Never too Early for Christmas Ornaments

This past Christmas I bought Robbie several kits to make a variety of things from felt and foam. He made the dragon and the knight plus a few other fun things. He had no interest in the Christmas ornies though. Robbie has his own Christmas tree so I thought it might be nice for him to make new ornaments for it. Nope, but Daddy was interested :)

Daddy has been a bit fidgety lately because he has been out of work since September '08 for some chronic pain he has had in his abdomen. Several tests later and we think we finally found the cause. He has a ruptured disc between his shoulder blades that is pressing on his spinal cord. Sounds painful just typing it. This cause a nerve that runs from his spine to his abdomen to go haywire.

Anyway...I suggested to him that he might like to do a bit of crafting. I try to recruit anyone who will stand still long enough to glue something to be crafter :) So, he made these for Robbie's tree. I think they turned out cute.

Another quilt-along

I just had to join another quilt-along. This one over at Old Red Barn Co. will keep me on track though. No slacking off this time. If you don't finish your quilt, you don't get entered into the drawing to win a new sewing machine!

The list of supplies called for 12 half yard pieces of fabric. I'm still working out of the stash, so I just grabbed a bunch of boy fabrics and sliced them into the longest 2.5" wide strips I could get. I'm sure I will have to do a bit more work to make my quilt like this, but we have been told that it can be done easily. I've never been one to take the easy way anyways.

If time permits I might even make a girl version too. I have some nice pinks and greens that look good together too.

I've been following the Block Lotto blog for awhile now. Most of the time I either don't care for the block or just don't have the time to try it out. Last month they used the thrifty quilt block pattern. I loved the look and actually had those colors in my stash, so I gave it a try. Of course the ones I made were too small. That's when I figured out that my sewing machine has a special stitch just for quilting! It puts the needle position just right so you sew a perfect 1/4" seam. With all the quilts I have been making the perfect 1/4" didn't matter too much. It would have helped the points in my pinwheel quilt though. Now I just have to remember to change the stitch when I quilt.

Since I liked the pattern and colors so much, I decided to just go ahead and make my own quilt. This way I didn't have to take the chance of actually winning the block lotto that month. Plus, I knew all my blocks would be close to the same size and would fit together nicely. I want to add grey sashing to the blocks before I turn it into a quilt. I think a grey will set the colors off nicely.

The pic shows the 64 blocks I made recently. I had 4 different pinks in my stash that I thought would look nice in a quilt. The top left is John Deere fabric in pink stripe. The bottom right one is from a sheet I bough at Walmart for another quilt project. I made a total of 64 blocks. I had started off thinking an 8X8 quilt but I'm not too sure about that right now. When I was doing the math, I didn't figure in for the sashing pieces. I want the grey sashing to be a bit on the wide size. I'll know more about the actual finished quilt size when I get the grey bought and cut to the size
I think will look nice. Then I will have to figure out the binding color...maybe black-who knows.

Week 5 girls...

More girlie 9 patches.

Week 5 boys

Seven more 9 patches to add to the pile. I plan on trimming them all up when I have all 70.

Girly 9's

Here are the girl versions of the first four weeks at AmandaJean's Quilt-along...

Scrappy Nines

I've been working steady on AmandaJean's quilt along. I've been making more than one a day though. Since my scraps seem to run both boy and girl colors...I'll be making two (or more) quilts.

Here are the first four boy weeks:







I like the scrappy look of these squares. I didn't find the need to make the squares contrast or anything too thought provoking as that :)

New girls in the neighborhood

A few weeks ago I was thinking about new projects to make. I've been wanting to make a simple doll for awhile now. I've seen a variety of different styles and techniques on the web lately. I also like to try out new quilting ideas. I was going to start making doll quilts too. Then I had a shocking thought...why not make dolls WITH their own quilt :) That is definitely something fun to work on. The doll and quilt could match or not. The creativity is wide open.


Meet Abigail...


I had a large piece of black fabric with a city scape on it. I have been making little things from it. I thought it might look cute as a dress for a doll.


I hand embroidered a face...I'm getting better and better with these faces :) Lots of practice and many goofy looking stuffies later.



As I was trying to get her hair just right, I noticed that I could make some pig tails for her. I think they came out cute.


Meet Annabelle....




She was made from the same basic shape as her friend Abigail. Her hair is felt also. I just cut a simple pattern for her.


Both girl's quilts are made from some precut quilt squares that my Grandmother bought back in the 70's from Kmart. I've made several quilts from the packs that were given to me. The back and binding are from a white sheet that I dyed purple. I love the speckled look to it.

It's Prom Time

This past Saturday was prom for my daughter's school. Of course my daughter being who she is didn't decide she was going until the Tuesday before prom! Her girlfriends bullied her into going. I had tried persuading her awhile back but she kept saying she didn't want to go.


So began the mad rush to find a dress and shoes. Of course I called in the mad shopper of the family...my sister. Within an hour she had a dress and shoes for Mandy. The dress is actually a very pale powdery blue color. I don't think you can pick that up in the pictures.



I don't know why Robbie always wants to have his head down in pictures now. He used to be such a photo hog. Every time he saw a camera he would come running to get in the picture. Now he still comes running but he wants to hide that cute little face. Another phase of a preteen I guess.




Mandy kept saying...I'm not touching him, I'm not touching him. He just came home from playing with the boys and was very sweaty but I wanted a pic of him with his sister. I don't get very many shots of them being nice to each other.


Here in Florida, it is necessary to have some prom pics under the palm tree. This is where Mandy decided to show some of her sass and attitude. These are my faves.

...gotta show a little leg.





Her and her girlfriends went out to eat at The Olive Garden. They wanted to eat at Steak-n-Shake but one the mother's told them that wasn't allowed. Since it was prom, they just had to go to a nice restaurant! I told her that they should have done what made them happy. It's their senior prom, it should be what they want. Anyways, the had a great time at the dance. The play list that the juniors chose wasn't very popular, but they survived. All in all, a very memorable evening.

This is where they held the dance. It's the most popular place in town. The building is so big and has a few large rooms, that they were able to have two separate school proms on the same night. It's a good thing too cuz we have around 10 high schools in this area. This is also where they will graduate on June 7th.

Puppy Love

Suzi just loves giving Daddy those puppy dog eyes. She's not a puppy anymore though. She's a big girl now at a whole whopping 2 years old :) When she puts her head on Daddy's knee she usually whines too. This either means she needs to go out or she wants a treat. Pets can be alot of work but they bring so much joy to their families.

My new bag

I finally got around to making a new purse for myself. I bought this pattern over a month ago but just never got around to making it. I LOVE how it turned out! I also got alot of compliments from the gals at work too. A nice feeling. I wanted to put a zipper in, but just couldn't get my head wrapped around the way to get it to work right. I must have ripped that part out 4 or 5 times. It was late at night and I wanted to use the purse the next morning so I eventually gave up. I figured it out now, so the next purse will have a zipper! I always worry that someone will be able to just reach into my purse and take out my wallet or something. Plus, the way I toss my bag around...it needs a zipper to keep everything inside :)

The pattern called for a button loop closure but I just went ahead with a snap flap instead. I was hoping it would keep the top closed a bit better.

I probably should put a bottom piece on the inside though. It is a very soft but floppy bag. My wallet and other items disappear in the bottom between the pockets.


I think these little ties on the sides are what caught my eye. I kept going back and looking at the pattern trying to decide if I should buy it or not. As you can tell...I bought the pattern (and another too). I've made enough bags by now that I really didn't need the pattern. I don't know why I feel that these patterns are going to show me something I don't already know. I should just look at the pictures more closely and figure it out for myself. I changed so many things about the pattern anyways. The one great thing I learned is how to make the pocket with the contrasting top piece. Their way was actually a fun and easy way to do it. Easier and faster than what I would have done. This is a very easy bag to make but the pattern was very confusing for me.



I love the wavy black quilting lines all over the bag. I even carried it through to the front pocket and handles. I love free motion quilting! I takes alot more time than other forms of quilting but it makes a nice impact.

I think I will be making more of this style bag in the near future :)

Quilting along with one crazy mom

AmandaJean is hosting a one a day quilt along. I always want to join in but as usual I tend to join a bunch of things and get very few things accomplished. This time I committed myself. I figured I could handle one a day, right? Well, I knew from the start that I would most likely make a bunch on my weekends off instead of the one a day. I figure that if I am going to get the sewing machine humming, I may as well get a bunch of squares sewn together.



I just dragged a bunch of the little pieces that I saved from various projects and cut them into the required 2.5" squares. Then I moved up to the bigger pieces of scraps. I noticed that I had some definite girl fabrics and then some boy fabrics too. I guess I will be making two quilts for this quilt along :).




I plan on squaring them all up once they are all made. I'm sure there will be more than one wonky looking 9 patch once I'm done.



These quilts will have a variety of colors and designs. The white sashing will bring it all together though. I love scrappy quilts. They have so many things to look at.

Hexing quilt top complete

I finished hand piecing the hexagon Halloween quilt recently. I had a fun time working on it. I was worried it might be one of those projects that I am eager to start but then never actually finish.





I hand embroidered different Halloween inspired motifs in the white center hexagons. There's a bat, a couple pumpkins, a few sayings (including BOO), a skull, a witch's hat, and a ghost or two. A fun little mix if I do say so myself :)




I've decided to just square up all four sides and then I can bind it like a regular quilt. I was going to put a border on but then decided I like it just the way it is. I have some more fun Halloween fabric for the back and bindings too.




I'm hoping to get it quilted this weekend. I have a few I would like to get finished this weekend. Luckily they are all baby size.

I still had a bunch of hexes left over so I decided to make a Halloween stocking with some of them. I'm thinking about quilting the top and having a plain back and lining.



Now to decide on the next hex project. If you love hexagons, stop by The Great Hexagon Quilt Along 2!