Checked off the List

Today, I once again felt like I could be a part of the human race!  I am one of the fortunate ones with this flu, as I was only out of commission for about 10 days.  I have heard some people going on three weeks of being sick!  The only thing I did that I thought helped was spend 12 -14 hours in bed actually sleeping.  The body needs rest to recuperate, and rest I gave it.

Because, I got behind on my custom order that was last on my outstanding list, I jumped right into my sewing room and worked on the purse.

Spending about 4 hours, I managed to finish this purse, and have sent combinations to the client for payment and shipping information.

This bag is identical to the other one I made last year.  I am not a fan of making something over again, identical in every detail.  Very boring!  But, the saving grace about these purses, is I am getting paid for the end product.

Please note, I will not be taking any more requests to make this purse, as it is just to labor intensive to make any profit.

Warmest...

Custom Ordered PJ's

Before I got into quilting, I was a seamstress, sewing for a meager living when I was raising my children.  I mostly did alterations, but would get an occasional wedding party bridesmaids dresses, or the rodeo riders show outfits, including colored leather chaps.  I quit because, I went to a job outside of the home once the children were in full-time school.

There for awhile, people didn't seek out custom made items, especially clothing, but I have seen a resurgence of that market.  This is a perfect example of that resurgence.  

A great-grandmother, who cannot sew any longer, wanted her great-grandson to have a couple of special hand made PJ's.  This customer is the mother of another customer that I have been doing custom work for, and was asked if I would do this project for them.  

Here is the first set done and ready to ship.  The neckline is done with knit ribbing, and the body of the PJ's is flannel.

A big apology for the lighting of the pictures, the day was heavy overcast, and the room lighting wasn't working for me.

The other pair will be red flannel, with the blue trim neck, and I should have them done today at the latest tomorrow, making them ready for shipping.

Warmest...

Harvest Season

I normally would have done three to five posts about all that I am doing, but I just haven't had the time to get to writing about it each day, so that is why this post is so long.  Bear with me...

Yes, I have been absent, only because it is fall and that means it is harvest season for all kinds of things.  More tomatoes being made into stewed quarts, about 12 so far this year and the tomatoes are still ripening.  I have had better seasons, but I missed about 6 weeks of spring and summer out of town, so I think this is pretty good so far.

We also roasted all of our green chili that we grew and ended up with about two quarts off of one plant.  I plan on planting more next year, as we use them a lot in our cooking.  We are originally from Albuquerque, and I have smuggled green and red chili home when I visit.  It would be so much better if I could grow enough here at home.

Then, two days ago, my neighbor called and asked if I wanted some plums.   Absolutely!  So I picked a bucket came home and put them in the dehydrator.  They came out so wonderful that I went over and asked to buy some more from her, and she said to pick all I wanted.  Should never say that to me!  So I am on my third buck, and third round of drying them in the dehydrator.  My husband and I eat lots of dried fruit and nuts while doing our trade shows, so I am getting all that I can get done for us.

This is the before picture:

 And this is the after picture:

They don't look to pretty, but they are 100% all natural and taste so much better than any boughten dried fruit.

I have done over 500 plums so far, and plan on doing another 250 or so, which is about 1500 dried pieces!  Wonderful! Awesome!

But I have been doing a little bit of sewing here and there, when I can catch a few minutes.  Here are the things I have gotten done:

John's Quilt:

I laid out the layers to John's quilt and got it pinned it together.  It is ready to go to the sewing machine for stitching.  The first picture is a pillow sham that I quilted up.  You can see that I didn't stitch in each square, I grouped together sections of blocks to give it a more random look.  The client was very happy with the way the quilting is going to be done for this and the quilt.  

This shows the quilt all pinned up ready for the stitching.  

If you look closely you can see I have used two extra loft battings to make this quilt more of a comforter.  The client wanted it really thick!

Next, I received an order for three bags to hold marbles for some homemade slingshots that my dad had made for the grandsons.  This is the first one I made, and I am sending it off to see if it will work before I make the other two.

On a personal level, I made two blocks of 20 that I need to make the next round for the Chocolat Legacy UFO BOM that I am working on currently.  You can find more information about this BOM here.

Lastly, I also received a custom order for a baby quilt.  One side needs to use fabric print of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the other side needs to use fabric print from the North Carolina Tar Heels.  So after ordering the fabric online and receiving it yesterday, I went out to get the alternate colors to use on each side and also started cutting out the 5" squares.  I needed to do some "fussy cutting" from the print to get the correct icons in the quilt.

Here are the two prints with the coordinating fabric:

This shows the "fussy cutting" I did on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  There are three different logos/icons prints in the fabric.  I needed a total of 40 five inch squares, and I got all of them out of a yard of fabric.

I will be fussy cutting out the blue North Carolina Tar Heels print this evening, and the rest of the coordinating fabric, so I can get this done and out the door by the end of next week.

Warmest...

John Q Quilt Begins

Today, after doing some house cleaning (I am meeting my in-laws for the first time this weekend), I was able to finish cutting out the beginning squares for the John Q quilt.  I have enough different sized squares to start a layout of a random design.  Once the customer sees and likes the layout, I will cut some more squares, if needed, to make it the proper size.

The customer's original thought was to have mostly solid squares, with a few prints thrown in here and there in the layout.   I will have to wait until the first part of next week to do the layout (I am thinking of laying it out on a white bed sheet) as I need a block of time to get all of the blocks in place and then communicate with the customer.

Warmest...

Next Custom Order Project - John's Quilt

While out of town for the last three weeks, I received a new custom quilt order.  I am going to nickname this quilt "John Q".  While in New Mexico, I was able to go fabric shopping with the individual and pick out the fabric of the quilt.  This quilt is going to be laid out sorta like (with some modifications)  the quilt pattern below by  Lucy's Quilts.  If you are interested in getting this pattern, follow the link and then in the comment section ask her to send you her pattern, "Stained Glass Denim Quilt".

 Here is the color swatch page.  Each swatch has a corresponding number, so when we are discussing the layout and pattern of the quilt long distance, we will know what fabric we are talking about which will hopefully eliminate any confusion.

So before I can begin to work on this quilt, I am choosing to for the first time in my quilting making, washing the fabric first before cutting it out and stitching it together.  I am choosing to do this, because the colors are very dark (something I don't usually use unless they are wall hangings, and they don't get washed anyway).  I am afraid that the darker colors will run or bleed onto the lighter colors, so I am washing the darks in one load and the lights in another load.

This picture shows how I prepared the vast amour of yardage of fabric for the washer.  I am fortunate to have a front loader washer, so the fabric won't get wound around the center agitator of top loading machines.  But, I still wanted the fabric to stay as flat and together as possible, so I laid each piece out, selvage to selvage and folded it into fourths, and then pinned it together at approximately 12' intervals.  This will keep the fabric from becoming a crumpled mess and will much easier to iron when it is all done being laundered.  

Next step will be cutting out all the different sized squares for the quilt top.  Stay tuned...

Warmest...

Another Custom Order Complete

I have been working on this custom order for quite some time, as I had to go back to the drawing board and do some rework.  Today, I am done with the custom order and here are a few pictures.

This picture is of the front of the bag.  The customer is originally from Australia and wanted a bag that reflected her homeland.  She wanted the flag on the front, so I found this awesome embroidered piece of fabric that I attached in the top right hand corner.  The top right hand corner has her first name embroidered.

I chose a light print for the lining (so one can see better in the bag), and the print has all things Australian written and pictured on it.  Was a perfect match for this bag.

This final view shows the front  and the lining for an overall view of the bag.

I am going to be honest with you, this custom order was a struggle for me all along the way.  I now know what it is like to deal with difficult customers,  who are unable to make up their mind and change their minds several times along the way.  I am chalking it up to a learning experience in this e-commerence business and will make a few changes next time I do a custom order.

Warmest......

Slow Progress

I have made very little progress in the sewing room last week.  I was working on the "Aussie" two zip hipster as a custom order, and sent a progress picture to the customer.  She was not to happy with the largeness of the flag on the front of the bag.  Sigh.

Fortunately, someone else is tickled pink about this bag, and I have it sold to them.  So, it has been back to the drawing board for the other customer.  It's also the time of year when the weekend gun shows happen, and I have to be there with my husband.  And, then there is the fall garden work that has to be done.  And in the Pacific Northwest, there is so much to be done, because everything needs to be trimmed back or dug up for a pretty spring showing.

I have worked on a couple of blocks with the old BOM's I am working on:

This first one is from the "Land of Lincoln Sampler" BOM and is block 4, called Kentucky Crossroads.

This block is from the "Civil War Tribute" BOM and is block 3.  But, with this BOM, each month has two to four of the same blocks to be made.  I have made the first 12" block and will need to make another one, then I will need to make the same block pattern two more times, only these blocks will be 18".

At least, you know that I am not just sitting around and doing nothing, just not much exciting to post about this time of year.