March--A Year of Lovely Finishes!

I've got to set one goal for March.  March is looking to be a bit crazy, so I'm sticking to one only.

My goal for March is to finish my Blue Project Linus Quilt.  It's pinbasted.  I think I have binding made...somewhere.




Other FAL projects I hope to finish this month (but I'm not going to run myself into the ground trying to hit them all) and their status:

Monkey quilt:  Pin-basted, waiting to be quilted
Malka quilt:  Top pieced, waiting to be pin-basted
Black, White and Color quilt:  Top pieced, waiting to be pin-basted
Spider skirt:  Needs to be hemmed
Scrap Vomit #2:  Top pieced, waiting to be pin-basted
Superhero EPP:  EPP part almost done.  Making it into a tooth fairy pillow.
Star Block Project:  I have an idea, but I haven't started messing with it yet.  The block is assembled.
Rolling Pink/Grey quilt:  Top pieced, waiting to be pin-basted

In the super short term, I still have two blocks to finish tonight...and a pattern to be tested by Friday.
More pictures then (but not of the pattern testing until it's released).

... And now some eye candy!

My perhaps proudest piece...I made a journal cover for my Weightwatchers Tracker.

AND I TRACKED ALL MY POINTS TODAY and didn't eat junk.
But....oh....I so wanted sugar.

I cut all the pieces out for my pattern test, but I was too wiped to start sewing it.

I tried to finish a paperpiecing block that I'm WAY late for.  (It was meant to be mailed by Feb.)  I suck at paper piecing.  Thankfully, her background is Kona white, because I'm going to have to cut more after I F-ed it up.

I finished my 3x6 Hive H blocks:








Other finishes I haven't posted pics for before:

My green journal



the now fixed apron for Pirate


(He can't take a picture without making goofy faces.)

My Hope Valley bag




In progress:

The Malka quilt


The Blue Project Linus quilt


Scrap Vomit #2


The Black, White, and Color quilt top



I really wish I had another 2 days off to quilt like a mad woman.

I'll try to post full pics of the quilt tops later this week....maybe even with a few of them actually quilted.  (Oh, and I finished the khaki and burgundy quilt, but I didn't take pics of it....or the spider skirt.)

Refocusing.

I feel like I've been on a bit of slump lately.

I haven't been eating well (or mindfully) and I've let my weight creep back up to 160.  Yup, I said it.  That means I have gained back at least 7 lbs.  I want to be down at least 10 lbs over the course of the next month and a half.  It should come off relatively quickly if I stop eating crap and start Zumba-ing this week.  I'm making a cool fabric journal cover for my WW journal to make me notice it and fill it out.

I've just been feeling overwhelmed.  My class has been a social swirl that has felt incredibly draining.  My folks are coming to visit in two weeks.  The house is still a mess.  I spent the weekend chipping away at mess in the guest bedroom/sewing dumping grounds.  The bed still isn't clear, but I'm getting there.  Hope to get there completely by Friday.

We didn't have a location picked for the honeymoon....or rather we did and it was international, but then we realized we really couldn't afford it.  Which made me frustrated and kind of sad.  BUT...we did narrow it down to two domestic choices and picked one this weekend.  We'll be honeymooning in DC, which I'm REALLY excited about, as I lived there briefly, love museums, and the wealth of free activities means we can splurge a bit on the hotel.  Plus, the place will be completely new to The Pirate, as he's never been there.

I've been stalling on wedding planning.  The truth is, I feel guilty spending so much money (and the fact that some of it isn't my money isn't helping).  We're not going crazy on the budget, but I'm still a guilt spender....not sure why...I think it's how I'm wired.  I'm also struggling for ideas to tie it all together.  The ceremony is in an art gallery, but the reception is not (and it is a more old fashioned venue).  We both love books.  I'm not very traditional.  I've never had a dream wedding in mind.  I don't live in the city in which I'm getting married, and I have to get everything sorted when I go up to visit in April.  I'm kind of floundering.  My mom, who is very different than me, style-wise, has lots of ideas, but none of them are exciting to me.  The food part involves a lot of negotiation, as I have some ridiculous allergies, but don't want other people to suffer because of them.  Ack.

I still have to finish my taxes, which, really, I have no good excuse for other than I have to dig through a pile of papers I've been too lazy to file.  That's on tap by tomorrow night.

I have a ton of UFOs.  I spent most of yesterday and part of Friday working to clear them.  Literally, trying to clear my head in a physical manifestation.  (Does that make sense?)  I went at it like gang busters.  I pieced the Malka quilt top and a back.  I sewed together the black, white, and color quilt, even though I'm missing a few blocks...I'll use those for something else.  I also found some flannel in my stash for the back.  I quilted (but didn't bind) the blue Linus quilt.  I have the pink/grey quilt pinbasted, as well as the monster quilt.  I sewed up the Scrap Vomit #2 quilt top and pieced the back.   I sewed up the spider skirt.  (Still have to hem it, but I SUCCESSFULLY installed an invisible zipper!)  I held off on the Tula skirt because the spider skirt fitting forced me to acknowledge that my eating has gotten out of control.  Prior to Sewing Summit (post major weight loss) this size fit.  Now it doesn't.  And I want to sew more clothes but not have to worry about them being too big or too small.  So, refocus it is.

My word for March is REFOCUS, in case y'all couldn't tell.

I do want to acknowledge all the folks who have given me boosts when I've been feeling down or out of it.  It's helped.  More than y'all can know.  My real life peeps have been overwhelmed with their own lives (or sick) lately, so I've been missing friends.

I'll have a picture post (mostly just pictures) coming this evening.

My plan for today:
Track my food!
Make a cool cover for my WW journal.
Sew some bee blocks.
Cut out the pieces and start working on some pattern testing.

Three down!

I set as a personal goal to make at least 12 Project Linus quilts this year.

I just finished three, binding and all.

First up, my Lovely Finish for Feb...the monster quilt.



Then I got into making strings over the weekend.  My scrap bag is now half full.  Still need to make some more to clear it out.  But, I took the ones I finished and made them into a baby quilt.


Finally, I took my leftover skill builder blocks and made a baby quilt.


I still have work to do on the Pink/Grey quilt, but that one isn't going to Project Linus.

I've got a few more to tackle from my FAL list before I deliver them to Project Linus.  My hope is to get at least 6 done by the end of March.  So far, my FAL stats are 13/33.  I'm hoping to get 2 more done this week.  Not too shabby.

Today, I got a massage.  Deep tissue/sports.  Gonna have bruises tomorrow....but it will be back to the chiro as well.  My shoulders were all jacked up.

Finally...some progress.

I'll post pics tomorrow..

But I worked on my string quilt this weekend.  I added 27 blocks to my done pile.  I took 25 of them and made them into a baby quilt.  It's partially quilted.  Going to try to finish the quilting tomorrow.

I quilted the Monster Project Linus quilt.  Going to square it up and put the machine binding on tomorrow.

I worked on my rolling pink/grey quilt.  I'll admit, I was initially kind of bummed about this one.
I had sent out fabric as part of a bee.  Only 9 out of 12 blocks came back.  Which, frankly, kind of led to me beginning to get soured on bees.  I won't ever send out of print fabrics again.  I'm not sure I'll sign up for any more bees that require me to send out my own fabric....unless I actually know all the people.  Anyway, I didn't have enough of some of the fabrics to add more blocks, so I'm making a baby quilt out of it instead.  I still have to piece the back and ponder borders.

I also minimally quilted the rainbow skill builder.  It's going to go to Project Linus as well.  Going to square it up and get the machine binding bit on tomorrow.

I decided to try and tackle the Project Linus quilts off my FAL list.  That way I can deliver them all at once.

I still have to do the Burgundy/Khaki one, the Monkey one, the Blue squares and the HST one.  So...still a ways to go.

I was trying to also clear out scraps...but they just seem to multiply.  Other than string blocks and postage stamp quilts, anyone have a good way to use them up?

Updates...

So, I don't have a lot of craftiness to show you.

I survived two shows of the play.  The parents loved it.  The elementary loved it.
I finally have all the costume bits and props put away.

Today, I went to the Capitol with my students.

I got to meet Sen. Carter, who was impressive at managing a room of 6th graders.

I do not have mono.  The verdict is some kind of random virus.  So, I'm still tired. I also pulled my back taking the set apart. Blarg.

I am knitting a shawl.  But I have to take a break because my hands are sore from trying to knit nups.

So...it's back to sewing.  Going to try to get some done tomorrow.  Pics then, I hope.

Soooo...

I'm still alive.  Not much sewing going on.

My sore throat is back (ironically NOT from yelling) and I have absolutely no energy.
The last strep throat visit, the doc brought up the possibility of an underlying case of mono.
I'm thinking it's time to get tested.  I'm not normally like a limp noodle and ready to sleep for hours at a time....even when I'm a stress bunny, I don't feel like this.

Blarg.

The Pirate is feeling better (he went down with a virus), the Co is recovering but not fully back, and I can actually hear most of the cast from the sound booth.

Still...limp noodle.  Not cool, peoples, not cool.