|
|
I think I started out the year in a good way. My Grandma used to say that whatever you were doing on New Year’s Eve would be how you spend the year. That has always encouraged me to do a few things all day long – sewing, spending time with my kids, other family, visiting, reading, exercising, etc. This NYE was a good day, spent with family, full of sewing and visiting. It was a struggle to stay up though! I mean for myself, my kids were somehow full of energy and ready to stay up even later.
I am currently working on quilting a small quilt that I volunteered to make. I plan on having it completed tomorrow so it can be mailed on Tuesday. I also have a couple of pot holders that I made that need the binding put on them.
I also registered for two classes today. I have five to go until I complete my undergraduate degree. This is HUGE. So huge I almost can’t process it just yet. I am hoping I can get all five classes done this semester, I know that sacrifices have to be made in order to get what you want and I am willing to sacrifice things so I can graduate sooner then later. Of course later would be this summer, which isn’t too much longer I know.
I look forward to another busy semester! I am going to rewrite my priority list and get to work.
Happy Holidays and here is to a great 2012!
Nothing like some motivation to get a lot of sewing done! Two of my classes ended (I still have one more this semester) and it seemed to open a huge block of time! Add to that my Dad came for a visit and so JW was interested in Grandpa so I was able to nab time here and there to sew and I really finished a lot over the past week and a half.
I posted about my postage stamp quilt a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been working on this since January! I started the quilt along when it was posted but one thing I did was made the mistake of buying yardage for my neutral. For some crazy reason, I thought it would be easier! Ha! After cutting it into strips, I took a break rather then getting started sewing. Once I finished the blocks, the top came together so quickly. This joins my quilt stack now, I don’t have any plans of when I can finish it and I have other projects I want to get done before the holiday season.
 I am thinking of quilting in a diagonal, to go against the squares.
I also put together a quick and easy Halloween table runner. This was super simple, I used the fabrics from a previous W.I.P. post and they are all fat quarters. I cut varying widths on the 18″ side of the fat quarter. The one on the top is my original table runner, and the bottom is intended for the back. I wanted to use up the fabric and this way I can have a reversible table runner. I don’t have any plans to quilt it anytime soon, but when I do I want to use glow in the dark thread.
 A little hand snuck in the picture! Table pictures are always terrible, so I’m sorry for that. I need to figure out a better way to take pictures, I live in Washington state where it rains a lot so I can’t do many outside pictures in the winter!
A late W.I.P. but it’s still Wednesday where I am! 
In the process of looking at all the beautiful projects people are working on through the W.I.P. Wednesday, I found a Sew & Tell Mini Quilt Challenge. Of course, I failed to notice the date at first and once I did, I knew I couldn’t have anything done in time. But I wanted to share how happy I am to have found so many really great quilters to follow online. I’ve been online for years now, primarily in the work at home mom (WAHM) arena. I don’t know why I didn’t find quilty bloggers until now, but I am thrilled that I have! The pictures shared, the numerous really active flickr groups, the challenges, the sewing summit (which I really want to attend next year!) and so much more is active in this community. I am inspired to finish more of the projects I am working on and share them with my new friends.
I didn’t get a mini quilt done, but click the button and see the amazing quilts others finished. I am heading to my sewing room to find fabric to put together a mini quilt this weekend!
A whole week already! What a sad state my sewing room looks like. Not much has changed actually. I left last Thursday for a conference and didn’t get home until late Sunday night, which really was early Monday morning because it was 1AM. Monday was spent cleaning up and getting ready for Halloween, and vegging – because I was just so tired from the amazing three days I had in Portland, OR, attending the first NIKE N7 Sport Summit. It was a fantastic experience and I am so excited to share what I learned! I’ll do a post here soon, I need to edit my pictures!
And so all that I managed to finish were my kids Halloween costumes.
 But I can’t take credit for the hats! I bought them on etsy. I LOVE the blue one, it fits JW perfectly. I have to admit a slight disappointment with the black bird and green pig hats though. They are WAY bigger then my kids heads, bigger then I think they should be anyway, and the yarn that the green one is made of stretches very easily, so it’s totally stretched out already. Despite my slight disappointment, the kids loved them and wore them from the day they arrived and still do. I’m going to throw the pig in the wash and see if the agitation makes the yarn shrink.
Sure the sewing was super easy for the costumes, but I’m glad I got to work on a little something! I’m back now and am going to continue on my postage stamp project this weekend.
I am thrilled to join in my first W.I.P. Wednesday. I always have W.I.P.s (works in progress) and love looking at what others are working on. The majority of my W.I.P.s are quilts or table runners that I need to finish. Once I make a quilt top, I usually fold it and put it away. Since moving into this house (almost two months ago) I decided to have my completed tops in a separate space. For right now, that means a small pile on a short bookcase. This is a huge reminder to me that I need to get these quilted!
 Two of these quilts are at the top of my priority list. They are for Operation Kid Comfort. I have the batting already and I am sure I have backing, I am striving to get them both done by next weekend.
Another W.I.P. I’d like to share is a postage stamp quilt. This is a quilt along that was published earlier this year over at P.S. I Quilt and I cut the fabric the same week that the quilt along started. And that’s where the similarities end. It was a lot of sewing strips, and then a lot of cutting, and I am still sewing my block together. I divided them into the two groups and just finished one group yesterday. I have a short stack of strips left to sew together, than I can move on to the construction of the quilt. I’ve enjoyed this and really love the fabrics I am using.
And of course since Halloween is right around the corner, here are two projects I’m working on.
I meant here is the fabric for two projects I need to make. Oops. The top fabrics are for a reversible wall hanging and the bottom is for a table runner. I am going to quilt them in glow in the dark thread. I also have fabric for a Halloween quilt, and I am making it a goal to have it done by next year.
I have the best intentions but just wasn’t able to get my Halloween projects done this year! I am going to work on them anyway, over the next couple of weeks and then quit. I don’t have too much sewing I need to do for the holidays so I won’t be behind like I am here.
What are your two favorite pictures of yourself?
I almost forgot about this week’s 2 on Tuesday, which is surprising because I’ve actually been able to keep up! I promise I’ll share some crafty and this is what I’ve been doing posts. I’ve been crazy busy! I’m heading to Portland on Thursday for the NIKE N7 Conference and other then being excited for that, I am beyond excited to see one of my BFF’s Holly! It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other, almost six years! That’s the military for you. She is flying to Portland to watch JW for me so I can attend the N7 Summit. Yay!
On to my pictures…
I like this picture so much it is my icon on several websites. Twitter for one, despite the picture being about three and a half years old. Yes I have a camera and even a phone with a decent camera – you would think I could take a new pic for my profile! But no. I like to have makeup and my hair look decent and I never feel like I have time to take those few minutes to take a new one. Showing this just proves it is so time to do so! Anyway, this picture was taken when Chris was in OCS.
Sure my hair is a hot mess and the craft room behind me is messy, but what a great shot of Jake and I. He was holding the camera and I remember he and Alice had been playing with it, taking pictures of whatever. He came in the office/craft room and wanted to take a picture with me, so I grabbed him and this is what he got. I love it because we are both so happy.
What are your two favorite restaurants?
I’ve become picky about my restaurants. I really try not to have fast food anymore and I don’t like going to the typical chain restaurants – though I do love Outback! As far as I’m concerned, Outback is awesome. Maybe that is one of my favorites. Another is Phad Thai, which is a local restaurant that changed the name to Asian 1 this summer. I don’t understand why, maybe they have new owners, but the food is the same so that makes me happy. The restaurant is has a relaxing atmosphere and the wait staff doesn’t try to rush us out when we are done eating. I found my favorites there so I don’t stray too far outside of that, but they have a huge selection you can choose from.
 photo credit: Mark Faviell Photos
The other local favorite I have is CJ’s Beach House (I just found out they don’t have a website!). It is a bit pricier then what I like to spend on a meal out so we don’t go very often. They have a great outside seating area, and since it’s on the beach it can be the perfect evening out. The food is good and most of the time the wait staff is great. If they are really busy, the wait staff seem to be flustered, but that’s only happened once or twice when we’ve been there. That isn’t a picture of Birch Bay from CJ’s, but the entire area looks that way so it could be.
|
|
