Time Flies....

 I didn't realize so much time had passed since my last blog post.  Needless to say, I've been pretty busy with the Thanksgiving holiday.

On the 17th, we had my husband's family over for Pre-Thanksgiving.  Everyone had a great time and we had a ton of food.  Thankfully some of the extra turkey went home with my husband's parents and his uncle, and the rest was mostly eaten by two friends who came over on Sunday to do some hunting on the back of our property.  No luck for them though as a coyote chased off the deer just as the deer ere getting within range.

Right after Pre-Thanksgiving, it was a short week at work, but that just meant that we tried to fit 5 days of work into 3.  After work on the 21st, we drove out to Syracuse, NY to visit my parents.  We stayed there through Saturday morning and we arrived back home Saturday around lunchtime.  It was good visiting with everyone and we helped them put up one of the Christmas trees.

Saturday afternoon Rich and I put up our Christmas tree while watching White Christmas. :-)  Its a tradition in our family to watch White Christmas while putting up the trees.  Besides...I love the movie!

So on the quilting front, there hasn't been a ton of quilting done as I've been cooking, cleaning, putting up trees, etc.  I'm not even going to bother listing the last post for Make-A-List Monday as I really didn't get much done.

I haven't shared pictures in a while, so here's some things that I have been doing:

The Whirly Stars quilt is completely finished.  I decided to do string blocks in the corners with the strings pointing towards the center of the quilt.

We also finally  hung the Starry Night needlepoint that I finished last year.  We've had it framed for almost a year now, but hadn't figured out where we wanted to hang it.  Its now hanging in the dining room.

We also had a little bit of snow a week or so ago.  It was really a wet rain with a little bit of snow.  We had more snow over this past weekend, but I didn't take any pictures.  Its all gone by now despite it remaining cold out.

I also finished the binding on Shine on Bayou Cane.  I haven't washed this yet, but its already getting some use on our couch for snuggling in at night.  I laid it out on the queen-sized bed in our guest bedroom to get a good view of it fully laid out.

And here's a close-up of the quilting.

This coming week, I do have some things I'd like to finish/start.
1. Post pictures of completed quilts and update blog.
2. Quilt charity quilt for guild.
3. Post pictures of Patchwork Garden completed.
4. Post picture of Christmas tree.

Happy Crafting!
 ~Sarah at upstateNYCreations



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Make-A-List Tuesday

Whenever I have a long weekend, my blog posts tend to get a little off-kilter.  There are definitely two separate reasons...
     1 - My husband is home on long weekends, so not as much sewing gets done. :-)
     2 - Since its the long weekend, I want to get lots of sewing done instead of posting on the blog.

Either way, I didn't post anything late last week or yesterday, so my "make-a-list Monday" is now Tuesday for this week.

I don't have any photos to share yet, but it was a busy weekend.  I was able to get a fair amount of sewing done, but we also rebuilt a sand-bag dam for holding water in the spring.  We wanted to rebuild it now while we didn't have a lot of water to deal with.  So we managed to move over 90 wet sandbags (yuck) and rebuilt the dam using just sandbags and a pond liner to help with sealing.  We also added at least another 50 sandbags to the dam to shore it up.

We also did some window shopping at furniture stores.  We're trying to find a pub-height table for our kitchen, but haven't really found anything yet.  There was one we liked, but it was way more expensive than what we wanted to spend for the kitchen.  So we'll keep looking....

So last week, here's what was on the list:

1. Trim the baby quilt and machine sew binding.  Done!  I'm about 1/3 of the way done hand-sewing binding.
2. Finish sewing star blocks for "Whirly Stars". Done!  I also have the main quilt top done.  I just need to add the borders at this point.
3. Order thread for Lone Star quilt and applique project.  Bad, Sarah!  This isn't done yet.
4. Layer and baste Lone Star quilt.  This also isn't done yet.

So this coming week is a short week since we're already on Tuesday and Friday is going to be spent preparing for "Pre-Thanksgiving" with my husband's family.  I would like to get a few things done though...

1. Finish sewing entire quilt top for "Whirly Stars".
2. Order thread for Lone Star quilt, applique project and Wildflower Fields.
3. Baste Lone Star quilt on the quilting frame.
4. Quilt a lap-sized quilt for my guild's charity group.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

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Make-A-List Monday

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind.  Thankfully, hurricane Sandy didn't cause too much trouble here in the Albany, NY area.  We had some strong winds and a little bit of rain, but by large, the storm missed us.  I definitely feel for the folks in Connecticut, NYC and New Jersey.  They got hit really hard and are struggling to pick up the pieces.

A lady in our quilt guild is gathering items at our guild meeting tonight to take down to NYC and New Jersey to help out folks there.  Quilters are very generous, so I imagine there will be lots of items donated tonight.

We had a house guest for a few days last week as my husband's Uncle lives in southern CT and was without power for a few days.  We offered up our spare bedroom for him to come stay for a few days in the warmth.  The power in his neighborhood was restored late last week and he went back home on Saturday morning.

Since we were pretty busy during the week, I'm actually surprised at how much I was able to accomplish.  Everything on my to-do list is completed.

1. Press sewn blocks for boy baby quilt. DONE!

2. Take photos of quilt blocks sewn/pressed. DONE!  I even have it laid out and started sewing some of the blocks together.

3. Select backing, thread, and quilting pattern for baby quilt. DONE!  I even got the whole thing quilted last night.  After a bit of a fiasco at the start (note to self, do not use super-thin Bottom Line thread as the top thread on the quilting frame...machine not happy!), I was able to really get going on this.  This is a small quilt, but the quilting was also fairly simply.  I love the texture the quilting gives to this quilt.  Its a pantograph called Celebrate.

4. Start creating freezer-paper templates for a wool applique mini-wall hanging. DONE!  No pictures though as freezer-paper templates are pretty boring to look at. :-)  I did however, sew all of the background for the applique, so I'll be able to start appliqueing things as soon as I place an order for matching threads.

So now, the plan for the upcoming week....

1. Trim the baby quilt and machine sew binding.
2. Finish sewing star blocks for "Whirly Stars".
3. Order thread for Lone Star quilt and applique project.
4. Layer and baste Lone Star quilt.

 Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

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Stashbusting 2012 - Week 44

I've actually been able to get some quilting done the past week or so.  I wasn't so sure about this past week due to Hurricane Sandy making her presence known here on the east coast.  Thankfully, we only got a little bit of wind and rain from it.  The folks in NYC and NJ didn't far so well.  My husband's uncle lives in southern CT and he had no power for several days and came up to stay with us for 2 days while he was waiting to get power back.

The past two weeks I've been able to make progress on my "Whirly Stars" baby quilt.  Here are the fabrics all cut into strips.

Then into 2.5" squares for 4-patches and for corners on some larger blocks.

Here's the stacks of all the fabrics cut for the main body of the quilt.  I have my Yankee Candle burning nicely in the background as well as my "parking sign".  The parking sign reads "Princess Only.  All others will be toad." :-)

Then this past week I was able to get things up on the design wall and lay out the squares.  I have half of the star blocks sewn together.

And here's the full quilt...albeit a little offset.  The ones on top are just there in the layout and not sewn yet.

I"m hoping to get some additional sewing/quilting done this week.  I think a fair amount of it will be hand-sewing binding onto a quilt though.

Here are my numbers:

Added This Week:       0.0 yards
Added Year to Date:    23.54 yards
Used This Week:          2.50 yards
Used Year to Date:       25.7 yards
Net Year to Date:         2.15 yards

I'm back in black again.  Go on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing this week.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

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Bad Kitty!

You wouldn't be able to tell from this picture, but this little sweetheart can be a bit of pain!

Since moving into the new house, she has taken it upon herself to meow....LOUDLY...in the middle of the night.  These aren't just little meows where she comes and wants to be in bed.  This are meows where she goes into the foyer and yells at the top of her lungs and it echos everywhere!

Most nights I sleep through it and the nights where I don't, it doesn't really bother me that much.  However, its a completely different story for my husband.  He dislikes the cat... a lot... because of her meowing.

So I'm hoping blog-land may have some suggestions.

Any ideas on how to figure out why she meows or how to get her to stop?

We've tried locking her up in a bedroom with her litter box, food and water, but then she wants out and pulls on the door causing it to bang against the molding.  We've also tried keeping her awake in the evenings in an attempt to make her tired and sleep through the night, but that doesn't seem to help either.

I'm open to just about anything at this point to try to keep the sanity in the household and to not have to find her a new home.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Make-A-List Monday

Happy Monday!  The next few days are going to be a bit of a whirlwind around here.  I live in the Albany, NY area and the weather forecast currently says that starting this afternoon we will be having 50+ mph winds with gusts towards 75 mph.  They're expecting widespread power outages and about 2-4" of rainfall.  Needless to say, we've been busy preparing.

Thankfully, I usually keep at least a weeks' worth of essentials around the house anyway, so we have lots of Gatorade, granola bars, canned goods, items we can heat up and cook with the propane stove and the fireplace.  I bought one small case of bottled water just to be on the safe side.  We also have iced tea, soda and gatorade to drink, so we should be fine.  Other than that, our preparations were really just getting wood stockpiled inside the garage, filling the bathtubs with water (we're on a well, so when we lose electricity we lose water), and getting the laundry clean and dishes clean.  If we do lose power for several days, we'll have plenty to eat/drink and clean clothes.

The house is located at the top of a hill which is bad from a wind standpoint, but good from a flooding standpoint.  We didn't have any issues with the basement flooding during Irene last year, so I think the house will be fine this year.  We may have water on the driveway, but even during Irene it wasn't deep enough that we wouldn't be able to drive across it.

Depending upon what actually happens with this storm, I may get a lot done this week, or I may get nothing done as I won't have any power. :-)

Here's the list from last week.  I wasn't very productive last week as there were a lot of things going on with work and I spent the weekend at my parents.

1. Cut fabrics for the boy baby quilt (I have to work on a name for this). Done.  All fabrics are cut and 96 of the squares are sewn together.
2. Start sewing blocks for the boy baby quilt. Done
3. Select backing and quilting pattern for 2nd baby quilt. Not done.
4. Load baby quilt on frame and start to quilt. Not done.
5. Play with EQ6 to get fabric amounts/colors for a smaller version of Judy's Sing A Happy Song quilt pattern for 4th baby quilt. Not done.

 This week's list is going to be fairly short and simple as I don't know what the power situation is going to be.

1. Press sewn blocks for boy baby quilt.
2. Take photos of quilt blocks sewn/pressed.
3. Select backing, thread, and quilting pattern for baby quilt.
4. Start creating freezer-paper templates for a wool applique mini-wall hanging.

Hope you all have a great week and stay dry!

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Updates to the Blog

I've been busy making a few changes to the blog over the past few days.  The biggest thing that got me moving was the fact that the free service I used for my photos decided they weren't going to be free any longer.  This meant that I need to switch all my photos over to something else.

I've been able to update all the posts on this blog, but one of my older blogs still isn't updated.  Since I plan on re-hashing some of those posts here, I don't think I'll actually update that old blog.

If you're interested in checking out the changes, there are really two pages that were updated.

The first is my "Completed Quilts" tab.  You'll notice there are only pictures of the first 6 quilts and then quilt #26.  However, there really are quilts in-between...just no pictures here yet.  I added their names and years to the tab so at least I have a running list.  I plan on putting photos there over the next several weeks.

The second is the "Quilting Services" tab.  I am available to quilt individual's quilt tops and my prices and capability are detailed on this tab.  I've made two full quilts for clients (not just the quilting, but making the entire top) and both have been ecstatic about the quilts.  Anyway, on this page, I have information about the prices and there are links to examples of pantographs (just click on the links for level 1, level 2 and level 3).  I decided to use pictures of the quilts I've done instead of just showing the paper pantographs.

In some cases the pantographs are purchased designs, but there are one or two that I designed myself.  When I couldn't find a design I liked or that would fit my machine, I decided to make my own.

I hope you enjoy looking around and if you think you would like me to quilt something for you, please contact me.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations

Make-A-List Monday

Last week was a very productive week for me.  It is so nice to get some finishes after having no finishes for a long time!  I was originally supposed to have all of Friday and 90% of Saturday to myself while my husband went to a friend's place to help pull in a dock.  He was scheduled to be back late Saturday, but after a bad Friday, he ended up leaving early and was back home Saturday afternoon.  While it was good to have him back, he wasn't feeling well, so a lot of Saturday afternoon/evening was spent making sure he was ok.

Thankfully, it appears that it was a lack of sleep problem, because after sleeping 12 hours from Saturday to Sunday, he was fine all day Sunday.

"The List" from last week....
 1. Complete hand-sewing of binding on client quilt.  DONE!  In fact, the entire quilt is now washed and ready to give to my client this coming weekend.

 

2. Press strips together for 2nd baby quilt. DONE!  The entire top is actually together.

3. Design 3rd baby quilt (yes, another one in addition to the one from last week). Done!  I have to play with the borders a little bit more, but I have all the fabric purchased and it is now ready for cutting into strips and blocks.

4.  Play with EQ6 to get fabric amounts/colors for a smaller version of Judy's Sing A Happy Song quilt pattern for 4th baby quilt. I didn't get to this item this past week.
5.   Hand-sew binding on Shine on Bayou Cane quilt.I did a little bit here, but not a whole lot.  I spent most of the week doing binding for the client quilt.

I'm hoping this coming week will be productive too.  Here is my plan:
1. Cut fabrics for the boy baby quilt (I have to work on a name for this).
2. Start sewing blocks for the boy baby quilt.
3. Select backing and quilting pattern for 2nd baby quilt.
4. Load baby quilt on frame and start to quilt.
5. Play with EQ6 to get fabric amounts/colors for a smaller version of Judy's Sing A Happy Song quilt pattern for 4th baby quilt.

Happy Crafting!
~Sarah at upstateNYCreations