Monday, December 28, 2009

with a few days left...

i'm trying to get as many wips done from this year as possible. this is my second 9 patch. this took me awhile because i definately didn't like it as much as my first!! oh well.
but this our weather cold up here this freshed squeezed quilt has really brightend thing up!!
i used up as much of this fabric line that i had. i think i have a half yard left. it will go with other lines though.
i used orange thread which was REALLY fun to work with. and i LOVE the binding. this quilt needs to go to the right person. someone who LOVES bold colors!!! :)

lastly, i'm in the process of stippling my string quilt and then i'm ready to pin my pink and orange quilt. i'm feeling pretty good about going into next year. i have so few wips!! i still have some but not as many! :) and yes, i did say i was stippling the string quilt. boring i know but i practiced some other techniques and i just don't have the hang of it yet and believe it or not i think stippling with be okay on this! well at least i'm hoping so! hope you had a GREAT Christmas and have a happy new years!! :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

saturday fun

i was online this morning and came across this quilt and thought it would be fun to do so i did. this afternoon. i got to use all my reds and greens to make a christmas quilt.
i am going to put a boarder on it and i think this is what i'm going to use. it will just be a lap size but that's good for me!!

and i got this quilt top put together and boarders on so that the binding will be seen. i'm LOVING this quilt also. man i love pink! :) hope everyone has a GREAT rest of the weekend!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

redesign

this is one of my wips to try and get done this year. i will let you know that it's not going to happen. i might get the top together and i have a back for it but i still haven't got any more batting and i have two to quilt my string quilt that needs batting and now this one. you never know once christmas break is here. this will be one of my last pink with another color for awhile. i didn't blog much about this quilt but i switched it around last minute. it was supposed to have A LOT more stuff going on but i chose to redesign it so to speak. i like it. hope you are having a FANTASTIC weekend!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

oh the weather outside is frightful

We have a day off of school and we are pretty happy about it. Ruby is on neighborhood watch! :) We only got 3-5 inches of snow but the wind is horrible!!! It's quite cold out there.
We cleaned the boys room (which was a DISASTER!) Now their reward is some game time. Mine is a bath! :) And some quilt time later. Which if anyone has a suggestion for me on how to quilt my string quilt I would LOVE ALL suggestions. I ran out of batting also so I'm going to just get fronts and backs going so when I get the batting I can sandwich them.
This was my day to decorate the teachers lounge at school and have snacks for them. I will just do it tomorrow. I just really LOVE that snowman bowl and all the other christmas stuff. The box in the back is a bunch of ornaments. They get to take one if they like. We LOVE our teachers and ALL the work they do!! Hope you have a great day whatever it is you are doing. I might do some more baking. If the mood strikes! :)

Friday, December 4, 2009

one turtorial for string quilts

one of the many reasons i love this quilt is because you get to use ALL kinds of scraps!!! :) i seem to aquire ALL kinds of paper around my house because i have two in school. lucky for me this year i have a 6th grader and they don't have as much paper coming in.i cut the 8.5 x11 piece of paper to an 8.5" square. you can make it as big or little as you like depending on the size paper you have. in my opinion the bigger the better because this is an intense project that will go on for at least a few months.
for this tutorial i made my white strip 2". and i would do that again for the next string quilt. it will show off the fabric more. (i think) then you just lightly glue it on the diagonal to the paper.
get a scrap and put it face down on one side of the white strip and sew 1/4" seam.

then iron the fabric back.

continue doing this on both side until your square is full. you need to sew then iron, sew then iron and so on.

when you are done you square should look like this with the extras on each side.

flip it over...

and start cutting off the excess in line with the paper.

when you are done you now need to rip the paper off the back of the square. if will seem like it is perferated so it's not so bad. fold it back and then rip it off.

continue to do this until all the paper is peeled off.

when you are done you have a fabulous square. :) (that's my opinion) :) now i'm not really a teacher but a few of you asked how to do this and i thought i would put my two cents out there. if something wasn't clear let me know and i will do my best to explain it better.

thanks so much for all your very kind comments. you guys are so sweet!! :) have a great day

Thursday, December 3, 2009

what i LOVE about quilting...

how this pile of scraps turns into...80 squares for this...
a finished string quilt that makes me :)!!

this was my first quilt day in AGES!!!!! it was VERY nice. that's all i did today was work on this quilt so that i could get it laid out. have a great day!!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

car projects

here are a few of my car projects, i tore paper off six of my string quilt squares. i only have 14 more to go and i was working on those today. won't be long and i will hopefully finish that quilt!
i also finished the binding on the baby quilt that i was supposed to have done by october 25th. she knows that i've been working on it though!!
i worked on my knitting. this is just going to be a baby blanket. i don't know for who yet. but we have about 5 or 6 more babies to go at our church. :)
my mother-in-law wanted to learn how to knit...i ended up doing it for her. we were cracking up how she kept holding the needles. i don't think i'm a very good teacher either though. so there is her scarf.
lastly my nephew taught me how to crochet and i'm very slow at it but it's fun for something different. i'm just starting with a wash rag. then maybe i will go for something bigger? who knows.
here are some of my finds from the fabric shack. this is yardage. they have a table that is 2.98 a yard and you have to buy the full piece. some of my pieces are a 1/4 yard and some of my pieces are a yard and some are in between. i have some amy butler, michael miller other moda it's going to be soooooo much fun to work with!
this is robert kauffman and it's one of my faves!!!! this is a fat quarter even though it was on the sale table.
here are some very random fat quarters. i was THRILLED to find more of that red polka dot!!!

this is going to be a GREAT quilt!!!!! i can't wait to work with this pile!!!

and these two stacks are from my sister-in-law for my birthday. they are flannels and i can't wait to work with them. one is fall and one is winter with snowmen on it. they are so very cute!! i don't want to start any new projects until i finish all that i have started but this fabric is making it very hard for me. i think i have about 7 or 8 wips so i'm going to do my best to get them done before the new year. we'll see....... :)

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

giveaway winner

the winner of the giveaway is jennifer from crafty jennifer. congrats!!!! hope everyone has a GREAT thanksgiving. i have much to give thanks for!!! i pray you do also!

Monday, November 23, 2009

giveaway

i went to the fabric shack today and i picked up a few christmas fat quarters for a giveaway! if you are interested please leave me a comment and tell me what you are working on right now. any christmas projects?????
here are a few of my favorites. i LOVE the top right corner. LOVE the little pig! i also like the vintage campers. it should be a GREAT bag.
one of my sister-in-laws likes tea cups so i'm going to do something with this for her. she just had a tea party for her new daughter-in-law. i just LOVE the fabric shack!!!! i'll show some of my other finds later. it's overcast and hard to get a good picture. have a great day!!!
i will pick a winner for the giveaway on wednesday. please leave a way that i could get ahold of you! good luck!!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

hip, hip hooray! hip, hip hooray! hip hip hooray!!!!!

i'm sooooooooooo very excited!!!!!! i'm back up and running!!! my father-in-law is a ROCK STAR!!!!!! he got us up and going!!!
these are the blocks for our november quilting bee. i had fun with these fabrics!! hope she likes them! you know me nervous nelly! :)
this is october's block and i'm VERY nervous about this one. and once again i'm sooooooo very sorry it was sooooooo late!!

one of the projects i did in my down time without a sewing machine was paint my kitchen. the color is spanish olive and i LOVE it. this is not a great picture of the color because it looks a bit yellowish but it's brighter and i LOVE it. (obviously i wasn't working on my in basket!! :) oh well.
lastly, we are in ohio for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary!! that's my husband giving a very sweet speach about is parents. he is one of six. i was SO VERY PROUD of him!!! it was a GREAT night!!! so now that i'm up and running i really will have a giveaway! i'm going to be going to fabric shack while i'm here so stay tuned!!!! :)
boy it is nice to be back!!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

back in the saddle

i just wanted to give a quick heads up!! I'M BACK!!!! i haven't had my sewing machine for three 1/2 weeks. i just got it back on Saturday afternoon!!!!! i finished a baby quilt that we had the shower for in October and I'm trying to get my quilting bee blocks done. with not having a the machine working i didn't do Octobers and now we are onto Novembers and Decembers is coming. i'm way behind but plan on catching up TODAY!! still on a different computer so no pictures yet BUT my husband tells me we are getting fixed when we are in Ohio this next week. so my guess is the next post might not have to many words and a lot of pictures!!! :):) lets hope!!! have a FANTASTIC day!!!!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

out of commission

now my sewing machine is out being fixed. it's a two week turn around. who knows what i'll be able to get done by the end of the year. BUT i did think since i can't sew i can cut out the quilts that i'm going to be working on so that when i get my machine back i can go to town. i've still been working a lot so it's not like i've been down there that much lately. but it's getting to be that time of year and i want to sew! oh well. my machine will be all better when i get it back. have a great week!

Friday, October 16, 2009

i'm still around

i am having problems with my computer. i want to SCREAM!!!! but instead i'm going to be patient and i will eventually somehow get it fixed and then i can resume. so picture in your mind my string quilt. i only have 20 blocks left to do!!!! i need to sandwich my second nine patch. i've got a new blue stacked coins baby quilt i need to finish by October 25th. that was to only thing (quilt) i've started. my goal is to finish what i've started by the end of the year so i can start fresh in the new year.

i've been subbing a lot so my quilting time is WAY down. but extra money is nice too! :)

i'm hoping that this computer business is fixed soon because i'd like to have a giveaway!!!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

got 'er done

this is the only quilt i finished this month. my in-laws can take this to my niece and then i won't have to ship it which is nice. the fold mark is bugging me but oh well. you get the jist. :)
the back is fun to me. that stripe is in the middle. this will fit a twin size bed. my mother in-law said that this should match the room REALLY well and that lilly should like it. hope so!! it was very fun working with pinks and greens. hope you have a great day!! :)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

fresh squeezed

i am only going to finish one quilt this month...so to make me feel better i started a new one with the fresh squeezed line. it's a little overcast out today so the bright cheery fabric makes up for the clouds.
i will be finishing a quilt tonight or tomorrow sometime and will post then! my in -laws are coming in tonight for a few days!!!!! :) i LOVE when they come!! :)
hope you have a GREAT day!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

being caught up...

feels soooooooooooooo good!!! these are my 9 patches. i'm cutting the sashing step out!! :)
how are you doing?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

i didn't fall off the face of the earth....

i've just had a lot going on. it's been a busy and sad couple of weeks around our house. i'm on pto this year at the school and we have a function coming up on friday that i've been working on. last saturday our church had their carnival that i help with. big to do. and lastly and hardest thing was i had to take peter parker my cat to the humane society on the 10th. boy that was HARD!!!!!!! i cried A LOT!!!! he was to stressed with ruby and i couldn't see him sick anymore.

but on a better note i was at target yesterday and found these sheets that i thought went well with my quilt. they are 400 thread count, king size and they were only 37$. i LOVE target. i don't always have sheets that match because i get cheap when it comes to things like that. but i can NO longer sleep on nubby sheets. does anyone else know about nubby sheets. i can't stand them!! :)

i am working on things - i just have to get through this weekend and maybe i'll get a few things done and share them!:) have a FANTASTIC day!!