Family, Food, and Patience...

When you live 2.5 hours away from most family members from BOTH sides of the family, holiday travel time usually involves quick lil' visits to everyone who requests a quick visit.  We try our best.

"Aunt Dawn" (Paul's sister & Cassie's god-mother) was a visit we had to make! I knew we weren't going to make an appearance at her place on Thanksgiving day, so we planned on a coupe-hour visit... 

A little bit of playtime with the cousins, in addition to a lil' bday cake!  Now THAT is my size of a bday cake!  10"x10"-ish.... perfect size!

Wednesday night was Movie Night for almost everyone in my immediate family;   Gma took Candace and Caitlyn to see Frozen in 3D, and the rest of us "big kids" headed over to the Mega Screen for Catching Fire.  The "big kids" consisted of:  me, Jen (sis), Ron (brother) and his entire family (Jen-wife, Zach and Lindsay), and then my Cassie.  Excellent movie!!!! 

Fast forward to Thursday.  Thanksgiving AND a 13th birthday!  

As if the turkey, ham, potatoes, cranberries, corn, ........ apple pie, pumpkin pie, lemon meringue pie... wasn't enough.  What was Gma thinking?!?!?!?  Such a big cake?!?!?  Good golly.  (BUT, the frosting was the good stuff!)

Laker Ripples fits her perfectly....

and then we all enjoyed playing Chinese Checkers for much of the day.

It was lazy.  I stayed in my PJs all day.  I crocheted some.  I read some.  I FB'd some.  ahhhhhh.

And NOW!  And much as I enjoy relaxing time at my parent's house.... I am chomping at the bit to get back home later tonight to give some first step some time :)

My colors were chosen; substituting browns for blues, and pinks for yellows.  

For those of you sewing the day away...enjoy, and SHARE, SHARE, SHARE :)  I can't wait to watch everyone's progress.

Rhilei's quilt "Confetti Happiness" - done

Confetti Happiness - for Rhilei (48" x 48")

Yay.  Despite being fairly wiped out after coming home yesterday afternoon from a day of crazy chaos at school, I whipped up a simple dinner of hot dogs and crescents, and then headed downstairs.  My iphone was earbudded up, I set it to some of my favorite songs, and BAM... my mood was lifted.  And then BAM; an hour later, I was preparing the binding and label.

The quilt is safely bagged and boxed up for a special delivery when we head out of town later this morning.  

Some odds-n-ends need to be taken care of before we head out;  a few loads of laundry; a short shopping trip for some basics (dog food, toilet paper, filter for humidifier) :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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!

Laker Ripples [Crochet] and some beauty-shoppin'

After a shopping spree last night at 8:00 with Caitlyn and Candace for some odds-n-ends and some more Royal blue Red Heart Super Saver yarn, I was able to put the final 22 rows on the Laker Ripple afghan this morning.   Cassie chose the colors, and I made it large enough for her to use it for many years to come.  Perhaps her Teenie-Tiny baby blanket will finally be retired!  LOL

The rest of the day was playing Beautician to two lil' girls.

Can't tell these two are sisters, can you?!?!!?  :D

I now have two lil' girls bebopping around the house, flipping their hair from side-to-side, la-la-ing.  I'm fairly certain they like the style!

Since the day is mostly whittled away, I don't think I have any ambition to head downstairs to play in the sewing room, therefore, I'll see how many more rows I can add to the newest afghan in the works. 

It's a corner-to-corner pattern, alternating Red and White (obviously), but then will be blue on the other diagonal half, with 50 stars crocheted on top.  I was inspired by a picture posted on Facebook a few weeks' back, so I went off searching for a corner-to-corner pattern to try to remake it.  I shouldn't be surprised at all that Mikey (via Red Heart and the Crochet Crowd) had a tutorial made up for this pattern.  Mikey is the dude I took all of my crochet lessons from, via YouTube.  His Youtube channel is absolutely amazing!!!  Interested in learning crochet???  Check out his channel.  He's super funny... and has a cute lil' Canadian accent to boot! :)

Tomorrow is Monday, but... I'm still able to relax tonight.  Tomorrow and Tuesday are inservice days for the staff;  students have vacation all week due to Deer Hunting (the Wisconsin holiday!!!!) and Thanksgiving.
Happy Sunday everyone!

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!

Tidying loose ends -- Confetti, RWB Pineapple Blossoms, and Lazy Sunday

Today was the first substantial time spent in my sewing room in QUITE some time -- July, maybe?  Recall, my month of August was filled with my new obsession of crochet;  and then, of course, school started in September.

I dare say this is my first COMPLETE weekend home since school began.  Both days!  And I can stay in my PJs!!!!  And despite needing to tackle piles and piles of laundry, today... I still sewed!

Bonnie's Celtic Solstice mystery is drawing closer;  less then 2 weeks.  I will ALWAYS take part in a Bonnie mystery;  they simply are be-YOND amazing designs!

Therefore, I wanted to just clear my head and organize the umpteen projects in various stages in order to be ready for the mystery.

The crib quilt for a friend didn't take much effort to get to flimsy stage.  There is no longer a rush on the quilt, but I'd still like to get it to a finished state sooner than later.  

Pattern:  Confetti, Quiltmaker March/April 2010.

Super quick and easy!

Next was to take care of the stacks of pieces/units for the RWB Pineapple Blossom quilt that was started (and left) back in June.    At the same time, I had some Leaders-Enders in the works for the Lazy Sunday border units.

It took longer than expected to finish up all 40 pineapple blocks; probably because I double-sewed, pieced and trimmed up the bonus triangles into 40 bonus pinwheel blocks to be utilized in the border.
Those have now been set aside for some day in the future.  My layout will be the same as my last Pineapple Blossom quilt.

My full attention then moved onto piecing Lazy Sunday blocks with sashing, all the while, continuing with the border units as my leader-enders.

I was midway through the second row when my bobbin thread ran out, nor did I have any more bobbins prepped.  Therefore, I took that as a sign to call it a day.  Seven hours is still WAY more than I've sewed in months.

Now... I'll relax with my feet up with my crochet hook in-hand to work on Cassie's Laker Ripple afghan.

Happy Saturday.  Truly.

Kaleidoscope done; Laker Ripple progress [crochet]

It grew and grew, and finally finished (?) at 65 motifs.  Kaleidoscope Afghan.

And Candace approves :)  The final tail was weaved in at 9AM. 

I then had complete intentions of spending the rest of my Sunday downstairs in the sewing room in order to prepare and tidy for the up-coming Bonnie Mystery, but....

nah.  

I wasn't feeling it.

Instead, 

I pulled out the Laker Ripple in hopes to make some serious progress on it SO THAT when Bonnie's mystery does finally arrive, I can devote all my time/attention to it :)

Oh...and....

the Hallmark channel played ALL DAY Sunday.  7AM until 9PM.

{{I only needed a few kleenexes!}}

Back in the saddle

Due to a request from dear friend, I needed to get back to my quilting life!  My friend and his wife have just been given full custody of a sweet 'lil girl, and as a way to welcome her to her new (permanent?) home, they have asked me to make a quilt for her.

It truly didn't take me too long to find some fun girl colors, although finding a pattern was a different story.  (See that stack of magazines in the back?)  I wanted the pattern to be an easier one in order to have a quick finish, but yet be super adorable and "girly."

I'm pretty sure this will be perfect.

And, OH how I wish I had more energy to keep working away on it.  I'm sure if I was working at 100% health, I could actually have the entire quilt finished today, specially with the extra hour from Day Light's Savings.  However, I am now into day #8 of a "bug"... and I dare say that it has now turned bronchial (my non-professional diagnosis).  I'm tired of coughing.  

So, I'm going to sit for the next few hours with my crochet hook.  I should at least make progress on SOMETHING.  :)  I finished up the 32 additional motifs last night, and started attaching them together this morning.  Now that I see the layout in pictures, I think I'm simply going to have to make 5 more motifs in order to have the right-side finish off like the left side -- symmetrical that way.