Interlocking Squares

Making progress. I finished piecing 3 rows yesterday. I’ve decided to try pressing my seams open. I love it. The fabric lays so much flatter.

Used this Week: 7 yards
Used year to Date: 36.375 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 56.625 yards
Net Used for 2010: -20.25 yards

I’ve been messing around with this quilt since fall. It feels really good to get it finished. The piecing went quickly but for some reason, I procrastinated getting it layered and machine quilted together.

I did get the free motion quilting finished . Lots of mistakes but learning something with every project. I need to work on visibility. Most of us in our forties are in the reading glasses window. My eye sight wasn’t good before I got to my forties. The reading glasses seem like a hassle. I can’t really say that the vision is that much better. Maybe another trip to the eye doctor would be in order.

The other thing I need to correct is the lighting. I’ve skimmed a few articles on indirect lighting but didn’t really give it my full attention. It has my attention now. I’ve got a couple of floor lamps sitting around the cabinet along with another cabinet to help hold the quilt off to my left side. It just feels cluttered around my desk. I think I’ll discuss with Mr. Nice Guy because he is mechanically inclined and will have a McGyverish idea about how I can make this work better.

I got this brilliant idea about using a large extension table on top of my sewing cabinet to better my line of sight. While it brought the quilt closer to me, my arms were higher than a 90 degree angle. My shoulders and neck were killing me after stitching the first third of the quilt. It was hard to move the quilt around. In hind sight, I probably should have fluffed the quilt around the table more but it was kind of a pain in the rear. I was constantly adjusting the quilt. The sewing machine returned to sitting in the cabinet for the remainder of the quilting which was much better on the neck, shoulders and back. Moving the quilt went much better as well.

My husband’s day off was yesterday, so I left work a little early so we could head over to our favorite movie theater which is about an hour away. We went to see Inception. Wow! – that was a great mind twister. This movie totally rocks.

After the movie we headed over to get ice cream from Marble Slab. Then off to Border Books. They have the best coupons with their border rewards cards. We decided to go back and see the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Very fun and entertaining movie. I’ll definitely buy when it comes out on DVD. Honestly, I think the critics are way to hard on this one.

I didn’t order or receive any fabric this week. But I am working on getting a quilt finished. I’ve been busy machine quilting. I have to laugh because I did this on my first free motion quilt and said I learned my lesson but I did it again. I spent hours marking this quilt with a stipple stencil. But when I got my quilt up on the table and started sewing, I had such a hard time seeing some of the markings. I should have tried pouncing but I tried to use a blue marking pen/white chalk pencil. I could see the blue on the white and the white on the black but boy it was tough to see the markings on the aqua and some of the orange. So I just started sewing. Some spots are better than others. The practice is good. I got about 1/3 of the way finished. So maybe next weekend, I’ll be able to count this as finished.

I like fabrics for kids. They are just so colorful. I’ve been saying that seemed kind of crazy because we don’t have any children and our kids don’t have any children. But that is all changing. My daughter called to tell us she and her husband are expecting their first baby. I am so excited! I get to be a Grandma! Their baby is due around the first part of February and I’ve been invited to come stay to help. Can you see me jumping up and down?

When I saw the pictures of this fabric at Spring Market, I thought how sweet. Then I saw this pattern and I just completely fell in love with it. Little did I know. I sent a picture of the pattern to my daughter to see what she thought. She loves it. I better get these WIPs finished up because I’ve got a baby to sew for!

Jen over at A Quilting Jewel is celebrating her 100th post. Sounds like someone else I know. She is giving away some beautiful fat quarters and a Nest layer cake. Go check it out!

No change this week.

I just used random number generator to select the winner for my 100th post giveaway. The winner of the giveaway is lucky #13. Who said 13 was unlucky! Lucky #13 is Athena from the Crafty Mama Porter blog. Athena is new to blogging and is expecting her first baby. You should go visit and give her some love.

Many thanks to everyone for visiting my blog. I enjoyed reading all of the comments. I’m not the only one that loves Halloween.

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 29.375 yards
Added this Week: 11.0 yards
Added Year to Date: 45.625 yards
Net Used for 2010: -27.25 yards

I kind of went the wrong direction this week and finished nothing. I purchased 12 fat quarters of Tufted Tweets, 8 charm packs, and 1/2 yard of Tweet Tweet fabric. I had these great intentions of sewing this week. The best laid plans… Everything was crazy at work this week. We are closing this year’s fiscal records and starting next year’s info. We are also switching to new software which has shortened the turn around time. Not complaining. Just has been exhausting. But the deadline is Tuesday so I’m almost done. Yea!

I managed to get to the movies this afternoon with Mr. Nice Guy to see Eclipse. I enjoyed the date but not as impressed with the movie. This is my favorite book of the series so I had high expectations. It wasn’t as bad as the first movie, Twilight. But we didn’t think it was as good as the 2nd movie, New Moon. I guess I would say it’s ok. We left a little disappointed. We definitely didn’t like the new Victoria. Who knows what happened between the studio and the first actress that played Victoria. But I think it was a mistake to replace her. But if your a Twilight book fan, you should go see it. I’d be interested to hear what you thought.

I was just reading a cute story on someone else’s blog about a typo that occurred when her husband sent a text message because of auto-complete. This happens to me frequently. Tonight however, I have had all I can take. I was trying to type fabrics and ended up with familybs. Once your done, you can’t take it back. Holy cow! I cringe everytime I think about it. I left a second apology post but crud, the damage is done. So if I’ve been to your blog and left the most ridiculous post, I’m sorry. I’m really not an insensitive oaf. And thank you google for helping me turn this stupid feature off.