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!

Pretzel Party

So here I am thinking about starting another quilt..... of course I'm still going to finish what I have going first.... probably. Anyway, I have a question for all of out there in blogland. Have any of you made Pretzel Party by American Jane? Does it have Y seams? I am a big avoider of Y seams. I want to order it, but want to find this out first! Thanks!

Grandma's Album

I know I said I would either finish my pinwheel spin quilt or my Jelly Stars quilt next, but I decided to do Grandma's Album. This pattern is an old Moda University pattern. I made the top probably 2 years ago. Most of the fabric is one line or another of American Jane, mostly Peas and Carrots, with a few Apple Pie and Building Blocks. The binding is from Recess. I can't remember what line the back is from, but I bought it on clearance a long time ago. The back has a cream background, but I like white as a background on most projects best, especially brighter colors. I think it looks so clean and fresh. Oh well, the cream is on the back, right? I've had everything but the binding for this quilt forever, but I just have never gotten around to actually quilting it. Not sure why! It will be fun to finally delete it from my side bar list of quilts in progress.

of course no quilt picture is complete if Jake does not jump in at the last minute.

Next on the list to finish will probably be Jelly Stars. Not for a few days though. I've decided I need to applique a flower in between each quilt I bind. I'm on number 13 of 20 now!

Camille from Thimble Blossoms is having a GIVEAWAY! If you have not already entered, go over there and do it now. She has a great prize so be sure to enter!

The Pfaff Strikes Again

If you've been reading my blog for long you know how much I LOVE my Pfaff (insert sarcasm here)! Well, last night it was up to it's old tricks again. This is a fairly new machine. I bought it new two years ago and only use it for quilting my quilts. I have a Bernina that I ADORE (no sarcasm) that I do piecing and regular sewing on. Last night my darning foot wore out! Feet are not suppose to wear out! It kept slipping so that my needle would go right onto the little plate and break! I had my husband, who can fix anything, look at it. He said a part on the back was worn down. I had my husband take the foot in today (there is a Pfaff store near his work in Salt Lake) and show them. They said they have never seen one do that before. They were nice enough to replace the foot for free. Maybe all my Pfaff problems are are just a lemon of a machine? Who knows, but it has tension trouble too. I thought it was fixed once, but it's back again. Ahhhhh! I am so thankful to my husband for braving the sewing machine store for me! Once I needed to go and I told him I we were going to an electronic store while we were running errands (electronic sewing machines totally count as electronics). Being a computer junkie he was up for it. He wasn't sure why I needed to go to an electronic store, but let me give him directions anyway. Apparently sewing machines don't count in his book! He also hates shopping, but stopped by the fabric shop with me on Saturday. He claims shopping of any kind makes him fall asleep. He thinks it might be a disease.
Yes, it was the dreaded quilt shop. I left the kids with my parents. Hopefully the ladies wouldn't recognize me without them. Everything turned out fine. I bought the green with red for a binding for the quilt I'm now quilting, the brown is binding for jelly stars and the blue is the start of my collection for a block swap with my friends. We're making a blue and cream two color quilt.

Super Saturday

Today was Super Saturday, that's the day when the women in my church get together to make crafts. I made this sign to hang in my bathroom.... or somewhere. I also made this tutu.When they started displaying crafts for Super Saturday I knew I had to make it. Yes, I realize I am girl less. However, if I don't get a girl in the next few years one of my nieces will get it. The problem is now that I made on I want to make more. Lots more.

This is the back view. Caleb refuses to let me try it on. He said I should try it on Uncle Ben, my 26 year old brother. I did get Jake to try it on. He didn't seem to mind and actually thought it was funny. Then my husband saw it and that ended that.

One down, about 4 to go......

Thanks to all those of you who had kind words regarding my little guy's activity at the quilt shop! It really did help me feel better about the situation.



As I posted before, my goal is to finish what I have before I buy more. My quilt budget needs to go to backing and batting before it goes to more tops! I finished my Piece of Cake quilt. I just love the fabric from Cotton Blossoms. It feels good to remove it from my list and be done!

Next on the quilt frame: pinwheel spin...or maybe jelly stars.

Quilting Humiliation

This happened about a month or so ago. However, I am so mortified that I haven't been able to post about it. I am finally able to talk about it and getting brave enough to think about going back to the quilt shop.

Around here there are only two quilt shops that I know of. Anyway, one of these stores is not a problem for me to take my kids to. They have an area with toys and my kids love it. They sit and play with the toys and have a great time. Last time I was there with Jake I told him it was time to go and he looked at me and said "See ya later, Mom." He wanted me to just leave him there to play with the toys!

Well, one day I needed to go to the other store, I won't mention the name. They have more quilt fabric than the other. I had to take both kids with me, which is never my favorite choice but I don't have time to get there and back by the time kindergarten is over so I have to take them both. I think they frown upon little children there, or maybe just mine. I needed a few things and then I was considering getting a "Bad Dad" kit by Quilt Soup to hang in the playroom.

Jake has a daily uniform he wears. Overalls. He's 2 but only weighs 20lbs on a good day. I can't find pants that are long enough that will stay up on him. He puts his hands in the bib part often and was doing so at the store. I think he just likes his hands to be warm. I didn't think anything of it. At one point he told an older lady he had a wet diaper. She told him he must have a diaper on because she didn't see a puddle. I was embarassed because I figure it's not the social norm to potty talk with complete strangers at the quilt shop. Well, that was nothing compared to his next move.

This store has a little ramp. My kids were walking up and down it. Then I hear someone say something about a dirty diaper on the floor. There had been another little boy running up and down some steps next to the ramp. I figured it was his. Jake was standing right by me at the time. One of the ladies asked me if it was his. Of course I said no. My child would not take his diaper off and especially not at the store, plus he was completely dressed Then I felt his little rear end, just to be sure. To my utter humiliation his little bum was bare! It was his diaper. He must have been playing with the tabs. I put my stuff on the counter and took him out to the car, dirty diaper in hand. I changed him and then had to face the complete embarassment of going back in the store to pay for my stuff. Needless to say I did not buy the Bad Dad kit. I couldnt' get out of there soon enough. I told the lady he had never done that, which he really never has. I don't think she believed me. She looked at me like "that's what they all say."

Now, do I dare enter the doors of this shop again, or do I resign myself to online fabric shopping from now on?

Turning Over a New Leaf

Tonight I've been quilting my Cotton Blossoms quilt. I've decided before I start any new quilts I need to quilt the ones I have. I got a back and binding for my pinwheel spin I finished in April. Hopefully I will get that done in the next week or so. I also need to get boarders on my grandma's album quilt. I've had the backing for a long time, maybe a year? I just need to do it. My problem is that when I finish a quilt top I tend to be so excited to start the next project I don't totally finish. I would rather buy fabric for a new top then a back. I also don't love the actual quilting part although I kind of like binding. Last, I really don't like my Pfaff. However, that is all going to stop now! I am making a goal to finish my quilt tops pile before I start anything new. Good thing for me my quilt piecing list is quite long!