Friday

I had the morning off today.

It was awesome.

First, I watched "Return to Oz" - does anyone remember that movie? It was totally sweet. Old fantasy movies are my favorites!

Then, I watched some crime shows - I've been really into those lately! Dateline, Unsolved Mysteries, you name it. They make for some pleasant, mindless television.

I'm happy to say that ALL of my Scraptastic Strings have been pieced! It turns out I had about four more finished than I thought ... so I only had to sew nine today! And I've even got 1/3 of them removed from their paper. I think I'll finish the rest tonight, and sew it up this weekend!

I also worked out the layouts for the rest of my Green QAYG blocks, but now that I'm nearly done ... I'm going to take a look at how it looks finished, but I think I might have to add another row on each side! That's 14 more blocks! We'll see - I have plenty of green fabric to use still. First I need to finish them up!

And that's the plan for this weekend. I have two days off instead of just one, so I'm going to a.) watch Korean dramas and b.) sew, sew sew. And possibly clean, clean, clean.

I recieved some red, blue, and grey fabrics ... one for each of my brothers. I can't wait to go home and sort some piles of colorful fabric. :)

Have a great night, ya'll! And happy Palm Sunday for those of you who celebrate it this weekend!

This Week

We watched the Hunger Games (and I cried); I watched copious amounts of Korean dramas and crime shows.

Happy mail came in! Hello Pilgrim yardage, some Salt Air, and miscellaneous colored prints for my brothers' Christmas presents.

I nearly finished the Little Miss Alice quilt top (save for the borders), and decided to finish all the blocks for another quilt. I'm still working on it.

All in all, pretty good so far. I picked up some DS Quilts prints that I was drooling over at Joann's, as well as some Sparkly Aida cloth for cross-stitching. I'm off tomorrow morning (yay!) and Sunday/Monday. Sunday might be a do-stuff-with-family day ... and Monday my best friend and I have some stitchy fun planned.

Back with pictures later!

the light at the end of spring break

This weekend is, to my knowledge, the last weekend of Spring Break, and this girl could not be happier about it.

It's not that I don't love the business (or my customers): I do! But tack extra busy hours onto already long days and that equals exhaustion. As it is, I work all day today (read: 14 hours) and tomorrow (a smooth 11) and then I'm off for a day. One of our managers thought it would be a good time to take a weekend off: I obviously do not agree :). I've got a biggish party this morning and probably a busy night, and then we're all clear! Hopefully.

Well, that's that, at least. It's definitely hindered my ability to sew, because I can't really muster the energy that late at night ... but I got a few things done!

- I pieced some sashing on my "Alice" quilt. In my estimation, there's only about 14 more seams to be pieced! BOOYA! I'll need to add a border before it's done, but I'm getting close! If I finish it this week, I can cross that off my list for March, too.

- Started organizing my blocks for my Outfoxed quilt. I'm really liking the way it's beginning to look!

And because I'm a weak human being, I also did some fabric and/or book ordering.

- Yours truly got in a copy of "Farmer's Wife Quilt". Having waited for this one forever, I was super pleased to see it come in!
- I may or may not have purchased the Ariel and Ursula Funko!Pop figures. I also may or may not have a problem to be buying toys at my age.
- Christmas Gifts were decided upon: each of my brothers will recieve a quilt reflecting their favorite color. This, I have decided, is doable. We'll see. If not, everyone gets Lord of the Rings Pez!
- I ordered extra prints in blue, red, and silver (three of my bros favorite colors). There was also this really cute Scandinavian Owl print at Sew Fresh fabrics that I knew my older brother (who loves owls) would appreciate ... and it's not too girly, either!
- I bought some patterns from Tula Pink that were totally bitchin': Kiss Kiss and Windswept, as well as some "Sea of Tears in Dusk", one of my favorite prints, to go with it!
- Did you know that "Salt Air" by Cosmo Cricket was out in yardage? I didn't! But when I discovered this, I snagged half yards of all of the "Waves in Ocean" and "Fish Tales" prints ... as well as a yard of Day Dreamin' in Villa from Lush!

In any case, I need to go get prepared for this party. I'll be back later with pictures, hopefully of some finished quilt tops!

You know it's Spring Break when ...

... your feet hurt - in the morning, at night, during the day, when you're sitting down ...

... it's already reached the upper 70's. Heaven help us.

... your "breakfast of champions" consists of candy and Monster. Nutritious, I know.

Spring Break is insane here in Galveston. So many folks coming down for the afternoon, for the day, for the weekend; they're all over! Fortunately, I'm in the right business for that! I'm expecting one or two more "big" days, and then hopefully a reprieve.

I'm only THREE blocks away from finishing my Modern Meadow blocks. THREE! And I cut out the fabrics for the last two yesterday. I'm hoping that if we're not too crazy today, I can finish them tonight - it would just make my day to be able to plan their layout tomorrow!

I'm also hoping to finish up some sashing for my Little Miss Alice quilt - that would be nice to throw in the ol' quilt closet! I got in some cute (read: four) little Funko plushies from the new Alice in Wonderland movie, and I think a photo-op using those suckers is in order ...

There's also been quite a few books trickling in:

- "Quilts From the House of Tula Pink". Everything in this book is magic. I love the pictures, I love the colors, I LOVE the projects. Her quilt patterns are just as delicious as the fabric she designs!

- "Denyse Schmidt Quilts". I got this one on SUPER sale - $9.99 plus shipping - and I have to say, I'm delighted with it. I love her minimalist style - a lot of these projects would be good for a project for my dad or brother.

- "Modern Minimal". Alyssa's style is so simple and chic, and it's perfectly reflected here in this book. The tutorials are difficult for me to read, but that's only because I have a problem with directions - as in, any kind of direction is difficult to read! So I guess I just have to dive in and try them, right? :)

I took the liberty - ahem - of finally ordering "Farmer's Wife Quilts". Mostly to read the letters for now, and start on the blocks later (or whenever I feel like it!)

My goals for the rest of this month? As it calms down from Spring Break and before we head into summer, I'd like to finish the two quilt tops I have waiting to be completed (Modern Meadow & Little Miss Alice), and I'd like to start on Outfoxed. After that ... I think Habitat and Hello Pilgrim are calling my name!

And right now, the floor is literally calling my name! More later (and with pictures!)

rainy weekend

So it's forecast to rain all weekend. Tomorrow's supposed to be the worst day! This is particularly frustrating because it's our first "Spring Break" weekend here in southeast Texas, so we were (or I was) expecting to be busy. Oh, well; hopefully it clears up for next week (or oodles of folks come down and swim despite the rain).

(Just a side note - I know us Gulf folks are fortunate because the waters are typicaly warmer than on the Pacific or Atlantic, but WHY would you swim in March? You'll get sick! It's way too cold! My mama always said, "You swim on the first of May, and you wait 'til then!" It's ya'lls business, but I'd rather collect seashells myself.)

In any case, I've gotten quite a bit crossed off my list this week, cleaning or otherwise:

- All fabric is now labeled!
- I finally ordered Tula Pink's "Quilts From the House of Tula Pink". I'm really looking forward to this book - I love her fabric and I love her work!
- I also ordered "Modern Minimal: 20 Quilt Projects" and "Denyse Schmidt Quilts", which was on super sale for $9.99! Love it and can't wait!
- My green prints should be coming in today! :)
- I have an admission: I love toys. Especially cute ones, and so the Funko POP! Wicked Witch, Belle, and some Alice in Wonderland plushies MAY have ended up in my cart...
- I also joined the Dessert of the Month club from Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery! These are so super cute - and I have plenty of embroidery thread, but almost NONE of the colors I need, so I have to go buy them! Can anyone say Joann's?


At the moment, I'm designing an embroidery pattern. I found some cute Zelda cross-stitch patterns online, but the picture I wanted to cross-stitch wasn't there - so I'm making my own! I may have to enlarge it, but it'll be super-cute with any luck! :)

I'm off to work on that. I KNOW I have those colors :) Ya'll have a great Spring Break!

jewels and chestnuts and washi, oh my!

Yes, I got more fabric in yesterday. And yes, I love it.

All of the jewel prints from Lizzy House's Outfoxed in 1/2 yards. Some more Chestnut Hill (those Buttercup prints kill me!). And the rest of the Washi line in 1/2 yards. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

All in all, this weekend went pretty well! I washed my dogs, went to church, watched RuPaul's Drag Race, and ate with friends. I even got a few more blocks finished: a couple for my Scraptastic Strings (current count: 14) and one more for my Green Quilt-as-you-go (current count: 18).

I also completed one of my goals for March: Take down Christmas Tree! Yes, I know, I'm incredibly lazy. In my defense, I was kind of depressed when I put it up, and it seemed like it took FOREVER, so I imagined taking it down would be an event, too. Anyway, it (mercifully) went rather quickly.

I have a few other goals for March:

1. Complete my niece's quilt top.
2. Finish up my Scraptastic Strings top!
3. Finish up all the QAYG: Green quilt blocks. I had to order some more green prints - I'd thrown away some accidentally (like an idiot) and the prints I had left to use were too saturated; I had no solids to throw in the mix anymore. They should be here by the weekend...
4. Finish up my "Little Miss Alice" quilt top. I just need to sash the blocks and add a border; it should take TOO long, I've just been lazy about it :)

In the new spirit of the year (it took me awhile - I AM a procrastinator), I'm going to get back to work and finish up some of the stuff on my work list. Later dayS!

Thursday

It's Thursday, Thursday, everyone kind of likes ... Thursday...

Okay, so I'm not Rebecca Black. So sue me! I like Thursdays. I think I was born on one.

After my massage on Monday, I'm feeling a lot better. I think it just took a day (or three) to make a real difference. My shoulder still hurts, but my neck is better, and, rest easy, because I can once again do that wiggly thing with my arms. And also the wave.

I got a bit of sewing done, too! I'm up to 17 Scrappy Strings blocks, and while, yes, it will probably be the ugliest quilt I've ever purposely made, it'll be beautiful, too. I'm looking forward to piecing it - I'm thinking that the placement of the blocks might be its saving grace. And those scraps are quickly disappearing, which makes me very happy!

Something I've noticed about my fabric buying is that I'm definitely a collector - I buy in collections. Usually just fat quarters, but lately I've been picking up on deals (i.e yardage at a cheap price) when I like the line. Two examples? Deer Valley, whose colors didn't appeal to me at first but have grown on me, and Chestnut Hill. While I'm usually not a fan of blue and brown, Chestnut hill really speaks to me with its vintage feel and muted blues! I love it. But then again, I've loved nearly every line Joel Dewberry has come out with!

I'm off to complete my daily dog walk and bank run. Have a great day!