Cutting pieces and parts, fabric purchase, and happy birthday Bruce.

I ran out of flannel pieces for the TBs so I spent my time last evening working on cutting those. I pressed on interfacing to the strips of flannel then cut them to size.

While I was cutting, I needed to cut more fleece interfacing for the lining part of the TBs. I now have a nice stack of those.

Here are my pieces and parts trays for the TBs. Since I am not using my step ladder right now, it makes the perfect place to keep the trays.

I now have all the parts I need to finish up these four TBs. I did see that I only have three more pieces of vinyl, so I will have to cut more of those. I am always running out of parts! LOL!!

I wanted more of that cute pig fabric and went on a search to find some. I didn't remember where I had bought it. I found it on sale at Lou Lou's Fabric Shop along with some of the other scissor fabrics I had used recently. It was all on sale for $7.00 a yard! I bought enough I got free shipping too! Maybe that is where I bought them before. Well, I bought repeats and new fabrics in this order. I think the scissor fabric TBs and PBs will be snapped up fast so I was glad to find the fabric so I can make more.  The pink fabric is a new one and the repeats are the pigs. I bought all the pig fabric they had left. I got 2 1/2 yards of the turquoise and one yard of the gray.

The scissor fabric in the lower left is a repeat and the other three are new. I just had to buy that scissor fabric in another colorway! The two tone-on-tone fabrics will be used for the lining and pockets of the TBs.

Both scissor fabrics are repeats and the spool fabric is new. I thought the spools would be smaller, but it will still work for the lining of a TB.

Happy 77th birthday Bruce! I took this picture when I got to go see him in Cleveland earlier this year.

Some progress

I sat at the tire place while they finished up my car. I needed new tires and a realignment. Of course, a mile from the tire place as I was headed to the grocery store I hit a pothole! UGH!! It was full of rainwater so I couldn't see it. I got my groceries, stopped for gas then headed home. I didn't have much time to do anything else. I did press the zipper pocket pieces for the next four TBs while I did a load of laundry.

The thread I had ordered from Superior thread arrived.

Their Pima cotton thread is so nice; I like it better than Aurifil. The color range is more limited than Aurifil, but I needed some lighter colors and a dark blue for the TBs and PBs. The fatter spools are a general purpose sewing thread that I have used in the past and liked it. The spools were inexpensive and I will probably regret not buying more at one dollar a spool!

I got a few more scissor pouches interfaced at lunch yesterday.

What a weekend!

Friday night I finished up this set of TBs and PBs.

Saturday morning I worked on getting what I could done on this set of TBs and PBs. The pieces are quilted and the zipper pouch pieces are pressed. All I need are the zippers which I will order once I figure out how many and of what colors I need.

The rain let up a bit so I decided to clean up the front bed. It didn't take too long. Here is the before and after.

A runner showed up with the tablecloth that needed the name on it and it also needed hemmed. It was "hemmed" with blue gaffer's tape! LOL!

The runner was such a sweet young lady that I decided to put the zippers in two of the leftover small pouches that I didn't have zippers for back in April. I got these together before she came to pu the tablecloth. One for her and one for Nora.

After I handed off the tablecloth, I decided to go ahead and put the zippers in the last five pouches. These will be handy to have on hand for a little gift.

I worked on the next set of TBs and PBs, but I didn't get too far before I had to get ready to go downtown to see a show at the Akron Civic Theater. Another brother of mine is touring with Ray LaMontagne. The Civic is an old theater that has been restored. It is amazing!  The show was wonderful!

Sunday I work on the PBs a bit and then company showed up with another emergency sewing job. I needed to shorten the straps and put a slit in a dress for homecoming. The straps were so easy to do; they were not buried between the dress fabric and the lining. The straps were just surface mounted on the lining. Taking out the seams of the dress and lining took longer than sewing it back together. I sewed the dress to the lining so they would be one unit rather that each layer hanging separately.

Well then we had to go to lunch! We were all hungry since nobody had much of a breakfast and it was getting onto 1 PM. We all ordered appetizers - chicken nachos, fried pickles, deviled eggs, cheese curds - and an entre - cauliflower pizza, philly cheese steak sandwich, a salad with grilled chicken, and flatbread pizza. I had my leftover flatbread pizza for breakfast this morning. It was all very good!

I finished up four PBs when I got home. These are so cute with the pigs!

I had a thought of using fleece in the front panel and quilting it rather than using interfacing with no quilting for the front panel like I have been making them. I kind of like the fleece and quilted panel more - the one with the pigs. It does make for a more substantial feeling PB.

Making letters and TBs

The evening was full of interruptions, but I managed to get a few things accomplished. First was a load of laundry and then I worked on finding the materials I needed for appliquéing a name on a tablecloth. One of my brothers had called me and said he had a tablecloth that had been cut down and needed to be hemmed. It also needed a name on it with around 5" letters, any font, and in silver. I found the heat and bond, found some kind of shiny washable satin and had printed off the letters to size. I traced the letters on the heat and bond, pressed them on the satin, then cut the letters out so they are now ready to go. I will machine stitch around the letters to the tablecloth.  He will be dropping off the tablecloth when he gets into town. He is on tour with a musician and they are playing here this upcoming weekend.

I did get the next four TBs taped. One is now quilted with the flannel attached and the zipper pocket placed. I just have to press the self-binding and it will be ready to finish.

At lunch I got more fleece interfacing pressed onto the scissor pouch fabric. Here is what I did yesterday.  Looks like that one on top needs pressed again!  LOL!!

I now have a tray for the ones I did yesterday and all this week.

My plans for the weekend are to get that tablecloth done and handed back over while my brother is in town, go to the show, work in the yard if it isn't raining, and get a few more TBs and PBs sewn together. Have a great weekend!

Back to the sewing machine

It rained hard here yesterday morning and it was so humid throughout the day I swear you could cut the air with a knife! Thank goodness that last patch of grass in my backyard was too wet to mow because I was so tired. I stayed inside in the A/C and first cut vinyl for project bags. I had used the last cut piece, so it was time to restock my pieces and parts trays.

I needed the vinyl so I could finish two of these PBs. The other two have fabric fronts.

It is raining again here this morning and there is a chance for more today. I am sure glad I mowed the neighbor's side and backyard! It would take a long time for it to dry out as tall as it was. It doesn't look like we are forecasted to have any dry days for the next week.

Scissor pouches and still mowing

I had a pile of scissor pouches already cut out and a small pile of interfacing cut to size so I spent my lunchtime yesterday pressing on the interfacing. I also marked where to start and stop the sewing for the opening for turning.

As soon as I got home from work I changed my clothes and started mowing. I got the neighbor's side and his back yard done. They weren't getting home until later and I wanted to at least get this much done. All he will have to mow is the front yard. It is sloped and a pain in the butt to mow! I know this because I have done it before.

I then turned my attention to my back yard. First, I trimmed and then mowed. The grass was so long! I hadn't mowed the back in a couple months.

I got about 2/3rds of the backyard mowed and I was running out of steam. I had been at it for 2 1/2 hours. It was around 82, but at least there was a nice breeze and most of the backyard was in the shade by then. What is to the right of that line is left to mow and then I need to do some weed wacking along the woods line. I am going to try and get that finished up tonight if the rain stays away.

Yesterday one of the superintendents took me on a tour of the job site. I hadn't been there in several months. Here is some of the sound wall

Underneath the existing bridge that will be taken down soon

The existing bridge from up above with the new bridge to the left.