Lost and found

Tuesday night I helped out at a fundraiser for the man running for Ward councilman. The place was just down the hill from where I lived, but I couldn't find it. I drove around for a good 25 minutes, ended up where I started then finally saw the tiny sign for the place. UGH!

I took a road trip to a cross stitch retreat. My neighbors are taking care of the house. I drove 6 hours all the way to Pittsford NY then got lost. It took a phone call, 45 minutes, and several people to get me to the hotel. Geeze! I ended up having a meltdown out of frustration from the night before and not being able to get the phone to show me what I wanted to try and find the place. I was exhausted after being in the car over 6 hours. The lady at the desk felt so bad for me that she had a bottle of sparkling wine and a charcuterie plate sent to my room. I gave her a boxy pouch and a curved top pouch for being so kind helping me out. That was my dinner and it was very good!

I did get back in the car and drove over to Hobby House Needleworks, They are about a mile from the hotel, but again a building with NO SIGN! What the what? They have lots of goodies for stitching and quilting fabric. The quilting fabric is expensive! $13 to $16 a yard! Yikes!

I got my sewing station set up in my room. There was stuff I needed/wanted to get done.

I had my thread bed made - it was a prototype the one with the red roses - and I brought everything I needed for four more for gifts. I had pressed on the interfacing, cut all the pieces to size, and pressed the folded pieced for the zippers so all I needed to do was to assemble and trim as needed. Got those done!

This morning, I stuffed these smalls, sewed the opening closed, and put the embroidery around the edges.

Heading to the airport shortly to get my sister.

Angel stands and thread bed

It was another busy evening. First, I started working on the stands for the angels. The wood I had wasn't wide enough, so I added a piece of a square yardstick that was the same depth. I stained the wood first then glued the yardstick to the base. All I need to do is give them a light spray of poly then put some felt on the bottom.

I am so close to being done with the second angel. Here is where I was at on the end of day Sunday and where I am now.

I did a bit of straightening up, some laundry, and finished up dishes that needed washed. I couldn't find my thread bed, so I decided to make one. I have all the pieces cut out. It won't take long to put this together.

I am taking some time off so posting could be sporadic for the next 6 days.

Sewing and protesting

It was a busy weekend! I decided I needed something to take as little gifts to my brother's house for Easter. I decided to make more curved topped pouches, but in the medium size. I could quilt one of those in 13 minutes and it only took one bobbin of thread. I started on Friday night, worked on them all day Saturday except for the few hours I left to protest, got a bit more work done on Sunday before I left for my brother's house. I got 17 made. That was more than I needed, but I wanted to make sure I had enough.

I finished up the last 7 this morning. Two of those are for me. I timed myself to see how long it would take to install the zipper and finish sewing one together - 8 to 9 minutes. You get pretty fast once you have made 80 of them! LOL!!

While I was at my brother's for Easter dinner,  I stitched while visiting. I got a lot done and I almost have the second angel done.

I needed to clean my carty cart and replace the bungie cord. It is now all clean, oiled, and ready for use.

On Saturday there were two protest sites. I decided to head downtown because I knew there would be plenty of parking; at the other location the parking is awful. After we were there for about half hour, the sky opened up and everybody got drenched. There was wind and thunder, but we didn't move.

Finally done

I finally got that tote bag done! I took it outside to try and get a truer color.

It is going to be a busy weekend. Saturday I will be heading one of the protest sites and join others fighting back for our democracy. I will need to get a cheesecake made for Sunday to take to my brother's house. I have been invited for Easter dinner, and it is always a good time hanging out with everyone. Who knows what else I will get into! Have a great weekend and happy Easter!

Lining in the bag

I was thinking yesterday I would get the tote bag done, but after work I had to head down to a town a half hour away to run an errand. It was 6:30 by the time I got home and got a few things put away, so I didn't have much time to sew. I did get the lining done and it is now pinned into the bag. I ought to get this done tonight.

My back is still killing me so I an trying to get into see my chiropractor. I can't take this anymore. I have too much to do and it is slowing me down!

A bit more progress on the tote bag

After work I had a hair appointment so by the time I got home it was almost 7 p.m. I was up early this morning and got the outside of the tote bag sewn together.

I am thinking I ought to be able to get this bag done tonight.

Tote bag progress and mowing already

The two exterior panels for the tote bag are assembled. The fabric is so much prettier in person than in this picture.

I trimmed and mowed the front yard as soon as I got home from work. It was looking a bit shaggy. The grass doesn't look all that much different in the after picture LOL!!

Did a bit of cooking and washed some dishes too.

Angels, pouches, Paris Roubaix, and tote bags

I worked hard this weekend! Friday evening I cross stitched. I need to get these angels done. The last time I showed a picture of them was March 19. For the bottom angel The top row outlining her hair, the outlining of the wings, and the stitching for her sleeve were done, but I didn't have a picture of that.

Here is where I am now

Saturday I sewed the labels in all 70 curved topped pouches. I am glad to have that job done!

I finished my tote bag

Next I got the interfacing cut out for three more tote bags

I started cutting out the fabric for the tote bags. I decided I would only put one zippered outer pocket and one inner pocket in each bag; I put two of both in my bag. This will save me a bit of construction time. As I cut the fabric, I would press on the interfacing to all the pieces. Here I pressed on the interfacing and then pressed the handles so they were ready to top stitch.

Sunday morning I turned on the tv to watch Paris Roubaix as I sewed. It is nice to be able to watch bicycle racing again! My goodness I have a lot of stuff on my table! LOL!!! I should have cropped that out of the picture!

While I watched, I finished cutting out the remaining pieces I needed for the three tote bags and got eveything interfaced. I managed to get this tote bag done

and I got this one done too! Repetition has certainly made me faster at sewing these together!

I have the third bag interfaced and ready to sew together. You can see there are a lot of different pieces for one bag! When finished the bags measure 18" wide x 16.5" high x 3.5" in depth at the bottom.

new sewing room rug, shopping, and weekend plans

I had a busy afternoon and evening, so no sewing happened. I had a doctor's appointment and since I was on the east side of the area and right down the street from the bike shop, I stopped there for chain lubricant which I should have bought when I bought my new bike.

Next I wanted to get some information on a bike rack. I'm just thinking about getting one, but I needed to know what to get and how much it would cost. The shop wasn't busy because the weather was awful and one of the fellows help answer my questions. First, I need a receiver for the car. This is the one he recommended. It would cost $308 before tax.

Then for the bike rack he recomended this one for easy of use and for the size and weight of my bike. It's a mear $799.00! Yikes! I am going to have to think long and hard if I want to make this kind of investment.

After the bike shop I stopped at the grocery store and then Menards. At Menards I wanted to see if they had more of the bacon I liked and to check out some carpet tiles. I had bought these rugs to replace the carpet tile rug I had made out of carpet samples from when I was on the school project. I am constantly tripping on these rugs! They are lightweight and so annoying.

Menards had a stack of 24" x 24" odds and ends carpet tiles for a couple dollars each, so I rummaged thru those until I found 8 that matched fairly well.

By the time I got home, unloaded the car, put the groceries away, got something to eat it was already 6:30. I decided to roll up those awful rugs and constuct my new one. I had bought a roll of Gorilla tape to tape the tiles together. I got 6 taped together and saw I had space for some partial pieces. I took one tile and cut it into 3 8"x24" pieces.

Here I am tapeing the pieces together. That is not duct tape; it is a Gorilla tape that is much sticker than duct tape. I ran out of that and had to use some of the clear Gorilla tape.

I put the taped tiles on the floor then slid the big section over the long taped edge to join them together.

Done!

This weekend my plan is to finish the tote bag and get the labels sewn in the curved topped pouches.

Have a great weekend!