Cherry on Top

My Cherry on Top is finished!

I got the final stitching done yesterday morning.

And promptly wrapped my son up in it

to check the "cozy" factor.

It passed with flying colors.

I spent several hours throughout the day

cutting the seams to make it "raggedy".

Then, of course, it had to be washed.

And dried.

Clean lint filter.

Dry some more.

Clean lint filter.

Dry some more.

Get the picture? It created a ton of lint!

Oh! Well, here's a picture

And here's a close up of the blocks.

And here's the back.

Remember?
Pink for the girls,

Blue for the boys.

So, this was my fourth of 11 in '11.

I am right on track.

Nick's quilt still needs layered and quilted.

My king size still needs dropped off at the quilter to be quilted.

And when I get home from my trip, I plan on starting my Sunkissed quilt.



My daughter, the quilter

Allie is 10.

She's my youngest daughter

and the only one who seem's to have

a genuine interest in sewing.

She is always *making* me buy her fabric.

Either for her to make stuff herself,

or for me to make for her.

She also loves to sew scraps on whichever sewing maching I am not using.

She actually has her own box of scraps that she keeps on my shelf

and is constantly going through and playing with.

Today, I was napping on the couch

(Late night and too much to drink, LOL)

and, apparently, she decided she wanted to sew.

Which was fine, really.

I don't mind and I trust her to use the tools

correctly. After all, I taught her how.

She decided to make a quilt square.

On her own.

With no help.

Here it is

I have never taught her to do this.

She cut the inner green square. Added the blue triangles.

And then added the border. She also used the fancy quilting stitch to dress up the middle.

She knew not to use the iron without supervision,

so, she finger pressed the seams open until I showed up to iron.

Not only am I impressed with her skill

(not perfect, but darn good!),

but she learned this by watching me.

How cool is that??

Cherry on the top

Is it or isn't it?
A rag quilt.

Is it a real quilt?
Or just a fancy blanket?

I'm going to go with a real quilt.

I cut out all the pieces.

I will sew them all into strips.

I'll sew all the strips together.

And then my quilt top will be done.

Its just that it will already be quilted.

I made one for my mom for christmas and I loved how it turned out.

I forgot how much until I was at her house last month

and got to use it. So cozy and warm!

Bear with me for a second.

I know this seems off tangent.

I made a flannel quilt for my new nephew.

I wasn't in love with how it came together,

but it was cute.

Well, one day it was laying on the back of the couch.

I was cold, so I pulled it down on top of me.

I think it instantly became my favorite quilt!

Aiden was born last month and the quilt was dutifully given.

My kids thought for sure I was going to keep it for myself.

I didn't.

But, man, my mornings have been much cooler without that quilt.

You can see where this is going now, right?
I had to make another one.

I didn't like the way the flannel quilted together. The fabric

was much harder to quilt and it kept bunching up.

I wasn't thrilled with the idea of doing that again.

Soooooooo.........

I decided to make a flannel rag quilt.

Best of both worlds.

I can quilt the small squares together, then proceed

as with a "normal" quilt.

In reality, this quilt is my #6 for 11 in '11, but

it should be done before #4 and 5, so those two will

have to move down a slot.

I do appreciate how quickly rag quilts come together!

Disclaimer: That photo only tell's part of the tale.

The blue will be on bottom and not seen anywhere

near the cherries! Don't worry, the fabric's are awesome,

you just can't see them all!

I decided to do "girly" on top for the girls, hawaiin blue flowers on the bottom for the boys.

and



Weekly Goals

Its Weds.

Maybe a little too late to be making a weekly goal?
Awwww, its never too late to have goals!

Ok, so I mentioned in my previous post that we are

going out of town next Friday.

So, these are my goals to get done before then:

FINISH my flannel rag quilt.

Start my new Sunkissed quilt.

Make a Sprocket pillow using the tute I picked

up from Cluck Cluck Sew.

(Did it this morning, here's a quick pic!)

You can kind of see where I did a scrappy border that

matches the top.

Drop my king size quilt off at the quilters.

IF I get all of these things done,

I'd also like to:

Layer, baste and start quilting my son't quilt.

Design a spring table runner.

Work in my sewing room...

I have bought a shelf and a clock, and I am recommissioning

a cork board from the kitchen, and all of those need put up on the walls.

Layer, baste and start quilting the pillow shams for my room.

AND THEN:
I am going to have to set my quilting aside for awhile

and start focusing on all the summer/Hawaii sewing that needs to be done.

I have dresses, shorts, carry on bags, luggage tags and eye masks

that need to be done and I don't want to wait til the last minute

(which, by the way, is July 13).

I'll keep you updated!



Missing Pics

I know, I know, I really

need to get some new pics up!

To be honest, I haven't picked up my camera

in awhile.
Maybe this weekend?

So, the big news of the day is.......

I finished my king size quilt top!
I'll take it to the quilters either tomorrow or Friday.

I can't believe how close I am to having it on my bed!

Hip Hip Hooray!

 

Fabric updates:
I bought some flannel and have cut out all the pieces

to make my new flannel rag quilt.

I'd really like to get this done by next Friday so it can be

my car blanket for our trip to Iowa.

I'm going to buy the batting this afternoon and hopefully get it started

tonight or tomorrow!

 

I have also figured out what to do with my Sunkissed/Bloggers Quilt A Long.

I really liked the design they created.

But I was not liking the look of the sampler blocks.

Which was really my fear when I realized that was what

the whole quilt was going to be.

So, I redesigned it.

I'm going to do 2 quilt block designs around the outside for the border

and keep the center applique.

You can check out the applique here

and the quilt design here.

I think I will be much happier with this idea :)

 

On hold:
I haven't touched my son's quilt top since I finished it last week.

Its on my to do list to layer and quilt, but those are

my least favorite parts of quilting.

I also haven't done anything about a spring/Easter table runner.

At this point, I'm not sure what is going to happen with that.

I may just jump right into something for May and skip Easter this year.

The St Pats day runner is still on my table.

Which, to be honest, didn't make it there til the end of March, so

we haven't been staring at it for that long!

 

I'm Tired

...Its Saturday night and I'm tired.

I got some quilting done this morning and more later in the afternoon,

but I'm just too tired to want to do much right now.

I finished the mug rug/snack mat that I was making for hubby.

The applique was tougher then I thought it would be,

and it didn't turn out great, but its cute

and he likes it.

I got 2 borders sewn onto my king size quilt.

Now I need the "busy" border and 2 more plain ones

before its done. I am really pleased with how it is turning out.

And again, I'm thinking of quilting it myself.

I have no idea why I keep going back and forth.

I probably won't make a final decision until the top is

100% complete. Which, I am hoping, should be by next week.

The spring/Easter table runner is still

rattling around in my head. I have no idea what I want to do

for it.

I stopped at the fabric store today.

Bought a few fat quarters and browsed the flannel.

I really miss that flannel quilt I made for my nephew,

so I'm going to make another for myself.

Except I think I'm going to go with a rag quilt.

Putting that on my mental to do list.

And, because I am tired and lacking motivation,

I browsed the Flickr group for the Spring

Block A Palooza.

OMGosh, so many cute finishes!

Really makes me want to finish mine, but I'm just not thrilled

with all the blocks that were designed.

But I do love the Sunkissed by Sweetwater for Moda fabric,

so I want to make sure I love how the final quilt turns out.

Another thing to think on.

I need to go to sleep, but its too early.

I could go quilt, but I am really bad at it when I'm this tired.

Maybe I'll go find a book and a hot cup of tea.

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!