Day Five

A repeat of day four, plus cutting some more 2” strips.

Day Four

More clearing off of my cutting table, including sorting out some yarn and adding it to the stash. It will soon be crocheted into a cat bed.

Onwards!

Day Three

I cleaned off some of my ironing table, and cut more 2” strips. Slowly, but surely, I will get this done.

Pictures eventually...

Day Two

Today I finished clearing off my chair, and cut some two inch strips. I also moved a small set of plastic drawers to a spot under my cutting table.

The work is made a bit more difficult as yesterday I did something to send my lower back into spasm. As they say - aging sucks, but it’s better than the alternative!

Renewing my Vows

Well, I didn’t actually take any with regard to quilting, but perhaps it’s time I did. I have been gifted with a lot of fabric with which to make cat quilts (for donation to shelters), and it’s about time I got down to work.

So, starting today, I vow to spend some time in my quilting room every day. I’ll be cutting fabric, sewing fabric, organizing - what have you - every day. I need to make a dent in the mountain.

Mind you, I will be taking a short break when we travel, and that’s coming up soon. But aside from that - I will do this.

Watch this space for progress.

Quilting

I've been away from this process for quite a while. There are various reasons, but a big one has been that my sewing studio is not functional as such. I'm working on it - a little bit every day, and I can hardly wait to get something under my needle again.

New Friends

Yesterday we attended the Twisted Stitchers Quilt Show in Ajax, Ontario, and it was wonderful!

It was a chance to reconnect with old friends, and to make some new friends as well. The fact that I had considered not going at all, and then only went at the last minute, made it even more special. If we hadn't gone at that specific time, we wouldn't have met new friends, one of whom is from Australia! Life is all about synchronicity.

And I fell in love! There is a darling little quilt frame for sale from the Ultimate Sewing Centre. It is approximately one-third the size of my SuperQuilter Proflex, and would free up *so* much space in my studio. I want! Now I have to find someone who would like to buy my current frame. It's set up for king-sized quilts, so it's large!

And - bonus of bonuses - I slept about 4 hours straight last night without coughing once. And - when I woke up - my trigger thumb was gone (on my right hand). I still have some stiffness in one finger from arthritis - but progress is progress. I'll gladly take it. The gold elbow in my left arm seems to have subsided somewhat as well. Perhaps there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Until next time,

Peggi

I Kissed a Girl

So, today, I did a thing. (No, I didn't kiss a girl. But if I titled this "I made a quilt", who would care?)

It's a real thing. It's something that I've never done before, and it was completely outside my comfort zone.

Well, at least, it used to be.

I spend a lot of time crocheting beds for animal shelters and adoption centres. I also spend time on decluttering (well, now and then). In the process, I go through my many, many, t-shirts, and decide what to do with them. Some are still in good shape, but I haven't worn them for a very long time, and they are of no use or interest to other people. (After all, who would want to buy a convention t-shirt for a convention they've never heard of - if they have even heard of conventions?)

I thought that perhaps I could make a kennel quilt with some of them. There's lots of material, and only minimal quilting is required. They don't even have to be bound.

I even got brave, and decided I wouldn't need stabilizer.

Now, this is the first time I have ever tried this, and I made lots of mistakes. But I learned a lot too. So all in all, I'm happy with this. Now let's see if any of the cats want to lie on it.

I should note that this is the first time that I have experimented with making something completely out of my head, too. So, go me!

A Picture

As promised - this is cat bed number 7, toward my goal of 50.

Because it's 2017!

It's a brand new year, with brand new opportunities. And I've decided I don't want to waste them.

So here I am, blogging again. And it will be about my creative activities such as crochet, quilting, and sewing.

In November, I set a goal to crochet 50 cat blankets in one year. Since I can average one a week rather easily, this is an achievable goal. And so far, I've finished 6. (Pictures will follow maybe tomorrow.)

These will be donated to Cuddly Cats Rescue and to the Animal Emergency Clinic in Whitby.

I've also got several flimsies completed to make into Kennel Quilts, and these will be donated to Second Chance, which rescues cats, and some for the Humane Society of Durham Region.

If anyone else wishes to receive either of these, I will add them to my list and just keep going.

This means that I will be using a lot of cotton fabric, and a lot of yarn. If anyone has any extras that they would like to send my way, I would be grateful! ;-)

I've also got several quilts that need to be sandwiched and completed, as well as some WIPs and many kits/projects on the go.

I plan for this to be a productive year!

Happy New Year to all, full of positives and possibilities!

Peggi

It's Sunday

So, let's be totally honest.

I've never had it all together. Never.

In fact, I've frequently had it all over the place. Like this.

In the foreground, you can see my quilting frame, with various sets of drawers and boxes underneath to provide storage. On top of the frame is a pile of fabric and patterns, that need to be sorted and put away.

In the background are shelves that are in the room to provide room for boxes of fabrics. You can see that isn't happening.

So, this is my attempt to "shame" myself into getting stuff sorted out. I've put the word shame in quotation marks, because I don't like the idea of shaming people. But I need motivation.

I'd be interested in any tips you might be willing to share to help me in this. Please don't tell me that I should just "do it". That doesn't tell me how, and, sadly, I do need assistance.

So, other than that, how has *your* life been?

Peggi

It's not Wednesday

For a while, I used to post pictures of what my cutting table looks like every Wednesday. It may still be something I'll do in the future, but for a very long time I haven't accomplished anything. And there's nothing more boring that reading someone (me) moaning about how nothing is ever getting done.

So today, I'm posting about a small finish instead. There have been a few, but this one actually happened this morning.

This is the front and the back of my very first kennel quilt. I finished it in the spirit of "done is better than perfect" - and to get me over my fear of not being able to get something right.

In the past couple of weeks, I have also completed two crocheted squares to be part of a blanket for a charity, and two crocheted cat beds (one for friends in the US - all red - and the other for donation to Cuddly Cats Rescue).

So yes, I actually do appear able to accomplish something. Guess I just have to keep it up.

What have you been working on lately?

Peggi

Did you miss me?

I've missed my blog. And all the wonderful bloggers I follow. Perhaps it is time to come back? What do you think?

Peggi

Forget Perfection

If you are anything like me, that is very difficult to do. And the problem with this is that it makes it very difficult to actually start something. I mean, what's the point of starting something, if I'm only going to get it wrong and everyone will judge it and know I'm a failure, and, and – well, you get the picture.

So, today a friend was on Facebook, and I commented on a post he had made. I followed this up with a note through Messenger. One thing led to another, and I ended up sending him a picture of a quilt top I had made. The quilt was intended for his son, but it was so busy, and so bright that I figured he would hate it. Plus I made a booboo in the quilt.

Well, as a result, he has told me that he has plans to come and pick it up from me. I told him I would have to go and buy backing and finish it. So – guess what. Off we went to the quilt shop where I bought suitable backing, and some extra fabric for the binding (in case I don't have enough on hand). Next, I'll have to clear off my quilting frame, and start practising like crazy. I know exactly how I want to quilt this, and it's going to take some work.

But. Despite the booboo – and how busy it is – he likes the quilt! I showed it to the owner at the quilt store, and she told me it's great! (She also commented on the small kennel quilt I had made, saying that all the corners meet and it's crazy. Did I mention it's made from 2” squares?)

The bottom line is – I need to remember that perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Wonder how long I'll actually remember.

Help, I'm drowning!

Hello, my name is Peggi. And I have a lot of clutter. This is a picture of my long-arm frame, with STUFF piled on top of it. I am trying to spend 15 minutes in my sewing room every day, organizing. But, truth be told, organizing, in my case, simply consists of moving things from one location to another. Perhaps it's stored in a different container, or in a different place - but it's really just moved. It's not sorted. So - while it looks neater, it doesn't make it any easier for me to find it later.

It's so easy to know what the answer is - to take the time and truly sort and then store/use/give away - whatever. But it's REALLY hard to get from here to there.

So. This is my goal. To have a more decluttered life. And I'm going to try to document it here. Since the blog already exists, and this is my quilting room, after all. Who would like to join me? And who would like to offer support?

Please understand that comments such as - "Just dump it all." or "Clutter is clutter - just clean it up." aren't helpful in the long run. This is a journey, and it's not an easy one.

Who's up for the long haul?

Peggi

Baby Quilt

The top is finally finished. Isn't this the most busy quilt you have ever seen?

Peggi

And More Recycling

A while ago, the local Humane Society listed "file folders" on its wish list of supplies needed. I've been saving them up - because I just happen to have too many. Now I'm told they have enough, thank you very much. It's getting more difficult to recycle, it seems.

Natter, natter, natter...

Clearly I need to do more sewing.

Peggi

Recycling

In related news (well, it's related because it's me that has the question), for reasons only partially known to me, I have become infected with the recycling bug. (Okay, I already had it for fabric, but that's different, right?) I have been looking for places close to home for recycling floppy disks. Our local community is having an e-Waste collection event tomorrow - so I asked them. Nope. Put them in the trash, they said. There must be some place that takes these. (As in, it's not a good thing to clutter up landfill, right? And let's not even think about environmental effects of throwing out lots of plastic!)

So - wish me luck. Because I've got a LOT of these suckers, and I only need a small number of coasters. (Oh, wait. I've already got lots of those. See what I mean?)

Keep sewing,

Peggi

Almost there

Only one more seam for the baby quilt I've been working on, and then I'm off to start a new project.

Why yes, that means I still have to quilt and bind the baby quilt. But that's a task for another day - when I actually have my other sewing machine desk cleared off.

What are you working on today?

Peggi

Echoes in an Empty Room

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?