Moving, rearranging and a lot of work!

So this weekend we learned that we are getting a new TV.... the one in the corner was pretty cool I thought - but my dad is upgrading and so now is my Husband Well - in the first picture this is our current TV. The new one will not fit across the diagonal - so this corner is becoming my new sewing area.

My Current sewing area is next to the Fireplace. Keeps me warm, but makes me nervous with all the fabrics that I (sometimes) keep up there. So this could be a good move. Now I have been trying so hard to keep my upstairs sewing area really organized and only have 2-3 projects at a time. I also have a downstairs for keeping stuff - next to my LongArm Machine. The Pic to the right was my current sewing area - I thought it looked pretty good, until I took the picture. So I took everything out of here and put it on the dining room table. At this time I was still thinking that I had done pretty good - not too much "stuff", not too many projects. Of course, everything is piled so what do I really know???

After a lot of moving, vacumning and whining - my desk had to be moved too and it was heavy ( did you hear the whine with that), my new sewing area was born.

I thought it looked pretty nice, and as I started taking things off the dining room table to organize them in my newly expanded sewing area I found stuff!!! I thought - WOW I will have so much more room, hope I don't pack it to full, and come to find out I HAD ALREADY packed it full!! I found 8 ( read that 8 - not 4) Quilts in Progress. Now I knew they were all in progress - I just didn't realize that I had left all of them Upstairs. Good thing my husband is a forgiving man, and really excited about his new big screen TV!!! Distraction worked in my favor this time!!

So the 8 things I found:

1. The string quilt that was on the cutting table/ironing board ( I knew this was here I have been working on it)

2. Cowboy Quilt - I have the border fabric washed a pressed....then stalled.

3. 4 Patch Log Cabin - 12 blocks ready for setting!! ( what happened, when did I stop??)

4. Lessons from Mama quilt - again Knew this was here - my goal is 1 block per month - I have two blocks left to do - then start the borders.

5. All the fabric cut and ready for a Big Quilt ( the BQ) - how & when did that happen???

6. Carrie Nation Quilt of Valor - Well I remember thinking I could really use this block for a leader ender project - but again - who cut the fabrics??? They came from my scrap bin.. I recognize them!!

7. Binding on a Gift Quilt - to be bound by Christmas ( knew this was here)

8. Reproduction Quilt - I knew this was here too - I have just been trying to finish the other things before I start - all the fabrics are ready, the pattern is here, I AM planning it - and well, again I stalled.

I guess I have a clear list now - I must make a clear plan right ......

Off to plan!

Have a great day

Alycia

Little Bits Quilt of Valor part 2

Just real quick - I have pics for a different post - but this just came to me.... My little boy was interviewed in Golden for the Rocky Mtn Quilt Museum and the article is here!! You can find it by going to http://www.tinyurl.com/3xcwnv Have a great afternoon! If all goes well I'll post again tonite! Alycia

String Blocks ( scrap busting)

I had all these 1 and 1 1/2 inch strings left over from another scrap project. I kept thinkging I should just toss them - they won't make much. Then one afternoon the kids and I sat down to watch a movie. I thought well I'll just sew them into strips and make a rail fence type quilt out of them. So I sewed them all into 4 string strips. It then dawned on me that if I cut each strip up to make it like a rail fence quilt I might give up before I got anywhere.

Theeeeeen I remembered that I love to do string quilts so I bet I could just use the strips as "big" Strings and make some of those blocks. The first few blocks went together awful quick as the strips were anywhere from 3 to 4 inches.

But then I had lots of little pieces left, and I wanted 24 blocks total . Because if I am going to go to all this effort - I really want a useable size quilt right? So I spread everything I had over my cutting table and started sewing up some really little crumbs into strips that I could use. My hubby thought I was nuts ( he may be right).

So I kept sewing and sewing and pressing - and Voila - I have come up with 24 string/crumb blocks our of really bright fabrics. I do need to trim the blocks now, the can sew them together into a top.

My curious man just had to know what they would look like - so he layed them out for me.

But you just can't stop with 6 - you need more to really "see" what they will look like. I think this quilt will be very bright. The center of every block is a royal or navy blue, so it may need a blue border to draw it all together.

Now I am done with that scrap pile - anyone want the extras? I bet there's enough for another block or two, but to tell you the truth, I think I am tired of these fabrics now. And since I am on a mission to stash/scrap bust as much as I can - I volunteer to pass them to someone who would love some pretty bright colors. You can leave me a comment and they are yours!

Stashbusting, UFO's and Snow

The kids have today off from school and when we woke up this morning there was about 5 inches of snow!! Yay!! So as they warmed up I headed downstairs to quilt for an hour or so. So technically I have my "work" done for the day ;-)

After breakfast we headed out to the hill to go sledding - it was a blast and of course I did not take my camera - but after an hour we were cold. So as they watched "surfs up" I finished block number 10 on a quilt that has 12 different blocks. I started this quilt in January and you would think I would be done - but alas it became a UFO. It is sitting in a nice little box with all sorts of scraps just patiently waiting.... So now there is another blocks finished.

Then I got a book at the quilt shop - an Atkinson designs one. I just love her stuff. So I grabbed 12 FQ's from my fabric cubbies and cut them up. I got all the blocks done and had to go in search of some border fabrics. Found them and they are now in the dryer. So if I stay motivated I might actually get the borders on and have this top finished before 2008 :-)

I leave you with a picture of a quilt that was displayed at a quilt show last month. It was in Johnstown and was a fun day. I really liked this one because it was a string quilt and was really random, yet really drew your eye to it!

Thanksgiving at the School

The school has a Thanksgiving dinner the week before Thanksgiving and the kids get all dolled up. They invite the parents. They also invite the folks from the senior center. The 5th grade kids get to help serve the meal. Its kind of a neat thing.

My first grader got to be a pilgrim - so of course Mom had to join him for lunch.

Today it has just been my little guy and me, the other 3 are off in the great wilderness. So we watched cartoons, made chocolate chip cookies, went to the fabric shop (I had a gift certificate that expires monday!!), went Christmas shopping for the brothers, went out to dinner ( he is easy to please - McD's) and watched Surf's Up. And now he is quizzing me over all sorts of things I don't know - it is scary how much I don't know .....

We are almost off to bed - and maybe Mom can sew a few minutes ;-)

Have a great one!!

Quilts of Valor and our crazy day.

Today was a wonderfully busy, crazy, wonderful, amazing day....

Our 5th grade class had delivered our Quilts of Valor to Fort Carson in May. We never expected to hear from a soldier, let alone get to meet him when he was able. But in September Specialist Kyle was injured from a morter attack while on a misson. He was flown from the field to Bagdad for treatment, and then on to Landstuhl in Germany, after a brief trip to Walter Reed he found himself at Fort Carson - Evans Hospital. Fort Carson is where he recieved one of the quilts our kids made. We also sent a photo album with each quilt.

He was able to get convalence leave to head home to Wyoming, where he sent us a letter and offered to come to the school. Well today was the day. I had the priveledge of taking him, his mother ( an AMAZING woman), and father to lunch( VERY cool dude!!). They were the neatest people. After lunch they went with me to the school and he talked to 108 5th graders and many parents. 12 of the 6th graders came as well, as they were the group who delivered these quilts. And of course my son ( a 7th grader) came, as he was in the first bunch of students that made quilts, well and also he is MY son

Specialist Kyle entered the Elementary Cafeteria to a standing ovation and took the stage. The kids had prepared about 10 questions to ask him. He was wonderful - he answered every question and had the kids amazed. He is one brave soldier. He is into year 3 of his 4 year term. He is 22 years old, and entered the military right out of high school. When his term is over he thinks he will probably go to college to become a teacher.

The class presented him with a gorgeous quilt rack, that another veteran had made especially for him. ( I want one!!) Another group presented him with a book. I think his mom might have had a tear in her eyes.

After the family left I got to tell the kids all about QOV, and how we would be making quilts again this year. These kids are SOOO excited. They had many many questions, and I think I might have been able to answer them all.

Then - school was over - I loaded my 3 boys up and went straight to Golden to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. My youngest son was being interviewed by the newspaper. He wore a tie, and was a camera hound! We talked to the reporter a lot about QOV's and really tried to explain quilting in general to her. We were done around 6:30 and headed home. My Hubby was just flying in from chicago so we were able to meet him for a quick burger and looong drive home.

I tell you - after a day like that - although you ( okay me) are tired, your brain is still mulling over the events. I was so impressed by the young soldier that came to see us, especially about how he handled himself, how he handled his injuries and his attitude in general. He is 1 of 3 boys, all 3 are military as of this moment. I told you that mom is Amazing. I told my boys they will now live with me until the are 100.......

Hope you all have a quilty day!!

Alycia

Artwork by kids

My middle son is very into art at the moment - well that and science experiments. He is currently doing a chemical experiments with Lemon Juice, Baking soda, Olive oil, and Vinegar. I am worried about what the kitchen will look like when he is done. I figure if I close my eyes I can pretend he is making sugar cookies....

Anyways - this is the art they have been working on at school. I thought it was really neat and is now on my wall. He thinks I ought to make that design into a quilt. He thinks highly of my abilities (grin)

Okay - Off to work - Have a gReat Day!!!
Alycia

Fabric! For Quilts of Valor

An aquaintence ( that is a friend of a friend) told me she had some fabrics that she didn't want - could I be interested in them for quilts of valor. So I headed over and she had a whole BOLT of red and of blue!! I was so tickled - now I have my backings for a lot of quilts!!

Then in the mail I got this box of fabrics - they will be so awesome for string and scrap quilts of Valor.

I just love fabric - and I love seeing the different ways we can make a quilt - so this is fun.

The Great Outdoors

Besides Quilting, one of my other favoritist things to do is be outdoors. For some reason winter hasn't really hit here, yes it is cold in the mornings and evenings. We have ice on the water to prove it, but the days are warming up to between 50 and 70. So we have been taking advantage of this as much as possible.

We hiked into a little stream waaaaay back in the mountains and this is my crew. They caught 8 fish and daddy ( good man that he is!!) came home and fried them up for dinner for them, and (this is the best part) they ALL cleaned the kitchen up while I sewed. See two loves in one day.

Then MY dad got a new dog - so we took him out and tested him in the back pastures. He is a bird dog and he is awesome. It was much colder that day as we started in the morning - so in our pics we are pretty bundled up, but towards the end of the day we had shed our coveralls and ear gear.

We must have walke about 20 miles this day - my legs were so tired when we came back in. We don't live close to a town - so pizza delivery was out. I had some soup - so we had hot soup and salad. A great ending to a gorgeous day.

I know this isn't quilt related - I promise I'll be back with a quilty thing next.... maybe ;-)

Alycia

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum

My youngest son had a quilt that he submitted to be in the exhibit "Quilts by the Hands of Men" at the RMQM . Last night was the reception and a meet the artists night. So we headed to Golden to attend. We got there a but early ( mapquest said 1 1/2 hours - they were off, or dh sped.... we'll go with mapquest being wrong). So we had about 1/2 hour to kill so we went down to the river and went for a short walk. There are all these really neat bronzes - so the boys swam with the fish.

Then we went into the museum and it was a blast. C is the youngest quilter to have a quilt at the museum - he is 6. We went in and he got his artist name tag and right away E. Bostick a very well known quilt artist came over and shook his hand and congratulated him on his quilt. C was so very excited and honored. Then we went into the exhibit. He gave us all his best pose in front of his quilt.

We looked at that exhibit and at the one by Teddy Pruitt, had a little snack, and then met a lot of artists. They had a little announcement of all the artists and called C's name - he was so proud and he was so little they made him come up front so he could be seen... and he never came back. I think he is a glory hound !! He enjoyed himself so much, and so did my other boys. There was a quilt there called tinker toy and the man who made it must be a math genious. He explained it to us and my oldest son was so taken with the process.... hmmm. On the way home he asked if he could use some of my camo fabrics and black....