One of my favorite numbers 25!

Hello everyone.  I've been thinking about what to do for my 25th post.  Since my birthday is on the 25, 7/25/77 to be exact 7 and 25 are my favorite numbers.  I wanted to celebrate with all of you.  Of course my blog is still quite new and I'm trying to get in the habit of posting more.  I've been working hard to sew more often, which will help me improve my skills and also give me something to post about on a quilting blog.  Posting on the blog also helps motivate me to sew more so this has been a win, win.  I want to thank all of you that have stopped by to read about what I have and what all I have not been doing, making comments and helping me out along this fabulous journey.
 
I looked around at quite a few fabric sites, wow I have so many choices of great online shops.  Once I decided on the Fat Quarter Shop in Texas.  My brother did just move to Texas for a new job so Texas was on the brain and the Fat Quarter Shop has been great the few times I have ordered something from them.  Then it was on to pick a fabric gift for one of you to win.  That is overwhelming.  There are so many choices and really I wish I could choose them all, my budget certainly won't allow that.  So I narrow it down to just a few.  It's really not easy to pick just one my mind keeps racing around going between 6 of them.  My modern side really loves Melissa Averinos of yummygoods, she has developed another great line Dazzle.  My choice is you get to choose either Tango Dazzle or Samba Dazzle fat quarter bundle.  Just leave me a comment of which you choose and one lucky winner will have their choice shipped to their home.  It seems Fat Quarter Shop has international shipping so anyone is welcome to join in.  I'll draw one winner on Thursday August 11, 2011! 

Here's a quick look at the two choices.

 

Let me say Thank You again to everyone who has stopped by over the past few months.  And an update on 8/11/2011 a winner was picked ;)

Happy Quilting

CDC

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas.

Okay really that is just true in the sewing room ;)  It's summer hot outside and while the grass is an awful shade of brown, due to the lack of rain, it's a shade even winter doesn't normally bring.  Some of the flowers, especially the wonderfully hardy purple coneflowers are looking alright and with some watering the garden is coming along.

Last night I was perusing some wonderful blogs and one mentioned that on July 25 Christmas is just 5 months away.  That idea enters my brain without me really ever thinking just a few moments later I will be in the sewing room working on a wonderful wonkey Christmas quilt.  As I'm reading through some of the blogs of the very fun ladies in the Indianapolis modern quilt guild I see one has made or is making a fabulous orange wonkey nine patch and there is a link to the tutorial.  As much as I wanter to learn all the fabulous traditional techniques, I love the look of wonkey quilts.  This could be due to my first quilt which had a bit of wonkey, due to lack of experience, and I still find it quite charming. 

After making dinner, I start thinking I really want to make one of those wonkey nine patches and surely I have 27 fabrics in my stash I would want to put together.  I go up to the sewing room knowing I do not have any where close to 27 orange fabrics, but I am pretty sure I can do a great purple/blue combo.  Once in the sewing room I see the girls have pulled out the Christmas fabrics I got in an after Christmas sell, late 2009 or early 2010.  Why not do a Christmas quilt?  I mean Christmas is only 5 months away.  I find as it turns out 27 Christmas/winter fabrics I liked putting together.  Now at the time of sewing last night I thought I only had 18 and needed 9 more.  I pick out 9 to put together in the first set and get to work.

The blocks, at least these 1st 9, came together very quickly.  One thing I didn't do but should have is press the seams open, or maybe at lease alternate pressing sides.  When you turn the fabric 90 degrees, it was hard to cut through all the seams piled up on one side.  Also as I write this I have J going to Joann's for me to get a larger rotary cutter and hopefully that will help me get through all those seams. 

This morning, while taking a shower thinking that I need 9 more fabrics ;), a lesson from T. bounces around in my head.  I need purple and green in this quilt.  Of course this Christmas quilt has green but only a little bit of a bright green, that will pop.  I go in the sewing room and find a fabulous purple with "sparkly" green stars.  I throw in some fun hand dyes, purple and batiks and left for work feeling pretty excited to see how this scrappy wonkey quilt will turn out.

 

So I am really hoping tonight to get 9 more made, then 9 Tuesday and now those last 9 Wednesday to give me a total of 36.  Thursday I need to get the sewing room cleaned up so it can be a guest room on Friday!  Here's a look at the 1st 9.

Happy Quilting

CDC

Layer Cake BOM update

I'm pretty excited, I set a goal to get caught up on my BOM and I did!  It did really take me until the very last day of month but still I did it.  I did have a bit of help since Steph didn't post July's block yet.  I am using Sunkissed by Sweetwater, which is a very nice set of spring colors.  I got the layer cake in January 2011 so I'm not sure it is still available.  The colors are quite a bit different for me, a nice soft color palette with pink, green, orange, yellow, gray and a creamy white.  I think it will be a great quilt to put on display in the spring time, so I'm hoping by the end of the end I can have this one ready for Spring 2012.  Just in case you missed my links to the BOM here is a link to Steph's blog and definitely a HUGE thanks to Steph for all her hard work.  Layer Cake BOM

January's Block.  I really like this one and it was quite easy.

 February's block is super cute.  I wish I would have picked a stronger color for the cake stand base but the gray is what sold me on this layer cake.

 March's block is quite nice and it was my first ever flying geese.  I think the pinwheel look it fun and green is great for St Patrick's day.  I followed Steph's instructions an used a busy print for the background which really does a good job at hiding the seams even though not with the angle I used to take this picture.

 April's block is another fun one. Steph gives a couple of variations for the color placement.  As you can see I did a simple 3 color one.

 May's block is really easy to cut out and quite fun to put together.  I thought I should use some of the stronger colors from the set so the green, orange and of course the wonderful gray were clear winners.

 June's block is another fun pinwheel block.  This one had me pull out the seam ripper a few times.  It's not that the block is hard because really it's not but I sewed without really thinking about the block layout. 

 A look at all six laid out and wow the colors are very soft and really quite lovely.

Happy Quilting

CDC

4 posts away, make that 3 now!

I was really hoping to be at 25 posts today but like always I'm not there yet. Today, the 25th, is my birthday and I was really wanting to be at 25 posts by my birthday. With a summer cold being passed around the house and a fabulous weekend away to Ann Arbor, Michigan it didn't happen. Certainly check back though I hope soon to have some update pictures on girl 5's quilt and I also want to be caught up on my layer cake BOM by the end of the month.  I also plan a fun 25th post for most everyone.

Happy Quilting

CDC

SewSara Giveaway

I've been seeing many posts recently about GO baby and I must admit I would love to have one but right now I don't have the money to spend on one.  Here is a great chance to win one.  I figure why not try.

The 5 year old is hard at work

Last Saturday we went to the quilt store and picked out fabric, it was the first time the girl 1 was able to go a pick out more than one fabric.  On some trips to the quilt stores I would let her pick out one but this time we went just for her to pick out fabric.  I knew she would want pink so I gave her a chance to pick out her favorite pink and red fabrics.  That was really my only instructions, and I think she did an amazing job.  She picked a really pale pink from Mark Lipinski's good morning, sunshine all the way to a bold red with hearts on it (I'm not certain which line this one is from). For the background we settled on a solid white Kona fabric.  S. helped us pick out the background and while it's really tough to get a 5 year to be surrounded by so many fabrics and have her agree plain white is the way to go, but S did a great job.  This choice also helped save so money.
I cut fabric Sat. night and a bit more on Sunday.  After naps girl 1 was ready to get started and that is an understatement.  She got to work and actually did a great job.  This is her first big project and she did get a bit concerned she wasn't going to get it all done in one day.  I explained quilts certainly can take more than one day.  Monday she had summer camp and I was back at work.  We get home and she is dead tired but still wanted to quilt.  She got all the rows sewn together.  Since then she has been so tired once coming home she can barely hold her head up, summer camp must be quite fun :)  Soon we should start sewing together those long 52.5 inch strips.  It will be interested to see if she can say focused.  Hopefully soon we can have this quilt top ready to quilt.  I will get some pictures soon.

Happy Quilting

CDC

It's been hot, hot, hot

And not much sewing has been done.  We have been busy in the garden, going on hike and bike rides and really just enjoying summer.  Sewing has been waiting for a rainy day, which at this point are not coming around very often.  I did get some photos of the wedding cupcakes.

It was a rock and roll wedding and overall I think the cake table looked great.  Making about 160 or so cupcakes really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Here is a closer look at all the hard work.  

Last weekend I did decide it would be fun to have the girls do another sewing project.  Mug rugs have been fun and really nice seeing the ways the girls differ in color, fabric, placement and even just the way they sew.  I thought these coasters would be fun to make for quite awhile now.  A friend gave me one at Friday Night Finishers and ever since then I've thought I should make a few.  It had been awhile since I received the one given so I started looking online to see if I could find directions and sure enough I did.   These coasters are super cute and very easy.  The only real differences between the one I had and these are the one given to me is made with 5 inch squares and instead of using 4 fabrics to make the criss cross it only uses 3.  Using only 3 lets you also use the coaster as a wine charm of sorts. 

We made them both ways and really they are super cute and super easy.  

Here is one with the glass tucked inside.

A view of how you can pick up the coaster and move it around with you, quite useful I think.

Today we went for a morning hike, lunch and then naps.  Once up I really wanted to sew but I didn't want to wake anyone up which seems to happen while I'm in the sewing room.  Those girls hear one peep from that room and they come running.  When T woke up I asked her if she wanted to go to the store with me and I surprised her by taking her to one of my favorite quilt stores for her to pick out fabric for a quilt I think she can handle.  T is age 5 and getting quite good with the sewing machine.  I saw this quilt a few weeks ago and thought it was perfect for her.  Once at the store I decided instead of jelly rolls I would just let her pick out 6 fabrics she liked and I could cut 2 1/2 strips for her.  Once home I got to work and the pink/reds are cut and about 1/2 of the solid whites are done.  I'm hoping tonight to get the rest done and then hopefully tomorrow we can start sewing!

This is a look at the fun fabrics she picked.

Happy Quilting

CDC