Post It

The envelopes are ready and set to go to the post office. Sometimes the packaging is as much fun to make as the contents inside.  Both the plastic bag (to keep the fabric dry) and the brown paper bag are recycled and stitched.  I wish I had a bit more time to decorate the outside of the brown envelopes.  Next time.

Coasting Away

Earlier in the week I did some more scrap weaving.  On Thursday morning when I discovered my gym's pool was closed for repairs I went back home and stitched the rows together and then did the free motion quilting on it.  Yesterday I cut the large piece into 4 separate pieces and made some coasters.  I have one of these on my desk at work and I absolutely love looking at it every day.  It brightens my day . . . I know, it's the small things.  Anyhoo, here are a couple of pictures.

 The two coasters at the top of the picture already have the free motion quilting.  The two coasters at the bottom are in queue waiting their turns!

This is a great way to use up all of the extra bobbin thread from various other projects.  I think I was able to finish off three or four bobbins; hence the change in colors on the back.  I think they turned out nicely though.

Voila!!

Choices: Sew or Swim; Swim or Sew???

When I woke up at a little bit before 4 a.m. this morning, I debated with myself on whether I would go to the pool and swim some laps or if I would sleep a little longer and then get up and sew before I had to go to work.  Well, if I think long enough about the exercise I know that that is the choice I must make so I was up, dressed and out the door.  Ten minutes later I was exiting the gym and heading back home.  I know, you're thinking "wow, you're a fast swimmer!", but in reality my gym had a sign posted telling me the pool was closed.  What??!!!  This isn't the first time I've shown up and the pool has been closed for repairs.  I'm down to my last four weeks of training before my first ever triathlon so I need my swimming sessions.  Luckily, this is a sprint tri and I feel confident I can swim the thing even if I don't have a chance to get in the pool again.

So, back home I went and opened up the studio (you know, the spare room we all use, but in our minds it's a 2,000 square foot space with lovely natural lighting!) and cranked up the 'ole sewing machine.  She was purring like a kitten this morning as I finished sewing my scrap piece (another woven beauty) and then cut it into four quadrants and had just enough time to free motion quilt 2 of the 4 pieces.  And now, unfortunately, I have to say goodbye to the sewing and head off to work.  Bye Bernina!  I'll see you in a few . . .   

GiveAway Mention

Just a quick shout out to Mariliz at Mariliz Musings for her give away that's coming up.  Go on over there and get yourself signed up for a $25 gift card to Home Goods.  Good luck everyone!

Run, Tri, Quilt

The weekends are great aren't they?  Up at 5:30 a.m. for a nice 5.25 mile run.  Yeah, I know . . . CRAZY!!!  What was I thinking signing up for the Houston Aramco half marathon again???!!!  Actually this year was a lottery and trust me my feelings would not have been hurt if we hadn't gotten in.  But after going to Memorial Park this morning and running into my running buddies, I'm feeling better about the run and I still have quite a few months to get it together!!!

Afterwards, it was on to my first time beginner's triathlon clinic.  I was totally inspired and ready to go after that hour session.  Race day is October 17 so I've got a few more weeks to get some more training in.

Next up . . . quilting.  I got out the Accu GO cutter and experimented with some blocks.  Nothing fancy, but I made a few blocks for Leona  and Lizzie  who are making quilts for sister and friend, respectively to comfort them through the hard times they are experiencing.  My thoughts and prayers are with them and their family and friends.

Tomorrow is swim day and B. and I are going to the swimming hole to check out an open water swim.  Hopefully I'll come away unscathed!!!

So, there you have it . . . a nice Saturday so far and looking forward to Sunday.  Hope everyone is enjoying her (his) weekend.

Charming, Just Charming

Last Friday at the local quilt show I snagged some Moda charm packs.  The fabrics are just gorgeous and I can't wait to make a quilt out of them. 

Tonight I was reading about Leona's comfort quilt that she is making for her sister who is battling cancer.  She's enlisting other quilters to contribute quilt blocks and so I whipped one up just now.  Unfortunately I'll have to try again tomorrow as my block is a half inch too small.  (In my defense, it was too late in the evening for me to engage my math skills!!!  I do that all day long and I just didn't have it in me to actually calculate the size I needed.  Oops.)  Stay tuned tomorrow to see if I can get it right!!

Super Weekend

On Thursday I discovered a local quilt show that was starting the next day.  Yay!  Fortunately for me I work 9-80's and this was my Friday off.  B. and I were there by 8:30 a.m.  to take advantage of the early bird specials.  Look what I got!!!  She's a beaut, huh?!  I also managed to snag some King Tut and Bottom Line thread for my longarm, a few charm packs and one piece of an end of the bolt fabric.  All of my shopping was done by 10 a.m. (early bird cut off time) and it was on to view the quilts.

Here is just a small sample of the beauty I witnessed on Friday.

Saturday I was inspired to quilt and managed to piece together a back and load this gem onto the machine.  I got a little carried away with my design and managed to spend three hours picking out threads on just one little block.  Oops.  Lesson learned:  don't try to fix something ugly with yet more stitches!!!  Yikes!!  Anyhoo, it set me back a bit so I had to finish the quilting on Sunday.  It needs a little binding (which I will cut with my new purchase this afternoon) and then she's ready to box up and ship to my grandniece.

Why is it so darn difficult to post pictures now that blogger has updated their site???  Anyone???  (this belongs above)

Atypical Monday

Instead of going to work on a Monday morning, this morning I was able to go to the gym and swim 24 laps before coming home and making this little number.  I think I much prefer this Monday to my usual Mondays!  It's nice to take a break from the 9 to 5.  (Who works 9 to 5 anyway??  Not me, that's for sure!)

Labor Day Weekend

These are the fruits of my "labor" this weekend.  On Saturday I quilted the scrap baby quilt and then started another pillowcase dress.  (I don't actually use pillowcases as I'm working on the stash reduction project so I'm grabbing from my stash.)  Today I finished the little girl dress and tomorrow I'll find something else creative to do. 

Tax season is almost over and now it's time to make the final push in gearing up for my first ever sprint triathlon.  Yesterday morning I ran 3.6 miles and then in the afternoon I swam 41 laps in a 25 meter pool.  It felt good.  I'm pretty sure the swimming and biking will both be good.  My open water swim will be the equivalent of 11 laps in the pool and the bike is a 10 miler.  I just can't get my head around the running.  Oh, I can run . . . I just can't run fast.  I blame it on the 4 knee surgeries from my past . . . the pounding on them, blah, blah, blah, but I think I'm just afraid of going fast!!!  When I run, I'm not thinking about the 5k I'll be doing in the triathlon; I'm thinking about the 13.1 miles I'll be doing in January 2011.  Yes, my crazy family and I put our names in the Houston lottery and our team won spots in the 2011 Aramco Half Marathon.  In January of this year, my brother and I ran the Houston Half and then we went to OKC and I ran the half and my brother ran the marathon.  So, I know I can do it, but I want to do it better.  My  focus will now be on running, running, running.  Oh, and I guess I'll give a little of my attention to my job.  Yeah, maybe I ought to not neglect that!!  Oh, but I just want to sew and run!!!

Just Gel(ing)

Tonight I broke out the Golden Gel Medium and went to town.  Who knew how much fun it would be??!!  Tomorrow morning I will check out how it dried and keep working on the page.  First impression . . . I think I'm going to like it.