BOM Challenge Quilt....

Just need to figure out the size I need for what I want to put in the middle and get that fused down to the center. My goal was to get this top completed this year and except for the center part I'm considering this 'completed'. I'll have that middle done by Sunday night if it kills me!

A special Thanks for SoScrappy for posting about the letters that Tonya R does. I remembered reading about that on Bonnie Hunters site a while ago back when there was a tutorial and decided to give it a try. I added a 'Vermont' to the bottom border on this quilt. Think I'll need to order her book once it comes out and 'really' learn how to do it.

Guild Challenge quilt...

Well, this is what I have been working on the last week or so. Imagine a state of Vermont in the center... thinking a green/brown mottled fabric of that in the middle blue section. Not a great shot but had to take it quick before the munchkins woke up... and yes, there is Tupperware all over the house right now, but they had fun playing with Daddy while Mommy ran a couple of errands this morning.


I plan to add the 12 blocks all around this and it should end up in the 62 inch square range. I might add another border around that to make it a little bigger... we'll see how it looks once the blocks are added. The plan was to get them added this afternoon... but Emily decided to only take an hour nap so maybe tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Holidays

Just wishing everyone a belated Merry Christmas!

Croup and a sick house......

Well, the boy has the barking cough and couldn't breathe most of this weekend.... called the Doctor Saturday afternoon after his attack during a nap (had 2 the previous night) and he did a quick diagnosis on the phone, gave us some instructions and then called back in a bit and asked us to bring him to his office and he'd meet us there. The 'yucky' medicine (as Aidan calls it) worked great and my trooper of a boy took the 2 droppers of it for 3 nights without spitting it out like we thought he would. He still has a bad cough but is sleeping through the nights again with a humidifier in his room. Lets hope the girl doesn't get it bad like he did... we have the dosage amount for her just in case.

I did get the hand quilting done on the Cardinal quilt well before the guild meeting last Wednesday. I just did around the four cardinals and called it a finish.


Yesterday, I wanted to play with fabric while they napped so I put my scrappy pinwheels together. I don't want a plain border on this... thinking a scrappy 'mountain' look like on some of Judy Martin quilts. Excuse Miss Sophie's tail in the picture.


Off to get a few things done and fingers crossed that they continue to nap, maybe I can start some flying geese for my guild challenge quilt from last year.
Happy Holidays and may your quilting be finished in time!

It's madness!

I took the extra's from the triangles in the pinwheel quilt and made two doll quilts for the kids.... and this is the result. They measure 15x12 and 12x13.5 inches.

Midget Block #4 Completed.....

I got some sewing time this weekend after making my 41 Christmas cards. I just need to get a good picture of the monsters and then sign our names and those can go in the mail.

I was able to pin my Cardinal quilt and get the squares quilted on the machine. I just did a x through them to get it done. I'm working on the binding and should have that finished tonight and then I'll just hand quilt around the cardinals and call it finished. I'll show a picture when it's completed.

Since I had some more time while the kids were napping and I was listening to the previous nights hockey game... I got another midget block completed. This is block # 4 - Double X and went together very quickly.


Since I feel like I'm in a snow globe right now (xmas tree lights on inside and snow coming down outside), I think I'll call my MIL quickly while the kids are napping and then curl up with the last NCIS LA and the Cardinal quilt and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Midget block #3... and a few other things.

Well, I decided I can't wait so I made 3 more of the scrappy pinwheel blocks this weekend. I now have 20 and will put them together this week to form the top. I'll just need to add a border... but I'll pick that from the stash after I get the top together. I hope to get this one quilting in January. I'm going to have a hard time giving this one away I think.


I also made my kayak block as an extra block for my guild challenge quilt from last year. My kayak is red and G's is blue so that explains my color choices in this block. Now I just need to find a map of the state and get it into the size I need and then make my center block. I hope to get this quilt put together and quilted in December.


I finally finished my third midget block. I started this last Sunday and finished it yesterday afternoon while the kids napped. A 4.5 inch block with over 54 pieces.... what was I thinking? I have a feeling this project will take a back burner as I need to help kit up the awards blocks and do a few before the quilt show in April.


After holiday colds have hit. I seem to have a terrible head cold - day 2 and not much sleep last night from my cold. Emily threw up milk this morning all over the carpet (isn't that a lovely smell?) and I've been wiping three noses constantly today. Thank goodness they are both quiet and napping right now. Think I'll pull up the recliner, cover with a quilt and knit a bit while watching some of my NCIS LA shows that are lining up on the TiVo.

Photo's!

These are the 11 blocks that I won at my guild meeting last week.
And...

These are the 7 that I made. I can't wait to see how this one will turn out. This is called Scrap Basket Surprise Pinwheel block by Kim Brackett.

I have a lot of the extra triangles from making this quilt that I think I'll square up and make into a little doll quilt for Em. Stay tuned to see how that venture turns out!

I Won! I Won!

I had a feeling that since I really liked the BOM for my guild this month and had started to cut out scraps to make my own, that I would win the blocks this month. I had this feeling Tuesday, Wednesday and yesterday while cutting out my scraps. Well, I went to the meeting last night and saw lots of beautiful quilts by Kim Diehl and guess who won the 11 blocks from our monthly challenge? Yup, it was meeeeeeee!

Thanks so much to the ladies who made the blocks this month. I'm looking forward to putting them together with a few of mine and making up a pretty scrap quilt. I will probably give this one away to either my friend Kelly as a raffle for next June's 'Lacing up for Cancer' walk or as a donation to the 'Friends of the library' in Milton next fall. They'll both get a quilt next year but I'll toss a coin to see who gets this one... assuming the kids will let it out of the house!

Grad quilt top completed!

I was able to get the YBR top put together on Sunday afternoon while the kids were napping. It currently looks like this:


I saw a beautiful batik at the fabric store on Saturday that I am going to use for the backing of this...it is a creamy background with pretty prints in it of purple, yellow and teals. I'll plan to quilt this one sometime next spring.

I also did a scrappy pinwheel block last week for my guild BOM and decided I really liked it so have been digging through my scrap box of fabrics and cutting out a bunch so that I can make a scrappy pinwheel quilt. The pattern is from a Kim Brackett book. I'll just work on that as I can. This is the one for my guild BOM.

I also did a scrappy 90x4 inch row for one of our guild charity quilts for next year. It is currently two 45x4 rows, I just need to combine them before friday.
>


The next goal is to finish that Cardinal quilt this month so it can be hanging up after Thanksgiving in the dining room. I need to machine stitch around the wings (never done this before so that is the hesitation I think) and then I am going to just machine quilt it instead of hand quilting it like I had planned.

I've also been gathering a bunch of 30's prints that I will use to make Emily her 'big girl' quilt for her twin bed that she'll get next spring. I plan to make a Judy Martin pattern - a log cabin with tulips in the light part. Her Daddy asked me to make her a quilt for her bed in 'girly' colors so that is what I came up with. I need to make a sample block sometime soon to make sure I can cut it with the rulers I have and have it come out correctly.....if not I'll be ordering her ruler to make the quilt.

Another possability is to do the new Bonnie Hunter 'Cotton' quilt mystery. I've saved off her last 2 but still haven't done one of hers... I am thinking this might be one that I do along with the clues but we'll see how the next few weeks go.

I also need to make my last 2 blocks for my guild BOM's from last year. I plan to make a block with 2 kayaks and then I think my 'center' block will be a state of vermont block. I'm thinking that in the middle with a plain blue border around that and then all the 12 inch blocks around that. That one needs to be done by March... so may bump up in the priority list.
Lots to do... so think I'll eat that last piece of birthday cake and then jump into the sewing room and get some things done.
Happy sewing.

Leaf wall hanging DONE!!!

I completed the leaf wall hanging on Friday night... good thing because it had a pumpkin jack o lantern backing! I decided to quickly machine quilt it and popped on a binding. I hand stitched it down Friday night while watching tv I think. Another UFO ticked off the list. It really feels good to get a few of these things completed!

I was playing with the purple YBR blocks Saturday afternoon and think I like the layout... just need to sew those together sometime. Now to get those kids napping at the same time again so Mommy can sew in the afternoon..............

Graduation quilt blocks....finished!

I decided I was in a mood to just sew the last week, so worked on assembling the YBR blocks in purple and yellow batiks for my neice K's quilt. I guess I should have read the directions through one more time...as I cut the first 7 of 12 fat quarters wrong!!!! I got a bit creative yesteday and got enough finished for the quilt. There are a few block combinations not seen in normal YBR quilts but it will truly be unique! I think I got 37 blocks instead of the 40 it should make. I really only needed 35 for a setting of 5x7 with the 9.5 inch blocks. I just need to play with them a bit and see how they look before sewing them into a top.
Here is what they look like right now.

I hope to get back to midget block Thursdays tomorrow... assuming the girl sleeps ok for her nap... she's stuffed up and teething... not a good combo.
Happy quilting.

Sailboat quilt.... nearly done!

This is the sailboat quilt that will belong to Miss Emily.

This is one of the sailboats, a small meander in the sky and some circle swirls in the water.


This is the border - circle loops


I just need to bury the threads and hand stitch the binding down... a good project for watching tv with tonight.

I had thought Thursdays would be my midget block day... but I'm not in the mood for paper piecing right now and that is the next block. I'll attempt it this weekend while the kids are napping.... hmmm... maybe I'll do two midget blocks this weekend.
I think I'm in the mood to just sew.... so will pull the cut fabric for YBR and start stitching that after I get a few things done around the house.

I've done quite a bit of sewing in the last 2 weeks... the cause is my son. He had a bit of an episode a week ago Monday - a possible slight seizure they think was related to a high fever. It was dinnertime and I almost had dinner ready and he was in the living room with Daddy when this happened. Our Pediatrician is less than 5 miles from us and he was still at his office so we were able to get him there within 15 minutes of it happening. We then went to the ER for some blood work which all came back fine and they sent us home after a couple of hours. He is fine now and was back to his normal self a few days later but I guess it is bothering me a bit and sewing is helping to keep me calm. He goes tomorrow for an EEG scan at the hospital to check his brain waves. I'm sure everything will turn out fine, but I know I'll feel a lot better tomorrow afternoon once the tests are completed. Please keep him in your prayers tomorrow.
Happy stitching everyone.

A project completed!!!!

I finished hand sewing down the binding on the charit quilt yesterday afternoon while the kids were napping. Feels good to have something completed.



Today I made my second midget block - Indian Star. I think it turned out good. I decided to go with the suggested colors this time and really like how the red and yellow play together. I may go back and redo the first block of Ohio Star... we'll see.



Next up - wash up the purple and yellow batiks for Kristin's graduation quilt and then pin the sailboat quilt so I can attempt to quilt that one this weekend during naps or after the kids are in bed. I also found 6 cat blocks from an internet swap back in the late 1990's... that might turn into a little wall hanging for my sewing room.... now where did I put them?

Midget Blocks have begun!

I managed to start my midget journey on Thursday and this is block number 1.


I also got some sewing time in on Saturday and Sunday and managed to get the charity quilt quilted and the binding sewn onto the top. I just need to hand stitch that down before the guild meeting next Wednesday. I did a star and loop all over the quilt.


Better go get a few things done while the kiddo's are sleeping.

Long time with no post!

Time sure does fly when you have company! I spent one week (around kids sleeping time) painting my closet and then organizing the new shelves with my quilting things. The end was just a quick shove things in as I needed to clean up for my MIL's visit and she was staying in my sewing room. I still need to take time and finish pulling some things out and getting that settled to my likeing. Since that was going on..and MIL was in that room for a week not a lot of sewing time for me.

I did manage to put borders onto the sailboat quilt and need to get that pinned so it can be quilted. I also need to pin the charity quilt and get that done this month. I just had to do 'something' so grabbed 4 leaf blocks that I had done maybe 7 years ago... and turned them into this:

I just basted it on Sunday while everyone was napping and plan to start hand quilting this on the weekend.

I took out my guild BOM challenge from last year and needed to adjust about 4 blocks to make them 12x12 like the others... they turned into this:



The turtle just had the same fabric added to make it the right size so no picture of that one. I want to make a block with 2 kayaks on it and then another one to even out my numbers... I'm still playing with how I want to set this top.

I intend to start my midget blocks this week (hopefully tomorrow during naps) and plan to do at least 1 a week for a while. We'll see how that goes.

Better go pull up most of the garden while the sun it out today. I'm letting my zucchini go until it freezes this weekend... I've got 5 baby ones growing right now! Carrots will be pulled up this weekend too. Then everything will be tilled down for the winter.
Happy sewing.

Sailboat top done!!!!...well, almost done.

I just need to add borders to make it a little wider then get it ready for some quilting.

I also got that lighthouse block done...


Just heard boy get out of bed so nap time is over.
Hope you all have a great sewing day.

Charity quilt top

Not too much time in the sewing room this month (I really have to get it organized and cleaned up before MIL comes in September!). I did manage to get this charity top completed and finally put the borders onto the cardinal wall hanging. I am unable to locate my E card to stitch around the wings.. so that one is on hold until I can organize and find it... it's somewhere in the big closet... but isn't in the few places I thought it might be.
I've also been working on the last guild BOM block of a lighthouse. Would you believe I started working on it last Saturday and it still isn't done yet? Hopefully after this quick post I can do about 30 minutes of picking up around the house and check the garden and then get that block finished before the kids wake up.
Happy sewing.

Midget Blocks....

I was reading Jill's blog and she is doing a Midget Block quilt along starting sometime in October. I checked out the Sentimental Stitches Website and these are such cute blocks finishing at 4.5 inches. There are 187 blocks total based on a sampler quilt she owns and is graciously providing the patterns for them for free! (116 currently posted on the site - the last bit are in the July and August blog posting.). She will be taking down the first 55 at the end of the month so if you want them free... go get them now!

I think this will be the perfect project for the civil war fabrics I've been collecting over the last couple of years.

Sewing time this weekend!

I got time to sew this weekend. Everyone took naps Sat afternoon and instead of picking up and organizing my sewing room like I should have.... I decided I needed to sew. Ohhhh, I felt so much better after.

I had won the sailboat blocks at my guild meeting earlier this year and had 13 of them..... I made 2 more and will set them in a 3x5 pattern with the focus red star fabric as a little star for cornerstones. This will be a 'summer' quilt for AT, since he insists on being covered with his train and doggie quilts no matter how hot it is. I hope we can transition him to use this one in the summer instead.... but we'll see. Here are my 2 blocks.


Well shoot, they tipped sideways again. Arrrgghhh I hate when that happens.
Since everyone was still sleeping I decided to do the ferry boat block that I had not done from last November's BOM. I just need to do the lighthouse block from the June BOM and all my 'guild' blocks will be complete for my quilt. I do want to add some more blocks to make it mine... but need to figure out how I am going to do them. It involves drafting and I am not an artist. We'll see if I can guilt DH into drawing something up for me.... he seems to have a hidden talent based on his chalk drawings on the driveway with the kids!

What a whirlwind!

It has been a busy month. We have had an 18th birthday and 47th wedding anniversary, a HS graduation, 8th grade graduation in VT and DH's class reunion in Ohio. Yes, that involved a 15 hour car ride with a 2 year old and a 1 year old and a week in hotels. We survived (the adults!) and the kids did really well on the ride and adjusting to the suite. It was so nice to come home.... although I can't say I care for the heat wave we had last week.

No time in the sewing room, but I did make a couple of knitted dish cloths and went to knitting night with some of my old neighbors last Wednesday night. I think I'm going to attempt a little sweater for Emily. We'll see how it goes.

While in Ohio, I got away for a couple of hours (Thanks hubby for staying in the hotel with the kids while they napped!) and visited Stitches Quilt Shop. Jill had given me some shops in the area and a link to a shop hop. This is the one that seemed easiest for me to get to in the traffic and it was a wonderful little shop. I was able to pick some pretty batiks in purple and yellow for my next graduation quilt for my niece next year. I picked up the Yellow Brick Road pattern and think I will use this instead of the jewel box. Might do a scrappy jewel box sometime though....


I also visited a Hobby Lobby. Sort of like the Michaels/Joanns we have here. I just had to buy some things.... like this Thomas the Train flannel and the John Deere flannel for Aidan. I also got a pretty blue/purple swirl fabric that will be made into something for my Ohio visit memory. DH had a good idea on the way home (Why didn't he mention this before I went shopping?) to create a quilt block for each of the kids of places we go... and make it into a memory quilt when they are older. Guess I'll have to use my blue swirl fabric for that... or do photo transfer.

Graduation Quilt!

Almost done and well before Saturday! I just have a little under a side to finish hand stitching down the binding and then adding a label. This is the 'brother' quilt to the one I made for my hubby a couple of years ago. It is a pinwheel pattern from Nickle Quilts.

Next up is doing the last guild block for tomorrow's meeting. I have decided to add more blocks with the idea of things that remind me (and my family) of Vermont. I'm not sure how I will do some of the ideas I have but I'll come up with something. Right now I'm thinking of doing some blocks for all seasons and working the quilt top from top left as spring, then summer then fall and the bottom right will be winter. We'll see how it comes out sometime next year when it is done... hopefully for the April quilt show.
I have decided to do a jewel box pattern for my niece's 2011 graduation quilt in purples and yellows. Just need to clear out my fabrics and see what I currently have for purples and add to it this summer. I plan to start working on the blocks for this in the fall.
Next up will be adding borders to my cardinal quilt, embroidery around the wings and getting it basted for hand quilting. I'll also work on my storm at sea wall hanging and start with some of my VT quilt blocks for the summer sewing. We'll see how I do over the next couple of months.

Baby quilt....

The month has just flown by!
I have been sewing... I made a rail fence baby quilt above for a baby shower on Sunday.... finished the quilting last night and just need to hand stitch the binding down which is very doable. I just did a star and loop meander in yellow thread. Not bad for finding out about the baby shower early May and getting it done with 2 kids with colds, me with a head cold and I think the girl is teething but we still haven't seen any new teeth pop. At least she has slept through the night for the last week... much nicer than up 4-6 times at night crying like the previous week.
I am getting back into knitting a little bit..... I made 2 dish cloths this month as my old ones needed replacement. I also crocheted some tops to kitchen towels as my Mom gave me some towels last year for 'when I get a chance'. Also need to do up some scrubbies for her.... keep forgetting about that. Oops. Will do that Sunday night after the baby quilt is out of the house.
Next on the agenda is to pin the graduation quilt for my nephew Ben, who is valedictorian of his HS class next month. His will be the 'sister' quilt of the one I made for hubby. His is set in a pinwheel fashion in greens,brown and creams. I think I am going to try a circular pattern on the pinwheels and maybe some small pebble quilting in the sashings.... still thinking on how to quilt the sashings...

I've also read quite a bit (gotta love my gym time!)... I've read the Aloha Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini, about 4 Debbie Macomber books (Summer on Blossom Street, the Cedar Cove series (7, 9 and just started 8)) and found a new author to me: Clare O'Donohue - The Lover's Knot and A Drunkards Path. I'm looking forward to her next book out this coming fall. They were a good mystery read. I've also read Carla Neggers - 'The Harbor' and local author (VT anyway!) Archer Mayor - 'The Sniper's Wife'. I started out the year by reading Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice and have Sense and Sensibility about half read so far.
Better grab that baby quilt and start the binding while kids are napping.

Quilt Show Pics... (finally!)

So.. it's only 6 weeks after the show but here are some pics. Sorry they are not that great but small space and big quilts. We have some truly talented ladies in this guild.