15 minute challenge...Week 2

I did a little better this week on the 15 minute challenge (hosted by Kate at Life In Pieces).

Tuesday I dug in on the last three blocks for the T-shirt quilt and got each one about 75% of the way there:

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...nada...I have found that when I work night-shift...that's the time in the week when I pretty much hit a wall and about all I can do is sleep and eat and work...and think about sewing.

Saturday I got the remaining side done on the T-shirt Quilt blocks and now all I have to do is piece the blocks together.  I also started on the California Race quilt for my Mom:

Sunday I worked on California Race:

Monday was more California Race:

So far I'm feeling really good about joining this challenge.  It's definitely helping me to see when I can actually make time to sew with my work life being as hectic as it is.  Nice part...after this week...back on regular daylight hours for a few weeks; bad news...it's only going to get busier at work between now and September!  It will be interesting to compare this week to a month from now to two months from now...to see how it all changes (or maybe it won't!).  I 'm just happy to be sewing a little more regularly!

Later!

because I can...

...I started a new quilt this weekend...I threw caution to the wind and chose ignore all of those unfinished pieces stacked all over the place...and started a new one of these kinda quilts.  It started with this:

which became this:

and I totally screwed up at one point and had to cut and re-do one piece (got the wrong side sewn to the right side and well...gotta fix those things; and it's hard to actually tell in this pic...which is why I think it was hard for me to realize I was sewing the two parts together wrong in the first place!):

and is slowly...but surely becoming something like this:

a few more steps and the top will be done!

now the truth is...back around Mother's Day my Mom came to visit and I told her to pick from my stash of Jelly Rolls and Fat Quarters some fabric she liked and I would make her a quilt similar to the ones for my nieces.  So she picked the above fabric...and there it sat...until Saturday...when she was on her way for another visit!  So like any good child (who tends to procrastinate, bite off more than she can chew, and is easily bored with one thing and must quickly move to another) would do, I got some sewing done before she arrived so I could show her that I had been diligently working on that which I had promised her.  Yeah, I'm awesome, I know!  LOL!  I'm calling this one the California Race (you know...California Girl fabric...Jelly Roll Race style...I'm so creative!)

Have a great week!  See you tomorrow!

15 minute challenge...week 1

Well, I didn't sew every day...and not even the majority of the days...but I did sew at least two of the days! I am linking up over at Life in Pieces.

Wednesday: One block for the T-shirt Quilt (right at about 15 minutes)

Saturday: Block 1 of the FQS 2012 Designer Mystery BOM (much longer than 15 minutes; would have been a bit shorter but I screwed up a few pieces and had to start over)

Now...what did I do the other days of the week?  Worked.  A lot.  On night shift.  But that's not much of an excuse, considering I had ample opportunity when I was home to take just a few minutes to sit down and sew something.  So hopefully I get a little more done this week.

Off to chat with my machine for a few!

15 a day? I think I can...

So to help me get some items cleared off my sewing table (and maybe some of those oh so close but not quite WIPs done) I'm trying the 15 minutes a day thing.  (Read more about it at Life in Pieces)

the goal is to document once a week how much sewing time I have gotten in (not going to say it'll be everyday...but one can try...and 15 minutes at least a few times a week is more than what I've done in a long while!)

I did get in 15 minutes on Tuesday...so already in the positive for the week!

and it begins...

ok...so totally blew one of my 2012 goals of blogging once a week...but I've blown off a few of those goals already...so...OH WELL! LOL!

around my house Summer has been in full session for about a week now (Girl is officially a 7th grader (which is both fantastic and sad at the same time!))...and though a I mentioned a few distractions here...the truth is...now is when the real distractions begin!  and cause I'm a girl that likes lists...let me list them for you:

1. The lake
2. The pool
3. The river
4. Work
5. Books
6. My new toy
7. The fence
8. I'm sure there is more but that's all I got right now..

So yeah...we've been doing a bit of playing here lately (and a bit of work around the house)...over Memorial Day weekend we got some much needed prep work done for our fence (desperately needed fence...three dogs and no fenced in yard = I'm going CRAZY!)...and spent time at the lake...at the pool...on the river...We are incredibly lucky to have some amazing friends...and these friends happen to have a lovely lake access area...and some more amazing friends have a pool...so when someone says come over anytime...well...we've done that...

This past weekend we did some canoeing on the river (LOVED IT!)...so there went another day...and then there is work...

May - August is usually the busiest time (for at least the past few years) for me at work...and this year...well...January to December is the busiest time...I normally LOVE my job...but there are days that the reasons I love my job are quickly outnumbered by the reasons I hate my job...but that's life...and one of the BIGGEST reasons why I have accomplished nothing in clearing out my sewing WIP list!

Books...yeah...totally addicted to this series...and I'm on the last book...and taking my sweet time with it...

My new toy...yeah...found myself another hobby (actually not an entirely NEW hobby for me...something I've been interested in for awhile) I stepped it up a bit (from my point and shoot) and am expanding my horizons...thankfully I got a great deal from Sam's Club on a complete kit/package...

And then THE FENCE...which will eat up most of this coming weekend (if we don't run away to the water)...but it's a MUST have...so I'll call it the king distraction (and blame it for the reason my dear Goldie (sewing machine) is so neglected these days...

So there we go...and off I go...

best wishes...see you when I can!

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!

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...