Sunday....

 My hand stitching today during the F1 race in Brazil will be the purple binding on the hearts wall hanging! It is 32x39. I just did simple straight line stitching along each of the blocks. It is happy to be an almost completed quilt.

This is the boys yesterday. Ollie enjoys being on top of poor Peanut. 

If the binding gets done, then I'll switch back to the Bear Paw side setting triangles. I have one done of 6. Linking up with the slow Sunday stitchers at Kathy's Quilts.

I did not get a good photo, but this is what I got thanks to the girls Mom! Jasilynn in blue (Emily's buddy since 6th grade when they met in school), her sister Addy and then Emily with a smile!

She had a great time at the Homecoming dance and is very happy she went to hang out with her friends. It was quite a busy birthday for me yesterday (51 Shhh)  with this girl! I did get to sleep in, since Greg took her to horses early so she could help in the barn before her lesson.  He returned with a beautiful bunch of colorful roses for me.  I went to get her, and grabbed lunch on the way home. Then out to find a purse for the night for her and some treats for the dog. Back home and then off to Outback to have a dinner (I was not hungry at all after lunch!) before their dance with her friends family. Addy drove the girls to the school. I picked up Emily a bit before 11. Today should be a little less running around, I think. I've already gotten sewing time in finishing the quilting I started last night and made and attached the binding,  a dog got walked and hand stitching time will start soon with the race at noon our time.

Side note, I'm very thankful for the fraud department on my credit card. I tried using it last night and it declined so I swapped to my other card and didn't think much of it. This morning, I had a message from the card fraud department asking me to call them. I did and confirmed some purchases but not 2 that they tagged as fraudulent. I confirmed they were not me and they have now cancelled my card, put in a refund on those 2 charges and are sending me a new one. I'll have to make some calls mid-week to reset up some of the auto things with the new numbers and information. Very thankful they have that in place to check and handle it on their end. May you have a restful Sunday.

The next hand quilting project.....

Never mind that I have a 90x90 trip quilt on the frame..... that is being neglected.

I did finish hand quilting the baby hearts quilt and added the binding last night. I still need to hand stitch it down... cause after I got to my recliner it seems Peanut had overtaken it! I picked him up to move him and he landed on my lap, belly and chest... he was laying down and comfy!  and Sophie jumped up onto the foot part. I was unable to do any hand work with those helpers.

So I pulled out the next 2 quilts I was thinking about hand quilting. The baskets and the cat and mice.

I asked the kids.... they said the baskets... which is nice and small and should go quickly.

The cat and mouse..... just doesn't seem finished. Aidan said it needs a border of lizards... you know, cause my cats love to chase the lizards down here in Florida! I like the idea... but a plain border with hand quilted lizards is more my thought process. He also thought it needed some balls with swirly lines like they are rolling... so I might need 2 borders! We will see as this one still needs some work.

I was going to stop at Joanns on the way home from bowling to pick up some hand quilting batting...but since that basket one is small I 'think' I can piece the leftovers from the baby quilt to be big enough.

One more week of the kids being home........ not that I am counting down the days until January 3 when they go back to school! =).

Grant me patience today... Emily will try and quilt her quilt this afternoon.

I gave myself a little gift this morning. I had purchased a year subscription of Craftsy earlier this year for me and the kids. The deal gave me a $25 coupon each quarter. Well, that got spent this morning buying some fat quarters of a pretty red and cream line that was marked down, a charm pack of that and a charm pack of purples. Yes, it was a little over but that $8 was worth it! I also purchased one of my 'free' classes today - a hand quilting one that looked good on the reviews. I can't wait to watch it. I also saved off a slew of free patterns (ok - 11) in case they go away tomorrow. Some dress patterns, little coin cases, skirts, pj's, microwave bowl holders....

I think today will be showing the kids that lava cake video and have them make it for dessert tonight!

Slow Sunday... and figured out a fix for not being able to leave comments!

First off - Happy Sunday!

I think I'll try and add a few leaves to block 1 of the Save the Bees sew along.

 I also hope to put a few stitches into the sadly neglected baby heart quilt that really needs to get finished and shipped to it's new owner who is almost 5 months old! This corner heart will get finished today...

Linking up with the other slow turtle stitchers at Kathy's Quilts.

Oh - I have not been able to leave comments on blogs since about mid October. (sorry about that, I have been reading just not able to comment using Safari when the only option is google account). I found this morning that if I use a different browser (I am on a mac so went with Opera) I am able to leave comments! Yea. I will try and visit blogs later today and actually be able to leave some comments again.

Saturday was our Light up Ocala Parade and my girl scout troop walked in it yesterday afternoon. We combined the two troops (my co-leader has a daisy troop with a few younger sisters) for making the banner and walking.
I'm so happy our girls got a first place ribbon! That was  a first for us... they tend to judge 3 banners at a time for 1,2,3 place. We usually get 3rd since we let the girls do the banner. One of our juniors (4th grade) came up with the idea and they all worked on it this year (Kg-4th grade). The theme was G.I. R. L. - Go Getter, Innovator, Risk Taker and Leader. They decided THEY were the G. I. R. L. and I printed out photo's of things we have done in the last year.  I am so proud of them. We had 15 walking in the parade in our troops and 216 girl scouts from our area. Emily and I ended up going out to eat after at the Golden Corral with my co-leaders family for dinner.

Today, they are headed to Grandma's for an overnight (they are off school this week) and I'm taking the hubby to the movies to see the newest Harry Potter film. I will also have plenty of time to play with my sewing machine and get some slow stitching in. As Kathy reminds us, even just a few stitches will help to relieve stress, remind us to breathe and slow down and appreciate all we have and our talents of what we are able to do. After all, it is Thanksgiving week here in the USA and we do have a lot to be thankful for.

Slow Sunday....

Sunday. I'll be resting in my recliner today I think. I might drop Emily off to a birthday party.... or I might have hubby drop her. Depends on how the toast for breakfast sits. I seem to have some sort of stomach bug... which better be gone before I travel next weekend.

I'll prep some more tumblers on the left to their tumbler size and then mark them all for hand stitching.

 These will make up the last 2 rows for the tumbler quilt. The first 8 rows are hand sewn together. The rest are hand sewn in sets of 2. I'm wishing now I had made it more green and less cream.. but that is how things work out sometimes!

I love the advise/recommendation of fellow bloggers. I just need more practice adding those tea towels to the edge to make it fit in the hoop on the edge! I seem to have missed the top of the quilt... I will be working on this heart in the corner today and hopefully a few other blocks along the edge, since those are the ones left for quilting. Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching and Oh Scrap.

This was my entertainment this morning - Ollie and Peanut were playing on the floor by my recliner. The kids were building with lincoln logs on Friday night and Saturday morning - we did have an Ollie and Peanut tornado demolish the buildings - it was rather amusing watching them jump when they crashed!

Aidan went with us to Emily's group horse lesson on Friday. He was out petting the horses in the fields while she rode. These two were following him along the fence until he stopped and rubbed their noses. I nixed his flip flops so he found Dad's boots to wear around the barn. Hard to believe at age 10 his feet are just one size smaller than his dad and are bigger than mine already!

Slow Sunday stitching.....

Slow stitching is all I see to be doing lately. The kids opted to stay home today instead of going to Grandma's. I think the boy did because I was away all of yesterday with Emily for a girl scout event then stopped to get her a riding helmet at The Tack Shack - wonderful store with extremely helpful and patient associates.

Last night was movie night - since my feet needed to be up! We watched Finding Dory - a very cute movie. I got a few more blocks hand stitched.
Time for a check in on Ari's quilt - 22 blocks quilted of 63. I really need to get a few blocks quilted each evening to get this done.

Ollie - lets play Mom!

Peanut - my toy!

Linking up with Kathy and the other slow stitchers. 

If you'd like to see my progress on other hand stitching - my tumbler quilt has 11 of 16 rows stitched. This one should end up around 72 inches square. Yes, the cats love quilts and to 'help'!

Saturday....

The first week of school is in the books. Both kids have new to the school teachers that they love. Each has 2 teachers this year - one does math and science and the other does language arts and social studies. Aidan was also offered a 5th grade safety patrol position for the first semester ... something he has wanted since 1st grade! He is on cloud nine and got his belt on Friday for it!

Aidan's rose out by the shed is in bloom.

Greg was off work yesterday so was able to go to Emily's riding lesson. Huge smile on her face as she walked Stella from one area to another without the lead on. She even got to bring her outside for a walk along the property in full control with her trainer by her side. We'll let her drop gymnastics and continue with horses.... which gets her down to 2 things. Homework starts next week at school... oh sorry, they are calling it PAS - practice and additional support work... since they stopped homework last year and saw the consequences. No mention of this publicly of course.....

Last night was cooking club - we made some great food, laughed and chatted and generally had a great time. Emily went with me and played with my co-leaders girls while I cooked and chatted.

As for sewing.... Just some hand work for me this week. A little progress on Ari's baby hearts quilt. 15 of 63 blocks quilted.

Almost done 2 rows of green tumblers while at gymnastics and car line. This will make 10 of 16 rows done. Just 2 to add to that last row.

As for orange....
My third squared away block.

I changed where the background was in each of them and really liked to see how different they all look. I'm not sure which is my favorite!

Grandma turns 75 on Monday.... so she requested a meal out tonight with family. We switched days with Grandpa - he'll come visit tomorrow instead of today - and the kids will go to Grandma today and then Greg and I will go over for dinner out and retrieve the kids.

Busy weekend (cause I leave things for the last minute!) - prep for first girl scout meeting this year on Monday, prep for a recruiting table I am doing next Saturday, working a few hours - making up for that Weeki Watchi day and a couple of deadlines at work coming up.  Maybe tackle hacking back a few more bushes  before it hits feels like 100+ and the normal picking up the house ...... oh, and figuring out kid care for a week next month while I am away on business. Sigh.. it never ends. I see some relaxing hand stitching in the evenings this weekend ......

Linking up Saturday with the RSC Challenge, Sunday with Slow Sunday Stitching and Oh Scrap.

Slow Sunday

I would have made a little more progress on hand quilting this baby quilt last night..... but someone was pretty comfy. I leave it on my quilt stand and someone has decide that is a wonderful napping spot. Silly Peanut. A couple of nights ago he knocked off 2 of them to get on the one quilt he thought was the most comfy.

I am hand stitching an X through the nine patch and outline stitching 2 times around the heart and once inside. 8 of 63 blocks are quilted.

I plan to get a few more blocks quilted on this later this afternoon. First up is cleaning the house... which really needs a good vacuum, mop and cleaning up before the kids head to school tomorrow. They are off to grandma's for the day but will get returned early since they need to get up early for the first day of  school tomorrow! They met their teachers on Friday - both have new to the school teachers this year. Each have a good friend in their class - which makes things easier. Aidan knows quite a few kids in his class and his good friend Jackari is in there. Emily has a few girls that were in her class in kindergarten but her good friend Serianna is in her class this year. She is very excited.


I'll be prepping some applique on my save the bees block today for some hand work in the car line tomorrow. I also have the next 2 rows of the tumbler hand piecing picked out, they need to get their stitching line drawn on them today as well. So nice to have a quiet Sunday to putter around the house and prep things. A big thank you to my MIL for taking the kids for a few hours every Sunday to give us a break and make some great memories with the kids.

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Stitchers today.

Slow Stitching Sunday....

I have been doing a little hand stitching therapy this week. Just like Kathy, hand work is my sanity!

The binding started to get stitched down on Wednesday while watching Emily at gymnastics.

I added a row of tumblers (started while waiting on Aidan at guitar on Friday) and got 2 sets of rows stitched together in the evenings. Darn it... I switched the placement when marking the sewing seams.  Now I need to make 2 of the up's. I'll be laying out 2 rows today, marking and making sure I sew them correctly as up tumblers to start this time!

I attached two rows of Dresden's together and hand stitched the back while the kids were working on dinner from a cookbook Saturday. A burger with cooked onion on top with a special sauce on grilled sour dough bread. Emily wanted my potato salad so I helped her make that. They also made a drink - a peach and orange smoothie that tasted just like an orange julius. Remember those Mom? A photo of the back of the Dresden's in the quilt as you go method.

I see myself hand stitching the last two sections together, and maybe even hand stitching some binding. What will you be hand stitching today?

Linking up with the other turtle stitchers at Kathy's Quilts.  I won't be stitching outside as Kathy suggested, a wee bit too hot for me so I'll sit in my recliner with the AC vent blowing on me!

Progress....

Well, with the kids in an active camp at a gym..... I have had nice and quiet to work and an extra hour or two to get a little walk in before starting and a little sewing time after working. Counting down the days until they go back to school on the 13th! I actually got my 10K steps yesterday for the first time in a while. Hopefully it will cool down a little tonight for another walk.... it is feels like 100 out right now.

I got a little sewing in today......

The little hearts quilt - abut 27x27 got a quick quilting and a binding made and sewn on today.  I had that strip of blue left over so just added to it so I had enough for this quilt. All set for hand stitching the binding tonight. I prepped some extra batting and found a backing for it yesterday.

I also stitched 2 sets of rows together for the dresden quilt. I just need to stitch that backing strip down to join them... then one last seam before I decide what color binding to finish it off with.

No red sewing today.... well....this explains that one! Don't touch my soft bed Mom.... I'm making sure these fabrics don't go anywhere.

I suppose I should go fetch the kids. They were exhausted last night.  The boy insisted he didn't want to go all day Sunday and was not going Monday morning ... on top of a Thunderstorm all night long Sunday night so he was working on no sleep. Turns out he had a pretty good time and other than being sore all over (did I mention it is a gymnastics facility so lots of trampoline jumping, running and playing and jumping into the styrofoam pits) he was ready to head back today. Emily loved it. They are both in different groups based on age, so that is good. They needed some away from each other time. I switched Emily's Orthodontist appointment to take off her one last band on her tooth (when they were removed she didn't want that one touched anymore!) from tomorrow morning until Thursday after I'll pick them up from camp. They indicated they didn't want to miss out on the morning fun =). That just leaves pulling Aidan for guitar on Friday a little before 2.... I'll leave Emily there and pick her up after he is done at 3. They have water day on Friday but it sounds like it is all morning not the afternoon.  I think this week of camp will let us make it though the next 2 weeks before school starts again.

Binding time!

Did you think I forgot Slow Sunday Stitching? I had to get my baby heart quilt pinned and quilted so I could machine stitch the binding to the top and hand stitch it to the back tonight.

It was a nice relaxing and lazy day. Greg took the kids to Grandma along with our house guest Buddy the Boxer. He is happy to be home. They had a great time with Grandma as they missed their usual date last weekend while she was up in Ohio. Greg and I had a nice relaxing day - I pinned the quilt and cleaned up the kitchen and did some laundry while he took the kids to Grandma. Then we chatted and decided to go out for lunch at The Crazy Cucumber for burgers. Eating outside was so nice in the cozy chairs. Then we headed home and saw the neighbors outside... so we headed over to chat for a bit. I then decided to get the quilt quilted before the kids arrived home.... and managed to get it trimmed and the binding made. I popped it on quickly after Grandma left. We explored the back yard a bit and then helped Emily with her career day project. I challenged Greg to a game of backgammon (got it figured out Mom and I'm raring to beat you and Dad next weekend). Emily is in the tub and Aidan has challenged me to a game of backgammon. It will be an early bedtime for the kids tonight as they were out late last night.

Saturday was Scout day.... Aidan had the pinewood derby at 3:30 and then his Blue and Gold Banquet at 6 last night. I got there just in time for food... great timing I think! He came in first this year in the Derby and goes onto the city tournament. Much better than last year when the car needed help to cross the finish line. Dad and Aidan did a great job fixing the car from last year to run well. He got his awards and was quite proud of himself last night.
Off to beat my son at backgammon.
Linking up to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday party. Take a look and see what is being worked on.

Monday Design Wall

I got a little time this morning to sew these together..... except.... Do you see the Oops? Now where is that seam ripper? This is from McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts Magazine September 1999 issue. Made with TLC.

My UFO list...

I know, I know... I still have not finished last month's Quilt Square Along quilt but it was so fun to pull a box with a small heart quilt all cut and ready to sew this month! I took it with me and only sewed a little at the hotel but the corners of the hearts are on. Just need a press and trim and then they can be sewn together. I have a baby shower the first week of March that I would love to have this ready for. Think I'll go press and trim these and finish my blocks quick this morning. I'm having lunch with Miss Emily today at school. She requested McD's... and I'll bring the other half of the soup that went into Aidan's lunch box.