2025 One Thing #2 - Quilt Teresa's Brother's Quilt

My friend Teresa's mom died in August 2024 right as the school year was starting. When I talked to her later in the fall, she said her mom had started a quilt for her brother but it was unfinished. I said I'd take a look at it and see how to move forward with completing it.

Their mom had cut, pieced, and started quilting by hand. I'm not sure when she started it, but it looks as though it's a 1980s or 90s vintage quilt. She made a Drunkard's Path pattern and the quilt was in two pieces. 

I started hand quilting where her mom had left off, but quickly realized that would take more hours than I wanted to spend! It sat for almost a year in my sewing room. Then I tried machine quilting it on my domestic machine and quickly realized that that wasn't ideal either. 

My sister Ann recommended I consult with our friend Rose Allen. Initially, I rejected that because it was already partially quilted. When I use Rose's longarm machine, I typically pin on the backing, lay out the batting, and put on the top. Rose said we could do this, though, and I scheduled January 8-10, 2025 with her. (I knew it wasn't likely to get done in November / December with all the hosting we did.)

I did have a coffee date with Teresa in December and I talked about my plan (an overall meander that would allow her brother to still see his mother's quilting stitches) and thread color (she liked the medium brown instead of the off white her mom had started with). I asked her about her mom so I could make a label for the quilt.

This past week, my "One Thing" was to quilt this quilt. I spent time at Rose's on Wednesday and Thursday and got the quilting "done," but here's what's left:

• connecting the two pieces (done on 1/11/25)
• trim and connect the batting (done on 1/11/25)
• trim and stitch the backing over that center seam
• add a leader to the bottom 
• get back to Rose's to finish long-arming the upside down "T" (the center where I connected the two pieces and the bottom where I didn't have the leader)
• I also need to repair a section that had serious bobbin issues (LOTS of thread loops on the back side)
• Trim all to size
• make the binding
• sew the binding on
• hand stitch the binding onto the back
• make a label and stitch it on

I also started composing a letter to her brother Greg in my mind while I was quilting. I want him to know how much time and energy his mother spent on making this quilt for him! I couldn't help sewing some wrinkles in to it because of how she had done the hand quilting in random places. She had used thick green thread to baste the three layers, but it didn't keep from creating some "off" spots. 

 

It looks better than I had expected, and I look forward to finishing it!

(This is before I sewed the two pieces together. I put them on the guest bed so I could pin the center line.)

I have more photos, but this is a good accomplishment for this week. I don't know if I'll be able to get it 100% done this next week, but I definitely want to finish up the quilting at Rose's house.

2025 OneThing #1 - Alex's birthday!

I set this as my week one goal not because I was concerned about doing it, but because it was most important to me. Alex was born on January 4, 1990. With his birthday coming so soon after Christmas, it has sometimes been tricky to come up with something special.

For a while when he was a kid, we went out to a movie in a theatre (not something we did often) and had fried chicken for dinner. Sometimes when he was older, we'd get him a more expensive combo Christmas / birthday gift (like a snowboard and the boots, bindings, etc.). As he's gotten older, it has mostly been 3D printer filament and board games.

This year, I just wanted to give him cash. Louie does not like doing that. He thinks it's too easy / tacky. I disagree! Who doesn't like unexpected money to just do whatever you want with it? Anyhow, I didn't think Alex had updated his family wish list in a long time, so I asked him what he'd like. His response was, "You don't have to give me anything, Mom." As if! I told him he is my son and I wanted to get him a gift.

The only thing he suggested was paint for his 3D print projects. So I went to The Forge in Chaska - what a cool game shop! And I bought him a gift card to Luna di Luna in Bloomington - one of his wife's favorite restaurants. Then I texted him if he'd prefer chocolate chip cookies or molasses sugar cookies . . . or any other birthday treat. He said molasses sugar cookies and Chex mix. So I got to work on mixing up dough, buying some ingredients, and making him treats. 

Last of all, I sewed a gift bag. I don't really have tech / geek (or Dungeons and Dragons) type fabric, but he's always liked music, so I went with that theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Greek Yogurt" container is filled with spicy Chex mix (lots of sriracha) as well as the Ziploc next to it. The feta cheese container and the thing below it are filled with cookies.

 

I know the whole year won't go this well, but it's Saturday and I've achieved my "one thing" AND I've blogged about it. I'll set this to publish at midnight and look toward next week's One Thing. I have a smile on my face and anticipation in my heart!

Blogging and Habits

In 2023, I blogged about "decluttering" most weeks. It was a very helpful, motivational tool for me. (I made 48 blog entries in 52 weeks and got rid of a lot of stuff . . . )

Since I keep wanting to spend more time in my studio, sewing and being creative, I set that as my 2024 blogging theme. I made 43 entries in 52 weeks, so clearly I was a bit less successful. 

I've thought about when we were doing the "One Thing" challenge back in 2016. Each week, Louie and I picked one thing we wanted to get done. If I got mine done quickly and had time, I'd add another thing to the whiteboard. He stopped doing it when he realized I was blogging about it. I promised to stop mentioning him, but he was done. 

I'm also thinking that I should be focusing on more important, spiritual matters. I think if I just go with "One Thing" and decide each week, I can be prayerful about what God wants me to do. I have a monthly white board that might be a helpful tool. I'm going to give it a try - first entry on Sunday, January 5th, 2025.

I think I'll also do a monthly "recap" / look ahead . . . let's see how this goes.

2024 Studio Post #43 - Minor Fix

This is my last entry for the year. (Posting on 12/31 for 12.29.24) I haven't made great strides in sewing this year, but it was more than in 2023! 

 

A friend bought these bracelets for a specific prayer request for her family. The bracelets were too tight for two people, so I measured their wrists with a strip of paper and added elastic. I probably should have gone to buy black elastic, but I went with what I had on hand.

 

The message is "The Lord will provide." There are several Bible verses that have this meaning, but my favorite is Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

 

The ends were originally connected with a LOT of adhesive and some stitching. I used a seam ripper to remove the stitching, pulled one end off the little black tab, and added some elastic. Then I covered the connector areas with the original black logo piece and a bit of fleece. My stitching isn't very elegant, but I think it will work. I need to change the needle on my Brother . . . it has been working hard lately.

 

The one on the left is mine. The last week has been pretty busy with Christmas celebrations, hosting, etc. What a wonderful year it has been!

 

 

 

2024 Studio Post #42 - Christmas! Stockings, Pillowcases, "Swag bags"

I have been sewing a LOT this past week! I made a few more Christmas stockings, but I made so many mistakes that I now have a quick "cheat sheet" of how to put it together the way I want with three layers, no visible seams (also no quilting), a cuff, and a hanging loop. I am DONE making stockings for at least ten months! (That's my sincere hope.)

I made four pillowcases - one for each of my grandsons and one each for me and Louie. I am using them as wrapping paper this year. (stamps for me, sailboats for Louie, Star Wars for Joshua, and dinosaurs for Benjamin)

The pillowcase looks a bit funny because I took the photo with his gift inside it.

I also decided to use up some more of the Christmas fabric I got from Bob Degen more than a few years ago. His wife Ann had owned a quilt shop, but when dementia stole her away from him, he wanted to donate fabric. Louise and I went to his house and visited and went home with lots of fabric. I keep meaning to contact him to thank him and let him know I think of him and his wife when I sew!

I made "swag bags" for people to take home their stocking stuffers. Bags can be so handy! I typically tell them the bag is part of their gift, but if they're going to throw it away, please give it back to me so I can launder and re-use it. I'm not sure about the ribbon I used for the handles . . . it seems too papery? Anyhow, I'm using up what I have!

2024 Studio Posts #41 & #42 - Seriously!

 Even though I've had TIME to do things, I think I'm trying to do more things than are manageable!

On 12/8/24, if I had blogged, it would have been about finishing the Christmas stockings I was making for local teens who attend the Treehouse programs. Here are the last two I got sewn (and stuffed and donated):

I've now made LOTS of stockings. The big size is great for some purposes, but this size works better for this project. I wasn't able to find my old templates and directions, so I "re-did" them this year. I try to hang onto things so that I don't have to re-learn them.

Last week, I worked on repairing cloth shopping bags for my sister Louise. I gave her the birthday gift of acts of service. She gave me a box of bags that needed repair. It was a fun challenge! (Though some of the bags should probably have been tossed out. . . )

The ecru bag was FLAT, so I asked her if I could give it a bottom. I love that I've learned how to do this! I turned it inside out, cut little notches in the corners, and serged it.

The blue bag's handles were in really bad shape, so I cut them off and put on the black straps.  

 

There were other bags where I added a piece of horse blanket fabric and zig zagged the edges. There were holes / tears / weak spots. It was like a treasure hunt to find and fix the problems!

 

I also whipped together three little "treasure" bags for my grandson Joshua. He likes to collect things (acorns, pine cones, etc.) and play different make believe games. I made these bags for him and put treats in them for one of his stocking stuffers. Here's the cutest of them:

 

Last of all, I made him a Star Wars pillowcase with a black cuff that has space-themed fabric. I may just wrap his actual present in it!

 

Last week, I volunteered at his school, making pillowcases with different students as part of their Service Club.

 

Whew! Now it's Monday morning and I'm late getting out the door.
 

Old Music

My sister asked me for help "rehoming" the albums she had inherited from our uncle. They were taking up space and collecting dust. Initially, I thought about trying to make money off them for her . . . Ha!

I started by looking up and calling record stores in the Twin Cities. After all, vinyl has made a resurgence in popularity lately! Here are the ones I called:

• Mill City Sound (Hopkins)
• SolSta Records (St. Louis Park)
• Know Name Records (Richfield)
• South Metro Music (Burnsville)
• Roadrunner Records (Minneapolis)

At least the guy at Roadrunner was willing to take a look at them! I drove over and he came out to my car. The basic response I got from these places was that the albums from the 1930s and 1940s were just too old. There's no market for them. One guy even said that he doesn't bother with anything older than Motown or the Beatles.

Then I tried the V/A. They don't have room to store albums and don't even have any turntables any more.

The Librarian from the University of Minnesota Music School library got back to me after a few days (I had left a voice mail) saying that they didn't accept donations and didn't have room to store records.

I haven't heard back from the Minneapolis Central librarian who handles special collections including records. I also haven't heard back from Allison Herrara of NPR Classical music.

I finally posted on Facebook and got lots of suggestions!

• Half Price Books
• Goodwill
• Electric Fetus
• nursing homes
• Ultimate Collectibles (Hopkins)
• Restored Thrift Store (Lakeville)
• Joe Lauro's (www.old78s.com/index.php)
• DJ Records USA (https://djrecordsusa.com/)

The last one emailed a response to my inquiry, but he didn't want any of the albums.

 

In between my initial attempts and posting on FB, I brought the bags and boxes into the house and made a spreadsheet with the Title, Artist, Label, and any other info that I thought might be helpful. I shared the list with people who expressed interest. There were 393 records! One friend picked about a dozen that interested her and I delivered them to her at church the next Sunday. 

 

Finally, my knight in shining armor appeared! Minneapolis Vintage Music is open Wed-Sat 11am- 6pm. The owner, Scott, specializes in 78s, but he was willing to take ALL the records! We had a lovely chat and I am so appreciative of his willingness to help rehome these records!

1820 East 38th Street in Minneapolis (Cedar & 38th). 612.729.8929. 

Vintage Music Company FAQs (I've learned so much on this journey!)

 

I am  so glad to be done with this project! On to another.