Oh Scrap!

I have spent quite a few afternoons diligently cutting scrap strips out of the huge pile of scraps that I had and was to lazy to deal with until that is, I cleaned up and organized and painted my sewing room.  Lots of small pieces just got tossed, but I kept all that I could and cut 2.5 inch strips and I have 3 great books on scrappy quilts so hopefully I will find something awesome to do with it all.  Here are my nice neat piles:

Seriously I can't stand the idea of cutting anymore scraps for a while.  In the future I do plan to cut the scraps I have left as I go, it will be far easier and less time consuming and a heck of a lot easier on my poor back rather than standing for hours doing it.

So what do you do with your scraps and what have you made with your scraps??  Please share, I'd love to hear.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

A Surprise in the Mail

Today I received a surprise package in the mail.  It was from my Sister-In-Law Leah who lives in Olympia, WA.  She had a big garage sale this weekend and one of her friends brought some things over to put in the sale.  It just so happens one of the things the friend brought was a hand pieced/sewn quilt top made by her Grandmother.  So Leah sent it to me to see if I'd like to do something with it and if not find someone who might like it.  Well I was so thrilled and excited about it, I took pictures to share with y'all.  I figure I'll get some repro fabric to back and bind it.  The big question in my mind is how to quilt it?  My arthritis won't allow me to hand quilt it, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.  Could you/would you hand tie it perhaps??  Here is the quilt and a few close ups on some of the blocks:

 

 

Aren't they colorful and bright.  The off white fabric I believe is muslin.

I also got busy today and made a batch of Bobby Deen's Lighter Blueberry Muffins.  They are 168 calories per muffin (70 fewer calories and 4 grams less fat) and a little bit healthier than his Mommas (Paula Deen) original recipe.  I used the organic blueberries I picked last summer and froze.  It's almost time to pick again and I can't wait.  The muffins, according to CR, are DELICIOUS!!

I also got myself a new Starbucks mug for cold drinks.  I fill this puppy up several times a day with water/sparkling water and flavor it with MIO's, or Propel, or Crystal light.  I pretty much drink water and coffee and that is it, no pop or juice for this girl.

 

It came with the flat lid and then a domed lid for those fattening drinks they put a ton of whipping cream on top of.  I don't do those drinks.  If I order a latte, it's iced, sugar free vanilla, no frills, but I like it.
Still cutting strips from my scraps, ugh, I'm getting so tired of it, but in the end it will be worth my time.  Anyone know of a free pattern/tutorial, or a pattern a person can buy for a Churn Dash Quilt.  I saw a picture somewhere of one that looked really scrappy and thought it was so cool looking.

The weather has turned chilly and windy and rainy here.  Just a couple of weeks ago it was 90 degrees.  Mother nature must be bi-polar, I just can't keep up with the big temperature swings.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

Upgrades

Today we were busy doing some upgrading.  I've had an iPhone 3 for a long time now and so we decided since ATT was giving 100.00 rebate to trade your old smart phone in, we would upgrade to the iPhone 5.  Can't believe how far those phones have come with a larger screen, and slimmer, lighter weight body.

We also decided to finally upgrade my sewing room TV to a flat screen HDTV.  It's a 22 inch, I didn't want anything to big, and it's bigger than what I had.  I'm quit thrilled with it:

Earlier in the day, Scotchie was in his usual morning position - CR's lap, getting his tummy rubs in for the day - I love how he holds his front paws in the air so CR can get the chest and the belly.  Meanwhile his eyes roll back into his head he enjoys it so much.  Of course CR can't do much on the computer till Scotchie tires of the attention and leaves to find a patch of sun.

 

Look at the back feet - all stretched out, so funny!!

Working on my scrap piles and cutting everything into 2.5 inch strips, I don't know if I'm slow or what, but I wish this job was done already.  I've got a couple ideas for a scrappy quilt, but nothing decided for sure just yet.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

A Few Funnies from Facebook

A few things that have made me smile lately:

















Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

Our Rhododendron

Our Rhodie is blooming away and looking so beautiful this year, so I thought I'd share some pictures:

Scotchie is watching me out the bedroom window.

 

 

Now he's spotted a bird - probably a quail

 

 

 

 

I remember 30 years ago it was maybe 2 feet tall, not full at all and had 3 blooms on it.

We attended the funeral of our friend yesterday.  Such a sad occasion and so difficult to see the pain her husband was in.  She was very loved and based on the way her whole family spoke about her and the friends who got up to speak, what a testament and a legacy she's left.  We can all only hope to have touched people in the way that she did.

I must do my checkbook today and then I need to get the 2 huge bags of scraps I've been saving and cut them into strips to make a few scrappy quilts.  I really like the scrappy quilts that are on Bonnie Hunters Blog and Website - Quiltville.com

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

Got a Few Things Done

Today, with all my fabric folded and the last of the organizing done in my sewing room, it was time to get busy and do a couple of quick projects.  So the first thing I did was make a new curtain for my sewing room.

Oh they are so pretty and bright and compliment my yellow walls nicely.

Then I don't know if you remember those drab pillows I put on my Grandma's Cedar Chest here:

 

Ugh, so boring and I have a lot of blue in that room, so I made covers, or pillow cases for the drab pillows and now it looks like this:

I found this fabric while I was organizing and folding my stash.  CR really liked the fabric and loves the look in that room.  It does brighten that area up a lot!!

We were supposed to paint the small hallway today - I cleaned the walls yesterday, but we went out to lunch with other retirees from where CR worked, so by the time we got home, well we decided to do it Friday morning and take it easy today.  And that was a good idea.  My back had been really hurting lately, so a day of rest was just what I needed.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

Folding Fabric

My friend Carline from Lady of the Cloth blog responded to my last blog post and told me a neat little trick, using my 6.5 by 24 inch ruler to fold my fabric so it looks nice on my new shelves.  I can't thank you enough Carline for the great advice.  Here are the before and after pictures:

Before - everything was on the shelf by color, but the piles were a mess.

 

Now, the shelves are so nice and beautiful looking, and there is actually
more room - I could buy more fabric - just don't tell CR, ha ha!!

And we also got the art work hung around the room - here is a new picture looking into the room from the door:

I just love my new space and it feels so good - clean and organized and a place where you can play and create.  I just have to keep it that way and I'm sure I will, I've wanted this for a long time.

One thing I had really wanted to do away with is the two plastic drawer units I had under my table.  I use the table for putting my make up on each morning - wait, I don't wear it every day anymore, but you get the idea.  The problem was I had a lot of small sizes of fabric and fat quarters and they needed a place to go where I could keep them organized as well.  So the drawers had to stay.  Still have my old curtains up, need to make my yellow with white polka dot curtains now that I'm organized.

While folding my fabric I ran across this fabric and I thought it would be perfect to use for pillow covers for the pillows I put on my Grandmas Cedar Chest in the other room.  They have a bit of punch to them so they'll brighten up the area.  After I make my curtains, this is next on my list to do.  We still have a bit of painting to do, but it won't be nearly the work that the bathroom, kitchen and my sewing room were, thank goodness!!

Last week it was so hot here I thought I'd die, it was in the 90's which is way to hot for this time of year.  Thankfully this week has backed off to normal temps around 76 or so.  It's nice to have the windows open rather than the air conditioning on - especially when there is still painting to be done.

So what are you working on and how is your weather??

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

A Fresh Start

As you know this past week we painted my sewing room a gorgeous light lemony yellow color called Morning Sunshine.  Well today it's all organized and ready to use, with the exception of hanging pictures which I'll do tomorrow.  Before you see the pictures I will admit that I am a fabric hoarder, so please try not to laugh at me.  At least now I know what I have and will be using that before purchasing more.

So without further ado:

Looking in from the door.  I have shelves on the right side of the room now for my fabric to be out and seen.

As you can see those shelves are LOADED.  And color coded, but I need to figure out a way to fold my fabric a tad neater, figured I could noodle on that for a while and try a few ideas - if you have any, please share!!

This picture is taken from standing by my sewing machine and looking toward the door.  I have my cutting table, which I'm only using half of and it allows for more room.  and then I have a shelf with books and patterns, etc and then the large shelf had project boxes that are either labeled or have the pattern taped to the outside so I can see what I have going or plan to have going.

I think I'm making new curtains with this fabric for the room.  I just love the yellow and the cheeriness of it all.

It's been a busy 2 days putting my room together and I'm so pleased with the results and the ability to see what I have and use it.

On a sad note we found out a friend of ours died quite suddenly from a brain aneurysm yesterday.  She was a wonderful and quite brilliant lady and only 69, to young to leave us.  Her hubby is 79 and unfortunately is suffering from Alzheimer's and recently quit driving.  I am very worried for him and sad for the whole family.  They have kids who live in state, so I hope they will step up and take care of their Dad, he will most certainly need their help.

I hope to be back stitching as I had a project in the works when we tore the room up to paint, so perhaps I'll have fun stuff to post in a few days or so.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

Mothers Day and Peonies

Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful Mom's out there.  For me, Mothers Day makes me think of my wonderful Grandma.  While my own Mother could have cared less about me, my Grandmother was the be all and end all.  She loved me with out fail and despite my failures.  I was truly her girl!!  Anyhow our Peonies are blooming and I wish I could take her a vase full of them, but I can't so I'll just share it with you my friends!!

 

And how about a little purple for your day too:

Happy Mothers Day
Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam

A Peek at Morning Sunshine

I have 2 pictures to share, one is with flash, so the yellow doesn't show up as well and one is without flash, but it makes the yellow appear darker than it is.  The sewing room walls are painted a beautiful yellow color called Morning Sunshine and I think it's just beautiful.  We are currently trying to put the room back together and so more pictures will be posted as I get things in order.

Happy Stitches and Hugs,
Tam