All out of gas!

Well, I've reached the sewing equivilant of running out of gas ..... no more thread! I started working on my batik quilt this afternoon, and got a good bit done ... then ran out of thread. Nothing will stop you sewing more than that! Here are some pictures from this afternoons brief sewing time!

Here is some chain piecing that I was doing this afternoon.

Here are a stack of pieces that I needed to press open.



And this is the stack that I pressed open. Then I ran out of thread. So here is where I am stuck at!

Ahhhhh, comfy

Well, the quilt was none the worse for the wear after a good machine washing! I opened the lid of the washing machine with one eye closed and the other eye squinted .... I was afraid that in the washing machine would only be a mess of ravelled thread, and frayed fabric. But I guess my work was good enough, it all held together beautifully and looks nice and soft and worn.

The quilt is back on the bed, at least until it gets colder. Then I may put a regular comforter (ugh, an old floral from five years ago) on there, and put the quilt at the foot of the bed.

Today or tomorrow will be grocery day. I'm hoping to avoid the store with the self check isle. :)

Wash and Wear

After having my new king sized quilt on our bed for a few days, I've reached a decision. I love the quilt.....Hate it on my bed! I guess I love the look of a nice fluffy, high thread count (or silk!) comforter. Unfortunately I can't afford that right now. I also couldnt stand the feel of the quilt because it was needing that first good wash!

I'm hoping that the quilt will wash and wear beautifully. It's on low delicate in cold water in the washing machine, and then I may let it low tumble in the dryer for a little bit before I lay it out to dry. I'll try and remember to take a picture of it once it's dry. For now, though, here's a picture of the outer border of the quilt before it was washed.

I wonder if other people worry about the first wash of a quilt they've made? I can just picture it unraveling, puckering, fading, colors running and shrinking in various fabrics all over. Nice picture, huh! My fingers are crossed that it comes out looking nice and well worn.

Thanks Grandma!

My grandmother had a saying that she liked to tell every so often. The older I get the more it seems true! I probably dont have the saying down exactly as she said it but it goes something like this:

If you want something done and you dont care how it gets done, ask your children to do it.
If you want something done, and you dont care when it gets done, ask you husband to do it.
If you want something done now and done right .... do it yourself!


Am I the only one that hates going through the self checkout lane? I swear my husband thinks that if he's the one doing the checkout that it HAS to be quicker. Notice, though, that it's called self check ... not EXPRESS check. It's named that for a reason. I've resigned myself to just lean on the grocery cart and twiddle my thumbs until we're finally done checking out. I mean, seriously .... he picks up a bag of lettuce. "What kind of lettuce is this?"..... I reply "Green Leaf Lettuce" .... to which i hear "Oh" and then way too many buttons being pushed on the screen. Next comes a pumpkin. I swear if he asked me what it was I would scream. Instead I hear "Is there a scanner bar on this?".... "Yes dear... right there. That sticker didnt grow on the pumpkin." Question. Buttons. Beep. Over and over ... and over.

But I look around ... and lo and behold.... there's men galore at this darn self check section. They're all SLOWLY picking up items, turning them over and over to look for a barcode, get a beep and do it all over.

The darndest thing, they all looked so proud of themselves when the walked out of the grocery store. Guess they conquered that piece of equipment. :)

Next time, though, I'm using my Grandmother's advice .... I'll do it myself and go through the express lane. After all, it is named that for a reason.

... and the picture has nothing to do with anything. I just like it. It's a picture I took of the Arkansas River at Spadra Park.

Dreams and Stars

Maybe I should have had this quilt on my bed yesterday for naptime, and I wouldnt have dreamed crazy dreams. It's bright, happy and cheery .... three words that dont describe the way I felt when I woke up from a dream infused nap.

I love Hobby Lobby's 40% off coupons. I decided I needed a little retail therapy today, so I printed out a coupon and took off for town. I live in town, but I still get in the car and go to town. Maybe it's a country thing... not sure. :0

I bought a new quilt magazine. It has several quilts with instructions that I'm interested in trying to make sometime soon. Case is mesmerized by Stars. If he sees one, you'll know it ... because he'll say 'Tars!!!!" Tars!!!!" I'll be sad when he grows a little more and actually says that the right way. :) So I'd like to make him a full sized quilt that he'll always have with him that has stars on it. But I want it to be a good color scheme to grow with him.

I'm sure I'll need more retail therapy soon ... hopefully Hobby Lobby will have another coupon next week.

Two blocks down, seven to go

It's football season, so what better way to describe my quilting endeavors than football'ish terms!! ha ha .. Don't you know every football man fan would cringe if they heard the word "footballish" and quilts in the same sentence!

But seriously, I've got two blocks down and only seven to go. I swear, when I get them all done ... I may run through the house with my hands held above my head screaming "TOUCHDOWN! QUILT COMPLETE!" and then I can throw down my seam ripper and do a little funky dance just like the boys do. Naaaaaaahhhh, I'll just quietly snap some pictures and post them on my blog and call my Mom. :)

Not only is quilting addictive, but apparently it can be contagious! My mom has sworn that she was NOT going to make a quilt. She was not interested in it at all. Yet, she would enjoy seeing what I was working on as I was learning to quilt. Then, the next stage in her contagious quilting sickness was that one day she wanted to borrow all my quilt magazines! tteehhheee... I knew she had the fever then. The next step was that all the sudden I realized that she was buying her OWN quilt magazines and sharing them with ME! I've heard a vicious rumor that she's got a quilt pattern picked out, and is patiently waiting on payday and some free time to escape to the quilt store to get some fabric and get started.

Of course, it's only fair that I can infect her with this quilt fever. You see, not long ago I was asking to borrow her Beading magazines .... and had previously sworn that I was not interested in beading/jewelry. Now I happen to have the cutest collection of beaded bracelets and necklaces that you could imagine ..... and I let my mom borrow my Bead magazines.

Be careful out there ... you never know what you'll catch next!

Sew Delicious!!

I rented time at our local quilt store on the Gammill quilt machine today, and worked on my king size Wash Day Stars quilt. The quilting is complete, and all that is left is to attach the yellow binding strips. I'll get a close up picture of the quilt tomorrow.

I'm very tickled to have gotten this so close to being finished! It's only the second quilt that I've done. You can see my first quilt here. I have the best intentions to not leave quilt projects half done. It's affordable to rent the Gammill quilt machine ($20/hr) and I have the self satisfaction of knowing that I completed the quilt completely by myself..... machine pieced and quilted by lil' ole' me! (well, little'r)

Here is a picture of my quilt top attached to the quilting machine.

I am really excited about having such a wonderful quilt store so close. Of course, it probably is bad news for my checking account! I figure, though, we all have our hobbies ..... my husband loves his motorcycle and is intently looking for an "around town work truck" to buy. How much harm can I be with doing a little quilting here and there. At least it's made in the U.S.A!

<------ This was made in the U.S.A.

hahaha.. I just couldn't resist saying that. Actually, I should check to see where the material was made at, but the block was assembled by cheap southern labor. :) It's a shame to call oneself cheap, isn't it? I should change that to frugal southern workforce.... hahaaa.

This is a new quilt that I've started this week. The picture is of one block, and I only have 8 more to put together! This will be a nice throw size quilt, approximately 60in x 60in. I've had quite a bit of trouble with the angles and pieces matching up point to point .... but I quickly got over being anal retentive and just dived right into placing colors and sewing. It's not perfect, obviously, but I'm tickled with it overall and I think that the finished quilt will be interesting. Nothing to enter into the State Fair, of course, but nifty to me!

Thursday I'll use the longarm quilting machine at the local quilt store and quilt my the king sized quilt top that I finished recently. I can't wait to snuggle up under it this winter! I'll post a picture of it when I'm done.

I did some research and found that a lot of Step2 products/toys are manufactured in the U.S.A. Good thing to know!

This is a picture taken by some friends on their trip to Cozumel this summer. I'd like to be laying on that beach with a nice, cheesy romance to read, a glass of Dr. Pepper or a chilly Mojito (if I want a nap!).

So Christmas isn't that far away. I know you're thinking that it's only September, we have plenty of time to worry about Christmas! But nooooo..... if 80% of toys are made in China and they keep having these massive recalls on toys from China because of lead .... then what are the other 20% of toys that are available that I feel safe buying for an almost 2 year old boy?! I need more time than I have to solve this problem. I mean, if he didn't put everything single thing he plays with in his mouth, I wouldn't be so concerned about where the toy was made at. But, he does .... and I am concerned. This is probably some sort of conspiracy against the U.S. for the Chinese to kill us off one by one or to turn us toxic. Do they let their kids in China play with lead infested toys?? Where is our salmonella infested spinach...I've got somewhere I'd like to send it. Okay, that was overboard..and I'm merely being dramatic. I'd never send salmonella infested spinach anywhere ... unless I have PMS and then no one is safe. :)

At least I know that Case likes trucks and tractors....and I could get him a little Ford Truck to drive around the back yard. Surely he won't attempt to eat a truck ......

And yes, he can only get a Ford truck. :)

I've decided I should post on my blog more often. It feels good to rant about anything I want to and not worry that people will think I'm nuts. :)