2-9-13: Slow Progress....

Hello! Last weekend we were all over the place and went to a Superbowl Party.  Needless to say, I didn't get alot of sewing done, but I did cut a bunch of new tote bags.  Thirteen to be exact.  Linings, fronts and two pockets each.  And, here is my gripe.....fabric costs have gone up, just like everything else in the world, so when the cutters cut "exactly" the measurement I request, I wish they would allow for the uneven edges!!  Can't they give a 1/2" on either side? So when I square off my fabric, I can have the size I want?  My other gripe: damaged fabric!  One piece has a stain right in the middle....and another the manufacturer didn't print the pattern and colors correctly throughout the design - so a large piece has the design "off" where it should be.....ugh.  I've tried to use the bad fabric design by having the bad parts hit the inside of my pockets, but I cannot get them all this way.  I'm not going to finish the ones I'm questioning as I may change the pockets to another fabric.  I managed to sew up a good portion of the tote bags that needed black thread.  I hoped to get some completed, but then I ran out of black thread! I'll put it on my shopping list.

I did get my "On the Rail" square design (I think that is the name of the pattern?) put together into a 16-block quilt top.  I also decided to make the other two 16-blocks tops.  One will be bordered in pink, another in green, and the last in blue.  That way, should there be twin gifts or sibling sister gifts, these will coordinate, but be different.  The top is laid out on a black quilt because I thought it would show up better than on my green duvet cover:

I did get a part of my sewing room cleaned - YAY!  Now I have more room to stand by my table.  The 45 minutes was time well spent.  Little Olive was up in her room playing while I was cleaning out - this is her in her "boat" with her buddies.  :-)

As far as using up my stash of products, here is two weeks worth!  I took the first picture because I do not want to forget about the Caldrea Hand Balm.....this has to be one of the best hand lotions I have ever tried.  It absorbs in and doesn't leave a greasy-feel to my hands.  I definitely want to buy more, but no-no-no.....I have to use up my stash first! 

I love the smell of Bath & Body Works "Twilight Woods".  But I know I'm going to like another lotion scent just as much.  We also finished using a big bottle of conditioner, so adding that to the tally. 

Little Bottles: +6 (one wasn't pictured)
Big Bottles: +4
Spools: +1


Happy Saturday Night!

Addendum to my 2013 New Year's Resolutions....

I had the nagging feeling I was forgetting to include something and you know how that feeling always turns out to be right? It was again.

During Christmas vacation while I was sick, I happened upon a show called "Hoarders".  I think it has been on for a couple years, but this was the first time I saw it - and it was purely by chance as the station was tuned when I turned on the set.  So I watched.  And watched for another hour given the back-to-back episodes.  What I saw was CRAZY.  While I can no way relate to the lady who hoarded cats, those both living and dead (which weren't buried, but socked away in her refrigerator and freezer), when they showed the artsy-craftsy lady who could no longer BE artsy or craftsy because she had no space due to the magnitude of STUFF she'd accumulated, part of me related to her plight.  My first resolution is to sew-down my fabric stash.  And I will have pictures on Sunday to show what I completed.  But other snippets of these women's lives (all four story lines were female hoarders) showed piles of newspapers, magazines, bottles, books, supplies for any need - and some never bothered to wash a dish or clean their remaining living space at all.  NOW, I'm not anywhere near that level, but I do have piles of stuff around the house that I reason I will go through before throwing out, or will put away into the place it belongs.  I also have a supple of beauty products since I love lotions and potions.  Which brings me to the addendum....

#6) Go through the piles of "stuff" and make a decision - KEEP or TOSS.  What is kept needs to go where it needs to be, which it likely not on my dining room table.  I'm keeping this resolution manageable for me....one "area" a weekend.  If I bite off more than I can chew, it won't work. I need to feel like I've accomplished and closed.  New Years weekend, I did the first pile and tossed 97% of it.  The remaining KEEP was readily put away.  Last weekend I tacked the two drawers under my sewing machine on the sewing table.  The stuff that stayed in the drawers was fine, but I also threw alot out - and organized an email list for periodic mailings for Olive Street Studio when we have new items or a sale. :-)

#7) Use up my products before buying new ones.  I am a complete sucker for Bath & Body Works clearance sales because they have delicious scents.  And because I'm not a make-up girl, but rather a soaps and lotions, I cannot pass up a good scent, so I buy it.  In 2013, like I had in a prior year's resolution list, I am also going to use up the soaps and lotions I have and not buy more until needed.  I've accumulated many little sample bottles from hotel stays because I can't bear the thought of using two days of shampoo and conditioner and housekeeping tossing the remainder into the can.  I'm going to keep a running total of the number I've used up with the empties hitting the recycling bin.  I decided to use the hotel samples first since I can clear out faster.

Running total: 2 hotel samples; 1 medium size lotion.

Whew!  Now THAT is my complete resolution list.  I'm encouraged by my two weeks progress.  Let's see if by Sunday, I've made more....

Happy Friday!