book recommendation

not often do you see book recommendations here, even though i read regularly for relaxation.  this one i got from oprah's book list and i am so glad i requested it.  written by the daughter of B-movie actor Lyle Talbot, it isn't strictly his story but rather that of the rise of movies in his lifetime, spanning nearly all the 20th century.  there are hysterical tidbits about some notable people in the business plus plenty of historical information about how hollywood came to be the famous movie town it is.  when 3 unknown actresses appeared on his doorstep, director mervyn leroy predicted bette davis would not succeed and joan blondell would be the big star.  and how edison, when shown a preview of the first talkie, was convinced it would never succeed because people loved the drama of the silent movie.  he failed to jump on the bandwagon and was then instrumental in driving moviemakers west to escape his wrath when talkies became standard.  i'm halfway thru and eager to read the rest.  if you like the movies, you might find it interesting as well.  **** sunday spent sewing on little houses and also quilting on autumn change.  oh, and downton abbey of course!  *** seesaw temps are down again this morning, so it's back to wool socks for me!

about half done

that would be this little christmas wallhanging designed by gail pan.  the patterns got downloaded free back in 2006 for some future time, which appears to be now.  the embroidery part is done, now to piece together and quilt.  thinking about maybe HSTs for the sashing.....thinking, i said.....so will let it lounge on the design wall until i'm sure.  now you see why i deconstructed the other christmas piece, for this will take its place.  **** another day off today after an unusually late work night.  there'll be a nap, some chores and quilt-cam with bonnie this afternoon to work on little houses, perhaps finishing the 12 i've planned to make.  then will cut more pieces for the next section of "just takes 2" and later tonight during TV will quilt more on autumn change.  **** yesterday started prepping applique for jo morton's "baby emma" piece, which i soooo love.  idle hands, you know... 

some nerve

another hancock's catalog arrived the other day...and while i was able to ignore nearly all the glossy fabric photos tempting me to order with wild abandon, this line is seriously calling to me.  it's "indigo crossings" and it should be obvious my favorite color is blue.  these are soooo nice and i want 1/2 yard of every one.  problem is, already have an indigo scrappy quilt in progress and am making fewer bed size quilts.  will have to ponder and think about what to do with it before taking the plunge. oh, and where to put it IF i do decide to add to the stash.  that's the real elephant in the room.  **** snow has finally stopped and we got about 4-5" total i think.  now comes the cold temps, to be expected in late january.  **** time off to be spent on just takes 2, houses and quilting autumn change.  that frees my mind to think about "indigo crossings".....

gone.....

but not really; a new exciting life awaits these scraps from the christmas wallhanging.  i realized after looking at it for some time that the pieces were too large to be a successful scrappy.  no matter, these pretty scraps will morph into other projects.  **** and just underneath the scraps are foundations for "just takes 2" which is coming along, now starting on the 3rd section.  this project plus a few more little houses are on the sewing table today.  for hand quilting, the autumn change is in the hoop.  it is a gift for someone special, so the sooner it's done, the sooner it's out of here and on to its new home.  **** woke up to snow again today; not much, but any that makes the roads messy is too much in my opinion.  good thing the days are slowly lengthening!

the neatest thing!

found this pattern free online for an earbud case and except for buying the zipper, it was totally free!  keeps those pesky earbuds from tangling up when loose in the purse or tote bag.  **** sitting here listening to the foghorns blowing their mournful tones.  it's very foggy and warm, an extension of the january thaw. 

un-quilting

if you are thinking, "hey wait, didn't she finish that," then you would be right.  it often got hung during december as one of my wallhangings of the month.  but this year it got taken to work for my cube during christmas.  while looking at it these past 2 months, i realized i don't like it much, but i do love the fabrics sooooo it has been unquilted and will get unpieced next.  the fabric will get washed and put into the scrap basket for another project (see lower right corner).  currently working on gail pan's "christmas wishes" wallhanging that will take its place every december. how about you, have you ever "unquilted" anything?  i thought it would be painful but it wasn't. 

first finish!

and on the overcrowded design wall this morning is this first 2013 finish!  this is the wallhanging made of jo morton's "variety" line of luscious red reproduction fabrics.  and did you know that this year, this very spring, there will be a new line of "variety" in blue?  i did and i am waiting as patiently as i can for it to go on sale.  my no buying resolve will be cast aside when it's available.  not that i haven't been sorely tempted so early in the new year by e-mails and websites to add to my stash, but when i do get tempted, i simply pull out an elfa drawer and take a long, very long, look at the fabric i already have.  it usually banishes the temptation....well up to now, that is.   **** spring has flung, back to the 20s this morning, and sorely missed for sure.  i'll be commiserating with the old viking.....

a springy sewing day

with temps at 43 and the sun shining, am loving our january thaw.  a great day to sew, but that's any day of course.  working on the "just takes 2" project, section 2, which is done except for 2 more blocks.  one is a pieced lone star type and the other is applique, so they won't get done today.  nevertheless, it's great to see this project progress.  and a UFO will get crossed off either today or tomorrow, just finishing up the binding.  ***  have to confess have a couple of new projects dancing around in my head.  sitting here staring at my luscious stash gives me constant ideas for using it.  and i'm equally motivated to finish up the projects in process.  now off to keep on keeping on!

under construction

the little house challenge subject came up again last week on the Stashbuster yahoo group.  i had printed some foundation patterns for these, but they were 3" and 5", neither of which excited me.  but kaaren, a fellow quilter just over the northern border, kindly sent me her 4" version.  yesterday decided to play out of my scrap basket and try them out.  caution: they are fun to make and i got 4 done fairly quickly.  the most difficult part was choosing the fabrics.  my scrap basket isn't that full so i pulled out the large shoebox of strips.  i decided to make red doors on all of them in homage to my first quilting teacher, who had a shop called "the red door" quilt shop and then used black for chimneys.  i don't think i'll make 365 of them, but enough for a small quilt anyway.  love the scrappiness of them!

staring at the stash...

and wondering if i should start another project to try and bust more.  this is my view climbing in and out of bed every day, which explains why the UFO list is so long this year (for me), now at 35...yes, i found another.  i really want to play in the stash each and every day, but have to force myself to tackle UFOs instead.  with much fortitude, have managed to avoid all fabric sales e-mails, magazines, books and blogs with BOMs in order to keep to my objective of busting my own stash and UFOs but it hasn't been easy.  and (gulp) today is only the 6th of january...how will i ever survive the whole month?  hopefully this view will help.  this one and the even bigger view on the other side of the room.