Crazy for hankies!

I decided that my granddaughters should have hankies as well as my grandson, so I spent yesterday making them up. I'm still perfecting my technique. My goal is to make my own hanky blanks from my fabric stash and embellish them with tatting. I'm not happy with the machine results, so I think I'll have my mom re-teach me in the art of hand-sewing rolled hems when she's here at Easter. Of course, this all-day project did not make much of a dent in my stash! Still, a little here, a little there...

I did it!

Isabella's quilt just called out for a tatted star! I pulled out my simplest star pattern and voila! It took me a couple of tries, and it's not my best effort, but I did it!

Now, if I can only figure out what's going on with my camera...

Isabella's quilt

Mary Engelbreit is one of my favorite illustrators. So when I saw this pre-quilted panel, I knew it would be a fun project. I love giving these easy-to-do quilts as baby presents. Our pre-school teacher, Aimee, had her first child, Isabella, the end of December, and this quilt is for that adorable baby girl.

I started finishing these panels as baby gifts when I was expecting my daughter Carol, who will be 27 this summer. My, how time flies! Normally, I can finish one in one or two evenings while watching t.v. I started this one at 7 a.m. yesterday, and finished it at 5:30 p.m. Of course, this time included 15-20 minutes of exercise every hour, but I was still amazed at how long it took me! The good news (besides finishing one of my projects)... my fingers feel a little more flexible today!

The squares are little handkerchiefs for my grandson, Aidan. He doesn't like tissues, so I thought I'd see if some soft cotton hankies would suit him.

Two projects down, ??? to go!

Ready for action!

I'm not completely done with reorganizing/cleaning my sewing room, but at least I feel like I can finally get to some serious stash-busting! As you can see, my closet is overflowing with supplies and partially completed projects. It's time for me to get to work!

How did I accomplish this feat? I popped the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice into the DVD player and set mini goals for the 40-45 minutes between each round of exercise. When Carol came over after school, she moved the heavy objects for me. I have a book by Nancy Zieman titled 10-20-30 Minutes to Sew, which is my inspiration for breaking monumental tasks into do-able goals. Thank you, Nancy!

If you look at the shelving picture and focus on the corner shelf, you can see that I stole a framing idea from Sherry Pence. Sherry and Laura each sent me tatted pieces with sympathy cards when my dad passed away, and I wanted these special pieces to have a prominent place in my sewing room. Thank you Sherry and Laura! Your friendship means more to me than I can express!

Now, it's time to begin the stash-busting!

Roses

Dave brought home this beautiful bouquet of roses last night. I love roses! I got to thinking about Sherry Pence's offer to blend colors and name them to order. Hmmm... white, yellow, pale peach, deep peach, pale pink, deep pink. red, deep green... too many colors? What name would work for this blend of colors? Roses won't do... I already have Marilee's Roses (absolutely gorgeous!), and my idea for a color blend can't compete. Any ideas?

Update: My mom suggests Petals. Why didn't I think of that?

Lace!

My new issue of PieceWork magazine arrived the other day, and I finally took time to read it last night. There are excellent instructions on making loop-manipulated braids, and the technique looks like the perfect hand therapy for me while I'm still in the cast. I think I'll try it later today.

What I'm really excited about, though, is that the next issue will focus on lace! The ad promises knitted lace, a lace collector's collection, Ipswich lace, tatting, a lace bridal purse, and much more! It goes on sale May 6. Let the countdown begin!

Anticipation

Only 10 days left until I get my cast off! I might get a different cast, depending on how my arm's healing, but I will definitely be getting rid of this one! Hallelujah! Change is good!

In anticipation of this great event, I've been working on reorganizing my sewing room... a monumental task, especially one-armed! I've unearthed some fabulous treasures (it's been a while since I've dusted my sewing room, so unearthed is an appropriate term).

I tend to be a goal-oriented person, so I've set some goals for my return to normality. One of those goals is to try some crazy quilting. I've been inspired by Melissa's work, and I think crazy quilting will be a great way to complete several tasks at one time. The fabric is from a jacket that my mom loved, but it didn't fit her any more. When I admired it, she pulled out her scissors and cut it into panels that fit into my bulging suitcase. I found my box of DMC floss, which I've never used (daughter Alison used a little bit for a sewing project). The basket holds my Danish Flower Thread, which I bought for some cross stitch projects about 20 years ago. I only finished one of the projects... I hope the thread isn't rotten! I also found two books. I've obviously thought about crazy quilting before!

How does tatting fit in? I love the way Melissa has incorporated tatted lace in her CQ blocks. I think it's a fabulous way to showcase tatting, and I have quite a few ideas for CQ blocks. I have several of Dad's ties that I can use to make blocks with a patriotic theme or a nautical theme. Will these ideas bust my stash? Not a chance! I think it's time to open up my sewing room to the public!