Something a little different..

Flippin' through the stations, I came across "An evening with Eartha Kitt." I knew of her as an actress, but much of her career was not known to me. Wow....this past hour as been amazing and she really shared a lot of wisdom from her years about what really is important.

Something she said that I can only paraphrase here because I don't remember the exact words.......if you're in it for quick success, you're in it for the money and all the wrong reasons. If you hold steadfast and live what you believe, the rewards will come.



Happy Friday! The weekend has arrived. Enjoy the time doing things you love to do and with those you love to be with!

On nights like this...

you all simply have to post more to give me more reading material!
;0)

Beware of one of my favorite "studentisms".....

I AM BORED

Too lazy and tired to get my butt downstairs to quilt
Too lazy and tired to get my butt on the dreadmill
Too lazy and tired so I simply want my feet up, which is exactly what I'm doing.

It's been a day.

Quilt-along: Raven Stars - Step 2: Nine-patches

From the cutting directions last week, you should have set aside 13 - 2.5" purple strips and 11 - 2.5" black strips.

Strip sets:
Make THREE sets of Panel 1 (B/P/B) (6 black strips used; 3 purples strips used)


Make FIVE sets of Panel 2 (P/B/P) (5 black strips used; 10 purple strips used)

Pressing: For most of this step, I always attempted to press towards the black fabric.

Sub-cut Panel 1 strip-sets into 42 - 2.5" x 6.5" units.
NOTE! You will have excess from these panels! However, depending on the width of your fabric (WOF), you may need that little excess in the next sub-cuts.

Sub-cut Panel 2 strip-sets into 84 - 2.5" x 6.5" units.
Here is what I mean about WOF differences! My black JUST allows me 40". I didn't have quite enough in my 5 stripsets to cut all 84; I only could cut 80. :0(

So, my extra 2.5" sub-cuts from Panel 1 were ripped...


And my "hang-over" purple fabric from Panel 2 sets were cut to 2.5" squares...
...and I was able to get my last 4 PBP units.

IF all of your fabric only allows for 40" WOF useable inches, you will sadly probably need to cut a couple more Black and/or Purple strips to make the needed amount of units. SORRY!

But in the end, you should have:
42 - Black/Purple/Black 2.5" x 6.5" units
84 - Purple/Black/Purple 2.5" x 6.5" units

Each 9-patch needs two P/B/P units and one B/P/B unit. Make 42 9-patch blocks.

The next scheduled posting: 2/23/11 - Step 3: HST's.

Another run!

Yup...ran again today. The weather was still nice; just wish the sun would shine a bit more. The mean clouds keep hiding it from the rest of us :0(

I found this image and found myself asking me the same posed question: Why do I start running and then why do I continue; or sadly, over the past two years.....why have I stopped?

I started running in 2002 to get in shape.
I continued running in 2003 to continue getting in shape, but then addiction completely took over! I needed to run! I needed to improve my race times. I needed to be fit. But...yeah...those race times! When I ran training runs and races, my mind was a whir of math calculations.....'how many miles to go? how many miles have I gone? what time? what's my split? how many calories have I eaten? how many miles do I have to run to burn off those calories?" It's quite crazy thinking back to that year. Complete obsession with fitness!

Then I continued....just cuz....over the next couple of years, only not so obsessed; but took a break for Candace's birth in Jan 2006. Once I started running post-pregnancy, I planned out my summer and fall races; ran my first half marathon; ran my first marathon!
2007 was a renewed year with big goals! Once again, I ran some half marathons; ran a PR at 2:11:10; ran another marathon and achieved another PR of 4:59.
in 2008, I backed off, but still ran and had decent mileage.

Then...
;0(
Running started disappearing from my life! 54 miles in 2009, and only 24 miles in 2010!!!! OMGoodness! Life took over; quilting jumped up on my 'wanna do' list, and then....volleyball hit during the big running season!

So...the good news: I've already matched 1/4 of the totals miles tracked last year just in my four days of running!
The bad news---but I WILL persist---it's gonna take some time for my legs and lungs to remember what it takes to get and stay in running shape!

Happy Monday

Are you a dog lover?

I had the TV tuned to USA channel tonight to watch the tail end of NCIS (LOVE that show, BTW). As we were finishing up dinner, the Westmintser Dog Show was starting, and we found ourselves NOT changing the channel.

I grew up with a beagle by the name of "Socks." He was mostly black with some brown and a patch of white on his chest and all four paws were white....hence the name "Socks." In 2008, the Beagle won the Best of Show; amazing headline news that year.

We have a dog now--"Shadow," a black labrador; Cassie is his main owner; she feeds him. The girls play with him, and I've tried, but.......gosh! That dog's a-runner! He bolts the moment he's leash-free :0(

We had two dogs previous to Shadow----"Lucky" a yellow labrador and "Buster" a brown labrador. Both dogs were good dogs; Buster was a wedding gift to DH and myself; AMAZING dog! And then....Lucky entered the picture. :0( Buster didn't like the new addition. But.....Lucky! He was THE BEST BEST BEST dog EVER!

Anyway....getting sidetracked from what this post really was for and about. I've enjoyed the show so far; I LOVE how the announcer gives some information regarding each breed. We've only watched the "hound" category so far, and I can't believe how many different breeds there are; many that I have never heard of!!!

The Scottish Deerhound ended up being the winner of this category tonight. {{Random google picture here}} I think the name "fits" the dog; and I'm not so sure I could see being the owner of this breed.

And did you know that the Irish Wolfhound is the largest breed in the world? Larger than a Great Dane even! Yup, definitely not a future-owner of a Wolfhound.

Both of these breeds (Deerhound & Wolfhound) were new to me tonight.

My husband has now since changed the channel, and I'm okay with that. While out googling for some pictures, I also came across this Giant Poodle picture. I hope not to offend anyone....but ....nuh-uh! NOT for me! Even some of the "hound" category breeds tonight were not appealing to me....

For instance...the Pharaoh hound.....nope. Not my style.

What WOULD I like?

The Siberian Husky has always intrigued me, although I will most likely never own one. I'm always stricken by the intense blue eyes of many Huskies.

And then I remember this little guy from watching the show last year.....The Papillon. I couldn't believe that I found myself really liking the look of this dog last year because I REALLLLLY am not a "toy dog" person......ya know......those little annoying dogs nicknamed the "ankle biters."

Anyway....are you a dog lover? A dog owner?

Blue Ridge Beauty top done; Red Blossoms gettin' there

Blue Ridge Beauty (69"x80") - pictured sidewaysThe final borders were put on this morning---there will be no continual UFO status for this thing!!! A backing was pieced from a large amount of blue that I found in the donation boxes and already loaded up on the frame. I was hoping to get a start on the quilting today, but not so sure that will happen now.

I also worked on Red Blossoms today. Thanks to Amanda, I feel just fine only having pieced one more block to have the center finish square. (Speaking of Amanda...be sure to check out her Scrappy Red words quilt!!! As for my red quilt...the center has been pieced together, and I even spent some time piecing the bonus triangles into pinwheels for some sort of pieced border. Now that my design floor is clear of Blue Ridge Beauty, I think I'll play around with border layouts for Red Blossoms. I definitely need to break up the center from the pieced border with a light/white inner border strip.

And, as the meteorologist promised, today the temps hit the 50's!!! WOW! Heat wave! Naturally, I needed to make the most of it!!! Laced up the tennies and ran 1.8 miles once DH returned home from fishing with Caitlyn.

Oh ....
Caitlyn had a wonderful time! It was just DH and her, so she was on the receiving end of all the attention....

I have NO CLUE what this picture is all about, but DH sent it to me.

DH is cleaning the fish right now; I'm finishing up a few loads of laundry; Caitlyn and Cassie are outside feeding the animals, and Candace is writing her name on all the valentines for her class tomorrow; all signs that the weekend is coming to an end.


Stash Report Feb. 7-13
Used/week: 4.67 yds
Purch/week: 0.0 yds

Used/year: 34.32 yds
Purch/year: 6.0 yds

Net Used: 28.32 yds

Saturday sew-in status...

1. Piece Maltese Stars step #5 - DONE!

2. Piece Blue Ridge Beauty blocks into a top (and open up my design wall!) - SORTA DONE!
I pieced the blocks together into the quilt center, but haven't added borders yet. However, my design wall was finally clear again :0)

3. Write step 2 of Raven Stars - DONE.

4. Piece 1 OR 13 more Red Blossom (Pineapple Blossom) blocks - NOT DONE, but the blocks have taken over my design wall.


DH was off of work early yesterday, so he volunteered to drive the 80 miles down to Eau Claire to pick up my machine that has been sitting, waiting, since Monday. Ah yes, a lovely husband :0) Mind you, he also enjoyed his stop at the Sporting Goods store down in that area... :0) The verdict on my machine: a gear had loosened which is why is was so noisy, and the fact that the gear was loose was causing my needle/bobbin to be out-of-sync. No gear replacement was needed; just a tightening.

And all day long, I've been working some more on the RRCB HST units as my leaders-enders project.

But now...I'm a bit peetered-out. DH was up bright and early at 5:30 to head out with a family friend for a day of ice-fishing. As hard as he really tries at being silent, it still doesn't matter. I'm such a light sleeper. He apologized when I came rolling out of the bedroom at 5:45, but I simply shrugged and said "no biggy." It's the weekend! No stress and I can get my day started before the girls wake up.

A sew-in weekend! My goals:

No plans for anything much this weekend; just hanging out at home. So, unless something else arises, I plan to sew.....

Goals:
1. Piece Maltese Stars step #5
2. Piece Blue Ridge Beauty blocks into a top (and open up my design wall!)
3. Write step 2 of Raven Stars
4. Piece 1 OR 13 more Red Blossom (Pineapple Blossom) blocks