Last stitch

I'm still awake at 2 am and posting to share a proud moment.  About 10 minutes ago, I put the last hand quilting stitch in my very first quilt.  

The white plastic you see is the handy dandy quilting frame I have.  The blue line on the yellow gingham is from a wonderful marking pen (that washes out) that kept my lines straight.  I am so close to being done!

I have my binding (the edge part) all cut and sewn.  The next step is to trim the quilt, iron the binding & then sew on the binding.  The quilting on this one is almost all hand stitched.  For my next project, I'm going to try free motion quilting, which uses the sewing machine.  I've never done this before so I decided to make a pillow to practice on before moving on to a quilt.

I just sewed together scraps from my first quilt.  I'm dead set on at least getting the first quilt done tomorrow (today, Sunday, whatever).  It feels so good to complete a goal!

Big spender

I got myself a present today that cost a whole dollar.  It's a good and useful present, too.  I've been collecting remnants and different fabrics for quilting projects.  They've been sitting in various bags on my supply cart.  Now I have a plastic bin to put them!

At some point I'll probably organize by main color (I'm OCD like that, you should see my closet) but for now I have them grouped for 3 projects I have in the planning stages and then fabric I just thought was pretty & bought. 

I'm a little (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of creativity involved in quilting.  It isn't just squares of fabric that "match" like my grandma did. I have so many ideas, I'm excited to get started! 

Fun cube

I've been told that my cubicle at work is fun.  I like to think so and I hope that's a reflection on the cubicle dweller.  On my monitor riser, among other things, is a mini transformer my brother got me for Christmas.  Sometimes it's a jeep, today it is a robot.

Hump day

The stress I've been under was compounded by (or caused?) some tummy issues that kept me home from work yesterday.  Not at all fun but the scale says I lost 5 pounds.  Trying to look on the bright side!  Back to work craziness today but I like my job & love the people I work with so I'll put up with a little craziness every now and again.

I have nothing deep or cool to say at the moment.  So here's a kitty.

Hippo birdy to you!

February 28th is my hubby's birthday (along with his twin brother, of course).  We celebrated on Sunday, the 27th, by watching movies & getting some take out.  John wanted Jack-n-Grill & I happily obliged.  John got this massive burger, called "the Dezz" (the bun was as big as his hand!). 

I got enchiladas which were excellent but not nearly as epic to look at.  I also got him Ben & Jerry's then later made some kick ass soup & focaccia.  I was going to share a pic of the focaccia (which I was quite proud of) but this is what's left:

A pre-birthday filled with fattening food... that's how much I love my man.

Clean slate

There's something about a clean house that makes it easier for me to function.  It clears my mind & makes me calmer, somehow.  I put off cleaning for too long & I get anxious & cloudy.  I was glad to finally have a few solid hours to get the house clean this weekend.

One of the first places to get re-messed is our dining room table.  We don't use our dining room or the table for "dining" and it is pretty much the first available surface upon walking in the door to lay anything down.  So, my purse always falls there.  Usually the mail ends up there & anything else that needs to be moved out of the way elsewhere in the house.

Moving or getting rid of said table is out of the question, however.  The table, which we call the Al Capone table, is very special to me.  According to my dad, the table was found in the basement of one of the houses his family occupied in Chicago (where he lived the first 14 years of his life).  The story is that the table came from a bar that was either owned by or frequented by Al Capone.  The heavy, cast iron base was designed so that the tables couldn't be thrown in bar fights.  This table came with my dad's family when they moved from Chicago to St. Louis & then came to reside at the house I grew up in.  I'm a sucker for old stuff, especially when attached to my family, so I got it next.

I'm also in love with the table cloth, an antique not related to my family, and it is a shame that it always gets covered with stuff.  The doily is related to my fam (mom crocheted it) and I made the ceramic bowl on it.  So, let's all enjoy a brief moment of clean table-ness (with help from Sammy).

Paws

I love paws, of all types.  Here's some kitty paws.  So cute.  That is all.