Decision, Decisions

I am horrible at making decisions.

Awful.

I'm glad the ones I do make and stick with (my husband, my kids) are great ones. You'd think I'd get better but I don't.

Especially when it comes to fabric things.

Here we go - I decided to procrastinate doing something else and cut a few circles using my new circle die for my Go! cutter.

All along, I thought I would be doing scrappy circles along with my scrappy Dresdens.

But it feels too busy for me. I'm already planning a pretty busy sashing and setting squares, so I don't want to over-do it.

So then I thought, okay, plain white. Or a white on white tonal.

But that felt too bleh for me.

So then I thought, what about a small polka dot (all of these fabrics, by the way, are from Pam Kitty Morning).

I like. A lot.

I realized while writing this post that what I really sound like is Goldilocks. Too busy. Too bleh. Just right.

But the real question is, do I stick with the yellow dots or go with red dots?

See, I can't make decisions!

But I can host a fabric swap over on flickr - yellow and aqua charms, if you're interested. One yard of each. Come join the fun!

Make-A-List Monday Week Two

Happy Monday to you!

Did you pull any April Fool's day pranks yesterday? I thought about it. For a split second. Then I remembered that when you play a prank on my husband, he retaliates. No thanks.

I love lists. Especially lists with lines through them. Confession: I sometimes will write something down on my to-do list just so I can cross it off right away. True story.

But I didn't have to do that last week. Here's what I wanted to do:

• Sew 10 Sew Cherry granny squares

Done. I actually did 13 because I already had 17 and I hate it when I have an odd number of things. Aren't they pretty?

• Sew 10 PKM Dresden plates

My stack is growing.

• Finish my new bag

Did I not say I would finish three new bags? Huh. Have to edit that later. But this is the one I was meaning to finish:

• Finish my cell phone sleeve

Don't make explain that yes, it does have to match the bag. And that I've got two others that match the other two new bags. Or that I'm looking at my wallet and wondering if I can make three new ones out of the scraps so that they match. Just don't.

• Press color wheel swap fabric, cut and ship

Done, sorted and shipped. Now the waiting game for my gorgeous rainbow o' fabric.

• Prep fabric for weekend cutting

Um, why didn't I also say I would actually do the cutting? Don't have pics of the prep because I have pics of the progress!

I cut out my Ruby flannel fat quarters, my Ruby charm squares (which may or may not be used for a granny square quilt - I'm aware of my obsession, but it's a healthy fixation in comparison to french fries or Magnum bars), and a Pam Kitty Morning pinwheel quilt. Oh, and a boatload of 2.5" white squares to finish those loverly grannies. But you don't want to see a giant stack of squares. But the rest? Sure!

See? I lie not.

Phew. I was a busy girl. But I love having projects prepped and ready to sew. I'd rather do two days of cutting and then a whole bunch of days sewing than cut/sew all the time. Ick.

But then I also eat the green and yellow Skittles first because I like them the least. I save the red ones for last because they are my favorite.

And so for this week:

• Sew 10 more granny squares (shhh, I'm going to try for 16, but 10 is my minimum)
• Sew 10 more Dresden plates
• Sew 10 PKM pinwheels (I have 30 to do)
• Photograph and blog my goals for the 2nd quarter FAL - I'm aiming high! Check it out and join in the fun!
  
• Finish my cake mini

We're celebrating Easter at my mom and dad's house, so I've got to get all this done by Thursday night. Yikes! Better get started!

Finish it up Friday: the one with lots of rain

I'm not going to complain about the rain. I love it.

Gene Kelly and I are crazy like that. He's crazier than I am though. He's out dancing in it. I'm just inside making awesome soup and rolls.

Rain makes me think of Christmas. I spent my childhood on the Southern Oregon coast, so it was always raining at Christmas. Well, it was always raining, but that's not the point. Rain = Christmas.

So I made myself a couple little Christmas, er, late birthday gifts.

I didn't need a new bag. I certainly didn't need two. But need vs. want are two different things. And this Now We're Goin' Places print and I were MFEO (movie reference - do you know it?). My first car, the one I bought for myself, was a 1973 VW Superbeetle. Orange.

Yeah, I love this fabric.
And my poor little smartphone (did I have a dumb phone before?) needed a protective covering. So she got one too. Tutorial/pattern found here, although you should measure your phone first and adjust accordingly. I didn't and now my daughter has version 1.0.


And I'm loving this pattern - the Bow Tucks Tote. Might be my new favorite. And it has pockets. Glorious pockets. For keys and gum and phones and pens and fishy crackers and, well, you get the idea.

I like it so much I made another in some of my favorite Pam Kitty Morning prints. A matching cell phone sleeve is forthcoming because, well, it HAS to match. Silly.

There may or may not be another one in the works. Okay, there is, in more PKM (blues and yellows). It's darling and almost done. These bags are super fast. The instructions are very clear with good illustrations so you don't get lost. And one will be designated my playdate project bag so I can take some embroidery or crochet along to playdates to keep my hands busy while we chat - win win for me. I can't stand just sitting. Can't do it.

I'm up to 50 Dresdens now. No end in sight, but I can get 10 done in one day and wipe my weekly goal off the list. This stack makes me a little lightheaded, they're so pretty.
And I'm up to 30 Sew Cherry granny squares. I think I need something like 56 or a hundred. Can't remember. But these are fun and the challenge of mixing up the colors and not making the same block twice is good for my brain.
Tomorrow is a cutting day - listening to General Conference (see previous post for explanation if you need one) and cutting out a whole bunch o' fabric for several different projects.

Linking up with crazy mom quilts again (love her log cabin pillow - my couch needs some pillow goodness like these), and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Sarah has some lovely feedsack blocks and a quilt top up for auction (proceeds to benefit her quilt ministry). If that's your schtick, check it out!

Have a lovely weekend. If you have sunshine, be sure to be grateful for it and think of my soggy self (who might get sick of it if I don't see the sun soon).

WIP Wednesday: the one with the cheerleader and where I lost some {WIP} weight

When I was in high school, I desperately wanted to be a cheerleader. Not a basketball cheerleader, a football cheerleader (there was a difference, and I liked football better).

Instead, I played sousaphone in the marching band - if you beg me, I might be able to unearth a photo.

But one of my favorite cheers went something like this:

W - H - I - P
Whip 'em to victory
Whip (ch)
Whip 'em good!
{clap clap clap}

repeat

That little cheer was going through my head after my last WIP Wednesday post. Oh, and that (ch) is supposed to be a whip crack sound.

I whipped 'em good this last week.

Finishes:

Pulled this Happy Campers postage stamp quilt off my top shelf, basted it, quilted it and bound it. Hiding it away as a birthday present for my always-freezing-in-his-office husband.

I also pulled this quilt off the shelf. It was cut and ready to be pieced, so I whipped it up over the weekend. Now if my good friend will only have a baby boy this go 'round.
I'm counting these next two as partial finishes - the tops are done and they get to move on up to the top shelf as they wait for me to get more batting.

My Sunkissed granny squares are done. Just in time for me to start another one - see below. I didn't have enough of that creamy neutral for the extra-wide borders, so it's a generous baby/toddler quilt size. I'll give it to my Little Miss Sunshine.

The tutorial is here, for those who are interested.

This next one languished forever. I made the blocks using the last of this buttery strawberry print - I loved it so much, I made an apron out of it.

Well, I finally figured out how I would sash it. Once that was figured out, it was just a matter of getting to work. And work I did. The whole quilt needs to be pressed, so here is just one of the blocks:

Up to the top shelf!

On to the WIPs:

My goal is to sew 10 Dresdens a week until I run out of wedges. I have NO idea how long that will take, but here are a few of them:
I really, really, REALLY love them.

And if one granny square quilt wasn't enough, I jumped feet first into the Granny Square Quilt-a-long. Check it out. And join. You know you want to.

I'd thought of using some PKM for it, but I didn't want to burn myself out on that fabric. Gotta keep the passion alive for those Dresdens or I really will feel like I'm in a sweatshop.

So I dug out my Sew Cherry FQ bundle and am pressing it and cutting it this weekend in preparation for the quilt-a-long. Can't wait!
And finally, in progress is my Modern Mini challenge. Well, I'm making two of them. And you get to vote on which one I should enter - how awesome is that!

This pile o' PKM scraps (and a few others - I'm not so cool I have lots of scraps just yet) is going to make two very cute paper-pieced mini quilts.

And I've got a giveaway in the works. I've set a goal and once that goal is reached, I'm going to celebrate by giving away some charm packs (Ruby!!!!) and a couple of Thimbleblossom patterns. Keep watching - it's coming!

Linking up:



See you next Wednesday! Come back on Friday for my finish post - might whip something else good!

Finish it up Friday: the one with the bags and R2D2

Source: uppercasegallery.ca via Jennie on Pinterest

That's my inspiring quote of the year. I turn 35 this year and I've been thinking about how I haven't done much. Well, when I'm being a dork I think I haven't done much. Then I think about what I have done:

• completed my bachelor's degree (I was pregnant twice during this process, had two newborns along the way)
• Made five beautiful babies
• Attended one of the best culinary schools
• Got my husband into law school

So Julia is my inspiration, because there is so much more I want to do!

On to my week. Didn't get a whole lot done.

See, there I go again. I did get a whole lot done, but not a lot on the sewing front. Not what I wanted to get done. But I'm super excited with what I did accomplish.

Made these two bags for my oldest daughter. She needed some bags, she tells me, for stuff. Roger that. I bought this pattern (buy the pattern - the tutorial one is awesome, but all the different sizes are so great - I've got plans to make dozens more!).

Can you tell she likes kitty cats?

On to the Dresden saga. I'm still loving my Dresdens. I love that I can sit down and do one if I only have a few minutes, or get five done if I have more time (which I never do). The box of wedges is always on my sewing table so that when I can, I steal away and make another one.

I tried out a just pinks and reds. Your thoughts? I'm kinda liking it. I've got another one ready to sew that is just greens and yellows and it's super cute too. Who knows, I might just make them into pillows.

Source: etsy.com via Jennie on Pinterest

This is my William. He is my oldest son (6). He is the only child I have who has eyes like mine.
Seriously, how do you say no to those eyes? I can't. And when he told me his blanket was falling apart, I had to do something. I had to set aside the girly Dresdens to make a manly quilt for my big boy.

There's a backstory here - see, William's blanket that is falling apart was a quilt we'd received when we got married. When he was little, he adopted it. It goes everywhere with him and has been much loved. But the binding is falling to pieces and there are several other issues. And it's kinda girly too.

Enter a quilt made to look like his favorite Star Wars character. R2D2. I am so unbelievably proud of this quilt. It is the very first non-baby quilt I've made with a specific person in mind. I love love love how it turned out.

He's standing on a chair for me and it's still too big for him to hold up. See that smile? So worth it. Just have to get some red minky to back it with, baste, quilt and bind and I've got one happy little man!

The background and borders is this awesome star print by Michael Miller. And the stars glow in the dark. So cool. Now he'll want me to turn off the light at night!

That's been my week. Linking up with crazy mom quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

What I've been up to . . .

Do you forget to blog the process sometimes? I just want to blog finished projects, not the chaos in between. But if I did that, I'd blog less frequently. So here's to New Year's Resolutions - it's all interesting, right?

I cut into some of my Pam Kitty Morning. Usually, for me, it is difficult to cut into fabric I love. Not so. I was so excited to see these put together, I could hardly wait. I might have had a couple of Dr. Peppers just to make sure I stayed up late to get it all cut.

I'm using the Victory Garden quilt pattern and these are coming together much easier than I thought they would. Word of advice? If you are an accurate and careful cutter, you only need 1/2 yard of each fabric. The pattern lists 5/8, and you do get a lovely pile of leftover fabric, but it still is more than you need. Just saying.

So here are the first three blocks:





There will be five of each colorway - blue, yellow and red. I might do more this week, if I can get this project finished:


Dresden wedges. A boatload of them. I got about 30 5-inch wedges from one fat quarter, and I had just over 50 fat quarters. So we're talking over 1500 wedges to sew. So by finished I simply mean having the tops stitched and turned. I'll be watching Downton Abbey reruns when it comes time to turn them all.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday today. Tomorrow is WIP Wednesday, so let's hope I make some progress! And two finished quilts to post once I get out in the snow and take pictures!