It is Tuesday afternoon as I type this, but it sure feels like a Sunday afternoon. It was a nice treat to have a four day weekend to end off June and start July. We've spent time with friends and family this weekend, I did a little sewing and stitching, we saw some fireworks and a couple movies, and now we're waiting for some ribs on the grill. A great weekend all around!
I found myself spending a little more time in my sewing room in June, despite a couple setbacks. The first was water in the corner of the basement. It took two plumber visits to find the actual issue (or there really were two issues), and we wound up with a stinky and damp basement for a couple weeks, which made it a pretty unappealing place to be! The good news is that it's dry now and we have a new dehumidifier that is working really well, making the temperature downstairs a lot more comfortable. The second setback is my Janome 6600. It was acting up a little at my retreat in May, but still managed to work well enough to get my projects done, albeit with the top tension turned up really high. Once I got it home, I fiddled with it for a while to see if I could fix the tension issue, but no luck. It is now waiting with my mom to go for a visit to the dealer about 1/2 hour north of here. She will take it in when she goes to pick up her new machine in a few weeks (she is getting a Brother Embroidery machine).
So, given both of the above, I set up my small machine in the dining room and did my sewing from there in June. I also got a little time in on my HQ. All told, I had 9 3/4 hours of quilting time in June, but have a pretty short list of accomplishments. I have several things near the finish line, so hope to have more to report in the coming months.
- Mini-Lotus top made with batiks from my stash. This is a pattern I picked up a couple years ago in Shipshewana and my mom has the ruler, both from Jaybird Quilts. I found it pretty easy to cut out, and nice to make. All the little shapes fit together pretty well!
- Flag blocks for a QOV - we've started a quilt squad at work where we meet quarterly for lunch and share finishes, ask questions, talk about patterns, websites, etc. and decided to make a couple of quilts of valor for our Veteran's network to recognize some great work they did last year. We all made 4 blocks and wound up with enough for two quilts - I assembled one of them and will quilt it and then pass it off to another "quilt squadder" to attach the binding. We hope to have them both finished by our lunch next quarter.
- Quilted my Plus table runner that I made at my May retreat. I found a great tone on tone green backing for it, got it loaded and quilted, and just attached the binding yesterday. This one will go in the car with my on our road trip vacation so that I have a little hand work to do during some long driving days. (Just realized that I don't have a picture of the quilted table runner, so I will snap a pic on our trip!)
In terms of how this all affected my stash, not much change. I did a little shopping at the beginning of the month, and used a little fabric for all three of the projects.
Fabric added this month: 2 1/4 yards
Fabric used this month: 1 1/2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 12 5/8 yards
Fabric used year to date: 20 yards
Net fabric used: 7 3/8 yards - feels like I am barely staying ahead!
On the stitching side, I feel like I did a lot of stitching this month, but don't have anything to show for it! No finishes, but two projects that are pretty close. I may or may not take them on vacation, as I already had in my mind a few projects to take on vacation...we'll see how I am feeling when it is time to pack our bags!
The other thing that took a lot of my time in June is Girl Scouts. In addition to leading my daughter's Cadette troop next year, I will be the Service Unit Manager for our area. I am looking forward to the position, and spent a Saturday morning getting some good training. I followed that up with a zip-lining trip with my girls, and then a week later went to the Council brunch to celebrate my daughter and 4 other girls from our troop earning their Bronze Awards. My daughter decided she wanted to invite my mom, who was my girl scout leader, to the brunch. We got a picture in our uniforms before the lunch :)
How was your June? Hope you found some time to dedicate to the things you enjoy most.
I found myself spending a little more time in my sewing room in June, despite a couple setbacks. The first was water in the corner of the basement. It took two plumber visits to find the actual issue (or there really were two issues), and we wound up with a stinky and damp basement for a couple weeks, which made it a pretty unappealing place to be! The good news is that it's dry now and we have a new dehumidifier that is working really well, making the temperature downstairs a lot more comfortable. The second setback is my Janome 6600. It was acting up a little at my retreat in May, but still managed to work well enough to get my projects done, albeit with the top tension turned up really high. Once I got it home, I fiddled with it for a while to see if I could fix the tension issue, but no luck. It is now waiting with my mom to go for a visit to the dealer about 1/2 hour north of here. She will take it in when she goes to pick up her new machine in a few weeks (she is getting a Brother Embroidery machine).
So, given both of the above, I set up my small machine in the dining room and did my sewing from there in June. I also got a little time in on my HQ. All told, I had 9 3/4 hours of quilting time in June, but have a pretty short list of accomplishments. I have several things near the finish line, so hope to have more to report in the coming months.
- Mini-Lotus top made with batiks from my stash. This is a pattern I picked up a couple years ago in Shipshewana and my mom has the ruler, both from Jaybird Quilts. I found it pretty easy to cut out, and nice to make. All the little shapes fit together pretty well!
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| Mini Lotus Top |
- Flag blocks for a QOV - we've started a quilt squad at work where we meet quarterly for lunch and share finishes, ask questions, talk about patterns, websites, etc. and decided to make a couple of quilts of valor for our Veteran's network to recognize some great work they did last year. We all made 4 blocks and wound up with enough for two quilts - I assembled one of them and will quilt it and then pass it off to another "quilt squadder" to attach the binding. We hope to have them both finished by our lunch next quarter.
 |
| My blocks |
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| The finished top! |
In terms of how this all affected my stash, not much change. I did a little shopping at the beginning of the month, and used a little fabric for all three of the projects.
Fabric added this month: 2 1/4 yards
Fabric used this month: 1 1/2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 12 5/8 yards
Fabric used year to date: 20 yards
Net fabric used: 7 3/8 yards - feels like I am barely staying ahead!
On the stitching side, I feel like I did a lot of stitching this month, but don't have anything to show for it! No finishes, but two projects that are pretty close. I may or may not take them on vacation, as I already had in my mind a few projects to take on vacation...we'll see how I am feeling when it is time to pack our bags!
The other thing that took a lot of my time in June is Girl Scouts. In addition to leading my daughter's Cadette troop next year, I will be the Service Unit Manager for our area. I am looking forward to the position, and spent a Saturday morning getting some good training. I followed that up with a zip-lining trip with my girls, and then a week later went to the Council brunch to celebrate my daughter and 4 other girls from our troop earning their Bronze Awards. My daughter decided she wanted to invite my mom, who was my girl scout leader, to the brunch. We got a picture in our uniforms before the lunch :)
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| Me, Jenna, and my mom :) |
Comments
Happy quilting!
So sorry to hear of your wet basement! Water can do such damage. Glad it is all ok now.
Thanks for the recipe reviews. There are a few I want to try after my picky eater goes back to college.