.  LOL.  Then I cut white blocks and transferred all the embroidery patterns and watched Netflix while I embroidered them. 
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“Oh, Goody!  I’m almost done!”, I said to myself night before last.  And then came the quilter’s equivalent of writer’s block ………. I have to put them together and they’re going to need some sashing!  Here are the possibilities ………
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I’ve spent 2 days looking at this sprawled out on my breakfast room table.  And (drumroll please) I think I’ve settled on the lighter blue one down in the bottom left hand corner.  What do you think?  It’s being made to sit atop a butter yellow bed in a blue and white bedroom. 
Oh, and in case you’re thinking you’ve seen this before ……. it matches these pillowcases that I made, oh, probably a year ago…….
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They were featured earlier in their own blog post and are on my Facebook page.  I will use the fabric that I used for these for the quilt border with a blue ruffle instead of binding on the edges.  And, of course, a blue dust ruffle.  This should get me through the heat wave!  Ya think?
I’ll try to get another ongoing project up in a couple of days.  Right now, I’ve got to get myself to the quilt shop for some light blue fabric!
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Enjoy,  Merry Gay

Monday, July 9, 2012

Arm Chair Sewing Caddy


After only one post last month, I figured I needed to get with the program and post something!  Sheesh.  It’s been so hot that I’ve absolutely lost my will to move out of my chair to do anything.  Heat and humidity just seem to sap all the life out of me even though I’m in an air conditioned house!
The last time I wrote, I was in the midst of an avalanche of peaches.  I am here to tell you that I am still in the midst of an avalanche of peaches.  Janice, I wish you were close enough to me for me to bring you a few bushels!  I am officially sick of peaches.  I have to go out this afternoon and pick a couple of bags for my step-daughter, and then as far as I’m concerned, the birds, squirrels, rabbits and the dog can have the rest of them.  My dog, Sophie, loves them.  She will go out and pick them and bring them up onto the porch where she keeps her own personal stash.  She’s such a comedienne. 
Ok, enough of peaches.  And on to the sewing content!  I have to tell you, I haven’t done any sewing for the last 2 weeks.  Shameful I know.  I pried myself out of my chair and cleaned my sewing room.  The I cleaned my machine.  And then I slipped her cover on and she has sat there waiting for me ever since.  So I am going to show you a project I made some time ago.  My arm chair sewing caddy……,…
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I found the pattern for this one night really late when I was up alone and cruising around the internet ….. reading blogs, clicking links, checking out websites.  I saw this, quickly printed off a copy and flew to my stash.  And by the time I went to bed, I had a new sewing toy tool.
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With the exception of my glass of iced tea, it has room for everything I need when I sit down to sew.  There’s even room for my cell phone.  Since I have been embroidering a set of blocks for a new quilt during this heat wave, it has come in quite handy the past couple of weeks.  I’ll have to take some pictures of that to show you next. 
If you haven’t made one of these for yourself and need a smallish project to shake you out of a sewing slump, this is a good one to try.  I can’t remember where I got this pattern, but if you Google ‘arm chair sewing caddy’, it will pop up ….. probably in several places!  Have fun and stay cool.

Enjoy,  Merry Gay