progress of sorts

we are slowly getting healthy around here. i'm so tired of being sick, and just plain ready for spring. i can't wait to get outside and play in the dirt!!

troy went bird hunting last weekend, so we had a relaxed, slumber party in the living room kind of weekend. my mom and nana came over (with chinese food!), we watched a ton of movies, played some wii, and i finished piecing my solids quilt top.




















and i know the picture is terrible - late night photography is never a good idea!  i need to get some batting and get it finished, i'm giving it to our cousins who just had a baby boy, welcome will!

i began working on reupholstering this chair our neighbor gave us.  the kids like it a lot, but i couldn't take the plaid anymore.

i am using a green gingham i found at wallyworld for 1.99 a yard!  i bought it without a project in mind, and it turns out i had just enough.  there's not even enough left for a pillow.  i also decided i need to paint that wood.  maybe white?  

helpful upholstery advice - make sure you have staples for your staple gun before you tear into your chair.  i am at a standstill until i can get to the store for staples.  sigh.  and since we have a winter blast headed our way, it may be a few days.  they just cancelled afternoon preschool.  maybe i'll work on my postage stamp quilt top today!

i'll leave you with a pic troy took yesterday - pretty good looking kids if i say so myself!

handmade in 2011!

i promise to send something handmade to the first 3 people who leave a comment here. To be eligible, you must also post this in your blog, offering the same thing to 3 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 3 people in 2011.

anyone want to join me in the pay it forward challenge? you have the rest of the year, and i figure it can be as simple as making cookies or notecards for someone!

no prints allowed progress

there is seriously something wrong with me! i started this challenge with a clear image in my mind of what i would do. it was a copy of my hourglass quilt. which i love. even though it's not finished. stop judging me.


but once i had all my half square triangles sewed together, and marked, and pinned all perfectly with seams lined up, i thought, what if...  and started playing with the squares.  making pinwheels.  making diamonds.  and then chevrons.

love it!  after seeing this pic, i did break up the one dark red and used it as a border piece.  out of the robert kaufman dusty charm pack, i only had three orange squares left over.  i did sub one square with a light gray kona, because i thought it was a little heavy on the oranges.  i love this idea, think how great it would look in other colorways?  i think this one makes a nice modern baby boy quilt.

i still need to piece together the blocks, and i'm thinking about a border too to make it a little bigger.  i'd love to do a print back, but since the challenge is "no prints" i am thinking of other ideas.  i have til march - maybe i'll actually meet the deadline!!

me and my baby brooch

like my new scarf?  inspired by the infinity scarf over at luvinthemommyhood, only i halved the width.  i started it, forgot about it, and found it in a pile on the sewing table.  it just needed three buttons sewed on to finish it up.  poor sawyer's working on a tooth, so that hand is always in his mouth.  and the drool never stops.

i am linking this to a self portrait party over at little miss momma.  i would love to get a pic without the baby attached to me, but these days i'm not allowed to put him down.  ever tried to sew with a baby in your lap?  :)

upcoming love fest...

if you're interested in guest posting or promoting your shop or site, let me know! 

final reflections & predictions

Looking back on the sewing scene of 2010, what trends stand out in your mind?

japanese prints are still huge, and i love that vintage sheets got their own line with dream on by urban chiks.  voile was big too.

What were some of your favorite things? (Trends, fabric collections, patterns, blogs? Whatever you really loved.)

zipper flowers - but i'm not hip enough to rock them.
joining the kcmqg and meeting so many cool people there!
finally doing a craft show after wanting to forever
joining my 1st quilting "bee" on flickr

What was your very favorite fabric collection or print? (If not listed above.)

i really love hello betty by chloe's closet.  it's right up there in my top five of all time. the colors are fab together.

and sunspots from amy butler's love.  why are her dots always divine?

What was the best thing you made in 2010? (Be sure to share a photo!)

sawyer daniel!  :)

my sweet baby quilt.  i didn't have a girl to snuggle up in this, but i still pet it often and it hangs in my room.  such a precious fabric line!

What is one of the best things you saw that was made by someone else?
oh fransson's tokyo subway quilt is so cool.  and i loved seeing cherri house's city quilts in person!  they are stunning!  and hearing her speak was inspiring and emotional.

What do you think 2011 has in store? (Again, trends, fabric, patterns, etc.)

i'm hoping to see refashioning existing clothing continue its popularity.  and i know more and more people are sewing and designing, so i'm sure there will be a zillion new craft stars emerge.

Anything you’re ready for the sewing world to get over?

tutorials using buntings & ruffles.  no offense to anybody, and i don't know why i feel that way because i adore both of them!  maybe i'm just ready for something new? 

What’s on your sewing agenda for 2011? 

quilts, quilts, and more quilts!  maybe a skirt for myself and definitely some shorts for the boyos in my house.

What are you excited about?

i'm excited to have more time to myself next fall, when the new school year starts!  my husband will be working a ton of overtime this spring so i may get some evenings to sew after bedtime.  and in july we'll be headed to iowa for a reunion and i'd like to follow one of the barn quilt trails.  i have a couple quilt shops to check out too.

What would you like to learn more about?

free motion quilting, yeast bread, and canning.

animal mugs

hey all my thrifting friends out there - do me a favor, keep an eye out for these ceramic animal coffee mugs, would ya?  my mom gave me the ones we had as a kid, the alligator, monkey, and giraffe.   and i found the ostrich and lion over the last few years.  i think they are too sweet!  and i especially love that my kids drink their hot chocolate in them after playing in the snow.

here's the weird thing though - can't find pictures of them anywhere on google.  i did find a set of fairy tale ones, looks like the same "artist" and they were made by carol wright.  the ostrich and lion are both stamped jsny taiwan, but the others are blank.  i always look for them while i'm thrifting, i'd love to collect more of them.  so if you come across one, pick it up for me and i'll pay you to ship it - or maybe we can work a trade or something?  :)  happy thrifting!

no prints allowed

another great guild meeting last night!  even if my husband called in the middle of it.  i swear i can't go anywhere without him calling to see when i'll be coming home!  sawyer really loves his mommy, and isn't too sure about staying home with daddy.

so last month (which i missed) they announced the no prints allowed challenge and that robert kaufman fabrics had generously donated solid charm packs for all the guild members!  lucky for me they had some left.  i chose the dusty colorway, and i can't wait to get started.  i know exactly what i want to try!  they are due at the march meeting, and the only rules are that, well, no prints are allowed!  heehee.

then we had angela from quilting is my therapy who showed us some of her machine quilting.  she is the long arm quilter for tula pink - and she brought some of her quilts!  we saw kiss kiss, modern alphabet, and windswept which were gorgeous.  then she let us show unfinished quilt tops of our own, and she talked about how she decides where to go with the quilting.  i learned a lot. i took a few crappy pictures so you could see her amazing quilting!!

kiss kiss by tula pink

see the plume quilting?

modern alphabet

completed

snow day!!

i was sorta hoping for one today.  we had a busy weekend.  alex had a playdate and emma went to a dance clinic. my nieces spent the night.  friends popped in, lots of football and junk food, and an hour or two playing just dance 2.  not much else got done.

maybe now i can finally finish quilting this blanket.

i had a little sewing time yesterday, but spent it instead on this little project.  while pulling charms for the pork chop swap, i came across these squares.

they're moda but i don't remember the line.  i decided to make them into a grocery bag holder for the pantry, using this tute from moda bakeshop.  once i quilted it though, i really like it.  so i may bind it and hang it on the wall instead.  i think the square quilting makes it interesting, and i may try it on a baby blanket, instead of my usual straight line quilting.  i just wish that i'd used something other than muslin to back it.

and while digging around, i found this unfinished project.  a crocheted mesh grocery bag.  started, oh, probably a year ago!  it just needs handles and the bottom sewed shut.  i should finish it too. 

2010 in review

so 2010 wasn't as successful as i would have liked. no free motion quilting was mastered. only four baby quilts were finished. no noticeable dent was made in my stash. and only a handful of cakes were decorated. i blame it on the baby. heehee.

but. we did get a lot done around our place. including a new circle driveway. remodeling the one bath into two. teaching my husband to do the ceramic tile. and installing the baseboards in the bedrooms. finally.  and in the kitchen, i made banana jam and meringue.  and i joined my first ever quilting bee, and my first ever quilt guild.  both of which i adore!!

so what's next for 2011?  my husband wants to get a well drilled, which will be a huge outdoor project, since they will have to trench in the water lines across the field below.  and i have big plans to finish a lot more quilts, maybe make some clothes for me and the kids.  it would be great if i could do at least one quilt-along a quarter.  here's one i'm thinking of joining.  and i may begin with rachel's postage stamp quilt.  i have a jelly roll of hello betty that would be lovely in this!  or if you need some new jelly rolls, head to fat quarter shop, buy two get 20% off(code psiquilt)

i want to do more canning.  and i absolutely must start exercising regularly, my body insists it's necessary.  it will be another big transition year for us, with daddy in a work outage for 4 months.  alex will start kindergarten, zach will start preschool, and i will be alone with one baby for a few hours a week.  so it's hard to say what will actually get done.  i'm being a lot easier on myself these days.  less pressure, more time to relax and enjoy things.  we'll see how long it lasts!

bear with me

i mentioned this to my friends in bee vintage, but now i think i need to share it here as well. an old friend of mine has been hit with some tragic news this holiday season. amy and i've known each other since our older brothers played ball together in little league, and we spent the summers running around westurban. we were on the same softball team one summer, and even though we went to different high schools, she always kept in touch. we reconnected on facebook awhile back. we both are moms of four littles, which isn't something i have in common with a lot of my friends. anyways.

her not yet 3 year old daughter liviana was born with some serious heath issues called congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and despite that triumphed and prevailed.   until now. now she has been diagnosed with a completely separate disease. metachromatic leukeodystrophy. for which, once symptomatic,  there is no cure.

and now, her younger brother, only eleven months old, has the same diagnosis.  except he's presymptomatic, so he is eligible for treatment.  in milan, italy.  where they are heading in the next 2 weeks with their family of 6.   it's all so confusing and heart wrenching.  i tear up every day thinking about her family and what they are going through.

if you think you'd like to help in any way, even just by praying for them, please visit liviana's journey. 

so lucky!

yep.  i won something in the sewmamasew giveaway day.  i know, shocking!  and i was super happy to have found this new-to-me gorgeous blog, sand & starfish.  i won four half yards of pretty fabric and this adorable set of snack bags.  which will come in very handy when packing 2 lunches next year!  i actually got these in the mail before christmas - where has the time gone?!    (following images borrowed from her giveaway post - i can't find my camera!)

yep.  i'm lucky.  :)  thanks again for such a great gift!

hope you all had a great holiday - we did, and i am sad to see break end.  emma went back to school this morning and i already miss her!  but i am looking for the positives, like having more craft time in the afternoons.  i'm almost done with a quilt, hoping to finish the quilting today and stitch the binding tomorrow.  we'll see.  i also started a daily fitness thingy, hope i can keep up with that and see some better fitting clothes in my future!  nothing like your 20 year reunion to kick your butt into gear!