Baby Steps

I finished up a quilt this week which made me very happy, but I'm a little slow getting anything else done around here of late.

full post here

I did manage to get August's Blogger BOM done, but it took me WAY longer than it should have.  Have you ever had those times where no matter how hard you're concentrating you keep making mistakes?  I had to pick out just about everything at each step of the way.  It's not even that difficult of a block.  When I finally got down to the final row to sew I thought, "Phew.  So glad I'm finally done."  Then I realized I sewed the row up side down - really?!  Sigh. 

It's done, but I don't have anything else to show for my week.  I have all of my fabric ready to start the Grooves Quilt Along, but it still remains untouched.

Other projects
Quiet Book - It still hasn't been long enough since I cut out all of those felt socks to want to put this together yet.
Cupcake & Roar Quilt Tops - need to be layered and quilted
Christmas blocks - no progress
Halloween Wall Hanging- no progress

Do.Good Stitches - Up to date, but the September block has already been posted

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 0
Completed projects - 1
WIP- 7  

Basket Weave Finish

I'm so happy to finish this quilt so quickly.  It's for my friend's niece and she's scheduled to make her arrival into this world in the next week or two. 

 Everything on this quilt is fuzzy flannel with the exception of the Kona pink, so it is perfect for a little baby.  I wanted to keep it cuddly, so I used Loopy Lines for the quilting.  Loopy Lines are really easy to play with in terms of the density of the quilting, so it's my go-to when wanting a bit more space with the top stitching.  Here's the back:

The finished size is 48"x 48," so it's a really good sized quilt for the baby to grow into and enjoy over time.  I got nervous about the quilt since it was the first time I was making a quilt by request, but I was silly to worry, because she's a good friend.  Even if she wasn't super excited about it I knew she would never be rude, so I don't know why I got all nervous.  I was worried for no reason at all, because she was thrilled with it.  At the end of the day, that's all that really matters.

Should of Burned That Photo While You Had the Chance

My dad has been systematically scanning all of our family photos.  A lot of them have mold damage from accidentally getting put in a damp basement, but gratefully they're at least salvageable.

  This is me at my Grammy & Grandpa Stuetz's home in Los Angeles, CA.  My dad was saying this is a hoochie mama outfit, but I reminded him that I wasn't the one purchasing the clothing back then.

My dad sent out an email to everyone in my family with this photo of my brother Adam.  The email was entitled: We Should Have Seen Trouble Comin' with the email stating, "The face only a mother could love."  Indeed.

The funny part is that I know the location of this photo because of the nasty, velvety, yellow wallpaper in the background.  It's from the house we rented on Emaus St. in Middletown, PA.  

Good times.  

Do you have any old photos you wish had been confiscated?!

Painting with the Prophet

We had a lot of fun at our last Activity Day.  The girls painted with acrylics.  Lisa has been seriously holding out on some amazing talent. Look at this example she showed the girls:

She gave some really cool painting technique pointers to the girls.  She showed them how to add texture, mix paints, and use different brush strokes.  She had them try a landscape or base their painting off of a picture in calendars.

While they painted we listened to President Monson's last General Conference address (from April), and talked about it.  We listened to the part about tools we can use to anchor our faith.

 I was really impressed with how well the girls did with their painting.

Friday Night Sew In

It's been a while since I participated in Friday Night Sew In.  I got some last minute sewing in, but most of my evening was spent planning and organizing future projects and pulling fabric.  I was happy though to get my August blocks for do.Good Stitches done.  We had to make pennant flag blocks using primary colors with white using this tutorial.  I think this may be my first rectangular block and I think this quilt is going to be darling when all of the blocks come together.


Linking up to BOMs Away. :)

Phew!

Can I get a Hallelujah, Amen?!  I finished all of the quiet book pages and they're done on time!!  I was really sweating it.  Every time I thought I was almost done I'd realized there was another time consuming step to complete.  The exchange takes place tonight, so I'm relieved that I got everything done last night.  I based these sheets off of the design at Imagine our Life.  It's a matching magnetic socks page with a dryer for sock storage.


The socks took the most time - cutting them all out, changing the thread color for the applique, and adding magnets.

Here's the dryer:

This is the first time I've sewn with felt and clear vinyl, so that was interesting.  I broke a needle at the thickest part, but luckily I had a sturdier needle on hand, so that was the only casuality of the project (besides my sanity).

I made 9 pages of both for the quiet book exchange.  The pages are 9" x 11" (for a 1/2" allowance for the binding. 



The only hand sewn part of the project was the snap of the dryer. 

I'm so glad these are done - I know it will be worth it once I get all of the other pages, but this will definitely be a one time adventure.  :)

I'm linking up to TGIFF.  Check out the other finished projects.

Busy, busy

I'm working like a crazy lady trying to get my quiet pages done in time, but in the mean time here is a little music humor for your viewing pleasure.

Where was this when I was teaching 2 years ago?! I would have loved to post this on my classroom wall. :)

A Finish for a Very Special Person

I can hardly believe it!  36 blocks, 3 quilts and a year later I am completely done with the Skill Builder Sampler.  I have loved every minute of it and can't thank Leila enough for hosting this fabulous quilt along.  I have learned a ton.  I finished the third and final quilt of the series yesterday.  This quilt has some of my favorite blocks on it, and definitely some of the hardest.

This quilt is for someone near and dear to my heart.  It's for my Grandma Leona.  Growing up we lived across the country and only saw her about once a year, but we were really close, because we wrote letters back and forth my whole childhood.  My Grandma is an amazing woman and one of the most giving people I've ever known, particularly to her family and loved ones.   My Grandfather died in his early 50s (I was 4 at the time), so she was widowed at a very young age.  She worked, but was always in debt, because she gave everything away and was always putting other people in front of her own needs.  She would have given you the shirt off her back if she thought you needed it.

(You can see from the back I have 3 "branches": Bare Branches, Tree Roots, & Cucumber Vines from the Free Motion Quilt Along):

5 years ago my Grandma had a stroke and didn't receive medical attention for several days, and as a result she never fully recovered.  She's been declining ever since.  She recently made the move from Sandy, UT to my Aunt and Uncle's home in California to get the assistance that she needs. She has moderate dementia, and the depression and anxiety that comes with it.  It's hard to see my grandmother without the spunk and vitality I grew up knowing.  One really hard thing for her is that she literally spent her entire life serving others, so now that she's not physically able to do that she does not have a single hobby and is extremely bored.  This obviously does not help the depression.  I'm sending this quilt out to her in hopes that it brightens her day, and as a small token to her for being such an amazing grandmother.  She's still on the other side of the country, so I can't give it to her in person, but I am sending it with all my love.

This picture is of my grandmother in front of her home in Fresno, California in August of 1987.  It was the day my family moved from California to Pennsylvania (that's our moving van in the background).  We had lived with my Grandma that summer while my dad started Grad School in PA.  





(This post is part of my 2012 Finish Along, One Thing: One Week Challenge, and TGIFF).

(My original goals for 3rd quarter are here)

Cucumbers Everywhere

I have to say that I LOVED Cucumber Vines- this design is beautiful!  It's by far the most time consuming and difficult so far, but I think it's worth it because of the way it looks when you're done. 

 You can see from the close up of the back that I struggled to always keep the travel stitching lined up.  Black thread on black fabric didn't help me out much, but it's not half bad for my first attempt.  This is a design I don't mind practicing over and over either. 

It's very apropos that we did Cucumber Vines this week for the Free Motion Quilt Along, because my cucumber vines are currently taking over my garden.  I took a bunch of cucumbers and made pickles. (It was my first time canning pickles and it was surprisingly easy).  Even after a double batch I still have a bunch of cucumbers, so if anyone wants some feel free to stop by.

I don't like pickles, but my husband loves them, so making all of these should definitely get me points in the "you're such an amazing wife" category. :)

A Laundry Nightmare

Matching socks is probably my least favorite thing about doing laundry.  I'm pretty sure there's a sock monster that exists solely to eat one of each pair of socks.  I've been living socks lately -- felt socks to be exact.  It's taken me a couple of days, but I now have 167 socks for quiet book pages.  I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I decided on this specific page to do for the swap.  I always pick complicated things.  Oh well.  Next step is to applique the socks.  I really hope all of the pairs show up this time around.

Dinner Etiquette 101

A couple of months ago we set out to teach some basic dinner etiquette to the Activity Days girls.  They prepared for a dinner and then brought their Dad as their date.  I missed the actual dinner, because I was on vacation, but the process of getting things ready was a lot of fun.  We taught them the proper table setting (minus the wine glasses obviously):

Source

 They folded napkins origami style into dress shirts with a tie, and made invitations for their date.  They also helped create the center pieces for the tables.  Lisa had a really cute idea for the center pieces.  It's the perfect way to use all of those old cards hanging around your house.  You cut out the shape you want from the card and then glue or tape a straw in the middle of it.  The straw functions as the stem, and you arrange them as you would a bouquet of flowers.  I wish I had a picture of the finished product, because it's really cute.

It was hilarious teaching them some of the basic manners when eating at a dinner table.  It appears that dinner etiquette is a dying art form these days.  Meanwhile, you can always brush up on the do's and don'ts with the Etiquette Scholar if you feel rusty on the subject.