HancockFabrics.com - I hadn't visited in a while...

Thanks to Lori's suggestion of seeking out a paper version of the 9-degree wedge on Hancock Fabrics website (which was already too late of a suggestion since 80% of the wedges have been cut with my measurements already...), I took a little bit of time to peruse around the cotton sales pages...

The visit started innocent enough, a couple of yards to replenish my purples and greens....

Then a few more.......

but I needed more oranges, right?????.......

And all those additional greens and purples made their way in the cart as well.....

LOL!!!!!!

I haven't submitted yet.  

Nor will I (most likely)  

Have any of you done this too?   Filled up a cart, only to never submit the order???

Admit it, .... you KNOW you have.

Alright, time to hit Celtic Solstice, Part 2 for a little while.  Happy Friday!

Poor judge of size

It did NOT look that big on the lot.  REALLY!  I swear it grew from the time we cut it down to the time we brought it in the house. 

:}

"Stretch" had to help me out when it came time to put the lights on the upper part of the tree, and for placing the star on the top.  But, it ended up being too much for Go-Go-Gadget-Girl as well....

... so "Super Stretch" came to the rescue!

And then the camera got into the hands of Candace as Dad helped me hang other decorations...

In the end, we made it all work.  We pushed the tree as far as we could towards the wall, and did a little rearranging of TV, couches, and shelves....

The TV is usually only background noise for me anyway :)

AND, while sifting through boxes of what I THOUGHT were extra ornaments, I hit the jackpot! :)  My mother had given me this box at one time or another, and it simply was set aside.   

Once everything settled down for the night, I grabbed one of the yarns and started a new scarf.  I added a single strand of DMC gold thread as well to add some sparkle.  The pattern says it's a "quick" project, but I beg to differ.  It's a 4-row repeat, so I need to keep referring back to the pattern, slowing me down :(

Of course, I also spent some time with a new quilting project as well!  The "real" tree is need of a tree skirt.  After searching for about an hour, I settled on this one:  Christmas Tree Skirt pattern.  

I don't have the 9-degree wedge ruler as used in the pattern, NOR am I using 5" charms;  many of my fabrics had already been cut into 4.5" squares, so that's the size I'm using.  I'm sure that my math knowledge won't fail me once I get to the point of needing to cut wedges :)  {{But wish me luck all the same}}  ;)

Despite having to drive to school LITERALLLLLY on ice-rink roads this morning, our school was in-session rather than have another snow day issued.   I didn't hear about any accidents, so thankfully the students (and staff) took their time.  There WERE a decent amount of absentees, however, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were due to the weather.

Happy Thursday!

Christmas Goose snow day

Yes, folks.  One perk about being a teacher, living in Northern Wisconsin in winter... we USUALLY get at least one snow day in any given year.  Usually, but not always.  Today... we have one.

Christmas Goose saw LOTS of progress on Sunday.  The sashing strips and cornerstone pinwheels were all pieced.  It's such a classic block quilt, but with a perfect, fun amount of scappiness involved.  All of the blocks were pieced from men's shirts;  the sashing was part shirt (the lighter outsides) and part stash (the middle dark green).  

So, speaking of shirts...

... I did some tidying of one corner of my sewing room to start out the day on Sunday.  OMGoodness!  The goodies that were stashed in plastic bags!  I had no idea.  My mother (I think!?) had picked up these shirts from garage sales or Goodwill;  I kinda recall her giving them to me last year some time.  They were in a bag, and simply tossed in the corner;  no time at the time to invest into working with them.  The smallest size:  2X!  100% cotton!

The dark navy blue one stood out!

I had been WAITING for the right blue to be added to this pile for a someday-to-be-made QOV quilt.  It's PERFECT!  

But I resisted.  I didn't need to find the perfect pattern to work with these fabrics at that moment.   All in due time.  They'll just sit together on the shelf, getting to know one another, until the time is right.

Oh.... what to do on a "free" unplanned snow day!??!?!?

So many choices....

I have a feeling part of the day will be setting up our first "real" tree that we've ever had.  

Our first "real" Christmas tree has been chosen :) 

I can't WAIT to have the real-tree smell filling up the house!!!!!!!

My own Paul Bunyan cutting down our tree :)

I will avoid double-NO people at best I can!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Celtic Solstice - Part 1 [Bonnie Mystery]

Arriving home last night (at 8:30PM), I really had intentions of heading downstairs, but unpacking HAD to be done first!

Part of unpacking was to start laundry, stash away some Christmas presents before little eyes would see them, and then to assemble my new (much needed!) vacuum!

Candace and Caitlyn were my helpers putting it together.  And truly, the best part... once it was working, they started to FIGHT about who could vacuum the larger loft area versus the smaller bedroom floor.  

At 10:30, I headed to bed with orders that they needed to stop cleaning by 11:00.  P.M.  

I honestly don't even know when they finally slept, cuz I. was. tired!

But this AM, 5:00.... up and at 'em.  By 6:00, I was downstairs, raring to go :)

My iPhone doesn't take the best pictures;  my oranges look pink and yellow in this picture.  I've had one lil' strip of halloween fabric that I have contemplated over and over on other "orange" quilts whether to include it or not.  I finally DID!  Whoa me! :D

I've adopted Bonnie's quick pressing method as well.  It really DOES speedify up the process of pressing!  And yes, I press!  I know there are some who finger-press;  but that's not adequate for me.  Every since I started pressing (with a spray bottle next to me), I have been impressed with the better quality of piecing.  It's a no-brainer for me.  Besides, my basement room is COLD.  Being able to lay my hands on top of the fabrics directly after pressing them warms them up nicely...and it feels warmy toasty good.

Step 1 - complete.

Now what?!?!?!?

I tidies my Leader/Ender section.  These are the Omigosh units where each lil' square finishes at 0.5" I have 110 9-patches done (I need 500+)... and I have 120 4-patches done (I need 400+).  And of course, I had to get a taste of how some of the blocks would look together.  That block measures 4.5" FINISHED!  Yes....Omigosh is a VERY appropriate name :)

Then I pulled out my Christmas Goose blocks to see what I needed to do to pick up where I left off.

And this is as far as I got before breaking for the night to watch Monsters University with the girls.

  

Cassie has some friends over for the day for a little birthday celebration.  A little Just Dance 2014...

... and some bingo after an hour in the hot tub.  We are all surviving nicely.  Any wages on when they'll fall asleep??!?!  Midnight?  1 AM?  

I guess this sign from shopping yesterday rings true today :)

And speaking of Mom.....  My sister (and all of us!) enjoyed spending some time over the holidy with the newest bundle of joy to grace our extended family.....

Coco  (a chiweenie)

Soooo adorable and tiny!

Happy Saturday everyone!  Hopefully Celtic Solstice is treating you all nicely 

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!