Getting things Done!

I have had a great week(end) going into this week!  I went to Texas for work last week and was so jazzed to have completed my work almost completely by the time we left Dallas!  Flying home, we came through some gorgeous water filled clouds and I asked the Lord to let the rain come down on Phoenix.  Well, it was obviously in His plan and we had wonderful rain Thursday night, all day Friday and Saturday with sunshine and clouds with a little bit of sprinkles on Sunday.  For those who live in states other than Arizona, it may be hard to understand how we CRAVE the rain!  Believe it or not, sometimes the sun can be tiring!
Well . . . all the rain, dark clouds, and cooler weather encouraged me to get to work!  I quilted the gorgeous Christmas Tree skirt my sister Diane made in August.  Here are some photos:

 

Above is a photo of the whole thing hanging on the fence by the pool.  Diane will need to cut into the skirt, cutting up one side and cutting out a circle in the center, then binding it.

 

 

I did a cross-hatch in the center area.  I think it looks pretty cool!

 

 

The narrow green border was begging for some decorative stitching.  I love my sewing machine!  I used two different built in stitches with my super cool walking foot.

 

 

Here's another view

 

 

The red border has decorative stitching on each side.

 

 

Not knowing Diane's plans for the outside edge, I decided to use another decorative stitch on the white border.  The border is about 1 1/2 inches.  She might choose to cut it off.

 

 

It's hard to see, but I did a small meander stitch in the green print area.

 

 

I guess one would say this was "custom" quilted.  I am excited to see the finished product!

 

 

I finished the Christmas tree skirt on Saturday.  Well, that spurred me on to finish another project I have shown on my blog.  It is downright embarrassing to admit that I did not finish it until - YESTERDAY!!!  But, I am happy to say that today I packaged it up and mailed it off.

Here is the finished baby quilt for my friend Riche's first grandchild!  Myka was born in late May and Riche told me when I saw her in June that she likes PINK!!!

 

 

The sun was shining and it was difficult to get a great shot.

 

 

I hand outlined the hearts. The outlined each 10 inch block, did an "X" in each small square, and also outlined the inside smaller block around the heart.

 

I always love looking at the back of quilts!

 

 

Here's another view.

 

 

 

I used more decorative stitching in the sashing.  Above is a heart swirl.

Below is a balloon pattern.

 

 

I made a label.

 

 

 

Well, it didn't end there!  My newly married son texted me and asked me to send him my Hunger Games Books (because the second movie opened last weekend).  When I put them in the box to mail, there seemed to be more room.  I decided to try out a Patrick Lose pattern I saw in the latest Celebrations magazine.  This is what I made to send to my new daughter in law:

 

 

Pretty cute, huh?

 

Unfortunately, I managed to get a steam burn on three of my fingers from the iron when I was pressing the binding.  But after a couple of hours of whining, I am fine  :)

 

 

The long weekend ahead promises to be a busy one with working on Christmas gifts.  What are you all up to? Leave me a comment and let me know! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!







What is WRONG With Me???

This past week was pretty busy and this next week will be even busier! Can't wait until Thanksgiving week when I will (hopefully) have more time to sew!!

I made a quick trip to Denver for work and was able to meet up with my son Jared, and his new bride Aria, for dinner!  They were married on October 12th and are now living in Colorado Springs during his first assignment to Ft. Carson.  We had a nice dinner and it was lots of fun to spend time with them. I was showing them photos of daughter Hannah's baby shower when they both said "I miss home".   Well, that always makes a Mother's heart swell!  So happy they love the home they grew up in but how exciting they now get to start creating a home of their own!

My middle name should be P-r-o-c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-i-o-n!!!   I promised my sister I would quilt the gorgeous Christmas Tree Skirt she made but I got a little side tracked - on these:

So I am compelled to ask what is wrong with me?  I can't seem to stop with the stockings!  It's hard to tell the size of these from the photos but they are small.  On my trip to Denver, I stopped in a quilt shop in Littleton and bought a pattern by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co.  I wanted to make them out of NON-CHRISTMAS fabric to see how they would look.  They are CUTE!!

Her pattern is downloadable.  Here's a photo:

Visit her website to download your copy!!

Well, I need to start quilting that Christmas Tree Skirt!!!   I am off to Dallas tomorrow for most of the week. Can't wait until I get back so that I can sew some more!!
Hope you all have a great week.

Yippee! I'm In!

See the new icon on the right?  I have been accepted to join this blog hop that will happen in January.  I have a couple of neat ideas that I look forward to trying out!  Be sure to plan on checking out all the talent that will be on display for those 10 days.
Have a great week - I will write again next weekend.

Sappy Sappy Sappy!!

I must confess - I so dearly enjoy the Sappy Christmas Movies that are played on Hallmark and Lifetime at this time of year!  It started last Saturday and I am SURE if I don't scale back, I will be tired of it all by the time Christmas gets here  :)

I am a talented lady and as I write this post, ( I know how to multi-task)  I am watching "Snow Bride" on the Hallmark Channel.  My kids (they are all adults now) show up occasionally to let me know how sad I am.

I have been busy sewing too!  This is what I did today:

Not a real great photo, I know. But, I was trying my hand at a little Victorian project.
The Victorian projects I have viewed have a LOT of BLING!! I am not a very bling-y type of person so this was a little difficult.
One of the purposes of this project was to use fabric from one of the lines my sister and I purchased in the summer.  I also made this:

 

A pillow case. I watched the Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial on Youtube to check out how to sew it "hot dog" style.  I decided to do French seams on the inside.  It looks very nice!

Well, back to "Snow Bride".  It is easy to figure out they will fall in love and then have a difficult time trusting each other once he figures out she is not who she said she was.  Oh but it is still fun!

Off to Denver for a quick trip this week then more sewing when I am home.  Hope everyone has a great week!

Quilt Market Part II

Wow, it's hard to believe at this time last week sister and I were physically exhausted but mentally stoked!!  We spent last Saturday working with a fabric rep and drooling over the beautiful fabrics that will be released next year.  We purchased 2 lines - they will be coming out at different times. We also purchased some fabrics that will be shipped this month (how exciting!!!).

But . . . let's start at the top of the day.  Here is a picture from the Convention Center in Houston:

Sister Diane enjoying the morning before Market opened:

Once the market opened, we just HAD to stop and check out the sit down models of the Gammil sewing machines.  This is Diane making a mug rug  (I had to explain to her what a mug rug is - we used to call them coasters! Diane is older than me and learning new lingo is more difficult for her. She has probably asked me 3 to 4 times what a mug rug is!)  :)  Love you Sis!

Towards the end of the day, I managed to spot Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Fabrics.  Not only is she a talented woman, she is very kind and gracious, too!  This photo was for my friend Kim! She LOVES everything Lakehouse!

 This past week was crazy!  Got home from Market on Sunday, left for Denver Tuesday morning (work related), got home Thursday evening.  Then we had a baby shower for daughter Hannah. She is expecting her first baby - A GIRL!!!

Hannah wants to decorate the baby's room with letters so we bought the alphabet in different sizes and fonts.  We set up a painting and decorating station for the shower guests to show off their creative abilities.  Here are some photos of what the finished product looks like:

Neat idea, huh?
Well, I am off to San Antonio tomorrow for a conference on the software the company I work for is using.  Hopefully I will learn all kinds of things this week!
Until next week!