Birthday blocks

I've been working on some more birthday blocks. I didn't go in order like I probably should. I just knocked out the easy ones :)


The black and white block is the mock log cabin done in 8".



The simplest of the squares...the 12" 9 Patch.

and finally a 12" Sunlight and Shadows.

Since there is a birthday in early August I guess I should get working on that one very soon.

Garage sale finds

Last week I get a phone call from mys sister that she is at a terrific garage sale. She said everything was only FIFTY CENTS! That's right... fifty cents for each item there. I figure since it is less than a mile from my house I would go check it out. I'm sure glad I did!

The blue button up shirt is a size 2 and still had the price tag on it. It was $30! Not for me...just $.50. It will be perfect for our grandson. The Christmas dress looks new and will go to a coworker for her granddaughter who is due to arrive in October. There are 2 new in the package valances that will be turned into quilts. The soft book with the bear on it seems new also. Another gift for our grandson.



This piece of fabric is one of those dresses with the gathered top. I loved the fabric and want to find another fabric to go with it for a quilt.


There were also 2 crib bumpers. I've already taken them apart and turned the blue one into a quilt. I'll show pics of that later.


This is a newborn boy gift bag. It has the kit to put your babies hand/feet in plaster. There is also a bear and 2 boxes, one for the first tooth and one for a lock of hair. My son's friend is having a boy in October so he will get this as part of his gift.


I also picked up this size 18 wedding dress for FIFTY CENTS! My sister and I think the lady was crazy, but I have been looking for a nice wedding dress to hack apart at a good price. You can't beat $.50. I want to use the fabric to make ring bearer pillows.

I also grabbed 5 packs of iron on transfer paper for the ink jet printer, and one of those back massagers that you place on a chair for hubby.


It was definitely worth getting out of the house for a few minutes.

Wedding dress quilt DONE!

I finished off the wedding dress/christening gown quilt. My customer wanted a very modern looking quilt. I love how it turned out.

The christening gown had a row of embroidered crosses along the hem. I was planning on incorporating them onto the front of the quilt. That was until I actually put them on it. The ruined the modern look I was going for. So I decided to put them on the back. I knew I didn't want them all matchy and in a row. I just scattered them on the back and stitched them down.

It was very hard getting good pictures of this quilt. Here is one of the crosses.

This is an embroidered piece from the christening gown.

These beige pieces were from the wedding dress. There was a flap in the front that had this fabric on the inside. I knew it just had to go in the quilt for some contrast.


More embroidery from the christening gown.


It wasn't much fun taking the dress apart, but it was alot of fun putting it together.

Quilt progress

I've made a bit of progress on Justin's quilt. I've sewn the first two rounds of all 25 blocks. The blocks will finish off at 20".



I also put the last two rounds on a couple blocks so Justin could see if that was what he had in mind when he designed the quilt. He loves it! I had just enough black from the 3 yards I bought so I know that the 3 yards of green won't be enough. On the other hand, I have 2.5 yards of orange left over. I guess I'm not too good at planning ahead.

Doll quilt swap 7

I joined my first doll quilt swap. I've been watching everyone else have all the fun and finally found out about the next one in time to join!


To help out my swap partner...

I like everything! I'm simple that way. I like all the colors in the crayon box. I do have a fondness for sea life quilts though. I haven't seen a quilt I haven't like. Some may not be what I think my style is, but I end up loving them anyways.

This may not be much help for my partner, but what ever they make I know I will treasure. My house is very eclectic so I know I can find a room to hang the quilt.

New quilt-along

Over at TheOldRedBarnCo Flickr group we are going to be doing another quilt-along. The group has decided to do a zigzag quilt using half square triangles. The actual quilt-along doesn't start until Monday, but I just couldn't wait to try this technique out! I knew that I wanted to use up the rest of my Christmas stash from 2 years ago. I had just enough to make a nice size baby top with some left overs. I like how the white breaks up the rows and helps the colors to pop. The colors are nice and bright.

I had a few blocks left over since I never really plan how many of each block to make. I knew they would be perfect for pinwheels.

So....I made this wall hanging. I was surprised that the whole family liked this little quilt. I had it draped over my sewing machine (in the living room) and my 10 year old son stopped and said wow I really like that one! Makes me smile :)


I tried a different way of attaching the binding to see if I liked it. Not really sure about it yet. I think I need some practice to see if I really like it or not.

I stitched the binding to the back of the quilt first. Then I flipped it over and machine stitched close to the inside edge of the binding. There is still spots on the back where you can see the stitches. It might have something to do with the fact that I didn't pin though. I figured since it was a wall hanging I would just wing it.



***another quilt top to add to the pile of things to finish***

Caterpillar tested

I recently tested this little cutie for Stormy. She has some of the cutest patterns. Very easy to follow and understand. Stormy is also having a 1/2 sale in her Etsy shop until July 24th! Now would be a good time to pick up some fun patterns. I have made several of her patterns and love them all!

This cutie will be going to Aina's (co-worker) new granddaughter arriving in October as part of a gift basket.

hooded blanket

One of Justin's friends from work is going to be a new father in October. Last year I made his sister a hooded blanket for her new baby and he requested on for his new baby. This is the crochet pattern off the skein of Pound of Love. I love the texture of these blankets. Also they are so soft, perfect for the new baby. Now I need to get on the ball and make some other goodies for the new little guy.

My oldest (Justin, 21) has requested a quilt for his king size bed. He wants "squares in squares, and make them BIG". These are the three colors he picked out. (The extra was a piece from the remnants bin that just had to come home with me for $.60) These have been his fave colors for a long time now. I've been playing around a bit in my head and think 20" finished squares will work well. This will be the biggest quilt I have made and quilted but I look forward to the challenge. I was also smart enough to grab some thread to quilt it with too.

I picked these up at JoAnn's last week. I stopped in for the can of basting spray and figured I had some "spare" cash from selling a baby quilt so I decided to grab Justin's fabric. Of course Murphy's Law came into the picture. When I got out to my car...the battery was DEAD. A few hours later and $80 poorer I was back on the road again. Never fails to happen to me. The battery was only 2 years old but one of the cells went bad for whatever reason.

I'm hoping to cut into this fabric later this week. I really need to finish up some other things first.

July Birthday blocks

I finally sat down and made the two birthday blocks for this month. I don't know why I was procrastinating for so long. Once I sat down and worked through the patterns, they went together very easily. Happy Birthday girls!!

Another ORB quilt

I made yet another baby quilt based off the OldRedBarnCo quilt-along. This is another one for a coworker whose daughter is having her first baby, a girl!

Grandma asked that it be very girly. We don't do girly here at our house, but I think I did OK. Grandma liked it and that's all that matters, right?


These are fun and fast quilts, but I think it's time to move on to another pattern. I also have too many quilt tops that need to be turned into quilts. It's just too much fun to cut up pretty fabric and sew it back together to make something beautiful!

coins and crochet

I finished another coin quilt top this week. I also finished a round ripple crocheted baby afghan. The yarn looked interesting in the skein and I wanted to see how it would look as a ripple. It came out more for a girl than I expected, but I always like round ripple afghans.

The coins were leftovers from TheOldRedBarnCo quilt-along. A great way to use up scraps.

I joined yet another quilting swap!

I just couldn't help myself. Melissa is hosting this one. Thanks Melissa!!

wedding dress quilt

I have a local customer who wanted a quilt made. She wanted her wedding dress and her daughter's christening gown turned into an heirloom quilt.




This is what I have so far....







The christening gown had a row of embroidered crosses all along the bottom that I plan on appliqueing to the quilt in various places.

fabric for the next quilt

I have a lady at work who has requested a baby quilt for her new granddaughter that is due to enter the world in November. Her daughter is having a baby shower in August. I love that she wants to give her granddaughter a handmade quilt to wrap up in. She requested it be very girly. Not being a very girly type person, I hope I did alright choosing fabrics. I'm sure she will like it though.

The two oranges on the right probably won't get used. Now that I have them all laid out next to each other, I'm not sure they blend in well. The flower/butterfly fabric on the right will be the backing. I may just use the oranges and any left overs from the blocks in the binding.

She requested an OldRedBarnCo quilt-along style quilt since she loved the one I made for another coworker. I should be able to start cutting this one tomorrow and have it finished by the end of the week. I love quilting!!

OldRedBarnCo quilt-along #4

Another quilt based off the OldRedBarnCo quilt-along. This one goes to a 4 year old Grandson of a coworker. I think I like the white border I used on this one.



I did a meandering quilting on this one to somewhat resemble wandering roads since the back fabric has cars all over it. This is the car fabric I found on a recent thrift store excursion. The binding has some street sign fabric in it too.

Amazing thrift find

My sister and her family went to visit the in-laws in Georgia for the Fourth of July. My sister loves to go thrift store shopping. She is always on the look out for nice clothes for her and her family. She amazes me with some of the things she finds.


She gives me a call on Saturday to tell me she found a bolt of denim at a Goodwill and was I interested in it. You can never have enough denim so I said sure why not...how much is it? She told me $10 but some of the denim was cut and had a couple holes in it and she wasn't sure I could really use it. Plus, she figured who in their right mind makes their own jeans. Not me, but I do like to use denim to make purses and other things.

She did end up grabbing it even though it sounded like she was hesitant. Almost like she didn't think it was a good deal.


I never imagined when she said a bolt that it would be this BIG!! This thing is like 5 feet tall! Look how much denim is left on the bolt.



I actually thought she meant a bolt like the fabric bolts at JoAnn's...was I wrong!

Thanks Lisa, you're the best :)

Green Fairy Quilts give-away

Judi over at Green Fairy Quilts is celebrating her 99th post with a great give-away! She is giving away a pattern for the above quilt, and a jelly roll, a quilted tote (the green and cream tote) , a quilt and a honey bun! Pop on over and see what she has been up to. While you are there stop into her shop and check out all the wonderful patterns and fabrics she has!

Birthdays and sleepovers

I have been doing a bit of birthday crafting this past week. Our youngest Grandson Nathan's first birthday was June 26th but since his sister turns 11 on July 18th, they are just having one big ole party on July 11th. Unfortunately Grammie and Grumpy can't make it up to Connecticut to celebrate with them but we will be there in spirit!




I think every kid needs a special shirt to wear on their birthday. I picked up a nice light blue shirt at A.C.Moores a couple weeks back intending to make him something to wear on his special day. First I thought about a cupcake, then a regular cake, but decided on a simple #1. This way he can wear it for more than just one day.


I thought Mariah (11) might like a sock monkey. I picked these socks up at the Dollar Tree around Valentine's day.


Mariah's having 3 girls over for a sleepover after the party. I thought they might get a kick out of some sleep masks. These are the first ones I have ever made. I used some batting in between the fabrics (the backs are just white fabric) but I'm not too sure I like them like that. Not being a sleep mask person, they just feel a bit off when you wear them. I'm sure the girls will like them though. I made 3 extra for Mariah's brothers just in case. I thought since Nathan and Jacob are 1 and 3 that they would want what their big sister has. Then there is one for the oldes (DJ) just incase. I wouldn't want anyone to feel left out.


Sometime last year I bought these bags at Michael's. I think I got them for 3 for 25 cents or something close to that. It was during an after Halloween sale. I picked up some candy to put in the bags along with the sleep masks for the girls.



All the Grandkids (and kids) have letter pillows so I knew I needed to make one for Nathan too. He also gets a crocheted stuffed teddy bear to snuggle with.