Good Morning! It is still morning right?

My schedule is all messed up, and my days are backwards.... My oldest son was at the FBLA State convention and we had to have him at the bus on Sunday at 6am, and he got back yesterday. Just in time for me to speed him to the pool to compete in a swim meet. And since we are all off schedule, none of us are sure what day it is !! Don't you love weeks like that?

It is a good thing I set some goals, or I might have been drifting all week....well I might have been drifting anyways - but I have pictures!!!

First on my list was to start my Orange Quilt.... and here is some of the oranges all cut.

Some stitching was even done.....

Second was to Quilt a few Quilts. This is a customer quilt, Her Mother in Law made the top and it was sent to me to quilt. I had fun checking out all the fabrics she used in the fan blades.

I also had time to work on a Top Secret project, got the top put together and got it quilted yesterday and you will just have to wait until it is given to see it. But I like how it turned out!

An unmentioned that was on my list was to start getting things cleaned out! We signed up for a Yard Sale over in Loveland on May 7th. It's purpose was to force us to get rid of the stuff we don't use anymore, and take back our basement. We have a lot of stuff.... its sad!

But I found this magazine and It is a complete quilt pattern - So I thought I would do a giveaway!

If you would like this leave me a comment saying you do -

And on Friday at 3pm we will draw a winner!!

Oh ya! My list for next week.

1. Still make the purple binding, I have chosen the fabric and that is as far as I got.

2. Bind the Top Secret Quilt ( ugh - gag - need chocolate)

3. Go to Mom and Dads for Easter and eat all of their food.

4. Work on Orange Quilt

Oh! And my son won in his category at FBLA and gets to go to the National Convention in Florida.... the younger kids and I are thinking Disney world!!

To see what others are up to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Quilters Accountability

I think... I hope.... this is the week to get back to some of my to do lists. I find that listing them does help me get them done, but I also find that sometimes - I am a scatterbrain!

There has been a lot of activity around here this week, and I am ready for these people to move on to greener pastures, and leave mine alone.  Monday, I was quilting away and had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. Considering I live with animals - I knew that meant some gate hadn;t been closed and ... well... I was going to have to get to work.

But it wasn;t animals.... it was....

These fellas - but they were a lot closer. Needless to say I went out and talked with them, and 'splained very nicely, that they needed to GO AWAY!

Granted - their company - did have permission to be there, it was just that my personal living area was supposed to be bubbled out. Apparently communication is not a strong point !!

Then these things showed up yesterday. What are they? Seismic readers. We have cables going across our land and they drive between the cable and can pick up the sound waves. There is a crew in another truck taking readings, and apparently they can map our land underneath, to see where there is oil, gas and water.

Oh, and when these trucks do there little pounding jig - it feels like an earthquake, except not as scary, cuz they pound every 10 minutes.

And now - they should leave so I can get back to my quilting!

So for next week  - my to do list:
1. Orange Monochromatic Challenge. - I need to decide on a quilt to make and get started.
2. Quilt - A lot - I have a few customer quilts that have deadlines looming....
3. Make Purple Binding for my Purple Mono Quilt and think about putting it on.

To see what others are up to, or to join in go to
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Only this week - wait till Thursday - her computer is not being nice to her!

Mornings are not for Sleeping in!

It is spring break at our house, and we did not plan anything before 10 am so that we could all sleep in.... and apparently that was a bad plan! No sleeping in so far!

Yesterday,  dark and early in the morning, we heard a crash and a bang and my oldest son and I went running out the front.... not only was the trash man in the yard - the steers had busted thru their gate and were in a horse corral!  This is NOT where they belong, and having horses that like to chase cows - this wasn't a good way to start the morning.

He and I got to sort animals - in our PJ's and boots - we were cute ;-)   Oh and Did I mention - that Wrangler Man is in California? Couldn't even go wake him up and make him work! 

Of course - the gate they went through is VERY mangled, so we also got to replace that. Good thing my oldest son is getting pretty handy. I needed one of those twisty things that take bolts off - he knew exactly what it was - and better yet - where it was!

This morning it was the dogs - they started barking and whining. So I guess that just confirms that sleeping in is not for us!

Quilty wise - I have been cutting up 2 1/2 inch strips. The quilt that we are going to do at our Quilt of Valor Sew day is that fast Jelly Roll quilt. I have been told it is called the 1600 Jelly Roll Quilt, or the Fastest Jelly Roll quilt, or The Easiest Ever Jelly Roll Throw.

 Mine don't look as pretty as the ones in the store - but all the fabric is there!! That's all that matters right?

And I have started on a brown quilt - for the Monochromatic Challenge of March. I really didn't think that I would get a chance to start this, but the wind blew so bad on Tuesday that we stayed inside a lot, and yesterday the wind didn't blow - so we were outside ALL day...

So what are you all doing? Baking Cookies? Making something Chocolate? Sewing? 

I know I usually make weekly lists - but this week and next I think I will just focus on getting my Daily lists done *grin* and get the kids fed!

Lists

For some unknown reason - at least unknown to me - I have this unrelenting desire to be organized. So I have been making lists, and writing things on my calendar, and making lists in the car - and you know what ?

I am overwhelmed.... so I stuffed all the lists in a drawer! Whoever finds them can start working on them!! 

If I was pregnant I would call this my nesting phase, but I am not, and have no plans to be - so what is up? Maybe it is the spring weather and looking at everything without the snow on it?

But my quilting list  - I have been working on that - a little!  Of course most of yesterday was spent getting my horses their pedicures. And man did they ham it up. Romeo - my sweet Romeo, who does not think he is a horse, used me as a leaning post during his manicure. He thinks he is human, and forgets that he weighs about 1400 pounds.... But I felt loved.

First on my list for last week was to look thru my stash for brown fabrics. I knew there would be some, because the world is against my desire to go buy LOTs of new fabrics.

Considering how fast I am quilting this month - I may not be able to even start the Brown Monochromatic quilt until next March.... maybe that is what prompted my frenzied list making?

Second on my list was to finish my Lime String blocks. My goal was 4, but Ihad enough to make 24 - so I did, and now they are all layed out, ready to be stitched into a top.

And third was to begin working on my UFO #1 for Judy's UFO Challenge   and I did. These are the rows I have sewn together - lets not talk about how big the quilt will be, lets just focus on these rows that ARE sewn together - okay - thanks!

And that's it - That's all I have.......

Tonite is one son's second to the last rehearsal of his big play - that goes live on Sunday. And next week starts spring break - sort of. One kiddo has High school Swimming practice still, and the other two still have sport practices, and... and.... and..... - I think I am finally seeing the reason for lists - maybe I won't forget all that the kids are making me do???

My Goals for next week:

Finish the UFO #1 Top - my main goal is to get it into a top and make the back before the end of the month.

Seriously plan on the Brown MC challenge - If I can't get it cut out this week, I may have to restash the fabrics .

To see what others are up to go to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/



Wednesday - ish QA post

This week has just been a little interesting. I have spent more time and days in town than I like... and I don't have anything to show for it. I wasn't allowed to buy fabric ( mean kids) and I didn't get to buy chocolate - so was it worth it?  I don't think so !!!

• Finish my Purple Pineapple Quilt ( as in finish the top!) Done Done Done

• http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/03/purple-pineapple-progress.html

• Finish Rail QOV from our sew day ( again as in a top!) Done Done Done
• http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/03/sunday-stash-report.html

• Make a backing for the Purple Pineapple Quilt Done - altho I kind of procrastinated - and then I remember that I had better get it done, or that fabric had to go back into by stash!

• Spend at least 1 hour making Lime Green String Blocks for the Heartstrings Feb/Mar project. Kind of - sort of - I think I got the whole hour in - but I didn't finish as many blocks as I thought I would. Okay - NONE of them are finished. But 24 blocks are in progress
• http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/03/design-wall-monday.html

• Dig out UFO #1 for Judy L's UFO Challenge DONE

• See what Brown fabrics I have for the Brown Monochromatic challenge. Nope - I am a little afraid... but I better get cracking or March will be over!!

• Pay my bills ( what - how did this get here, it and my taxes have nothing NOTHING to do with fun!!!!!) I really think this job sucks - but I got most of them done, and now I have to do my taxes - I mean I have to organize my stuff to take to the Tax man - because about 5 years ago they got too complicated!!

Next Weeks goals

• Look for Brown Fabrics - if I don't have any Force kids to let me go shopping!!!


• Finish String Blocks


• Start working on UFO #1


To see what others are up to go to:


http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/


Have Fun!!!

Accountability Wednesday

The virus(es) are gone. Wrangler Man came and killed them and my computer is back in business. But since I couldn't pay bills I got a little more sewing time in!!

My To Do list for last week:

Quilt the Purple MC Quilt:    Nope - I had it loaded sort of, and then unloaded it to quilt some customer quilts - oh well.



Keep on finishing the pineapple blossoms. Yes I have been working well - I need 14 more blocks.... so very close! if I could just ignore the phone LOL


CUT some strings for REAL  Yep - I got all 1 pound and 11 oz of colors cut up.


Bind UFO #10 ( maybe) Yes!!! I did it!!! ( see my UFO #10 post here:
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/03/ufo-10.html
 
I Had fun this week with these things, plus Saturday I got to hear Sue Nickels talk at our Colorado Quilt Council meeting. She is an amazing quilter.  Sunday was a Quilt of Valor sew day. We bound 4 quilts, and got 4 more quilt tops made. I put all the blocks on my rail fence into rows.... so now the rows need to be a top.
 
Goals for this week .
I made a list and I wrote it down on a real piece of paper. So this means business right?
 

• Finish my Purple Pineapple Quilt ( as in finish the top!)
• Finish Rail QOV from our sew day ( again as in a top!)
• Make a backing for the Purple Pineapple Quilt
• Spend at least 1 hour making Lime Green String Blocks for the Heartstrings Feb/Mar project.
• Dig out UFO #1 for Judy L's UFO Challenge
• See what Brown fabrics I have for the Brown Monochromatic challenge.
• Pay my bills ( what - how did this get here, it and my taxes have nothing NOTHING to do with fun!!!!!)

To see what others are up to - or to be daring enough to put your list out there: go to
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/quilters-accountability-report-march-2-2011/

Its Wednesday again - Quilters Accountability

Just as soon as I get into a routine and think I have things figured out, something changes *grin* Goombah 1 started his high school swim season on Tuesday and that changes the time and location of one of the 3 swim practices that my kids go to. At least I won't get bored!!

Last weeks goals:
*Keep working on Purple Monochromatic Quilt - It is LOADED on the QUILTING MACHINE - and now I will be forced to quilt it before I can do ANYTHING ELSE - okay sort of. Tomorrow is a field trip to the Capitol, and so we KNOW it won't be Friday till I get to see that room again!

*Cut up some other strings to make Lime green Blocks with: Can I hear a Maybe - sort of to this one?  I have the foundations cut, I have a stack of fabrics pulled ( 1 pound 11 oz to be exact) and they are on the downstairs cutting table...... its a start - I'll take it!!

*Keep sewing the Pineapple blossoms:  Oh ya baby - I got at least 10 more of those suckers done. and I have all the strips cut for the rest.......

and and and.... I got a few Quilts of Valor quilted: ( let me hear the Hoo was!!)

This heartstring quilt came from Laura in my http://www.heartstringsquiltproject.com/ group.

This beauty was made by Ethel in my local Quilt Guild.

This last one was made by Tamera over at http://tameraquilts.blogspot.com/

Hoo ya - they are all quilted and ready to be bound at our February Sew day!

We even got in a little sledding time.... in the very very cold snow!

Goals for next week:

1. Quilt the Purple MC Quilt
2. Keep on finishing the pineapple blossoms
3. CUT some strings for REAL
4. Bind UFO #10 ( maybe)

I found out this week that I may be a *gasp* perfectionist, which really makes me laugh - because seriously - have you seen how square my quilts are?

But one thing about perfectionists - they are procrastinators. I fit that category quite well - Thank you very much! So that means I may have to put the binding off until someone FORCES me to do it!!!

To see what others are up to go to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/quilters-accountability-report-february-23-2011/

And have a great evening!!



Wednesday

And that's about all I have to say about that!  Just kidding, except that I woke up thinking it was Thursday and I had to get the kids to an appointment, only to find out - its tomorrow....

So lets get into the To Do list and how we did.

Goal Number on was to quilt one of my Yellow MC quilts - and I DID it...I even cut the binding for it, but then didn't get it put on. Which turns out to be okay - my friend wants to teach me to put it on correctly - and I think I might try. But.... I have a little resistance to sewing by hand. Seriously! If God gave man the ability to make machines, then I should take advantage of that knowledge right????? 

Okay here is the quilt:

 This is the full shot - I am not very good at getting the detail and I am not sure why, but I took a lot of pictures to see what I could play with on the camera.

Heres a shot of the back - can you believe I had enought yellow for 2 quilt tops and a whole back... where did it come from?????

 As I was messing around I found a way to take a black and white shot - interesting....

2. Get backing made a prep UFO #10:   Done - and you are going to have to wait till the big reveal time on Judy L's patchwork times blog. Because it will probably, seriously, really, take me that long to finish it!!!

3. Work on Purple MC Quilt:  The top is done, backing has been chosen, and there it stalled....

4. Start Lime Green String Quilt: Nope - I had the lime pulled, but then I got distracted and this is what I did instead:

All in All not to bad - I think!

So what in store for the next week?

• Keep working on the Purple MC Challenge quilt
• Cut up some other strings to do Lime String blocks with
• keep sewing on the Pineapple Blossom blocks I started.

I had kinda forgotten that with Heartstrings Quilt Project - you don't need to make a whole set if blocks, you can just make as many as you can and send them in to the block base person ( Sue). She will combine them with other blocks. So my goal is 4 String blocks for this next week.

To see what others are up to - or to join in the list making go to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/quilters-accountability-report-february-16-2011/

Enjoy!!





QA 2/9/11

Last night was supposed to be my Quilters Accountability Report, when we got home from Practices ( 9:30pm) my computer locked up, and went into not so nice mode. So after we got it all figured out, I gave up and went to bed.... plus its probably not that exciting of a report....I am sluggish ;-)

Last weeks goals were to:
Number 1: is to decide on a plan of action with violet.  Did this, and actually have a top in progress. it is on the Design wall post, just under this one.


Number 2: Get out UFO #10 and get a plan for getting it done. It is out on my cutting board as we type!!

This weeks goals:
1. Quilt one of my  Monochromatic Challenge quilt's from last month.
2. Get Backing made and ready for UFO #10
3. Work on Purple MC Quilt
4. Start LIME GREEN Strings quilt!

Heartstrings is an awesome little yahoo group, and for February and March to challenge is to use Lime Green center strings in your blocks.... Surprisingly Lime Green is not a color I have a lot of, although I love it! But I found a 1 yard piece and will start with that!
To learn more about Heartstrings go to:
http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/

To see what everyone else is up to go to:
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/quilters-accountability-report-february-9-2011/


Have a great week!!

Quilters Accountability 2/2/11

So, yesterday I had to go to a new doctor - and he asks me - "Do you work outside?"  I thought that was an odd question - but I answered  "well - Yes" . He says " What do you do?" 

Umm - really? - well - "In the winter I feed a lot of animals, run a little ranch, and work dogs...." he says -" I meant do you work outside the house - like a real job? "

I wanted to explain to him that his *real job* in a heated building with running water that isn't iced up, and needing to be broken so that the animals in the freezing cold temps can survive - Does. Not. Count.    But I didn't, I was nice and smiled and said - "oh, umm, well, No"

That said, I have spent a. lot. more. time outside these last two days!!! And I am liking quilting when I am inside!

So - Last weeks list -

1. Finish the borders on Yellow quilt #2 - the challenge was just for January so sheesh I should have it finished before the 31st right?  Done!!! Cheek it out here:
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/yellow-monochromatic-challenge.html



2. Bind the quilt I just quilted  : Done ( see the right picture, and the binding even matched!!)

3. Work on Scrappy Rail Fence Yep - I got it to the layout status. I now have it pinned in the rows, with numbers on them, and back in its ziploc bag for our February Sew Day.

4. Load up for Sundays QOV sew time!  Done - we sewed on Sunday and had a great time!

For this next week:
The Color for this Months Monochromatic Challenge is Violet - so I went an looked for all the purples/violets that I have - and here they are. Now I need to figure out what to do with them. I have about 3 ideas, but NO focus!!!

So TO DO's

Number 1: is to decide on a plan of action with violet.

Number 2: Get out UFO #10 and get a plan for getting it done

Number 3:  - well - I guess I am not very ambitious this week - I can't think of what else I had on my to do list - we have quite a few kids' activities, so maybe that is my goal - to get every kids where they are supposed to be, and not lose them!!

 

To see what others are up to, or to join in , go to
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/quilters-accountability-report-february-2-2011/

Remember you have till 8 tonite to get in on the drawing for the postcard book if you are interested:

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/design-wall-13111.html

Quilters Accountability 1/26/11

I had lofty goals for this last week:
1. Keep working on the Yellow Quilts, putting on the borders, and choosing backing fabrics.

And I am glad that was all I did. 3 of my days were taken up with a beautiful thing called Jury Duty. I have to say I was not opposed to the jury duty as much as I was surprised that outside of my bubble SO many people have horrible heartaches. It could almost kill a person to hear all of it! So lucky me, I am back in my bubble where the unicorns fly and the butterflys are pretty.... okay well, maybe that doesn't happen, but I truly have a blessed life!

I worked on my two yellow quilts, and one is completely finishes, the other has borders cut and laying next to it..... and the bonus.... I got a quilt quilted

This is a small bit of it - I used a floofy feather pattern on it.

Next week Goals:

1. Finish the borders on Yellow quilt #2 - the challenge was just for January so sheesh I should have it finished before the 31st right?

2. Bind the quilt I just quilted

3. Work on Scrappy Rail Fence

4. Load up for Sundays QOV sew time!

To see what others are up to:

go to Bari's

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Quilters Accountability 1/19/11

These were my goals for last week:
 1. Finish Yellow String Blocks :  Done! They are set in a top and now I am working on the borders.

2. Finish the Yellow MC Top and choose a backing  Nope - the top is done, and then I decided it needed more so I am still working on it. You can see it here:
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/01/design-wall-116.html

3. Cut borders for UFO #6 Done - put on... and are you ready for this? It is quilted, and Chryl took it last night at guild meeting to BIND it for me!!! Whoo Hooo ( it is going to be a Quilt of Valor!)

This is a close up of the panto I used - it was kind of starry.

4.  Quilt Customer quilt - its a food themed quilt - I get hungry easy, so wish me luck!! Done - here is a little clip of it - and yep - it made us all hungry!!

5. Finish cutting the lights for the 3rd QOV kit.   Done with this too.

Which is good our sew day is Jan 30th - so its coming up sooner that I will imagine!

All in all I think I did okay.... we seem to have something every night to attend, and that really slows me down. So I think this next week is the same. Who ever said that when the kids got older it was easier was not remembering all the drive time!!!

Next week's goals:

1. Keep working on the Yellow Quilts, putting on the borders, and choosing backing fabrics:

Sadly enough that is probably all I will get done , So if I have no other goals everything else will be icing on the cake right?

To see what others are up to - and to join in go to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

It's Over and Quilters Accountability 2011

It's official - my goofing off days are over for another 18 weeks.... so sad. School started yesterday ( wed) and everyone has to get back in action. And of course I had to go to the dentist to get an old cavity fixed again. And my dentist - he likes to torture me, because I am allergic to pain - he inflicts it!

Apparently I don't have a big enough mouth - little does he know eh? - so he had to use the baby drill and I think that was pure torture.... the numbing stuff took almost 5 hours to wear off.

I used to like my dentist - when we talked about horses, and ranching, and all the cool things - but Nope - he had to be a dentist.....

I think I am going to keep up with Quilters Accountability - I think it helped me stay somewhat on some sort of plan!

For this week:
1. Keep working on Yellow Monochromatic Quilt.
2. Make backings for 2 quilts
3. Cut up at least 3 Quilt of Valor quilt kits
4. Pull out UFO Number 6 and think of how it will get finished.

To see what others are up to - head over to http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/