ladybug picnic

I had a paper bag.  I kept all my quilting patterns in it.



It finally got too ripped up to use anymore.



So I sewed up a more durable replacement :)





Everything I used I had already in my stash, except the buttons.  They were so thick, I couldn't fit the bag, handle, and button all under the presser foot of my machine, so I had to sew them on by hand. 

Now all my patterns are neatly tucked away in their new picnic-y ladybug tote, perfect for summertime  :)  

{this project also represents more than a yard of long-time stash getting moved out and put to use - that makes me super happy!}
Linking up to Quilt Story, You Flew Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday, Freemotion by the River,
 

 

     

Sunday Stash

First of all, I need to apologize for being so late in posting today.  I misjudged when I needed to have my post ready so that it would be up and ready for Sunday morning in other time zones.  I do hope those of you who have been waiting can forgive me.

Welcome to Sunday Stash!  Fiona at Finding Fifth has been gracious enough to let me host this week



Lately, I've been jumping from project to project, fabric to fabric.  Normally, I would find that a bit unsettling, but now I find it peaceful to move from one stack of fabric to another, then back again.

These are the fabrics that have had my attention this week.  Not new, they have been in my stash for some time.  I've decided to piece a simple quilt of rectangles from them, and have actually started cutting already.  There were a couple more prints than these, but they are in a neat little stack of 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles now. 

My favorite fabric of the bunch is the fabulous plaid in the top right corner.  I adore a good plaid, and I think this one is one of my two all time favorites.

{the fabrics in the photo are DS Fabrics for Joanns}
it's your turn - link up your stash below :)

Zigzag Crabs & Madrona Road go on vacation

Last month I went on a quilting retreat at Purity Springs in NH, USA.  I think it is about time I blog about it, because I worked on a couple of very exciting {to me, anyway} WIPs that I want to share with you.

First up, Madrona Road became a completed quilt top while on retreat - Whoo Hoo!



I sewed squares into four patches, then joined them together.  I kept the four patches random so they would disappear into the overall quilt top. 

Madrona Road is some of my favorite fabric, so I wanted to keep the piecing simple to show it off.  To add a little interest, I sewed triangles in the corners of some squares, and placed them randomly throughout the top.  They are not as noticeable as I expected them to be, and to be honest I haven't decided if I like the more subtle effect or not.



At the retreat, a clothesline is hung in one of the hallways so people can display quilt tops as they are completed.  I love taking breaks from sewing to go see what other people have finished.  The black and white quilt at the end of this row was sewn by one of my Aunts, I probably should have gotten a better picture of it.

At the end of this hallway there is a table that is kept stocked with coffee and tea, and trays of pastries and fruit are often brought down between meals.  They keep everyone ridiculously well fed :)

Through the doorway that you can see in the picture above is one of the rooms for people to sew in.  A quilt shop is set up in there also, and fortunately they had one of the larger scale Madrona Road prints so I grabbed some to use for backing.

My Mom, Aunts, and I set up in another room at the opposite end of this hallway.



I worked on my zigzag crabs, too!  This is a WIP that I started last year at the same retreat, and I didn't touch it at all until this year's retreat.  I misplaced the notebook that had all the plans worked out in it and I didn't want to spend the time trying to figure it all out again.  Then, just before this year's retreat I found it again {while looking for something else, of course}



Many people recognized this top from last year, so I got a lot of teasing about it.  I've been told that I have to bring it back next year completed :)



The fabrics are entirely Going Coastal, some of my all time favorite fabric.  As I'm writing this post, I find it amusing that both quilts I worked on are made completely from a single collection of fabric.  It definitely simplifies the fabric selection process, and lately I am all about simplicity when it comes to sewing.

I need to add a bit more to the bottom of this quilt, but it is looking like the top may be wider than it is long.  I'm not very happy about that, but the dimensions may change a bit as the rows are sewn together.  In these photos, the rows are pieced diagonally, but the rows have not been joined together.  When they are, the quilt will shrink up some width-wise.

It rained for most of the retreat, so I didn't take any pictures outdoors, but you can check out this post & this post about last year's retreat if you would like to see some, as well as more pictures of my zigzag crabs.

banishing the ugly saggy old boobs

 You know something?  This has been a really hard post to start for some reason.  So how about I just jump in with the pictures, ok?  :)



This, my friends, is a rice sock.  An ugly, old, stained, came-home-from-the-hospital-twelve-years-ago-when-my-son-was-born, been-used-a-whole-lot-since-then rice sock.  Once upon a time there were two rice socks.  But my dear son attacked them with yarn and scissors and only one survived.

Rice socks are great.  They are all socky and filled with rice and you heat them up in the microwave and drape them over your body and they sooth away your aches.  I like to wrap mine around my neck when I'm achy from a bunch of sewing.

What does this have to do with ugly saggy old boobs, you ask?  Check this out:



that is a picture of my wonderfully helpful doorknob modeling my rice sock for you so you can see how wearing it around my neck causes the rice to fall down to the ends, making them rather large and plump with those knotty things sticking out. 

The problem is, those round, plump ends are sitting on my chest making it look like I've got a second set of boobs.  Really ugly, saggy old boobs {the rice sock boobs that is, my boobs are just fine thank you}.  And those knotty tassel things sticking out make it all rather obscene.

Anyway, I went on a quilt retreat in May and because of all the sewing I'd be doing, I wanted a rice sock to put on my neck if I got all achy - but I didn't want to be walking around looking like I had two sets of boobs. 

Sooooo, the night before I left I was madly sewing this:



my new rice sock  :)   I used a blue flannel from Joanns.  The vintagy floral is so pretty, don't you think?



I sewed across the rice sock, forming four sections, so the rice can't all fall to the ends.  No more saggy old boobs! Just soft, pretty ache relief.  :)

Edited to say: If you are interested in how I made my rice sock, check back in the next week or so.  I'm going to make another and will take pictures and share how I made it.  Together, we can banish ugly saggy rice boobs all over the world :)

I'm linking up to Really Random Thursday!, TGIFF, Whoop! Whoop! Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Submarine Sunday

fabric on my mind

There is a stack of fabric that has been in my stash for a long while, and which has lately been on my mind.  I decided to take it out and show you today.



At one point in time I planned to make a pine burr quilt with these fabrics.  That design is still on my 'someday' list, but I've decided to do make something else with these fabrics for donation quilts.

I did a quick search and didn't come up with anything exactly like the design I know as pine burr, but here are the closest I found here, here and here.

The fabric across the top of the first picture turns from pink to orange to yellow back to orange and then pink from selvedge to selvedge.  There is enough of it for backing.



I don't have a plan yet.  I need to make a quilt that finishes approx. 44" x 58".  Do you have any suggestions of what I should make with these?

Linking up to Sunday Stash #65

Fresh Sewing Day

 

Happy Saturday everyone!!  Whoo hoo for the weekend!! 

 

I thought I'd take a moment and look back at the month that was May {where did it go?!?} and link up with Lily's Quilts.  Care to join me? :)

 

PicMonkey, my laptop, and I tried to make a beautiful collage for you but we went round and round without much success and I finally had to admit that the threesome wasn't working out today.  Another time, another place and it could have been magical.  But we went our separate ways for now; I really think it was for the best.  And even though you deserve so much more, there is just a rehashing of old photos to follow :)

 

 

a pouch for my son's extra ammo :)



I took part in the Say it with Flowers Blog Hop



The Hungry Caterpillar baby quilt is nearly done {I'm sewing the binding}



I finished my Sashiko pillow - the kids have put in a request for another one like it :)



the accidental quilt has been making progress, but I haven't taken new pictures yet.

If you missed the original posts about these projects, I linked the captions so you can go check them out :)

Also in May, although unblogged as of yet, I went on a quilt retreat!  It was a fantastic, rainy time and I accomplished a lot of sewing that hasn't made it onto my blog yet but will hopefully be showing up soon.

Now it's your turn - what did you sew in the lovely flower filled month of May?