More Christmas

I had totally forgotten about this. I did this cross-stitch before my oldest was born. At least 2002 or before. I was looking for fusible webbing today and found this. I haven't seen it in years. It's very wrinkled as you can see. Hopefully if I ever get around to framing it it will look better.

Lemons

Today I really, really wanted to cut some brand new fabric, open a new pattern and get to work. Instead I resisted the urge and decided to try to finish something I started back in June. My Lemon Twist quilt. I got all the pinwheels done and now I'm starting the appliqued lemons. The pattern says to do three yellow, wool flowers in the bottom right corner. My 5 year old is allergic to wool. He breaks out in hives so I just don't use it. I was thinking I'd do three small yo-yos but I want to be able to wash this quilt. I can't get a good picture of the pattern so you can see what I'm talking about. It's small, the pattern says 42x 56 or something. It could be a baby quilt so it really does need to be washable. What would you put there if wool was not an option?

A Very Quilty Christmas

It was a very quilty Christmas at our house. That's the way I like it! I got these notions: Perfect circles, I have the smaller ones and needed the bigger ones for some upcoming projects, cherry Best Press and Ginger pinking shears. I can't wait to pink something! Last weekend we had a family party with my husband's dad's family. I received these Fig Tree patterns I've been wanting. I am really having to try to hold back from diving right in. There's one that uses 1/4 yard cuts, one for a layer cake, one for Moda's new honey buns, and one for jelly rolls. I can't wait! However, if you look to your right you will notice the LONG list of things I need to finish up first. Why did I ever set that goal for myself????

I bought this book and gave it to Jeff to give to me for Christmas several weeks ago. I love it. It has tons of fun, simple patterns in it for things around the house. These are some of my favorite:

A basket liner.

Table runner. It also has an ironing board cover, lamp shades, bath mat and tons of other things I can't wait to get started on. Hopefully you will see my projects currently in progress list deleting fast!

I also bought these jelly rolls for myself probably before Thanksgiving. I like to chose my own fabric so it was handed to my husband for him to keep until Christmas. It's 1974 and Recess.

I also got the Persian Pickle Club, which I love. I've read it before and decided I needed to own it. I don't usually reread books, but this one is worth reading again.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

An End to my Christmas Sewing Extravaganza

Well, it came and went. The last sewing day before Christmas. Most people count shopping days but in the quilt world we know we count sewing days. I made it. I finished my Winter Christmas Quilt. I finished piecing, quilting and binding yesterday. The binding was finished about 9:30 last night. It's not my favorite quilt. It turned out a lot smaller then I thought it would. I had a pattern, but I made the strips longer and did less rows. I also added the stop boarder. This is the size of a smaller throw. When I bought stuff for boarders and binding I bought enough for a twin. I didn't buy a back because I was just going to use a back I bought last year at Elaine's 1/2 off the 1/2 off sale the week before Christmas. I ended up having enough left over from the boarders to piece a back.

I had hoped to be able to finish all my current projects so that I could start a new quilt with the new jelly rolls I'm getting for Christmas. I didn't get a chance to finish Merry-Go-Round though so hopefully I can finish by the end of the week and then cut into those jelly rolls that are calling my name. Yes, I chose my own fabric even though it was for Christmas. If I had let my husband do it, well...... we don't even want to talk about that.

Of course Jake saw me taking a picture and HAD to be in it.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Frogs Complete!!!

I love to push the delete key on my list of projects on the side. Today I finished Jake's frog. Here they both are. The first one I thought was terrible to make. Now I am quite sure it's because I was coming down with the flu and wasn't feeling too well at the time because Jake's went much more smoothly. The head is a much better shape which makes the eye placement look a lot better. I did have to use brown eyes for Jake's frog. Caleb's got orange eyes, which I liked much better but they only had one pair of orange. I waited to get more and they still aren't in so I had to settle for brown. Mostly, I'm just glad to be done.

Now if I can just finish my Winter quit. I also bought a jelly roll of Candyland Christmas. I've loved it since I first saw it under the Future Groups category on the Moda website. The only store that I found that had it was Material Girls. I'd looked for it for awhile and nobody had it so I settled for Winter. Then I decided not to buy Candyland Christmas because I had already started the other one. When I saw it on sale for half off on Saturday at Material Girls I bought a jelly roll and fabric for the borders. I've had to hold back all day from not unwrapping the jelly roll and starting on a new quilt. Maybe it will have to wait until next year as I am also finishing Merry Go Round.

Happy Anniversary

This past Wednesday was our 9th wedding anniversary. We sent the kids to grandma and grandpa's and spent the day together. Jeff even took me to a quilt shop and let me choose my own present. This is what I chose.

I've been way into jelly rolls lately. I don't know why I waited so long to try them. I'm not going to do that with layer cakes. I chose this book of layer cake patterns.

Sorry about the glare. This is the pattern that made me choose this book over other layer cake patterns. I love it. A tool to help me make scalloped edges. I want to put a scalloped edge on my appliqued flower quilt. I'm up to 15 now! 5 more to go!

I have no plans for this fabric, I just love it so I chose two fat quarters. Ok, let's be honest.... I'm still in a baby mood and I thought these would be cute for something for a baby.

Help Baby Talon!

We've all be watching the news and saw the upsetting story of the little boy that is only 3/16 NA, but was sent to his tribe because his birth mom changed her mind. Because she is a heroin addict she cannot get him back so he is going to the foster home. Not only is this unfair to the adoptive family, it is unfair to this sweet baby who is being taken from a stable, loving family. I was given the link to his mother's blog where details are shared of his story from the very beginning. Please read it help in any way you can.

http://www.talonsadoption.blogspot.com/

Here is a link that tells more about ICWA:

http://glossary.adoption.com/indian-child-welfare-act-of-1978.html

Under ICWA tribes have the ability to take a child back for 7 years after placement! We need to pass better laws to prevent this from happening to anyone else. The very most important part of adoption is to put the best interest of the child first. That is not what happened in this case. If you read Heather Larson's blog you will see that the baby is being used as a pawn by both the tribe and the birth mother.

If we want the laws to change we can't just sit back and cry. We have to do something to make it happen. It's going to take not only adoptive couples, but many, many people to come forward asking for change. What I am asking you to do is contact your state senators (if you are in Utah this is Hatch and Bennett- think Bennett for Senate). Write to them explaining why you want the laws to be changed. Ask them to sponsor legislation that would more narrowly define what consitutues a Native American Child for the purposes of adoption and to look at the cases individually to keep the child's best interest in mind.

To see more on this story click here: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5066749

Thanks everyone!

Elizabeth Reed

Christmas Sewing

What should I be doing right now? Making the second frog or adding the eyes to the first. He's done, he's just eyeless. I'm having a bit of trouble. What am I really doing? Stalling. I went back to making this:

Before we moved in August I had started making a quilt from a Winter jelly roll. It's a super easy pattern from a book I have but it's not the most exciting to sew. When we moved I put it away and didn't get it out until the other day. I only have one more row to sew. Maybe a half hour. I don't have borders, backing, binding or batting and I'm not sure if the store closest to me has what I need, but it's a distraction from the frogs! And it's Christmasy! I'll get back to the frogs..... before Christmas Eve... probably.

Heart Breaking

Sometimes the news just hits close to home. Although we have never lost a baby my heart is just breaking for this family. If you have any ideas on how to help please let me know. I wish I knew how to help change laws. Here is a link to my family blog. Please read the article linked here and if you have any ideas on how to help please let us know.

A Dead Frog

This frog is not going well. I really don't like the pattern. It may be because when I started it on Tuesday I was coming down with the flu so maybe I wasn't thinking straight (I'm much better today, thank you!). Minkee is very hard to unpick and I had to unpick a lot. Here he is mostly finished. His legs are stuffed. I just need to stuff the rest of him, make his bow and eyes, and stitch on his mouth. I'm not looking forward to the next one. I just want to make more bibs!

More Flea Market Fancy

I was excited to receive this little package in the mail. Several of the pinks to Flea Market Fancy. I bought them on ebay for $.99 a fat quarter. Can't beat that price!

This is what I have of the collection so far with today's FQs combined. I would like to find more of the blues and greens. If you know of anywhere that still has some please let me know!

More Bibs

I did it again. After I made the first one yesterday morning I just couldn't stop so I made two more. Next time I'll try the pattern from Thimble Blossoms or add rick rack or something slightly different. On the list today: frogs for the boys. I really need to be more productive. I did applique half a flower yesterday while my husband watched Heroes. Does that count as productive?

On another note: Freda's Hive is having a giveaway week. I love her blog. She is always making such cute things. Check it out!

The Holiday Spirit?

So most people are catching the holiday spirit about now. In Quilt World that means finishing up handmade gifts. For me that should mean starting and finishing the stuffed frogs for my boys and making a Christmas tree skirt for our living room tree. Instead I seem to have the baby spirit. I am so baby hungry! I have never before made or bought anything until we had a baby announcement for fear it would never come. We Caleb we had 3 weeks notice and with Jake we had 11 days. I'm good with that. I would even love to get the call saying they had a baby for us, come pick it up right then. 10 minutes notice works well for me. All you need is a car seat! I feel like the grandparents would probably be willing to run to the store for us in case of emergency. After all, they have a vested interest in this, don't you think?

This time I can't help myself. I have a few patterns for baby quilts. I've been eyeing fabric for either boy or girl. But today I actually did it. I just broke down and made this bib out of Valentine scraps from last year. I tried to make it not look too Valentiny. I got the pattern on JCasa. I now want to go make more. Do I dare? Or should I wait? I feel like I'm counting my chickens before they are hatched.

Of course Jake needed to try it on. Well.... I'm off to check available adoption listings on the Internet. That's where I found Jake. The Internet. The Internet really does have everything.

A Major Prize, A Major Prize, I Won, I Won, I Won!!!!

I feel just like the dad in A Christmas Story today. The part where he wins his "major prize," the beautiful leg lamp. The best thing is my prize is much better (and not nearly as tacky) as that gorgeous lamp. My prize from Camille's drawing at Thimble Blossoms came in the mail today! These are the three patterns I chose. Wild Thing, Jelly Filled, and Sweet Cheeks. I was so excited about the Sweet Cheeks pattern and that it comes with a bib pattern. I've been so baby hungry lately! We've had four or five adoption leads since about July. None of them have worked out, but I am itching to make baby stuff. I don't want to indulge myself though until it actually happens, but I cannot wait to make the little bib, and one of each outfit of course!

Wild Thing uses two charm packs. I've never used charm packs because I haven't been sure what to do with them. I'm excited that this one makes a throw size and uses charm packs. I can't wait to get started!

Jelly Filled uses a jelly roll, of course! I'll tell you a little secret...... I've bought a few things for myself for Christmas. I've given them to my husband so he can wrap them and give them to me. I realize he is suppose to pick what he gives me but let's be honest.... I help him match his clothes. When he gets the kids dressed in the morning he comes up with some interesting outfits. It's probably best I chose my own fabric. One of the things I've given to him to stash away is a 1974 jelly roll. I think this will be a fun pattern to make it in.


Camille also sent two other great surprises in the mail. Two charm packs! One is At Water's Edge by Blackbird Design.

Friends and Flowers is the other charm pack. What a great mail day I had! Thanks so much Camille!

Pinwheel Spin

I'm trying to stay true to my goal of finishing all my quilt tops before I start more. Here is my pinwheel spin top. I took a class from Broadbent's to make this with my friend Anna back in April. This quilt was made using Quiltsmart, which I talked about in my last post. All the fabric is from Denyse Schmidt's fabric line Katie Jump Rope. Here is a closer picture. Sorry it's a little dark. The dots are also Quiltsmart.

Since this is an older line I had to piece the back because I couldn't easily find the fabric. This is how it turned out.

I still have one quilt to quilt and I need to finish binding Jelly Stars. It has the binding sewn on, but not sewn to the back. I will do one 30's flower and finish my Grandmother's Flower Garden block (notice I said block and not quilt!) before I finish Jelly Stars. I'm having some wrist pain though so it may be awhile.

Haul Out the Holly

This weekend it was time to get out the Christmas decorations. It's always fun to see all our decorations we haven't seen in 11 months. My kids love getting it all out. Here are a few of the homemade decorations. I have Christmas tree skirt I made last year, but it's still buried and I think I posted a picture of it a few weeks ago anyway.
This is a Christmas stitchery sampler I made about 4 years ago. I just got the frame for it yesterday. See, not only am I slow about quilting my quilts I'm slow about finishing other projects too.

Our stockings are hung this year by a real chimney! Caleb is very excited we have one. He was explaining this will be much easier for Santa than using the front door. Also, the reindeer can park on the roof now. I made these two years ago and then one last year. We do have one problem. We can't remember which stocking is Caleb's and which is Jake's. My husband's and mine are the two on the ends.

This is a Star of Bethlehem quilt I made last year. The fabric is from 3 Sisters Roman Holiday. I used Quiltsmart for the main star and figured out the outer stars on EQ5, which I happen to like better than EQ6 for most things.

If you've never used Quiltsmart you should try it. It's sooo easy. This is the easiest lone star you'll ever do. Quiltsmart uses interfacing marked with sewing lines. There are no Y seams, and no sewing on the bias. It's super easy and you can make it in an afternoon. I have another quilt with Quitsmart I am hopefully going to get bound this week. I'll post a picture later. Broadbent's now has Quiltsmart. I was so excited when they got it. Some Joann's (gasp) carry it too. Material Girls has some. I'm also working on a Double Wedding Ring quilt using Quilt smart. They have several different methods. Ok, commercial over.

This is my one and only Christmas quilt. I've decided I need another. I started one in the summer out of a Winter jelly roll, but put it away when we moved and haven't gotten it back out. I'm finishing the last of my Merry-go-Round quilt. When that's finished I'll have to get it back out.

Doorbuster Bargins

I love to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I always love a bargain. This year I had Thanksgiving at my house though and was too tired to get up early. I was going to go with some friends, but they were planning on starting at Walmart at 5am. I don't like Walmart on a normal day and Walmart at 5am with crazy, bargain shoppers did not sound at all appealing. So I decided to sleep in and went to Target and Roberts with my mom later. I'm happy to say that my two big doorbuster items were still in stock! The Office Season 3 for $13.99 regularly $39.99 and Guitar Hero something or other for my husband. I paid $59.99 and the regular price is $99.99. I was very happy!

After that I went to Quilter's Haven in Bountiful. You never know what kind of spectacular fabric sale may be going on. I was not disappointed. They had lots of patterns for $1.00. Here are the ones I bought.

I got Baby Blocks by American Jane, Whirling Dervish by Rose Country Quilts and Granny's Bloomers by Atkinson Design. I thought the first one would be fun either as a baby gift, or hopefully for another baby of mine! Hopefully sooner than later! At Ben Franklin they have a Whirling Dervish quilt on display. I don't like the fabric but I really like the pattern. The last one will just be for fun.
I also got this book for $1. Here are a few of my favorite quilts from it.

I said before that I was getting obsessed with hexagons. Well.... I bought some paper pieces today to try some. I figure if I don't like it I'll just make a sampler quilt that I've been wanting to make and throw this in. I can do just one, right?

Next I went to Joann's ( I can hear some of you gasping right now! I know some people in the quilting world are appalled I would do such a thing). They were PACKED! They had some great sales. I bought this hexagon template to go with the other ones.

Then I found something very, very exciting.... All the cutting supplies were on sale for 50% off. I bought some pinking shears for about $22, regular price $45.99. What a great deal!

This is how I spent my day

Yesterday I spent most of the day piecing this back for Pinwheel Spin. The reason it took so long is well..... a 2 year old and a 5 year old and well, the same 2 year old again. Their playroom is right next to the sewing room so I can watch them while I sew. However, the 2 year old wanted to be cuddled in the "blanket" aka backing. Since it's an older line I had a hard time finding enough fabric to do the whole back, so I had to piece it.

It's now on the quilt frame. Unfortunately, the same machine that's given me nightmares in the past is at it again. Now it sews for about 2 seconds and then stops all together. Also, they were out of 80-20 batting when I went to the store. I bought 100% cotton and I'm having a really hard time with it. It keeps ripping when I turn the bars to get to the next row. I haven't used this kind before. Any tricks to help? I keep having to reach between the layers and tuck it in place.

I WON!!!!!

I am so excited! I won one of the prizes from Camille at Thimble Blossoms. I am so excited! (Did I already say that?) I have been checking for winners all day and was so excited to see she had posted them and even more excited to see that I was one of them. Thanks so much Camille! It was so sweet of you to take the time to check all the blogs, read all the comments AND do the giveaway.

OBSESSED!

I've become obsessed with two things since my Friday fabric shopping trip:

1- Finding more Flea Market Fancy. I keep checking ebay to see if anyone has posted any blue. I can find quite a bit of pink and green, but no blue! I would actually take any color I can find, but I think the pink, blue and green and possibly orange (which I have none of) would be so cute together in a quilt. If anyone knows of any store that has some, please let me know!

2- Grandmother's Flower Garden. I've said quite a few times that I love this pattern. Well, at Gardner's in Ogden on Friday they had one in a glass case when you first walk in, made in tiny, hexagons. I must have been dreaming of it when I woke up yesterday morning because I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. I have two main questions that I keep asking myself. First, I tried hand quilting once. Didn't like it. Don't plan to try it again. If I hand pieced a quilt would I feel obligated to hand quilt it? I'm thinking I might. Would the universe frown on me if I didn't? I'm thinking so. Do I want to attempt to machine piece one? It almost seems like more trouble then hand piecing.

This Grandmother's Flower Garden Variation is from the book Quilts, Quilts, Quilts. I love it. I also love the traditional one though. This one is done in about a 1 inch hexagon. I bought this book when I was a sophomore at Snow College in 1998. I really wanted to take the quilting class they offered, but didn't have room in my schedule. I figured I'd buy the book anyway and figure out how to quilt on my own. I love the book. It has so many great lessons on everything you need to know to quilt. I want to make the sampler in the book. Maybe I'll hand piece on GFG and put it in a sampler.

Flea Market Fancy Giveaway

Can you believe it? Little Blue Cottage is having a Flea Market Fancy Giveaway! How generous of her to give away pieces from this great line!

Fabulous Finds

Today I went on a little fabric hunt. I really want Michael Miller's Retro Rocket Rascals.

I don't know what I'd make of it, but I love it. Something for my boys. Anyway, there are a few shops that have older fabric so I wanted to see if any of those had some. None of them did, but I did find quite a few other things.

I bought this car fabric by Alexander Henry. Again, not sure what I'll do, but it seems boy fabric is rare so I buy it when I can.

I found these fabrics by Denyse Schmidt. They are pieces from Flea Market Fancy. I love this line, but didn't pay much attention to it until recently. Now I'm on a quest to find more of it. If anyone knows of stores online or the Wasatch Front that still have some, please leave a comment and let me know!

Along those lines..... I had never been to the store I went to today. I had heard of it awhile ago but it's not in the area I live. A few weeks ago I was at another quilt shop and heard someone say they knew someone who liked a store, she couldn't remember the name, but said the owner was super grouchy. The store clerk knew exactly what store she was talking about. I decided to try it anyway today, boys in tow. I did warn them that they needed to be super good before we went in. Anyway.... this lady was in a good mood today. The reason I had decided to go was when I was at another shop I met a lady from my neighborhood I know. She told me to go and what a great store it was. She did warn me about the owner though. She had just been there and did mention that she seemed in a decent mood today. So we get there and she wasn't' too bad. As I was having her cut my fabric I said how glad she was that she had some and I'd been looking for it online because I hadn't been able to find it in stores. She didn't really say anything about that for awhile. She had a guy from Alexander Henry there and he started talking to her. Then she said to him ( but really to me) something about how young quilters now look online for all their fabric so she didn't know if she should bother buying any from him because it takes away from her business. Then she gave me "the look." I thought it was kind of funny.

I also bought this magazine. It's the Summer 2008 edition of Quilts and More. For whatever reason (possibly involved in a move?) I didn't see this when it came out. I was immediately attracted to this quilt on the cover. I love it.

Here it is on the inside. I may do it in Sandy Henderson's Farmer's Market.

I loved these Grandmother's Flower Garden coasters. Don't know if I'd really let someone with a cup of hot chocolate put it on a hand pieced coaster, but they look great! Then again, I love this pattern.
This is the fabric I have for my Amy Butler quilt I was talking about in my past post. I bought some for the back, but the store only had 3 or 4 yards left so I was going to do it in the middle with Moda's Essential Dots in brown on either side. I was so excited to see this today so I bought two more yards. Now maybe the quilt will finally get quilted. I love the big, bold print.... makes a perfect back. It's from Amy Butler's Belle line. Probably from 2006.

Can't wait to get quilting!

Less and less....

My finished quilt top pile is down to only three. Yeah!!! I have one that's a latice type top made from Fig Tree's Urban Indigo. I probably will not be finishing that one any time soon though unless I decide to give it as a Christmas gift. However, my husband said our parents have too many homemade things so we need to buy them something, not make something for Christmas. In my opinion you can never have enough quilts, but his family, his choice of gifts. I've started something different for my mom. The second in this pile is made mostly of Amy Butler fabric. I made the top a year and a half ago. I really do like it and I especially LOVE the fabric I got for the back, but I've never quilted it. The bottom one is the pinwheel spin. I think that is the next to be quilted. The fabric is discontinued though so I'm hoping I have enough to piece a back. Otherwise I'll do the Amy Butler one.

This is Jelly Stars on the quilt frame. Should be completely quilted in a half hour (just taking a little break now). If my headache goes away before 8:30 I'll start binding tonight too..... maybe. I should finish the flower I'm working on. Also, Thursday is Office night. That is one show I just sit and watch. I love it!

Thanks to all those of you who gave advice on Pretzel Party. I think I won't be starting that quilt any time soon. It does sound hard. Also, I looked under Pattern Corrections on the site and it said to call for help! That sounds like a headache in the making!