More progress...

So it has been a month since my last post... I have done better, but I have also done worse.

Z and R's Pirate quilts are being quilted as we speak and I should be able to pick them up by Friday. A&B's wedding quilt is also at the quilters, but won't be home for 2-3 weeks. However, I did finish Dianne's quilt and here is a pic....



I also signed up for a quilt block swap where 16 people each get a month and then send out fabric and get blocks from the other 15 people during their month. this month was Tanaya and I ended up making 3 blocks.



Not my favorite, but interesting.



A good use of the zigzag pattern



My favorite and a crazy mess-up when I cut the fabrics too small, but it turned out great.

I have also got all 280 blocks done for Aunt Dianna's quilt and am in the process of cutting strips from old baby clothes to make a quilt top for a friend of mine. So I have a lot to do and should be busy for a while... Now if I could just get motivated to get off the computer and start working on one of those projects... LOL

A few thoughts...

Okay... As the New Year 2009 approaches, these are just a few things I am discovering about myself:

1. I am weird... and I LIKE It!

2. Money doesn't matter!

3. I like making things myself, I'm very DIY (do it yourself)

4. I am a NOT homebody, I need to get out at least once a day

5. I miss my family and like my in-laws

6. I LOVE my babies

7. I LOVE being home with my babies and playing with them

8. I think it is ridiculous that we (Americans) feel the need to have sooo many things (myself included)

9. I think it is stupid that peoples homes are expected to be exceptionally clean at all times (I don't know who they are kidding more, themselves or others???)

10. I love to drink Pepsi, yummy!

11. Less is more

12. I love that "ah ha" moment of creativity

13. I am a picky eater and always will be

14. I like to have quiet time, especially in the evening (even if it means going to bed 30 minutes later)

15. I am a procrastinator... and i am working on it

16. I can survive on very little sleep

17. I like myself more the older I get

18. It is okay for people to see you unperfect... because it only makes them feel more normal

19. I like REAL people... life is messy, why clean it up???!!!

20. I can be very random.

Yeah, I am finishing things...

I have not been doing a lot of sewing since my vacation, but I did catchup on a couple of swap packages. Swapbot is my newest addiction.

I finished the other Quilt of Valor for my other Mommy's Group.



I have a request in for a local place to deliver these, so they should be finding new homes relatively soon.

I am currently working on the blocks for a quilt for Dianne, who is Amanda's new MIL. It is out of the Blank Textiles Ovarian Cancer Fabrics... I have the blocks assembled and will be adding the borders this week.



I also completed and sent my doll Quilt Swap #5 in the mail to Europe. It kind of cutesy and uses some of the gnome fabric that I covet.



Not sure what I plan on working on next after this OC quilt... Maybe my FIL, Stan's, golf themed lap quilt or something else.... Hmmmm....

Ack... I am behind on posting.

Okay, so I have not been good about keeping up with the blog… But I have been working hard. I finished 4 tops, quilted 3 quilts, finished 4 swaps and began another doll quilt. All while getting an A- in my first graduate class, a 13 day vacation, my sisters Florida wedding and Texas reception and my husband changing jobs and stressing me out!

I finished a quilt for my mom’s long time friend. I delivered it last week and am so glad it is done. I love bright colors and crazy design and this is pretty muted and tradition…

Speaking of muted and traditional my Twisted Mystery #4 is very much so… But I cannot post a picture until the quilts are on their way home at the end of the month. I got this done right before my big 13 days vacation and am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I finished the first of two Quilts of Valor my Mother’s groups made this summer. I only have to bind the one and then I will document it as well.

I got Ronin’s pirate top complete (finally) and it is at the quilters with Zach’s. I told the lady I did not need them by Christmas and she thanked me (she was swamped) and said I would be first in line after the holidays. So they will be back soon, hopefully I can get caught up by then.

I am working on my Doll Quilt Swap #5…slowly! It is due in Europe on the 1^st and I just finished the top today. No pics yet, but I will add some once it is finished. Lets just say gnomies and mushrooms...

After that I have a choice of what to work on, current leaders include Dianne’s quilt, Stan’s Quilt, about 12 different sets of swap blocks or a quilt for my newly married sister and her husband. I never get choices!!! I can’t decide!

Birthday gift!

I am so behind on updating everyone! I have been doing a lot of sewing actually. I have finished the two QOV quilts for my mommies groups and they are at the longarmer right now. I should get them back in a couple weeks and then will have to bind them and make presentation cases. I also did my first swap in 4-6 months and made 140 rail fence blocks with my 2.5” scraps for a swap on delphiforums. I have all the blocks done for my Twisted Mystery #4 quilt and I am working on sashing it now. I hope to have it ready to quilt in 10 days so I can do some of it by hand on the 8-9 hour car ride to Albuquerque to visit my SIL and nephew.

I went to the local Quilt-A-Fair this weekend as a reward to myself for watching the boys last weekend while Matt went to both a Rockies and a Broncos game. I found a both with a great sale on a demo model and after much hemming and hawing... for my birthday and early Christmas gift I got a new sewing machine. It is a Janome Memory Craft 6600. It is amazing! It threads itself, cuts the thread, it has a button instead of a petal and a huge table attachment for quilting. It also can do small letters/numbers so I can finally make quilt labels!


I will try to update a little more often, but you know how it is!

I am still here...

So I have been super busy and have not had much time for quilting and the like. We went out of town for a week, school starts next week, we have had two playdates at our house this month already and life is just streaming by…

Though I sent my Doll Quilt Swap #4 quilt almost a month ago, I have not heard anything from the recipient. I hope she gets it soon and says something. Even if she hates it, I will make her something else and she can return my cutie fishies back to me. I really like how my quilt turned out and had so much fun making it.

I received my quilt in the mail from Karen and absolutely love it! I really like the colors and swirlies quilted around the stars. As I am a newbie to Doll Quilts I am still trying to decide if I should display them on a wall or just let the boys play with them, any thoughts?

I was able to finish my first attempt at free motion quilting on my own machine. I bought a Cars panel and practiced tracing the characters. It is on the couch halfway bound and should be finished while I am watching the Olympics tonight after the boys go to bed. I will take a photo when it is done and share it. I learned a lot about free motion quilting while working on it and still have even more to learn.

I honestly am trying to work on quilting, I promise! I am putting the sashing on the blocks my Mommy ‘n Me group made for QoV. I wanted to have them done by the end of July, but.. ummm… yeah… Maybe I can get the tops finished in August, lol. Here is a photo to prove I am actually doing something!

So Ronin’s pirate quilt has been moved down the list and will be next after these two QoV tops. I really want to finish his so I can send it off with Zach's to be quilted before Christmas.

Some small successes and one big one....

I have been pretty busy with crafty stuff the last few weeks, but I have not been updating my blog here very well. So to catch you up…

I finished the Doll Quilt Swap #4 quilt and named it Aqua Fishy. It is on it’s way to Canada and should be arriving any day now.

I also made a few blocks for different quilty friends on my Quilting Passions Delphigroup. I made 2 purple and white Ohio Stars blocks for Kimberly’s quilt, but completely forgot to take a picture. I also made a block for Lexie’s wedding quilt from the group.

I received my Beginner Round Robin Quilt from the Quilting Sister’s yahoo group. It was my first ever Round Robin and I thank Lisa, Nancy, Susan, Lorianne and Kim for their lovely work on my little dragon center. It turned out very cute!

On Saturday, I took my first ever quilting class at Dry Creek Quilts. It was a machine quilting class and I learned a bit from it and am practicing my machine quilting this week on a cheapo “Cars” panel for Zach from Hobby Lobby. The instructor talked a lot about needle and thread choice, but we did not get much constructive criticism on our small in class trial square. I wish we had done more in class practice and just gotten info on thread and needles that we could read at home.

Next up is Ronin’s Green Pirate quilt, Zach’s Red Pirate quilt is waiting so I can send them off to the quilter together…

Hopefully in the next month I get Sharon’s Quilt back from the quilters as I never took in pictures and want to have it complete by the end of October to take to Texas for Amanda’s Wedding.

As for the potty training fiasco… on Saturday Zach decided he needed to poop in the potty to make his ‘girlfriend’ proud of him, so far we have had no accidents. Isn’t 3 a little young to have such pressure from a ‘love’ interest?