Giveaway

Head over to p.s. i quilt for a great giveaway!

Some finished projects

I had hoped to get more projects finished by Aug. 1st but there's always tomorrow. The top photo is block #11 from my LQS Thangles/Buck-a-block program. The middle is the one-hour bag from the Lazy Girl blog. The last is a disappearing 9 patch table topper using a Quilt Diva charm pack.

Post - fair

We all survived our whirlwind trip to Indiana. Alec rode the ferris wheel for the first time and rode lost of other little rides. Then he begged to play games so we came home w/ an $8 doggie beanie baby and a $5 plastic sheriff set!

Saw some nice quilts but there's not enough room in the building to display them without folding them into at least thirds. Looked like there were 3-4 nice applique quilts but only the bottom few blocks were visible. My mom and step dad have been making race horse blankets and entered one. It was folded so small in a case that you couldn't tell what it was - I had to read the label.

To the survival part, well, the boys slept better than I did and I just came home from the doctor. Not a sinus infection but lots of inflammation. Time to take what the doctor calls "vitamin P" - prednisone. Not one of my faves but it beats antibiotics. Maybe I will fee like sewing again soon. Tomorrow will be a good day to greet my machine as there's another heat advisory in store for us here.

Stay Cool!

County fair

Today we're off to the County Fair. Living where we do, there are no 4-H programs. There are in the rest of the state but I guess 4-H has too much competition in the big city areas. After all, it's not all about the animals. I did 8 years of 4-H and never showed an animal.

So today, on the second hottest day of the year, we are heading to Indiana to go to "the fair" with my folks. My son will get to every kind of farm animal there is, up close. Of course, there will be the midway to visit, too. My mom and step dad both have entries in the adult sewing and embroidery classes so we'll see how they did in the judging. I may even have a chance to look at all the 4-H entries, if "Papa and the two grammies" take my son around the fair.

Time to sew, but feeling like it?

The new sewing table fits my machine - it is so nice, and big! I've stitched about 4 seams on it! What with getting the house back in order after the home improvement project completion and running errands in this heat - I haven't been in the mood to sew. I hate it when that happens! I did get a start on 3 gifts and finished one of them.

Last night I had hoped to finish binding my Quilt Diva table topper but getting in the neighbor's pool won out. It was so nice. I love swimming in the evening when you don't have to worry about sun block, wearing sunglasses, or melting in your shoes as soon as you dry off.

Giveaway at Leona's Quilting Adventure

Hey - there's a giveaway at Leona's Quilting Adventure - check it out at http://oneygirl-myquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/07/christmas-in-july-giveaway.html

Sewing table - art scraps - fabric order

So excited - the sewing table I ordered at Market through the kindness of my LQS owner is in! YEAH!!! I can't get it til tomorrow morning but I won't get to sew before then either. This afternoon is filled w/ doing an art project w/ my 3 year old. We're decorating w/ fabric scraps as string for his wind sock. At this age it's just wonderful how much time some glue, cotton balls and fabric string can take up. After DH gets home, then I'm off to yoga class.

Speaking of yoga, my order from Farbic.com arrived today. It was supposed to have 5 yds of "I Love Lucy" fabric - it had .5yds. I called and they're sending the 5 yd cut along. Why this reminds me of yoga is that I truly do not have project in mind. The fabric is the Lucy logo on black - something I couldn't find locally and I got online for $3.95/yd. One possible project is to use it to make the free yoga bag pattern on Amy Butler's site. Then I could combine two things that relax me when I'm stressed out - a little stretching and a little laughter.

Morning person

It's hot here - I mean H-O-T!!! It was still 87 degrees when I went to bed at 10pm last night.

This hot weather always reminds me of growing upon a small farm in the midwest back when central air was a luxury. My 91 year old grandmother still doesn't have it, although she should. So, I remember mornings were when we got things done early b/c by 10AM it was too darned hot to do anything outside (it was also too hot to sleep too long!). Of course, by 3PM we were back outside under the shade tree b/c it was too darned hot in the house to do much of anything either. That is why my grandparents had a second stove in the basement by the walk out patio/garage, so Grandma could do her canning without completely melting in her shoes. I remember eating lots of watermelon and tomatoes and reading lots of books under the trees.

More goals..

Just remembered that I must make some birthday presents:

1. 2 swing bags from the pattern at allpeoplequilt.com, one for my sister-in-law and one for her 3 year old daughter.
2. a one-hour market bag, a free pattern from the Lazy Girl blog

Maybe I will get 4 projects done this month!

Charming Girls Quilting Goals

I'm new to this club but it is great to set some goals and try to accomplish them. I have so many projects, well, many of you are probably familiar with "quilters ADD."

Given that we have travel plans this month and next, my list will be small. Although, I think the tasks may be big:
1. complete quilting and bind the Quilt Diva table topper
2. quilt the queen size Abbey Mystery Quilt (named after the sewing ctr that sponsored the class) using Marti Michell's quilting in sections method for the first time. This one is the guinea pig.
3. piece a split 9 patch table topper using 2 Holly Taylor charm packs
4. get the Turkish Delight BOM top (designed by LQS 2 yrs ago) in sections and ready for the Marti Michell method
5. make 3 pillowcases for my son, b/c I bought the fabric!

Completing two of these would be great, more would make me ecstatic!

Marking a quilt

About a month ago I was marking a quilt for my son w/ bright blue, bright yellow, and tire fabric w/ black, white, and gray. Well, white worked on the blue but not the yellow. Blue worked on the yellow but not the blue. And, I needed both for the tires b/c that fabric was black and white. Dizzy yet?

Let me explain, I'm new to machine quilting, esp free motion quilting. I'm feeling more confident w/ every quilt but I must mark. I cannot sit down and start quilting w/out some line to follow.

Between finding the right marking pen/pencil and old ones running out, I spent about $20 on marking pens in a week. I bought a pack of 3 Clover pencils but their leads are too thick for the stencils and I kept wearing the tips off and had to stop and sharpen them a lot, while wasting more of the pencils. It was a shame b/c they marked very well.

Then I tried the Fons & Porter mechanical pencil and love the white - the graphite really didn't show up too well on the bright yellow. Those are the only colors F&P make. So, I went in search of the Sewline pencils that I've seen in the online shops. Finally found one 50 miles away. No blue but got white (b/c that was the only pencil tis shop carried) and both yellow and pink refill leads. Guess I'll have to order the blue pencil from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Home improvement still going...

Yes, it is still happening. I've lost track of the days. Luckily we purchased a new matress set for the spare bed just before the project began so we are sleeping well despite not being in our own bed.

DH lost his tape measure and decided that he needed a break and offered to take me to a quilt shop about 50 miles away. Here I am in a major metro area and I had to drive 50 miles to find a Sewline marking pencil in a color other than white or graphite. It was a cute little shop w/ fun antiques, beautiful fabrics, and the owner even had a balloon for my son. Who, btw, bought as much fabric as I did! The shop doesn't cut FQs but has 1/2 yd cuts. Well, we each picked up 3 - actually one of his was a Maisie panel.

Then we stopped down the road for some ice cream and came on back home. DH borrowed a tape measure from the neighbor and he's back it - bless his little heart.

Time to sew...

...found it!! Yesterday I took the morning off, while my son was at pre-school, and sewed for the first time in a week. It felt so good. And, I even finished what I started! Amazing! It was a simple Flintstones panel w/ borders and I had cut it out back in January to take to a retreat. I hadn't worked on it since then and now the top is ready for quilting. Although, it needs to get in line behind about 4 other tops. Guess we know what I'll be doing next week.

Home imnprovement

It is now day 6 of our master bedroom make over and DH is back to work. The room is painted, and it took a while to decide on the right shade of blue. However, just over half of the pergo is down and DH thinks he will run short a few boards. Unfortunately, this has been sitting around our house so long that we're not sure if we can get the same style, or even if the "clicking" mechanism is made the same way. Guess we'll see...

More yoga

Another of my interests is yoga. DH and I started doing yoga about 7.5 years ago. There was a good beginner class at our gym on Friday evenings after work. Then after class we went out for dinner. I've always loved stretching and working out. For years I did step aerobics, strengthening and toning exercises and some hand weights. There's nothing better than a good aerobics class followed by an awesome yet relaxing yoga class.

Now that we have a 3 year old and I no longer work outside the home (as most of you know I now work harder inside the home), we no longer do yoga together. My gym now only has one class a week - not nearly enough. So, I have a goal to make more time for yoga. I have some audio classes that I downloaded from YogaJournal.com and I've done enough yoga to know how to give myself either a challenging workout or a relaxing one. With all the knowledge, I just have to do it. I find there are too many distractions at home. The ideal is to go to gym and spend about 30 minutes on the treadmill and once I'm all warmed up, get out the mat and go to work.

New quilt club

Stumbled across what sounds like a wonderful quilt club today, Charming Girls' Quilt Club. Please check it out...http://cottoncharmquilts.typepad.com/quilt-club.jpg

Happy 4th!

After two very busy weeks at work, I managed to talk my dear husband (MDH) into taking a day off. What has he decided to do? He plans to chip away at the garage cleaning project by clearing out the Pergo and.... installing it in our bedroom. Then he asked me last night if I wanted to paint! Paint and Pergo in 4 days, with a 3 year old in the house?! Is he mad!! Maybe...maybe just determined. It's so frustrating to only think about and plan projects instead of initiating them. Just like my quilting. So, I imagine he will get it done!