Happy Progress

Today's Block Count: 4
Yesterday's Block Count: 6

 While waiting for meds at Walmart today, the boys and I went for a walk. They thought these were hilarious, so we got them and some Koolaid to make them some poopscicles. They were thrilled. Of course the Koolaid is in the same aisle as the Jello, so they wanted both for lunch. It took a bit of convincing to get them to believe that neither would be ready until Dinnertime. They were soooo happy to get both with dinner.

 100 Days. Block 29

 March 9-11 for the Black and White 365 Challenge. Not too thrilled with the one in the top right. But maybe it will look ok if put in to the mix.

 I tried a new thing today for when Nate "earns" extra chores. Several of these are things we have been trying many different ways to get him to understand. So I told him today that he would have to write. He was all for it at first because he thought he was going to be drawing pictures (still not sure how he thought that).  So he was supposed to write them each 10 times. I figured it would help them sink in, as well as work on keeping his finger strength and writing up during the summer. Instead, he spent 3 hours, screaming, crying, yelling and bargaining to try to get out of doing them. That backfired for him, as Mommy added 1 that had "I will not argue with Mommy." He has now managed to write "Get out does not" and that is it. If he thinks he is going to get out of doing these...he is dead wrong. He also managed to get another one assigned that says "I will not lock Kyle in his closet." We had a child proof lock on the outside of Kyle's closet to work on discouraging him from taking all his clothes out of his drawers all the time. Well Nate didn't lock it correctly, so it was rather tricky to get it undone enough to get Kyle out. He was a bit freaked out, but handled it well as Mommy reassured him that I was right there and was going to do whatever I had to to get him out.

 100 Days. Block 30

 Getting steadily closer on this wedding quilt. Just 1 more section/row to go and then it will be ready for a serious pressing and a backing. I love how it is turning out. I've just struggled with the non-repetitive nature of it. (Please ignore the wrinkles and hidden toy bumps...this room was considerably cleaner than the bed in the playroom I cleared off the other day for pictures...)

 Here are the blocks for March 12-14 for the Black and White 365 Challenge. And with this I am caught up on blocks for rewards for drinking water. I haven't enough water today again...I don't know if I'm ever really going to be able to keep both at a good level...But it is nice that this quilt is progressing nicely again. Soon I'll be able to add in some green blocks for the Rainbow version I started last year.

Every now and then I let myself trim a few 1.5 inch HSTs for my Ocean Waves Quilt. I also told myself that it would be a good project to work on while talking to my mom because my machine wouldn't make it hard to hear. (Really it was just an excuse to get to trim triangles :P ). My baggie is getting quite full. I also have a bag of bonus triangles that were given to me that haven't been sewn yet, and so those have been my Leaders and Enders the most, which gives me a few more to trim.

I also managed to finish my June Hexies, yesterday at a meeting. Which means I have run out of hand piecing that has to be done that can be taken with me. My mom and I discussed it today, part of me wanted to cut diamonds from a Jelly Roll...but she suggested (and I think it is a great suggestion), to go ahead and make the Hexies for the rest of the Year. That will give me 12 more Hexie Flowers to make for the year, especially since I foresee several more meetings, Tee Ball Games, and doctors appointments in the near future (and possibly bus rides to get to said doctors appointments). Of course, that may mean that I need to come up with a new Hand piecing project soon, since my Hexie projects are not really good for taking with me right now. I really need to sit and add greens and flowers to my first hexie project, but they are all pretty made. So maybe we'll have another movie day soon.

Steady Progress

Yesterday's Block Count: 5
Today's Block Count: 1

 100 Days. Block 28.

 I managed to get 4 more blocks done for the Black and White 365. I'm up ready for March 9...which is actually already under my needle along with the next section for the Wedding Quilt. Woohoo.

This is another hand pieced block. I finished it up at church today. It really helps me to sit still and stay away to have something simple to work on. I love that I still get the fantastic new tools like rotary cutters and little rulers for marking seams. It really does make it super simple and surprisingly fast to work on these hand pieced blocks. Now I have a dilemma, I'm almost done with my Hexies for June, and all of the hand pieced blocks I had prepped, which means I need to figure out another project I can put in my hand piecing kit. I'm thinking of using the 60 degree diamond that I picked up at Joann's on sale. But that would also mean starting another project...that seems a little off to me. :P What do you think? That would be Jelly Roll Friendly, and I do have a few that are unclaimed for projects right now...hmmm...

Finally a Day of Rest

Yesterday's Block Count: 6

 100 Days. Block 27. I'm keeping up and I'm loving how easy that has been for me. It helps me feel accomplished.

 Here is my Center Medallion for the Black and White 365. It has been so much fun to see the difference between the original block plans and what I'm doing for this quilt.

This was her original plan. It's pretty, too. It helps that it's in blue, and I love blue.

And for another comparison; Here I used Red for the Center Medallion for this quilt last year. It's so fun to see how things change when all you do is change the colors.

I also managed to get 4 of these blocks sewn together last night. They are super fast, but I'm still drinking water faster than I'm making the blocks...But between all the walking to get places, I was reduced in how much time I've had at home to sew. But today...I have no where to go, so I can sit at home and relax...I'm also hoping to get some laundry done, and make progress on the wedding quilt...and I have a machine to clean. Wish me luck on a productive day.

End of May and Beginning of June

Final May Blocks: 64
June Blocks: 2

 100 Days. Block 23

 Getting much closer on this wedding quilt. Just have to get the last 2 "rows" together and then it will be ready to pick a backing. Once again, this will be my One Monthly Goal for June. I really think I can get it done this month. I'm not planning on any major disruptions that would throw it out of line again.

 I received my Fandom in Stitches Swap package. It was this cute rose for Beauty and the Beast, which is still my favorite movie of all time. It might have something to do with a brunette with brown eyes who loves to read :P ...maybe just a little.

 100 Days. Block 24.

 100 Days. Block 25.

 Nate's first Tee Ball game was kind of comical to watch. He's making friends on his team...which leads to some distraction... And you'll notice Kyle's head at the bottom of the picture...He had a blast climbing up and down the bleachers. Here he was sitting on the bottom bleacher while Hubs and I were sitting up top. There was also a point where he slipped backwards on the bleachers and landed on one of the feet ones...and all the other mom's worried and I started chuckling. Of course, part of why I did was that he was crying like he was scared...not hurt. I'm sure I looked rather callous at that point, but this kid in particular would have me in constant fear if I didn't laugh most of his comical accidents off...

 This week's Long Time Gone Block is the third Half Square Triangle block. I'm feeling really good about myself since I got it done on the first day of the week rather than waiting until the last.

 This is a hand pieced block that was mostly pieced on the bus and waiting for the waterpark to open today. I'm on some pain meds that make it so I can't/shouldn't drive, so the boys and I tried out taking the bus to go swimming with my best friend...I think it worked out well. And it was sooo nice not to have to drive, hence, the finished hand pieced block. Thus began my June block count.

 100 Days. Block 26.

 This is only a part of a block. It is the first half of the center Medallion for the 365 Challenge. I just love how it is turning out in the 2 colors. It has been a little trickier to make this one as I have to be very careful about which color goes where since some of them are opposites of what she designed (dark vs light). But I really like that this is very one of a kind. I had told myself I could work on a block for this quilt for every 32 oz of water I drink, to try to get myself drinking more water....Now I'm drinking water faster than I can sew these blocks. It doesn't help that this is a big, involved block, and I've been super busy with a few things. I'm looking forward to some nice calm sewing tomorrow, if the boys will let me.

These go in May's count. I got them done yesterday at a meeting, which got me caught up on my swap hexies for the first time since October...then of course, today is the first of June. So I decided on fabrics for this month.

I did manage to get the 3 Black and White Blocks before the Center Medallion done to celebrate my water drinking, as well as 55 half square triangles for the wedding quilt. I've got a few mpre to make, but I'm nearing the end of those.

The RSC17 color for June is Yellow. I have decided on the quilt that will use a ton of yellow. For some reason, the picture is not showing up in my gallery right now, but I will use 2.5 x 4.5 inch yellow flying geese to make a spiral from the center. I think it's going to be fun...and will be a cute addition to my Leader/Ender Queue.

Half Square Triangle Party

Block Count: 11

I got another 11 Half Square Triangle Blocks made for the Wedding Quilt. And I went to Joann today, and even managed to find a tread that will actually work really well for quilting it. I have been worried about that because I wasn't having much success finding a good grey that matched the grey I've been using (Kona Coal).

 My mom told me on Saturday about all of these Mini Templates that work with 2.5 inch strips...So I also had to go get them. There were also the 2 sets of 3 that came with patterns that worked for those templates. I'm pretty excited to try them all out. But I also have reminded myself that I am not starting anything new right now...these can wait.

 I also picked up some more fat quarters. and had Kyle help pick them out (took him with me because the 2 get noisy when they are together and hubs was still asleep when I left). I told Kyle he could pick 5. His choices are the top ones. I actually did reject a few, he kept bringing me solids. Then I tried to focus on yellow and purples for my 5 since that is what I'm horribly low on...and the blue one jumped into my cart, so I couldn't leave something so talented behind.

I also got yarn for a baby blanket for a friend who is expecting a boy. I let Kyle pick between some blues, greens, and yellows...he wanted purple...and it took some convincing that he couldn't be purple. I'm actually a little surprised that he didn't pick blue, since that is his favorite color.

I also did lunch, laundry, and dishes today. So now it's time to get sewing. I'm aiming for most of a top today. We'll see if it works.

Next Up...

Block Count: 22

 I began cutting some of my Bonus Triangles down to 1.5 inches for my Ocean Waves Quilt. I found out that if I had used a 3.5 inch square for the sew and flip, I could get 4 squares of 1.5 inches out of the bonus triangle. So my 1.5 inch square bin has gotten some extra squares while I've been having fun cutting the triangles. The Triangles in this picture are from my Fox blocks. Even "multicolored" sew and flips like this get saved for me. Now they are working for 2 of the squares of what I'm working on. I have been known to really avoid all trimming if possible...But I have really enjoyed getting to bust into these and get just a few done at a time. I also have been trimming the ones that won't work for this quilt, into usable sizes, so that they aren't just languishing in a drawer anymore.

 I finished rebinding Kyle's quilt, and he took it back right away and started using it. He was so excited that it was fixed.

 My little monkey also decided to climb on the self-checkout at Walmart and ended up cutting his finger on his way back down. We did have it checked out because he wouldn't let me get a good look at it, and the angle I was looking at it from made it look a lot deeper. Turns out it was just a little flappish so it was really just a deep scratch.

 100 Days. Block 20

 Long Time Gone HSTs Block 2. I just cut as many HSTs as I could from 1 strip of each color, and saw that there was a gradient feel to it. And I'm in love with it now.

 100 Days. Block 21.

 My mom is trying to focus on strings on Saturdays, and asked me to join in. This is the quilt I designed when Bonnie Hunter announced the Hourglass for the Leader/Ender Challenge this year. I managed to add the 2 green borders, but apparently did not sew enough green strings...so those will have to be my focus the next time I pull out my strings.

 I have managed to pull this quilt back out. It is now the current focus quilt. It's not a hard quilt, just one I have to pay attention to placement on. I managed to add a second row, and I'm quite pleased with how it is coming. It is my One Monthly Goal for May and I haven't given up hope yet. Anything can happen in 3.5 days.

 100 Blocks. Block 22.

Here is a smattering of other blocks I've gotten done. I got the Hexie Flower done while the boys were playing outside yesterday (1st Flower of April). I also managed to get another Teal TJL done as a Leader and Ender as well as putting the leftover flower parts together from the teacher gift, and it kind of looks like a clover. I also got about 9 HSTs done for the Wedding quilt. And decided that my reward for drink 32 oz of water is going to be putting together 1 of the 365 Blocks. These are February 22 and 23 for this year's. So I have successfully had 64 ounces of water...I'm aiming for at least 96 a day, but fear that I have been having 32 or less most days, which of course has increased the number of headaches I've had by bedtime. So progress on both is going to be great.

In other news, I picked 24 blocks from Tula Pink's 100 Modern Blocks that I sized up to 12 inches, and that will be the ones that I hand piece, for what I am calling my Accomplishment Quilt because I will prepare the pieces for each block when I finish a quilt. So I got the ones cut out for the teacher Quilt and Kyle's quilt. Then I can work on them while I'm waiting at Tee Ball practice, or at Tee Ball games, or anytime I'm going to have to sit somewhere.

Buzzing

Today's Block Count: 1
Blocks from the Last 2 days: 24

 My son as a book/notebook made by a good friend, that is Green Eggs and Ham and has extra blank pages he can use. He has loved the book to the point that the back cover would no longer stay on, so I stitched the binding closed. Shouldn't come loose now...at least not for awhile.

 100 Days. Block 17

 Long Time Gone Half Square Triangles Block 1
This week's block is the Second Half Square Triangles block (of 3). I decided to just go with the first light fabric in my pile that I've been going through. Hence the light green. I like it.

 100 Days. Block 18

 I have to rebind one of Kyle's quilts that his grandma made for him because he has loved the binding to shreds. He and I decided on this fun monster print. He is thrilled that I'm fixing it for him.

 And there is a new lady who has joined my ranks. This is Europa. I have never owned a Serger before. This could get interesting...or dusty. I guess only time will tell.

 100 Days. Block 19

 I finished the Teacher Appreciation Gift for Nate's Teacher. I am so tickled with how this turned out. I think it really shows the personalities of the kids.

 This is the label I wrote for it. I think I'm really going to miss her next year. I'm hoping that Kyle gets her in 3 years.

I decided that my leaders and enders were going to be all of my RSC17 projects...so I guess I still can't get away from working on lots of things at once... But really I just do a handful of one color at a time, and rotate what I cut for, such as with the green, there are 2.5 inch strips for the green quilt, and 1.5 inch and 1 inch strips for the Tiny Jacob's Ladder...so I cut the 3 sizes from 1 fabric and then use one size at a time until I run out of usable fabrics...then I cut the next piece of fabric...etc.

I also must admit, that I have decided on 2 more quilts. Though they are long term quilts that are very much at the back of my mind. One is an Ocean Waves quilt using 1.5 inch HSTs. This will allow me to use any extra HSTs from the TJLs, as well as using the light and dark bonus triangles that have grown exponentially. I will have to trim most of the bonus triangles to the proper size, but I don't see that as a huge burden. It can actually be an excuse to sit and watch something one day (or several). I also decided that the tiny Orange Peels that I used for the Appreciation Quilt, are a fun size (and I cut a few extras rather than trying to count them exactly). They will fit on little 2.5 inch squares, and those can then be sewn together at random. These can be cut from 1.5 inch strips, so it all can come from scrap users again. I think this is going to be fun.

I am in no hurry to even start it. Though I may give myself some permission to trim a few triangles in the next few days, just for the fun of it.

Next up is to finish the binding for Kyle's quilt...It feels so good to be getting things done and marking them off of my list.