running ragged

Where is this month going? I cannot believe the kids start school on monday already! It feels like we have been running full speed since the kids got home from mom's almost 3 weeks ago. We did all the school shopping, went through closets, and cleaned house the first week. The secong week has been fair prep-baking a ton of cookies/cakes/breads, sewing a few small projects, printing and mounting photos, and all sorts of "domestic stuff". I put 3 quilty projects in the fair too, which is fewer than usual for me but it seems i've given away more this year or something because I did not find many to take in the stack. And in between all that i've been working dilligently on 4 swaps too! The first is 2 sets of 12 blocks in red/white/black. One set is done the other is 1/2 done with a mail no later than date of sept 1-i'm pushing this one! Swap 2 is apple blocks-4 sets of 6 blocks. These are almost done, I just need to finish the buttonhole stitch on the leaves and stems. These need to be mailed by sept 15 i think. The last set is 6 in batik blocks, 3 sets of 12. I have nto started these yet but i've got till nov 1 to mail them. I also need to make a halloween table runner for a swap to be mailed by oct 1 i think.

The good news is that the fair started today! So that big pressure is off. The kids are mostly settled back into the school bedtime so as soon as i quit hearing wiggles from upstairs i'm headed down to work on those swap blocks. I only have a pic of the one but it gives an idea of what i've been working on.

summer finishes

Now that my quilt holders are home I finally got pictures taken of a few of the bigger quilts I finished while they were gone. The top 2 are from a block swap I was in a few months back. Remarkably quick turnaround dont you think? Usually swap blocks lay around my house for a long time! The bottom 2 are going to the QOV project as soon as i can talk to the Chaplain here on base to see if he has a contact or if i need to get in touch with someone else.

These last 3 are BIG! the Valentines one's are 102x110 i think. One is for me, the other does not have a home yet. The St. Patrick's one is 98x104 if i remember right. It is also for me! Sorry about the lousy pictures-the wind was blowing again but it was nto raining this evening so I took them anyway.

finish it in August!

Kim has issued a challenge for whoever wants to join in to finish things in august. Sounds like a good excuse to see what i can do with those swap blocks sitting in that big basket! I'm not sure if she has a real classification for UFO's or if finished just means finished. I'm going to count everything that gets finished nomatter when i started it. So here goes the list:

1. M&M king size jacob's ladder(basted and ready to quilt)
2. Valentine runners(4 or 5)-ready to baste
3. Halloween runners(4 or 5)-ready to baste
4. heart swap blocks-need to be sashed together
5. pink and brown swap blocks-need to be sashed together
6. 30's round robin-basted
7. quilty ladies-basted
8. at least 3 row robins-still in rows
9. stack and slash hearts-need squaring and set together
10. stack and slash shamrocks-need LOTS of work
11. black and white swap blocks-need to be sashed together
12. christmas runners-3 ready to baste

This is not a complete list of my ufo's nor do i expect to get all these done in August but it is all i can think of off the top of my head. And in my case done means bound and ready to use even though Kim says tops count on big projects. Here's Kim's blog if you want to read the rules: http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/2009/08/da-rulz.html

back to normal?

Although i'm not sure what normal is anymore. This summer has been anything but normal but i think we are on our way back to it. The kids and the dog spent 9 weeks at mom's so i was home alone-WIERD! They are home now, and in 48 hours have completely trashed the house. Yep! thats normal! We went to get groceries and they begged and we spent a ton. Yep! thats normal! I'm now back to hearing "hannah montana" and "pheneas and ferb" on the tv(yuk!). Yep! thats normal! i've had to change my diet because of a medical issue. Not normal, and really not fun!

But since the kids are back i have quilt holders again! I've got 6 that need to be held up and photographed but since its raining (normal for Sturgis week). We will have to wait for this afternoon and hope for the best.

summertime

At the risk of sounding and looking like a total country hick I"m showing pictures of what we did at mom's last weekend.
My sister bought one of those "Topsy-Turvys" and put strawberries in it early this spring. Apparently, strawberries like being in there and threw out LOTS of runners. Since she did not want the runners to root in the front yard she cut them all off and brought them out to mom's house. After some discussion about the best place to put them, dad and Sami went to go find an old tractor tire that we filled with dirt and planted the runners right by mom's front door. The mobile tire swing did not impress the mothers watching (me, my mom, and my sis) but the kids and the boys(dad and BIL) thought it was a great idea.


The kids are having a great time at mom's this summer. Dad has put Sami in charge of the animals. So she and Jason have been getting eggs and feeding calves. They missed a several nests tho-see those half grown chicks? There are probably close to 100 baby chickens from this summer running loose on the farm. Some just hatched out this weekend(13 i think we counted in the newest nest) all the way up to the ones you see in the picture that are about 1/2 grown already. This fall dad will butcher almost all the roosters and put them in the freezer. The hens get left alone mostly because the whole exteded family likes truly fresh eggs all spring and summer. Now I realize that it sounds kind of like i'm trying to have it both ways-chicks and eggs. And in a way I suppose we do, but we can't find all the nests in time to get those eggs for our use because the hens are not penned in any way so there are nests all over the farm. Mom's front flowerbed(that nest was left on purpose), the barn, the hay shed, behind the calf pens, just about anywhere they can hide from dad.




These calves are still in their baby pen because they are still being bottle fed. They will graduate to a larger outside pen probably in september when dad weans them.

last of the runners

I think i've got all the runners pictured now. And if i forgot any its because they are all starting to blur together!

more runners

Here are 5 more of the runners i've finished this week. The first 2 are made with Laurel Birch christmas cat fabric, the next is from one of the "quilt for the Cure" lines. And the last 2 are easter ones that i'm hoping to sell.