Happy Birthday Sara!

I almost missed her birthday .. She won't know about this (unless I send her a link) but I didn't want her day to go unmentioned. 

Picture from here.

It's hard to believe that November is over.  Every year I think I'll be more on top of things when Christmas rolls around; and every year, it doesn't happen.  Suddenly it's December; where did the year go?

Today is the last day of NaBloPoMo.   I missed two days of posting this month but hit the rest of the days.  Don't think I'll try to do this again, I just don't have that much to say.

On another note completely.  I keep accidentally posting my 15 minute challenge blogs because the publish and save buttons are right next to each other.  I really need to be more careful.

Let it Snow ...

This is what I've been working on this week.  I still need to weave in the ends and stiffen them up with some "stiffy" and will do that tomorrow, maybe.

 

I really need to take pictures during the day .. 

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nada
Thursday - zip, removed sewing machine from dining room
Friday - zilch
Saturday -  cut fabric for twisted quilt
Sunday - cut more fabric for twisted quilt
Monday - finished the quilting on the sporty quilt

I'm just wondering how many different ways there are to say "nothing" since that's about all the sewing/crafting I'm getting done these days.

I did finally do something productive last night, after dinner, dishes, a Hallmark movie, getting a Christmas tree, and picking the YD up from school.

Here's my new sewing machine set up.

 

To see how other people have done on the 15-minute challenge or to link up yourself, check out Kate's Life In Pieces.

another birthday

And a very special Happy Birthday to my Aunt Ila.  She turned 93 today.  I posted this picture before, but it's such a nice picture, I thought I would post it again.

Happy Birthday Anna!!

Image from here.

Hope you had a wonderful, wonderful day!!

Christmas or bust ..

This week has been a crafty bust.  I've moved the sewing machine to my bedroom and have yet to set it up to sew.  This will have to change if I want to accomplish any of my short and long term sewing goals.  Maybe tomorrow night during Monday Night Football.

If I can't pull it together back there, I'll have to bring the machine back out here.  I was hoping that I would be able to sew while the boys are still awake -- I can't sew in the dining room while they are awake and they aren't going to bed early enough for me to get any sewing done.

Happy Thanksgiving / Black Friday

We had a lovely day yesterday with lots of good food and lots of leftovers today.

We played Finish Lines which ends up being a good game for everyone because there are lines that everyone can finish, from nursery rhymes to Shakespeare.  Mostly just sat around watching football and visiting.  Pretty quiet (probably because the boys were at their other grandparents' house).

I don't do the Black Friday thing, so today should be a pretty quiet day as well.  maybe more so with no crazy cooking to finish up.  this is a good thing since my cold seems to be gearing up.  mostly sore throat.  we'll see.  I'll drag myself out of bed soon and see if I can get my sewing on. I've been trying to figure out whether or not I can set up my sewing machine in my bedroom ...

Grocery Shopping or Mary had a little Lamb

Okay, so this is a weird thing to post, but I was going to join with Mrs. Pyjamas and Little Miss Sunshine for their Pinterest Challenge (aka Survivor: Kitchen), and their second meal was supposed to be this, made with lamb.  I didn't think there was lamb in our grocery store, but I was wrong.  Here are the pics of the lamb (imported from New Zealand).  I think there were about two packages in addition to the ones I photographed.

Anyway, for various reasons I decided not to join up this week (not the least of which that this is Thanksgiving week).  Mrs. P asked me about lamb prices here so I thought I'd show her just was it looked like.  It seems to run from $5.49 to $7.99 a pound -- but as you can tell the selection is rather limited. 

Since I've been married, I have never made lamb so I'm going to have to do somethoing about that.  I may just have to make the challenge meal (I heard it was great)!

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge / 600th post

It's time again to check in and show how my week has been going.  I've pretty much been posting as I go this month so that makes it a little easier.  The NaBloPoMo has had me keeping up on my posting.

Here's how the week went.

Tuesday - quilted sporty quilt
Wednesday - tried to quilt sporty quilt
Thursday - nothing
Friday - nada
Saturday -quilted sporty quilt; bought fabric for the twister quilt
Sunday - nothing
Monday -hemmed curtains .. I'm only counting this because I want my week to look better.  the curtains look marginally better.  If I had spent a little more time, I could have made them look much better.  Just being lazy. I'll pull them down later this weekend and fix them.

I seem to only be able to do 3-4 days of sewing a week. I need to work on that.  I only need 15 minutes so I need to give 15 minutes.  I confess, sometimes I am choosing not to sew (mostly to watch TV or play computer games).

Anyway, check out Kate's 15 minute challenge at Life In Pieces.

I think that a 15-minute challenge post is fitting for my 600th post.  It is something I have been posting pretty regularly for the past year.

aw, shucks

Spent a couple of hours tonight shucking corn.

 

Wish that it had looked this good.  We were sorting corn for Second Harvest Food Bank.  Digging through huge bins of corn and tossing the bad ears, and separating out the good ears.  You had to go through most of the shucking to figure out if the corn was good or bad .. it was interesting.  I've done some different things at food banks; this was the first time handling fresh produce.  Previously it's just been cans.  We packed a ton of corn, literally. 

I think I'm coming down with a cold.  We'll have to see if it really gets me or not.

No real sewing done today.  I hemmed some curtains and did a really bad job.  I need to re-do them.  Maybe this weekend.  I'm hoping for a calm working around the house weekend.  wonder what I'll really have.

A friend of mine scoped out the possible ornaments at Michael's but didn't find any.  I'll have to see if I can find some online (she sent me one link which I will probably end up using ...).

Goals met?

So the weekend wasn't a total bust.  Here's a re-cap of what I checked off the list.

buy fabric for the twisted quilt

clean house

buy a Christmas tree (for work)

buy the Christmas favor boxes **see below**

These are the things that I didn't get to:

start the boys' crayon holders

finish the ornaments I started in 1985

reading

rest

make a nice dinner (from the pinterest challenge)

**I didn't buy party favors, but I saw these on pinterest, here, and thought I'd try making them for the office.  They look pretty good.  I just need to decide if that's what I want to do.

They still need ribbon and to be finished, but I think they're pretty cute.  Every year I try to have some sort of favor at the table for our holiday dinner.  Last year I bought little sleigh cupcake holders and filled them with candy.  I really need to get to Michael's and see what other things I might be able to get.  I guess I can do that next weekend.

I also worked on the sporty quilt.  Just have one more area to quilt and then I need to add the binding.  Not sure what to use for that.

Here are the cross stitch pieces that I made for my three oldest (when they were the only three I had).  I have to see what I can find at a craft store to mount them and make them into ornaments.  I had them in little frames, but I wasn't happy with those.  I want to give them to them for Christmas this year (only 27 years later ...).  

I still need to finish the Christmas stockings from last year.  I was thinking of embroidering names on the stockings.  Don't think that will l happen this year, but maybe someday.

Weekend Journey

That sounds fun doesn't it .. much more interesting than weekend goals .. 

This weekend, I want to accomplish the following:

1 - buy the fabric for my twisted quilt
2 - clean house
3 - buy a Christmas tree (for work)
4 - buy the Christmas favor boxes (for work)
5 - start the boys crayon holders
6 - finish the ornaments I started in 1985 ... in my cross stitch phase

7 - get some reading in
8 - get some rest
9 - make a nice dinner (from the pinterest challenge)

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Time After Time

Just thinking of my mom today. 

39 Days Until Christmas

only 38 more shopping days until Christmas...

One of my goals this year is/was to send out Christmas cards.  I want to have a family picture to put in them so, I'll need to figure that one out.  How to set up the camera to take a family picture.  I think we'll take the picture on Thanksgiving .. unless I hold out until Christmas and take the picture when my OD is here on holiday.  I could send the card out after Christmas then.  If I had them ready to go except for the pictures ...

I just can't believe how little time there is left ...

p.s. no sewing done tonight.

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge

This week has been a decent week, I think.  No work on the twisted quilt, but that will happen soon.  Here's my rundown of the days

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nada
Thursday - sewed extra borders on BYG duvet cover
Friday - zip
Saturday - sewed sporty flannel squares together
Sunday - basted sporty quilt and started quilting
Monday - worked on quilting sporty quilt

I thought I had worked more days on sewing than that.  Guess it just felt like it.  I really need to keep track as the week goes on, because I don't necessarily blog about all my sewing.

It's only Tuesday and I'm already exhausted ..

Head on over to Life in Pieces to see who has met the challenge this week.

Happy sewing!

Time to Play Ball

As I am waiting to get the fabric for the twisted baby quilt*, and also as mentioned previously, I have been working on a quilt for my youngest grandson.  A very simple quilt, made from a fat quarter bundle of flannel that my MS gave me as a gift a couple of years ago.  (I asked my children for fabric for Christmas (or was it my birthday?) and only one of them did it.  So, that's where this came from.)

There were five fat quarters so I sewed them together - splitting the fifth one into two pieces. Very simple.  I'm going to quilt each section differently - not sure that's such a good idea, but thought I would try it out to see how it looks.

So far I've only finished the basketballs.  I hope the quilting doesn't take away from the softness.

And here's the back. 

So while I'm waiting to start the other quilt, I'll work on this.  and then, when I'm done with this, I've got the crayon rolls to make and the sewing kits, and I'd like to make some coasters too.

I actually made a list of things I wanted to work on this Christmas season, but I don't know where I put the list.  figures.

On another note, my father is going to be joining us in California next week, specifically next Tuesday.  (The Tuesday before Thanksgiving.)  I hope he's ready for the craziness of my house.  Never a dull moment here.  If you want to know more about my dad, he has a blog too.  You can check it out here.



*Okay, I confess.  Twisted baby quilt is not a good name.  I'll solicit suggestions when the finish is in sight.

Short post

Again no pictures.  I basted Cooper's quilt and started quilting it.  I'm not sure I should count this in my quilts this year because it is so plain. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

I'm hoping it will be something he will use.  Right now he uses his brothers' quilts and I'd like one just for him.

This is going to be short because I want to go to bed.  tomorrow is an early day and I am going to the dentist and having blood drawn before work.

I got a thing removed from my face on Friday.  I thought it was just a skin tag, but the dermatologist sent it out anyway.  She didn't say it was just a skin tag .. probably nothing.

Quilt progress, not.

This is actually the process with a lot of my quilts.  I have the idea and then nothing.  I found some fabric today but my YD didn't like it.  I'm going to return the fabric and take her with me so we can get something she likes/wants.  I'm so anxious to get started ...

I started on Cooper's quilt.  I used some flannel sports themed fat quarters and sewed them together.  I'll use the piggy fabric as the backing, add some batting and baste it -- maybe tonight.  maybe not.  it won't be an exciting quilt, but it'll be soft and something that's his.

Sew, New Plan

Well, sort of.  Last night, I was sewing and my oldest grandson decided he was going to "watch" me sew.  So far, so good.  Then he was playing under my sewing table.  Still good.  He had the foot pedal and was moving it around.  I told him to leave it alone.  Not so good. Then he pressed on it and the sewing machine when crazy.  Not good.  Then I screamed at him and the situation.  Not good at all. Sew ....

From now on, unless I am prepared to have him or any other small people help with my sewing, I am going to wait until 9 p.m. to start.  If they happen to be up and want to watch, the answer will be no.  If they want to help, the answer will be no.

Prior to 9 p.m., I will play with them, read to them, whatever, just as long as I am not yelling at them or getting frustrated with them getting into my sewing and sewing area.

New plan.

Nothing New

No work on the new quilt today, unless you count looking at on-line fabric stores for other fabrics.  I was, however, able to sew the wider borders on the BYG duvet cover.

Since I don't have any new fabric pictures, here are some pics taken recently with photo booth.

Wordless Wednesday

15 Minute Challenge

I'm linking up to Kate's 15 minute challenge again.  This week has been a little better, probably because I have a goal and a plan -- a quilt.  Here's how the week went.

Tuesday - nothing
Wednesday - nothing
Thursday - designed block
Friday - figured out how much fabric I would need for the quilt; purchased backing fabric (and the cute piggy fabric below)
Saturday - worked out final plans for the BYG duvet cover
Sunday - purchased fabric (probably won't be used for the quilt, but it was fun to get some fabric anyway)
Monday - made test/sample blocks; cut out additional borders for BYG duvet cover

That's my week. I'm hoping that I can stay motivated.  

First cut

I cut a strip of each of the colors and made the first row. I don't like the way it looks so I'm going to look for other fabrics.  The purple is okay but not the pinkish.

The pattern is fun though and with the larger blocks I like it even more.  Once I fix on the fabrics, I'll really get started.

Happy Birthday Paul!!

Here's wishing my husband a very Happy Birthday!

 

Not too fancy (not fancy at all), but they're what we're eating after dinner tonight!

New beginnings, new fabrics

Fabric purchased!  These are the fabrics I'm going to start with .. we'll see how they look together in the pattern.  I am happy with the purple argyle .. not so happy with the pink.

 

This is Veggie Tales fabric.  I'm going to use it for crayon holders for the boys.

 

These were the other options for the new quilt.  I'll just add them to my "stash".

 

Here are the boys with new shirts from Aunt Anna.  Notice Buzz Lightyear !!

This little piggy ..

I didn't work on the new quilt today.  Last night I bought some flannel for the backing, white with small pink polka dots.  I also bought some really cute piggy fabric, red and white.  I think I'll make Cooper a quilt and use it for the backing. 

I did get together with a friend today to work on / plan the BYG duvet cover.  I need to add additional borders to the top -- I'm going to add 4 inches all around, and then I'm going to quilt it to the top of the old duvet cover.  She's going to take the duvet cover apart for me.  I think she's got the harder part.  I would never have asked her to do it for me, but since she offered ...

Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find the fabric for my new quilt.  A blog friend suggested I get a little extra fabric, just in case, so I'll get one and quarter yards of each.  Better too much than not enough.

Calculations (aka Maths)

I've decided that I'm going to post, step-by-step, how my new quilt comes together.  Since I'm trying to blog every day of November, I thought this would be a good way for me to do that. (Blogging every day this month is sort of participating in NaBloPoMo (which is on my list) but I didn't actually sign up.)

This also might help me to actually meet the 15 minute challenge a few more times this year, as well as to finish another quilt (see #19 on my list).

So, the next step on this quilt is figuing out how much fabric to get.  I usually just guess at it and have either way too much or not nearly enough. Here are my calculations and it looks like I need to get one yard of each fabric. (Let's hope I did the calculations correctly.)  I usually do this in my notebook, but I didn't want to draw the pattern by hand.   

Oops. I just realized that this says the number of strips needed for each color, but it's actually the number of blocks.

I'm thinking of making 4 inch blocks in the quilt, which means the finished size of each block needs to be 4½ inches.  I was too lazy to figure this out myself so I did some research on the internet to find out what size to cut my blocks to end up with the size of block I want.  The blogs/sites I read pretty much all said that the blocks, before being made into HSTs, needed to be 7/8 inches larger than the finished size, or 5⅜, so I'm cutting the strips/blocks to 5½ (giving myself a smidgen of extra that can just be cut off).  But then I'm wondering, when they say finished size, do they mean the 4 or the 4½ inches?  I'm hoping it refers to the 4 inch block, because I'm doing both HSTs and QSTs and I'm worried that I need to add another ⅜ or ½ (I can't remember which) to each of the pieces of the QST blocks.  I'm going to check the sample block I made last week to see what size the blocks that started out at 3 ¼ squares ended up.

I am excited about starting this quilt.  I want to go to the quilt shop and see what fabrics I can find.