Thursday, March 18, 2010

Okay---enough of the 2-hour shows!!!

First of all----four days of running, and still going strong! Well....THREE days (Monday, Tuesday and Today) of running; yesterday was more like a mile of "drag-behind-the-dog-who-has-never-been-leash-trained-but-owner-was-willing-to-start-a-running-regimen" run, so I'm not counting it.
And the shin-splints are bearing down 100%---gotta get done with this post and ice them.

Anyway---the title of this post:

YEAH! Between Tuesday night's "Biggest Loser" weekly episodes, and tonight's mid-season 2-hour continuation of "Flash Forward," I haven't been able to get much accomplished on the quilting front! :0(

Ummm...my goal of those labels? Um, yeah....slow going! Maybe I'll be finding myself doing some hand-sewing up at the farm this weekend to get them on the quilts so they can be left with MIL. We haven't been up to the farm in MONTHS and G'ma & G'pa are whining to see the girls. What'cha gonna do?

Happy Thursday!

Monday, March 15, 2010

I ran...


...
...
!!!
And the 1.8 miles kicked my butt!

Happy Monday

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A week in review; 4 finishes; Bernina back *yippee*; Stash Report 3/8-3/14


First things first----
after another week of mostly NO sewing, my Bernina shop guy called me Friday afternoon to let me know she was fixed. Directly after school, I hauled my lil' tuckus down to Eau Claire to pick it up before the shop closed at 6:00. I JUST made it!!!! With a few other stops on the way back home, I waltzed in around 8:30; too late to really begin any sewing.

But Saturday-------whoa yeah!
Quilts for Kids - NICU quilt #1 quilted {{Precious One}}


Quilts for Kids - NICU quilt #2 quilted {{Beary Precious}}


And Quilts for Kids - NICU quilt #3 quilted {{another Beary Precious}} -- NO PIC.

Then I moved on to Paintbox quilting.....


Family time-out

Paul took Candace out fishing on Tuesday, with his brother and buddy. I don't have a picture of the ice TODAY (Paul didn't take the camera), but we have (finally) had some warm weather hit us since Tuesday---hitting near 60 today. Actually, I haven't checked actual temps today, but I would beg to say it was over 60 degrees. It was GORGEOUS today!!!!! Set up Cassie's basketball hoop, grabbed the shovel and moved some dirt around in the front yard......
(fish from last week....)

anyway......
back to sewing....
Today, I worked a bit on some WIP blocks.....
Carolina Christmas -- 15 more of step 4....


Another Hannah's Rotation. GOSH---putzy, putzy pattern. Very much like putting together a puzzle....


Paintbox - set number 8...



I usually don't set goals for a week, BUT...
I need to label 12 quilts this week so they can be handed over to MIL next weekend. She is setting up for a craft sale the last weekend of March and she is willing to put some of my quilts out...


Stash Report: March 8 - 14
Used this week: 6.569 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 77.304 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: -8.946 yards

Happy Sunday

Happy PI Day too!!!!! (3.14159.......)

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Monday, March 8, 2010

Success #2 and #3; March UFO; Stash Report March 1 - 7

Yesterday morning (Sunday), both DH and I were up by 5:30. YIKES! Yeah, I know! By 8:00, both of us were completely motivated to get some "stuff" done, so...I asked him if he was willing to tackle the wood requirements of the curtains I started TWO weeks ago already while I did some finishing touches on the fabric.


Remember Success #1?

Well, here is FINALLLLLLLY Success #2...
...and Success #3...
[[yeah, the cords are currently tied to the door handles--until we get some appropriate tie-hooks.]]

I haven't been doing much quilting work; I have taken out Deer Camp, my March UFO. NOW I remember why I put it away last year (2009).

Short version: I whipped out this baby in ONE DAY back in April, 2008. I was motivated and pumped after a day at a Quilt Show; I purchased the panel and sewed up the log cabins that evening. However, this was BEFORE I knew a few finer methods of quilting....
ie: proper measuring
ie: proper cutting of borders
ie: mastering the 1/4" seam

You can't tell that great from the pic; but the center panel is MUCH larger than the outer border of blocks; and the outer borders aren't pictured from this April 2008 version.
WHY is the panel so much larger??? I had a larger seam allowance than 1/4" when I made the log cabin blocks, and over 20+ seams, that made a HUGE difference in actual size. I was mathematically cutting my borders to what they SHOULD have been, but....well.....

After a couple of hours of ripping...UGH! That reminds me! Not only did I not know a lot about measuring back then, nor have the 1/4" mastered....I used a STUPID stitch length!!!!!! It was seriously 1MM or less!!!! Ripping out those seams was NOT fun! But---with a couple of hours in front of the TV this past week, all borders (outer and inner) were unsewn, awaiting appropriate measurements.

The inner border was only 1" too long and 1.5" too wide. NOT BAD! But the outer border.....
...one side was THREE INCHES too long and the other was 2.5 inches too long! Holy Cow! No wonder it wasn't hanging nicely.

It is now in a nice FLAT, SQUARE flimsy stage, and **sigh**....will await the return of my Bernina for quilting.

Yeah----STILL no Bernina! No wonder I haven't done much quilting! My Brother just doesn't hold a candle to the Bernina!

So...I helped take over my daughter's project :0)
Remember latch-hook ruggin????? I LOVED doing these as a little girl! I'll admit that Cass and I have each done about 50% of the complete project. There are still two rows left, and then she'll be done. We hope to make this into a pillow.



Although I did a LITTLE bit of quilting, no stash was used.... Simple report this week:
Stash Report: March 1
Used this week: 0 yards
Purchased this week: 0 yards
Used-to-date 2010: 70.735 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 86.25 yards
Net used: -15.515 yards


Happy Monday

Friday, March 5, 2010

Do me a favor???


Willing to put in a vote for Caitlyn's Flowers?
Head over to the Quilting Gallery: Vote for little girl quilts post. There are 30 entrants, and of course, feel free to vote for any quilt you deem fitting. I decided to enter Caitlyn's quilt. Voting remains open until Sunday.

THANKS

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

...**sigh**...

today is Thursday
which means (at LEAST) one happy thought enters my mind...
...
...
Tomorrow is FRIDAY!

I haven't sewed a stitch this week. I've been in bed by 9:00 latest every night
tired...
fighting a small head-cold these past couple of days, but I don't think that's the reason I've been tired...
school is getting to be a handful; discipline (an UN-ENDING battle), and deadlines looming...just...."avoidance" of what needs to be done; "procrastination" may be another good word.
BUT, students DO sometimes amaze me! Today, both of my 7th grade math classes were GOOD. I even had one of my boys (typically a TOTAL pill!) say to me "Skattebo (that's me)--this was actually FUN today!".
Ummm.....we were doing long division to change fractions to decimals AND setting up proportions. Not quite the typical "fun" day......?????
Oh well..... "What ever floats your boat!"
[[isn't that a fun saying???]]

Optimistically: I actually saw many lightbulbs turn on!!! FINALLY! Long division has been with them for a couple of years now; it's nice to see some of them finally figuring it out.


Happy Thursday
Here's to one more day before the weekend.

Monday, March 1, 2010

OH NO! Arizona Cactus measurement error!

Thanks to Linda, I did some measurement double-checking.

Oh Linda---I'm SOOOO sorry!!!!

The blue rectangles listed should be SIX inches, not 5.5 inches. MY BAD!!!! The picture (when zoomed in) shows 6 inches; Sadly I think my mind went to "finished size."

I'm off to update the file.....


Update has been made! You may need to refresh your PDF page when you view it if you've already viewed it recently.

SORRY AGAIN for the error!