Sandy Klop's Trunk Show, Part 2

Here are the last of the photos from Sandy Klop's wonderful trunk show at GLHQ.  Hope you enjoy her amazing work!

She has great patterns for children's quilts.  Be sure to check out her American Jane website!

Sandy Klop's Trunk Show, Part 1

I mentioned last Monday that GLHQ was fortunate to have Sandy Klop lecture and teach this month.  Here are a few of the quilts she brought for her trunk show.  She brought 3 large suitcases fully of glorious quilts -- eye candy for everyone who attended.  Sandy has two books out plus a plethora of patterns on her website -- be sure to check it out.

More Time Please!

Time.  Do we ever have enough?  I wish I could shake a few of my crafting ideas right out of my head and set them aside for another year!  Instead I want to do EVERYTHING!

I took a wonderful quilt workshop with Sandy Klop a couple weeks ago.  More on Sandy in a few days.  I've been sewing Christmas presents for my mom and my kids.  Lots of items for the upcoming Holiday Bazaar at GLHQ.  I even cranked out a flannel/terry burp cloth for a woman at work I don't even know -- she's expecting a baby boy!

For now I'm back to focusing on items for the bazaar.  Here's a great little pin duo I made using Angela Walters' fabric line, Legacy.  The pin pattern comes from Indygo Junction's book, Fabric Flowers.  The pins are fast to make up -- the hardest part was deciding on which fabrics to use.  Wait, I think I'll make more!

First you need to select some beautiful fabrics and cut them ON THE BIAS into 2" wide pieces of varying length but no longer than 4.5".

Sew them together in a long strip:

Press the seams open and then press the long strip in half to make it 1" wide.  Using 1/4" cotton cording and a zipper foot, start sewing the corded strips, as close as you get to the cording.  Turn the fabric ends in 1/4" and trim the cording 1/2" from the end of the fabric.

Next, trim the excess fabric away from the sew, being careful not to breach the seam!

Here are the pins coiled up to see how I like them, held together with just a straight pin.

Now the real sewing begins:

The backside is not particularly attractive but that's okay.

I sewed a pinback to a nice piece of felted plaid wool (1/8" smaller than the pin) and then sewed the wool, using a straight stitch, to the back of the coiled fabric:

Looks mighty cute on my shirt but it's going to be sold at the Bazaar next month instead!

Denver and the Petting Zoo

Today was a super day.  I drove out with my roommate to see Holly and Denver at the Westview Orchard in Romeo.  Kevin organized the outing and Holly chose the orchard.  It was sunny but super windy, which made us zip along to avoid getting too cold.

We managed to make it on the last day the orchard was having their petting zoo for the year, a key attraction for Holly.  Denver was so excited.  He was making all the different animal sounds.  First up were the donkeys.

The donkeys were so cute!  Denver and Holly are too!!

Next came the goats -- probably my favorites!  They were so gentle at taking the little oats we had for treats:

Everything was going great until Denver got a tiny speck of goat poop on his face.  Then came the meltdown and hasty retreat from their pen:

Who could resist this face???!!!

I spotted this beautiful chicken:

Denver climbed on the giant tires:

And hung out with his Uncle Kevin:

And made up with the goats:

We had some cider and donuts and posed for a picture:

Then we grabbed a quick lunch at the Romeo Family Restaurant.  Denver was pretty good but when the waitress stopped by and told him he better sit down or he'd have to leave (playfully, of course!) he got a really serious look on his face and said OK.  He was so cute!  

I sure wish I could have more days like this.  Aside from being a bit chilly, it was perfect!!

Checking In

Oh my goodness time flies when you're having fun.  I found a new route to work and while it may not be faster every day, as least psychologically it's a better alternative for me.  I'm also still hoping for a new job closer to home.  A few different recruiters are trying to find me something and another company reached out to me last week.  I had applied there and never heard back but now I am -- yippee!  They are exactly one mile due south of me!!!!!  I could walk to work.  I could ride my bike to work.  I could drive 20 miles each week instead of 515.  Please send all positive vibes and prayers my way !!!!

Last Friday I took a day off of work to go get a stress test with a 2-D echo.  I did well but I had to have an IV inserted with contrast so the images would be clearer on the echo.  Now I have to call my doctor to see if I can still have my bone density screening on Wednesday.  After I got home Friday I was reading over my instructions for that test and saw that you're not supposed to have any contrast within 7 days.  Uh-oh.

In the mean time, I spent all day yesterday cutting out fabric for various projects, and then today I sewed.  I should be able to take some photos in a day or two and maybe even a little tutorial.  It's getting closer to the holidays so I will be ramping up production in the sweat shop.