Slow stitching Sunday....

The kids let us sleep in until 7:40. I did hear them a bit after 7 but they went into the play room and watched a Wallykazam on tv to let us sleep a bit more.

I am getting a few stitches in this morning on my appliqué block and it should be completed later tonight. Just in time for a August finish =).

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching is going on today. I am looking forward to some calzones for dinner after I get done working today and then a family day in the pool with a BBQ tomorrow for the holiday.

August Wrap Up...

Well, the month is almost done and I had a huge list of things I would have loved to get through. Alas, life keeps getting in the way. Oh well..... maybe next week? (I keep telling myself that the last two weeks.... we'll see if I actually get to sew this next week or not!)

Of my list I was successful in a few things (so much easier to find the positive in life.)
1. ) I got a quilt finished - my crossroads quilt got completed.

2.) I did all my RSC blocks this month. The color of the month over at Angela's Saturday Rainbow Scrap Challenge link up was bright and light green.

3.) Tiny Tuesday blocks - I missed a couple of weeks but did make a few blocks this month.
4.) Step 2 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery Celtic Solstice from last fall is done - 100 chevron blocks.

5.) Move more - Once the kids got into school I have been doing great at going to walks in the morning.
6.) Applique a Century Quilt block - almost done with this. The second blue flower part will be put on tonight or tomorrow night as well as the yellow circles. I'm counting this as almost done..... or will be done by the end of the month.

7.) I read a couple of books this month for a change of pace. I'm currently reading 'A quilt in Time' by Arlene Sachitano.

Lots of time this week was spent researching vehicles and test drives and dealing with salesmen. I have spent way too much time in car dealerships and really hate all the sales hoopla but...... I now have a nice new Honda CRV - EX sitting in my driveway and am all done with dealing with the van accident from last Saturday. Just need to add it to the insurance policy and we are done. Thankfully Greg has had no pain in his back or neck and the kids were not in the van when it happened.

My old van - 2006 Dodge Caravan.

My new Honda CRV 2014!

My goals for September.
1.) Test a pattern Starlight Starbright for my blog friend Joanne. I tested her Quilters Scrapbook pattern in January which is available for purchase at her site. It was so well written and went together like a dream. I can't wait to play with my fabrics and her pattern this month.
2.) Applique the last Century Quilt block and put the top together. Well, get the block done anyway.
3.) Continue my RSC blocks in the color chosen for September.
4.) Tiny Tuesday blocks from the Civil War Diary quilt.
5.) Step 3 and/or 4 of the Celtic Solstice Mystery. I started the orange and green four patches for step 4 yesterday with the 20 minutes I did get to sew this week.
6.) Walk every morning M-F for 30-60 minutes after dropping the kids to school.

I may add some more hand work in (spring flowers or hand quilting) but we'll see how the month goes =).

Linking up with Kathi for the Laundry list link party. Please join us. All you have to do is make a blog post about some goals you would like to achieve for the month of September and link up this weekend. No pressure to finish those goals... but sometimes having it in writing does keep you focused to get things done.

Feeling blessed on this Slow Stitching Sunday.

Sometimes things happen to make you really appreciate what you have. Yesterday morning I got a phone call from Greg that he was in a car accident. The kids had already been dropped off to his Mom when someone pulled out in front of him. Both cars were towed but both people (Greg and the lady in the other car) were ok after the accident. It makes you stop and count your blessings for what you have and are blessed with.

Tonight I will be doing some slow stitching on this appliqué block to finish off the 6 leaves. Then tomorrow I can start with the pretty blue flowers while waiting in the car line on the kids. Don't mind the wrinkles - it was tucked into my busy bag for work yesterday.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching is being worked on today.

Saturday in green.....

You would think having both kids in school full time for three days this week I would have more done. Nope - I only got to sew on Friday. Lots of errands run on Wednesday and a whole stack of newspapers from the previous week got read after a 2.5 mile walk in the morning. I did cut lots of strips out for Celtic Solstice before getting the kids. Thursday - I dusted and vacuumed and cleaned; went to my bowling meeting that took 1 hour in the morning. That starts next Thursday - a new league to me and it will be while the kids are in school =). I got a 3 mile walk in before the temps got ridiculous. Friday..... I sewed and made a bunch of phone calls (school concerning Em's speech, pediatrician for Aidan's canker sores that keep happening, Mom and Mom-in-law a few times). Did I mention I got to sew?

It does not look like much but I have 80 of my 100 step two units done. Oh boy do these take a lot of time! They will be 3 inches finished! Notice all those 2 inch strips ready for parts of step 3,4 and 5?Not a single orange cut yet =)

These are the parts for the next 20 units of step 2 of the Celtic Solstice Mystery. 

I also got to sew the sampler block posted today - Bouncing Betty. This would be a great scrap quilt unit.

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge links. I will be busy at work on Saturday and Sunday this week - assuming people are willing to go shopping in the 100+ heat indexes we are having this week. My car temp was 100 on Tuesday when we got in the car around 4PM and that was with the windshield screen up!

On my walks this weeks I got to see the turkeys again each day and this bunny was in my yard as I was coming home from my walk on Thursday.

Oh - Emily did start school on Wednesday - this is her in her classroom. It is very scary how much she looks exactly like me at that age!

Tiny Tuesday

Day two of school for the boy and the last free day for the girl.
This was him yesterday heading out to school.

After we dropped him off we headed out for a little bike ride. Then we headed to the bowling alley but they did not open until 11........ Em had seen a mail box in a magazine and wanted to make one so a quick trip to Joann's turned up a little crate with some flower buttons and stickers to decorate it. I have a feeling they will be playing mail man later today! Yes Mom, we got one for Aidan too with some dinosaurs.

Before we headed out I got a few minutes to sew up this block from The Civil War Diary book called Delayed Mail.

Since there is a mail theme today the kids got the mail this morning when we headed out to school. They got a card wishing them good luck in school this year from their Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy. We also got a couple of Thank you cards in the mail. Today we need to send a few more birthday cards out - Grandma's is tomorrow and my sisters is next week. I guess it is a complete mail day today!

Saturday in green......

First off - I'm happy to report that my crossroads quilt I made during the first green month is now completed! Well... two more binding sides to go.

I also made my 12 churn dashes this week. Oops.... 11 not 12!

A 16 patch block.

I started cutting out step two for the Celtic Solstice mystery from last fall. All 200 bright green rectangles are cut. Now for the 200 neutral and yellow squares. I think I'll also do the step of the four patches of orange and green - or at least cut the green strips out this month while the pile is next to the cutting mat. Maybe orange will be next month so I can do the other steps with orange then?!? Pretty Please Angela?

Head on over Saturday morning to see what other scrappy greens were played with this week over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

We went to school this morning to meet the kids teachers. Em is tickled pink to have Mrs. Weiss - who happens to team teach with Mrs. Honstead (Aidan's KG teacher last year). Aidan has Mrs. Medina who knew him and his teacher from last year. She looks like a great teacher too. They are very excited to head to school next week. Aidan gets to go all week and Emily will go the last three days. There was only one person under Wednesday so Mrs. W asked if she would like to go that day and make a new friend. She agreed. Looks like a great school year ahead for the kids.

Wonderful Wednesday....

A glorious afternoon of sewing with no interruptions! My crossroads quilt is all done except for hand stitching the binding to the back. The backing got made and the batting cut off the roll. While it was out... I cut the batting for the Rainbow Snails Tail quilt and the Maple Leaf mystery quilt. Those are the next two on the docket for quilting. It feels so good to get something to the completed stage.
The pattern for this can be found over at Connie Reskin's page here.

A rainy Tuesday.....

I just did not feel like doing the Tiny Tuesday blocks...so I didn't! The kids were up, had breakfast and were dressed this morning so they should be all set for school schedules next week. Daddy played school with them yesterday so I had to do the same today. Our science experiment was to make play dough and then use the food coloring drops to make the colors. Em did a rainbow of colors and Aidan did orange, blue and green. They have played off and on all day with it - baking lots of play dough cakes and cookies! My sheet pans will need a good scrub once they have finished all their baking. The bottom of the coffee table is acting as the oven right now. We did some reading and went to the library to return books and take out some new ones. They helped me make our quiche lorraine for dinner tonight with some measuring, stirring and such. They wanted to make cookies too... but I think we'll keep that for a Thursday project. I also cleared out the fridge a bit - all the leftover veggies were put into a pot with some onion, beef broth, water and some frozen prime rib leftover from New Years (I love my seal a meal for the freezer!). Yummy.

I have been sneaking into the sewing room a bit while they have been playing. I cut all my churn dashes out and have the parts pieced and cut. They are all set to start sewing together tomorrow (Grandma day and she is keeping them overnight! Lots of sewing should get done!).

My two RSC Sampler blocks are completed. A shot of all four of them.

My 16 patch block in bright and light greens is completed.

I cut out some pink hexagons and then drew my lines on the back for hand sewing while watching a disney show from the library this afternoon.

While digging to try and find my crossroads top to measure it... I saw the rows of my Hugs and Kisses Quilt. I laid it out on my bed this morning and this afternoon the rows are all sewn together. I need to sew the borders together and see how they will fit all around it. I was planning to hand quilt this in a quilt as you go method but my pieced border was making me a bit nervous on how to attach it. It will just be put together as a top and then I'll work on hand quilting this in the fall when it cools down a bit........ or sooner as it is pulling me towards it right now.

The main project for Wednesday.... is to piece the green homespun backing I found today, pin for quilting and then get it quilted. I'll need to piece a binding as well. It should go pretty smoothly as the quilt is just 48x60 so not too bad to tug around under my machine.

I was originally scheduled to work Friday and have Saturday off.... and then swapped it with Greg so he could have the kid free day Saturday. Well, the kids decided they wanted Dad to stay home with them on Friday after we go meet their teachers in the morning. Looks like I get a second kid free day on Saturday this week  - maybe step two of the Celtic Solstice mystery will finally get started!

Now, do I work on appliqué tonight or the pink hexagon border on the spring flowers quilt....... I'll see which one is calling my name around 7:45 tonight..... or maybe 8:30. The rain finally stopped so I might just have to go take a walk after tucking the kids into bed.

Slow stitching Sunday....

It is Sunday again and the last week before the kids head back to school (not that I am counting down the 7 days until the boy goes back and 8 for Emily! Stagger start for kindergarten so she goes on Tuesday and then full time for both next Thursday). A perfect time to sit back, relax and reflect on the last week. It was a little laid back this week with lots of time at the house, a play date on Thursday morning, bowling for the kids on Friday and then a nice afternoon visit with my 13 year old niece, Sarah. She is down in Florida with a friend this week and got a chance to be dropped off to see our house and the kids while her friend and her Mom got some Mom and daughter time together.

While the kids were with Grandma shopping on Wednesday I got to prep my appliqué block for the Century Quilt.  Everything is all prepped and I will be stitching down the vines tonight after we tuck two kids into bed. This is the September block from the BOM and I love the blue flower. I have two of the last appliqué block kits... so if it goes well one will be in the quilt and one will be made into a little pillow to go with the quilt.

Tomorrow will be an early one -  I get to go to work at the store and it is the start of waking the kids up at 6:30 so they can get used to that early breakfast and being ready to head out the door for school for 7:20. School starts for them at 7:45 - they have to be in their seats in their classrooms at that time. I have a feeling it is going to be a long week getting them prepped for the early wake up time.

Off to check on my dinner - shake and bake chicken with au gratin potato's and a mixed veggie. Maybe a salad on the side if I get this posted and have time to spin the lettuce.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching is being worked on today.

Saturday in bright green.

I was so surprised when I started tugging bright and light greens from the bin and closet at how many I had! I prepped some hexagons last week and have been sewing them together in little bits of time this week. Two to go! Don't you love the striped one? I only had to take one side off and restitch it to get the pattern. It makes me wish I had more stripes to put into this!

I also made one of the RSC Sampler blocks this week. Tinkerbell wanted to be in the middle! I hope to stitch the latest one posted together today if I can get a little sewing room time in.

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see the other bright green creations for the week.

Tiny Tuesday

It was time to tackle a tougher one this week. I decided to paper piece and drew the outline from the book onto a piece of paper. I remembered to make a line 1/4 of an inch around the outside for seam allowance.  I cut it into two parts and paper pieced each portion and then put them together. It got a little wonky when I pulled the paper off. but it should be fine once I start assembling them.
This is called Pleasures of Home.

We did a quick 30-40 minute walk at the trail head this morning. They drew a couple of pictures along the way - some leaves and a butterfly. There were tons of spider webs and big spiders..... maybe we should wait another hour in the morning to have others hit them first? We managed to not walk through any but there were lots around. Some pictures I took along the way.

Aidan drawing the butterfly.

A butterfly that sat patiently while Aidan drew it.

A spider in his web

The 30 minutes I was in sewing this.... someone ran over someone else while driving their cars and trucks on the floor. It never ends. One is playing in his room and he let Em take his Knex into the living room to build with them. We'll see how long this lasts. Then it will be off to the library to return and take out more books. I've been done the book I was reading to Aidan for a few days now.... time for another one. He liked the book so we'll see if we can find others about Melvin Bederman the Superhero. I am reading Ralph and his Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary to Em. I already read the three in that series to Aidan. Em is on book two. I think I might start Little House on the Prairie with her after we are done with Ralph S Mouse. We'll see. Too young to read the Harry Potter series to them.....bummer.
I've been instructed they want celery with cream cheese as a snack so I'm off to make that before we head to get books.

It's Sunday.... which means slow stitching today!

Kathy reminds us each Sunday to relax with some slow stitching and remember to breathe. It is a nice reminder each week to sit back, relax and reflect on the positives from the week.
I finished off an appliqué block this week for the Century Quilt and have two more left to go before this quilt can be put together into a top. I plan to start prepping one of these for appliqué later this evening.

While relaxing after the kids are in bed tonight I plan to add this last row of hexie flowers onto the spring flowers quilt. I had planned to do some more hexagon's for the border... but this pretty batik arrived in the mail this week from Kathi over at KCDesigns and I may incorporate that into the border instead. We'll see what happens over the next week. Thanks so much Kathi for such a beautiful fabric surprise in the mail.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts to see lots of other amazing slow stitching projects today. Now I am off to work for a few hours. I do love my short 4 hour days at the store on Sunday. Will call you later this evening Mom =).

Saturday in bright or light green....

First off - I purchased some mushrooms earlier this week (2 - 8ounce packages of small cremini) to make a recipe I found last Saturday night. We had gone to Sweet Tomato's for dinner after work and I loved the corn chowder - two cups later I had to try and find the recipe. Now... I had changed my schedule last year to work on Mondays..... because that was the only day they had Cream of Mushroom soup! Oh my, it is good. I could not find the corn chowder recipe (although there is a good one from The Pioneer Woman I have made) but... I found the Mushroom soup recipe. I made a half batch Friday night..... pure heaven!  It really was ready to eat in under 30 minutes too! I know what I am having for lunch at work today - yummy cream of mushroom soup. Ok, the secret is out... I love soup. I know, I know,.....you live in Florida and love soup. Very strange but that is just me =)

Ok - back to fabric. Since Angela was so nice to post the first sampler block on the 1st I was able to make it up last night after pulling some bright batiks out of a scrap basket. These were leftover from my niece Jillian's quilt last year. Good memories.

Now to find more to make my normal monthly blocks (hexagon flowers, churn dashes, 16 patch). Since it is a version of green this month... I hope to get the green and cream crossroads quilt quilted and bound this month. I made that on the emerald green month and would love to get it finished off.

What are your plans for the month?


Head on over to SoScrappy and see what other green projects are being started this month. If you are interested, I finished off the red and blue star quilt earlier this week and you can see the finished quilt here.

Friday.....

Last night a very tired girl put herself down for a nap around 4:30 and got up a little before 7.... yup - that messes up bedtime! Aidan and I ate our dinner - baked cod with chives and lemon zest on top, risotto and a veggie. They were watching Food Network and Giada was making something similar and they wanted to try it. Em was still sleeping so we headed out front so he could do chalk and his scooter. It gave me a chance to work a little on this appliqué block to get it finished by the end of the month! That did mean I was in the pool with her from 7:30-8 last night before she got a bath and some reading time and bed around 9.

I just had one yellow bud to put on this morning and once I emptied out the busy bag I found it and quickly put it on. This is a shot of the completed block with Sophie. This is where she is in the morning to get brushed and at night after the kids are in bed. She loves laying on the recliner fold up part... and yes, I tend to leave it up at night for her to stay sleeping on. Spoiled kitty. Two more appliqué blocks to go and the Century Quilt can start being put together! Sew exciting! Hopefully my niece Sally still likes blue and yellow since this one is planning to land in her room once it gets done.

Yesterday morning was a play date with Em's friends and then home for lunch. We got school supplies for them and their classrooms in the afternoon and it is all packed up in their backpacks ready for the first day of school in a few weeks. (18 days but who's counting!) This morning we are meeting a friend of each at the park for a little play time and adult talking time for me with my friend Erin. I think it will be bowling this afternoon - with a heat index over 100 it is too hot to be outside even in the pool for very long. Not sure if I am working this weekend or if Gail is giving me the weekend off to make up for the last week of coverage while she was gone. I suppose I need to go in for a bit on Saturday and do month end.....oh right, kids are to Grandma so I can think and do it at home if needed....hmmm. Must call work this morning and see what my schedule is! Time to get dressed and get ready to head out before it gets too hot to be outside.