Orange Saturday

Last week I did manage to cut a bunch of 2 inch squares for the pile of colorful squares. I think that will be a fun quilt next year once I decide what to do with them.

Then.... I finally put my quilt hangers up in the dining room and have a fall quilt hanging right now. I decided I needed something more halloweenish so drew up this little wall hanging and have been working on it the last two days.

VtQuilter - Halloween quilt drawing

I used a combination of stencils from a kids Halloween package of colored paper and some cookie cutter shapes to make my blocks. I've used a combination of hand appliques to make these - plain needle turn by drawing a line around the cookie cutter on the candy corn, freezer paper on top on the pumpkins and freezer paper inside with the shape pressed under for the witches hat and ghost. I still need to applique the cat down and the top of the pumpkins. I pictured a checkerboard around and between the blocks and then a small inner border and then a pumpkin print for the outer border. I'm thinking an orange binding....... Oh, I also need to make the BOO and put that on the pumpkins.

Halloween Quilt - VtQuilter

Last night I finished the hand quilting on another of my QSAB blocks. I really like the borders on this one.

QSAB - VtQuilter

Close up - VtQuilter

What orange goodness have you been working on this week? Head on over to Angela at SoScrappy and see what others have been working on this week. I'm also going to hook up with Kathy on Sunday for slow stitching Sunday.

Grandpa and Grammy are visiting from Vermont this week so we are taking the kids bowling later this morning. Hopefully I can get some more sewing done and make some progress on this wall hanging today. Have a great weekend.

Memory Lane week 2

This week I'm showing my quilt which is one of my favorites. I took this class at Yankee Pride in Essex Jct., Vermont while Aidan was a baby so it was the fall of 2008. This was a mystery quilt and I was so nervous picking out my colors - my first quilt with batiks. I believe it was my first mystery quilt ever and it actually turned out really well!  I was working on the top that winter and did manage to get the top done before Emily was born in April 2009. It took another year for it to get quilted but that's life with 2 kids under age 2 in the house.

My Quilt - 2008-2010 VtQuilter

The colors don't show too well but the border is a purple batik with greens and blues.

VtQuilter

I love how it looks like there are angles and it was all straight sewing. Such a neat effect.

VtQuilter - close up of the machine quilting.

A close up of the quilting. I just did loops and swirls.

This quilt has all my favorite colors in it and now lives in the 'reading room' at the front of the house. It is often used to make forts and tents to entertain the kids and does get a lot of use. Head on over to Krisite's and see a beautiful quilt show of memories.

Tiny Tuesday

I was able to get #59 Chrysanthemum all sewn up on my Friday afternoon sew in. As long as you put the fabric the correct side out when sewing... it went together very easily! 

FNSI

I'm joining in the FNSI..... are you?

A trip down memory lane....

Kristie over at Cowgirl Quilter is doing a link up on Thursdays where we can pull out some older quilts and revisit them. The quilt I was thinking of doing this week is in Aidan's closet and he is down for a nap. So, I'll share this sampler one this week.

This is a sampler quilt that I made around 2004 and 2005 as a $5 block quilt from Yankee Pride in Essex Jct., Vermont. I made two sets of blocks and the other is done with green setting blocks and a green print border. That one lives at my sisters house up in Vermont. This quilt is tied... which is how I used to finish all my quilts until a few years ago when I started machine quilting them. This little quilt gets used a lot - the kids put it on the floor and then put their little table on it to have a snack while watching a tv program. It is much easier to wash a quilt than to clean up the carpet from spills.

It is hard to believe that I didn't know my hubby when I made this quilt! We met in 2006 and tomorrow we will be married for 6 years. Boy has the time flown and life has changed a lot in the last 8 years. 

Head on over to Kristie's blog and see a quilt show while we take a ride down memory lane.

Another shoe bag

I did get to make Aidan's dance shoe bag before he had class yesterday. He went with the trains and truck side out and had the dino side out when I went to pick him up.

Tiny Tuesday #60 - French 4's

This was a paper pieced block that went together very quickly. A nice simple block for a change!

Quilt Square Along block is DONE...

I had some time on Friday and got a few things done for my Quilt square quilt along. This is block #4 from Lori Smith pattern #6. It went together so easily. It reminds me how striking the simple patterns can be. I think that is why I love the traditional quilt patterns so much. They are timeless.

Sunday slow stitch prep work.

Rosa asked for a close up of the hand quilting. My qualifier is I am a beginner and there are tons of seams on this 12 inch finished block. Everyone has to start somewhere right?

Then I did some prep work for some applique. This is from the Lori Smith pattern of small quilts #4. I am working on these from a quilt along over at Jo's Country Junction. The more I do applique the more I find I really enjoy it. This is what I will be working on this week. I'm linking up with Kathy over at Kathy Quilts for her slow stitching Sunday.

No kid Saturday....

 Oh boy. I am having fun. Not really doing what I should be (preparing my sewing room for company on the 24th!), but I am getting things done and having fun in the QUIET house!
After dropping the kids off I headed to Lowes for plants and soil. I have 5 tomato's planted, 2 peppers and a new rosemary plant all in planters or in the ground. I got two little $1 gardens for the kids - a salad one and a taco one. They will get to do that as a project next week and watch them grow. I also planted some mums into the beds for some color this fall. After that and a quick shower (it is hot out there in the sun!) I had a quick lunch and then sewing time started.

First, I made my Grandmothers Choice block for the week. This is 8 inches finished.

Grandmothers Choice block -VtQuilter

Then I did a midget but that will wait until Tuesday.

Then.... I remembered I promised dance shoe bags for the kids. Do I have a pattern? Nope. Emily wanted butterfly fabric and I had some leftover from backing the baby quilt. I just winged it and came up with this reversible bag. Now, if I can remember what I did! I need to get truck or car fabric and make one for Aidan tomorrow!

Butterfly side out - VtQuilter

Reversible side in pink.- VtQuilter

Emily's dance shoes - so tiny and cute! VtQuilter

The bag with all the shoes in it. VtQuilter

I'm off to get a hair cut and then head to Grandma's and pick up Miss Emily. Aidan is having a sleep over with Grandma and will be returned tomorrow afternoon. Hope you got some time to sew today.

Orange Birds

I got to sew up some pretty birds in the air blocks on Thursday and my rainbow collection of them sure is growing! I think some nice browns and blacks are the last two colors I can think of but I'll wait patiently and see what color comes up for October, November and December. I really like how these look and can see myself doing a whole quilt of one scrappy color.... maybe green or blue as I have lots of them in my stash. Head on over to SoScrappy and see what other orange goodness has been worked on this week.

Next week of orange for me will either be some pumpkin place mats or making some schlep bags for the kids to bring their shoes to dance classes. I work a few more days next week in preparation for my parents coming down on the 24th. Today will be clean up the sewing studio for it's transition to guest bedroom. Grandma will take the kids for double kid Saturday and I convinced G that I needed this day without kids to get things prepped for my parents visit since I was stuck with the car last Saturday and did not get any 'fun' me time in my sewing room!

Grandmothers choice block done....

Amethyst. I did this one by hand and I think it came out pretty good! It is probably not exact measurements of the original block but it looks the same. Now I feel comfortable cutting out a smaller version to make as an extra midget block!

Aidan still had a temp around 4AM this morning so he is home again today. Emily is busy being a doggie (I assume this is normal for 3 year olds? Aidan walks her around in the house and then they switch!) and I have a feeling there will be lots of shopping going on again today in the play room. Emily's HIPPY lesson yesterday was shopping to go along with her 'The Empty Pinata' book. It kept them entertained most of the day playing shopping.

I think I can sneak into the sewing room and work on some birds in the air this morning and maybe pull out the fabrics for a small version of the amethyst block and cut it out on the kitchen island while watching the kids.

Have a great day.

Prep work Wednesday

Today was the first day of school Aidan had to miss. He was running a fever and said his throat was hurting. His sister mentioned the same thing and has a slight temp too. So, a quick call to school and they are home for the day with me. Both are taking a nice nap for me so after I got some lunch I decided to do some prep work on the kitchen island while catching up with some recorded shows.

Yesterday I prepped two pillowcases and got them completed this morning. I need to either find some more WOF fabrics to work with my flannels or just make them all one fabric. I have some cute boy ones that I don't really see using with Aidan anymore so will pass them along in these pillowcases.

Then, I prepped for my RSC orange Birds in the Air blocks. I should be able to have these 12 sewn up for Saturday.

Then, it was a quick look in the closet for some Grandmothers choice fabric and I pulled a homespun fabric and did a quick prep for some hand quilting on a QSAB. I have four waiting and now I can pull this one out and work on it here and there during the day.

I pulled some fabrics for the Grandmothers choice block. I have tried to print this out from the PDF and it never measures correctly. I decided to use some construction paper and draft it out. Cut my parts and then prep it for hand work. Hopefully it comes out ok... I have also drafted it for the midget size finishing at 4.5 inches but will piece this one first and see how it comes out.

Not too bad for a day of prep work. Hmmm should I start prepping dinner while I can do it without kids underfoot or relax with some hand work? 

Tiny Tuesday #57

Snowball Wreath is number 57 of the midget block series. This one has paper piecing and then applique.  Since those tiny little circles were the applique I tried the freezer paper on top method and it worked really well. I did about half of the applique while waiting for the car on Saturday.

 It is so nice to have things ready to work on when you have a few minutes. Unfortunately, I am all out of handwork so really need to prep some today in between shuttling kids around. It is a Mommy taxi service day today - drop AT to school, back home to do Emmy's hippy lessons, then to Payless to get a pair of tap shoes to fit Emmy, back to pick up Aidan from school. Do Aidan's hippy lessons and get them fed and settled for a short nap. Hippy lessons arrive again at 1-2. Wake kids up at 2 and head to drop Aidan to dance class for 2:30. Back to pick up at 3:30 and drop off Emmy for her 3:45 class. Back to pick her up at 4:30.

Lots of time in the car on Tuesdays for me. At least the school/dance classes are 7 minutes from my house! Makes life much easier.
Have a great day.

Slow Sunday (or Saturday as it was!)

I had a slow stitching on Saturday this week. The car had that 'check engine' light come on Thursday and Saturday was the first time I could get it in to be looked at. Good thing DH has the new truck for work that he uses now. It allowed me to pop the car seats into the Civic and leave the van in the driveway until I could get it in for a check. A new hose and gas cap and it is good to go. While waiting for the car for the 1.5-2 hours..... I got to stitch.
This hand quilting on the block is now finished.

I had to stop at Joann's on the way home and get some more homespun for prepping some more blocks to hand quilt. I have 4 in the queue that will get prepped for quilting later today after work. I also got some orange fabrics and some black polka dots for a pillowcase to send off to Kristie. You can read about that here. Those are my projects for this week - making pillowcases so I can ship them off to Kristie.

Go on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what others have been working on this slow stitch Sunday.

Feeling Orange

I can't help but think of the episode of The Big Bang Theory when I think of 'feeling orange'. That Sheldon is a hoot.

I got to sew some more pinwheels this week in orange.

I've also found most of those 'bonus' triangles from making the pinwheels. I have an idea for the use of them and have the basket of HST and pairs next to the sewing machine and sew a few in between doing other things. They are growing fast. I did not trim them up and will just do that after they are all together. I plan to put these in the border of one of the quilts and will offset each side with a strip of cream/white and have them staggered around the border. That is the thought but we'll see if it happens when the quilt is closer to the putting together stage.

Here is a picture of all the blocks I have made so far this year with three leftover from what I won from my guild in VT a few years ago. I think I want 20 blocks in each quilt so I have a bit more of these to make.

Head on over to Soscrappy on Saturday and see what other orange goodness is happening this week.

What would you do?

What do you do when you have 2 very ripe banana and 2 very ripe pears sitting in the fruit basket? We decided to put them all into some banana muffins!

3 banana, mashed (or 2 banana and 2 pears as we did today!)
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix and put into greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or mini muffins for 10-15 minutes.
We tend to add mini chocolate chips to ours. It will make 12 big muffins or around 48 mini muffins. We did 6 big and 24 small ones today. Here is my little baker with her muffins. She peeled the banana and mashed them, measured the flour and sugar and stirred the batter for me. A great little helper.

Now we have a snack for when we pick up brother from preschool. He is starved when we pick him up at 11. His breakfast at home (and breakfast at school at 8AM) is long gone in those three hours. Today he had oatmeal and some danish at home with juice and water. Not sure what he'll get at school today but it will be milk and something with a fruit. I have a hungry boy in the mornings. Em.... not so much. She eats about 2 hours after she gets up!
I see sewing this afternoon in my future as long as they nap for me. I think it will be a little orange sewing and some pillowcases.

Tiny Tuesday

This is #52 - Whirling Pinwheel.
It went together pretty easily once I realized my first choice of red did not have quite enough fabric so this is made with my second choice. I removed a few of the seams to make it easier and pieced it with 40 parts for this little 4.5 inch finished block.

I also could not resist making another of the grandmother's choice blocks and made a midget one in blue and white. I think I did pretty good with my math and got this baby to be 5 inches perfectly. 

Monday.....

It feels so strange to not be heading into work today! Hubby went in to greet the truck delivery and then will head back home. We had a few things customers were waiting for that they can pick up tomorrow.

On tap is a family BBQ since the boy is finally feeling better today. Miss Em got to have a camp out last night with Daddy (2 person tent set up in the play room for Daddy and Emily to camp out in). Mommy insists she doesn't camp so I got to sleep in my nice bed. Aidan tried a few weeks ago but would not settle down and ended up in his bed.

Last night I got to make this block for the Grandmothers choice BOW that Barbara Brackman is hosting this year. It started on Saturday so there is time for you to join in the fun. Now someone remind me I really don't need to do one of these in blue and white. I have way too many things in process..... but wouldn't it look really neat as a blue/white block and quilt? This green/purple/cream one will be completely pulled from my stash so it will be pretty scrappy.
Have a great holiday for those in the US and a great Monday for everyone else!

Slow stitching Sunday

It was a busy week for hand work and boy did my hand feel it.

I managed to get this applique done for my reveal yesterday.

I've also been working on this binding for the baby quilt.

Next up will be attempting english paper piecing of little tiny hexies for one of my midget blocks. Wish me luck and please pass along any tips as I have no clue how to really get started. I have visited a few tutorials but it seems there are a few different ways to do it. Thanks in advance.

RSC - Orange Saturday.

I just had a feeling that this month would be orange. That leaves black and brown and some other color I have not thought of for the rest of the year....

In between attempting to put a few things away in the sewing room (or disaster area as my hubby calls it) I reached into the closet and scraps bin and pulled out orange. I had a little more than I thought but still not too much. I should be able to get some pinwheel and Birds in the air blocks out of this.

I think I may make a few pumpkin place mats this month as well..... What are your plans for the orange month? Head on over to SoScrappy and see what everyone else is up to in orange.

Have you heard of the new BOW by Barbara Brackman? It is called Grandmothers choice and will detail the efforts in gaining the right to vote for women in the US and across the world. It starts today and runs for 49 weeks. I think I am joining in and will do the green/purple and white colorway as I have a bunch of those fabrics in my stash. Anyone else joining in?

As for me.... I have a sick boy today so there will be lots of cuddling on the couch and video's for him to watch. Hopefully he'll nap a bit this afternoon with his sister so I can get some things done. At least at 4 he know's when he is going to throw up and can usually make it to the bathroom in time.... except for the one time last night when he got me and the couch. Thank goodness for the steam vacuum! Hope you all have a happy and healthy weekend on this holiday.