What a Week!

So... I thought the options were to quit my job or keep it... I wanted to attend a new training program based on Montessori methods.

Then, an email arrived in my mailbox offering me a scholarship to get a Master's Degree online from a college in town. Dang. That would be fantastic. How do I make decisions like this? I'm not complaining, mind you, but this does complicate my life significantly for the next two years.



And the Assistant has been ...sick... yuck.

And the neighbor's rescued greyhound is a lovely buy LOUD dog at 6 am in the morning the last two mornings, so the sick Assistant has been wailing until she woke the Screamer. The Screamer went back to sleep around 7, then the Assistant decided to get up. No more sleep for me!

Now, I'm not complaining - I just feel in a tizzy. My goodness!

Stash Report Week #4 and Goals

Goals for last week were:
- piece 1 set of charity blocks (1/18)
- load the Star Struck quilt on the hand quilting frame (1/19)
- quilt the 1st row of partial stars (1/21)

Bonus goals:
+ make Lil Sis's body pillow (1/21)
+ quilt a full row of stars - DIDN'T HAPPEN

I also:
+ made a second set of charity blocks (1/24)
+ made a plan for cutting for the Japanese quilt (1/24)
+ tamed my scraps - they are all trimmed and bagged! (1/24)

Stash Report:

I finished the body pillow for 4 yards out. I tamed scraps, and at least 1/4 yard was tossed in the bin. BUT!!! a 30 yard bolt of ticking arrived. Now, Lori says I should count it as DH's stash, since it's for him, but I realized then I don't get to count it OUT either, when I use it!

OUT this week: 4 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 11 1/4 yards

IN this week: 30 yards
IN YTD: 52 3/4 yards

YTD Total: 41 1/2 yards IN

Not great, but I'm plugging along, and I didn't push any buttons this week.

Goals for this week:
- 1 charity set of blocks
- quilt 2 rows (18 stars)

Bonus goals:
- finish a quiltlet (I made the top this week out of leftover 1/2 square triangles from a project last year. It's time to move them on!)
- begin cutting for Japanese quilt.

I Won!!! and I finished something!

Today in the mail, I received Ellie, this lovely elephant, after a long day away from home and before a long evening alone with the girls... but I won her! She was a giveaway from Suzanne, who based her on an original pattern from her grandmother. The girls love her, and I have already invited her to join our quilting room menagerie (we have monkeys and ponies and ducks too, you know!).

Then we have a lovely birdcage kit from Jodi since I send her some selvedges. Have you seen what this woman can do with selvedges? She made an incredible dress, a parasol... the list goes on, and you should check it out! I think the birdcage might make a really cute Christmas ornament for next year. What do you think?

The Quilting Designs CD arrived from Victoria from her Whirl Into Winter giveaway. I haven't popped it in the computer yet, but hold on when I do! I'm not particularly creative in my hand quilting, and I haven't found many plastic templates that I like or that are the right size, so here's my chance to improve!
Finally, we have a finish. I finished a body pillow cover for my sister-who-is-getting-married-soon. It's on the right, while on the left is the quilt I made for her as a wedding gift. They match (mostly), and the backing of the body pillow is the same as the backing on the quilt. I love it! The Assistant and Screamer were playing hide-and-go-seek as I was snapping pictures.
I am so blessed!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #3 and Goals

Goals last week:
-piece 1 set of charity blocks : DONE 1/11
-sew Star Struck blocks into rows: DONE 1/16

Bonus goals (to be completed if I finished the above goals):
+assemble the Star Struck top: DONE 1/17
+complete 2 aprons: DONE 1/17
+sew a bowtie!!: DONE 1/11

The bowtie and aprons used 3 1/4 yards of fabric, and I bought nothing. I also used/gave away 2 spools of thread, and gave away 2 3/4 yards of fabric. Now to get BiL's quilt loaded on my frame for hand quilting and on to the next projects.

My first roll of batting arrived this week, so I shouldn't need to purchase any for the rest of the year. Now, where do I store it!? (What a blessed problem to have!) Next week, a bolt of ticking for DH's sewing requests should arrive. I guess I'll be deep in the hole then, but it's a need, so I don't feel guilty about buying something I don't need and may never use - because I will use it!

IN this week: 0 yards
IN YTD: 22 3/4 yards

OUT this week: 6 yards
OUT YTD: 7 yards

YTD Total: 15 3/4 yards IN

My goals for next week are:
-sew 1 set of charity blocks
- get BiL's quilt on the frame (this requires rearranging the entire room!)
-quilt some on BiL's quilt

Bonus goals:
+make Younger Sis's body pillow
+quilt a row of BiL's quilt

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

I Did It, Bonnie!

Bonnie is also having a Whirl into Winter Giveaway, but hers was more challenging to think about and enter than mine. That might be a good thing!

She asked us to reveal a chore we haven't done for a LONG time - and then get extra entries if we actually did it and posted pictures.
I don't often clean my daughters' toys often, for many reasons (some are excuses).
Let's start with:
1) Out of site, out of mind. It's behind the furniture, so I don't think about it unless I walk out of my bedroom.
2) I have two children under 3. Cleaning is sometimes an exercise in futility.
3) I'd rather be quilting.
4) Our living room drops to the 40's during the winter unless a fire is going full blast in the fireplace. We haven't played in there more than 3 times since Thanksgiving, when the cold set in.
I haven't cleaned in there since November, but now I have! It could still use some work, but at least like is with like. When it's warmer, I will do more - but it's better! Thanks for a reason to clean it up, Bonnie!

Stash Report Week #2

It was my birthday, so I received 13 3/4 yards. Of that, I already counted 3 because I bought them for myself in October during the shop hop.

I ordered 3 yards of Marrakesh Sahara stripe to go with the "Peace on Earth" panel DH picked out. Don't know what I'll do, but the colors match perfectly.

I made a bag out of entirely reclaimed fabric. We'll call it a yard as cutoffs were put in the bin - so sense in saving 1" strips of a denim-y material that I wouldn't use in a strip quilt. The pocket is from DH's khakis. There's a little stain I might try to cover with something, but it's fun!

Then, in 45 minutes, I made this fabulously crazy bowtie. DH needed one for a skit tonight, and it's Sunday. I'll count it for next week, but I wanted to get the picture before he refused to snap one!

Totals:
IN this week: 13 3/4 yards

IN YTD: 22 3/4 yards

OUT this week: 1 yard

OUT YTD:
1 yard

TOTAL YTD: 21 3/4 IN!

I will have the top to my BiL's quilt completed next week, if I have time (and if the creeping crud doesn't overtake me), and then I will begin the long, slow process of hand quilting.

My goals for the week:
- 1 set of strips for the charity quilt sewn, trimmed, etc.
- BiL's blocks sewn into rows.

Bonus goals:
+ assemble BiL's top
+ finish Memaw's apron
+ finish Meg's apron
+ BOWTIE (DONE!!!)

Sorry, Lori, about there being more aprons. DH asked, and I can't deny my sweetheart!

Birthday Goodies!

First off, on the sideways picture - it shows up sideways even though it shows on my computer as upright.

Yesterday was my birthday. Why does everyone always ask, "How does it feel to be X years old?" I don't know! The same as it felt the year before, and the year before. I remember feeling that 21 was a let-down because I don't drink much, and that's really the big "freedom" for 21. Eh.

Anyway, I am no longer 21, or 22, or... but I did get 13 3/4 yards of fabric for my birthday! I love this rose applique design for a wall hanging. I'm not sure when I'll make it, but it's lovely to be sure. I won't use a multicolored batik for the borders because I like single-color borders, but I have plenty of time to dream over what I would use instead! Maybe some of my new fabric!


I also have a new sewing basket. I think I will fill it with all my hexagons. (I still haven't explained that, I think, but it will have to wait! I need to finish a little to take a picture.) It's a little big to take places, but I was using ziplock bags that had seen better day; one didn't close because the bottom had ripped open. Oops. But I do hate to throw useful things away, so I made it work.

With the new sewing basket, you can also see some of my new fabric. These are the non-star and non-snowflake prints my DH purchased for me all by his little self. He was pretty chuffed with his success! He wants me to make a skirt out of the bottom fabric. It's so pretty, and busy without being large-print busy.


Here are all my luscious new star and snowflake prints. Only two are repeats of what I already own (pretty good for non-quilters who don't look at my stash very often at all!). I will be washing the 1+ yardage and steam ironing the 1/2 yard and fat quarters this week. Right now, I'm enjoying stacking and re-stacking them to my heart's content.

Needless to mention, the Assistant has taken possession of a good number of the fat quarters. I'll get them during her nap if I can!

I'm headed in the wrong direction for stash-busting, but that's okay - I love it all!

In non-quilty news, my sister and boyfriend became engaged 30 minutes before my birth-day began! Hooray! We opened a bottle of pink champagne someone gave us to celebrate the excitement. Now I can pull out the quilt I've been saving for her and make sure it doesn't smell dusty. She wants some sewing and quilting things made before she gets married, so it's going to be busy around here!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #1

Happy dance! I added 9 yards to the stash this week. I'm not starting the year on quite the right foot if I want to REDUCE by 50 yards, but there is a reason for every piece...

First, 7 yards of a lovely dark blue for my Japanese blocks quilt. It requires a large amount of fabric, and I don't own 7 yards of anything. I'm making it for a couple my DH and I are mentoring in preparation of their wedding day in May. The man of the couple wouldn't really "get" a scrappy quilt, so I'm going to make it one fabric. (You can also see the disaster of the assistant's toys. That's my life, and I love it!)

Even though there are 5 quilt shops in my town, we drove an hour away to a larger quilt shop. Unfortunately, there was drama in getting to the LQS, but we survived. The expedition included a visit to a cooking store that was CRAZY. Good thing I left Screamer and the Assistant in the car with DH.

Then DH found this. It's not in the ordinary way of things for me to buy fabric like this, so I'm not sure what to do with it. It's from Moda's "Peace on Earth" collection. I have a yard, which gives me two full repeats. I'm thinking a medallion type setting, but I'm not sure since it's wider than it is long. Any ideas?

There are also four fat-quarters of shades of mint. They made me smile, and helped the Assistant survive all the fat-quarter containers full of other goodies. She's currently protecting them next to her bed during her nap, so no picture.

Thus, for the year, 9 yards in, and it will get "worse" next week, but I won't be responsible for anything that comes in next week. I will validly be able to blame it on other people. Teeheehee. I'll make sure I take pictures.

I will be sending out 2+ yards on January 15 when my giveaway ends.

My lovely younger sister is in town with her boyfriend (they are both in college still), and they will be spending Tuesday with me and the girls, so I'm not working on Tuesday!