Entered and Awaiting Word

My lead-off image is a basket quilt top purchased at the Cameron Park hospice thrift for $2.99. This one is such a spring/summer delight, bordered and ready to be quilted, thank you Mystery Quilter. It is joining my quilt collection. 

After two years of waiting, and two frantic months of preparing, my entry into the California State Fair is in! I changed categories from Other Fiber Art to Art Quilt. I finished the flimsy on Mother's Day. The Knitting Woman measures 75" x 100". I didn't have batting large enough for the quilt so I had to do the Frankenbatting. That is when you have to whip stitch sections of batting together to have enough to cover the flimsy+. 

Now that I am more comfortable with curved piecing, I may tackle that Storm at Sea in plaids. I have the templates, picked up for a song, from thrift. 

Reseller update: After all is said and done, I am clearing $500 a month on my eBay sales. I love this business! As a child, I would pack AVON orders for my mom. I loved doing that too. 

I have reached my goal of 1,800 listings. I have enough unlisted inventory to keep me busy for three months, working four hours a day, five days a week. The reason I can gauge that activity is I was not working full time for three months and I devoted my "work" day to listing on eBay. 

I am seriously considering retiring this year. Sacramento is just not the same since the lockdown. Nearly all of my favorite restaurants have gone out of business. Some days when I am in office I am the ONLY person working on the entire floor. I just cannot adjust to co-workers choosing to remain remote, never having met or even seen them online. It is just too weird. I am even managed remotely which in itself is not a problem since I remain a professional in managing my time and workload. But it is odd, not being able to head down to your supervisor's office, just to say "Hi," or ask a simple question. So I am in the process of completing the paperwork. 

Ending a post with a cutie patootie Pattern of the Day.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185429724791

Cubist Quilting

I am in the quilting phase of my State Fair quilt, the Knitting Woman. A tedious phase of this process I usually farm out to someone else. For competition purposes I have to be the sole creator of this artwork from start to finish. I won't reveal the entire project, only her cubist face and the top of her knitting needles. 

She is near monstrous size, king-sized plus! I am in love with her and think she is magnificent. I envision her as one of the pieces that hang from the ceiling in the crafts exhibition hall. 

I also hope my piecing will lay flat while quilting. One nightmare is when you reach a section in the quilt that the fabric has skewed, you have to fold it and quilt it down. 

Prior to quilting, I mark quilting lines. Learned from experience, your eye will fool you and what you think is straight is NOT. 

After lines are marked, it is sandwiched. The backing, a good 4" longer on each side is wound onto a painted baseboard. The top is wound onto another painted baseboard. Rather than explain the whole thing, here is the YouTube video. 

Showing my attempts at her face creation - no. 1. 

And attempt no. 2.

There were many sections I did over and over again. My takeaway from this self-taught curved piecing is that you have to break up the circles/curves into small sections.

Just when I thought I had my fabric addiction under control, I discovered more fabric I had squirreled away. It was not a good feeling. In my last attempt to destash, I gave away yards and yards of fabric, mainly feedsack prints. Fabrics I rarely give away are batiks, woven plaids, and Christmas fabrics. I do have to give myself credit for winnowing down my cabinet drawers full of remnants from 2 cabinets down to 1. 

Before I plunge into slapping sewing patterns onto the eBay board, I really need to list the needlework kits and quilt blocks. Quilt blocks, tops, and pieced patchwork all eventually sell.

Until next time ~

Tami

Polynesian Patterns, and the Plant Sale

Every so often, there are sewing patterns I obtain that go into the keeper category. This set of 4 Polynesian patterns are those. There are 3 uncut ones, and I went back for the 4 cut one so I would have them all. 

There is no secret as to why I can give away fabric, many pounds a year, by wrapping my eBay orders in it.  I bought these two bags of fabric from mystery quilter at thrift, one $4.99, and the other $5.99. 

The $4.99 bag is all usable fabric, there were a couple of orphan blocks, a patriotic strip border, and other delights. There are pieces for a small flannel doll blanket. 

The $5.99 bag came with trims

Orphan holiday blocks and some festive prints, and a completed pillow cover. 

The character material is the type that I give away. Those types of prints usually don't work for my types of projects. The bear flannel will stay in my collection, along with the orphan blocks at the top left and top right. 

I stumbled onto the UC Master Gardener Program plant sale in Jackson, California, just as it was opening. I bought a scented geranium, some tomatoes and peppers, and an Aeonium. 

I will look for this sale next year and bring my own cart!

Wishing all a Happy Mother's Day ~

May Day

Moving into May means Gardening, Flowers, and a Reseller Update.

A quick mention on my State Fair Quilt - 3/4s done for the top and shooting for the May 19 deadline for image submission. 

Reseller update: A batch of books just went on the eBay listing board. My focus on books have been How-To. Whether it is cooking, sewing, crafting, or hunting/fishing, they are all in that genre. Interestingly enough, one upscale thrift would not take donations of cookbooks. I suspect that interest in cooking at home is going to wane. 

Sales have been sluggish also. I also attribute that to the outward looking, rather than inward, with people being out and about more. Everything I resell is focused on indoor activities. One reason my business boomed during lockdown was because of that fact. 

Sometimes I buy mystery bags at thrift. It isn't so much the surprise value of some of the items, it is the delight in discovering tchotchkes that are one of a kind or remembrances of times past. Those pipe-cleaner bees are def 1960s-era. 

The best of three bags was filled with many of my favorite things: fabric, patterns, kits, and books.

Greenhouse update: I am finally getting the hang of greenhouse gardening. This is my best group so far.

A trip to Placerville thrift shops didn't produce a huge score, but a surprise one of two well-constructed doll clothes on doll hangers for $1.49 at Goodwill. Going into my keeper category.

I even sell a book on making doll clothes, even though I wouldn't attempt it myself. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185063173439

Wishing you a Happy May Day and that you share flowers with friends. 

Zipper stands for the Z letter day

Zebra eyes be watching you! This piece de resistance was for sale at thrift.

Ending the challenge with Zipper, my German wirehaired pointer.

Here she is lounging on my partially-constructed Knitting Woman, State Fair quilt. 

Segueing to the subject of zoomier real estate - our state department went through the Great Telework/Office Realignment (my emphasis). Those workers who chose to work 100% remote lost their offices and cubicles. Those workers who chose to be office centric (in office 3 days a week or more) have their choice of what is now prime office real estate. I am moving to a cubicle that is almost big enough to skate around in! Ok, not quite, but I am excited about the aspect of decorating it with small quilts/cubicle wall coverings I have made over the years.  

Thank you to all that visited Tamiland during the April A to Z Challenge. 

Yip Yuppity You Get One Free Pass

Another made-up phrase, one of the many liberties I take with the A to Z Challenge.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185386192957

This 1989 pattern is so darn cute, it just had to make an appearance. 

I am reinstituting the You Get One Free Pass post during this A to Z challenge for this Y letter day. Pretty much every letter's post has been a free for all. The only rules to follow are to ensure a post is produced each letter day. 

I try all types of poses and action shots for photoshoots. This image is an outtake from the Theme Reveal. The gown was too small so I couldn't zip it up. My hiking boots were cropped from the original image. 

This image is me heading out the back door for the A to Z apron photoshoot.

I have a few videos posted on YouTube, mainly demonstrating toys or how to thread a vintage sewing machine. On my toy demo videos, I don't give much of a description, and just let the videos exist as they are. This latest one has over 1,000 views and high "like" rate.

There You have it - we are rounding the bend to the end. 

Xena, Queen of the Ranch

The oldest of my 3 +1 cats is Xena, and she fills the bill for the X letter day on the challenge. 

A small Maine coon, she was adopted from the Amador County Animal Shelter. She has a sweet disposition and is very tolerant of the younger cat's antics. 

That's all folks for this X letter day.