Saturday night fever.

-- Haven't you heard?

The new "going out" is "staying in."
I love it!

Its been a long productive day- but I am settled in for the evening. Hopefully my excitement over the workshop tomorrow will wane a little and I'll get some sleep tonight. Whew!

I left home this afternoon and after 2 hours in the car, I arrived in Plano. It was around 315; checked into my room and hauled my stuff up.
Then got back in the car, traveled up the road a bit to McKinney and landed at The Quilt Asylum. I love this place. It is packed full of nifty bits on top of all the fabric! Woo Hoo! They have FQs of everything imagineable! But, what I went there specifically for was some pre-cut EPP papers. I wanted something else along with more 3/4in Hexies. So, I got some bigger hexies, equ. triangles and some 6  point diamonds. I am in love with this EPP business.

I got a "large pack" of the 3/4 in hexie papers so that I can continue to do random scraps and finally- maybe in a million years have a full-size quilt made completely of scrap hexies! Wouldn't that be so nifty? I got the diamonds and the triangles because I am thinking of making trinkets such as pin cushions and pillows with them. The large hexies (1.5 in. side)  I got to match the pre-cut Kaffe Fassett Hexies they had on display that I just could not live without. I got 2 packs. I am going to be in so so much trouble when I get home. Did I mention that I am working with Kaffe Fassett hexies now? Yep. They are lovely! They are the 3/4 in ones.

 



 So, on Saturday night I am piled up in the room, writing this post and working on hexies. Exceptional evening- if I do say so myself. The bad part is that I am missing the DH and my hand is hurting me. I am going to take some advil and finish the wine. Then I am turning off the TV and hitting the hay.
Here is a picture of my perfect Saturday night (sans my sweet DH):

The DH got me the chocolate with peppermint in my stocking. And, I supplemented by stopping and grabbing the little bottles of wine from the store in the parking lot.

Have a good night yall! I will be posting intermittenly from my phone as time allows tomorrow! Please send me positive thoughts to sleep well!
Sew, till next time!
jess

Lazy Sunday!

This is just a quick post- with BIG news for me! Woo Hoo!

I have always wanted to go to a Bonnie K. Hunter workshop or lecture and I have been waiting since Sept of 2011 to go to the one I signed up for TOMORROW! That's right, I head out this evening to Plano, TX and am signed up for one of Bonnie's mystery classes.
The mystery is called Lazy Sunday! I am so exited.
First off: I have never been to any class or lecture about quilting or for quilters EVER. I hope my skills are where they need to be for this one.
Bonnie is the Queen Bee of itty-bitty-tinsy piecing- so something tells me that this will be no lazy sunday with her!
I am also nervous about what to bring and how to transport... I have 2 machines and am planning to take my little "walmart-special" Brother with me but I am so sad about it. I got a monster-rockin'-wondermous Baby-Lock Esante for Valentine's day (my choice! Yep, girls, I passed up jewelry for a new machine)last year and haven't used my little Bro since! So, I probably need to get in there and do a little maintenance love magic on it and work with it a bit so that I don't look like a complete dufus when it is time to sew at the workshop. I sure will miss my auto-thread-cutter and needle-threader-dohickey.
And, what about fabric?!
We are having the class at the wonderful Fabric Fanatics (when only Batiks will do!) and from what I understand we will be able to shop during class (if the need arises.) I am sure to get in trouble with the DH if I bring too much monies. So, I have been a really good girl and went ahead and shopped the stash for this class quilt.
The confirmation email we got was really a note from Bonnie with some suggestions fabric choices and pre-cutting. I really love that, since I am a really slow cutter- I suck at it if I go fast. My strips are never straight. So, I spent about 3 hours last night ironing and pre-cutting my fabrics. I don't feel too bad though about not shopping especially for this class, the majority of the fabrics I chose came from Fabric Fanatics from earlier this year.
I was kinda leary when I got the email about what colors because we had just been given the colors for the yearly Bonnie Mystery over at Quiltville. But, no worries- my choices for Easy Street were masculine instead of brights. So, I decided to go with the brights for this one. I am glad too, I am loving them.
How about some pictures:

Oh Darn! That's not a picture of fabric! But, I did want to share it. With a little side note: Ladies- if you are supposed to get your rings inspected: Do it!
While being forced to finish Christmas shopping at the mall the week before Christmas, the Honey decided I needed to stop in Helzberg to get my ring inspected. (it will only take a minute) My rings come with a "warranty" but if they are not inspected like they are supposed to be and I lose my stone I am just ass out. If they are inspected then and I lose the stone, then they REPLACE it. It is basically an insurance policy that has no premium. It is a one-time fee and actually nominal compared to replacing the diamond in my ring.
Needless to say: my diamond was loose! EEk! But, it is all better now! And, I have it back already! Yeah! I sure do love my sweet DH and having my ring back is such a sweet reminder of him always!

These are my neutrals/background fabrics. I never realised how neutral batiks and mixers that work with batiks are hard to find. They are, but not if you go to Fabric Fanatics.

Here are my orange/yellows. Yellow is actually my favorite color. I thought long and hard about my choices here. The suggestion was 8 different bright oranges. But, I know Bonnie won't mind my throwing a few yellows into the mix.

Here are my bright limey greens. I didn't have too many of these in my stash but I love my choices for this quilt. Some of them look a little dark in the picture but they really blend and fit in well.

The bright purples were easy to come by- which is odd, because purple is not usually a color I enjoy. Its not that I don't like purple- I think it is beautiful- but its not a color that works with a lot of what I make. Maybe, I should work on incorporating more purples this year.

I guess almost every quilt needs a little pink or red. I have lots of those, but I am not really a pink-loving girl either. So, I did some switching around with the yardages provided and am making this the one with the least. This quilt is for me!

No quilt for me would be complete without a little blue/turquoise to go with the yellow! I made sure my choices were very complimentary to the yellows/oranges that I picked. But, I love blues of any kind.



Alright, so there you have it. Wish me luck on my first class!

Till next time!

jess

WiP Wed & Easy Street: Christmas-y Week Edition

Woo! What a week it has been.
I am so blessed in my Life- my whole life. My family, friends, co-workers- they are all the very best!
We has a wonderful Christmas, followed up by a sad morning.
My DH had to leave for work this morning- he'll be gone for 2 weeks. It just puts a damper on the "after-Christmas-glow" for me. Especially when I just didn't get my Christmas Spirit till it was the Day.
I did manage to get all of the stockings made that I needed to get made and finished the tree skirt that I started last year. It was a pain in the neck- let me tell ya!

Tree Skirt

Pecan Pie! (& Roast!)

Dad & Brother!

It was a good family year though- I got to spend Christmas Eve with my family: Mom, Dad, DH, Brother & Me.
 And, on Christmas day the neighbor kiddos came to get their stockings and we surprised them with Breakfast at IHop too. Then it started snowing- like crazy! I've never had a white Christmas except once before and it really wasn't snow that year, just freezing rain & no electricity to boot! The snowflakes were as big as baseballs! I wish I had gotten clearer pictures but I just couldn't with my phone.

Then the Kid showed up with the Grandbaby (we call her PPG for PawPaw's Pretty Girl, lol.)
It rounded out a very nice day.

My Easy Street mystery from Quiltville is progressing- but slowly. I think it has something to do with all of the stockings and Christmas-y business going on. I have gotten a couple of steps done but no real progress on the last step. I am still trying to finish up those shaded 4-patches. They have actually been going easily for me- but take me so long to make them come out right and its easier to take my time and do them right, ya know?

You can see these are the big triangles for the shaded 4 patches. I love the bright blues that I chose to use instead turquoise. I wanted this quilt to be more masculine than the colors were sounding- hopefully this one will be gracing our bed, it promises to be large!

These are my 145- 3.5 in. green squares. It was fun to choose these fabrics. I used novelties for most of these: outhouses, gardening tools, letters, phones and martini glasses!

This is my whole grouping of bits & parts made so far. Well, except that I went back after I snapped all these pics and finished all the shaded 4-patches. So they are together and ready now.    I guess I should really get my bootie in gear today and finish the blue & brown flying geese and squatting turkey bits so I'll be ready for the next clue!                                                       

Something else I wanted to mention:
I was the recipient of the Sugar Block Club giveaway over at Aunt Marti's! Hello!!!  I am super excited about this and have been drooling as I have been shopping for fabric to use! I have never done a club like this before-  If you want to check it out you can do that here: Sugar Block Club Amy is sure to have something grand in store for us! Don't miss out! You can also check her out at stitcherydickorydock.I bet you won't be disappointed. You can also click the button on my sidebar.
Thank you, thank you, Thank you, Aunt Marti for my wondermous gift!

Till next time!
jess

Wip Wednesday & Easy Street, in a way.

It has been an exceptionally hectic couple of weeks around here.
First, there is work- It is never ending. Except for short breaks, which I will get to explain my short  unplanned extended lovely break later.
Second, HELLLO it is just a couple of days till Christmas! And, I just finished my Christmas shopping today. That doesn't mean I have all the gifts made that I NEED to make/finish!
Let me just start at the top!
Last Saturday, the DH & I had plans to finish Christmas shopping. We got almost everything and everyone covered, except for the a couple and those that I am making by hand.  Then we spent a nice relaxing (in bed and asleep by 830) evening at the farm; with the Llamas. I haven't seen them in a while (2 months) because I just don't have the luxury of going when I have to work. It sucks.
But we did get to spend some time with our Sweet PPG! (PawPaw'sPrettyGirl)

I love these faces!

Well, I noticed that Lennie Llama (the sweet baby,) has an infected eye. Not good. And, the problem with that is, we don't have cross-fencing on our farm. It is just 30 acres of vast-wide-open-space. So, llamas are a little hard to load in the trailer when they can just walk away from it. So, our relaxing Sunday at the farm turned into work. Lots of it. And, injury. For, me! We had to build a small pen to corral our llamas in, in case we have to have them vetted or such. Which we almost got finished, until my fingers intertwined with some 16ft cattle panels and got crushed. Not just a little smashed- CRUSHED.
Like, black & blue and swollen and nasty. I cried. Real tears.
(more on that later.) So, I have pictures of our pen-in-progress.
(Nevermind the super sweet and sexy farmer man.)



Lennie!

Patsy, MommaLlama!



Super Sexy Farmer Man.

So this is the pen when we left it, after my injury. It was almost all the way finished. But, I don't have the finished product in a picture. The DH & FIL had to finish it Monday. Without me.

I actually thought we did a great job, but the DH is not convinced. He says that my fence row is a little crooked. O well.


Now, as far as my injury. I went on in to work on Monday. I told my work partner that I had a "little" injury and wouldn't be able to wear sterile gloves. We thought I was gonna be ok- and I will be. Eventually.
But, around 330 Monday, while we are working our butts off to try and finish all of our cases, my hand starts throbbing like you wouldn't believe. I was hurting! Almost tears hurting. Advil (my best hurting friend) was NOT helping a bit! Up till that point it was keeping it very manageable and I was fine to be the "tech." Not so much at that point. To make it worse, work had us so wrapped up. We had about 7 cases at that point. No way we were finishing all of those!
So, I had to leave work and go to the Direct Care (mini-ER) and see someone about my hand. Guess what? Yep, my middle finger is BROKEN! I have a molar-plate fracture on the middle finger of my dominant hand! Sucks to be me.

I generally have very small hands.  I wear a size 6 sterile glove and a small clean glove enulfs me. By the time I left work to get the X-ray, a large glove caused tremendous pain to my right hand, and would barely fit snugly on my finger. It was horrible.
That leads up to my short lovely break from work, right before my Christmas holiday! Woo Hoo! I really hate to not be at work- I love my job! And, I know that my team is hurting not having me there. But, Dr. said I have to be off work through the weekend (this weekend) and then I am on a mini-vaca till the day after Christmas. So, I guess it will all work out.
I have been trying my best to stay ahead on Easy Street, but it just hasn't worked out for me. I am at a very manageable stage  and have everything cut, but I just can't seem to find the time or the pain-free position to be sewing!
I have gotten some done.

 These are most of my first set of flying geese. They look pretty good to me. This will be the first time that I have successfully made them and not had to re-make the majority of them. LOL.

These are my little wings for the shaded 4-patches. I have them made and the other half cut but just need to join them

 Bits & parts!

 It is so fun to look and see the pictures I have taken as I have gone along. This is right after I started the wing bits.

Lots of rows. I keep things pinned in sets of 10 so that they are easy to work with and keep count of! I would like to thank Bonnie for that!





Then, I have a special little treat that I started today. I am usually not a hand-sew kinda person. I actually can't sew a straight line to save my life. But, I might have just found my niche in all this hand-sewing business! Hexies! Yep!

Those are my first every hand-sewn hexies! Woo Hoo! Ok, so they are just basted, but hey- it was fun and I love it. I'll keep ya'll updated! I am linking up with Bonnie over at Quiltville and with Lee over at FreshlyPieced.
Till next time!
Thanks for stopping by!
jess

Secret Santa Soiree!

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day riding the motorcycle and bringing Christmas cheer to sweet little boys and girls that would otherwise be without. It was the day of the Annual Ellis County Toy Run. It was such a blast! And, it never fails to make me teary-eyed, seeing all those bikes and bikers with the toys for the kiddos.
And, we had our annual Christmas Party for our riding club too. It was also a blast. Wonderful folks!

But, when we finally got home- it was like the icing on the cake.
I got my Secret Santa Package! Woo Hoo!

A very special Thanks! Goes out to Ellen at babeswithballsofyarn.
(And, a very special "Thank you so much for hosting!," goes out to Suzanne over at coloradolady. )

Now for the showing and ooohing and aahhhing!

My sweet little package!
 

I kinda (just a little) feel bad! I just ripped right into it in the kitchen! No fancy displaying here! Ya'll will just have to forgive the kitchen! This towel is great! I love kitchey-themed goodies!

 This sweet little yellow drawstring bag held so super sweet charms and fat quarters! And, its YELLOW! My favorite color! Woo Hoo!

Sweet!

Yep. Strawberries, French Fries! All natural yummy smelling laundry soap! Lovin' it!

 Also in my haul was a handmade green zipper pouchy! It had sweets and eats! And, tea to boot!

I am gonna so enjot a cup of that peppermint tea tonight and some chocolate to go with it!

Today I am just kinda sad that I have to run off to work! It has been hell week at work this last week and I am not looking forward to today! And, I am trying my best to get my house in the Christmas spirit- but with it being 75 degrees around here- its just not happening. Glad the Sweet DH got the lights up last week, or there'd be none at all.

I need to get my bootie in gear!

Have a great day Ya'll!

Jess



WIP Wednesday & Easy Street Part II

This has been a crazy, busy week for me!
I can't believe how much I have managed to get done, even with work bogging me down.

I finished Momma's Sunshine and I love how it turned out- just haven't been able to get a decent shot of it, so that will have to wait.

Tomorrow, I pack my overnighter for a trip to Arlington. I am driving up to spend the night and go to ACNP program orientation. (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner) Oh, Yeah! I forgot to tell ya'll! D'oh!
I am super excited. I have been applying since August of last year and finally got in! Woo Hoo!
I am sad though, a little, because I need to be working on my Christmas gifts and Mystery Quilt! But, I am thinking of packing my littler machine and stuff to take with me. It will be limited- but i'll make it work.

Ok, onward with the WIP's!

First up: I am working on Christmas stockings, I have 3 finished. And a couple cut out. No, I didn't get snaps of the couple I am actually working on, but I did manage to take a couple of shots of the ones I finished.

2 of them are for very special little girls and the third one is a "secret." Can't tell! No way, no how.

Second, I have been working like mad on Easy Street Part 2. Since I am just finishing last years quilt up and this one is actually for moi- I need to get a move on and stay up with each step. I just keep thinking that this one is the monster I will be using on our bed. I can't wait!
I managed to finish part one, even after changing my mind on the colors. I decided to use a neutral stars material as my "gray." I think it will add more warmth with my warmer color scheme.

Pinned together in sets of 10! Wonder where I got that...
And, once I finished those, I set to work on cutting out all of the peices for part II. I have never really had much luck making consistently sized (and not completely jacked-up) triangle units; especially flying geese (gooseys.) But, I decided to go really slow and meticulously cut and then "built up" and guide for my seams so that I had all hands on deck to get the gooseys finished and perfect without having to redo 100 or more. Eek!

Dark Chocolates & browns for purples! Center of flying geese. All cut and ready!

My little corner peices, almost all cut and ready to sew. Pretty Pretty!

And. Because I am not patient. And, I just couldn't wait to cut all of the corners. I just had to get some of them together. And, I wanted to be able to share! I went ahead and did a few- They are magnificent (for me!) (after a little sliver trimming.) I am so proud!

And, because I just couldn't pass it up: a little I-spy action:

Lovin' the little car and ice cream cone!

I also managed to cut all of the rectangles that were requested for a future step. I used them when I just couldn't take cutting any more triangles for fear of losing my mind. Triangles are, so so my weak point! I hate that too, I really love the way they look! 

I also have quite a quandry for ya'll to help me with- I need to figure out what to do with these guys. I used them in a wooden dough bowl as a "fall/Thanksgiving" decoration and now I am sad to just throw them away. They are the real deal and look just as good as the day I bought them- and they have no soft spots. They are just regular ornamental gords/squashes. I don't think they can be used to cook- but I hate to just throw them out.

 

Any Ideas?

If someone has a really good idea, and posts a comment telling me- I will gladly ship them a little lovey package! I am linking up over at freshlypeiced and Quiltville. Please see the buttons on the side for those sites!

 

Thanks ya'll and Happy sewing!

jess