Trying to Get it Together

Haven't posted in awhile. My significant other has decided he is in love with someone else. I booted him out, but it is kicking my butt. I miss him and in time I will get over it. Try real had not to cry all the time, he is not worth with. We had a 8 1/2 year run and that is a long time and memories to get over. Done with men! There are worse things than being alone. My house is a wreck and I don't care, haven't made the bed in days (never do that) and sleep is here and there. I will survive this and it will get better. I need to get my sewing mojo back, right now I can't concentrate. I left my purse on the top of my car today and drove off. That is how stressed I am. Good thing a nice person found it and managed to leave a note with my neighbor across the courtyard. Here I am blubbering about my situation with her and she tells me she lost her son to a car accident this past Sunday. My problem is nothing compared to her loss. Maybe this happened for a reason makes me think so.

QAYG and Retreat Finishes

 I made a little progress at a quilt retreat in Silver Falls State Park, Oregon. The table runner is from a Thimbleberries kit and the Fruit Ladies is also a kit I bought in Alaska.

The quilt as you go is was started last year and finished up at retreat. I washed it and it turned out so cozy. Working on another one.

XOXO Baby Quilt

This is a pattern by Carolyn Friedlander called XOXO Baby.  I am going to make another. The mommy is expecting twins and does not know the sex of the babies yet. So I made the X's in red and the O's in green. Some of the blocks have a yellow dot background and the other is an alphabet print. Still deciding on the border or not to border.

Camilla Bag

This is a bag I made at my local quilt shop. I am glad I took the class as the instructions were undecidable to me. The instructor gave a lot of tips and ideas in the construction of the bag. Next one will be a little stiffer and probably smaller. This is my finished Camilla Bag.

Little Girls ABU Bag

I made this little bag for my daughter's craft booth sale in June, I think??  She is in Hawaii and they are stationed at the Air Force base there. This bag is part Air Force ABU shirt (from the sleeve) and part home dec pink dots. I have more to make, just waiting on name tapes. There are no military bases here in Oregon, so I must order name tapes. This is one I found from when I lived in Tampa and says Daddy's Girl.

Dish Towels to Tote & New Poop or Deux Bags

I was wondering our local Dollar Tree store and found these dish towels. I don't know what the attraction was, maybe the word soup written all over it. I bought two towels washed and dried them. One came out a little wonky, but I made it work. I cut five inches off the top of each one for the straps. No lining in this, I just used the finished edges, folded down the top two inches, attached the handles and boxed the corners. If you want more information on how I made this, drop me a line. I really like how it turned out, so cute for my trips to the grocery store.

Theses are my Poop or Deux bags I sell on my Etsy site. The poop bags dispense from the front pocket. After you pick up after your dog, just drop it in the bag. You no longer have to walk around with a bag of poop. Also available in my Etsy shop.

Shirt to Pillow

I had this old tired snowman pillow which need to be revived. I have a box of thrift store men's 100% cotton shirts (all washed by the way) ready to be made into a quilt some day. That day has not got here yet (sigh) so I picked out one to cover the pillow. This is sew simple. My pillow was about 16.5 inches so I cut a 17" square from the front and back of the shirt. Sew about a 1/4 at the top and bottom of the button part. Not necessary, but I do it. Unbutton about three buttons so you can insert your pillow later on, now put your squares right side together, sew around each side using a one half inch seam allowance. Turn right side out, press, insert your pillow and you are done. (On a side note, I went around with a zigzag stitch on the wrong side to keep it from fraying.)

More Swap Blocks Made

So far I have made 12 blocks at 12.5 each. Some of the swappers will get two blocks and some only one. This depends on how much fabric I use in the first block. I am enjoying this swap. There are more swaps if you are interested in trying one at www.quiltingboard.com.

Quilting Board Swap

I joined the Boomerang Earth 7.0 quilt block swap on the Quilting Board. There are 17 of us. Each one person sends a fat eight (11x18) of fabric to the other. In return they make a 12.5 inch block for you in the fabric you sent. I am making a blue one for the moderator as well. Mine will be for Quilts of Valor so I sent out red/blue patriotic fabric to each. These are the ones I have made so far.

I finished up this small quilt top for my mother's birthday. We are going to Las Vegas next week to celebrate it. The back is mostly the zebra stripe and I had to add a small amount of the dots to make it work. This quilt measures 40 x 40. Mom has a love of this kind of animal print.

It snowed here in Eugene today.  A lot of snow! My beagle loved it, the schnauzer not so much.