Sunday, January 28, 2018

Oh Boy...Husband

This week was going smoothly until my DH got sick. He came home from work 5 hours early. He must have been dying. This man never takes off work for a cold, pain or injury. Last Thursday I forced him to stay home when the temperature plummeted to 24 degrees. He works outside grinding and finishing metal items. Can you imagine holding onto stainless steel at those temps. He was very upset with me but I was right. The temperature stayed below freezing all day.

He has a head and chest cold. He stayed home the next day too. He couldn't talk, was dizzy, coughed, hacked, sneezed and grunted. He went into work the following day and his Co-workers called his Boss over and told him send him home. "We don't want what he has." Yes, that bad! Since he was sick I was kind to him and made him buckets of homemade chicken soup, sloppy joes, spinach quiche and stuffed peppers. He was thrilled with these delights. I don't cook very often.  When he got lonely, he came to my sewing room door to see me. I would say, "I love you, GET OUT OF HERE"! I happen to be one of those people that gets sick very easily. I made sure I wasn't in the same room at anytime. Wiped down door knobs, took some Airborne and retreated to a neutral corner. He is about 75% better tonight. I am just hoping it doesn't rain on him tomorrow.

As for what I was able to finish....Not much. I folded more fabric, finished the wallets and worked on the guild newsletter.



My goal tomorrow is to make Something with this fabric. It is the Art Quilt Challenge fabric. I have had it for at least 10 months. It needs to be turned in by February 19th. Do you think I procrastinated enough yet???



Stash Report  1/21 -1/27  Week 4 - 2018

Fabric used this week: 1 yard
Fabric used to Date:     7 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 7 yards

Net Fabric for 2018: 6 yard



15 Minute Challenge:  
1/21- 1/27         7of 7 days
2018 Total          19 of 27 days
Percentage of days sewn 70%

Happy Quilting

Aileen in Florida

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Trash and Treasures

After looking at my stash closet for weeks and dreaming of organizing it, I took the plunge. First you have to trash the place before you can get organized and find the lost treasures!

I am being ruthless. If I am NEVER going to use it, I will donate it or turn it into a charity quilt. There are some fabrics in there that I did not buy but have had for decades. Time to use or toss it, etc.


All the stuff on the sofa (bottom right) was on the upper shelf of the closet. The closet is only 8 feet long. How did I manage to get that much stuff up there. My husband helped me get it down.....he was not amused! Ha Ha.


This is where I am heading. I will let you know when I arrive!


Those 4 little piles are the equivalent of 6 sweater tubs of fabric yardage. I am using my 6 x 13 inch ruler to wrap the fabric.

There is at least a half sweater tub of fat quarters already. Saving those for another day.


I did make another wallet the other night, unfortunately i put the magnetic snap on the wrong side of the flap. Geez, I thought I was so clever working on it after midnight!

Stash Report  1/14 -1/20  Week 3 - 2018

Fabric used this week: 1 yard
Fabric used to Date:     6 yard

Fabric Added this week: 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 6 yards

Net Fabric used for 2018: 6 yard



15 Minute Challenge:  
1/14 - 1/20         5of 7 days
2018 Total          12 of 20 days
Percentage of days sewn 60%

I am getting better at sewing more often. I am hopeful that once I know what I have I shop my stash and sew daily.

Happy Hunting

Aileen in Florida

Sunday, January 14, 2018

2 Down 2 to go

It is Sunday. 36 degrees this morning. I thought I lived in Florida. LOL.

Yesterday I was able to complete 2 wallets. I was on a roll making 2 at a time so it was like leaders and enders. One following the other. Everything was going great until....I rounded the lining piece. It is a directional fabric. I should have done it upside down but as with most things your brain looks at it from a logical stand point.  Oh no!  I don't have enough to fix the 2 linings. They became the outside of the wallets. It worked fine, just was not my intent. Live and learn to test panel before trimming.

The cats wallets

This one is my daughters wallet. I made it a few months ago to go with her diaper bagbox pouch and small purse. 

Back to sewing!

Stash Report  Week 2 - 2018

Fabric used this week: 1 yard
Fabric used to Date:     5 yard

Fabric Added this week: 2 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 6 yards

Net Fabric used for 2018: 6 yard



15 Minute Challenge:  
1/7 - 1/13          3 of 7 days
2018 Total          7 of 13 days

Happy Quilting

Aileen in Florida

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Repairs

It is Saturday. I have been cutting out fabric kits to make wallets for the guild boutique. Still didn't feel like sewing. So what is a girl to do? Repair a quilt!

This quilt is probably 14 years old. Well loved and well beaten. The poinsettias are falling off. I am being a lazy quilter and just blanket stitching them back down. Hopefully this quilt will last another few years to give me time to make another xmas lap quilt.


The plan for this weekend:

1: finish fixing this quilt.
2: make 4 wallets

Happy Quilting

Aileen in Florida

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Martelli, OH MY!!!

January is flying by faster that I imagined it would.

At our Guild Christmas party I ordered a Martelli Table System.  I decided to get an ergonomic system that may help with this daily pain issue. It was an expensive purchase but the show price was much less than buying direct from Martelli and it included many accessories. Here is a article from another person that purchased this same table.

I have many physical ailments, neck, rotator cuff, cervical spine, sciatica and arthritis. Pain meds have been a staple for the past 6 years.  I want to stop taking them so I decided to invested in myself. So far so good. Much less stress on my body. More room to work. The fact that the table height can be adjusted is fantastic.


Cutting fabric is much more comfortable with this wide adjustable table.
I was able to sew with my serger and my Janome just by going from one machine to the other. This made making the Pjs I was working on go faster.

Stash Report  Week 1 - 2018

Fabric used this week: 4 yard
Fabric used to Date:     4 yard

Fabric Added this week: 4 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 4 yards

Net Fabric for 2019: 4 yard




15 Minute Challenge:  
1/1 - 1/6            4 of 7 days
2018 Total         4 of 7 days
Happy Sewing

Aileen in Florida



Monday, January 1, 2018

Voice


Happy New Year 
to my family, friends and online friends!

Word of the year.... 

Negative comments were part of my growing up. It did stunt my creative Voice.  I let this happen over and over. I find it hard to trust my voice when I create. Those negative people fly into my head. What would so and so think of this? Yet when I give those people a gift from my heart, they seem to like it but its not what I really wanted to make. I chickened out and use some other makers vision/voice. I tend to get nervous when I use my Voice and create something original. Is it good enough? Will people get what I am trying to say through my art. Then I stop myself, stare at it for days and finally put it away.  I need to trust my own Voice, My own thoughts. 

My word for 2018 is Voice. It really should be the phrase:
Trust My Voice. 

Aileen in Florida