Two Blues & Two Finishes

Two of the gals from the shop I quilt for, Stitch & Craft, entered their quilts & both won blue ribbons! As I understand it, there wasn't a longarm quilting category, so my name isn't on them, but I did quilt them & so I was pretty excited to be a part of the process :)

Ladybugs pieced by Erika. Other pics can been seen here: Ladybugs & Hearts

Bright Rectangles pieced by Joanna.

And I had a couple that I finished this week too:

Geese & Pink Blocks Top; QUILTED custom (freehand)

Autumn 10-Patch on Point Top; QUILTED with Bubble Meander (freehand)

Nothing too exciting going on here this week. Lots of quilting, schooling & some visiting with friends. My older daughter had a friend visit from Georgia a couple times, and I hosted a Creative Caper in my home for some of my favorite peeps on Friday. 

Hope to catch up with y'all soon. Piece-out! 

(get it... piece... as in sewing/piecing... yeah, I know, I'm a dork!)

My Quilting Masterpiece

A.K.A. Star Spin 

Pieced by Stitch & Craft 

Quilted ~ by me!

Full Frontal (why does that sound dirty??)

 Most of the back view

A little closer of the back view

Showcases "McTavishing" Technique - Front

Meandering Paisleys - Front

Paisleys on back

Star center is done with Freehand Victorian Feathers - Front

Feathers & McTavishing - Back

 Freehand Victorian Feathers - Back

This marvelous sucker took me 34 HOURS to quilt! And I must say, though I felt stress from being under a deadline, I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Tea Mat Gift

Sewing has actually... FINALLY... occurred! 

I had to wait to show it, though, since this was for a tea-drinking friend who reads the blog now & then...

 I even managed to quilt a steaming teacup in the center...

Three of us hadn't gathered for some time & we exchanged belated birthday gifts. I cannot wait to play my gift:

STITCHOPOLY!! 

I'm going to make someone play this with me this weekend... mwahahahaha!!!

Quilting the Days Away

Bright Rectangle Top; QUILTED with Maze Meander (freehand)

Red Stars & Blocks Top; QUILTED with Loopy Stars (freehand)

Embroidered Snow People Top; QUILTED SID around blocks and freehand Snowflakes in the border

 Blue, Orange & White Around the World Top; QUILTED with (new pattern) Bubble Meander (freehand)

We're having the most beautiful day here in Lancaster County. The weather couldn't be any better! It's lovely having the backdoor hanging open listening to the birds...

Quick Quick Update

Today's Froggy quilt had me sweating it out a bit. Not the quilt itself actually but rather waiting on the bobbin thread required to do this for the shop, Stitch & Craft. But all's well that ends well, and it did end well!

This top was quilted with Water Stipple (freehand)

I was ecstatic to pick up a handful more to quilt this upcoming week ~ I do like to be busy!

But next look for a book review on Po Bronson's book, What Should I Do with My life? 

See you soon :)

Shop Hop Eye Candy

Alright, so maybe not everyone would consider deer "shop hop eye candy", and I never expected to see deer at any of the quilt shops. BUT one of them had a pen-full of deer in their side yard, and you can see this one was quite friendly!

I couldn't decide whether to be irritated by the penned-up deer?? Why were they penned up? I'm hoping they don't serve as this family's yearly "deer meat" or something similar?? 

Though now that I think of it, it's not so dissimilar to what we do to cows & pigs now, is it? And don't get all freaky-deak on me~ I'm not some squirrelly vegetarian with no tolerance for pig and/or cow eating & being all judgmental ... I eat mean... just making an observation!

This same lovely shop (the one that went on and on and on and on) provided the most comfortable gliders on which we sat & had our lunch. And might I just add, we had the more glorious day for this weather-wise.

Now to some pictures of the loot! This first set of fabric is for making birthday place mats for the most part. I made them for my own gang at home & want to make some "generic" ones as well.

I was lacking browns in my stash:

(I think the one is actually black?)

Tea fabric!

 

Coffee fabric!

A homespun I plan to turn into napkins for us.

A couple fun novelties: 

And we went to a new shop that offers a very nice array of wool felt! It's difficult to find in stores around here, even with us being in Lancaster, PA, which seems to be the quilt store mecca of the USA!

(the small brown piece on top is actually 100% wool)

These are the four shop hop blocks I'll make "someday". 

A few nifty patterns:

 

Notions~ If you enlarge this one you can see the labels say, "Created by Denise". How cool is that??!?!

And another random-makes-me-laugh picture, because yes, this was found within the deer quilt shop. The Amish & Mennonite are well-know for their herbal remedies, but the presentation & location cracked me up.

That'll be enough quilt shop-hopping for a little while. I'm still not back in my sewing room since our home was flooded in September of this last year, and all of my fabric is still in boxes. I can dig through them if I REALLY want to sew, and I have on a few occasions. But really the process is so annoying & exhausting that by the time I've dug through everything trying to find anything, I have no patience or energy left to BEGIN a new sewing project. Instead I just keep stock-piling :) 

Happy Weekend everybody!

Quilt Finishes & Some Babble

Pink/Green Star Top; Quilted with a Leafy Swirl (freehand)

Multi-Colored Hexagon Top; Quilted with Puzzle Piece Meander (freehand)

(sorry the pic is kinda dark!)

Turtle Top; Quilted with Stippled Water (freehand)

Sorry I've been so lame at blogging lately! I'm restructuring my days, so I hope to be attending to tasks more regularly now. 

I've been quite challenged finding a balance between work & family & friends & household obligations. And I know I'm not the only person looking for the most efficient way to work from home while not getting too sucked into what's going on IN the home at the same time!

I admit I've always been one of "those moms" who was more apt to drop those chores to go have some fun with the kiddos (and maybe even let them drop theirs as well.) I still hold that it was a great way to raise our kids~ not perfect, but we've made lots of terrifically fun & meaningful memories with our kids. So yeah, over the years I've had neighbors or family drop by & have been embarrassed by the strewn toys or laundry piles waiting to be folded, but... well, what can I say?? 

That stuff is easier to get to now that the girls are older. HOWEVER, the myth that older kids don't need or want their parents like younger kids do should really be put to rest. 

Truly lots of older kids are still vying for their parents' attention.

Well, I'm off on a tangent... What I'm trying to say is that there are still lots of fun things & household things that come up ... rides to/from places, games, Coach bag shopping, nails, Algebra homework help, lessons, bike rides, clothes shopping, lunch dates, proofreading papers, finding lunch money, finding missing belts/braces wax/shoes/etc. orthodontic appointments, pet care, running for project supplies at the last minute, food gathering, shopping, shopping, and more shopping. 

Then there are the piles of dirty laundry & dishes calling to me as I walk by them... the stack of bills waiting to be paid... the random stuff that seems to grow in my house which needs permanent homes "somewhere"... the letters to penpals to answer... a sewing project I *should* work on... the sewing project I *want* to work on... dirty floors that should be swept or vacuumed... meals to prepare... garbage to gather & take out...

When you "get" to be home all day, how do you go about organizing yourself to make sure you get certain things done on a regular basis?? 

I've designated several days a week as absolute work days, and a couple days as errands/household duty days (that can also be work overflow days.) Saturday is a work day, and Sunday is our Family Day. We're not necessarily doing anything together, but we're NOT running all around in separate directions either. 

I would love to hear from other's on this. What's worked for you?? And how do you deal with those around you whom don't understand *how* working from home works?? 

p.s. Stay tuned for pictures from my Shop Hop this past weekend = Eye Candy!!