Polka Dot Quilts

2010-12-15T10:11:00.005-06:00

I decided to make a family tablecloth for my inlaws for Christmas. Here are the results after many frantic evenings of sewing and hoping to get it done in time. I'm really happy with how it turned out and hope they like it.

(These pics aren't the best and some of them were taken before I decided to get out my iron.)

The flowery corners are all from patterns I bought at patternbee.com ( i love that site).

One of the short ends has the first names of my inlaws and the other short end has our family name.

The two long ends contain all the names of children, spouses and grandchildren. (There is room for more- it just won't be quite as evenly spaced.) Each family is grouped together and sewn in a different color.

New Baby= New Quilts

2010-08-15T12:01:00.005-05:00

Baby #3 is finally here! Little Eliza decided to surprise us 2 weeks early. She's perfect and I wish I had more time to just sit around and drink in her sweetness.

Eliza's timing was wonderful.

I'd completely had it with my third trimester! My poor hubbie- every other word that came out of my mouth was something mean and snappy towards him. All I wanted to do was nap. And its so nice to have use of my mid-section again.

But if she'd come one day earlier she wouldn't have had a baby quilt to come home from the hospital with. Monday night I finished the binding on this quilt and in the middle of the night Tuesday (early Wed) my water broke. She must have known that the quilt was ready and it was time to be born!

I LOVE how this quilt turned out. These are the fabrics I used. Lots of strawberries and pink.

And of course, my wonderful mom came and spent a week with us to help ease the transition from 2 to 3 kids. She brought a beautiful quilt too. Isn't it so lovely in its pale, purpley-ness

Definitely Back in the Quilting Mood

2010-06-21T08:11:00.001-05:00

So here's my other BIG project I've been working on lately.

This was inspired by philistine made on flickr. If you haven't checked out flickr lately- run over there right now and prepare to be inspired! Philistine made is one of my favs! I'm always impressed with her fresh color choices.

I wanted to keep my colors summery so I stuck to aquas/lighter blues, pinks, oranges, yellows/golds, grassy and lighter greens and a little brown.

This has been such a fun quilt to work on. I'm such a scrappy quilter at heart. The more fabrics in a quilt, the more fun they are to make!

I plan to have this one (the top atleast) finished in the next month before the baby comes.

Rosey 9 patch

2010-06-18T09:35:00.002-05:00

This quilt is finished and ready to ship off to our newest little niece/cousin. All the fabrics in the 9 patches are little roses/flower patterns out of pink with the teeniest bit of green here and there.

The rosey fabric on the back is my favorite. I'm really happy with how this turned out and hope its new owner will love it too!

Thinking Pink

2010-06-16T09:30:00.004-05:00

I've been such a blogging slacker lately that I haven't mentioned the fact that I'm pregnant with #3!

[Perhaps I'll just say that's my reason for not blogging. Yep, that's it. ]

In a few more months we'll have another little girlie around here (feel free to leave baby name suggestions, by the way) and I've been thinking pink when it comes to all things creative.

Buying pink fabric

Making girlie quilt tops.

This one is actually for a new niece. I've been saving up rosey, flowery fabric for awhile and since her middle is Rose I thought it would be a good fit. More pictures to come when its quilte. Hopefully they'll be better ones. Good grief to my photography skills!

And this one is for the girls in my family. Big Sister, Little Sister and Me. :)

This is my current favorite quilt and I can't wait to get it finished and ready for two little girls to snuggle under! Its not quite twin size. I'm thinking it'll probably need a companion quilt out of the same colorful scraps. Definitely more pics to come of this one.

Modern Quilt Block Exchange

2010-05-04T13:43:00.004-05:00

My quilt friends had a 'modern' quilt block exchange this past week. Well, I participated via mail but evidentally they had a grand time getting together, sharing blocks and chatting. Boy! am I jealous that I was way down south in Houston rather than up in Utah.

Kristin was kind enough to share some fabric (Heather Bailey and Anna Maria Horner) she had. Each of us had to use the inspiration fabric and come up with some modern blocks.

Let me tell you, I STRUGGLED with this one! I don't usually use such large scale fabrics and one person's definition of modern may differ from another's. The large scale fabrics made me even more worried about coming up with a design that would work as just one block in a sampler type quilt.

Anyway, I ended up making a few different blocks and then just sending them off hoping nobody hated me after the exchange.
I actually started with the snail's trail (below) type block. But I got tired of making those and started making the square in a square type ones above. Which do you like better? I think in the end. I like the snail's trail one.

Here is the picture Kristin posted on her blog showing all the blocks after the exchange. See what I mean about one person's definition of modern being different from anothers? There so much variety here! (By the way, my block is the first one on the second row here.)

This was a great challenge for my 31 year old brain. I don't have any idea what I'll do with these blocks but I really enjoyed participating just for the creative challenge. It forced me out of my comfort zone and got me thinking.

Back to the Blog

2010-04-20T18:31:00.005-05:00

Hello out there?!

Well, I took a little blog break. And sort of a little quilting break. One month turned into 2. And then 3.

And then, the next thing I knew, 6 months had gone by without any blogging and really not much quilting to show!

Life has a way of asserting itself sometimes! And that's ok. Here I am now. I'm ready to quilt again.

And if anybody cares, I think I'll do a little blogging again.

Here is my biggest quilting accomplishment from the past several months.

This was a fun quilt to make but really the biggest accomplishment is that my 3 year old will finally sleep under covers with her new quilt!

Peasant Outfit for my Girlie

2009-10-01T11:16:00.004-05:00

I've really been in the mood to make cute little clothes for my 2 year old girlie. I've had the fabric for this skirt (A Day in the Country, Fig Tree) for a few years and finally decided to put it to good use.

Here's the Front. For the top I used Simplicity 5118. I love how it turned out.

I used a Linen/cotten blend. It looks so cute and peasant-y to me. Peasant-y is a word, right?

And the Back. I almost skipped the ties but I'm glad I didn't because I think they add such a nice detail.

The skirt was me experimenting without a pattern for a simple gathered skirt. It worked out just fine after one round with my seam ripper. (I tried to make the waistbad before I sewed the side seam together. I quickly realized I couldn't insert my elastic if I did things in that order.)

Halloween top Finished

2009-09-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

The Halloween top is done! I'm really happy with how it turned out. Its super busy and colorful and fun. I'd really like to have this one done in the next week or so. We've got to have atleast a month before Halloween to enjoy it!

Monster Mosaic

2009-09-18T16:41:00.001-05:00

I finally got this one quilted and bound. Its a monster! The biggest I've ever made. It drapes over our queen quite a bit so we won't have any problems with anyone hogging the quilt!
Since its family size I thought it would be fun to quilt all our names and the year into it somewhere. I thought the kids might enjoy searching for their names over the years.
hmm... I guess if our family grows I might have to make another family sized quilt. oh boy!

Vintage Propellors recieved!

2009-09-17T16:45:00.000-05:00

I recieved a wonderful package full of all the Vintage Propellor exchanged blocks! I love them! Great job girls!

The past month

2009-09-16T16:01:00.007-05:00

Its been almost a month since I last posted! Not that I've ever pretended to be much of a regular blogger, but still, a month is a pretty long time.

I've had a busy month.

Hubbie and I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss,

our little man turned 5,

I threw a birthday party for 13 preschoolers (that was poor planning on my part but we all survived)

and I've done a little bit of quilting here and there. More on that to come...

Halloween Work in Progress

2009-08-17T14:57:00.005-05:00

I've been stewing over what sort of Halloween quilt to make for almost a year now. I bought the cutest Halloween fabric with vintage costumed kids on it and have been trying to figure out how I wanted to use it.

Last night I finally got an idea. I decided to go with a basic 9 patch block and then fussy cut the cute costumed kids to sprinkled amongst black and white polka dotted alternating blocks.

I was really excited and stayed up late sewing 9 patches. Its been so much fun to work with colors that I wouldn't otherwise- purple, orange, green and black! With some yellow and aqua thrown in for good measure. And lots of polka dots of course.

Today I sewed some more and then layed everything out to make sure it was all going according to the grand idea in my head.

Enter my husband. In all fairness, I guess I only have myself to blame because I'm the one who asked for his opinion.

Evidently, it doesn't have enough orange. And it isn't Halloweeny enough.

argh. There goes my enthusiasm.

I guess this quilt is going to require more sitting and stewing.

Please pardon the horrible picture. Its not sewn together and its a little bit jumbled but I think you can get the general idea. I think I'll be adding more of the Halloween kiddies.

What do you think?

Vintage Propellors and a little shopping spree

2009-08-16T12:01:00.007-05:00

I've been working on our latest exchange blocks and finally finished this morning. I say finally because making 60 of these little 6 inch suckers just about did me in. I'm so glad to have sewn the last seam and gotten them ready to mail them off.

This will be a really great quilt when its finished. Here's the pattern: Vintage Propellors

Everyone in our group picked different colors for the propeller blades and is using black and white for the centers.

I've also been on a little bit of a fabric shopping binge this summer. I had gone a long time without buying very much fabric. And I just couldn't stand it anymore! I needed some new inspiration in my stash. Fortunately I've run across some great sales this summer and really stocked up!

I love the lollypop trees, the seahorses, the letters, the bright colors, the zigzags ...

the polkadots!... and best of all, all the POSSIBILITES that come with a new stack of fabric!!

Almost ready for a picnic

2009-07-31T08:56:00.003-05:00

Thank you to those who commented on this quilt. It was unanimous (and I'm so glad because that's what I was voting for too!). Sashing won. The white and the colored posts really make a big difference in this quilt.

Sorry about the sort of fuzzy haze on this picture. It is so incredibly humid today that my camera kept fogging up.

This isn't a very big quilt. Just the right size for a table cloth or a picnic blanket.

Fitness Inspiration

2009-07-23T14:56:00.003-05:00

I went to the library this week with high aspirations. Time to whip my flab into shape! Any pilates fans out there?

This one even inspired me to start getting up and running in the mornings. Me, a runner? It might be possible.

And this one.... well, this one is motivation too.

Where do you find motivation to get in shape?

Summer Picnic

2009-07-20T12:37:00.003-05:00

I cleaned our bathroom this morning so I deserve a little quilty fun this afternoon.

After all the pee I cleaned off the outside of the toilet and around the floor I'm really tempted to install a urinal. Do you think that would help things? [ In all fairness to my husband I think the real culprit is my 4 your old son. sigh. When will I be done potty training this child?! ]

So, anyway, I started a new summer project. I haven't been able to buy very much fabric this past year, but fortunately I've been collecting fruity fabrics in my favorite colors- blue, red, yellow and green for a few years now. I've been collecting them so slowly that even though some of these are SEVERAL years old this is really the first time that I've gotten them all out together and tried to come up with a quilt to use them in.

I LOVE THESE FABRICS! They are mostly old American Jane prints. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much I love American Jane/ Sandy Klop. There are a few other fabrics thrown in including a few thirties and one wonderful Anna Griffin cherry print. They are all so summery and look like they are ready for a picnic!

But, as you can see, I can't decide exactly how to arrange them. I'm leaning more towards one of these scenarios but I want to hear some more opinions. What do you think? Which setting do you like more?

Did anyone keep reading after my disgusting account of toilet cleaning? Sorry if that was too much.

2009-07-19T21:58:00.003-05:00

Well, it seems that the laziness of summer is keeping me from posting very often. Or, um, ever.

I had a great quilty day on Saturday though, that I want to post about.

My sister invited me to attend an Interfaith Quilting Bee hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kingwood, TX. I think this was the event's 9th year and I was impressed by the attendance and the different groups they donate quilts too.

My sister made two baby quilts and I made one lap size/ small twin sized quilt. We sat and tied them, talked and enjoyed seeing all the other quilts on display and being donated.

I left feeling very inspired to share my talent with others. I felt very inspired after Hurricane Ike last year to make donation quilts but didn't really get busy and follow through with that commitment. I started one quilt that has now been sitting half finished in a drawer for atleast 6 months.

However, at this event a few of the groups recieving the quilts spoke about what good the quilts do and how they are used. One of the speakers was from a Pro-Life Pregnancy Center and another from a County Child Protective Services Center. Hearing first hand how donated quilts bless those in need fired me up again to get busy.

Here is a horribly fuzzy picture of me and my sister and our donation quilts.
The quilt I made wasn't my usual style or really even my taste but I felt good about using up what I had for a good cause.

My intent here isn't to brag but really rather to share my inspiration. Over 350 quilts were donated on Saturday. That's amazing isn't it?! I'm excited to have stumbled upon this opportunity to help others in my own community.

Back to Real Life

2009-07-06T14:30:00.002-05:00

Hello! We're back from California. We made it from the Oakland/Bay Area back to Houston in 3 days with 2 kiddos in the back seat.

Would you judge me a horrible mother if I said that now I'd like to have a nice quiet vacation sans kids? 3 days (sun up til sun down) in the car with them just about drove me crazy.

Really we had a great time. Disneyland was tons of fun. The grandparents were doting. The scenery was awe inspiring.

And now I'm actually a little bit excited to get back to reality. Here's the really crazy part: I was excited to clean my house this morning. And I'm really excited to cook meals for my family this week! No more hamburgers for a while please!

And now, where did I leave my sewing machine?

I've been thinking of green and yellow. Something late summery... I can't wait!

on the road

2009-06-10T19:35:00.002-05:00

We're going on vacation for 3 weeks to California! We're escaping the Houston heat and humidity and hoping to find a little respite in Cali. (yes, right? somewhere? please?)

So here's the hard part:

We're driving. With two little ones.

And we have to cross some ugly territory (Sorry, New Mexico and Arizona. And Western Texas.)

Thank goodness for DVD players. And candy. For me and for them.

And here are the great parts:

Disneyland.

The Ocean.

Grandparents.

Cousins.

Family Togetherness.

It really is gonna be great. I'm excited!

And here's where you, bloggy friends, come into the picture:

I want to know where you would go if you were in Santa Barbara, Oakland, San Fran, or the Monterry Area.

Of course I'm asking about QUILT STORES, but also restaurants and fun places to take kiddos (ages 2 and 4).

And um, if you live anywhere along I-10 in Arizona, New Mex or Western Texas and want to stick up for your beloved home, please let me know what's to love where you live! Make me eat my words here!

Baby Pink Coin Quilt

2009-06-04T14:21:00.003-05:00

I've been inspired by all the talk about coin quilts lately. So when I wanted to make a friend a baby quilt that's what I thought of first. Here's my scrappy pink coin quilt.

The quilitng is very amatuer. I need to practice straight line quilting.

Here's a question for those of you who are more experienced with it:

When quilting straight lines do you sew them all in the same direction or do you turn your quilt and sew in the opposite direction each time your go across your quilt? I had some trouble keeping it all nice and flat on and I wondered if it was because I should have been sewing in the same direction each time? What works for you?

I ended up quilting little squiggly flowers in the middle of each colored rectangle.

And of course, washing and drying helped the whole quilt to look nice and wrinkley in a good way, the way it should look.

I think I will be making another one of these to keep.

Cherry Ruffles

2009-05-22T08:43:00.005-05:00

I've been in the sewing mood lately. Not exactly the quilting mood but in the mood to sew other things. My sweet little girlie has been in need of some summer clothes so I headed off to the fabric store.

Enter Simplicity 5695 and some cute cherry fabric.

I am very pleased with how this dress turned out. I love that fabric. And the gathered tiers. And the little red bow.

Its a teeny bit big still but that's nothing a few months won't fix.

One of my frustrations when making clothing is that I have a hard time looking at the picture on the pattern and then translating that into real life on my body (or on my child's body) with different fabric. But this time around I discovered another joy of the internet: googling the pattern.

Here's what I found when I googled this great pattern:

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2008/08/simplicity-5695.html
(I'm a big fan of v& co.)

the one that made me pick the cherry fabric: http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2008/07/so-pretty.html

and how cute and creative is this?! :
http://amazingmae.blogspot.com/2009/03/from-dads-shirt-to-little-dress.html

Wow! While putting this blog post together I just noticed that Amazing Mae has an adult ruffled tiered skirt. I think I need one too! http://amazingmae.blogspot.com/2009/05/ruffled-linen-skirt-for-her-you-not.html

Feathered Snowflakes- Finished!

2009-04-29T14:34:00.005-05:00

I pieced this at the end of last winter (early spring 2008), sent it to be quilted last fall and finally recieved it back this month. I last blogged about it here.
This baby has had to wait a long time to be finished, but I think it was worth the wait.

These feathered stars did make me pull a few hairs out but I absolutely LOVE them. So worth it.
Aqua is my favorite color right now. So clear and crisp and happy.
Quilting by Wren Woodland of Utah. Look at how intricate it is! Wow! She did beautiful work.

Bananas

2009-04-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

What could possibly be funner than polka dots and pinwheels?

Isn't that like the golden ratio of quilting? One part pinwheel and three parts polkadots.

Or did I just make that up?

The only way I can think of to improve upon Polka Dotted Pinwheel Perfection is to throw in some bananas!

I was very worried that I didn't have enough of the blue polka dot but it turns out that I was worried for nothing. I got this top finished up this weekend.

My kiddos LOVE the BANANAS! I bought this fabric several years ago just because they looked fun. They've been sitting in my stash waiting for their day to shine. Finally their day came and boy are they shining!

I hope to get this quilted before the end of the year! And then I'll post more pics.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2009-04-24T09:09:00.006-05:00

I'm popping in here today to join in on the fun over at Park City Girl's Online Quilt Festival. What a fun idea!

So I'm posting my favorite quilt. Its so hard to pick a favorite! But right now this is it.

I love the light springy, candy colors. I love that it was made mostly from my stash. I love the purple binding. I love that I ran out of the green polka dot fabric, had to use something from my stash and you can't even tell. I love that this is my own original design.

I originally gushed about this quilt here.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T09:04:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter!

I am happy to know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives. He is our Redeemer, our Friend and our Guide. He loves each of us and because of the Atonement He has made it possible for us to overcome our weaknesses, sins and sorrows.

Here are a few videos that speak of Christ much more eloquently than I.

I hope each of you are enjoying a beautiful spring Easter day!

looking for fabric for my pinwheels

2009-04-09T16:13:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I decided it was high time to dust off one of my quilts in progress and get it finished.

I started this simple bordered pinwheel several months back. I still love it and am excited about it but i've gotten to the boring part- sashing. and wouldn't you know it, i don't think i have enough fabric!

if anyone knows where i can get more of the Dotty P&B textile fabric (the white dot on dark blue one that is surrounding my pinwheels) PLEASE let me know.

My little man just walked in, saw all my pinwheels on the floor and sweetly asked, "Can I have this quilt?"

I asked him why, thinking it was because there is so much blue in it and he said, "Cause its got bananas."

Me? Unproductive

2009-04-09T10:52:00.006-05:00

I've been so unproductive lately!

So in honor of my own unproductivity I thought I'd celebrate other bloggers greatness.

Here is some eye candy from the blog-o-sphere.

crazymomquilts.blogspot.com she's always good in a simple, smart way. and i LOVE the squares.

filminthefridge.com i like her graphic, colorful and white style. here's one that i really want to duplicate with some of my own scraps.

and a new favorite: quiltsalott.blogspot.com this gal blows me away. she got skills. and such a great sense of color. i love what she's doing with both the triangles and the pies in this post. lovely.

Rant on Shopping for clothes

2009-04-08T08:24:00.003-05:00

There hasn't been much quilting going on here lately. I've been busy de-wallpapering our bathroom.

argh.

But that's not what I'm getting on here to post about. Rather, I want to vent about my latest attempts at clothes shopping.

I really, really, really want a new Easter dress or skirt or something cutesy for church this Sunday. I've been scouring the internet and then hit the shops last night. Well, really I only went to two shops but still. That was brutal enough.

Let me just enumerate my problems and if you can offer any condolences or advice please do.

1. First off, its spring, right? Why are there so many black and dark clothes on the racks? I guess they are slimming but especially in the spring I want to look light and springy!

2. Trying on clothes is so depressing. In that little cubicle of a room I'm forced to examine my body in a variety of cuts and colors. I can't hide from or ignore my numerous flaws. I almost always go home with a bad body image after shopping.

3. They don't make clothes for real bodies. After 2 kids, I'm mourning my once hourglass figure. I'm more of an apple shape now. bleh. I'd like to dress in a non-frumpy manner but its hard to look good when most of the clothes are for skinny, flat chested super-models. I think this has gotten a little better lately. But I still struggle to find flattering clothes.

Well, that's probably enough venting. In the end I just bought myself a pair of practical jeans and went home to search the internet some more.

And that's where I found shabbyapple.com. There's some cute stuff there but what I really like is the fact that they help you figure out what shapes are flattering on your body. And most everything is cute while still maintaining a sense of modesty. And they have free returns.

So here's hoping that this dress looks good on me.

And the silver lining from last night: I went home watched Biggest Loser (I love that show) and then got up and exercised this morning. I'm determined to improve upon my dressing room experience.

And if you read all that I'm really impressed. Because boy, can I be longwinded (or atleast longfingered) when I go on a rant like that.

Red and Aqua Improv Quilt

2009-03-30T13:01:00.002-05:00

My Project Imrov quilt is finished. I finally got the top quilted and bound last week. Its already spent a few nights on my little guys bed.
I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was a fun quilt to make and I think its a fun one to look at. I love the cheerful colors and the scrappiness of it.
And I'm really slow this year. This is my first official finished quilt of 2009.

2009-03-27T13:39:00.004-05:00

thank you to everyone who commented! i really appreciated all the input! its so fun to hear all the different opinions on fabric and color.

in the end i went with the darker blue. i decided i wanted it to have a little more color so that's what i went with.

its a very simple blanket. i don't feel right calling it a quilt because there is no piecing. although, technically, it is quilted so i guess it is a quilt. a whole cloth quilt.

here it is, all gussied up and ready to go to its new home. i hope they like it!

help please

2009-03-26T14:22:00.004-05:00

i'm making a baby blanket for a newborn boy and need some fabric advice.

i love vintage/retro baby prints. this is what i picked out at the quilt store.

the alphabet print on one side and the light blue polka dots on the other with red bias binding.

but i came home and was feeling like it was a little bit lackluster.

i turned to my stash for help and found that i had this darker blue polka dot that also works. i immediatelyl felt like this was a better choice.

however, in these pictures, i'm not sure again. which do you prefer?

and as a side note, I LOVE SANDY KLOP (American Jane for Moda) . i would love to have a little bit of everything she's ever done in my stash. and her patterns are all so great and inspiring. that's where these polkadots came from.

now, back to my blanket, i need some opinions, please!

my quilting sisters

2009-03-09T19:36:00.005-05:00

my quilt group has exchanged quilt blocks again.

friday night was the exchange party, full of delicious food and conversations between old friends.

there were pieces of advice and opinions thrown around to be taken or not and encouragement and love for 'kindred spirits' (yes, I'm still reading the Anne series).

there were giggles and pregnant belly comparisions.

atleast that's what i hear and what i imagined.

i was 2000 miles away sitting on my couch playing dr. mario with my hubbie.

i love my hubbie. and i love dr. mario.

but i was sad about not being able to spend the evening with my quilting sisters.

here are the blocks i recieved.

great work girls!

and now i'm mulling over the endless possibilites of sashing, settings, alternate blocks, and borders. how fun!

been reading

2009-02-25T10:52:00.008-06:00

I've been reliving my young girlhood lately through young adult fiction.

I find it much better than the depressing, political, voilent or immoral stuff written for adults. If I'm going to read I want to be uplifted or transported somewhere beautiful and full of hope and promise. Not instructed on the ugliness and immorality of the world.

Ok, enough soapbox. On to what I've been reading...

First I read Ella Enchanted. I have not seen the movie. Is it good? The book was very fun. I like Cinderella stories. I like any book that takes a traditional story and fills me in on the details that might have been left out of the original telling.

[Speaking of Cinderella stories, I liked this one better than Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, although that good too. This one still has magic.]

And now I'm reading Anne of Green Gables. I am a HUGE Anne of Green Gables fan. I have been ever since it was first aired on PBS when I was Anne's age. I defy any woman to tell me they don't love Anne of Green Gables. How can you not love all the innocent, beautiful, romanticism in this book? And how can you not love, Gilbert?! Tell me that!

The only thing I've found that Anne and I disagree on is the fact that she doesn't think there is any "scope for imagination in patchwork." I'm afraid that might be a sign of immaturity. :)

But um, here's my confesssion. Although I've been a long time fan of Anne of Green Gables, can quote her, compared my beaus to Gilbert, and just generally wished I was more Anne-like, this is my first time reading the books!

So there hasn't been much sewing going on around here lately. I'm too busy remembering all my young girl dreams and fantasies as I dive into young adult fiction.

Scrappy Mosaic

2009-02-18T16:09:00.003-06:00

My Scrappy Mosaic Squares quilt is almost done! I just have to put on the borders and quilt it! I really don't think this picture does it justice. I'm just bursting at the seams with happiness for how this turned out.

Why do I love this quilt?

Well,
1. It's scrappy- beautiful and fun to look at. I could stare at it for hours.
2. Red, Blue, Yellow, White and Green- my favorites.
3. My sister and I have both been making the same quilt pattern. Her mosaic top is almost done too.
4. It's Scrappy- Cheap!
5. Lots of pieces. Yes, I love lots of piecing. I drive myself absolutely crazy most of the time. But in the end its what I love.
6. This was so fun to make because there were endless possibilites for patterns within the 7 x7 squares block.

I got the idea from Nanette (isn't hers just gorgeous?!) and found the pattern at the McCalls quilting website.

Today, as I was finishing, and then watching my sister lay her blocks out on the floor, we pointed out which block we'd exchanged. (I made one for her quilt and she made one for mine.)

As a regular quilt exchange participant, I thought how this block would be a very fun one for a block exchange. There is so much room for creativity with this pattern.

Dia de 30

2009-02-15T09:23:00.009-06:00

Thanks for indulging my little blog pity party and leaving sweet comments for my birthday.

This birthday was a little hard psychologically but I really had a great day.

I cleaned house because I wanted to (which makes a huge difference!), sewed, chatted all afternoon with my sister (who has already passed 30), ate the most beautiful and delicious chocolate cake made by said sister, played Ticket to Ride with hubbie, my sister and her hubbie, and then topped the day off with a very fun episode of Psych, my current favorite tv show.

And now that the Dia de 30 is over, I'm not stressing about that number anymore and life is grand.

(I don't really speak Espanol. Had you going there, didn't I?)

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

2009-02-13T08:00:00.002-06:00

It's my birthday. Not only that, but its a big one involving a 3 and a 0. ugh.

I'm simultaneously mourning and celebrating by having my sister over and sewing all afternoon.

I think that will help me feel better.

If not then its all up to the chocolate cake to get me through today.

Floods, Quilts and Awards

2009-02-01T08:33:00.006-06:00

A week and a half ago our pipes decided they'd had enough of the tree roots that were trying to invade out front. So one evening after hubbie had showered and I'd started the dishwasher, our downstairs bathroom, and subsequently much of the downstairs, flooded. What a mess!

Here's what I learned:
1. A wet/dry vac is a beautiful thing.
2. I can vacuum up 55 galloons of water all by myself (hubbie wasn't home when this was discovered).
3. All the homeowners insurance money we've been paying Allstate hasn't been in vain. They've done right by us.
4. What is a horrible mess for adults is an exciting adventure for kids. See below.
5. Modern Plumbing is such a wonderful, heaven-sent blessing!

So since our house has been a shambles and despite the fact that my son has loved seeing the carpet ripped out and several sets of workers come and go, I decided to leave my poor hubbie at home to deal with it all and take the kids up to my mom's for 5 days. Cute little barefeet and our disaster area of a home aren't a good mix.

We're back now and we still have about a week before new carpet is installed, but we've survived the worst, I think.

As always, being at my mom's house involved quilting. I've completed my Improv Quilt Project quilt top. I'll show more pictures soon. Here's a sneak peek.

I also wanted to thank Elizabeth and Anna for their sweet bloggie awards.

These two lovely friends of mine are both great bloggers. They have cute blogs, update them regularly and are always showing cute things. I'm honored that they would pass an award on to me.

I'm gonna openly admit that I'm a lazy blogger. I only blog when I feel like it. I'm slow to respond to emails. I blog for purely selfish reasons. And I'm not good about those meme things (what does meme mean?) or awards.

I know I'm supposed to pass these awards on but that sounds like work. And since it is Sunday today, I better not do it. (What with trying to Keep the Sabbath Holy and all.)

But if you read my blog and have ever commented before, I have most likely clicked on your profile and checked out your blog. And then two seconds later, added you to my bloglines list. Now I read your blog and know all about you. Commenting on here is a real commitment, didn't you know?

So if, like I said, you have ever commented on my blog, then I consider you a bloggie friend and you should consider yourself awarded with these prestigious awards. I'll be checking your blogs soon to read your acceptance speeches.

WOW! I guess I had a lot to say today.

2009-01-19T17:01:00.007-06:00

have you seen this commercial? the snuggie?

Click here to see Snuggie Commercial

i'm sure they are very comfy. but, i think i'll stick with my quilts.

anywho, hubbie, after seeing this commercial today said,

"you should make quilts with sleeves!"

um, i think he was kidding.

Have A Sandwich

2009-01-16T10:47:00.006-06:00

My little princess turned 2 this week!

To celebrate, I made her a sandwich. Oh, and I thought she should have something for breakfast too.

I'm in love with felt food. This was so fun to make! And worth all the effort to see her pretend to eat my creation.

She needs something for dessert now. I'm thinking cupcakes.

Project Improv

2009-01-14T09:46:00.004-06:00

I've been swept up in the excitement surrounding Jacquie's Project Improv. I've long admired stuff like this online but haven't done much of anything like it. So here was my reason to start cutting fabric at random and see what happens.

Here's my first block.

And the 4 that followed.

this and this were floating around in my brain for inspiration as I started. Aren't those pretty? My blocks don't really look like either of theirs, but I'm quite happy with how mine ended up too.

If you haven't already, give this improv stuff a try. It's fun!

Just one more post about 2008

2009-01-06T18:53:00.004-06:00

I finally caught on to how to make one of those nifty Mosaics.

So here in all their quilty splendor are my 2008 completed quilts.

Top L-R 1. Joseph Smith Quilt 2. Candy Pinwheels 3. Buttercream Quilt
Middle L-R 1. Blackberry Pie 2. Austin's Wedding Quilt 3. Little Boy Blue
Bottom L-R 1. Squares 2. Hurricane Ike Scrap Quilt 3. Zig-Zaggy 9 patch

I know there are lots of more prolific quilters out there. I only quilt when its fun. And unfortunately, I do try to stay out of the poor house.

I can't decide on my favorite. It's either the Candy Pinwheels or the ZigZaggy 9 patch. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to get busy and see what 2009 brings!

What I did between Christmas and New Years

2009-01-06T18:46:00.004-06:00

I love those lazy days between Christmas and New Years.

Here's how I spent my holiday:

I got this one quilted over Thanksgiving and bound before New Years. Nothing like squeezing in one more finished project before the end of the year!

I L-O-V-E, Love how this one turned out. I've never said this before but I think I'd actually like to make this one again in a different colorway. It was so fun to see it come together.

The 9 patches were from an exchange my friends and I had in 2007. I let them sit for a long time, mulling over the possibilities of what to do with them. This is finally what I came up with.

2009 Goals

2009-01-02T08:20:00.002-06:00

So I've had several days now to really think about my New Years Resolutions. (It's still early enough to make them!) And here's what I've come up with in regards to my quilting, crafting and homemaking.

1. More Color! This was something that I've been thinking about for a long time. I talked about this several times in 2008 but I'm determined that in 2009 I'll make adding color to my life and my quilts the highest priority.

2. Be frugal. I don't really have a problem with this. Atleast I don't think so. My husband might disagree, though. I don't buy fabric that often and I usually buy it on sale. My problem is that I often buy on impulse and then my pretty fabric just gets added to my stash instead of incorporated into a great project. So in 2009 I want to buy with a purpose or at the very least not let my pretty fabric sit and collect dust for long.

3. Experiment with Etsy. I've thought about how I could get involved in etsy and want 2009 to be the year I dive in.

4. Get organized. My fabric stash is pretty neatly organized. But other than that (projects, tools, other crafts, etc) I'm a mess.

5. Get Creative with my kids. Crafting and being creative is such a great outlet for me. I want to make sure that I'm including my kids in the fun and helping them explore new ways and new mediums to be creative with (fabric, paint, yarn, etc.).

How's that for a start?

Holiday Recap

2009-01-01T09:00:00.006-06:00

I guess I fell off the blogging bandwagon this past month.

December started and I found all these cute crafts for me and for my little ones to work on.

And then life got crazy.

We had a big health scare with our little guy involving falling off the couch, a concussion, something worrisome showing up on his CAT scan, an MRI of his brain and finally after a week and a half of stress, a clean bill of health.

As quickly as this major scare popped up, it was gone again. Thank goodness. But it left us feeling more gratitude for what we have. We spent the holidays the way we should have anyway. We spent the holidays counting our blessings, loving and appreciating our family and remembering our Savior and His love and blessings.

It was nice.

I did get some crafting and sewing done but I'm just gonna have to wait until next year to post pictures of the Christmasy stuff!

I will post a picture of my finished Blackberry Pie quilt that I gave to my mom for Christmas, though.

Since my mom is also a quilter and since she's the one with the big quilting machine, I gave it to her as an unfinished top. I hated to do that but.... I did. I LOVE how it turned out.

As far as presents go, my hubbie spoiled me. He stuck to my wish list. :) Usually he likes to take my suggestions and then use his own creativity to get me different stuff. That's fine and I always appreciate his thought. But it was fun that he actually got me what I asked for this year.

I got some GREAT books. This one is my favorite so far. Amanda Soule has a great blog too. This book has already given me some great ideas for playing with my kids, encouraging their imagination and being inspired by their natural creativity. I'd definitly reccommend this book to any mother of young children.

I also got these two books which I've begun to devour also. Fun stuff.

I hope you all had wonderful holidays. I've enjoyed seeing how others spent the holidays and reading about all the resolutions out there. I LOVE New Years and am formulating my own resolutions as we speak. I'll post about them soon.

And the winner is.....

2008-12-05T08:16:00.005-06:00

Doesn't Mr. Impartial Judge look cute in his pjs?

And the winner is.....

That's Jacquie, of Tallgrass Prairie Studio! (in case you can't read upside down)

Thanks to everyone that played along! This was really fun for me to read all the comments, hear about what decorations you love and see that I do indeed have a few lurkers out there. :) Nice to meet you, friendly lurkers!

Jacquie, I'll be emailing you to get your mailing info. Congrats!

Holiday Cheer and a Giveaway

2008-12-03T14:25:00.004-06:00

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I did. Atleast my bathroom scale says I did. I gained 2 whole pounds of Thanksgiving goodness.

And now I'm ready for Christmas. Down here in Houston we don't get the "dashing through the snow" or "walking through a winter wonderland" type weather. So we have to work harder to create that Christmas mood.

We learned that lesson after our first Christmas here came and went. We cleaned up the wrapping paper, looked around and wondered what went wrong and why we never really felt that same Christmas excitement. We decided that we hadn't had those first wintery clues that the holidays were coming and so we didn't give ourselves enough time to really let the holiday merriment sink in. Sure, we still enjoyed Christmas, but it just came and went way too fast without us realizing it.

This year, we hurried to get our decorations out. In fact, we got out some of them before Thanksgiving. Christmas isn't going to get away from us again this year!

And even though it still feels like it could be September or October or maybe even early spring outside, we are starting to feel the holiday spirit indoors with our tree trimmed, our banisters overflowing with fake pine garland and red and green all throughout the house. It's finally 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas' even in Houston.

Here is my one and only Christmas quilt (I need to get busy on another). I made it in 2007 from the Moda Roman Holiday collection of fabrics. I really like this quilt (even though it isn't hanging very straight at the moment- sorry about that). It makes me feel festive. And I think its really quite beautiful. In general, I don't buy quilt kits. Picking out the fabric is half the fun! But this one was so pretty and fun that I had to have it.

HAve you heard about the Give-away Day hosted by Sew-Mama-Sew?
Well, I'm not a part of it. I only heard about it last night.

But still, since I'm getting all into the Christmas mood, in honor of my Roman Holiday quilt and since it sounds fun, I thought I'd have a little giveaway too. The kit for this quilt had quite a bit of leftover fabric.

We're not talking yards and yards but if you like scraps, like I do, there is plenty here to play with. Some pieces are large and some are just little snippets. This is my give-away offering, some Roman Holiday scraps to help you make a cheery Christmas quilt or something else fun if you'd like.

Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite Christmas decoration- the one that makes you feel giddy and excited for the the holidays, and I'll enter your name into my little drawing. And your chances should be pretty good since I think I've only got about 5 readers. :)

Since I'm not officially a part of the Sew-Mama-Sew Give-away Day I'll give you more than one day. I'll draw a name on Friday morning at about 8 am Central time.

My Flea Market Dream

2008-11-23T18:45:00.003-06:00

I like Flea Market Fancy. Little Blue Cottage is having a giveaway I would very much like to win. Go check it out if you must.

Create

2008-11-18T14:30:00.007-06:00

The urge to create has struck hard. I've been a little stressed lately about church and family responsibilities and have really just wanted to close myself up with just my fabric and the hum of my sewing machine. So every spare minute I've had lately has been devoted to a new quilt.

This is how I work:

Gather fabric from my stash.
Not all of these will make the final cut.

Have I ever mentioned that I like scrap quilts? Well, I really do. Playing with scraps just might be my favorite part of making a quilt. I love playing with the fabric to see how the color combinations will work.

And then make pinwheels. I'm making a fairly simple quilt here.
This one looks kinda patriotic.

This one felt very modern to me with the gray and the bright yellow. About as modern as I get, anyway. [side note: Thanks, Kristin, for this yellow and some other cool scraps that are making their way into my projects.]
Oh, and lots of polkda dots of course.

And some bananas, too. Even with the bananas, this block feels very Wonder Woman-ish to me. Anyone else see it?

Now, with 41 pinwheels made (yeah, I won't bore you with pictures of all of them), I'm going to add a little blue border around each one.

I'm really excited with how these are shaping up. I just LOVE seeing all these colors that do not perfectly match, come together in an exciting quilt.

More to come.... The creative urge hasn't left me yet so I hope to finish this one soon.

Quilt Companionship

2008-11-15T08:46:00.006-06:00

Hubby has been out of town almost all week long. Its been just me and the two kiddos home alone.

Really, it wasn't that bad. Until yesterday. And then suddenly, I'd had enough of being a single mom. Parenting is tough. Its much easier as a team.

I should clarify that the kids were really good this week. I didn't completely lose it or anything. I just was feeling worn down from giving and giving and giving all week and not having Hubby here. I need him not only as a helping hand but as my best friend and companion.

I love my kids and wouldn't trade being a stay at home mom for anything. But after a long day of staying at home working I need a little bit of refreshing adult interaction.

So this week I sought companionship from my fabric. I got a lot of work done. I'm not going to show pictures of my main project this week because its for Christmas.
But I also started something new. I love starting new projects.

I think I mentioned that my quilt group is starting another exchange. This time we are doing a two color quilt in blue and cream. The block is called Aunt Dinah and I love it. Here are a few of mine. I've got 5 done and 8 to go!

A few happy things

2008-11-11T13:41:00.006-06:00

Some of my favorite things from the last few weeks:

#1

Where have I been? I hadn't even heard about this movie! My hubbie surprised me and got this from Redbox last weekend thinking I would like it. It is chocked full of cuteness. I watched it twice in two days and am thinking its one I would like to own, especially since I have a little girl to share it with as she gets older.

One of my favorite things about the movie was seeing all the adorable little girl dresses and hats from the time period.

#2 My quilt wall

My long planned quilt wall is ready for display! I decided to go the easy curtain rod route. I got one that will accomidate both rings for short term displays and sewn on pockets for quilts up longer. As you can see from the picture, the rod is quite long so I can put up some of my bigger quilts. And the rod is unobtrusive enough to not bother me with a quilt of this size. I LOVE the color and character that a quilt on the wall adds to our family room. My sister, when she came over, remarked how much of a difference it makes in this space. Thanks for all of you that commented on how to execute this. Oh, and I did this all by myself! If you remember, I learned how to use the power drill a little while back and used my new skills to finish this project!

#3 Prejudiced No More!

I have to admit that I was reluctant to love this movie when I first saw it. I just didn't think a 2 hour movie could do justice to my absolute favorite love story. I love the Colin Firth version. Mostly because of Colin Firth, I think. But anyway, I just didn't think I could enjoy Keira Knightly's fast paced attempt to recreate the classic Pride and Prejudice.

After watching this movie once, I agreed that it was well done. I liked the more realistic sets and feel of this movie. But I still couldn't let go of my beloved BBC, Colin Firth infused, Pride and Prejudice.

Hmmm.. I guess you could say I was a little prejudiced against this new movie.

Fast forward to now. I watched this movie for the second time last week and boy, oh boy! My prejudices are all gone. This is such a beautiful movie. The love scenes are beautiful. The script is perfectly eloquent. The real emotions are appreciated. This is my new favorite movie.

#4 Quilts appreciated

What is that jumbled mess, you ask? Well, let me tell you. This is a picture of my quilts being appreciated, yet again by my kiddos. They love making tents in the family room. And what is better for that than a couple of large, homemade quilts? I love it when my work is appreciated.

Houston Quilt Fest

2008-11-05T20:54:00.008-06:00

One of the perks of living in Houston, is the ability to go to the Houston Quilt Festival each fall. For the second year in a row, my mom came down to spend a quilty day at the festival with me. And this year my sister joined us also. Our little threesome walked and walked and oohed and aahed all day long. We saw all the booths and spent more pennies than I like to count. I spent less than last year, though so I feel like I didn't get too carried away.
Here are a few pics of my loot:

I got this Texas map hankie panel to make a quilt. The booth I got this from had it made up with bluebonnet fabric as a border and that's what I intend to do as well. I love this panel because 1) I'm a Texan 2) I love all things vintage looking and 3) We love maps in our family. My husband is a Geographer so its perfect for us.

I also fell in love with this Santa fabric from Judie Rothermel. I bought it for a vintage Christmas quilt but wouldn't this be adorable as Christmas pjs? I love these cheerful, chubby Santas!

I also bought some Hobbs batting at a great price, a little kit of fabric for an applique pattern I bought last year(so I can learn to hand applique someday) and these fat quarters. I've got several blue quilts planned so I NEEDED to keep an eye out for more blue. That's how it goes with quilt shopping, isn't it? You see something, love it and suddenly NEED it.

I saw Alex Anderson. She has such a nice look about her.

I realized as I was handing the money over for my Santa fabric that I was buying it from THE acutal Judie Rothermel (and her hubbie who was there running the booth). I LOVE all her reproduction stuff.

I probably saw several other 'famous' quilters and didn't realize it.

Makes me get all warm and fuzzy to have these little brushes with greatness. :)

Best of all, I was enjoying spending such a fun and inspiring day with my favorite ladies, my mom and sister. It is so much fun to share a hobby and a passion and its especially fun that I can share that with them.

Joseph Smith Tribute Quilt

2008-11-04T14:51:00.004-06:00

Another Finished Quilt! My 2008 completed quilts list is growing. Hooray! And this is a special one. This is my completed Joseph Smith Tribute Quilt. This pattern was designed in 2005 (by some very talented ladies- not me) to commemorate the 200th birthday of Joseph Smith, latter-day propehet of God, chosen to restore the true church of Jesus Christ.

He lived at a time of great religious excitement and confusion. At 14 years of age he was affected by the widespread religious revivals in New England and wondered which was the correct church to join.

“So great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was . . . to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong. . . . In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?” ( Joseph Smith—History 1:8, 10).

As Joseph sought truth among the different faiths, he turned to the Bible for guidance. He read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” ( James 1:5). Because of this passage, Joseph decided to ask God what he should do. In the spring of 1820 he went to a nearby grove of trees and knelt in prayer. He described his experience: “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. . . . When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” ( Joseph Smith—History 1:16–17)

(passages taken from http://www.mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/basic-beliefs/the-restoration-of-truth/the-restoration-of-the-gospel)

Joseph Smith saw God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. He was instructed not to join any of the churches, none of them had the fullness of Christ's gospel. It would be his responsibility to restore and reorganize Christ's true church, as it had been when He walked the earth a thousand years before. Joseph was the first prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This quilt is made from 1800's reproduction prints and each block is designed to symbolize a part of his life. For example, the log cabin blocks at the top tell of how he came from humble beginnings and grew up in a small log cabin. The red stars symbolize the Savior Jesus Christ, who Joseph always testified of. The pink and brown block in the middle is a love knot symbolizing the love between Joseph and his devoted wife Emma. The brown, black and red block on the right symbolizes his death as a martyr.

This quilt is special to me because of what it symbolizes.

Normally, when I quilt its all about creating something of comfort and beauty. I was excited to make this one because not only is it beautiful but it also provided me a way to share my feelings and the life of Joseph Smith with my family.

Thanks for indulging me, blogland, by letting me share this quilt with all of you too.

Binding Philosophy

2008-11-02T16:56:00.006-06:00

I love sewing on binding. Many people see it as one more labor intensive step before the quilt is done. Not me. I like to think of it as a celebration at the end of a big project. I snuggle under my almost finished quilt and revel in the work of my hands while I add the finishing touch.

I especially love it when the binding is red.

Whenever I use red for binding I think of Mamie from Gone With the Wind. Isn't there something in Gone With the Wind about Mamie getting a red taffeta petticoat from Rhett Butler? She doesn't approve of him giving personal gifts to Scarlett but then he gives her a red taffeta petticoat and she can't resist it. He knows she likes the petticoat he gave to her because he can hear it swishing as she walks by. Whenever I add red binding to a quilt I think of it as a beautiful red petticoat barely peeking out.

Whenever possible, binding should be BOLD. It should be a crisp frame around your beautiful work of art. My other favorite choices for binding: stripes, polka dots (of course), leftover strips of scraps, orange, purple or really anything to add contrast.

My plans for tonight include catching up on my TV shows from the past week (Office, Chuck and a few others) with my hubbie and finishing up my Joseph Smith Quilt. I'll post pictures of the completed quilt later this week.

Quilt Display

2008-10-21T13:30:00.003-05:00

I've got this big blank wall in my family room. I've purposefully kept it blank because I want to put a big quilt up on it.

For about the past year I've been trying to think what sort of quilt I wanted to make for this room. We spend a ton of time in here- its our tv room, playroom, reading room, computer room and basic multipurpose room. I want something colorful, fun, and lively. The quilt isn't supposed to be the focal point in the room but it will add a lot to the decor.

Its a year later and I still haven't produced the perfect quilt for this room.

And then I had a brainstorm! I don't know why I didn't think of this before. While I continue to muse over the 'perfect quilt' possibilities I need to get a quilt rack of some sort and display my other quilts. And then once I produce the 'perfect quilt' for this room I'll have the means to display it already.

So my question is... what is the best way to display quilts on a wall? A curtain rod of some sort? Those fancy new quilt holders that somehow pinch the top of your quilt all the way across and hold it in place?

Please comment and let me know what methods you've tried and what works best.

2008-10-14T17:56:00.002-05:00

I'm not very politically savvy.

I don't watch very much news.

I let my husband keep track of the stock market.

I get bored watching debates.

I get sick of mud-slinging and Washington Fakes who just try to tell you what you want to hear.

But I vote. And for me, its mainly about just a few issues- issues that are more important than any other.

I'm not Catholic (as you can see on my sidebar). But I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was spot on!

This is what its all about: Life, Faith and Family.

I'm voting for McCain.

2008-10-11T15:53:00.010-05:00

I was browsing through quilt magazines at Kroger the other day and was surprised to see this:
in this magazine
does it look familiar? well, how about a closer look:
and then compare (from my post on May 26, 2008):
make mine scrappy, turn it on point and add sashing and you've basically got the magazine quilt.
i dont know this designer but we must have been on almost the exact same wave length last spring, or something.
i'm happy to know that i can design a publishable quilt. maybe if i get some connections in the magazine world i can get one of my quilts published someday.

i took a little vacation from working on this quilt for a few months. but i have plans for it and hope to get it finished soon. i've gotten more than half of the blocks done and am really excited to see how its shaping up. i still like it better in all purples and cream.

Quilt Exchanges

2008-10-09T14:00:00.004-05:00

With so much talk on here about my beloved Loch Lomond Quilt Group I thought I should do one post with all the group exchange quilts we've had so far. So here goes.

Our first exchange (2004): Shoofly. For this one we exchanged fabric cut but not assembled. There were no requirements for the fabric except that we provided enough colorful and white fabric to make 4 shoofly blocks. Some people's fabric all matched and some people's fabric was completely scrappy. The combination made this fun. This was one of my first quilts. Its very primitive in its construction and quilting. But I love it. The fabric I chose for this one is the purple in the 2nd row 3rd column. This was the first time I'd bought 30's fabric and I've been hooked ever since. Everyone assembled their blocks however they chose.

2nd exchange (2006): House Blocks. This time everyone sewed together their own blocks before exchanging. We gave everyone the house pattern and let them choose whatever colors they wanted. Everyone was supposed to have yellow windows though, as one unifying element. I LOVE how this turned out. The greens, cream and yellow I used for the sashing, stars and fence were all from my stash and it made me so happy to be able to use them up in such a pleasing way. The dark green is from my son's nursery curtains and crib skirt. Again, everyone assembled their quilts however they wanted.

3rd exchange (2007): Brown fabric. For this exchange we got together and decided upon one fabric that we all liked. From there we could choose any block we wanted as long as it coordinated with the brown fabric (in my border) that we'd chosen. This exchange gave everyone a lot of creativity to choose their fabrics and their pattern. And again, everyone assembled their exchanged blocks however they wanted to. I probably would never have picked out the brown fabric on my own but I love it and how this quilt turned out.

4th exchange (2007): 9 patch. This time everyone had to make 6 inch civil war reproduction 9 patches to trade. We drew for colors and then chose our own fabrics. I let these sit around for about a year not knowing how I wanted to put them together but I've finally gotten the top finished (just this past week) and am excited about it.

5th exchange (2008): Praire Paisley. Patriotic Star Blocks we just exchanged and I showed on my last post.

And there is already talk of another exchange! :)

Paisley Exchange

2008-10-07T22:00:00.004-05:00

My Utah quilt group took the opportunity of us all getting together for the quilt show to do a block exchange. Last spring we decided to do another exchange using only Prairie Paisley fabrics and any star pattern (of your choice) in a 12" block to exchange.

Here are the results:

I was so excited to get these blocks. I think this is our best exchange yet. Perhaps because we have matured as a group, these blocks were all fairly challenging patterns and were all very well executed.

My block is the third down on the left side- the one with the blue star within the red ring. I love this pattern.

So now I just have to decide how to put them all together. Any ideas?

2008-10-07T21:49:00.004-05:00

This looks fun! I love scraps. I absolutely LOVE quilts with lots of white. So I'm playing. Go here for more info: chickpea studio

Fall Quilting

2008-10-02T22:23:00.003-05:00

I love Fall!

I've had a hard time adjusting to living in a place where I can't fully appreciate one of my favorite seasons. Houston is the land of the eternal summer. Ok, well, maybe the dead of winter feels a little fallish, but by January/February, it just doesn't have that same autumn magic. I won't go off on a long tirade expounding the pros and cons of Houston weather. But October caught me unaware this year and I've decided that if I'm going to enjoy fall here, I'm going to have to fake it a little bit. [Fake it 'til you make it sure does have a lot of applications in life!]
My wonderful mom sent a care package last week that really helped jump start my fall decorations! Look at this cute jack o'lantern quilt! He is supposed to be a wall hanging but I liked him as a table topper so there he'll stay.
Neither of these pics are very good but you can kind of see the black card stock spiders and bats that me and my 4 year old made and hung from the chandelier for a little spooky fun.

Something about Fall really kicks my quilting productivity into high gear. I always thought it was due to the crisp weather that made me want to create snuggley quilts. But tonight, as I sat at the kitchen table working on a quilt, my husband made a great realization. I quilt more during football season! He's glued to college football for 4 months. In order to be close to him and still keep my sanity, I turn to the sewing machine for my own comfort and company. Another reason to love quilting.

Loch Lomond Quilter's

2008-09-29T13:52:00.012-05:00

I'm back from a glorious week full of family, friends, quilts and fun in Utah. We suffered from quite a bit of Utah homesickness! (it is nice to be back in our own beds after 10 days though)
One of the trips highlights, for me, was the Loch Lomond Quilter's Show on Saturday. Twelve of us participated in a casual exhibition in Kristin's beauitful backyard. I was blown away, as I always am when we get together, by the quilts my friends have created. We have been an unofficial guild since 2005 when Kristin organized our first exchange. She must have been inspired. This has been a great outlet for us to use our creativity and develop a deep friendship with each other.
Since 2005 we have had have five quilt exchanges in which we've exchanged fabric or most often blocks for a quilt. Each time it has been so fun to see how each person's personality and creativity have come out to create diverse and beauitful quilts.
I count myself lucky to be a part of this group, to know each of these women and to be inspired and uplifted by them.
Here are some photos from the day. They aren't in an particular order. And some of them are very poor photographs. But I think you can still get a sense of how lovely and inspiring the day was. Captions are below the pictures.

Can't remember whose 2007 Group Exchange Quilt this is.
Here is one of Anna's and Elizabeth's Nosegays.
Another one by Elizabeth
I loved this scrappy one by Kristin. She called it Matilda Mae. It was part of a three way tie for People's Choice Award
Michelle's (correct me if I'm wrong) 2007 Group Exchange
My 2007 Group Exchange. This won me Honorable Mention and a tied People's Choice Award
Kristin's 2007 Group Exchange and 2006 House Block Exchange Quilts
Kristin's 2007 9 patch Exchange Quilt
Jennifer's House Block Exchange (sorry this is such a horrible picture)
My unquilted Feathered Snowflake Quilt
Baby Quilts across the front porch (another bad pic)
I think these are both Meghan's - her House Block Exchange and her 9 patch Exchange Quilt
Several people's Shoofly Exchange Quilts. Coincidence that they were finished in blue.
Kristin's Hand Dyed Mali Stars
Another that I'm sorry to say I can't remember whose 2007 Group Exchange this is.
Elisa's Robot Quilt
Jennifer's 2007 Group Exchange. I really like how she did hers.
Two cuties: Anna's on the left and Elizabeth's on the right.
Elizabeth's stunning Strawberry Fields
Another great one by Elizabeth done in civil war reproductions.
Kristin's that I can't remember the name of but I love the fabric.
Elizabeth's Halloween Quilt and Butterflies
A gorgeous one by Kristin hiding behind the tree and Michelle's cute Butterflies
Such a simple and cute one done by Dana
Anna's 2007 Group Exchange
State Flowers by Kristin. This one was very cool.
One of the favorites: Amy's Martha's Tea Towels. Made with Martha Stewart Tea Towels. I love, love, love the colors.
This one won best of show. Elisa's Joseph Smith Quilt. She, like so many of the other girls, has a very good eye for fabric and color.
Kristin's Flowers. I hadn't seen this pattern before and thought it was darling.
Another of Amy's that was one of my favs. Denise Schmidt fabric.
I think the top was MEghan's and the bottom Anna's 9 patch Exchange.

A bunch of great baby quilts along the back fence.
Another favorite: Michelles's House Block Exchange. The embroidery on here is fantastic!
L-R Back: Dana, Jackie, Kristin, Elisa, Miranda, Anna, Amy Front: Meghan, Michelle, Me, Elizabeth, Jennifer
Oh! how I love these ladies. I think I'll print out this photograph and hang it by my sewing machine as a reminder of the day.

2008-09-18T16:17:00.002-05:00

My friends and I are having a Quilt Show!

If you are going to be in anywhere near the Lehi, Utah vacinity on September 27, between 1 and 3 pm come on by and check us out. :) I'm so lucky to have so many talented friends!

And for all of you who can't make it, I'll post pictures when its over.

We're flying to Utah tomorrow night for a week long vacation that will include catching up with friends and family, showing off our kiddos and oohing and aahing over kids we haven't seen in a year, going to the BYU v Wyoming football game, visiting my favorite quilt stores, this quilt show and breathing in the crisp, fall mountain air. Oh! I'm excited!

A Quilt for Ike

2008-09-15T13:17:00.005-05:00

Wow! What a weekend. Ike has come and gone. I have a new found respect for hurricanes and Mother Nature in General.

We were so fortuante. Millions of others were not as lucky as we.

Going into the storm I wasn't really nervous. Here on the northwest side of Houston we were told to stay put and ride it out. The news was all about evacuations and preparations on the coast and in Galveston. I guess I just expected a big thunderstorm with lots of wind up here.

What I didn't expect was to hear and feel my house shake in the wind. We slept in our windowless, upstairs hallway. The winds started getting bad around 2 in the morning. I kept hearing a creaking sound and in my tired dilerium thought our house was just getting old and creaky. And then it started to annoy me because I couldn't sleep.
Later, as the creaking got worse and more frequent, I realized it wasn't a normal house sound. Both Hubbie and I slept in little increments for most of the night.

Around 5 am my husband woke me up and asked if I thought we should go down to our little downstairs bathroom because the floor was moving. I layed there and felt it shake underneath me. Being a California boy, Hubbie said it felt similiar to an earthquake. The winds were howling outside and I started to gain a little more respect and fear for nature.

Thank goodness our two little kids slept through the scariest times.

I also didn't expect the storm to last so long. The winds started picking up (here) in the early evening on Friday. The eye passed near us (not directly over us) around 5:30 or so in the morning. And then the winds and rains continued long into the day on Saturday. The rains finally subsided around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

We emerged on Saturday to survery the damage. Our trees out front were still standing as were most of the trees on our street. The next two streets over from us, and many others around town, weren't as lucky. There are so many mangled trees, trees on top of houses, and even trees completely uprooted and pushed over on their sides.

Miraculously our power came back on Saturday at 7 pm. I hate to even say that outloud here in Houston because there are still so many people without power.

Our water is still having some issues. We had low pressure again this morning. As a precaution we still aren't drinking our water.

Whew! Now, how did I occupy myself in the aftermath? Well, by finishing this quilt, of course.

I think this will always remind me of Hurrican Ike. Look at the swirly fabric on the back. I bought that a few years ago and it looks like a swirling hurricane! I started and almost completed this quilt several years ago. But then I just decided it was ugly or got tired of it or something and put it away. I'm happy with it now. I finished it a little hurriedly. Its not perfect- especially the quilitng. I sort of just had fun doing that. I attempted straight lines for the first time and then did fun little swirly flowers in the white spaces.
I got this pattern online several years ago. I think I found it at McCall's quilting site.

What's to like about Ike?

2008-09-12T14:10:00.005-05:00

Here comes Ike.

At about 100 miles inland, we've been told to not flee from the water but to hide from the wind. So we'll be hiding from Ike tonight. And hoping the winds don't blow us away. And expecting to be without power for awhile.

It was a beautiful morning. You would never have guessed there was a monster storm in the gulf laying in wait.

I've got a scrappy quilt to bind. That'll keep me busy when the power is out. In fact, I'm kinda happy I didn't hurry to get this done a few weeks ago for the summer scrap challenge. If I had hurried and finished it on time I wouldn't have anything to keep me busy during Ike! :)

So hopefully in a few days I'll report back that we stayed high and dry, and I'll have this completed and ready to show off.

new interests and a new skill

2008-08-30T13:52:00.005-05:00

i've been very un-quilty lately. i don't really know why. maybe i've contracted the hot weather summertime blues? frazzled mom syndrome? or just laziness? i just haven't felt much like pulling out the sewing machine lately.

to amuse myself these days I sit here and surf blogs. or i lounge on the couch and browse through home decor magazines. in fact, my brain has been almost completely switched over to the home decor mode rather than the quilty mode. i've realized that over the past year my addiction to fat quarters has changed to an addiction to plates. i love going to marshall's, ross, tjmaxx or tuesday morning and searching for some ceramic treasure. look how cute these are! they will soon find a place on my kitchen wall.

hopefully all this thinking about home decor will help me out in that arena. that is definitely not a talent of mine. an interest but not a talent.
today i decided it was time to learn a new skill. i've been after my hubbie to hang some hooks in the laundry room for awhile. he said he'd do it this afternoon. well, while he was in the shower i decided that i didn't really couldn't stand to wait any longer, and it was time to have it done. i got out his drill and figured out how it worked. i'm quite proud of myself! For seven years of marriage I've always left all the drilling up to him. Today I've liberated myself. No more waiting for him to do my drilling projects for me. I now have this nice place to hang purses, bags etc. (Please overlook the scuff marks my ironing board left on the wall.)

Does this mean that after 7 years I should also learn how to use the lawn mower? Ha! No.

2008-08-21T20:49:00.001-05:00

and something else i found from sewtakeahike - a fun quiz!

You Belong in 1956

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

2008-08-15T07:39:00.003-05:00

How lucky am I?! Penny over at Sewtakeahike sent me this pretty scarf. (photo courtesy Penny)

Look at how pretty those crocheted flowers are. I am absolutley in love with them. They'd be cute on anything. Wouldn't they be cute as a lapel pin or on a purse? Or just anywhere?

And Penny and I both agree that orange is the color of the moment. Its so cheerful and fresh. It adds just the right spark to cheer up a room, a quilt or an outfit. Much like red, but it has been so often overlooked that it feels so fresh and exciting to me now.

This is really a cool pattern for a scarf.

Thanks so much, Penny! You are one cool gal.

Lately...

2008-08-07T15:22:00.005-05:00

My crafitness has really slowed down lately. Little Girlie has decided that she doesn't like the sewing machine. I'm pretty sure it's jealousy. Everytime I rev it up she squawks. Even if she's distracted by her favorite Mickey Mouse cartoons, she will still poke her head up over the couch and yell at me. Don't let that charming smile fool you. She has a temper! But of course I love her, and she's more important than my quilting so she wins.

We survived my brothers wedding last week. I say survived because since he's been living with us this summer, we got to experience all the last minute stress and jitters that accompanies the bride and groom. The wedding was wonderful. Afterward we took pictures in the hot, humid Houston heat. The kids had fun running around, looking for shade and putting their hands in a fountain to keep cool. Here you can see toddling Little Girlie picking flowers with her Bubba in the background running around with his cousins.

Wedding Quilt

2008-07-31T17:58:00.004-05:00

My brother is getting married on Saturday. Here is our present for him.

This picture is a little brighter than real life because I took this outside during a very sunny afternoon. And I'm photoshop challenged. But I'm happy with it. Its pretty big and will fit either a full or queen bed. I hope they like it.

2008-07-25T08:15:00.005-05:00

It's been a little crazy here lately.

My brother has been living with us this summer and is getting married next week. I'm not really involved in all the wedding planning stuff but household stress is running a little high, nonetheless (I think that might be the first time I've ever used that expression- nonetheless. is it one word? it just sounded cool). My sister and I are planning a bridal shower for our new sister in law to be held here next week, the house needs to be scoured, I've been making the happy couple a quilt, I need to get started on an apron I'm making for her, I've got all the normal kid craziness and ... well, that's the major stuff.

Last night for dinner my little buddy had cantelope, peas and cookies.
My little girlie had milk and cookies.

Don't judge me too harshly. They had other options. Hubbie and I had all that plus crockpot BBQ spareribs and mashed potatoes.
There is just too much craziness going on lately to worry about balanced nutrition for every meal.

And besides, they were oatmeal cookies.

2008-07-22T08:10:00.002-05:00

I want to win this cute vintage apron so I'm spreading the word about the giveaway to get more entries. Look at how cute it is, but please do not enter and ruin my chances. :) just kidding! Head over and check out this fun blog, and while you are there go ahead and enter the giveaway. I guess won't hold a grudge if you win and I don't.

2008-07-19T12:39:00.004-05:00

Gee, even when I'm whiney, bloggers are still nice to me! Thanks for all the nice comments on my last post! I guess I was just feeling like I had over extended myself and felt bad about not being able to complete the challenges like I said I would.

Several people told me (basically) to quit stressing about it and just enjoy the fun. And you know what? They are exactly right. I started blogging for fun so I really shouldn't get all stressed about blog related stuff. The blog is an extension of my crafting- not more important. So anyway, thanks to all you sweeties who said such nice things in response to my last post.

I do want to say that if I am ever involved in any sort of exchange where others are really counting on my participation, like the block exchange with my Utah friends in September, there would never be any question as to whether or not I would finish. I just don't want to get a blog reputation as not dependable or a quitter. Does that make sense?

Alright, enough about that. After all that whining I went and worked on my Mosaic Squares scrap challenge quilt and am thinking that maybe I will get atleast the whole top done in August. I only have one more block to go and then I'll put it all together. Soon I'll have something to show.

On another topic, I went garage sale shopping this weekend. I planned on leaving the kids with hubbie so I could go out alone but at the last minute my little buddy said he wanted to go and I thought that it might be fun to take him. So we went 'treasure hunting' togheter. He LOVED it. After a few I said, "Ok, how about one more?" And he said, "How about six more?" So I had to oblige him. And I'm glad I didn't stop early because my treasure was at the very last house we stopped at. This old rocking chair fits into my decor perfectly! I'm all about the old American country look. Worn, loved, comfy, childproof. :) And the best part? This little baby set me back a measley $5! Its just a teeny bit wobbly but for $5 I'm not complaining about anything!

Out of Control

2008-07-15T13:56:00.003-05:00

Alright, I've just got to admit it. I got a little out of control this summer. I'm involved in three exchanges/challenges. And while that number isn't really very high, I think that might be one too many.

I blame it on the blog. I was so excited to see what others were doing out in blogworld, and was so inspired by other's greatness that I kept starting new projects. That in itself isn't so bad. I've made my peace with my tendancy to juggle a gazillion projects at once. I like it that way. It makines life interesting . But then every other blog I visited was hosting some kind of fun challenge and I got caught up in all the blog hype. I wanted to join all the other "cool" quilters out there and try to be like them in some small way by joining in on their fun challenges. The only problem is, I'm not good with multiple deadlines.

I could get them done but then my children, my husband, the housekeeping and worst of all, my sanity might suffer. I pulled all nighters in college to finish papers. I pulled almost all nighters when my babies were brand new or when they are sick. But all nighters for a quilt blog challenge? Sorry, folks, ain't gonna happen.

The deadline for the two color challenge is coming up in about two and a half weeks. And I'm so sorry, but that one isn't going to be done.

And then the Scrappy Mosaic Quilt is supposed to be done sometime in August. And uh, that one probably won't be complete either.

I've got a block exchange with my old girl friends from Utah at the beginning of September and that one absolutely has to be done. It will.

Anyway, I really don't think you bloggers will care if I get my quilts completed or not. Do you? I mean, I'm gonna get them done, just probably not in the next month.

Candy Pinwheels Revealed

2008-07-09T13:28:00.005-05:00

I've been holding off on posting any pictures of this quilt until it was completely finished. I'm glad I did because now I can present it in all its glory. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this quilt turned out. When I was working on it, I had times where I wondered if it was really going to be anything noteworthy. I don't know why. I guess I was a little unsure how it would look with so much white and green. But I have no qualms about it now. This may even give my whirligig quilt a run for its money as my most favorite quilt. Well... this is atleast a close second.

Its my own design- worked up on that most wonderful of quilt programs, EQ6. My mom quilted it for me last week and then I put on the purple binding over the holiday weekend. I love that purple binding. And all the wrinkley goodness that happened in the dryer. Ok, I'll quit tooting my own horn here. I'm just happy about this one.

2008-07-03T12:09:00.003-05:00

Happy 4th of July from the Polka Dot Munchkins!

Summertime Mother Load Tote

2008-06-29T16:37:00.009-05:00

Occassionally I feel a desperate need to shop. I don't know if its what little money I've got burning a hole in my pocket or just the need to avoid a morning of cartoons and housework, but about once a week I like to get out. Most of the time I just take care of my shopping needs at Walmart or the grocery store and feel satisfied treating myself to a cute magazine or new kind of tortillas (our local Kroger makes scrumptious Cinnamon tortillas). Sometimes I feel the need for a little more adventure than Walmart though.

This past Tuesday morning I felt the urge to go out and do a little bargain hunting. I loaded the kiddos in the mini van and we headed out to do a little shopping. I love hitting the cheap retail stores like Ross and Tuesday Morning. And since it was Tuesday morning, that's where we headed.

I've been really inspired by all the totes and purses that I've seen in blog world so when I saw some cute watermelon kitchen towels, I snatched them up and decided to get crafty. The fabric is almost canvas like and seems to be really sturdy so I thought they'd be great as a tote bag.

Its hard to tell from this picture but the finished tote is about 20x20 inches. I wanted it to be big enough to carry beach towels, snacks, sunscreen and whatever else we need for summer time excursions. I'm so happy with how my first bag ever turned out. I think I'm hooked and need to make some more!

I'm sure no one will want to copy these instructions because I was just making this up as I went. But in case you are interested, here's what I did.

Basically I unpicked the hem on the 2 towels so I could gain a little more fabric to work with. Then I ironed them, stacked them on my cutting board and sliced into them. I cut two big squares that were roughly 20x18 inches. Then, forgetting that I had stacked my fabric, I goofed and cut four strips for handles instead of two. Oh well.

I put the two large pieces together (right sides together) and sewed around the sides and bottom. Then I folded the bottom corners with the bottom and side seams together and sewed diagonally. I didn't think the handles were going to be quite long enough so I started doing crazy stuff. I placed the handles about where I wanted them and then used a plate as a guide to cut out a little more in the armhole opening. Once I had that curve cut, I started realizing that I couldn't just do a simple rolled hem anymore. (or could I? I needed to clip the curves. ) Anywho, I got out some muslin and played with it to figure out how to make some facing for the curved area. And then I didn't want to have the raw edge of the facing showing so I got some matching ribbon and sewed it down over my zigzaged raw edge. I like how it looks, but was a little unsure about what I was doing there for awhile. Then I finished the top edges of the tote with a simple rolled hem. Last of all, I finished the handles with a rolled hem on both sides and anchored them down with a secure X within a box. Can you see that?

Now, I realize that this is a very juvenile attempt at bag making compared to all the beautiful totes, bags and purses I've seen on others blogs. But its my first try and I'm quite proud of it.

And that's about it. I call it the Summertime Mother Load Tote.

Aw, Shucks

2008-06-26T08:31:00.007-05:00

I'm so honored to have been awarded this Arte y Pico Award for Blog Excellence.

Thanks so much to Joanne (from The Carter Clan). She has a wonderful blog dedicated to her family, home, thrifting and crafts. I've enjoyed reading her blog ever since I started this blog addiction of mine. She's a sweetie and leaves such nice comments on my blog. Thanks, Joanne!

So here are the Arte y Pico rules. (By the way, I'm not sure what language Arte y Pico is or exactly what it means. But it sure sounds good.)

1.You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.

4.The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

I'm happy to pass this award along to other bloggers who are deserving of recognition! I did have a hard time limiting myself to just 5 people though! I am primarily a quilting blogger but I'm interested in home decor, thrifting, kids stuff, cooking, crafting and gardening, so I tried to pick blogs from several different interests.

1. The Sky is Pink. I've just recently found this blog but was immediately hooked. Lera has tons and tons of great ideas for recycling, crafting, sewing, thrifting, decorating.... etc! Amazingly, she is a mom of 6 kids and yet still has time and energy to do so many cool things and blog about it! I think she's a superblogger.

2. Nanette and Company from Freda's Hive. I've gushed about this favorite blog of mine before on here. So of course, I have to pass this award on to them. So much quilty fun. And knitting too. I love Nanette's taste and style and love everything she does so I'm always excited to see new posts on this blog.

3. Purple and Paisley. Here's another fun quilt related blog. This gal turns out beautiful work but best of all, she is perhaps the sweetest, friendliest blogger I've run across out here in blog land. What an absolute sweet heart.

4. The Cottage Nest. I love looking at this blog full of gardening and home decor ideas. I love all Jen's creative ideas and thoughts on enjoying the simple things in life. Beautiful blog.

5. Creative Little Daisy. Autum's blog is also full of creative ideas. She has great links to other's tutorials and then a big long list of her own tutorials. I love tutorials. She's a quilter, crafter, mom, new grandma, home decorator, garden designer and creative person extraordinaire.

So congrats, ladies, on having a Arte y Pico worthy blog! Keep it up. You make the blog world a better place. :)

Beachy Bathroom

2008-06-25T10:09:00.005-05:00

I completed this shell shadowbox for the kids bathroom this morning. I'm really excited about how this, along with my happy starfish look in the bathroom.

Hot glue is great stuff! This was a fun project because I gathered the shells (free) when we were at the beach at Galveston,TX over Memorial Day Weekend.

Making the Blackberry Pie

2008-06-25T09:57:00.005-05:00

Here's an update on the Blackberry Pie quilt.

I've been making strips galore. I don't really enjoy strip piecing. It beats the alternative though, so I do it anyway. Why don't I like it? Well, look at those curvy strips. I don't have enough patience to get the grain perfectly straight as I cut a gazillion strips so they are almost always curvy. And even though I'm a far cry from being a perfectionist, it sort of drives me crazy.

For this quilt, I'm cutting them down into very short pieces so this curve won't really matter, though. And I've started assembling them into small blocks. Um... 2 down. Approximately 300 to go.

Places to Visit

2008-06-19T08:10:00.006-05:00

I've mentioned several times how much I love and am inspired by this great thing I call blogworld. Its so helpful and fun!
Poor Blondie over at Blondie Speaks has lost all her bookmarked favorite links. She is asking that all of us other bloggers help her find her lost favorites and help her find some fun new ones. And she's having a giveaway as incentive to help. Head over and see if you can help. And maybe you'll discover a few fun new links too!

And also, there is a very generous giveaway going on over at Canton Village Quilt Works. Jackie is going to give away some free machine quilting. That's huge. I hate to pass the word along for fear that someone who hears it from me will win. But that would be selfish of me. So go ahead and go check it out.

Ode to Homemaking

2008-06-17T14:05:00.007-05:00

If you have never visited Sugar City Journal, today is the day to head over there. What a great blog post about the sweet, simple joys found in hanging clothes out to dry. I think I might print it out and post it in my laundry room. Its just that sweet.

A "simple act of womanly duty."
There are lots of "womanly duties" that I often find myself grumbling about; the endless piles of laundry, the overflowing sink of dirty dishes, the always hungry family that is ready for something else to snack on before I can take two bites of my own meal, the kitchen floor that is always crumby and the dust and clutter that is everywhere.
But the often monotonous tasks that are required to keep my home and family running do have value. My own negative attitude towards my "womanly duties" don't let me appreciate them as I probably should.

Being a stay at home mom and homemaker is my chosen profession. I wouldn't have it any other way. There are simple joys that come from creating a happy home and raising beautiful children that you can't find anywhere else.

I loved how she said this one simple chore connected her with her own mother, how through its process she felt a sense of peace and order, how this 'pleasant labor' allowed her to escape from her often chaotic life. I can appreciate this as my own life has gotten more chaotic. With two loud and imaginative little kiddos ruling my life I find myself more often feeling the need to escape into some orderly housework.

During the two seconds when the kitchen is clean, I feel a real sense of pride in looking over my domain.
I love the happy, yummy sounds that come from my kids as they devour my freshly baked cookies.
When I faintly hear the hum of both the clothes washer and dish washer over the alternating shrieks and giggles of my little ones either throwing fits on the floor or using me as a jungle gym, I can inwardly smile and congratulate myself on mutitasking.
When I sit at the sewing machine trying to make something for our home or for a child to wear, I don't feel any sense of drudgery whatsoever. Instead I remember sitting on the floor near my mother's sewing machine as a child, playing with her pins, buttons or zippers.
When I go out and work in the yard I am again reminded of happy days spent outside with my family.
When I watch my son dig in the dirt or my daughter play with my fabric stash I smile, thinking of the simple joys they will have in creating homes for themselves someday.

Now, I am definitely not one to brag about my clean house or perfect organization. I'm more for creating a happy home than an immaculate home. But even so, I find that there is a great deal of housework involved in maintaining a happy home environment.

I am grateful for the 'pleasant labors' that I must perform. Everything worth having is worth working for. A happy home, a happy wife, a happy mommy is busy with many pleasant chores. :)

****Edited a few hours later: A little time has passed and I'm realizing how this makes me sound like some sort of clean freak or super homemaker or something like that. And those of you who have ever visited my home know that is far from the truth. What really happens is about once a week I get in a cleaning mood and have a burst of excited cleaning energy. The rest of the week we survive on the just the barest of essential 'womanly duties.' Just thought I should be really honest.

Summer Stash Challenge

2008-06-14T07:18:00.010-05:00

I've signed myself up for another Summer quilt challenge. This time its the Summer Stash Challenge hosted by Eileen. Click on the link on my sidebar to read the rules. Basically we've just got to finish a quilt by sometime in August using ONLY SCRAPS. Since I'm a scrap quilter at heart I knew I had to join.

I actually heard about this fun event through Nanette's post on Freda's Hive. Her thoughts on quilting, specifically scrap quilting, are very similar to my own. Except she's much more eloquent than I am.

Since I started the Mosaic Squares quilt at the beginning of June I thought I'd do that one for the challenge. I have only used stuff from my stash and my sister's stash so far so it qualifies.

This quilt is so addicting. I think scrap quilting in general is addicting. Its so exciting to take what you already had and put it together in a new way to create something interesting and beautiful. As soon as I get one block put together I want to start another one because its so fun to play with the colors and patterns and see all the new ways they can go together. Since I'm having so much fun I've been making good progress on this quilt.

Oh, and I wanted to make sure I answered the question of how big these squares are. They are 2 inches finished.

2008-06-10T14:05:00.008-05:00

That little color quiz I took the other day really got me thinking about color. I wasn't surprised to learn that I love greens and blues and colors from lush nature scenes.

Blue has long been my decided favorite. I wear it almost everyday. (wow, that sounds pretty dull.) I have a blue and green and yellow and white kitchen. Here is a little teeny scene from the big blue hutch that sits in our kitchen. Sorry I can't show the whole thing. The rest is full of cookbooks, quilt stuff, kids drawings and other unsightly clutter. This picture sure does look like I have a nice clean house, though, huh?
Green is probably the color I use most in quilting. I've made three quilts with green sashing. Hmm.. make that atleast five where I've used green as the sashing or background or main color. I just love the way green works with other colors and can feel either mellow or vibrant. Here is one of those green background quilts. These house blocks were from an exchange a few years ago.

But the quiz results also that said I like Pop Art colors: orange, aqua, bright pink. Think: parrots, cartoons and jelly beans. I was a little surprised by that. I never think of decorating like that. I don't generally dress like that.

So then I started thinking about how I like different colors in different settings. I like my home peaceful and serene, and I like to dress in a conservative manner: blues and greens.

But I like my garden to be a little more vibrant. I generally pick bright flowers in red, purple, orange and yellow to add to my landscape.

And those pop art colors? Hmm... well, I guess I have found a place for them in my life. My little girlie (seen here rearranging my cupboards) has strawberry blond hair and looks beautiful in orange, aqua and pink.

And I'm in the midst of trying to add to some color to the kids bathroom. This starfish display came to be this week after a trip to Hobby Lobby. This set me back about $14 (on sale) for the shadowbox, $.50 for the paper and $1.75 ish (with coupon) for the starfish. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the aqua paper in the background against the orange starfish. Soon I will add another shadowbox filled with small shells we found along the Galveston Island, TX beach and some new bright, sherbert colored towels.

Last but not least, here's a picture of one of my most favoritey-est quilts. This might in fact be my one, true favorite, to date. I love the colors. I love the crisp white. I love the whirly gigs. This is probaly more Pop Art than Nature inspired, huh?

So, in the end, I'm realizing that I have lots of favorite colors. It just depends on where I use them. I may lean more towards lush, green, serene landscapes. But I'd like to have a bright, clean, crisp quilt strewn over my lap while I look at that landscape.

Color

2008-06-06T07:53:00.006-05:00

Here's a fun quiz to find out what your colors are according to your tastes and personality. http://www.voiceofcolor.com/en/colorsensegame/index.asp.

I found this link on Stephanie's blog, Loft Creations.

I'm Al Fresco and surprisingly Pop Art. I'm not at all surprised by Al Fresco but I would not have picked Pop Art for myself.

2008-06-05T09:25:00.003-05:00

I made four more mosaics yesterday. I especially like the one on the top right. The icy blue polka dot is leftover from my snowflake quilt and I love it.

I thought that since I'm making a mosaic quilt I should try to post pictures of the blocks in a mosaic. Unfortunately, I am photoshop challenged. Its a crying shame. I've got this great program and don't have a clue how to use it. This is the best I could do.

Proof of Progress

2008-06-04T08:01:00.005-05:00

Here are the first two blocks for my Mosaic Quilt. I'm loving it already. I love primary colors.

*********Edited to answer a question that a few people had in the comments. The squares are 2 inches finished. ***********

Quilting with ADHD

2008-06-03T13:54:00.008-05:00

I think I may have quilters OCD or maybe ADD or ADHD or some other sort of Disorder. I just can't seem to stay with one project and get it done in any sort of timely manner. Every other week I get excited about a new project. I feel like I haven't been able to buckle down and really make progress on anything lately because all I want to do is look at fabric, look at patterns, drool over other people's quilts, and dream about the quilts I could make. But settle down and get serious about making them, one by one? Well, that's harder to do. That involves time, concentration, energy and maybe a babysitter.

And so what do I do? I went and started another project yesterday. I think that makes three official quilts that I've either started or need to start or am planning to start or something like that in the past few weeks.

First, I've got to get going on the Two Color Challenge quilt! That one has a deadline of August 1, and I originally thought that wasn't going to be a big deal. But now, a month later, I haven't cut anything yet. Shh! Don't tell the other two color quilters or Nicole! (If you haven't checked out her blog- Sister's Choice Quilts, head over there now. She's got style. And I'm not just saying that so she won't kick me out of the Two Color Challenge!) What's my hold up? Well, I'm trying to exercise a little frugality. I need to buy 6 1/2 yards of cream, and I'm holding out for a sale of some sort. Lame. I know.

Second, I've just barely mentioned that I'm also participating in a non-blog exchange with some girls up in Utah. We all lived in the same neighborhood in Saratoga Springs for about 5 years and started quilting together as we were having our first babies, making our first homes and basically just starting out in life. I love this group of girls and am thrilled that they are letting me participate long distance now that I live down here in Houston. This block exchange will be in September. I decided on my block and bought my fabric for this last week. I'll post more about this later.

And now, I've gone and started another quilt with my sister. I was so inspired by Nanette's Mosiac Squares that she posted about almost two months ago. My sister came over, soon after, I showed it to her, and we both drooled and pledged to make that quilt (similar to my reaction last Tuesday to the Carpenter Stars quilt in the Quilt Sampler Magazine). Yesterday, as our children ran around, destroying her home by means of hotwheels, legos, and whatever else they could get their hands on, she and I started cutting into our scraps. This picture is the original quilt from McCalls Quilting Vintage Quilts Spring 2004. Have I ever mentioned how much I love scrap quilts? I know I have. But I'm saying it again.

Here's my start.

Another quilt for my TO DO list

2008-05-27T14:51:00.004-05:00

Maybe I'm a little slow but I just barely bought a copy of the Spring Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler Magazine today at Walmart. As I stood at the checkout with my 16 month old, my 3 year old and my over flowing cart of bananas, baby wash, cheerios and various other neccessities, I decided that I'd reward myself for surviving another shopping trip with a quilt magazine. And boy am I glad I did.

I've been thinking about this block for a summer quilt block exchange that I'm participating in with some quilty girl pals from Saratoga Springs, Utah. We are all making 12 star blocks using only the Moda Prairie Paisley Fabric and then will exchange and have a beautiful bunch of blocks ready to assemble into a patriotic sampler. But I'm getting off onto a tangent. I'm not sure if this is going to be the block I use for the exchange. In fact, I don't think I am because this block has so many little pieces and I don't want to go completely crazy this summer trying to fit them all into a 12 inch block. But I AM MAKING THIS QUILT! So classy, so crisp, so fun.

Blackberry Lattice Top

2008-05-26T10:04:00.003-05:00

Alright, I've been stewing over my plan for my two color quilt for a few weeks now. Here's what I've come up with. It is definitely inspired by this quilt that I linked to previously. I just tweaked it a teeny bit and am really excited to get going on this now.
I think it has a lacey, Victorian feel to it.
And it also reminds me of Blackberry pie with a lattice top crust. Yum.
Time to get cutting! I've got to get a move on if I'm going to have this completed by August 1!

I'm a Winner!

2008-05-22T12:22:00.005-05:00

Look at this loot I got from a drawing Freda's Hive held a little while back! This was my first time to win anything from the internet and it was great fun.

These Sarah Smith Cleaning Cloths are the cutest. And they are from England, so that makes them extra cool. I opened them up a few days ago and my husband suggested I add them to a quilt. Well, they are that cute but that's not what they are for. I haven't used them yet because they are so cute and I hate to soil them, but I think they will be a nice addition to my kitchen cleaning routine. What do you think? What would you use them for? I DID NOT use them as I scrubbed the bathroom this morning. I think they might be make really good dusters.

I'm a little bit housekeeping challenged sometimes, so hopefully being armed with a cute, cheerful cloth will help me stay on top of crumbs and dust bunnies a little better.

Oh! and Nanette included the cute little house button as an extra little bonus. My 3 year old has taken a liking to that so I might work that into something fun for him. :) Thanks!

Quilting at My Momma's

2008-05-17T08:27:00.006-05:00

We just got back from a semi-vacation up at my mom's house last week. Hubbie's job is such that he can basically work from anywhere that has an internet connection. So he brought his laptop and plugged into the internet while me and the kids played for a week. It was a semi-vacation for me because my mom is a grandkid spoiler extraordinaire and I could let my brain think of other thoughts while they were being cuddled and loved by her.

Mom has a quilting table and medium arm quilting machine so I always like to get some quilting done when I visit. This time I got a baby quilt that I'd made the week before and a quilt for my brother's wedding (later this summer) quilted. I don't do any fancy quilting. Just meandering/stippling.

I can't post a picture of the quilt for my brother's quilt until August because I'm keeping it as a surprise for them. (Well, they know that I'm making one, but they don't know what it looks like.) But here is a picture of the baby one. I love how this turned out and am thinking I might make a twin size just like it.

The binding isn't done yet because I'm actually co-making this quilt with a friend. I think I got the better end of the deal, though. She's splitting the cost and doing the binding and I did the rest. After all, the cost is the only yucky part of making a quilt.

The Blog Inspired Gift

2008-05-09T11:09:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow I'm going to my cousin's wedding reception. My gift for her is a compilation of ideas from a few different blogs. I know that its not good ettiquette to brag about a gift I'm giving someone, but I was just so excited about bringing together several free ideas from blogworld that I thought it might be post worthy.

Above you'll see:

1. A personalized 9x13 for the happy couple. Can you see their name etched in the bottom? No chance this dish will get lost at a pot luck! I was a little worried about doing the etching but it really was no big deal. Here's the tutorial that got me going: http://happyvalleyquilter.blogspot.com/2008/03/name-that-dish.html

2. Matching Red, Black and White Potholder. Idea planted in my head by Freda's Hive cute yellow potholders. Mine isn't near as cute as hers. http://fredashive.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-im-doing-this-weekend.html

3. And lastly, I printed out a few FREE, adorable recipe cards from Posy Get's Cosy. http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2008/05/my-sister-made.html I love cookbooks but there is something even more special about tried and true recipes handwritten from someone you know.

Now I've just got to wrap this all up in some cute fashion and it'll be ready to give. I hope she likes to cook.

Thanks again for the Inspiration Blog World!

Two Color Quilt Challenge

2008-05-06T21:48:00.007-05:00

I'm excited to join in on my first online quilt challenge. Nicole at Sister's Choice http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/ has issued a Two Color Challenge for the summer and I'm definitely going to take on that challenge!

I've been wanting to make a two color quilt ever since checking out Better Homes and Gardens Two-Color Quilts from the library last summer.

I also have a good friend back in Utah, Kristin, who inspired me several years ago by making a beautiful red and white Drunkard's Path quilt.

I love how classy Red and White quilts and Blue and White quilts are. I've really been leaning towards making a Blue and White one because blue is my favorite, but I'd like to have one of each eventually.

However, both of those will have to wait for another summer because I've decided to make a purple and cream quilt. Several months ago I saw a beautiful purple and cream quilt in some quilty magazine. It was gorgeous. And I vowed right then and there to make a purple and cream quilt for my mom, who loves purple. She is also a quilter and seamstress extraordinaire. She could easily make herself a beautiful purple and cream quilt. But I'd like to make one for her too because I love her, and it'll be a meaningful experience for me to think about her all summer long as I work on this quilt for her.

I've started my hunting and gathering. Aren't these gorgeous?!

As for the pattern, I'm not sure what I'll do yet. I haven't found just the right block yet. This one might be it, but I'm not ready to commit yet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manulao7/527655337/in/pool-twocolorquilts Isn't that pretty?

Go check out Sister's Choice for details. Basically anything goes as long as its two colors and you post your progress each month and finish by August 1. I've posted links to the other participants in a new area on my sidebar. Anyone else up for a challenge?

For Our Moms

2008-05-05T15:15:00.006-05:00

I was really happy with how these cloth napkins turned out so I thought I'd snap a few pictures before I wrapped these up for Mother's Day. The original idea came from Martha Stewart.

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.58031cf9775720e593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=d0f3e532e462f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=acafab645852f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=print&lastnavigatedchannel=

They were super easy and fun to make with random buttons and a little embroidery floss that I already had.

If it weren't for the fact that they'd be stained and ruined from jelly, cheetos, strawberries and whatever other messy foods my kiddos love to eat in about two days, I'd make some to keep.

My mom is under strict orders to not check my blog this week and I'm just hoping that my mother in law doesn't see this before she gets her package. But after these gifts are recieved, Happy Mother's Day! Thanks for all you have done for me, Mom. And all you have done for my hubbie, Mom-in-law. I love and appreciate you both so much. Thanks for dealing with all of our cheeto and jelly messes when we were little!

Little Man Quilt

2008-05-02T16:47:00.006-05:00

My little quilt is finished. I really started making this thinking that I'd give it away to one of two friends having a baby boy in the next few months. But I love it so much I'm gonna keep it! And I had talked about hanging it on Little Man's wall but he wouldn't hear of it. He said he wants it in his bed. So that's where it will go.

I love the colors and brightness of this quilt. And I think I especially love it because most of the fabrics came from my stash (I did add three fat quarters from the quilt store nearby) and the pattern is my own design.

A Big Thanks to Blog World

2008-04-28T14:15:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to post real quick about how fun this blogging thing is. I can't believe how much inspiration is out there and how wonderfully easy it is to get positive feedback and share ideas.

I love the show and tell aspect of it all. How fun is it to be able to show off something you are proud of! I can show off my quilts to my husband and kids and they appropriately praise me and my quilts, but I know that fellow quilters can appreciate them a little differently.

I equally love the opportunity to show off something I'm proud of and to get some friendly comments. When I first started this blog (uh, a few weeks ago), I'd check it almost every hour to see if I was getting comments. My husband must have thought I was a little silly to get so excited about each and every comment. I'd giddily run upstairs (he works from home) and tell him I'd gotten another one, who it was from and the nice things they said. Thank you, bloggers!

And now about the inspiration that is out there. Where to begin?! I can (and do) spend hours looking at beautiful quilts made by people from all over the place. And what's more, these people offer suggestions, helpful hints and sometimes free patterns. Another big thanks, bloggers!

While thinking about all the bloggie goodness that is out there, I thought that it might be fun to share some of my favorite finds every once in awhile.

So for today I'm going to start with my three favorite finds from about the past week.

1. http://fredashive.blogspot.com/ This is such a good blog by the sweetest gal named Nanette and her daughters. (I haven't figured out where Freda came from.) They post on a regular basis about QUALITY stuff. I think that Nanette is one of those people that really has the gift of color choice. Check out the cute quilts. One that my sister and I have already committed to make together: http://fredashive.blogspot.com/2008/04/mosaic-squares.html I love simple quilts made of squares.

2. Crazy Mom Quilts new quilt along. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/04/star-quilt-along-week-1.html I have had the priviledge of participating in several quilt alongs with girl friends from my old neighborhood and I LOVE them. I have never participated in an online one but this girl is really tempting me. Look how cute this quilt is! That really sounds fun.

3. And lastly http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/2008/04/red-and-white-d.html Nicole over at Sister's Choice has really inspired me to get going on a two color quilt. I don't know if she's seriously considering doing some sort of challenge/quilt along but if so, I'm definitely in. I've been thinking about doing a blue and white quilt for about a year or so now and there is a big bare spot on my family room wall that is calling out for a warm, blue and white quilt.

Have a Happy Day, Blog World! Thanks for the inspiration.

where this is going

2008-04-26T19:24:00.004-05:00

Here's a teeny shot of what I decided to do for the little boy quilt.

This project has been so quick. I love making baby quilts! Its so nice to be able to start and finish a project in about a week (more or less). My little boy does NOT need another quilt but I think he's going to get one. This one will probably be hung on his wall. His room has been in need of some decoration. My other decoration attempts (spelling out his name and hanging a map) have failed because he decided to 'redecorate' on his own and torn them down. Hopefully this quilt will meet his approval and he'll let me keep it on the wall. Or I'll just have to make sure its 3 year old proof and will stay put. Hopefully I can get this finished and quilted this next week and then I can post shots of it up in his room next weekend. [If I type it I'm committing myself to getting it done!]

Color Selection

2008-04-22T14:56:00.006-05:00

I struggle with color choices. I LOVE so many colors. I have a hard time narrowing down my choices and then feel like I'm getting too rainbowy. So then I swing too far in the opposite direction and end up with very little color variation. Take my house, for example. My family room is all beige and brown and blah. I'm afraid to let myself introduce a little bit of color for fear of going too far and getting mis-matchy.

The last two quilts I've made have been very subdued in color. First of all, my snowflake quilt, which I am happy with, is monotone. And before that, I finished a quilt I bought as a kit called Buttercream Frosting. This quilt, which I'm happy with also, has a very warm and snuggley feel about it. Its wonderful to snuggle under on the couch, but its not really very colorful. Well, I guess it has color but they are subdued colors.

[I hate that I'm introducing this quilt in a little bit of a negative way. I really do like this quilt. It has such a warm and comforting feel to it when I snuggle under it. :) I guess that's one of my deciding factors for a quilt's quality. Does it evoke warm feelings? After all, quilts are supposed to be warm. ]

So now, I'm really in the mood to create something bright and bold. I've pulled most of these fabrics from my stash and added a few others from the quilt store down the road. I'm planning on making a little boy or baby boy quilt (either for a friend's baby or if my 3 year old likes it, for him). Its going to be graphic with modern, chunky log cabin type blocks. So what do you think of these colors? Should I limit my selection to just one of each color or go more scrapy with several of each?

On Being Domestic

2008-04-21T14:27:00.004-05:00

I love being domestic. Uh... wait, scratch that. I hate housework. So, ok, I love pretending to be domestic. I love projects like canning and quilting; doing big things that make it look like I'm domestic. My bathrooms are due for a good scrub, but I put that off, and look at this beautiful strawberry jam I made! This beautifully colored goopy mess tastes glorious on biscuits.