October is a busy swap month!

I am a hostess on two Yahoo swap groups.
There are times when the two groups' swaps come due on the same date.
This month three (3) swaps arrive at the same time.
I have my 1,250 1 1/2" postage stamp squares all ready.
I have my sixty (60) sleeves all ready.
I am washing my reds today. They will be pressed, cut and packaged by the day's end.
With all these packages coming due to mail back at the same time, my DH will have to help me get them to the Post Office! I will also call ahead and make sure they have two clerks at the desk so I do not hog the whole little Post Office.

Dh went to a garage sale and brought back two nice dressers. One is living in the garage and the other made it to under my design wall. It sure looks nicer than a bagillion plastic containers!!!

I gifted to myself a new mixer. I bought a KitchenAid Pro 600. The thing is massive. It makes my old mixer look like a child's toy.

And then I needed a new mixer cover. this fabric was languishing in the bottom of a container. It took three (3) bobbins worth of thread to pre-quilt it. Then only a short hour to assemble the cover.  I even made a small mat to put under the darn thing so I can move it around the countertop.
Life is good!
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I am back!!!! Shirts galore!

I am the hostess on Yahoo's Quiltvilleswap.
We are swapping shirt sleeves from 100% cotton mens shirts.
I was not playing as I already have a large stash of fabrics.
I was sure I did not need to start a collection of cotton shirts.
But after half of the players' packages arriving, and me drooling over the wonderful variety, I had to play a little.
So, I bought 10 shirts and packed them up to play.

Then Lynn D.'s package arrived with 60 sleeves...oh my such beautiful fabrics...
So I went back to Goodwill today and bought 20 more shirts.
And here are all 30 shirts totally "de-boned". The sleeves are all packaged for the swap.

I made sure I only picked browns, grays and rust colors as it seems the majority of the sleeves arriving have been in the blue family.

But I did buy a wild blue paisley shirt that reminded me of John Travolta. HA!

I have the cuffs all gathered in a separate bag. The collars all together and the plackets all together.

The collars were in a nice pile before I took the picture. But Lucky wanted to play in the fabrics so I let her plow through the collar pile. She is so fabric oriented. But then so am I and she is my constant companion. I guess some of it is bound to rub off on this newest addition to our kitty family.

In my spare time when I am not sewing and not knitting I turn to my favorite thread hobby. Crochet...this doily is almost done. Just need to weave in the thread ends.

Each one teach one!

A friend who had been missing from my life for 30+ years returned to Indiana last year after her husband died.
She has always been a seamstress. Has worked in very high end fashion stores doing alterations. She showed some interest last year in quilting. Then the "bug" bit her bad a few months ago. I started gifting her all my little triangles and leftover blocks. She has been on a roll making quilts from these fabrics.

A totally wonderful quilt made from black and white fabrics. See the staircase on the lower right side? My hubby really likes this one.

Not only is she piecing blocks but she is also doing paper piecing with the little leftovers. This little bit is just the start of a quilt for one of her doll collections. The block is 4" small!!!!

Lucky Lucy keeps making friends with all the big kitties. Here she is sharing my sewing chair with the alpha cat Macy. I cannot believe it. Macy is so contrary. She wants to be the only cat in the house. But Lucky has won her over too. Look out Macy. Lucky wants the #1 spot!

I did the last swap in the quilting room. I was not sure how Lucky would be with the baskets. She is quite a rambunctious kitten. I did not want her to tip over the baskets and have me pulling my hair out.

Maggie Mae sucking heat from a lamp over the ironing board.

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My Janome 6600P is back home and perfect!!!

My Janome 6600P is back home. It only cost a regular service fee. There was a "bind". But I do not know what that was as my hubby* picked the machine up for me. It needed to be timed too. And I asked for two new light bulbs as they have been flickering.

I am happy!!!

*(I was afraid to even venture in the dealership. I cannot afford a new machine. I must stay away from temptation!!!)

 I have been making blue Shaded 9-patches per Our Bonnie Hunter of www.quiltville.com fame. This is the Leaders and Enders challenge for 2013-2014. I have been making color controlled blocks.
I made a pink one first in the Sunshine & Shadows setting.
This setting is called Whirl a gig.
This was pieced on my 1932 Featherweight (Sissy). She really was a joy to sew on but I  missed the needle down and the knee lift features from my Janome.

I made this unit and then a mirror image. I added a single row to each end and then joined the two larger units. WHOOHOOOT! I love making these blocks. And I have to give a big "thank you" to my dear Hubby. He helped me design the layout. And kept at me when I wavered!!!

And I am working away on making little spool pin thread doilies.
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My Janome 6600P has died.

I was innocently sewing along and my Janome 6600P started squeaking (high pitched) and then the warning sign came on and she froze up.
I opened her up and could not see what was wrong. The handwheel could barely move. I clean the bobbin area every two bobbins. I am OCD that way.
The quilt I was working on needed to be done ASAP.
So I got my Singer XL1000 embroidery machine out and finished the quilt.
Not fun as the features I love on the Janome do not exist on the Singer.

Today I took her to the dealer for an exam and hopefully a repair that will not cost an arm and a leg. It will be 10 days before I hear from them. Bummer. And I was bowled over with sticker shock on the new Janome 8900.

So...I set up my 1932 Featherweight (her name is Sissy). She fits in the cabinet almost perfectly. And I can maintain a good 1/4" seam width with her.
I oiled and greased her and she is purring away.

Lucky "helping" me quilt on the Singer XL1000.

We are all in love with those thread doilies. I whipped up one for me in less than an hour. Easy peasy. My first love has always been crochet.

Unfortunately Lucky Lucy has found the design wall. Not good...not good!
These leftover "wrong" blocks from my Dancing 9-patch fit this panel perfectly. So I have a bonus quilt that will go to GGS's brother in October.

Hubby likes this design. I am not sure. I want it to be much bigger as I have made 82 blocks and this is only 36 of them.

I like the Straight Furrows set. Much easier to make bigger...

Evidence that the older kitties are accepting Lucky Lucy. This is Bess. I do not know who was there first. I guess it does not matter.
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My version of Dancing 9-patches is complete!

I learn something every single day I sew. I also learn something every time a make a Bonnie Hunter quilt. My lesson this time was to be CONSISTENT when adding the sashings. I just slapped them on where ever... not a good experience. So there will be another quilt coming from this pattern that is wrong. I did not want to resew the blocks. I sew things with a short stitch length...

I also had a senior moment when I thought I had until September to make this quilt. Another big wrong! Great Grand Son's birthday is MONDAY!!! Glad I had already cut out the parts. I was going to use it as a L&E while sewing the Split 9-patch blocks that are this season's challenge from Our Bonnie.

I taught myself how to knit. So far only meager dishcloths. But I am getting good at them. So I decided to gift Our Bonnie with some dishcloths that were in Easy Street colors. I knew she had a busy schedule. She posted about them this morning. And she will be taking them up to her quilt villa. So as she is doing some housework tasks she will be using my humble dishcloths. I will sure be with her in spirit!!!
Click on the link below to take you to her blogpost and a photo of the gift.
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/08/home-again.html

All done! Just need to get it pinned up and quilted. Okay...I have three days...whoops only 2 days as we are celebrating the birthday this Sunday! Yikes I need to get moving!!!!

A few of the units as I was sewing....

Our tomatoes this year have been fantastic. That is a full size dinner plate the tomatoes are sitting on. I do not see how the poor plant can hold on to them!!! Of course DH gets all my selvedges to tie the plants up. I just checked his container and he is almost out!!! I will get it filled up again!

Maggie Mae and I watched Quiltcam last night. You can barely see Bonnie but she is there!!!
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New Leader Ender challenge from Our Bonnie Hunter!!

New Leader Ender challenge from Our Bonnie Hunter!!

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/07/summer-2013-leader-ender-challenge.html

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/07/summer-2013-leader-ender-challenge.html

Hoping at least one of those links will work.

Bonnie's posting today was just what I needed. I finished up all my spool blocks. They are all in groups of ten and I ended with an even ten...serendipity!!! I now have 810 spool blocks.

WHOOHOOO!!!!

Our newest kitty member (#5)  has won over our hearts!!! Meet Lucky Lucy.

DH found her in the yard 3 weeks ago. Totally feral...untouchable even after a week of DH sitting outside with her, sweet talking and feeding her food. She bit and scratched him really bad one time. But we did not give up on her. There were (and still are) places on her back where all the fur is gone and is not growing back in. It almost looks as if a large jaw had hold of her. We have foxes and coyotes that visit from the river. Who knows what happened to her. It could also have been human meanness...I cannot fathom that fact. So I won't think about it.

On week two there was a large thunderstorm...our garage door was open and she simply walked in. So DH slowly shut that door and blocked the kitty door from the house. No drama...no nervous behavior. We continued to go out for another week and speak to her and give her food and water. She slowly began to trust us. Allowed touching then scratching and then cuddling ON THE GROUND ONLY.

Then we opened the house door (shut the "air" off) and waited for her to come into the house. She did...she is using the litterbox. She is using the cat scratch tree. No fleas. No ear mites...has turned into a real cuddle bug. She is still not happy being picked up. But we are working on her. She lets us press out her toenails...we have yet to try nail trimming. Small steps with such big rewards.

She has claimed my sewing chair as hers. She looks so beautiful on it. I swear she matches that quilt on the back.

This is Lucky Lucy under her favorite outside bush...so scared.

And I bought a new toy and all five cats love it. There has been minimal hissing and no cat fights at all. It is as if she was meant to be here. She shows no desire to go outside. I figure she is about 12 weeks old. When we get her a bit calmer we will take her to the vet...oh boy I hope she doesn't hold a grudge.

here is the best cat toy in the world!!!!! Best $20 I ever spent on a toy.

I received this gift package from the famous Pat Sloan. All my favorite colors and Aurifil thread. Thanks Pat Sloan...you rock! Quilters are so generous. And her basket made it safe and sound to Virginia. Read her post here:
http://blog.patsloan.com/2013/07/pat-sloan-do-you-hoard-fabric-.html#comments


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