A Little Sunday Sewing

My first week back at the college interpreting (due to changes with Obama's health care laws I am not teaching because then I would have to really cut down on my interpreting hours because I have to stay "part time") went well.  I love that I get a new schedule each semester and it doesn't get boring.  I have great teams, students and for the most part teachers too.  

 We went up North this weekend for a celebration of my mom's birthday (and mine, Kathy's and my sister's too).  So here are my sister and I with my mom and her friend Jan is looking on.

 I sewed up eight blocks (easy for once) for the 35th Ave. BOM.  Then I made two of the four zipper pouch bags I cut out.  The top on has a tab, but I forgot to position it correctly, so it is on the inside--oh well!

Randy's daughter Rachel has come to Ohio (from Norway where she lives) with her almost one year old little guy.  I am getting a few things together for him to take when he visits her in two days.  She will most likely get one of these pouches, some dishrags and dish scrubbie, a fabric colored journal and whatever else I can think of.  I need to come up with something for the little guy too, he already has two quilts.  I should have been thinking of this sooner but hopefully I will come up with something!

SWOON

Here is Swoon outside, though picture was taken before the sun was really out!  I am really happy with this...now to add the border!

Swoon Top is a Flimsy!!!

 We are heading up North to celebrate my mom's (my sister's, Kathy's and my) August birthdays tomorrow after work so I was determined to get the last block for Swoon made and the top together.  I decided not to add more blocks because in order to do it, it will become too huge.  I think the plan is to add a five inch scrappy border of DS fabrics which will enlarge it nicely.  I have all the bonus HST's I could put in the border if I want to get crazy too, lol!

Not the best photo since it is inside the house at night, but tomorrow I will haul it outside and take some better pics.  I am grinning from ear to ear to have finally made this quilt.  And all thanks to Sarah and the Swoonalong 3013!

Swoon Obsessed!

Made two more blocks tonight...so eight blocks of Swoon down!  :)

One Swoon Block Becomes Five!

 I worked on SWOON all day yesterday while gabbing with Becky and watching Bonnie and such.  I am just taking my time and trying to do a nice job.  I am love, LOVE, loving it!

  I ran out of the light blue fabric in the block above and decided to do what Bonnie Hunter would do and just substituted something similar I had.  If it bugs me it may wind up on the back, but so far I am fine with it!

 The other four blocks (of the nine I am starting with, there may be seven more after that..) are all marked and pinned and ready to go! :)

Bag Swapping and Swoon Marking

Today was the PHXMQG meeting and had a bag swap.  Eighteen of the thirty or so people who made it to the meeting participated in the swap.  There were lots of cute bags and I got the one below made by Jen, she even put her label on the inside which was a sweet touch and I will always remember who I got it from!  

 My elephant has finally made it onto some blue background fabric...next step is figuring out what backing fabric I am going to use!   We will be sharing our embellishment challenge in October and this is what I plan to bring, if I can get it done.  Totally copying Danny but I LOVED her pillow.  Not sure that I will be keeping it, I have someone in mind to gift it to.

 I got the binding on this yesterday (and also on my mom's Halloween quilt that I haven't hauled outside for photographs) and in the process I sewed through my finger!  Seriously, through the nail and out through the back--it bled on both sides.  Luckily it didn't hit the bone and hopefully it will heal right up.  What a dork, but I guess it had to happen sometime!

 I also FINALLY sewed up a Swoon block for the Swoonalong2013!!!!  I really love this block even more in person than I do in pictures.  It is huge, 24 inches which is the biggest block I have ever sewn I think.  Tonight Kathy and I watched "Orange is the New Black" and I marked and pinned the other eight blocks that we have cut.  Tomorrow I am sewing with Becky and I am hoping to make progress on this quilt (set aside Lazy Sunday which was what I planned to work on because this quilt it calling to me!).

Wednesday Night in the Quilting Studio :)

 Kathy and I spent a few hours in the quilting studio after work (and a birthday date night out to Bennihana's).  I put together this Wild and Goosey block (see that Packer fabric in there, lol) so now I have six all together (though the modern one doesn't really work since the lights weren't light!)  They are small blocks so I may make six a year for a decade before I have enough for a quilt, but they are fun when get an hour or so to make one.

Kathy finished up her "blocks" for the Kaleidoscope of Kolor BOM for 35th Ave.  We are really excited to get to the point of putting those tops together.  She also cut my sashing for the last clue of Lazy Sunday which I am hoping to get to sew this Sunday!

Vacation Highlights :)

 I am learning how to upload all my pictures off of my phone using dropbox and so that has delayed me getting all the pictures so I can remind myself what the heck all we did on vacation!  It was a whirlwind trip and it was exhausting!  We had a great time though.  My first quilt siting is above and was hanging in the Roswell UFO Museum.  Cute little alien below was there too.

 In Texas at a gas station we found a cute wall and mom had her picture taken.

 Then her sister Nancy had hers taken too.  They were super funny to travel with...lots of stopping to hit the bathroom, stretch and SHOP!  These girls spend 45 minutes in a Cracker Barrel (that we didn't eat in!).  They bought us all matching "road trip" glasses there too!

 Kathy did not want her picture taken with the prisoners, but I got her when I was taking a picture of the flag.

 Next stop was Oklahoma City to see the bombing memorial.  The chairs were so symbolic and really made you stop in your tracks and think.  I really wish there was no violence in the world.

 The morning after arriving in Wisconsin, I met the kids for breakfast and then we went to Irvine Park (Hannah and Mac here on the bear, that reminds me I have an older picture somewhere from the first year this bear was up that I need to find!) and Olson's for the best ice cream, before Hannah and her boyfriend Nathan had to head back to Milwaukee.  Hannah was starting her new job for a big accounting firm so the timing of my visit wasn't great for her, but I got to see her two days and treasured every minute!  Mac lives in town so I spent plenty of time with him.  Kathy and I took him grocery shopping, did his laundry with him twice and drove him back and forth to work.  Discovered his bike had fallen apart (he doesn't drive or have a car) and he was walking over and hour to work one way.  We bought him a bike--told him happy birthday early.  He was thrilled!  We did try to convince him to move to AZ with us (ongoing, lol) but he really wants to stay in Wisconsin.  Recently his girlfriend died in a car accident and he isn't in the best place because of that, but he has many friends who seem to really care about him there and he doesn't want to leave them.

 On to something sewing related--for my birthday this year this little baby just had to go home with me.  It was at a flea market in Hayward and it was only 35 dollars.  There is no foot pedal and the machine isn't pristine by any means, but the case was so beautiful and it reminded me of the one my grandmother had when I was a girl.  So happy birthday to me!

 My best friend from high school, Monica (who visited us here earlier this year) went shopping with us to Hayward, then a few days later took us to Alma to the Bluffs and to a vineyard where the three of us shared this bottle of wine (it was AWESOME) and she bought me another bottle to take home too!

 Here we are at the bluffs.  This little park was so beautiful!  We brought a picnic lunch and had the place almost to ourselves.  I can't believe I had never been there.  We also found a quilt shop on the way and stopped there too!

 Monica got this cool machine from a neighbor after she passed away.  The cabinet is SO beautiful.  I believe it is a treadle machine and all the original books and parts and such are in the drawers and cabinets.  Love it!

 I became a Godmother again at Koi's baptism.  Afterwards we had a party out at my aunt's house...Hannah was able to make it so I got more pictures with both kids.  They are so grown up now.

More later when I get more pictures loaded :)

Paint the Day Red!

 Didn't realize how blurry this picture is til now but there is the evidence that I sewed ALL day long and it was so relaxing!  So here are the Jack in the Box Rainbow BOM blocks for this month and the bonus pinwheels for the border.  So excited to get so close to getting this quilt all together!

 I also ironed, trimmed and sewed last month's bonus pinwheels which were never quite gotten too.

 Kathy cut out our Kalediscope BOM (four strips of flying geese with black on one end) which we need for next weekend already and so i sewed mine up, she is half way done with hers too.  She did some grocery shopping and cooked us dinner and let me sew, sew, sew!

 I also pulled everything off my shelf (except the bottom row) and labeled and folded and reorganized things by color, etc.  It is looking so much better.  I keep thinking I want to do shop hop in September, but frankly what can I possibly need?  LOL I don't have much yellow or purple, but I have plenty of everything else!

Cheating on the Red

Before I realized that Talkin' Turkey would make a great Rainbow BOM, I made the red block!  This worked out perfectly since we are on vacation still and have less sewing time this month.  So here again is my red block.
Now if you want to know what we have been up to (currently typing from Colorado) here are some pictures!

Mount Rushmore, SD

Chapel in the Hills in SD

Book I have been reading on the ride.

Chapel in the Hills Museum..another quilt siting! 

Welcome Center in Colorado

Vacation--All I Ever Wanted....(singing)

Last Wednesday, Kathy, my mom (Toni) and I hit the road late into the evening and drove all night to Roswell, New Mexico (from Phoenix, AZ) and we found ourselves some aliens!  We went to the museum and the best thing there (as far as I was concerned) was a cool UFO spaceship quilt above the door when you come in.  Roswell had HORRIBLE phone service so I could never get it to upload so I don't have it to show you yet.  However, we did go into a quilt shop and found another alien quilt and pattern which I really loved too!

 We stopped in Texas and picked up my aunt Nancy and though we had no extra space inside or outside the truck we had alot of fun.  We stopped and made total fools of ourselves taking pictures right off the highway by this HUGE statue of a cowboy.  That was fun!

We stopped for a pottie break and bumped into Amish quilts and baskets at a roadside stand.  Mom and Nancy both bought baskets.  

We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the memorial there.  It was amazing.  These chairs represent each of the victims (small chairs represent the children) and they are arranged in rows to represent the floors of the building.  So sad.  

I was trying to spot Quilt Barns for days before catching a glimpse of this one off the highway.  It wasn't in a place we could turn around and photograph, so I borrowed this picture of the internet.  Pretty sure this is the one we saw.

 Then finally we saw one we could get to and so took a side jaunt over and got some pictures of it!  I was finally satisfied, but wanting more!

 Of course the next morning I met up with my kids in Wisconsin at the Big Steer--who is of course a cheesehead!

 We took the kids to Irvine Park and took lots of pictures.  Mac, Hannah and her boyfriend Nathan!  That is all for now!

In the dead of night we also found this COOL quilt store but it was closed.  Got some pictures though!