"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11 (NIV)

Monday, March 12, 2018

Weekend Doings.....

It was an eventful weekend for me.....first up the sewing that I accomplished. 

First thing done was this wall hanging that is going to the worship pastor and his wife at the church I attend.   She just had their first child last week.


The back of the wall hanging was used for everyone at the baby shower the church gave them to sign.
Then in doing some straightening and cleaning on Saturday in my sewing room (prep for moving) I found three more pieces of fabric as potential linings for the purse I have to get made myself.   I'm leaning towards the bottom right, but only have a yard of it so it may not work.   Second choice is the floral on the top of the pic.




I also finished off the remaining two of these four commissioned pot holders.  They will be mailed out sometime this week (once I get paid for them).












And I spent Saturday morning on the house hunt once again and ended up putting an offer in on this lovely house.   All paperwork has been signed and the offer accepted, so I'm now a homeowner in process....lol.   Inspection will be sometime this week, followed by all of the other stuff that has to be done to close in just under month.....

And much as I'm not looking forward to the move and packing, I am looking forward to being in my own place and not in a rental.   And even nicer is the fact that there is room for my quilt frame and everything else as well!

Gratitudes:
1. Offer was accepted for the house that I loved.

2. For the good realtor that I've been working with.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Yikes.........

There are a bunch of things on my plate at this point with my quilting and since I'm a visual learner, I make lists of what I need to get done so I don't drop the ball on something......well at least not too many balls at any rate. 

Page 1 filled with 8 different projects and the steps needed to get them finished up. 
 Page two almost filled up with 5 projects....sigh.    And the sad thing is, as I've been starting to pack for my move this summer (or sooner) I keep finding things that need to be finished up before I can accomplish a couple of the things already written down. 

I need a few more hrs in my days to get all this done w/o losing my sanity, or maybe just no sleep....lol.

I'm aiming to finish off a couple of the items on the first page this weekend, along with house-hunting some on Saturday morning (well hopefully anyway).  And the commissioned project that needs to be finished up before I head to the wedding, thankfully won't take me long to make.

Gratitudes:

1. Found out that I am getting paid for the publication project...woohoo. 

2. The March wedding and my days off for my trip out there is only 3 wks away. 

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Shopping the Stash

I went shopping in the stash over the weekend and yesterday for two new projects.   And also found a possible piece for one of them while out on the mug rug run this past Saturday as well.

First project I went "shopping" for is the purse that I need to make myself.  I decided on the rose print denim for this first one.  I had initially found the Asian print on the right in my stash and was thinking of using it.   Then I found the scissor print in the sale fabrics at one of the stores on the mug rug run.   Now to decide which one to use....lol.



And two more fabrics that I found as possibilities for the purse lining. 












Then I pulled these two fabrics for a new passport wallet that has been commissioned.   The outer fabric and the pockets will be from the leaf print.   The batik on the right will be the lining for it.  This wallet will have a strap as well.

Gratitudes:

1. Thankful to have my own "store" to shop from (well until I have to move it all again.....lol)

2. For the blessings of the weddings that I'll be attending over the next several months.




Quilt Qwazy Queens Blog Hop Coming Starting the 15th

Quilt Qwazy Queens is coming in March and I get to be a part of it this year.  =)  

Those that are participating will take a look at their UFOs in this upcoming blog hop. There will be a different prize from a different sponsor each day of the hop. Notice, we skip the weekend!   My post will be live on the 15th.  Please join us on the following days:
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Friday, March 16, 2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Gratitudes:
1. For a stash that I can find fabrics to fit customer requests in without having to go buy anything.
2. For being able to get the all of the to-do's (commissions and gifts) done without having to stress about an impending move at the same time.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Rabbit Trails......

I admit it, I'm easily distracted by new ideas and projects more often than I really should be and I'm always looking for projects that are easy and quick to do that could be sold for extra money.  When I bought the pattern that I'm going to use to make a purse for myself, I also bought one that was for travel accessories.   There are two different types of passport carriers - a little bag w/neck strap and a wallet style, along with a little shoulder bag.   All were designed to be used with leather.

Yesterday I played around with a few of my scraps and made the wallet style in quilted cottons.  Folded it finished out at 10" tall by 6" wide, and about 1/2" thick. 

I added the external pocket to it shown with my phone in it.  This pocket is padded.   But next version I think I'll just add a pocket with a zipper to it that could be used for a phone if desired or change.  A zipper running vertically would make for a decent sized pocket.


Wallet opened up flat showing the outside.   Froggy fabric is by Timeless Treasures and is out of print now.   It was a scrap left over from a set of scrubs.  Binding was from a FQ that had a chunk cut out of it.
Inside with two pockets on the left for travel documents and paper money.  Pocket for a pen in the center.   Two pockets on the right for passport and credit cards.  Striped lining fabric was a scrap from another FQ.  Pocket on the right has RFID fabric in the pocket.
Pic of wallet, with stuff in pockets.

Still to be added to this one - a button & loop closure and a removable strap.

Future ones I make will have the RFID in the cover of the wallet as well as in the on pocket.

All in all, this project was easy and inexpensive to make.  And hopefully when I start making them to sell, will sell w/o a problem.

Now to decide if I want to make them out of the numerous pieces of novelty print fabrics that I have or other kinds of prints.

Gratitudes:

1. Sunshine today!

2. It's Monday and the start of a whole new week.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

March Goals and Projects

This past week I've been able to finish up a couple of major projects both of which were goals for February.   Both my publication project and my wall hanging for the art quilt challenge are in the mail.   And the publication one has been received by the magazine safe and sound.  And I am now looking forward to the next projects on my horizon.

The next commissioned project is a set of 5 pillow covers for a friend in Phoenix using these fabrics.  The print will be the front, and the one on the left the backing for them.  I'm planning on making them in an envelope style with a button closure to hold them closed.   And that way she can use them on either side.

I also have two more potholders to make for the current commission in the works, but am waiting for the needed fabric to arrive in the mail sometime this week.   Hoping to get those finished up this weekend.  Also potential is a commission for 8 more fruit pie/cobbler potholders.  Need to check if those are going to be wanted or not.

Next up is a project for myself - yes wonders never cease....lol.   I need to make myself a new purse (well actually I've needed one for about a year now) because the tote I had been using has a broken strap.   So my need just became urgent.   This is needed before I leave for my niece's wedding the end of the month.

The main part of the new purse will be one of these two denims from my stash.  The one on the left is a tone-on-tone floral print, and the other one has polka dots on it.   Eventually I'll use both in a purse, but just need to decide which one to use first.

I'm going to use the messenger bag version in this Vogue pattern as a base for my purse.  I do plan to adapt it to what I want/need which means adding more pockets to it and maybe an internal divider.   Can you tell I like my purse organized?

I also plan to add pieced sections into the outside of the purse for added interest and probably will use either some of the batik or the fairy frost scraps that I have for this.  When i picked this up, I also bought a pattern that included a travel wallet (ie passport holder) that I'm considering making from some of my snail or kitty print fabric.

In both of them I will be using the RFID blocking fabric to add an extra layer of security since so many things now have chips in them.   The RFID fabric helps to block any one trying to scan cards to try to steal credit card numbers.   This will be the first time I'll have sewn with it, but I shouldn't have any problem with it.  I do plan to start adding it to my little bags and similar items that I make for sale.

This wall hanging also needs to be finished now that the shower has been held and the back signed.  Thankfully this isn't too big, so hopefully won't take me long to finish up this month.  (yes, that is first and middle name on the blocks)

And the final big project that I have for the month of March is to get the wedding quilt bound.   It is back from the quilter and waiting for me to bind and label it.  =) 

Oh and I still need to continue looking for a place to move to............sigh...........

Gratitudes:
1. The rain is supposed to be stopping for a few days so we might dry out some here in N. TX

2. My nieces wedding present is back from the quilter and ready to be bound and looks wonderful!  Now to get it bound.