MIA

Hello!  :)

Yes that's me! MIA . . . missing in action . . . lol!  ;)  So sorry that I've been gone so long. I got consumed with the holidays and then my daughters and my birthday were after that. So much was going on and there was so much to do. I felt overwhelmed and was just trying to survive. I did make it through the holidays and the birthdays and am now trying to get back to a sense of normal (if it even exists).

When I last left you I had finished Jay's Hawaiian Getaway quilt and was about to give it to him for Christmas. Before I show you the finished quilt I need to show you the newest edition to my family.

Meet Doobie! He's a 3 year old Miniature Pinscher we rescued from our local shelter on December 30th. He's such a cutie!  :)

He's the mellowest dog I've ever seen! He loves to sleep. He was already house trained when we got him. He does like to run away when he gets loose though so we have to be careful when opening doors and keep him on a leash. We think he was abused by a man before as he's real cautious around men and a little timid. He's fitting in nicely though and we're all adjusting well. I love him to death! He loves to sleep on his back . . .

Isn't he a cutie?!!! Here's a funny picture I took when my daughter was here for the birthdays. He was wedged between her and the couch trying to sleep on his back. Kind of looks like he's smiling huh?

That's for letting me share my joy with you!  :)  On to the Hawaiian Getaway Quilt finish. Here it is . . .

I hand quilted it in navy on the squares and blue in the border. It's kind of hard to see.

Here's the full back . . .

and a better close-up of the quilting . . .

I really love how it turned out and he did too! I took some pictures of Jay with the quilt but my hunky dude hasn't given them to me yet (they're on his camera).

Jessica was bummed that her Peace and Love quilt wasn't finished before Christmas but understood. She asked if I could finish it by her birthday, January 6th and I said of course. With trying to get things back in order after Christmas I barely made the deadline, but I did make it. Her quilt had much more quilting on it than Jay's did. Here's a picture of her finished quilt (with Jay's cat testing it out).

I hand quilted it with green, pink, yellow, blue and purple on all the solid squares, around the flowers and in the borders.

Here's a picture of the back (sorry it's not a good pic).

I added one appliqued flower to the back of the quilt. Here's a close-up of it and the quilting.

I joined an I-Spy Charm Swap the other day. Lorelei from Midnight Maker is hosting it. She had lots of interest and opened a second group. Of course I'm doing both!  ;)  If you're interested in joining you can check it out by clicking here . . .

I ordered my two fabrics for the swap from Fabric.com. Here they are . . .

Can't wait to see all the fabrics!  :)

I'm hoping to clean up my neglected sewing space tomorrow and get some projects lined up to work on. I have a few that were started before Christmas and others that I want to get started on.

Hope your 2012 is going great for you! So far mine is!  :)

Until next time . . .

Merry Christmas Wishes to You!

Hello!  :)

Whew!!!! I've been soooo busy! This past week I've barely got any sleep. The hunky dude gets up for work at 3:15am and this week I've still been up working from the night before when he gets up. He couldn't believe it. Then I'd go to bed and get a few hours rest and get back to work. How in the world did I think I was going to complete two twin size quilts in only a few weeks. Especially being that these are only the 2nd and 3rd quilt tops I've completed and will be the 1st and 2nd that I've quilted and bound. I must be crazy dedicated. I have made some runners and mini quilts but nothing larger. I wish this guy could have worked some magic and got them all done for me.  ;)

But alas . . . no such luck! Remember Jay's quilt . . . the Hawaiian Getaway?

Well I've been working non-stop hand-quilting it (for the first time ever!). I finally got it done and then had to get it trimmed and put the binding on. I managed to finish it on the morning of the 22nd. Yea!!!!! I really loved how it turned out. I will have to show you the pictures next week as Jay is sitting close to me as I write this and I don't want him to see it yet.

What about the Peace and Love quilt?

It's pin basted and . . . that's it! I failed! There was no way I could get it done. I decided on the 21st that I wasn't going to make it. You see Jay and Jess were going to arrive at noon on the 23rd. And I had put everything on hold trying to get these quilts done. I hadn't finished decorating yet. I hadn't finished shopping yet. Then there was all the wrapping. I was so far behind! After the Hawaiian quilt was finished I finished up my Christmas shopping. When I arrived home I relinquished the decorating to my son Peter who was eager to put his own touch on things. It was hard for me as I always have to control things like that (yes I'm a control freak . . . I'll admit it!) He actually did a great job and was so proud of himself. He is 16 and autistic. It gave me joy to watch him.  :)  I will share some of my favorite items with you next week.

I stayed up late again and got all the gifts wrapped and ready to go. I wrapped up Jess' quilt, pins and all. She will get to see it and then I'll need her to leave it behind so I can finish it up. I hope she understands. A funny thing happened today. I was talking with her and she asked me to make her a quilt. She described what she wanted and it was as though she had already seen what I had made. It sounds like it's perfect and that she'll love it! I hope so!  :)

After I wrapped all the presents. I left them piled up so Peter could put them around the tree the next morning. When he saw the pile he was so excited and happily placed them around the tree.  :)

Now we're ready for the other two members of our family to arrive and start our Christmas 2011 celebration. Jay and Jess arrived at noon today. We visited and baked and watched Christmas movies. Tomorrow we go to my dad's house to celebrate with him and my sister and her family. Then Christmas morning we will open gifts, have a big breakfast and have to say good-bye to Jay and Jess once again. It's great having them here with us and I will miss them when they go back home.  :(

Hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Christmas together!  :)

Until next time . . .

Christmas Gifts Progression. . .

Hello!  :)

I've been a busy bee over here.  :)  On Sunday I went and got the thread I needed to finish the last pair of Jammie pants. I also put the elastic in all of them and stitched them closed. All 6 pairs are officially finished!  :)

I still have two more Christmas presents to finished in the next two weeks (actually less than that now!). I need to make two twin size quilts. Sunday after I finished the jammie pants I cut the fabric for my oldest son Jay's quilt. I can share it with you now because I haven't told my older kids I have a blog yet. I will do so at Christmas.

Anyway . . . I'm going to back up a little bit. I knew I wanted to make both of my older kids quilts for Christmas this year. They both live at their Grandfather's house (on their father's side). He doesn't have a working heater and I know they could use something to keep them warm. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do for my daughter Jessica's quilt but I had no idea on a theme or color scheme for Jay's quilt. Then all of the sudden it hit me. Hawaiian! He loves Hawaii and all things Hawaiian, beach themed, etc. I go to thrift stores all the time and began looking for cool Hawaiian shirts to use for his quilt. There were lots of beautiful shirts in all kinds of fabrics but I stuck with the 100% cotton ones. I forgot to take pictures of the shirts while they were still shirts (sorry). There's actually quite a bit of fabric in the shirts, especially the 5x one I found. I couldn't believe I found one so large. Anyway . . . In the picture below you can see the squares already cut from the shirts in a circle (ignore the center fabrics for now).

For the quilt I'm using Amy Smart's Lattice Quilt pattern that I got from her Bits and Bobs Etsy shop. I laid out the fabric squares in a pleasing arrangement.

Then I labeled them and stacked them up ready for sewing.

Before I continue I'll share the sashing, border and backing fabrics I chose to use.

The fabric on the bottom is a really cool sheet I found while thrift store shopping for the background. I love it! The blue fabric is a wonderful Hawaiian batik print I found to use for the second border and the cornerstones. It really ties all the fabrics together. I'm using Kona Cotton in bone for the sashing and first border. I think I'm going to use a black batik for the binding but I haven't gotten it yet.

On Monday the quilt top sewed up pretty quickly. Amy has great instructions. When I finished sewing it I laid it out on the floor to view it. I actually squealed in delight and jumped up and down. I was very happy with it! It was great satisfaction after a long day sewing.  :)  This is only the second quilt top I have ever made.

Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat.  :(  I have been pushing myself pretty hard to get these things finished up before Christmas. After I took my son to school I came home and went back to bed for a few hours. It helped. I woke up without a sore throat but now I have a cold. Oh well. Someday I'll learn to take care of myself better. :)

I did manage to get the borders on the quilt top today. I'm very happy with the results! The blue really brightens it up but not too much. I think I made the right decision in using the same blue for the cornerstones. It really carries the colors throughout the quilt to complete the look.

What do you think? Do you like it? Does it look masculine enough? Here's another view. . .

Tomorrow I will cut the fabric's for Jessica's quilt and get it started. As soon as I have both tops finished I'll sandwich them and hand quilt them. I've never hand quilted before but I think I can do it. I love embroidery. Isn't it similar? If anyone has any pointers, tips, tricks, suggestions please share them with me. I'm hoping to be able to start quilting them by this weekend. By the way, what color (or colors) would you use to quilt Jay's quilt? I just can't figure it out. I appreciate all the help and advice I can get! Thanks! :)

Until next time . . .