Step 2 done [Celtic Solstice] & Wafer Cookies done

Go Big or Go Home keeps being said over and over again in my head.  I currently have Step #2 done of Bonnie's Celtic Solstice mystery quilt... HOWEVER....

the other day, when making the bed with new sheets, I made a comment about how nicely Roll Roll Cotton bowl fits our (king size) bed.  To which, Paul stated, "Well...not really.  The length is good, but it needs to be wider."

So.... do I Go Big or Go Home with Celtic Solstice???   

Right now....I'm going small.  We'll see what the future holds.

Once all units were pinned and shelved away, I wanted to continue earning my Procrastinator-of-Statistics-Lessons Award, so I swept up the sewing room, and then pulled out Wafer Cookies to finish up.  Binding and Label -- that's all that remained. 

60" x 71" -- Wafer Cookies

One nice feature of scrap quilts is that scrappy binding matches perfectly!  I dug through the 2.5" strip drawer and pulled ugly pinks/browns/oranges -- TOO MUCH, in fact.  I easily could have binded (bound?) two quilts with the amount of binding I prepped.

So, five years after this inspirational picture was snapped while enjoying an afternoon snack,...

...Wafer Cookies finally sees the final stitch.

And now...

Baby back ribs prepped and cooking low-n-slow in the oven...

Laundry under way...

Dishwasher emptied...

Brunch cooked and eaten...

Football on the TV...

... Nah!  Statistics STILL will remain on the back burner.  I think I'll pull out my crochet hook and find something fun to work on :)

Happy Snowy Sunday!

Off the frame - Wafer Cookies

After brewing on the quilting frame since June, it was time to finally put the final quilting stitches into Wafer Cookies.  I didn't take the time to measure it once trimmed up; that'll be done once I take final pictures of it, binding attached.

I can't recall how many bobbins I used.  I have no idea how long the quilting actually took, but... 6 months on the frame is most definitely a new record.  [[hanging head]].

There was a reason for the push to finally get it done though.

As I was mindlessly cutting and organizing my sewing room last night, I started thinking about my friend who had requested a crib quilt to be made a few week's back, only to pull back his request a few days later after his family ran into a bit of a financial headache in the form of car trouble.  Ughers.

I had already started piecing the top... the fabrics are cute!, and the pattern was a piece of cake!

Why let it sit and ferment, right?!?!!?  Really - what would I do with another quilt top, waiting away the weeks/months/YEARS!?!?

The dear lil' girl it is meant for has already had a tough go of it all.  And the fact that my friend and his wife have taken in this lil' angel, earning guardianship for her, trying to give her a better life-----It's a NO BRAINER!  

An hour of quilting tonight, and I'm halfway done.  Tomorrow night will be the final push to finish it up in order to sneak it by their house and place it on their doorstep on Wednesday on my way down to my parent's for Thanksgiving.  You bet'cha.  Makes my heart happy :)

Happy Monday!

10 hours in my sewing room - Easy Street and others

6:30 AM, and I was strolling into my quilting room.  I brought NO schoolwork home this weekend seeing that we teachers have 2 days worth of inservice on Monday & Tuesday while the kiddos have the entire week off.  Therefore, I'll plan to get some of my planning done during a couple of hours of worktime on Tuesday afternoon.

Therefore, I could FINALLY devote my undivided attention to my sewing room!  {{almost}}  From time to time, I did need to provide some meals on the table for Candace and Caitlyn.

My main project today:  Lazy Sunday.  Last weekend, I had left off piecing the sashing to the 2nd row before my bobbin thread ran out.  Hence, I wound 6 bobbins worth to start off the day, and then got to work.

I haven't done a "time-lapse" post in quite some time;  it's kind of a neat way to keep track of how fast/slow certain parts of quilting are.

A few hours into the morning, the center of Lazy Sunday was pieced.  I had also been piecing the border units as my leaders-enders, so I was making some good progress.

And then........

I forgot to continue with the time-lapse pictures!!! Whoops....

I simply was in a mode, and it was go-go-go;  and in the background, I was catching up on Bonnie's quiltcams from the past couple of months.

By mid-afternoon:  Lazy Sunday pieced!  77"x97".

Can I get an....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  ?

LOL

All the while, I was organizing up the leader-ender section;  failed to take a picture of that though.  "Omigosh" continues to be my main leader-ender project.  Perhaps in 4 years, at this pace, it may actually be completed SOLELY as leader-ender :)

THEN, I wanted to truly have an idea of how many quilt-tops I had hanging around, waiting OH WAITING to eventually be loaded into the quilting frame for some fancy-schmancy quilting.

The newest flimsy from last weekend:  Confetti (48"x48)

Bonnie's 2012-13 mystery:  Easy Street (85"x85")

Bonnie's Jamestown Landing (84"x96")

Bonnie's Smith Mountain Morning (72"x82")

RWB Heartstrings, but after seeing it in pictures.....nopers.  It's not ready for quilting!  I foresee 18 more RWB string blocks for placement on the left-and-right sides.  This layout.....eh.  It doesn't work.  It's unfinished!

Rainbow Scrap (from 2011? I think) (42"x56")

2010 BOM - 18 block RWB (58.5"x72")

HMMM......Alycia, if you happen to catch this post, let me know if you (or anyone you know) would be willing to take the top as-is and get it quilted up as a QOV ???  I'd rather get this into the arms of a recipient sooner-than-later; and at this rate..... in my basement.... it would be MUCH "later" than sooner.

Frost 25 (73"x73")

Freeze Frame (69"x86")

And not to mention a flannel snuggler quilt that was packed away in a different bin.  And I'm sure I have another one around the basement ... somewhere!  So, with ALL of these 100% ready for backings to be pieced or loaded directly into the frame....

I figured I simply needed to put some time on Wafer Cookies!  Which I did.  For a little while.

and then.....

The afternoon sloggies took hold.  And I was ready to be done.

I had a slightly restless night, playing "mommy" to Caitlyn.  She wasn't feeling well at school yesterday, and ALMOST lasted the whole day.  But, at 1:50, the elementary secretary walked her down to my classroom.  Even a "mom-hug" wasn't enough.  So, with some amazing coworkers helping out, I was on the way out the door of the school with Caitlyn next to me by 2:15.  And by 2:50... **sigh** ...  she officially proved to me that she was indeed sick.

By 10:00, THANKFULLY, she dozed off to sleep on the couch.  

Her sister, on the other hand; WIDE AWAKE watching Doc McStuffins.

Therefore, I figured I'd try to pass the time with some crochet.  The Hallmark channel has been the background noise of choice most evenings, and last night wasn't any different (until I allowed Candace to watch some Disney) :)

These blocks, along with probably one more, will be sewn together to make a simple lil' Christmas table runner for our piano.

There ya go, folks.  The list of flimsies is a bit..... overwhelming!  BUT, at least my sewing tables are clean and tidied.  My leader-ender section is freshly organized.  My "big" WIPs have reached an acceptable stage for folding or stashing on a shelf.

I'm READY for Friday's Clue #1.

OH WAIT!  

Crud!  

LOL

No I'm not!!!  

I completely forgot to pull fabrics.

:}

Oh well...tomorrow is another day.  I don't think I have enough energy left in me to spend any more time in the sewing room tonight.  Instead, I'll grab my crochet hook for the evening.

Happy Saturday!

Lazy Sunday and Slow Stitch Sunday

Ultimately, I have three goals for today.

1) Finish the scarf I started two days ago on Caitlyn's Knitting Loom.  This will be my Slow-Stitch Sunday project for Kathy's site;  it's been ages since I worked on a slow-stitch project.

2)  Finish Clue #3 of Bonnie Hunter's Lazy Sunday mystery via Quiltmaker magazine.    The blocks were finished a few weeks ago, but the purple "diagonal" units have to be cut and sewn yet.

3)  Finish the quilting on Wafer Cookies, and maybe even sew on the binding.

It's a beautiful morning outside right now;  sunny and 60s.  It's supposed to warm up nicely to low 80s.  I may have to fight off some puppydog eyes who might be asking to head to the beach.  LOL.  We'll see what the day has in store.

Two completions

The finishing touches of binding for Scrappy Pineapple Blossom and Seven Shirts Seven Clues were completed this morning.  And since my camera has been hijacked, my iPhone pictures will simply have to suffice :)

Scrappy Pineapple Blossom (72" x 72")

Seven Shirts (64" x 76")

AND, being Throwback Thursday....

I figured my Wafer Cookies top had been fermenting long enough!  It was started June 14, 2008; top completed July, 2009.  

A backing was prepped, batting cut, loaded to the frame and half quilted already....

DWR DONE! Babyquilt DONE! Bag Dispenser DONE! And a few other projects underway...

Ahhhhhhhhh
Yesterday, after relaxing in the morning, I decided to FINALLY just finish the DWR! And then, I just kept going...

I spend most of the day working on the DWR, finishing it up around 4:00. It feels SO GOOD having that done and off my back--seriously! I think this is the biggest quilt I have made so far. It measures 96"x108", and is pictured on our King size bed.

With the extra pieces, MIL and I pieced together some pillow shams and an additional "monogram" pillow. MIL hand embroidered the "H". (Hmmm....I must not have taken pics of the pillow-shams, which are now in the hands of MIL for final completion; I quilted it, but she is putting the backing on.)


I was still in the mood to sew (amazingly!), so I kept going. Wednesday night I started cutting up some adorable FQ's I bought off a fellow Quiltvillian. They are just adorable!
While at my sister's last weekend, I went through all my old quilting magazines (again), and sorted them; patterns I will someday make and mags that can finally be given away. I only set aside 19 mags open to patterns (sarcastically undertoned!) Gosh---when will I ever make them all?!?!? Anyway, Wednesday afternoon, I came across a hidden box of white, white, white that had been given to my from (who else?) my mother. It was given to me last summer with all the other fabric donated to church. I simply had forgotten about it. So...I pulled some white, I went and pulled the lovely FQ's, and pulled a McCall's Quilting (March 08, I think??) The mag is downstairs right now and I'm too lazy to go get it to double check. But I'm fairly confident the pattern was called "Emma's Garden", which I have now changed to "Barnyards and Prairies". (40"x46" not counting Prairie Points)
The top was finished at 10:30, but I wasn't ready to turn off the machine yet. I pulled some yellow-check gingham from the stash and prepared backing. I pulled SIX scrap strips of batting and pieced them together. Boy, it feels good to get some of those scraps used up. It's so easy to piece the warm-n-natural batting on the machine!
The quilting is simple; SID (stitch-in-ditch) verticle lines. This is only the second time I've worked with prairie points (and I have decided I simply LOVE them!!!), but it's the first time that they have been the "border" of the quilt. The pattern called to press under 1/4" of the backing and hand-stitch to the back of the points. However, I took my time ironing and pressing the backing so that I could machine stitch the backing to the front; it didn't turn out all that bad. I finished it up just before midnight and finally called it a night! :0)

Wednesday after, while lunch was cooking, I browsed online and read through the past weeks' worth of Moda's Bake Shop blog. I had read through this pattern (Bag Dispenser; posted in June, I think) before, but wasn't really sold on it. But, for some reason, I was motivated to try it and whipped one out using some 5" scraps I recently cut up. If you haven't looked at the Moda Bake Shop blog, you really should if you are looking for some inspiration. I love the fabrics, even though I don't have any of them. But the patterns are very universal (as most are).

Here are some other things I've been working on since Sunday...

I posted about the sixteen fabrics that I've been strippin' up, getting ready (finally) to attempt the pattern pictured. I still am amazed I was able to pull all sixteen directly from what I had on hand...

Here is the other set of strips I cut up with Jille Kemp's pattern (from Red Rooster Fabrics) in mind: It's the Berries (even though I'm not using the suggested fabrics.) I'm using all of Grandma's flowery fabrics for this one; I don't think any of the fabric was something I had purchased.

I took some time to make up the June block for Now-n-Forever, the BOM by Beth Ferrier. July has just been posted, so I'll see about taking that on after I come back from Mom's this weekend.

Last Wednesday, I spent some time working on my Rolling Star UFO. I think I have been calling it Rolling Rock in the past, but now that I have found the pattern, I have corrected myself. Six down, seven more to go before being able to applique them onto blocks. Hmmmm! I'm glad I found that box of white fabric!!!

Finally, I am posting a pic of my Wafter Cookies flimsey that I finished up last Wednesday. It has joined with Seven Shirts on the wall, awaiting quilting.

So, that's it folks (I think!) I believe I have completely updated the blog on my past week's worth of quilting.

Laundry is underway and I have the task of packing up all three girls for TWO WEEKS. They will be down at both sets of grandparents for the next two weeks; next week with my parents, and the following week with DH's parents. It's so nice that they (parents) get along and that they live 5 miles apart from each other :0) I have some professional development classes for the next two weeks, so they are helping us out so we don't have to cough up $500/week for daycare! Besides, it's VBS week next week at my mom's church, so the girls will take part.

Happy Friday!

Book finished; time to sew!

Upon leaving my sister's house on Sunday, I asked her if she had a book-on-tape that I could listen to... ya know... to help ease the boredom of the looming 5 hour trip ahead. She came through!

So, while the girls finagled between a few movies with the travelling DVD player in the backseat, I put in Nora Roberts' Angels Fall. It sure DID ease the length of the trip; it seemed I made it home in no time. There are 30 "Chapters" and each one lasts about 30 mintues....so.....15 hours long roughly. That meant, 10 hours were left once I arrived home. What to do, what to do?? Because I sure couldn't wait until my next long drive to find out what was going to happen next. It got uploaded to my iPod and I listened to it while quilting downstairs. However, I found out that I couldn't hear it all too well when the sewing machine was going, so....cutting, sorting and ironing has been my task for the past few days.

Last night, at 10:30, I had no more ambition left to sort scraps, but I still had Chapters 29 and 30 left to go. DH was on the computer upstairs, so I settled in on the couch and put my feet up. I fell asleep somewhere in Chapter 29! Ugh!

Sometime in the night, Caitlyn joined DH and I in bed (nothing unusual).
Oh yeah--side note: She was a "big tough girl" yesterday by earning her passage to Kindergarten; Dr Appointment with FOUR shots!!!

Around 4:30 this morning, Candace ALSO wanted to slide into bed with DH and myself...hmmmmm. Also not unusual, but we typically are fortunate enough that only ONE wants to snuggle into bed with us on any given night. This is the first time that BOTH of them have tried to crawl in our bed---so I slid over, NEARLY falling off the edge of the bed. After 30 minutes of that, I had had enough and trudged out to the couch. Yeah, well... I guess I'm starting to show my age, because the couch wasn't the most comfortable and was up-n-at-em by 5:30---enough of the couch!

The good news---I figured I'd plug myself into my iPod again and finish the book; which is exactly what I did. It just ended; and Candace is the only one that is awake.

Therefore, with the whole day looming ahead, I can now devote my time downstairs back to actually running the sewing machine! I did manage to finish up Wafer Cookies at least to a "flimsy" stage, and it has joined Seven Shirts, hanging on the wall, awaiting the day when I will actually sandwich and quilt 'em.

I really should try to tackle another section of the DWR quilt and get it over with. Yeah...that would be the wisest. It's my only deadline, and I have two more weeks before the deadline comes due. Yeah, yeah.....(trying to convince myself).....although it would be so nice to start sewing the ions of strips that I've cut in the past couple of days....

Happy Wednesday

"She does it again!"

First, a HUGE thank you out to Angela (SoScrappy) for taking some time to throw an idea my way regarding my July UFO, Wafer Cookies. Particularly her suggestion of using the larger set of blocks for the border. BOY! Did THAT suggestion get the light-bulb burning bright!! However, after playing with the blocks, I did just the opposite layout, and threw in some "connector" blocks...

For much of the morning, I went straight-away, working on it. Inspiration and renewed excitement kept me pluggin and pluggin away today. The top is ALMOST complete; the last 2" border will be placed on tomorrow. WOW! THANKS ANGELA!


An update on Candace's Stars. The other night before the binding was on, I brought it upstairs to show DH.
Me: So, what do you think?
DH: Who's is that?
Me: Candace's
DH: ((**raises eyebrow**)) Ya think it's big enough???
Me: Well, she'll grow into it...
DH: I really like it
Me: ME TOO!
DH: It's too good to give to her
Me: HA
Well, currently, it is being schlept up-n-down the stairs everyday, between her bed and the couch for movie-snuggle time.
Me: Candace, do you like your quilt?
Candace: Ya momma, my kwuilt is purty
Cailtyn: Candace, that's not a quilt, it's a blanket
Candace: NO! It's a kwuilt! And it's mine! Right momma?
Me: Yes, Candace, it is yours and yes, it is a quilt.
Cailtyn: Oh, it's a quilt because you made it, Mom?
Me: Yes, Cailtyn
It will definitely be an heirloom--this has now become my FAVORITE quilt I've made of all times.

And now to the title of this post......
Yup! I'm doing it again! Starting yet another project. HOWEVER, it is only because while working on Wafer Cookies, I needed to make 5 more larger blocks. So, off to the 2.5" bin I went; it was OVERFLOWING! As I was digging around, I started thinking that maybe I should try to find a pattern that uses 2.5" strips. When I checked emails this afternoon, I also took a moment to look over at Quiltville to see what I could find. Lo-n-behold, Star Struck struck my fancy, so I started digging around tonight and started sorting the fabrics. At first, I was going to just go completely scrappy, but I didn't realize I had so much BLUE! So....blue it was and whites/yellows. I only added in the yellows because I thought this would be a great quilt for a possible student or even Cassie (or myself) because our school colors are blue-n-gold (yellow). At one point, it looked like the 2.5" bin exploded in my sewing room with strips all over!!!
Candace came to see what I was up to and grabbed the camera. She's becoming quite the photographer of "mommy." Actually, it's kinda neat to see the world from her height. The first 8 blocks went rather quickly and easy. The blue stars really are getting lost because I used some light blues as "blues" instead of "lights/whites". I have now removed all light blues from the blues and will only use medium and dark blues. These 8 will just get thrown in here-n-there; I'm really not obsessing too much; scraps are getting used up and I'll be making a complete quilt without buying anything new.

So, I had some great progress again today. However, I have a new mathematical equation I realized today:

Good quilter = Bad housekeeper

My house is being neglected, as is the garden. I've gotten a bit obsessed with quilting again; but I don't think I needed to make that statement, huh? I simply MUST take a break from quilting again, but, well... I'd like to get Wafer Cookies to a completed flimsy, at least, and I still need to finish up the DWR pillow-sham quilting.

The holiday weekend hits tomorrow and we'll be heading up to the farm for the weekend. I don't think I'll be taking any quilting projects with me. **Shrug** Not sure yet.....

Happy Thursday. Oops---scratch that! Happy Friday (12:09 AM right now)
---I need to stop drinking coffee in the evening---

Birthday wishes to me; Quilting photos update; school hierarchy

Today I turn triple-11; my DH already wished me a Happy Birthday at 5:45 am as he was strolling out the door. (Better than what I did for him----I had forgotten until AFTER I had left the house last Tuesday--he turned 37; I was in the car listening to the 6:00am news on my way to my class when the newscaster said the date---I called him straight away). No big plans---for us, our birthdays are just another day. We try to have a little something for the girls' birthdays, but not ours.

It appears that Blogger will allow me to upload my pics now, sooo.....
This is a tablecloth (~48"x48") that DH's grandmother has stitched for a wedding coming up this weekend. She asked her daughter (DH's mother, my MIL) to put it together, but then she (MIL) asked ME to quilt it up since I seem to be "better at it than she is." Oh dear-----I was nervous!!! This is one of those already-marked-whole-cloth pieces, so the quilting didn't take all that long once I started. However, the markings don't appear to be the wash-away kind, so a person can see the blue dots (sigh). But, I guess you could say that I'm pleased with the results. It's hitting the mail today to get to my MIL so she can sew the lace binding on before this Saturday's wedding. I hope it arrives in time (by Thursday??) for her to accomplish her part.


Next, this is a shot of the Fun with Bricks that has come together quite quick.







And here is a birds-eye-view of the Wafer Cookies possible layout (left) and Oklahoma Backroads (right). Upon seeing the Wafter Cookies laid out, I've been playing the mind-visual-game and am picturing some plain white (light) blocks in with the smaller rail-fence blocks. Anyone care to share any other ideas???


Finally, Amanda has asked about our school hierarchy.....
Superintendent is the "head-honcho." He runs the entire District, and being a smaller city (about 1000 people), our District is rather small. One K-2 school and one 3-12 school. Our School Board (consisting of about 10 members comprised of Community members) and the Sup kinda are on the same level. New policies, etc, can't be passed without the SB's vote.
Next in line would be our Principals----we have one Elementary (K-6) Principal and one High school (7-12) Principal. Then, naturally, we have the staff of teachers, custodians, cooks, aides, etc.

I am anxious, yet excited, about the changes we have in administration this year. Brian (our Sup) is VERY MUCH a people person; loves children (he was a 7-12 Guidance counselor when I first started teaching 10 years ago, then became the K-6 Principal about 6 years ago); and WANTS the school to be run from the "bottom up." And I Quote........"I'm tired of this top-down business! It doesn't work." Hence, this is why he has asked some staff to sit in on the 7-12 Principal interviews. This is a new procedure, and the School Board hasn't given him too much of a hard time with it.

Now, our school board....well, THAT's a whole different story! (watch out---here comes my humble opinion)...... Our SB has almost the same unrealistic goals as President Bush with his NCLB and that 100% of all students will be Proficient or Advanced in all areas come 2014 (or some year coming up soon.) Our SB is pushing for all of our students to be college-bound material, but that just is unrealistic!!! NOT ALL STUDENTS NEED TO BE COLLEGE BOUND! Truthfully, if my passion wasn't for teaching, I would have taken a 2-year Technical route for Computer Science and be making $100,000+! But still, our nation can't function without our farmers, mechanics, NURSES!!!, etc; and all of these jobs DO NOT require a college degree!

Whew....well folks, it's 7:30; I haven't had my morning coffee yet; only Candace (#3) is awake. Within the hour, I am predicting that I'll head downstairs for awhile since the sun is going to be pouring through the windows soon. It's going to be a scorcher today! Our AC can't keep up with the heat of the sun coming through our big windows, so being downstairs is very nice.