Monday, November 29, 2010

Give me strength!!!

I simply MUSTN'T be tired....I have too much to do and time is ticking away waaaaay too fast.....


**sigh**

{{Parking my butt in the recliner is 'bout all I'll accomplish tonight though}}

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Angie's top; RRCB part 2; Cass's birthday; Stash Report Nov. 22-28

Angie's (70" x 88") -- yeah, it's sideways...

Well, the top is as big as it's going to get. I've used just about ALL the fabric I purchased for the top and I'll have JUST enough backing to fit it. (5 yards worth; washed & dried, but not pressed or cut yet.) SO---NAME IDEAS?!?!?!?

And I attempted to kill two birds today...I spent about 45 minutes cutting and prepping for Bonnie Hunter's RRCB mystery part 2 this morning and used the units as my leaders-enders today. I have 9 of the 30 completed from the leaders-enders today. I'll keep them as l/e as I start working on In Flight again.

On a family note: Today Cassie turned 10 years old. As her birthday present, yesterday she and I went to Claire's boutique for her to have her ears pierced.



And finally, Stash Report November 22 - 28
Used/week: 8.75 yards
Purchased/week: 18.125 yards
{{It was a NEEDED purchase that will be gone by the end of next week!!! 5 yards backing for Angie's quilt, 6.625 yards for Angie's top; 4.5 yards backing for Twilight quilt; 2 yards camo for Travis}}

Used/year: 204.799 yards
Purchased/year: 209.403 yards

Net used: -4.604 yards
{{Yeah, in the red again, but not for long. AND I surpassed the 200 yard USED mark}}

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Morning Run top done; Angie's started

Arrived back home around 4:00 today...had to unload, feed animals (and us!) ;0)
Started laundry---you know....all the blah-ey stuff that needs to be done after being gone for a few days.

I EVEN brought up all the Christmas decorations and set the tree up. The girls then decorated it while I took care of some house tidying and other Christmas decoration stuff....

And it was only 8:00, so....rather than waste the time, I headed downstairs.

The first load of laundry I threw in was of the fabrics for Angie's quilt---no name in mind yet, so for now, it's being called Angie's teals...
BUT...
First things first; I needed to finish up the final borders on Morning Run before I would allow myself to dive into the lovely lovely fabrics....


Morning Run (72" x 92")


No intention of quilting it quite yet; that'll come soon enough though.

And then....

the new fabrics.....oooohhh......there IS something about pressing neatly and cutting into a new set of fabrics. I really really reallllllly like these!!!!! I don't have anything like them in my stash, but the "family" of these fabrics were on sale 40% off.....it was meant to be!!!

You can probably tell, I'm making a very simple disappearing nine-patch with them. Each larger focal square is cut 8", (7.5" finished.) I had COMPLETE intentions of having them finish at 8", but after washing them, I ONLY had 40.5 working inches of WOF....it really shrunk down a bit from washing, having started at 43"!!! GOOD THING I pre-washed! That's a lot of shrinkage; just maybe too much to have waited until the end. Hmm...maybe a lesson being learned here. Anyway, I needed 5 squares from each WOF strip in order for my pattern to work out nicely, so I needed to reduce the 8.5" planned cuts to 8". Psht...minor.

Anyway...tomorrow, I hope to spend much of the day quilting, and just MAYBE be able to get Angie's quilt top finished???

Friday, November 26, 2010

Ummmm.....WHEN is Christmas???

7:44 PM texting conversation between myself and my BIL on Thanksgiving evening....

BIL: How long does it take you to make a quilt?
Me: Depends on a few things...what you have in mind?
BIL: I need two of them. Make them simple. Just want them warm and big. Like queen size. I will pay you up front.
Me: By Xmas I'm assuming?
BIL: Is that not good?
Me: Just being honest...I can't promise anything, BUT may be doable. Who for? girl? boy? woman?? ;0) color preference?
BIL: For me and Angie (girlfriend). Camo for me; pinks? for Ang
Me: k. I'm shopping at Hancock's tomorrow...I'll keep you guys in mind.
BIL: Thanks!

So much for having some laid back quilting weeks preceding Christmas!!! ;0)
A simple disappearing nine-patch is being planned for Angie, his girlfriend. For his??? golly! Looked around for Camo today and bought some.....he wants it heavy, so I went heavy! Denim-type camo and denim-type black fabric; I'm thinking of simple 8-10" squares with black sashings like lattice strips....

SO...

Went shopping with mother today; took our time; no crazy business; hit the road around 8:00 am and arrived back home around 4:30 pm. Stops along the way: Walmart, Target, Bath-n-Body, a little brunch, Younkers, Menards, Dunham's Sports, and we ended at Hancock Fabrics. Purchased a lot off my lists; THAT feels good! Sorry no pics...my parents don't have wireless and I'm not about to figure out how to upload on their machines....

Yeah...LOTS of fabric purchased, BUT most will be cut up in the next couple of weeks, so...I'm okay with that. I ONLY purchased what I needed for the two new quilts. REALLLLLLY like the colors I chose for BIL's girlfriend! Bluey-teals with a slight bit of orange and splattered with browns.

Anyway....off to peek at Bonnie's part 2!!! :0)

Heading home tomorrow around noonish; should arrive home around 3:00. Unpack, start laundry (news fabs first, of course!!!)...maybe put up the Christmas tree????

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Over the river and through the woods....

Yeah...okay...so this isn't the EXACT scene of the roads traveling today, but pretty darn close! Within 1 mile, there were EIGHT vehicles in the ditch. WINDY, with just enough snow to make near blizzard conditions---and ICY! THAT'S the invisible culprit!

I am SO THANKFUL to have arrived at my parent's house....a bit longer traveling than normal (4 hours instead of 2.5), BUT...we are safe and HERE with NO INTENTIONS of going anywhere tomorrow.

I did not bring ANYTHING here related to quilting. I contemplated bringing my fabs and machine in order to work on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Step 2 once posted on Friday, but in all honesty....I'll be shopping on Friday and we're heading back on Saturday, so......I can wait.

I DID bring my school work though---with ALL INTENTIONS of prepping for Statistics so that I can quilt, quilt, quilt when arriving home Saturday evening and all day Sunday.

I'll be checking in with all of you over the next two days though---so be sure to share ALL THE LOADS OF QUILTING you'll be accomplishing!!! :0)

Happy Wednesday

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Brings back memories...

Did you have a mother that would wrap your freshly cleaned and dried blanket around you while still warm from the dryer?

I did....and I'm glad I can do the same for my girls.....


Hearing their "mmmmmmmmmmm"s and "Thanks Mom"s......makes my heart feel happy :0)

Morning Run and Stash Report Nov. 15-21 (In Flight - UPDATE)

On and off yesterday I worked on Morning Run. For someone (me) that doesn't overly enjoy the "border process," this quilt is border after border after border after border.... It isn't quite done; one more final black border awaits, but I'm taking a break to watch the Pack and Vikes! (GO PACK!!!)


Stash Report: November 15 - 21
Used/week: 7.000 yards
Purchased/week: 6.278 yards

Used/year: 196.049 yards
Purchased/year: 191.278 yards

Net used: 4.771 yards


Oh...and nothing to report yet from Hunting Camp 2010.


UPDATE
Grabbed my In Flight hourglass units at halftime of the game. Might as well use the time while watching the Pack KILL the Vikes! :0)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Friday Night Sew in (UPDATE)

Yeah...so....

Mr. UPS guy shows up at 6:00 pm with my package of fabric I ordered earlier this week.

I had been looking through some quilt magazines Tuesday night, enjoying some down-time. This quilt caught my eye; DH had spoken to me a month or so back wondering if I would be willing to make a quilt for the daughter of his head contractor. She loves horses, but I simply have not come across anything that I deemed worth making for her; too many horse fabrics are "tacky" and "BLAH" looking. So, I had started the In Flight quilt with her in mind.

BUT NOW....

This quilt seems to be right in line for the 12 year old daughter.

So....In Flight was set aside for the time being and Morning Run has taken over full control of the machine and ironing board.

I purchased the center panel and the outer border fabric, but the rest is coming from my stash. The panel and border fabric have already been through the washer and are currently in the dryer. I started cutting and piecing some of the units for the inner border but I'm taking a break (maybe for the rest of the night??) in order to sit and cuddle with the girls and watch a movie.

While I was on that site, I also decided to splurge on a Moda Jelly roll (Fandango) with the pattern "Random Reflections" in mind.

So....definitely looking forward to another day of quilting tomorrow and perhaps later tonight once the movie is over and the girls are tucked off in to bed.

SAT AM UPDATE
I pieced the first units together, pressed, and trimmed, ready for the center panel.