Thirty-Six

1. Monday I turned Thirty Six Years Old.
2. I remember when my parents were 36.  Boy were they old.
3. My current diagnosis with my OB says 'elderly multigravada currently pregnant'
4. I don't feel elderly.
5. Yesterday we left on our Epic Family Holiday.
6. I might be the most excited one in the house about Disney (I've never been)
7. I  loathe, dislike, can't stand, hate tick season.
8. So far this year I have completed 15 quilts.
9. This will slow down considerably after July.
10. I will never not be amazed when I feel the baby move.
11. I am inordinately fascinated by my new bird feeders and the birds coming to them.

 Indigo Bunting Pair

12. I have turned into a bird nerd.
13. It is absolutely unfair to keep a record of a pregnant woman's continually rising BMI
14. Our pet limit has been reached in this family.  1 dog, 3 cats, and an ever changing number of fish.
15. I have nightmares that our plecostomus will leap out of the tank and suck out my brains.
16. I am constantly inspired and start making plans for new quilts.
17. This doesn't bother me, as I decided a long time ago, that when you stop making plans, you start to die.
18. On the other hand, it is a little dispiriting, knowing that I will never have all the time I want to accomplish all the ideas I have.
19. My UFO list for the guild challenge is down to 5.  I am actively working on one, and have given up on one, so I feel pretty good.
20. My actual UFO list is 11.  I actually don't feel too bad about that either.
21. My UFO list will probably never be 0.  I just can't manage to only have one project at a time.
22. One UFO is MIA.
23.I have decided that my favorite composer is Vivaldi.
24. I cannot wait until my children are able to play Vivaldi for me.  Preferably all together.  It will make all the lessons worthwhile.
25. I am apparently a failure at stream of consciousness posts/list making.  Here I am at 25 and I still need to write 11 more things.  I've been working on this for a week.
26. My daughter's end of the year ballet performance was last weekend.
27.  I got one good shot of her, and its not even that great.  Guess I'll actually have to buy the DVD.

 28. I've loved watching all the girls mature, learn and become more graceful over the past 4 years.
29.  The boys in the family just wanted the show to be over.
30. As I finish this up it is raining here.  This in general is a good thing.  The Mosquitos, they will love it.
31.  Skippy Jon Jones is a new family favorite book.  "My head ees too beeeg for my body, My ears are too beeeg for my head"
32. If all goes as planned, on Friday (today) we will tour Mammoth Cave in the morning and then drive on to Chattanooga, TN for a couple of nights. 
33. Sunday we will be in Orlando. 
34. Best birthday present this year?  My new Cuisanart.  Its heavier than my Kitchen Aid Mixer.  I can't wait to get back home to "Shred, Chop, Slice and Pour"
35. I hope the cats don't eat each other while we're gone.
36. Thirty-Dead.

Really Random Thursday

We should be on our way by the time (most) of you are reading this.  I won't be able to link up, but you can still check out other good randomness at Live a Colorful Life.

 We are ready for the beach.  I didn't know there were so many kinds of shells that a whole book could be written about them!

 Found this single lovely at the edge of the woods.  Usually the deer get any tulips that aren't right next to the house.

Do boys ever get tired or too big to play in boxes?

 Wave if you see us driving down the road!

WIP Wednesday 5.22.13

 An upcoming WIP!  I finally found my inspiration for the Guild's Show Challenge with these horrid lovely Stonehenge Earth tone fabrics.  The catch?  We are supposed to make a quilt that represents something we like/love about the area.  When I moved here it was March.  Wet, cold, brown, mud, in the middle of a school year, and my second move in two years.  So while those fabrics actually fit that description, not exactly a winner, eh?  The rules say we must use at least a quarter of each piece of fabric.  I think that's totally manageable.  In fact I will need more of the brown (I know!).  Not mud, I promise.  My last catch?  I probably won't reveal this quilt until after the show...I mean gotta keep those winners a secret, right?

This one just needs a binding!  It might even get finished before we leave tomorrow.  This particular quilt has reached the 'get it done and move on' status.  More about it when I can do a finished post.



 

'Flutterby' Mini Quilt

Talk about knocking down multiple birds with one stone!  This little quilt is hitting three!

 I first was inspired to make it due to Le Challenge theme of Wings, so it was my (not quite finished) entry over there.

It was made more specifically for our Quilt Guild's Crayon Challenge

My color was melon.  These little quilts are auctioned off to support various areas of our local hospital.

 A close up of the small stippling, stripey body and hand beading.

Here's a shot of the back.  Some appropriate bug and butterfly backing!  I FMQ'd the label this time.  A more permanent way to 'write on' fabric.  My FMQ is about as messy as my real handwriting!

And finally, this is my Mini Quilt entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

The Facts:
12" x 12"
Fusible raw edge applique and home machine quilted.
Beaded by Hand.
Double binding applied.
Warm 'n Natural batting

At Amy's Creative Side
May 17 – 24 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice
May 24 – 30 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories
May 31 – Winners announced
Make sure you check out all the other beautiful quilts.  This is the last time I'll mention it around these parts.  2 more sleeps until we leave!

Baby Quilt Friendship Star

It is the time of year for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

  This time around you are allowed to enter two! quilts.  So my first entry is going to be my Baby Quilt Turquoise and Yellow Friendship Star.

 This was created for my kid's violin teacher's first baby (who has since arrived in the world!)
She said nursery colors were turquoise and yellow since they were not finding out the gender ahead of time.  I was originally hesitant, but so pleased with how it turned out.

 I quilted it on my home sewing machine.  Stitch in the ditch around the starts, and FMQ everywhere esle.

 A couple shots of the back.

 I used the leftover blocks to make the back a bit more interesting.

 More quilty goodness.

Finished Size: 46" x 46"
Quilted on my home machine with Sulky, Aurifil and Masterpiece threads
Pellon natural cotton batting

You can find my original post on this quilt here.

Border Quilting Tutorial

Here's another quilting tutorial based on what I did on the Pink Fairy Quilt.

 We're talking border treatment today.

 First let me start with my sewing machine set up.  I should have mentioned this in the circles post.  Sorry.  I am using the Free Motion foot (or darning foot) that fits on my machine.  Feed dogs down.  I have an extended work surface that fits on my machine and on top of that I use a Sew Slip silicon mat.  On this quilt I have a variegated cotton Gutermann thread on the top and Superior Threads Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Let's get started on the quilting.

 Your two edge lines of quilting.  Just sew a random back and forth line.  Maybe angle it in or out as you desire.  This is all done by 'eye-balling', no pre-marking anything.  Quilt the top line first, from the inside out.

 Starting at the outer edge go in for the bottom line, come back up a bit, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inches and draw a new wavy line from edge to edge (blue).

 Travel up the previously stitched line and follow your wavy line back down.

 Continue on until the section is all filled in.

 Next section: start at the outer edge of the quilt, and mirror your previously quilted (red) wavy line.

 Quilt to, or close to your border line, travel a bit and head back up.  Again echoing that wavy line.

 Do this until you're tired of it your happy with how far you've gone.

 Now repeat part one, quilting lines in the opposite direction.

 I found it was a good and easy way to get the border filled in in a reasonable amount of time.  For something like this, you don't need to worry about marking, and perfection isn't going to be noticed, or not noticed anyway.  Just stand back and appreciate the texture.

Really Random Thursday 5.16

Some randomness from the week.

 Oriels!

 4 Monkeys in the Bed

 There has been some major shoe purchasing lately.

 The only white trillium I found this spring.  One of my favorites.

 A cousin, the red trillium.

 Another iron burn scar....

 My mantra has always been, never pour out more than you're willing to pick up off the floor.  The three year old put that to the test this week.

 My new shoes happen to match my new back pack.....

Linking up with Cindy @ Live a Colorful Life