oh how I'm in love.....

 Pinwheel Sampler Quilt done! I love it so much! And it's ALL MINE! This was fun to make and now that it's all done...so rewarding! Thanks to Rachel of p.s. i quilt for hosting a wonderful quilt along and thanks to Kate Spain for creating one of the most beautiful fabric lines (Verna) I've ever seen!

(finished quilt measures 58"x69". It is quilted with a free motion meandering)

binding...

Just about done with the pinwheel sampler quilt! I ended up finding some fabric at Walmart (of all places!) that I really liked for the backing fabric. So I got it along with some binding fabric. Now I don't have to  spend the $$ and wait for the mail for backing fabric! Got it quilted today and binding attached to the front. I'll work on the hand stitching today and hopefully throw it in the wash tomorrow. So excited...this is my first quilt that is completed and is just for ME!!

progress...

now I just have to sew it all together!

what to do...what to do????

I've been commissioned to make a quilt. (My 1st commission, btw!) Anyway, a fellow Navy wife asked if I'd make her a quilt to give to a little baby that was born on Valentines Day and is in the hospital with no end in sight. She's got some rare condition and there is no idea when she will be released from the hospital. She thought it'd be nice for her to have a nice quilt to keep her warm and give a little cheer to her while she is in the hospital. 

Instantly I thought of pretty heart themed fabric since her birthday is February 14th. (yes, I already opened the Jelly Roll! Couldn't wait!)  I ordered a Jelly Roll and a Honey Bun (honey bun just because I knew I'd want more for myself!). Originally I had picked out a pattern from the Jelly Roll Quilts book, which I still may do. It's the "Garden Trellis" quilt minus the border since I need it crib size. But now I realized I don't have the Omnigrid triangle ruler thingy that I need for cutting. I need to check Walmart, but I'm almost sure they wont have it. Which means I'd have to drive to Reno to get it and it's an hour away, and I was just there this past Friday, and I don't want to go back again. I want to get started on this NOW! So now I'm thinking that maybe I should so something different..but I have no clue what! 

Any suggestions on what to do with a Jelly Roll or Honey Bun? Something fast and easy??

Have you seen mandalinn's "Garden Trellis"? It's beautiful and that's what sold me on the pattern!

Pinwheel Sampler Quilt top

Finished the quilt top. now I need to order my backing fabric and binding!

finally...caught up

Finished all my blocks for the Pinwheel Quilt along! So glad! Now, if I have time, I may piece the top tomorrow. But I've been sewing all day and feeling a little neglectful to the kiddos and house. We'll see....

 block #6

block #7

block #8: this block was a "pick your own" block. I loved this one when we did it on the Modify Tradition's Round 1 quilt-a-long so I did it for this one too!

these are 4 extra blocks I made to make the quilt 4x5 instead of 4x4. So these will get thrown in the mix somewhere.

And...on a totally different note...Can you believe this was just on the 21st of April at my house??

and it's in the mid-70s today....crazy!

Baby Scruffily

I made this for my BFF's 2 year old daughter. We are going to visit them this weekend, so one for mama and one for daughter! 8 year old son just gets some Legos! Quilt measures 35.5" x 43"

Winnie Fabric winner!

Congratulations to:  ...so we added chickens said...
"What a great bundle of fabrics! My 3.5yr old would LOVE these (his favorite bedtime stories are the original Pooh stories). He is also a huge factor in one of my favorite family trips: Scotland through little eyes - trains and planes were never so enthralling! and I will always remember the consideration and thoughtfulness of the residents of Edinburgh"

I've sent  you an email requesting your mailing address. Thanks to all that entered to win!

THREAD!!!

YAY! my thread arrived today! So I've decided I'm going to hand quilt my Modify Tradition quilt top. Because there are so many different colors in the quilt I had no idea which Perle cotton threads I wanted. So...I ordered them all!  I found a great deal on Perle cotton thread at ThreadArt.com. They even have this great set of all the colors 50% off. So I just had to get it, right? Looking at all the spools, I just know this is going to be PERFECT for my quilt! Over the weekend I also ordered my quilting frame from Joann's. (well, I ordered 2: a 17"x17" and an 8"x8") Joann's had the best price I could find and I was able to use a 40% off coupon on the larger frame and the other one was already on sale 40% off (which i think is over now) So anyway, once I get my frame I'll be getting started on this project. I'm rather excited!

Fabric Giveaway

Up for grabs is 6 fat quarters and 2 fat eighths of Classic Winnie the Poo fabric.  Leave a comment about your favorite family vacation. Whether it be when you were a child or something you like to do now with your family.  I'll draw a winner Thursday April 15th. Good Luck!

Another "quilt-in-a-day" (Gino's quilt)

 In addition to seeing my best friend and giving her this quilt for her birthday; and attending a cousin's baby shower who is pregnant with twins and gifting her these quilts; I just found out that my husband's step sister is throwing a 1st birthday party for her little boy next weekend too, and of course, wants us to come by. So I thought I'd make him a quilt for his first birthday. So here's "Gino's quilt". Originally I was going to make a quilt like this, which I saw in my "Quilts, Baby" book. (awesome modern baby quilt book, by the way!) But you know me and my complete inexperience in this whole sewing thing, cut the fabric at the angles with my fabric folded in half!! DUHH!!!!! So it created the "chevrons" instead of just an angled line. I'm such an idiot! So somehow, I had to work with it and figure something out. Anyway...it actually turned out ok. AND....I LOVE the quilting! I decided to go with straight lines and this time, I marked them with a mark-be-gone pen so my lines were even. I really love this quilt and the best part.....I made it in one day! (yep, the whole thing..top, quilted, and binded!) measures: 32" x 47"

Scruffily Quilt DONE!

 I love this quilt! It's so much fun to make! I see many more in my future! The pattern is by Rachel of P.S. I Quilt and can be found here. I made it with April Cornell's "Nostalgia". I altered the pattern a bit in that I made it 7 x 7 instead of 6 x 6. So therefore I had to scrounge through my scraps for a few of the squares, but I think it all works well. It measures 64" x 64". This is going to my BFF next weekend for her 39th birthday. hope she likes it!

I'm contemplating......

(yes, I'm still in Tahoe, relaxing and chillin', but I got to thinkin' today)

I'm thinking I may want to HAND QUILT my Modify Tradition Round 1 quilt top!

After seeing Anna Maria Horner's posts here and here, it's just really making me want to try it. I know it's hard and time consuming, but I love hand stitching. Well I haven't tried to hand quilt yet, but I love doing the binding on a quilt, and I love to knit and crochet, so why not try hand quilting? I've always wanted to and this quilt means so much to me, so I think it may just be perfect! I'd like to get a whole bunch of different colored chunky Perle cotton thread and just outline my blocks and the designs within...taking one square at a time. It wouldn't have to be totally "quilted" for me. I love how the hand quilting looks, like Anna's done in the above links.

What do you guys think? I'm done with my "have to get done" projects (if you don't count catching up on my quilt alongs I'm involved in!) so I'd really like to finish this quilt up. My other option for the quilting on this would to just do a meander stipple stitch.

Spring Break! & a Happy Easter to you ALL!

It's Easter Sunday...Happy Easter! We are on Spring Break now and headed to the beautiful South Lake Tahoe, CA for 4 nights in a cabin. I'm imagining that the lake looks somewhat like the picture above. We only live a little over an hour from Tahoe and we've been getting lots of snow the past week. (well not here in "middle of nowhere Fallon, NV"...but in the mountains) So there may be lots more snow, or a little less at lake level...we'll see when we get there!

So no sewing until the weekend for me. But I did finish my "scruffily" quilt and now I'm working on hand sewing the binding to the back. I'll be taking that with me to work on while cuddled under it in front of the fireplace! (snow, fires in the fireplaces, bundled...seems weird for a spring break! But that's ok, we'll be beach side in June at our new residence!)

I'll have my camera and my computer with me so maybe I'll get a post or two on here while I'm gone! (and give you a little peak into my family!)

Oh and those who were wondering what happened to the fallen aviator...he wasn't found and here's an article.
 My husband, I think, said it best, "What is a hero? A hero runs into a burning building, as others run out, to help those that need it. A hero holds his position, while taking fire, to make sure his brothers get to safety. A hero keeps his hands on the controls, while eating his shit sandwich, so others can get out safely. Thanks Brother..."

Twin Boys Quilts

My hubby's cousin is pregnant with twin boys. Her baby shower is in a couple weeks. I finished the baby quilts I made for her boys! I LOVE them so much! They are backed in flannel which is the first time I've used flannel for the back of a quilt and I love it! They are so soft & cuddly & cozy! The flannel prints are from Joann's. One is cute animals in brown on a light blue background and the other is little monkeys on a cream colored fabric. The fabric are prints I found at Joann's. The solids are Kona in cream, tan, and dark brown. (I don't know the "actual" Kona color names) The light blue is a sateen fabric, also from Joann's. Each measures 35" x 45".

Winner!

Random.org picked #6 quiltmom9, who chose print #3! Congratulations! I've sent you an email requesting your info.