Day 2

Day 2 done of my 5 day commitment to work out this week.  Today I did intervals again ... 5 min on the treadmill and then jumped off and worked my legs ... Did some lunges and other exercises using this type of exercise band.

I had to rig it a little to create more resistance, and may investigate buying a band that is easier to do leg work with.  Legs are tired and that is a great thing!

That's my cool down level ... Adding resistance burns calories ... So I never walk without some kind of incline.  Day 3 tomorrow!!

Need ... More ... Thread!

When all your cotton/poly thread fits in one bin, then you must not have enough!!  This is a sure sign that I need to add more!

I Did It!

Even though I don't get to see my granddaughter very often, I always look at her pictures and videos and this is one of her favorite sayings!!!  It seemed appropriate for today as I finally got on my treadmill!

I met with my trainer that I haven't used in a long time (he is also a good friend!), and we had a great workout ... But I have not been doing my homework!  So this week, no excuses ... I did Intervals on my treadmill and also working my arms with weights and a fitness band in between 5 minute intervals.  I am challenging myself to 5 days this week and I know I can do it!!  Are you getting your play time on?  Walk, garden, anything counts!

Now back to picking paint colors for my kitchen ... Decisions, decisions!

Stash Report - Week 17

Not much sewing this week, but wait until you see my blog post to explain my added fabric!  I had so much fun.  That is coming later in the week!

Used this Week: 1 yards

Used year to Date: 64 7/8 yards

Added this Week:  16 1/3 yards

Added Year to Date: 32 1/3 yards

Net Used for 2015: 32 1/2 yards

I have some big plans for projects coming up.  I will share that with you later as well.  How did you do this week?

Good Monday

Well good morning to you and I don't know what happened to me last week ... I disappeared!!  I was so excited to give my stash report and then nothing!  Apparently I needed to take a break from all that hot sewing I did the week before!  I usually see with friends at least once a week.  So I did get that time in, working steadily on my APQ Quiltalong.  

Vary opening up seams, squaring up the small blocks, and then stitching them into a nine patch.  My goal ... 10 nine patches a day.  So close to finishing!

It is making such a difference on these 6 1/2" square blocks to open every seam.  They lay so flat this way and I think when I start assembling the quilt rows I will really appreciate taking the time to finish! This is going to be my spring quilt for my bed, so I better get a move on!

During my break last week, I spent a lot of time on my new fun hobby planning and journaling.  I used to scrapbook a lot, even made cards, and really enjoyed it.  I found a lot of inspiration on Instagram, and I have gone in head first!  I bought a new planner, and am really trying to get myself organized.  Part of the great fun is decorating your planner ... Some go crazy with stickers, etc.  Mine is pretty simple ...

Everything gets written down on my monthly spread.  Bills to pay, appointments, etc.  Then every Sunday evening I sit down and take about 1/2 hour putting everything in my next week's spread. I do a little decorating ... It's like giving myself a gold star when I do something!

This is this week's spread ... It sits on my kitchen counter and just makes me happy looking at it.  At the end of each day I have made notes about things I have done ... Phone calls, spending, etc. I'm also trying to plan meals ... The red journaling card has a space on the flip side where I write my errands and phone calls to make for the week.  That leaves more space in my planner.  I have only been at this about 3 weeks, so it gets refined a little each week.

This is what it looked like last night!  A little different than the beginning of the week, huh?  At the end of the week there is a notes section and I just do a quick summary of what happened during the week.  I'm hoping this will help me during those times I am looking for something I did or bought or planned, but then can't remember the details.  I bought an Inkwell Press planner and it is absolutely the bomb!  The quality of the paper is great, and there are many different sections besides just the calendar.  There are lots of note pages in the back and since I am taking care of my mom, I started a section on her.  Now I have one place to keep track of the phone calls I have with her doctors, what needs to be scheduled, medicine changes, etc.  it's really helping me keep everything together.

On Instagram there is an entire planning and scrapbooking community ... They love their art the way we love quilting!  I joined in on a list a day challenge.  Every day we have a prompt and we journal a page for that day.  It has been so much fun!

This is just one of my days ... The prompt was best meals I ever ate.  Mine was really fun to fill in the memories on that date.  Some are really fun and some prompts require a little more seriousness or thought.  I probably spend about a 1/2 hour towards the end of my day just filling a page ... It is really enjoyable and I am finding it quite relaxing.  It doesn't come without downfalls though ... So much cute stuff to embellish with.  I spent s little money last week shopping for goodies!

One of my trips to Target ... Their dollar bins are dangerous!  They have really raised the bar and are putting out the cutest stationery products.  Some things are $3, like this cosmetic case.  I also have found grest things at Tuesday Morning and sale shopping Joanns and Michaels.

Ok ... Back to quilting!  Have a good week my friends.  Follow me on Instagram @quiltinginderthesun

Stash Report - Week 16

I have been a busy sewing bee this week!  Finished a quilt on my quilt retreat and that took a lot of fabric!  Made a backing as well ... Still doing a little cutting to finish my APQ Quiltalong project.

Used this Week: 19 1/2 yards

Used year to Date: 63 7/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 26 yards

Net Used for 2015: 37 7/8 yards

I think my math is right ... My brain is tired and it is late!!

Blood sweat and finjshed!

Remember when I cut my fingertip off last year?  The quilt I was working on at the time was a real challenge .. Metro Hoops by Sew Kind of Wonderful.

Everyone was jumping on the curved ruler bandwagon ... Have you checked out Pinterest?  Beautiful quilts ... There are lots of patterns using this ruler.  

You start with three different sections ...

After you see them together you get this.

You sew a couple setting triangles on and then is where the fun begins ...

Trying to square the block up. Most of the pattern is pretty straight forward, but when you are trying to square the block up, that part of the instructions leave a lot to be desired.  I know it's not just me because three other friends were making different quilts with the same ruler and expressed the same frustrstion.  I powered on and just tried to be consistent.  The results weren't perfect, but I got a great finished product, and I don't think most people would notice what I am talking about.

I was at a retreat for a few days last week (same place I cut my finger last year), and I was saving my quilt to finish then.  I did!! I love it ...

I wanted to make more rows to make it bigger, but I just couldn't bear to make any more!  I added 3 borders .. On my trusty little Singer 99 ... My Bernina needs to go to the doctor as it is making a great clackity clack sound that I'm certain is not good for it.  I just love this little machine ... It is heavy as the dickens, but it is so sturdy and sews great!

It makes it about 78" x 93".  Not big enough for my king really, but I will figure it out and make it work!!

I always make my binding when I finish my quilt top.  Then it's done, I don't have to find the fabric later, and it looks so cute sitting and waiting to finish the quilt.  I wound mine around an old So Fine spool of thread.  So glad to have that one done ... One of my favorites!!  It reminds me of a wedding ring quilt.

Stash Report - Week 15

Just for fun ... Here is a flashback to my stash report for week 15 from last year ...

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 38 yards
Added this Week: 4 1/4 yards
Added Year to Date: 19 3/4 yards
Net Used for 2014: 18 1/4 yards

I was just checking my progress there ... I have used more fabric than the same time last year, cut I have also bought more fabric ... Haha!!  Am I such a nerd ... I really get a charge out of seeing the comparison.

Well I have been a busy bee this week sewing up a class sample for a stash class the end of the month.  You know what that means ... Fabric out ... Woo hoo!

Used this Week: 4 1/2 yards

Used year to Date: 43 3/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 26 yards

Net Used for 2015: 17 3/8 yards

I was originally going to use "not cute" fat quarters in this quilt, but I have done such a good job de stashing that I didn't have enough variety to pick from.  I remembered I had a UFO in a bin that had a whole fat quarter bundle of an old Fig Tree line.

This line came out in 2007 ... Allspice.  I didn't love it at the time, but I like it more now.  Think there was a color in there that really threw me off.  It is a red brown color, and I didn't use it in this quilt because I think it muddies the other fabrics too much.  I added in some yellows and a couple of dark fabrics to add some different color elements.

This is easy and a really fun pattern.  You pretty much use all of a fat quarter.  Love those no waste designs!

Every fat quarter is cut into several segments ... You sew them back together and then alternate each pieced block with a large block.  The original design was about a 70" x 90" quilt.  I didn't want to make it that big ... My quilt is 70" x 80".

It went together so quickly because of the large pieces.  I made this quilt in a weekend ... A great idea for a gift.

I needed a couple of small squares to fill in so I didn't have to cut into a fat quarter.  Out came my bin of charm packs and 5" squares ... Can you see that basket is stuffed to the top with them?  Found exactly what I needed though.

Laid out and took a photo to see what I thought of color placement.  I turned around ...

Three quilt inspectors ... I think Todd was trying to rearrange some fabrics ... Pointing out that blue square! 

Here is the finished quilt ... It does not photograph well at all ... So much cuter in person!  It was a really fun quilt to make and went so quick!

Quilting

Sometimes a girl just has to quilt her own quilt!

No rush on this, but I have been itching to do some different quilting, and a need to practice means to quilt my own quilt.  This was the Richmond Reds pattern that I made back in January.  So much fun to make and I thought would be good to practice on.

Been wanting to try some soft feathers, and my last couple times trying them I was just not happy with the look.  But I can see definite improvement this time.  Am happy with the results.  It was really quite fun!

I quilted a different design in each big color block.  A little challenging to come up with so many designs, but that was the point, right?

Really happy with how the star points came out.  The squiggle was the second design I tried, and it just makes the points look like they are really radiating out.

There were some designs in here I tried and didn't like, or did a jiggle here and there.  But I decided to leave them in ... It's my quilt and I didn't think anything was so glaring that it looked awful.

This red fabric seemed to lend itself to trying to do an orange peel type design around the black lines.  It didn't come out

perfect, but I like it.

All free motion, and for this project I used Glide thread.  One of my favorite colors by them, Vegas Gold.  Glide thread has some controversy attached to it ... A lot of people complain about it because they say it shreds and breaks.  My Innova loves it; I just run it on a loose bobbin and as loose a top tension as I can get.  I have no problems.  I love it because it has a great sheen and really accents the fabrics and the stitching just lays right on the fabric and it looks beautiful.  Think that is one of the reasons I really love how this quilt came out.  I don't use it so much in customer quilts anymore because not everyone loves the sheen.  Another thing like about quilting for myself ... Being able to use up my weird sized pieces of batting,  I used three pieces in this quilt and no one could tell once it is all quilted!

Feels so good to have a quilt done out of my finished top stack!  Now to find the binding ...

Stash Report - Week 14

I did a little fabric retail therapy this week ... Found some lovely fabric on sale

The bottom is a black dot from Sweetwater "Elementary;" the top two fabrics are Sweetwater "Boathouse" fabrics ... I love this new line of fabric and am trying quite hard to resist buying it all. Luckily I have only seen it online and not had the pleasure of being able to feel it!  I also bought a 1/2 yard of a cute, orange sherbet stripe fabric.  

Used this Week: 2 3/4 yards

Used year to Date: 39 1/8 yards

Added this Week:  3 1/2 yards

Added Year to Date: 26 yards

Net Used for 2015: 13 1/8 yards

Finally caught up with my reports!!  How are you doing?

Stash Report - Week 13

Nothing in it or out!!  I am sewing, just on fabric that is already accounted for!

Used this Week: 0 yards

Used year to Date: 36 3/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 22 1/2 yards

Net Used for 2015: 13 7/8 yard

Week in review ...

 Whew ... I am just scattered and can't seem to find a place to start!  I think I'll just recap my week.

I did some sewing on Monday ... It is always the high point of my week when I can sit, regroup and sew.

APQ Quiltalong ... all those four patches ... When I put them together, I was not happy at how lumpy I thought the nine patches were.  So I am going back through all the patches and taking a snip where needed, and opening the seams up.  It is taking a ridiculous amount of time, but the end product is worth it.  This project is looking like it is going to take a loooonnnnngggg time.

Stack of 80 nine patches ... About half of what I need.

Now to do the reverse nine patch .. 80 of those coming up!!  I think I need a little more, but I can't find the magazines with the instructions.

It was Easter week and the Easter bunny needs a little help, right?  First up of course, my granddaughter!

She likes curly ribbon!

I had a lot of fun ... Boxed it all up to her and can just imagine her delight Easter morning.

Ok, now the rest ...

A package to my son and his girlfriend, two sets of nephews, and my dad and stepmom.  Oh my gosh ... 3 of those packages cost more to mail than what was in them!  Haha!!!

My husband was home last week and will be this next week too ... It is always a balancing act when he is home.  

He's getting some reading done ... And look who is at his feet!  Todd!!!!  Todd doesn't know that hubby doesn't like him ... Todd loves everyone!

Pulled out some Easter decorations before the holiday is over ... 

Decorated the eggs with my sweet college daughter ...

Ta da!!!!

Now we'll just wait for the Easter bunny to finish up!

Happy Easter!