No title fits this post :0)

Disclaimer!
First, I need to forewarn those of you who ONLY think this is a quilting blog (due to comment left a few days ago)----
Yes, this is primarily a quilting blog, but the title is called "Amy's PassionS" (plural). Running and my family are also important passions in my life, so beware as you read........
:0)

The weekend at the Farm was relaxing; a little bit of grading accomplished, three quilts completely checked off the list by sewing on the Back connnector-strip (Double Delight for Nikki's Graduation, Chloe's Colors to be gifted to Chloe at the end of the month, Steppin' Out just for me for now and to be used as a class demo.) I also started clipping seam allowances on two baby rag quilts that I whipped out last weekend-----oh yeah, I haven't blogged about them yet. Pics to come once I finish them up. They will be given to my mother's church as donations to the Baptismal chests. (Cute adorable cedar chests that are given to families when babies are baptised----ADORABLE! We have three; one for each of the girls; PERFECT way to collect memorabilia through the years).

I sewed up another Rolling Rock block last night; 2 down, 11 more to go. Then (Yes, Angela--to answer your question:) somehow they get appliqued to backing fabric, add some sashing, borders...and just like that (**snapping fingers**), you have a finished quilt. PSHT! Yea, if only it were that easy! IF it was, then it wouldn't currently be considered a UFO, huh?????

It's going to be quiet from me for a while; I have Parent-Teacher conferences tomorrow evening, then will be heading out of town for a Math Convention Wednesday - Friday.

We (family) have ambitions of working on prepping the garden this weekend and planting a few things. The "big" weekend for planting this far North is Memorial Weekend, BUT there are a few things that are safe to plant since they are cooler-weather plants (ie: potatoes, onions, sweet corn, to name a few). Calidore had asked how big our garden was since DH used a tractor to till it up.....
ummmm.....it's big enough to bring in the heavy machinery in the Spring rather than hand-tilling for hours and hours and hours. Does that satisfy your question Calidore? **chuckle** Golly, I don't know. Estimating........ 30 meters x 10 meters (Americans, guesstimate the equivalency by substituting a yard for a meter -- ALMOST the same size). Then we (DH) also tilled up a new "plot" this past week so we can plant LOTS and LOTS of sweet corn. That section is currently about the same size as our entire garden, and it's solely going to be corn. (I don't know if DH plans to make it bigger.) We live on 10 acres (4 wooded), so we have the land to play around with. Rather than having a HUGE lawn, it's nice to have some produce being produced by our own sweat (cheesy grin at the 'ol timers talk). Yup---it's official, I now talk like my father when it comes to taking pride in what we can create with a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears.....

Okay folks---DH wants my assistance at the kitchen table cutting up some potatoes.......
Happy Monday and have a great week!

Busy day; quick post

DH is allowing me to use the computer for only a few moments here because he has some more searching he wants to do before bed....so....here's the whirlwind....

I made all the labels this morning that I listed off last night. I attached the ones in the picture (and Steppin' Out (not pictured)).


I did some more quilting work on Chloe's Colors once the labels were attached. I have decided to allow Chloe to have the quilt, so I wanted to put some nicer finishing touches to complete the quilting.

Then I pulled out Steppin' Out again and putzed, putzed, putzed with quilting. Bada-bing-bada-boom....this baby is NEARLY finished!!! I have border quilting yet to do, but then it's ready for binding. Yes! It's kinda nice and amazing what can all be accomplished when one actually has almost two full days of time designated mainly to sewing/quilting :0)

The last bit of laundry is in the dryer right now; dinner was ABSOLUTELY delicious! (Pork ribs; Texas style (dry rub and baked uncovered for 3 hours...but then I did throw them into the slow cooker for another hour with some homemade BBQ sauce----YUM!!!)

Night all :0)
Happy Sunday!

Chloe's Colors with Designer

Ta-da......
Here she is; the designer herself. My 8th grade Algebra student, Chloe. She and her mother are dying to know what my plans are with the quilt; fact be known: I have NO idea! I'm toying with the idea of holding it until graduation...... I've thought about raffling it off for some school sponsored event..... I really don't know!

So, I put it out on you......
If you were in my shoes, what would you do???

My weekly check in...

Hey---I've accepted that if I check in at least once a week, that's okay! So hopefully, you can accept that as well?!?!?!!?? *wink*

Tonight, at LEAST I still have a lick of energy and my day went well and I'm still motivated to do SOMETHING! Quilting is not the "something" I can do, however, because tonight is the FINALS for our Volleyball tournament; we are playing for 1st/2nd at 8:00 pm.

To give you a not-so-detailed run-down since Wednesday......

Thursday----ummm...I THINK I did some sewing/quitling!?!?! Yeah, yeah.....I think I basted up the two sections of Steppin' Out in hopes of accomplishing some quilting Friday night and Saturday morning before heading down to my parent's Saturday evening.

HOWEVER, once Saturday morning rolled around, I worked solely on Chloe's Colors because I really wanted to get that finished by Monday. Monday was the start of a new quarter at school (the LAST quarter----ohhhhh, the end is nearing!!!!)......which meant I got the 8th graders back in my classroom. Recall, my 8th grade students' Quarter 2 Final Project was to design a quilt. Chloe's Colors was the #1 vote-getter by the class, so my goal for the 3rd quarter was to bring it to life. Aside from the struggle of finding the various shades of colors, the quilt was rather simple to piece (obviously??).

The quilting ended up being a loopy-meander in the center "bright" section, with my favorite "swirly-gig" in the 16-blocks. The quilt is currently hanging up in my classroom---it sure brightens up the room!



Sunday was Cassie's 1st Communion, and afterwards, my mother finally coaxed us all into putting the smiles on for a family picture. (It's only been 2 years, after all!) So, here we all are.




Last night, after checking in with some blogs, I HAD to head downstairs as a stress-reliever! Rough day at work, and it was a hard (humbling???) day that I couldn't let go of....

.....Heading down, I had many possibilities in my mind, and I needed to make a decision....
a) Continue working on Steppin' Out and begin quilting now that it's basted ???
b) Work on March quilt ???
c) Tackle one of my "overdue" UFO Challenge quilts??? (Scrappy Baskets (UGH! That one is my achilles heel right now!), Lake -n- Lodge which is already basted up and just needs quilting....or, the newest April Challenge: Oklahoma Backroads, which is completed but needs basting and quilting......

I was SO wanting to see another finish for the month of March, so I decided.....Lake-n-Lodge in hopes that with three hours of working time, I would be able to check it off for a March finish.

Well------nope----not a finish, but it saw some progress. No pics yet, but maybe Saturday????

Shortly, we'll be on our way to Volleyball. Tomorrow night, I have volunteered my athleticism towards our School Staff's Dodgeball team (the PTA has an annual fundraiser during March: March Madnesss: Dodgeball Dellerium). Usually, there is a School Staff team, a team comprised of School students, a team from the Hospital, a Police Team, ......, it's a fun night.

Friday night is open, with the hopes of having some quilting time. Now that I have my Advanced Beginner's Description/Directions written and into the Community Education Coordinator for brochure printing, I am breathing a bit easier. (So, YES LOCAL LADIES!!! There will be a class; Starting May 18th, and every Monday for 5 weeks (not meeting memorial day, rather that Tuesday (26th) is scheduled.))


Happy April Fools Day!
Happy Wednesday

Volleyball Night...

I haven't blogged much about my Wednesday night Volleyball team.....but tonight, DH and I are still pumped up from our late playing time (9:00 start!). We've been playing since mid-January, every Wednesday night in a town 30 miles away; indoor league. Years ago, this league was a bit of a joke, but over the last 3-6 years, a good handful of "good" teams have signed up for playing. This year, there are three "top" teams, us being one of them. Last week was the first week of "tournaments," and we walked away with a challenging, yet solid victory over the 6th place team. Tonight brought on the big battle between 2nd and 3rd to guarantee a spot in the Final Showdown in two weeks. We are coming into tournaments in 3rd place, having only lost to the 2nd and 1st place teams. (Makes sense, huh?) :0)

Anyway....when we played the 2nd place team two weeks ago for the last game of "normal season" before tournaments, we kinda got killed! The first game was neck-n-neck: however 24-25, we lost. Then, the wind was out of our sails, and we fell apart! :0(

So, going into the match tonight, I already just had the mind-set that we were going to lose, so I just wanted us to go out and play the best match we could. I'm VERY competitive, and really try to work on my sportsmanship and attitude once the chips start falling against us. BUT, I still struggle and can sometimes be a "sulker" when we start to lose. Hence, I needed to just tell myself that we weren't going to win so I could just enjoy the match. Afterall, I DO follow the motto: "It's better to have played a good game and lost, than not to have played at all."

To get to the point-----We won! In two games, even! 25-23, 25-21. Go figure! We even played with a sub for one of our "manly-girls" :0) (We have a lady who plays like a man---kills; blocks; you name it!) Our sub is more of a defensive player and setter like I am, so we REALLLY had the mind-set of "play to have fun" tonight. We didn't expect a win.

It was FUN tonight! Not so for the other team, unfortunately. Sadly one of the male opponents started throwing in the towel early and "sulking" (hmmm.....that must be what I look like sometimes!!!). It's actually quite embarassing, and I was bummed because it really was fun playing GOOD, HARD volleyball!

Anyway---pictured is Misty May (Turner) who is probably a house-hold name in the USA. I actually watched her play college ball during one of my first years coaching. Little did I know then that she would go Beach, and be an Olympic Champ. Heck, little did I know that Beach VBall would be an Olympic sport!!!!!



On a quilting note: I basted up both sections of Chloe's Colors last night and finished up quilting one of the sections. I may be able to finish up the other section tomorrow evening ??? This weekend, I will be heading back down to Mom's house for Cassie's 2nd weekend of First Communion instruction. However, this time, it'll only be Cass and I; the other two are staying home with DH.
Plans this weekend: start cutting/sewing/writing instructions for the next quilting class I will teach. Deadline for the printing of brochures is April 1st, so I want to make sure I get my ducks in a row to have a sample top pictured in the printing. Ahhhhh!

YES, I know I have vowed not to start anything new, BUT.......... this is "different!" This will probably be a finish before any other of my WIP's see their finish!

Okay----I'm not ready for bed yet; 11:30 pm! So, I'm off to layout a training schedule for my racing events this year. OH!!! Yeah.....got outside running last night! We have had absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather this week!!!!! Anyway, running buddy (Julie) called me tonight and we talked about upcoming races we wanted to commit to. Between the weather and her call, I am pumped and excited to get back on track running!

Alright-----*breathe-breathe-breathe*--------

Night all!

It wasn't meant to be---UGH!

Sitting at mom's right now, watching the newest National Treasure movie, NOT QUILTING!

After school yesterday, I entered "warp mode" to get packed up and on the road by 5:30 to get to mom's by 8:30. All in ONE HOUR, I put Cassie on "Shadow-duty" (feed our dog) and then she and Caitlyn were on "outfit duty"; each of them picked out a Sunday-church outfit and two other play-at-grandmas outfits while I packed up clothes for Candace. I threw a load of whites into the washer and folded up a few items that were awaiting in the dryer. After that, I headed downstairs to pack up all supplies I needed for quilting; Stars-n-Stripes, walking foot, quilting foot, scissors, Chloe's Colors, stacks of fabric to piece a backing for CC, two different colors of thread for quilting CC (since I hadn't finalized it yet), the machine, rotary cutter and ruler and batting for CC. I also grabbed the back-up batteries and charger for the camera. I checked my pile many times before thinking "good-to-go." So, 10 minutes later, everything was packed in the car and we were literally bolting out the door. WHEW!

So, the first thing I realized that I forgot was the camera when I wanted to get a pic of the girls last night! Sure, I have the backup batteries and charger, but what good are they without a camera?!?! Okay....minor! No biggy.

Then this morning at 9:00, I headed downstairs to start quilting. I didn't even get the machine out of the case when it hit me-----OH NO! I FORGOT THE POWER CORD! Aghhhhhhhhhh!!! Seriouly Amy! Not more than 5 minutes later, DH called to see how things were going and if the drive down went smoothly. Naturally, I was still fuming at my stupidity of forgetting the power cord! And his chuckling DID NOT help! *NOW, I'm able to chuckle though* Anyway, so I brainstormed and thought maybe Hancock Fabrics might carry a power cord-----yeah, it was a long shot, but what was I to do in a panic'd state that I was in!?!??!?

But----I DID have a moment of brillance! I called my MIL, who THANKFULLY happened to be home this weekend, and she had NO PLANS of using her machine today. So---10 minutes later, I was at the in-laws picking up her Janome to use for the day. Wooo-hoooo! And another 20 minutes later, I was back at mom's sewing away. I worked on putting the final border squares on Chloe's Colors, and then started piecing the backing. By lunch time, I was up for a break, so mom and I took the girls over to the in-laws for the afternoon while we went to town to pick up a few things. Naturally, we needed to stop in Hancock Fabrics. And, like usual,-----BAD IDEA! :0) HUUUUUUUGE sale today! All Absolute Cottons were 40% off, many cottons were 60% off, some fabrics were on a 2.95-3.95 table........HEAVEN! I walked away with my share of goodies (amount undisclosed since DH might be reading this later on) :0) HI HUNNY! Nahhhh, I didn't go overboard, but sure enjoyed sifting through all the selections.

Anyway, back at mom's without the girls, I was able to layout the 10.5" squares that I was piecing for the backing to CC. By the time the in-laws showed up for dinner, I was ready to baste.

And then.......ummmmmmmmm............ looking around the basement............ double-checking the car..........looking in the bedrooms............NO BATTING!!!! Seriously! I KNOW it was on the pile to be packed into the car!!!! BUT, I when I really sat and thought about what I all carried to it, batting was never in my arms!! UGH! One of the girls most likley "played" with it while I was getting other things packed up, and it left the must-go-in-the-car pile. *SIGH!* SERIOUSLY! I just wasn't meant to get very far on quilting this weekend!!!

So, I'm done. I packed up MIL's machine and sent it back with her when she left tonight. And now...I'm out putzing on the net.

I hope to hit the road back home around noon tomorrow which will bring us in the driveway around 3:00. I really should work on my school work tonight so I don't have to tomorrow, but.......need I say that "i jes don't wanna!"

So....Happy Saturday. Hopefully your day has been more productive than mine :0)

Oh my Gawwd

If you don't recognize this lady, that's probably a good thing! Tonight, rather than heading downstairs, I parked my butt in the glider and worked on a presentation for tomorrow's inservice (that I need to present, duh, right??) Anyway, so DH took control of the remote like he usually does (not a problem with me, REALLY!) and he leaves it on the Bravo Channel which was showing a back-to-back-to-BACK evening of the show "Millionaire Matchmaker.

((*rolling eyes*))

You have GOT to be kidding me!!! I'm sorry, but even now I sit here, chuckling, and shaking my head at what I watched during these three hours. And it's not even so much the guys and the girls that were "dating" that got me rolling my eyes, but it was the HOST! For instance, tonight she was "scolding" one of her male clients to "get over the 20-somethings already! You want the 20-something, air-brushed cover model and they don't exist!!!".......

uummmmmmmmmmm..........


but yet....when I got to the Bravo website to find a picture to post on here......what do I find but a CLEARLY "airbrushed" and "face-lifted-with-wonderful-digital-imagery" picture! HA! It's just kinda goofy and hypocritical. I suppose I just need to say......"to each their own."



Anyway.

The plans are to head to my parents this weekend; Cassie is signed up for First Communion classes in the "hometown" church. Yeah---maybe a bit extreme, taking First Communion almost three hours away, BUT there just isn't a place up here that we've committed to and feel comfortable with. Is that a bit of an excuse?......yes, I'll admit that. Sadly, I will also admit that finding a church just isn't a priority in our life. YET, my mother does do her job to remind me the importance of allowing the girls the opportunity to know a "christian" education, and I DO believe in that as well. So, for the next three weekends, I have committed to driving to Mom's house so Cassie can have her First Communion.

While she is at her classes, my plan is to work on quilting in the basement of Mom's house. Within the next two weeks, I need to finish Chloe's Colors since 4th quarter starts up soon. I really want to have this quilt finished and hanging on the wall when I get the 8th graders back.

Other than CC, the only other quilt that has a definite-must-make-deadline is DoubleDelight for Nikki's (our AWESOME babysitter) graduation.







Oh My Gawwwwwd! There is ANOTHER episode on after this one! That's 4! *rolling eyes*. But the sad thing: ............... I'll probably stay up and watch it. *shaking head, chuckling*

One thing lead to another.....

Yup---it really was one of those days.
Before I allowed myself to hit the quilting room, I tidied up the kitchen and threw a load of clothes in the laundry.

Then I headed downstairs to work on Chloe's Colors to wrap up the 24 blue/green blocks. I really don't know when those were accomplished.....the day really went by in one big whirlwind!

Around 10:30, the girls and myself were getting hungry, so we had some early lunch: Chili and Noodles-Alfredo (Cassie, nor Cailtyn are lovers of Chili). While lunch was cooking, I switched over the washer-load into the dryer and threw one last load of whites into the washer. I also was able to take care of writing up some bills, and sort through the tax-papers to get them ready for delivery to the accountant this week.

After lunch, I figured I might as well park my biscuits in the rocker with Paddington's Class Act while the girls relaxed with one of umteen hundreds of Barbie movies out there! I think this one was Fairytopia. I was done before the movie was over, so I took that opportunity to check into email and blogger, AND FACEBOOK! Yup----I took the plunge this week and have been accepting "freinds" ever since----the ol' classmates! It's been SO MUCH FUN finding old friends.

I headed back downstairs around 2:00, only after prepping some pork ribs for the oven. OH MAN-----they were SOOOO GOOOD for supper! DH also brought home some fresh fish that he fried up----DA-LISH!

Oh yeah.....once back downstairs, I found myself putzing to get myself ready for class tomorrow night. I needed to find some "sample fabrics" to take along to demonstrate hold to fold and cut fabric. So, brainstorming....I was trying to think of the next project I had in line so I could kill two birds with one stone. I must have had the craziest look on my face once I realized I didn't have ANY project lined up!!! Seriously! So, sifting through some papers, I found the printout for Double Delight, which I had completely taken off the radar screen. DUH! So, I pulled the fabrics out of the stash again; only better! I found a gem of a gold fabric hiding amongst the browns :0) I think I originally wanted to take the fabric to class tomorrow night to show cutting, right?!?!?!? ..............................

................. an hour later, I had MOST of the pieces cut for part 1. After supper, and getting the girls bathed, and tucked into bed with a story, I headed back downstairs to finish cutting out step 1. HAVE NO FEAR THOUGH----I was NOT able to actually piece any of them! :0) So, regarding tomorrow night, I just threw some plaid fabrics onto a pile that I can cut into 2.5" strips to add to my plaid drawer.


Once I was done cutting out the pieces (around 8:00), I really was ready to call it a night, but I had started piecing just a few 2.5" squares for the center section of Chloe's Colors. For some reason, I didn't like leaving them in the machine, so I figured I'd just finish pairing up my remaining squares......and really, one thing lead to another. By 9:00, I had pieced all 6 blocks. *shaking head* Yeah, sometimes I amaze myself, too, but I've found that I've really gotten quick when it comes to piecing. I suppose it's like that with anything after enough practice----you start to get better and smarter.

Finally, by 9:15, I was tidied up, have most of my supplies set aside to head to class tomorrow night.

I parked my butt to update, and then the phone rings. Nothing like getting some very sad news at 9:30 pm on a Sunday night! We have a "phone-tree" with the staff at our school, and I knew right away when I heard the voice on the phone that it had been activated (which ONLY happens when the news is bad.) One of our staff members (the lady's whose room I am using for the quilting class, in fact) had emergency surgery yesterday and is not fairing well. This is very sad news and will be very tragic for our school if things do not turn out well. She is the Senior class advisor, and is down-right loved by everyone. I don't typically ask for thoughts (or prayers), but.......your thoughts and prayers sure would be appreciated.

Happy Sunday.

Sunday morning catchup....

Umm.....okay...since Tuesday:
I quilted the Paddington's Class Act and am almost done hand-sewing the binding down. I need to finish it today though because it's one of my samples for my class that starts tomorrow night. I have 5 "students" signed up; a perfect number for a Beginner's course. Only one of the ladies needs to use a school sewing machine, so hopefully not much time will be needed to be spent on knowing how to use a machine.

Next.....I started pulling fabrics for my student's Design a Quilt pattern that was chosen by the kids. Holy buckets! There are a LOT of colors and I had a dickens of a time narrowing them down. I needed to stop at the good ol' Walmart Wednesday after vball to pick up some greens, because my stash just didn't mesh well.

Right when I was about to start cutting (yesterday), I realized I hadn't thought about the FQ drawer! I exchanged one of the purples to this FUN one (2nd from right), and it just seems to "click" so much nicer! Yesterday morning, I then spent cutting and strip-piecing to make the 24 "blue/green" blocks. It went really fast! and FUN!



I dug into the yellow by the afternoon (before heading out to the school's play The Wizard of Oz with Cassie). Sadly, I didn't have enough of the yellow I really liked, so I decided to split the yellow 50/50 with another solid yellow, and will symmetrically alternate them through the quilt.

When uploading pics last night and needing to create folder for the pics, I realized I hadn't thought of a name for the project yet. Since Chloe is the name of the student that created the design, I thought Chloe's Colors was so fitting! Just in the Green/Blue blocks alone, there are 16 fabrics, THEN there is the red & orange & yellow surrounding the blocks (that's now 19), PLUS there is a bright pink that stands out in the other area; so that brings the total to at least 20! Yeah.......Chloe's COLORS sure seems fitting!

Happy Sunday. Lots to do today, and I really should make a priority list rather than a "want-to-only-work-on-the-fun-stuff" list.
So.....
1) Hand-sew Paddington (tonight in front of the TV---one solid hour left)
2) Grade Math 7 tests (umm.....tomorrow during 1st hour prep should be sufficient)
3) Plan Math 7 lessons for the week (teaming up with Science teacher to cover metric, so yeah....MUST spend about an hour today planning.....)
4) Polish up Steps 1 and 2 for the Class Act - Beginning Quilting class (handouts & Powerpoint)
5) Sew more on Chloe's Colors
6) Finish quilting Scrappy Irish Chain . OH YEAH! I started that Thursday night? and am half done with it.

Okay....let's see how I do.....
off 'til later.