Sew Much Sewing...

Well, first of all, I am blogging sitting on my bed on my new laptop. It is pretty exciting, and I'm getting better at using the little finger plate thingy. I got the chance to get away for the weekend and sew for hours straight. I was the only chic sewing at a big scrapbooking retreat but it was still great. After all I was with my crafty sister in law. I had to share pictures of the hydrangeas that greeted me when I returned...

I worked on two new projects mostly. I was really in the mood to develop some new patterns of my own and just play around with fabric. It was great to get that big block of time to just plug away.

I ended up with two quilt tops, one lap quilt size and the other a wall hanging. I will blog more details when I finish these up.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to the wonderful Christmas quilt I mentioned in the earlier posts. I have a little time to work on that before the holidays. :) I will also be starting a few projects for my mom this week and I'll share those as I am working on them.

I hope to post a bit this week but next week my husband has time off and we will be celebrating "family time" so it might be a little quiet over here on the blog.

I hope to get more work done on my daughter's roman shade this week too...we'll see what actually gets done!

I hope your week has started on a good note too-

A baby quilt!

I'm back to quilting. I missed it. A month is too long. So here is what I've been working on. A gift...shhhhhhhh. I think the recipient is too busy with a two week old baby boy to read my blog so I'm taking a chance here. This was a joint effort along with my crafty sister in law; she did all of the cute embroidery work and picked out fabric.

This was my first baby quilt and I sure like doing quilts this size! This one came together fast and was really nice to quilt.

I quilted with white thread on the blue and with tan thread on the animal print. Then I stitched in the ditch around the embroidery block. I am a huge fan of Aurifil thread. It is a little spendy but one spool lasts a long time.

I'm pretty proud of my binding corners on this one, they are my best yet. It has taken quite a few quilts to finally "get it".

So what type of quilts are your favorite to make? I really enjoyed doing a baby quilt, but I also like throw sizes. Then again, I love the look of a quilt on a bed, or on a wall...hmmmmm.

Christmas in June...

I saw a preview of this quilt pattern a while back on a blog post somewhere...I thought it was SO great. Now this fabric line is out (Basic Grey, Figgy Pudding, Moda) and I jumped up and down when I realized there were kits available. I am headed to a craft retreat next weekend with my crafty sister-in-law. I'm hoping this arrives on my doorstep before I leave so I can get started (along with a bunch of other quilt projects on my to-do list. :))

a GREAT Summer...

This summer is truly a breath of fresh air. The kids and I are having such a good time. We are done with naps, potty breaks every hour and whining for snacks constantly. Well, most of the time anyway. We have been enjoying swimming lessons, summer school, tennis lessons and just an open schedule. I have two helpers, ready for the next project, I love it. I know that these years will go by fast; I am taking it in, smiling and trying to let the little things go-

Today I got to play around with my Mom's great SLR camera. What a difference a camera makes! I think I know what's on my Christmas list!

Speaking of Christmas, I just ordered the coolest Christmas quilt kit! I'll post a picture soon...I love Basic Grey for Moda and I love figgy pudding...

I'm a winner!

Wow, it is turning into a really great day! I just won some charm packs and a new pattern from Maria at PassingDownCrazy! Thank you!!! I love her blog; it is full of quilts and knitting, very cool. I feel so lucky today...maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket. No, then I will have to explain that craziness to my 5 and 4 yr old! I think I'll just share a few projects I've been working on. Pardon the poor picture quality, it has been rainy here, with the worst light in the house!

Have you ever one of those "why did I try this project?" weeks? Well, that where I am this week as I am trying to sew a roman shade for my daughter's room. I tore apart her toddler duvet and bumper pad from Pottery Barn Kids (that was a little painful) and sewed them together with drapery lining on the back. I followed this great tutorial, along with checking out many books from my local library. Or as my daughter calls it my "loco library". I thought everything was coming together until I held it up to her window this morning and realized the bottom width is about and inch less than the top and leaves a nice gap between the window and the shade. I didn't do a very good job squaring my fabric. I might just go forward, get it together and see how bad it looks once installed, not much else to do. I don't have additional fabric, this was it. :( I also whipped up another coffee cozy/coffee cuff for my sister in law, now residing in Michigan (miss you guys!). She loved this quilt and luckily I had some scraps! Happy Birthday Nia!Hope your day is filled with fun surprises too!

Tweet!

No, I have not joined Twitter (yet), I'm just enjoying these awesome embroidered birds! My sister-in-law Janet has started a new, more portable hobby. Talk about a quick study! Isn't this great? I love the bright colors, flowers and I love the birds!

LOVE IT!

I went a little crazy with the black spray paint yesterday. I swapped for a table at my garage sale last week. A little paint (it was dark green) and voila...a new sewing table!


Then I got a hold of another table with a removable tray. It looks better black, it was a very worn out mahogany color. Next time I will take some before and after photos!

I still have not turned on the machine this week...catching up on everything else. :(

No rain, just tears

Although we really need rain here in Minnesota it is hard to complain about the weather. It has been 74 and sunny everyday for almost a week. I have really enjoyed getting in the garden and putting together my planters. I have a few more landscaping ideas for the yard but that might have to wait a few weeks...

This weekend we need to spend some time saying good-bye to this cutie; She (my niece) and her family are moving to Michigan. {insert tears} We wish them happy travels and good luck with this new adventure! Love you guys-

What's old is new...

Wow, springtime is sooooo busy. Especially since I decided to have a garage/yard sale. Boy, is that a lot of work! We made some money but I don't think that will be on my list of things to do for many years. We had about seven families and a lot of help so things went smoothly and we had a good time. Since my kids are 4 and 5 I thought it was time to get rid of the baby things. Here is all our things packed in the garage the night before we opened. My cute husband and my best friend are waving at ya. This sale has consumed my time and energy for the last three weeks so this week is a little catch up on cleaning and laundry! I'm hoping next week will open up some time to sew...