Two table runners and a potholder

I spent yesterday morning with members of the guild at a work day--making items that we'll put up for sale in the country store that we're running in November.  For those of you who don't know, I'll explain what this store is all about. Every 2 years, my guild participates in a fundraiser called "The Quilt Tour" for the local domestic violence agency.  This is a quilt show that's located at 4 different locations in our town. People buy one ticket that gets them into each of the 4 sites.  My guild has one of the largest sites and, in addition to the exhibit of quilts, demos and vendors, we also offer a "Blue Plate Special" lunch and we have a country store boutique.  Members of the guild have been working all year to make items to sell in the shop--not just quilted items, but things the quilters might like for themselves and for gifts as well.  Yesterday was the second workday we'd arranged to gather together to get some things made up.

Of course, when you get a group of quilters together, you get just as much--or more!--chatting and laughing as you get sewing.  Nonetheless, I managed to put together a few things.

I made a total of 11 Christmas present blocks (5 of each design and one a little different) and will use ten of them to make into 2 table runners--if I can get the math to come out right!  And the 11th one will become another potholder to join the others that I've made.

Last night, I began working on the redwork ornaments that I mentioned yesterday.  I managed to finish the stitching on one of them.  They're only 6" in diameter and it worked up very easily, and I really like how it looks.  Of course, the proof is when the entire thing is finished and ready to hang on a Xmas tree.  These ornaments will be up for sale in the shop as well as the potholders and table runners.

Today, I have to take an inventory of the items that were brought into my house to store until the shop is ready to set up.  My job is to keep track of all the items we have so we can better plan how to display them and what prices to put on them.  When that's finished, it's back into the sewing room to work on those table runners and a potholder.

On Wednesday, I'm leaving for the guild retreat and will be there until Sunday afternoon. Oh Boy! Am I ready for that getaway!  I'd planned on taking two new projects to begin as well as one that I'd begun last winter and then set aside.  And my embroidery as well.  This morning as I lay drowsing in my comfy bed, I realized that I was going to be gone for 5 days. Five days away from my shop sewing!  That's not good! I decided to take along all of my supplies for doll clothes and to work on them exclusively.  And my embroidery as well.  I should be able to make considerable headway in that area in 5 days of working pretty much exclusively on doll clothes, don't you think? I'll probably not do much blogging while I'm away--I'll be too busy having fun with my fellow quilters!

Hoping you have a happy Sunday, I'm off to do inventory!

Wine bottle tote

Here's the wine caddy I made yesterday, and let me tell you, it was a bugger to make!  I followed the directions as written. I had to pull the entire body of the tote through the narrow handle area (the bottom was unsewn at that point) and it was super hard to get all that fabric--plus batting-- pulled through that narrow opening!  I was using a tool to help push the fabric through and accidentally made a few tears in the fabric, hence the embroidered applique.  Since this was my prototype I didn't mind the error. I'll keep this one for myself and figure out a way to make the others without having to push all that bulk through the handle area.  

Despite the physical exertion required to make this little tote, I like how it turned out. You can just see the top of the wine bottle in there, and there's enough room to put your fingers in the handle to carry it.  

Well, all that pushing and pulling took most of the afternoon, so that's all that got finished in the sewing room. This morning, I'll be at a sewing workday so I kitted up several of the Christmas package blocks to make into either potholders, or by joining 5 of them, a table runner.  

I also traced the 8 embroidered Christmas ornament patterns that I got from Red Brolly.  On this page you can see several of the redwork ornaments and I prowled around the site and found a total of 8. 

 

I really like the ribbon she used for the hangers and I'm going to see if I can find anything like that in my local shops.  These will be put up for sale first in the guild sale and also in the Jolly Ruby shop afterward.  

So, I have plenty to do this morning at the workshop.  It's always more fun to stitch with friends, don't you think?

But before I go, I have to get the homemade bean soup in the crock pot so it'll be ready when we're hungry for dinner.  See you!

W(h)ining allowed here

Yesterday in the sewing room, it was all about wine.  No whining, just wine.

I made 2 sets of these fabric wine coasters from Pokey's Ponderings.  



I made mine a bit different since I'd purchased a large amount of this purple-ish grape patterned fabric.

I used the grape fabric for 3 of the sections of each coaster and made the fourth section of a different color.  That way, they will serve as glass identifiers as well as coasters.  

I really like these coasters except for one thing.  In order to get the coaster on the bottom of the wine glass, you have to tip the glass a bit, so a person has to either make sure they put the coaster on before they fill the glass with wine, or drink all the wine in the glass before putting on the coaster.  And not get tipsy in the process!

My plan is to use the rest of the grapey fabric to make a couple of wine bottle totes.  I found this digital pattern at Craftsy.com and it's printing out as I speak type.  

I like the handle better than a drawstring and I think this will work just fine.If there's enough of the grapey fabric left, I may be able to make a fourth set of coasters and/or another tote.  If there's not enough, I'm planning on using other fabrics I have on hand--maybe a set made of holiday fabrics and maybe just some fun fabrics I have on hand.

Then, I want to kit up some Christmas package blocks to take with me tomorrow to the craft workshop.  I want to make up a couple more potholders of different Christmas fabrics and maybe some autumn themed fabrics as well.  And with luck, I'll be able to make up a couple of table runners to sell either in my Jolly Ruby shop or at the guild sale in November.  Either way, these blocks are very quick and easy to make, and I think they look great!

I got a great night's sleep and woke up early, "rarin' to go" as my mother would have said. I have the last load of laundry in the washer with two loads hanging out on the clothes line.  I like to hang sheets, towels and heavy things like jeans and sweatshirts outside to dry if at all possible.  Today is predicted to be a partly sunny day with no rain so I think they'll all get dry before nightfall.  I have a couple of errands to run today and then it's into the sewing room to get somethings stitched up!

No news today

I love the title of today's post.  Wouldn't it be great to have a day with no political news of any kind?  I'm so ready for this election to be over--how about you?

As for quilting news, I have virtually none to share with you. I finished the two pumpkin table runners and managed to get a couple of pics on very cloudy and cool day.  For the last time, I promise, here are the 2 pumpkin table runners.

They are up for sale in my Etsy store, Jolly Ruby if you want to take a look.

Other than that, I took a nap, made dinner and headed out to the movie theater to see "The Girl on the Train."  Poor Don had to stay home with his headaches!  As for the movie, it was spellbinding!  Even though I'd read the book, I was still on the edge of my seat.  This movie is a psychological thriller and has violence and partial nudity and some sexual content, so probably not a good one for kids to see.  I have no relationship with the movie in any way, shape, or form--I just enjoyed seeing it last night.

Today, I'm back to sewing things for the sale which is only a month away!  Yikes! I have to get a move on!  I also have errands to run today in conjunction with the Festival, so I'm going to get going here.  

Almost a finish!

Yessss!  I made so much progress on those 2 pumpkin table runners yesterday!  I finished up all the stitching in the ditches of both pieces and then began stippling in the cream colored background.  I'd toyed with the idea of stitching some pumpkins in the "negative" spaces but decided I didn't want to spend the time practicing and besides, each table runner already has 5 pumpkins.  Did I really want to add 5 more?  Pumpkin overload, I'm afraid.

So here's the picture of the first one, all quilted up but not yet trimmed.

I decided to do a simple curved line along the center of the checkerboard border. Initially, I'd considered doing a curved line on each side of each square but when it came time to do that, I realized that the border would be more intensely quilted than the center (those squares are only an inch finished)  and I didn't think that would work too well.  So, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid Silly).

This morning I was wide awake at 4 AM and thinking about quilting and sewing. I got up around 4:30 and went to work on the second table runner. The quilting on that one, too, is finished, and I got the bindings sewn on both of them.  I plan on doing the hand stitching today while I continue my "Longmire" marathon.  Yes, I know that season 5 has been released, but I decided I needed to see the previous 4 seasons first so I would remember what they'd been about.  I think I'm in season 3 now, so I have a ways to go.  

I have a little work to do on the Festival and that's always a pleasure.  We're beginning to get registrations for the various events and that's a good thing. After all, what good is it to plan a 3 day festival if no one shows up?  I'm off to get my day's tasks done so I can go to the movies tonight. Don and I went to see "The Girl on the Train" which I'd already read, and it was really good--for the first hour.  Then Don began getting one of his cluster headaches and we had to hightail it back home so he could get the O2 going.  But the first hour was good enough that I'm going back. Don will have to wait until his headaches are gone and we'll get it from a Red box or something.

Still working on pumpkins

Yesterday was a bust.  I made a trip to the post office only to find it locked.  I got my groceries and got a head start on dinner, so that was fine.  In the afternoon, it was so nice out that I spent some time outside and got all the irises planted. After lunch, I picked up my book and then I was lost!

I'm reading a novel, Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian, one of my favorite authors and when I pick it up, it's nearly impossible to put it down.  So instead of quilting up the pumpkin table runners as planned, I read my book.  I'm about 50 pages to the end and I'm loving this story so much that I decided to go back to the beginning and read it again rather than finishing it just yet. It probably sounds silly but I do this Netflix series sometimes. If it's a series that I'm really enjoying, and there are only a few episodes left, I'll return to the beginning again just so I'll enjoy the show a bit more before it ends.

Before I knew it, it was time to fix dinner and get ready for an evening meeting.  So that was my quite unproductive day.  I have hopes that today will make up for it.  There are only 2 things on my list today--get to the post office, and QUILT UP THE PUMPKINS!  And I'm going to get moving on them now!

Pumpkins are like rays of sunshine

As I said in yesterday's post, working on the orange pumpkins in my dim basement sewing room is really an enlightening (Groan!) experience.  As I thought about these table runners this morning I realize that they truly are like bringing in a ray of sunshine into my sewing area.  I don't know if I can bear to part with them--but, Yes, I will.  I'm making them to go into my Etsy shop, Jolly Ruby, and hopefully they'll sell quickly.

I didn't make as much progress on them yesterday as I'd hoped to, but I actually got a start on the quilting.

I'm beginning with some stitching in the ditch on all the seams of the pumpkins.  I was able to do 3 of the 10 pumpkins yesterday and will work on the rest of them today. 

 Then, I'll stitch in the ditch between the center of the quilt and the checkerboard border.  I haven't decided what to do in the "negative" areas between the pumpkin blocks but I know I'll do some arcs around the squares in the checkerboard.

This is a picture of the back of the piece. I'd had this muted green and yellow fabric for some time and it was the exact size I needed to back each runner.  It has no relation to pumpkins, but I think it captures the autumn feel of the quilt.

The reason I didn't get the table runners all quilted up yesterday was that I was distracted--again! Damn squirrels!  As I entered my sewing room, filled with good intentions and plans, my eyes were drawn to the 2 Quilts of Valor that are awaiting their binding.  So, that's what I did.  I got the binding made and machine sewn on one of them, and last night I did the hand stitching while I had the television on. (I can't say I "watched" the "debate" since I listened and only looked up from time to time, and IMHO, what occurred last night was not what I would call a debate. Please don't get me started!)  At any rate, with no Ross Poldark to distract me, I was able to finish the binding on this quilt:  

This is the QOV that I pieced together awhile ago and it was machine quilted by my friend Laurie, who's one of the best long arm quilters in the area, in my opinion. She offered to do it for me, and I'm very grateful for her help. In exchange, she gave me a quilted but not bound QOV that she found stashed away in a closet or something.  That will be the next project to get done.

I love making scrappy quilts and that's what this was.  I like to include interesting fabrics for the recipient to discover as they snuggle under the warm quilt.  I added a few squares of the UW Bucky Badger!

No quilt made in WI would be complete without a dairy cow included!

I had some leftover lobster fabric from my trips to Maine, as well as some sheet music, "On, Wisconsin!" And I just noticed the Jack-O-Lantern peeking out there!

I also included a couple of fishing fabrics and one with golfing things.  I threw in a few florals--but not too many--and called it good.

Today will be another busy day--and that's a good thing! First, a trip to the post office and grocery stores.  Then this afternoon, when it gets a bit warmer, Don and I will be planting the iris corms and get that job done.  After that, it's back to the pumpkin runners to try to get them ready for binding.

Hoping you have a busy, and happy, day, I'm signing off.