The Energizer Bunny aka Still folding

I'm beginning to understand that bunny more and more. Only I would have to say "still folding" instead of "still going". Even with a cold I kept on folding. Then in the Target Sunday ads last week they had these cabinets on sale for $38.99. They run 60" tall x 24" wide x 12" deep. They are the PERFECT size for the refolded fabrics. They are easy to put together too although I found an easier way on the second one than what the directions said. Only thing about this cabinet is if you have little ones you really need to mount it to the wall with the included mount. They can tip over when empty with the doors open.

Before in drawers:


After in the little cabinet from Organize-It. The cabinet on the left is holding 8 of the drawers worth of fabric.


I love being able to open the doors and just see all the beautiful colors so neatly organized. Still have a ways to go on folding so they will all be moved around again but it makes me happy so far. I have one more cabinet to put together and might have to pop for a 4th. In the long run I think I will use more fabrics on hand now.

Oh, and something I thought of as I was folding is you can easily tell about how much of each fabric you have. Since it's wrapped around a 6" inch ruler you just have to count each layer and multiply times 6. What an added bonus!

My plastic drawers have been moved to under the sewing tables for scrapbook items, doll stuff, etc. so now that is all neatened up too.

We interrupt this blog...

for the continuation of a kick-butt cold. Back soon.

One Dollar Quilt

Yes, that's what I said. A one dollar quilt! A few years ago my sister asked me to take her to the airport. Her plane left around 7:00 a.m. so we were up and moving early. (Not a problem for me but for her...)

After being the kind, loving sister I am (are you reading this sis?) and dropping her off I headed home. About a mile from home I see a yard sale sign. It's only 6:00 or 6:30 but being totally impressed with the fact that a yard sale was starting this early I had to go see for sure. They were set up and open!

Started looking around and I see a folded up bit of fabric that looked quilted. The white backing was out and you couldn't see the fabrics or pattern. On top is a little sticky that said $1.00. It's still on the quilt because I still can't believe my good luck.

Okay, that had to be wrong. Even an ugly quilt (is there such a thing when they are made with love?) would be more than that. I flipped a corner back and saw nice, bright fabrics and a lovely pattern. Said I (in disbelief) "this is $1.00?" "Yes" she said. "I'll take it". I moseyed for, oh, another 30 seconds and got out of there before someone else could come in and battle me for my treasure.

On arriving home and opening the quilt I was thrilled.

It fits perfectly on top of my king-sized bed with no overhang.

There is a bit of damage but overall the quilt is a beauty (especially for a buck). I'm thinking it may be from the 50's or 60's??? One fabric a purplish color was used in seven locations and each one had deteriorated. I've been told that I should find fabric from that era, cut a bit of batting and fabric in the shape of the missing piece and gently applique it over the quilt. This will keep the integrity of the original and still be nice to display.

Needless to say, I enjoy displaying this pretty quilt and only wish I knew the story behind it. Oh, and I just realized this morning that the initials on the price tag are the same as my sisters: M.D. Is that odd or what?

Take a peek at Calamity Jane's Cottage

Click here! to drop in and visit Bonnie and enjoy her blog. She has a darling purse made of Halloween fabrics that she is giving away to celebrate Fall.

Thanks for the chance to win your cute purse Bonnie!

Droolie Trip

Popped over to the quilt shop today to scope out fabrics for dgd's quilt. It was hard to do since I caught dd's cold and should have stayed home. Even so the abundance of fabrics inspired and frustrated me. It's really hard to find "orange" fabrics that aren't Halloween-like or too pastel-bordering-on-peach. I did find some brown batiks with bits of orange streaks that could be workable. Found a couple prints with brown, orange, and aqua. They could be the focus fabric to pull from. But really, nothing popped my post toasties that I thought she'd like. Considering e-mailing focal fabric swatches to her and letting her pick one but then it won't be much of a surprise.

A new idea popped into my head though. Why not do browns and creams. My concern is dgd will grow tired of a brown/orange quilt within a year or two. But with browns/creams she could add an orange or aqua or blue or whatever and it will all still blend. I could keep some fabrics used in the quilt and make a pillow or sham with her current chosen color that will match. Keep just a bit more and she could have something new in a year or two. We'll see.

It's a thought. Have to make a decision soon and get working on it. Need to line up a machine quilter to make sure it can get quilted before Christmas. (Oh, dear Santa, please bring me a quilting machine.)

Found more lines to drool over and want, want, want. Can there ever be enough fabric? I don't think so.

Ugh. This cold is kicking me and I have too much to do!!!

...maybe tomorrow.

There goes my quiet Monday

The dog quilt is on the back burner. This is why I have a drawer of UFO's. Always finding something new to make. Now I'm making a Christmas table topper. Well, actually for my grandma's old buffet. And thinking about trying to make the purse for my sister. Hmm, but I would need to go to the fabric store to find one more fabric. Better forget that. Too much going on.

DH home with toothache and have to get him into the dentist. DD is having sinus and/or a cold thing going on and only the second week of school. Have to get mom to the airport. Yup, better forget the purse thing.

Oh, back to the topper... It's a happy-make-me-smile topper and I'm already thinking of decorating for Christmas and looking forward to it. I love Christmastime.

Back to coffee, laundry, the sewing room while I still have a few hours of quiet and no demands on my time.

p.s. I want to make a simple, but pretty, quilt for dgd for Christmas. Trying to figure out colors. Finally, kind of asked everyone. From her dad: red, black, and pink. Ewwww. The red and black I can handle but NOT the pink. From her mom: not blue, she's tired of blue, nothing blue at all. From her boyfriend: blue. hahaha From her: orange and brown. From me: aqua and brown with a shade of orange somehow? or sage, red, cream/gold (oh, wait, that would be for me.) I like oranges and I like browns. Isn't it always easier to make something when you like the color palette? We'll see. At least it will be easier to look through the stash since I've been refolding. :) Hey, a reason for a droolie trip to the quilt shop too! Yeeha!

What a long p.s.

Bits and Pieces

My dogs are done! They are just so cute. Now to decide if I want sashing in between or not. They will have a small inner border then the Tossed Dogs fabric for the outer border. I'm getting more excited about the new little guy.



And, Happy Zombie, again, I can't say thanks enough for the how-to of folding fabrics. It seems like such a simple no brainer thing. And although I folded my fabrics and sorted them by color they were never this neat. It's amazing how much room it saves to fold them this way. They fit perfectly in my Sterilite drawers and right to the top. I've been able to consolidate two drawers into one.

As a bonus I'm pulling out anything smaller than a fat quarter, getting rid of fabrics that were lower quality, and ones I no longer care for.

My newer fabric purchases have been living in boxes and instead of looking through them I just go shopping. Not good for the pocketbook so this really has been a super whammy - organizing, cleaning out, saving money! My new ones will get into the drawers and the boxes will get tossed. Ooooh, I love organization.

Before:
After:

On the down side - it's so boring folding fabric. How many more drawers/boxes to go??? Okay, I'll suffer through it so it will be easy to find the fabric and my creative genius won't be put on hold while digging for that perfect piece. :)

Happy New Year aka Happy School Year

It started yesterday. Every year it's a mixture of "thank heavens summer is officially over" and "oh, my baby." This year was no different. After dropping my daughter off I came home and had to just sit and shed a few tears. I'll probably still do this when she is a senior.

Before leaving I snapped photos and told her I'd scrap a page that said - new shoes, new clothes, new haircut, new backpack, new year! So, I decided that yesterday would be the start of my new year as well. I'm never ready for it in January after all the holiday rush anyway. So here are my New Year's resolutions:

1. Snuggle with my baby every chance I get (she's growing up too fast). Stay calmer with my family - I'm a bit highly strung. Call them. Tell them I love them all the time. I try to do this but now it's written down and like an order. I HAVE to do it.

2. Sew every day. Even if it's only 15 minutes. Everytime I stop sewing for any length of time then go back to it I realize how much I missed it and how good it makes me feel to make something.

3. Get my photos in order - both on the computer and in files. Get them printed and in scrapbooks. To me, scrapping is just a way of buying paper fabric with the bonus of enjoying your photos.

4. Take a photo class again. The last photography class I took was 30 years ago. Things have changed a bit since then. haha

5. Continue to declutter and let go of things I don't really love. Someone else will love them more and I'd like them to. There has been such headway made on this the past year. I collect dolls and toys and glassware and fabric and yikes! It had gotten out of hand. So, if I don't really, really, really love it I gotta let it go.

6. Join a gym or at least walk the dog (once it's not 110 outside). The heat is stifling lately.

7. Refold all my fabric like this: this!
Thank you Happy Zombie for sharing this method.

8. Take belly dancing. Okay, well, that's a different story. :) But it looks like good exercise.



That seems like a good start. And they sound doable and enjoyable.

So Happy New Year to you all!

Blog anniversary

Click here to visit www.polkadotsandrickrack.blogspot.com. This is a cute blog by Cheryl who is celebrating her first year blogging with a fun give-a-way.

Hmmm, I'll have to start planning for my first year. Only 11 months and 20 some days away. :)

Congratulations Cheryl! And by the way, thanks for sharing a great idea on how to put a personal design in the header!

A sixth sense?

It is so funny how things work out sometimes...

A couple years ago I went to a Rusty Barn Quilt, Craft, and Sew show. While there I was drawn to a quilt kit that included a panel of dogs and dog related fabrics from the Loralie dog line. Why? Who knows. Definitely not something I would usually buy but maybe it was a sixth sense. So it came home with me, I stuck it in a drawer and forgot about it.

Now for the "how things work out" part. My son, who has 2 teenage children and said he would not have any more, surprised me with the news that a new baby was on the way - a boy! Well, of course I want to make a quilt for the baby. A quilt that is sweet enough for the baby, pleased mom and dad, and didn't involve so much piecing that you wanted to keep it as an heirloom. Just a nice drag-around-this-is-my- blankie kind of quilt. Since ds and ddil are big dog people the kit seemed to be just the thing. I pulled it out a week ago and decided to use just 9 blocks so he could easily drag it around.

Yesterday I sat down and worked up 6 of the 9 blocks. Here's a few of them. They are nice and simple and just so doggone (pardon the pun) cute for a boy. The blocks will be finished up today and perhaps the borders will be on by the end of the week.

DD and I found cute sleeper jammies with puppies and Hallmark had the cutest dog Christmas ornament. Now we're on the hunt for pacifiers, rattles, etc. with a dog motif and we will have a dog themed gift for our new little guy.

Future projects

All from a Christmas in July sale at a sewing/quilt fabric store that I just found out about. I'll be saving up for a nice stash at next years sale. Had to wait in line for two to three hours total but at a 40% off saving on these wonderful fabrics it was worth it. Visiting with others in line made the time pass quickly.

Fabrics to make mother-daughter aprons. Sage and red for the holidays but great for the rest of the year too.


Fresh Squeezed fabrics. Fun, summery and sure to put a smile on your face. A spur of the moment purchase without a project in mind.


Soon to be a purse. A surprise for my sister. I think the fabrics will look great with jeans. (I bought enough to make myself one too). ;)


And finally, new Halloween fabrics! I buy them every year. I haven't made anything with any of them but I get to drool over them. Someday they will be, well, something. These fabrics were part of a kit where the panel goes in the center but my someday quilt will have pieced blocks.


Whew! I thought I'd never get this picture thing figured out. Finally, realized that saving a copy allowed me to paste the photo in at the right size. Now, if I could figure out the slideshow!

Testing the waters...

This is me sticking my toe in to see how the water feels. I've never blogged before so it's something totally new to learn and feel out bit by bit. Still trying to figure out how to set it up, how to post, add photos, etc. We'll see how it goes...