Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Goodies in my Mailbox!

Today I found something in my mailbox.
Seems that my goodies from Clover and Violet's giveaway from Giveaway Day arrived just in time for me to start learning about their Embroidery 101 quilt along project. I want to thank them again for such a great giveaway. I'm so excited to reach back into my repertoire of skills I learned many moons ago as a child so that I can relearn embroidery for this project!
I got even more excited when I saw the fabric. So bright and cute. I love it! What online quilt projects are you going to be a part of this summer?

Monday, May 30, 2011

Oh, to Finish a Project!

Got a little sewing done yesterday on my sister's quilt. Now I'm already getting distracted by other quilty things online. Lee at Freshly pieced has a tutorial for a super cute Hexie block she's calling "Hexing Around Block". Definitely worth a looksee! I'm also itching for my prize kit from Clover and Violet to arrive so I can start their Quilt Along. PLUS...I want to do Leila's Skillbuilder Sampler. Okay, didn't I say I was going to do a quilt along for my X quilt? Yeah, still trying to figure out when to squeeze that one in.

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Summer Activities

Every summer I compile calendars of all the events the kids have set in stone (swim lessons, VBS, vacay, camps, etc.). After all of that is plugged in, I plug in information from the local library reading programs as well as the free movie program from one of the local theaters (free movies went up to $1 this year!). I'm sometimes a little anal retentive and color code what I have on the calendar. It helps me pick things out better, okay?

I also keep a list of any museums, zoos, parks, etc. within a 50 mile radius. This includes prices, any specific events for the summer, etc. I like to be prepared. It took one summer of hearing my daughter spout off the proverbial "I'm bored" a few too many times for me to choose to get prepared instead. I also keep two chore charts on my board as well so there is no confusion. There is a weekly chore chart:
And there is a daily chart to remind them of the things they shouldn't ask me about.

Unfortunately, I think they have become immune to these charts. They've stayed up a while. Like since last year? So there won't be handwriting practice this year, but there will be some multiplication practice for the 9 year old and there will reading for the 5 year old. I'm sure they're thrilled. Especially the 9 year old. Multiplication has been the bane of my existence this year. But if we don't get it, division will do me in next year. Wish me luck!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

X-actly What I Wanted

Just a quick little post to say that I took the advice of the lady at my quilting guild meeting and added a thin green border and a wide black border to my X Marks the Spot quilt.

I will admit that I screwed up a little bit because I thought I picked up enough Kona black to do the border. The top and bottom were perfect but the sides weren't long enough (misjudged) so I ended up using some leftovers from the fat quarters I had used in the quilt to make 4x4 blocks to go in each corner. I like it even better. My hubbie said it was better than being solid all around because it softened the corners and allowed your eye to look at the center, and not to be overwhelmed by the dark color all around it. Uh, yeah, sure, I meant for that to happen!

This also added some size to it since I misjudged that too. It is now 45x50 which is more like a lap sized quilt. I'm linking this up to Clover and Violet's May Stash Buster Project. I did have to buy the Kona solids, but from my stash I used black and white fat quarters I picked up back during the Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop and some green I had actually picked up to back a different quilt and didn't use. And I'm doubly excited because there's enough green and black/white to piece the back as well. Woohoo!
Oh, and I need some ideas. I have a friend whose wife is pregnant. He is Japanese and his wife's family is from Germany. I wanted to incorporate their cultures into a baby quilt (November), and I've just about decided to just go with fabrics from those countries. Japan is easy; there are so many cute ones to choose from! But I am really stuck on the Germany. Does anyone know of any German fabric designers, or neat things about the culture I could incorporate into a quilt?


Fresh Poppy Design
I'm also linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story. Go check out all the other fabric goodies people have made this week.

Friday, May 27, 2011

More Mug Rugs and Graduations...

Well, my son has officially graduated from PK! The teacher's assistant and her husband have a hangar at the local airport which is where they had their end of the year party. It was very cool. They had a 'jumpy' slide, served hot dogs, and asked parents to bring desserts. I brought cake balls. Please tell me you've tried cake balls. Yum. Red velvet cake crumbled up with cream cheese icing and rolled up into quarter size balls. Then chilled while you heat up almond bark in which to dip them. Again I say Yum. Anyway, the TA's hubbie and 3 other friends of his did an air show for the kids after their program and dinner. So cool.  Oh yeah, warning! Turn your sound down a little because there's lots of squealing from little people running around.


I told him he had better enjoy it because you don't usually get an air show at most graduation ceremonies.

I met my wonderful friend Mitzi yesterday and she lent me one of her sewing machines. So I finally finished my last two mug rugs for teachers! Yahoo!
The second one looks pretty good but the first one, in Sherbet Pips, seems to suffer a bit from "first time I used someone else's machine" syndrome! It's a bit wonky, and not in the good way. Oh well,the teacher is still getting it.What's funny to me is that the first one is the only one I've made that's anywhere close to the size a mug rug is supposed to be. The first one I ever did was from a tute online and it was a bit larger so all of mine seem to run larger.

My daughter's award ceremony is this morning so I have to decide if I'm going to just take the kids home afterward. Having worked in the schools, I don't usually do that. But I figure she'll already have her certificate for perfect attendance so, what are they going to do? Take it back?

I'm FINALLY getting around to commenting on Lee's WiP Wednesday quilters today. Of course, with my laptop still with the Geek Squad, I'll be fighting my way onto the main computer to have a turn later when they're home. Better start doing some quick typing!


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Just Plugging Along!

As you may know if you read my blog yesterday, I had to turn in my sewing machine and my laptop for repairs on the same day this week (criminey!). I am feeling a little out of sorts, but luckily my friend, Mitzi, lent me her old machine today so I have been able to get some work done. I have two mug rugs that must be finished tonight because they are to be given to teachers tomorrow. I only have binding to do on one and I need to finish quilting and bind the other. Whew! You saved me, Mitzi!
I also wanted to mention how happy I am because of Clover and Violet; I won their Giveaway Day giveaway! I am SOOOO very excited because it is a kit of materials for their new quilt along they are starting that includes embroidery.



Oooooohhhhhh! Aaaaahhhhh! I'm a little worried about adding something else to my plate, but I think if you're a quilter and you don't have at least 6-10 things going on at once, you just aren't trying hard enough! Plus I'm about to be done with a couple of pieces. Anyway, you have got to go over and check out this quilt along. It looks like it's going to be so very cute and I was just saying in one of my Giveaway Day entries the other day that I really wanted to incorporate some embroidery into a quilt because I love how it looks! Oh yeah, and there's a great giveaway from her sponsor for one lucky person who finishes their quilt top: 6 half yards (or 12 fat quarters) of fabric from Sew Lux Fabrics (that's their sponsor!). Fabulous! There's also a limited number of kits for this quilt that are available through Sew Lux as well. Check it out!
Well, I know this is short but I'm posting late and I've got to get dinner going (and finish mug rugs!). Hope everyone's kids finish out the school year on a happy note!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

WiP Wednesday #9!

Does anyone else find it quite humorous (if there's anything humorous about it!) that Blogspot had issues when Blogger Festival was going on at Amy's Creative Side, and it had issues again while Giveaway Day is going on? Are we quilting bloggers powerful or what? Knocking out a whole blogging server! I'm just glad I got my entries in before it went crazy!
Also, I thought I broke it before, but I have officially broken my sewing machine and she is going in the shop today. I knocked something out of whack trying to sew through too many layers on that purse and broke several needles before it finally went haywire. Hubbie can't fix it so it's going in. :(
Also, I will be visiting the Geek Squad today due to residual computer issues caused by the fab new spyware out there that invaded my computer the other day and led me to believe it had crashed. Hubbie fixed what he could but I am still unable to access my documents or pictures. I am also one of those individuals who still cannot get 'comment' to work so, if I don't comment on your site today, I love what you did. I just have no way to tell you! Double :(
*UPDATE* They took my sewing machine for 2-3 weeks! It's a Kenmore and our Sears doesn't work on them here so it had to be sent out. Luckily my friend Mitzi is lending me her old one. Little does she know that her old one is probably far better than my primary one. Also, in order to fix my computer the Geek Squad will have it for 4-5 days. I feel like I lost both arms today. I'm blogging on hubbie's computer but I have no access to email other than my online account. NOT. A. HAPPY. CAMPER.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Don't forget to check out all the other quilters out there with their fabulous work over at Lee's for WiP Wednesday!

New Projects:
I've been doing mug rugs galore for teachers. I've got 3 more to do.

I had mentioned I was doing these for teachers last week and Linz caught the fever too. She even let her daughter design one for her teacher. SO cute! And just in case teachers don't know exactly what they are or what to do with them, I made up a little poem I am printing on cards to attach to them. You can see it here at the bottom of this post. Please use it if you want; Linz already used it on hers.

I also made a little pincushion for a bloggy friend from this tutorial.

I love the colors. I will say that next time I will leave two openings for stuffing, one on each side. I had a hard time reaching the opposing side of the hole so it doesn't look as 'stuffed' as I would like it. Also, this is a hand sewn project so, if you do it, be prepared to see a few stitches here and there. But I still think it turned out cute!

I finally finished one of the purses I was asked to make as well.

The mom loved it and said I'd have to make one for her as well!

Ongoing Projects:
I didn't get anything done this week on my X Marks the Spot quilt, but I took it to quilting guild Monday night and someone gave me a good idea on how to enlarge it. My friend Mitzi over at Live Love Quilt said she really didn't realize it was that small. I told you I messed up on the size of the squares! It's about the size of a baby quilt, but I'll get it worked out for next time. Anyway, I had planned on adding just one extra black border around it to make it a little bigger but one of the ladies suggested doing just a thin line of green around the existing border, then adding the black border. I liked the idea of giving it just a bit more green pop (I ran out of black Kona so I just used some cheap black I had leftover from something to get an idea of what it would look like).

I have finally been working on getting Random Reflections quilted. I got about 2/3 of the way done with it before I had to MAKE myself stop to finish some other projects.

Completed projects:
So far the only completed projects are the small ones that were my new projects:
  • 1 mug rug (did one last week)
  • pincushion
  • purse
This week's stats: New projects - 3
Completed projects - 3
Currently in progress – 6
No goals this week since my machine is out. I hope to borrow a machine to get some work done. We'll see. Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Calling All Computer Geeks!

Okay, so I had a computer crash scare yesterday. The night before I was working on my laptop when some malware got in. My antivirus caught it but it left its mark which I didn't realize until yesterday morning. The first thing I noticed was that my Favorites were gone. This is HUGE for me because I had a ton of things, neatly categorized and I don't want to have to find them again. Well, my wonderful hubbie was able to fix my computer by doing a "go back" so I only lost a couple of documents I was working on over the last few days. The only other thing that still hasn't come back is my Favorites on the internet. I just tried to start saving my old file names something into my Favorites but it wouldn't let me. It said it couldn't add a folder that was already there. Huh? Okay, it looks empty to me. Is there a way to locate your favorites somewhere else other than your dropdown menu? Or is there some miraculous way to make them come back? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Laptop crash...maybe...

Okay, I was working on my laptop last night when my antivirus caught some malware and stopped it. Well, it allowed me to keep working so I didn't stop what I was doing and check my computer. This morning I was working on it again and tried to look up the local library on my Favorites. My Favorites were gone. All of them. So I started looking. The only things it would allow me to access were the things I already had open. So I get the bright idea to close down the computer and restart to see if that cleared it up. Uh, no. Now I can't access anything. When I pull up the "all programs" in the corner, it says I don't have any. Yeah. I'm hysterical. I've already been crying to the point of not being able to speak. I cannot begin to tell you everything I've lost if it really wiped it out. I'm currently on our main computer, but I don't know how much I can access from here. Not a happy camper. Not at all.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Lessons, Building Skills, and Giveaways!

This week is crazy! Rebecca at Chasing Cottons continues with her online quilting lessons class on Wednesday.
Chasing Cottons
She's also currently holding a huge giveaway right now in honor of the middle of this class and ... Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day on May 23rd!
Don't forget to get signed up for those goodies! She should have a list up tomorrow. I wanted to get in on the giveaways but I'm going to have to wait until after I muddle through some of this mandatory stuff I need to make and get the kids through school. Maybe I'll hold an "After Giveaway Day Giveaway Day!" Anyway, I also wanted to put up a reminder that Leila is starting her Skill Builder Sampler quilt on June 17th.
BWS tips button
She's planning on addressing various quilting skills each month, three quilt square tutorials per skills so you have the potential to end up with 36 squares by year end! Plus she's doing giveaways for those who keep up with the lessons each month. Good luck!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Making progress...

Second mug rug is done! I have made some progress on the first purse but I kind of took over the sewing machine with my sister's Random Reflections quilt. Considering her birthday was May 12th, I figured I ought to get it quilted! Why is it that there's this part of the brain that tells you, "Well, you don't live close so it will be a little while before you can give it to her; take your time!" I really don't think that way. I think it should have been done already. But I'm getting there.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Teacher Gifts and a Friday Reflection

Well, I'm busy making teacher gifts for year end, how about you? I decided to do mug rugs, but I didn't want to do mugs so I'm doing this:
I love these real cups that look like fast food cups. Very cute. I ended up buying 5 at Hobby Lobby.

Yeah, I know there are still pins in it. Still got to finish the binding. And I have at least two more to make. Maybe three. Plus I have a purse due by May 27th. Whew!
I also finished the back of Random Reflections (finally!) so it is ready to be sandwiched and pinned. I guess that means I have to clean the floor. Shoot.

I hope you're having a productive Friday. Don't forget to check out all the giveaways next week over on Sew Mama Sew!

*Update: I completely forgot to mention that I came up with a little poem to go with the mug rug. I already gave one away and had to explain what it was; then she didn't want to use it for that because she didn't want to mess it up. So I am making little cards to attach that say:

Here you can sit your drink for a bit
On a mug rug made by me.
Dont want to put your mug on the rug?
Then a mini quilt it will be!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Chugging Along...

As it nears the end of school, it's fast approaching time for teacher's gifts. I'm currently working on just that. I will post some pictures tomorrow. Right now, I'm trying to keep from falling asleep.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

WiP Wednesday #8

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Man, that bed was feeling yummy this morning. It was very strange having a chilly night in Georgia in the month of May, but it sure made my bed feel snuggly! I just wish I had my own quilt on it instead of a comforter. Maybe one day!
Also, I am still slowly making my way through Blogger's Festival; just when I think I'm getting near the end, 50 more Linky's go up. But I love it!
I'm linking up to Lee so go check out all the other bloggers and their progress as well!

New Projects:
This week was a bit busy for new projects. First, I turned a set of curtain panels into a Queen Isabella costume. Back in November, I picked up two extra long velour looking curtains in green from our local Goodwill shop for $4 bucks. I sewed them together halfway up the back, folded them in half width wise and sewed up each side while leaving a hole at the top of each side for arm holes. This ended up being my Professor McGonagall robe for my 9 year old daughter's Harry Potter birthday party. I really should post about that sometime. Anyway, it's been hanging in my closet since then. A friend told me last week that her daughter had to be in a "Wax Museum" for school as Queen Isabellas so I pulled out the old curtain robe and turned this:
into this:

It's still weird to me that these were two curtains. It kind of ended up  looking like a biblical robe but that's just how it ended up. She was excited so that's all that matters.
I also needed a birthday gift for this Thursday so I used this great tutorial for a cute mug rug.
Here is my version:
I've got it turned wrong in the picture but, you get the idea. I love this pattern and will do it again.

Ongoing Projects:
The top for X Marks the Spot is done! And i figured out I have enough of the other fabric left over to do the back so I'm excited.
I'm so happy with it. The only thing I really messed up on was misjudging the size of the squares so it's more baby quilt size than lap quilt, but I'll fix that next time. Darn! I was just looking at it and found a mistake (not that there aren't lots of little mistakes but this is a bigger one!). Don't look too hard. I will fix it. This is why I need a design wall. Oh well. It's a good thing I didn't have the batting and back on already! I'm excited anyway. I'm still thinking of doing a quilt along for it if anyone is interested. 
It's funny to me that the inspiration for this came from a sunrise. Nothing about a sunrise here! But our church shows the words to songs up on screens in front of the church. Sometimes there are pictures or videos playing behind the words. Recently there was one of the sun rising on the water. There was a point where the middle of the sun hit the horizon and points of light jetted out in the form of an X. I originally wanted to do something with the circle in the middle of the X but my doodling led to this instead.

I did get some work done on the back of Random Reflections and will get it quilted this week (hopefully). Charm pack quilt is still sitting in the same spot. Sigh...

Completed Projects:

Road to Spring: this was blogged about for Blogger's Festival here so I won't repeat the story. This will be delivered in July.

Completed tops awaiting quilting or binding:
X will be here next week after I fix my boo-boo. Otherwise, none.

This week's stats: New projects - 2
Completed projects - 3
Currently in progress – 6 (Woohoo! One down!)

Goals for last week:
1. Prepare backing for Random Reflections (close)
2. two purses (one is pinned and ready to be cut; oh well)
3. more blocks for "X" quilt (top done with one mistake to be corrected)

Goals for this week:
1. finish RR backing and sandwich for quilting
2. get ONE purse done (due by 5/28 so no choice)
3. Fix X and get backing done

Happy quilting!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Overwhelmed...

I finished the top for "X Marks the Spot"! I'm very excited about how it looks and I'm doubly excited that I have plenty of material leftover to create a pieced back without having to buy any other fabric. Woohoo!
I am a bit behind now since I threw all my time into the "X". I have a bit of a "To Do" list now going on.
  1. Birthday gift to come up with for Thursday
  2. Revamping of curtains into a renaissance dress for one of the girl scouts for Friday
  3. Two birthday gifts for my kids to take to parties this weekend
  4. Two purses to make for a GS mom to give as gifts
  5. Finish my sister's quilt
  6. Finish the "X"
  7. Finish the Charm Pack quilt
It makes me tired thinking about it all.

On a less tired note, in all my perusing of quilts on Amy's Blogger's Festival I came across Sewn by Leila. She is planning a Skillbuilder Sampler quilt starting in June that I am very excited about. You can read about it here. So now we have overall general quilting lessons going on as we speak with Chasing Cottons, and then we can learn some new skills at Sewn when Rebecca's lessons are over. How cool is that?!
I will post pictures of the "X" tomorrow for WiP Wednesday. I've got to get to work!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Taking a break...

From the Blogger's Festival, that is! I was just looking at different quilts this morning, looked down at my watch and it was 11:30 already! Oh my. I have done nothing all morning but look at quilts. This will NOT do. There is laundry to do, clothes to put away, quilts of my own to sew. Time to get to work.

Hmmmm.....
I just spent an hour in my sewing room and did nothing. Ever have one of those days where that's all you want to do: nothing?
I did try to work on the border around my "X" quilt but I'm very frustrated. I can't figure out how to do what I want to do.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Relax, Don't Do It!

Not sure where that title came from but, the idea is to relax today. Take in some nature. Here's a picture I took to get you there mentally...
See you Monday and Happy Sewing!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Blogger's Festival

Amy's Creative Side
*Updated note: I noticed on another blogger refer to the Blogger's Quilt Festival as BQF. For some reason the first thing that popped in my head as I was reading was "Best Quilting Friend!" So that's what it is for me now; Best Quilting Friends!
Okay, so I have been absolutely killing myself to get one of my own designs ready to show at Blogger's Festival. However, it looks as if only the top will be finished to show. So I will give a sneak peek at the bottom of this post (I have been asked to do a quilt along for it so anyone who wants to come back for it, you are more than welcome!), and I will show a different quilt instead.

A couple of months ago a friend and I hit the sale section of the fabric in Hobby Lobby. I noticed several coordinating pink-based prints, but I am not a big pink person so my initial instinct was to pass. However, something kept leading my back to those prints so I finally decided to just purchase them for a possible donation quilt through my quilting guild.

When I got home I went online to get some ideas and almost immediately came across Randi's wonderful quilt along for the Road to Spring quilt. I immediately knew that was the quilt, and I immediately knew who the quilt was for. Back in November, my cousin and his wife lost their only daughter, Reagan, who was about a year and a half old.
I incorporated some fabrics I had in my stash and began sewing. I felt like I just knew how the whole quilt was supposed to look. I finished the top easily (though now I see places where I probably should have moved some fabrics around more!) and moved on to the back. The front is a mixture of girly colors, green for grass, pink leopard for when she was 'wild', polka dots, and a cute print that says 'Love' all over it. The back is a letter from me to Reagan.
I know it may sound crazy that I think it's a letter, but hear me out. The top is a synopsis of the fabrics from the front. Where on the front they are just a description of her and about being girly, on the back they are what we will miss about her. I cut out a small block of the "Love" fabric to put near the bottom as a sign-off for the letter. Then I added my label which states the name, that it is in memory of her and that I made it. I found a block of fabric that was just X's and O's that I started to cut a piece out of, but ended up deciding that she deserved all those hugs and kisses so I left it whole and attached it under my label. The very bottom is pieced to show the chaos of what we all feel now that she is gone. I still want to handquilt a couple of hearts on it here and there, but I just finished the binding last night and wanted to get it posted.

At first I couldn't really figure out why I was making a quilt in memory of her. I make lots of things but I really felt strongly led to make this quilt. My aunt told my cousin about it and he loved the idea. He wants it presented to his wife at a fun run they have sponsored in Reagan's name in July. And he wants it placed in a very special place. See, when she passed away, they asked for donations in lieu of flowers. These donations went to Courageous Kids out of Kentucky; they provide camp experiences for children with special needs. Well, undoubtedly the donations brought in enough were enough to 'purchase' a camp bed in her name there at the campsite (they actually name a bed after her). My cousin wants the quilt to go on 'Reagan's bed'. I just cried when I heard this because I didn't know about the bed in her name. I really feel like God just had his own plan with all of this.

So after all of that, I just wanted to show a quick peek at my quilt I am working on. Keep in mind that I have only been quilting less than a year (though I've been sewing for a while) and this is my first design. I was so anxious to get it done so I could actually see it in quilt form, it is far from perfect but I am happy with where it's going.
It's called "X Marks the Spot". This is only the top and I don't have the border on, but I'm getting there. I've been asked to do a quilt along for this one so stay tuned!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Progress...

Okay, so I hated to let the day go by without any post at all so...I've stayed up half the night sewing (well, it's past midnight so I guess it's tomorrow already!) and Road to Spring is finished! Binding is on! Also, I have been working very hard trying to get "X Marks the Spot" ready to post for Blogger's Festival. I don't know that I will make it but I'm going to try. I will probably only get the top done, though I don't know if that's acceptable. We'll see. So far I've finished the top row and 2/3 of the middle row. I just need to finish that end of the 2nd row, the two blocks on the bottom, and add the border. That's doable, right? Plus everyone has decided they need me to make stuff so I'm not sure how this is going to work but I'M TRYING!
I will post pics of Road to Spring ASAP.
Good night....

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Happy Birthdays and Anniversaries!

Today is a very special day. My little sister turns 40 today. She lives about 240 miles away so I will unfortunately not get to see her on her birthday. So Happy Birthday Sis!

Hope you like your gift! It's not complete yet but, here's a big hint. It's 'random' and you can 'reflect' on it! It will look a lot better when I get the back on it, but I'm getting there.

I hope your hubbie and kids are great to you today! Tell them to give me sis a happy birthday squeeze for me!

Also, one of my blogging buddies is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary today. Linz has been working on something in secret but has promised to reveal it today in celebration of her anniversary. I'm dying to find out what it is. So far, no pictures. But I figure we have to give her time to tell her hubbie "Happy Anniversary," right?

On a side note, several people mentioned a quilt along or tutorial for my "X Marks the Spot" quilt so I'm trying my hand at that. I just want to make sure everything works before I start posting it.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

WiP Wednesday #7


WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Internet issues all morning. Aarrgh! Now, where were we?
Wow, Wednesday again already? I think Lee is making the weeks shorter for so we can do WiP Wednesday again! But I did get some quilting done this week so I feel like progress was made!

Ongoing Projects: Road to Spring is quilted!

Now I just need to decide whether to add black binding on the left or the pink on the right. I could also do the pale pink if I get up enough fabric. Any thoughts?

I purchased backing material for Random Reflections and will start on the piecing portion of that this week. I hope to get it together so I can get it pinned for quilting as well.

Unfortunately there were a few ongoing projects that had no progress this week. The charm pack quilt sits in the same spot as last week.  I also got nothing done on the string quilt. Sigh... though I did sew on 5 Girl Scout patches this week as well!
New Projects: 

Well, remember this fabric?
Well, I went through several ideas before finally deciding to sew up one of my own designs. I'm calling it "X Marks the Spot" for the moment, though that may change.

I've made two blocks so far and I love where it's going. However, it's a good thing God let the first block come together the way it did. If the second block had been the first one I was making for it, I would have quit. Wrong fabrics sewn together, wrong squares sewn together, plenty of seam ripper use. It was not fun. I was no longer excited about my quilt. But it finally came together so we'll see where it goes now. I also like it in this direction.

I also have two purses to make for a friend out of the following fabric.
The stripe is the liner, with the other fabrics being the outer fabrics.
  
Completed Quilts awaiting quilting:
None
Completed Quilts awaiting binding:

On Hold:
Fancy Stripes quilt 


This week's stats: New projects - 1 
Completed projects - 0
Currently in progress – 7


Goals for the week:
1. Prepare backing for Random Reflections
2. two purses
3. more blocks for "X" quilt

Off subject but funny, this is what happens when you have a hubbie in the medical field and squirrels that won't leave the bird feeder alone.

Don't forget to check out other quilters' progress over at Lee's WiP!


So far the hemostat is doing an excellent job 'locking' the top so the squirrels can't get in, thank you very much!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Making Mistakes

Don't you hate it when you mess up? I was working on block number two of my own "X Marks the Spot" quilt. I had begun sewing the squares together and began working on strip number two when I noticed something. See, in this quilt there are black/white HSTs, there are green/black HSTs, and there are are print/green HSTs.
Yeah, see that stack on the upper right side? What are those? They sure don't look like print with green. Not like the one I fixed right below them. Luckily I only did enough for one block; I was being lazy and only doing one block at a time but this time it was a good thing. Now I have to pull out the old seam ripper and undo all of them so I can affix them to green instead. Unfortunately they have also already been trimmed so I have to be especially careful. Fortunately, they are being attached to green that hasn't been trimmed yet so that will give me a little play room (thank goodness!). I blame this on Cinco de Mayo.
I really wanted to get another block done for WiP Wednesday. We'll see how much work I get done today. Hopefully a lot.
Have you ever done anything that set you back on a project?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all you moms out there have a wonderful day of quiet solitude, with no arguing, no whining, no breaking of objects and lots of love from your kids! Well, one of five will have to do!

*Teensy update: Road to Spring quilt is quilted!Woohoo! Here's a little peek! Binding next, then done!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe...

Around here we are currently in the midst of t-ball/baseball season. My son is 5 so they get several chances to hit a pitched ball before relying on the use of the tee.  We've had several games thus far and Little Man has been harbouring a deep longing for the game ball. Well, it finally happened. We played two games this week and he not only received the game ball, but he also received a different kind of ball at Monday night's game.
You got it; he got the tough guy ball! He was running from first to second when a kid from the opposing team went to tag him. Instead of going for he body, the kid went for his face. He basically hit him in the face with the hand that had the ball inside the glove. I realize these are 5-6 year olds but I think someone needs to let them know we don't aim for the face! Luckily he was fine but he did cry (he's pretty good about not crying unless it really hurts though). Another kid got the game ball that night but one of the coaches came up with the idea of giving Little Man the "Tough Guy" ball for taking a hit and getting right back in the game. So, here's this kid who's been waiting for a game ball and which one do you think is his favorite? You betcha. The game ball is great but, a "Tough Guy" ball? That's cool. No one else has one of those. He may have just graduated to Big Man!