Kigwit's Thoughtful Spot

Ready for quilting

2012-01-25T09:55:00.002-06:00

Final border is on and the binding is made. Now to quilt this one. And the Sparkle Plenty. And the 12 Days of Christmas.

Hmmm. I have a lot of quilting to do!

12 Days of Christmas Quilt

2012-01-24T09:03:00.001-06:00

Well, I could not help myself. I kept seeing all of the 12 Days of Christmas quilts from the Temecula Quilt Shop blog . These little quilts are just so cute.

Originally I had planned to make one using Jo Morton's Crimson Bouquet line-golds, greens, reds so it would be a Christmas quilt. But instead I decided to use browns and pinks for a more Valentine-y quilt.

Here is my little top. I just finished it last night. It's not quilted and it's a little larger than I thought it would be. There's also some errors in it but who cares?

it's a top!

2012-01-20T20:29:00.003-06:00

Quadrant 3

2012-01-20T09:38:00.001-06:00

Finished quad 3 last night. Only had to rip a couple of seams and I only stopped because I was tired and started making mistakes. I really hope I can finish this top tonight! I would love to have it quilted by Monday and finished so I can see it on the wall and see if it measures up to my imagination.

quad 1 & 2

2012-01-19T11:44:00.000-06:00

Halfway there! I did rip out part of quad 1. A couple of times actually as I kept sewing it the wrong way. I did much better following my layout on quad 2. I only ripped out one seam that was really bugging me.

I'm pleased with how it is looking! I really love this pattern.

Quadrant 1

2012-01-18T13:03:00.000-06:00

Stitched this up on my Featherweight (!) last night. I had to rip it out a couple times and darned if there isn't still a mistake in there! When I put it away last night I said to myself -it's fine, you can live with it.

Well, no I can't. See there are two places where identical squares are either adjacent or touching. So tonight I rip it out again and hopefully the material can stand it one more time!

sparkle plenty

2012-01-17T14:32:00.000-06:00

Am still working on the Sparkle Plenty quilt. That's 144 squares up there. But you can kind of see where I am going.

UFO list

2011-12-31T12:21:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess it's that time of year again. Time to make a list of my UFOs.

1. Plum Creek Penny rug: need to finish vines, pennies and backing.

2. PA Dutch: eight blocks to go

3. Pilgrims Pride: Stuck on the border

4. Winter River: border and finishing

5. Nautical & Nice: to border or not to border, that is the question

6. Broderie Perse Tree of Life: still quilting

7. Cozy Cabin: I am going to take of the borders and trim so they fit better.

8. Summer Sampler: three done, nine to go.

Still irritated at QQ for messing up my schedule.

I have a couple of other projects that I started recently:

orange circle quilt-just started this fall
sparkle plenty-just started in December
pinwheel quilt-just started in December

Pressies from my amazing swap partner!

2011-12-26T09:32:00.001-06:00

I have to say that I was amazed by the contents of my Santa Sack! As you can see, Barb does exquisite work. Her stitches are exactly perfect and I love absolutely every bit! After I opened my pressies, DH said Wow, Barb really went all out! In the first picture you can see the table runner, a penny pocket stuffed with Cosmo threads (which I have been dying to try), a charm pack of Happy Campers which is my all time favorite line of fabric, a darling pin cushion, a pattern and fat quarter for a wallet, a tote bag with mini squares and a huswif with another beautifully embroidered pin cushion-with needles, and scissors, rick rack, pins and two adorable wooden buttons!

Here's a close up of some of the stitching on the runner.

And here's a close of of the huswif.

And look at this pincushion!

Barb instructed me to open one package on Christmas eve. She made placemats for each of us with our names on them! My boyos were thrilled to be included Barb!

And finally, take a look at this sweet bird! She will keep me company at my sewing machine.

Barb, thank you so much for your incredibly beautiful and generous gifts. I will treasure each and think of you every time I use them.

Santa Sack 2 gifties for Barb

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

What did I send Barb? I hope she likes it as her gifts to me were just amazing!

wrist pincushion
scarlet today needles
needlecase
thread tin
ME kit
thread and bubbles
birds
wire quilt stand
The final gift was a mini quilt to go one the stand.

Corners of my home

2011-12-06T13:25:00.001-06:00

Second week of advent! We're preparing inside and out for Christmas.

Aren't these cupcake potholders adorable? They and the magazine are from my Australian Santa Swap partner, Barb.

I made this mini wall hanging over the weekend. I bought the kit at the Houston Quilt Festival from White Swan Quilts. Too cute!

These are a few Christmas aprons hanging in my kitchen. The one in the middle I made with my sister years ago-maybe when I was still in high school. The spotty one on the right I made for my Gma.

I made this cookie advent calendar for the boyos a couple of years ago. Red announced that Tig would pull cookies out of the bowl on the odd days and he would do the evens. Good idea!

These are plates I put up every December in my kitchen. Most of them have St. Lucia on them and the other two have Swedish motifs. I always get very Swedish this time of year!

We don't yet have up the Christmas tree but it is coming!

Happy Birthday Auntie!

2011-11-18T19:07:00.001-06:00

This was the birthday present I sent my auntie. When I packed it, I was worried the little penny rug would get lost in the tissue paper so I wrapped it in a piece of neon green tissue paper and wrote on the card that she should look for it. Well, she didn't and threw the tissue paper in the dumpster! She emailed me and thanked me for the turkey but not the penny rug so I called her and told her to look for it-that's how I found out it was in the dumpster. My aunt's husband, who is obviously awesome, dug in the dumpster until he found it for her! She is pleased to have all of her birthday present.

So now I am stitching a matching penny rug for me-in honor of Ray!

Cute!

2011-11-08T13:37:00.000-06:00

Bought this miniature at the Quilt Festival! I liked to so much I bought a second one in different colors for my aunt's Christmas present.

Wool Crazy

2011-11-03T22:44:00.000-05:00

Well, guess I have a wool stash now! I've spent two days at the quilt show and I still need several pieces for a pattern I bought!

Ornament Swap

2011-10-28T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is a little ornament I made for the Jo Morton Stitchers ornament swap. I also included as a little gift, three fat eighths of Jo fabric, some hexi paper pieces and a tube of needles. I hope my swap partner likes it!

I should have made two as I have another swap for Betsy-Tacy coming up. I'm hoping to get back into the sewing room. This weekend I need to tune up my featherweight as I'm taking a maintenance class at the quilt show, stitch up my final swap for Santa Sack 2 and stitch a little something to go along with my aunt's birthday present next week.

We're ready!

2011-10-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

Red has his first loose tooth. So today I made his little pillow for the tooth fairy. I was afraid the tooth would come out before I got the pillow made.

Growing up so fast. . .

2011-10-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Magpie went off to the Homecoming Dance tonight. Not only is she beautiful but she's in all AP classes, can knit, sew and is working on a quilt for her little sister! Love this girl!

My gorgeous bag!

2011-09-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

This is the bag that my swap partner, Barb, sent me. Isn't the embroidery just perfect? Coincidentally, we used the same fabric line-Flurry!

Goodies for Barb

2011-09-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

Just a peek at the goodies I sent to Barb!

Cozy Cabin

2011-09-11T18:26:00.000-05:00

Jan Patek had a free pattern download on her blog-and you could order a scrap bag and a tiny 2.5 inch charm pack. So this is what I did today! I still need to tone down that little window-it's far too white for this little runner.

Finished Quilts!

2011-08-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

This is the Happy Camper quilt I made for DH. I bought it as a kit last year at the Houston International Quilt Festival. I'm really glad that I finished it before Festival this year!
This is the backing for the quilt. I just love it's retro goodness!

Isn't this quilting beautiful? Karen the Quilter did a great job. I love the leaves. I asked for brown thread and I really like it because it spruces up some of the bland white/light tan blocks.

This is the Shades of Blue bluebonnet lap quilt. I was hoping to finish it in time for my dear friend's brain surgery but she got the jump on me. Unfortunately she will be having another surgery, so I will save it for then or give it to her for Christmas.

I was trying to show the great quilting here.

And here is the back. Love that bluebonnet batik. I even went back and bought a couple more yards of it. You can really see the nice quilting here.

Mini Quilts

2011-08-29T10:03:00.001-05:00

These are my mini quilts hanging on the art wire in our kitchen. The Pinwheel quilt is from Houseelf. The others are by yours truly. The very orange one was made during a non-eventful tropical storm and hand-quilted in the non-electricity days after Ike. Still not finished with that! The star is from the first quilt class I ever took. The alphabet one is from a blog (can't remember which one) and the pastel one is from out of my head!

Santa Sack 2 for Barb!

2011-08-28T21:57:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of the bag I made for my Santa Sack partner, Barb. The pattern is from the Fall issue of Quilts and More. I used Flurry by Kate Spain. I love that line and I hope Barb likes it. This project was a good excuse to purchase this fabric! It is a roomy tote and has a tie on the inside that you can't see in this picture.

ETA: I just saw Barb's post on the Santa Sack 2 blog. We both used Flurry! Guess Carol knew what she was doing when she matched us!!!!

Been busy

2011-08-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

I have been busy working on things but some I can't post due to the Santa Sack Swap. Don't want to ruin the surprises for my swap partner Barb.

In other exciting news, I received a PIF from Houseelf! Isn't this pinwheel quilt adorable? It was beautifully wrapped in red polka dotted paper and tied with red ribbon-I was too excited to take a picture of it before I opened it. Thank you Houseelf!Houseelf also sent a Wind in the Willows greeting card. I've got it up in my office. We both love Willows so I love the card. (Sorry about the glare!) You can see Toad, Ratty and Mole down in the lower right-hand corner. Canary colored carts! The way it works, when you receive a PIF, is that you have one year to Pay-It-Forward to three people. I don't know if I have three people reading this blog but if you are interested in receiving a PIF let me know!

I'm still slowly working on my first applique block for my applique group. I'm going to finish this project but I think I need a project with variety. This one big ole piece of red is getting to me.

I also received two quilts back from Karen the Quilter. Haven't taken pics of those yet but they are gorgeous! I'll try to get pics up later this week.

Good deals

2011-07-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

You can get some good deals when your LQS decides to close up shop. I bought these books from Quakertown.

Some little FQs that Tig picked out.

Yardage that was 50% off. The wheels match Tig's FQs. The starry navy will be a quilt back for my sailboat quilt. The rest goes to the stash.

Time to clean house!

2011-07-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

I share my sewing area with my DH so I have less than half of a very small bedroom. Happily, DH gave me the closet side-and even removed the doors for me. It's gotten to be such a mess! I've got a laundry basket full of fabric that needs to be washed-mostly Jo Morton! I'm cutting up DH's old jeans for a raggedy quilt so I have many pairs of those lying around-and one pair to be mended. Mustn't confuse those!

I spent much of Sunday afternoon reorganizing and washing fabric. I really need to move out all of my spinning stuff out. I haven't been doing it much since I had the boyos and those tubs of wool take up a lot of space. Why on earth do I have so much? I remember that one tub is full of samples of wool from all different kinds of sheep. I should go ahead and finish that sample notebook so I can enjoy it!

Churn Dash Blocks

2011-07-23T20:38:00.000-05:00

My Patriotic Churn Dash Block Exchange came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aren't they gorgeous? I need to make a couple more and the figure out the setting. Can't let these beauties go to waste!

Happy Birthday DH

2011-07-19T08:44:00.000-05:00

A day off

2011-07-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

So I had scheduled Thursday and Friday off this week to spend with Magpie for her birthday. Unfortunately her parents muddled her visitation dates which left Magpie sobbing-Oh the drama of a young teenage girl! I swapped my Thursday for Monday, her actual birthday, and now Magpie is all smiles again.

So today I slept in until 10-and so did the kids! That never happens. Then we breakfasted on homemade granola, homemade yogurt, homemade strawberry jam and home baked bread. All very good except the bread. It used to be my favorite recipe and this loaf was not so good. It was fairly salty and I used the recommended amount of salt. I lingered over my tea in my pjs. Then Tig and I dressed and went over to my LQS. They are closing and I wanted to find out about the summer sampler I've been doing. Tig picked up a few FQs with tires and tractors and I found a Jo Morton book. I also found out that I will have to mail order the remaining sampler blocks and pay shipping. V. irritating. I don't mind paying shipping if it's reasonable but this will be more than the block costs! Ah well. It's either that or don't finish the sampler.

This afternoon we are just hanging out at home and eating ice cream. But tonight Magpie and I are off to see The Mikado!

ETA: We had a great time at the Mikado last night. Pooh-Bah was excellent-the best I've ever seen. I actually think he was better than Alastair Donkin as KoKo. This season is also the last time that Ralph Katz will sing the Mikado. He is retiring this year. I did notice that he had to force a little to sing but obviously he was enjoying himself-and so were we!

Needleturn

2011-07-11T10:44:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a needleturn class (for free) with my teacher from the Broderie Perse class. In this class, we trace the pattern onto freezer paper and iron the cutout onto the fabric. Trace around with a fabric pen and there's the pattern!

I am super slow doing this so I try to do a little each day. We only meet once a month, so I am hoping I can have this block finished for our next meeting.

New hat and what ya gonna do?

2011-07-11T10:26:00.000-05:00

New hat for Red due to the Great Kayak Capsize of 2011: Of course, we capsized in about three inches of water at the beach but it was enough excitement to lose a hat. Actually, we lost two but the guy that helped me right the kayak picked up Tig's hat.

I used the pattern from the Oliver + S book, Little Things to Sew. I bought the book expressly to make this hat because Red has a big head and it's hard to find bucket hats that fit. The pattern only goes up to 21 inch size and his melon is 21.5, so I embiggened the pattern. It fits me as well, although I will make the crown deeper for me. I also didn't follow the construction of the hat. I made two hats and then sewed them right sides together, turned, and closed the opening on the brim. Then I did a million rounds of sewing on the brim. I also only used interfacing on the rocket ship side-mainly because I did the rodeo side first as a fit check and didn't want to waste the interfacing if it didn't fit. Red is thrilled but claims he won't wear it kayaking because he doesn't want to lose it. I can always make more!

And in somber news, my local-est LQS is closing: Quakertown Quilts. They announced it in their newsletter last week. They are keeping their online business as well as their second location (about a 90 minute drive away). Am very disappointed to hear it. However, for the last few years they have had very little stock. So much so, that even though I tried to give them my business I often left the store empty-handed. The Summer Sampler is through this store and we can buy the blocks from the other location and pay shipping. QQ has been around for twenty years. Their liquidation sale starts on Thursday with 25% off everything. Sad.

Summer Sampler week 3

2011-07-03T20:36:00.000-05:00

Here is block 3 of the Summer Sampler. So far I am keeping up with the weekly block. We are one quarter of the way through! Below are the three blocks I have made.

Summer Sample week 2

2011-06-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Summer Sampler Week 2! (And I did fix block 1-I just couldn't stand it!) Sorry for the crooked picture, I was tired when I took the pic.

And here are the blocks I sent off for the Jo Morton block exchange.

Summer Sampler

2011-06-19T14:32:00.000-05:00

Quakertown Quilts is holding a Weekly Summer Sampler for twelve weeks. Each week you can buy the fabric and pattern for $3. The blocks finish at 9 inches. I just finished this week's block.As you can see, this Sampler will be Christmassy! One of the print blocks isn't going in the same direction as the others. Am trying not to obsess over it, am trying not to rip it out and re-sew. . .

On my vacation this year. . .

2011-06-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

We spent most of the week up at the lake-swimming, kayaking and going off my diet. (There may have been a box of Milk Duds involved.) My husband bought me some loot at the Heavenly Threads Quilt Shop in Trinity. I have really been wanting the Civil War Sewing Circle book-am really glad to have it. The two panels there have tools all over them-had to get two for my tool obsessed boyos! I was also happy to get some Scarlet Today needles. I really like those for stitching on muslin. I started on a stitchery while at the lake and lost a good needle. I'll post a pic of that when I get further along.

Tree pinning

2011-05-31T20:02:00.000-05:00

Here is a really dreadful picture of my tree with all the applique on it. I worked on it for hours getting each piece just so and had a ton of work to do for my quilt class the next day. Then as I moved it from design wall to the ironing board everything fell off. I sat down and cried and cried. Fortunately I had taken a picture prior to moving it so I had a record of where things went. I was able to get it back in order-mostly. Then I gave up and went to bed.

I rose early the next morning, had to have it all done before class, and cut the batting and the backing. Moved everything to the kitchen table and began to pin. Then I stabbed myself with one of the pins and began to bleed on the quilt! Why yes, I did freak out. I tried to get the blood out but found I was still dripping blood on to the quilt!

All was not lost. Sanity prevailed and I backed away from the quilt. Washed my hands and took myself back to the sewing room and did the rest of my homework and packed up my machine and all the etc for my class. That done, I washed my hands, examined them for bleeding(!), and finished pinning the quilt.

Quilting is supposed to be fun, right? Well, at class my teacher complimented me on my layout. And when we were doing the free motion practice on our samples she told me I didn't need to practise and I could go ahead and get to work. That made me feel a lot better! Especially because, at 42, I am the baby of the class and they think I know absolutely nothing!

Of course, they do know one thing I don't: Bring your doggone glasses so you can see what you are doing!!!!!

nest

2011-05-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

Was blown out of a tree due to high winds.

Bare tree

2011-05-21T19:58:00.000-05:00

Am taking a class. Here's what I made today.

Sometime in April or was it May?

2011-05-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

This is actually a 4 1/2 inch block. It's all the quilting I've done since my Gma died in March.

I'm hoping to change that soon.

Sailing away

2011-03-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

So here is my finished sailboat quilt top. I am toying with adding a navy blue border but for now I am going to just leave it. The binding with be in navy blue.

Out to sea. . .

2011-03-01T12:29:00.000-06:00

Well, February was a long month but I didn't do much in the way of sewing. I made a couple of these blocks, mended a pair of jeans, hemmed some pants. . . and picked up the TimeOut Socks for DH. I ripped out the heel and, with much counting, accurately turned the heel for a 72 stitch sock. I didn't really feel like knitting them but it was our anniversary so I've been slogging through them.

I had planned to start a Schnibbles quilt in Feb but I didn't get past the sorting the charm packs stage. Feb is always a tough month. So I wanted some NBK, er NBQ (no brain quilting) and pulled out this jelly roll. I'm planning to do a rail fence on either side of the panel. The picture shows the panel folded in half because my design wall is very small! I like it so far. It's Nautical and Nice fabric by Sandy Gervais.

Winter River

2011-01-24T12:22:00.000-06:00

Not my normal palette, is it? There's a lot of reasons I'm working on it but still too hard to write about.

I'm thinking of quilting this with "be still and know that I am God."

Still trying to decide if I will add the outer border. BTW, this was another "free" pattern from the fabric manufacturer. The fir trees in this pic and the one on the pattern all show the trees in their usual vertical orientation. However, if you follow the pattern directions, those trees point in all different directions. I was seriously irritated as I had cut out all my fabric and did not discover this until I began to sew the pieces together. It really bugs me when free patterns do this. I believe the designers are working from proofsheets and are not actually test sewing the patterns before release. Andover does this as well. Most infuriating.

I do, however, love the panel. I can just hear the water trickling beneath the ice and snow.

Things to Remember

2011-01-19T09:58:00.000-06:00

As an INFP, I need to remember that I need to find instrinsic motivation in a task. Procrastination has been my enemy since last April. As I'm not motivated by extrinsic motivation, I need to find what does motivate me.
I will spend this semester in FTCM learning. If I continue to be interested then I can apply to UD for the Fall.
I chatted with the FTCM instructor briefly last night. I told her I thought the program would be more academically rigorous. She said that this first portion isn't meant to be-it's to ease us into our study. So I'll give this a go.
My DH is totally awesome for supporting me. I'm currently teaching on Mondays, taking a class on Tuesday, and will be teaching on Thursday evenings beginning in February. He's totally cool with it.
Last night I made cards with Red's spelling words on them. He was NOT pleased at all. Even chocolate failed to bribe him. DH said he did work on the sight words with him but Red was not pleased.
We took the boyos to Seawolf Park on Monday. We had a great time but I didn't take any pics! Can't believe that. But I did journal it in my moleskin.
Am about to leave for a meeting. What's a nice girl like me doing in a job like this? LOL

7 Quick Takes - January 14, 2011

2011-01-14T12:18:00.000-06:00

I am so tired today and don't know why. It's been a long, hard week meeting-wise. Next week our students come back so I better eat my Wheaties.
My FTCM class was wonderful! Our instructor for Ministry is this brilliant, intelligent, and Spirit-filled woman. I came out of class aware of just how ignorant I am. It's going to be great. I kind of wonder if this program is mostly sit n' git kind of instruction? I know we have to write papers for each topic but I wonder what the academic rigor will be. I'm still considering the Online Catholic Biblical School at UD for next year.
Did very little sewing this week although the boatload of fabric I ordered last week showed up. I finished Red's fingerless gloves (except for sewing in the ends) and started mine. I actually finished one hand (nearly all in one meeting!) but I think I will make the second hand slightly smaller and see which I prefer. No matter-it's a quick knit.
I want to finish Winter Whispers this weekend. It's cold outside and I will appreciate it. And I want to do something else.
Paid holiday on Monday! The boyos are very excited to have the day off. Tig (aged 3) started off Monday of this week complaining of the inequalities of five days at school and only two "home-days". I told him to stop talking to Red (aged 5) who is on a campaign to reverse it to five homedays and two school days. Or "at the very least, Mama, three homedays and four school days." Right on honey. I'm still working on that one.
I was able to get back to praying the Rosary this week. I found that recently I have not been able to focus when praying. I have a much better day when I do two things each morning: Rosary and treadmill. Next week I must do better.
I was asked to teach an online HTML class. Unless I can be handed a complete Bb course and lesson plans I am not going to do it. I'm teaching my other class on Thursday nights and, with CCE and FTCM, I have no time to do another prep. Particularly for HTML which I haven't done in years. HTML 4.0 anyone?

7 Quick Takes Friday - January 7th, 2011

2011-01-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

This is my first time to do a 7 Quick Takes Friday. I wonder if I'll keep it up?

1. I am beginning Semester one of FTCM next Tuesday. I am extremely excited. In Semester One we cover ministry, Old Testament and New Testament. I'm looking forward to learning so much more about my faith.

2. Contrary to the official pronouncement, I am going to pick up another adjunct course this semester. This time it will be one night a week. DH is happy because it will pay for my fiber habit. LOL. Actually, I was thinking that this summer I've got swim lessons for both boys and a reading workshop for Red to pay for and this will more than cover it.

3. Finally ordered the fabric for a table runner I've been wanting to do since last summer. N.B.: order the darn kit next time. Have another winter wallhanging I'm working on and hope to finish it up this weekend.

4. Extremely gorgeous weather here today-crisp, cool, sunny. Must take time to enjoy it instead of sitting in my office fretting.

5. Went to a Catechist inservice on Wednesday evening. One of the nice things about belonging to a huge parish is that you always get to meet someone new. I met this lady, Donna, who is just so sweet. Plus they gave us a wonderful soup and salad dinner followed by a very insightful scripture study. Why, oh why, did I wait so long to get involved in Catechesis? I should have done this twenty years ago.

6. Sadly, Epiphany is over and it's time for the Christmas decorations to come down. Advent was so wonderful this year-I felt like we really were preparing for the Lord's coming and Christmas was equally great. I loved having so much time with DH and the kids.

7. On tap for the weekend: Coffee with Dad and Mass. I love these kinds of weekends.

First finish of 2011

2011-01-05T14:04:00.000-06:00

My first UFO finish of 2011:

I sewed this table runner last summer after a trip to Kerrville. It is a kit from Creations, a lovely and very friendly quilt shop there. I had finished sewing the runner and had halfway quilted it when I decided I wanted to quilt it differently. So I put it away and never got back to it-who wants to rip out quilting? So on New Year's Day I pulled it out, decided against ripping out the quilting and finished quilting it. I began the binding (thankfully I had already made it) on New Year's Day and finished it on January 2! I've got it in my office at work. The little pig bowl is a gift from a friend.

Uh oh

2011-01-03T13:41:00.000-06:00

I was "leafing" through my blog when I found last year's To do list.

Ah.

Well.

Guess I should have checked it more often?

Use up the mexican wave yarn-currently one shawl in production. Finished that green shawl and am nearly done with a blue one.
Finish the Duck, Duck, Goose Quilt. Done!
Make Gma's apron. Done!
Make Happy Campers quilt Ready to go to Karen the Quilter.
Make Gmas bluebird quilt. I got nuthin'
Make my Lecien Paris quilt. Whistles innocently.
Make kittens quilt. Still need to finish stitching the kittens.
Make funky Christmas quilt. I looked at it.
Make Sheri Berry quilt kit. Ditto
PA Dutch BOM-one each month and I'm already two behind. Have made four blocks and got stuck on fifth one.
Raggedy Happy Campers quilt. Have acquired a second charm pack.
Make cushion covers for travel trailer. DH made some out of sheets using my serger.
Make Psalm 23 Panel. Have cut strips out
Make 4th of July wall hanging. Ummm.
Make amish pilgrims wall hanging. In timeout for bad behaviour over checkerboard border.
make Santa waldorf doll. nope.
make St. Lucia waldorf doll. nope
Make Christmas placemats. nope
Christmas Penny Rug. worked on it over Thanksgiving, haven't touched it since.

I need to make a realistic list for this year.

How about this:

SEW.

Bundle up!

2010-12-31T22:12:00.000-06:00

This is my last finish for 2010. I made this quilt in three days while Red was sick with a tummy bug. This is from American Patchwork and Quilting Jan/Feb 2011 issue. I still want to sew on some buttons but I just love these mittens!

I am trying to think of my UFOs from 2010, as you do on the last day of the year:

kitty cat quilt

folkloric table runner

DH's happy campers quilt

bluebonnet quilt

DH's socks in timeout

Pilgrim wall hanging

I'm sure I'm forgetting some! I also plan to make a list of all the quilts I want to make-too bad that list keeps growing!

Gaudette Sunday!

2010-12-13T14:11:00.000-06:00

Big thrills at our house as we lit the pink candle for Gaudette Sunday. Our visiting priest explained that in Latin Gaudette is an imperative: REJOICE! So let us all rejoice and enjoy the blessings of the third week of Advent.

My blessings this week: my sons, my DH, my extended family, that my dad's cardiologist caught that Dad was packing on fluid in his lungs and around his heart BEFORE we had another Christmas hospital stay, my grandmother safely transitioned to her senior apartment, my dear friend Jaynie, my CCE class, my job, my sister and my own dear Magpie. Most importantly, that this year I feel that I am celebrating Advent and that I am growing in my faith.

More Advent-y Adventures

2010-12-06T10:45:00.000-06:00

My wonderful DH put up Christmas lights this year! I've been dying to have some of the multicolored icicle-style lights for years. DH was unmoved. But I mentioned that Red had been asking about our house having lights and that got'er done. DH bought the LED style lights. They look different than the incandesent lights because they are more "white" so the red and yellow/orange aren't as red and yellow/orangey. Truthfully, I would have preferred the old style lights but I am thrilled in any case that we now have the lights! DH also wrapped the post on our front porch with red and white stranded lights for a candy cane effect. Plus he finally put out the little lighted train yard decoration that I got on clearance years ago. The boyos are so excited!

This weekend we were really busy. Aside from the excitment of the lights we:

had photos of the four Littles in the family. Three were very cute and cooperative. One was not (Tig!).
Had coffee with Jampa and a quick run to Michaels for an angel stamp.
Picked Magpie up at rehearsal and took her along to a work Christmas party.
went to JoAnn's with Magpie to buy fabric for superhero capes for the boyos but forgot to get grommets from the planned jack bags.
put up the Christmas tree and yard decorations at MaaMaa and Jampa's.
made two trips to the local mega-mart.
watched the evening Christmas parade.
went to Red's Christmas pageant at church (complete madhouse!)
put up our Christmas tree and decorations (I had completely underestimated the THRILL of putting up a tree when you are 3 and 5 years old.)
lit the second candle on our Advent wreath!
dressed the boys in their jammy's after dinner last night and went driving around to look at Christmas lights.
had a visit from St. Nicholas and Black Peter this morning. Red and Tig discovered little Christmas bags with a robot ornament and a chocolate Santa in their shoes this morning.

I felt a little frenetic Saturday due to all the errands/driving around (and around and around) and then yesterday the excitement level was super high beginning at 6:30 am when Tig woke me. I took both excited boyos to Mass and Tig was awful! We had to move out of the church proper before the Eucharist even started and Tig continued to misbehave. I finally gave up and we left to go home for a quick lunch and nap. Tig obviously needed a nap as he did not demure at all and climbed into bed and laid himself down without any discussion. Maybe he was too tired/wound up to behave at Mass? Red did well at the Christmas pageant and my kinders jingled their jingle bells with gusto! I must admit, I was on my last nerve by the time we got home. *I* was overloaded by that point and I still had all the laundry to finish!

Still, I am so happy that we've kept up with our Advent celebrations. The boyos are having a good time and DH and I are still speaking to each other!

Advent!

2010-12-01T21:32:00.000-06:00

We are excitedly celebrating Advent this year. We've got our wreath, that we light before dinner each night with prayers. And back again is our cookie bowl count down Advent calendar. This year Tig got to go first! The boyos were very excited. We also have the chocolate Advent calendars-they tried to convince me last night that they could open as many windows as they wanted. It's good for them to learn how to delay gratification, isn't it?

Of course, Advent really started Sunday at Mass. It was fun to remind Red to look and see what was different at church. The first thing he noticed was that it was dark-they kept the lights low until the Mass had begun. He also noticed the big Advent wreath, the purple hangings and the new purple vestments that Father wore. He was very excited to get home to light our wreath!

penny for your thoughts?

2010-11-28T09:27:00.000-06:00

I spent most of Thanksgiving day stitching on this penny mat from Plum Creek Collectibles. I am hoping to have it finished this year!We spent Thanksgiving with The Poppas. They made a wonderful home cooked Thanksgiving meal and I ate way too much.

Friday I drove up to see my Gma. She's still in the rehab hospital. We're hoping she will get strong enough to move to a Senior apartment. However, my aunt and I took her to a dr visit and she ended up in hospital because she was dehydrated.

The Faithful Quilter's Giveaway

2010-11-19T13:23:00.000-06:00

The Faithful Quilter is having a Thanksgiving giveaway. Actually she's having her Second Annual Thanksgiving Giveaway. Be sure to read her posts on Pincushion Mania and all of her Jo Morton projects. Gorgeous!

That'll teach 'em

2010-11-18T13:36:00.000-06:00

So I was having trouble with the border on my pilgrims. I solicited suggestions from friends. Here they are:

leaves leaves leaves!
no leaves! just leave it like it is
I like the leaves. I like it the way it is. Either way will be great!
one inch black border, three inches of leaves, back and bind in a medium gold
screw the border, just bind it in black
leaves are too busy
suck it up and re-do the checkerboard

And on and on and on.

I have, seeing as how Thanksgiving is one week from today and we will be gone most of next week, have sent the Pilgrims to time out for being difficult.

That'll teach 'em.

Dilemma

2010-11-15T09:08:00.000-06:00

So, the checkerboard border didn't work. My little blocks were all wonky and it looked really dreadful. I ripped it out and tried to sew short lengths of the blocks but it still looked horrid.

So I thought I would try just a row of blocks. Umm. No. Don't like that either, especially at the bottom under the pumpkins.

DH recommended this for a border:

A couple turkeys, a few pumpkins. . .

2010-10-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

And a million 1 1/2 inch squares to make for the border.

And then there were two.

2010-10-11T09:32:00.001-05:00

Mistress Pilgrim

2010-10-05T11:39:00.001-05:00

Isn't she adorable? I've been dying to get started on my pilgrims. This pattern takes a lot of long, skinny cuts of fabric but boy! is the result cute.

Am already thinking of how I can use the pumpkins in another quilt.

I originally saw this quilt on someone's blog who had taken a pic at a friend's house. I searched around for a bit and could not find the pattern. Then one day I was on ebay and searched for a pilgrim quilt pattern and voila! My search was over.

Fairy rings

2010-10-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

One thing I love about autumn, and the first cool front, is the reappearance of fairy rings. This two were side by side so I stopped to take a pic.

Finished just in time.

2010-09-29T13:58:00.000-05:00

Finished in time for my mom to take with her to visit Gma for her birthday. My brother drove mom up this time and I stayed home to take care of dad. DH recommended that I iron it before wrapping it. This is the before picture! This is the after. The ironing really improved it! Gma said she liked it when I spoke to her on the phone.

Where is that cold front???

2010-09-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

Like my crazy jack? He's all done and hanging by a too small dowel in the living room. Where is autumn? Where is my cold front? What is going on with all this heat?

My Jack-o-Lantern is ready!

Where has the time gone?

2010-09-17T14:40:00.000-05:00

Obviously, I've gotten in a little sewing time. This is Gma's quilt for her birthday on the 25th. It would be finished but we went up to visit her last weekend as she's in the hospital. She won't be having her planned birthday party on the 25th though as she will still be in rehab.

Up next . . .

2010-08-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

Did absolutely no sewing this weekend. Was completely overbooked on Saturday and then had the worst sinus headache of my life on Sunday. Managed to make it to Mass and boy, was I dismayed to see a visiting choir! Feel much better today which is good because it is the first day of school at my school!

Just ordered fabric for my newest project. Sorry for the tiny pic but I grabbed it off Baum's site. This will be a little wall hanging (about 35x35) for my Gma's birthday. That is if I can finish it in time! When I saw the gold ornament fabric I knew I had to make something with it for her. This fabric line is called Georgette Christmas.

Come on autumn!

2010-08-17T16:24:00.000-05:00

Could we get some cooler weather please? I loathe this time of year. I am so looking forward to September. Not because it suddenly gets cool and the leaves turn but because we start to have days where the temp doesn't reach 100 and the heat index stays under 100.

So with those cool thoughts in mind, I've started some autumn-y projects. Here is my uncompleted Crazy Jack from Sandy Gervais. I still need to bind it and sew on the button eyes and the ric-rac smile. Just need some sewing time to do it.
Next up I've got a cute pilgrim wallhanging and then an adorable Georgette Christmas idea for my Gma's birthday.

Sock woes.

2010-08-11T16:54:00.001-05:00

My sock is in time out again. I had successfully turned the heel, picked up stitches for the gusset and was merrily decreasing along when I realized that my stitch count on the instep was off.

Way off.

8 stitches off.

Apparently I had cast on 72 stitches instead of my intended 64. I only worked the heel on 32 stitches. So the sock, if I continue working it this way, will look really odd and, perhaps more importantly, feel really odd when worn.

This sock has been sent to timeout and I am pulling out my backup project that I keep at work and knitting that instead.

Stupid sock.

What I did on my vacation

2010-07-19T08:58:00.000-05:00

The first thing I did on my vacation was to finish the Happy Campers quilt top. DH really likes it. I didn't realize that it would be so big-it fits on my queen sized bed. Now to purchase and make the backing!
Then I started on my Pennsylvania Dutch BOM. I hadn't finished a single block for this BOM and I was about to get Block #9! I cut out all the blocks that I had received and finished these four. I'm about halfway through another block but I got stuck-may just move on to another one. I got Block #9 in the mail Thursday so I went ahead and cut that one out too. That's the one I'm stuck on and it looks so easy! I can't get my four patch squares to come out to the right size. I may re-make all of them a little larger and just cut them down. I also spent a lot of time with my kids-took Red to swim lessons and Tig ran a fever for three days so he stayed home with me. Also had a pedicure with Magpie and my mom. Then we spent the weekend camping and swimming. It was great.

layout

2010-07-01T09:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the dreadful pic. This is DH's layout for the Happy Campers quilt.

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-21T09:52:00.000-05:00

I asked DH what he wanted to do for Father's Day: the beach, kayaking, boating. He opted for boating so all of us could go. I brought the socks that I had to rip out and restart to knit on. We had a good time but it got really hot and the boyos got really whingey.

It's amazing how much faster this sock is going with 64 stitches instead of 108!

Blue

2010-06-17T10:37:00.000-05:00

This is a little shawl I'm making out of Kidsilk Haze. The pattern is from One Skein Wonders. It's a very simple knit. The pattern suggests adding beads to the edging after it is knitted. I've never done that but I think I will after I block this out.

Grandma's quilt

2010-06-04T08:59:00.001-05:00

My MIL gave me this quilt last weekend when we went up to see the trailer. Her mother made it and MIL kept it to use in the trailer. I am thrilled to have it. Her mother was a very crafty lady (I have a crocheted afghan that she made) and I love this quilt. The squares are made from clothes and on the bottom row two of the blocks are from my MIL's dress. It's the two blocks with the squares on them. Each block is like a mini quilt. Each block is sewed shut and then the squares are all zigzagged together on the backside. MIL suggested I sew a backing on it but I kinda like it just the way it is. Thanks MIL for sharing your mom with me!

My birthday present

2010-05-30T08:44:00.000-05:00

I've been saving my birthday money because I wanted to get a new sewing machine. I've really been wanting a featherweight. I just love the way they look and the history behind them. Saturday we went up to Trinity to look at the new travel trailer that the Inlaws gave us recently. There's a great quilt shop up there, Heavenly Threads, that I visited back in December. The lady that owns it is really nice so I was very pleased to find that she had a featherweight for sale! It's in pretty good shape-needs cleaning, the cord needs to be renewed, and the box is stinky! But I already love it.

I also bought some panels for gifts, a few fat quarters, and three yards of some adorable Darlene Zimmerman fabric. I plan to give Sister a yard of this for her birthday. I also bought a Quick Quarter by Quilter's Ruler to help with my HSTs and the corner blocks for DH's snowball quilt. Speaking of, here's some more completed blocks:

Happy Campers

2010-05-25T08:05:00.000-05:00

This is the kit I bought at the Quilt Show last fall. It's a snowball kit with American Jane's Happy Camper fabric. I *love* the Happy Camper line and so does my DH. This quilt will be for him. I'm making this quilt 10 blocks at a time as it gets a little tedious sewing all the corners. I'm stitching each corner twice so that I will have a HST from each corner to use in another project. This is going to be a cute quilt. I bought it from Plain Janes. I just googled the address and found she's going out of business. What a shame!

Something is wrong here. . .

2010-05-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

Here's the sock that I have been knitting, in desultory fashion, since February. Looks good, huh? Take a look at the stitches on the needle. Looks like a lot, doesn't it? I thought this sock was taking an inordinate amount of time to knit so this morning, while waiting for Red to finish speech class, I counted the stitches. 108 stitches.

I normally knit socks for DH with 64-72 stitches.

*sigh*

rip-rip-rip-rip

Bluebonnets

2010-05-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

This will be the backing for the bluebonnet quilt! I had a 20% off coupon in my shop hop book, saved over $5 which is half the cost of the book! Am chuffed. This is a Hoffman batik. I love it! May have to make something for me out of this!

Shades of Blue

2010-05-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

I finished the quilt top using the bluebonnet fabric. The line is called Shades of Blue. I used the disappearing nine-patch pattern and this is a lap size quilt. I really like this one! I had planned to make this for Jaynie but she says she is not going to have the surgery. Well, I'll just save this one, just in case. I'm hoping to find some bluebonnet batik that I saw at PPnQ sometime ago for the backing. Hope they still have it!

Some folks are just brilliant.

2010-04-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

So I've been having troubles with my half-square triangles (HSTs) and I found this link on a blog I follow:

Secrets of Accurate Half-Square Triangles.

It is absolutely brilliant.

New totebag

2010-04-26T10:25:00.001-05:00

Magpie finished her new totebag Saturday. She did almost all of this herself. I only helped with pinning and the topstitching. She's becoming quite accomplished. She can chat knowledgably about boxing and seam allowances-she even reminded me to "add an inch" when I went to measure blocks on a quilt that a friend had given me.

Upon completing the totebag, in true quilter fashion, Magpie immediately began cutting out squares for her next project. She's taking the FQ bundle she suckered me into buying on the shop hop and making a quilt for her little sister. I'm cutting and making Jaynie's quilt at the same time so we had a long discussion on what size squares to cut and how many we will use for each quilt. I won't see her for two weeks so she wanted me to delay sewing Jaynie's quilt until then. I told her I couldn't wait as I'm not sure when Jaynie is having her surgery and I really want to have it ready for her when she does.

I'm really proud of Magpie for sticking to her project and doing such a good job. My mom said that Magpie showed off her bag Sunday and that she's really proud of it.

Gratitude Friday

2010-04-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

BonBon and I often talk about cultivating an attitude of gratitude. There are so many annoyances throughout the day that we often lose sight of the good things. Here are some things that I am grateful for:

that I have a good job that allows me to pay for not only our house but my sons' expensive Montessori school
that every time I turn the water faucet on I have good, clean water to drink
that my DH is willing to be the chief cook and understands that I am overwhelmed by the end of the day
that my sister got a vonnage phone so that it is a local call for me to call her in Europe nearly every day
that my parents live close by and love to spend time with the boyos
that the two people that are above me in the work hierarchy are of highest integrity and that I can trust them
that the boyos still love cuddles and reading together
that my oldest son likes to go to Mass with me- he calls it Mass Day and asks eagerly for it
that my Gma is one of my closest friends-it's a privilege to have a friendship with my only surviving grandparent
that DH gets why I sew, knit etc and why I am so compulsive about it.

Another finish!

2010-04-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

I finished sewing the binding on my Easter banner last night. I really enjoyed this project and I am looking forward to making more Patchabilities. My sewing machine doesn't have a blanket stitch and the zigzag looked horrible so I ripped it out and handstitched each letter and egg.

I bought the pattern and the hanger when I was on the Shop Hop at Little Stitches. I signed up for the new Patchabilities BOM but I don't think they mailed it to me. Need to call them and find out. They aren't set up to mail but said they would do it. Ah well, It's a Stitch is doing it by mail so I can sign up with them. I love these little wall hangings.

Merry Christmas Gma!

2010-04-20T09:28:00.001-05:00

I finally finished my Gma's Christmas present! This scalloped apron is from the Susan Branch pattern. It is modeled here by the World's Best Admin Asst. This is the second time I've made it and I think I did a better job this time. I sewed the pieces together before I applied the bias tape. It took longer to do each step but it made applying the bias tape easier. Next time I think I will top stitch to make the scallops lay flatter. Now I need to buy some chocolate to replace what I ate to finish off the gift!

Something for Jaynie

2010-04-19T10:31:00.000-05:00

How many squares from a fat quarter?

99…..2” squares

56…..2 ½” squares

42…..3” squares

30…..3 ½” squares

20…..4” squares

16…..4 ½” squares

12…..5”squares

9…..6” squares

6…..6 ½” squares

I'm wondering because I bought all these FQs from Sentimental Studios Shades of Blue collection-they're bluebonnets. And I'm thinking of making a quick lap quilt for my dear friend Jaynie. She's a transplant from Oregon and I'm making her into a Texan girl. She's having surgery this summer on her eye and I want her to have something comforting to snuggle with while she freezes in the hospital. (Too much a/c).

Jaynie is one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. She's been working here for almost a year and I'm so glad she came to Texas!

Suspenders Sam

2010-04-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

My mom gave me this quilt last Sunday. She found it when she and my brother were cleaning out her garage. She said it was made for my brother by a neighbor lady who used to baby-sit us. So this quilt was made in the early 1970's. This block is my favorite one. None of the "Sams" are made with quilting fabric. The yellow one, for example, is almost a canvas. Some feel like a tweedy wool blend. The light green and the pink are polyester-it will be excavated someday by an archaeologist. Tig has already taken a nap with this quilt. It's very fluffy.

On the design wall

2010-04-14T09:24:00.000-05:00

I love this Heather Ross Far Away fabric. . . and Far Away 2 is coming soon!

I don't really know what I'm doing with this. The green and the orange are different shades than they looked on the computer screen. I thought this would be a lap quilt with a mossy green chenille backing. But now I think it wants a light blue chenille backing-which will be easier to find. Dunno. I may put this away and wait for Far Away 2. All three pics are of the same block-I can't decide how to go.

Kindergarten? Already?

2010-04-13T15:36:00.001-05:00

So Red is about to turn 5. That means kindergarten folks! We met with his speech teacher, vice-principal and a kindergarten teacher before Christmas to talk about whether or not Red was ready. Basically at public school the rule is "we like for them to be potty-trained". DH was unimpressed.

However Red's teacher at the Montessori school didn't think he was going to be ready for K there because he's only had one year of preprimary.

What to do, what to do.

Well, today the Montessori school called and now his teacher thinks he just might be ready by fall. Red has settled down and is doing the Work and yesterday wrote the letter b. (That's what his teacher said anyway). Plus all his friends are going into kinder and she's worried it might upset him or cause self-esteem issues.

So in the Fall it looks like Red will be in Kindergarten!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

My Gma gave me this Easter Egg Tree many years ago. I store the glass eggs in a styrofoam egg carton. The eggs are really pretty but I don't particularly like the tree itself. The "carrot" next to the egg wreath is based on the Carrot Full o'Candy. I had seen those Reese's Pieces cellophane carrots at Target but they were huge! No way was the Easter Bunny bringing those to my boyos. I reduced the pattern to make them much smaller for my little ones and we filled them with some Skittles and SweetTarts Duck and Chicks. The boyos were thrilled. They also got a new Thomas the Tank engine pillowcase (I used Mary's pillowcase pattern again) and a train and a Thomas video. After finding their baskets I scraped Red off the ceiling and we went to Mass. (He actually had a good time and I think he likes that it is one on one time with Mama-I leave Tig home with Dada.) The pillowcases were a hit-they both insisted on bringing them to school for naptime.

The Jim Shore Gentlebunny is new. I bought it when we were out to tea with Gma. I just loved him, with his parted hair and waistcoat. A very proper Gentlebunny.

We had a great visit with Gma. We ate a lot and talked a lot. I told her she needs to come down on a weekend that isn't a holiday so we aren't so busy!

Shop Hop is over.

2010-03-29T10:22:00.001-05:00

Friday I took an early lunch between meetings and scurried down to Painted Pony N Quilts. They had some great 30's mini quilts on display-you could vote for your favorite. I also bought two chances on the raffle quilt. I bought some forked pins here and more FQs: some 30's and some Civil War repros. I also won a drawing while there-two patterns for an airplane quilt.

After work I went down to Pinwheels and Posies. I bought some FQs here.

Then off to Cactus Quilts. I bought a book for my sister, Ladies Day out with the Bonnet Girls, that she liked when we visited earlier. More FQs here too.

When I got home my quilts had arrived from the quilters! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Saturday DH let me sleep in-big mistake as the boyos had a 9:30 appt for pictures! My mom was not happy with me for missing. After coffee we went to Fabric Etc, I won two fat quarters! And I showed off the Duck Duck Goose quilt as I had bought the fabric there. Then we took the boyos for haircuts-the first one for Tig!

In the afternoon DH, Tig and I took the long drive out to Calico Cats. It took about an hour and a half to get there. Very nice folks and Lake Jackson is pretty cute. I bought a FQ of some valentine fabric to make a matching pillow for my valentine quilt and a red, white and blue panel. Then we had lunch at the Wurst Haus-very good German food. That was the end of my shop-hopping.

But wait! When I got home I got a call on my cell phone- I won a $25 gift certificate to Quilter's Cottage!

Patchable

2010-03-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

This is a pattern I bought on the ShopHop at Little Stitches. It's not the best pic-I took it in a hurry this morning as I was escaping from the house. The pattern calls for pastel letters and bright eggs so that's what I cut out originally. However, I realized that the colours I was using weren't "me." They were mostly free FQs that I acquired on the ShopHop. So I pulled them off and, if I have time, will use them to make a little wallhanging for Gma. They are "her" colours.

My backing is a little slimmer than the pattern specified (I cut one side improperly and didn't feel like cutting it again so I just trimmed the whole thing). The pattern also specifies six little eggs but I think I'm out of room!

I think the letters will stand out more when I stitch around them. The ones with lots of white tend to blend in.

Still, I'm pleased with this effort!

Overthinking.

2010-03-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

So I finally started to work on my Pa Dutch BOM. I started with this block: Sorry for the small pic but I clipped it out a jpg. I cannot get my points on the pinwheels to match nicely. It is driving me crazy. I made one pinwheel and sewed it to the other squares. Then I made another one and ripped it out.

And ripped a hole in it.

Am I over thinking this?

More hopping

2010-03-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday, Day 2 of the Shop Hop, started out later than I had planned. We didn’t get enough sleep (but Magpie and I agreed that for our next sleepover she will sleep at her dad’s house and I will sleep at my house) and staggered out late for Coffee with Dad. Tig joined us for the day as DH and Red were off camping.

Our first stop of the day, after driving for over an hour in the rain, was Time Treasured Quilts. Magpie liked this quilt store because they had cake balls. I liked it because they had the Prints Charming spaceship fabric I have long coveted for 50% off! I bought three yards against the day the boyos reject ducks and penguins. I also collected some FQs of different pebbles and rocks: again for the Harry Potter quilt.

Stop two was The Hen House. I had a little trouble with the Tom-Tom-Go but we eventually made it even though it was still raining. I visited this shop once previously with my dear Pigwit. I was looking for some cute hats that I saw at the Quilt Festival that I thought might have been sold at this store but no luck. We didn’t buy anything here and Tig was at his most uncooperative.

Next up was a brief stop at Quakertown Quilts in The Woodlands. Nice folks, cute but small shop. Still raining.

Stop four: Quilter’s Quarters. Again, a small shop tucked into a shopping center. Very nice folks. I bought more FQs and the Antique Quilts magazine. I also bought two chances on a raffle quilt that was handquilted. Probably should have bought more. Found out today that a friend up here at work knows the woman who did the handquilting.

Stop Five: Sew Many Things. This shop was Magpie’s downfall-she fell in love with a FQ bundle so I bought it for her. Heh heh, I’m teaching her to stash! I also acquired some more FQs and a yard of fabric. This shop was also in an old house and the folks were very nice too.

We were pretty tired by this point but my OCD kicked in and we hit two more stops:

It’s a Stitch in Humble which is huge! I bought a Trick or Treat panel that I’ve been wanting (on sale!). One of the sales ladies gave Tig a square of cow print minkee which he is still carrying around. They were very nice here too.

Then finally, The Quilt Room in Huffman. My resistance was down here and I bought 11 FQs. Mostly rocks, bricks and doors but also some cute birds. They were really nice here and gave us bottles of water. DH liked their class list and wants to go take a class there. It is over an hour’s drive from our house though. I was exceedingly tired after a long day of driving and looking.

Sunday morning I was leafing through my Shop Hop booklet before Mass and I put it back in my purse before I left the house. DH was startled: “you aren’t shop-hopping again today, are you?”

Frankly, I just don’t have that kind of stamina.

Shop hopping

2010-03-21T10:03:00.001-05:00

Well, my sister has gone home and tomorrow I go back to work after a week of Spring Break. She was busy in the morning on her last day so I took myself off on the local shop hop. There are twenty stores on the shop hop and Friday I went to seven of them. Silly, huh? The first shop was Little Stitches-very nice folks at this shop. Actually there were very nice folks at every shop! They have this monthly BOM that I am thinking of joining as I love love love these patchables! I bought one of the patchables that isnt in the BOM and I think I will call tomorrow to find out if I will start with the Chocolate Bunny one if I sign up now.

Then I went to the Quilter's Emporium. This shop was kind of set up like an old fashioned general store with black furniture and big checkout desk. They had TONS of fabric and a lot of Civil War stuff plus wool felt kits and buttons etc. Nice folks here too. I bought some buttons and a couple FQs here.

Then I drove out the the Feathered Star which is located in an old house. Very cute store. I bought some Valentine FQs here. As the store is an old house you get to roam around and explore-v. fun.

Next up was Quilt N Sew Studio. They gave out kits to make little pressing pads. This shop is tucked away in the corner of the shopping center and is larger than it looks. They had a neat display quilt that is like a swirl-I need to see if there is a pic on their website-and see if they have a class on it.

After this one I took a long drive out to Quilter's Cottage. I think the lady said they had 16000 sq feet in this store. I drove right by it at first. I bought some FQs here, mostly 30's, and some jelly bean fabric. I'm hoping to make a paperpieced Harry Potter quilt someday and will need some Bertie Botts!

Afterwards Magpie called me and wanted to know when I could come have lunch with her, mom and Sister. Well, I was a good hour away at this point! So we agreed on a time, that I could realistically make, and on I drove. I was actually early so I stopped at Quakertown Quilts for my passport stamp and bought a couple of FQs and a new book: Gone to Texas. This book takes portions of a woman's diary from the Texas settlement and makes quilts similar to what she talks about in the diary. V. cool.

After lunch we headed off for manis and pedis. I got my first pedi. I really intensely dislike anyone touching my feet but I was in serious need. The pedi was actually pretty good but I don't think she did that great a job of painting my nails.

We stopped by one more quilt store, Sew Contempo, on the way home so I could get my stamp-seven for the day! I bought the shop block fabric here as Magpie really liked it. Then we headed off the my parents' to get Sister's bags and get her across town to the airport.

Tig fell asleep as soon as we got him strapped in his carseat so he didn't cry when we dropped sister off. Magpie, however, cried for about twenty minutes. Poor girl. It's hell to be thirteen. To cheer her up I took her to Cafe Japon, a sushi place she is always talking about. She ordered white rice. ????????? She constantly surprises me with the stuff she does. She's always talking about this place so I figured she liked sushi. Nope. Won't touch it.

Ah well, tomorrow I will detail our adventures on Day 2 of the shop hop.

Off to the Quilter

2010-02-22T07:51:00.000-06:00

I finally finished the quilt back for my Valentine quilt and the Duck Duck Goose quilt. I will be very glad to see DDG go off to the quilter. It is very cute, and Tig will love it, but what a pain it was to piece.

The Valentine quilt back is solid Kona cotton in Cardinal. I thought of using one of the prints from the quilt but for some reason the solid red stuck with me. I don't have a pic of the DDG back but I pieced it with mostly the legions of ducks on blue and then pieced in the Duck Duck Goose banner from the panel. I hope it looks good on the finished quilt.

My quilter is Karen Farrell. She is my dear Pigwit's sister and does lovely quilting.

Now what to start on??

A recent finish

2010-02-17T15:46:00.001-06:00

A shawl I finished recently as modeled by Red.

Valentine Quilt

2010-02-08T08:30:00.000-06:00

So, I don't actually celebrate Valentines Day. Not a big deal in my book-especially now that it's our anniversary. (yep, we got married on Valentines Day. I kinda got suckered into that one!). On Scrappy Threads she was showing some cute valentines fabric which made me start thinking. Then when I saw this vintage valentines fabric I just had to make this quilt. It's a quick project, just a few hours and I even made the binding. I think I am going to back it in some red kona cotton.

The day improves!

2010-02-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

So this morning the tire goes kaplooey on my car. DH follows me over to the tire shop, deals with the new tire business, and then I ask him to take me to the Upstairs Studio to pick up some knitting needles. This is the Real Emergency as I have a doctor's appointment this arvo and I left my knitting at home. I pick up the last set of size one brittany's (they come in sets of six now, how handy!) and mention that I want to look at the sock yarn.

Clarice shows us the yarn and (love this) shows us what is on sale. I was looking at some brown yarn as I am wearing a lot of brown lately and need some new socks. DH grabs some grey and asks if I will make matching socks for him and the boys! Isn't that adorable? Then he grabs another skein so I can make a pair for me as well. I wander off to look at a spinning wheel and we end up with this:
The grey is for the whole family, the bright blue and pink is for matching socks for the boys and me and the brown is just for me! He asked if this was a good anniversary present (coming up on the 14th!) and I said yes (heck yes!). I asked if all this knitting was his anniversary present from me and he said yes!

Do I have the best DH or what?

Why, yes. It is a finished top!

2010-02-01T10:30:00.001-06:00

Finished this top last night! According to the directions I would need to piece the sides but my quilt is slightly smaller than the pattern size and no matching needed! I also pieced the back after my weekly phone call with Gma but was disgusted and did not take a pic.

The quilt is cute but I will be very glad to see the back side of this project.

Now that's better.

2010-01-21T14:51:00.000-06:00

After much measure, pinning, sewing, ripping, pressing etc the text looks better. I can live with this. Below is a pic of how the quilt looks now. I need to add the final border which will be as finicky as the text but this time I will be On Alert.

Really.

Maybe quilting isn't the hobby for me.

2010-01-19T09:04:00.000-06:00

I worked on Tig's quilt yesterday. I sewed on two strips of Duck Duck Goose text-but I didn't match the text where I had to piece it. I just zipped them on.

Yep, it looks horrible. Yep, I hate it. Yep, DH agreed that it looks like ass.

I would save a lot of time if I would just start out as I plan to finish.

In the afternoon we went to the beach for a Pooh and Piglet Picnic. The weather was great and we did a little beachcombing. Magpie convinced her dad to bring the cousins so we had eight of us down there. It was a nice afternoon but I was so sleepy on the way home-and I was driving!

My son lives in a little pink house

2010-01-15T15:03:00.001-06:00

Last week Red finally developed his case of chicken-pox. He handled it pretty well for a four-year-old and loved being home with DH.

Red is always saying that he lives in a little pink house with a very tiny key. So last Friday, in an attempt to divert his attention from his crop of poxies, we pieced together his little pink house.

Just realized that I really should find a tiny key charm to sew on too!

Back in the real world

2010-01-04T09:28:00.000-06:00

Well, back to work today after two lovely and chicken-poxy weeks off. Yes, Tig had chicken pox and, so far, Red has no symptoms. I'm sure he will spot out at the most inopportune time. :-)

Here are some more pics from my Christmas crafting. The first is a little angel ornament I made for the swap at work. The pattern is from the winter issue of UK Handmade. This is the first time I came across this magazine and it was great. Full of great ideas and wonderful interviews with UK crafters.

Next is a pic of the CD cover I made for my CD case. I keep all my Christmas CDs in an old Army gimme cd case Magpie gave me years ago. It is not attractive so this is how it ended up.

Magpie really liked it so together we made this for her:

And then my mom wanted one too!

So, what to do in 2010?

2010-01-01T12:10:00.000-06:00

I have a huge want-to-do list.

Use up the mexican wave yarn-currently one shawl in production.
Finish the Duck, Duck, Goose Quilt.
Make Gma's apron.
Make Happy Campers quilt
Make Gmas bluebird quilt.
Make my Lecien Paris quilt.
Make kittens quilt.
Make funky Christmas quilt.
Make Sheri Berry quilt kit.
PA Dutch BOM-one each month and I'm already two behind.
Raggedy Happy Campers quilt.
Make cushion covers for travel trailer.
Make Psalm 23 Panel.
Make 4th of July wall hanging.
Make amish pilgrims wall hanging.
make Santa waldorf doll.
make St. Lucia waldorf doll.
Make Christmas placemats.
Finish Christmas penny rug.

There's lots more ideas but I misplaced my project notebook! On a personal note, I am going to get serious about being healthy. I've watched my mom fall into a lot of health problems due to her diet and I dont want to follow that same path. I will continue to get on the treadmill, will modify my diet, and will decrease my caffeine intake. (The last a real sacrifice. Will make everyone at work switch to decaf!! I buy the coffee anyway.)