Glitter Bomb

Do kids in school still get to play with glitter during arts and crafts? Do kids these days even get to have an arts and crafts class? I grew up in a house with a lot of crafts -- but glitter was almost exclusive to school. Probably for mess reasons.

That's an attitude I've kept all my life -- until today.

Yes, today I brought home what I believe to be my first purchase of glitter. Not only that, I brought home 21 colors of glitter.

Okay, okay, they were small bags of glitter, not a massive indulgence. And they were purchased with a very specific plan in mind.

My original plan came from an image I came across on Pinterest: an image of what appears to be glitter in plain, glass ornaments. That seemed simple enough, right? Except instead of a single color, I knew I wanted a variety. So, a few messy minutes later I wound up with this:

I did use a hot glue gun to seal around the top, and so far no glitter has escaped when I shook them upside down. I hope that means the glitter is well contained.

I'm pretty happy with how these globes turned out -- but the real winning project is what I was able to do with those little bitty bottles I found -- by accident -- in the scrap booking area.

These ones turned out super cute. I think I'm going to have to go back for more, if I can find them. I'm not quite finished with these ones, as I think I'd better glue the corks in place if I can. My goal is to find a way to hang them up as tree decorations also.

And yes, I do have bats hanging around my kitchen. In December. They might just hang out with me all year long at this point.

Drawstring Bags Everywhere

I feel like I'm a drawstring bag making machine. The assembly is going pretty well -- though I need a little more white ribbon to finish the last of the black ones. I do wish I was a little better at determining sizes. I think I have small, large, and massive, with not much in the medium-this-will-hold-a-dvd size range. That's probably why most people use patterns instead of winging it off free tutorials...

At least Momo's enjoying the pile.

Christmas Table Runner

Since I had so much leftover fabric after the Christmas Quilt was pieced, I've been working on a couple coordinating things to accompany it. I don't think I'm going to manage to finish the other projects I started -- though I'm hopeful I can pull together 4 coasters before Christmas gets here -- I did finish a coordinating table runner.

I used the same blocks as in the Xs and Os Quilt that's been giving me such a hard time most of this year. I love the way the blocks look, and I know I'll be working with this block again in the years to come. It's so quick and easy, but the outcome is so charming.

See -- adorable. 

I even did a little bit of outline quilting, so the back has a hint of the xoxo pattern as well. I know hugs and kisses aren't really a Christmas theme, but I think they could be! 

All in all, I'm thrilled with how this came out -- and I can happily say that it came through the wash with no visible problems, which I cannot say for the Xs and Os Quilt -- which happened to get a second, equally disappointing wash, at the same time as this runner. More on that soon.

For today, I'm going to focus on the good.

Keys in Trees

I don't know what it is about the winter holidays that gets me in the mood to do something crafty, but it seems like I'm always more interested in little diy projects during November and December.

This year, one of the two major projects I wanted to accomplish was something a little like this:

I've been collecting interesting looking keys for about 5 years now, and I finally felt like I had enough keys to start on this project.

It doesn't look it from very far away, but there's a lot of variety going on. Fortunately, everything blends together into a fairly cohesive look, but it's still possible to glance through and pick out a few favorites.

Ugh, pardon the extreme blur, but this one shows some of the variety -- cut out scraps of lace detail in the center, metal wings on either edge.

Right now, they're doing a test hang on our little tree from last year, but if all goes as planned, there's a good chance they'll be moving over to our new and improved (larger) tree for the Christmas House this year. I'm looking forward to it -- I hope it works out in reality as well as it has in my mind.



The Christmas House isn't anything official (though I know there are groups that do official things under that name). For us, it's the place where my in-laws and we will be having Christmas. Right now, we're unofficially in charge -- being the ones nearest and most involved in the planning -- so we've been stocking up on decorations and other supplies for what I hope will be a magical holiday. Thanks to a little borrowing, a little scavenging, a little diy, and a little shopping, I think we've got an artificial tree for every room. We've also picked up a couple Bath and Bodyworks candles that will make up for the loss of real tree smell, some stocking stuffers, and a few treats to welcome everyone 'home' for the holiday.

Finishing up getting ready for the Christmas House is going to take up about a week of December, so I'm sure I'll be back with more -- and I'll be sharing photos of these flying keys in action with everything else.

It's the busiest, and happiest, time of the year!

Practice Tree

Since we have two houses to decorate this year, we splurged and went for a larger tree than the one we used last year. I know, every year I say I've found the one -- and I'm still not 100% convinced we've made the right choice, but for now, we're going to go with it. And next year, I refuse to purchase another one!

With two places to decorate, and me being a little bit of a control freak planner, I thought we should go ahead and assemble the new one, throw on a few decorations, and make sure we're really happy with how it all comes together.

I also used this as an opportunity to check how the gifts we've purchased so far fit in my expanded collection of drawstring bags. Conclusion: I need to make a few more, but I'm close to done.

I was happily surprised to learn that the lights, which in the store were blue, red, green, and yellow, can also shine in all white. That took swapping the red/yellow lights for clear right off the list. I might do it someday -- my goal is to have a blue and white light scheme -- but right now I'm pretty satisfied with the clear/white colors.

The tree is still looking a little scant, I know. We're not going too all out just yet -- in part because we'll be moving this larger tree to the other house in a couple weeks, but mostly because we are testing Momo. He's never been around a tree this large, nor has he ever really had the opportunity to mess with our decorations -- we usually put them well out of his reach just to avoid this test. So, we're skipping the breakable things for the moment.

I'd call it a successful practice. Can't wait to finish up all the details -- though I think I might keep this one fairly simple and leave all my favorite things at home this year. Minimizing damage to the important ornaments, probably a good step in Low Stress December!

December Goal

December Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books
Average 11000+ steps per day

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2 
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- ugh, maybe there will be time in January?
Replacement windshield for the car
Christmas concert rehearsal -- do everything possible to actually make it this time!!

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Purge: Office, Living Room
Bathroom project??

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Probably need a couple more wrapping options
New stocking hanger? (If there's time)
Finish decorating

Um...

December is difficult enough to stay on top of -- I'm officially giving myself permission to use this list of goals are more of a guideline than anything else. There are lots of things I want to get done, but I know I have 2.5 weeks of huge days at work, 2 weekends full of practices for the Christmas program, and a week of having family in from out of state -- so honestly, it'll be some kind of winter miracle if I manage to accomplish even a couple things on this list, much as I really want to.

I'm going to get done what I can, but I'm not going to stress myself over optional projects -- and I'm going to try very hard not to stress myself over the less optional ones!

Low stress December. I like the sound of that.

November Wrap Up

November Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books

• "Take a Thief" Mercedes Lackey
• "Trouble" Non Pratt
• "Arrows of the Queen" Mercedes Lackey
• "Maid of Secrets" Jennifer McGowan
• "The Fire Wish" Amber Lough
• "The Hero and the Crown" Robin McKinley

Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000) -- Did not make this. Between the short day light part of the day and the very cold, slick, nasty kind of weather we've been dealing with, and the stupid cold I had all November, I was lucky to get 10,000 most days. I think I've got to lower this expectation until the weather gets nicer. 

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2 -- I'm so close to finished. If I'd had one more day, I might have made this goal. 
-- IF there's time -- Baste: Random Reflections
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Make a back for Random Reflections 2 of 2
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block
Tutorial for Quilt Group -- Print copies
Bind Christmas Star

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- for December?
Replacement windshield for the car

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging in master: take out orange chairs, begin brainstorming update for doors
Begin rearranging in office: swap desk set up to short wall, consider moving cedar chest to master?

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Begin testing possible recipes
Finish holiday shopping
Swap out lights on big tree
Tree skirt???
More gift bags???
Buy black thread 

It's not a great excuse, but I think I can call all those reasons I haven't been walking enough for all the reasons I didn't complete enough this month. I've just been in kind of a slump -- though I have managed to finish some of the holiday prep. December isn't looking good for getting things done either, but I'm going to keep trying! 

Reflections Again

I've been pushing myself to finish up the top of the second bedroom quilt, Random Reflections 2 of 2. With Random Reflections 1 of 1, I made 10.5 inch strips out of every scrap of my jelly roll fabric and wound up with 5 extra pieces once the top was completed. I have added extra jelly roll cuts to the fabric pile for #2, so it's been harder to tell how much I need to use.

I currently have a large pile left, but my stack of 10.5 strips counted in at around 200, so I decided to start piecing them into a top. I still have about 20 more strips to make, but I needed a break from it -- and seeing bits and pieces of the top begin to come together is a lot more fun than building the strips.

Even though I thought I added lots of blues and grays, the overall images so far still feel heavy on the whites. Oh, I still like it, it's just turning out lighter and brighter than I anticipated. I have to keep reminding myself that the dark grey is a color for this one, not a neutral background to ignore. I can't wait to see how it looks finished, but I'm still several hours away from that.

I'm not sure I'll be able to pull up the energy -- or time-- for it, but I really feel like I've got to enter a kind of 'finish it up' time of my life -- I have too many projects in progress, many of which haven't been touched in months. And I have three new projects I want to start on! I've got to finish some of these older ones up before I start something new. I'll just keep repeating that for a while and hopefully it'll work.

I don't think I can get the Random Reflections quilted before January or February, but my goals is to get the 2 of 2 top finished and start on the back for it before Christmas. I don't think I'll have room to baste it until well after the holidays, even if I was going to have the time to quilt on it!

Quilt #25 - Christmas Star

What a difference a few hours makes! When I took the pre-wash photos, the outside world could have passed for summer still. Not any more. I only managed a couple of photos before my fingers were too numb to continue, but here's the Christmas Star quilt finished at last!

And not a binding issue or a new pucker in sight -- I'm so grateful for that. This one has not been the easiest to work with. I'm not sure if the fabrics just didn't mesh well, or perhaps it was trying to quilt without my inset desk, or just the scale of the thing, but I struggled from start to finish. Which isn't to say I don't love this quilt. I do. I think I love everything I work on. But I am ready to wrap this one up for gifting.

I love how the dark brown binding really sets off the back. I think it was totally the right choice. The green would have done something similar, but I think this happy accident worked out for the best.

I do love the fabrics and colors. Which is good, because I'm not quite finished working with the leftover scraps from this quilt. I've got a couple more things to work on to coordinate with this project -- if I get them finished in time -- before I'll be saying 'goodbye' to it completely.

I hope the recipient loves it even more than I do! We'll find out in a few weeks. Yikes -- that's coming up too soon. I'd better stop typing and get back to sewing!

Christmas Star - Bound!

For better or worse, I went with the brown. I liked it a little better, and honestly, it was already made -- and right now, that's a winner in my book.

And, I think it looks really good.

From this distance, it's just a dark outline at the very edge of the quilt, which I think helps give it a little more defined boundary -- and makes it every so slightly easier to photograph.

Above might be one of the better pictures I took in terms of showing the quilting. I still wish I'd been able to do a little more. Next time I do something like this, I should try a quilt as you go method so I can work more details in smaller chunks without feeling like I'm going to throw out my shoulder or rip the quilt!

The dark brown seems to work with all the colors, but it really makes those brown/tan pieces pop a little more. It needed that to balance out the pop of red which are almost too overwhelming for me.

And because the lighting was working with me, a little more detail of the quilting that actually lets you see the star in the center.

I can't wait to see how it came through the wash -- hopefully with flying colors!

Binding Debate

During a failed attempt to rearrange the office -- only to discover the plan didn't work out in reality -- I rediscovered a big pile of unused bias tape leftover from the XO charmed quilt (which I'm still fighting with).

I'm not certain it'll be enough to do the entire Christmas Star quilt, but I'm tempted to find out. 

The fabric I purchased to work as binding: 

The rediscovered already made option:

I do like the first option, and I think the glitter in both the possible binding fabric and the background go well together, but honestly, I'm leaning towards the brown --- and not just because it's already been made into bias tape. I think it works quite well with the various brown prints in the quilt top. I think what's throwing me off course is the knowledge that this same fabric worked so well with something so loud  -- how can it possibly also work with something so relatively quiet? 

Does it? Or is that the cold medicine talking? 

After Quilt Group

I almost forgot to share it here -- but I have a photo of the first night's work from our groups take on wonky stars. There were some high spots of the night, and a few lows, but all in all I'm pleased with how the evening went. I'm beyond pleased with how all the stars have turned out.

Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite at this point. There are things I love about every single one of them, but I think my very favorite thing is the vast amount of personality contained in these few blocks.

I know a few people took home pieces to keep working on, and I'm hopeful to get a few more blocks next meeting -- in addition to the ones I'll be adding any time I need a break from working on binding or whatever less fun, more meticulous projects I ought to be working on in the next week or two.

I am looking forward to watching this grow and change as we add more stars!

My 2014 - 2015 Reading Year Wrap Up

This is just going to be talking about books. And maybe some math. If that's not your thing, come back next week when I hope to have a little more sewing/quilting/crafting progress to share. 

Some background:
In October of 2010, prompted by a very disappointing surprise cliff-hanger ending to a book I'd enjoyed up until that part, I started keeping track of the books I completed reading throughout that year. What I had intended to be a fairly simple list of title, author, and a short note or reaction quickly turned into a series of spoiler-filled summaries, and paragraphs of reactions. Later I started rating books on a 1-5 scale mostly based off my enjoyment and feelings immediately upon finishing the book. 

In the year between October 15, 2013 and October 14, 2014 I completed reading 74 books - which was about 22,380 pages (not including pages of sources, citations, previews for other books, or the pages of the 6 graphic novels I read). 

Of those 74 books: 

• 51 would probably be considered Young Adult
• 5 would probably be categorized as Romance (only)
• 3 were fairy tale retellings (a record low for me) 
• 9 were non-fiction
• 6 were graphic novels
• 3 were rereads from previous years  

Mathematically, I averaged just over 6 books per month.
The highest finishes by month happened in: February (8) then November/December/January/March/September (7 each).
The lowest finishes by month happened in: June and July (3 each)

My average rating was: 3.3 (mathematically, since I only rate in .5 increments). This is slightly lower than in the past. This year I did not rate anything as 5, but I had two 4.5 ratings: Marissa Meyer's "Cress" and Rainbow Rowell's "Landline." I did have one 1 rating, Jane Feather's "Trapped at the Altar," and as usual, I did not keep track of my 'did not finish' pile. I plan to keep better track of those in the coming year as it might be as useful to know. 

Looking back on the year, I'd say the standout titles were:

• "Cress" Marissa Meyer
• "Landline" Rainbow Rowell
• "Mastiff" Tamora Pierce
• "Flapper" Joshua Zeitz
• "Howl's Moving Castle" Diana Wynne Jones
• "Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue" Christia Spears Brown PhD
• "Trickster's Queen" Tamora Pierce

This list isn't necessarily the books I gave the highest ratings -- though this year it comes close -- but instead is comprised of the books I find myself still thinking about even months or longer after having finished them. I think that's probably a better determination of what's really caught my attention and gave me something to think on than a ranking I give immediately after reading. In all fairness, I continue to be absolutely haunted by one of my 2012-2013 standouts, "The Summer Prince" by Alaya Dawn Johnson, which I still think about on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis. 

Since I'm finding more time for reading than for sitting down and completing my thoughts, I've actually already finished a book for my 'new' year. I do still have two 'in progress' books I'm still working on -- one of which I'd really like to mark as a 'did not finish' and walk away from, but I also hate to 'waste' all those hours and not get to mark it as 'read' on my personal list or goodreads account.

I did not accomplish my goal of finishing the Game of Thrones series. In fact, I'm not sure I read any of it. I really need to do that in the coming month or two, especially since those books are on loan from a friend. Other goals for the coming year include tracking my 'did not finish' books, and hopefully hitting 80+ books in 2014-2015. I'm hopeful, but also realize I have a number of things on my plate that keep me from reading, and a lot more quilts needing finished than ever before (or perhaps I should say bigger, more time consuming quilts). I'm also working a record number of hours, all of which makes reading any more harder. 

As usual, this is probably far more interesting to me than anyone else, but I always look forward to getting to spend a few minutes wrapping up a years worth of reading. I may have started this whole process with the idea of keeping track of what I read - and which authors are worth going back to - but I've found the entire thing has improved my enjoyment of reading as a whole. I can't say I'm a better reader now than I was before, but spending an average of an hour thinking about each book while I recap it and react to it has made me more aware and more selective about what I find worth talking about or suggesting to others.  

Anyway - here's to a new reading year, and to all the books on my 'coming soon' list that are that much closer to falling into my eager hands! 

Ready for Quilt Group...I Hope!

I knew this week would be busy, recovering from a surprise 3 day trip, three evening meetings to shorten my days, but I've also wound up with a new, massive work project and I'm honestly not certain how I'm going to get everything done in the next two days. Not by blogging about it, that's for sure! Anyway, my nerves are high, but I think I've at least got this project ready for quilt group. 

Eight copies of the directions/tutorial, scraps (mostly the precut pieces from my failed attempt at using the Moda Reunion fabrics to make us bedroom quilts, but a few others as well, and I may throw in even more -- though I suspect everyone will be bringing some), background fabric in pre-cut (by me) pieces as well as yardage, and my two (so far) stars. I made one in scrappy Reunion pieces, the other one in random scraps from my bins -- though it features two scraps from my current attempt at quilts for our bedroom, the large gold piece is from 'his' top and the tiniest aqua piece is from mine. I do love seeing all these familiar fabrics again, and my scraps are so small, stars are a great way to use them up.

I am still saving up for a ticker tape quilt though -- my goal from the moment I started quilting.

Anyway, wish me luck. I think all is as prepared as possible and hopefully everyone will have as much fun as I do working on these blocks!

November Goals

November Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books
Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000)

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2
-- IF there's time -- Baste: Random Reflections
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler
Make a back for Random Reflections 2 of 2
Finish at least 1 block for scrappy x plus block
Tutorial for Quilt Group -- Print copies
Bind: Christmas Star

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment -- for December?
Replacement windshield for the car

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging in master: take out orange chairs, begin brainstorming update for doors
Begin rearranging in office: swap desk set up to short wall, consider moving cedar chest to master?

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Begin testing possible recipes
Finish holiday shopping
Swap out lights on big tree
Tree skirt???
More gift bags???
Buy black thread


Considering I set out to keep this list short so I can focus on the holiday rush, I'm not feeling hopeful about this going well. Considering I've been at my sewing machine for two hours without starting on the project I really need/want to work on, I'm really not feeling like this is going to work well. 

October Wrap Up

October Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books

• "The Nightmare Dilemma" Mindee Arnet
• "Morning Glories Volume 2" 
• "This is All I Ask" Lynn Kurland
• "Fiddlehead" Cherie Priest
• "My Faire Lady" Laura Wettersten

Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000) -- Not quite, I think I had a few too many week days in the 10,000's to quite count, but it was close. Days spent in the car really cut down on my ability to get enough steps! 

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe
1 new mini quilt  

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2
Baste 1 quilt: Christmas Star
Quilt 1 quilt: Christmas Star
Begin quilting 1-2 others: Wonky Star Sampler
Make a back for Random Reflections 2 of 2
Finish at least 2 blocks for scrappy x plus block

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment
Replacement windshield for the car
Fix living room floor

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging in master: take out orange chairs, begin brainstorming update for doors
Begin rearranging in office: swap desk set up to short wall, consider moving cedar chest to master?

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Begin testing possible recipes
Pick up hot drink mixes, check on coffee maker status
Make a plan for family pictures
Begin shopping

Ugh -- I hardly accomplished anything in October -- and I have a feeling November is going to be so taken up with holiday planning that I won't be much better. Yikes. 

Christmas Star Quilted

Well, laying on the floor and working with painter's tape didn't really work to baste things smoothly, but by the time I figured that out, I wasn't interested in unpicking all those stitches and starting over. I know that's the wrong choice, and certainly the lazy one, but I just don't have 12 hours to spend unpicking all that stitching, or another who-knows-how-many hours to baste and quilt again. So, I'm really hoping that a good washing or two will help make the bumps a little less noticeable.

You can kind of see what I did so far - though I really fought to get photos of this one. I need to sign up for another photography class if I'm going to keep working with such light fabrics! Probably should anyway.

Anything that shows off the fabric really hides the quilting. Fortunately, that's not the case in person.

The quilting is even harder to take a photo of on the back side, but when you can see it, it looks great! I'm actually more excited about the turnout than I thought I would be. I'd intended to go heavy on the quilting, stopped thanks to all the issues I was having -- and I think it was the right breaking point.

It's hard to tell, but there's a tiny star in the center of the quilt, a couple square 'frames,' a larger star that matches the outline of the quilt pattern, another large rectangle frame -- and a few rather wonky stars scattered in the corners and large triangles of the background. I tried to branch out a little, rather thank sticking with straight lines. I like it, but it was a lot of work for my machine to handle on such a large quilt.

I think I'm happy with it, though I do wish a couple of the worst spots had quilted a little more easily (you can see a pucker in the lower right corner, where the background square meets the dark brown triangle point). I do think they'll be better after washing, but if not, maybe I can selectively unpick and do a little bit of fixing there.

Next up, binding of course. I'm not certain, but I think I'm going to take a chance and go with something very different. I'm leaning towards this:

In little pieces, I think it works well. I'm hoping the same is true once it's attached all the way around. We'll know soon!

Slow, but Not Gone

My terribly grown up plan of getting to sleep before midnight has gone out the window the last few weeks -- and I'm still not accomplishing enough with the extra 2.5 hours in my day!

Aside from work and other boring things, here's a pretty good hint of what I've been working on:

1) A cat costume. Yes, I know, I probably could have purchased something similar in any store right now for about $5-10. But, right now I'm sitting at $1 + time + things I already owned, and it helps that it doesn't have any glitter or sparkles.

2) Unless I chicken out, I'm about to attend my first costume party since -- wait, ever. It'll be my first time wearing a costume -- for a reason other than a play -- since I was about seven years old. Yikes. More nervous than I should be. Currently working on 4 costumes so I can go back and forth right up until we walk in. Yikes, again.

3) All those scraps? Mostly not from the ears. Mostly from my currently 6 page long tutorial/outline for my upcoming attempt on 'teaching' wonky stars. Yeah, I way over did it. But that's who I am. Sometimes.

4) No, not packing or moving. That's actually a box from my last move -- when I had no idea how long I'd be away from my things and absolutely did write the title of every book in that box on every side of that box -- and all the others I packed. That box is now completely full of random thread colors I picked up at a garage sale. I had to dig it out to get some black thread so I could finish the ears. Which better be tomorrow.

5) And because photos make me feel less like I've been neglecting to keep track of anything, here's a little more of the unplanned but fun wonky star project I started as part of the tutorial making process.

It needs trimmed up a little, but not bad for my first extra wonky star. I'm winding up with a growing pile of scrappy background wonky stars. I think I'm seeing another mini quilt in my future, but I might hold out and press on for a baby quilt instead. Never know -- I think I'm going to be sending out three in the next month...

What We're Doing Around Here

There's been a lot of 'helping' going on around here -- and truthfully, I haven't had the heart to push him out of the way.

I've only managed to finish one of this year's ever expanding pile of gift bags -- and it immediately attracted attention.

And every single time I manage to drag the Christmas Star quilt onto the work surface, it immediately attracts attention.

I'll have to wash it more than once to get all the cat hair and dander out of it. Or give it up and let Momo keep it (not the plan).

Today, I didn't even get a project out -- he still spent several hours sleeping on top of a pile of batting on my desk. So, instead of accomplishing anything, I just worked on reading a book. And actually, that's okay with me too.

I might not think that in a couple months when Christmas is here...

Different Basting Technique

I've never been great at basting. I've tried laying it all out on the floor -- which sometimes requires crawling on top of it. I've tried taping the different layers to the ground before/during the basting process. I've tried several different methods of layering it across a desk, counter top, or another work surface. I've tried using self adhesive batting -- which requires an iron, some water, and depending on the size of the project, some crawling around on the floor again. Truthfully, I think for larger projects, I like a combination of the self adhesive batting mixed with a few pins to make sure things are really working well together. That's probably out of my reach for large projects again, since I'm without carpet and I don't want to risk the steam on the laminate -- and it's not something I really need for the smaller projects that fit on my ironing board.

So, I'm constantly struggling with how to make basting work better. Crawling around on the floor is never fun, and usually gives me less than ideal results. I don't currently have a desk top I'm willing to put pins against. And I didn't have any kind of fancy batting. So, I tried something new I had seen brief mention of on Pinterest (where else, of course). (link goes directly to source, not through Pinterest)

Using a combination of painter's tape and pins, I attached the backing and batting to a blank wall -- which I only had because I still haven't finished rearranging the office -- pinned the quilt top across the sandwich, and started pinning.

The basting part itself went very smoothly -- but this was a fairly small quilt to start with, so it might have worked just as well any other way. I'm hoping that this good luck rubs off on the rest of the process. I'm using the same batting I've fought with several other times (gotta use up what I've already bought), and so far quilting with it has not been a joy. There's a chance that a better baste could result in a smoother quilting experience -- or at least, I hope so.

If I get a few lines in and this is still a nightmare to work with, I'll probably rip it out and start over with a different batting. Sometimes I can deal with wrinkles and imperfections - but this is one I really want to turn out right.

Not much of an update -- but I have been trying to accomplish things around here.

Still Here

Life has been beating me up -- nothing major, just a lot of little things keeping me from doing anything more than getting by -- but I'm still here and still making very slow progress on my projects.

Christmas Star quilt is basted -- but not much more than that. It's the biggest quilt I'll be able to do in this house unless I come up with a better way of basting them. Thankfully, there are a couple other houses where I can borrow floor space for a while.

Trying to make a plan for the rest of the fall -- but today is too beautiful, and I have about an hour and a half before it's too dark to enjoy it. I'm going to go do something fun outside before things get too cold, dark, and wet again. Cold, dark, and wet is much better weather for quilting than for getting my remaining five miles of walking!

Stars Aligning

After pointing out all the stars that shouldn't be near each other, I figured I'd better run a test layout on this quilt before I started sewing things together. It took a couple attempts, but within a few minutes I had something that seemed fairly balanced and kept all the 'too similar' blocks from being too near each other.

 Using the test layout as a guide, it took only a couple minutes to sew everything together into a completed top.

When I started this quilt, I was worried about the balance of light and dark colors. I think that turned out alright in the end -- the unexpectedly hard part was placing the smaller stars in a way that kept everything fairly balanced. I think there's a little more white space between the bottom center blue and the right side small star in a star than what would be ideal, but this was the best option overall -- and the area where I spent the most time during my test layout process.

I still love this top -- but I'm a little disappointed to learn that it doesn't get easier to take photos of even when outside! I think that's one of the biggest drawbacks to working with white -- I just don't know how to photograph it!

I've already got a back made, so I think it's just a matter of finding time to clear off my desk (or floor) and get this basted.

October Goals

October Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books
Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000)

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe
1 new mini quilt  

My Projects:

Finish 1 quilt top: Random Reflections 2 of 2
Baste 1 quilt: Christmas Star
Quilt 1 quilt: Wonky Star Sampler (?)
Begin quilting 1-2 others: Christmas Star, Random Reflections 1 of 1
Make a back for Random Reflections 2 of 2
Finish at least 2 blocks for scrappy x plus block

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment
Replacement windshield for the car

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging in master: take out orange chairs, begin brainstorming update for doors
Begin rearranging in office: swap desk set up to short wall, consider moving cedar chest to master?

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Begin testing possible recipes
Pick up hot drink mixes, check on coffee maker status
Make a plan for family pictures
Begin shopping

September Wrap Up

September Goals

Personal: 

Read 5+ Books

• "Call the Midwife" Jennifer Worth
• "Morning Glories: For a Better Future" (Volume 1)
• "Cat Burglar Black" Richard Sala
• "Victories" Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill
• "Landline" Rainbow Rowell
• "How to Marry a Marquis" Julia Quinn
• "Matilda" Roald Dahl

Average 15000+ steps per week day (with Saturdays at 10,000-13,000)

New Projects / Pinterest Challenge: 

1+ new recipe Reuben Quesodillas -- no photos, but super yummy

My Projects:

Finish 2 quilt tops:

• Random Reflections 2 of 2 -- I'm still probably 3-4 hours from having a finished top, but I've made progress. I think each print needs to be made into five blocks, and I've just started my 4th time through. So I'm close on that, and the top comes together quickly once all the 10.5 strips are made. 
• Christmas quilt
• Wonky Star Sampler  (photos to come soon)

Baste 1 quilt
Finish at least 6 blocks for new quilt
Finish at least 2 blocks for scrappy x plus block
Attend High School Reunion
Begin finalizing holiday plans

Grown Up Junk:

Schedule next cat/vet appointment
Replacement windshield for the car
Call health care company re: bill
Order boots for Greg

House Stuff: 

Continue sweeping every other day, cleaning bathrooms once a week
Finish rearranging art in office -- I'm actually leaning towards rearranging the whole office again, so I'm holding off on this. I need to finish up a couple projects in the master bedroom first, then I may shift the office clockwise 1 wall. We'll see. 

Plus - Holiday Stuff
Rental plans made
Menu planning begun (still need to test a couple recipes)
Tentative grocery list begun
Minimal rental decorating plans begun

Christmas Star - Top Done

Sometimes I stop projects at the strangest places, convinced that I'm up against a massive step I don't want to face -- only to eventually realize that this step was nothing scary at all! That was completely the case for my Christmas Star quilt top. I had worked up adding a border in my mind until it seemed like it would be terribly challenging. When I finally set out to force myself to do it because I'm flat out running out of time if this doesn't work, it turns out that was incredibly easy. Hardly took any time -- and not an issue in sight.

Well -- not with attaching the border anyway...

Obviously the issue I see isn't that big a deal, since I didn't realize it until I was editing these photos today. And obviously, I am not going to fix it -- I do not want to spend that much time with a seam ripper for something so relatively unnoticeable. Do you see it?

I swapped the two sections in the bottom left! It should always be 3 points before the same color again, but there are only two points between the reds (or four, if you're going the long way). It does unbalance the quilt a little bit to have a red heavy side, especially since the red is so much stronger than the mixed piece it was swapped with -- but I am not going to fix it now. If I'd noticed before the border went on, I might have been able to talk myself into it, but at this point, I think it's that way to stay.

Mistakes small and large aside, I love the way this top has turned out. It's lovely - and I think it's going to be perfect. I had hoped to back this with something fun, a minky or other texture, but nothing seemed right when I was walking the store -- so I came home with another Christmas-y print that I think will work out for the backing. I do also have several more charm size pieces which I might use in the backing as well. If not, I'm toying with a table runner to coordinate with it... We'll see.

Now the challenge will be clearing enough room somewhere so I can baste it! I haven't basted something this large in a long time and I'm not sure I have this much floor space left in the house anymore. I may have to borrow someone else's floor!

12 Blocks Down

If you've been here before, you might have caught on to the fact that I'm wonky star obsessed, so, finding a stopping point on this block making adventure has been a challenge. But I kind of like the number 12 -- at least for a top. I might still have to make a couple more for the back...

Layout wise this is not the greatest way to display them, but I was too excited to try to work out a better pattern tonight. That's tomorrow evening's project. 

Right column top to bottom: scrappy center, log cabin ish center, featured center, frame center. 

Center column top to bottom: star in a star, fussy cut center, empty center, something I don't have a name for and don't think I've ever seen wonky style before. 

Left column top to bottom: pink scrappy solid, blue scrappy solid, wonky snowball center, pinwheel center. 

The star in a star is so tiny. I think I was working with 1 inch square pieces for the initial nine patch. I don't think I could do much smaller - especially not while using a decent seam allowance! 

I did attempt a twinkle block (see link for the tutorial) but I was not happy with the outcome. That block is in hiding, possibly going to be chopped into pieces (or ripped apart), possibly I'll get over my animosity towards it and put it on the back. Possibly. 

Next up is developing a layout that spreads the blocks around better -- putting some space between the frame and featured, the pinwheel and unknown, the log cabin ish and scrappy, and spreading the four smaller stars around the top somewhat. I hope to have the blocks assembled into a top in a couple days, then I'll begin seriously debating if I should add a border of some kind (scrappy log cabins with the left overs? rectangular bricks with a white final frame?) or if it'll be enough as is. I have Pinterest inspiration of several different scrappy/wonky star quilts, some with borders, some without, and every single one makes me think 'I'd like to make that.' Which makes it difficult to decide on a final course of action. Fortunately, there's lots of time. 

Pinterest Challenge: Reuben Roll-Ups

After such a high stress, high work couple of months, I can't even remember the last time I was the one who cooked. Greg has been absolutely spoiling me, handling just about every meal we've had at home recently. So, when it came time to whip something up for the family reunion picnic dinner, I was completely out of ideas -- and practice.

Fortunately, I had good old Pinterest to turn to. Seriously, what did I ever do before Pinterest?

I had pinned some Reuben Roll-Ups and restumbled upon the idea while scrolling back through my Food board. When I saw how easy the recipe looked, few ingredients and not a lot of work time required, I knew I'd found the right thing to make this year.

The pin lead me to the recipe for Reuben Roll-Ups at Taste of Home.

I followed the directions -- though I forgot to half the corned beef slices, so I guess each roll up had about double meat compared to the recipe -- and in 20 minutes, 30 if you count draining the sauerkraut, I had delicious looking roll ups just begging to be eaten. For the sake of testing, we had to try one before we took it.

The result? So good. Honestly, when we got there and there wasn't enough room on the table for our food, I was not going to complain. Eventually, I did share, but I had a couple other people spot them and ask me to hold some aside for them - and they came back for more after that too. For people who like the flavors of a Reuben sandwich, I think this recipe is a real winner. Kind of a pig-in-a-blanket kind of take on a Reuben.

I think this was a total 10 out of 10, will absolutely make again kind of recipe. Hurrah!



On a personal note, we're obviously still adjusting to the new-to-us electric oven instead of the gas one we've had for the last 4 years. I'm still happy with the change, but the rolls aren't quite as pretty as I think they would have been in our other oven. But looks don't matter when something is this yummy.