Not much sewing this weekend. Kiddo had basketball and swimming. When I did finally make it to my sewing room, my sewing machine decided to crash. Looks like a trip to the repair guy is in my future as soon as the roads are clear from this winter storm that is supposed to dump 8 to 12 inches on us starting tonight. Thankfully I still have my old machine as a backup!
The blocks for the Seeing Stars BOM are sewn together and I've started sewing the pieced border on. But since you've seen pictures of that quilt for the last two weeks, I'm going to skip a picture this week. It's hard to tell there's been much progress.
The "leaders and enders" project, the purple and yellow scrap quilt has been progressing. As of this week I've completed almost half of the blocks needed.
I like the diagonal pattern with the lights and the darks. Still, I won't decide on a final layout until I finish all the blocks. I'm glad I pulled this UFO out of the closet and gave it another chance. It's nice to have something so bright on the design wall during the winter months.
I also finished up block 6 of the Moose on the Porch Layer Cake Quilt Along.
I'm not loving the quilt along blocks. Maybe because the fabrics are not my usual style. I bought them to complete a fundraising quilt for the school. I did the Layer Cake Quilt Along so I'd use them up and get them out of the stash. I'm trying to reserve judgement until all the blocks are completed. There's one or two I may have to take a second stab at if I have any fabric left after block 12.
So what's up on your design wall? Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for other quilty progress reports.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Stash Report - January 30th
This is the last stash report for January. I'm doing OK. Not as far along on projects as I would have liked, but at least I've made progress on a number of fronts. Here are this week's numbers.
Used this week: 0.51 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 2.02 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 2.02 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
I've been fairly diligent in getting to my sewing room for 15 minutes every day this last week. Plus I've started working on several projects at once. One of the PhDs I need to finish is a Buck-A-Block BOM. Since the strips are cut, it's pretty quick to get all the squares cut and then sew the HST using the Thangles. So my out numbers look a bit better than they have.
Still no fabric in. Next weekend is going to be a challenge though. Two of the shops near me are having Super Bowl sales, one with 25% off all fabric, the other with 20% off fabric, books and gadgets. If I go, my plan is to go with a strategy. Focus on backing fabrics for current projects and blenders that will make my stash more flexible. Check back next week to see how well I resisted temptation.
That's it for this week. How's your stash busting going? Check out this week's Patchwork Times for other updates.
Used this week: 0.51 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 2.02 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 2.02 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
I've been fairly diligent in getting to my sewing room for 15 minutes every day this last week. Plus I've started working on several projects at once. One of the PhDs I need to finish is a Buck-A-Block BOM. Since the strips are cut, it's pretty quick to get all the squares cut and then sew the HST using the Thangles. So my out numbers look a bit better than they have.
Still no fabric in. Next weekend is going to be a challenge though. Two of the shops near me are having Super Bowl sales, one with 25% off all fabric, the other with 20% off fabric, books and gadgets. If I go, my plan is to go with a strategy. Focus on backing fabrics for current projects and blenders that will make my stash more flexible. Check back next week to see how well I resisted temptation.
That's it for this week. How's your stash busting going? Check out this week's Patchwork Times for other updates.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Foto Finish - Jan 29th - Peace
This week's Foto Finish was a hard one for me. With kiddo (and her friends) running around we don't get peace in our lives very frequently. On the other hand, without kiddo there are a number of photos I would never have taken. Like this week's Foto Finish.
For Spring Break last year we drove to Dallas, TX to visit my sister in law's family. They have two kids, one a year older than kiddo the other a year younger. In a moment of madness we decided to take all three kids to the Fort Worth Zoo. The Dallas area schools were on Spring Break as well. So the zoo was absolutely packed! In the middle of all that chaos and noise this big cat had found some inner peace and quiet.
One of these days we need to go back to the Fort Worth Zoo. It is one of the nicer zoos we've visited. From a photographer's perspective, it's one of the easiest to get reasonably good close ups of the animals if your camera has only moderate telephoto capabilities.
Jump over to Cat Patches to check out other peaceful moments.
For Spring Break last year we drove to Dallas, TX to visit my sister in law's family. They have two kids, one a year older than kiddo the other a year younger. In a moment of madness we decided to take all three kids to the Fort Worth Zoo. The Dallas area schools were on Spring Break as well. So the zoo was absolutely packed! In the middle of all that chaos and noise this big cat had found some inner peace and quiet.
One of these days we need to go back to the Fort Worth Zoo. It is one of the nicer zoos we've visited. From a photographer's perspective, it's one of the easiest to get reasonably good close ups of the animals if your camera has only moderate telephoto capabilities.
Jump over to Cat Patches to check out other peaceful moments.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Favorite Things Friday - January 28th
Wow, it's already the last Friday in January. One one hand, I'm ready for spring and warmer weather. On the other, it just seems that time passes so quickly. How can we be 1/12 through the new year already? Just two months left in first quarter, which at work means I need to get busy on some projects. Tax documents have started arriving in the mail. No more on that topic, let's pretend that doesn't exist for a few more weeks at least! On that note let's move on to a more fun topic, Favorite Things Friday.
This week my favorite thing is 19/30 days.
What's a 19/30 day? If you work 8.5 hours per day for the approximately 20 work days each month you can take the a day off as a 19/30 day. So you end up working 19 out of the on average 30 days per month. On this schedule it's like getting an additional 12 days of vacation each year. What's even nicer is that you get to pick the day you take off.
Today is my 19/30 day for January. I may get some sewing in today, but probably not much. We are having a pool party to celebrate kiddo's birthday tonight. I've been sick this week so I'm behind on getting ready. So I'll be baking and making a shopping expedition for party supplies.
That's it for my Favorite Things Friday this week. Pop over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to check out all the other cool Favorite Things.
This week my favorite thing is 19/30 days.
What's a 19/30 day? If you work 8.5 hours per day for the approximately 20 work days each month you can take the a day off as a 19/30 day. So you end up working 19 out of the on average 30 days per month. On this schedule it's like getting an additional 12 days of vacation each year. What's even nicer is that you get to pick the day you take off.
Today is my 19/30 day for January. I may get some sewing in today, but probably not much. We are having a pool party to celebrate kiddo's birthday tonight. I've been sick this week so I'm behind on getting ready. So I'll be baking and making a shopping expedition for party supplies.
That's it for my Favorite Things Friday this week. Pop over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to check out all the other cool Favorite Things.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Design Wall Monday - January 24th
Is it Monday again already? Do you ever wonder what happens to your weekend? It seems I always have such good intentions, but little comes of it. Well this weekend I was not feeling well on Saturday. I did feel better on Sunday. Kiddo's science fair project is due in a couple of weeks, so that was the focus of yesterday afternoon.
I did get into my sewing room a bit last night. I've finished assembling the pieced border for the Seeing Stars BOM (pattern from Coun'try Junk'tion). I did start sewing the center together. Here's an updated picture of the progress (though it doesn't look much different than last week).
With only one more week in January, I realized that I hadn't done much to work on my quilts for Myra's PhD (projects half done) Challenge. So I pulled out the box with the Buck-a-Block blocks and got started on block #7 Friday night as part of FNSI. This one is almost done.
The purple and yellow scrap project is also one of my PhD challenge quilts. I've been working on this one as a leaders and enders project. Here's the block I'm working on now.
So that's it for my design wall this week. Check out all the other eye candy over at Judy's Patchwork Times.
I did get into my sewing room a bit last night. I've finished assembling the pieced border for the Seeing Stars BOM (pattern from Coun'try Junk'tion). I did start sewing the center together. Here's an updated picture of the progress (though it doesn't look much different than last week).
With only one more week in January, I realized that I hadn't done much to work on my quilts for Myra's PhD (projects half done) Challenge. So I pulled out the box with the Buck-a-Block blocks and got started on block #7 Friday night as part of FNSI. This one is almost done.
The purple and yellow scrap project is also one of my PhD challenge quilts. I've been working on this one as a leaders and enders project. Here's the block I'm working on now.
So that's it for my design wall this week. Check out all the other eye candy over at Judy's Patchwork Times.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Stash Report - January 23rd
It's dark, dreary and cold here in OK this morning. A perfect day for staying home, staying in and sewing. Especially since I seem to be coming down with a cold or something. I don't feel all that bad, I just don't feel good, plus I'm all stuffy.
My plan to spend at least 15 minutes sewing each night didn't happen this last week. Too much other stuff going on. Still I did manage to finish assembling the pieced border for the Seeing Stars BOM, plus finished another block of my Leaders and Enders project. Here's the numbers:
Used this week: 0.34 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.51 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.51 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
So a little out, but maybe more importantly, nothing in. I haven't indulged in any stash enhancement for 13 weeks! So now the only way to improve my out versus in ratio is to sew more. Going to work on that this next week.
Check over at Judy's to see how stash management is going around the globe.
My plan to spend at least 15 minutes sewing each night didn't happen this last week. Too much other stuff going on. Still I did manage to finish assembling the pieced border for the Seeing Stars BOM, plus finished another block of my Leaders and Enders project. Here's the numbers:
Used this week: 0.34 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.51 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.51 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
So a little out, but maybe more importantly, nothing in. I haven't indulged in any stash enhancement for 13 weeks! So now the only way to improve my out versus in ratio is to sew more. Going to work on that this next week.
Check over at Judy's to see how stash management is going around the globe.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday Night Sew In - January
Last night I was finally able to participate in a FNSI. I've wanted to a number of times, but it seems we've had other stuff going on. I was able to get in a solid 3 hours of sewing time last night. Which may not sound like much, but for me, on a Friday, that's a huge amount of time.
I made some progress on the HST border for the Seeing Star BOM.
One more week left in January and I realized that other than my leaders and enders project, I haven't touched any of the projects that I listed for Myra's PhD challenge. So I drug out the box with the Buck-a-Block fabric in it and worked on it some as well. I managed to get the HST's done for this block and started sewing the rows together. This is block 7, so I have 5 more to do after this one. I've got a lot to do if this is going to be done by June!
I should finish the pieced border for Seeing Stars today, then concentrate on getting the Buck-a-Block project done. Hopefully I'll be able to do more FNSIs this year. This one motivated to get sewing, when usually on Friday, I just veg after working all week. So I highly recommend participating if you can swing it.
I made some progress on the HST border for the Seeing Star BOM.
I should finish the pieced border for Seeing Stars today, then concentrate on getting the Buck-a-Block project done. Hopefully I'll be able to do more FNSIs this year. This one motivated to get sewing, when usually on Friday, I just veg after working all week. So I highly recommend participating if you can swing it.
Foto Finish Saturday - January 22nd
This week's theme for the Foto Finish is "Kodachrome". I'm married to a man who is both music junkie and avid amateur photographer. So the word "Kodachrome" evokes all kinds of comments at our house. I was kiddo's age when Paul Simon released the song. It's easy to get that refrain running through your brain.
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
So in keeping with the "greens of summer" from the lyrics, here is this week's Foto Finish.
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away
So in keeping with the "greens of summer" from the lyrics, here is this week's Foto Finish.
This was taken in the field at the end of our street. It supports an amazing variety of wild flowers. The purple flowers are Prairie Stars. The field was buzzing with bees, but just the one butterfly, who proved to be quite camera shy. I took a lot of blurry in-motion shots before I got lucky with this one.
As I was working on this post, my guy commented that Kodachrome film was gone. Kodak quit making the film in late 2009/early 2010. The last Kodachrome film processor closed it's doors on December 30th 2010. So mama didn't take Kodachrome away, but I guess the digital era did.
Pop over Cat Patches to check out more Kodachrome moments.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Favorite Things Friday - January 21st
Not quite Friday here, but close. I'm so ready for a weekend. Kiddo has home basketball games on Saturday, but so far no obligations on Sunday. There was 4 to 5 inches of snow on the ground today. We're supposed to get another snow storm on Sunday, then maybe more on Monday. I'm ready for spring!
Since I'm not likely to get Spring any time soon, best to just move on to this weeks Favorite Things Friday. This post isn't strictly a Favorite Thing Friday, so I'll just beg your forgiveness up front for that and proceed. My favorite thing this week is "finishes". When kiddo was younger, I looked forward to the finish of soccer season. No more standing/sitting out in the hot/cold, in the wind (which in Oklahoma is not a trivial thing), in the rain and occasionally in the snow until the next season!
Along a similar vein, the finish of Upward basketball season was also a welcome thing. No more rushing kiddo home from after school care, through homework, and through anutritious quick dinner. No more running back out the door on a January night, driving across town, only to completely loose your breath and any feeling in your hands as you dash in the cold Arctic air across the parking lot to the gym for practice or games.
Then there is my most favorite kind of finish, finishing a quilt. The great thing about quilting is that there is not just one finish so you get all kinds of "being done" gratification throughout the process. You finish picking out the fabric (which depending upon your nature may provide more relief than gratification).
Then you finish piecing all the blocks, followed by finishing all the row sewing and border adding. You finish piecing the back. Once the quilt comes back from being quilted. You finish the binding (I forgot to take that shot, so you'll need to exercise your imagination to see completed binding below).
Finishing the label comes next.
And then the quilt is finished.
That's my first quilt finish for 2011 (definitely a favorite). It uses one of my butterfly fabrics, so that's another favorite. This quilt is a Planet Patchwork's July 12th one day mystery quilt, Merry Mayhem's Mystery Quilt Case #132 - Lucky Stars. You can see from the label I've renamed the quilt to suit my own fancy. I love the quilting Trudy did on this one.
So that's it for my favorite thing this week. Hop over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to see all the other wonderful favorite things.
Since I'm not likely to get Spring any time soon, best to just move on to this weeks Favorite Things Friday. This post isn't strictly a Favorite Thing Friday, so I'll just beg your forgiveness up front for that and proceed. My favorite thing this week is "finishes". When kiddo was younger, I looked forward to the finish of soccer season. No more standing/sitting out in the hot/cold, in the wind (which in Oklahoma is not a trivial thing), in the rain and occasionally in the snow until the next season!
Along a similar vein, the finish of Upward basketball season was also a welcome thing. No more rushing kiddo home from after school care, through homework, and through a
Then there is my most favorite kind of finish, finishing a quilt. The great thing about quilting is that there is not just one finish so you get all kinds of "being done" gratification throughout the process. You finish picking out the fabric (which depending upon your nature may provide more relief than gratification).
Then you finish piecing all the blocks, followed by finishing all the row sewing and border adding. You finish piecing the back. Once the quilt comes back from being quilted. You finish the binding (I forgot to take that shot, so you'll need to exercise your imagination to see completed binding below).
Finishing the label comes next.
And then the quilt is finished.
That's my first quilt finish for 2011 (definitely a favorite). It uses one of my butterfly fabrics, so that's another favorite. This quilt is a Planet Patchwork's July 12th one day mystery quilt, Merry Mayhem's Mystery Quilt Case #132 - Lucky Stars. You can see from the label I've renamed the quilt to suit my own fancy. I love the quilting Trudy did on this one.
So that's it for my favorite thing this week. Hop over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to see all the other wonderful favorite things.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Friday Night Sew In - A Much Needed Mini Quilting Retreat
Heidi and Bobby are hosting another Friday Night Sew-In this Friday the 21st. Typically I've had family obligations that have conflicted with past Sew-Ins, but not this week. My guy is out of town on business and won't get in until late Friday night. Kiddo doesn't have anything on her schedule that will keep me away from the house. So I'm going to pick up a take out pizza for dinner on the way home from work, make myself a pot of coffee and sew for a long while on Friday evening. Maybe I can finish up the borders for the Seeing Star BOM. Plus, I need to finish block 6 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along.
If you need an excuse to lock yourself away in your sewing room for an evening, hop over to Handmade by Heidi to sign up.
Year of the PIGS Update - Jan 19th
It's time for a PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks) update. This week Jill of Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor is asking us to reveal more about the secret life of the PIGS and UFOs that live in our stash. Such as:
Do I have a list of my PIGS and is it current? Yes, I have a list of my PIGS. When Jill proposed the "Year of the PIGS", I excavated my sewing room closet earlier this month to see what I had. So the list is current.
How many PIGS and UFOs do I have?
PIGS = 10
UFOs = 5
UFOs have been a big focus in my sewing room since 2009, I've more than halved the number on my list. I'm hoping to get the list down to one UFO by the end of this year. PIGS are the planned focus for next year. I do have one that I pulled out of the pile and started last year. It's a Buck-a-Block BOM from 2006. It's one of my PhDs for Myra's PhD Challenge (that post is here).
What are my oldest PIGS and how old are they? To be honest, I'm not sure. Most of my early quilts date from classes and I was pretty good about keeping the papers (supply lists) with the class dates on them. But for the grocery sack projects, I didn't keep any type of records. There are two PIGS that were conceived in the same year (I think), though I couldn't tell you in what order. I bought the fabric at the same quilt shop, at about the same time. In one case the pattern came first, King's Hiway from the book "Quilts from The Quilt Makers Gift" by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing, illustrated by Gait de Marcken, published by Scholastic, Inc in 2000.
The second PIGS was a fabric first, pattern second project. This was supposed to be a second quilt for kiddo who couldn't decide who she liked best, Little Mermaid or Buzz Lightyear. So I bought both fabrics. The Little Mermaid quilt did get finished but I never got to Buzz.
Kiddo knew what she wanted and she helped me design a quilt in Quilt Pro 4. This was the pattern she had decided on.
The fabric for both PIGS was probably purchased in late 2004 or early 2005 (Kiddo was 4 or 5). I'll probably finish the Buzz quilt and donate it for the school auction. With Toy Story 3 out, I'm sure some little kid would like it (unfortunately kiddo is too old for a Buzz quilt, though she did like the new movie). I'm undecided on what to do with the Kings Hiway project. I still like the fabrics, but I'm not sure they will work well in the chosen project. I should mock up that quilt in EQ7, see if it works or not.
Check out the all the details on the secret life of other PIGS over at Jill's blog.
Do I have a list of my PIGS and is it current? Yes, I have a list of my PIGS. When Jill proposed the "Year of the PIGS", I excavated my sewing room closet earlier this month to see what I had. So the list is current.
How many PIGS and UFOs do I have?
PIGS = 10
UFOs = 5
UFOs have been a big focus in my sewing room since 2009, I've more than halved the number on my list. I'm hoping to get the list down to one UFO by the end of this year. PIGS are the planned focus for next year. I do have one that I pulled out of the pile and started last year. It's a Buck-a-Block BOM from 2006. It's one of my PhDs for Myra's PhD Challenge (that post is here).
What are my oldest PIGS and how old are they? To be honest, I'm not sure. Most of my early quilts date from classes and I was pretty good about keeping the papers (supply lists) with the class dates on them. But for the grocery sack projects, I didn't keep any type of records. There are two PIGS that were conceived in the same year (I think), though I couldn't tell you in what order. I bought the fabric at the same quilt shop, at about the same time. In one case the pattern came first, King's Hiway from the book "Quilts from The Quilt Makers Gift" by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing, illustrated by Gait de Marcken, published by Scholastic, Inc in 2000.
I saw the fabric and thought it would look great made into that pattern. The second PIGS was a fabric first, pattern second project. This was supposed to be a second quilt for kiddo who couldn't decide who she liked best, Little Mermaid or Buzz Lightyear. So I bought both fabrics. The Little Mermaid quilt did get finished but I never got to Buzz.
Kiddo knew what she wanted and she helped me design a quilt in Quilt Pro 4. This was the pattern she had decided on.
The fabric for both PIGS was probably purchased in late 2004 or early 2005 (Kiddo was 4 or 5). I'll probably finish the Buzz quilt and donate it for the school auction. With Toy Story 3 out, I'm sure some little kid would like it (unfortunately kiddo is too old for a Buzz quilt, though she did like the new movie). I'm undecided on what to do with the Kings Hiway project. I still like the fabrics, but I'm not sure they will work well in the chosen project. I should mock up that quilt in EQ7, see if it works or not.
Check out the all the details on the secret life of other PIGS over at Jill's blog.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Design Wall Monday - Jan 17th
Nothing new on the design wall this week. Still working on the pieced border for the Seeing Stars BOM. The HSTs are all made, now I need to cut the corner squares and then I can start sewing the border together.
I keep forgetting to acknowledge the source of this pattern. It's available on the Coun'try Junk'tion web page (http://www.countryjunktion.com/BOM.html).
That's it for my design wall this week. Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for more design walls.
That's it for my design wall this week. Check out Judy's Patchwork Times for more design walls.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Stash Report - January 16th
It's the third Sunday of 2011 already. How are your projects going? I'm almost finished with a WIP from last year, just need to get the label sewn on. No progress on UFOs yet. Guess I better get busy, only 2 more weekends left in January to make some thing happen on that front.
I've been sewing this week. I'm trying to get up to my sewing room for at least 15 minutes every night. That did happen this week, however, it won't show up on the stash report this week. I'm working on a pieced border, but I won't count the yardage until I have the border sewn together. Plus I was hand sewing binding to a quilt. That fabric usage was counted last week. I did use some fabric for the label and finished a another leaders and enders block for the purple and yellow scrap quilt, so just a bit out this week. Here is this week's report:
Used this week: 0.11 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.17 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.17 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
Just a little out, but the good thing is nothing in. I haven't used any of my fabric budget yet. But I got the new Hancock's catalog this week and it has so much pretty fabric in it, plus 10% off if you order before February 5th. Not sure I can resist that temptation for long. Maybe I need to hide the catalog?
Jump over to Judy's Patchwork Times to see if busting or enhancement is the theme for this week.
I've been sewing this week. I'm trying to get up to my sewing room for at least 15 minutes every night. That did happen this week, however, it won't show up on the stash report this week. I'm working on a pieced border, but I won't count the yardage until I have the border sewn together. Plus I was hand sewing binding to a quilt. That fabric usage was counted last week. I did use some fabric for the label and finished a another leaders and enders block for the purple and yellow scrap quilt, so just a bit out this week. Here is this week's report:
Used this week: 0.11 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.17 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.17 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards for Jan to March
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
Just a little out, but the good thing is nothing in. I haven't used any of my fabric budget yet. But I got the new Hancock's catalog this week and it has so much pretty fabric in it, plus 10% off if you order before February 5th. Not sure I can resist that temptation for long. Maybe I need to hide the catalog?
Jump over to Judy's Patchwork Times to see if busting or enhancement is the theme for this week.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Foto Finish Saturday - January 14, 2011
Do you ever have one of those weekends that you thought on Friday you were booked solid and then consulted the calender to confirm times etc and realized you were thinking of the wrong weekend and actually don't have to be anywhere? That was this weekend for me. I thought we had basketball games this morning, no that's next weekend! So what am I going to do with my new found time? Go to the airport. Really. My guy couldn't get home last night, so I have to run to the airport to get him today. Oh well, easy come, easy go.
On to more important stuff like this week's Foto Finish. This week's theme is "Against All Odds". Barb of Cat Patches, was visiting Death Valley this week. I've never been there, but a couple of years ago we hiked around Palo Duro Canyon in the Panhandle of Texas (near Amarillo). It's pretty dry there, even so the cacti grow abundantly.
Flowers always seem so fragile, to see that spark of color along the dry floor of the red canyons seems to be against all the odds.
It's time for my second cup of coffee. Grab yourself a cup of Joe (or tea if that's more your thing) and browse the other Foto Finishes for this week.
On to more important stuff like this week's Foto Finish. This week's theme is "Against All Odds". Barb of Cat Patches, was visiting Death Valley this week. I've never been there, but a couple of years ago we hiked around Palo Duro Canyon in the Panhandle of Texas (near Amarillo). It's pretty dry there, even so the cacti grow abundantly.
Flowers always seem so fragile, to see that spark of color along the dry floor of the red canyons seems to be against all the odds.
It's time for my second cup of coffee. Grab yourself a cup of Joe (or tea if that's more your thing) and browse the other Foto Finishes for this week.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Favorite Things Friday - January 14th
TGIF, almost anyway. I've been home this afternoon with a sick kiddo. Just a head cold, but she's miserable. She's sitting at the dining room table, working on today's school work and giving me very dirty looks since I made a special trip to school to get said work. So I'm definitly up for some favorite things.
This week my favorite thing is my bedroom. By the time I graduated from college and was able to afford my own furniture (I lived in a furnished apartment for many years), I was almost 30. Taking a page from my mother's life, who had bought her first new bedroom set at the age of 30 (one which she still uses today), I pretty much decided that whatever came home was going to be around for awhile. So I bought exactly what I wanted (I was a successful single working girl at that point, so there was no spouse to exercise veto power).
I must have subconciously missed being a pricess in a canopy bed as a little girl. I'm still not sure why this was "the bed". There used to be curtains around the it, but they proved a bit impractical when kiddo was little. The quilt on the bed belongs to my guy, made at his request from a pattern and fabrics he picked out. Those are books on the night stand.
My bedtime reading pretty much ensures I dream of quilts. Then there is the ric a rack on the chest and dresser:
There are lots of other things with special memories; our engagement pictures, our wedding announcement, and a big jar of change. A framed scrappy 4 patch pieced shape of TX (it didn't photograph very well or I'd have shown it), a glass Chinese ornament and a more recent photo of kiddo also sit on the chest. It's not fancy, but it's home.
Hop over to Quilting in My Pyjamas to check out this week's assortment of favorite things.
This week my favorite thing is my bedroom. By the time I graduated from college and was able to afford my own furniture (I lived in a furnished apartment for many years), I was almost 30. Taking a page from my mother's life, who had bought her first new bedroom set at the age of 30 (one which she still uses today), I pretty much decided that whatever came home was going to be around for awhile. So I bought exactly what I wanted (I was a successful single working girl at that point, so there was no spouse to exercise veto power).
The bed |
My bedtime reading pretty much ensures I dream of quilts. Then there is the ric a rack on the chest and dresser:
Fan from Indonesia |
My baby and a candle she made |
Lady Bug box from Kiddo |
Side view |
Butterfly Box |
Bull Frog (my guy's) |
There are lots of other things with special memories; our engagement pictures, our wedding announcement, and a big jar of change. A framed scrappy 4 patch pieced shape of TX (it didn't photograph very well or I'd have shown it), a glass Chinese ornament and a more recent photo of kiddo also sit on the chest. It's not fancy, but it's home.
Hop over to Quilting in My Pyjamas to check out this week's assortment of favorite things.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Design Wall Monday - January 10th
Is it Monday already? A lot of running this weekend. I decided at some point on Saturday that I've sat on more bleachers as a parent then I ever did as a student! Unfortunately this weekend isn't an isolated event, we're pretty booked until about the middle of February. Consequently, not much time is being spent in the sewing room. I did get started on the HSTs for the Seeing Stars BOM border this weekend.
I like how this quilt is coming together even though I've had to make a lot of changes to the proposed final design. This quilt was intended to be made completely from scraps. The first proposed finished version used the dark blue in the border.
But there isn't enough of that dark blue to make the pieced border. Plus, I want to make the quilt a bit bigger, so a couple more borders have been added. This is the proposed final version (at least for now).
I have verified that there is enough fabric to finish the quilt as proposed (assuming that one can trust EQ7's fabric estimates). The goal is to finish piecing the top by the end of the month.
What's up on your design wall? Check out Judy's Patchwork Times to see what's up else where.
I like how this quilt is coming together even though I've had to make a lot of changes to the proposed final design. This quilt was intended to be made completely from scraps. The first proposed finished version used the dark blue in the border.
But there isn't enough of that dark blue to make the pieced border. Plus, I want to make the quilt a bit bigger, so a couple more borders have been added. This is the proposed final version (at least for now).
I have verified that there is enough fabric to finish the quilt as proposed (assuming that one can trust EQ7's fabric estimates). The goal is to finish piecing the top by the end of the month.
What's up on your design wall? Check out Judy's Patchwork Times to see what's up else where.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Stash Report - January 9th
The second week of January was a busy one. It was back to work for me. Boy was it hard to get back in the groove after 2 weeks off. Monday was a company holiday, so I was still lounging at home. I did get some sewing done Monday afternoon, but that was about it for the week. Yesterday, kiddo had two basketball games, plus it was her birthday. Not much time to get up to the sewing room. So here's the stash status for week 2:
Used this week: 0.28 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.06 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.06 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
One of my 2011 quilting goals was to set up and stick to a fabric budget. My budget is 10 yards per quarter. I'm going to add that to my stash report each week. It took weekly reporting of the yardage purchased to make me really notice how much I had bought. It's easy to just type the numbers in the spreadsheet, having to report those numbers on the blog made me much more conscious of my habits. Maybe weekly reporting will help me stick to the fabric budget.
So at the end of week 2, I'm still in the black. I doubt I get much sewing done this week. Kiddo has a swim meet today, basketball games on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. However, we are supposed to get snow starting this afternoon. That may change the schedule somewhat.
Hope your stash management for 2011 is on track. To check out how week 2 went, hop over to Judy's Patchwork Times.
Used this week: 0.28 yards
Added this week: 0 yards
Used year to date: 1.06 yards
Added year to date: 0 yards
Net used for 2011: 1.06 yards
Fabric Budget: 10 yards
Bought/Budget: 0/10 yards
One of my 2011 quilting goals was to set up and stick to a fabric budget. My budget is 10 yards per quarter. I'm going to add that to my stash report each week. It took weekly reporting of the yardage purchased to make me really notice how much I had bought. It's easy to just type the numbers in the spreadsheet, having to report those numbers on the blog made me much more conscious of my habits. Maybe weekly reporting will help me stick to the fabric budget.
So at the end of week 2, I'm still in the black. I doubt I get much sewing done this week. Kiddo has a swim meet today, basketball games on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. However, we are supposed to get snow starting this afternoon. That may change the schedule somewhat.
Hope your stash management for 2011 is on track. To check out how week 2 went, hop over to Judy's Patchwork Times.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Foto Finish Saturday - January 7th 2011
Today's a special day at our house. Kiddo turns 12! Hard to believe we are one year away from having a teenager in the house. I was looking at vacations shots searching for this weeks Foto Finish and even going back just 2 years, you see a little girl in those photographs. In last month's Christmas shots, you don't see too much little girl, but more of the young adult she's growing towards. I like the person she's becoming, but sometimes I miss the little girl who'd snuggle with mom in the recliner on Sunday mornings. OK, I'm done being a mushy mom. On to this week's Foto Finish.
I'm not a great lover of scenic shots, I prefer taking close ups. I think in part because it's so hard for me to fully capture the awe inspiring and beautiful natural settings that inspire us so much when we are traveling (probably means, I need to work on my skills in that area). My shots always seem to be lacking, so I don't take many scenic shots. For this week, I went back two years to a vacation trip we made to Washington State.
I've lived my entire life in the Midwest, so the mountains in Washington just astound me. The whole state is beautiful. This photo was taken on Lake Chelan from the boat that runs from town of Lake Chelan to Stehekin which is in the North Cascades National Park. The only way to get to Stehekin is to hike in or via plane or boat. We enjoyed this area so much we ended up staying the whole week in the Lake Chelan and skipping the two days we'd planned to be in Seattle. Not only were we really enjoying the area, this was the summer of 2009 when Seattle was experiencing temperatures in the 100's. We decided to stay cool up in the mountains. It was a bit ironic, Oklahoma is really hot in the summer, especially late July and early August, with temperatures typically in the 100's. The week we went to Washington State to escape the heat at home, Oklahoma had an unusual cool front come through and it was in the upper 80's low 90's that week here.
I'm going to grab a second cup of coffee and go check out all the other scenic eye candy posted over at Cat Patches.
I'm not a great lover of scenic shots, I prefer taking close ups. I think in part because it's so hard for me to fully capture the awe inspiring and beautiful natural settings that inspire us so much when we are traveling (probably means, I need to work on my skills in that area). My shots always seem to be lacking, so I don't take many scenic shots. For this week, I went back two years to a vacation trip we made to Washington State.
I've lived my entire life in the Midwest, so the mountains in Washington just astound me. The whole state is beautiful. This photo was taken on Lake Chelan from the boat that runs from town of Lake Chelan to Stehekin which is in the North Cascades National Park. The only way to get to Stehekin is to hike in or via plane or boat. We enjoyed this area so much we ended up staying the whole week in the Lake Chelan and skipping the two days we'd planned to be in Seattle. Not only were we really enjoying the area, this was the summer of 2009 when Seattle was experiencing temperatures in the 100's. We decided to stay cool up in the mountains. It was a bit ironic, Oklahoma is really hot in the summer, especially late July and early August, with temperatures typically in the 100's. The week we went to Washington State to escape the heat at home, Oklahoma had an unusual cool front come through and it was in the upper 80's low 90's that week here.
I'm going to grab a second cup of coffee and go check out all the other scenic eye candy posted over at Cat Patches.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Favorite Things Friday - 1/7/2011
It's not quite Friday here, but it's coming (thank goodness!!!!). My first week back at work after the Christmas holiday hasn't been bad, but kiddo's first week back at school after the break has been one drama filled evening after another. Though I think we've reached a calm interlude this evening. I'll savor the sanity while it lasts, which probably won't be long.
OK, back to Friday and favorite things. I collect a lot of fabric (as my stash reports for 2010 often attest). There are a lot of different fabrics in the stash, but one of my favorite motifs is butterflies. So over the last several years, I've collected quite a number of fabric prints with butterflies and/or or butterfly wings. Here's a few of my favorites:
OK, back to Friday and favorite things. I collect a lot of fabric (as my stash reports for 2010 often attest). There are a lot of different fabrics in the stash, but one of my favorite motifs is butterflies. So over the last several years, I've collected quite a number of fabric prints with butterflies and/or or butterfly wings. Here's a few of my favorites:
This isn't all my butterfly fabrics, but it's all I had scans of on the computer. Do you collect a certain kind of fabric or fabric motif? I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all of my faves, but they'll find a home in some project at some point I'm sure.
Hop over to Quilting in my Pyjamas to see other cool favorite things.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Quilting ABCs: PIGS, UFOs (PhDs) and WIPs
Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor, has proposed a Year of the PIGS support group. All you have to do is answer a question twice a month and share your deepest, darkest secrets about your PIGS and UFOs. Well maybe not those kinds of secrets, but tips and techniques you've found to tame all those PIGS which are hogging shelf space in your closet. (PIGS are Projects in Grocery Sacks. Those projects you have the pattern and the fabric, but stalled on start up).
Jill's question for this week is "How do you store your UFOs and PIGS separate from your fabric stash?"
I use various storage containers for PIGS, UFOs and WIPs.
The top bin with the vinyl window contains all the purple and yellow fat quarters that are being used for the purple and yellow scrap quilt (a WIP/UFO). The little yellow sticky note tells me what project the fat quarters are associated with. The bottom gray container has the patterns and fabric for 5 or 6 PIGS. Both of these containers reside at the back of my sewing room closet. I use the same gray containers for some of my fabric stash.
Here is the one PIGS that is actually in a sack of sorts. It's one of those Minky strip quilts and it stays in the bag so as not to shed all over the other projects.
I have more satchels which sit on the chest in the sewing room. These are the WIPs and UFOs that I'm actively working on. Once I finish sewing the binding on a quilt, I empty out the satchel. Extra yardage gets rolled back into the stash. Scraps go into my scrap bin. I don't do any preparation of the scraps, but I'm going to start cutting the smaller scraps into squares, strips and bricks for scrap projects this year. The recently vacated satchel usually has a new project in it within a day or too, so they don't stay empty for long.
So that's how I store all my past, present and future projects. Check out Jill's post to see other storage solutions.
Jill's question for this week is "How do you store your UFOs and PIGS separate from your fabric stash?"
I use various storage containers for PIGS, UFOs and WIPs.
These "Super Satchels" are stored on a shelf in the sewing room closet. They contain UFOs and PIGS. You know, out of sight, out of mind? All the fabric associated with a project is in these satchels. One of the UFOs has more than one satchel for that reason.
Here is the one PIGS that is actually in a sack of sorts. It's one of those Minky strip quilts and it stays in the bag so as not to shed all over the other projects.
So that's how I store all my past, present and future projects. Check out Jill's post to see other storage solutions.