Progress again!

It has been a while since I have blogged and linked to Works in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Mostly because there has not been any progress! lol.

But i am back sewing and with a vengance (posted yesterday about three finishes this week!) I have lots of unfinished projects now though...

First off I have a commissioned quilt that I have to buy the batting for and finish... will post finish pictures on this one. The problem with living in the middle of nowhere is I have to wait till Saturday to go to "town" and  buy it.

Second... I started this little table runner tuesday. I have finished quilting it and now I just need binding...

Ok, I did have a better picture of this quilt, without my stepson and daughter in law's laundry behind it... but my little guy is so cute I had to use this one! It is a baby quilt i started today. I had a bunch of scrap bricks left over from other projects and I saw this quilt in the Connecting Threads catalog (it was a kit you can purchase) I used my scraps (I even had a bunch of the 2 1/2 in white squares already cut) I need to put the orange, yellow and red rows on it.

Then there is this one...It is my orange project and ive been working on it for about 18 months. I finally have a flimsy out of it, its a large queen. I plan to buy the batting saturday as well. I laid this out on my bed for the picture and it is amazing how BRIGHT the room got with it on my bed. Im not sure what im going to do with this one yet.... I did decide tonight that it's name is Cheetos, my grand daughter Alyssa came up to me tonight after eating them and her face and hands were the same colors as my quilt! lol.

These are my works in progress that i expect to finish soon. Here is my complete list of UFO's that i have tucked away in corners

Liberty Quilt- borders and quilting needed
Donation Do the Math - quilting
Home Grown Tomatoes - still piecing
Dallas' Soar - quilting
Donation Strip Quilt - Quilting
Rainbow Strings - still piecing
Vintage Sheet Twin - still piecing
Cotton Dress World - scrapped original idea and im not sure where im going with it
Giant Plaid Quilt - still cutting and sewing I think i need 150 more 4" plaid squares
Giant Stripe Quilt - I keep stealing pieces of it for baby quilts so I think im just going to make it a twin
Pretty Little Windows - still piecing, may take forever
5640 something - still hand piecing 1 in squares. I only work on this when I want to watch a movie in bed

There may be more lurking ... lol

Actual finishes??? Wow!

I have been productive again! woo hoo. It feels so good to be productive again!

Saturday I finished the Tshirt quilt that i have been worked on. Ok, the picture quality is bad because i finished it up at 2 am, had to wash it and ralph delivered it to his customer at 5:30 am. So i had to take the pictures on the floor with bad lighting!

I have two more to do for this customer. It took a while to figure out the layout because of the different sizes, but I was pleased with how it turned out and how it quilted. She loved it and cant wait to see the other two!

I sold the last vintage sheet quilt in my store the other day. They sell well so I needed at least one to put in there, sunday morning I sat down with my precut 4 1/2" scraps and put this together. I am pleased with how it turned out and I called it "Baby Powder" because it was so fresh and pretty you can almost smell the baby wrapped in it!

Being that I was on a roll, monday morning I sat down and honest to goodness I peiced it and quilted it before most of the residents in our house was even awake! The points on the star are the left overs of the flying geese on the queen quilt in my last post. The boxes of the stars are 1 1/2 inch precut scraps and the white is the scraps from the white vintage sheets I use in most of my quilts.

Ok, see the points on the stars, they are HORRIBLE! I figured out my 1/4 in seam is way off. I keep a peice of painters tape on my machine and my grandson loves to play with it, obviously he has moved it! So I am trying to figure out a better method that isn't as fun to a 2 yr old! lol

 I also whipped up some more vintage sheet cocktail napkins for the store. They have sold well in the past. I have given these to all my little grand daughters for their tea parties too. They love them!

I am linking up to Show and Tell Tuesday, Free Motion by the River, and Sew Cute Tuesday at Better off Thread. There are some creative links there so be sure to check them out!

an almost finished quilt

Wow, it has been over a month and I haven't posted... where has the time gone and what has been up?

sewing wise i have been working on this king sized quilt for a customer:

im not sure if she reads my blog so i can't show much yet... i want to show it  all to her finished!

but the flimsy is done and i will start quilting it as soon as i finish the tshirt quilt im working on for another customer. Pics of that when its finished. I have to say, tshirt quilts aren't that hard, they are just alot of thinking and careful stitching.

I do have one boo boo that you can see in this picture. I made it too big and had to trim off a row off of each side. When i did, i didn't leave enough seam allowance to have clean points against the border!  It bugs me but im sure she wont notice! There are 180 of those flying geese though... that took as much time as making the X's!

I went shopping recently and bought a whole new batch of sheets for my store upcycled fabric and a mess of patterns for uneeda pattern. Both are doing well and Im spending alot of time adding the patterns right now.

Why have I been sewing so little... well that has to do with home so here is that update!

on the home front...

Ralph is doing better (he had a heart attack) and is about to go back to work, good thing cuz 2 months of not being able to do what you love is wearing thin on him.

I had my appendix taken out a few weeks ago... that was painful and i don't recommend appendicitis! Ralph took me to the er because i was throwing up and in alot of pain. They sent me over to Nacogdoches by ambulance and they took it out the next day. I drove myself home the day after that. They say in the last few years they have started doing them laparoscopically and recovery is much quicker!

As i was coming out of surgery, we got a call that Ralph's son Travis was in a bad accident at work, he was alive but badly burned. He is an electrical lineman so saying he was alive first is important. Its a dangerous job. But there was an explosion and fire ball and he has 3rd degree burns on 20 percent of his body.(chest and arm) He is still not back to work and has to start skin grafts next week. They are saying november before he will be able to work again.

His wife bridgette was in the hospital for over a month. She is on dialysis and not doing well at all. She did get to come home and not go back to the nursing home.

I say all that and shake my head, other than bridgette and diabetes we are normally fairly healthy people! Neither ralph or I have been to the doctor in years!

Other than that Buck, sharon and their two kids have moved in meaning i have to contend with a 1, 2, and 3 yr old every day (because we still have custody of travis' 2 yr old) It is great having the grandkids there, I love them to death and we do have fun with them. They are ralph's stress relief, a few minutes of wrestling with them on the bed and hes happy. But, Buck needs a job and he needs one yesterday! They need income and a home.

The grand kids are why i haven't sewn much though, every time i sit down to sew all the other adults in the house say "mimi is out there she can watch them" and they go lay down in bed to watch tv. Meanwhile im having to get up every 2 minutes because at least one of them is in mischief! That and they are all obsessed with my sewing machine... why can't their parents keep them from monkeying with it! Everyday I have to check my settings because they tinker with it and yesterday they lost the thread i was using to quilt the tshirt quilt! Good thing I have another spool the same color, although i hate to change spools in the middle of a quilt in case they are slightly different, this time I'm going to have to!!

Quilts to make!

Here is my finish for this friday... i think i missed a couple fridays... im not sure life has been so chaotic lately.

This little table topper is made from orphan hst's. I made a runner from the same hst's and it sold already.

I still need to finish the quilt, but i will, its for my husbands daughter.

I used some red and white striped fabric for the binding and it has a solid blue backing.

I quilted it with my "straight lines" lol i use the quote marks because as you can see... they aren't really straight at all! 

Ive linked to finish it up friday on crazy mom's quilt

But the good news is i have some commissioned work to do!!! I sold a king sized quilt that i have been working on. I really never expected to sell anything for that much money and i was so floored when she said yes! and i have a tshirt quilt for a friend. (it is the first of three) 

Something struck me about the price of quilts and what people can make making them. We live in an economically depressed area. I have recently considered getting a job but when i realized that by the time i paid for the gas to get there and the babysitter for the 2 yr. old grandchild and take taxes out, i would be spending over half of my check before i even made it. Add in we only have one vehicle and the sharing a ride when we worked in 2 different directions would be a nightmare. We decided with my etsy stores i am making almost half of what i would be bringing home and im enjoying that! With a little work i should be able to double what im making. So... i am going to build my etsy stores. Now... the same day i decided this someone asked me what i would charge for a king size quilt. I hesitantly gave her a price that is almost double what i would make a week at a job (Im talking gross pay, before i paid a babysitter and so forth) and she didn't bat an eye. I figure when im done it will be about 45 hrs of work. To me this was amazing. I get to make more money this week doing something i love than i would make doing a J-O-B.

Someone living in a less economically depressed area would say... my time is worth more than that because i am a skilled worker. and in areas other than this, skilled workers make a heck of alot more money than i charged. Great, so am I but when my choices are making quilts which i love, and working at the dollar store which is about the only place hiring within an hour commute (who cares if im skilled or have a degree... its the ONLY job).... id rather make quilts for twice that pay!  and i might even get to buy some fabric with what i make!!! 

Etsy is really a wonderful thing because i did search and look on there to see what others were charging. Since it was my first large sale, i did go for a little less than the middle of what others were charging! 

Pretty Patriotic Table Runner

I think this has become my latest favorite red and blue piece! I dont know what it is about the red and blue but it is by far my favorite!

Another orphan block table runner. Yes these are orphans from my finish last week!!!

I picked out the r4 happy red and blue ones, added some white corners

I

Quilted it with my favorite close straight line quilting... is this matchstick? I dont know what to call it... and put my favorite red and white striped binding on it (going to have to buy more im almost out!)

It was a really hard photo shoot to do with little sophie, she liked the new blankee and kept trying to steal it as i was photographing it! 

Update on family.....

Ralph is doing much better. He is able to resume some of his activities although were not letting him horseshoe yet. He gets tired easily and Im sure he needs to keep working to build up endurance again. (if you didn't see last weeks post, he had a heart attack friday night caused by stress, his children literally broke his heart!!) 

Buck seems to be doing better, he and his family have moved in with us. Caty has finally hired other people for zippys so Ralph and I shouldn't have to work as much for her. I think she realized that she cant work us to death anymore! 

I did open a 2nd etsy store. I had so many patterns and they didn't fit in with my vintage sheets and quilts so I decided to just do a store for them. I got several in over the weekend while at the hospital but they are selling so fast! Now that im not working so hard I should be able to keep up. I have over 150 sewing patterns to add!!!

www.etsy.com/uneedapattern

linking up with 

Finish it up Friday at crazy moms quilts 

Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

a finish for a friend

Ralph and I have a friend fighting crohns disease and shes not doing well lately. I thought she needed a quilted hug!

I had started it over a year ago... It was in my ufo pile all this time. Lately when she had to have surgery I pulled it out to finish it.

This wasn't the original layout plan. I had planned on putting 9 patches where the whole squares are... well, maybe not even that, LOL i dont really know what i had planned but I have a BUNCH of 9 patches I didn't use.

(ok.  you caught me... there is about 1/4 of the binding not finished on this one yet!!!)

Family news: please keep our family in your prayers. Ralph my husband had a heart attack last night. We are in the hospital this morning waiting for the cath thing to figure out if he has blockage and how bad it is. He is doing ok and will be ok in the end but what lays between then and now is scary. He is a farrier (blacksmith) and we dont know if and when he can go back to work! 

Life has been stressful. I mentioned buck last time seemed to have a drug problem too. Well tuesday he was arrested for stealing copper. We dont know if he stole it or not, but he also had drugs on him. This breaks both of our hearts, he had the world in the palm of his hand a few moths ago! I really thought he was doing ok. The other son with the problem has been full of drama lately. Ralph is going to have to ignore his drama... i dont know how he will do that, but after last night, he HAS to!

UPDATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Ralph is out of the heart cath and he doesnt have any blockage. This is apical ballooning syndrom also called broken heart disease because it is cause ENTIRELY by stress. I pretty much called it when i said all of this with the boys is breaking his heart.

Bucks wife and three kids have moved in with us. Everyone keeps talking about the stress of all the grandkids. We keep saying its not the grandchildren that are stressful. the are a piece of cake and a joy to have around! Its the children who we worry about and cause the stress!

But... its sat morning and im hurrying to link up to finish it up friday at crazy mom's quilts and can I get a Whoop Whoop? at confessions of a fabric addict and TGIFF at What a Hootand make my goal of 3 times a month! hope yall have a good week, i will see you next week with another finish!

a new Friday goal

Ive posted the last couple "Finish It Up Fridays" at Amanda Jeans and it has given me something to work towards and to shoot for... so... I am setting the goal of posting something at least 3 fridays out of the month!

Today it is another orphan table runner. The pinwheel blocks were for a baby quilt for a little boy who is now a teen and when I was unpacking some fabric I found the blocks. Opps... that was a long ago UFO. Now it is a pretty table runner (and I made a table topper)!

The denim looking fabric, im not sure where it came from, either a yard sale or someone gave it to me... the yellow was a recent stash acquisition.. I needed some yellow.

The back is a piece of sheet that I had.

Be sure to check out Amanda Jean's Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up friday posts

On the family front. We have had Dallas' family visiting from Alabama this past week. Dallas is Ralph's oldest daughter. The grand children are getting older, Leah towers over me now! It was a nice visit, mostly here at the restaurant. I like dallas and the kids. Maybe because they are drama free for us, we aren't all involved in the day to day workings of their lives like the kids that live here! lol.

Travis is doing better. He is going to counseling now and he said the guy is teaching him coping skills. Im not sure if hes telling us what we want to hear or if he is really being reached by the counseling. He still seems to be doing better and I am hopeful that trend will continue!

Im probably going to have the other three grand children again for some time this week. Buck still hasn't found a job. I think this situation is going to get alot worse before it gets better.... I am praying he pulls himself out of the tailspin.

Caty is stressed running the restaurant. The electric company gave her a whopper of a bill this month (last month was only 14 days, this month they billed for 44... does that seem crazy?) So im worried about her. She is making some of the mistakes i made and i don't want to see her do that! But she is also her fathers daughter and you cant tell her anything!!! lol! so we are sitting back watching her struggle. The mistakes aren't earth shattering thank goodness, she can recover from them... its just hard to watch someone you love so stressed out and you cant help.