June - The Roller Coaster Month

June has been an interesting month - lots of ups and downs.

My husband was supposed to go on a short trip, but ended up shredding an engine and being stuck in Guam for nearly two weeks. {He had three other engines to land with. Clearly this was not an emergency. I like denial.}

Since this was a mere 20 days after getting home with the Little Man, I was going slightly insane by mid-month. Not to mention, no "babysitter" = no long arm rental time = delay in finishing a customer quilt.

But woo - the up! A customer quilt!


A running t-shirt quilt - and I think I did a fabulous job. ;) {My AYOLF goal.}

I also ventured cautiously into the world of branding and hired a designer to do my logo. I'm slowly working toward understanding my Facebook page and blog as a business. Don't worry - it'll take all summer.


I also finished a t-shirt quilt for Lori - just a sneak peek, full post will be Friday. With professional photographs! {Because I mailed it to her.}


Worked on a Tennessee Waltz for my aunt - the first border, an "extension" border is done. {My NewFO.}

Kept steadily cutting Ripples and Reflections. O.M.G. So much cutting! I thought I would cheat and just cut step 1, but so many of the steps overlap pieces. I need one Fabric 4, Piece B, for Step 1, then four more in Step 6, and the last three in Step 10 - or something like that. So I need to cut everything...and I really don't know how to organize it.


Put extension borders on Summer Drinks. I wasn't sure on this, but I think it's the perfect way to finish it off.


Finished the star blocks for Cardinal Charms and started piecing the rest of the quilt. I laid it out and thought about making more star blocks {six seems paltry} but I really like the 10x12 layout. So I'm sticking with it.

{And yes, the colors will be spread out. Just threw them on the design wall/floor to check layout numbers.}

Since we're halfway, here's six months of Churn Dashes. Not too many darker ones, but this month is red, so there will be some darker tones added. Overall I'm really happy with these!

Oh, and I made a skirt! A very simple maxi skirt, but I followed instructions. And my fabric wasn't stretchy in the same direction as the instructions. So my waistband had no stretch...plus I measured after eating pasta, so everything was just a little off. ;) I ended up sewing a casing, picking out the side seam, and putting in elastic. Little extra work but it fits fine now! And the foldover waist hides the extra stitching.


There was also school finishing and national park visiting and half marathon running and lion feeding and inappropriate dam joking. You know, summer stuff.

Linked:
BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot
Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy
Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure
Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric
A Year of Lovely Finishes
Fresh Sewing Day @ Lily's Quilts
NewFO @ Cat Patches

Weekly Progress - Pieced Borders

So, a quilty question. What do you call borders that extend the main quilt top design? I mean, they're not just borders, or pieced borders. They're different. And I worked on two of them this week.

Tennessee Waltz - finishing out the points from the snowball blocks. TW will probably get another border in the grey.

Summer Drinks - finishing out the quarter square triangles. I think I'm done here. At least, I'm out of fabric!

I also finished a t-shirt quilt.

And quilted a second one.

...but both are just sneak peeks until they have been received!

And did my Weekly Churn Dash. This is one of my mother's old scraps.

And popped the binding on Mom's Halloween striped table runners so I had something to hand stitch while we drove around the Seattle area.

You know, where I ran a half marathon. Not even close to my best time {but also not my worst.} Considering my longest training run recently was...Portland's half marathon. A month ago.

And the boys played in the snow pack in front of Mount Rainier. It's not as dirty as it looks!

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric

Weekly Progress - Relentless Forward Motion

Another week, another husband no-show. Good for top finishing...not so much for the quilting. Which is a teensy bit frustrating since I have customer quilts...another downside to renting long arm time.

But, he should be back soon, so hopefully I'll be making tops into quilts this week! Until then, I'm just trying to see how many tops I can finish before he gets back. ;)

My aunt's Tennessee Waltz is done to borders. I love this pattern so much. Even though I had to fix one block twice.

Weekly Churn Dash - not sure what this was...Riley Blake maybe? Anyway, it's cute and it was in my Rainbow Chevrons.

Backings prepped for the t-shirt quilts. I did a great job matching the chevrons...and didn't even attempt to match the floral.

Since I was ahead of schedule, I pulled out Summer Drinks to see what it needed to finish up. I'm extending the HSTs into the border. Not sure if there will be a second border or if I will call it quits after this.

This happened, too.

Linked:

BOMs Away Monday @ What A Hoot

Design Wall Monday @ Patchwork Times

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ SoScrappy

Scrap Basket Sunday @ Kim's Big Quilting Adventure

Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric

June Goals

Well, since I got so much done in May...

Hahahaha...sigh.

Anyway.

In June, I have two t-shirt quilts to finish off.

This one for a Half Fanatic/Marathon Maniac. I pieced the last two blocks this morning so tomorrow starts assembly!

And this one for my running buddy, Lori. Lori ordered the grid style, so it should go together fast. We just need to have a debate about how much I love her and might be willing to part with the best fabric ever from Korea.

{And she's going to point out that she sent fabric from Hawaii and kitty fabric scraps. Like that makes a difference.}

Other than that, I have a half marathon in Seattle. No biggie. I run those all the time. :P

And I should really get Ripples and Reflections fully cut and started. Or at least stop cutting in color order and start cutting for the first step. It's a BOM quilt with 11 months of steps and May 2015 is the deadline. Time.to.start.now.

Crud, and something old. Um. I finally found the border pieces AND the top of Summer Drinks, so I can try to throw that together. {I'm totally not going to, but we can pretend for the sake of the linky, mmkay?}

And then other than the Cardinal Charms and Churn Dashes leader/enders, I'm not committing to anything else. Mostly because I need to start {gulp} prepping my lesson plans for sewing classes. You know, when the toddler isn't turning off the computer every three sentences. {WHO PUTS THE GLOWING POWER BUTTON ON THE TOP??}

Linked

A Year of Lovely Finishes

Something Old, Something New @ Never Too Hot to Stitch

Stash Report - Week 28

Oh, the ins and the outs. There was actually a decent amount of movement this week. A little too much retail therapy because of my husband leaving...but that's what deployment money is for, right?

In:

California Girl, because I was briefly a California Girl. Hello Luscious, because it's pretty. And on sale.

One yard green, one yard red - for my Snowball Fight. Plus a layer cake for the prize, but I'm not counting that since it's not for MY stash.

Out:

Blue Bowties, done!

Summer Drinks, done! 

{Until I get home to add borders...}

Secret stuff made out of secret fabric, done!

{Don't worry - box was mailed and reveal will be Wednesday. I can't keep secrets very long!}

There's a couple more things coming in the mail this week, but maybe I can finish some things and keep the numbers moving. Maybe.

Used this Week: 3.35

Used Year to Date: 65.84

Added this Week: 7.84

Added Year to Date: 118.45

Net Used for 2012: (52.61) yards

WiP/FMC - And Back to Virginia

It's been a whirlwind week - to Maryland to send my husband off on deployment...

...to New Jersey to see some cousins, missing the storms and power outage in Virginia. When we finally got to Virginia, the Dude plopped down on the floor and declared himself done with hotels. I'm with him.

Now that I'm somewhat settled, I need a new Fifteen Minute Challenge. And I really need to bind Big Blue. And I really hate hand stitching. So I should probably make it a habit to hand stitch for fifteen minutes every day until Big Blue is done.

In other sewing...

My Spongebob blocks are done! I will be piecing a border to continue the QST motif...probably when I get home. I really don't need to buy more of the neutral when I have five yards at home.

A nice pile of nine patches for my Snowball Fight.

Some Blue Bowties. Or rather, white bowties on blue.

Oh, and my sister helped lay out my Sudoku quilt. She'd like everyone to know she upgraded from a cast to a boot.

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Week

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

In-Progress-But-Not-This-Summer

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12
Home Study to Korea - 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 9

WiP/FMC - Packing Again

Here we go again...

And it's the big one - to the East Coast and saying goodbye for a while.

...and then to New Jersey for the weekend. Just in case I haven't spent enough time in hotels recently.

Before packing up, I worked on my Spongebob blocks, and forgot to take a new picture since Monday. They're not done, but they're pretty close!

 Of course, I can't find the borders that I know I cut before I left. Luckily the Dimples fabric should be easy to find...but annoying since I know I have five yards of it at home!

16/24 nine patches done. Next step is the snowballs, and like I mentioned on Monday, I'm going to have a little Snowball Fight next month. 

And since it's Christmas in July around blogland, I'm going to get a layer cake of Joy and snowball that up during the Fight, with alternating color corners. 

If you want to follow along, you need a layer cake {or (42) 10" squares} and one yard each of two colors. Or two yards of one color. Or 5/8ths each of four colors...but let's not get too crazy around here.

 

 And I got a bit bored and started some blue bowties. 

In-Progress-But-Not-During-Hotel-Sewing-Month

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 9

DWM - Summer Drinks

Ha, remember when I said I was going to get this done last Thursday?

There's a LOT of seams to press. So not quite done yet, but it's getting closer.

Oh, and Kate pointed out that the colors remind her of lemonade. And pink lemonade and green tea...my favorite summer drinks! And so the quilt has a name.

And on a completely different note...

I'm nearing the end of the nine patches, and that means I have to start the snowballs. I'm not a huge fan of snowballs - tediously sewing one corner after the other, and double, of course, to get that bonus HST.

So... I was thinking about hosting a "Snowball Fight" in July. Just a little series with snowball inspiration, and a link up {with prizes!} for anyone willing to throw some snowballs with me. Anyone interested?

WiP/FMC - Back in Cali {For the Moment}

I'm late on posting - yesterday was both my husband's birthday and his "check" ride for the new airplane! Yay, he passed! Congrats, he can deploy! Sigh. We have one weekend left, so we're determined to do something fun.

Anyway... Other than the fly-back-from-Vegas day, I've managed to get some sewing time in. {Even if it was trimming/pressing/snipping HST dog ears during a Pawn Stars marathon.}

{Don't you love the hotel bed spread?}

Almost done with my Spongebob blocks. I'm not sewing them a block at a time - I sewed everything into pairs. Next into four-patches, then into blocks. Hopefully will be done by the end of the day, since today is laundry day.

And nine patches as the leaders and enders, still!

In-Progress-But-Not-During-Hotel-Sewing-Month

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12

New Projects: 0

Completed Projects: 0

In Progress: 8

DWM & Quilt Story Feature!

One of my favorite quilts is being featured on Quilt Story today!

I started this way back in the summer of 2010, and finished it in March 2011. I knew from the beginning that the pink and butterflies would end up here, in my niece's bedroom.

{Charm Pack Quilt Along / Design by Freckled Whimsy}

And if you're new here, welcome! Thanks for stopping by! 

Things are a little crazy right now - my husband deploys in a week and a half, and we're living in a hotel in California while he finishes his training. Which was also a hotel in Vegas for 10 days...but now we're back in CA. After he leaves, we're living with my parents in Virginia for the summer. But we're normally residents of Oklahoma. {Don't worry - I can't keep up, either.}

We includes my son, the Dude. And two cats - they're in Virginia right now, since they don't take well to hotel living. Oh, and in the midst of all this, we're adopting from Korea. Good times.

For the last couple of months, I spent fifteen minutes a day {thanks to the Fifteen Minute Challenge, which is run by Kate in OK...no relation!} cutting "hotel sewing kits" - quilts cut out completely, since I would have no space to cut yardage. I ended up with eight kits and already finished one spiraling HST top.

Apparently my kits are loaded with HSTs. I finished trimming 252 HSTs during the Father's Day Pawn Stars marathon.

Which are slowly becoming this, on my flannel{ish} tablecloth back design wall!

{It's the Lynnebob Squarepants block.}

WiP/FMC/DWM - Still in Vegas

You'd think Vegas would be exciting, right? We're pretty far from the Strip, and with no car and a seven year old, there's not much to do.

Except for the pool. I think the Dude is growing gills. We easily spend over three hours a day there. I've done a bit of hand stitching, but it's really too warm to have it draped all over me. Not to mention, the fear of the Dude splashing pool water on a 50 year old quilt!


{Did our tenth anniversary Ocean's Eleven-style, watching the fountains at the Bellagio.}

We did make it to the Strip a couple times, and saw KA, a Cirque Du Soliel show, last night. And I did manage to steal the car and visit a couple quilt stores one day when my husband was flying the night shift. By the way, Fabric Boutique and Quiltique - lovely. Just lovely.

We try to stay inside during the hottest part of the day, so I get some quiet time to sew. {In between rounds of Blink. Oh, so many rounds of Blink.}

I finished the Striped HST top. It was pretty easy once I had a "design wall" {flannel-ish back of a vinyl tablecloth} to keep track of the stripe direction.

Made nine-patches as my leaders/enders. They will be paired with snowballs.

And today, at the pool, I started the HST lines on the Spongebob blocks. I know, I make Vegas seem seriously exciting. Try to contain your jealousy.

In-Progress-But-Not-During-Hotel-Sewing-Month

Fat Quarter Stars (6/12 blocks)
LQS Saturday Sampler 2012 (12/36 blocks) 

LQS Saturday Sampler 2011 (12/12 & center) 

Chunky Log Cabin (13/20 blocks)

St. Paul's Cross (2/42? blocks)

Big Blue (hand stitching binding)

Adoption:

Application Submitted - 2/12 

Home Study - approved 5/12

USCIS paperwork - mailed 6/12

New Projects: 1

Completed Projects: 1

In Progress: 9

Linked:

Work in Progress Wednesday

Life in Pieces' Fifteen Minute Challenge

Patchwork Times

Fabric Tuesday