Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sunday Stash Report, Week 17

It's been 5 weeks since my last stash report, and despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to spend a lot of time in my "Happy" room.
 
 
A reminder to relax and enjoy 'me' time!
 
I'd like to show you more but right now, I can barely find the floor.  When I get busy, I tend to "dump and run", which means the 15 minutes I have found here and there have been dedicated to sewing, not certainly not putting anything away.
 
 
Some things that make me happy - a jar filled with notions from my mother's and grandmother's sewing supplies.
 
In the last month, we've celebrated Easter, been to the zoo in Seattle, I've hosted a scrapbooking retreat, babysat most weekends and worked some overtime on top of my full time job. I've also been having issues with my left shoulder and knee, had X-rays and finally got to the physiotherapist on Thursday.

 
My grandmother's button tin - I've had this since I was 18 years old.
 
The good news is there is no signs of oestioarthritis nor wear and tear, but simply a strained knee and bursitis in the shoulder.  Luckily, we've caught it early enough to prevent frozen shoulder but it has kept me out of commission for a bit. 
 
To cheer myself up, I did stop by my favourite fabric shop and picked up a few little things: 
 
 
 
Added this week: 1.75 metres
Added Year-to-Date: 56.25 metres
 
So far, I haven't broken into any of it, but I did finally finish one of my many UFOs!
 
 
Used since last report: .5 metres
Used Year-to-Date: 9.5 metres
Net used/Added for 2013: 46.75 metres
 
It didn't use more fabric because I repurposed this wool melton jacket that I haven't worn for a few years.
 
 
 
Using this adorable pattern from Liesl Gibson,
 
 
and lined with Aneela Hooley's A Walk in the Woods,


 
(it does hang straight on a proper hanger ;o)


 
and nicely fits a cute little girl, if she hadn't just woken up from a nap.
 
 
She kept trying to pull it off, so I didn't get a great picture of her in it, especially once she discovered she could twirl in it!
 
 
I wonder if she will be Little Red Riding Hood for Hallowe'en this year?


 

Monday, April 15, 2013

UFO Parade over at Patchwork Times!

One of my favourite bloggers, Judy at Patchwork Times, is hosting a UFO parade today!  What is a UFO - why, an UnFinished Object, of course!  And being the queen of UFOs, I must join!  So far, I have counted, drumroll please, 48 UFOs (sewing projects only).  I know I'm still missing a few, but seriously..48???


 
(No. 1 on my list to finish - I've put it aside for almost 3 months now)

Blogging has been both the source of my success starting and finishing projects (about 25 last year alone, mostly new ones) but has also been my downfall in starting more than I can handle (added about 20 to the UFO list, while only completing about 7-8). 

 
(No. 2 on my list to finish - I'm only making it a table topper size)

Last year, I tried joining a couple of UFO finishing challenges which helped.  I even created a separate page to track my progress.  It needs some updating, but you can find my list by clicking on this link  Terri's UFOs or on the second tab above.
 

(No. 3 - this cute little cape and 3 summer dresses for Zoey.  The cape has been cut out since last November, but the dresses got cut out in March, so do they really count as a UFO?  In my books, yes, because they have been put aside like so many others!) 
 
If you haven't already, come join the parade. And every Wednesday, Judy is going to have a UFO Progess linky party so we can share our successes - perfect for me because I get most of my work done on a Sunday until late in the evening.)
 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Looks can be deceiving

I like to pretend that I have my supplies under control and organized.
 
As I come across scraps of lace and ribbon, I drop them in this biscotti jar.  My latest project had me rooting around for more than what was in here:
 
 
I remembered I had a box of ribbons, eyelet and lace from the days when my girls were little and I was sewing little girl and doll clothes.
 
Found it! It's the size of a large shoebox or small apple box.
 
 
Some of these were hand-me-downs from my mom's sewing room, which reminded - where did that tote go?
 
 
Some of these trims go back to the 1970's for sure, and I suspect the '60s are represented as well.
 
Here's a sneak peak at the project that got me hunting:
 
 
 
 
 I also have a smaller tote filled with bias tape, zippers, seam bindings, buttons and more.  My sister, her daughters, my daughter that sews, and my girlfriend and her daughter all come to me first before heading to the store.  I'm going to have to get them to start raiding this bin as well.  Either that or open an Etsy shop!
 
One of my other hobbies is genealogy, and last night I found information that one of my maternal great-great grandmothers was also a seamstress in addition to being a homemaker. That extends my sewing heritage back to 5 generations, 6 if you include my daughter and my nieces.
 
It's no wonder I have hoard all this, when it goes so far back in my blood!