Updated 7-18-12.
When I was little and piled more food on my plate than I could possibly eat, my mom would say I had the “big eye.”
When AmandaJean at Crazy Mom Quilts posted her May Small Projects Sew-a-long, I signed on thinking what a perfect time to work on recent unfinished projects plus a few back burners. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/small-projects-sew-along.html
So, I made up my list. Will Do and Want To Do’s.
WILL DO
- Download embroidery designs from my PC to sewing machine
- Embroider one design, maybe two
Faux Chenille quiltfinishedOne handbag with grommetsfinished 6-9-12Machine Felting, start one projectfinished two projectsWork on Umbrella quiltfinished quilt top -6 blocks 7-18-12Make more zippered bagsfour finished
WANT TO DO
Finish 4th of July Picnic Blanket/Table Runner/D9PFinished 6-25-12Make pincushion inspired by coffee mugMade two 6-18-12- Work on Game Boards for Family Reunion
Work on black/white/red Postage Stamp QuiltPanel #2 made, 6-5-12.- Finish Attic Window Bird Cage pillow
But guess what happened? Yep. You guessed it.
I HAD THE BIG EYE.
I was only able to cross off TWO items. How embarrassing!! But it certainly wasn’t for the lack of trying. (I will tell you more about that in a minute.)
One thing not on my two lists received the most attention. My charity pillowcase project I recently started. Throughout May I sewed and sewed and ended up finishing 41 pillowcases. I timed making one pillowcase and if piecing wasn’t necessary and I could just cut and sew, it took me exactly one hour. Piecing added an extra 30 minutes or longer. So roughly I would say I devoted about 50 hours making pillowcases. That included fabric selection, ironing and preparation time. But seeing them finished, folded and ready to ship brought me so much joy. Many smiles. I was delighted to donate the time and materials.
Here they are.
In between making pillowcases, I managed to make one quilted handbag. The plan was to add grommets (and then I could have crossed it off my list) but I ended up using wooden handles instead. 
One thing on the WILL DO list I completed was this little zippered bag. 
It goes with the handbag.
And even though my Faux Chenille finished quilt/blanket was for a DOLL, I am crossing it off anyway. I went through the entire process. Learned it, sewed it, finished it. And have plans to make a larger one this month.
So.. those were my two On-The-List finishes.
OK. Now let me tell you about my PROJECT ATTEMPTS.
I spent HOURS trying to figure out how to download embroidery designs to my Janome MC 10001 sewing machine.
Everyday I would search the net, search Janome’s web site. Nothing I tried worked. The culprit? My operating system. Using my USB cable that came with my sewing machine, I could not automatically find the required drivers. And a manual search didn’t find them either. The program fix I found at Janome didn’t work. Because I have a 64 bit (????) system and the USB connected download only works with 32 bits. So… I am really frustrated right now. After I cool off (don’t want to be mean and cuss at the poor sewing center workers), I plan to take it all in and demand ask for help. Hopefully sometime this month I will be able to embroider one of the digital designs I bought five years ago.
Another item on my list that I can say a bit of progress was made was learning about my Janome Xpression Felting Machine.
I have had it, I think, about 4-5 years. And never used it. I can proudly say, I am now more familiar with it, the tools and the process. More so than ever. I spent HOURS (about as many as on the embroidery issue) reading my manual, searching the net, watching how-to videos. I am certain I will be able to complete a machine felted project in June. How’s that!! One Machine Felted Item Coming Up!!
Though I only managed to finish two items on my list, I still count May as a success because of what I DID finish. (Photos below if not above)
41 charity pillowcases
2 pillowcases for me
1 doll pillowcase
1 quilted handbag
1 zippered clutch
1 faux chenille doll blanket
1 doll ruffled pillow
1 little girl’s purse
Well, that does it for me. How about you? Did you complete your May projects?
Linking to:
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/06/small-projects-sew-along-finale.html
