In the Shadow of Tall Buildings: May 2013

Thursday, May 9, 2013

You Remember That 1000 Miles Thing?

Chances are if Charlie gets to be a part of the 1000 miles, they will be walking miles.
He's adorable, but horrible to run with.

So, yea, I'm still doing that. I'm less than two months in. Quitting is not going to happen. But well, complaining happens everyday.

My calves are hurting in a way they've never hurt before. So I've been doing A LOT of walking (and stretching and RICE-ing) and a little running. Like walking at least 3 miles a day and only running once a week. seriously.

So, are you interested to hear how far ahead or behind I am in my mileage? Here's a clue ... I talk a big game but I'm mostly lazy.

In March, I should have logged 54 miles. But I only did 35.42. That put me 18.58 miles behind.
In April, I should have logged 84 miles (102.58 if I wanted to make up the March deficit) But I only did 83. Putting me 19.58 miles behind.

I'm still going in the wrong direction ... but improving. In better news, I logged 15 miles in the first 4 days of May. So, there's that. I have hopes to be back in the black by mid-July.

Son has been walking/running/skipping/galloping about 2 miles a day with me while Daughter is in Pre-K. And that's been fun. He's also been going to bed about 20 minutes earlier. We've been going on family walks most days when Husband gets home from work and I've been logging a few boring treadmill miles here and there.

I got a new sports bra. And that's pretty much been the highlight of my month of 1000.

Monday, May 6, 2013

I Made a Moda Bake Shop Quilt.

I know most quilters/bloggers are ecstatic to be FEATURED on the Moda Bake Shop. Well, this woman was just ecstatic to MAKE a quilt on it. truth.

I love the blog (and of course, the fabric) and I've pinned probably half a dozen things on pinterest. But it took the arrival of a new precious baby for me to actually make something. AND I actually used moda fabric. special baby = special fabric.

The Jungle Path Baby Quilt just looks fun. And it was fun to make. I liked fussy cutting the charms for the center of the blocks for maximum cuteness and picking fabrics to coordinate with each other. The recipe calls for a charm pack, a jelly roll and some white. I picked the Cherry on Top collection and off I went.

The front.
I probably should have taken pictures BEFORE I washed it. It sure crinkled up; making for crinkly pictures!

a closer up. feminine but not ridiculously girly.

the back. It called for almost the rest of the jelly roll strips. I made one little change in the recipe. I added a slightly thicker white strip and added EAS's initials for a personalized touch.

EAS

EAS's Mom got a birthday quilt from me almost two years ago. It was daughter's turn.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Part 2 (April 2013)

My April block goal was 8. (you'll see why I picked this arbitrary number soon) I picked up the dreaded block number 3 and then went in order. But, in absolutely no particular order, here they are:

11 Broken Dishes

12 Broken Sugar Bowl - this one is my current favorite

13 Buckwheat

14 Butterfly at the Crossroads
I worked on fussy cutting this block and I like the outcome.

18 Century of Progress

3 Basket.
I wanted to hand sew the handle but after two yucky tries I gave up and machine sewed it.

17 Cats & Mice (2)

On the left is the do over block without Y seams. On the right is my first try when I tried the Y seam. It was so unappealing to look at, I had to try again.

This is why I chose to only do 8 blocks this month. My design wall, aka the back of a super cheap vinyl table cloth. It holds 9 per row and because I did 10 blocks in March, I evened it up with 8 in April.

I like having all the blocks out to look at when I'm choosing fabrics and tones and colors. I'm trying to not repeat fabric combinations TOO many times. This helps ... a little.