ALYoF - May update

I'm happy to say I've made a bit of progress on my May A Lovely Year of Finishes goal (original post here).  I bounced between patterns and trying to figure out fabric and it all fell into place today!  I had been digging through my stash and had almost decided on using some Fig Tree Butterscotch and Roses for the quilt, but came across a little over half a jelly roll of Fig Tree Strawberry Fields...and I liked the idea of using that much more than the other.  But then I couldn't figure out what pattern or how to put together a quilt with less than a full jelly roll...so random googling of jelly roll baby quilts popped up the Fat Quarter Shop Jelly Roll Jam pattern...and BINGO!  We have a winner!

I have enough strips of fabric, and I really like how this combo works together!  I think this will make a really sweet baby quilt!  Now...off to start stitching!

update: it took about 2 hours...and here is the quilt top:

I love the ease of this pattern and how cute it looks!  Now I think I may take myself off to my LQS to procure some backing fabric to get this beauty finished!

What quilts can and cannot do...

Quilts cannot do a lot of things...

• clean house
• cook dinner
• homework
• laundry
• cure disease

But there are a lot of things Quilts can do

• provide warmth and comfort
• bring a smile to a person's face
• express care and concern

A co-worker of my husbands was recently diagnosed with colon cancer, I had this quilt top lying around, and so it turned into an expression of care and concern for the young woman.  Many people from work signed the quilt on Monday and I spent Monday evening and part of Tuesday getting it finished so it could be delivered to her today:

back:

Quilts cannot do a lot of things, but what they CAN do far outweigh the can't.

Wellness Wednesday...Ep. 14

Happy Wednesday!  Hope all is well with you, right now I think I'm fighting off a cold, but other than that things are good.  Here is what last week's plan was and what I actually did:

• Wednesday: rest rest
• Thursday: 3 mile run and yoga 3 miles on treadmill and 1 hour yoga
• Friday: bike rest
• Saturday: 4 mile run 4.6 mile run! (felt great!)
• Sunday: rest rest
• Monday: yoga 1 hour yoga barre
• Tuesday: 3 mile run and yoga rest

A little more about the yoga classes I've been taking.  I take class at the Chapin Yoga Center and the teachers are amazing!  I've taken 3 different classes: Yoga Barre, Stretch and Strengthen, and Deep Stretch.  I have taken Stretch and Strengthen at least once a week since they opened and I absolutely love it!  It's really a good intro to Yoga, I feel like I've learned quite a bit in the past month.  I also leave that class everytime feeling a deep calm and relaxation, but at the same time, I definitely feel I have worked my body.  I took Deep Stretch once last month, and I really wish I had taken it more.  It really is a great class for learning some of the poses and learning to control your breathing while holding the pose.  It's not being offered in the evening this month, but I hope it comes back!  And then there is Yoga Barre, it's a new class offered this month, and so I've only been once and man oh man did it kick my tail!  I'm not sure how I feel about it right now, but it's only offered once a week for right now, so I'm going to take it for the month of May at least.  That way I can say I gave it a fair shot!  Since starting taking yoga classes the first of April, I'm feeling great changes in my body, my flexibility has increased a bit, my balance feels better, and most importantly, my stress levels have dipped.  I think yoga has been a great compliment to my running and I plan to keep it up!

Now...the plan for this week:

• Wednesday: rest (depends on how I'm feeling later today)
• Thursday: 3 mile run and yoga
• Friday: bike
• Saturday: 4 mile run
• Sunday: rest
• Monday: yoga
• Tuesday: 3 mile run and yoga

And now to down some Vitamin C and fight back against this ick that's creeping up on me!

x and plus and finished!

Finally!  I have finally finished my X and Plus quilt!!!  I originally started putting blocks together for this one back in September of last year.  It was part of my January ALYoF goals for this year.  And now, in May...it is, at last, a finish!

Front:

Back:

Funny bit...I finished the quilting last weekend...so the label says the quilt was finished in April 2014...well, technically it wasn't finished until yesterday...so not the label is a bit off on dates!  Oh well, not ripping out quilting or anything to re-do the label...and besides, the bulk of the work was finished in April!

Details:
Pattern: X Plus blocks (used this tutorial)
Fabric: Front - Nordika by Jeni Baker, a smidge of Color Me Retro also by Jeni Baker, Carnaby Street by Pat Bravo, Art Gallery Squared Elements, Kona Ash, Art Gallery Pure Elements in Spiceberry (binding); Backing - Britten Nummer by Emma Jones for Ikea; not sure who the math fabric is by, I used some Squared Elements scraps on the label.
Thread: Piecing - Mettler and Gutterman, Quilting - Aurifil, Binding - Mettler
Batting: Soft n' Crafty

ALYoF - May Goal

Happy May!  This year just seems to be flying!  Anyways...after my epic fail at April's A Lovely Year of Finishes goal (didn't touch the quilt top at all!) it's time for a reset and back to the beginning of something.  So this post is going to be quite short...because my goal is to make a baby quilt by the end of the month...because I have a baby shower to go to at the end of the month, and I need to have a quilt ready to gift!  I have no idea what fabric, what pattern, what colors...anything as of right now.  So this ought to be exciting...I am leaning towards this pattern right now, but I only just began looking for ideas/inspiration about an hour ago.  I plan to share as I go, as I identify fabric, the pattern, and progress along the way!

Wellness Wednesday...Ep. 13

Happy Wednesday!  I'm so glad that this week has hit the half way mark!  Tomorrow is my last day for the week, so I'm looking forward to some me time in the sewing room.  Anyways...on to a recap of the past week's fitness plan.  Here goes:

• Wednesday: 2-3 mile run rest
• Thursday: yoga 2.75 mile run plus 1 hour yoga class
• Friday: 3 mile run rest
• Saturday: bike or rest rest
• Sunday: 3-4 mile run 3.7 mile run
• Monday: rest rest
• Tuesday: yoga (and maybe a run) 3.2 mile run (treadmill) and 1 hour yoga class

Fairly happy with how the week went, made adjustments as needed as I went along.  I changed up the running plan a bit, but it worked out for the best, because after my run on Sunday I was already looking forward to the next one!  I've had to move my weekday runs to the treadmill, mainly because the weather is starting to turn to the warm here, and I'm really not conditioned for that right now.  I plan on keeping the weekend run outdoors, but during the week to aim for the treadmill (unless we have a cool front come through).  Additionally after much thought, I'm just sticking to my previous training plan, with some modifications of course!  I use this app on my phone to help me plan out my runs, but I've not been so good with following through on the cross training days.  Also the app has on the schedule 2 running days in a row, and I just can't do that.  My body does not like running back to back.  All of this is ok, and makes me glad that I feel comfortable enough to adjust the training plan to suit my needs.  With the addition of yoga to my weekly plans, I really feel that I am getting some cross training benefit from it plus I'm getting in some good stretching!  I still would prefer to add the bike at least once a week, but this all happens one day at a time!  And now on to this week's plan:

• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: 3 mile run and yoga
• Friday: bike
• Saturday: 4 mile run
• Sunday: rest
• Monday: yoga
• Tuesday: 3 mile run and yoga

For the month of May my yoga studio is adding in a new Yoga Barre class on Monday's, and I'm really excited to try it out!  I'll talk more about the yoga classes I've been taking next week.  Until then, hope you have a great week!

keeping busy...sort of

Just dropping in to share a few pics and update the status of some projects!  (ok..one project...but we'll get to that).

Up first...I FINALLY got my X and Plus quilt quilted!

and now it's waiting for me to add binding to it...because as soon as I finished quilting it...I had to stop what I was doing and make this:

a new Supertote for my baby girl.  and now a view of the inside:

She went out of town last week (got home Sunday) and well...she needed a new bag for the bus...so who was I to disagree???  So I got her on the road traveling a bit handmade:

and not pictured is the laundry bag I made her over a year ago that was packed in the duffle I made her last Spring. 

and now project status...as in my ALYoF April goal...yeah...haven't touched it!  And considering there is only 1 more day left in the month, I'm going to have to say that it's just not happening for me this month!  I may carry this one over to May, or I might figure something else out!