strange week
There were days that seem to take hours and hours to get over and other days that seem to be over before they even got started. Either way, today is Friday and you know what that means!
Yep! I do!
Not sure what all the weekend has in store for us. Both boys are done with basketball for the season so no games tonight nor tomorrow. Ed has a men’s breakfast at church tomorrow morning, I will be sewing.
Sewing: I made a list of projects that would not take much time to finish…figured I would have 5-6 things on the list… Oh yeah, make me laugh….20+ projects! I am determined to get these projects done and out of my life. I have long ago given away partially completed projects that I no longer want to finish so everything I have going is something that I want to complete. 20+ projects sounds like a lot, but some of them are just adding handles to purses or bindings to donation quilts, all but 3 of these projects are more than half completed…the 3 that aren’t are block sets, ready to be made into tops.
I had planned to send a surprise quilt up to my machine quilter today ~ sadly I missed out on my spot and will now have to wait until the end of March. Had I needed this quilt ASAP she would have worked me in, she is too good to me. Waiting until the end of March is a mixed blessing, I really wanted to get this quilt quilted and back so I could get busy on the binding…but on the other hand I requested 3 spots so if I get busy I can take not one but 3 quilts up to my machine quilting gal. I am going to push to make that happen! I have one quilt that only needs the borders attached…backing is already pieced and ready to go. I also have one quilt that wouldn’t take much to get it ready to be machine quilted. Goals…I have a goal and will do what I can to meet it! The friend who does my machine quilting is always very very busy ~ this is a good thing! Both she and her husband are self employed ~ during these lean times they have managed to keep busy, God is so good!
Baseball is just around the corner….
GO Seattle Mariners GO
GO Portland Beavers GO
GO Oregon Ducks GO
GO Eugene Ems GO
Yes, we do love baseball!!!
March 5th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 1 Comment » I Love Friday!
“Pointless”
Sometimes I give quilts I make a name. This one got a name in a hurry. Here’s the story:
While browsing through eBay a year or so ago I ran across a number of people selling already made up blocks. You never know what you might find on eBay and I was surprised to see finished blocks…why in the world would someone want to sell blocks they had spent time creating? Why not just finish up the blocks into a quilt? I don’t understand…doesn’t make sense to me…but to each their own. I hunted through a few sets of blocks and picked out two sets that I thought I could make into cute donation quilts. I purchased the two sets, they arrived and instantly got shuffled under something and soon were long forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the Great MCM Makeover.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was refolding my stash and guess what I found…yep…2 sets of eBay blocks! I pulled the blocks out, 16 blocks in each set, and drew up a quick and easy setting for them. After shopping my stash for posts, sashings, and borders I started squaring up the blocks.
OMGoodness, OMGoodness!!! and can I just say OMGoodness!!! By the time I had the blocks all squared up there was NO ¼” for a seam for most of the blocks. Sigh…and sigh again.
What to do, what to do? Well, the blocks were already made…albeit trimmed down a bit. No way to go but forward…so onward and forward I went. I knew I wouldn’t be thrilled with how this turned out…there were a few moments I thought I should just toss the whole mess, but didn’t.
When I make a quilt I lay the blocks out on our bed while I am building a quilt top from blocks through sashings and borders stages. This gives me a chance to change the blocks around and etc. Ed is usually very complimentary about quilts that I am building. Not so this time around. While I was moving blocks around he was silent….until….are you ready for this… “where are the points?” LOL All the frustration I was feeling over these dang blocks went right out the door! My dear sweet hubby knew the blocks were not made correctly…and better than that he was greatly relieved when I told him I had not made those blocks…Bless you my honey!
We had a great laugh over it and as he walked away, shaking his head, I heard him mutter “that quilt is pointless”
And now you know the rest of the story!
And here’s Pointless, and pointless it is!
Stay tuned…there is still another set of blocks that need to be made into a quilt…oh man, can’t wait to see how those blocks square up!
February 28th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 3 Comments » MCM, Quilting for LoveWOW…that week went by fast….
- Added the borders to the quilt top I finished last week…still need to prep the backing.
- I’ve spent most of my spare time this week sewing on my jacket, at least an hour each night, it’s getting closer.
- I pulled 2 sets of blocks to work up into quick donation quilts~need to shop my stash for posts, sashings, borders and backings.
Gpa and I took Rex and KatieBug out for pizza on Wednesday, teenagers….gotta love ‘em! Topic of conversation: cell phones…this Gadget Granny confesses that she would need a 12 step program in order to give up her iPhone…both kids told me not to worry, they would not ask me to give up my phone ~ bless you my Grandchildren, for you have made Gramma very proud! LOL And let me just make a quick note…the only phone that was out and visible during dinner was Grampa’s!! LOL
Our Wii Fit+ adventure continues…we are doing ok… What does “OK” mean? Means we are either holding our own or losing a little each day. We’ll take that! I have a goal of being able to walk the loop by April 1! Takes about an hour to do so when I am in good shape…so far I am at 45 minutes with no grade. The loop has a couple of mild grades and then getting back to our home from main drag is all uphill. April 1 is a reasonable goal. I’m sticking with it~ stay tuned for updates!
I also made and gifted these two mini’s…they are 23″ square. One went to Tam as a thank you for the green coffee beans she sent to us last month. The other has been sent but the giftee has not opened it yet…actually the giftee doesn’t know there is a surprise waiting for her, she should get it today. Had I known she was going to be out sick all this wk I would have sent it to her home! Either way ~ SURPRISE! Sunshine and Flowers for you!!
And this cute wallhanging was a surprise to me! Linda made this for my ME kitchen~I had no idea she was working on this ~ Thank you Linda…this is bright and happy and adds so much color to my ME kitchen~ a wonderful addition to my ever growing number of quilts that will fit on that wall and be switched out throughout the year.
This wknd will be much like our last few wknds. Tristan has a basketball tourney in a nearby town tomorrow. I will be pushing my jacket forward, we’ll watch a bit of the Olympics. Pretty quiet wknd ahead.
February 26th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 1 Comment » UncategorizedNice, love these short weeks!
On tap for this wknd…
- catching up on some missed sleep
- spending time outside IN THE SUNSHINE!
- finishing a quilt top~only need to add the pieced border, which is already cut and prepped
- finishing the last little bit of handwork on a binding for a secret gift
I did manage to sew this wk
- 13 pieced star blocks and 12 simple setting blocks
- cut and prepped pieced border
- finished KatieBugs laptop carrying bag (last night while she was here for the evening)
- made a quick little table mat as a long over due Thank You gift
Several ladies in our family are playing “sewing machine fruit basket”~switching machines around, moving them from home to home. This has allowed me to find new homes for 3 sewing machines and a serger. An effort on my part to continue working towards our Less is More plan.
My sister and niece had a sewing day last wknd…of course I was pea green with envy that they were sewing without me!! They both made the same cute little ME wallhanging that I made the week before (pic posted in an earlier post). Now we are discussing which wallhanging we will all do next…most likely it will have a ’spring’ or ‘Easter’ theme.
Happy wknd all!
February 19th, 2010 That's what I think about that! Be the first to tell me what you think. » I Love Friday!Finally Friday!!
3 day wknd ahead…a busy 3 day wknd ahead infact…
Dinner out and basketball tonight at a neighboring town
our girls are undefeated, the boys are currently in 4th place ~ Go Big Red!
Prime Rib Valentine’s Dinner and a movie Saturday night
fund raiser for the youth group
Worship on Sunday
Hopefully Girls Day Out on Monday
Pottery Co.? Movie? Lunch? ~~ All 3???
I am staying on task with Wii Fit ~ this past week was my best week ~ feeling stronger and sticking with the program…step by step, one foot in front of the other. I have a goal, a realistic goal, and a reason to keep on keepin’ on. Ed is doing well and staying on task as well. With the warmer weather coming soon he will be outside and a bit more active. Why is it that guys seem to lose weight faster than girls??
Sewing, yep…I’ve been sewing. Learning my new machine and gearing up for some serious time in MCM. Wednesday I began cutting out a jacket for myself. 376 4½” squares to start with. As my hubby would say, “cut it all apart, sew it all together”…yep…that is what I do! I will be working in as much sewing time as possible throughout the wknd.
February 12th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 1 Comment » I Love Friday!
Baby It’s Cold Outside!
That was the theme for the most recent FAB Challenge…reveal was this week and man, we sure did get some wonderful gifts!
I had Pat’s name this time around. Pat is a big gifter, making and giving such wonderful gifts to so many people in her life…so…I decided to make her some gift bags. Made sense to me! She immediately decided the bags would make great bags to hold various items when she is traveling..well, that works too!
I thought I had a picture of her ‘ditty bags’ but I guess I didn’t get a photo taken before sending them to Pat.
Cher had my name this time…this is my gift from her
A sewing machine mat…to go under my Feather Weight. Isn’t it wonderful!? I think so. The picture color is way off…this is a wonderful purple and yellow. Cher may post a picture with better color.
I thought maybe this was a bulletin board/organizer type wallhanging but she put me straight…but I must say, I had made one of these for my FW a couple of years ago and it ended up being a bulletin board for my great niece~so I wasn’t too far off.
Here’s a funny….a few days before the reveal Cher and I were chatting. We have both been on a mission to clear so clutter from our homes~use what we have or give it away~Less is More~etc etc etc. I mentioned that I am paring down the number of sewing machines I have (7 ~~ that is shameful!!!) and had already given one away with 2 more scheduled to be leaving soon. Cher asked me which machines I was keeping. When my FW was including in the 3 I am keeping her response was “Good choice”. LOL Now I am thinking she might have been a bit relieved to know I was keeping the FW after she had already made and sent to me the sewing machine mat…even though I had not opened it as yet.
Thanks Cher…this will certainly be used and enjoyed whenever I use my treasured FW.
February 10th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 5 Comments » FAB's, UncategorizedSewing…
Stuck On A Theme…It Would Seem…
It’s our bday wknd…
let’s see what kind of trouble we can get into…
I’ll let you know after the fact…
January 29th, 2010 That's what I think about that! Be the first to tell me what you think. » UncategorizedOh yah!
This week went by pretty quickly. Maybe it just felt that way due to a shortened work wee~ Maybe it had to do with pushing through a project, trying to meet a mailing date goal. Doesn’t matter what the reason, I am just thankful it is Friday and …
Yep, I love Friday!
Last wknd’s visit from Kristy and her guys can be summed up in one word WONDERFUL. We enjoyed their visit so much. With as large of a family as we have it is hard to spend one on one time when we are all gathered together. We enjoyed having just the 3 of them here for a couple of days and not having to share them with anyone else.
They brought their Hawaii pictures~and stories!! Thomas narated many of the pictures and we so enjoyed experiencing Hawaii through his eyes. They had a wonderful and much needed family vacation. They shared their favorite things and least favorite things to do in Hawaii and we made notes…you know, just in case we ever get there ;-).
I have spent the better part of the week doing binding and applique and am pretty excited to have 2 projects completed…stamped DONE DONE DONE!! One is going out in the mail today~headed to a special little guy~wish I could ship myself along so I can see his reaction. More about that next week, after I know it has arrived at its final destination.
Started a basic Wii Fit Plus program this week. For now it is just the step program and tomorrow I will add weights. Thus far I am enjoying this and Ed seems to be pretty happy with it as well. A little intimidating to have your body measured and etc by a computer that talks to you…and a trainer who isn’t present but is still very vocal! LOL Maybe I should change to the male trainer??? Yeah! Maybe I should!! After 4 weigh-ins I am down 2#. I like that!
We have been exploring the Wii Fit Plus and have been having fun with the games. Hula Hooping is not for the faint at heart, nor is it for 2 fat old people…but we are having fun ~ isn’t that what counts? We think so!
This wknd will find us at basketball games for Rex and Tristan. Sunday afternoon we will be parked infront of the TV watching to see who will make it to the SuperBowl. The menu for SuperBowl Sunday has already been discussed~LOL this gang is so predicable! Family, Food and Football…LOL
Our hearts are saddened by the events in Haiti. A friends daughter is a mid-wife in Haiti. Johanna has been pressed into service helping in surgical units. Joanna shares her story on her blog. She works with Heartline Ministries. This really takes on a whole new feel when you are connected in some way with the people of Haiti. We are praying daily for the people of Haiti…we just can’t imagine what they are dealing with and will be for some time.
January 22nd, 2010 That's what I think about that! Be the first to tell me what you think. » I Love Friday!Can’t wait!!
It’s Friday and the wknd and we have plans! Yep! Thomas will be here this evening! We are so very excited to have Tommy and his parents come for a visit. Not so sure the weather will hold out for us but if it does we are hoping to get to Cape Arago. We are keeping it pretty low key as Tommy is still recovering from his surgeries last November. We’ve stocked our home with kid friendly foods, hoping he will eat even just a little.
This past week I managed to get the borders removed from a 30’s print Ohio Star quilt top, which was assembled in 1999. I want to change up the borders, making the quilt a bit larger, and then getting the top up to Laurie by the end of the month.
I also managed to work on JJ and Roy’s “Yours and Mine”. A favorite blanket of Roy’s when he was a young child that was passed on to JJ. This blanket has seen better days…trust me on this! JJ left it here for repairs in August ~~ two failed attempts to fix it and I threw in the towel. It is now pretty much getting a re-working from the ground up. I am hoping to get this finished up and sent to JJ and Roy before Roy leaves in a couple of weeks. It will be a push but I am going to give it the Good Gramma try!
I purchased a zipper for Katie’s laptop bag ~ it should be a quick finish after “Yours and Mine” is sent off.
Office is closed on Monday…we will be canning tuna…since it didn’t get canned while I was on vacation between Christmas and New Years.
Happy Friday everyone! I do so ? Friday!
January 15th, 2010 That's what I think about that! 2 Comments » Uncategorized
