It's All About the Tools

I was lucky enough to spend most of the weekend in the city with daughter number one.   We had a great time together as always and each got a lot, craft-wise, accomplished!  To start, I came home to another delivery from Just Another Button Company.    Love this set just us much as the previous sets.   Can't wait to add those bees to something.    Have you seen their other series......Words with Buttons?    I'd love to join that one too but one auto-ship a month is my limit.   Maybe next year.

I was able to cut, piece and prepare the binding for the quilt top I finished earlier this summer.    Doesn't look  like much but it's another WIP that is one step closer to finishing.

I did finish stitching the Hands on Design Sunshine on a Stem this week.   A fast, easy stitch from stash.  I grabbed some fat quarters and trim before leaving for Philly and threw in my tote bag so I could  stitch it up into a pillow.    And I found just the right  place to use two of my JABCO buttons from this month's delivery.

Of course, one stitching project finished means time to start another.     I  plan to continue to enjoy the reward of some quick finishes.   I have kind of overwhelmed myself the last few years with too many BAP's and not enough stitching time so I am liking accomplishing some fast start-to-finish pieces.   My new start this week is the first of four little 3 by 5 Halloween designs.


I choose a turquoise blue fabric instead of white to save me from stitching the entire background in blue as charted.

And then I worked on this....actually this is what I started with....... until I hit a speed bump.   This is the Bionic Gear Bag from a pattern I got from  Craftsy.    I wish I had been able to finish it today.   I got to the next to the last step or page 34 of 35!   I got hung up with the binding that you attach and wrap around the seams allowances then do stitch-in-the-ditch from the back to 'capture' the binding on the other side.   This method rarely works for me.   There is always a place or two that I didn't catch.   But.....I tried it anything.   The result was the same as always.   Out came the seam ripper and I  hand stitched the side binding down like I should have in the first place.

Wonder clips!  My friends.

I can't wait to finish this tool kit and replace the Rubbermaid tub that lives in my sewing tote.

Couldn't have done the project without the Wonder Clips.

I can tell you, those Vera Bradley bags are worth every penny.  LOL

Not to worry, if this turns out as I believe it will....then I will post the finished project and ALL the tools I can stow in it.

I have to add the binding and zipper to the top and front and then I am done. Now for finishing this and other things this week.....doubtful.   My Little Man is arriving tomorrow for a week.   Just baby time and no stitching time for sure!

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Found a peanut!

I  found my camera in a bizarre place......hanging from a fence post around my pool and I have no idea or recollection of putting it there........

So first for some finishes, followed by some purchases and then some stash enhancment! Here's the little conical bag for the flower girl.  The florist wanted $70 for whatever he was doing.   Cha'ching...not!

Now the finally finished graduation sampler for my s-in-l........

I found a great new (to me) quilt and fabric shop and had to pick up some woolies and a pattern that I fell for.... The pix does not do it justice. ...  it is too too cute.

More stash enhancement.....a guy from work has the difficult task of cleaning out his parents home after their passing.   He knows there are several sewers at work and is bringing in a few tubs at a time for us to to puruse (he has about 40 in all!!!)   He doesn't know what to do with the stuff and is really torn because it was his mother's passion so much so after she passed several years ago, his father couldn't bring himself to get rid of it....... It was really difficult to go through this stash knowing it was so important to his mom and then so painful for his dad to even consider getting rid of it...........so, it took a while but we finally were able to dig in.   I got some trims and ribbons and some awesome metal teeth zippers....

The smocked piece is awesome and so it the ribbed ruffle.   It reminds me of some elizabethian collar and I have no idea what I will ever do with it.

Next, purchases......I got this great three tiered basket from Joanne Fabrics.    It is about 30 inches tall.  Part of the reason it was so great it that is was 1/2 price and I have a 10% off of all purchases from a guild discount.  I quick threw some stuff in the baskets for effect......I am thinking this can do double duty on a buffet table at a picnic or at the holidays.  And lastly  I mounted curtain rods on the wall, hung hooks over the rods and have all my lucite rules at hand.   Not an original idea but I still like it.   Slowly but surely I am getting my crafting studio in shape!

Week 13 - My Small Changes

The Queen of Unfinished Projects so aptly decribes my path.    Although not a revelation...me thinks it is time to do something about it.     I kind of got a real wake up call when I putting away my new purchases from last week and even though I know I have a STABLE Stash I was almost - I say almost - horrified at the sh$$load of STUFF!   This is even after weeding it out.   I kind of made a pledge to myself not to start anything new - key word start; no mention of not purchasing.    I have noted before that if there is such thing as a crafters ADD, I have it!  I start many a project with whole hearted zeal and somewhere along the line I become bored and start something new.   This is not limited to stitching.    Ha!  if only.   Let's see I had, just had to paint the bathroom last August.  I am happy to say I completed it, sewed the curtains and installed the crown molding.   But did I caulk the molding......well I started to.....and the bedroom I painted in February - walls and ceilings finished but look at the baseboard!  Seems I got to the corner where the paint cans and sawhorse were and I stopped. 

In spring, I have a heart to heart with myself and walk from room to room making a list of what needs to be fixed, patched, touched up, etc.  Well it is now time and my list is long.   To that end, I have two cross stitch finishes this week and a cross stitch resurrection!   I finished the stitching on the Dinah name tag from the Nan Tyson Euler class months ago, but I never 'finished'.  So this week I did.  I started to add the little picot edging but I was doing such an uneven job I knew it best to frog and move on, lest this project remain on the unfinished list.    Next I finished Bent Creek's Americana Blue.   I mixed it up a bit since the pattern called for dated it and the year in the chart was 2000.   This is the second in a series of three that I have completed so the framing will be waiting until all three are done.   Given my current mission, who knows when that will be....since I am not STARTING anything new until I FINISH a few more.     Granted, some of the items in my WIP pile are non-doers!  They are things someone else started that I don't have my heart in; they are class projects to complete; a wedding sampler for a couple who broke their engagement....I mean how can I finish that?

So in this quest to tie up the loose ends, I came across this beauty.   All I can tell you is that it is a Sunset design  and I know I was stitching on it 15 years ago!   I still like the design.   Although the fabric is stained I plan to stitch away and hope to tea stain it when complete.  It is in my current works basket along with my Between the Sheets Sampler.    This is where I am going to dedicate my time!

Another finishing project......I was in the monthly Shepherd's Bush several years ago.   Once I completed each month......I did nothing with them put them in my finishing basket.  And there they have sat with their respective fabrics.   My plan is to finish up in the next couple of weeks April, May and June in little fanfolds for my desk at work.  Seems I have stored away April so well I can't even find it!  Join me in completing projects! 
Be part of the WIP Project.
1. Post here info about your finishes and I will have a given away on May 1st.  
2. Not necessary to link to my site but you can.
3. Not necessary to be a follower but you can.
4. Post a reply to this post about a project you've have in the pile for a least a year that finally finished it.
5. Your name will be added one time for each older project you finish between now and May 1st.
6. Be sure to include your contact information.   
I will have to provide an update of what the give a way will be since the idea just popped into my head this second!   There I go again, starting something anew when I have a pile to still do!  Just think how good you will feel to get one of those items done/completed/finished!

And then there is the TUSAL!  How can I not even complete that challenge!!!!  At the rate I am adding to the mug, I may need to transfer for a different container.  Now to catch up on all the lovely posts and emails.   I have been lax this week on emails and postings so I have my work cut out for me.   

So for this week, I vow to finish two things on my list before I start anything new and hopefully I will be able to post a lot of finished over the next month and be able to start something new.   I always start something new on our retreat in May so that is my goal!

Finishes

Flying Colors - Just Nan - Really went out there on a limb - at least for me - with my color choice for this pillow but I like the final result. Debating about replacing the buttons with larger ones. This other finish is from a rediscovered completed cross stitch project. This is part of the months of the year from Shepherd's Bush. I completed the stitching on 6 of the 12 and put them away and never did the finishing work. I like the whole upholstered block look but I am no so sure about the bow. Another view showing the dimensional view.