Sunday.....

A day of rest.... that is what Sunday's should be. Unfortunately it is usually a prep day for the week ahead.

After a camping trip (cabin camping) with the girl scout troop and a full 12 hours of sleep last night - The kids tucked me into bed around 8 last night - I feel refreshed!

The kids are just off to Grandma's for the Cooter festival today. Me... I should pick up the house and get a little grocery shopping in. It is finally cool enough to weed gardens..... but the reality...... I think I will sew!

I plan to get a good start on making some blocks for Aidans quilt in his colors. Emily's is to a top stage... and will require a shopping trip for backing sometime in the next week or two. I will also need a backing for the finished tumbler hand pieced top as well.

Eventually, some slow stitching will happen later this evening... It will be a toss up of either adding some leaves and the middle parts to the Save the Bee's block 1

or

hand quilting on the baby quilt which has had no progress on it since I last posted! Someone has been using it for a bed.

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching and RSC Challenge.

Now for a little recap on my week if you are interested.

The hands are healing from the attempt to bring the cats to the vet this week. The new ones were to both go on Monday. Just Peanut went... and I got lots of scratches all over my right arm and hand from Ollie. Wednesday, Sophie was to go in the afternoon and if I could get Ollie he would go too. The kids were home on a half day of school to help. Sophie went.... Ollie got my right hand ring finger - huge scratch along the inside a bit below the knuckle to the first part of the finger. Yup - at the itchy scab healing part now and it still hurts 5 days later! So fun when you walk into the vet and they exclaim on all the bloody band aids you have on you!  Thursday - I managed to bowl with a band aid on that finger... did pretty good with my first 202 of the season! Friday around 10:15.... got a call from school with notice the kids had been evacuated to the school next door for a suspicious package.  We had the option of getting the kids... which at 3 miles away and working from home, I went and got them.  I figured it was around 10:30 and adding 860 elementary school kids to the 1100+ middle school, at lunchtime it was best to clear them out not knowing time frame of them getting back to their campus. The kids were scared when I got them - very worried about each other. Turned out it was just replacement refrigerator parts in the teacher fridge not labeled. The bomb squad got to remove and X-ray it. Quite an interruption for the day but with all the news of bombs in the mail the last week they went with extra caution. I took the kids back around 1:20 when the campus was cleared to get their bags - Emily's 2 teachers had a total of 7 kids in class and Aidan's 2 teachers had 4 kids. Normally would be around 40 in each. Our safe Halloween was to be that night but it was rescheduled for Tuesday. That worked out OK... as we had our girl scout camping trip that night and a bunch of the girls would have missed it. A few would have been at a neighboring school's event... and we were fortunate they did not go as there was a fatal shooting just off that campus but during the safe Halloween event. They went on lock down. All at the event were safe, however it sounded like a very scary situation near Saddlewood Elementary in Ocala Fl.  Mom - for reference - Emily used to go there for speech before she started school. The one behind Sam's club and right by where Terri and the kids stayed at the hotel in February.


This week - looks crazy as well. Monday is girl scouts - Halloween party and birthday party for the founder Juliette Gordon Lowe. The girls decided pot luck and will bring a game and prize (candy or other) to trick or treat around the room with costumes as optional.  Tuesday is guitar for Aidan and maybe the safe Halloween at school. Wednesday the kids want to go trick or treating. Thursday - my day off work and bowling time for me. Friday... Oh my goodness.... I don't think I have anything planned that evening! Woo Hoo!

Hope you all have a safe and happy week. Don't forget to get out and vote early if you can or do your research (tons of things on our Florida ballot this voting period) and prep for voting Nov 6! I'm planning to vote sometime this week at our library. Every vote counts!

Saturday...

It has been a long 24 hours! We took our girl scout troop(s) (daisy - kindergarten and 1st grade - juniors in 4th grade) camping overnight. We were in a cabin on girls scout grounds locally. We had the girls plan the food, activities and what to bring. The girls had a great time and everyone is exhausted. We had 11 overnight and 4 joined us for the day. We took a hike to see the horses this morning... and mentioned if they wanted to come back and ride them they needed to sell about 100 boxes of cookies each to pay their way!  We will see how they do.

They had their first official group bonfire with smores and songs. A dance party running around the house, pillow fight, story time (I hear they were scary), then hiking, lots of outdoor time, making painted rocks and rain sticks and lunch - walking taco's. Great bonding time and memory making. We all got our official 'camp names' too.

Me... I plan to sit with my feet up and rest this evening with an early bedtime. I don't like to show faces....so this is a shot of the group hiking to see the horses. Maybe after a good nights sleep in my own bed I'll be refreshed in the morning.

Finished a top.... Emily's triangles.

I managed to sew a little on the machine and got the last two rows of Emily's 60 degree triangle quilt sewn together and then got the remaining rows into a top. Sohpie had to test it for softness. Emily will need to do a good press on it before selecting some backing and then learning how to pin it for machine quilting. I think she will try machine quilting this one with a walking foot.

Slow Sunday.....

Finally cooler temps today! I was thinking it would be yesterday with the highs around 78 or 79.... but no... I was a day off!Yesterday was still around 90 and HUMID! Aidan and I weeded for a couple of hours in the late morning heat. We went out mid afternoon and got some flowers for the front beds and then the kids planted them after dinner last night. It looks much better now! I went with blue and yellow which I know is not fall colors but these should last through the winter with some color in this front bed.

This has become Aidan's corner for planting. He added 4 plants yesterday and the two leafy ones last weekend.

Today... I plan to finally get the last row of hand stitching done on the green tumbler quilt top. I have 6 of the 20  tumblers stitched together. The end is in sight.

A little house cleaning and then some quality time in the sewing room. A nice walk in the cooler temps today should happen once or twice as well.

A little applique tonight on the first save the bees block should be a nice relaxing end to the weekend. I need 2 parts in the middle of the flower - the yellows will cover that and then some leaves.... and the bee on the side of course.

Linking up with the other slow Sunday stitchers.

Log cabins and the green mountains.....

This summer while up in Vermont, I offered to make a quilt for the Lake Elmore Lake Association to raffle off next year. A local quilt guild donated a queen quilt to them to raffle off over the summer of 2018. It went over well to raise some much needed money to help fight the invasive Eurasian Watermilfoil in the lake.

I have been thinking and thinking of what to make. They requested a queen size... as that is what they had this year. I love making scrappy quilts... I have a pile of bird in the air blocks to make an 80x80 quilt like in my header..... but I really want that one for me! I guess after 2 quilts I am done making those blocks... for now!

Thinking a lot on my walks and it hit me over the weekend.... how about a log cabin quilt - with a brown square center and scrappy greens on one side and cream on the other? I have a lot of creamy tan leftover from my 1857 quilt that will work for the 'light side'. Plenty of green scraps in the bin for the other side. It will be done in the fashion that I did this blue and white one , pattern here, and I think it will turn out well! If I have the blocks finish at 12 inches..... an 8x8 setting will give me a 96x96 quilt... which will get a little smaller with the quilting/wash so it should be around 95x95 or 94x94 for a finished size. Yup - I think that will work.

My inspiration - still miss this quilt. I sold it to a former friend.

Scrappy version in a different set.

First one I made while up in Vermont  - was donated to Milton Library.

This one got finished and gifted to my FIL... who did not have a quilt from me yet!

I plan to start on this one sometime next month. First  - I really need to get the kids quilts done for them. Emily's is close to being a top and Aidan's will just need some concentrated effort of just getting into the sewing room to work on it. I hope to make progress on both in the next 2 weeks..... so I can start playing with green scraps in November.... or as we say in Vermont - stick season (hence the brown center!).

A photo from Lake Elmore at night with the sun setting looking towards the general store and town hall and beach.

A little of this... a little of that.....

Monday afternoon, I worked a little on Emily's triangle quilt. We got a few rows sewn together and found the last 2 rows of triangles.... were missing a few (6!) and cut out a few more so we had the needed 34 triangles. I have 2 sets of 4 rows and one set of 2. It is 17 triangles across (using 6 inch strip and 60 degree ruler) and 12 rows for a nice size lap quilt. This is replacing one I gifted away which someone was not happy about!

Tuesday... the boy jammed his fingers at gym or recess catching a ball.... which made the guitar playing hurt so we put off the lesson a few days. Instead he helped me make two pillowcases - he picked out fabric on Monday for it. One for his pillow and one for his smaller 17 inch pillow. I hear they worked well last night!

I also got a little stitching in on Save the Bee's block 1 while Emily was reading her Myon lesson. I was not allowed to be on the phone or my computer...but she let me stitch! I back basted the light purple and then needle turned it. I had already done that for the dark purple and started needle turning that... before I had to start dinner - Taco Tuesday!

I attempted Aidan's requested dish cloth - he wanted blue and green (we got yarn Monday) as 4 patches... but when I started knitting it in the car line today I had an opening between the green and blue - cast on 40 - did 20 in blue then tried 20 in green.... but there was that opening. So.... I searched a bit and convinced him to like this pattern - changed slightly so it will be blue, green, blue and then the second one green, blue, green. That took concentration, so I just took pink yarn with me to an area girl scout meeting last night and started my standard knitting dish cloth, no thinking needed. One of the people from Tampa council always remarks on how much I get done in the meeting... which was really maybe 30 minutes once it started! I guess I had done the same thing the last time I went to that meeting in February!

Once I get Emily's to a top (She doesn't know it but she is going to walking foot quilt it!) .... I need to really start on Aidan's quilt. He decided he did not want to sew it... I could since he got so frustrated with it. His is Hopscotch Butterscotch in teal, orange and grey. 

Better get off here and log into work.....after I throw dinner in the crock pot. Stew beef with cream of mushroom soup, lipton onion soup mix, brown gravy packet and 1 cup of water.. with lots of carrots and an onion. Recipe from Grandma. Will serve over mashed potato (Aidan) and noodles (Emily). It will work... since we have horses today at 5.... right at dinner time! Emily also has her KCL (Kindness, community, leadership) club after school today until 3:15... so that means a little one on one boy time for me between pickups.

Monday....

It was a very slow Sunday. I rented the movie Oceans 8 and sat in my recliner and stitched all afternoon. I would have finished the last bit last night while watching the Red Sox win.. but my finger needed a break. Just one last seam to stitch to attach the top 8 rows to the bottom 8 rows.

The kids are off school today and due to some talking back they did not get the trip I had planned. So, I am working this morning like normal and they decided 72 degrees was cool enough to go out back and work in the woods on their trails! We will see how long they are out there...... so far over an hour!

Slow Sunday.....

I sure hope it is! Yesterday wore me out just a bit, but more on that later in this post!

I should work on the baby hearts which has not been touched... but will probably work on the green tumblers. I have 5 tumblers left to add to the last row, then just need to hand sew the bottom half of the quilt together. 5 long rows to sew by hand and it will be a top! It has been a fun hand piecing project. Now to find the seam ripper and take apart that green print and green.. which is not correct! Must make 1 more tumbler as well, either I counted wrong or one ran away never to be heard from again!

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Stitchers. 

I have visited the links, however I am unable to leave comments on blogs where the only option is google for some reason. Sorry. The ones with the name and url option - I am able to comment on once I fill that in. I'm not sure what changed in the last month or two but I found out that my comments I though I was leaving.... were not actually posting for some strange reason. 

Now, why I really need the rest today!

Saturday started with a tea party with Emily from 11-1....put on by a girl scout troop trying to earn money to go to Georgia - Juliette Gordon Lowes birthplace. They did an awesome job as their first event they put on - some 12,13 and 14 year olds with their leaders. We had 3 from my troop attend and 3 from my co-leaders daisy troop.... that pretty much has been meeting with my troop (a few younger sisters and a couple of new girls).

A few people there mentioned a Fall festival later that day.... Emily wanted to go and I asked Aidan... who said sure! Very unlike him to change plans and do something on the spur of the moment. Dad of course, opted to stay home in peace and quiet. So... I took them to Brick City Adventure Park  - a local playground/park across town with a track that had tables set up all around with a little game (lots of pallets used to do toss games) and then you get a candy. Russell Stovers donated 1800 pounds of candy!

The kids had fun.... despite it being hot...in the upper 80's yesterday. Lets just say we enjoyed the 1/4 of the track that was in the shady area! We did about 3/4 of the way around and then decided we were done. Emily wanted her face painted... so we stood in line for that. She got a cat... and Aidan got the sky with a sun.

We hit a Hardees after for dinner (Dad had already had dinner as it was after 6). Aidan was waiting to order something and an older gent put his hand on his shoulder and asked him 'Are you ok?, you're looking a little blue!'. All the people up there burst out laughing!

I need to pick up the house..... I admit, it probably has not been vacuumed since before I went on my business trip to Vermont. I'll spend an hour or two taming the house while Greg takes the kids to his Moms .(must remember the next house needs to be smaller... or I need a maid!). Then some relaxing sewing!

Monday.....

Three posts in 3 days? Wow...yes, I found the sewing room on Sunday afternoon. I feel so much better now.

I made 3 of my Squared Away blocks in blue for the RSC Sampler. Blue was the color for September. I had cut out parts for 2 blocks.... was laying them out and figured out I made a boo boo... so just used those mistake half square triangles for the 3rd block I needed and recut the star and medium blue hst's. It worked and I got another month of blocks done! I just need to make 3 pink ones and the 3 dark green ones from this month and then it will be time to figure out how to put them all together! A big thank you to Angela and Mari for designing and leading the way on this fun sew along.

I realized that my 2 rulers I use the most are really showing their age. I have had them for over 20 years I think and it is high time I replace them. Thank goodness I have birthday $ coming in next month so I think I'll pick up these 2 and replace them. The 6 inch bias square is great for trimming up the hst's and I use that to draw my 1/4 inch on my hand stitching blocks. The 6x24 ruler I use all the time to cut my yardage and fat quarters.  It will be so nice to be able to see the marking/cutting lines again. It has completely worn away in places on both rulers.

Sunday.... Save the Bee's block.

Well, I technically joined in the Save the Bee's quilt along that Jacqueline Steves is hosting.... but have yet to finish a block!

The first two were applique... I did start the first one but it is not finished. I have the stem sewn down and back stitched the big part of the flower.... that's it!

I have a feeling block 3 will be the first block completed. I picked 8 yellows earlier this week and made my template and marked the sewing line.

 I am sewing these together by hand, then will turn the edges under (maybe basting like Kathy W did) and then will applique that to the background.

I had cut the 8 squares out... and then just did a scissor cut of guessing 1/4 inch. Yup... should have used the ruler to cut that but it worked.

I got 7 sewn together... and for the life of me I can not find the 8th one! I cut another one out this morning and marked it... so you know it will turn up shortly!

I plan to attach the last hexagon today and while in the sewing room later will use the iron or the herra marker to turn that edge under so I can hand stitch it to the background.

First... I need to run to the girl scout store and purchase a few badges. We took the girls to the Fire Station for a refresher on first aid, emergency situations... and what the fire house guys really wanted.... to play with the water and fire hoses! Each girl got to hold the hose and spray water.. then they put the one from the top on and got almost all of us soaked! Yes, we knew it was coming and had prepped the parents and girls.  This is what it looked like! We are in Florida... so the temps were still in the 80's or upper 70's that evening while we were there.

We will finish up their badges tomorrow with a little more review, making a first aid kit and reviewing the last couple of things for them to earn their badges and pins.

Emily was in charge for a minute - a big shout out to Craig and his crew at the Fire station for inviting us over. We went 2 years ago and I hear there was some pouting since we didn't go last year... =) We scheduled him right off to make sure we got a chance to go over there this year.

Sharing a photo I snapped this week after dropping the kids to school. Yes Mom, I pulled over to the side of the road to take the photo!

Linking up with Kathy and the other slow stitchers.

RSC Saturday....

 I finally have something in the color of the month! Dark and sage green was selected for October. I have been working on a tumbler quilt since this summer and have just the last 2 rows to hand stitch.

I used a 5 inch square and made a template into a tumbler using a piece of card board... probably from the board they put into a fat quarter from Joann's? I figured I wanted a nice throw size - and think this will be about 72x72 with 20 tumblers per row and 16 rows. I used greens and creams from the stash wall. This was originally my 'hand work' project to take with me up to Vermont for a couple of weeks this summer. I actually did get a good amount done on it up there and it was a nice take with me to gymnastics with Emily for an hour. Little bits of time here and there do add up.

The first 8 rows are all stitched together by hand. The next 6 rows are into rows of 2. It takes me about an hour to stitch one row of 20 tumblers together by hand. So... just a few more hours to go in this quilt and it will be a top. Maybe this weekend? I see some nice relaxing slow stitching on this tonight and tomorrow for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Ollie and Peanut are making sure it doesn't move!

Linking up Saturday with the RSC Challenge and Sunday with the Slow Sunday Stitchers. Also with Oh Scrap on Sunday.

Frustration.....

I am not sure what is going on again with blogger. It stopped sending my comments to e-mail again (hopefully I got that fixed yesterday) and now I am finding that comments I though I was leaving on people's blogs are not actually being left! I'm not sure what the issue is.... but it is probably something with Blogger and Google + not meshing. I activated Google + again... although I know that caused issues last time. Any advise?

Almost makes you want to just stop! (Might be the head cold talking and lack of energy all this week).

Sigh....

I got 4 towels stitched up Mom.  I don't use a 'pattern' so they are not the same length. I'll add the buttons on in the car line and maybe start another one - the turkey ones. 2 car lines today - one for Aidan at 2:20 ish and one for Emily at 3:15. She is in an after school club every other Wednesday. I hear it will be twistie treat today in between the two. Aidan and I hit the scoop shop a couple of weeks ago. Giving him a little Mom/son time is always good since Emily gets so much Mom time with girl scout events. I plan to mail these out tomorrow on my way to bowling Mom. Look for them in the mail early next week.