Sewing A Bit

I have been sewing a bit on the bags, but really I'm itching to be sewing on the Paducah 2016 top!  Hope to get the bags all done tonight and then move on to fun stuff.

Also hoping the AccuQuilt cutter goes on sale next week so I can buy it online.  I really want to tame my stash by getting a lot of it cut into strips.  This years nursing home quilts are all going to be strip quilts, but not just any old strips.  I'm going to try and make them have graduated color schemes, and maybe even some machine applique' over the strips.

Stormy Night

Had some thunderstorms last night that were pretty loud.  I went to bed early, before 9, so I was sound asleep at 10:30 when this really loud clap of thunder happened.  It woke me and the dog up!  Addy jumped, but didn't get too excited, just laid right back down.  I was listening for hail, which thankfully we didn't have at our house.  My weather alert radio went off a couple times, but the worst of it seemed to be going north of us.

When Ev got home from work he said he could hear the storm from inside the building, so that tells you it was very loud.  The factory he works in is extremely loud.

I cut the squares and finished the one side of the blocks for the corn toss bags.  I even sewed around 5 bags, so I have a pretty good start.  Hope to get the sewing part done on them tonight and then get them filled and sewn shut tomorrow.  Plan to go and get more corn to fill them with today.

Bean Bag Frenzy

The above picture is not of my bean bags, but you get the idea.

Actually, my bags are 'corn bags' if you want to get technical, since they are filled with corn and not beans.

I'm glad they are filled with corn.

I received a call from the guy who bought two sets earlier in the year.  He would like another two sets.  Someone left them out in the rain.  Hence the reason I am happy they are filled with corn.

He would like them by next Tuesday, but I'm going to try and get them done by Friday.  I will need to pick up another bag of corn to fill them with.

Flamingo Row

One of the restaurants we really enjoyed was Flamingo Row in Paducah.  Here's the three of us in our matching shirts outside the restaurant.

I would love to have matching shirts every year.  Need to ask Mary where she ordered them from.

The food at Flamingo Row was Caribean themed.  It was very good!  The decor inside was really interesting.

I loved the way the walls had all these different boards with different colors and designs.

Even the salt and pepper shakers were cheerful!  I wonder how many of these walk out of the restaurant in someone's purse?  haha.  But what a cute idea that is.

Two Tomato Plants

I realize you can't see them very well, but in that large brown pot there are two tomato plants.  I wanted to take a picture and put in up on the blog so I can reference it later when the plants are bigger and (hopefully) full of cherry tomatoes!

I may put a pepper plant or two in a big pot.  Just doing a bit of container gardening.  Can't really do much more, because Addy would run all over it.

Flower Power

See that pieced flower in a pot?  That was part of what I did in my class.  There are supposed to be three flowers in pots, but we ran out of time.  The technique is pretty easy once you get the hang of it (just like everything else!).  I want to make a few more and put a wall hanging together.  Next time the background will be a light material.  Oh, and it's supposed to have leaves on it, too.  Will add those next time.

It cracked me up.  I took my Paducah 2015 quilt to the hotel and put it on my bed (see it in the pic?).  When we left the room for the day and came back, housekeeping made my bed with my own quilt on it!  Just some little silly thing, but it made me smile.

Goodies From The Show

One trip to Hancock's of Paducah netted me this bag of fabric.  I have some yardage off the bolt, but my real finds were the precuts.  I have several packages that were on sale for $20 each.  Some are 2 1/2" strips and some are 6" strips.  I've got some quilts in mind that they will go into.

Didn't do any sewing last night, but I did go upstairs and put a few things away from my trip.  Still have some organizing to do up there.

Celebrity Sighting

Look, look!  It's me and Dusty Farrell, famous quilter!  Oh, and notice my tee shirt?  It has a picture of an old machine on it and says "partner's in crime".  Mary bought one for each of us gal's to wear.  I had more comments on that shirt!

Back to Dusty.  He sure is a talented guy.  He works with Nolting machines and can make them do amazing things.  It was a pleasure to meet you, Dusty!  Hope you got some sleep after the show ended.

Wound Up

See my new toy?  It's an industrial bobbin winder for my sewing room.  I'm really excited about this.  I had ordered it before we went to Paducah and it arrived while I was gone.

I have a bobbin winder in the basement for the longarm, and I have that little plastic thing that came from the fabric store.  Most of my old machines will wind their own bobbins, but they don't wind them to my satisfaction.  I want a rock hard, evenly wound bobbin.

This dude does that.

You might wonder why I want the bobbins to be like that.  If they are evenly wound and rock hard they will keep better tension and will hold more thread (hence less times I have to change the bobbin).

Swap Side By Side

Remember the Wonky Star Blocks I had been making?  Well, after finishing up 48 of them, Mary and I swapped out half of our blocks to each other and started sewing.  We had to go to Hancock's of Paducah on Wednesday afternoon to get our sashing and cornerstone material for the top.  She chose a tan with a little red in it for the sashing and a pretty red for the cornerstones.  I chose a blue for the sashing and a gold for the cornerstones.  Marla did not participate this year because she had a lot going on, including moving from house to house.

Here's what Mary's top looked like when we were ready to leave on Saturday morning.  She had all the rows sewn together!

I, on the other hand, did not get quite that far.

I learned not to cut material at 6 a.m.  I merrily cut all my sashing strips to the wrong size!  Argh!  I used what I had not cut to get this far, then had to go back to Hancock's of Paducah (what a sacrifice that was... hahahahahahahaha) to get more material.  I do have all the rows of blocks and sashings sewn together, so it's just a matter of whipping them through the machine and adding a border.

Mary did get her border sewn on once she got home.  This is what the top looks like finished.

Isn't it interesting how using different sashing and cornerstones produces a totally different look?

We joked about her getting her top finished and me not getting mine done.  So of course I really have to get busy and finish mine soon!

We are thinking of doing a 'square in a square' block for next years swap.