More Projects and Where I've been

The two quilts here are by my two oldest kids. Liz (8) designed and quilted the little owl quilt (8"x10") and the patchwork is by Ian (6). The bibs and such were for baby gifts. The pillow case was designed by Liz and constructed by me for a birthday gift. Here is the pattern I used for bib guidance. Basically you take an existing bib that you like and trace it. You could add terry cloth or vinyl to make them more absorbable. I used velcro because it's fast but you could do a button.

I finally finished this apron for my sister, 6 months late. She modeled it for me. Lemon and Lime. My husband is into bowties right now. They are really expensive to buy so we searched and found a pattern on-line. Trying to find fabric the looks good in tie form is also very hard. So we started taking apart ties he had and that we found for $5 or less. The result is, he is now a master tie maker! He has made nearly a dozen.
I gave him his own sewing box for Christmas because we don't do well sharing tools! We made a muslin draft first just to be sure we had the size right. Then he chopped up his one of his mission ties. We bought one tie with a slide and used it as a template for length. Interfacing on both sides has proved good when using a light weight interfacing. He made one without and it is too flimsy.

If you would like to know where I've been or rather why I haven't posted in an age you can see our family blog.

A Couple of Christmas Crafts

I just now have time to sit down and type (more in the next post). These are a couple of the things I did for Christmas this year. I asked my 3 y/o son what animal we should make for his 5 y/o cousin. He said a ladybug. This is what we came up with. I didn't put eyes on it because I was in a hurry and in baby mode it never occured to me to put googly eyes on. So my nephew called him the blind ladybug! The quillow was for the same nephew. He sees yellow best so I made a cheery side and a space side which is his obsession. Space that is. The pillow pocket was made from a scrap section from a quilt my son made. The story of fabric combination: the lizards are riding the hot air balloons up to outerspace. Love the imagination. The stockings I made a few years ago. I spent a long time searching for the right fabric. A good family friend made me the the burgundy one years ago before I went to college. I didn't have time to make a new one for the baby because of emergency travel. I made some pillow cases and a couple of other things but I forgot to take pictures of the aprons and pillowcases. I am now playing catch up.

Christmas CD GiveAway at Chocolate on My Cranium

Chocolate on My Cranium is hosting a giveaway for a wonderful Christmas CD. Check out her blog to see how to enter. You have the chance for an entry for 1 of 4 cd's if you comment by Wednesday December 9th. If you don't win you can buy direct from the artist for less than $12. Her blog is It's All About the Baby.


I have tried for 20 minutes now to post a picture of the CD cover to no avail. I really need to improve my blogging skills. The songs I heard were lovely and unexpected.

Enjoy.

Joy in the New Year Challenge

So I have put off joining this challenge hosted by Tallgrass Prairie Studio long enough. I may not get all of the projects done but it's worth a shot. Not much to do right! The challenge is Joy in the New Year. Trying to complete the unfinished projects hiding around our spaces and find a clean slate for the new year.


Wip's to complete by the end of December 2009:

1. Lisa and Angelica's quilts and pillow cases
2. Charlie citrus quillow
3. I spy blankie for Marcus
4. Pay it forward gifts
5. About 10 aprons
6. Dinner napkins
7. Unsicker baby boy quilt
8. Spencer's Stocking
9. Adam guitar quillow
10. Reupholster the wing back chair

Project update for 2009

So, I've finished a few small projects but the the big ones that really need to be done are't quite there yet. I would love to add links to the posts for all of these but I may never get the post up if I do! The same for pictures with the post. Maybe the next one.


Projects completed....
1. Elizabeth's fairy quilt
2. Nephew's quilt (much past due)
3. William's Quillow
4. Project Improv blocks
5. Bushfire blocks
6. Rueben's quilt
6. Spencer's quilt
7. Trent's quilt
8. Leslie's baby quilt
9. Quilt for my Mom
10. Quilt for my Dad
11. Baby quilt for new niece or nephew

Projects In Progress...
1. Ian Flame quilt
2. Lisa and Angelica's quilts (triangles cut)
3. L &A Pillow cases to match
4. Pay it Forward gifts (still have one more to give...)
5. Baby Boy Unsicker's quilt
6. About a dozen others in various stages of completion!

Projects in the Wings...
1. Quilt for US!
2. Adam's Quillow
3. Bathrobes and slippers
4. Spencer's Christmas Stocking
5. Ian's twin quilt
6. Charlie's citrus quillow
7. Burbank Christmas gift
8. 10 Aprons
9. Small I Spy quilt

Baby Thomas' Quilt

Our newest Nephew was born on the 8th and the package is ready to go out to him today. Here is the quilt and what I've included for the first time parents. The blocks are for his Christmas gift. These blocks are great. My 13 month old kicks these around and chases them. I added bells to these too. I made a little bag to put them all in. The great gift is the blocks all wrapped up. Then I had the kids paint a small (3"x4") canvas each in the blue and brown nursery colors. Then there is a bunch of goodies for a new wee one and mom too! Long sleeve onesies with ties sewn on (not the one I had orginally seen but this is good. I left my tie loose so he can chew on it), a bird (I added a bell and it makes a great chew toy), bibs (I need to make the neck bigger on the next ones), diaper clutch and of course the quilt. Pictures below are quilt front, back and the onesies.

Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

It's that time again. Amy at Park City Girl is hosting a fall Blogger's Quilt Festival. Get ready to be inspired and make new friends.

I was going to put the button (which is super awesome) right here but my skills at blogging are very slim. I really should stick with quilting production instead of typing about it!

I've chosen a quilt this time that gave me a very hard time. This quilt was for my In-laws and I asked for color samples for inspiration. It took me two years to find the right fabric and get the pattern sorted out. Did I mention it's King sized? I have friend in Nashville who has a long-arm machine at her in-laws and she was kind enough to let me spend an entire day working on the quilt. Her in-laws actually fed us dinner to because we were there for so long!

This quilt was designed using EQ5. Many, many drafts went into finding the right one to highlight the fabric and take my love of diamonds to a new level. The quilt is made in quadrants which made the assembly much easier than it could have been. It was essential that I labeled each fabric and where it would go when I was sewing the strip sets together.

An introduction to my life as a quilter and fabric collector can be found here. Hope you enjoy.