Jumped in the deep end

I have jumped in the deep end of the quilting pool. I fell in love with the Lovely by Debbie Beaves with RJR Fabrics Charm pack on the Missouri Star Quilt Co website. They are having an Iron Quilter contest using at least one Lovely charm pack. I admit I am not at all sure I will actually enter the contest. I may not even have my project stitched up in time. I have started though.

Again ... without a pattern.

I want to do what I call a radiating star. Not a Lone Star - this is simple shapes - squares and HST's. I'm sure there is a pattern out there somewhere. I just don't have one. It's the story of my life. I'm lazy, too tight or maybe too stupid to buy patterns of many items. I make lots of stuff after drawing my own pattern - skirts, aprons, pillows, placemats, nightgowns, it's crazy. Basically I sat down and started sketching and figuring out how many squares and HST's of solid versus patterned fabric. Blue versus purple. Then to try the math of using 5 inch charm squares. How many stars? How much yardage to make what I want ....

Then I saw there is a very similar one on the Missouri Star site. Oops. I'm not trying to copy anybody. I just have a crazy thing for stars. I love trying star blocks. Eventually I will have enough orphan stars for a whole quilt. In the meantime I have been cutting, pinning and started sewing. We will see how it goes :)

Aprons and such for fundraisers

I have been sewing hot-cold rice bags and aprons to sell for a fundraiser for my daughters youth activities. I was quite proud of myself for getting all the sewing done a good week before the event. I can procrastinate with the best. I had set a rule for myself to NOT start any other sewing projects until this one was done. Otherwise I would have had a couple dozen UFO's sitting around and nothing to sell. I know me ;) 

I made extra soap for the fundraiser too. I will be happy to share that another day. I am not an expert soap maker. I make it for myself. It is better, more moisturizing for my skin, plus I can make the bars any size I want to fit my hand. A young lady at the event was born with a stunted arm and hand. She has had multiple surgeries at the Shriners Hospitals for Children. She heard me mention I make small bars to fit my hand and showed me her own small hand. I am hopeful my little bar of Chocolate Mint soap will make her bath time easier. 

The rice bags were too simple and quick, thank goodness. I made several last year as Christmas gifts. I have some left and will share them with friends. I just got a message from a friend that is having arthritis pain in her hands and heated up one of my little rice bags. She loves it! The channels allow her hand to nestle in gently. The slip case will help keep the rice bag clean. After chatting with her, I now want to design a rice pocket. Like a mitten with rice channels to wrap her hand in warmth. A new goal :)

The star and thorn of this fundraising was the aprons. I drew up my own pattern which meant I was working without directions. They went together fine though I spent hours pondering this way versus that way. I was afraid I would mess them up, so I tried to figure out the pitfalls first. I hate wasting fabric. Instead I feel like I wasted time. Maybe I should be more bold?

Once finished, they looked great. I did not get pictures of each one, my bad! Each apron was unique. My girls and I rotated the different fabrics to make sure each one had its own personality. It paid off. I am delighted to say one of my aprons is being shipped to Kazakhstan in Russia! It will be a gift from one mother to her sons' mother in law. How sweet! I hope she enjoys it. 

Have you ever sewn for money? Craft shows? Fundraisers? What did well? What crashed? 

I won! I won! I won!

I won! I won! I won!
I am so excited to say I won a packet of patterns from Missy over at Missy's Homemaking Adventures. I have not been able to sew one up yet due to the fundraiser sewing but I plan on digging in soon. Thank you Missy!!! 

I'm a horse nut, have been since birth, so this is so fabulous! I'm thinking to use the applique pattern to make a baby quilt? Reverse the horse, use different fabrics and colors. It will be adorable! We have 5 horses and an ass now. Our numbers fluctuate as I rescue and rehome animals :) 

Check out this stuffed reindeer head. Who shot Rudolph and stuffed him?!? LOL Just teasing! I love it! Make Rudolph, his friends, maybe a girlfriend ... what was her name in that one Christmas special? You get the idea. 

Missy is in the midst of a move from Texas to Missouri. As a veteran of many moves, she has my sympathies. There are so many details that have to come together to make the transition smooth. Missy has several rescue cats plus a fabulous collection of old, antique, collectible, working featherweight sewing machines. She is so talented she can hand crank her machine and free motion quilt at the same time. She can treadle and free motion quilt! I'm still mastering pushing the pedal and not stitching my finger to my fabric, LOL. 

What's in a name?

What's in a name? The name of a fabric that is. I have never been a name follower in any fashion or industry. I'm a simple girl. If it's comfortable or fits the purpose, it's my choice. I try to be unbiased. Can you see my Libra side showing? I really do weigh my options.

I will admit to loving sales. Craving bargains. I don't buy anything just to have it, except fabric for my stash. Recently Hancocks was having a great sale (Is there ever a bad fabric sale?) and I went in with a list of fabrics for some fundraising projects for my daughter. We needed fabric to make hot-cold bags, their slipcovers and complementing fabric for hostess aprons. We needed sale, closeout, aka bargains.

The bolts were piled on long tables. My hand stroked them lovingly (Hello! My name is Heidi and I am a fabric addict!). Florals and stripes were pulled to find colors that would mix and match enough to look nice. It was a quest for beauty and potential sales.

We loved this floral. It has a great mix of colors making it super easy to coordinate a stripe and extra appealing to a potential buyer.

And this stripe. Bright and cheerful.

And this floral. Perky and dark enough to not show stains from messy cooks.

It wasn't until I had my pattern drawn and ready to lay out that I noticed I had picked up some 'designer' fabric by M'Liss Rae Hawley. I love her fabrics but sadly they are not usually in my budget. I want fabric for under $5 a yard and preferably $3 or less. I have 2 kids in college, so my budget is wrecked, LOL. The Hot House by Top Drawer isn't a designer but it is named. Most of my fabrics just have colored dots on the selvage.

When I started following quilting blogs, I started tripping over people raving over the various designers collections. I admit they are pretty and it must be gratifying to buy a group of fabrics and have them all coordinate without any effort. But .... my budget doesn't allow me to spend $10 a yard. And I'm fine with that. Less pressure to be amazing you know?

I have to say though, the M'Liss fabric is fabulous. It may come from Hancocks - a budget price fabric store rather than a fabric boutique, it is still great fabric.The colors are vivid. The thickness and texture is spot-on for what I need. I may have to relax my budget to include more of her lovely creations. Hindsight, I wish I had noticed at the store and searched for more of her fabrics on sale.

You can explore her story here ... M'Liss Rae Hawley

Do you buy collections of fabrics? Favor any particular designer or line? I can feel the upscale fabric world pulling me to the yummy side ... LOL.

Have a great day! Go create!
   

My Stitching Corner

Welcome to  my sewing corner!

I dream of a light filled sewing room or studio. Until my Sewing Fairy Godmother appears with her magical wand, I will stitch happily in a corner of my bedroom. I'm delighted to have a permanent place to create. For years I had to transport machines from my closet to the dining room table and back again each day. This is a great improvement.

My husband encouraged me to find a sewing cabinet last year. Craigslist to the rescue! I found this baby is amazing condition from a sweet lady that was moving to Maine and needed to reduce her furniture. The machine hole does not fit any of my machines, so they sit on top for now. Has anybody ever altered the hole? Pros and cons? I think we can do it ....

You can see my newest lady, a Janome Horizon 8900 in the first photo way up above. It looks stuffed full of a king size quilt - in reality, I had plenty of room to turn and spin the quilt. It is an incredible machine. I also have an 80's model Babylock Ellure and a Brother 1034D serger.

I feel so blessed to have three machines for my creative yearnings. I sew clothes, crafts, quilts, whatever takes my fancy. My kids have all enjoyed having an in house seamstress to mend, alter or create their clothes or costumes. I guess we never outgrow the desire for custom clothing. I know I have never outgrown the need to create beautiful and functional items.

At one time I had more machines and a huge cabinet full of fabrics but a house fire in 2010 destroyed our little world. My Babylock was in the shop and survived but I lost 3 other machines, including a hand me down from my grandmother in law. I bought the serger online while still living in a hotel. The Janome was my reward this year for surviving and rebuilding. Now to rebuild my treasure of textiles. I miss the old stacks of fabric.

 My current fabric stash lives in a big tote bag right now. I am keeping an eye out for a cabinet that will hold yards and yards of textiles AND fit into my little space. I will succeed eventually. My fabric addiction has grown since this pic but it may not be wise to post the evidence where my family could see my truth. They know I have a problem. They humor me by looking the other way when I carry arms full of bolts to the cutting table, asking for a yard of each fabric. There is no 12 step program for my problem.

Thank you for stopping in to check out my corner! I am going to do my best to link to Ellison Lane and The Sewing Loft's Studio Spotlight Tour. Have a fabulous day!  :)

AWOL camera

When it rains, it pours, right? First my camera was misbehaving. Now it is gone. I have no idea where it disappeared. Instead of accepting that it was pretty trashed anyway, I keep looking for the crazy thing. It wasn't working but I insist I find it before replacing it?!? My brain is shot! I think the Oklahoma humidity and heat have melted my common sense. 

And since a blog is a boring without pictures .... I haven't been posting. I'm still stitching but no show and tell for me  : (

I will start shopping for a new camera tonight. It won't be fancy. I just kill them anyway, LOL. Please feel free to share what you use for pictures. I need a camera. Need! School is going to start in another week and I want to carve out sewing time for myself. 

Joy of joys - I am done homeschooling children! Wahoo!! I love teaching my kids. I really do but I'm happy to wrap it up. The last two are enrolled in college. I will now be relegated to homework assistance. I can do that ;) 

Is your summer winding down yet?  

Happy Father's Day!!

Ugh! I am having problems with my camera! In bright light, it gets a weird hue to pictures. It seems that the shutter(?) is too open, letting in too much light and glare. I'm debating having it fixed versus buying a new camera. There is a plethora of inexpensive digital cameras out there now. Maybe one of my kids can thump a solution into the camera? LOL

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. All the Moms standing in as Dads. All the grandparents raising children. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband who adores me and our kids. Sadly, I lost my father several years ago to cancer. If you have the opportunity, give your Dad an extra tight hug for me. 

Have a great day!!