100 quilts in 60 days

I can't believe I did it.  When I challenged myself to 60 quilts in 60 days, I was hoping to reach my goal because I have so many quilt tops waiting patiently to be quilted.  Then, when I reached that goal with many days left, I wasn't sure if I could meet the new goal, but I'm sure glad I gave it a try and finally have completed it.  After the summer I've had (mother in law getting sick and they passing away, migraines every day but 13 out of 79) I'm glad I have something good to talk about tomorrow when I go back to work.  Nobody wants to sit and listen to bad news.

Now to figure out a new challenge for the rest of the year.  I still have a whole bunch of quilt tops and my friend Rebecca gave me about 40 more when she went off to college.  I at least want to get all of hers quilted up so she can see them on Facebook.  I will have to do a count and see how many days are left in the year and then set a goal for myself.  Do you make big plans and set high goals?  With all the fabric I have around here, I need to get working faster!  Too bad I haven't figured out a way to quilt in my sleep :)

will I make it?

this is quilt 99 (actually 109 for the summer) for my challenge quilts and I'm not sure I will make 100.  I have the worst migraine right now, but I think the goal may just be strong enough to keep me going a little longer.  I even put a binding on a quilt that's going to be gifted tomorrow.  It is for the former Vanden High School student who has leukemia.  While I never had him as a student of mine, we become one family.  My husband taught him and another friend will be delivering the quilt for me.

98

yep, this is quilt number 98 in my 60 quilts in 60 days challenge.  Only 2 more to go to reach my new goal of 100.  And tomorrow is my last day.

The Frog Gang

When my oldest daughter was in 7th grade, she had a bandana made out of this frog fabric.  The principal at the middle school made her take it off saying bandanas were symbols of gangs.  We have teased her ever since about being in the Frog Gang.

only 2 days left

My summer vacation comes to an end on Monday and I have 5 more quilts to go to reach 100 quilts in 60 days.  No big deal if I don't make it, but it still would be fun.  Since my summer vacation started, I have quilted 105 quilts.  Not too shabby considering I've had a migraine all but 13 days this summer.

Yesterday's migraine was super bad.  I was so wiped out, I had to lay on the couch or in bed most of the day.  So glad this morning I woke up feeling good.  I went for a walk already and did some yoga stretches as suggested by my doctor.  He also says to drink more water.  I think I could be a doctor.  Seems their solution to almost any problem is to exercise and drink more water.  If I didn't exercise, I wouldn't be as thirsty and wouldn't need the water.  Hmmm, wonder if they have stock in bottled water.  Speaking of, I don't like it.  It's heavy to carry and so expensive.  I can spend 7 cents for 100 gallons of tap water or 20 cents for a 16 oz bottle of water, plus I have to carry it from the store!  My husband and kids love bottled water, mostly because they play tennis and it is hard to carry a garden hose with you in your tennis bag.

this one is cuddly

I find that the more quilting I do on a quilt, the stiffer it is.  This quilt got minimal quilting and is so cuddly.  I think some times in our efforts to make the quilt fancy, we take away from the purpose of the quilt, which is to bring comfort.  There has to be a balance between just the right amount of stitching to keep the quilt together and not too much quilting to make the quilt stiff.  While I admire some quilters who do really fancy work, I wouldn't want to pull one on me to cuddle under.

another cute farm quilt

I love this one too.

my favorite quilt ever

Can you see the cows on this quilt?  They are too cute.  When I was in college at UC Davis, I had a cow my freshman year.  Her name was Liesl.  She was a dairy cow and I tried to train her to walk in a circle, stand still on command and set up (move her legs into a specific position).  We had a contest and showed off our cows.  I think I came in 5th out of 8 cows.  The night before the show, I washed her and brushed her and then slept in the dairy barn next to her so when she pooped I could clean it up and she didn't get dirty.

When I was a junior in college, I lived in the dairy barns.  In exchange for helping with the feeding one weekend a month, I got free room.  My room mate was crazy and had a boyfriend in Japan that she would spend hours every night talking to.  She chewed tobacco and put her spit in bottles that she left around the room.  It was so gross, but I loved getting up at 4am to help move the cows and feed them.  We had to shovel tons of alfalfa cubes and grain into the troughs and then lift and throw bales of hay and straw.  So tiring, but I loved the smell of the cows and the feed.  I loved the baby cows being born and watching the milking process.  Oh, those were the days.  I used to take my kids out there when they were little and they didn't find the smell so wonderful.

so lazy today

Today was a lazy day.  I checked the last MUST DO off my list and that was to have the pest guy come out and spray for wasps--so bad this time of year, and see if he could help me figure out where the mice are getting in the kitchen.  I've battled them ever since we moved in, but have reached the last straw.  The other day I was in the kitchen getting ready to cook dinner and my two little dogs started going crazy.  One of them grabbed something and ran into the sewing room with it.  The other was barking and carrying on.  I went in to see what they were up to and they had a mouse that was almost dead.  They were tossing it back and forth.  After disposing of the mice and praising the little dogs, I pulled out the stove to see the mice had chewed a hole in the wall behind the stove.  Ugh!

Yesterday when the guy came to install the new microwave and dishwasher, we found another couple of holes in the wall behind the dishwasher and there was so much mouse poop on the over the stove microwave.  So grossed out!

Well, the pest guy came out and all he did was put sticky traps out for the mice.  I could have done that :(  He did spray for the wasps, but now I have to deal with stuck mice if they decide to come back.  I just wish I spoke mouse so I could tell them they aren't wanted here and they should find some place else to live.  I've probably caught 100 mice since moving in 8 years ago.  I used to use the live catch trap and let them go about a mile away, but I think they just told their friends about me and now I have a reputation for being the mouse safe house.  NO more!  Be gone you pesty critters.  I'm tempted to get a cat, but then I'd have to feed it and clean up after it and it would probably be like my last cat who just got fat and looked at mice like they were her friends.

Tomorrow will be a more productive day.  Maybe.

one closer to goal

This is quilt 89.  Can you see the quilting on it?  The thing I love about the quick strippie quilts from maryquilts.com is they have just the right amount of space for my smaller quilting machine.

How cute

 These smaller quilts are just what the doctor ordered.  I'm getting burned out on my goal to get 100 quilts done by the time I have to go back to school/work next Monday.  I have just a few left and it's time to get some of the quilt tops that have been sitting around here for a long time done.

I have a bunch of quilt tops still waiting patiently for their turn on the machine.

One week left.  I can't believe my summer is almost over.

Blue's Clues

This cute little cheater quilt was so quick to quilt up this morning.  Love the little quilts.

Chargers fans?

I'm hoping there are some Chargers fans out in Colorado.  I had a couple of yards of Chargers fabric and made three quilt tops.  This is the first one quilted.  I hope it finds a good home :)  This is also my 85th quilt since starting my 60 quilts in 60 days.  I have 9 days of summer vacation left.  I wonder if I will hit 100?

How long to make a quilt?

This one only took 5 years!  I made the quilt top 5 years ago when I was on the Sudoku kick.  I probably made 10 of them and I think this is the last one.  Why did I wait around so long to finish it up? Who knows, but probably some other new, fun, quick quilt pattern came along and distracted me.  But, now it is done and ready for binding so it can be sent to the Aurora Colorado Emergency Responders.  I love the colors on this one.  Maybe I should make another :)

for a friend

These three quilts were quilted for a friend who made the tops for the Aurora Colorado group.  She had no way to quilt them herself, so asked me if I could quilt them.  She does such a great job on her piecing, I was a little afraid I would mess them up, but they all turned out great.  She also did a 4th quilt that I posted yesterday.  I know some people in Colorado are going to love these quilts!

Making a list

 So for the last two days, I have made a list of quilting things I wanted to accomplish before the day was over.  It seems to be helping keep me on track.  When I get into the sewing room, I get so distracted by all of the projects I'm working on.  Yesterday I got everything done except pinning the 2nd Charger's quilt I'm making, so of course that went on today's list and got done first thing.  I'm almost done with today's list and BAM my migraine is back.  I've had a couple of good mornings.  My doctor gave me the injectible imitrex and I had the hardest time giving myself a shot.  I finally had to get my husband to do it for me.  It didn't hurt as much as I feared so I think the next time I could maybe do it myself???  So far, it isn't working and I think because I worked myself up so much being afraid of the shot and waited too long.  Ugh.

On a funny note, we got a new fridge a few weeks ago.  It has been a comedy of errors to say the least.  The repair guy has been back 5 times to fix the ice maker.  It makes ice, just wouldn't dump it.  The repair company working for Samsung has come to fix it without any parts.  They write things down and then go away.  Today finally the guy came and said he didn't have the part.  I told him I was pretty frustrated that they kept coming back to fix it, but didn't seem to know what they were doing.  He left and called me back about 15 minutes later saying he actually did have the part in his truck and would be right back.  As I was writing this blog post, I finally heard the ice maker dump the ice all by itself.  Maybe it is fixed?

Now, if only I could get my new dishwasher, stove and microwave delivered.  That has been another nightmare of phone calls and people not knowing what was going on.  One day I will look back and laugh at the comedy in the situation.  I wonder how these people stay in business!

Trying to be productive

As the summer winds to an end, I'm finding it harder and harder to be productive every day.  The past two days I've felt like I was going to die, most likely from doing yoga and walking every day.  So, I mostly just laid around on the couch watching the Olympics.  Good excuse to sit still, but so unlike me.

This morning I woke up feeling a little better, but with a massive headache.  Not the typical migraine, but all across the top of my head.  I can't win for losing :(

So, I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish today and so far have about half of the things done. Two more quilts just need binding for the Aurora Colorado Emergency Responders.

Feeling funky

I've been in a funk the last couple of days and haven't done any quilting.  I'm working on a couple of quilt tops for the Colorado Emergency Responders but between my headaches and being sore from doing yoga and walking in the evenings, I've mostly just sat around and watched the Olympics or taken a nap.  Last night after my walk, I decided I'd had enough and quilted up this pink and green quilt.  The colors are terrible in the bottom picture and are more true to life in the top one.  My quilt helper had to get in on the action yesterday :)  He is usually my photographer, but wanted to try this quilt out and see if it was warm or cool.  Oh, the stories he will tell his children!

Keeping the local kids covered

While the focus has been on quilts for Colorado, I still have to keep mindful that there are local kids needing hugs too.  These two are so soft flannel quilts for babies.  My binding buddies are having a hard time keeping up with me.  My friend Rhoda tore off her fingernail and is out of commission.  Earlier this summer she had surgery on her other wrist to remove a growth.  We joked that she needs to learn to sew with her feet!

More quilts for Colorado

If you are here for the blog hop, scroll down the page :)

Here's a scrappy quilt using 6 1//2 and 4 1/2 inch leftovers.  Just sew them end to end and then into the quilt.

Here's a quick strippie from maryquilt.com with side borders to make it wider for an adult.  I had the backing fabric already loaded and needed a top to fit.  This one fits the bill

The top was made by a friend.  I added the borders and quilted it up today.

I love the colors on this modern baby quilt.  Not your typical color choice for a baby, but the browns all play so well with each other.