Old, New, Green and Blue!

I have made a promise to myself that this summer I will finish up one "old" project or WIP before starting a new one. Which gives me great motivation because there are so many projects in my head that I want to do.

Something Old - Memorial Day weekend we went to NY for a visit. I decided that since I would need something to do while enjoying the scenic car ride I prepared the binding for this scrap quilt that I made years :) ago. It has always been for "me" so I never felt the need to get it completely finished . . . someday. It did bring back many memories of the first 15 or more quilts that I made. I love scraps and this incorporated all of the memories of the quilts and who I have made them for all in one. Plus it felt good to have something completed that had been around for so long unfinished.

Something New - Pink. I like her songs. I like the color. It's Kaffe and Kona. I quilted it myself using straight lines. It's snugly and Jeffrey declared it a keeper. It is the first one added to my personal collection that I made start to finish for ME!

Something Blue and Green - These are the twenty fat quarters that Jeffrey helped me pick out for our new project. Yesterday he and Nicholas helped me lay them out. So soon we will have another quilt to add to our collection.

There has been other sewing in between this and my last post, but mostly utility in nature. Fixing Tae Kwon Do uniforms and equipment and hemming pants. School is out and birthdays are over so I won't have to put the sewing machine away as much so that the dining room table is usable. I am hoping to spend some quality time with her this summer.

Just One Star

Moda Fabrics is participating in a Quilts of Valor program to make quilts for soldiers. They are asking for quilters to make a star block and send it in so that they can be assembled into quilts for Flag Day to be presented to soldiers. I made three from my scraps to show our support.

Jeffrey is very much in love with the "soldier life" like most little boys. He helped me to pick the fabrics. I am trying to teach him that being a soldier is not all glory and this was another way to bring the message to him that war has a price. It is an honorable thing to be a soldier and I want him to know and respect all aspects of it. You can get more information about the project here.

The reason they call it 'madness' . . .

Is because it truly is addictive. Mug Rug Madness that is. Once you make one you want to make another. For me it is the satisfaction of a complete project in just hours plus they are stickin' cute. Must make more!

National Quilting Day 2011

This weekend was National Quilting Day. Most of this fabric is left over from another project with some new added in.

I have wanted to make this Carpenter's Star for a while now. I just decided that it was time to stop moving the fabric around and just sit down and do it. Now all I have to do is put the borders on it and quilt.

I can't wait to see it finished!

One Week One Quilt

What do you do when you go to Jinny Beyer's Quilt Shop and she has a sale. Well of course you buy fabric! Since I was on winter break and hadn't sewed in months I got some fabric and designed this quilt. It was such pretty fabric and a treat for myself. I had it done in a week in between the movies, playing new games from Christmas, football and all the other things you do to keep children occupied and a house running. I can't wait to get it quilted!

Tooth Fairy Pocket

December 29, 2010 - Finally our first tooth came out. All it took was a good cartoon and a pear. Go sit and work on your tooth. He came back with it turned around backwards and hanging on by a thread. So I reached in with a tissue and plucked it out!

Making a tooth pillow has been on the list for months now. It has taken that long for the tooth to finally come out. Thank goodness it was winter break and we could make it right away. We took some scraps from the scrap bag and got to work.

This is something that I just "created" no pattern. Only my second zipper and my first button hole. Love my sewing machine. What a dream to own a Janome.

Jeffrey was impressed and very happy. The tooth fairy left him a gold dollar in his pocket and he has something to collect his teeth in.

Gnome, Gnome, Gnome . . .

We spent the weekend making gnomes. They were so much fun. Each has their own personallity. We used this tutorial from Gingercakes.

I think someone in my house is going to have a hard time letting these go to their new homes for Christmas. He has enjoyed playing with them and they have had many careers so far. The receivers will get one well loved gnome.

Candle Mat Swap

My Candle Mat Swap arrived on the day after Thanksgiving!! I was so excited to receive my first "swap" in the mail. I got a nice card from my swapper with handmade snowflake ornaments. Another one of my most favorite things. Pictured above is the mat I received on the left and on the right is the mat, pin coushin and mug rug I made for my partner.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

Ms. Nelson's Wedding Blanket

Last spring my son's Kindergarten teacher got engaged to be married. The children were very excited and nervous at the same time. For some reason they all thought that this meant she was going to be leaving them - right away.

The time past and they realized that she wasn't going to leave them and then they all got really excited. They wanted to give her a party and a gift. I thought it would be nice to have them give her something that was a special piece of each one of them and something they created. I went to the school with some of the other parents one day and the art teacher was nice enough to let us use their art time to create these fabric squares of their artwork. Through their art you can tell the love that they have for her. She is a very talented and unique young lady. As a parent this is who you want your child to spend their day with.

She was married at the beach in October 2010 so we had the children draw an ocean wedding theme block. I put them together with some fabric of her favorite colors and then just quilted it with straight lines. This is the biggest quilt that I have attempted to quilt myself. It helped me to realize that it's not so hard after all and my first attempt at "designing" something myself turned out okay.

The children were very proud to present her with her gift and she was very touched. She said it was the best present she had ever gotten!

This quilt is very special so that is why I decided to share it in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010.

Wonky Star

I had a big pile of scraps on the table so I thought it would be a good time to try a "wonky star". I have been wanting to and looking into the big pile it seemed like a good time to try with scraps. I will probably use is on the back of the quilt I made with these fabrics as a signature block.

I managed to get one of the iPad covers I had all set up put together. Maybe tomorrow will bring more. The weather is suppose to be sunny and low 70's. It will be a good way to end two weeks at the beach. We will probably spend most of the day outside in the sunshine.

The rain storm this afternoon chased us off the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge. We managed to get back to the car before the rain started but we had to run most of the way.

Three for me . . .

We only have one more day at the beach and I have finished all three projects I brought. Tomorrow is suppose to be rainy so I will probably work on the iPad covers I have all set up ready to be put together so I will have something to keep my fingers busy.

It has been a very productive and relaxing vacation. I am already looking forward to next year!!

Made it by sunset . . .

I finished my second top by sunset today. It was a beautiful hot day here and a great way to end the day by cooling down and watching the sunset as I sewed the last few rows together. Now on to the third . . .

I can't wait to get started on it!

Vacation Count Down

We have been doing a lot of this . . .

and this every day . . .

and haven't done this for three days while the cousins were visiting.
Day five and the count down until the end of vacation has started. These blocks are all sewn together. Just have to finish squaring them up. Hopefully I will have them sewn together by bed time.

One Day, One Quilt

Vacation. . . there is nothing better than looking out into the ocean while you are sewing.

It was overcast and rainy our first full day at the beach so I spent the time sewing.

This is "Simply Squared" by Strip Happy in "Oz" by Moda. I love this fabric. It is so bright and cheery. Very fun like the beach, fast, and easy.

Amy Butler Sew-n-Tell Challenge

As soon as I read about the Amy Butler Sew-n-Tell Challenge I went right over to Amy Butler and found a free pattern for this "Cozy Scarf". Then I went to Fabric.com and ordered some of Amy Butler's Love Flannel collection to make these cozy scarves.

I can't wait to wear them and be "cozy". What a fun challenge! :) Thanks.

September Quilt

This weekend when I changed the sheets on the bed it was a nice cool sunny day that felt like Fall. I thought I should change the quilt on the bed. That and well, I have a few to choose from. This one is one of the very first that I made and one of my favorites. Many hours went into making all these bias squares.

Just in time for Fall . . .

Two weeks ago when we went to see Marybeth she surprised me with my Bali Pop quilt. I can't remember the name of the pattern right now but looking at the pictures it sure does look 'Fallish' and I have already used it several times to cover up with while watching TV and napping. My most favorite past time. I brought it right home and put the binding on it.

This quilt was a struggle to get through. The Bali Pop looked so enticing. I wanted to complete it right away but it was over 900 pieces and very time consuming. The steps were very monotonous. I even managed to put one of the blocks together wrong and didn't realize it until she pointed it out when she gave it to me. This makes it unique and solely mine. :)

My perseverance of course and Marybeth's talent paid off! It's a beauty and yet another that I will not be able to part with.

Inspiration

I read recently an article about inspiration and where we find it. I like to take pictures. There are many things that give me inspiration and beauty in nature and the places around us are one of them. I love being around water and people that I love.

I was visiting with my quilting guild at Marybeth's and this is the view of the bay from her deck. Water is always so peaceful and gives you a sense of calmness. There is nothing better than sitting and starring at a body of water on a sunny day.

I have been wanting to try making an art quilt, small quilt and practice my free motion quilting skills. This I accomplished all in this 9 x 11 quilt that I made. As soon as it was complete it got the "mommy this is beautiful can I put it in my room award!"

So guess where it hangs? In Jeffrey's Gallery.

Almost done . . .

I finished up the tops that I have been working on for two quilt-alongs that I have been participating in -KarrieLyne's Charm Pack Quilt-Along and Amy's Simple Sampler Quilt-Along.

I made them both out of scraps. For being "scrap" quilts I think they came out really nice. I still have so many scraps. I don't see an end in sight. Most of my scraps I had already cut into different size squares which made these projects easy because I already had "ready charms".

Now all I have to do is quilt and bind them so they will be complete. I added borders since my quilting assistant Jeffrey said "Mommy they need to be a little bit bigger to fit both of us".

These projects have been really exciting and fun. Since they were my first quilt-alongs it was exciting to see what was coming next. I also learned a few things too, which is always a good thing.

Back in the saddle again . . .

Finally yesterday after three and a half weeks of packing, moving, cleaning, moving, unpacking, cleaning and getting rid of stuff I was able to spend the day sewing! The new floors are beautiful and so worth the work that it took to have them installed. (They are pretty enough to put my blocks on to take pictures of them!)

I got caught up on two of my quilt-a-long projects. Today and tomorrow I am home so hopefully that will mean some extra sewing time to get all the way caught up. It's overcast so it's a stay in the house kind of day.