{Post 1,686} Pumpkin Time!

I saw a picture on Pinterest of these sweater sleeve pumpkins. They are addicting. I am visiting my daughter in PA, and we made a couple thrift store visits to look for sweaters for these. As I make them, I am finding what I like about them more, so they are being slightly revised all the time.

I put my phone in the picture to show the size of the pumpkins. I like these sooo much, but then again, I am a card-carrying pumpkiholic.

{Post 1,685} Heading North

My husband and I are at our daughter’s in PA. The trip started off horribly, but ended up being quite nice. We left our house just 30 minutes after planned (that is rare...usually it’s much later). We got about 30 minutes away, and our car broke down. It had broken down two days before. We had it repaired, and now it was acting exactly the same way.

So we limped back to the mechanic’s (we did not want to wait for a tow...we were eager to start our long journey). We packed everything into our van. As we were driving along, my husband told me he needed to stop at a Fed Ex store to mail a package for his work. We arrived there 45 minutes later. As he ran into the store, he reached back for his wallet...and realized he left it in our car at home. Bummer. For real.

So back to the house we went. By now it was over 3 hours past the time we originally planned to leave. I just could not believe it. But we made good time and had a good rest of the trip.

We are now visiting with this little 2-month-old fella and his parents. My husband is flying home in the AM, and I’m staying until a week from Friday. My daughter and I have so much planned for the rest of my days here.

He looks so grown up. I half expect him to walk up and ask me for a sandwich or something. He. Is. So. Cute.

I basted, marked, and hand-quilted over half of my pumpkin pillow on the way here. I am working on it in my free time. I brought several crafts to do. I hope to share some pictures.

{Post 1,684} Pumpkin Seed Pillows

I am going to see my sister soon. She lives very far from me. I saw her when my latest grandson was born less than two months ago. She mentioned a random comment...”You know how much I love pumpkin decorations.” Until that very moment, I did not know she loved pumpkin decorations. I L-O-V-E pumpkin decor. So I decided to make her a thing or two. First up is this pillow. The pumpkin area is hand quilted with a quilting pattern called “pumpkin seeds”. The actual pillow pattern is the same name. Pumpkin Seeds. I love the way this turned out.  Click on the picture to see a close-up of the quilting.

So much that I made another one for my family. I pieced it tonight because I’m going to have a lot of hand-quilting time on my hands in the next two days.

I plan to quilt this one in a very similar fashion.

{Post 1,683} Had My Doubts

After I complete a quilt top, the greatest challenge faces me.  What quilting design should I use, and what color thread? I purchased two different orange threads for quilting, one solid, and one variegated. I have some pumpkin quilts in the works. I planned to use one of them on this quilt, but they just didn’t speak to me. I used white. This is a machine quilting pattern I found years ago and have adapted to my own style. I L-O-V-E the texture it gives, but it is very time intensive. The quilt is made from muslin and upcycled men’s shirts. it measures 68” x 76” Very modern for me. I tend to lean towards the traditional patterns, but this is for our newly made-over living room, and it will help bring out the orange, blue, and brown in the rug (also pictured for your convenience).

{Post 1,682} Time Flies

I got together a big box of novelty prints (14 pounds’ worth) to send to a friend who makes charity kids’ quilts. While I was doing that, I came across a stack of triangles (4-1/2” cut in half) of I Spy prints. I had another small stack of bright yellow triangles the same size, so I started sewing them together. I ran out of yellow before I ran out of prints, so I grabbed some purple tone-on-tone. Same. The came orange, then blue...throw in a little greeen...

I didn’t have a plan originally, but here is what I ended up with. That gave me the idea of starting this as a Christmas gift. I will add another border or two.

I also came across a small stack of bright pink squares while I was hunting.  Same plan (no plan). Here is where that stands. I am using the pink and white 4-patches as leader/enders for my third spontaneous project.

Here is my third project. A table mat in the making.  Pieced, but not trimmed yet. This will also get a cream then colored border

{Post 1,681} Machine Quilting

I was gone at my daugher’s for over two weeks. I had a big customer’s top to quilt before I left (she knew I’d be gone) and then another customer dropped off two tops while I was gone.

Here is the BIG Thimbleberries’ fabric fall quilt that I just finished this AM. I think the texture will be fabulous after it is washed.

Here is the first of the other two. It is a baby quilt. Check out those sweet prints. The first picture is when it is on the floor, before quilting, folded in half. I love the block patterns, too. Here is the after the first pass on my frame. I am using a variegated pastel thread and wonky feathers quilting pattern.

{Post 1,680} Worth Waiting For?!?!?!?

I have been planning and hoping for a different sewing machine table. I had been using my former one for 22 years, as far as I can tell. It was originally an L-shaped table meant for a computer and printer. I used it for my sewing machine and serger, then my serger was sort of retired. Recently I asked my husband to remove the non-machine side to make it easier to get around in my sewing room, which is quite cramped.

I was surfing Pinterest one day and found a tutorial for making one’s own set-in machine table from an IKEA stock table that was relatively inexpensive. So we bought one in February as we were passing near an IKEA on a trip. Fast-forward to two weeks ago. This beauty entered my life. Well, it had entered my life in February, but was living in a cardboard box all this time. We finally set it free!

The above picture is obviously after I stained and applied multiple coats of polycrylic to it.

Here is my new set-up. I think I will like facing the door so I can be more interactive with those who enter. I am back here most of the time, as the left side of the table will serve as my desk. 

My former desk had a little space to the left of the machine bottom that acted like a little shelf. I had my bobbin rings, extra pincushion (that just holds hand-sewing needles and safety pins), extra empty bobbins, and my sewing machine feet (in the clear case). I needed a space for those things, so I added a shelf to a wooden crate I had used at a couple showers for holding desserts and such. I repainted it this afternoon, and voila! The perfect holder for the items that were displaced. I will be keeping my iPad on top of it when I’m not using it as well. The rice bowl on the top shelf has my walking foot, free-motion quilting foot, tweezers, and nail clippers in it. 

Here is the whole area. The door you see just past the bookshelf is the door coming into the room.

To the right of my machine is my magnetic pin cushion (don’t leave home without it!) and an antique coffee mug with the essentials...pen, small scissors, ripper, and my nail-cleaning stick. That is fingernail. Don’t ask!

I am going to let the top cure for another 24 hours, then use it like mad. I can use the time tonight to put all the items back in place that I had to move in order to stain and seal this wonderful unit.