When Life Gives us Lemons....

Each morning....

...and throughout the afternoons....

I'm feeding my body with the:

When Life Give Us Lemons...

...take control of the things we can! Green tea with a twist of lemon has always been an afternoon treat...but I've been remotivated to get back to my daily juicing routine too. It feels good to be feeding my body with nutrients that will build my immune system. Along with being intentional about what I put in my body, I'm also boosting my immune system by reducing the stress of the Coronavirues impact on our daily life by limiting how much we actually watch the Covid19-News...enjoying some creative stitching when we do decide to watch.(Smiles!)

Soooo... do you find yourself being a little bit more intentional during these uncertain time to nourish your mind and body?  If so, do share in the comments how. Oh! And check this out! I recycled my lemon mesh bag as a new thread catcher for the birds:

 Hoping it attracts some new birds this Spring.
With SMILES! Val

A Garland of Spools!

Wondering what to do with your old spools of thread??

Most of mine are saved from my mother's sewing box and are over fifty years old. They are made of wood, plastic and even gold foiled. Tired of the old bucketful sitting around, I thread them onto a sturdy piece of wire.

I added old beads made of wood and glass...

 ...accenting between each, with large buttons, colorful ribbon and scraps of fabric.

Altogether they make for a very cute and colorful garland don't ya think!

 Curious if you've done something crafty with an old bucket of spools??

With SMILES! Val

Tuesday Archives #150: Thread

Welcome to the linky party that rejuvenates your old quilting/sewing posts! 

Please click here to read more about this linky party.  

This week's theme is: THREAD

Welcome! Well, if  you are familiar with my organizing methods, 

you already know I organize my fabrics my color.

The same rule applies to my threads.
This week I'll share a peek into my studio to share how I store my variety of threads:
(But please do feel free to share ANY posts about thread this week.)

Long-Arm Spool Storage:

We found this shelf in a thrift store years ago. 

Note: They are displayed out of direct light.

Applique Thread: 

I pre-round all these bobbins from my spools of cotton thread. 

These little cases are so much easiter to keep in my applique tote.

I still need to get some bobbin covers as 

I always have strands of  thread handing out. 

Perle Cotton for wool projects:

I use an embroidery case for these.
As highlighted here: Perle Cotton Storage

And finally....

Thread for Piecing:

I'm kinda boring here, and keep in a nearby jar, white, black or a light lavender thread.
My go-to thread has always be Master Piece from Superior Threads, but a bloggy friend sent me some Aurifil thread to try and I truly noticed a wonderful difference in my stitch! 

Extra Thread is for the Birds Part 2

What do you do with your left-over pieces of thread? Today I was reminded of a post I wrote over three years ago about how I leave my scraps of thread and fabric out for the birds. Note: I have since learned to run my rotary cutter through my mounds of thread and thin strips of scraps, making it much easier for the little birdies to grab and carry the pieces away. I also have added leftover batting to the mix, again pulling it apart to make easy access for my fellow birdies of residence. I probably refill this feeder three times through the Spring and Summer months.

So imagine my surprise as I was just busily mowing the yard, when right in front 

of me on the ground, I found this wee little nest, small enough to fit in the pawn of my hand:

Upon closer inspection I began to find pieces of thread, batting and...

...as I turned it over, strips of Mary Engelbreit fabric weaved among the many twigs, pine needles and pieces of straw. (Atleast  I now know for sure why the feeder continuously needs refilling.)

I felt so bad for the little bird I imagined was in frantic search for it's colorful, cozy nest. So I carefully placed it back into the tree above,  in hopes it's momma will return...

Studio Reorganized & One Tip

While I should be working on my raw edged flowers and nine patches, I mean after all, they are my June OMG....but noooo instead: SQUIRREL!!! I got back from my retreat all inspired to rearrange my entire studio! (I have no idea why!) I created a larger cutting/quilting area:

Jackson was a great help! NOT! LOL!!Okay, see that big sectional in the background....

well I sold half of it (More...cash for fabric!! LOL!!) and...

... moved my little table and chairs over there (so cozy) :

My mom would call and after the third time of dropping the phone while she was talking, she asked: "What are you doing?" Reply: "Rearranging my fabric!" She laughed reminding me that I do that every summer...in reflection, I guess she's right. But I can't tell ya how rejuvenating it is. So I spent another day rearranging ALL my fabric. Truth be told, I was hoping to go through all my fabric in hopes of reopening my Etsy shop and getting rich selling my fabric stash...LOL!! NOT!...I found myself ooohhh and auughhhh way too much and only ended wishing I had more time to create.

I emptied my entire glass cabinets and here's how I always seem to end up organizing:

I organize my STASH in a RAINBOW spectrum.

My one tip: whether it be my thread or fabric organize them in a rainbow order. I start with green. 

Why haven't I finished this Metro-Rings quilt?? Until then, I 'll enjoy it here.

Here is my stash revamped: 

And now that I'm all reorganized...I got back to creating. I ending up backing my crazy jelly roll race classroom quilt with these pearl rings I found in my stash. I quilted it with a bubble pantograph.

Today I plan to sew a green binding on it and put it in my back-to-school pile.

Last thing I want to do is organize my WIP hand projects as inspired by Karen who blogs at Moose Bay Muses especially as our July will be a busy month filled with travels and family. She made these adorable vinyl bags and though I love their colored zippers, I'm pretty sure mine will be organized into gallon-size ziploc bags, put into a cute basket, of course. Thanks for the inspiration Karen.

So that's what I've been up to this week...no Etsy shop reopened...but never the less, reinspired am I.

Join us! Click picture to read about our Tuesday linky.

Ugh! Bobbins!

Seriously!! Whether I'm on the long-arm or piecing, THIS has been happening A LOT lately: I'm within inches of being done sewing binding on, piecing or at the end of a pantograph on the long-arm and yes, I run out of bobbin thread! No April Fools joke here! UGH!!! What's even worse,I don't even notice I'm out of bobbin thread until, like 12 inches later! Talk about letting your mind wander! 

Anyhooo....I wrapped up my stay-cation with bobbin maintenance! Between the long-arm and my domestic sewing machine, I spent atleast an hour cleaning my bobbin cartridges. I felt like an awesome machanic! And no, I did NOT take a picture! (I thought about it...but was too emabarressed by my collected lint pile!)

Something I'm learning is...that a clean bobbin case makes your machine hum. Second thing I'm learning, is thread makes a BIG difference! I love unsng King Tut and So Fine! on the long-arm. But when it comes to my domestic machine and piecing I haven't bought quality thread. I didn't realize the difference thread makes until I tested a spool of  Aurifil thread I had won against the current thread I'm using, I could not believe the difference!!! I even had my hubby "feel" the difference in the stitching! (I know he is such a good sport!) 

With that said, I already have a business account with Superior Threads and have always been very pleased with their thread and service. So I'm curious what thread and color would you recommend to use when machine piecing? Superior Threads catelog has a Masterpiece thread they recommend for piecing?? Anyone familiar with it? Thanks so much for your help! 

Extra thread is for the birds!

This morning I was cleaning out our birdhouses from the Spring.

Imagine my pleasure when I found some of these scraps 

and threads I leave out for the birds:

In here: 

 Serious!! I cracked up when I immediately saw the red poka-dot scrap! As I took a closer look, I found my colorful thread leftovers interwoven throughout, along with candy wrappers, grass, feathers and twigs of course! (Top left...there's even the paper from a almond chocolate kiss!!)

For some reason, this just made me happy today!

Val:)

PS: I have since modified my "feeder" by actually running my rotary cutter through my bunches of thread first to create shorter pieces for the birds: