Sew~Amy

My pirate is coming together.

2012-01-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

Here is what he is looking like now.

The lettering and outlining need to be added.

Colors for me next project.... or a project that is in the future. I have found a few patterns I'd like to stitch.

TUSAL for January

2012-01-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Here are my ORTs ( old ratting threads) for January. I am in the TUSAL ( Totally Useless Stitch A-Long) over at 'It's DaffyCat's'. I found another jar, a bigger one, to put my threads in but then ended up using that one for pasta. So I still need to find a bigger jar for my ORTs.

What I've been up to.....

2012-01-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

I have been stitching a bit while watching movies with the hubs ( see last picture below). Made a little prOgress on my skull pirate.

I've been reading and answering lab questions for my Mirco class.

I've been cooking dinner a lot. One of my New Year's resolutions was to have the family eat at the dinner table more often. :o) I got this recipe off of Pinterest and it is yummy, I've made it twice now...... Cheese & Bacon Potato Rounds

4 baking potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/2 Cup melted butter

8 slices bacon ~cooked and crumbled

8 oz shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 Cup chopped green onion

Preheat 400 degrees, Brush both sides of potato slices with butter and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 30-40 mins or until lightly browned on both sides, turning once. When done ~ top with bacon, cheese, green onion.....then cont' to bake till the cheese if melted. So easy and so yummy, they are like mini baked potatoes.

I've been watching "The Tuskegee Airmen". What a wonderful movie, it will make you cry. The hubs and I are excited to see the new movie coming out by George Lucas, "Red Tails". Both movies are based on the true story of the 332nd fighter squadron from WWII. Both have Cuba Gooding, Jr. in them also. I love his acting. Anyway, it is an amazing story and I highly recommend it. And I am quite sure that George Lucas' movie will be just as good.

Stitching is Therapy

2012-01-17T06:47:00.000-08:00

Remember my son's little ammonite he stitched? I found a tiny frame for it. It now lives up on a shelf next to his microscope in his room. I also found a frame for my 'mad scientist' and he is living on a self in my bedroom for right now.

I'd like to find some more cute scientist / lab cross stitch patterns and have a bunch hanging of a wall together. But no luck finding anymore so far.

I finished up the stitching on my second Christmas ornament, but am still too scared to make it into an actual ornament. I need some kind of tutorial showing me exactly how to do it so I don't mess it up. If anyone knows of one please let me know.

My new start is another Christmas pattern called "Pirates Love Christmas" by Sue Hillis Designs. Our neighbors who do sooo much for us, love pirates. Their whole house is decorated in them, so I am making this for them for Christmas 2012. :o)

In school news.... here are my books. I am taking three classes this semester. And it is a bit overwhelming. I've been having some health issues too, so my stress level is through the roof. I believe I will be withdrawing from my Clinical Chemistry class and taking it another semester. In just that class alone I have 3 chapters to read , a test on laboratory reference values and tubes next week and a three page paper with presentation due next Tuesday..... and that is just in one class.

Stitching is my relaxation and thearpy so hopefully I can find more time to stitch. ~amy

A couple of Finishes

2012-01-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

I finished my 'mad scientist'..... which is really " The Guest House, Secret Lair" by Bent Creek. Putting a frog in place of the pumpkin so I could hang it year round and I think every scientist needs a frog in their lab.

I'm really excited about him and can't wait to find a frame. I went out today to try to find one , but no luck yet. Also on the finished list is my 'Winter Squirrel'...I have finished the stitching up but still need to make it into an ornament. The pattern came from the 'Just CrossStitch Christmas Ornaments' Issue 2011. Don't you just love his tiny acorn he is holding?! The pattern called for tiny red buttons to go around the greenery, but I put 3 colonial knots instead to look like berries. Really, I just didn't want to go out on a hunt for tiny red buttons. :o)

Another finish is my son's ammonite. He worked so hard on it and it only took him 3 sits ( 3 different days sitting to work on it) to finish it. Each time he went to stitch on it I could tell he had improved a bit. He was bringing up the needle from the back much easier and following the pattern much better. This little guy will be framed and hung in his room soon. Pattern from the book 'Not Lame! Makoto's Cross-Stitch Super Collection'.

Onto some 'starts'... I started another ornament out of the same 'Just CrossStitch' magazine. This time I'm stitching a cute little snowman around trees. And if you look real close you can see the sweet tiny cardinals. I love birds.

Another start.... the 4th HocusPocusVille block. I will post progress with pictures on my HocusPocusVille blocks another time. School will be starting in T-minus 2 days so that means no time to stitch after that..... that will be a good time to post it.

Two posts in One

2012-01-03T09:55:00.001-08:00

I've been up to so much lately...because my school is still out. Next week school starts back and I'm sure I'll have my nose buried in books again with no time to do anything else but study and eat. Today I have two posts in one, the first is about stitching and the second is about my organizing craze I've been going through.
In stitching news....I finished all but the pumpkin ( which I'm not going to stitch) on my 'mad scientist' stitchery. The name of this pattern is actually "Secret Lair" and it's by Bent Creek. I wanted to be able to hang it up year-round so instead of the pumpkin, I'm stitching a frog. (one of my favorite animals)

I've started a new pattern out of the magazine "Just Cross Stitch" Christmas issue 2011. I want to make some cross stitched ornaments for Christmas 2012. This one pictured below was so cute and small , I figured it would be a good one to tackle before school started and I could actually get it done.

I spent ALL last Thursday at my local quilt shop, Quilting Adventures. They hosted a sewing retreat. So from 10am-5pm we had uninterrupted sewing time! I got 3 of my Farmer's Wife blocks sewn. The top row, last 3 blocks to the right are the ones I made that day.

My organizing craziness: From my floss post the other day..... I am still winding up floss, but have probably only gotten 10 more done.

I wanted a way to display my children's good grade papers and art work, so I made the hubs hang some curtain rods for me. I've got some of my mini quilt swap quilts hang up right now, but the snow flake art was made by my son right before school closed for Holiday.

And this sweet picture was drawn by my son. He drew me a frog with a fly. I can't wait to hang the children's paper's up there so they can see how proud I am of them.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to get my recipes organized. I have recipes on all kinds of paper stuffed everywhere. I don't really use much of them because I don't know what I have or where I'd even find it to make it. So , I pulled them all out and I'm going to get these things straight.

I was searching on e-bay for a recipe box, but then went to one of my favorite shops ~ Through The Garden Gate and found this one. For $4.

I'm hoping to get maybe 2 written a week. I think that's a good goal. That will be do-able. This will lead me to make dinner more and us eating at the dinner table more together.

Organizing Floss

2012-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

Or trying to. I decided to wind my floss on little floss cards to get more organized. So I could see which colors I have or how many of a color I have. Or just to be more organized. Well, I didn't know what I was getting into. I have way more floss then I thought I had.

I really thought I was down to one bag of floss and one box of already wound floss before I started this organizational task. I've been winding for 3 days now. Not the whole 3 days. :o) Just here and there for 3 days.

I've now filled one more box. So I have the box that was full to begin with and a newly filled box.... but wait there's more....

I opened a drawer in my bedroom and found another bag full of floss today! I haven't even finished winding the first bag of floss. I thought I was getting close to being done with winding floss, the bag on the right in the one I've been working on. The one on the left is the bag I found today. Oh holy moly, what have I started?! I will need to go buy another container or 2 to hold all this.

PS~ I haven't even started to put these cute little floss wound cards in order yet.

PSS~ I think I'll just go stitch some. :o)

Threads Running Wild

2011-12-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

We had such a Merry Christmas, I hope you did too. Still a lot of things going on while school is out for Holiday. Here is prOgress on my 'Mad Scientist'.

Here is one of the gifts my husband gave me. This book has the cutest patterns in it.

Here is one pattern that caught my son's eye. He loves Ammonites. (The little pink guy with the yellow shell in the bottom left corner)

So he decided he wanted me to teach him how to cross-stitch. He didn't last long, he got very frustrated and only got 3 lines done. He asked if he could go play and work on it later. :o) I'm hoping he'll do more little by little. I'd love to frame it one day and hang it in his room.

In other news. LOL I am taking the 'Totally Useless Stitch-a-long' over at "It's Daffycat". Here is a picture of my jar (which may change later when I find a cuter one) empty. No ORT= Old Ratty Threads yet. I like saving up my old ratty threads for the birds anyway, they use them to make their nest in the Spring. So by next Spring (2013), I'll have all kinds of thread for them.

Another big change in the subject~ My daughter and her boyfriend's gift exchange..... they have been dating for 1 3/4 years. And they are both big gamers. She gave him this cute magnet.

You know she had knee surgery a few months ago and just recently got off of her crushes. He gave her this cute shirt. LOL

She also made him this cute X-Box game controller. Her and her girlfriend made up a pattern and stitched it up. What a creative and great idea. I am so proud of her.

Hopefully I can post prOgress pictures of the Ammonites soon. Everyone have a wonderful New Year and be safe on New Year's Eve.

Lots going on in December

2011-12-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

December is usually so busy, but fun. I have finished my shopping and most of the wrapping so I get to sit back and enjoy the season. I've been watching lots of Christmas movies and listening to my Pandora Christmas station. Baking goodies and making things with my son. I've stitched a tiny bit , here is the progress on my Mad Scientist.

I've only done a few stitches on the sewing machine. I made a cap for the robotics team with some cute appliques on it and appliqued a logo on my sister-in-laws apron. ( She is a hair dresser) We've gone to a few Christmas parties. Ate lots of food and went to see the lights.

The picture above is my daughter and my husband. Aren't they so cute! My son pictured below finished his "Build and Grow" train.

Lowe's puts on a "Build and Grow" twice a month through out the year. The kids get to build things for free while you shop. :o) We've been taking Jonah for a while now and he has gotten much better. When we first went he couldn't drive the nail in by himself, that was probably 2 years ago. Now he reads the directions and can build things all by himself. We just watch him now.

We've made bird seed feeder this week with a few of the neighbor kids. I saw this cute blog on how to make them. I asked my husband to pick up birdseed while he was at Lowe's the other day and he bought the kind with big sunflower seeds in them. So they aren't as cute as the ones on this blog, but they turned out. And I bet the birds will eat them anyway.

It is camouflaged, but here is a heart shaped one hanging in the tree.

This one is a creature who's head fell off. LOL

Off to do some more fun things today. I think we're going to go paint pottery and bake some more cookies. The owl cookies in this blog post by Tiny Acron. I love her blog. And I love when my children are out of school. <3

Christmas Comes but Once a Year.

2011-12-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Larry, our Elf on the Shelf is running away with Ms. Goodman's Christmas gift.

My little guy said he wanted to give his teacher an apple for Christmas, so I made her a 'cash & carry' with apples on it. And embroidered her name at the top. (Thank you Mary Terry for helping me pick out the fabric) A very easy pattern.

And here is Larry with the school nurses' Christmas gift. A 'First Aid' bag.

I love this time of year! We go to Bass Pro every year to visit Santa Clause. My son loves the huge fish tank they have there.

My Indiana Jonah, teehee hee. I love this hat on him.

Sitting on Santa's lap.... he tells Santa he wants things from the real Titanic ship, the one that went down in 1912. And he'll tell you all about it. LOL My husband and I keep telling him that those things are only in museums.

Merry Christmas! Time to wrap some gifts and wrap up one more class for the semester.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2011-12-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

I've got my two Christmas quilts hung. One is really our advent calendar. I love this time of year! I've been watching all kinds of Christmas movies in between school work. We've gone to look at lights on the houses. I've had the Christmas music playing all day long, we've made cookies and wrapped gifts. And tomorrow night we'll probably head out to Bass Pro to see Santa himself. :o)

I have been able to do a little bit of stitching while my daughter is in physical therapy. This is my mad scientist coming to life.

Out side our door this morning on the way to P.T. was this little guy. Actually, he was a big guy and he didn't care that I got so close to him. (Pileated Woodpecker)

All he cared about was getting that insect out of the tree. He was just a beautiful site to see.

Next, I need to brag about my husband again. I know I do that a lot, but he is just an awesome and talented man. I saw a wine holder that I wanted, showed it to him and he made it for me.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time this year too!

Tradition!

2011-12-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

We picked up our Christmas tree in our bus, 'Rusty'. A tradition we do every Christmas season. It was much warmer outside this year then last year. We didn't have to ride with a propane heater in the bus to keep warm, just a quilt to sit on because the leather seats were cold. We go to the same little tree lot every year too and every year the old man running the lot tells us about the VWs he had owned in the passed. We get that a lot. :o) Hope every one is having a wonderful December, I sure am!

It's coming

2011-11-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas Time Is Coming! I got my sweet advent calendar out that I made a few years ago.... Hung it on the wall and filled it will chocolate candy.

This is the advent calendar from the 'Bareroots' pattern. It is just adorable. I love it so much.

I might need to make another one day, seeing how I have two children and they will both want one for their children one day.

I've only started decorating for the Christmas season, but I had to get this hung before the first of December so it was one of the first to go up.

My little guy helped me fill it with yummy chocolates!

Have a wonderful and yummy Thanksgiving! I'll be studying for a test I have next week and hoping throwing some stitching in there in between. :o)

You can also it this pattern at Quilting Adventures!

Fall

2011-11-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

I stared a new quilt. It will be the hubs and I anniversary quilt. We just celebrated 10 years of marriage. (and I am still so in love with that man) Crazy that I started this quilt in the middle of school knowing I really couldn't work on it much. But what I have so far....I'm loving.

Using the beetle fabric of course. And blues and grays which is in our bedroom.

Besides study and doing homework for school , I've been taking care of my daughter who just had knee surgery. She is recovery nicely.

I love the Fall and had to catch some photos of my children by the trees with the gorgeous colors before the leaves all fell to the ground.

Jonah is up the tree ( always) with his stuffed gecko who goes everywhere but to school with him. That's when I sneak it in the washer. And Shelby pre surgery.

I think I may try to sneak a little stitching time in now before bed. <3

Happy Halloween

2011-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Halloween top is finished. I just haven't quilted it yet. And it's not getting done in time for Halloween, so I hung the top up.

Look how cute... the scientist. It's a Halloween pattern , but I think I'm going to add a frog where the pumpkin is so I can hang it up all year.

Here is how far I've come on my 3rd block for my 'HocusPocusVille' quilt.

Bunting ~ Dexter......

Tetris......

Wall-E......

"It's so Fluffy..." ....

The progress on the bunting for my girl......

I was going to try to give this to her for Christmas this year, but it's going so slow I think I'm going to wait till next year.
I have so many more that I want to do. And it is really for her to hang in her dorm room at college and we still have 1 1/2 years until happens.

The Bright Side

2011-10-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy and stressful, so I'm looking on the bright side of things. My daughter and I got to go see 'Wicked' together. She has been reading the book series, so I knew she would love it and she did. I love the live theater so any chance to go is good for me.

Today I received these wonderful flowers from my husband. Today is our 10 year anniversary and I love him more and more everyday. I haven't seen him in 4 days, but I get to pick him up from the airport in 9 hours. :o)

Look at the amazing sea panel we got into the shop. And since my son is everything sea creature crazy and has been saying he is going to be a marine biologist since he was 3 years old..... I had to get one. One day I will make him a quilt from it.

I took a break from studying for a huge test to stitch a bit. I started on Wall-E.

Keep thinking positive! Love and hugs!

Haiku MugRug and School

2011-09-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

I participated in the Haiku mug rug swap over on Flickr last month. A mug rug in just a big coaster to put your drink on. I have most on mine hanging on the wall because they are too cute to put drinks on. The Haiku are 3 very short sayings put together, it is Japanese poetry. Here is the Wikipeda page for Haiku, that will explain it. We had to come up or find a Haiku for our partner and make a mugrug to fit it. FourMonkeysQuilt, Karie, had me ( it was a secret ). She came up with my Haiku : Rear Engine, Air Cooled
Put your Trust in Volkswagen
Dos Auto, Beep Beep!
And here is my mugrug she sent, her family are a VW loving family too.

The whole package came with lots of goodies. I've hung my sweet spider up for Halloween already.

The partner I sent to was TheBusyBean, Colleen. She loves mushrooms and all kinds of other things. But I picked the mushrooms because I think they are pretty fun to make. Here is the mugrug I sent her.

I didn't come up with Colleen's Haiku, I just googled mushroom Haiku's and found a really good one.

So no sewing going on lately. Not even embroidery. I'm having a little embroidery withdrawal, but there is so much homework and studying to do that I don't have time.

Lab has been pretty fun~ we've gotten to test our own urine.

And draw each others blood. This is my lab partner sticking me. I stuck her before this, I was so nervous.

So sewing is on hold for right now. I should rename my blog Study~Amy instead of Sew~Amy.
hahaha.

Back to School

2011-08-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

School started last week, so I've mostly been reading about the kidneys ( no sewing). In one of my classes I will be having a test in 2 weeks and it will be on 3 chapters, so read, read ,read and study , study, study.

One big reason I am going back to school ( and there are a few reasons why I'm going back) is..... no insurance. I have no medical insurance right now and it sucks. I had to get a physical today for school so I can start clinicals next semester and it cost $672 today to get that physical. Yes, I had a lot of blood work and vaccinations done. But I sure wish I had had some medical insurance. My credit card was screaming at me. But I guess I have to spend money now to make money later. I want this so much and am so scared right now.

On a lighter and more sewing note, I managed to stitched a tiny bit last weekend.... so in celebration of Fall coming, here are some pumpkins. :o)

This is the HocusPocusVille pattern by Crabapple Hill.

What a Week.

2011-08-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

This has been the craziest week ever. Crazy things are happening here. I've become a little burned out. My school starts next week, so life is going to get even busier. I did manage to finish 2 more Farmer's Wife blocks. Number 21, Contrary Wife which wasn't bad.

And number 22, Corn & Beans which was the worst block so far. Who ever made up this block needs to be slapped. It's a cute block made up, but so not fun to make. It was a big headache.

Once school starts I may not be able to sew much, but hopefully I won't drop off the face of 'blog land'.

STUD

2011-08-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

STUD is a mini quilt swap over on Flickr. It is "Swap Till U Drop" and is every two months. The themes change every swap. I was in the July / August STUD where the theme was 'same shape rainbow'. We knew who our partners were so we could ask each other questions and get to know them a little bit. I swapped with Leah, who is Ryersmama over on Flickr. Leah sent me this mini quilt with the rainbow triangles going around. She knew I loved this block. It 12" X 12".

I knew that Leah loves Heather Ross fabric and wonky stars so this is what I made her. The top stars are machine appliqued on. The middle stars are pieced wonky stars. And the last tiny bottom row are made with sharpie markers. There are some Heather Ross fabrics added to some of the middle wonky stars.

I forgot what it measured but was about 14" X 16" maybe. I'm in the Scrappy Mug Rug swap over on Flickr also, but it doesn't end until the last week of August. Pictures from that swap to come soon.

Creative: All in the Family

2011-08-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

I have a pretty creative family. We are always making something. My little guy just made dinosaur land last night. (with dad's help) It was all his idea though.

He has made a water fall for his dinosaurs in the back yard.

My daughter is so creative, she is always drawing, but these last couple of weeks she has gotten into making things with hemp. She made me a bracelet about 2 nights ago. Can you tell I love orange.

The hubs restores old VW's. He has been working on my Thing. He also does some crazy awesome things with metal. ( That's a whole other post in itself)

And then there is me. I've made my son a pencil case for school , with sharks of course. My son is shark crazy. (from the cash & carry pattern)

WARNING: Shelby don't read any farther, this is a surprise for you. For my daughter, I've been working on a bunting to give her for Christmas. It will have things she loves on it and sayings that she ALWAYs says.

I am thinking once she goes off to college ( in 2 years) she can hang it across her dorm room. "It's so Fluffy, I'm gonna die" from Despicable Me is one of her favorite sayings and one of my favorite movies. ( hand embroidered)

And she grew up watching Dexter's Laboratory. She would always say "Ooooo, what does this button do?" And point to her baby brother's belly button.

There are a few more I have to stitch up.... another one is from the movie Elf. "SANTA! I know him!!" Another one of my favorite movies.

So here is a touch of what we've been creating.... what has your family been creating?

FWQAL PrOgress

2011-08-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

The parts for the camera came in and the hubs fixed it up. So I have a working camera again, yes. I was having camera withdrawal. Last week I stitched up block #17 (1) Cats & Mice and #18 (2) Century of PrOgress. I thought # 18 was going to be hard because of all the angles but it really wasn't.

This week I stitched up blocks # 19 (3) Checkerboard and #20 (4) Churn Dash.

Also I've started writing in my Farmer's Wife Sample Quilt book. The day I cut out and make that block I write what the weather is on that page or if anything interesting happened that day. Or what I thought of that block. Years from now it will be like a diary for whom ever in the family gets the quilt or wants to make one of their own.

Eye Candy Monday

2011-08-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from High Country Bus Festival~~Camping with our Full Moon Bus Club friends. I didn't get an official bus count , but I heard there were 188+ VW buses there. It was wonderful. We lived on the river and in the water. This is a photo of my son swinging from a rope swing, which he has played on every year we've gone.(3 years at this location) My camera also played in the river this weekend. So I don't have many pictures of the camp out. I am a picture girl so the hubs was on the ball and has already ordered me a new one. :o)

As for the 'eye candy'...... I saw this adorable mini quilt on Flickr today. There is a group that make mini quilt blocks and swap them. This months theme was 60s retro. So stink'n cute.

Now off to do about 3 days worth of laundry and hopfully sew a bit. PEACE!!

WALL-E

2011-07-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

What to do when the family goes out in the Canoe?

2011-07-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

SEW! So the hubs asked " who wants to go out in the canoe?" It is 100 degrees outside. I would usually like to go out in the canoe, but not this time. So he and kids went and I got to stay home and sew. Happy happy Joy joy! I got block 13, 'Buckwheat' (the top block) and block 14, ' Butterfly at the Crossroads'. done.

Some people were having some trouble with block 14 not matching up. I didn't have any problems with it, but if you are doing the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along the piece #35 in block 14 is a little off. But I made it work. Everything came together fine.

I have finished stitching up spider webs on my "Stashbusters" Halloween quilt top. You can see I've started to add a small inside black boarder.

I believe I want to make this for the outside boarder. In the same off white and scrappy oranges. We'll see though, I want this to be done by Halloween so I may just chicken out and put a solide orange boarder for the outside.

What I am thinking..... we got this cute mushroom fabric in (with an orange background) the shop the other day and I am thinking I may want to make a top out of it. ( sorry for the sideways photo). I haven't bought the fabric or the pattern yet. Just still thinking about it.

Through the Garden Gate (lots of photos)

2011-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Warning: this post is not sewing related and has lots of photos. I love this shop, Through the Garden Gate. I don't get there much, only about once every 6 months. It is in Mechanicsville, Va and has an antique store attached to it. The picture below is only about 1/4 of the store.

I went there today to get a new lawn ornament, a daisy or black eyed Susan which I didn't find, but I did find my Nana a birthday gift for September. I also found LOTS of other things I wanted to buy so much, but didn't. Look at this sweet treasure box, Oh my son would love to put his little treasures in here. $16.50

I am the type of person who usually buys what she needs and not what she wants. I just take photos of the things I want and dream about them. Here is a really cute fly swatter holder, this bad boy $18.95.

My bus loving friends will love this one. A bus bag. $54.

I don't know if you know this , but I love frogs. Here is a cute antique pull frog for $32.

My husband's uncle use to make wooden toys like this, we still have a few. I just love them. Here is a wooden WWII plane for $39.

The Singer, $325.

An old embroidery, so sweet. I don't remember the price, but it wasn't free so I didn't take it home.

There were a few old pin cushions. I collect them, but didn't take any home today.

Oh I wanted to take these home so bad. Old Mushroom mugs, a set of 4. $34. They would be so cute in my kitchen.

And these....Love them so much. The daisy glasses, set of 4, $15. I'm a daisy freak. "Daisies are the friendliest flower"~from You've Got Mail.

"Life's too short to fold fitted sheets"......so true. :o)

Sorry this post it 'everywhere'. But if you ever get a chance and / or are driving on 295 through Mechanicsville, stop by Through the Garden Gate, you'll love it.

Broken Dishes and Sugar Bowl

2011-07-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

The next two blocks in my Farmer's Wife Quilt A-Long are Broken Dishes (block 11) and Broken Sugar Bowl (block 12). Here is the inspirational tree I am going by for my color scheme.

The top block is Broken Dishes and the bottom is Broken Sugar Bowl. Broken Dishes doesn't have much contrast but I love it. It is the same colors that are in 'my' tree.

A tiny prOgress on Wall-E.

I didn't take a picture of block 14, but from what people are saying on Flickr in the 'FWQAL' group is that it is a bear to make. It seems a lot of people's aren't coming out right. So we'll see.

bags and blocks

2011-07-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

I took the "Cash & Carry" class the other day with Phoebe at Quilting Adventures. And I'll have to say that these little bags are fun to make.

I've now made 4.

Block 9 , the "Box" has been the easiest block to make so far in the Farmer's Wife quilt a-long. And Block 10, the "Bowtie".

All together now......

PrOgress Wednesday

2011-07-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Home from camping... and had a wonderful time. ( teehee we get to go again in 3 weeks)

I got the tent put away so I could reach my sewing machine and finished the next 2 blocks on my Farmer's wife quilt. Remember block #7 , 'Birds in the Air', the one with 40 pieces....well it wasn't that bad to stitch up. And I think it turned out really cute. Block #8 (the top one), is called 'Bouquet'.

All together.... The next two blocks look pretty easy, yeah!

PrOgress on my candlemat.... turning out so cute. I stitched on it some while watch "America's Got Talent" last night.

~~Happy stitching

PrOgress Wednesday

2011-06-29T16:53:00.001-07:00

A little bit of what I've been working on. Remember that crazy 6 1/2 inch block with 40 pieces? Well, I haven't sewn it together yet, but

I've cut it out. I can't get to my sewing machine right now because my son has a giant tent set up in the living room ( where my machine is right now). He's been play camping in there at night since Monday. So that will have to wait until the tent comes down and I can get to the sewing machine. But here are my 40 pieces laid out like a snake.

I've been working on a Wall-E for my daughter.

And a "Snug as a Bug" candle mat, pattern by Bareroots.

I probably won't be too productive over the weekend. I work the next two days, then Friday we leave to go camping till Monday. Yeah! Hopefully I can squeeze a little sewing time in. Happy almost Independence Day!

Inspired By A Tree

2011-06-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the tree I love, the one I was talking about in this post. I still don't know what it is. I was thinking it was some kind of Birch because the bark is peeling. My dad says it may be a Silver Leaf Maple. He's only see this one picture of it that I sent to him. I've googled both and I can't find another tree that looks like it.

I love the colors. The silver / gray / green leaves. And the gray tree trunk. You can really tell the color different with it in front of these two other trees.

And a little close up of it. :o) Anyway, this is the tree that inspired my colors for my Farmer's Wife Quilt A-Long quilt. But I am adding a bit of orange to it because it's my favorite color. And I now think that all my quilts need a bit of orange in them.

Block #5 ~ Bat Wing

Block #6 Big Dipper

All together now~~ with Basil's tail in the picture. (and the basket handle still missing)

And can you please tell my how insane this block is, #7 Birds in the Air?! These blocks are 6 1/2 inches unfinished and there are 40 pieces in this Birds in the Air block. Yes, I am a little scared to do this one, but it is next.

Wish me luck.

FWQAL~Blocks 1~4

2011-06-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

I decided on the colors / fabrics for the Farmer's Wife Quilt a Long. It was inspired by a tree I drive by almost everyday. I don't know what kind of tree it is , but it is gorgeous. I want one in my yard one day. Some day I'll stop on the side of the road and take a photo of it. The colors of the tree are light green and gray. But I am adding a hint of orange to the quilt because every quilt needs a hint of orange. :o) Here are the first two blocks. Block one , Attic Windows on the left and block two, Autumn Tints on the right.

Block 3 is called Basket and I haven't added it's little handle yet. ( Hand applique is involved, which I can do, but don't have time right now) Block 4 on the right is called Basket Weave.

Here is what block 3, Basket is supposed to look like once the cute little handle is on.

All 4 blocks together..... green, gray, cream, with a hint of orange.

I'm excited about block 5 ~ Bat Wings. I think it's pretty cute. But I haven't even cut out the templates for this little guy yet.

Happy sewing / stitching

I Caved

2011-06-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

I put the book on the credit card today....

cut my first templates.....

and picked some of the fabrics from my stash, but I'm not done tweaking the fabric yet.

another Finish and maybe another Start

2011-06-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

I finished embroidering all the sweet flowers on my 'Flower quilt'. So the top is done. ( excuse my toes in the photo)

Here are a few close ups of the blocks so you can see the embroidery.

One of my favorites is that sunflower in the green bordered block.

This pattern is a Bareroots Pattern called "Flower Quilt". Very fun to make. She will be hanging up at the shop ( Quilting Adventures) where you can buy the pattern.

Should I or should I not start this new ( 3 weeks in) Quilt a Long? We have this book (The Famer's Wife) at the shop too. Which I've been eye-balling for over a year. Well now on Flickr a Farmer's Wife Quilt -a - long has started and I think I want to join. Do I want to start another quilt that is going to take me 2 years to finish? I seem to always make quilts that you can't just whip out. This is just so tempting though.

If I start it up, I am thinking of making my blocks green / gray / cream/ and a bit of orange of course. :o) Do I do it?

"A Boy's Story" Quilt Is Finished (lots of photos)

2011-06-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

It really is finished, binding and all. I love this quilt, I love this whole pattern. I have a little boy so I related to the pattern the moment I first saw it. I love to embroider and it has the cutest embroidery pictures all over it. The pattern came from Hatched and Patched and is called " A Boy's Story".

I am going to show you LOTS of pictures up close so you can see how sweet this pattern is and why I had to make this quilt.

If you look really close under the boat you can see I've added a shark (not in the pattern). My son is the biggest shark crazy kid I know. So we had to have a shark in the water. Look at the embroidery of the little brother getting ready to turn his sister into a toad.

Heather Ross martian on his cell phone in the window of the space ship.

My son lives on his bike. And has a wonder dog side-kick named "Basil".

I also had to add an alligator to the moat ( not in the pattern).

My son also wants to be Jeremy Wade from River Monsters when he grows up so this fishing embroidery is perfect!

I love that this little boy has taken his dog surfing.

I am so happy with the way it turned out. Thank you for stopping by to look.

PrOgress Monday

2011-06-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Lots going on here last week. First, we got a new to us VW Thing. She is a 1971 and from Mexico, all her paper work is in Spanish.

I did some stitching on one of the boarders. The "Flower Quilt".

I stitched up a gift for a friend. I can't show the whole thing because I haven't given it to her yet.

I was the winner in a blog giveaway over at 'Taken Patiently'. This is what I recieved, a sweet Mad Hatter embroidery in an orange hoop!!!

I stitched a bit of another spider web on my Halloween quilt.

And lastly, I added the binding by machine to the front of my "A Boy's Story" quilt. (the green to the left). Now it just needs hand stitching to the back. (Not my favorite thing to do on a quilt).

PrOgress Monday

2011-06-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

I made some prOgress on my 'flower quilt'. ( sorry about the bad photo) The whole thing is put together, but all the embroidery is not done yet.

Have I told you lately that I love this quilt?!

And I've made prOgress on my "Boy's Story" quilt. It's quilted!! I just need to put the binding on ..... after I buy the material for the binding. LOL

eye candy

2011-06-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've been eye balling this girls work for awhile now.... and look what I found today. She has stitched the sweetest bus with Alice characters. You know the very cute movie 'Little Miss Sunshine'? It's based on that. And if you own or have owned a bus...you'll get it. LOL

Here is her flickr pictures so you can see more cuteness. And here is her blog/website.

Hedgehog

2011-05-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

What I stitched up today... what could it be....

this sweet hedgehog. It was a pattern , I didn't make this up on my own.

Here is how he turned out in the end.

Tornado Relief

2011-05-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

Jennifer over at 'Jennifer Can Quilt' is doing a wonderful thing.....Please hop over to her blog and help out. You could win this quilt, but don't do it just because you could win a quilt...do it because there are people that need you.

Mug Rugs being sent all over the World

2011-05-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap #4 over on Flickr and the mug rugs are starting to travel the World. A Mug Rug is a tiny quilt made for your cup of tea/coffee/wine/mug/etc. It is like a big coaster. I received my mug rug yesterday and boy was I spoiled!! The partners were kept secret so I had no idea who was making my mug rug. Yesterday I found out her name is Karen and she lives in Canada! And she is wonderful! Here is the mug rug she made me. She knew I like to camp in our VW bus and that my favorite color is orange.

Here is a closer picture, she added the constellation sky so it looks like we were camping under the stars. If you look closely you can see the frayed grass for texture.

Here is what was in my whole package.... two frogs ( because I LOVE frogs and toads) they represent my two children. A sweet frog cookie cutter ( on the book in this picture). A quilt book with an 'orange story' in it. LOL Some frog fabric and a Charley Harper card.

Here is my mug rug in action setting by my bed. It looks so cute with my bus pin cushion that stays there for hand stitching in bed.

BUT WAIT... There's more.... the back of my mug rug is ORANGE! I love the back as much as I love the front. See the frog and the sweet spiders. Yes, I like spiders.

I haven't sent my mug rug yet because domestic shippers don't ship theirs until after May 23rd. The partner I ship to and I both live in the U.S. Karen shipped mine from Canada ( international) so she had to ship before May 23rd. I'll be sending mine out to my partner ( still a secret to her) in a few days, but here is the sneak peek. I can say she loves green , purple, and orange together. And she likes turtles.

I added some hand embroidered flowers and machine quilted it.

I loved this swap. The people are so sweet and the mug rugs are so little you can whip one out in no time. I'd love to have lots of the all over the house. And some in the bus.

A little HR sewn together.

2011-05-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

HR meaning Heather Ross. I've sewn some together. Aren't they cute. And I hear we are getting some new Heather Ross in the shop soon. Far Far Away III. Can't wait to see it in person.

A million unfinished projects.

2011-05-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

Well, that is what it feels like anyway. I am working on so many projects at once that none are getting finished. They are all works in prOgress. ( with a long O, like Mary Poppins says of course.) I cut into my cute Heather Ross fabric with full moons and am using it in a project. You will see what for at a later date. We belong to the Full Moon Bus Club, this who we camp with all the time in our VW bus.

I finished another hand embroidered spider web for my Halloween quilt. A few more to go, then I can add the boarders and HAVE it quilted.

Still stitching up boarders on my 'Flower Quilt'.

I cut into ALL my Heather Ross fabric the other night while drinking some wine. LOL Here is the stack of 2 1/2 X 6 1/2 rectangles sewn together by 2's. This is the start of a new quilt. I've been hoarding Heather Ross fabric for awhile now and I just need to go ahead and use them. They could be made into a cute quilt instead of sitting on a self where I don't get to look at them.

Little by little I've been quilting my "A Boy's Story" quilt. It is quite big for me to be quilting, so it is taking me awhile. I can't wait to get this one done though, it is so cute!!! Pattern by Hatched and Patched.

Another unfinished project is this cute bicycle I stitched up from the cross stitch magazine I bought the other day. The Cross-Stitcher. It had a VW bus in the magazine too , but I wanted to start with something small, so I stitched up the bike with flowers in the basket. :o)

So many other unfinished projects not pictured.

while drinking wine

2011-05-10T19:19:00.001-07:00

I cut into my Heather Ross fabric tonight.....just saying. LOL

Inspiration~ Charley Harper

2011-05-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was surfing flickr....I love to get inspiration there, and I came across a flickr group for a Charley Harper quilt along. Now, me having been raised in a cave and living now under a rock I don't get out much and didn't know who Charley Harper was. But I saw this picture and me being a science lover had to check it all out. His illustrations are so wonderful. I started to google him to check out more of his work. Very inspirational. All kinds of cute creatures. I have a huge love for frogs and found these guys pictures below.

I see a cute quilt in the works. Like I need more quilts in the works. And this one would be cute for my skull loving son.

My daughter's favorite animal is the otter.....

Look at the the cool creatures in these two pictures. I love them all.

That was all yesterday..... today I hop on the computer to ckeck out the blogs I follow , I clip on "feeling stitchy" and find this!! It's is the cutest! So inspiring. This Charley Harper is everywhere and I am just now seeing his work~ Crazy.

orange makes me happy

2011-05-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

I finally stitched up another spider web this weekend and love them. If you look closely you can see the tiny spider I added on one of them. This is the quilt top I made from my "Stashbusters" group. I love this group, the people are so sweet and fun. I get to use up my stash with cool patterns. This is the 'Jacobs Ladder' block.

I am probably going to add two more webs, then add boarders and have it quilted. Hoping to have it done by Halloween!

prOgress on stitching

2011-04-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

I've made some prOgress on my 'flower quilt'. I put the big O in prOgress because I like how Mary Poppins says it. You can't see the stitching from this shot and the sweet flower patterns are what makes this quilt. These are the last 3 blocks I stitched up. The middle rows aren't stitched yet.

I love this rose / daisy pattern. It's one of my many favorites in this quilt.

Another stitching WIP is the cross stitch "All we are saying is give peace a chance". I've only worked on this a tiny bit. So I haven't gotten very far.

Cross stitch magazine

2011-04-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

I first saw this magazine on the blog "Feeling stitchy". They were posting about the cute cross stitch pattern for the Royal Wedding. But the VW bus and beetle is what catch my eye. ( of course ) Here is a close up of them. Aren't they cute? And the little camper trailer being pulled by the beetle. Love it.

So I went out and bought the magazine and to my surprise....... the whole magazine is cute. I love this one too, the hanging pockets thingy. This would be really cute made up with the bus and beetle stitched on it and hanging in my kitchen.

Another cute little pattern stitched up. I don't think this pattern was in this issue, but a previous one.

They made the "Hippy Holidays" pattern up and turned it into an adorable pillow. I am hoping I will get to this pattern soon. I love the little bike too.

Cute needle book

2011-04-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

I think it's pretty cute anyway. I had a wonderful needle book and I use it so much. It is with me all the time, so I wanted to make a new one that had some of my favorite things on it. And made with some of my favorite fabrics. You all know that one of my favorite things is our VW bus that we camp in. So I added the orange bus. Orange being one of my favorite colors.

I love everything about campfires. I hand embroidered this sweet campfire, pattern from Bareroots. One of my favorite smells is campfire. I love the heat from a campfire and to see the different colors of orange/yellow/red/ and blue they make. I also love the sound of a campfire popping.

And the daisy fabric is my all time favorite fabrics. I only have 2 fat quarters of it, so I've been hoarding those pieces wondering what I would do with them. Now I have some on my needle book that I see almost everyday. Did you guess that the white daisy is my favorite flower?

Here is the back of my needle book. I LOVE this yellow fabric. I have enough of it I may make myself a Spring skirt out of it too.

I've stitched up my name so I don't forget who I am. LOL I love outerspace, so I've stitched up some stars around my name.

And my two favorite animals...the frog and chihuahua. This is my little chihuahua ,Basil, barking at a frog.

The inside of my needle book has a bunch on my favorite fabrics in it. The one with the little orange/red tents came from Paris. My girl friend, Chesley, went to Paris last year and brought it back for me for Christmas. She knows I am a camp love girl.

So here it is my cute "favorite things" needle book. P.S. these are just a few of my favorite things. :o)

In other news.... I am still stitching on the "flower" quilt. And loving it.

Mini QT Swap 3D

2011-04-07T04:52:00.000-07:00

I was in the Mini QT Swap again and this time the theme was "3D". The last Mini QT Swap I was in the theme was "Take Flight". Look at my sweet VW Bus mini I received from my partner Bahamadawn. She pegged me pretty good. LOL She also has a love for VW buses so she had a lot of fun making my mini and a hard time giving it up. I will treasure it and it will hang on my kitchen wall with my other camping and VW quilts.

Here in the 3D mini quilt I sent to bahamadawn. It is a mermaid sleeping and dreaming of all her favorite things. This are really bahamadawn's favorite things. :o)

Some on the 3D things I added to the quilt are the button crab and the sequins on the mermaid's tail. Here is another good full picture of it in my flickr group.

I love these mini QT swaps. The quilts are so easy and quick to make. But I didn't sign up for the next one. :o( I am just too busy this next month so I had to skip it. The theme is circles this time, head over to flickr and check it out. I am hoping to sign up for the next round though, theme not know yet.

quilting in progress

2011-03-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

I started quilting my "A Boy's Story" quilt. This one. I have a feeling it is going to take awhile, but I think it will be so cute when I am done. Hopefully I can get it done in time to take it camping with us this year. The kids and I can wrap up in it by the campfire at night.

Ready for the Competitions

2011-03-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing up some things to carry to the robotics competition this year. My daughter is on the FIRST robotics team for her school. They are team 1086 ~ Blue Cheese. I made her this very cute string backpack for carry around the competition. The pattern came from Noodlehead. I liked that it had a pocket for her phone.
A big thank you to Monica for helping me out. I had some trouble figuring this pattern out and Monica is wonderful. The picture below is my daughter with her new string backpack getting ready to head to their first competition of this season.

I also had to make myself a Blue Cheese bag for the competitions. I used some robot fabric to trim the inside.

Here is one side~~

And here is the other side~~I have since added a yellow button for the closure.

Let the games begin!

Sew on

2011-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Progress on the 'Flower quilt'. Most of the outer white boarders are not embroider yet. So I still have a lot of stitching to do.

Some 'ice' wonky stars. :o)

more stitching

2011-03-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

Here are some more tiny stitched up flowers from the 'flower quilt'. Pattern from Bareroots.

The start of something cute. I'll explain this later , but it is a few of my favorite things.

And I've only added 4 spider webs so far to my Halloween quilt, but I finally added a tiny spider.

Favorite things

2011-03-08T04:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend I got to do two of my favorite things. Camp and stitch. We went to T.R.O.M. this weekend. ( The Rides Of March) You can read about it here on my camping blog.

progress

2011-03-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

Making some progress on my 'flower quilt'.

This block is my favorite so far. I think it is because the flowers are orange. And I LOVE orange.

Happy stitching!

Stitching makes me happy.

2011-02-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

I am working on another "Flower quilt" from the 'Bareroots' pattern. This is the 2nd time making this sweet quilt.

This time I am making it for the shop , Quilting Adventures. Here will be some of the colors for the sashing.

I love all of the sweet flowers in this pattern.

Here is a photo of the first one I made. Very different colors. This quilt went to an auction to help raise money for chihuahua rescue.

polar bears and alligators

2011-01-29T11:17:00.000-08:00

So the Science Museum of Va is opening up a new exhibit today. We are so excited about it, Arctic Adventure is what it is called. I saw this fabric at the quilt shop and knew my son would love a pillowcase with polar bears on it especially after going to the Arctic Adventures exhibit.
And remember my Boy's Story Quilt? The top was finished ,but I decided to add an alligator to the mote outside the castle.

Here is the bad boy floating in the mote. Does he look like he is floating on top on the water? I may need to add a little black line underneath him so it looks like her it popping out of the water.

I have also decided to have this quilt longarm quilted. I just don't think I can do it justice quilting is on my own. It is such a cute quilt.

Mini QT swap

2011-01-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

I signed up for the 'Mini Quilt Trading Swap' on flickr. The theme was "Take Flight". The quilts are only supposed to be 6 inches to 12 inches so I figured I could handle that. My partner was chickenjulie and she made me the cutest mini quilt ever. We told each other what we liked and wanted, so she knew about our VWs. She made my beetle, Yoda May. See the YM on the license plate.

I've already hung it up on my kitchen wall under my trailer quilt. My mini measures about 6 inches X 6 inches. Written in the sky is " feel the wind in your hair" and written on the road is " flying down the road".

In the package Jules sent me was some awesome goodies. My mini quilt, the cutest mushroom and strawberry pins. Chocolate and one of my favorite "munki munki" fabrics, the VW buses.

For my end of the swap, Jules told me she wanted something for her little girl,s room. Which is pink and orange. I had a hard time wrapping my brain around 'girl'. I am so use to thinking 'boy'. I kept coming up with jets, planes, dragon, spaceships, etc. Finally, I thought of bees. I fuses the yellow bodies and blue wings on. Then uses a black marker to add the strips , stingers, and antennas.

I used white fabric paint for the eyes, then added the black dots and the mouths with the black marker again. I hand stitched " Love" in orange.

The bees are flying in a heart shape. Here is a photo of the whole mini quilt. I forgot to measure it but I think it's about 9 inches X 9 inches.

And on my sewing machine right now is a bag in the works. I am making a purse to carry at the robotics competitions this season. I'll post pictures when I'm finished.

Stitching outer space

2011-01-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

I started with this cute drawing. A drawing my son made of outer space.

I thought is was just adorable, I had to turn it into something. I turned it into a travel pillowcase.

With cute outer space / spaceship fabric.

Here are a few closeups on the details. A meteorite and a little astronaut out side of the rocket.

This he says is Pluto and a UFO with a martian.

Here is the Earth, moon and the rocket with USA on it. I love that he put the USA on the rocket.

Here he says is Mars. And you can see the star fabric framing the stitchery. I love this fabric.

I think it would make a cute skirt. :o)
And a full shot of the whole pillow again where you can see the sweet sun.

outerspace

2011-01-06T10:03:00.001-08:00

Some progress on 'Outerspace'. Drawing by my son, stitched by me.

January

2011-01-03T10:09:00.000-08:00

My son drew the cutest picture of outer space. I am stitching it up...here is the moon and the sun.

The baby quilt I was working on is finished and was delivered to the mommy.

Here is the mommy, my sister-in-law opening it up. She will be having a boy the end of January.

Quilting in December

2010-12-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

VW Buses and Beetles

2010-12-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

We picked up our Christmas tree in "Rusty", our 1958 VW deluxe bus. This has become a family tradition of ours. This is the 4th year we've gotten our tree in the bus. I know most people think buses are cool and they are. But a lot of people 'think' they want one , but they really don't. They just don't know how hard it is owning one. First you need to be able to rebuild a VW air-cooled engine or know an inexpensive mechanic to rebuild it for you. My husband has has to rebuild or put a new engine in our 1970 "Jaws" bus at least twice this year maybe even 3 time. I loss track. They break down all the time! Sometimes it isn't even the engine, it's the gear shift coming off in your hand as your shifting down the road. It's your side sliding door falling off, or wind-sheild wipers not working. There is no defrost, so when is rains....you can't see out the windows. These buses DO NOT have power anything!! No power brakes, it is hard to stop and people pull out in front of you all the time. No power steering. No power windows. No power, so when you pull out onto ...lets say the interstate, it takes you a looonng time to get going. They don't go 65 miles/per hour. You have to stay in the slow lane. They also have no A/C or Heat. So the picture above where we go get our Christmas tree in 18 degree weather... I hold a propane heater in the back for us to stay some what warm on the trip. There is also no seat belts in the back!! They didn't put belts in the back , back then. My 7 year old son has to ride up front where there is a belt. I could just go on and on. We own 3 buses and 3 beetles and 1 thing. My husband WORKS very hard to keep the ones that are drivable running and on the road. It is like having a second job, that is how much time it takes for him to keep them running. I have people tell me about once a month that they 'want a bus so bad'. All of you teenagers and people who drive EXSTREAMLY comfortable new cars... I know you think you want a bus.....but you really don't. You just like the thought of having one. Sorry I had to rant and vent a little. I don't think my husband or other Vw owners get enought credit for the work they do keeping these awesome little guys on the road. I could say more , but I am going to shut up now. Peace!

2010-11-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

I've lost my steam on this one. This is my last block on my "little stitchies" BOM. Maybe I'll get it finished in December. hahaha

Some spider webs stitched on my Halloween quilt top.

A button added to Mrs. Wilbur's Christmas gift.

Dr. Seuss and spiders.

2010-11-23T06:28:00.000-08:00

A Christmas gift for my son's teacher, Mrs. Wilbur. She is wonderful and so good with my son. I owe her a lot. Teachers just amaze me.

The school has Dr. Seuss day once a year on Dr. Seuss's birthday, so I figured Mrs. Wilbur could carry her 'Cat in the Hat' purse on that day. I still need to add a button for the closure, but could not wait to show how cute it turned out on my blog.

I finished up all the blocks for my Halloween quilt. They are all sewn together. Now to add some embroidery. I'll be hand stitching spider webs and a few spiders on the cream areas. :o) Oh, then adding a black boarder, but that won't be for awhile.

Happy stitching and sewing!

still in Halloween mode

2010-11-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

I still feel like I am in Halloween mode. I've been working with orange, black and white, putting the little blocks together to make Jacob's ladder blocks.

As of right now I have 8 sewn together. In these photos they are not sewn together yet, but I just couldn't wait to see what they'd look like.

And more Halloween looking things I've been working on. The Hoopla swap stitching. My partner loves skulls. So I cross stitched up a skull pattern I found on "skull a day".

This is what I had started out stitching up, but ended up not liking it too much, so made it the back on the hoop.

Blogger's Quilt Fest and more

2010-10-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is hosting the 4th annual Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Here is my favorite quilt I've made so far. And of course it has hand embroidery work in it. It is a 'Bareroots' pattern, though I changed 3 of the embroidery patterns to more represent the way we camp. We VW bus camp! So I had my sweet talented husband draw up some buses for me and I substituted then in.

I believe this is my favorite quilt so far because of the colors (my favorite), the hand embroidery ( my favorite sewing to do), and the camping theme ( our favorite family time spent together).

In other news.... the progress on my Halloween quilt, the Jacob's Ladder one. Lots of orange and white 2 1/2 squares being sewn together.

October 'Little stitchies' is done. I love the pumpkins and the Fall colored leaves in this one.

The 'Hoopla' swap is on it's way. I've finished the stitching on mine, using cross-stitch. Here is a sneak peek. I am sure you can guess what she is. She still needs to be hooped up and the finishing touches up to her before 'send outs'. I'll be posting the finishing photo after my partner received it. I don't want to spoil the surprise for her.

Jacob's Ladder

2010-10-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

What do these......

and these......

and these..... have in common?

They are going to be in the same quilt together.

This is a pattern from my 'Stash busters' class. I used up a lot of my oranges which is one of my favorite colors. It will end up being a Halloween quilt. And my goal is to have it done by next Halloween. I still have about 150 more cream squares to cut out and make 40 more of the black/cream half square triangles.

Hoopla and piranhas

2010-10-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! I am in the Hoopla swap over on Craftster. Sign ups are still happening until Oct 13th. So is you are on craftster and you love to embroider and you love swaps.... head on over.

Also, so excited about my piranhas. I painted 2 on my son's wall in a fish bowl. To add to the creatures I've already painted. The painting is going a bit slow as I am super busy with other things in life.

2 bats down, 7 to go

2010-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

My niece has asked my to make her a Halloween quilt. She is my only niece and I don't see her very often. Here you can see my daughter drawing up some bats on 'heat n bond' for me. I wanted scary looking bats and I just couldn't get them to look scary. ( You can see my full of energy son running out the back door too).

So I am sewing on bats, only two done and 7 to go. An odd number of them is good.

Here they are just fused on....

Some people don't know but, I also dabble in machine embroidery. Yes, I do. I found this wonderful spider web and spider on Urban Threads.

I've stitched it up a couple of times on the quilt.

Here one of them is done.

I am thinking of adding some ghost too. Ok, back to baking brownies and stitching up bats.

Holy photo bag Batman

2010-09-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

Remember the photos my husband printer off for me. He did more than print them off, he cropped, re size, turned then black and white , transferred them to fit on an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper and more, then he printed them off for me.

These are pictures of my grandmother's grandchildren and great grandchildren. I finished the bag I was making out of them for her birthday.

Here she is blowing out her candles at her "girl's get away" birthday party. Her party was the whole weekend.

And here is her bag, not a very good photo I know. But it was dark and I hadn't gotten a photo of it before I wrapped it. So this will have to do. She loved it and really that is all that matters. :o)

My cousin now wants me to make her one, with her boys playing baseball so she can take snacks and drinks in it to their baseball games.

Smile!

stitching some Kaffe

2010-09-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

My September block is complete for my "little stitchies" BOM by Bareroots. I've been putting some boarders on the blocks as I go.

Using some Kaffe and friends. And a small inner boarder of a solid light blue Kona fabric. I'll add another outer boarder after I get them all stitched up.

I am not yet sure what I am going to use of the outer boarder.

And this is the progress of a bag I am making for my Nana for her birthday which is this weekend. I'll be making the "Charm Party Tote" by Quilts Illustrated. My husband, who is good with the computer , has been re sizing photos of her grandchildren and great grandchildren and printing them off for me on 'Ink Jet Printing' cotton sheets. He still has a few more to print. But I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'll be sure to take a photo of it when I am done and post it.

a quick post

2010-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

I've got a baby shower coming up. They are having a girl and they camp with us. They too own a few VW buses. :o) I just love this fabric line from Moda. And I had to applique a bus on the back.

We started "Stash Busters" this month at the quilt shop. So I am sorting through my oranges. I know I don't have that many, even though orange is one of my favorite colors. But really this is all the orange I have. I am thinking of making my quilt a Halloween quilt for the couch. I'll add black , make the back ground a cream probably, and add some embroidered spider webs and spiders and bats in the corners.

Here is the progress on my son's wall. The turtle is done, but the shark is still in progress.

Chemistry, pillowcases and a tarantula

2010-09-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

Today I made 2 Halloween pillowcases for the sweet neighbor boys. They are always so good to my son. Their parents do so much for him, I wanted to make the boys some pillowcases. Their favorite holiday is Halloween. And this line of fabric is the cutest.

I have started to paint some tanks / aquariums on my son's wall. He has been asking for a tarantula for Christmas. Along with a lizard, turtle, and other crazy creatures. So instead of buying and feeding these creatures, I am going to paint them on the wall so he feels like he has them.

I finished painting the tarantula today. And as soon as I can get some time from my chemistry homework I'll paint some more. There will be a lizard, turtle, shark, piranha, and a snake. :o)

Happy September. I am steadily working on my September Bareroots BOM. A picture of that to come later.

Aug block

2010-09-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Only enough time to show you the August block from Bareroots' Little stitchies. I've got to go meet teachers, take kids to doctors appointments, pick up medications, get hair cuts, get groceries, study for a chemistry quiz , and pack for a trip this coming weekend. :o)

A Boy's Story ~~ top finished

2010-08-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

My sick boy and his new Halloween pillowcase. He picked out the fabric and had to have spiders. He has informed me that he wants a tarantula for Christmas. He isn't getting one.

Here is the last block on my "A Boy's Story" quilt top. I love that it is a dog. We are BIG dog lovers in this house.

Here is the last embroidery for the block. So cute. Look at the cute little dog on the surf board. And falling off.

And a drum roll please..... here it is....finished! The whole quilt top.

Now to figure out the quilting. Do I quilt it myself or send it out to be quilted..... that is the question. :o)

Can't believe it's already August

2010-08-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

My little guy who is 7 has been doing some drawings and embroidery. He drew up both of these. The shark is getting ready to eat up some red fish and the fish are saying "help". So cute. He says he is going to make up some more. I think I made a pillow out of this or frame them up.

I finally finished the month of July.... I changed the flag a bit from the pattern. It didn't have the American flag. My husband and I have been watching all kinds of WWII movies and documentaries on the Military channel. So I have been feeling very patriotic lately.

Here I set out to make a cute "First Aid" kit for our bus. I bought a cute little pattern off of Etsy , made it up and it turned out so cute I decided to try to sell it. This green one is another one in the works......

Here is the first one I made up. It's already sold. I think I will make one for our bus out of shark fabric, since our bus' name is Jaws.

what I am working on

2010-08-03T07:01:00.000-07:00

Life was crazy the month of July. We camped 2 weekends in July. And one of the campouts is a big one so we left early , Thursday. My daughter has injured her other knee, tore the cartilage and may have to have surgery again. I am trying to start back to school and have been to the school 3 times to get things straight. It takes an act from God to start back to school. My little guy has a double ear infection again and may have to have surgery again. This would be his 3rd set of tubes. If I am not camping, then I am in an ER or at a doctors office , and if I am not there I am at the school. I am so happy July is over. Hoping for a much more peaceful August.
I didn't do a lot of sewing in July. I just didn't feel like it. Oh and I was sick the whole month of July too. I did start a cute BOM ( which I am only doing one month of) called "Chrissy Down Under" by McKenna Ryan. My son loves Australia and all the animals there.

Here is a better picture of the animals to top of Christmas baubles. I am just going to make it a wall hanging to hang up for Christmas. Where I work, Quilting Adventures, they have made 'kits' of all the blocks for this quilt. Which makes it so easy. All the fabric is picked and cut already. :o)
I did finish another stitchery for the "A Boy's Story" quit top. I am on my last block. :o)

But I didn't get my July month BOM done for my "little stitchies".

jester crown

2010-07-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Jester crown....

side view....

how cute is this?!

not my pattern.

some shade for the bus

2010-07-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

When we are camping and the weather is so nice we leave the bus door open. But the sun likes to shine right in and heat her up. So we need shade.

BEFORE
Baby but Powerful magnets....
I slip a magnet in....

sew her up..... I did this about very eight inches.

And there you go.... Shade. The magnets just pop right on.

AFTER

dog bed redo

2010-07-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

First off, I finished my "happy camper" quilt top ( pictured sideways) :o). I'll post better pictures later. Maybe even after I finish quilting it.

Dog bed before.... yuck

Dog bed after..... cute and yeah.....

One of my favorite fabrics out there right now. Only one of them. I have many.

stitching away

2010-07-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

My June stitchery from the Bareroots BOM.. I love the little ants at the bottom. I hate ants in real life, but fake ants are so cute.
This is one of two stitcherys on the last block for my "boy's story' quilt top.

the quilt was signed

2010-06-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

The signature tree quilt I made for my sister in law and her new husband has been signed.

Their wedding was this weekend and it was beautiful.

Here they are with their two dogs who are like kids to them.

Congratulations Dison and Becca!

Bubble Fun

2010-06-13T12:39:00.000-07:00

I was searching cute blogs when I came across "I make Stuff" and found this cute blog post about how to make a 'bubble station'. So I had to make one for our back porch.

The top pot holds the bubble wands and the bottom pot holds the bubble liquid. My husband closed the holes up on the bottom one with some kind of glue/epoxy stuff. I am going to make a cute cover to go over it with 'oil cloth' so when it rains , it's doesn't fill up with water.

My little guy and I made bubble art today too. Where you put bubbles in bowls add food coloring. Then blow the bubbles on paper, when they pop you've got color.

A cool dip in the pool too. It was hot today and the pool felt wonderful. Basil didn't care too much for it.

another block done

2010-06-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

I finished #7 block of my "A Boy's Story" quilt top. From Hatched and Patched. Here is the whole block. Close up of the applique block...

close up of one of the embroideries.

And a close up of the other one.

Here is a shot of the whole quilt top so far. I am thinking it's pretty huge.

Only 2 more blocks to go. :o) And then I need to figure out what I am going to do about quilting it.

signature tree quilt is finished.

2010-06-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Back from camping and we had so much fun.

I picked out the binding fabric. And here she is all finished.

Here is a close up of the the binding so you can see it better.

Headed out for another camping trip tomorrow. :o)

leaving to camp.

2010-05-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

My daughter's robotics team had their 'team celebration' the other night. And my girl friend has a little bakery shop so she made robot shaped cookies for the celebration. Shaped like THEIR robot. They were a hit.
I added a few boarders to 4 of the blocks I've stitched up in my Bareroots BOM.

And my boss ( Joyce, of Quilting Adventures) came home from Market and brought some Heather Ross back. I was able to get a few. They are so yummy. I really love the owl and pussycat and the full moons. What should I make out of them?

We'll be getting more on the bolt later, I can't wait. :o)

binding color help

2010-05-23T17:43:00.001-07:00

I finished Becca and Dison's wedding signature quilt. It just needs a binding....

I need help.... what color binding do you think? Blue? Green?

Brown? Dark green like the tiny 1st boarder?

Help!!!

The pattern for this quit is called 'Seams Like Home' by Joan Jones.

rocket and prom

2010-05-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

A rocket for my "A Boy's Story" quilt. I had to add martians from Heather Ross's Munki Munki fabric.
My baby girl went to the prom this weekend. Her sweet boyfriend is a Senior, so it was his prom. She is wearing 4 inches heels in this picture and he is still that much taller than her.

They are such a cute couple. And I just love him to death. He is always acting silly as she is too.

Headed to finish my rocket block and do some laundry. Happy sewing. :o)

sweet heart

2010-05-13T05:04:00.000-07:00

Added a sweet heart to the tree. The pattern does call for the heart so it wasn't my idea. I hand embroidered their initials and the date of their wedding in the heart.

Here is a sideways picture of it. :o) I also added a bunny to the side of the grass.

Oh and I got all the leaves stitched down. I think I am about ready to sandwish this thing together and start quilting.
Happy Sewing.

April Blocks.

2010-05-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

dinosaurs

2010-04-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

I stitched up a few dinosaurs today. I used the same green fabric for each, but added some white fabric paint to lighten the green.
The black out line is a black fabric pin.

They are machine appliqued on.

I used a dinosaur coloring book for the patterns. I really like how they are turning out so far. I still need to put them together and add them to the quilt top.

They are going to be used in the row robin I am working on

EQ7 is coming

2010-04-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

June 7th, 2010 EQ 7 will be available. It looks so wonderful. Even more fabulous things you can do.

sneak peeks / 2nd place

2010-04-21T05:54:00.000-07:00

A little sneak peek of some water, sand and sea gulls. :o) It can't show you the whole thing until after May 9th, Mother's Day.

I am working on a wedding signature quilt for my sister n law. The wedding is in June. This June. None of the leaves are stitched down yet, so I still have a lot of work to do.

Everyone at the wedding will sign the leaves. Their wedding theme is leaves/ trees. This pattern is "Seams Like Home" by Joan Jones.

My daughter's robotics team ( Blue Cheese, 1086) went to the World Robotics Competition in Atlanta , GA this weekend. They were undefeated until the end. They ended up winning an award and winning 2nd place in their division. Here she is carrying around her control box. She always has this little box in her hands.

Here are a few of the them having some fun. The guy in the middle is her sweet boyfriend.

And here is my baby blue cheese head with her metal. I am so proud of her.

a whole row done

2010-04-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

I really finished the whole first row of my " A boy's story" quilt. Here is close up of the last block on the first row. A kite.

The whole first row.

"A Boy's Story" by Hatched and Patched.

A big shout out to team Blue Cheese, 1086

2010-04-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

My daughter's robotics team won again. They won the North Carolina Regionals. And what an awesome competition it was. They were in 1st place the whole time so they got to pick the 2 teams for their alliance.

Remember , she is part of the 'drive team'. Every time I take a picture of her out there, she has that pole in front of her head. LOL But there she is. She is the kicker.

This photo is right after the winning score went up and they knew they had won. Everyone was screaming , yelling and jumping up and down. Hugging and crying. And "We are the Champions" by Queen was playing in the background. It was an awesome moment.

I just love this sign. It was hanging up as you walked into the building of the competition.

Next is Atlanta, Good luck to every one there. It's going to be an awesome ride.

March blocks

2010-04-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

Made some progress on my "A boy's story" quilt top.

This is the half I was working on in March...

Bareroots March BOM...

Snowbound for March...

Under the Sea for March....

They won.

2010-03-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

I am not back yet. But I had to brag about my girl. She is on the robotics team at school. They competed this weekend at Regional and WON! Her robotics team has about 40 kids on it and my daughter is one of the drivers. One of 2. :o) So she is part 'pit crew'. She is also the first girl driver they have ever had. And they WON!!! Can you tell I 'm proud?!

I love this picture, it is of her , her 2 metals around her neck and leaning on the robot. I will probaby have this one framed. The team, Blue Cheese, 1086 is going to the World competition in April. I am so proud of her I have been crying for 3 days.

February blocks and a break.

2010-03-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

Here are my February blocks...not all done. :o) I was not able to get my "A Boy's Story" block done. But I did manage to get one of the stitcherys and the applique boat done.

My 'Bareroots' BOM....

February block for "Snowbound"....

And my #2 block for "Under the Sea".....

I am going to be taking a little computer break. So I won't be blogging for awhile. I just need a break from the whole computer thing. The facebook, flickr and blogging world. I am not sure how long my break will be. It could be a week or a month or even 6 months. So Happy Stitching. Talk to you soon, but later.