Needles and Pens

Over the weekend, I finished the purple/lavender ragtime quilt, which was a special order. This was on my to-do list last week, so I guess technically, I did get it finished! Here are a few pictures... It's so hard to accurately show that deep purple in photos, but it is such a pretty, rich purple. I bought a lot of it, too, so there will be more purple raggies in my future for sure! And now for my list of to-dos this week: Dinosaur ragtime quilt - My daughter purchased the dinosaur quilt from my shop this weekend, and I still have enough of the dino fabric to make another and just switch out the photos on my listing. (And that purple above would look great with the dinos...) Make a few more purple/pink scrappy string blocks With all the ragtime quilts I've been making, I must say I'm missing my pieced quilts. Need to stay on top of that project so it isn't completely forgotten/buried in my sewing room! Vacuum Not fun, but my whole house needs a once-ov...

...and it's Friday again. Didn't quite finish my to-do list this week, but I did come close: Finish the lavender and white ragtime quilt. Not done, but started. I wasn't completely happy with the purple I ordered for this one, so I ordered another, which just came today. Still not sure which one is best. But I have made a little progress on the blocks that I am sure of. Started quilting the white flower blocks, and cutting and crossing the others. Once I have all but that bothersome purple done, I'll lay them all out with each option and decide which is best. Finish the green/music ragtime quilt. Done, and listed at Hushabye Street: Musical Frogs Ragtime Baby Quilt Take down remaining sheetrock around bathtub. Done. Who knows how long it'll stay like this? It's my husband's turn to do his thing here, and he tends to work on his own schedule. The tub needs to be leveled and a leaky pipe fixed. Then it'll be sheetrocking and taping again f...

My sisters asked what I wanted to do for our birthday weekend get-together, and I said, "Sew. And drink wine." So that's what we did! We spent the weekend together and finished this little recycled blue jean quilt. The back is all blue camouflage/wildlife print flannel: (Incidentally, we also finished three bottles of wine. lol) It's a big accomplishment for us to finish a weekend project, because around here, you never know how your plans will change, or who's going to stop by next. I think we did a pretty good job of "going with the flow." Much of the weekend was spent holding/rocking/feeding/enjoying my great-niece, Ciara, and my grandson, Mason -- such adorable babies! All in all, a fun and productive and tiring weekend! It's Monday evening now, and I'm just getting started on my to-do list for the week: My fabric order arrived today. Good timing! First up, finish the lavender/white custom order ragtime quilt. Finish green/mus...

Well I made it through my to-do list -- and then some! Complete one scrappy flannel project Done! And listed in the shop today: Scrappy Floral Ragtime Baby Quilt I also started making some pink and purple string blocks for another project: Begin work on two custom quilt orders. (Still waiting for my fabric order for this one. Should be delivered on Monday!) Tear down sheetrock on bathtub end wall. Made a heckuva mess in the process... But I got it done! AND cleaned up the mess. AND stripped the caulking around the tub/floor, for a head start on next week. Yesterday was my birthday, and I had a fantastic day! My husband and kids were so good to me. I was spoiled with roses (And breakfast. And dinner!) from my husband... ...a beautiful Willow Tree "Love" figurine from my daughter... ...and a new camera from the whole family, which I really, really needed. I didn't lift a finger all day, for meals or housework or anything, and I enjoyed every...

Well, I did it. Over the weekend I got this whole bin of flannel scraps sorted and cut up... ...into many, many pre-cut strips, squares and leftover bits. If I would only learn to do this after each project, I could save myself the killer backache of doing it all at once! At any rate, my to-dos for the week will most definitely involve some flannel. Time to enjoy the result of all that hard work. Here are my goals for the week: Complete one scrappy flannel project Depending on how quickly my order from Fabric.com arrives, begin work on two potential customer quilt orders. Clean the upstairs bathroom, and take down sheetrock on bathtub end wall to expose plumbing (from there, we'll decide if we really want to tackle the rest of that project!) Sounds like plenty of work to me... here goes!

Late with my Monday to-dos and late with my Friday finishes. But I did make some progress this week: The kitchen counter... ... is cleared! (Granted, I just did it today, and only because I said I would here. LoL Proof that the Monday to-do list really works!) The flannel heap... ... is sorted! Less than one yard, one yard, and more than one yard bins. And scraps... Currently in the process of cutting into strips and squares... And I did squeeze in one flannel project for the shop... Another little ragtime baby quilt, mostly from the "less than one yard" bin - yay! (More pictures at Hushabye Street .) As for the bathroom project, well, I said I was just going to figure out the first steps. And that's all I did. The first step is to tear the sheetrock down off that wall and all around the tub, so we can fix the plumbing problem and level the tub (something we failed to do when we installed it, and it has caused some other water issues). ...

I almost forgot to blog my to-dos for the week, so before it's too late, here goes. First, I WAS going to put finishing this pillow on my to-do list: But I already finished it before the list was made, so that would sorta be cheating. (The fun stuff always seems to get done first.) Where was I? Oh, yes. The list... well, I've had a little trouble today deciding what most needs doing, and I never actually MADE a list. It's just been one of those days. So I guess I'll just throw a few things out here that have been bugging me and see what happens: Clear off the kitchen catch-all counter. In the sewing room, since I've completely demolished the organization of my flannels, I need to sort through them all again, and maybe come up with another flannel project for the shop. And... (dare I say it?) I've been REALLY thinking about working on that upstairs bathroom that never got touched during last year's "Better Home Challenge." I...

I can't believe February is already here! Amazing how the weeks fly by when you give yourself loads of things "to-do!" Again, I almost finished everything on my list for the week . Almost. Plus a thing or two I hadn't planned on, so I guess that's fair. Straighten the basement, get the TV hooked up and get on the treadmill. (My excuse is that I'm waiting for my hubby to hook up the TV. Realistically, I could probably do it myself if I tried. Mostly, I just don't really want to get on the treadmill. LoL) Clean out the front hall closet. (What an amazing improvement. We can all hang our coats up now! Just wish I had taken a "before" picture... it was BAD.) Personalization on pink ragtime quilt. Make another pink ragtime quilt for shop. Shabby Chic Baby Pink Flannel Ragtime Quilt And this was not on my list, but since I was kind of on a roll with the flannel quilts, I also finished one that's a little more boyish. Shabby...