Stay-cation Day 3: Walking & Yo-Yo Flowers

Like any "regular" leisure vacation, my morning found me in my bathrobe sipping tea, enjoying watching everyone else go to work! LOL!! Most the morning was spent paying bills, running errands (I did change out of my bathrobe for those!) and that kind of "fun" stuff. It's been stormy, windy, rainy, so it was easy to just putter. Jackson and I did find a break in the rain and got in our daily walk:

I love to walk. I was athletic when I was young and now find so much solitute and rejuvination in walking. I'm using afternoons during my break right now to build my walking milage back up to my, before surgery, daily three miles. I downloaded a new app on my phone called: Map by Walk. My main goal is to use it to map out all my different routes so I know how far they are. (I mayyyyy be guilty of saying a walk is three miles, when in reality it was only two!) 

I was impressed to see I'm keeping about a 14:39 minute mile pace. I'm not a big gadget gal, so can anticipate that I'll probably delete the app once I have all my routes mapped out.  Yet, with that said, I do recommend this app if you are looking for something to help you track your activities, calories, ect. I just want to know how far I'm walking.

My balanced healthy life philosphy comes down to these BIG 5: First, you are what ya eat. (Darn it!...never the less, that doesn't stop me from enjoying a good cupcake every now and then and that glass of red wine at the end of the day.) Second, I drink plenty of water every day. Third, I get in my 10,000 steps a day...ya gotta keep your butt moving! Fourth, I get plenty of sleep. (I need my eight hours a night!) Fifth, it all comes down to your attitude. (Make the best of what ya got and have a hobby you enjoy is what I say!) All that be said, a bathing suit is STILL not a staple item in my wardrobe! LOL!

Anyhoo, our walk for the day is done and I find myself waiting for the "tile guy" to come prep for our new bathroom floor, (I think my husband forgot he's NOT on Spring Break as he started remodeling our main bathroom):

No Toilet

No sink.

I'm going to make some yo-yo flowers for the center of my rainbow pinwheels.  

They'll look something like this when I'm done: (Cute huh!) I'm aiming to finally have this quilt completed for a Friday Finish this week.

Again, thanks for stopping by and keeping me company on my little stay-cation here. 

Stay-cation Day 2: Just Quilting Along

Two more things I get to cross off my Stay-cation list:

My I-Spy squares cut and ready to send as happy mail to fellow blogging buddies.(Trading with blogging buddies is truly the  funniest way to collect for an eye spy quilt!)

And I finished quilting some commission quilts:

I used an ABC/123 pantograph here...

...on this cute little ABC quilt made from the Temecula Quilt Co. QAL last Fall.

I had fun quilting it and am now reinspired to finish my own ABC quilt  I plan on using the same pantograph with white thread on my quilt too. 

On this Lori Holt Christmas Quilt quilt I used my Christmas Cookies pantograph:

I love how this customer fussy cut the gingerbread people into the windows and how lucky that the  gingerbread and candy patterns fell right on this block!! So cute!!!

Time for an afternoon walk with Jackson and tonight will find me relaxing as I continue to hand sew the binding on my rainbow pinwheel quilt. Thanks for stopping my and keeping my company on my little stay-cation here. Until tomorrow...

Stay-cation Day 1: Spring Yard Work

The first thing getting checked off my Spring Stay-cation List is cleaning the yard. Which means a big breakfast like this: (I can take no credit for this...my husband is the cook of the family! I irritate him when I even try to make a sandwich in "his" kitchen...

good problem to have if you ask me!)

So between yesterday afternoon and today, the yard got thatched:(It's been almost four years since we've done this. We didn't aerate this Fall, so lots of snow mold. We both looked at each other and promised to make sure we aerate each Fall and thatch every two years!) 

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Roses got trimmed and fertilized...

...and some trees did too.

Good news! I only chipped one nail throughout all this! LOL! It was a beautiful 65 degree, overcast day. We have rain coming in by Monday so it feels good to have our spring yard cleaning done. But don't worry, all work and no play make for a dull stay-cation you may be thinking...not us! Our day will find us winding down with a nice dinner of beef stroganoff that has been cooking in the crock pot all day and us rejuvinating our achy muscles right here with a nice glass or two of wine! (Along with a few card games of Phase 10 afterwards.)

Tomorrow is a sew day for me...oh wait...I don't have to work next week...I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. Until then...thanks for stopping by!

Spring "Stay-cation"

The lights are out and the the door is locked. I'm officially on my Spring Break from teaching this next nine days! (I think we teachers look forward to this break more than the kids do!) 

While others are packing their bags to head to the beach or mountains with kids and family, I find the idea of staying home in my empty nest rejuvinating, especially as ol' man winter begins to fade away and my energy has returned since my surgery. I, of course, have a quilty list of  projects I want to accomplish, along with some spring cleaning in the yard. So, mostly to entertain & motivate myself, I plan to post a blog series this week titled: Stay-cation.  

Here's my Quilty List of things I'll be doing and sharing:

1. Continue to work on my sewing room make-over. (Thank you btw to everyone for sharing your sewing room spaces and organizational tips this past week!!) I found the perfect round red rug!
2. Quilt & bind my scrappy Rainbow Pinwheel Quilt.
3. Finish hand sewing my wool sampler, then....
4. Sketch & prep a wool table runner I want to make for my mom's house.
5. Quilt a top for Project Linus
6. Enjoy sewing my curved dots...slowly!
7. Cut eye spy fabric and send happy mail (You know who you are!!)
8. Finish another commission quilts and get them mailed. (Smiles!!)
9. Piece, quilt and bind my ABC quilt
10. Redo Sat. Sampler's into 12" blocks (Reminder to self: You DON'T do small well!)
11. Jackson gets a playday and groomed
12. Yard: trim roses, thatch yard, tackle weeds
13. Relax: enjoy tea in the mornings, and stitching outside in the evenings with a glass of  wine.
14. Fitness: Get my endurance back up to walking my three miles a day. I plan to walk 3miles a day, six times this Stay-ca. (Total miles so far: 18) YAH!!!!

I hope you'll stop by often and even find a little inpsiration!

I do have to go in for a half day this morning to wrap up report cards, lesson plans and Lysol my classroom!! LOL!! Then this girl is starting off her day-cation with a little yard work during the sunny afternoon and a backyard happy hour with the hubby. Stay tuned!

Beach Houses Quilt Finds a Home!

Last summer I made my Beach Houses Quilt.

I had a Lucy's Crab Shack Layer Cake and really enjoyed making this quilt.

Most of all, I loved it as a finish! But, it has just sat on my quilt ladder since.

Well, the other day my mom called and asked me what I do with all my scrappy quilts as she want to buy one! First of all, my mom is NOT buying a quilt from me. I proceeded to ask her what she's wanting. She explains that she just needs an extra cover at night that's her own, as my dad doesn't get as cold as she does and she'd love to have one of my quilts! Insert another "ulimate moment" here!!(So cute! I just love my mom!) I exclaim: "Mom you need to take the Beach Houses Quilt!" (FYI: She has loved that quilt ever since she saw it last summer. She also loves the beach,) She was so happy! So I packed it up  and shipped her "quilty hug" on Monday.

I got this text picture after work today:

It arrived safe and sound and is already on "her" side of the bed!! Like so many of you, quilting is my therapy. Those scrappy quilts are just me scrap busting and being frugile. (So I can then buy new fabric of course!) But admittably, it makes my day when someone loves a quilt finish as much as I do! I call these my ulitimate moments. Mom, thank you for making my day! I know you'll enjoy your quilty hug, but know I enjoyed gifting it to you just as much. I hope each of you, my readers, have had moments like this. Is so, please do comment and share. I'm a sentimental girl and would love to hear your stories...as if you couldn't tell. LOL!!!