Tiny Tuesday....

I sewed up this heart block on Monday. I was too lazy to get up and find some yellow for the circle flower centers so I just did a few french knots with the yellow embroidery thread. I'm calling this one done.

Sunday evening....

I am oh so close to enjoying some relaxing slow stitching. The kids are in their night time bath and shower right now. They got a little smoky from burning the brush in the fire pit this afternoon.

I had been unhappy with my green trip around the world block and finally decided to dig and see if I could find some other fabrics to finish it off better. I found some so those were cut on Monday, the existing 30 inch block was unpicked on Wednesday night up to the white round and now I plan to add more of these new green squares on. I only had the first round of 28 marked for hand piecing so I finished adding my lines at work today in between customers so I am all set to complete this block! It is already making me much happier with the new fabric choices.

Original block I made

Mock up with 'new' fabrics.

After working I got home and grabbed a nice salad for my very late lunch. Then played some games with the kids (fishing, connect four and Zingo) while Greg made dinner. I did pick up and clean the kitchen tonight (with some help from Aidan!) and while Aidan was washing a few of the dishes I was busy separating the coconut meat from the shell. They went shopping yesterday and picked up a coconut and a papaya. Aidan did not like the coconut juice but Em and Greg did. I finished getting the coconut out and peeled and then let the food processor shred it. I see some Magic Cookie Bars being made tomorrow to use it up.... or... I could just add some into the granola bars I want to make. Hmmmmmmm

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching is happening all over the world.

RSC Saturday in light blue.

It has been a busy week. I did get the second blue sampler block made this week. I also made a blue scrappy backing for the Snail Trail quilt and got it pinned. Hopefully it will get quilted tomorrow or Monday so I get a June finish.

We got a little beach and pool time in on Thursday around the storms and a night of finding some crabs on the beach. We are catch and release on those!

Emily making a castle

Aidan walking along the beach

Pool time fun!

Then the space center on Friday was a blast! (Pun intended!)

In a space capsule

Riding on the moon

Photo with an astronaut

Linking up with the RSC Challenge. Head on over and check it out.

Thursday.....

Headed to see a little of this with the kids and Grandma H today. Greg has to work tomorrow.... bummer.

Tomorrow we get to go see The Kennedy Space Center. No rocket launch as it was delayed until Sunday but the kids should have a blast seeing all the space center has to offer. Hope the boys (and sisters) behave as this is a boy scout outing. The kids and Greg will be able to see the rocket in the air from our driveway on Sunday morning.

I just hope I survive. The cold Emily shared with me really drains your energy. I didn't even want to sew yesterday and I had a great opportunity to quilt a quilt. Oh well, there is always next week. Hopefully the resting yesterday will help me get through the next two days. Thank goodness Grandma will be with me to help keep the kids herded and entertained.

Tiny Tuesday

I did this block last night after the kiddo's were in bed. We watched The Hobbit - which turned out to be a pretty good movie! I need to work on the embroidery skills but I'm calling this one done for now.

All the blocks so far this year. This has all been hand pieced. I see a blue sashing to separate these blocks. 20 done, 32 to go! These are from the Midget Appliqué series from sentimental stitches.com. Each block finishes at 4.5 inches.

The kids made a list of things to do yesterday and crossed them off as they did them. Yup - they made a list again today. I love that they added Mom sewing time while we play! Emily is the top - much neater. They crossed off breakfast already.

Monday....

I've been thinking and looking at my green TATW block and I am just not happy with it. The colors on the end are just not working for me. I dug a bit over the weekend and found some more colors that will finish it off better. Based on the amounts I had is how the rounds were determined.... I got them cut out this morning and marked the biggest pile this morning while cooking a burger for Emily for lunch. Now to unpick from the white round out and then add these new squares on in the evenings this week.

Time for a little lunch for me (the kids already ate - hungry at 10:30 after an hour of weeding and mulching outside before it got too hot!) and then I plan to pull the batting out and cut the amount needed for the snails trail quilt. I made a backing for it last week and hope to get it pinned today. Fingers crossed for some quilting time tomorrow!

Slow Stitching on Fathers Day...

The kids were up early to wrap their fathers day gifts and I had to print out some pictures to go in the frames they decorated. He got his dark roast coffee made in his french press and home made chocolate cake muffins with glaze. They taste just like the chocolate cake donuts from Dunkin donuts and take about 25 minutes to make - mostly being oven preheat time!

After some working today for me (Dad will be home with the kids for his Fathers Day!) we'll have a nice dinner on the grill and then some family time. After they are in bed I'll settle in to finish the green block and start on either the purple or red one. That is all that is left to the middle before I start on the borders! So excited!!!!!

I was working on this blue one Friday - I figured that counts for the RSC Challenge!

VTQuilter - blue block

VTQuilter - Sophie testing my quilt.

Aidan was working on a super secret project on Thursday with the sewing machine. He pulled from my scrap pile and made this monster for his Dad. The face is on the top side - two black eyes, pink nose and yellow mouth. The red tie and then the purple and red legs. All his own idea.

VTQuilter - Aidan's Monster for Dad.

Linking up with RSC Challenge for light blue and Kathy's Quilts for Slow stitching Sunday.

Where did the week go?

How is it Thursday already? Today is the last day of swim lessons so the parents and family are invited onto the pool deck to see the progress. MIL is planning to head over to see some of it - and I hope I don't wilt in the sun. Normally I am outside the fence in the shade provided by the fence and can tolerate the heat until the 10:40 swim lesson is done. It has been reaching 99 degrees with heat indexes over 100. It was 107 yesterday afternoon when we got in the car to take Em to the doctors for her cold that is just not going away. almost 3 weeks and she still wakes with a terrible cough. She has so kindly passed this lovely cold onto me and boy does it sap your energy.... or maybe that is the heat?

Hopefully the hubby does not read the blog - as someone has been busy working on his fathers day gift on his sisters sewing machine.

He even had me do a video of him explaining how to sew! It was too funny. Time to fill up the water bottles for swim. Think we'll try and hit a different library today for the afternoon program we missed at our's due to Emily's dr. appt yesterday. She just has a cold that doesn't want to go away. Which means I'll have it for the next month or two. Bummer.

Tiny Tuesday....

I finished this on Sunday night with a few embroidery stitches and then added the yellow surround on Monday afternoon watching a movie with the kids. We hit the pool last night once the air temp went down a wee bit and the sun was not as strong. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Happy Anniversary to my parents - 52 years!

This picture was from their 50th anniversary celebration out at their camp a couple of years ago. Back row are my brothers David and Michael. Middle row left to right is me, Terri and Joanne. Not the greatest picture but that is the one I have.

It also happens to be my nephew Ben's birthday - Happy 23rd birthday Ben.

Would you believe it is too hot to be outside? Yup - feels like 99 degrees today and yesterday it hit 99 degrees on my thermometer. The pool at 89 degrees last night around 7PM felt great. After swim lessons this morning Grandma took us out to McDonalds for lunch. Then it was time to head home and clean and pick up the house. The kids did pretty good picking up things with me and dusting. We cleared out a few drawers and a book case of my cookbooks as well as the hutch. Then it was break time for popcorn and a movie. Winnie the Pooh was on tap for today. Now it is back to cleaning after our break and maybe pool time later when it cools down a bit.

Slow stitching Sunday....

I have had a lot of slow stitching this past week. A couple of midget appliqué blocks (1,2)were made, my 2 inch trip quilt got a light blue row added and I made progress on my hand quilting of the Hugs and Kisses quilt. Three more blocks completed.

I have four blocks left in the center! I plan to get some slow stitching in this evening after a day of making play dough for Emily, weeding a bit, working and then the evening with the family. Some slow stitching is just the thing to unwind with at the end of a busy weekend. Hopefully my handy dandy helper decides to not help so much on Sunday night as she was on Saturday =)
This is what happens when I try to quilt.

inspecting my stitches.

Marking this quilt as hers!

My quilt Mom! Stop quilting and let me snuggle already!

Head on over and see what others are slow stitching at Kathy's Quilts on Sunday morning.

RSC Saturday in light blue....

The RSC Sampler block posted this week was all sewn up. I also got ahead and made the star points in light blue for the next block!

This is the dresden plate in light blue. It is time to cut the fabric to put them on now that I have finished off with the white fabric in the Hunter Star quilt. I believe I have enough for 12 of these blocks.

I also added a light blue round to my 2 inch trip around the world quilt this week. What color should I add for the next round? I am thinking a pink or bright green?

Head on over to the RSC Challenge on Saturday morning and see what other light blue scraps are being used.

Thursday....Midget block

I got another midget block completed over the last two days. This is block # 15 - one of the flowers.

It got finished off last night while watching my Tampa Lightning loose game 4 of the Stanley cup playoffs. Jeanne will be happy her Blackhawks won to tie the series to 2 games each. They head back to Tampa for game 5 on Saturday night.

The kids are doing great at swim lessons and Aidan is oh so close to be back into stroke school. Hopefully next week he'll test in. Emily is doing great also and got a couple stickers yesterday to advance to 1,2,3 breathe! That is the last hurdle before endurance and entering stroke school. We'll see how far they get next week. I have a play date scheduled Friday with a friend of Aidan's this time. Emily had her's last week.

The boy scouts schedule outings in the summers for the boys and one of them is visiting the Kennedy Space Center over in Titusville and they scheduled it for the day of one of the launches! Hopefully the launch will go off and not get postponed. Another trip is to the planetarium for the night sky near Orlando and a science museum up in Gainesville. They also have a mini golf local and some movie nights scheduled as well. Between that and the library we should have some nice things to look forward to this summer.
I woke up in a cleaning mood (That does not happen very often at all!) so I am half done the kitchen (yes Mom I will even pull the things down from the top of the cabinets and wash all the dust off!). One bathroom is done -just need to clean the kids bathroom. Then dusting and clearing all the extra stuff out of the dining room and the house will be considered done for a bit. I vacuumed already and did the floors. Off to finish cleaning before the mood disappears =)

Oh - I had some banana's that were not eaten and starting to turn so I tried out this recipe for Crazy Banana Cake. It was oh so yummy! Give it a try.

Tiny Tuesday...

This week I finally pulled out block #12 on Monday afternoon and with some stitching during the hockey game last night and some stitching at swim practice.... I have a completed midget block.
Must find some white paper so I can print off the next few blocks. I need to have something to do during the two 30 minute swim lessons tomorrow and Thursday.

Monday.....

You know the feeling when you planned to work on something and once you go to do it...... it is not in your bag! That was me this morning at swim lessons. I planned to work on my midget appliqué block and I was sure I had popped it into my bag but..... 2 inch trip around the world and a ball of yarn and knitting needles were all that was in there. No appliqué. Bummer. As the kids had back to back swim lessons I got a few light blue squares added to the TATW block. I'll make sure to put the appliqué block into the bag for tomorrow.

On the way home we hit Sam's club - There was a carry lunch tote on sale and it was the last few days of the sale. I had a blue square bag that I have had forever and it is the perfect size to put three tervis cups of ice water and some snacks for the car pick up line, soccer practice and trips in the car.

Mine was too many years old (I remember using it back when I worked at BCBSVT in the mid 90's!) and had started to leak. We picked up a replacement... which was not the one I was thinking was on sale but for $14 I'm sure this one will last quite a while like my last one did. Can you tell Emily won the selection process? We also filled up the gas tank for $2.70 a gallon. Is it just me or has the price of gas come down nicely this summer?

The kids came home and had a picnic lunch on the living room floor while watching a show. After 1 hour in the pool they were tuckered out. They did set up a cash register, took the order and paid in play $ while I was a short order cook. Aidan - baked beans, watermelon and applesauce with a rice krispie treat for dessert. $5. Emily had a hot dog, watermelon and some baked beans - $1 since she took the orders and got a discount. Waters to drink were free! Crazy kids. I quickly made the pillowcase for the graduation quilt while they ate. Just need to pop it in the mail.

Emily is telling me it is time to go into the pool.

Slow Stitching Sunday....

Time sure is flying. It seems much longer than the 3.5 days the kids have been off school! We went to Orlando yesterday and met up with Emily's Daisy troop to build a bear. The kids had a great time selecting and building their bears. The girls made girl scout bears and Emily picked out a Cinderella dress for her. She named her 'Cookie' since she sells girl scout cookies. 

Emily with her girl scout bear named Cookie.

After much deliberation Aidan selected the bunny with pink ears and promptly named him Long Ears. He had a $40 bear limit and did pretty good coming in at $38 and change. He added a sound chip in the paw - dinosaur growls and a scent of bubble gum which he rubbed all over and then popped into the back of the bear before he was sewn up with his heart. He also got a red sweater and some black socks to keep him warm. 

Aidan with Long Ears his bunny.

Today I get to go into work and do the books and then work the short day before heading home and relaxing with some slow stitching. After a lot of binding the last week with the Celtic Solstice and Hunter Star finish I pulled out the Hugs and Kisses quilt. I have SEVEN blocks left in the center to quilt before I move onto the first border. So happy with the progress on this one. This is block 43 =).

VTQuilter - Hugs and Kisses. Two needles one on the inside of the peel and one on the outside.

VTQuilter - see that black and white cat on my quilt?

VTQuilter - If a quilt is on or near me Maxie thinks she needs to be on it!

Head on over and check out the other slow stitching at Kathy's Quilts. I'll have a wee bit of slow stitching this week while waiting on back to back swim lessons Monday-Thursday. I hope to make progress on the Midget appliqué blocks..... the Hugs and Kisses is way too heavy to have in the car to work on in June in Florida.

Saturday in light blue...

I started a green 16 patch last month and with the kids playing and entertaining themselves on Friday morning I pulled all those 2.5 inch strips I have been cutting down from scraps this year and made some for the previous months. I still need to pull medium and make one from that but I don't seem to have ready made strips of medium blues... I did find the bin of blues so I'll pick out of there and make one to be all caught up.

While I was cutting for the 16 patch I did the twinkle star and when I went to put it with the others look what I found! Yup - I had made one back in January when we did medium blue. The one I made today  is next to the green and appears lighter than the top one so maybe they'll all work in the quilt!

I'm hooking up with the RSC Challenge on Saturday morning.  I'll be home with both kids again and we are headed to Orlando to 'Build a Bear'. Emily will be with her girl scout group and I'll be with Aidan making one for him. Daddy has to work for a few hours that day or he would have been dragged with us!

While there, I am dropping off this colorful quilt to be gifted to one of the girls in Emily's troop.

 The day after the Frozen on Ice show, she lost the ability to move for a little bit and a trip to the ER found an inoperable tumor on the base of her neck. The prognosis is not looking good but hopefully this will make her smile while she is in the hospital getting treatments. She was at the last meeting on Monday night and was walking but as she said 'I'm a bit tippy' as she was holding onto things as she walked along. I made this quilt a few years ago with the RSC Challenge and I think it is just the thing for Maddie to make her smile.

While checking my UFO list I decided to pull my snails trail quilt and attempt to make a backing for it. It is next on the list for machine quilting and hopefully will be finished this month. The top is 48x72 with these 12 inch blocks. I am planning to FMQ circles in each of the blocks - wish me luck! I'm shooting for two finishes in my head (my 16 patch from last year) but will be happy with one.

The thunder in the distance put the pool time on hold so it is board game time this afternoon.  Maybe they'll let me have a break and I can take some time to go pull parts to make a backing for this quilt. One can hope!

Hunters Star is finished!

I finished the binding last night while watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Bummer - Tampa was ahead the whole game until the last 5 minutes when they gave up the tying goal and the winning goal.) I just need to make a pillowcase to put it in and then I can ship it off to Alex in Vermont who is graduating on June 13th. He is headed to UVM (University of Vermont) next fall and I hope he likes his graduation present. He requested medium blue and white - I think this Hunter Star fits the bill.

I used warm and natural batting. The backing is a medium blue cotton that looks like a striped linen. I used the walking foot and outlined each of the stars about 1/4 inch outside the star. Before doing the ones on the edge I did a quick basting stitch close to the edge so the final quilting would be smooth. The quilt is 64x80 and just needs a visit in the washer and dryer and some writing on the label.

Two finishes this week - think I can get another finish this month? It would be nice to get another UFO checked off the list. Maybe one of the RSC quilt tops from last year can find a backing and get quilted? We'll see =).