Sunday, August 15, 2010

Star struck; the girls' rooms & clothes, and the Farm have kept me away

Star Struck (55 x 72)

I had ALL intentions of updating Thursday evening and again on Friday before leaving for the last weekend I'll have "free" pretty much until volleyball is over....BUT, I'll get to that in a moment.
First...

I woke on Thursday very motivated to quilt something for myself, not that I plan on keeping this quilt for sure.

I spent the morning piecing a backing of random scrappy 10" squares. Once lunch was made, eaten, and cleaned up, I was able to spend the rest of the day quilting away.

By 4:00, I was starting the binding, and by 4:30, the binding was completed by machine. I used the "Curly Q" pantograph yet again---most definitely my favorite so far!

Then.....
I went to peek on the girls.
DH and I BOTH laid in on the girls that morning that "enough was enough! The rooms get cleaned TODAY!" So, they spent the entire day upstairs...since 9:30.

**sigh**
Thank GOODNESS I was still motivated, because "MOMMY-STYLE CLEANING" ensued.

Five hours, four garbage bags and 5 boxes loaded with donations later....the rooms AND loft were seriously cleaned AND decluttered! It was 10:00 when I finally carried everything to the main floor; DH said he would take care of all the donations first thing Friday morning. So, by that time, I wasn't interested in updating the blog anymore.

THEN...comes Friday. I had some bloodwork scheduled right away in the morning; DH kept the girls with him while he took care of the donations AND took a much-needed trip to the local garbage dump. On the way back from my appointment, I stopped in at school to check over some last minute things to ensure that everything was ready for Monday morning's practice. In my years of maturing, I've started to live my a new motto...."expect the worst so then you'll never be disappointed." It's a good thing I was expecting the worst, because....that's ALMOST what I encounted. However.....bringing everyone up to speed----I spent a few hours this weekend with paperwork, and....well...... I guess I'm prepared as best I can be for tomorrow morning.

Okay....backtracking to Friday. When I arrived home, DH was still out-n-about, so I took a moment to catch up on emails and had ALL intentions of updating the blog. Well----remember "Pineapple Blossoms"? I received an email that a lady in TX was interested in having the quilt finished, so I spent the next hour between talking with her on the phone, checking my stash to see what I had available for backing and batting....blah, blah, blah...... DH had great timing, because I had just decided I needed to just break down and purchase some yardage for backing when he arrived home. So....off I went to do a quick fabric shopping spree so that I could have everything ready come Monday when I plan to start to finish the project.

THEN....some quick lunch while DH and Caitlyn were out in the garden picking green beans, cucumbers.....the usual lot.

THEN....(okay, but now, it was only 1:00)...I schlepped Cassie upstairs and we (she) tried on EVERY single piece of clothing she had in her closet AND dresser. At one point, DH asked if I would be ready to leave (for the farm) by 3:00----I asked him what time it was and he said 2:30. (Ummm.......we weren't even halfway through her closet!!!!). She kicked it into a little bit of a higher gear at that point, and FINALLY at 4:00, we were done! One box for donation and two boxes for "hand-me-downs" later, her closet AND dresser were COMPLETELY organized and full of clothes that actually fit her. But, she was a bit skimpy on how many pants she had for school. Guess what we did on Saturday??? ;0) She's now COMPLETELY set for school after that shopping spree (she came away with 7 more pairs of pants/jeans).

Oh....but...stay with me! Still on Friday here.........."CAITLYN----your turn now!!!!" (I don't think DH was too happy, but I was on a ROLL and still motivated, and it NEEDED to get done!!!!"
Candace was feeling left out a little bit, so she joined in here-n-there too. By 5:30....both Caitlyn and Candace's closets were organized. Their dressers have YET to be done, but I wasn't going to push my luck TOO much with DH. By 6:00......we were packed and rolling on our way to the farm.

The weekend was very relaxing. Once I told myself I didn't need to be so ANAL about having perfect volleyball notes and that it was okay to have scribbles and things crossed off----that it didn't need to be rewritten AGAIN just for "meeting" stuff......I was able to kick back and enjoy the weekend. MIL and I headed in to Walmart (which is where we did the school shopping for Cassie). We (of course) had to check out the fabric section. Boy, I tell ya!....this is ONE Walmart that STILL carries fabric and GREAT fabric selections at that. I walked away with some backing for BOTH Green Beauty AND Shades of Green, which will be next on my quilting list once Pineapple Blossoms is finished. And then---she and I found a cute (free) pattern that both decided to make for certain individuals, so...we worked together to help pick out each other's fabric. Sorry----I haven't even THOUGHT about taking a picture of the fabric goodies---soon enough though.

Today....arrived home at 2:30 and went straight away into unpacking, starting laundry, picking produce from the garden, heading downstairs to press the newly purchased/washed fabric for Pineapple Blossom's backing, loaded it on the frame as to be ready for starting the quilting tomorrow afternoon, canning another 7 quarts of dill pickles, cleaning & cutting a large bowl full of green beans {will wait until the next picking in two days to actually can the whole lot}.....and now....finally sitting and UPDATING THE BLOG!

So.......
;0)

How was your weekend???? I'm off to look around and find out!

13 comments:

SheilaC said...

Hmmmmm I was very lazy compared to you!!
I did clean up my sewing room a bit... but otherwise didn't do much :)

Hope you find time to relax!

SheilaC

Andee said...

I was exausted after doing nothing but planning my quick trip to Wisconsin but after reading this I am SO tired. LOL, glad you are getting so much done--Star Struck looks great too!

Jane said...

hehe, exhausted after reading that lot. You'll be going back to school for a rest!

Candace said...

Your Star Struck is beautiful front and back and the quilting looks so good. My weekend was very quite compared to yours, school shopping with my daughter and her two boys still in school, lunch with them, and then yesterday - church, a nap, and visiting a lady we know to deliver muffins I made in the morning. With all your preparations you should be able to go back to work without as much stress. I hope that you have a good volleyball season and get the help that you need with it.

Amanda said...

Your Star Struck is lovely. I so remember that sort of weekend when the boys were still living at home and it was getting near to the start of school again. Luckily, my weekends are much more relaxed now. Saturday was very wet, so I managed to get lots of sewing done. On Sunday morning I had a marathon ironing session, then made lunch, ran Christopher to Bath Spa station, popped into the quilt room on the way back then settled down to watch a film and do some hand sewing. Now I'm planning a few days of housework and gardening as we go on holiday at the weekend.

scraphappy said...

Glad you are finally getting something done around there! Seriously though, I just love Star Stuck. The back is super fun, and I love that pantograph. Somebody in Texas is buying Pineapple Blossom. That is so cool. The thought of making money on this hobby is a strange one, though I see a lot of other people out there doing it. It must ease the guilt of new fabric purchases. Organizing clothes and dressers is on my need to do list. Red cross is picking up next week so I should put it on the sooner rather than later side of the list. Have fun with volleyball. Hope you find an assistant so you can still wander in to the sewing studio occasionally during the season. I'd hate for you to get too far behind with the midgets!

Linda Lee said...

There was a lot accomplished at your house! I am glad you were able to get away before Volleyball. I'm going to start freezing corn today. Both DIL's want to do corn also.

Nancy said...

Wow!! I'm exhausted.

Our weekend was uneventful.... enjoying the overcast skies, though humid.

Have a good week! Our volleyball practice started today as well. Counting down the days!

Winona said...

Ok, I need a nap, after just reading about your weekend. LOL Mine consisted of making 2 trips to town and taking a little bitty dog out to potty every few hours. I did a little hand quilting and some redwork, but that is it. I feel like such a slug. LOL Have a good week. Winona

Darling Jill Quilts said...

Wow!! I need a nap after reading all of that! lol

Great job on star struck!! Love that panto and that you are confident enough to quilt with light thread on that! I'm not that confident with the pantos yet. YET! :)

While I am thinking of it, what size pantos do you usually buy? 6"?

Congrats on getting the girls' rooms all organized!!! I feel like I should be doing that soon, but I just have no motivation!

Susan D said...

Geez, I'm tired just reading your post. That wore me out! You have more energy than I can even think about-- good for you! Whew....

Susan D

Tracy said...

Gotta love some clean rooms! I have a 17 year old boy who needs help...are you up to it?!LOL! He's the only one left here but how well I remember when I had to keep track of all 4 of them and their stuff!
I didn't do anything over the weekend except lay around at the beach and go to a new-to-me quilt shop! And help a little lost boy find his parents on the beach!
We only had one afternoon at the beach but for now that's enough!

Gari in AL said...

I had just recovered from my weekend and then I read your post and am tired all over again. But I know that you are feeling a great sense of accomplishment.