Still Traveling with Miss Ellie

Different City...
Different Hotel....

Still Sewing....

I'm in a travel mode with my employer for the next couple of months.  Thankfully it does mean several weeks in one location.... So, Miss Ellie comes along to keep me company.

Two weeks ago it was Salinas, CA (See previous post.)

This two weeks it is Vancouver, BC.  (A lovely city, and one of my favorites.)

All set up and spread out to get some sewing done.

This particular hotel is my home-away-from-home I'm here so often.  As a matter of fact, I've started and completed several quilts in this very hotel!

See Blog Post from Oct, 2015.  Click HERE
Or May 9, 2015.  Click HERE

This trip I brought along a bag full of scraps (not all) and crumbs to cut up in various square sizes and I may even start the Bonnie Hunter Crayon Box quilt.  (OH, by-the-way, while I'm thinking about it.... I started cutting the squares for this quilt quite some time ago.  It was so long ago, in fact, that I forgot which Bonnie Hunter quilt I was thinking of when I started !!!  So, I posted a question on Bonnie's Facebook page.  And, low-and-behold I got several replies.  Aren't quilting people just the greatest bunch of people?!  My most sincere thank-you, ladies.)

 Search Pinterest for Bonnie Hunter Crayon Box













I have two whole days to do nothing but play with fabric and sew.  THAT is one of the best parts about sewing in a hotel room..... no interruptions or distractions!

Call me Happy!

Doing my Happy Dance

 

Travel for Work Can Be Recreational, Too

It's been a very nice week in Coastal Central California.

This is a BEAUTIFUL area!

I did a bit of site seeing, including a very nice Fabric Store in Pacific Grove.

Back Porch Fabrics

 AND I had an opportunity to get some sewing in as well.

My sewing set up at the hotel.

Miss Ellie

Step 1 of Bold Braid by My Quilt Infatuation

Trimmed and ready to join

Baby Girl Quilt top all finished and ready for quilting.

The Lone Tree on the 17 Mile Drive in Monterey CA

Headed home tomorrow for a few days.... then it's off on another adventure.

Getting Ready to Roll

I've cleaned up the Mezzanine room and moved the piggies to my design floor in my apartment.

Looks a bit empty and sad, eh?

Now that the little piglets are safe and "resting" and  I am getting ready to hit the dusty trail for work I'm wondering what I can take to work on in the hotel room that will keep me off the street and out of trouble.

I know just the thing!  I need to make a baby quilt for a baby girl (the sister of my D-I-L is expecting her first.)  I just happen to have some fabrics given to me by Charlotte S. that would be perfect!!

I will gather up Miss Ellie, the fabrics and a pattern I've been waiting to try:

Miss Ellie, 1951 Singer Featherweight

Metallic Star by Blank Textiles

"Bold Braid" by My Quilt Infatuation

I can't wait to get started!

Deja Vu

I feel like I've been here before.....
because I have....

Piggies are put back together and ready to start fusing...FINALLY!!

I think this is better than the previous arrangement.  They look like piggies instead of a jumble of teeny, tiny fabric pieces.

So, Step one is finished and I will fuse it tomorrow evening.  Date night with the piggies!

Step Two will be to cut out the shape.
Step Three is gluing the shape to the back ground fabric
Step Four, add the grass
Then Quilt

THEN, DONE.  It'll take a while yet. 

I have two baby quilts to make so I'll get a bit of a break.

To Cry or not to Cry--That is the Question

Piggies = 1
Charlotte Q. = 0

Piggies Win!

Charlotte-the-Tall and I got together the other night to finish up the first step on the Piggies and Kitty and get ready to start fusing.  I HATED IT!  I wanted to cry!  After ALL THAT WORK!  IT WAS HIDEOUS!

WHY DOESN'T IT LOOK LIKE THE PICTURE?!




 I could not help myself... I just threw it all up in the air!  Little piggie pieces rained down all over the room. (I would have taken a picture if  I hadn't been so ashamed of my behavior.)  But I was so frustrated!  My insides were just twitching!  If I hadn't been in the "self warming" stage of life for more than 10 years now, I'd swear I was PMS-ing.




The truly WORST part of losing my temper is that I passed the feeling on to Charlotte S.  And her Kitty was looking so nice.... I spoiled it for her, too.  For that I do humbly apologize. Charlotte, please accept my apology for spoiling your evening.

After having a short cry (have you ever cried over a project?) I picked up all the pieces and regrouped.


My neighbor Wanda, a quilter herself, had a good suggestion.  She suggested making the base of the piggie all one piece of fabric and placing the flowers on top of the base.  She even donated some pink fabrics from her stash.
So, that is where I will start next.

I couldn't bear to look the piggies in the eye last night so I avoided the Mezzanine Room.  Instead I pretended I had something more important to do...I stayed in my own apartment and organized my fabrics.  Touching fabrics ... good for the soul.
 
I'll give it a few days. Then I'll get back at it.
Those Piggies WILL NOT get the best of me!

Making Progress on the Piggies

Here we are again, in the Mezzanine Room.  Still working on our Fiberworks Collage kits:  "Lola and Olive" (here after known as "Dona and Nyla") and Purrrfect Cat.

The "piecing" is slow... a lot of moving pieces around to get just the "right look."

The Piggies

Charlotte's Kitty

I was having trouble getting the piggies to look like piggies
and not just a big mess of pieces.  Charlotte gave me this tip;
Take a picture of the project in black and white.
















WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  I can see exactly where I need
more definition. (Specifically around the snout on the pig on the left.)  Very Cool Tip!

The next step is fusing all these pieces.... I'd like to have that part completed by the end of this week.

Stay tuned...

A New Year - New Projects

This new year is well under way.  I have been in a bit of a fog since my mother's passing and have had a hard time "getting started."  Kind of like an old car that keeps cranking over and cranking over until finally it starts.

A couple of us ladies have been getting together in the Mezzanine Room this past week to work on our projects.  Finally, I have "started."













In January a gaggle of us attended the Road to California in Ontario, CA.  It was fun. But, truth be told, a bit over whelming... so much to see, so many "geese" taking in the sights!

Charlotte's (aren't the eyes weird?)

Toward the end of the day, when my resistance was low, I purchased a kit.....
first because it reminded me of my mom and
second because my friend purchased one, too.

Quilt Collage wall hangings by Fiberworks

Mine.  My mom loved pigs.
I'm going to rename mine "Dona & Nyla"
for my mom and her sister, my favorite Auntie.

Absolutely adorable, donja think?
Go to the website, take a look.

I won't lie, it's not as easy as it looks.  It is very time consuming.
Charlotte and I have both struggled with "placement."  But, it does get easier, the more you work with it.

Charlotte's is coming along faster than mine.

We have ears and snouts!
It doesn't even look like anything at this point.

We got this far after two evenings.  Lucky for us we can leave our projects laid out in the Mezzanine Room until mid-April.

Until next time, keep those machines humming....