Feline Friday - 8/16/19

Me thinks there might be a resemblance!

Wednesday Weather Report #117 - 8/14/19

August 7-13, 2019
67 - 67 - 72 - 68 - 73 - 80 - 75 F

This is not your typical fair week weather. It's been quite comfy which is kinda weird when it appears the crowds are smaller than normal.

(insert drumroll!!!!)

Yay!!!! I won a blue ribbon for Mr Serious!!

Wednesday Weather Report #116 - 8/7/19

July 31, 2019 : 76 F
August 1-6, 2019 : 78 - 80 - 77 - 75 - 80 - 83 F

Not much to say about this week's weather...the nights are getting cooler and the days are pretty comfortable which is kind of a surprise since August days are usually pretty uncomfortable.

As I'm typing, I'm thinking that I haven't really shared any pics of the quilting on Mr Serious.  I'll have to rectify that soon. In the meantime, know that I am nearly done with the quilting and already have the facing completed.

Sadly I am having machine troubles which means the quilting is taking longer than expected. I've completed quilting the red, brown, yellow and black sections, which just leaves the white - which is was over half done this morning.

I'm kind of thinking it's the spool of thread causing the problem as I've been using the same brand for 15 years and I quilted the rest of the quilt sans issues. I have even switched to machine piecing this week without any issue. And yes I've turned the machine on/off, re-threaded, cleaned *everything* I can get to, changed the needle twice, wiped everything clean/re-oiled 700 times and even switched to a different bobbin. The only thing I cannot do is switch to a different spool as I have to order this thread and want to have the quilt completed by this weekend to enter it in the fair. The quilting looks fine, I'm just tying and hiding lots of knots as the thread keeps breaking. I'm getting really good at tying and hiding knots :)

Feline Friday - 7/12/19

Hey Momma...Are you sure there aren't any more chicken-n-waffle treats in this bag that you threw away?

Hey Zorro...Do you know you just dumped 2,327 paper hexies to look for treats that aren't there cuz you already finished the bag of treats?

Happy Friday!

Wednesday Weather Report #110 - 6/26/19

We are definitely getting closer to more summer-like weather!!!

June 19 - 25, 2019
77 - 64 - 69 - 70 - 75 - 71 - 76 F

I've also been able to work on some other hexie projects in the last week.

Sunday was like an everlasting gobstocker ... it just went on and on and on until the day's task was done.

After adding another row of brown along the bottom of the quilt on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, I took the papers out of 26 of 27 rows of this larger half of the quilt. I "only" have 19 rows to take out of the smaller half before I can stitch them together and take the final 2 rows out. I am hoping to have that completed before the end of June. My 4 day Independence Day weekend can then be spent sandwiching and getting a good start on quilting this monster.

It's hard to see in the sun but the papers are piled in the cardboard box. If these were papers that I had bought for another project I would press the papers and reuse them but these were punched from free magazine subscription cards and they are pretty beat up since I left them in the project until the bitter end. After I finish pulling papers from the smaller half and get a photo of all 2,327 beat up hexie papers they will be headed straight to the round bin.

Because Mr Serious is no longer portable, I pulled out a UFO. It's been a little disconcerting working on something else after 9 months of focused dedication as well as exhilarating to work on an old friend.

Baskets are one of my favorite blocks

This basket block is almost done and that means I'll have to soon decide how I want to arrange the 4 baskets for another doll bed quilt. Before you laugh, I was just invited to do another trunk show and (doll) bed turning in October. This is the third or fourth year I've been asked to do a show in October! And with that I need to get to work on some UFOs to add to my trunk show. Hopefully that means this blog will be a little less "boring" for you guys.

Before I took the photos I had been leaning towards tulips to the middle but now I think baskets to the middle and I'm hoping I have more of the brown (the only consistent fabric for each block) to do something with the borders or binding. I have a feeling it was a scrap tho and I might be out of luck...

I'm still working on the issue with my comments. On Friday I added a gmail account to the notification field on my blog and it worked for some comments but not others. I was going to take out my original email today to try that tweak but I found that blogger had deleted the gmail address from the list and that could explain the missing later comments. I hope you'll still play along while I try to fix this issue...

Since I don't get around to many other linky parties - what software are people using? My inlinkz account is up for renewal soon but lately not many people are joining in for various reasons and I'm not sure it's worth the money. It's not extravagant but no use wasting money that could be spent on more fabric! Any suggestions that you have seen on your or other blogs?? TIA

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HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 6/17/19

Remember how I droned on and on with myself about which day was really the 9 month deadline for getting the top for Mr Serious done? Well, in the end, I let technology make the decision and I almost missed getting out of making the decision. LOL.

I have a great app on my iPhone called "Reminder" and it will count down to any deadline you give it. I use it for everything such as vacations, our hexie club quilt exhibit install date and it even automatically adds birthdays and holidays.

Once the event passes, it will also count the number of days since the event passed. I finally remembered to check the count "up" on the Sunday of my conference and lo and behold it was the end of my 9 months!!!

We were stitching outside on the patio of our hotel room so I immediately ran to the beach to take some photos, knowing there wasn't much light left at 8:45pm.

White sand beaches don't make for great photos but I was so happy to see it as "one" piece I didn't really care. I had just a few more stitches to finish the right hand side but it's still in 2 pieces as I decided to add one more row of brown across the bottom and thought it would be easier in 2 pieces.

It's amazing how close it is to the photo and my original design . I know it should be but still...

This, however, was the money shot because who can resist a sunset in the ADK mountains? Don't forget that greyish mountain in the middle (Whiteface) as that will appear on one of my other trip reports later this week.

And now it's your turn - what EPP projects do you have to share??!!

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Rhodies and Hexies

First I thought I would share the rhodies as they are particularly full and vibrant this year. I've heard that they don't transplant well so when the foundation finally gets fixed these are going to go bye bye.

And then I thought I would share just how close I am to "finishing" Mr Serious!!!

Finished is kind of a vague term. 

Is it finished when I baste the last hexie and whipstitch it to one of the half moons I've been making to create columns? Is it finished when all the columns are complete (lots of half moons to stitch into columns, as seen above)? Is it finished when this quadrant is complete? Is it finished when the half plus 2 quarters become one piece?

As you will recall from me saying it over and over and over - I wanted to complete the top in 9 months. It was a goal that I worked towards but never expected to meet so this was left pretty vague as well because is it a strict 270 days (30/month), which is this Thursday or by the calendar which is next Tuesday (9/9 to 6/9)???

Considering that I only have ***THIRTY SEVEN*** hexies left to go, I will:

(a) Ignore everything else tonight to get as many hexies stitched as possible. It could take solid 3 hours to get all 37 stitched. Unless I fall asleep first from all the extra stitching over the weekend...

(b) Spend my free time (and there isn't much this week) to get the half moons into columns and hopefully even get this quadrant together by Thursday.

(c) Cry, when I didn't get the thing truly done and dusted as one completed top by Tuesday due to an overextended schedule this week into next.

(d) Rejoice when I bend the definitions of finished and 9 months to make it sound like I did it in time!

Woohoo!!

Wednesday Weather Report #106 - 5/29/19

It's amazing how a 3 day weekend / day off can throw the rest of the week off kilter. Today feels like a Tuesday but half-way through lunch I realized it was Wednesday and I didn't have my temp fabrics with me. To be honest, I can't wait to get back in the habit of doing them every day or so. It gives life some rhythm.

For the week of May 22-28, 2019: 65 - 70 - 64 - 72 - 77 - 72 - 67 F

Maybe this will make up for lack of a temp pic?

As you can see, I'm currently working to attach the bottom left section. I also have at least 10 more brown hexies assembled at home. That firmly puts me at less than 200 hexies to fill out this corner!!

My original goal of 9 months (270 days) is fast approaching and it's looking like I will be darn close but not quite as I only have 8 days. Originally the 9 month goal was just a plan in order to leave me time to get the thing quilted but now it's so close that I can taste it and I *want* it. I want it bad!

I plan to spend as much time as I can in the next week to make this happen. Tonight's chore? Cutting more white grunge - I only have 2 squares left, hence the working ahead on the browns...

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Feline Friday & HeLP for Hexie-aholics - 5/17/19

Welcome to a double header today!!

Looking at this picture just makes my heart race!

It's been a literal race for 250 days to get this far and I can't believe I am so close to finishing. There are thunderstorms forecast for Sunday and the car dealerships are all closed (grrr!) so I am declaring Sunday a Mr Serious day with no housework or chores allowed!

2,005 hexies completed = just 322 more to go!!

Black, greys and yellow are now completed. That just leaves the 3 cream/whites and brown.

And now it's your chance to share a link to anything related to your cat(s) or hexie project(s).

Have a happy feline and hexie filled weekend!!

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stuff

So...I just discovered that blogger hasn't sent me any comments posted in the last week. I'm sorry if y'all thought I was ignoring you yet again. I'll try to get them answered with the old fashioned copy and paste method, assuming I have your email...

I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party on Facebook. I'm really late in posting this so let me know ASAP if you want to join in on fb...orders are due tomorrow night but credit cards won't be charged until Monday. If you just want to order something and not play the games or check out the awesome fiesta recipes and tips you can head straight to https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/sarahballinger0513. Thanks for looking!

And for some "color" - this morning I stitched the last black and grey hexies for Mr Serious!! Woohoo!!! Tomorrow is both Feline Friday and HeLP for Hexie-aholics so look for an overall update. Maybe Z will cooperate for a group photo?! Only time will tell...

FYI - one of the missing comments asked me to post the original photo for Mr Serious. The original photo and all the status photos are listed on THIS page.

Feline Friday - 5/10/19

I chose to stay outside last night. It was a good idea until it started raining. And kept raining.

It rained long and hard enough that the usual spots, and even some new ones, flooded in my yard.

When Momma got up I waited an appropriate amount of time before curling up on her lap. Where else would I be on such a yucky, rainy morning??!!

1931 hexies = 83% complete,
Only 396 to go!!

So THIS happened in the last week!!! I now have a nose. Momma thinks it's a bit too bright in person but I assured her it would look ok when the quilt was finished.

I look good, don't I??!!

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Seventy Seven Percent!

1,799 hexies done
528 hexies to go
77% done!!!

Around the Corner...

Sadly these photos are pretty blown out but I guess that is kinda inevitable when the skies are grey and there is snow in the air!

I swear those are yellow hexies!

I had quite the productive 4 days thanks to a 2 day conference and a lazy, couch surfing Sunday. Yes - you counted correctly - I've added 80 hexies since I last posted an update on Wednesday! Averaging 20 hexies per day is an amazing pace for me and I didn't pop thru my callous until today at lunch. That was a close call.

And this, my friends, is now the full width of the project as I've rounded the top right corner.

I'll spare you all the math and just end with I'm now 72% done. Yay me!

Wednesday Weather Report #99 - 4/10/19

Did anyone notice I didn't post Feline Friday last week? I didn't notice until Saturday was half over. Oopsies!

Monday I had intended on posting a 5 year warning for the next solar eclipse that will be going over my house. I know it's early but the local law/fire/highway departments are beginning to plan for the extra traffic and tourists. I think Janet told me they drove 3.5 hours to watch the last eclipse but it took 8 hours to get home. Anyway, I'm inviting my bloggy friends to my house - we can stitch the weekend away and then watch the eclipse on Monday, 4/8/24. I'm as excited as one can be when there are 1,824 days to go... LOL.

April 3-9, 2019
44 - 40 - 41 - 60 - 65 - 60 - 55 F

As several people pointed out last week were are in the spring temperature swings. The colors were pretty consistent this week but I don't think the temps were. Can you believe it tried to snow for hours this morning? We rotated between grapple, sleet and rain for hours. Lucky me I wasn't expecting the snow and only wore a jean jacket. Ugh.

April 1-9, 2019

My most exciting news today is finally posting an updated photo of Mr Serious. I so wish I could get the colors of the photo when on my phone to show when it's transferred to the computer. I'll text the actual photo to anyone who wants - it's stunning. But, then again, I can say that cuz I'm the "mom".

If your eyes glaze over when it comes to math then you will probably want to come back to my blog on another day, starting ....... now!

• This quilt comprises 2,327 1/2" hexies
• 1,603 hexies are now done!!!
• This equates to 68.88869789% done
• I've worked on this project for 213 days which means I've averaged 7.5 hexies a day. In reality there were days I didn't do a single hexie and weekends I spent all day stitching in front of the boob tube.
• I still have 724 more hexies to go until it's finished, 196 of them in this top right quadrant
• I'm hoping to have the rest of the hexies done in the next 2 months, giving me 2 months for the quilting. This sounds like a lot of time but the summer season is fast approaching and that means less time to sew. On the last Saturday in April I have 4 invites for the same day and it's not even officially summer yet. I do have several conferences coming up and that usually means I can stitch during classes (it helps me concentrate). And let's not forget a retreat at the end of this month. Woohoo! In the end it's all about making progress on a daily basis and I'm pleased with where I am on this project.

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Mr Serious

I soooooooo wish the colors were more accurate on the computer. The yellow on the top right is such a pretty buttery yellow color and the "white" section is actually white, grey-white and off-white to help delineate shading and the edges of Z's chin and paws. 

I guess all ya'll will just have to come visit and see it in person!

Maybe at my total solar eclipse party in just 1,853 days??!!

You can see bottom right where I still need to add in 30 hexies. I need to decide how dark I want the shading there (which is between the front paws) and then I can bang those in pretty quick. As soon as I do those I can stitch the top and bottom together. 

Sorry, I didn't count the number of finished hexies again but you can use your imagination because each 2 column pair is 99 hexies and the new section on the right is set to half of the height. Let's just say it's a lot of hexies! LOL.

Feline Friday - 3/8/19

As much as things change around Casa Grande (Momma is rearranging the quilt lab and some other spaces) ... some things never change.

I know that every day I can snuggle with Momma on the couch while she stitches on my pawtrait.

We're predictable like that.

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Past Halfway

It's been nearly a month since I added an updated photo of Mr Serious but if you check the link to my project progress page you'll see that I've made considerable progress in that time.

In fact, you can now see an arm beginning to take shape :)

I think within a couple weeks I could have the bottom section the same width as the top.

And THAT means I can start cutting into the yellow for the top right of the project. Woohoo for new colors!!

I now have 1,226 hexies completed!!
And that leaves just 1,101 more to go.........

HeLP for Hexie-aholicss - 1/17/19

Hello Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome to our monthly Hexie Linky Party where we entertain EPP projects of any vintage or paper shape.

It's a brand new year - do you have a new hexie project or are you still working on old faithful? Today is the day to share!

As you are well aware, I am working on Mr Serious. I've just counted up the finished hexies and found it to be 1001 which makes me just 163 short of the half way mark!!!!

If my numbers have already made you crossseyed, you can skip to the end!

My original plan had been to take 9 months to stitch the top, leaving 3 months to quilt and bind the quilt. I also knew 3 months gave me lots of wiggle room, if needed, even tho they would be busy summer months. On Saturday I will be 19 weeks thru the 9 months with 20 weeks left to go. Where has the time flown?

The original math had told me 8 hexies a day would be sufficient while I had actually hoped for 10 a day knowing that some days I wouldn't even have time to stitch a single hexie. It's good to know that I have actually been keeping a 7.5 hexie a day pace so far despite many no hexie days. I had no idea I was so close to being on schedule.

It will be hard not to stitch all weekend, instead of doing some necessary chores, during the pending snow storm...wish me luck!

And now it's your turn - what are you working on? Did you start a new project? Pull out an old project? Finally succumb to starting a temperature quilt?

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #87 - 1/16/19

We're friends, right?! So I can be honest?

Righto then ... I haven't done a THING on my temperature quilt since last Tuesday beyond recording the daily temps at 1pm.

Instead I've been working on Mr Serious in anticipation of tomorrow's HeLP post:

The 3 cream hexies are the shading for the chin.
They are not quite as subtle in person.

What's that, you say? Oh yes, I know the color map is upside down but that's how I work on each strip so it's easier to just have the map upside down. In essence I am starting with what's closest to me and then stitching away from myself.

I'm working in strips by creating a 7 hexie rosette and then creating 6 hexie partial rosettes that fits onto the first rosette. This allows me to create a strip which is quite portable and easier to work with instead of the whole mothership.

I only need one more strip to complete the section that fits into and squares off the mothership. I doubt it will be ready for tomorrow but I'll do my best. No matter how far I get before I post tomorrow, I should be able to get a current count of completed hexies and rejigger the math to get back on a solid production schedule since I now have an install date of 9/6/19 for our exhibit at the Arts Council for Wyoming County.

Back to the weather...
It was a beautiful week with a touch of snow, a lot of sun and all in the purple and violet range!

29 - 21 - 17 - 23 - 19 - 25 - 27 F

I should have no problem catching up this weekend as a big storm is expected so I don't plan on going anywhere. Sunday should be in the single digits so it's time to pull out the next weather color :)

How are your temperature quilts coming? Any one new joining in? We would love to see your projects!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Another Serious Update

Yesterday was the four month mark for Mr Serious!

Am I on schedule? Nope, probably not even close.

Am I still trucking on? Oh hell yeah! And If things go as planned, I should be adding the first eye tonight!!!

It got to a point where the red/Mothership was just too large and cumbersome to be adding hexagons one at a time so when I moved to the black/face I started making hexies in strips. I started each strip with a rosette and then added partial rosettes until I got the length I wanted before adding it to the new black face section.

I'm not sure the two whites I'm using for the body have the contrast I need to delineate the chin so I'm trying to finish the black and then I'll go back to decide on one of the whites or a yellowy cream.

The plan is to finish this black/white section until it fits into the red/mothership and then stitch them together. That will mean that each column is the same length and I can get a good count of where I stand.

I'm not sure what I'll work on next - the brown table into the white body at the bottom left or continue with the face at the top right while also adding the yellow. I'm thinking I *should* do the brown/body to fill out and match the width of the red/mothership but I really want to dig in to that yellow! This is what we call impatience so I won't decide until this face section is done... Lord help me ...