I wish I had something clever to talk about

But I don't.  Sad, sad, sad.  I have been doing some sewing.  Trying to work through the endless To Do list.  AND I've been stalking my mailbox.  The Summer Tote swap that I joined is coming to a close soon.  Every day I open my mailbox with a flourish and then walk away a bit saddened.  Maybe TODAY will be my lucky day.  LOL!

OH!  I did accomplish a milestone.  I FINALLY finished sewing the binding on my very first quilt!  HOW EXCITING!!  I took it with us on vacation and worked on it a bit there and I even attempted it in the car.  I didn't get car sick so I got a lot of it done while driving home.  And once I got home, I couldn't put it down, knowing I didn't have much more to do on it so I finished it.  It's now washed and dried and on Punkie's bed.  I also finished binding my hexagon table runner!  I took that one with me yesterday to a family picnic.  I only had another foot or so to hand sew and I want to see it on my table so I worked on that yesterday and now that is finished too.

Amelia is with my mom all week as my in-laws (our regular child-care) are in Nova Scotia on vacation for 2 weeks.  So my mom has Punkie this week and next week, we'll be taking time off and heading to NH for a couple of days.  While Punkie is gone all week, I have BIG plans. I will outline them here.  Maybe it will keep me accountable.  HA!  Right!

1. Put final borders on Amelia's big quilt and get it off to be quilted.  I REALLY want to give it to her for her birthday.  So that's on the top of my list.  Hopefully my quilter can fit me into her schedule!  ;)
2. Finish potholders for Stacy for our mini swap.  I'm almost there.  They need to be quilted and bound.
3. Pin cushion swap!  That deadline is coming up FAST!  I started my pin cushion.  That's all I can say about that right now.
4. Attach binding to butterfly wallhanging so that I can take it to NH with me to work on.  Just have to find that jelly roll that I used!  It's around here somewhere.
5. Start tote for SIL birthday gift.  Her birthday is on Friday.  I doubt I will be done by then but I can at least get everything cut.
6. Personalized pillow for my niece for birthday gift.
7. Messenger bag that I was asked to make
8. Personalized pillow for my BFF's husband's niece.  She LOVED the one that I made for Julia and wanted one for herself.  I just met the girl over the weekend and she is the sweetest so I told her I would make her one.  Her name is short so it will be quick to do.  LOL!
9. I'm 2 blocks behind on the Jelly Roll Sampler quilt along.  Need to get those done
10. Block 2 of the FQS Mystery quilt is here and I need to get that one done as well.

I could honestly keep going and going and going but I won't.  I hope to get 3 of these done and off my list before Amelia comes home at week's end.

Wish me luck!!

Since posts without pictures are boring, here's Punkie with her Baba (my grandmother) at my cousin's bridal shower over the weekend.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Daisy has done it again!

Sharon has worked her quilty magic once again!  And quick, too!  I send her my hexagon table runner and a wallhanging that I pieced for Amelia over a year ago but did nothing with.  LOVE them both!

On Amelia's wallhanging, she quilted happy sunshines and butterflies.

On the table runner, she quilted bees.  Love it!  It's on the recliner because my table is loaded with papers and I REALLY didn't feel like cleaning it off to take a proper picture.

Now it's binding time.  I really should hand stitch the binding on the backs of these things but you know what??  I'm STILL hand sewing the binding on the first quilt that Sharon quilted for me and that was done over a year ago!  In my defense, I was scared to hand sew because I didn't understand the process.  But I finally started it and I understand but it is slooooow going.  I get hand and eye fatigue so I do it when I can.  I try to do it in the evenings but sometimes I'm just too wiped out to bother.  I think I'm going to machine these on.  At least the table runner.  I want to get it on my table!

Thank you Sharon!  More will be coming your way soon!!

Enjoy your day!
Jen

It's huge and it kicked my butt!

My hexagon table runner is done.  It kicked my butt.  Oh geez.  For every one piece I sewed, I ripped three out.  I can't tell you how many times I ripped a full row out.  But enough to start fraying my fabric pieces so I finally said, that's it.  That's the way it's going to be.  I'm not going to stress about it.  That's my new motto, by the way.

I fell in love with this runner when I saw it on Heather Mulder Peterson's blog and bought a kit.  I've never used a 60' ruler nor made a hexagon but I thought I would give it a try.  I'm happy to say that I did but I'm not going to try again any time soon! 

So, a few of my hexagons are wonky and don't line up all the way but you know what?  I'm not going to stress!  I've asked Sharon to see if she had time to quilt it and I figured with all the quilting, it will disguise all the little issues.

Wanna see it?

And here's a wider shot of my table so that you can see how big this thing is.

Well, Amelia is home from school today.  She's not feeling well and finally decided to take a nap.  Hopefully that will settle her tummy.  :(

Now that is is done, I will work some more on Amelia's quilt and finish my Charm Party Tote that I started last Spring.  It feels good to have one project out of my WIP basket!

That's all for now.
Enjoy your day!
Jen