The Quilting Fairy visited....

That's all I can say! She MUST have visited during the night and sprinkled me with Quilting Dust because NOTHING else can explain the sewing/quilting frenzy I've had this weekend!

I didn't even get downstairs until 11:00 this morning, because once Cassie woke up and I folded a few more loads of clothes, we decided to run into town to grab some donuts and return the movies before the "day really began." *hmpf!* :0)

Anyway, the first project I tackled was to baste and start quilting Isaac's Blue Heaven. The Packer game (Green Bay Packers) started at noon, so I turned the radio on and quilted the game away. By the time our punter missed the game winning fieldgoal, I was putting the finishing touches on it and did the "cheat binding" method again. The quilting was a simple meander in all the white areas.



Then, after a late lunch (DH drove into the yard as the game was ending), I headed back downstairs, and BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I decided to work on Derek's Storm at Sea. One sewing minute lead to another......and the rows were together within 30 minutes! Gosh, that thing has been a monkey on my back! Then.......holy buckets, after a little contemplating, a small red border was added to the sides. Then..........hmmmmmmmmmm......then I sat at looked, and looked, and debated. I still had almost a yard of the blue Nautical fabric yet, and I knew it would just sit to collect dust if I didn't use most of it up. So......the original "lap quilt" ended up being rather large. I needed to do a little visual measuring to match up the lines of the nautical objects since the border needed to be pieced. All-in-all, I have about 4 inches of the fabric left----and what's more!!!! THE TOP IS DONE! WOW!!!!! It is pictured on a King size bed, so.........its a wee bit larger than I originally intended! *grin*

I decided to shoot a pic of the OTR at the same time since I hadn't yet. This is almost done---still working on hand-sewing the binding down. This is going to be gifted to my brother for Christmas.




Masha's Wonky Nines was finished up yesterday. This quilting was quite fun to do, although it was difficult (as always) to "fight" the bulk in the sewing machine. There are puckers on the back, but overall, I like the flowery meander.

So, a dent was finally made in the C'mas project list.

• Isaac-DONE.
  
• Masha-DONE.
  
• Ron(brother)-BINDING.
  
• Derek-TOP DONE.
  
• Jan (BLOCKS MADE) that's right---I still need to get those out and snap a pic.
  
• Andre (NEXT to be quilted)
  
• Scot? Hmm......I suppose I can still set him as a goal by C'mas.
  

Finally, taking a moment AWAY from quilting.....I almost forgot to have Cass open up her birthday present from my sister so she could wear her new jacket. I had to call my sis to find out which box it was in since there are four of them sitting in the entry way. Cass's bday isn't until the 28th, but winter weather temperatures have been with us for awhile.


Okay-----I suppose. I wrote my three assessments for tomorrow: Pre-Calc HW Quiz; Math 8 Pre-test; Algebra 8 Pre-test. Everything else can wait....

Happy New Week!


o

FUN, FUN scrappy progress today!!!

I knew it had been a while since I blogged, but I really thought I tuned in at least ONCE this week...
sorry-----

I managed to finish up Isaac's Blue Heaven this week. The blocks went together VERY quickly, finishing at 12"x12" each. I slapped on some borders to wrap it up (I THINK that was Thursday night), measuring 3.5" wide finished. So, if you do the math, that makes this quilt right around 55"x67". This is going to be gifted to a Jan's son, Isaac. Isaac was adopted when he was a baby and is the same age as Cassie--2nd grader.

So now, ALL three quilts to go to Jan's children are finished....(well, the TOPS are finished)

We had Masha's Wonky Nines (completed at the end of August, 2008). Masha is in 5th grade right now; she is one of Jan's adopted Russian children. She currently is competing in gymnastics at the local club and being "promoted" to the next level after just about every meet.




We had Andre's Out of this World (completed October, 2008). Andre is in 6th grade and is also one of Jan's adopted Russian children. He is a soccer fanatic; basically a born athlete in almost every sport. Both Andre and Masha were from the same orphanage in Russia; they became Jan's children three years ago. :0) Wow---does Jan have some stories to share!!!!





So FINALLY, I can begin on Jan's quilt! Quite a while ago, I was browsing through some old (1990's) quilt magazines and saw this BEAUTIFUL "jewel" scrap quilt. I had it marked, knowing I was going to make it SOME DAY. I recently pulled that stack of magazines out again, seeing the jewel pattern, and I KNEW it was going to be perfect for Jan.

Jan is going through some very difficult family times right now, and she flat-out adores her children. (I know that's a dumb comment, because what parent DOESN'T love their children??!?!?!) psht----I'm a teacher; and I see some very sad "families" because the children come second to the parent's wishes.

Anyway, when I saw the pattern, the wheels started playing in my mind and I decided that I would use all the scraps from the kids' quilts to make hers. This morning at 10:00, I started cutting away and power-sewing strips and half-triangles. I now know what Bonnie meant when I read her words----they said something similar to .... "I love scrap quilts; seeing all the different styles and designs of fabric being placed in the sewing machine." Although all the kids' quilts are somewhat scrappy in their own, Andre's and Isaac's still got to a "boring" stage of sewing because of the redundant colors. Side note: Hmmm.......maybe that's why Derek's Storm at Sea is STILL waiting to be completed-----ugh

Anyway---Jan's Family Gems was begun today, and I have LOVED every second of seeing the blocks come together. I would end one stage (creating some 4-patches) and would need to go on to the next stage (creating HST's) and then needed to go to the next stage (sewing together) because I was just DYING to see part of the finished product. After taking this picture of the first 10 blocks, I deliberated about the final size of this quilt. Minimum: 4x6 layout (that would be 48"x72" before any borders), but I probably will use a 5x6 layout (60"x72" before borders). So, 5x6 means 30 blocks. I have 10 completed, so I'm 1/3 of the way there :0)

In fact, I was somewhat of a "bad mommy" at lunch time because I didn't want to stop. It's a good thing that Cassie is getting older and knows who to work a microwave :0) She made hotdogs for the other two and herself; and they all also helped themselves to a bowl of cereal. I hope you all can understand and not call the "bad mommy police" on me. DH has been cashed out in the bed for most of the day -- I TOLD him to. Yup---yup---I did! I told him to just take the DAY OFF and kick back. 15 minutes later, he was zonked (that was at 11:15). He JUST crawled out of the room and is having a snack next to me right now.

I'd love to head back downstairs right now to whip out some more blocks. HOWEVER, I'm off to shower. DH and I are going to have "somewhat" of a night out. We all (DH, myself and girls) went to the girl's Regional Semi-final volleyball game last night and our girls won. Prior to last night's game, DH hadn't had intentions of going to tonight's Regional Final, BUT he's a lover of volleyball and last night's game WAS exciting!!! He was "itching" to see the Final's, so I told him I would line up a babysitter. So, we're going to go the game---just the two of us---(well, sorta!) I called up Jan and told her our girls won, so she's going to head up to the Final's too. Jan and I coached volleyball together for seven years which is where we really built the awesome relationship we have! She was my mentor; and BOY, I respect her immensely!

Alrighty folks----have a wonderful night/evening/day.
Happy Saturday

Mashas Wonky Nines--top complete

I really did NOT have intentions tonight of finishing this top---honest! In fact, when I went downstairs earlier, I didn't really even feel like sewing (again). So, at first, I putzed some by tackling the scrap pile a bit more---cut a few more 1.5", 2", 2.5" strips AND squares. Then, I sifted through the fabric and found this quarter-yard piece of awesome striped pink fabric that I thought would be PERFECT for the inner border of Masha's quilt----so off I went.

Unfortunately, I measured ONCE (instead of twice), and cut and sewed....... Actually, I misread the pattern and ended up being about HALF A STRIP TOO SHORT!!! (The MAIN pattern is a crib size and asks for quarter-yard, but I've been following the twin-size alternative, and IT asks for 3/8 yard -----DUH!!!!) By this time, however, I had already sewed the two side borders on the quilt and I wasn't ABOUT to rip them out.........*pondering, pondering*. Well, heck....this baby is so "crazy" with all the colors ANYWAY, who would really notice or pay any mind to a slight scrappy inner border???? So, I grabbed another striped pink (horizontal, though) and pieced it in with the "too-short" strip. (See bottom inner border in picture). And, golly.....since I'd gone THAT far, I might as well cut the purple and sew those borders on too, right???? So, at 10:30, I finished laying out the finished top, grabbed the camera for some quick pics, and came upstairs, planted my butt in the glider, and logged on. And v'iola----here I am :0)

This top will be folded and set aside for now---no intentions of quilting it just yet. So, I'm ready for the mystery of Bonnie's. (as well as another off the C'mas quilt list!) I'll probably tackle Scot's (DH's boss) next-----the pattern I chose (Leavenworth Nine Patch) looks rather simple, and I'm excited to see how the camoflauge fabric looks with it. Hmmmm.......I didn't even realize until just now, typing the name, that it's another nine-patch of sorts. Hmpf....coincidence?

I really need to get my butt to bed-----first day of inservice tomorrow. I HAD intentions of running (literally RUNNING) in to school in the morning and then running home afterwards BUT I forgot Caitlyn has 4K (preschool) orientation tomorrow, so I won't have TIME to run home after school. *sigh* Hence, I'll need to drive in so I can drive back home to pick her up after inservice in time for orientation. Ugh! I was SO looking forward to logging 10 miles tomorrow!!! Oh well, I'll have to settle on 4 or 5 tomorrow night once we get back from orientation.

Happy quilting!

Procrastinating????

Dare I say that I've been procrastinating with my posts this week because I know that 100th post is right around the corner?!?!? *chuckle*. This is Post #97, but this week has been full and crazy and getting back to what "normal" is going to be soon once school starts.

Monday consisted of sewing and quilting! (duh, right!) I have put together all of blocks needed for Masha's Wonky nines; I'm not keen on the 5x8 layout, though, BUT I'm trusting the pattern. (FYI--I would set this up as 6x7, specially since I have 45 total blocks made, but I've already put 4 of the extra blocks together to make a pillow case). The colors are bright, and hopefully she'll enjoy. It'll end up being a twin, with each block being 10" finished.

Tuesday consisted of picking up the house AND I needed to put some finishing touches on Julie's quilt I made last year. I hadn't quilted it much last year and I wanted to ensure it wouldn't come apart in the future, so I "traded" my OC with her for the time being so I could put some quilting on it. However, I wimped out and simply tied the quilt instead of doing any machine quilting on it. It's SO BIG that I just didn't have the heart to schlep and fight that thing under my machine. I put a tie in each of the yellow sashing corner squares and called it done.

Tuesday evening, I also helped lead the 7th Grade Orientation, since our new Principal's first day wouldn't be until today (Thursday). We have a Junior High still (7th and 8th grade) instead of a Middle School (6-8), so we always have a special orientation for our incoming 7th graders; talk through expectations, hand out schedules, and have them try out their locker combinations. You wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of students that can't open their lockers, even by the end of week 1!!! This transition is very difficult for some...

Wednesday found me in school all day. I spent 3 hours in the morning just putzing in my room; hanging new posters, cleaning out my storage, getting books and binders ready for Math 7 and Pre-Calc, etc. Then I spent Noon-3:00 in a technology meeting to learn our new student-information system so that I can be a "teacher-leader" for other staff during the school year. Quite intense, a lot of info crammed into 3 hours, but fun and exciting things coming for the year-to-come!

Finally, today was a "field-trip" to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN, for those of you not familiar with our nickname of the two cities). We spent the day visiting Julie since she was off of work. AMAZINGLY we actually hit the road at my goal time of 8:00 am and we arrived at Julie's by 10:00, and headed directly to the Como Zoo. The day was muggy, but thankfully the full sun decided to take the day off. The sky was 50/50 cloudy/sunny, but was more cloudy than sunny for most of the morning hours.

We saw the entire lot: Primates, aquatics, cats, "african hooved" animals (aka: giraffes and zebras) *chuckle*. By FAR, the hilight was the big cats, although most of them were lounging and sleeping in their shaded areas. Also, a baby orangutang (OMGoodness-HOW do you spell that??!?!?) was absolutely precious and adorable!!!!

By 12:00, we had seen the zoo and were ready to find our own shade and plop down for the picnic lunch I packed. Then, the rest of the afternoon was spent at a beach Julie had heard about from a friend. Very nice beach!!! I didn't realize how much Caitlyn LOVED the water! Holy Buckets! When I finally said it was time to leave, I almost had to drag her from the lake! Actually, I reverted to good-ol-fashion bribery----McDonalds was promised!!! Yeah, yeah---shoot me! :0)

So now, I'm kicking back, posting, and icing my shins. Yup, Yup.....I almost forgot! My Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived on Tuesday, so I used it right away Tuesday night after the 7th Orientation by running home from school. (Sadly, I had always though it was 5 miles, but ended up being only 4.75 miles, according to my lovely Garmin!) Without a doubt, the feature I love the BEST is the elevation mapping once I upload my runs to my computer. I live in a rather hilly area, so just about every run of mine could be considered a hill workout. I've really upped my mileage this week; probably too fast considering the standard rule of 10% increase MAX per week. I haven't really looked at my numbers, but I feel like I've upped my running quite a bit over the past week just because I am MOTIVATED again. Yeah........ But the bad thing about increasing mileage too quickly is injuries, and right now my shins are thanking me for two days off!!! I'll be back out tomorrow though for a simple 4 miles (and a goal of 14 miles on Saturday). Then off again on Sunday.

Well folks, I think that's a pretty good update, huh? Plans aren't definite for this weekend, yet, but I think my arm is going to be twisted by three lil' girls to head up to the farm to see Gma and Gpa. (I don't think they need to twist too hard, though, because it actually sounds like a good idea to me, too). DH will hang back here and get some work done for a client.

To close, Amanda HAS reached her 100th post and will be drawing on Friday for her give-away. Three more posts to my 100th give-away. I THINK I almost have the give-away put together, too :0)

Happy quilting
Happy weekend
Happy closing ceremonies of the Olympics

*10:30pm EDIT*
Okay folks----I was letting the girls unwind from the day's events by watching a movie in our bedroom---that was a little after 9:00. I don't even know how long they lasted, but I do recall things getting rather quiet around 9:45......