Friday, May 30, 2008

a finish in the chaos

I did finish the binding on the first lasagna quilt. So...

UFO #3 - lasanga quilt

Stress has not abated, so I am taking some time to think through how to cope for the next 2 weeks.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Restful Wednesday

Well, I did not get a lot done last night. I was just at wit’s end, so Ted recommended that I just take the night off and relax. So I watched Recount that I had tivo’d and continued to hand stitch the binding down on the first lasagna quilt. I only sewed for half of the movie, so I’m not done, but it was a restful evening.

Hopefully I can plod through and get some stuff done. This insurance exam looming over my head is making me nutso.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

exhaustion update

It has been nearly 10 days since I posted. It’s been a hard 10 days.

Ted ended up in the ER last Monday and again yesterday on 2 unrelated items. The only benefit is that we have paid all of our deductibles, so it should all be covered 100%. For many days, I was Mom’s Taxi, running Ted and DD everywhere they needed to be.

DD also threw up one day last week, and that was a hard day. I felt bad for her.

We were to entertain family last Saturday, but cancelled that. We saw them in Chicago on Monday anyway. I did have part 2 of the root canal done as well.

I spent the weekend sewing as much as I could. UFO #3 is the lasagna quilt and I am hand stitching the binding down, so that one will be done soon. I did another bobbin of FMQ on the Jackson quilt. My crowning achievement was finishing 7 dozen pinwheels blocks, spinning in opposite directions (that would be 14 dozen total) for the P&P quilt I am making as a wedding gift.

I have no idea when I will get any time to sew in the next 4 weeks and I am not making that up. My main goal is to continue on this mini-challenge and before Q2 is done, I will report in to Cher how I’ve done. I do have an insurance examination for work on the 10th, and that is eating into my quilting time.

If I get any sewing time, my thoughts are to do a bit on the second lasagna quilt (step 1 is to sandwich and then a bobbin a night), a bobbin a night on the Jackson quilt, and then on to the 16-patches for the P&P quilt. The first 2 items take about an hour total, so we shall see how this goes.

If I end up with a stack of quilts next to my bed that only need the hand stitching of the binding down, that will be a huge achievement.

So hang in there, all. I’m exhausted.

Monday, May 19, 2008

exhaustion

Well, Friday night I relaxed and slept after running 10 errands, making dinner and collapsing.

Saturday I was in Chicago.

Sunday I was in Chicago.

I have done no sewing. And I’m exhausted. Ted’s in Ohio and also in the ER (now resting at the hotel).

Stay tuned.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Week 19 report and Week 20 goals

Last night, I had illusions of grandeur of sewing a storm. Not exactly.

I did watch last week’s and this’ week’s Grey’s Anatomy, so that’s nice. While I did not sew a stitch, I did continue cutting. I started cutting my yellow milk crate. I also cut some WOC strips so I can start cutting blades for the pinwheel blocks for the P&P quilt. I did cut 24 pinwheels of blades and I’m still not done with blue. Such is life.

So week 19 did not have a UFO finish, and while I am bummed by that, I have to remind myself that this mini-challenge is not meant to frustrate me. I had hoped to have a quilt to bind while at my sister’s, but that did not happen. So I will bring my GFG bag with me and hope to get a flower worked on. That would still be progress, just on a different goal.

So Week 20 has the following goals:

Cut yellow milk crate
Finish first lasagna quilt to the hand sewing portion of binding
Brownie top all done
Sandwich other lasagna top
Sandwich baby boy quilt top
Cut into pink and brown milk crate
Sew all cut pinwheels
1 bobbin FMQ on the Jackson quilt

That would have me doing something on all 6 remaining UFOs in this challenge.

Tonight’s goals:
Finish cutting the yellow milk crate.
Cut all pinwheels blades out from all of the 3.5” strips I’ve cut. This would be blue, orange and yellow blades.
Square up Brownie blocks, so they are ready for their next logs.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

nothing new

I didn't sew last night, but I did fold 4 loads of laundry and converted DD's closet from winter to summer. That was enough, I assure you.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sleep, Precious Sleep

Well, I forgot about a library function last night, so I got DD after work, headed to McD’s for dinner and then to the library. We watched “The Hollywood Librarian”, which is a must-see if you love libraries.

Then when we got home, Ted and I ate our dinner, which was ribs. And then I fell promptly asleep at 8:30 and slept all the way through. I did get up at 1:30 for an Aleve and the headache medicine and went right back down.

So no quilting, but I am well rested for sure!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Milk Crate Success!

Another day with the teeth. Actually, after being pregnant so many times, I stopped being a belly sleeper and had to become a side sleeper. The problem is that I am lying on the bad teeth. I’m achy and I have 10 days to go. Wish me luck. I didn’t get an appointment this week, so at least I get more sewing time!

I forgot I had a church meeting last night, but they are very prompt that they are only an hour long. So before the meeting I did some cutting and after the meeting I cut for hours. While I got nothing else on my list done, I did finish cutting up the blue and orange milk crate. My God, that took FOREVER.

Tonight there are no errands, but there is laundry and folding. So after those things are done, I hope to do 2 bobbins on a lasagna quilt, which will finish its quilting. I also hope to sandwich the other lasagna quilt, as I did wash the backing last night. I hope to cut 10 yardage pieces of yellow (the next milk crate) and finish framing the Brownies squares. I think that’s plenty for the evening.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sunday update

Despite major dental work that was started on Friday, it was a pretty good weekend for quilting. I did it all on Sunday instead, which is a great Mother’s Day in my opinion. I needed an emergency root canal on one tooth and potentially on its neighbor. The process is started, but it will take 4 appointments to accomplish the mission. Plus I need to be seriously sedated to get through each appointment because I am a chicken. Thankfully, the dentist gets this.

Meanwhile, Sheri did receive her quilt and it made her day, as she has been having a less than ideal set of days. I’m glad that hit the mark.

So on to Sunday. The weather here in central IL was downright nasty. We were checking the TV at 3 am for tornado warnings, it was so bad. So we stayed in, as the advisory was for wind and you weren’t to drive unless you had to. Since I am functioning on temporary crowns right now, eating out wasn’t really high on my list, so we had lots of scrambled eggs and noodles.

I did sandwich a lasagna quilt and quilted a third of it with my very bad FMQ scribbles. I did try some more FMQ on another quilt, but stopped after the top thread broke twice. Then it was on to the quarterly quilting homework of chiclets blocks. Now I love the chiclets pattern, but all of those HSTs can be annoying. Since working on Patches & Pinwheels and the OC, I am now using my easy angle for those HSTs and it’s going much faster. I also found my WOW pile, hidden in the basement under some toys (I wonder who that could be?). So now no more chiclets blocks until July.

Then I started on the Brownies quilt, ironing off all the extra crayon wax and trimming the blocks down to the actual colored surfaces, as the girls did not fill up the whole block in most cases. Then it was framing the blocks log cabin style in 2.5” strips. I then started cutting into my blue and orange milk crate and I started with the scrap bag and not the yardage. The scrap bags take forever, so I didn’t get very far.

And then I watched 3 hours of Survivor and I had Amanda and Parvati in my pool, so I have won some cash! Yay!

Week 18 report and Week 19 goals

UFO #2 – Sheri’s quilt

Goals for Week 19:
Progress, progress, progress
Each night:
Sandwich a quilt – there are 3
Quilt for one bobbin or one hour, whichever is shorter
Finish Brownies top
Attach binding to one quilt
Continue cutting blue and orange milk crate
Start cutting the yellow milk crate

There is not a lot of piecing this upcoming week, but I have a lot of weekends in the car for the next few weeks, so I am trying to quilts quilted and bindings attached for whipping down in the car or while visiting with families. 6 of the UFOs in this mini challenge were already pieced, so quilting is what needs to be done, so let’s just get to it.

I will lose one night due to dental work, so we shall see how this all goes.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

It's Mailed!

Not much happened yesterday, but in many ways the little bit that did was A-OK.

I FINALLY got the label on Sheri’s quilt last night, while DD flitted about in the backyard, running from neighbor to neighbor playing with all the little girls. (It’s high time she made some friends!)

And then today, I got the quilt over to the FedEx-Kinko’s and mailed it out. It should arrive either tomorrow or Thursday, which is perfect, because Sheri’s birthday is Thursday. She will be 54.

The quilt is all cow fabric and hearts fabric. On the one day I call in sick in October 2006, Sheri leaves work ill and is diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She already had leaky valves and within the year before she fell it, she had lost 75 pounds and looked terrific. If she had not lost all the weight, the congestive heart failure would have killed her.

Anyway, Sheri needed some valve replacements. They told her they were going to use cow valves. She asked for one cow valve and one pig valve so she could “Moo & Oink.” It’s a Chicago reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moo_%26_Oink. Trust me, it’s worth clicking on the link.

The doctors did decline, and when they got inside Sheri, she only needed one valve and they were able to repair the other. Meanwhile, Sheri’s mother was not exactly sympathetic; her mother is one that has to be in the spotlight. So Sheri nearly dying and having open heart surgery (!) was not considered a big deal and her mother has no idea why Sheri is so damned whiny.

Needless to say, Sheri needed a quilt. It got lost in the move, but it’s on its way, better late than never. The Cow Quilt, pattern, Yellow Brick Road, symbolizing the road to recovery.

I did take pictures, but I have no idea how that part works. Stay tuned.

Monday, May 05, 2008

UFO #2 is done

Let’s see, how was the weekend for quilting?

I finished the binding on Sheri’s quilt and made the label using Printed Treasures. Tonight I will sew the label on, pack it in a box and mail it on its way!

So UFO #2 – Sheri’s quilt.

I worked on stupid Chiclets blocks and ran out of WOW. I ran to the Treadle and fixed that issue. Only other offense: 2 packs of charm squares. I buy 2 at a time for nickel quilt patterns.

I had been given a roll of 54” fabric that if it washes up OK, would be suitable for charity backs. I cut off a hunk, washed it, dried it and it appears not to have shrunken down to a handkerchief. I need to iron it and measure to it check for shrinkage. Overall though, this was a success.

UFO #3 - I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I have 3 quilts all about the same size that need to be sandwiched, and then the quilting can commence. I need to work on the Brownies quilt as well. I may sandwich one using the washed back and have it at the ready to quilt.

I need to cut the milk crate and do all of that processing, but the finance final looms on Thursday.

I did, however, find my car sticker!

Friday, May 02, 2008

Week 17 ends and 18 begins

Just a quick update. I tried to sew more binding down last night after class (while watching Survivor on tivo) and the new medication I’m on put me right to sleep. Well, so much for that!

Goal is to work on that tonight and over the weekend and get it to the Kinko’s by Monday for shipment. We should be good to go.

Week 17 finish:

Little Red Mat - 1/8

Week 18 goals:

Finish Sheri’s quilt
Process blue and orange milk crate (please note that this involves several things, as noted before)
Brownies quilt – progress
Start OC step 2
Start OC step 3
Kit step 1b for Kim
Kit step 2a for Kim
Kit step 2b for Kim

Thursday, May 01, 2008

At my work, we have 3 hours of ‘give’ in our schedules per week. As long as we make up the 3 hours, we can take it whenever. So since I need to be at work on Friday afternoon, I took my choicetime yesterday afternoon.

I did get the binding on Sheri’s quilt and even started to stitch it down before class. Then after class I came home and got even more done. A whole long side is whipped down.

So tonight I have find my car sticker, but then I will continue to stitch that binding down. There is actual hope that I will make it to mail it on Saturday! Yay!