Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Silence is not golden



Maybe some of you have noticed my absence as of late. Well that's because there hasn't been a lot of sewing going on. 

Earlier this month my hubs and I and a few friends went up to the mountains to hit some curvy roads and have dinner in Asheville. We made a stop in Little Switzerland and while we were there my left ankle gave way and I ended up on the ground and in a lot of pain. Hubs was taking pictures and managed to capture it. 

I waited it out a few days thinking it was simply a sprain before heading to the doctor. I was promptly sent to the hospital for x-rays and referred to a specialist. Thursday I got the news that I had broken my Talus bone (that's the top bone in your ankle) and upon further review of the x-rays he discovered that my Navicular bone was also broken (and might have been so for some time). The last "sprain" i had was exactly 2 years ago, so it could have been from then but who knows for sure. 
So for the next month I get to be in a fun foot boot and use crutches to get around. --- not a happy gal about any of this, my sewing room is upstairs in my house but my husband brought me a work station and most of my needed supplies for things I must complete and set them up in the living room. Sewing will be minimal for a while but maybe I can sneak some in during small breaks in medication fog. 

Right now I'll be focusing on bee blocks (one bee finished this month and the other has one more month), keeping up with my block of the month (that I just started last month) and getting my big reveal finished by the deadline. I may also try for some of the Tula Blocks but no big Christmas sewing for this gal. 

Monday, November 2, 2015

October Sewing and stashing report

I knocked out the bee block I had to make this month in the first few days so I wouldn't have to rush it at the end of the month -- our hive queen this month sent her background fabrics to us so not much stash was used in this book case block and it all came from the scraps bucket. 
The beginning of October was a busy time for sewing as I prepped for stash bash. I did buy a good deal of fabrics but they were mostly for swap items that will be showing up in this post so not really anything to count as stashing. 

I made some secret sister items and gifted some fabric. (-2 yards)

I made a few pillow cases (-3 yards)  and did a pillow swap with Mallory 
I made these 16 baskets for all the lovely ladies that would be attending (-12 yards)
In the course of making my secret sister a sew together bag -- I kinda kept it so this one is mine now (-2.5 yards)
I made the binding for the commission t-shirt quilt and the Kate Spain Quilt (-1 yard used) 
While at stash bash I purchased 20 yards of fabric (WOW! OOPS!)
Tiger Lilly by Heather Ross, some coordinates and a Piece of Kate Spain 
Coral to finish a quilt top, great text print, some Tula Pink Birds and Bees and Tula Pink Neptune 
Cotton and Steele, Alison Glass and Kona Solid

At the retreat and throughout the rest of the month... 

I completed my Schnitzel and Boo Mini (-1 yard for backing and binding)
I completed the commission t-shirt quilt
I completed the Kate Spain Jewel Box Quilt 
Completed Winds of Oz (-1 yard) 
I got 32 of my 70 Tula Pink blocks made 

I made a quilt top from my Spellbound Layer Cake (-3 yards)
assembled my kaleidoscope Block top 
Completed a charity quilt top (1 yard for sashing) 
Started on my scout quilt car seat cover for the Honda
I started with a new block of the month and am substituting in a different background fabric than the one that the shop is providing so that's another 2.5 yards of stash that will be going to good use. 

My totals this month were 20 yards added, 29 yards removed, total for the month 9 yards used. That brings the yearly total to 145 yards used this year so far -- still working to get near that 150 yard mark for the year. 

Next month will be about backings and finishing up some holiday projects so I hope to surpass that 150 goal and maybe hit 200 yards to start into 2016.

Kate Spain Jewel Box

Kate Spain has long been one of my favorite designers. I've participated in 2 rounds of Charm swaps hosted by Michelle at Crayon Box Quilt Studios and finally put all these lovelies to good use. 

First I had to pick a design -- the fabrics vary in size so I wanted something that would still showcase them well. I went with the Jewel Box block and started whipping up HST and 4 patch units. 
It grew and grew on the design wall and I was loving every part of the process (OK maybe not trimming all those HST -- this photo is only half of them). 
when I finally got the blocks completed I decided that I wanted 4 patches in the pattern to go off the edges so that the quilt looked like it kept going. I pieced it all together and took it to one of my friend's shops to baste it -- kind of concerned about the size and my ability to quilt it but I decided that I would press on.


I also put some awesome KS on the backand pieced in one of my fav prints but I went with the single color version rather than the brightly colored one. 
Early this month I took a weekend away from the car group and took time to get caught up on some things and get things ready for the quilt retreat that was coming up. I managed to quilt it in about 4 hours total and I figured out a way to quilt flowers that is easier for me and results in less points in the middle -- I'll call this Rose quilting. 
I took her with me to Stash Bash to put on the binding because I am so ready to sleep under all this Kate Spain Love. 
Once I finished it all up I had to wait for good weather and my quilt helper to be available on the same weekend but I really love the completed shots that I got while visiting Reynolda Village last weekend
I think this one might be my favorite -- so bright and wonderful. 
I absolutely love this quilt and sleep under it every night now -- you know when the kitties let me. 

Milky Way Medallion Quilt Completed

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