Monday finishes



Good morning, superfriends!  It was a good and useful weekend - much accomplished, and much fun had!  (Sunday was my birthday game afternoon, and it was fabulous!)

And, I finished BST!





BST rough shot



Here it is on the floor at work - I'll get a better shot this afternoon at home, I promise!  But here it is!  And BST is Binary Sleep Tight.  The black and green are in binary - 01110011 is the upper left hand piece.  That's an 'S.'  Reading down the first column is SLEEP, the second column is TIGHT.  Yeah... I'm a little bit geeky.  It's pretty enough without knowing that it's "written" in binary, which makes me even more happy.   The quilting - of which I should be able to get an up-close shot this afternoon -  is ones and zeroes.  The print fabric is a Timeless Treasures - Microchip, and fits quite nicely. I hunted FOREVER to find something appropriate for the background, and NOW I found about 4 different fabrics I could use.  But... I am pleased with this one. 

It's a nice, successful completion, and it makes me happy to have it done!  I also managed to cut and piece the top of my ADD quilt-let.  (Yeah, I know, it's not on my list of things to do, but it's LITTLE.  Really!)  All I have left to do is the quilting and binding, and that MIGHT be done by this evening!  We'll see.   Here it is, the ADD quilt.  The quilting will be... simple.  We'll see what happens.  I hope to be able to show it tomorrow, all complete and in its glory.





Currently my IPad is playing the Eagles' "Do Something" in my ear, and it's fitting... I want to be doing something - some quilting, some sewing, a lot of different things.  I want to get up and Do Something.  So I will finish my work, and then go home and do just that.  I am proud of myself though - I have finished the first part of my goals for the year - BST is quilted and bound.  Yay!

Shay





Saturday working

Good afternoon, superfriends!  (Gosh, it's already almost 3pm here... where did the day go??)

Actually, it went into the past rather swiftly.  Bright and early this morning we got up, drove to Dallas to hit Perth Street - home to lovely fabric shops, wholesale and retail - so D could get the rest of the fabric for her costume for this year's faire.  And in a moment of sheer serendipity, I FINALLY found the perfect fabric for a quilt that I've been planning for quite a while.  In a shop that didn't normally carry quilting fabrics.  And it was cheap.  And it was a good quality - one that's normally 10-12 dollars a yard.  Five and a half yards of it.  So naturally I snatched it up!!  Yay for serendipity!

Once we got home - and yes, D managed to get all her fabrics (hooray!) - we cleaned for tomorrow's party.  And then... binding.  I'll finish the binding on BST tonight and post finished pics tomorrow.  Also finished my January block swap and got it off, and started on my next little quilt-let - I anticipate going back out to the forge tonight for a while and maybe at least get the top done.  I can quilt and bind it tomorrow morning before people start showing up.

But in the meantime, there's a little more cleaning to do, dinner to go out for (I'm taking D out since she scoured the kitchen!) and then binding and a little bit more cleaning.  And maybe dyeing of my hair.  Tired of the gray, and it's about that time anyway... time to start working my way into character for faire.

Yup... it's that season again.  When quilting and costuming run hand in hand, and the days at work flow into the days at faire, and at the end of it you're exhausted but oh-so-satisfied!

I feel... accomplished today.  It's a good feeling.  And with luck, I can get all the binding done.  But right now, I think I'm off for a snack!!

Shay

Thursday again.. already???

Good morning, superfriends!  It looks like it's already Thursday again, and that means I haven't been by for a week!  What's wrong with me??

Well... nothing.  I've been busy doing all sorts of things.  Quilting, working, planning, prepping, cleaning.  You know... life. 

The quilting on BST is almost done - two more sections to finish and I can bind it and call it done!  Which is good, since I'm trying to get it done by Sunday, so it can be on display for my birthday shindig.  And, you know, take pictures and show it here and stuff!  I am looking forward to having it done - I'll have something DONE at that point.  Progress is good.

I was working diligently on BST the other night and had a random thought.  Which became another quilt to add to my list.  I'm up to 90 quilts planned/in progress/done now.  I'll never catch up!



So, having said that... how DO people keep on top of all their ideas for sewing/quilting/various projects?  I don't have a clue.  I don't think I can!  I know I want to make this new quilt, but I want to make ALL the quilts!  (Or at least all the ones on my list).  How do I catch up to myself? 

I love quilting.  I love piecing, (not so much basting), and I love the process of quilting.  I am learning to accept that applique is pretty - just not when I do it.  Yet.  But my brain is rarely silent and keeps feeding me ideas.  I wind up with massive lists of quilts, too many ideas, and not enough time to work on them all.  Not by a long shot.  And I feel like it's my brain's fault, not my time management skills (which are actually pretty good most of the time).



This is my brain on quilting



When I was teaching, one of the first exercises we did (at the beginning of a school year, at teacher inservice), we took a test to find out our thought patterns.  I was in a group of 2.  Out of all the teachers at the higyh school.  We were... I don't remember the name of the test or types, but... it was an eye-opening experience.  The largest group had a series of arrows in a straight line: linear thinkers.  Another group had arrows and dotted lines - the intuitive leapers.  I don't remember all the groups, but ours - that lovely small group of 2 - had a dot in the middle of the page and arrows going in every direction.  It describes my brain pretty well, really. 

But it's not much good for catching up on my quilting!  Anyone have any suggestions?  (And plugging away works only so far.  I am plugging away on BST has got me almost done.  But if it takes too long, I get bored and go on to something else!).

Don't get me wrong - I am in no way disenchanted with quilting or the time it takes to make wonderful things.  I just... wish I could get things done faster.

And this post has spawned another idea.... this is getting silly.... but it would certainly be scrappy.  A quilt of chaos... no symbols, no order, no color-choice.  Just random snatching of fabric pieces from the scrap bin.  Stitch, iron.  Stitch, iron.  At the end, quilt, square up and bind.  Hmm... might be able to get THAT done this weekend...  *tears hair*  Not.  Enough.  Time. 

Shay

Thursday in the Forge

Good evening, superfriends!

In my efforts to get more done this year, I have gotten (gasp) organized!  Each project still in the piecing stage has a box.  Oh, boy....

And I've at least gotten caught up on my December block swap.  Now I can start the January one with a clean conscience.  (I am so sorry it took so long, Carol!!) 

I'm halfway through quilting BST, and should be able to show pics of it soon.

But for now, I have a cropped sneak peek for Carol's block.  It's really a little more purple-y than it shows here, but I wound up liking the block!

 

 

Hopefully she will too!

2013 Goals and Plans

I started making my list of things I want to accomplish on the quilting/piecing front last night....  I feel like I must be nuts.  Crazy, even.



BMF



On the "dear heaven I need to finish quilting this!" front, my goals for the year are:

1. finish quilting Boston Molasses Flood

2. finish quilting BST

3. quilt Crazy Diamonds

4. quilt my Dead Me quilt

5. My sister's quilt (need to do this one quick, too!)

Not too bad, except two are bed-sized quilts, and being done by hand.  *sigh*

On the "piece piece piece" front....

1. Molten Glass (currently in progress)

2. Wonky Sun Runner

3. Gatchaquilt (a brand new one that has leapt madly to the front of the line.  very pushy, it is).

4. Sun Phoenix (applique... why do I do this to myself??)

5. Hex Bird-Tree

And on the smaller scale list....

1. Complete all my block swaps in a timely manner

2. at least 2 more AAQI quilts.  (1 already planned....)

Now, looking at it, it doesn't seem like much.  12 items, 12 months.  But... I know me.  It won't work like that.  Even if it did only take me a month to hand-quilt a king-sized quilt (which is NOT going to happen).  We'll see if I can reach my goals.  If not, so be it, but I wanted to get it down in black and white so I can refer to it when needed.  And... it will keep me honest, I think.  I know other things will get added to the list, but this is my first of the year working list.

And of course, faire will be starting up soon.  The show starts in April, but we prep earlier than that.  And I will probably make a new bodice this year.  Nothing else garb-wise, but at least a new bodice.  And yarn things.  Because Penelope Weaver must have yarn things. 

So, we'll see how I fair on my goals.  Tonight - work on BST - it's smaller! and maybe on the Molten Glass.  We shall see.... (unless I pull greens and browns for the Hex Bird-Tree... See?  This is my problem.  Too many ideas, too little focus!)

Shay

Things on the Anvil

Good morning, superfriends!

I've been busy the last few days... making alterations to a dress (almost done, hooray!!), decorating more for XMas/winter, and so on.  Nothing new on the random quilt front, except to add more ideas to my list.  At this rate, I will never have better than a 15% completion rate!!  (But most of the time I am all right with that!)

Here is my HexMas tree.  I finished the stitching together last night - this afternoon and tonight I will work on decorating it so I can hang it up.  I've pulled beads and such to decorate with.  Hopefully that won't take too long, since I am getting close to the end of decorating time!  It would be nice to have it up by tomorrow, to give me more time to enjoy it.

The HexMas tree is made with the Hickory Nut hex pattern - I changed the size a little (shrank it down) from the one in the magazine.  Now I have little ones and huge ones.  :)  I thought about a huge HexMas tree, but didn't have a place to put one.  Maybe next year.

Yesterday at work I came back from lunch to find a chicken on my desk.  A stuffed, country-looking chicken.  Now, normally I am not a country-decorating kinda girl.  However, I do have a stuffed turkey under my desk that comes out for Thanksgiving decor.  So the chicken seemed appropriate to my co-workers.  Now the chicken has a name (Cogburn) and a Santa hat, so he can stay out for XMas.  I am already planning his next costume (he'll get a party hat for New Year's, and so on....).  So... here's Cogburn, the Christmas Rooster. 

Tonight, after I finish the dress alterations, I intend to finally get BST on the hoop so I can start that one.  I am really hoping it co-operates tonight.  So many ideas that need following up on... so many things to sew.  With luck and hard work, I can get BST done pretty quick.  I will be posting a tutorial pretty quick on Sea-Glass.  All I need to do is flesh it out a little, and we'll be in fine shape.  So, tutorial to come.

On the quilting front, BST will take me a little longer than anticipated, because Frank is currently unavailable for quilting, which slows things down a little.  By Thursday, he'll be back up, but right now, not so much.  The machine is fine, but since the weather turned frigid really quick, we moved our dwarf fruit trees inside where it was warmer.  The only place to put them is right around Frank, who now is hiding in a jungle of fruit trees.  But... he'll be out of hiding soon enough, so it's all good.

And soon... soon... things begin to ramp up for Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival.  I only have to make a new bodice this year, but I may make another skirt just so I can rotate the ones I have just a little more.  A little less wear and tear on the ones I have would be good.  But there are plans... oh, yes... there are plans.... 

Secretly, I love this time of year.  (Not the incessant commercials and Christmas music, mind you).  But the snap of the air (and the pop of static electrical discharge), and the anticipation.  I look forward to another year at faire, to the quieter days at work, to all sorts of things.  I may be solar-powered, but bring it on!   Come on, Texas winter!  Show me what you've got!  (oh, look... 68 degrees by the end of the week).

So, in trucking terms (and in forge terms, too!), time to put the hammer down and get things moving!  I've got a lot to do, and a short time to do it in!  Cya later, good buddies!

S

Monday. I think. Yes.... yes, it is.

Needless to say, my days are obviously a little messed up right now.  I spent the weekend down with a migraine.  Hooray.  I missed work on Friday, and that threw my whole weekend off.

But.  All is not lost, superfriends!  (*shrug*  I dunno... I just type this stuff).  I managed to get my second AAQI quilt finished.  I will send it off after Christmas, I suspect, since mailing things will be touch-and-go until then!  And that way maybe I can finish the next one I've got planned, too!

Here it is! -------->  (duh).  What doesn't show so well in this pic is the quilting.  I need to get a better up-close shot.  The quilted clouds show up pretty well, but the quilted trees do not.  Yup.  I quilted rows of trees into my city.  It seemed appropriate, for a quilt called "I Remember Trees Here." 

So, two down. 

And making more hexes recently.  Managed to get the pattern enlarged ridiculously, so I can have HUGE hexes!  I am working on a test one tonight.  We'll see how far I get with it.  I have Plans (yup, with a capital Puh).

And in even more fabulous news, my mother is improving all the time.  Talked to her today - she is doing much better - feels much better, and sees much better now.  She went to the doctor today and he was pleasantly surprised at how much better her vision was.  That's a good thing!  Of course, now my dad has the flu, so he's miserable.  They finished up their remodeling, and are taking time to relax and heal up.

As soon as I finish quilting my BST I will post it, and prob a tutorial for it, too.  It's an easy one.  VERY easy.  And hopefully I will soon get Little Moo FINALLY finished.  I'm close to being able to bind it.  I had hoped to tonight, but I am coughing a lot so I will head to bed when I am done with this post. BST is next in the rotation when Little Moo is done - so there is method in the disconnected sentences above.  Gotta finish Little Moo before I can put BST in the hoop and quilt by hand.

So that's me for the night.  I am taking my kitten and going to bed now.

Have a good night!
S

Work Wonky Star Runner

Finally.  I finished the Wonky Star Runner.  It's all of 15' long, and about 17" wide.  Yeah.  It's long.  I don't think I ever want to bind another one like it.  :)

But I am pleased with the overall effect.

It makes things much calmer looking in my cube.  (Please ignore the tub up front in the picture).  The Wonky Star was easy to make up and piece together, and it only took a few days to put together.  The binding was the longest part!  I will admit, that was the case because I opted to hand stitch the back of the binding.  And it takes FOREVER to hand stitch 30+ feet of binding.  Wheeeeee!!!

 Here's the other half... It currently bunches up a little behind the computer, but I can fix that tomorrow morning before I clock in!

Now all I have to do is bring in blue, silver, and white deocrations, and I am all set for Christmas at work.  Whaddya think?

I have a few battery-operated candles that I will light up for December, and so on... but I am so far quite pleased!

In looking at the pictures, I am a little weirded out.  Not because of the state of my cube - it's actually pretty tidy (which IS weird, but that's not what's got me).  I have never made a holiday-themed decorative piece for myself.  It just doesn't happen.  And I have certainly NEVER made a Christmassy-winter quilted project.  Things like that have always smacked of... well... my grandmother and my great-aunt.  Not that there's anything wrong with that (she says hastily, forestalling the glares).  It just wasn't me.  It was them - quilted ducks with wreaths around their necks.  Pillows that said NOEL in appliqued red and green letters.  I don't know why I developed an allergy to those things, but I did.  "Not for me!" I'd say to myself.  "I won't be making Christmas crafts for ME."

And yet... there it is.  It isn't screamingly Christmas.  But it's holiday quilted decorations.  For me.  I don't know what it says about me.  Maybe I'm getting lax in my 'old age.'  Maybe it's just different enough that it doesn't somehow break my self-imposed ban on holiday quilting crafts.  Maybe I'm just branching out.  I don't really know.
What I do know it that it's still not my grandmother's/great-aunt's Christmas craft. 

Now.... for the rest of the projects in progress!!!  It might be a little tough to get things roaring along again, because we're having massive house-cleaning for the rest of the week.  The woman we bought the house from last year is coming to see what we've done.  We invited her last year, but she wasn't able to make it.  She finally is, and so we're going to be doing a nice hard clean-up to get things perfect!  Vacuuming, mopping, the whole shebang. 

I still hope to get a little time in to finish up a few things - namely, BST and my second AAQI quilt.  I am getting close on the AAQI, and have plans for a third.  Hopefully my skills are improving with each one (I think they are), and will raise at least a little for AAQI.  Oh, yeah... I made a tunic-style shirt Sunday.  I should post a picture of it (on my mannequin). 

We shall seeeeeee.......  tonight, there will be a ridiculous amount of cleaning.  And maybe tracking down a basket for all the cat toys.  (I have a smart cat.  This is not always a good thing).  She's getting bigger all the time, and while I know every cat owner thinks their cat is smart (okay, not ALL cat owners... because let's be honest, some cats are just NOT smart), but Joji is.  She's figured out where the cat food is, and is working on trying to learn how to open it.  (It's stored in a trash can with a step-on lid lift thing).  She's a problem-solver.  Should continue to make life interesting!

Shay

When did it get to be Tuesday???

Wow, how the time slips into the past....

Long weekend.  The day before Thanksgiving, my dad called and said my mom was in the hospital with chest pains.  That was the longest drive ever.  Normally, it's 4.5 hours.  This time, because of stress and traffic, it took almost 7.  I think.  Something like that?  6 maybe.  *shrug*  The long and short of it is: she's getting better.  Strong heart.  An artery clogged, but treatable with meds.  But it was a weekend of in and out of the hospital.  And I had to come back and come to work.  We did manage to eke out a little Thanksgiving - it was just weird.  This was already going to be the smallest Thanksgiving for our family EVER, and Mom in the hospital just made it weirder.  My sister and I made most of the meal, and it turned out pretty good.  But we definitely missed having Mom at the table!

She's doing much better now.  My dad just texted me to say that they are going to go out to lunch, so she's getting better all the time.  And that's good news.  So now my days can slow down and I can take a look around.

So here's what I have been doing today.  Hickory Nuts.  Why?  Why not.  I think I will wind up turning these into either tree ornaments (with a little more decoration on them), or string them together for a little colorful bunting.  I am not quite certain yet, obviously enough.  All I wanted to do was see how it all went together!  Pretty easy, neh?  Needless to say, they go together quick.  I will decide more firmly what I want to do with them later on.  Maybe tomorrow.  Or this weekend.  So much still to do!

On the "What I did this weekend" front...  I managed to finish everything but the binding on the Wonky Stars, pick a quilting motif for Crazy Diamonds, finish BST's top and get batting and backing.  I hope to pin it tonight and I can show a pic then.  I am a little more excited about it now that I can see what it looks like almost completely done. 

For this week, I intend to finish the binding on Wonky Stars, quilt BST, finish quilting my second AAQI quilt, and get started again on Little Moo.  Not too much, right?  We've hit the slower part of the month at work now, so I am hopeful.

And coming up again - First Monday Trade Days.  I love First Monday.  I've been going since I was very very small (I was a short child), and still look forward to it.  Of course, it's changed a lot over the years, but it's still an amazing place.  And this time we're totally tracking the brisket tacos down.  Those were amazing!!!  If I can remember, I'll take pics to post.  It's... huge is an understatement.  Fruge comes closer, but still doesn't quite catch it. 

In passing.  The next time I decide to make decorations for my work cube, and measure to cover the inside of the cube to sew up a cute little runner... someone remind me that binding 15' x 1' is... tedious, monotonous, and very much a marathon!!!!  Sheesh....

Shay

Brief update. Very brief.

Here it is... a layout for one of the blocks for the BST quilt.  :)  It's bright, ne?  That was the idea, and I think it's succeeding.  I can start piecing tonight, which will be lovely! 

And yes, I am still working on Little Moo.  :)  Just not right at this second.

I have hopes of getting home at a reasonable hour tonight, which will mean more time to sew and more time to do other stuff.  Last night was go home, eat, work a little on Texas Daycare, and then crash for the night.  I would like to have a LITTLE more time to do stuff tonight!

Friday we're going to Screams - yay for Haunted Houses!  I am looking forward to it.  I haven't been for a year or so, (duh), maybe even more.  Since it's almost an hour away, I count that as travel.  :)  Especially since it's for fun!

And this weekend might have sewing company, and a chance to work for long periods of time in the forge.  Even if it will be cold!  Brrrrr.

I PROMISE I will try to get a pic up of Texas Daycare tonight.  I was just too tired last night.
Busily yours,
Shay

More forge work

Here's D's mug rug.  It's smaller than mine, since she has a smaller desk.  But I might be making myself one this size as well.  :)  I like this one! 

Last night was work on housework and Little Moo (Texas Daycare).  I am working steadily on the grass for him.  (oh, and the lawn guy came yesterday while we were at work and mowed!  Hooray!!)  So, after dusting and dishes and all that fun stuff, I got some quilting in after all.  It made me happy. 

I didn't manage to get anything cut on the nerd quilt (BST) - but I did pull the last of the material for it.  It's going to be... interesting.  I hope. 

Here are the colors - for the blocks.  The sashing material I am reserving for now.   I already have the quilting plan laid out, just have to cut and piece and such first!!  And when it's all pieced, the quilting should go quickly!  I hope.  I may quilt it with glow in the dark thread.  We'll see....  I want a little sparkle on this one. 

I wish I had more to show!!  Maybe tonight I will post another pic of Texas Daycare.... just to show progress!  And soon... soon the weather will change to cold (brrr!) and I can haul Boston Molasses Flood back out and start working on it again!  (For some reason, it seems to be a winter project... I duuno.)

There you have it!  Two posts in two days! 
Shay

Hooray Monday and finishes!!!

It was a productive weekend!  Friday left me with an inclination to crawl into a hole and pull it in after me.  So this weekend I went to the quilt forge and spent a good deal of time there, with the end result that things got done.  Yayayayayayay! (Muppet flailing arms)



I really need to get better pictures!



First up - I found some scraps of material that (gasp) went together very well, so I made a mugrug or two.  It was something I could quilt on my machine while D was setting up a quilt on Frank for her to do.  I forgot to get a picture of the one for D, so I'll have to put that up here later.  But the one for me:

I like the peacock colors, even though they aren't my normal choice, and not something I'd wear.  But for a mug rug... you bet!  I might even make another one, a little smaller, if I get my work desk adjusted.  Then I can take this one back home and use it for a placemat!

It's a little big, but I like it.  It will handle a couple of mugs or bottles (since I usually have a DP and a glass of water with me).  It's also less lop-sided than it appears in the picture, which is nice.  All in all, a success!  And pic of D's will follow this evening.

The other thing I did get finished (finally!!) is my Black and White quilt.  I'm still pondering a name for it - it's the Sea Glass pattern, but in blacks and whites (duh).   It's 72" x 72" - so a nice size. 

Some of the contrast in fabrics doesn't show up quite as well in the pictures as it does in real life.  There are 8 different fabrics in this one, and I am quite pleased with it!

So that was my weekend - setting up Frank with black and white, sewing, quilting, helping D set up Frank with her blue and green quilt (Twisted, I think....), and working on Crazy Diamonds. 

I have 14 blocks left to do on Crazy Diamonds, so this week I will pull 56 fabrics from our stash that I haven't already used and get those blocks finished up.  Then I can figure out how to quilt it, since it's going to be too big for Frank!  (Not to mention I have no clue what I am going to do as far as quilting design.  *shrug*  Burn that bridge when we get there!)

Also, I got fabric in for the nerd/geek quilt on Saturday, so I pulled the other fabrics from our stash and started measuring and cutting.  I'm halfway done with cutting the blocks.  Tonight I am going to shoot for finishing the cutting, and start the blocks.  If I can do that, I will be most pleased! (The abbreviation for the nerd quilt is going to be BST for now).

Aaaaand.... I worked more on Texas Daycare.  I am quilting the grass now.  Once I finish that, I'll do the tree trunk and the calf himself, and then lay down the barbed wire border... and then bind him and call him done!  Hooray!  (hand quilting takes me forever!)

Gosh, it HAS been a busy weekend!

Shay