Work In Progress Wednesday - 90% Rule

Wowza - half of the blocks for my Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt and DONE!  The blocks are all just a wee bit wonky.....and the seams aren't perfectly matched up.....but I'm just following my 90% Rule.  If it looks 90% perfect to me then it's perfect enough and I'll move onto the next one.  Isn't sewing a lot more fun when you just let go of the pressure to try and make everything perfect?  And since my goal is to have fun and not to win some sort of "Perfect Piecing Award" I'm just going to keep calm and carry on making the perfectly imperfect blocks that I love so much.

Here are this weeks stats which are unchanged from last week because.....well....sometimes kitties take priority over sewing and crafting!

Active WIPs:  5 

-Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt - Blocks are halfway done.
-Dollhouse Bakery - almost done putting up the siding.
-Hooterville:  Sandwiched and hand quilting has begun!
-Little White Dollhouse:  Neglected last week.
-Vintage Valentine:  I've started prepping freezer paper templates!
Must Make:  French Provincial Dollhouse Winery  - Making a supplies list  
Back Burner WIPs:  4
Ready To Go:  21
Must Make:  10 - That number is unchanged from last week!
New Projects:  NONE
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

Recovering

There's not much that I wouldn't do for my kitterses and pupperses.  Poor little Bailey had to have oral surgery on Friday for a bad tooth that was so painful he was starting to lose weight!  Ouch!  And there's only one vet hospital in the area that I trust with my babies and it's conveniently located......one and a half hours away in the town that I used to live in.  Sooooo.....on Friday I woke up at 4:30 a.m., got ready, left the house at 6:30 a.m., dropped him off at the hospital at 8:00 a.m., ran errands all day, picked him up at 5:00 p.m. and then drove the long hour and a half back home.  Double ouch.  I felt the same way he looked by the end of the day....poor little guy....

Bailey after oral surgery on Jan 25, 2012

And Daisy.....wow....I haven't told you about Daisy yet, have I?  Do you remember this?  The huge, scary looking mass we found in her chest back in September. And do you remember how all the experts were fairly certain it was the Big C?  Well......guess what???!!! Her latest checkup shows that it's most likely NOT the Big "C."  I won't bore your with all of the medical details but wow.....just WOW!  What else is there to say?! 

Daisy and Bailey in 2012

I think it's time to whip out the tuna, the catnip and the laser pointer and have ourselves a little party, don't you?!

Hugs,

Jenny

P.S.  Bailey is recovering well.  He kind of looks like he was in a bar fight with a swollen face and squinty eyes but he's eating and snuggling and starting to act like his normal self again!

Work In Progress Wednesday - Hand Quilting Hooterville

I am near the point of "jump up and down excited" because Hooterville has been sandwiched and I have decided to hand quilt it!  I fell so madly in love with hand quilting when I did my first Granny Square Quilt - it's just so soothing to do simple, mindless sewing while sipping a glass of red wine and vegging out in front of the t.v. at night.  And I love the sweet and imperfect and old fashioned look of hand quilting.  I'm using Perle Cotton again instead of quilting thread....I don't know why.....I just like the way it looks and feels.

I'm outlining all of the owls first and then I'll move onto outlining the trees.  Maybe I'll quilt a simple scallop design in the inner and outer borders.  Or maybe I'll do a leaf and vine motif.  I don't know.  I'll just see where the wind takes me on this one...

And I've made all sorts of progress on the Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt.  I'm about halfway done with the blocks and they are looking CUTE (if I do say so myself)!

And in dollhouse world, I have one piece of siding left to put on the Bakery and then it's time to paint it PINK!  Eeek - I LOVE painting and I LOVE pink and I can't wait to see how it turns out.  And I'm working on my "building materials" list for the winery so we can "break ground" soon.  There's nothing abnormal about starting a third dollhouse project when you already have two in the works, right?

And I'm proud to report that I haven't added any new projects to the list in the last week.  It's a miracle!

Here are this weeks stats:

Active WIPs:  5 -Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt - making lots of progress!  Blocks almost halfway done.
-Dollhouse Bakery - almost done putting up the siding.
-Hooterville:  Sandwiched and hand quilting has begun!
-Little White Dollhouse:  Neglected last week.
-Vintage Valentine:  I've started prepping freezer paper templates!
Must Make:  French Provincial Dollhouse Winery  - Making a supplies list  
Back Burner WIPs:  4
Ready To Go:  21
Must Make:  10 - That number is unchanged from last week!
New Projects:  NONE
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Thirty Nine

Last Monday, January 14, I celebrated my 39th birthday.....and I have to say.....so far....39 feels a lot like 38! 

On the Friday before my birthday Col. Sew Fab took me to a nice little Bed and Breakfast in Destin for a mini-vacation and this is what I saw when I walked in the room......

And then we went out for a nice dinner with Mama Sew Fab and feasted on lobster bisque and filet mignon and creamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes and red wine and a luscious molten chocolate cake....

And the next day we had brunch overlooking the water and went for a nice long walk on the beach.....

And on my actual birthday we made homemade fettucine alfredo after I spent the day watching t.v. and sewing and dollhousing in my pajamas.....

And then Col. Sew Fab decorated my birthday cake after I baked it.  I'd say he did a pretty amazing job!

So next year is the BIG birthday....the big Four-Oh!  I feel like I should accomplish something big this year before I turn 40 but I'm not quite sure what that is yet.  If I figure it out I'll let you know!  But for now I'm going to continue celebrating the month of JENuary....because I don't just take a day for my birthday....I take the WHOLE month!

Hugs,
Jenny

Work In Progress Wednesday - One Down

One block down.....eleven to go!  Hooray for small victories. 

And in "Dollhouse World," I'm almost done putting siding on the dollhouse bakery.   And I've put up beadboard on the top floor of the little white dollhouse.  And in the words of Col. Sew Fab:  "We're about to break ground on the French Provincial Dollhouse Winery."  I love the way he said "break ground."  It makes it sound so official. 

And fortunately I've added no new projects to my list in the last week.  I just worked on projects that are already on the list.  It's a miracle!

Hugs,
Jenny

Work In Progress Wednesday - Granny-ing Again

I am happy to announce that I now actually have something to sew!!!  All of the squares have been cut for my Going Coastal Granny Square quilt including 144 white squares (which I almost forgot about).  Now I'm just playing around with placement of squares and colors - I LOVE that part!

I'm thinking that I might put the Gray Sea Star fabric in the center of each block.  I like the way it picks up the gray in the edge of the fussy cut Bottle Caps and creates a bit of consistency throughout the whole quilt. And maybe I'll even do light gray sashing instead of white sashing....we'll see....

And as for the rest of my Works in Progress.....well....it's getting kind of scary!  Since I last did a Work In Progress Wednesday post I've started the Dollhouse bakery and I've started buying supplies for the French Provincial Dollhouse Winery - two HUGE projects.  I just can't seem to stop myself from starting new projects when an idea pops into my head!!!  Restraint and common sense are SOOOOO over-rated!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Here are this weeks stats.

Active WIPs:  5  - That number is up one since my last WIP!
-Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt
-Dollhouse Bakery
-Hooterville:  Top is pieced.  Owls just need French knot eyes.  Then it's time for quilting!
-Little White Dollhouse:  Lots of progress in dollhouse land.  I'm getting bleary eyed painting teeny, tiny doors, windows and mouldings.  
-Vintage Valentine:  I've started prepping freezer paper templates!
Must Make:  French Provincial Dollhouse Winery
Back Burner WIPs:  4
Ready To Go:  21 - That number is down ONE from last week because the Going Coastal Granny Square quilt was "promoted" to Active WIP!
Must Make:  10 - That number is unchanged from last week!
New Projects: 
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

 

How Did I Let This Happen?

I've let something unthinkable happen!  As of right now I have no applique quilts ready to sew.  I have no pieced quilts ready to sew.  I have no quilts ready for hand or machine quilting.  I have tons and tons and TONS of boxes full of fabric for different quilts I plan on making....but none of them are cut out and ready to sew.  The only projects that are ready for immediate sewing are torn up dog toys that need to be repaired. And that's just sad.  My little fingers are very sewing deprived right now!

So, I'm cutting out squares for a Going Coastal Granny Square Quilt as quickly as possible.  Well....as quickly as possible without wrecklessly almost cutting a finger off again.  Anyway.....I'm fussy cutting the Bottlecaps print (3" squares) and throwing in some of the other prints from the Going Coastal Collection and maybe some Shore Thing and a few solids too.  And after I have a bajillion squares cut out I'll just start playing around with them and see what happens!

I can't wait to see how this looks!  I'm cautiously optimistic that it's gonna be really cute!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

P.S.  The Going Coastal and Shore Thing Collections are by Emily Herrick for Michael Miller Fabrics

P.S. #2  The original Granny Square Quilt that I made used 2.5" squares.  I had to increase the size of the squares on this one to 3" because that size was perfect for fussy cutting the Bottlecaps prints.

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!  So, it's that time of year when we're supposed to look back and reflect on the previous year and make all sorts of plans for the next year.  In a way it seems so silly because there's nothing inherently special or significant about the first day of January but for some reason I still really like the whole idea of starting a brand new chapter with a clean slate.

This past year has been.....well.....pretty unremarkable for me.  As I look back on the year there weren't any really BIG events in my life.  I finished a few projects.....I took care of a few sick pets.....I ran a lot.....I re-discovered my love of dollhouses.....I worked hard.....I staycationed hard.....I got a hot tub for my birthday.....but there were really no big, defining moments of 2012 for me.  It was the year where Col. Sew Fab was promoted to Colonel and he had his final flight in the F-15 and he started a new job so it was definitely a big year for him so I kind of had a BIG year by association, right?!  I guess 2012 was the year where I was just along for the ride!

But I'm making all sorts of big plans for 2013!  I'm taking about a week to figure out what my goals for the year are - quilts, dollhouses, business, home organization, exercise (half marathon in 2013?) and all of those big secret projects that got put on hold over the holidays.  And once I have all of my goals written out I think I'm going to hand the list over to Col. Sew Fab and let him work out the details and make a yearlong schedule for me and tell me how on earth I'm going to accomplish everything - LOL!  He's really good at that!

And if you're wondering......the photo is Col. Sew Fab.....on New Year's Eve.....holding lit fireworks with kitchen tongs and running around the backyard.   Fighter Pilots know how to celebrate and have a good time!

Hope you're having a great year so far and I'd love to hear what your plans/resolutions are for the year!

Hugs,
Jenny