Crafty kind of day

My cousin is getting married in a week. I bought the girls the cutest dresses, but needed a fabulous bow. I have seen a LOT on esty, but just didn't want to pay that price. So thanks to Allyson and my mom I brought a fancy flower/bow and added to it.  Here is my end result.

 Evelyn modeled well for me today.  Yes I bribed her with candy. But could you say no to that cute face when asked for a piece of candy?

Connecting Threads

Yes two post in one day. What was I doing all day/  SEWING of course.  I am excited to start to new quilts this month. I got this nice little package in the mail today. VERY excited about this.  Getting a head start on Christmas this year.

 Pinwheel Sample here I come. Going to join in a quilting class end of June and part of July to make this beauty.  Isn't the fabric just wonderful?  This is a Rachel Griffith pattern. I purchased the kit at Connecting Threads. Just love that website and their fabric is a really good quality.

Oh My longarm!!!

Well today I had the pleasure of spending most of it with my Mother-in-law and her BEAUTIFUL Longarm Quilting machine. she has a state of the art Gammill Optima machine with a Statler Stitcher. It is a beauty and oh how it can make your quilt beautiful.

Today I was able to finish the baby quilt I have been making for a friend. Marcia did a free hand stitch. WOW. So what you see below is all her doing.

 Getting the backing all pinned and ready for the batting and top.

 Basting around the edges before she began

 A quilitng she goes. I love having my tops done here. Not only is the company good, but makes all my hard work at piecing come together in the end and jut icing on the cake.

 Almost finished. Wanted to take a picture of it while it was still rolled.

 Just the back of the quilt. Love this pattern she created. Also enjoy the fact that it doesn't take away from all the baby clothes and goes inline with the fabric for the backing.

 The finished product. Minus the binding being whipped on. I hope Susan and Gabe enjoy it as much as I do.

A better close up of the back.

Mommy and Me

I was looking at some of the other blogs I follow and came across this Esty site. The Vintage Honey Shop has some really cute items. My favorite has got to be http://www.etsy.com/listing/87230454/mommy-me-necklace-set-in-sparrow-plum. Has a little bit of pink in it for Grace, and a lot of purple for mommy. That would leave Evelyn out, but I am sure I could get these ladies to make one for her too.  Go on a stop by. They have beautiful things! 

Day 2 on Carousel Quilt

Piecing, piecing, piecing....

That should be a song for quilters. Doesn't feel like I got a lot done, but OH my it was a puzzle. I was able to finish chaining my pieces together, iron out my seams and begin the piecing and placing of my blocks.

First I had to finish some biding for the baby clothes quilt. It is off to Marcia's to be quilted tomorrow!!

Rows A and B mostly laid out. With the fabrics being so dominate I needed to make sure that they were evenly distributed throughout the quilt.

So I called on the Engineer and puzzle master to help. As you can see WHOA fabric! 9 rows total with 7 pieces per row. There is a bit missing to. Lattice pieces go between each piece and on the ends. Brad LOVES, puzzles I mean LOVES them. So he was willing to help. He is always willing to help me cut, figure and piece.  Love him! I am not the biggest fan of puzzles.  Brad says that is why quilting suites me. Cause it is my kind of puzzle. I can cut the pieces to fit anywhere.  ;o)

Well here is the sort of finished product.  Going to sleep on it tonight, and take one last look before I start putting the rows together. But I like the distribution of fabrics.  We check both vertically and horizontally to make sure the same fabrics weren't in each row or column.  Goodness.

I really love the earthy tones of this fabric line. I am getting excited about how this is turning out.

Headed to bed over it all, going to sleep on the layout. Tomorrow is a busy day, more dr. appts too. Headed to Marcia's www.stitchmemories.com to have my baby quilt professionally quilted. Then she will be helping me make squares that are two half triangles for the block of the month. Oh and don't forget a Hobby Lobby stop for some Kona Cotton.

Night all!

Carousel Lap Quilt 1.

Today I began sewing on a quilt I have been wanting to do for a long time. About a year ago with Quaker Town closed it doors here in Friendswood, I jumped at the sales and bought a TON of fabric for 60-70% off. Moda fabric, Robert Kaufman and more. I had intended this to be for Grace, but my husbands Aunt came over one day with a Robert Kaufman botanical fat quarter pack. That bundle just spoke to me and I knew it was fit for the quilt I have been wanting to put together.  

This will be my first quilt with so many pieces.  I think so far I have cut around 200 pieces. But I did get a lot done today. Started on the 31 blocks. I really like the colors. Yes it has orange in it, but not a TON of orange.

Here is what my quilt will look like. I love it it plays on your eyes.

 My fabric choices. I think they are perfect for this quilt. One things that I love, I mean LOVE about fat quarters is that they designer of the fabric put a lot of thought into how the fabrics go together and plus makes the matching of fabric just a tad easier for me.

 

The cutting begins. First I had to cut 63 squares that where 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 My fat quarters were perfect for this. My overage on each one was just over 2". I will be saving that for my binding. Thinking I will want a funky binding using this left over scraps from each fat quarter. 

Next I cut 116, well more to be safe, 1 1/2" by 8 1/2" for the lattice pieces. Here I am in the process of making 31 blocks. Each has a lattice piece on both long sides.

 

That was all for tonight. Tomorrow I plan to finish sewing the lattice pieces to make the 31 blocks. Then I will begin assembling the rows. That is where the magic of this pattern takes place.

summer is here!

Schools....out....for....summer!!!!
's
YES!!!  Oh I have been SO ready for summer break. I need this break. I will be able to get my house back in order and spend some good quality time with my girls. I sure do miss them during the year.

I have a LOT of sewing projects lined up for the summer.  Sewing a few dresses for the girls, I have several quilts in line to make. Finish the baby quilt, bind my brown quilt, make a pinewheel quilt, start a stained glass window own, make Gace's (find a pattern for it too), and join a quilt block of the month.  So needless to say I will be doing a LOT of sewing.

I also have some pinterest projects lined up too for the house and my classroom. But right now I will be taking a nice little nap to start my summer off!!