Year of the Pigs

I'm late with my PIG post! Jill's Year of the Pig question for this month is " Do you multi-task when sewing/quilting?" My answer is "No" I don't even chain piece! I do like to have an embroidery project going at the same time that I am making a quilt. It's very relaxing and it's a portable project that I can take to Saturday Sewing or just into the living room so that I can stitch while Andy watches (sleeps) tv!



I wanted to share this hand appliqued block that my Mother in law gave to me. I am sure she told me how old it is but I can't remember. Let's just call it vintage. She had 2 or 3 of these that were passed down to her. She had hers matted and framed and they look so sweet hanging in her guest bedroom! I plan on doing the same with mine. I checked the cost at Michaels and almost fainted!!! I think I will try to do it myself!
Here is a close-up of the tiny stitches. I don't know the name of this pattern. Does it look familiar to anyone?

Kelsey is moving back home today and I am making the supper that she requested. Country fried steak and mashed potatoes! I'm sure the rest of the evening will be spent catching up and doing laundry!

I am really itching to sew!! I feel like I havent sewn for ages. I still havent finished hand quilting the baby quilt so I HAVE to work on that but sometimes I just want to sit at my sewing machine and sew all day long!

Year of the Pigs

Jill posted her next Year of the Pigs question. The question is: What part of quilting makes you cry and put your project away? ok. I paraphrased a little.

I HATE basting my quilts! Let me say that again. I hate basting so SO much! I hand baste with thread so it seems to take me f-o-r-e-v-e-r! I am sure it takes longer because of all my whining and crying and putting it off. I have tried to pay Kelsey to baste a quilt of mine...she wouldnt!

Some of the things I will do to put off basting are :

1. cry

2. get on the computer

3. stare into space

4. pluck my eyebrows

5. hide in the bathroom

6. nap

7. get on the computer

8. text my sister and make her feel sorry for me.

9. text Kelsey and make her feel sorry for me.

10. stare into space some more

11. get on the computer

12. cry some more

I have tried telling myself how glad I will be to start the quilting part and that kinda works. What finally works is that I set my timer usually 1 hour but longer if its a large quilt and I tell myself to baste for that long and then I'm done...no matter what. I have to stop when that timer goes off. Now, I want my quilt basted well so I rush to make sure that I get done before the timer goes off.

I still hate every minute of basting...but I truly love to hand-quilt so I will keep basting until I can find someone else to do it for me!

Year of the Pigs

Jill has come to my rescue! Over at her blog, Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor, she posted my question about being in a slump and bored with your fabric. How do you get motivated? I am so excitied to read the comments.

I took some of Jill's advice and put my fabric away and got busy! I am finishing up my embroidery.

My fabric cabinet is shut (almost)

and we took a little trip to Krispy Kreme. What can I say? The hot light was on.

Andy has taken Cade and a friend to an Army/War/Gun Museum. They were shocked that I didnt want to go with them. I have most of the day to myself and I plan on enjoying it. Our local quilt shop (the one that I worked at for awhile) closed down in December. A new shop has opened up in town. I plan to go there today. I feel that if we don't support these shops then they will close and we will all lose out! We drove past the shop a few days ago. It is in a little chain of shops, it looks small which is probably a good idea in the beginning! It is called "Sewn with Love" Andy took my camera so I wont be able to take pictures. I will be back tomorrow to tell you all about it!

Don't forget to visit Jill and find out how others get their MoJo back!

Catching Up

We are still on "Winter Break" It seems more like Spring Break. We have had beautiful weather, highs in the 70's. We did have a "spring like" rain come through this morning. Sunny skies now though. We have our Spring Break in April...it will probably snow! lol

Jill's PIG question for this week is " What was your last finish? and. What UFO are you working on right now?" Hmmmm...well, I havent done a single thing on my PIG/UFO list! I started a baby quilt for my niece-in-law. This will be the first "great grand baby" on the Dillard side. They are having a sweet girl in July. I am using Bliss (LOVE) and Jodi's Pinwheel pattern from Moda Bake Shop. I have made this quilt before, it is a great pattern and perfect for a baby gift!

Andy and his brother took Cade and our nephew on a Guy's Only Day. I was happy to be left at home! They went to Dahlonega Ga, and panned for gold. Here they are at a still!

and Cade panning for gold. Why is it so hard for a 10 year old boy to smile at a camera??? or atleast try to look like you are having fun?? They all had fun and Andy said they laughed and laughed at the boys! Cade told me that they told alot of jokes but he couldnt tell them to me. Hope he doesnt repeat them at school!

I hope that everyone is having a great week. I dread school starting back:( On a good note, though, I am going to go to a new bible study at our church. It starts on tuesday morning. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Tuesdays are my days at the library..I will have to swap..Please pray that I am strong enough to tell the school "no" and go to the bible study. If I want to keep "Balance" in my life I have to learn to say "no" to the school. Now, that Sherry is back, I should be able to do this!

Year of the Pigs

Jill's question for this week is "What makes you put a project to the side and start something else?" Hmmmmm! Good question Jill! I really had to think about this one! But, I didnt have to look far for an example.

Take a look at this picture please. It looks innocent enough. You can clearly see a Ninja BOM project in a hoop. Also, you can see an almost finished handquilted Halloween quilt. Harmless? HA! You can also see that the embroidery is being stitched and the Halloween quilt has been shoved to the back of the table and the cat has been sleeping on it!!

I had to go back and think as to why I decided to start another stitchery instead of working on my quilt that I really want finished. They are both handwork that I love to do. I can stitch both up while relaxing and watching tv. I only have a a little while to sew today so I can't finish either project.

I have come to the conclusion that I pushed this PIG to the side because I wanted to work on something new!! That's it...I just wanted a new project! I am really stressed right now. I won't get to my sewing room after today for over a week and I just wanted something new and fresh. I'm sure there are so many of us that love a project that we are working on but will push it aside to do something new.....do this a few times and the projects start to add up!!

So, I'm just going to spend the rest of the afternoon sewing my little Ninja and not feel too bad cause I know my Halloween quilt willl be there waiting for me!

PIG POST #2

Jill is hosting The Year of the Pig. Her questions for today are :
1. Do you have a current list of Pigs (unfinished projects)
2. How Many do you have?
3. What is the oldest and how old is it?

Hmmm...#1. I do not have a complete PIG list. I don't have many though.
#2. I know of 4 that I want to finish. 3 of them this year.
#3 My oldest PIG is close to 5 years old.

Here are the 3 PIGS that I want to work on.
This is a 9 patch scrap quilt that I did last year for Amanda Jeans Quilt Along. I have the blocks all done, just needs put together and quilted.


String Quilt. I started this quilt a few months ago. I HAD all the blocks done and some rows put together...then at Christmas I used some of the blocks to make potholders as gifts:) I need to make more blocks, put the quilt together and quilt it.

Halloween Quilt. I am handquilting this quilt right now. I am almost done but keep putting it aside to do embroidery!! I need to finish quilting it get it bound and put up for Halloween 2011!

My fourth PIG is my Moda Christmas Quilt AKA the Pizza Box Quilt. It is a kit that I bought about 5 years ago and worked on at the Quilt Shop when I worked there. I will probably put it off and work on something else!

Thanks Jill for making me make a list of my PIGS!

The Year of the PIG

Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor has started a support group for PIGs. PIG's are Projects in Grocery bags or unfinished projects. I don't know of any quilters or crafters that have no unfinished projects. Most probably have quite a few! I probably have less than most because as a handquilter, I have to know my limits! However, I do have some projects I would like to finish. I just don't know when I will!

Jill will be posting questions for participants to answer. The first question is "How do you store your PIGS seperate from your stash?" I do store my PIGS seperate from my stash.

Here is a kit that I have started piecing. I started this years ago. I was working at a LQS and we stored our projects in Pizza boxes.

As you can see, a pizza box makes a great storage for blocks and fabric that has been cut. Everything was very neat and tidy until the cat knocked the box over. The downside to storing your PIGS in a pizza box is that if it is knocked upside down, everything comes out!

I have some string/strips stored in a heavy duty box. I would really like to make some more string blocks!

I also use clear plastic containers as storage. These have a nice lid and you can see what is in it. My favorite form of storage. This has the blocks for Bonnie Hunter's last years Mystery Quilt. Will I finish it? I don't know. I really like this years better and I doubt I would make both!

I keep my embroidery projects (patterns, floss) in ziplock bags. Whatever project that I am currently working on goes into my cute little project bag.

How do you store your PIGS?