Big plans!

Hello blog friends!  It's been too long!  I have many things that have been keeping me from posting, most of them are not good. We have had our share of personal trials, medical issues and just plain old stress!   

We are ready for some changes this year, and have decided to make a major move to Southern Utah! Think Zion's and Bryce canyons and Tuacahn, Utahs Broadway in the Desert.   We are all getting really excited, and have made several trips to Saint George to look for houses. We found one we really like, so now it's time to get serious about selling our home. We love our home, and so this is not an easy choice, but this will be a good thing for our family. Plus we want to downsize our house and get rid of some of the yard work and cleaning so we can hike and run and enjoy the fabulous weather that Southern Utah is famous for. Yeah more time for sewing and stitching too!!  

Me and my kids at Bryce Canyon. This was the trip that got our noggins thinking about moving!  

Here are some things I've worked on since my last post. 

This is "Pomegrante Table Runner" by Ginger Sanchez. It has been in my stash for a super long time so I don't know if the pattern is still in print. I used silk matka for the background fabric and it drapes beautifully. When I took this to guild, the owner of our local quilt store said no one was buying that fabric so she had taken it home and put it in her garage!  Several people talked her into bringing it back to the store so they could use it for backgrounds. True story!

I was gifted this kit several years ago and finished this table topper up at a retreat this Fall. It only took one day to sew together. It's called "Abundantly Blessed" by Cotton way. I have made this twice but forgot to photograph the second one before I gave it away. Darn!

At Christmas time, I had a little sewing party for some friends, and we made this project. This is "Christmas Mouse" by Brenda Gervais. I sewed the bodies up before hand and then when everyone came, we stuffed them and gave them

personality. I had a tub of tea dye made up that we brushed the mice with and we baked them. It was a day complete with food, chocolate and laughter!  I couldn't find the rope twine for the tail so we used a chenille pipe cleaner and wrapped it with chenille trim to give it some fullness. It was a great day!  

I put this Halloween quilt together at the same retreat that I went too. It's one that has been in my stash for a while as well. It is called "Its Halloween" by Village Dry Goods. 

I apologize for the plastic on this frame but it is packed away and won't be out until after the move. This is "For Thine is the Trick or the Treat" by Prairie Moon. I stitched on this at a retreat in Yellowstone. The fabric and the thead conversion were from Shepherds bush and the fabric was especially dyed for their store. 

This is a bag I made for my mom for Christmas. She is in two quilt guilds and often needs to haul supplies around. This has an ironing mat, a cutting mat, and a place for a rotary cover.  You can string pearl cotton spools on the ribbon in the center and all of the other essentials are there too. You could even put a quilt inside to take to show and tell. It's called "My Favorite Sewing Bag" by Kansas Troubles. It was a total pain in the behind to make, but I will do anything for my mom!  

My mom does wondeful things for me too!  She made me this darling quilt for Christmas!  I love it so much and I actually had the pattern to make in my stash. It's called "Wonky Winter" by Pine Mountain Designs. I can cross that one off my list now!  

This is called "Blessed Harvest" by Brenda Gervais and I made this for a friend whose birthday was in November. 

Here is another version that has been sitting by my sewing table for 3 months. I should spend 15 mins and finish it up!  Maybe after this post I will do it!  Does anyone else have these projects sitting around? Why are they so hard to get to?

This is another project in the works. It is Called "Gather the Passing Seasons" by Kathy Schmitz. The little quilts will be finished and will hang in the center of the frame with Velcro. We started this in guild 2 years ago and I've been holding off because I wanted to hand appliqué the motifs. Well my hand appliqué skills have not caught up to my desire to have this done. So I've resorted to fuseable web. For something so small, I think it's fine to cheat!  

On my Q-snaps I have Blackbird's "Bird in Hand" pincushion. Oh I thought this would be a fast thing to stitch and wouldn't take much time. Who am I kidding?  I don't seem to have any cross stitching projects that don't take a lot of time. I ripped out a couple of rows on the bird last night because I used a different skein of floss there and it looked too light. I hope I can finish this up this week, as I am anxious to move on to other things. 

One last thing to share. I started this project the minute I got it in the mail. This is from Primitive quilts and projects Spring 2013 and it's called "Stars in the Garden."  This is my first hexie project and they are only 1/4" in size. So finished this quilt will be 13" x 15".  I kitted up a star at a time and kept this by my bed with a little box of thread and scissors. Every night when I would wait for everyone to gather for prayers, I would sew a hexie or two on a star. Well of course after 2 years I should have this done, but I don't, so I moved it to my sewing room and I am auditioning fabrics for the filler blocks. I want to get this finished up this year so it can hang in my new house. 

That's all for now my friends!  Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping  by.  Enjoy the day!  

Lots of sewing!

Hello all of my blog friends. I think an update is in order as I feel like I have been cranking out projects as of late.  First up, during Christmas  I was commisioned to make a quilt for my daughters ballet teacher, by her husband.  Commissioned is a loose word. I did all the piecing pro bono, because I have appreciated everything she has done for us.

 I had this quilt kit in my stash and added a few borders to make it Queen size. I hated to give it away because this quilt looked great in MY bedroom.  Isn't that the way it goes?

I made this little sewing set for my mom for Christmas. This is from Milady's Needle called Ann Blockley's Pin Cushion and Scissor Keep. I stitched it on 40 count linen with my own conversion of Gentle Art threads. 

When we were at the Attic needlework store in November, I noticed that my mom picked up the pattern several times to admire it. I decided to sneak it into my purchases and make it for her. The buttons on the scissor holder were a bit tricky so I opted for a pre made trim on the pincushion.  

The dolls got dressed up for Christmas!  Caroline is wearing a dress made out of blue silk that I finished this year.  

We took a Disney cruise a few weeks ago for one of our Christmas presents. My daughter and I ran the 5k on Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. 

I started running during the summer and I absolutely love it!  I'm not running any marathons or anything, but as far as exercise goes, it's one of my favorite things to do. I don't like running in the cold and snow. I cannot wait for warmer weather again!!!!

My poor daughter struggled with the run. She was less than enthusiastic after mile one. A picture with Captian Jack helped her smile again. 

We took an unexpected trip to Washington D.C. on our way home from our cruise. It was great seeing all of the sites. My kiddos are growing so fast!

Of course we had to visit the American Girl store in D.C. and my daughter used her Christmas money to buy the new girl of the year, Isabelle. They are both ballerinas. 

Do you remember the Shores sampler I finished a few months ago?  Well this is the house that my husbands great grandfather built in 1796 , near the nations capital. We had to drive by and take a snap. It is obviously under a huge renovation at the moment. I want to go back when they have restored it in all it's glory.

Over Christmas break, and a few times into January, I got together with my favorite Sister-in-law, and we sewed up a bunch of projects.  She is in a monthly sew group and she wanted a place to store a duplicate of all of her favorite sewing notions.  I wanted something for retreats and classes.  

We were first inspired by the Portable Creation Station pattern by Pine Mountain designs. We changed the front pocket to a hanging design so it could be removed. The pattern comes with an iron tote as well and I have one cut out but not constructed yet.

As we started sewing we found other patterns to add to our obsession. We needed an Abbey Bag by Abbey Lane Quilts, to hold thread snippets and pins.  The Sewing Caddy (not sure of the designer) we put inside a brochure holder from Staples to hold all of our pens, seam rippers and odds and ends. 

The clear plastic thread holder is a modified pattern by Kerry Stitch called Needle Nook. We didn't do the appliqué on the front, just used the same focus fabric from the tray. 

The bag to hold everything in is from Fig Tree and it's called The Bella Bag. 

It feels great to be organized and prepared for a sewing day out of my own sewing room. No more forgetting my seam ripper or needles!  I can just grab my bag and go. 

I got together with another friend this month and we made these wool Halloween friends. They are both patterns from Threads That Bind called Crow Catcher and Perfect Potion.  Talk about a fun sewing day. We were suppose to be working our wool quilts, Pennies From Heaven, but had a rebellious hair and decided to do something totally different. These wool friends were hilarious with their funny fingers and facial expressions. I can't wait to decorate with these guys. 

I made 6 of these Crazy Quilt Hearts for friends at Christmas time. I changed the fabrics from blacks to creams. The pattern is called Christmas Heart by A Piece of Work. 

On the stitching front, I've been working on Peter and Peep by With Thy Needle and Thread. I'm anxious to finish him up and move on to something new. He is taking a loooonnng time to stitch!  He is easy on the eyes, but I have messed up plenty on this guy!  Sometimes I think the lower count fabrics are harder to stitch on!  

Last of all I picked this up from the framers. It is my ABCD 1817 sampler from The Scarlett Letter. I love how tiny it is. It looks great tucked on a little shelf in my hallway. 

That's all for me today. I hope you are enjoying your sewing time!  Until next time dear friends!