Monday Progress Update...

Last week was pretty productive. For a Healthy Lifestyle (HL) update, I managed to stay right around 1500 calories all 6 days. There were a few overages, I mean, really, what are the chances I'd end up on 1500 calories exactly everyday? I changed up my menu day by day after feeling SO restricted on Monday. Plus, that green smoothie, didn't sit well. That may have been because I NEVER eat raspberries or blueberries, and I do mean NEVER (maybe once in my life), so my body could've just been in shock from health food overload!

I didn't workout at all last week. The first couple of days I had massive headaches (from cutting caffeine out; cold turkey, no weaning off of it) and I think my body was in a bit of a shock from only getting 1500 calories. I was a bit fatigued and dizzy. By the end of the week I was so hungry, that I called my husband and had him bring my taco bell. And yes, I did account for the calories and was right on target for my caloric intake for the day.

Sunday was my cheat day and I think I went a little overboard. Even though my portions have been downsized by almost half of what I would normally eat, breafast was all carbs and sugar (waffles), lunch was leftovers from the night before (stroganoff), and dinner was corn chowder (pretty sure that one bowl exceeded my calories 3 times over).

So today I'm back to 1500 calories. I have to say that, even though I know that in any attempt to lose weight, you should only weigh yourself once a week since your weight will fluctuate all day everyday. But every morning I stood on my broken scale and watched the numbers go down. I'm not really sure if it's just my scale because it's broken, or if it was the decrease in water consumption throughout the week, but by the end of the week the scale was down five pounds...I'm not giving my hopes up...a new scale will join us when the next pay check comes in and that's a little scary. I've like the numbers my scale has given me that past 8 years. :)

Yesterday I managed to get quite a bit of things done in the sewing realm. I finished one of my baby boy plus quilts:

I pulled out the left over blocks I had from a baby quilt I made back in August for my cousin's baby and started putting together some more. These are basically just 8" white squares and a jelly roll strip. But I've been using scraps as well. This one I will be making for myself. Should be pretty quick since I cut all my strips from my scraps yesterday and my white squares are already cut. I have 11 blocks made and I will use 20 with a border. It should be a lap sized quilt when I'm done.

I also finished cutting the last 5 FQ's for THIS quilt. I have to be a bit vague on this one, I'm sorry, but it will be revealed when the first quarter of the Quilt A Long (button at the top right of the blog) is finished (the beginning of April). I'm pretty excited for it and I can't wait to share it with you!

I received my Friendship Bag from my awesome partner Stacey and she sent me the cutest bag and extras ever!!! I especially love the fat quarters! Colorful houndstooth from Textures by Patty Sloniger (I think!)

I received my Pretty {little} Pouch from the P{l}PS Flickr Group! Apparently, my partner, Jackie (who is super talented by the way), sent it around the 6th or 7th and her delivery confirmation showed that it had arrived at my house on the 12th. So when I received an email on the 20th from my swap mama asking me if I had gotten it yet, I was a little worried. I went around to all my neighbors and eventually made flyers to post on the mail boxes. The next day when I went to tape the flyers up, I checked my box, and it was there!!! I was soooo excited to find this package in my box...

So that's it for my progress report! I hope you all have a great week!

2013...a year to finish

2013 is my year to get things done. I feel overwhelmed going into my sewing area. So many projects, so little time. I didn't want this year to start slow like last year (although I didn't have a choice in the matter with my back being out for 2-3 months). Before the holidays my sewing time had been used for editing engagements or pre-bridals or sewing some small presents. Now that the holidays are over, and the wedding has come and gone, my prime sewing time has been spent editing wedding pictures and trying to get back into our regular routine. I haven't even attempted to tackle the pile of laundry from the two weeks we spent in California. Instead, I've been admiring the #triparoundtheworld scrappy quilts that have been popping up all over blog land (making me want to start yet another project), and admiring these:

Isn't the bouquet awesome?! My friend Brandy came across a tutorial online and made it using Rock 'n' Romance by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics. I just recent'y finished those pictures, and now I am ready to get back into sewing mode. I've realized that doing so will take some careful planning on my part. We live in tight quarters and my 18 mo old is a super light sleeper, so my only time to sew with out it being disruptive is in the early evening right when my hubs gets home. But in November I joined a gym so a large chunk of my evenings have either been spent there, or having family time when my husband comes home. It'll all be fine and well, once I come up with schedule that works for us all. 

In order to help myself stay on track for getting things done this year, I'm joining the She Can Quilt 2013 Finish Along. The FAL will be split into quarters. With all types of goals, in order to set yourself up for success, you must make them realistic. So I made a list of all the tasks I need to complete this year, and I split them into quarters. For this quarter my list includes:

2 baby boy plus quilts (currently cut out and on the design wall - sorry about the bad iPhone pics and the stickies i left one them. I originally had these combined into one, but I figure I'll actually get them done if I make them 2 smaller quilts, instead of one bigger one.)

"Left Overs" baby girl quilt (put away somewhere)

2 Reunion baby quilts (put away somewhere - need more fabric)

Hilary's A Walk in the Woods baby quilt (ready to baste)

Hub Quilt (<----more on that later)

This quarter will also include projects for two swaps I'm currently in:

The Doll Quilt Swap

Pretty Little Pouch Swap

Donated

Once again my dumb computer is not connecting to my internet through the wireless, forcing me to sit over here in the corner of my living room with the cord connected directly to my computer. ANNOYING. Anyway, yesterday I shipped the little bug quilt off to Margaret's Hope Chest. I wanted to join in on the 100 Quilts for kids event that is taking place over at Swim Bike Quilt. I hope that this little quilt finds an adventerous little boy who's ready to get back out in the world and go exploring for bugs! If you have a small WIP or two sitting around or even extra supplies that  you don't have any use for, consider sending them to Margaret's Hope Chest.

A couple finishes...

Despite having my husband gone, this week has actually been quite productive. I've been working on getting a quilt done for Quiltmaker Mag and was actually suprised that I completed in time to not only beat the end of the month deadline, but I was able to enter it into my county fair this weekend. I went back by the fair yesterday and noticed a blue first place ribbon. The thing about our local county fair, is that every item is given a ribbon based on a certain rating system of quality. So there were several first place ribbons awarded. I'm a little bummed I didn't receive a specialty ribbon, but I am super proud of this quilt, so I'm pretty excited. Since I'm not sure if I can share the quilt yet, I'll just give you a sneaky peek. That's all quilting done on my machine at home. No long arm quilting here!

I also managed to finish my Joy Ride baby (bb) Quilt. This one was pretty easy. I have to say, this is probably the fastest quilt I've ever done. It's a nice size. 35" x 43". I'm actually going to hold on to it for now because my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby and if it's a boy, they are getting this one. Simply because of the motorcycles (we are a Harley loving family). I'm pretty sure neither of them read this blog, I hope. I am also pretty sure that they will be having a girl, since I'm the one who super wanted a girl and didn't get one (I didn't want another kid after my first but all the super cute girly stuff kept throwing itself at me so I convinced my husband to try again; a boy). So it seems everyone is having/had girls when I had my boy. (Insert mumbling under breath here)

I also have lots of other baby quilts planned, but have not included them in my WIP list. I figured since they have not been cut into yet, I can't technically say they're "in progress". Alrighty, well everyone enjoy the last few days of summer. I registered the oldest for Kindergarten today...6 MORE DAYS!!!

Joy Ride

I finally got around to putting together my Joy Ride quilt. I followed Allison's Road Trip Quilt Tutorial and it went together really quickly! I used FQ's instead of 1/8 yd strips and I was actually suprised at how much fabric I had left over. I picked up all the bright colored fat quarters for $1/ea at my local quilt shop during a sale. The newspaper ad fabric is from the Peak Hour line by Kelly Wulfsohn for Riley Blake. I picked it up at My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe during the Eastern Idaho Quilt Shop Hop. And the cars/motorcycles came from and 1/8 yd strip of leftover backing from this quilt. It's also from Riley Blake, but it's from Wheels by My Mind's Eye. I got it when Allison let me raid her scraps. I'm so happy for her that she moved to Washington after living here in Idaho for so long (cuz she LOVES her homestate of WA, but for my own selfish reasons I'm bummed that I no longer get to rummage through her scrap basket. I felt like a kid in a candy store!

Buggin'...

I was feeling a little like I haven't accomplished anything in a while. Aside from the pillows, I really haven't. I've just been cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing...tiny little pieces for a quilt that I'm working on that has to be to Quiltmaker Mag by the end of the month. It's been a little stressful. So I needed some completed project satisfaction. I had a chance to put together my bug quilt top before my mother-in-law came into town. So while she was here, I took a few minutes to run some simple free motion lines through it. I'm really loving that super simple sketchy grid pattern. Maybe one day, I'll be able to afford a walking foot and be able to actually throw down some super straight lines, but until then, I'm enjoying the organic lines. I took a break from all my piecing and decided I just needed to finish something, and I put a scrappy binding on it. I really like the way it turned out. When my friend Bobbie first gave me the bugs, I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. I thought about using them individually for projects like, adventure sacks for my boys, or even bibs! HA! How would you like that? Feeding a baby who's wearing a giant bug on their chest! teeheee. But in the end I decided a bright and fun little picnic/outdoor quilt suits these little guys fine.

The quilt measure 38.5" square. 

I also had an extra little block that I cut down to the wrong size...so this little lady keeps me company above my cutting table. It's pretty fitting since our house gets infested with lady bugs this time of year. And we find them randomly throughout the winter. At least this one in sedatary. Heh.

Super Post...

How's everyone doing now that summer is coming to an end? We have 11 more days until school starts! Crazy! Things have still been crazy over here in my part of the woods. I've been having fun hanging out with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law since they are here from Alaska! My kiddos are having a blast getting to know their cousins better and I've been enjoying the company!

Last weekend I drove down to Logan, Utah to photograph a wedding. So in between taking care of kids and running the usual errands, I've been editing photos like this one:

I have also began work on this kiddo quilt:

The bugs were given to me months ago by my friend Bobbie. She got a new toy top of the line embroidery machine for Christmas last year and has been having a ton of fun making little critters like the ones above. I added some fun colorful borders and some solid squares as fillers. I really like how colorful this one is.

The last time my mother-in-law was in town, we did the Eastern Idaho shop hop. There were a few stores that really stood out to us. And I was able to hit one on my way to Logan for the wedding last weekend. It's called Suppose. They have a super cute shop that was highlighted in the spring/summer issue of Quilt Sampler. Then this week we took a day and hit up Sages in Pocatello, and the Ribbon Retreat in Shelley.

I got a little carried away with the fabric purchasing...but I'm in LOVE with all my goodies!

I also had some time while my MIL watched kids, to cut out this stack:

And I also made these pillow shams. These ARE for sale by the way SOLD. They are made from Lotta Jansdotter's not yet released line, Bella. I am in love with the colors. And the little birdies! These are 16" covers and I'm letting my FB and blogger friends nab them for $25 (free shipping to US) for the pair. If no one wants them I'm going to try them in my very bare Etsy shop for $30. They will be lonely as the only listing, so they're begging someone out there,

"Please friend...yes you! Can you please adopt us and let us come lounge on your couch and snuggle with you? We'd love to hold up your head as you rest. Or be there for you when you need to scream into something big and soft because you got through several chained pieces before you realized you sewed them all wrong sides together...please? We love you, and we know you'll love us too."

teehee.

If anyone is interested just email me. The first person to contact me will get them. Hope everyone is enjoying what's left of summer!!!

Lend a helping hand...

When I feel down, I like to find some way to help someone else. It makes me feel happy. A friend of mine had a small family emergency last night and because their family is doing a handmade Christmas this year (that is such an awesome idea by the way), I didn't want her to fall behind since she had three quilts to make by Christmas. So I stopped by her house last night and picked up her two pieced tops. She used a Love U jelly roll by Deb Strain for Moda. I love that line. It's just so adorable. She intended to make a strip quilt by just sewing the jelly roll strips together. And since she needed a baby boy quilt, and toddler quilt for a little girl, all she had to do was use the one jelly roll and split the 40 strips into the boy colors and the girl colors. Once I had them home, I did a little improv. I added another large strip of green polka dot and then cut randomly down the length of the top and flipped it. Then from that extra strip that I flipped, I took a little bit more of that off before sewing it back on to the top. So I had some to put into the backing. Then I used some striped fabric for the binding. I LOVE that striped binding. I fell in love with stripes when I saw THIS quilt that Allison put together last holiday season. Anyway, These went back to my friends house this morning, but not before I folded them up and snapped a few pictures.

Quilt for sale...

About a week ago I came across a posting on facebook from a website that I follow called The CSI project. She posted that a friend of hers had lost her baby boy suddenly and out of nowhere I just started bawling. I don't think I could ever possibly handle losing one of my boys. Dee, from CSI decided to take it upon herself to do some service for this family. One of the tasks she is currently in the process of putting together, is an auction. So I decided to donate.

image removed

I pieced this quilt yesterday, and finally got it done today. It's a 35" square for an infant quilt, wall hanging, or table topper. It's pieced with left over Heirloom 6" charms, left over 2.5" jellyroll strips, and 2 inch white sashing. I used some orange polka dot quilters cotton from Joann's for the binding and left over Heather Bailey fabric from her Nicey Jane line for the backing. I used a simple meandering stipple for the quilting. I did piece the batting (I don't know if that's a good thing to admit) but where the pieced portion was, I free motioned the following words:

for chase you will live in the hearts you left behind remembering you 2011

 I do hope that putting that in there isn't offensive or puts anyone off from liking it. I wanted whoever bought it to remember the reason they were buying it in the first place, to support his family during such a hard time. As soon as I get more information on the auction, I'll share it here so if you're interested you can check it out.

A couple things...

First off, up on the design wall is this baby quilt. When Hilary sent her fabric for her quilt, she included an heirloom charm pack. These are the 9 charms that didn't fit in with the A.B. fabric. So I used some extra jellyroll strips and put together these blocks. These are the types of blocks that I'm going to make for Hilary's quilt, so it was good practice. They went together really fast so once I start the queen size it should be pretty quick putting it together.

Second, SewMamaSew's Semi-Annual giveaway today is on Monday! Are you ready? The giveaways will post on Monday and end on the 16th. That means you have 5 days to visit all the links and enter the giveaways you want. The best part about the giveaways, is that they changed the rules. You don't have to do any special "like" this or "follow" that. It's pretty straightforward. I'll be posting my own little way of entering the giveaways on Monday when it goes live.

I am giving away items in 4 out of the 6 categories.

• Handmade Baby + Kid Items
• Sewing Supplies (fabric, patterns, buttons, trims)
• Other Craft Supplies
• Handmade Accessories (hats, scarves, belts, adult clothes, etc.)

So come back on Monday to enter. 

A finished WIP for the quilter next door

This project has been a hurdle for me. I started this back in September. Of course I only got to cutting it in September and then pieced the top around, oh I don't know, October. My biggest dilemma and what really put me off was when I started to piece it. My fabric would stretch (no I did not cut it on the bias, but I did not know that it would stretch when I started) and therefore my seams would not match up AT ALL. Being a bit of a perfectionist, I did not want to hand the finished quilt over to another perfectionist, and an amazing and accomplished quilter at that! So it sat, and sat, and sat until a few weeks ago when I finally decided to piece the back in hopes that it would motivate me to get it done. Well, that didn't happen either. During this time the recipient went from not knowing what she was expecting, to knowing that she would be having a girl. With that, I didn't want to just hand her a plain-jane gender neutral quilt. So I added the pink Heather Bailey fabric to the design. I also changed the design from the white and aqua houndstooth top with the blue HB backing and yellow binding, to the splash of yellow in the houndstooth top (I had to pick apart a few squares to add that in), pink in the backing, and fun pink, yellow, and teal HB chevron binding. I also didn't use a pattern for this quilt. I sketched it out on paper (several times, I don't know where my scraps of paper end up...the trash maybe?) and had to figure out all my measuremements and fabric requirements. Anytime I decided to make a change (or I lost those darn sketches) I'd have to start again. (Another reason it took me so long to finish.) But I have to say, once I got it done (with one of my tags! I'll post on those later), I was pretty nervous about giving it to her. But since Allison gave me THIS quilt for my baby boy in June after he was born, which I'm absolutely in LOVE with, I wanted to give her future baby girl something I worked hard on so she knows how much I appreciated her thoughtfulness! Delivery was easy, since my kiddo was at her house playing, all I had to do was box it up and walk across the grass to give her the quilt and get my kiddo at the same time!

UPDATE: I JUST finished blogging and linking this post when I realized I made a HUGE mistake in my layout!!! Now I'm REALLY embarrased!!!

I'm linking this post up to A Quilt Story and Stitched in Color

Quilting...

I've been "attempting" to quilt for a long time. I still consider myself a beginner quilter even though I can piece intermediate to expert blocks. The problem I have is the quilting. It literally scares me. But it's been a learning process trying to figure things out on my own. My other in law quilts, and coaches me from 3000 miles away in Alaska. (Thanks Laurie!) But everything has pretty much been a try, fail, learn process. I finally bought myself a used Viking machine, and let me tell you, it's a dream compared the clunky Brother I had before. I attempted to stipple this whale quilt (toddler bed sized) a few days ago, and pretty much broke down at my machine. But it wasn't me, and it wasn't my machine, and with my coach helping me troubleshoot via FB, I learned that it was my thread. Instead of stippling though, I just did some straight line quilting. I haven't been able to perfect the basting process yet, so in my attempt to actually accomplish quilting and finish my projects, I just used some basting spray you can pick up at any quilting craft store. So far, I like this process MUCH better than safety pins. Something else I also attempted on this quilt is applique. I already had the material to do it and the only problem I found was that curves are extremely hard to stitch over when it's already attached to the quilt. If I do this again, I may attach it to my top BEFORE I put my quilt sandwhich together. The backing is Urban Zoologie Whales in Aqua by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman fabrics. I LOVE her stuff. the front is a basic solid I picked up on clearance, the navy polka dot was also a clearance fat quarter, and the teal binding and water spouts are from a Walmart brand full size sheet that I've been saving to back my Amy Butler quilt (which I still have not made yet)!

This next quilt is an infant sized quilt. I used a jelly roll (20 strips) that Laurie got from JoAnn's for me a long time ago, and some flannel I picked up at Walmart's annual flannel sale (Rexburg store) for $2.50 a yard. I only used a yard of it. I also used the cutest brown striped fabric (I found on clearance at a local quilt store that's going out of business) for the binding and am IN LOVE. I may or may not send my hubby to the quilt store on his way home to see if there is any more left. This one will be sent to my friend Amy D. in Cali for her son to raffle off at a school fundraiser. Sad, because the longer I look at it, the more I really want to keep it! Just FYI, I mention the prices of things so that you can see that even though quilting is a realy expensive hobby, there are ways you can save money. ALWAYS take advantage of those extra 20% off coupons at JoAnns, ALWAYS stock up when something is 40-50% off and you HAVE those 20% coupons, AND ALWAYS hit up those quilting stores that may be going out of business.