I Won!!

Thank you so much, Barbara!  

Over at Cat Patches she is having "Fun Fact Friday Freebies" and I won last weeks drawing!  How cool is that?!

There is a button over to the right if you want to go check out all of the fun facts.

It's been a long week...

...but yesterday I managed to sneak over to my favorite Quilt Shop...

I got what I needed to finish stabilizing the blocks for Kristi's T shirt quilt, I bought a bit of Insul-Brite (I haven't tried using this yet.) and I found these lovely fabrics to add to my stash:

"Tweet Others With Kindness" by Keily Mueller

And Thing 2 found these really cool fish.  Not sure what we will do with this yet.

We have been crazy busy around here this week.  On Wednesday, I took Thing 1 & Thing 2 to the State Museum for a school field trip.  We had an amazing day!  Here are a few of the photos that Thing 2 took.  He really enjoys taking pictures (and I think he does a pretty good job)!

Quilted concrete

Daffodils

Pansies

A light on the ceiling

Governor's grandfather clock

Delegate's Alien

My Favorite...

Hercules

 

Change in Plans

Last night, we went to bed expecting snow.  This morning it was here.

We are anxiously awaiting a phone call from Daddy to see if he is going to be able to leave work as scheduled to come home.

IF the roads are safe enough, we will pack up and head out to my parent's to celebrate my Dad's birthday.
IF the roads continue to look good, we will move on to a Chocolate Party that we have been looking forward to all week.  We even have our chocolate ready...

Last night, I thought I would work on the Fun & Done quilt...this morning, I decided to make it two throw size quilts.  The twins were wrapped up tight last night, but still wanted more blankets.  Since they only have their snuggle rag quilts, I have decided that they will get the Fun & Done quilts.

I've been thinking about the 2012 UFO challenge that I found last night.  I think I'm going to get my list together and jump in...I know its a little late...and that takes me down to 10 projects (11 if I start today).

Here is my list so far...


1. Fun & Done (Thing 1)
2. Fun & Done (Thing 2)  
3. Kristi's T-shirt quilt
4. Christmas Panel
5. Halloween Panel
6. 3 Christmas stockings
7. 3 Christmas stockings
8. 3 Christmas stockings (Yes, I do have 9)
9. Jelly Roll Jive in Prairie Paisley (hand quilting)


If I remember correctly, we will be drawing numbers to find out what project to work on, but if I get to July and haven't started on my holiday projects, I might have to cheat a little.


I also like Barbara's 2012 NewFO Projects and I have a list for that as well...

1. Cinnamon & Nutmeg
2. KT Christmas Jelly Roll project (I haven't chosen a pattern yet)
3. Jelly Roll Sampler
4. Beach fabric aprons
5. 2 for 1 Satchel 
6. Kindle bag
and 
7. Christine at Quilt Monster in my Closet has me thinking about doing a Farmer's Wife quilt.


So, I guess I had better quit yapping here and get busy.


Just found out that the roads are too bad to venture out.  We will be having a chocolate party of our own here at home and we will be singing "Happy Birthday" over the phone.

Keeping Busy

Murphey's Law:

If you thread multiple needles in order to save time, someone will invariably brush up against them and tangle them all.

 

I was able to talk Darren into helping.  

He was as anxious as I was to get this quilt off the living room floor.  He quickly realized that the short, straight needles were not ideal basting needles.  

He made a quick trip to Wal Mart and returned with some longer sewing needles that he proceeded to bend into a curve.  They were not pretty, but they certainly did help to get the job done.

All told, I (we) spent a total of six and a half hours basting this quilt. 

I haven't started the hand quilting process yet.  I think I owe it to my fingers to give them a little rest & recovery time before I start pricking them again.  I certainly did a number on them while basting.  Luckily, I didn't get any blood on the quilt top.

I'm also doing the Craftsy Block of the Month and have completed the third block...Balkan Puzzle.  

I've ripped it apart once and pieced it back together.  I decided that half-square triangles need to be pressed open and not to the dark as the instructions say.  

I also decided to trim them and square them up before re-assembling them.  

I am still not getting a perfectly accurate 1/4" seam so the block is a little larger that it needs to be.  

I may rip it apart again if I can't resign myself to losing the points of the red fabric.

The kids came in after I had trimmed my blocks and entertained themselves with the trimmings.

James made a "Robot Guy"

Meredith created this "straight" Tower of Pisa

 

Highlights of the Week

Well, a week has gone by and I don't feel like I accomplished much. I guess finishing 4 quilts in three weeks makes you expect a little more from yourself.

So, here is what I did accomplish...

 I finally got a Keurig! And I LOVE it!

We celebrated with Mere on her recognition by the Board of Education for an essay that she had written on the Holocaust.

Gram & Pap took the twins to Stonewall Resort for a mini-vacay and Darren and I went with the older kids after school on Thursday.

Thursday was also our first workshop for my quilt guild.  It was great to see everyone after a long holiday break.  I finished the top of a charity quilt and cut the backing.  I will assemble it next month.

I found another bag of 1/2 square triangles.  This time they were already stitched together and all I needed to do was press them.  They will be ready to go later today.  But I don't know what to do with them.  Any suggestions? 

I don't think I can blend the two sets...
      
...one is Kansas Troubles fabric and the other is Prairie Paisley by Minnick & Simpson.  Both are light & dark 1/2 squares.   But maybe later today, after everything is pressed and I get the table cleared from breakfast, I can spread them all out and see how well they get along.