Unproductive - NOT

I've been home a few days (but getting ready to jet off again) and I did get some sewing in... including, but not limited to, finishing the cute little bear for my niece's baby shower.

I think he turned out quite cute.  I did make one major mistake (that I discovered AFTER it was all stuffed!)  I did not fix it....

Can you see what it is?
 

It is nice and colorful, for a new baby.

I hope she likes it.  

The pattern is Aloha Bears by Beyond the Reef. 
I must say, the directions were not that easy to follow (which is why I made the BIG mistake).  

But, now that I have one under my belt, I think I will make a few more.

Feeling Unproductive

I have been traveling for work the past almost-two-weeks.  I thought I'd get some hand work done in the hotel...I didn't....

I started this Teddy Bear for my niece's new baby... but the hand stitching looked really bad. 

How do people do such beautiful hand work?

I looked up hand stitching on the internet.

Do people REALLY make an entire quilt by hand?

I'm feeling really unfulfilled by this process.....

Supporting Your Local Fabric Stores

I just read on Facebook that ALL of the Hancock Fabric Stores across the nation are closing. (Read all about it HERE.) Before you have heart failure, the Hancock's in Paducah, KY  is privately owned and is NOT closing.  (This is NOT an April Fool's Day joke like the Facebook post I read yesterday about Trader Joes closing.)

In general I hate to see businesses close.  I always feel bad when I read about a business closing or see a "going out of business" sign.  I chide myself a bit for not being a better supporter of that business.  The last time I was in a Hancock Fabric store ... well I can't remember the last time it was so long ago.  My home town of Portland doesn't have one and I've never seen one in my new hometown.  I did see one in Fresno, but I didn't go there.  My bad, right?  So, I apologize, Hancock Fabrics.  (insert sad face here)

I wrote a blog piece last year about fabric buying.  See January 31, 2015.  I do visit other "big box" fabric stores, but I don't tend to buy fabric there because unless it is a fabric company name I recognize I can't be sure of the quality of the fabric.  There is nothing worse than spending time, energy and money making something wonderful only to have it fade or lose its shape.

So, buyer beware.  Know your retailer and the fabric company names.  That goes for on-line buying, also. I bought a piece of fabric some time back from an internet retailer.  The fabric brand was a name I knew and yet when the piece arrived I did not like the FEEL of the fabric.  It felt stiff.  Had I visited a fabric store and had the opportunity to touch the fabric, I may have chosen something else.

I'm not saying ALL internet fabric buying is bad.  It's convenient and sometimes that is the only place to find a particular piece of fabric you need.  Also, not everyone has fabric shops close to them.  I know...I guess that is why the Fab Shop Hop was born.  This is an on-line shop hop that starts fresh every month.  BEWARE, it is addicting! 

The Row By Row Experience was organized to get us sewists out and about and visiting our local fabric stores.  Read about last years Row By Row Experience HERE, June 28, 2015.

The Row By Row Experience 2016 has been announced.  Read about it HERE.

Sew, ladies and gents, get out there, visit some fabric stores and tell them Charlotte sent you.

What's on Your Design Wall? (or Design Floor, or Design Bed)

Do you do "something" in your sewing room every single day?  I travel a lot for work and sometimes I have handwork to take along and complete....sometimes not.  Last week was a very heavy travel, work-with-clients week: In 5 days, drove over 1,000 miles, 4 different clients, 3 different hotels.  I did not do any type of sewing the entire week.  When I returned, there were Easter activities, church and celebrations.

So, I've picked up again this week.

I'm working on a baby quilt for my niece (whose shower is fast approaching.)   This is actually the back.  The pattern started out as a adaptation of "Fresh as a Daisy" from the book Welcome Baby but I had to pick it up off my "design floor" when The Babes arrived and could not get them back in order... so, it is what it is.

The front was a piece of fabric that was just too cute to cut.  It is "Meet The Gang" by Marisa and Creative Thursday for Andover Fabrics.

Too cute, is it not?

I'm still plugging away on the Splendid Sampler 100 Blocks Quilt Along.

I left off on block number 9 and they are now on block 13.  There are a few I don't particularly care for.  Then it hit me!  There are 100 blocks.... if you don't care for one, skip it....What a Thought!

Here is what I have so far:

A couple of the blocks I liked so much I made them twice!

I think I'm going to give this quilt to my sister (I have 7 sisters so if  any of them are reading this blog, they won't know WHICH sister...tee he)

 It's not too late to start.  Good practice for various quilting techniques.

And, just last night I decided I wanted to make the first block of the Gypsy Wife.

I liked this pattern the very first time I saw it, which was at a Desert Lilies quilt show in Yuma, AZ, probably 3 or 4 years ago.


I picked up the pattern at the Road to California quilt show this past year.  It's a great way to use up scraps.

There you have it...three UFOs (by far not the ONLY UFOs I have.)
So, What are you working on?  More than one at at time?

National Quilting Day

It is National Quilting Day... So, do YOU quilt?  No?  Do you want to?  Don't know where to start?

I've only been quilting about 5 or 6 years.  I started after a bad breakup with a man... I was sad and had a lot of time on my hands.  My Auntie invited me to her house for a visit...she is a quilter.  I remember she took me to a quilt show at The Buggy Barn.  I was awestruck!  How on earth did they make such beautiful creations!

I bought my first "kit" that day and in true quilter fashion, it is still in my UFO stack to this very day (she said, sheepishly.)

My next step was to join a Block of the Month (BOM) group at Cool Cottons.  I was hooked and have not looked back...even when I moved from "the city of bridges" to the O.C. three years ago...I ditched a lot of stuff from my house....but not much from my sewing room.

To get started, join a BOM group at your local quilt store, and/or join a local quilt guild.  Pick an easy pattern and start sewing... it is that easy.  Go back to day 2 of this blog and read about getting started.
Watch videos from Missouri Start Quilt Company...Jenny makes it VERY easy (and fun.)
Even my 9-yar-old grandson is making his first quilt.  It is a simple pattern, just 5 inch blocks all sewn together.

You can do it!

Plugging Away

My grandson continues to work on his first quilt.

I posted his picture on a Facebook page, Singer Featherweight 221 & 222, because he is piecing this quilt on my 1951 Singer Featherweight, Miss Ellie.

He got such a kick out of the fact that 405 people (none of whom he even knows) liked this post.

In my heart of hearts I don't expect that he will continue to sew as he matures (especially after he discovers girls.)  But I get warm and fuzzy inside when I ponder the fact that he will remember this his whole life...hopefully with fondness (I do make him rip out wonky seams.)

Are you passing along the love of fabric and sewing?
Visit my Pinterest page https://www.pinterest.com/charquiroz/sew-teaching-kids/
 
PS  G-ma helped with the long seams and getting everything lined up.

The First Five

The Splendid Sampler

Here are my first five finished blocks.  They are far from perfect, but they are good enough.

It is not too late to start.  Go to http://www.thesplendidsampler.com

As I have been looking at all the posted blocks on the Splendid Sampler's Facebook page, it's giving me more ideas... I may make a few more of these 5 because I like the ideas I see.  Check out the postings... then pick some fabrics and sew, sew, sew.