Take me to warp speed, Scottie!

Yesterday update
Since I didn't get back online last night, here was the GLORIOUS DAY update I had with the girls....


For most of the morning, it was a DORA day----Cassie drew (using a stencil) on the magic screen, while Candace and Caitlyn (with mom's help) put a Dora puzzle together. Caitlyn wasn't quite up to dressing yet----I had forgotten about that when I snapped the pics, BUT she DID need to have her "clogging" shoes on. (That's what I call them---they are about 2 sizes too big for her; hand-me-down from older sister, but she loves them!) ---oh well...





After lunch, and after some weeding in the garden, it was time to saddle up! Each of the girls had their turns up and down the driveway, and then poor Eddie was done. I did feel a bit bad that I didn't saddle up Champion and let Cassie ride him---he's a bit more spunky and likes to have riders. Like I said the other day, Eddie isn't much of a riding horse---which is why he's PERFECT for Candace and Cailtyn; he's verrrrrry calm! Champion has some some spunk, though.

So, yeah----Inever got around to bloggin again last night----and NOPE, did not get downstairs. By the time DH got home (7:00), and we got around to making dinner, I was starting to get pooped. THEN, while viewing the guide on the TV, I saw Nannie McPhee was on--what a wonderful movie. I hadn't seen it, but had always wanted to, so.....another perfect opportunity for quality family time. And yes----(*holding up the 'will never tell a lie' flag*), I cried at the end. I'm a sucker for a happy ending!!!!

By the time we shuffled the girls to bed after the movie (9:00), and vegged some more in front of the TV, bed was calllling out me name. That 1:00am bedtime from the night before (remember...when Candace was WIDE awake and having tea with mom)...well, it finally kicked in.


Today----up bright an early for me on a day when there are no plans; 6:30am. I showered before the girls got up and even got some coffee and a bagel in before they stirred. Oh---and I ripped out the last quilting stitches on the baby blanket that is begging for requilting, so......ho-hum.....what to do now "upstairs" when the girls are bored with playing downstairs.....
Since no one was up YET (7:10), I headed downstairs to peek and dig out an "upstairs" project......
lo-n-behold! Here is yet again a project I had started last fall when inspiration took over control of my mind. I had so many scraps from grandma and wanted to try to burn some of them up (this was PRE-BONNIE!) So, I had come across this "Desert Stars" pattern, and I thought...."Eh----perfect scrap-burner!" So....my first attempt at hand-piecing---here I come! I had a stack already cut out, so for the next hour (inbetween cereal and bagel preparation for the girls), I pieced. It did take awhile to get the hang of how to place my fingers to get a nice running stitch (and not POKE myself!!!!)

However, by 8:00 (when Lazy Town came on---what another wonderful show! I love it!), I snuck downstairs to try to finish the blocks on Cathy's quilt. Oh....I found the name of the block too......"Aunt Sukey's Choice"......So, I think the name of this quilt will be Cathy's Aunt Sukey.
And after that point, I completely lost track of any sense of time. Here and there, throughout the morning, I toggled between sewing up the blocks and keeping the girls happy with snacks, games, and toys. I dunno........All I really remember was that at 12:30-ish, I wrapped up all the blocks and headed up to make lunch.
Upon opening cabinets and the fridge, I realized how slim the pickin's were. We settled on the last can of Chef-Boy-R-Dees (sp?) Ravioli. However, we packed ourselves up directly after lunch and headed to the grocery store :0)
And SHOCKER! Gas jumped! We finally broke the $4.00 barrior! We were holding at 3.97 for sooooo long, but today: 4.09. *sigh*

Amazingly, the girls were EXCELLENT at the store! I even gave in and bought a tub of ice cream!!!
I wasn't sure if I wanted to push my luck, but decided to take a QUICK detour to the local Craft store (I wouldn't call it a Quilt shop----it's kind of like the old Ben Franklin stores.) However, I wanted to see what deals they may have on fabric for a backing for Cathy's quilt. I was being optimistic that I would be quilting by the end of the week, so I wanted to make sure I had all supplies handy. They had some poly-cotton for 2.49/yard in the PERFECT pink/mauve shade. It definitely isn't as great a quality as 100% cotton, but I couldn't beat that price. Specially knowing a needed NINE yards!!!! So, $30.00 later (and ONLY 5 minutes!!!!!!), we were back on the road heading home to unpack groceries, and to dig into the ice cream right away!

Candace fell asleep on the way, so I carried her to the bedroom where she napped until 4:30!!! Wow!
After the older girls had some ice cream, they were ready for some "quite time," too, so Cassie chose Ratatouille (SP?).

Naturally, I took this opportunity to head back downstairs. (This was about 2:30/3:00).


Wellll---finally getting to the title of this post, I don't know HOW I did it but----by 5:30, the top was pieced!!! And perfect timing to get upstairs to make some dinner for me and the girls. (DH was working late-----gotta "make hay when the sun shines.")

This top is H-U-G-E!!! I don't have the measurements, but to give you an idea----the area that the quilt is currently laying on holds easily TWO CC quilts! It requires King size batting, and....9.5 yards backing, for crying out loud!!! I am SOOO glad this pattern explains how to quilt it in sections! I am sooo excited, yet nervous, to take on this task. From this point on, I will REALLLLY be taking my time on the quilting. Kinda "measure THREE times, cut once" mentality. I've read and re-read the quiting in sections material, but it's sitting next to me and will be re-read yet one more time tonight before hitting the hay.

Oh---but don't think my day was over yet.....

When DH rolled in at 8:00, I was "tieing up some loose ends," but decided to shush the girls outside with DH. I STILL can't believe that I shut all the lights off downstairs to go up and "tie up the laces." This is the FIRST time this summer where it was "I feel like running" ran through my mind instead of..."ugh...come on....you can do it....you need to do it....otherwise you aren't going to be ready in August for that Half....." ;0) It was SOOOO GORGEOUS outside!!! No wind; upper 70's; low humidity! I was worried I would be sluffin' a bit since I haven't run since last Monday (BAD ME!), but....WOW! My heart was great....cardio wasn't making it go into much of an overdrive....and for ONCE my legs weren't feeling like they had 300 pound weights on them! About 2.5 miles into the run, I needed to take a quick detour (5 minutes) to a neighbor's house to pick up an Avon catalog (I LOVE their skin-so-soft shower gel!), but then back on the road for another 2.5! I knew I needed to use my "good-feeling-run" wisely, so I turned it into an AI (Aerobic interval) training run;
okay, for those non-runners, you can skip this part---mainly just for my record here :0)
After a mile warm up, I did 4 1:00 AI's, 2 1:30 AI's (neighbor break), 4 more 1-1:30 AI's (except one that was 2:00+---daydreaming about being pulverized by a bear! *giggle*)

Upon arriving back home, I shushed the girls inside. THEY NEEDED BATHS BIGTIME TONIGHT!!! (Dare I say it's been probably 5 days since they last had a bath??? *GULP*) It was already 9:10, but too bad----no plans tomorrow again, so a late bedtime is not a problem. And of COURSE, after bathtime, they needed one last snack before bed---so after a final icecream cone, they finallly were trudging up the stairs at 9:45pm!

So, here I sit---having taken almost an hour to write this post! WHEW!
As always, thanks for tuning in to my small neck of the woods!
Happy sewing!