You can see close-up photos here with details on the embroidery and quilting.

My quilts and wall hangings are stored temporary; I am getting into my collection of finished projects every few months. With my wall hangings I do one of two things, depending how often I use the project and what it is. If it’s something I change frequently and is lightweight and small, I will use straight pins to hang it on a hanger. Then I will store it in an extra closet and drape muslin over it to keep it clean. The finished project needs to be lightweight and small, so there is no stress on the pins as it is held to the hanger. Also, these wall hangings are on and off the hanger 4-5 times a year, so there are frequently being pinned and unpinned, so it will not leave permanent pin marks.

With wall hangings that I do not use as frequently or larger and heavier pieces, I will roll up the wall hanging. I lay the wall hanging out flat on the floor and then roll it instead of folding it multiple times. Then I will put it and multiple other rolled up hangings in a clean pillow case. Loosely pack them together and store the full pillow case in a closet or dry, dark area.

For my quilts, I will do the same rolling technique. Lay the quilt out flat, roll it up and then fold in half or thirds depending on the size. Then I will insert the rolled quilt into a clean pillow case and store. Be sure to roll before folding as this will help to eliminate the folds in the quilt.

Many of my quilts and wall hangings are embellished with printed photos, machine embroidery, ribbon, buttons and other trims, so the method of rolling instead of folding works much better and reduces the folds in the fabric that can harm the embellished areas.

One thing I love doing is embroidered baby receiving blankets! They are quick and easy and make such a great personalized gift! Here is a pink blanket I stitched a couple weeks ago for someone who needed a gift for a new little one.

It is 1 1/4 yards of pink flannel where the edges have been roll hemmed on a serger. The design is from OESD and one of my favorite embroidery packs with cute baby designs! Add lettering to the design in my computer software, send it to the machine and stitch it! Simple and so sweet!

Like to make your own receiving blanket? See this article for my simple directions and see here for other blanket ideas! Have a blanket that has a flaw? See my flawed blanket that turned out so cute when I was finished!

Have I accomplished what I set out to do? Well, yes and no. Yes, I have stayed on track, not started anything new except for a couple things I needed for classes and have been able to get a few projects finished. I finished up several wall hangings and fixed a pile of alterations that have been sitting in my sewing room since last fall. I was also able to go through my spring/summer clothes and alter the skirts, tops and jackets that needed changed or repaired. I found two spring skirts that I cut out last year and finished those.

So, yes, I made a dent in my pile. But the dent seems oh-so-small! I have a huge, almost tumbling over pile of class samples and half finished ideas to complete. I store most of my projects in totes as you see here with all the pieces and info so it is all together when I am ready to work on it again. I have two stacks of totes this high with projects in various stages. This is only one pile that I am temporarily storing in my sister’s room while she is away at school. I am hoping to reduce this a little since she will be home in three weeks!!!

Why do I have such a pile? Excellent question!! It’s not that I just start something and never finish, although that happens on occasion. Over the past five years that I have been teaching, my teaching samples have piled up. For each class I teach, I stitch multiple ideas plus several of the same thing in various stages so I can show how to complete the project step-by-step.

I like to have as many visual samples as I can for every class I teach. It gives everyone more ideas and shows how many different themes and projects can be accomplished with just one idea. Plus, it helps me and guides me through the project as I am teaching to have multiplies in different stages. And of course, I only start out making one sample and soon my mind is flying with possibilities and I just have to stitch out some of those ideas! I get myself into trouble when I start asking myself, “What if…?” :)

With multiple classes a month, all different, my samples and in progress projects have just grown and grown! I try to finish some of them each month after I have taught that class, but it usually ends up being filed away in a tote. That is a big part of the reason why I have such a toppling pile of UFOs!

There are always those projects that I start, have a brain freeze and just can’t seem to get past it. If I put it away a while and then get back to it, I usually can think of several ways to accomplish whatever I was trying to do. Sometime I will be looking for a certain fabric or notion to complete the project, but haven’t found it yet, so I will lay it aside. And there are times that life interferes with my embroidery projects!

I will keep chipping away at my pile, but new ideas are just starting to bloom in my mind! I have been staying up way too late with a pen and paper sketching several new ideas! They are just sketches now; I’m not sure how long I can put off putting them into fabric and thread, but I’m trying.

I’ve started ideas for a quilt in memory of my mom who passed away last November, a new embroidered quilt that I may teach in a local class and few other ideas. For now I am content to doodle on paper and plan out fabric, embroidery designs and quilt blocks. But it won’t take long to switch to fabric! :)

This is my finished heart wall hanging project. I created several applique hearts I needed and instead of just tossing the blocks into a pile of unfinished projects, I created something with them. The stippling around the hearts really makes the hearts puff up, giving them a raised, 3D look to them.

The binding was fun and something new I tried. It is the piped binding method that Ricky Tims shows in his latest DVD, Grand Finale. It is very easy to cut and stitch the binding and apply it to the quilt. And the great thing for those of you who dislike handwork, is that the bindng is finished by stitching in the ditch instead of tacking on by hand. Since I love handwork, I don’t mind stitching on the binding by hand, but it is quicker with this method by stitching in the ditch.

I started beading a watch a couple weeks ago and it is now finished! I worked on it just a few times a weeks in the evening as I had time. It wasn’t hard and since I love handwork, I enjoyed stringing the beads. I have an ivory sweater that will look perfect with this watch!

Although I wish I would have made it just a little bit bigger around. The kit gave the measurement which was too big for my wrist, so I eliminated some of the beads to make it a little smaller. I should have left 3-4 beads, so it wouldn’t be quite so tight on my wrist. Oh, well, it is one of my half finished projects that is completed and I can move to the next one…I’m not quite sure which UFO it will be yet! :)