Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My favorite ornaments

Just a few...

















Grandma Nell's Old Quilt

Can you see the hand quilting?


And where there's a hole in the front, you can see the cotton that my great grandmother likely grew, picked, carded and used for batting.


I rescued this. It helped keep my furniture from getting scratched during one of my many moves during college. I decided it needed to live with me, not my dad.


I don't use it much and it certainly isn't the nicest quilt of Grandma Nell's that I have. But it's still warm and it has character.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

My Modern Quilt Guild Challenge Entry

I have finished my Modern Quilt Guild Challenge quilt!

It will be a gift for my sister, Katie. She lives in Houston and will find out Tuesday if she is having a girl or a boy. I'm betting on a boy...

This quilt was inspired by a quilt I saw on Flickr (see below). I love blue and the two tones on this quilt really made it special to me. I've always loved the log cabin block, but the idea of making a liberated one made me excited to try it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12260277@N07/4265049746/in/faves-25806308@N00/

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Tonight's work


Tonight's work, originally uploaded by nkiblueeyes.

My design wall

Thursday, November 25, 2010

My Puker

I have a decision to make in the morning.

For the past 4 days or so, Owen has had some sort of intestinal thing.  Very clingy, needy... You get the picture.  I think he's just about over it, though.

Tonight at 1 am- I wake up to Wyatt puking.  Now, keep in mind, if there's ever anything wrong, he pukes.  He's my puker.  However, I don't know if I should consider him actually sick...

It's Thanksgiving.  We're supposed to be at the in-law's house in about 9 hours.  I am cooking 5 things (half are ready to go)...

Do I take him anyway?  Do I "forget" to mention this puking episode?

I think I might...  If he doesn't puke again...

*sigh*

Decisions...

Happy Thanksgiving!


*** Update:  More puke 30 minutes later.  Looks like we'll be chilling at home tomorrow, watching Cars and Little Bill and Dinosaur Train and the Backyardigans...  Maybe I can sneak up to my sewing room and finish quilting myself a Christmas quilt!  Wouldn't that be nice???

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Nap Time: Coasters.

I sewed today.  I made 4 or 5 sets of coasters.  Sorry I don't have a picture.  My kids have been SERIOUSLY needy today/tonight.  I'm about 2 minutes from my head hitting the pillow and drifting quickly off to sleep.

I sandwiched a dozen or so more layer cake pieces to make more sets of coasters.  This will be my standard gift for all the women in my life this holiday season.

I've used my Alexander Henry Christmas layer cake.  It's almost completely gone.  Made a couple of potholders, too...  May make more, but if I do, I'll have to break into my last Kate Spain 12 Days of Christmas layer cake... And I seem to be saving it for something.  Not sure what.  My sister, Laura took a fancy to it.  Maybe I'll make her a Christmas throw for her November birthday next year.  We shall see.

I put my St. Nick Swap stuff in the mail today.  Very excited to mark that off my to do list.  No major swaps in the works now.  I just have to send away a secret santa item to someone in my vintage sheet bee.  Will probably include coasters, a potholder, an ornament or two and maybe some vintage sheet fat quarters...  Maybe some Christmas candy?  Or a holiday fat quarter...  Don't quite know yet.  I'd like to get it together this weekend, though.  Picked up a box at the post office, so I can start filling it up now.

I am plum tuckered out.  Goodnight, everyone.

PS  Check out the kudos I got from my fantabulous quilter, Angela on her blog, Quilting is my Therapy. 

Assembly line

Tonight I have grand plans. Will be making lots of potholders & coasters assembly line style. Going to try to sandwich & pin a bunch of potholders while the kids r up. They'll be ready to
sew tonight. Might try doing grommets instead of loops. I'm so fancy!

I think I'll work on coasters too. Any interest in a tutorial? I promise they are quick & painless!



Quick Coasters


Quick Coasters, originally uploaded by nkiblueeyes.

Are you short on time? Do you like to make crafty things for your loved ones?

I have the answer, my friend.

Tonight, I chopped up some leftover batting into the size of a layer cake.

With them, I made reversible coasters with raw edges that I cut with my pinking shears.

Put a piece of batting between two cute fabrics (you can use charm squares, but I made 4 at once with 10 inch pieces of layer cakes).

I sewed around the edge, then in a cross pattern and chopped... trimmed with shears and I was finished!

So fast.

Will tie them up with some leftover strips of fabric and call it good!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Sneak Peek

Working on binding my St. Nick wall hanging. It's for a swap...




Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today's Progress

Mom leaves tomorrow. :(

Has been a good visit!

Today she helped me by making lots of bias binding for me.  I hate doing that.  She loves it.  Perfect!

I did some work on a Christmas gift...  Cut up some charm pack scraps and glued them onto blank stationary.  Will randomly stitch around it and trim it around the paper.  I'll make 4 or so and tie them together with their envelopes and cute ribbon.  Instant gift.  Will try to post pictures.

I also made progress on my second butterfly quilt for a baby that's due in May.  I'd love to finish it by Christmas to give it to the mommy-to-be... but I think that's probably overly optimistic.  However, I have everything I need as far as backing/batting/binding now...  I might be able to pull it off.  Maybe.

Am hopeful I can get an hour or two of sewing in tomorrow during naps.  Maybe some more after I get the kids to bed.  Bedtime around here has become a real struggle for the kiddos.  I'm going to have to make some changes.

I think my 2 year old is ready for some normalcy.  We've had company, daddy's been gone... Brother's been grumpy and we are all sleep-deprived.  He wants as much of my attention as possible.  And he also wants me to take him to the zoo.  Every day.  *sigh*  He was kicking his bedroom door and sounding really pitiful for the better part of an hour (with a couple of interruptions of giggles when I relented by going into his room to dry his tears)...

My 3 year old insisted (at 11:45 pm tonight) that since he was still awake, it'd be a great idea to go visit his grandparents who live 20 minutes away.  Needless to say, that didn't happen.

Maybe I should get some sleep since they're sleeping now...  Sorry for the lack of pictures the last few days.  Will make up for it soon.  I promise!

Monday, November 15, 2010

My Mom is Here...

and that, my friends, means that things are getting done around here!

Got my swap item for the St. Nick Swap on Flickr pieced, basted and ready to quilt.  Bought some thread for it today, too.

Got Parthena's baby quilt pieced and basted.  Ready to quilt!  Must decide on thread and how I'll quilt it...  Maybe wavy lines with my new leather roller foot...

(As I type this, I am trying to ignore my children banging on their bedroom doors, singing and trying to do anything but sleep)

And I got my Christmas quilt that I'm making for myself basted, too!  I was going to give it away in the St. Nick Swap, but in the end, I decided that I'd spent too much $ and time on it... Didn't want my partner to feel like I'd done more than she had... and I fell in love with the fabric... so I decided to go another route for the swap.  Am hopeful I can get it finished soon!  The binding is what will be my downfall.  I don't have any particular fabric set aside for it...  Must think on that one...

I got mom hooked on making mug rugs.  She's I even got her more involved with flickr.  Hopefully, she will pick up quilting again soon.  She has had a lot going on in her life the past couple of years.  She retired and moved to another state...  Big changes and a new house...  Yardwork galore and grandmother duties... Everything gets in the way of her quilting.  But we found a GREAT fabric shop not terribly far from her in Humble, TX (It's a Stitch... go there online.  It's fabulous) and so I think I've talked her into taking a class to get back into it.  Let's hope!

I am needing to get serious about Christmas gifts!  I have done almost no shopping.  Every  year prior to this one, I've had Christmas gifts all taken care of by Thanksgiving.  Not going to happen this year.  I also make gifts for everyone, too.  Even if it's just an ornament... Nothing is made yet.  Yikes!

I would really like to finish up the other butterfly quilt I'm making for my cousin, Kristen.  We're 80% sure she's having a girl in May.  Should know before Christmas one way or the other.  The quilt is about 60% finished...  It's just like Parthena's, which is about 80% finished.  Parthena is due in January, though... and it is COLD here in January.  Her baby is the first girl in the family (2 big brothers), so I think she needs some handmade pink things to keep her warm.  I suspect she will come early, so I need to get jiggy with it.

I want to quilt a top that I made about a year ago (no... 2 years ago!) for Owen before Christmas.  It'll be very warm for his bed.  It's the softest flannel I have ever seen.  Feels almost like soft wool.  Very thick.   It's just a small throw, so I think I can do it.

I picked up a charity quilt for Safe Home, which is a battered women's/children's shelter here in town.  They have a shortage of twin sized quilts.  Thought I could get some quick practice in on straight lines with my new feet before diving into my other quilts.

I want to make sets of coasters for my two sisters, my mom, my aunt, my cousin, my grandmother, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law.  That will really add up if I make 4 coasters per person.  Yikes!  Luckily, I think I have a method that won't take too long.

If the spirit moves me, I will whip together some potholders from layer cakes.  Nothing fancy, but cute.  I have some great Christmas fabric.

And I intend to make some stationary by sewing fabric scraps onto some blank cards.  These will be gifts, too.

I am behind on making doll quilts for my nieces and nephews.

Sigh.  I need more time.  Mom leaves the day after tomorrow.  I'm thinking of bringing my sewing machine downstairs...

Enough rambling!  I have quilting to do!  Night, everyone!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Mom's mug rug (update)







She is going to finish the binding on the plane.

Mom's mug rug (in progress)

My mom is in town for a few days.  She's a quilter, too.  We went to 2 quilt shops today and she's whipped up this adorable mug rug.  Don't you love this?!?  The solids were from my stash and she pieced together the individual gifts and trees after fussy cutting them.

Her binding is a candy cane pink stripe.  Will be so adorable.  I want one.








Progress...


Progress..., originally uploaded by nkiblueeyes.
I finished assembling Parthena's baby quilt top tonight. Planning on basting it this weekend & starting to quilt it. Must buy batting!

Also sewed together 4 of my Wonky Log Cabin blocks from my Bee Vintage bee. They're made of vintage sheets. I'm expecting to get 9 more in the mail. May make a few more blocks. Not sure. They're 15 inch blocks. I love these.

12 inch brown & yellow vintage sheet quilt in progress

In progress... Made of 12 inch blocks of vintage sheets. Trying to use mostly yellows and oranges... maybe browns too.

Don't know how big it will become. Depends on when I run out of sheets (not soon)...

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

My new roller foot (Merry Christmas to ME!)

Designed by a glove maker. Turns corners like nobody's business!

For my Bernina.  It's one of their more expensive feet, but I am thinking I'll save lots of cash by quilting things myself, rather than paying a longarmer to quilt for me...  I think I can do this mindlessly.

Will play around with it late tonight and post pictures of it in action... Stay tuned!

New stuff

Got an extension table today. Also, I got a walking foot & a neat foot with a wheel on it that I can use for lots if fun circles doing free motion.

Drank 2 cups of coffee after supper. Hopefully I can get the kids to bed at a decent hour & play in the attic! Hubs is out of town this week.



A Finish!

Inspired by my friend Tammie, I decided to finish something today. Got the binding on my friend, Beverly's baby quilt. She is due to have her first child (a baby boy) on Thursday. Gotta wash it tonight & get it in the mail tomorrow!








Monday, November 08, 2010

Ready for winter


My 2 year old, Owen is ready for winter. Tonight he found his mittens & my winter hat.

He's all about accessorizing!





Bee vintage

I'm starting to get some blocks in the mail from my bee vintage group...





Friday, November 05, 2010

From craftytammie

For my month of the bee vintage bee

A wonky log cabin made of vintage sheets. So excited!!!





For the swap, I made...




A potholder, one of my prairie point Christmas tree ornaments and these coasters...


Camille drew my gift. Merry Christmas!

St nick swap

Embellishing...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A mug rug gift from Beth

Got this from a gift exchange at my kcmqg meeting last night. I love it!



Wednesday, November 03, 2010

What I've Been Up To...

Just awarded FORTY Quilts of Valor this morning.  SO exciting.  For real.  Check out this link to see pictures.

Monday, November 01, 2010

Top Secret Progress...

True to form, I've procrastinated making something for our holiday swap at KCMQG until this week.  Our meeting is Thursday.

Happily, I made two items to wrap up during nap time today and I have been hanging onto something else that I made previously to be given away along with those...  Might even make one more item if time permits...

Now to dig out the Christmas paper and wrap it up!

I will try to remember to post some pictures this weekend...