Cover/bag assembly progress

There was no messing around last evening. I got straight to working on the keyboard cover. Here is the keyboard I am making the cover for.

The main part of the cover is sewn together.

I need to sew the handles/support straps on the main body. I drew guide lines around the body for the webbing and I hope I can sew the webbing on without taking the side piece partially off. Sometimes when I make these covers and spend a lot of time thinking the construction of the cover thru,  but I don't always have the logistics of adding some parts worked out. I need the straps to go from one side to the other to support the weight of the keyboard. The bag would not hold up with just adding handles.

I have the top of the cover laid out and ready to quilt. It will then be cut to size and hook and loop tape will be added to the bag and the top to keep the top in place.  All of this will make more sense when you see the finished cover. 

I need to have this done Friday evening so I can get it to my brother's house for when he loads the trailer on Saturday.  

No rest for the wicked!

Last evening was crazy! Stopped at the library, paid my credit card bill, packed a small box to ship, took out the trash bin, fixed a goof on a sampler, watered the plants, and finished quilting the other half of that t-shirt.

Wanda of Exuberant Color, showed lots of pictures of her gardens, so I needed to show her I hadn't killed the cora bell she sent me last year. It is getting big! Ignore the weeds! LOL! I still need to get to the bed along the garage. I need to allocated 4 hours taking down the netting I use to keep the deer from eating the cora bells, pulling all the weeds and then installing the new fence I bought last week.

Wanda also showed a test block she made of a schoolhouse using her die cutter. It reminded me of the cross stitch piece I stitched in 1984 with schoolhouses on it. It is on Aida, but I don't know the count or the designer.

I am going to have to set aside the Harley quilt again and get the cover made for the keyboard for my nephew. We have a show on Saturday and it would be helpful to try it out to make sure it works. I went and dug out the pieces I had already quilted so tonight I will trim the pieces to size and start the assembly process.

I had to try a couple times before I got my initials correctly stitched. Then I decided I wanted to add more little motifs to fill in the empty spaces. I have a couple more to add and then this will be done. Here is where I was yesterday and where I am now.

I have been busy!

I didn't get as much quilted on the Harley quilt as I wanted, but as you read on you will know why. I did get two more shirts finished and  I am halfway done with another. Done.

Halfway done

So that means I have 13 1/2 shirts out of 30 quilted. Almost halfway done!

I did stitch on RBS a little when I rested between projects. Here is where I was last Friday and where I am now. I need to add my initials, of course my skull, and I think I will be done.

Friday after work I headed to where my son lives. One of his daughters was in the middle school musical Annie Jr. The kids did an excellent job! In this scene she is riding piggyback across the stage with another orphan carrying her.  She is in the one on the right.

We went out to eat afterwards and I got home at 11:30 p.m. I was up earlier than I wanted to be Saturday morning. I jumped in the car and headed to Charm, Ohio to get my Mother's Day present I bought for myself. I bought myself a 12" miter saw and it came with a stand to put it on. I have had a 10" miter saw for 20 years, but it is not big enough to cut the baseboard trim I am installing in the house. My neighbor was outside when I got home and came over to ask me something, so he offered to help me unload the saw and that bundle of wood. He said he would help me assemble it, but then he looked around the garage and asked me where I was going to put it. Yes, there is a lot of stuff which I circled in the picture some of which has to go!

I spent the next 3 - 4 hours cleaning and hauling stuff to the curb with a sign "Free Goodies". I still have a ways to go. To think I completely emptyed the garage 6 - 7 years ago to have the concrete replaced and donated about half of what I had then. Where does it all come from?!! LOL!!! While I was outside I decided to cut up the stair stringers from the deck. I got one piece cut and then the circular saw that was a junk one  and was given to me died. I will have to see if one of my neighbors has one I can borrow.

After that I headed inside to rest a bit and stitch. Sunday I started on getting the first coat of paint on the rest of the railing. I stopped partway when I realized I had Satin instead of Semi-gloss paint. It took me 3 1/2 hours to get it all painted and I was feeling every bit of that time from getting up and down off the steps and floor, and bending this way and that to get every nook and cranny. Here is the before:

I had to use this 1" artist's brush to paint the railing.

Who knew it would take as long as it did and would be so physically demanding? Geeze - not me! LOL! I got the second coat finished on Monday and that took 1 hours and 40 minutes. It might need a touchup here and there, but I am calling it finally done!

I rested a bit after the 3 1/2 hour painting session then went out and mowed my entire yard. That took a couple hours and I was exhausted. I stayed home from work on Monday. Ran errands, did laundry, messed around a bit, cleaned up from the railing painting, and quilted a bit. I got a good night's sleep so I am feeling pretty good today.

Making progress

Back to the Harley quilt. I got a little bit quilted on this shirt.

The bride-to-be seemed to like the placemats. She said her husband-to-be would like the ones with the power hand tools on them. I made some good progress on the RBS sampler. I did figure out yesterday that I added two extra feathers. Oh well, I am not going to rip everything from that point to the end of the tail out. I don't mind the way it looks and I made it mine! Here is where I was yesterday and where I am now.

I am looking forward to the weekend. I am not sure what all I am going to get into, but I have a few things I would like to work on including getting a few Harley shirts quilted. Have a great weekend!

Placemats are done!

I got to sewing on the placemats as soon as I got home from work and they are done. Yeah! They are wrapped and a card is attached so they are ready to gift today at lunch. Now I can get back to the Harley quilt - again!

I got a bit more done on the RBS piece. I didn't get to stitch at lunch yesterday because we had a lunch & learn for a 401(k) update presentation. We ate boxed lunches from Honey Baked Ham while the fellow did his presentation.  The feathers are fun to stitch. Here is where I was yesterday and where I am now.

Progess on the placemats and the RBS (Red Bank School) cross stitch

After I got home from work I needed to mow and trim the front and one side yard. That took about 40 minutes. I headed inside and started quilting on the other placemat sandwich. I finished it, cut out the placemats, sewed and pressed the binding, and got the binding sewn partially on the four mats. Tonight I will splice the binding together on each mat and finish sewing on the binding. The shower it tomorrow so they will be done in time!

I made good progress on the RBS piece. I am stitching this from a picture so sometimes there is a little ripping out and restitching. So far I am happy with how this is coming out. Here is where I was yesterday and where I am now.

Quilting, but not what you think

I have had to change directions again. At work last week I got an email about a bridal shower for a woman at work. I don't know this woman at all. I did not know she was getting married and marrying another employee. The shower will be at lunch time on Thursday and as much as I don't want to go, I am going just to pretend I am bonding with the group (rolling my eyes here).  I am not going to go out and buying something. I decided I would make placemats. I dug thru my novelty fabrics and found a couple that were construction related. I would have no idea what else to use since I do not know the woman or her future husband. Last night I got the fabrics, batting, and fusible fleece pressed together, and cut the binding. One of the fabric sandwiches is quilted and the placemats are cut out. Tonight I will quilt the other sandwich, cut them out, and maybe get to sewing the binding into longer strips. I found a neutral design for the backside so if they don't want to look at extension cords and power tools they will have just circles to look at.

The solar landscaping lighting I bought the other day is now charged up and here is what they look like. The one in the middle is buried a bit in the daffodil leaves, but they will soon fade back and the light will be more visible. 

I made some great progress on the Red Bank School piece. I had a lot of time to stitch yesterday and this morning. I was glad to get the alphabet done. Here is where I was yesterday and where I am now.