Thursday Update

No pics today, sorry!

I still owe you pics of my new carry on bag and my March table runner.

I'll try to take some soon, its been rainy and dreary here,

so the light stinks to take pics.

Today, I finished Nick's quilt top!
This was a UFO that I started sometime last  year,

so I am excited to cross it off the to do list.

This weekend, I hope to get it layered and pinned,

maybe quilt it next week?

Shhhh, I am making dh a surprise.
I've been wanting to try a mug rug and today I came across a great tute

for it. Erin, over at Two More Seconds,

has been hosting a Mug Rug Madness blog around and today's

was my fave, I think. Since today was opening day

of baseball, I did it in Met's colors. Tomorrow, I need to find and print

a Met logo and I'm going to applique that on and then give it to him for his office.

So, pics of that coming up too!

Also, on this weekend's to do list is to start and finish (at least the top!)

my spring/Easter table runner. I have fabric, but not the slightest idea

of what I want to do with it.

I guess that's all that is really going on here.

I am trying to decide what to work on next. I need to redo

my quilt list and add all the new projects that I have bought fabric for.

I have 2 projects in the works...I really should focus on at least one of those,

preferably the king size for my bed that will have to be sent out to be quilted.

But I also need to finish the Block A Palooza quilt I started in Jan.

But then there's that other one.

Ohhh, and that one!
And don't forget that one!
Ahhhhh, you know what I mean!

Third of 11 in '11

It feels so good to finally get all

these quilt's up to be seen!
This one might be my very favorite of them all.

Presenting....

A Very Hungry Caterpillar

The perfect quilt for a little boy!
I enjoyed making this one so much and couldn't

wait to deliver it to my new nephew.

So, without further ado....

Aiden Thomas

Isn't he just precious?
I'm just a *tad* bit proud of him!

So, 3 months into 2011 and I have 3 quilts done :)

Yeah!!!

#4 is in blocks that are being sewn into rows, so

I hope to have a complete quilt top by tomorrow.

Second of 11 in '11

Some very dear friends of ours are

having a baby in June.

But they moved away last month :(

When I found out they were moving, I hurried

and made this baby quilt for them.

And then I got sick.

AGAIN!

It didn't get done in time to give to them

before they moved.

But I'm sure we'll see them again soon.

And, if not, then I'll mail it.

But I did show it to them, it just wasn't

finished.

But now it is.

Actually, one corner of that darn green border needs resewn.

Maybe I'll do that today.

I love this quilt.

The colors. The design. Even the border.

But I will never make that border again! What a nightmare!

Boy? Girl? No one knows, but

I'm sure this quilt will make either one happy :)

First of 11 in '11

This was the first of 2 quilts I made for my brother's new baby.

You know.

The one I've been talking about for months!

He was born March 19, 2011.

7 pounds, 5 ounces.

You'd think he was my own, I'm so proud!

I made this quilt out of all flannel.

Definitely a learning curve while quilting it,

but well worth it.

It is incredibly soft and warm!

Welcome to the world baby Aiden!



Family Update

I just rechecked the last post to this blog.

March 15.

Yikes! My intentions of posting

are always good.

The follow through is often not there.

Sorry about that!

This time, I had a really good excuse.

Life altering in fact.

Last Wednesday my mom let me know that

my grandfather was checking himself out of the

hospital under hospice care. I think we

all know what that means.

And as soon I got that news, I got other news

that my sister in law was in labor.

Such is the ebb and flow of life.

I haven't seen my grandfather in almost 3 years.

Not for lack of want to see him, but he lives over 1000 miles away

and with a family of 6, that is not an easy distance to cover.

So, dh and I made the decision that I needed to go see him.

Luckily, dh's parent's were able to fly into town to stay

with our munchkin's and he came with me. It was an emotional trip.

One I am still recovering from.

The good news is, my grandfather is doing better. The bad news (or, not, depending on how you look at it) is that  its really just a matter of time for him. But it was so good to see him.

And I know he appreciated our presence.

I still fight tears when I think of him.

The awesome news is that I am now the proud aunt of another nephew.

He was born on Saturday, March 19, 2011.

And he is the most beautiful baby I think I have ever seen.

Dark, dark blue eyes.

My brother's italian skin tone.

Long fingers, light hair.

Precious and healthy, all we can ever ask for.

I spent every moment that I could, holding him.

Luckily his mama and daddy let me, as I live so far away.

We got back late last night.

It was a whirlwind trip and its going to take me a while to

recover from it. It was wonderful to see my family.

It was heartbreaking to see my grandpa.

I've always admired my grandmother. But never more so then now,

when I watch her stand by his side, knowing what is coming.

60+ years of marriage and they are still so in love.

They got married when she was 16.

I don't know what she is going to do without him.

Such is my tale of woe.

Tomorrow, I'll get restarted on my blog.

I have 3 quilts that need shown off and posted.

A table runner.

A new carry on bag.

Maybe even a pic of my new machine.

I had new fabric come in.

I have finished my "time line" things.

Now I can focus on what I want to work on.

The list is long. The desire is strong.

The timing.....ugh.

We'll be home now for 3 weeks.

Then the kids get spring break.

Dh and I moved up our trip home from June to April.

I want my kids to see their great grandfather one more time.

So I have to get ready for that.

Plus, it'll be Nick's birthday, Easter and then

Sam's birthday. April is always a bit crazy without the addition

of this trip. But its something I have to do.

So, please forgive me, the few followers that I have.

I promise to try to be a better blogger!

March Madness

My goodness! I looked at my last blog post and it was in February! Nothing like a little March Madness to get in the way of blogging!

The truth is, I haven't been quilting! Sad, I know.

But worth it! My daughter's drama play heated up to full boil the last two weeks, culminating in a 4 day show that ended on Sunday. Being a "drama mama" meant I was at each rehersal the past 2 weeks getting them ready on go on stage.  It also meant my quilting got mostly ignored.

Its still dark out, but I'll take some pics later and get them posted.

I do have the second quilt for my brother's new baby just about finished. Its needs a touch more quilting, then bind and wash and we'll be all set!

My biggest news is that I bought a new sewing machine! I had bought a Singer Quilting Confidence back over the fall and thought I liked it. But then I had some bad things happen with it :(  Singer's quality has gone downhill over the years and I'm not sure I'll buy from them again.  Makes me sad as I love my old Singer, its a workhorse.

So (sew! haha!), I bought a Brother NX 800, Limited Edition Laura Ashley. I got it from a LQS.  So far all I've done is play with it, but I'm sure I'm going to love it.

Let's see, what else. I'm behind on the Bloggers Quilt Along. By like 7 blocks! Ugh. My March table square is half quilted, but I'm not sure I love it, so I don't know what I'll do with it. My March runner is pieced but needs quilted....I think that is on my to do list today.

OHHHH! And! I'm converting the downstairs bedroom into a sewing room! It used to belong to my youngest daughter, but she got lonely being the only one in the basement so she moved upstairs into her brother's room last spring. So, now it occasionally get's used for guest's, but that is it. Now its a sewing room :) Again, I'll take pics later!

My goal for the week is to quilt that March table runner, finish quilting the 2nd baby quilt, and get that bound and washed, and do so more work straightening my new sewing room.  It'll happen. At least some of it!

11 in '11

Kim, over at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure,

has a goal to make 11 quilts in 2011.

She was willing to make time

(and possibly offer a prize or 2 at the end of the year)

to keep track of those who want to join her.

I *think* I can make 11 quilts this year.

Yikes, that sounds like ALOT!

But I already have 1 done. And #2 is 90% done.

And I have #3 completely pieced.

And #4 is over half way pieced.

We'll say #5 is my Block A Palooza quilt, so again, half way pieced.

So, Ok, maybe I can do this!

Just as an FYI, I do not plan to count my runners/table squares,

etc....only real quilts.

I'll keep you updated!

Scattered Thoughts

I'm feeling slightly scattered.

Its been that kind of day.

Started with taking all 4 kids to the dentist for cleanings.

Good reports all around, but man, I wish they had been

better behaved.

Then, we ran a few errands.

And came home.

And I took a nap!
I was so tired!

This afternoon, I finished piecing my March table runner.

And started my March table square.

Love the runner.

Hate the square.

More on these laters.

Yesterday, I FINISHED the flannel baby

quilt for my brother.

So glad that is done!

And for the FNSI I finished

block #8 for the QuiltAlong.

Love how this turned out!

I hadn't figured out the basket stitch yet on

this machine, so after a bit of playing

around, I got it done.

All 8 block look like this:

I'm not much of a sampler person, so I hope I

like this when its done. I do love the Sunkissed

fabric's tho!

And, because my thoughts are scattered,

here are pics of my darling making breakfast

yesterday morning.

Strawberry crumble, anyone?

And check out that fancy apron she has on!

She picked out the fabric, I did the work.

She looks cute.

Even deal all the way around :)

Catch up!

WOW! Its been awhile!

My excuse is that I spent most of last week sick.

Strep throat that would not get better!
Ugh, it was horrible!

But, I am back and feeling better

and have gotten quite a bit of quilting done.

Here's a photo blog of it:

All quilted and pretty for valentines day! This table is in my kitchen.

And the runner that sits on the dining room table.

Let's see, I think this was block 6 for the quilt a long

This should be block 5? I'm not real happy with how it turned out.

Block 4. I think. Love this one!

And block 3.

Today's Block 7.

A sneak peak at what I am working on right now. This will be a streak of lightening quilt

for my son.

And, this is the center top for my bed. Finished this at the end of January

and haven't gotten back to it yet. All I need to do is add borders and send it off to be quilted.

And there are a few other's that I have been working on, but no pics of those yet!



Friday Night Sew In

The next Friday night sew in is

next Friday, the 18th.

You can sign up at CraftyVegasMom,

Not sure what I'll work on.

I have about a million choices.

If you're wondering where I've been,

I'm here.

Just sick :(

If I'm not better by tomorrow, I'm going back to the dr.

I've got strep throat and its not going away.

But its been awhile since I blogged and I've

gotten lots done and bought since then.

But for now, go sign up for the FNSI, it'll be fun :)

Waiting for Spring Block A Palooza Block 2

Yeah! Its Thursday!
That means the 2nd block for Block A Palooza

came out today!

Can you tell I am a bit excited?

I checked this morning....no block.

Darn, she must be on a different time zone then me.

So, I went and shoveled the huge driveway that

had 6-8 inches of snow on it.

Came back in.....

And there it was!
The second block!

Oh.

Wow.

Looks like ALOT of cutting and sewing.

Little TINY 2 inch blocks.

Lots of them!

I'm not thrilled.

So, I finished what I was working on.

Went out with my girlfriend and somehow

bought a quilt book but no fabric!
Yeah me! LOL

Although, my youngest daughter bought fabric.

That can't count against me!

Came back home and looked at the block again.

I really like it.

But I've never attempted anything like this.

No time like now, huh?
So I started cutting.

And cutting.

And cutting.

And then realized that all these little tiny squares now

need sewn together. In a particular order!

I can do this!

And so I did.

Out of all those little squares, only 1 didn't match up exactly!

WoooooHoooooo!

I do think this would have been much easier strip pieced,

but I did it as the directions called for.

I'm liking this quilt along!

Waiting for Spring Block A Palooza Block 1

I was a little worried after seeing pics of Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda.

It looks really light in the photo's and I

wasn't sure I was going to like it.

But, it arrived today and I like it!

I more then like it!

I'm excited to work with it!

So, I completed my first block for the

Waiting for Spring Quilt Along.

Thanks to Quilt Dad for the great design!

I really don't think that the computer does justice to the

real color of this block, which is too bad.

I love how it turned out!

Can't wait to see the next block tomorrow!

New Fabric!

My FatQuarterShop order arrived today!
Yipppeeeeeeee!

Thankfully, they had all the fabric wrapped in plastic,

as the box had gotten wet at some point.

I was so worried until I got it opened up.

I ordered 2 quilts worth of fabric.

I ordered the Sunkissed line by Sweetwater for Moda

for my Block A Palooza quilt.

And I ordered Dilly Dally by

Me and My Sister Designs for Moda.

Which I forgot to take a picture of! LOL

So excited to start using both!



Snow Day!

The kids are off school today.

High school midterms finished up, which means

the whole school district get's the following 2 days off.

A little weird to me, but whatever,

we'll take it.

But its snowing anyway.

Which puts school tomorrow in jeopardy.

This area is not equipped to deal with snow.

At all.

So, today, I shall quilt.

I got all the squares cut out to start making the blocks

for my king size quilt.

Yesterday, I finished 4 squares.

Out of about 30.

So, a very good start in just a few hours.

I wonder how many I can get done today?

It would be so cool to get this done quickly

and then send it out to be quilted!

I'll sip my tea, sew my blocks,

and listen to my children argue play nicely

in the background.

I hope you enjoy YOUR day!

One Thing, One Week Challenge Complete

My goal for last week was 2 parts:

To finish piecing

2 king size pillow shams, that will

eventually match the quilt

I plan on making for my bed.

I am happy to say I got that done!

The second part was to start working on a valentine

table runner.

And, I not only started, but completed the piecing!

And, just as a bonus, I also pieced this cute table square:

I got a few other projects worked on also, but these were my goals for the week!

Thanks Amy for the motivation!



FNSI Results

This FNSI was my first.

And it was a bit of a bummer

as the N stands for night.

And my sewing machine disturbs the

family when they are trying to watch tv.

But I had anticipated this and got quite a bit done

during the day.

I was working on my brother's new baby quilt.

He should be arriving at the end of March and I am ready

to have this done for him.

But I can't post pics on my blog

just in case he or his wife are spying on me <g>.

But you can check out the pictures that I uploaded to flickr!

So, I got most of the quilting done. And

what I didn't get done I finished this morning! Yeah!

So, its in a pile on my table waiting for binding.

Which is cut and ready.

But I need a break. That flannel is so different

to work with then cotton.

But its so soft :)
Just what I would want for my new baby :)

Friday Night Sew In

Apparently, the Friday Night Sew In

is here!

I've never done it before,

but it sounds fun!

I'll be quilting the baby quilt I

finished piecing last week.

Baby won't be here

til March, but this way it'll be done :)

Check out the FNSI here.

I'm excited!



Another Shopping Trip

I really want to do a christmas block of the month club.

But the one I like is a bit out of my price range.

So I designed my own.

I ordered the Kate Spain for Moda 12 days of Christmas

Layer Cake from The Fat Quarter Shop.

Awesome selection and prices!

Today, I bought the background fabric

and the border fabric.

Its washed and sitting in the dryer right now.

Probably getting wrinkly.

So, I'm on my way to fold  and iron it.

But I'm excited! I've got 12 blocks sketched out.

Not in full detail.

And its already Jan 18, so I need to pick a block for this month

and get started.

In the meantime,

I finished piecing the pillow shams for my bed.

They turned out so much better then I ever expected.

I also started my valentine table runner.

That is going slowly. But I'm determined to let it

sit there until I am 100% certain how I want to finish it.

Until next time :)



One Thing, One Week Challenge

Its that time again!

Amy, from Amy's Creative Side, has challenged

us to complete 1 thing this week!
You can find more information here.

My goal this week is to finish piecing the 2 pillow shams for my bed.

And...

because I am already pretty close to that goal....

I want to start piecing a valentine table runner.

This table runner idea is coming from

Kim at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

The Be Mine blog tour from last week was excellent and I

got alot of really great ideas!

January!?!

Hard to believe that I haven't posted here

yet this year! YIKES!

Its not because of a lack of new things

to talk about.

I've been busy sewing!

So far this year, I have already completed

quite a few things!

• I helped Allie finish her very first quilt

• I quilted the winter table runner for my dining room table
• I started and finished the winter table square for my kitchen table

• I made Allie a pajama shirt and eye mask and helped her make the pants
• I made Nick 2 pairs of pj pants
• and 2 new pairs (shirts and pants) of pajama's, plus eye masks
• 2 new eye masks for my neice and nephew