A Little Bit of Christmas Sewing

My youngest granddaughter is getting a Kindle Fire for Christmas from my daughter and her husband so I found a good deal on a cover from ShopNBC and I made her this bag this morning to carry it in.  It is quilted and fully lined with 2 pockets inside and 2 outside.  Hope she likes it.  She's 9 so I was hoping that this Ikea fabric is young but not too young.  You can see the green striped pocket lining showing through, the inside is lined in the same fabric and the inside pockets are lined with the Ikea fabric. 

And Finished Step One "Easy Street"

About 200 of the little rascals.  My Ivory solid is Fairy Frost.  I told my husband that Fairy Frost makes me smile and he said I should put little bits of it all around the house.  I don't think I'll do that, but I feel happy when I even run across a piece in my scraps.  I like things that shine.  (Remember the monkey in my previous post.)  I didn't pick the ivory to use in my quilt because I agonized over the very best colors I could pick.  No, I saw Fairy Frost on clearance at Hancock's of Paducah and I couldn't help myself, I had to have it.  
 Easy Street is finished until next Friday, hopefully by then I'll have a finish or two to report and maybe an ipad or kindle bag, too.  It's amazing how much more you can do when you're retired, and how much more that could be done if I put the pedal to the metal.  I'm also good at taking breaks.  
There are a multitude of us working on "Easy Street" to see some of the progress go here to Bonnie's blog Quiltville's Quips and Snips.

Started on Step 1 "Easy Street"

My twosies are ready, if I figured right this is enough with a few extras, if I figured wrong it'll be back to cutting and sewing strips.  I just realized when I was trying to label this that I previously had done a post on it, but I had it as "Easy Money" instead of "Easy Street".  I think I've been watching too many crime shows on TV.

Yay! I Did It

I had to piece the batting for Maddox's quilt as I had enough left over of the wool batt from my Orca Bay (Sunrise, Sunset), I was pretty sure.   I was right, but all that was left was not even enough to make a potholder when I was finished.   I decided on a pieced backing with 10 inch squares for my Roll Roll Sunshine Rivers, so I had 70 squares to find flannel for, cut out and sew together.   I have the bindings ready and the other batts cut out and ready to go, so I'm ready for the Easy Money mystery.   I feel pretty sure that even with that going on I have a good chance of finishing these 3 by the end of the year.   For now though until Friday, it's time to think about Thanksgiving.  I have fudge to make, some odds and ends to shop for, stuffing to make and dinner to go to and then we'll see if Bonnie does like last year and starts off with an easy clue or two.   
I probably won't blog again until at least Friday, so for all those who celebrate it:

Happy Thanksgiving!!!   

RRSR (RRCB) is a Flimsy

Ignore the orange, it's sitting on my Orange Crush, but Roll Roll Sunshine Rivers is a flimsy now.  I added the little 2 1/2 inch extra border and I think it adds to the sunshine.   I'm hoping to get the back and binding done before Thanksgiving, and the 3 battings ready and then I'll have the Craftsy BOM, Maddox's quilt, and this one ready to be basted and quilted whenever I have time.  Hopefully, 3 more finishes before the end of the year.   I've decided to go with the yellow instead of the green on Easy Money mystery.  There was something familiar about pink, brown, green and blue.  Yes, pink, brown, yellow and blue-white and ivory will be my colors.
My daughter is having Thanksgiving at her house, so all I'm making is fudge and stuffing.   I hope my husband, Ernie, is up to going, if not I guess it'll be take out from Cracker Barrel, which isn't an altogether bad thing.  

Slow Progress and New Name

Yesterday I got up and got started on my Roll Roll Cotton Boll thinking that by the mid afternoon I'd probably have a flimsy - wrong - I had a quilt center, but that's all.  Here is a small part of it, and it sure looks like chaos doesn't it.  
 

This morning I woke up with similar illusions.  I thought by this afternoon I'll have a flimsy - wrong again - after about 6 hours this is what I accomplished.  I don't know if I'll get back to it today, but now I have 'all' the parts prepared and I'm ready to assemble and add borders.  I know that I must be getting close now.  

I did think of a name for my Roll Roll Cotton Boll No. 2.   There's a whole lot of blue and I thought what rolls and is blue - a river.  I have a lot of shiny fabrics and so I thought ice, but no, I have 3 rivers in mind and one of them probably never has ice.   They all 3 have sunshine, at least sometimes, and sunshine on rivers can be very shiny so my name is "Roll Roll Sunshine Rivers"  and it's dedicated to the Missouri in Omaha, Nebraska, the Grand in Diagonal, Iowa, and the St. John's in Jacksonville, Florida.   My father and I were born in Omaha, my mother thought Diagonal was like heaven on earth, and my brothers and I were raised mostly in Jacksonville, my kids, too.   Sounds good to me.
I have been using my new setup with separate cutting and ironing areas and it is working out as well as I had hoped.  I feel much more efficient.  

Ironing and Cutting

I've been a bit frustrated using my ironing board as a cutting table also, and forever moving things about.  I didn't think that I had room for a separate one, even though I do have a nice big sewing room it also doubles as a laundry room and a guest room.   I had purchased this nice big cutting board and then my brother found a "Big Board" ironing table top at a garage sale and it's been sitting on it, so it's been easier to use a portable cutting board.  This is my solution, I got bed risers, another folding 2 feet by 4 feet table and put my quilt rack underneath it.  So far so good and I know there will be lots of cutting for Bonnie Hunter's Easy Money mystery, so I'm ready. 
Right now I'm machine embroidering Maddox's quilt back, and that has spilled over to the top of my new cutting table.  

Because of my ironing board doubling as a cutting area, and I suppose a bit of carelessness too, my big board ironing cover has 2 or 3 inch or so cuts in it.  First I was going to buy some duck canvas and make another one and then I thought why not use up some of my scraps from using sheets as backs of quilts.  This is the result.  It is reversible and I put elastic all around, but it was too loose so you can probably see a couple of the pins that I used.  I really don't like the looks of them and if they aren't efficient, I may get some thumb tacks and try that.  I have a staple gun but I want to be able to turn it over when it gets dirty without a lot of fuss.  
It seems that sewing rooms are continually evolving and we are always looking for a better way.  I hope that I've found one, hopefully I'll be more organized and efficient.

Easy Money Colors

I ordered some clearance fabric from Hancock of Paducah and from Connecting Threads and the Hancock order came today.  The blue and whites, the top two browns and the ivory on the right are my new fabrics.  I am still trying to decide whether to use my original plan of gold-yellows or to go with greens.  These fabrics may or may not end up in the mix, as before I go to these I'll go to my scraps and smaller pieces, this was just 'to see'.  Opinions welcome. 

Flimsy Completed

I made one (to me, now) glaring error, but it was too late to change, so it is what it is.  I think on the whole it is kind of cute though.  All the geometrics kind of remind me of fencing to keep the little critters out of the garden.  
 I have a question for all you grammar geeks or English teachers out there.  What is the proper (or most proper) plural or possessive for a name ending in X ?  Would Maddox be Maddox's, Maddox', Maddoxes, or just plain Maddox.  I have started googling it, but haven't had time to really dig into it, and now I'm leaving to go to Orlando (about a 30 minute trip) to pick up one of my Grandson's from work. 
I ordered a folding table to use for a cutting table in my sewing room, and Walmart said it would be here between this coming and next Friday, but I got an email it is here today.   My book with RRCB in it is supposed to be here by Dec. 4th (I guess books get on the back of the pile at the US Postal Service as it was shipped a few days ago) and if I have similar luck with that, maybe I can keep up with my goal of having my Craftsy BOM, Maddox' (?) quilt and my RRCB all done before the new Easy Street mystery starts.  That would be wonderful.   If I do and I have lag time after working on Easy Street, I'll work on my Scrap Vomit (isn't that a horrible name), but if I don't I'll hopefully have the 3 more finishes by the end of the year anyway.
PS  We had a very nice day yesterday.  My son came and brought his dog and my daughter and one of my grandsons came and brought their dog.  We left the dogs in the back yard and went to a Mexican restaurant nearby that we really like.  Everyone enjoyed their lunch and the visit.  My husband, Ernie, probably wore himself out a bit, but I think that it was good for him and he enjoyed very much having his children (and his grandson) spend some time with us.   Everyone is so busy that we can't get together as much as we'd like, so it was a treat.    

Beginning of Maddox's Quilt and Visit

I have the simple little blocks done and am about ready to start assembling them.  I hope Maddox and his family like it.  If they like it a lot, they are near Ikea and can probably add accessories for his room as the fussy cut blocks with the bunnies and the hedgehogs are Ikea fabric.   Should end up about 46 by 58 inches before washing, and a few inches smaller after washing.  Sorry, it's a little confusing sitting on my Orange Crush, but the bottom two rows with the borders should be how it looks.  Quite a change working with little blocks with from one to four pieces and ending up with a 6 x 6 inch block, after 60 pieces in an 11 by 11 inch block.  
Guess it's going to have to wait though, my son is visiting from Tampa and my daughter may come over for a bit, too.  Tampa is only a couple of hours away, but with everyone's 'life' getting in the way we don't get together as often as we'd like and my son is going to be out of the country for Thanksgiving.  Happy Veteran's day everyone.