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Showing posts from January, 2015

January Book Report

Here's what I have been reading this past month: The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan (The Heroes of Olympus #5) Love how Riordan wraps up this series. All I have to say is that if you have not read any Rick Riordan, then you really should. I am enjoyed reading tales about Greek, Roman, and Egyptian gods. And this fall he will be releasing his first book about the Norse gods, can't wait! The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell In the kingdom of Slyvania offers a wonderful reward to anyone who can break the curse on the princessess that cause them to dance each night to exhaustion. Reveka, the herbalist apprentice is determined to break the curse despite the danger surrounding the princesses and the curse. In doing so she uncovers a mystery that will lead her to the Underworld. I will admit the first part of the book drags a bit, but once the introduction of characters and background is out of the way this book picks up. The story really starts moving and you will no

WiP Wednesday : UFO to WIP

So just about a year ago I started cutting out a queen size quilt for our bed. I cut 5 inch squares and the sashing during a couple of naptimes. Then started a layout and even got all of the rows sewn together. Then I started working on other projects, then Christmas quilts and gifts. So needless to say this was just left in an unfinished state. Well a couple of weeks ago, the hubby mentioned something about needing to sew up the top, so the crib would be available for our new addition. (I had all of the strips draped across the crib) Well last week I had finished sewing for my current swap and didn't really need to start working on the next one, so I decided it was time to finally start piecing our quilt together! After about a hour of sewing I manged to get about halfway through the quilt top! Bonus points because Nora was still up and actually let me sew, she just pretended to iron some fabric (with an unplugged iron, of course!). Well I used the next couple of naptimes t

Pixel Heart Mini Quilt

I love decorating with mini quilts. Perfect excuse for me to create something for my home and bonus, I've been using up my stash and scraps for most of them. So after I made that cute baby girl quilt, I had cut up a bunch of 2.5 inch squares from the leftover fabric and thought it would make a cute pixel heart quilt for Valentine's Day. I was inspired by the pixel heart t-shirt from Patchwork Threads. I decided on 2.5 inch squares, since that's what I had cut my scraps down to, then added some low volume squares to surround the heart. I love how it turned out. This was my first time actually doing a low volume background and I must say I am now addicted. I NEED more low volume fabric! To enhance the heart shape, I quilted in diagonal straight lines. I also quilted a couple of lines in the heart itself. I quilted this mini with my favorite thread, Aurifil. And instead of my usual white that I have been doing for my mini's, I used a beautiful yellow (#1135). With

Sunday Lately : Wk. 4

Updating Trying to work on updating my nursing appeal, that I will need in about a month. Thankfully I have found some awesome patterns, that would work well for nursing a little one, but without flashing the whole world . Reminding Myself to not let my anxiety get the better of me. After I had Nora I suffered from postpartum anxiety. And after talking with my doctor, I think we have a plan to help me lessen the anxiety and allow me to enjoy the first few weeks at home with a newborn (which I didn't get with Nora). Needing To finish one more book for this month. Amusing Nora is quite amusing when she is in a happy go lucky mood, which is most days. And she tolerates momma when I just need to lie down mid-morning. Being Present to Nora has been a challenge the last few weeks, since I'm in the homestretch of this pregnancy, I'm pretty worn most mornings after doing a few minor chores around the house. But I know this is just a small window of time and Nora see

Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap Round 3 : Mini Come What May

Wanted to share the quilt I made for my partner for Round 3 of the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap. This is the second time that I have participated in this swap and it was just as fun as it was over the summer. It did get a little crazy with the holidays, but with a little planning on my part, I had my mini pieced together and ready for quilting before I had to finish my Christmas sewing.  I decided that this time around I wanted to try a new quilt pattern, so I landed on the Mini Come What May pattern by Jaybird Quilts. There is only one block to this pattern, making a fairly easy pattern to make, the tricky part is keeping your fabrics in the right order, so you will end up with the woven look. What helped me was using low volume fabrics for the weaving underneath and brighter fabrics for the weaving on top. I love how it turned out. This is one pattern I will be making again, so I can have one to hang up in my home. Mini Come What May Dimensions: 16 in x 20 in I

WiP Wednesday : Valentine's Day Sewing

So glad the first challenge for #SewMyStash2015 was a Valentine's related challenge. Since I was already working on a few projects! Monday the kiddo was allowing me to sewing during the morning, which is pretty rare and rare that I actually have energy in the morning. Only 6 weeks left until our new bundle of joy joins our family and I'm trying my darnest finish some of my WIP's. So anyway, I was able to sew together my pixel heart, inspired by the Patchwork Threads pixel heart. I used the leftover fabric from the baby quilts I made earlier this month and used a mix of low volume fabrics for the background. A perfect way to use up those scraps! Now my goal is to have this one finished by the weekend and hanging up for Valentine's Day. Plus since it's not super Valentine's themed I can leave it up, which will be a bonus and I'm not seeing much sewing for a few weeks after our next little one shows up. --------------------- Linking up with WiP

Sunday Lately : Wk. 3

Dwelling Over the fact that Nora is growing up. She is going to be a big sister in a couple of months and I just can't believe it. But with that she can help mom, at least a little bit once her baby sister arrives. Helping This past week I went to my first quilt guild meeting and felt so inspired, that I'm going through my stash and scraps to find the perfect fabric to start creating baby quilts and quilts for those newly diagnosed with breast cancer. It feels so good that I can help contribute to someone in a time of need with my crafting ability.  Forgetting I have pregnancy brain so I feel like I'm always forgetting something! This week it just so happened that I forgot about a haircut appointment, luckily I was able to reschedule and hopefully I won't forget the second time around. Switching Gears to get ready for baby. This mostly includes finishing up projects around the house and sewing up a few new things for baby girl. Relying On

WiP Wednesday : Working through my To-Do List

In ways it feels like I haven't been behind my machine in ages, but in reality I have been. I have just been finishing up little projects here and there and haven't really started any 'newer' projects. I did manage to layout my next baby quilt. I really want to finish this one by the weekend, so I can ship it out to my friend who had her baby a couple of weeks early. I still have the fabric for my own baby quilt sitting on my cutting table waiting for me to get around to it. This week I've been quilting up a storm on my mini quilt for the Schnitzel & Boo mini quilt swap! I finished up the quilting on Monday and currently working on the binding. Now to just work on a few goodies and I can ship out my mini before the final deadline! One final project that I'm trying to work on right now, is creating a pixelated heart mini to hang up for Valentine's Day. Pixel hearts are everywhere right now, I am using some scraps leftover from one of the man

First Quilty Finishes of 2015

Yay, I'm so happy to have a couple of quilts finished already in 2015. I had a baby shower over the weekend and since I've been on a kick of giving handmade gifts, I knew I would be making baby quilts. And for baby quilts and really just a fun quilt, my go to pattern has become a plus quilt. I love creating this fun patchwork quilt and it is a fun way to combine fabrics. I love the colors in this quilt. So perfect for a little girl's nursery. I used a selection of fabric from Heather Bailey's Up Parasol line, with a few blenders. The picture just can't show how vibrant the colors really are. And this is the second baby quilt for the shower over the weekend. Just perfect for a little boy. I used a few fabrics from Fox and Houndstooth by Andie Hanna and a mixture of blenders to make a perfect little quilt. For the quilting I just did some wavy lines to keep it simple, plus I do love the texture that it creates. I created this quilts with 4.5 inch squares

Sunday Lately : Wk. 2

Okay, I'm loving the prompts so far. It is nice to stop and think about what is going on in life. All too often we just get caught up in the daily grind and don't stop and think about all of the amazing things that are going on right around us!  This past week, we finally got some snow and I just couldn't resist snapping a few photos. This one is my favorite! created with the Brushstroke app on my iPhone Doing Sewing. Cleaning. Organizing. Decluttering. And man I felt wonderful once I took done my Christmas decorations down, they were really starting to feel like clutter. Nice to have clean, open spaces again! Not to say they stay clean all the time with a 2 year old, but at least she will clean up her toys when prompted. Appreciating My awesome hubby! On Monday we will be celebrating out 7th wedding anniversary! He is my rock, he has seen me at my highs, and my lows. Carried me through a difficult miscarriage and the birth of our first daughter and wi

WiP Wednesday: Baby Quilt Edition

After a couple of intense months of sewing and quilting lap size quilts, I now am spending these first few weeks of 2015 busily sewing and quilting baby quilts. I finished up all of my Christmas sewing the week of Christmas so that hasn't left me with much time to sew up a couple of baby quilts that I need to have completed by this weekend. Needless to say after a few days away from my sewing machine to spend time with family, I was right back at it so I could get a start on my gifts. Luckily my hubby as been home a few extra days over the holidays so that has allowed me a little more sewing time than during a "normal" week. The first two baby quilts are from the shower I'm attending this weekend. I love how fast and easy Jeni Baker's Arithmetic pattern is for baby quilts. I was able to cut and piece these in about 2 days each! I have been working on quilting them this week. I'm keeping the quilting nice and simple with wavy lines. Once

Sunday Lately: Wk. 1

One of my unofficial goals of 2015 is to use this space to just plain write more. There is something therapeutic about typing out my thoughts. Much in the same way that sewing is therapeutic for me as well. So I when I saw Katy and Nicole post about this idea, I figured this would be a good way for me to start writing here more often. Planning Trying to figure out how I'm going to quilt two baby quilts this week, while entertaining a 2 year old and finally getting over this cold. Plus I'm working on two more baby quilts, one for a friend and one for my second little girl making her arrival in March. So in some ways it feels like this week is like the weeks leading up to Christmas, lots of sewing for gift giving. But after this I can work on all of the selfish sewing I want! Loving The snow outside! After a warmer than normal Christmas (in the 40's in Michigan), I love that winter seems to be making a comeback this week. Now I just have to get use to the c