An old UFO finished!

I got an old UFO finished this week! Isn't it fun! Years ago we had secret sisters in our quilt guild. Mine new I loved civil war fabrics and quilts and every month she packaged up the pieces for one quilt block and instructions to make it. I didn't know what it was going to be until the end. And this is it! It was from one of the underground railroad pattern books, but I"m not sure which one. I love all the fun bright colors. I would never have picked them out, but love how it turned out.

I also was busy making some thread organizers for our guild quilt show silent auction. I use this pattern by Anne Unrein. You can see some others I've made in the past for friends here and here and here.

Imagine my Surprise!

Imagine my surprise this morning when I read Annie Unriens (By Annie patterns) email that sent me to her blog and there in the middle of the post are my thread organizers! I met Annie at the Chicago show last spring and I had told her all about the thread organizers I had made for gifts for friends. And that I was in the midst of making the small version for Paducah gifts for our group that goes to Paducah every year. She wanted to see pics so I emailed her these. I met up with her again in Paducah last spring!

All I can say is I love her quilter's gifts and thread organizer patterns. I"m in the midst of making the needle cases and name tag money holders right now. Need to get ready for the spring quilt show circuit!

If you want to see even more pictures of some of the thread organizer's I've made click on the label Thread Organzer or Thread Dispenser in the Label. I"ve gone back and found most of them and labeled them.

Weekend Sewing

I finally worked on the small thread organizers I wanted to make for my friends for xmas! OK, so I"m only a month late! But they did turn out cute!

I also got 2 more snowmen blocks done. I hope to work on some more thread organizers this afternoon for future gifts! Might as well get them made while I remember how to do it!

A bit more progress

Well a few more 9-patches were done last night. I'm about at the end of my teeny tiny bits of scraps - I've had to start cutting small pieces out of my bigger chunks! I still have about 10 more 9-patches to go. It sure does take a long time to cut for these scrappy 9-patches (well that and finding the fabric!).

And I finally completely finished my own thread organizer! I showed you a picture of 2 I made last spring for gifts, but I just never got around to making one for ME! I made the large and small version for me! Isn't the fabric great! And I spent last night while watching "Lost" filling it up with my applique thread! Now isn't that pretty! I even have space for a few more spools! Guess I"ll need to go shopping for a few more colors!

And last but not least is an old small bargello wall hanging I made years and years ago. I even realized that I really didn't have a good picture of it while searching for one last night! All I've come up with is a picture of it hanging from the ceiling at a quilt store. But I thought of this quilt because while digging through my reproduction scraps I found a few strips left from this quilt - which made me think of it! It was done with my favorite darker colors and reproduction fabrics. Doesn't it look great! Now I need to take it out and hang it up somewhere for the fall!

I'm a sewing bag nut!

So you noticed I didn't really have a lot of pin cushions - BUT you should see my sewing bags! I'm a sewing bag nut! I love them all for different reasons. Course I do have my faithful old standby's that I keep going back to. The picture above are my all time favorite standbyes. They zip shut so nothing falls out, and they seem to be just the right size for scissors, a needle book, thread, thimble, etc. If I'm working on small applique block/piece that fits in there as well. These are the ones that sit on my end tables in my family room that I use every day. But I'll pick them up and take them "on the go" as well!

The next picture is a thread organizer. You can see where you string the thread through the ultra suede so you don't have to take the spool out. It keeps everything nice and neat! Now these 2 I made for gift last spring. But I still haven't gotten mine made. But that is this weekends project! So hopefully sometime in the next week or so I'll have my very own! I"ve wanted this for so long, but just never took the time to make one for me. One of these went to Linda and she said she is loving hers!

The next one is made out of pet screen. I've made a TON of these! I use the one below for all my sewing tools when I go on retreat. Seam Ripper, Rotary cutter, Needles, Stiletto, Chalk Wheels, bobbins, thread, and on and on. I have a smaller size one I used when I went to Paducah to put all my receipts in - that kept them all together and handy for me - not that I wanted to know how much I spent! Linda and Laura both have one of these, and I showed them how to make them at quilt camp this month. You know I think I may have sent one to Finn and Tonya also! Can you tell they are easy and fun to make!

The next one was one of my early cases I made. I made it kind of oval like a placemat and then sewed ziplock baggies to it and covered the bottoms with a ribbon. I also made a pocket on both sides and made a pin-cushion (heart) on one side. This one usually goes to work with me for applique projects. If I made one again I would make the handle shorter. And the buttom closure tighter.

This one is like an envelope. I made it for fun - what else - to put all my stuff in when I took a class from Karen Kay Buckley on applique at the Chicago quilt show. Of course I had plenty to use, but I needed a NEW one! This one is REALLY easy to make. So what I keep in this one right now is my applique project from that class. Yes I've been bad and haven't worked on it a whole lot, even though I love it.

Then I have a book like zippered case. This case holds my stuff for my Rose Sampler Supreme applique I"m working on. I was doing so good, I have about 7 of 12 blocks done and I've just kind of fizzled out on it. I got really sick of pink and green! I guess I should get it out and at least take a picture of what I have done so far for you to see! Maybe that would inspire me to get back at it! This one is nice because it zips up and I put a pocket in it for the block to go in. I used this one a lot - it was my very first one. But I"m really out of the blue and yellow phase, so I wish I had a different color! Plus my quilting really stunk on this one! But it works well!

And last but not least is a little round cylinder huswife like case. My friend Lynn made this one for me. It fits small scissors, needle book, thread, etc in it also! It also has a needle spot on the inside cover. This one gets used when I just need to take my stuff but don't need a lot else.

So I think you have the idea - I"m a sewing bag nut! But come on - aren't they just so cool and fun!

A couple questions....

I wanted to answer a couple of questions before I get caught up in catching up at work today!

Shannon wanted to know what the pattern was for the thread case. It is a pattern ByAnnie. Here is the link to the pattern called Thread Dispenser/Sewing Case. She also has some other fun cases and wall thread organizer patterns. I want to make them all! - but that ain't going to happen!

Tracey also wanted to know where I got the Ultra Suede. Well believe it or not I found it at JoAnn Fabrics! Of course I had heard they had it, but doubted it. And then when I went in and asked the lady behind the cutting counter she looked at me blankly. Well I wandered around and on the remant table found a piece of suede like fabric in this UGLY color. So I took that back to her and asked - where would I find fabric like this. Well she vaugley pointed in the direction of the decorator fabrics. Well can you believe it - I found it! It is on the big rolls they have and had about 5 or 6 lovely colors. They also had another kind with a plasticy back, but there was also this other kind that was wonderful. They didn't call it ultra suede - but it was some kind of something suede, and it worked great. It was about $40 per yard, but for 1/4 yard I got plenty to make a bunch of cases for gifts! Of course when I was at Paducah there was this awesome booth in the mall that had 9" x 12" pieces of ultra suede in any color you could imagine - but do you think I can find the sheet of paper I took from them to order it - noooo.

But just in case you can't find some, Annie from the pattern also has a link to where you can purchase online the ultra suede, zippers and more. So here are some more sources.

OK - back to catching up from a 4 day weekend for me!

No more Graduation Parties until next year!

OK, I"ve survived the weekend I think! I"m exhausted but done! Friday night Emily had a "Last Day of School/We are graduating" party for about 15 of her 8th grade friends. I had 4 of them from 11am till 10pm. The other 11 came for the real party from 4pm until 10pm. I was tired! They had a blast though. They played volleyball, had dancing contests and sat around the fire roasting marshmallows!

Then on Saturday was her Graduation ceremony - at noon. Yup, right in the middle of the day. Then afterwards Holly decided she needed to have all her High School friends over to visit (they are Jr's in college now). So we had more grilling out and laughter in the house.

Then today - Sunday - was the big Emily Confirmation/Emily Graduation/Adam Graduation/Emily Birthday/Memorial Day party. So once again I had a housefull of people and food. But today it got really HOT and humid - about 95 degrees. Wheh. Lots of cold pop was had. But they did play a game of softball anyway.

Tomorrow we have a graduation party for one of Adam's friends - thank goodness I don't have to host that one! Adam doesn't graduation (from High School) until Thurs night. But at this point I"m just happy he is graduating! It wasn't his grades that were the concern - just the "I don't care attitude.

So no more graduation parties until next year for me! Yes there will be another one next year for Jenna from HS.
In the meantime I did finish these really fun applique cdses for 2 friends. I still have to make one for me! But I had to get these 2 made first and as you can see I haven't had much time! The strips underneath the zippers are ultra suede and you thread the thread through it. The ultra suede holds the thread tight enough that it doesn't slip out, but loose enough so you can pull it. So when you want some you just pull on it and cut it to the length you need. It keeps the spools from unraveling and easily lets you see the colors! Isn't it cool?!!! I found the pattern at the Chicago quilt show but didn't have enough money left to buy the pattern. So I had to go in search for it at Paducah and got it there!

OK - I"m going to go crash!