Pineapple Blossoms - DONE; Volleyball beginnings...

Whew! At least the lack of motivation yesterday wasn't contagious to today....
The pantograph used: Chinese Crescents. Bobbins used: ummm....10? Quilting time (loading to finish): ummmm.....6-7 hours? {I guess I didn't keep excellent records for this quilt}. Both the customer and myself felt this pantograph was very fitting due to the orientalness of it; her plans for the quilt will be to gift it to her Nephew & wife for their anniversary and they currently reside in Japan. Feels good to have it done ahead of schedule :0)!!!!

See the whole quilt here...

Two days into volleyball practice and I realize that I have not updated my blogging world with my Assistant Coach news. My second assistant coaching position was filled a week-n-half ago with a previous Junior Highschool coach. She has 5 years under her belt and was ready and interested to "move up" in the world of volleyball. SO, BOTH my assistant coaching positions are filled, and we're rockin'-n-rollin' in try-outs right now. Whew-eeee......TOUGH YEAR for decision making, though! I graduated 6 seniors last year, so only have 3 returning players. Talented group of girls are bustin' their butts for the open Varsity spots, in addition to the turn-over that Junior Varsity is also facing. Not a whole lot of stress (yet); tomorrow afternoon might be a different story though when the final team selections need to be made.

Happy Tuesday :0)

Star struck; the girls' rooms & clothes, and the Farm have kept me away

Star Struck (55 x 72)
I had ALL intentions of updating Thursday evening and again on Friday before leaving for the last weekend I'll have "free" pretty much until volleyball is over....BUT, I'll get to that in a moment.
First...

I woke on Thursday very motivated to quilt something for myself, not that I plan on keeping this quilt for sure.

I spent the morning piecing a backing of random scrappy 10" squares. Once lunch was made, eaten, and cleaned up, I was able to spend the rest of the day quilting away.

By 4:00, I was starting the binding, and by 4:30, the binding was completed by machine. I used the "Curly Q" pantograph yet again---most definitely my favorite so far!

Then.....
I went to peek on the girls.
DH and I BOTH laid in on the girls that morning that "enough was enough! The rooms get cleaned TODAY!" So, they spent the entire day upstairs...since 9:30.

**sigh**
Thank GOODNESS I was still motivated, because "MOMMY-STYLE CLEANING" ensued.

Five hours, four garbage bags and 5 boxes loaded with donations later....the rooms AND loft were seriously cleaned AND decluttered! It was 10:00 when I finally carried everything to the main floor; DH said he would take care of all the donations first thing Friday morning. So, by that time, I wasn't interested in updating the blog anymore.

THEN...comes Friday. I had some bloodwork scheduled right away in the morning; DH kept the girls with him while he took care of the donations AND took a much-needed trip to the local garbage dump. On the way back from my appointment, I stopped in at school to check over some last minute things to ensure that everything was ready for Monday morning's practice. In my years of maturing, I've started to live my a new motto...."expect the worst so then you'll never be disappointed." It's a good thing I was expecting the worst, because....that's ALMOST what I encounted. However.....bringing everyone up to speed----I spent a few hours this weekend with paperwork, and....well...... I guess I'm prepared as best I can be for tomorrow morning.

Okay....backtracking to Friday. When I arrived home, DH was still out-n-about, so I took a moment to catch up on emails and had ALL intentions of updating the blog. Well----remember "Pineapple Blossoms"? I received an email that a lady in TX was interested in having the quilt finished, so I spent the next hour between talking with her on the phone, checking my stash to see what I had available for backing and batting....blah, blah, blah...... DH had great timing, because I had just decided I needed to just break down and purchase some yardage for backing when he arrived home. So....off I went to do a quick fabric shopping spree so that I could have everything ready come Monday when I plan to start to finish the project.

THEN....some quick lunch while DH and Caitlyn were out in the garden picking green beans, cucumbers.....the usual lot.

THEN....(okay, but now, it was only 1:00)...I schlepped Cassie upstairs and we (she) tried on EVERY single piece of clothing she had in her closet AND dresser. At one point, DH asked if I would be ready to leave (for the farm) by 3:00----I asked him what time it was and he said 2:30. (Ummm.......we weren't even halfway through her closet!!!!). She kicked it into a little bit of a higher gear at that point, and FINALLY at 4:00, we were done! One box for donation and two boxes for "hand-me-downs" later, her closet AND dresser were COMPLETELY organized and full of clothes that actually fit her. But, she was a bit skimpy on how many pants she had for school. Guess what we did on Saturday??? ;0) She's now COMPLETELY set for school after that shopping spree (she came away with 7 more pairs of pants/jeans).

Oh....but...stay with me! Still on Friday here.........."CAITLYN----your turn now!!!!" (I don't think DH was too happy, but I was on a ROLL and still motivated, and it NEEDED to get done!!!!"
Candace was feeling left out a little bit, so she joined in here-n-there too. By 5:30....both Caitlyn and Candace's closets were organized. Their dressers have YET to be done, but I wasn't going to push my luck TOO much with DH. By 6:00......we were packed and rolling on our way to the farm.

The weekend was very relaxing. Once I told myself I didn't need to be so ANAL about having perfect volleyball notes and that it was okay to have scribbles and things crossed off----that it didn't need to be rewritten AGAIN just for "meeting" stuff......I was able to kick back and enjoy the weekend. MIL and I headed in to Walmart (which is where we did the school shopping for Cassie). We (of course) had to check out the fabric section. Boy, I tell ya!....this is ONE Walmart that STILL carries fabric and GREAT fabric selections at that. I walked away with some backing for BOTH Green Beauty AND Shades of Green, which will be next on my quilting list once Pineapple Blossoms is finished. And then---she and I found a cute (free) pattern that both decided to make for certain individuals, so...we worked together to help pick out each other's fabric. Sorry----I haven't even THOUGHT about taking a picture of the fabric goodies---soon enough though.

Today....arrived home at 2:30 and went straight away into unpacking, starting laundry, picking produce from the garden, heading downstairs to press the newly purchased/washed fabric for Pineapple Blossom's backing, loaded it on the frame as to be ready for starting the quilting tomorrow afternoon, canning another 7 quarts of dill pickles, cleaning & cutting a large bowl full of green beans {will wait until the next picking in two days to actually can the whole lot}.....and now....finally sitting and UPDATING THE BLOG!

So.......
;0)

How was your weekend???? I'm off to look around and find out!

Bada-bing! TWO more tops reach flimsy stage

Steppin' Out (76"x92")


Pineapple Blossom (79.5"x98")
{{from the January block swap I participated in}}




I suppose this means I should go to bed now????
{{shouldn't have had all that coffee and Mt.Dew}}
;0)

Sat. morning update...

First----Paul caught me "studying" online the other night and snapped a picture. I didn't even realize it until I uploaded pics to the computer.... Anyone dare to guess what I was "studying" on YouTube??? ;0)

Last night, I pulled out my Shades of Green top that was started LAST March! I had intentions of finishing it by quilting it in sections, but .... well....now that I'll have a frame (how far away is TUESDAY!?!?!?!), I pulled out the three sections and started piecing them together.
I needed to halt when getting to the borders, because I didn't have my original-planned border fabric anymore, so I needed to go shopping. {{yeah, Helper-Caitlyn couldn't resist posing}}


Since I needed fabrics for Black/Red Pineapple Blossoms and Steppin' Out and American Classic, and now Shades of Green, it was time to go shopping!!!

I choose THREE fabrics to use as a triple border for Shades of Green, bought some red for Pineapple Blossoms, some different "starry" red for American Classic,, an AMAZING fosil-fern (sp??) fabric for Steppin' Out, and OF COURSE....a few odds-n-ends in the form of FQ's ("shirtings" and some red/blues for the BOM). I also picked up some lovely double-pinks and pink paisley, in addition to a blue (reminds me of civil wars, but not quite sure since I've never really researched them)....And to finish it off, 10 yards of white (not pictured). I just LOVE LOVE LOVE quilts that use white in the background-----ANY color matches!

The only sewing I've accomplished so far is so put together a pillow for Cassie's horse latch-hook that she finished up last weekend. Simple pleasures..........she hasn't stopped hugging it.

So---we've had an early lunch and I'm back off to downstairs.
The house is a mess
Laundry is piled
Dishes are piled....

{{shrug}}
I sense a huge multi-task frenzy......but not now.

Maybe tomorrow?????
;0)

WIP and UFO morning

I need floor space-----

therefore, the Black/Red Pineapple Blossom, which is taking up ALL my floor space, needed my attention this morning
Some of us have admitted to NOT being "border people." I typically place myself in that category, but... this border just seemed to keep evolving and I kept adding another piece and another strip.....
The quilt top is too large to really get a good shot from my sewing area.....it's NOT completely done, but will have to be set aside until I find time to get to town and buy some black fabric for the final "put-the-finishing-touch-on" border.

And you'll notice---it's all sewn together----not in pieces! I will NOT be quilting this in sections----I'm still very much looking forward to the arrival of my quilting frame and keeping myself busy until the final blessed day arrives.


Then my Steppin' Out - dyed came to the forefront----why? Because I need shelf space too!!! These blocks have kept the dust off my shelf for the past year; it's about time they see some action...
My 16-patch blocks were pieced this morning; the "arrow" blocks were already complete from awhile ago...

As I began laying out blocks, I sadly realized-----"POOP! I made a mistake!!!"
My directions say I need 18 of these "diagonal" half-blocks, all the same.

NOPE!!!!!



I need 9 each of these "MIRROR IMAGE DIAGONAL" blocks. After a few moments of seam-ripping and resewing, back to the layout I went. Sometime later today I'll have to update my tutorial, fixing this mistake!!!

Two rows have been sewn, then I needed to take a break to get lunch ready....pizza buzzer just dinged. Lunch is ready------I'll update later on tonight....

Quiltathon -Friday Jump start

Judy at Patchwork Times is hosting a Quiltathon this weekend, and since I had the day off of school for our Winter Break, naturally I wanted to get a jumpstart at the festivities.



I was able to get downstairs rather early (for this house) this morning, but didn't really have a definite "must-work-on" project in mind. So I did a little tidying, put away some thread spools, trimmed up some scraps from the recent Q4K's projects, a little this, a little that...and then I spied the stack of red/black/white Pineapple Blossom blocks that I worked on during the last Quiltathon as a swap. Since then, the swap has been completed and mail back to participants, so I played with some layouts, and came away with this as the layout (top left). Two more blocks were needed to finish up this layout and sewing up the bonus triangle pinwheels at the same time, that is where they were left for the remainder of the day.

My day was really a day of a-little-of-this/a-little-of-that. I pulled out the fabrics I had cut a few weeks back for Hannah's Rotation [[will that quilt ever have a different name??]] and started planning out how to bring her design to life. In the end, I grabbed a black sharpie and simply cut the design up into 30 12" blocks. Oooooo.....a lightbulb JUST went off when I typed the word cut. Ahhhhhh! I'm gonna grab the scissors tomorrow and actually CUT the 'blocks' out from the paper. I really don't see any other way to accomplish that design; there aren't any repetitions (except for the 180 rotation). Anyway, the bottom-left and small-bottom-inset-right show my work on that project.

Then I was inspired to pull out the fabrics from the other Math 8 quilt design (the runner up - Jade's Heart). I really liked the pattern, and it will be quite simple to make, so.....I'm making it. The first stage is to make 50 4-patches [[shown in the other three-small-inset pictures. ]]

I wasn't able to work non-stop since all three girls are home with me today, and that my parents arrived at 3:00 this afternoon. BUT, sitting with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on the TV tonight really was a great opportunity for me to start putting some binding stitches onto Perkiomen Daydreams, which arrived unannounced from Carol Cornfield Quilter last week, but I forgave her due to the beautiful quilting that she did!!! :0) Sadly, my blogworld will need to stay in suspense until it is finished and hung on the wall. It will be the first quilt that I will (attempt) to enter into Quilt show(s). Bonnie Hunter's design is absolutely amazing!

Cass has basketball tomorrow morning at 9:00, so I don't anticipate being able to get to any sewing until noonish.
Happy Friday everyone!

Saturday's Quiltathon status...

Ahhhhhhhh.....
Time-lapse photography, quilting style:


(across top)
9:30 am: my morning began by pressing seams sewn last night
10:30 am: All four sets completed (two for the swap, two not quite up to par to remain for my quilt)
11:30 am: Half-way through pressing bonus triangles and sewing into pinwheels
1:00 pm: still working through those bonus triangles...almost done!
(two on left)
1:23 pm: FOUR set of pinwheels from bonus triangles complete
1:25 pm: OIL CHANGE!!!
(two on right)
2:00 pm: Class Act - baby sample blocks sewn into rows
2:44 pm: borders going on
(across bottom)
3:42 pm: sandwich getting basted
4:32 pm: quilting in the ditch
4:45 pm: quilted, awaiting final trimming and binding
4:52 pm: potatoes frying for dinner
(center)
4:55 pm: BREAK TIME!!!!!! ;0)

Ahhhhhhhhh

How's your day going?

Follow the Quiltathon-er's progress...

8:00 pm update

The Class Act-Baby quilt is finished. I am once again offering my Beginner's Quilting course via our school's Community Education program, so I needed a sample for the Class Act. I didn't include all the borders; this will be donated to Zion Lutheran's baptismal quilts once my class is complete.



7:30 pm -- it was just a wee bit early to hang up my quilting supplies for the day, so I pressed the 4-patches and HST's that I have been sewing as my leaders-n-enders. Do you recall Bonnie Hunter's Jan/Feb '08 article in Quiltmaker? Her Blue Ridge Beauty? I've finally started the leaders-n-enders for that one. Hmmm.....when do I predict the finish? How does June sound? July latest? Let's see....I dug into my magazine pile to find the pattern....it calls for 448 4-patches and 448 HST's. Okay.....I have 42 4-patches completed and 28 HST's.....but who's counting????

Happy Saturday!

Quiltathon - Ahhhhh! SO READY!

TRYING not to feeling guilty.....
my entire family headed up north tonight to the farm for a weekend of fun and relaxation. However, **I** wanted a weekend of fun and relaxation HERE---quilting!

Over at PatchworkTimes, she's organized a Quiltathon for this weekend. JUST what I need to have some motivational productivity downstairs!!!

Tonight, I had some brief time downstairs to just check the status of the room; seeing what projects were out-n-front-n-center; of COURSE it's the Pineapple Blossom Blockswap, so I got a headstart into tomorrow's task by tackling another set of 12 blocks.
This is the current status of my sewing table when I turned out the light this evening; ONE final set cut and partially sewn.
Tired of sewing (gasp!), I decided to start pressing the bonus-triangles from the blocks.....Two full sets pressed....
one more set awaiting on the ironing board. OH!!!! That reminds me. I never informed you, my readers, that I was gifted a new WIDER ironing board for C'mas from my parents. LOVELY!!!


Status: TWO complete block sets (10 +1/charity in each set) to be sent off (left). ONE complete block set that I will keep (NOT quite up to par for a swap). When all is said and done tomorrow, THREE full sets will be sent off to the swap, a 4th will remain here, so I'll have a quilt using 42 (FORTY-TWO) blocks, set 6x7 once the swap is final. Red & Black aren't exactly my colors, but I eyed this GORGEOUS chinese-style fabric at Hancocks last weekend. They have a 50% sale coming up at the end of the month and HOPEFULLY the fabric will still be there (if it's meant to be). It would make a BEAUTIFUL border for this quilt.

Happy Friday. I hope you can find some quilting time for yourself this weekend!

Ah! Another week gone - Stash Report - more Pineapples

First---grrrrrrrrr! No pictures tonight! Anyone know how to "save" a disk? Here's what happened----in a HASTE move, I yanked the SD card from it's computer slot without properly "ejecting" it. The "warning" window came up reminding me to properly eject devices, blah, blah, blah.... Well....grrrrrrrrr! Now when I insert the SD card, it doesn't appear on my computer! Good thing I'm "in" with our tech guy at school because this baby is getting into his hands tomorrow for rescuing.

Second---when weekends are spent away, the week sure flies by without a moment of 'down-time' and Mondays come WAY too fast!! We are supposed to be out-n-about again this upcoming weekend, BUT I've already told Paul that plans will be changing! I want a quiet, calm weekend at home; afterall NEXT weekend, we will be gone again. UGH! Besides, Angela (Soscrappy) found this Quiltathon for this weekend, and it sounds HEAVENLY! I haven't had a FULL obsessive quilting weekend in MONTHS!!!

Thirdly; more Red/Black/White pineapple swap blocks, partially completed are down on my quilting table. I was able to find some more black-on-blacks and red-on-reds, but still was NOT a piece of cake. I will think twice before signing up for another BOB or ROR quilt! Golly-I can imagine the same would be for Blue on Blue and Green on Green too????

Finally, stash report update: January 4 - 10
Used this week: 3.125 yards
Purchased this week: 7 yards (all those blasted reds and blacks!!! They WILL get used up THIS week!!!)
Used-to-date 2010: 11.625 yards
Purchased-to-date 2010: 9 yards
Net used: 2.625 yards (still ahead of the game!!!)

We had C'mas at my parent's this past weekend (VERY FUN, but complete chaos!) This is the "big" Christmas. LOTS of goodies; 10 yards of Warm-n-Natural cotton batting (90" wide), rotary blades, FQ's, a new WIDE ironing board.....DH got LOADS of cooking and baking supplies, including a Wine-making kit; the kids.....holy buckets! Don't ask me to account for everything they got! The "family gift" was a Wii system with Wii Fit and Wii Sports (DH is hooking it up as I type)... A lovely weekend! But I'm excited and HOPING I can safely back away from "tentative" plans for this weekend to just stay at home and relax; stay in jammies all day and QUILT!

Happy Monday

OH! And I got the movie "Julie & Julia" (Julia Child story). DH and I watched it last night---fun movie :0)

OH! GOSH! That reminds me---yet another add-on:
DH and I had our first DATE in like.....forever!!! We went to see Avatar last Thursday. Sadly our theatre didn't have the 3D version, but still.....
One word: Beautiful!
I agree with some of the reviews that the story line wasn't anything spectacular, but the effects and colors and creatures.....AMAZING artistry!!!!

Pineapple Swap Set #1

Holy buckets

NOT Holy Buckets because these blocks are difficult...

no....

it's Holy Buckets because I never knew how HARD it was to find shades of ROR (red on red) and BOB (black on black)!! I stopped at the quilt shop tonight and at least came up with enough variety to whip out one set of 10 (+1 for charity) that is being requested by my swap, but my 2nd set will have to wait until after the weekend when I go to my hometown's quilt shops to see what they have.

But---the first set went together (cut, pieced, pressed) in about three hours. I'm a litttttle bit nervous, because a few of the blocks are a smidge wonky and shy of the 9.5" measurement (less than 1/8", but still....); it wouldn't be a biggy if they were just for me, but these are going to others and I want to be sure they're as accurate as possible. I guess "it is what it is." I'll simply suggest that if any don't meet up to par, send them back my way and swap the ones that "pass inspection." I'd be okay with that....

Okay, time to get to bed...

Happy Monday

yup, I KNEW I shouldn't have parked my butt....

...I was doing SO WELL on both Chunky Churndash and Snuggler; it was an afternoon of borders since that was all that was left for each quilt. One set of borders is on Snuggler with another to go, and the last set of borders for CC....well, the sides are on, and I got "distracted" amidst ironing the sides to put the final top/bottom borders on. Candace (DD #3) decided to touch the blasted iron just long enough, before I could catch her in the act, to do some damage on her hand. **((sigh))**. Drama ensued!

Ice, burn cream, bandaid, lots of hugs, and a snuggle in a quilt with a good movie to calm her down. But....she's learned (the hard way!) :0(

Then, it was time to put dinner in the oven (nothing fancy; keep your pantyhose on---just a simple cardboard pizza spiced up with some Pizza & Pasta Magic Seasoning), but DH and I are going to have egg rolls! YES! LOVE homemade eggrolls!

Then, I parked my butt to check emails and catch up on any blog posts today. That brought me to Carol's post about "what's the block/quilt name?" ......
...and the next thing I knew ... QuiltBlocksGalore.com! (for about 45 minutes!!!!)

At least DH was next to me---he and I enjoyed the search; him "ooohh" and "ahhhh"-ing. I also think I found another couple BOM ideas for the next 11 months....


OH!!! AND!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Had intentions of getting to the quilt shop today to buy some fabs for the Block Swap as sewmanyswaps. IT - WAS - CLOSED!!!
GRRRRRRR!!!! And I wasn't about to drive another 30 miles with the hopes that another shop was open only to find it closed as well. So.....**sigh**.....the Pineapple blocks will have to wait until Monday evening!

Okay---off to help hubby make some eggrolls!
Happy Saturday night!