Stories from the Sewing Room

I finished off the last of this year's quilts with a binding last Wednesday. 

I can't say I've accomplished a whole lot since then. The weather took a turn towards deep winter. This picture was taken Wednesday the 10th. Although it looks almost sunny in my picture, it was bitter cold and rainy. My newer neighbors have a sense of humor. 

We did have small guild Friday night and we did our fat quarter basket swap. It was supposed to be like dirty Santa, but no one stole, we just picked and kept. So here is what I made for my basket. I went with an Alison Glass/stamp/writing/keeping in touch sort of theme. It was more of a color vibe than a theme.

The record coaster was a last-minute addition after I saw the directions come through in the Bernina email last week. I have some thoughts about this project. 

1. It's really difficult to stitch a perfect circle, particularly with fusible fleece/batting attached to one side, on your sewing machine. I think I would program this to stitch on an embroidery machine or maybe even the longarm if I had a big enough piece of fabric. 

2. It's also hard to cut perfect circles for the two inner circles. Again, programming the circles would yield a more precise finish. 

3. Pay attention. I was on the phone when sticking down the fusible "record label" color, which was supposed to cover the slit that was used for turning. I stuck mine to the wrong side, so then I had to try to cut similar shapes for both sides and get them to line up. Ugh. This is the back, which was supposed to be the front before I messed it up. Thankfully I had enough fabric left to cut additional print circles to cover the slit.

As you can see, I didn't quite hit the circles on the back exactly while stitching down the front, but it was okayish.

    

Back to guild, I chose Brenda's basket when it was my turn. Here are the non-perishable items. There was also a bottle of sparkling water, two champagne flutes, and a bag of Hershey kisses. 

Meanwhile, the guild advent calendar is still going on. Here is everything through December 16, minus the table runner that I shared last week.

I wish I could say I've been super-productive since finishing work last week, but I really haven't. I do have a finish, the started-in-2017 knitted baby blanket. I don't remember the previous version of this being so long and skinny. Maybe I didn't do all the repeats last time? 

I have been working on the race car quilt. The pieced borders fit fairly well. Each part of this quilt has been 1/2" smaller than the measurements given on the pattern. 

I worked on creating a pieced backing from the leftovers. There wasn't quite enough to get there, so I had to shop in my stash. Times like these (or any time I need a notion) I really miss Jo-Ann. Luckily I remembered to cut the binding before going to town on the backing. 

I also created a Frankenbatting from six batting cutoffs left at the bottom of various quilts.

It's loaded onto the frame, ready to be quilted. 

I also finished this scrunchy. I realize this seems like a minor project. I really wanted to add it to my UFO list on my PHD, but I refrained. It has been sitting here waiting to be repaired since I started making it at Quilt Con in February 2024. Yes, almost two years. I ripped apart and re-sewed the elastic in a more secure fashion and then pressed and hand-stitched the opening closed. Fun aside: the astronauts glow in the dark.

I've been slowly working on Nancy's Bonnie & Camille quilt too. This week has reminded me of how I prefer to work, which is not how I work when I am working/quilting for others. I prefer to jump around between projects, even alternating blocks of multiple projects at the same time. It helps me to pay attention and alleviates the tedium of doing the same thing over and over. 

I have not yet started the two gifts I still need to make. I have not worked on business things that need to be done, such as updating the website, doing year-end inventory, and so on. I have not finished enough things to complete my PHD this year. I'll be so close, but just not enough time. My goal next year is to work less so that I have time to live more. I've paid off the second machine and computer, so I think maybe I can try this?

I'm not sure if I'll post next week or not, but I will schedule the OMG link up to post and open on December 25, as scheduled.