My Quick Project

Since the Americana flag banner quilt project was making me brain dead I felt that I needed to make something "fun" to pep me up. Here it is, my Mary Engelbreit themed sewing machine cover. I looked in my jar of bindings (I like to make bindings and label them for future projects) and pulled out some black binding which was left over from a previous project and as it so happened it was just enough to complete this project!

Do you want to make this project?

This is for All of my girlfriends that are interested in the pattern- here you go!

Being the crafty person that I am here is how much fabric you're going to need...

*outside print ½ yard (now if you want to make binding from this fabric then you will need to buy more of it because it does take ALL of the ½ yard)

*lining fabric ½ yard (I used muslin)

*binding took about ¾ of a yard length wise piece that was 2½ wide x length of fabric cut 2 pieces measuring 15 wide x 10½ tall for the front and back of the cover cut 1 piece 7½ x36 wide for the middle piece.

Do the same with the lining now if you want to quilt this..you will need a larger piece of muslin or other lining fabric say about ¾ of a yard and that same with the quilt batting. The quilt batting and lining fabric needs to be cut larger than the outside pieces to allow for shifting.

Now if you make this please let me know because I'd love to see the finished project!

Fall in Love with your crafting space

This is a special area in your home that is your retreat, your own special little haven where you can play with paper, scissors and fabric. This spot needs to be comfortable and functional.

Start with the simplest of things first- Color. Find a color that works for you- be it yellow which is high energy. My first official scrapbook nook was a yummy yellow which was great for that small space. Or your tatses may take you to choose a subtle Aqua which is tranquility, which by the way is the color of my current Scrapbook Nook. Keep in mind that the color you choose will be all around you and can have an effect on making the room feel larger or smaller not to mention your mood. Check out this article on the meaning of color, it delves into the emotions/feelings that are associated with a particular color. I have used this as my reference point when teaching color theory classes to scrapbookers, the class has been a sell out every time I offer it. And for those of you who are wondering...yes I do plan on teaching scrapbooking and other crafting classes once I move to the UK.

Form follows function- that's furniture. I like to start with the basics...shelving is essential to storage, and my favorite shelving has to be hands down the chrome shelves that you see in places like Sam's Club and Cooking Stores. These kinds of shelves are adjustable and can hold more weight than you can ever put on them! Wood is great and all, but tends to warp, metal is your best bet- after all paper, cardstock and wood mounted stamps can be quite weighty. Don't like the color of chrome? Many now come in white and a matte black. Me, I prefer the industrial look, it's also a finish that won't scratch or flake off.

If this is a place where you will be sitting make sure to have a comfortable chair. Too many times I see crafters with the worst kinds of chairs. This is where to spend your money. Get one that is comfortable but also has an adjustable lumbar support and seat height. There's nothing worse than back pain when you're trying to craft. If you prefer to stand while you craft then invest in one of those thick cushy mats, I'm currently looking into that for my kitchen... actually, I'd like to have my entire kitchen floor covered in that stuff, LOL! But that's another story :-)

What I'm getting at is this- make your space comfortable. Look on-line and see what others have in their spaces and how it works for them then think about what will work for you and your space. Don't be afraid to ask people where they found the items that work for them- nice people share ideas and welcome questions. There are tons of great crafting rooms out there to look at- webshots is a great stepping stone, go out and look around and gather ideas!

Quote of the Day

"Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of those pieces."
~ Judith Viorst

I see the light at the end of the tunnel

I'm down to the last bit that has to be sewn on my Americana quilt project (from hell). It's the 2 main pieces that need to be sewn together. I'm letting my husband choose the way the piece will be displayed as this is for his office. To hang horizontal or vertical.

Meanwhile...I don't how it happened but my rather pricey ironing board fell apart. It's not broken, it's just that 2 pieces came apart and for the life of me I can not get them back together. So here I am wanting to press some fabric for a quick little project and I can't-ugh! So with that, I suppose that I will have to get back to the hand stitching that's required on that Americana charm quilt. It's cold out so it won't be a "chore" to have to sit down and work some more on the binding. I'll turn on the TV and see what's been recorded on the DVR -hopefully it won't have hiccuped and I have nothing but Battlestar Galactica on it again (insert eye roll here).

And a note to my neighbors (in case they are reading) who are probably thinking that I'm a lunatic because I'm wearing sunglasses in my house- I want to let you know that it's because of the major amount of glare coming off from the snow right now. I'd much rather let the light come in and warm my home naturally and not get a migraine headache from it, hence me wearing my stylish mod sunglasses indoors.

why is it???

That my children always seem to need something done at the last minute? Last nights dinner conversation was interesting. You see, tonight the AFJROTC is having a dance/social and knowing my son I know that he has signed up to bring something in the "eats" category. So I ask him- "So Andrew, you never said if you are bringing anything to the social", my boys says "yeah, I thought that you could whip up a cheesecake so I can bring one in". my reply- "So when were you planning on telling me this?" His reply (with a big cheesy smile) I'm telling you know aren't I?



So before doing anything else this morning...even before having my morning coffee, I made a lovely 9 inch New York cheesecake and it is baking in the oven as I type. I feel as if the first hurdle of the day is over, now I can actually start my day. For my day? Basic household duties and finishing that darn quilt top! I thought that I'd have had it finished in a day, maybe a day and a half but Noooooooooo that's not the case at all!

So here I am looking out of the window seeing the snow falling to the ground and am looking at the warm temperatures (can you feel the sarcasm?) Oh by the way it's now 1º F and with the wind-chill factor it's a whopping -14ºF. In case you were wondering... this is why I'm in need of a vacation! St Maarten would be lovely right about now!

will I ever be done with this quilting project?

I'm making progress on my quilting project and truly am on the "home stretch". I had no idea how busy I would be this week- even with being at home I was constantly interrupted (not that I minded the interruptions, they were very welcome). I'll be able to post pictures (soon) of the project that gave me such headaches. It's actually not a bad pattern, it looks "simple enough" (famous last words right there folks). Now the funny part is that there are not any directions on how to proceed on the cutting and piecing the binding. It calls for ONE fat quarter for the binding and that's it- now I don't have a clue as to how that little piece of fabric is going to make the binding for something that is almost lap quilt sized. Other than my questions regarding the small amount of fabric for the binding, I don't care for the way that the red and white stripe that was used for the picture looks on the finished quilt (and I even bought some of that fabric- what was I thinking?) and with that very thought, I've decided to go with a different print. I plan on making a scrapbook layout on this adventure...so the next time I pull this pattern out I can be aware of what I'm getting myself into, LOL!

It's bitterly cold outside (a whopping -13º F with the wind chill) needless to say I plan on staying toasting warm indoors! I thought about a stroll to the mail box, but I've decided that I'll give my letters to my children to send off for me instead.

Quote of the Day

"The road to happiness lies in two simple principles; find what interests you and that you can do well, and put your whole soul into it - every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have."
~ John D. Rockefeller

Life on the Prairie

It's a 2 hour late start for all schools in our little school district because of the snow and black ice underneath of it. I've lived in other parts of the US where it snowed but no place have I experienced the blowing snow like it does here in these parts. The blowing snow makes for large snow drifts, here in my little neighborhood those snow drifts can reach upwards to 7 feet tall and many feet wide. I'm ready for winter to be over, how about you?

I woke up in the middle of the night with my left foot aching something awful! I'm telling you, those sharp pains reminded me what it was like before I had my foot surgery last May. My first thought was "oh no, not again". It's been several hours since that initial shock wave of pain and my foot still hurts! I do believe that it's time for some more pain medication. This is just off the wall. The pain is like an ice pick going through the side of my foot (pretty intense, right?). Lucky me!

It's snowing and that means that my husband took my car (and I use that term loosely), that would now be the Subaru. He doesn't drive "his" car (the Corvette) in the snow and ice (and I don't want him to either). I'll be home today- all day here in the house. There's no escaping the Americana quilt project now, LOL! I bought some homespun fabric the other day for a (yes I'll say it) a new project. Now for me to get this show on the road and get to work on something fun and crafty.

Quote of the Day

"it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters."
~ Norton Juster

It's Wednesday Gromit

It's Wednesday and more over, it's Ash Wednesday. I "thought" that I would be at home all day working on things around the house but alas I've had to go out twice today and will be out again for a 3rd time in another hour or so. Just when I thought that I had the day to myself so I could finish that Americana themed quilt project (basically, I just want to be done with the darn thing). So here I am folding laundry, making beds and returning phone calls. I'm not doing the things that I thought that I'd be doing today, not at all.

I did meet my husband for lunch which was a nice change of pace. When I returned home from lunch with my hubby, I saw that my neighbors were packing up their house in preparation for their move to Alaska (and we thought it was cold here, HA!). It's a stark reminder of what the future holds as this will be in our future and will be happening in a few short months. But for us there will be a few months in-between the movers packing and unpacking OUR household items.

We're supposed to have another snow storm- no I'm not excited about that what so ever. I'm ready for winter to be over and done with. For once I'd like to see some flowers during these bleak months. But I know better than to hope for such things. Heck, we can have a major snow storm in May and be stuck in our houses for 3 days...like we did last year, ugh!

Time for some tea and to think about more pleasant things...a Caribbean cruise/vacation would be so nice right about now, don't you think so? :-)

Quote of the Day

It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not.
~James Gordon, M.D.

Fabric Distortion

The issues or problems that I'm having with my quilting project lay chiefly with fabric distortion. You see, I have 20 different red fabrics and 20 different off white fabrics cut into 3 inch squares and then sewn together in lengths of 20 squares each. Did I mention that they are all from different fabric manufacturers? And I wonder why I'm having problems, LOL! When you are working with so many different brands there are other things to consider...the biggest one being the thread count. Some fabrics are made with thicker threads and some are made with more threads and that's where the problems are (grrr). Knowing what the problems are or why I'm having them does not make me any more happy than I was a couple of hours ago but at least I know that it's not something that I did to cause myself this grief...okay so maybe it is my fault since I did buy the fabric. But seriously this is what the pattern called for and I followed it's directions but it never mentioned anything about the possibility of fabric distortion. And what ever you do- DON'T use a steam iron when pressing your seams! Believe it or not but using the steam setting while pressing your seams can make fabric distortion worse! I didn't do that (thank goodness or I'd be bald from pulling my hair out).

I'm going to have a little lunch and get back to my sewing and seam ripping. I may be done with this by tonight or worse case scenario tomorrow afternoon. Then it's on to the sandwiching and then the quilting process. I just might send this out to be professionally quilted, I'm still tossing that idea around in my head.

my new name should be "the crabby quilter"

This Americana flag wall hanging is giving me a major headache! If I wasn't so damn anal I would have just sewed it up and said "There" and I'd be done with it. But nooooooooooooo, I've got to take seams out here and there, sew and then rip them out again because I'm off by less than an eighth of an inch! Yes it's safe to say that I'm feeling rather frustrated and crabby right now. Grrrrrr! But I am determined more than ever to get this project over with!

poke me with a stick!

As I look at the list I typed up yesterday, all I can say is Damn that's a lot of work! I know that if I really try that I can get most of it done... if I don't leave the house and stop hanging out on Facebook chatting with friends.

Now here's something to make you all smirk and a little chuckle...I now remember why I put a couple of those projects aside. As I was working on the flag wall hanging yesterday, it all started coming back to me, LOL! The batik table runner...oh yeah that baby is going to have to wait a bit longer. I'll admit it right now, working with triangles is not one of my strong suits. I need to be completely relaxed and not in a hurry to accomplish anything, that's when I can work with a project that is made up entirely of triangles. What was I thinking when I started that anyway? It was as if I put myself on a collision course with stress, LOL! Yup, up until that point I found quilting to be relaxing- damn triangles!

Now for my other challenge of the day...getting the kids out the door for school. To tidy up the house and then to let my crafty goodness take over and kick out some of these projects. I'm armed with a hot mug of coffee, my camera, my sewing machine and of course my trusty seam ripper :-) If you haven't heard from me in a few hours send out the search and rescue team because most likely there's been an avalanche in my quilting corner and I'm buried underneath of a massive pile of fabric.

Quote of the Day

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
~Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)

I love Mondays!

I know that most other folks don't particulary care for Mondays, but it's my most favorite day of the week. I look at Monday as being the start of something new and fresh.

It's ever so quiet here today, perfect for me to take out some of those UFO's of mine. What are UFO's? It's a quilters term for "Unfinished Objects", and trust me I have a handful of them!

*There's that Americana Flag wall hanging I started many months ago and got half way through it and stopped (I got side tracked with other projects). So it's my goal to get it finished and put on display in our home office.

*The Flying Geese (that's the pattern) Table Runner done in batik fabrics- it's been cut and partially sewn. I put it aside until I felt more comfortable about working with triangles. This might have to stay in a holding pattern a while longer.

*My tote bags- I've got about a dozen of them cut and ready to be sewn together. I really do need to get on this and get them done and listed in Etsy.

*Tulip lap quilt- all of the pieces are cut, they just need me to sew them together.

*the Peter Rabbit baby quilt top that I finished months ago that needs me to cut a backing for it and then to quilt it.

*the 8 pillow tops that need me to finish them.

*the Americana themed Log Cabin Table runner for the dresser here in our home office. The fabric has been cut and rs ready to be sewn together.

Lets see how much I can get done this week!

Quote of the Day

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Lion and the Mouse

Bye bye Prairie Schooner

It's been a sad day for me as my Honda Odyssey minivan aka The Prairie Schooner is now on it's way to St. Louis and from there it will be placed inside of a cargo container and shipped off to England. I'm going to miss my kid mobile more than anyone will ever know...I really love that minivan of mine! From the XM satellite radio to my Parrot hands free cell phone device to it's heated leather seats and GPS down to it's heated exterior side mirrors and the DVD player. I'm going to miss it all! And it's even been modified and is UK road ready! It'll be one big happy reunion in June when I see it again. With any luck, it'll be waiting for me at the airport!

Quote of the Day

Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.
~Dr. David M. Burns

What is Sandie up to today?

Well, I'm reading up on something I want to try.. paper pieced appliqués using the freezer paper technique. I've not tried this before and well, I'm reading every article on it that I can before I get started. You know me, study, study, study so when I'm ready to try it, I'll know it like the back of my hand! I've got a terrific pattern that I've been itching to try out, it's quite whimsical and will bring smiles to anyone who sees it. Besides the paper piecing thing, I've got a couple of (or 5) projects that are in the "planning" stage. I'm also doing an internet search for two particular fabric lines that I feel are super inspiring (well, they are to me). One is by Moda and the other is by Northcott and they are simply yummy! I'm not going to say what they are until I get them bought- the last time I mentioned something on the internet, well others went and bought everything up and I wasn't able to find what I wanted. So for now, my lips are sealed as to what fabric lines I'm looking for.

My daughter Hannah wants to make some sock critters and she's had her eyes on my sock drawer ever since we got home from Boston this past Monday. Okay, I know that I have a lot of socks but that doesn't mean that I'm willing to sacrifice any of them so she can have at them with a pair of scissors. I'll be a good mom and "look" if there are any stray socks in the sock basket that look like they would be a good prospect for a sock critter. Other than that, maybe a trip to Gordmans is in order...I've got that $10 gift card that I need to use from Christmas. Now to keep my eyes open for socks that are on clearance, do socks go on clearance?

It's time for a cuppa and scones sure do sound good right now and more reading.