Design Wall Monday

Gosh, I don't think I sewed hardly at all this week. 

I've been crazy busy and I'm not sure with what.

Saturday Ernie left the house super early 

and when I finally woke up I decided to get ready for retreat. 

I saw this Dresden design somewhere on line and played in EQ7 to create one of my own.

I love the way she used different background colors but close shades.

I had to make mine a bit different so I could see what was happening/

Here is my mess. I think it took a good 2 full sappy movies to get it all cut.

All of the plates were cut from 33 strips that I've collected from strip swaps. 

I have such fun digging for just the right one.

Of course I had to include some of my not so favorites 

because if I didn't use them, I 'd have a bin full of strips that I'd never use.

And who wants that!!

And isn't this disappointing!
Back in the day, our fabrics were torn, not cut.

Then we washed and dried them and pulled to get things in shape.

I couldn't believe how crooked this was.

I'm glad I ripped.

I had one more cut on the last fabric before my weekend guest arrived.

Granddaughter Mae helped me finish up in the bus. 

We had such a good time talking and dreaming of trips in the bus. 

I'm headed over to Patchwork Times eto visit a few friends and find out what they have happening.

Clam Chowder

Blehhhhh, I do not like clam chowder but my husband loves it! So much so that once in a while, he will want to go to the beach just to have lunch at his favorite place that makes the best (according to him) clam chowder he has ever had.

The other day I happened on this video of a gal making clam chowder base.  (I tried to load the video here but I'm not that smart.) I was curious so I watched it. She said the recipe came from the Ball Blue Book.

We have lots of clams in the freezer and since they are not my favorite thing to smell, touch or cook, I seldom do. So I  decided to put on the big girl pants and make this base for my husband. Because a girl can never have enough good wife points.

It didn't take too long before 9 pints and 2 half pints were in the canner. Everything sealed, my house smell horrific and hubby was happy after testing out a jar for dinner.

Next time I will drain most of the liquid, reserving it, and heat with the heavy cream and butter and add liquid if needed.  He said a little salt and pepper was all it needed.  If I make this again, I will double the amount and get a good supply from the one stinky mess.

Now where will I spend those good wife points.....

Design Wall Monday

Not much quilty sewing this week.

I'm working on setting triangles. 

When I drew up my quilt in EQ7, this is how my triangles came out.

I like the look of them and might continue on

or I might do something different.

I'm in the not quite sure stage right now.

So I put it on the back burner.

Our motor home is a school bus that we converted years ago.

Like maybe 18.

One of these days I will write a blog post about it.

We are planning on traveling quite a bit in the near future.

The couch was never upholstered.

We always just threw a blanket over it and were on our way.

I decided now was the time.

JoAnn's had upholstery fabric for 60% off.

That made it a little easier to buy.

It's not fancy, it's functional.

Or as I like to say, rustic.

I'm quite please to have it done.

How do you like our tv/vcr???

Old school but back a few years ago, it was fancy.

Will I buy a new tv?

Probably not, this one works just fine and we have lots of movies.

Next up is to use this fabric from the deep stash as a backing for a wall hanging.

I love when the dates are on the selvage.

Today is my favorite day in Blogland.

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

WooHoo!

Design Wall Monday

I spent some time this week working on my Splendid Sampler blocks. I have the 2 embroidery blocks to finish and the new block from Sunday and I'll be all caught up. Hopefully before the new block comes out on Thursday.

I got my first t-shirt finished. I still need to teak the pattern just a bit but I really like this one. It has a black back. Like I said before, that pile of knits is going to be use up. Mixing fabrics has never been a problem for me. LOL

I also worked my scrap problem...I was looking for a certain piece of fabric and while digging, I decided to make a pile of cut it up fabric. So there are new tumblers, strips and strings along with enough backing squares for another quilt as you go string quilt. With the Sampler blocks, several sets of 2 tumblers were sewn together waiting to be mixed in with the new fabrics.

It was a good week in the sewing room. See what others are working on at Patchwork Times. I was quite excited to see Judy L is sewing again.

Design Wall Monday

Since my grand plan for April is focused on new t-shirts for myself. 

 I was contemplating (procrastinating) on how to perfect the fit of my shirt 

and decided to squeeze in some piecing time.

After all, when I get into full blown t-shirt mode, 

there will be no sewing anything else.

You understand that focus thing, right?!?

I don't really have anything going at the moment so I pulled out my tumbler leaders/enders bin.

I gave my progress the once over and remembered someone said 

they were doing a border with their darks.

So I got out my seam ripper,

made myself a little add on room and got busy.

I needed more variety so I got out a stack of I want it gone fabric and started cutting.

In the process of cutting, I added lots more pieces to my string bin.

That's a good thing.

I also learned just how sharp those blades are in the dies.

That wasn't a good thing.

I got a bit more life out of this cutting mat 

and then I heard it snap.

It's now waiting for the garbage man to take it to it's new home.

Thank goodness I had another one to use.

I need to add a new one to my shopping list.

When I took my bins in to put them away,

I had to sit down and sew just for a little while.

I now have a nice long string of tumbler pairs to press. 

I love a good leader/ender project gone awry. 

Next up at the Go cutter is this pile of I want it gone fabrics.

What will they become???

I probably will cut tumblers from some of them

and I have an apple core die that needs to be used again

and of course, I will create more strings.

What's on your design wall? I'm headed to Patchwork Times 

this morning to see what others are working on.

April Scrap Busting Plan

I have a Grand Plan.
(Don't I always!!)

I really, really want to get my scraps and my stash under control.

For April, I plan to use up this stack of t-shirt knits.

In my past sewing life, I made clothes.

Lots of clothes for me and my kiddos.

Jeans, western shirts, t shirts, shorts, pjs, cute undies, cute dresses...

Right now I am in desperate need of new shirts.

I hate to go shopping for clothes so it's time to get this done.

And I want to free up that space the basket of fashion fabrics is taking up.

I love sewing with my serger so this gives me a lot of serger time.

(Can you believe my spell check didn't include the word serger?!? I does now!)

The bottom knit is already a shirt.

It is my "muslin" for fit.

It's not too bad,

I'll wear it around home or to sleep in.

I'm excited to use these up.

This morning I'm listening to the latest Quiltcam.

She read an email from someone that was cutting with her Go Cutter.

The light bulb in my head turned on bright.

I put Bonnie on pause and got out my own cutter and small tumbler die.

I need more variety in my tumbler boxes and while making string blocks, 

I found a nice bunch of fabrics in my string bin that were too big to turn into strings.

It's time to get working on my tumblers again.

They will not be my focus this month but will be ready when I'm ready to work on them.

This morning I will finalize my basic t-shirt pattern

and maybe cut out a couple more shirts.

It's fun to have a plan.

And now I must get to it!

The Sting Quilt Story

2016 Finish #7

Thursday I finished my string quilt.

The one I've been working on as part of the Scrap Problem challenge from 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I brought it out and layed in over the recliner and

before I picked up my phone to take a quick picture,

Miss Polly jumped up and made herself comfy!

I love that cat!

I posted this picture on Facebook because cats on quilts are adorable.

I knew I would get great comments from my friends and family.

It always makes me feel good to know they like what I do.

I did not expect Cousin Julie to want to buy my quilt.

She did.

This is the first time I've sold a quilt.

I love that she loves it and wants it.

Today it will get de-threaded and take a spin through the washer and dryer.

Then I'll lovingly box it up and get it ready to ship.

One of the funnest things for me is after 2  blocks or rows are sewn together,

I look at the back. I never worry about if 2 of the same fabrics are next to each other.

I call it blind artistic expression.

It is a great way to use up my not favorite fabrics.

It's also amazing how much I really like some of these after they have been used in a quilt.

Weird, I know!

Thanks Julie for loving what I do so much that you want it to be part of your life. 

Now I need to decided what to focus on for my next Scrap Problem challenge.