Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dancin', Dancin', Dancin'

Yes I am...I am Dancin'...my March list is FINISHED...I have pretty purple lines through every entry.

I couldn't be more excited...so a big huge THANK YOU to Yvette for helping me get my act together...I feel so much better...I was focused this month...no flitting from one thing to another...I had my projects lined up and went right down the line.  Now we'll see what April brings...I have my recurring list of monthly projects and BOM's poised and ready to go and tucked right underneath it is my list of things I'd like to get done this month...

Here's what I got done that I haven't already shown...binding on my Cotton Club...the weather still wasn't wonderful so the color isn't the best...but I had Mr. Quilt Holder available...
Got the binding on my Simply Charming quilt and hung it in my sewing room...
I already showed this section of Wiggle & Whimsy but a sweet commenter let me know that I hadn't quite done what I was supposed to...I sewed the 2 sections together without the white strip...I'm so happy she let me know...shame on me, all those years I had my quilt shop and taught classes I always said "read all the directions first before you start"...hmmm, lesson learned...after taking the 2 sections apart I found it in the directions, pretty close to the end...sure won't make that mistake again...well on this project anyway...
Finished my Spools flimsy..I'm anxious to get this one quilted...can't wait to have these Sew Mama Said spools in my sewing room.
Just have to share these pics of Howie...this past week we had record low temps...even had thick frost one morning.  Howie managed to follow the sun around the house...by the front door...
in the dining room...he was a happy dog.


Enjoy the rest of the weekend...Happy Easter!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Snowballs on a Rainy Day

Sounds like a funny weather report....but that's what Mrs. Goodneedle said in her comment on my last post and that just made me giggle all afternoon for some reason...then of course I did start singing "Snowballs on a rainy day..." Andy reminded me that the song really went "Sunshine on a cloudy day..." I like my way better...thank you Mrs. Goodneedle for the giggles.  Well, I got that section of the quilt done but couldn't get a decent picture...it's been grey and dreary and rained on and off since I finished it...finally today, after an incredible storm, where it got dark as night, the wind blew from what they said in 70 mph gusts, pool furniture in the pool...absolutely crazy...the sun came out for about half an hour and I ran outside and snapped a picture.
Andy wasn't available to hold for me and I was afraid to wait for fear the sun would go away again so I put it down on the grass...it looks kind of bumpy, but I promise it's nice and straight.

I sewed today and just about have my spool quilt finished...I need to stitch the borders on tonight while I watch NCAA basketball...and I'll have another March project finished.  Hopefully I'll have a picture tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

It's a Rainy Wednesday

not exactly the way the song goes...but you get the idea...
These heavy dark clouds came in this morning
...along with some thunder and lightning...then the rain started...
I'm doing what I love to do in this situation...heading upstairs to begin on a project from my list.  Here's what I decided on today...this wonderful quilt
from the (yes, you're seeing it correctly)  Fall/Winter 2009 edition of the Quilt Sampler...I've also had the kit since that time.  Today I'm going to start on the center section of snowballs...if you need me, you know where to find me!

 Have an awesome Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Turning Over a New Leaf

Let me begin with my Farmer's Wife blocks...well, they're really not all Farmer's Wife blocks anymore...I've loved the blocks I've done so far, but there are a lot more blocks to go...but I came to a screeching halt...I just didn't like most of the remaining blocks, either I didn't like the way they looked or I didn't want to do them.  I've struggled and struggled with this...I kept thinking that I needed to do every block as the designer had planned...but then the other voice would say "It's your quilt, and it's your time and you need to do what you want and what makes you happy"...this conversation went on for a very long time...can you just see the 2 little people sitting on my shoulders arguing back and forth?....neither voice took charge so I just put the blocks away and decided I'd deal with it another day.  They've been in the box for a long time, well, then sometime in January I came upon Johna'Lee's post about her Rancher's Daughter quilt along.  I've been watching her posts and have found that I really like them all...then Lori over at Bee in My Bonnet has done her version of Farmer's Wife and now is doing wonderful barns with blocks in the middle...yes they're just the right size and she had a wonderful block that she had a tutorial for...I loved it...the argument was OVER!  Just like that...OVER!  Everything became perfectly clear...it is my quilt...it is my time and I want to LOVE this quilt...so yes, I am making it mine...I'm even throwing in some blocks that I'm drafting to the right size and I'm having a BLAST!  Why, oh Why, oh Why did I let this silly argument go on for so long?  Who did I think was going to come and say "You can't do that!"?  I would never put this in a show...it's just going to be mine so my thought now is...I can do what I want and that's what I'm doing.  I've decided that I will do 4 blocks a month...so here are my blocks for this month...
the top 2 are Johna'Lee's blocks, the bottom left is Lori's block and the bottom right is mine...and yes, I had FUN!

Yesterday I finished my Fat Quarter Shop Designer BOM block...
2 more blocks and this quilt will be done...I'm all caught up and I'll be ready to start the new BOM.  Love Fat Quarter Shop Designer BOM's!

Now here is my New Leaf...I know you've been trying to figure out where that title came from...as I mentioned in my last post, I came up with a sheet to keep track of my monthly commitments...
I sat down one day and wrote down everything that was a must for me to get done each month...and made myself a little chart...some blocks are divided into 4th's since those are the projects that get 4 blocks a month.  Then I spent some time thinking about things that I'd like to get done this month...
  No pressure on these...if I don't get them done, and still want to do them they'll go on another month's sheet.  I've already saved a LOT of time, no more spinning my wheels trying to decide what I need to do, just look at the sheet and I get right to work.  I'm really liking it...hmmm, took me a while to figure this all out, but maybe I won't waste sooooooooo much time...because the time is flying and it doesn't seem that anyone is adding anymore time to our day, so I have to make better use of my time.  Making me happy!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

This, That and a Little Bit More

You probably think I left Blogland...well, I did for a bit but now I'm back and hopefully won't be gone again.  I left home March 1st for 9 days in Birmingham with the kids...left Andy and Howie home to take care of each other.  I had tons of fun, and thought I'd have time to post while I was there, but it just never happened.  That is a very busy house...always something going on and by the time the kids went to bed I was too pooped to think.  I went up to be the mystery reader in Hampton's Kindergarten class...it was a complete surprise and absolutely fantastic.  Hampton had no idea I was coming, as a matter of fact I even talked to him the day before and he was teasing me telling me he was on his way to my house.  I flew up, Katie, Camden and Peyton picked me up at the airport and off to school we went.  His teacher gave a couple of hints..."This person lives near Disney World", we could hear through the door that he said something and a couple of other voices were heard...the next clue was "This person makes quilts"...He got it, the teacher told him to go to the door and escort the person in...the door flew open and and he literally jumped into my arms.  He kept saying, "I can't believe it's you Mamie, I can't believe it's you!"  I had to work really hard not to start crying, but I did have a story to read.  It was delightful, the children were so very well behaved, the loved the story and were just precious.  After the story we went to the cafeteria to have lunch with the class.  It could not have been a more wonderful day.  Katie took some pictures, so as soon as she sends them I'll do a follow-up post.  That was the beginning of a great 9 days, dance class with Camden, music with Peyton, the park to swing and play on the monkey bars, an Easter egg hunt, Family Night at Hampton's school, riding scooters, tricycles, and anything else with wheels and lunch at Hampton's favorite burger place, Milo's.  Sunday came way too quickly, and time for me to fly back home...but my boys were very happy to see me and I will be going back the beginning of May for Camden's dance recital.

Since I've been home I've tried to get all of my recurring monthly projects done...I almost made it, I have the Fat Quarter Shop BOM block and my 4 Farmer's Wife blocks to do tomorrow and I'll be done for March.  I also made a sheet with my monthly projects to keep me on track, I'll try to share that with you tomorrow.  Made it a lot easier...didn't have to think about what I was doing next, it was right there...no spinning my wheels thinking.

Here's what I got done this week...Country Threads Anniversary BOM...
Civil War Diaries blocks from Temecula Quilt Company...
Row 2 of Terry's Wiggly Whimsy and sewed the first 2 rows together...
and 4 more rows of what I'm calling Scraps Plus...
designed by Kathie Holland...and look at this incredible fabric that Kathie sent me this week...
I had mentioned that I didn't have any of the brighter fun fabrics that she had used...she said "Oh I will send you some!"  I was so thrilled...I have some of Kathie in my quilt...Thank you Kathie...you know I say..."We get by with a little help from our friends"!  I am one lucky girl!