Friday.....

I got to sew a bit yesterday after finally dusting and vacuuming my bedroom. Yes.... I tend to ignore that one but when moving things off the walls so the bug guys could spray I saw how much dust is in there... and poor Greg who is allergic to the cats who pretty much inhabit that room while the kids are awake.... I think he slept a lot better last night =)

I finally pressed the rows and sewed them together. Can you see my last seam as the hurry up to start dinner got put on upside down? I hate sewing rows...... which is why this sat for over a week. I sewed two together and then right into a set of four. There will be a little seam ripping going on today. Dinner last night was a tater tot casserole (added cheese before the tater tots!), which Aidan loved but Em...not so much. She did eat all the tater tots though!

I also took breaks during the day and added a few squares onto the trip block yesterday as well..... and cut the last ones needed this morning. Now to draw the lines and then get them onto the block.

Mom - Aidan earned back the Florida Night sky trip tonight =) Good luck to Dad today... thinking of you both during his tests.

Wednesday applique... a glove!

I started this one last night and finished off the heart at the kids dentist appointment this morning.

I also got to start back basting the branch for another little midget applique while waiting for them to finish up. Both kids have sparkling white teeth and no cavities! Emily has two loose teeth on the bottom. She is very excited to finally loose some teeth to get a tooth fairy visit =).

Now to clean the house before the bug guys come to spray the house inside and out tomorrow morning. My reward for cleaning and finishing up the girl scout things I need to do will be a little sewing time on the wedding quilt. I am going to need the sanity sewing today. Someone is being a pill already from the time we got back from the dentist. We were going to head and see Daddy... but that got taken away as did his boy scout star trip on Friday. You would think he would learn..... oh well. Time to clean.

Row by Row Experience!

Three days without a computer...ok, I had my i phone but I just checked a few e-mails and the weather with that. Well, I also used the map app for directions. Directions, you say? Yup - there is a row by row experience going on this summer and after doing some research on it last week (and stopping by my local quilt shop to get their row), there were quite a few quilt shops in the area I was heading to. Yes, I ditched the family (I did make sure the hubby was ok with it) and hit some quilt shops in the Rockledge (Cocoa Beach/Melbourne) area. I found six shops and would you believe in just a couple of hours I hit 5 of them! I also got to meet up with RSC Challenge host Angela and her daughter Anna to hit four of them. So fun!

We started at The Quilt Place in Rockledge where they have a very cute row of sailboats. I just got the free pattern there and I am going to use my hand dyed fabric and batiks to make that row.
We then went to Fabric, Fabric, Fabric five minutes down the road to get  a cute row of duckies! They are pre cut and have the fusible web on them already so I purchased that kit and pattern. Then we went to Quilting Folks Sewing Galary to pick up a very cute row of different blues and tans for water and sand with some applique starfish and octopus on it. They had also added some beads which just made it sparkle. Yup - got that pattern with the fabric and I think I'll put one in the quilt and make a table runner for my table using my fabrics. Five minutes from that one was Quilts and Lace where I just got the pattern. That row is a thermometer and I have some red rick rack from my grandmother that I think I'll use to outline the thermometer. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at Sew Central - which is a great little quilt shop. Very friendly staff and I picked up a kit of the nautical flags spelling out water. Water is the theme for this year. They are a Viking dealer (I have a Quilt Designer sewing machine) and had the greatest beach bench pillows..... did I think to take a picture? Of course not but great inspiring quilts hanging all around.

There was also time on the beach building sand castles, boogie boarding (Grandma, Aidan and Greg) and jumping waves. Some walks on the beach with the kids crabbing at night and with my friend Shelly and her kids who was down from NY on vacation. Lots of time in the pool and pirate ship kiddie pool as well. 

 Mr Crab on the beach - posing for a photo.

Three more weeks until school starts....not that I am counting down the days or anything!

Time to throw in a batch of laundry and maybe grab something to stitch.

RSC Saturday...

Well, the wedding couch throw is sewn into rows... just need to iron the rows and sew them together into a top. So handy to have these birds in the air blocks sitting there from a past RSC Challenge. The setting will have it be 60x72 right now and I am seriously thinking of adding a cream 5 inch border around it and then adding a little appliqué vine and a few flowers on two of the corners. Thinking a scrappy binding.... that would bring it up to 70x82 for a little bigger snuggly quilt. 

Unfortunately... I had hoped to make this and hand quilt in a baptist fan pattern.....time will not allow on this one but since I had some blocks left (a bunch of pink!).. I calculated colors and number of blocks needed for a 14x14 layout.

Blocks needed broken down by color and what I have already.

12 'red' to add to the pile.

I made a little progress on the maroon trip around the world block. This will eventually finish at 30x30. I have to pull and prep my squares from the white round out but hope to have this one done by the end of the month. Maybe a completed block will be shown next Saturday?

Linking up with Angela over at the RSC Challenge.

Yesterday we went to Lecanto HS with Grandma to see the Tampa Tiki Drummers. They put on a great performance and the best part - it was free as part of the library summer programs. After that Grandma took us to the Chinese buffet (Emily's favorite!). The kids were really good at the performance and restaurant. Between too many desserts and being excited about a beach trip someone was a pill and pushed ALL my buttons for 4 hours yesterday (3PM-7 when Greg got home to take over). Yup - I actually opened a bottle of wine ( such a wine drinker I am the bottle had been sitting unopened in the fridge for 2 months!).  This boy below was the culprit. He was probably a little annoyed because Ms. Emily was scheduled to have a tent out with Daddy last night but got rained out. Silly me said the living room was big enough to put up Daddy's tent.... so that is where they were. The tired boy is even more tired this morning as he was up way too late trying to get into the tent. He tried it for 30 minutes but could not fall asleep so Dad sent him back to his room around 9:30. Then..... why does the highest fire alarm on the cathedral ceiling always start beeping in the middle of the night? It finally got changed this morning with the 16 foot ladder.... so pretty much no one in the house got any sleep last night. Kids are off to Grandmas for a few hours. I'll be running errands and I think everyone needs a nap this afternoon. (and if I can't nap I'll be shut up in the sewing room pressing those rows and sewing them together!). Lets hope I remember to shut the rotary cutter so I don't cut myself like I did yesterday. A nice Doc McStuffins band aid is on my ring finger on the left hand to make the boo boo all better. Those blades are sharp!

Aidan playing the drums.

Tiny Thursday....

The kids were getting some worksheets and coloring pages printed out on Tuesday... so I printed off some more appliqué blocks. I also got to draw the lines on the back of all of them for back basting and picked fabrics and got them cut to the needed sizes while the kids were coloring. They all got bundled up into a ziplock bag - quart size and are sitting by my recliner chair in their little bucket. So easy to just grab one and work on it. Did I mention I love zip lock bags for organizing my 'take with' projects? I have one for the 2 inch trip around the world quilt, one for the colored 2.5 inch trip block, some for the hexies from last year, etc. So handy to just grab a bag and the bag for needles, scissors, thread and head out the door!

Very rainy the last couple of days so I got two blocks done. Four pedal flower and Umbrella. Someone needs to talk me out of making the umbrella bigger and doing that next year for the RSC Challenge please!

I sent the kids out with my phone to snap some pictures of the flowers that finally bloomed. Ignore the messy porch! and the weeds =) 

Tiny Tuesday.... Rose of Sharon

I finally just got this 4.5 inch block done! How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! I started on the outside for the tips of the flowers and worked my way to the inside. The big pink flower in the middle was one piece and then I finally got a fairly yellow circle in the middle!

I picked up the sewing room floor, vacuumed and laid out the blocks yesterday. Now that the Tiny Tuesday block is done, maybe I can sneak in and sew a few blocks together this afternoon.

Design wall Monday....

On tap this week is to start putting my birds in the air blocks together into a quilt top! I have a September deadline.... the Wedding is September 12 so I'd better get started! Now that it is on the blog... I'd better get to work on it. I know, I am the queen of procrastination!

Slow Stitching Sunday....

Time to start on the first border of Hugs and Kisses. I used a % off coupon on top of a sale on Thursday and got this template for a little over $2. The marking pen I got....didn't show dark enough and faded quickly so I used a pencil to mark it instead. One side is marked..... I plan to start quilting this one later tonight. I got a thorn in my pointer finger on Friday weeding so no needle and thread until today since it finally stopped hurting. We'll see how the left hand does..... smushed it in the wall closet Friday afternoon when putting towels away. Don't ask how I did that one ... must slow down but boy did it hurt.

Linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow stitching Sunday. Head on over and check out some neat projects.

RSC in Red...

I got some quality sewing time in on Friday. I had the kids with me out doing some weeding this morning since we were finally home in the morning before it got too hot. We were out weeding while the AC guy was here doing the semi annual cleaning. After 1.5 hours... I was done and it was starting to get hot. We moved inside and the kids started working on some chores so I could get some 'Mommy' time. Aidan is handling the laundry and Emily was loading the dish washer.
I got to finish sewing the two RSC Sampler blocks! Two lantern versions this month.

I also sewed my rows together for the tumbler flag quilt. I am not happy with it - It needs at least four more blues (8 total across) and a four more columns on the other side I think. Now to figure out how to add those nicely......

I also caved and started a Trip Around the World block in maroons this week. I have the next two rounds cut but need to mark the sewing lines on the second one. Lots of red progress this week.

Head on over on Saturday morning to see what the other RSC Challenge participants are up to. As for me... I'll be heading into work but will check in as time allows.

Tiny Tuesday..... on Wednesday

Technically I finished this last night on Tuesday. Another version of a flower block. The flower was done last week but those leaves.... there is something about them that makes me put them off. They are not difficult just cumbersome.

Yesterday was a busy day. Swim in the morning and then a quick trip to Beverly Hills to drop off my month end to the accountant. Then home for a quick lunch (and I sewed two rows of the flag top together!). Grandma arrived and we headed to see the Minion movie which was really good. So fun to see the kids laugh through the movie... and fill up on popcorn and candy (they were with Grandma after all!). When we got home Aidan had been wanting to play Skip-Bo and since no one was hungry (no making dinner for me!) we played a few games and I taught him and Emily some strategy and how to play the game.  All in all a good day.

Slow Stitching Sunday.....

a wee bit late tonight. The girl had a headache so went to lay down in her room a bit after 4 this afternoon.... yup - she fell asleep. We figured she needed it so let her sleep. You guessed it - she came out at 8:40PM wide awake and wanting dinner! She is getting a last show and then she'll have to head to bed - swim lessons tomorrow morning and she needs her rest. She doesn't look the least bit tired :( She is snuggled up in Daddy's quilt.

Emily - wide awake after  a very long nap.

VTQuilter - trip around the world block in maroon.

I pulled out some maroon squares I had cut last Friday while the kids were sewing their projects. I am hand stitching these until I can put her to bed. I guess I decided to make a maroon (red) trip around the world block this month!  Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other hand stitching is happening today.

RSC Dresdens...

 I added three dresden plates to the group today.  The red is not that vibrant in real life but I do love the maroon and forest green ones I added to the mix. That was my reward for letting the kids sew after I was done with these.

Aidan's top - the rainbow fabric is on top but he pieced the yellow and black on my machine by himself. I did the cutting with the rotary cutter. It is 14x15 inches. He even drew a picture of the 'quilt' he wanted to make.

Aidan's creation Age 7

Emily picked these fabrics and sewed them together and then used some stitches on her machine to make them smaller with the zig zag. Again - they did the sewing I just did the cutting. They were quite proud of themselves.  Emily drew a picture of her project before starting as well. It kept them busy while I finished with the dresden plates.

Emily's creation age 6

I cut them off at 5:22 realizing I had to feed them dinner and had not taken anything out. Em and I had burgers and beans while Aidan had some meatballs in sauce and beans. Dessert was the granola bars I made this afternoon with some coconut, nuts, and craisins. I under cooked them thinking they would be softer and maybe Em would like them. Nope, she didn't... and they are more like crumbly, soft granola bits rather than bars. Still tastes good and I've already had some on top of vanilla yogurt. Aidan loves them and is on his third bar. 

I'm going to link up with the RSC Challenge for red on Saturday morning. You might also be interested in the mid year link party for the Challenge this year. There are tons of neat projects being worked on using up our scraps.

RSC Mid year wrap up - and some recipes.

It is July already and time to evaluate how the RSC Challenge is coming along. I am doing pretty good this year - I have dropped some of my planned monthly projects (Hexie surround by black and the scrappy strips) and added others. Oh well, there will always be scraps to use up in something!

The RSC Sampler is coming along. I need to finish cutting my alternate blocks for light blue and sew up the red blocks. It looks like two rows can be sewn together at this point...not sure if I will do that this month or wait until the kids are back in school next month and I have more time =).

I have the dresden plates and the added 16 patch blocks. I have done the 16 patch the last two years and made them into stars 1 and stars 2 but this year I think I'll make a colorful 'Goodnight Irene' quilt with X blocks adding some interest to look like a cube in a cube. I think I need at least 18 of the patch blocks and then the alternate so I'll make a bunch more this year for that project or maybe it will go into next year's challenge! I need to grab some paper and colored pencils to plan that one out before making the alternate blocks.

The hand pieced Trip around the world blocks are finishing at 30 inches each. That should make a great twin size with 6..... or queen size with 9. Still debating if I attempt one with red or not.... I frogged (unstitched Mom) a bunch of the green and replaced the outer edge and I am much happier with it. That leaves those previous corners... which could be done up in forest deep greens at some point if I attempt red, orange and then another color - maybe an aqua? Thinking on that one. These will be hand quilted as blocks eventually and set together once I decide on 6 or 9!

After watching the twinkle stars over the last few years I decided to take the plunge and have been making them this year. They will finish at 10 inches.

I did head to the doctors this week and my summer cold is so lovely that the cough will last for another month! At least my energy level is coming back to normal this week as you can tell by all the cooking I did yesterday! I made homemade hamburger buns, pulled pork in the crock pot which was loved by all and then I put the bread maker to work last night making up some cinnamon rolls! They were oh so yummy for breakfast this morning. I just used the recipe from the break maker instructions. 

Head on over to the link party and see a recap of the other RSC Projects!

Ok - one more picture - I need to vacuum the sewing area so I can start laying these birds in the air blocks out to make a wedding quilt for September. I made these blocks with the RSC Challenge a couple of years ago. Very fun to make in a 6 inch size.

Slow stitching Sunday.....

Another weekend is at the end. Time to sit back and relax with some slow stitching. I plan to pull out the Hugs and Kisses quilt in a few minutes and work on quilting the last two blocks in the center. Then I'll have to decide on the border pattern!

I also prepped a midget block for tomorrow morning. Another two weeks of swim lessons for the kids but just one session for each this time. I should be able to get a good start on this one tomorrow for a Tuesday post.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow progress is being made this week. I got my green trip around the world block completed this week and I am much happier with this block now.

Happy 4th of July!

It has been a lovely morning with my hubby. Sleeping in with no kids in the house is wonderful! Thanks Grandma. I cut this out yesterday and have not made any more progress with it. Maybe tonight. These are from 5 inch strips for the tumblers.

I got to play with the lawn mower today since Greg was here to get it out of the shed. It took a bit to get used to but I mowed the back - got caught on the fence once and then got the hang of the zero turn mower. By the time I got to the front I have it down! It was kinda fun. Greg trimmed up the front bushes while I did the front and then we had some relaxing pool time with no kids. Time to head to Grandma's for the BBQ and to collect the two rascals. Hope you are having a fun and safe 4th of July.

RSC Saturday in red.....

I pulled out my red fabrics and sorted them into red and maroon. I cut strips of 2.5 inches off some stacks of fabric on the shelf and had enough to make my 16 patch, twinkle stars and cut some 2.5x4.5 wedges for the dresden plates. I got a lot done on Wednesday so all the resting on Monday and Tuesday paid off! The kids even cooperated and let me have some sewing time in the afternoon.

I also cut some forest green while I was in there and made a 16 patch and a twinkle star of that shade as well. Yes... it looks like Christmas in July on my cutting mat!

Halfway through the year and this is the results of one a month with the RSC Challenge.......

16 patches with 2.5 inch squares.

Twinkle stars with 2.5 inch squares

The dresden plates and trip around the world will be next week.

Not too shabby. Thanks so much to Angela for hosting the RSC Challenge again this year. Head on over Saturday morning to see what other half year reports are in. I checked back and it looks like I have joined in since January of 2011!

In fact - here is a finish this week from some blocks made a few years ago! I did the snails trail block in light/dark for the color chosen each month. I quilted it this week and made and added the blue binding. This finishes at 48x72 and just needs a spin through the washer and dryer.

Tumblers.....

Bonnie announced this years Leader and Enders Challenge.... Tumblers! I've been intrigued by these quilts for a while now and have even printed off a template for a tumbler in the past year. So, do I join in? I did a bit of research on creating templates since the 3 inch one I printed off.....I really don't have strips of fabric in that size! I've been thinking.... I have a kaleidoscope ruler or a 60 degree one. How about if I position that on the strip and then use tape to mark a top and bottom line on that and then use that to cut out the shapes? I think I am on to something with this thinking process. Thank goodness the 'thought' for the day came so early!

Are you joining in the Leader and Ender challenge? I've been searching some Pininterest boards and decided I really like the ones with deep colors and alternating with a 'light'. I think I need to trim up some cream scraps into 2.5 inch strips and get cutting! This quilt by Jo at Jo's Country Junction is my inspiration.

From Jo's Country Junction

I also love this little flag tumbler quilt found at Roguequilter. I even have some blue fabrics from Kathi C that would be great in this quilt! She has made a beautiful one too! Maybe I'll whip up a quick little flag quilt tomorrow while the kids are at Grandmas! Hmmmm I was planning to steam clean the carpets.... decisions, decisions....

On tap today is a play date at a friends new house for some pizza for lunch and swimming. Lets hope the thunder storms don't start until later this afternoon today.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to my northern Friends.

In the spirit of red for the July RSC Challenge I was cutting some red and maroon 2.5 inch strips this morning. They will be turned into 16 patch blocks, twinkle stars and then some dresden plates =). Now if the kids will let me sew a bit today......

I also got the snails trail quilted - not quilted how I envisioned it but it is quilted and the binding is machine stitched on. Just need to hand stitch it to the back and then I can show it. Hopefully in the next day or two.