The addiction returns!!!

The day was NOT full of quilting; I was out of the house by 7:45 am and didn't return until 4:30 pm. However, by 6:00 pm, I was heading downstairs after dinner while the girls were relaxing with The Bee Movie.

The outcome -- Pinwheels and Prairie Points top finished (my rename of A Pinwheel Baby quilt, Moda Bake Shop.)


This pattern is AQF!!!!!
ADORABLE and QUICK and FUN!

I did not put binding on Candace's Stars yet, so no "final finish" for June.

However, my goals for tomorrow:

Bind Candace's Stars (My FIRST planned July finish)

Sandwich, quilt and bind Pinwheels and Prairie Points (My SECOND planned July finish)

Finish quilting the middle section of DWR

Finish quilting the 2nd Pillow Sham for DWR (My sorta THIRD planned July finish)

Sandwich the final section of DWR

and THEN....if I still have time and if my patience caves, I'll see about tackling the first step of Lynne's Celtic Knot Mystery :0)

Happy Tuesday!

A NEAR finish; and inspiration hits at 10:00!!!

Candace's Stars (Granny's Stars) is nearly completed. All that remains is the binding, so one good hour should see it completed. Maybe tomorrow night???
However, I won't have much time tomorrow to do any quilting because I'll be at school, sitting on an interview panel for a new JH SS position....

I was finished with all the border attachments and quilting by 11:00 this morning; I should have just bit the bullet to put the binding on, but I sat back and admired a little too long; then lunch hit. 

Afterward, I just twiddled and tidied the sewing room (VERY LITTLE).  I pulled out some recent purchases over the past month and ironed/folded.
While doing so, I was inspired by some of the newly purchased "shirtings," the darkest blue in the pic and the red on bottom left;  I dug through my fabric to see if there were other "civil-war-looking" fabrics and came up with what is pictured.  Now....those will sit together (probably for the next year or so) while awaiting the perfect pattern.

Trust me!  There is something to waiting for that perfect pattern.  I had been collecting those FQ's and Fat-eighths of 30's fabrics for over a year (the ones that went into Candace's Stars). 

And speaking of 30's fabrics...

tonight, after taking some time to do a little more quilting on the DWR (**SIGH**--that quilt is starting to be the new monkey-on-my-back!)

Anyway, I got back into "tidy-mode," and ironed/folded some more of my fabrics that have been sitting for some time!  Then, I came upon my "scraps" of the 30's fabrics.  Golly, that pattern REALLY over-estimated the amount needed.  It called for 21 FQ's----HA!  I DID (amazingly) have 21 different fabrics, but once I started unfolding them, I found out MANY of them were only fat-eighths!  No biggy---I had PLENTY, with quite a bit left over. 

It was nearing 10:00 (PM), and suddenly I was INSPIRED!  I took exactly ONE minute to walk across the room to the exact spot that THIS PATTERN had been lain out, patiently waiting if (and when) I would ever make it.

Clearly, I didn't have any Charm Pack, but with about 30 minutes of cutting, I had all 24 - 5" squares needed, and 64 - 2.5" squares.  AND---what's more...I was given a "sign!"  I had used all of my white muslin up on the DWR and Candace's Stars, so I had to hunt around to see what I had in white.  I pulled a crumpled pile of white (NO LIE!  It was very crumpled from washing/drying MONTHS ago!) from the floor and ironed/folded it.  I had JUST enough for what was called for, with only a little string left.  Yup---it was meant to be!

Anyway---after another 10 minutes, I cut all the 5" squares in half, but really didn't want to sit and sew.  My movie had ended just after 10:00, and it had been so quiet that I didn't want to disrupt the silence with my machine.  All bodies had gone to bed at 10:15, so... it was so peaceful.

Instead, I prepped all 64 of the Prairie Points needed.  Golly!  Those things are TINY!  Can you kinda guesstimate from the pic?  It started as a 2.5" square.  This will be the first quilt I've made using Prairie Points.

This quilt should be easy enough.  It sure would be nice to have another finish by the end of June (umm...yeah...that'd be tomorrow).  But, I promised to take Cassie for a short run tomorrow night;  she'll be running the kid's 1/2 mile at my 5K race next weekend over at my sister's city.

So, 4 minutes to midnight---I suppose I better TRY to get to bed. BUT, #3 (Candace) had a late nap (5:00 - 8:30!!!) and is WIDE awake watching Wow-Wow-Wubzy and eating a bagel. Oh dear.....I'll give her 15 more minutes, THEN I'll tie her down and tape her eye-lids shut if I need to.

Happy Midnight!

A new blog and Monday morning tasks...

Morning everyone! I woke up with DH bright-n-early to get my day started, and jumped online right away (well, after making some coffee and a bagel!) . I wanted to catch up and just enjoy some quiet "surfin'" time and to make up some labels for a couple of quilts that I finished up this weekend.

Well....psht! JACKPOT while surfing! My goodness! If you have a free hour (or more+!) to spare, check out Mel's Own Place. I've spent about half an hour perusing it and have barely touched the surface. HOWEVER, I now have to get to making up those labels if I hope to get them ready and prepped before I need to wake the girls for summer school.


I have been BAD this weekend by spending most of my time downstairs quilting and skipping out on my running. So, I've called up a newly-claimed running & biking buddy (Cheri). We will meet up for a run after dropping the kids off at summer school (she has 2 that also attend.) Candace will get bundled into the jogging stroller (BUNDLED for sure!) The temps are PERFECT for a run; low 60's with forecast high's of low 70's today! LOVELY, LOVELY, LOVELY! GONE is the heat and humidity from last week. However----the wind gusts might give us a challenge!

Okay....Happy Monday!

A Celtic Knot mystery

Photo copied from Lynne's blog

I'm not sure how many of you read emai postings from the Quiltville Yahoo group, but one lady (Lynne) has sent an invite out to the group regarding a Celtic Knot mystery that she is beginning on July 1 (RIGHT around the corner)!
I have been eyeing up some of her sneaky-peek blocks, and the schedule of the mystery seems do-able; two blocks a week.
If you are interested, read over what total pieces will be need (Total squares count post), and follow her "label" of celtic knotwork mystery to other posts she's teased us with.
Lynne threw out the idea to use this as a Leaders-n-Enders project since it's just sewing squares together in a distinct pattern.

Final size: depends on your size of squares. The overall design is 43x43 squares. She throws some math our way if you want the easy way out and don't want to do your own calculations (read more...)

I fell in love with the sneaky peek blocks she shared... her choice of greens, purples and black won me over! I never would have used green and purple together! Now to just find the right black....

Okay, off I go to work on Granny's Stars so I can join in this mystery with less guilt :0)

Count with me...

ONE: Country Spirit

TWO: Double Wedding Ring wall-hanging (34" x 34") (for my bedroom)

THREE: Grandma & Me (66" x 66")

All finished TODAY!

Country Spirit was started on 1/18/09 and was made as a QOV, to be donated to Alycia's (Alycia Quilts) project. I haven't measure it yet, nor do I recall if I used 2" finished strips or 1.5" finished! June's UFO Challenge - DONE!

The Double Wedding Ring wall-hanging was a sample kit I purchased and started on 5/9/09 while on the way back from a Math convention. This is the pattern that my MIL and I are using to make the larger bed-size wedding quilt for a family friend. That one is STILL a WIP.

Grandma & Me started originally as Scrappy Baskets back on 5/11/08, and has gone through a few name changes (including Grandma & Katherine), but I have settled on Grandma & Me, mainly because when I look at it and I think of Grandma. The colors are "grandma," and much of the fabric and thread used was from Grandma's inheritance. THIS has been the monkey-on-my-back, without a doubt! February's UFO Challenge -- FINALLY DONE!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......
I love seeing progess.

OH! And the most exciting and wonderful news of the day: while rummaging through the stash to find a backing for Grandma & Me, I took a moment to clean out the cutting cabinet drawers. Guess what I found?!?!?! My quilting gloves! Dear Candace must have hid them in their while playing "mommy" one day; I have been missing them for about a month. NOW, the quilting of the DWR will be a bit easier! Whew!

Happy Saturday.

FINALLY! Some "Amy" progress!

I didn't know what else to title this post with, but I felt that last night I FINALLY got back into the "quilting-grove" tempo!

I headed downstairs after dinner and didn't really surface again until 12:30!!!! (I did take a few moments at 9:00 to shoosh the girls to bed since DH was in the tub, relaxing after yet another HOT day of work.)

It was another lovely "one-thing-lead-to-another" evening. I needed to piece some backing for Granny Star's second section, and wouldn't you know it!---I was JUST short of white fabric by about 2 inches!!! So, rather than scappin' it totally, I simply took some of my scraps from sewing the top and pieced an 80" strip by 3 inches wide...and v'iola! A cute, slightly pieced, back! I didn't take pics of it, but it sure is cute. Kinda reminds me of what Crazy Mom Quilts does with her backs (see blogroll on left to visit her site).

I followed SOME of the suggested quilting from the magazine, but not all. The middle of the quilt is finished and even pieced together. It simply awaits borders now; which I just MAY get to today.

But first, I want to see if I can actually finish my June UFO Challenge, which I pulled out last night. You may recall seeing Country Spirit waaaaay back in January! As many projects do, it was set aside with other "to-do's" happened. But also, I didn't have the passion to really work on it much anymore because each block's quilting took a WHOLE HOUR! I was using a walking foot, and I got so tired of stopping and pivoting the quilt for the next "line" of quilting. It was so putzy!

When I pulled it out again last night, a light-bulb hit me----I thought of trying the BSR (bernina stitch regulator) with the "echo-quilting" foot instead of the normal FMQ foot. WOW! Was it quicker (since I didn't need to always turn the quilt in-and-out-and-around the machine bed! The lines didn't come out as "crisp" as they did when I used the walking foot, but.......

....it's DONE! (well, almost!) Binding still needs to be put on, as well as a label, and then I need to hand-sew the connector strip on the back. It is definitely small---a lap quilt, if that. Perfect for a wheel-chair! I missed the goal of getting this to Alycia (Alycia Quilts) by April, but she is already working on a collection for the next "deployment." This quilt WILL get finished today! (Specially since it's raining out right now and is forecast to rain all morning.)

Happy Saturday to y'all!

Blowing off some steam!

I love my children, but...

...
when it comes to "cleaning up together," they really STINK! I did get some time in downstairs for a good hour -n- half and was able to finish up quilting the first section of Granny's Stars and even did one complete row of the DWR quilting before heading upstairs to whip up some lunch. The loft area was surprisingly quiet, so while the Mac-n-Cheese was boiling, up I went to see what they were up to.

It did appear that they HAD been cleaning at one point, but they were all "playing" when I went up to check on them. Mom's reaction: NOT GOOD! I thundered back downstairs to grab three garbage bags; one for actual garbage, and two to throw toys in. It was MOM's cleaning method now!

After lunch, mom continued to clean up; throwing EVERYTHING I saw in sight into one bag or the other. THEN! Ugh! I suppose I shouldn't be too upset at what I found next because I did the same thing when I was a kid (and now I understand why my mom was so upset with me)......their method of cleaning was "toss everything in the closet or under the bed." !!!!

So anyway.....two hours later, it's still not done, but MOST of it is complete. They have the task to finish it all up before mom has to "strike again" and throw ALL TOYS away!
(I don't actually throw all the toys away; rather just "store" them into the bags. Eventually, they may make their way back to the loft, otherwise they'll be donated to Good Will.)

Where does the time go???

Good golly, Miss Molly! You'd think with "summer vacation" here, time would be coming out my ears to get this project and that project done!
Well....time sure is available....it's just getting filled with everyone BUT sewing! Typically my days consist of waking, getting the two older girls off to summer school by 8:15, then Candace and I go out for a run/walk/bike ride until 9-9:30. Home we go for a little snack. THEN I might actually get some sewing time, either that or we head outside for garden-time. Lately, it's been a lot of garden time! By 2:00, back to picking up the girls from summer school, then the rest of the afternoon......golly! I dunno! Time just flies. THEN, once DH comes home from work and we eat dinner, then it's outside for the rest of the evening to work on one garden or the other.

Last night, though....I asked DH if he minded if I "take the night off" of gardening to get some sewing done. Afterall....LOOK! This is the disarray of my basement carpeted area right now!

I have found time to complete quilting one (of the three) sections for the DWR. But, since I'm seeing stipples in my sleep, I decided to take a break from it and return to Granny's Stars. Last night, I was able to put all the rows together and will be quilting it in two sections. The first section was basted after piecing some backing, and still remains under the machine.

When I finish this post, I'm off to downstairs for a couple of hours. The girls have the task of cleaning up the loft area if they want to go to the Library later this afternoon---it's the deal we worked out. G'ma and G'pa might be coming up this weekend, and the loft is a disaster!

Happy Friday AM!