lesmel - 2025 Quilty as charged

Happy crafting, my friends!

Great thread title! Looking forward to your posts.

I love your thread title!

Here's to all the crafting to come!

I had to look at your title twice. What a cute idea. Happy New Year

Nice to see you have a new thread up and running, and as I'm a big fan of wordplay I love the thread title.

Looking forward to having you back and seeing your projects.

Didn't do much in the house today. I am still trying to process the mess in my head to figure out where things are going. I did nap for 2 hours. Apparently, I was exhausted. My Fitbit says I slept 10 hrs today.

>8 lesmel: The body said "I need rest" so that was good for you.

Naps are one of my favorite things these days. Feels like an indulgence, but sometimes they're just necessary and important.

I'm not really a good napper and I wish I was. By the time I'm ready to fall asleep, I should be getting up.

>11 dudes22: Sometimes, just doing nothing is as good as a nap. It's sometimes hard for me to turn off my thoughts and nap; but I can almost-not quite meditate instead of nap. It feels nearly as restful.

>10 scaifea: Since I started WFH, napping is skill set I've tried to develop. It's amazing how even just laying down for 10 minutes listening to the right kind of music and something over my eyes can make the rest of my day more productive.

>9 mnleona: My body is still screaming for me to sleep. I'm pretty sure I need to balance the sleep with some activity. Get my routines back in place.

I wish I could nap. But if I sleep at all during the day I won’t get any sleep at night. Unless I’m really ill.

I've had a sinus infection, and it has made me tired. If I can nap 30 minutes to a little shy of 1 and a half hours, I'm good. Any more than that, I won't sleep well that night. The shorter the better.

>16 thornton37814: Sounds like my daughter. Get better soon.

>16 thornton37814: Hopefully, your sinus infection is getting better!!

Behold! The sewing machine is up and running!



I had a moment today after I set my sewing machine up. The machine wouldn't turn on. This is not the first time it has taken 2-3 minutes for the machine to start up. I probably need to take the machine in for servicing.

I think I've found all the tops that I need to send off for long arm quilting. I'm missing at least one back. I have no idea about binding.

First project will be the simple pleasures top that has been lingering. It needs four seams to make it whole. I can't even remember if it is supposed to have borders. If so, I need to hunt those down. I probably should hunt down the pattern.

I can't find the printed pattern for my quilt top. Luckily, I bought it as a PDF...and I talked about what pattern it was back in 2023.

Now to see if I can find the backing fabric, the cut borders, and the pieced strip for the back. Hopefully the borders and strip are with the rest of the top. I can't even remember what I had planned for the backing.

I know how that is - and i haven't had the upheaval that you have. I came across a back with a tag with the size on it and I have no clue what top it goes to.

No one faint!

I have two more seams to get the main part of the top finished. I still need to cut borders. I have skinny borders; but I'm pretty sure those are not going to work. They are the same width as the sashing. I'm wondering if I can use the strips for binding. I'm pretty sure I can't. They aren't wide enough for making binding.

So, funny thing, Blue is not happy with my attention on sewing. He comes over and paws at me, whines, brings me his toys. I have created a spoiled monster. LOL

My project notebook (the small one with the list of projects) is missing. I am not happy about this. I have at least 14 boxes with crafting things. I really didn't want to rip all the boxes apart looking for the project notebook. And why didn't I pack the smaller notebook with the larger project notebook (which I found immediately)?

This morning, I've sorted a single box. It feels oddly fulfilling because the box is now all my pens, pencils, markers. If I can find my coloring books, those will go in the box, too. Organization! Yay, me!

I'm hoping to sort some things into smaller boxes -- like all my thread, some tools, etc. Smaller boxes will fit in the armoire. Honestly, I think I need a box size between shoe box (6 Qt) and the flat boxes (32 Qt)...but that isn't going to happen. I have a small fortune invested in the boxes I have. I will need some basic shelving; but the 32 Qt boxes I have will live in a closet somewhere while the large totes will live in the garage.

I found it! I found it! I found it! I found it!

It took 13 boxes, but Box 14 was the lucky winner. This quest has revealed to me that I have no idea what fabric is where. I need to sort my fabric stash and probably label all the boxes. I also want to fold the fabric in such a way that I can look through the top and know immediately what is in the box...other than my already-cut-on-but-not scrap fabric. That fabric might not be candidates for Marie Kondo style folding/storage.

>24 lesmel: Good for you.

>24 lesmel: - I'm glad you found it. Sorry it took 13 boxes.

>24 lesmel: Whew!

Oh, wow! Im' glad you found it, but gah! having to look through 13 boxes first. My stress levels would have been through the roof.

>28 PawsforThought: Funnily enough, I was not stressed. The notebook had to be in a box. I just had to find the right box and I had to actually rifle through the content instead of just peek in the box. I was more annoyed that I'd packed it without taking more care to label what box it was in or even keep all the notebooks and papery things together.

In storage news, I found the shelving I'm going to buy for the garage. Don't ask me how I'm going to get it. Maybe I'll just buy it on Costco online and have it delivered. Then there is the fact I have to rearrange my garage to get the shelving in place.

That is all a problem for future Lesli.

I've made some minor adjustments to my living room/sewing studio. I'm still negotiating the eventual layout of the room. More and more boxes are getting emptied, flattened, and hauled to the garage. I still have two strips of sashing to sew onto the quilt top on my work table. At that point, I need to decide if I want a larger border on this quilt or not. This top is larger than I remember!

I've got a question (or 2) for you. I've tried basting spray on a couple of doll quilts that I made, and it seemed to go ok. I'm thinking about trying it on a lap/throw size quilt. Do you use basting spray? And if so - do you also pin or does the spray keep it together good enough? And if you pin - do you pin further apart? Making the quilt sandwich is the part I hate the most.

I have a fear of breaking needles on pins and ruining my machine. I'll do just about anything to avoid pin basting. I have dreams of buying a basting gun that uses the little plastic tags like on clothing price tags.

I do spray baste on projects I'm going to quilt. I've spray basted up to a lap quilt. Spray baste is pretty strong and rarely needs help to hold the sandwich together. Although, I have pulled the sandwich apart and re-sandwiched after spray basting. That, oddly, still keeps the whole thing together for smaller projects; but usually needs a little help from more spray on larger projects -- probably owing to a lighter hand with the spray.

I still struggle with getting a crisp, flat sandwich, but I'm getting better with every project! I haven't tried the pool noodle technique. I use the quartered layers technique. I lay the backing down. Tape it pretty tight to the floor; but try to keep the tension even. Then I fold the batting into half and half again. Figure out the middle of the backing. Lay the quartered batting into one quadrant. Spray the batting and/or the backing. Book open the batting. It now folded in half over the backing. Smoooooooooooth out the sprayed quarter. Book close the batting. Spray batting/backing. Book open the batting. Smooooooth it out. Here where it usually goes to shit because I can't do the book open/close method on the other half. At this point, I will spray small strips and slowly smooth the rest of the batting to the backing.

I repeat the process with the top. Generally, this is where I make sure NOT to spray the top because I have had the spray come through the fabric (my brother's quilt) and had to use acetone to get the glue "stain" off the quilt.

I would really like to try the noodle method and see that it works. All the videos I watch make it look simple.

Craftsman Simple Pleasures -- top complete!

>33 lesmel: - Thanks for the info. I've seen various videos on both the noodle and spray basting. But what did you mean when you said you don't spray the top? Just spray the batting?

>34 lesmel: - I remember this quilt and I loved it when you were working on it and I love it now. I've been wanting to make one of these and have various color combinations "pinned" in Pintrest. Any ideas on how you'll quilt it?

>33 lesmel: Do you wear a mask when you are spraying? I know people who spray inside a large box when spraying pieces for individual blocks, but that wouldn't work at the stage you're describing.

>34 lesmel: Another great pattern!

>35 dudes22: Yes, when I layer the sandwich, I try really hard not to spray the top and only spray the batting. Sometimes, a top is pieced-heavy and that means a lot of seams and that means I have to spray the top and the batting.

You can see how I sandwich here:





That is my brother's quilt. You can see the glue spot I sweated over trying to get it out. That's because I over sprayed the pieced top and not the batting. In fact, my finger got stuck to the nozzle and I couldn't make the spray stop. lol

It looks like a lot of waste; but since I've been creating sister quilts with all the leftovers for each project, it's really NOT a lot of waste for me.

>36 SassyLassy: I don't wear a mask. The spray nozzle is pretty directed and the glue is relatively heavy. The aerosolized particles (is that a word?) aren't super fine. It helps that I baste in one of three places -- my kitchen, my driveway, my back patio.

>35 dudes22: I am trying to decide between a few patterns:

https://quiltingbydavid.com/product/modern-texture/
https://quiltingbydavid.com/product/box-trot/
https://quiltingbydavid.com/product/city-windows/

I have a number of quilts that need to go, and I'm considering using the same quilt pattern for all of them.









Looking back through these projects, I have lost all sense of time. I feel like I don't even know what decade I'm living in.

Those are all so fabulous!!

Joann Fabrics filed Chapter 11. They are in active talks with Gordon Bros to be purchased. Gordon Bros has already made noise that they will 100% liquidate Joann Fabrics after their completed purchase. In the meantime, Joann is set to close 500 stores US-wide. You can find the list here: https://www.joannrestructuring.com. Close-out sales will probably begin this weekend Feb 15th.

>39 lesmel: Nooooo! They're closing *all* the stores near me. I refuse to shop at Hobby Lobby and I don't love buying fabric online. Yoicks!

>40 scaifea: The two Joann stores I use aren't closing; but I rarely use Joann anymore. We have a plethora of quilt shops in the area.

>41 lesmel: We have quilt shops, too, but Joann is the only thing in town for other fabrics. Sadness.

Shipped Pots and Posies to the long armer! I have a list of 9 more quilts that need quilting.

I did some sorting of fabric into different boxes in a attempt to identify all the fabric with known projects. Most of the fabric connected to projects is precuts or fabric collections in small yardage.

Still, I have a ton of stuff. I could make a project a day from my stash and probably not need to buy fabric. Not lap quilt sized projects; but wall hangings, crib quilts, etc.

Watched a video online of paper piecing. For the first time ever, I think I actually understood the process without breaking my brain. I, intellectually, can walk someone through the concept of paper piecing; but in practice, I have never been able to make sense of the mirroring and trimming. This is my sign to practice!

I've done some paper piecing but it's not one of my favorite techniques. In fact, one of the first projects I attempted when I started quilting was paper pieced. Just a small wall hanging. And I took a class with Judy Martin once and I tend to use her technique if I'm going to do a paper pieced project. She even signed the books we used for the class. I think she's most well-known for her mariner's compass quilts.

I hear you about the volume of fabric we can acquire. One of the reasons I started the Christmas quilts project was to reduce my Christmas stash.

Pots and posies is already winging its way back to me! I've already cut the backing for the next quilt to ship. I'm hoping I can use the leftover backing for binding. That one will ship out in a week or two. After that will be the Lemons #1 followed by Lemons #2 followed by Simple Pleasures. That will get me through June.

I decided against sending the double star until later. I still have the series of four quilts I made with the crazier 8 templates and grey fabric. I need to pick a backing for those.

*sighs* Joann Fabrics is closing all 800 stores. Returns are no longer accepted and gift cards will be honored through Feb 28th.

That's such a shame.

>48 lesmel: It is too bad. I do not have one close so have not used them for awhile but still a good store.

The quilt is back! It's been back all week. I plan on binding it today. I have a second quilt almost ready to be shipped out. I have wide backing that has been giving me side eye. I need to lay it out to see how much I need to trim (or not). I still need to figure out the backing for the two lemon quilts.

I have been tempted to go to JoAnn to look for wide backing. I'm not sure I will find any. The website has stopped accepting online orders! The site says they have been overwhelmed by the high demand. I feel like a vulture going to pick a corpse. *sighs*

I just remembered once we had Minnesota Fabrics and it was large. That was before Joann. I do not sew anymore. One area I always go at the Minnesota State Fair is the Creative Arts Building to see the beautiful quilts. Such talent to sew a quilt.

It's April. It's time to send a quilt to the quilter. I am really tempted to send all my lap quilts at once and get the pain of shipping and service over with. I would at least get to make something new this year instead of getting frustrated that I made myself swear on a stack of UFOs that I wouldn't make another thing until I had gotten these projects completed.

>53 lesmel: - I have quite a few tops that have been hanging around and I think next year I'm going to concentrate on getting some of them completed. They are mostly ones I can quilt myself instead of giving them to my long-armer but this year I need to concentrate on the Christmas quilts.

I'm watching The Quilters on Netflix. It's such an interesting, heart-felt documentary. I wish it was longer.

In this award-winning short documentary, men in a Missouri maximum-security prison design and sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children.

These men have made nearly 2000 quilts. Their work is amazing.

>55 lesmel: Isaw a trailer for that last night and thought to myself “I should mention that show to people in the Needlesrts group!”

I watched it a few nights ago. It was very interesting, and I think I might do a rewatch.

>55 lesmel: Thanks for mentioning that. I just watched it, and it raised so many ideas and questions in my mind. Some of the quilts were amazing.

The documentary triggers a lot of feelings and questions. These are men that have done terrible, horrible things. They are lifers or near-lifers. They are doing an amazing service to communities. They have exceptional skills. When Fred gets kicked out of the project, I feel for him; but then I remember he committed a hellacious crime that put him in prison. Does he deserve my compassion?

Where does grace fit in this scenario? Should people that have committed violent crimes against others be given grace? Can we hold two distinct thoughts/feelings for these men? -- horror/disgust over their crime; appreciation/inspiration over their quilting talent/art. What does restorative justice really mean? What is the purpose of a RJO or a RJO project?

I've been sleeping/sitting on one of my smaller quilts a few days/weeks semi-preparing for a new puppy. Now that the new puppy is a reality, the quilt needs to be mailed to my brother. He will be transporting the pup from FL to me in June!

>60 lesmel: - Looking forward to seeing pictures of the new pup. What kind is it?

Puppy!!! I'm looking forward to photos too.

Good luck with the puppy! I'm in awe of anyway who tackles having a puppy (or even a kitten honestly). So adorable, but so much work.

>61 dudes22: He is a Boston like Blue; but he's what breeders call "lilac" -- dilute chocolate.

*sighs* I've put off posting about this. The puppy was killed the week before I was supposed to pick him up. The entire litter was killed by a snake. We will never really know what happened; but the best explanation is that the puppies saw the snake as a toy and it defended itself with tragic consequences. Life is not fair; Nature is not kind. I grieved for little Bruno and his litter mates. I spent a lot of time trying to decide if I was going to find another puppy and what that would look like. This weekend, I may be adopting a four month old Boston mix. It all depends on how Blue and Chip get along at the meet-and-greet. I don't foresee anything making this adoption not happen; but Blue takes priority.

>65 lesmel: Oh, my goodness, how horrific!

>65 lesmel: wow. that's absolutely awful. Fingers crossed for the Boston mix adoption.

That's awful! Hope things go better with the new adoption.

Oh geez, how strange and sad with the puppies! Fingers crossed on the new adoption!

So sorry to hear this.

Meet Chip!



He was 5 months old on Saturday. He's a Boston Terrier mix. I'm waiting for his DNA swab to find out what exactly his mix is. I adopted him from a central Texas rescue that focuses on transport out of high kill shelters and/or high kill/low resource areas. He originally came from Eagle Pass. More pictures!

Cute! Cute! Cute!

he looks energetic!!

What a cutie!

Oh he's so adorable! I hope he's settling in well.

Well, I never managed to dig my way out of boxville. Maybe next year. In the meantime, Chip has nearly doubled in size. He's 10 months old in nine days.



He likes to nap in my office window:



This is a regular occurrence in the house: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bloglass/54802364446 (video)

So is this:

Wow! He certainly has grown. I scrolled up to his earlier picture to see the difference.

OMG I love love love the doggo pics! He's adorable and it's so cute to see the two buddies napping together.

Cute.

What a couple of cuties!

Your puppers are adorable!

There would need to be a lot of piffle for me to get my magic number this year.

Honestly, I am not sure I care. 2025 has been a weird one. I don't think I have sewn a single stitch. No, I think I did before I moved everything into my sewing room.

In the new year, I plan to organize my garage & add a couple curio cabinets. This will allow me to finally empty my boxes from when I replaced my flooring. Ultimately, I will get my sewing room back at that point.

Normally, I would review a bunch of sewing/craft books to pad my thread; I don't know that I read any craft books this year. A ton of cookbooks, though!!

For Xmas, we exchanged names. I got my niece. I gave her the Singer 6105 I bought from a neighbor's garage sale probably 10 years ago. It is almost 100% metal parts. Built in Italy. 1979 manufacture.

With a good service to replace a couple parts & get it properly cleaned, this machine should be a workhorse.

>84 lesmel: Whoa, what a gift!! Lucky niece!

That's a really nice gift for your niece. I wish I still had one of the first machines I learned to sew on. I got some Billy bookcases in January this year planning to reorganize my quilting area, but I haven't gotten very far. I work on it sporadically.

>85 scaifea: I hope she takes advantage of the machine. She mentioned wanting to learn to piece quilts. This is a good start.

>86 dudes22: I have been prowling IKEA for ideas. I have a number of wire-frame shelving units from there. I considered Billy bookcases; but I'm not sure they are the right depth for what I wanted. Then again, at this point, I may change my mind for the 100th time.

>88 lesmel: - Karen Brown from Just Get It Done did a video on things to consider when storing fabric that was quite helpful to me. Here's the link in case you're interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOt1X4buUXM&t=420s

>89 dudes22: Ha! I have three of four of those plastic bins she talks about for her 3 x 3 half yard cuts.

>90 lesmel: - So do I.

*snorts* My brother asked me to sew a button back onto his shorts. He only has canvas needles and thread for fixing the dog beds at the moment. I'm not all that in a hurry to get the button sewn back. He lives less than 5 miles from our mom and never comes to see her; but I guess it's ok to ask for help with button sewing.

I thought of another topic and now I've blanked. I was looking at my previous years' posts. So much has happened in just five years.

Ah ha! I remembered!

So, a friend sent me a TikTok quilt reveal. It's a quilt of the City of Chicago flag. The stars in the quilt are wrong, though. She was asking me if they did the stars wrong because the correct stars aren't possible or what.

We had a discussion about paper piecing and how PP can make just about any shape possible in quilting. I went hunting for a pattern. I'm sort of surprised there isn't a pattern for sale that I found. Admittedly, I didn't hunt long. There is a blog post about the star on the Chicago flag and how to paper piece it.

Anyhow. That discussion turned into a discussion about making t-shirt quilts. In particular, intentionality in design, sashing vs. no sashing, size of blocks, etc. T-shirt quilts always look so simple; but they rarely are.

I've never done a t-shirt quilt. I know the fabric can be problematic because it stretches and needs some kind of interfacing. I have a friend who had someone make a t-shirt quilt from the shirts her husband used to buy at band concerts they attended. He had so many that the person did a front and a back. It was really quite nice.