Tablerunner Finish!

Sorry for the brief radio silence . . . I had a work conference in Denver and then the Thanksgiving holiday, so am just now trying to catch up!

On other fronts, yay, I'm done! Thanks to the amazing head start I got at the Utah Valley Quilt Guild retreat last month, I finished my tablerunner for the Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap I'm doing on Flickr!

From checking out my partner's mosaic I figured out that she (along with several other people!) kinda liked trees. Fortunately, that's sort of my paper piecing thing. I've recently discovered these stars, so I thought I'd combine the overlapping trees with some stars.

I had originally finished the first panel of trees (meaning I had finished a set of three trees), when I discovered that the big tree was too short. The bottom of the tree came too close to the bottom of the bottom of the tree on the left, and it looked all wrong. I was so frustrated, because I loved the fabric and everything else about the trees! But back to the drawing board I went and redrafted the pattern for the trees and started over (insert sad emoticon here!).

One of my goals for this tablerunner was to use a lot of non-holiday fabrics. I love the way that bright modern fabrics can be used to make something look holiday appropriate without being explicitly holiday themed.

I did use Riley Blake's Doodlebug Design Santa Santa's Workshop Snowflake fabric throughout the piano key border and in the stars, but other than that I relied on the reds, greens, and turquoises in my stash. I particularly love how the American Jane Punctuation looks like ornaments in the trees! I also have a weakness for birds, so I always try to sneak a bird fabric or two (or three!) into my trees! That's Cloud 9 Heron fabric on the bottom. I also used P&B Textiles' Velocity Feed the Birds in there too. 

So, my tablerunner is pretty much ready to go! I just need to make a Christmas tree ornament. I'm strangely stumped about what to do . . .  any suggestions??

New Toys!

It is so hard to resist new toys, er, technology! Especially when old technology fails you! I have 37,000 (okay, perhaps 5!) plastic, poorly-made in China seam rippers than I can never seem to find. I was tearing apart an old favorite pair of PJ bottoms the other day (to use as a template for a new pair), when the metal shaft started to slide away from me into the plastic base. What use is that?! Sigh. That's it. It just so happened to coincide with one of those conveniently timed 50% off coupons from Joann's (I'm sure the store and the seam ripper were working in cahoots!), and so I made the big leap:

Look at this beautiful baby from Gingher! Sleek, aerodynamic, and yes, just a wee bit dangerous! I'm pretty sure she won't be traveling with me on my carry-on luggage anytime soon! She has a retractable blade, aluminum and nickel handle, and no cheapie breaking gonna happen with this puppy!

And just when you thought the fun was over, no sirree Bob! I've been fighting the lint wars inside my machine, discovering with some horror that, perhaps, I'm just a wee bit more obsessive compulsive than I thought I was. But there's just no way to get all that thread lint from out of the closed, confined space of my poor Brother, or is there . . . . ? Much as my little paint brush does wonders, I've found something even better! Yes, I succumbed to one of the product placements during my sewing class last week. The instructor was extolling the wonders of her mini-vacuum and I just fell in love. BUT, rather than buying the one selling in the shop, I went online and found a bargain on Amazon. And, voila!


Who knew vacuuming could be so much fun? It doesn't quite show the scale, unfortunately, but this is draped over a fat quarter, if that helps! The larger black part attaches to a regular vac nozzle, and the little attachments fit inside the business openings of the sewing machine. There are brush attachments and regular nozzle attachments. All it's missing is a lighted end! Now my machine is happy and back to her original fuzz-free state. Ready for business! And all for $8!

That's it for toys, but I did get a fun addition to the stash. Look at this amazing FQ from aubreyplays:

Isn't this so adorable? I just love love love it! She also has amazingly cute typewriters, one in this same light orange, and another in a turquoise. Hard to resist! Lots of projects in mind for these . . . sewing machine cover, little pouch for my sewing machine parts, etc. Love this! Check her out on Etsy! My only problem with this fabric is that it may be like Munki Munki . . . I may be developing my fear of cutting into it because I love it so much! I have to be strong, I must use my fabric!

On other news (I know, so much to say--lots of lost time to make up for since I've been down for the count with a migraine this past week!) . . . I've signed up for a few swaps! I had such a great experience with Susan's Modern Christmas Tablerunner swap this past December that when she announced she was back back for more (this time with pals Hadley & Cindy) I just had to sign up again, this time for the Mouthy Stitches Zippy Pouch Swap. Having finally conquered my apparently groundless fear of the zipper, I thought it was perfect timing! I've also signed up for GenQ's Stitchy Love Valentine Swap. Just a li'l valentine in the mail. Finally, I'm participating in April's Hello Sun BOM QAL. I better get cranking on that one, because the month is halfway done, and while my pieces are cut out I have some sewing to do!!

Better get sewing!!