How is it March already?

In case you can't tell from my blog, I didn't have much ambition early this year.  I had a real case of the winter blahs - especially from about mid-February on.

So, the last post I did was on my quilts that I got back from the long arm quilting.  What's happened since then?

Well, I did a show in late January - Art Studio Clearance Sale - at the Lausche Building at the Ohio Expo Center (State Fairgrounds) in Columbus.  I did manage to clearance some old inventory, so that was a good thing.




I did some quilt piecing.   After I got the quilts back from the long arm, I decided I should make another.

I found this set partly started in the closet - I'm pretty sure I made a purse from some of this and there were some leftover pieces.  This one is lap size - about 55" square or so.

I found a pattern in a magazine that I thought I would like, picked a fat quarter bundle from my stash, and made one.   This one is also lap size - about 60 x 62 or so.

I did like the pattern, so much that I made a second one.  This one is twin size - it's so bright and colorful!

I also made a new valance for a friend of mine - she was redoing her dining room, among other things.  She has a large double window.  She liked the style that she had, but just wanted a new fabric to go with her new paint colors.

 And I did a lot of cat snuggling it seemed.

So really, it seems that perhaps I didn't completely have the blahs, I just didn't write about it here!

I'm working on some new things this weekend, so hopefully I can get back to writing on a more regular basis.

Happy Sewing!
Susan

New Chair

I may have told that several months back, my dear husband committed me to making several (10) sets of bags for the cornhole game for a friend of his.  In payment for making the bags, the friend made my husband a set of boards and we kept one set of bags.  You see how I didn't actually get anything in this deal?

We've played the game a couple of times - and the last time, I apparently got a little too enthusiastic and pulled a muscle (or two) in my back.  After a few days of whining around, I scheduled a massage to work the rest of the stiffness out, and decided that maybe I needed a new chair for sewing.

I've been using an old straightback kitchen chair for years, and with this 'injury' I decided it was maybe a little to harsh for as much sewing as I do.

So a trip to the office store and I came home with an economical chair, cushioned seat, and somewhat more supportive back.  The only drawback is that, of course, the wheels don't work very well on the carpet, so switching between the sewing machine and serger, isn't much different than before.

So my next inventment will either be a floor mat, or replace the carpet - which do you think will happen?

Happy Sewing!

Susan

PS - Mimi had to check the chair out also.  She didn't stay too long, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Just plain CUTE!

Lately, I've been a little distracted from my sewing. There are a couple of reasons for that.  I haven't had a show yet this year, and have a lot of inventory, so didn't really 'need' to make too much. 

More importantly (no, really!), we got a new couch about a month ago, and all the sudden I have a great seat with my Ott light again where I can cross stitch.

I had a small project started and finished it, and then I started another one.  I was obsessed with getting it completed.

I finished it last night.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, although I think it would be adorable with a round mat and purple frame.

Happy Sewing!

Susan

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A Frame for my cross stitch

I used to cross stitch a lot.  Somewhere along the way, I got away from it, my lighting and seating changed, I got busy with other things.  You know how it is.

Since we got our new couch, I once again have a good seat with great lighting, and I've been back at it.

I've done a lot of wedding and baby samplers, and for myself I love to do houses, barns, buildings, etc.  I also like to do cats.

So here is the one I just finished - and I made this frame for it from the same fabric I used for my dining room valances.  Although I didn't put it in the dining room - I put it on my 'cat' wall in the sewing room.

Happy Stitching!

Susan

It's not that bad!

Mimi is embarrassed.

My sewing room tends to become a mess quickly.  I pull different fabrics out of the shelving trying to decide if I want to work with them, and then don't put them away.

Recently I cleaned up my den downstairs and there was a small stack of things that I needed to file - in my file drawer in the sewing room.  Of course the stacks of fabric and other stuff in front of the drawer made it difficult.

So today I started out by cleaning up this mess.

Mimi can uncover her eyes now!

Happy Sewing!

Susan

Weekend Wrap-Up

I had a show this weekend (Friday evening and Saturday) in Athens, Ohio at the Dairy Barn. I spent four years in Athens attending Ohio University, so I was a little excited to go back and spend the weekend.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from the show. The Dairy Barn is a wonderful venue for setting up, tearing down, and amount of space per booth. I thought the selection of vendors was excellent - all had very nice items, and many of them have done the shows at the Dairy Barn many times.

My sales weren't too great, though, so I doubt if I will go back.

Since it's about a 90 mile drive (each way) to Athens, and Friday night wasn't over until 8pm, I decided I didn't really want to drive back and forth. It was Mom's weekend at OU, though, so there weren't any rooms left by the time I decided that I wanted to try this show. We ended up deciding to make a weekend of it and got a cabin in Hocking Hills. The cabin was nice, the hot tub was awesome - what a way to relax after a day at a show!

For those of you who have heard me tell about Mimi cat, you know she's pretty needy for a cat. We really were only going to be gone for 2 nights - the Husband came home after work on Friday and made sure she had enough food for the weekend - and we got back home just before noon today (Sunday). You would think we could leave her alone for such a short time.

Apparently not. At some point, she threw up IN her food bowl - so I'm not sure how long she was without food - but she acted like she was starved when we got home.

Poor Mimi cat.

The car is all unloaded and my inventory put away. My book keeping is done for the event, and so now I have the rest of the day to work on - something!

Until next time.

Susan