Ahh Success!

My list of to do's is dwindling, albeit very slowly. I am always adding new things to the list...that is the problem. I did need to finish this paisley quilt before I leave for my quilt retreat. I am so glad it is done! It is not perfect, but it is finished! I hope the family that gets it at our last Unit Celebration likes it. I have also been trying sashiko embroidery in the evenings (needs ironing). I love it. I love loading all those stitches up on a needle and pulling them through. I bought a turquoise and lime skein on Etsy and just cut a 12.5 inch square of muslin to work with for practice. Can't wait to see it finished. The countdown is on for my quilt retreat. I leave for my mom's next Wednesday. So excited. She has been given the go ahead after her shoulder replacement almost 3 weeks ago. She is already sewing-She is amazing! The countdown is also on for graduation. Alli graduates May 7 and Thomas May 11. Spent hours scanning pictures in for his video the other day and it was very bittersweet. I already miss them. Now off to get a haircut, return a graduation dress and shop for a different one and go to Katy's needlework class and plan for next year's Tapestry-Wow! Have a great day!

Getting started early

I have a dear sweet friend who has 6 children. Three have already graduated and one has graduated from college and is married. They were the first people we met when we moved to our little neck of the woods. Her next to graduate will do so in 2013. I am planning a Turning Twenty Summertime Memories quilt for her(the pattern book is in the pic). I really want it to reflect this sweet, talented young lady. I have chosen fat quarters that reflect something she likes or part of her personality. I have a few more on the way from Fabric.com,(pictured above) but here is a look at what I have so far. I am also in the process of making a super cute cat fabric (at the bottom) pillow for her youngest. Did a sailboat one for the daughter in between about a month ago. I just love them all and if I get started this early, maybe I will get it finished in time.
**Still working on the paisley giant!

Whoa baby! Whole lotta everything goin' on!

I am usually a low stress individual. I said usually...
I am feeling a bit of stress right now because I feel like I have many things I have to do and many things I want to do on my plate. I have already shared that I have 2 graduating in the next few weeks. The underlying emotions over them both leaving in the fall are certainly starting to come to the surface. I am planning a graduation ceremony with 3 other families that is exciting, but can also keep your brain hopping. Thinking about cake and decorations and the service etc. Homeschool graduations are different from typical graduations. We, by choice, spend everyday with our children and it is thrilling and heartbreaking to see them move on. I love that I have had the privilege to see them learn and grow and investigate and succeed on a daily basis for the past 20 years-wow I am old! Enough mushy stuff!
I also am working on the big paisley quilt. Just stitching in the ditch. Has to be finished by May 2nd. I am just learning how to machine quilt, so this is taking me out of my comfort zone. This thing is big and hard to manipulate, but I will get it done. It will be given away to one of the co-op families on May 5th. I won't be there, but I hope they enjoy it.
I also put together a Martha Stewart Pom last night. I got this kit with 7 poms in it (4 med 3 large) at TJ Maxx for $5. I didn't know how long they would take to do and since I won't get back from my quilt retreat until the day of graduation, I thought I better see how much time they would take. They are incredibly easy. 30 minutes and I could have them all done. The pic is of a medium one (pretty big in comparison to my 6 pound Yorkie asleep in the morning sun on a pillow). Neat concept Martha!
Still have the baby quilt to finish. She isn't due until August, so I have some time on that one.
Still have my sorbettos in process. I did make homemade bias tape for the first time last week. Pretty easy and fun once you get the hang of it. I am making it for my sorbettos out of the same voile.

Just some rambling from me today. Thinking about all of the lovely things to be done instead of doing them-HA!

Christmas Table Runners Cut and Ready

I decided I wanted to make table runners for family for Christmas gifts after I saw how easily mine went together. I used the tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company along with their half hex ruler. I ordered a fat eighth bundle of Moda's French General Fa La La from Green Fairy Quilts at a great price and I love the richness of each and every fabric. They just look classy and feel great too. I was able to cut 4 half hex shapes from each piece, so I have tons left over for other projects. I now have my pieces cut and will be putting them in ziplocks labeled for each family. I plan on sewing them up during my quilt retreat. It will be so nice to have the tops done by May. That way I just have to quilt and bind them. This makes me smile!

Graduates

Our household has been busy with graduation invitations over the last couple of weeks. My two older kids are graduating the same week of May. My son (very handy in GIMP) designed his sister's college grad invite card and also his own. He does all these individual layers and effects and they end up looking so good. Now I am stuffing envelopes with graduation ceremony info and sending out to family and friends. Only have about 4 months with my whole family still at home-BooHoo!!! Better live every moment to the fullest!

A few new Sorbettos

I have been mainly sewing on my friend's quilt, but decided I wanted to cut out a few new sorbettos for spring/summer. This has to be one of the easiest patterns I have ever sewn. I bought a few pieces of cotton lawn recently and it is very nice to sew with. They will be ideal for summer. It is very lightweight and has a soft, crisp feel to it. I have sewn one up but still need to do all the bias trim. I love the other cotton I haven't sewn yet. It isn't lawn, but is still soft and crisp. This one is so richly colored. I love this tank pattern. It can be casual or dressy and it isn't tight at the hips. If you haven't joined the sorbetto craze, you should!

Super Soft Minky Scoot by Riley Blake

Well my baby quilt is coming right along and so far no weird tucks or pleats in my fabric (so far so good). I plan to finish up the wave stitching today and then I just have to do the binding. In the meantime, I decided to put a half of the matching Riley Blake Scoot Minky that I bought to good use. I am just making a sweet soft blanket that this sweet little boy will be able to drag around with him. I just backed it with a super soft baby blue quilter's cotton. Used the same swirled Maxi Lock thread to stitch it shut. I plan on stitching it in a few places just to make sure the Minky doesn't crawl. Not sure of the plan, just that I will stitch it. It is so fun seeing this come together.

A little quilting for a baby

I finally completed the sandwich today and wanted to sew a strip of the Riley Blake Scoot into the backing. So I undid the sandwich and cut the backing in half lengthwise and sewed 4 inch pieces of the duos in. I like it a lot better. More interesting than just the blue. I decided to use my walking foot and just do a wave stitch to look like the little hills the trains are going over. I am doing them a presser foot apart in pairs and then about 1 1/2 inches between the next pair. Make sense? I also wound a bobbin off of my swirled Maxi Lock and I love the variegated thread on the back. It is navy, red and white. Mowed some of the grass today, fixing pizza for a quick dinner so I can try to get more of this done. It is really quite fun. I am liking this quilting stuff the more I do of it.

It Looks like the side of a barn

Ha! It is. My hubby has been making quite a bit of progress on our new barn. He seems to get little help from us and yet he faithfully goes out every night as soon as he comes in from a long day at work. He works until dark or beyond (we have lights out there now). Soon we will be putting up the joists that will hold the roof-yippee! It is bigger than out house right now. We will hopefully be building our 2nd and 3rd floors on soon. The barn needs to be finished first though. You can also see how nicely all the grass we planted has come in. It takes 6 hours to mow what we call "our yard". It is both a blessing and a curse to have a hubby who knows how to do so many things (and all at once I might add).

Cloudy with a chance of hex April BOM's

Well my mom and I have already been sewing on our April Craftsy blocks of the month. The only thing I have left to do is stitch each raindrop hexagon with silver and white metallic thread for effect. Amy(the instructor) did a sun hexagon and 4 rays made up of tiny hexagons. She said to be creative and I decided to take it to heart. I printed a coloring page of an umbrella off and traced it onto some of my yellow fabric. Then I used a black with geometric print for the stormy sky. All the hexagons are raindrops. I like it. The other was fairly easy. This month the focus was English paper piecing. I had never done it before, but it was pretty easy and I like the fun results. I have been up to my eyeballs with Etsy wedding orders, so not a lot of time to blog. I have 330 more to do this week and maybe then I can get to work on my baby quilt. I did manage to cut some of my half hex pieces out of my Moda French General Fa La La Christmas fabrics. I am making quilted table runners for family for Christmas gifts. I have worked a little on my batik quilt that I started last year at the retreat, but no pics so far. Hope to post some this week. Hope you had a great Monday readers-and GO WILDCATS!