Friday, May 25, 2012

distraction...

oh man oh man...can I just say...can I just say that I'm a person who is very easily distracted...and it is pretty obvious if you take a look at my sewing table these days...here is what I'm currently facing (all "arranged" nicely in one section of my table...they were all gathered up from where they had been scattered between different locations on the table and ironing board):

don't you love my crayon-esque circles?

first up...my Tumbler quilt (using my Accuquilt Go):

I've gotten a few rows sewn...and a nice stack of tumblers ready to go...but they sit for now...because I was so easily distracted once I was able to get some Pellon Featherweight and work on this T-shirt quilt:

5 squares have their "borders" on...and another 4 to go...and then they will likely sit for a bit...because I was then distracted by these:

the HST remnants from piecing together all of my Terrain Swoon blocks...which were my leaders and enders for awhile with both the Swoon and the start of the Tumbler rows...that I intend to get sewn into some pinwheel blocks...

speaking of...the Terrain Swoon quilt top is still not pieced together because I was distracted by the Tumbler quilt....my circle of distraction is now complete.

Maybe I'll get one of these things done this weekend...or I'll be further distracted...right now I'm completely distracted by the idea of this fabric...and if I can live without it for a little while longer...or if it's a "must" ASAP...and then of course I'm only mildly distracted anticipating the arrival of this BOM (still a few weeks away)...

I need help!  LOL!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

a well loved work in progress

so a few weeks (perhaps longer) ago I decided I wanted to attempt a T-shirt quilt...and thanks to this fab tutorial...I was able to at least start...at about 5 this morning...my sleep schedule is a bit off these days...

I wasn't entirely sure with what T-shirts I wanted to start...until one day I was talking about maybe using some of our old University of Texas shirts to make a quilt...and Girl popped up and said...oh I have a bunch of those...and she ran up to her room and grabbed a bunch of hangers...with the CUTEST little T-shirts on them...all of them were hers...from back in the day when she was a much shorter little one...As I looked at each shirt she "donated" for the cause...well...I was feeling a tad bit emotional...she once was that small!  and my...how she has grown since then...sniff...so I knew immediately that this particular quilt would be special...simply because of the memories...so I pulled what Texas Longhorn related stuff I had in my stash and set out to get going...


and after a bit of trimming...and a few moments where my throat closed up and I remembered my Girl when she was about 5 years old...I ended up with this...


and then after adding some Pellon Featherweight I ended up with this...


enough for 9 total blocks...(still working on the final block sizing).  I'm currently trying to figure out what size I want the blocks to be in the end...and what size borders I'll need for each block...and if I'll have enough of any one fabric to do anything completely cohesive...but in the end...I know it won't matter...this quilt is too special to be worried about the little things...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

An amazing Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day all!  I'm having the most amazing Mother's Day (that pretty much started a few days early!).

My Mother's Day started on Thursday when Girl gifted me with the oh so fabulous Thor Bobble-head doll!  (I have a thing for Thor...he's pretty!)  I was in desperate need of a good laugh that day...and she provided it!  It now sits on my desk at work...so I have no picture to share...

Then Mother's Day shifted to Friday...when Guy and I got to go out to a movie...and then do some shopping together!  (well...I shopped...he carried)...and here is what I shopped for...and he gifted me with for Mother's Day:

AH-MAH-ZING!!!  Can I just say how lucky a gal I am to have such a fabulous hubby!  More on this toy later...

On Saturday...my Mom got to come up and visit for the day...so me, Girl and Mom had a blast...started out with a trip to the Nail Salon and mani/pedi's all around...from there it was off to lunch (Buffalo Wild Wings so we could play some Buzztime Trivia)...and then it was time to do some shopping!  After a bit of time at the mall...we headed back to the house to relax and chat for a bit before Mom had to head home.  It was a fantabulous day!

On Saturday night...got to really spend some time playing with the Accuquilt Go and the 6.5" Tumbler die...and here is what I ended up with after only a short period of time:

And this morning...my Girl is the bestest kiddo on the whole planet...she gifted me with some quilting magazines and a Bon Jovi greatest hits CD (I use CDs in my car instead of messing with the iPod)!  So today...I'm going to do lots of sewing...go cruising around with Girl so we can blast some 80's hair band music...and then I'm going to cook some kind of fun and yummy meal for my oh so AMAZING family!  And play with these goodies in between:

Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! I'll be back later this week to give you a thorough review of my Accuquilt Go!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

at last!

WOOOOOHOOOOO!  Block #9 of my Terrain Swoon (started in January as part of the Swoon-along) is AT LAST finished!  heeheeheeheehee!  I'm rather giddy about this!  Without further ado...Block #9:

I was pleasantly surprised at how these two fabrics worked within the pattern...it's a smidge off in a few spots...but there was no way I was picking any stitches today!

and now...I've not been too worried about how the blocks will all work together...but at the same time...until it's all together...it is difficult to be 100% sure...so here are the blocks all stacked up:

(I personally love seeing fabric all stacked up nice and neat!  (not that you could tell from my sewing space...but that's a different story!)  and now...all laid out:

Pretty sure this will be the final layout...there are two that need to be rotated to make their center prints run in the right direction...but that's it...and now...time to cut some sashing strips and get to work getting the top all put together!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

adding to the stash

When I was in Texas and able to visit The Quilt Asylum (check out this post), I picked up 17 of the 21 prints in the Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy reprint.  And I've very patiently (depends on who you talk to) waited to order the remaining 4 prints...and I could wait no longer...so earlier this week I hit up Fat Quarter Shop and did some ordering!  And not just some Flea Market Fancy...here is what all I received in the mail yesterday:

And now...

I have them all!  My precious!!!!!

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to use them...or if they are just going to sit there...looking pretty...and not get used...which would be a complete and utter waste!  (note to self...order more while you still can!).  I'm thinking maybe some log cabin blocks...with some solids thrown in to break it up...we'll see!  Several of the prints I want lots more of so I can have them to mix into other quilts.  Again...we'll see!

Beyond Flea Market Fancy...I'm now completely in love with Reunion by Sweetwater...wasn't going to order any of it...but the numbers and flags just hollered at me...and now that I have a couple pieces...I want more!

And then...there are these lovely bits by Lizzy House...and I want them in all the colors in the rainbow...(all but the pale pink I got at The Quilt Asylum) but here is what I have right now:

And now...all of this has been added to my stash (hubby doesn't understand the stash)...all to be used soon...or slowly...over time...who cares...they are all so pretty to look at!

And now...off to hang out with some friends by the lake...eat lots of food...and then later...off to see The Avengers!  Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Book love!

Can I just say that I'm totally in love with this book:


Picked it up at B&N the other day (didn't have a chance to see if my LQS had it!)...and I'm in awe!  The quilts alone are amazing...and easy to follow directions...but the writing is phenomenal!  Just had to share!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

SKP Tuesday!

(it is Tuesday right????)

I'm working night shift...and having major difficulties sleeping during daylight hours...so if you are going to read this post...you must be willing to accept a few things
  1. I'm posting in the middle of the day when I should be sleeping...so grammar and all that is out the window
  2. I have little time to even think about sewing...so what gets done gets done...what doesn't...becomes a UFO for another day
  3. who cares what shift you are working (and you stay at home Mom's out there...this includes you!  You work all hours of day and night!)...if you can accomplish something sewing related on a Tuesday...HOORAY!  You effing ROCK!
  4. Bad Grammar and foul language are completely acceptable when one's mind is NOT AT PEAK capacity!  (which mine has not been since the day I found out I was pregnant...just over 13 years ago)
Given the above...welcome to my new weekly post...SKP Tuesday!  AKA...Some Kinda Progress Tuesday!  We have the Design Wall Monday...the WIP Wednesday...and all kindsa things the rest of the week...so I'm now officially dubbing Tuesday as SKP (a.k.a. if you so much as sewed a stitch in the past week...GOOD FOR YOU!  Progress has been made!)  Hell...I may even add a linky-type thingy to this...if there turns out to be interest).  SO let's support each other...forgive our un-blog-friendly grammatical errors (and maybe some potty mouth) and give big shout outs to each other for achieving some kinda progress on some kinda sewing related thingamabobber on a Tuesday!

Anywho...now on to my SKP Tuesday...last week I posted something along the lines of this might be the day...yeah...it turned out it wasn't...I was ridiculously tired...and me ridiculously tired + sewing machine...well...that may lead to injury...never a good plan...so I waited til this past weekend to get going on my final Terrain Swoon block...and between Sunday and Tuesday...here is where I'm at:

and some pieces on standby on the sewing table

All I can say is...halle-flipping-lujah..I made progress!  I have learned to accept that some of my progress may be limited to one seam stitched...but that one seam is more completed than I had the day before!  

So there you have it...the basic idea behind SKP Tuesday...if you are interested in a weekly checkup on this...holler at me in the comments...I'll see what my muddled brain and mr. linky can work out!

Hope your Tuesday brings you a happy machine...happy thread...some inspiration...some quiet kids (if you have...and at least for 30 mins!)...and a few minutes to say...even though it was only one piece...that's one piece less I have to sew!!!!

Happy Tuesday!

P.S.  is the new "edit in Aviary" on Flickr driving anyone else nuts?  is it just me?  definitely not as user friendly as picnik from my experiece!