Turning 20 Extravaganza!

Turning 20 Extravaganza!

Okay well....there's only two but that should be enough for an extravaganza (say it loud..) right?

Here are two quilts I was commissioned to make for Christmas gifts...

This one was for her fiance`....

(A Turning 20 that instead of 20 is really 30)

This next one is for her son....

(A version of the Turning 20, but uses more fat quarters because the boy is more than 6' tall! So it had to be made longer for him)

(It's laid over my couch to display it, and at first I wasn't crazy about the spiders but they really look cool!)

Okay so she's not a quilt...but this is my beautiful princess, Penny, and sleepy Eleanor in the floor.

(Excuse the mess!!! I was in the middle of cleaning and recently moved/swapped two of the rooms in my house!)

Have a lovely rest of the day! 

I gotta get binding on a quilt.....

I hope to get more pictures up in the next few days!

ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas and happy holiday season to all!!

I have been taking this time to relax and sew what I want to sew.

I finished all my Christmas gift crafts and have pictures to upload some time in the next few days.

I have decided I want to make another quilt for myself seeing as how out of all that I have made (which I am making a list now so I can count them all to see how many there are...) I have only made ONE for myself!

So I found this cuuuute pattern and paired with awesome fabric it's going to be totally fab!

That is what I have for you today.

P.S.  Went to a local thrift store today and found AWESOME blue fabric, 3 yards for $0.99!! Totally worth it.

Finals week!!!

Thank goodness!!

I think?

That means all next week I get to do whatever I want....
i.e. update my blog like a good blogger.....

But for now it means that I have to be stressed out the rest of today (because my final is at 6pm....as I currently sit in the Bloch School...) and stressed for part of tomorrow because I have a 10:30am final.

Then I get to do whatever I want! 

I have been very productive the past few days with my sewing/crafting/knitting but of course nothing I have pictures of yet because they are for gifts...

Anyway....

I just wanted to check in and say hello! And that I'm still surviving my LAST fall semester as an undergraduate.

Toodle-loo and happy studies!

Sunday Shenanigans

Hello all,

I am seriously laying in bed while I type this, ha ha!  Seeing as how it is almost 9:30pm here in the Midwest and I still have to work tomorrow. Boo! But then I have time off for Thanksgiving and I am super excited!

Sorry I wasn't able to have a quick, fun project to blog about today.  I had to work. Boo again!

After I got home from work though I was able to accomplish a few things.  I finished sewing rows together for a baby quilt, now it just needs borders, a back, to be quilted and binding!  So...still a lot of work to do.

I also cut binding to go on one quilt and started making binding for another.

And this morning before work I was able to take a few minutes to fix a few towels for my mom.  The hem just came out, no big deal!

I am definitely ready to make something for me.  I thought about it and since I have started making quilts in 2007 (when I was a senior in high school LOL!) I have only ever made one quilt for myself.  My mom said that it is the holidays and I should make something for myself.  Except I have to finish my projects for other people! Ha.  It's okay though because I still enjoy the work.

Thoughts to leave you with:
1.) I have a "rule" (I'm not sure it's a rule really, but it's....something I follow? but not quite something to be considered a philosophy? You know what I'm sayin'.....I know you do....) that I follow, which is:  I do not post pictures of something if it is to be given as a gift.  I never know who is looking at my blog (hopefully everyone!!) so I don't want any surprises ruined.  Growing up I was all about surprises, and I don't get very many any more as I get older (which is sad because truthfully I'm not that old!).  So I don't want to ruin anyone else's surprise, especially if they love surprises as much as me!

2.)  I'm not sure where I saw this so I'm sorry for not giving credit to who deserves it but...
      it was something like "There are no mistakes in quilting, they're just design opportunities!"

Love that.

Goodnight all!

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Sunday Shenanigans

Hello!
It is SOOO beautiful outside today! I can't believe we are already half way through November and it is so nice out.

This is my awesome glue gun! I can't believe I didn't own one a long time ago! Now I want to glue everything.

Today I hurried through a quick little project.

Hexies!  This was my first time ever cutting them out or ever sewing them.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  I just wanted something different to go on the back of the couch or on the foot of the bed.  I haven't backed it yet but I most likely will with muslin.

Here is something I did the other day...

I took a butter bowl...

 And used my glue gun.....

To make it just a little prettier so I could sort out some of my smaller pieces instead of them taking up a whole drawer that other fabric could go in.  This way when I know I'm working on a small project, like a doll quilt or a crumb quilt, I can just get out my tub of whatever size and sew on!

I only have 5 tubs, one for squares up to 2" and one for up to 4", the same for strips, and then one that I call my "funny little shapes" tub.

Just read an email from a Financial Statement Analysis group member...meaning I have a little bit more work to do....

Toodle-loo!

Website Whoas

Is it just me or has www.quiltingboard.com been on the fritz lately?!

I always check out that site when I'm in need of some inspiration or when I just need a quick getaway.

I have been trying new things to organize my sewing room.

I'll will have pictures later of  what I've been trying to do organization-wise in my room with muh glue gun ;)

ALSO....I have purchased a glue gun!! Yes, yes. I know what you're thinking...oh everyone owns a glue gun!  Well I didn't until last weekend.  This morning I opened it up and BAM! I'm hooked!  I want to glue everything!

I have also been working on planning out my coupon binder!  I LOVE to coupon and I need a more efficient system.

I think that just about covers it for now!

Sunday Shenanigans

Well today is Sunday...already? Where did the weekend go?  I have made a come back from how I was feeling yesterday so I have been trying to get things done that did not get done yesterday.

I already have stuff in the crock pot for pulled pork....which you can find here.  It is so delicious! Even DH likes it, which makes anything even more fun to cook.

Here is one activity I was able to accomplish last night after the dogs went to bed. 
I don't know this for sure...but I am almost 100% positive that dogs are very similar to children.  After my dogs go to bed I make sure to be very quiet because you "let a sleeping dog lie" sort of thing.  I'm sure children are the same way.

I made dinner last night, not the healthiest of choices but it helped with my up-cycling project and cleared space in my freezer.

Take a box of some kind, clearly this is a cheese stick box, but I have also seen this done with cereal boxes and that works just as well.  Measure a few inches up the side, I believe I measured up 5" here.  Then just draw a line to the corner from where you measured up on each side. Cut!

Then cover with some scrap book paper/card stock like I did here, and I added a nice little saying that I found in my scrap book things.  You could also use newspaper (the comics section would be cute), or wrapping paper, or even left over wall paper!!  

You could let your kids join in and make this for their rooms to hold books or magazines (you do the cutting of course!) and then let them cover the box in stickers or they could color pages in a coloring book and glue them on.  They could even glue buttons on!

This project really doesn't take very long to make and there are endless possibilities of what to cover it in as well as what to make it out of or use it for!!  Plus it's very inexpensive :)

When you get tired of one box, recycle it and make a new one!  I'm sure you'll eat cereal again ;)

I am also doing laundry among other household chores today and I have several pairs of jeans to fix and a baby quilt to make! Yikes!

Enjoy your day everyone!!!

P.S.  Sorry if my blog starts to look a little messy, I'm going to start doing some construction and adding tutorials very soon! It will take me a while but stick with me!! <3

Chili Chip Costume!

Hello all!

I am taking a (very) short break from my Financial Statement Analysis project to post my first ever dog costume!

My friend Colleen asked me to make a costume for her sweet little dog Chip.  I was nervous since I'd never made  anything for a dog before, but I accepted knowing this is a task I could accomplish.

Colleen told me her and her fiance wanted Chip to go dressed as a bag of Fritos.  So I did my best and made a little "apron" of sorts, a strap to go around his neck and little ties on the side to go around his belly.

I looked at a Fritos bag as I made the costume, and I used heat-n-bond to attach the letters and then stitched around them to help them stay on in case she needed to machine wash it.

I think it turned out pretty cute.

Thanks everyone!  Later tonight I plan on posting more pictures!

Still here!

I am so very sorry I haven't been writing like I should be!

I have been keeping up with school and work lately and I haven't had time to do much of anything for myself.
I'm sure my teachers conspired against us this semester seeing as how I have a project and/or presentation in every class! yikes!

RIGHT NOW I am loading pictures from my camera to my new laptop (yes, yet again during another college semester I had ANOTHER computer decide to bite the dust on me)

I hope to get to blog either later tonight or tomorrow in between working on my Financial Statement Analysis project.  Luckily I am almost done.

I have several projects completed that I can't wait to share with you!!

Have a wonderful day all!!

Long time, no blog

Hello everyone,

So sorry it has been so long since my last blog.  I have been extremely busy with school and work.  I have been working on so many projects whenever I can.

I promise to post pictures soon!  I have several quilts that are waiting in my "in box" for binding!

Be kind to one another today.

Table Topper!

Oops! I meant to upload a picture of this a week or two ago and I forgot!

Another table topper with the chilis.

This table topper measures 22" square and I adapted it from a baby quilt pattern I found.  I quilted it myself using X's in the yellow and red squares and stitch-in-the-ditch (SID) around the chilis and the black feathery fabrics.

Here's the back, I'm just happy it turned out so cute.

Recently...

Here are a few pictures of things I've gotten accomplished lately..

This pattern is from a calendar my mom got me for Christmas last year.  The pattern is actually red, white and blue and it says "Home" in the middle but I made it into a baby quilt.  I printed off the letters for "Baby" from Microsoft word after I found a font size that was appropriate and I put iron on adhesive on the fabric and traced around the letters and cut them out.  Then I ironed them to the center block and machine stitched around them just in case!  I made this a few weeks ago but I put it away thinking I was going to add a border but I don't think I will.  It still needs to be quilted and have the binding put on.

(Clearly I'm not tall enough to get all of it in the picture haha)

This is a table runner I finished yesterday and MAN did it take a long time.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  I found measurements for the mini churn dash in a book I have and went from there.  I quilted it myself using a method I found on youtube.com but that was also very time consuming.  Still happy with it though! (Stood on the bed for this picture hehehe)

a close up of the churn dash and the little bows I stitched on the corners!  It measures 9 3/4" X 45 1/2"

This pattern I actually saw as a picture online and then I decided I wanted to use 5 1/2" blocks and just made a 9 patch and some borders! SUPER EASY! This measures 35 1/2" square.  I've had these fabrics grouped together for a while now and just didn't know what pattern I wanted to use.  I actually finished this a few days ago but it still needs to be quilted and have binding put on.

here is a close up of the purple with tiny white polka dots and the darker purple with the grapes! SO cute!

This is a table topper that I finished earlier before I ran errands!  I love the chili pepper fabric and if you've been following along you'll know that I've used it in several projects ;) and I still have some left!!  The topper measures 15 1/2" square and I still need to quilt it.  The pieced blocks are a disappearing 4 patch and it wasn't as time consuming as it may look!

And EVERYTHING I have shown you today I made from my stash! No cost out of pocket! However, I did run out of thread while I was binding the red, white, and blue table runner and I did have to run out for some more red thread.  Unbelievable, right?  So I guess I was out a few dollars on thread...but it was a necessary purchase.

I think I'm going to take it easy the rest of the day and make a few simpler (but still cute) projects. 

Quote

This is a quote I found under a username of one of the members onhttp://www.quiltingboard.com/

I thought this quote was very powerful to me and wanted to share.

Even though I'm only 22, I do hope that one day this is true for me...


"When I'm dead and gone there ain't anybody goin' to think o' the floors I've swept, and the tables I've scrubbed, and the old clothes I've patched, and the stockin's I've darned…But when one of my grandchildren sleeps on one of those quilts, they'll think about me, and, wherever I am then, I'll know I ain't forgotten." from 'Aunt Jane of Kentucky' by Eliza Calvert Hall

Enjoy your day everyone!

Lots of Goodies!

Hello!

Here are some little goodies I have started making! 

what are they you ask? they're tissue covers! for the little tissues you can buy in the travel section that women can keep in their purse! I thought they were just too cute to make only one!  This pattern I got from a tutorial fromhttp://www.quiltingboard.com/.

this is a "wallet" for a little boy!  I think it's so cute when little boys carry around change in their pockets so why not put it in a "wallet"?  I keeps saying "wallet" because the same pattern could be used for a girl's coin purse.  I made up the pattern myself. all I used were 4-- 5 1/2" squares! and just a little bit of velcro!

the inside!!

Here is a hair bow I knitted from a pattern called "Knit Bow Headband" from craftzine.com

I thought it was super cute! and the pattern can be adapted to whatever size you want!

Wanna know a secret? I was cross-stitching while my pictures uploaded! hehe.

Enjoy!

Starry Baby Boy Quilt

Cute and charming is how I would describe this quilt.

Very fun to make, I knew I wanted stars and it to be bright and happy.  For the variable star points I used the flying geese method.  This was my first time using this method but I will defintiely use it again!

Quilt measures 36"x47"

Told you I'd finish it today ;)

AWL

Hello all!

I tried so hard to log in to blog last week and for some reason it just would not let me! I think the blogspot site might have been down? Not sure if anyone else had trouble...

I've had quite a few things come up since my last post.

I have yet to finish the borders for the last baby quilt I posted about but I plan to finish them today! For real this time...

And I am currently putting binding on a table topper I made! And I might add that I machine quilted it myself!  I will put pictures up ASAP! I mean it this time!

I hope everyone is having a terrific day today :)

Another Baby Girl Quilt

This is a quilt I just finished, it measures 42"x42" and I had originally looked at "Lady of the Lake" from 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts by Judy Hopkins and Nancy J. Martin.  But then I decided I didn't want to mess with all the triangles.  However the "Lady of the Lake" is very pretty and one day I will tackle it.

The quilt is completely from my stash! (Fabric look familiar?) Needs to have a back and be quilted, after that you'll see it again!  I was just too excited about it and couldn't wait that long to post it.

It's not the most difficult quilt I have made or seen, but I learned so much from doing this quilt.  And I think it is so cute! I love it.

Up close to show the colors.  The pink border has small white dots and the green has small white dots too.

I am in the middle of reading "The Quilting Answer Book" by Barbara Weiland Talbert and it is extremely helpful.  It has answers to questions I would have never thought to ask.  I recommend it.

So my goal for yesterday was to finish this quilt..which didn't happen because we went to purchase an attic fan! The more and more I get into my adult life I realize there are things that I never thought I cared about before and now I'm just thankful to have them.  Thing #1 Deep Freeze, Thing #2 Attic Fan.  Who knew right?

So today my goal is to finish another baby quilt top...and I have yet to cut out the fabric! Yikes!

You'll hear from me tomorrow :)

Good day to all!!

Baby Girl Quilt

Hello all!

This is a quilt that I made for my niece that was born in March.  I had pictures ready a while ago but of course I can't post anything until it's given as a gift...just incase ;)

Here is a close up of the block and binding. I loved this fabric and pattern so much I thought about keeping it and giving them something else haha.  But I gave it to my sister-in-law for my new niece, and she and my brother-in-law LOVED it! Which makes it all worth it :)

Not sure why it loaded sideways...

Back is blue with flowers and butterflies.  I always say that the back of a quilt doesn't always have to match the front, I think it's more fun that way.  Although I do have plenty that match...

More to come! I have finished 3 quilt tops in the past few weeks however all of them are gifts and will be posted once they are delivered :)

Enjoy this day!  It's beautiful out!

I am considering knitting outside for a while...

Long time, No blog

Hello all you beautiful people,

Today is May 5th...Cinco de Mayo...and my birthday!  22 sure does feel good!

I have been working on so many things lately while trying to behave myself.  I am about to finish a quilt top today, and I have two quilt tops finished and ready to go to the quilter.  

My girlfriend Natalie asked me to show her how to sew so she could make a baby quilt for a co-worker...and darn it! She picked out such a cute pattern I have MADE myself ignore it so I could finish other things.  One day soon I will most definitely be making one and posting it though.

Here is a picture I just took today....to prove I'm working on stuff! (lol)

My sweet little Eleanor is such a good supervisor!!

And my sweet Penny follows me from room to room.  She especially likes to lay between my feet while I iron.

Have a BEAUTIFUL day everyone! There will be more posts in the next few days!!