Patriotic Week!

Hello blogging friends!  I wanted to show you a few patriotic finishes that I have worked on during the past year.  I love patriotic things. 

This project was done at girls camp last year. I was one on the leaders that had to go and supervise 25 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 for 5 days.  This definitley helped me stay sane!  

 This is by Little House Needleworks and I'm not sure of the pattern name. An oldie but a goodie!

I finally quilted this little wall hanging by Primitive Gatherings.  It was a class I took a year and a half ago by Lisa Bongean. It was a great project to learn how to perfect my embroidery stitches on.  

This is a wool project I worked on several years ago, but I've never shown it on my blog. The pattern was from an awesome book called Serendipity by The Ginger Cookie Company. The needle punched flag is my own design. 

I finally got this little sheep mounted onto my rolling pin. I saw this idea on a blog that has sadly, since been removed. I attached Velcro on the back so I could add other holiday designs. So far I haven't stitch anything else. Someday!  

I have had these two little designs in my stitching stash forever and I finished them up recently. They are both kits from Shepherds Bush. Both really fun to stitch and not too complicated. I messed up the cutting in the pincushion so one side is smaller than the other!  Ugg. I hate I when I do that. I managed to make it work but it bugs me a little bit. 

This is not a patriotic piece but I just got this quilt ready for the quilters last week.  It's called Winter Wonderland and it's by Crab Apple Hill. It has been languishing in the sewing closet for at least 5 years. I had half of the embroidery blocks stitched and the pieced blocks were done at a retreat several years ago. So I pulled it out at the beginning of June and made a goal to get it finished. I stitched on vacation for a week and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel when getting the last block stitched. The border was tricky and I had to do some stretching to make it work. Hopefully the quilter can make it lay flat.  I can't wait to get this one in the wall for Christmas. I love the results but it was not my favorite project to do. Sometimes that is the way it is. 

This is my current stitching project that I hope to finish up today. It's new from Blackbird Designs called "In Full Glory".

 A friend kitted it up for me and changed some of the colors. I love how it is turning out!

This is my current quilt project called Farm Fresh by Buggy Barn. I have had the appliqués prepped for a long while and decided it was time to sew them together. I'm really trying hard to finish up old projects. They can be such a pain, but half the work is already done so they go fast. I'm using the starch/freezer paper method and sewing them on with invisible thread. 

This little quilt is by Primitive Gatherings and was given to us in the class I took from Lisa. It was done using those little 2 1/2" squares from Moda that come in a little package. It was so simple and easy to do. I think you could do this for any season using appropriate colors. 

Last of all before I forget and this goes in the decorating closet until spring, I finished up this set this morning. This is "March Hare" by All Through the Night. It was a most delightful project to work on the past few months. 

I found this wonderful grey dot linen fabric at my local quit store and wanted to do something fun with it. The pattern calls for the pillow on black wool but I changed it. I love the ruffle. You will need about a yard of fabric if you want to make this. 

That's all for me today. I have work to do. I have been working on a commercial building design for a friend and have been spending a lot of time at home. I'm grateful that it is summer and I can finish projects!   Thank you for those wonderful friends that leave me comments. I really appreciate them. Enjoy your summer!!!

Catching Up!

So I have been really bad at posting lately. I am not sure if anyone is even reading this blog still, but If you are, thank you!!!  I don't know why my life seems to be so hectic right now, but with two teenagers going every which way, I don't seem to have the life I had before. Not that it was easier by any means. 

I also got a job...more on that later. 

So I have some finishes to share. This is a wool and cotton quilt called Pennies from Heaven. I started this about a year ago and my sister-in-law did the quilting on it. I love the way this turned out. It was not the easiest pattern to construct and after it was put together I noticed some flaws, but it's done. and I will be thrilled to have it on my wall. 

I have several quilts back from the quilters. This was an exchange that we did in quilt guild called "Girl Gang". I'm not sure of the designer. I added the red triangles and piano keyboard. It's a really soft quilt that will get a lot of use at our house. 

This is my first Kim Diehl quilt called Idaho Farm Girl. It was also an exchange.  I really love the colors in this quilt and I can't wait to make another Kim Diehl quilt. I found out yesterday that she is retiring from teaching after 2015, so I hope to be able to find a class to take from her. She is one of my all time favorite quilt designers. 

This is a bullseye quilt that we cut out with an Accucut machine. I used the craziest throw away fabric to make this. The funkiness adds to the appeal. 

This was also an exchange quilt. I added a row of flags and intended to use this as a picnic quilt. My SIL quilted this for me and did such an amazing job, there is no way I'm using this outside!  This is going to be on my wall or bed this season. 

I finished Peter and Peep by Brenda Gervais and got to enjoy him for the Easter season. Once I sat down and focused some attention on him, he went pretty quick. The crocheted lace was made by my mom for my birthday. Which makes it even more special. 

I went to a retreat in April and we all made these hat pincushions. It's a pattern from Need'l Love. 

For my birthday, a friend of mine gave me this darling bird pincushion. She gave me the wire basket the year before and I just put the two together. I have sweet friends!

I pulled out the old punch needle and made a gift for a friend a few months ago. I decide to punch the same design twice so I could have one too. This is by Brenda Gervais. 

I had been recovering my cushions for my patio furniture. Not my favorite kind of sewing but I love the results. 

I still need to make slip covers for the bolster pillows. They will be out of a grey geometric. That is on my agenda today!

So my daughter still has her ballet performance next week, we are just finishing some major construction on our deck and I'm cleaning the garage and I got a job. So I guess I have the right to feel busy!!! Right?  

 I am working as a design consultant for a company called I4C.  We are doing some marketing and advertising right now and I am suppose to start a blog to show trends and forthcoming designs. So please watch for it!!!

We just finished some work for Donny Osmond Home (we redesigned their inspiration catalog for their manufacturers) and we will be meeting them at market in July!  It is an awesome job, that I love!!  What do I do?  Well, consulting with clients on designs, colors, and trends. We do customized trend presentations and swot analysis on businesses. The business owner Mike Collins, is a long time veteran in the furniture design business and is a genius with drawing and furniture design. If you have bought an outdoor set at Costco or Target recently, he probalably designed it. It was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up.  

I hope I have time to sew and do the things I want to do!  One thing is for sure, that I will be doing more social media so you will be hearing from me soon!  Please follow me when I get things up and running. I will keep you informed on all the good decorating ideas coming out.

One hot trend right now is...cross stitch!! How awesome is that?  

Enjoy your sewing time friends!