THREAD CATCHER...

This is the tote and toiletry bag that I use as my travel quilting set.  I recently pulled out some purple stash fabrics to make a "thread catcher" to match, since I had arrived at a recent sew-in with NO THREAD CATCHER!  Horrors, lol.  In my own defense, it was my first ever UFO sew-in and the thought of a thread catcher never entered my mind.  I was lucky I remembered the HSTs I needed to sew together, lol.

Today I finished the last of the sewing on the thread catcher.  I am getting more and more "hooked" on purple...not a color I have ever been drawn to in the past, lol.  At least changing my mind every so often keeps life from getting boring, lol. 

I unfolded my thread catcher and popped it into the toiletry bag...ready and waiting for the next sew-in.  The pin cushion was purchased on deep discount at JoAnn's and resides here permanently so I know I always have pins and "snipping" scissors with me.  Oh...and a supply of band-aids!  Probably the most important thing in my case, lol.  This thread catcher was a "3 stick" project!  I hold the band-aids together with a clothespin.  Why a clothespin?  On this recent sewing expedition I needed something to hold my block pattern upright for easy viewing.  I clipped the pattern to the front of the toiletry bag and placed it to the right of my machine.  It was always in view and my supplies were within arm's reach.  Sweet!  Hope this gives you a few ideas to make "travel" sewing more organized!

NOTE:  I JUST GOT AN EMAIL FROM "WOMAN WITHIN" (women's clothing) AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE OFFERING THE SAME TRAVEL SET IN GREEN, FREE WITH A $50 PURCHASE AND PROMO CODE WW18823.  THE OFFER EXPIRES TOMORROW, SO IF YOU NEED WOMEN'S CLOTHING....NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!!!

Toodles...

WHAT I'M WORKING ON...

Ever since the weekend I have been slowly working on this Collapsible Craft Container.  See the cute little tray underneath my hand-work?

Dear Hubby bought it for me while we were in North Myrtle Beach so I would have something to hold my book/Nook or crocheting or hand-work in my lap while we drive.  Chasing craft supplies that roll under the seat while we are driving down I95 is no fun, lol.  Thankfully the center console kept things from rolling under Dear Hubby's seat...but the tray should keep things where they belong. 

This blue container will be another button holder in my black cubbies.  With the completion of this button holder, I will be done the basic colors (Red, and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue.  I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, too!)  Then I will only have black, gray, brown, beige, wood-tone, metal-tone and miscellaneous to complete.  I have far too many white and cream colored buttons to fit in a Collapsible Craft Container.  The miscellaneous buttons are in my Mickey jar and the "sets" of buttons on cards are stored inside the orange pail. 

I have been feeling really weak and worn out since Saturday and haven't been able to do much of anything...so a few stitches here and there has been all of my accomplishment.  Yesterday Dear Hubby started with a bad chest cold and is now in bed with 100 degree temp, which is really high for him...both he and J usually run a point below normal.  I am also feeling a little "scratchy" in my chest and hope I am not coming down with it too.  However, that would at least explain the debilitating fatigue I have been feeling for the last four days.  My tremor has been horrendous all day today, but thankfully I only needed to glue the hair ties to the hexies.  Can't do much physical damage with glue, lol. 

BUTTONS, BUTTONS...WHO'S GOT THE BUTTONS?

ME!  And they are getting organized!!

 

I hate to admit it, but I have finished VERY little this month.  Whether the result of days of inability, laziness, or a generalized feeling of being pulled in too many directions at the same time...little has actually been completed.  Started?  Yes.  Finished?  Not so much.  But I have set out a goal of organizing one of the most frustrating aspects of my sewing room storage.  Buttons.

 

Many moons ago (1986 to be exact) Dear Hubby and I went to Walt Disney World on vacation.  We bought this adorable glass container filled with candy as a remembrance of our wonderful vacation.  Once the candy was gone I began filling the jar with buttons.  All kinds and all colors of buttons.  

As my collection has grown, so has my frustration with trying to find just the right button for any project.  It means pouring out all of the buttons, searching for the right one and then putting all of the buttons back in the jar... invariably dropping quite a few in the process.  Doing any type of fine motor action when I am having a bad tremor day is like trying to catch a greased pig...dang near impossible.  But I really didn't have a good solution in mind. 

Then I went to our local thrift store's monthly sale.  My biggest score was three matching cubby units.  At the time that I bought them I really didn't know WHAT I was going to use them for...I just knew they HAD to be mine!

Shortly after bringing them home I began working on the prototype of an idea that had been floating around in my head for a while...a collapsible craft container that could be used as a thread catcher, and a host of other things! 

After completing my first container I happened to glance at one of the cubbies and realized that the container would fit perfectly!  But what to store in all of those little containers?  BUTTONS!!!  

I decided I would divide my buttons by color, each hue in an individual color matched container.  EUREKA! An easier way to find just the button I wanted.  And if I dropped the container I would be dropping a WHOLE lot less buttons to be picked up!

Yesterday I finished my first button container.    Red.

Doesn't it look cute?  

Each cubby is capable of holding two of the containers so I have room to expand my button collection. 

And with all of these cubbies I have more than enough room to store LOTS of different colors!  (Please excuse the slightly blurry picture...I'm really shaky today and I have yet to figure out how to enable stabilization on my new camera, lol). 

Hands willing, maybe tomorrow I can start on my yellow container, then pink, then green...

Anyone recognize the pattern?  I'm sure I can't be the only one who remembers singing the song, same time every day...

"Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue.  I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, too!"

MY FIRST CHRISTMAS 2013 GIFT IS DONE!

My mom's sewing box is one of those padded boxes, with a handle on each side, that can be used as a footstool.  My Dear Hubby had given it to me years ago and, although I loved it, it was just too bulky for me.  When my grandmother's sewing box finally fell apart last year I offered the footstool type sewing box to my mom.  She loved it and the cute apple pattern it was covered in.  

The day I finished my prototype Collapsible Craft Container my mom and dad happened to be over the house.  They both loved it.  I told my mom that I was going to use it as a thread catcher in my EPP box.  We commiserated on the problem of the tiny pieces of thread never staying where you put them until you eventually tossed only half the amount of threads in the trash...and then spent the rest of the day picking up the tiny runaways!  A light bulb went on above my head (good thing they didn't see it, lol)...I could make one for my mom to match her sewing box!  

About a year ago I received some material from a fellow Freecycler.  I knew I had some scraps of apple material in the mix and was pretty certain the scraps were big enough to cover 1" hexies.   I had just enough of the apple pattern to cover 14 hexies and my mom's Christmas gift started to develop.  

It took quite a few days to complete, but I can now chalk one gift off my list.  Now to find a place to hide it so mom doesn't accidentally see it when she comes into my sewing room, but it is a logical enough location that I can remember my hiding place, lol. 

Five months to go and Christmas planning has finally begun!