BOMs

What can I say? I love BOMs. I don't even know how many of them I have going right now. A bunch all came in one box today.

I'm behind a little on one, behind a lot on the other, and the Birds and Bees on the left of the picture is a new one. I love doing BOMs with Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop. Everything is beautifully packaged with color charts and always enough fabric. Of course, I don't need to tell my bloggy friends how excited I am to get boxes from Kimberly!

I certainly have my work cut out for me, don't I?

Monday, Monday

I dropped the first quilt top off at Ginger's tonight. But in the spirit of sewing at least an hour every night, I got back to these blasted HSTs. There are a million of them.



Then I realized I twisted my back worst than I originally thought today. It was hurting too badly to sit at the sewing machine. I picked up the pumpkin block I prepped last week and took a few stitches. I need to fix that hat brim. I don't like that gray piece on there. It's supposed to be the inside of the brim of the hat. I don't get it. Need to rethink that part of it. At least there's plenty to applique down before I get to that.

I'm heading upstairs to get prone on a heating pad. All I did was take a step out of the lobby of the building and I felt the pull, lower left side. Crap, I'm getting older than dirt. When did that happen? How come I'm falling apart? And why do I look like my mother? Sigh ..........

Stash Busting Week 17

This has been an almost neutral week for me.

I've been making the first of maybe three quilt tops for Ginger for the quilt run. I hope to have that finished today. So a lot of sewing going on, but nothing to bust because it's her fabric.

The reason the word "almost" is bolded is because I only ordered one thing - this kit made from Mary Engelbreit's Friends & Flowers line. I've truly never paid much attention to ME fabric before, but since everyone was going gah-gah over it, I decided to take a closer look. It's wonderful! I was poking buttons right and left one night, ordering yards and yards of it with no plan in mind. Then cooler heads prevailed. I reasoned it would probably just be stacked in the stash room to languish for months/years on end. That's when I decided just to order this kit and the backing and call it good! So while this is 10.25 yards purchased this week, trust me, it could have been much much worse! LOL

Jane called last night. She's on vacation and having a great time. It was so weird this weekend because I picked up the phone a dozen times to call her before remembering she wasn't home.

I'll be sewing like crazy today. I want to get Ginger's quilt done before the next one is given to me. Maybe I can manage to bust a little stash during that interim!

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 163.75 yards
Purchased: 199.75 yards
Net YTD: <36.00> yards busted!

Oh my goodness, I crack myself up! I call it an almost neutral week when I only buy 10.25 yards of fabric! ROFLOL

Cutting Again!

That's the story of my life these days. The good news is that I made half of about a gazillion half square triangles that I need for one of the quilts I cut this past weekend. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- HSTs are the most boring block in all of Quiltdom!

But what I'm cutting now is for Ginger's. And I can't show anyone! This will be one of their quilts for the quilt run in July. I've never done a quilt run before, but the concept is that you visit each shop in that section and get a piece of the pattern from each shop. It's such a huge area to cover for the run that they've divided it into, I think, four sections. Anyway, since I'm making the sample for them, I guess I won't need to do the run. And that means I won't be doing any shopping and buying any fabric!! And that's a good thing! :)

But, hey, I just thought of something! Our stash busting hostess is out of town this week! We know what that means! When the cat's away, the mice will play! Do you think we could sneak some purchases by her without her noticing? ROFLOL. Actually, I'm not very good at that. Remember when she visited in January? When we got to the house from the airport, there was a package sitting on my doorstep! I was SO busted!

Jane has gone out of town for a week. I know she has other friends to visit, but, sheesh, a whole week? I'm just kidding, Jane! Have a great time, and tell Darlene hi for me!

Okay, I'm done. I've even bored myself with this blog! LOL

Asking for a Special Favor

I have a very special favor to ask of all my blogger friends. Very special.

Please take a moment to visit OKPeri's Place to see an absolutely gorgeous quilt. This quilt is being raffled to raise money for a cure for cystic fibrosis.

I know that when you read the story of Perry's granddaughter, Miss Katy, that you will open your hearts and make a donation to this very worthy cause. And who knows? You may win that beautiful quilt!

Thank you!! (Hugs)

Stash Report Week 16

Well, moving in the right direction again ... but a lot of catch-up to do before I'm back in the positive. The way things are going, though, I could very well turn it around in the next couple of weeks! Remember, I said that after April 15th I'd be able to accomplish a lot more! :)

I spent all day yesterday cutting. I cut Hometown Christmas, even the borders. I started sewing a bit on it, but decided to eat dinner instead! It's always something! Anyway, I'm counting it as busted. I also cut another kit with Renewal fabric by Brannock & Patek. That one was 9 yards. I'm counting that as busted, too - otherwise, I would have a nothing report this week. That's 28.75 yards total busted this week. These numbers do not include backing or binding. That's for another week, hopefully in the not too distant future. Both of these will sew up quickly. Cutting is the hardest part of the whole quilting process for me. I like to have essentially a cutting weekend occasionally. I seem to get more sewn when I do it that way.

I purchased nothing. Okay, I did place a small order that hasn't arrived yet. It'll be on next week's report. But I'm proud of myself because I had a ton of stuff in the cart, and then backed out a lot of it before I poked the button. I'm trying to break the habit of buying everything. From now on I'm just going to buy what I have a reasonable expectation of actually making. The amount of money I put into my retirement account each month should grow proportionately, and that's a good thing!

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 163.75 yards
Purchased: 189.50 yards
Net YTD: <25.75> yards busted!

Goals for the Weekend!

I don't like making lists, but I need to this weekend. A lot of loose quilty ends need to be tied up. It'll be interesting to see how much I accomplish by Sunday night. Knowing me, I'll go off in another direction! LOL

* Machine sew the binding on a quilt -- DONE

* Finish prepping a pumpkin block -- DONE

* Cut another section of Hometown Christmas -- DONE. I cut the last two sections, plus all borders. I'm going to count this as stash busted on my report because it's definitely committed now! LOL

* Make more red/white shooting star blocks and assemble the top center

* Figure out the border on All Things Christmas

* Cut the finishing kit for Prairie Paisley Patchwork Party

* Cut Buttons and Bows

* Poke no BUY buttons

Wow, that's an ambitious list. I also need to do all the laundry (not just the stuff I need).

Before I posted this blog, I stopped and did one item on the list! LOL



On to the next task!

What a Day!

I'm glad to be home!

My scheduled Saturday morning haircut was moved to last night at the request of my hairdresser. Seems she's going on vacation. Gee, what's a vacation? At least I won't have to get out real early on Saturday morning now!

I received the next BOM for Raspberry Truffles, and it was finished in short order. Five small blocks. I think the next one will be the last, some applique. I'm ready to get this quilt finished, but the pink/brown has been fun. Alas, I have to wait another month.

This weekend? I don't know. I want to work on the Patchwork Party finishing kit, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't. There are a couple of projects that are out on my cutting table. Hometown Christmas fabric is sitting there. Maybe I'll cut out the last two sections so they're ready to go when I'm ready to sew. And I want to prep several applique blocks, maybe on the pumpkin quilt. I'm ready to make more progress on that one also. The red/white shooting stars is sitting there near completion. There's one quilt that just needs the binding attached. I could also figure out the borders on All Things Christmas. I guess I'm a typical quilter. Plenty of irons in the fire.

One more thing -- I'm getting real homesick. I plan to visit my brother probably the last week in September. Airline tickets have gone up, so I'm wanting to get that one booked at the earliest date possible. It'll be wonderful to hug on him. I haven't seen the house completed since the rebuild after the fire. I need to make at least four quilts for the bedrooms, but I wanted to see the house first. It's too hard to try to coordinate that over the phone.

Well, this whole blog is about what I want to do, not what I've done. Life is like that sometimes.

Gumbo

No, not the kind you eat. Just a blog where I throw everything into the pot and see if I can get it all to make sense!

There is nothing in the house from which to make a meal. Seriously. I have spaghetti fixings but no ground meat. I have steaks - frozen. There are instant mashed potatoes but no milk. There's peanut butter and jelly but no bread. Okay, so it's grits and bacon for dinner tonight. Tomorrow night there will be food in the pantry - and not just boxes of fabric!

I'm kind of at a standstill this week on quilting. I have nothing completely prepped for applique. I've been too tired at night to cut fabric. I think I'm going to sew a binding on a quilt, so at least I can hand stitch it down and be doing something productive while I chill out at night. I'm real motivated to sew right now. I just need to get through this week, and I'm sure I'll be sewing like crazy this weekend.

A tad bit of a sinus infection and the weather getting hotter have me, well, a little under the weather. Nothing serious; just a general malaise. The blahs.

My friend, Ruthie, mentioned on her blog getting the Aunt Philly's Toothbrush Rugs video and starter kit. I picked up this video at Road, but didn't get the starter kit, and that's where I'm kind of stuck. These looks like they're fun to make. I might try a tiny one out of those strips I've got cut up just to see where it takes me. And if that works out, then I'm going to tear up some of that stash and make up some gifts or whatever. I think I'll be lucky to get one done, but who knows!

Another friend, Gail, is having a give-away on her blog. Gail has just started her own company making these beautiful cards! Congratulations, Gail! Wishing you every success in your new endeavor!

Jane is working different days this week Ginger's, so I stopped by both last night and tonight. Didn't buy a thing. Just breathed their air. Oh, and worked on the puzzle that's always out on a table.

So there you have it - gumbo. Just a little bit of nothing from my corner of the universe.

Quiltathon - Sunday

This is #11 block. One more and I'm going to start cutting the finishing kit. THAT will be busting! LOL. But I'm not talking about the stash report this week! (sigh)

~~~~~~~~~


1:00 p.m. - All 12 blocks are finished! Hooray! Used my favorite fabric and learned how to use the templates, so it was a good thing! I'm going in there right now to start cutting the finishing kit. There were 12 kits to choose from and I chose this one. It's a different setting from any I've done before, and there's a bit of applique on it. Because I'm needleturning the applique instead of fusing it, it'll take me a couple of weeks to finish this top, but I'm going to work on it every night for at least an hour!

Gosh, I can't remember when I've been so excited about a quilt -- well, since putting the final stitch in the binding of the Giterdun!

Stash Report Week 15

I don't want to talk about it! LOL

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 135.0 yards
Purchased: 189.50 yards
Net YTD: <54.5> yards busted!

The Weekend!

I'm so glad this week is over.

I closed it down last night with one seam left to sew on the sixth Patchwork Party block. I was just too darn tired to finish it. After I vacuum and do some tidying up around the house in a bit, the next block will be cut. Don't know if they'll all be finished up this weekend as I had hoped, but that's my goal. I'm real ready to start putting this quilt together! Since the block packages are not being counted as fabric purchased or busted, there won't be busting happening until I get to the finishing kit. And Lord knows I need to get something busted! Badly! I'm just saying.

Supposed to be hot this weekend. We had a horribly hot summer last year, so this year so far has been especially enjoyable. Guess that's about to end.



The seventh block!



The eighth block finished!

Don't faint, Judy! I'm cooking! I have a pot of white beans and ham going, and all I'll have to do later is make a pot of rice and some cornbread! It took me quite a while, but I finally found the kitchen here!



Number 9 block. Okay, I didn't like making this one. LOL



I didn't like making this one either. I'm just tired and need to stop for tonight. Two more blocks tomorrow and I can start on the finishing kit.

A Two-Nighter!

This is my Murphy's Law block. If there was a possible mistake in the whole world I could have made, I did it on this block. Two nights of sewing, ripping, sewing, ripping! I'm thinking now that maybe a glass of wine might have helped.

But it's done. I hope no one looks too closely at any of the points. It may ONLY be viewed from a galloping horse!

My new motto applies: It stays as it lays!

Today was a day of pondering. To summarize the whole thing I asked myself that famous question, "Are you better off than you were 15 years ago?" The short answer - a big YES!! :) :) :)

Tonight while going around the ring and leaving a few comments, I got to laughing at the verification letters you have to type in on some blogs. Wouldn't it be great to get a vanity license tag with just a bunch of letters on it -- and make the drivers behind you nuts trying to figure out what it means?!!!

I'll Stop Now!

I promise! These are just a hoot to make! I'll admit that the cutting was a bit tedious at first using the templates, but now I've gotten the hang of those. Just so pleased that I finally learned how to use them! I guess now I'll go back and make the last Patchwork Party. :)

Been trying to quilt at least an hour a day for the past two weeks. I've gotten so much done! Not much finished, but grand progress has been made! Thanks, Judy, for the hour-a-day challenge!

And last but not least, Happy 1st Birthday to Miss Emma!

This Is Fun!

I'm having more fun with these Patchwork Party blocks. This is the third one. So, okay, it's not the best one sewing-wise, and here's why.

I finished this block last night, but something looked wonky to me. I couldn't figure it out at all. I was tired after being at work most of the day yesterday, and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Well, at 2:00 a.m. I sat straight up in bed. I had somehow figured it out in my sleep. I came downstairs and took the whole block apart. Tried again when I got home tonight and it's now correct. It's a little "wavy" from taking it apart, but I think it'll look okay in the finished quilt. Whew!

On the next block I'll follow those directions that are there for a purpose! LOL

Second Block

I won't be posting each block as they're made, but I'm having fun with these blocks. Did I already say I love Prairie Paisley? LOL

Off to work. At least there won't be any phones calls today to interrupt me!

What Can I Say? Week 14

All those fabrics that I fell in love with after Fall Market, and had on my short list to buy, have hit the stores. Busted virtually nothing - 1 yard - and purchased a lot.

I was going to blame this whole week on Patchwork Party, LOL, but that won't fly. I'm not going to even try to calculate the yardage in those 12 block packages; too many small pieces. I'm working on those blocks now, so only the backing and finishing kit will be counted and busted.

Oh, well, confession is good for the soul.

Patchwork Party backing - 8.5 yards
Patchwork Party finishing kit - 9.75 yards
Hemming House - 8 yards
Judie Rothermel patriotics - 11 yards
Garden Inspirations - 12.75 yards

Grand total purchased this week - 51.00 yards.

Year-to-Date Totals:

Busted: 135.0 yards
Purchased: 167.50 yards
Net YTD: <32.5> yards busted!

And I was doing so good! I'm pretty much done buying until I make my list after Spring Market. Wait, I've got one more small order (14 yards) coming from Kimberly at The Fat Quarter Shop. I ordered some more Prairie Paisley, Dandelion Girl, and the checks from the Flowers for Emma line. But I've got a few good months of sewing AND BUSTING before the fall lines are available for purchase. At least there are 135 yards gone from the stash room this year. It's the old "is the glass half full or half empty" question. :)

Two more hard weeks at work, and then things should be easier. I won't be so tired and stressed when I get home, and will be much more productive in the sewing room. I've got LOTS of ground to make up here! LOL

One Down

Eleven more to go! I received four more of these Patchwork Party blocks today, so just two outstanding. I'm sure they'll arrive on Monday.

This one took me a while to cut. I had to figure out how to use the Michell templates. Now that I have the hang of it, the rest of them should be a lot easier.

Should have pressed and squared before taking the picture. LOL. I'm the worst photographer in the whole world.

Prairie Paisley Patchwork Party

Wow, that's a lot of Ps!!

The packages are arriving. Six out of twelve have landed in SoCal! I'm so excited about this quilt. The fabric is my absolute favorite!

Sorry about the dark picture. It's real hard to take pictures here at night. There are no overhead lights in my sewing room.

OMG, I just noticed the magnetic pincushion that's sitting on the cutting table. See all those colored paperclips? ROFLOL. I'm sure I have a desk drawer full of them, too. I'll bet everyone knows where I got those!

I'm going to finish up something I'm working on tomorrow, and then start trying to figure out these blocks. I think I probably have every set of Marti Michell templates and I've never used them. Yes, I collect things! This project will get me going using those. Jane tells me I'll love them.

Fell and Landed Hard

Fell off the stash busting wagon, that is, and landed with a resounding thud!

Dandelion Girl

Just a small order of it tonight, but I have a feeling I'll be poking more buttons before the week's out.

I've been trying to think of one of my Dad's wise sayings for a time like this.

"If you don't know what to do, do nothing." No, that doesn't fit.

"Hey, we're not building a piano here." Nope.

"Come on, Minnie, let's go to bed. These people want to go home." Uh uh.

"If you want it, bebe, just go ahead and get it." Yep, that's the one!!!!!!!

A wise man, my Dad!