Dry Spell

Well, I have obviously been very quiet here. I've been spending a lot of time with my writing muse and, therefore, have been out on Writing.Com a lot. So that just about sums up this entry. Just wanted to put it in here in case anyone checks my blog and notices that I haven't been posting in awhile.

Later!

Unhappy with Christmas

I'm sure that I'm not the only person in the world to get depressed at Christmas. And hopefully, I'm not the only one who gets depressed over the overwhelming consumerism during this time. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. The time to sit down over good food and spend quality time with family. In my heart, I believe that's what Christmas should be. My favorite part of Christmas is when we drive over to my in-law's house for a wonderful dinner and just spend time with them.

You see, I'm blessed with a wonderful mother- and father-in-law. They're wonderful, loving and caring people. It's always a joy to spend time with them.

Tonight, I think I figured out why I get so depressed at Christmas. It's all the gifts that people buy. You see, no matter what we buy, we can never compete with the greatest gift of all. On Christmas Day, God sent to earth his beloved son to live among us. He set into motion the plan for our eternal salvation. There is absolutely nothing that we can buy that can compete with that. Oddly enough, gifts from the heart come closer to encompassing that ideal than anything else. For God's gift was definitely one from the heart. As it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son..."

All the pretty wrapping paper, all the bows, all the pretty decorated trees, all the credit card debt and stress in the upcoming year when that first credit card bill arrives, that means absolutely nothing. If we'd just embrace the fact that we can't compete with the gift we've already been given and stop with the unending consumerism at Christmas, we'd be much happier people.

That reminds me of one Christmas we had awhile back. Money was really tight and we knew that we couldn't get the kids very much. So I had everyone in the house pick one special dessert each. I then proceeded to make them, one after the other, as a special gift. That holds the special memories. Not the presents under the tree that year.

This year, we're blessed financially to provide a good Christmas. As a matter of fact, the gifts are already purchased and many of them are high-end electronics. For some reason, every time I think of them, I get depressed. I miss that Christmas where the 'gift' was homemade goodies. I'm trying to decide if I'm "brave" enough to declare a "no gift" Christmas. We have 4 boys. Would they understand celebrating what God gave us over buying gifts for the tree? Would they understand if I was more willing to give them nicer gifts on their birthday instead? I doubt it. But the idea holds so much appeal to me. We actually took and cut way back on Christmas gifts a few years ago. The kids didn't mind it then. They each get maybe one or 2 special gifts and that's all. For awhile, that kept me happy. Now, I want to cut back even more. Maybe that's asking too much out of the kids.

Maybe I'll chalk it up to my normal Christmas depression. Add in the fact that Dad can't be here this year and it's just miserable. A very important part of my family is missing and it's just hard. Though, I still would like to make Christmas more about Christ, just like it should be. I'll think about it next year, when, hopefully, my family will be whole again. Though we did all agree, if we could trade in every single Christmas present for Dad, we all would in a heartbeat. I wish it was that easy.

NaNoWriMo Update #1

Well, I wrapped up my first session this evening. Considering I walked into it tired and dreading it, but still pulled it off, I think I'll make it through the month. *smile*

With the plan of 4 pages, front and back, I kept writing until I had reached that goal. Actually, I ended up going over it as I just couldn't leave it dangling at the end of the 4th page. So, with that, the official count of this evening came in at 2,288 words! Hurray!!! My goal was 2,000, so I passed it. I'm actually pretty happy at that.

An amazing thing happened tonight too. I finished my very first chapter. Since I'm a short story writer by nature, this is absolutely thrilling. Having 5,333 words isn't too shabby either.

I know I only finished my "first" day, but I actually think I might see this thing to the end. Going in tired and really not wanting to do it, showed me that I can still force myself to do it anyway. Now, to keep that in mind when the going gets tougher. *smile*

I have a small cheerleading team lined up and they're really good at cheering me on in everything. As a matter of fact, they're the two people who got me back into writing. So yes, they'll cheer me on to the end. My husband really will as he gave me the original prompt that set this book in motion. He's really been wanting to see the end of it for a LONG time. Now, hopefully in about a month and a half, he'll get to see it in its rough form. I said "a half" because I'll need time away from it before I enter it into the computer.

I'm thrilled that I managed to pocket my Inner Editor. This evening, while counting the number of words I had, I came across the use of a word that a tough guy like Henrich (my main character) would never use. However, I noted it, shook my head at it, and kept on counting. I'm actually proud of myself for not trying to edit it at that very moment. I think it shows great promise for the rest of the month.

I have to grab onto every gem I can right now to keep me going later on. *smile* With that, I'm heading to bed. I have another 2,000 words to tackle tomorrow. *grin*

NaNoWriMo

Well, NaNoWriMo, the official one, is over for this year. It runs during the month of November. However, I went and got Chris Baty's book, "No Plot? No Problem!" the other day and read it. It's basically a guide on how to do your own NNWM any month you want. Well, this is my time! I'm bringing to the table a partially finished book. Technically, that's a no-no, but since I write in the style that's suggested anyway (by the seat of your pants), I figured it didn't really matter. Besides, the 'book' is only 3,045 words long in its current form. Barely short story length.

My goal is to write every evening from 10:30 - 12:30. However, my goal is going to be 3-4 pages every night. I don't know if that will dig me out of my deficit or not. Since I'm starting it on the 4th day of the month, I'm technically supposed to have a total of 6,664 words by the end of the night. Well... that's an awful lot for one night. So maybe if I jump it up to 4 pages (handwritten, I do about 500 words/page) every night, then I might be able to catch up. Hmm... According to the math, I can. I'd actually clear the goal (50,000 words in 1 month) by several days. So, there you have it. Four pages per day will get me to my goal.

As me again in a month how I did. LOL Naw, if I "win," I'll be completely over the moon I'll be so happy. You'll definitely know. *grin*

Feel free to cheer me on. I might need it before too long. LOL

Frustrated

Oh, goodness. I'm SO frustrated right now. I went out to my CD player in the living room to grab out a few CDs that I wanted to rip to my computer and ... well... Let's just put it this way. I have an old CD player that has one of those nice carousels. It held 51 CDs at a time. That was great for me. Plenty of room and it had all the necessary auxiliary jacks on the back to run the DVD player through it and all that. Now, my CD carousel is broken!!! Oh, I'm so sad and upset by that. Ever since MP3 players got so big and all that storage is in them, you can't find CD players like this anymore. Also, the stereo systems for the MP3 players rarely have the necessary jacks on them to also act as a media center. No. All those darn companies now want you to buy an iPod and then buy a separate multimedia center for your television. Which, in today's world, had better be at least 52" and a flat screen.

Those companies sure are great at making you spend a ton of money to buy all the necessary equipment when one $300 stereo was all you needed.

Now, I'm going to finish ripping the CDs I wanted and pile the rest on my desk. Now that the carousel is broken, I can't be sure I can even get them in and out of there anymore. Then I'm going to sit here and be upset for awhile while trying to figure out how to work around this.

I just had to vent this or I'd probably explode.

Hmmm... Now What?

Oh, dear. I feel as if I've hit a minor road block. All that rush and push to work on my writing and all of a sudden, Fizzle... I can't seem to do anything right now. Do you know how annoying that is?

Okay, it might actually go back to the fact that I have an idea on what I want to work on, but I haven't yet. Isn't that silly? Mainly because I'm hiding out in my room a lot to work on something and I'm feeling guilty at leaving my kids alone like that. However, I also have to be able to completely block out their noise, or at least their movie, so that I can write. So, yesterday, I went out and bought myself a new MP3 player. My other one was SO old that it pretty much refused to connect to my new computer. Okay, I know, that's painfully old. I am now an owner of a brand new Zune (I detest Ipods and refuse to own one). I just bought a black one even though they come in all sorts of fun colors. I'm just one of those people who knows my ideas of "good" change from day to day, especially when it comes to color. I figured black was my safest option.

It's now fully loaded with music, though I still want to rip several CDs to build up my "writing" playlist. I need specific music to do stuff like that. So I'll get that done and then I really have no excuse. LOL Well, unless I want to go clean my house. Ugh!

Everyone have a great day! I'm off to go 'plunder' my CD player in the living room for the discs I want to rip. That's more exciting than cleaning right now. It's a wonderful all-around way to procrastinate. It's great! LOL

To write or to quilt

...that is the question. Sunday's are my normal "quilt days." I even have a quilt top waiting for me to work on. Oh, heck! I have about 20 of them. But the machine is already set up to be quilting one specific quilt and it's even stashed under the machine cover as it's really small. It's just that McKenna Ryan one that's getting large holes in it from the needle. Mind you, my quilting group all thinks that they'll go away when it's washed, or at least rinsed in hot water. They're probably right. I've also come to the conclusion that I need to switch my fusible web. I've always used Wonder Under, but it would appear that Steam a Seam 2 would be better (per many reviews and opinions of my fellow quilters). No problem there. My Wonder Under is almost gone so I can easily replace it with the other. It's just that I find those darn holes annoying and discouraging.

Okay, then writing. Oh, geez. Writing.com is one of the greatest things I've ever found. Unfortunately, one of the short stories that I released after working on it for only about 2 hours is getting torn apart. For good reason actually. It has grammar issues and one person pointed out that it threw him for a loop switching from first to third person. Mind you, I have those sections clearly delineated, but apparently that's not how you go about doing it. If I wanted it to stop bothering me, I should just either edit the silly thing or pull it off the site. Can you believe I can't even make a decision between those two things?! Geez! I'm such a goober sometimes.

So, while I'm getting wrapped up in a tight little knot over those 2 things, I'm stalemating myself. Even my house is such an incredible mess from my going into serious write mode the past 3 days that it's not helping any. It's so messy that I don't even know where to start there either!

I do think that it's time to get my act in gear. Time to set up a schedule I can adhere to that will take into account all of my necessary duties as a mother, teacher, quilter, and writer. There sure are a lot of things to work in there, aren't there?! I'd probably have to plan my day down to the last minute. Well, then I might have a clean house and still get everything else done. Yes, it might be time to seriously look into that.

With that, I think I'm off to go make a list of everything I need to get done every day and set up a plan. Wish me luck! At least it gets me out of having to choose where to start everywhere else in my life! *grin* But it might also jumpstart me to test out my new schedule theory. So in a way, it might be a good "waste" of time.

Now, I'm outta here for awhile! Hopefully I can 'force' myself to be productive today. Wish me luck!

Writing Comments

A strange thing is happening as I put out stories on writing.com. I'm getting so many different comments that if I were to take all of them to heart, then who knows what I'd write!

Actually, when I was younger, I did just that. I tried to please everyone who offered comments. It led to my not writing because it can't be done. So I now take them all with a grain of salt. Those with constructive comments on my grammar or how to format something, I listen to. Those who want to change my style of writing, I don't. Simple, huh? *grin*

See, I write with a lot of emotion and detail. The goal of my writing is to have others feel what I'm feeling as I write it. That can take a lot of words. To get the widest range of people to feel it, I have to put in various details that mean nothing to someone else.

I mean, really. If I tell someone who hates football and could care less that someone walked out on their favorite football team to go do something, would that mean anything? Of course not. If I told someone who hates sewing or doesn't understand sewing machines every detail of a new sewing machine I got, would that mean anything? No. (I don't have a new one, unfortunately. *grin*) If someone doesn't understand how men work, would they understand how guys can become good friends over something silly as a shared football game? Absolutely not.

I don't watch football, but I know how important it is to some. I sew, so that machine is really darn important. LOL All of my life, most of my friends have been male and I now only have little boys. I know a lot about those odd quirks men display that women are clueless about. Do I understand them? No. But can I tell what I see? Absolutely. I'm comfortable enough with men, and have enough male friends, that I can ask them why does it work that way? Why do you do that? It's great research.

However, what makes me really sad is that some people just can't buy the idea that a man would give up a night of sleep and his favorite football game to go buy someone ELSE a present. Oh, well. I guess I'm just blessed with a wonderful husband who would do something exactly like that. He's just that kind of a guy and I'm so incredibly blessed to be married to him. Now, hands off! He's mine! LOL

I'll admit that all of this comes from a few reviews from a single story. Maybe I'm taking it WAY too much to heart, but I have to analyze my feelings and come out of it without being changed too much by it. I have to remember that there are authors out there that I just plain flat won't read because I don't like the author's style. I'll just have to accept that there are people out there who won't read what I write because they don't like my style. That's all. *smile* It's a hard truth. Authors want everyone to love them. Too bad it doesn't work that way.

So that is my current 'truth' that I'm working through. It's a tough one, but I will come out of it better for the understanding. I will keep writing and that's all that's important. *smile*

I was blessed to run across a wonderful lady out there who is encouraging me left and right to keep going. I actually "met" her over this one story. So even though it didn't win the contest (the other entry was much better), it brought me this one "writing angel" to help me along. She's also an ex-medical transcriptionist so we have quite a bit in common. I feel as if I can share many of my writing dreams with her and find that she has many of the same. However, she's further ahead on them and is able to show me that it really does work. As a matter of fact, she published a book of short stories. I'm tempted to go buy it myself. *smile* She also has another book published (Home of the Red Fox). So, she's a great one to have on my side cheering me on. Oh, her name is J.A. Buxton by the way.

With all of that rambling, I'm going to take off. My house is a mess and I have a short story that needs edited. *smile* As they say on writing.com: "Write On!'

Thank You

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has taken the time to go out and read my short story that I posted out on Writing.com. It was a rather sad story and full of emotion. However, as they say, write what you know. At the time I wrote that, it's what I knew. Actually, in writing it, it cleared the air and I now feel free to move on to other things and write with a lighter tone. I'm currently working on a second story that I'm also submitting to another contest out on the writing.com site. It's of a lot lighter note, though some might find it a tad bit sad. It's just one of those things. With a husband in the Army, the fact that he's been away for just over a year now with 9 more months to go, I tend to write that way. There's just that touch of constant sadness to my life at the moment. However, I also think that it's allowing me to draw on deep emotions and write better.

Feel free to go visit my profile. As I finish up a story, I will place it there for everyone to read. Considering how my ideas change on a constant basis, you never know what you'll find there! I mean, I currently am working off and on 3 different books. One is non-fiction, another young adult fantasy, and another more adult fantasy with a spiritual twist. All three are very different and each require a different mood in which to work on them. How lucky that I flip through them all on a regular basis. *grin*

In submitting my work like that in a place where it will definitely be read, I opened myself up to constructive criticism. That was something I had not been able to handle when I was younger. When I submitted that story, I actually closed by eyes as I hit that "submit" button. My heart was racing and I was scared to death. However, I have only received great reviews and comments on it. It has given me a boost and provided a platform in which to continue writing from. Hearing that I wrote well from someone other than family or teachers was all I needed. As of right now, I feel like I will succeed in publishing a book, if it's God's will.

Eventually, I will pull back from the contests I'm entering and work on my books. However, I feel like I'm shaking out the cobwebs from the writing section of my brain and trying to ramp it back up again. I've let it lie there for so long, just ignoring it. I have discovered that you can't do that to yourself though. Over time, it will begin to fester and you'll only feel discontent. At some point, you have to acknowledge a gift that you were given by God and move forward. That's what my posting on Writing.com did for me. It forced me to move forward even though I was scared to death. I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I finish my first book and get it ready to submit. I pray that my goal of being a published writer will one day become reality. I don't even want to make a living out of it. I only want a single book published. That has always been my dream. If it's God's will, my dream will come true.

So, feel free to join me as I take this step into the unknown. I will probably blog about it quite a bit. I have now settled on writing and quilting as my two major passions. I want to work on both and become better at them.

With that, I'm heading off. I'm really tired and I want to be well rested for my writing stint tomorrow. My goal is to write at least 500 words/day. Wish me luck!

Writing Again

Well, tada! LOL I have been reading this great blog called the 10 Minute Writer. It has gotten me going on writing again. Oh, don't worry! I'm still quilting as well. It's amazing how much you can sneak in if you just do things a little at a time.

Anyway, I went out last night and did a search on writing contests. I really need to start writing more and getting it to others besides my mother and my husband. Mind you're they're great motivators as they love my stuff and they're always asking, "What comes next", but I need to share with others. I need to know what they think, both the good and the bad.

So, anyway, I discovered Writing.com. Great place so far. I haven't gone into it a whole lot, but I like what I see so far. If I keep liking it, I might even pay to upgrade my membership. I almost never do that so that's a fascinating thought. I currently have one thing written for the "newbie" contest. It's only for people who have joined within the past 3 months. I think it's to encourage them to get their work out there for others to see. Since I wrote it this morning, I'm giving it time to "cool off" before looking it over again. I know it needs editing but I have to give myself some distance to do that. I might not get it into this month's contest, but if they run it next month, I'll post it then.

I just wanted to share my excitement. To help keep my creative juices flowing, so to speak, I think I'll also attempt to blog every day. I was almost doing that this month anyway so it shouldn't be too hard to keep doing.

With that, I'm off to work on my December contest entry. I picked up a second one while I was out there and I'd like to attempt it. If I get it posted out there, I'll share it with anyone who wants to read it. *smile*

Until tomorrow then....

Moving on

Well, I did it. I took that deep breath and tackled my "Just Coffee" quilt. It's really small, about the size of a piece of paper. However, McKenna Ryan does that incredible detail with raw edge applique and that's what scared me. You have to quilt around every little piece to make sure it stays there. Since I did all of that cursive quilting on the Blue Star Banner, I decided to go for it. Oh, dear. It's not turning out as well as I'd hoped. My quilting is okay. Though you can definitely tell I don't have a spiffy stitch regulator on my sewing machine. *grin* My problem is that the needle is leaving huge holes in the batiks. It's driving me insane! As a matter of fact, it got me totally depressed and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to keep going until someone tells me that the holes will go away in time. I'm thinking that it might be possible to soak it in hot water after I'm done quilting it and that might close them up.

The scoop on this quilt is that I started it who knows when. Maybe 1-2 years ago. I bought the entire set and the fabric kits to go with them. Since it's raw edge applique, I used Wonder Under as my fusible. There are also several layers in some places. Then, I got intimidated by the detailed quilting and it's just been sitting there ever since.

When I began tonight, I did a "bad" thing. I just kept happily quilting with my original needle from my other project. Though I remember thinking, "New project. You should change your needle..." I don't listen to myself very well. LOL I'm using cotton thread in the bobbin and nylon thread on the top. When I go to quilt through many layers (we're talking anywhere from 2-4 here not including the background), it will make a funky popping sound. If there's only 1 layer on top of the background, then it doesn't. So I'm assuming that's the layers literally talking there. However, that's when the holes get left. It's definitely more obvious in the lighter batiks than the darker. I can see them up to 2 feet away, maybe even more. When I noticed the holes getting left and heard that popping noise, I stopped quilting and immediately cleaned my machine and switched out the needle to a 70/10. Unfortunately, it didn't change anything except to make me feel better at putting in a new needle for a new project.

So, would someone please tell me that the holes will go away if I do _________. Fill in the blank. If I know they'll go away, then I'll go back and happily finish it. But right now? I'd rather leave it the way it is and risk those pieces falling off in the future.

Blue Star Banner

Well, I finished a quilt. Okay, it's small, but it's still finished and it still counts! I have one smaller than this that's not finished yet. *grin* Mainly because the quilting necessary scares me. Anyway!

I made this in honor of my husband who joined the Army last year. This is an Armed Services Blue Star Banner. Each star is in honor of someone in your family who is in the military. I actually have the right to hang this in my window so everyone can see it, but I don't know if I will. Though it's a small quilt, I put a lot of quilting into it. I kind of want to be able to see it easily.

And there you have it! Both the front and the back. Of course I matched the colors on the front, but not the back. I have a difficult time getting my tension perfect so I just keep the same thread in both the top and the bobbin. It's sort of neat seeing it on the back.

So, that one is being marked off the list as being finished and I will see what I'll tackle next. Maybe the other small one with the intimidating quilting. I did cursive on this one so I don't see why I can't tackle the intricate details of the other. *grin*

Finishing Time!

Okay, that does it! I'm going to get serious about finishing up all these quilts I have around here. Last night, I sat and thought about why I never finish anything I start. That includes many things in my life, not just quilting. However, quilting is one of the easiest ones to tackle right now. It's the most tangible thing.

So now it's time to start finishing. I know that generally goes against the "quilter's way of life," but it's something I have to overcome. Any time I can get to my machine now, I'm going to work on quilting whatever it is I have next in line. For now, it's my Blue Star Banner. It's the closest to being complete. I just need to quilt in the phrase on the 2 long sides and then add the 3 straight lines at the top. After that, I will finish trimming it up and get the binding on it. That will be a lovely thing to work on in the evenings. *smile* If I really worked hard, I could probably have it finished within 2 days. I have to calculate in children, school hours, wrestling practice, etc. Maybe 3 days. *grin*

After that, I do believe my son's quilt will go into the line up. It's about half done being quilted as it is. If I work hard on it, I think I can have it ready for Christmas. That just means I can only work on it at night. Not to mention getting it out of my stack of stuff in my other son's room before he goes to bed. LOL Unfortunately, I traced out all the patterns I needed when I started to quilt it. We have since rearranged our home a few times and I know many of them were destroyed and/or lost in the process. So I get to figure out which ones I lost and get them traced again. Oh, well! It will give me something to do during our school hours.

With that, I guess I should get going, huh? Our school is over for the day and it's time for me to work on something else. I think I will get my shower out of the way, not to mention the dishes going in the dishwasher. I wonder... Is my tackling all these other chores a way for me to procrastinate against finishing? Or is it smart as I need to get dinner done and out of the way early tonight due to wrestling practice? Well, no matter what it means, none of it is going to get done with my sitting here! So I'm off!

Aww, heck!

Have you ever just wanted to sit down and cry? I've been feeling that way for the past week. Being a single parent to 3 children is rather difficult. Add in a beloved spouse away in the military and it gets quite a bit harder. Add in homeschooling and your nerves get stretched even more.

Recently, I hit my "breaking point." Today, my kids were supposed to go over to their grandparent's house so that I could have a few hours away from them. Unfortunately, ever since they started wrestling, my middle son just keeps getting sick! He got over one cold and then BAM! He got hit by another one and it really came to a head last night. Nasty hacking cough and spiking fevers. Oh, yeah. My favorite kind... *serious sarcasm here*

Mind you, I didn't have any amazing plans for today. I just need the time away from the kids for awhile. I had actually planned on maybe grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks and then heading to the store for some cereal and milk. Then I was just going to come back home, turn on the stereo, and do some sewing. I can still do a lot of that, it's just going to stretch my patience more. Since it's stretched pretty far as it is, I'm really not looking forward to going to the store. They're immediately going to start whining about where I choose to go shopping. Then they'll start whining about wanting to go look at the toys. Then they'll start whining about wanting to get something. Then they'll start whining... See the pattern here? To me, at least lately, all they can do is whine. Hmm... And here I am whining. LOL Maybe they're getting it from me.

I found a good verse that I should memorize for times like these. It's Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV).

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

This is Paul speaking to the church in Ephesus. He is the "I" in this verse. However, when he tells the members of the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called," it does reach out across the ages, doesn't it? I was called to be a mother. I was called to homeschool my children. My husband and I went through many 'battles' with the Army before they'd even allow him in. Now that he's in, I have to accept that the Army pretty much owns him now. They say "go" and he has to go. For now, it's away from us. I'll need to accept that and allow God to guide me during these tough times.

So now, there is a blessed moment of clarity and understanding. A blessed, and much needed, sense of peace. Now to remember it and hold on to it as I walk back out and face the boys.

Painting

Well, once more, I'm bringing out the paint to start going on and finishing up my living room. When I first started this project, we were getting close to fall. During that time, we have had some drastic temperatures that kept me from opening up our windows to air out our home while being painted. Today is one of the warmest days we've had since and it's to hit up in the 70s. So it's a perfect day to paint and get those windows opened. Tomorrow, it's supposed to go into the 60s, so if I get all of the base stuff done today, I might be able to do my faux painting tomorrow. Unfortunately, we're dropping back into the 30s on Thursday. Ugh. Nutty fall weather. If I play my cards right, I'll be ready for the final faux coat the next time we hit warm weather, if we do this year.

Unfortunately, while surveying the walls I'm going to paint today, I noticed that one of my children, most likely the youngest, attacked the wall with a crayon! Oh, that's so frustrating! So I've just spent a decent amount of time getting crayon off of a newly painted wall and a wall I have primer on. That primer sucked up the crayon big time! At least the new paint "let go" of it easily with minimal damage to the paint. It still irritates me and I had to go into the big ol' spiel of how we only color on paper.

With all of that, I'd better go change into my painting clothes and get this going. I need it all done by 4 this afternoon. After that, the temps start to drop and the windows will need to be closed again. Wish me luck! I think I'm going to need it.

Wrestling Tournaments

Well, I have the dubious honor of going to my very first wrestling tournament. In some ways it was actually fun. In others, it was a total pain. The team my sons are on is an incredible team. They absolutely dominated the entire tournament, though were weak in a few age/weight classes. Unfortunately, neither of my boys are up to their "standards" yet. However, after finding out that they are willing to start kids, for free, at age 3, well... They're really good by the time they reach age 5. Not to mention the fact that most of them have their fathers at home really working with them. Sometimes I really hate the Army.

Anyway! W finally wrestled yesterday. He lost his first 2 matches and won his last one. He was so thrilled. *grin* Maybe he'll try harder in practice now that he knows what it feels like to win. Unfortunately, G didn't win a single match. However, there was no one there in his weight class so he was wrestling guys who weighed anywhere from 5-10 pounds more than he did. That definitely gives a wrestler an unfair advantage. Add in the fact that some of those other kids also had anywhere from 1-3 years experience on him and it was absolutely no contest. Oh, well. He still fights so that's all his coach requires from him right now.

After we got home, I absolutely crashed for awhile. When I got up, I straightened up the house a bit because a friend came over for awhile. It was really great seeing him. Though I was still tired and the boys got so ramped up that they were almost literally bouncing off the walls. When he left, I put the kids to bed and sat and just chatted with hubby online for awhile.

That was really great. I got to share with him how the boys did in the tournament and all of that. Wrestling is his sport and that's the main reason why the boys are in it. Trust me, if I had my choice they'd be playing basketball. LOL However, I will admit that wrestling has to be the most exercise intense sport I've ever had the privilege of seeing. Wow! No wonder DH has always said that he worked harder in wrestling than he did for any other sport and why he used to make fun the the basketball players. LOL

Anyway! I have high hopes of doing something quilt related today. I'm just still trying to wake up. I guess yesterday still has me completely worn out. My boys were in 2 different gyms, so I was bouncing back and forth trying to catch them wrestling. Drag along a squirming 3 year old and you get tired really fast! It's nice to be home today and be able to relax. *smile* I'll go and see if I can't get a block or 2 done. Then I can post pictures later.

Where did the week go?!

Wow! I woke up this morning, and while fumbling for my coffee, I realized it was already Friday! Where did the rest of the week go?! I'll sit here and try to figure it all out.

All I do know is that I have my next "load" of fabric is pressed and ready to be cut out. Though I do need to drag out my big ironing board to press several large pieces. My small ironing board is really only good up to a 1/2 yard piece. I have my next SBS block in there ready to be cut out too. All I can figure out is that it needs to be done by Sunday night. Wow. I don't know if I'll be able to sneak that in. Isn't that horrible? My time just seems to be slipping through my fingers.

My day starts out with me looking for my coffee, and stumbling back to my computer to catch up on email, check a few websites I keep up with, and then head on out. I go work with my oldest son with his school work, and try to sneak in some housework as well. Though during school time, I like to press fabric for my next "cutting day." Every night seems to end up at a gym up in Broomfield while my boys wrestle. I need to load up my hand piecing kit and start taking it with me. At least then I'll finish something!

The weekends now are just as confusing. Since we started sports, Saturdays always means a game of some sort. Tomorrow it's a wrestling tournament that we have to be at (out of the city, of course) by 7 am. I've never been a very good morning person. Ugh! Then, I have a friend coming to visit tomorrow afternoon after that is over. I haven't seen my friend in over a year, so this is great! Then, if everyone is healthy on Sunday, we'll attend church. That's actually the extent of Sunday. So I guess I should turn Sunday into my quilting day, huh?

Now, to see if I can sneak in the cutting I need to do so that I can start a new tradition of "quilting day." *smile* I hope that everyone has a marvelous day! Ours is cold with a touch of snow. But it's almost already melted so it's no big deal. *smile*

Beware of Searching!!

Okay, so it goes like this. You hear something that reminds you of a quilt you started working on earlier in the year (or even further back in time) and you decide that you want to pull it back out and work on it. Only you're not 100% sure where it is. You remember seeing it stuck on a shelf in a closet and so off you go to find it. With a quick glance, you see it and you think, "Wow! For once that was easy." When you pull it out and take it to your machine to sort out the fabric and the pieces you already had cut, you notice that the part you already finished is missing. That of course leads to a "quilt hunt" of massive proportions for that finished section. You go back to the last area you saw it and start sorting through every single box you can find that might possibly hold that section. All you do find are 3 other quilt kits you'd love to work on, that hand pieced project that is looking a lot prettier now that you're about 1-2 years away from it, and a thousand other items. All of it leads to wanting to work on at least 5-6 other quilts and not the one you went to find in the first place. So, you're now totally distracted from what you went to find and the next thing you know, you're online looking for a simple pattern for a 2" hexagon piece to make a play ball for the cat! During that time, because you can't find that either, you remember that you had carefully hung those 2 long pieces on a hanger and hung it on the back of the door so that you wouldn't have to press them again later on. So up you jump and what do you know! When you look, you actually do find them, along with another quilt top you had hoped to start quilting soon. It's a miracle!! LOL

Now, surely this doesn't only happen to me, does it? At least the boxes I sorted through to find those pieces, which really were hung on the back of the door the entire time, are now cleaned up, reorganized and ready to be put back into the closet. The reason it's not back in the closet yet is that well... There are 3 quilt kits in there that I wouldn't mind at least getting the tops finished too. *grin* Never mind the fact that the first little quilt of the series, "Just Coffee" by McKenna Ryan, isn't quilted yet either. They're so quick and easy to put together, just the quilting intimidates me. Don't ask... To tell you the truth, I really need to focus almost 100% on the quilt I went to hunt for in the first place. *grin* It's actually for a very close friend of mine that I think will really need a comfort quilt soon.

With all of that, I'm going to go back out to my sewing area, hide the box with the 3 quilt kits in it (boy, I sure hope I can find it again later!), and start working solely on her quilt. Well, maybe after I finish a block I started a few days ago so I don't lose those pieces too. LOL Everyone have a great day! I hope to have a new quilt top in a few days. Wish me luck!

Going to Quit!!

Okay, I'm sure many know this, but I never tell anyone. I smoke. I have smoked now for 14 years. Recently, I decided that enough is enough and I need to quit. Besides, I'd like to have that money for my quilting budget. *grin*

With that, I'm starting to keep track of when I smoke, how badly did I have to have that smoke, and what was I doing? With that, I think I can start to cut out the ones where it's pure habit and doesn't really mean anything and I didn't need it to begin with. Then, I can focus on distancing myself from the really tough ones.

You know what? With this tracking, I've been doing it for 3 days now, I'm really starting to think, "Hey! I can do it this time!" That's actually a very exciting thought. I'm seeing a definite pattern here in my habit. Tackling one thing at a time will get me there.

Over the years, I've changed some of the more difficult things people have issues with. I haven't smoked inside for 7 years. That really bites when it's snowing outside or it's below zero. Trust me! At that point, I always think, "That does it! I'm quitting!" LOL This past year, all the windows on our car broke due to cheap plastic that runs the electric windows and so I no longer smoke in the car. That's handy. *smile* So, 2 of the more difficult things are gone. With the tracking I'm doing, I can pinpoint the other items that get to me.

I pulled a tracking sheet that I found online, but I don't like it. It doesn't allow for enough notes. So, I think I'll make my own so that it makes more sense and works better for me. *grin* Wish me luck!! I'm going to need every bit I can get.

C-10: Night and Noon and B-4: Children's Delight

Well, I finally have created one block for my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. In this one, I followed the general idea in the given color scheme for the pattern.

C-10: Night and Noon

Considering this is only a 6" block finished, it took me long enough! It did remind me though why I find paper piecing so tedious. However, the cat enjoyed it. *grin* He curled up in my lap and stayed with me through most of it. My arrangement is so that I only have to turn and roll my chair a little bit to reach my small ironing board and my small cutting mat. He enjoyed it anyway. It was better than him crawling all over the machine and ironing board like he was doing at the beginning! LOL

After this one, I did another block from this same quilt. I had it whipped out in no time. No paper piecing and it was a simple pattern.

B-4: Children's Delight

In this one, I did my own thing. I was going to attempt to copy the general color scheme of the quilt. However, I obviously didn't with this one. *smile* I think I have decided to just randomly pick days to choose fabrics for the blocks. With the way my color ideas change, it will look just like different people picked them out. It's great! LOL

So there you have it. The "Quilt Rambler" finally showed pictures of quilting again. *grin* I'm now off to work on another quilt. Sometimes, it's good to get sick on days you can just take off. *grin*

Today's Plans

Well, I have great plans today. Unfortunately, they don't include church. I was doing my best to get us there every week, but when 3 of 4 of us are sick, it's better that we just remain home. So, new plans!!

Since I'm one of the ones sick, I just want to take it easy today. I hate being sick. But we'll leave it at that and I won't whine at you. *grin* I'll just keep taking my zinc and it should get wiped out pretty quickly.

Yesterday, I cut out fabric for 4 blocks. I also have little bags I need to sew together for my mom. Also, the boys picked out fabric ages ago for new pillowcases. So, I'm going to shove the recliner out of the way and set up shop at my sewing machine today. I have plenty there to keep me amused all day long. If I can get to those pillowcases, I'll even get fabric off of my sewing machine table that's been there for ages. It will feel good to get that off of there.

So, my hope is to be productive today. Now, to just keep the cat from bringing his latest favorite toy up on the back of my chair so I don't get hurt and we'll be doing great! LOL

I'm a quilter!!

LOL Okay, I know, that's a silly title to a post, however, with as busy as my life is, I sometimes wonder at all this fabric in my living room. Not to mention the cutting table and 2 sewing machines. Today however, I proved that I really am a quilter. Well, sort of anyway. *grin* About 2-3 days ago, I pressed all the fabric I needed for 4 blocks I want to make. Two are for my SBS (Sylvia's Bridal Sampler), and two are for this beautiful BOM I'm doing, or rather trying to do.

This morning, before taking my oldest to his wrestling tournament, I swung out my cutting table and set it up. I normally keep it folded up to save room. Anyway, I got home from taking him to his tournament and just looked at my set up cutting table and meandered off. *grin* The reason why the rest of us didn't stay to watch him is that my middle son, W, has a nasty cold. I figured it wasn't fair of us to stay and watch G and infect everyone around us. Grandpa and Grandma were sweet enough to step in for us and take care of him for me.

Anyway, about an hour or so ago, I finally got in there and cut out ALL of the fabric I had ready. I'm actually excited by that. *grin* All of it is now separated out into little baggies for each block for when I'm ready to pull out my sewing machine. Geez! We really need to do something about the lack of room in our home. However, until we get a larger home, I don't see any way around my having to fold everything up all the time. Not to mention having to shove a recliner out of the way so that I can open up my main sewing cabinet. It's rather annoying and the reason why I don't quilt/sew more. It's easier getting to my computer so I'm on here a lot more than on my sewing machine.

I'm just thrilled that I got all that fabric cut before the sun went down and I lost my good light. *smile* Now, I just hope to get the one SBS block finished before tomorrow night. We'll see. Since W is sick, and I have something wrong with me as well, we won't be going to church tomorrow. So that gives me extra time to sew. Well, that is if I can get off my lazy behind and move furniture around. LOL

If I do finish a block up, I'll even post a picture. Isn't that exciting? LOL

Your vote really doesn't count

Has anyone else realized this? Since the electoral college has been in place since 1787 (though it didn't get its name until 1845), it has had full control over who really elects the president. Keep in mind, that they're supposed to go with whomever won the popular vote in their state. It hasn't always though.

The idea behind the electoral college was to "help" those who couldn't really "understand" politics or were too far removed to be able to vote knowing everything about the candidates.

Can we say, "ANTIQUATED"? Just curious.

So here I am, sitting in my lovely home, watching a minute by minute vote count and poll reports, having information on every candidate at my fingertips thanks to the internet. Not to mention being absolutely attacked by fliers in the mail and reading everything (biased as it was) in newspapers and seeing it all on television. Well, okay. I didn't really see any of it on TV because I don't watch it. So, I would like to think that my vote counts. I would like to think that I am informed enough to make my own decision and can tell the electoral college to go take a hike.

Colorado only has 9 electoral college votes. What's the use of that?! How pathetic. However, all of our possible voters should count for something. I think that when they say, "Every vote counts, so go vote on election day" should actually mean what it says. Already, CNN has taken and said, "Well, Colorado's electoral votes will go to Obama." Great. My county hasn't even been tabulated and turned in yet. See what I mean? My vote didn't mean a darn thing. Makes me really upset. It has since I was a senior in high school when I learned about the electoral college (I even wrote my congressman about it), and it still does today. Perhaps I should start writing a letter a month and see if I can bug my senator and congressman into doing something about it. Probably not, but it's worth a try! My votes really DO count with them.

I want my vote to actually count. It's my constitutional right to vote. I think it should be a constitutional right for it to stand by itself as "1" towards my selected presidential candidate.

One last note and then I'm going to go. I sure hope you all like the kind of "change" Obama has in mind. Personally? It scares the snot out of me. The economy isn't controlled by the president. Hasn't anyone else realized that? It's controlled by the economists. SURPRISE! Just thought you should know that. The Iraqi war? They're kicking us out in 2011, so it will end. SURPRISE!! That's not worth voting over either. Energy policies and Education are though. Expect your taxes to go through the roof! Obama actually likes "No Child Left Behind." It's a broken system people, but we're going to be pouring more money into it. Great... State and Federal funded preschool. Great, lets put our adorable children into a stale environment even earlier! Marvelous idea... Most of them are already in daycare anyway. They won't know the difference. Your property taxes sure will though. So, tada! There's your Change. I hope you enjoy it, because I know I won't.

I'm lazy today

Well, I should really be doing something today. I have plans to go no where, but for some reason, that never makes me do what I should be doing around the home.

I have 3 cutting charts ready to go. The fabric is all ready as well. I just need to press it all (most are small pieces) and get my cutting table ready. Really, it's not that hard. Getting the cutting charts ready was probably harder. LOL I was hoping to do some good quilting this evening while waiting for the election results. I'm not getting there very fast.

The boys could all use a haircut. I really should get that one done.

I should be doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom, etc. You know the routine. Everything a wife/mother needs to do and it never ends.

I DID balance my checkbook earlier today. So see? I did do something semi-useful. You know what? That really bummed me out. No wonder I don't want to do anything else. Sheesh!

Oh, well. I just need to get a move on. Once I just push myself, I generally keep moving. Newton's laws and all that jazz. *smile* Maybe I should race the election clocks. How much can I get done before the eastern precincts start reporting in? They should be starting to close at any time now, depending on how many people were in line before they closed. I'm just grateful that I voted last week.

So! Yes. I think I'll race the clock. Shouldn't be all that hard actually. Then I'll be all ready to quilt my little heart out while watching the results. Then again, what if I don't like the winner? Would it be safe to have sharp objects around? LOL I'll try it anyway.

Wishing you all a lovely National Election Day.

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

For awhile now, I've had the "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - 5" as a tag line in my emails. The 5 stands for how many blocks I've made to date. Umm... That quilt has 140 blocks in it. I'd say that I'm 'slightly' behind on making them. *grin*

So, I have decided to make it a personal goal to keep doing the BOW, or Block of the Week, in the attempt to win one of the Elm Creek pins. How that works is that you email in a scan (or photo if you don't have a scanner) of your finished block every week before midnight CST. Then, you're entered into a drawing for an Elm Creek pin. One is given away every month. Of course, the more times your name is entered into the drawing, the more chances you have to win. You are usually up against 30 other people every week trying to win the honor of the pin. However, whether we win the pin or not, we still win. Want to know how? Because everyone is at least that many blocks closer to being finished with the quilt!

I downloaded the block this morning and I have it all measured out and ready to cut. It's block C-10 Night and Noon. In looking at the block, I have NO idea why it's carrying that name. Oh, well. It doesn't really matter. *grin* Maybe if it was made in different colors... Either way, it's a lovely paper pieced block. I have the fabrics all picked out and I will press them and cut them tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll sneak in block B-4 Children's Delight while I'm at it. Well, at least press the fabric and get it cut out anyway. It's a little hard to do a "leaders/enders" on it when I'm paper piecing due to the fact that I lose my 1/4" seam. I cheat... my sewing machine has a button on it that changes the position of my needle to a perfect 1/4" seam. I don't use that setting when paper piecing. So no "leaders/enders" while paper piecing.

With that, I need to go finish getting my kids ready to go to bed. I'm absolutely exhausted this evening. I do believe that an early bedtime is in order.

Background Layouts

Since my friend showed me that you can create great backgrounds for blogs using the digital scrapbooking software I already own, I've been going nuts. As a matter of fact, I see myself replacing it once a week. So, I've been trying to think of a way to show what I've done in the past and maybe even allow others to use them. Of course, they'd have to be used only for personal use and all credits for the items in the background must remain present and listed within the blog itself, just as I do at the bottom of my blog. All of these beautiful 'papers' and elements are all designed by someone else. I'd like to pretend that I could do something like that, but sometimes I just have to be truthful. *grin* If nothing else, I'd much rather spend my time quilting. That is where I get my satisfaction for creation.

So, let me think about this for awhile and I'll let you know how it comes in the future. As of right now, I'd have 2 available to share. I have 2 active blogs that I will change the backgrounds on every week.

With that, I'm off to figure out how to offer my layouts for others to use. Again, it might take some time as I'm going to "force" myself back into quilting. I think that I'll feel much better if I can just work on something for awhile. Sometimes, I just have to feel thread and fabric. Then the world just seems to get better. *smile*

Helping a Friend

Today, after taking our 'puppy' to the vet, I'm heading over to a friend's house to help her learn to use her 'new' sewing machine. She said that she's having problems with some of the stitches on it, so I'm going to see if there's anything I can do about that. Probably not that much as I don't know how to repair sewing machines. However, you never know until you look!

She only wants the machine to do some light sewing on. She apparently crafts cards and wants it to add stitching to that. I can't wait to see her cards. *smile* Then she might want to do some curtain making and possibly a dress or something like that. Her machine is stitching a straight stitch, so the other stuff will be fine. It's the lack of a zigzag that seems to be bothering her the most.

I think I'll take my little Kenmore Mini with me and let her play with that too. It's just sitting around here collecting dust. It has all the necessary stitches and a full-sized motor, so it will work great though it's smaller. It's hardly been used so it's just like brand new. Goodness knows I really don't need 3 sewing machines around here when I am the only one who actually sews.

I'm going to 'cheat' and take some of my quilt tops with me to show her what that's like. *grin* It never hurts to show someone! She's going to start sewing anyway, so let's show her the beautiful art of quilting. I wonder what I'll take? Maybe my son's finished quilt and my husband's finished quilt. Then I can take a few quilt tops that I have lying around here. Oddly enough, I don't have a lot lying around here right now. I always thought I did and my list shows that I'm working on a lot, but goodness knows I can't seem to find most of it. *sigh* The joys of constantly rearranging the rooms and going in and out of my quilting phase. Lately, it's been more out than in.

With all of that, I'd better get around to take the dog to the vet. I sure hope they can tell me what's causing her dry skin! She's been on fish oil pills that they gave her a month ago for this exact condition. I was to take her back if it didn't get any better. Obviously, it's not any better. When I went to groom her yesterday, her fur started coming out in large clumps. Just her undercoat, not the top coat, but still. I'm worried. Hopefully they'll figure it out.

Quilting "problems"

I do believe that the reason why I don't quilt more is the fact that I just don't have much time. Trying to raise 3 boys by oneself can be difficult. Add in sports and homeschooling and time is a precious commodity around here. We won't discuss putting in time to clean the house, which is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. *grin*

However, I think that another of my 'problems' is the fact that we have a small home and my quilting stuff is usually put away so that we have room for other things, like living. Mind, it all lives in the living room minus one dresser full of fabric that's in my oldest son's room, but still. My cutting table is folded down so that it's out of the way. Clearing the space so I can get it up to cut can be a chore I'd rather not face.

So I'm starting to think that if I just would devote one or 2 days a month to cutting out everything I want, or think I want, then I might get more done.

I really want to work on my SBS (or Sylvia's Bridal Sampler). I currently have something like 10 block patterns printed out, but no fabric cut to go with them. I am getting the most beautiful BOM from my LQS (local quilt store), but I haven't done last month. This month, because the store is pushing to get everyone done at about the same time, they're going to make everyone who started late (I'm in this group) start buying more than one month at a time. So on November 15, I'm going to have 3 months sitting here not being done. We won't discuss the Monster BOM I started years ago and haven't finished yet. *grin* That one isn't a cutting issue though. That one is a major applique issue. *grin*

So, what if I did set up my cutting table and ironing board with the sole purpose of getting a ton of things cut out for blocks I want to do? If I picked up some nice plastic Ziploc bags (I'm thinking quart to gallon size), then I could place all the fabric that I cut in those and separate them out. You know, make my own pre-cut kits. I mean, that's why I started that cheesy Joann BOM. It was all ready cut out and I didn't have to mess with it.

Of course, digging out my sewing machine(s) can be a problem too. Ugh! Can you say, "Too much stuff?" I sure can! I just seem to have a difficult time weeding through all of it and letting it go. However, that's a good topic for another day.

For now, I think I'll go clean my house. That right there will take a ton of pressure off of my shoulders. Then I'll look into "scheduling" some cutting time into my life. From there, I might just get more quilting done. *smile*

Funny Cat

Keep in mind that I've only ever owned one cat before this and she was a full grown cat when she "found" us. She just appeared on our deck one night after the 4th of July. Due to personality conflicts, she needed a new home.

However, we now have a kitten. I'm sure I've mentioned his goofy highness earlier. I mean, what do you do when you think you feel something touching the back of your hair? You turn around, right? Then what do you think when all you see is a black blur running away? LOL He's a prankster!!

I don't have much experience with cats, much less kittens, so he's endlessly amusing to me.

Speaking of amusing, here's one he pulled earlier today. The kids and I were all outside and Dory, our dog, was with me. I came back to go inside and there the silly cat was, crawling UP the door frame on the inside of the house! So I opened up the door and pulled him off. LOL He was about eye level with me, so that puts him at about 5 feet up.

His main 'issue' is that he really wants outside. However, our neighborhood foxes have made an appearance and there's no way he's going out. Besides, I don't want him outside. Though he wants out so badly that I'm tempted to get him a cat harness. Isn't that funny? I can just imagine that silly cat prancing around at the end of a leash. LOL I might try it. If I get it from PetSmart, they'll take it back if it doesn't work.

I'll let you know how that goes after I try it out. Maybe I'll even be 'smart' enough to take pictures. *smile*

New Gadget

In case you haven't noticed, I did add something a little quilty to my page. If you look over at the top right, you'll see a lovely Google search box. It is set up to specifically search for quilt patterns! You just type in a term that you're interested in and voila! It returns items specifically set up for quilting. I'll have to remember to come out and try it myself when I'm looking for a quilt pattern. It's just too cool that someone programmed that.

I just thought I'd bring your attention to that in case you hadn't noticed, that's all. *smile*

New Background!

Oh, I had too much fun doing this. Last night, while having dinner with some friends, one of them mentioned her blog. I was a bad friend and hadn't gone out there yet. So, I finally went out there last night. I noticed that her background was cute and fun while mine were just boring backgrounds given by Blogger. So, I read up on how to do it and voila! I have new backgrounds on 2 of my blogs now.

It actually takes quite a bit of time to pull it off, but I think it's worth it. I sure hope that no one was "stuck" in my blog while I was doing this. LOL I always have to tweak my picture at least 6 times before I get it right, and it always looks funny when I'm starting as I just plain flat get it wrong! LOL

I now need to design myself a banner, but that can wait for awhile. We have wrestling this evening and it's almost time to think about that. If I get into designing my banner, I'll be here for awhile and I'll lose track of time. *grin*

Maybe it's odd that my background doesn't have a quilting theme. However, my blog isn't just about quilting. It's about anything that crosses my mind at the moment that doesn't have anything to do with school. So, it makes some sense to me. I like elegant things and it's easier to pull off digitally than it is in real life. Besides, I have 3 boys. Elegance is just a rumor for me. *grin*

Now that I know how to do it, I might change it as I feel like it. Though it's good for now. At least until I get sick and tired of looking at it. *grin* So, enjoy the new look! I certainly had fun creating it. By the way, all credits for all the elements on my page are at the very bottom of my blog.

Bored?

Well, to tell you the truth, I shouldn't be bored at all. I have so much to do around my house that I doubt that I could catch up with it all. At least not until the kids move out of the house. *smile* Then toss in all the quilts I want to make and I shouldn't have time to be bored until the day I die. However, there always comes that time where you just can't get started to save your life. That's where I'm at today. I tell myself that "I'm bored." But what I really think I mean is, "There's just too much to do and I don't know what to do first." That might be more correct.

We "did school" this morning. Then I did a load of laundry. I even have managed to sneak in a shower. *grin* I also made arrangements not to have my husband's watch fixed. I gave it to him for our wedding, but it was going to cost a small fortune to fix it. So, I'm off looking for a new watch that fits his lifestyle better. Not to mention the change in my own mind set on what we should be wearing. Trust me, it's changed a lot since I bought that first watch for him. This watch will fit him and his personality better. *smile*

So, you have my morning and afternoon in a nutshell. My evening went a bit different. I took my kids over to my in-laws house and let them take them for the evening. My FIL took my 2 older boys to wrestling practice and my MIL kept the youngest. I took off and went to have dinner with some homeschooling friends. We all belong to a Christian Homeschool group. I love that group and these ladies are incredible.

This evening, it was just a small group of us and it was a blast! I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. It was exactly what I needed right now.

During the conversation (which was steady for about 3.5 hours), one of the ladies brought up something interesting. Her sister likes to read blogs. One blog she reads belongs to someone she knows. She told her sister (my friend) that the lady is not like her blog. While her blog makes her sound like Super Woman, she isn't really. So then that brought up the conversation of, "How many people write in their blog what they wish their lives were and not what they really are?" Good question, don't you think?

I'd like to think that my blog pretty much tells it like it is. I feel no reason to hide behind a perfect image that isn't there. I attempt to get through each day as it comes and admit it when I fail. I mean, some people might think everything I do is pretty incredible. I mean, I'm a quilter, knitter, homeschool mom, and I get to play both Mom and Dad while my husband is away in the Army. However, there sure are days when life gets me down and it's anything but perfect. Any quilters who hit this blog looking for something are in for a shock. There aren't any marvelous quilts to look at and get inspiration from. There are many days when I have no time to even consider sewing. You want a marvelous quilt? Check back in about 10 years when my kids are more able to take care of themselves. *grin* For now, I quilt in small chunks of time. I almost never finish anything because that final finishing step takes forever! Or at least that's how it feels to me.

Nope. My blog tells it like it is with very few pictures. Pictures take time to put into place and I just don't feel like messing with it. *shrug* Too bad since I meant to share more pictures when I started this blog. Oh, well. I'm not going to let it bother me because it's just not that big of a deal.

Now, I need to go relax and see if I can't work some of this caffeine out of my system. When the person at Starbucks who is making your coffee asks if you want that extra shot in your Americano and it's 10 at night, maybe you should say no. LOL

Anti-Machine

Well, it would appear that I'm against using my sewing machine right now. For the past 2 or so weeks, I've been exclusively hand piecing even though the blocks I'm working on are easy and could be done quickly by machine. I'm doing them while watching movies so that's mainly why. However, I finally picked out the fabrics needed for my "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler" block and I still don't want to do anything about it yet. I'm doing this out of scraps, so the fact that I finally got into my scrap bag was impressive. *grin* I pulled out a bunch of fabrics and put them into an empty plastic box so that I'd have them available for my other blocks. I currently have 9 of them printed out and waiting to be done.

I'm not sure when I'll get the current block done. I need to press the fabrics, cut them out, and sew them together. Whether I'll do it by machine or by hand I don't know yet. I usually mark my sewing lines on my hand pieced blocks so that takes extra time. Maybe it's just time to learn to eyeball the seam and call it good. The last time I tried that, I was actually pretty close. I'll think about it for future blocks.

I guess you could just say that I'm lazy at the moment. I think I'll set aside the fabrics I chose for this block for another day and go back to my Bible study. *smile* Besides, I don't have good light for cutting during the evening anyway. So yes, waiting until at least tomorrow morning is a grand idea! *grin* Hopefully, I'll have one to share before too long. I wanted to start this quilt ages ago and only have 5 currently done. Oh, well. It will get done eventually, I hope.

Writing in Books

Let me start off by saying that I'm a Christian and proud of it. However, I'm still what I'd consider a "baby Christian." I have a hard time getting into the Word of God and really studying it. So, I bought a book today that's supposed to help me with that. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it recommends purchasing a Bible that you're going to write in. *gasp* Write in a book?! Write in the Holy Bible?! You have got to be kidding! I can barely underline a verse I find relevant to my life today!

I view everything written in a bound book as sacred. A print out is a different story. I'll highlight and make notes in the margins to my heart's content. Those can always be reprinted. No big deal. But a printed and bound book is hard for me to write in.

The book I'm reading now, Living in the Book, says not to worry about writing in the Bible. To see the Bibles you use up doing a personal Bible study as a testament to studying the Holy Word faithfully. Okay, I can see that. Really, I can.

What interests me is that not everyone has that issue with marking in books. As a matter of fact, I accuse my husband of being "highlighter happy." He will highlight anything in a book he owns if it even mildly interests him or strikes him as applicable. Once, as a joke, I bought him a large collection of multi-colored highlighters. He loved those things. LOL

Perhaps, in purchasing a Bible with the full intent of writing all over it from the beginning, then maybe I could actually do it. I will never know unless I try it. *smile* I'll think about it some more while I read more of this book. Perhaps I should attempt to highlight interesting thoughts in this one first... Though I almost want to shudder at the idea.

I'll have to consider this some more before I fully decide. We're talking about having to overcome a serious personality trait here. Perhaps paying extra to just print out my own Bible will have to be the answer. I use E-Sword. It's an electronic Bible that a wonderful programmer put together and offers for free. I run it under Vista and it works just fine. I also ran it under XP before that computer crashed and it was fine there too. I'd definitely recommend that you take a look at it. As of right now, that's the option I like the best. Print outs are my friend. *grin*

Time for a Break!

Well, I took today off of painting. Yesterday, I got all my stuff moved away from my large wall with the window in it and got it painted gray. I also totally taped off my long wall (it stretches from the front door all the way back to my bedroom) and got it ready. Then the other hallway wall got its final coat of paint. I even painted part of the long wall gray. It's actually going to be color washed (it's a faux paint technique) so that's going to take more time. In taking off the tape from the wall with the window, I noticed I messed up in a few areas, but that won't take much to attack with with a paint brush and fix it.

I'm getting there! Unfortunately, a cold front moved in and it's time to get the windows closed for awhile. So I think I get tomorrow off too. Oh, well. It's time to do the grocery shopping anyway and I need new light switch and outlet covers to put on the finished walls. Not to mention having them ready for the other walls for when they're finished.

I'm doing my best to not procrastinate over this. Really, I am! Just because I tend to do that doesn't mean I'll do it this time. Actually, I'm making it a goal to not do that.

Other than that, nothing much is going on around here. I'm trying to decide if I should go ahead and pick up my new entertainment center tomorrow or not. I could switch my stuff over now since I need that away from my wall to get it ready to paint anyway. Then I can get the old one out of my house at the same time. I also should check on the area rug I want. It might be out of stock so I might need to backorder it. I'm not in any real hurry to get it in. It would just be nice to get it on sale. *grin*

I did do some hand piecing this evening. Just more work on my Joann BOM from way back when. I wonder when this one was put out anyway. Hmmm... There's a copyright of 2002 on the back of the instructions. Wow. My friend had this sitting in her house awhile before sending it to me. Then it sat around here for another year. *grin* It's been aging. It's good for quilts. *grin* I'd show pictures of my progress, but I'm hand piecing the entire thing. In hand piecing, you don't iron it until it's all finished. While I have 3 blocks finished, and a 4th almost done, I'm also going to hand piece the rest of it. So they look funny at the moment. But I need those seams nice and floppy while I'm working on it. I promise a picture when the top is finished. If it's ever finished. *grin* Another anti-procrastination goal, don't you think?

With that, I'm off to bed! Night!

Redecorating

Well, my quilting hasn't been going anywhere for the past few days. I decided last week to redecorate my living room. It's looked the same, or at least shifted along the same lines, for about 5 years now. I decided that was long enough and now it's all changing.

We live in a relatively small home, but our furniture has never reflected that very well. So along with new paint in the living room and one hallway we have, I'm also stripping out our furniture and replacing it with nicer, smaller, and more functional items.

I have decided to leave behind our color scheme, if there ever was one, and I'm going more towards a monochromatic, contemporary look. I want something that will enable me to change the looks of my living room without all the work I'm going through now.

Previously, the main color in our living room was a rich plum color. It was very pretty, but it meant more 5 years ago when I actually had a reason for it. Over the years, that reason has changed as new furniture has come and gone. As a matter of fact, our living room looked like a color blind tornado had come through it and decorated it for me. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason for any colors or furniture in my living room. With my delicate sense of color, it's amazing that it stayed that way for so long. Maybe it was just finding a way to come up with the money necessary to change it as well as the energy. Or maybe even the desire to battle my 3 boys in keeping the newer stuff nice. Who knows?

Yesterday, I had 2 neighbors come in and help me get rid of my large furniture in the living room. Bye, bye couch and large desk. Then, I ran to Home Depot and bought a small fortune in paint. I now have my white hallway wall needing only one more coat of paint, the long plum wall that went from the front door all the way back to my bedroom door totally primed (it's going to a much lighter color this time), and the wall next to our front door completely done. At least something is done! LOL

I really want to get going on the wall that has our front window in it. However, that's where I have 2 bookcases, my main sewing cabinet, and my cutting table. The amount of work needed to get all of that moved is sort of mind boggling. Especially after doing so much yesterday. I'll get there though as 3 boxes stacked in my living room is my new desk. It replaces the huge desk I had removed and one of those bookcases. It also fits into a corner so takes up so much less space. It also has a more contemporary design. So, the wall with the window has to be done soon. I just need to take a deep breath and tackle that wall. Then again, I might look at it, shudder, and give the hallway its last coat of paint first. *grin* Actually, that's probably the best idea anyway. Then I can call the hallway finished and move on. Then it gives me a good break from painting while moving more stuff around in my living room to get ready to paint that main wall.

It just all takes time. I'm even taking pictures of it. From messy, cluttered beginning to hopefully a lovely and clean finish. *grin* Wish me luck! I'm going to need it!

The Difference between what I SHOULD be doing and what I WANT to do

Okay, as most crafters are aware, we love to change up what we're doing. I have so many quilts going right now that I actually have to keep a list of them! I even created a sheet called a "Quilt Journal" to track my items from start to finish. Well, the newer ones are from start to finish. The old ones just got added when I created the journal in the first place. All I do is print out a page for each quilt and put it into a 3-ring binder. I add information to the quilt's sheet when I work on it. It's also a great way to keep track of all I have around here needing worked on. Not only that, it's fun to read later on, either when the quilt is finished or when I have stalled on it for a long time. *grin*

However, back to what I want to do versus what I should be doing. I volunteered to help make bags for my mom for her craft fair. Lovely little gift bags that her stained glass items will go into when she makes a sale. I also made a whole slew extra for her just to sell on the side if someone wants one. I really need to get to work on those and finish them up. She needs them by Nov. 1. I'll give myself until the end of next week to finish them up. Actually, if I devote an entire day to them, I'll get them all done.

So, there's what I SHOULD be doing. But what do I WANT to do? Of course I'll tell you! *grin*

Last week, I finally "broke down" after 2 months of deliberation and we added a cute little kitten to our household. He is black with silver guard hairs and one white spot on his belly. He's so cute. (I know, at this point, a normal blogger would post a picture. I'm not a normal blogger, so get over it! *grin*) His name is Shadow and we adopted him from our local shelter. Many people don't like black cats because they scare them or they're superstitious and think the worst of the poor things. Well, I think black cats are beautiful. Though I'll tell you, trying to walk down a dark hall and see the kitten before whalloping it can be difficult. LOL

Anyway, yesterday I remembered a lovely project out there for shelter animals. They're called "Snuggles." What you do is create a small quilt and take it to a shelter. (Call first and make sure they accept them!) Then they put those small quilts into the cages with the animals to help comfort them while they're there, not to mention getting them off of those cold floors they're usually on in shelters. We walked our entire shelter before settling on Shadow. We got to see first hand what all those cats (and dogs) are going through in there. Most of the time, the floors are all cement to allow them to be washed easily and quickly. Even our kitty was up in the front office in a metal cage with 2 of his litter mates.

So, back to Snuggles. What you do is you make a small quilt and donate it. They will get washed a lot, so make sure they're very well made and can handle a lot. I personally will be making mine out of 100% cotton all the way through. I'll probably cross-hatch quilt it as that's a very sturdy quilting pattern. That, and if a few threads break, it won't come apart.

Quilt sizes for these little things:
14" X 14" for cats and small animals
24" X 24" for cats and small to medium dogs
36" X 36" for medium to large dogs

Oh, if you do this and talk to your shelter about them before bringing them in, they might not know what "snuggles" are. Just ask if you'd be "allowed" to donate a few small blankets for the animals. There is a directory here that is worldwide and shows if various shelters are already known to accept them. You're looking for a little kitten logo next to the shelter's name and information. That is the "Snuggles" logo. The shelter I will be donating to accepts them. I already know this because I even talked to them last year over the phone. Told you this was an idea that came and went. LOL Only now, it's more personal to me since we got our kitty there.

Just think, while they should be well-made so as not to fall apart on the poor animals, they don't care if you messed up! This is the perfect place for all those blocks you made and then you started thinking, "What in the world was I thinking?!" You can now put all of them to good use. I promise that an animal won't care if you think you made a mistake on it. *smile* I'm also thinking that this is a great way to get through some of my scraps I have. String blocks are fast to make and create such great patterns. I personally enjoy them because I love how they look when they're finished.

So, have fun and feel great when you're finished! Try out those new blocks that you're not sure of. Take your trial blocks that you made for another quilt before cutting into the "good" fabric and turn them into "Snuggles." Hey! We all have batting lying around here that won't work on another quilt but was too large to throw away. Backings are another great use of scraps. Not to mention a great place to put that fabric you're looking at now going, "What the heck is that?!" LOL

When I get a few made, I'll even post a picture or 2. Aren't you lucky? LOL I really do need to get better with my camera and use it more.

So, go forth and make a charity quilt or 2. No matter which charity you choose, it will be worth it when you're finished.

Looking into the Future

There were some absolutely lovely older quilts out there. In looking at some pictures of vintage quilts a friend took at a show, it makes me wonder. Will anyone look back on our quilts in a hundred years and wonder about us? Will we leave behind an interesting design pattern that people will talk about (like the crazy quilt)? Or do we repeat the past quilts so much that it won't be anything new? Of course, the quilts that win in the huge shows are worth talking about any time. They'll be in pristine condition for a long time too. Of course there are what we consider "art quilts." They're unusual enough, huh? *grin*

Another odd question for you. Will our introduction of all the reproduction fabrics ever 'harm' the ability for future people to date our quilts? I will admit that I only ever put a simple label on my quilts. I never put my initials or date directly into the stitching of the quilt itself. Makes me wonder if I should start doing that....

Anyway, just going "thoughtful" on the future here. I sure hope that the quilts we make today are as loved and treasured in the future as the older quilts are for us today. *smile*

Beauty in Simplicity

Today, I was going through Baum Textile's free patterns and discovered what my tastes are for the day. While I normally go for the flashier and more difficult quilts, I found myself falling for a pretty tan, white, and black quilt called "Colonial Beauty." It uses Windham's reproduction fabrics, but of those, I'm not a big fan of. So if I ever make it, I will just use what seems right to me at the time. "Colonial Beauty" reminds me of a simplistic tile floor. I don't know. It just really reached out to me this morning.

I actually find it interesting how our tastes in art or what we like changes from day to day. Mine can actually change from moment to moment! LOL I have started thinking the past few days that I want to make so many quilts and I have so little time. Perhaps it is time to focus on creating a few block 'kits' to take along with me to various places. When I have a moment, take it out and sew for awhile. Goodness knows I'm spending enough time at various sports practices this year and it's only going to get worse! I only have 2 boys in sports right now as the youngest is currently too young. That will change in another year or so.

Hmm... Speaking of sports, I'd better get a move on. I need to get ready to take my oldest to his football game.

To Quilt or not to Quilt

Yes, that is definitely the question this evening. I'm still working hard on that football quilt. Sorry for lack of pictures, but well... I'm like that when a quilt is in progress. For some reason, I never take any.

Anyway, this evening, I ended up with a humdinger of a headache. I got it earlier and it just kept getting worse. I finally 'diagnosed' it as tight muscles. I'm a naturally tense person and I find myself tensing up over everything. Everyone keeps telling me to over come that tendency, but I'd like them to live my life and see how tense they get! LOL

Of course, when I quilt, I constantly find my shoulders up around my ears. Every few sections of piecing, I have to remind myself to put my shoulders down. Same while reading, and even now while I'm typing on the computer. If I stress over tightening up my muscles, then I'll make it a source of tension in and of itself. Nasty dilemma, huh?

So I elected to warm up my "Bed Buddy" and watch TV. Really odd as I just received a brand new book in the mail today as well. It's the next in the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini. It's Brisinger if you're interested. Remember the movie "Eragon"? Well, it's loosely based on his first book of the same name. I had read the book first so couldn't enjoy the movie. People who did it the other way around loved both of them. Lucky people. *grin*

So here I am. Wanting to quilt, a new book to read, and I have a nasty headache that won't allow me to enjoy either! It's SO unfair! I guess I'll just have to live with it, won't I? I think I need to warm up my Bed Buddy one more time for my shoulders and just wait it out. Perhaps I can quilt tomorrow night. I won't stress over that as I already know that I won't finish this quilt in time for football season. Maybe I will finish it in time to be good padding for the bleachers for wrestling season. Hmmm... I sure hope that the colors aren't too off. LOL

Oh, as a note. A "Bed Buddy" is a rice-filled pack that you heat up in a microwave for sore muscles. I swear by mine! Best money I ever spent.

Progress

Well, I made a lot of progress today. I even changed my mind on the backing, again! I'm getting really good at that. Here's the reason why. It's even a good reason! *smile* As I was cutting the strips for the back of this quilt, I realized that the prints on all of them were printed horizontally instead of vertically. What I mean by that is that they didn't run selvage to selvage, but lengthwise. If I sewed them together to be a vertical strip on the back of my quilt, they'd all be sideways. That sort of bugged me since all of that fabric is of a patriotic theme. So, I vowed to be really careful in putting it together and keeping it going all the same direction. That way, it will be easier to look at and well... All be facing the same direction. I'm just AR enough to do it that way. *grin*

I ended up ironing and cutting 8 yards of fabric today! I even cut out the borders to the quilt while I had my cutting table set up. Needless to say, I was rather tired when I got done. I think it took me around 4 hours. Or somewhere in there. I took breaks periodically, of course, so I'm not sure how long it took me to just stand there and do it.

After dinner, I ended up taking a short nap. I've been running on short sleep hours all week long and it's catching up with me. I woke up and I've been drowsy and groggy ever since. My body keeps telling me to go back to bed. However, I want to do more work on this quilt. I want it done ASAP and that requires constant work on it. Unfortunately, we all know what happens if you try and quilt when you're tired. It's just not pretty. I'd end up spending quality time with my seam ripper (after I found it) when I was more awake tomorrow. So, to make up for the "no sew, no cut" rule I have when I'm tired, I've been slowly pinning the fabric together to get it ready for tomorrow's sewing. I sure hope that I'm not pinning anything together wrong! Otherwise, I'll still end up spending quality time with my seam ripper.

Hmm... Maybe I should just call it quits and get to bed. That way, my fabric is safe and I wouldn't have to go on an all out hunt for my seam ripper. *grin*

It Takes Time

Oh, boy! Does it ever take time to put a quilt together. Silly me. Here I was, thinking I could pull this quilt off in 2 weeks, and now I'm hoping to be able to have it done by the end of football season. I put in some serious work on it today in the hopes of finishing soon though.

I decided to go with the longer sections and strips for the backing. So, I did a ton of work to get the rest of the top ready to go to be quilted. It's not 100% ready as I still need to stitch the rows together. At least the rows are done though. Well, then again, maybe not. LOL See, I just realized that those strips on the back will be horizontal strips. Just a little while ago, I decided that I didn't want horizontal strips. I want vertical strips. So I need to actually make 3 more rows before it's ready. Grand. I keep making this darn project larger. Told you I was silly.

Here's another thought for you. Have any of you 'heard' me say that the backing was ready yet? I haven't, have I? I wonder how long that will take. Sheesh! Me and my big ideas. Oh, well. I'll get it done eventually. I think I'll spend my quilting time tomorrow finishing up these rows and then begin prepping the backing. Though I do need to rework my numbers and see how many strips I need to cut. I have 8 different patriotic fabrics of varying amounts. Most of them I have 1 yard. Though several I have only 1/2 yard. I figure I'll use up all of the 1/2 yards and then fill in with the rest. Hopefully I'll have enough fabric. *smile* If not, I will be using narrow enough strips that I can probably sneak something else in there and call it close enough. LOL

With all of that rambling, I'm finished quilting for the day. I worked on it for at least 5 hours. You know, it's absolutely amazing how quickly time adds up on a quilt. Oh, well. The finished project is almost always worth it.

The Backing Dilemma

Oh, dear. I have been sitting at my desk for the past 30 minutes crunching numbers for a backing. I'm a little frustrated, to say the least. It's almost easier to just follow the directions and buy a huge chunk of fabric and piece it the way you're supposed to. However, I decided to be difficult on this particular quilt. I decided I wanted it fully pieced. Right then. In crunching numbers, I don't know if I have enough patriotic fabric to pull it off. That's pretty interesting considering I have about 9-10 yards of it in my stash. So then you're probably thinking, "Why in the world would it take that much?!" Well, it's because I don't want to quilt it all in one huge piece. I mean, I only have a normal sewing machine and it is a twin-sized quilt. I'm not 100% sure how large "Study in Blue" ended up being, but I had a heck of a time quilting that critter. As a matter of fact, I got so fed up with it that it took me almost 4 YEARS to make! I really don't want that to happen with this one. Then again, this backing is about to drive me insane. LOL

So, then I started thinking, "Well, what if I changed how the sections were divided? What if I did it in larger chunks?" Same amount of fabric needed as the smaller pieces. Okay then... "What if I did it in large strips? You know, all the width with a small bit of the length?" Well, less fabric needed. Great! Maybe I'll do that. Umm... That's still 77" long even though it's only 27" wide. You'd think I'd still grab at that, huh? I'm silly like that sometimes. I'm being thrown by that whole 77" thing. Well, that and I was so jazzed that I had a section finished that it's making me sad that now it's not finished and it needs a lot more work before it's ready. Oh, well. The way I'm procrastinating on this quilt, it's not that big of a deal. LOL

I wonder why quilters always forget how long it takes to make a quilt. We see the finished product and then we think, "Oh, that didn't take all that long to make." We forgot all the washing, ironing (I know, it's supposed to be pressing), measuring, cutting, piecing, more pressing, etc. We forget that the quilt we just finished has 100s of hours worth of work in it. Silly quilters. Fast quilts are only for companies that sell in large chain stores. LOL

Okay. Well, I guess I'll "suck it up" and just do it in full width strips and call it good. It's better than doing the entire thing all at once, right? The only problem now is that I'm not sure I want to do the back in 7" blocks. Now, I think I might use strips... LOL Time to go figure that out now! Ugh. No wonder I keep procrastinating on this quilt. Maybe I should just keep working on the top and figure out the rest later.