adding it up

I decided to track where I found my time because I hated that 'I don't know how you find the time' comment. But I think it really ended up making me feel more confident that I deserve this time that I carve out. I make my quilting time by the way I run my house and balance my duties. My kid has home cooked (mostly organic) meals every night, his clothes are clean, he is happy and thriving. I take care of my husband, he is loved, and when he comes home he gets to relax because I have things covered(although he does help with the dinner dishes. God love him!) I've got it covered. I can afford to spend nap time working on a quilt.

So if you ever comment about how I find time, I'll just say,'oh I don't know, I just do' and I wont feel guilty or judged anymore. I feel happy that I've come to this understanding. Its like having an Oprah 'ah ha!' moment.

So anyhow this quilt took about 26 hours total. I started it mid February, and now in late April its done :)

Cutting took nearly 4 hours

Piecing took 8 1/2 hours

Quilting took a little more than 6 hours

Binding took about 7 hours

How bazaar that quilting took less time than binding or cutting???

Finished

I am so happy this huge quilt is done! DONE! I am a little impressed that I quilted it myself.

I need to recover those pillows, and I want to make some shams with the leftover fabrics. Maybe I'll manage to get them done this weekend.

The monster and hubs were the first to try it out.

It took me about an hour to attach the binding.

It took about 6 hours of TV watching time to close the binding. I just found out that Army Wives can be streamed on Netflix, so I spent the monster's nap time today watching TV. I don't normally sit and watch 3 hours of TV during the day, but I really wanted to get this baby done. (And watching Roxy learn how to be a military wife makes me happy.)

I WILL NEVER MAKE ANOTHER QUILT THIS BIG

Quote Me

"I AM NEVER MAKING A KING SIZED QUILT EVER AGAIN!" 

 I will die under this quilt.  It will be on my bed forever and ever. It will go in and out of style several times, and I won't care.   

All proclamations aside.  I love it.  I love that I quilted it myself.  I love love love it.  

NO PUCKERS BABY!

 I surprised myself.  Not only did I quilt it myself, I did really well.  The tension is perfect, there are NO puckers, and it looks good if I do say so myself.(humble eh?)

It took me about 60 minutes to finish the quilting today.

Now to find a binding and FINISH it....

Reclaiming Pins

this jar was empty after I basted the king sized rail fence

I made a bit of progress on the rail fence today.  Not too much left to do.  I think its time to pick a binding.   

risky

 Of course I could have got a lot more done, if I hadn't spent 15 minutes messing around.... and then I learned a big lesson about leaving my coffee cup a little too close to my trash cup.

that thread was meant for the other cup :(

 So sad to have a nice cup of coffee ruined.

it belonged in this cup

Lesson Learned

I spent about 90 minutes quilting today.

I've been working hard!  

Twenty Seven to go

45 blocks quilted... 27 to go. I have lost count of bobbins, its better that way.

I quilted for 75 minutes on Monday, and 60 minutes today.

I can hardly wait to add up the time it took for each part of this quilt's process.

To pacify my quilting boredom I thought I would showcase the current wall hanging. I'm considering entering it in the Black Hill Quilt Show in June. I might enter two quilts..... Which other quilt do you think I should enter??

Time

Quilted 30 minutes Saturday night after the monster went to bed.

Quilted 20 minutes Sunday afternoon while the monster was napping.

I haven't got much done, I had to refill the bobbins, and I cleaned the bobbin area of the huge lint globs. But sometimes you just have to walk away for a little bit. So I did.

When I picked up my table insert I bought this book from their bargain room. Several projects inside this book have found their way onto my to do list.

And these were on sale! Darn, I'll have to think something up for them!(not together in the same project of course)

Sweating Bullets

My sewing table insert has arrived! I am so happy. Secretly I was nervous. Waiting for the insert has been my excuse for not quilting the king size rail fence. Now that its here, I know the hubs is expecting me to get to it! WOOF.

Its kinda like being pregnant for 8 months, and in the home stretch you decide you might not want to do the whole labor and delivery thing. You try to figure out if there is a way to chicken out. But, I don't want to end up like that woman that was pregnant with a calcified baby for 50 years because she was too afraid to deliver(did you see that on TLC? crazy!), and have a 50 year old UFO waiting to be quilted.

So I loaded up 4 bobbins and went to it. It took me 45 minutes to quilt 9 of the 72 blocks. The monster was sleeping and the hubs was playing shoot the bad guys on the game machine, so no one heard me going back and forth between whimpers and curses.

The 9 blocks took 2+ bobbins.

Between adjusting the weight a million times, and reloading bobbin, I was sweating and realized its going to take a crap load of time. I'm 1/8 done and I think that deserves a little break. Maybe I'll do a few bobbin after supper.

No puckers thus far. Thats a good sign.

Happy Quilting Day!

BAM!

I worked on piecing the top off and on today.

About 3 hours between naptime(a short nap at that) and after the kid went to bed.

It sho is pinkish eh?! But the hubs says he loves it.

Hunting for batting tomorrow, hoping to baste tomorrow night!!!

Blocks

I found time today-

50 minutes while the monster watched Sesame Street(he loves Elbow aka Elmo)

30 minutes during naptime

50 minutes after the boys went to bed.

All 72 blocks cut.

And I have a pile of leftovers that will make cute stacked coins eh?

I'm hoping I can lay the blocks out tomorrow after supper and get piecing.

This king hurts less than that last one I made.

I'm done stripping

For 3 days I just put strip after strip after strip through the juki. 5 bobbins of piecing strips together. I'm whining, but I actually enjoy monotonous work, it gives me time to think.

For instance, I started thinking, gee, I hope I don't get deep vein thrombosis from sitting here with my foot on the pedal.

Then I thought, well, after all of those flights back and forth between Detroit and Tokyo I never got it.

Then I thought, jeesh yeah, and I never got out of my seat during those first few trips.

Then I started reminiscing about the time I sat the whole 12 hour flight, then couldn't find a regular toilet in Tokyo(and was still refusing to use squatties), and had to rush to catch the last bullet train home, and almost resigned to peeing my pants on the train.... since I had to run all the way to the platform lugging my suitcase(in August) and was drenched in sweat and the Japanese people already thought I was a nutcase.

But then I decided I didn't want to sit in pee for 4 hours, so I held it until I got to Misawa and my husband had to stop at the 24 hr cafe on base so I could go because I had held it for 21 hours, and I was about to BURST!

ANYHOW..... The strips are done and I got a lot of thinking in....yada yada yada

Here is the run down on how I found the time....

Monday I found 1 hour during naptime

Tuesday I found 1 hour and 20 minutes during naptime and 40 minutes after the boys went to bed.

And in those 2 days I cleaned the house, did laundry, did the grocery shopping, read some, and caught upon the Days of our Lives plots (Like EJ will really getaway with keeping Rave hidden away! pfft).

Sunday Sewing

Here is my second installment of Finding Time.

Today I spent 2 hours and 30 minutes sewing strips together.

During that time I stopped to eat lunch with the hubs and watch a little hockey( I can't watch too much, the commentary makes a little gremlin behind my eyes wake up and stab my brains).

The monster was finishing his lunch, then took a nap. And the hubs was watching hockey(or playing his video game,I don't care which.)

No one missed me.

I also went for a long walk with the boys and the pooch, took the kite to the open field behind the house and flew it, made beef and cabbage stew, did dishes, ran to Target for last minute V-day junk, and read some more of that fantastic book I mentioned yesterday. If I were you I'd run to the library or store and get yourself a copy, don't walk RUN!!!

I still have about half the strips left.

Where I Find Time

Every time I finish a quilt I hear, "I don't know how you find the time." Maybe its just the mom guilt that is hardwired into women, but I always feel a little twinge of guilt and honestly, I worry that it looks like I'm neglecting my little boy while I finish a quilt every month.(give or take)

Then this awesome quilter posted this .... and this awesome quilter posted this. It made me feel way better! And helped me realize, different people manage their time in different ways. But my quilt time makes me a better mom to the monster. I'm lucky my little guy is a great nap taker and plays with his cars and trains for long periods of time without me needing to entertain him.

So here I am starting another king sized quilt. Remember this... I said I wouldn't be making a king anytime soon. And yet here I am less than a year later. I need to keep my trap shut eh?!

So to sooth my mommy guilt, and as a blog treat to the readers I am going to keep track of this quilt process to explain how I find time. This is the first installment.

Today I tossed the 12 yards of delicious Oasis into the washer while I reheated leftovers for lunch. It was finished drying during the monster's naptime. The hubs was playing his new PS3(his treat to himself. He won his fantasy football league which landed him a healthy cash prize. His 3rd year in a row winning his FF league(jeesh I sound proud eh?))

So he played find the bad guys, and the monster was snoozing while I ironed, and cut the strips out.

It took me an hour and forty minutes. BAM!

and just in case your wondering...I also made lime chicken tacos for supper, ran to the post office, library, and commissary. And after I cut out the strips I managed to read 80 pages of The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. This book is hilarious and its been a long time since I have been able to sit and read for that long. It was wonderful!