A Day at Gamma's

Just because I didn't get any sewing done this weekend, doesn't mean I didn't have a good time!

 

I am however taking off work next Friday so I can finish up the birthday quilt for Gabbie.  The little stink will be FIVE years old in just sixteen days!  OH MY!

 

 

Ribbons!

Last week (for the very first time) I entered five items in our local County Fair. 

 

I won four ribbons!  One blue, two red, and one white. 

 

Sadly my Hexies by Halves Quilt did not win anything, but that particular category (pieced, machine quilted, lap/throw size) had a lot of entries.  A local group of ladies who get together a couple times of week had all been working on entries for that category.  (Never mind that my quilting on that one had a couple of little puckers on the back.) 

 

Now that I know more about what's going on (not only had I never entered before, it's been about ten years since I've even been to the fair!) I'll be better prepared for next year.  Plus I have a whole year to make things and decide what to enter.  I've really only been at this a few months you know!

 

I was very happy for my first ribbons. 

 

And my mom loved the purse (today is her birthday!)

 

You can find the booties and similar purses and baskets in my Etsy Shop, along with many other items!

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 Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday, Quilt Story, Show & Tell Tuesday, and Free Motion by the River.

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Whew! It's Wednesday!

I haven't done much sewing in the past week, so you can look at my last Wednesday post to see my latest project.  But I have had a busy busy week!

 

My mom had back surgery Monday (surgery went well, she will just need a little extra time to heal a very large incision), so the Gabster has been with me since Sunday afternoon.  (She actually lives with my parents who are her guardians, and as a great-aunt I actually play the role of grandmother, whereas her great-grandparents actually play the role of parents!)

 

Good grief!  Did I actually say actually that many times?

 

So ... I did do a wee bit of sewing on some charm squares that I work on in between projects.  I mean, after all, I couldn't work on my current project since it is a birthday present for Gabbie.

 

So, she sewed too.  By sewed I mean she worked on her patch (one that I had kind of messed up) and she measured, and when I went to iron seams we ironed her seams, and then back we'd go.

 

She is multi-tasking by sewing and talking on her sponge iPod at the same time.  She took a quick break to 'type' (her word for texting) before finally getting back to business.  Monkey business that is!

 

 

Last night we went to our local county fair.  It was her first time at the fair.  She loved it!  The first ride she wasn't so sure of, but after that it was smooth sailing.  We had to ride the moster trucks twice!  (Yes, I said 'we').  :-o

Hers and Sadie's "Playmate" quilt got 3rd place ribbon in the baby quilt division. We're good with that!

 

And here is our Sweet Sadie Mae* with her Mommy and Daddy.  This was on Sunday after she turned two months old on Thursday.  In two short months she has gained one ounce shy of four pounds, and has grown three and three-quarter inches!

 

 

*Sadie Mae's real name is Sadie Lynn.  

Bama Top Done ....

Got the top done for Gabbie's birthday 'Bama quilt. 

It will be backed in fleece (also a Bama print) and bound in houndstooth.  Quilting with fleece will be a new experience for this inexperienced quilter!

I have about a month to finish it, but since she is at my house three or four evenings a week, I really don't have much time to get it done.  Basically I will have two Saturdays to work on it uninterrupted (of course, that is if nobody else interrupts me!)

Also made another purse.  This one will be for my momma's birthday in just under two weeks. 

Inside pockets on both sides.  This side is divided into three pockets, the other side is divided into two pockets.  Magnetic closure.

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced, and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation.

New Sewing Room (fka Living Room)

So Wednesday I bought a thrift store desk for just $5!  Sadly, it won't go through my interior doorway to get into the room I was making into a sewing room (I've been sewing on my kitchen table).   

So ..... today I went back to the thrift store and bought a little corner tv table I'd seen earlier in the week, so I could free up my new desk.   When I went in to see if they still had it, I discovered it had been marked down to just $1!

So I slid everything over to the edge of the desk ....

And was faced with this! 

After unplugging, untangling, and replugging every single wire I finally I ended up with this!

Then I commenced to folding the wads of material I had on my kitchen table and moving it to the desk, along with my cutting mat ...

I'm going to have to get BoyChild to make me some kind of collapsible leg for this ledge that pulls out. If you pull it out more than about 14" it begins to sag.  

The center two panels are actually just one deep drawer with a rack for hanging file folders.  I have some hanging folders so I am going to make this my pattern drawer! 

This top drawer is big enough for all my rulers (the 6 x 24 and the 12 x 12 both fit in here with ease!)

Pins, markers, scissors, and room for more.

18 x 24 cutting mat.

So then I stacked the fabric in the 'other room' and brought my sewing machine from the kitchen table. 

The top of the desk is 36" x 60" !!

So what if my living room is now my sewing room?  There's nobody living here but me and an occasional four-year old.  

And I have no idea why there is duct tape on the desk, it is very solid and in no need of reinforcements by duct tape!  

I'll still use my 'sewing room' to store and organize fabrics and supplies, but the actual sewing will take place in the living room.

Did I mention this desk was only $5 !!!

(Disclaimer:  Yes, those are poinsettias you see on my shelf.  I forgot to put them away last year when I put away everything else.  But hey, it's almost Christmas again, right?)

Thrift Store Desk

Well my $5 deal on the thrift store desk to use as my sewing table is still a good deal even though it wont fit through my interior doorways to go into my sewing room!!  (This thing is heavy and solid.  Not the prefab stuff we can take the back or side off of to get it in the room).

Definitely got more than $5 worth of labor out of BoyChild and BabyBrother, huffing and puffing and pushing and pulling and rearranging. 

And I got to see my SweetSadieMae .... so I think it was worth $5 even if I do have this huge hunking piece of furniture sitting in my living room!! 

This all occurred on my lunch half-hour (ok, I  may have taken a wee bit more than a half-hour today) so no action pics (and sadly no pics of SweetSadie) but here are the 'after' pics.    There was a small desk sitting here with my tv on it, but now I have the big one in it's place.  The small one is in the sewing room. 

I have an 'idea' of how I'm going to make all this work.   I'll be dragging and pushing furniture around this weekend, and if my idea works I'll unveil it here on the blog.  If not ........ hmmmmm .....

(And I have no idea why there is duct tape on this desk unless it was used to hold the drawers shut at one time, because this thing is solid and needs nothing to help hold it together.)

And let me just say, 42" is way to big for a computer monitor unless you have a wireless keyboard/mouse and can sit across the room!  (This is a one night only setup, I ordered my dad a new computer and I like to get it ready to 'plug and play' with all his pictures and favorites loaded before I take it to his house.)

Team Spirit

I've sort of been on a basket making trend lately. 

And college football is a big deal around here.  

And the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is an even bigger deal.

So with that in mind, I made 'Team Spirit' Baskets:

ROLL TIDE!

And for all y'all on the 'other side':

Both of these, along with some baby baskets are available in my Etsy Shop.

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