Is this a joke?

So a few weeks ago I received an email that said the following:

Amazing!

Thank you, my 5 followers.

Some small gifts

There have a been a few birthdays in our family recently.  I had a couple of mini charm packs and decided to try and make a table runner with them.  They are cute, but there is not much fabric in them!  I found a tutorial that required just a few more 2 1/2 inch squares that come in a mini charm pack.  Here is the result:

This one on the left was made using Freshly Picked and the other is by Moma....

And today I finished a couple of pillows that I made for a silent auction for the boy's school.  This is the first time I've ever done something other than gifts, or for myself.  It makes me feel quite vulnerable.  I keep telling myself to not worry about whether people will buy them....if I get to bring them home I'm happy to keep them.  My husband is a Utah fan, I am a BYU fan.  That's right...a house divided.  

I am linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday and Finish it up Friday.

Scrappy Buzzsaw - Finish Q2

This quilt was created from a pattern in Amy Smart's book "Fabulously Fast Quilts."  I actually took the color scheme from another one of Amy's quilts which is in the Scraps, Inc book.  I really loved her courthouse version, but knew I didn't have the patience to make one with so many pieces.  So I chose to do the Modern Buzz Saw Quilt in the same colors.

The background fabric is one which I bought on clearance and wish I had bought more!  You can't see it well in the pictures, but it has subtle lines throughout.  I really like it.  It's from the fabric line Collage by Carrie Bloomston.  The bright colors are from my stash.  I did not buy anything new!  Yay!

I decided to have it quilted in a spiral pattern, since it reminds me of a spinning buzzsaw.

 

The backing is some yardage I had.  It was funny because I had the backing laid out on the bed in our basement.  After that, when I went downstairs to get something I thought I'd left the light on in the room.  The reflection from the small amount of sunshine we get in that room made it look like the room was glowing.  Colors really can brighten up a space!

Points I pondered:

1.  I think all the colors in this quilt are also in the Courthouse quilt I mimicked.  But I wish I would have zeroed in on only the reds/oranges and blues/purples.  Perhaps because this pattern has larger blocks and fewer pieces, the two color-ways don't seem as obvious as the original quilt.  

2.  Initially I was going to do a purple binding, but at the last minute I changed my mind and did a scrappy binding.  I'm glad I did.  I do like it.

3.  I would love to make this quilt again -- perhaps less scrappy like the original quilt.  It was pretty quick to put together, even as large as it is.

I am linking up at Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Up Friday and to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday.

Finish-Along Goals 2

I really enjoyed having a list of projects to work on for last quarter, so I'm doing it again.  Several projects are just going to move onto this list since I didn't finish them.  Here is my plan:

1.  Kaleidoscope Quilt -- made this quilt, but it's too small.  Want to add a border and hope that the quilting will distract from all the non-matching points.

2.  Ombre Pinwheel quilt -- not loving this one and not sure what to do about it.  I'll put it on this list and hope I get some inspiration to finish it!

3.  Quilt Sampler from Vintage Modern Sew Along -- I just want to straight line quilt this one, but it's so big!  I haven't sewn on the solid portion and am now wondering about making it smaller.  I'll have to see if there is a way without too much unpicking.  

4.  Solids Charm quilt not with Essex Linen -- Originally I wanted to try out the Essex Linen with these charms.  But now that the charms are sewn together I don't love the linen.  So I'm using some different fabric.  

5.  Jewel Tone Sawtooth Quilt -- I actually finished this a couple of days ago, just after of the first quarter deadline.  All I have to do now is take pictures and blog about it.

6.  Bluebird Park Quilt -- started this a while back, set it aside having only sewn one column together. Still haven't touched this one!

7.  2 quilts from Persimmon Charm packs.  I have finished one top, and have a plan for another.  

 

8.  Improv Star Quilt.  Here are the fabrics, but since it'll be improv there is no pattern.

9.  Desert Quilt -- no picture of this one, but I have a kit that I have and hope to make sometime too.

I am linking up to the Finish-Along Link up at On the Windy Side.  

Grandma's Quilt - Q1 Finish

It has been almost a year since I wrote about Grandma's Quilt -- and now it's finally finished.  Yay!  This is a quilt on which 3 generations have sewn.  My grandmother did the embroidered blocks, my Mom did the hand quilting, and I did the piecing.  

When planning this quilt I waffled between using solids and using prints.  Solids, for more of a simple, modern look.  Prints to try and match the style and because they reminded me of what Grandma would like.  I went with prints -- "Nana's Pantry" from Connecting Threads.  This was a difficult decision, and I still wonder if I should have gone with solids.  I am not a cute, flowery kind of girl.  But, I do love Grandma!

Points I pondered:

1.  Grandma loved birds and flowers.  It was fun to look at the birds that represent various states.  Do you know what your state bird is?   

2.  I still wonder if I should have gone with solids, or maybe just a fewer colors.  This is not something I really thought about when I ordered the fabric.  I just ordered several colors included in the bird blocks and included them all.  I am still not very good at envisioning the end from the beginning. 

3.  Most of all I love that my mom hand quilted this.  My grandmother died almost 20 years ago, and to think that my mom and I both worked on the same squares that she made so long ago is a neat feeling.

And here she is!

Cute polka dot binding.

My home state's bird is the Mountain Bluebird.

And Utah's is the California Gull -- kinda funny, but there are plenty of them here so it's appropriate.

January and February Update

I'm back again with a slew of pictures to record what the family has been up to these last couple of months.  It's so hard to choose just a few pictures!  

In January Brian took the older boys to a UofU Alumni dinner and Basketball Game.  They had a great time.  You will see that as they walked out they found the entrance to "Tanner Dance" and had to strike a pose to show their little brother.  

Eric played his first season of Jr. Jazz.  He did great.  He's got a good sense of how to handle the ball, despite the relatively little basketball he's played.  You can see his nice form in the shot below!  SCORE!

 

On President's Day we went down to Temple Square and saw the movie "Meet the Mormons." Andrew and I had already seen it, but Brian and the other boys had not.  It was a little long for Tanner who had to take a few breaks to run in the hall, but other than that we all enjoyed it.  

We followed the movie with quick walk around City Creek -- the newly (well, not so new anymore) renovated shopping area in downtown Salt Lake City.  We had never been -- a house full of boys isn't too interested in malls.  :)  It was a very nice Mall, but once all the fountains had been seen and dipped into, we were outta there.

After a quick lunch at Jimmy John's, we went on a tour of the Conference Center.  The boys enjoyed seeing the large auditorium that we've seen on TV when we watch General Conference.  They also seemed to enjoy the numerous paintings throughout the Conference Center.  Our Tour Guide was very efficient, which allowed for little dawdling.  Luckily, he did wait around for us when we had to stop for a potty break.  :)  The roof of the Conference Center is covered with gardens (mostly dormant in February) and has a great view of the city.  There is also this really neat mural etched in marble.  

It is Andrew's birthday in February too.  His wish list consisted of all things Soccer and Nike.  No video games were on his list!  Mom's not complaining!  And yes, those are green Vampire Teeth you see on Tanner.  That kid and his costumes!

We celebrated with cousins one Sunday evening.  Here he is with his cousin who also has a birthday in February.  And of course Tanner has to be in all pictures, particularly if candles are about to be lit.

Rather than having a birthday party with friends, Andrew opted to invite two friends to Airborne (a trampoline jumping place.)  Unfortunately, his closest friend got sick that day.  Luckily we were able to have his cousin join us at the last minute.

Sugar Pine Quilt - Finish Q1

I am so excited to have this one finished!  It was on my design wall for a long time.  The pattern is Sugar Pine from the book Fresh Family Traditions by Sherri McConnell.  When I first browsed the book I didn't particularly notice this quilt.  But the more I looked, the more I liked it.  I like that about scrappy quilts.  

This is the first quilt I've made that's large enough to lay at the end of our Queen Bed.  I had sent it out to be quilted with some playful loops.

Points I pondered:
1.  Speaking of points...using a 1/4 inch Quilting Foot did help with my accuracy.  I know a lot of people don't like them, but it helped me.  I love that most of the points were not cut off!
2.  I enjoyed trying to use up the fabrics I already have.  Some fabrics are favorites, others just the right color, and even some "novelty" fabrics.  I had bought this Dick and Jane looking fabric a while ago because it reminded me of reading as a child.  It's not typically my style, so it was fun to work them into this project!
3.  I did get a little bored from doing so many quarter square triangles. I had to take a break for a while,  so it was nice to have it up on the design wall while I worked on other projects.

Linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday

Simple Cross Wall Hanging - Finish Q1

Well, I accomplished my first goal for the quarter.  I think I should always make quilting goals -- they are so much more fun to accomplish than other goals.  :)

In our stairwell there is a space where I have decided to hang small quilts.  So far I only have summer and fall quilts -- well, now I have a January/Spring/whatever-I-want-to-call-it quilt.  After all the Christmas decor came down, I was craving something clean and simple.

I used all fabric from my stash, which is always a good thing.  And I attempted Spiral quilting for the second time.  It looks great from the front, but all that turning of the quilt caused the backing to get some folds that I didn't notice until it was too late.  Well, not too late, but late enough that I wasn't going to pick them out of a wall hanging!  They are on the back after all.  I have got to do a better job of basting -- my least favorite quilt task!  I usually use basting spray, this one I used fusible batting.  I have been avoiding pin basting, but it would probably work better.  

Finish-Along Goals 1

I've decided to join in on a "Finish-Along."  Basically, the idea is that at the beginning of each quarter (January-March being the 1st) quilters make goals on what they hope to finish during those months.  Then for each finish they write a blog post and link up to the Linky Party.  I decided to try this out so I can focus on finishing projects, rather than starting them!  New projects are such a temptation and I could use a little motivation to finish a few things.  So here's my list of things I want to finish:

1.  Kaleidoscope Quilt -- made this quilt, but it's too small.  Want to add a border and hope that the quilting will distract from all the non-matching points.

2.  Cross Mini Quilt -- just started this and hope to be finished soon!

3.  Pine Sugar Quilt -- it's on my design wall and I'm almost finished with the blocks.

4.  Grandma's Quilt -- need to finish the border, quilt, and bind.

5.  Bluebird Park Quilt -- started this a while back, set it aside having only sewn one column together.

6.  Ombre Pinwheel quilt -- not loving this one and not sure what to do about it.  I'll put it on this list and hope I get some inspiration to finish it!

7.  Quilt Sampler from Vintage Modern Sew Along -- I just want to straight line quilt this one, but it's so big!  Ugh.

8.  Jewel Tone Sawtooth Quilt -- I have the fabric pulled and ready to cut.  Pretty excited about this one.

9.  Solids Charm quilt with Essex Linen -- I have the fabric, want to try out the Essex Linen.  Hope I like working with it because I love the look of it!

The nice thing about this Finish-Along is that you can make lofty goals and then just roll uncompleted ones to the next Quarter.  I'm sure I'll be doing some of that.  I don't usually manage to finish several quilts in one year, let alone three months....we'll see how it goes!  You can check out all the other quilters making goals at the Finish Along Linky Party.

Small Gifts

I made a few small gifts for friends this year.  I wish I would have taken better pictures -- but I only took pics with my phone I guess.  I'll share them anyway.  I'm linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and to Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

My favorite of these projects is my "Here We Have Idaho" pillow.  I made it for my best friend -- we grew up in a small town in Idaho and I will forever love that quiet, beautiful, super-cold-right-now, but rarely-too-hot town!  When we were in the 4th grade we had "Idaho History."  Here are a few of the highlights from that fine history Unit:

1. Potato Pillows -- one of the projects we could choose to do was make a potato shaped pillow -- I don't think I made one, but remember seeing other's.  Whatever project I did, I did not keep it.  
2. County song -- My best friend also memorized the county song....I didn't have to, but I do enjoy asking her to sing it for me once in a while.  ;)  
3. State song -- We both learned the State song -- part of which is "And here we have Idaho, Winning her way to fame."  That line always cracked us up so i wrote it on the backside of the pillow (just along the edge of the envelope closure.)  I wanted to stitch it to the front, but I'm not that experienced in hand-stitching and wasn't sure anyone would get it anyway.  :)  

I got the idea for this Idaho pillow from another blog -- but I cannot find the source!  It's been a while.  

Another pillow I made using the same reverse-applique technique was this heart pillow I made for a friend who was having a birthday.  The fabric is a mini charm pack from the Moda Wishes line.  I used corduroy for off-white the background.  

Lastly, I made my first attempt at zipper pouches.  I used a couple of online tutorials.  My first attempt was on the blue owl pouch -- I didn't have interfacing so I used some batting instead.  Not sure this was a great idea because I struggled with those bulky box corners.  My second and third attempt were more successful -- the octagon bag is made with fusible fleece, and the tan corduroy/owl one is made with medium weight interfacing.  These were gift-able.  Phew.  I gave the pink one to our babysitter.  I really debated one what a teenager would like.....I don't have teenagers and wasn't sure which one to give her.  Hope she liked it!