Just checking in.

I've been so busy this week. I finally finished up the work my client needs for a meeting next week. With that off my shoulders, we've been focused on shopping, organizing, and packing for Shea's first week at sleep away camp next week. It will be the first time she's been away from home for so long and she's even crossing state lines! I'm actually pretty jealous because she'll be in the mountains where the temperature is in the 50's at night. After getting buckets of rain last week, our daytime temperature is back over 100° and the heat index was 109° yesterday. Yuck.

I don't have much to share today, but I did re-upholster my desk chair last Saturday. I'm really enjoying that fun Ikea fabric on my chair. I have one more parsons chair and just enough fabric to re-upholster it also. I'm going to have to get a new staple gun before I do any more upholstery. I don't think I've ever had a staple gun that worked properly. Sean says he can get me one to use with the air compressor. I like that idea.

I still don't have the Spoonflower fabric yet, but I wanted to thank you all again for the kind comments. I'm working on completing the repeats of the designs I drew for the cheater fabric (not just scaling them up) so that I can do a yard of 5" charm squares. I'm anxious to get it done and uploaded!

I talked Shea into making a quilt top. I've got four cousins who are expecting, so she used some Tweet Tweet to make a little baby quilt. I didn't give her much help because it was an attempt on my part to keep her busy for a while so I could get some work done. When she finishes sewing the top, I'll do the quilting.

The house is finally coming along after some huge delays due to all the rain over the last couple of weeks. The rough-in inspections are done (framing, electrical, low-voltage, HVAC, plumbing, gas, etc.), so the insulation, sheetrock, and brick can begin next week.

Shea enjoyed climbing around in Sean's Bobcat thingy he uses to dig and tear stuff up. (I think it's actually called a skid loader. Impressed?) He was digging the trench for the new water line.

I've had a number of inquires about the progress bars I use for tracking my hexagon quilt progress. Here's the link to the progress bars I'm using over there near the top right. You have to do your own math with these, but I liked that they were small and customizable.  Have fun!

I'm hoping to head to Dallas tomorrow for another Dallas Modern Quilt Guild Saturday Sew after we see our girl off for camp tomorrow morning. I'm ready for a break and the Saturday Sew sounds like a great way to end a very busy week.

~ Thread Stash ~

This post at Sew, Mama, Sew! asks us to share our thread stashes. Since I've never really thought of my thread in "stash" terms, I found this to be an interesting exercise.

How did you select colors for your personal thread collection? I buy thread for specific projects and stock up on basic threads I use regularly for quilting. I've also acquired some threads in large assortments such as the Ebay find above.

Do you always match the color perfectly to your project? Yes, I try to match my fabric perfectly. If I can't match the fabric exactly, I go a little darker.

Do you ever use contrasting thread?  In clothing and machine quilting, usually not. In hand quilting, yes.

Do you use the same color in the bobbin as the upper thread? Almost always, yes.

What if a fabric has big areas of very different colors? I try to match the predominant or background color and don't worry about it.

Do you have any tips or suggestions about choosing thread? Purchase quality thread and if you can't match your fabric exactly, choose a thread one shade darker.

Can you show us a picture(s) of your thread collection? Yep.

Do you ever buy thread because you fall in love with the color (without a particular project in mind)? No, I don't remember ever buying thread just because I liked the color.

Do you “invest” in thread?  I don't "invest" in thread, but when it's on sale (50% off at Joann), I stock up on neutral cotton threads for machine quilting and hand quilting. I also buy YLI quilting thread when I find it since it's hard to come by and I love it.

What types of thread do you have? All purpose cotton covered polyester for clothing, machine quilting cotton thread, hand quilting glazed cotton thread, upholstery thread, button thread, elastic thread, monofilament thread, rayon decorative thread, metallic thread, topstitching thread, serger thread, cotton perle thread (sizes 5, 8, and 12), embroidery thread, craft thread, and a few spools of vintage thread that belonged to grandmother.

Can you believe it? I won!

Image from Spoonflower.com.

Thank you so much for your support in the Spoonflower fabric of the week contest! I'm so excited! I can't believe I actually won!

For those of you who asked about purchasing the 'Cheater Friday' fabric, here's the lowdown. Before a designer can sell their fabric on Spoonflower, they are required to order the fabric to serve as a proof (in the textile industry, it's called a strike-off). The designer should use the proof to ensure that the fabric prints as they intended and gives them the opportunity to make changes if necessary before the fabric is available for sale. Spoonflower's current lead time is about 20 days, so I wasn't able to get a proof prior to this fabric going on sale. Spoonflower is going to make the fabric available for sale today (before my proof ships) since I won the contest.

If you buy the fabric from Spoonflower before I see the proof, be aware that I can't vouch for how it turns out since I haven't seen it yet. Stephen also sent me a message to let me know that he's having to rotate the design, and I think that's actually going to modify the repeat, so you may not receive all 56 squares in a FQ.  I won't know for certain until I receive the proof.

Once I see the proof, I am going to order some yardage of the fabric. I'll probably sell some FQs myself since I would actually profit more by selling the fabric myself and you could purchase the FQs for less if you buy it from me after I buy yardage.

Image from Spoonflower's blog at www.blog.spoonflower.com.

[Edited to add - Spoonflower just uploaded some photos of the printed fabric to flickr here and here, and sent out the email. It's official!]

I'm still working on the Paintbox quilt when I steal a few minutes for myself. I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out and I love quilting with the perle cotton. I think I'm going to hand quilt the pinwheel sampler with perle cotton too.

I received a couple of questions about my quilting frame and you can see above, I'm just using a quilting hoop.  It's an Edmunds 14" quilting hoop which I purchased at my LQS. Quilting hoops differ from embroidery hoops in that they are much sturdier and the hoop is thicker (this one is 1" high or thick). I'd love to have a larger frame, but until we move and get settled, I'm going to stick with this small hoop and just continue to move it from block to block as I quilt.

As much as I'd love to stick around and chat, I've got to get to work. Thank you again for your kind words regarding the cheater fabric and especially for the votes! I would like to enter another Spoonflower contest, but I've set the standard a little high for myself after winning the first one I entered. I'm overloaded at the moment with work projects and I'm working against a tight deadline, so real work is having to take precedence this week over the fun stuff. I really want to do some more fun designs now!

Eighteen down. Sixty-two to go.

It's 2:15 p.m. I'm still in my pajamas. I ate a slice of leftover chocolate creme pie for breakfast because it was fast and required no preparation. I haven't had lunch yet. I'm neglecting the dishes in the kitchen and and the mess in the living room. Why?

Because I can't put this down! I started hand quilting the Paintbox quilt late last night and have been working on it all day today. I had to take a break to give my hands and elbow (ouch!) a brief rest.

Beep! Break's over. Only 62 blocks to go! I hope I finish before my fingers start to bleed and my elbow requires a brace, because bloody fingers and an arm brace are going to seriously slow me down.