Baby Steps

So, I've decided on some goals for this year....finally!

1) I'm going to diet and work out.  Tried HCG for about 20 days, and it didn't really work.  Sure, I lost 10 lbs, but I plateaued and caved in to some cravings, and cheated a little....okay, a lot.

2)  I've decided that little by little I will declutter and organize and deep-clean our tiny little apartment.  I've already decluttered surfaces (and the inside of the desk) in the kitchen/dining/living room areas, put away all the clean laundry, reorganized the kitchen cabintes (the ones that hold food, at least), and cleared off the top of the wash stand at the end of our bed upstairs.  My goals for the coming week?  The upstairs hall closet, Marshy's room/closet, the rest of the kitchen cupboards, and our bedroom closet.

3)  I want to read 75 books this year.  Last year I read around 50, starting in July, so.....yeah. 75 isn't too bad, is it?

4)  I'm participating in OPAM 2011 again.  What does this mean?  I plan on finishing at least 1 crafty-related item a month....at least 11 this year (OPAM didn't start until the end of January).

5)  I plan on finishing the first 2 parts of my 3 part series.  I started writing it for NaNoWriMo last November, and got 3/4 of the way through the first part, and 1/8 of the way through part 2.

I've decided to stay small with my list of goals.  The more goals you make, the harder it is too keep them.  And right now, I'm planning on keeping these 5.     :-D

Another March OPAM finish!

I have been working on this fun little cross stitch since 2001, when I was in high school. Yes, I know, it's pathetic that it's taken me 9 years to finish it. But, thanks to OPAM 2010, I actually had a reason to finish it!
It turned out really great. I don't really have anywhere for it yet, so I'm not going to frame it as of right now. I have a file of complete cross-stitchings, so I think it'll go in there until I'm ready for it.

It comes from Stoney Creek's Splish Splash Splendor book. It's called "Just Like Mom."

The book has a lot of fun patterns. I think I want to do the kids brushing their teeth and maybe the outhouse, someday....Perhaps when I have oodles of time to start another project!

I really like the one of the little boy sitting on the potty, too...it kind of reminds me of my little guy.

Anyway, glad I had another finish for OPAM in March. And just in time, too! I finished late last night, and would have posted, but Blogger was being dumb and wouldn't let me upload any pictures. For rude! Glad it actually cooperated with me this time!

So behind

So I've decided to start rejoining in the FlyLady system/routine. I did really good last week. My entrance was always clean (it did need to be steamed, but then it rained and snowed so I had to put my rug back down). My dining room table is actually cleared off and that corner is decluttered! I actually folded and put away ALL the laundry, instead of leaving some (or all) of it in the laundry hampers. I even swept my front porch!



This week we're supposed to be in the kitchen. The kitchen is where I spend a good chunk of time now. I make 3 different meals for dinner: 1 for Mike, 1 for Marsh (unless he's cooperative and eats what Mike's having), and then my special HCG meal. I have like seriously no counter space again. If anyone finds a really cheap (like under $50) kitchen cart, please let me know... I need to expand my kitchen desperately!

Here is my kitchen in a nutshell. It is so tiny that when the dishwasher is open, you can't open the fridge more than 2 inches. Once I managed, somehow miraculously, to get a gallon of milk out while the dishwasher was open. Once.

So, back to the kitchen. On the left side of the sink live the Kitchenaid stand mixer, the blender, and the crock pot. On the right side of the sink lives the rotating spice rack, the knife block, all of the cutting boards I own, and the George Foreman grill. On the counter between the oven and fridge lives the microwave.

I would like to note that with all of the counters there are small cupboards below and above. There are 2 small cupboards above the fridge and the stove. The cupboards on the long side of the kitchen (side with the sink) don't go to the ceiling, so I have a lot of stuff stored up on top, like the griddle, the rice cooker, the deep fryer, the other crock pot, and some oversized bowls that don't fit anywhere else.

So, back to the FlyLady thing.... we're supposed to clear our counters off COMPLETELY and wipe them down. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Unless I want to trip and kill myself by putting the stuff on the floor, this one isn't getting done anytime soon. Also, scrubbing the faucet with a toothbrush? I don't know about you, but the only non-electric toothbrush I own is the one I got from the periodontist because I can't brush with an electric one yet (still having gum issues).

So the odds of getting this week's flying done are slim to none. Plus, I don't have a lot of energy this week. I don't know why. I'm super excited about starting Phase 3 of the HCG, which means that I'll be cooking even MORE, but I can eat EGGS, and natural Peanut Butter, and CHEESE!! I'm so excited!

I'm more than willing to accept any advice/tips you might have for me on solving my kitchen problem. Did I mention that on the other side of the tall cupboard is the garbage can, then the dining room table (which is really a card table) that hides the food processor, which is still in its box because there isn't any room for it on the counter or in a cupboard? Yeah....HELP ME PLEASE!!!

And don't suggest I dejunk my electronics/appliances, because I already got rid of a SLURPEE machine, a fondue set, a waffle iron, and a broken blender. :)

National Craft Month

March is National Craft Month. This month, my goal is to spend at least 1 night a week crafting. I have so many crafts in progress (quilts, cross stitching, needlepoint, felt, beads, scrapbook, etc.) that 1 night a week this month might actually get me some stuff done!

So, I challenge all you crafters to spend only 1 night a week working on a craft (or crafts) and post your progress. Let's see how much we can get done this month!

OPAM 2010 - January Finishes

I joined OPAM, One Project a Month 2010 (I participated in the 2009 version of OPAM), and am already proud to report some finishes! :)

First, is Penelope Ruffles, by Izzy & Ivy. Lola, my SIL (and the designer behind Miss Penelope Ruffles) made one that looked like this for our New Moon fundraiser. She used black and white, and red fabrics to creat this dazzling purse, and I knew I HAD to make me one just like it if I didn't win it at the raffle (I didn't win). It took me a while, because I am not used to following anything but "sew with 1/4 in seam allowance on the right side" type of instructions. I am a quilter, not so much a sew-er (as opposed to sewer, which is stinky).


There weren't directions for making the key fob, so I made up my own pattern based off of the sample on the pattern envelope photo.

I am not sure if these next two count, but I'm going to count them anyway. :)

The day after Christmas, all of the Christmas crafts at Joann's went on sale an additional 60% off. These two kits were originally $16, but I got them for less than $4 each.

I just love the Santa, and so does Marshy. When I started it, all I had done were the boots, but he knew INSTANTLY who it was supposed to be.

My fourth finish is my NQT NYD MQ 2010.

What in the world does NQT NYD MQ 2010 mean? Well, it means "Not Quite Traditional" New Year's Day Mystery Quilt 2010. It's a class I took from Longarm University. It was all online. It was really a lot of fun. Here is my finished product:
We did not quite traditional cross hatching and Baptist fans. It was fun.

There was a ton of quilting involved!

Surprisingly, I got it quilted and bound in just 2 days! I guess I was feeling motivated by OPAM to finish so I could report it. :D

Below is the back. I based the fabrics I chose off of fabrics I had in my stash. I really wanted to use the lime green/turquoise (backing fabric) and the lime green (binding fabric) from my stash. Unfortunately, I didn't really have enough of anything that matched, so I had to buy the rest of the fabrics used in the top. It wasn't that much, though, so I'm happy :) Funny story, the fabric for the back is actually fabric from a Halloween line that I bought on clearance at Gracie Lou's. It doesn't look like Halloween fabric to me, though, which is a good thing.

Cindy, our instructor, recommended we use contrasting thread. I thought when I ordered my thread that it would be enough of a contrast. Turns out it blended in really well. Now that it's all quilted, I'm glad that the thread isn't too contrasting, because the texture from the quilting is so nice. I used Kate Green on the turquoise bits for the Baptist Fans, Ferrari for the lime green background quilting, and Gerbera Daisy in the hot pink fabrics. They are all by So Fine! threads.

I am having so much fun doing OPAM already. I just hope that I can continue getting things finished. Here's to 12 months of finished projects! :)

What I did today

I'm taking another Mystery Quilt class on New Year's Day. This is my quilt top. I LOVE IT! Hot pink, lime greens, and turquoise. Mike's not a fan, but that's probably because it's so girly. haha.

I'm also making a quilt out of Amy Butler's Love. My pile of scraps was so pretty I just had to take a picture.

And these are the fabrics I'm using. I'm doing Turning Twenty, so I bought 6 half yards to make a throw/twin size quilt. I still need to buy my border and backing fabrics, but Gracie Lou's is out of the fabric I wanted to use, so I'm going to have to find it elsewhere :( I'm hoping to get the quilt sewn together tomorrow. I cut out all the pieces, so I just need to sew it all together. Then when I get my border and back I can bust that baby out and have me a nice new quilt...that's pretty, too! :)

Also, I found this really great counted cross stitch pattern book: Paula Vaughan's Quilts for all Seasons. It is a quilt a month in cross stitch. I got it at Joann's. I haven't cross stitched for FOREVER, but I couldn't pass up the chance to have a different cross stitched quilt for each month! So, I've got a goal to do 1 a month. This month I'm working on January's. I don't know if I'll have it done in time. Here's to hoping! {fingers crossed}

Feeling Accomplished

I feel rather accomplished tonight. I finished a quilt of my own (still needs binding, but I'm out of matching thread). I also FINALLY put the binding on the New Year's Day Mystery Quilt. Yeah, I know I only quilted it in JANUARY and it's now OCTOBER....but as long as I finish it by the end of the year, it should be okay, right? haha

Also, I am so close to finishing Marshy's Cars quilt, the quilt I finished piecing LAST JUNE. It's finally quilted (pictures to come soon both here and on the quilting blog), and the binding is almost done. YAY! Just in time for Christmas....a year late. At least it's getting done, right? I was going to make him a fitted sheet and a flat sheet (pillowcase is finished) and a bedskirt, but I'm thinking I might wait until we move him from the daybed/crib size mattress to an actual toddler bed. We'll see. He's for sure getting the quilt and the pillowcase for Christmas though.

I also finished the Turtle costume the other night. So yeah, I'm getting a lot done. Or maybe it just seems that way because I now have less bags lying around on my couches, kitchen table, ironing board, piano, piano bench, and jukebox/sewing table waiting to be finished. Of course, I still have the huge missionary quilt to finish (the one out of ties), but I think I'll work on that after the chaos of Halloween is over.

I PROMISE! I will update the quilting blog soon. I will also post pictures here or Marshy trunk-or-treating for technically the first time ever (we went last year, but he was in the stroller and didn't really understand what was happening). Tomorrow we are going to my parents' ward and Saturday we will go to trunk-or-treat with Mike's parents' ward. Fun fun!!! :)

It's that time of year again

Our neighbor across the street put up his Halloween decorations today.

I recently learned that our area doesn't do Trunk or Treat because they think it's "stupid," but instead opt to traverse the neighborhood (hopefully avoiding the houses on the Sex Offender Registry) with their children.

Two years ago I had already finished Marshy's costume. This year, I have the front of the turtle shell done. Oh, yeah, and it's the 18th. I have what? 12 days to finish it? We'll see if that happens.

Tickets are still available for New Moon. Please help support two wonderful charities by coming to our special showings of the movie. You know you're going to see it anyway, so why not see it for charity, right? Thanks!

Quilts are starting to pour in. This is nice. I like being busy. Although, it's hard to get work done with a potty training 3 year old who doesn't want to quit playing to go to the bathroom. Ugh. He's relapsed a little bit and has started going in his pull ups again. I think he's rebelling because we are now only rewarding poops on the potty in an effort to get him to actually do that.

This year will probably be yet another year without a family picture. {sigh}

I have decided to give up sugar....somewhat. I am still debating if I want to include Coke. I also need to start working out. I am trying to decide between Turbo Jam and Power 90. Any suggestions? I like them both. Turbo Jam is a little more upbeat and dance-y, which is more my style, but when I did Power 90 in January I lost 14 lbs in a month. Of course, I gained it all back (and then some) quite rapidly. {sigh} My SIL Angel is doing the HCG diet. She looks great! I'm still debating. Maybe I'll just wait until January and start fresh after the holidays? I can't decide!!

This post is going to the crapper. . .

. . . Quite literally!

We have been potty training. So far, we haven't had too many accidents.

After the first 2 days, I switched Marshy from underpants to pull ups, so that I don't have to clean messes off the floor (so not my favorite job).

We have the peeing on the potty down pat now. Marshy does it all by himself. He pulls his pants and pull ups off and climbs on the toilet and goes and then runs around the house naked all excited because he did it by himself. It's kind of cute, except for the naked part.

Today he pooped on the potty all by himself. We are so proud of him! We have been trying to get him to do this for the last 2 weeks (as long as we have been training. Yes, I said 2 weeks. He is doing REALLY well). Finally something has clicked and he realizes that he gets a lot of attention when he poops on the potty. We are so proud of him for figuring this out on his own.

The cutest part was that he was so excited he had pooped on the potty. Don't tell Marshy, but Mike said that if he goes 3 consecutive times with NO accidents then he will buy him Elefun (the elephant and butterfly game, 2 of Marshy's favorite things).

We're hoping to get the poop training done quickly, so then we can start on overnights. And THEN, he will be COMPLETELY potty trained. My goal is by the end of the year at the latest. That gives me a couple months. I'm feeling pretty confident that I won't need much longer, though, because he is doing so well!

We are so proud of our little Marshy-Marsh. :)

Huge Project

My in-laws have some friends who recently returned from being mission presidents in Omaha. They collected ties and pieces of fabrics from the elders and sisters who were missionaries while they were out there. They also had them all write their names on pieces of fabric.

They asked me to turn the ties and pieces of fabrics into (a) quilt(s).

It's a big project. There are over 300 missionary blocks. But, it is really fun so far. I started working on the sister missionary blocks first.

They are having a mission reunion the first part of October, so they would like part of the quilt(s) finished by then. I have a couple of ideas for layout, so far, but we'll see how it ends up once I get all the blocks finished.

Keep checking back! Photos coming soon! :)

Busy Bee Hive page

So, I'm doing this really cute Quiet Book "class" type thing at Gracie Lou's. Every 2 weeks we have to have our page completed to get the next one. The page due this weekend is the Busy Bee Hive page (not sure if that's the actual name, but that's what I'm going to call it.) Aren't the bees so cute?!

Cute little bees. I had to hot glue the eyes and the velcro to the bee. See how tiny the bee is? Those who know me know that I am seriously challenged when it comes to using a hot glue gun with small things....like gluing things into corsages at dance time. Yeah, so not coordinated. Tonight I burned the back of my hand, my fingers, the palm of my hand, and I almost glued my finger nail to my finger on my left thumb.

But look how cute this page is!!

I can't remember what this next page is, but I can't wait to find out tomorrow! :) Hopefully this next two weeks I'll get it done before the day before it's due. haha

Productive

I've been pretty productive these last few days.

Last week I quilted 8 quilts for clients. Yes, 8 quilts in 4 days (took Friday and Saturday off).

I went up to my mom's on Friday afternoon and she helped me hem my skirt. It's really cute! I sewed the buttons on Monday night, so now it is FINISHED. YAY!

I also made this cute bag using Soiree fabrics.

Pictures to come soon, don't worry!


Also, I have court tomorrow night. I'm hoping she doesn't show. Wouldn't that be the best ever?! Updates to come on that Wednesday. :)

Taking a Break

I am taking a short break from hectic quilting to work on something for myself.

Remember how I am the plaintiff in a small claims case? Remember how I bought these beauties?




I don't have anything to wear with them. I was so disappointed when I got them because they are beautiful, but I had nothing that matched. So, I went up to Gracie Lou's and bought this lovely Art Gallery Fabric, which can be purchased here, at Gracie Lou's online store.

I am going to be making this skirt (the one on the model) out the Art Gallery fabric.

Court is on the 25th. I am hoping to have the project done by then. Don't you think I'll look great with the cute skirt and the heels? Today I cut out all the fabric and interfacing pieces for the project. I'd start sewing, but my good sewing machine is at work. I'd rather not use the Janome for a project like this. I think I'll stick with my Singer HD-110. :)

Getting Closer

A few months ago I ordered these jeans from Ruelala.com (email me for an invite if you want to join).

When I got them I tried them on. They are a size 31. I couldn't get them over my thighs. Yeah, I know, I was totally upset and almost cried.

Tried them on this morning, and can now almost get them up to my waist. YAY!!!! I've only been working out for 2 weeks (on the 2nd day of week 3). I haven't really been dieting. I still eat whatever I want. I have Skinny Cow ice cream instead of Ben and Jerry's, but it's still ice cream. I eat cheese and cereal, we had tacos for lunch yesterday. I am thinking that this will be easier to maintain than the diet I did earlier this year.

If you'll notice in my sidebar I added the weight loss tracker...again.... I'm hoping this will help me stay motivated. That, and the fact that if I beat Mike then he owes me a trip to Cancun. Yeah, I think that is motivation enough, right? haha Well, so far I've lost 7 pounds. Only 50 more to go! :)

One Project a Month Challenge

I kind of slacked off a little in July. I finished binding a couple of quilts, but forgot to report on them, so they don't really count. However, I did finally finish this quilt. It was supposed to be my "little" brother's Christmas present.....last year.

I was able to finish it in time for his birthday on the 4th, luckily. :D

I'm hoping to get some more projects finished this month, too, but we'll see. So far I've been so crazy and stressed that I barely have time to think it seems.

One Project a Month Challenge

I joined this challenge in January. I have to admit, I thought I would have no problem at all doing it! HAHAHA Yeah right!



February was a total bust! I didn't get a single project completed. Of course, I spent the first 2 weeks packing up and getting ready to move, and the last 2 weeks cleaning the old place and unpacking at the new one. I'm sure that's why I didn't get anything done....right?



March was a little better. At the start of the month I made a really cute draft blocker for under our furnace room door. There is a cold air intake pipe that blows tons of cold air into the furnace room, and there's a 1 1/2 inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. We got tired of it being so cold in our upstairs hallway, so I made this lovely:

I stuffed it with some rice and some poly-fill stuffing. It's tied off at each end with thread, and a LOT of knots! haha

I also finished these two quilt tops, and quilted them. I haven't completely finished them, as the binding isn't completely finished, but I do plan on getting them done by Tuesday (the end of the month!) :D Even if I don't get the binding done, finishing these two quilt tops is a HUGE accomplishment for me, since I can't sew at home anymore. I have to either stay late at work, or take time out of longarm quilting to sew them. I lucked out two weeks ago, on a Monday, and couldn't work on quilting because I didn't have enough batting, and my supplier was closed until the next Tuesday morning.

So, I kind of feel like even though I slacked off a little in February, I kind of made up for it in March! :)

Random

SCHOOL: Finished radiology. And pathology. I think radiology was the hardest, dealing with all of those ARDS patient records. Now I get to learn about other medical departments, and their reports. I'm assuming along the lines of oncology, pediatrics, etc. Oncology might be a tough one too. We'll see.

WORK: Finished 1 quilt, and did 3 complete quilts Friday at work. And I didn't really get started quilting until around noon! WOAH! I totally amazed myself, because I was only there until 5:30, too. I must've had the quilting bug or something. Hoping to get at least 1 started, maybe even finished today (Saturday).

Also, started the two little duckie quilts for our friend in NY. I'm hoping to get the tops pieced by the end of the month, and then quilting them should be a breeze.....hopefully!

CHALLENGES: Just downloaded the new blocks for the Country Calendar, Verandah Views, and Basket quilt blocks. (See the sidebar for links). I still haven't done January or February. I'm hoping to get them started fairly soon.....as soon as I can find my scissors and buy some DMC floss! I have to make up for missing February's finish 1 project goal, so I'm hoping to get caught up on at least 2 of these BOMs.

Also, if you're looking for a fun challenge, go here and enter this quarter's challenge. You need to pick a partner, it's in the rules, but have fun with it! I called my mom up to see if she'd be interested. She sounded pretty excited. I think it's because she has a sewing room now. YAY for her! :)

HOME: Having a hard time keeping Marsh's room clean. He likes to throw his toys everywhere. I have discovered that if his room is messy he is less likely to go to sleep quickly than if his toys are at least in a pile in one of the corners! I only have 2 boxes and 1 laundry basket left to unpack, so that is good news. Then hopefully I can get pictures up on the walls. That would be nice.

CRAFTS: I made really cute silk floral centerpieces for Thanksgiving a few years back. Fortunately they look good year-round. I'm hoping to make a matching wreath for my door next week. The door really needs some major help!

ODD: In perusing my credit card statements, I discovered that 2 of the 4 payments I need to make are not due until April, even though I haven't paid in March. Why is this? Is this normal? I'm confused? Oh well, will definitely still make the March payment just to stay ahead. :)

One Project a Month?

So, here it is the end of the month almost, and I still don't have a finished project for February! I do have a couple of quilts that need binding. Does that count? One of them is the Froggin' Saur Bankdie, the other is a baby girl quilt, and then I need to attach a hanging sleeve to another quilt I have. So, my question is this: Do all three projects together count as 1? Or as 3 separate projects? At any rate, I'm going to try to get at least the Froggin' Saur Bankdie bound and finished for Marshy-marsh.

Some stress relieved

My class is scheduled to end on the 24th of February. HAHAHAHA. Yeah, not even close to finishing.

Last night I emailed my counsellor asking if I could maybe register for part 2 in April instead of March, especially since I would be losing the better part of this week with the move (and work, but I didn't bother her with that information).

She emailed me back and said I could either:

A) extend until March 28th, but because I was "still at the beginning of the coursework this would require a lot of hard work and dedication to finish because the clinic notes take around 130 hours to complete" (I think she was trying to scare me).

OR:

B) I could re-register for part 1 in March, giving me 16 more weeks, but I would have to retake everything I've already done.

Ummm.....

Yeah........

I opted for the extension until March 28th.

I also informed her that I study until around 2 AM every night, and this extension would enable me to not kill myself.

Mike seems to think I can finish the course by the end of February. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yeah right!

Especially since I am now working on "resources" and learning about word history, etc, and my medical dictionary (the one that weighs like 20 lbs) is packed away in the bottom of one of the many boxes stacked in one of the many rooms of our apartment. I am not going to unpack everything just to find this book. That would be crazy.

So, this defnitely takes some stress off my shoulders. Maybe now I can focus on getting over this blasted cold I have suddenly gotten (that has totally kicked my trash - I came home from work, put Marshy in his high chair with his dinner, and fell asleep on the couch for 40 minutes!).

BOM

Thanks to Peg at Happy in Quilting for finding these great BOM's! I have decided to try them. Now, I can't promise I'll get each one done by the end of the month....but I will try.
Side note: They are all FREE!! Seriously, check them out. But you better hurry because January is almost over!! :S Verandah Views looks like it will be pretty cute. I can't wait to start it!

The Country Calendar is so fun, so far. Progress I've made on this one: I've drawn the stitching lines in pencil on my fabric. I don't have the right colors of floss, so I have to go buy them this coming week.

This cute little basket one looks like so much fun!

The reason I've decided to do all three of these is that they don't appear to need huge amounts of fabric as of yet, so they will be fun stash busters.....I hope. I've never really been great at handwork, like stitching, so this will also be a challenge for me to improve that particular skill.