Well, this is what 21 pair of jeans looks like after I have cut them up into 6 1/2 inch squares. There are some pockets and a few 4 inch squares in the mix. Wish I could say I was finished with all the jeans I have, but that would not be true. This time around it did not seem to be such a tedious task, but it sure does make a mess. There seems to be little pieces of jeans everywhere. It probably does not help that Darci has to be under foot and not only does she track things out of the room she also carries them on her body!
I thought I had messed up my sewing machine last night because I could NOT get the bobbin thread to catch. Luckily I called my dealer and the repairman knew what the problem was and I was able to fix it myself. I then did another four USA coasters and cut out denim squares for the majority of the day. I really would like to get all the jeans I have cut into squares because they will not take up near the room they are taking now. I also am thinking of making more denim quilts, but would like to add some embroidery to some of the squares. I think tomorrow I may sew on my dog quilts and see if I can get them finished.
Since I was not feeling 100%, I decided against doing any quilting. I messed around looking for designs and decided to do some more denim coasters. There really is no precise measurements when doing the coasters and I just did not feel on top of my game to try to do any precision placing. I thought I would do several of the designs and then sew, cut and wash them all at the same time. I am thinking I might try putting some on eBay and see if I can sell them. I will be doing some Christmas ones, but I just liked the USA designs.
We had a pleasant, relaxing weekend. Max's parents came down on Saturday for a visit and we had an excellent dinner (Fillets, roasted potatoes, asparagus and mushrooms). We played catch up with our Tivo on Sunday - too many programs that we are trying to watch. Max had ordered some stuff from B&H for her camera, which she received on Monday. The big disappointment was the tripod she ordered, which had a broken lock and had to
be returned. I ran off to JoAnn's
yesterday and picked up some material to do quilts for the dogs. I have the pieces cut, but have not started any sewing as yet. Once I get the pieces to the design board I will post pictures.
I wanted to shift gears and do some embroidery, but as I was getting started I managed to break the auto thread feeder for my machine. I called an ordered one, but it will probably take a week to ten days. Since I did not want to be doing bunches of thread changes, I decided to do some tea towels in "redwork". That way unless I broke the thread there would be no thread changing. I guess until I get the new part I will go back to the quilt making - that also uses one color of thread. I did do a BUNCH of laundry to wash a lot of the material that I want to use in my quilts. Whew - that was a job because then I had to iron all the stuff! JoAnn's is having a sale right now so I might pop in there and pick up some material for the dog quilts and I also need to find some border material. I am thinking I will have to make an order at Christian Lane Quilters to get the backing for the wild and crazy quilt I just finished. I do have two other quilt tops that I could finish, but I honestly think I am going to ask for some help with my "Heart" quilt. I might go ahead and tackle the Celtic Circles one myself. Of course whatever I do, I will keep everyone posted.
I finished my quilt top this morning - now the really hard part starts! The border went really well with the wild and craziness of the quilt. I think it is a "happy" looking quilt - makes me smile. I really love the quilt making process and I love quilts, but the actual batting, backing, quilting and binding process is still VERY overwhelming for me. I do have a friend who has a long arm machine and said she would be happy to do the quilting for me. I do want to learn to machine quilt, but I think I will start on something a bit smaller. I think I am going to make a couple of baby quilts to use for covers on the dog's beds and I will do the quilting on them. It is easier to take a towel or blanket off the dog beds and throw it in the washing machine than it is to try to take the covers off and wash them and get them back on.
Max was VERY happy this weekend when Paul rented a digger to work on his backyard. She has ALWAYS wanted to do some digging and scooping and there was much to be done. We spent the majority of the day over there helping him pull out trees and get rid of rocks, dirt and cement. He is redoing his backyard and Max was only too happy to volunteer to help. We spent Friday in our own back yard getting things cleaned up - removing old plants from the garden and pulling some weeds. It was a great day to work outside because it was not hot.
Yikes! How is that for bight colors? I am in the process of sewing the blocks together now, but I do seem to have a problem with the sequence when moving the rows from the garage to the sewing table. I guess the really nice thing is that it really does not matter how the blocks go together - it is a mis-match, random placement anyway.
I started working on the quilt that I wanted to make and OMG I LOVE my new table. Sewing with the machine dropped to a level surface is something I had never experienced and it is really MUCH easier to piece quilts that way. I am looking forward to trying my hand at actually doing some machine quilting with a table that will be big enough to support the quilt and also having a flat surface to work with. As you can tell from the picture, I still have plenty of room to have my cutting table and ironing board set up and still have access to my machine. What does not show up in the picture is I still have the four foot card table set up with my serger, another sewing machine and a lamp. For sewing purposes, I think I have died and gone to heaven!
There are changes that are going to be made - considering how big the table is. We have to get a longer cord to attach the woofer for the surround sound. I think I am going to get rid of the metal/plastic drawers and buy another one of the white ones. We have to get the cords and wires taken care of, but this is what the table looks like! The first picture shows the table where you can see the drawers. The second one is with my computer, chair and sewing machine. The last one is with the machine in the down position. It is going to take some getting
used to - being so high and the chair is high too. Seems like all I have been doing is preparing - now I want to put the finishing touches on the room and be DONE and let the sewing projects begin.
I did manage to do some sewing today on some blankets that Joy and I had done when I was at her house. I will be sending hugs and kisses to the grandkids in their own personalized fleece throws. They are warm, cozy, a nice size and hopefully they will think of me when they are wrapped up in them. Too bad they will not have them for their camping trip coming up this weekend.
In anticipation of my new sewing table, I have all the pieces cut out to make a WILD new quilt. I picked all the bold and bright colors I could find and plan to do another quilt similar to the one I did before (The bright colored Brick Road). I have many projects in the works and am ready to come home and get busy doing sewing. With winter coming, it will be fun to be working on projects.
Well here is the new car! It is really a very cool ride and the more I drive it the more I like it. I have around 60 miles on it and the needle has not moved from full. I am anxious to see just how many miles I will get on one tank of gas (16.6).
Hard to believe that the time of having the kids has come to an end. Max decided to have one last "pool party" with them yesterday since the temperature heated back up. I was glad to fill the pool back up and give them one last swim. I am glad that Max is able to play with them in a way that my knee will not allow me. It used to me in the pool with the kids and crawling around on the floor - hopefully after the knee surgery I will be able to be more interactive (I am the champ when it comes to video games though).
Max got a recipe from one of her friends at work to make "ice cream cone cakes". We decided to make a little baking project for the kids on their last night here. They helped with the whole process and Devin learned how to crack an egg - that was after the first attempt that ended up in his face. He learned the art of tapping and cracking instead of forcing the egg apart. The project turned out fun, interesting and yummy.
The darn weather has been windy and cold so the kids have not been able to spend time in the pool. Needless to say, the video games are keeping them happy and occupied. We have devised a system for who gets to go first and it is working quite well (colored chips in a bag and whoever gets the green one goes first - and no complaining).
I managed to find a little time to do some embroidery and did this shirt for Deanna. Denise gave me the shirt some time ago and I was kind of waiting to see what would be good to put on it (the shirt belonged to Devin). Since Deanna is a "Bob Bob" gal, I thought Spongebob and his house would make her happy. I hope to be able to work on some other stuff for the kids, but time is somewhat limited.
We went out to one of our local fishing spots to let the kids do some fishing. Unfortunately we were all skunked. There is the possibility there was a bit of lack in the patience department. You can pretty much tell the difference in enthusiasm from the first picture to the second. Nonetheless, they both said they had fun. We fished for several hours and the park people were good enough to come and pick up Devin and I so he did not have the long trek back to the Exterra. He had to descend MANY stairs to get down to the lake level or descend a long gravel path (he did the stairs). Everyone was beat by the time we finished (sun and wind). We stopped for fast food and ended up falling into bed around 10:30.
I have more pictured to post after Max gets them off her camera.
Since things seemed just a bit crowded doing the swimming thing - it was time to break out the pool we purchased for the kids. I used the air mattress inflater for the pool, but the little bench inside had to be "blown" up. Not bad for an old lady cause I got it done without passing out. They really had fun in the pool and it is big enough and deep enough that they feel like they are in the water. I just hope it holds up on the bricks - don't want to put it on the grass cause it would kill it or I would have to empty it every couple of days and I know our water bill is shooting up there every day. They have so much fun outside and in the pool that I could not deprive them of the sun and fun! I must admit it gets a little hot for Nana sitting out there with them, but I have some shade.
Duane's blog pretty much covered the weekend with the exception to another crash by Deanna. She was sitting on the couch "playing video game" with Devin and just crumpled.
the pools. They thought that was just grand and Darci even joined them.
lures and fly boxes they wrapped in computer paper and put in a WalMart bag. We have BBQ hot dogs, ships and salads for dinner followed by a huge chocolate eclair for each of us.
I do not know who posted the previous comment, but here is a picture of the book I bought yesterday. I have been looking through it and it has some really interesting tips and clear instructions. It seems to be a good addition to my sewing library.
This is for those of you who might be interested in what the other side of my quilt looks like - considering the project was to use my thrift store jeans! I had to put the quilt back in the dryer several times because the seams were not getting dry. We used it on the bed last night and it felt cold (wet seams). It took forever to actually get the seams to dry - but I kept getting bits and pieces of fabric and lent from my dryer screen.
After getting my first night of really solid sleep last time, I trudged off to the laundromat with my quilt. It cost 18 quarters for the largest machine to wash it and since there was no way to clean the lint trap I dried it in four different dryers for 15 minutes each. It frayed up nicely and looks really cute on the bed. I like the concept of the quilt, but making a king (110x100) sized one is not something I think I will tackle again. I may put some together for kids in a much smaller fashion or something to keep in the car. It will be really nice this winter, but it is definetely heavy with the denim and the material sandwiched together (denim alone is heavy enough). I have not made the label for it yet - I had planned to do the embroidery on one of the squares of denim and use it as the last one, but I forgot. It took a lot of the 25 cent jeans I picked up at the thrift store, but believe me there are still many left.
I also made a coaster for Michael. I made one for his grandma and grandpa and he wanted on too. He picked brown and white - so it is ready to be washed to let the edges fray.
