June Schnibble

This month's Schnibble is all quilted and has its binding attached. I really like how this one turned out except for a couple of the binding corners. I only had 3 seams for the binding and wouldn't you know it 2 of them landed on corners!! Rotten luck. I'm starting to think I had better start checking the binding before sewing it on. That way I can avoid seams landing on corners...hopefully.

On your mark, get set, GO!!!

After hearing me talk on and on about the Go! Cutter, Hubby told me last Saturday to just go ahead and order one already. I think it was his way of getting me to stop jabbering about it. lol. Of course he does want to see me have what I need to do my crafts with but I think it might have been for the piece and quiet he was hoping would come from the purchase. The big ole box arrived Thursday at 6pm. Of course that is an hour after I go to work. I kept watching for the FedEx truck and watched a couple cruise right by the house. That happens so often around here, I just don't understand. Anyways....

Friday was my day off so I decided to ignore all those things that need to be finished and play a bit. I took all my novelty fabric out of the stash and started cutting it up. Most pieces were around a fat quarter size. Some bigger, some smaller but nothing over 3/4 of a yard. I started by cutting some 6.5" squares out of the bigger pieces. Then I moved down to the 4 3/4" die. As the pieces became smaller I switched to smaller dies. I used the 3.5" and then finally the 2.5" die. I ended up with very little waste this way. Now I have a bunch of different size squares to use whenever the urge hits. I'm thinking of mixing and matching the different size squares into one quilt.

I also joined SewCalGal's team of bloggers that love their Accuquilt. 

I think my biggest concern with the Go! is going to be how fast I will need to replace the cutting mats. The cutting blades make marks on the mats each time you roll the fabric through the cutter. I did like the videos said and kept rotating and flipping the cutting mats but I don't know, they still look like they might wear out sooner than I had hoped. I guess I will just need to make sure I have some back up mats just in case.


I already know my next dies will be the rag die and the tumbler die and probably the apple core die also.

Here and there

Last year I was in a mini-holiday swap. We made and sent in 4 blocks and received 4 blocks in return. I turned my four into a little Christmas table topper. It measures 24" square.

I've made a few more star blocks for my Samoan quilt. I already knew that white setting triangles wouldn't be a good choice but this confirms it. I do love how they are turning out though.

Gnomes

This month's theme over at YOE is Gnomes. There is just something about Gnomes that make me smile :) These are some of the projects I have been working on this month.

My world

I love sky pictures and sunsets and sunrises are a favorite of mine. This is a sunset I captured a few nights ago.

We have been having some strong afternoon storms lately. They roll in fast and hit hard. Many of the streets in our city flood when these storms come through. Of course they always come through at the time I have to go to work. I keep Robbie's slip-n-slide toys inside the dome because we have had to chase them across the neighborhood with the high winds we have been getting.  We would look out the window and watch the yellow and orange slide flipping around inside the dome. Much more fun to watch than seeing it flying across the fields.

I also caught this rainbow before work one day. I've always loved loved rainbows. Never could find the pot o' gold at the end though...

Boy's Brick quilt

I made this quilt as part of the "On the Road to Spring" quilt a-long over on Flickr. I finished the top awhile ago but finally got it quilted and bound.

More house fabric. I'm trying to work through more of my stash. I'm doing pretty good too. This one measures 36.5" X 39".  Weird size but it works.

I am slowly going through my to be quilted pile. I thought I would start with some of the smaller items and work my way up to the bed size quilts.

Baby Doll Quilt

This little cutie was made with some of the I Spy squares from a swap I was in a bit ago. This swap was for 4.5" squares. I pulled out a bunch of the girl fabrics for this little quilt.

It measures 24" X 28" so it can be for a little baby or a baby doll. I think it is a nice size for a carseat or stroller but it has been awhile since our kids were in a stroller so I could be wrong.  I used two different pinks for the binding. These were left over from two other quilts. I usually make too much binding and I always save the leftovers. They work great for scrappy quilts.

I used more of the blue house fabric for the back. I am getting close to the end of this fabric. I know there isn't enough for anymore backings but I should get several blocks from it. I think I like this fabric because of the colors in the houses.

Strip Bags

I'm slowly, very slowly trying to use up some of my string scraps. I dug into the Barbie scraps and made this little tote bag.

Simple, simple, simple...

This Halloween one is my favorite though. I think I just love the colors and designs. For the handles I used the orange fabric from the bottom of the bag. I added a ribbon on one side of the handle to give them some strength.

I also added a ribbon around the inside rim.

I also have a couple more bags in the finishing stages. For those I used a bunch of selvages. Those are fun to work with. I'm just trying to figure out the handles. I need to get those finished soon and out of my work area.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there!! Hubby's father passed away when he was a teenager. I think it has been 28 years now. My father passed away last year and my grandfather the year before. We are planning on just staying home since Hubby is the only father to celebrate with. We (Hubby) will be cooking steaks on the grill. I will make a delicious tossed salad to go with it. This year it will only be Me and Hubby and Robbie. The big kids won't be home. Justin is working and Mandy is still in Alabama until Tuesday.

We did celebrate in our normal way yesterday though. Hubby and I always seem to go shopping just before a holiday and buy stuff for the kids and sometimes us. This time everyone but Hubby got something. Strange how that worked out. He really doesn't want or need anything right now. When he needs something he just goes out and gets it.

Let's see what we brought home this time...

Our kids LOVE slushies and snow cones. We have one of those hand crank snow cone makers but it is so hard to crank enough ice for even one cone let alone 5 cones. We looked at these at Target a couple weeks ago but they were $20 and we had others to buy so I decided to wait. Glad I did because we found these on clearance for $13. Even the syrup was on clearance. Strange at the beginning of summer but I'm not complaining! Those things on the side are extendable marshmallow forks. Found those in the Dollar Bins up front. I also picked up a lint roller for when I am sewing and there are threads all over my shirt.

On another end cap I found these plastic plates. They are sold in stacks of 4 for $1.99. I used to have plates similar to these growing up and I have been looking for something like them. They are not the same but will work for now. Dishwasher and microwave safe is a nice bonus feature. I just wish they had some more vibrant colors. I think I need some red to round them out.

I found these adorable gnome garden picks while heading to the grocery section. Also on clearance. My family is so used to getting things on clearance. When a new video game comes out the kids know they have to wait a few months until it goes on sale or clearance. No sense rushing out and getting something if you can wait a couple months and save some money. Target seems to have lots of nice clearance deals throughout the year. Last month they have two piece shorts and t-shirt sets for the little ones marked down to $4. That's $2 for the shirt and $2 for the shorts. Good deal. I bought our youngest grandson (Nathan) four outfits for his upcoming 2nd birthday later this month. Anyways...

We also bought Robbie a slip-n-slide type slide. Within the first hour the part where the hose hooks in blew right out. The poor kid was heart broken. He waited 3 days for this slide. That's almost a life time for an 11 year old lol. Daddy was so sweet and took him back to Target to buy a better one. I will be contacting the company to get a refund for the first one. Things just aren't build the way they used to be.

I hope everyone has a great day! Hug someone you love today :) I know I will.

Getting There

I have been able to spend a bit more time on my Christmas Advent Calendar this week. It's a great project to work on at while watching TV. I have most of the sequins and beads on Santa done. Just a few more number pockets and then it will be almost complete. I'm also planning to put a back on the whole piece. That way I can add some stiff interfacing or stiff felt so it can hang on a wall nicely. These felt projects are fun but the kits aren't complete in my opinion. The finished projects always seem to be a bit flimsy for me.

Scarves

 

 I recently received a custom order for a couple scarves. One Witch's Hug Scarf and one Cupcake Scarf. Both are crocheted and take a bit of time to make. I think the Witch's Hug is my favorite but the cupcake is cute. The cupcake scarf has red pom-poms for the cherries and beads for the sprinkles. All the beads and pom-poms are hand sewn on. Someone once suggested gluing everything on but I would worry about the glue getting old and all the beads/pom-poms falling off. I've had that happen with Christmas decorations. With them sewn on it makes the scarf washable too.

I also made a second cupcake scarf just in case she didn't like the colors of the first. She just told me that she didn't want the colors all crazy. This one doesn't have beads and will be going into the shop soon.

Three By Six Bee

These are the blocks I made for the 2nd quarter of the 3X6 Bee over on Flickr.  I found the pattern here.  These were fun to work on but now I am ready to move onto something else. Not sure what block I will pick for the 3rd quarter. Maybe something applique since I haven't done that yet.

Hubby

Hubby finally finished his eagle clock. We couldn't find a clock mechanism that worked so Hubby had to carve out some of the wood from the back of the plaque. You would think that if they sold the plaque as a base for a clock that they would have clock parts that actually fit. Jeesh!

This is a picture of Hubby's arm rest on his side of the couch. This is a very old piece of lace/fabric/table runner type thing. Basically a long doily. He keeps it on his arm rest so that he doesn't leave and sweat marks on the arm rest.  It has become so thread bare that it was time for a replacement. Since I am  too lazy to go shopping creative I made him a new arm rest protector...

 This is actually something I told him I would make months ago. Of course the NY Giants are his favorite football team. Luckily their colors are red, white, and blue. I don't mind having things made in Giants fabric around the house. At least they blend in pretty well.

Hope you are having a great weekend. I go back to work after being out for 3 months. It's a good thing bad thing kinda deal. I like the money but really don't like the job. I am very grateful to have a job though, so off to work I will go :)

Another chance to Go!

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is giving us another chance to win a Go! Cutter. WooHoo! I need all the chances I can get to win one. I'm drowning in scraps and I think a Go! Cutter could help me cut them down to size and get them all organized. Plus, imagine how fast and accurate I could be with my cutting and quilt making.

State Fair

This month's pattern for the Year of Schnibbles is State Fair. I really enjoyed making this one. The pattern was simple especially since I only chose the two colors. Most of these fabrics are left over from Mandy's quilt. I'm not a big fan of the piano key borders for all the Schnibbles though. This one needed a simpler border to calm the quilt down. I will be using black for the binding.

A mystery revealed

This is the gorgeous results of the first quilt mystery that I have ever done. I am so happy that I participated. This beauty will be staying at my house! With the Fourth coming soon I'm sure I can find some nice star fabric for the back.

I learned a new technique for making the flying geese. It is a quicker way to do them but I need more practice because I lost a few points. This quilt looks more complicated than it really is. I liked doing it in little bite size pieces...lots of little pieces lol.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

More miscellaneous blocks sewn together. These are from the Holly Jolly swap over at Aunt Pitty Pat's. I was in the bright non traditional group but due to some swappers not fulfilling their obligations some of the groups were switched up a bit. I was excited to see some of those blocks but that's OK, these blocks are still gorgeous!  Once again these are 12" blocks so another one for the couch. Once quilted I will put this one up until the season hits. Just 6 months until Christmas. I better get started on my holiday gift making.

Hoot! Hoot!

I sewed together my blocks from the Owl Swap over at Pins and Needles. I love these owls. Very hard to choose a favorite but I think it is the cute red owl in the bottom left corner. I think it is the colors. Adorable!

This quilt will be for the couch once it is finished. Hubby keeps "borrowing" the quilt that is there now. The blocks are 12" so it will be a nice size to snuggle on the couch with.

Mermaid Love

May's theme over at YOE was mermaids. These are the goodies I sent to Natalie. These goodies had a long flight to Australia so I wanted to make things that weren't going to be too heavy to mail. I was reading on her blog that she was starting to make felt food for her little guy. Thought it would be fun to make a few items to add to his kitchen. I love working with felt.

Natalie sent me these wonderful goodies. I have never seen a mermaid cookie cutter before. See the quilled mermaid ornament in the box. Amazing! I have tried quilling before and it isn't easy especially without the right tools.

Do not visit Barb this month

I am politely asking that you please stay away from Barb's blog for a couple weeks. She is giving away a Go! cutter and I really want one! If you do decide to visit her (and take your chance at winning) please let her know that I sent you.