followup: business card holder

This is the pattern for the little business card holders I made.  No wonder I couldn't find it online when I googled because it's really called "Little Wallet" by Valorie Wells.  You can buy one online here - this pattern is about halfway down but there are so many other little delightful patterns by her that it's worth taking a look at them all.

The other day, the Ghastlies fabric I ordered arrived - with a huge bonus.  First of all, I wanted a selection of the fabric so I was searching all sorts of online places to get a variety.  I wanted both the original "Ghastlies" scene and the "Ghastly Night" dinner party scene that I pictured in my earlier post, along with some coordinates.  Most of the stores I found were out of some or another, but I found a vendor on a storefront called Artfire who was advertising everything that I wanted, at some really good prices ($5.50/yard for some).  So I placed an order, paid, received confirmation, and waited.  When it arrived, I found that I got only about two yards - not four - of the Ghastly Night in green that I'd ordered, but like EIGHT YARDS of the same print in the mauve background, which I hadn't ordered at all.  I emailed the seller to be sure it wasn't a mistake and she confirmed that she was out of the green but the mauve was end of bolt and she thought I might be able to use it since she wasn't going to carry Ghastly fabrics any longer.  Absolutely I can use it!  Now instead of making just a quilt, I can make all sorts of Ghastly Ghear like I've been seeing in the blog hop.

However, it's going to have to wait since this weekend I am headed up to visit with my son, and on Sunday I will get home in time to go to my Honey's sister's house for his family birthday celebration they put on hold for me.  I'm not even taking any handwork with me so I hope I don't get all antsy thinking of the sewing piling up without me.  I WILL be going to Jo-Ann Fabrics at lunch today to use the 30% off entire purchase card I got during my shopping last week and stock up on some basic fabrics, as well as some coordinates to go with the Ghastly project.  Maybe I'll see a pattern or two that will be perfect for all that bonus yardage.

We're supposed to see some snow in the Mid-Atlantic area this weekend ... a stark change from these sunny days in the 70's we've been having.  Stay warm and enjoy your weekend, wherever you are.

two to quilt

These two quilt tops (the one on the right including a double border not shown) were delivered to my longarm quilter, Laura at Star City Stitchery, today.  She helped me pick out patterns and thread color.  I've mentioned it before, but one of the things I love about her business is that when she's working on my quilt, she lets me know and I can watch on the quilt cam.  If you click on it now you see the Block of the Month sampler quilt for The Crooked Stitch.  It was on the machine when I went there today.

I warned her that I've got two more quilt tops headed her way before the end of the year.  One is the Christmas one I'm working on and one is the Ghastlies one that I'll be making as soon as I get the fabric.  It will have some pretty large sized blocks because of the scale of the fabric so it should go together quickly.

I'm having kind of a rough week - it's so hard to tell when I'm PMSing now since the hysterectomy since looking at the calendar doesn't help! - and each time I read a post about a quilter's retreat or the friendships a lot of quilters have found through things like Sewing Summit or other quilt events, I get envious.  Yes, I have the quilt guild, and one friend I met there, even though our ages are about 25 years apart.  But honestly, one of the reasons I sewed all week and all weekend is that I didn't have much else to do.  Yes, I turned down an invitation from my Honey's sister to join her and her husband for a wine festival, and I am grateful to have been invited.  But I really wish I had friends to sew with or go grab a beer with or go shopping with.  I don't even have family anymore, beyond my dad and my son and the people in my Honey's family who have so kindly (and so recently) accepted me.  Some of the bloggers I read talk about time spent with sisters or their mom and that's just not really an option for me.  Family is forever ... until they pass away.  Still, I've always been somewhat of a loner, and haven't picked up many new girlfriends since my divorce.  Work is exhausting and when I get home at night - and it's as dark as when I left in the morning - I'm grateful I don't have to go back out anywhere to put on my social face, and can just wriggle into sweats and spend some quality time at Old Sally until my Honey gets home.

Still, life would be cool if it had options.  Maybe one day.

business card holders

Last night's football game was horrible, but at least I got some handwork finished, including four Christmas presents. 

A few years ago, my mother passed along to me a copy paper box stuffed full of raw silk remnants in every color imaginable.  I used them to whip up a few of these business card holders as Christmas gifts in 2009.  It was time to make some more this year.

I can't remember who made the pattern but I bought it in a quilt shop and made some cardboard templates that make it easy for me to cut and piece en masse.  While not a lot of people carry around business cards all the time anymore (although that's my Honey's card peeking out of the one in the top right), I thought it would also be perfect for all those "reward punch cards" we get at quilt stores or lunch places that are bulging in my own wallet.  Everyone nowadays wants to give you some kind of loyalty card but if it doesn't fit on the keyring, what do you do with it?  This is the perfect place to keep them.
I made two for my Honey's sisters - their mother passed away last year and that embroidered slate blue silk on the bottom left came from her stash; the other is the open one and also has the embroidered silk on the outside.  The other two go to colleagues.  The grey one has a bright yellow middle pocket and the other is in Virginia Tech colors - burgundy and orange - and both have a pretty little thing sewn on the outside for visual interest, a finding from the jewelry aisle at Jo-Ann's.

I might slip a gift card into each one of them before presenting.  I'm not quite sure yet.  But at least these are four gifts to be checked off the list.

Monday again

My Honey got home around 6:30 last night and I was almost done with my sewing to-do list by that time, even though I turned down an invitation to go to a wine festival with his sister and BIL to make that deadline.  I posted pics several times from my phone throughout the weekend.  I mailed off five 4Patches4Hope blocks on Saturday.  I finished Kaleidoscope Saturday morning - and thanks for the comment, Karen - more on comments below - and will probably drop it and Jelly Girl to my longarm quilter today.  I started a new project I'm going to call, "Ready, Set, Star!" - a combination of the "Ready Set Snow!" fabrics and the Lone Starburst pattern from Kimberly Einmo's new book, "Jelly Roll Quilt Magic."  I have all my star segments pieced and it was a practice of trial and error to get the points to match nicely, but the no-set-in-seams background is a breeze!  I could easily have worked on this project all weekend long but I did just little bits of it in between "must do" projects like Christmas gifts and the applique demo I'll be doing at my guild in two weeks - I want to have one finished block and one in progress for that evening. I cut more fabric for Dark Star and pieced one more block.  But I stayed up til around 3 AM both nights in order to get as much done as I intended and am yawning this morning.  Tonight won't be early either since the Ravens play Monday Night Football and I will tune in for the game.  But I have a whole pile of handwork that needs to be done which is leftover from the weekend's efforts, and will post more pics afterwards.

I also have "Ghastlies" fabric arriving in the mail, hopefully this week - and just today discovered a "Ghastlies" blog hop happening this week.  Check it out - maybe there will be some inspiration!

As for comments - I am grateful whenever I get them.  I wish Blogger was easier about letting me make comments to my own blog than it is - whenever I try to leave a comment on my own blog, Blogger tells me that I do not have permission, and I have to log out and log back in.  Every time.  But I know, from reading so many quilt blogs myself in Google Reader every day how special it is to have someone actually make the effort to leave a comment. So if I don't reply to your comment, or if you don't see a public response to a comment left for me, please don't take it personally.  I may just get around to it yet.  And I really hope Blogger fixes that glitch with the login soon!

Everyone have a great week!  My Honey is home all week so I don't know how much sewing I'll get done, but I hope I work a little bit before headed off to see my son this weekend.

Next on deck

Here is a sneak peek at the project I've been resisting pouring myself into - Kimberly Einmo's Lone Starburst from her newest book, using Ready, Set, Snow! fabrics. I am really trying to pace myself and get through all my "must-do's". I have a few more guilty projects I want to work on but the timetable of Christmas presents calls.

Kaleidoscope is finished

Progress continues on other projects ...

First order of business

My first five blocks for 4patches4hope. One for each loved one lost to cancer and one extra for a friend who survived leukemia (orange). There will be more, but these go with a $20 donation to the American Cancer Society.
And I didn't work out ... next week!