Tuesday, October 30, 2012

October. Wow - It's been awhile.....

So, this is me - kinda.  I am actually not blurry, but some days, you might think I am!  My friend took these at the guild meeting when I thought I should have some show & tell - I usually don't so.....
I have re-joined the guild in town.  It's been 2 yrs. and I thought I should make myself to, especially in the winter months, to give myself something to do.   And I will see what I think after June when the guild year is up.   I have the name of the pattern for the above quit wanting to show it's self to me, but I just can not get it!  I call mine "January Sunshine" since I started it in January '09 and it was COLD and yucky and so I thought, I will make it out of all and any flower material I can find (I do not usually buy flowers) and make all the stars yellow.  The backing is flannel and I love it!  No label yet.  I will put one on!

This quilt - wow.  I do these projects in such a random order and start so many things, this is one that the pattern name TOTALLY  escapes me.  And another blurry pic. Well, they all are.... I will find another person to do the pics next time!!    These quilts are tops that I just one day, piled up and took to my quilter.  And said, "Here, Have some fun" and she did.   And some of the ones she had given me are still waiting to be bound.    I have a problem........

 This one, is my version of "Stacked Posies"!!!!   It is alien fabric, that I just fell in love with when I saw it in the store and had my friend, who was going back the next day and now it's done.  Fun, and done.  I am also going to make it a pillow case - someday.... Told you I have a problem.  I have the fabric ready, I just have not done it yet. But 2013 - yes, it will happen.
This is my retreat quilt I made years ago!!!  November of what year though???  I was still working at the library, the first time - so this has been waiting for 8 years to become a quilt???   Scary.  And this is not the only one that has had a long fermenting period.... some are just wanting it's border to be put - Like my Bonnie Hunter - oh what is its name????  That close to being done and I can't seem to find the time to get it at least to the top stage????  I can not find the magazine this quilt came from, but I remember ordering the kit from the store for it, it is a Quilt Sampler cover quilt, and as soon as I saw it, I fell in love.  I was a dream to make, and now it's done!!! Bound and all - but not labeled!!!


And now "Orca".


My version.  Not a great  picture again, but if you have seen this pattern done up, or are doing it yourself - I changed where the white and black blocks go in the original one.   I  did not really like it the way the pattern said to do it, so I changed there position.   I like it.  I now have the white surrounded by black stars!!
It is on my bed - and the funny part of it is, one night, after hubby and I had turned off  the lights and were going to sleep - we heard a noise!  I turned on my light and we sat and listened.  Well, decided it was the animals and I shut off my light again and Terry asks me "Where is the lights coming from?"  I told him it was reflecting off the quilt - then realized what I said (how can light reflect off a quilt????  Did I use some of that shiny silver fabric in there??? I did not remember using it so, I turned my light back on to see?????)  Uh, guess who used Halloween fabric in the quilt that glows in the dark???!!!!   Well, it's black isn't it?? Well, not at night, but hey!  It worked and I had it to use!!!  And it's really funny because I did not use alot of it, but little tiny triangles that glow in the dark  are scattered through my quilt top!!!!

And why am I here today?   Well, Frustration brought me here today.  I bought myself a few more books in a Martingale sale that they had.  $6 a book, s/h free if you spent $24 - well, I am all over that!! But I did only buy 4.  They came in yesterday.  And I looked at them.  2 I really like, one is good, but one, eh, it's alright but.. It is also a Christmas one, so very seasonal.  I did find a couple things I like and one, I have already done!  Just made one of the table runner from the book - I had found the pattern online, not knowing it was also a book!

But, after I looked through the books and did some dreaming - Reality hit me.  When and where and WHY  do I think I need to make any of these things??????    To add to my cluttered up sewing room???  So I can buy more fabric I am not using????   To feel the fire of starting a new project then see the remnants of a fire that has burned out but still needs to be finished????  To add more to my list of "Things to Do" that I still have most of these undone and this list is from  2007 - I re-wrote the list in 2008, with a note on it telling myself   "DO NOT ADD TO THIS LIST UNTIL U.F.O. LIST IS DONE!!!!"
It was done on the comp, then printed out.  I was serious, and wanted these things DONE!!  So why are there 16 things written in pen under it????  And here, in 2012, between the two lists I only see 5 things crossed off.
Granted, as I now look through the list, some of the things I wrote on there were things I want to do, not things I have already started.  Although, now some of them are.  And things I have not even wrote down, have been started - and I have been making kits up from my fabrics for 'someday' and I have also bought kits......

I HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!

And I need to get a handle on this.  And this could be why I have not been blogging.  I do not want to admit that I can't do it all - but I sure think I can.

Right now, I have a shop that has given me a wicked price on a long- arm quilt machine.   Uh - stop thinking about it!!  I figured I could learn this skill and then, well..........

Yeah, go look in your room.

So, I am taking an embroidery class - to lean to use my machine.   Well, ends up, my machine is to old to even buy the files that would fit it!!  They don't make them anymore, so I have been using the stores demo model for the classes.  And this is on sale right now so......

Knowing this, I went online last night to look at why I could use or why I would even want to use an embroidery machine.  End up, I found cute things!!!  Coaster for Christmas (yes, I do like coasters - I am basically the only one here that uses them but I do like to have one near me for my never-ending tea/coffee cup that I have!)  And, I could make the cat (and dog!!) their own Christmas stocking with little critters on the front!!  Oh isn't this fun???......................then I got off the site as fast as I could.

I am a dreamer.  And I have to stop this madness.  No excuses.  Either do or do not.  There is no try.  And I have to DO.
I will not get a quilting machine.  I will pay someone to do my big quilts and I will learn to do the smaller stuff on my machine.  I keep buy the DVD on how to do it, so DO IT ALREADY!!!!

And the clutter in room???  Uh, everyday, I will work on it.  I am creating the Bonnie Hunter style storage system for saving my scraps - and I like how it looks.  I will be doing this for all my leftovers and I will not be putting my scraps into every nook and cranny as I am finding I have done!!!!  I will pull out ANOTHER box, thinking it's a kit and it's not, it's scraps.......  Enough is enough.  I want to work in the rooms I see in the magazines, online, in pictures or better yet, like my friends have....  And the only one who can do it is - ME.

So, since I know dreams do come true and great things happen to people everyday - in the next two months, as I bring in the new year - my room will be ready and so will I.

Thanks for listening!!!  bye for now.  ~Brenda!!