Hopscotch - Flimsy?

After printing out Clue #5 for Frost 25, I headed downstairs to layout the blocks. However, my Hopscotch center was still taking up the floor space with the first inner border pinned from the other day. SO, NATURALLY, rather than setting it aside, I figured that I'd take care of the inner border.

The inner border finished lead me to some thinking of the outer pieced border suggested by Bonnie's pattern.....

A couple of hours of piecing after digging in the 2.5" scrap strip bin....

70" x 85" are the measurements as is.....I'm not sure if I'm calling this at flimsy stage though. I wonder if I have enough of the copper fabric left over for a final outer border....

However, time for me to close up shop today. Cassie has a softball tournament tonight and tomorrow, so it's time to start thinking about getting ready for that.

Hindsight after my border sewing push for Hopscotch in order to clear up the floor:
I could have used my design wall to layout the Frost 25 blocks! ;0)

Frost 25, a true mystery

Today is planned as a "me" day after yesterday's painting fiasco. I started by finishing up Clue #3 of Frost 25, a QOV mystery venturing away from reds, whites, and blues. All corners double-sewn, trimmed and pressed.

Clue #4 HSTs were pieced, and the center strips were strip-pieced. Then came time to piece the final block. Despite DOUBLE-CHECKING.....I STILL ended up piecing the block incorrectly! After chain-piecing and pressing the top/center rows together, I checked the pattern (pictured). My thought....."aw poop!" BUT, rather than ripping out the 12 blocks, I just left 'em, shrugged and told myself this will be a REAL mystery now!!!

So, off to print the final clue (#5). **crossing fingers**

CHICK UPDATE: We are up to eleven chicks ;0)

Frost 25, Painting and Chick update

I'm glad I was motivated right away after posting about the chicks this morning, because by 6:00 am, I was downstairs sewing away. Clue #2 was finished, and clue #3 started. At 7:30, I shut the machine off to wake Paul since he chose to 'sleep in' and ignore the alarm.

I started prepping Caitlyn's and Candace's room for painting, and after some breakfast, we were raring to go by 9:00. The bed and large armoire remained in the center of the room, but everything else was hauled out.



Caitlyn's first job was to paint around the outlets.

Candace was parked in the corner to paint by the closet door.

Caitlyn and Candace each had their turn with the roller...




But my big helper of the day was CASSIE!!! Once the "little jobs" were done, I shooshed Caitlyn and Candace out---there simply wasn't room since we left the bed in the room. Cassie helped paint the lower portions while I handled the ladder parts. She'll be a pro by the time we paint hers, scheduled for Sunday.




Everything moved back in and ALMOST a finished room. We still want to add stamped flowers once we open up Cassie's yellow, but for now, it's a new sanctuary for the girls. They LOVE it! ;0) The ceiling and floor trim has been waiting since 2004, so I figured..."what's a few more years, right?"

I have no idea when this purple hair happened; we were just sitting at dinner when I noticed it. (She was shooshed out of the room before 11:00 am).

When Cassie and I finished up at 1:00, we headed downstairs to see if any more chicks had hatched. Our timing was PERFECT! Within 5 minutes of us being there, Chick #2 hatched!

S/He was NOT pretty. Sorry lil' thing, but even Mama's eyes can't lie about your lack of cuteness directly after falling out of the egg.

Now, there are five hatched....and MUCH better looking once dry and fluffy.

...with a couple more pecking away at their shell.

Paul will be moving the hatchlings to their new home soon. Picture to come of that once they move in and get all settled.

Time for me to go take a shower; I'm still speckled with purple ;0)

A growing family

For those of you who guessed incubator yesterday, you are right on the money! The other day, Paul brought it home from a friend's house who had it set up for us since we lost so many chickens a few weeks ago to some kind of animal or another. We're down to two roosters and 5 hens (which is STILL plenty for our family of 5), but.....**shrug**.....guess Paul wanted more. As to what kind are being hatched....not really sure because our friend has a variety, as do we, but all will be egg-layers (or I suppose roosters, too) :0)

He stored it down in my quilting room; quiet, dark (when I'm not down there), regulated temperature since there aren't any windows. And ALLLLLL day yesterday, Caitlyn and I heard the teasing "chirp-chirps." We'd peek EVERYTIME to no avail....

These lil' buggers were on my mind all night, too, because I had a dream that they all hatched.....at ONCE...and it was utter chaos!

So, the alarm just sounded at 5:00, and the first thing I did was throw on some pants and run down to check.

Sure enough....

The first chick has hatched; still slightly wet. It kinda makes you fill all giddy and goofy looking at this little thing teeter-tottering on its new legs....."Weebles wobble but they don't fall down." :D

More fabric cut into...A new Project

Meet the fabrics for "Frost 25". This is Mystery #25 from the Mystery Quilts 4 Military yahoo group that has already been solved, however I have NOT peeked ahead, nor have I seen any "solved" quilts, so it's still a complete mystery to me. My red, whites and blues are pretty empty, so I ventured into other colors for this mystery to get them used. Most of the fabrics here are from Connecting Thread's "Twilight Frost" fabric line, so the name for my quilt came partially from the fabric line AND part from what mystery # this is.

Clue #1 quick and complete.

A quilting lesson for Caitlyn

I stayed up a bit late last night after posting, getting into another movie at 11:30 pm once "Disclosure" ended. DUH! By 12:45, I was done for and shut the movie off during a commercial. SO, I slept in this morning after Paul's 5:00 alarm sounded. The next thing I knew----EIGHT o'CLOCK!!! OMGoodness!
Breakfast
Some measuring...
and off to some errands by 10:00.
Stop #1: School to deliver "With Heart"
Stop #2: Pamida to buy two blinds for the girls' rooms
Stop #3: "Thimbles" quilt shop for backings for three quilts (13-block, Transitions, Maltese Star) and more thread
Stop #4: McDonalds
Stop #5: The Country Store for chicken food
Stop #6: Library for movies and to sign up for the Summer Read program

By the time we were back home, I didn't feel like starting the painting fiasco.....

...instead, the girls put a movie in the player and I set to making Rhubarb Slush (Cooks.com recipe used).

While the rhubarb was simmering, Caitlyn asked me if I could give her her promised quilting lesson since she cleaned her room. Therefore, I had her look through some magazines while the slush finished cooking, and we headed downstairs as soon as it was done.

She chose a block that works nicely with the stitch-n-flip method; she's marking the squares here....

Sewing on a corner. Having a speed-control is WONDERFUL when having smaller children sew ;0)

Pressing those corners. She used the rotary cutter to trim off the corners once they were double-sewn, but I didn't quite trust her alone, so I guided her hands. Therefore, no pictures of the trimming.

The center of the block suggests hand-stitching the two flower motifs, but I grabbed a used dryer sheet as a stabilizer and tried a small zigzag (almost satin) stitch. Nothing like realllllllly getting in and focusing on that guide line I drew. ;0)

A small yo-yo to finish up the center, and she's a happy-camper! Now to decide if we'll make it into a small pillow or a small wall-hanging for the new room once painted :0)

To close this post, I thought I'd show a picture of this thing that has joined me in my quilting room. Anyone willing to take a gander at what it is...?
My Hint to you: "It's been making noises, teasing us all day....and we're losing patience." ;0)

On the frame...

MIL's Dressed to the Nines quilt was quilted and bound first thing this morning. Nothing fancy, just outline quilting.

She used some lace and ric-rac to embellish the waistlines of the dresses. A dearing touch :0)

Surprisingly, I didn't feel I needed to sit with any new project; instead, I pieced and loaded backing on the frame for In Flight. A couple of hours were put into it....until I ran out of thread. I KNEW that I was going to run out, so I figured I'd quilt until that time and then move on to the next task :0)

Next? Our rhubarb patch needed to be picked.

12 cups were set aside for me to make some Rhubarb Slush tomorrow. Eight packages of 3 cups each were bagged and frozen. All set again for the upcoming year. I must admit, it WAS nice to take a package out throughout the winter to have some Rhubarb Crunch.

This is a later post; I played softball tonight at 8:30 and arrived home a bit after 10:00. I needed a bit to eat so warmed up some soup, and now am sitting with my feet up watching "Disclosure".

Finally, this sign was shown on Green Fairy's blog the other day, and it really says it all :D! I managed to fit in about 5 loads of clothes today and even some closet tidying. Yesterday, a few hours were spent in Caitlyn's and Candace's closets; weeding out clothes too small; stocking the shorts/t-shirts drawers and setting the warmer clothes aside for now. A few times today, I was the nagger motivator to push the girls to finish cleaning their rooms. They finally did with my final threat of "No Painted Walls unless it's clean in 45 mintues!"

Five gallons of paint now sit in the entry-way; two gallons of Royal Blue and one gallon of Yellow for Cassie. She wants a "school colors" room. Two gallons of "rich purple" are for Caitlyn's and Candace's room. I have a feeling tomorrow will involve some painting :0)

Another loose end and a Play-Date

Despite wanting to start something new, and already having cut into some fabrics for a new project, I'm ALSO still motivated to keep plugging away at little loose-ends and UFOs. My Serenity (55"x78") quilt was finished and already recorded for January (it was the NYE mystery), however, it still needed binding.

Another small project checked off to have a complete finish (minus a label). And the weather was BEAUTIFUL yesterday, albeit windy. I'm usually not one to take a "decorative" picture outside, but this quilt sure blends nicely with the Lilac bushes in front of our house.

On another quilty note; Last night, I decided to pin-baste the last of my MIL quilts. I actually thought I was finished, but I found this quilt all folded, waiting patiently, while I was tidying up the other day. Oooops! I'll be quilting this lil' thing on the Bernina; it's too small for me to putz with loading it on the quilting frame. This way, I can use my BSR again; it's been TOOOO long since I've used a regulator.

Did you know: Kids change! ??? Candace here is eating one of her favorites; Cocoa Puffs with marshmallows. She USED to only eat the marshmallows and suddenly be "too full" to eat the cocoa puffs that were left. NOW.....see how many cocoa puffs are left? She was fishing one out at a time with her spoon so that she would only be left with the marshmallows-----'best for last', afterall :0)

Before....

After
See, kids are changing all the time :0)
Candace had been begging and begging for a playdate, so I called up a friend and invited her over for the afternoon. She is a couple of weeks younger than Candace and is a PEANUT! I'm kicking myself that I didn't take the camera with me outside when they went to give the chickens and pigs some treats (end of bread loaves and apple cores). She was ADORABLE holding the rooster....LOL.....and the pigs were bigger than she was.