It's been a while...

So I know I haven't updated in a few weeks, it's been a bit of a challenging couple weeks.  Two weeks ago, we went through another round of lay-offs at work, and my number happened to come up in this one.  We all knew it was coming, and I tried to prepare myself "just in case". But then it happened and things were set in a bit of a whirlwind.  Anywho, I'm one to always look for the silver-lining, so I'm using this time for a little self-discovery and figuring out what I really want to do in life! 

So I've spent lots of time with the little kitty, working on my Pure Romance business, and doing things I couldn't have done while I was working (watch some tv, going with Mom to pick up Grandma, did a bit of a color job on the hair-okay, so I could have done that anyways...just never got to it), and making a list of all the things I've always wanted to do, but never have.  There will be cooking classes with mom, mornings at the pool, doing a thourough clean through the house, and so many more things thru life!

And crazy enough, I haven't done a lot of sewing!!  What???  I have done quite a bit of hand sewing on the batik flower garden, but not much with the sewing machine!  I know...  But we are still going at it with our 3 Young Chicks and a Hot Hen!  In fact, I finally remembered to take photos this week of our current project!  We are all working on Disappearing 9-Patche quilts.  Dani and Katie (and Mom) are making theirs with batiks, and I am making mine with a stash of fabric that's been sitting for a while waiting to be made into something.  We're all about at the point of making our 9-patch blocks, ready to cut-flip-resew!

Mom helping Katie with cutting strips.

My little workplace, sewing away.

Katie's pile of fabric, just sewing away!

And of course, a lot of ironing going on!

Dani working that iron!

Oh how I love our Tuesday nights!!  Thankfully I have that with my girls, helps me to keep the days straight a bit, and love the time with others! 

Well, I'm off to cut a bit more batiks for the Flower Garden that I'm working on!  Have a glorious day!

Always,

Day One of Break:

Been quite a productive day so far!  {I think this may be a post of mostly pictures}

Of course, I had to sleep in a bit, especially with a warm bed and cuddly kitty laying next to me.

Then I got up, had breakfast, and headed to the sewing studio to work on a few projects:

Flannel baby quilts

My Christmas quilt

And looked through a wonderful book that Mom gave me for Christmas, and made quite a list of all I want to make out of this book!

Then Hubby and I went out to the slopes for a bit!

Had some dinner, worked on my Christmas wreath.

And am now on my way upstairs to work on some batik hexies for a bit.

Hope you all had a wonderfully productive day as well!!

Always,

 

What a weekend!

Oh how I love long weekends, and even better when they are 4-days long! And so much got done this weekend, I really needed this...

Wonderful (mostly) Labor Day weekend activities:
- Trip to Sam's with mom to print off pics for my Quilt Journal
- Cleaning in the house done that needed to be done
- Pictures framed and hung in the house (including the big wedding one, woo hoo!!)
- Studying
- Sleeping in
- Lots of time with the family
- Golfing and reminiscing about the wedding day
- Relaxing
- Boot camp
- Sewing
- and a few other things along the way...

And must show a few pictures!! Of course, how could I not, right??

First off we have a few vintage patterns mom and I found and have framed to hang in our sewing rooms.

Mom's:


Mine:


I also finished a gift for a family friend's wedding in 2 weeks. This gorgeous table runner and set of coasters go with the quilt that mom is making here with the beautiful batik fabrics:
Of course I had to do the photo "toe-catcher" style as AmandaJean sometimes does, so fun!



And last but not least, I did a bit more work on my Batik Grandmother's Flower Garden, and have starting connecting another grouping:


And projects on tabs for September you may ask? Nothing really, I'll just be teetering along on my Grandmother's Flower Gardens. I also wanted to let you all know that if I go MIA during the month of September, have no fear, I will be back! I have my big, huge, professional exam the first week of October, and I will be studying during pretty much all free time I have. Needless to say, my social and fun life will be pretty much non-existent during the month of September (besides the weddings I have to go to).

Well, that was just a small compilation of my long, and delightfully joyful weekend! What did you do?

Hugs & giggles!

Dear Long Weekend,

Can you please come here faster??

What a day it was today...busy busy at work, I'm not even sure what all I did!

But tonight has made up for it! Had a wonderful dinner with the hubby and did a bit of sewing! Finished up another set of coasters and worked on my Vintage Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.





Also, I received the email today that my towel has been opened! Which means that I can share it with you all as well :o)



My first, and definitely not my last! I loved making this and will be making more! Tomorrow, in fact, for Tuesday Night Sewing Date!

Happy Monday!

And She's Back!

Well, it's been almost a week since I've posted...I know that may not be long for some in blogland, but I was doing really well for a while. I've been super crazy busy this week, and I can finally blog again!

I didn't get to do too much sewing this week, mainly because my little machine was in the shop. Nothing major, thankfully (!!!), just the usual tune-up, which hasn't been done on this machine since I got it...quite a few years ago! And I've done a whole lot of sewing and traveling with that machine. It has been to college and back, down to Grandma's once or twice, and back-and-forth between here and Mom's more times than I can count. I haven't sewn with it yet since I got it back (been doing a lot of hand sewing!), but I reckon I shall soon!

Speaking of handsewing, I've kind of been kicking butt lately on my batik Grandmother's Flower Garden lately. I've gotten another little push for it. It's quite addicting, I must say! So I've been working on it quite a bit here and there lately, just something I can do a little bit at night before bed without diving too much into anything. I've finished a few more flowers and done a lot of connecting onto my large piece. It's coming along! It currently measures about 28" x 36". That is currently with 29 flowers and joining pieces. I really have no idea how big it will be when I am all finished. I have a lot more flowers, and quite a few batiks left that I haven't even made flowers out of yet, and am planning to make one flower of each to beginning with. And I just have to share...here is my current pile of "flowers to attach". So needless to say, this thing will be getting quite a bit bigger! There are at least 50-75 flowers there!

Well, sorry to have been MIA for a few days, but I'm back to it now that my exam prep class that I had this weekend is over :o) Even though I'm a bit exhausted (and can't believe that I have to go back to work tomorrow already...), I'm off to do a bit more hand sewing!

Always,

Sewing along...

...both by hand and machine!

I've been working really hard (okay, not really, but hard enough) lately to get the flannel star quilt done. This darn quilt just doesn't want to get finished. First off, I'm not really sure why I decided to quilt it the way I did. I am sewing 1/4" inside the seams of each star. Mind you, there are 30 stars, and each block star is about 9 1/2" x 11 1/2". I only have three left, but I've had the hardest time getting them done! And last night I was on a roll, but then I turned the quilt over after quilting 3 stars to tie and hide the threads, and there were at least two little bobbles on each star that I will have to take out and redo. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy with that quilt last night. I know it will look really nice when it is done though (and, god help me, it will be by the end of this month)!

And for the hand sewing, I've been keeping my little fingers busy with my batik Grandmother's Flower Garden lately! I now have 72 flowers done, and just a little (okay, maybe a bit bigger than "little") pile left of the various batik fabrics that I have left. Then adding all of the separate flowers to the group that I've already started sewing together! I'm always asked what size of quilt I'm making, and honestly...I'm not really sure yet. I will see how big it is once I get all of the single flowers of batik fabrics I have when I get them all sewn. It is going to be absolutely gorgeous! Can't wait 'til it is done! Whenever that may be :o)

What is your current project that you have been working on lately?

Tuesday Night [something] Date

We didn't get to sew tonight at Mom's, we spent the night finishing to get ready for the garage sale. Its all ready now! I just have to bring a couple things to her house and we're good to go.

One thing we did do tho, that was a long time coming, was clean out her tupperware cupboard! And after many years of raising a family, cooking and baking, and sending food with kids to college...it was about time for some of those things to go!

So we started with this:


And ended with this (two boxes and a garbage bag to go, and a neatly organized cupboard that doesn't explode when you open it):


Now i'm off to do a bit of sewing on my vintage feedsack flower garden, then off to bed! Hope you had a grand day!

They're here! They're here!

So the hubby and I got married last October, and with our photography package we got a credit for some prints. Well, I had been a little slow on the whole ordering part... Procrastinating, that's not like me...what?? Anywho, I got them ordered, and we waited, and waited. Then I got a call today from mom today while I was at work, and they arrived!! They are gorgeous! As we knew they would be, and I can't wait to get them put in to frames and up on the walls. We got large format prints with our credit, and I am so glad we did! Woohoo!

Another thing, tonight's Tuesday Night Sewing Date didn't exactly pan out. Mom was home sick, and I'm getting over a bugger of a cold, so we decided to reschedule and move our sewing night to Thursday. So I'll update then with our next project! I'm going to still do a bit of sewing tonight though on my vintage feedsack flower garden (I finished a few more flowers lately!).

Have a wonderful night and happy quilting!

[A little early] Sunday Stash #2

I know it isn't quite Sunday, but I thought I would do my Sunday Stash post since I'm working on this stuff anyways.



My Sunday Stash tonight is all of the batiks that I have left to cut hexagons out. As of now, I'm just cutting enough for one flower of each until I figure out exactly how many flowers I will need for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I have a total of 59 flowers done as of now, 19 of which I have already connected. I am surely on my way! I figured I will need more than a hundred for my quilt, so I'll be working on this thing for a while! There are a few trips to visit family in the works this summer, and maybe some camping trips, so there will be some quality road time to get a good amount done. One of the best things about road trips is the things you get done while on the road! Along with the wonderful music and conversations of course :o)

Also, I just have to share with you something I read today that was wonderful! Alison Kelley did a little post she called "Instructions For Life" and you all must have a read. So many on there are things we must always remember! One of my favorites is....okay, there are way too many to choose from, but I'll go with this one: "Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely." So very true!

I'm back to working on my batik flower garden! Hope you got to do some sewing/crafting today!

Oh happy day! (yesterday..)

So there isn't really too much exciting going on here lately. I've been working like crazy on my batik Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt though! Oh, and I got an early birthday present last night! My birthday is the end of June and the hubby decided to take me to shop for one of my gifts early. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, or what we were looking for, so off we went in the car.

We drove and drove, and ended up at Golf Galaxy! If you've been reading my blog, you know I'm a golfer (not good by any means, but I'm working my way to the Pros *giggle*). I got to pick out some golf shoes! Now to some, this may not seem like a very exciting gift, but we go golfing at least once every other week or so, if not more, and what kind of golfer would I be without golf shoes?! I'm heading straight towards the Pros now! I was on the hunt for a pair that didn't 'look' like golf shoes, and had enough support for me, blasted flat feet, argh. And let me tell you, I found a sexy pair! Beautiful FootJoy shoes, with great support, black and white with fuschia laces! Usually I'm not too much of a pink girl, but I am totally a statement piece girl! Yes, I know, even when I'm out enjoying the great sport of golf.

*http://www.footjoy.com/catalog/productview.asp?c=157
You must admit, they are beautiful!

Oh, and I signed up for some awesome giveaways! Mostly all with the winners to be chosen in June, so here I am, crossing my fingers hoping for some early birthday gifts! How I love fabric!

Hope you all are having a great day/evening and getting some crafting done! Toodles!

Home again!

We are finally home after a long day of riding in the car and spending time with family.

My husband's cousin is home for a bit on leave from the Navy, so we all got together to see him up at their family farm. It was good to see family again, and turned out to be a beautiful day to sit out and enjoy the company. And as I had said in the previous post, it was quite a trip there and back, 2 hours one way. So needless to say, I got a bit of sewing done on my batik flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden! I finished 3 flowers with a 4th started!



And as I'm sure you all know already, I absolutely love sunrises and sunsets, and there was a gorgeous one on the way home!



Now to watch some tv, SNL, and make my popcorn!

Thursday Experiment

So I decided to do a little experiment tonight....

Since I don't have much going tonight, and the hubby and I are just hanging out watching a movie, I figured I would find out the answer to a question I've been asked many times before:

"How long does it really take you to make on of your little flowers?"

Well, I started with my 7 basted hexagons and a bit of thread....

And 55 minutes later, I ended up with this:



What do you think??

Today was a productive day!

I must say I feel pretty productive today! We moved into our house last summer, and we had that one room in the house that I'm sure many others have, the 'catch-all room'. There were boxes in there that I hadn't unpacked since bringing them in the house and dropping them in that room. So today, I spent 5 hours cleaning (with help from Salami. Thank you much!). It looks so much better, and now I can craft much, much more! It also has been taken over as my craft room :o) , so it was time to get it cleaned up. Then had dinner, went on the weekend grocery run, and worked on these little babies!


Since I had so many hexagons cut, I decided today would be a basting day (and found the perfect little basket to keep them in when cleaning!), and am now working to turn all the hexagons into my batik flowers! These things are so addictive! Yep, I would say I got quite a bit done today! Gotta love days like this!

* Oh, and I was just curious of how many flowers and hexies that I had done. Wow, was I ever surprised! I have finished 48 flowers, and have over 500 hexies cut and done! Guess I've been a bit more addicted than I thought...

Project of the night....

...is my Feed Sack Flower Garden! I decided to take a little break from the Batik Flower Garden (mainly because I'm running out of my hand quilting thread and haven't gotten more yet). I finished one flower tonight, and am now working on tracing and cutting a bunch, next (probably not tonight) I'll baste a whole group. After basting, I'll be off making flowers!! I must say that I love these fabrics, but am not so excited about the size of the flowers to work with. After working so long with the 2" Batik hexagons, switching to the 3" hexagons is a bit of a change!



I am still loving how this quilt is turning out!! Just wish that I was a bit further! I can get a bit impatient at times....

Well, back to the flowers with my drink and snack of choice (Dr. Pepper and popcorn, the snack of champions!), and all the fun blogs on my computer! Happy crafting!!

How many can you do at once?

I previously listed all of my WIPs (works in progress) that I currently have going, and decided that I would post a few pictures of them. These are just a few, the rest are at mom's house (no worries, I still live near home). So here are the few I have here:













Batik Grandmother's Flower Garden (my modern take on it) - I currently have 43 flowers done, and have started connecting them.
-Started: February 2009


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Vintage Feed Sack Grandmother's Flower Garden - I currently have 11 flowers done.
-Started: March 2009
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"Stars of Wonder" - Stack & Slash technique quilt. I have 1/3 of the quilting left to do, then the binding to put on and it will be done! Now to just sit down and do it...
-Started: January 2009

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A set of hand embroidered monogram pillowcases.
- Started: a couple years ago or so?




I will post some other WIPs once I get some pics of them. I'm ready to go right up and work now that I've looked at these again!!