StitchNiche

Happy New Year! (just 1 month late)

2012-02-02T13:38:00.001-05:00

Life has been moving along with its usual busy pace. Emily got her 7th ear infection, so she had to have tubes put in yesterday. Overall it wasn't too bad. Here she is yesterday afternoon no worse for the wear-

I completed one quilt since my last post, for my husband's coworker. I love it! I bought enough fabric to remake it. Who doesn't love Dr Seuss?!

My favorite part is the backing

I hope everyone's well!

Sort of obsessed

2011-12-06T12:42:00.001-05:00

Since quilting's had a backseat these days, I wander around Etsy. Here are a few of my new favorites:

This one is on my Christmas list- I've been told that Santa might have already bought it and to avoid opening packages.
Cold toes warm heart print.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62740431/holiday-sale-cold-toes-warm-heart-print

Suddenly I feel the need to have a locket and love the idea of a vintage one or a steampunk version.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/43594464/steampunk-gears-heart-locket-brass-4

I have really small hands, so finding a metal thimble was very difficult. My current favorite was found at a local "junk" (treasure) shop. (Its the one in the picture above on the left) I think I need to find a back up for when I lose mine.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/83883992/vintage-silver-metal-thimbles

Metal cubby holes (just because)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/84309271/industrial-metal-parts-cabinet-bin

Anyways- happy Christmas shopping!!

Sweet Relief

2011-11-22T20:18:00.001-05:00

Hello out there! Where has the time gone? I've fallen off of the face of the blogging earth.

Emily is over a year now and very close to walking. She's certainly all over the place these days. (This would be why I'm not quilting). Its been a total roller coaster ride of a year and she's been sick with ear infections, viruses, and colds more times than I'd like to count. We spent her birthday in the ER for 8 hrs thanks to croup. Ugh!

Here's Emily on Halloween.

I've only made one quilt over the past 6 months. Its a pattern from Moda Bake Shop called Charming Hearts. I made mine out of a Fig Tree Millhouse Inn layer cake I had and added the purple for the background. I called mine Sweet Relief :)

For the back I found some Fig Tree fabric from another line at 50% off! Woo Hoo!

I had it machine quilted by Quilting Sweethearts- again that whole time thing. Hank seems to enjoy it.

Not too much else to report! I've been ever so slowly hand quilting a quilt I made like 3 years ago. One of these days it will get finished and one of these days I'll have time to quilt again!! (here's a picture of the quilt in this old entry)

I hope you are all doing well and I hope to have a chance to catch up on everyone's blogs- HUGS to you all and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Still Alive!

2011-06-07T14:11:00.000-04:00

Its been ages since I've done any quilting or read any blogs, but I do think of all of you often. Just wanted to say I'm still alive :)

I can't believe Emily's 7 months old now! She has two teeth and sits on her own quite well. Here's a recent picture.

I hope you're all well!! HUGS!

Puxatony Phil and some Valentine's day love

2011-02-03T15:36:00.001-05:00

I finally made some time to sew! Thanks be to God and my lovely husband! He recognized I was going a little nuts (hmmm... was I standing there staring at my fabric stash again?) and he helped me have some time to myself. Bless him.

I decided to use my Millhouse Inn layer cake and I've started on this project: Charming Hearts @ Moda Bake Shop. I found a pretty pastel purple to pair with the layer cake and I finished all the pieced hearts. Love an easy 4 patch. Just the sort of easy project I need right now!

I love Valentine's day decorations. It seems like when February rolls around I'm just about to loose it with winter. Way to go Puxatony Phil! I really hope you're right! This is totally not quilting/sewing related, but I really enjoyed this article about getting through the winter. Its from MOPS and oriented towards mothers of young children, but most of it can be applied to anyone at any stage of life.

Emily was sick with her first cold this week (pour on the guilt about her going to daycare) and she's lovingly shared this cold with me. Its been an interesting few days. But here she is sharing some Valentine's day love (she's still holding out on letting me snap a shot of her smiling!).

I think I need to make some chicken noodle matzo ball soup!

Inspirational

2011-01-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

I feel like I'm on inspiration overload right now! There are so many great projects out there that I want to dive into.

I'm really inspired by Carolina Patchwork's video game quilts. My brother is a Nintendoaholic and this quilt is definitely in his future!

Next up is this Tokyo Subway Quilt by Oh, Fransson that Tricia blogged about! I guess I'm on a pixel quilt kick or something, but I think they look amazing!

Then my local quilt shop had this free pattern for a Jigsaw Puzzle quilt using 2 1/2 inch strips. A great scrappy quilt.

I love these "Give Thanks" blocks at Jenny of Elefantz that Marsha blogged about. If I weren't like 6 months behind on my Snowbound blocks, maybe I'd do this (who am I kidding! I barely have time to blog! hahah). I'll download them. Top of the list of giving thanks is that I'm thankful I survived my first week back to work.

Then there's this fun Millhouse Inn fabric that I got for Christmas two years ago that I love:

This time of year I always feel a bit down because of the cold and dark. Its great to look through all these pretty projects to feel inspired. Plus, I always pull out this book- Remember this one? It came out a few years ago. If you've never seen it, its basically a list of 14,000 things like "kneading dough" or "flashcards".

I love this book. It really does make me happy and I always think I should write out my own list of things. Such as this deliciousness!

And Em's first smiles (yet to be captured on film).

What's inspiring you?

Lookie what the postman brought!

2011-01-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

I am so touched today. Beth (my creations) told me to expect a package. Today it arrived and I am shocked at what a beautiful keepsake she sent Emily!!

Look at this beautiful blanket!! Emily was so excited it was hard to get a good photo!

Also included were a beautiful note, a rattle, and the cutest pair of elephant socks. We put the blanket right to use!

Beth, I love love love them (so does Emily)! Thank you ever so much!!

Warm and cozy

2011-01-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for the warm wishes after my last post. I hope to get caught up on everyone's blogs soon!

Over the summer I made a few projects from Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing for Baby. One of the projects was a swaddler. It turns out Emily will only sleep when swaddled (Lord help me when she starts rolling over and we can't swaddle her anymore!!) So, I made her a new snazzy swaddle wrap for daycare. It was sort of pre-daycare therapy to make something cute for her. Of course, this project took forever to finish!! hahah!

Here she is swaddled in her bassinet:

Sleep? What's that?

Check out this wild animal!

Once again, I would highly recommend this fun book. This is a great simple project (as long as there is no baby around).

Stay warm everyone! 9 more weeks until spring!

Moving along

2011-01-07T19:36:00.001-05:00

Hello out there my long lost blogging buddies! How I miss you all! I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and New Years!

As expected, life has been absolute craziness since little Miss Emily came along. With her coming 5 weeks early, life was turned upside down even more than expected. I'm happy to say she's growing as she should and sleeping (a little) more each week. I have one more week left on my maternity leave- eeeek!! I'll be going back to work 3 days a week, but working two 12 hr days. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage.

I haven't done any quilting except this little quilt that I made for her for her first Christmas. Its all my favorite scraps and took me an extraordinary time to make.

And here's the back:

She's had lots of photo shoots with her new quilt: Here's Christmas morning:

Wearing the dress I wore for my first Christmas (it was cold so she just wore it over her onesie):

And stretching out:

Happy 2011!!

Back where we belong

2010-11-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

Thank you very much for all the well wishes and prayers for our little one!!

I'm happy to report that Emily came home on Tuesday and is now a whopping 5 lbs! Yippie!! We're trying to adjust to our new schedule (sleep? what's that?? hahah!) and enjoying every minute with this little one.

As soon as we settle into a routine, I want to get out all my girly flannel scraps and get to work on a Christmas present for her. We'll see if this plan comes to fruition!

Emily Hannah

2010-10-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted anything on here in such a long time!! Here's a non-quilty post.

On Friday my water broke so off my hubby and I went to the hospital. Emily Hannah was born Saturday morning, 5 weeks early. She is doing well, but is in the NICU working on her feeding. We're hoping and praying to get her home soon!! :)

I hope all of my friends in blogland are doing well. I'm not sure when I'll catch up, but hugs to you all!

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

2010-09-19T18:21:00.000-04:00

Not too much quilting going on these days so this isn't a very quilty post. A bunch of people have asked to see the nursery so here are a few pictures. The furniture hasn't been delivered yet, but here's what we have so far:

My husband loves giraffes :) The dresser and crib will go on the wall to the right of the picture. We also hung these cute moon and star decorations my mother-in-law bought us at a craft show.

I can't wait for the furniture to be delivered!!!

My friend picked up the baby quilt yesterday and, Hallelujah!, she loved it! I've never know what to charge for quilts and hadn't heard what others charged. What do you charge? I charged her $120 and she paid me $140. I was quite surprised with that! :) I'm calling this quilt "Fabuland". Does anyone else remember these legos? I loved them.

And lastly, since I'm a pumpkin obsessed pregnant woman, here is another recipe I made today for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Soooo yummy! Here's the link to all recipes where I found the recipe. The only thing I changed was I used 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice instead of 2 teaspoons cinnamon.

Oh and I almost forgot! Thank you for everyone's well wishes. Some of you might remember that I was being monitored for a partial placenta previa. Well at my last ultrasound, the placenta moved out of the way!! Now I'm cleared for a regular delivery and I won't have to schedule a C-section. Life is good :)

Hmmm....how many cookies is it acceptable to eat today?

Pumpkin shortage?

2010-09-11T13:41:00.004-04:00

I can't believe its been almost a month since I posted last. I'm so behind on everything these days! I apologize for being so behind on reading everyone's blogs!

I'm now 29 weeks along and I can't believe how fast time is moving. We're still waiting on the delivery of the baby furniture, but we've made good progress getting the baby's room ready. Its amazing how much money we've spent on this baby between baby monitors, furniture, etc! And it hasn't even been born yet! Crazy!

The past few weekends we had company visiting. One of those weekends my best friend came for our seasonal girly get together. We had such a great time watching chick flicks, shopping, and sewing. I got started on making 4 of these fall place-mats- I still need to get the binding sewn on.

I also made the second quilt top for the woman who is paying me. I had originally picked out blue/green/red dog fabrics and she thought it was too boy. Well she was right and her sister-in-law had a girl! So off I went to the shop and found some new fabrics. I requested she go shopping with me to avoid what happened last time, but she said she just wanted me to pick it out. I sure hope she likes it! Here's the top and the backing fabric.

I love the animals!! :)

Then I finished up my project pure quilt. I was so flattered that Vickie at Spun Sugar Quilts was inspired by my orange/Pure combination and wrote a post about it!!

I went with a brown minkee dot border since I'm obsessed with the stuff. I quilted the top to the batting to give it some dimension, then tied the top/batting to the backing which is also a brown minkee that has lines on it. I was really happy with it until I washed it and the yarn I used to tie the quilt frayed into a mess.

So I cut the ties and redid it with a white yarn I had used in the past that I know won't fray (Patons Grace 100% mercerized cotton). I was happy the ties didn't show on the back side at all. I guess the minkee is plush enough to hide the white.

Now I love it!!! It doesn't seem like tying is done all that often, but I really enjoy this method when working with minkee backs. Here is my tutorial if you are interested in giving it a go. Its my new favorite snuggle up quilt and completely puts me in fall mode.

The weather is gorgeous today and all these fall projects put me in the mood to bake pumpkin orange spice bread. I thought this would be a simple task, but 2 grocery stores and about 10 phone calls to grocery stores later I learned there is a canned pumpkin shortage! What?! Apparently 2 years ago, there was a problem with the specific pumpkin used for baking. Libby's, the main manufacturer of canned pumpkin, production is 2 years out so this year is the year where they can't keep up. I finally found a store around here that had some and I bought 7 cans. I suggest stocking up now for Thanksgiving (if you can find it)!!

Here's the recipe if you'd like to make this delicious dessert like bread:

Pumpkin Orange Spice Bread
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinammon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
1 tablespoon orange zest
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar

1) Preheat the oven to 350 deg
2) In a large blow, combine flour, baking powder, cinammon, baking soda, cloves, salt, and ginger. Mix well and set aside.
3) In a medium bowl, whisk pumpkin, milk, orange juice, egg, and orange zest and set aside.
4) In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light a fluffy. Gradually add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternating each, beginning and ending with four mixtures. Blend until smooth.
5) Pour into an 8" loaf pan that has been coated with non-stick spray. Bake 1 hr or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

Well I hope to be back caught up soon in blogland!! :)

Growing

2010-08-12T16:06:00.001-04:00

I'm ready for borders on my Project Pure quilt. I'm thinking brown? Suggestions? I know I want to do brown minkee on the back.

I'll definitely be making this pattern again! The question is how much sewing I'll be able to do once the little one comes. I'm definitely growing!! Here's Hank with a paw on the baby. I wonder how much the baby can hear him purring.

Pure + Orange = love!

2010-08-05T21:07:00.003-04:00

My guild is having its first challenge using a charm pack of Moda's "Pure". Well I decided to bend the rules a bit and use two packs (shhh....don't tell anyone). I met up with Julie for dinner on Tue to pick up my packs and we had such a great time chatting and catching up! She even had a present for me!! A tote bag and a charm pack of Collections for a Cause-Hope. Thank you Julie!

I've been itching to make a whirlygiggle quilt and found the perfect tutorial (thanks Katie!) over at Quilting on Turtle Hill. Off I went to the quilt shop and came home with a surprising fabric. I must be really wanting fall, because I came home with orange and I'm loving it!

I've made 16 blocks- here's a peak at one of them:

My poor snowbound blocks are falling behind!

I also realized I never posted pictures of Karen's blocks! They are so pretty- thank you so much!

Off to watch Project Runway~

Robbery, ultrasounds, and quilts- oh my!

2010-07-25T20:44:00.002-04:00

Things have been at a quilty stand still over the past week.

First my next door neighbor's house was broken into and she was robbed. We live in a suburban area and this took us all by surprise. Luckily, she wasn't home and they only took jewelry, but I've felt disturbed ever since. My husband and I were home at the time of the robbery.

Then I went for my 22 week ultrasound. Everything is fine with the baby, but they found that I have placenta previa- a condition where the placenta covers part of the cervix. Luckily, in my case, it is only a partial coverage and I was told that 90% of the time it will resolve. In the meantime, I'm to watch for any bleeding and am on "pelvic rest" which means I can't lift more than 20# or do anything strenuous. I go for another ultrasound in one month to monitor the situation. Things could be soooo much worse, but I feel very nervous about things. At least 90% is about the best odds you can get.

So I've only done a little sewing. Someone I used to work with commissioned me to make a baby quilt for her sister. She told me she wanted dogs and that she "is sure" that her sister is having a girl, but they haven't found out the sex. She didn't want to shop so I went out on the hunt for fabrics. Everything was pink or blue. Now if you're not sure, you would think pink would be the wrong choice right? So this is what I came home with:

I sent a picture to her of the fabrics and didn't hear back. So I went on to make the quilt top.

Then I heard back from her in a nice email tactfully telling me that she wanted something more girly. Ugh. She didn't know I had made the quilt top, and I want her to be happy with the quilt, but why would you want pink fabrics if you're not 100% sure??? So I told her I would just wait until the baby is born in a few weeks and then we can either re-shop or keep the fabrics. If its a girl I'll save this quilt as a gift or donate it. Lesson learned!

After that, I didn't feel too quilty, but today I felt the urge to hand quilt and got out "fireside chat"- my oldest UFO! It was supposed to be fall colors for last fall. Well, hopefully it will be done for this fall! hahah! We'll see :)

A whole mess of stuff

2010-07-11T11:56:00.000-04:00

Its horrible when technology turns against you! Keep your fingers crossed for me that my computer stays working.

I received more of my blocks and some goodies. They're gorgeous!

First the postman delivered Marsha's blocks and a little ornament. Beautiful!

Then I got Mary's blocks, more embroidery thread baggies, and a magazine. I am so touched at her thoughtfulness!!

And then came Ann's blocks, a magazine and chocolates. Do you think there are any chocolates left? :)

Thank you all so much!!

This week I hit the halfway mark of the pregnancy and I'm enjoying the 2nd trimester and the return of my energy! I finally finished up the baby's quilt. The minkee did not appreciate being quilted so its a little wonky, but its so delightfully soft that I'm OK with it.

Hank is still unaware that it is not for him.

I also made a nursing pillow "boppy" look-a-like. (Also from the book Simple Sewing Projects for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter).

Which Hank also thinks is for him

Poor guy, if only he knew how much things are going to change!!

I LOVE the flannel fabric from Riley Blake. I've been eying her latest line, Colorful Christmas, for a baby Christmas quilt.

Other randomness just for fun- I've been in baking mode. These cranberry orange scones with orange glaze by Ina Garten are DELICIOUS! It could be that I'm just hungry all the time now, but I really thought they were yummy. Who's coming over for breakfast? :)

Now I'm off to eat some more of these, drink my one cup of decaf a week, and catch up on all your blogs!

Baby hats galore/Vacation Days 3&4

2010-06-27T15:54:00.000-04:00

Today's the last day of my mini vacation. Don't you just hate the Sunday afternoon blues?

I've been sewing up a storm and have some more little hats to share. Oh and all these projects have all been from the book Simple Sewing Projects for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter. I have really enjoyed this book with Lotta's easy to follow patterns.

First another elf hat to match the snuggler:

Then another kitty hat (this one's my favorite):

And a matching rattle with a bell inside:

Now I think I'm spent!

Baby sewing mania/ Vacation days 2 &3

2010-06-26T20:47:00.002-04:00

I've been swimming in fleece, chenille, and baby fun. The baby quilt is basted and then I made some projects

First up is this elf hat:

Then I made the kitty hat:

And this is my favorite- a swaddler modeled by my childhood teddy bear, Snowbell:

I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to make another elf hat with the yellow chenille. I also picked up some zebra print fleece that I haven't decided what to do with yet.

It feels so nice to be doing all this sewing! :)

Summer Vacation Days 1 & 1.5

2010-06-25T13:09:00.001-04:00

My hubby and I have been very productive on our first day and a half off of work.

Yesterday he worked on patching the various holes in the wall left by the electrician while I moved my sewing supplies from the baby room closet to the hall closet. I'm really pleased with the result and am wondering why I didn't do this ages ago. A while back I stopped sewing in the sewing room/now baby room and migrated to the dining room table. Lots of space and I wasn't isolated. So now everything's much more convenient.

You can't see from the photo, but there are two shelves above the baker's rack. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the stuff I moved from the hall closet. hahah!

Then this morning I made my pot holder/oven mitt from the book One-Yard Wonders for the next Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting on Monday. I'm not sure I'll be able to attend any other meetings since the time was switched to one of the evenings I work. :(

Here it is next to the apron I made last summer. And here's a close up with the lining:

I just love that Alexander Henry print!

Yesterday I ran out to my local quilt shop to get some batting for the baby quilt. While I was there I found this cute fleece and decided it needed to come home with me.

Next up on the to do list is to make a cute little baby hat from the book Simple Sewing for Baby that I had checked out from the library.

One of these days I'll get the baby quilt basted!

Mr June

2010-06-22T15:30:00.004-04:00

Don't you just love a big pile of buttons?

Hooray for being caught up!! Here's Mr June:

I've received so many goodies! I'm shocked how much you all have sent and feel like the horrible slacker of the group!

I received these blocks from Beth with a lovely needle case:

Then came Liri's blocks and a ton of goodies (the tasty cakes are now gone).

Isn't the embroidered Pennsylvania block amazing!?!

Then I received Kathleen's blocks and fabrics.

Thank you all so much for the fun blocks!!! My blocks will go out this week to Mary! :)

My hubby and I took Thursday and Friday off from work to get some stuff done around the house. Things are currently a disaster with holes in the wall from electrical work and the baby's future room all pulled apart. Its transitioning from my my sewing room and so far it isn't pretty! I'm hoping we can get lots done this weekend and I can actually get the baby quilt basted and start quilting it.

***EDIT: Here's a pre-shot of the baby's room (per Katie's suggestion). Don't expect a post shot for a while- haha! There are two bookcases against the wall the the left. We had to pull one out for the electrical work that's why its sticking out towards the door. Its a little room, so we'll probably have to remove the bookcases to make enough space for the crib/changing table. The walls will stay yellow, but will get repainted after the repair.

So where did all the books from the bookcase go? On to my currently abandoned treadmill and the guest room bed of course. See you in 5 months treadmill- can't say I miss you.

And here's a shot of one of the holes in the wall that will get patched and the sewing stuff that will get moved out. We're planning on putting the glider in this corner and I'll probably keep the wall hanging up.

I'm trying to keep my need to nest under control- looking at this makes me want to freak out! :)

Mr & Mrs May

2010-06-19T17:02:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post with my latest Snowbound block. Only one more month to finish and then I'm caught up.

More pics to come soon with swap blocks :)

Getting back my mojo/Christmas in June

2010-06-13T16:28:00.000-04:00

This weekend has proven more productive than I've been in ages!

Here's my baby quilt progress- the finished top in all its minkee glory:

I also prepped the last two snowbound blocks since I've been behind:

I also checked this book out from the library and I highly recommend it. It is Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter. Such CUTE projects!! The instructions are also much simpler than Amy Butler's in her book Little Stitches.

This week was like Christmas!

First I received a package from Ann that she had sent at Easter time. I think my postman was holding it hostage. Three delightful magazines (one decorating, one sewing, and one cooking!), an easter bunny, and edible goodies (somehow they already disappeared). I love the dragon softie on the cover of the Australian Homes magazine! Its so cute!! We'll see how ambitious I get.

Then I got a flood of my APQ swap blocks!
Here are Theri's blocks: I love how she drew on Texas!!

Then I got Katie's package. Blocks, scissor charms, kitty catnip toys (from the May kitties! There is only one of them left on my table since the kitties have already taken off with the others), a super cute pincushion (I have to go rescue this from the kitties) and a chocolate bar (also not seen here. I plead the fifth!):

Next came Joanne's blocks in the gorgeous blues:

And yesterday I received Ruth's beautiful blocks, a bookmark, and a tissue box.

Thank you all sooooo much!! I love all the blocks and goodies! So unexpected!!

Next up on the agenda is to get caught up on everyone's blogs!!

I'm Alive!

2010-06-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!! Ann (a good yarn), had sent me an email to check on me and she mentioned people were worried. I'm so touched!

I'm doing well, but still super fatigued. My last ultrasound showed the baby sucking its thumb, waving its arms, and kicking up a storm!! I'm thankful everything is moving along well.

I haven't done any quilting, but hopefully soon I'll have something to post! I really need to get this baby quilt going!!

I'm really excited to be the next winner of the APQ block swap :)

Out of touch!

2010-05-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how long its been since my last post. This is ridiculous.

I've decided that pregnancy isn't for sissies! I've been living on saltines and sleeping like crazy. I've had a few scares, but everything has been deemed OK. Only 2 1/2 weeks until the end of the first trimester.

Needless to say, I haven't been very productive and I'm really far behind on all the blogs. I promise to catch up soon!! I miss all of my blogging buddies!!

I did go out and pick up some baby fabric for my little one (we've decided not to find out the sex). So far I've only gotten as far as washing it!

Its all minkee (or is it minky?) and flannels. Its all delightfully soft and snuggly.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Mess no more!

2010-04-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

Remember this?

Yesterday I got a surprise package from Mary. She included a lovely Quilters World magazine (full of cute baby patterns!) and these awesome bags and rings for my floss!! I was so touched by her thoughtfulness!

So I spent a few hours yesterday sorting out the big mess. I filled up all the baggies, sorted out the floss I had on cards, and got the rest of it separated and in a bag. Now I need to go out and buy some more of these!

Its a million times better!!!

Thank you again Mary! I'm continually amazed by the incredible people I've met. Quilters are really the most wonderful people. :)

Mr April

2010-04-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

I love these blocks! They're so fun. Here's Mr April:

A Healthy Diet

2010-04-13T20:29:00.000-04:00

These bad boys + Saltines were the food of the day. Being pregnant is weird!

I'm still really tired so I'm still not getting much done. I did finish up the table runner for my boss. I LOVE this pattern by Rachel.

And I finally finished up The General. Its now happily on my bed. Not the best picture ever (I had to hide the mess around the bed!)

Now I'm working on the April Snowbound block. He's so cute!

Binding, Red White and Blue, and Babies

2010-04-04T20:28:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter!

Things have been pretty slow on the sewing front/keeping up with the blogs. I've been so tired! I'll catch up soon. Its amazing when you're away from the blogs that they multiply like bunnies.

I finished up all the APQ swap blocks. Hooray!

I bought some new fabric to make a table runner for my boss for a birthday present. He makes furniture and does construction work as a hobby. He's often commented on wanting something quilted so I've deamed him quilt worthy. I had a hard time picking out "manly" table runner fabric so I settled on a patriotic theme. I'm using Rachel's vintage ribbons recipe again. Its a great pattern if you're looking for a quick runner! Here's the progress so far:

I've been slowly working on The General's binding. I'm about half way done and trying not to spend too many hours sewing at a time. I'll probably take this with me to my sew in night this Friday. I need to finish this up soon- its getting to warm for my down comforter!

I've had fun perusing amazon and barnes and noble for baby sewing books. I've requested Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones and Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby: 24 Easy Projects for Newborns to Toddlers. Such fun!! Does anyone have any other books suggestions?

Pink or Blue?

2010-03-28T15:20:00.001-04:00

There's been so much going on the past week that I haven't gotten much quilting done. My husband and I are sooooo excited!!!

I'm not very good at holding this sort of thing in. Many people/websites suggest waiting longer to announce, but I figure if heaven forbid something happens, you will all understand my absence. My due date is somewhere around Nov 30th. A Thanksgiving baby :) We haven't decided if we'll find out the sex, but I think the only reason I'd want to know is to pick out fabric. You all understand!

Needless to say there hasn't been much quilting going on, but I did get a few things finished.

My cousin's T-shirt quilt is done! Here it is with my husband holding it up. I'm telling him to straighten it out and hold it up. He's standing on a chair and telling me I'm crazy if I think he can hold it any higher or any more spread out.

Its a monster! I love the quilting. I also embroidered my initials and the date on the back. Don't mind the fuzz:

I've also been working on my swap blocks. 24 done (4 have already been shipped).

I'm thinking I need to make 2 more (2 for me). For the ladies in the swap, is this right? There are 13 of us right?

Then the last bit of show and tell is my purchase from the North Penn craft show two weekends ago. I had a great time meeting Ann Hermes. I bought this little ornament from her.

I'm off to sew the binding to The General. I need to clear the sewing decks and make way for new pink or blue projects :)

A Tenth of a Mile

2010-03-16T20:19:00.001-04:00

This afternoon I picked up my quilts from the quilter. I love them both!

Here is my cousin's T-shirt quilt. She's going to love the basketball design:

Action shot of Nigel checking out the back:

And here's The General. I picked a vine panto.

It is definitely huge! I can't wait to wash it to shrink it up a bit.

My husband told me it doesn't match our bedroom walls (suddenly he thinks he's a design expert), but I don't care. More reason to make more bed quilts!!

The amount of binding to do is sort of ridiculous. When I added it all up, it equals 1/10 of a mile! Crazy. I stitched the binding to the front of the T-shirt quilt this afternoon (you know I couldn't wait to get started) so I'll start the hand stitching tonight. Better get stretching!

Great Wall of Scraps & Ridiculous Rain

2010-03-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first sewing night with the Philly Modern Quilt Guild. It was such a great time!! There are some really lovely people in this group.

Of course I couldn't get out of the shop without doing some shopping.

Before the sewing night, I went through my scraps for the APQ swap. Since everyone's been showing their scraps, here are mine. Look out! Its the great wall of scraps!

Here are the next month's blocks:

This month's blocks went to the post office this morning.

I haven't been able to do much of any sewing today. Its been raining since yesterday and today we lost our power. UGH! Every 15 min my husband and I were bailing out the sump pump. Yeah the last time this happened we swore we were getting a battery back up. Good thing we followed through on that one... Then the power came back and we realized the rest of the basement was starting to flood. Its been a delightful afternoon. Thankfully its slowing down. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to do some more sewing!

On that note- I love this rainy day fabric and the post over at Quilt Taffy. She has weekly giveaways on Fridays. Its certainly a rainy day!!

Mr March

2010-03-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

Mr March is one of my favorites! Here he is making his debut:

I've been looking for an opportunity to use the great selvedge/close to selvedge part of the Rouenneries fabric.

So I'm sort of ashamed to show this, but my embroidery thread is in such a mess. I have a bunch of it from when I was in middle school and from my high school babysitting days when I made friendship bracelets and I have some from my grandmother that she passed on to me. It is such a mess! I haven't figured out how to organize it yet, but this shoe box is getting ridiculous.

How do you store your embroidery floss??

Ready to Swap!

2010-03-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

Here are my March APQ swap blocks:

Two blocks with my more traditional fabrics and two with more modern prints. This is so fun! My favorite part was all the squaring up this pattern calls for. I should really do that more. I've never used Pigma pens before and they were trickier than I thought. I used Love's freezer paper idea (thanks Love!!) and that helped, but still tough to get it to write smoothly. Good thing we've got 7 more months to go so I can perfect this.

So I really do have a problem. I'm admitting it. Magazines- in particular quilting ones- suck me in and I buy them. Ugh! Why?? I have so many and I'm sure I have enough patterns for a lifetime, but I can't resist them. The latest Quilts & More called to me today with its cute patterns (these bibs are too funny!!). I try and tell myself to page through the magazine at the store and decide if I absolutely need it, but I always end up needing it.

Yesterday I took The General and the T-shirt quilt to the quilter. They'll be done in two weeks and I'm really excited about the patterns (basketball for the T-shirt quilt and a vine leaf design for The General).

I can't wait to send my blocks off to Katie and Lisa!!

Elephant Stomp

2010-02-28T17:23:00.004-05:00

I need Katie's odometer! I made a quilt in a day :)

Here is "Elephant Stomp"

Then I made the page for my quilt scrap book. It was a milestone day- my 3" binder is full!! I have to start "volume 2".

I won't have long to oogle over the quilt as my hubby will bring it to the baby's father (his coworker) tomorrow. I always include washing instructions so the recipient isn't afraid to use the quilt. I can't stand the thought of a quilt sitting untouched.

The General and the T-shirt quilt go to the quilter on Tuesday so maybe I'll do some hand quilting on Fireside Chat. Its been a while. Or maybe I'll work on my APQ swap blocks and save my hands for all that binding that awaits me (416" on The General and 356" on the T-shirt quilt. Eeeek!). I better start stretching now!

Quilt guilds and elephants

2010-02-27T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today was the first Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It was so fun to meet some quilters in the area who are younger/young at heart and to see some great projects! I'm really excited to see how the group comes together in the months to come :) Liri it was great to meet you in person- your projects are gorgeous.

Earlier today I took a trip up to JoAnns to buy batting for "The General" (I fnally settled on a name), batting and backing fabric for the T-shirt quilt, and some baby fabric for my husband's coworker. They had a baby girl and have an elephant themed nursery. The fabrics aren't quite as girly as I'd usually go for, but I like the prints. I'll make my standard baby quilt so I can crank it out quickly.

Off to sew!

Sewing Snurricane Day

2010-02-26T20:12:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the "snurricane" (yes that's a snow hurricane) I was off of work today. Well really the weather wasn't as bad as predicted and now the roads are clear (thank goodness!) but I was still off for most of the day.

What better to do than have a sewing snurricane day!

I finally finished up my french general quilt top and back. The top needed borders (I didn't take a picture because it is just too big to lay out anywhere) and then I pieced the back. I LOVE the pieced back. Its sort of hard to see here, but you can get the idea. Again it is just too huge to lay out anywhere and I didn't feel like making the bed look blog presentable.

My living room was in quite the state. Remember Fireside Chat? Its staring at me from the corner, wanting some attention.

Well at least this quilt and the T-shirt quilt are almost done. I just need to go get batting for both and backing fabric for the T-shirt quilt and I'll be ready to take them to the quilter.

I really need to name the French General quilt something besides "the french general quilt". Any suggestions??

Tomorrow is the first Philly modern quilt guild. I can't wait! :)

Quilty Weekend

2010-02-21T15:57:00.001-05:00

I just got back from my quilty weekend and I had such a blast!!

Abby, Julie, and I had such a great time. This was our first sewing get together despite the fact that I've known them all of my life.

It was a one-yard wonder weekend. First we made "Granny's closepin aprons".

(Yes Zippy Bobo slippers had to come along)

Here's my apron- I love this fabric! I bought two yards so I can make something else from it. Perhaps pot holders? Or another apron?

Then Abby and I made "Not Ugly Car Trash Bags". Mine is the one out of honeycomb/bee fabric.

Meanwhile, Julie made the "Planner Sleeve" for her photo album:

She also started on the "Toddler Art Smock", but didn't get it completed. She's promised to send me a pic so I'll post it later.

Of course everything was calorie free!!

It was such a wonderful girly weekend and there is nothing like spending time with these lovely ladies who I grew up with. I love them both like sisters. :)

Big 'Ole T-shirt Quilt

2010-02-18T17:43:00.001-05:00

Today I finished the Tshirt quilt top. Its really monstorously big- I was trying to size for an X-long twin bed (my cousin's a freshman in college) but I'm questioning my measurements. Oh well- better too big than too little! Here it is on my design wall (aka living room floor)...

...and on my guest room bed for scale. I'm thinking I need to make a quilt for above this bed, but that's another day.

I'm hoping my machine quilter has some sort of basketball quilting design.

Tonight's dinner is Veal Saltimbocca from (yes you guessed it) Giada De Laurentiis (here's the link to the origional recipe Chicken Saltimbocca). I haven't made this before, but her recipes are always super yummy. I was at Target last week and was so excited to see that she has her own line of cookware. I bought this awesome scoop strainer thingy that she uses to scoop out pasta. I can't wait to try it. I love how the holes look like flowers.

Tomorrow I'm off to Rochester, NY for my quilty one-yard wonder weekend. I can't wait!!! My mom gave me this mega bag from Lands End a few Christmases ago and it can hold my sewing machine, notions, rulers AND my One-Yard Wonders book. I feel a bit like Mary Poppins.

Happy Quilting!

Mr Februrary

2010-02-13T10:43:00.001-05:00

Here is Mr Februrary. I'm not so sure how I feel about how his face turned out...

I'm so happy it turned out I didn't have to work today! Hooray!! So I'm going to spend the day working on my cousin's T-shirt quilt. Here's the progress so far.

Layout done, row one done. Of course Hank had to inspect it all.

Happy Quilting!

February Fury

2010-02-09T20:41:00.006-05:00

Its starting to snow again! The weather man is calling for another 1-2 FEET! Its sort of hilarious that they are calling it "February Fury". I feel like I'll need a T-shirt or something that says "I survived February Fury 2010" hahah! All my patients have been rescheduled and tomorrow will be a snow day :) Yippie!!! So tomorrow (in between shoveling/snow blowing) I get to SEW!!

I've been really busy cutting, sewing and shopping up a storm the past few days.

Sunday was my local quilt shop's "Super Bolt" Sunday sale. Aren't these fabrics fun!?!

I went straight to work on the Joel Dewberry fabric and made this fun bag from the One-Yard Wonders book. I modified it a bit from the pattern and used two fabrics (instead of one), added interfacing to the handle/top pieces, and I added a zipper. I'm trying to make friends with making bags. Bags are NOT usually my friends (for the APQers- remember the "Amy Butler is ridiculous" bag?!) and this bag was better. It still took some fiddling but that was because I added the zipper.

I've made a dent in my cousin's T-shirt quilt. I put on all the interfacing and cut out the 35 blocks. I bought the sashing/border/binding fabric (a navy/black blender) at the sale on Sunday.

Oh and look what came in the mail today! I received my first giveaway from Jenn @ Purpleheart Ori"jenn"als. Nigel is checking everything out and has officially given his approval. I love the beautiful scarf and the cute fabric pack! She had it all wrapped up with a pretty fabric bow, but I was too excited to rip it all open to take a picture of it. Thank you so much Jenn!! The scarf is just in time for Feb Fury!

The rest of my French General Rouenneries fabric arrived in the mail today too. So now I can finish that up.

Thanks February Fury for giving me a WIP day. Hooray! Stay warm everyone :)

Truly Snowbound

2010-02-06T10:52:00.000-05:00

It is snowing and snowing and snowing!!! Silly groundhog and his silly shadow!

Here is Mr. January from Anne's Snowbound BOM over at Bunny Hill Designs. He is just loving this weather.

Since I'm not going anywhere today and since my fusible interfacing came in the mail yesterday, today is a good day to start my cousin's T-shirt quilt. Until I have to go out and shovel anyways! I was having a hard time finding the interfacing in the quantity/thickness I wanted until I found the website of Goose Tracks quilts. Cathy custom makes T-shirt quilts but also sells the fusible sheerweight interfacing in varying yardage.

For all of you on the east coast- stay warm and safe!

What I'm..

2010-02-02T19:34:00.006-05:00

What I'm reading:
One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins

I had seen a lot about this book. Today I was at Barnes and Noble and after paging through it I couldn't resist! It is stuffed with 106 projects (5 extra bonus projects in the Barnes and Noble special edition) ranging from aprons to a firefighter hat to a drawer organizer all from 1 yard of fabric. In a few weeks I'm going to visit my best friend for a girly quilty weekend and this book will be going with me.

What I need to finish:
Remember my french general quilt? I ~~still need to order~~ just ordered the backing, border and binding fabrics. I'm planning to piece the back with the leftover blocks.

Hank is very interested of course.

What I'm going to start:
Anne Sutton's Snowbound BOM. I finally went out and bought some background fabric to get going. I love the gray and the swirly pattern. Plus I love that it was 50% off! Maybe I'll just be a month behind...

What I'm ordering:
15 yards of interfacing to finally start on my cousin's T-shirt quilt!

What I'm eating:
Everyone gave such a good response to my soup recipe I thought I'd share another. Tonight I made fusilli with spinach and asiago cheese. Its a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and I think her food is fabulous. The only modification I make is I add a package of precooked chicken. Delicious!

Last but not least,
What I'm excited about:
I won my first giveaway!! I won Jenn's giveaway of a beautiful scarf and some fat quarters at her blog Purpleheart Ori"jenn"als. Thank you Jenn!! :)

Happy Quilting!

Better than Mama's Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-01-31T18:46:00.010-05:00

Thank you for all of the encouraging words after my not so happy week! I went and redeemed my massage yesterday and splurged on a pedicure too. Bliss!

I've been inspired by all the cooking blogs and thought I'd throw this recipe in today even though its not quilting related. Its what's for dinner at my house tonight.

My husband and his family are Jewish and I have learned that everything that ails you can be cured (well at least made a whole lot better) with Jewish penicillin- aka chicken noodle soup. If you're feeling like doing it all the way (which I am today) you can make chicken noodle matzo ball soup. I'd never made matzo balls before a few years ago and was intimidated at the thought of them. No fears! They are eaaasssy!

So here is my hubby tested and approved recipe. It has been deemed better than his mother's- Shhhh....don't tell her!!

This makes A LOT of soup- 8+ generous (and I mean generous) servings.

Ingredients:

Chicken- Either buy 1-2 precooked rotisserie chickens from your grocery store (usually they are small) or roast your own bird. If I am planning on eating roasted chicken and then making soup I definitely make two. The bigger the better! Today I'm using two of the store bought precooked birdies! Bigger birds = more stock. I love to freeze this so I make a lot.

Stock/broth- I cheat a little to get my stock started. Today I used 10 cups of stock and then add water to it, but this depends on how much soup you want leftover/size of your bird(s).
Carrots- Again, depends on how much you like carrots and how much soup you want. Today I used a 2# bag.
Celery (one bag)
2 onions (one large, one medium/small)
Seasoning- bay leaves, dill, basil, salt, pepper
Matzo ball mix- look at the back of the box for extra ingredients (usually it calls for eggs and vegetable oil)
Noodles- I prefer fine egg noodles.

Step one: Making the stock

Take the larger pieces of chicken off of your birds. I usually just take off the breast meat. Chop it up and reserve it for later.
Put the rest of the carcass (skin too) in your biggest stock pot.
Chop up the big onion into wedges and put it in.
Chop up 2-3 sticks of celery into 2-3" pieces and throw that in too.
Cover with stock and add some water- today I added about 7 extra cups.
Put in dill, salt, pepper, and basil- I just shake it in until I think it looks good. Add 2 bay leaves
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook covered for several hours (usually 2-3) until all the meat is off of the bones.

**During this stage I make my Matzo balls- just follow the package directions. Today I made a double batch which called for 4 eggs and 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Usually you mix the matzo mix, eggs, and oil together and then refrigerate for 15 min. Next you form the balls, put in boiling water, and simmer for 20 min. That's it!

When everything is off the bones strain and save the stock. Throw out the remains. My grandma and my mom always argue about this step when making any kind of stock. Grandma saves the meat at this point, mom throws it out. If there are big pieces of meat feel free to fish them out before discarding the rest. Usually the meat is pretty stringy after simmering for many hours and that's why I reserve meat at the start.

Step two: Making the soup

Return stock to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Reseason with dill, salt, pepper, and basil.
Peel and chop carrots, cut up the remainder of the celery (including the leafy tops!), and cut up half of your small/medium onion (you can use more if you like things to be really oniony- just don't forget that you had a whole large onion flavoring the stock).

Rinse the carrots under cold water to remove some of the orange color. That way your soup won't be dyed.
Add celery and onions to stock and cook until mostly tender/done.
Add carrots and cook until done.
Meanwhile cook your egg noodles to the directions on the bag. I like to keep my noodles separate from the soup so everyone can make their bowl as noodley as desired.
Add your reserved and chopped up chicken into the soup
Add the premade matzo balls to the soup to heat them up for a few minutes

Step three: Assemble and Eat!

Put it all together in your bowl and serve with yummy bread (I made some Italian herb bread in my Zojirushi bread machine)

Enjoy!! Let those worries fade away.
Freeze your leftovers- matzo balls and all. I usually have enough for several dinners.

I thought things came in 3's...

2010-01-29T21:47:00.007-05:00

Reasons there has been no quilting this week:

1) There is a MOUSE in my house!

Little guy ran across my living room the other night. Hank (my kitty) wasn't quite fast enough to get him.

2) My shower decided to have a leak that ended up on my kitchen ceiling.

3) My pedestal sink (only 4 yrs old) decided to crack at the base for no reason

4) I lost my work keys

5) My cell phone broke- the flip part snapped

Things that make me happy:

1) There are many traps set- a whole variety. (*Edit- the ones in the house are kitty safe- the more gruesome ones are in the attic)

2) The leak is fixed and the paint has been bought for the kitchen ceiling

3) I found my keys

4) Tomorrow I am redeeming my Christmas gift of a massage at a spa

5) January is almost over!!

Quilt history/finished table runners

2010-01-24T11:06:00.013-05:00

I finished my table runners this morning and I'm loving the spring look.
Julie has started to organize a modern quilt guild here in Philly and it looks like it will be at a time I can actually go! Yay! I'm so excited to meet some quilters in the area. I started a new blog roll for everyone who is signed up and has a blog.

Ok so get ready for a whole lot of pictures. At Ann's request, I'm going to post my quilt history. (Like I really need a reason to post pictures of quilts! hehe)

So here it goes in chronological order. I hadn't realized how many baby quilts I've made!

The quilts of 2006: Get ready for some wavy quilting.
I started quilting in 2006 when I finished graduate school. It all started with a class "quilting for dummies".
Then came Christmas Snowmen:

The quilts of 2007:
Quilt Sampler (my first foray into hand quilting):
Star Wheel:

Matching NFL quilts for my hubby and brother:
Lets Go Fly a Kite:
Peas in a Pod:
Diamonds for Memom (my grandmother in law):
Quilt for my aunt and uncle (never got around to naming this one):
The quilts of 2008:
Paisley and polka dots (twins):
Kaliedoscope (my first mega hand quilting project- 1" grid, then 1/4" around each piece in the border):

Star spangled banner and some coffee too: (backed with coffee fabric for my best friend):
Birds in the Air for my mother-in-law:
Puppy Love:
Sweet Pea:
Road to Connecticut for my mom:
Front-

Back:Peace on Earth for my Grandma:
The quilts of 2009:
Home sweet home:
Lily Pads & Polka Dots:
Spring Fling- my first bed sized quilt:
Two little kittens:
Dots Nice (minkee back):
Under & over the sea:
Little Sailor:
And last but not least- you saw it already. Vertigo for my mom:
Phew!

Works in progress:
French General bed quilt- I still need to order border, binding and backing fabric. Then I can get that off to the quilter.

Fireside chat: Yeah, I haven't really done much hand quilting these days. I think I've done about 9 of 42 blocks.

Zippy Bobo's buddies

2010-01-21T19:48:00.010-05:00

Its almost the weekend!! I'm so ready for it.

My hubby had off for Martin Luther King Jr Day and I had to work a 12 hr day. Boo to that! I told him I wanted a surprise to come home to.

He cracks me up! These are my new Zippy BoBo slippers- named for the sock monkey I gave my mom a year ago. Here he is sitting on the quilt I gave her last Christmas.

(I bought him from this Etsy shop).

And just for fun, here's a picture of the quilt I gave her this year. I know some of you have seen this before- in multiple stages so sorry for the repeat.

Today I finished making the binding for my table runners but that's as far as I got. I thought I had some fabric for the backing, but nothing quite worked right. Just another reason to go fabric shopping :)

And since I'm in a picture sort of mood- here's a picture from in my sewing room. My big mason jar full of ribbon and binding for WIP's, some of my great grandmother's thimbles, and a painting my great grandfather painted for my grandfather. 13 was his special lucky number and the number has followed me too (born on the 13th in room 313, married on the 13th, passed my boards on the 13th with a liscence number that ends in 13 etc.). Happy quilting everyone~

Sew Sew Sew!

2010-01-17T17:01:00.007-05:00

This has been a marathon of a quilting weekend. I think I spent around 15 hrs of this weekend either sewing, cutting, or running to the quilt shop to pick up thread and new needles for my machine.

I finished the center for my french general queen sized bed quilt. I love it! Its super duper big and I still need to add the borders (I always wait to order border/binding fabric until the center is done). Its so big that there is nowhere to spread it, so here it is on my couch:

Then I made two table runners from one of Rachel's patterns for moda bake shop (here's the link for the pattern Vintage Ribbons).

I made one for my coworker who has hinted a few times that her birthday is coming up and she'd love something for her table and the other is for me. A little bit of spring fever!

I love the bird fabric- its Clothworks "Cherry Blossom". It still needs to be quilted and finished. I'll use the pink plaid for the binding.

Next up- a T-shirt quilt for my younger cousin. Any suggestions about how to prep the T-shirts?? Some websites say to use stabilizers for the T-shirts and others don't.

Oatmeal Chocolate White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

2010-01-12T18:01:00.008-05:00

Phew that's a mouthful to say!

I spent my afternoon doing laundry, cleaning up the house, and doing my run. Not much quilting to report, but I did make my hubby his favorite cookies for his birthday. I made them for the first time this Christmas from this website (I changed it to half regular choc chips and half white instead of all white. Oh and I added an extra egg white) and they were a big hit.

They are sooo dangerous. Good thing I have my magical calorie wand from Ann! I know the APQer's have seen this before but it just cracks me up!

With a wave of this wand
Calories are banished.
They must be,
I can't see them.
I'm sure they have
vanished!

My delicious (and now calorie free) cookies are displayed on one of (yup just one of) my wonderful Christmas gifts from Ann.

Now where's the milk...

This Little Light of Mine

2010-01-10T17:05:00.012-05:00

I'm so glad that all the APQ ladies are reconnecting over here!! :)

I did my class yesterday and was thrilled that there were 17 that attended. Hooray! I was told I could be paid or take store credit so I picked out a new light for my sewing machine. Although I have a dedicated sewing room, I tend to sew at the dining room table and my dining room isn't the brightest. This light is really awesome!

Today I've been working on a new queen size bed quilt. A while back, Julie showed me a charm pack of Rouenneries and (like so many of us) I fell in love with the line! Santa (aka my husband) bought me the fat quarter pack for Christmas. I'm using the pattern "Yellow Brick Road" by Terry Atkinson.

I've completed 3 of the 10 rows. Here are the blocks laid out on my dining room rug. (Thanks for helping move out the table Matt!)

The plastic bin on the floor is full of my cousin's high school basketball T-shirts to make into a quilt. That's next up on the list.

Random blogging question- I can't figure out how to make the photos a link so that they open in a new window as a larger picture. Can anyone fill me in on how to do this? Thank you!!!

***Update- I just realized after I posted this, that now my photos are working! I'm not sure why, but now I'm good!

Quilting Ergonomics

2010-01-08T18:17:00.008-05:00

If you're anything like me, you get totally engrossed in your quilting projects, lose track of time, and realize when something starts to ache that you've been in one position for way to long.

To pay my bills and support my fabric addiction, I am a physical therapist and tomorrow I'm giving my first class (well more of an informal discussion) tomorrow @ 10AM. I'll be discussing posture and quilting at my local quilt shop, Granny's Sewing Den. I hope it goes OK!

So here are a few of my tips to protect your body and help you to enjoy a lifetime of quilting:

1) Get a good chair. If possible get a chair that is adjustable so that your work surface is at elbow height and your knees are bent to a 90 deg angle. Use a pillow or cushion in the small of your back to keep good posture.

2) Keep things close to you. When your elbows are bent to 90deg, your fingers should be at the throat plate of your machine.

3) Mix things up! Cut for a while, then sew for a while. Keep the ironing board across the room to make make yourself get up and move.

4) Avoid prolonged positioning. Don't sew for more than 50 min out of every hour before getting up and moving/stretching- even less when doing handwork (I know, I know, this is very hard to do!!!)

5) Listen to your body. Stiffness is often a precursor to pain and is your first warning.

And no post would be complete without a photo, so here's one of my WIP's.

Happy quilting!

How to Tie a Quilt

2010-01-07T20:37:00.005-05:00

I'm so thankful for all the tutorials out there that have helped my along my way. Here's my tutorial from my last blog about how to tie a quilt.

My great grandma tied most of her quilts. I suspect that after hand piecing everything (she made a lot of postage stamp quilts) that she didn't feel like hand quilting. I was nervous to machine quilt the Minkee fabric I bought for the backing. Its so slippery and I didn't want to skew the dots, so I decided to do something different than my usual and give tying a try.

Step one:

Layer the batting, quilt top (face up), and then the backing (face down). Sew a quarter inch around the edge of the quilt top, batting, and backing and leave an open section to flip the quilt right side up like you were sewing a pillow. Hand sew the open area closed.

Step Two:

Start in the middle of the quilt and thread a needle with yarn or embroidery thread. I use a light weight cotton yarn. Make a small ~1/4 inch stitch through all three layers and then move to the next spot (no greater than 6" away) leaving a tail of yarn.

It was tricky pulling the needles through all three layers so I put some duck tape on my thumb to assist. Yet another use for duck tape!!

Step Three:

Cut the yarn between then stitches.

Step Four:

Tie a surgeon's knot. I found this youtube video very helpful.

Step Five:

Cut off the excess yarn. Leave at least a 3/4" tail. You're done!

Here's the back with no disruption of the minkee dot.

Here's the finished front:

It is soooo soft and snuggly with the Minkee backing! An instant kitty favorite. Happy Quilting :)

New blog, first post

2010-01-07T20:03:00.015-05:00

Hello out there ! I've been blogging for a few years now (I can't believe its been that long) on American Patchwork & Quilting's website (you can see the blog here while it is still up). They just announced that the blogs will be deleted and their dedicated quilting blogs will be no more. *Sigh* So I've decided to try something new that won't be deleted down the line. I've very much enjoyed the friendships I've made with some amazing women on that website and I hope they all come this way and continue.

So here's a little bit about me: Growing up, my best friend, her sister, her mother (who is my mother's best friend), and her grandmother all quilted. The three of us girls had matching irish chain quilts (see below, complete with one of my kitties) and I always said "someday before I die I'm going to make a quilt!".

When I finished graduate school I decided to go for it, and took a class in 2006 at my local quilt shop. I haven't looked back since and I'm totally addicted!!!

I look forward to blogging here and can't wait to meet some more wonderful quilting buddies. Happy Quilting! ~