Simple Pleasures -- Laundry

I have a guilty pleasure.  My guilty pleasure doesn't hurt anyone but most people think that it's weird.  I absolutely love to do laundry.  Seriously -- LOVE!

There are only two people living in my house but since I travel approximately 50% of the time, I still do a load of laundry each day that I'm home.  Super-hubby's clothes.  My clothes.  Sheets.  Towels.  I start each morning with a load of laundry and I actually look forward to it.

This is what greets me when I get home from a trip:

I use Soap Nuts  (affiliate link*) instead of laundry detergent for most loads.  It's natural, less expensive, and since my laundry room is next to my studio, I enjoy the earthy smell of the nuts all day long!

I let my soap nuts dry between each load.  Of course, I use my Hello Kitty china plate that I carried home from Tokyo last year for that task.  When I do a cold-water wash, I need to pre-soak the soap nuts in hot water; fortunately, I have a matching Hello Kitty china bowl for that!

On good weather days, I hang my laundry on the wash line on my deck.  On rainy days, I hang my laundry on a drying rack (affiliate link*) in my laundry room.  In the winter months, I place my drying rack in front of the woodstove for a quick dry with the lovely smell of woodsmoke.  On the rarest of occasions I use my tumble dryer, mostly for sheets and towels in the winter months.  As much as I love to do laundry, I absolutely DESPISE folding laundry from the dryer.  I have no idea why!

Yes, I travel all over the world (I'm in London when you are reading this) and get to do some amazing and exciting things, but when I get home it's all about the simple joys.
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*An affiliate link means that if you click the link and buy the item I may, at no additional cost to you, receive a small commission to help keep this blog running.

MAIL CALL: The Letter "K"

I have an admission to make:  I am a postcard-a-holic.  I started making postcards for a special Little Man and then started making Postcards for Peace, but now I want to experiment with new quilting techniques and make postcards in every spare moment!

I just finished this "K"

I started this project by rummaging through my scrap basket and diagonally piecing a  6 1/2" string block.  Then I fused a K to the front and threaded my HQ Stitch 710 with FabuLux Neon Lime thread and started stitching the letter down:

The knee lift on my HQ Stitch 710 gets quite a workout when I applique around all of these curves!

I take a few stitches, turn the fabric slightly, take a few more stitches, etc.

Once I finished stitching and fused the block to stabilizer and a backing, it was time to trim the postcards using my new Postcard Trimming Tool:

I will admit that some of my previous postcards for Little Man aren't completely centered.  This new tool helps:

My postcard is a perfect 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" now:

 
I stitched the edge of the postcard using FabuLux Neon Lime and DecoBob 80 weight thread for the bobbin:

The postcard is finished, in the envelope, and ready to delight a Little Man!

I'm partially through the alphabet and still have to stitch numbers.  I'm already in mourning for the day that I'm out of cards to make and send.

Indescribable Postcard

I'm fully committed to Postcards for Peace but I'm not sure if this latest postcard qualifies.  I made it because it made me laugh and it will make the recipient laugh.

I'm goofy and my friends are goofy and we are even goofier together.  Recently we were acting like a bunch of 12-year-olds and a joke was made that will live on forever in our relationship.  I needed to make a postcard to commemorate that memory.

I giggled from the first thought until the last stitch:

I trimmed the postcard using my Postcard Trimming Tool and zig-zagged the edge with Mudpies FabuLux thread.

I am a proficient machine quilter but I am NOT an expert at machine applique.  I'm better than I used to be but still have a long way to go.  The goal of making postcards is for me to experiment, learn, and in this case.... LAUGH!

The postcard is in its envelope and on its way to my friend.  I don't know that it will bring peace to her, but it will bring love in the form of laughter.

Is that good enough?

Cutie Quilt: Sweet Tooth

A recent Cutie Madness contender, Sweet Tooth is one of my favorite Cutie Quilts to piece and to quilt.  It's easily strip pieced, and then I quilt ribbon candy in every background strip.

This quilt can be made from a Cutie Pack (16 fat eighths) plus background, border, binding, backing, but I pulled all of these black fabrics from my scrap bin.  They were fun to stitch together.

After the fun piecing comes the fun quilting.  RIBBON CANDY*:

I made this quilt as a baby quilt, but one of my babies (an adult) has claimed this as hers.  Who am I to say no?
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*learn to quilt ribbon candy in my Craftsy class.  50% off coupon HERE

HQ Academy: Quilting Elevated (part two)

I'm slowly going through the photos on my phone and sharing the fun and excitement from HQ Academy in June.

I shared FB Live videos each day.  If you missed them, the videos are archived at "Debby Brown Quilts" Facebook page.

One thing that was fun for me was seeing some of my quilts that I haven't seen in a while.  These are touring exhibits and they were all gathered and hung on the walls for all of the students and faculty to enjoy.

Penny Candy was an antique quilt top that I quilted for a traveling exhibit:

Kansas in August is a Cover Girl!

Purple Plaid Parasols was between the coverss of the same issue:

This Friendship Star challenge quilt was featured in a video:

I'm not sure when these quilts will come home to me, but it was great visiting with them for a short while!

New Obsession -- Bullet Journal!

I have approximately 782 jobs in the quilt world.

• Blogger since 2006
• Handi Quilter educator
• Teacher at quilt shows and guilds
• Magazine columnist
• Newsletter author
• Thread designer
• Pattern designer
• Postcard Trimming Tool designer
• Craftsy instructor (50% off retail coupon in link)
• You Tube content creator
• and more!

Managing all of these different tasks while I am on the road approximately 50% of the time is a huge undertaking.  I will never be as organized as I want to be, but I always try.  I love planners and file folders and label makers and anything that even hints at helping me to become more organized.

I'm heading into a particularly brutal  time of the year.  I will be traveling to teach quilting often and I have several new top-secret projects that I'm trying to complete.  I needed some fun new organization in my life.

Enter, my new planner:

The fabulous Teri Lucas bought this blank notebook for me as a gift.  Inside, I start each day fresh with a two-page spread:

I draw boxes to keep track of various projects on the left page and on the right page I note birthdays, calendar items, and leave room for items left from the day before.  There is enough room to write down memories, new ideas, to-do items, etc.  But it's all a little plain.

So I add some color (affiliate link*):

I have pages for my monthly calendar:

I don't want to shock you, but sometimes I write blog posts and InstaGram posts before I go on a teaching trip.  I've had too many hotel rooms with bad wi-fi and have learned to prepare ahead of time:

 I also have spreads to help me keep big trips organized:

 Yes, I'm on my way to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham!  WooHoo!!

I am a TERRIBLE artist and have absolutely no confidence in my drawing ability, but in my journal I can play around with the lettering and the coloring without worrying about perfection.

I recently read this book (affiliate link*) about Dot Journaling.  It was short and informational and inspirational but if you are looking for some free information, start HERE.  If you have several years to kill, type Bullet Journal into Pinterest and be prepared to be amazed at the artistry and organization you will find.

Are you a journaler?  A planner-type person?  Someone who keeps their life on Post-It notes?  Has anyone tried Bullet Journaling?

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*If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase I may, at no additional cost to you, earn a small commission to help keep this blog running.

MAIL CALL: The Letter "C"

Oh Say Can You "C"?

This week's postcard for Little Boy is The Letter "C."  My Stitch 710 machine was ready, but I had trouble deciding on a thread color.  I don't have a thread that matches the rusty orange of the "C."  When I can't find an exact thread match, I look to my pastel FabuLux threads because their subtle colors blend well with most fabrics.  FabuLux Rocking Horse to the rescue!

The pastel thread wasn't going to make the edge stitching stand out as much as I would like, so I grabbed FabuLux Wisteria because it made a stronger contrast:

I love how these non-traditional thread choices turned out:

Another card, ready to mail to Little Boy:

Next week's card will be a "K!"

I Drove the Cah Up Apiece to Maine, Ayuh I Did

Last week I worked for Sanford Sewing Machines at Maine Quilts in Augusta, ME.  If you weren't there, you missed a great time!

What wasn't a great time was the drive.  To get from New York to Maine, I drive through Waterbury CT, Hartford CT, around Boston MA, the road to Cape Cod, and through wicked Maine vacation traffic.  Good times!  Bumper to bumper cars EVERYWHERE!

I broke up the drive by stopping at a few quilt shops.

Sturbridge Quilting and Sewing:

Charlton Sewing Center:

As soon as I arrive at the hotel, my hotel room was transformed into a sewing room featuring my HQ Stitch 210 machine:

I finished two quilt tops.

Fenced In:

Squared Away:

And I started another Squared Away featuring Jillily's Coming Up Roses fabric:

The sewing wasn't limited to the hotel room.  There was some stitching going on in the Handi Quilter booth:

I quilted a little bit, too.

A pygmy owl:

I stitched out some ribbon candy using the Pro-Stitcher.  SWOON!

I got to experience a little rain in Maine.  This is about six inches of water draining from the parking lot, right where my car was parked.

Good thing I can swim!

Maine has some food that isn't available in the rest of the country.

First I tried Moxie:

I brought home a few bottles of Moxie, in case you are desperate to try it.*

I enjoyed fresh Lobster Roll and a Whoopie Pie:

After the quilt show, I got to enjoy more wicked traffic:

I am going to Maine again on September 12-13 to teach at Sanford Sewing Machines.  Will I see you there?
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Please remember to vote for your favorite Cutie Pattern this week HERE.

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*DON'T DO IT!!!

Cutie Quilt: Stepping Stones

I needed a new copy of my Stepping Stones Cutie Pattern so I decided to make one for Quilts of Valor:

It's not quite Red, White & Blue, but the black and yellow don't distract too much from the theme:

I made this all from my stash and had trouble deciding on a binding.  I chose the red because I didn't want to cut into the blue fabric.  It was that simple:

I quilted this simply rather than a time-intensive custom quilting job since the recipient won't like it one bit more with fancy quilting.

This quilt still needs a label and a pillowcase, but then it's ready to be loved.

1000 Postcards for Peace -- #6 Not Forgotten (4)

I'm continuing with my Forget Me Not (myosotis) postcard series.  I was able to bring some color to the background as I have made peace with the local news story that sent me running to my quilting room.

I used the same FabuLux Neon Blueberry and Neon Lemon for the flower, but added some color with FabuLux Neon Lime for the background:

Here are the other cards in the series:

I turned up the color in each postcard as I was working through the series:

I'm not sure what I'll stitch next, but I think this series is now complete.

Quilt Finish -- Petal Power

In July/August 2015 issue of Gen Q Magazine, I published a quilt pattern called Petal Power.  It was for a tablerunner, but I decided to make a larger quilt from the same pattern.  It was hand-appliqued and sat unfinished for two years.

Then... I compromised and machine appliqued over the hand-appliqued leaves, also machine appliqueing the unfinished leaves.  I quickly quilted it and....

It's DONE!

The secret to finishing this quilt was FabuLux Neon Lime thread:

I used it for the machine applique:

Oh how my HQ Stitch 710 loves to machine applique!

I used FabuLux Neon Lime thread for the quilting:

I didn't use FabuLux Neon Lime thread for the machine binding, though.  I used a thinner, subtle thread so it wouldn't show up on the backing:

My HQ Stitch 510 is my straight-stitching work horse.  And my Clover Binding Clips are ANGELS!  They make machine binding possible for me!

This quilt is for one of the thousand babies being born in my circle this year.  The mom saw this as a UFO and said, "Hey, that'll match the nursery" so I finished it for her.  That was easy!