Small Steps

Today is my first day back at school.  Summer Break is officially over for me.  My girls have a week left.  We've been busy, as we were all summer, doing what we do.  Karate and dance, orthodontist and doctor, haircuts, family games and school supply shopping.  The days have been flying.  There are a few new and different things in the mix, too, which have some of us exploring the outer edges of our comfort zone!

I am following along with Amanda's Facet+Plus Quilt-Along at This Mom Quilts.  I am not caught up, and I most likely won't ever manage to be, within the dates she has set for us.  I'm OK with that.  I just do what I can do.  I have to resign myself to that attitude about most things this time of year, and if I accept that, I find I'm much happier!  I will be sad to see the finished quilts at the end and know that mine is not among them, but, I know I'll get there eventually.  These fabrics are too pretty to leave sitting around for too long!

Despite not keeping the deadlines, I am finding that I really like the QAL format.  I've never done one before, but I will again!   Focusing on just the cutting, or just the first step helps me to keep from getting overwhelmed.  But I suppose that's why QAL's are so popular!

I am only able to devote an hour at a time, maybe three or four days a week to sewing these days, so progress is slow, but it's steady!

It's been fun to watch these blocks grow.

The coloring page has been an absolute necessity, particularly since I am using three different color groupings! Thanks, Amanda, for providing it!   I have had to put sections up on my make-shift design wall in small groups in order to make sure I have everything in the right place
.

Luckily, when I put the last part up there, I had exactly the right combination of colors and block orientations!  Whew!

I've sewn a double line on the diagonal so I have lots of bonus HST's!!

I am hoping to start step two, which is the same as step one, but with the lighter colors where the darker colors are now, for some Friday night sewing.  But, there's still school clothes shopping to do, and I fear that might win!  Amanda's schedule has us piecing the quilt top on Monday.  I look forward to checking out the #fandpQAL posts on Instagram to see what everyone else did.

I will keep plugging away, making small steps toward what I think is going to be a real beauty of a quilt top!

                                                  I'll be linking up to :
                                      Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts
                                   The WIP Link Up at Silly Mama Quilts
                           Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
                   Can I Get A Whoop-Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

One last thing.  Both of my girls and I are doing a community theater production of The Music Man.  I'll share details as we go along,  but for now, Oh Boy!  What have I gotten myself into?!

Five Things To Be Happy About Friday

I almost skipped posting this week.  It's been a week of heat, humidity, crazy busy schedules, back to school preperations and an ant infestation in my house.  I just wasn't feeling the happy.

But, as Melva said in her Five Things post, "Even in the worst of weeks, there is always something to be thankful for."   She is right, of course. There's so much to be grateful for, and happy about.  Even if it's just the fact that the ant thing only seems to happen once every few years!!

Here are some things that did bring me joy this week!

Our first ever batch of pickles!  What a process that was!  But it was fun, my girls got to see how it's done (and me too, for that matter!) And they are pretty tasty!

These pretty sunflowers!  A coworker gave me the seeds in a little basket at Easter.  I almost tossed them out, but my husband planted them in an old coffee container.  We've had such fun watching them bloom on the deck.  And there's been a beautiful butterfly hovering near them the last few days.  So pretty!

This weirdo.  She makes me smile...always. (She got a henna tattoo on her arm this week, at the library.  Just for fun!)

After a long day of running around and doing things for others, I was not looking forward to making dinner for my husband and youngest daughter.  When I asked what they wanted, my daughter (the weirdo above) said, "Let's just have a night where everybody makes what they want."  Best. Answer. Ever.  Cereal and berries for me!  Why not?

And now, if you need me,  I'll be in the sewing room for the rest of the night, working myself the rest of the way out of my funk!

I hope your week was wonderful, and your weekend even better!  Check out Amanda's post at Gypsy Moon Quilt Co. to see what's making her happy, and check out the comments for even more reasons to smile!  And, thanks, Melva, for the reminder!!

Quick and Easy Sweatshirt Blanket

I spent a few hours last week making a surprise for the recipient of the t-shirt quilt I shared recently.  When she gave me her t-shirts, she included several items I couldn't use due to their weight or the type of fabric.  I knew I wanted to do something with them, though.  I decided I'd use the  sweatpants, hoodie and flannel pajama bottoms to make a lap sized blanket.

Shhh!  My assistant wanted me to crop her out.  But she's just too cute! 

It came together really easily!  I just cut the largest sized rectangle that I could get out of each item of clothing, centering the logos.  I cut rectangles from spots with no logo, too .  Then, I laid them out, trimming and rearranging until I had something that worked.

When the blocks were together, I spray basted the top to a yard of snuggle fleece.  A little bit of stitching in the ditch holds the front and back together, permanently.   I finished it off by bringing the edge of the fleece around to the front, turning it under once, then stitching with a running stitch.

Binding clips = no pins in the carpet!!

  I am so pleased with the way the binding looks!

My favorite feature, though, is the pocket from the front of a Hoodie that I included at the top.  It's placed in exactly the right spot for the user of the blanket to tuck her hands into in chilly weather.

This is NOT the recipient of the quilt.  Just my cute assistant, again.

If Hailey  decides not to take this blanket to school with her this fall, I know her mom will put it to good use.  It's perfect for snuggling under by the fire, watching football games on chilly Friday nights, or just to cuddle with while reading  (and, I'm sure, missing her oldest child).  

I'm going to link this post up, but I'm not sure where.  What are your favorite link up parties?

So far, I'm linked at Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt, and Let's Bee Social at Sew Fesh Quilts

Have a fantastic week, quilty friends!

Five Things To Be Happy About (#8)

Oh, August.  Such mixed feelings I have about you!  Am I saddened by the rush of days that will soon bring an end to our summer routine, or sweetly anticipating the shift in the weather and the promise of new adventures?  August is, I think, the embodiment of the word bittersweet.  And I can never decide how I feel about it.

Maybe it was just that August melancholy that kept me from getting this post up earlier in the day.  I tried, this morning, to write it, but the words wouldn't come.  I typed, deleted, tried again, stopped, started...and eventually gave up.  I wasn't feeling the happy, and couldn't force it.

The whole day has been a bit like that.  One step forward, two steps back.  But, I have been able to remind myself that the good things remain, even when they are hard to see.

Here are some things that have soothed my anxious soul this week...

Listening to "maker" podcasts as I've worked in the sewing room. Hearing these conversations have made me feel connected to the work I'm doing and to the community we share.  I have smiled and laughed and nodded in agreement more times than I can count.

Observing my daughters together.  The younger one got up early this morning (6am!) to go running with the older one.  It was a quick run, but they came back laughing and high fiving.  This week they've worked on their 4-H record books together, played games and shared late night snacks. They have seldom been grumpy with each other.  There is so. much. love.  I am blessed.

Using and enjoying what we've grown in the garden.  We haven't always been good about this, but this year we are  making an effort. Lots of fresh stUff in our meals this week, and, tomorrow I will attempt to make pickles!!!  Yikes!

And, a few pictures (because, fabric & doughnuts!):

Getting ready to start piecing on the Facet Plus QAL.  Aren't they sooooo pretty?  I realized I was a bit short on one of the fabrics, plus, I just really wanted more, so during karate class on Tuesday, I ordered more!  Love technology!

And my happy mail came today!  Sheryl at BrewStitched is so quick and my fabric was packaged so nicely.  Happy, happy for sure!! 

And who can resist a doughnut and coffee.  It makes you happy - the cup says so!!!

I hope your happy was easy to find this week.  Pop over to Gypsy Moon Quilt Co.  and see what everyone else is smiling about!  It's contagious,  it really is!

Five Things Friday (County Fair Edition)

Happy Friday!  It's County Fair Week, here, so I have a special Edition of Five Things to Be Happy About for you!

I love the fair!  It's been a crazy busy week, with a lot of running around and rescheduling of regular activities, but it is the best week of the summer for me.  I absolutely adore watching my girls talk to the judges about their projects and take on the responsibilities of volunteering in the food stand and action and promotion booth.  I love the music and the vendors and the food, the exhibits of flowers and quilts and decorated cakes.  I love running into people we know. Even the vendors building where you could spend all day entering drawings for free stuff (and spend the next month dodging phone calls from sales representatives) provides a nice break from the sun and humidity. I remember all of these things from the county fairs of my childhood, and I am so glad that my girls are getting to experience them too.

And, even though my parents told me (and I tell my girls) that it's not about the ribbons, it's pretty cool to see my girls earn blue ribbons, and even better, merit awards and state fair entries!  They outdid themselves this year!  And the best part was that their projects were really and truly theirs.  I did a bit of prodding here and there to make sure they remembered the deadlines, and I helped solve a few problems along the way, but I was pretty hands- off on the actual construction and completion of the projects.

Emily had help from her dad in building her state-fair bound checker board, but, the judge was very impressed with how well she explained the process, used the correct terms for hte tools they used and described the problems and solutions they encountered.  He told her that working with her dad was one of the best things she'd ever do in  4-H, and they they should be very proud of themselves for BOTH surviving!  (He also asked her who needed more patience, her or dad...which leads me to beleive that the man has daughters!  LOL!) Before this week, she wasn't sure she wanted to continue in the woodworking project, but the positive outcome just might have changed her mind.

We are heading back to the fairgrounds in a bit so the girls can enjoy midway rides with their friends.  We have not ventured down there yet, so I don't have pictures.  It I get a good one, I'll come back tonight and edit my happy pictures.

But for now, here are 5 Fair Things That Make Me Happy:

SNEARY picture in picture action.  So proud of them, both!

Not my quilt, but I just love it.  It's Moda Building Blocks. Made me smile every time I saw it this week.

Stop by Gypsy Moon Quilt Co. to see what everyone else is happy about this week! 

Two Finishes!

It's county fair week here!  My absolute favorite week of the summer.  So far, we've been to the fairgrounds for the judging of the girls' projects, to work an early morning shift in the 4-H Food Stand, and to watch my oldest daugther model her outfit in the Fashion Revue (no judging this time, just a chance for the girls to show off their hard work).  There might have been some ice cream, lemonade and other treats thrown in there too!  We'll be back later today to volunteer in the 4-H Action and Promotion booth and to enjoy the rides on Friday.  Maybe, just maybe, my husband and I will go to listen to some music for a Friday night date.

Even with all this Fair Frenzy, I'm happy to have two finishes to report!

This is my lovely daughter modeling, not the owner of the quilt.

My first T-Shirt Quilt is finished!  This has been a true labor of love for me.  The owner of these shirts is a young lady that I've had the pleasure of watching grow her entire life.  She is near and dear to my heart, and my girls think of her as an older cousin.  My daughter has shared the stage in many of the shows that these t-shirts represent, so I had a lot of memories and smiles as I stitched.

Since this was the first t-shrit quilt I've completed, it wasn't without its struggles.  It was quite a challenge getting all the blocks to fit nicely together,  You can read a post about that, here.

This quilt is larger and heavier than I'm used to.  This presented some challenges in quilting.  I had decided to go with straight diagonal lines in both directions after seeing a t-shirt quilt done this way, somewhere on the internet.  I taped off my lines, adjusted them a time or two, and hoped for the best!

The center sections puckered a bit.   It was just really hard to keep everything flat and pulled tight when half of the quilt had to be fed through the throat on my small machine.

 I did some ripping and re-stitiching and got those sections to a place I could live with, I admit, debated ripping everything and starting over. But, there was a deadline to meet.  And, I asked myself if a quilt that lies perfectly flat was really the goal.

The answer was no.  This quilt is going to spend much of its existence crumpled up at the foot of a dorm bed.  It's going to be spread out on the lawn for campus picnics and study sessions.  It's going to go to football games and fireworks displays.  It's going to a part of college memories, forever.   It already holds so many memories and so much love that it's (not literally!) near to bursting at the seams...so perfection isn't necessary.

I had the pleasure of attending the recipient's graduation party, where the quilt was hung up along with pictures of the young lady.  What a joy it was to watch her grandmothers and aunts ooooh and ahhhh over it and to hear the kids from the perfoming troupe reminisce over the shirts. They didn't see mistakes or puckers or imperfections.  They saw love, hard work and happy memories.  That's as close to perfect as I need to get!

Here's a shot of the quilt label.  Doesn't the design on the label look fantastic with the backing fabric?  I even like the way the colors show through.  It's kind of a neat effect.   I used StoryPatches for the first time.  If you aren't familiar with this fun way to add a modern, techy touch to your quilts, I suggest that you check them out.  I also plan to do a post very soon explaining how easy it was to use technology to add a very special message to the quilt.

And now for my second finish.  I made a skirt!

I've mentioned before that my daughter is becoming a better garment sewer that I am.  It's just not my favorite thing to do. She, on the other hand, likes the process and patiently completed a skirt and a blouse for the fair this year.  For her skirt, she followed an on-line tutorial with the promising title "Twenty Minute Skirt".  Now, I think we all know that the darn skirt is going to take most of us longer than 20 minutes!  But, she did manage to have it done in just over an hour. Still pretty good!

 This week, I was inspired to follow the same process to finally sew up a skirt for myself from this cute knit I'd found a while ago.

This had to be done in several short sessions as time allowed this week, but, I think I probably spent just over an hour total.  I was careful to match those chevron stripes at the side seams, and I am just tickled with how they turned out! Hard to spot the seam, isn't it??

Its very basic construction.  Just a hemmed rectangle made into a tube, zig zagged to waist band elastic which is left exposed.  They make really cute elastic for that purpose, now.  Did you know that? There's not much work here, hence the 20 minute claim!

My skirt is comfortable, easy to wear, and just a bit longer than the rest of my knit skirts, which was the goal.  I'm going to be on the lookout for cute knits, now, so I can make a few more of these!  I'd forgotten how fun it is to wear homemade!

I'm linking up this week to Let's Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get A Whoop-Whoop? and Finish It Up Friday.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a County Fair edition of Five Things to be Happy About Friday!

Five Things To Be Happy About - A Day Late

I am not at all surprised that I'm a day late posting my Five Things to be Happy About post this week.  It's just the kind of week that it was!  All week I felt like I was in some kind of a mental fog.  I had the tension in my shoulders and pressure in my ears that usually signal the start of a migraine...but the headache never fully materialized.  It was just a crappy, tired, can't quite do what I need to get done kind of week.  Honestly, the thing that made me happiest this week was the moment when the ibuprofen and peppermint oil started to work  I love that feeling of the pain and pressure and anxiety floating away.

All that being said, there were still beautiful and happy moments.  I might have had to look a little harder for them, but thank goodness I had a reason to!  I might have missed them, otherwise!  Here's a peek at some smiles from the week.

I LOVE binding all rolled up!  I use old ribbon spools to wind the folded binding.  Then, the spool goes in a box on the floor, and it unrolls easily as I sew the binding on the quilt.  I had my bonus happy moment this week when I got the joining of the ends right ON THE FIRST TRY!!!  (That usually doesn't happen.)  The blade of my scissors is reflecting a piece of Mexican embroidery that hangs on the wall.  I love that!

And, of course, a roll of binding means THIS is coming next.  I debated machine stitching the binding on both the front and the back, because the quilt had a deadline.  But, I also knew that some time on the couch, with a cup of tea (not pictured) and Gilmore Girls on the TV might be just what I needed this week.  It felt really good to slow down and hand stitch.

We had some severe thunder storms on Thursday.  We were fortunate to not have any damage close by, but we sure got some amazing skies as the sun went down that evening!  My camera didn't do a great job of capturing it, but we all agreed we'd never seen skies quite like them!

Next week is fair week.  If you grew up in 4-H or have kid in 4-H, you know that THIS week, then, is finish fair project week!  These adorable Christmas light cupcakes were made by Emily for her cake decorating project.  They were a trial run so she could perfect her technique and figure out how it all goes together.  She will make the real ones on Sunday night.  She has done an awesome job with her projects this year.  This is the same kiddo who made the jello cup and the cheesecake in previous Friday Happy lists.  I think she had a future in the culinary arts!!  (By the way, seconds after this picture was taken, the "wires" fell off the yellow bulb.  Back to the drawing board!

And this.  This is the junior chef herself.  She has taken to wearing these big bows in her pony tail lately, and it makes me smile every time.  She's growing into such a beautiful young lady.  She is my heart.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.  We have a weekend full of performances for my oldest daughter, a graduation party (and T-shirt quilt gifting!),a sleepover,  and of course, final, final touches to put on fair projects on the agenda.  I hope there's also time to clean up the sewing room and prep the next project.  Oh!  And a post about the finished quilt will be coming soon.

Even though I missed the Friday party, I'm going to share my post over at Gypsy Moon Quilt Co. Amanda has some beautiful pictures of her week, and some others have linked up to share their happy lists, too.  Be sure to check out the comments on her post to find out who to visit!