RSC Sampler blocks - in Green.

I got a chance to sew today and managed to catch up on a bunch of the RSC sampler blocks in green. I think the block in the top left hand corner is my favorite, followed by the one below it. Truly scrappy and fun. I am ready to move onto the next color of yellow with these sampler blocks.
I also sewed all my crossroads blocks into a top today. It measures 48x60 and I think that will be the size of this top. Now to figure out a backing for this so it can get some free motion quilting sometime this week I hope. Emily is done school now and Aidan has three half day's left. I hope to sneak in a little sewing if I can.

In between the above sewing I have been playing with a bag of scraps from a quilt I made Greg 6 years ago. Quite a few blocks have been made that finish at 4.5 inches and a handful at 3 inches. I am not sure what these will become but I have a feeling they will come out to play again if we get a month of neutrals or browns sometime this year.

It has been very busy at my house this week. Emily is now an official Kindergarten girl. She graduated last night from VPK. This is while they were singing one of the songs.

Aidan had his bridging ceremony to celebrate the completion of Kindergarten and his entry into 1st grade on Thursday night. 

I'll need to get a good picture of her in her cap and gown as I did not get one last night. I did get this shot of both of them before we left for the ceremony last night. Notice those beautiful fingers and toes - Daddy was painting them for her yesterday afternoon when I got home from work. I love walking into the house and seeing him do things like that with the kids. I have a few more hours until I have to pick them up from Grandma's house. Since some thunderstorms are moving in I think it is time for some hand quilting while watching a movie in the nice quiet house. 

I'm linking up to Angela over at SoScrappy for the Rainbow Scrap challenge. Head on over and check out the pretty green projects everyone is working on before we move onto yellow tomorrow.

A tisket, a tasket a cute little basket....

It is the end of the school year and I finally remembered a post my friend Cyn had done a while ago. It was the cutest little basket. Here is the direct link to the free instructions.

I made a test one out of 10 inch squares in blue and yellow and also a 12 inch square to make one for Em's teacher. I used the monkey fabric that I had used as a backing for her daughters baby quilt last year. Note to self - leave the turning opening in the middle and not on an edge! Good thing I tested that out with the 10 inch one...which will sit by my recliner and hold my hand quilting thread and scissors. I just need to get some buttons to finish them off. I also am not going to bother tacking down the insides of mine.... they might come in handy to separate things like hexagons and hold the scissors in one place.

Aidan is to find out his teachers favorite colors today so I can make her one for next week. I will tuck in a little gift card that they can use as they see fit - classroom supplies or something for themselves.

Tiny Tuesday - Sweet Pleasure

I snuck into the sewing room and got this little block sewn up while the kids were watching a show after school.  I went with an easy one - Sweet Pleasure

A shot of all the blocks so far from The Civil War Love Letter. I really plan to get back to posting one each Tuesday with a little catch up planned for the first couple of weeks of June.

Last Thursday was the last soccer game of the season. Both kids got a trophy and a picture with their coaches - Coach Chris and Coach Pam. The kids have learned a lot in a few short months the last two seasons. 

We finished the last set of lessons for Emily's Hippy Lessons this morning and met with Ms. Stacie to do the final test. She got everything except the rhyming words correct. Something for us to work on this summer along with her speech. Both will go to the HIPPY graduation on June 13th since Aidan finished his last fall.

This afternoon we made some cupcakes that we will frost later this evening. The best part of course is licking the bowl! Some of these will be brought in to Emily's last speech session at Saddlewood. They will have a little party tomorrow to celebrate the end of the year. She has done well with Ms. Currin and hopefully will have great results with a couple of sessions a week next year during Kindergarten. She is smart as a whip but understanding her is still a little difficult.

The kids are getting some energy out in the pool while I supervise from the back patio. Time to think about dinner - a selection of leftovers to clear out the fridge a bit I think. No work for me other than to heat up things in the microwave. The best type of dinners on a hot afternoon! I know both kids will have the brats and pasta salad.... unless they are reminded of the chinese leftovers Grandma H left with us on Sunday. I'm planning to have leftover t-bone steak from Saturday night over some spring greens and fresh tomato's that taste like a tomato should. Yummy. I'll just sit back for now and enjoy the marvelous smell of the magnolias in bloom right by the screen room. Pure Heaven.

Weekend Wrap up....

I finally get to post this weekend! I got to work both days this weekend and what a busy one it was. It was a good thing I got some sewing in during the week because I have done nothing sewing related at all yet this weekend. I plan to do some slow stitching as soon as the kids are in bed tonight though. I need some me time. Tomorrow is a vacation day for us all and we plan to spend a lot of the day in the pool.

For the RSC Challenge I have been working with my greens. I just have not done any of the sampler blocks yet.... good thing I have all week to get those done.

Churn dashes - 12 green done for the month and one 16 patch block of 2.5 inch squares.

20 - crossroads blocks at 12 inches each..... done. I think I need 4 more to make this a 4x6 setting. 48x60 just does not seem big enough to snuggle under. I may just sew them together and then decide if I need 4 more or not.

 This will be a nice throw size to replace the green Jacobs Ladder quilt that will find a new home with one of the teachers at Capstone. I think Ms. Miriam will love it since I did not get this one done in time. She did mention she loves green when I asked her favorite color a couple of weeks ago.

It is almost time to put the kids to bed. Em is still feverish. She got three shots on Friday and I think it is just a reaction to that. She stayed over with Grandma last night and was a little off upon her return today. I beeped her at 100.2 when I got home from work - a nice sleep in tomorrow for everyone should help. As for me.... I can't wait to put some slow stitches into my little T quilt this evening.

I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for the RSC Challenge and Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday. Head on over to both link parties for some wonderful inspiration.

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Hand Quilting

I've decided to join in the Bloggers Quilt Festival with my apple quilt that I made last year. I started making scrappy 9 patch blocks in red with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Then I was coloring with the kids and noticed an apple that would fit perfectly into a 5 inch block. Red was the color of the month and I had plenty of red and maroon fabrics. I also needed a hand work project while waiting in the car line to pick up the kids. How about some applique apples? I drew my lines and glued them to the backgrounds and had plenty of hand work for a few weeks. After I put the quilt together, I took the plunge and decided to hand quilt it. I had plenty of encouragement from the ladies who link up with Kathy's Sunday Slow Stitching and soon I had a finished quilt. This quilt finished at 36 inches square. I love how this quilt came out and look forward to displaying it in my dining room in the fall. This just reminds me of my home state of Vermont and all those wonderful Macintosh apples that I have picked over the years with my Mom and family. Good times and some great memories. Not to mention all those yummy apple pies =). Please excuse the Miss Kitty socks in the picture - my daughter Emily has to be in all my quilt pictures one way or another.

Head on over to the Bloggers Quilt Festival and enjoy the quilt link up party.

Where is Tiny Tuesday?

Well, it seems to have been pushed to the back burner for a month or two. I do hope to get back on track next week with my Civil War Love Letter blocks.... thinking I will plan to do one by hand per day while the kids are at swim lessons the week of June 9 and June 16. That should get me back on track!

Today - I decided to show the graduation quilt that did get the binding finished last Friday. I think it came out pretty good. This is a twin size quilt 60x84 and the pattern can be found here. I just need to sew up a teal pillowcase for storage and throw it through a bath cycle in the washer and it will be all set to mail up to Vermont in plenty of time for the High School Graduation. Don't mind the three pins on the front. A little 'fixing' needs to be done as well on three seams. I hate when I don't catch that before quilting.

I missed the Sunday Slow Stitching post - instead I decided to trim some hedges out front  Sunday evening while Greg was mowing the lawn. I did it by hand... so my arms were in no shape to do anything that night. I did some more Monday night but I figured I could manage a few stitches. I sandwiched my little T wall hanging and started hand quilting it last night. I am testing out my new toy - a PVC type holder and so far it is working well. Maybe I can adjust to using a hoop for quilting!

Crossroads progress.

I seem to have done a lot of sewing yesterday. It was my reward after steam cleaning Em's carpet and the first attempt at the dining room and entry way. The living room - well that can wait until Tuesday unless I can convince Greg to do it today while everyone is gone.

My reward was to keep popping into the sewing room and sewing some of the crossroads blocks. They go together so quick and the 12 inch blocks make a very quick quilt! 12 blocks so far and I love it. I think I'll make 20 for a 4x5 setting - a good lap size throw.
The pattern can be found here.

Off to shower and then time to bring the girl to her graduation practice for 9. Hopefully the sore throat Aidan has shared with me will not morph into whatever he had the last week or two.

RSC Challenge - Green

I got a few things done this week for the challenge. I got three more sampler blocks completed for a total of four green.

A bunch more of my hand work hexagon flowers got put together this week. I think this is the total greens so far this month.

I started a new project - Crossroads - from a free tutorial over at Connie's blog. I am making the 12 inch block size and have four blocks made already. These are a great stash buster and are very fun to make.

It is a working weekend for me - after I drop and pick up Em for her PreK Gradation practice Saturday morning and then drop them to Grandma. Greg will oversee the building of the new pool in the back yard this weekend. Looks like beautiful weather - sunny and mid 80's. Lots of meals will be enjoyed out on the back porch this weekend.

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning for a wonderful linky party of pretty greens.

A long week.....

Both kids went to school today - finally! Aidan must have a virus on top of whatever last week because today was the first time his fever was down in the morning and he has been on an antibiotic since last Thursday! I sent him to school Monday but he had a 102 temp by the time I picked him up after school. I did bring them to their eye doctor appointment and everyone's eyesight is fine. Em is a little farsighted but not enough to wear glasses at this point.

After a nice walk in the neighborhood this morning and then my second coffee and some toast with home made strawberry jam on the back patio while reading the paper, I decided to sew a little bit. I had made some 2.5 inch strips of some greens and pulled out some creams from the scrap bin and came up with these two 12 inch blocks.

They are called Crossroads and are a free tutorial over at conniereskin.com. I think I will make a good size throw with my scraps.

After that it was a quick trip to the garbage and recycle, a stop at the local farm stand to see Jennifer and stock up on some local fruits  (strawberry, raspberry and blueberry!) and veggies. Then I went and picked up the girl from school. 3 hours is just not enough time!

Off to bring her to speech - only four more sessions this school year. The end of school is very quickly approaching. Em is done on the 29th with a graduation on the 30th from PreK. Aidan has a bridging ceremony from Kindergarten to First grade on the 29th and has half days the last three days of school June 2,3,4. Then - they are all mine all summer long! So far I have signed them up for swim lessons the first two weeks off school. I think I'd like to get each of them into something else for one week of the summer as a treat.

Slow Stitching Sunday.

It was a successful day in the sewing room without kids yesterday. After dropping them off to Grandma's house (with Aidan deciding when we got there if he would stay or not!) and then hitting a store for groceries on the way home it was time for a quick bite to eat and then sewing time at 12:45. I had the top and bottom rolled on the boards already but cut the batting off the roll and got it pinned. Then it was time to start the quilting around 2. One full hour of sewing and then I decided I needed breaks so I cut some old bagels and made some bagel chips - every 15 minutes they needed a turn so that was my break! I managed to finish attaching the binding onto the front as Greg was coming home from work around 6PM. I see myself hand stitching the binding down over the next few evenings while snuggling under this Graduation Kaleidoscope quilt for my niece Becky. I have enough of the teal fabric to make a matching pillowcase for this one which I will do later this week. All in all a very successful day. Oh - I also got those 6 churn dash blocks sewn together too!

The bagel chips came out great.... this is my second batch this week. Very easy to make and they are a wonderful afternoon snack.

Heat the oven to 250 degrees.

Slice bagels 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch thick. That was the tricky part!

Put in a bowl.

Pour 1/4 a cup of oil (I used vegetable oil and didn't bother measuring!)

Add a good amount of garlic powder and stir together in a little bowl. Pour over the bagels and toss with your fingers.

Add salt and again toss with your fingers.

Lay out on two baking sheets so they are single layer.

Place in the preheated oven and every 15 minutes turn them over so they cook for an hour.

Place in an air tight container and they should last 10 days (we made it two before the first batch was gone!)

Enjoy. I eat them with cream cheese, as croutons on a salad and they would be great in a soup.

 At my Mothers Day tea on Friday I got Emily's Mothers Day gifts from school. I'll get Aidan's next week as he was home Wed-Friday with a fever and extremely sore throat.
The card says ' To Mom - I love you to pieces' Too cute with all the paper pieces glued on.
The flower hands - 'I Love you Mom because you are adorable.' Every one got to do their own reason.
The frog was so cute and is a picture holder. 'When you look at the spots of the frog, my fingerprints are what you see. Someday when I am all grown up, You'll still have this small memory. Hoppy Mother's Day 2014.'

My Mothers Day gift from my MIL - she kept both kids overnight last night and will return them this afternoon for a cookout when I get home from work. Greg and I took advantage last night and went out to Yamato's for dinner. We tried the Red Lobster but there was no parking and way too long of a wait.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's out there - especially my Mom. I love you! I'd put a picture up but I'm thinking you would not like that!

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see the other slow stitching that is happening today around the world.

A whole day to sew.....

Well, first some driving to drop kids to Grandma this morning. Aidan was acting like his fever broke this morning and then I took his temp just to check. Nope - still a couple degrees high but once the meds kick in he is back to his normal self for a couple of hours. I'll drive them both and hopefully he will want to stay at Grandma's house for the day.  On the way home I really need to hit a store and get some groceries.... since I needed to go Wednesday and have not been able to go with a sick boy in the house.  Good thing the pantry and freezer are well stocked! After that - it is an afternoon of sewing on tap for me! I'll finish sewing up these churn dash blocks and then pin the Kaleidoscope quilt and hopefully get a good start on the straight line quilting with a walking foot. I still need to make a binding for it and a pillowcase to go with it.

Here is the green goodness I have been able to do so far this month. I sewed up these hexagon flowers last night while watching some tv with the hubby. The churn dashes were sewn here and there this week around a sick boy in the house which required lots of snuggling. Just need to sew the parts together.

I also have been knitting a bit over the last month and have a few dish cloths completed - one extremely scrappy one with all the leftover ends from others.

Yesterday was the Mommy Tea at Em's school. We had a wonderful time and Emily loved to wear her party dress. A big thanks to Grandma for coming over to stay with the sick boy while I went Emily's school.

Head on over to SoScrappy and check out the other green projects that are being worked on this month.

Thursday - another sick boy day....

Well, I made some progress while the sick boy was doing homework this morning and then watching some movies. The Kaleidoscope quilt is a top and is rolled onto the boards for pinning. 62x84 for the size.

Kaleidoscope Quilt - VTQuilter

The back was an issue..... I could not go out as the boy started his antibiotics this morning at 6:30 AM (trip to quick care last night when the fever got high and he was chilled and put himself to bed around 6:30 - that's when you really know they are sick!) I found 5 yards of a blueish grey flower print that I was planning to use for the sashing of my midget blocks and a border. It will now be the backing for the graduation quilt. That is pieced, pressed and onto it's board. I hope to cut the batting off the roll in the next hour or two and pin it later tonight. Grandma is coming around 6:30 to pick up the girl to bring her to the soccer game tonight for 7PM.  Depending on when Greg gets home (sometime after 7 usually) one of us might go over to see the tail end of the soccer game.
Tomorrow the boy will be home again - The nurse wrote the note for him to go back on Monday in case his fever has not broken by Friday morning. I gave it to the school already when I stopped to pick up the Mothers Day Cake he was to decorate on Wednesday. They must have done it for him =).

I convinced the kids to play with the trains in the other room for a bit and this is the track layout they came up with. They had trains lined up all the way to the bridge on the left hand side..... we seem to have a lot of trains! It kept them busy and out of trouble for a couple of hours. We are trying the new Amazon Prime streaming to the tv - I've put on the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for them to watch. We'll see if they like it or not. They tend not to have that long of an attention span for tv.

Time for me to defrost some burgers to put on the foreman grill, make a salad and a veggie while they are entertained. Yes Mom... Aidan will probably have some Raman Noodles =) Something soothing for that sore throat of his - he has been having lots of lolly pops that Grandma R left down here in the pantry.

Wednesday Update.....

The first thing Mom mentioned when I talked with her the other day was that the top of the header picture has two X's rather than an X and O! Good thing that was not the final setting... I do really need to start hand quilting my rows for that quilt sometime soon.

We woke up this morning with a boy on the couch with a sore throat and a fever. There goes my gym workout and running errands for the day. While he was snuggling up against me on the couch I did manage to finish the binding on this Springtime Fun quilt.

I did not have enough of the green butterfly print for the whole thing so there are 20 inches of purple, yellow and then purple again on the length of the back with the yellow triangle in the corner for the label. It will get filled out after a spin through the washer and dryer.

I also cut some 2.5 and 2 inch strips from some greens in preparation to make some churn dash blocks and to prep some hexagons.

I think I'll also be making some crossroads blocks with green and cream to clear out some of the green pile this month. I'm planning to use those 2.5 inch strips to make some 12 inch blocks.  I've been wanting to make a quilt with this pattern for a while and what better way to make a quilt than to use up a bunch of scraps?

No Mom, I have not forgotten my graduation quilt deadline. I sewed the Kaleidoscope into rows yesterday morning and plan to sew the rows into a top this evening.

I'll need to pick up some backing fabric so I can get this one prepped for quilting on Saturday. Unfortunately I found one I liked on Saturday at the Lady Lake Joanns but they don't have it at the Ocala store I go to. I've gone there twice this week hoping they would get other backings in. Depending on how things shake out this weekend I might just get some at my LQS which is near Emily's school.

I think the chicken has defrosted in the bowl of water in the microwave so it is time to make dinner. I'm thinking lime chicken with capers... since the last lemon got used a few days ago but I have a couple of limes in the crisper. Some risotto and a veggie steamed in the microwave and I'll call it a meal. The kids are watching Despicable Me so that should keep them occupied until Greg gets home. They had a turn in the pool this afternoon - but Aidan wanted out after 20 minutes. You know he is not feeling well if he asks to get out of the pool before everyone else. Hopefully he is better tomorrow - they both have dentist appointments in the morning =). I have a 'Mommy Tea' at Emily's school on Friday. They have been working on something for us all week but as Emily says 'I can't tell you what we did at school today Mom, it's a surprise!'.

Slow Stitching Sunday....

After a weekend of working I am ready to settle down and do some slow stitching to finish the binding on this pretty Triangle quilt. I admit - I went searching for my thimble last night and was unable to find it. I know it is somewhere in the sewing room closet in a pink bag. My middle finger sure could use it as the milliners needle is starting to go right  through my finger. I'll survive -I never use a thimble which is why I can't find it!

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts to see some other wonderful slow stitching.

Springtime fun - Triangle Quilt Along

I'm calling this complete (I'll hand stitch the binding down tonight and tomorrow night).!

It was a productive morning. After dropping the kids to school, grabbing a quick breakfast of corn flakes with fresh blueberries and my second cup of coffee it was off to the sewing room. I finished piecing the backing and then laid it all out for pinning. After a search for the thread I wanted to use......I decided on a pink variegated that was on the thread holder. I have no clue where the multi colored pink, green and blue thread is... but I'm sure it will turn up now that I am done with the quilting! I really wanted to do some free motion loops on this..... but I had some thread break issues. After the second try (I was not very patient this morning as I had from 8:30-10:45 to get this done), I swapped to the walking foot and did 1/4 inch from the seams along one side. I was thinking of going back the other way but I think I like it like this.... and it was 10:20. Binding..... hmmm. I had made some of white for a quilt last year and then changed my mind. I still had that rolled up in the drawer so out it came. The binding got sewn to the front and I was done at 10:44. A quick pb&j sandwich made, waters and some snacks packed for the play date at the park and I was off to pick up Emily from school. Technically it is not done but it will be by tomorrow night. Or course, Ms. Emily needed to pose with the quilt.

Edited: This is a shot of the quilt with the binding all done. It now lives on the back of the couch and the cats use it as their favorite sleeping spot.... especially when someone is using it!

Thanks so much to The Sassy Quilter for hosting this and getting me to try the equilateral triangles in a quilt. I know I'll be making another one at some point.

We have been getting rain storms in the afternoon (typical Florida pattern) and this is a shot of the rain yesterday. We had a moat down by the road with the water collecting. No worries - all the sand and it was all soaked up a few hours later. Soccer practice was cancelled Tuesday night due to thunderstorms. I wonder if we will have a game tonight or not? Time will tell.