Birthday Giveaway

Tomorrow is my birthday--I will be turning 35!

I happen to like having birthday's and getting older. I feel like I get smarter each year. And, honestly, my 30's are WAY better than my 20's, so I'm hoping that trend continues. Surely we get older for a reason, right?!

In honor of my birthday I am giving away this quilt top to one lucky person. It's made from the remaining 3" scraps from my nine patch quilt. It measures approx. 36 by 42 inches .

It includes lots of the same scraps as my coin quilt. After using them for the last couple projects I am now completely sick of them. They were good scraps, but I am ready to move on.

If you want a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment telling us how old you are and your feelings about it. I'll draw a winner on Tuesday Nov. 17th.

Can't wait to read through all your thoughts!

Advent Calendar Ala Oh, Fransson!

Here's my version of the advent calendar that I saw at Oh, Fransson!. (You can see my November version here.) Elizabeth is such a precise quilter. Make sure you scroll through her blog--she makes beautiful quilts!

My old advent calendar was missing some pieces, and was probably 7 years old or so. Time for a new one. When I saw Elizabeth's I knew it would work great for my family. I mean, POCKETS that actually hold something?! Brilliant! Also, love the fact that the numbers are jumbled up.

I think I'll be putting in a treat, a scripture verse to read, and the name of a Christmas book for our nightly reading. Hopefully the kiddos will be as excited as I am about it.

The fabric I used is called Frosted Memories from Moda.

This piece was from my stash. I used it for the backing and binding. I'm embarrassed to stay that I've had it for.ev.er! I decided it was high time it got used.

I think the sheet music lines make a nice subtle bit of interest on the binding.

Here are the slight changes I made:
1. I cheated and used 2 charm packs (which are 5 inch pre-cuts) instead of cutting out all those 4.5 inch squares. The charms worked great, but I had to dig into my stash for a few remaining fabrics to finish it off. If you don't have a big stash, I would suggest buying 3 charm packs to get the 96 total squares.
2. I didn't stagger my pockets (my brain can't do staggering) so I used 1.5 inch sashings on all sides.
3. I added a 2 inch border to the whole outside to give it a little more presence.

Show and Tell

Anyone else feeling the pressure build as Christmas gets closer? I sure am! I have one big project that I REALLY want to get done in time to give as a gift. I am making some progress, but it really should be farther along than it is...

This is going to be a Plain Spoken Quilt. The solid blues, greys, and white are making me so happy right now. It is going to be SO COOL when it's done!

Our parents were in town for a visit last week. I gave them the Family Reunion Quilt. Mom seemed happy with it. Dad is only ever concerned if it's going to be long enough to cover his feet and come up to his neck. :) I think it is...

The names faded a bit when I washed the quilt so mom said she was going to embroider all the names on. I am so happy she is doing that. I had thought that was what needed to be done, but I wasn't about to do all 33 names. Mom has way more time and many more years experience than me. She will make them look great!

This sign makes me laugh! It is in the restroom of the fabric store I like to visit when I go to my in-laws. It points to a trash bin. Do you think it actually stops shoplifters from flushing the evidence?


Finally, if you want to see some skills, check out my latest family picture taken by Leslie in exactly 5 minutes. My kids don't sit still very long...and yet the picture is AWESOME!!

Baby Blanket Quartet

There are times when I can't take it anymore and I just have to finish up projects before they drive me crazy sitting there in my sewing room. Or before I start on another mad sewing binge with a different project. I reached that point recently and finally got a bunch of the baby blankets all completed. Now someone I know just needs to have a baby. Any takers!?

Lavender Squares
Black & Blue floral (love this one--so unconventionally girly)


Yellow Clown
Bandanna & Cowprint

This was also in preparation and for a bit of practice before I get serious and tackle the quilting on this project that is yet unfinished, albeit pinned and ready to go.

Sewing With a Purpose

Here are a couple of charitable projects that I've worked on this month. If you care to join along, follow the links for more information.

My QOV blocks for amandajean. I think she has collected all the blocks that she needs, but the Quilts of Valor project is always looking for help.

Okay, I admit this one was a little sneaky. I emailed her about this project even though her deadline had passed. I was hoping that she needed more blocks and that I could get her address for the nine patch project. Luckily for me she needed my blocks. I think I ended up making 8.

While I was making them I decided I should make my own scrap quilt version of this maverick star pattern. I don't think I'll start on it until after the first of the year, but it's on my list.

Pillowcases for the Hole in the Wall Gang.

Now that I am quilting more than sewing, I only had a few large pieces of fabric left in my stash. But I thought these were well suited for kids pillowcases. I ended up sending 8.

If you are interested in helping contact Jackie. The deadline isn't until April 2010. And pillowcases are a cinch! We've made a gazillion of them. Basic directions can be found here.

Lastly, I have 2 small quilts that have remained unfinished that I'm hoping I can get quilted for Margaret's Hope Chest. I better hurry, the deadline for this one is November 15th!

Are any of you "sewing with a purpose?" I'd love to hear what you are doing! (Include links to your projects so I can take a peek.)

SK8TR Boy Knit Hat

My oldest son loves skateboarding. He and one of his friends are dressing up as skateboarders for Halloween. Love it! That means I am not too involved in coming up with or making his costume.

However, he was trying to explain to me what kind of cool hat he needed when I showed him this hat named "We Call Them Pirates" from Hello Yarn. That clenched it. I should have kept my big mouth shut, because then he HAD to have this hat for Halloween.

Being ever the non-conformist (not really), I made some adjustments to the pattern to make it work for what needles and yarn I already had, and to hopefully help it go more quickly since I only had 10 days to make it--along with everything else going on in my life. So here is my revised Chunky version:

Materials:
Size 11 (or 10 1/2) US 16" circular needles
Size 11 Dpns
Lion Brand® Wool-Ease® in BLACK (1 skein)
Red Heart® Soft Yarn in WHITE (1 skein)

***I just have to say that the only reason I have 2 different brands of yarn is because neither brand carried the other color when I was at Jo-Ann's. What is up with that? Aren't black and white the basics? Anyhoo....

Cast on 60 stitches using double strand of Black.
Tie ends together, place marker.

Ribbing:
Knit rounds 1-3 in *K1, P1* pattern, repeated thru entire round.

Body of hat:
Round 4:
Change to White (double strand also) and knit entire round
Round 5:
Change to Black and knit entire round

For Skull Pattern:
I eliminated columns 1 & 2 and started with column 3 and continued with pattern thru column 32. This pattern gets repeated one more time during a round. If you need to place a marker after the first complete pattern to keep track of your position.

I only copied rows 9-20. Whereas the original pattern ends up with 24 skulls on the hat, this pattern will end up with only 4 skulls, albeit rather large ones.


Finishing of body:
Knit 1 round BLACK
Knit 1 round WHITE
Knit next 6 rounds in BLACK

Shaping Crown:
*K4, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (50 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K3, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (40 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K2, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (30 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K1, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (20 stitches)
Knit entire round
K2tog repeated til end of round (10 stitches)
K2tog repeated til end of round (5 stitches)
Cut a tail and weave end closed, tying off on inside of the hat.

Happy Halloween! Be safe and have a great night!

Library Book Storage Box

We love our local library here at home. We probably go at least every week or two to get new books, movies, or attend story time. However, with 5 kids, even if I limit them to only 4-5 books apiece we still end up with lots of books floating around our home. And really, they have a hard time limiting themselves to just a couple books. I'm not sure I want to limit them either--after all, we're talking about them being excited about books and reading.

Anyway, I used to have a basket sitting under one of my lamp tables in my living room to store all the books in one place. It has worked out really well, until recently when the basket has been so used and abused it is literally falling apart in front of us. I've tried to find another basket that I like and figured what I really needed was something more substantial since it will get so much abuse.

Years ago I saved this project sheet for some stacking totes (scroll to pg. 151 if viewing it online) out of the Reader's Digest magazine, Feb. '06, pg. 213. The pattern actually comes from the Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual, check with your local library too--mine had some copies of this book.

I asked my favorite hubby if he could come up with a similar box--complete with handles and rolling casters so that we could have a new book box. Luckily in HIS shop he had some scrap wood that worked out just great for this project. He put it all together for me and then we attached the casters and I spray painted it to protect it somewhat.

It holds more books than the previous basket and I won't have to worry about it falling apart. The finished box measures 11" H x 15" W x 18" L, not including the height of the casters. Here's to reading!

Advent for November--Count Your Blessings

I used this great tutorial from Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson! to create a little November goodness.

Often times Thanksgiving is all about the food, but I like the idea of focusing on our blessings during the whole month of November. I'm hoping my family will go along with my idea this year and make it an annual ritual.

I am thinking that I will put little treats in each of the pockets, along with a verse of scripture that focuses on gratitude/blessings/giving thanks. I think that after we read a scripture verse each night we can then write down some of our blessings and put them in the pocket. Maybe we'll save them and read them next year...I don't know. It's an idea that is still evolving.

I used a charm pack (5 inch squares) called Pumpkin and Spice for my pockets. It was easier than cutting out all those 4.5 inch squares. Besides, I don't have a stash of fall fabrics to chose from. The charms worked beautifully! I did find the orange piece in my stash that was big enough to use for the border, backing, and binding.

My free motion quilting is getting better. I need some more practice time on my machine before I love it, though.

In a bit of randomness, I found this "bunny shape" in my quilting and made the mistake of showing it to my older kids. You know "Hey, kids! What does this look like to you?" Now every time they pass by it they point out the bunny. Nice! Anyone else ever notice weird shapes in their quilting or is it just me?

If you make this pattern, be sure to upload it to the Flickr group!

Loveseat Transformation Begins

This is beginning of the re-upholster project for the loveseat. I've done this before and so I do know what I am getting into. Let's hope it all turns out well enough to make me happy.

Love the shape of this little loveseat. And it is rather sturdy even though you can see that it and the slipcover are O-L-D!

Someone obviously washed the slipcover and it shrunk. Mental Note--pre-wash your fabric when you are making your own slipcover so that you don't have this same problem after your first washing.

I want to refinish the legs and then let them be somewhat exposed. They are such a pretty little shape.

Here I am so you can get the size and scale of the loveseat. Let's hope this works out the way I envision. And I just realized that we have never owned a new sofa (not including the futon we used to have) in our entire married life of 14 years. Every single one we've owned has been a thrift store purchase (during our college days), given to us free, or we've rescued it from somewhere and then redone it. Well...I guess the trend continues. Hmmm,...maybe one day I can get that nice leather sofa I want--new and ready to use immediately.

Racecar Baby Quilt

After the Pinewood Derby in the Spring the Cubscout leader gave me 2 pieces of this racecar print because he figured if anyone could come up with something to do with the pieces I could. I made the baby quilt sometime after that and I have just been holding onto it until I felt like I wanted to give it away. Well, this weekend I gave it away to someone at church who just had baby boy #2.

The back is definitely a little obnoxious, but all in all I do like it--obnoxious or not. The baby's big brother was ready to claim the quilt for himself, so it can't be totally bad. The yellow pieces are flannel, but the rest is cotton.

Unlike Emily, I am a machine binder. I figure on baby quilts especially they'd be used heavily and so warrant machine binding instead of hand binding. Plus, really, I do not enjoy hand sewing. So welcome to the world Baby D. I hope your brother doesn't steal your quilt too often.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I hesitated to join, but here I am...on the last day!

hosted by Amy at Park City Girl.

Here is my submission: The Fabulous at Forty Quilt I made for my sister Shauna's birthday in March.

I love it because it was my first big quilt finished, my first gift quilt, and because it was so fun to surprise her with it.

My 2 sisters and I flew to Shauna's house, without her having a clue, and surprised her for her 40th birthday. It was a great weekend! Good Times, good times... So, for that reason alone, this will remain one of my all-time favorites!

One a Day Quilt Along and a Plea for Help

I finished my nine patch quilt top from amandajean's one a day quilt along. (Her two finished ones are here and here. Directions here.) Most of my blocks were done before we moved this summer, but I needed to finish up the rest and add the sashing. I am SO HAPPY to have this one done. It really makes me happy to look at it. I was a wee bit skeptical when I was putting all my blocks together that it would look like a jumbled mess of ugly fabrics, but white sashing makes the world a better place, don't you think?!

Lots of pretty fabrics in there, lots of reminders from other projects, lots of fabrics!!! I am slightly embarrassed to say that there are no 2 fabrics that are alike on the whole quilt. That means I have more than 126 different fabrics in my sewing room (or maybe...more!). Granted, most are smaller scraps, but still...that's a whole lotta fabrics. But, somewhere a pioneer woman is smiling down on my use of so many random fabrics together, right?

(A few of my favorite blocks)

I did a slight variation to the directions. Instead of 2.5 inch squares, mine started out 3 inches (I was using my 6 inch square stash and couldn't justify all that re-cutting). Because I didn't follow the directions that meant I didn't need quite as many blocks. I ended up with 63. It measures 67" by 86" before the scrap border. This one is H-U-G-E for me!! Because it is already so big, I am putting the scrap border on the back like this. (That's the advantage to being late to the party, you get to copy other people's great ideas.) Hopefully I can get this one quilted before I die...Wish me luck!!


Also, did anyone notice that amandajean said she was wanting to make a THIRD quilt like this so her and her sisters could all have one, but felt like she didn't have it in her to do it again? I personally think that all the people that love and appreciate her quilting knowledge and inspirations should band together to help her out. Wouldn't it be cool to send her 70 completed 9-patches so she could make that third one? I'm sure she'd never ask for others to make her blocks, so I'm doing it for her!! Who's with me?? Leave me a comment if you're in--all you need is one finished 9 patch (Use 2.5" squares like her directions--not my 3" ones) and we'll make her mailbox a happy place! Spread the word!

For Christine

This quilt is a commission for Christine. It is for her new baby girl. She's decorating her nursery in a French country, shabby chic sorta way. Her main fabrics are the red gingham and a yellow toile with lots of white eyelet.

I used the old standby kidz quiltz design, only bigger. This one measures 48" by 60". It should be big enough that when her little girl grows up, it will grow with her.

(Matching Doll Quilt)

It took me awhile to find a quality piece of red gingham. Who knew there were so many 'cheap' (not in a good way!) ginghams around. I searched high and low before finding this Michael Miller piece that was suitable to use.

In the end it worked wonderful! And who doesn't love a gingham binding?!

(Christine's baby came a bit early, so her quilt arrived just in the nick of time. Congrats!)

A little something for Baby M

Congrats to Leslie!

She had her baby a couple of weeks ago -- a week before her scheduled induction and 16 days before her due date -- But everyone is doing well! We went and visited them this week. Brought along some baby goodness for New Miss M.

My favorite part of this quilt has to be...

Leslie's reaction!! Not that she didn't expect a quilt, but I was pretty sneaky. I used all of her favorite fabrics without her even knowing!

She had given them to me awhile back-- even went as far as cutting the squares, but couldn't figure out how to make them look nice together in a quilt. So I took them, added the grey dot and, Voila! I love surprises!

The only piece I bought was this pretty pink polka dot (from JoAnn's) for the border, binding, and backing. It goes so well with the other fabrics--so dainty and sweet!

So, to Miss M, we say Welcome to the family!