This poor blog! A much needed update!

What Have I been up to the past 2 months? I can't wait to show you.  I went to a quilting retreat in March and put together 3 quilt tops in a day and a half.  I attend this particular retreat every year, and I usually take easy, fun projects that don't involve a lot of thought.  You know how it is when you start talking...It's easy to mess up!  This is "Argyle with Style" by Bate and Taylor.  I bought this pattern at quilt market a few years ago.  My SIL and I were standing around looking at all the quilts.  I read the label..."Angry with Style...hmmm, cute".  After a long pause my SIL said, "It's called, ARGYLE with Style, not ANGRY with style".  We both started laughing.  I had to explain to the designer that I was very tired from staying up and talking half the night,  and that apparently it had affected my ability to read!  Then I bought the pattern so there would be no hard feelings.  :)

Next up is a tumbler quilt that  my SIL, Melanie, gave me for my birthday a few years ago.  She cut this out using a tumbler die from an Accu-cut machine.  Boy do I wish I had one of those handy machines sometimes!   I think the fabric line is called Rebel Roses by Henry Glass.  This will have a bias striped binding that will be added after quilting.  I intend to keep the hourglass shape on the sides.  I like the way it looks.

Finally from my retreat, I put together this fun quilt.  This is a quilt from the Book "I can't believe I'm quilting, beyond the basics", by Pat Sloan.  The fabric line is called City Girl.  I think it's probably long gone by now, but I loved this fabric so much that I made a dress and a bag out of it.  I have 3 more quilts that I worked on, and are very close to being done.  I will share those when the tops are finished.  I am going to keep a quilter very busy because I have 10 quilts ready to take to the quilters at the moment!  My poor pocketbook!

As Easter approached, I decided to make some doll clothes for the "girls".  It's hard sewing for 4 dolls!  This is one of the dresses I made.   The other 2 looked like this.  A very easy dress, and really cute!  I didn't have time to dress up the dolls to take a picture, but I will next time they are wearing them. 

A few months ago I bought a bag of buttons on Ebay and made this cute basket.  My generous friend Jolene, gave me a bunch of buttons, but when I realized how many it would take, I decided I better buy my own so as not to use up all her stash!  :)  I thought this would be a daunting project, but I sewed all the buttons on in about 4 hours.  It was really relaxing, and a fun project to do.  It's still waiting for me to make it into a pillow for my couch.  I don't think anyone will be tempted to sleep on it, do you?  The pattern is by Joined at the Hip.

I celebrated my 40th birthday last week.  My Mom surprised me with the wonderful quilt!  I just can't believe she made it for me.  As you may remember I just bought the pattern when we  were in California in February.  It was on the top of my "want to do" list.  Well, she beat me to it, and it's a good thing, because at the rate I'm accomplishing things, it would have been years before I got to it.  My mom is such a fabulous quilter.  And, not only did she make me this quilt which would have been enough indeed...

She also made this for me!  I must be the luckiest daughter in the world.  Two fabulous quilts, and new red Born sandals too.  Love my mom!  She is so good to me.  I guess it helps being the only girl out of 5 brothers!  I do get spoiled sometimes!  :)

My wonderful SIL, Melanie also didn't disappoint for my b-day!  She always give me wonderful things.  I do love her so.  This is the new fabric line from Lila Tueller, who is now designing for Riley Blake.  I can't wait to do something wonderful with this stack of goodness!

This is my progress on Dear Jane.  I haven't done a lot as you can see.  I was doing a SAL, with my mom and Melanie, but I am lagging behind in a serious way.  Melanie is finished with her blocks (130 I think), and my mom has over 90 blocks done.  I have a stack of patterns and fabric that loom in the closet!  I'm hoping that summer will make it a little easier to get things done!  I don't love that black and white block that sticks out like a sore thumb, but my mom assured me that there are many more black and white blocks for me to still sew, so I won't get out the tea dye just yet.

For our family vacation, and my birthday, we went to California again.  This time we went to  Disneyland. We did 3 day passes for Disneyland, which was a little too much for all of us, (just look at my poor son sitting in the chair.  I think his face says it all).  However,  DD had some wonderful experiences with the characters.  Here she is with her favorite girl Jessie.  They sat and colored together for over 20 minutes.  I don't know how we got so lucky, but It's something DD will never forget!   

We enjoyed the fabulous weather and the beach.   This is at Balboa pier in Newport California.   I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw 9 dolphins in the water not far from the shore!  I've never seen dolphins in the wild, and it was a thrill!  Apparently they live there and are always around at feeding time.  It was so neat! 

We also fed some Sea Lions that were hanging around.

I added to my stash.  Love me some Fig Tree Fabrics!

We ate my birthday dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant called Ciao on Balboa Island.  The island is lined with cute little houses with flowers and flags.  It got me excited  to work on this...

My long lost Shores project.  I've been stalled on it for a year of more.  I am working on the sails right now.  For some reason when I got to this block I lost my zeal for it, but hopefully I can get the excitement going again.  I have many other wonderful projects just waiting to show you. I even have things I haven't shared, but when you wait too long between posts, it's too hard to share it all!  I have something really special I'm doing that is hush hush right now, and it will be taking up most of my time this month.  I can show it to you after July!  Hope all is well with you my friends.  Until next time...Happy sewing! 

Is anyone still out there?

I have been procrastinating this post all month.  Somehow the blog blahs have set in, and I haven't felt like posting at all.  This month has just flown by.  I'm actually looking forward to school starting, just so things will slow down a bit!  (That's pretty sad!)  I hope you are all still with me, even after my long absence.

Last February I showed my daughter a blog post with the most darling cake!   She had it in her mind, that she wanted an Alice in Wonderland party just like that!  I almost didn't go through with it, as there was just so much to do, but in the end, somehow it all came together.  The cake was a family affair.  it took us a couple of days to make, but so much fun.

I made DD an Alice dress,and one for her AG doll too.  Doesn't Julie (the doll) look like the perfect Alice?

This is the quilt that my mom and I made for my DD's birthday.  I pieced and appliqued the quilt and my mom "HAND QUILTED" it, in about a weeks time.  Isn't her stitching perfect?  DD loved it!

Quilt Soup's "All Dolled Up"

Other events this month...my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.  We had 2 major holidays, the 4th of July and the 24th of July, which is Pioneer Day in Utah, and is a big deal!  (It's the day the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, after being persecuted and driven from their beautiful city of Nauvoo, Illinois.)

This is the Brigham City Tabernacle, in which the pioneers built in 1868, and has subsequently gone through a total renovation in 1986.  We were tour hosts for this beautiful building.  It  was a neat experience to be able to learn all about the history of the building and those who sacrificed to build it.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is building a temple right across the street, which will be an impressive sight to see.

We inherited two birds from the neighbor kids.  They raised these ugly ducklings from eggs, but thought that we would be able to release them into our trees when they got a little bigger.  The one on top is a pheasant, and it turns out, it's a girl, so her name is Fredrika the Pheasant (After Carriage House Samplings sampler) and the bottom is a "Chucker" and it's name is "Chuck" because we don't know if it's a girl or a boy.  These birds are getting a little easier, but at first I was really regretting the decision to adopt them.  They stink!

Also this month, I had 2 nephews get baptized.  Family parties and lots of food always accompany those wonderful events.  We had a family wedding that ended up getting canceled 4 days before the event.  We still had lots of family visiting, so we had more parties and food!  I tell you, I'll never work off the calories we've eaten!

Birds of a Feather Friendship Sampler.  Stitched on 36 count linen with Weeks, and GA threads

On the stitching front, I haven't made a lot of  progress on anything that's probably why I haven't felt like blogging.  I've been working on this wonderful little sampler that Terri gave me.  I hope to get it done for our retreat in September.  (Happy Dance!)  I wish I would have stitched this with 2 strands of floss.  I started with one, as I love the "soft look" normally, but after looking at Terri's I wish I would have gone with 2 strands of floss.  I'm not inclined to start again, so I'm just going to have to live with it!

Hope all is well with you dear friends.  Thank you so much for your friendship!  Your comments make my day, and give me happiness that you will never know.
Until next time..

Shop Hoppin' and more stash buying

Boy, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Here's an update of what I've been up to.

Little House Needleworks All Dolled Up series

Liberty and Justice

DMC colors

I finished a little patriotic sampler.  This was a fun stitch, and I did it in a few nights.  I haven't been stitching too much lately.  The sewing machine has been getting more attention, because of this...

My DD got a new sewing machine.  This is cute Hello Kitty machine, that actually sews great.  It has 9 stitches and a button hole.  The perfect machine for DD to learn to sew on.  It is a real Janome machine, not a toy, so I do have to watch her, but so far she has been really careful, and we haven't sewn our fingers yet...knock on wood!

She made a few pot holders.  My son wanted to learn too, so he made the one in the middle.  I think they did a good job, and it was good practice. She also made a couple dresses for her AG dolls.  They were both the same, and she needed a little help with the trim, but for the most part, she sewed the whole dress.  There was a slight mishap with the scissors when cutting out the skirt, somehow we ended up with a huge hole.  I told her that now we know what not to do with the scissors!

I've been working on Garden Fence by Fig Tree.  I really love this quilt.  I am having problems finding the right color of fabric to go in between the blocks.  I have a lot of orange going on here, and I'm not sure that I want that much orange.  Opinions anyone?

I finished my trench coat and bag.  (Sorry for the terrible picture.  No body was home to help me with this.) 
The weather has been so awful here, I actually got to wear this last weekend for our towns annual Heritage Festival.  It only got up to 55 degrees, and it rained all day.  I've had lots of compliments on it, and I'm glad it turned out.  Both patterns are from Serendipity Studios.  The jacket was really easy, and I got my decorator fabric for a dollar a yard...Kaching!

At the Heritage Festival I helped some friends with the trunk show.  They have a different designer come and do a trunk show every year.  Big names like Blackbird, Quaker Town Quilts, and this year...Barbara from Quilt Soup.  Her trunk show was fantastic!  I love her patterns, they are fun and happy.  Quilts that make you smile.  I bought this pattern, which is not like her work now at all.  This is one of her first patterns she designed.  The center on the star block gets cut out, and you can make a bonus quilt with the extra piece.  I love this idea!  After the show, I got to go to lunch with Barbara.  She is so fun to talk to.  I love getting to meet creative people!  Wish I would have had my camera!

Some of my stash haul from Shop Hop  Can you tell what fabric DD picked out, and what I picked out?

This week, I've been to our annual Shop Hop, in Utah.  It really is a fun event.  I suppose to meet up with Jolene on Wednesday.  Tuesday night the weather report was showing 70 mile an hour winds and DH was not very excited about my going.  He could see visions of trucks tipping over on the freeway (which did happen, but no one was hurt).  It turns out that Jolene could not get Thursday off, so she went without me!  I was plenty mad at the hubby let me tell you!  I decided to go on Thursday, and I took my little daughter.  It was fun to have a day with her, but not the same as if I had been with Jolene.   I didn't take my camera so go over to Jolene's blog to see some photos of the different stores.

 My best deal were these Joined at the Hip kits.  $5.00 for each kit, including the pattern!  I wish they would have had Fall and Winter too. 

Saturday, Jolene came to my town and we went to the last store, Village Dry Goods.  I found a few more things I needed.  I have had this quilt book for a while, and I wanted some Civil War prints to make some of these small quilts out of.  They have a great selection.  The berry fabric was on sale for $4.99 a yard, and I just thought it was great for something.  Don't know what yet...

Jolene was so cute, and bought me some patterns while she was shopping around.  Gosh, I don't know what to say!  She blows me away.  I can't wait to do some of these darling projects.  I made her a small pincushion to remember her shop hop event, and took her to lunch at the Idle Isle.  A restaurant that has been around for 90 years!  Not even a comparison to her generous gift, I know, but can you ever out do Jolene?

I started on this easy project last week.  One of my shop hop projects from years past.  I love this blackbird sampler fabric in the background.  I have lots of this fabric, in many different colors!  I am going to have projects that all look the same!  This is Joined at the Hip, Liberty Welcome.  It is one of the Hanging on a star series quilts.  You can make a quilt for every season to hang on your door.  I'm not sure if I'll get to anymore soon, but I'll try.

I started on one of my Barrick Samplers.  I have vision of a whole row of these black samplers hanging with black ribbon in my sewing room.  I'll have to take pictures when I get them done.

Last but not least, I made a new ironing board cover.  Don't you just love the samplers on it?  It fits my room perfectly!

Take care dear blog friends!  Thanks for all your wonderful comments.  I love them!  Until next time...Happy Sewing.

Christmas in July...or August

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've tried to keep up with your blogs, so sorry if I've missed a lot of posts. I feel like life is on fast forward. Somebody push the stop button!

Here are some things I've been doing this summer. I finally got this quilt ready for the quilters. It took longer than it should have. I love this quilt, but the greens and yellows are the wrong color for my living room. My walls are sage green, and tan. I wish I would have gone for a different colors. It isn't going to go where I had planned to put it, but it will look cute on my quilt ladder that I change out quilts for the seasons. Also looks great in my sewing room which is apple green, but there is no room for a quilt this big. (Bummer!)

My kids have started school. This is my 4th year homeschooling. This year we are attending the Utah Virtual Academy. It is a charter-Internet based school. The curriculum is wonderful, and the schedule is already planned for me, which is great.

I went to my 20th high school reunion last month, and reconnected with a classmate that sews doll clothes. That got me thinking about my little daughter and Christmas. I decided this might be the year to introduce her to the American Girl dolls. Her cousin gave her the "Addy" doll several years ago, but she hasn't really played with it that much, either because she was just too young, or didn't have any clothes for it. I'm planning a trip to L.A so she can pick out her very own doll. I think I'm more excited about it than she is!
I found this great website that has free downloads for all of the original AG doll clothes, and so... a sewing I have been doing! Mind you these clothes are suppose to be for Christmas, but I'm so excited about them, I've given her a few things now. I've got to make some and tuck them away for the real event! I'm really having a blast making these! I can't seem to stop. I downloaded all of the patterns (beware... it's over 350 sheets of paper and a cartridge of ink)!

First I made these cute clothes. Fun, free easy patterns from You Can Make this. com.

Then I moved on to pajamas. These are "Molly's pajamas from the American Girl patterns. I changed the colors, and added ruffles on the bottom.Since both the Pj's went okay, I decided to really challenge my sewing skills and make the "Felicity dress." I have to tell you that sewing this was like stitching a historical sampler. I love the detail!

This is the ruffle around the collar. I think I used every pin I had. It took about 3 1/4 yards of ribbon and 4 hours to pin together.

Next I did the "Addy Tartan Dress". I still have to sew on some bows and buttons, but it turned out pretty cute. My DD just wants her to wear the pink dress. This one didn't excite her near as much.

I finished my Amish quilt, twice. I gave the other identical quilt to my friend Kim to commemorate our trip to PA. Now it's off to the quilters too.

My dear friend Deb sent me these patterns a few months ago, from her stash. I can't wait to do some of the little Amish designs to go with my quilt. I really appreciate her friendship. I feel so blessed to meet such great friends through blogging. Thanks Deb!

Last week, I won Doris' giveaway. She was giving away some UFO's and I thought this Shepherd's Bush sampler would be perfect for my daughter to start stitching on. She is just learning, and loving it! Thank you Doris!

I got my Petite Rouge letters back from the framers. This was Blackbirds contest from a few months ago. This is personalized with my Grandma's name. I love looking at it.

To add to my scary thoughts that summer is almost over...we had a "friend" come to our BBQ last week.Can you believe the size of that sucker?! I could have just died. It was making a web on the door knob. We get tarantula's usually in October, but it is rare to see one this early. Someone said that we will have a hard winter. Something not to look forward to! I can feel Fall in the air, even though we have high temperatures still. I love fall, but I always feel sad when summer starts to fade. Time marches on faster than we want too I'm afraid.

Until next time dear friends. Enjoy your weekend!