Week 10: Temporary version...

I'm too tired to post!

I'm going to post pictures of my projects tomorrow, but in the mean time I'll let you know I made some AWESOME washcloths for the baby and a little bunting/banner for an amazing photographer friend. I'm glad I got to sew this week, AND I'm glad I was able to have two successful Thirty-One parties this weekend.
I have great friends who help and encourage me, and I know I'm one blessed girl.
'Night all!

Week 9: A wedding gift

Ben's beautiful cousin Julie and her love Anthony were recently wed in JAMAICA! How cool is that?!?! Since we obviously didn't make it down for the nuptuals, I wanted to send a little something to say congratulations. (And I'm realllly hoping it arrived in the mail and I'm not ruining the surprise!) Eek!

 A very simple tablerunner in a zig-zag pattern using half-square triangles. I think it sort of looks like hearts too, which seems fitting for a wedding gift. There ended up being more "background" than I realized when I started out.

 The yellow and the green each have a bit of a pattern, giving it a little extra. I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I found the background fabric and then spent some time with my mama during the fabulous SuperBowl sale at Material Rewards finding just the right yellow and green.

 The back is from the Sunkissed line by Moda. Lots of bright, sunshine-y colors. Yellows, greens and oranges. It just seems happy. I also did my first fold-over binding where you just bring the back around and create the binding on the front. I think it turned out pretty well and will definitely be using that method in the future with smaller projects.

Here's a close-up of the back. More straight line quilting. Someday I'll learn to stipple and FMQ. Not today though! I should keep an eye out for a good class to take while I'm off work next year. Let me know if you hear of one!

In other news, I'm getting super excited about my first shows for Thirty-One. I'm now an official Independent Consultant and have FIVE, count 'em, FIVE parties scheduled. The first 3 fall under my 30 day mark, which is awesome because it'll help me earn the first level of incentives. The other two fall  under my 60 day mark, so I just have to get one more scheduled to get the second level of incentives. Then I'm taking a BREAK for baby and starting back up once things have settled down.

 My consultant kit full of goodies was delivered on the same day as the two boxes of products from my party. I gotta tell you, I was a little giddy with excitement.

 I'm a dork. Yes, I took a picture of the box. Why, you ask? Well, why not.

Here was the aftermath of going through all three boxes, sorting out everyone's items into individual bags, checking out all MY free stuff, and starting to work through the consultant kit. I promise, my living room no longer looks like this. But I do have tons of goodies to show people who are interested in Thirty-One and some cool new bags for myself!

Six more weeks until baby, and 5 more working at school. I'm glad the marking period ends right before Spring Break so I can get my own progress reports done and some things finished up. (I say that, why do I always act like MY plans are unbreakable?) I guess I should say I HOPE I'll be able to get my own reports done, etc.

Ben & Quinn just finished making a leprechaun trap for Quinn to take to Kindergarten for St. Patrick's Day. Ben suggested painting the rat trap green. I gave that the thumbs down so they had to start over. Poor guys.

Week 8: A little wall decor

Wow! I've actually kept this up for two whole months now! Woo hoo!

This weeks project I've actually had in the works for quite a while! I got the main part done months ago, but it was lacking something. After some awesome advice from you all (thank you!!!) I went and got a little strip of brown to add an extra narrow border. It was JUST the right touch. I love it.

My camera skills are limited, at best, and the colors look really washed out in these pictures.

The plan is to hang it the long way (as pictured above) in the dining room to the right of the windows facing the driveway. For Ben's birthday last year I made a framed wall hanging of guitar bodies out of fabric that hangs on the other side. I think they'll complement each other nicely. Now to decide HOW to hang it! Plus I still actually have to finish staining that window, and put up the rest of the trim. Oy!

The pattern used was "Disappearing Nine Patch" and it went together really quick since I started with a charm pack of Fandango by Kate Spain. I love, love, love precuts. You get a great variety of coordinating fabrics, all cut and ready to go. Plus, Kate Spain is my favorite. For real.

I really love the backing fabric. Too bad it will be up against the wall! The size of this would actually be perfect for a Toddler bed, so maybe someday it will actually get seen. It just seemed wrong to put a boring back on it.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and can't wait to get it up on the wall.

Happy, happy!

I have a few more projects still in the works. I'd really like to get some "baby sewing" done soon, too. I know this little sweetie doesn't need much, but I'd really still like to get some things together that are just for this little one.

My other adventure for this week has been my new business adventure! A few weeks ago I held a Thirty-One gifts home party for Ben's cousin Angie, and I just fell in love with their products. I'm totally hooked and all my consultant related goodies arrived yesterday. More on that to come. :)

And just a reminder of my goal. I'm hoping to reach 25 followers by week 10. I went from 6 followers to 12 just last week (thanks so much!!!) so keep it up! There will be a giveaway of something I've made when we get to 25. C'mon!

Week 7: Birthday parties galore!

This weekend we had the good fortune to celebrate the birthdays of two sweet little ladies. Quinn's friend "J" just turned 6, and Nolan's little lady friend "R" is now 3. Both of their parties took place this weekend, so I got to whip up some birthday presents.

Now for Nolan's friend, I immediately knew what I wanted to make. Her family has chickens and both my boys loved feeding them when they were invited over for a playdate last summer. Hence, the chicken pillow.

I found the pattern here.

I made the "comb" differently so it would flop around, which I thought was fun.

Overall, it's 18" square. I loved the red and white polka dots.

It has an envelope style back, so the cover will slip off easily if it needs to be washed.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

For Quinn's friend, the week got away from me and I ended up waiting until the last minute (hate that!)

I had made these pinwheel blocks about a year ago and forgot about them. I decided to put make her a little quilt that she could use for her dolls, or whatever she wanted.

Ugh, can't figure out how to rotate this. Can you see the flaw? My pinwheels aren't all going in the right direction! Ahhh!

I didn't have enough blocks to make a square so I added a ninth block with her initial.

It has a layer of batting and a fleece back.

Not how I usually do it, but it worked.

I have gotten quite a bit done on this long weekend. My wall hanging has been basted and quilted, and I'm about a third of the way through the hand binding.

I've got a wedding present finished and ready to get out. Hopefully I can post on that soon.

Tomorrow I should be able to stop at the fabric store and search for the perfect back for the purple & white quilt.

I also need to get more batting since I'm nearly out and will definitely need more soon.

Tomorrow will be busy. We're hoping to get in a hospital tour, visit to the fabric store, meet up with Ben's cousin, and I have an appointment with my midwife. Quinn's coming along and is looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat. I can't wait to see his sweet face when he hears it for the first time.

Week 6: 100th Day of School!

Project of the Week: Week 6!

Quinn has been getting very interested in my sewing. He comments on fabric, tells me how beautiful things are, and asks a ton of questions. When I asked him what he wanted to collect 100 of for the 100th day of school, he just said "money". Since this was NOT exciting to me, I kind of dropped it and told my mom how not amused I was at the thought of 100 pennies. In her infinite wisdom, she realized what I hadn't. He just didn't have any other ideas. When we started brainstorming, he was suddenly interested in doing all kinds of things. But, to my delight, he stopped me when I mentioned 100 pieces of fabric.

"Oh yeah, I want to do that. Let's do fabric." Love that sweet boy.

About 10 years ago, my mom and I were at a quilt show in Cape Cod and I bought a set of 9 fabric squares, all bug themed. I set them aside, and pretty much forgot about them! Quinn liked the bugs idea so I used the rotary cutter to cut each block into 9 smaller blocks, 1.75" square. We found some other fabrics to throw in too, and quickly had 100 pieces of fabric compiled.

Then I took a 22" x 22" square of solid white and used a quilting marker (disappears when you spray water on it!) to draw a grid of 2"x2" squares for Quinn to place his fabric into.

I pinned the back and batting to the top before we started so it'd be all ready to "quilt" when he was done placing his squares.

He was very methodical. He started in one corner and worked his way around the outside edges, making sure he didn't put two of the same fabrics next to each other.

He was pretty adorable. I know, I'm biased.

It was just the right size to tape down to his play table.

At this point, I put one straight pin through the center of each block so I wouldn't disturb his pattern when I moved it.

For "quilting", I just sewed on top of the squares of fabric, long straight lines that caught each side of each square until each block had been sewn down. It was pretty quick, but there sure were a lot of lines!

 I had some green glittery fabric left over from a banner I was asked to make at church many years ago, and I used that to make some quick binding.

He was so sweet when he woke up and saw it with the binding finished. "Oh mom, it's perfect!" I'm keeping him. Forever.

My beautiful boy with his 100 Days of School project. Thanks for letting me make it with you, Quinn!

I've also been working on little girl birthday presents for upcoming parties. So far I've got one down, one to go. I am most of the way finished with a wedding gift, and have a bunch of machine quilting that needs to be done. I'll get there eventually. The baby does NOT like when I lean over the table or the ironing board, and with all the ironing, cutting, pinning I have to do, baby has not been amused. I may have to figure out a way to either make the table taller or postpone some of my projects until after baby is here.

This week is a short one, as we have Friday off from school. I'm looking forward to a four day weekend with my boys, and hoping that it can be a productive one around the house. Especially since Friday marked the 31 week mark for this pregnancy. We're getting closer every day!

Project of the Week! Week 5!!!

Every year during Super Bowl weekend, my local (and favorite) fabric shop has a big, huge sale. Last year at this time, I headed over to Material Rewards and bought a slew of beautiful threads. Yesterday, I finished up my last project using these very fabrics. That did, of course, mean that I had to head back over for the Super Bowl sale THIS weekend and get my hands on some new beauties. 16 yards of beautiful fabric to be more precise. I have lots of things in mind and can't wait to get cutting into my pile.

This week, I finished up another baby quilt. This is for a yet-to-be-born baby, so I won't give any specifics. It's very, very simple. I just used width-of-fabric strips in some coordinating colors and did very simple straight line quilting on either side of each seam.

I feel like it's really gender neutral, even with the little flowers on the binding.

The back is a white and blue check pattern in flannel.



I especially wanted to use a combination of blues and oranges together. It's really plain, but I do like how it turned out.

Final dimensions: 41"x47"

Both of the boys are really interested in my sewing, both the cutting process and the actual sewing machine. Quinn wanted to help me cut out my next project... umm, no.

 He's using paper scissors and some scrap fabric.

He was one happy camper. I really can't wait until I can teach him how to sew. 

My work-in-progress list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter.

1. Quilt/bind/hang the wall hanging for the dining room.

2. Quilt/bind the "Buttercup" baby quilt.

3. Quilt/bind the "Brown" baby quilt.

4. Finish the top for the purple/white quilt.

I have all 72 blocks done... now to put them together. I'm pretty excited about this one.

Plus I have about 4 non-quilting little projects I'd like to tackle. We'll see. This week should be pretty busy so it probably won't be as productive as some. I'd rather spend time enjoying the kiddoes and Ben anyway. :)

Off to fold some laundry! Hope everyone is enjoying the Superbowl. I sent Ben off to watch it with his sister. She's much nicer than I am anyway, AND she made chicken wing dip. It was a no-brainer. :)

Project(s) of the week! Week 4!!!

It's hard to believe that January is almost over. Time is flying by, and the arrival of this little one gets closer every day! We have used the same bassinet for both of the boys, borrowed from my cousin's family (it's super old, but fabulous) and my grandmother brought it home this weekend. I feel like I'm slowing chipping away at many of the pre-baby tasks - phew!

As for projects this week, I was really productive! I have four "works in progress" going right now, and all got closer to being finished this week.

1) A baby quilt. Kind of "different" colors. It has a place where I might applique a name, but I'm not sure who it will be for. Also, I need to buy fabric for the back and binding. The top is completed and I like the way it turned out.

2) A wall hanging for our dining room. I started this a while ago, but was waiting to find just the right brown for a narrow border. I adventured to my favorite local fabric store this weekend and found a quarter yard of just the right shade. The top is now finished, and I just need to sandwich, back and bind. I even prepared the back and binding already so I really hope to finish this one this week.

3) Another finished baby quilt top. It is darling. Lots and lots of white, so maybe not the most functional, but the colors are lovely. Pale pinks, blues, yellows, greens and browns. Back and binding are ready to go, just needs to be quilted. Not sure if I'll save it to give away, or see if I can sell it. It's really sweet.

4) ANOTHER baby quilt. This one has an intended baby. I just need to get that sweetie's name appliqued on the completed top, and it can get to the back and binding stage as well. I made the binding weeks ago, so I really could be finished with this soon too.

Hopefully ONE of these will be done by next week. I hope!

My real "projects" of the week are much smaller, but still things I'm glad are ready to go. I started getting things ready for the boys Valentine's Day parties weeks ago, but I think they're actually finished now.

For Quinn's class, I used this tutorial:

 Instead of using traditional pinks and reds, we decided to use these bright colors. You print right onto your own card stock and cut out the butterflies. They were super simple. Quinn picked out stickers and put four on each butterfly.

I wrote on the back, and Quinn filled in his name. You're supposed to put googly eyes on the butterfly, and although I bought them, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to take the time to put them on. Maybe another year.

For Nolan's class, I used this tutorial:

The background is supposed to print black, but... I was apparently running out of black ink. The top one is how it's supposed to look, the middle one was mid cartridge fail, and the bottom one was after the black was pretty much gone. I decided they all look fine! For the little ones, they just got 3 Hershey kisses, one of each color foil. For the teachers, I decided to fill the bags up.

Pretty cute, right? And super simple. I think they print out 2 per page, and then I just had to cut them out and staple to the bags. I didn't take a picture of the back, but it's mostly white and I used that space to write the To:/From: info.

Here's some other stuff I made this week, although I've got lots more I want to do with my large fabric scraps.

 I had a little scrap of fabric left over from the first baby quilt, and decided to make it into a tissue pouch with a little handle on it. I was thinking about  how sometimes purses have a key ring inside and thinking that the tag part would hook nicely onto one of those. I really have no idea if I'm right, but in my mind it keeps the tissues more accessible and not sinking to the bottom of the purse.

Here's the view of the back. I don't really need this one, so if anyone local is interested, it's yours for $3. Tissues included.  Sold to Betsy!

Here was my second round of the day.

 Another simple little tissue pouch (and the realization that my ironing board is really ugly!)

Shown here with the tissues inside. (Maybe my next project should be a cover for my ironing board!)

 This one I added a second little tag too, to attach an antibacterial gel holder. It just seemed like they might want to be found together, especially this time of year!

I think it turned out pretty cute. I want to make one for myself, and I'll probably make a whole bunch more at some point. If anyone wants this one, it'll be $3 with just the tissues, $5 if you want the gel and holder, too. (Gifted to my sweet MIL) Although if no one wants it, I could always just keep this one for myself. :)

Superintendent's Conference Day for work tomorrow, which means no school for Quinn. Luckily he gets to have a "Grammy" day and spend the day with Ben's mom. He is VERY excited. He's already packed his backpack full of goodies to play with, and asked Ben to make him a lunch to take along. I'm sure they'll have a lovely day AND she's going to give him a haircut while he's there. Woo hoo! I'm a lucky girl, for sure.