"something blue"

It's done!
I slapped the binding on last night, tossed it in the washer and dryer and here it is:

The fastest quilt I ever made, no doubt. It's throw size 60x50-ish I normally like to hand quilt but there was no time for that. I am sooooo glad that it is finished and that it's not hanging over my head all week. I hate to pat myself on the back but I am quite pleased!
I will try to get some better pictures of it if I have any good weather and light and time all at once.

the family suffers

...but the quilt gets made. I am one bad-ass quilter when I set my mind to it!
I spent all of yesterday arranging and sewing squares



I machine quilted (rather lamely) after church today



And now I am ready for binding



But this must wait because we have a birthday party this afternoon.

Pressure!

Some people love to work under pressure. That kind of people is not me. I like to have some kind of a plan and an ample amount of time. I like to be finished with an assignment well before it is due. It helps me to sleep at night and also keeps me sane. This quilt needs to be finished by 2:00 next Sunday and is causing me a bit of anxiety! *breathes into a paper bag* This would be totally fine and it could be done if my world would stop for a few days.



On the other hand, I am glad that I won't have too much time with it because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it already and I will have a hard time parting with it. After sewing oilcloth every day for a year, it gives me so much pleasure to sink my sewing machine needle into cotton...don't get me wrong, I still loves me some oilcloth but it's not cotton, Amy Butler cotton at that. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh


It was another busy week here at Rick Rack Central; lunch bags are selling, dance recital, softball, summer work party and xrays and doctors appt that I will fill you in on after Monday's visit.

the game

I stopped by The Happy Zombie's blog and she had this fun flickr game going on, so i thought I would waste some time playing this morning.

The Game:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Carol
2. What is your favorite food? Italian
3. What high school did you go to? Derby
4. What is your favorite color? Red
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Jimmy Smits
6. Favorite drink? Seltzer
7. Dream vacation? Private Island
8. Favorite dessert? more wine (don't judge me!)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? comfortable
10. What do you love most in life? My family
11. One Word to describe you. Frazzled
12. Your flickr name: cbcyr

For bonus points… put “sign” behind your answer and make another mosaic:

Let me know if you do this, I want to check yours out!

Many thanks

Thanks for the birthday greetings! They were much needed and appreciated. The day got better. The family realized what day it was, I got to work and there were flowers and balloons along with my coworkers singing to me. (Yes, Deb I got your singing voice mail...keep up with those lessons, you're coming along great!)
Here's a quilty preview:

I'm sad about this one. It's a shower gift for someone who doesn't like me very much. This person also doesn't particularly like handmade things very much especially when made by someone who is me. Before you say, "Don't even go to the shower", "Don't give her any gift"; I have to go, there's no way around it. So, I am using my very nice fabric in colors that she loves and I will make a very nice quilt, all the while knowing that it may end up in Goodwill. (Yes, I will haunt the local Goodwill stores after the shower and buy it back)
Sorry to be so vague here but it's all I can say.
Keep watching for quilty progress!

It was 43 years ago today

I bought myself this gorgeous vintage towel a few weeks ago with my upcoming b-day in mind.

I planned on turning it into a calendar tote for myself to carry on my birthday.

well, today is the day

No tote for me!
OK, I know this is a shameless attempt to have my birthday acknowledged but so far 3 people in my house have awoken and not remembered :(

teacher for the day

My Julia won "teacher for the day" in her 3rd grade class. You win by getting the most 100%'s on your spelling tests and she didn't miss a single one all year!
She found out on Friday and worked on a lesson plan all weekend:
early snack time
first recess
movie
late snack time
2nd recess
fun
fun
more fun
the best part is that her teacher is a student for the day...gym uniform, pig tails and all

I'm finishing up the teacher's scrapbooks tonight and then I may start working on a quilt...
stay tuned

Novelty Fabric Junkie

Yep, that's me. I used to think I was just a plain old fabric junkie, but at my core it's all about the novelty fabrics.

I am drawn, I can't pass them up when they are on sale. The kitschier and quirkier the better as far as I'm concerned. I almost never have any idea what in the heck I am going to do with them, but yet I must have them. Some day, I will come up with something fabulous...watch out!

Interesting

I just stopped by Casa Calamity and read about her most interesting Flickr pictures and decided to copy her. It is most interesting that these are my most interesting photos because I never embroider or quilt anymore. *sigh*
1-Deb's birthday quilt

2-again

3-embroidered onesies

4-craft room

5-olive

6-doll quilt

7-stitchette

8- craft room

9-embroidery

10-handmade cards

Your turn...
what are your most interesting flickr photos?

I can do it!

I can make 2 scrapbooks by next Monday, I can, I can!

I probably wrote about this last year but I will again. About 5 years ago I thought it would be a great idea to put together scrapbooks for my kid's teachers from the class. I have each student send in pictures and messages for their page and then I create a personal page for them. This was so much easier when I didn't work 2 jobs and didn't have such busy kids.Anyway, it's become one of those things that once I started it, I can't stop because the teacher's and kids look forward to each year. Oy vay!
Did I mention we are having a heatwave? Did I mention yet this year that we don't have AC? Yeah, I'm pleasant right now.
Last week was so bad, we ran day & night every day. My biggest kid turned 15 on Tuesday and we still haven't had her icecream cake that's sitting in the freezer.

Bad family!
Yesterday, however, was a great day. Julia has been taking voice lessons since February and did so well so quickly that she was asked to be in the recital. She did an amazing job singing "Ten Minutes Ago" from Cinderella and "Maybe" from Annie. To say i cried would be such an understatement.

you still there?

I think this time of the year is more hectic than Christmastime.
Honestly!
Lots of softball, lots of school activiities like today's pinning ceremony:
Gabby and her 7th grade class received their 8th grade pins today. It's such a nice thing. Each 8th grade student "pins" a 7th grade student.




Sorry, no cool crafty pictures, I've been churning out oilcloth bags per usual.
I'll be back soon, I promise!