Resolutions Schmesolutions I say!!

Do I have a new year's resolution? Absolutely not. Why set myself up for failure? I can fail at so many other things without trying that I don't feel the need to subject myself to a planned failure.

Though I do have a few short term goals for the next few months. Things I'd like to get done that aren't exactly exciting in a bungee jumping/rock climbing/parasailing kind of way but exciting enough to me that I can feel like I've accomplished a little something.

I'd like to get a few books read on my Kindle (loving that thing). I'd like to get all my music from my CD's over to my ipod (It's truly not like I have hundreds of CD's so that really shouldn't take me too long). And I really want to get started on a new quilt and get my 2009 scrapbook done (I'm a bit behind on that one -ugh).

Long term goals for the year...get the master bathroom walls done and get the carpet up off the floors of the bedrooms and put down hardwood.

All the while, spending quality time with God, my family and friends. That goes without saying of course.

Oh....yeah, I'd like to blog more. I'd like to keep up better with the sewing I've done and get more pictures up so I can keep track of what I've done.

Holy cow....It looks like I've got New Years Resolutions. Crap. Let the failing commence!!!

Vintage Sheet Lap Quilt

I finished this quilt from the vintage sheet swap I joined several months ago. I got 80 fat quarters of great vintage sheets and couldn't wait to get something done with them! I fell in love with this quilt and added it to my flickr favorites quite a while back. It took me forever to figure out what I was going to use for sashing. I originally wanted to use white but soon realized that I had so much white in the fabrics, that white for sashing really didn't set off the blocks well. So I eventually settled with this blue. It's not my favorite but it really did set the blocks off better than anything else I looked at. I followed the crazy 9 patch tutorial from Oh Fransson and it was so easy and fun to do!

Finished Lap Quilt:

The backing is a cute blue with lime green polka dots. I did a pieced binding with the same vintage sheets and really like the way it turned out!

Here you can see my binding and the quilting. I meandered all over the quilt. Quick and easy!

More of the quilting.

I've still got plenty of fat quarters left over so eventually I'll do something else with them!

The Happy Quilt

Here it is... all done. I meandered in the center with the birdcages, then again throughout the green border and then I changed and did a straight spiral stitching pattern throughout the second border, then went back to meandering around the final border.

I had one big glitch...as I was meandering my way up the final side of the final border, I felt the machine go over a big lump. "Hmmm, what was that?", thought I. Turned the quilt over and saw the big mess I had made.....somehow, my backing had gotten shifted and I had pleats and tucks EVERYWHERE along that final row of stitching! I thought my brain was going to spill out of my ears all over the table! I had been so careful and pinned so well - how could this happen on my last row? I pulled all the stitching out, repositioned the backing and pressed the quilt sandwich all together again, repinned, and started again. I was able to finish it without a single tuck! Yea!! And my brain stayed completely intact within my skull.

The fabrics and colors still make me happy.

I pieced the back and I love it!! I love the texture that the quilting made on the white background.

Here is where I did the meandering in the green inner border, then straight line stitching in the patchwork border and back to meandering in the final border.

Thursday

I FINALLY finished my "Happy Quilt" tonight!! Though it's too late to get good pictures of it so I will add them tomorrow. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. So bright and cheery and it's the largest thing I've done free motion quilting on so I'm doubly pleased about that!

The Fabric Shoppe is hosting a giveaway - scrap bundles which equal 2 yards of fabric from the shoppe - Here's hoping I win something! Maybe you can win too - click on over and see some of the great fabric they have - their coordinated bundles make quilt planning so simple!

Saying lots of prayers for this family tonight. I've been following their blog for about 3 years now and their sweet daughter is not doing well at all. I can't even imagine.

Traditions past and present

July 4th - always such a fun day when I was growing up. The tradition I remember I guess from the mid to late 70's was that we would spend the day swimming at the pool of my parents best friends. Because they had a pool and we didn't, that made them really, REALLY rich you know. They had one of them thar ceement ponds complete with a sign that said, "we don't swim in your toilet, please don't pee in our pool." But I digress...

We would spend the day there, the kids swimming and splashing, mom doing the occasional sidestroke/dog-paddle-so-my-hair-won't-get-wet across the pool and dad diving off the side with his rubber nose plug firmly attached to his face. Those were the days of waiting a firm 30 minutes after eating before getting back into the pool lest you become overwrought with the likes of horrific abdominal cramping that drowning was inevitable. I remember while waiting to go back into the water playing an old time plinko machine - you flip a handle and a little metal ball bounces around and you try and win more little metal balls. Ahh...but I digress again.

After swimming, we would head out to Shotwell Stadium, sit in the stands and watch the fireworks. I don't remember as much about that - only that they were loud and I covered my ears with my hands most of the time. I do know that I looked forward to July 4th every year and I think we don't do enough here in the 21st century of making traditions with our kids.

Time is so harried and hurried. July 4th is just another day it seems. For the past 2 years, we've gone to the fireworks downtown, let the kids sit on top of the van and enjoyed the light show against the dark, hot skies of summer. This year was a little different. Abby and I were both sick with a stomach virus (ick) at the end of the week and by tonight, I was feeling much better but still without just a ton of energy and I could see Abby waning as well. We decided to pack ourselves into the van and just trek around Benbrook Lake and see if we could find any large gatherings of people that would indicate there might be some fireworks about to pop. No such luck. We got back towards home and we could see some fireworks out west of Benbrook so we parked in a parking lot behind a church right across from the entrance to our neighborhood. What a great pick that ended up to be - we not only saw the two fireworks shows around downtown Ft. Worth but also a show from Aledo!

Our traditions may not be much, but they are all ours.

UFO's for Saturday Night

I always thought I had it down. Finish one project before starting another one...isn't that what my mother taught me to do?

This UFO keeps staring me in the face. It's my "Happy Quilt". I found the birdcage fabric and HAD TO HAVE IT! I was originally going to make a skirt for Ab but she didn't like the fabric at all - and if she doesn't like it - there's no way it will go on her body in any shape or form (hmmm....though now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if she would wear a headband if I made one for her - nevermind). So, I just bought some of the fabric anyway and decided that it made me happy just looking at it so I made a "Happy Quilt". I've finished the top and have meandered all over the bird cage fabric in the center. Still deciding what to do with the borders and I need to get some thread - I'm thinking of getting something varigated for the rest of the quilting.

Then, I have this little project going.....

I'm doing Sew Momma, Sew's Sampler Blocks and making the 4 of them into wall decor for my sewing room/study/dad's vacation room. I've got two of the tops done but that's it. I'm semi-happy with them. I found the fabric "Tweet Tweet" by Keiki for Moda and liked the blue hues so I focused on them. What I've realized is that I need to do the "squint" test to get a better selection of contrasts. When I "squint" at my blocks, they all look the same. Oh well, live and learn.

I need new scrub tops so badly and decided today to pull out a pattern and see if I can throw a few together. I have one store brand top that fits perfectly so I tried to pull it apart at the seams to use as pattern pieces but I can't get the collar undone well so I gave up. I was able to take the pattern I have and place the front and back of the top that fits me well to determine which size to make (I never have luck making clothes for myself but come on...it's a scrub top. They are loose and straight and I figure the worst thing I could do is put the pockets on crooked or make the V-neck so low cut that......well.....you know.

The only fabric I have right now to make scrub tops is Christmas fabric which I bought last year (to make scrub tops incidentally). BUT....I think the fabrics are so cute, maybe I'd rather use them to make a Christmas quilt of some sort. Naaaahhhhh....I'll just stick with plan A. Here's the fabric...

This is where the collective "awwwwww" takes place. Don't those little penguins make you want to build an igloo and invite them over to play?

Another Giveaway!!

Ok, Works in Progress is having a terrific quilt giveaway! She has done a beautiful quilt from vintage sheets. As much as I want to win this quilt, I'm giving you the link so you can try for it as well. See how giving I am? You're welcome!