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Friday, November 29, 2013

Challenging myself...

Earlier this year I created a tab to track my UFO/WIPs.  I'd like to roll in to 2014 with as many things cleared off my plate as possible, so my challenge to me for the last few weeks of 2013…clean up this list! As of today…here is what is remaining on the list and where it is in the process:
  1. Deploy T - blocks made, need to assemble quilt top
  2. 2012 FQS Designer Mystery BOM - 1/2 the blocks made
  3. HST BOM - needs border and then quilted
  4. Terrain Swoon - needs backing, quilting and binding
  5. Christmas Quilt - nemeds backing, quilting, and binding
  6. Our Quilt - 1/2 the top is assembled, all blocks are made
  7. Coming Home Ruby - needs backing, quilting and binding
  8. Sisters Ten - only 4 blocks made
  9. FWQAL - need to figure out what I'm going to do with this one
  10. Marcelle Medallion - 3 borders attached
  11. Tumbler (forgot about this one!) - need to assemble top
  12. Scrappy Sprouts - 2 blocks made
  13. the skull - needs backing, quilting and binding
  14. Hexies (forgot about this one also!) - needs lots of hexies
  15. Lucky Jam - 
  16. Xplus - need more blocks
  17. Christmas in St. Louis - need backing, quilting and binding
  18. Simply Herringbone - need to finish panels and assemble
I really really want to see quite a few those flimsy's finally get quilted…some have been waiting for over a year for it to happen!  I'll let you know how it goes!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Simply Herringbone

After getting my St. Louis 16-patch flimsy done yesterday, I got busy using this fantastic tutorial by Maureen Cracknell and this Jelly Roll:


and some other cuts pulled from my stash (some FQs of Simply Style, some Pearl Bracelets, a DS Quilts print from Joanns, some Art Gallery Fabrics squared elements, and one or two bits from Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie & Camille)...I now have two panels done and sewn together of my next quilt that I'm calling Simply Herringbone


It's a quilt-as-you-go project and the batting I'm using came from left over pieces from previous quilts...so that makes 2 quilts I have worked on since Friday that come completely from my stash...as a matter of fact...not sure I've actually bought fabric specifically for a quilt in a long while...

Don't tell my husband though...I'd hate for him to realize just how many quilts I could probably make from my stash alone!!

And now back to work...lunch break is over!


Sunday, November 24, 2013

Sewing inspired...

Reviewing my 2013 goals really kick started me to get one of them finish.  Girl's Christmas quilt.  I have been planning it since last fall sometime…I knew I wanted to use Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas…but only had 12 fat quarters…my LQS had some of the yardage so I had picked up a cut or two…but most of those ended up being used in other things…

Inspiration struck in the form of the St. Louis 16 patch, and I happened to have some Kate Spain, In from the Cold…and the two lines worked together with a few other fabrics being pulled from my stash…some Bella Pistachio and Pearl Bracelets in a really light grey, a little Joel Dewberry heirloom…and a fat quarter that I'm not entirely sure what it is or where it came from…

These blocks go together so fast!  So before too long…I had a lovely stack of blocks, and now I have this:


A finished flimsy!  I ended up making mine 5x5, so I made 3 "scrappy" 16-patches to bring me to the correct number of blocks.  Girls says she loves it.  I love it…there may be some fighting over this one…once I finish it of course!




Friday, November 22, 2013

Revisiting goals...

So on January 1st of this year, I published a list of goals I would like to accomplish in 2013.   I thought I should consider revisiting them to see if I've made progress or if they changed or if I blew them all off!
  1. Work on FMQ. I really would like to improve in this area (not that it will take much to improve!!!) I have definitely worked on this one after I learned more about FMQ (see this post) and I have successfully FMQd a couple of quilts.
  2. Make Girl a Christmas Quilt (fabric is already picked out, pattern is already picked out, just need to do!) Yeah...nothing going here...but a new idea is brewing
  3. Make a quilt for me (Sister's TEN BOM) Part of my BOM addiction...I have made a handful of blocks and that's about it
  4. Finish Terrain Swoon (quilt top is made, need to make the backing and get this puppy quilted and finished!) another zero...
  5. Make a quilt for Guy done!  see his quilt here
  6. Attend Sew South Retreat (this should be easy!!! :) ) DONE DONE DONE!  Unfortunately not to be repeated in 2014...next year is way to crazy to plan for anything along those lines...maybe next fall...
  7. Make Christmas gift quilts for 2 of my nieces (I really want to get this done EARLY this year!!!) ummm...haven't done anything with this, not sure if I will or not...this might still happen
  8. Move my sewing space upstairs (this was a goal in 2012, had to extend the goal, need more time to accomplish it!) DONE!!!  See post here, back when it was clean and orderly...not the disaster area it is today!
  9. Make a bottled rainbow quilt (really looking forward to this!!!) completely lost interest in this one
  10. Continue with the 15 minutes a day challenge! I'll call this one a success, I've done the best I can each week!
So...by my calculations, that makes 5 of 10 goals complete, 1 goal sort of started, 1 goal completely off my radar, and 2-3 goals that might still see action before the end of the year.  Not bad!  I don't make these goals to determine if my sewing year is a success or failure...I make them because it may be helpful to see where I want to go, to give myself a bit of a starting point when the year is fresh and open for all kinds of things.  Not accomplishing some of these is merely a reflection of how things change over the course of a year.

With just over 5 weeks left in the year...who knows if something else on this list is completed.  I'll revisit the list at the close of 2013, see if any of these have sparked some motivation or drive for the rest of my 2013 sewing.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Pardon the interruption...

(Blogging via phone so if it doesn't look right...that's the reason)

Taking a bit of a blog break.  I have done a bit of sewing, but had a bout with some kind of unpleasant bug and for the past few days have been at a family members while they had surgery (nothing crazy, but it was necessary I come visit while it was going on).  Thankfully all appears to be on the mend and I will be making my way home later today.  I'm ready to get home to Guy, Girl and my fur babies.

Once I get caught up with regular life, I'll be back to chat about what I've been up to stitch-wise.

Later!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Pretty Little Finishes

A pair of finishes for you today.  Both are baby quilts for one little baby soon to make her appearance!  First up:


back:

Details:
Fabric - Noteworthy and Sunkissed by Sweetwater, Athill Range and Northcote Range by Cabbages and Roses; backing Tea Dots by Michael Miller Fabrics
Pattern - Vintage Baby by Amy Hamberlin
Thread - piecing: Aurifil; quilting: Isacord

Then at the last minute (the afternoon before the shower) I decided to make another one…this one was incredibly simple…2 pieces of fabric, throw in some batting and get it quilted together!


and then I decided to add her name to the front just to add something else to it:


and I'm seriously in love with the backing fabric! (it's just black with silver dots, and I want more!!)


Details:
Fabric - Hello Kitty and backing both purchased from Joanns
Thread - Aurifil
Extra - Wonder Under by Pellon

Both quilts were delivered to the shower yesterday, which I unfortunately had to miss as I fell ill a few hours before.  I will see them again, and I know they will be well used…which is the best I can ask for of any quilt!!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

15 minute challenge...where I pretend to sew

Another week to check in with Kate and the 15 minute challenge...another week I post a day late...oh well, it's one of my quirks! Anywho...not a lot of sewing was accomplished this past week...as in...

Tuesday: none
Wednesday: none
Thursday: zip pouch
Friday: none
Saturday: none
Sunday: none
Monday: none

only 1 of 7!  However, I do have an excuse...I was busy running, and out of town for most of the week.  I can say I already have started this week out right...but probably only because I'm on a deadline.  (more on that later...never know who might be watching my blog!). 

I've been a bit scattered lately...not sure what or where to head next with my sewing.  I want to get a quilt finished that will actually fit on my bed!  And I have one waiting to be quilted that would work (my Terrain Swoon) and another in pieces (Our Quilt) that would fit also.  But I also want to start something new...just not sure what.  And, in a spell of good news...I have a wedding quilt to get to work on...I'm very excited about that, but nervous also.  The bride has given me an idea of colors...and I can almost picture what I want in my mind...but it's fleeting...maybe I need a mood board for each quilt I want to make...to help me focus my ideas.  I'll have to look into that.

Oh well...off to work I go...

Monday, November 11, 2013

Bestest run EVAH!!!

Real quick like...To all that have served and continue to serve, Happy Veterans Day! 

WOW!  I had such a blast over this past weekend!  If you've followed along for a little while now, you'll know that earlier this year Guy and I started running, and it quickly moved on to doing races and in September, we ran a half-marathon (recap here).  Well, since we didn't want to lose all that we had been building towards, we decided to add another race to the schedule.  And this past Saturday, Nov. 9th, he and I ran the Rock'n'Roll Savannah 1/2 marathon relay!  And it was the best run I've ever had!!!  (We both set new 10k PRs!!!). 

Savannah isn't a bad drive at all for us, so we got there Friday around 5 and hit up the expo to check in for the race.  We didn't stick around too long, and went off to meet up with our friends that were running the 1/2.  We got set up the night before and were quickly off to sleep since we had a 3:15 am wakeup!

It was so cold Saturday morning!  We were up so early so we could get our group to our designated parking area before the roads were closed.  So we were sitting around for a long while (thankfully in the car where we were warm!).  We finally headed to the starting area about 5:45...Guy and I were bundled up and having fun!

And then it was almost time to start the race, so I left Guy once his corral started moving along (does he not look a little bit creepy in this pic???):


and headed to the relay transition area:


where I patiently waited with a lot of other folks.  It was fun watching the elite runners come through and cheering them on!  Guy was moving pretty fast (for us!) and was at the transition at a great time and I passed off my long sleeves to him and got to running!  The weather was gorgeous (bit of a breeze, sunnyk, and in the 50's/60's when I started running ) and the crowd support was phenomenal!!  I tell you...the people of Savannah know how to host a race!  The course was amazing, relatively flat, and fast fast fast!  Not to mention beautiful scenery!  The miles just flew past, and I looked at my GPS watch a couple of times and was shocked at how far I had already come!  I was at the finish almost before I could realize it! 


and then we crashed for a couple of hours!  It was a great trip!  Guy and I are already planning on running the 1/2 next year instead of the relay.  And we are already planning out a few more races for between now and our next 1/2 scheduled in March. 

Happy Monday! 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

15 minute challenge...call me bag lady

Wow...this week is going slightly faster than I thought!  I'm a day late posting for the 15 minute challenge...oh well, better late than never!

Tuesday: none
Wednesday: none
Thursday: none
Friday: 241 tote
Saturday: fleece blanket, 241 tote
Sunday: Cargo duffle
Monday: none

So only 3 days of 7 the past week, but man oh man...those 3 days were pretty awesome!  I spent the majority of time working on bags!  One for Girl, one for Guy.  Both bags are patterns by Anna Griffin of Noodlehead and both bags I would seriously make again in a heartbeat!  Her patterns are pretty awesome.  I also whipped together a fleece blanket for Girl as she has been asking for one...it took me 20 minutes...and now I really need to clean my machine!

I have no true rhyme or reason to my sewing right now...I think more than anything it's just the sheer desire to create...I think it's time to pull another quilt out of the UFO pile and get it finished...and then maybe start a new one.  I am also thinking about making bags for all of my nieces this year for Christmas.  I think the 241 tote is perfect for them...and I may get started on that soon.  This week will not be a big sewing week as I have some outside plans that will be taking up the majority of my time (more on those later).

Hope your week is sew-rific!