A few of the recent projects

My first tie blanket- given to the DH for his birthday.

For my son- he picked out the robots. I'm not real crazy for it.
I don't know what I will do with this one, it was part of my mistake with the robot quilt
Listed this top on etsy. Another mistake that was going to be part of the benefit quilt.

Now working on tumblers- making a queen sized quilt, and will use over 600 tumblers. I was on a cutting spree, and have over 800.

Also bought a bunch of fabric. I started to keep track on paper what I have bought and used. I think I am still in the negative- using more than buying. Yahoo!

Only 10 minutes to vent

So the latest and greatest news at my house is that we are looking to move from our 3 bedroom house in town to the country- a 25 acre old, old farm just about 2 miles from where we currently are. I love the country, grew up on a 5 acre piece of land. We both want to be out of the city limits and maybe have a little farm. The property has 4 out buildings, all very old and one looks a lot like fire wood. The house, according to the listing, was built in 1856. There looks to be 2 additions, so I can believe the main part of the house really is that old. IF we do get this place, we would look at building a new house in 10 years.

Here's my issue: DH has plans to build a shop/shed and use that to somehow generate some income. He also wants a few cattle, some pigs, chickens for eggs, and I think there was something else. I don't know who he thinks will care for these animals or where they will live. I have no issue with getting a few animals, but want to make sure things are set up the way we want first. For example, my sewing area. The house has 3 bedrooms, one is in the attic and has no lights, maybe an outlet, and that would be my sewing area, unless I set up in the dining room. Also not ideal. The one bathroom is on the opposite end of the house, but there is a laundry room that could be changed to a bathroom pretty easily. The kitchen could use a new fridge and stove, maybe some counters. Paint in most every room of the house. And then the DH also said if we have enough income from the property, I wouldn't need to work, I could just stay home. That bothers me. I like what I do, and there are times when I would rather stay home. But there are also those times when the boys won't leave me alone and I can't get anything done, and that makes me like getting to go to work for my 6 hours a day, and then come home to see them. I don't want to have to stay home to take care of the animals he thinks would be neat to have. Right away he sees my hesitation and deep thoughts on this purchase as me not wanting it. I told him I will be giving up a lot if we do this, and that is something I think about.

A sad day for a quilter

Sunday night I was preparing a few projects for my day of yesterday. I had a few thread tension issues that I could not solve. Monday morning came, and I had high hopes of sewing the day away. But that did not happen. I still could not get my machine adjusted, and had to take it in. Apparently they cannot just adjust the thread tension without looking at it, and I still do not have my machine. I think they guy saw my jaw drop when he said it would be ready Wednesday or Thursday. So, now I have one quilt to finish the edges, a top that is about half done, and pieces cut for another flannel quilt for my son. I knew it needed to go in to get cleaned sometime soon, as much as I have been using it, but I hate that. It might be good for me to find a back-up machine for times like this.

I am also starting to think I should tackle a huge project- grandmother's flower garden. I love the quilts, but really wonder if I have the patience for it. I'm sure my generation has something to do with it, but if I can't see results, I lose interest in the project. I have a quilt book with the pattern, just need to decide if I can handle it.

Finished Baby Quilt and Tins

This is the finished baby quilt.
And I am way more excited for this, the tin pieces for my pie safe came today. I can't wait for my husband to buy the lumber to make it!

More Success!

I got the benefit quilt complete, and have the triangle one on the frame. If both boys are napping this afternoon, I might get some tying done. Yesterday I got a small flannel baby quilt made for a former co-worker. I decided to go back to the pieces I had cut for the benefit quilt before realizing the sizes didn't match up. I have probably half the hourglass blocks made now. I would like to get this UFO top made just to be done with it, but now I still need to figure out if I still want to use the squares between the blocks (even though the squares are larger) or just make 2 separate tops.

I did look for fleece to make a tie quilt, but didn't like what I found. I did leave the store with 5 1/2 yards of flannel.

Stash count: -14 1/2 used for backing, and baby quilt
+ 5 1/2 for my flannel

Stash Totals

I went through my posts since the first of the year, and have good news to report. I am down, drum roll...8 yards. Wish it was better, but even 8 is decent. That's about a quilt top.

I got the benefit quilt tied, and thinking I will have a blister on my pointer when I wake up tomorrow. I didn't even bother taking it off the frame, but that can wait. I have vacation days Friday and Monday, so hoping to get the edges done then and get the last quilt top on the frame to tie. (The triangle one). If I'm lucky, I could get that one done on Monday. Friday is going to mostly be a me and Blake day. I am taking him to get 3 year pictures done in the morning, then maybe a little shopping. I am also thinking about making my husband a tie fleece blanket for his birthday. We'll see what actually happens.

Fabric Cupboard

I guess the design I want for my cabinet is called a pie safe. The hubby is working out the plan, and once he has that, I can figure out how big my tin designs need to be. There will be 6 panels, I know that much so far. It should be pretty cool!

Ta-Da!

Stash Update: -8 yards for this top (I'm rounding a little)
I had thought about doing a tutorial on this, but it went together really fast. I guess it did help that I was home with one of the boys Friday morning, so I had an extra block of time to work on it. Defiantly a pattern I will use again.