Monday, September 9, 2013

Guess WHAT I've Been Sewing? Hint: Not A Blouse

Has any one person on the planet sewn more blouses than I have?  I don't think so.  Seriously, I'm going to have to start building closets in front of my closets like my MIL did!  I cannot fit one more hanger on the bar where I have them now.

This rack in my closet holds ONLY CLOTHES I HAVE MADE MYSELF.  All but two are blouses, and I see one jacket.

I'm sure you will recognize most of them.

I wanted to keep them here so I could see how many I have made and not forget to wear them.


Here is my half of the closet where I can hang things.  I can see that there are MANY of my home made blouses dispersed through those other racks -- top and bottom.  My pants are there also.

I guess I have already had to let some of the blouses escape to keep them from being squashed to death!

This does not count the blouses hanging in my closet in our other home.

I do believe it is time to start weeding out the ones I don't really like that much.  Sad thing is, I can't give them away because the person receiving them would have to have all the same fitting issues that I have, or the blouse would be all wonky on them.

SOOOOOOOOOO, I was going to tell you that I have been working on a quilt top.  It is a pattern I bought in 2007 at a Bernina store in Springfield, MO.  I wasn't much of a quilter in those days, so I looked for things I thought I could actually do.  They had this made up and hanging on the wall in the store.  It was really cute, so I bought the pattern.

When I had to be at my MIL's house for all those months with NO television and NO internet, I decided to take a sewing machine and a quilt to work on for those long, lonely nights.  Recently, I finished the last block and decided to bring it home.

Here is what it looks like right this very minute on the floor of my sewing room:

I have to make sashing strips for it, and I haven't decided if I want to use this red, or a blue, or a beige fabric for those.  Three of the blocks still have to have the applique stitched around.

It will have two borders.

Here is a picture from the pattern:

Each block has to be appliqued.  I took a picture of the sunflower block BEFORE:
 And here it is AFTER:
When I get all the quilting done on top of it, it will look even better.  I am going to hang it up in here so I can have something different to look at for awhile.

NOT ONLY have I been working on that quilt, I decided to join in a project that Rhonda of "Rhonda's Creative Life" started.  At first, I didn't think I would participate, but I decided today that I was in the mood.  For some reason -- which you can read about on her very nice blog -- she is making 900 -- yes, NINE HUNDRED pillowcases for a Hospital to give to children.  She has asked for us seamstresses out there in bloggerland to help her.  I managed to make five of them today.

I didn't have a whole lot of juvenile prints because I gave them all away when my grandkids got to be 5' tall, but I did find two cute ones.

Here are the kitty cat pillowcases I made today:

 And here is one butterfly pillowcase with a contrast purple strip which I had only enough of for one:
And I made two of the butterfly cases with matching strips on the end because I couldn't find any other fabric I liked with them.
I may try to make several more tomorrow.  Depends on what mood I wake up in.  This probably seems like a simple project, but you can't imagine how hard I worked and WHAT A MESS I made trying to figure out what fabrics to use.  Check this out:

Of course, I DID find another really good use for that exercise equipment!

Remember my very first quilt -- the purple squares with the fall colored squares???  Here is another version that I started way back then, but never finished -- and I doubt I ever will since I have advanced quite a bit since that stage of my quilting life.  Wonder if anyone would want it.  All the blocks are already cut out.  They are in the bin on the floor right next to it.

That's it for today.  Time to go swing for awhile and decide what to fix for dinner.

OH!  Check out Phylly's blog.  She wrote all about the very sad tale of our most favoritist-of-all fabric store in Tulsa, OK.       www.justalittlebitofsewing.blogspot.com     She shows us the GORGEOUS fabrics she bought.  I would LOVE to have been able to be with her yesterday.

Hugs, Joy




7 comments:

  1. I found you!!! The pillowcases are wonderful. Just a note though, I'm making 200 pillowcases and hoping to collect 900 in total(200 of mine and 700 donated) to donate to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. Thanks so much for pitching in!! When you're ready to send your cases, email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and I'll give you my address.
    BTW, your studio area looks like a dream compared to the mess mine is :)

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  2. Goodness! 200. That is a huge commitment. How old are the children? Do they go up to teenage years? I don't have many child like fabrics in my stash. Lots of florals, however.

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  3. Morning, Joy Joy! This is your Tuesday morning email. Your pillow cases are cute. I've got some fabric I can donate to you to make more pillow cases. I bought it for my grandkids, but they will all be 4'10 or taller and 15 or more before I would ever get to them. OK, I'll never get to them.

    My iPad kept closing on me for no reason. I went looking in the settings and found that I had very little memory left. Finally figured out that it was all of the Blues Clues shows. Roger helped me take those off, and lots of memory now. I did put five back on.

    I finished my pattern for the Comfy Cardigan last night. I think I'm going to like that dart coming off the shoulder. Was yours very full. I think it is going to be super swishy with the extra fullness at the bottom.

    Joy, there are people that don't care if something actually fits as well as you, so you can donate some of your blouses. Now my pants would be another story. Although, many women wear their waistline just a few inches above their crotch, so they might could wear them that way. Of course, I don't have that many, so I won't be giving any away soon.
    Happy Sewing!
    Hugs, Phylly

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  4. Oh know you can't stop making tops you just can't.:( I just started following you and you've taught me so much! This is a sad day for me in blogger land.
    The pillowcases look great.
    Blessing,
    Sherry

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    1. No worries, Sherry. I have recently purchased $600 worth of fine fabrics that are NOT for pillowcases or quilts. I just made a "muslin" yesterday for Lu. I'll be posting new videos soon of the process of sewing for someone else. It is a blouse.

      Hugs, Joy

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  5. Joy, I would be very interested in the first quilt and squares that you talked about in your blog. I am just now getting interested in quilting. I would be glad to pay you for the materials.I live in Norman. I will pay for the shipping or would be glad to wait until you come back to your other house and pick it up at your store or meet you some where here. I also would love to get some of your blouses too. Like Phylly said,there are people that don't care if something actually fits as well as you.Please let me know if you are really interested in parting with some of your things.
    Anita

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TO COMMENT: Scroll down a bit and find the word "comments". It may have a number in front of it. Click on it, and you will be able to leave a somment. I realize you have to choose Google, Facebook or Anonymous or ? to post a comment. If you choose "Anonymous", you will be able to post a comment, but please leave your first name in your comment so I know you aren't a machine.

I do enjoy receiving comments, especially, when they are to answer my questions!

Hugs, Joy