10-minute block! MOTIVATION was found!!!

While parking my butt last night, I perused some new sites I found via a "King-size quick quilt pattern" goggle search. (HEY! When suddenly THREE new quilts are sequestered in the same weekend, ONE MONTH from Christmas---the quilts need to be QUICK!) ;0)

Well....check out this 10-minute block video clip. It just seemed too slick NOT to try out immediately!!!!

V'iola....this is ABSO-TOOTIN-LUTELY a quick, simple and neat-o block! These fabrics have been sitting, waiting patiently since this summer when my SIL requested another "floofy" quilt. Remember that post???

If you visit that post, you'll see I took a pic of the originally planned pattern, but....eh......that one would have also been quick to piece, but.....I just really was impressed with this 10-minute block.

So, I grabbed a pencil and scrap paper to draft up a quick pattern. My plan (which may not be easily seen) is to alternate a lighter block with a darker block, with alternating light/dark sashings, pending what color block is next to it. {{did that even make sense????}} I think I have a name for this already too!! Jen's Diamonds.

Anyway...I whipped up two 10-minute blocks before closing up shop last night. And they'll need to just wait patiently on the side because my Connecting Threads shipment arrived today. I ordered some of the Essential Pro threads to try out on a customer quilt and so far, being three passes into the quilting, so good. NO thread breakage....very little lint so far. Once I'm finished with the quilt (Twilight), I'll give a complete review of the thread in case some of you have been curious about trying it out too. I REALLLY like Connecting Threads! I've ordered fabric a few different times......{{**sigh**}} and yeah.....this time too! I'm not really looking forward to figuring out my Stash Report for this week! YIKERS! {{I'm sure Jill won't mind it though. She'd love some company in the "red-world".}} :0)

So...took a little break to have a snack and some tea (and to update the blog). I'll see how far I can get with the quilting of Twilight tonight; I set Sunday as the deadline so it can be mailed out on Monday. I'm EASILY going to make that deadline :0)

OH GREAT! Now I need to find some wood to knock----knowing Murphy, my machine will probably go wacky on me so that I won't be able to finish this quilt, not to mention all the others that are awaiting completion before that glorious day 26 days from now!

Happy Tuesday!
;0)

Give me strength!!!

I simply MUSTN'T be tired....I have too much to do and time is ticking away waaaaay too fast.....


**sigh**

{{Parking my butt in the recliner is 'bout all I'll accomplish tonight though}}

Angie's top; RRCB part 2; Cass's birthday; Stash Report Nov. 22-28

Angie's (70" x 88") -- yeah, it's sideways...
Well, the top is as big as it's going to get. I've used just about ALL the fabric I purchased for the top and I'll have JUST enough backing to fit it. (5 yards worth; washed & dried, but not pressed or cut yet.) SO---NAME IDEAS?!?!?!?

And I attempted to kill two birds today...I spent about 45 minutes cutting and prepping for Bonnie Hunter's RRCB mystery part 2 this morning and used the units as my leaders-enders today. I have 9 of the 30 completed from the leaders-enders today. I'll keep them as l/e as I start working on In Flight again.

On a family note: Today Cassie turned 10 years old. As her birthday present, yesterday she and I went to Claire's boutique for her to have her ears pierced.



And finally, Stash Report November 22 - 28
Used/week: 8.75 yards
Purchased/week: 18.125 yards
{{It was a NEEDED purchase that will be gone by the end of next week!!! 5 yards backing for Angie's quilt, 6.625 yards for Angie's top; 4.5 yards backing for Twilight quilt; 2 yards camo for Travis}}

Used/year: 204.799 yards
Purchased/year: 209.403 yards

Net used: -4.604 yards
{{Yeah, in the red again, but not for long. AND I surpassed the 200 yard USED mark}}

Morning Run top done; Angie's started

Arrived back home around 4:00 today...had to unload, feed animals (and us!) ;0)
Started laundry---you know....all the blah-ey stuff that needs to be done after being gone for a few days.

I EVEN brought up all the Christmas decorations and set the tree up. The girls then decorated it while I took care of some house tidying and other Christmas decoration stuff....

And it was only 8:00, so....rather than waste the time, I headed downstairs.

The first load of laundry I threw in was of the fabrics for Angie's quilt---no name in mind yet, so for now, it's being called Angie's teals...
BUT...
First things first; I needed to finish up the final borders on Morning Run before I would allow myself to dive into the lovely lovely fabrics....


Morning Run (72" x 92")

No intention of quilting it quite yet; that'll come soon enough though.

And then....

the new fabrics.....oooohhh......there IS something about pressing neatly and cutting into a new set of fabrics. I really really reallllllly like these!!!!! I don't have anything like them in my stash, but the "family" of these fabrics were on sale 40% off.....it was meant to be!!!

You can probably tell, I'm making a very simple disappearing nine-patch with them. Each larger focal square is cut 8", (7.5" finished.) I had COMPLETE intentions of having them finish at 8", but after washing them, I ONLY had 40.5 working inches of WOF....it really shrunk down a bit from washing, having started at 43"!!! GOOD THING I pre-washed! That's a lot of shrinkage; just maybe too much to have waited until the end. Hmm...maybe a lesson being learned here. Anyway, I needed 5 squares from each WOF strip in order for my pattern to work out nicely, so I needed to reduce the 8.5" planned cuts to 8". Psht...minor.

Anyway...tomorrow, I hope to spend much of the day quilting, and just MAYBE be able to get Angie's quilt top finished???

Ummmm.....WHEN is Christmas???

7:44 PM texting conversation between myself and my BIL on Thanksgiving evening....

BIL: How long does it take you to make a quilt?
Me: Depends on a few things...what you have in mind?
BIL: I need two of them. Make them simple. Just want them warm and big. Like queen size. I will pay you up front.
Me: By Xmas I'm assuming?
BIL: Is that not good?
Me: Just being honest...I can't promise anything, BUT may be doable. Who for? girl? boy? woman?? ;0) color preference?
BIL: For me and Angie (girlfriend). Camo for me; pinks? for Ang
Me: k. I'm shopping at Hancock's tomorrow...I'll keep you guys in mind.
BIL: Thanks!

So much for having some laid back quilting weeks preceding Christmas!!! ;0)
A simple disappearing nine-patch is being planned for Angie, his girlfriend. For his??? golly! Looked around for Camo today and bought some.....he wants it heavy, so I went heavy! Denim-type camo and denim-type black fabric; I'm thinking of simple 8-10" squares with black sashings like lattice strips....

SO...

Went shopping with mother today; took our time; no crazy business; hit the road around 8:00 am and arrived back home around 4:30 pm. Stops along the way: Walmart, Target, Bath-n-Body, a little brunch, Younkers, Menards, Dunham's Sports, and we ended at Hancock Fabrics. Purchased a lot off my lists; THAT feels good! Sorry no pics...my parents don't have wireless and I'm not about to figure out how to upload on their machines....

Yeah...LOTS of fabric purchased, BUT most will be cut up in the next couple of weeks, so...I'm okay with that. I ONLY purchased what I needed for the two new quilts. REALLLLLLY like the colors I chose for BIL's girlfriend! Bluey-teals with a slight bit of orange and splattered with browns.

Anyway....off to peek at Bonnie's part 2!!! :0)

Heading home tomorrow around noonish; should arrive home around 3:00. Unpack, start laundry (news fabs first, of course!!!)...maybe put up the Christmas tree????

Over the river and through the woods....

Yeah...okay...so this isn't the EXACT scene of the roads traveling today, but pretty darn close! Within 1 mile, there were EIGHT vehicles in the ditch. WINDY, with just enough snow to make near blizzard conditions---and ICY! THAT'S the invisible culprit!

I am SO THANKFUL to have arrived at my parent's house....a bit longer traveling than normal (4 hours instead of 2.5), BUT...we are safe and HERE with NO INTENTIONS of going anywhere tomorrow.

I did not bring ANYTHING here related to quilting. I contemplated bringing my fabs and machine in order to work on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Step 2 once posted on Friday, but in all honesty....I'll be shopping on Friday and we're heading back on Saturday, so......I can wait.

I DID bring my school work though---with ALL INTENTIONS of prepping for Statistics so that I can quilt, quilt, quilt when arriving home Saturday evening and all day Sunday.

I'll be checking in with all of you over the next two days though---so be sure to share ALL THE LOADS OF QUILTING you'll be accomplishing!!! :0)

Happy Wednesday

Brings back memories...

Did you have a mother that would wrap your freshly cleaned and dried blanket around you while still warm from the dryer?

I did....and I'm glad I can do the same for my girls.....


Hearing their "mmmmmmmmmmm"s and "Thanks Mom"s......makes my heart feel happy :0)

Morning Run and Stash Report Nov. 15-21 (In Flight - UPDATE)

On and off yesterday I worked on Morning Run. For someone (me) that doesn't overly enjoy the "border process," this quilt is border after border after border after border.... It isn't quite done; one more final black border awaits, but I'm taking a break to watch the Pack and Vikes! (GO PACK!!!)


Stash Report: November 15 - 21
Used/week: 7.000 yards
Purchased/week: 6.278 yards

Used/year: 196.049 yards
Purchased/year: 191.278 yards

Net used: 4.771 yards


Oh...and nothing to report yet from Hunting Camp 2010.

UPDATE
Grabbed my In Flight hourglass units at halftime of the game. Might as well use the time while watching the Pack KILL the Vikes! :0)

Friday Night Sew in (UPDATE)

Yeah...so....

Mr. UPS guy shows up at 6:00 pm with my package of fabric I ordered earlier this week.

I had been looking through some quilt magazines Tuesday night, enjoying some down-time. This quilt caught my eye; DH had spoken to me a month or so back wondering if I would be willing to make a quilt for the daughter of his head contractor. She loves horses, but I simply have not come across anything that I deemed worth making for her; too many horse fabrics are "tacky" and "BLAH" looking. So, I had started the In Flight quilt with her in mind.

BUT NOW....

This quilt seems to be right in line for the 12 year old daughter.

So....In Flight was set aside for the time being and Morning Run has taken over full control of the machine and ironing board.

I purchased the center panel and the outer border fabric, but the rest is coming from my stash. The panel and border fabric have already been through the washer and are currently in the dryer. I started cutting and piecing some of the units for the inner border but I'm taking a break (maybe for the rest of the night??) in order to sit and cuddle with the girls and watch a movie.

While I was on that site, I also decided to splurge on a Moda Jelly roll (Fandango) with the pattern "Random Reflections" in mind.

So....definitely looking forward to another day of quilting tomorrow and perhaps later tonight once the movie is over and the girls are tucked off in to bed.

SAT AM UPDATE
I pieced the first units together, pressed, and trimmed, ready for the center panel.

In Flight progress...

The afternoon consisted of a lot of relaxing and putzing on the computer, but I also made some more progress on In Flight by completing the piecing and pressing of the 120 hourglass units. The corners need to be cut yet and then pieced into blocks before these units are complete.

Taking a small dinner break right now with the girls; a lil' bit of a schmorgesborg (pizza, corndogs, tacos).

Then....FRIDAY NIGHT SEW-IN!
GOAL: the next phase of In Flight.

Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll - step #1

What a TEASE Bonnie is being....such a little step ;0)

Who is betting that one of the next steps will be a doosey though?!?!!? ;0)

So....2 hours in, I'm off to see what else I can work on today.

Happy Friday morning.

Everything is working out PERFECTLY! Thank you MURPHY!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT when life finally fits!!!!

To start----volleyball season is over. yay :0) some "me" time has returned. (SOME only---I still have Statistics to prep for every weekend)

Secondly --- Bonnie K Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery is beginning tomorrow. This is AMAZING TIMING because we have the DAY OFF OF SCHOOL TOMORROW!!! :0) Yes! That means---bright 'n early, I'll be up on the computer hitting refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh until the clue gets posted!!! :0)

Thirdly --- DH is leaving for the opening weekend of Deer Rifle season early in the day, so (other than keeping an eye on the girls), the WHOLE DAY is MINE!!! :0)

And Finally----(tieing right in to the third)----It's FRIDAY NIGHT SEW IN tomorrow night!!!!

Be sure to head that way to sign up if you have the evening available!!!!

***smiling at the Gods***

THANK YOU for making everything fit so PERFECTLY for once!!!!!

I ONLY foresee quilting quilting quilting tomorrow!!! :0) (with a lillll' bit of "mommy-ing" to the girls)


;0)

A full, motivating day & Stash Report 11/8 to 11/14

5:55 AM---wide awake! BUT, I resisted climbing out of bed....I was going to give myself until 6:30. The last time I recall looking at the clock, it was staring back at me saying 6:23, but I OBVIOUSLY fell back asleep before I looked again....because the next thing I knew: it was 7:15. Time to start the day.

French toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast; a lil' bit of mass tidy-ing up by all parties; and then by 8:30, I had my nose in my Statistics book with the intent of prepping for the upcoming week. These few sections I accomplished today will be more than sufficient to get us through this shortened week (no school on Friday).

SO......6 hours later....

... I finally made my way downstairs and I jumped right back in to the In Flight units; I needed to finish piecing 120 triangle units, and then....

...LOTS of pressing! 240 total units need pressing; I'm only half finished.

Taking Bonnie's advice (and because I have NOT been liking the fact that I have needed to cut my threads between chains...), I prepped some more leaders-n-enders pieces. I have been working on my Buckeye Beauty Fall swap units, so I chained up a few more strips and twosies in order to make another batch of 4-patches.


And I have an update on the June Mystery quilt's name...Linda from NZ suggested "Crossing over to Winter" which DID get me thinking about the possible name. Since this quilt is most likely destined for a DEAR DEAR graduate in May 2011, the name "Transitions" is striking me as quite appropriate. So, Linda....thank you for kick starting me towards this quilt name!!!

And a drum roll please......
it has been WEEKS!!! since I've updated my stash report.....

Stash Report: November 8 - 14
Used/week:
5.646 yards
Purchased/week:
0 yards

Used/year
189.049 yards
Purchased/year:
185 yards

Net used:
4.049 yards BACK IN BLACK!!!

Break time... "In Flight"

After lunch, I headed back downstairs and decided to pull out my fabrics from an August purchase with my MIL. Some of these fabrics belong to the set for a pattern called In Flight. A few of the fabrics weren't present, so I substituted.

After a few hours, I think I'm in need of a break. At this point, I have most of the pieces cut and partially sewn into pinwheels...... Maybe that 6 AM start is catching up with me, because my eyelids are fighting to stay open as I type. Maybe after a lil' nap, I'll head back down later this afternoon/evening. {{Hmmm...maybe it was that glass of wine I had with lunch????}}

What happened to my "ME" day???

DH's pleading.....that's what!

That would be DH's body you see there...pulling stakes out from the pigpen area......

So who's driving the tractor???? ME!


And since I was out there, I figured I'd get some pictures......

As I was taking this picture of the trees, I suddenly paid attention to the FOREGROUND! Can you determine what that red piece of machinery is????

Yeah..that'd be the snowblower attachment!

Ummm....looks like DH has some other "get-ready-for-snow" prep to do later today.....

...because this MOWER sure isn't going to get the job done anymore....

As we finished and I was driving the tractor back to the garage...

...we witnessed one of the first casualties of the 2010 snow season. By the time we realized what had happened, two other good samaritans traveling by already stopped and were hookin' up to pull this lil' blue car out of the ditch.....

Ahhhhh......welcome Winter 2010!!!




BEFORE DH's pleading, I did manage to finish up Judy's June Mystery quilt with the final borders. Oh boy-----I need a name for this quilt! Tired of calling it Judy's June Mystery.......



And I pulled fabrics that I will most likely be using in Bonnie's Roll, Roll, Cottonboll mystery quilt....

The blues were tickling my fancy better than any greens I had in my stash. And some of the pinks make me say..."ehh...." but I'm game to use them up!!!

Okay---this ended up being a good break anyway---lunch is on the stove, and afterwards, I hope to get back downstairs for Round #2 of an Almost "ME" day....

Happy Saturday!

Weeeee! Today WILL be a "me" day!

I know I'll come back to this post in as little as a month and say.....'WHAT was I thinking?!?!?!"

But.....LOOK!!!!!!



The first substantial snow of the season!!!! {{and as you can see, it's still coming down}}
{and WHAT ever happened to sleeping in on Saturdays?!?!?! I was wide awake at 5:50 AM....and stopped fighting the will to lull myself back to sleep at 6:10}} And THIS is what awaited my eyes....



DH was dutifully getting the yard snow-ready yesterday; we knew this snow was going to come. However, the deck toys didn't get put away yet.


Today......it WILL be a ME day! I just told DH (who is also awake) that I hopes he doesn't mind the disarray of the house, because I ONLY have intentions of being downstairs today. His response...."I don't care."
Weeee!!!! Yippeeeee!!

I can't even tell you what I all have planned because (again) I haven't really been down there much. I know I have Judy's June Mystery on the floor yet.....but this Bonnie Mystery (Roll, roll, cottonboll ??) is probably going to see a little bit of time in the order of fabric selections. And then, I'm also thinking that Alycia's Veteran's Rail Fence quiltalong will also see some time today.

On a final note.....any of you wine drinkers? DH has added another "first" to his list of accomplishments and bottled his first batch of wine this week after allowing it to "brew" (? is that the word we use for wine????) for the past couple of months.

My analysis-----YUM! REALLY REALLY YUMMY!

SO....off to print out some directions, and then, OFF to start my day.

Happy Snowy Saturday (depending where you live)