Quilting with the librarygoddess24

I have come to a stopping point while I wait for my 1-1/2" white strips come in so I can frame my blocks. Up to this point, I was moving along quite smartly. So as not to be called a 'slacker', I decided to get busy on the pillow cases I plan to give at Christmas. I believe at last count, I had 12 or 13 ready. Then, Jimmy asked me to embroider his towels for his Buffet Beach team, so that has worked out well. I should be finished with them on Tuesday. I am doing 15 for him. I have about 4 to go. I tried to push my machine last year and it almost gave out so I am pacing myself and my machine is not straining. So, good job, me!! I expect the strips in by the weekend, so I can get the pillowcases done too! Works out well! I have been sewing fairly regularly now and I am really enjoying myself. My next thoughts are on a rearrangement of my sewing room. I wish to have more machines up: my 2 embroidery machines, my Featherweight, my little HV, and the serger. I am determined...

I listen to a few podcasts and am constantly looking at quilt sites online. I save blocks, ideas, and things that I want to try at some point. I find ideas for exchanges, whether it’s a pincushion or blocks. I research the heck out of things I am interested in. (I know it’s the librarian in me. Lol)  But -here’s the thing: when I tell my ideas to my Quilting guild, you can hear the crickets! Most are not interested. This makes me sad and feel that I need to step away from the guild for awhile. I will not be the president after this year. I need a break. I need to push myself a bit to improve my skills and by staying in this guild, I won’t grow. I will stay a member but not a officer. Time to move on.

I have finished my Postage Stamp blocks!!! Yes, I did it and I did not freak myself out!!! I really like this 10 minutes of sewing a day thing. It has really taken the stress out of sewing. I feel like that if it's related to any sewing I will be doing, it counts. Now that my blocks are ready, my next step will be framing them with white 1-1/2" frames. I plan to audition this. If I don't like it, I'll decide what is next. So, I have also decided to make some design boards that Lori Holt uses for her applique work. I bought the foam board, a new low temp glue gun and sticks, and batting the other day. I then cut my boards to the sizes I wanted. My next step will be gluing on the batting and then putting the trim around them to make them 'pretty'. (a way to use up 2-1/2" strips) The batting works like a flannel board and holds the pieces together until you can work with them. I plan to use this.

Hurricane Gordon blew in last night after we prepped all day. They canceled school for 2 days and we prepped the house with filling containers, buying food stuffs and batteries, moving plants inside, and Jimmy moved all the stuff around outside. He brought his dog, Red, into the garage for safety. Abby, our inside dog, was fine as long as one of us was around. She is deathly afraid of bad weather. After all that, Gordon blew in and out and we are all fine. No injuries, deaths, or missing things. It's not that we don't take it seriously, we do. (Hence the prep with water, food, batteries) BUT, we do take into consideration the strength of the storms. So, we stayed home. Meanwhile, I am moving on with making my blocks for my quilt. It was very 'freeing' to make the decision to sew for 10 minutes a day and then to follow thru, in some form, of sewing. Even if I don't machine sew, I am hand sewing my hexies together. I do take off if family occasions happen and I don...

I have been sewing for at least 10 minutes a day! It usually ends up being about 30 minutes, which is great, but I've been really trying to stay on course with this. My routine is usually: come in from work, have my cup of tea and snack (here's something else I am trying to stay on the straight and narrow with to get my diabetes under control)...oh, and my snack is either, a piece of fruit, yogurt, or 2-3 cookies. While I'm doing that, I am checking my games on my iPad. Then I go get my tennis shoes and socks out, go into my sewing room, set my alarm for 30 minutes, and sew. I stop 15 minutes before I go walking. Then I walk, come in, eat, shower, get ready for bed, read, and go to bed!  It is working. Today, I had to go to the dentist so my schedule was off. BUT, I planned ahead and changed the routine up, but still went in and SEWED! I think I can make this work. It has been so good for my stress level. It is way down and I am not resenting going to work at all. Tomorro...

It's been 2 years since I've posted anything! I did not realize that! Things have happened, surgeries had, but I am feeling like sharing my posts again. I have decided to fully get into quilting. To that end, I have decided that I need to make sure I spend time sewing every day AT LEAST 10 minutes a day. More is good! Yesterday, I made the cutest embroidered coaster for my son-in-law. As soon as I gift it, I will put up a picture. I was moving around things in my sewing room and came across a jelly roll that I bought from a friend (who was destashing). I decided to make ME a quilt!!! It will be a variation of a Postage Stamp quilt. I will put up the title of the book I am using later. That's where I am now. More later!