Rapunzel progress

Well, I've finished another rotation on Rapunzel (Dawe).  This time I did a bit more than one page because while page 5 is a full page, page 6 is only 12 stitches wide so I included it too.

This means that I have the top row of pages done!!  Technically, the pattern is 30 total pages but I just looked and pages 25-30 are only 3 rows of stitches each.  For this update, I did remember to update the progress bar on the right side of the blog.

I was thrilled to watch the moth come to life on these last two pages.

Next up in the rotation:  Heirloom Christmas Sampler by The Victoria Sampler.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Wall Quilt finish

I've finished another wallhanging quilt!  I was working on it as one of my goals for the Sept/Oct FIUP (Finish It UP) on StashBuilders.  While I didn't finish it in time to be an "official" FIUP finish, it is done now and I'm happy with it.

I've already rearranged the wallhangings along my stairway to make room for it but I still need to get a curtain rod for it.  Hopefully, I'll be getting one tomorrow!

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Blog Hop 11 - Interesting Stash Aquisition

The question for this blog hop is:

What has been your most unusual or most interesting stash acquisition to date?

I really had to think about this one.  One of my coolest is one of my smallest:  my scissors reel.  I think it came from a storage unit that my husband bought but I don't remember for sure.  I can tell you that it was made by Ketchum & McDougall.

UPDATE:  The scissor reel has a pin on the back which I attach to my shirt near my right shoulder.  The part that is hooked to the scissors is on a self-retracting cable (think of how a tape measure works).  When I need to cut something, I pull the scissors away from my body and clip away.  When I'm done, the scissors "reel" back into place.
Another great find was something I didn't keep.  Back in the 1990's as I was travelling across Montana, I stopped at a small cross-stitch shop.  In the leaflet racks, I found two Paula Vaughan in Miniature leaflets.  I knew that leaflet was out-of-print and very hard to find.  I bought both of them for the cover price of $6.50 and when I got home I sold them on Ebay for $73 each.

More recently, I went to a garage sale a couple of houses down from me and found two cross stitch leaflets:  Chandler's Cottage by Thomas Kinkade and Watering Can from Lanarte.  This was a surprising find because the bulk of the items for sale were quilting related.  Yes, I did manage to buy some fabric as well at 50¢ a yard!
Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here.

My sewing/stitching room

Recently, I was inspired by Moda Bake Shop's Show Off Your Stash Link Party to really clean and organize my sewing/stitching room.

Here the photos of my favorite room in our house (except for the carpet).  You can click on any of the photos for a larger view.

First of all, my sewing room is upstairs.  Here is the view looking down.  I love the quilts that I have hanging in the stairwell.  As you can see, my cat Spooky likes my room as well.  The veil in the upper right was from my wedding.



Here is the start of my quilting area which is all on one side of the room.  I got the idea for stacking my fabric like this from Quiltville.  The top shelf has my radio/cd player plus some quilt tops that need finishing.  The fourth shelf down has all my pretty precuts.  Any tools or accessories for my sewing are in the sewing box on the floor.



Here is my cutting and design area.  The table is from Joann's online.  The blank wall to the left is my design wall.  I put a layer of high loft, polyester quilt batting on the wall and then put a piece of wide white flannel on top.  In the background, you can see my ironing board.  The quilt hanging on the wall was made by my grandmother.

The plastic drawers hold my crochet threads, ribbons I've won, orphan quilt blocks and some miscellaneous stuff.  The chest of drawers has my cross stitch fabric; fat quarters; misc. fabrics.  On top you will see my wedding bouquet.  The two leather boxes hold my collection of frame samples for when I choose a frame for my completed cross stitch projects.  I order my frames from Picture Frames.com.



Next we come to my cross stitch area.  The bags are for holding small projects that I can work on away from home.  My WIPs that are awaiting their turn are hanging on the wall.  The glider rocker (and ottoman) and the Ott Lite were gifts from my DH.  Actually, the floor stand was too!  Yes, I am spoiled!  The project in progress is Rapunzel - Dawe from Heaven and Earth Designs.

In this odd alcove, I have a filing cabinet which holds my cross stitch patterns (top drawer); crochet books and patterns (next drawer); quilting books and patterns (lower drawer); and craft glues and misc. kits (bottom drawer).  The armoire has all of my Mill Hill beads; cross stitch kits; yarns; misc. tools; misc. craft supplies.  On top of the old sewing machine is my DVD player and to the right is another gift from DH - a LCD tv!  (You didn't think I was kidding when I said I was spoiled, did you?)

And in this corner, we have my books (mostly non-craft); my cross stitch magazines; my DMC floss collection and my Kreinik metallics (bottom right); and the shoe box tubs have various-sized cuts of material for quilting.

And here we are back at the top of the stairs.  The hope chest holds my quilt batting and gives Spooky a perch for looking out the window to our backyard and the alley.

Here is my attempt at a 360° view of my room.  It's a little wonky in spots:





Happy Stitching!

Stacy

Ooh...

my order of photo paper arrived today!  Now I can print copies of my Polaroid photos.  I didn't want to put the actual Polaroids in my scrapbooks so I'm going to make new prints and scrapbook them.

I have been making progress getting photos out of the first magnetic album.  I'd say that about half of the photos are out of it and I have 20 pages completely done and into the new album.

Now I'm off to do a bit of housework then I'll dive back into the scrapbooking!

Happy Stitching (or whatever)!

Stacy

My Window Quilt

I first heard about window quilts from one of my online groups (StashBuilders).  After doing a Google search, I found a couple of sites that I found particularly helpful:

Energy Boomer: Window Quilts
Design Your Own Insulating Window Quilts

Using both these sites, I decided to make my own window quilt for in my sewing room.  Here's how I did it:

• Measured the inside of the window frame.  Mine was 26" x 56".
• Cut muslin for the backing.  I cut it about 32" x 60" so that I'd have plenty and I would trim the excess later.
• Cut up an old king-size flannel sheet for the batting layer.  Since it was a king-size, there was enough to give me two layers for extra insulation.
• Chose a pattern for the front which faces into the room.  I'd never done a Disappearing 9 patch before so this seemed like a good time to try it.
• Once I finished the top, I put the four layers together and did a simple quilt in the ditch on my sewing machine.
• Trimmed the backing and fillers 1/2" smaller than the front.
• Folded 1/4" of the front border under then folded it around to the back instead of using bias binding.
• Made a hanging sleeve approximately 3" narrower than the width of the quilt.
• Cut two ties 2" x 50" from the same material as my borders.
• At the top edge of my quilt, I pinned the:  folded edge from my front border; then the hanging sleeve on top of that; then my ties (6" in from each side).
• Starting at the top, I sewed through the binding, sleeve and ties then continued around the rest of the quilt just sewing down the binding.
• Blind-stitched the bottom edge of the hanging sleeve.
• Hung the quilt on a tension rod.

Here's what the front of the quilt looks like (before I put the layers together):

And here is what the window quilt looks like hanging in the window:

Happy Stitching!

Stacy



Uh-oh

I think I may actually be getting organized in my old age (ok, I'm not really old, I'm only 43)!

My sewing room is really starting to look tidy.  I still have a couple of small areas that need straightening up but on the whole, it's looking good.

In my office area, the computer desk is mostly clean.  The most notable spot is the printer - nothing's stacked on top of it!  ;-)

Also in my office, the other desk is now set up for my scrapbooking.  My scissors are all now on a thread rack which is hanging on the wall.  My scanner, paper cutter, stapler and hole punch are all accessible.  There is enough empty space to layout a 12in x 12in page.

I'm the secretary for my Tuesday night bowling league.  My paperwork for this week has all been entered into the computer and everything I need for next week has been printed and is in my binder ready to go.

This is not like me - Procrastination has always been my friend.  The scary thing is that I find I like the organized me - hope I can hang on to her!

Happy Stitching (and organizing)!

Stacy