check check check

i'm sorting my fabrics and i found these 2 inch strips left over from this project.  they came from a clearance FQ bundle at joann's, an impulse buy awhile back.  trying to use 'em up and move 'em out,  i started stitching them together to dress up a flour sack towel for the kitchen. 

me likey.

here's some more bee blocks finished.  for april do. good stitches, my herringbone blocks:

another dresden for bee vintage:

i am really really really trying so hard not to start another project.  i want to work on a quilt top so bad.  but!  i have to get at least one of my finished tops quilted before i will let myself start another one.  maybe tomorrow...

swap a rainbow!

i sent off squares last week for another swap - this one was at bolo heads for rainbow colored charms, each person sending 10 fabrics in a certain color. i chose pink.

that is pink, not yellow.  poor lighting!

i made this little doll quilt top with my leftover pieces. since they were already cut into four inch wide chunks, i just did a coin quilt with 1 inch broadcloth sashing. i want to practice free motion quilting on it.  i was working on it while the kids alternated watching a movie and wandering in and out of my sewing corner.  it's far from perfect, and crooked, but i am so proud of myself for using those scraps right away instead of stashing them!

i've been reading through a huge pile of library books, and several of them mention finding a system that works for you.  i've been sorting my fabrics, folding the larger pieces on comic book boards and i love how it looks in my bookshelf!  i'll update this when i remember where i saw that idea.  wanna give credit where it's due!!

the swap is simple, 10 fat quarters give you 200 charms, and it didn't cost much, ($3) to mail. if anyone is interested, i'd like to host one!  i'd need you to send a self addressed stamped envelope along with your 200 charms, that will save me a lot of time.  so it really costs $6ish to send.  if you have a large stash you may not even need to buy any fabrics!

i thought, instead of each person choosing one color, we could choose one fat quarter in each color:
blue, green, red, orange, yellow, pink, purple, turquoise, brown, black

i found it hard to come up with ten "all pink" prints i liked - my LQS had very little to choose from, mostly dots.  this way you'd just need to find one fab fabric in each color and start cutting. 

what do you think?  i'd need 19 peeps to sign up.  if you want in, leave me a comment, and if we get enough people i will set a date.  tell a friend!

what the bunny brought me

at our easter lunch today, my MIL had set up a long bunch of tables, piled high with assorted things that belonged to my husband's grandma marie.  MIL Bert also made a bunch of handwritten signs, and had it set up for us all to "shop" for anything we wanted.  one of the signs was with a pile of old photographs, and it said "funny lookin people".  she's a hoot.

another sign said "finish one of grandma's projects - she'd be awful proud of you"  next to that sign were *gasp* a couple of unfinished quilt tops.  yep. and under the table, boxes of fabrics, and old needlework magazines, and on the next table, tons of doilies.

and tea towels.  and aprons and a mixer cover and then!  more goodness!  boxes of crochet thread!  and trims!

needless to say, i wanted to grab the entire batch and run throw it in my van.  it's not that far, the kids can walk home, right?  but i waited.  and waited.  and once it was starting to thin out, i went back and collected a few things.  and then a cousin said "what are you waiting for?  you know you're one of the only ones that will actually do anything with this stuff."  so i got a few more things.  and still walked out wishing i could just grab everything and throw it in my van. so i showed some restraint.  which is more than i can say about the dessert table.

happy easter everyone!

remember this?

i finished it! finally!  this chair used to be our babysitter's when she was a (younger) kid. 

after

the hardest part was finding a day to spray paint when the wind wasn't going 90 miles an hour. seriously, i know i live in kansas, but it's been crazy this year. my parents lost their big barn out back to a windstorm two weeks ago. it even moved their gazebo a couple inches, and knocked over an iron bench.  wind be crazy, yo.

anyways. i sanded the wood chair, then sprayed it with krylon's classic grey gloss. which i like better than the smoke grey, FYI. it took several coats to cover the wood grain. the cushions got recovered in heavy green gingham from the clearance table at walmart. i tried two staple guns and found our stanley light duty sharpshooter with 1/4 inch staples worked best for me. i'm kind of a wimp.  and i realize that it's missing the little wood button to cover the screw hole.  they are in a baggie, somewhere, only to be found again once i buy replacements.  sigh.

so now, we have a cute new addition to our home - this will go in one of the bedrooms this summer after our next remodel. we are turning our huge living room into a smaller room with two added bedrooms. yay! all the kids will have their own space! and i have been scheming out design plans - this grey, white and green is one of the ideas.  more to come on that project as we finalize plans.

OH!  advice needed - i have the little arm pads, but thought it was a little too much gingham so i haven't attached them yet.  should i go with another fabric, or leave them off, or what?


linking up with:

anniversaries

15 years ago, we had our first date.

(not our first date)

10 years ago, he proposed on a beach in playa del carmen, mexico

nine years ago, we were married on a stormy afternoon.

he's the best husband a girl could dream up.

he's the best father a kid could ask for.

he's the best friend a person could have.

happy anniversary honey!

bee blocks

i've been making my mod mosaic and you are here blocks.  first up, mod mosaic:

i am no good with the wonky.  i need to know every step of the way what's next.  i'm that way with recipes too.  i want to follow the directions!  that's what i'm supposed to do! so for me, wonky is more work than it should be.  i'll get it finished tomorrow.  this will be a beautiful quilt though...

next up, the you are here block from happy zombie.  i love monica.  she would totally be my BFF if only she lived next door.  i love this block!  it's a lot of fun to play with the different color combos.  it would be gorgeous in solids, don't ya think?  and in a quilting cotton wouldn't slip around like the sheets.

it's missing the top row in this pic

so, besides that i haven't gotten much other sewing done.  we been outside enjoying the sunshine, and i planted a new flowerbed along the driveway.  i put in about 40 plants, and then the next morning i found my silly dog had dug up about five of them.  it wouldn't be an issue if i hadn't planted a precise arrangement.  that'll teach me!  so i got some replacements but then it stormed last night and now i have to wait for the ground to dry out a bit.

basil babies!

i still have some pots to plant, and the kids' window wells to clean out and plant.  the toads are back already, so i need to do it soon!  i let them each pick out an annual to plant in some pots and they will have morning glory vines cascading down the sides again this year.  after that, my next big project will be the upstairs deck and entrance.  it needs a good scrubbing and fresh paint.  it's where we wait for the bus, so i want to make it a happy space!

spinning!!

i am so excited! i just ordered a fq bundle of the new denyse schmidt/joann's fabric off of etsy - i figured, if i went, i'd end up buying at least a half yard of most of it, and i'd have to take along all three boys. which sounds like the worst idea ever. the last time i went to joann's to buy flannel that was on sale, i took a number - 23 - and the next one they called was 15. add in an hour drive there and then back again (gas=$$$) and i decided this was the smarter way to go.

i cannot wait to get that package in the mail!! my sweet husband agreed to "get" it for me for our 9 year anniversary this month - he's working nights, 6 12 hours shifts a week, and won't be able to do any sort of shopping on his own. and i have to give him credit, he didn't even try to argue about all the fabric i already have. he must have seen that i really wanted it!! now i need something totally kick ass for him!

i know exactly what i want to make with some of it - a pinwheel quilt. sort of like this one i saw on pinterest. (are you on there yet?  want an invite?  send me an email, i can invite 6 i think!)

by my count, there are 17 blocks running the length, which makes me think they are 4 1/2 inch pinwheels? maybe smaller, there is sashing there. but this is the type of quilt i want to make, the one rattling around my brain for a few years now! and still, i haven't done a pinwheel! i've started them, twice now, but i think the smaller pinwheel is what i was wanting.

speaking of quilts.  i have the baby's pack-n-play sitting in the yard,  with alex's project linus quilt stretched over it as a shade canopy from gardening yesterday.  and today when we got back from storytime at the library, the sight of that cheery quilt in my yard made me feel so content.  hey kids, we're HOME.

garage sale season!!!

my momma and i love to garage sale. she came over this morning and we left the older kids with the neighbor girl and hit the church rummage sale and "city" wide in greeley. i scored a few goodies, let me brag share with you!

first up this fab picture - $2

button soaps in a spool box!

a (slightly creepy) copy of the old lady who swallowed a fly

some vintage patterns and a sheet

a cool scrabble word dice game, love her hair & outfit!!

 and various other junk

like a new in the box zebra hair brush from avon, pink dish towels.   some remnants of green fabric that matches some quilt squares i found cut out in granny marie's fabric stash - i have it in blue and yellow too.  so excited to have more to work with!!  it's a fun print.

in addition, i got a ton of clothes(2 boxes worth!) including baseball cleats, a new skirt and dress for moi, and lots of stuff for the boys.  grand total for the day?  $15 and change.  well, $25 if you count the sitter, but i don't.  and we helped out the church, and also a friend raising money for the race for the cure!  yay us!  and sawyer rode along happily in his stroller, blowing raspberries and drooling on himself.  what a good morning.

you have my permission to slack

where does the day go?  i swear i just woke up this morning.   now i am fighting to stay awake later than my three year old, who refuses to close his eyes.  on a happy note, i finally put sawyer in his crib last week and he has been sleeping through the night!  with each kid, i've said "the next time i will do this sooner" and guess what?  i'm a total liar.  oh well, they are so worth every minute of missed sleep.

i've realized that as i get older and we've had more kids, i am no longer the night owl of my twenties.  i used to love staying up late, and was so productive!!  now i have to tiptoe around after bedtime, and i am plain exhausted just keeping up with the dishes and laundry.  i miss having so much to show for my day.

where am i going with this?  well, i guess i am telling myself that it's ok to take a break from doing it all, all the time.  the dishes will still be in the sink the next morning, damn the luck.  you can dress a kid as easily from a laundry basket as from a closet hanger.  but the days slip by fast, and if you want to "create", it has to be a priority in itself.

it's a serious juggling act - the needs of one husband, four kids, three cats, one dog and thirty acres.  but see what's missing from that list?  me.  don't forget me!  i need to be a priority too!  so i called my babysitter to come watch the kids while i sew tomorrow night.  i plan to banish them all from the upstairs and rejoice in some priority me time.  care to join me?

xo tammie

debate time

i have a question. it's a little too late for the answer to help me right now - since i already mailed my package out - but is a fat eighth a piece that's 9" x 22" or a piece that's 18" x 11"? 

scratch another one of my list - i finally finished my dresden for the january bee vintage block.

i'm not sure why it took me this long. i had a psychological block every step of the way. i guess i'm a scaredy cat when it comes to trying something totally new. i made a couple mistakes, then had to start over. i tried to zigzag the edges, but it was a disaster. i went back and looked at some others in the group and thought they edge stitched so that's what i did.

then i had a brilliant idea and used a chunk of a vintage sheet with large areas of white as my background fabric. only, it was too thick, i guess? it didn't play nicely with my machine, and gave me a bunch of tension issues. which i didn't discover until i had stitched them down. so rip rip rip went the stitches. and out came the kona!

finally, because i didn't read the whole tutorial until after i started, i cut out my center circles the size of the template. which is actually the stitching line, so i had to start over there too.  and looking at it now, the one block on the left doesn't really go.  too dark.  sigh.

sewing projects need to be quick for me to get anywhere! i get such small doses of time that usually, if i screw up, it gets thrown aside in order to make progress on something else. only, these projects are for someone, so i have to stay on it and finish.  i have enough wedges cut out and sewed for another.

we were in the city yesterday for a playdate at my SIL's so i ran into joann's and got a 6.5 x 24" ruler to use on my herringbone blocks.  can't wait to see that quilt come together, it should be a riot of color!