Sometimes I just need a jump start

I started a new job a couple weeks ago. I'm the Tool Coordinator for the North Portland Tool Library. It's a lot of fun but I'm also realizing how much I don't know about tools. You would think that with since I spent a lot of time in the tool department at Sears as a child with my Father I would know more. It's kind of nice to know that I do not know everything. The job is only about 10 or 11 hours a week and it gives me a chance to get out of the house and talk to all kinds of people that live in my neighborhood. 

Since I started my new job I have not been sewing very much. I kind of hit a funk. So to get me out of that funk I made another quilt top. My husband asks me if we really need another quilt...I say of course we do. But I must admit I have about 4 or 5 quilt tops that are just sitting in my studio. So really what is one more going to hurt. It got me out of my sewing funk so it's a good thing. 

I started by pulling out my scrap bin and just sewing pieces of fabric together. I tried to stick with blues and reds. The idea was I would make the blocks with a white sashing between all the blocks and call it my red,white & blue quilt. Well it really did not happen like that...once I started to sew I just pulled pieces that looked good next to each other. I used a lot of pink, some nice blacks and purples too. I used all scrap from my scrap bin. All the squares are 12.5" x12.5" I would sew till the block was larger than the 12" and then cut it down. I would than use the cut scraps I cut off to start the next block. I was able to use some really small pieces of fabric with out going crazy while sewing. Once I got the squares completed I liked them all next to each other, I don't think I will put a sashing between the blocks. I like the fact that all the blocks run into each other and it's hard to see where one block starts and the other one ends. This quilt will be about 5ft by 4ft and if I get a backing done, I may try to free motion quilt it on my home machine. I still have a HUGE scrap bin and I know I need to tackle that part of my studio...but that is for another day. 

I'm still making rugs. This is one of the latest. As you can see Arty loves this one. She jumped up on it right away (of course that may have been because my husband put some cat nip on the rug). I was lucky enough to get some red last time I was at Pendleton Woolen Mill, it's a nice bright color. I dropped off some samples at a couple shops. One shop already contacted me saying "it was not the right fit" for their store :(. Oh well there are other shops that I think these rugs would do great. I'm thinking of making smaller rugs for cats, as our cats love sleeping on these warm wool rugs. I can change directions and hit all the pet stores in the ares. I also like the rugs unfelted, they feel very lush. Felting the rugs means I have to wash them in hot water with Murphy's Wood Soap and dry them on high. It adds a step that may not be necessary. Of course folks that want to felt the rug can and it makes the rug look a lot different. I make these while we watch movies at night and I'm getting quite a stack of rugs. If I don't start selling some of these soon....everyone will be getting rugs for Christmas this year. This red, black and grey rug is about 45". 

New Adventure

I left my job of 25 years. I have no job waiting, I do not really have a safety net set up, but it was the right thing to do. I had been unhappy for a couple of years. I kept going to work because I loved the people I worked with and well to be honest the health benefits were GREAT. Now my husband & I are looking at health care, we signed up for Cover Oregon and hoping that we can keep the doctors that we have been using for the past 5 years.


Now I get to go to events on the weekend, wake up and play with the kitty's and my favorite of all….sew whenever I want to sew. I can stay up till 2am making a shirt for my husband or a dress for myself. It's all a little frighting but also new and exciting. 

Hat Museum in Portland Oregon

We went to the Hat Museum located in Ladd's Addition in Portland Oregon. It's worth it if you are at all interested in hats. There are over 1000 hats and one of the coolest hats is made from a very large mushroom. You have to make an appointment to go to the museum and only 6 people at a time, but it's worth the time as the tour is amazing. 

My latest Pendleton Rug, I'm on a mission to make 20 of these and try to sell them on Etsy. I love staying up late nights watching movies and crocheting these rugs. It takes me about 2 hours to complete a rug. 


As promised here are some better photos of me in the fashion show, they were taken by a good friend who attend the Quilt!Knit!Stitch! convention…Thank you Tina!!

All the lovely ladies that made dresses and were in the fashion show

Me wearing my saltwater sandals and my very comfortable Party Dress.