Friday, July 9, 2021

Projects

I have three, no four, wait, five new projects either underway, or soon to be underway. I had planned to mostly take July off blogging and Instagramming, and I still plan to do that. Lots has been happening, however. This post should catch everyone up.

The main reason for this post is that I have switched to https://follow.it for advising my followers when I publish a new blog post. It was an easy migration: putting the subscribe button on my sidebar a few weeks ago was a breeze, and then moving my subscribers over was a snap, because they did it! I just sent them the downloaded CSV of my list, they weeded out ALL the spam/fake/bot emails, and poof! New list, much smaller since they filter out those spammers, yay. Thanks so much to Cindy at Stitchin' at Home who told me that they did the subscribers list. If you haven't made the switch yet because it's just too overwhelming, it really isn't. Go to https://follow.it to sign up and then follow the steps. They have a chat feature so you can type in any queries and they respond right away. You can control how you want to get your notifications of new posts from bloggers you read too. Easy. If you aren't following me, and you'd like to, the sign-up widget is on my sidebar.

I have three big deadlines this month. The first one is a quilt for issue #42 of Make Modern (affiliate link). You've seen sneak peeks of the Fossil Fern Benartex fabric, and a few in-progress shots on my Instagram, but in case you've forgotten...
They are gorgeous fabrics, and I just love how my design turned out!

Make Modern has a new issue, issue 41, that was just released as I was writing this post! You can click on that affiliate link or on the images below to be taken to the place where you can purchase this issue for just $10AU, or hey, maybe try a 6-month subscription. That's what I did several years ago, and I ended up making it ongoing. It's $40AU (about $30US) for a year, which saves you 33% off per issue. They have lots of options on their subscriptions page.
Oh MY! That is one cool quilt on the cover. Below is another that really caught my eye. Rainbow quilts just never get old in my books.
Okay focus, Sandra, and get this post done, so you can go read.

I am part of Cheryl's Meadow Mist Designs new book Just One Charm Pack Quilts blog hop, and my day to post is July 20. Again, on Instagram I gave a sneak peek of the first four blocks I'd made. The top is together, the back and batting are ready. Avril had a spa day last week, so she's ready to get down to work. I used Captiva by Connecting Threads, a great sunshine and beaches and warmth line.

Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict asked if I would be interested in being a part of her Christmas in July hop, and I said yes! My day is July 22. I am not a person who starts making things for Christmas in July, so this is a new venture. I love Christmas though, so I am excited to share my project. 
When I figure out exactly what it is.
LOL

Just this afternoon I got an email from Kelly Young at My Quilt Infatuation asking if I'd like to be a part of her new book release hop in October! I was honoured. I had a HARD time choosing which quilt I am going to make, but I finally did, and I can't wait to make it, though I don't think it'll be the only one I make. Mum's the word there for now.

I have one other quilt project that I started on July 1, Canada Day. I will explain it in a separate post because it needs to stand alone. 
For now here is the first block for the quilt, from July 1.

You may recall that I am in the PHD programme this year, Projects Half Done, where we have to finish 12 UFOs, and any projects we start must be completed within the year, so these five starts mentioned in this post all need to be finished by December 31! 

We spent two days in the Toronto area last week, taking Xena for her final two treatments for heartworm. She was in a bad way the first day, clearly in a lot of pain, moaning and crying all that day in the vet office and for three or four hours after we picked her up. I can't stress how important it is to give your pets a monthly heartworm preventative for the summer months. While there, we took Avril, my longarm, to Sew and Save Centre in Stratford (#1 HQ dealer in Canada, came highly recommended obvi) for her spa day. She's never had a spa day, just kept her clean and oiled myself, oh, but I did have the timing done that time I tried to sew through a ruler... So she's all spiffed up now. I bought her some new gadgets too, a light strip and some new HQ feet. The technician put on a different shank so that I can use the new feet with her since she's a little bit older Avanté, 2012.

I got a lot knitted on my selvedges rug during the four-hour drive up and back.


We also went to IKEA to pick up the order for my cabinets for my sewing room! Sadly the drawer units were very low in stock and weren't allowed to be on the click and collect, nor were they available in the store (argh) so I will have to get them delivered (already checked into it). Here is a peek at the one wall. The gap is where a set of drawers will go.
That tall cupboard has seven shelves in it! It's just 15" deep and wide, and I'm so glad I thought of it, and asked MacGyver if we could alter things slightly to include it there. Where my sewing chair is is where the opening will be for my sewing machine. We have to get countertops, pulls, and toe kicks yet. You can see a part of my cutting/pressing table on the right.

Okay that's enough info for this post; I have a Make Modern magazine to read!







11 comments:

  1. Love that Fossil Fern Benartex fabric, can't wait to see the finished quilt! Follow.it is great to work with, so helpful. Five projects at once hmm I'm having enough trouble with three..

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  2. Oh my Sandra - your project list is impressive! Love the colors you chose for your Make Modern quilt - have put that on my magazine list to buy. Also, checked out charm quilt pattern from Cheryl's book - a potential squirrel too. Top of the list to make once I finish a couple easy projects! I knew this would happen once I read your blog today. Thanks for being such an enabler!

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  3. Wow, lots going on! Hope you are getting some rest time, too.

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  4. Hi Sandra! Follow.it works just fab - I received the notification without issue or ads. Wonderful! Those fabrics for Make Modern! Oooh-la-la. So much exciting news going on with you. Yay for Xena's last heartworm treatments. Poor girl. I hate to think of her being in such pain, but now it's behind all of you. Phew! Looking forward to your days on the hops. {{Hugs}} Enjoy the break from social media, etc. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  5. I'm glad you found such a great (and easy to implement) solution for the email followers update. The fabrics for the Make Modern quilt are lovely, and it's exciting to see your sewing room taking shape. I hope you have a productive month!

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  6. Lovely fabrics, superb cabinets, and I see a little step-stool there, we have one too.Follow.it sounds so easy to install and set up, and online or telephone help is a huge bonus . Zena, hope this is the last painful trip for you.

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  7. Wow, a lot going on & another project for MM....great. I got my issue this morning after our NBN being off & on yesterday to ongoing maintenance in our area. I've never participated in a blog hop & not sure how they even work, but they do sound interesting. Your "studio" is looking good & I've not been to Ikea for an age & still not game enough to venture anywhere bit with lots of people. We've still so many restrictions anyway. I've got Cheryl's book on order at Can Do Books & it's due in Oz late August. Take care, stay safe & hugs.

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  8. Fossil Fern is gorgeous fabric; I still have some in my stash from earlier years (yes, another UFO). You are busy!

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  9. I love you are doing something for Make Modern with Fossil Fern! I love that fabric even though I don't consider it modern....but what the heck. I love your cabinets....miss my fabric cabinet which was like that tall one. We've had company so I am just catching up. Hooray for your new email solution.

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  10. great projects! You give me some ideas!

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  11. Now I know why I haven't heard from you - I knew you were being quiet for July but surely not that quiet. Perhaps because I declined to follow someone else when they swopped to follow.it they decided I didn't want to play - or perhaps they think I'm spam :-) Anyway all sorted. Projects all look very interesting; at least I've now got a few blog posts to catch up :-) Hope Zena is now all sorted - never heard of heartworm but then I've not had pets for many years.

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