Two Weeks...Too Long

Two weeks is definitely too long to go between posts. I missed writing, but was so busy with grandchildren there was no time. When there are ten people in the house, there is always laundry to be done, meals to be prepared, and dishes to do. Then the toys and books around the house to be picked up...the list could go on forever...I know you young moms are saying, "that's me EVERYDAY!", but I am A LOT older than you and this ole body gets tired quicker than it used to! Bless your hearts for raising the next generation! I'm praying for you.

This is the patient bear that I needed to finish the face on. I love this one! I hope her new owner does too. If she doesn't like her, I will make another one, but I'm thinking she will. I still need to dress her for the southeast United States. I will have to look up the weather where she's going so she will be dressed properly. TOO CUTE!!

The panda is coming along as is the quilt I am testing for Jessica with The Quilt and Needle. The quilt is a redesign of a previous pattern, I am checking to make sure the measurements and fabric requirements are still correct. I loved the first one, I am sure I will love this one too. I did different colors this time, it is quite "antique" looking this go. I am using some civil war reproductions for that look.

I think I will brave it and just go straight to the fur for the panda. After the tweeking of the legs and body, I think it will work better and since I am sewing by hand, I can take the additional time to make it perfect. Fur works better for me than cotton...can't wait to post a panda pic!

Have a wonderful day! I love hearing from you. Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy your free time. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi 

Too Long...

Not only has it been too long since I posted, but the legs on this panda are too long as well! It was back to the drawing board for a shortening of the legs and a lengthening of the black part of the body front. I made a prototype in cotton first, making sure the pattern was viable...it is, just need to tweek here and there. Can't wait to see this one in fur!

This one is just hanging out looking at me, patiently waiting for a nose and mouth. She has a few of her mates watching her to make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble while she waits. She is quite a nice bear. Her body is a really good shape and her proportions are well done. She has lovely big feet and good definition in the face. The only thing I am not sure about is the ear placement. I am thinking they are a bit low and need to be pulled up closer together. We will see what she looks like after I finish her face. I just want to sit and cuddle her. She has a new home all the way across the country (from west coast to east coast!), I better dress her a bit warmer than she is!

We have been very busy around here. I think I told you we had a wee break in between sets of grandchildren. Well, the second set of five is here. They are between 3 and 12 years old...quite a handful and we have been busy at the zoo, park, desert, eating, eating, eating!!!, and squeezing in a bit of sleeping here and there. The first week they were here, their parents were away at a trade show and Grandad and I got to spoil them without parental guidance! Now that they are home, not so much, but still enjoy the noise around the house and bodies everywhere when it's time for bed.

I am hoping you are not as busy as I am right now, and if you are that you take some time for yourself! I enjoy the time when family is here, but I need to squeeze in a bit of "me time" every now and then to regain focus. Let me know what you've been up too, I love to hear from you. Please post on one of the Facebook pages, The Crafter's Thread or Pieces Squared...I can't wait to hear about your adventures. I appreciate you.

Thanks for stopping by,

Debi

Didn't Make It :-(

Oh well! Today is another day, right? I didn't meet my goals yesterday, but it's okay. I got other things done that needed doing before the grandchildren arrive tomorrow. I got the bear pinned and the two-part pieces done. The head is three steps and is finished. The arms are two-steps, the first step is finished and they are pinned. The legs are pinned as is the body (after the darts were sewn).

We have a puppy coming with them, I just had to go get some little things for her! I love the collar! Nana's my name, spoilin's my game. I love puppies. You can see her pic here with our daughter in her sweet little hat! Her name is Bobbin (how fitting for me), and she weighs 3 pounds 15 oz. Too cute. I am going to love her to death! 

She is going to be adorable in her new little dress. Even though it is an xsmall, I believe it still may be too big! I promise to post pics when she arrives. I'm sure she will be in most of the grandchildren pictures as well! Can't wait for their visit.

I need to get this published and try to meet those goals today. I am penciled in with a friend for lunch. I had to postpone from the other day, something came up. I'm hoping we make it today!

I hope your day is fantastic and you accomplish YOUR goals, even if I can't! Have a wonderful weekend. Hope to see you post on one of our Facebook pages. We enjoy your inspiration! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy trails,

Debi 

Time to Knuckle Down

I really need to knuckle down, stop being so selfish, and sew for others. I have a teddy bear and two quilts that are sold and not finished. In my defense on the teddy bear, I have designed two for her and I didn't like either one, not my best work and not worthy to sell! I think I've got it though. I sat down, designed one about ten inches tall and love the design of the feet and head. The body is podgy (my favorite) and arms seem to have nice proportions.

I got it all on the fur with my new  permanent fabric marker, I like it that it doesn't bleed when I put the fray stop on. It is all ready for me to carry on sewing today. Hopefully, I will finish this bear and get to some much needed sewing. Tomorrow should be pretty free except for cleaning and preparing for the Alaska crew to arrive Saturday evening. 

I do have most of the melons ready for the first quilt sold. The second one just sold and we haven't started it yet. The new owner received it as a gift for Christmas and was given a blank slate to work with. These are fun! I look forward to working with her on color and design.

Well, I need to get this posted and back to this bear if I want to accomplish my goals today. Thanks for stopping by. Have a fantastic day and please take the time to do something you love. I appreciate you.

Happy Thursday,

Debi

 

Just a little thing!

Amongst the traveling to Phoenix, I did get the ears and eyes on the teddy bear, I finished the face when we got home. I was a bit afraid to do the embroidery in the car! This is my smallest bear to date. It is also pretty cute. Here it is with the 7 inch one I just finished. She's really tiny.

 

Here she is with the bigger one I finished a couple weeks ago. The large one is 14 inches, so not really all that large. The baby bear is spot on 4 inches tall when standing. When she sits, she proudly tops the ruler at 3 inches. The largest one here is showing off his new pocket watch. Now I need to re-make the vest and add a pocket. Silly me forgot the first and second time and it is already lined. I don't want to add a pocket as an after thought! The middle sized bear still needs a bow in her hair. Judy T. suggested a rosette on her head, I think I'll do that as it won't distract from the beautiful fur.

I think my calendar is completely clear today, except for church this evening...watch out sewing machine, here I come! I love to have an entire day to just play around in my studio. How about you, what are you up today? I hope you have time to do the things you love. Please share on our page on Facebook, we love to see what you're up to. Judy A. just finished another teddy bear, white and cute! Can't wait to see what you're working on.

Thanks for stopping by,

Debi

WWIT??

WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I had this hair brained idea yesterday to make a tiny little weeny bear, I must have been nuts at the time. I made one that finishes at four inches standing. That's too small!!! There is barely room for joints, once the joints are all in the body, there is no room for filling! I hardly got any stuffing in it at all! OH MY GOODNESS! Here the eye-less ted is sitting on my mouse. Cheeky little thing!!

I should have known it was really tiny when all the pieces easily fit on an 8-1/2 x 11" piece of paper for drying after the fray stopping glue was painted on. Seriously! It took me NO time at all to stitch it. The most time consuming thing was turning the thing the right way out!

Here it is with test eyes in so you can at least find the head on the furry little blob. All joking aside, I won't make one this small again, at least not a jointed one. There is simply not enough room to get everything in there for jointing. It was a good learning experiment. I do think at one point though, I was willing to throw it away. I am glad a persevered!

We took Henry (our dachshund) to the vet Monday. He needed his two year old shots and check up. He had a seizure two weeks ago and we wanted him checked for that as well.  He is good now and hasn't had one since, but the vet still ran some tests that we should be hearing back from soon. I am sure he's good as gold. I think it bothered us more than him. He is my sweet buddy.

I hope you have a fantastic day. I will be running errands early afternoon, so probably won't get much time to "play". I will take this little tike with me as we are traveling to Phoenix and I will have a bit of travel time to finish his face. Please post on the Crafter's Thread or Pieces Squared Facebook page, I love to see your projects.

Thanks for stopping by,

Debi  

Here It Is!!

I did finally finish the plucking on the sweet little ted and thought I would show you. I am in love with this one. I filled the arms, legs, and head with polyfil, but the body is full of garnet sand. This one has a bit of weight now!  However, I was a quarter of an inch off. I thought it would be seven inches and it is 7-1/4 inches. Here it is pictured with my mouse so you can judge the size. 

 I haven't decided if I will pluck more from the face though. I kinda like the look right now and I CANNOT put the fur back on. Once I pluck, it's gone forever! Looking a the picture, I see one strand of fur on the chin that must come out!! 

It also needs it's neck wear or whatever I decide to "dress" it in. The fur is so soft and pretty, I don't want to cover much of it. Maybe a bow on her head or a tiny bow tie around his neck?? Maybe just a pair of earrings or a necklace...I will just let it speak to me for a bit before I decide.

I hope to get some time to finish my patriotic BOM (block of the month) from 2014. I have 11 of the 12 blocks done, if I could just finish that last block, I could clear another thing off my cutting table. Then only two remain, one that needs a border finished and the wedding ring. I am very happy to get these WIPs (work in progress) off my table. Maybe I should call them WISPs instead...work in SLOW progress!! I hope to have a picture of another finished quilt top tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Please take some time to post your projects on The Crafter's Thread or Pieces Squared page on Facebook. I love to see your projects and be inspired to jump outside my box and try something different. I would love to try the balloons Mandy made for her girls for Christmas...maybe a tutorial is in order!! Still working on the bear tutorials, I decided to go video instead of pictures...big job!

happy day!

Debi

What Now?!

Here we are all ready for the next clue which doesn't come out until next Saturday! The quiltingboard.com mystery train ride #8 did post around 9:00am and I finished it before lunch! I may decide to make it bigger though. Here are the first twelve blocks. Judy says we can double or even quadruple the pattern. Right now it finishes at 44x58 without a border.

I also did one side border of the big mystery on quiltville.blogspot.com and laid it on the wall to look at for a bit. I may not go bigger with this one after all! 

Once I finished with these two projects, I sat around for five minutes and said, "What's next??" I didn't sit for long though. I knew I only had a few more little pieces to sew together on the bear and it would be finished as well. I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing this cute little one. It has two-toned mohair and darker fabric paws. I had to stop because my hands were sore from the plucking, I MUST GET A NEW PAIR OF TWEEZERS!!!

It's church today, so I must publish this and be getting ready. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you. Have a fantastic day. I hope you have time to do the things you love.

happy crafting,

Debi

 

Viola!

As much as I would love to say I totally completed the quilt top, I did not. I did, however, get the center finished. It was quite a power sewing day, but I enjoyed it!! It calls for a thin yellow border next, then a pieced border which I have all the blocks finished for, I just need to sew them together. I really wasn't sure when I got the "reveal" of the mystery if I was going to like it. I tweaked the centers of the stars from a aqua/yellow four patch to a solid pink square. I think it gives the eye a place to rest and looks a lot more like a star now. It is bright like I wanted. All in all, I think I like it! I am considering adding a row or two and making it a bit bigger. Right now it will finish at 88x88 inches. I think I may make it either 88x102 or 102x116...I must be crazy!! Now is the time to decide though, not AFTER I have the borders on! Guess I'll look at it for a couple of days and then make up my mind.

Other than the power sewing, I didn't do much. We had lunch with a good friend which I thoroughly enjoyed then my afternoon was quiet. I finished the washing and pretty much just sewed the rest of the day. I am very excited to get this one so far as another scrappy mystery starts today. It is the one centered around a train ride. It can be found on quiltingboard.com.  There should be a discussion under "Blocks of the Month and Week" titled something like "Mystery Train Ride #8". She hasn't posted as of yet. Usually around 9:00am Arizona time as she is local to me!! Here is my version of the last one we did. They usually end at around a lap or twin size. I like to make them bigger, I am a glutton for punishment, I guess! I say "go big or go home!"

I hope you enjoy your day and you have time to do those things you love to do. Thanks so much for stopping by, I truly appreciate you. Please post on "The Crafter's Thread" or "Pieces Squared" Facebook page, I love to see your projects.

happy crafting,

Debi

 

Ready to Power Sew!

Phew! It smells a lot better around here. The dogs got groomed and look all good now. We have a groomer that comes to our home so the dogs don't feel threatened by being taken and left somewhere. They love Beth and Tamara and seem to do ok.  We are fostering one right now, he got his first bath today, he wasn't quite sure what was going on and really did NOT like the water in his face. We chose not to blow dry, but instead to just towel and let God do the rest with fresh air. He was not as bad as I expected. The yorkie looks much better with her haircut!

It did take a while with the doctor running an hour behind and the grooming, but I finally made it into my studio in the afternoon. I tamed the ironing stack and cut all the remaining blocks for the last three sections. I only have about fifty more "broken dishes" blocks to make and I can assemble the entire quilt...border included. I have the inside pieces all ready to go. It's going to be a bright one!!

The good thing about the doctor running behind is you have time to work on the project you tote along. I got the bears legs, head, and body all sewn. I started an arm, so just one and a bit arms and two wee ears and I can assemble that one. It's going to be cute. Almost to my favorite part. It is hard to decide what to do each day. I need to finish the wedding ring, I sold another one today. WOW, everyone loves the wedding ring! The first one is getting to the hard part, putting all the melons (lips as Tristan calls them) to the centers. I have some of them done, trying to work out an easier way to do it.

We had some nice pics posted to the Facebook page yesterday, please go be inspired! I know I was. Thanks for posting. I love seeing new ideas. I hope you have a wonderful day. I also hope your weekend is perfect and you have some time to do the things you love. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi

 

Progress!!!

Although it was a busy day again with two town trips to exchange vehicles at the garage, I did make progress on the mystery that I am desperately trying to clear off my cutting table. I have part two and part three completely finished. Part four seems reasonably easier with only one set of 80 HSTs to make and a 160 squares to cut. I'll sew those to left overs from part one and VOILA! that one will be finished as well. Part five is easy because this is where I am changing the design a bit, not only to make it a bit easier, but to give my eye a place to rest in the quilt. I find it quite busy. I think "ted" is getting frustrated with the ever growing pile of ironing that is blocking his view of life!

 On one of those town trips today, I took a picture of the temperature in my Jeep (Shane was driving!!) that I thought I would share with you. It is January 7th, the middle of winter for those in North America...us included...and it was 80 here! I love Arizona weather. One would think with this warmth, my joints wouldn't hurt so bad, but alas they do! Ugh!

The dogs are due for a bath and I have a follow up appointment with my foot doctor. The arthritis is pinching a nerve band in my foot and I have been wearing special shoes for about a month now. We are going to see how it's doing. Praying for the best. The dogs don't much like bath day, but it HAS to be done, I really don't like that "dog" smell that comes with a dirty inside dog. We love the dogs though, so bath day it is!!  I hope to find some time to work on the last three steps to the mystery and also this two toned ted that has been just hanging around for the past couple of days :-(

I hope you get some time today to do something you love and please post on The Crafter's Thread or Pieces Squared pages on Facebook. We all love the encouragement and inspiration you give. Have a fantastic day! Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

happy crafting,

Debi

Oh My!

Have you ever had one of those days where you just have to stop and say, "Oh my!"? Well, Tuesday was my day to do that. It started with a reasonably early manicure, which I will say I enjoyed as it has been quite a while since I had one last.  Then off to the fabric store for a couple of minutes of retail therapy. Back home and sit on heat for a while, by now my back is really sore.  Shane gets home from the airport from dropping Rachel and the kids and we have some alone time to decompress from three weeks of full on energy. We went to have a nice quiet lunch after dropping the Jeep off for it's service. Off to the drug store to pick up some prescriptions and home again to dig out after a visit of grandchildren.  I finally walked into my studio at 5:00 and had another "Oh my!" sigh as I looked around and saw the mess left behind after entertaining said grandchildren on their sewing machine in here. I am not sure they left one scrap unturned looking for that perfect piece for their current project!

My cutting table pictured here is the least affected area! I have patterns and fur and piles of fabric everywhere here. It looks much better now. I am totally NOT showing you the rest of the studio as it will take a while to tidy it back up.  I ENJOYED every minute of the children in here and knew I could clean after they were gone.  I wouldn't have changed a minute of the time spent.

In the process of tidying the sewing table, I finished putting together part two of the Bonnie Hunter mystery. I knew I would be way behind with Hunter's surgery and following visit with the grandchildren. I am not doing too bad, considering the "reveal" was given on January 1, 2015. I am only about 4-5 weeks behind! I have all of the next clue cut and strip pieced, for cutting down and easy block construction. Then to put it all together. Easy peasy! I can finally see the table! 

I made a little more progress on the teddy bear I am working on. I am really looking forward to seeing this one finished, it is a tipped mohair so the fur is two toned. He will be about seven inches tall if I drew him at what I think is about seven inches! We will see when it's finished. Shane picked this fur for me, remember that pile of ten "scrap" fabrics I had to choose from?? I couldn't choose, so he did it for me! The body and head are sewn and one of the legs is complete. I still have the arms and other leg to do. The ears won't take very long, the hard work is done! Can you see the two colors in the fur sticking out the bottom of that leg and the head??

I hope you have a great day. I plan to spend most of it in my studio. We will need to go pick the Jeep up from the shop this morning (they needed it longer than expected, the shocks were shot!) and church tonight, otherwise....you'll find me in my studio! I did laundry yesterday, so that's done. Just need to clean bathrooms and empty the dishwasher! Please post on The Crafter's Thread or Pieces Squared pages on Facebook, I love hearing from you. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you.

You inspire me,

Debi

Back to it

Good morning. I am posting from my iPad this morning as I didn't post yesterday. It was a busy day with doctor appts and a bit of shopping. Seems as if life never slows down. I did take the current little bear with me and made a little bit of progress. Sunday was a sick day for a couple of us. It wasn't nice not being able to go to church. 

Gage and I finished the quilt he made for his mommy.  She does love it. The hard part is leaving it behind for me to post to her. She didn't fit several things so there will be some posting involved to get everything back home. Yesterday was filled also with sorting out what goes with them on the flight and what gets shipped. They are leaving 70+F temperatures and going to where the diesel fuel turns to sludge. Poor babies! Everyone must be gettin back to school though. (I tried several times to post pics to the blog, but I guess my iPad doesn't allow me to. There was one on Facebook though).

Hope you have a great day. Mine will be busy with saying good bye to these precious ones. Looking forward to the next crew coming in eleven days helps the hurt ease a bit. I will be playing quietly in my sewing room, no children beside me forgetting to put the presser foot down and running out of bobbin! We sure made some great memories AND a great quilt for mommy. 

Hope you get some time to do something you love today. Keeps me sane! More tomorrow, I promise. Just want to get this published. Please post on The Crafter's Thread on Facebook. You inspire me. 

Happy crafting,

Debi

Lost a Day

I don't know what when wrong along the way, but I have thought all week that it was the next day. I thought it was Saturday all day Friday. Then I found I had another day to play, HOW COOL IvS THAT?? With my extra time, I organized some fur, cut some more for the scrap mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. We got the "reveal" on New Years Day, I am going to do a bit of a redesign on the center of each block, but I love the pattern. I hadn't done the square for the center, so I can easily accommodate my tastes. The green/white/black strip is the lattice work. If you want to check out her pattern and bust your stash, quiltville.blogspot.com and it is called Grand Illusion, there is a tab on her home page. This one was very easy compared to some in the past.

Some more mysteries are starting this month. I found quiltmaker.com is doing their very first mystery. We have the fabric requirements and the first step...now's the time to jump in and have some fun. Also, the quiltingboard.com is due to start up another mystery. Judy designs pretty easy quilts and her mysteries are very fun, all centered around a train ride (we leave treats in the club car while we wait to get the next clue). I believe the next train ride begins next Saturday (10th of January 2015). Pat Sloan also started one, you can find her at patsloan.com. Hope you find something you want to do.

While hanging out with our grandchildren over the past couple of weeks, Gage has been sitting beside me at the "kids" sewing machine (my older machine) with the box of 10 inch squares and made his momma a quilt. Here is his quilt sandwich. We sat and tied it Saturday afternoon while mommy put Hunter to sleep for his nap.  She is going to love it. All I have to do now is bind it for him.  He stayed the course and attacked a few blocks a day to complete the top.  He chose a blue (her favorite color) flannel backing for warmth in cold Colorado! The seams are not all straight and the corners don't all meet, but it is completely Gage sewn. I am really proud of him. Good job my buddy.


While he finished the last of it, I had time to trace the teddy bear out on to fur and get it cut out. It is now "glued" as Katelyn calls it (she watched me "paint" the fray stop on it). It is pinned with some of the seams stitched. Can't wait to get back at it today.

I'm hoping you have a fantastic rest of your weekend and have some time to something you love. Please take the time to post on The Crafter's Thread on Facebook, I would love to see what you're working on. With the holidays over now, it's time for me to knuckle down and get some work done.

happy crafting,

Debi
P.S. THANK YOU Alecia for tracking down the pocket watch for me! It will be perfect. I can't wait to finish this bear.

Accomplished Feeling

I designed a new smallish teddy bear Friday afternoon. Then I dug into my "scraps" of fur...those pieces that have made at least one other bear so as not to waste anything... looking for a nice piece to make this one from. How hard can it be to choose? There can't be much here, WRONG! I have so many scraps, I can make like a zillion teds and still have scraps. It looks like my quilting fabric scraps. Now I need to organize this pile. I narrowed my choices down to these. I'm pretty sure there are 9 or 10 here with paw pad fabric laying with them. In my search (organizing) I found the black and white rayon I had been looking for to make a panda. Now all I have to do it draw a panda pattern! Please don't throw me in that briar patch!!

I also designed this bear's vest and have it nearly finished. I would like to find a small chain and faux pocket watch to make him look complete. I'm having way too much fun. If you know how I can make a chain or where I might find a little pocket watch, please let me know. I am not going to sew the "pocket" on until I can find the accessories. And I may shorten the vest (which calls for it's second re-design!). AND, I still have to FIX THAT NOSE!

All said and done, I feel I got a bit of fun time in. I think I did ten loads of washing Thursday. Friday only required one, so I had a bit more time to play. I hope you enjoy your weekend and get some time to do something you love. Please post pics on "The Crafter's Thread" on Facebook, I would love to see your projects. Cakes, quilts, paintings, teds, accessories, or whatever you do, it all inspires me to jump out of my box. I had a friend tell me the other day that her OCD was "fixated on beading right now", seems mine is fixated on teds! What are you fixated on?

happy crafting,

Debi

It's About Time!!

I guess it is about time for me to get back to this! I have been so busy with family here and the Christmas holidays that I haven't really done much in my studio.  I have finished two bears recently that I thought I would show you.  I also got a nice shelf for Christmas for my medium and small teds, boy is it cute! Here is the one I finished the other day. This one is for a friend, and looking at it now, the nose is crooked. I just designed a vest for it which I will make in denim.  AND straighten that nose! I'll take a pic of the vest when I'm done.

I finished this one yesterday.  She is about 6-1/4" (16 cm) tall. I used upholstery fabric for the paw pads, centering a little motif on the feet. She is too cute for words! She is sitting up on my new shelf, pretty as you please with all her teeny friends! 

Here is the shelf with a few of my new ones on it. I think there are a few here without names still. I also have a quilt that I was testing on the wall, one of Jessica's newest designs found at thequiltandneedle.com. It was her mystery for December. She's one of my favorite designers, I love testing for her.

Well, enough for today, I can't show you everything in one day! Hope your day is fantastic and your weekend crafty. Take some time to do something you love and please post pics now that Christmas is over so we can see what you worked on and gifted. I would love to see them.

Have an incredible day,

Debi