3 days of Thread Beds, Project bags, and more

I only left the house this 3 day weekend to walk over to the neighbor's to get their mail while they are on vacation and to spend about 45 minutes in the yard wacking weeds. Otherwise, I was in the studio sewing. I got 18 thread beds (TBs) done and 8 project bags (PB). I made four of these TBs

2 of these

2 of these

4 of these

and 2 each of these

I decided to try and make some project bags with fabric fronts instead of vinyl. Some people don't like vinyl. I like the vinyl fronts because you can see what is in the bag. Here is the first fabric front one I made and it is completely lined.

I just had to think about the best way to cut fabric to get the most out of what yardage I have. I had a lot of this print and I had enough for six thread beds which still need finished and a PB of each type. This will give people a choice of which ever style they prefer.

Here are the eight PBs I got done this weekend

The Hulk got a workout with the snap installation for the TBs!

On Monday I needed to get the handles made for some tote bags for the merch booth. As I was pressing handles for topstitching, I found a couple more pieces of fabric to cut totes and handles. I spent about four hours cutting, pressing, and topstitching enough handles for 28 bags. I am going to have to dig around to find more fabric for tote bags although we only have a few more shows on the schedule right now.

On my temporary extra table in the studio, I have the in-progress TBs and PBs staged. The two stacks at the left just need sewn together. The three lavender and pink stacks in the back row need zippers which I will get when I place another order after I figure out all the zippers I need. The remaining stacks in front have everything including zipper, but I didn't press the pieces for the zipper pockets or iron on the interfacing. For these I just wanted to see what I could get out of two yards of fabric which was four TBs and two each of PBs with the fabric fronts and two with vinyl fronts.

Here are all the TBs and PBs I have made so far. There are 97 TBs and 21 PBs. That seems like a lot until you get 150 people in a room! I will keep making them for a couple more weeks and then switch to making those scissor pouches.

The scissor pouches are my giveaway to anyone who attends the retreat and for the workers at the Hobby House Needleworks shop.

I did do some dishes, make food for lunches this week, and did a couple loads of laundry too. The only thing I didn't get to was Scotchguarding the road case covers and altering the one cover. I will have to get that done this week.

Two more TBs ready to go and a three day weekend!

I had an appointment after work so I got home a bit later which cut into my sewing time. I did get another two thread beds (TBs) ready for final assembly

I got started on the next batch. I must of had a two yard piece of this cute print because I will be able to get four TBs and a couple of project bags out of it. The lining fabrics will be different. I used up what I had left of this light blue batik and will use a darker blue batik for the rest.

We got a heck of a storm last evening. My lights flickered four time, but thankfully they stayed on. I did unplug my machine just in case!

I am looking forward to a three day weekend with no shows with the band. Of course, I have a long list I will attempt to put a dent in. That list includes fixing a cover we use to cover the t-shirt road case. I made the cover to fit without the hard cover to keep the sun off the shirts. After the storms we had at a couple of shows this summer, I need to make the cover a bit bigger so it will fit over the entire case with the hard cover which closes up the case. I will show you pictures of this at the next show so you get what I needed to do. I will then Scotchguard it and another road case cover. After those rainstorms I realized the cover needed a waterproofing boost. Next on the list will be of course TBs and project bags. I have yardwork that needs done so if the weather gets a bit cooler some of that might happen. Lastly, I need to make more tote bags for the merch booth. We used all of the regular sized bags at the show in Morgantown. All that was left was one or two bigger tote bags for drum tops. I dug around and found a couple dozen bags already cut out.

More TBs and project bags cut

I had this dark batik print that Wanda sent me. I paired it up with some green batik and some wine colored zippers. I had enough fabric to make two.

I had two pieces of this yellow print that I bought. I got four TBs out of one piece and the other piece was big enough to get four project bags. All the pieces are cut, fused, and the zippers installed. I ran out of yellow zippers, but these turquoise zippers match the print. I also ran out of yellow batik for the lining, so one of the bags will have a blue lining.

I do need to get more project bags made. Right now, I have less than 10.

Pieces and parts replenished

The iron-on fleece bolt was cut up last evening for the thread beds. I did not count how many are in this stack.

Here are my trays with the pieces and parts for the thread beds.

I pressed the fleece on the 10 thread beds lining pieces and trimmed them to size.

I finished sewing together and trimming the zipper pockets for that yellow print. I then put the fused lining pieces in their respective piles. I now have 10 thread beds ready for final assembly. My plan is to continue to cut out more thread beds then start sewing them together this weekend.  I want to work in smaller batches than 66.  

Back to cutting out thread beds

I got started last evening on cutting out more thread beds. Here I have staged the pieces needed. I decided this time to go ahead to assemble the zipper pockets and trim the pockets as I go. I actually enjoy sewing together the pockets.

I am partway done with these.

I use a fusible fleece for interfacing the lining fabric and I ran out of cut pieces of fleece. For the thread beds staged, none of the lining is interfaced and trimmed to size.

Tonight I will cut a bunch of fleece, press it on the lining fabric and cut them to size. That way I will have all the pieces I need to assemble the beds.

A show, cookies, and thread bed progress

It has been a busy three days since I posted last. Thursday evening I made two double batches of oatmeal raisin cookies to take on the road trip with the band on Friday. I set up two mixing bowls for my Kitchenaid mixer and here they are with one batch almost used.

I ended up with 80 large cookies. I got them all packed before I went to bed.

The band hit the road about 10:20 Friday morning and headed to Morgantown. WV. We were a bit early so we stopped in downtown Morgantown so the guys could get their picture with the Don Knotts statue. After that we stopped so a couple of the guys could get some coffee.

The venue had lots of people that helped us load in which was so nice! Here is the merch booth set up.

There were so many people I didn't have much of a view.

Here is the stage with the river running behind it. I did see a few boats stop and listen to the show. I got slammed at the merch booth and had no time to watch the show. We got loaded out a bit later than expected since Michael's girlfriend and I were still selling merch when the headliner came on. I got to bed at 2:20 AM Saturday morning.

It took me a while to get moving on Saturday. I worked on finishing up these three thread beds

I needed to make more interfaced flannel pieces so I worked on those and used up all the flannel my friend had sent me.

I went digging thru the fabric storage room to see if I had any more white flannel and I found a big piece! I don't remember when I bought this, but I was happy to find it!

I also found this small piece of off white flannel that I think would look nice with these fabrics

Sunday I made a quick trip to the grocery store, got gas, stripped the beds in the guest room to wash the sheets, and did laundry. I covered the beds in the guest room with quilts so I could use the space to organize things again for the project bags and thread beds. I cut out four thread beds and a project bag from this cute fabric with shells on it. They are now done.

I needed to clean up the studio a bit and get to a place where loose ends are finished up. One of those loose ends was two thread beds that didn't have the lining piece or pocket piece cut and interfaced. I cut those out and didn't see the problem with a dark line in the flannel until I was almost done.

I decided not to tear it apart and just finished it for me to use. I added to the finished bin of thread beds the other one so now I have 79 done!

There are more thread beds to come! My sister and her friend were at a new cross stitch shop in Georgia on Saturday. She said my thread beds were nicer and bigger than the ones they had at the shop. She sent a picture with the price tag and oh my the price was much more than I charge. I am happy with what I charge for mine to make it easier for more people to afford one.  My sister also ran into a woman that had been to the retreat we went to in April/May.  The woman had ordered another project bag and TB from me which she had with her!  It's a small world!

A short sewing evening

I had a hair appointment after work and then ran a couple errands so my sewing time was limited last evening. I did get the zipper pockets sewn and trimmed for the next three thread beds. I also have the interfaced lining pieces taped to the outside fabric so they are ready for some quilting.