Step 2 done [Celtic Solstice] & Wafer Cookies done

Go Big or Go Home keeps being said over and over again in my head.  I currently have Step #2 done of Bonnie's Celtic Solstice mystery quilt... HOWEVER....

the other day, when making the bed with new sheets, I made a comment about how nicely Roll Roll Cotton bowl fits our (king size) bed.  To which, Paul stated, "Well...not really.  The length is good, but it needs to be wider."

So.... do I Go Big or Go Home with Celtic Solstice???   

Right now....I'm going small.  We'll see what the future holds.

Once all units were pinned and shelved away, I wanted to continue earning my Procrastinator-of-Statistics-Lessons Award, so I swept up the sewing room, and then pulled out Wafer Cookies to finish up.  Binding and Label -- that's all that remained. 

60" x 71" -- Wafer Cookies

One nice feature of scrap quilts is that scrappy binding matches perfectly!  I dug through the 2.5" strip drawer and pulled ugly pinks/browns/oranges -- TOO MUCH, in fact.  I easily could have binded (bound?) two quilts with the amount of binding I prepped.

So, five years after this inspirational picture was snapped while enjoying an afternoon snack,...

...Wafer Cookies finally sees the final stitch.

And now...

Baby back ribs prepped and cooking low-n-slow in the oven...

Laundry under way...

Dishwasher emptied...

Brunch cooked and eaten...

Football on the TV...

... Nah!  Statistics STILL will remain on the back burner.  I think I'll pull out my crochet hook and find something fun to work on :)

Happy Snowy Sunday!

Hancock keeps CALLING to me.... !

Alright... so remember the other day when I showed you my shopping cart of Hancock?....

Of COURSE I didn't hit submit.  That's just silly.  I hover over the "submit" and then think....."Really, Amy?  You have enough fabric down there to use up first.  Get busy scrapping away!"  

While sitting and enjoying the caramel corn last night, I cleaned up emails, and saw THIS sale from Hancock...

15% off!  That would result it a decent savings with the load *I* had in the cart....

So, logging back in to Hancock....enter promo code DEALS15E, and ...... hover over the "submit" button again.

"Amy!  Really!?!?!  Think of what ELSE you could do with that $120;  you realllly don't need any fabrics.  Jeesh already."

Alright, so ... I let it go again.  Logged out.  And didn't think any more of it.

LOL....

and now..... reading through emails this AM, I find....

For the love of Pete!!!!!!!  It's like they KNOW they're tormenting me. 

Time to go sew so that I don't hit the submit button!  Let me at least earn any potential purchase by burning through other fabrics of mine!

Afghan-turned-scarf; and Caramel Corn

Well.... so much for the new "afghan."  

LOL.  While sitting in the couple of (CHILLY) gyms today at the basketball tournament, I simply made the decision to turn the afghan project into a new scarf for your's truly.  The photo doesn't really show off the green portions of the yarn that match my lime green jacket perfectly.  I was able to wrap it around my neck by the 2nd game :D

Hey!  Y'all should have known there would be a couple of Basketball pics showing up in the post. 

It's nice being tall, huh?  Cassie is one of the three "tall" girls on the team, and sadly, one of the other girls rolled her ankle during the first game of the day;  1st quarter :\  By the end of the day, the team rallied up 2 rolled ankles (girls benched, icing on-n-off), 1 jammed pinky (girl benched until the final game), 1 bruised hip (that'd be Cassie during the final game of the day;  she got hipchecked and it knocked her down something fierce),  1 injured knee (the other tall girl, BUT she held it together as best she could;  she's aggressive! and tough!), and LOTS of huffing-n-puffing!  That was a lot of ball for these girls who have only had a few short practices before tournament season.

So, after arriving home and getting all snuggled up in warm, comfy PJs, and turing on the Hallmark Channel, Caitlyn and I whipped up a batch of homemade carmel corn (microwave recipe).   I wouldn't say this a Christmas tradition, but I DO remember making this as a kid!  {{YES, microwaves existed back then!!}}   AND, my recipe card is still TYPED up on a 3x5 index card from my mother, white-outted typewriter mistakes-n-all.

16 cups popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Place 16 cups of popped corn in a large brown paper bag. 

Combine in an 8 cup microwavable bowl: brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt. Microwave on full power until the mixture begins to bubble (1-2 minutes)

Boil for 3 minutes, STIRRING AFTER EACH MINUTE

Add soda and vanilla; stir well as this will foam up! 

Pour mixture over popcorn in the paper bag. Fold bag and shake well. 

Microwave for 1 minute; shake well.

Microwave for 1 more minute; shake well.

Microwave for a final 30 seconds; shake well.

Pour onto 2 cookie sheets. Cooling takes only a few minutes. Store in an air tight container (if it even lasts longer than one evening!)

I hope to get some Celtic Solstice sewing done tomorrow before I need to tackle some AP-Statistics lessons.
Happy Saturday :)

Baby, it's cold outside

Yes, folks, I am joining in the postings of how COLD it is in our neck of the woods!   This was taken about an hour ago after dropping off Cassie for her ride to her Basketball tournament... adding the wind to it....... I couldn't even tell you what the "feels-like" temp is.  Honestly, once the temp falls below 0-degrees Fahrenheit.....it's just COLD!  And crazy enough, it's manageable and tolerable as long as there is no wind!  But... that's not the case today.  Thank goodness that basketball games take place INSIDE! :)

And as bad as I'd like to stay hunkered down inside with some more of Bonnie's step #2...

A box of scraps from Nancy many months ago!  Some great greens for this step...

20 chevrons ready... 

and the rest prepped for pressing and piecing...

 ...we're off to Cassie's tournament for the day. It's a LONG one!  First game starts at 9AM, and the final tournament placing games are at 5:15.
I'm going prepared though.....

I started a new project last night and already burned through one skein of Tweed Stripes (Rainforest) yarn.  I have 9 skeins (from the $1.49 sale last month!), and I don't think that'll be enough for the size I'd like to have, but... I can always buy some more (I hope!).  I'm not sure if I like how linear the color changes look, but..... I'll keep going with it.  It's a quick pattern!  

Alright...time to head out! 

Happy Saturday sewing to everyone :)

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