Across the Finish Line

You know what they say about us crazy quilters. Find some fun fabric, chop it into pieces and then sew it back together. It's not as futile as everyone in my family thinks. I really liked this collection. Very retro and the colors were right up my alley.

I really didn't think I would finish the Michael Miller challenge before the deadline, but I made it! I even quilted it myself. There were hurdles. I didn't photograph them. Did I mention I hate the quilting part of quilting? I do.

Look how close the binding was. Not even enough binding to do a mitered seam. No biggie, straight seam it is! The backing striped fabric matched pretty well and I found it in my stash right away. Bring on a new project. Oh wait, I have seven million works in progress going on. No shortage of projects around these parts.

Happy Monday!

I finished all my blocks for the Michael Miller fabric challenge. Using my design table, I threw them together mostly haphazardly. Anything would go with these scrappy blocks. I loved the print that had the big flower motifs, so I left those without chopping them up. We only had fat eighths to work with , but I still had two pretty flowers to feature.

I sewed the blocks together two by two and then in rows of four. For smaller quilts like this I stitch continuously to keep everything straight.

I even press the rows while everything is still attached. It makes it easy to press the block seams opposite ways so they sandwich when you sew the rows together.

I added some solid borders to increase the size a bit. The finished top is 42" x 44". Now to find something for the back and get this baby quilted and bound.

Cool selvage! Love me some orange.

Our guild's BOM for August. This one was fun. It's a traditional wagon wheel block. I love seeing all the blocks of the month that everyone creates.

Oh my gosh, I got caught up in "Botched" while I was sewing Sunday. I usually watch "Snapped" but it appears I've seen too many episodes and I hate repeats. Have you seen this "Botched" show where they're trying to fix botched plastic surgeries? *shudder* Yeah, I watched two entire episodes and tapped the prime time show that aired Sunday night. I'm pretty sure spending all my plastic surgery money on fabric has been an excellent decision.

As usual, we're starving around here. It's downright pitiful.

Sunday Stash #84

Remove child before washing. Excellent care instruction. I love funny garment tags.

I saw this one a long time ago. Has College Boy written all over it.

Two more toy sewing machines arrived in the mail. I love this red one by Kay-an-ee. It came with an ancient spool of boilfast Coats & Clark's thread. I wonder if I should start naming these little things like I name my sewing machines? The seller said this machine belonged to her Aunt Jane, so that's an easy one.

This little black number was made in Germany. The decals are fun and it's a sturdy little thing. Inspector Gadget wants to clean it up, so no telling what it will look like once it gets its makeover.

That extra day off for the fourth of July holiday gave me a little time to shop online. I found a good sale at Quilt in a Day. They were giving away some of the stuff. Well, practically. Eleanor Burns was one of my first quilting "teachers," so I like to support her company. And by teacher, I mean her books, television shows, and videos.

It's Sunday, let's go sew!

Goodies from Japan

Yumi surprised me with a big box of fun. I can't believe she gave me her very first "soccer" bag. It's tiny, so that makes it even cuter. The hexies are only 2.5" across. Yumi made several of these bags while her dad was getting better in the hospital. Her pop is home now and reunited with his beloved kitty.

The soccer theme continued with nori rice ball wrappers that transform rice balls into fun soccer balls. I guess Yumi has World Cup fever too! The green curry tuna looks delicious. I can't wait to try it. I'm going to give that coworker that opens tuna every afternoon a run for his money!

Hollywood and her charge are going to make the candy sushi. There's a video that shows how to do it. Hollywood's Japanese language skills are nil, so she might need the video.

The beautiful fabrics on the left are from kimonos, I believe. I also received the prettiest scarf, which is gigantic. Maybe I'll be able to wrap it fashionably. I love scarves, but I can never get them to look right. I bet there's a You Tube video that could help me.

College Boy was able to preview the new Harry Potter area, Diagon Alley. He bought a wand that interacts with items in the park.

One night after work, Inspector Gadget decided we should ride our new SunRail commuter train. We parked our car at the depot close to the house and sat in the upper level for the ride. I'm happy to say we didn't hit any cars along the way. Apparently, people in central Florida like to disobey railroad crossings. Luckily, no one has been hurt, but this train has only been open two month and four cars have been creamed.

We got off the train in Winter Park and had a hard time choosing where to eat. There are so many places we wanted to try. We settled on Blu on the Avenue, which had a rainbow sushi roll special. They were also practically giving away Blue Point oysters. We ate those so fast I didn't have time for a photo!

After our huge appetizer course, we split a lobster cobb salad. The presentation was so pretty.

The lobster grilled cheese was very good too. We split that as well. Definitely no room for dessert, but we did have time to wander the area and stop off for a night cap before our came to get us.

 Here comes the train. Time to go home.

Sunday Stash #83

"Borrowed" from The Sewing Studio

Uh oh. The Sewing Studio had one of its 40% off everything sales on July 4. I had an open morning, so I buzzed up there and shopped with the crowds. It was my first time for one of these big sales and a lot of fun. Great shoppers, friendly staff, and tons of goodies to grab. This photo shows the line 30 minutes before opening. I was still at home. I bopped in around 20 minutes after they opened and there was no line. They even had parking attendants to help you park your car.

"The Exciter Pack" of Dye-na-Flow dyes. I bought some Kona PFD fabric for dyeing too. So many things to do with fabric.

Kona solids charm pack and a sunglasses print I really just wanted the selvage on. Ha, ha, I'm so bad. Hollywood loves it, so there's that. I can make her something with it and hoard the selvage.

Fun, fun fat quarters. Orange gingham...yes! Pretty sure I have some of the google eyes. I bought the Simpsons because it reminds me of College Boy. I delivered College Boy during an episode of The Simpsons. True story. I just looked up the episode and it was "When Flanders Failed." College Boy still loves The Simpsons.

The center fabric is Kokka from Japan. The stripe on the left was like a quarter a yard. The batik caught my eye as soon as I walked in the store. I love when people ask what you're going to do with the fabric. Uhm...not sure. Luckily they still let you buy it if you have no plan. Phew!

Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably love. I heart those guys.

Pop art fun. This is "Home Sewing is Easy: part 2 Hawaii." What a hoot. "Susan...is this bikini top too revealing? I'll raise the hem on this little number..." Girls!

That rascal Jim!

Speaking of crowds, I visited our brand new Trader Joe's on the way home from The Sewing Studio. What a zoo! Fun stuff, though. I bought all kinds of junk. The store is smaller than the one I've been to in Indianapolis, but fun nonetheless.

Dried flattened banana is nothing like banana chips. They had so many dried fruits and vegetables. These cheese section had me drooling. I may have bought 30 lbs. of it.

My flowers are looking lovely. Just kidding, you know I can't grow stuff like this. These pretties were in a huge planter at Trader Joe's. Happy Sunday! Thanks for stopping by.

Michael Miller MQG Challenge

Well, I've started the challenge. I had no idea where to go with these fabrics, so I made wonky log cabins at our last Sew Day. I may have blatantly ripped off this idea from a guild buddy. I really love this fabric collection. Fun, citrus-y colors and plenty of orange. I took a peak at the finished projects on the Modern Quilt Guild's website. Creativity galore! The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild gals did a great job as well. I have 20 days to meet the deadline, but if I miss it, no biggie.

Got a little bug and decided I wanted to own toy sewing machines. I know. Here's the first little one I acquired. Isn't it sweet? It really works too! That is if I could see to thread the needle. These silly little things are expensive. I may already be over this bug. Maybe. That's my siggy block for V. It only measures 3.5" square, so you can see how small this 1970s Little Gem sewing machine is.

I grilled some King Crab legs. I'll grill anything, won't I? They're slathered in a sauce of olive oil, butter, minced garlic, Old Bay seasoning and lime juice. Pretty darn good.

Hollywood and I went to the produce market and grocery store. She made me buy all the things she loves. I think she was hungry. When we got back we started boiled peanuts (that's a habanero pepper in them), and fried okra and green tomatoes. Then she wanted salad caprese and Chicken Parmesan. I tried this quickie recipe with spinach. Easy! I guess I should be happy Hollywood's favorite foods have graduated from blue box mac 'n cheese and cosmic brownies.

Our Marketing team meeting included imbibing hand crafted cocktails and happy hour snacks. Someone has to do it.

Yeah, that's what I thought too. But it's true, to market something, you have to try it yourself. Maybe I should work for a travel agency, or quilt shop.