I Went A Little Crazy...

...in the fabric purchasing area.  First, I bought Etsuko Furuya cameras, glasses and scooters.  Some of every color.  I just couldn't resist.  And here they are:

 

 

Thank you Pink Chalk for carrying this wonderful fabric.  Now, what should I do with all this wonderfulness of half yards of this super cool fabric...any thoughts?

 

Next, a box arrived from Hawthorne Threads full of yummie fabrics that I want to use together in a new dramatic quilt.  Much of it is Johari (Alexander Henry), but I also used the Hawthorne Threads web site to find complimentary solids and prints.  Don't know that I will use all of them and I may add from my stash.  Here are my new goodies:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right after the box from Hawthorne Threads arrived, I received a box from Julie at The Intrepid Thread.  A box full of Collage by Carrie Bloomston filled the box - yahoo!  Thank you Julie!

 

Here they are:

 

 

 

Sew, the subject of fabric hoarding comes to mind.  I consider myself not only a sewist but perhaps a "collector" of fabrics.  That is much better than worrying about whether I am really a fabric hoarder.  If I'm a fabric hoarder, I might show up on a reality TV show where someone films my sewing room with fabric all over the floor and falling out of the closet and cabinets.  Bags and piles of fabric escaping the room and moving down the hallway - eeek!  I have to stay organized:)  Organization must mean I'm not a hoarder. 

 

Note to self:  "I must stay organized.  I must stay organized."

 

On another note, how is your garden growing?  I believe this is a great tomato year here in the Bay Area.  Are you growing anything?

Canning anything this year?  I have a new batch of strawberry jam and a wee bit of blueberry jam.  I'm now moving to tomato sauce.

 

Hope your summer is going wonderfully.  Let me know what you're up to, whether sewing, growing or cooking.

 

Aaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.  

 



Left Overs

Have you ever gotten up one morning, walked into your sewing room/space and realized that you had no new projects to work on...and had a few bits and pieces sitting around that you had always planned to do something with, but never got to it? 

Well, I had exactly that this morning.  I have not been sewing alot recently with all the moving I have been doing, but I finally had a weekend here in the Bay Area without significant commitments and a real desire to get back into sewing.

So in I went and sat looking at my table wondering what I should work on.  The thought of an entirely new project seemed to be beyond my mental abilities, but I still wanted to sew.  So I pondered and puttered and cleaned up the clutter on my sewing table.  When I finished doing all of that, I had sitting in front of me the same 5 wonky star blocks that I have been staring at for the last 8 months or so, wondering what to do with them when they didn't fit into the improvisitational piece that they originaly were destined to be incorporated into.  But they were in shades of aqua and orange that I have moved away from...

I couldn't throw them away - they were way to cute.  As I sat at the table this morning, I decided I would challenge myself to make something great with these little blocks using only my stash and what I had in my closets (that included pillow forms).  That's where the idea of Left Overs came from.  Turns out I have/had 4 pillow forms to choose from.  Two rather standard 18"/20"; one circle and one rectangle.  I chose the rectangle and took 3 of the stars and began to create a pillow.  Not that I need another pillow, but I thought for a gift it might be something fun to do with the end of my project.

I also decided that I would practice with an invisible zipper so that I would be comfortable in the future with invisible zippers.  I have sewn many an invisible zipper in the past, but always in clothing, not a pillow.  I used the zipper I had (white) and put it into the pillow. 

Just a few short hours later, I completed this:

 







I may need to work on the pillow to polish it up.  It's a bit too pointy towards the corners.  I don't want to be able to see the zipper (although the white zipper makes it rather obvious as a teaching/practice experience - if it were an appropriate color it wouldn't be visible).  Over all, I am happy with it.

I did learn an important lesson - seam ripping when you are working with shot cotton is problematic!  I hate seam ripping in the first place but shot cotton is so fine and so difficult to deal with, it was a little more problematic when I got to seam ripping. 

It was a fun opportunity to utilize something that I had already made and incorporate it into things from my stash.

Have you had this experience?  Do you look at some of your "little" pieces and wonder what you are going to do with them and then work on it at some point?  If so, what have you done with your "little bits"?  Think about Left Overs and let me know if the concept works for you.

Aaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household. 

Catching Up

Well, I thought I should catch you up on some of my projects.  As I mentioned, I decided to make myself a pillow a little like the one I made for my Pillow Talk Swap partner.  I showed you the work in progress and now, here is the pillow itself:

 



I kept the back rather simple since it was for me from me!  There's just something about that purple/citron color combination that I love.

 



I also wanted to show you my ABC quilt hanging at the San Mateo County Fair with other ABC quilts from our guild.  It was really fun to go to the fair and see my quilt hanging there. 





It took second place in our challenge category.  I think you can see the quilting a little better in this photo.  Dee Small (THE most wonderful long arm quilter) quilted it using letters of the alphabet.  

 

 

I think that officially catches me up on posts.  Now I just need to get to work and finish some other projects!

 

Aaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.





Finally - I'm Back From Vacation and Sewing Again!

I thought I would get so much sewing done on my vacation - I took so many projects along with me to get started on and then...nothing!  I didn't even set up my machine. I also took my camera intent upon taking wonderful photos of my grandkids, birds, Boo, etc.  Never even touched it!

So here's what really happened:  I went to my new vacation home in Reno and gave myself a generous 10 full days to pull some organization out of the chaos of the boxes and get things set up.  I then proceeded to organize myself into paralysis.  I made lists and went to Home Depot.  I made lists and went to Costco.  I made lists and went to Lowe's.  I made lists and met with the gardener.  I made lists and met with the appliance repair guy.  I made lists and put up the bird feeders.  I made lists and met with the ScreenMobile guy.  I made lists and bought plants and then went back for trees.  Well, I think you get my point!  Why is it that each new project seems to require a trip to a store? 

I still don't know what is in some of the piles of boxes in the garage - will have to wait until the next trip when the new shelving units are put up and I can empty and put away the contents.   

I did take time for some fun.  Spent a lot of time with my grandkids.  It's amazing what fun a 3 and 5 year old can have with hot weather, a blow-up swimming pool and a sprinkler!  They never got tired of this activity.  Boo also enjoyed the splashing and cavorting around the yard.   

Now I'm back to work and the Bay Area.  (Gosh the weather is nice here!)  Time for me to get back to my sewing room and get to work. 

What are you working on?  Have you taken a vacation yet this summer?  Will you sew on your vacation or do what I did and bring it all along only to be ignored? 

Aaaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.