Swapping time!

I have been really enjoying doing swaps with Swap-Bot. I haven't been taking pictures like I did when I first started, both blogging and swapping. Some of the funnest swaps have been my color your block (or your color my block, I can't remember) because I do a test run with my colors first, then I get to make the block for my partner. It's a good encouragement to keep working on blocks for my black and white quilt. My quilt will be made up of the blocks I make, as well as the blocks I receive from swaps. Below are the pictures of the blocks I sent. The blocks I made for myself will be another blog.

This in a full quilt would just be lovely. The recipient asked for purple, then an accent of yellow. I hope that she likes it. 

This one I liked because of all of the oranges. I still don't know though if I like the red as the trapezoids, or if I would have liked it more as yellow. The yellow is also really cool because it is a really awesome VeggieTales print. Made me smile :-)

Yes, this one is black and white. It's an extra for some of the black and white swaps that I do occasionally. It will be getting sent out as soon as there is another swap!

And that's it for today. Lots of pretty squares!

It's Sew Summer

So here we go! This week has gone by so quickly. Currently, the pants are winning. I don't know what happened, but somehow, I ended up making the wrong size pants, so I have to figure out how much I want to tear apart and how much I just want to make adjustments. 

The zipper has been such a frustrating issue. One of these days, we will get along, but I don't think it is going to be tonight. :-)

I also finished up the 12" x 12" square for a swap. This one was one where I could pick the pattern, while the receiver picks the colors. 

I am really glad to be done with this pattern. While I love it and it turns out kinda cool, it is frustrating. I hope that the recipient enjoys it when it gets there. It's currently winging its way to to Germany, so it will take a few weeks for me to hear back. 

I also have been able to get started on my Aiming for Accuracy QAL. 

I'm really excited to have this first one finished. It isn't quite as precise as I would like, but I like the colors. I'm excited to see how the rest of it turns out. There are some other people who are looking at doing two as they go, in two different color ways. I'm starting to debate doing this too. I would have to go dig through my stash though, as I am currently refusing to purchase anything unless it is connected to a pattern I am working right now. 

These are the rest of my fabrics. Pinks, oranges, reds, and purples. I am finally using my fabric stash! The only thing that I have purchased for this project is the background (dark chocolate brown). I am going to look for some batiks this next week for the edge of the quilt and the binding. 

And this is one of the surprises I had waiting for me in the mail today when I came home!

It's for my black and white quilt that I am getting squares from swapping for. It's the most eclectic one I have so far. You can't see it because I took a horrible picture, but there is a black strip over the top as well. I've been thinking about this quilt and I am contemplating doing black sashing and white cornerstones, but I'm not quite sure yet. But that is a long time out at this point. Still have quite a few more blocks to go.

I'm sewing again!

I thought I was going to have a lot of extra time this summer to work on projects.

Yah, right.

Moving has hogged some of my time, as well as plain laziness or resting, depending on who you ask. But I am enjoying working through everything. Purging is good. Yes. And with it, I am working on cleaning and scanning all of my paper binders for teaching.

That's what I am facing, yes. Though most of those have been scanned already. Finished up the last of the ones I have right now today. I will probably have some more, but right now, everything is scanned. And so, I celebrated!

So, this is a test run of a my color your block swap that I am doing. The final colors will be tan, orange, teal, and dark grey/black. But the test square is for my black and white quilt. The pattern is Starry Skyline, found here.

And this is my contribution for a black and white swap. Yay!

And here is the one going into my quilt! Slightly, slightly different, but still I like that factor of it. I like the disappearing 9 patch. It was good to after the square above. While I love it, it was frustrating and a pain in the but. Maybe, if I did the center swirl going different ways in multiple squares, that would be helpful. There were a lot of seams being ripped apart while I was working on it. But, I finished it! Whee!

I am still working on finishing up my quilting projects. I have to tear out some seams from my friend's quilt. The back got all ripply. Not fun, but such is life. But now is bed time, so I should get going.

Almost there

** Written Last week**

My students. I really should have just a blog to keep track of their antics, but I guess I will just mention today’s entertainment here. As an ESL support individual, I am here to help them in their regular classes, specifically English. Right now, we are prepping for finals, which include an essay during their testing period. I had to have a conversation with one of them telling them that if they don’t finish their essay, they won’t get a chance to finish it. This was after telling the same student that their activity for the day was to write a practice essay. I had to tell him about a dozen times. Only then did he put his computer away. Yes, this is my life on a daily basis.

But, that aside, I was able to finish up some wonderful things yesterday, one of which being a test for my licensure in Washington. I am still waiting for my scores for my writing portion, but I passed everything else. Yay! One step closer to being a productive member of society in Seattle!

In addition to my test, I also have finished up a gift quilt for one of my friends. I’ve been working on this one for a while now, trying to get everything put together with this. Handprints and verses were done by other members of the small group I am in, but assembling it and finishing it has been on me. 

Also, I have more finished blocks to share. I didn't do all of these in the last day, but I am excited to document them. The two starburst stars are from this tutorial which I really like. I might just have to make more of these in the future. 

And, as always, there are blocks for PoD. These are blocks two and three. Slowly working on it. 

It seems to keep getting backburnered with everything else going on, such as quilts for the Mercy Project art auction, my random desires to clean, and such. Such is life though. That's why I have started it so early. That way, I know they will be finished. 

Is it over yet?

Hey world,

So, I am back. Or I think I am. It has been kind of crazy around here. Teaching and what not means that there is this thing called graduation. And they kinda like teachers going to all the stuff for seniors. Yep. Well, and then there is family. Even though they are a few thousand miles away, still doesn't mean they don't shake things up. And then there is the process of getting up to Seattle and everything that goes along with that. I'm moving in August, so I've been trying to get my teaching license and everything transferred  That equals lots of testing. Blah. So yah. I have been busy with that and cleaning and napping and quilting and vacuuming. All that to say, I have my reasons for not being here. There are going to be some quilts coming out of the crazy, I promise, but for now, I'll just show what I have been working on.

Not a lot of pictures of what I have been getting in my swaps, just because things became so busy, but I have continued to do swaps. And I have picked up doing quilt alongs. I'm having fun with those. I even am going to try my hand at embroidery for one. Yes, I know, just a little crazy. I'm happy with it though.

So, in looking at my photos, this is the only current quilt along that I have a picture of. I am working on an old quilt along called a Project of Doom quilt. Well, that leads you to the hosting website, but you get the idea. Lots of fun.

And before you say anything, I do know that two of them look somewhat similar. Trial and error. Playing around with paper piecing. I actually started this project before I did the TARDIS one. After doing that one, I have no complaints whatsoever about the PoD squares. So much easier.

Also in the midst of everything, I got to help a friend of mine make her first quilt! Isn't she adorable! Yes there are some issues with it, but she made it pretty much on her own. I coached, but she did everything from fabric shopping, which was an adventure, to quilting and binding!

Last, but not least, would be my squares for my swap-bot swaps. I only have pictures of one round right now, but I will get up more as I can. I do different square swaps and to memorialize them, I also sew a square in my colors, which are black and white (yes, I know, let's just not talk about how many quilts and sewing projects I have going). 

The blue and white one went to my swap partner and the black and white one stayed with me! I really love how it turned out, especially with the white on white prints I used. I don't think they really show in the picture, but I like them. 

And that's it. There will be more to come in the coming days, I promise!

And we are back!

**Edit: I wrote this on Monday, but just now got around to putting pictures in and posting. Just so you know.**

Hey world,

I had meant to get another post finished last week, but life just got going a little to quickly with the holiday weekend.

Tuesday finished wonderfully after my post. Because I had taken some time to nap, I didn't feel exhausted when I got home from work. I even got to sew! It is such a crazy concept of having that time in the evening to myself. I got to cut and put together the first of three quilts that I am making with hand print squares from a non profit with which I am associated.

The non profit is Mercy Project, and they are working in Ghana to free child slaves who have to work 16 hour days on the main lake, fishing for their masters.

The idea is to focus on improving the villages with business knowledge and the start up for cage fishing, something that is sustainable and will supplement (not replace) the village fisherman's income enough to not need the children to work. Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel with the program and visit quite a few different places in Ghana.

The hand prints in these quilts are handprints from the first group of children rescued through the fish cages from the village of Adovepke.

The first group of FORMER child slaves!

Leaving the village for GOOD.

While these are not all of the children rescued from the first village as some had already been integrated back into their original families, these represent the first children accepting freedom through the program.

It is exciting. The first quilt will be going to the Mercy Project Art Auction early this summer, with the second going to the family that runs Mercy Project as a surprise. The third will be sticking around my house for me :-). I know, kinda selfish, but I really enjoy being a part of this organization, both through traveling with them and supporting them here at home.

In addition to working on the quilt, there have been lots of swaps coming in! Yay for swaps!

In addition to working on my swaps, I finished all of the assembling of the squares for my 2.5" Royal Squares quilt. Woohoo! (It was sometime last week, but who really cares as long as they are finished?) Now comes time for all of the quilt as you go stuff before I can finally assemble it and then sew together the back and bind! It feels like it actually is getting closer to being done. I can't wait!

And last, but certainly not least, is Easter! It was a good, if challenging, time for me. My father was in town, which led to some tension, but I was able to say what needed to be said on my part. I got to dye eggs with my "adopted" family on Saturday.

Yes, we are all adults. And we are dying eggs. We have to get like six or seven different egg kits just for the fun of it. We ended up dying five dozen eggs. It was so much fun. These were the ones I did! Yay!

And of course, we had to have an Easter Egg hunt on Easter. There was only one person under 25 (who was 3), but it is the tradition. It was lots of fun. The guys hid the eggs, and then walked around the property while the women hunted.

We found all but three, two hard boiled and one plastic, but out of 95 eggs, that's pretty good!

I hope your Easter went well and you are starting to recover from the holidays!

A Second Post? Really?

So, today is a slow day at work. Or it could be the fact that I took a nap today instead of going to the class I have been auditing. I made that decision because it needed to be done. The upside is that I got to see what was in my mailbox before I went to work this evening. It was quite the exciting box. Set a new standard for me. I definitely want to start following T's lead with how she presented this wonderful swap. Everything was wrapped in tissue paper and labeled so sweetly. I didn't get any pictures of her gifts pre wrapping paper being ripped off, but I do have pictures of all of the wonderful little goodies.

This swap is so much fun! You pick three holidays that fall within the month you are swapping for (typically the next month) and then come up with something that is representative of it. We each picked four holidays. Represented here are April 17th, Pet Owners Independence Day; April 22nd, National Jelly Bean Day;  April 25th, World Penguin Day; and April 30th, Hairstyle Appreciation Day. My swap partner also sent me some wonderful fabric as a bonus gift! I'm so spoiled! I think I should even be able to use some of the hair accessories, even though I have dreads. Carefully, mind you, but it should work!

And honestly, short of my stories about my crazy students and how the full moon is affecting them, that's all I have to report for today. If you look though, I'm in the process of getting other pages put together for my blog. So exciting!

Where has the time gone?

Hey crafting world out there. Life has been happening way too fast for my taste. I had this wonderful vision of posting as I got packages in from swaps and as I worked on cool projects in my evenings and on the weekends.

That hasn't happened.

A lot of my evenings have been spent cleaning up from the day or trying to go to sleep early since I have been so tired. Thank you concussion. And my weekends have been more of the same. I'm going to keep trying though and putting one foot in front of the other, getting things done, taking pictures as I have time, and posting when I get a chance.

So, on to funner things (and yes, that is a word. It's in the dictionary.) Swaps! I have been getting a lot of packages recently, which means that I have all sorts of awesome stuff coming in! I have loved the fun of opening up my mail box, which I used to check maybe once a week (maybe) for junk mail that my mom ended up forwarding to me that she thought I needed. Yep, really exciting. But now, I am getting all sorts of awesome fabric and postcards. It makes me excited to come home!

This was what was waiting for me in my mailbox today. A total of six fat quarters, 98 2.5" squares and two wonderfully cute tea packets.

There also were multiple wonderful postcards. I love to see what people can find and what they choose to send.

So, I finally folded all of my laundry that has been needing to be folded and found these gems in the laundry. I think these were some of my bargain bin finds from a few weeks ago. The rest have already been sorted into my stash yesterday (I sorted my stash!). I also feel like taking pictures of what is going directly into the stash may not be in my best interest if my long distance significant other decides to follow. He already rolls his eyes at the quantity of fabric and other craft supplies I own. I don't think I need to give him the blow by blow accounting of it.... But I probably still will post pictures as I remember to take them of what I bring home. I have been trying to do a little bit better of maintaining my stash and then using it in projects (gasp!). We'll see how that actually carries through.

And with that, I bid you all good night! I either need to sleep or read, but whatever I do, it will be relaxing so that I can try to start bouncing back!

And it's Monday again... How did that happen?

***I wrote this at work. While at work, I referenced pictures on my phone. I then proceeded to leave my phone at work. Yep. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.***

***Edit #2: I decided to go back to work and get my phone. Now there are pictures.***

While I was on Spring Break, I just got caught up with what was going on. Well, that and sleeping. I love breaks when I can sleep as much or as little as I want and whenever I want. But the downside is I don't post. Such is life. There was a lot of adventures that were had and a lot of sewing that was done. Even some cleaning too!

Tuesday I went with some "family" (I call them family. They are all but) to Moody Gardens in Galveston. It was a lot of fun. I realized I'm finally at the place in life where I don't care if I look like a little kid or not, I am going to oooh and aaah over everything, point at stuff, and get excited. I took lots of pictures (just haven't uploaded them yet), made smash pennies to commemorate the trip, and even brought home a friend.

His name is Porter after my favorite seal at the exhibit. I know, I'm a dork. But he is just so soft, and the real Porter had such a wonderful story.

Thursday was quite the adventure as well. I handled the most cash I ever had handled to buy a car by myself (mostly) for the first time. E and I drove to Houston where we met her dad and the owner of the Jeep I ended up buying. So nerve wracking. Long story short, I had to buy a car before today (which successfully happened), which ended up happening! It has its own little quirks, but overall, she is a better rig than the one I lost.

And then came the cleaning. I have been considering taking in one of the international students at my school for the summer (which means I would lose my craft storage room), and for that to happen, I need to get my house in good condition (I am not the most organized person in the world). It is slow going, but I am starting to see the makings of a clean house! Yay!

Cleaning necessitated a trip to the dollar store (which is quite dangerous), which means I acquired quite a bit of smaller storage items, as well as some stuff to spruce up the place.

And of course, I have been sewing! Yay for sewing! I'm actually surprised that the end of this quilt is coming together as quickly as it has been. It is my first 2.5" square quilt. I started collecting these a little over six months ago due to Mary of The Curious Quilter running a PSQ swap that I stumbled upon. It was really cool, I learned lots of things, and then I became hooked!

This is what I have assembled so far

And these are what I have been working on

Hopefully they will be finished here soon so I can start on the hand stitching of the backs and then bind it. The end is in sight! How wonderful.

Last, I have been receiving swaps! So exciting. Saturday, my dog went bazerk at the postman when he came to drop off my goodies. I received five bandannas and five Easter eggs! So exciting. My offerings for these are either waiting in my mail crate or are already in the mail.

And then today, when I came home, I had more packages in the mail! Lots of green for the day!

To sum it up, lots of swapping and lots of quilting happening, which is really exciting. I didn't get around to working on the projects I had actually planned on completing, but I'm okay with that. I still have some other aspects I need to finish on one of my gift quilts before it can be finished, but I feel like it will be finished fairly soon as well. At least, that's what I hope!