Bada-bing! TWO more tops reach flimsy stage

Steppin' Out (76"x92")


Pineapple Blossom (79.5"x98")
{{from the January block swap I participated in}}




I suppose this means I should go to bed now????
{{shouldn't have had all that coffee and Mt.Dew}}
;0)

American Classic finished; Hannah's Rotation progress, May UFO

American Classic bound...

Labeled...

...and boxed, ready to be shipped to Alycia.


So, now....I MUST concentrate most of my time on Hannah's Rotation.
The top two rows...

... and bottom two rows
are complete. Just two more rows in the center to finish up this top! GOAL: Finish up the top by Sunday!!! It sure would be nice to put this project behind me.


Nancy (Patchwork Penguin) choose #3 for the May UFO. That would be my Steppin' Out quilt I am making with some batik-ish looking dyed fabrics. Back on April 11th, this was the status of the top...I am VERY near a complete finish with this one; just awaiting a final border and then quilting.


Gosh, I feel good today! I think I really needed this weekend in front of the two sewing machines! I was all smiles today at work; was my normal "cheerleader" self to most of the students who are slowly starting to sense the end of the school year {{sorry kiddos! You have 5 weeks left!!!}}

If I can stay this happy and stress free, Hannah's Rotation just MAY NOT kill me! :0)

Happy Monday!

Sat. morning update...

First----Paul caught me "studying" online the other night and snapped a picture. I didn't even realize it until I uploaded pics to the computer.... Anyone dare to guess what I was "studying" on YouTube??? ;0)

Last night, I pulled out my Shades of Green top that was started LAST March! I had intentions of finishing it by quilting it in sections, but .... well....now that I'll have a frame (how far away is TUESDAY!?!?!?!), I pulled out the three sections and started piecing them together.
I needed to halt when getting to the borders, because I didn't have my original-planned border fabric anymore, so I needed to go shopping. {{yeah, Helper-Caitlyn couldn't resist posing}}


Since I needed fabrics for Black/Red Pineapple Blossoms and Steppin' Out and American Classic, and now Shades of Green, it was time to go shopping!!!

I choose THREE fabrics to use as a triple border for Shades of Green, bought some red for Pineapple Blossoms, some different "starry" red for American Classic,, an AMAZING fosil-fern (sp??) fabric for Steppin' Out, and OF COURSE....a few odds-n-ends in the form of FQ's ("shirtings" and some red/blues for the BOM). I also picked up some lovely double-pinks and pink paisley, in addition to a blue (reminds me of civil wars, but not quite sure since I've never really researched them)....And to finish it off, 10 yards of white (not pictured). I just LOVE LOVE LOVE quilts that use white in the background-----ANY color matches!

The only sewing I've accomplished so far is so put together a pillow for Cassie's horse latch-hook that she finished up last weekend. Simple pleasures..........she hasn't stopped hugging it.

So---we've had an early lunch and I'm back off to downstairs.
The house is a mess
Laundry is piled
Dishes are piled....

{{shrug}}
I sense a huge multi-task frenzy......but not now.

Maybe tomorrow?????
;0)

A quilt-TOP-in-a-day {{almost}}; Stash Report

The day started rather normal; browse around internet to catch up on blogs.....
And seeing Alycia's blog update this morning, I was {{sorta}} guilted motivated into digging into my box of 2" red/blue/white strips I've been collecting for the past couple of months. Afterall, I DID have a goal in JANUARY to get a top/quilt made for Alycia's No Soldier Forgotten 2010 challenge. Almost eight hours later---a top {{minus one more little border}}. I need it just a wee bit larger; currently it's 56"x76". Name: American Classic

Update from yesterday... Steppin' Out rows were sewn together and now awaits a shopping spree; I simply don't have ANYTHING in my stash that is batik-ish enough to use for borders.

I kind of looked around the sewing space to see what to work on next. TRUST ME---I have plenty of projects lying around....

I pulled out Deer Camp {{which, BTW, was finished last month and will await my frame for quilting}}. I dug around to see if I had some appropriate fabric to use as a backing. Lo-n-behold, I found JUUUUUST enough of this brown to use {{see it hiding behind the top???}} It will be tight!!! There's barely 1-2" hang-over on each side, 'cept the top.

Mid-day yesterday, Cassie came marching down the stairs and said "here ya go Mom! Surprise!" I guess she had drawn up a "plan" for a chair and asked Dad if he would be willing to help her make it. Graciously, he did. And as in most designs, plans were altered; the back-rest was left off; the chair seat was prettily "sculpted". And of course, as any proud mama, I accepted it with hugs. I'm actually thinking of doing a simply upholstering to it for the girls to have a little "bench: to sit on when hanging downstairs with me. I actually considered using it as a little pressing table for next to my sewing table, but it's just too short :0(

I did not report my stash last week {{yet again!}}, so I'll report both weeks right now...
Stash Report: March 29 - April 4
Used this week: 2.431 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 89.512 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: 3.262 yards

Stash Report: April 5 - 11
Used this week: 7.844 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 97.356 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: 11.106 yards

WIP and UFO morning

I need floor space-----

therefore, the Black/Red Pineapple Blossom, which is taking up ALL my floor space, needed my attention this morning
Some of us have admitted to NOT being "border people." I typically place myself in that category, but... this border just seemed to keep evolving and I kept adding another piece and another strip.....
The quilt top is too large to really get a good shot from my sewing area.....it's NOT completely done, but will have to be set aside until I find time to get to town and buy some black fabric for the final "put-the-finishing-touch-on" border.

And you'll notice---it's all sewn together----not in pieces! I will NOT be quilting this in sections----I'm still very much looking forward to the arrival of my quilting frame and keeping myself busy until the final blessed day arrives.


Then my Steppin' Out - dyed came to the forefront----why? Because I need shelf space too!!! These blocks have kept the dust off my shelf for the past year; it's about time they see some action...
My 16-patch blocks were pieced this morning; the "arrow" blocks were already complete from awhile ago...

As I began laying out blocks, I sadly realized-----"POOP! I made a mistake!!!"
My directions say I need 18 of these "diagonal" half-blocks, all the same.

NOPE!!!!!



I need 9 each of these "MIRROR IMAGE DIAGONAL" blocks. After a few moments of seam-ripping and resewing, back to the layout I went. Sometime later today I'll have to update my tutorial, fixing this mistake!!!

Two rows have been sewn, then I needed to take a break to get lunch ready....pizza buzzer just dinged. Lunch is ready------I'll update later on tonight....

A Sunday of sewing; Stash Report Febr. 22-28

Paintbox of Color had borders added, a backing pieced, and sandwiched, awaiting the return of my Bernina for quilting... (Note the quilt name-change).

The final NICU quilt was sandwiched (three total now), also awaiting the return of my Bernina for quilting....

I pulled a classic "glance-around-the-quilting-room-for-what-to-work-on-next" move...and grabbed a stack of unpieced UFO blocks (Steppin' Out - dyed). I spent about an hour piecing those into "arrow" blocks, awaiting the next step. Hmmm...maybe this will be the March UFO from Nancy??


Jade's Hearts also saw some progress. Ten "connector blocks" were pieced today, and loads and loads of HST's are still attached to the machine at the moment...

---

Last night, while watching the Olympic coverage, I put the final stitches on the Perkiomen Daydreams label.

A lovely shot of Carol's quilting via the back. **wave** Hi Carol!!!.

Now I really need to convince hubby to get out his ladder so we can get this hung on the wall for one final DONE-DONE picture :0)

---

Stash Report: February 22-28
Used this week: 7.854 (more Curtains, Paintbox blocks, Nicu & Paintbox backings)
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 70.735 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: -15.515 yards
Woohoo--another couple of weeks and I should be back "in the black" :0)

Sunday's Quiltathon status and Stash Report

I actually SET my alarm for this AM so I could get cracking bright-n-early at quilting. Funny though, I snoozed for about 45 minutes anyway!
But by 8:00, I was rockin-n-rollin!


Row 1:
8:00 am - Started cutting template pieces for February's BOM (**GASP**)! Yes, TEMPLATE pieces will be coming in February, ladies!
9:15 am - Trimmin' off some dogears
10:30 am - Sneak-peak at one of the completed February BOM.
10:35 am - Cutting HST's for the 2nd February BOM
Row 2:
10:53 am - Cutting complete -- time to sew some HST's
11:10 am - Pieces pressed (yup ladies! ALL those pieces are going into ONE 12" block---and there are a few more than just these)
12:00 pm - Pulling out Steppin' Out - dyed. No WONDER I set this project aside---I only have a GaZILLION HST's to square up....
12:30 pm -- still squarin' up!
Row 3:
12:40 pm - pieces squared
12:45 pm - Adjourning to the upstairs to watch the game and press
1:12 pm - Pressed and dogears removed
1:30 pm - family arrived home and Caitlyn helped me put labels on my Swap Blocks
Row 4:
2:39 pm - Carolina Christmas Step 2 pieces cut
4:18 pm - Carolina Christmas Step 3 pieces cut
6:09 pm - Back downstairs, more CC pieces getting cut
7:02 pm - The status of my sewing table after calling it a night. CC Step #2's first part was just chain-pieced and will await pressing for tomorrow evening.

LOVELY LOVELY weekend! Sadly, YES, I DO have school tomorrow---we never have Martin Luther King day off----hm! Wonder why!

Follow other Quiltathon-er's progress!

Stash Report: January 11-17
Used this week: 9.75 yards
Purchased this week: 4 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 21.375 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 13 yards
Net used: 8.375 yards

OUCH! Never...

...test to see if your iron is on by putting your hand on the sole plate!

ugh! I have a new iron, and the lights work a bit different with this one (obviously now!) On my last one, there was always a light on (green meant it was up to temp; red meant it wasn't, and if it sat idle long enough, it auto. shut off and there was no light present). Well....... THIS one is different! Now, a flashy-red means its auto shut off, green means it on and getting up to temp, and NO LIGHT means it's up to temp!!!!!! So, here, I had thought I turned it on, but no light was on......going with habit from the old iron, I put my hand on the plate to see how "cool" it had become.....UGH! It's just too bad my pain receptors didn't kick in a hair earlier! I've been keeping it on ice ever since (7:00) because it hurts to darn much when I don't!!! Quite possibly, three fingers will have blisters and/or some burn-site marks.

Yesterday, it felt so good to get downstairs to actually SEW SOMETHING! It has been so long since I've done anything! I still had a stack of HST pieces sitting my the machine for another sample of Steppin' Out using some dyed fabrics, so I whipped through those to just get them done; they were then set out of the way for now, joining the 4-patches that I had done the day before I had started these so many weeks ago.


I thought it would be fun to start my summer break by starting a new project (HAHAhAH......AS IF I need something else to work on!!) But, come on ----it's BONNIE's Christmas Lights mystery. I can't just sit by and let everyone else take part in this one and not me.....so.....it turned into a classic "putz" day of pulling fabrics, cutting, sewing.....and before I knew it (seriously!!!), all of Step 1 was finished!!! Proudly, all of the fabrics are from the stash; I can NOT buy anything new. I will NEVER use all my fabric---and I don't even really have that much compared to some individuals!

Remember last week when I said MIL and I were cutting fabric for a Double Wedding Ring quilt for a friend of the family? Well, here are some of the pieces I was in charge of (already sewn and pressed). My MIL was in charge of cutting 196 of EACH color; which she has cut, sewn together and already basted. I was in charge of 98 of each color, which I have also cut and sewn, but I am waiting for basting because she is going to teach me how to hand-baste with thread. (I normally cheat and glue-baste the edges.) Well---I DID glue-baste 24 of them because I am making a wall-hanging to go along with the quilt we are making.

So, with some time left last night, I decided to print out the May block for Beth Ferrier's BOM Now-n-Forever. May's color is emerald.

The first "kinda-sorta-official-day" of volleyball practice went well. Actually, it was FUN! Gosh---those girls were playing well for not having touched a ball in months! Tomorrow, I'll have another short practice.

Tonight, I WANTED to start sewing the DWR rings onto the background, but my iron-accident stopped me early. Tomorrow, that will be my game plan.

It is now 9:35, and three of my fingers have indeed start blistering. GOSH, it aches when I remove it from the ice!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart now goes out to ANYONE who has ever suffered burns! The pain must be crippling!!!

Happy Monday

No title fits this post :0)

Disclaimer!
First, I need to forewarn those of you who ONLY think this is a quilting blog (due to comment left a few days ago)----
Yes, this is primarily a quilting blog, but the title is called "Amy's PassionS" (plural). Running and my family are also important passions in my life, so beware as you read........
:0)

The weekend at the Farm was relaxing; a little bit of grading accomplished, three quilts completely checked off the list by sewing on the Back connnector-strip (Double Delight for Nikki's Graduation, Chloe's Colors to be gifted to Chloe at the end of the month, Steppin' Out just for me for now and to be used as a class demo.) I also started clipping seam allowances on two baby rag quilts that I whipped out last weekend-----oh yeah, I haven't blogged about them yet. Pics to come once I finish them up. They will be given to my mother's church as donations to the Baptismal chests. (Cute adorable cedar chests that are given to families when babies are baptised----ADORABLE! We have three; one for each of the girls; PERFECT way to collect memorabilia through the years).

I sewed up another Rolling Rock block last night; 2 down, 11 more to go. Then (Yes, Angela--to answer your question:) somehow they get appliqued to backing fabric, add some sashing, borders...and just like that (**snapping fingers**), you have a finished quilt. PSHT! Yea, if only it were that easy! IF it was, then it wouldn't currently be considered a UFO, huh?????

It's going to be quiet from me for a while; I have Parent-Teacher conferences tomorrow evening, then will be heading out of town for a Math Convention Wednesday - Friday.

We (family) have ambitions of working on prepping the garden this weekend and planting a few things. The "big" weekend for planting this far North is Memorial Weekend, BUT there are a few things that are safe to plant since they are cooler-weather plants (ie: potatoes, onions, sweet corn, to name a few). Calidore had asked how big our garden was since DH used a tractor to till it up.....
ummmm.....it's big enough to bring in the heavy machinery in the Spring rather than hand-tilling for hours and hours and hours. Does that satisfy your question Calidore? **chuckle** Golly, I don't know. Estimating........ 30 meters x 10 meters (Americans, guesstimate the equivalency by substituting a yard for a meter -- ALMOST the same size). Then we (DH) also tilled up a new "plot" this past week so we can plant LOTS and LOTS of sweet corn. That section is currently about the same size as our entire garden, and it's solely going to be corn. (I don't know if DH plans to make it bigger.) We live on 10 acres (4 wooded), so we have the land to play around with. Rather than having a HUGE lawn, it's nice to have some produce being produced by our own sweat (cheesy grin at the 'ol timers talk). Yup---it's official, I now talk like my father when it comes to taking pride in what we can create with a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears.....

Okay folks---DH wants my assistance at the kitchen table cutting up some potatoes.......
Happy Monday and have a great week!

Just call me melted butter,

cuz I'm on a roll.....


Steppin' Out saw it's finish tonight. I still have the connector strip to hand-sew to the back, but binding is sewn, and label is on.





On a more somber note,
I am really trying to stay calm right now, but I am literally emotionally and even physically aggitated........
I'm watching the History Channel, and I am just saddened, sickened and just down right appauled, watching "Zero Hour", a documentary on the Columbine Shooting, marking its 10 year anniversary.
The premeditation involved.....just........well...*sigh*....just makes me ask WHY? WHY? WHY?
*shaking head*

Give your children an extra kiss tonight, and a super-tight hug. Let them know you love them and NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING is ever so bad that they can't talk to you!!!

Busy day; quick post

DH is allowing me to use the computer for only a few moments here because he has some more searching he wants to do before bed....so....here's the whirlwind....

I made all the labels this morning that I listed off last night. I attached the ones in the picture (and Steppin' Out (not pictured)).


I did some more quilting work on Chloe's Colors once the labels were attached. I have decided to allow Chloe to have the quilt, so I wanted to put some nicer finishing touches to complete the quilting.

Then I pulled out Steppin' Out again and putzed, putzed, putzed with quilting. Bada-bing-bada-boom....this baby is NEARLY finished!!! I have border quilting yet to do, but then it's ready for binding. Yes! It's kinda nice and amazing what can all be accomplished when one actually has almost two full days of time designated mainly to sewing/quilting :0)

The last bit of laundry is in the dryer right now; dinner was ABSOLUTELY delicious! (Pork ribs; Texas style (dry rub and baked uncovered for 3 hours...but then I did throw them into the slow cooker for another hour with some homemade BBQ sauce----YUM!!!)

Night all :0)
Happy Sunday!

gonna enjoy the weekend.....

It's Saturday morning, and I'm waiting patiently for the coffee to finish brewing and the muffins to finish baking. I was a determined and motivated lady last night: grading ALL of my tests from the day since I was out of the District for a workshop (14-Web Design quizzes, 25-Math 8 tests, 23-Algebra 8 HW-quizzes), prepped for all my classes next week; folded loads-n-loads of laundry that had been stock-piling over the past couple of days; washed and folded a couple other loads; boxed up some of the girls' clothes for GoodWill; boxed up the "better" of the girls' clothes for a friend's little girl; boxed up the clothes that still have TAGS on them to put up on eBay (oh yeah...gotta remember to find some time today to do that). Sure---it was literally midnight when I finally settled down to read a few pages of Breaking Dawn (the 4th book of the Twilight saga--re-reading) before calling it a night.

But now------*sigh*------I have the rest of the weekend to sew and quilt! Nothing (much) hanging over my head (I do have some more prepping I could do on computer for next week, but that won't take much time).

In between loads of laundry last night, I also was downstairs sewing up 24 more Shades of Green blocks. I now have 44 complete and they are laying out on the floor. No pics yet.....but maybe tonight?
So...what's on the agenda? I really should try to finish up the quilting on DD, then piece the 2 sections together, add the borders, and be DONE with it. I could (should) have that finished by the close of the weekend.
I could also work on finishing up the remaining blocks for Shades of Green, or do some more quilting on Steppin' Out. Ahhhh.....so many fun projects all awaiting.....

Okay---muffins just buzzed.
Have a great day!!!

My weekly check in...

Hey---I've accepted that if I check in at least once a week, that's okay! So hopefully, you can accept that as well?!?!?!!?? *wink*

Tonight, at LEAST I still have a lick of energy and my day went well and I'm still motivated to do SOMETHING! Quilting is not the "something" I can do, however, because tonight is the FINALS for our Volleyball tournament; we are playing for 1st/2nd at 8:00 pm.

To give you a not-so-detailed run-down since Wednesday......

Thursday----ummm...I THINK I did some sewing/quitling!?!?! Yeah, yeah.....I think I basted up the two sections of Steppin' Out in hopes of accomplishing some quilting Friday night and Saturday morning before heading down to my parent's Saturday evening.

HOWEVER, once Saturday morning rolled around, I worked solely on Chloe's Colors because I really wanted to get that finished by Monday. Monday was the start of a new quarter at school (the LAST quarter----ohhhhh, the end is nearing!!!!)......which meant I got the 8th graders back in my classroom. Recall, my 8th grade students' Quarter 2 Final Project was to design a quilt. Chloe's Colors was the #1 vote-getter by the class, so my goal for the 3rd quarter was to bring it to life. Aside from the struggle of finding the various shades of colors, the quilt was rather simple to piece (obviously??).

The quilting ended up being a loopy-meander in the center "bright" section, with my favorite "swirly-gig" in the 16-blocks. The quilt is currently hanging up in my classroom---it sure brightens up the room!



Sunday was Cassie's 1st Communion, and afterwards, my mother finally coaxed us all into putting the smiles on for a family picture. (It's only been 2 years, after all!) So, here we all are.




Last night, after checking in with some blogs, I HAD to head downstairs as a stress-reliever! Rough day at work, and it was a hard (humbling???) day that I couldn't let go of....

.....Heading down, I had many possibilities in my mind, and I needed to make a decision....
a) Continue working on Steppin' Out and begin quilting now that it's basted ???
b) Work on March quilt ???
c) Tackle one of my "overdue" UFO Challenge quilts??? (Scrappy Baskets (UGH! That one is my achilles heel right now!), Lake -n- Lodge which is already basted up and just needs quilting....or, the newest April Challenge: Oklahoma Backroads, which is completed but needs basting and quilting......

I was SO wanting to see another finish for the month of March, so I decided.....Lake-n-Lodge in hopes that with three hours of working time, I would be able to check it off for a March finish.

Well------nope----not a finish, but it saw some progress. No pics yet, but maybe Saturday????

Shortly, we'll be on our way to Volleyball. Tomorrow night, I have volunteered my athleticism towards our School Staff's Dodgeball team (the PTA has an annual fundraiser during March: March Madnesss: Dodgeball Dellerium). Usually, there is a School Staff team, a team comprised of School students, a team from the Hospital, a Police Team, ......, it's a fun night.

Friday night is open, with the hopes of having some quilting time. Now that I have my Advanced Beginner's Description/Directions written and into the Community Education Coordinator for brochure printing, I am breathing a bit easier. (So, YES LOCAL LADIES!!! There will be a class; Starting May 18th, and every Monday for 5 weeks (not meeting memorial day, rather that Tuesday (26th) is scheduled.))


Happy April Fools Day!
Happy Wednesday

Project updates...

The biggest project I have been undertaking over the past few days is cutting and sewing up a sample for the Advanced Beginner Quilting (Steppin' Out) class I am planning to offer over the month of May and beginning of June. This one will take more than the 4 nights that the Beginner's class was; I'm thinking more like 5 solid work nights with a couple of hours of "homework" every week. I had seen a picture of a quilt similar to this in my browsing on the web a year or so ago; it's use of 4-patches is enough to keep it still at a beginner's stage, yet can be considered a bit more advanced due to the HST's (half-square-triangles.) I also plan to demonstrate the Quilting-in-Sections method for those individuals who want to attempt machine-quilting on their DSM (domestic sewing machine.)

DH went to play open-gym volleyball tonight (since we had a bye in our tournament series), so I headed downstairs (UNWILLINGLY if you can believe it!!!----still dog tired! I can't seem to shake it; it must be this poopy, gloomy, rainy, cold weather!) Anyway.......

.....I headed down with intentions of just doing something small; cut and sew up the March block for Beth Ferrien's Now-n-Forever BOM (block-of-the-month) quilt . I needed to see something "finished," (even if it was only two blocks) since I have so many loose ends downstairs. Seriously; I should take a pic of all the projects I have laying scattered all over the basement floor! DoubleDelight is laying out on the main carpet area, untouched in about 2 weeks; Steppin' out is in the main concrete area; the Seven Shirts is hanging on one main wall reminding me it needs batting and quilting; my 100+ Perkiomen Daydreams blocks are scattered next to DD; Oklahoma Backroads is folded up waiting for batting and quilting; Country Spirit, Chloe's Colors, and Scrappy Irish Chain are all laying over the back of a spare matress, all in different stages of quilting, Lake-n-Lodge is also in that stack, basted; March green quilt blocks are on one shelf, and then 8 or so other UFO's are stacked in some kind of order in a spare book case......

*sigh*

When the two BOM blocks were done, I worked some more on Steppin' Out and have most of the rows sewn together, but quit at 9:00 to head up to blog......

Catching up from Monday and Tuesday.....

I know I said in my blog post yesterday that I hadn't been done any quilting on Monday or Tuesday, which is true, but I helped Cassie put together her own special blanket from fleece; one of the simple "cut and tie" blankets. She measured up the fabric and matched the bottom and top up, trimmed up the edges, and then cut slits about an inch apart. The whole project took about an hour and half; she was very excited to sleep with it right away Monday night!!!





Last night, pretty much from the moment we got home from school/work/day care and after supper was finished, I relaxed in the glider with a good book : New Moon, the second book of the Twilight Saga. I'm re-reading it (ONLY for the 2nd time---honest!) Candace and Caitlyn were going around the house with my camera, snappin' pics from their perspective again.


A few other shots they took....... Happy Wednesday!