Crazy sewing weekend

Whew!  I've had a whirlwind weekend in the sewing room.  I did manage to get quite a bit done.  I got the binding machine stitched on Justine's quilt and am about half done hand stitching it.  I got Karl's vest completed. And today, I managed to cut out and nearly complete a fleece shirt for Ian.  All I've got left is to hand stitch down the collar facing.  I've got a photo of it here.  It's made from that ultra soft fleece.
So, I feel pretty good about the weekend.  And, I've finally made a decision.  I'm tired of second guessing myself and playing the maybe/someday/never scenarios in my head.  I'm going to finally take the plunge into starting my sewing business on the side.  I'm currently recruiting models and will be sewing up a storm with the plan to do a photo shoot in March and have the website go live in April.  So I'll probably be updating much more on my other blog that has been rather neglected.
This business will either succeed or fail but it won't do either if I don't at least try.  Besides my (not always willing) family I've got one other model volunteer already and I just sent out the notice today.  I spent a few minutes pulling out the patterns I want and looking through the fabric stash.  I'm excited again about this idea.
Justine will arrive home on Saturday.  I'm also excited about that.  She is also ready to come home.  She's in the middle of finals this week so send good thoughts her way.
I've got to go back to work tomorrow.  It has been such a busy few days here but even with all that I feel refreshed.  It was a great change of pace.

Hope you all have a great week.

Quest for needles

In my manic Monday off, I was on a quest for needles.  My new, old treadle sewing machine came without any needles.  I've been doing some research and found that I, amazingly enough, had a needle that was reported to work.  It didn't.   Evidently all the standard needles are too short and I couldn't get it to take up the bobbin thread.  I tried to lower the needle but by the time I got it low enough there wasn't enough of the needle shank left in place to keep the needle steady.  I made a run to a local sewing machine shop because I know they have a guy who will actually service old treadle machines.  Of course he wasn't in and the guy there just wanted to run google searches (which I have already done exhaustively!) and wasn't helpful in finding the kind of needles I need to try.  I have found somewhere online that sells them but I may see if I will have time to run to a few of the quilt shops in Kalona to see if they have any ideas.  I would guess that with their huge Amish/Mennonite population that there are still treadle machines in use in the area.  But that trip won't happen any time soon.  Work beckons tomorrow and for the rest of the week.
We did have a lovely rain yesterday (1.2 inches!!) and this morning it was pea-soup thick fog out there. That interfered with my gardening plans so I just had to stay inside to sew.  Oh the hardship...  I got started on the quilting for Justine's Steampunk Airship quilt and I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out.

I did manage to pick tomatoes this afternoon and made a killer pasta sauce for dinner.  Sh... don't tell the boys that there was also zucchini in the sauce...
And now, for some reason, Mandy is attempting to crawl into my backpack.  Crazy cat.  She does the strangest things sometimes.  Ah, and now she is attacking my pincushion.  Hmm....  I think it is kitty wacky hour.  A little entertainment is always fun.

Good, bad and OMG!!

It has been a day of many, many things.  First, it was my last day of vacation.  Nevertheless, I had to go in to work for a few hours to help out.  Well, I didn't HAVE to go but they were shorthanded and swamped.  So, I took the risk to leave my MIL home alone for a few hours with a few tasks that were fairly harmless (sorting socks and re-organizing my linen closet).
V got home at lunchtime, just before I got home from work (I worked 9-1).  It is SO, SO nice to have him home. He went on a winery tour with one of his sisters while he was in PA and got me a present:

Isn't that a hoot! Especially since I run therapy groups.  Of course, I don't think I'll be wearing this one to work- and not because the design is in little rhinestones.
The bad news is that V's mom found out that her car now won't be ready until THURSDAY! Last week they told her it would be done tomorrow.  So she is here for a few more days.  At least V is home.

But now for the OMG news!!!  I am so, so psyched about this.  Late Saturday night I was perusing Craigslist and stumbled across something that made my heart skip a beat.  I contacted the seller and was the first caller.  The transaction was made this afternoon.
Here she is-  I have yet to name her

 This is a Damascus Rotary Treadle sewing machine.

They were sold by Montgomery Ward (primarily, although evidently other department stores also carried these or similar ones), manufactured by the National Sewing Machine Company in Illinois. (oops, I took the photo before I had the drawers back in- I must have been impatient)

I've been trying to find out information about this particular model but have been having no luck.

Everything I can find is about machines that are labeled simply Damascus or Damascus Grand (the top of the line model).  This one doesn't seem to have any information out there about it.

I do have the serial number but there evidently aren't any records from the company that are available.  sigh...   If anyone can give me information or point me to a spot I may have missed I'd appreciate it.
This machine was being sold by a young woman who inherited it from her great-grandmother but is moving and doesn't have room for it.  It came complete with an entire drawer of attachments (evidently a $.75 value in the 20's) and the instruction manual (sadly missing the cover and hence, the date).  But it is in working order.  The only thing I'm missing are needles.  I'll have to do some more research to find out about those.
I have wanted a treadle machine for a long time and every time I have previously tried to get one I was too late.  Mom has an old treadle machine and I remember using it as a child when all three of us girls were trying to finish 4-H projects at the same time.  Whoever only had to straight stitch used the treadle machine.
And, yes, I know... I was fiscally irresponsible.  I spent $150 on this machine that could have well gone to other things.  But I'm so, so, so excited about it.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Now I guess I have to let V get some trains when we go to Old Thresher's in a couple of weeks.  Turn about is fair play.  But even he thinks it's a pretty cool machine.
And now I can sew if the power goes out- and get some exercise at the same time.  In my research I stumbled across several accounts of quilters who try a treadle machine and never to back.  We'll see.....

Cold, rainy Sunday

It has been cold, damp and dank here.  Only into the upper 40's and rainy.  It's that cold, bone-chilling weather that makes you want to curl up with a warm quilt... or work on one!  While J17 has been working on her prom dress, I've been working on her Steampunk quilt.  I've got a post up over at Dreams of Empires complete with pictures.  Even V declared it pretty awesome.  Of course, he preceded that comment with "It turned out better than I thought it would".  Gee, Thanks.

Thinking and Rethinking

THINGS have been in the air lately.  I've been thinking (you thought you smelled something burning, didn't you!) and rethinking my plan to open a shop on Etsy.  I'm not sure if you have heard of the uproar that has been going on over there, but check it out. I'm pretty sure I can NOT buy into a system that doesn't play fair with it's sellers and seems to be rewriting the rules to cover their butts.  I finally gave up on reading the comments on the thread. I only made it through about page 30 (of currently 80+ and growing) of comments.  People are ANGRY!  I've heard of many artists who are closing out their shops and looking for a new venue and heard that Etsy has shut down shops for some more outspoken individuals.  For more of the backstory that Etsy doesn't want to tell you, check out Regretsy for some fun- they are often crude and irreverent but honest.  (There is more than one post there on this subject so I picked what I feel is the most telling for the link.)  Still, the whole mess has left me with enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I no longer want to use Etsy.  I'll be looking for a different venue for setting up a shop when I've got a few items made.
In other thinking of crafty type things... the fabric for J17's quilt arrived yesterday (along with a few 'extras').

Love it!  But I have a problem.  Since it is that lovely, rich, mahogany brown it has much more of a red tone than any of the other fabrics in my stash that I was hoping to use.  Hmm...  I'll have to put some thought into this one.  But look at this:

 eQuilter sent me a lovely handwritten thank you on my invoice- complete with a sticker!  Aww... how sweet.  And, 2% of the purchase price goes to charity.  Pretty cool!

Last night after dinner, the boys and I did a little work:

 We filled in the herb spiral.  Well... mostly filled in.  This is the base layer of soil from our pile that is mostly clay. I'm hoping for a nice rain to settle this and then I'll put some nice topsoil on the top before I plant.

My new little sage plant is waiting to take its place at the top of the spiral.

I'm still thinking...  I'll be back later this week....

We took a hit

It got down to 26 degrees last night here.  Brrr....  and while it was breezy and the frost only settled in low lying and sheltered areas things still got nipped about the edges.

 My lovely Bleeding Hearts are all droopy :-(

 As are the tips of the roses

 Even some of the perennials that you'd think would be pretty hardy look bad.  Above is the frost bitten Anise Hyssop

 The leaves of the peonies are curled up. I can't tell how much damage the buds took.

Our June-bearing strawberries that are blooming in April (go figure!) have black little hearts from the frost.

 The shoots of my newly planted asparagus got frosted.  Ugh.

 And when even the nettles look bad, you know it was cold!
The apple trees look pretty good but I can't tell if there was any damage to the blossoms or any fruit that may have set.  I also can't tell if the red currants are OK.  They look good but they are still blooming as well.

And finally, since there were other photos still on the camera when I downloaded these, I realize that I never shared with you the completed baby quilt.

K12 is my "super-enthusiastic" helper.  The expectant mother pronounced the quilt 'perfect'.

It will definitely keep the bambino's little brain busy!!  The giraffe print flannel that I used for the backing is so, so soft and for the binding, I used a bit of black micro-fleece.  I've definitely got some texture and pattern stuff going on.

Slow Progress

I got a lot done today.  Of course, as usual, not as much as I would have liked.  I didn't quite get the quilt top finished but I can't complain. I got a lot of other things done.  Let's see...

I got the blocks stitched together and pressed and the borders cut.  Here is a section of border laying by the center to give you an idea:

I didn't get the top finished but today I also: baked bread, made crackers, fed/watered chickens, did dishes and 4 loads of laundry as well as made a quick trip to the grocery store for milk, salad fixings and some ricotta cheese since I made lasagna for dinner.  So, with all of that, I'm amazed that got as much done as I did on the quilt.
And, this afternoon it snowed!!

Quite hard at times... But beautiful.

We ended up with 2-3 inches of light, fluffy snow.
I've got the day off tomorrow so we'll see how much more I can accomplish.  Right now, I'm done for the day.  Whoosh- I've done enough and I'm tired.  Tomorrow I hope to work some more on the quilt but I've also got to bake muffins for K11 to take to school on Tuesday as well as bake a cake.  Tuesday will be a birthday at our house.

1000 posts...

...and a few photos.

Can you believe that this is my 1000th post?!  Amazing!!  What I find truly amazing is that anyone cares what I write.  But I'll be honest- I value each and every one of you that reads and comments. You are all truly inspiring to me.  I would feel so all alone and 'different' without all of you. Thank you for being here for me.

Now, on to other things.  I was busy all day but don't really feel that I got that much done- or at least, I didn't accomplish everything on my list.  Hmm, I seem to remember others complaining about this.  Maybe we need a support group.  But, a few photos of the day:

 Ticket is just the cutest thing, isn't he??  Here he's begging for a treat.  Amazing how cute 125 lbs (56.7 kg) of dog can be.

 And V is also pretty cute...  at least I think so!
But, I know you're all waiting for baby quilt progress photos...  here's a rough lay out.

I got it all washed, cut out and the 4 patch squares made, they just need pressed. Several things I'm glad of in my  design...  1.  That I found that blue in the stash.  Again- the colors are better in real life than in the photo but it does match the blue in the little bits of sky in the animal print and in the border.  2. That I opted to do the 4 patch and not big squares of all the fabrics. That leopard print is so eye catching that it would be really distracting any bigger and would draw away from the focus fabric.  3.  That I cut the animal print into the big alternate squares.  Any smaller and the design may have been lost.
I should be able to finish the top tomorrow and quilt on Monday.  Hopefully I can be finished in a weekend.

Enough practice already

Let's do the real thing!!
I finished the preliminary stage of the interlace this afternoon.

It's a bit tedious but not really difficult.  Good thing I've got plenty of pins!! V caught me talking to myself as I worked through the 'overs' and 'unders' of a line to make sure I had them right.

I'll let it sit for a while and then go back to check it again for errors before I press it into place.  I can see in the photos there are some tweaks I want to make.    It's really hard to see the problems (a crooked line here, a not smooth curve there) when you've been at it for a few hours.  After pressing, I'll stitch it down, add borders and quilt.  I'm really pleased with how quickly this is going and I'm happy with how it's looking.  With this morning's potholder I did the applique and quilting all in one step since it was small.  This will be too big to try that, I believe.
But, wall quilt #1 is well underway.  I may even sell this one.

And, don't have a heart attack- I know this is my third post today!