Life is Good - Babies and Quilting

My sub-teaching assignment is going quite well, especially since I've kind of figured out some of the computer stuff and the regular teacher had such awesome lesson plans. Of course, it helps that the students are all pretty darn good too!  :-)

Anyway, life has slowed done just a bit and I was so happy to have the opportunity to watch Avery for a short time earlier this week. Look at this picture that I took when she first got here. I'm choosing to believe that smile is a result of realizing that she was at Grandma's house and that we were going to spend some quality time together.

 

And boy did we spend some quality time. Just look at what Avery did!

 

 

She wasn't here for more than a couple of hours, but she must have been starving. Each of the tall, skinny bottles had 2 ounces in them and them I made 2 more ounces because she was definitely still hungry. As you can tell, I made a tad too much. She took two or three long drags on that bottle, closed her eyes and promptly went to sleep. It was funny to watch.  :-)

 

When Jack came home she was still sleeping, but he needed some "baby time."

 

 

She continued to sleep until it was time to go. As a matter of fact, she was sleeping so soundly that she didn't even wake up when Lynn put her in the car seat. Maybe she was just worn our from all the fun here. (I was afraid to ask how she slept that night.)

 

 

On the quilting front, there was some actual sewing done this past week. It consisted mostly of sewing bindings on for other people, but the machine was running and I was sewing. I completely finished one binding and have the machine stitching part done for two others, both of which are quite large (queen and king). I'll get a good start on at least one of them today and hopefully finish it tomorrow. I like the idea of having the machine part sewn so I can just sit down and hand sew in the evenings.

 

The weather has been kind of brutal here (95+ degrees) and there is no air conditioning in my classroom so I have been quite spent by the time I get home. I tried sewing one night but had to spend some quality time with my seam ripper and decided it wasn't a good idea to sew when I'm hot and tired. (A cold front came in and Friday was beautiful. I'm afraid to look at the weather forecast, but I sure hope these cool temperatures continue.)

 

Yesterday was our guild meeting and I'd like to share a couple pictures from that. Here's is Carolyn's Maple Leaf Log Cabin quilt. This is one of my patterns and I love seeing the finished quilts from these patterns. I think this turned out quite beautiful and hope that the recipient appreciates how much time and energy Carolyn put into making this. This is a big quilt (107" x 117") and all she needs to do is add the binding.  

 

 

My friend Kare quilted this and I think it turned out beautifully.

 

 

I have a couple of other pictures to share, but I'm still having some issues downloading them. Hopefully I'll resolve that later today. They are beautiful quilts...just saying!

 

Well I guess I had better get moving if I plan to get anything creative done today.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I have something to post for Design Wall Monday. Who knows, it may still be my Celebrations Tree Skirt, which you can see HERE.

 

Don't forget! There is still time to enter the Mystery Giveaway. Click HERE for details.

Design Wall Monday

I've got my Celebrations Tree Skirt up on the wall today because I need to keep looking at it so I can decided how I'm going to quilt it. The top is ready, as are the backing and batting. Now I just need the inspiration and time to actually quilt this.

I really want to have this quilted within the next couple of weeks so I can use it as a throw on my bed. This is a Judy Niemeyer pattern and even though she offers suggestions on how to quilt this and I've seen some quilted versions, I need to be realistic on how I quilt mine. I'm quilting this on my domestic machine and I want to do something sort of simple, but not too simple. Does that make sense?

I'm still kind of struggling with finding a good size chunk of time on any given day that I can devote to quilting. I'm afraid that if I start with a real detailed quilting pattern here, I just won't be able to really get in the groove before I have to stop and do something else. It's funny, but I often start quilting on a donation quilt or small project before attacking a larger one so I can get the feel of what I'm doing. There have been times that I haven't done that and I'm not happy with the quilting so I rip out stitches and do it over. I really don't want to have to do that with this project!

Anyway, I'm hoping that since this is up on the wall, staring me in the face, something will pop and I'll be able to just sit down and quilt. Wish me luck!!!

Don't forget that I'm having a Mystery Giveaway. Click HERE for details.

Avery is 16 days old today and as much as I would love to be able to add a few pictures here, I'm having trouble uploading them from my phone. I'm sure it's something simple, but I guess I'm too tired to figure it out right now. Hopefully I'll get them posted soon. Maybe this link will work and you can see some that Ty's cousin Amber took.

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today.
Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday and a Fun Giveaway!

Quilting time has been pretty elusive the last couple of weeks but I did spend a few hours fondling fabric, cutting it and even doing some simple piecing. I needed something simple that didn't take much thought and the Magic Carpet Quilt kit was just the answer. Here's what's done so far. I have all the large squares cut, the four patches made (they are part of the nine patch blocks) and the center section of the nine patch blocks. Oh it sure did feel good to sew, and this fabric is gorgeous!

 



I bought this kit from Nancy J's Fabrics and they were wonderful to work with. My friend Denise send me a picture of her kit and I loved it. (If I was trying to go on a spending moratorium, I'd blame Denise for me buying this. But since I'm not, Thanks, Denise!)

Here are some specifics about this quilt. It's designed by Roberta Horton and the pattern can be found in

Kaffe Fassett's book Quilt Romance.

I have to be honest, I didn't really care for the quilt in the book. I wasn't thrilled with the fabrics and just really didn't take the time to explore different fabric possibilities. Boy was that a mistake!

While at a show (I think Paducah),Denise saw a sample that Nancy J's had made up using very different Kaffe fabrics and it was stunning! She bought the kit and then send me pictures. Even looking at the quilt on the screen of a small phone was beautiful. I called the shop about the kit and was pleasantly surprised when they still had all but one of the fabrics. I asked her to substitute what she thought would work and before you know it, I had purchased the kit. (It was wonderful timing because the shop was packing up to got to Grand Rapids and most of this fabric was going with them. Whew, that was close!)

Anyway, I cut the fabric for this soon after receiving the kit because I wanted to have it ready to sew on a moment's notice. Well, my plan worked and it was wonderful to hear the machine purring away. I even enjoyed the pressing! I have another busy week ahead of me so I don't know how much sewing will get done, but it sure is nice to know that it's there and ready to go. Heck, even 15 minutes of sewing feels great and I'm ok with that.

I announced the birth of my latest grandchild Avery Lynn in my last post as well as the possibility of a giveaway. I've been playing around with some ideas of how to host this giveaway and I've come up with what I think is kind of fun. (I hope you do too!)

Since Lynn and Ty had decided to be surprised by their little one and did not find out the gender, I've decided to follow suit and host a

Mystery Prize Giveaway

Here are the specifics:

1. In honor of Lynn's 26+ hours of labor, this giveaway will last for 26 days, with the winner being chosen on September 27th.

2. To be entered in the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog, answering the following question: 

What is your favorite childhood memory?

3. To gain an extra entry, link to this post on your blog or Facebook and leave a second comment telling me you've done so.

4. You do not have to be a follower of my blog, but you are more than welcome to do so.

5.If you are a no reply blogger, please make sure I have an e-mail address for you so I can contact you in case you're the winner.

What will the winner receive?

The winner will receive the above pictured bag filled with various fabrics, notions and items that can be used to make a baby quilt and/or other baby related products.

Sound like fun? Want to play along?

I sure hope so.

Good Luck Everyone!!

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today.
Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Big News and Updates Galore

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted, but I have good excuses for that. Really, I do!!

First of all, I've accepted a six-week sub-teaching position at a local high school and I've been spending some quality time brushing up on my literature knowledge. Yep, that's right. I'm teaching American Literature to sophomores and British Literature to seniors. I have a Media class thrown in there for good measure. It's interesting, challenging and fun all at the same time.

I am very fortunate that the regular teacher was awesome and prepared all the lessons for me. You have no idea how amazing that is (unless you're a teacher). Of course there are always the glitches of a new year, but the students and I are adjusting well and things are beginning to fall into place.

Nikki and family were here for a wedding two weeks ago and as usual, it was wonderful to have them here for the weekend. This was the best picture I could get of the entire group right before they left for the wedding. I really do stink at taking pictures!

The great big news and latest reason for my absence is that I am a grandmother again! Avery Lynn was born Saturday, August 24th and she is just adorable.

Of course I've got more pictures, but I don't have time to post them right now. I'll try to do that in the next couple of days, and I might even try to post something quilt-related. :-)

Nikki and family came back for Avery's birth and I have some wonderful pictures of Quinn riding a bike and Sadie playing office. Ronan is just too darn fast for me to get any good pictures. It seems that they are all blurry because he's always moving. I'll keep looking to see what I can find.

With all the wonderful things happening lately, I've been in a really good mood, so I'm going to spend some time in the quilt room this weekend and pull out items for a giveaway. Sound like fun? I'll post details later this week or early next week.

Until then, have a great day!

Design Wall Monday

I've been quite busy the last few days and will not be home most of the day today so I doubt that too much will get done on this quilt, but I really do need to work on it soon. This is for Lynn and Ty's baby. They picked out the fabric and design a while ago and I kind of procrastinated.  :-(

Of course, we were all hoping that Lynn would go into labor this weekend because Nikki and family were here and school starts this coming week, but it didn't happen.

I've been having some fun and have been sending text message to Baby, via Lynn and Ty with suggestions and encouragement on the best days and times to make his/her grand entrance. So far Baby hasn't listened. Do you think that a finished quilt will be enticing enough to move things along? Oh, I think I need to get busy!

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today.
Check out Judy L's Patchwork Times.

Friday Finishes

Well, at least the top is finished! Does it count that I have the backing ready for this quilt, as well as the binding?

The pattern for this quilt is in Spring 2013 Fons & Porter's Scrap Quilts magazine. The designer is Tony Jacobson and this is a very scrap and fat quarter-friendly pattern.

 

I had no intention of making this quilt and didn't even own the magazine, but then I saw Eileen working on this during the last Old Bags' Day Sew-In.

 

(If you really want to see some awesome quilts in progress and finished, click HERE to check out this picture-laden post from the Old Bags' Day.)

 

Anyway, I saw Eileen working on her quilt and thought it was really cute. I kept thinking about Eileen's quilt and finally just bought the magazine and started pulling fabric. I love how it turned out (except the outside border. I don't know what I was thinking when I was attaching those. Well, obviously I wasn't and I'm not changing it now. I'll just be sure to quilt the heck out of it and hide those misguided seams.)

Check out what other quilters are finishing up today.
Go to Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Late Pictures of Old Bags' Day

As promised, here are some pictures from our last Old Bags' Day Sew-In. There were 30 people in attendance, plus Kare and myself so we had a full house and a bunch of fun. I really do need to work on getting pictures of EVERYONE during these events. I just never seem to have my camera with me when there's a really good photo op. I'll try harder during the next event in September. :-)

I really don't know which part of these days I like best.

Is it a room full of people with a common love of quilting? Look at the concentration and hard work of these talented ladies! They mean business and are ready to complete some projects.

 

 

 

There's lots of consultation during the day and PJ, Karen and Cindi always have some great ideas.

 

 

 

Maybe it's watching people work together to discuss a problem or offer design suggestions. It looks like Chris, Mariann and Connie have some possible solutions to a design issue.

 

 

And Kare, Janet and Mary lay out this somewhat complicated quilt that will just be stunning when it's all together. This picture really does NOT do it justice.

 



 

It could be witnessing a stroke of genius, like Connie figuring out that those pockets are a great place to put your rotary cutter so you don't cover it with the quilt when you're trimming. 

 

 

 
 
Perhaps it's sharing a laugh and wishing you had a shirt that offered such kind words to quilters everywhere. Thanks Pam!

 

Maybe it's the food!

 

 

Or the fact that you get to share a meal with some really talented, creative and fun people!

 

Or maybe it's being there when projects are being completed and shared with the group.

 

Ann is the queen of purses and bags and I just love these fabrics!

 

Carolyn is ready for her next border.

 

 

Fran was a busy bee, finishing a couple of projects.

 

 

 

I love seeing the progression of all the various projects.

 

 

Someone in Janet's block exchange group didn't complete their block, but that didn't stop Janet from getting  a head start on this quilt top.

 

 

I also love the fact that relatively new quilters feel comfortable enough to bring projects that they've been working on and ask for opinions on thing like borders options! I love Chris' Weaver Fever.

 



 

And Chris' Twisted is gorgeous! It looks so much like blue china dishes. I can't wait to see this one completed.

 

An then of course, there's the show and tell.

 

 

I think people like the back of Connie's quilt almost as much as the front.  :-)  

 

Isn't Mabel's Bali Wedding Star stunning?!?
 

 
 If I'm not mistaken, this is an old guild mystery quilt project. Congratulations on finishing it Mary!

 

I know Pam is thrilled to have this Trade Winds quilt top done. It's beautiful and ready for quilting.

 

 

Darla's ready to bind her scrappy Buckeye Beauty; and it sure is a beauty! 

 

 

Aren't these blocks of Karen's so much fun?

Look out Karen. I think April likes your completed row! 

 

And so does the next generation of quilters! Sadie came to visit and just loved all the quilts. She even gave one of them a hug and said that it was beautiful and she loved it.  

I'm still playing catch up with posting so in the next few days I'll be showing some of my projects and sharing some pretty exciting news.