The yarn of it all…

I’ve been on a bit of a yarn kick lately, so much so, I should rename this blog “paulasuebuysyarn”. I’ve used some of it….

I guess I have been lured in by the quickness of crochet projects. There is nothing more satisfying than finishing something. I finished this infinity scarf!

I was pretty excited to finally make something for myself only to find out later that I had made the perfect “Texas Tech” scarf. That’s the problem with living here; you can’t wear red, orange or maroon without aggravating somebody. I’ve never understood this fierce allegiance to the place that took all your money. My main objective while in college was to get out of college…. and get a job…so this pretty will likely go to one of my tech friends.

I have also been working on scarves for the 2017 Special Olympics Winter Games. Great colors this year: cranberry, ivory and grey. Scarves 1-3:

And finally…. I present to you “Franken-Blanket”. The quilter in me cannot resist scrappy things so I decided to take all of my scrap yarn and make a scrappy afghan. Truth be told, I had very little scrap yarn so a lot of this is new. I let the hubs pick out new yarn each weekend and my momma send me yarn 🙂

Good Bye 2015 and Good Bye to the Hummingbirds…

Hello All!

I know it has been three months since my last post. 2015 was tough, especially the end of it. I am not sad to see it in my rear view mirror. And strangely, I have several friends that feel the exact same way. But its done… The hummingbirds are also done, after 100 birds I lost steam and it just wasn’t fun anymore. So I am calling it. I have plenty for a really nice size wall hanging and I ended it with my grandmother’s block which makes me happy. My new goal is to get them all set and over to Karen for quilting before the end of the year.

Even though I haven’t been blogging I have been busy making things. Here is a tour of the last couple months:

I made this bag for my mother-in-law with a new batting/stabilizing product called “Annie’s Soft and Stable”. It was amazing. The bag is sturdy, holds its shape and stands nicely with no interfacing, no Pellon, no batting; nothing but this new product that is basically a sturdy batting with fabric on both sides. Got her some yarn too 😉

I was in desperate need of yarn and the very nice ladies that own an alpaca farm near my parents opened up the shop for me over the holiday. And I got to meet this guy (and 20 of his friends).

And lastly, I have spent the last half of this month making scarves for the 2016 Special Olympics Winter Games. Each year the Special Olympics presents every athlete that participates in the winter games with a scarf (I just found out about this). There is a call out to knitters and crocheters in each state to make scarves. Each state picks a different color scheme each year and the guidelines are pretty broad. I would encourage you to get involved and make a couple scarves for these kids. I decided to crochet because I am a very slow knitter but I did try to mix it up pattern-wise.

I hope you all have an awesome 2016! I’ll be posting, probably not as frequently but I will be back.

Paula Sue

Disappointed…

  
I’ve been MIA with sickness and work lately. So no birds and no new socks. But, I did pull out an old knitting project, an infinity scarf which I’m not sure I’ll ever finish. I thought about it tonight when a fellow blogger mentioned that she started a knitted afgan and the realized it will take forever to finish. I feel the exact same way…

But this yarn is fantastical. It is the softest sock yarn ever. And in thinking about that I became disappointed. I bought this yarn at my local yarn store and they always had such an amazing, large selection. A couple weeks ago I went to the store, excited to get more yarn only to find out it had downsized to the half the space. In that space, it didn’t have 1/4 of the inventory and had become very specialized. Practically overnight. It was so disappointing. 

I hate this. I don’t like shopping online for things that must be touched. I get it though, the economy is bad right now and will be until oil prices go back up. Also, with so much available online and in chain stores, shop owners have to change tactics to stay in business. 

So please support your locally owned businesses so I can continue to touch things before I buy them!

Summer Socks Done!

  
It’s been a long sicky week with no more birds getting done. However, the time spent in the Drs office allowed me to get my summer socks done just in time for fall… 

  

Sock delima…

No birds tonight, way too tired to sew without cutting off a finger.

But I did get some knitting done today while sitting in the hospital deli waiting for the pharmacy to open after my doctors appointment. I was at the point of needing to try it on. But I just couldn’t bring myself to take off my sock and shoe in Au Bon Pain… I really wanted to. 

  

Hummingbird #100 – What??

Block #100 for my Grandmother

For my 100th bird, I wanted this to be special. I stressed for the last two days over who to dedicate this to and which fabric to use. Early in the project I had decided to make birds only for those that are still with us, as a celebration of life. But tonight my husband pointed out to me that even those that have gone before us have left their mark on our lives and are special to us.

My grandmother passed when she was in her early 50’s and I was still a freshman in high school. But, I can promise you there would be no hummingbirds without my grandmother. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I owe my craftiness to her. I was lucky enough to live in the same town as my grandparents so I grew up watching her make dolls, crocheting and sewing. She encouraged and taught me anything I wanted to learn.

I often wonder what she would have thought of all this; if we would have worked on projects together, if she would have helped me pick out the fabric for my first quilt and taught me how to put it together. And if she had, maybe it wouldn’t have ended up in the trash…

I know she probably wouldn’t be here with us now, but I have been quilting since I was 18. Had she lived another 10-15 years, I would have known her as an adult, as a quilter. That would have been amazing.

Date Made: September 21st 2015
Block #100
Days on Project: 264
Blocks Made: 100

For My Grandmother

Hummingbird #99

Block #99 For Stanley

Here you go Stanley! Here’s your bird. When I made this bird I thought it was crazy fun. I apologize for my lack of modesty on this one, but it even photographed well! So I thought, who do I know that is also crazy fun… Can only be Stanley.

He also happened to mention, on my birthday, that he had not received his bird. I might be paraphrasing, but I think he said “Where’s my bird?” Stanley and I worked together for a couple of years and in all honesty he should have gotten a bird sooner. I just couldn’t figure out the best story to tell. Then I realized, it was because we had fun all the time. From wearing his Gryffindor best, to his love of bacon (which I share), to dressing up like Chef for Halloween, he kept us laughing. ALOT.

Also, no one rocks the “vest + jeans” look better than him. No One.

Date Made: September 20th 2015
Block #99
Days on Project: 263
Blocks Made: 99

For Stanley

Hummingbird #98

Block #98 For Charlene

This bird is for Charlene. Charlene was a member of an appliqué bee i was in a few years ago and I was thinking about her today. About 11 months ago, I ran into her and a few other quilty friends at festival. We talked about getting together once a month at someone’s house to sit and stitch.

This morning I was thinking of how much more fun it would be to sit and knit with other people as opposed to sitting and knitting with Law and Order reruns.

Charlene is a talented quilter and she is super fast. I am always envious of those that show up to the monthly meeting with new 5 finished projects for “show and tell” while I show up with the same project month after month to sit and work on during the meeting. The project that never seems to make it to show and tell.

But I will still let her come over and stitch; even if she shows me up 😉

Time to make this happen.

Date Made: September 19th 2015
Block #98
Days on Project: 262
Blocks Made: 98

For Charlene

Hummingbird #97

Block #97 for Puja

Well my first bird back wasn’t a complete success but I did get it done. In the process, I forgot to change my foot, needle placement and stitch length. Apparently I wasn’t doing so hot before I stopped making birds either. This one was already cut and somehow I ended up with extra pieces… And it’s actually prettier than this, my “real” camera wasn’t charged. Clearly I was not prepared for bird making this evening.

Tonight’s bird is for my co-worker Puja. She lives not far from me and after some car troubles last weekend, I helped out by giving her a lift to work one day this week. It was nice to have someone to chat with on that very long drive. The thing I like about Puja is that she truly cares for you. She doesn’t go all sappy on you and she often tells you like it is. But it is 100% from the heart. Even given the difficult week she is having, she took the time to give me some encouraging words and “momma” me a bit today. And to be honest, I needed it. I do listen, occasionally.

I am taking it easy this weekend… on Puja’s orders.

Date Made: September 18th 2015
Block #97
Days on Project: 261
Blocks Made: 97

For Puja

Just like riding a bike…

Or Not.

It took me 30 minutes to get my room sewing room put back together. Nothing was where it should have been and I couldn’t even remember which iron I was using for this project (it’s the baby one, fyi). Once I did get it set up, I spent the rest of the time matching fabrics with some success.

TOMORROW WE CUT!

Prior to the matching…

Matches

Awesome fabric I can’t seem to match 😦

Essentials for fast foundation piecing:

Comfy swivel chair, ironing board at “sitting” height, travel iron that is easy on your hands and shoulders, cutting board and trash can right beside my sewing machine (Janome 6600), add a quarter ruler, and a Gail Garber post card for a straight edge.

My set up…