feeling forgotten?

 oh dear sweet blogger.

i haven't forgotten about you.
sure, my ventures in youtube land have been quite time consuming, but i know you're still here for me, waiting in the background.

here's a little bit about what's coming your way soon:
-ombre weave quilt
-purple weekender quilt
-strawberry quilt

i've also signed up to participate in my first swap in 5 million years (so it feels) and it is dinosaur themed... so i clearly couldn't resist.  you'll be able to see my finished items from that soon enough (my ideas are formulating and need to be shipped in march.

also.
throwing a social distance drive by baby shower, which i haven't made a quilt for, and packing up my entire apartment life all by the end of march.

no sweat... right?

christmas week

 WHAT.
how has it gotten to be almost an entire month since my last post?

ooof.
well, to be honest... things have gotten crazy, so that's totally on me.
but i'm just popping in to say that a few things are under way.

my christmas quilt FINALLY got finished last week!  
i quilted it at some point during the month, and then just got binding on it.
i'll be photographing it this evening, and HOPEFULLY getting a post up for it before christmas.
i know that gives me like... three days to do so... so fingers crossed!

i also never posted aileen & ben's christmas quilt either...
so here's to hoping i can get that post up as well.
in addition, i made a lot of gifts for my friends i don't get to have mug exchange parties with this year, and block party with caliquiltco is still going strong.  we're off from new videos these next two weeks, but i'll be making my samples over that time to really get the ball going for january's shows.

plus, i've got a personal project endeavor i plan to kick off january 1st...
and yes, i realize that is just over a week away... THE STRESS IS SETTING IN!

i was able to gift my bold blocks quilt to my dear friend and co-teacher from this summer, and the excitement she had when receiving it was well worth it.  

once my orders come today in the mail... i am DONE with my holiday shopping!  it was looking rough there when i had ZERO tracking information for about a week and a half.  ugh.
happy christmas week to all of those celebrating! 

short and sweet... but probably a little long winded.

so i had intentions for a longer post, but between last week and this one, i've got a whole heck of a lot going on at work to get ready for.

plus, i totally meant to get another christmas quilt blogged last week... but clearly that didn't happen and set my schedule back a bit.  oops.

last week was block party number 2, and i feel like it went quite a bit better than the first week.  i demonstrated how to make the hexi muggy ruggy using the creative grids hexagon trim tool, and they turned out pretty cute.  i didn't get a chance to take a good photo with my camera... and i think i failed to post on instagram as well.

i also made the full table runner as a sample to go with week 1's leaf block, and it turned out AWESOME.  i quilted it up and finished it up for saturday's live show (for my show it was only the top) and look forward to hearing how well it sold.
which this also means that a finshed project means another blog post in the works. i already informed my family it would be on the table for thanksgiving, so it will get used before fall is gone.

this week i'm demo-ing another creative grids ruler to make some placemats as well as show how else you can use the block if you don't want to make all the placemats or the table runner.  that's what this blog post's main photo is of, so you can tune in for more about that soon :)
block party is at 9:30am PST every wednesday over on facebook at cali quilt co
if you are one of my few blog followers and haven't met me in real life, shout out in the comments when you watch.  i'd love to know what kind of traffic i get here!

friday i FINALLY quilted my christmas quilt.  i also tested out my new video camera that i bought over the quarantine summer, and it worked okay-ish, but i think the battery died or it got bored before i finished.  maybe it ran out of memory card space?  i'm not sure.  but i also learned that if i'm going to free motion and record it, don't put the camera to my right...  whole lot of my backside in view.  
my plan is to get the quilt bound this week so it is all ready to go by december 1st.

but that should be interesting with block party planning, black friday working, a dentist appointment today AND thanksgiving happening.

plus all the HSTs i still need to make for the all star quilt.

i should probably set a goal for that to make a certain amount a day.

100?  is that realistic?
there are 54 squares of each color... so if i make a full set a day, then i'll be game.

maybe i'll just HST marathon on thanksgiving.  its not like i am useful for any of that cooking process.

i also need to clean up my sewing table a bit...
i put my laundry away FINALLY... which ate in to a lot of my sewing time.

stupid adulting.

plus, my computer keeps shouting at me about running out of space.

ACK.

it's been a grand (and exhausting) week

another week, another collection of updates!

we made it through halloween last week, kicked off november, and had a tuesday that seemed to never end.  but we've made it, and here we are at another monday!
but a whole heck of a lot happened in between.

i trimmed a lot of half square triangles.

and when i say a lot, i mean a LOT.

also last week... ya girl turned the big 32.

i celebrated by going to work.  sounds pretty typical, right?

a year ago, or even 6 months ago, i had plans to go big for this birthday.  angelina had told me once about having a second annual sweet 16 when she turned 32, but that idea got forgotten.  i was SO determined to do it up big, but well... thanks to COVID, my celebration couldn't happen as planned.
i've already started to envision plans for next year's 33... so keep those fingers crossed.

thursday i had mexican food and friday i had pizza at godfathers.  all in all, a pretty well fed birthday.

also this week was the big grand opening at cali quilt co, and boy was it BUSY.  

friday and saturday were very consistent with people in the shop, and we STILL ran our live show on saturday night.  sunday was my day off, but i headed down to the shop to get a few more ombre fabrics to fully stock what i need for my all star quilt.  plus i got some of the dino prints i had been eyeballing... because everyone (me) needs astronaut dinosaurs and super hero dinosaurs.  but now, i need to head back to reality and just need to keep chopping, sewing, trimming, and repeating until all 720 sets are made.  our guild retreat begins on friday, so i'd like to have as many HSTs done as i can so i can make blocks there instead of just HST all day err day.also coming this week is my first live show!

while i've been the hands and voice behind the camera on our shop's saturday night live shows, starting this week, i'll be doing my own "block party" every wednesday at 9:30am PST.  we also have a monday live video called "miek's mondays" with our shop manager annemieke that starts today!  

i made this week's block as a practice round yesterday, and it is honestly so cute, i cannot wait to make more of them.  you'll be able to purchase the kits and all the goodies we share through the show and then be able to make it with us when you rewatch the videos.  cool, right??

be sure to "like" cali quilt co by clicking here to go to their facebook page :)

happy monday!

one month (and three days) in

 i've officially made it one month as a full time employee.

can you believe it?
one thing i have already noticed is that it has REALLY helped my eating out habits.
when i did the split shift, i worked in the morning from 7-12:30, and after eating something for lunch, worked from 1-5:30 or so, which left me hungry and lazy once i got off work.
but now, i work from 7-3:30, bring my lunch with me each day, and then remind myself it is WAY too early for dinner.
so now, i maybe eat out once or twice a week if i'm out running errands or something?

moral of the story: more money for fabric.  

oh, and i did a thing last week too :)

being that blonde for a hot second was weird, but the end result was exactly what i was hoping for.
still getting used to seeing the teal hair i've been wanting for years (but couldn't because of my teaching job) and the fact that it isn't just going to wash out after one rinse... ha.
but do i anticipate this being a long time thing?  absolutely!

otherwise, this week has been mildly productive quilty wise.
purchased some black on black fabric for my first project planned for 2021, so with that started (i already printed the pattern as well) then it relieves a little bit of the chaos of kicking off the year with something new.  plus, i usually marathon sew on new year's eve, and since i don't anticipate any parties happening, i'll for sure be sewing away to get things going.

speaking of "parties"...

i saw my friends for the first time this weekend since april, if not longer.  the last time we "gathered" was for jared's drive by birthday, and that was all of 15 minutes tops.
it was a well missed experience.
clearly, i had no costume plans for this, and when it was planned to be outside, i borrowed my dad's rosco onesie, made a mask and called it a day.

no major projects or quilt tops completed this week, but i finally convinced myself to start working more on my big sister/little sister quilt combo.
i'm super stoked with the projects i chose, but making over a thousand HSTs is daunting!
sunday night i got 4 sets of colors sewn and trimmed while marathoning episodes of new girl on my phone.  yesterday, i got those pressed, and i had hoped to trim them as well... but man that was a chore just to press them.  now it is back to drawing guide likes on the next set of while squares to line up my 

i bought the planner i was debating about last week, and i think it is really going to help keep me on track for all of my 2021 personal quilting plans as well as work tasks and such.  
sure, i plan to still use my bullet journal tracker and such as well, but having a calendar i don't have to draw myself will also be nice.

what's on the agenda for this week?
sewing
sewing
birthday dinner
birthday pizza
more sewing

that's right, everyone.
november is officially birthday month.  well, it is easy to make it last when you're used to celebrating your birthday either in october or thanksgiving at grandma's house.
it's a hard tradition to break, especially when grandma's furniture is in my living room now ;)

just give me a cape and call me super productive

 but seriously...

i got SO MANY PROJECTS done this week!
first off, i ran a bunch of errands last monday, got some cans exchanged for a solid $5 AND got taco tree for dinner.  that was just on monday!

tuesday was a trickier day - our dance studio started back up, which was an event all in itself.
can i just say i'm glad at least some of us know how to wear masks correctly? oy.
psa: not covering your nose doesn't count.

wednesday though... wednesday was productive!  
after a full day at work, i knocked out the quilting on my bold blocks quilt i've been pattern testing for allison ramsing AND came home to make 2 pillowcases that i had been putting off.  i bought some really cute"dinoween" fabric well over a month ago at the big J, but it just sat.  finally on monday, i bought the flannel to coordinate and i knocked these suckers out.  at least i'll have 10 days of pre-halloween useage of them this year.

thursday and friday i sewed up the rest of my dinosaur blocks in to a quilt top, and then saturday i got binding on my bold blocks quilt.  on sunday, things got photographed, which means more blog posts are about to happen!

i've printed off a blank calendar to start planning for next month's posts, and that leads me to my next predicament.  should i invest in a 2021 planner?  or is it going to be a total wash like the one i bought for 2020?  i've got some big blogging and youtube plans for 2021, so part of me wants to say yes, just based on that alone.  its not like i'll be having to keep track of summer camp writing deadlines, preschool meetings and such.

i guess if i go run errands and hit target today (or stay home and spend too much time on amazon) then i'll see if i end up impulse buying something!

granted, i'm nearing birthday week. so impulse buys are going to be more justified (by me) than normal...
but that's also really difficult with a november birthday followed by december in christmas.  i usually get told i'm not allowed to buy anything for myself between now and january.  ha.

spooky season

i think calling october as a whole "spooky season" is pretty cute.
but this post doesn't have a single spooky related thing in it...

oh well.

i have to say overall, this week has been pretty good in the crafty department.

monday, i went to the long arm to complete someone else's quilt, and after a few funky moments, i finished it!  it will go to it's home this week, and then i'll actually be back long arming my own project this wednesday.  whoo hoo!

last week, you may have heard i cut out 1200 white squares...
yeah.  true story.
well, a few days went by that i had nothing to sew, and then i finally hit the ground running.  i bought the fabric i needed for the next phase of my cutting, which is only half of the ones i need.  we don't seem to have all of the "old colors" for the v and co ombre dots, so i'll be looking to see which new ones to mix in.  as well as comparing to add in to the little sister quilt that goes with this one.

ALSO... we had a sew day yesterday out in elk grove, which means i got started on my baby sized elizabeth hartman dinosaur quilt.  so far, i got all my plants done as well as half the dinosaurs.  i don't have any sneak peek photos yet, unless you look on my instagram, but this one is SO GOOD.  i had a different idea for when i made the one that would be "my size" but man, i'm going to have to scrap it and make it in this colorway for sure, i love it so much.  also, i had to start the hashtag emilylovesdinosaurs, which i imagine will take over instagram in no time.  
well, a girl can dream, right?

i also impulse bought a ring light this week, which will hopefully be a game changer when i have to do late night blog header photos (like the one above) BUT i also have a crazy idea for 2021, quilting and youtube, and i really think that this will help out.  granted, i bought the cheapest one on amazon, which comes with a crummy non adjustable tripod and a weird phone mount, so i might need to make some adjustments there.

stay tuned for new finished projects this week!  i've got 4 coming at you before the end of october, so don't miss out.

october!

can you believe we're now over a week and half in to october?
where has the time gone?
i feel like it took SO LONG to get through april and may, and now the days are just flying by and christmas will be here before we know it.
am i ready for christmas?  despite the amount of holiday quilts i have made... absolutely not!

i've officially worked a week and a half full time retail now, and i have to say...
i regret nothing.
the transition between everything has been smooth, and besides my whacked out sleep schedule, everything is going great.  i feel like i'm getting better each day about pulling online orders, getting things put back, and being overall knowledgeable about where things are, information about products, and all the random bits in between.

yesterday i went to brunch with a few members of the preschool team, and it was delightful.  noisy, but very delightful  i look forward to many more future "non-work" gatherings with these lovely individuals i worked with these past 6 years.  don't worry, we were distanced, masked and extra safe even with things starting to be lifted in our counties here in california.

after brunch, i took my trolly full of things to my parents house to get projects started, double checked, and even on their way to their new homes!  i photographed and packed up 3 baby quilts, sorted my grunge FQs for my dinosaur quilt, and even got some kona cut for some matching quilts.  productivity underway?  you betcha!

now on to this week.

today, i'm long arming a quilt for someone who got my info through caliquiltco.  holla!
it's a mega one, so even though i just finished a quilt i'm pattern testing, i will be holding off and putting all my energy in to the one.
i'll be doing a pantograph i'm very familiar with, so that helps as well. (loop the loop, for reference.  it is the same one i have done on my kittens quilt and numerous music quilts)

after i complete that, it will go back to it's owner and i'll be able to take a breath and do some more things on my own list.  those things include, but aren't limited to:

-finish bold blocks quilt
-prep little sister quilt
-prep big sister quilt
- FINALLY start my dinosaur quilt

i also realized you all never saw my halloween costume from last year...
there was a plan for it to be worn during our dance recital this summer, but due to current situations, that clearly did not happen.  so perhaps i'll add "awkwardly photograph self in parent's driveway" to my list of things to do in the days before halloween as well.

and i think once we hit november, i'll feel better about hitting you all with my christmas quilts.
once i finish my bold blocks quilt, i'll be up to three completed quilts, and then i just need to finish MINE.  can i get it done before december?  let's all send good productive vibes out in to the world saying a big fat YES.

so i quit my job.

don't worry, i'm not jobless at all.
in fact, quite the opposite.
ya girl is FINALLY working a full time gig.

months ago, when i went back to working childcare after being unemployed and then hired by caliquiltco, i was put on hold at the shop due to COVID still being fairly new and unknown of what i could contract now working with children of essential care workers.

spoiler alert: i didn't get covid.
(granted, i fear jinxing myself EVERYTIME i write that)

anyways, in the meantime, i was given a full time offer that lingered for awhile.
but i was anxious for the potential of preschool to resume.
but it didn't.  and it still hasn't.
so after much reflection and realizing the things i want to do with my life that putting everything on hold just wasn't going to help with, i made the plunge to leave my job of 6 years and accept the full time offer presented to me.

of course, i did it the day before i went to the training, which i guess was nice, since it helped cushion the blow and shorten the amount of days remaining before my final day.

yeah, i cried.  
a lot.  i'll admit it.
for like a week before and after.
but come my final day, i survived.  i got a little teary and sad when i saw the note on the white board, but i managed to not fully melt down.  so that's a plus.
man, we're getting REAL on this post!

i'll miss the familiarity, and i'll for SURE miss the kiddos, but now it is on to a new adventure that will open doors for so many more things.  it's going to be a transition working retail again for the first time in like... 8 years?  but here's to new adventures.
onward and upward, they say.

new journey starts here

 oh boy.  where to begin?
back in august 2019, when my personal 2020 started with heartbreak that just kept on rolling?
nah, that's too far to start rehashing.

we're all fairly aware of how rough 2020 has been in general, so no need to recap those early months in entirety.  but for those of you that are just joining us, i'm emily.  i'm a preschool teacher that was put on hold because of COVID, was on unemployment for a bit, and then started working at a quilt shop before going back to childcare in may.  since then, i had been working both jobs split, with the additional dance classes i teach just out there in space, because that just straight up wasn't happening.

ok, fast forward to september.

1. i cut my hair (FINALLY)
2. i quit my job
3. i left the state

okay, that made it sound super dramatic... 
but just hang in there.  i'm going to break this down in to parts.
first, the hair cut, since it made the list.

i was supposed to have a haircut in like... july... but then it got cancelled.

then, as luck would have it, california was allowed to reopen things and i went in for the CHOP.

long overdue, but 10" is ready to be donated.  and it feels SO GOOD to have short hair again.

i told some coworkers that it was the breakup haircut i needed a year ago. partially true, but also they didn't know i was just days away from turning in my notice.

yep.  

after much deliberation and internal debate, i turned in my two week notice.

preschool wasn't resuming any time soon, the district is currently fully distance learning and wouldn't be moving to hybrid until AFTER my birthday in november.  

i cried a lot that week, as one would imagine, and then drove to my parents after work that day.

no, i didn't need THAT much consoling.

instead, they were driving me to the airport (see?  that previous time lapse post wasn't irrelevant!)

but now that i've checked off parts 1 & 2 for the september list, i'm going to make you wait on part 3.
because its a pretty big deal, and a whole lot of awesome :)

hi again.

 don't worry, i'm here.

the last few weeks have been a real whirlwind, that i'm still trying to both wrap my head around as well as document here for the years to come.

also, i felt real weird blogging christmas quilts in september, so even though those are done, i'm still going to wait a little longer to post them... at least until the weather is a little bit cooler.  thanks, fake california fall.

in the meantime, here's a fun little video to tide you over, which will also play in to the update post that is yet to come :)

labor day weekend vibes

don't you worry, you're not losing your mind.
you're not wrong, today is in fact tuesday and NOT monday like usual.
i figured i'd take the three day weekend off from blogging as well, and include monday's productivity in this weekly update as well.

i'm a little shocked we've also made it in to the september level of 2020.
what chaos is going to ensue this month?

this week included a lot of prep work, and then the weekend hit at full steam.
monday, i started cutting out the blocks for the baby quilt i wanted to get done this week (you know.  the one with the fat quarter bundle i impulse bought).  tuesday, i bought the kona to go with it and chopped it up.  by thursday (i think) i had all my blocks done and a layout up on my design wall.  i needed saturday to come, because i needed to spread out.

and saturday sure did happen.
i went to my parent's house early in the morning (by early, i mean 9am) and then my mom and i set out on a voyage to check out what was left at fabric garden for their going out of business sale.  we made it there by 9:30, to be the 5th and 6th in line (luckily, they let us both go in together even though the cut of was 5)
i found a backing for my kapow quilt, binding for a christmas quilt, plus a few random pieces of yardage here and there.  no grunge to stash away, or i could have gone for broke.  then headed to swifty stitches where i got some thread for quilting and then we attempted to go to fabric garden, but i didn't check ahead of time and they don't have saturday hours again just yet.  my bad.
after lunch i got down to business and knocked out the entire quilt top in one day (including a dinner pizza break) and followed it up with making the 3 backs needed for quilting.

monday i quilted for 6 hours, and got all three quilts done!
now the rest of this week will be spent recuperating and gearing up to making some binding.  
i suppose i could also start working on either my big/little sister quilt sets or the shop samples.
hmm... decisions, decisions...

august 15 minutes wrap up

 this week has for sure been productive, let alone this month, compared to others.

well... except for all the blogging i was planning on doing.  whoops!

i looked back at my chart made for sewing 15 minutes a day in august, and i feel like i did pretty well at it.

there are a few days where i counted blogging... and a few where nothing happened (like last friday... YEESH i was zonked when i left work) but in total, i had a very consistent base of productivity.

i pattern tested a quilt, and finished that up yesterday.  i'm hoping to quilt it next week, which means you'll get to see it very soon!

my norweigan woods quilt was completed this month as well, along with the mini kitty meadowland quilt (i STILL can't find poly mailers to send that off.  probably need to try not-walmart) and the holliberry alexandra tote.  finally, erika's virtual baby shower was earlier this month, and i and still super thrilled with how her onsies turned out.
speaking of erika... see that fat quarter bundle?  yeah, that's going to be a super adorable riley blake quilt for her impending baby girl.  someone shared the fabric in a young & millennial quilters group that i'm in (and also added lisa to) and within 12 hours of seeing it, bought a fat quarter bundle... and then had to figure out a pattern.  but rest assured, the pattern was found and the selected fat quarters have been starched and pressed for my post work arrival tomorrow!  my goal is to have this completely finished by monday as well, since i had the day off from one job and decided to take the day off from the shop to have a long arming day.

more crafting and quilting means more finished projects to share, right??

speaking of long arm quilting, boy do i have some exciting news!

just over a week ago, tayva asked me if i would be interested in attending a workshop on the long arm machines they have at caliquiltco.  uh... yes please?

they're sending me to SLC for a 2 day workshop next month, and i am SO EXCITED.

best part is, after the workshop brings the weekend, which means i'll get some cousin hang time before heading back to california on sunday.

i'm sure you're all wondering if i'm nervous about flying in the current status of the world... and the answer is yes...ish.  it's a short flight, and given how things have been figuring out these past few months, i'd like to put my trust that the airlines are doing everything they can to keep things as safe as possible.

now... let's get back to quilting!

california's burning

this last week was a doozy.

virtual baby shower wrapped up, christmas quilt finished and then BOOM.

california is on fire.

where i'm at in northern california, it seems like we're between two fires, and the ash is everywhere.

the skies are gray, the weather is murky and the windows haven't been open for days.

tuesday the weather was decent enough to swim, but by thursday night, we got a text to not come in friday morning because of the weather.  THAT is how insane things are right now.

anybody roll a 5 or 8 to get us out of this jumanji jungle yet?

i finished my norweigan woods quilt this week as well, so that was a nice little feeling of accomplishment despite the sluggish heatwave feeling.

this weekend i also started working on pattern testing for joanna marsh with kustom kwilts.  i'll be doing the baby quilt size, so everything should piece together this week.  but check out that GRUNGE.  in the end, this doesn't have a recipient, but it will absolutely be stashed away for the day that i do.  i can't wait to see how it comes together!

here's to hoping we don't sweat our brain out this week... and that maybe these fires get under control so the skies can clear up a little bit.  i'm ready for an open window to create a breeze up in here... i've got at least 4 quilts on my roster to get done soon!

august update

i'm going to try something new this time.
instead of giving you a weekly run down, i'm just going to update you on things that are happening right here, right now.

okay, maybe not "right now" since i don't know what time you'll be reading this, or what i'll actually be doing.  but here's the rundown of things that are crafty all up in hurrrr...

quilts in progress
in the bullet journal photo above, you'll see my key for a sample quilt i'm working on for caliquiltco.  yesterday, we had a social distance sew day with some members of the sacmqg, and i was able to knock out a whole bunch of tree parts for this quilt!
i love how it looks, and while i have to redo the star tree toppers this week, it is turning out to be such a great quilt.  i might have a hard time letting this one go!  i'm using the northcott farmhouse christmas line with moda grunge for the background and the star on top.

i also shopped for another quilt in progress (well, in progress in my brain) and that was an event of it's own doing.  shoutout to the joann's employee who helped us search bolts of kona white for two pieces that add up to 7 yards.  HUGE appreciation to how our shop doesn't layer chunks on to the same bolt.  super rude and super deceptive!

i'm also in talks to do a memorial quilt for my dear friend of clothes from her late momma as a sort of "hug from grandma" quilt.  i super appreciate the trust she's putting in my hands, and its going to be a labor of love, so i'm super excited (and nervous) to get my hands on it.

speaking of bullet journal...
as you can see, i'm really trying my hand at incorporating it more in to my daily life.  i bought rad & happy's planner last year, and happily dated it through 2020... well, that went down the "bad egg" chute, much like veruca salt...  so using this bullet journal style more to keep track of things i'm working on, quilt layouts and whatnot will hopefully help me stay organized and on top of things. 
i especially say that, because i got to sew day and searched through my pattern envelope for my quilt layout key... and it WASN'T THERE.  clearly, it stayed home... so the sketch you see above is the one that i drew while at sew day.  

video attempts... still coming
i was totally going to do a vlog post start to finish about the next quilt i did... which would have been this christmas one if i got my act together... but i forgot until i was already done cutting fabric. we still aren't in our new shop yet either, and might not be until some point next month...  so in the meantime, i might come up with a bit more content somehow... someway...
riddle me this...
what kinds of things would you want to see video posts on?
i'm intrigued to hear your thoughts!

hi. i'm here.

hi. 

i'm here.

it's august? 

what?

in a normal world... the one planned in 2019... i was supposed to be back in texas this weekend at a concert with my best friend.

instead, i was mostly at home, planning out things for her virtual baby shower in a few weeks.

please imagine a mega eye roll and sigh here.

i've been terrible at getting projects done, but i need to kick it in to high gear.

especially since my work schedule basically isn't going to change in a few weeks.

usually we'd have our big prek start the year meeting in about a week and half, but whelp... preschool isn't happening for me until at least january 2021, if at all.

in the meantime, more spirit days have come, in which more masks have been crafted to suit each theme.  i've been using the orange dot quilts simple mask pattern for these, and 2 out of 2 of us agree they're great. (besides the mickey masks, i've only been making them for myself and one coteacher, because we're the ones going all out on spirit day)

please enjoy my obscure mask selfies, plus a full view of my disney 2.0 ensemble, featuring watermelon.a week ago (the 25?  was that a week? ish?) i was able to do a drive by quilt delivery, so that means new content will be coming soon!

well... more new content beyond what i have to catch up with.

plus, i sewed a tote bag friday night to show on satuday's live show.  it turned out really cute, and it is festive... so it was a win-win to try and get my sewjo going beyond the occasional mask and frantic pj pants.

i need to go back to my 15 minutes a day sewing.

i think i will make that my goal for august.  i was so productive in march, and that was even before i was off work.  creating it to be something i need to check off each day will hopefully fuel my fire and get crafty again.

i also have a cross stitch i still haven't finished.

probably because we're still dwelling in the dot over the i in this jeremy bearimy called 2020.

here's to productivity this coming week.

if i had a glass, i'd cheers to it.

so instead, i'll just chug my hydroflask.

checking in... it's july now?

july.... we're here somehow.

crazy right?

i keep tagging these posts 2020 quarantine, but i don't even know if this phase is still considered quarantine?  california seems to be going all over the place.  phase 2, phase 3, back to phase 2.  ack.

my quilt finishing ability has slowed WAY down... so here's to trying to turn that around quickly.a week ago from saturday, i got my water bottle pimped out. 

so that's cool.

a gal i've known since elementary school got a "new to her" cricut, so she's been playing with it.  jealous

i've wanted a name sticker forever, so i threw some ideas at her, and she knocked it out of the park.

at least one of us was being crafty, right?

monday of this last week was cooler, so i made more meatball blobs.

at least i can have variety in my food again.

which also means i need to go grocery shopping.

honestly, my last two weeks were pretty uneventful, much like the update post prior.

my sewjo was zonked for the most part, but when it came to the middle of last week and i decided my coteachers and i needed some masks for spirit day on friday, well... i had to make it happen.

and it was very worth it.i used the orange dot quilts simple mask pattern and after a bit of mix ups, they turned out perfect.  our spirit day theme was "disney/star wars" so since it was the last day of work before july 4th, we decided to take a heavy patriotic spin to it as well.

survey says: these masks were great.

they didn't suck in to our mouths while talking/teaching and i had no struggles the whole day.

my head hurt, but that was because of my headband combined with my walkie talkie earpiece.  i didn't fuss with it at all, and it didn't pull at my ears.

the only problem was that i don't drink as much water when wearing the masks.  my hydroflask was still pretty full at the end of my 6 hour shift.

if i have to make any more masks, i'll probably use this pattern again.come last thursday, my productivity bug was itching, so i decided to get to work on a baby quilt.

i had previously cut the squares on sunday at my parent's, and then they sat.  (i'm doing angela pingel's take heart pattern, by the way)

thursday night i made my half square triangles, pulled out and hung up my new design wall, and got everything laid out.  i also cut out the curved pieces, but didn't trust myself to sew curves at 10pm.  so i ate ice cream instead.  whoops.

friday i slept in, worked at the quilt shop, and then after a hearty meal of in-n-out, i knocked out those curves, and the rest of the quilt top at that.

two quilts with curves in one quarantine, let alone one year?

i might be losing my mind.

but we already knew that.

saturday i ran errands and then spend the afternoon/evening at my coworker's to celebrate the 4th.

spent time in the pool, at some bbq, blew up things, and had a good time overall.

sunday i woke up eventually, opened instagram, and found my patriotic picnic quilt featured on missouri star company's instagram account.  whaaaat? check it out here!

basically, spent a lot of the day folding laundry... washing laundry... folding more laundry...

here we are at another monday, ready to kick things in to gear and do the same things we do every week.

work hard and do nothing else because we're not allowed to.

june is hot and exhausting

need i say more?

the past few weeks have slowly but quickly flown by.

it is a weird feeling.  

now having gone back to both jobs for a few weeks now, i am (understandably) more tired when i get home so i haven't been sewing much.  which is nice to know i'm earning money during this time, but still a bummer that leisure time is now "zone out on the couch time"

speaking of which... anyone else a zoey's extraordinary playlist fan?  my coworker kept telling me about it, so i sat down to watch one episode on thursday and ended up forcing myself to stop after three!

last sunday, sacmqg did have a sew day, and i managed to complete one of the baby quilt tops that i needed to... so that's something, right?

i have a second one shopped for, and nearly worked on it yesterday at my parent's house... but lounging on the couch watching tv was much more appealing.

here's to a hopefully productive week, filled with rainbows, sunshine and lots of sleep.

i really need to tell myself it is OKAY that i don't stay awake until 10 or 11...

5:30 is an early wake up call.  especially when you're not a morning person.

no more may today

can you believe we've made it to june?

may was starting to feel just as long as march did... and it was starting to get REAL BAD over here, guys.

physically, mentally, emotionally... all over the place.

but we're here!  we made it!

how did the last week of may span out?  let's dive in.

monday was memorial day, and we decided to brave joann's.

we (mom and i) went to the furthest one in our area, since we hadn't scoured the flannel at that location like we had the other two closer to us.  at first we were going to go after lunch, but a quick change of plans got us there 2 minutes before opening and in the door in the first wave.  after about 30 minutes in the storem we had flannel, binding and a few skeins of yarn.  once we came out, the line had already grown and wrapped the building in the other direction.  thank goodness for our change of plans or we would have been there in the hot hot heat.  and monday wasn't even the worst day!

hung around my parents for a bit, made some chex mix and then headed back home to do exciting things like finally take off my flannel sheets.

tuesday was a work day.  back to the grind of it all.

i also knocked out the rest of my masks needed for my aunt's staff and battled the tiredness 

wednesday i was able to pop in a zoom "graduation" call for a few of my preschoolers, and it was the cutest thing ever.  and made my heart so sad at the same time.

3 pairs of pajama pants were completed, and i bought 2 new quilt patterns from then came june, and i already have plans for one of them very soon!

thursday...
all i can really remember is moving things around in my classroom to get ready for the new version of summer camp.  i'd like to blame the heat for the forgetfulness.  this should have been the last day of prek, where we all got to go to the park, hang out, play and look at our memory books, but instead we have been apart for 2 and a half months now and it has been so bizarre.

friday was another long day at work, and it felt like every time we got the ball rolling, it was time to clock out.  once 3pm hit, i went to the chiropractor and then home.  a smiden later, i got chickfila for the first time in forever before settling in to get ready for our friday night hang out zoom call.  i revamped my set up and got it loaded on my ipod so i could sit and make binding while chatting (my laptop is still elsewhere) and managed to bind one of my quilts as well.

saturday came, so i rolled out of bed, got ready and delivered the village quilt to jenny for her unbirthday.  i told her it was an open adoption, because the longer it took to make that quilt, the more i wanted to make sure it went to someone who would take good care of it and then i'd see it every so often when she does posts.  after a stop at in n out (long time craving with always long lines) i delivered masks and pjs to my aunt before returning to my dungeon.  granted, it was much cooler than two days prior, so it was an easy decision to bind 2 more quilts, get some jimboys and plan out some future projects.

sunday was a lazy day for sure.  

lugged my 3 finished quilts to my parents to photograph (having nowhere to hang them at my apartment as well as no useful human quilt holder) and left them all there because they're getting donated.  boy is that a bitter sweet (and slightly weird) feeling, since i started to really really like 2 of the 3 quilts in the batch turned out.  though i did come home with my mom's wall hanging to finish, since the binding fabric is being shipped here since i FINALLY found some.

this means that the last quilt i have to bind is the jelly roll race 2.0, which is taking a little longer since i committed to only using my stash as well as doing the time lapse video sets.  i surveyed instagram regarding the binding color, so once that is finalized, then finishing things will be underway!

here's to another monday to kick off the week.

i'll be working a full week this week, which will prepare me to go back to the job that has been on pause all this time that i've returned to child care.

i'm super excited! (and no, that's not sarcastically said either)

mundane monday

i am honestly struggling to remember what i got done all last week, so you can look at this doofus cat instead.
i can say that last week was weird.  it rained a few days if i remember correctly.  which was weird, but nice.  by friday, the impending heatwave started to rear it's head.
we're looking at 108 on wednesday this week... ACK.
monday... what happened on monday...
oh!  i finished up the final mask for the first round of pajamarama for my aunt and loaded up my car to drop them off that evening.  after that, i went and got chando's tacos from the taco truck nearby, because i just couldn't bring myself to have another cheeseburger.  (i had like... 3 last week it seems, simply because it was the most convenient on the way to longarm.  oops!)
also, erika revealed the gender of her upcoming little one... and it is officially girls across the board!  well, with the exception of my cousin's wife due in july.
tuesday i battled the exhaustion that i felt the last two tuesdays and GOT STUFF DONE.
well, only one thing.  i phoned in an order for binding and picked it up.  on my way home, i got a call from the dentist asking if i wanted to take an appointment that opened up that evening.  so i did round one of attaching the binding to my village quilt, went to the dentist, and then finished it up in the evening. 
wednesday i went to my parents after work so that mom and i could do a masked joann's trip for some flannel and yarn.  found nothing that i "needed" but i did find some stupidly cute ballerina kitty flannel.  grabbed a few more battings, just to be on the safe side, and then made our way out.  photographed THREE quilts as well, so now they can be edited, delivered and eventually blogged.
thursday i worked a long day, and i can't really remember what i did after work.
i'm PRETTY sure i came home and watched the masked singer.  but i know i wasn't any more productive than that.
friday was a struggle.  spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to eat for lunch (landed on mr. pickles) before coming home to veg out.  i was easily ready to go to bed at 7pm... and yet, i decided to make chocolate chip muffins at 9:30pm.
saturday i attended a virtual tea party, played a round of "ice t or mr. t" and "spilled the tea" on some confessions.  granted, they were pretty low key like "who still has their beanie baby collection" and "who is the biggest disney fan" so its not like they were MAJOR gossip points.
mixed up some cookie dough, ate some nachos and then made a "normal" grocery store trip... meaning i went in and walked the aisles and didn't have someone do it for me.  i can tell that shelves are starting to restock, since i was actually able to see bags of flour on the shelf and buy one.
sunday i got a smidgen of things done.
cut out 3 pairs of pajama pants for my aunt's staff as well as the coordinating masks for the remaining pairs.  i would have cut out all the pants, but i'm current missing a few sets of measurements and that doesn't bode well when things aren't one size fits all.  luckily, they aren't needed until the later half of the year, so it isn't a true crunch time... yet.
and now, monday is today.
i'm off work and probably going to make a joann's attempt.  my aunt filled in the final fabric for this pajamarama fiasco, and since it is on sale, might as well make the attempt.
this week is supposed to be a hot one, and i am so not looking forward to it!