Bailey Girl Five

The Bee experience. The good, the bad, the recap ....

2012-03-02T14:42:00.003-08:00

I just completed the last block for the eleven member Twitter Bee and have laid my rotary cutter down with a thud of relief, but also with a feeling of accomplishment. I started out full of great intentions of whipping off a fabulous and perfect block (maybe even two!) as soon as my fabric arrived. By the end I was stressed and late and racked with guilt over the lateness and doubts about the quality. It's impossible to sew with a joyful heart with those envelopes staring at you from the sidelines ...

I did enjoy opening my mailbox each month and finding the fat packet and getting a little glimpse into the life of the sender. Although I admit sending back the completed block and wondering where it would end up was definitely better. Stretching myself to make different blocks was a huge plus. It's nice to try something new without having to commit to a full blown project.

The best part is that I received thirteen beautiful and creative blocks of my own from eight fantastic quilters. Two I never heard from although I made them blocks. I have no hard feelings though because I have no way of knowing what the circumstances were with them. I just hope they're OK and am grateful that I've had a good year and my clan is all safe and healthy. Soon I'll have a quilt that is a lasting reminder of this great group of women.

Would I do a yearlong bee again? Not at this point in my life. I didn't realize how little sewing time I actually have each week until I started one extra thing. Also spaces were reconfigured at my house over the year and I lost my dedicated sewing and fabric storage space. Suddenly trying out complementary fabrics became an ordeal of pulling out bins, pawing through unorganized stacks and then trying to neatly fit everything back where it came from. I had no way of anticipating this when I committed but a year can bring some pretty big changes. I love being involved with the quilting world so an occasional swap, shorter bees and quilt-a-longs are still a sure yes.

All-in-all it was GREAT experience. And I can confidently proclaim that now having completed it totally, cleaned up my last scrap pile and mailed off my final block. Whew!

This blog has been interrupted by tiny triangles

2012-02-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Am I crazy?!?! I started a nice, simple quilt and whipped the top together in a matter of days (well, weeks .... but it COULD have been days if I'd applied myself) but now I've sidetracked myself with these darn triangles. Four corners trimmed off of thirty-eight snowball blocks = 152 two inch triangles. Here's the crazy part ... I have absolutely no plan for them but I just can't stand to waste them. Make a border? Use them in the back? Zig zags? Pinwheels? Spikes? What would you do with 228 inches of tiny triangles?

You could be finished now if your maker wasn't obsessed with small triangles

I did finish the quilt that my hairdresser's mother started many years ago. She had made all the log cabin blocks and I sewed them together, put a small border of white around the edge, pieced a back and hand quilted. I was able to take it to it's rightful home this week and now it has completed it's journey. It's being used by her Grandson and I couldn't be happier for them both.

Tiny, tiny triangles

2012-01-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

With each new quilt I like to expand my skills at least a little. I'm wondering .... do you ever get to a point where you know and can do everything? I'd like to think that before I leave this earth I'll make one "perfect" quilt.

This picture caught my eye on pinterest and I've been going back to it repeatedly so I finally decided to make it. I don't have a pattern but I can see that it's just nine patch and snowball blocks. I'm embarrassed that I actually did two pages of math (plus a glass of spilled wine) to figure it out.

After trimming the blocks I've got a nice little pile of tiny triangles. I'm sewing and sewing in my spare moments and then anticipate trimming and trimming but hopefully will have a sweet little border someday. The tiny half square triangles are actually taking as much time as sewing the rest of the blocks all together.

In the end I'd like to showcase a simple hand quilting design in the blank white areas. I'm not a fan of hearts or swirlies but all my attempts at freehanding a design look shockingly like a pentagram. If anyone has any simple design ideas I'd appreciate a link or a picture.

Thank goodness for a snowy, snowy Sunday to have a nice excuse to stay in and sew with Downton Abbey as my background noise. What could be better?

Another woman's quilt blocks

2012-01-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday I was getting my hair cut by my long-time hairdresser Kim and I was telling her of my new found love of quilting. She mentioned that years ago her mother was learning how to quilt when she was sick so she could make a quilt for each of her grandchildren. She died before she finished the last one ... for Kim's youngest son. Recently Kim found all the finished blocks and fabric and had been wondering how she could find someone that could put them together and finish the quilt.

I am so honored to be able to sew these blocks together and complete the wishes of a woman who wanted to leave each of her grandchildren a memento of her love. I've thought of her a lot as I've been pressing and trimming and sewing the blocks that she made with hopes of leaving a gift of comfort for her grandson.

I'm going to add a border and hand quilt and then bind with navy blue. I really hope I can do this quilt justice and make it as nice as she would have and that a young boy thinks of her as he snuggles with it.

Zig Zag Value Quilt ... Well, my attempt at a value quilt

2011-12-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

My last quilt of 2011 is completed as a birthday gift for my sister. I used a Moda Origins layer cake and just matched light to dark for half square triangles. Many, many layouts ensued but I settled with the classic zig zag. You can NEVER go wrong with the zig zag.

Hand quilted with #8 Perle cotton in black and cream. Since I learned how to trim half square triangles I have to say my points came out much pointier. I always say that points don't matter ... but when you get a few sharp ones in a row you really want to brag a little.

I backed it with the top sheet from my son's set. Thanks trusty Assistant for ripping up his bottom sheet. You and I make a great team!

I'm looking forward to getting my sewing area set back up and starting something new. Better get back to scouring Pinterest for some inspiration.

Sometimes simple is so much better

2011-11-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

I've been wracking my little brain trying to think of exciting blocks or new patterns for an adorable fat quarter bundle of Michael Miller fabric. Finally it occurred to me that nothing at all is wrong with a simple patchwork quilt. How could it be any sweeter?

36" x 46"

Five inch squares sewn together. Guilty glances at my Accuquilt Go Cutter that is still sealed in the box with a 5" square die. Five inch squares are so easy to cut ... why did I pick that die??

Hand quilted with straight lines through the blocks.

Easy and not complicated. Just like a baby. Now .... on to dresdens. Come join me!

The Assistant is on the job

2011-10-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

I'm all set to pin baste a sweet little patchwork but can't decide on my quilting lines. Diagonals lines to make diamond shapes? Straight lines to make squares on the squares? I don't know just yet and can't pin until I commit to a design.

Jada and I were discussing this and she said she was going to "sleep on it." Alas .... no pinning for a while.

Kallie Lou

2011-10-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

Hand quilted, freshly washed and out on a photo shoot. May I introduce Kallie Lou, my kaleidoscope quilt.


50" x 70"

I am probably the last finisher of Betsy's quilt a long but a finish is a finish. And a finish is pretty exciting over here at the Bailey Girl household. I was a little nervous starting a project that involved templates, points and lots and lots of cutting but doing this step-by-step with a fun group really kept me going.

I'm still in love with hand quilting. If you want some of my tips click here.

I loved picking out the fabrics. Anna Marie Horner, Tufted Tweets and Denyse Schimdt in all their quilty glory. Was that a little dramatic? Nah .... I didn't think so either. I backed it with a duvet cover that I bought at a garage sale. It was so nice to not piece a back.

I'm entering Kallie in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted Amy. Pop over there and enjoy the beautiful quilts and read their inspiring stories. Make sure you have a drink and some snacks nearby ... you'll probably be there for a while!

I'd like to thank the stage crew.
They make a photo shoot in wildlife refuge a little less ridiculous
and a lot more fun.

Let's make dresdens!

2011-10-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

This beautiful dresden is by the leader, Deb Robertson.

Sometimes it takes a quilt a long to push me out of my comfort zone and to try something new. The Old Red Barn Company on Flickr is going to make dresdens soon. No fancy rulers or templates required!

I have decided to try and go for a baby quilt but if that is too daunting maybe just two pillows (errr.... one pillow?). Anyone else in? Hop over and check it out!

Second Place? Ok, I'll take that ..

2011-09-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

Is anyone subscribed to the Generation Q on-line quilting magazine? It's a fun read and full of great quilting news. They had an essay contest last month to try and define what exactly is modern quilting. I never really thought about it before but it really is an ambiguous term. What exactly does makes quilting "modern?"

I entered an essay and was the second place winner. I haven't got my prize yet but am anticipating my second place winnings and imagining all sorts of booty .... new rotary cutter? super funky fabric? new sewing machine?? All expense paid trip to the Sewing Summit??? If you are interested in my take on what modern quilting means here is my second place essay.

To me the adjective in modern quilting has little to do with the aesthetics of a quilt.  Take a look at the primitive solid quilts of the Amish and Mennonites and the free form and wonderfully abstract quilts of Gee’s Bend.  You can’t say that what quilters are making today is new and uncharted territory.

So what is it then that makes a modern quilter?  One common trait I’ve noticed is unabashed creativity.  Originality and untamed lines are applauded over perfection.  There is NO FEAR in the modern quilter.  No fear of shame for not having perfect points, no fear of seam allowances being measured, no fear of angles or colors.  When the fear of breaking rules is gone the creative juices flow with much more force. 

But what if you want to make traditional blocks with perfect points?  That’s OK too!  Another attribute is the acceptance and embracement of all styles and methods of quilting.  Sometimes making a classic block is a rewarding challenge.  Hand quilting?  Machine quilting?  Both are cool.  The modern quilter moniker is more about attitude and less about construction. 

You can’t overlook the new social networking aspect of quilting either.  Blogs, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and message boards are the new quilting clubs.  My own introduction to quilting was a blogger’s quilt-a-long with the participants joining a corresponding Flickr group.  I was able to ask questions, show my work, get feedback and see what everyone was doing all while on my laptop in my living room.  I became friends with several people in the group and we became mutual blog followers.  Some of these friends live halfway around the world and, yet, I feel like we are in a virtual quilting guild together.  Even if you live in an area with no quilt shops or associations you can grow in your skills, get advice and tips, and feel kinship within the global modern quilting community.     

So my interpretation in a nutshell:  No fear.  Acceptance.  Social Networking.    Degrees of these three elements combined in one quilter = one modern quilter.  What do you think?

Well ...what DO you think? And if you'd like to check out the other essays go here. They make some interesting food for thought.

Since I hate to have a post with no pictures (how sad), I leave you with a glimpse of my almost completed, hand quilted kaleidoscope quilt.

Looky looky what I got today!

2011-08-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just last week I won an Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter from the super cool Audrie on her blog Blue is Bleu. When I came home from work today the carton was at my house already. Wow! I haven't had the nerve to take it out of the box yet (when I got my sewing machine I couldn't touch it for two days). I also chose three dies so, being no fun at all, I picked the three most basic I could find. The 5" square, 4" half square triangle and 2 1/2" strips. I figured these were the sturdy work horses of the dies and I'd get the fancy, fun ones later.

If you have an Accuquilt and have any advice or tips you'd love to share I'd really appreciate them. I'm going to be staring at the box all tomorrow and may have the nerve to open it Sunday.

And they're off ....

2011-07-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

My first bee block packets are making their merry way to various locations on the globe and ten people I've never met will be making me blocks for a quilt.

I found some Michael Miller fabric at my LQS

I find this whole bee concept fascinating now that I'm part of it. Twelve women (well, eleven in our case .. one dropped out) from all over the world (one is in Germany) have joined together to make twelve quilts. We've never met, we don't know much about each others' lives, but yet we will each have a quilt that was crafted by the combined effort and creativity of us as a group.

I can't wait until these start coming back

Really remarkable when you think about it.

Sugar and Spice Baby Quilt

2011-07-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of ....

38" x 50"

This was a fun and easy quilt to sew together for a new baby girl. I was inspired by this baby bento box tutorial by Wendy Lou. I started with a 8.5 " square and just sewed on border after border after border until I had a giant square. I quartered it and rearranged and then sewed into a block. Pretty easy and fun!

Check out my son's tan lines

Hand quilted with perle cotton #8 in white. Hand quilted during a heat wave in July I may add ....

Since it's summer and it's fair season I'm entering this quilt in the Gen X Quilter's Summer Fair Quilt Show. Click over there to check out all the cool quilts at the fair without having to leave your porch and your ice tea. Now if only someone would bring me a funnel cake .....

Work In Progress Wednesday

2011-07-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Does this look hot? Well, it is!

Remember when I said if I continue to hand quilt I wouldn't have anything new to report for long stretches other than "still hand quilting?" Well, here I go .... STILL.HAND.QUILTING. my bento box baby quilt. May I add that my previous post of how much I loved quilting on the couch in the evenings with my dog nestled sweetly beside me does not apply during a humid heat wave in July. A damp quilt touching my sweaty skin and a hot, panting, annoying entity sprawled near me is not a pleasant experience. I wouldn't be working on this at all if the baby-in-question wasn't due at the end of this month.

My other work in progress is a kaleidoscope quilt that I'm making with Betsy. I've got all the patterned triangles cut and attached and now need to cut the background triangles and get sewing. I've given up on any hope on getting this done with the rest of the group but will be plugging along at my own pace. Now that I've taken the pressure off myself to stick to a timetable I'm actually enjoying it more. I don't know why I let those self-imposed deadlines stress me out.

An exciting mail delivery last week has got me dreaming of a new project. I won a complete set of fat eighths of Maison de Garance by French General from Lesly of Pickledish. Seriously! That was ME! Due to my less-than-stellar housekeeping they have been sitting right on the edge of the dining room table since I got them and I've been stroking and rearranging the fabric each time I pass. What should I make? The possibilities are simply endless before I start cutting. I think these are way too pretty to mess up with nasty old cutting so I'll leave them for a while.

These are so much more beautiful in real life

Ahhhhh .... when the chaos of my house overwhelms me I can just gaze upon these beautiful, perfectly neat stacks.

These aren't many works but I don't find summer's hot months conducive to quilting. (... or cleaning, ... or cooking, ... or shopping) I guess until fall you'll find me on my porch reading with a cold drink nearby

[insert mental picture of fabulously interesting book and a cold sweaty beer bottle
on a sunny porch railing]

Bento Box Baby Quilt

2011-06-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a bento box quilt for a soon-to-arrive baby girl. I love the ease of making only twelve squares and getting to use such pretty pink fabric. I'm not a girly girl so I don't have much pink around my house, especially with all boys, but it's fun to see such feminine fabric touching each other every whichaway.

I varied the strip sizes just a bit because my original idea was to have a sort of fractured windowpane look. I like the idea of the soft, pretty fabrics being slightly mismatched and really defining the squares in the block. If I was keeping this quilt or giving it to one of my family members I'd sew it up in a minute.

Forgive the blurry phone picture

Now my self-doubt is kicking in ..... I'm making this quilt for my boss's daughter and I don't know her or the rest of their family at all. Will everyone else get it or will they be fingering it and shaking their heads sadly over the seams? Now I'm thinking I might change my layout to something different. Making a gift for someone I don't know is hard for me and I'm sure I'm thinking about it too much. Anyone have trouble making gifts? Part of my problem is that I think my quilts have feelings and I don't want them to be ostracized and banished to a closet never to see the light of day.

This is my first time linking up with Lily's Sew Fresh day and I realize I'm a day behind but this isn't a school project with a due date so I'm sure she won't dock me any points. Will you Lily??

BQF Baby!! Hand Quilted Log Cabin

2011-05-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

My Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2011 quilt is fresh out of the dryer and it's still warm as I post this. It's 100% hand quilted and I can say one thing about hand quilting for sure .... it's NOT a quick process. I've been working this quilt for months and am so happy with the finally finished results.

Rainy day photo shoot. My son is standing in about three inches of water.

These are some hearty, chunky log cabins and I love the added texture and color the perle cotton #8 added with the hand quilting. I figured some hearty squares needed some hearty quilting. I used all the leftover strips to add a border and the final size is 48" x 62" ... perfect for a cozy couch quilt.

I hate to choose favorites but I just love the blue square in the lower left corner.

Looking back I see I was working on the squares in February and quilting in April . If I continue with the handwork I guess my blog postings will be far and few between unless I write "still hand quilting" updates once a week.

I love the way the quilting shows up on the back

Attempted close up of the back

Thanks to Amy for putting this Festival together twice a year. It has to be a monumental task but it sure it a fun way to meet other quilters and see some amazing quilts! Click on the link below to check them out.

Lucky me times three

2011-05-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

You know how they say things happen in threes? Well I've just had a lucky string of threes and my mailbox is the happiest place in town lately.

First, I won a giveaway at Gen X Quilters and got a $20 gift certificate to a fantastic new fabric shop The Crafty Girls Workshop. I'm usually not into the pre-cuts because of the cost but since I had money burning a hole in my laptop I went for a layer cake of this beautiful Origins fabric. Yes, they even had a Sherbet Pips layer cake and I had it in my cart (hurry people if you are still trying to get one!) but had to switch it at the last minute because something about this fabric line just called to me. I think anything I make with it will have to be beautiful because the fabric is so gorgeous.

Next, I just won a crib size roll of Hobbs fusible batting from Cherry House Quilts. I can't wait to try this batting and I'll be sure to do a full review on how it works. I've never basted any other way besides the safety pins and I've dreamed of an easier and less painful method. I know there is spray basting but I have such a small house with wall to wall carpets that I can't think of a place where I could spray all that adhesive. I shudder to think of all the dog hair that would be stuck to everything too. This batting comes with a heat activated adhesive that you iron and it washes out later so I am going to use it on my next quilt and hopefully fall in love with it. I'll let you know.

This last bit of serendipity is perhaps my most amazing. I found a talented and extremely generous woman in England named Lizzie Allen who was GIVING AWAY perle cotton balls on her blog. All you had to do was ask! I just received a package with sixteen balls of the prettiest perle cotton #8 you've ever seen. I just sent her a little package in return so this is my first international swap. Fun! And I love getting to say the word "international" because it makes me feel slightly important that I have friends all over the world.

The colors are so beautiful. I can't wait to see them in a quilt :)

There are lots of giveaways going on now so I hope my lucky streak keeps up. If I win anything else in the near future I'll have to share the wealth and have a giveaway myself. Karma ya know. Don't want to get too much goodness without giving something back!

What could be better?

2011-04-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hand quilting a cozy, warm quilt while snuggled on the couch with your best friend. Netflix on the television, snacks to share nearby and the ability to be part of the family unit. Ahhhhh.....

How can I ever go back to being hunched over a machine by myself while struggling to feed (jam) a large quilt evenly through a small space? This is definitely more time consuming but I am loving the chunky look of the perle cotton and the accent it adds to the overall look. For a while I had a feeling I was in a self imposed contest to see how many quilts I could produce, but now I'm enjoying the slow process and the added personal touch.

Today I made my second ever bee blocks and Jessica chose a ticker tape block. These were fun and reminded me of fitting a puzzle together.

I hope she likes them! Being in a bee is such a great way to connect with other quilters and get to experiment with new blocks. I'm debating about joining another bee but don't want to overextend myself and start freaking out at piles of envelopes. How many are you in and how do you handle them?

My first ever bee block

2011-03-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

It's done. I guess I'm an official real live member of the quilting world now. Do I get a badge or something? I kind of want to keep it but will be sending it off to Texas tomorrow to live with Jenni and become part of a super cool quilt. I'm in love with this color palette and can't wait to make myself a quilt with these bright and brilliant colors.

The color is really a bright turquoise, my indoor photography lighting is horrible

I have been wanting to be in a bee for a while but have been too intimidated by the intricate blocks I've been seeing and not trusting my skills. I finally felt more confident in my sewing abilities but I've only ever made improvisational type quilts on my own. And by that I mean I sit down and start making blocks and see what starts developing. If I want more of a fabric I order it quick and if I'm not digging another one I put it away for another project. Having to pre-figure out all the fabric and know the specific quantity to divide up and mail out to eleven people seemed impossible. In the Twitter Bee we mail one fat quarter of fabric to each person and then use our own fabric to supplement. I love being able to audition my stash against the main fabric and come up with an eclectic but cohesive mixture and I love not having to buy all the fabric for my blocks beforehand. It will be so fun to see what the others come up with!

My first attempt ....

I really, really hope that Jenni likes this block and that she gets a nice quilt at the end of this. I'm already searching for fabric for my month. Come on August .....

Snowy day project

2011-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Spurred on by this tutorial on organizing your stash, the arrival of a fat quarter for my first ever quilting bee block, and the overnight fall of a foot of wet snow I decided to dedicate today to sorting and folding my printed fabrics and putting them in some sort of order. Of course, I have no idea how to store these lovely piles yet but am determined NOT go to Walmart today. That would definitely ruin my whole fun snow-day-in-the-house project.

Here is the fat quarter that Jenni sent and some of the fabrics I pulled so far to make her block. I'm kinda liking this mixture and am having a swell time pulling fabrics and trying them out. So much easier now with them all together and in color piles. Now I'm off to fold all my solids and stack them up neatly. What are you doing today?

A tale of two baby quilts

2011-02-26T18:02:00.000-08:00

Can you tell how cold it is from these pics? Brrrrr .......

After the holidays I was in a mood to use up some of my pink stash and practice hand quilting so I used nine fat quarters and made 36 crazy nine patch blocks. Paired with some kona ash I made up two identical quilt tops pretty quickly. The first one I used some hand dyed variegated perle cotton size 8 and made squares inside the gray blocks and one the second one I used white, pink and lilac in a grid pattern. I definitely like the texture and the color accent of quilting with the perle cotton. I think that I am going to use a combination of machine and hand quilting on the log cabin quilting I'm working on now.

My sewing machine had to go into the shop for service so I got my old machine out but have apparently been spoiled by the luxury of needle up/down and a quiet whir as opposed to a loud vibrating clank. I'm going to take a little break until my girl is back next week. I miss her .....

One block at a time sweet quilter

2011-02-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong to rework the words of a hymn? Well, that's the soundtrack in my head as I'm plugging away one block at a time ....

I've been enamored with some pictures I've found recently of brown quilts and I've always wanted to make another log cabin quilt so I'm combining my two wants and working on a wonky log cabin quilt that will have brown sashing with blue corner squares (that's the plan anyway). I'm loving these colors and each one is almost like a little work of art for me. I've come to accept that I will never be able to produce quilts at the speed and volume that one probably should have to justify a quilting blog, but I'm determined to plug away methodically. One.Block.A.Day.

At night I'm finishing up the hand quilting on the second of two baby quilts. I have one finished but just haven't had the gumption or stamina to trudge outside to the neighbor's clothesline after work for any pictures. I'm now thinking that I might as well finish them both and have one photo shoot. Especially since I've never really confirmed that my neighbor gave me permission to use his clothesline. Ummmm .... better not make too many trips out there until I get some acknowledgment of OKness.

It's bitter cold today and I'm tucked into my warm, cozy house in honor of President's Day. Thank you great Presidents! I'm making a dinner and sewing and watching Housewife 49 while hand quilting. Perfect :)

Operation Learn Hand Quilting: Successful!

2011-01-24T18:46:00.000-08:00

I'm calling this my practice pinwheel quilt. I used this technique for making super quick pinwheels and then determined to figure out how to hand quilt once and for all. I looked up all sorts of tutorials and youtube videos and then experimented with many different materials and techniques until I was able to come up with a method that worked for me.

Molly's Hand Quilting Notes to Self:

Forget quilting needles and quilting thread. The official needles are way too short and the thread is way too thin. I finally bought cotton darning needles and used the longest ones in the pack. Then after buying perle cotton size 12 (super thick) and then buying perle cotton size 5 (super thin) I settled on perle cotton size 8 (just right).

Pin baste your quilt sandwich and then don't use a hoop. I just could not get the hang of the big hoop but since it was basted well there was no problem with letting it lay across my lap. Well, except for the Assistant laying her head on it every five minutes for a quality check.

Make one simple knot in the perle cotton before burying it in the batting. Don't worry about twirling it around your needle and pulling the knot down the cotton like they show on the videos. You will never be able to master that technique and it doesn't matter (breathe deep....).

By the time I was done I was pretty good at burying knots and getting semi-even stitches. I can't express my relief when I pulled it out of the dryer and saw all my stitches were still there and nice and tight. Whew!

This quilt is sweet and simple and I think it will find a home someday with a baby. I'm not super proud of it but it taught me a lot and it is bright and fun. The best part was that, with the exception of the various perle cotton and needle purchases, I didn't buy anything new and used up lots of my large batting scraps that I zig-zagged together. As Martha would say ... that's always a good thing :)

Peep Love

2011-01-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

The Assistant needs a lot of attention.

This is how the Assistant helps me while I'm handquilting. She lays her head on the quilt and gives me "the look" until I pet her. This gives me a chance to rest my wrist and give my fingers a break so I guess it does serve a very important purpose. She knows what she is doing.

This weekend I was so pleased to find out I was tagged for the Stylish Blog Award by one of my favorite bloggers, Carolyn, of Fake it While you Make It, a blog that not only full of awesome quilts but lots of interesting takes on crafting and life in general. The rules of the award are that you share seven things about yourself and this works out perfect for me since I don't have one single "post worthy" topic going on right now. Sooo, without further ado .... seven quilty things about me:

1. I'm hand quilting for the first time and learning as I go. I'm now wondering if I should have bound it first. Also I found I don't like a hoop, it goes much easier just pin basted and on my lap.

2. I love to bookmark things of interest I find on the internet. Quilts I admire, tutorials I want to use in the future, cool haircuts, interesting paint jobs, etc. But later I have a hard time going through my folders to find what I want. I just found a new site I love pinterest where you can pin these links to bulletin boards you create. Perfect! Not only it is easy to find what you are looking for, you can open your boards on any computer you are using PLUS you can see what other people are pinning. At this time the site is in a beta stage so you need an invite to start a board so please let me know if you want one. I promise you'll love it!

3. I'm attracted to plain quilts with lots of solids and rich, earthy colors. But I found that over the summer I bought lots of fabrics of pinks and peaches. Now I have a stash that does not match my personality or my tastes ... yet I almost bought some pink fabric today. Haven't figured out why I do that yet.

4. I have major gift regret when I think of the quilts I've already given to people. As I learn and my skills increase I cringe when I think of the quilts I was so proud of and gave away. Now I want to take them all back and replace them with better ones.

5. I've realized I don't like pre-cut packs like layer cakes and jelly rolls. I'd rather pick and choose the fabric and cut it myself. Plus they're expensive!

6. I hate putting the walking foot on my machine and I hate taking it off. I pretty much hate everything about the walking foot.

7. The next quilt I make is going to be just for me. I'm excited to start, but I'm paralyzed with indecision because there are so many designs I've been wanting to try. I think I'll just have to sit down this week and start cutting and sewing and see what emerges.

In the spirit of the award I'd like to tag some of my most recently subscribed to quilting blogs.

A Fish in Water

Joy in Everything

Mandyloon
Andie Johnson Sews
Shiner's View
Greenleaf Goods
The Happy Bumbler

Check them out! They're some awesome quilters.

Ode to January

2011-01-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

I love a snowy January. There ... I said it. I know most people are droning on about how they hate the snow and can't wait until summer's loooong days, but not me. I miss my peaceful, long evenings of sewing, baking, puttering and rearranging. When the boys were younger we'd fit puzzles and board games in there too. I love to read the January magazines full of new hope and clean, organized houses.

January such a nice relaxing, no pressure month after the craziness of the holidays. You can stay in your house all weekend and not be embarrassed at work on Monday morning when people ask what you did over the past two days.

So far this weekend I made chili and bread, starting cutting up some fabric and making crazy nine patch blocks, experimented with handquilting on the pinwheel quilt I threw together last weekend, cleaned out my junk drawers and watched the first season of St. Elsewhere on netflix. My house feels super warm and cozy with the windows covered with a lacy frost. How could anyone even be dreaming of hot, sticky days and blazing sunlight until 10 p.m.?? I save that for the muddy days of March.

Back in the groove

2011-01-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

That binding looks good enough to eat

I’ve got my sewing room back until Easter dinner (when it’s turned back into a dining room) so I’m slowly easing back into the sewing groove. I had bought a layer cake and a jelly roll last summer for a project and ended up using very little of each so I’ve been staring at those for months. Guilty feelings over the money spent makes me hesitate to buy new fabric. Then after the holidays I saw an awesome way to make pinwheels on one of my reader blogs (apologies but I can’t find you again) … it is TRULY amazing … and I just threw those squares together and made a pinwheel quilt top this week. It’s going to be an easy, yet adorable, baby quilt and the best part is I didn’t buy one scrap of fabric or batting. Guilty feelings abated .....

I have some interesting new projects ahead in January. The ORB flickr group I began quilting with is starting their ninth round very soon and we are making a ticker tape quilt. I haven't done a quilt a long in a while and I miss the comradeship of sewing with a group. I'm also going to teach my friend Mary how to quilt and we are starting this very weekend. I'm using her as my test student and seeing how I do with teaching quilting to someone with no sewing experience. I've already gotten two women I work with into quilting so pretty soon I'll be able to start my own guild of quilters. Wouldn’t that be fun!

Well, hopefully the video that amazed me is here ... and if you are the person that originally posted it … THANK YOU!

Fresh New Calendar

2010-12-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

I love this lull after the holidays before the beginning of the new year. I slowly putter around the house and clear up the chaos putting the house back to rights. I feel like I have a license to throw out stuff I would otherwise hold back on. Half bottles of condiments in the refrigerator ... gone! Magazines and catalogs .... gone! Boxes in the basement to things I bought over the year ... gone! The odd pair of shoes in the laundry room that don't belong to anyone that lives here .... gone! Clean out the file cabinets and junk drawers too while we're at it and throw out all the mystery keys and tangled shoelaces.

I keep a big calendar in my kitchen that holds all the important events and appointments for the family. On a quiet evening I take down my old, worn out calendar and transfer all the birthdays and anniversaries over to my shiny new model. Reading through all the scribblings on the pages of each month reminds me of what we were all doing throughout the past twelve months. Years ago it was pediatricians and orthdontists and birthday parties for friends. Lots school plays, open houses and band concerts and soccer games. Then it was driver ed courses and road tests and regents exams. Soon it was college visits and proms and senior teas. Now it's pretty much just my hair appointments and the heart worm reminder for the assistant. I feel a little sad when I go through the past year now and see all the blank spaces staring at me. How did the boys grow up so fast?

Well, here we are embarking on a shiny new year with a shiny new calendar and I'm getting a little morose. This year will have lots of new adventures in it and lot of new quilts and sewing projects. I'm teaching my friend Mary to make a quilt soon and the ORB quilt group is starting it's NINTH round next week. I'm getting my dining room turned back into a sewing room this weekend as I put away the tree and I'll be all set to start sewing again in 2011.

Thanks for all the concern for the assistant. The vet checked her leg out pretty thoroughly and he didn't feel any evidence of tears or breaks. Whew!! It seems it's an inflamed knee, probably from slipping on the ice. She got some cortisone shots and is on some meds and was told to rest. She is taking her resting orders very seriously and has been faithfully snoozing away almost all day lately. She is already walking better so if all goes well she will soon be back to one hundred percent.

Sick little girl

2010-12-27T13:21:00.001-08:00

The assistant is down

I wouldn't share this with too many people but I know I have a lot of animal lovers among my bloggy friends. My poor assistant hurt her leg last week. We're not sure what happened but last Sunday she was limping pretty badly. Being a large dog and prone to strains I didn't think too much of it at first .... especially when she seemed to be getting better on Tuesday. But soon she was not putting any weight on her back leg again. She has been very lethargic all weekend and today we made an appointment for her at the vet for tomorrow afternoon.

When someone just can't communicate how they feel I'm left feeling so helpless. I hope she understands that we are taking care of her and will not let her be in pain much longer.

Wrapping up a year

2010-12-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well I never got to make anything with the Merry Modern fabric. One of the problems of having your sewing room in your dining room is that you just have to give it up at a certain point and put all your tools and mats and piles away. It's kind of nice to have that cut-off though because the pressure is off ..... you really don't have the option of trying to whip up a last minute gift. You can just close off that part of your life and concentrate on other areas. Before I put everything away I did make some new pillows for my couch with the leftover fabric from my Sampler quilt and I about twenty felt mittens for small gifts.

It seems every year I don't have enough time to do everything I have in my mind so next year I am planning on doing some sewing in July with my tons of Christmas fabric and maybe even designing some original cards with my photos from this year. I'm thinking the assistant with some reindeer antlers under our tree. Hee Hee. I think of that every single year but not usually until the middle of December when I'm receiving cool original cards. Of course this grand idea will be 100% dependent on the humidity level so I can't say for sure how much I'll actually be doing.

Another benefit of not having access to my sewing is that is that I'm getting antsy to start a new project or two. My notebook is getting full of ideas and I'm constantly surfing fabric sites. I just won a signed copy of Malka Dubrawsky's book Fresh Quilting on her blog tour stop at Pink Chalk Studio. I can't wait to get it and start marking pages. I'm sure that as soon as the new year starts I'll be ready to jump right into the sewing with both feet.

Saturday was my family Bailey Girl Christmas party here and we had such a fun time and lots of good food and good laughs. I gave my niece Jamie the star quilt I made for her and her reaction was perfect!

My nieces Jamie and Lisa


Jamie snuggled up with her new quilt the next morning.

Hope you all have a wonderful happy and healthy holiday!

Mad Men made me do it

2010-12-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

Oh dear.

Look what watching marathons of Mad Men while sewing will get you. I innocently went on line the other night to do some Christmas shopping and somehow stumbled onto the Fabric Shack site. Oops! Today some Alexander Henry Merry Modern fabric just appeared in my mailbox with a credit card slip.

I was planning on NOT getting into a sewing frenzy with a deadline this December but now I've just GOT to make something with these fabrics. And before my Mad Men craze is over too. Hmmmm.... I'm thinking pillows ..... any other ideas?? I need to redeem myself by producing something supercool.

Gnome from Utah and the Tree from Minnesota

Along with getting this fabulous fabric in the mail today I also received two sweet ornaments from a Flickr ornament swap. December mail is soooo much nicer than January mail :)

Thankful

2010-11-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

I have such a blessed life and I try and be thankful every single day for all the bounty in my life. Great children, loving and supportive partner, my family, my assistant, warm home, health, jobs, our great country, etc, etc. My list of things to be thankful for can go on forever. I love that we have one day to relax and just revel in our blessings and the only obligation is to be thankful.

I'm also thankful for all my readers. Finding a community of people to share my quilting journey with has also been a blessing in my life. Thanks guys! You really do rock!! Even if it's not your Thanksgiving Day I hope you all have things to be thankful for today and can spend a moment to relax and enjoy.

After the meal ..... Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

Sampler Quilt

2010-11-21T11:49:00.000-08:00

I finished up the sampler quilt that I made this summer with Amy's quilt-a-long. I worked on honing those ever useful quilting techniques of measuring, accurate 1/4" seams and trimming half square triangles with this quilt. I always wanted a red and white quilt and now that I have one .... I want more!

This is the first quilt I took to a long arm quilter to have professionally quilted. It felt a little like cheating at first and I balked at spending money on it but I have to say that it came out beautifully and the cost really wasn't that much. I found a great little shop right near my workplace and she was able to use the back I'd pieced and my batting and, most importantly, she didn't cringe or laugh at my points (or lack thereof). I'd been pondering just how to quilt this and since I like to get old projects finished up before I start new ones it was really blocking me. The back is kind of a mish-mash of my leftover pieces because I was desperately trying to just get enough together so I wouldn't have to buy any more fabric. Sometimes I CAN be frugal ....

On to Christmas .....

Now I have to move the sewing machine and mat out of my "studio" and turn it back into the dining room for the holidays but that's OK. I can still work on smaller projects and here are some felt mittens I'm working on for ornaments and gift tags. These are fun to make up ahead of time and then embroider and finish while watching TV on the couch at night.

Happiness is .... a star quilt

2010-11-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

I had a fun time making these stars and I'm pretty happy with the final product. Kona ochre is my new favorite color and it made a nice frame to this quilt ... don't cha think?

I had a pleasant time with the hand sewing this week while watching Mad Men on Netflix. I can't believe I haven't been watching that series! I've got one more quilt to bind this weekend so I'm saving my discs for another hand sewing marathon. Bring it on!

I'll enjoy this quilt for a while but I made her for a special person in my life. Can't wait to let her spread her cheer.

Denyse Schmidt is so wise

2010-11-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

Today was another quilt sandwiching day at the Bailey house! I got a pretty cool back made this weekend and since I had another in my long line of dental appointments this morning I took the whole day off and did some pin basting. Does anyone else find making a pieced back more work than making the quilt top? I basically have NO plan for the back and at least with the front I'm working with small squares and I know what I'm doing. I try to use up all the scrap pieces and leftovers but trying to fit everything together is like a puzzle. Plus you're working with looooong and wide pieces of fabric. But anyways, I digress, the back is done and the binding is made so all I have to do is quilt now. Eep! My most scariest part.

I was trying to rush to finish up this quilt for Amy's quilt festival this weekend and it was making it too much like work. Then I was an inactive (shy) participant in a live chat with Denyse Schmidt on Twitter Saturday. One thing Denyse said really stood out because it's so true for me. "As soon as a deadline is attached, just assume that it introduces a level of stress and may take some of the enjoyment away."

I decided right then to take the deadline out of the equation and just relax. I'll be taking my time on the quilting because I've got a more involved pattern in mind. I'm actually looking forward to working on it a little bit each evening after dinner. Quilting gets pretty monotonous so I may have a little wine and Pandora involved. Ahhhh .... sounds much better than hurrying to get it done last week.

Here's a little hint of the back

I love you guys!! Seriously.

2010-10-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've got to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you that took the time to send me some great tips for free motion quilting and to commiserate with me also. I was getting so discouraged and felt like the lone quilter with no one to turn to and here all of you just spent your time and energy to connect with me. Wow! I feel like I'm really a part of community even though it's virtual. Not only that but I received a great present from Julie just because she's nice and she wanted to spread her bounty. Flora and Fauna!!! That really knocked my socks off.

I was doing the happy dance when I saw these fat quarters!

Things are turning around here. I've got my teeth saga wrapping up soon, I'm finishing up a pretty cool quilt that I'm excited about, and I got all of you guys to help me out when I get in a jam. Next weekend I'm heading to Boston to visit my honey so if anyone knows of any cool quilt or fabric shops in or around Boston let me know. Maybe I could find something exciting for my first giveaway .....

A dark and grainy glimpse with my cell phone camera

Quilt Festival

2010-10-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just love Amy's Quilt Festival so much I decided that I'd showcase a quilt I made with The Amy herself! This zig zag quilt was the second "real" quilt I ever made and I have a special affection for her.

My first quilt was a hurry up and get going deal because I'd found the first Old Red Barn quilt-a-long already one week in the works. I rushed to the fabric store and bought hurriedly and came home to start cutting. I learned a tremendous amount from that first quilt, not only about sewing but also about the comradery and generosity of the virtual quilting community.

This zig zag quilt was the second one our group did and was led by Amy. This time around I really took time to come up with a vision and carefully picked out the fabrics accordingly. I'm sure the women at Joanne Fabrics thought I was having some sort of breakdown the way I wheeled the cart of fabric around the store putting some back, picking some up, putting some back, picking more up, etc. I was still so new I hadn't even discovered on-line fabric stores yet. Can you imagine!?

Lots of cutting and measuring for a newbie

I don't know if I had realized going in how many tiny half square triangles there would be to cut, sew, cut, trim and sew again if I would have jumped right into it. This quilt-a-long happened during the humid months of summer and I was ready to call it quits many times. I persevered and have been extremely proud of my second quilt of all times. I love the turquoise and brown fabrics and the striped binding.

What a great present ....

This is also the first quilt I made on my new sewing machine that my oldest son bought me for my birthday. He saw how much I enjoyed quilting and so generously wanted to get me a better machine. Lots of firsts associated with this quilt and she will always be one of my very favorites.

FMQ Failure. Is is me ... or is it my machine?

2010-10-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Let me start right off by saying it's probably me. I have tried free motion quilting many times and I just can't get my stitches to come out anything but too loose and large and sometimes loopy. I've read and watched all sorts of tutorials and many times just started fresh with a whole new attitude. But I just can't get it. Here are the stitches from my latest attempt.

Wish I had practiced on a solid now ...

I've tried a million variations and combinations of settings not limited to the following:

-tension dial up
-tension dial down
-feed dogs up
-feed dogs down
-stitch length at every possible length (I only have slider bar so I can't set it to zero)
-cleaned machine
-new needle
-sewing fast and moving practice piece fast
-sewing slow and moving practice piece fast
-sewing fast and moving practice piece slow
-sewing slow and moving practice piece slow
-etc
-etc

I get the movement but my stitches are just way too loose to be quilting. Even with washing and drying they don't tighten up enough to be quilting on a quilt. You can almost take your fingernails and pull out the stitches. I can do straight lines with my walking foot and am getting better with some practice.

Here's my questions that I'm sending out into the blogosphere:

Can one of you come over to my house and try out my machine so I know if I should keep practicing or give it up? Or .... Can I come over to your house and try it on your machine?

OK ... I know this isn't possible unless one of you lives in Western New York (hint, hint). This is just one of those times I wish I had a real, live quilting community near me. I love the internet and my blogs but sometimes I just need ten minutes with a real, live person.

Has anyone has gone from a basic machine to a higher end machine and what sort of differences did you notice when sewing? And how did you buy one if you didn't live near a sewing machine dealer?

I've had a rough couple of weeks having some extensive (and expensive) dental procedures that are kind of freaking me out. Sewing in the evenings has been a pleasant way to take my mind off of my mouth. So here's a little sneak peak at some of newest star blocks. Hopefully these will be turned into a quilt in time for Amy's Fall Quilt Festival.

What to do next?

2010-10-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm a finish-up-a-project before I start a new one type girl. I know lots of quilters have tons of different quilts in different stages but I just can't seem to work that way. I need get one at least on the path to total finish before I can even think about fabric or design for my next one. I even need to clean the house to clear my mind a little and get all the scraps of the old one out of the way.

My mind is just full of ideas and I have drawings and print-outs and books with sticky notes everywhere. When I'm finally ready to start a new one I freeze for a while afraid I'll wish I had started a different one first.

I just ordered a couple kona solids in beautiful fall colors and last night I sat down and started making some stars. I love making stars. They have so much personality and each one is special and different from the next one. They make me happy when I see them emerge from the fabric. I made a big one and a tiny one last night and I can't wait to make a some mediums and and teeny tiny one too. I can't go wrong just making stars. I'm not even sure what my final outcome will be yet but I'm sure it will be a Christmas present for somebody special.

Look at that cute little guy in the middle

I finally got my sampler quilt top all sashed and sewn and the binding is all made. After a trip to the fabric store for batting I can finally get this big girl quilted.

I cringe even posting these pictures with the giant shadows and all but decided I'm not getting a better picture in the near future. I contemplated getting my son out of bed to hold up a lamp but decided against it. The boys think I'm crazy enough as it is and they love to mock my blawwwwwg. Sooooo .... this is my quilt top in it's shadowy glory. She is still hanging on the china cabinet (I took this last night) and she may be there for a while. I like looking at her there.

Shells from my vacation. That seems like so long ago!

I've been wanting to practice my quilting so I made a little patchwork runner to sit on my coffee table. I love to make the house look cozy this time of year.

In My Hoop

2010-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

I love to be snuggled on the couch at night watching all the new shows. But I just can't stand being so inert (LOVE that word). Embroidering is such a pleasant way to pass the time idly ... yet be productive. After many nights you have something pretty starting to fall from your hoop. That, and having a ready gift later, is just an added bonus.

I got a little distracted at work today .....

2010-09-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

.... and starting planning a new quilt with my highlighter. That ever happen to you?

Camper Quilt

2010-09-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

My niece Lisa and her family just love, love, love to camp. In fact, you can never find them at their house on the weekends spring through fall. Last year when I first forayed into online fabric shops I found the Michael Miller vintage camper line. I was so excited I threw a half yard of each fabric into my cart and purchased them that day even though I didn't have a plan. I just .had.to.have.them. to make something ... anything .. for Lisa.

I decided to make a quilt for their camper to use for all the sorts of things you'd use a quilt for on a camping trip. Picnic blanket, chair pad, leg warmer on a chilly morning while drinking coffee by the creek, camp fire seating, table cover, pillow, etc, etc. Well, my quilting is apparently not going to coincide with the yearly cycles very well (hence my autumnal brown and orange quilt that I finished this June while everyone else was breaking out the summer brights) because it would have been much nicer to give this to Lisa at the beginning of the season. But I have no doubt they will be camping again this year and all of the next years coming up. Lisa's birthday was last week so I kinda missed that target too but decided that quilt making/giving just can't be on a timetable. It's impossible. Life is too unpredictable!

There's Lisa in her stylish sunglasses and capris! All she is missing is her vodka tonic.

I went with a snowball block (process post here) so I could showcase the larger scenes on some of the fabrics and Kona tomato for the accents and binding. I wanted to give it a vintagy red theme since Lisa is a cool girl that loves stuff a little funky.

Fall Cleaning

2010-09-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Something about the beginning of September just feels full of possibilities. I have this incredible urge to finally clean the house, throw out all the piles that have collected around the edges, and start everything fresh. Doesn't fall cleaning make so much more sense than spring cleaning? I mean really, you are going to be snuggled in the house for six months ... don't you want it clean and comfortable?

The combination of the hottest summer in recent history, two vacations, my son collecting items for his college apartment and all of us working full-time led to an almost explosive situation of dust, clutter, dog hair, unexplainable sticky spots and smells.

Friday night we got Carson all moved into his apartment and I was up bright and early on Saturday to start my fall cleaning. I purged, purged, purged! And it felt GOOD! I sorted out piles of old mail and papers, threw out a heap of mending I was never going to get to, chucked a couple unfinished projects I felt guilty about every time I moved them. My recycle bin was overflowing with magazines and catalogs and my donate pile was delivered to various places immediately.

Sunday night it felt so good to sit on the couch and plan some new projects while every surface was clear and pledge-wiped. I'm working on a new quilt and hopefully I'll be able to get some sewing time in now that the nights will be getting longer.

top secret project waiting patiently to be sewn together

Labor Day weekend heralds the beginning of my favorite three months. Fresh apples, fresh haircuts, sharpened pencils, casseroles in the oven, pumpkins, mums. What could be better? Now excuse me while I run the the store for a sparkling fresh notebook and a set of really cool pens.

Happy Mail

2010-08-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

I was the winner of a supercool collage handmade by Kristin at Woollypetals and was so excited to see a pretty package on my porch when I got home last night! Not only did I get this fun and flirty collage Kristin also put a cool owl stamp and some other little goodies. That was a nice end to a busy day. This has also given me a great incentive to clean up my house this weekend and rearrange! Sometimes getting something new is all it takes to re-energize me in that department.

We've been busy getting my son Carson ready to move into his college apartment. I made curtains this weekend we've been collecting pans and dishes and all sorts of sundries. I'm so excited for him getting to live with his friends and feel out the adulthood waters while still kind of cocooned in the college world. Hmmmm.... four math/science majors sharing an apartment .... great fodder for a sitcom!

The day before I left for vacation I received another happy mail package from my bloggy friend Tiffany. She makes her own soap and she sent me a bar of lavender rose geranium and rose geranium and lemongrass. Oh! Do they smell wonderful and I've been dreaming about lathering up with them. I've been waiting to clean up my bathroom good before I get these out so even more incentive to get moving. The weather is cooler and Carson's boxes and piles will be gone from all the corners and halls (sniff, sniff) so I'm really getting a mood taking over me. Watch out house!!

Zucchini Sunday

2010-08-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

I've declared today "Zucchini Sunday" and I'm determined to use up every zucchini in this house and then call it quits for the year. If you know who I am and where I live **PLEASE** do not bring me another zucchini!

Zucchini Bread ....

I use applesauce in place of the vegetable oil in the recipe

Zucchini Chips .....

and a zucchini casserole is going in the oven now.

It's been a great season and I've loved every one of these green wonders. But, as they say, all good things must eventually come to an end.

Good-bye zucchini. I'll be delighted to see you next summer :)

The Block That Almost Defeated Me ... or ... Why I Quit Sewing After Ten O'Clock

2010-08-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

Whew! Finally finished my blocks for the Sampler Quilt a Long with Amy. I almost called it quits this week because I was busy with my summer life (see previous post with rant on why I don't like summer) and trying to fit in enough sewing to just complete these blocks. I hate to get behind on sew a long projects because part of the reason I like to get involved is the comradery I feel with the other quilters who are working on the exact same thing. I love that at first but then I end up feeling this self-imposed pressure when I get behind. Crazy me. I had all my pieces cut and sewed together this block one night while all bleary-eyed before bed. When I got up the next morning and looked at it one piece was upside down. That night at ten I picked the whole strip apart, flipped the upside down piece and sewed it back together. The next morning I get up and ALL pieces are wrong. It's like evil magic possesses me when I sew before bed.

Actually none of these match at this point but I think you got the point without me drawing two more circles

I put it all aside for a few days but felt I couldn't be defeated with only two more blocks to go. I picked the whole entire block apart and steamed ironed each square and then set it aside until this morning after I had three cups of coffee. Voila!! Here are my week six and week eight blocks and then all of them together. What a satisfying sight :)


Notice the perfectly placed hourglasses!

I had made two blocks of a few at the beginning so I could make mine a little longer as I'm a rectangular quilt kinda girl. I've got a deadline project to start on quick and will get to the sashing and assembling the quilt top right after that. I just felt that if I didn't get these squares completed I wouldn't go back and finish the final two. Onward ....

Why can't we always be on vacation?

2010-08-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

Back from my vacation and getting slowly back into the groove.

My only sewing project is keeping up with the sampler quilt-a-long and here are my block from week seven. Week six was when I was gone so I still have to work on those. I've really learned a lot from this quilt. I have finally mastered trimming the half square triangle and have neatened up my 1/4" seam. But the biggest thing I've gleaned is how to chain sew my quilt blocks in a more efficient manner. I love the way Amy gets all her pieces pinned and then sews them all at once. Yes ... I'm sure everyone else already knew this ... but it was a revelation for me! If only you could only have witnessed the way in which I pinned and sewed and stopped and started and clipped and clipped and clipped. It was ridiculous and a tremendous time waster. I'm amazed sometimes when I realize something so simple that I just.didn't.know.it before.

Tried to mix up the background a little

This is going to be my last quilt a long for a while. I'm anxious to see what I can do on my own now. I've got some great ideas of what kind of quilts I'm drawn to and I'd like to really start designing and seeing what I come up with. Can I come up with anything?? I guess we'll see .....

I'll be visiting my honey in Boston this weekend and then getting my son settled in his apartment for college (gasp!). Sewing him some curtains and doing some school shopping will be my activities for the next two weeks. But September is coming .....

Our Favorite Walk

2010-07-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

The assistant and I love the walk on the bank of the Erie Canal. I sometimes take for granted that we live by this man made marvel but I never fail to notice the beauty on our walks. The assistant even says it's lovely for a quick dip on a hot day, but I'll have to take her word on this.

This year we started up again in early March when it was still empty. The first day we walked I noticed a solitary white duck waaay down just floating around in the dirty puddles on the bottom. I figured it was just a fluke and it was passing through. It was still freezing at night and snowing many days but on and off we would walk on nice weekend days through March and April. Every time I walked I noticed the duck all by himself. I started calling him the solitary duck and I looked for him every time we were there. I came to depend on seeing my little friend and I always wondered about him. Why is he alone? Is he a farm animal gone astray or a pet that was abandoned? Does he like being alone?

Two migrating geese stopped by one day this spring and he tenatively swam over to them and floated around in their company for a while. I was so happy for him that day!

It's the end of July now and he's still out there. Now he has taken up with some wild brown ducks and their brood. He looks so sleek and shiny and happy this summer. I don't like to think of him wintering out there again ....

I'm leaving for vacation on Sunday so I'll leave you with some pictures from our favorite walk on the Erie Canal. When I get back it will be August and my favorite time of summer will be beginning. Ya know ... the end of summer when even though it's still hot out the nights start getting a little cooler and a little longer. There is a slight change in the atmosphere and I keep saying, "I can smell fall in the air!" Ahhhhh ..... pretty soon......it will be sewing weather again.

This is my favorite picture of the solitary duck

Lots of Queen Anne's Lace out now

I'm so glad he has some friends now

Gratuitous picture of The Assistant carrying a big stick

My solitary duck in March. Doesn't he look lonely??

I've got a mule, and her name is Sal.
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
She's a good old worker and a good old pal,
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.
We've hauled some barges in our day,
Filled with lumber, coal and hay,
And we know ev'ry inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo.

Low bridge! Ev'rybody down!
Low bridge, 'cause we're coming to a town;
And you'll always know your neighbor,
You'll always know your pal,
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.

Light Bulb Moment

2010-07-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

I learned something MAJOR this week! I love doing this sampler quilt a long because I'm really trying to expand my skills and neaten up my sewing. I've made two projects with half square triangles and I have trimmed them up to the same size but my triangles were always uneven. My pinwheels quilt came out OK just because the squares were pretty big and the uneven triangles weren't that noticeable. But making these fussy little squares really made it obvious I wasn't trimming them evenly. Amy was showing us how to trim but I just wasn't getting it. I was ready to give up but decided NO, this would not defeat me. I googled half square triangles and found this awesome video that showed someone trimming them with a square and the 45 degree line. Wow! I got it!! I love learning from the Internet but sometimes I just need a person here showing me what to do. How simple. Now when I read Amy's instructions it all makes sense. She explained it perfectly!

Here are the squares from the last two weeks. The log cabin looks huge because it came out too small so I added one more set of logs so I could trim it down later. One challenge I'm working on is my 1/4" seam. I got my machine all set and marked the spot where my needle should be for the perfect 1/4" and it works for a little bit but I swear the needle moves back. The slider is in the exact same mark under my sharpie line but my seam is bigger again. If I turned the machine off and on and move the slider down and up and reset it at the line it's 1/4" again but soon I can tell it's back to the default. Does anyone have trouble with keeping their needle in one spot? I think I'll just learn to adjust my cuts to work with my slightly bigger seam allowance. It really hasn't been a problem until I'm making these squares that require precise measurements.

Sunday I'm off on a vacation with my honey for eight days. I can't wait to get away for a while and just R.E.L.A.X. I'll be all refreshed and ready to catch-up when I get back.

Processing process

2010-07-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to start my next quilt and I'm super excited about it! Months ago I found some novelty Michael Miller fabric that was just PERFECT for someone in my family. I'd love to post a picture of it but, even though I'm pretty sure no one in my family reads this blog, I don't want to take the chance of blowing it. My challenge was getting this fabric first and then trying to come up with a design that involved biggish blocks to show off the large prints. Hmmmm .... I want it a little jazzier than a plain patchwork but I can't cut the fabric too small. I finally came up with the idea of these snowball squares with some colorful borders. I find it is much easier to come up with a quilt idea and then find the perfect fabric for it than the other way around.

As rudimentary as this drawing is it really, really helped to figure out my square sized and layout. Designing my own quilts has been my goal since I started quilting. Although this isn't terribly original I had to take the material pattern and colors into account. Of course, now that I'm designing my quilts everyone in blogland is now designing their own original FABRIC! Baby steps .... baby steps ....

I'm plugging away at the sampler quilt and this week's blocks were fun. I love how I'm working on honing the basic skills. This week it was all about half square triangles and strips. Can't wait to see what we're doing next week!

Gotta go! I'm taking the assistant down to Petco to have her portrait done. Yes .... I'm one of THOSE people ....

Humidity kills the spirit

2010-07-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

It's funny how my mood and my productivity are tied directly to the humidity level. This week has been cooler and the humidity is down to normal so my mood has skyrocketed and my mind is just brimming with new project ideas. A big change from the week before when I was wallowing around crying and contemplating getting rid of all my fabric since I was never going to sew again anyways.

I started a sampler quilt a long with Amy and am somewhat pleased with how my squares are turning out. I have had a red and white quilt rolling around in my mind for a while. They are just striking to me and I've been itching to make one. Amy's sampler quilt came along at a good time too ... it's two blocks a week and I think I can handle that during the summer. It finishes at 58 x 58 and I'd like it a little longer so I'm making two blocks of my favorite one each week so I can stretch to out a little.

The part I'm disappointed is finding out that no matter how careful I am I am still a very imperfect quilter. Before I started I did the tutorial on sewing a perfect 1/4" seam. I figured out exactly where to set my needle with my new 1/4" quilting foot with the guide. Perfect! Well, I'm still not getting the exact size and sometimes my seams don't match. Oh well .... this is good practice for me and it will certainly enhance my skills, even if it's a tiny enhancement. Why wouldn't everything be perfect though? Still puzzling to me.

Not perfect yet ....

Perfect!!

I've got an ambitious day planned today. Humidity stay away! I've already got some bread rising and I've got a list of things to do:

1. Organize my fabric and clean up my sewing area
2. Get laundry done
3. Make two days worth of dinners
4. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor (it's getting crunchy again)
5. Lose five pounds and try on that bathing suit that is still sealed in the mail order package

I'll let you know how I do!

Can you get behind on a hobby?

2010-06-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling so out-of-sorts lately with the hot weather, long days, outside work, etc. and I've been fretting about getting behind in my sewing. Then a read a post from Greta about how she was getting stressed out from getting behind on her sewing and a light bulb went off in my head. This is a HOBBY! It's supposed to be FUN! Can you even "get behind" in a hobby?? Jeez!

In three days I only managed to sew one column

I'm trying to sew together the hexagon quilt top but I have to keep it laid out or I'd be sewing everything the wrong way. It's been laying out on the living room floor for three days and we are all just walking on it.

The last straw was Saturday when we came back from our afternoon walk on the canal and I found Jada snoring peacefully on it while still dripping wet. I admit defeat. My Honey is coming for a long weekend and I'm taking a break from it until I can devote a whole day and just get it done. The house must be at least semi-clean ... there must be some food in the fridge ... I must be reasonably well rested ... I must not fret that I don't have a quilt top sewn together.

Ok ... I actually snapped a picture before I shooed her off .... but it was too late at that point anyways

Uh oh .... Look what came in the mail today ....

I better get a bathing suit soon or I'll be draping fabric around myself on the beach!

My newborn baby quilt

2010-06-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my brown and orange wonky star. It's so fun to make a little quilt!! I think the idea originally started when I saw a beautiful orange and brown quilt on a blog last FALL, then I found a bundle of Katie Jump Rope fat quarters in the bin at Joann's (score!!). Ok, an orange and brown quilt in June is a little out of place but I think she shines in comparison to all the pretty florals and summery colors. I love the hint of robins egg blue I added to give it a little contrast.

I originally used the brown and scraps of orange to piece a back, but then decided I'd like just plain blue. I love the way the quilting shows up and it's my best quilting job yet. Of course, quilting a small quilt is a million times easier and way quicker. Quilting is still where I struggle so I think I needed to make a small one to get my confidence up.

Final size: 33 inches x 44 inches

I found out the girl next door to me is having a baby and I was thinking about giving this quilt to her as a gift. I have a soft spot for teenage girls having babies since I was one myself. But now I'm wondering what young teenage girls think about handmade quilts. Will she be "Cool!! A handmade quilt!" ... or ... "Ewwww! A homemade blanket!" I'm suddenly feeling very protective of my little baby quilt. I hope she ends up with someone who loves her and appreciates her. Does anyone else worry about their quilts when they go to their new home?

Jada also makes a wonderful spot to place a quilt during a photo shoot. I wonder what my neighbors think of us?!

Here's what happens when I go online to buy a bathing suit .....

2010-06-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Weekends in Gray and Pink PLUS a free fat quarter from Sew Mama Sew! Lots of kona cotton solids from Fabricshack.

I know I should be shopping for a bathing suit since I'm going on my first vacation in years in July. But as soon as I start looking them over and imagining how I'd look and thinking about finally measuring my body so I can find my size I find myself slipping over to fabric sites. Ahhhhh... so much more pleasant!

Still no bathing suit.

Rottweilers and quilting ... a great mix!

2010-06-07T14:41:00.000-07:00

Notice my new quilt layout underneath my assistant?

So many blogs lately have been featuring their dogs and cats. It's made me wonder if quilty/crafty type people are drawn towards animals? Or do I just gravitate toward blogs by people that also love animals? Hmmmmm..... Well, either way, I have noticed a lot of animal talk lately. Which naturally leads me to thinking about my own faithful, hardworking assistant.

I'll be honest here. I have no clue what she is doing or how it helps me. She has made it her job to lay on absolutely every piece of fabric I place on the floor. I mean she is totally serious about it too! She can be upstairs all tucked into her bed snoring peacefully away and I will ever-so-quietly start laying out some squares on the floor and, before you know it, I'll hear her tags jangling. She'll come thumping slowly down the stairs (it's hard for a 103 pound dog to get moving after a sound sleep) and give me an annoyed look. "Do we REALLY need to be doing this NOW," she says as she lands on the squares with a huge exhale. Hurrumph!

Here she is laying on my very first quilt

Rottweilers are a working breed of dog and are happiest when they have a job to do. They originated with the Roman armies as cattle herders and cart pullers. I'm not sure how a Roman soldier would feel about one of his dogs being a quilter but I bet he'd be real impressed by her work ethic!

Something doesn't feel right. I better sleep on it.

I'll never forget the day my oldest son brought her home as a tiny five pound, flea infested puppy. I had told him that he was absolutely NOT allowed to bring a puppy into our house. Especially a Rottweiler! He was moving out soon so I agreed that she could temporarily stay here. He had brought her home in a plastic rubbermaid bin and she was going to be either in that bin or in his arms the whole time she was in the house. He paid his younger brother to babysit all day while he was at work and repeatedly take her outside for bathroom breaks. I tried so hard not to look over at her when she was out because I was still simmering with anger that he had defied me.

One afternoon I was in my garden pulling out yards and yards of tangled pea vine and I felt a tiny tug. I looked down to see Jada with a piece of vine in her mouth. She was shaking her little head and pulling with all her might and then she looked up at me with the conspiratorial look that said "Don't worry Grandma, we'll get this old vine out together!" My heart just melted .... She became my gardening helper that summer and when I was watering she ran beside me with the hose in her mouth and when I was shoveling she was beside me digging holes. Always with the sideways glances to make sure I saw her working.

To make a long story short .... Jada was relinquished to me when my son moved out. She's my best friend and my assistant in all matters of my life. Baking, garding, and, of course, sewing. Jada is by my side throughout the whole quiltmaking process from beginning to end. She is the inspector and sniffer of all fabric parcels that enter the house (did you know that many fabric shops have resident kitties!?). She lays at my feet while I sew. She lays on all my work. She gets involved in the quilt primping when I'm doing a photo shoot. She gets yelled at to MOVE! a lot but she never goes away. She's there for me every step of the way.

Now I understand the real reason that the Roman armies were such a formidable, dominating force during their time. They had the best helpers.

Jada and I making dog biscuits in our matching aprons.

I can almost smell it baking ....

2010-06-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been quite rainy, occasionally a little blustery, and chilly at intermittent times. Perfect bread baking weather! Well, maybe not perfect ... but I like to grab any opportunity I can to eat hot bread dripping with whipped butter. I found the recipe for this bread on the lifehack website and I couldn't believe how easy it was to make. This ciabetta bread is sooooooooooooooo delicious and it only takes about one minute to prepare. Really! Time it!! (If you have boys you'll realize that timing things is very important. Secret tip to new boy moms: you can actually get a little boy to do ANYTHING if you tell him you'll time him).

Ciabetta Bread in Four Easy Steps

Step 1 -
Put two cups of warm water in a big giant bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon yeast and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir around a little bit. I added some freshly snipped rosemary from my herb garden.

Step 2 -
Add four cups flour and mix a little. It will be a gloppy wet dough. The directions said that if it's too thick to be pancake batter and too wet to be playdough it's good. Cover with a dishtowel, stick in a corner of your kitchen counter, forget about it for 8 - 10 hours.

Step 3 -
After 8 - 10 hours lift the dishtowel. Has it risen? Yes!! Turn oven to 400 degrees. Treat a cookie sheet. Non stick spray or flour and cornmeal will do nicely. Now I coat my hands with a little olive oil and just gently plop the whole wet dough out onto the cookie sheet. It's pretty wet so I can gently form it into a fat log shape with my olive oil coated hands. I took this opportunity to sprinkle it with a little coarse salt and more freshly snipped rosemary.

Step 4 -
Pop into the hot oven and set the timer for 25 minutes. After that check to see if it's just slightly browned. Is it? If so, take it out. Not so, set the timer for five more minutes.

You're done! After it cools for a bit you can start slicing and slathering.

I have to add a disclaimer that I didn't count the time I took to go to my herb garden and get the rosemary or the snipping time. Have that prepared ahead of time if you are having this timed.

June is looking good so far ....

2010-06-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

I was tickled today to see I won a giveaway from Aneela on her blog Comfortstitching and I won three adorable embroidery patterns. THREE! I love starting a day right off by winning a giveaway. Sorta sets the tone for the rest of it, "Come on day. Top that!!" sort of thing. Embroidery is my absolute favorite activity to do while snuggled on the couch in the evening and these patterns are so fun.

The Spring to Finish Challenge 2010 hosted by Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio ended yesterday. I had five items that I wanted to get done and I'm pretty pleased with myself that I got 3.5 of them completed. This is good for me seeing that we were entering my least favorite time of the year (GASP!!). I know. I'm a weirdo. I'll admit that I'm more of a fall/winter girl. Spring/summer usually finds me out of sorts and hot and doing too much all day while wearing uncomfortable sandals. Here's my biggest gripe .... there is still the exact amount of inside work to do ... dishes, laundry, dusting, dog hair sweeping, etc .... that there is all year. Added to that we now we have all the outside work to do .... watering, dead-heading, weeding, porch tidying, lawn maintenance, etc. Plus there is an unwritten, unspoken rule that if it's nice outside you must be outside enjoying the outsideness. I'm so relieved when the days start to get shorter and cooler we can all go inside earlier and sit on the couch for a while. I'm just aching to start work on my new embroidery patterns.

Crazy, summer-bashing rant is over now. Here is my Spring to Finish results:

1. My Gardening. Done!! Here is some beautiful proof.


ok... these pictures make me a little happy it's summer :)

2. My Sewing Station ... aka Dining Room Table Clean-up. Done!! Reported on at the mid-way point. Feels good to have it more organized and I can easily move from cutting mat to sewing machine to ironing board.

3. The Wonky Star Quilt. Half-done!! Got all the squares finished and bought my first variegated thread that I'll use for quilting.

4. The Purse. Not touched. No comment.

5. The Hexagon Quilt a long. Stayed on track and just waiting for the final instructions!!

MY REWARD

Coldstone Creamery Coffee Lover's Only

I'm pretty pleased with the 3.5 figuring I only can work on sewing a little here and there with all the nice weather and outside chores. I think I deserved this reward and maybe even another one next weekend.

Well, gotta go. My mother is redeeming one of her Mother's Day gifts tonight and I have to do more outside work. When will I sew?!?!

Believe me. She redeems every one of these too!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2010-05-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

Made with love for my youngest son

This is the quilt I chose for the Blogger's Quilt Festival. It's the quilt that got my whole family tired of hearing me say "wonky log cabin." It's the third REAL quilt I made but the first one for one of my loved ones.

I made this quilt for my youngest son Carson to take to college with him. He could see I was having a hard time with him leaving, and he could also see that I was really getting enthused over quilting. One day when we were talking about college (I admit ... I may have been tearing up a little) he said that he thought an orange and purple quilt would be cool to have on his dorm room bed.

I'll never forget that he said that.

I LOVED making these squares!

Working on this quilt gave me real purpose and was a blessed diversion after he left. I was bound and determined to give him the coolest orange and purple quilt in the whole world. Carson is a fun person to design a quilt for because there are so many interesting facets to his personality. He's an awesome guitar player, a physics loving geek, a mystery science theater lover, an avid reader, a drum line member, a .... Well, I could go on and on here ....

For the very first time I went to internet fabric shops (who knew!) and poured over the fabrics to find the perfect ones. I even swapped for the first time when one of my new flickr friends offered to send me a fat quarter of Michael Miller guitar fabric. I found a funky orange martian print, some kooky birds, bright purple rings and yards and yards of kona eggplant and tangerine.

My favorite square with the martian peeping out

I loved making the free flowing wonky log cabin blocks. I was free to design each one individually and each one was my favorite. Oh the excitement when I'd get the final trimming done and could see the new creation! I felt like I had a good eye and could balance out the wonkiness perfectly. I was trusting myself and things were coming together perfectly. It may have been about this time I said "wonky log cabin" one too many times for a certain person. Ahem.

I gave this quilt to my boy during his Thanksgiving break from school. I'm not sure how much a quilt really means to a nineteen year old boy but I know he loves that I made it for him. When I look at it I just remember how kind it was of him to say that he wanted it.

Ok Jada! You can be in the back shot.

Carson today with his adorable girlfriend Jessica. I was making them stare into the sun.

The Hexagon Process

2010-05-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Rossie recently posted a pledge for quilting bloggers to talk more about their process, delve into their thought process a little more as opposed to showing a finished quilt with one journal entry. This works out great for me because I don't have many finished quilts to show off. Especially this time of year when the weather is so nice and the sewing room is sooooo indoors.

I didn't think I had a process but then I realized there are many times I have to stop working on my quilt to just think. I have to think about what I've sewn so far and what I need to do next to get it to feel the way I want. Sometimes I put it aside for a week or so but it's in my thoughts many times during the day. I also like to incorporate embroidery on my quilt tops and that can be tailored to the individual who will receive the quilt. There are always so many ways I could go but I usually feel right about it in the end.

I'm now working on two quilts. One is a hexagon quilt-a-long with my flickr quilt peeps and the other is a wonky star quilt that is my own creation. Well .... I guess as much as it can be .... I mean I didn't invent the wonky star or anything, but I'm working on it with no pattern so I can say it's my own creation. It is on the back burner at the moment just simmering, but almost ready for a breakthrough. I'll keep you posted.

The hexagon thought process: Since this is a quilt-a-long and I'm not sure how these are sewed together yet it's a little hard for me to plan ahead so I take it a little at a time. I'm planning on giving this quilt to a someone in her mid-twenties, she is totally cool and hip, but still a classy girl. I picked out some fun, flirty fabric for the hexagons. I got some ochre kona cotton solid and it's so beautiful, oh ... so beautiful. It's my new favorite quilt color.

I love the classic look of solids in a quilt, and I think she will too, but I still want something a little funky. So what I'd like end up with a quilt with some swathes of colorful, printed hexagons in various strips or partial strips. And then some rows of hexagons with just solids to break them up. Maybe some strips of solid in there too. I would like to make the print hexagons kind of random so they are there ... but don't dominate the whole quilt. I was trying to do some drawings, but, have you tried to draw hexagons?? It's HARD! So, it's all kind of in my head at this point. I'm also a little worried about my hexagons. Some are slightly curved. I'm hoping they just end up OK after a lot of steam ironing.

Quilt a longs can be fun, but they can be frustrating too when you really don't know the next step. How WILL all these hexagons get sewn together??

Here's a cautionary image for you. This is what happens when your sewing area is a disorganized mess and you store your rulers on the floor. Very sad .... very sad....

I promise I will read the book to my camera very soon and figure out why all my pictures are so dim and yellow. Promise!

May Blatherings

2010-05-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ya know how it is when you see a million of a particular item everywhere you turn, but when you want one of those items they are no where to be found?? I've recently become very disenchanted with my bathrobe. It's just a plain, frumpy, looong, black velour robe. Pretty generic and dull and it tangles around my legs. I like to put my pajamas on pretty early and I feel ridiculous when I'm caught schlepping around in that thing. So I started a quest for a fun, new bathrobe. Maybe something someone UNDER 60 would wear anyways. Of course none to found in the United states. The United States is TOTALLY out of cool bathrobes people! It finally occurred to me, "Hey! I can sew! I can embroider! Why don't I remake my old bathrobe??" Duh! I shortened it about two feet and got out my sublime stitching books and embroidered a large design on the back in some bright colors. Now I feel like old Hef slinking around the house in my smoking jacket. (You can tell my state of mind lately by the fact the I associate myself more with creaky old Hef than one of the "girls next door")

My son took this picture so we can blame him for the fuzziness

I've knocked two things off my Spring to Finish challenge so far. I've got my garden pretty well cleaned up and ready for the season. I still need to buy my annuals and herbs and plant pots but still a little early for all that. I cleaned up my sewing area and got almost all caught up on the hexagon quilt a long. Feels so good to have my sewing area organized and it's so pleasant to have it clean! Really reinvigorates my urges, if you know what I mean!

I love the blue glowing light on my sewing machine at night. It beckons me sometimes....

What will you end up to be little triangles?

This hexagon quilt-a-long is such a mystery to me! I'm just blindly sewing each week when the new blocks get posted but I have absolutely no inkling of how all this is going to come together or how we sew it. It's pure faith that is keeping me going and I'm going to be surprised by the end result ... and I'm hoping it's a pleasant surprise.

The only other sewing I've done this weekend is to make a set of coasters for an old friend I've become reacquainted with on Facebook. These are my favorite little quick gift for people and I love making them! If anyone is interested I could attempt my first tutorial and show you how they're done. All you need is five inch squares and an urge for a drink coaster!

Who couldn't use a drink coaster?

Ugly Quilt Contest

2010-05-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Oh my word!! When I saw this quilt contest over at Piece and Quilt I cracked up. I made the most ridiculous quilt this winter when my blog was brand new and I tried so hard to sound upbeat and make it look pretty for the camera. Now I'll post the pictures that didn't make the original post. This is the quilt I really wish I could take back and redo or undo or just forget. Here's the story......

It all started one snowy day when I saw this AMAZINGLY beautiful quilt on cluck cluck sew. Wow! That's a great quilt, isn't it!?! Seems pretty easy when you read the tutorial, doesn't it?!?! Well, if you start without a plan and then change the non-existing plan in the middle here is what you end up with ......

Hmmmm ..... Shouldn't have attempted sashing with that skill level

Not too much going on with the back

The worst part is I started it for my supercool 13 year old niece and told everyone I was making it for her and then I even embroidered her name on it. I really in my heart wanted to make her a funky fun radical quilt that a thirteen year old would love. When it was becoming apparent that this was NOT going to be supercool and funky I just didn't know how to stop. Stop making a quilt in the middle!! Do people do that?!

I feel really bad that I even gave it to her and have many times tried to think of ways to sneak in and replace it with a better one. The funny thing is that I put the most work into this quilt and the most love. I actually feel better about it now that I wrote about it made fun of it and I'm warming up to it. I kinda feel sorry for it looking at the poor quilting and bedraggled scruffy edges of the fabric circles.

Awwwww ..... poor ugly quilt. I think I love you now.

Spring to Finish Challenge 2010

2010-04-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

The other day Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio extended an invitation for her readers to join a Spring to Finish Challenge 2010. The whole goal of this challenge is to work on and/or finish some projects that have been either stewing in your brain or laying around your house. They don't even have to be sewing projects! The best part is picking a reward for yourself upon completion of said project.

Lately I've just been feeling like a have a million things hanging over my head. I'm the type of person who needs to finish a project before I start a new one. I can hardly even concentrate on fabric for an upcoming project until I've put the other one to bed and then cleaned up the house. So lately I've been feeling lethargic and uneasy and a little overwhelmed. I think documenting my projects and reporting on their progress is a great way to get motivated.


From afar

Up close

1. My "garden." This one is time sensitive. I used to love gardening but have increasingly have lost my fervor for the weeding, weeding, weeding. My goal is to give my flower garden a big giant cleanout, preen the heck out of it and then just let it go for the rest of the summer. This project should be done first because the longer you wait... the more back-breaking and heart-breaking it gets. I just want to get this over with and then ignore for the rest of the year. Reward -- Mani/Pedi and Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream. I'll need it after all that dirty work!

2. My sewing workstation (aka my dining room). I used to set up my cutting board on my kitchen table at night after cleaning up from dinner and then cut there, run to another room to sew, run UPSTAIRS to my bedroom to iron a seam, run back to the kitchen to cut, etc. etc. A while ago it occurred to me that we only use the dining room table three times a year (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas) so I could set everything up there and leave it. I even got a little ironing board and another iron. Due to antiquated wiring (you people with old houses will understand this one) I can only plug my iron into the outlet behind my sewing machine. My goal for this area is to reorganize it and get some moveable storage devices for my sewing utensils so when I sew I can grab everything I need and move seamlessly from one area to the next without leaving the station. Reward -- Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream.

3. The wonky star quilt. I was taken by a brown and orange quilt I saw on someone's quilting blog last fall (sorry ... I've looked and looked and can't find it again) and I bought lots of orange and brown for a quilt. Of course it's spring now and everyone is making gorgeous colorful and bright wonky star quilts that I'm ACHING to make but I have to finish this one first. Even if it turns into a baby sized quilt. Reward -- Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream.

4. The purse. My niece knit me a cool edge for a patchwork purse that I also started last fall. I would like to finish it. Enough said. Reward -- Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream.

5. Hexagon quilt. I started the hexagon quilt a long that Jaybird (hee hee ... we call my son Jason Jaybird too) is leading on the ORBC Flickr group. I'm all on task with that and my goal is to stay on task and not fall behind. Reward -- Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream.

I'm sensing with goal #2 of not having to move when I sew I may end up with a unintended problem from all the rewards. Hmmmm..... may need to add some exercise to my list. Next update on these five projects will be on May 10th. Stop back and see how it's going. Encouragement welcomed!!

Why I quilt, embroider, sew, crochet, etc, etc. ...

2010-04-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Modify Tradition posed a thoughtful question in their giveaway post today. Why do you quilt/sew/crochet/embroider, etc? It got me thinking about why I started and why I continue. Seems kind of pointless sometimes when I go to Target and see all the beautiful quilts you can buy for a whole lot less money than it takes to make one.

I remember my mom buying me those little embroidery kits when I was a girl. Do you remember the ones that had a stamped piece of fabric, floss, needle and diagrams that gave the exact stitch and color for each spot? I loved those! I would love to buy those for my niece but I can't find them anymore. Sigh ... Anyways, those were my favorite things to do at night while sitting on the couch and watching TV. I have such cozy memories of being with my mom, each of us on our own end of the couch, and each working on a project.

Flash forward years to when I'm a stay at home mom to my three boys. My mom had given me her old sewing machine and I was mending and making curtains when I saw a magazine article on how to make a super easy patchwork quilt. I started making quilts like crazy. I used puffy polyester batting and sewed around three and a half sides, turned it right side out and whip stitched it closed. I used yarn and tied them all over. I'm a little embarrassed now when I think of how proud I was of those quilts. I made a special one for each of my boys and some for the house and then I moved on to something else. I didn't know anyone who made any other kind of quilts and there was no internet then so I really didn't have a way to grow in my quilt making skills.

A while ago I was talking to my now grown up son Russell and we were reminiscing about the good old days. He told me that his favorite childhood memory was coming home from school one day and I told him I had a surprise for him. I made him sit on the couch and shut his eyes and then I wrapped a Buffalo Bills quilt around him. He said that he never forgot that feeling. I'm tearing up a little now just thinking of that (excuse me while I go dab my eyes). I started thinking about what a great feeling it is to have a quilt. I felt like making one for each and every one of my loved ones to try and express my love for them in a tangible way. I started looking around the for ideas and discovered quilting blogs. Then I happened upon a blog called the Old Red Barn Company that was going to start a quilt-a-long for beginners. That got me hooked on quilting but good!

I think I'm constantly wanting to recreate that loving feeling I got when I was a girl and I embroidered next to my mom. And I want to make my loved ones feel special, the way my son did when I wrapped that special handmade quilt around him.

This is the quilt I made my son Jason about 15 years ago. He love to draw so I bought some iron transfer crayons and had him draw me lots of pictures and then I transferred them to some blocks.

I was thinking about picking the quilt all apart and remaking it for a surprise. Now I'd probably embroider over the pictures and properly quilt it and bind it and use nice batting.

I decided against it though. It's the way I made it and that's the way it should be. It's warm and the love is still in it, even though it's kinda funky and puffy.

Hope Valley Pinwheels

2010-04-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

My Hope Valley Pinwheel quilt is complete! I'm very happy with it and my sewing slowly and carefully experiment seemed to be successful. As hard as it is for me to admit ... I guess taking your time is the key to a good quilt turnout. Bummer!

On Sunday the ORBC group is starting our next quilt-a-long. We're making a hexagon quilt and I just bought my very first jelly roll and layer cake. I loved this Frolic fabric and can't wait to find out how we are using it.


This fabric makes me happy!

Best friends ....

On a personal note: Easter turned out to be a sad day for us. We had to take my boyfriend's dog to the emergency clinic and have him put to sleep in the morning. It was very sudden and unexpected and very, very sad for all of us .... including the assistant. Her nubby tail hasn't wagged once since we came back without him. He had a great life and lots of love in his twelve years but we sure wish he could have stayed with us a while longer. He left a big old hole in our hearts.

Best Friend

2010-04-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

Rest in Peace Chipper. You were the best friend a guy could ever ask for and I'm sorry you had to leave so soon.

Quilt Sandwich Day

2010-03-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

What?? Move again!!

Today was quilt sandwiching day at the Bailey Girl household. Normally it's a little challenging with the assistant testing everything out and having to be moved constantly, but today it went much smoother. In fact, it was almost delightful!

A while ago Cheryl at Naptime Quilter did a post about a little quilting tool called a kwik klip. It shuts the safety pins when you're basting and totally saves your fingertips, and more importantly, your nails. I saw it at Joann's Friday and since I had tons of coupons I ended up getting it for three dollars! I usually have sore fingers for a couple days after all that pinning and unpinning but no more. Thanks Cheryl!

Now on to the part I'm terrified of ... the machine quilting. I've been so careful with this quilt and even re-ironed the top and bottom before I stretched and smoothed and basted. I just hope it goes ok with no puckering or machine jamming or crazy giant missed stitches and then too tight stitches. Before I start I'm totally taking apart the machine and cleaning out fuzz and then putting in a nice new needle. I hope I appease the Quilting Gods with all that careful preparation.

Wish me luck people. I'm scared!!

One last shot of it all pretty before I totally screw it up

Quilting as you go

2010-03-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

I'm going to get involved in a new quilt-a-long where you quilt each square one at a time before you sew it together. Since quilting big quilts on my machine has been a challenge for me I'm really interested to see how this turns out. I admire the beautiful, intricate quilting on so many quilts but just can't manage it on my own. The best part is you are just supposed to use scraps! I've been throwing scraps in a bin since I started and other than letting my niece dig through them and take some I've done nothing with them. This could be a win, win quilting situation for me!

Friday Night Sew In!

2010-03-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was my monthly sew in party with the girls! I definitely needed a dedicated night to my sewing because with all the nice weather here and the longer days there has been waaaay too much outside time and not enough sewing time! My assistant has been badgering me to go out and explore all our old walking haunts so she can catch up on a whole winterful of smells and sticks.

I've been working on the quilt square for my Hope Valley pinwheel quilt, as I call it, and last night I picked apart the last of the wonky points and resewed and then trimmed up all my squares. I've got them laid out on the floor and am rearranging them. It reminds me of one of those handheld children's puzzles where you slid one piece down, then another one over, then move one back, etc. I decided to use a pink and orange blade in each block with solid kona charcoal. That seemed like a good idea at the time but trying to lay it out so it looks random is a lot of work! Way too many points to check on now. Live and learn ....

Also, last night I got to see our local middle school's production of Seussical. All I can say is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I just can't believe how the theater department at that school can put together such a huge undertaking with tweenagers and have it come off like a Broadway production. My niece was in like 100 major dance scenes and never missed a beat.

She insisted I add this picture so you can see what she's been up to this week.

Exciting Mail Day

2010-03-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Look what I won!! Greta at Because I Sew So had an awesome giveaway and I won a fat quarter of flea market fancy! My first and only flea market fancy so far!! I've heard tell of this wonderful fabric for quite a while and now I feel like I'm really a part of the quilting community because I now own some. My mind is just reeling with ideas. Greta also included two fat quarters of some beautiful pink fabrics that just make me feel like spring and summer is a coming! Thanks Greta, I feel so special!

I broke down and ordered a kona cotton color card and that came today too. Luckily I had it to make a nice backdrop for my winnings because I was having trouble finding a clean area in the house to take a picture. Finally I just set up the color card to hide some clutter.

This is my pile of pinned squares all ready to be turned into half square triangles for the pinwheel quilt. You know, the one I'm sewing sloooowly and carefully. I can't wait to get sewing these squares. Maybe tonight. **sigh** Probably tomorrow by the time I get the sewing table cleared off.

Granny Granny

2010-03-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

My very first granny square! It's blobby and lopsided , but I'd definitely say that it somewhat resembled a granny square!! (You can tell...can't you??) I didn't learn how to end it when I was done so I have to leave the hook in place for now. Baby steps ... baby steps.

I had three unsatisfying lessons and I've watched a ton of youtube videos so I'm at the point that if I could sit with an actual crocheting person and do a few I'd have it! Anybody want to come over?

On an unrelated note: I read a news article today that the inventor of the Easy Bake Oven died today. Brought back a lot of wonderful memories of my childhood and my absolute favorite "toy." I hate to say toy because I was really baking man!!

So ... here's to you Ronald Howes Sr. Thanks for making some great memories and some delicious cakes baked with a light bulb.

Snow Day!!

2010-02-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

I guess it's our turn for the wild weather in the Northeast. I can't complain as I got to stay home and sew and bake and hang out with the assistant all day.

I have my material all ready for the next quilt a long with the Old Red Barn group. I'm going with Denise Schmidt's Hope Valley fabric and kona charcoal solid. This is my first quilt with all designer fabric so I'm a little nervous about cutting into it. I'm anxious to see how this quilt turns out since I made my vow to sew slowly and carefully at ALL TIMES!

I have been working on making some orange and brown squares and hope to make a small lap quilt or baby quilt soon. This is a no pressure, pass the time project and I try and make a square a night unless otherwise occupied.

My friend brought her new quilt over for some help with the binding so I got to spend some time looking like I was all wise and experienced. Ha!!

I love a good snow day!

What I wish I would have known . . .

2010-02-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Amy at Park City Girl asked this question today: As a quilter, is there anything you have learned, that you wish someone had told you? Yes, as a matter of fact, there is! As I glance over at my pile of unusable quilting supplies I say again, emphatically, YES!

When I first starting sewing for a hobby last year I was reading blogs and instructions and seeing the cutting mats and rotary cutters. After spending two hours cutting out 10 five inch squares with my scissors, marking pen and a yardstick I decided it was time to try these out. I didn't really understand how they worked and I didn't want to go overboard in the expensive supplies department so I went to Walmart and purchased a tiny little mat set that came with a small ruler and cheap rotary cutter. The mat was hard and only six inches wide. After only a few attempt to use it I realized with was just unusable because it was way too small. Then I went out and bought a giant self-healing mat at Joanne's and a bigger ruler. That was a lot better but my ruler constantly slipped while I was cutting my fabric. I tried gluing non-slip pads on it and buying different size handles to hold it but to no avail ... still slipped all the time ruining my cuts. And to top that off my rotary cutter constantly bunched up my fabric. Finally got a nice new large rotary cutter with some replacement blades. Ahhh ... that part was much better but still the slipping problem. When I was at a quilt shop one day I mentioned to the woman cutting that my ruler slipped all the time and she said, "Why don't you get a ruler with a lip at the bottom to hold it in place?" Why don't I?? I didn't know they made such a thing! I went out and bought one immediately and viola! No more slipping problem.

I have two friends at work that are starting quilting and the first thing I told them is to go right for the big mat, the nice rotary cutter with some fresh blades, the ruler with the lip, and the big handle from the hardware store meant to stick on a bathroom wall. They think I'm so wise! I feel great that I can guide them a little, but I don't feel that wise when I'm thinking about all the money I spent on items that are useless to me now.

I'm Honored to Accept This Award!!

2010-02-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

You like me! You really like meee!! Oh sorry .... I've been waiting for years to win an award so I could do my Sally Field impression.

I'm so excited that I have been nominated for the Beautiful Blogger award by Greta!! We're quilting buddies over at the Old Red Barn Site. I'm very new to blogging and I'm just starting to figure out the formatting and how to move pictures, etc. so I'm so thrilled to have an peer-nominated award under my belt.

There some rules to accepting this award and here they are:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award. Thanks Greta! You made my day.
2. Paste the award on your blog. No problem!!
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell seven interesting things about yourself (see below).
5. Nominate seven or eight blogs.
6. Post links to those blogs.

Seven things about me .. whew! This is a LOT easier than when Facebook wanted us to try and list fifty things about ourselves. I just can't come up with fifty semi-interesting things about me and even seven is going to be a stretch.

1. I'm a shorty ... barely 5' 1"
2. I love to eat mustard on my french fries
3. I used to pretend I was Laura Ingalls Wilder and my mom made me costumes and even some fake braids to wear under my bonnets. I have a pretty cool Mom . . . .
4. Both my parents are pilots.
5. The first garment I ever sewed was a pair of bib overalls when I was about 12 and I wore them to school. Years later I found them and they were the just c.r.a.z.y looking, but I must have been proud of them at the time. I wonder if my teacher was laughing to herself all day.

The Bailey Girls

My Mom sewed all those dresses!

6. I'm the youngest of five girls. My four older sisters are close in age and amazingly beautiful and were known collectively as "the Bailey girls." I came along a little later (and missed out on the amazingly beautiful part) but I always got a charge out of someone finding out who I was and saying (with a look of surprise),"Oh you're one of the Bailey Girls!"
7. I started quilting last June with the first Old Red Barn quilt and it came along at the perfect time for me. I was kind of having a hard time with my youngest son going off to college and suddenly moving into the next stage of my life where I wasn't the busy Mom of a school kid. Things turned out OK though and we're all good now ... just a little "shockeroo" to the old system!

This next part is a toughie! How can I pick only seven! I follow so many blogs and I love them all so I will just pick some randomly down my blog reader. All of the blogs that I read are special and I am amazed by the generous group of people that are there to help you and encourage you and keep you going when you just want to throw your sewing machine out the window!

1. Lynda
2. Victoria
3. Nichol
4. Heidi
5. Dena
6. Amy
7. Silversmith

Raw Edge Circle Quilt

2010-02-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

Raw Edge Circle Quilt

Well, this was the culmination of my Friday Night Sew-In last night! My faithful assistant and I finished up the circle quilt I'm making for my niece from the cluck cluck sew tutorial. I'm a little disappointed at how the raw edges on the circles turned out. Two of the fabrics frayed (disintegrated!) more than others making the circles quite uneven. I guess that's part of the charm of it but it just wasn't what I envisioned. Still ... it's pretty cool ....

I love this picture of Jada dutifully sitting in front of it when we were "styling" it for it's big shoot

Bat Out Of Hell!!

2010-02-17T15:53:00.001-08:00

I had some troubles while machine quilting my scrappy circle quilt and I've been really assessing my quilting skills (or skilz as my kids would call them). I really enjoy the fabric choosing, designing and cutting part. And hand sewing the binding while watching TV on the couch is my absolute favorite pastime. I love getting the big mat out on the kitchen table and cutting away while I'm right in the heart of my home. I'm fairly certain all my squares and strips are accurate because I L.O.V.E. squaring things up!

But, when it comes it the actual sewing I get sloppy. I sew waaaaay too fast, I don't pin nearly enough and I sometimes get a little wavery when going down long strips. My Mom used to call it, "sewing like a bat out of hell." I'm also not very good at machine quilting yet. My machine gets stuck in one place because it's not moving all the fabric and then I pull it and then it goes waaaaaay to fast and skips stitches, etc. I don't know if it's my machine or me, but quilting is not as easy for me as it seems to be for everyone else. Does this happen to anyone else?

I'm starting a new quilt with the ORB group soon (pinwheels!!) and I'm going to do an experiment. I'm going to sew very, very slowly and be very, very careful to make sure I've got all my materials lined up nice and straight before I start. I may even pin a little more. Yes, I WILL pin more! I even made a reminder and taped it to my machine.

I think that I'd also really like to minimize the amount I machine quilt and learn to integrate some hand quilting on my quilts. I love to embroider, and I think I've made it clear that I love to be sitting on the couch .....

If anyone has some tips or sites with great tutorials on machine quilting or hand quilting I could check out please let me know. I really want to get better at that part. And if you are cruising around blogland check out this cool giveaway over at Wayne's Manor.

A good reason to stay home on a Friday night and NOT feel lame!

2010-02-13T04:50:00.001-08:00

I think I've already made it clear in my "about me" section that I'm a homebody. I feel kinda lame some Mondays when everyone at work is talking about their weekends and I exclaim, "I had a great weekend!" Oh ... what did you do Molly? "Stayed home and sewed and baked and had dinners with the kids." Oh .... the looks of pity that I get ....

Well, Handmade my Heidi is organizing a sewing party for Friday, February 19th. Everyone can get all comfy and stay home and just sew on any old project they'd like. Now on Monday morning I can say I had a great weekend AND I was at a party with over 100 supercool women and we just had a ball! And I won't be lying.

This Is the Part I Hate sigh

2010-02-11T16:44:00.001-08:00

Why must I constantly learn from mistakes? Ideally I would read a tutorial and follow instructions and slowly and carefully put a quilt together according to a meticulously planned out blueprint. But NOOOO…. I jump right in and sew like a maniac, change things at the last minute, and then **sigh** notice I’ve totally blundered. I swear I spend more time taking apart things and redoing them then I do actual productive sewing.

Sashing looks so easy on other people’s quilts. Why didn’t it occur to me that using a print with a straight pattern might be a little tricky? Or that I should at least attempt to line up the sashing between the blocks?

Seam ripper here I come. **sigh**

The Modern Quilting Question

2010-02-08T14:03:00.001-08:00

The Modern Quilt Guild just posted this question: What does modern quilting mean to you?

Hmmm … I feel like I don’t have the right to even try and answer that question since I’ve only been quilting for roughly seven months. But then again maybe I will because I already feel like I’m part of a large community of people who love the creativity and the freedom of modern quilting. Also, part of the reason I wanted to start a blog is so I could get involved in fun things like this!

To me part of the joy of quilting is that I’m creating something useful and lasting for my loved ones. My quilts are really a part of who I am because I used my own eye and intuition of how I want the final outcome to look based on the intended recipient. Being flexible can make the quilts seem more like some sort of entity with it's own personality emerging. Sometimes I'll look at all my squares as I'm arranging and rearranging and thinking about sashing and I say, "what are you finally going to end up like little quilt?"

I can also use some non-traditional quilt sewing, such as making my seam allowance a tad bigger than ¼”. I want my quilts to be used and rolled around on the floor in and wadded up in a bed and then washed and washed and washed. I’ve raised three boys and delicate, gentle and “use with care” are just not in my vocabulary anymore. No one is shocked or aghast that I'm not following the rules (are you??? I hope not).

The whole virtual community of quilters I've encountered are the nicest, friendliest, most generous, helpful, extremely talented group of people I've ever encountered. I've learned all of my quilting skills and methods solely from these people on the internet. Maybe the technology is part of what makes this "modern" quilting.

Quality Control

2010-02-07T13:02:00.001-08:00

I'm attempting to make some progress on my latest quilt but my quality control assistant hasn't decided if it's comfortable enough yet.

Long Distance Love

2010-02-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend lives in Boston, which is five hours away, so we don't get to see each other every weekend. He is always here for the big occasions and major holidays but we haven't been together on Valentine's Day in four years.

It's hard to be apart but the fun thing is we've sent each other goodie filled Valentine packages each year. My package to him is usually homebaked cookies and doggie biscuits (for his DOG people) and, of course, the obligatory chocolates. But this year he is getting a huge surprise .... a quilt! He's not expecting it at all!! I'm so excited I can't wait to hear his reaction when he opens it! I even wrapped the packages in my crocheted chains.

I mailed the package today but had trouble deciding how much to insure it for ... how do you put a price on all that work?

Look What I Can Do!!! ......NOT

2010-02-05T10:26:00.001-08:00

Behold the world’s worst crochet chain….. and please ignore the cluttered coffee table in the background. (Cleaning up the coffee table is something I only do while watching “Hoarders” on A & E)

My mom tried to teach me to crochet when I was young and I never progressed beyond the chain part. Spurred on by the beautiful afghans I’ve been seeing in blogland lately I’ve become determined to learn how to crochet. My cool niece and I signed up for a class at our local library and I was just sure I’d just catch right on and start whipping up an afghan that night. Imagine my surprise when my two hands just couldn’t communicate with each other!

Don’t worry I’m not giving up! I’m going to be posting a picture of a granny square soon. I will ….. I will …. I will….

February To Do List

2010-02-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

February is a pretty uneventful and blah month so I've decided to make it a productive month. The quilt for my sweet niece Jamie will probably be the next quilt-a-long quilt pinwheels. I just got some Hope Valley and can't wait to see it in a quilt. Well, actually I'm a little intimidated by it .... I hate cutting into designer fabric. Well, truthfully this will be the FIRST time I'm cutting into designer fabric. I'm such a quilting virgin!

Scrappy Quilt

2010-01-31T14:51:00.001-08:00

I'm working on a fun scrappy quilt for my niece's 13th birthday. This is from the raw edge circle quilt tutorial on Cluck, Cluck, Sew. I can't wait to see what it evolves into when it's finished.

Current TV Watching Embroidery Project

2010-01-31T14:15:00.001-08:00

Quilt Squares for Breast Cancer

2010-01-31T13:19:00.001-08:00

My quilting group is making pink quilt squares for quilts to raise money for breast cancer research. Our fearless leader, Dana from the Old Red Barn blog, has volunteered to organize this huge venture and make the quilts. People like her make me just love being a part of the online quilting world. What a great, generous group of people I belong to now.

These are three of the blocks I made and it was fun to experiment and make a wonky star! I can't wait to make a whole quilt of these. Fun, fun, fun!