Add This to the List!

The camera really doesn't do this quilt justice. It makes it look wrinkly and baggy and it doesn't really show the awesome masculine colors... but here it is!



Here's another finish for the Joy in the New Year Challenge! I started this one waybackwhen for my brother-in-law, Bud. If this is any gauge of time whatsoever, he was living with us when I started it, and now he's not. Yup, that's how long it took me. Anyways, I really wanted him to have it for Christmas, but I had SOOOOOO many other projects that were for Christmas and once again it got pushed to the side. Now it's done and it should be on his bed by now... at least I hope.

These are not good photos... just so you know. I also used a super high loft batting so that it would be megacomfy, just like he asked for.

I can't get this one to rotate...

Simple quilting 1/4 inch from the edges of the sections.

The vonQuilt

So, this one was a long time coming. I made (more like finished) it for my cousin and her hubby for Christmas this year. They loved it. I loved making it for them. It's called The vonQuilt because their last name is vonErck... pretty clever, huh?

Here's the front:

Here's the back:

Here's a close-up of the binding, which I'm particularly proud of :)

Here it is on my love seat before it goes off with its new owners...

This quilt adds to my finishes for the Joy in the New Year Challenge.... GO ME!

A Quilt for Rylee!

Rylee is my beautiful niece who lives in Virginia that I don't get to see even close to enough! This quilt is for her. Brooke, Rylee's momma, doesn't like pink or anything girly (for her or Rylee) so I thought fabric combo would be perfect. I hope they like it!

And of course, I had to sign it for her.

The back is very simple, but fun to look at. Tiny dot patterns... my fave! I used a new method of binding this quilt that I picked up from Red Pepper Quilts.... and I LOVE it. I used to hand stitch all of my quilt bindings. Not anymore! It definitely took some practice to perfect it, but I think it's amazing!

On a separate note: I had really hope to get so much more completed for the Joy in the New Year Challenge... but I didn't. I got a lot accomplished, just not that many more completed quilts. That's ok, though. I made a ton of patchwork pot holders to give as gifts this year. And I had to make a few quilts and other projects in between for the holidays and babies (Congrats Ashley) and whatnot. It was fun. I will post my progress here soon....

So Here They Are!

I've joined Tallgrass Prairie Studio's Joy in the New Year Challenge . Jacquie set up this wonderful little competition, I mean motivation, to help us finish up all of our unfinished quilting projects by the end of the year. I definitely need help with this, as you can see. I rounded up all of my works in progress and found that I had a staggering 13! Thirteen! That's a whole lot of starts and not a lot of finishes. Anyways, I'm trying to stay positive. So far I haven't actually finished any from my list, but I have gotten a lot closer! I have 10 quilt tops that need to be basted and quilted, 1 gigantic almost finished quilt that's been in the works forEVER that just needs to be quilted the rest of the way.....

... and I have these 2 wannabe quilt tops. I've already made blocks for 1, it just needs to be put together. And the other, well, let's just say she's got a looooong way to go. Apparently I only made it to the cutting out stage for the one on the right. I hope I can still figure out what I was planning on doing with it!

So, if you would like to help keep me motivated, I would appreciate it! If you would like to join Joy in the New Year yourself, it's not too late. I heard there will be LOTS of amazing prizes, so the more WIPs you finish, the more chances you have to win! I will keep everyone posted on my progress!

Have a great Thanksgiving everybody!!!!!

Just so Everyone knows...

Over at the Block Party Blog they are starting a virtual quilt along... and a giveaway! These are some really talented quilters and I love to see what they've got coming next. I also can't wait for the book! Go on over and check them out!

Spiderwebs!

No, not the Halloween kind. Real ones. All. over. my SEWING MACHINE!!!! That's when I knew it was time for me to get back in the swing of things. I've been SUPER busy lately, like really. And I've noticed that my sewing has dwindled, you know because of that whole "priority" thing. But then I noticed I was getting into a sort of funk. Not depressed or sad, just funk-y. So, I took a little trip into my sewing room. And that's when I saw them: spiderwebs. I felt horrible. It was like a sad story, "... and there it was, sad and solitary in the corner of the cold basement clothed in cobwebs, evidence of its neglect." I got my nifty Swiffer, dusted that puppy off, and finished piecing together my triangles for my zigzag quilt. Man, do I feel better! I'm going to try to sew the strips together today to finish the top, but that's only if little-miss-you-know-who takes a good nap... Pictures to follow :)

Fun New Stuff!

So... I'm working on a few projects right now (of course). My blogging has been suffering a bit, but that's because of full-time school, which should probably come before blogging on my list of priorities :) Er, I mean it does come before blogging... Anyways! I made a few quilts out of the leftovers from my Moda Wonderland Layer Cake that I made this quilt out of. I love, love, LOVE the Wonderland fabric. It's whimsical and fun and just plain great! The top quilt is a little more "girlish" because I pulled more teals and pinks and purples for it. And the bottom quilt is a little more "boyish" with more browns and reds and blues and greens. Ignore the wrinkles...

These quilts are pretty small so far. Only 30"x 40". I think I'm going to add some borders to each quilt like I did for this one, one of my all-time faves that I made for my niece, and this one that I made for my mom to give as a gift (also one of my faves).

Now that I have an idea on how I'm going to finish them, I'm just waiting on inspiration to strike on what fabrics to use. If you have any suggestions PLEASE let me know!

This is the beginnings of another quilt! Yay! I'm making this one for my aunt to give as a gift to a little boy of extreme hunters in Texas... the same aunt I made this quilt for! She must like me or something :) I thought the Antler Damask by Joel Dewberry was very appropriate, as were many of the other fabrics from the Deer Valley collection. I also decided to add in his Woodgrain pattern (waaaay over there on the left, hiding) as an accent. I think I'm going to use it to "frame in" the quilt blocks. But we'll see. I'm still in the brainstorming process. I also thought of using log cabin blocks... Again, we'll see.

That's it for this post! Happy creating!

Projects: Finished and Unfinished

I worked on this quilt that I decided to name The Texas Rose quilt. I made it for my Aunt Cheri' (who lives in Texas) to give as a gift to a little girl named Emma. I hope she loves it. It was lots of fun working with my aunt (via the web) and picking out the fabrics for this quilt.

I know I took pics of this quilt when it was finished... but I can't find them anywhere. Hmmm.

I used a pale yellow for the backing and pieced together 4 stripes of the fabrics I used for the front. It look very nice. And cool. I wish I could find those pics. Now I'm on a mission...

Newest Project!

I just started this project a couple of days ago. It's a zigzag quilt. I've been wanting to make one of these for a while, it's on my quilt wish-and-make-some-day list. I'm doing it the triangle way. I got the pattern here. It's an Anna Maria Horner Pattern, but I used mostly Amy Butler prints, there's a few Heather Ross, a couple Anna Maria Horner, and some other miscellaneous ones from my stash. This quilt is gonna be big. About 80x80 or something like that. I'm really excited about it!

Wish me luck!

Oh Yeah, and some Quilty Stuff!

Despite my lack of posts, I've actually made a few things! My friend had a baby, Samantha, so I made her this cute little baby quilt using the predominantly pink and brown squares from a Moda Wonderland layer cake:

I used some Amy Butler fabric for the border and binding, and a cute stripe from my stash for the backing fabric. I quilted 1/4 inch from the seams with a brown thread. I really like the way it turned out.

And I just signed it with a Sharpie marker:

I also made a quilt for my hubby's (and mine, I guess) cousin's little girl, Sage. We were pretty close with them when we lived in Virginia, and we are bummed that we still haven't been able to meet Sage. Anyways, they are sort of hippy-ish, and Tiffany loves making tie-dye stuff, so I thought this quilt would be fun for them, and it was fun for me because I don't usually work with batik/tie-dyed fabrics!
Here's the front:

And here's the back:

For some reason I was having a really hard time figuring out what fabric to use for the binding. Nothing really seemed to go. I finally decided on an Amy Butler polka dot print... and I LOVE the way it turned out!

I also decided to use my business cards as tags for my quilts instead of buying actual tags. I just felt hangtags would be a waste of paper and just one more thing for me to keep track of. So I just punch a hole on the edge of my card, tie a piece of hemp into a loopdeloop and safety pin that sucker on! Voila. A tag.

I just love finishing quilts! It's such a great feeling, isn't it?

I'm ALIVE!!!!

Shame on me! My beloved camera broke and I used it as an excuse to never post! But I'm back, and I've been busy over the past few weeks (er, month). I've got lots to show and tell about. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my return :)

For starters, we went to the ZOO! (kinda) It was a littleittybitty place that had animals in cages. So I guess that counts, right?

Willow fed the goats and had fun watching the different animals do different things. But I think most of all she loved running allllll over the place!

This guy was the funniest thing! Poor thing needs some braces!

There was also a butterfly house that was EXTREMELY hot. We were only in there for a few minutes... Willow liked the butterflies a little tooooo much, if you know what I mean.

It was fun to actually get in some quality family time!

I also surprised the Lubby (husband) with a trip to CHICAGO for our 2nd anniversary. It was pretty awesome! It was our first time away from our daughter, but we decided that it was something we should do every year... I had a blast!

Right outside Union Station after we arrived in Chi town:

Architecture:

The fountains at Millennium Park (soooooo cool):

And of course The Bean!

And the skyline... man this place was so much fun!

We also made it to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game! Too much fun to even talk about... really!

I gave Wrigley Field a thumbs up!

We had a blast! We stayed at the Palmer House Hilton (beautiful). And our room had an amazing corner view of the city!

From the right side:

From the left:

Sorry... I just had to...