Zola's Quilt

This special quilt was a very different style for me. I usually do pretty saturated colors but I wanted to try something different. I found a great set of 10 inch Anna Griffin squares on Ebay and really liked the pink and black combination. It sat on my sewing table for quite some time as I wondered how to put it together.

This last winter my Grandma was very sick and I decided to whip up a quick quilt for her that would be comfy and pretty. I thought she might like the fancy fabric so I looked through my fabric stash for white and found some I received from her.

I had only finished the quilt top when I found out that she had gone to be with the Lord. As I wondered if I should quilt and bind it, my family asked if I would like to finish the quilt and keep it with her. It went together beautifully and I was able use fabric for the backing that was leftover from a wedding quilt she made for me. So while she was enjoying her new life, I was comforted to see this quilt with her at the funeral, and comforting is what a quilt should be.

Transportation

Crazy about cars. My son loves anything with wheels, since the day he could crawl. Since I don't make him a lot of clothes he gets bags. The bag above is a wonderful pattern from a Quilts and More magazine from last year. It is pretty large, intended for a reusable shopping bag. Another bag (the airplane bag) was inspired by the Moda Bake Shop, and a pattern for a honey bun zipper bag.

I thought these bags made up for the skirts and quilts that his sister has received. Nope, yesterday I was told that it is my turn to make something for him...again...hmmm.

Projects...

Here is a project from last fall that ended up as a Christmas gift for my mother in law. :) I planned the colors to match her home and it gave me a chance to use Portobello Market fabric by 3 Sisters for Moda. This is a great way to use a charm pack and a few fat quarters.

This weekend we finished up some projects. I am finally done with our window trim; now to enjoy the new windows and look out at the kiddos playing on this! Thanks to Daddy, Grandpa and Shane for all that time (and leveling ;).

Happy Birthday to my Dad today!

With brush in hand-

I had a little time to spend a gift certificate and get a pedicure treat this morning! Thanks Brandon and Nia!


























Otherwise it has been me holding the brush lately, varnishing our new window trim. It is going well, but taking a lot of time!

Hope to be done soon so I can get back to this:

I want to thank...

My awesome cousin Steph for helping me with my new blog layout. More than helping actually, she did everything! I just love how it turned out, she is wonderful with her graphic arts skills! She was so quick, while takin care of that cute baby too! I am very grateful...thanks Steph!

Bloggers Quilt Festival!

Now this is cool. An online quilt show! My entry is shown below. I will blog more about this quilt in the future but it was my first quilt ever and the project that got me hooked on all this fabulous fabric fun. When I needed new bedding for my daughters "big girl" bed and couldn't find anthing I decided to take her old crib bedding and create a quilt. With the help of my two grandmothers this is the result. I had it quilted by a wonderful longarm quilter in the Minneapolis area, Sara Peterson. If you have some time you should check out all of the amazing entrys. Wow. Thanks Park City Girl! Great idea...

Macy's Flower Show

Ahhhhh. The kids went back to school this morning so I had a few hours to myself. With coffee in hand (or in cup holder rather) I drove downtown to enjoy the Macy's/Bachmans flower show. The best part-it was beautiful! The worst part-my point and shoot camera. Today I missed my 35mm. But I think you can still get a taste of summer.

A new project in the works...

I've been stashing this fabric for a year; time to start something. I think it will go in my bedroom. I have been doing so many bright things lately, this feels really peaceful...

Easter Fun!

Well, she agreed to the skirt, the hair clips and the new shirt but she held out for the winter boots! We had a really nice Easter weekend, lots of family time and fun events now that the kids are older and they (actually me) can handle it all.

I wish I took more pictures!

Friendship Braid Quilt

Another quilt to share today. This one I finished up a few weeks ago. We have been cuddling under this quilt and reading books on the couch quite a bit this week since we had the week off. I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend, I'll post a few more pics later.

This quilt is made mostly with fabric from the Flutterby line from Tula Pink.

I started with a jelly roll and a few charm packs. I whipped up all of the braid pieces and then decided that using all of the colorways was too busy for me. That's the tough place, when you know it could be better if you get out the seam ripper! It was worth it though, I do like the finished look. The pieces I took out are mostly red, brown and yellow. They will make another great project. I found the polka-dot fabric for the back in the clearance section at one of my local quilt shops. I have been enjoying all of the pieced backs from crazymomquilts and was inspired. I wanted to do a bit more piecing but this was all of the fabric I had left.

This was my second attempt at machine quilting, I liked the pink thread but it sure doesn't hide mistakes like brown would have! Oh, well. This one is staying at my house.

Anyone else ready for some green grass? Come on spring!

Quilted myself

I am thrilled to have a new sewing machine that can do free-motion quilting. Even better, I loved the process. I finished a quilt just for me this time, again with Soiree fabric from Lila Tueller (from Moda). This pattern is from Anka's Treasures. I heart Heather Mulder Peterson! I think I have used more of her patterns than anyone. The pattern I used is called Keyholes, from On a Roll Again. I made it sans border and using bias binding, a first for me. It is quilted with white thread (but don't look too close at the stitches!)

Hot coffee, warm sunshine

Photos from Pottery Barn.com

Friday morning....ahhhhhh. This is the kind of morning I wish we had a beautiful sunroom like my aunt Beci! The sunshine through my new windows is pretty great though. I actually had a moment to page through the Pottery Barn catalogs with my coffee (Grandma & Grandpa, colored pictures are on the way) and here is what I found...

I have never seen so many patchwork quilts in that catalog before. Am I trendy? Cutting edge design? Probably not, but fun to see anyway. Actually, the prices are not much more than I would spend on fabric and supplies for a quilt, but not made with love! Enjoy your Friday-

Easter Skirt

My daughter and I went shopping for charm packs the other day because I found this skirt tutorial at The Merry Church Mouse. I thought an Easter skirt would be appropriate, especially since I am in love with Soiree by Lila Tueller! My daughter, of course, picked different fabric so we needed to make two.




Now we have an option for spring and summer (or everyday, most likely).

Handmade for Kids!

I have seen so many cool handmade gifts this year. My favorite gift for kids is the crayon roll in the Fall 2008 Quilts and more magazine. I whipped up a few, this one was for our friend Chloe. This is a great way to use those small pieces of leftover batting. Amy Butler fabric works for everything...

Here we go!

I'm jumping into the world of blogging. The irony is that I am not a great writer. I do have hobbies that are fun to blog about; so if you like fabric, flowers, family you may want to hang around.