More seam ripper action!

Yesterday at work a co-worker friend asked me if I could fix her Mom's bathrobe. So that was last night's project and the new Clover seam ripper played a big role! I needed to stitch up the armhole that had come apart at the seams. One was completely apart and the other sleeve just needed a line of stitching before it would have eventually come apart.

When my friend was showing me the bathrobe, I saw that the piping at the sleeves was in bad shape so I told her I would fix that. This is where the seam ripper came into play.

I just took the piping out and sewed the cuff back on the sleeve. I was not going to replace the piping!

I looked over the robe to make sure all the seams were good and found that the seams at the pockets were coming apart. I fixed those so now the robe is in good shape.

Flannel progress and seam ripper review

My plans changed a bit this weekend so I didn't get to stay home all day Saturday and Sunday, but I still got a lot done. After switching around some of the flannel strips by ripping them apart and getting the rest of the strips sewn together, I now have 95% of the flannel into units to make blocks. I needed a place to put them so I used one of the twin beds in the guest room.

Here are the pieces I have left to deal with. I will leave these for later.

I had stopped on Friday after work and bought two seam rippers to try out. JoAnn's doesn't carry my favorite one in the store anymore which is this one

So I bought this Dritz one and a different Clover ripper. The cheapo Dritz ripper was awful; the Clover one was perfect! It was sharp and I could rip apart the seams so easy without stretching the flannel.  Of, course I had coupons so neither one cost that much.

I needed to make my SIL a bigger bag for the drum heads we sell at the merch booth. The other one I made did not hold enough.

A lady I work with wondered if I could remove her daughter's name from this cheerleading jacket. Her daughter is never going to wear it again (she graduated from H.S. last year) and she thought she could pass it on to another girl.

I used the Clover ripper and all the stitching came out. Another girl could get her name embroidered on the jacket and no one will be able to tell there was another name on the jacket. I was surprised how the holes disappeared.  The shadow probably would have disappeared if I would have seamed it a bit. 

I am almost done cross stitching the deer pillow. I only have the four deer left to stitch. Here is where I was last Monday and where I am now.  I get this done and the I can start on the next one.  

I didn't get the backyard mowed; it rained Sunday afternoon a few hours before I was going to mow. The forecast shows the temps dropping into the mid 70's later this week so if the backyard dries out I can then mow.

Sure glad it is Friday

What I week I have had at work. I spent all day yesterday pounding on the computer moving documents around to the architect and contractors. By the end of the day I was having a hard time remaining focused. Two days of not using the computer will be nice! Meanwhile, I did get more strips cut into block units.

My goal for the weekend is to get all the strips that need sewn

sewn together and cut into block units, get the pile of strips that have the plaid on the outside altered. I will ripped some of the units apart and resort the solids and plaids so I can make more blocks.

I tried out both of my seam rippers and neither one is sharp enough to easily cut thru the stitches. I had to push kind of hard which lead to a bit of stretching which I don't want to happen. I will stop after work and get a new seam ripper and do few errands so once I get home I don't have to leave the house the rest of the weekend. After all of that stitching, cutting, and, sorting, I will see what strips of flannel I have left and see if the plan I have in my head will work for the odds and ends. The only other item on my agenda for the weekend is to mow. The backyard needs mowed badly; the front and sides will just need to be tidied up. We have gotten quite a bit of rain this week so with the sunshine today I am sure the grass will be growing like crazy. Have a great weekend!

The flannel-palooza continues

I got a few more strips cut into block units. How is it I just figured out a better way of cutting these? I use to just layer up strips sets and cut them. Then I would sort them into stacks to make blocks. After all this time I figured out that I would stack two strips with the plaid on the outside and one strip with the plaid in the center. Once I sliced them, the pieces I needed for a block were already together so no sorting needed! Geeze! Then of course I make stacks with two strips with the solid fabric on the outside and one strip with the solid in the middle. Here are the latest ones I got cut.

So here is where I am at right now with all this flannel. Here are the pieces that still need sewn together.

Here is the pile of strips needing to be cut into block units

And here is the strip units that I don't have any matching units with the plaid in the center. I am going to have to do some ripping and remake some of these strip units. I will have plaid strips left over but I have a plan for those.

Robbie, I don't have your email, but thanks for the kudos on the sheet project. I know my brother appreciates me doing these and the speed in which I got the project done and shipped. It is fun when I get to go to a concert and see things that I made being part of the show.

Back to flannel-palooza

I am making some nice progress on cutting the flannel strips into block sections. I can see the dent I am making in that pile of strips. Here is what I cut last night.

World's biggest four patch block

The box of 8 king sized sheets was sitting at my front door when I got home from work. I opened the box, took two sheets at a time out of their packages and started sewing them together. I sewed them in pairs then the pairs together like a four batch block. It was a huge pile of microfiber fabric that had to be folded. I took the pile upstairs and tossed it on my bed

It was a lot of work trying to get the sheets straightened up. The texture of the fabric kept the fabric from sliding so it was hard to move the fabric around to straighten them out. I kind of had to lift the layers apart to move the fabric. This has to be the world's biggest four patch block!

After a lot of fussing, I finally got the first four sheets folded. Then I had to do it all over again.

I shoved the sheet sets each into a box along with the pedal board cover and the bag, got them labeled, and headed to the grocery store at 7:30 p.m. to get the boxes mailed. They need to be in Texas by Friday.

After all that I was tired. I put ointment on my 18 mosquito bites and went to bed.

Fabric, flowers, and flannel

My friend arrived late Saturday afternoon. After we ate the pizza I had made from scratch, she handed me the bag fabric she had bought for me. She had texted me when she had run into the motherload of Australian fabric at Zink's in Berlin, Ohio. Many texts later and a couple hours of going thru the stacks of flat folds, this is what I bought with her help. I hadn't figured out how many yards or what I am going to make, but at $5.00 a yard for first quality M+S fabrics, what a score!

Friday night after work I stopped and picked up a box spring for the one twin bed in the guest room. The beds were made with freshly laundered sheets and quilts were added. I was happy that the odds and ends quilt fit the bed so well.  My friend had a cozy place to sleep.  I did get a lot of the stuff that was piled up at the other end of the room moved out.  Some I relocated and some will be removed from the premise by either donation or trashed. 

I spent the rest of Friday night and most of Saturday cleaning and making a quick trip to the grocery store for things I needed to make meals for us. I was happy to get so much done especially tasks that I had been meaning to do and just didn't make time. I had 10,000 steps in by 3 in the afternoon!  Nothing like having company to get a person cleaning their house! LOL!!! My friend brought me flowers! So that is the second time in two weeks someone has brought me flowers! I took the bouquet and added them to the previous ones after cleaning out the dying flowers. So pretty!

I didn't get much sewing done Saturday night; I was pretty tired after all the cleaning. We stayed up until 11 then called it a day. Sunday after breakfast we made a quick trip to a local produce market and greenhouse. I wanted to get some peaches. I cut up two for lunch today and they were so juicy I had a hard time holding on to them.  The peaches are as big as baseballs!

We walked around the greenhouses and my friend found a prayer plant. We also brought home this jade plant. Here it is replanted. I don't know how it was even alive. It was in a teensy tiny pot and the dirt was like concrete! I hope it is much happier in my north facing bathroom window.

My brother called me Sunday and he needed my help with two more sewing projects for the band he is touring with. First, he needed a pedal board cover. A pedal board is that device that sits on the floor in front of a guitar player and they can push on different pedals to make different sounds on the guitar. Then he needs a cover for the drums and the keyboards when the equipment is set up on stage before a concert to keep the dust off the equipment. Eight California king sheets are showing up at my door today. I need to sew them together in two sets of four. He also wanted a bag to keep them in when they are not in use. I already had a big bag I made years ago to haul quilts in so I will just give him that one. So tonight I will be sewing those sheets together and get them in the mail. They need to be in Texas by Friday. Here is the pedal board cover and the bag.

I did get a few flannel strips press and subcut into pieces for blocks. Pressing all those strip sets and cutting them is going to take a while!

Finally, here is my progress on the deer cushion cover - first where I was last Monday and where I am now

TGIF

What a week it has been at work and I am so glad it is Friday. I ended up mowing and trimming last night. The front yard was wild and I needed to tame it. It was 79 degrees and 55% humidity so I was sweating like crazy. No sewing got done, so here is a picture of my four marigold plants grown from last year's seed. The zinnias are in the far back.

My quilting friend confirmed she is coming up on Saturday and staying overnight. I will be busy tonight getting the house ready. I need to do some grocery shopping and pick up the twin box spring for that bed. The box spring is coming in today so I threw some bungee cords in the car so I can tie the hatch door down and haul the thing home. Have a great weekend!

Still sewing strips and fawn

Yes, I am still sewing flannel strips together, but I am so close to having all the darker flannel ones done. Here are the ones I got done

and here are the ones left to sew together

When I got home from work I decided since it wasn't raining (finally!) that I would take a quick walk around the yard. Much to my suprise a fawn jumped out of my big center flower bed! That is the flower bed in the foreground in this picture. It must have been resting or napping and I didn't see it until I startled it. It didn't go too far so I was able to get it's picture. I was amazed that I felt and heard it's hooves as it hopped out of the flower bed.

Still making progress on the flannel strips

I got a few more strips sew into sets last evening

I have these dark flannel strips to sew into sets yet

and these that are staged at the sewing machine. Maybe by this weekend I can start cutting the strip sets for the 9 patch blocks

A little bit done

I only had time to sew a few flannel strips together

As soon as I got home from work I got to work on putting that twin bed together. I found the hardware

hauled in the side rails from the garage and found the pieces that go from side to side to hold up the mattress. One hour and 20 minutes later I finally had the frame together. Geeze! It was not easy doing this by myself. Then the slot where I had to put the washer and hex nut in to screw the bolt into was so small I couldn't get a wrench to fit in it.  That was a challenge!

My Dad had made this bed for my Mom to display a quilt on, but Dad did you have to make the slot so small? LOL!! Anyways, it is put together and now I have to get a box spring for it. I stuck the mattress on it to get the mattress off the floor.

Just so you don't think I have this room all fixed up, here is the rest of the stuff I need to deal with all stuffed at the other end of the room. I can see a trip to the donation center coming for some of it.