A Nice Weekend At Payne Lake Campground

This weekend was so nice! I saw the first sign of spring, daffodils!  There they were, blooming on the bank by the spillway:

Other signs of spring: Lots of campers in the campground, fishermen in boats on the lake, and teenagers wading in the creek:

And the redbud trees budding:

We spent some time checking all the electric hookups and water faucets to make sure they all worked, because the turkey hunting season starts next weekend, and that means the campground is sure to be filled up.  We picked up trash, cleaned out fire pits, and just made sure everything looks good.

I have been doing a lot of product reviews over the past couple of months, trying new gluten free things. This morning I cooked us some organic chicken sausage that was really yum! Tomorrow I’ll be trying out some sweet Italian sausage from the same company for dinner.

And as if I didn’t have enough to do, I have joined a group of writers doing a Write For Ten project. We are given a topic each day, and strive to write for ten minutes on that topic. You can see my efforts here. I’m learning that it is sometimes difficult to write for ten minutes, and sometimes my fingers just fly over the keys.

This afternoon, I did some more sewing: another tote bag in a gorgeous green and brown leaf print:

It has two pockets, one of them divided into sections with spaces for pens or pencils:

It is 18″ wide X 9 1/2″ tall, large enough to hold lots of goodies.  I’m going to be making some more this week, I hope. Only 5 more days until FabGrandpa has his eye surgery, and only two weeks before I see my grandchildren!

Did I Tell You That I Love Fabric?

Fabric in my linen closet

So, I guess you thought that since I live in a 34′ travel trailer that I would have nowhere to store a fabric stash? Dream on!  I could not live without fabric. Even if I don’t have time to sew for several months, I MUST have fabric with me at all times. I would probably perish from fabric withdrawal if I could not at least pet it once in a while. You know, take it all out, arrange it in different combinations, think about what I want to do with it EVENTUALLY, feel it. You know, all the things a real fabric-aholic does.

That photo up there? Is the fabric I have stored in my “linen closet”. The “linen closet” is two shelves in an overhead cabinet in the bedroom. My fabric takes up one shelf in there. Who needs towels anyway???  I also have a wicker trunk in the living area that doubles as a coffee table. It is full of fabric. And a two drawer Sterlite storage container. And a shopping bag in the wardrobe closet. But, with all that fabric on hand, I still didn’t have the exact piece that I needed to finish a couple of projects.

I bring this up because we had to go to Tuscaloosa for yet another medical thing for FabGrandpa today, and on the way home we stopped by the Carolina Lily Quilt Shop. And when I say we, I went in and bought stuff and he sat in the truck and slept off the anesthesia. I figured if he didn’t know what was going on it didn’t matter. Right? (Oh, and by the way, his colonoscopy turned out fine.)

I can’t tell you how much I spent, because I didn’t look at the bill, just handed over my debit card. That was a rather brave thing to do, but it was very necessary.

Charm packs and jellyroll

When I went in there today, I bought two charm packs and a jelly roll.  Charm packs are precut squares of a variety of fabrics that all coordinate. Same with the jelly roll, except that you get 40  precut strips. The ones I got today are the Birdie 5″ charm pack; the Animal Alphabet 5″ charm pack; and the Soiree’ 1 1/2″ strip jelly roll. Having the pieces precut saves a lot of time and makes making a quilt so much easier and faster.(plus, if I don’t actually use it for a while, I get to see so many fabrics all at one time!)

Background fabric for Sarah and Seth's Bethlehem Star quilt.

I got the background fabric to be able to finish Sarah and Seth’s quilt. I wanted a brown but could not find one that matched this very well. The green looks very nice with the other fabrics in the star.

Yellow for sashing for the charm pack I won.

Back during the summer I won a charm pack of precut 6″ squares in a giveaway. I have been wanting to do something with them, but needed sashing fabric. I got a nice yellow to tie them all together. Don’t know exactly what it is going to be yet, but at least now I can start seriously thinking about the possibilities.

I went in there to buy this.

And this is what I actually went in there to buy. I have all the pieces cut for the blocks, sashing, and border of the quilt for my bed. The only thing I needed to be able to get it sewn and ready for quilting was the backing. I found this deep brown that looks really good with the other fabrics. I’m thinking I am going to have it quilted with turquoise thread, so it will show up nicely on the back of the quilt.

So, now I am set to be able to complete several projects. Let it snow! See if I care!

Hurray! I Got Some Sewing Done Today

I have so many projects to get done that sometimes I don’t know where to begin. I made a rule for myself a couple of years ago that I have to finish one thing before I can start another, because I had gotten into the habit of not finishing things. I would make the quilt top, but not follow through with putting the layers together and quilting the project. Since I made that rule for myself, I have finished lots of things.

I DO still buy fabric, and cut things out before I finish the project at hand, but this just gives me something to pick up and sew.  Today, I finished sewing the star pieces together for the Star of Bethlehem quilt I am making for Seth and Sarah.

If that looks familiar, it may be because I am making one very similar to it for Becca and Ken. There is only one fabric that is different in the two quilts. These are king size, and I am sending them out to a long arm quilter to be quilted. My sewing machine won’t handle that big of a job.  Here is a photo of Becca’s quilt ready to go:

Yes, I was working on it in the maintenance shop. I had to clean of the work bench and tape some plastic on it to have a space big enough to work on. Sometimes I go to a quilt shop and use the tables in their back room. I have never been turned down for doing that, as long as they don’t have lessons going on at the time.

I had bought some yellow and purple fabric for the new baby’s quilt when a month or so ago:

But then this cute cute girlie girl fabric came in the mail last week:

So now our new little missy will be getting this purty fabric called “OH, Cherry, Oh” for her first quilt from her FabGrandma. I haven’t decided on a pattern yet, but I think I am going to let the fabric tell me what to do. I got what is called a “turnover”, which is a pack of 40 pre-cut triangles, and three 1 yard pieces. I love those pre-cuts–they make it so easy to get started doing something.

FABrics I Love

As you may have noticed, I love to sew. I mostly make quilts and crafts, but have been known to sew a little bit of clothing every now and then. One of the reasons I haven’t been sewing a lot since I started living the RV lifestyle, is that I am always in remote locations where there is not a decent fabric store within hundreds of miles.

The internet has come to my fabric rescue! Over the last year or so, I have found quite a few sewing, quilting, and fabric blogs, and I read them every day, and drool over all those fabulous fabrics the writers of them are using in their projects.  One of my favorite fabric blogs, True Up, is hosting a MEME where they want you to show your 10 favorite fabrics of 2009.

Since I didn’t get into internet fabrics until last summer, I missed out on some that debuted earlier, so some of the ones I am listing here may be older than 2009, but I still love them.

My most favorite fabric I found this year (but probably came out earlier than that) is the Fairy Tip Toes collection by Tina Givens for Free Spirit Fabrics. When I saw it, I fell in love with it, and searched for three weeks before I found it online to buy. I haven’t cut it yet, don’t know that I ever will, but I HAVE it and that is what matters most to a fabric-aholic like me!
My next favorite is called Large Whimsy from Pillow and Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics. I am making myself a quilt using the brown/green/turquoise colorway. I already have the pieces cut and ready to sew.


There are just so many beautiful FABrics out there these days, it makes me wish I had more storage room for it. I have only a wicker trunk to keep it in, though, so I have to be very selective on what I buy.


And I used two fabrics from the Meadowsweet Collection by Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller to make a dress for my FabGranddaughter, Sarah, for Christmas:

Here are some things that are in my list to get in the coming year, that is, if something new doesn’t come along that I love more!


Hushabye:  by Tula Pink for Moda Fabrics

And for reasons I don’t have to explain, I love these two cute fabrics:
I don’t know how many of these gorgeous FABrics I will actually get this year, but oh, isn’t it wonderful to dream about them?? Oh, and I see I have gone fabric crazy again, since they only asked for my favorite 10. Hello. My name is FabGrandma and I am a fabric-aholic.

I’m Turning Into A Bag Lady

My fabric shopping trip last week included some heavy-weight interacing so I could make some tote bags for my daughters.  That stuff is expensive! But, I got enough to make four bags. I have two of them finished already:
Greens, blues, and browns for Becca.

 
 Pinks, greens, and beige for Emily.

 
The pattern I used makes three sizes. These are the medium sized ones. That large bag would hold a Volkswagen, I think.

 
And I have yellow and black sitting there waiting to be sewn, for Becky. I don’t have fabric yet for Sarah’s, but will have it next week. OOooo, I get to go fabric shopping again!

I Got My Fabric Fix

I have not been to a real quilt fabric shop in almost two years. When we are at the North Rim, there is not a fabric store for at least 200 miles, and that is a Joann Fabrics. I thought I had found a fabric store in Kanab, Utah one time, but it turned out to be 2 aisles in an Ace Hardware Store. I was sooooooo disappointed. 

Last week I went to Hobby Lobby in Tuscaloosa, and they had some fabric but not much to choose from. I got a few fat quarters, but I was still starving for a fabric binge. 

Today, I found Carolina Lily Quilt Shop. As soon as I stepped in the door, it was like I was a kid in a candy store!  Not only did they have top quality fabrics, and plenty of it, the nice lady behind the counter knew who and what I was talking about when I asked if she had any of the Fairy Tip Toes line by Tina Givens. She didn’t, but it is so nice to have this store within reach, and to be able to just go and touch and feel and adore fabric. 

I guess I went a little bit crazy. I made up for not being in a real fabric store in so long! Ooooooo, I can already feel another shopping trip coming on….