Work, Work, Work...So I Can Sew, Embroidery, Crochet

I has been a few days since I posted, but I have been really busy.  Honestly, I have.

Working in the quilt/craft room.  I really need a new name...Diva Den...no, I am not a diva.  Maybe Needle Nook...not to sure about that.  Must think about that a bit more.  At any way, here are some before photos.

So much stuff.  Not sure what do with all of it.  But I figured it all out.  I even have the room divided.  Cross stitch in one corner, sewing in another corner.  Supplies stored close to each.  Just wish I could have gotten my stash closer to the sewing table, but that just couldn't work out.  For a number of reasons, the way the furniture functions (direction doors open and size) mainly, but the biggest reason is I had to put things in a certain location to make it all opposite of the way it was.  I couldn't stand to have the rocking chair in the same corner as it was when Mom was staying here.

And...drum roll please... really, it needs a drum roll in my opinion.  Here are the after photos.

This is a stained glass sign that my dad made.  It hung in there travel trailer for many years and traveled to many places with them.  My mom loved this sign, because dad made it for her.  The red horse is because Dad worked for Mobil their entire marriage.

Okay, here is the first wall.  TV entertainment center has a cabinet on the end that opens out.  It is full of my Cricut cartridges and Sizzix dies.  The other end has a glass door.  All my embroidery supplies are in there.  Floss, embellishments, machine embroidery thread, laces and trims.  The shelves have all sewing supplies, current quilt projects and such.

Computer desk, cross stitch corner.  Mom's little rocker, which does not fit me well at all. It is very small, but of course it is about 60 years old and she was much smaller than me.  I will eventually get rid of it, but at the moment it is a sentimental thing.  It was always in her home, she loved it because she rocked both her babies in it.  Lamps for better hand stitching of course, then little drawer sets have all the office stuff.  You know, markers, pens, pencils, tablets, mailing supplies, label maker and such.  The very top shelf has little bins of various specialty yarns and my Cricut cutter.

My new sewing table.  The metal file cabinet sits in the corner, out of the way but easy to get to.  It has one drawer full of recipe and menu plan files, the other drawer if full of various files that have to do with quilting, crochet, embroidery, swaps and challenges.  I also store my cutting squares and rulers in that drawer.  Now, the long curtains are to replace the closet doors.  This makes it so much easier to get in the closet.  This is where all the good stuff and bulky stuff is now housed.  Shelves that hold bins of crochet projects, fabric for garment construction, UFO quilt projects, a cool round spinning shoe and purse carrier that is perfect for holding yarn.  Small skeins fit in the shoe pockets and the one pounders fit perfectly in the center opening that is actually for the purses.  Drawers of sewing patterns, sewing supplies, another set of drawers has quilt projects, mostly block sets or flimsy type (which I believe is the term given to a top that has been completed.  My AccuQuilt Go cutter and the plastic container I bought that holds all the dies and cutting mats perfectly are also in there.  On, and my box with the dressmaker's form is in it's own spot as well.  I made the curtains yesterday, but had the wrong rod to hang them on.  The cat gets a kick out of playing with the bottoms of the curtains.  I am not sure I like the fabric though.  It looked good on the bolt, cost $2 a yard, but it reads very busy in appearance.  But they are made and hanging.

Finally, my stash.  All folded and sorted by color.  Except the top two shelves, sorted more by novelty print.  Stack for juvenile boy and for girl, older themed too.  The new Brother 770 embroidery machine sits on the little chest or cabinet.  Another piece that was my mom's.  The cabinets hold cross stitch charts and clip boards and all the college team fabric I bought while in Texas.  Both are Texas teams.

 

Now that everything is in it's own special place and cleaned up, and the curtains are made, I can get started on my most immediate quilt projects.  I need to finish some crazy quilt blocks for a challenge and a swap, then a couple of throw size quilts for my church quilt ministry's project of quilts for the orphanage we kind of sponsor.  Also am making a quilt for my youngest son's girl friend.  I will post the computer generated rendering of what that should look like.  I am starting to understand my EQ 7 software a little bit more each time I use it, so figure these charity quilts are a great learning lesson for finding and using old quilt patterns and techniques.

I did manage to get the window topper completed this evening.  Let me tell you about my other little event of the day.

Went out early, in the freezing cold weather, to Walmart to pick up the correct rod to hang the closet curtains on, a rod for the window topper, fabric for a quilt class I am taking this Saturday to match the living room/dining area/kitchen window treatments that I made several years ago.  Well I added some longer panels to the dining area windows this past summer, they are west facing so I wanted to block a little more light.  Decided to make the quilt class project match the living room and will put it on the couch.  It is a Lonestar variation. Okay, back to the point.  At any rate, I was in Walmart and had a PSVT attack.  Really bad one, lasted longer and more painful than I had ever had.  I was too embarrassed to let them call me an ambulance, so I suffered and prayed that I would not pass out in the store.  When I realized that I would have to end up going to the ER, I had to go buy a package of pads so I could have some with me.  Another stupid moment, shopping with out being prepared.  At any rate, I finished my purchase, sat down for a few minutes and then managed to get to the car.

I had to call an ambulance to pick me up from the parking lot.  SOOOOO totally embarrassing, but by that point the pain was so intense, dizziness and nausea so strong that I just didn't care any more.  Well, I had been battling the episode already for about 20 - 30 minutes before giving in and admitting I had to have some help just to get some relief.  When the EMT checked me, my heart rate was only 214.  They immediately gave me medicine to bring it down, which didn't work so followed that up with a double dose.  Understand, that this medicine, when administered, tightens the chest as if in a huge vice grip.  Off to the ER we went to make sure I wasn't having a stroke or anything else.  I have to call in the morning to have a follow up visit with my primary doctor.  I swear I think it caused a mini stroke because I am having trouble remembering some things one side of my mouth now has a bit of droop to it.

Needless to say, I didn't get anything much accomplished today.  Wasn't even able to keep the grand baby and I really feel bad about that.

Well, I am off to take a warm bath and then to bed.  Tomorrow is another day and now that I am a day behind, I really need to hit two fabric shops and a local quilt shop tomorrow to pick up some fabric that son's girlfriend picked out so that I can have it on hand to work on her quilt.  Also need a coordinating fabric for the Lonestar project to use on the insets.  The quilt is shaped kind of like a stop sign.

Thank you for stopping in for a visit, please come again soon.

Year is Almost Over.

Well, the year is almost behind us.  I am sure looking forward to the new one.

This is my new profile photo.

I have joined lots of online challenges with the intention of kick starting my crafting gear in to drive once again.  Gives me a reason to work on something, accountability in a way as well.  I am however determined to get some projects finished, some new ones started and finished.

Not that I have come up with a plan...for lack of better wording...I am on fire to get going.  I now know that while I can do a wide variety of crafts, and do them fairly well, I am going to concentrate on just the few that I really love.  I found that I was so busy deciding what to make, and time spent buying all the supplies and such that I would need to work those crafts, that I wasn't getting anything done.  Of course, my mom's illness, taking care of her, dealing with her death and trying to get my house back in order while going through her personal belongings all while carrying for my grand baby while they work, could also be the reason as well.  At any rate, I am going to attempt to sell off a lot of things after the first of the year, both unused and unneeded supplies as well as Mom's things that are left.

I have learned that my crafting is a gift from God, so I want to honor that gift by giving back.  I do a lot of charity giving in the way of my quilting and crocheting.  I want to expand that this year.  I have set personal challenges in these areas.

Quilting - finish projects that are in various stages of completion, X amount of quilts to be donated to charity causes, a few new projects that will be gifts.

Crocheting - finish projects that are in various stages of completion, X amount of crocheted items to be donated, some new items that will be gifts.

Embroidery - this is a broad category as it includes machine embroidery, hand embroidery and counted cross stitch.  The embroidery is not project specific, but used in the quilting projects.  Either as the center of blocks or embellishment for blocks.  The counted cross stitch is something that I enjoy, but do only for myself.  I am sure however that it will some how be used or incorporated in to the charity items in some form or fashion though, but most of my kits are all planned to be framed and hung in my home as wall art.

That being said, I went on a huge spending spree.  I went a little crazy when my oldest daughter that I am currently visiting took me to Hobby Lobby.  OH HOW I MISS that store, we don't have one where I live.  I also went a little nuts at the local Walmart, buying mostly fabric that has University of Texas theme to it.  I can't get that at home either unless I mail order (or online order I guess it should be called now days).  We also went to a wonderful antique mall and I was just lost in all the booths.  I came out of there with really more than I should have, but some wonderful bargains.  Once decanter that my son had me buy we paid $40 for and was listed on eBay for $169.  I found a wonderful signed limited print for $35 and that booth was 20% off, framed and all.  Online, the artist is selling her limited prints of that particular picture for $68 with no frame.  I found some other great treasures as well, but will post more about them with photos when I get home.

That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

Busy Day.

So...have laundry going.  At least enough to make hubby think I have done house work today.  Will be fixing spaghetti and meatballs for supper, unless that makes hubby take us to grab a burger.  Miss Zebra has her Christmas band concert tonight that we have to go to.  She actually requested that we come to it.  Mr. M is in a mood today, so he needs a little extra attention.  Fortunately, Miss Zebra is home today to help.

I stayed up way to late last night crocheting a scarf out of this new Sashay yarn made by Red Heart.

It comes looking like this.  This color is called Mombo. Rich colors that are berry, navy, olive green and magenta, all blending together.

It opens up to look like this.  A mesh, net style. Reminds me of the fish net hose I use to wear in my younger days.  The bottom edge of the mesh is wider with a metallic thread that runs through it.  I had never seen this yarn before, but found it on some posting somewhere, talking about the great scarves it makes.  I posted a photo of the scarf to my FB page and my oldest daughter Mrs. S promptly posted that there was several shades of the yarn with, and I quote, "rich hues that flow together" and she hinted that she would like some.

Like the loving mom that I am, I went online to search for patterns.  Apparently, this yarn is better used for knitting.  Which I can't do.  However, I did find some crochet ones.  I talked to a lady at JoAnn's who had used the yarn, she knits of course, but she was very helpful.  She suggested going on YouTube.  Which I did.  The few videos I watched had a little different crochet technique, but it seemed easy enough. One lady stated that the scarf would only take less than one skein and about 30 minutes to work up.  Another lady stated one skein would have yarn left over and only takes about 30 minutes to make if you are used to working with it, about an hour if you haven't.  She said the hardest part of making a scarf was pulling the thread out as you crocheted.

So...here is the finished scarf.  Pulling that yarn apart, or stretching it out, as you work it is a bugger.  The bottom edge, as I said, is a wider edge with a silver metallic thread running through it.  The top edge of this mesh yarn is narrower and that is the edge that you work with.  For the first time to work with this yarn it took way more than an hour.  Maybe I am slow stitching, but here's the thing, if you loose your stitch, it all comes out.  This yarn in my opinion is a real pain in the ass to work with and I would never become one of those people that makes them to sell.  I would charge way too much for them because I hate working with it.  However, that being said, this scarf will go to Mrs. S and I have another skein in a different color to make for her as well.  I will say, that I did have quite a bit of yarn left over and I made it longer than the one shown on YouTube.  I also have to admit, that after I dropped the stitch and had to start over...three times...I did hit a groove in working with the stuff.  I will say this as a warning.  Do not start this project unless you have a couple of hours to work it.  It is not like regular crocheting where you can just pick up where you left off.  I mean you can, but only if you have a safe place to store it that your hook won't come out.  Also, I would suggest using a bamboo handled hook.  The handle helped immensely in keeping the thread on.

I bought a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse to go with my new computer today.  LOVING them.  I am starting to get the hang of the Windows 8 thing as well and it is growing on me.  I was upset that I had some how lost my scanner, on every computer, but this morning I had an update waiting to be installed for my printer series and it seems that it is working now.  OH YEAH!  This is a big deal to me because I just purchased EQ7 quilting software program (rather pricey but I did get a good deal on it over on the Quilt in a Day site.  The main reason I bought this particular version of EQ7 is the capability of scanning my fabric to fill in the block in the quilt design.  That way I can see how it looks before I even cut it.

Speaking of awesome quilts.  Take a look at this Pinterest site. I love it when I can combine my hobbies into one project.  Like using embroidery on a crazy quilt. Well this quilt is a little different in that it is not your traditional crazy quilt that is built from odd shapes of fabric sewn together.  This quilt is what is known as an apple core pattern.  Very traditional, considered a charm quilt, dates back to the late 1800's I believe (late 19th century).  Victorian era ladies would collect charms of fabric, buttons and pins and such.  At any rate, this quilt is a great example of a traditional pattern, embroidery embellishment, and...it happens to be a die I just purchased for my AccuQuilt cutter. 

I cannot wait to get through the holidays so I can actually start working on something.  I added the last pieces of furniture to my craft room.

This is my mom's little rocker that she was so attached to.  She didn't use much, as she preferred the comfort of her Lazy Boy, but my parents bought this rocker in 1951 when they adopted my older brother.  Mom always talked about how she rocked her babies in this chair.  My brother and I were adopted, not blood related, but we were related in a loving family.  At any rate, while it is not the most comfortable chair to kick back in, it does fit the space perfectly. 

It is harder in some ways, easier in others, than I expected getting through the holidays with out mom.  They say the first ones are the hardest.  I know I am missing her terribly.  Christmas was her favorite time of year.  All the church services, celebrating Christ's birth.  Family getting together for gifts on Christmas eve and then again on Christmas Day for a huge meal.  It was just always on Christmas.  Growing up was my brother and I with mom and dad.  We never went anywhere for Christmas, never had anyone visit.  I think earlier, before I came along, there was Christmas with one uncle and his family and my granny (dad's mom) but I only know of it from home movies.  I don't ever remember it that way...and I do have a superb memory for that kind of thing.  Now my kids always had several Christmas times.  One with just us, then one with my parents, and one with hubby's parents.  I know I just want to make it through the holidays with out falling apart and that is getting harder each day.  I want to get past the holidays, get all the decorations packed away and get on with life and working on things. 

Speaking of which.

Update on the Nativity.  I have finally made the decision to start another cross stitch project (that is smaller) and quite pushing myself to finish the Nativity.  Now that I realize I will never finish it for this year. 

I hope hubby never finds out how much I have spent on quilting/stitching supplies on eBay. LOL  I am now feeling better about my stashes though.  Plenty of kits, plenty of patterns, plenty of thread (since I won some large lots of embroidery thread on eBay) and enough quilt fabric to at least plan a quilt.  I think also, after the first I will start selling off some of my paper craft supplies (rubber stamps, punches, papers) to feed the kitty so to speak.

Speaking of kitty.

She likes mom's rocker too.  I didn't realize when we took her in how much comfort it would be to have her around.

Oh...and also speaking of feeding the kitty.

Here is my change kitty (on the left) that is fed by all the change I find around the house.  The other decorative jar is what my mom used to keep cotton balls in.  I am going to use it for a TUSAL jar.  Found out about this on some blogs I read.  It stands for Totally Useless Stitch Along.  All the bits and pieces from cross stitch (ends and frogging) goes in the jar and I post a photo of the jar each new moon.  I always keep a baggy taped to the sewing table when I do machine embroidery.  I have used all those little pieces in other projects. I guess you can see one of my sets of machine embroidery thread in the background.  I only have three. LOL

This is a free standing lace cross that I stitched out on my embroidery machine a while back.  All the various colors you see in it was done by using two layers of tulle and placing the cut threads I collected between them then stitching out the design.  Oh I hope I can find those files on a computer somewhere in this house when I get ready to start doing some machine embroidery work.  I know I have a disk somewhere that has designs  to embroider out that are the cutest vintage children.  I hope to put them in to some quilt blocks.

Well, time to move the laundry around.  Thanks for stopping by and do come back to visit soon.  Feel free to leave me a comment.  I love to read them.