10 hours in my sewing room - Easy Street and others

6:30 AM, and I was strolling into my quilting room.  I brought NO schoolwork home this weekend seeing that we teachers have 2 days worth of inservice on Monday & Tuesday while the kiddos have the entire week off.  Therefore, I'll plan to get some of my planning done during a couple of hours of worktime on Tuesday afternoon.

Therefore, I could FINALLY devote my undivided attention to my sewing room!  {{almost}}  From time to time, I did need to provide some meals on the table for Candace and Caitlyn.

My main project today:  Lazy Sunday.  Last weekend, I had left off piecing the sashing to the 2nd row before my bobbin thread ran out.  Hence, I wound 6 bobbins worth to start off the day, and then got to work.

I haven't done a "time-lapse" post in quite some time;  it's kind of a neat way to keep track of how fast/slow certain parts of quilting are.

A few hours into the morning, the center of Lazy Sunday was pieced.  I had also been piecing the border units as my leaders-enders, so I was making some good progress.

And then........

I forgot to continue with the time-lapse pictures!!! Whoops....

I simply was in a mode, and it was go-go-go;  and in the background, I was catching up on Bonnie's quiltcams from the past couple of months.

By mid-afternoon:  Lazy Sunday pieced!  77"x97".

Can I get an....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  ?

LOL

All the while, I was organizing up the leader-ender section;  failed to take a picture of that though.  "Omigosh" continues to be my main leader-ender project.  Perhaps in 4 years, at this pace, it may actually be completed SOLELY as leader-ender :)

THEN, I wanted to truly have an idea of how many quilt-tops I had hanging around, waiting OH WAITING to eventually be loaded into the quilting frame for some fancy-schmancy quilting.

The newest flimsy from last weekend:  Confetti (48"x48)

Bonnie's 2012-13 mystery:  Easy Street (85"x85")

Bonnie's Jamestown Landing (84"x96")

Bonnie's Smith Mountain Morning (72"x82")

RWB Heartstrings, but after seeing it in pictures.....nopers.  It's not ready for quilting!  I foresee 18 more RWB string blocks for placement on the left-and-right sides.  This layout.....eh.  It doesn't work.  It's unfinished!

Rainbow Scrap (from 2011? I think) (42"x56")

2010 BOM - 18 block RWB (58.5"x72")

HMMM......Alycia, if you happen to catch this post, let me know if you (or anyone you know) would be willing to take the top as-is and get it quilted up as a QOV ???  I'd rather get this into the arms of a recipient sooner-than-later; and at this rate..... in my basement.... it would be MUCH "later" than sooner.

Frost 25 (73"x73")

Freeze Frame (69"x86")

And not to mention a flannel snuggler quilt that was packed away in a different bin.  And I'm sure I have another one around the basement ... somewhere!  So, with ALL of these 100% ready for backings to be pieced or loaded directly into the frame....

I figured I simply needed to put some time on Wafer Cookies!  Which I did.  For a little while.

and then.....

The afternoon sloggies took hold.  And I was ready to be done.

I had a slightly restless night, playing "mommy" to Caitlyn.  She wasn't feeling well at school yesterday, and ALMOST lasted the whole day.  But, at 1:50, the elementary secretary walked her down to my classroom.  Even a "mom-hug" wasn't enough.  So, with some amazing coworkers helping out, I was on the way out the door of the school with Caitlyn next to me by 2:15.  And by 2:50... **sigh** ...  she officially proved to me that she was indeed sick.

By 10:00, THANKFULLY, she dozed off to sleep on the couch.  

Her sister, on the other hand; WIDE AWAKE watching Doc McStuffins.

Therefore, I figured I'd try to pass the time with some crochet.  The Hallmark channel has been the background noise of choice most evenings, and last night wasn't any different (until I allowed Candace to watch some Disney) :)

These blocks, along with probably one more, will be sewn together to make a simple lil' Christmas table runner for our piano.

There ya go, folks.  The list of flimsies is a bit..... overwhelming!  BUT, at least my sewing tables are clean and tidied.  My leader-ender section is freshly organized.  My "big" WIPs have reached an acceptable stage for folding or stashing on a shelf.

I'm READY for Friday's Clue #1.

OH WAIT!  

Crud!  

LOL

No I'm not!!!  

I completely forgot to pull fabrics.

:}

Oh well...tomorrow is another day.  I don't think I have enough energy left in me to spend any more time in the sewing room tonight.  Instead, I'll grab my crochet hook for the evening.

Happy Saturday!

Smith Mountain Morning top

Smith Mountain Morning (71"x83")

Two words:

WOW BONNIE!!!

This pattern is AMAZING! Love it!!!


I'm still in the piecing mood, but lunch is looming and the kitchen is a mess and the laundry still needs my attention and the tomatoes want to be made into salsa........

So yeah....don't think I'll get back downstairs today. BUT...happy with my morning!!

Smith Mountain Morning layout

While waiting for a load of clothes to be done, I figured "WHY NOT?" Since I spent some time outside trimming the edge of the lawn for Cassie to finish up the mowing....and now that I'm paying the consequences of that move thanks to my Ragweed allergy.... :\

I grabbed the Smith Mountain Morning blocks and organized them into the center of the quilt. Learning from experience...before sewing blocks together into rwos, I snapped a picture and blew it up on the computer to make sure everything was correct. I sure don't think I can find any incorrect block placement here....and the scrappiness seems to fit just fine; no "like" fabrics near each other....

I might just get this center done before taking off to the farm tonight.

WHEW! Three posts so far in one day.

Locks of Love [Cassie] - The sequal

Back on February 13, 2009, Cassie received her first EVER hair cut and donated 10 inches to Locks of Love.

Today, we upped that by an inch.



She loves it and is SOOOO excited for school to start next week. All that remains on our back-to-school shopping list is new shoes for all three girls.



As for the computer; ;| Still deader-n-a-doornail! :0(

BUT....my day is much better than yesterday (so far).

I've spent much of the morning piecing together the 28 chimney blocks for Smith Mountain Morning
Caitlyn joined me; practically begging to help. With some training and supervision, she worked the iron to press the final blocks.

To close....

When Candace saw Cassie's hair, she whined and pleaded for me to cut HER hair too.

**sucking in breath**
Oooooo........that one has to grow on ME for a little bit before I allow it to happen. I admit----I am in LOVE with her hair. Would it be terrible for me to tell her a lil' white lie? .... that her hair needs to be just a little bit longer in order to donate it to Locks of Love??? .... JUST to buy me some more time to grieve the passing of her hair before we really cut it???.....

:D

Design Wall - Rolling Star make way for Smith Mountain Morning!

For reasons not completely known, I simply could NOT sleep last night!!! It took forever for me to finally fall asleep (1:00 maybe????), and then toss-n-turn-n-toss-n-turn......by 3:30, I gave up and just got up!!!! I had a Diet Mt. Dew with dinner; that may have caused it since I haven't had a Dew in a while. ??? I also took an allergy pill last night around 8:00, which isn't the norm for me. My ragweed allergy started acting up on Friday....**sigh**....due to the lateness of EVERYTHING this year, when my allergies didn't show up at the normal time (usually 2nd week in August), I ALMOST had myself convinced that I was magically CURED!!!!! :\ Oh well.

Paul was outside for most of the day mowing weeds; I think that stirred up the pollen something fierce (AND we had the windows open enjoying the GORGEOUS!!!! August Wisconsin weather!!!!). So, I was getting pretty miserable as the day went on.

My actual theory for my sleeplessness is that it's a combination of the meds AND the Dew. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Regardless....I was UP at 3:30 AM. Watching news. Reading emails and blogs. By 5:00, I was ready to start something, but I didn't dare start up the machine for fear of waking Paul. And I didn't feel like loading a quilt to the frame. So....I surfed some more until Paul woke at 6:00.

At 6:00AM, I was piecing away and finished up the sixteen blue star blocks for Smith Mountain Morning. I am absolutely in love with all these fabrics from the swap; and blue-n-brown are SPECTACULAR together!!! And I think it goes without saying.....coffee is STILL a must despite having been awake for nearly 3 hours!

My Rolling Star blocks have been on the design wall for toooooo long. Let's face it; they ain't gonna see any progress any time soon; not with Smith Mountain Morning and Jamestown Landing in the works!!! Therefore.....they were neatly stacked and set aside on the shelf for NEXT year's UFO challenge!! LOL.....oh goodness! I haven't done too well on the UFO challenge this year :]

Next came trimming up the hourglass units.

And then an hour of cutting the log units for the final 28 blocks. I can't wait to tackle these nicely organized piles, but I need to be patient a little while longer. Hopefully SOON, all these blocks and units will take over the design wall!

Today has a POSSIBLE full schedule even though it's still really loose. Candace and Caitlyn need to shower with me this morning. I can't even THINK of when the last time was they had a REAL bath/shower and not just lake water or "showers" from the sprinkler. Ick, right????
Then we need to do some errands; (pick up Cassie's glasses, order a pair for myself; small grocery supply list).
We have a lunch date scheduled with my former volleyball captain and her parents. What a sweet lil' gal!! She's receiving Transitions as her belated graduation gift, and as a "good luck in college" gift.

Finally, I hope to tackle all the school shopping today! THREE girls this year and not just two. Hmmm.....can I handle all of them at the same time? School supplies are one thing.....but clothes?!?! Oh, I don't know if I have the strength!!! Specially after a night of little sleep.

Happy Monday!

SMM and Saturday happenings...

Gimp-girl joined me downstairs for most of the afternoon while Paul kept the other two busy with chores/tasks/etc. Tscha....poor girl, huh??? :0)

With Caitlyn's trimming help, all of the Smith Mountain Morning 3.5" units were tackled today. LOTS of cutting this AM to make the star points!

All twelve of the brown star blocks were completed. {{Andee----you see your fabrics??????}}

And the sixteen blue star blocks have been pieced into rows, but this is the stage I'm leaving them for the day. LOADS completed though; can't remember the last time I sat and sewed for 8 hours. WOW!


So, let me catch you back up with yesterday's events.....

The day started with my 9 mile jog around the lake (Shell Lake, the lake our town is named after.) Start-to-finish, beach-back to-beach, it was actually 8.95 miles, but that's close enough to 9 for me! Initially, I wanted needed to run 11 miles according to my training schedule. Nine was enough for me though :0)

The temperatures were quite ideal! 52 degrees at the start (7:00 AM), and 74 by the end (~8:45 AM), according to the bank sign. WIthin my first three miles, I came across 6 different people, either biking, walking or running. One gentleman who I ran into shortly after starting (not even half mile into my run) was running in the opposite direction I was. Just before the halfway point around the lake, there he was again! He was also running the Lake Drive, just in the opposite direction. And THEN....shortly before returning to my starting point......there he was-AGAIN!!!! Obviously he was running faster than I was, and obviously running MUCH further than me! I was thinking about joking with him about how many "laps" he was planning....but decided to let it go. Not all runners care to be disturbed when running.

So, in the end: 8.94 miles (11:43/mile pace -- Total: 1:44:44). My goal for the day was to hold a 11:22 pace, so I was a bit off, although many of my miles WERE under that time. I simply took a couple too many walks towards the end again :\

Upon returning....

... I joined Paul out in the garden to pick beans.

Rather than help Ma and Pa, the girls spent their time in the boat, practicing their casting skills. Great caption: "What's missing from this picture??" :0)

Feeling a bit drained, I took a wee break on the computer before tackling the canning of the green beans.

In the afternoon, Nikki, our babysitter decided to spend some time with the girls before needing to head back to college. She's a GREAT kid!!!!!!!! What other 20 year-old would spend her Saturday just spending time with her babysitting kids?????

By the end of the day, after all the work and "toe" events......two lil' ladies were tuckered out. (Well, we ALL were to be completely honest!)

Short-n-sweet update :0)
And now.....Cass and I are going to try to beat the sprinkles and head out for a 2-mile EZ jog. She was all thumbs-up when I asked if she wanted to be signed up for the 5K our town has over Labor Day weekend. So....every 2-3 days, she'll be out with me doing 2- and 3- mile training runs.

Smith Mountain Morning time!

After dinner this evening, I meandered outside to watch the girls play, and I headed over to the playset for a little bit of swinging myself.

It hit me that I hadn't checked the mailbox yet today.......

The Smith Mountain Morning fabrics arrived from the swap!!!!!

And look Andee!!! I received some of your 1.5" sets and HSTs!!!! :0)

I even received one of your 4" sets. Wahoo!

Working with the "new" fabrics was a perfect way to spend my evening after allowing myself to "be okay" with backing out of my plans to attend the home-opener Football game tonight. :\

Outcome after two hours: All 48 blue/white and all 64 brown/white 3.5" HSTs pieced, pressed and de-dog-eared.

After closing shop, I headed upstairs to be a witness to THIS. Paul was playing surgeon to Caitlyn, attempting to remove a sliver. Caitlyn may look tormented here....but she was great! No crying...and actually laughing at times.

My plans now: sit back n relax. I have plans to awake at 6 AM tomorrow to have some coffee/oatmeal before heading into town by 7:00 for an 11 mile training run. I'll head around the lake -- Shell Lake....which is only 'bout 9 miles around the perimeter road, so I'll need to head out along the snowmobile trail once the lake run is completed. I'm getting out of picking beans, too :0) Tee-heeee. Paul has been asked to handle the picking; I'll take care of the canning.

SMM swap; Midget morning & more gardening

Not gloating; not bragging, not trying to rub it in.....


But I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE my mornings this week and next week! I'm up by 5:30 (when I remember to set the alarm correctly for Paul----SORRY SWEETIE!) I forgot to reset it the other morning from 6:30 and he woke at 5:50, LATE. I felt so bad :0( But I'm up shortly after him with a cup of coffee in hand ready to start the day by reading emails and blogs. 7:00, the girls are wakened to eat breakfast and to get ready for summer school, which starts at 8:00, going through this week and next.

From 8:00 'til 11:30, the time is all ME time :0) Monday morning, sadly I had a dentist appt at 8:30, so that ate up much of my morning. Yesterday morning, I ran 6 miles after dropping the girls off, and this morning, I power-walked 4 miles before heading back home for some morning sewing.

I started this morning's sewing time by organizing my Smith Mountain Morning swap units; packaging them up all nicely to be sent to Judi.

Then after another cup of coffee and drink of water, I decided to have a Midget Morning and started paper-piecing Block #16. I only had an hour left before I needed to leave to pick up the girls; this is how far I got. I'll finish it up tomorrow hopefully.

Tomorrow's morning time: Speed workout: 5 miles, including 3x1600M @ 8:30. Gosh! I haven't done a speed workout in two years! 8:30's might just kill me when I've been averaging 11:00's. Oooohhhhh...it is taking SOOOOOO long to get back into running shape this year!

Just about every evening around 7:00, Paul, myself (and often the girls) head out to the gardens to tackle a little bit of weeding/cultivating/hoeing/watering..... This picture was taken at 9:00 tonight, quite dusky outside. Paul is hoeing up the potatoes in our lower garden which consists mostly of potatoes and corn, some carrots, onions, and three smaller garden plots that each of the girls planted of odds-n-ends.

I haven't shared any pictures of the upper garden, which I consider our main garden: carrots, celery, pepper varieties, 38 tomato plants, beans-beans-beans, cucumbers, onions, kolarahbi (sp?), peas, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, basil, dill, lettuce, bak choy......(I think that's it). Plus we have our raspberries that are about 1-2 days away from being picked for some JAM :0) YUMMMMMMM!

So, I have been loving my summer time. Truly and honestly.

A day of no real plans, but still a change of plans happens

First off, the rumors about Grandma and Grandpa stopping in to kidnap the girls was true. They showed up around 11:30 AM. I had been downstairs all morning, tidying the sewing room; putting the machine back out; unpacking my boxes and bags of fabric.....all the while listening to my last 2 CD's of Sandra Brown's "Breath of Scandal."

I'm not about to make this a non-quilty-picture post, so...


despite ONLY getting my HST's organized because I was so intune to the CD book, sitting idle for almost 30 minutes at one stretch) I at least was able to group together 30 sets for the Quiltville HST swap for Bonnie's Smith Mountain Morning quilt before G&G showed up. AND I only had 20 minutes of my book left!!!!! Agh! It almost killed me to turn it off.....the finale was nearing! **sigh** oh well.

G&G stopped in ONLY for a short while; long enough to get a tour of all the gardens and for me to get the girls packed up. They were back on the road shortly after 1:00.

So, with a quiet house, I got myself dolled up (aka: put my contacts in and a bandana-headband in my hair) so that I could do a quick bank errand. Grabbing the Book/CD, I puttered into town at a measly 54 MPH ;0) No one was behind me, so I enjoyed the leisurely posted speed limit. Still with about 15 minutes left of the book once I reached town, I lolligagged around the 9 mile Lake Drive that runs along the perimeter of Shell Lake, the lake our town is named after. The CD/Book was due today at the library, so I needed to finish it and return it ;0)

While driving along......**sigh**.....my chest pain started up again.

**Rewind 2-3 months**
Off-n-on over the past few months, this piercing ANNOYING chest pain has been plaguing me. When it first happened, it was rather dull, but still enough for me to take some ibuprofin, hoping it would subside, whatever it was. It didn't. But, the next day, all was well again.....not much more thought was put into it.

The next time it happened was about 3-4 weeks later; and this time I tried some Aleeve (sp?) thinking it was muscular related, but again, no help. Mind you, Ibuprofin is my "drug" of choice; nothing else seems to work. BUT, I thought I'd give it a try. Again, it didn't seem to help, but the next morning, all was well again.

The last time (the next time) it happened was 3-4 weeks ago (again, 3-4 weeks after the last incident), and it slowly built all afternoon to the point where by 8:00 PM, I simply crawled into bed, hoping for sleep and hoping it would be gone again the following morning. THAT was the worst, and a lil' bit scary simply because it put me out of commission. I couldn't do much of anything except moan inwardly to myself as to not bother anyone. I couldn't take deep breaths in or out because it was painful. When I laid down, I couldn't lay on my back, stomach or side comfortably because it was painful. I was quite miserable. It crossed my mind that I should head in to the clinic to get it checked out that evening, but I let it go and 'sucked it up.' I really was thinking that it was all due to being out of shape. (??)

**Fast forward to today**
When the pain started up again today, it was dull, but I FEARED it would reach the level it was the last time, so after dropping the CD/Book off at the library once finished, I turned in to the clinic to see if I could be seen for chest pains.

Those who know me know that when attention is paid to me....undue attention....I get so blasted emotional. On a scale of 1 to 10, my pain was only at a 1.5, but when the nurse heard 'chest pain' and showed concern...and I thought of Paul's worrying last time....and my mom's stern concern......gah! I started tearing up...all the while saying, "I'm really okay...I really am...I just have a slight concern....and wonder if there was anyone who could check me out."

Psht

Over to the ER I was rolled, hooked up to an EKG within 5 minutes...given aspirin.....xrays taken....wires all over. I'm thankful to know that they take their job seriously....in the event I ever REALLY was in need of medical attention.

Well, after an hour of waiting on results of bloodwork and xrays, my heart looks exceptional. My heart beat was low, which had a couple of different nurses question if I was a runner. ;0) Glad that my heart didn't take TOO long to get back into shape from my last two weeks of running....however, I don't ever recall my resting HR quite that low ever.....a fairly constant 45-50 BPM. I don't think the Doc really knew what to prescribe, but it the end, suggested an ibuprofin regimin over the next handful of days and "see how it goes."

So now...I'm back home. Whether it was the aspirin or just the confirmation from trained medical professionals that it's nothing serious, my pain is quite dull....maybe a 0.5 on the pain scale. I can breathe.....and I'm starving! That's always a good sign, right?

The house is eerily quiet. Paul is still at work. The girls are gone with G&G. No TV or radio has been turned on (yet.) The only sound I really hear is the ticking of the clock and the AC air blowing through the vents. I have a pizza in the oven, smells teasing my growling stomach!

**shrug**
It's bizarre right now. I need to find something to do.
;0)

---

5:35 pm: DH to the rescue :0)
Paul just called to ask how I was; I txted him from the ER to inform him I was getting checked out.
He invited me to a boat ride (I'm assuming with the "new" boat). More on THAT whole ordeal some other time, but for now.....I'm game!