Gearing Up!

My quiet July is winding down. I've done next-to-no sewing aside from my contribution to do.Good for the month. I wanted to quilt two of my WIPs (my Supah Fresh and Amelia quilts both have batting, backing, and binding. I just need to actually put it all together), but found I needed thread. As I have mentioned before, the DH abhors Joann's. I had one thing working in my favor--a card of 40% off coupons and a desperate need to upgrade my rotary mat (which I've mentioned before).

My poor, poor mat is in awful shape. It's done a good job--but it looks like some poor refugee that found a forgotten land mine. Frankly, it's embarrassing when I take pictures and forget to move it out of the way. My daughter colored all over it and there's all sorts of deep scars on it with fabric bits and batting stuck in the grooves. And it's also a half inch too small all-around for the standard virtual bee block size (12.5 unfinished).

And then there's my favorite ruler with one side all dinged up from my blades nicking it.

Generally speaking, I seriously needed new notions. And as you might guess, I finally convinced the DH to take me shopping! I replaced my mat with a nice 18x24" one that's roomy enough for all my day-to-day sewing needs. And a new 3x18" clear ruler. And thread.

But then I got home and forgot that I needed new shears since certain persons think that it doesn't matter what they use them on (*cough*even though I have fabric tied to one loop and have said they are ONLY for fabric *cough*). Even so, I think I'm ready for the next round of Bees (3x6 and NuBee are both starting on the 1st) plus do.Good. Just in case I am biting off more than I can chew (in 2 hives for the 3x6) I'm probably going to sit out of the ALFALC swap for August. It seems only sensible~ I don't want to disappoint anyone by being stretched too thin.

FFA 3

I finally received my preorder for Far Far Away III yesterday. It came in a small envelope and I was almost afraid to open it. Why afraid? I had preordered the Snow White print in yellow--a half yard of it. There has been some issue with the scale of this print. Namely due to the fact that you cannot get an honestly usable fat quarter (unless all you want is Dwarves). It has been said that to really enjoy the print you need a full yard. I did not order a full yard, but then I also preordered before this was a known issue. I also ordered the flower print in blue. I admit to holding my breath while I opened the envelope like it was some award show. It was honestly a surprise since i would not know what I got until I, well, looked.

You can imagine my joy when I saw all nice and whole in the center:
And then all around at the outlying areas:
There is another Tree house at the opposite side of the yardage, but it doesn't have the full clothes line (only about half) and the 2nd tree. Which I think is fine since it will still be a nice fussy cut since it does have the full house section. Though, there is a partial at the top of the yardage that I think is a loss except for being able to fussy cut the clothes line.

There's also another Snow White on the left hand selvedge BUT she's largely unusable because half her face is gone. It is a nice one to use to fussy cut the animals around her (the skunks mostly). Oh, and another group of Dwarves at the bottom of the cut that is also very usable. Overall, I'm very happy with my half yard! Oh! I can't forget my little favorites:
I love these guys! I have two owls, but only one squirrel. I love the weight of this fabric much more than FFA 2. FFA 2 was a medium weight canvas (which I understand some of FFA 3 is as well) that I find kind of unyielding. I didn't photograph the blue wildflowers, but they are also very lovely and are the same weight as the Snow White print.

Now I just need to get some of the other wildflower colors and possibly some girls with horses (on the fence on this). Maybe swap for some clotheslines. I wonder if it's worth it to buy another half yard of Snow White but in pink? I'll have to think on it!

True Story

I decided to update my banner, and I used a true story as an inspiration. I took the girl to Joann's list last May and there were two cutters and a" line" (I use that loosely since everyone just kind of mobs at the front until their number comes up) that stretched back into the surrounding aisles. I was there waiting to get the fabric cut for over a half hour (I gave up checking after the 30 min mark) with my girl crying for the last five minutes or so of it (I wasn't timing, but when a child is crying it always feels like forever). When I got home, I went to add the fabric to my stash, and none of the cuts were straight. I don't think I've ever gotten fabric from the actual Joann's store that was cut straight. It's always crooked and is dramatically narrower at one point. This is why I rarely get fabric there--maybe 2-3 times a year. That's about as many times a year as the DH can stand to be in the place so I can get notions. Naturally, I try and grab some AH novelty whenever I'm there, too. My Joann's never gets the designer FQs that everyone else seems to get. As much as I hate to pay shipping (though flat shipping is a great thing!); I hate shopping at Joann's more.

Getting In Order

The thing about vacation is that invariably you need recoup time afterward. A vacation from your vacation before you climb back into the saddle of life. At least that is true for me ;) 6 days later and I am ready to tackle it. Well, that is almost true. I did manage to mail 2 swaps the other day, and that is something!

This morning I made 2 new mosaics for the 3x6 bee. After this quarter I should have enough blocks to make my lap quilt top. I also pulled fabrics for do. Good stitches. Red is the theme color this month. I was a little afraid, but I actually had more red in my stash than I remembered!
I decided to use a few splashes of green to accent the red. There is also a little bit of pink or pink-like colors in the Andalucia floral and Farmer's Market apple prints. I'm going to use a mix of orange-red and the more blue based darker reds and hopefully that will give it some tonal depth and interest. I'm really excited to start this. I hope to today, but that might not be in the cards. There is always tomorrow ;)

Back!

I'm back from vacation :D It was great--long, but great. It's kind of weird when you essentially take a break from your life and then come back, LOL ;D It was fantastic to see my mom and dad. And even better to see them with my girl~ I want them to have memories of her being little, and it's hard since they are in Bama and I'm in Connecticut.

I did a lot of shopping while I was there. Like YIKES. Not a lot of fabric shopping, since I don't like the quilt shops around my mom. We did hit up Joann's and Hancock's though because I needed buttons. I ended up getting a few long quarters of some Robert Kaufman and Alexander Henry fabrics--couldn't resist.

I also did some work on my Pyrex/Corelle collection. I added a good I dunno...20 pieces? to the collection (most likely more! I'm pretty sure more now that I am thinking about it. Probably closer to 35 pieces).

I also bought my daughter roughly 60 new books (thrift store there sells them for like .10-.79 each with additional discounts to keep the stock moving).

Needless to say, I went a little crazy, but isn't that what vacation is for?

Rope Ends

Only 2 more days until my trip! I'm coming down to the wire on having everything situated for it. I still need to locate the DD's birth certificate. Something I'll definitely do tonight. We bought the last few things I thought we might need for the flight last night--M&Ms. Seriously, I worry more about the travel than the vacation. It's always puzzle figuring out how to keep the girl entertained for the 3-4 hours it will take to get to Alabama. It was easier when she was tiny. She would just pass out and sleep the whole flight once the cabin became pressurized, LOL!

Yesterday, I wrapped up my A Little Fabric, A Little Chocolate Swap--but I missed the mail man this morning! The last few weeks he'd been coming at 3p and today he came in the morning :/ Tomorrow is a new day ;) As long as it gets out and on it's way before I leave I'll be happy.

Though, I can give a hint of what I was working on:
I completely loved what I was working on. In fact, I want to use the same design and technique to make a cover/pouch for my Nook :) I think it was very successful. I think I'll make it tonight!

Ticking Down

My trip to Alabama is quickly approaching. I leave next Saturday! I'm excited and nervous--mostly because I have half a million things left to do around the house. And I'm in two swaps for this month :x I finally got some inspiration for MRSA 2. I decided to combine several attributes from my partner's favorites into one item. Hopefully, she'll like it. I think she should since it has elements from works she liked. Anyhow here's what my work table looked like yesterday:

We aren't supposed to mail before the 15th. I'm going to have to take it with me to Alabama and mail it there. I don't trust the DH to remember, LOL! A happy secondary event: I received my fabric order from Banberry. I'm so excited. Their sale was quite awesome for Memorial day and I was able to snatch up some appropriate fabric for the backing of my 3x6 Bee quilt. Granted, I still need 1-2 more quarters before I can put it all together, but I'm covered for the backing, LOL. It was a steal at 2.95 a yard! I couldn't pass it up.
So, yes, a very productive and happy day :D