Got Crumbs? Make Beds!

What is more fun than traveling to the beautiful, Pacific Northwest?  Staying home for a week!

The youngest Babe and Petey

Yep, I've had a nice week at home working on miscellaneous sewing projects (and swimming with the Babes).... I will be leaving again today ....






While I was in Vancouver BC earlier in May, I spent my evenings in the hotel cutting up scraps, making specific size pieces for future use and creating "crumbs."  

When I started quilting a few years  back, my quilt mentor (and favorite Auntie, Nyla Stoughton) told me to NEVER throw away fabric, regardless of how small and useless the piece may seem.  I've followed that advice (mostly).  So NOW what do I do with all the crumbs?????

Why, make kitty beds for Cat Adoption Team, of course!!!

My daughter volunteers for the Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood Oregon.  When a kitty is adopted, they take their beds with them....nice idea, eh?

I had enough crumbs to make three beds.  They are all boxed up and ready to ship.

AND, as an added bonus..... I've emptied a container in my sewing room and will now take this empty container and put it in the laundry room in my building to make some other person happy and more organized.
Whoooo Hooooo!!  Win, win, win!

So, Got Crumbs?  Make Beds!
Contact the Cat Adoption Team if you, too, want to use up some of those crumbs!

Me & My Shadow

Still traveling.... I've spent the last week in BEAUTIFUL Victoria, B.C.
Very nice, small city with a lot of charm.

View from my Hotel.

The Parliament Building

I did not bring Miss Ellie on this trip because the plane from the mainland to Victoria is teeny and the overhead bins are small.  (Too much trouble.)

Instead I worked on my Glorious Hexies.
It's handwork and I only completed one... but with English Paper Piecing, slow and steady wins the race, eh?

 
These are the Glorious Hexies I've finished so far.


I've been working on these hexies for quite some time.  See my blog post from July 18, 2016 (Click HERE)

Most everyone who participated in this quilt-a-long are all finished.

And I have every hope that I will complete mine as well... some day.

This is the lone hexie I completed.

A big problem was lighting in the hotel.

This time of year, in the Pacific Northwest, it stays very light and bright outside until well after 9 pm.  But, not so in the hotel room.

 

I should have remembered to bring my portable light.

I'm headed home today and wonder-upon-wonders, I will be home a whole week before heading out again.   I'm making a L-O-N-G list of things to do this week and right at the top is to spend time with my little monkies!!!

Roll On Mississippi ♫♫♫♫

All packed up and heading back home today from almost 2 weeks in beautiful (mostly, it's pouring down rain today...as it did yesterday...) Vancouver B.C.

Flowers everywhere!  Johnny Jump-ups!

Packed up and ready to roll.

I did get all my scraps cut and 9 blocks completed.

A little tip on Bonnie Hunter's Crayon Box.  You need WAY MORE 2-1/2  X  4-1/2 squares then you do anything else.... I'll need to focus on that size for the rest of my scraps. As I choose squares to assemble, I tried to keep warm colors with warm colors and cool colors with cool.  We'll see if I can keep that thought. 

It was fun  assembling the blocks, each fabric is from some other project.  A good opportunity to reflect.

So, I'm headed home, but only for a couple of days, then it is off again.  I haven't decided yet if Ellie will tag along on this next trip..... the adventures continue.

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.