Three, four, shut the door! It's freezing in here!

DaGMT progress Day 3
  None, unless you count digging out a few FQs for a potential need. But it wasn't for lack of trying; it was for lack of electricity. See, I have an old house. Creaky old. It's almost one hundred and some parts really show it, particularly the electricity. Some of the house, like the upstairs overhead lights and a few outlets, are very old wiring and connected to each other. Some of the house is newer because the VA wouldn't approve the loan to buy this "starter house" some 27 years ago until the electricity was upgraded some. So, to sum it up, this place is wired weirdly. Now understand that the furnace was also replaced in that first year and, just before Christmas, it died. Replacing the system isn't an option right now, so we're getting by these chilly (aka "freezing") days with strategically placed space heaters. It's a little challenging because simply turning on a light can cause a breaker to flip and shut off odd parts of the house at a time, both upstairs and down. But it's okay because I have two teenagers at home and it's very easy to send one of them into the cold to flip the breaker back on and life goes on. :) One outlet in the hall popped several days ago, taking out a couple of lights we can live without.  But Saturday night was different-- Jacie has been painting her bedroom and in the moving of furniture something got hit that blew one of the outlets in her room. Along with that outlet, out went all the overheads upstairs and outlets in each bedroom and the only bathroom in the house. The only thing that worked upstairs was the outlet in her room we had added last summer for her air conditioner-now-heater. Suffice it to say, Saturday night was cold upstairs! Sunday afternoon
-- usually called "sewing time"-- gave way to a trip to the hardware store for new plugs and some contorting on the floor as I replaced the broken one in J's room and the one in the hall that turned out to be not broken after all. So we got back most of the power upstairs but by then it was time to make dinner and fall asleep in my favorite chair. I woke in time to see the second half of the Superbowl through sleepy eyes. When the power went out in the stadium I told my husband they could call an electrician. I was NOT going to New Orleans to replace their broken outlet. And I went back to sleep with my wonderful heater humming warmly.

Day 4

 Spent a good 2 hours working on a quilt pattern testing project--- no pictures! But it's a fun project and I'm looking forward to sharing it later on!  No UFO progress but sewing nonetheless!

...and they're off!

  Yesterday was February first, the official start day of Drop and Give Me Twenty 2013. I made my 30 minute quota easily since I had to finish a few blocks for an online block swap. The pattern required was "Card Tricks" and they might be the most challenging block I've ever done. It's not particularly hard to put together-- it's all straight sewing-- but I had a dickens of a time with 'flipping' triangles. At least once each block I sewed one of those suckers to the wrong side even though I had them all laid out in their proper place! You'd think after the first couple I'd have an assembly line-style, foolproof method to keep 'em straight but I still managed to do some ripping each block. Ah, well, we'll just call them "patience practice".  I had to make 4 blocks, each with it's own colorway for each of two partners, so 8 blocks total.  Here's one of the two identical groups:

 

February 2, 2013

Although this one isn't due until the middle of the month, I wanted to clear my swappin' schedule so I can focus on UFOs and a pattern test I'm helping with. I made my first "Crazy Patch" from a large stash of satins, silks and velvets I've been hoarding for just this kind of quilt. This one goes to a swap partner. I made one for myself to keep, but a little smaller.

 

How are doing with your goals?

Time to officially sign on~

 
    Today I am preparing for DaGMT 2013 by posting my official, almost completely stolen from the creator, pledge:


  I, mitmeg, quilter who is drowning in UFOs, am joining Quilting Hottie Haven's second annual DaGMT event, and pledge to quilt for (35 minutes or until my fingers bleed) every day of the month of February, 2013. In doing so I hope to get crap done (and I think Beth Helfter is brilliant for coming up with this concept and inspiring me to join). I promise that, although I am working on a show, I will only count those projects that are true UFO's and not stuff I have to do anyway.
Amen.


Quite a difference from last years pledge:

 

 

One thing that WILL be done~ this puppy is getting it's binding:

 

 

And more of these will be made:

 

 

 

Vomituous Progress

  Isn't "vomituous" the coolest, most awkward word? I fell in love with it when I read it in William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" back in high school. When they made the 'Princess Bride' movie I hoped and prayed they would keep that wonderful speech of Wesley's where he both insulted and challenged Prince Humperdinck in one sentence before uttering the final "Drop. Your. Sword!"
They did. Wise move, after messing up the Zoo of Death and changing the sharks to shrieking eels, they needed to keep that pivotal scene true to the book. But, really, none of that has anything to do with my use of 'vomituous' today. I just thought I'd share some Scrap Vomit Blocks I started last fall. I wrote about it here: http://theworksofourhands.blogspot.com/2012/09/scrap-vomit.html

  I started swapping packs of 49  2 1/2" squares and I've lost count of how many I've sent and received. I really love seeing the variety that arrives all ready to sew. The Scrap Vomit quilt is made from two basic blocks: one is made from the 49 squares (7X7) and the second has a secondary pattern using solids in the center. So far, I've only made some of the 7X7 blocks. I play a little game for fun. I don't look through the stack when it arrives. When I'm ready to sew, I set the stack next to the machine and just start chain piecing. It's a surprise each time I pick up a square and see what's up next! Occasionally, if adjacent colors are too similar, I pick a square from my own stash to break it up. One thing I do differently, even though it takes more time, is pressing all the seams open. There are so many joints, I think the block just presses smoother and lays nicer with the seams open.  I'm not sure how big this one's going to get before I call it done, but I have already started squirreling away my dollars to send it out for longarm quilting!

                                                                Seven blocks done:

 

 

Packs cut by me or received in swap and ready to sew!

New packs cut, packaged and ready to send in the next swap!

New year--and you know what that means~

 

No, not resolutions. I don't bother with 'em. But you may have read before that most times I finish big projects or start a new year, I have a compulsive urge to re-arrange and clean out the cave*. This time the clean out was quite extensive. I got rid of fabric and ribbon, some that I've had for 20+ years. I remodeled the shelving inside the storage closet. The biggest change is probably that I moved my clothing into the dresser in the closet that was holding notions and patterns. I did this so I could move out the dresser by my bed that serves as a cutting table/clutter catcher and install a design wall/cutting board. It's not totally done so no pictures yet but hopefully I'll finish by next week.

 

Also updated: here's the new logo for Drop and Give Me Twenty 2013. I am going to get SO much done this year. Wait--- that almost sounds like a resolution. It's not. It's a... uh... ... promise. Yeah, that's it. A promise. To me. Not connected with the new year. Just because.

 

This year, Beth has many, MANY, great sponsors and prizes--- be sure to check it out and join in!


*For the uninitiated, the cave is my side of the bedroom with has more to do with sewing than anything else. My bed is the worktable; I have a large board I lay on top if the dresser is too small for the job. Often, my foot end is covered with piles of fabric. It's okay with me--- I'm 4'10. I don't need much foot room to sleep!

Yay! DaGMT! It's happening again!

 

Remember DaGMT?

 

 

 

Drop and Give me Twenty is the brainchild of the very talented and often funny Beth Helfter at EvaPaige Quilt Designs. I'm not going to say I adore this lady because that's creepy but I really enjoy her humor and quilt-because-you-love-it approach to quilting. More importantly, DaGMT 2012 helped me SO MUCH with my procrastination issues. No, I did not complete everything I wanted to for 2012, but pledging those twenty minutes a day for the month of February helped me establish a pattern to sew something every day possible. I got so much done-- and so many new UFO's started-- I consider 2012 my most successful quilting year ever. Now Beth is hosting a DaGMT for 2013 and this time there are so many awesome prizes on board it's even more exciting! If you have procrastination issues, need a kick in the starter, or just want an excuse to tell your family why you have to have that time to yourself---here's an incentive for you!

And if you read me much, get used to hearing about it. I love DaGMT so much I will talk about it. 

A lot.

 *pause*

Please don't hate me.

Join in.

You'll thank me.

Okay, you won't thank me. It has nothing to do with me.

You'll thank YOU. You will amaze yourself at how much you can get done.

Merry Christmas.

 

Christmas is a headache.

  Okay, not really. This isn't an "I hate Christmas" post. I'm just going to remember this year as 'the year of the headache'.  Headaches are nothing new; I get stress headaches across my forehead and behind my eyes often enough to know to just take a couple of Tylenol and sleep it off. But, after 'Aida' closed on Dec. 2, that night I started a peculiar headache that was more like shooting, stabbing pains that would come every few minutes or seconds. They were behind my ear, near the base of my skull and no amount of Tylenol would stop them for more than an hour or two. There was even tenderness from the outside of my head. Heat packs helped a little. It was most difficult to deal with because we were finalizing the church Christmas show that week and this time I wasn't just directing, I was a performer too, and the pain was interfering with my speaking and memorizing. After 5 days I finally gave in to the 'contractions in my head' and saw a doctor who gave me stronger Tylenol and told me to come back if it didn't improve. The drugs at least made me functional and the show went on. My first pain-free day was this past Saturday and I finally feel like me again. The real unfortunate part was I was simply unable to sew (or do much of anything) during those almost two weeks and now I am horribly behind on Christmas. Of course, that's really not new either. I'm just disappointed because this year I made good progress in my war against procrastination and it's like I ran into a cement wall just when the progress would have been most helpful. I guess I should just accept that last-minute is my mantra and embrace it as a part of me. But not the headaches. That part of me, I hope, never happens again!

My Doll Quilter's Monthly quilt is on it's way; all my sewing now is devoted to Christmas so pictures after the holiday!

Friday, in addition to being the end of the world as we know it, is Kal-El's third birthday.  THREE. Yes. *smh*

Love you, Tractor-Boy!