Back To Reality!

Back to reality!  Such a nice feeling after months and months of a mind-numbing website/computer project.

My post-website redesign weekend consisted of running.....and baking.....and quilting....and playing with the pets....and sipping wine with friends in front of an outdoor fire....and watching Netflix....and soaking in the hot tub and just doing normal stuff that didn't involve any computer code!  

I finished the sashing on the Going Coastal Granny Square quilt over the weekend.  And now I'm playing with border options.  I'm thinking of a blue inner border to match the sashing and an outer border of Going Coastal Bottlecaps - that's the fabric I used for the fussy cut squares in the blocks.  I like how the Bottlecaps fabric adds so much color and a touch of fun and I think it really pulls everything together. 

What do you think?  Did you do any fun sewing this weekend?

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Work In Progress Wednesday - Monotony

Two rows down.  Seven to go.  And loving every moment of monotonous, soothing, no-thought-required tying of this quilt.

Daisy loves it too. 

And do you happen to remember the big, huge, secret project that I started working on back in November?  Well....it's almost done....it's so close to being done that I can almost taste the celebratory champagne......but the project is at a stage that is so boring and monotonous that I look forward to taking breaks to fold laundry and do dishes.  Yeah.....sometimes monotony is good.  And sometimes it makes you delusional.  With a little luck and a lot of work I'll be putting that project in the DONE column next week.

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night.....

The new poster child for Canine Storm Phobia......  

Emma Jane hiding under my desk in a thunderstorm

It has been raining and storming here for FOUR. DAYS. STRAIGHT.  Well.....the rain stopped long enough on Sunday morning for me to get in an eight mile run in 88 minutes (Holla!) as I try yet again to train for a half marathon (I tried but I couldn't do it last year due to illness and injury) but it's been raining and storming every other minute of the day and night.  It. Won't. Stop.   And Emma hates it.  And panics.  And claws at me.  And hyperventilates.  And now she's added "pees on thing" to her "fear repertoire."

After a few particularly loud booms of thunder she peed all over the sofa.  And the ottoman.  And the Hooterville quilt that I was in the middle of hand quilting while watching a Tudors marathon (Netflix streaming) on Saturday.  Oh Emma......King Henry the 8th was about to marry his 500th wife and now I have to pause the show for dog pee clean up!  Don't worry.....I wasn't mad at her.   I know she was terrified and she was found "not guilty by reason of insanity".  

Fortunately, everything is now free of dog pee (thank you to whoever invented slipcovers!) and I learned that a hand appliqued and partially hand quilted quilt with NO binding on the edges will survive an adventure in the washing machine with Woolite and the Delicate Cycle and will come out smelling like flowers on a spring day....not dog pee.

So, as I waited for Hooterville to air dry I desperately needed something for my bored little fingers to do so I quickly sandwiched the Little Lady quilt.....

And started hand tying the quilt with my loyal assistant Daisy who loves to help me by unwinding the spool of Perle Cotton.  She's good at things like that.  And I am absolutely loving how this quilt looks with hand ties - so poofy and snuggly and warm and inviting! 

Daisy guarding my quilt as I hand tie it

Sooo.....how was your weekend?  Tell me all about it!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  The Tudors is an AWESOME show.  I highly recommend it.  But it's not something you can watch with kids around!

P.S. #2 My walls aren't bright, neon yellow like they look in the photo above.  They're actually a warm golden color with a hint of terra cotta.  Sherwin Williams calls it Ambitious Amber but I think it should be renamed "Golden Retriever Fur" or "Warm Tuscan Sunshine."  I'm going to use that color for my dollhouse French Winery because it looks so good on my walls.  You should always test a color on your real walls before you use it in your dollhouse!

P.S. #3 Please excuse the poor picture quality.  It's hard to get good pics in bad thunderstorm lighting.

P.S. #4 We have a little bit of the Little Lady fabric collection left.

Work In Progress Wednesday - No Turning Back

There's no turning back now.  I picked a sashing color and started sewing.

After all of the sashing "audtions" and requests for votes and orders of new bolts of fabric and my complete inability to decide I finally did what any sane girl would do.....I turned it over to the "man of the house."  And no.....I don't mean Bailey the Sourpuss Cat......

I mean Col. Sew Fab....

I showed him the options.  He immediately picked Royal Blue.  Yup.  I let a Fighter Pilot make my quilting decisions for me.

And speaking of Bailey the Sourpuss Cat did I tell you that he's no longer a sourpuss?  He's been an incredibly sweet and kind and affectionate and loving cat since he had oral surgery in January.  He's not beating up the other cats.  He's not hissing.  He's kind to the dogs.  He's even being nice to Col. Sew Fab who he used to glare at with utter contempt and disgust!  What's going on?  Did he have a bad tooth that was making him grumpy for his WHOLE life?  Is he just trying to behave himself so we don't do that to him again?  Or did they just give us the wrong cat at the vet's office?  Hard to say but I'm leaning towards the "wrong cat" theory!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  The "Royal Blue" that I'm using is actually Moda Bella Solids in Dusk.  It just looks Royal Blue to me so I call it Royal Blue.  And the bolt of "Navy" fabric that I ordered is actually called "Royal."  So confusing!

P.P.S.S.  Thanks to everyone who who left comments about the sashing color.  It was really fun to read all of your opinions and ideas.  And it seems like Royal Blue was winning in the voting when I let Col. Sew Fab cast the final vote!

 

Work In Progress Friday?

I know, I know....Work In Progress Friday doesn't have quite the same ring to it that Work In Progress Wednesday does but somehow the week just got away from me.  I feel like we magically fast forwarded to Friday and I don't know what happened to the rest of the week.  But sometime during this whirlwind of a week the bolt of Navy fabric arrived so hopefully I'll be able to make some progress on the Going Coastal Granny Square quilt very soon....if I can ever make a final decision on the sashing color.  I like them all and I just can't commit to a "winner!" These are the options.....

Navy.....

Royal Blue.....

 Gray.....

And White......

So what do you think?  Which one should I use?  If you "voted" in the original "Vote For Sashing" post do you still like your first choice?  Or have you changed your mind?  Maybe I should just draw a color name out of a hat.  Or lay out all of the fabric options and use whichever one Emma lays on first.  Or maybe I should just make 3 more full sets of Going Coastal Granny Squares so I can have four different quilts with four different sashing colors!  Isn't that a great idea?  And practical too!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Pinkalicious Weekend

Col. Sew Fab went on a snowboarding "Mancation" in Utah last week and I decided he shouldn't be the only one having tons of fun!  So, I decided to work a half day on Friday, start the weekend early and have my own little mini-Staycation - long weekend - craftathon.  And it was a heavenly, pinkalicious, girly, totally indulgent, carefree weekend!

I did a bunch of hand quilting on Hooterville.....

And I pulled out an old quilt top that I started FOUR YEARS ago using Little Lady fabric by Lakehouse Dry Goods and gave it some much needed attention.  My memory kept telling me that the quilt still needed a lot of work but much to my surprise all of the piecing was done....it just needed some borders.  I guess you forget a lot of things when you ignore a project for a few years.  And now I think it's just begging to be hand tied, don't you?

I also did some prep work on the Vintage Valentine quilt.  The one thing I'm really starting to understand about this quilt is that there is no rushing it.  Not that I ever really rush making a quilt.  I take my sweet time making quilts and they're antiques by the time I finish them.  But this quilt has so many pieces.....and there are so many steps to doing freezer paper applique....it's going to be a slow, leisurely, relaxed process requiring just a bit of patience.....

And I did tons of work on the dollhouse bakery.  This is the view through a window opening.  And yes, my dollhouse bakery has crown moulding and hardwood floors.....

And this is the exterior of my cotton candy pink bakery......

And now I need some help!  What should I do with the roof of the bay window that I'm holding up in the picture?  Paint pink and white stripes on it kind of like a striped awning.  Paint it a different color like a darker pink or brown?  Do some sort of copper roof?  Shingles?  What???

And finally.....I did lots of online shopping!  I bought all sorts of things for the dollhouse winery/boutique and I finally got up my courage and bought an inkjet printer that will print fabric and photos!  How fun will that be???!!!

Hope you had a great weekend too!  Tell me all about it!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  You can see the Hooterville pattern here.  We still have some of that Little Lady fabric available here.  You can see the Vintage Valentine pattern here (image below).

Victory Garden

I've been wanting to make a Victory Garden quilt for a long time and I finally got the pattern for the shop (it's on my Must Make list).  And I've been creating a stash of pretty blue and red fabrics for a long time too.  And I think these two (the pattern and the fabric pile) are a match made in heaven, don't you?  But I am absolutely NOT going to start this quilt before I get the Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt DONE.  I promise!  I'm just planning ahead and not "Project Jumping" again.

And speaking of the Granny Square Quilt.....I've ordered some Navy blue fabric that I'm going to "audition" as the sashing.  A lot of the people that "voted" for blue mentioned that it really would look better as Navy blue instead of Royal blue.  And I'm really curious to see how that will look too!  Sooo....I'd rather wait a week for new fabric to arrive instead of compromising on something that might be less than perfect.

And thank you to everyone who left comments about the sashing color.  I loved reading all of your thoughts and ideas! 

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

The Write In Vote

Well.....I was all ready to start cutting the gray binding for the Granny Square quilt.  I had been leaning towards gray even before I asked everyone to vote for sashing.  And the majority of votes were for gray.  So gray was the clear winner!  Easy, breezy.  Decision made.

And then Mary (a.k.a. Spoolhardy Girl) just had to go and suggest navy blue in the voting.  Ummmm....wow.....mind spinning!  Why didn't I think of that?  It's so nautical and crisp and fresh and just plain awesome.  So it looks like the "Write In Vote" of blue is going to win.  What do you think?  Should blue be the surprise winner?

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S. Yes, I know....Mary suggested Navy blue and what I'm "auditioning" in the photo is more of a royal blue but it's the darkest solid blue that I have.  And I actually used that fabric in one of the blocks.  It's Moda Bella Solids in Dusk.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Vote For Sashing!

All.  The.  Blocks.  Are.  Done!!!  I am getting this quilt done in record time.  Usually, a few weeks into making a quilt, I'd still be planning it.....thinking about it.....talking about it.....and looking at the fabrics I'd picked for it.  But for me....actually having all of the quilt blocks done in a few weeks is miraculous!  Maybe I should slow down and start procrastinating so no one has to wonder "who are you and what did you do with Jenny?"

This is my tentative plan for how I'm going to lay out the blocks.  I tried to evenly space out the blues and oranges and the lighter blocks and the darker blocks but does anyone see anything that I should consider rearranging?

And now for the really big question.  Should I use gray sashing to pick up the gray in the center of each block......

Or white sashing to keep it clean and fresh.....

And as for all of my other projects this is what's going on.....

Active WIPs: 6 (Up one from last week because I officially started on the winery!)

-Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt - Blocks are done.  Time for sashing!
-Dollhouse Bakery - No progress
-Hooterville:  Happily hand quilting in the evenings while I watch t.v. and sip wine
-Little White Dollhouse:  No progress
-Vintage Valentine:  Staring at it.....thinking about it.....drooling over the pile of pretty fabrics
-French Provincial Winery:  Upgraded from Must Make to Active WIP because I've started buying supplies for it so there's no turning back! 
Must Make:  I've been wanting to make a Victory Garden quilt and I just found the perfect assortment of fabrics in my stash for it!
Back Burner WIPs:  5
Ready To Go:  19
Must Make:  10 - That number is unchanged from last week!
New Projects:  NONE
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny 

P.S.  The prints in my quilt are from the Going Coastal Collection by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller.

 

How Did I Let This Happen?

I've let something unthinkable happen!  As of right now I have no applique quilts ready to sew.  I have no pieced quilts ready to sew.  I have no quilts ready for hand or machine quilting.  I have tons and tons and TONS of boxes full of fabric for different quilts I plan on making....but none of them are cut out and ready to sew.  The only projects that are ready for immediate sewing are torn up dog toys that need to be repaired. And that's just sad.  My little fingers are very sewing deprived right now!

So, I'm cutting out squares for a Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt as quickly as possible.  Well....as quickly as possible without wrecklessly almost cutting a finger off again.  Anyway.....I'm fussy cutting the Bottlecaps print (3" squares) and throwing in some of the other prints from the Going Coastal Collection and maybe some Shore Thing and a few solids too.  And after I have a bajillion squares cut out I'll just start playing around with them and see what happens!

I can't wait to see how this looks!  I'm cautiously optimistic that it's gonna be really cute!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  The Going Coastal and Shore Thing Collections are by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller Fabrics

P.S. #2  The original Granny Square Quilt that I made used 2.5" squares.  I had to increase the size of the squares on this one to 3" because that size was perfect for fussy cutting the Bottlecaps prints.

Work In Progress Wednesday - My Reign Is Over!

I.  Finished.  Something!!!  Yes.....me......the Queen Of Unfinished Projects......actually finished something.  I will have to hand over my tiara to a new Queen of Unfinished Projects as my reign is now over. 

Once I realized that the quilt was really and truly done I just kind of stared at it in befuddled amazement......I kept looking at it thinking "surely I missed something.......there has to be a block that isn't quilted yet.....is the binding really attached everywhere......"  but all I found were a few spots of blood (quilting is dangerous business folks) and a completely finished quilt. Wow.  Just wow......

And of course I wanted to show you a bunch of fabulous pictures of the whole quilt today but Mr. Sew Fab is out of town and it's a two person job to get those photos.  Soooooo.....I just draped the quilt over our big chair hoping that I'd be able to get a semi decent photo to show you today.......and I managed to take ONE photo before Emma Jane appeared......

Doesn't she seem stunned that I was actually trying to take a picture that doesn't have her in it?  Why would I do such a thing???

Emma quickly demonstrated that she was more than happy to model in this photo shoot.  I call this her "don't hate me because I'm beautiful" look.

But she quickly grew bored of her modeling duties and settled in for a nap.  Models are so fickle....

Once Mr. Sew Fab gets home I'll have much better photos to show you.  I'm actually going to do a whole "start to finish" blog post showing how my little baby that started as a pile of wee little scraps is all grown up now.

Annnndddddd.......I'm almost done with Hooterville.  The beaks and feet are done.  The applique is done.  I just need to decide on the layout and piece the top.  And pick a border fabric.....there will probably be a "Help Me Pick A Border" blog post coming soon!  I'm actually wondering if I'm starting to become one of those people that actually gets things done in a timely fashion!  Dare to dream.....

Sooooo.....for the first time in my "Work In Progress Wednesday" history I'm proud to report that I can ADD ONE to the "Finished" column.  Go me!

Finished Projects:  ONE!  Seriously!!!  The Scrappy Granny Square Quilt is D.O.N.E!!! 
Active WIPs:  5  - That number was 6 last week!
-Living Room Quilt:  Almost half way done with those ties
-Hooterville:  Applique is done.  Beaks and feet are done.  It's time to piece the top together!
-Dollhouse:  No Progress
-Teeny, Tiny Hexie Project:  Almost Done!
-Zelda's Fancy Witch Hat :  No progress.  I just found it.....we'll need time to get reacquainted.

Next In Line:  Vintage Valentine!  I'm chomping at the bit to get started on this one!
Back Burner WIPs:  4
Ready To Go:  22 - That number was 12 last week!
Must Make:  10 - That number was 6 last week!
New Projects:  ZERO!  Aren't you proud of me?!
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny (The Former Queen)

P.S.  I'm loving all your comments on my Ginger Bliss/Amy Butler Giveaway post about how you organize your stash.  Want to know why I love them???  Because most of you have a completely disorganized stash like me!