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12 Hours of Productivity

January 26th, 2010

Where has more than 24 hours of productivity gone the past two weeks?

Equinox Fitness Club – Marmaroneck, NY.

I am hoping that by alotting this much time each week to my physical health it will help me achieve my New Year’s goals for 2010 of loosing weight, exercising regualarly and getting in better shape.

The details of my goal:
1. Loose 31-41% of my body weight.
2. Exercise at least 4-5 times per week.
3. Walk/run a 5K this Spring.
4. Achieve a body size that will fit comfortably into the rides at Disney World this Fall.

Last Saturday while I was exercising I was thinking about the 12+ hours I have spent at the gym or getting there and wondering about all that I could have accomplished on my quitling “To Do” list if I would have spent that time in my studio. But then I decided that I was giving up the 12 hours right now to increase my productivity in the future. (Beside, I am more comfortable working in my studio because I can get up and down alot easier, am not as stiff after sitting for an extended amounts of time and just feel better.) So the moral to my story – I am going to continue to invest in my quilting future by spending a decent amount of time working on my physical health. I am sure that the time I am spending on my health will give me alot more benefits than the few extra projects that I could have finished. Also, I am thinking (and hoping) that by having a more healthy life the odds are that I will live longer and have more time to finish those extra projects anyway.

In case you are interested I have lost 3.9% of my body weight. Exercised 5 times the first week in January and 6 times the past two weeks. I am doing 40-45 minutes of cario exercise at least 3 times a week and am able to do some jogging on the treadmill (around 30 minutes of walking/running in increments of 3 minutes walking/2 minutes jogging (fairly slowly)). I am much more flexible and am developing strong core muscles.

Stay tuned for occasional reports on how I am doing on my New Year’s goals!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Wedding Quilt Update

January 26th, 2010

Brain and Isa were married on Dec. 28, 2009

The bride and groom with the Ciccotelli boys.

The newlyweds are home from the honeymoon.

My goal was to have the quilt done when they arrived home…………..

but it’s still hanging out with George.

Posted in Quilt: Argyle quilt | 4 Comments »

Christmas 2009

January 21st, 2010

If you were wondering if this Ciccotelli family celebrated Christmas – the answer is YES!!!!!. In fact in a pretty big way this year. Our almost three year old grandson was coming to New York on Christmas Day for his uncle’s wedding. Little T’s daddy requested that Grandpa Train (what T calls his NY Grandpa) put the Brio Polar Express train set around the Christmas Tree. Little did they know of the surprise that awaited them upon their arrival in New York.

The Utah Ciccotelli’s arrived Christmas night. Needless to say – Grandpa was pretty excited to share his trains with T.

Here is T and his daddy watching the train. They both were pretty excited. I think one of them because of the train and the other because of watching his cute little son.

Grandpa Train and Grandma also hooked T up with his own remote controlled train set from Lionel.

T also liked playing with our wooden train set. Did not bother him to mix and match.

I even found a train to put in the tree for my “Train Loving” man. We had trains everywhere!

Posted in Family | 1 Comment »

The Wait is Over – The WINNER Is…………………..

January 8th, 2010

Thank you to all those that played along and helped me celebrate my birthday! Everyone that played along will receive a Hexapin. Email me your name, address and preferred color and I will put it into the mail for you.

The winner of the Easy Does It Hexabag is ……………………………………………………..

Arlette

Now the answers to the games.

Which Quilt Am I With Answers – PDF version w/links to quilts

I was trying to be all fancy and have the link go from each individual picture above – but I have spent way to much time on this already – so I am including the links below:

1. To the Beach and Beyond
2. Under Water Madness
3. Back to School
4. The Generations Unite
5. Something Old Become Something New
6. Autmn’s Profile
7. Grandma’s Hexagarden
8. Sunflower Power
9. J&J Wedding Quilt
10. Fall Surprises

Viewer’s Choice – there were not enough votes to determine the favorite quilts of you blog readers. But, I did say that I would share the results of the View’s Choice from the QQQ Birthday Party last June.

1st Place: The Generations Unite
2nd Place: #13
3rd Place: Grandma’s Hexagarden

Thanks for playing along.

Posted in Give--a-way | 5 Comments »

The Party Continues

December 16th, 2009

This Give-a-way is over. You can see the results on this blog entry.

At the QQQ 50 1/2 Birthday Party we also had the game – Pin the Block on the Quilt.

Since I could not figure out how to do a virtual version – I am sharing a picture of the quilt I made for the game. All you need to do to particiapte in this game is leave a comment. If you want another chance to win – blog about the Birthday Party Give-a-ways on your blog and leave a comment with a link to your blog. There will be three winners – each receiving a Hexapin. You have until Monday, Dec. 21 at Midnight (Eastern Standard Time) to enter. You will also be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing for the Easy Does It Hexabag. (You can read about all the details of the whys of this Grand Prize Drawing on my Dec. 13th post.)

Thanks for stopping by and helping me celebrate my birthday.

Mary Anne

Posted in Give--a-way | 3 Comments »

Viewer’s Choice

December 14th, 2009

This Give-a-way is over. Please visit this blog entry to see the winner.

At the QQQ Birthday Party those attending had the opportunity to participate in a Viewer’s Choice Award. So, now is your chance to participate in the on-line version.

Once again, three winners will be chosen and each wil receive a Hexapin. All enteries will be entered in the drawing for the Grand Prize. (Read the post from Dec. 13 for all the details).

After looking at the quilts in the galleries just tell me which quilt is your favorite (1st place) and next favorite (2nd place) and next favorite (3rd place).

Here’s how to do it – leave a comment with this information:
1st Place:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:

Here are the ribbons that were awarded at the QQQ Birthday Party. (FYI – we will not be giving out an Honorable Mention during this competition.)
Next week I will share the results of the voting both here on-line and from the Party.

I hope you are enjoying your day!!!!

Posted in Give--a-way | 5 Comments »

Let’s Party with Birthday Giveaways!!!

December 13th, 2009

This Give-a-way is over. See the winners and answers here.

A big thank you to my six year old ganddaughter for this wonderful birthday greeting.

Six months ago today we celebrated my QQQ 50 1/2 Birthday. We had a few activites that involed the quilts. I wanted to share these activites with my online friends but at the time of the party my website gallery was very incomplete. In October I launched a new website designed by Gloderworks complete with an extensive gallery. So, to celebrate my birthday I will be hosting an online versions of some of these activities that we had at the party. And of course – with any party there has to be some prizes. There will be many was to be entered into the drawings. Each post that includes an activity will have three winners – a Hexapin. All the indiviual enteries from each post will be entered into the drawing for the Grand Prize – an original Easy Does It Hexabag made by me. Keep reading for all the details.

Visit back often in the next few days to increase the number of times you will be entered into the Grand Prize drawing.

Ways to enter into the drawing for a specific post:
1. Leave a comment on the post

2. Share about the Birthday celebration on your blog and leave a comment with a link to the post.

3. Emailing me (info@NYQuilter.com) your answers from the particular activity. Entry points will be determined following this criteria for correct answers: 100% – 5 enteries; 80%-99% – 4 entries; 50-79% – 3 enteries; 30-49% – 2 entereis; at least one correct answer – 1 entry.

4. One entry into the drawing will be given for posting a comment on the specific post telling me you have participate in the activity and have emailed the results to me.

All entries into individual posts will be entered into the drawing for the Grand Prize drawing.

You will have until midnight (Eastern standard time), Monday Dec. 21, 2009 to submit your comments and emails to be considered for the drawings. Good luck and let the games begin.

Today’s activity – Which Quilt Am I? (PDF version)

Above is pictured a close-ups of 10 of the quilts that I have made during the past decade. Visit the gallery on my website and see how many quilts you can identify.

Remember to email (info@NYQuilter.com) me your answers to increase your chances to win in one of the drawings or for the Grand Prize drawing!!!

Enjoy!

Posted in Give--a-way, Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

The Wedding Gift

December 10th, 2009

Brian (my stepson) and Isa are getting married on Dec. 28, 2009. I had talked with them and they choose Argyle as the basis for their quilt. There choice worked really well for me because I was kind of thinking that design was what I thought they might like and had been thinking about making another one of these quilts. It’s great that that happens – that both parties are thinking the same. The only problem, this means I will have made three of these Argyle projects and NONE of them live with me. This makes me pretty sad.

I had some Stained Glass Trellis yarn that they liked.

I pulled MANY lime green, fuscia and teal batiks from my stash. (These are the piles after I cut all my stripes.)

I was confident that I had enough fabric to use without going shopping. The only problem was – it’s kind of hard to do a random four patch quilt with only three colors. This caused me alittle problem so the fabrics just sat on my washing machine for a couple of weeks. After going to the Northern Star Quilters meeting on Nov. 17th (which I just finished piecing the rainbow quilt for the Super Saturday class sample to be displayed at the meeting) I decided that despite my dilemma I had better get working on their quilt if I wanted to complete it by their wedding (and I did have a few other things I want to do before then).

I cut all my stripes and sub-cut them into short sections and decided to have each four patch be out of the same color but with random fabrics from that color. (These are my EXTRA stripes – maybe I will make myself an Argyle quilt.)

Here is a sample of the four patches and the sashing. I had a batik that had all three colors in it and decided that it would work great for the corner stones. I kind of liked the random four patches but there were some of the colors that I did not like by each other. What to do? I sure did not want to undo alot of stitching.

Then I decided to sew some together and see what I thought. Maybe it would be better when they are all pieced together. Not so, I still do not like that dark green and lighter green by each other.

Maybe adding the trellis yarn will help, so I just laid it out on the project – still does not make my heart sing.

Maybe more is better? I don’t think so!!!!

Maybe without the corner stones?

Maybe adding more Trellis yarn????

How about just having the extra Trellis yarn on the seams of the four patches?

I decided to add the Trellis yarn on the seams of the four patches before piecing any of the top together.

Here is a preliminary layout with out any of the Trellis yarn on the sashings. I am really liking this quilt. Sometimes when I make a quilt for someone else I really get attached to it and really want one of my own. (An example is Emily’s wedding quilt – after her wedding I decided I liked the quilt that she had designed so much that I made one of my own – but a lap size quilt.)

As I was piecing the top together, I had a BRAINSTORM – I could sew the Trellis yarn on the sashings going in one direction AS I pieced the top. That way I would not have to deal with the entire size of the quilt while adding all the Trellis yarn (in the one direction as least). Since this quilt is going to be queen size I thought this would be a pretty good idea.

I added guide lines………….

and added the Trellis yarn as I pieced the top.

Great idea IF you get the size of the quilt correct! As I was piecing the top it seemed like I just kept sewing and sewing and sewing. I sure was glad that I was getting half the trellis yarn on now because this was taking FOREVER! Well – when I got the top done (without borders) I went up and laid it out on my queen sized bed. What – it was to BIG and it didn’t even have the borders on it yet!!!!!

As I was figuring how many four-patches that I needed I guess that I didn’t figure correctly. I think I miscalculated because of the blocks being set on point and having to include or not include the sashing into the on point measurement. I thought that I had figured correctly – but NO!!!!! I ended up with and over sized KING size quilt. Remember my brainstorm on adding the Trellis yarn in one direction – well that was a really stupid idea of you have to change the size of the the quilt. All that Trellis yarn had to be unpicked on the sections that I was taking off. WHAT A PAIN!!!!!

Just before Thanksgiving I finished the top (without borders). I ran out of the black batik and had to get some more before I could do the borders.

The only good thing about making this quilt to big is that I had enough blocks to make a lap size quilt also. Guess I will have my Arguyle quilt after all (and I still have all those stripes to do something wtih also). Now I am hoping that I have enough Trellis yarn. I purchased the skein I have really cheap, probably when it was being discontinued a few years ago. I have been looking on e-bay and there is some available, but it is pretty pricey because it is a discontinued yarn. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and buy it to make sure that I have enough. Not that I have the proposals submitted I can get back to working on this quilt. My days are numbered!!!!

Posted in Quilt: Argyle quilt | 1 Comment »

Queen of the Last Minute

December 9th, 2009

Whoops – I mean PROJECTS (as dubbed by my daughters at the QQQ party).

Yesterday I was working on finishing up the project that has consumed most of my time since Thanksgiving and it had to be in Houston today. Needless to say – I am THANKFUL for Federal Express and the fact that there is a main facility about two miles (even though it seemed like alot future than that last night) from my house AND stays open until 8:00 pm.

Here is what the clock looked like as I sat at the red light a few blocks away from Federal Express. I was hoping that I DID NOT hit too many more red lights.

FYI – I just asked Tom about the accuracy of the clock in this car and he said it’s 1 minute fast. Nothing like cutting it close.

Now maybe you are wondering what has kept me so busy?

I have been putting together my Portfolio and Teaching Proposals for Fall 2010 Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. I am pretty particular about how my packages looks and I become very detailed oriented (and pickie). I wanted everything to be just so.

This is a picture of an article that appeared in NQA’s Quilting Quarterly in Fall 2006 written by Sylvia Landman. It was kind of fun to see all the supporting documenation for my Portfolio in one place.

Everything was coming together very nicely until I decided that the Disappearing Rainbow class would be better if the project used only 6 colors instead of the 12 colors like the sample I was working on last month. (I know, I never showed you that one finsihed either – I will at the end of this post). This is all fine and dandy until I needed to include a picture of the class sample – whoops. I needed to make a new sample in the small size (45″ square). No problem……….but things always take longer than I think they will, especially when I had alittle problem with the layout I had done with the border portion that includes the squares on point. I finsihed the sample around 7:20 and then needed to take a few pictures.

Here is the 45″ square Disappearing Rainbow class sample.

I experimented with the placement of the dark and light squres in the nine-patch blocks on this project. This quilt has five light squares and four of the dark ones.)

After taking the pictures for the proposal I remembered that I needed to print the final of my resume. Needless to say, all of these small things were starting to add up to taking too MANY minutes. Tom was gone to a Boys Scout meeting so I was on my own. I was fianlly ready to leave and went out and got into the car. I tried to start the car (which we have not used this car in the past week or so) and it kind of hesitated. My heart sank and I said little prayer. The car then stated and I was on my way. As I was driving I said another pray of thanks for this tender mercy in my life. I did make it in time. But, I was the last one that was let into the building before the doors were locked. This was even too close for me – I did start to get alittle anxious. Now all I can do is let my package speak for me and wait until February when they notification will be made if any of the proposals will be accepted or not.

Here is the the Big Sister Disappearing Rainbow quilt made from 12 colors (24 FQS).

Today I just kind of relaxed (and babied myself (plus I have a really bad cold)). Tommorow I need to actually do some cleaning. Saturday is the day for Our Annual Tom’s Trains (10am-2pm). If anyone is in the area and would like to stop by and see his model trains – Plese do so. (If this time does not work for you we are also willing to arrange a personal viewing.) It is always fun to have the families with children from our church stop by.

Posted in Quilt: Disappearing Rainbow | 1 Comment »

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

November 28th, 2009

Here is the feathered friends that came to our home this year. I have had this idea for a couple of years, but finally made one. A few of my students also enjoyed making a turkey for their holiday.

Posted in Sewing projects, Students (Children) | 3 Comments »

Sewing and Beyond with Mary Anne Ciccotelli