Saturday, June 29, 2019

DrEAMi #29

Welcome to the June edition of Drop Everything And Make it! where we celebrate all things squirrel. As in chasing those shiny bauble-type projects that grab our attention and demand to be made, and right now. Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts sent me this in early May:
Awww. I mean who could resist cuddling one of those sweeties, eh? Let's see what squirrels of the quilty kind were shared last month, and then share any you may have chased in June in this month's linky party!
There was just the best, most quintessential DrEAMi shared at the end of May by Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts. She describes how she went to get the batting roll to layer her Trinket quilt when a roll of vinyl fell... "Three brain clicks later, the Trinket flimsy was abandoned and I was sewing little 2.5" squares together." This is EXACTLY what happens.

Front of pouch all done, like all in one sitting, do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $100, just SEW already!

Inside of pouch
Roseanne of Home Sewn by Us also had the perfect DrEAMi. I may have had a hand in tossing it in her general direction...
She was thinking of making a red white and blue runner for the Fourth of July, thought of making pinwheels so HSTs, but then she saw my Sweet Star blocks, showed Sue, and, in Roseanne's words, "...BAM. She auditioned fabrics and here we are. We don't let any grass grow under our feet when four-patches and flying geese are involved." Totally done, useable product. I like the photo below too, with the patriotic little angel I believe.


I had a DrEAMi as well. I was talking to Brianne about her placemats, and somehow we got onto the top of straws, and did she have her own reusable one (yes, as do I), and she asked me to make her a case for hers. Great idea! Later, Brady put in a request for a case for his chopsticks, which he takes to restaurants, and is very adept at using them.
I made him one.
He loved it.
I forgot to get a photo.
and...
It's gone now back home with him. I didn't get Brianne's straw case made before they left (subtext, Brady takes priority lol), so, instead of working on my July and August Island Batik projects, or Brady's football quilt, I just had to make Brianne's case. And well, might as well make myself one for my straw too!
Mine is a scrap of NYC fabric from my (gulp) 07 trip and hers is Game of Thrones fabric. I put a piece of velcro to hold the top folded over. Perfect! I feel so very pleased at having come up with this idea, as it's been a bit worrying as to where to keep my straw within the vehicle...

The other ongoing type of squirrel is the Tiny Tuesday blocks, and since I didn't show any last week, I have four for this week.
Two more from February, so that leaves just one and then on to (or back in time to) January's blocks. I just love these sweet teeny blocks!

Back to the present, here is last week's basket block
I used Lara's Crafted Appliqué method, my favourite for appliqué, and Sulky Metallic Holoshimmer thread to accent the basket.

Here is this week's, Monkey Wrench, which I know as Churn Dash:
All right these are now off my brain, so maybe I can focus on Island Batik and Brady's football quilt!

An all-important question for my readers I meant to add last night when I wrote and scheduled this post:
Sewing room lights: what do you have? In the former upstairs half-storey attic-type place where I sewed, I had fabulous industrial type (apparently, now MacGyver tells me) fluorescent tube lights which I loved. They kinda don't look the greatest in my all-new room. So far, quilting in the basement bedroom on Avril under the pot lights is not great, lighting-wise.

So I'm curious! What lighting do you have/do you want/would you recommend? Please let me know in the comments.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
Linking up
so scrappy

15 comments:

  1. I've been pondering a straw case as well! Had to go look through my posts for the month - no squirrels, really. Okay, one small one. But two on my sewing table today, so maybe I'll get one done this weekend in time to sneak it in to the linky (does that count?). I still like those three cute baby squirrels!

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  2. Hi Sandra! Thanks for the shout out, and that project was definitely on you. I mean who doesn't like to try a new pattern for a star?! I've never met a star I didn't like! Plus we were trying to use up red and blue scraps! I love your tiny blocks, and I recognize some of those fabrics - especially the lovely churn dash background. That swirl fabric for the basket is really cool and sure gives it a bit of movement. Hmm, a straw case. That's a cool idea! You may have created a whole new trend! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  3. I love the straw cases you're making - so useful! You can never say no when a family member requests a fabric something!

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  4. Oh my, Sandra, did we both use the same blue marble fabric this week??! And guess where mine came from. What’s the quilter’s version of Jinx? I’m loving your Tiny Tuesdays.

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  5. No DrEAMis from me this month ..... I did just crochet some teeny tabs to hold our curtains back, but hardly the thing to write a post about, tee hee!
    All those lovely blocks! I especially love the tiny Tuesday ones!
    I squealed when I saw your straw case, I’ve been thinking of making something very similar but for sock needles. It’s sooooo hard not to lose just one needle, and then where would one be? So, as soon as I can, I think that has to be my next project!
    Hugs,
    Barbara xx

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  6. When I renovated my studio space (a former bedroom with ONE ceiling light) I had the electrician put in an H-shaped double row of LED lights, great colour trueness and brightness, plus no heat! I think they were GE 5000 somethings, can;t remember now. The staff at Home Depot were great about explaining things to me before we added them. I can sew at night, on black fabric, with no problem. Because each light can swivel, I have some aimed at the design wall and others over the machine and the cutting table. Glad I made the choice, and hopefully will never have to replace a bulb in my lifetime! Jill in Calgary/Phoenix

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  7. You need an overall illumination, not spots like from pot lights or track lighting. I recommend led tube lights with a diffusion cover in a "daylight" colour. Not pretty, but useful.

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  8. Your Tiny Tuesday blocks look GREAT in dark BLUE!!!

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  9. OK! Now I have a DrEAMi from you and Preeti. Love those bags and I have just the reason to do it - some blocks that need to be turned into something for my quilty friends. I bet you can even figure it out in a day or two!

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  10. Love those squirrels--the ones in the photo and the ones in the studio!!!

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  11. Such cute little squirrels. Love all your of your work... you've certainly been busy

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  12. Thank you for the shout-out, Sandra!!!
    And here is another reason to love you - a personal, reusable straw with its own carrying case!!! You rock. The turtles and the whales sent their heartfelt thanks to you and dolphins sang an aria in your honor.

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  13. Chop sticks and straw cases are pretty cool and a very useful Dreami for June.

    As for sewing room lighting, I have a ceiling fan with LEDs supplemented with two slimline floor lights, like these

    https://www.nancysnotions.com/slimline-3-floor-lamp.html

    They are a bit pricey, but I love mine. One is over the sewing machine and one is over the cutting table.

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  14. Fabulousness here in this post Sandra - what a great idea the straw pouch is. Great to see the results of others' distracted moments too. I had a we DrEAMi but I can't show it on social media but I did enjoy doing something when I should have been doing something else!

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