Quilt progress and new hoe

I got the rest of the improv units sewn together so I started trimming a few to size. I will be working on getting this top sewn together this weekend.

I stopped working on the quilt top and decided to mow the front yard. The grass is growing like crazy with all that wonderful rain we have gotten this past week. My mower battery ran out just before I got the front done. I decided to try out my new hoe. I bought this hoe to get into tight spaces and save me from so much time on my hands and knees crawling under bushes to pull weeds.

See the stuff under this huge mugo pine?

Well this hoe can get thru the branches and into the center of the plant. I will still have to get on my hands and knees to pull weeds in other areas, but this hoe can quickly get some of the weeds especially when I am in a hurry.

I did go looking later on for backing for the Lorain black and red quilt. When a friend of mine was getting rid of some fabric, I bought this bolt from her for as song and a dance.  I am sure there is more than enough for the back of the Lorain quilt.

Have a great weekend!

Red and black Lorain t-shirt progress

I got a bit more of the pieces sewn together for the red and black t-shirt quilt. I only have a few more sections to make and I can start sewing the top together. Here is what it looks like now.

The six t-shirts are left over from a show we had last November. The band is headed back to Lorain in July so I want to have this quilt done before the show.

The color inspiration was from the 30' banners Michael and I made for the stage backdrop for that show.

Red and black t-shirt progress and rain

I sewed together all but two sets of piano key pieces for the red and black quilt. I got them pressed and pinned to the design wall so here is what it looks like now - BOLD which is what I was going for. 

I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough red t-shirt fabric to work with, but now that I have this much done I will be ok with what I have. We received another 1.1 inches of rain in the last 24 hours so the brown grass is getting back to being green. Nothing but sunshine for the next 5 days. That means I will be mowing and trimming.

4 day weekend

The show on Friday was a three hour drive. It went well. The load in and out were easy and the dinner we received was at a local restaurant which was delicious. There was a decent crowd and the ones that stayed until the end seem to have a great time. I had also made oatmeal raisin cookies for us. My brother said it was the cookies that helped him drive that long drive home. I make his without raisins.

The merch booth was right next to the stage so I got a great view of the show. I didn't sell much. The area seemed a lower income area. I did sell quite a few guitar picks; they only cost a dollar.

The downtown area was under construction with a facelift going on for the sidewalks. There also were beautiful beds and hanging baskets of flowers everywhere.

I got to bed at 2:50 a.m. That was a long trip home. Saturday I got some happy mail. I had entered a giveaway on the Colorado Cross Stitch floss tube and won a project bag. I know that seems silly to enter to win one when I make project bags, but I wanted to see how someone else makes them.

This bag had some rows of quilting. I can't tell what they used between the layers. She also stitched her bags farther away from the edges than I do. Otherwise the construction was pretty much the same. Here is a close up of the stitching with the red bag being mine.

Saturday after I got up and moving, I went to see a house and visit with my son. Sunday the band had another show. I was up and made cookies which I forgot to take pictures. I then received a phone call that the venue canceled the show due to a 98% chance of rain that evening. So now I had a bunch of cookies and the rest of the day off. I worked on making some boxy pouches - three for a lady at work and a couple extra ones.

Sunday I decided to work on a t-shirt quilt I want to have done in the next month. I started pressing on the interfacing to the large sections of red and black t-shirts I had cut apart. After that I layered them, sliced them into wedges, and sewed them together. Here is where I am so far with the top.

I continued to press the interfacing to the t-shirt sections and slicing them up. I have quite a few piles of pieces staged and that are ready to be sewn together.

Once I get all these sewn together, I will have a better idea of where I am. Right now I don't know if I will have enough to make the top or if I am going to have to source more t-shirts. This is a typical process for me - I am not much for measuring to figure out exactly the amount of material I will need. I did dig thru a closet with extra t-shirts and I found some more red and black ones. Saturday when I was out watering I saw the first bloom on my Shasta daisies.

We received almost an inch of rain on Sunday. It was a nice slow rain which let it soak in. The forecast is for another .95 of an inch of rain in the next 24 hours. Now I don't have to spend the time watering or pay for water to water the plants! I also saw another doe in the backyard with one fawn.

More tote bag handles and fawn

I got another six handles made last evening. It isn't much, but I was tired. I will work on getting the bags made tonight and tomorrow.

I have seen that doe in the evening the last couple of days and she is much slimmer. Last evening I saw her fawns. Yes, she had twins! They must be at least 3 or 4 days old.

Momma was keeping a close eye on them as they wandered thru my backyard.

I will be not posting until Tuesday as I am off on Friday and Monday. The band has two shows this weekend with one being Sunday night. One of the shows is going to be a long van ride so I don't know what I will be able to get done this weekend. Have a great weekend!

Tote bags, the garden, and Canadian goose

When I got home from work I rested a bit, got something to eat, then worked on pressing and sewing handles for drumhead tote bags. I have 14 cut out. The drumhead tote bags are cut 19" wide vs. the regular tote bags which I cut 15" wide. I only got six handles sewn, but that is better than a stick in the eye!

I then mowed the rest of the backyard and watered the plants. I have a coneflower growing in a place that I did not plant a seed. I will dig it up this weekend and put it in a better spot.

On my walk this morning Mom and Dad were escorting the kids across the road.

The Shasta daisies are full of buds.

The pepper and zucchini plants need put in the ground! Maybe I can do that this weekend.

Work and fabric

I received some happy mail! eQuilter was having a sale and I needed some new prints to add to my stash for boxy pouches and project bags. Here is what I bought

Work was insane yesterday. I have gone from almost nothing to do for months to holy cow! I was being trained last week on how to do new hire orientation. Yesterday we had 12 or 13 new hires. It took the other lady and me all day to process everyone. I had almost 8,700 steps in from running around the office all day. So what did I do? Went home, got something to eat, mowed the small side yard and half the backyard, trimmed, and watered the plants. I physically crashed at 7:30. I just couldn't take one more step! LOL!! I ended up with 11,651 steps for the day. I am still a bit tired today. I did get my studio cleaned up a bit this morning and it looks a lot better. Had a request for another boxy pouch. Onward!