longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Sunday Wrap Up


I did not buy any new fabric. 🙂  I used four yard of fleece fabric to make a wedding gift for a special young woman that is getting married this month.  I hope she likes it.  I still have to trim and fringe the edges.  I noticed that in her selections, she had some purple glasses, and there was some green on her dishes.  So I used a deep purple fleece with a seafoam green.  Not exactly the same green, but it was the closest I could get with my fleece.  The color does not show true at all in this photo.

The purple side:

So (I suppose I can include fleece fabric yardage used in my totals), that moves 4 more yards of fabric from my stash, bringing my year to date totals to:

  • In: 66 yds.
  • Out: 28.25 yds.
  • YTD: 37.75 yds.

Now, before you think I’ve been soooo good…I bought about $200.00 worth of thread, and $60.00 worth of stencils. 

I’ve been enjoying Vicki W.’s birdwatch updates on her blog, so I’m going to share a little birdwatching of my own with you today.  Earlier this week I caught a glimpse of this pheasant rooster in the field behind my house.  About the time I’d go to take a good pic, he’d duck back down in the grass. 

This morning, as DH & I were standing in the front of our garage, watching the swallows that are rebuiling on our front entryway, and the cute little finches at our birdfeeder, we were surprised by this treat.  DH ran into get my camera for me, and I was only able to get this one pic before he left.  I do believe it’s a Baltimore Oriole.  Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.  When the sun was hitting him and we could get a good look, before we had the camera of course, his underside was a  bright orange.  I believe it’s more common to see the Scott’s Oriole here.  This little guy was gorgeous.

 

I realized this morning that I’ve been lax on the Sunday weigh-in, so I bit the bullet and got back on the scale.  I did workout twice this week, but I’ve been not so good til then, and have gained 2 lbs. back.  I started at 154, and now I’m 145, so I’m at a total loss of 9 lbs.  Got to get back on track with that!

 

daily life · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · weight

An Older UFO


Here’s one I really should finish.  I love this little quilt.  It’s a New York Beauty pattern that was in a Fons & Porter issue.  I had so much fun piecing and quilting this one, that I really would like to find time to do another.  Especially since I have my A-1 Elite now.  I quilted this one back when I still had my Gammill Premier, with no stitch regulator.  I need to add a sleeve for hanging, and bind it.  BUT, I keep wavering back and forth on whether or not to add more bling bling to it.  What do you think?  I really didn’t want to overdo with the crystals, and some days I think it’s fine like it is, and then somedays, like today, I think that it looks unfinished.  Since I added crystals to each point in the center medallion, should I add them to each of the points of the rest of the fans?  I’d love to hear your opinions.

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My baby quilt customer came for her quilt Tuesday, and loved it.  She had also brought another baby quilt, that has a great story.  It was a blue, pink, & white flannel quilt.  I forgot to take a pic of it.  It was pieced by her 83 yr. old father.  The blue fabric had white hearts, so I quilted it with an all over heart pattern, and she loved it, too.  She left me a couple lap quilts made by her dad, and said she has more at home.  The little baby quilt had a few issues, but it quilted up just great.  I had to take one tuck in one border, to deal with a bit of extra fabric, but I just thought how wonderful that this baby will have a quilt pieced by it’s great grandFATHER.  It’s a privilege to get to quilt those! And it’s such a great feeling when your customer comes to get their quilts and they are so happy with them.  She’s a beginning quilter and she was thrilled with them.  Seeing the customer’s happy face is as much fun as getting paid for quilting  🙂  

I got off work a little early this afternoon, and am making some piecing progress on my 9P quilts.  I won’t get much done this Saturday, as I will be on the golf course following my son around at his tournament.  Yep, DH & I will be spending our 11th anniversary together in a golf cart.  Sure hope my son plays better this tournament than he has the last two.  That would be a great anniversary prezzie, to see him have a good day. 

One of my readers asked me to say something in my blog about how I photograph my quilts, to get the quilting to show so well.  Well, I’m certainly no photography expert, but here’s what I do…I plop them down where I have the best natural light coming in, at the time.  Such as the living room floor in front of our glass door & windows.  Or on my bed, with the light coming in from the side window.  I really need to get a photo stand so I can hang the larger ones.  Really, good sidelighting seems to show the quilting the best.  I don’t use the flash, except to get a good pic of the colors, sometimes.

Another reader asked me to share how I’m losing my weight.  I’m faithfully exercising no LESS than three times a week, trying hard to exercise four or five days.  I’m either walking on my Treadclimber at home, or in the mornings, I go in to work a bit early, and walk “laps” at the courthouse.  My office is on the third floor, so as I do the laps, I go down one stairwell, to the first floor, and up the stairwell at the opposite end of the courthouse, back up to the third floor.  I try to do at least 10 of those laps.  The stairs do wonders for your lower body  😉   Also, I’m paying more attention to what is going in my mouth, and why.  Am I really hungry? Also, how much I’m eating.  I pay more attention to fat grams, than anything else.  And that’s pretty much it.

I went for my massage therapy yesterday, and my chiropractic adjustment.  My massage therapist and chiropractor are in the same building, and family.  Between the two of them, my shoulder is feeling pretty darn good today.  The massage was especially wonderful. 

I’m going to get back to piecing, so I can have something else to post about!

knitting · longarm quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting · weight

Sunday Stash Report Time


Finally, I am back in a quilting mood.  I finished trimming the stripe blocks for my two 9P & stripe quilts.  I pulled fabric from my stash for the background squares and setting triangles for each quilt.  The pattern calls for 2.75 yds each, but I washed up 3 yds apiece.  I hate to end up a tad short, so I had a little leftover.  Here is a preview of what they will look like. 

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The pattern calls for using a medium background in one, and a light background in the other.  However, on my light, I decided to use the same fabric for the setting triangles and squares, as I used for the background of my 9P’s & stripes.  I hope to really hone my quilting skills in all those open spaces.  I’m planning on lots & lots of feathers.  Will I be able to pull it off?  We shall see!

I did get started sewing them together today.  I’m sewing them simultaneously.  That way, I don’t get one finished, and get burned out, and leave the other sitting for awhile. 

So, I got almost 6 more yards out of my stash and headed into quilts.  I am also happy to report that I did not buy any fabric.

I’m still working on some beginner knitting projects, and completed two scarves, and am getting close to finishing a special shawl I’m knitting.

Sunday weigh in time! Last week, my starting weight was 150.  Today, my weight was……………..150. I lost a total of zero lbs. this week.  I really wanted to see a 140-something.  However, I’m not disappointed in my myself, because I did great on my working out…a total of six times this week, and I did not blow it with the eating.  I know this is just a natural part of the diet/exercise process.  I know I made progress, because I can see a change in my body shape, and in the way my clothes are fitting.  Hopefully, the scale will be kinder next week. 🙂

Remeber that I mentioned that I found a new buffet hutch for my dining room, when we went to Amarillo.  I finally took a pic.  I am really enjoying it. It has helped so much to have this extra space to store some of my stoneware and other dishes, making my cabinets much safer to open…lol. (you know, less thing falling out at you when you open the door)

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Some gratitudes this week were:

  1. My son breaking away from an unhealthy relationship
  2. My 20″ Omnigrid ruler
  3. My new hutch
  4. None of us wrecked driving on the ice this week
  5. My husband cleaning the floors!

I guess that’s it for my report today.  Hope y’all have a great week ahead.

quilting · sewing · stash busting · weight

Sunday Stash Report and Weigh-In


My stash report is short this week, but I’m happy with it.

1. I didn’t buy any fabric.

2. I met my goal of completing my 88 9P’s, and have started on my stripe blocks.

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I have to make a total of 64 stripe blocks for each quilt.  I have 20 done, 108 left to sew & trim.

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In other “stashbusting”  😉

I managed to do five workouts last week, and my weigh-in this morning was 153. So, I lost of total of 1 lb this week.  I was hoping for more, but it is what it is.  Hope you don’t mind me including my weekly weigh-in in my Sunday report.  Tell me if you do!

crafts · knitting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing

Sunday Report Time!


I cannot start this post with “I did not buy any new fabric”.  I did buy new fabric.  Yesterday, on a trip to Pampa, the LQS was having one of it’s two annual 40% off all fabric in the store sales.  I didn’t, however, start buying willie nillie, like a chicken with my head cut off.  I needed more neutrals in my stash, so I went straight to the neutral section and picked some out.  I also bought some thread.  I’m ok with this purchase…no feeling guilty at all. 

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Stash use and project progresses or completions were:

I finished this lap extra long lap quilt I made for my son, earlier this year, by making the binding and machine stitching it onto the quilt (which you can see in the second pic that I’m not that good at doing), and I added a very “professionally” done label 😉  Yes, that is sharpie written directly on the back of the quilt.  This is a use me/abuse me quilt.  I hope he wears it completely out one of these days.

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I finished the quilting (if you can call it that) on Greg’s quilt.  Prepare yourself, this may hurt your eyes…I give myself an “F” on the quilting.  I was completely uninspired when I began quilting this one…to borrow Carla’s term…my “artistic harmony” was nowhere to be found.  Anyway, done is good in this case.  One positive that came from it, is that I was finally starting to get good at the “swirly” border! I even successfully turned the corners with it.  Other than that, I really can’t say what I was thinking…

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And lastly, I started working on this Eleanor Burns project.  So far, I have used 10.5 yards from my stash! When I’m done, I will have not one, but two new king size quilts for my bed. You can also see part of my leaders & enders in the left bottom corner of the second photo.

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I think that wraps up the quilting portion of my Sunday Report. However, I have some other “stash enhancing” to report.  Though I did ok, I think, with the fabric purchasing at the quilt shop, Walmart is where I went a little stupid…lol.

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I’ve been wishing for something else to work on at night, when I’m not working on a binding, or when I need something a little more portable, so I’m giving knitting another whirl.  Yes, that’s right, I said another whirl.  Hopefully, this time, I will have something better to show for my efforts than this “beautiful” afghan I made in college 🙂  I do remember feeling quite proud of myself at the time.

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So, now that I’ve horrified you with crazy bad quilting and crazy wild knitting all in one post, I hope that won’t scare you from coming back to visit me again. With that, I conclude my Sunday report!

longarm quilting · pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Sunday Stash Busting Report


This week I have not bought any new fabric.

I have continued to work on finishing the binding on starry log cabin.

I completed the center of courthouse steps.

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I drug out my scrap bin.  What a disaster.

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I began sifting through this mess and pulled out everthing fat quarter size & larger, and am moving it back to the fabric shelves in my fabric closet.  The rest, I am starting to cut down into sizes recommended by Bonnie Hunter. I am trying to do the leaders/enders thing she has on her site.  I hope to end up with an Oklahoma Backroads quilt one of these days from doing this.  I’ve seen Wendy make a beautiful quilt with her leaders & enders. Maybe I can do it, too. Here is my start at cutting this fabric up, and my first leaders/enders.

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Here is the cutting pile. Will I have the fortitude to stick it out?

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Now then, if you are reading this post on a site called Ester’s Sewing Blog, you are reading stolen information that has been copied and posted without my permission! Yes, I have now been added to the list of blog scraping or blog plagiarism victims.  So have several of you.  Be sure to check your incoming links.

Christmas · daily life · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

WIP & Other Ramblings


Since it’s Wednesday, I’ll start with a WIP update.  The courthouse steps blocks are coming along, mostly on my lunch breaks from my day job.  Two more strip sets to sew on and they will be ready to become rows.

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I got a goodie in the mail today.  We have a pretty fireplace, but it had an ugly brass screen from the 80’s, and the doors didn’t even work right anymore.  I’ve been pondering getting rid of it for awhile, and after seeing this post on Kelli’s blog, as her Show & Tell Friday, I was inspired to actually do it! So Friday, I ripped off the old ugly screen, and ordered this awesome candelabra from Pottery Barn.

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I hope I get a chance to stop by the store for some pillar candles tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see them all lit up in there. We haven’t used it to burn firewood in a few years, so I think I will really enjoy the candles for a nice ambiance. We need to find a good chimney sweep and get it all cleaned out in there before we have a real fire again.  Anyway, thanks Kelli, for the inspiration to do this! I love it! And, this candelabra is 50% off at Pottery Barn online, while supplies last.

I am going to get to take a few vacation days, in addition to the two days I get off for Christmas.  I am really looking forward to a nice break from the real world, and getting to spend some quality time here at home.  I’m still stitching the binding down on my Starry Log Cabin, but we already have it on the bed 🙂 .  I’m just turning it as I stitch.  I should have it finished and labeled before Christmas.  Speaking of, I ‘spose I need to get off of here and go do some stitching right now.  Later ‘taters!

longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

WIP Wednesday


I started the quilting on my Starry Log Cabin.  I’m using Hermione Agee’s (Lorien Quilting) Fantasia panto.  Let me tell ya, I am LOVING this one.  I’m so excited about how pretty it is stitching up.  Here’s some sneak peeks…it’ll be a few days before I have it finished.  I only have four rows done, it’s an  eleven inch panto, my top is 115″, so I have a ways to go yet. (yes, I’m sure that’s not “proper” English, but it’s how I talk…so if I want to write that way, too, I can, it’s MY blog 🙂 Call it creative license!) Anyway, I digress…back to the pics!

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I’ve also made some more progress on my courthouse steps blocks some on my lunch breaks.  I mailed my cousin’s quilt today, and said prayers that it makes it to them safely. That was hard to do, let it go off like that without me along to protect it. I’ll be so glad when I get a call that it made it!  And that wraps up my Wednesday report. Have a great rest of the week!

longarm quilting · Lulu · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Sunday Stash Busting Report


Well, I am happy to report that I have had a pretty good week on the stash busting.  I finished my starry log cabin top, that I have been working on, on and off, for almost ten years. So not only do I have the blocks finished and out of my stash, I used 3.5 yards of this beautiful blue fabric, from my stash, for the border.  I will also be using about another yard for the binding. 

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I also shopped my stash for backing fabric, using up another 10.5 yards from my stash! It wasn’t my first choice of backing, but I decided it would work fine. You will see the backing once I have it quilted and post final pics of this project. 

I also pulled out another UFO, a courthouse steps made from scraps from other projects, and made some forward progress on it.  This is froma Marti Michelle “quilt as you go” pattern, but it took me two blocks to decide quilt as you go isn’t for me.  I started it before I owned a longarm.  After getting the longarm, I decided it would be much more fun to sew them together the regular old way, and quilt it on my longarm.

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Once I have this center done, I will use the same border fabric she used on hers.  And the fun part is, I already had a bolt of the border fabric in my stash, when I realized it was the one she used! How cool is that!?

I also posted some more stashbusting from the week in my Thursday post from this week. And if you want to see my out of control stash, it can be seen in the post prior to this one, so just scroll on down for it. 🙂

This pic was just too cute not to include.  Look what I keep finding under the Christmas tree.

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Oh, I almost forgot! I finished my cousin’s quilt!  Bound, labeled, washed and dried.  I just have to get it shipped off to her and pray that nothing happens to it in transit. I can’t wait to hear what they think of it.

longarm quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Fantastic Friday!


Today, I only had to work at my day job til noon.  I felt pretty good, and look what I accomplished! Yahoo! The whole center of Starry Log Cabin is put together! I have the border fabric washed and dried. It looks like this is really going to get finished.  What a good feeling!

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Tonight, I will spend some more time on stitching binding on Carrie & John’s cattle brand quilt while I watch TV.  I have to remember to watch Jay Leno tonight because Johnny Depp will be on the show.

Hope your Friday was fantastic, too!