Weekend Project List Review

1. Trip to Joanns
- I was able to get everything I needed (and more!) other than basting spray. They only had one brand and it had so many warnings about flamability and the danger of inhaling it, etc. I did not feel comfortable buying it. Walmart had the same brand so sadly I am still basting with pins for now.
2. Binding the tinkerbell quilt

- I was able to get this quilt completed on Friday and it was so wonderful to share it with the children in Sunday School yesterday and mail it off today. See this post for the full story.

3. Using my new interfacing

- I made these little cuties over the weekend - will post more about them later with a link back to the tutorial I used. Loving fusible interfacing!

4. Lots and lots of cutting!

- I did get lots of ironing and cutting done this weekend but wow, I didn't realize how long all this cutting would take for my "special project". That is the main goal for my week ... along with starting the cutting for "special project #2" if I have time. My hands are going to be hurting by Friday I have a feeling!

All in all it was a wonderful and very productive weekend at my crafting table! I took Sunday off to nap, lounge around the house, and play board games with my hubby after church - wonderful use of my day I would say :)

First Children's Charity Quilt Completed!

This weekend I was able to finish my first quilt for the Children's Charity Project I'm helping out with at church. I was pretty motivated after figuring out a perfect home for this cute little quilt and it was really heart warming to share the story with the children at church yesterday.

You see, the children at church are reading their scriptures - alone and with their families - and by doing so they are earning quilt squares for these charity quilts which I am assembling. They are learning about love, charity, and service among many other things and it was great to be able to share with them how the quilt that they "earned" is going to bless someone's life.

A woman at work lost her home to a fire last week and they lost absolutely everything - including their 2 cats. They are all devastated and we are collecting donations through bakesales as well as offerings from other co-workers. It has been wonderful to see the outpouring of love and generosity from people at work. As soon as I found out that this co-worker had a 3 year old daughter, I knew that she was going to be the recipient of this quilt I've been working on. Once I told the Sunday School children yesterday I knew I had made the right decision. Their little hearts went out to that girl and her family and they were so excited to have helped earn a quilt that will provide comfort to her in this difficult and confusing time. One little boy stated later to his teacher "someone must have been cutting onions in there, my eyes were all watery after that story!" So precious :)

It feels good to get one done, and even better to know that it is going where it is truly needed. A quilt can't bring your home, pets, or belongings back ... but hopefully it can be the bearer of comfort and love to a 3 year-old girl.

***I also want to give a special thanks to John @ Quilt Dad for donating all of this beautiful fabric to our project. Of all the donations we received, this fabric was the best suited for a child's blanket and it was truly fate that brought it to us and gave me the idea for making this quilt first.

Weekend Project List

My weekend project list keeps growing and growing! I'm hoping that writing a few of my ideas down will keep it at a realistic level, or at least track the things I don't get done for another time.

1. Trip to Joanns Today for the following:

•  Basting Spray
• Interfacing (fusible and non-fusible)
• Purple solid fabric for binding

2. Binding the tinkerbell quilt so that it can be shown to the kids on Sunday and head off to its new home in Canada on Monday (long story ... short version is some little girl needs something to snuggle :))

3. Using my new interfacing to make purses! Yay!

4. Lots and lots of cutting! Gotta work on the "special secret project" - might also cut out squares for my Dr. Seuss quilt while I'm at it

Around all of this craftiness there will OF COURSE be some good ol' quality time with the hubby - we already have a date planned at the climbing wall tomorrow morning to get certified for belaying, yay!

And since no post is complete without a picture I leave you with this...
... this is how I feel inside when I don't get to craft all week, its bad, really bad lol...

Dr. Seuss Quilt Layout

I have found another wonderful use of Microsoft products in quilt designing, muahaha :)

Using images of the fabrics I bought for this project, I layed them out in the order I wanted and took a screen shot to be able to share it with you - genius ;-) haha. I've never done a simple block by block quilt and I think this one is so busy, it doesnt need a busier pattern. What do you think?
I'm thinking a thin white border around it and bright red or yellow binding to finish it off.

I also have this fabric which will be the center of the back with some bright color around it - probably one or both of the blues:

I don't have any children but I LOVE Dr. Seuss and could not pass up on my own Seuss blanket. One day when I have kids I may be nice enough to let them use it... we shall see haha.

No More UFOs Pledge

My pile of UFO's (Un-finished Objects) is getting out of hand and I've decided to pledge to do something about it before it gets worse. I've decided I cannot start any new quilt projects (zipper bags do not count! haha) until I get some of the following completed:

1. My stripey quilt - first quilt I started for myself. Its basted and rolled up and just waiting for me to finish it!

2. My first Children's Charity Quilt - I got half of the simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting completed, just need to buckle down, get it done, and bind it. (I've added a pretty white border to this since the picture was taken to make it a bit bigger.)

3. Fall Throw Blanket that I started last summer - only needs backing to be pieced, quilted, and binding sewn

4. Random "Testing out this pattern" Blanket - I think it needs another border since I'm a giant and want my feet covered :)

5. A bigger version of the same pattern using Moda's Sugar Pop - I already have fabric for a pretty border, just need to buy the backing and binding and get it all put together and quilted

I also have some log cabin blocks I've started for a quilt - I have 42 out of 80 completed - that has become a "here and there - if I feel like piecing for an hour or 2" type of project, no projected deadline

O yea, can't forget my queen sized bed quilt - this is just 1 sample block and the top fabric - so no stress, it doesn't really count as a UFO since I haven't started it, have just planned it out

Top priority is also a rather large "special project" I need to get started on, for which I should have all of the fabric gathered by the end of the month. I don't want to reveal what it is incase that person is reading my blog - but it's going to take up most of my time for the next few months and has an important summer deadline.

... I think it helps to list out all of my current projects, makes me realize that I need to stop buying fabric and planning new projects and just get some finished! These are beautiful quilts and I'm so excited to snuggle them - definitely going to force myself to be motivated and get them done!

Will update on my progress as it all comes together - I'm hoping to have them all done by summer... wish me luck!

Queenie Preview

A sneak peak of my first queen sized blanket. I'm so giddy about it I just couldn't hold it in :)

Fabric: Luna II by Maywood Studios

Block Pattern: Double Hourglass -Tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew

= Recipe for Awesomeness!!!!! Now if only I had time to work on it, where to find that, hrmm....

Baby Shower Present

Here is the completed shower gift to go along with the stuffed ball I made:

1. A sweet tote bag for the new mom - mom's always have a million things to carry so I thought this might be useful to her:

2. The most adorable onesie EVER :) - I hope its big enough for him:
... If you can't tell its an alligator thinking about a gold fish - and the alligator is argyle too!

3. And last but not least, the complete gift with the stuffed baby block I made last week:

Her baby shower was last Thursday but since Lukas had the flu along with serveral of my co-workers, I didn't want to risk her getting sick. O well, hopefully I will see her on Sunday and can give it to her then.

My new alligator bag... so chic!

I am so incredibly excited about my newest creation! This is one of my favorite new fabric sets and I was glad to come up with a fun design for it.

AND... I made my first inner pocket - split to hold my cell phone and something else small - as well as magnetic clasp inside to keep it closed. Very glad that its not only cute but useful :).

 

I will definitely be carrying this new bag tomorrow to work - even if it doesn't match my outfit, haha. 

An Early Fall Evening

Last summer when I started quilting I bought a few charm packs of Saltbox Harvest from Moda - as I had decided early on that pre-cuts were basically fantastic (still do love them!). Using a basic 9 patch tutorial I made 12 blocks for a fun Fall blanket for Lukas and I. On our first trip up to Lancaster, PA to go to the local fabric shops, I bought some beautiful brown/gold fabric for sashing ... and then packed up the pieces and new fabric, and forgot about it for months and months :) Im easily distracted... hence why I have so many projects going on at once and so very few get 100% completed, haha.

Regardless of my lack of follow through, I was sorting out my fabric and scraps today and found the pieces and decided to go for it. After a few hours of work this evening I was rewarded with a beautiful Fall quilt top. Still have about half a year to get it quilted and finished, so maybe there is hope yet :-D

The pictures do not do this blanket justice, especially the sashing. It is a beautiful orange gold background with a darker brown/orange polka dot pattern... so pretty! I will try to take some better pictures in the light once I get the quilt completely done... whenever that happens to be, hehe.

2 chickens are better than 1

Here it is my friends... chicken bag #2  - made from Noodlehead's Lil Cutie Pouch tutorial





I tried my hand at some free-motion quilting - less daunting a task when the project is so small. I think it turned out rather cute, even tho I still would not trust myself to do this type of quilting on an entire quilt.

I really like the polka dot lining on this too - it keeps getting stuck in the zipper however which is frustrating. I am not sure what I've done to make it do that but I guess practice makes perfect.

Such a cute pair, like mother and hen :) All in all a good experiment at zippers for my first try I'd say!

Now I'm off to go find more zippers on Etsy by the bulk, these little bags are addicting!

Late Night with Sugar Pop

Lukas has been sick for the past 4 days - along with half of our department at work, blegh! In an attempt to keep myself entertained and let him rest, I spent all evening and night quilting my chicken bag (previous post) and this next beauty:

Meet Sugar Pop Sweetie

I love this fabric line from Moda - it has such a great mix of colors and patterns - completely my style.

It's not quite finished yet... I was able to get the main top sewn together but I still need a color for the border, binding, and backing.

 I am thinking of using colors from one of my favorite squares in the set (above) -  the darker purple for the border and lighter for the binding. We shall see... for now she is going on the pile of "needs fabric" and I will continue crafting. I think its time to work on my second attempt at a zipper bag... stay tuned!

Chicken zipper bag? What? :)

I am so excited to have just completed my first zippered pouch! I used this tutorial from Noodlehead here . **Please note however, you need to leave the zipper open when you are sewing the bag shut all around - its a big pain in the butt to get the zipper back open, I am speaking from recent experience lol. 

Without further ado, I present you to ... (dramatic pause for effect, haha) THE CHICKEN BAG!!!

I tried my hand at some rounded sewing and quilted along the eggs... didn't turn out too shabby for my first attempt. I love that I happened to have fabric to match the polka-dot chickens for the liner, so much better than a plain color for sure!


I do have to admit that being my first time ever sewing a zipper into anything, I wasn't quite sure how close to get, so my zipper does stick a little due to the inside fabric being a tiny bit too close. But hey, for my 1st try, I say this chick rocks :-D

Another giveaway won and some more sweet stash!

I was super excited a few weeks ago to see the following on one of my favorite daily blogs - Quilt Taffy

Solids - A Giveaway

Update: Your comments have been cracking me up all day -

thought provoking to say the least.

A big congrats to:

#9 Carla &

#165 Tiffany

Enjoy!

And what did I win you may ask?? The following solid fat quarters - yay! Can't wait to come up with a fun project for these beauties! Thanks so much Corrie!

I have to admit, I freaked Corrie (of Quilt Taffy) out a little when I emailed her to thank her.

I was waiting for another package in the mail and when I opened hers I was VERY disappointed. I thought someone had sent me the wrong fabric, as I had just placed 3 or 4 orders on Etsy the week before! After I read her note however, I remembered winning the giveaway and was super excited!

... when I related the above story to her, I lead off with the disappointment part which worried her a bit at first glance,  opps! O well, she soon got over the surprise and read my many many thanks :)

1st Charity Quilt Top

Its March 1st and I just finished most of my first quilt top for the Children's Charity Quilt Project last weekend - not too shabby! I still need to find fabric for a border to make it a bit bigger and then sandwich/quilt/bind etc. but hey  1 top out of 9/10 is a good start in my book!

This fabric was donated by John of Quilt Dad - such lovely fabric and so generous of him to help a stranger on a project! Thanks again John!

Im super excited to finish the quilt and show the children at church what they have earned through their hard work reading in their scriptures each week. They are very excited to be earning quilts and Im looking forward to donating them to various charities in the area when we are done with our project in the Fall. Im sure some little girl is going to love this quilt and I am so happy to have a part in this great project :)

Baby Block #1

A friend from church just had a baby boy a few weeks ago. He came 5 weeks early but both mommy and baby are doing great. Her quickly re-arranged babyshower is this Thursday so I am working hard to get a present made for her before then around working full-time.

I saw this post on Moda Bake Shop for these log cabin baby blocks and figured I would try my hand at making one out of solid charm squares. Did not turn out too shabby for my first attempt - even tho wow those things are annoying to sew if you have no clue what you are doing - like me, haha.

I figure I will make her a cute bag out of the same fabric line (yes - still obsessed with bags lately haha) and then put the block and a couple other little store bought goodies in it.

Happy Birthday Winston!

My giant puppy - half lab and half newfoundland - turned 2 in February. Here he is with his birthday treat... awwwww I love my Winston :)

My husband never had any pets growing up but I had TONS! After 2 years of marriage he agreed to let me get one for my 26th birthday. Chances are I will def. not be convincing him to get a second one, so I made sure to get the biggest fluffiest one I could find at the rescues in the area. He is scared of everything but such a sweetheart.