Sorry, I can't seem to keep up.

With posting on the regular, that is.

I'm still trying to get into the swing of things with school.
Add to that parking lot issues, dog, and then gearing up to camp with my students.
(I'm so not outdoorsy...and the fact that I miss the Sewing Summit registration and have a proxy doing it is making me UBER OCD/mad I have to go.)

Anywho, I tried to catch on things this weekend.
I still have a crapload of hand sewing to do.
I'm taking the Hexy MF with me to work on.
Part of my Medallion quilt is hand quilted, but I still have ton to go.  I get a long weekend next weekend, so that is part of my list of things to get farther along.

I have, sadly, come to the conclusion that I won't get through my whole FAL list.  I'm aiming for 2 or three more completion.  Maybe I'll be hit by some magic and get more done.
I have one more tic of my list, though...my super secret Sept project.
The tutorial is coming after midnight.

This weekend, I caught up on my How Far Will You Go QAL block:



I think I'm REALLY going to love this quilt when it's done.

I did my do.good.stitches block for Emily in the Heal circle:



I've got a few more blocks from last month coming my way and I'll have to assemble and quilt one, too!

I did my Running with Scissors Bee block for Danielle:



I did my Neutral and Not block for Nydia:



The shot cottons in this one were so lovely.  I can't wait to see that quilt.

I did stars for Lyanna, for Sew Bee Blissful:



I also worked on a Mystery Round Robin that I can't share with ya.  It's getting mailed off to its next owner tomorrow.

Finally, I made my pouch for the PLPS.
I love how it turned out.  Like a doofus, though...when I went to get my partner's mailing address, I realized she asked for a bigger pouch.  (So there is a compromise INSIDE this pouch.  I hope my partner will be ok with that.)



So, how was your weekend?

Can't believe it's been a week!

Since I posted, that is.  As a result, this one will be a bit pic heavy at the end.

It was a wee bit crazy as weeks go.

The dog hurt his back, which resulted in me almost having a breakdown.  (The dog is neither allowed to be injured or die.  I have so decreed it...It might also be noted that the first task on the list when we win the lottery is to clone the dog.  Like I said, I don't really like all dogs, just this one.)

Add to that, our parking lot got torn up and I couldn't get answers about the schedule of when...which added to the freaking out over the dog and how I was possibly going to carry him several blocks to a car.

Blarg.  So, my sewing was on hold until this past weekend.  When I played catchup.
Didn't finish my whole list but got a bunch done.

I finished my Swoon mini:




I caught up on my How Far Will You Go? QAL blocks.  (GOD, I LOVE THESE.)





I sewed together my Sew Intertwined blocks.  I also have the back and the binding done.  Now...just to find some time to baste and quilt it.  Maybe in October?



I finished my Sailor Mouth swap items, but I'm only including a pic of one of the items in case my partner is reading my blog.



I also started hand quilting my Modern Medallion quilt.  I'm trying to get that done this week.  (At least through to the orange peel stage.)  No pics of that, though.


Other random updates!
I am addicted to refrigerator oats.
I've lost (according to Weightwatchers) 10 lbs.  (which is actually more like 12.)
I finally took pics of this finished quilt:

Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop Stop

Many moons ago, the lovely Beth over at Plum and June asked who wanted to join in on a blog hop!  (Answer: ME!!!!)

 This is, I believe, my first ever hop (at least one that wasn't a giveaway hop)!

Okay, so a little about me in general before I answer the craft related questions.
I'm a bellydancer in my spare time.  I once actually made some costumery as part of an Eternal Maker challenge.  Yes, I actually danced in it.  No, I did not win the challenge.  (But I am hoping the photo of me IN the costumery wasn't what threw me down.)
I live in Atlanta with an inconveniently snuggly, somewhat evil Tuxedo cat who tests all the quilts for me, a smooshy cocker spaniel who tries to boot the cat off the quilt so he can prove his quilt testing skills with his little victory dance (what we lovingly refer to as rubbing his stink on it), and an awesome fiance who cooks almost everything I eat (I have some really weird food allergies...onions, anyone?) who I refer to here as The Pirate.  Oh, I'm a teacher.  And a klutz.  And a quilt along whore.  (Seriously, peoples, I just finished the Soda Pop QAL over the summer and the last installment of the My Precious QAL.  I'm currently doing the Sew Intertwined QAL, the How Far Will You Go QAL, and the Hexy MF QAL.  I really want to start the Scrap Vomit QAL but I'm waiting til at least one of the others are done.  That said, each project has surprised me with how much I'm loving each quilt, for teaching me new skills or playing with new fabrics...Currently using Hope Valley on two of the QALs.)

Some of my quilty projects:

How long have you been quilting?
I made my first quilt in college.  It started off rather inauspiciously with stitches.  I had discovered all these silk remnants and was going to crazy quilt style a quilt.  Long story short...handwashing, trips to a washing line, sliding glass door, cat that wasn't allowed outside, door slammed on finger.  Oh, and I was home alone when I did it and my dad's secretary had to come get me to take me as I couldn't drive my non-powersteering car without two hands.  Sigh.  I said I was a klutz.  That quilt idea got tabled, and I made another one.  I did the top, and my mom actually tied it.   I found a piece of that quilt in my stash.  Um, metallic paisley? Really?
I didn't really start quilting again til the summer of 2011, when I started this blog.  It's been non stop since then.

Favorite Quilting Tips
Measure at least twice before you cut.  CHANGE THE ROTARY BLADE REGULARLY.  Then, PLEASE remember it is newly sharp and don't cut yourself.  Clover binding clippies (they're red and clear) work fabulously for binding and don't scratch you up like some of the metal ones do.

Wish list fabric
Gah.  Too long.  Anything by Tula Pink (I'm mildly obsessed).  Heather Ross (I have bits hoarded all over my sewing room).  I'm also a big fan of Lizzy House and Laurie Wishbrun.  Lotta's cool, too.  Honestly, other than those designers, I'm picking stuff that just appeals to me.

Favorite Craft Book
I got it for my birthday and am exercising much self control in not starting a project from it yet.  Hexa-Go-Go by Tacha Bruecher.

Favorite Book
My all time two favorites are One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Favorite Children's Book
Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory

Favorite quilting tool
My rotary cutter

Favorite Music to listen to while quilting
I actually tend to sew by the TV.  I like marathons of shows, especially Psych, and horrible SyFy original movies.

Binding-by hand or machine?
By hand.  But I'm sloooooooow.

If I'd only known
How much of my space was going to get eaten up by my fabric hoard.  I'd have started with better storage.


My Tutorial: A Polaroid Snack Mat!

It's not really earth shattering.  I've liked the Polaroid blocks I've seen up and about the internet.  (I know there was a swap of them a while back.)  I don't have a plan to make a quilt of them right now, but I have some cool charm squares from a fussy cut charm swap.  I got my batch from Allegory over at Sew Allegorical.  (She's rad and local to me!)
I wanted to use a couple of them to make something I could use every day.
Coaster/snack mat it is!

I took the tutorial on making the tiny versions and amped it up for a bigger size.

For each coaster, I used a 5 in charm square, 2 strips of white Kona measuring 2 in by 5 in, 1 strip of white Kona measuring 2 in by 8 in, and 1 strip of Kona measuring 3 in by 8 in.  I also used a piece of batting, approximately 9 in by 10 in.  For the back, I used some Kona charcoal, a piece about 8.5 by 7 in.

First sew the side strips on.

Then sew the top and bottom strips on.

I attached the batting by sewing around the "picture" part of the Polaroid.

Then I trimmed up the Polaroid block (with batting attached) to 8.5 in high and 7 in wide.

I sewed the back on (by placing right sides together and sewing around it, leaving a 2 in opening for turning) with a 1/2 in seam.  Hint:  Don't do what I did and leave the opening on a corner.  Your corners will look better if you leave the 2 in opening in the top or the bottom middle instead.

Clip the corners, turn inside out, and press.

Then sew a 1/8" topstitch and you're done!

If you wanted to be super fab, you could embroider a message on the Polaroid before you sew the front to the batting!


It's making my afterschool snack that much more fun!

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I hope you'll come back!


Please visit the other folk hosting this week:
Aug 28
        Lucy from Charm About You

Aug 30
       Elaine from Dashasel Sews
       Jess from The Elven Garden
(Jess is co-hosting a phenomenal QAL right now, and it's not too late to join in!)

what I did this weekend...

I tried to catch up on projects....

I'm all caught up on my How Far will you Go? QAL blocks:


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I did my 3x6 blocks.  I'm worried they are too plain.





I have 2/3 of my Woven blocks for the Sew Intertwined QAL done.  It took me a long time to wrap my head around the combo of paper piecing and y-seams.



I have plotted my Sailor Mouth swap items.
I also got a tutorial object done for my stop on the Let's Get Acquainted blog hop stop this week.
I started sewing my Hexy MF rows.  I'm doing two at a time so I can start sewing them together.
I also finished hand quilting my Swoon mini, but I still have to do the binding.
I sewed a secret block.
Oh, and I spent time at school prepping my math stuff for the first official math class tomorrow.


Phew.

Um...I forgot to take pics of the finished Across the Sea boy quilt.  But it's done!  I have yet to get cracking on my Medallion hand quilting.  That's on tap after I finish the Woven blocks.

Twas a great first day of school!

I met all my kids for this year.  (Well, I have to find out who is in my Math class this year, but I won't know that til Friday.)

It was a lovely day. Lots of hugs.  Smiles.  Questions, questions, and more questions!

They're a chatty bunch.

I didn't sleep well last night.  The Pirate stayed up til 1:30am cooking so I'd have lunches this week.  I kept waking up and worrying that he wasn't in bed yet.  Plus, I (like many of my students probably) had trouble sleeping the night before the first day of school.

Post school, I planned on sewing, but I came home and took a nap with the animals snuggling me on the sofa.  (The cocker doesn't usually like smooshing for a lie down on the sofa, but he was smooshed between me and the sofa back.)

I worked on my Swoon mini today.  It's just needs binding sewn on.  I hand quilted a bit o' perle on it.  I have yet to bust into my Medallion hand quilting.  I'm going to try to get that going this week.

I finished the Across the Sea boy quilt on my bday.  (I just had to handsew the binding on.)  It's in the dryer.  I'll try to get pics of it tomorrow.

Mostly, I've been working on my Hexy MF.  I have one row sewn all together.  I have a few flowers left to assemble.




What I need to work on Wed/Thurs:
mailing out charms/scrap vomit squares
Sewing the 12 blocks left for the Sew Intertwined QAL.  I think I'm doing the paperpieced ones.
Catching up on the How Far Will You Go paper pieced block BEFORE the new blocks come out.
Sewing my Sailor Mouth swap item.  (I have a design in my head.)

Tomorrow, I ZUMBA.  So, we'll see how much juice I have left after that and school.

I had a fab birthday!

I kind of stretched it out over three days.

Friday, I went to the opening of FolkFest with the Pirate and two of my favorite ladies.  That meant free T-shirts and lots and lots art to look at.
Um..I forgot to take pics.  I had a lot of fun talking to Scott Weslow from Mud and Guts in Maine.  The Pirate got an evil Tiki mug from him.  We both kind of loved an evil plant vase (reminded me of the plant from Little Shop) wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
The ladies, the Pirate, and I went for dinner after to TukTuk.  I had Pad See Yoo.  I haven't had it a long long time.  It was super yummy....I ate it all.  (So much for my weightwatcher plan this weekend.)

Saturday, the Pirate and my two ladies went to the Piedmont Art Festival.  I didn't buy anything other than King of Pops popsicles, but I saw lots of more lovely art (and the Pirate bought me Sesame fries from Yumbi, which I think is one of my favorite food trucks).

After heading home to shower off the sweat from walking around for hours in the sun, we headed out to see "The Campaign."  I laughed a lot more than I expect to (and I expected to laugh).

Today, my actual birthday, my first present was Tacha's Hexa Go Go book from The Pirate.  He made me homemade hash and an egg for breakfast. Then I went to Whipstitch, got some stash (more than I should have bought), and then headed to Zumba at Atlanta Fusion Bellydance (again with my two ladies and one more).  It felt really good to turn 38 trying to stay in shape.  (And it made me feel less guilty about the cupcakes later.)

I came home to sew, in theory.  I ended up not getting much done, but laundry.  I have work tomorrow.  I need to print out the paper piecing sheets for the last installment of Sew Intertwined and the most recent block for the How Far Will You Go QAL.  The reality was I wasn't feeling great about spatial stuff today, so I didn't want to start cutting my Hope Valley and screw it up.

It's on tap for tomorrow to help me ground myself before school starts with children.  That and cutting up a crapload of charm squares for swaps.

I had a low key eve.  Time with the animals and The Pirate.  He made me hamburgers and roasted taters.  The two ladies had snuck away yesterday to get me cupcakes from CamiCakes.  I split An Elvis and an Almond Raspberry one with The Pirate.  Mmmm.

But, y'all have been patient.  What you really want to know is, who won the giveaway?
I ran 1-57 through the Random Number Generator and it brought up #56!

That is Pat V.!  I'll contact you for your info, so you can get a copy of the pattern from Julie!

A birthday giveaway!

a bit early.

This one is courtesy of Julie over at Distant Pickles.

She put a call out this summer for pattern testers.
Being the endless student that I am I was super excited for a chance to practice sewing curves.
Plus, her pattern looked ubercool.  Hey, it's called Mod Pop, so how couldn't it be?!
Luckily, she picked me to test it.

Here is my version:



I did the smallest version because my friends/colleagues just keep on having babies lately.  I seriously can't keep up.  So the next one born will get this one.  (I still have to quilt it and bind it.  School set up has been getting in the way.)

The darker khaki bits were chosen to look cool and...um...because I ran out of the lighter khaki.
The Pirate may or may not be lobbying for a bigger one in other colors.

It was a lot of fun to make.  I went with the pin the heck out of it method.  I'd be interested in trying the no pin version of curve piecing, but I wanted to go with what I was sure would work.

Julie is awesome-sauce.  She's letting me GIVE A COPY OF HER PATTERN AWAY!!!

Oh, my 38th birthday is Sunday.  So...I'm going to leave the giveaway open until Sunday night, post bday celebration...which won't be too too late because school starts next week.


Here's how to win:  Just leave me a comment.  I'd love it if you follow me, but I'm not going to make it a requirement.  I promise I usually sew more...it's just that school prep is frankly kicking my ass.  (Almost literally.  I had to sit on an ice pack because my left hip is crankypants right now, even after the chiro.)  Please make sure I have way to contact you if you win.

Oh, and iffen you JUST CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS PATTERN or you don't win, you can purchase it over at Craftsy.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/Home-Decor/Mod-Pop/25716

Good luck, y'all!  Wish me luck getting my room up to snuff before the newbies come for orientation tomorrow!