My Other Site

Just letting you all know that my other site Stash & Scrap Elimination Project is running a little contest for the week after my birthday. It will be ending this Sunday, August 31st, at 11:59pm.

All you have to do is go to the site, then go to post dated August 24th, and leave a comment on how you use up your scraps from your hobby. Any hobby you have. Also make sure I know how to contact you. Easy as that.

Side note, I got new hair! Maybe I will post a picture soon!

Proud of Myself

I bid on 3 pieces of fabric on E-bay and won! I also used PayPal to pay for the transactions! Now some of you are thinking that this is no big deal. But I am not E-bay friendly.

I had to do a search to find the panel, the blue fabric with ALL the "Cars" on it and I stumbled across another print for the back. Then someone had the nerve to out bid my top end bid on one fabric, so I had to figure out how to increase my bid. I also had to "contact the seller" to make sure I could get 2 continuous yards of one fabric and not two 1 yard cuts. Then I won and had to figure out PayPal! Which meant resetting password, making sure my credit card wasn't expired and I had the right address. Man how do people do that daily?

What this does mean is Dave & Liz I will be working on a Cars quilt soon for J. I am still thinking on B, but I will ship them at the same time.

I did it!

Salinas and back in 19 hours and 52 minutes!!! WOW! I was even surprised myself. This time I ran to Monterey for dinner at The Sandbar and Grill. I ordered the Monterey Bay Tubes and Tentacles with Artichokes. YUM! Of course it came with Clam Chowder and French Bread. I even had fresh steamed Green Beans. And since I sat at the bar I had to order a pint of Fat Lip.

I also took fabric to cut and started cutting out 6 more aprons for Christmas gifts. I got about a third of the cutting done and went to bed. I did take them to Tuesday night sewing and get the rest of the cutting done their. I only have 3 to 6 more to make after this batch.

Guess What!?! This was not my last trip! I found out today that I will be making another trip done this coming Tuesday. I may even make another one after that. I will get to leave earlier this Monday, Scott doesn't have to work the holiday. The bad part about leaving earlier is the quilt shop in Pacific Grove will be closed for the Holiday. In 5 trips and I still haven't made it their in time!

Going Back to Salinas!!!

I am leaving again tonight for Salinas!!! Tonight is dinner on the wharf. There is this great little place my mom took me to a while back. I am hoping for Seafood Quasdillas. YUM! Hoping to pick up more Artichokes and stopping at Casa de Fruta. No Outlet Mall Shopping for me this time. No side trip to G's either, sorry. I am going to take some Christmas aprons to cut out and I have my Block of the Month to do.

This trip is going to be quicker than the last. I am trying to be home close to noon tomorrow. My plan is to be gone less than 20 hours. Let's see if I can do it!

It will also be my last trip over for a while. My boss is feeling bad for taking me away from Scott and Poop. I keep telling her that I like going. She doesn't believe me.

Happy Birthday to ME! *EDIT*

That's right today is my birthday. No big plans today. Last night I went out with my friends Heather and Kymn. We had a great time. They took picture of me, then Chili's for dinner and rounded out the night with coffee at Starbuck's.

Today not much is planned. I asked Scott to start the remodel on the hall bath. We'll see how that goes. Anyone know a contractor? My other big plans are going to Target to buy toilet paper, I NEED toilet paper. I am hoping to sew a little and maybe get a scrapbook page or two done. Oh and I am going to cook my favorite dinner, pork chops and brown rice complete with artichokes from Castroville!

Maybe if Heather is feeling generous she will sent me just 1 photo from yesterday to post here, I haven't seen any of them yet. I promise I had on makeup and my hair was not in a ponytail. You wont even recognize me!

*Edit*
Heather sent me pictures!!!

2 Down and 4 To Go

Another project off my list to get done be the end of Labor Day. You want to see? Do you really want to see it? Maybe. I finished my Stop the Recount mystery quilt yesterday afternoon. I decided to omit the borders on mine. It is still a twin size quilt. Now my reasoning is easy on this one, I ran out of fabric. The light blue was in my stash and was a yard short starting this quilt and the brown was the end of the bolt and was a half yard short. Solution No Borders. I do have enough brown to bind the quilt though.

This morning we drove it out to Oakdale to drop it off at Quilters Cabin. Viewers Choice judging will start on Tuesday the 26th and go to Saturday the 30th. SO if you are out that way stop by and vote for me and Liz.

While I was shopping today quilts number 7, 8 and 9 came in. The deadline is 5pm tonight so it looks like me and Liz have a shot at a prize. So go Vote!

Okay done reading? Here is my quilt...

Happy Birthday Linda!!

Today is my sister Linda's Birthday. Happy Birthday! We are the same age for 2 whole days. Then I get a year older on Sunday. Tonight we are going to her house for birthday dinner. She is cooking fried chicken and I think mashed potatoes.

Doesn't Josh look like he's having fun!

Lost In Translation

Today I picked Laney up at the girls school. Nat was already out, Linda had some TPC stuff to do while she waited for Nik. I got their in time to help finish unloading Linda's truck filled with TPC dinner stuff. After we finished all of us headed to the playground to kill some time.

The after school program kids came to play on the playground so Nat, Laney and me headed to the parking lot to get ready to leave. Linda and Allie had to go to the office for something. I had to keep telling Laney to hurry up. Once we got up to the office, next to the school but and 2 parents waiting I had to tell Laney again "Hurry Up!" This is when she tells me "Bite Me."

Now I did stop and take a breath before turning and saying "What did you say?" Laney says "Bite Me." I looked at Nat and asked her "What did she say?" Now I went through this 5 times. The bus driver comes over to ask if everything is okay. The dad waiting is trying not to laugh and watch. FINALLY Laney says "It Bite Me." Then she sat down to take off her shoe.

She had bark slivers from the playground in her Sponge Bob Crocs. They were "Biting" her feet.

I'm Back!!!

I got a late start yesterday so it was straight to Monterey for pizza at Gianni's. I ordered an XL pizza half Gianni's Special and half Double Pepperoni, 12 Garlic Bread sticks and a Diet Coke. Now you are laughing at the Diet Coke. I also asked for 10 of the bread sticks to go and a box for my pizza. People were looking at me funny because I had a huge pizza and just me at a table for 2.
Doesn't it look good! I did take an ice chest and Ziploc bags to bring everything home in.

So since it was almost 9pm when I left the Artichoke place in Castoville was closed. There was a crazy storm rolling in too. The sky was black and you could see tiny patches of pink form the sunset. Lightening was going off over the bay and parts of Monterey, Seaside, and Marina had NO power.

So after I worked this morning and got out of the hotel I headed back to Castroville for some Artichokes. I think I bought 8, 2 did go to my parents. This is the field in front of my car when I stopped at the Artichoke stand.

After I left Castroville I headed to Gilroy for the Outlets! I got my Coach Sling Pack in Turquoise leather. I have been wanting one! And today was "Amazing Deal For The Customer and Dumb Employee For Even A Better Deal Day" at Coach.

I found my bag, the ticket says $129, okay what I expected. But wait, at the bottom of the stand, seriously 6 inches above my TOES!!!, is a sign $99. YES! SCORE! My bag is on sale! So I head up to pay. The cute little sales girl comes to help me. "Your total is $69.57" she says. I asked "Was it additional off?" Cute sales girl again "Yes 20% off." I really had to stop and think here. No my basic math says that is more than additional 20%. I asked her again "It was an addition 20%, and my total is $69.57?" "Yes, you got a good deal," the girl tells me. Me, I think I got a screaming deal and you can't figure it out! But it gets better, remember it is Dumb Employee For Even A Better Deal Day. I give the cute sales girl the exact amount of money for the sale, 3 $20's, 1 $5, 4 $1 and 2 quarters, a nickel and 2 pennies. She is confused. I think she was looking for the Visa logo. She counted the money 3 times, YES 3 times. Then she hands me $10 change and my receipt. I then smiled and said "Thank You" and left. At this point I will say if a customer asked you this many questions about you total maybe you should do one of two things, first check if you rang the sale up correctly and second get out of retail!

So after this I head to Strasburg Children. When I got their all clearance was an additional 30% of the lowest price. I got Poop a pair of rain boots for $9 and a lime green dress and bloomers for $21! The dress I wanted at the the beginning of this summer and it was $79. They had one in a 3Y that will fit her next year.

Now I needed to get to Casa de Fruta and head home.

I stopped and had lunch at Casa de Wine, they have a great deli in the back. I enjoyed my sandwich out in the sunshine and read part of a book I took with me. Then I ran over to Casa de Fruta for raisins, wasabi peas, dried apricots and some honeycomb candy.

After my full day off working I stopped to drop off artichokes, bread sticks and pizza to my mom at work and was home by 4pm. Man what you can pack into 23 fun filled hours!

I'm Going To Salinas! I'm Going To Salinas!

I'm kinda excited, I'm going to Salinas! I am actually waiting for Scott to get home and my clothes to dry and then I'm going to Salinas! I get to work at the Salinas store in the morning. I enjoy working their.

So tonight I am driving over and checking into the Salinas Holiday Inn Express. Then it is off to Monterey for pizza at Gianni's. I can't wait! Yes mom I am taking an ice chest and ziplock bags for the left overs. Yes mom I am ordering you garlic breadsticks. I am also stopping at the Gilroy Outlet Mall. I am getting me a birthday present at Coach and checking out Strasburg Children for a little something for Poop. Also a quick stop for Artichokes on the way back from Monterey. And how do you make the trip without some produce and raisins, for Poop, from Casa de Fruta. Did I mention I am working?

I have the sewing machine and 3 projects sitting by the front door so I can do a little sewing in my room tonight. Really I am going to work!

Bon Voyage!

Weekend Fun!

Nathan and Brian are here from Texas!!! I am very excited to see them. Yesterday the 4 of us went wine tasting up Highway 49. We had a great time. We took cameras, and I am going to share ALL the pictures I took.

This is Nathan with a dog at Amador Cellars.
And this is Brian at Amador Cellars. Yes I only took 2 pictures all day!

I did get 1 of my 6 projects finished, and I am close to finishing another one. I got the Feelings quilt done. It will be dropped off at Ladybug's tomorrow afternoon. Here's a sneak peak at part of it.

Deadlines

I have decided on a self imposed deadline. I have way to many projects in various states of progress. I have decided that I MUST have six projects completed by 11:59pm on September 1st. This gives me just over 2 weeks to get them done in. One MUST be finish and delivered by 5pm on August 23rd.

Here are the six projects:

So from left to right:

1. Oakdale Mystery Quilt, Due Aug 23rd
2. Reversible Laundry bag, would come in handy for my trip to Salinas on Monday
3. Andy's Queen Size Black and White Wedding quilt, Wedding is September 13th
4. Feelings Sample Quilt for Ladybug's Quilt Shop
5. Manteca Quilt Guild's Mystery Quilt, July's Class, I am just wanting the top finished it still needs borders
6. Jean Rag Quilt for Customer

It looks overwhelming. Maybe I should go start something new!

Jelly Issues

Okay so last month I made a batch of Fresh apricot and pineapple jelly. YUM, right. Problem is my jelly didn't jell. So I get the advice to recook my jelly and add more pectin. So last night I open 22 jars of non jelled jelly. Toss out 19 lids. Clean 19 jars, rings and new lids. Then recooked my jelly.

Now take a WILD ASS guess what has happened to my jelly. Give up. STILL not jelled!!! To top it off I only have 17 jars of non jelled jelly.

I am thinking of calling it a glaze to be used on pork. We used a jar from the original batch in place of BBQ sauce on a grilled pork tender loin and it was GOOD! Anyone else with an idea?

The End of The Weekend

Today was my Sunday. Man did time fly. It has been over 3 weeks since I have had 2 days off, and this week I got them together! I don't think I got much done besides reading a book, yeah the whole book.

I am trying to even remember the last few days. I know I have called each day checking if I have to go to do Jury Duty. Monday and Tuesday were spent running around, banking and non-fun shopping. Last night I did get to go to the Library to sew. I got the first set of borders on my Peaceful Elegance quilt, 2 1/2" stripe Mystery Quilt and figured out that my Tessellation quilt can't have another border because of the size of my back. I also went out to the Farmer's Market with Liz to get some almonds and my weekly squash.

Today has been spent around the house. I re-jelled the jelly, baked brownies and made bleu cheese burgers. The laundry is done and my Mystery quilt has been worked on. I have actually finished half of the blocks finished for my Mystery quilt and tomorrow I will be working on the sashing. I also made some more paper boxes.

S.F. Zoo

We decided this past week to enjoy a lovely winter day this Saturday at the S.F. Zoo. It was Fisher Price's Play Day at the zoo. So off we went.

Our first stop was the Fisher Price Play Pen. Poop had a great time with all of the cool toys to try out.

She loved playing with the Handy Manny toys. There was a truck that turn into a work bench, a Handy Manny doll and a tool box.
Next is the Color Gemz Necklace Station.
And our last was the Diego Rescue Center. They had toys for newborn on up. There was 2 cool dinosaurs with remote controls even.
Next it was Snack time. Dad thought Cotton Candy was good for a snack.
And we are off to see the animals. The Kangaroos never jumped the kinda walked with their front legs and the back ones met back up with them.
Poop decided it was nap times while we walk the trail the the African Animals.
The baby Giraffe was one of her favorites.
We also rode the Carousel.

Our last stop was the Family Zoo. They had a petting zoo in part of it.


Poop enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep. She even kissed this one good bye.

I have decided...

Since my birthday is this month I am going to post every Friday in August on my Stash & Scrap Blog. What that means is 5 post this month instead of 2!

Already I have posted some fat quarter tips. Today I posted a video for paper boxes. I have already made 16 of them! I am working on a tutorial for a pieced quilt back. And I will come up with 1 more use for paper and 1 more for fabric. If you have suggestions of what you would like help with let me know.

Stop by and check things out. I am also thinking up a surprise for this month too!

6 More Inches

Do you know what I would give for JUST 6 more inches?!? Now I am not being greedy I really NEED JUST 6 more inches. I am really thinking it isn't a lot to ask. I mean I am not asking to win the lottery or for a Corvette, Scott you still have 6 more years for that one. I really would like JUST 6 more inches.

Last night my fabric for my last boarder was JUST 6 more inches short of piecing it on the bias like I did the other 3 sides, yes I followed the directions and no I couldn't get more it was a 3 year old UFO! Then my bobbin ran out, I was JUST 6 more inches short of thread to finish putting on the last border. Now this morning I am working on a tutorial for Stash & Scrap Elimination Project, to be posted on the 15th I promise Barbara, and I am JUST 6 more inches short of scraps to finish.

MAN it's not like I'm asking to suddenly grow and become 5' 10" from my current 5'4" but that would solve the hair and butt issue. I am just asking for enough fabric and thread to finish projects! Is that too much to ask for?

FINISHED...almost

I just finished my Tessellations top! I am so excited and I did it with my Feather Weight! WOW!!!

The borders are ready to put on too! Tuesday night I will lay it out on the library floor so I can measure and sew on the borders. I also have ready for borders the mystery quilt I made in last Saturday's class. With any luck I will be able to have 3 completed quilts to show at show and tell this month.

24 Hours To Go

My Pfaff should be ready to be picked up Monday at noon. I have almost made it!

I am hoping to have my UFO quilt top ready for borders by the time I get my machine back. Then I need to work on my mystery quilt. I have to have it turned in on August 23rd. I also need to work on another sample for Ladybug's Quilt Shop and the Jean Rag quilt. Busy, busy, busy.

I DID IT! I DID IT! I REALLY REALLY DID IT!

Okay besides watching to much Dora the Explorer, I got out my Feather Weight.

First last night I decided to work on an UFO from 3 years ago. Pegi Treat taught a Tessellations quilt class at our guild in July or August of 2005. I got the first top made, recut the first 3 rows and sewed them together. In the box they went. So last night I decided since my sewing table doesn't have a machine on it I could trace the template out on the rest of the quilt and start cutting. Today I finished cutting out rows 4 through 8, my design wall was running out of room. I just finished sewing row 4 and have attached it to the first 3 rows!

What I have learn in this process is:
1. I need a 1/4" foot for my Feather Weight, I do have a lovely piece of leopard print tape marking my 1/4" right now.
2. I am spoiled with my Pfaff having needle up or down.
3. I am spoiled by having a needle threader on my Pfaff.
4. My Feather Weight doesn't weigh as much as my Pfaff.

Suffering A Loss

I am depressed today. I am suffering. I keep telling myself it isn't that bad. It is. I had to drop off my sewing machine to be serviced. It wont be ready until Monday at NOON!!! Do you know how long that is??? That will be 74 hours WITHOUT my machine.

Now some of you are saying don't you have more than one machine? YES But I use my Pfaff. I had my Feather Weight serviced last month but I haven't done anything with it since. I don't know I can make it another 68 hours without my machine. I guess this is a good excuse to try out the Feather Weight. I did load up the quilting machine from being serviced. I might actually quilt something and finish an UFO. I really want to use my Pfaff to put borders on my quilt from last Saturday.