Make-A-List Monday: Taking Names!

I love being productive. Love love love it! I love crossing things off my list. I sometimes add things I've finished to my to-do list just so I can another thing crossed off. True story. With five awesome kids around all day, I don't always get to get much done.

Here's my list from last week:

• Piece the three flimsies I meant to piece last week - 2 scrappy trips and my Gypsy Girl patchwork

Done! Here they are (curse the rain and wind, but I got pictures at least!):

My PKM scrappy trips. I originally was going to do it just like the London trips, with small diamonds, but that dark green fabric was always drawing my eye, no matter where I put it. So I figured I'd just make it front and center and then it wouldn't bug me. Glad I did that.

My Gypsy Girl patchwork. Never again will I think that it's "so easy" to make a simple patchwork. Maybe it is if you aren't a smidge OCD like me, but this took forEVER to lay out because I couldn't have similar colors or patterns too close together, if I could help it, and I had to take deep breaths when it couldn't be avoided. But it's done and I love it. My girly loves it too, which is good because it's going in her blanket chest for the winter!

My London trips. I'm so glad I used the white. Love this one. My 6'2", eyes of blue husband has claimed this one. Finally a quilt he can bury himself in! His mother is also from London so he says it should naturally be his. No arguments here.

• Prep fabric for semi-annual cut-a-thon - I 'splained here what that is, exactly

Prepped and cut it all while listening to the most amazing, uplifting talks. Great great weekend. Even got started on some blocks:

These are for one of my H2H quilts. I pulled all the pinks, greens (that were the right color), and browns. I'm using this pattern, which is pretty simple and straightforward, but it comes out looking pretty fantastic. I obviously can't share the process with you, but it is layer cake friendly, and I just used stuff from my stash.

• Finish Strawberry Fields Shortcake blocks

All done and ready to lay out.

So, as for this week, here are my new plans:

• Piece Hello Sunshine Jacob's Ladder blocks

I trimmed these during my cut-a-thon this past weekend. Took me FOUR hours to do it. I know, because I started it during the first session on Saturday, and finally finished it when the second session concluded. Now I've just gotta get these blocks done.

• Piece borders for Posy Kiss Me quilt

Cut the pieces for this during my cut-a-thon. Need to finish these so that I can make this an official flimsy finish.

• Finish piecing green/pink/brown blocks (H2H quilt!)

Took me a bit to decide what to do with this, but I'm excited to get this done.

• Make two bee blocks and mail them

One black and white and one green/blue/purple

That's all for this week. Here's hoping they don't want to show the house again this week!

I am adding two things:

First, a recipe, so I can link up with Sarah. It's my carrot cake recipe, over at my cake blog. Yes. I have a cake blog. It needs some more attention! But this is the BEST carrot cake recipe. Kid you not. I'm not great with quilts just yet, but I speak pastry. I bleed chocolate. And I love this carrot cake.

Second: are y'all aware of the free shipping offer going on this week at the FQS? Yep. $40 = free shipping. Now that I can manage!

Linking up!

Time for a break!

This is as far as I've gotten on my Pam Kitty Morning semi-scrappy trip quilt. And now it's time for a break. I'll prep the rest of the strips for it so it's ready and waiting for me when we get back, but I have to wave goodbye for 10 days or so.

Is it just me or is a family vacation not much of a vacation for the mom? I mean, I plan on having fun, and watching my kids have fun, but there's been so much to do to get us out the door. And with plans changing (we're staying almost a full day in Boise on our way back so my husband can participate in a shooting competition), it makes it hard to plan stuff for the other side of the vacation. Things the dads don't have to worry about, like getting home in time to get the laundry done and go to the store

Oh My Giddy Aunt!

Tell me I'm not the only one who wishes she was British, just so I could say stuff like this?

*crickets chirping*

Either way, this is what kept going through my head every time I looked at this Pam Kitty Morning awesomeness that I was playing with yesterday:

I mean, really, could it get any cuter?

You ought to know by now that I'm genetically, psychologically incapable of producing anything truly scrappy. Wires start fritzing out when I try to imagine a truly scrappy quilt made by me.

So I embrace my OCD heritage and make blocks that make me happy.

Someday, I might let loose. But that's a likely to happen as me running down the street nekkid. Strangers things have happened . . .

Make-A-List Monday: Birthday Interruptions

Not a whole lot got done this weekend, unless you count cake baking, chicken frying, present wrapping, biscuit making as not a lot. Phew, I'm tired! And to top it off, our landlord wants to show the house this afternoon, so now I get to do a big clean-up. I hope they get a renter soon, because I don't enjoy these visits with strangers wandering through my house, looking at my stuff. I know they are supposed to be just looking at the house, but they always seem to comment on our things/hobbies/whatnot.

Still, I got some sewing done before the birthday madness began. I finished all 42 scrappy trip blocks. Hip hip hooray!

Once I laid it all out, it didn't look big enough. I know, that sounds ridiculous. But my family isn't content with "lap quilts." They prefer ones that can completely envelop them. If my husband is going to use this quilt, it had better be bigger. So I'm thinking I need to make it 8X9, which means 30 more blocks. Thankfully, I've still got plenty of strips cut, so I'll keep going on that this week.

It's good fun, making these blocks. I'm going to gut my stash and make another. Like I've said before, I'd rather move flimsies than fabric. If you're still holding out on starting one of these, I won't give you the link to the tutorial. Or a link to a flickr group of others who don't have your fortitude. They sure do have some pretty quilts though. But don't go and be inspired.

We leave for spring break trip in a week, so I've got to get my stuff done before I have to get laundry and packing done.

Here's my list for this week:

• Sew 30 more scrappy London trip blocks
• Trim all HSTs blocks for Hello Sunshine quilt
• Cut strips for another trippy quilt

March is my birthday month too, and I got an early present last week.

*Glamping*

Could you just die? I'm totally in love. This is one that will sit and get stared out for a bit before I cut in to it.

WIP Wednesday: I surrender!

Waving the white flag over here.

I surrender to the madness that is the scrappy trip along. I held out pretty well, don't you think?

I will confess it is not purely scrappy. My little OCD brain can't handle that just yet. I had all that London fabric left over from Christmas and thought I'd make a Trip Around London quilt. I pulled everything red, blue and yellow I had and I'm happily making blocks whilst watching Downton Abbey. Oh, and I threw a little Madrona Road text in there, just for fun. And I had to have the solid white to rest my eyes on.

I get why this is such a popular quilt to make.

Oh, and I made my second block for my do.Good Stitches bee. Wanted to try out a churn dash.

Love how it came together, but I'm not sold on low-volume. Add it to my list of quilty quirks. I might have to make a full on confession one of these days, but it may make me unpopular!

Linking up, because I certainly do have works in progress today!