Dog days of Summer

I live in a town on the outskirts of Las Vegas. We're expecting a COOL DOWN of only 98-99 degrees this weekend (thank you!!!). I've thought this and heard many other moms describe this time of year as our winter. Meaning, this is the time of year when we don't go out much and really are indoors most of the day, everyday. At least the evenings cool down enough that we can enjoy it outside a bit. So, we've been doing a lot of this lately to cool down (love the Goodwill pool!).
Which means that the last thing on my mind is sitting beneath a blanket and stitching the binding or quilting anything. But, I did finish up my son's quilt top on Wednesday. It was just a simple duvet bought from IKEA & I quilted down the lines. Man it felt good to finish that up! Like ... losing ten pounds killer good. :) So ... enough is enough! Time to finish some projects ... we aren't out during the hottest parts of the day and so that leaves lots of time to work on them! I finished block #7 and am now waiting for the fabric for the setting blocks. I don't care if I'm behind, I'll get there ... but in the meantime ... my plan for this weekend is to try and finish all of these instead.


Wish me luck! And don't forget it's 711 day!!! Go out and get a yummy slurpee to celebrate!

I realized something yesterday ...

I love making the quilt tops. I really do. I love the cutting, sewing, ironing of everything. And then I have this nifty little piece of art. That I made. I love doing that. The whole ... finishing, binding and difficult quilting thing ... that not so much. So ... I have this stack of quilt tops now ... From top to bottom: a Christmas disappearing nine patch, Christmas tree blanket, the hungry caterpillar, the animals around the world, the last quilt-a-long, and now the newest addition on top too (it's for a family member having a baby ... so I won't share it until she gets it).

In my own defense ... my sweet friend wanted to make this newest quilt & I *HAD* to do it with her. She needed me. LOL. So ... as soon as I finish these new little babies I started yesterday (some gifts for some new babies on the way ) ... NO MORE NEW QUILT TOPS. ;) I decided on a cowgirl version and love the pattern so much I cut it out as a boy version too ...

My husband was home on Monday and I've been able to get a lot of sewing done because of that, it is so awesome!!! Here's quilt block #6:I am officially sick of doing each block twice. Week 5 was so time consuming! It was nice to have a really quick & easy one this time. I'm 25% of the way done ... only 36 more blocks to go! LOL.

On a completely different note ... I went to a surprise baby shower this last weekend. I delivered her present finally & also the one I had mentioned last week. Nice to get the closet cleaned out a bit and deliver the gifts I had planned. :)

Am I the only one?

So I was just wondering if I was the only one who does this. So, I was asked to make a gift for a gal that I go to church with. She asks for specific measurements and I do it all according to the directions. I don't get a chance to give this gift to her at the baby shower, and she has her baby. Right afterwards, I see her and realize that despite her specifications, the gift is going to be waaaaaay too big. So, I haven't given it to her, and it's been over three months. The finished gift is just sitting, waiting to be delivered. But now it feels cheesy because it is so late, and because it's going to be grossly oversized for her.

... does anyone else hit that point where it feels like it's been too long and it's now too embarrassing to give it?

Just wondering. On a slightly plus side ... here's block 5! This thing was way time consuming. But I really like the way all the colors came together. Now I'm only 5 blocks behind ... lol. :) Now it's time to hit the pool and enjoy time with the kids!

Deja-Vu

So I did this the last time I did the quilt-a-long. They are now on week 10 today, I just finished week 4 last night. So, that is the goal for this week! Catch up! :) It wouldn't be as large of a goal if I was doing just a single set of each block, but instead I have been doing 2. So, last night I finished up the fourth week & now have 8 finished blocks to show for it. I am really not in love with this block and seriously debated re-doing it. But it took almost two hours to finish them and there is no turning back now! :)

And I've really been trying to do more creative things with the kids. So, I took them out for a few hours on Saturday (while Daddy did his homework ... these PhD classes are brutal!). We hit the free craft at Lowe's. Did you know they give you a cute little badge (like a boy scout badge) for each craft you do? And they also gave the kids their own aprons to put them on! They are really excited about the baseball field they made and have been playing with it like crazy. I'm going to make a scrapbook of those craft things. :) Then we hit Lakeshore Learning's free Saturday craft as well. I was pretty proud of the kids creations. The gal kept making suggestions to my kids about ribbon or what beads to use and where would be the best placement of things and I just kept telling her that I was letting them do it all on their own.Their finished projects were beautiful and perfect, because they did them ... not me. :)

It's so sad ...

But, I am just now finishing week 3 for the quilt-a-long. But hey! At least I'm only two weeks behind now! :) Then I am also finished with an old WIP ... the tutorial is from here for the bathmats. I have some super cute wallpaper that I got on clearance at Lowe's and can't wait to put it all together soon! :)

Post a Day In May #6

I may have mentioned this before, but I am seriously lovin' the fabric choices for this block-a-week program! And even though it might be insane to not finish all the other projects I have going on first, I've decided that I NEED to make a second quilt with this fabric. First off, I am lovin' the colors and reproduction fabric and second, I am sooooo cheap. Seriously, I don't spend money on fabric and there's enough from each fat quarter to make a second block and still get my little bag for my blanket (I think). So, it really cuts down the cost in my mind for this. I just need to go pick up some more white background fabric this weekend for it.

Block One Finished!

Yesterday while I was out shopping with some friends, one of the gals commented that I seemed to really like retro-ish fabrics. I hadn't really thought about it at all, but then I started looking more and more at my choices in the past and now and I guess she is right. :) So, it hit me exactly what theme to use for the block-a-week with crazymomquilt's! I bought a bunch of reproduction-ish fabrics and made block #1! I have enough I could *technically* make two sets of each block and give the second blanket away as a gift (already pre-thinking for Christmas) ... but then of course my husband looks around at all the other un-finished projects and reminds me to take it easy & not over-commit myself. LOL. :) I love the little tiny cowboys on this fabric, so sweet! :)