Magnetic Needle House Necklace

Praise the Lord, O my soul

Psalm 103:1

from my list of one thousand gifts

parents :: grand surprises :: family :: walks :: friends :: sunshine :: Sunday's :: quality time :: projects :: goals ::

Blessings, 

Scrappy Heart Candle Mat

It always feels good to complete a project, especially when it has been around for a long time!

This little candle mat took a lot of twists and turns while I was working on it. At one point I bought all new fabric for the quilt top and then decided it needed new Yo Yo hearts to match and with each change or new idea the progress was delayed. Finally, about a month ago, it all began to come together. I had the top pieced, the hearts were almost finished and it was time to decide on the style of machine quilting. I had originally planned on free motion quilting because I liked the look and it was the perfect size to practice on, however, I discovered that my sewing machine was too old and did not have the tools or needed adjustment capabilities. That was very disappointing and forced me to consider alternative quilting options but there weren't many. The truth was, my heart was set on the look of stippling so I came up with a solution. My idea was to sew the top to look like free motion quilting or "faux free motion" as I like to call it. I wasn't sure if it would work or not but decided I was willing to rip out the stitching if it looked terrible. I started in the middle and worked out, twisting and turning, starting and stopping frequently to lift the presser foot, and low and behold it worked {sort of}. It is not perfect and not quite what I imagined however it is close enough for me and the best part is ~ it is finished!

Now onto the next project... 

Have a happy day!!

Pumpkin Play Quilt .... making progress

I have been working on this cute little quilt the last couple weeks. The faces are not actually finished yet so the quilt below is how it really looks. I will be using buttons to make the faces but I looked through all of mine and discovered I don't have nearly enough however before I had a chance to go out and buy buttons my mother offered to let me look through her collection...even better! I look forward to creating 5 little pumpkin button faces with her.

In the meantime, I am still looking for fabric for one border. I actually bought all of the fabric for this project in September at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon during our family getaway. I had taken my pattern along knowing that we would make a visit{s} to one of our favorite quilt stores. I found lots of great fabric there for my little quilt but had a hard time deciding on one border section and decided to think about it since most of my family was sitting outside on the bench waiting for me. Our intentions were to go into Sisters one more time but unfortunately we didn't make it back and now I am still looking for the border fabric. Maybe I will get out today and search for fabric and hopefully have this finished soon.

Have a Super Saturday!!

a couple more projects from February { a hundred hearts...quilt & printable }

 It is hard to believe it is the middle of March already! The last couple weeks I have been focused on party planning { more on that later } and spring projects but I am also still working on this fun Heart Quilt that I started in February. It takes 89 heart squares for the top so I have been sewing squares whenever I have a little free time. Since I love the quote I used on my Heart Pillow I decided to add an extra 11 heart squares to the back of the quilt so that I end up with 

a hundred HEARTS 

for my little quilt. 

♥ ♥ ♥

I also had fun with my paper hearts last month and thought I would post this printable I made from one of the pictures I took. These simple hearts are made with scraps of decorative glitter paper that I cut into strips, folded in the middle and then glued together on the ends. I used my hearts as vase filler, a banner, and a wreath and also made this printable with one of my photos which I reduced to a 5x7 and framed.

For Heart Quilt instructions go here.

Have a Wonderful Saturday!

another 2" cakestand

I finished another 2" cakestand quilt block over the weekend. 

Only 29 to go!

Happy Monday!!

2" cakestand {summer sewing challenge!}

There are some mornings that I'm up even earlier than usual and this was one of those mornings. It was 4am and was I was trying to figure out something quiet to work on when I remembered my mother telling me earlier in the week about A "Little" Summer Sewing challenge she started in July. The challenge was to piece one, 2" cakestand each

Memorial Day

Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we remember

those who serve our country and their families.

{This little Patriotic quilt was made by my mother who gave it to me a couple weeks ago as a Grand Surprise.

Thanks MOM!}

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday!

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show {saturday}

Last Saturday I spent the day with my mom and sister at the annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. We had a lot of fun looking at quilts, taking pictures, talking to friends and enjoying our favorite little town.

We also did some shopping at my 

FAVORITE quilt shop 

the Stitchin' Post!!

And how cute is this??!! 

This was one of my favorite quilts this year! 

Lots of people as always.

As you can see from the pictures

it was a beautiful, sunny day in central Oregon

however 

the weather changed very quickly late in the afternoon 

when a thunder storm moved in. 

We had already left town when it started getting cloudy and learned later from a friend that it had started to rain and for the first time in 35 years all the quilts had to be taken down early.

 

RW&B scrap quilt

I started this RW&B {red, white & blue} scrap quilt yesterday using fabric I already had in my stash. It was a bit challenging since I really like to use fabric patterns that are a little more coordinated, however, the goal of this project was to use up some of the fabric I have accumulated over the years which will make this a true  
scrap quilt.


✂ ✂ ✂

I am using the Fourth of July FREE Scrap Quilt pattern recommended by my mom and found here. I haven't decided yet if I will make it a 60"x72" lap quilt, as the pattern shows, or change it into a 60" square to use as a tabletopper. Once I have all the squares finished I will figure that out
but for now
it's back to piecing.


✂ ✂ ✂

Grad Gifts

Personalized GRAD Pillowcases

I made this Grad Pillowcase for our niece who graduated from high school last week. I chose fabric that coordinated with the beautiful flannel quilt her grandma {my mom} made for her. This is the seventh flannel graduation quilt mom has made so far. She has made one for each grandchild and is now in the planning stages for the last one. 

left: I used fabric scraps from the quilt {top} to choose the pillowcase fabric {bottom}. 

right: the Grad Quilt in progress ~blocks arranged on the quilt wall in Mom's sewing studio

top: finished Grad Quilt

bottom: Grad Quilt & Grad Pillowcase shown together

These are some of the other Grad Pillowcases I have made.

Other pillowcase details include photos and messages on the back of the cuff and on my nieces I added a photo label which I put on the inside of the cuff. The quilts are also all personalized with their names, important dates, sometimes events/activities and always a special label.

Made with{sew much}LOVE!

♥

quilt shop field trip

Yesterday I made a little extra time in my schedule 

for a quick field trip over

to...

This was the first time I had been there and it was amazing. It is definitely going on my list of favorite Quilt Shops! Unfortunately I don't have any photos because when I asked they said no. I was disappointed, however, I found some pictures here and here which will give you an idea of what a fun place this is. They also have a couple other stores next door but those did not open until noon. I didn't have enough time to wait so I'll have to visit those another day. 

Of course I did not come home empty handed. I found just what I was looking for, plus some, which made my visit even better!

For Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe go here.

Happy June!

Sew Halloween

sew simple

placemat

fabric beverage coasters 

small wall quilt

Decorating made easy with these quick sewing projects.

changing gears

Our schedule is beginning to show signs of the gradual switch back to the school routine which always happens around the middle of August with the official start of school sports practice,

 quickly followed by

school registration, school supply shopping, haircuts, doctor and dentist appointments...

...which can only mean one thing....

...it's

Back to School 

time!

It's hard to believe Summer is almost over 

and 

fall is just around the corner.