August Stitching and Something NEW is Coming!

I went 40 days without sewing on a sewing machine.  I've been busy hand quilting instead.  Speaking of hand quilting, I'm now up to over 237 hours of quilting on this quilt so far (over 114 hours since July 11th of this year). 

I finally got up to my sewing room last weekend.  I needed to make exchange blocks.  I pulled out some matching sewing themed fabrics, and made enough HST's for 16 blocks.  I sewed a set together, and OOPS!  Silly me picked 2 fabrics with no contrast between them. 

no contrast

Nice fabrics, but I needed a nice contrast.  Oh well.  These will make some low volume blocks for some project down the road. I pulled some more fabrics, and started over.  Why do things like this happen when you are in a rush?  Here are the new blocks (16 in a stack).  These are for the Virtual River Rat TOGA (Treadle On Gathering & Academy). 

exchange blocks

I also needed to finish the last 4 blocks for my Spool Block exchange (also with Treadle On).

Spool blocks for exchange

I made a total of 37 blocks for this exchange, but I only needed to send 32 blocks.  I'm keeping the other 5 blocks.  Here are the rest of the blocks that I've made.

I finished the last 18 Striped Circle blocks (Woohoo!)  Now to get them sewn together.

Last Thursday was our grandson's 1st Birthday.  We Skyped with our son and his family to watch Korin open his presents from us.  During the Skype call, one of my son's friends (from junior high, etc.) came by with a cake for us from my son and his wife.

We're going to be grandparents for the 3rd time!  This baby isn't due till late April, so I have some time to make some quilts.

Hopefully I'll have more to show soon.  I have several quilts that need to be made in the next few weeks or before Christmas.  I also need to finish hand quilting, and bind the quilt that I've been working on since early July (actually since 2010).  And no, that isn't my oldest UFO.

Squishy's, Stitching and Catching Up

 Wow, it's been over 5 weeks since I last posted.  Now I get to figure out the 'new' blogger format (I hate computer changes).  I haven't sewn on a sewing machine since July 13th (almost 4 weeks).  I'm also w-a-y behind on blog reading (sorry, I hope to catch up soon).  

I have been sending and receiving squishy's in the mail.  My Treadle On group has had 3 exchanges so far, with 2 more to be mailed by mid October.  

The first exchange was our Spring Basic which was half square triangles this time.  I made 4 sets of 8 blocks (32 blocks total). Hmmm... I can't seem to put text below each photo, so I guess I'll have to write it before each photo.  I also can't seem to center the photos (the icon doesn't seem to work)(changes, grrr!).

All blocks for Treadle On exchanges must be made on either a hand crank or a treadle (people powered machines).  The first machine was a gift from Debbie several years ago (she doesn't blog anymore) and is a 1950's Class 15 that I turned into a hand crank.

The next machine is a 1914 Singer 66k hand crank that my husband uses to make backpacking equipment on.

This machine is named 'Tinkerbell'.  It is a 1925 Singer 99 hand crank.

This is the machine that I sew on most often.  It is a 1927 Singer 15 hand crank.

These are the blocks I received in the exchange.  I got 32 blocks back.

 The next exchange was an Apron Exchange.  I made Linda a reversible apron and some matching hot pads.  I tried to put the binding on by machine on the hot pads (no stitching down by hand) and I don't like how they turned out.  I'd rather stitch the binding down by hand. These were made on my 1927 Singer 15 hand crank.  The green paper (the pattern I made) is sticking out of the pocket, since it is hard to see the pocket otherwise.  There is a pocket on both sides of the apron. (showing both sides of the apron, too).

Unfortunately, whomever was supposed to send me an apron, didn't bother to make or send it.  The hostess has tried to contact them.  Oh well, that happens. 

The last completed block exchange is the Monkey Wrench block.  I wrote a tutorial for this exchange back in December, so I got a head start on this exchange.

Here are the blocks that I made for the exchange.  The first set was made on my 1927 Singer 15 hand crank. I used the same sewing machines that I  used for the Spring Basic exchange above.

Here are the blocks I got back.  There are 32 blocks (broken up into two sets of 16 blocks).

The hostess included a face mask that she made.  It has crystals on it, and the elastic is adjustable.  I didn't have a mask in this style.  I'm wondering if it will be better with my glasses (not fogging up hopefully).  

I have another Treadle On exchange that is due in September.  I still need to finish 4 more blocks (started on a different machine, so I haven't pulled that machine back out to finish the blocks yet).  Here are the blocks I've made so far.  All of these blocks were made on my 1927 Singer 15 hand crank.  I stitched a few of them at the Missouri TOGA in late June.  I would have been done with these ages ago, but I stitched them the wrong size, and had to start over.  

I've also finished 3 more sets of Striped circles.  Most of the blocks for this quilt are done now.  Only 18 more blocks to go.  I hope to have another set done by the end of next week.

I also finally finished the last of 4 baby quilts early in July.  

Now, to the reason that I haven't been in  my sewing room since July 13th.  I pulled out a UFO that I started back in 2010.  It is a quilt for my in-laws.  I'd hand quilted over 122 hours on it and got burned out on hand quilting.  I hadn't worked on it since June 2011 (9 years ago).  Well, since July 11th, I've put in over 80 hours of hand quilting on this quilt.  I still have another 25-35 hours before the quilting is done.  I keep track of how many hours I quilt by listening to audio books.  Each CD tells me how many minutes and seconds, and I add them all up.  This time I started with Harry Potter #1, and now I'm on Harry Potter #5.  The quilt is on a frame that hubby made me when I first started quilting back in 2001.

Now, to get back to hand quilting!  Please tell me what you have been up to, since I'm so behind on reading blog posts.  I'll get caught up when this quilt is done.