Pink progress and still shopping

The pink quilt is now 53% quilted! Woohoo!

I have a post it note that I write who I am expecting a package from so I don't lose track. I can now cross off The Fat Quarter Shop. I ordered a yard of 32 count linen for cross stitch - Fox and Rabbit Flannel Flower. It was on sale for 30% off; now that is a deal! I needed to add something else to get free shipping, so I bought a few skeins of floss. I am now set for years with stitching linen and won't buy any unless it is on sale. I have Fox & Rabbit linen in Saltbush (my favorite color!), Mayflower, Flannel Flower, Tornado, and Duxbury which is my least favorite color. It is fun to have choices when kitting a sampler.

This morning I received an email that Superior Threads was having a sale. I like to use King Tut 40 weight cotton for machine quilting. They had 500 yards spools for as low as $4.40! Normally they sell for $10.99. I am stocking up on quilting items big time while there are great sales! The color pallet was limited, but for that price I bought pinks, greens, yellows, and a blue which will be great for baby quilts. Yesterday I also ordered fabric from Connecting Threads; got an extra 30% off clearance fabric.  What a good deal along with free shipping because I bought enough so I would get free shipping. Then I ordered some fabric from Miller's Dry Goods. Nothing was on sale, but they had what I wanted and I ordered enough to get free shipping. Once all my goodies arrive, I will show what I plan on making.  I will be off work tomorrow; Hair appointment, and getting the chimney cleaned and inspected. Maybe I will have more happy mail to show you on Friday.

Pink quilt progress

46% of the pink quilt is quilted. I am happy with that. I ran thru 5 bobbins last night and this morning before work. I am almost to the corner!

A show and guitar case

Saturday morning I ran errands then later on in the day I headed to my brother's house. Michael had a show at Northfield Park Casino, so we headed there. There were a few problems, but Michael put on a good show - 30 minutes - opening for Donnie Iris. I wasn't crazy busy at the merch booth, but we did sell a few things. Here is Michael and his girlfriend before the show.

I didn't get to bed until midnight. Sunday I was still tired, so I binge watched Yellowstone and now I am caught up. I needed to work on modifying this guitar case. Michael needs it for a gig this week so I gathered every ounce of energy I had and got it modified.

For traveling on airplanes, Michael needed to have a case for his guitar that could fit in the overhead easier. He will take the neck off the body of the guitar and leave the strings on. Then he wanted backpack straps so he can wear it like a backpack. He went to a second hand store to get a backpack for me to take apart and use the straps. The other strap is to keep the neck of the bag secure once he folds it in half.

I was only able to sew one part of the strap and one of the backpack straps by machine. The rest I had to sew by hand. I used a curved upholstery needle, a pair of pliers, and hand quilting thread for that job. That wasn't much fun. I believe it is sewn well enough; the guitar is not that heavy. I will just have him inspect the case after every time he uses it to make sure the hand stitching is not coming apart and needing repaired.

Now I can get back to the pink quilt.

Suit is done, next project

I got the pants done by 9 last night. My nephew is picking them up at my office sometime today. I sure hope they fit. I figured out that I could take the entire waistband off and cut an inch off the top of the pants in order to reduce the distance from the waist to the crotch. He doesn't like a baggy crotch. LOL!! The next project is to add some backpack straps to this soft guitar bag and add a parachute clip so that the bag stays folded in half. He can take the neck off his guitar, so it is in two pieces, so it is easier to carry on a plane and fit in the overhead. This ought to be fun fighting to get the bag under the sewing machine! NOT! LOL!!

It will be good to get back to working on the pink quilt this weekend.

Suit status, snow, and Xmas lights

I have been busy! I did get the jacket done. It was a real pain to put in those darts. I had to rip apart the lining and then had to sew it all back together! LOL!! Here is the back without darts and with darts. This was the easiest way to get rid of the excess fabric.

I will get the pants finished up tonight. The state they are currently in looks worse than what it is.

It has been snowing here since last night but thank goodness not much accumulation. Closer to Lake Erie they got much more snow! The guys at work were telling me 6" and up. The wind is blowing so the wind chill gives us a temperature of 9 degrees. That's cold! Here is what my driveway looked like on my way out to work and a picture of my neighbor's Xmas light.

Jacket progress, freezing soup, shopping

The jacket is coming along. I got the hand stitching done at the sleeves reattaching the lining after I needed to lengthen the sleeves. All the trim is topstitched. I needed to change the buttons. The cream colored ones just will not due!

Much better!

The last job is to put in darts in the back to take out some of the fullness.

I had to take apart the lining in order to put in the darts. I work on those tonight.  One step forward, three steps back!  LOL!!

Here is how I am freezing soup so I have it for quick meals. I froze the soup in this container which is enough for two meals.

I ran the container under hot water to knock the block of soup out. I put the soup in a vacuum bag marked with H & B for ham and bean soup then vacuum sealed the bag. Now I have a block of soup that is easy to store in the freezer.

I made a pot of my version of Stanley Tucci's soup last evening; I leave out the pasta and add lots of shredded chicken to up the protein. This soup is quick and easy to make.  I filled those two containers with the soup to put in the freezer for future meals and had plenty for breakfast and lunch today.

Everybody is having sales. With the possible impending tariffs, it is time to stock up on things. I can't imagine how much quilting cotton will be a yard. I bought two bolts of Hobbs 80/20 because it was such a good price. I had it delivered to work because I didn't want it sitting outside at my house if I was raining. Here are the boxes in my car.  That ought to keep me supplied for a while!  I have a bit of batting left, but can you ever have too much on hand?

Missouri Star had a great deal on rotary cutting blades, but I didn't' want to pay for shipping so I picked up enough flannel solids that were on sale to get free shipping. I got some gray, pink, and navy.  Solid colors at a great price are hard to find sometimes.

I needed the for the alternate blocks when I make flannel quilts like this.

I plan on to continue to look for good deals to keep myself in supplies as we ride out the next few years.

Quilt and suit alteration progress and binge watching

It took me a couple days to get motivated. I only left the house to go to the neighbor's for Thanksgiving on Wednesday night and Saturday I made a trip to the library. I did some cooking, laundry, and cross stitch stitching along with binge watching Yellowstone. I had to write down the last episode I watched; I think I am on Season 3. I am obsessed! It is like the Godfather set in the west. It is violent and the language is very colorful to put it in a nice way, but the storyline and relationships are so interesting and there are constant surprises. I did get the pants for Michael cut down and he came over to try them on. I was very pleased how I had guessed how much to take out and I just need to do a few tweaks to the pants. The jacket sleeves have been lengthened although I need to do the hand stitching on the sleeves. The Ultrasuede trim is attached with heat and bond, but still need stitched by machine. Thank goodness I found plenty of black Ultrasuede in my stash. I think the black trim will look sharp on stage.  I will make sure to take a picture of Michael in the suit on Saturday at the show. 

I spent too much time quilting when I should have been working on Michael's suit. I am 36% done with the quilting. I am like how this quilt looks more now with the quilting. I used 17 and 1/2 bobbins of thread so far. I may have to go and get another cone of that pink quilting thread.

I made a big pot of ham and bean soup. I figured out a way to freeze the soup in portions; I will show you that tomorrow.