Monthly Accomplishments - March 2011

Another month is gone. It seems like time flies way too quickly sometimes! Next week is the quilt show that we have been planning on a year. I'm so excited that Regina is flying in and I get to meet Lazy Sister Sue as well as Marj and Carolyn!

Here is what I got done in March...

1. Got all the blocks cut out, sewn and pressed for the Star Struck quilt. It seems like I have been slaving over these for a long time.
2. Finished assembling the blocks on the Split Decision. Also sewed the blocks together for the center of the quilt.
3. Made 2 Midget blocks
4. Decided to change my bedrooms around a bit. I also picked out paint colors and have been eyeballing them for a while.
5. Picked fabrics for 2 new quilts and began cutting the fabric for one.
6. Helped my cousin with a school project - I got an "A," by the way!!
7. Quilted a baby quilt for Project Linus
8. Quilted a queen sized quilt for a friend from the Modern Quilt Guild. She loved it, by the way!
9. Pulled fabric for the next 7 Midget blocks

I also got a few books read. I haven't gotten all of the reviews written and on the blog, but I have links for the ones that I did write. Just in case you missed the review. :)

1. Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
2. The Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer
3. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
4. The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini
5. Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
6. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

I plan on writing up reviews and having them post while everyone is here and we are at the quilt show. It's one of my goals for the next few days!

Not to bad for a month where I felt like I was being over run by the Star Struck blocks!

Stash Report Week 13, 2011

Well, I was ready to post that there was no change this week, but I finished quilting on the Project Linus quilt and that wasn't counted as busted before.



And no new fabric in. I'm sure that this will change in 2 weeks after the quilt show and shopping!

Fabric added this week: 0.00
Fabric added year-to-date: 13.53

Fabric used this week: 2.47
Fabric used year-to-date: 23.79

Net Fabric Used: 10.26

Maisy seems to be a bit indifferent this week....

Monthly Accomplishments - February 2011

This was a great month! Let's see what got done!

1. Made Midget Mania block #5 and #6
2. Made a pair of pants for Barb to wear after her delivery
3. Put the binding on 2 Project Linus quilts
4. Made 6 more pairs of pants
5. Made the dogs' fleece blanket - they loved it in their little cage and in Florida! So glad I got it done in time! But I think that the Florida bound dogs need one! lol
6. Quilted and bound the mini quilt for a Guild auction
7. Got Granma to sew the binding down on two dog table runners 
   
8. Sewed the binding on the poinsettia table runner
9. Made the centers of 2 pillow shams for Granma
10. Worked on blocks for the UFO Challenge for February
11. Made a Margo bag for my mom
12. Went to a quilt show with mom, dad and granma. I still have to post the pictures...

Not too shabby!!

And because of the long car drive, there are more book finishes this month that usual.

1. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline - This was my first time reading this author and I enjoyed the book. It was read by Mary Stuart Masterson and I think she did a great job. There was a pretty big twist at the end that I didn't see coming so I like how it ended!
2. The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer - A nice easy read. Love Strohmeyer's books! A bit of romance and a lot of humor!
3. The Minotaur by Barbara Vine - I enjoy reading books by this author. Her real name is Ruth Rendell and Vine is a name that she writes under. Most of the books she writes are dark and twisted and I enjoy them! This book was no different. :)
4. Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner - I'm excited that I read this book because I just requested the next in the series from the library today. I kept thinking that I knew what was going on and what one of the main characters was hiding, but it was still a shock until the end. I'm glad that I listened to it because I think that I would've stayed up way too late a couple of nights reading and I would've scared myself!
5. Mercy by Jodi Picoult - This was a typical Picoult novel, but there was a lot more sex occurring in this book than in any of her other books I have read. I'm just saying. Also, it was kind of an abrupt ending. It was like, Ok, the lawsuit is over and BAM so is the book with everything wrapped up in about 2 minutes.
6. The Morning Show Murders by Al Roker with Dick Lochte - I got this book on a lark from the library and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was going to be read by Al Roker himself! If you enjoy Al on the Today show, I think that you would enjoy the book and his reading. Beware that there was some strong language, but I wasn't bothered by it. And the story was a great one!

Well, that about covers my month! Now, if I can just get going on March....

Saturday update

I got to work on my list today. I got some of the cleaning and organizing done, but also the easy things marked off my To Do list from yesterday.

The first thing I got done was cutting out all the pants. I thought that I had 6 pairs to cut out, but one piece of fabric was too short for even capris. I am going to start sewing them together in the morning.



I worked on all of the bindings next and fit the quilting of the mini quilt in there, too.



Maisy had to test out the Project Linus quilts so I am going to have to give those a wash before I can drop them off.

Hip, Hip...

HOORAY!!!



This is cause for celebration! My Squiggy is back on the frame! I took the machine in for a cleaning and servicing in November and he has been sitting in my family room ever since. I have been too busy piecing and working on other things to even think about quilting.

During the Friday Night Sew In that is in 2 days, I really wanted to start quilting on my cousin's quilt so that I can work on the binding and hopefully get it done quickly. But I needed to be able to test out the machine to make sure that the tension is right.

When I was at work, I thought about trying the machine out tonight while I worked a little on laundry, but then when I got home from work, I wasn't feeling so hot. After a few minutes of down time, a quick conversation on the phone with mom and a short IM'ing session with Regina, I decided that I was almost desperate for clean clothes and that working on the quilting was the logical thing to do.

I loaded up a charity quilt, pink Lava thread in the top and a pink Bottom Line in the bobbin and I went to town! Squiggy was purring!!! I haven't heard him sound like that in a long time! No issues with tension or the bobbin so I got this baby done quickly!





I didn't take my camera with me to the basement so the first picture in this post is from my phone. I also wasn't able to get a picture of Maisy, my faithful quilting companion, watching my every move of the couch. She did appreciate the quilt once I set it down to get a picture.





I was afraid yesterday and today that I was going to need to get to bed early both evenings to make up for lost sleep on Sunday and Monday, but I feel like I powered through and I have been quite happy with the things that I have gotten done. I still have quite a bit to do before Christmas, but I think that I can get it done. And if I can't, then the pieces will be wrapped up to prove that work has been done and then everything will be brought back home to work on it. :)

I also feel like I am back with the blogging! I have taken a few pictures in the last week that I haven't shared yet. There has been lots going on! Be patient and I will show it all in the next couple of days! :)

Panto Practice

I only got one pass on this quilt last night before I gave up and spent the evening knitting and watching TV. Today, I was finally able to get it done while working simultaneously on the laundry (washing and drying, not folding, of course!) and it felt like it took forever!!

How does it look?



Hard to see? How about now? The back is a flannel from Joann's. This will definitely be a Project Linus quilt.



And a couple of close ups. The panto is clovers and came in a pack from Golden Threads of Simple and Easy Pantos. I got a couple of packets of these pantos - one actually came with the quilting frame set up when I bought it. The only issue is that all of them are around 3" and while I don't have a lot of quilting space, things would go a whole lot quicker with a larger panto. I may try and see about enlarging them a little.






I also had some issues with the track towards the middle of my table. It seems that the carriage may have done some damage to the track and it makes it very hard to maneuver and follow the panto.

Maisy spent most of the day with me in the basement. It really wore her out!!

Quilting!

I have been holding on to quilts from Regina and Shellie for a while because I just haven't been in the mood to quilt anything. Last month, I received my copy of the Pajama Quilter Rethreaded and the companion workbook and I have been looking at the workbook thinking of what I could use on either of these quilts.

Last week, Amy and I were chatting and thinking that we needed to designate a weekend as a quilting weekend and this turned out to be the weekend for that. With that in mind, I picked up 2 Kid Komfort kits at the Guild meeting on the 2nd to test out my machine, Squiggy, and see how it was running and quilting.

I also asked Amy and Amy S. about how they quilt and it turns out that they both float their battings and tops and I decided to try that out. It seems like it would make the process of loading a quilt for quilting much easier and quicker.

It DOES!!

Last night after I woke up from my nap, I loaded this quilt onto the frame and got it quilted in just about an hour which included the time it took to clean up the machine and quilting area and oil the machine.





Squiggy sounds a little like an antique car engine putting along, but the stitches look great and I didn't have any issues with thread breakage.

I decided to load the other quilt on the frame and give it a go even though it was 11 PM. Unfortunately, the top thread broke twice in about 3 minutes and I gave up and went to bed. I finished it up this morning.





I started out trying to quilt the wonky stars a la the Pajama Quilter's new workbook, but they ended up looking too wonky for my taste so I switched to regular stars.

Whoa this picture came out way too blue! The color is more like the first 2 pictures.

And finally, I let Maisy lay on the quilt once I folded it up a little. Nemo fabric is on the back. She is looking a little sheepish because I shooed her off both of the quilts when I was trying to take pictures.



Now, I am off to try my hand at pantos again. I have the perfect one to use on Regina's quilt, but I want to test it out before using it on a good quilt. Luckily, I found a lot of fabric to make more Project Linus quilts!

2010 Quilt Goals Revisited - Post 4

I’m doing a series of posts on my progress so far on my 2010 Quilting Goals.

Goal 6 – Use 10 new patterns

I didn’t specify the types of patterns when I wrote the goals post, but I am treating this as fabric and quilt patterns.

The purpose of this goal is to actually use the quilt patterns that I already have in my possession and to expand my quilting horizons. Some people seem to be quite content using the same pattern over and over and over. And while that is perfectly acceptable for them, if I kept using the same pattern repeatedly, I would probably end up bashing my head in from the repetitive boredom. I mean, making bags from the same pattern but with different fabric is one thing. But to hone in on one single pattern and to use it as a ‘catch all’ for each new line of fabric manufactured is a bit absurd considering the seemingly endless array of free patterns available on the web and the quilt books that are available for check out in most libraries.

Keeping that in mind, this goal has been similar to the Stash Busting in that I have been shopping my books and patterns first when I need an inspiration for something to make. When I was organizing and folding my fabric in January, I perused a couple of newer books for patterns that I could use with my scraps and with groups of fabric from one line that I had forgotten I owned. I have a few of them bookmarked to start when my dreaded UFO list has been adequately reduced.

As of today, I have only used 2 new patterns this year – Apple Crisp from Sweet treats by Sandy Bonsib and an online pattern for a sock knitting bag that is on Terry Atkinson’s blog. I feel confident that once I start working on my UFO’s I will be using quite a few more new patterns. Off the top of my head, I can think of 4 patterns that are in line at the moment. I feel that coming up with 4 more to use by the end of the year will be a piece of cake.

Goal 7 – Make 12 charity quilts

It means a lot to me to have the ability to do something for those less fortunate or who are in need of a little emotional pick-me-up. I have worked on the charity quilts for the Guild since I became a member and while it’s nice to be able to practice on those pieces, once I hand them in I am not able to see how my efforts are enjoyed by the recipients of the quilts.

A couple of years ago, a co-worker’s son was having some physical problems. I made a really quick quilt for him and gave it to her for him to have at the hospital. I wanted to get the quilt finished and I had to quilt it on my Brother because this was pre-quilt frame days and I really pushed it to get it quilted and the binding on within a week. I really botched the quilting because I was rushing and hadn’t used the best batting for the quilt. I ended up with a couple of large puckers on the backing that were sort of covered in the binding. When I took the quilt to my co-worker, she was floored that I would think of her son and go to the effort for him. She has told me quite a few times in these past 2 years how much the quilt meant to him and his emotional well being as he was miles away from home in a hospital for his illness. She even brought him into my office when he was in the building because he wanted to thank me. I know that he still uses that quilt and it brings me joy to know that I made a little difference in his struggles.

I’d like to think that every quilt I help to complete brings the recipient the knowledge that someone cared enough to make it for them. This is why I want to push myself to make 12 this year.

To date, I have completed 6 baby quilts for Project Linus and Kid Komforts for the Guild. I am only counting the 4 quilts that I quilted and bound and I am also setting a limit that at least 6 of the 12 have to be pieced by me. I do have plenty of books to find patterns in!

Maxie says...

"Quilts do help."

2 more finishes!

Tonight, I put the final stitches (by machine) into the 2 Shrek charity quilts. I quilted these in January and February to test the machine and thread with the new needles and they looked great. The binding was from my stash and matches the fabric pretty well. These quilts will be taken to a Joann's store to be donated to Project Linus.



What a great way to end the month!

Max and Maisy say...

"You were sewing? We didn't notice..."

(They tore apart a toy!)

January Accomplishments

I did a fair amount of things this month. My biggest accomplishment was organizing the stash room and if that was the only thing on my list, I would still be tremendously satisfied! :)

1. Organized stash room. This could almost be #1 through 5!!
2. Finished 2 baby caps
3. Bound a Kid Komfort quilt
4. Finished the Love Crumb wall hanging
5. Attached the binding to the RV place mats and completed the hand stitching on 2 of the 4
6. Bound a Project Linus quilt
7. Quilted a Shrek Project Linus quilt
8. Finished sock #1
9. Made a sock knitting bag
10. Made 2 SNC bags - 1 a UFO
11. Cut out 6 more fruit place mats
12. Started the second sock of mmy first pair

I did good with the books this month, too!

1. A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber - I read this book 'manually' - didn't have an audio book - but it was a very quick read.
2. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin - LOVED this book! Very smart and interesting and not at all predictable.
3. Something Blue by Emily Giffin - I didn't think that this book was as good as Something Borrowed, but it was still enjoyable.
4. Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
5. Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber
6. More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon - LOVED this one, too! A ghost story and very intense.
7. Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber - Just one book left in this series...

It was a good month! A very good month!! I didn't keep very good track of my hours for the month. I'm going to give an estimate, but I'm sure that it was low. I'm including my time organizing the stash in with the Quilting hours.

Knitting - 18; Crocheting - 2; Quilting - 25

I'm now prepared to start February! I have my goals already written on the white board and I have a space to keep track of my hours so I won't have to estimate anymore. Bring on February!!

UFO Finish

Last night, I finished another baby quilt. This one will go to Project Linus. I'm sure that it was started before I actually began quilting because it is tied instead of machine quilted and the binding that was attached was an extra wide double fold bias tape. I found this quilt when I was cleaning out the stash room and I moved it to my workstation to try and get it finished so that I could donate it. Finally. :)

Sunday, I ripped off the bias tape binding and Monday I worked on real binding for the quilt. Once I got back from the knitting class, I attached the binding and machine stitched it down. And TA DA!!! It's finished!



I'm glad to be able to use my talents to help those in need. When I was in the sorority, I did a lot of volunteer work, but since I dropped out, I haven't done as much. This year, I plan on changing that by meeting my goal of 12 quilts and by helping with different events in Cincinnati. It's a great feeling to be able to help others!

Swimming...

I am swimming in fabric!! I have spent the last couple of hours trying to get the last of the main part of my fabric refolded and once I started putting stacks on my shelves I realized that I ran out of room! I have too much fabric!!

I decided that since the scraps and crumbs are sort of at the bottom of the To Do list for now, that I need to concentrate on organizing and working on UFOs so that I can start some new projects and get some of this fabric out of here.

I have stacks of Joann's clearance fabric and flannel backings that have been pre-washed and ready for quilting or tying and binding to be donated to Project Linus. If I could get those stacks out of here, I would be well on my way to the Charity quilt goal and have more room to finish organizing my scraps, crumbs and fabric.

I guess the question that I need to answer is .... if the fabric is ready for quilting having been pre-washed and cut to size, is it considered a UFO? I'm thinking YES! Maybe I should just take the stack into my sweatshop/bedroom and make sure that they are paired up and ready to take to the frame for quilting.

OK, it's way past lunch time and I have 4 beady little eyes looking at me with anticipation of going outside. Guess I better scoot!

June Quilting accomplishments

This month, I have been getting back to normal as far as quilting goes. I set up my machine in the family room where it is a bit cooler than upstairs. I also got quite a few things finished!

1. Published my UFO list. Of course, I think a couple of things have already been completed. :)
2. Finished the binding on Market Square, a Pat Speth pattern, for the quilt shop.
3. Finished 3 wallets. The pattern is Carry All Wallet by Stitcher Sisters. It's a pretty good pattern.
4. Finished Wagon Wheels!
5. 3 blocks for a comfort quilt
6. Went on a mini retreat with Linda. Met a raccoon, a fox and 2 baby chicks while there.
7. Got my first month's block and finishing kit for the Fat Quarter Shop's 2009 Mystery BOM. Man, am I in trouble!
8. Machine stitched the binding on 3 charity quilts for the Guild.
9. Finished last 2 sets of blocks in the teal BOM
10. Made a tool caddy
11. Made 4 block butlers
12. Went to the NQA show and had a great time with Cathy! She is very much an enabler!! I still have to post the pictures of the quilts.
13. Made a quilt top for the shop
14. Made a Project Linus blanket
15. Finished the blocks and started assembly on another top for the shop.

Read the following books

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - enjoyed
2. The Storekeeper's Daughter by Wanda Brunstetter - I didn't enjoy this book so much. I had to struggle to finish it. I prefer the Beverly Lewis Amish books.
3. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger - I believe this is the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada. I really enjoyed this book!
4. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr - This is the first book in Barr's series about a park ranger. I enjoyed this one.
5. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - Enjoyed!
6. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer - Enjoyed! I don't know what I will do when this series is over. It's a good thing that I have quite a few books lined up.

An afternoon of birth control....

Today, I was a full day. I took Bubba out to the sewing shop 45 minutes away because they finally got the part in and they put it on. I haven't gotten to sew with him yet, but I am sure that he works great still. After that, I went to Amy's house to meet her and her mom and then we went to IHOP for brunch and had a meeting for our sorority chapter. It was a short meeting because nothing had really been done since our December breakfast. I now have a list of things to do. After our meeting, we went to the Cincinnati Fire Museum. That is where the birth control comes in.

After a directions snafu - Amy wrote the directions down so that she could understand them, but then I had to navigate and they made no sense to me. So we got a little lost and had to pull out a map and then pull off the road because of course I can't read in a moving car much less see tiny little words on a map in a moving car! We finally got there.

The Museum was pretty neat. They had mannequins that looked quite humorous and a lot of tools and equipment from the 1800's. And the history was very detailed. Or what I could read and take in from it.

Apparently, some parents think that taking their children to a place where you have to pay $7 to get in means that they can run loose. The museum had a functioning cab of a fire engine and the lights worked. And the sirens worked. The sirens worked quite well. Maybe too well. I was ready to go to the guy at the counter and give him more money to 'break' the sirens until we left.

I don't know what irritated me more, the fact that we paid $7 each to get into the museum and there was so much noise. Shouldn't a museum be a quiet place to reflect? Or the fact that these parents were so freakin oblivious to the fact that their devil spawn were monsters and obnoxious.

There were 2 levels to the museum and we inadvertently started out in the 1850's so I looked and the map said that we should've started out downstairs. We went to the stairs and Amy and I slid down the pole and Lynn met us at the bottom of the steps and we were happy because the noise was a little muffled in the lower level. We enjoyed a trip through the early years of fire fighting and then went up the stairs to the second level and back to the early 1800's. We got a few minutes of quiet and got our hopes up that the parents wised up, but then the noise would start again. And this time, we could hear the kids running around and screaming, too. I think at one point, Amy was almost taken out by kids running past her.

One of the other pieces of equipment that was set up that we could try was a fire bell. You know, what they would use to sound alarms? I jumped out of my shoes when Amy pushed the button. So of course, I had to wait until Amy and Lynn were unaware and then I pushed the button and scared them, too! Well, that was a huge mistake. One of the fathers came prowling over to where we were to see what the noise was and then got his son and brought him over to ring the bell. Now, the sign on the bell read, "Please ring bell ONCE." Do you see where this is going? The kid pushed the button and it went DING DING DING DING!!! Amy, Lynn and I are about 3 feet away from the bell so we all jump and give the guy the eveil eye. So then, we had to hear the dad say, "didn't you read the sign?" I wanted to say, "You moron! You told him to push the button - Didn't you THINK to tell him PUSH IT ONCE???" Well, considering the noise in the place I answered my own question.

And the noise continiued.

I really don't know much of what happened after 1900 because by this time we were actually in the room with the little brats and then parents and the noise was unbelievable. Lynn and I carried on a conversation about how certain people shouldn't be allowed to breed, etc. Finally, 2 of the ladies and their kids disappeared. One of the guys told his son that he had 10 more minutes or something and they went and looked in a different part of the museum and by this point, we had the room (and quiet) to ourselves. Amy and I got into the cab of the engine and just sat enjoying the peace. Then, a brat came running into the room and saw us in the cab. He walked right over to the door and looked at us and then turned and ran yelling, "Daaa-aad!" We just giggled. Not only was he loud and obnoxious, he was a tattletale! :)

I forgot my camera, but I did get some pictures of us in the truck with my hillbilly digital camera phone. I haven't taken the time to email them to myself yet, but I will post them once I do.

After we left the museum with another good 5 years of birth control in our possession, Amy and I went to her house and worked on preparing fabric for Project Linus blankets. We had pieces of fleece that I used a skip stitch rotary cutter on to make holes around the outside edges and then I showed Amy how to crochet a border. I taught her how to crochet a few years ago and she really caught onto it. I started her out with littler blankets. Boy will she be surprised when I show her the huge panels that I got really cheap! And we also cut out fabric to make very simple quilts - no piecing involved. We make a sandwich with fabric and then they will tie the sandwich together and I will wrap the backing around to create a border. I still have a lot of fabric to wash because I bought it when Joanns had their clearance fabric on sale and I bought a ton!

So no sewing today. I didn't get home until after 8 and I hadn't eaten since brunch so I had to stuff my face and then I have just been piddling around with the laptop. Maybe tomorrow....

Unproductive Friday

I ended up taking Friday off of work to get things done before our big snow this morning. I needed to get the tags for the car because they expired today and I wanted to get to the grocery store before it was going to be packed from everyone stocking up for the weather.

I had plans to do my errands and then come home and sew for the rest of the day. Then, Claire called and invited me to go to dinner with Nikki, her and Ethan. Of course, I did that. Then I went back to their house for a while. I didn't end up getting home until about 10:30 last night. I ended up getting very little done yesterday. :(

So far this morning, I have straightened up my sewing area and made stacks of things that I needed to do. I have almost finished a charity quilt top that I can sandwich and practice FMQ on.

I am hopeful that I can get quite a bit more done today. And I have movies to watch/listen to so that I can just keep going and not have to worry about watching my TiVo'ed shows. And I have the snow that is piling up outside to watch, too.

Check back in a few hours and I will post another update!

Things accomplished in November

Nancy-Rose posted a challenge for fellow bloggers to post their monthly accomplishments. I have separated mine into a couple of categories since November was a big month for me with non-quilting items.

Quilty things accomplished:

1. Prepared quite a bit of fabric for Project Linus blankets for my chapter to work on.
2. October 2 buck a block BOM
3. November 2 buck a block BOM
4. 1 Easy Striped Table Runner for class with my Guild small group - Quilted Chaos
5. Started a Star and Nine Patch class and got all of my fabric for the blocks cut out.
6. Finished the I Spy top
7. Finished a Striped Table Runner
8. Finished hems on 2 pairs of pants for Claire and Spencer started in October
9. Made a quilt sandwich with cheap fabric to practice FMQ - Still need to practice though
10. Made 3 pairs of pants for Claire
11. Made 3 pairs of pants for Spencer
12. Made 3 pillowcases for Claire
13. Made 3 pillowcases for Spencer
14. Made 2 Bengals pillowcases for a lady at work
15. Made a fabric book for Ethan
16. Made a Halloween table runner top

Quilty Things I learned

1. How much I enjoy quilting and how much I missed it when I was 'laid up' after the accident and didn't have the energy to do much of anything!
2. How to make half square triangles with a pencil line and my quarter inch foot on the machine.
3. How to make pieces for applique and then use a teflon sheet to start assembling the pieces

Non-quilty things accomplished:

1. Going from a size 16 to size 10 in pants - all thanks to Weight watchers.
2. Going from an XL in tops to MEDIUM! I am still very excited about that! I haven't worn mediums in anything except slipper socks for years! (AND a special kudos to the first person who can tell me what 'Slipper Socks. Medium.' is from! - Mom, I don't think that you would count for this as it is expected that you know!)
3. Purchased the new car!
4. Volunteered at Crayons 2 Computers one time.
5. Started making a list of Christmas presents to make and started purchasing fabric to make said presents.
6. Cleaned off TiVo
7. Read Jennifer Chiaverini's newest book - The New Years Quilt
8. Read Sarah Strohmeyer's The Cinderalla Pact

Things I learned:

1. There is no chemistry in person between me and DV2. While I enjoy talking to him on the phone, I am just not feeling any chemistry in person. I feel awful because he really is a nice guy.
2. I enjoy car shopping!

Well, that's about it. I think I was only down 3 pounds for the month. I think that was mostly due to Thanksgiving and being off for a week and doing nothing but sewing and snacking!

Results from my mini-retreat

After my last post, I ended up running up to Joann's to get some items from the big Veteran's day sale. I got some fabric to make pants for Claire and some of the thread that was on sale. I went to the close Joann's, but they didn't have anything that I wanted so I had to go to the larger one about 20 minutes away, but I was able to find everything that I needed. Here is the fabric that I bought to make pants and matching pillowcases for Claire.





I was able to get all of Claire's new fabric washed and now I just need to iron them and then cut out the pants and pillowcases.


I had gotten 3 different fabrics for Spencer to make pants and pillowcases, too. I was able to get all of them cut out. Here are his fabrics.





I was also able to finish ironing all of the Project Linus fabric that I had bought a while ago. I still need to take the fabric and cut them into 1.5-2 yard pieces for the blankets and then make the quilt sandwiches so that my chapter can start tying them together. And Maisy had to get into this picture.





When I had gotten back from Joann's, I put Knocked Up into the DVD player to watch while I worked. Unfortunately, I got too involved in it and couldn't work on anything while it was on. Luckily, I didn't feel the need to nap afterwards so I was able to keep working once the movie was over.


I finished my first block for the Best Friends's 2 Buck a Block Block Of the Month that started in October. I really like the colors - I could've picked either this color combination or navy blue and white. The other accents for the cream and burgundy is chocolate so I will really like that! The other thing about this BOM is that when I go back in to the store to get the November block, if I take the October block, I can get a discount on a cut of fabric. Very much worth the cost to get the blocks!





I also worked on a Easy Striped Table Runner using a pattern by Karen Montgomery. It's a free pattern off of the web and the table runner is very easy to make and uses border fabric. The hardest part is cutting the lengths of fabric to be identical. If you go to the link, you can download the pattern and make one of your own! Maryanne, one of the ladies that we quilted with in Cleveland, did a lesson to show us how to make our own. I mentioned the runner at my small group Guild meeting and they all wanted to learn how to make their own. Since I was going to show the small group on Monday, I needed to have one made so that I could show the ladies what to do.





Once I got done with the table runner, I still had time to watch some TV and keep sewing, but I couldn't really figure out what I wanted to work on. I decided to keep working on the kid's quilt that I am making for Christmas. It's an I Spy quilt and I had spent time in Myrtle Beach fussy cutting all of the pieces. I started piecing the center when I was in Cleveland and I had gotten all of the center and one of the borders totally pieced and got the outermost border laid out. Sunday night, I sewed the outermost border pieces together. Now, I just have to iron the outermost border and make sure that all of the squares are even and then cut the solid border strips and start putting all of the borders together on the center. I am very surprised at how easy this quilt is going together - the hardest part was the fussy cutting.