Totals 2013 February

I have had a busy month, trying to move forward on several UFOs and prepare some projects for entry at the fair, FCE and Junior Womens Club upcoming cultural arts programs.

Handwork:

Three years ago I bought this gorgeous teal yarn and found a pattern I liked   ("King Charles Brocade") and began knitting this afghan.  There is a lot of counting of knits and pearls for each row so I could only work on this with full concentration.... that is why it has taken me so long to complete. I am finally finished and it is ready to enter.

I also finished blanket-stitching the fusible wording on my basket sampler wall hanging and it now quilted and ready to hang.






Machine Sewing:

Last fall I began working with my son's group making applique quilt blocks for a banner to hang in the activity room where they meet.  With only two blocks remaining to be complete I began arranging blocks an deciding on a layout.

The inner border is now attached, and I am making progress on the borders for Easy Street.  I've stitched together 2 borders worth of blocks and half done with a 3rd border.  These little 3" finished blocks are so cute and I'm looking forward to a finished flimsy!

Lastly, this month I've finally set these pieced and applique blocks into a wall hanging.  I still have to add the wide muslin border with some more applique and then a final pieced border.  Still a long way to go, but I'm making progress.



 
 WORK COMPLETED IN FEBRUARY
.....07.....customer tops quilted (YTD 1)
.....03.....customer quilts bound (YTD  05)
.....01.....flimsy completed waiting to be quilted  (YTD  2) Lucky Charms, Basket Sampler
.....01.....quilted flimsy (YTD  2) Lucky Charms, Basket Sampler
.....20......hand-work hours (20 YTD )

        Bonnie Projects
.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced YTD  0 ...  81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 0 .. 21of 112 in 2012)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 0 ....120 of 175 in 2012)
.....08....Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08....24 of 32 in 2012)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 (0 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
.....00.....Floribunda Blocks (12 YTD).... with parts completed to assemble more blocks
..............Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
..............Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Easy Street Steps 1-7 Completed in 2012
..............Easy Street Step 8 Block A (16 of 16)
.....................Block B ( YD 9 of 9)
....01...... Easy Street  1.5 in inner border cut and sewn
.....72.... Easy Street  square in square blocks  (72 of 116 YTD
............. Easy Street final purple border

Treadling

 
Last night I was watching Bonnie treadling away on Quiltcam and she was talking about her "Red Eye".  I have recently re-organized/arranged my sewing room (again!) and un-burried my treadle.

I was yard sale shopping a few years ago and picked up this gorgeous Singer "Redeye".  The grandmother I bought it from had sewn on it "for ages" but age and health problems left her unable to continue to do so.  Sadly, none of her children or grandchildren were interested in acquiring it or learning to sew.... That has worked out just fine for me!

The serial number G8546689 indicates that it was made in 1921.... a A Singer 66.

Looking on the internet I have found the decal pattern may originally have been called "Scroll (red)".  But the common names for it are "Red Head" or "Red Eye" due to the red eye-shaped design in the decal decoration.



It is in excellent shape for a 92 year old!  They sure don't build them like this anymore!

Some other general information I was able to copy off the internet:

The Singer 66 sewing machine produces a near perfect stitch. When sewing well the 66 will out-sew nearly any modern machine through a huge variety of fabrics from linen to lace, horse blankets to buckram. It is simply near perfect engineering but this came at a price. A Singer 66 was one of the most expensive sewing machines on the market costing several months wages.  Most sewers would opt for the smaller twin, the Singer 99, but for those professional sewers who wanted more foot clearance and space the Singer 66 was the queen. Expensive but simply the best.

The 66 arrived after nearly half a century of improvements and developments.The mass produced machine was introduced around 1900 and used the smooth oscillating hook. The hook mounted horizontally allowed the bobbin to be simply dropped into the machine. The simplicity of threading and perfection of stitch made the 66 an instant best seller. The high-arm clearance and sewing ability was second to none.

It ran from the 1900 right up until the model was superseded by the amazing Singer 201 in 1939. The Singer 201 was possibly the finest Singer ever produced. The smaller stable-mate to the Singer 66 was the Singer 99 identical except for size.

The British Singer 66's were adorned with three different decals. Firstly the Lotus petal; then came the Sphinx which was also used on the Singer 15k and a few other shuttle models. In America the red-eye pattern stayed with the machine whereas in Britain the Singer 66 had three decal changes.

The Singer "Red Eye" gets its name from the beautiful lenticular design used throughout its decoration. Several other machines earn names from their embellishments such as the Sphinx, Lotus, Memphis, Egyptian, etc.

Bonnie suggested starting with string blocks when learning to treadle... no need for perfect 1/4 inch seams....that is exactly what I plan to do.  I have a bag of gifted strings that need to be sewn!  

I'll need to research how to oil and clean her up a bit first; but hope to be ready to sew on her by the time Bonnie returns for the next Quiltcam.

 

Wednesday Sewing Sisters

There are several members of our local quilt guild that, for a variety of reasons, do not go to the night-time meetings.  We didn't want to miss out on the social and sharing aspect so we organized a daytime guild meeting at our LQS in 2011.  With the closing of our LQS last summer, our day meetings came to a sudden halt.  By the time October rolled around, we were missing our gatherings and I arranged to use a room in our local library to gather and sew.  

Since many of us a guild members (some do attend the night meetings) we do share guild information, but we decided not to be a "guild" meeting with a specific agenda or project to work on.  Everyone brings whatever project they are working on and we sit and chat and sew.

Judy was frogging the ditch stiching she did last month

Peggy was pinning her cancer ribbon getting ready to quilt

Merry was handpiecing her apple cores

I stitched the inner border onto my Easy Street top.  It was nice having lots of space and bigger tables to work .

I also finished stitching this little wall hanging I began in a class at Becky's Quilt Barn last September.... you can read about it here:

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4545104586551376905#editor/target=post;postID=8659972040860552852

I returned home from class and got busy and it has been patiently waiting for me to decide how to complete it.  The problem is that it is too small for my wall and I don't have enough of that blue to make it bigger.  After consulting with the girls today, I have decided to add a wide muslin border and applique some flowers and or baskets and make a final scrappy border to finish this out.

It was a fun morning and I look forward to our next meeting.

Hope Banner

Several years ago, retired members of a local church realized that there was a need for a safe and supervised environment for post-high school students with disabilities.  These former teachers, nurses and businessmen gathered together, and with funding from their parish, formed Hope Academy.  Every Wednesday during the school year these 20-something individuals, with a variety of disabilities, gather together for a day of fun activities, crafts, games and meals.  This also provided a much needed break for parents of these special young adults.

The program began in a small house behind the church with four students, two volunteers (retired teacher and a nurse) with at one parent required to take a turn to attend each week to help.  This year we expanded to 6 students and added two more permanent adult volunteer and moved into the large activity room in the church basement.

We wanted to decorate the bare walls of the room with something that the kids could make.  The decision was made to make a banner to hang on the back wall of the meeting room.  I spent the first half of the school year working with each child, parent, and volunteer choosing, fusing and blanket-stitching applique blocks. 

Trey

Blake

Olivia

Suzie

Ashley E

Ashley W

Matthew

Carole

Margena

Becky

Barbara

Brenda

Carl

 

HelenMarie

Julie

 

Janey

I am playing with the layout and sashing right now.  
The two original "teachers" are in the top row on the left.  
The two new "teachers" joined us this year will be on the right.  
There are six current students in the second row.
The third and fourth rows are parents.
 

There are two blocks still being worked on by teacher/parent and I still need to cut cornerstones and applique "Hope Academy" on the blue panel in the top middle.  But I am finally making visible progress on this project!

Another Acquisition!

Today I was gifted with this beautiful, in a cabinet, Singer 15-90.  

Margena is downsizing... she and her son have swapped houses... his small two bedroom home was getting too small for his growing family and her 5-bedroom family house in the country was too big for her living alone.  Everyone is happier, but she is still trying to give stuff away that she no longer has room to keep.

This was her mother's sewing machine; she remembers making costumes and clothes for her children with it.

I checked on the serial number and found it was made in 1946.

 Look at the beautiful etching on this metal plate!

Some of the decals on the front and center of the base are worn, as is the finish on the wooden table... but this was a well used and cared for machine.

I'm not too sure about this motor and light.  I doubt they were original parts. The light is held on with this awesome chrome disk, but they just stand out as too different with their plastic-y white casings.  I'll have to ask when I see her next week what the story is.

But, look at what I found in the bottom drawer!  The original manual (which is how I know it's a 15-90!) and the original box full of assorted attachments!

Progress Report

I started this afghan three years ago as a tv watching - keep my hands busy project.  I love the teal color and haven't seen a yarn this color before (the picture doesn't do it justice).  The pattern is called King Charles Brocade.
I did two rows of double crochet around the edge... couldn't remember how to do the scalloped edging that I normally have done in the past. (sigh)

I added an additonal border to my Basket Sampler Wall Hanging to make it better fit my wall.  I'm in the process of blanket stitching the wording.... one step closer to a finish!

I spent most of yesterday cleaning up and organizing my sewing room.  I can now see my cutting table top!  I have now formed a plan for borders for my Easy Street quilt (with help from my online friend Cindy and EQ7).  

One block complete.... 115 to go!


This was a groundbreaking week for my daughter and grandson as they began work on their first new home.

Snowy Day in TN

Snowy days in TN when you are almost 4 can be lots of fun.
I had to make him several snowballs.... which he then threw at me!

We rolled several around the backyard and made these friends!

Then we walked down the block to great grandma's house

He noticed the footprints in the snow and just had to follow them!  Nancy Drew came to mind as I watched him hunch over looking for each footprint!
So cute!

 

Yardsale Saturday

Last year, Bonnie Hunter started a yardsale saturday where followers could link up and sell quilty items they no longer wanted.     This event is now being hosted by ColoradoLady and I since I have been cleaning and organizing I have decided to participate this month.

Listed below are some items that I would like to sell.  If you are interested in purchasing something, leave a comment below or email me at    madakamom@aol.com
Be sure to include your name and contact information so I can get back to you.


I keep my grandson on Saturdays, so I may not be able to respond immediately, but I will answer all inquiries in the order they arrive, ASAP!

This is my first online yardsale, so please be patient with me.  I only just heard about this so I haven't checked on shipping costs.  My plan will be to take items to the Post Office on Monday, check on what it will cost to ship to you, then I will notify you the cost. If that is acceptable to you, send me a check and I'll send you the items.   Sound like a plan??  Good...  here we go.

#1 a patriotic quilted jacket  $15.00(plus shipping) 

I believe it is a size large or 12/14.  I'm not really sure when or where I aquired this, but I no longer have any interest in wearing it.... especially in the July heat of Tennessee!

 Item #2  Child's animal print fabric  $10.00 (plus shipping)


These two coordinating fabrics come with a typed pattern to make a rag quilt.  There are a couple of completed blocks.  No batting included.

2 yards

3 yards

              ******************************

The following kits are patterns and fabric that I bought fully intending to make quilts, but just do not have enough time.  

Because yardage needed for each kit includes measurements like 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 3/8, 7/8 ...I have just estimated total yardage (I am mathematically challenged when it comes to adding different denominator fractions..I could figure it out given enough time but don't want to go to the effort, hope you don't mind)




Item #3  Summer Twist Quilt Kit $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 This kit includes pattern and just over 6 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #4  Pinwheel Fun $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~9 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #5  Pretty in Pink $40 (plus shipping)SOLD

This kit includes pattern and ~9 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #6  Fall Spin $40 (plus shipping) SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~10 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing
 

Item #7  Christmas $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~12 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing


Be sure to check out the other yardsale items available that are linked at

http://ColoradoLady.blogspot.com