Multi-tasking

I'm working on a new bed quilt for our King-sized bed.

It's for the Naked Bed Challenge. Our bed isn't naked of quilts, but it does need a summer-weight comforter, so why not.

 I've also (finally!) gotten back in the habit of running. Tim and I, along with some friends, have all committed to doing a half-marathon this fall. I wanted to do one last year but ended up with a bone bruise. The heel is healed, so let's try this again!

Oh, and in between all of this, I'm still slowly piecing my Slow Roll Cotton Boll. It's been renamed given how long it's taking me!!

And, I've been enjoying our new couch. Doesn't my pillow look nice there? I've been playing PS3 games with Tim, and watching old episodes of Top Gear, all in between record-breaking productivity.

I also finished my first ordered pillow! It's getting delivered soon...

If she doesn't love it, I think it looks pretty snazzy on our couch... ;) This was the first time I'd ever tried prairie points. I'm very pleased with it.

It kind of feels like I'm going all over the place.... maybe because I am!!!

Now we're rolling!

60 string blocks? FINALLY done.

Some have already been cut and re-sewn as required....

Added to the 30 Shoofly blocks from yesterday...

and we have a corner, people!

It may not be perfect, but I LOVE IT!!!!

Hooray, hooray! It feels so good to be so close to the finish!!!! I had put it all away because I thought it was about an hour later than it is... so now should I relax with a little Netflix? Or go sew some more? Or just go to bed? I'm a little worn out from this sewing marathon I've been on!

Getting there...

Main blocks are DONE!

 Now to finish those darn string blocks...

I started the outer border units despite only being halfway done with the string blocks (and that's just assembling the first step of them- THEN I'll have to slice and sew again!). But, laying it out like this, I was able to determine that a deep cranberry fabric I have will work for the inner border. Hooray for shopping my limited stash! That leaves just the binding and backing to be determined....

Fuel

We got our espresso machine yesterday!!! I love it. Love, love love it. BTW, this former barista can still make better foam than half the people who have made me a drink since I left that job!!! I'm hoping it will help fuel a couple more bursts of quilting energy. I got more string blocks done for the mystery quilt,

These ones are awaiting paper removal and trimming. 

and turned 12 of the charms I cut into these fun blocks:

I think they need white around the edges to calm them down, maybe even sashing, but then I'll have a cute table runner for this summer barbecue my hubs is already planning!

Here's my problem/dilemma right now:

This doesn't look like enough strings to make 30 more string blocks. I think it would cut it very lose if I tried, and then if I had to get more neutral, I wouldn't want it only in a few blocks. I think I need to make a run to JoAnn's.... I just hate buying only neutrals!!! Now, if I could go pick out the fabric for the next big quilt I have planned, too, it would be much more fun! But that might have to wait a bit.

Hopefully, I'll hear back about one of the jobs for which I applied. My application is "under review," whatever that means. Let's hope the next step is an interview-- a part time job would mean more fabric money! :D

My next quilting adventure (ONE of them) is to start hand piecing triangle together.... an aimless waiting project that I can grab and go anytime I'll have to wait somewhere. We'll see what this creates!

Gratitude

Today, all I can think about is how I never would have made the Quiltville mystery quilt if I had known what I was in for. So, I am grateful that it was a mystery, because I have since begun to appreciate small pieces that before seemed tedious, and I think it has helped with some control issues well, yes, control issues.

Don't these blocks look pretty, though? I know some others who used a yellow were not happy, and more weren't happy with their overall contrast, but I love how the yellow glows! I still need to catch up on the string blocks... I only have 20 done, so I still to make 60 and then cut them and resew into the neutral blocks.... so, I hope to have this done in time for the fair! I want to enter it into the fair- that is, if our fair does quilts. Our county is pretty small (30,000- that's 20,000 smaller than the last city I lived in!), and there isn't a website for the fair or anything, just dates in June.... so hopefully they actually have a whole fair, not just livestock. Either way, June is my goal for finishing the whole thing. And if I love it enough AND get a job soon, I'll pay to have it quilted by someone with a better setup than mine so that it will be worthy of being our guest bedroom comforter. :)

I'm setting deadlines for all new projects this year. June for the Mystery quilt, since no matter what happens I should be able to make that goal. Anything else that I start will be assigned a deadline so that I don't make more UFOs. I'm not going to set a finish goal for my UFOs, I'm setting a cap on the number I can have! Which, currently, is however many I have. No more can be added! The theory is that some of these current UFOs will be more appealing if I'm not forcing myself to work on them...

Happy Friday!

Sew easy

To get distracted, that is!

 If I don't finish Benny's quilt by Christmas, it's Bonnie Hunter's fault! Every time I tell myself I'll put together another part of his quilt, I see the string blocks sitting next to my machine and think I'll just sew a few strings on to get me started... and then all of a sudden I have five more finished blocks and it's dinner time! Today had the added temptation to make some of the HST's, too. I really need to stop working on the mystery quilt and finish Benny's present.

And tonight, I also procrastinated the T- Shirt quilt some more by making this candy bowl. I love it-- I made my version of the fabric boxes from a tutorial over at Stash Manicure (you can find that lovely blog on the sidebar). This box matches the coasters I made-- not because I'm a matchy-matchy person, but rather because I had almost enough pieces precut from making the coasters to make the box.

 As far as finished presents go, Tim has been cold at night, so I gave him his quilt already- he was really excited (more than I expected) and immediately brought it back to our bedroom and laid it on his side of the bed, all the while saying, "This is awesome!" He loves the fact that the bargello is designed after his Busse knife handles, and he laughed when I told him those were Contrary Wife blocks I put along the edge as a joke. He slept happily under it last night, and again today during his pre-work nap.

The other excitement from yesterday can be seen at the base of this tree: do you see it? The black lump at the base of the tree... It's a pileated woodpecker!!! I wanted to get a better picture, but by the time I got our regular camera, it flew away. I was so excited, though, since I've only every heard about these birds before. I love how we actually have wildlife surrounding our house!

I should get back to working on that darn t-shirt quilt... in a minute. Time for some pie first!

RRCB step 2

Another step of the mystery quilt is done! And I have 16 extra pairs of HSTs. I was guessing as I paired up strips, hence the excess.
I made these this morning since I was up early to go out to breakfast, but breakfast got cancelled... so I got a decent amount of piecing done. The pictures are darker than I would like... those are really fuschia and navy. Another reason to look forward to moving--  more windows= better light!

The dogs are doing their best to make me forget how badly my foot hurts-- I let them outside, put their dinner in the bowls while they were out, then called them in only to see Prudence momentarily standing on Matt's back as they came running! She must have been trying to hurdle him again, and landed on top, making them look like my own two-dog circus!
(Did someone tell my dogs that Peru, Indiana is also known as the Circus City?)
And now Matt Lauer is doing a crazy hop and spin combo.... Crazy kids!

I'm going to go pack a few more boxes.. it gets easier knowing we're closer to moving, but harder because I have all the oddly-shaped things left to pack that don't fit easily into boxes.

Cute and Cuter

I went back to JoAnn's today since Mum didn't suggest another gift idea until after dinner yesterday... so today, I picked up some more Christmas finishing fabrics, as I described them when answering the habitual "What are you making with that?" But I couldn't resist these little Santa Gnomes! They are too cute. 

What to make with them!!!

Mug rug? 

Gift bag? 

Coasters? 

Maybe all of the above!

The kids were getting along great tonight. They still squabble, but I love when they curl up together like this... so sweet. Earlier, during the National Anthem before the Notre Dame-Army game, I sang along (always do!) and it was like doggy dance party they got so excited! I knew Prudence loves it when I sing (no idea why fi dogs really do hear better), but I was surprised that even before she mobbed me, Matt Lauer was a wiggle worm of happy puppy love. Which means I'll have to contain some of my usual holiday singing or be prepared to deal with ecstatic dogs!

3 bags of 50 units, plus a 4th bag with 28. 

Just to show you, I did get the last units for the mystery quilt cut- that pile of strips from earlier brought my total to 178!!! YES! I only needed 172, so hooray for an appropriate amount of extras! I really hope somewhere along the way I'll get to use the rest of the 2" strips I cut... I underestimated and have a TON of green strips left, and a bunch of pink.... which would be perfect if these units are meant for 9 patches... that's right, I'm guessing already! This is probably why I haven't done a mystery quilt before-- NO PATIENCE!

I'm sure you've all seen the latest Subway commercial where the "hot" girl asks the nerdy guy to be her boyfriend, then takes his sandwich and justifies it by being his girlfriend... Well, Tim and I saw it several times while he was home this week, and the first time he whips his head towards me and gave me a face before saying, "Gee, sounds familiar!"
Needless to say, that's our favorite commercial right now!

Have a good night, everyone! If this motivation continues to percolate, I might go run tomorrow morning... Tim has a PT test, so I told him I'd try to do the run portion in spirit with him as a practice for Thursday.

ALAS!

I did not win a Go... sigh. I think that was at least the tenth giveaway I had entered. I would be right there in line on Black Friday to get one, but Tim's pay is messed up so we have to be very careful about money until they get that fixed. Thank goodness for the Devines who have been letting him (literally) sleep on their couch so he hasn't had to pay for a hotel for the last month while we wait to move! I'm taking Cathi out for a pedicure whenever we finally get moved as a thank you to her for putting up with the Tim/Dustin pair this whole time, and since she's never had one (despite having had 2 kids!).

I think I must cave completely, though, and actually ask for the darn thing for Christmas. Why is it so hard for me to ask for a Christmas present???? Oh well. I'll suck it up, ask Tim, and he'll be ecstatic that I actually told him what I would like, and I'll feel greedy (especially since I already gave Mum the go ahead to get us a Kitchenaid stand mixer; I say "us" because Tim wants me to have one so I can continue to feed him all sorts of deliciousness for which my family is known).

But you know what's pretty awesome? I'm the guest blogger on Stash Manicure  today! Thanks to the lovely Mme Samm for letting me prattle on over their! Originally it would have shown a much different storyline-- moving, setting up a sewing room, sorting fabric, etc.... but I had to alter that since we haven't moved and MAKE DO with a new topic!
;)

So last night I got 78 of the unit made for Step 1 of the mystery quilt from the lovely Bonnie Hunter. Go check out her whole website, not just the mystery- she's awesome!

This morning, I brought the total up to 125

Bright, bold, and very modern! LOVE.IT.

and also got enough strips sewn together for the remaining pieces

but two distracting dogs thought they were in need of attention, so I put my sewing away for a bit. I just need to press this pile and cut them into the units and I'll have step 1 done.  I love how bright it looks already. I almost wish there was more to work on already, but it's also nice to be able to call it "finished" for each step... makes it not so daunting. The dogs are sleeping again, so I think I can get these last pieces cut... And then what?

I'll have to dig in the boxes and unpack something... hmm, maybe I'll finally work on the letters for my MIL's quilt... Maybe!!!

Happy Saturday, everyone!

A bright spot

In the chaos that has been whirling around, I keep finding bright sides... for example, the positives of not moving yet: Another free tire rotation will be due, one less week to drive only 25 mins instead of nearly 1 hour 45 minutes to class, the dogs can stay at our house during Thanksgiving instead of having the chaos of FOUR monsters at lunch that day, and yet they can still go to dinner at Val's, and last but not least, Tim and I can sleep in our own bed the night before and after the 5K! See all those positives I found to this delay? 

And then, there's this pile... Some of you can probably guess what it's for!!!

That's right: since the move is delayed again, I can get started on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt, Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll! I took her color recommendations and then put my tweak on them, i.e. chose brighter pink, brighter green, substituted my blue for the brown, and substituted YELLOW for her constant of red.

I have never done a mystery quilt before.... it's exciting. Well, I've never done a planned mystery quilt, but sometimes my plans turn into mysteries before they're done!

I love the way the pile looks!!! If the dogs stay quiet, I'll be able to make some serious progress on step one. :)

Another thing I got done... these mittens!

They're for my BFF. She loses mittens like The Biggest Loser contestants lose weight. So, these are perfect, since they only took an hour to make. I'm going to try to find one of those cords you give little kids to run under their coats and attach to mittens to put in with these. The mittens are SOOO warm since they are fleece-lined fleece. Mmmm, cozy!

If things go even remotely to plan, we might move December 1st. Which means I have about 12 days (feels like deja vu counting from their again) to work on stuff, which is enough time to unpack some things....Time to return to my sewing area...  let's see how much more progress I can make on Christmas presents and projects!