Goofin' Off And a Bit of a Buckle

So it seems my mind has been buckling a bit lately. Now before you jump to any conclusions, let's just say there is more than one meaning of the word buckle.  Although the way I use the word doesn't really apply to any of the meanings I found on dictionary.com.  The slump on my mind had a slightly different definition.  But before I get too far into that, let's catch up on some projects.

I was finally able to get a picture of my finished Captain America quilt flimsy (quilt top for you non-quilters).  My boys were kind enough to let me borrow their handsome arms to hold it up for me...at least, as well as they could for a larger quilt top.  They are the best!

Mr. Goofin' Off Jr. and Mr. Goofin' Off Holding Up Captain America Quilt Top

I think Mr. Goofin' Off and I will be happy to get this one on our bed soon.  Our current quilts are really beginning to fall apart.  Why is it that we quilters always make quilts for everyone else first?

Mr. Chef Freddie's Favorites quilt blocks are coming along.  I've begun assembling the first set of blocks.  

Beginning Assembly for Blocks 1

I have also begun sewing the sub-units together for Blocks 2.  The block shapes themselves are the same, it's just that the blue fabric for Block 2 will be a different color.

Beginning Sub-Units for Block 2

I was able to sneak in about 400 stitches of Mickey and Pirate Friends cross stitch since my last update, so below is the latest.

Mickey and Pirate Friends Cross Stitch - 07/27/2017

Reminder of What Finished Stitched Piece Will Look Like

Now back to buckle.  What thoughts have been buckling around me?  Am I having problems getting myself buckled into the new car?  Nope, not that kind of buckle, although losing a few pounds might help me with that.  Um, have I been having a hard time buckling down and getting things done? Nope...well, maybe with some of the housework, but that's not what's been on my mind. I don't worry about that as often as I should. How about things buckling under pressure?  Have I been buckling under the pressure of all the upcoming weddings and such? Nope. Those have been fun to look forward to. I could go on and on, but none of those are even close to the buckle I've been drooling about.

How about this kind of buckle? This kind of buckle was not mentioned on the dictionary.com website I checked out about the meaning of buckle. But it's been on my mind since we had this back in March...actually, I think over the course of the week we had three of these in March.  

Warm Wild Berry Buckle with Pepper Berry Sorbet

We had these at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival back in March.  It was our absolute favorite of all the kiosks.  Mmm....

It came back to my memory as we were booking a whale watching tour for this weekend.  Did I mention we're going on a whale watching tour with my family?  We are sooo excited.  Anyway, when booking the tour the website said we could pre-order their famous blueberry buckle.  Now upon hearing the word "buckle" my mind went directly back to that baby up above.  Mmm...

Mr. Goofin' Off, of course, has ordered it for us, so it should be waiting for us when we board the boat in the morning.  Will it compare to what we had in March?  I am skeptical, but I will keep my mind open.  I'll let you know when we get back.

I know what I'm doing this weekend. What are you buckling down and doing for the weekend? Have a great one my friends...and I do think of you as friends whether or not I have met you in person. 

Linking Up With:
Needle & Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop
Finished or Not Friday
Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday

Goofin' Off With Some Sweet Treats

I have had a bit of a sweet tooth lately.  I have been trying to watch what I eat a little better, as I've got some clothes I'm going to need to fit into in a few months for a family cruise. But I love my sweets. (Deep sigh.) I'll put aside my sweet thoughts for a moment for a quick update on my projects.

I've been putting all those little pieces of fabric together and watching the sub-units of the quilt blocks begin to form. I can't wait to see how they will all look when I am finished.  I think I mentioned before, I have slightly altered a block pattern I found to create these blocks. I have not sketched out what the final block will look like. I have my fingers crossed it will look okay when it's finished.

24 Completed Sub-Units

48 Completed Sub-Units

I have one more set of 24 sub-units to put together before I begin block assembly for Chef Freddie's Favorites.  I can't wait to get this little guy's fabric worked into the blocks.  I don't know why, but this fabric reminds me a little of Kermit. I love a good Muppet movie.

Focus Fabric I Have Named Chef Freddie

Below is a quick update on my Mickey and Pirate Friends monster-sized cross stitch. The side of Goofy's head is beginning to appear.  Yay!  

Mickey and Pirate Friends Cross Stitch - 07/23/2017

And a reminder of what the finished piece will look like.

As I talked about earlier, I have had a bit of a sweet tooth...probably for the past 48 years or so. But the sweets cravings have been especially bad lately.  

Last night Mr. Goofin' Off went out with the "kids" to celebrate my nephew's last Saturday as a bachelor. They hit up Red Robin and the Spider Man movie. He bought me these little babies so I wouldn't feel left out. Mr. Goofin' Off is really thoughtful that way. 

My Current Sweet Tooth Downfall - Lava Cakes

These lava cakes are rich.  I love how they just melt in my mouth with all of their chocolaty gooey-ness.  Fortunately, there are only two in a box, so once they are gone, they are gone.  I lost a couple of pounds the past few weeks, so I don't want to undo what I've accomplished.  These were not my only sweet tooth purchase this week...just the only edible one...that I am admitting to.

I saw a blog post earlier this week from a fellow blogger who had recently purchased a British cross stitch magazine with some adorable sweet treat patterns in it.  I hurried over to JoAnn's to see if they had the issue, so I could add it to my stash. The gal was putting out new issues of magazines when I came in. She asked what I was looking for, so I told her. She said she had a few issues but hadn't put them out yet.

She grabbed the latest issue of Cross Stitch Crazy and handed it to me. I gladly took the magazine from her hand, glanced at the cover, and finished my shopping at JoAnn's.  When I got home and took the magazine out, I realized it wasn't the one I had wanted.  But it did have the patterns for these little sweeties.  

I think they will make adorable little quilt block centers all stitched up. Oh, the ideas are flowing.  If only I had the time to do all the projects I have in my head.

Why do I feel like I need to go run five miles just for looking at these sweeties?  (Or maybe it's because I had a lava cake last night.)

What is your current craving right now...whether it be food, stash, TV show binge...? I'd love to hear from you. 

Linking up with:  

Slow Sunday Stitching

Oh Scrap

Main Crush Monday

Moving It Forward Monday

Sew Some Love

Goofin' Off With a Free Ferry Ride

Mr. Goofin' Off and I had a fantastic weekend.  We spent Saturday afternoon taking my sweet mother-in-law out to lunch for her birthday.  We had a nice surprise waiting for us on the drive home. We have also been listening to all the great announcements coming out of the D23 convention this past weekend.  For those of you non-Disney geeks, it's kind of a comic-con for us Disney nerds.

As usual, I'll post my project updates before I get into all that other non-hobby stuff.

I finished cutting all the pieces for Chef Freddie's Favorites.

Unit D:  48 - 4-1/4" Quarter Square Triangles
Unit E:  48 - 3-7/8" Half Square Triangles

Unit F:  12  3-1/2" Squares
Unit G:  96  2" Squares (I used two colors for these squares)

I apologize that these pictures are a little washed out.  The colors are actually quite vibrant in blues and greens.  The first thing I did was attach a Unit C to the top of a Unit G for a total of 24 sub-units.  

24 Sub-units:  Unit C Attached to Top Side of Unit G

And then I attached another Unit C to the left side of the Unit G.  Again, there was a total of 24 sub-units.

24 Sub-Units:  Unit C Attached to Left Side of Unit G

Here is the update on Mickey and Pirate Friends Cross Stitch.  I got in approximately 400 stitches much of which was heavy confetti stitching.  But the overall effect looks very nice in person. I see the corner of Goofy's eye! 

Mickey and Pirate Friends Cross Stitch - 07/17/2017

Like I mentioned earlier, Mr. Goofin' Off and I headed over to his parents to take his mother out to lunch for her birthday. It's always fun to go visit, as my mother-in-law is a quilter, too.  I love to see what she is working on. And the bonus on this trip was getting to see her open her package from her sister which was full of all sorts of beautiful fabric stash.

To get to Mr. Goofin' Off's parents, we can either drive around or take the ferry. We almost always drive so we don't have to worry about ferry schedules. There is a lot of road construction going on right now on the freeways, and it took us a lot longer to get there than usual. We decided to give ourselves a treat and take the ferry across back home.   

It was a beautiful drive from Port Orchard to the Kingston ferry dock. When we got to the ferry, the gal in the booth said the person in front of us had a commuter card that was about to expire, so they had paid for our ferry ride. Score!!!! It was going to be a free ferry ride. 

We got out of the car while we waited for the ferry to arrive. It's a beautiful view from the Kingston ferry dock. You can see all the way from Seattle to Everett. 

Holland America Cruise Ship Leaving Seattle 07/15/2017

Norwegian Cruise Ship Leaving Seattle 07/15/2017

We arrived just in time to snap pictures of the cruise ships leaving Seattle heading up to Alaska. Since I have had several blogger friends leave on cruises to Alaska the past couple of weeks, I thought I'd snap a few pictures in case someone I know was on one of the ships.  Of course, if you are on the ship, you probably aren't checking blogs, so you may not see these pictures for a while.

Kingston Ferry Dock

Above is the Kingston ferry dock.  You can see in the far distance the skyline of Seattle and the top of the Space Needle. On days like this, I really appreciate the beauty of Seattle. During the gray months of winter, I often forget how beautiful it is.

Mr. Goofin' Off and I also were watching the news coming out of the D23 Expo. We were so excited to hear about all the new things coming to our home away from home...aka Disney World. 

If you want to read more details or see pictures, you can find all of that at the Disney Parks Blog entry here:  Exciting Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Updates at D23 Expo 2017.  Here are some of the updates for my Disney-nerd friends.  You know who you are.  

1. Disney's Star Wars Land will officially be called Star Wars:  Galaxy's Edge (opening 2019). 
2. Disney's Hollywood Studios will be home to a new Mickey Mouse attraction called Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.  
3. Epcot will be home to a new Ratatouille attraction in the France area behind the Eiffel Tower (opening before 2021).
4. Epcot's Future World will be home to a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction (opening before 2021).  
5. Magic Kingdom will house a Tron Lightcycle Coaster (opening before 2021).  
6. Mission Space will be fitted with a new mission on the "green" side...more family friendly.  
7. New restaurant added next to Mission Space which will have you feeling like you're eating in outer space.  
8. A Star Wars themed hotel to open in Florida. It is said it will be a first-of-its-kind hotel...with the hotel itself being a three- or four-day experience.  I can't imagine what this is going to be like, but it sounds out of this world.  
9. Two new types of transportation to get you around Disney World property including Minnie-themed vehicles and an overhead gondola system.  
10. A new theater in the Magic Kingdom inspired by Kansas City's Wallis Wood Theater.  No details on what show(s) will be performed there.  
11. More information was given on Hollywood Studio's Toy Story Land (opening summer 2018).  

I hope all my friends (and I do think of you all as friends) had a great weekend. I can't wait to read about what you all have been up to.

Linking Up With:
Main Crush Monday
Moving It Forward Monday

Goofin' Off With a Girls' Night Out July 2017

Last night we had a girls' night out with the girls in my extended family.  I love going out with these girls...and getting to feast on tacos and nachos last night was just an added bonus. I am grateful that I've got family so close...and that we enjoy spending time together.  But before I get too far into that, here are my project updates.

I have finished the Captain America quilt top.  I am just looking for the right opportunity to snap a picture of it.  Because it's so large, I think I'm going to need to find strapping volunteers (Mr. Goofin' Off and Mr. Goofin' Off, Jr.) to hold it up so I can snap a picture.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in on the mystery quilt fabric selections.  I have decided to go with the majority of votes and use the sweet treats fabric choice.  Because the mystery is still almost a month away, you won't be seeing these fabrics again for a few weeks.  

Fabric Choice for Quilt Talk Mystery Quilt

Since I finished Captain America, and the mystery is still a ways off, I pulled together some stash and scraps for a Project Linus quilt.  The block I am using is named "Old Favorite" and comes from the book "501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks" by Judy Hopkins.  I have made a few small changes to the block, but I wanted to keep the original name of the block part of the quilt name. I have named the quilt Chef Freddie's Favorite.  Can you guess why I named it that?

Fabric Selection for Chef Freddie's Favorite Quilt - Project Linus

This little froggy reminds me a bit of Kermit for some reason.  Maybe it's his sunny disposition...or his eyes.

Focus Fabric - Chef Freddie

I have spent a few hours doing some cutting for this quilt.  The past couple of days.  Here is what I have cut out so far:  

Pieces Cut So Far:
(Unit A) 48 - 3/12" Squares
 (Unit B) 96 - 2" x 3-1/2" Rectangles
(Unit C) - 192 - 2-3/8" Half Square Triangles

Here is an update on Mickey and Pirate Friends cross stitch piece.  The white of Goofy's eye is just beginning to show in the middle on the right side of the stitching.  It should start to become more recognizable with every update from here on out.  

Mickey and Pirate Friends - 07/12/2017

On the 4th of July, while the family was all enjoying time together, my niece said she had craving for nachos. (There is a hint there of a surprise to come on girls' night.) We set a date for the next week to meet up at Azteca's Mexican Restaurant for some girls' night Nachos Azteca and Taco Tuesday.  I was the first one to arrive.  While I waited for everyone else to get there, you'll never guess what I spotted on the wall in the waiting area. 

Mickey and Minnie Wood Carving at Azteca's Mexican Restaurant

I've never noticed this before. I am not sure if it's new or not. How do I always run into these things? Or are there more Disney lovers out there than I think there are? This really was a fun find. 

To take advantage of Taco Tuesday, we had to sit in the bar. It was pretty noisy in the bar, but, hey, $4.50 for three tacos it was worth it. We ordered two helpings of nachos to share between the seven of us. I don't think there was anything left of them when we said good-bye.  

My Side of the Table
Farthest Back:  My Niece to Be -- Just Two More Weeks Until She's Married and Officially Part of the Family
Middle:  My Niece Who Was Married Last Month and Had an Announcement
Closest:  My Niece Who Went With Us to Florida in March and Will Be Cruising With Us Later This Year

Other Side of the Table
Furthest Left:  My Sister-In-Law
Middle:  My Sister-In-Law's Mother (I Think of Her as Family)
Furthest Right:  My Sister

Despite the noise in the bar, we had a great time eating and catching up. During the evening my niece that got married last month announced that she was expecting a baby. Woo hoo! No wonder she was having cravings last week. I am sooooo excited for her and her family. There are so many exciting things coming up in the Goofin' Off extended family. I am truly feeling blessed today.

Do you ever have girls' nights out with friends or family? Sometimes I wish I could have a girls' night out with my blogging friends and family (and I do think of you all as friends and family). If we had a girls' night out, where would you want to go?  Let me know in your comments...and because this is just for fun, so the sky is the limit. 

Have a magical day, my friends!!!

Linking Up With:
Midweek Maker
I May Have a Scrap Problem
Sew Some Love
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread Thursday

Goofin' Off With a Nomination

A couple of weeks back I received an e-mail from a new blogger friend I made a couple of months ago through the New Quilter Blogs Blog Hope.  This new friend was Rose from the blog Something RoseMade.  Rose is always upbeat, and I adore all of the beautiful quilts I see her working on. Rose let me know she was interested in nominating me for the Liebster Award.  I have accepted the nomination and although my post is coming up a little late, I feel honored to have been nominated.  Honestly, I think the nominations should have stopped at Rose. She deserves to win the award.

I took two years of German in high school and have forgotten a lot of what I learned.  So when I was nominated for the Liebster Award, I went ahead and looked up online the meaning of "liebster".  According to the German to English dictionary, liebster means beloved, dearest, sweetheart...basically someone you hold dear to your heart.  Although I've only known some of my fellow bloggers a few months, I hold many of them dear to my heart.  If you want to learn more about the Liebster Award, you can read more about it by visiting The Global Aussie's website.

As part of the nomination process, I have been asked to mention my favorite blog to read. That's a tall order considering I like just about any blog that is quilt related, cross stitch related, or Disney related. That should narrow it down a bit, right? I think my latest obsession with a blog would have to be Karen at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats...because who doesn't love quilting, traveling, and eating. Currently, Karen is working on the most adorable poodle blocks.  I am in love with them.

Part of the nomination is answering the questions that Rose has prepared for me.  So here we go:

Who inspired you to quilt?  That is a tough one.  I made my first quilt block back in middle school in a class were we learned all sorts of great skills such as knitting, crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, quilting and probably a few other ones that I can't remember.  The quilt block was finished into a pillow, as I recall.  I didn't do any more quilting for almost 20 when I picked up a magazine and just decided to "go for it."  Although I am a slow quilter, I am always working on something.

If you could meet one Quilt Personality, who would it be?  Honestly, I don't follow any of the big names in quilting, so it would probably be one of my friendly blogger friends.  I have made so many the past few months, I would meet as many as I could in real life...maybe on a trip to Disneyland...just sayin' if you're reading.  Just mention in the comments below, and I'll keep a list...maybe a quilters/stitchers Disney tour in the year 2020, that should leave some time to put some money in your vacation jar.

Your preference of listening to while quilting?  I usually either listen to jazz or my mp3 player with my Disney movie scores playlists going...or my Disney theme park background music playing...or my Disney anything playing.  I am a huge Disney geek, in case you hadn't noticed.

Do you have a favorite snack/munchy when quilting?  Chocolate...Hershey's kisses are usually what's lying around...but if there is something more expensive, I'll eat that too.

Do you look for quilts while watching a movie?  Not usually.  But I do like to take pictures when I just happen to see a color palette that I fall in love with.  It might be the colors of a logo for an airline or a close up of a flower...anywhere I see a color palette that I love and can attempt replicate in a quilt, out comes the camera.

What comes first when starting a quilt?  Generally, I buy stash when I see something I love.  Since there are a bajillion (is that a word?) patterns out there, I never seem to have an issue with finding one that I think will fit.

What is your favorite quilt/sewn/craft project?  Favorite?  Hmm...I don't have a favorite.  How boring is that.  Basically, I love anything that I do that is Disney.  Although I do adore this Tinkerbell cross stitch I finished a few months ago quite a bit.

Hand quilt or machine quilt?  I have mostly done hand quilting in the past.  I just finished my first machine quilted quilt a couple of months ago.  Since my only machine is a little domestic machine, I'll only be able to quilt smaller quilts for the time being.  I'll have to save my pennies if I want a big quilting machine one day.  

Favorite color?  It bounces back and forth between blue, lavender, and yellow depending on my mood.  

Do you work on one project or many?  I always have more than one project going on at a time.  I am sure Mr. Goofin' Off would prefer one at a time, but I like to have a variety because it keeps me from losing the quilting or stitching bug.  Fortunately, I am getting much better about finishing projects and using up stash.  

Part of the nomination process is to "pay it forward" and nominate some of my fellow bloggers. Since I am awaiting their responses as to whether or not they will accept the nomination, I will update the nominations as they are accepted.  

Thanks again to Rose for including me in this fun award and the opportunity to get to know more about my fellow bloggers.  

Goofin' Off With a Mystery...or Possibly Two

Do you like a good mystery?  I love a good mystery...however, I'm not so good at things where the end result is a mystery.  I have never participated in a mystery quilt before because I don't like working on something when I don't know what the final quilt will look like. I've had a couple of mystery quilt opportunities come up recently and am taking the plunge as they both really piqued my interest. Both mysteries are currently in the choosing fabrics stage. I'll be asking for your help on that a little further down.

As for progress pictures on Captain America, I've got the first set of borders attached now. Just the last set of borders after this, and the flimsy will be complete.

Captain America Quilt with First Set of Side Borders

Captain America Quilt Complete First Set of Borders Attached

I only got to do about 200 stitches in to my Pirate Mickey stitching project since my last update. But any progress is still progress...at least that's what I always tell myself.

Mickey and Pirate Friends as of 07/06/2017

As I mentioned earlier, I am going to be participating in at least one and possibly two mystery quilts this summer. The first mystery quilt is being offered on the QTMysteryQuilts Yahoo group. Fabric requirements came out on July 3rd along with cutting instructions.The finished quilt will make a great size for a Project Linus quilt.

Below are the fabric choices that I've pulled from my stash for this first mystery. I noticed afterwards that each of the fabric choices I pulled have a summer or travel theme to them. Apparently, I am getting the itch for some travel. 

Option 1:  The main focus fabric you may recognize as the Cars fabric I ordered a couple of weeks ago. The white will be the background with the black as the accent and the dark gray with silver circles the border fabric. Aside from the Cars fabric, the other fabrics are all left over from Captain America. 

Option 1 - Cars Theme

Option 2:  A sweets and baked goods theme.  The focus fabric has lots of tasty sweets on it and has me drooling just looking at it. The white will be the background with the brown as the accent and pink as the border.

Option 2 - Sweets Theme

Of course, this fabric reminds me of all the fun sweet treats you can find at Disney.  When we were there last March, I took a picture of some of the fun sweets we found at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Elephant Caramel Apple - Disney's Animal Kingdom

Monkey Caramel Apple - Disney's Animal Kingdom

Hippo Marshmallow Pops - Disney's Animal Kingdom

This is what Mr. Goofin' Off decided to get for his mid-morning snack. Everything else looked almost too sweet that early in the day.

Mr. Goofin' Off with His Spotted Leopard Mickey Cookie - Disney's Animal Kingdom

Sorry that I got sidetracked there for a moment. Sweets will do that to me.

Option 3:  The last option I have chosen is fabric I've had in my stash for years.  It's from a line of fabrics by Teresa Kogut. The focus fabric will be the bears all dressed up to enjoy their vacations. The white will be the background fabric. The blue (which is a bit darker than it appears in the picture) will be the accent fabric.  The vacation accessories fabric (cameras, swim shorts, etc.) will be the border fabric.

Option 3 - Vacationing Bears

From what I understand a larger print will be just fine and recommended for the focus fabric, so all of these options should be good options for the quilt.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Do you have a favorite fabric option you'd like to see come to life in the mystery?  I've got a few weeks to get the pieces cut out before the actual mystery begins.  

The second mystery I will keep a mystery a bit longer. I'll pull some options for it later in the month. 

As always, thanks for dropping by. Feel free to leave comments or send me a message.  Mr. Goofin' Off and I love to hear from you!

Linking up with:
Needle and Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?