John Wayne Quilt

 I finished the John Wayne quilt I made for my husband's birthday.  He is a huge John Wayne fan.   

Riley Blake came out with this panel and the coordinated prints so I just had to get it for him.  It is 

very large throw that he can use on the couch when he lays down to watch T.V.

Lining up Layered Stamps and Split Card Tricks

 I had so much fun using the Gina K Designs YouTube video on how to line up layered stamps so that I could use those with the Split Card Tricks Video by Jennifer McGuire.  I then went crazy and made even more types of cards with the many flowers that I made, die cut, and fussy cut.

WPlus9 Pretty Peonies, Altenew Vintage Roses stamp sets. Gina K Designs sentiment from a freebie.  Altenew mini cubes colored inks, Gina K designs Black Onyx ink.  Gemstones added.

Card tops created using 2 different EK Success border/edge punches.  They may be retired because I had a hard time researching them.  I was not able to find them online in my brief search.  The sentiments were from the Altenew Vintage Roses stamp set.  I used gemstones on one card and pearls on the other.  I used Wink of Stella on fthe lowers of the card on the right.

These cards were created using the Fabulous Frame stamp set from Gina K Designs.  I used pearls on some of the cards and gemstones on another one.  I used Gina K Designs card stock.

Fabric Organization

     I got married 25 years ago and I brought my fabric stash to my new house in large plastic storage bins. I honestly don’t remember how I stored fabric previously but I’m pretty sure it was always in bins. Nineteen years ago I inherited even more fabric than I already had. It came in large plastic storage bins.  Needless to say I had no idea which fabrics were in the bins because I could only see the ones on top.
     I had a basement sewing room for about 5 years after I got married but then I rarely used it due to being Mom to 2 small children, a Girl Scout leader and working full time.  My vast amount of sewing items got stripped to the bare necessities and the duplicates, non-essentials and any fabric I didn’t like was sold at a garage sale.  My husband took over the room and the rest of my "sewing room" went into a part of the basement used for storage and got buried behind more and more storage over the years. It was accessible through little walkways but it was still inconvenient to access.
     In October 2019 I expanded my first floor craft room to make room for my sewing items and I was presented with the question of how to organize my fabric.  I searched the internet and found ideas for storage in bins like I had been storing them, or storing the fat quarters in a specific type of clear bin, and also using a large quilting ruler to wrap your fabric around making them nearly the same size for stacking in cabinets and etc.  I loved how pretty it looked to have fabric stacked neatly with a way to get a glimpse of the color and pattern.  I already was using Ikea Kallax cubical type bookcases in my craft room so when I remodeled the craft room I purchased all the storage from Ikea.  This left my original Ikea Kallax which I had purchased drawers and cabinet fronts for to now use as fabric storage.  I also adopted the method of using the clear bin for my fat quarters but the way I organized the rest of my fabric within the Ikea unit has evolved over the months.
     Originally I sorted my fabric by size.  I felt that I could easily look at a quilt pattern that called for a certain number of standard sized fabric cuts and pull what I need from my "fabric store".  I put all my fabric that was 1 yard or more into several cubicles, then all half yard cuts into several others.   My fat quarters were in one clear storage bin sorted by color family.  My fat eighths were in one Ikea drawer and my eighth yard cuts were in the other drawer.  My quarter yard cuts were in the lower right cupboard and my Christmas fabrics were in the lower left cupboard.  (I still have scrap booking items in the other drawers but I need to find a way to move them so all the drawers are available for fabric.  That will allow me to store my fat quarters in them and re-purpose the clear bin for completed patchwork quilt tops.)
     I started my recently renewed quilt making efforts by using scraps and fabric cuts that were eighth yards or less as well as some fat quarters and making 4 scrappy 9 patch quilt tops for everyone in one of my extended families.  The type of fabric storage I had set up worked perfectly for these completely scrappy quilts since I knew where all my scraps were as well as my eighth yard cuts, fat eighths and fat quarters.  I also over time noticed fabrics that paired perfectly with each other so I pulled those out and stacked all those sets together in one section.  After I found out what colors most of my other family members preferred in quilts I realized that I couldn't keep pulling all fabrics in the same color family from every section of my storage when I needed it.
     Phase 2 of my fabric organization was very similar to the first phase.  I continued stacking the fabrics that had been wrapped around my large quilting ruler only I stacked all the blues together, all the greens together and etc.  I still kept my quarter and eighth yard fabrics separately.  I noticed that I wasn't as inspired as I was before to pull out coordinating sets but that was okay since I was looking for specific colors for the other members of my family.  I did, however, decide that I wanted to take each color section out and organize them with the darkest colors at the bottom and the lightest color at the top.  This really helped me because my eyes enjoyed the organization of color and could more easily pull out specific values of each color (light, medium or dark) for any quilts I was pulling fabric for.
     Over several months I realized that I wanted to have a "blended" method of organizing.  I really liked the color family method with the darkest on the bottom, but I had other specific categories of fabric that I wanted to pull out and keep together.  I wanted all of my solids that were more than a quarter yard to be stacked together to easily find a solid when I needed it.  I wanted all my plaids together because I have always wanted to make a plaid apple core design quilt and had previously purchased many different plaids in eight yard or more sections.  I was okay with stacking the smaller cuts of fabrics in my plaids because they all needed to be together.  I had inherited some gingham fabric and couldn't figure out what to do with it until the idea of sewing them together for a child's twin quilt backing came to me.  I needed to stack all the ginghams together to be sure I used them up.  I already pulled some out for one of the quilts I am working on.
    After working on 5 or 6 quilt tops I noticed that my fabric stash was getting smaller so I went into the basement and pulled up all of my novelty prints as well as my special reproduction depression era prints that I had only used to make baby quilts for my daughters and was hoarding for just the right project.  I stacked every novelty fabric together by theme (farm theme, animal themed, nautical, patriotic etc.)  This inspired me to pull some of those fabrics out for quilt tops including some of that special depression era reproduction fabric for a new baby girl in the family due in July.  I now have all of my quilting cotton fabrics organized and in my craft room.
     As you can see in the photo starting on the top left section and working down, my current organization is a stack of half of my color families on the left and all my plaids on the right in the first cubicle.  The cubicle to the right has all my solids and ginghams.  I can easily see that I need more solids.  The lower left cubicle has fabric sets I have pulled out that pair well with each other and can easily be grabbed for specific projects with little to no additional fabric needed to complete a quilt top.  To the right of that stack is the other stack of color families.  (As I write this and and analyze how I have stored things I am going nuts over the fact that I didn't stack my two color family stacks next to each other in the same cubicle.  This will be fixed immediately tonight so it makes more sense.)  The cubicle on the lower right has a stack of reproduction prints including a new stack of fat eights so I don't run out of my favorite type of fabric.  The stack to the right of it is my current novelty prints.  I really don't buy novelty prints anymore but since I inherited most of those and they are 75% farm themed, I think I can use them in a quilt top or quilt back for a child.  The left drawer is all I have left of my half yard fabrics and the drawer on the right is what I have left of my quarter yard cuts.  I used up my routine fat eighths in my scrap quilt.  The open cupboard on the lower left still houses all my Christmas fabric.  It looks empty but the majority of the shadow you see is actually two fabric stacks completely filled to the top.
     I haven't shown the clear plastic bin I use for my fat quarters because I pulled about 75 % of the fat quarters out to use in quilts I am going to make for family members.  This means the remaining fat quarters are loose and unable to be kept upright, orderly and color coordinated.  I will soon have room for the remaining ones in my Ikea so I won't continue to use the clear bin for fabric quarters.  Sorting by color family was very inspirational while I was using it plus I placed them in a way that I could see all the colors from the top.  I did not stack them on each other.  I stacked them upright which was about the height of the bin, and the other ones were placed in front or behind each other which was very effective in allowing me to see every fat quarter at the same time.
     The cupboard on the lower right only stores two sets of flannel fat quarter sets.  I bought them by accident.  I am tempted to just stack them on one of the stacks of fabric above so I can bring up my feed sacks and fabrics cut from certified feed sacks and store them there along with a plastic shoe box bin that has left over depression era fabric scraps and a few blocks made by my Great Grandmother.  I would love to have enough fabric available to make a twin sized quilt but I would settle for a wall hanging.  I don't want her work to live on without being appreciated.  It definitely came down to the correct relative.
     Having my fabric stacked, organized and out in the open like this inspires me daily to make new quilts.  I have more fabric than this but I have squirreled away enough fabrics for at least 5 or 6 of the quilts in the colors my family has requested.  I am okay with having them out of sight because I AM working on those and won't forget about them, plus I won't accidentally get inspired to use fabric that could have been used for one of my family members.   I had always intended on using up my fabric stash after I retired so I could save money by shopping from my stash.  I just needed to set it up where I could see it to get the quilting juices flowing again.!

Sugaridoo/Bernina Quilt-A-Long (Halfway finished).

     This is the first time I am participating in a Quilt-a-long.  I remodeled my craft room and made room for most of my hoarded fabric from 25-30 years ago (including the fabric I inherited from my Mom in 2001-which was a much larger collection than mine.)  My sewing machine is now a permanent fixture in my craft room.  I previously made one twin size bed quilt, 4-5 mini quilts, a dresser "scarf" and a wall hanging which I pieced, quilted and bound by hand.  Of course this was all 25-30 years ago.  I then got married and raised my children.       

     Around October I was watching a video from the "Just Get It Done Quilts" YouTube channel and she mentioned two quilt-a-longs she was considering.  I checked both of them out.  The Sugaridoo QAL is a series of 12 rows over a year and that seemed manageable.  It made a twin size quilt which was perfect for all the gifts I want to make which are mostly twin sized.  The host of Sugaridoo is a delightful young lady from the Netherlands who is the most cheerful person I have seen on YouTube ever!  I signed up for the mystery quilt immediately.  Come to find out it is a modern quilt which is not at all my style but I used browns with an accent of gold to make it more subtle and as close to a classic style quilt as possible.  

     I am actually learning things and improving my quilt making techniques as I go.  I have perfected my quarter inch seam because of the QAL.  Who knew that my quarter inch foot needed to have the needle moved over 2 spaces to the right in order to sew a perfect quarter inch?  I guess I was naive all this time that I thought the quarter inch foot would make a quarter inch seam with no adjustments.  

     The photo above is the first 6 rows that I have made including a little of the back side of each row.  The seventh row instructions were just posted yesterday but I have a new project I am finishing on my sewing table as we speak so it will likely be a few more days or a week before I finish the most current row.

     And how has all of this affected my card making?  It made the card making come to a halt with the exception of my February 28, 2020 post.  I was going to participate in the longer virtual stamp night but the COVID-19 pandemic hit in full swing with hospitals running out of personal protection devices and my friends and family needing masks so as I was sewing my first 48 or so masks the virtual stamp night came and went.  Oh well.  I desperately want to sit down and spend a weekend making cards.  I am desperately low on them and due to my continued mask making for donations and my quilting I have been unable to send cards to my relatives.  I think many of them will be disappointed but I still wish them a Happy Birthday and by next year I will be on track.  My heart is missing card making though.

I just made 49 "surgical" masks with a spot for a filter for my family and friends.

This is the last of the 49 masks I made due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.  There is a place on the back for a filter. 

Everyone seems to be making them with 7 inch elastic for the ears but the masks fall off my face if I use 7 inches.  I need 6 inches and I have heard others say they need 8 inches.  I made my own ties so it is adjustable for everyone.  I made some smaller ones for my great niece and great nephew. 

My brother. niece and grand nephew all have asthma. Everyone in my house is still in a profession considered crucial during this pandemic (take out food, veterinary clinic) and I wanted all the co-workers protected so my family is less likely to bring something home from work.  Some of those people have asked for masks for their friends or family at home.  I keep getting more requests.

I have to stop making them for awhile though because I need to finish my daughter's quilt by her birthday in about 10 days.

Here is a link to the pattern I used.  I just cut 2 straps 1 1/2 inches wide from selvage to selvage for the ties.  Iron the straps in half lengthwise to find the center.  Iron each edge lengthwise to the center, then iron the ties in half again lengthwise where the initial fold was.  Insert the mask edges in the center of the ties and top-stitch the length of the tie while attaching it to the mask.  Put a knot in the ends of the ties.  I used a half pipe cleaner to make it adjustable to the nose.  Face mask video   

I found that the pipe cleaner opened up the seams and migrated out of the mask when washed and dried so I recommend hand washing and line dry or iron dry.                                                 

Splitcoaststampers Florapalooza

I just completed the three card challenge in the Splitcoaststampers mini virtual stamp night challenge.  I am so happy the theme is flowers since this is my preferred type of card. 

This challenge was to use a bold flower image

This challenge was to use a watercolored tissue paper background

This challenge was to use white flowers

What I learned from Virtual Stamping Night (VSN) at Splitcoast Stampers.

I have done a few VSNs at Splitcoast Stampers in the past.  One of them was the long Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and evening challenge.  I had a blast making lots of cards that I normally would not have made while trying to beat the clock.  At the time I made very simple cards and happened to have a lot of pre-stamped and colored images already cut out in case my daughters wanted to make a card.  I had pre-made card bases as well as some card tops cut.  I would have been hopelessly lost if I didn't just happen to have those supplies ready like I normally did.

Currently I prefer my cards to be clean and simple with a few embellishments as well as dry embossing and if I have time I prefer to using embossing powder for my sentiments.  There isn't enough time to accomplish most of this in the challenge, BUT I used new techniques such as making an acetate card, a stair step card, and a coffee filter background.  These were new to me and I actually had wanted to make an acetate card for quite some time.  Even though many cards were not my style, I still can use them for relatives.  The cards that were my style mostly were not up to my standards, however, it is a good start and I have ideas to change them up to my liking.  A few of my cards came out extremely well and are totally me.  I would not have made those cards had it not been for the challenge so I am grateful for what I learned as well as how much fun it was.

I did a mini challenge a few years back and was disappointed that it didn't last all weekend.  This year I discovered that the mini challenge AND the weekend challenges are all part of the same challenge.  You don't have to do both of them but they coordinate with each other.

I couldn't remember the timing of the challenges so I went into this years challenges thinking that the weekend challenge started somewhere between 4 pm and 6 pm on Friday.  Turns out is starts at 5 pm.  I couldn't remember if the Saturday challenges were from morning until dinner or from afternoon to evening or if they lasted all day.  I couldn't find the information in the forums or on the advertisement they had on their web page, but if memory serves me right this year I believe it started at noon and lasted until the 10 pm challenge.

So for me, I have figured out these things:

1. Having a ton of unused beautiful sticker sheets of realistic animals, flowers, beach themed items and etc was helpful since I didn't have as many pre-stamped, colored, and cut images to work with.
2. I could have used more black framing pieces of different sizes.  In the future I will be sure to have pre-made black rectangles in various card useful sizes to frame my focal points and etc.  White would also be nice.
3. I knew I had enough adhesive but I need to be aware of how much I have going in to each VSN.
4. I don't think they publicize the details of the VSN enough.  It didn't seem like many people were participating and it's a shame since it is a blast.  Maybe if Splitcoast stampers constantly posted the times as well as the fact that you don't have to finish all the cards during the time they are live; you just need to limit yourself to one hour per card.
5. I was ready ahead of time with snacks and beverages and a quick pre-made salad that I could eat in 15 minutes or less.  This is essential.
6. It is normal to run behind because you need to eat, use the restroom, pick up kids, etc.  That throws the timing off.  In the future I hope to stop trying to play catch-up.  This time I tried to do the challenges in order but at one point I was two hours behind and that was becoming stressful for me.  The challenge isn't meant to make you stressful so I switched to the most current challenge, then I finished all the challenges and was able to work on the ones I missed.
7. Once I fall behind (which everone will at some point) I can use any time while waiting for the next challenge to post my photos to the gallery and fill in the details.  I actually realized about halfway through the challenges this year that you aren't requried to fill in much detail.  I eventually just started posting photos and using the keyword for the challenges.  You are not allowed to upload photos on Sunday so I wanted all my photos uploaded by Saturday at midnight.  Leaving off the details sped me up and I was able to upload all my photos before midnight on Saturday.  On Sunday, even though I couldn't upload photos, I WAS able to edit my submissions and add the details.  
8. I wanted to "like" and comment on many of the submissions so I did that after midnight on Saturday as well as on Sunday.
9. I completely cleaned up and organized my craft room the day before the challenge.  I am so glad I did because I found the heat gun I had misplaced and had a fresh memory of all the sticker sheets I had which was helpful when I had to come up with a card design on the fly.

My next goal is to reproduce one card I made that my daughter immediately took to a birthday party before the challenges had even ended.  I did take a photo first though. I loved that card.  I also want to slightly alter a few others that I made to see if they can be as awesome as I think they can be. I have truly been inspired by the challenges.