I Think I Have A Problem

That's right.  An addiction to thrifting!  

I was in the SA this weekend and found some GREAT buys. 

I got this beautiful desk for my son.  

(I have a similar one from my grandpa)

This is what it looks like inside.  These pics were at the store so not the best lighting.

I found these 2 pillow cases.  

The purple one is machine embroidered but the crocheted edging is gorgeous.  

The other one was hand embroidered!

I found this adorable tin too

Inside looked like this

Bottom of the tin.

I hear you asking about the sewing machine right?

Isn't she a beauty!!!

Even has the original manual.

The cabinet needs to be refinished but the machine is fabulous!  

The tension spring is good.  

The hand wheel moves up and down as does the needle.  

There is a bobbin case and the cords all look brand new!

In the photo above you can see two silver buttons on the right on the base.  

Those drop the feed dogs!

I can't wait to plug her in and see how she runs!

My friend, Ellen and her husband dropped off her Treadle last week too.

Shhhhhhh don't tell my husband.

Finish It Up Friday

I have some finishes to share!!!  Why do they always feel so few and far between? 

I could not show these until I gifted them (which I did at the quilt retreat)

I made a basket for each of the women sharing the retreat with me.

This one went to my SIL

This one went to my friend Pam

This one was for my friend Cori

This one went to my friend Elaine

Interestingly enough the outer portion was all done from scraps!

I have a ton of 2.5" squares already cut so the sewing went quickly.

I used fabric from my stash for the handles and the lining and left over batting pieces.

Pretty slick.  

Once I figured out what I was doing they went together pretty quickly.

It is, after all, a one hour basket.

If you chose pretty outer fabric you could really get this done in an hour.

I will link up with Crazy Mom Quilts when her link opens.

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

I have been very busy working on so many things. 

 I now have kitten "helpers".  

It is so much more difficult to get things done with them in my sewing room.  

They seem to go from one thing to another wreaking havoc! 

 Then they crash. 

 I needed to do the binding on the quilt for my priest and they finally settled in.

Finn does the BEST poses!

I did manage to get all the binding sewn down on the quilt for our priest.  

I need to gift this quilt on Saturday.  

I will take a photo of the front in the day light but isn't Finn a great model? 

I was surprised that I got all three of the cats on my table last night as Hal is not a huge kitten fan.

I got my four bee blocks done, now I just need to put them in the mail.

I am now working on putting the binding on the llama quilt. 

 This turned out soooooo cute!  

I am using that same black and white stripe for the binding.

I love that our quilter quilted in the baby's name!

My friend robin and I worked on this together. 

 The saddle on the llama is actually some fabric she brought back from Panama and it is a pocket!  You have to love Elizabeth Hartman's patterns!

I thought this was so cute of Hal.  

She fell asleep with her face pressed up against this bundle of fabric.

Now it is your turn to share what you are working on.  Please link up!

I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts too.

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekend Update

Most of the weekend was taken up getting my husband ready to leave for a week to Canada. 

He usually goes to his uncle's cabin several times each summer.

There is zero communication while he is away (no service)

Even satellite phones are bad up there.

There is a LOT of cleaning up to do in the wake of his leaving.

So after he was gone the cats thought I should be the new place to sleep.

Little did I realize the vital service he was providing while he was home.

I finished all the cutting for this beautiful star quilt (or at least the star parts).  

I still need to cut the sashing portion, and will begin that this week.  

There are 72 stars in all. 

I am making this with some friends so I have 24 of the stars to make and then all the pieced sashing (one of the other friends is making the other 48 stars!)  

It should be beautiful when it is done.  W

e are using the fabric line Canyon by Kate Spain for the stars and the sashing.  

I think we will back it with the gray Free Fall line by Tula Pink. 

I sure do love using that line for my backs!

I just got 2 more quilts back from the quilter and need to get those bound.  

One needs to be mailed to the new owner and one is to be gifted on Saturday!  

YIKES!  

All other progress on other quilts will have to stop while I get the binding finished.

How was your weekend??

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

How is it that Wednesday comes so much faster than Friday each week? 

 After the quilty retreat, I have not done much in the way of sewing. 

 I had managed to get some border pieces sewn for Clove's pillow.  

I got stuck on the corners but looked it up on the internets (yes all of them) and found out what I needed to do to make the corners work. 

 I still need to make some more strips and cut the rest of the blocks out, but I laid out what I did have finished and it should go together pretty easily. 

 I may need to trim the center to make it fit, but there is plenty of room to do that.

I realize the corner may not be right. 

 I was in a hurry so will have to play with the layout but you get the idea.  

I think it will look pretty sweet once it is all sewn together.

I have a sweet video to share of the kittens playing too.

What have you been working on?  Please link up. 

Still trying to get 15 or more link ups for a giveaway.

Please share with your friends!

 I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts too.

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Quilt Retreat

I went with some friends on a quilt retreat last weekend.  

My friend Cori (Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop), my SIL Mary and two friends that I had not met IRL, Elaine and Pam (her aunt). 

 I had scheduled time at Creative Passions in Chesaning, MI.  

It was so much fun!  

We took a 5 person space (if you look at their website you can see which one we had, CP2B).  

It was located in an old church.  

We had one part and there is another part that holds 24 people but there was no one else there but us.  We brought LOTS of food and ate dinner in one night.

This was the creative space we all shared.  You can see Elaine hard at work!

Mary was working on an amazing Christmas quilt!

I decided to work on a Detroit sports quilt for my son.  

I did all the cutting on Friday for my quilt since I bought the sashing at the shop.

I had a different pattern in mind but when we got to the retreat, the owner had a version of this quilt hanging on the wall.  

The more I looked at hers the more I knew it would make a great sports quilt.

So I went online and found the pattern and thankfully they had a pdf that I could download.

On Friday we went to the Seven Sister's shop.  It is a great shop located in Carson City, MI.

We also went out to Miner's Fabric Shop, which is in a quaint Amish yard.  So cute!

I managed to get a photo of Pam as the Amish buggy was returning home!

We went out for dinner one night at a place by the river.  

Cori and I having a fun time!

We stopped at a super cute shop on Saturday that was not as far away as the first one.  

We had visited this shop previously but it had moved from Chesaning to St Charles.  

It is the Silver Thimble.  

I didn't take any pics of the shop but I did get a few photos of some cute things they had including this chair cover and that camper embroidery.

After sewing all morning and then most of the night. 

I had this much of the quilt together and just needed to put the borders on.  

I put the borders on Sunday morning. 

 I was so happy to have the top finished.  I ordered some 90" wide, gray minky for the backing.

In case you need to make one too, the pattern is called 

Ob-La-Di

by Abbey Lane

You can find it here.

Next up was to determine what else to work on. 

 I was going to bind the sports quilt in the black but decided that I wanted to see if I could cut out sashing for a second version of this quilt (non sports).  

I did not have the yardage the pattern required but thought I would try anyway.  

I managed to eek out the entire center part out of the yardage I had but not the borders. 

 Then it hit me.  

If I bound the sports quilt in something else I would have enough of the black for the borders of the second quilt!

Here is the sashing and borders all cut out for a second quilt!

I decided to make sports binding using all the team fabrics.  

In addition, I made bindings for 2 more quilts that are currently at the quilters so those are ready when the quilts come back.

Sprorts quilt

Priest's quilt

Fish quilt

I think it was a super productive weekend and I can't wait to do this again!

~XOP~

Finn and Cole

I thought it might be time for some kitten updates.

Cole is now 4 months old and growing like a weed.  I believe he is going to be the sewing room cat.

Although he may have to push Miss Hallie out of the way!

He is super inquisitive and it is difficult to keep his little paws off the sewing machine! 

It is amazingly difficult to photograph an all black cat too btw.

 Once he finally settled in though he has the makings of a proper quilt inspector!

Finn on the other hand has discovered his person in my husband.  

All previous cats have bonded pretty much to me but Finn LOVES Chris!  

He can't sit down without "his cat" snuggling up just like this.

Finn is now 3 months old and still very food driven!

Oh the baby!

Apparently this is the other position Finn likes to be in when Chris is in his chair.

Every time Chris goes anywhere Finn follows him and cries until he picks him up!  So cute!

So there is your latest update on the kittens.

~XOP~