Charming Girls Club Report

I can't seem to catch up after vacation.  Between work and home I've been swamped since we came back and I realized I hadn't done my Charming Girls Club report for July/August. 

I am relieved to have completed my goal of finished the applique on Lady Madonna!  Woo hoo!  There were lots of pieces to fuse down and the challenge was getting them all even.  I think I did an okay job.  I had to work on my living room floor because I don't have a table big enough to lay it out.  You really need to  be able to see the whole top to make sure things are somewhat even.  Then, I had to transfer it to do the fusing.  Which meant pinning all the pieces down.  I decided to work on my dining room table to do the fusing because even though I have a Big Board ironing board, I really wanted to work with as much of the top showing as possible.  And that worked pretty well.  This part was a major project - it probably took about 3 hours or so to place and fuse all the pieces.  Alot of that was working on the floor - oh, my aching back!

Then, came the task of satin stitching all those pieces.  I normally love machine applique.  But, manhandling the entire quilt top through the machine while doing it was a bear.  And the pieces kept coming up on the parts I wasn't stitching, so I kept having to re-iron.  As I mentioned before, I went with Wonder Under instead of my usual Steam-a-Seam 2 to save money for this large project.  I probably didn't fuse it properly as I'm not used to working with it.  But, it's done and the memory of the pain is receding - LOL.  Now, to quilt it. Not sure what color thread to use.  I can't use all black because it wouldn't look right in the white blocks and white probably wouldn't look right on the black blocks.  So, I'll probably switch back and forth - that's a whole other headache, so this one might sit in the ever growing to-be-quilted pile for awhile.

Part of July/August's goals was Self-Care.  I chose exercise as I really, really needed the motivation.  So how did I do?  Not as well as I would have liked but better than if I hadn't had the goal.  I was able to get in about 15 minutes of weights and leg work most weekday mornings. Unfortunately, cardio was relegated to just weekends.  I just can't seem to get up any earlier to get a good workout in (and I really can't get to bed any earlier - hubby and I are "early retirers" as a friend recently mentioned - I just need a lot of sleep!).  I am still working on that.  So, this will definitely be a continuing goal!

I'm a Charming Girl!

I was thrilled to find that Kelly of Cotton Charm Quilts was opening up membership in

I had learned of The Charming Girls Club  a few months ago and eagerly read all of the members' updates.  It was fun and I wanted to be a "Charming Girl", but membership was closed and I had to be content to just be on the outside looking in.  But I knew I was a Charming Girl at heart and when I read that the club was opened to new members for its second year, I jumped!  I commented on Kelly's post and asked to join and she said yes!  I can now proudly display the button on blog.

This year, Kelly made a few changes to the club.  Not only will we post our quilting goals, but some life goals as well!  I like that.  There are things that I've been wanting to do, meaning to do and should be doing that are not quilt related and this will help me be somewhat more accountable.

Each month will have a different theme.  This month's theme is

So, here are my self-care and quilting goals for the month:

1.  I've been trying to be better about exercise.  I feel better when I do it and at my age, I really need it!
And, since I sit at a desk all day, I get just about no exercise if I don't really make an effort.  The problem is it is a time-sucker!  And I so hate to waste good quilting time.  But, it is necessary for my health so I can quilt for many years to come (and also so I can wear more than the 5 pairs of stretch pant in my closet that fit!). So, my goal is to do weight training 3 days a week and at least two days of aerobic exercise.  I have no excuse, I have a treadmill, weights, a step, videos, bands, etc. at home.  I just need to get my butt out of bed in the mornings and do it!!

2.  Along with the exercise, a good diet is also key.  I don't have too much trouble with that - I'd say that I've been able to overhaul my diet over the years to be about 75% healthy/25% really yummy.  Fortunately, I love fruits and veggies.  I've pretty much got breakfast and lunch down - but dinner can be a downfall.  I eat lots of whole grains cereals, greens, no soda, chips or snacky type foods for the most part.  My big problem is portion control. I can eat a lot of food. And, I hate to be hungry.  I also have a love affair with pasta and rice.  I am trying to learn to love whole-grain pasta and brown rice.  So, I'll be watching even more carefully what I eat this month.

3. A big quilty goal is to finish my Lady Madonna applique quilt.  It's huge, the biggest applique I've done and the pieces just need to be fused and then I can do the machine applique.  I like the machine applique part, but I'm procrastinating about getting the fusing done.  If I don't make myself do it, it will just keep getting put on the back burner.  So, I'm putting it out there so I'll have to hang my head in shame if I don't get it done!

4.  I've also decided to participate in A Year of Schnibbles for July - I've just ordered my Joy Luck pattern and will get that done (Schnibbles are so fun and quick, I don't think that will be a problem).

[photo courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop]

Thanks, Kelly, for letting me be charming!

It's been a while!

Well, time flies! It seems I have a bit of catching up to do.  Last week, was my husband's “big weekend”. He gets a booth at the World War II Weekend and Air Show in Reading, PA every year to sell his "collection" of militaria, books, toys, etc. I am always commandeered to help (I wouldn’t mind, but it’s outside, it’s hot, and sometimes rainy and muddy and there is physical labor involved in setting up the booth – not really my cup of tea). But, I get a nice dinner out of it o:) The show itself is a lot of fun – lots of renactors and folks dressing up in uniform and 40s style clothes. They have a Big Band Dance in the evenings and lots of good junk food (I really like that part). Anyway, that’s what took up part of last week and the weekend….this is our booth where I spent most of it...

I was able to get some quilting in though before and after…I  finished cutting out all of the fused appliqué pieces for the Lady Madonna quilt. Now, I just have to find the energy to layout these big pieces on the quilt top and fuse them down. It’s a big project and I think I’ll have to do it on the floor because I don’t want to mess up the layout trying to do it on my ironing board! I’ve never done a huge appliqué like this, so it will be a challenge. Then for the stitching – this one’s going to take a while! Here are just a few of the pieces…

I’m also about half way done with the quilting on Flying Cranes. I’m using the Waterworld pantograph from Jodi Beamish with a brownish/gold King Tut variegated thread – I love the way it’s looking! I hope to finish it up this weekend so I can get the binding on and start using this beautiful quilt!

I also started Cameos by Fig Tree Quilts. This will be the perfect size for my office wall, so I’ll add it to my rotating office quilt show collection! I’m using Fig Tree’s Whimsy – Yummy!!

I had a bit of a problem when I first started making the blocks – their construction is a little bit different than I’m used to and while Joanna’s pattern directions are really clear, I really wasn’t sure about the sizing for the first round. In fact, I’m still not. I’m sure if I’d have emailed her I would have gotten an answer, but, I was too anxious to just keep going and didn’t want to wait. My practice block turned out okay in the end and it’s the right size, but I’m still not sure I did it exactly right. So, does it matter? I don’t know – things like that tend to bug me. So, I may just try to find out because someone said something about doing Cameos in Christmas fabrics and I’m thinking I just may have to make another one!