Disappearing 4 patch Top

I like this one, but was really struggling to keep focused on it. When I think I am half way done, I start to plan the next project. My idea of half way on this one was a while ago, so I was really wanting to move on to the next project. Oh well. Strips are cut for another basic 4 patch, then I will go back to something requiring more thought.

Pay it Forward and updates

Pay It Forward is simple: For the first 3 people who comment on this entry, I promise to send them something handmade within the next year. Now that's my kind of deadline! Here are the rules:
1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people that comment on this post. It will be a surprise and may arrive at any time in the next 365 days (yes, a year).
2. To sign up to receive a gift from me you must play along too. Share the giving love on your blog by promising to send a handmade goodie to the first three people that comment on your blog post.
3. You must have a blog.
4. After commenting on my post, you have to post this (or similar) on your blog to spread the love.

I think this is a neat idea, and a way to see if people are reading posts.

I've been slowly getting my disappearing 4 patch blocks done, and finished the block making last night. I think I will have time to get them sewn together today. I tied my brown and blues throw top, and hope to also get those edges done today so I can re-list it on etsy. And the church is having a silent auction today. I donated 3 quilts, and hope they bring in some good money.

I also finished the last top I had started on my retreat. It is smaller than I had hoped, but like the design. That might be the next one on the frame to finish.

Results of my Quilting weekend away

I have all of these blocks made, minus the corner pieces. 25 in all.
6 place mats

First ER Visit

Last night my baby, well of the two boys, jumped off the couch and broke his arm. We didn't get the cast on it until this morning, but he seems to be taking it pretty well. I really don't see this slowing him down much.

Fabric Binge

So I went a little crazy...about 41 yards later, this is what I have to show for myself. Fabric for 2 quilt backs, and lots of other clearance/Labor day specials. Did I mention I spent around $75 total? :DI think the black & white with the red will be a neat look. I am going on my first quilting weekend in 2 weeks, and will likely bring this with.
The mushrooms were also on clearance, probably what my soon to be niece will get. It's so darn cute!

And my next project, a quilt for my husband's uncle for Christmas. I plan on making that triangle trip around the world looking top. I have a really nice tan polka dot for the border and then some camping stuff for the back. Time to get cutting!

Finished Throw Top

I am still Quilting!!!

I was checking everyone else's posts the other day and realized it has been over a month since I posted anything. Life is and continues to be crazy busy. I made a few baby quilts in the last month, between this queen trip around the world. I use the method where you make a tube of the strips, then cut them and rip out the seams where needed. I must get quilters ADD or something, because not seeing the progress gets me every time with this pattern, and I have to take a break from it. I cut blocks for another throw blanket, once I get one made I will have to post that, it's something new for me, but should still whip together pretty fast.

We have had tons of events going on recently, our fire department has lots of summer events, and that keeps the DH busy. If I'm lucky I will get to have my first real conversation with him tonight- it's been since about Tuesday. I'm glad he's active in the department, but it gets to a point where I miss him, need a break from being a temporary single mom, and at the same time jealous that he gets to spend the weekend with our friends.

Our house is on the market- another scary thing, but needed. We signed a purchase agreement for 5 acres just outside of town, and it already has a 30x40 foot shed for the DH to play in. We can handle both payments, so not a super rush to sell our current home, but once we sell, we can build. (Sigh) Closing will be the end of November, so we have time yet to get everything in line.

Boys are sleeping, so time to sew!

Two steps forward, one back

This is the pie safe I have been waiting for since April, minus the doors. The DH has stumbled across some issues with one of them warping a bit, so right now it looks more like a book shelf. I still have 2 more totes of fabric to put on it. My work area is a total mess right now, it will take some major organizing before I will feel like I know what's going on again.
This is the latest quilt top. And below is the first quilt I made. It's weird to see how things have changed. I still need to count how many I have made.
The date on the picture is right, I got my machine in May of 2006. Best college graduation present ever!!

Month gone by

It's almost been a whole month since my last post. I have done a lot since then, but I don't know if I will get all the pictures up to show everyone. I think I miss getting more feedback from other quilters out there. Anyone know of a blog group or different site that could offer something more like that?

I was thinking about going through my quilts brag book and counting how many I have made. I've only had a sewing machine for 5 years, so it would be neat to see what I have made, and how they have changed in that time span. I plan on having one more top done by the end of this long weekend, even with all the stuff we have going on.
This is one of the last baby quilts I made.

Puppy!

Grad Present Complete

This is for one of our regular babysitters who will be graduating from high school this week. I like it.
I also finished up my 156 snowball blocks, and hope to get the top completed by the end of the week. I think I should have the time for it.

Bear's Done!

Ahhhhh, sewing again!

I took about 2 weeks off from any sewing while I prepared and had a garage sale. I forget how much work goes into them, but was able to sell a lot of stuff, thought it hardly looked like it. 4 totes emptied, and a few hundred dollars later, I am back at the sewing. I have a grad present started, a pink and purple throw quilt, and just finished cutting pieces to make a bear for my cousin's daughter. She will be one next week, and I had made her a quilt as a shower gift. Using the same fabric, the bear will hopefully turn out for me and be cute.

Today I also celebrate 4 years of marriage to my hubby. He unfortunately decided to attend a fire department training. I'm starting to feel like he is too committed to too many things, and haven't seen much of him. The time we do get isn't very high quality, and I am still waiting to get my pie safe...

Seriously!!

I am starting to think God does not like my choices in vehicles. I had the garbage can incident with my Jeep just over a month ago. We had been talking about getting a different vehicle anyway, so we traded it in for a 2010 bright red Dodge Avenger. Basically an even trade. My mom had said, 'I hope you have better luck with this than your last few vehicles.' She had a point. The Jeep had hail damage last summer, and had to get the roof re-painted and a few dings taken out. I had someone scrape the bumper in the parking lot at work (no one claimed that one). The car I had before getting the Jeep had been rear-ended going highway speeds. It also had a basketball hoop tip over on the hood, and had to be replaced.

So tonight, we were sitting on the couch when DH said, "someone just hit your car". I had just picked it back up today, after getting a remote start put in. Parked it on the street, since I knew he had somewhere to go. And the daycare across the street had a parent back into my car.

Still Here

Here's my latest top. I listed it on etsy right away so I could move on to my next project. If I still have it when I am done with my next top (snowballs), I will probably finish it.

I wasn't so sure about it when I had the blocks put together, but I do like how it turned out. My sewing has really slowed done since I started getting ready for a garage sale, but think I need to sit down at the machine again real soon. I have squares cut for my snowballs, and hear them calling my name...

We are still working on getting the house we looked at about a month ago. Sounds like right now our offer is the only one the lady is considering. Just a few tweaks left and we should have a deal.

Any tips for sewing a patch on a thin jacket?

Tumbler Top Done

I'm pretty sure that this will be the one for my cousin's wedding gift. Unless I make one that I really love. Got it on the frame tonight, plan on starting to tie it tomorrow once the boys go to bed. I am undecided if I should tie in the corners or in the center of the tumblers. Suggestions?

Not what I had in mind for my afternoon...

I was on my way home early today so I could take my son to his 3 year check-up. A pick-up pulling a trailer of garbage cans was in the other lane, and I saw one start to come out. The wind caught the lid, and it flew out of the trailer. The van behind him just nicked it, pushing it into my lane, and above is what resulted. I also have a dent in my door and a few scuffs on the rest of the driver's side. At least it was the garbage company, so their insurance will have to pay to fix it. It still stinks. And now I have to re-schedule the doctor's appointment.

A few of the recent projects

My first tie blanket- given to the DH for his birthday.

For my son- he picked out the robots. I'm not real crazy for it.
I don't know what I will do with this one, it was part of my mistake with the robot quilt
Listed this top on etsy. Another mistake that was going to be part of the benefit quilt.

Now working on tumblers- making a queen sized quilt, and will use over 600 tumblers. I was on a cutting spree, and have over 800.

Also bought a bunch of fabric. I started to keep track on paper what I have bought and used. I think I am still in the negative- using more than buying. Yahoo!

Only 10 minutes to vent

So the latest and greatest news at my house is that we are looking to move from our 3 bedroom house in town to the country- a 25 acre old, old farm just about 2 miles from where we currently are. I love the country, grew up on a 5 acre piece of land. We both want to be out of the city limits and maybe have a little farm. The property has 4 out buildings, all very old and one looks a lot like fire wood. The house, according to the listing, was built in 1856. There looks to be 2 additions, so I can believe the main part of the house really is that old. IF we do get this place, we would look at building a new house in 10 years.

Here's my issue: DH has plans to build a shop/shed and use that to somehow generate some income. He also wants a few cattle, some pigs, chickens for eggs, and I think there was something else. I don't know who he thinks will care for these animals or where they will live. I have no issue with getting a few animals, but want to make sure things are set up the way we want first. For example, my sewing area. The house has 3 bedrooms, one is in the attic and has no lights, maybe an outlet, and that would be my sewing area, unless I set up in the dining room. Also not ideal. The one bathroom is on the opposite end of the house, but there is a laundry room that could be changed to a bathroom pretty easily. The kitchen could use a new fridge and stove, maybe some counters. Paint in most every room of the house. And then the DH also said if we have enough income from the property, I wouldn't need to work, I could just stay home. That bothers me. I like what I do, and there are times when I would rather stay home. But there are also those times when the boys won't leave me alone and I can't get anything done, and that makes me like getting to go to work for my 6 hours a day, and then come home to see them. I don't want to have to stay home to take care of the animals he thinks would be neat to have. Right away he sees my hesitation and deep thoughts on this purchase as me not wanting it. I told him I will be giving up a lot if we do this, and that is something I think about.

A sad day for a quilter

Sunday night I was preparing a few projects for my day of yesterday. I had a few thread tension issues that I could not solve. Monday morning came, and I had high hopes of sewing the day away. But that did not happen. I still could not get my machine adjusted, and had to take it in. Apparently they cannot just adjust the thread tension without looking at it, and I still do not have my machine. I think they guy saw my jaw drop when he said it would be ready Wednesday or Thursday. So, now I have one quilt to finish the edges, a top that is about half done, and pieces cut for another flannel quilt for my son. I knew it needed to go in to get cleaned sometime soon, as much as I have been using it, but I hate that. It might be good for me to find a back-up machine for times like this.

I am also starting to think I should tackle a huge project- grandmother's flower garden. I love the quilts, but really wonder if I have the patience for it. I'm sure my generation has something to do with it, but if I can't see results, I lose interest in the project. I have a quilt book with the pattern, just need to decide if I can handle it.

Finished Baby Quilt and Tins

This is the finished baby quilt.
And I am way more excited for this, the tin pieces for my pie safe came today. I can't wait for my husband to buy the lumber to make it!

More Success!

I got the benefit quilt complete, and have the triangle one on the frame. If both boys are napping this afternoon, I might get some tying done. Yesterday I got a small flannel baby quilt made for a former co-worker. I decided to go back to the pieces I had cut for the benefit quilt before realizing the sizes didn't match up. I have probably half the hourglass blocks made now. I would like to get this UFO top made just to be done with it, but now I still need to figure out if I still want to use the squares between the blocks (even though the squares are larger) or just make 2 separate tops.

I did look for fleece to make a tie quilt, but didn't like what I found. I did leave the store with 5 1/2 yards of flannel.

Stash count: -14 1/2 used for backing, and baby quilt
+ 5 1/2 for my flannel

Stash Totals

I went through my posts since the first of the year, and have good news to report. I am down, drum roll...8 yards. Wish it was better, but even 8 is decent. That's about a quilt top.

I got the benefit quilt tied, and thinking I will have a blister on my pointer when I wake up tomorrow. I didn't even bother taking it off the frame, but that can wait. I have vacation days Friday and Monday, so hoping to get the edges done then and get the last quilt top on the frame to tie. (The triangle one). If I'm lucky, I could get that one done on Monday. Friday is going to mostly be a me and Blake day. I am taking him to get 3 year pictures done in the morning, then maybe a little shopping. I am also thinking about making my husband a tie fleece blanket for his birthday. We'll see what actually happens.

Fabric Cupboard

I guess the design I want for my cabinet is called a pie safe. The hubby is working out the plan, and once he has that, I can figure out how big my tin designs need to be. There will be 6 panels, I know that much so far. It should be pretty cool!

Ta-Da!

Stash Update: -8 yards for this top (I'm rounding a little)
I had thought about doing a tutorial on this, but it went together really fast. I guess it did help that I was home with one of the boys Friday morning, so I had an extra block of time to work on it. Defiantly a pattern I will use again.

Designing a new kind of project

We got our tax money back, and before we got the taxes done, we decided we were both going to get a little money to do whatever we wanted with. Well, I know what I want to spend my part on- a cabinet for my fabric. And I have an equally crafty husband who I think can make it for me :) We went to Menards last night for pricing a few other things we intend on buying (new water heater, mattress and snow blower), and then I had my idea light bulb go off. I've seen old cabinets with punched tin panels, and that was the image I have for this cabinet. We checked out a few things (I can't believe how expensive copper sheets are!), and now I get to plan it out so he can get the materials. Thinking 30 inches wide, about 60 inches tall, 18 inches deep. Something like that. So one of my next steps is deciding what kind of design to punch into my tin. I want to keep it so it looks old, so maybe wheat, Sunbonnet Sue, some kind of quilt design. Just so many choices!

I started my aprons for the auxiliary yesterday, so the stash is down about 6 yards. I was able to get 8 out of the piece I bought, and have to do a little figuring to get the part for the strap to go through made. These are not double sided like the other ones I made, so I'm needing to adjust my original pattern.

Pattern in Question

I got off work early today and finished the benefit quilt top.
I am still looking for the name of the pattern I saw at the quilt shop, but have managed to sketch it out. The green triangles would just be a dark, and the white ones a light color. Sounds like a great way to use up my stash :D

Fabric used from stash: 7 yards for quilt top (and soon another 12 for the backing and batting)

What's the name of that one?

I saw a quilt at a shop the other day, and I know I have seen it before. Now I need to know the name of the pattern so I can take a swing at it. It's a square made up of two triangles, one light and one dark. They are put together in a way that reminds me of a trip around the world. Any suggestions? I saw the shop had a kit, but I just want the pattern (hopefully at no cost).

Bought more fabric too: 12 yds flannel to use for battings and 9 yds for some aprons I need to make for our auxiliary group.

Wedding Top Finished

Here is the quilt for our friend's wedding. I plan on getting it on the frame yet today so tomorrow I can get it tied and possibly complete before I get the boys from daycare. I have added a border since taking the pictures and really like this one.

Got everything cut for the auction quilt, but my hourglass blocks are smaller than the setting squares, so I decided to 'scrap' that plan. I can still use the pieces I have cut and make 2 smaller quilts, but that can wait for now. Yesterday I went with my mom and boys to a fabric store to get what will now be my auction quilt. I went with toned-down red and blue prints. I think now the plan is to do a rail fence pattern. Should still turn out pretty nice. Added to the stash (to be used right away): 16 yards

Stash Yard Count... Continues

Last week I posted the one block of the quilt for a friend's wedding. The top is now done, and I am needing to get it on the frame so I can tie it, hopefully Monday when I am off for President's day.
Stash: - 5 yds for the top, 6 yds for the back, and 6 yds for my flannel as batting
Total: -17 yds

I also was asked to make a quilt for a friend of a friend, someone my husband hung out with in high school. He has non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer, and they are having a benefit for him in April. I absolutely said yes, and have started to cut my squares for the first idea I have. (there is a good chance I will make at least 2) My current plan is alternating hourglass blocks and regular squares. Once I actually figure out how much fabric I use, I'll update the stash again. Plan 2/B is making something hunting related, the guys that will be at the benefit are HUGE hunters, so that would probably go over well.

Project Updates

The first of 30 blocks. A friend is getting married in April, and this will be his gift.

And this is a top I'm thinking about listing on etsy.