Time for the Single Girl Again!

I can't seem to get enough of this pattern!!

But, let's be honest...this pattern is an absolute BEAR!!  I know it's gorgeous, but what a pain to hand-cut everything out...I'm just too lazy :o)  So, off to etsy I go, this time with an idea in mind of having Jill at TabSlot make me a high-quality acrylic templates for those crazy concave/convex shapes.  I just got the templates in the mail last night and tried them out this morning...amazing.  I can't wait to start making some progress!

And, because I always seem to do everything about 2 years behind the trend, I am finally getting ready to make a queen size Single Girl...in Anna Maria Horner's line Loulouthi.  I JUST purchased the FQ set.  Now to make all my paper piecing templates and get started!

WIP Wednesday - Another Superhero Quilt Top

Another week gone by...the summer seems to be just whipping away!  I don't know about yall, but summer is just as busy as the school year...just in a different way.  My work days are longer, but more days off.  Weeks seem to slide from the calendar.   I do tend to spend more time indoors, too, because I loathe hot weather, especially in the South.  It's muggy and humid and makes my hair do horrendous things.  One of these days, I will just move somewhere north where the weather never gets above 85!

can't get enough of these awesome fabrics!!

Anyway...onto my current projects!  I finished Dayna's quilt top.  Yes, it looks almost identical to Emma's (that's what happens when you have girls that share a room, and get jealous over every. little. thing)  I am going to make the backings this week, and hope to get these babies basted over the weekend!  

I have another project planned for these beauties....can't wait to share!! 

I picked up my EPP project again that I hadn't touched since the end of April.  I managed to get all those stars (bottom right of pic) atttched and made a few more.  I want to get this baby done soon too!!  Maybe by the end of the summer??  I sure hope so :o)

I hope yall are havin a wonderful summer so far!!  I'm linking up to Lee's at Freshly Pieced:

WIP Wednesday

It has been a while since I last posted anything for WIP Wednesday!!  I have been busy with re-opening my shop and haven't carved out time to sew....that changed this weekend.  I finally got to cut into my Wonder Woman/Super Girl/Batgirl fabric!  I was able to get Emma's top put together...although I feel like it needs some kind of border.  What do yall think??  Dayna's is cut out and all pieced, and I plan to get the top assembled by this weekend.  Yay!!

I'm linking up to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!!

 

Fit Tuesday

So, I finally broke down and bought an iPod this week...my first Apple product ever. Yeah, I know...so behind the times.  I got the nano with the fitness app that counts steps, distance, time of workout.  It's awesome!  AND I figured out how to download YouTube videos to mp3s that I can add to my nano...for free!

There's only one problem...and I'm sure I am not alone here.  But I tend to work out to the beat of whatever I am listening to...so if you're not in that great of shape, listening to energetic workout music is probably not the best idea!!  I went for a walk on Friday night, cranked up the iPod, and was about to die 1/2 mile in.  My calf muscles were on fire.  I had my phone with me, but I REFUSED to call the hubs to come get me....how pathetic would that be!  So, I dialed down the speed and intensity, and walked at half rhythm back home.  I still shaved 7 minutes off my time from the day before!!

I also re-evaluated my goal weight this week.  Not that I want to make excuses, but I think I was a bit unrealistic in my initial goal.  Let's face it, I am in my early 30s and had 2 kiddos.  So, I am going with the higher end of my recommended weight and we'll go from there.

This week's stats:

Exercise this week:  walked 4 miles, swam 1 hour

Pounds lost this week: 1

Total lost: 12

Pounds to go: 68 

nasty, but true!!

Sketching...How I Plan a Quilt

I have been thinking.....and thinking.....and thinking of how to make my girls' quilts so that I am not cutting this awesome fabric to bits.  I just had to go with stars....and I remember seeing the Oh! Fransson Sparkle Punch quilt!  My thought is just to make it on a MUCH larger scale!

So here is my sketch!  I finished it during my lunch break at work today.  The finished size is going to be approx. 72" x 84". This way each star will be huge, lending itself to those large prints.

We'll see how it turns out in real life!!

Drowning in Bows!!

I haven't been able to sew or quilt in about 4 weeks...and I am not a happy camper!!  I am absolutely carving some time out this weekend to make some progress on my girlies' superhero quilts.  I had to order more fabric (darn!) and am waiting for that to come in...should be Thursday!  AND I saw that Angela of Cut to Pieces is co-hosting a Super Mario Quilt Along coming soon.....I am definitely signing up for that one!

Anywhooo, I thought I would give you a glimpse into what my world has looked like the last week. A boutique in Georgia bought a ton of hairbows and I am working like mad to get them finished and shipped by Friday. I had to lay them all out like this so that I could stiffen those suckers...they are travelling in a giant box to Georgia in the summer. I don't want them to be limp and lifeless when they get there!  I used the jumbo spray bottle with almost 2 cups of stiffener!

 

What you don't see is 18 more of these huge bows off to the side on my sewing desk! 

Some of them are the super huge boutique bows....measuring 6 inches across! Just to give yall an idea of what they look like, I had Dayna hold it up to her head...holy moley!!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!!  And I hope to post something quilty soon :o)

Fit Tuesday - Couch-to-5K

As I write this, I am proud to say I have walked a total of 6 miles this week....wait for it......

ON PURPOSE!!!

Yes, I am very excited about it even though it isn't a lot when I look at it like this.  It started with a mile on Monday, 1 on Tuesday, 2 on Thursday, 1 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday.  The weather has been gorgeous (until yesterday when it poured buckets), which helps a lot!

I am HOOKED!!  I am still having pain in my foot, but I think I may just need better shoes.  So, that is the project for this week...get better shoes.  I am going to look for running shoes because I hear they are padded better and will be more of a help for my foot.  I don't know if it will ever feel good, but I am tired of letting it dictate what I can and cannot do.

I also decided I want to start running.  I used to run in jr high and high school and loved how I felt.  I am definitely not built for speed, but it's great exercise.  After reading Mama's Laughlin's post about her initial weight loss, I decided to follow the Couch-to-5K plan.  I have done some searching for 5Ks in the area that I can train for, but haven't really found anything.  That's okay, I am going to do it just for myself right now.  It may take me all summer to get to the point where I can run for a full 3 miles, but anything is better than nothing!!

My eating this week has been all over the map.  I started out GREAT, but then may or may not have gone to the Melting Pot this weekend with 2 of my girlfriends and ate my face off until I was going to explode.  It was just that good, people!!  And one of the waitresses was a good friend of mine, so she sent me home with a box of 6 of the most beautiful giant chocolate-covered strawberries "for Branson and the girls" .... I didn't tell her Branson doesn't like fruit, so I got his 2!!  Back on track this week!

This week's stats:

Pounds lost this week: 1

Total lost: 11

Pounds to go: 89

Sweet and Sassy Boutique Giveaway!!

I really have the best customers ever!!  One of my sweet customers, Courtney, is a wonderful lady with 2 beautiful girlies!  She is hosting a giveaway on her blog...newly redesigned and looking awesome!!  Please head over to visit Courtney at The Chirping Moms to find out how to enter to win a $25 gift certificate to Sweet and Sassy Boutique! 

Don't have any girls, no kiddos, or kids are all grown??  This is "baby season" and this would be a great gift idea :o)

Hope you all are having a great week!!

Geeky Fabric

I love that my husband is a comic nerd!  He turned me into a comic nerd and my girls too!  I have been to several comic book conventions with him and we always have SO much fun.  Anyway, all that to say, my superhero fabric came Monday!! Thanks for all the ideas for how to make a quilt with large scale prints!  I think I know what I am going to do...can't wait to get started :o) I absolutely LOVE the retro look of the prints...back from when I was a kid.

And this weekend we woke up on Saturday morning and just decided to drive 2 1/2 hours to Charlotte, one of my fave cities....ever feel like you just need to get out of town for a little while??  Right outside of Charlotte is a GREAT fabric store called MaryJo's.  Sooo many bolts of fabric!!  I could've stayed there all day.  I found more geeky fabric while I was there, too!  

Isn't this fabric great??  I have been collecting superhero fabric for a quilt for the hubs.  I want it to be amazing!

Fit Tuesday - For Your Mental Health

Hi all!  I have been absent from Fit Tuesday the past 2 weeks....but I'm back again!  Today I wanted to talk a little about mental fitness.  While trying to rid my life of toxic food, I am also trying to rid myself of toxic thoughts, people, habits to make myself a better person.

Toxic thoughts - we all have them!  I learned in Weight Watchers that we need to replace toxic thoughts with healthy thoughts....easier said than done, right?  When my mind tells me I'm not worth the effort, I replace it with how valuable I really am...to myself, to my family, to my friends.  We are worth so much more to God, above all else!

Toxic people - oh man, this one is hard!  Especially when you have to be around them often.  I am a big fan of filling your life with the people that love you and want nothing but the best for you!  And then forget the ones who treat you like crap!!

Toxic habits - another tough one since we are all creatures of habit!  What are the habits that are draggin you down?  Find other things to replace them.  This is one reason I love quilting.  It replaces the time I might spend on things that are destructive.

So, I thought I would share this printable I found via Pinterest.  It basically just highlights the fact that the whole weight loss process all starts in our minds!

source

So here are my stats:

Weight loss this week:  2 

Total pounds lost:  10

Pounds to go:  90