Sewing mojo is lost...

So it has been 2 years since I've updated this. I've accomplished a bunch of things in that time, but right now I just can't get inspired to sew. The sewing space is a DISASTER and it needs to be straightened up and reorganized but I just can't get it together. DH has been flogged in online poker so he is down there playing XBOX and yelling like a lunatic. I need my own quiet and serene space but where?

Until I can figure it all out, sewing is going to have to take an even longer hiatus. I have a ton of things that I would like to do but just can't get motivated. Grrrr...It's going to be a LONG winter indeed!

Even more projects--am I crazy or what?

So with the Phillies winning the pennant, I decided that the girls needed a couple of shirts. I found the perfect shade of blue for the girls and need to resize Arianna's since I could only get 4/5s. I also got gray t-shirts as well. Hopefully that will be enough to get them through the series...

I still have not started the costumes. I am severely behind, but since Wayne has not even made an attempt at getting his Shrek cap and ears then his costume is off the list as well as mine. Oh well, maybe next year...

I have at least prewashed the white fleece for Arianna's costume. I just need to trace the pattern. I have to cut the patterm for Angielee's costume. Thankfully, I can reuse the skirt pieces from the Ariel costume. I save time and tracing paper. I am finding that my roll has started to dwindle.

Quilt not done...

I have not finished the quilt yet. I am having serious issues with thread breaking and needles breaking. I switched from all poly thread to poly-cotton to all cotton and all the same results. I suspect that the needle I am using is too small. However, I can't find a larger ballpoint needle. Anyway, the last time I was sewing, the needle broke in three pieces and one piece is in the machine somewhere so there was no way to complete the quilt. However, I do need to start the girls' costumes so I will have to put the quilt on the shelf again. Also, I do not have enough binding material so I need that too.

I had Lisa leave her jeans for me to hem. They are skinny jeans so they should be easier to hem than my jeans. Also, she plans on wearing them inside of her UGGS so just past her ankle will be appropriate.

I also asked her to to leave her shirtdress and board shorts. Hopefully I can draft a pattern from them and find the right fabric for the board shorts.

Catching up...

Hi, everyone. I have been away for quite some time. Actually, my day job ramped up considerably after my last post. I was working more nights than not and more weekends than not. I also had to work July 4th and part of Labor Day. Between work, the fam, and taking care of basic needs, that left little (no) time for sewing.

I did manage to start quilting the t-shirt quilt. However, I was about 2/3s done and then had to shelve it because I had no time to sew. The little bits of time that I had for my hobby were spent organizing my space. I finally hung up my peg board and realized that I needed another 2'x4' panel. Well, I already had white panels but now WalMart only has black. Bummer! However, I think I can wait until they start carrying black again.

I did start a cowl-necked blouse for a wedding that I needed to attend in Sept. Arianna had a perforated eardrum the morning of the wedding. Needless to say, I didn't get a chance to finish the blouse let alone go to the wedding. The top is now a UFO for the time being.

I did make a dress for my MIL to wear on her cruise to Hawaii. She chose New Look 6866 View B. I cut a medium top and graded to a large for the hips. I also had to take 1 in from each shoulder and take 2 inches off of the back width. Another mod I made was to make the front panel a single piece instead of 2 since the bow accent was not going to be used. After struggling with the shoulder construction and the facing, I decided that next time I make this dress, I will omit the interfacing and top stitch the neck line and arm holes. Due to the interfacing and the shoulder seam changes, the armholes ended up being a little snug.

I have been adding to my pattern and fabric stash. I also have another new addition to my sewing equiptment: a Viking Huskylock 936! I found it on Craigslist for $800 from a very nice lady. She bought the floor model a few years ago and only used it a handful of times. She decided that she needed to part with it since she was not using it to its full potential. It serges like a dream and the coverstitch is great. I was seriously considering getting a Janome CP-1000 and some sort of serger to go along with it. I thought it would be great to keep each machine ready to go. But I always wanted the Viking so I went with it. I absolutely LOVE it. I have tried the coverstitch, the differential feed and the 4 thread overlock. I know I am going to love sewing with knits now!

I have to finish the quilt if I can manage to stipple more than a 6-in section at a time. However, I have to shelve it again since I need to make costumes for the girls. Angielee wants to be Sleeping Beauty and Arianna will be a panda. I have all the materials and now, I have to cut out the pattern and the fabric and start sewing. Hopefully I can manage to get them done well before Halloween since I have to make Fiona and Shrek costumes for Wayne and I.

T-shirt quilt status and other things...

Well, I have not completed the quilt yet. As of May 28, I had everything put together and I tied the quilt to at least align the squares front to back. Remember, I am an engineer so I get very anal about random things. Anyway, I was going to try and bind it before I went to New Jersey, but I did not have enough binding material.

Here is a recap of what I experienced:
I bought 1 yd. of this really cool Kaufmann fabric and 1 yd. of black and gray dot fabric along for the sashing strips and a black scroll fabric for the binding. I couldn't decided on the outer border so I just put that on the shelf. Keep in mind that by my calculations, this quilt will be 76 in x 76 in. Well, I cut the sashing strips and realized that I had enough to join the blocks left to right and then join the resultant strips. HOWEVER, I did not have enough to outline the shirts on either side. I had to go back to JoAnn and get the appropriate fabric. Thankfully, the Kaufmann was still there, but the dot fabric was gone!!! I also had to get the outer border fabric and they finally had a charcoal gray solid so I picked up 2 yds just in case.

I got home and wasn't overly thrilled that one side didn't have the uniform sashing, but I wanted to get the quilt finished since it was supposed to be a Christmas present. Anyway, I made a design change and finally finished the quilt top and back.

I didn't get it basted until Memorial Day and I was able to tie it minimally before it had to make its journey to New Jersey to meet its owner. Lisa was happy with it and I told her that I wanted to quilt it a little better than what was there and I also had to make the binding after I got more fabric.

Uncle Sonny saw the quilt and he said that he is saving his shirts now...

Arianna's birthday party went well. We also had a little gathering at my mother's house for Angielee and had all our friends and their kids over. It was a zoo, but a whole lot of fun. Now I am planning birthday gifts for a couple little girls that are turning one this summer...

I have not been able to work on anything since I have been very busy with work. I have been working at night and can't seem to make it into the sewing room. However, that does not keep me from visiting JoAnn's. I picked up some shirting for $2/yd and I am not sure what I want to make. I haven't shown it to Angielee 'cause I know she'll want something out of it. I need to really get all the fun fabric I bought washed and dried so that I can work on something! I am going through some withdrawal and with so many great ideas out there, I don't know where to start!

In other news, a friend of mine had a baby a week ago and I would like to make something for him. I am sure that she has blankets, burp cloths, etc coming out of her ears, but she may be getting another set of things...

Wayne doesn't really want anything for Fathers' Day or his b-day which is Monday other than going out to dinner. I am taking him to Hen of the Wood in Waterbury, VT. The chef there has been named one of the top 10 new chefs of 2008 for Food and Wine magazine. Being the Foodies that we are, we certainly have to try it out.

Speaking of Foodies, Wayne and I went out to dinner with Lisa and Joe while we were home and went to AOI on 12th and Walnut in Philly. Although, we enjoyed the all you can eat sushi for $20, it paled in comparison to Morimoto, which is on 7th and Chestnut. Then again, dining with the young and fabulous of Philly in an Iron Chef's restaurant is quite a treat. We did have reservations for Bobby Flay's restaurant but cancelled them for Morimoto.

T-shirt quilt

I started the quilt on May 5th. I have not had time to blog about it then since I have been really busy working on it. I started cutting the shirts apart and cutting the interfacing. As I suspected, I did not have enough. I needed another 7 yards.



In addition to the Pellon 911FF, I also had to get Fusiform Suiting interfacing since there wasn't enough of the Pellon. I fused all the shirts and cut them to 16x16 squares. I had to get a piece of plexiglass cut to 16x16 in order to get a template for the shirts. I also have all the applique patches fused and cut out.



I have the sashing fabric all washed and ready to be ironed. I picked 3 different black-based fabrics since there are white, black, navy, red, green, gray, and burgundy shirts. I wanted more of a charcoal color, but I couldn't find what I wanted. Now the dilemma is the outer border. I don't want it too light or too dark since the sashing will be dark. I was looking at possibly polk-a-dots, but I haven't decided. All I know is that Lisa does not want animal prints (cow) or pink.



I had to go to the store yesterday to get stabilizer since my sample applique effort showed that there was too much stress on the shirt panels. I was all set to start at least applique-ing the shirts and cutting out the sashing strips, but I could feel myself getting sick and decided that rest would be the better option.



Tonight, I will have to iron and cut the sashing strips. By the way, I LOVE my new cutting mat. I got a 24x36 mat for my cutting table. I was hoping to get a 24x48 since that is how big the table is, but I didn't see one at the store. Also, I found some measuring tape stickers that I can use to make a grid on the cutting table so that I can square up fabric later on. But I digress...



In addition to that, I will also have to do as much of the applique as possible so that I can start the layout process and sewing the blocks together. Hopefully I can get the border on by the weekend and then start quilting!

Just a little progress...

I have another outfit for Angielee knocked out. I sewed the shirred dress over the weekend. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it is something. The hardest part was turning the straps!

I still have not started the quilt. I had them sorted by how big I wanted the squares and Angielee came along and totally mixed up my piles. I hope that I have enough interfacing. I am thinking that one side will have 12" x 12" squares and the other side may be 18" x 18". I still have to figure out what the sashing and outer borders will be. Lisa wants to have a really puffy quilt so I will have to make sure to get the batting while it is on sale at JoAnn. I plan on starting tonight since the Flyers are in the playoffs, I have some time to get started.

I pulled out my project from my sewing class and tried it on Rylie and it does not fit too well. I think I may have to seriously retape myself and then make the arms detachable. It is hard to put things over the shoulders. I can't slip things on from the bottom because of how the stand is.

I got another person out to give us an estimate on windows. The last guy gave us a $6500 estimate. I was a bit shocked and Wayne thinks it is outrageous. He is seriously considering doing it himself. Saving $3500 on labor sounds pretty good to us. I was a bit surprised at the labor considering how simple windows are to install based on the literature that I have seen. Also, my friend who is a builder says that it is really easy.