Sunday, September 30, 2012

A Call for Prayers

My brother in law found out Friday morning that he has colon cancer. Not sure yet but it may have metastasized to his liver. He and I went to school together and are the same age (both 44 this year) so we have known each longer than I have known my husband (his brother). He has two kids that are 14 and 16 years of age, and a family that loves him very much. Any prayers sent his way would be greatly appreciated. He and his wife are probably going to have a rough time of it for a while with treatment; it is still so new that he hasn't even met with an oncologist yet. Luckily hubby works at the hospital where he will be receiving treatment and it is likely that, as a pharmacist, he will probably be mixing his chemo. Please just keep him in your thoughts and prayers right now.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

So Much To Choose From!

Have you guys seen all the wonderful blog hops and QAL's popping up all over quilty blogland lately? Here are a few I'm especially excited about.

Cathedral Window Sampler QAL

The Cathedral Windows blog hop will enlist the help of 9 bloggers who will give different takes on the cathedral window for a variety of projects. There will be a different project/tutorial throughout October. And there are prizes, oh yes! Don't forget the prizes for any projects you or I may do!


she can quilt
There is also a ModPop QAL at she can quilt,

a Fall Blog Hop at SewCalGal starting Monday October 1,

Ellison Lane Quilts 
and a Scrappy Blog Hop over Ellison Lane Quilts starting October 9.

Oh, and don't forget to link up any quilts you donate for kids to Katie's 100 Quilts for Kids Linky Party over at SwimBikeQuilt. That closes on October 15 so get them in quickly!


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Mommy Motivation and Let's Do the Hustle!

I got motivated this weekend! I have often thought in the past about cooking up some freeze ahead meals and this weekend I decided to go for it. I spent all morning yesterday cooking and I now have 8 meals in the freezer and two ready to cook in my fridge for this week. Woohoo! I'm going to hit the wholesale store to get some volume ground beef and do some beef cooking next. The cooking I did yesterday was all chicken: chicken and broccoli lo mein, cheesy chicken and penne with vegetables, chicken enchilada casserole and chicken with rice.

I'm also getting ready to get some sewing done.
Kelsey Sews

Here is my list for this:
1. Finish at least the top for my Carpenter's Wheel quilt.

2. Finish the top for my Rainbow Double Slice quilt.

3. Finish at least the top for my Yule Pop quilt.

4. Make and send out my Pay It Forward crafts. Already started on this but there are 3 things to create.

5. Finish the top for this quilt.

6. Quilt my jellyroll race quilt.

I know. Overly ambitious. But many are just tops so hopefully I can put a dent in them!

Friday, September 21, 2012

I Almost Forgot...

I wanted to give a 'thank you' shout out to Tamara at ButtonMad; I was one of 60 people to win a set of their wonderful handmade Incomparable Buttons. Have you seen them? Too cute! I can't wait to see what I get. The little bird ones on the blog header are so cute but I will love whatever gets here I'm sure. Wouldn't these be so cute for fall?
L108 painted autumn fall leaves
Being musical, I also love these...
L210 music buttons
but I think I'm in love with the little turtles.
L123 tortoise buttons

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Projects and Presents...

OMG, I just got my next Mini Mystery Round Robin block yesterday and I have no idea what to do with it. I LOVE the colors in this one. Got to do some thinking on what to add...

I'm also thinking about how to add a new laundry hamper system to my bedroom closet. See, hubby recently decided to take out all of the white coated metal Closet Maid stuff and put in some "wood" Closet Maid stuff so it now looks like this. Here's my side...
and his side.
The end looks like this...
which leads one to think... where is the laundry hamper? Good question. Right now clothes just get piled in the floor until I move them. So I was thinking about making a hanging laundry bag to that dress section since I don't really wear dresses. I've been playing around looking online and I think I know what I want. I just have to do it. The ones I really like have a zipper in the bottom for unloading. I have some fabric I could use that was left over from both of my past laundry bag projects; some Amy Butler decorator fabric and some canvas, both of which can be seen here.

Presents? Did I mention presents? Oh, yes I did. Remember when I mentioned that my MIL and I found a common love for Fiesta Ware dishes? Yup, she did it.
My birthday is not until November but she got a really great deal on them yesterday (and she doesn't wait well so she went ahead and gave them to me!). We both loved the idea of a mixed set of colors. She already bought all of hers so these are for me! I love them! Lemongrass, marigold, peacock, and flamingo. I can't pick a favorite.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

WiP Wednesday...Where I'm Back on Track!

So Seussical is over and I've been sewing. I've been trying to get my Carpenter's Wheel quilt done for my bed. This was the quilt I was originally making for my bed. Then I decided to put the Bottled Rainbows on it. Then I washed it. Yeah, dumb move. It shrank just enough that it was a bit too small for my bed. I have a sleigh bed and I need the drop on the sides to be long enough to cover the mattresses. So here is the most recent block.

I'm also contemplating which set up to use for putting them together. I was originally looking at regular side by side...

but now I'm thinking about putting them on point.
What do you think?

I've also got another Double Slice quilt in the works that you can see here. This one was a quilting guild project this weekend.
  WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Monday, September 17, 2012

A Whole Lotta Sewing Going On!

Yes, I have actually gotten some sewing done this week so far! Saturday was our Saturday Sewcial for quilting guild and they decided to do the Double Slice Layer Cake Quilt by Missouri Star Quilt Co. Luckily I'd already done this one once before, Mack's quilt. I decided to use up some of my 10" squares I acquired in a rainbow layer cake swap I did not too long ago over at Distant Pickles. It's going to be very bright but I like it. I didn't get mine totally sewn together because I had to come home and trim up the blocks. Unfortunately not everyone's 10" is the same... but that's okay! It all works out in the wash and this quilt is very forgiving.
I'm still working on getting it placed together.
Then there's what's up on my design board. The little bit I've done on a gray, yellow and aqua Granny Square quilt, and what I've done on a Christmas Soda Pop quilt (Yule Pop).
Yes, if you look closely in the middle of the left side you can see my red and white hexie in a pile back there in on the bedside table in the extra bedroom.
Oh, and don't forget the Carpenter's Wheel quilt. I went back on all the squares and removed the print corners, replacing them with white. I had seen a few online and I liked how it gave a bit of a secondary design with the white plus signs. Here they are all draped on my quilt rack.
And here's the one on the floor, ready to be sewn together.
I didn't mean for it to, but I think this quilt is going to end up a little Christmas-ey looking color wise! So I have been working!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

WiP and a A Tribute from the Hubby

As some of you know, I posted yesterday about our cat, Misty, who passed away Tuesday morning. I wish I'd waited to post it because my hubby sent out an email to our family about her death that I thought was so sweet and eloquent that I just had to include it here.

We lost a very special member of our family today.  Misty T. Cat (T. stands for The) was born July 18, 1992.  She allowed me to share her home for 20 years, and  adjusted to many additions to her household over the years.  She accepted another female into the household in 1998 and learned to love her.  She raised a Labrador and two children, patiently training them the proper way to treat a feline.  She was a stern disciplinarian  (swats and nips issued firmly but lovingly) and very protective of her family (invading lizards were always dealt capital punishment).  She was gracious enough to allow us to pet and feed her as much as we liked.  The last few years were tough for her, but she managed to continue in her matriarchal role for as long as possible.  We love her and will miss her, and I am grateful to have had the privilege. I know that tonight she is a fuzzy gray nebula in the starry sky who will always watch over us.

I also wanted to include my sewing feats for the week: a Noodlehead clutch for a friend and another Carpenter's Wheel to add to my small stack.
I now have 5 of these jewels but more are needed to cover my bed. Onward and upward!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A Death in the Family...

I just went downstairs and found our cat, Misty. She was 20 years old so she had a very long life for a cat. She hasn't been doing very well lately and I knew it was coming, but it was still a shock to find her. I'm a bit of a basket case right now since I'm home alone to deal with it, and I don't know how I'm going to tell my kids. My daughter has been especially loving with her for the past year or so and I know she's going to take it hard. Luckily I think it will make her feel better that Misty HAS been having some sickness lately so it will help her to know that she is no longer in pain. Taking a day of mourning for a loved pet...

Monday, September 10, 2012

Back to Work...Well, Sewing Work Anyway!

I made a Noodlehead clutch for a friend in the musical. She loved it and was already using it before the next day.  She was very sweet and helped me a lot with my makeup and stuff so I just wanted to do a little something for her before the end of the run. I also added a flower pin.



I know the pictures aren't great but they were taken with my cell phone in the dressing room... and I still have a dumb phone. Today I'm going to finish up a Carpenter's Wheel and start another (hopefully). Of course, I've also got to start doing a good clean on my house; it's sort of gotten away from me during the course of the show.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Last Seussical Today...

Well, we have our last Seussical performance today and it is bittersweet. It will be nice to get my time back but I have enjoyed doing this so much. I will definitely audition again. They are doing Spamalot in the Spring and I would just die to be the Lady of the Lake. I have a lot of weight to lose before attempting that though. That in mind, I have actually lost 10 pounds doing this show! I think it cam from eating a late lunch and not eating dinner very often. I'm hungry when I get home but I usually only want a couple of bites of something before bed so I don't feel hungry while trying to sleep. So this means I'm back to sewing and blogging. I actually already finished something yesterday for a friend but I've got to work out the Picasa monthly payments to get the picture posted. Not sure if this will work but here is the link to the clutch I made in flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59475950@N04/7963793176/in/photostream/
See you guys tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

WIP Wednesday

Still doing Seussical; shows all this weekend starting tomorrow night but I did get some sewing done. A gray, aqua, and yellow block here, and another one there.
I've also been working on another Carpenter's Wheel block. But it looks as if I have reached my 1 GB limit. I figured out a way around it before by lowering the size of the pictures to about 100 KB each but it appears I have maxed out again. I will have to see how to get around this. Hope your day is better!


Monday, September 3, 2012

Check it Out!

I didn't get to go but our quilting guild had the grand reveal on all the Bottled Rainbows projects this past week. A friend took mine in for me. There was a blind voting for the winner but I knew Diane would win because I'd seen some of her blocks. How gorgeous is this?
Diane did her own take on the quilt and I think it is just stunning. She won another quilt as her prize.

Don't you love it when someone is able to take a specific project and really make it their own? I know we all change fabrics and maybe even change the size of the project, but I love the idea of taking it a huge step further as she did with this quilt. Just amazing.

Are you doing anything fun this Labor Day! Hubby decided he was tired of the the Closet Made stuff in our bedroom closet and is currently redoing it all. Have you ever wondered just how much stuff is in your closet? Yeah, right now I wish I didn't know.
I'm really hoping it gets done before bedtime tonight because, otherwise, we will be sleeping in the guest bedroom!

Oh yeah, looking for a giveaway? Check over at Toni's website, SewFrench. You could win a $25 gift card to Pink Chalk Fabrics or Amazon. How cool is that? And definitely check out her blog while you're there. She does great work!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Just a Little Picture...

This is our Seussical cast picture. Sorry it's  not real clear. I had to scan it in.
I am dead center above the Cat. We have been having a blast. Now, back to the sewing room to work on my Carpenter Wheel block!