Slow Sunday Stitching.....

Today... I will actually finally slow down and relax! Hard to believe I know. We are having a houseguest arrive later today with the children when Grandma returns them. We are dog sitting Grandma's boxer Buddy for a week. The cats have not been informed... they will not be happy!

There just happens to be Harry Potter Movies on this weekend and I have a few hand stitching things to select from.

Will there be some stitching of purple binding on the Grandmothers Choice quilt?

Will some stitches be hand quilted into the trip around the world quilt on the frame?

Will some final stitches be added to the center of the leftover peels doll quilt before I move onto the border?

I think a couple or maybe a little stitching on all three might just happen today... along with some floating in the pool.

Head on over and see what others are slow stitching today.

RSC Saturday....

This week I found the stack of blocks from the 2015 RSC Challenge quilt that Angela designed. It is still accessible on her blog under the 2015 tab if you are interested in making your own!

I modified the borders for mine to extend the chains. This week is the week to sew the blocks into sections. I have one side of 2 blocks and the border sewn together and hope to finish the other side later today..... after I fix two things... the top part I guess I cut the white border a little too long as it is off and then by the yellow block - need to turn that connector block so the orange is on the bottom! Good thing I laid it out this morning!

The middle section is sewn into rows that just need to get sewn together. 

The thought process is that in smaller sections I should be able to machine quilt this on my small sewing machine. It is too big for my hand quilting frame.... so hopefully this will work as a quilt as you go. I am still trying to figure out quilting designs..... feel free to throw out ideas! I could use them. I am thinking an X through the connector and then making a petal around each section of the X..... Quilting design decisions is my least favorite part of quilting.


Linking up with the RSC Challenge for Multi colors today.

Wednesday Moda Blockhead day...

Block number 8 was released today. So far.... I have made three of the blocks. Week 1 - Whirligig is the blue and brown one. Week 6 is Sunflower - pink with blue and then week 4 is the Bee skeep.

The bees skeep  was done yesterday at the orthodontist office while waiting as Emily got her braces on. She is not happy now... her mouth hurts. Hopefully the tylenol is helping while she is at school today. This photo was yesterday afternoon relaxing on the couch with a movie.

I think the garden needs a good weeding again - and this afternoon is the designated time since the humidity should be arriving back in Florida in the next few days. Time to do it before that hits.... I can't deal well with the humidity. I did have my dinner from the garden yesterday - peas and swiss chard =) Looks like the next 4 rows of beans should be ready to pick this weekend too.

Sunday.....

Kathy reminds us each week to slow down, breathe and relax. So far today I have felt like a sloth as I have been on the computer in the morning just browsing. The kids found a recipe for donut holes and they made the batter with little help from us adults. I did step in and turn on the fryer and did that part but they did everything else. The donut holes came out great! Recipe found here.

Then they actually went outside to play! I cleaned up the kitchen and then as they went into the pool I cut the batting and started pinning the grandmothers choice quilt that I rolled onto the boards yesterday with Emily.

Just one last section to pin and then some machine squiggle stitching later will have me stitching the binding later this evening... maybe while watching Zootopia since Kathy kindly put that movie into my head!

Next was heading out to pick blueberries. I have taken my kids to pick blueberries down here for the last few years and didn't realize how much they liked it. They are so excited it is berry picking time again =)

4-5 pounds of fresh blueberries later we headed home.

We used 4 cups of them to make a yummy blueberry pie. I made up my family's chicken sauce and Greg fired up the Big Green Egg to cook the chicken. So yummy. While that was happening I was able to finish quilting the quilt,

trim it then attach the binding to the front. After dinner the kids decided it was game night. We played a game of Sorry - which Daddy won just barely... Aidan was going to win on his next turn! Then a game of SkipBo.. which I got lucky and won. Bath time is done (reading Charlottes Web to Emily) and kids will be settled into bed for the night. I think it might be time for me to put in the Zootopia video and stitch the binding down on the Grandmothers Choice quilt.

Linking up very late to the Sunday Slow Stitchers.

RSC Saturday in multi colors....

I figured I'd better find something this month to join in on the RSC Challenge. I made the mistake  was checking out blogs and stumbled upon the free patterns at quiltville.com a la Bonnie Hunter. I found this crayon box quilt... and just had to make a few blocks on Friday afternoon .....

While digging in the box for 2.5 inch strips I found these 6.5 inch crumb blocks and decided to sew sets of 4 together. I seem to have no green or orange crumbs.... I might need to remedy that. I certainly have the scraps hanging around to make some!

Then.. my quiet time in the sewing room was over as the girl decided she wanted to work on her quilt.  Something about banging her head on a board where Dad is expanding the deck off the pool. She is fine.  

A few of her hst blocks got sewn together and then I had to supervise the start of dinner. The kids picked the meal - kielbasa, mashed potato, corn, cucumber salad and pears... but seems I am out of pears so they are going with the jar of mixed fruit. I'll just have a few bites before I head out for my cooking club tonight. 

Linking up Saturday morning with the RSC Challenge.  Oh, if you are interested I finally got the cat and mouse quilt to a top stage this week. You can see that here.

Moda Blockheads....

My reward for getting the cats and mice into a top from the last post..... was to make another block from the Moda Blockheads. There have been 7 blocks released - they release one each Wednesday from 6 different designers. I made block 6 this week to go with the 1st one I had made. This is the completed block. I just drew a circle onto the top of the fabric in the middle and hand appliqued it down before the soccer game last night.

It would have been done sooner in the day.... but this happened when I was quickly sewing it together before picking up the kids from school. The seam ripper was called to duty to help fix the mistake. At least it measures the correct 6.5 inches! 

Cat and Mouse is a top!

I finished the last mice details last night and was able to sew them into rows and attach them this afternoon while the quiche is cooking for an early dinner (spinach, onion, Easter ham, sharp cheddar). I also have some rosemary roasted potato and onions in the oven too - since it was on!

Kids have soccer practice tonight so I figured this would be a lighter meal for them before they have 1.5 hours or running around in the 86 degree temps. I think it is my turn to take them... so I'd better find and prep some hand work... or maybe I'll take my kindle and read?

Easter Weekend.

Still no multicolored playing of scraps for me. I seem to be concentrating on 3 projects right now.....

Hand quilting my trip around the world quilt on the frame. This one gets a roll today. I am finding I can work 4-5 squares at a time on a quilt roll. Hey - this was a RSC Challenge block of the month a few years ago! I can't wait to get to the blue/orange/purple row next!

Finishing my mice so I can get the cat and mouse quilt to a top stage this month. 8 are completed so 6 left to go. I think I will make the 2 side borders and attach them today with 8 of the completed mice. I think I made these cats on a blue/aqua month a few years ago with the RSC too!

Grandmothers Choice is a top. Time to expand the backing and cut the batting for it off the roll so it can get pinned today. I was hoping to quilt it today.... but life happens and someone has a few hours still to make up for the work week.

Something about cleaning the house today is in the cards as well. At least the kids are at Grandma's for the day. I have plans to make myself some cream of mushroom soup a la Sweet Tomato's recipe (hey - the mushrooms were 69 cents this week at Aldi so I HAVE to make this soup for lunch!)

Emily has a treasure box project at school - to re purpose something and write about it answering some key questions and then will present it to her class. This is the 3rd project like this so far this year in 2nd grade (Diorama of Arctic Tundra and then her career kid to be a Vet)! She made a sandwich holder using a 1 gallon jug! Here she is adding the button to her project to close the lid.

Emily - adding a button to a project.

Can't forget the other kid - here is Aidan in goal on Thursday evening at their soccer game. That's our coach in front of him during the warm ups.

Aidan in goal - I swear he grew taller this week! (might explain the grumpiness)

Linking up with the RSC Challenge (since a couple projects were done with the RSC). Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy on Sunday. I'll be getting stitches in on the mice and on that quilt Sunday!

If anyone is interested.... I am having a virtual Pampered Chef Party the next 2 weeks on Facebook. The catalog is online and it ships directly to you at your house. If you are interested and would like an invite - please let me know (e-mail/facebook). There will be recipes, games, tips and prizes to win. This is my month to 'host' our cooking club that meets the last Friday of the month. I figured I'd throw a Facebook party in case anyone needed any fun cooking things! I have a few things on my wish list that I have been playing with at my monthly night out. The whipped cream maker (in under 30 seconds with just 2-3 ingredients!), the can opener - no jagged edges, and the kitchen spritzer- much nicer than their original one from years ago!. The rock crock is another neat cooking tool as well as their stone wear. Love making my crispy zucchini fries on my stone baker.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter with Family and Friends.

It's a top.... again!

Ok. The sashing borders on the Grandmothers Choice were way off.... so it really did have to have some border added (like it wanted) to help hide my booboo's on size. I was hoping that tan was a little darker than the sashing when I grabbed it... oh well. I think it is happy with it now... so time to remeasure it and see how much I need to add to the backing I had already made. It should not be too bad.... I only added 6 inches on each side with the 2 borders. I have enough of the purple border to make the binding as well. It turned out bigger than I was thinking - around 84x84! 

We had a power outage (unscheduled and not from a storm) for a couple of hours on Tuesday evening while the kids and Greg were at soccer practice. I took the time to get some hand quilting in on my trip quilt in a very quiet house. See the white cat Sophie on her chair? She was purring up a storm as I quilted away.

Emily is taking a break from homework so off to the garden I go to see what beans and peas need picking. 

Slow Sunday Stitching....

Kathy reminds us each week to slow down and relax with some slow stitching. Today.... she said to break into the box of kits that we purchased and actually stitch something up! I confess, I do have a nice purple basket of kits that I really do want to break into this year. I did pull one in January and stitched it up to a completed quilt - my Thangles quilt here. It is almost time to pull another one out but first... I would like to finish my Grandmothers Choice quilt (which still needs borders and quilting!). That will be my reward - to start something new once it is done.

Today... I plan to continue on with my mice. I have the last 9 back basted and ready for trimming and then needle turn appliqué. I did sew the four spools for the corners of the mice border around the cats this week. I sew hope to have these guys done this month so the cats have something to chase on that quilt top!

Linking up with Kathy for the Slow Sunday Stitching link.

This week we had a birthday! Emily turned 8 on Friday. After school... we went to a local discovery zone and visited the traveling airplane display. The kids got to make paper rockets and use an air pressure pump to set them off. Then we went out to dinner at Emily's favorite restaurant - Yamato's for the hibachi grill. Yesterday - she had bowling (97 and 110 were her scores!) and then the Grandparents here in FL came over for a mid afternoon meal - her favorite - Roasted Veggie and Sausage pasta with garlic bread and salad. She wanted a dog cake - so that is our version of Buddy the Boxer - Grandma's dog with a white bone. After they left she thought I needed to take a walk....but after a little bit someone's belly hurt so we headed home very slowly. Turns out the little girl got a stomach bug and had a rough evening and night. She is home resting today while Aidan goes to Grandma's for the day. Oops - need to swap her comforter and quilt and sheet from the washer to the dryer - at least it was not on the carpet in the middle of the night!  I have a feeling I will be doing some slow stitching while cuddling with someone on the couch while watching movies today. Hope you all have a happy and healthy week.

Weekend......

It has been a busy weekend so far....... but no sewing or quilting has happened yet. That should change today I hope. The kids are on their way to Grandma's and that leaves me with a quiet house for a little bit.

Yesterday - the kitchen got cleaned up and mopped (much needed on that one). Then Emily's room got taped for painting... why does that take longer than you think? Dad and Emily did the painting - a lilac color was her choice for her room. Very pretty and little girlie.

Then it was weeding to find the plants in the garden. Summer has hit in Florida and we hit 90 degrees yesterday afternoon. Thank goodness we have not been hit with the humidity yet - that will be all too soon. Some green beans were picked. All rows were hand weeded around and I found the swiss chard and radishes. The cucumbers decided they did not like the new spot..... so I'll try watermelon seeds  and yellow squash in there. Will try pumpkins too in mid June to see if we can get them to grow down here.  The zucchini are not looking too happy so I think I need to change the watering schedule to daily instead of every other day. Hopefully we get rain soon - it is very dry and there is a no burn warning out. Still need to weed by the peas and the scallions and corn but lots of progress was made. That wiped me out and other than watching kids play in the pool I did nothing last night.

After some weeding yesterday.

Today - It will be picking up a  bit and cleaning the house before I tackle picking up the sewing room. I think I am avoiding going in there since it is such a mess. Must pick up and clean a bit so I feel like going in there to sew. Anyone else have this happen? Ok, this is the mess that is in there now...

Messy sewing area - please don't judge me!

hopefully it looks better when I am done. I really need to organize it up a bit and convince hubby to make me a new ironing space (on the left side wall I think) with some storage space underneath. I am thinking at least 16 inches across and 45 inches long...you know so a standard yard of fabric will fit for ironing and those 12 inch blocks for pressing without issues like the normal size ironing board.....

At some point - I will plan to watch a movie this afternoon and get some nice relaxing hand stitching in on my Trip around the world quilt. I was able to make my first roll of the quilt on my hand quilting frame on Friday night. I just need to baste the side edges and then I think I can work on another 4-5 rows of my squares in green, yellow and maroon. That will be my slow stitching for the day. This was before the turn.. I love the texture the quilting is adding on this quilt.

I did get a little Rainbow Scrap Challenge sewing in this week to make 2 more 16 patch blocks in red - to go with the maroon from earlier this month and teal and purple.

I also have the parts made for 3 more friendship stars to go with the 9 I made earlier.

Angela picked multicolored for the month of April. I might find some multicolored parts and pieces while picking up the sewing room today that will become 'something'.... maybe a small crazy quilt?

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching and the RSC Saturday link up. Now to go play with some fabric.