The Bella: My Helper

Here's my Bella. Sometimes she is my sewing room shadow. She loves to play with the tiniest pieces of fabric; to cover up her toy ponies, or to lay out her own blocks. Sometimes she also loves to cut apart my chains of piecing; stacking them up neatly on the ironing board for me, too!

And then, sometimes she just like to hang out with me. Which is just fine with this Momma, I enjoy her company.

Bella being a caterpillar, NOT a worm.

And now for something completely different!

Here's a shot of the backing I pieced together for the UFO top in the last post. I used the leftover scraps from the main blocks to sew up some scrappy blocks for the back! Hardly wasted any fabric! I just love scrappy.

The larger pieces of pink on the sides was the last of a gifted bolt of fabric. I've used it in tote linings and quilt backs and now all that is left are some chunks and crumbs. To me, a chunk is anything smaller than a fat quarter and a crumb is anything bigger than a quarter (the coin) but smaller than say, my hand. I know, some people think it's nuts to save those pieces, but I love them!

In fact, I just spied a cool crumb paper-piecing pattern on Quiltville that I want to try. Bonnie Hunter drafted up a block in EQ software. Since I don't have EQ, I dug out my graph paper and ruler and came up with a block of my own to use my crumbs. (Now I'm regretting having shipped most of my crumbs to TX! agh!

But, here's a picture of my crumb bin before. It was crammed full and shoved in; just packed to the gills. My DD loves to play with these little pieces, too. I only saved a handful or two from shipment to work with until I move. Ah well, every project makes crumbs and chunks, so I'm sure I will have more in no time.

Here's the block I drew up.

 These should finish at 4 inches. I'm still playing with the inside and the color pattern, so stay tuned!

UFO top done, and I love it!

I finished sewing the last outer border on this sweet UFO top today. I just love the pastel colors of it, it reminds me of Easter and Spring. The little four-patches started as leftovers from another project and they languished on my UFO pile for over a year. I've been inspired by some of my favorite bloggers to get stuff finished up and outta here!
I did make a measurement error when I was trying to do the pieced border of hourglass units. My husband suggested the spacers that are in the middle of each of those borders. Not exactly what I wanted, but I already had all those units made up and didn't want partials in that border. And really, I don't think they are too noticeable. (Except that I just pointed them out to you!)

Triangles and I have some work to do with each other still. They are not my best skill.

Homemade laundry soap

I've been using this homemade laundry soap for a few months now. I absolutely love it! I found the recipe on this blog: http://whynotsew.blogspot.com. Check out that blog for the full recipe and instructions, its' pretty cool!

I've been using Irish Spring bar soap, since that's what I had on hand. I store my finished soap in half gallon mason jars. It looks very pretty in the jars, sitting above my dryer and I am quite proud of myself for making something at home that is so basic, yet necessary.

One of my monsters helping grate the soap!

The blog suggests using 1/2 cup per wash load, but since we have a rather large washing machine, I have started using closer to 3/4 cup each time. There are MAYBE a few suds in each load and the smell is not very strong. I never understood the appeal of laundry that was so smell-good anyway. On top of perfume, deodorant, hair products, and lotions, I don't know why we have to have laundry that smells, too. Just sounds like a migraine waiting to happen!

My hubby was all for saving some money by using this soap. At first, I needed his muscles to pick up the pot and pour it into the jars for me. But an edit in the blog mentioned above says she is just leaving her soap in the pot after it cooks, instead of messing with the jars. I'm gonna start doing that, too, since it saves a step and some hassle.

This was my first batch and my DH. I tried to melt the soap in the pot, before adding the water and it turned the batch  brown. The next batch was a pretty shade of Irish Spring green!

 On the sewing front, I've been making progress on the sweet pink UFO top. I will be finishing the last outer border today and I will post a picture of it later today. Then, I get to move on to another UFO from my basket! Feels so great to get something finished! I'm usually a 'topper', since my machine and space can't really handle machine quilting outside of some basic straight lines. I used to laugh at the idea of someone who didn't finish their own quilts! ah well....

Look, Look! I'm so excited!

This is the pieced border that I made for this cute little top. I love it! Now, I'm going to add a final simple strip border along the edge. But what color should I use? It will be a print, as I do not have a lot of solids in my stash. (I am also strictly 'nothing new' in the fabric department, until after we move.) I'm thinking purple......

I love the soft colors of this top and the scrappy-ness! I just love a scrappy quilt.

OK, I'll post when I get the last border attached. Then, off it will go to my quilter!!! I think I have a person in mind for this one, too. I met her recently here in Valdosta; she is a displaced Texan just like me and expecting a baby girl soon.

First Moving Day

We sent out our first shipment of stuff last week. Wow! Why do we have so much stuff?! Sorting through the house for the last few weeks and talking with DH and the kids about what we can live without for a few months got me to thinking. If we don't NEED it for a while, why do we have it in the first place? Ah well.

Here's the huge truck the crew came with to pack up our stuff.

Four very nice gentlemen came with and took no time at all wrapping, hauling and arranging our shipment into this big truck. And look at this!!

It's a Ward truck!! lol! Too cute.

So, now we have empty rooms in the house. This is just fine and dandy for me. Less to clean!!! :)

Little UFO top

This top started out as leftovers. I am really enjoying putting it together and watching it grow.

Here is a sneak peek of the pretty fabric I chose for the setting triangles. I love it because it is colorful but not overpowering or too busy. Normally I would have gone for a solid or tone-on-tone for these triangles, but this one worked out really well. I'm trying to use up some stash before our big move and I don't want to have to send my fabric to storage. It's been a lot of fun to really dig into my piles and see what is in there!