Tetris Tuesday #3!

Block #3 is done. And because I have the patience of a 2-year-old, I sewed my first column together! All before spin class again, and oddly enough, during another thunderstorm.

Random thoughts on a Monday morning

1. I'm still pretty excited about having finished 4th overall for females. Especially since I was just a few minutes behind the top female finisher... it has me thinking, "If I hadn't hit my head so hard on that first obstacle, I wonder how much better I could have done?"

 2. I decided to play with some of my shop hop purchases. First up, the itty bitty twister template. I have the Lil twister, and in talking to one shop owner about those irritating waste squares, she showed me the itty bitty template. I'm not always one to attempt teeny tiny pieces, but it looked so cool, and the thought that I could twist away the waste from my current template.... that's why I bit. Plus, it takes 2.5" squares, and I have way too many 2.5" strips laying around unused. So I started with a 5 x 5 grid of brights, and added that border.

 Then, after cutting and resewing, it went from 14" to 6"! (Though I noticed, as with my other twister template, I could use a smaller-than-recommended border and be fine.... so it would be like shrinking from 13" to 6")
I added a 1.5" border- just grabbed the first piece laying around that would go all the way around my block.

Then quilter it with rainbow thread and bound it while watching the Olympics.

3. Speaking of Olympics, often I find myself just sitting and being lazy while I watch others excel in sport. Often with a bowl of not-so-healthy food, like caramel corn.

So, this year, I've been taking at least a few minutes during each even to do an exercise inspired by whichever sport is on. For example, during swimming, I stand and move my arms in whatever stroke they're doing. As a non-swimmer, just "swimming" through air while they compete leaves my arms tired. During gymnastics, I did a few headstands, and played with my hula hoop (and laughed so hard at how it freaks the dogs out).

4. I didn't do a long run this weekend. Which is really bad in terms of marathon training. But that's what happens when life gets in the way. I won't die. It probably won't affect my marathon time much, anyway, since I'm not exactly a speed demon, nor am I even expecting to run the whole thing (this time). But, I feel like I should add a few extra miles during my 2 shorter runs this week- like a 6 and 7 miler, instead of 2 and 6. Mentally, that will make me feel like I'm still doing enough work I guess.


What's your favorite Olympic sport? (Please don't tell me you hate them all)
Any big plans coming up?

My brother will be coming Friday to race in an autocross regional. I'm pretty excited. And we're grilling out with friends tonight (as long as the rain holds!).

4th place female!

Yup, 4th overall female finisher. Pretty happy about that. The medals are pretty cool, too- made from logs from the course.

Shop hop goodies!

I got up early to make it down to the convention center for the quilt shop hop- 30 quilt shops in one place! I got a free book for being the first customer at one booth, and won a stack of 8" squares at the game booth. The Itty bitty twister template and the Leaves Galore ruler were my tool splurges as a reward for tailoring Tim's pants, and I found some Ghastlies and other fat quarters. What a great morning!
Zumba went well this afternoon, and now I've settled in to watch the Olympics and rest for tomorrow's mud run and long run afterwards.

My evening

Went to see Ted with a friend today- pretty funny. Earlier, I ran 3.1 miles before an hour of spinning. And now, I am ready to relax and watch Wipeout, and knit- starting glove in July means they *might* get done before its cold- I'm an even slower knitter than I am a runner!

Silly eyeballs (I feel old)

So, I've been trying to make progress on the super secret project, but I'm still plugging along sewing too much black. I feel old because my eyes simply cannot stand looking at the black pieces. Poor, tired eyes, giving up at 27 (wonder if the congenital cataracts have anything to do with that?) On the bright side, this gave me a perfect excuse to try out some of the Blogger's Block of the Month blocks thanks to Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works.

You may notice from the photo that my blocks are not uniform size- well, that's because in order to start something new, my rule has been that it has to use precut pieces. So, rather than cut fiddly odd sizes like 3 5/8 or 1 3/4, I'm modifying each block to fit what I have. Which means I'll have some 8" blocks and some 9" blocks (finished size). I plan on stretching my creativity to even up the eventual rows, and may even be able to use some of my orphans/parts department blocks and bits.

Basically, the end goal of this quilt (besides giving my eyes a colorful break in between the aggravating black) will be to have a hodgepodge of STUFF. It could be awesome. Or ugly. But it will be warm, and it will get used, slept under, coughed on, sneezed on, and most of all, LOVED.

Tomorrow is another spin class, a short run, then a movie with a friend.

What are you doing for fun or fitness?

Tetris Tuesday!

 Block 2 from Melissa's Tetris quilt-a-long is done, even after having to stop for an hour halfway through due to a rip-snortin' storm.

The colors look weird since it's still raining and dark.

We're talking tons of lightning, 50-70 mph wind gusts, and torrential rain. I feel safer when I'm not surrounded by electrics when the lights are flickering from power surges. But, #2 is still done before spin class!

I love the way they look together. I'm not necessarily following the color choices of the pieces we're given, since one of the promises I made for myself was that i'd be using up some of the scraps I already have cut.

Anyhow, I'm off. Time for spinning fun!