Catching Up!

  Misery loves company, they say. Right now, I'd love to be over this cold!

 

 

Maybe I'll just stick with the Nyquil.

On to more interesting things...

I'm addicted to these mini-quilt stands.  I found this wonderful heart fabric at my local quilt shop (Hearts and Hands Quilts in Green Valley, AZ).  Its yardage with rows of hearts.  I cut out the hearts and sewed them together with batting in between, catching in little ribbon loops on the top hearts and a strand of ribbon at each end of the remaining hearts. Tied them together and !voila!  A cute little heart-screen!  I think I'll make a screen of shamrocks for March.  But I'll make up my own pattern for them.

My dear friend Joyce visited a few days earlier this month and we sewed up a storm.  It has been a VERY long time since we've been able to do that (she lives in Oregon...I'm in AZ) so we made up for lost time!  Just look at what we managed to do in 2 1/2 days!

Joyce (on the left) did the lion's share of what you see pictured on the table.  She made the two mug rugs (top right) and the "feb" wall-hanging next to them (which will hang from a table-top stand like the one displaying the hearts...I have gotten her addicted to these stands, too!). 

  Then we went through my (newly-organized!) scrap bins and she finished transferring/fusing/cutting/arranging 7 of the little quilts for my "Seasoned Quilter" wall-hanging (by Amy Bradley).  What a wonderful labor of love!  Now each time I hang one of them I'll remember the fun we had picking through the scraps, visiting, sharing new ideas, and will know that my friend did all this for ME!  

The two little Arizona flags became pincushions, commemorating Arizona's centennial this year.  They are for sale at my local quilt shop. 

A few days after Joyce departed, I was GIVEN this sweet little item by my friend Denny's mother, Mary:

Can you BELIEVE it???? A pretty little Pfaff 130.  I always wanted one.  Just because.  And Mary GAVE it to me!  I was...am...flabbergasted and SO happy and thankful!

I polished and oiled the machine (it works!)  and will take it in for some professional TLC as soon as this darn cold is done with me. 

Well, that's it for the catch-up.  Thanks for reading along and have a SEW GOOD week.

Gramma Sheri 

More Organizing!

I may have become addicted.  To Organizing.  Is that a bad thing?  

After reorganizing my sewing room I had this BIG box of scraps left over and decided to give them away.  Then it dawned on me that, on average, I had spent at least $9 a yard for the contents of that box.  Suddenly, those scraps seemed a LOT more interesting, not to mention, valuable.  

So using this:

Accuquilt Studio + 2 1/2" die cutter

I sorted that box of scraps (photo not taken of THAT mess!) into colorways.

Then cut THESE:

(mostly 2 1/2" strips.  Have not cut the yellow, brown or pink scraps yet so this pile will grow quite a bit!)

And stored them plus the remaining scraps (to be cut into 5" squares and other shapes),  by color,

in these plastic bins:

The bits of scraps left over from the strip cutting have been cut into fabric confetti:

Which is soon to become a comfy pet bed for my devil cat. 

(Sorry about the sunbeam that intruded on my photo)

By the way, randomly whacking the dickens out of fabric scraps is very therapeutic!  Just remember to use the back of your cutting mat and keep your free hand firmly shoved into your apron pocket!

(No mats were abused nor were any fingers sacrificed in this confetti-making process.)

Quilt On!

Gramma Sheri

Today Is....

My Birthday!

I'm LXII!

(That's young, right?)

Waiting

No pictures today.

No completed projects.

Just waiting.

Waiting for my "word" for the year.  Nothing feels right yet.

Pondering all of the fun opportunities available in blog land and elsewhere...opportunities to learn and share and create.  But what is the BEST way so spend the time I've been given? 

I'm Waiting to see.

Maybe this won't be the year to DO unceasingly, but rather the year to Wait.  To Ponder.  To tidy up the insignificant details of daily living while growing in character, in spirit...in patience, even?  

It is enough right now to give God thanks for this brand new year, to wait expectantly for His guidance, and to make the most of each moment He gives to me.

Blessings,

Grammasheri