100 Day Hustle: Final Review

Sometimes I like reviewing my lists, because they have lots of lovely things crossed off.

Other times, not so much.

This go 'round, I'm somewhere in the middle. I charged into my list, full-steam ahead. Then I hit the Christmas wall and, well, things I wanted to finish got set aside for Christmas sewing. I MUST get it done sooner next year. MUST, I tell you!

Here's my original 100 Day Hustle list:

• R2D2 Quilt - Done!

•  Yellow and Orange String Quilt - Done!

• Halloween HSTs Quilt - Done!

• Spider Web Quilt - NOT done! - reason being is that it just wasn't going to be big enough. So I'm working on it and making it bigger.
• Trick or Treat bags - Done!

• Holiday Hostess Quilt - Done! My eldest daughter has claimed it, and I'm okay with that. Mostly.

• Red String Quilt - who was I kidding? No progress whatsoever.
• Tree skirt - Done and I'm in love.

• Stockings - nope. We had to use the old ones again. 
• Lucy's triangles Quilt - the flimsy is done. Does that count?

• Sunkissed grannies - still working up the nerve to hand-quilt this one
• Sew Cherry grannies - this one moves to the top o' the list for next year - going to finish the border and the quilt it once I move to Boise (my gorgeous SIL has a long-arm!)
• Gypsy Girl Quilt - nope
• Cowgirl Salt Water Taffy Quilt - slow going, but it will be done soon
• Mug rugs - I opted for some different gift items this year instead
• Hocuspocusville stitchery - still plugging away.

So that's the best I could do. Ugh. Wish I'd done more, but it will keep, that's for sure.

Linking up at Kelsey Sews for the final review!

Hey, and I'm thinking of doing something similar to this Hustle, only for Groundhog Day. Six more weeks of winter sewing sort of finish along. Anyone interested? Prizes and all that?

Friday Finish: Red and White Christmas

I love the film "White Christmas." It's been a favorite for a really long time. Love it when Bing and Danny Kaye dress in drag and do the "Sisters" number.

Go ahead. Watch it. I'll wait.

But the finale is my favorite. Makes me cry, every time. And I love that everything is red and white. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against green, but red and white are my Christmas colors. The tree gets to be green. Everything else is red and white.

I finished two red and white HST quilts last year.

This top was in the works all year. I've been hoarding the last of this Holiday Hostess fabric.

If I could, I'd make myself a dress like this one. I'd wear kitten heels. Think I'm kidding? I also would love to recreate Vera Ellen's dress up there. Nope, not kidding at all.

Now, normally I wouldn't love such a matchy matchy quilt. I've actually come to adore scrappier looking quilts. But for Christmas, and for this fabric, I'll make an exception.

And when it's backed in red polka dot minky . . .

And bound in red and white stripe . . .


Well, it's going to be hard to share.

Checking this one off the 4Q FAL list. Eleven down, ten to go! Ooh, and this one is on the 100 Day Hustle list too! Hallelujah!

Linking up with Sarah at Confessions and Amanda Jean at crazymomquilts. 

100 Day Hustle: Halfway!

 

There are other things going on today, big (my oldest son's birthday) and small (presidential election here in the U.S.). But this is a quilty blog, so let's talk about the 100 Day Hustle.

It's halfway over! Only 50 days left in 2012! That's crazy!

Here's what I've marked off my way-too-long-list:

R2D2 quilt - it's gotten really cold lately and so this is getting LOTS of use.

The Sunshine String quilt - I can't stop staring at it!

Halloween zig zag quilt - my son won't let me pack it away. Guess I need to make him another quilt.

Trick-or-treat bags - that are empty now! I just let the kids eat all the candy right away. With three birthdays right after Halloween, we just get all sugared up. Detox begins tomorrow!

Further progress on the list, but not finished:

My Lucy Crab Shack triangle quilt top is finished. It's, um, big. I think I'm going to fix it up for my husband. He's 6'2", so most "lap" quilts qualify as napkins for him. He likes to tuck quilts under his feet, like most of us I think, and a 60" quilt isn't going to cut it. I'll order some navy Minky to back it in and give it to him for Christmas.

I've got the squares cut out for the Gypsy Girl patchwork quilt. Just need to lay it out and piece it together. I'll have to order the binding and backing, but it's getting closer.


My tree skirt is cut out - that's progress, right?


I'm struggling with the stockings. I was just going to do plain ones (as in, no patchwork) but that feels so boring, and not me. So now I've got to make some patchwork ones and line them with the "plain" fabrics. More work, but more satisfying!

I have the red with white polka dot Minky pieced to back my Holiday Hostess quilt.

The red string quilt will be for me and I'll send the Holiday Hostess quilt as a gift. That's the only progress I made - that one big decision!

No progress on all the rest, but that's okay. I'm making dents in my 4Q FAL list, so progress is progress, right?

Finish It Up Friday meets Blogger's Quilt Festival

You are my sunshine . . .

My only sunshine . . .

You make me happy . . .

When skies are gray . . .

(nice of the weather to cooperate with gray skies!)

I love this quilt. It's big. It's bright. It's warm and cozy.

There's not much of a story here. I've always loved yellow and orange. I love citrus. I love daisies. I love sunflowers, yellow tulips, Lemonheads, orange slices, lemon meringue pie, and canaries (Tweetie bird especially!). That's it. I started collecting the fabric in the throes of a Seattle winter, so I suppose I was counteracting the gray skies.

See, I could break into song again: 

I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day . . . 

The official stats:

• Quilt Measurements: 82.5" X 102.5"

• Special Techniques used: string blocks (is that special?); lots of patience; backed in Minky 

• Quilted by…MOI! I FMQed big flowers in each block, then straight-lined down the white strips

• Best category: You pick: Favorite Two-color quilt, Favorite bed quilt or Viewer's Choice

Thanks for stopping by. Have fun at the festival - I know I will be!

I'm also crossing this one off the 4Q FAL list and the 100 Day Hustle. And I'm linking up with crazymomquilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Phew. I'm spent.

If you need me, I'll be joining in the Friday Night Sew-In with my Weekender bags and that zig zag quilt. I'm taking it nice and slow with my Weekender bags. As in, I'm waiting on zippers, I need some more interfacing (I thought I bought enough?), and I keep distracting myself with an idea for another one. Yeah. It's bad over here.

Finish it up Friday: May the force be with you . . .

Please don't remind me how long it has taken me to finish this quilt. My almost seven-year-old has been reminding me constantly. I had a reprieve this summer, when it was so hot, but the cooler weather reminded him.

First, a little story. About this quilt.

It was a wedding gift, over 11 years ago. When my William moved to his own room and big boy bed, he adopted this quilt. It was never my favorite quilt, but it quickly became his. A queen-sized quilt is hardly a security blanket size, but it was his favorite and so it went everywhere with us.

It's been well-loved. The binding has been threadbare for quite some time, and I knew I could fix that, but when the backing gave out completely, revealing a batting that was falling apart as well, I knew it was a lost cause.

He has other blankets, but he needed a new favorite.

Earlier this year we introduced our kids to Star Wars: A New Hope. We've gone no further as they next two installments are a bit scary for them still. But he loved R2D2 from the beginning, so I designed this quilt for him.

If you're interested, I might be persuaded to share the pattern. It's not all that complicated. Just squares.

My husband needs to work on his quilt holding skills. He's forgiven, though, because he threw out the word "binding," proving he speaks quilt!

The blueish black star fabric from Michael Miller actually glows in the dark, which I think is just awesome. He loves it too. I FMQed some loops and stars on the background fabric, and just did some straight lines around R2. Tugging that quilt through my machine was a serious workout that my shoulders are still feeling.

It's bound in a Star Wars fabric I found here.

It's backed in red Minky, which makes it the most coveted blanket in the house.

I'll be making a big pillow for his bed out of the remnants of his favorite quilt, just so he'll have a part of it still. The things we do for spontaneous hugs and kisses. I've gotten several over the last couple of days, which makes all the wrestling I did with this one while quilting it completely worth it.

And I can mark this one off the 4Q FAL list, and the 100 Day Hustle. Phew. I'm making a sizable dent in the list (3 projects in the first 2 weeks!). Here's hoping I don't burn out too quickly.


Because look what's basted and quilted (I took this photo yesterday afternoon, but I got some time last night to finish the quilting!).

Yep. A quilt for me! Okay, I'll share it with my frozen husband who sleeps in a hooded sweatshirt. He's looking forward to this quilt, let me tell you! I've got all the quilting done. Time to bind! Should be done with that tonight or tomorrow. I'll blog this one next week, in time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Hooray!

The orange Minky meant for my Halloween zig zag quilt is being delivered today. I've got a date tonight (what?!), so that will have to wait until tomorrow. But then tomorrow we're having baby girl's birthday party, so it might have to wait until Monday. But that's okay. Just knowing it's here, in one non L-shaped piece is fine with me. I'll at least try to get it pieced over the weekend, maybe basted.

Linking up with Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts and Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Friday Finish: You've Got to be Kidding Me!

Just one more day for my giveaway! Winner announced tomorrow!

'Kay, let me vent, pretty please?

No one could be more tired of the Minky fiasco that has go on around here. I thought I'd solved it. I found a seller on ebay and the Minky actually arrived on my doorstep. I thought this was an improvement on the stuff that never showed. Twice.

I was wrong. What the what? I ordered five yards. So I got five yards of half the width of the fabric, or two full yards, full WOF and one yard half the width. Are you confused yet?

I admit my mistake. I should have read the ebay listing more closely. In my defense, I'd like to say that I don't know of anyone, anywhere, who cuts and sells fabric this way. I thought I was buying a full yard. Like, the entire width of the fabric, not half. This was just baffling to me. And completely useless.

See, I finished my Halloween zig zag quilt top.

Measured it and got out my orange Minky to cut and piece the back. And I get the L-shaped nightmare. Seriously. I have nightmares where I'm being chased by an L-shaped orange piece of Minky. Not good.

I'm sending it back, because it is absolutely useless.

And so I drowned my sorrows in bag making. Not as tasty as chocolate or ice cream, but so much healthier.

Out of the Minky travesty came these cuties:

My kids question if they are big enough for the candy haul they are intent on. I say one full bag is plenty.

And they're so cute!

The boys get the spiderwebs:

The girls get the owls:

And I get the leftovers.

Just for fun. No trick-or-treating for me. I just wanted one too. I used Ayumi's tutorial again and did them assembly line style. I did make them a smidge deeper (to accommodate all that candy, right?), but I just love love love how they turned out.

And, hey, I can mark this one off the 4Q FAL list, and the 100 Day Hustle. How cool is that?

And now to the weekend. I wish I could say I had plans, but they've all been put on hold. Someone was kind enough to share a fun little virus with us called hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yeah, not thrilled. Baby girl's birthday is going to have to wait until she's feeling better. So far, just two are sick. I'm holding my breath, and disinfecting every last surface in the house. Over and over again. Not fun.

I think I'll make some fall-ish just because gifts. Just for fun. And watch more Downton Abbey re-runs. Am I the only one who obsesses over Mary's eyebrows? I want them. And the clothes. Especially any of her red dresses.

Cannot. Freakin'. Wait. Weddings? Kisses? Shirley MacLaine? Lovely.

Speaking of Downton, have you seen these three cross stitch patterns?

Source: etsy.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jennie on Pinterest

This one is my favorite:

Source: etsy.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah at Confessions. Thanks to both you ladies for motivating me to get things done each week.

The 100 Day Hustle

 

Technically, the 98 Day Hustle. Ack! I've lost two days already! Did you know there are only 98 days left in the year? Did you know I have one project for every 7 days? Yep. Fourteen projects I want to have done by the end of the year. In no particular order:

• The R2D2 quilt (if the Minky every shows it's face)

 

• My yellow and orange string quilt

• A Halloween HST zig zag quilt. Funny story. I had this one all laid out on the floor (no design wall for me) and my little 3 year old wanted to help, so he picked it all up. Super helpful of him and I haven't had the mental energy to lay it out again.
• Another Halloween quilt. This one, actually.
• Trick-or-Treat bags for my kids, based on Ayumi's bag tutorial.

• My Holiday Hostess quilt must be finished!
• The red Christmas string quilt that was supposed to be a wedding gift and will now be a wedding/Christmas gift for my friend.
• A red and aqua tree skirt for my Christmas tree

• New stockings for the whole family. Because the old ones don't match the tree skirt. And they HAVE to match. Because I said so.
• My Lucy's Crab Shack triangle quilt. Now that I officially have a toddler, this quilt has become impossible to lay out. Gonna need a gym floor (and a babysitter) to lay it out, stack up and label. Here's hoping my fairy godmother comes through for me.

• Sunkissed Granny squares quilt - hand quilting this one, so I need my mom's frame to get started. Or I could use my biggest hoop, but I've never hand quilted, and I think I want both my hands free so that if I need to rip my hair out, I can be more efficient about it.

• At least finish the borders on my Sew Cherry granny squares quilt

• My daughter's Gypsy Girl quilt

• And the cowgirl saltwater taffy quilt
• A mug rug for my mother-in-law
• A mug rug for my aunt
• My Hocuspocusville embroidered wall hanging - four done, eight to go, plus the patchwork and quilting. You know. No biggie.

Those who know me know that I always make big lists. I love lists. I love this list. I want to add more. There's plenty more to add, but I won't get greedy. Lists keep me accountable. I've been making them since middle school. In fact, I made a list in high school of all the things I wanted in a husband. And I got my list. So lists are magical too.

Make one. Link up. Get your hustle on!

And for the record, not only do I have the usual holidays to contend with like everyone else, I also have four birthdays in my little family. One in October (a first birthday!) and three in the first week of November. Good, crazy times around here. If it weren't for those, my list would most likely be longer, I assure you. But cakes take center stage at birthday time.