Thrift Store Challenge Done!

I was able to finished the local thrift store / art center challenge Friday night.  It will be displayed in the store window, along with the other challenge projects.  I got a sneak peak of some of them, and was really impressed!  My total cost was about $8, but it did take a bit more time to sew up than I had expected.  It's done though!

I've been sewing up some more Kindle covers though, and wanted to quilt these.  Before I took the Pfaff in for service, it had a nasty habit of breaking needles.  I'm happy to say that this habit is now GONE!  YEA!!  I realized Friday that I had long ago run out of top stitch needles, so I bought another pack in a last ditch effort to get it working again.  I also discovered a setting that I hadn't tried yet... the "balance" setting.  My old machine didn't have such a setting.  It's on the 2nd "page" of settings, so you have to scroll through the whole first page to get to it.  I changed this setting, put in a new top stitch needle, and now it's working wonderfully!!!  I am SO happy!  I got a lot done this week-end, but ran out of Velcro, so will be running out for more supplies today!

Give away at "Kissed Quilts", and a bit of this and that...

First of all, thank you SOOO much for all who left wonderful comments on my blog Wednesday!  I set a record for sure!  Please forgive me if I don't get to respond to so many comments!

Next, one thing I love about quilt blogs, is meeting other people, who share my love for sewing and quilting.  Some of these people are literally across the globe, but every now and then, one is much closer.

Marlene Oddie, at Kissed Quilts is one "next-door neighbor" (she lives an hour away)!  I "met" her at Lee's (Freshly Pieced) Supernova Quilt a long.  Since then, we've had lunch together a few times, and met a few more!  I've seen her studio, and even got a few sneak peaks at her current projects!  She's a great quilter and friend who just happens to be celebrating her 2nd anniversary with her business.

If she gets 100 followers by Sunday night, she's giving away a whole bunch of things!!  Check out her blog and help her reach 100 followers!  You may even win something!!

On a personal note, we've had our first round of seasonal yuck in the house.  I can't complain, as my kids are getting older and older, and have gradually brought less and less of these unwelcome guests into our house over the years, but it's slowed us all down a bit.  I did finish my thrift store challenge last night, and hope to blog about it soon!

I can't post without a picture, so here's an old one from last year.  I've been making quite a few more of these gift bags to sell locally.  Hopefully I can make a few bucks to support my hobby!  Here's the post where I wrote about how to make these.  They're quick and easy, are reusable, and environmentally friendly!!

WIP Wed: Thrift Store Art Project

It's Wednesday, and once again, like I have for the last year, I'm linking up with Lee, at "Freshly Pieced" Blog for her linky party!  She's celebrating her one year WIP Wed anniversary today, and was kind enough to share the love and include me in her blog post today!!  How sweet!  Thanks!  Be sure to visit today, as she's also giving away some fun gifts! 

Several weeks ago, the local art center here in town asked if I might be willing to participate in a fun art challenge they were doing in conjunction with our local thrift store.  The challenge is to buy 5 dollars or less of "materials" from the thrift store, use that, plus anything from your "stash" to create something to display in their store window, on our Main Street.  Here's what I bought:

I'm afraid if you're not from around here, I'll have to explain what it is.  Each year, during the Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo, a group of people, "The Main Street Cowboys", host a huge music, carnival, shopping extravaganza on our Main Street.  They place these awesome green and purple benches all around town, and at all of the stages.  They even find their way to local soccer fields and along parade routes, and regularly make their appearances at other local events throughout the year.  So as soon as I saw this green suit, I knew what I wanted to do!

I fused some fusible fleece onto the back of some of my own purple fabric, as I'm afraid I couldn't find any purple shirts at the thrift store, except for T-shirts.  Cutting the letters out is a bit tedious, but I hope to have it done soon.  It's going to be a kids' "educational toy" that they can use the felt letters to stick to the bench and make up their own words on the bench!  I'm hoping to finish it up by next week.  Thanks, as always to Lee and everyone else for stopping by!

Shrinking batting (and it's not from water) ___$$$___

Has anyone else noticed that the batting is shrinking, or more specifically, getting thinner?  I recently bought some "Warm and White" from the store to finish one of my Project Linus Quilts.  I've worked with a lot of batting, both making quilts, and with my Kindle covers, and this new roll seemed very thin at the store.  The owner wasn't aware of any change.  Today, I was cutting more batting for my Kindle covers and got out some of the old stuff to compare.  The lower or left batting is the new Warm and White, the top, or right batting is the old stuff.  See the difference?

I finally got out some old scraps and compared the 2, and sure enough, the new batting is MUCH thinner than the old stuff.  I know cotton prices are up, but I'd rather pay more than get less.  Ugh! 

I noticed the same thing with our toilet paper too.  Same price, just less.  I don't know about you, but I really don't like this deception.  I'm not sure I even want to sew with this thinner stuff.  Anyone know of any other options?

Another Friday Finish: "Blue Infinity" (twisted 9-patch)

I finished up my twisted 9-patch quilt yesterday!!  It's been a "UFO" for a few years now.  I actually started in in Michigan, and finished it in Oregon, and we've now officially lived here in Oregon for 2 years!!  Back in January, I finished the top, and blogged about it.  I included how I did it, if you're interested.

Unfortunately, I bought the black fabric also in 2 different places, and boy, is this ever an education about how solid black fabric can be so different (and such a lint trap and magnifier).  As a quilter, the color inconsistency bugs me, but when I recently showed it to some artist friends of mine, they said they loved the 2 different blacks, and even gave me an idea for a new quilt...

I pieced together the back with left over blocks, scraps and some wonderful fabric that I picked up at a yard sale for $1 a yard!  I love the fabric, and wish I had more, but it works great on the back of this quilt!  The red on the carousel horses even inspired my color selection for the binding!

The infinity design doesn't show up as well as I thought it would in the blue blocks, but does show up quite nicely on back LOL!  But best of all, it's DONE!

Speaking of Blue, the mountains that surround us here are called "The Blue Mountains".  Today, we got our first white in the blues!! (Hmmm.... maybe, as a friend suggested, I should call THIS quilt "White in the Blues" instead!)

I'm Featured on Gen X Quilters, First Quilts on the First!

One of the earliest quilt blogs I ran across was Annemarie's blog, "Gen X Quilters".  As a fellow "Gen X Quilter", I was so excited to "meet" other quilters my age through her site.  It really became a gateway for meeting others, and those sites for more, etc...  Thanks Annemarie for creating this place!

Today I'm the featured "First Quilt on the First"!!




Head over there to see my first quilt, as well as one I finished less than a year ago!

Just for fun, here's my quilts number 4 and 5 (for my 2 nieces, who now have 2 more sisters).  I don't think I'd sew with this shiny fabric again, but it was fun!  Those tiny toes are those of my son, who now wears the same size shoes as his dad!

To Infinity... And Beyond!

You just never know what will inspire you!  As I was reflecting on my last post, while I was quilting my "Twisted 9-patch quilt", I was trying to figure out how to quilt the blue sections, and it came to me... As Buzz Lightyear says... "To infinity, and beyond!".