Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Summer Pinterest Attempts

We all do it...fill our Pinterest accounts with tons of ideas for various things with the best of intentions. But then life gets busy and I forget to go back when I'm ready. So this summer, I set a goal to try at least a couple of things. I am always playing with recipes I find on there, but I decided to try a couple of the kids activities I found on there as well.


I think this activity was the most ingenious of them all. I was getting complaints of boredom and remembered this activity on the board. I didn't have an egg carton, but I had my deviled egg tray (about time I blow the dust off and use it for something) and a bunch of different colored and sized pompoms. Both were handy.

First, I had my daughter divide the colors, and then my older son came in and I had him divide the sizes. There are other things I could so with this, too, but this is where they started. I actually didn't tell them it was a "learning activity" but instead told them I needed help separating them all. They were very eager to help.


The next activity took a little planning to get the easter eggs for cheap after the easter holiday. My son needed more practice on his rhyming skills, so I found this on Pinterest to help him. It worked well, but it's not something he'll spend a lot of time on. We have to do it in sporadic moments, which is fine. I mix it in with our summer writing practice. Want to keep his skills sharp over the summer so he's ready for the new year. He's so excited to head to school, and this has helped fuel that energy.

I am still hoping to make some magnet chore boards, but maybe when school starts I can put that together and get them on a plan. I am also hoping to get back to quilting once school starts. It will be nice to have larger chunks of time to get things done. I don't know if these count as part of my goals list, but I'm on the right track. Ever tried your pins? Did they turn out like you'd hoped?

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

BOM for August

So silly that I am here at the end of the month and once again I am racing to complete the block of the month. I am going to use the excuse of summer time; lazy days, busy kids---that are at home all day--- and trying to find ways to stay cool in the heat. All that said, it felt so good to sit down at the sewing machine again and get a little piecework done.


I am really enjoying the ombre color gradient fabrics. It's so much fun to play with layouts to maximize the use of the gradient. This particular pattern felt a lot like the Night Vision block. When I look at it I feel like it's folded origami.


When I first cut the fabrics I was a little concerned about putting color against color instead of breaking it up with the black. Once I saw the finished product, though, I was so very happy with it.

Time to get this into the quilt shop and get ready to find out what next month's block will be. Yeah!

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Quarterly Check Up

Time for the 2nd quarter check up. Really I'm late, but at least I'm in the right month. I can't say I have much to report, because I have been focusing on the kids for the summer time and it's not left much time for any of my projects.

Let's take a look at how I'm doing...

10 Things I want to Accomplish in 2015:

1. Finish my Vintage Stars Quilt - quilting and binding 
***No progress on this since the last report. I did pull it back out and have been working slowly here and there. Maybe when school is back in?

2. Finish my son's Pirate Quilt 
***Complete!! Yeah! I even got a wall hanging done to match.

3. Finish the Alaska Stars Quilt - order more fabric to accomplish this 
***Still nothing yet. 

4. Make at least one Alphabet Quilt 
***Almost finished! I am in the last stages of quilting this and will get the binding done soon. 

5. Complete a quilt from something pinned on Pinterest 
***Not yet

6. Add at least one tutorial to the blog 
***Not yet. I feel hung up on this one because I don't like math so much and I keep thinking about the simplicity of using EQ7 software. I'm hoping I can get over that when school is back and I can concentrate.

7. Complete a quilt pattern to post on Etsy 
***Not yet, see #6

8. Complete the BOM quilt top 
***So close. I've found the fabric I want to use for sashing/borders and just need to get it all together now.

9. Make a quilt for the sofa for hubby
***Not yet. On the fabric hunt; I am getting lots of sad faces from him on this one.

10. Minimize fabric purchases to only necessities/work thru stash 
***Doing well at this, but I can't help but wonder if that's because I haven't gotten many projects completed. Hmm...

It has been a slow quarter. Another thing that has been distracting me is the addition of some new items on my Etsy site. I really love the tethers I make for my daughters cochlear implants and have been working to find new ribbon that's fun and comfortable. I've added several of those to the site and have some more I completed yesterday I need to post. I also completed a bunch of small bags that are perfect for keeping track of all the equipment necessary for travel and daily upkeep that I put on the site. Those are projects I can do quickly and with distractions. 

Here's hoping I can get some more work done in the 3rd quarter. I'm ready to go.