Update - Last week in July

When we last caught up, we were through the last weekend in July. I will quickly catch up on the last week since I don't have much to report.

On Monday, I got up early and finished adding the borders to the Lover's Lane quilt top. It didn't take me long to get it finished. And I took it to work to get a good full view picture. I'm sure that you are getting tired of seeing this, but I'm not getting tired of showing it off!



Monday night, I met up with some of the ladies from my small group. Even though our meeting was cancelled, a few of us got together to chat and do some hand stitching. I worked on sewing down binding on a Kids Komfort quilt.

Tuesday, I worked on binding in the morning and during dinner and then I started on a star block for someone in our online group who is in the Navy and is out at sea. We are all putting a block together so that she can have a quilt when she comes back. By this time, I knew that since I couldn't do 10 hours a day I wouldn't win the challenge, but I didn't give up.

Wednesday, I finished the star block and cleaned up my house a little.



Thursday, I worked on binding and helped keep Jen going. She was getting super tired, but she had the lead and just needed to keep on going! Then, I started having computer problems so I went to bed around 11 confident that Jen was winning. Woo hoo, Jen!! Congrats!

Friday and Saturday, I didn't do much. I worked on cleaning some more and preparing to head to my retreat this weekend. Saturday, I did run some errands and picked up some goodies to mail to Jen. And I slept! It was much needed rest!

Catch up post - Last weekend in July

**Note - join us for Finish it Up Month! Join the Prolific Quilters Yahoo group for support and post entries on your blogs of what you are working on! And when you have a Finish, post a picture! And you don't have to have a blog to participate. You can leave a comment with your email and I will contact you.**

Since I was busy sewing the last weekend in July, I didn't have time to post about what I was working on. Here is the update from the last weekend.

Friday night, I added a binding onto a Kid Komfort charity quilt for my Guild. I had loaded a quilt onto Lenny and had issues with the backing being loaded upside down so I had corrected that error and quilted the quilt with loops. I really enjoy the meandering loops and it just gives the quilts a little more ooomph, I think. I had some issues with the blue thread that I was going to use, so I just used a light brown variegated and the tan Bottom Line on the back. The quilting shows up a little more than the last quilt, but I think it looks nice.





The rest of Friday night, I ironed and read through patterns.

On Saturday, I packed up 2 quilts that needed binding sewn down and headed out to work at the St Jude Dream Home again. I was able to finish one quilt and start on the other while we sold tickets and answered questions. After we worked, Amy, Lynn and I headed to Don Pablo's for dinner. Yum!

Once I got home from working and dinner, I cut out pieces for my secret projects and got them quilted on Bubba.



On Sunday, I finished my projects. Now here is where the idea came from. A couple of weeks ago, I met Jeanette and Patrice at one of the Guild's small groups meeting and I had my binding supplies in a plastic bag sitting in front of me. Patrice was teasing about me not having a quilted bag to carry my supplies in and said how she had done the same thing and Jeanette gave her a bag. She held it up and showed it off. Then, Patrice said that if she was a real friend, she would make one for me, but I could make one for myself and make sure to put on my blog that she made it for me! We had a good laugh out of that so I set to work.

Here are the first 2 that I finished.. I mean, here is the first one that I made on the left and the one that Patrice 'made' on the right. Of course, the pink one is for me.



Patrice did a great job on the quilting!



And here are all of the bags that were made. This is the Lazy Girl Purse-Nickities pattern - the Nickole - and I made some small adjustments. I stitched the zipper flap on the inside of the bag down with a top stitch on each side of the bag. I also made a box bottom so that it can sit up.



And even though they aren't quilts, Maisy still had to test them out. Notice that she isn't making eye contact with me. She knows that she shouldn't be on them!



Now, 2 have already been claimed - mine and Dominique's. And the other 2 will be mailed out this week. Anyone have ideas who will be getting them?

Once I got these 4 things done, I worked on the Lover's Lane quilt. Now, I have already posted some pictures of the finished quilt, but these are other pictures that I had taken during the day when I was assembling the quilt top.

Here are the first 2 rows sewn together and hanging on my design wall.



And the rows all sewn together and laying on the floor so that I could see how cool it looked!



And someone getting into trouble after the inside border was sewn on. She just can't help herself!



So, after 15 hours and 15 minutes, I gave up and went to bed. I had the first border on and the second border cut and ready to be sewn on. But it was a very productive day!

July Monthly Accomplishments

July was a very busy month. Reading through my list, I really got A TON done!


Here's the list:

1. Finished piecing the block and assembled the top for the Wagon Wheels quilt. Also made the binding.
2. 3 blocks for the Block of Month that I am doing through Best Friends
3. Completed a Cars quilt from a Joann's kit for Ethan
4. Completed a Christmas quilt top and prepared the binding. I bought it because the Santas reminded me of my grandparents' house at Christmas when I was little. When I showed my aunt and grandma, they totally agreed!
5. Finished a very old UFO - Mom's Halloween Big Shirt
6. Watched part of the Pajama Quilter Reloaded DVD and practiced quilting designs a lot on a white board.
7. Loaded, quilted and buried the thread ends on Hip to be Square, formerly known as the first Stash Pot Pie. I also got the binding attached and completely sewn down. It just needs a label now.
8. Completed a Spiderman quilt from a Joann's kit for Spencer
9. Fixed Bubba when he was acting ornery from over-use and wanted to suck the fabric in when I wanted him to cut the threads.
10. Completely finished the fruit table runner and place mats. I just had to finish hand stitching the binding down on most of the pieces.
11. Completed the entire top of the Lover's Lane UFO. When I started, I only had one block of 20 completed and about 15 4-patches and half square triangle units of 180 each that were needed for the top. I got all of the units done, the blocks assembled and the entire quilt with borders put together. I also have to say thanks the members of Quilted Chaos, the Guild small group that I belong to. They helped me lay out most of the blocks when the units were finished. Thanks so much, Ladies! I'm so glad that you could have a hand in helping me with this quilt! (Note - See pictures of my sweat shop here.)
12. Quilted a funky block Kid Komfort with meandering loops and sewed the binding on. Am still working on stitching the binding down.
13. Stitched a binding down fora quilt from one of the Guild small groups that is going to Alaska. The quilt, not the small group. :)
14. Finished the Lover's Lane top! I know that this was mentioned before, but it was a HUGE undertaking with all of the piecing and ironing that had to be done!
15. Quilted a blue Kids Komfort
16. Completed 4 of my secret projects. Well, I finished 3 and Patrice 'finished' 1. When I post about the projects, this will all make sense. I promise!
17. Finished a paper pieced star block for Heather.
18. Oh, and I got in 160 hours of quilting/sewing. How cool is that? I didn't win the July Challenge, but I still did A LOT!!!

Other non-sewing items:

1. Picked up a gooseneck lamp for Squiggy. It's wonderful to be able to see while I quilt!
2. Tried the ice cream at The Dip. It's good! I'm in trouble!
3. Got my shirts that I ordered with our July Challenge logo on them. Very cool!
4. Picked up a large white board to practice my quilting designs on.
5. Worked at the St Jude Dream Home selling tickets at the open houses for 2 afternoons.
6. Read D is for Deadbeat and E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
7. Read The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen - great author!

So, it was a very, very productive month for me! August is looking like it will be almost as productive! I am going on a retreat next weekend for 2 days. I have already started thinking about what I need to get done before I leave and what I should take with me. Decisions, decisions! :)

Don't forget about the Finish it Up Month this month! Read about it here and come and join us! And if your not already a part of the Prolific Quilter's Yahoo Group, join us here!

Updates

I am behind on posting and plan on catching up slowly over the next couple of days. I have been working hard and I have lots of pictures to show what my efforts have produced. I am very tired and sore, but after a pretty good night's sleep last night, I am feeling better than I was last night. I am very excited to be so close to a weekend with very little plans which means that I can sleep as much as I want! I can't wait!

I will leave you with a full length picture of Lover's Lane. This pattern is from Pat Speth's first Nickel Quilts book and her pattern is called Sunny Lanes.

It's done!!!

Well, the top is done, anyway! I am very excited because it looks awesome! I can only get a picture of half of it on the floor so I will get a picture today of someone holding it up and will post it tonight. But here is the picture of half of it.



I also got a ton of hours in yesterday and another finish. You will get pictures soon! When I can post at home without it interfering with the Challenge.

Relatively slow night

Yesterday at work was very busy and I was pooped when I got home. I ended up eating dinner, relaxing for about half an hour and then hanging out on my bed and watching TV with the dogs and the white board and doodling quilting patterns. Practice makes perfect! I think that I am ready to try quilting some floral patterns on a charity quilt. I had also loaded another Kid Komfort baby quilt on Lenny. Well, it only took me about 15 minutes to load everything on the rollers, but after rolling up the backing, I realized that it was upside down so I decided to leave it for the night and go back and reload the backing tonight. I was very happy though that it only took 15 minutes!

I also made some changes to my blog's sidebar. I added a Tag Cloud that will list my tags with the larger fonts identifying the tags that are used the most. I had been eyeing Regina's cloud that she has on her blog, so I finally found the code and updated my tag widget. I am proud of myself for getting it all set up without any help! Go me!! I also deleted a few items that I felt had run their course. Any thoughts on the new set up? Wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't mentioned it?

Well, I am still behind in the July Challenge, but the weekend is coming up with very little that I have planned. I have a couple of movies from the library to watch and some things on the Tivo to watch and some quick and easy projects that I can finish up quickly. There has been a new development - the other 2 competitors have decided that no matter the outcome of July's Challenge, they don't want to compete again in August. Does that mean that I win August by default? :) With just a few more days in July, I need to gather steam to make a come back and pull into the lead. I am going to do it!

Quick Update

Don't count me out yet! I am making a come back! I didn't get in any sewing time on Tuesday for the July Challenge, but I got in 4 yesterday in spite of having some intestinal discomfort and probably running a slight fever. I woke up yesterday feeling a little woozy and it stuck with me all day.

Last night, when I got home from work, I got to work on ironing and sorting some things out on my sewing table and then went to play with Lenny and Squiggy! They were both very happy! I loaded a Kids Komfort quilt and quilted meandering loops and was done within an hour and a half. Baby quilts are easy! Here are some pictures of the quilting. This was a quilt that I picked up at the last Guild meeting that someone else pieced. I just did the quiting.





It was also doggie tested.





I also used the Bottom Line thread that I got to test on Squiggy and it works great! I am going to need to pick up some more colors to match more backs that I have. I used a Star Brand brown variegated on the top and only had 3 thread breaks compared to the numerous ones that I had on the Square quilt, although this was also a considerably smaller quilt so it could be that the Star Brand thread just has some weak spots in the spool and that is where it breaks. I'm not sure.

Tonight, I have another Kids Komfort quilt to quilt and a different one to finish piecing the top. I need to practice the loops a little more to get the loops in a more uniform size. I think that I want to do the loops on Kristie's quilt that she sent me. I'll have to see.

Don't worry

I know that I am still going to be in last place, but I needed to get some sleep the last 2 nights. And I don't have much going on this weekend so I know that I will be making a come back.

Sunday, I worked with my chapter sisters at the St Jude Dream Home from 12-5. I was able to work on binding for a baby quilt most of the time. The house itself is really neat, but there is no furniture! From 11:45 until 5, we had just under 400 people walk through the house.

When I got home, I was sort of beat and figured that I could take the evening off. I ended up working with my white board practicing quilting designs for an hour. I have a few of them down pat and worked on a couple of others that I would like to use, but I still need more practice.

Also, Max's back is bothering him again. I started with the baby aspirin and the muscle relaxer again and hope that he will be good as new in a couple of days.

Last night, I went to my Guild small group and worked on my secret project. I am coming up with my own little pattern and I think that I have the dimensions ready for the pieces to cut. When I got home, I checked email and started yawning so I went to bed. I am now feeling very well rested.

Tonight, I have to stop at the grocery store because the dogs and I can't wait any longer for food! Darn it! I am going to make a list and set a timer and get in and out quickly and then get myself dinner on the way home and that should help me get back home and back to the sewing so that I can start making up some time. Wish me luck!

The blocks are done!

Today, I got up and got to work on finishing the blocks for the Lover's Lane quilt. They are done!! I got them done just in time to get ready to go to my granma's for dinner. My granma and aunt and cousin wanted to see the quilt that I finished on Lenny and Squiggy and so we grilled out and then watched College Road Trip. I also took my blocks over and laid them out since granma has such a huge, uninterrupted floor space.

Here are a couple of pictures of the lay out.





I got in almost 7 hours before I left the house and then 2.5 hours at granma's working on the binding for the stash pot pie quilt. They all thought that the quilting looked great and I said that I needed a name for the quilt for when I make the label. Aunt Carol suggested Hip to Be Square and it sounded pretty good, so that is it's name now! After I got home, I only had a few more inches to finish the binding on so I stayed up and got it done even though I was so sleepy. That gave me another hour. Looks like I am still in the lead!

Very late start

Well, I know that my last post said that I was going to get to work by 8:15, but that didn't happen. I remembered that I had a delivery on Thursday that I still hadn't opened and I figured that I should open the box and fondle the fabric and take some pictures. And while I was at that, I should take pictures of my purchases from Joann's tonight.

So, here is the Joann's 'stuff.' I got fabric paper so that I can make labels for my quilts. I am thinking though, that I will need to make 4 labels at a time since it is full size paper. Since I have 4 quilts pretty much ready to be finished, this shouldn't be much of a problem. I can put that they were finished in 2008 instead of a specific month, I guess. And, yes, I used a coupon!



And I got 3 sets of a pair of fat quarters and a zipper. This is a secret project and I will post as soon as I figure out my dimensions and make the item. Or items. I need to keep you guessing!



At our last Guild Meeting, Cathy kept talking about a sale at the Quilt in a Day online store. I was successful in tuning this out and not making an purchases. Well, last week, she mentioned the sale again on her blog and this time, I couldn't resist. I ran to the site and found some really great things and a few good deals and I clicked 'BUY' and the box got here on Thursday.

These are just some miscellaneous 1 and 2 yard pieces that I got. In the upper left is 3 cuts of the same fabric that I got in Columbus that I loved! They also sent me a free fat quarter. Some of the greens and oranges in the bottom row I like for Halloween prints, but nothing is decided on yet.



They also had a great deal for 10 1 yard cuts for $25 and I got a few of those. This deal is still going on and you pick from colors and retros. Here is the retro.



Pinks



Reds - I really like the red flower on white background to the left!



Oh, I forgot that I took a close up of it.



browns



My blocks are coming along nicely! I got them all ironed. Here is what they looked like before:



And here is a side by side view of what they looked like before ironing and after. Kinda cool!



Tomorrow, I start sewing the blocks together!

I got .25 hours in this morning before work and another 3.25 in tonight after taking pictures. I hope that I am still in the lead!

What a long week!

It's so nice to be home for a while! Work was excruciatingly long this week! I did manage to sew a lot and get ahead in the competition, but I have a very bad feeling that this will all change tonight. Although, I am now getting a strong second wind and it could be a long night at Bubba. And the iron - I do have a bit to iron. Quite a bit.

Anyway, somehow, I downloaded a virus on my laptop and I am having issues getting into some blog pages. Since I haven't been using AOL, I have been using Internet Explorer and I can't get into my blog sites without going into them in AOL first and then I can open them in IE. It's more of a frustration and inconvenience than anything else. I have successfully virus scanned and cleaned everything up, so I think that this is the last part of the issue. At least, I hope it is!

Tonight, after work, I ran to Joann's and picked up some fabric paper and a few other things and then to Office Depot. I got a magnetic white board and pens and markers for the white board. Now, I can practice some of the Pajama Quilter's moves before trying them on a quilt. Very cool!

OK, it is already 8:15 and I need to get upstairs and start boogieing at the machine! Wish me luck!

So sleeeeeeppppyyyy

I am giving up for the night. I sewed for 2.5 hours at a neighborhood group from Guild. I met lots of nice ladies and we had some good chats. Then, I came home and sewed some more on the Lover's Lane blocks. Tomorrow night, I should be able to get the rest of the rows sewn together for each block and then I can start ironing. I have 2 blocks completely done and 18 to go. And Jen showed me where to find the brown and pink quilting thread online so I will need to get some more of that.

Right now though, my eyes are burning and it's time to get some sleep. Hopefully I will still be in the lead in the morning! But if not, I will get back in the lead this weekend!

Got Shirts?

Yup! I got shirts!

Jen made up a logo for our July Sewing Challenge that we are calling Quilting Survivor. The logo is off to the right on my sidebar above the tickers showing how Jen, Moneik and I are holding up against each other. Once she had that done, she decided to put the logo on a T-shirt and post it on the web so that anyone could order the shirts, not just the 3 of us. Well, I was the first to order, so I was the first to receive!

OK, here is my picture, but please keep in mind - there is no one in the house but me and the dogs and they can't push the button to take a picture so I have to take my ow picture. And I know that some of us today were discussing the logic of taking one's own picture, but I wanted to post this today instead of waiting until I was around someone else while wearing the shirt. And besides, I am smiling so that does help, right?



OK, I am off to finish dinner and then get to my blocks!

**Edited to add the website to order the shirts. I was going to do this in the first place. I guess I got sidetracked. Here is the link: http://www.cafepress.com/Cre8tiveQuilter

This is going to take FOREVER!

I worked today and got the four patches done. Here is the stack of four patches once I got done with the sewing, but before cutting them apart and ironing them for the last time.



I am now in the process of arranging the pieces into the blocks. I need 20 blocks. I do not have enough room on the portable design wall. I wonder if I should bring back my poor man's design wall. These blocks are huge! Only the bottom one is fully assembled.



Three down, 17 to go.

And with 7 hours put in today, I am at 70 hours so far for the month. God, that is just amazing to me to have 70 hours in so far!

Progress made

After I got home from my Stash class on Saturday, I ate lunch and then got to work on my Lover's Lane Nickel quilt. I separated all of my pieces that I had made so far so I could see where I was and what I needed to do. Here is everything that I had when I started today.



Then, I got started on sewing my half square triangles.









This last picture shows my progress on trimming them up to 4.5 inches square. Very time consuming! Lots of hours put in on this today!

I also got the first part of the four patches done before I called it quits for the night. A very odd thing happened while I was sewing. I ran out of bobbin thread and spool thread at the same time! Now, this did not make Bubba happy and the thread cutter is not working again. But there was also some thread tangled up as a result of this problem and I will need to take the casing off and clean it out again. But as long as I am chain sewing, I won't need to use my thread cutter and we will be in good shape.

I had a whopping 12 hours yesterday! Go me!! And I am now in the 60 hours range so far for the month! Gina, I think that you are going to have to pay up! :)

Now, I am off to work on those 4 patches!

He works!

Yesterday after work, I ran to Best Friends for my class. Well, as I got closer to the shop, ,I realized that I hadn't checked the schedule to double check the class and started second guessing myself on when the class was. Turns out that it isn't until September. I have no idea how I figured that it was last night! Anyway, since I was there, I had my June BOM block and needed to pick up my July kit and a cut of fabric that would be 10% off. The shop just got this Jetson's fabric in and I just had to have it to make some pants or something! (Sorry that the picture is a little fuzzy!)



And since I didn't have class, I came home to sew. I had my dinner and then got to work on fixing Bubba. Michelle suggested taking the cover off and cleaning out under the needle plate and oiling the cutting mechanism so I did that. This is what it looked like when I was done with the cleaning.



Then, I put the cover back on, threaded Bubba, crossed my fingers and sewed a little and hit the thread cutting button.... It worked! I was thrilled! So, I made the next BOM block. I needed 18 half square triangles for this block, but it was fun to make!



Once I was done with that, I didn't feel like starting anything new, so I finished up another UFO! This was the April UFO from the UFO Challenge. The bindings are now complete!



All in all, I got 3 hours and 15 minutes in last night.

So far today, I went to my Stash Pot Pie class and buried my threads in the quilt that I quilted last weekend. That's 2 hours towards the July Challenge. I have had lunch and now, it's time for a quick nap - the dogs are calling to me to rest with them! Then, I am going to work on the Lover's Lane blocks!

Evening off

Last night, I took the night off from sewing. Well, really I didn't have a choice because I had a very upset stomach. The few weeks of eating very badly have caught up with me. I need to turn this around! And this means that I only got 30 minutes in for yesterday for the July Survivor challenge.

Anyway, once I was feeling a little better, I started to clean up my sewing area and room. I had almost week old laundry to put away and scraps and pieces from last weekend to clean up and move out to the other room. That's all finished. It's all ready to have a mess made this weekend!

After that, I went back to bed. Monday, the auditors are coming back into the building and I have a lot of paperwork to copy for them so that they can start over-analyzing the assets immediately. So today and tomorrow promise to be full days at work.

Tonight, I plan on finishing another UFO. You will have to stay tuned to see what that will be.

Tomorrow night, I start another class at Best Friends. It's the Thangles class that I bought the fat quarters for at the sale last week. I will also have to get the background fabric that I will need for class and the next BOM block that I can put together when I get home. Only 3 more months of blocks for the BOM and then I can assemble that quilt. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Hours and another accomplishment

I have had to correct my hours for today again. Apparently, I can't talk on the phone and figure out that 3:30 until 8:15 is 4.75 hours and when that is added to 3.5 hours.... well, let's just say that I short changed myself and it has been corrected.

One other thing that I got accomplished this weekend is cleaning up the TiVo! I watched the entire second half of the season of My Name is Earl and I can't believe that I went so many months without watching an episode. I love that show! I also watched some of the 2 hour finales that I left - NCIS, Desperate Housewives - and caught up on some other shows that I had recorded within the last couple of weeks. As of right now, all that I have left to watch is the entire season of Grey's Anatomy. Then, I can start watching some TV series on DVD that I have - Murder, She Wrote; Will and Grace; and Alias. Good shows!

OK, it's time for bed. Now, I will have to start thinking about what I want to work on this week when I get home from work. Friday night, I am starting another class and Saturday is a stash pot pie class that I signed up for again. They have some really great patterns for those classes.

Post-Nap Progress

After my 2 hour nap yesterday, I was able to get something else finished. This is the kit that bought at the Columbus show. The directions were a little funky on this pattern, too. It said to cut the print panel a little short. Very odd. Anyway, it's finished and I can get the backing at the sale today.



After I got that finished, I decided to pull out a very old UFO and work on it. Mom's Halloween Big Shirt. This is what it looked like when I started.



I got the cuffs on the sleeves and the plackets on the front of the shirt finished. I also had to cut out a couple of more pieces for the collar and I got the interfacing ironed on what was needed. I remembered how difficult the collar was and felt that it was too late for me to start it last night. I didn't want to get too frustrated with it and put it away for another year, so I will work on it when I get back from breakfast and shopping.



Hours for second part of day - 6
Total hours for July - 22.5

Never again...

Will I ever buy a quilt kit from Joann's. The directions are horrible and I mis-cut so many times that I almost threw the whole kit away. And it has the plush fabric that stretches and is a pain to piece with. It's a good thing that I got this kit on sale or with a coupon and probably only paid around $5 or $8 for it.

Here is what the inside ended up looking like before putting the plush fabric on for the border.



I also mis-cut the border fabric and didn't have enough to border the backing with it so I had to piece the fabric for the backing. Anyway, I stitched the front to the back and then turned it inside out and closed the opening. Then, I stitched in the ditch around the plush fabric border.



It's not the greatest quilt, but it's finished. I have another kit for Spencer that is Spiderman, but I am going to substitute red flannel for the stupid plush.

Once I finished that quilt, I started the Christmas kit that I bought at the Columbus show. I figured that I could buy the backing and binding fabric for it at the sale tomorrow at Best Friends. So far, it's going together very smoothly. Now, I think it's nap time. The dogs look like they agree with me.

Hours so far today - 5.5

**Edited to add an hour. I must have just been too tired before my nap. I had been sewing since 10 AM.