Stories from the Sewing Room

My Board and Batten quilt is complete! 

Here's a closer view of the quilting. The quilting design is called Scratch Modern. I used Riley Blake Blossom in Peacock for the backing and binding. The front fabrics were all from my stash, except the white background, which is the Thatched line from Moda. 

I did a bunch of mending last week. First was a pair of jeans that got ripped the very first time they were worn. I put a little piece of cotton fabric behind the hole for stabilization without using a fusible. I used the darning program on my sewing machine, but I'm not sure I used it correctly. I felt like I was just stitching back and forth like regular. I don't know.

Next was a pair of undies whose seam fell out the first time they were worn. I used a stretch stitch on the sewing machine for this one.

I'm thinking about the best way to finish this sweatshirt-into-quilted-jacket project. I originally made it years ago for my mom, but after sewing the fabric to the sweatshirt, it was too small. It fits my daughter quite well, other than the sleeve length. I think I want to use binding if I have enough matching fabric. But I might have to make bias binding to go around the neckline. Thoughts?

I've been slowly working to assemble my Melodic Mystery quilt (this month's OMG). The OMG April finish link up will open up on Monday. Hopefully I'll finish in time. 😬

Saturday I got together with friends. They were working on a group project. I made my blocks ahead so that I could just sit and do selfish sewing for the first time in I don't know how long.

I got this piece made. I am going to use the Itty Bitty Twister ruler on it, but it recommends a 28 mm rotary cutter, which I don't have and which is out of stock locally. Since I have other, more pressing things to complete, this one will just hang out in my closet for a while.

Of course I have more quilting to show as well. 

I did two large baby quilts for Barbara. The first one is quilted with Loop the Loop.

The second one is quilted with Stardust.

I finished the binding on Carolyn's two t-shirt quilts from last week.

Next, I spent two days quilting Sonja's quilt with Interlocked Orange Peel. I've talked about this design recently since it's been selected much more than usual lately. It looks cool, but it's such a pain to stitch out. It is not a beginner, or even an intermediate, design most of the time. The bigger the quilt, the more difficult it gets.  Anyway, here it is on her king-sized quilt. 

Sometimes I think about removing all the really difficult to stitch/align patterns from my offerings. I enjoy a challenge though. Hmm. 

We're right on the edge of being able to plant our spring crops (lettuce, peas). Saturday the weather was gorgeous and I left the sewing day a bit early with the intention of cleaning out the veggie garden. My family had taken care of it by the time I got home. Sunday and Monday the weather was not ideal and I see that the night temperatures over the next week will be a bit chilly. So I'm not sure what to do. It won't hurt to wait a week, I suppose.

I also need to clean out the flower beds, but that's a way bigger job than the veggie garden and I have no time this week. The high winds blew the blossoms off one of the crabapple trees, but this one is holding on and looks awesome this year.

And...I even had a few tulips survive the animal attack. 🙂

If you are wondering about the "appropriate attire" saga from last week, my son agreed to a collared, button-up shirt. The last time I remember him having a shirt with a collar, he was four. So it's been a while. I bought myself a new dress and then the weather was so cool and windy Monday that I worried I wouldn't be able to wear it. I couldn't fit in my dress pants 😔, so I did end up wearing the dress and sandals, along with a light winter jacket. Looking around at the other people in the audience, I could have worn jeans. Some of the kids wore suits/pantsuits. Some looked like they'd just rolled out of bed in wrinkly t-shirts and sweats. Clothing varied widely.

My boy was recognized for having a 4.0+ GPA for the first two trimesters. {They are halfway through the third.} He also received an "Academic Excellence in Honors Algebra II" award. I'm not sure what lets you earn the academic excellence designation. Some kids had only the Honor Roll 4.0+, some had the academic excellence in more than one subject area, and some, just the one. Some had the academic excellence designation for a class they've only been in for six weeks. So I really don't know. He was pleased to have been recognized, so that's good.

Well, this has gotten way longer than I planned and I have an appointment and a call at the same time this morning. Time to get a move on. See you Monday for the OMG link up.

Linking with For the Love of Geese, My Quilt Infatuation, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, From Bolt to Beauty, and Alycia Quilts.