Happy Easter!

Hope yours was as much fun as a confetti egg on the head! :)

See ya!

EL

Favorite Things

On Thursday, I went to the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild meeting. Part of our program was members sharing their favorite tools. (I have a new shopping list now!)

And while I was hilarious (if I do say so myself) bringing my ultimate favorite tool for any endeavor . . .

I thought I might actually show you a real tool!

I use Dritz Printed Treasures printer fabric all the time! Obviously, I used it a bunch of times in my grandmother's 90th Birthday quilt, for the pictures and the copy of the invite,

but I also use it for labels on baby quilts.

 It's super easy to use, just put it in your printer and hit print. I cut mine to size before I remove the backing, but it sews just like regular fabric (well, maybe a little thicker and stiffer, but nothing drastic).

I also found this hilarious "game" on the Victoria and Albert museum website.

Just upload any picture and they can make it a quilt pattern for you!

Tulips at the Dallas Arboretum.

You can specify how many colors and level of difficulty.

 

They'll actually give you a quilt pattern to download!

And here's the final pattern!

It's tons of fun! I haven't made a quilt out of it yet, but it's a blast to mess around with!

Anyway, those are my favorite tools!

See ya!
EL

Embroidery Love

Do you know Penguin and Fish Embroidery? Seriously, I LOVE THEM! Alyssa, the owner, is super talented!

She asked for volunteers to try out some of her embroidery kits. Of course, I jumped at the chance! She sent me 8 of her alphabet animals to try, and, I have to tell you, they are just like cotton candy: sweet, simple, and finished up REALLY quickly! Here they are!

I love the banana in this monkey's hand!

This jellyfish is my favorite! The colors & cute french knots just won me over!

Miss A's favorite animal, a giraffe.

After seeing this lion, Miss A ran around the house roaring for 2 hours!

Elephant holding a sweet flower.

This fox gave me fits! It's super cute, but my head wasn't in the game with this one!

Something about this zebra makes me grin every time I see it!

Chomp chomp! Aligator & birds!

I could get one of these done in an evening or during nap time, along with everything else I was doing, so they really are quick projects.  They are perfect for killing a little time, or keeping your mind off watching Thomas the Train for the 500th time! I really hope the samples are good enough for her to use. I'm always worried that my best isn't up to snuff!

I have a little idea swimming around in my head for these patterns. I have a total of 12, so just 14 more, and I'll have the whole alphabet! I'm so happy she let me do this!

See ya!

EL

PS: I'm on my way to the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild meeting tonight to show off my new dress! :)

Report!

Four out of Five ain't bad, right?

On Saturday, I dropped the kiddo off at Grandma's house and sat down with a few diet cokes and some candy and sewed like a mad woman! First, I finished these blocks for my friend Amanda at Panda Bear Quilts. She is making comfort quilts for her nieces who recently and unexpectedly lost their father. You can read more about it here.

The I tackled Don't Call Me Betsy's Ninja Star (from Lucky Star BOM)! I was a bit distracted by Netflix, so there are a few, um . . . extra seams to fill up the squares. I purposefully took a blurry picture so you can't see it. Hee hee! Looks awesome, right?

 Then I actually took a deep breath and made a dress for my baby! I used this tutorial, and whipped it up. It was a lot more simple than I thought it would be! It is a bit wonky, and the pleats aren't even, but you know what . . .

I MADE PLEATS YA'LL!!!!! I kinda rule now.  Miss A will be wearing this to hunt Easter Eggs on Sunday!

Finally, I made the binding for my Christmas quilt. I made enough for a full sized quilt, plus extra, since I haven't finished the actual quilt yet! I  think it's around 400 inches.  

On Sunday, I spent about an hour staring at the Christmas quilt. I originally thought I had quilted between a quarter and half of it, but it turns out I only quilted about a tenth. I got discouraged and took a nap.

Oh well! I'm really happy with what I finished, and it's not like I need a Christmas Quilt in the next 2 weeks, so I'm good!

The next few weeks will be machine-less, so I may have to scrounge for things to tell you, but I can say I WILL be cleaning the sewing room, and washing & ironing new fabrics, and picking out new projects I want to start! :)

See ya!

EL

{Wo} Man with a Plan!

First and foremost, sorry for the crummy pictures. My house is a cave today!

This weekend, I am a Wo-Man with a Plan! On Monday, my beloved Ernst is going to the spa. (Yes, I do name my sewing machines; yes, I do name them boy names; and yes, I did name this one after the smart kid on the Swiss Family Robison because Bernina is a Swiss company!) Since I will probably be 2 weeks or so without a machine, I need to get some things done in preparation of no machine!

Most importantly, I am going to use these pink and brown fabrics (from It's A Hoot by MoMo for Moda) to make 2 Wonky Cross blocks. My amazing friend Amanda from Panda Bear Quilts is making comfort quilts for her 2 nieces that lost their father suddenly and tragically. If you want to help out, or just read about it, you can here. It's a super easy pattern, so I'll just whip them up and send them to her on Monday!

I also need to catch up on my Lucky Star BOM by Don't Call Me Betsy! The March block is the Ninja Star, and just the name cracks me up! I need to get this done before the next block comes out on April 1.

There is a slight possibility I'll get this done. It's my monster Christmas Quilt from the DMQG round robin last year. If I can just finish the quilting and get the binding on, I can do the hand binding while Ernst is away. The problem is, I'm not nearly as far along as I remembered being. Hmmm. :/.  We'll have to see.

And if I get everything else done, and if I can work up my courage to try something new, and if all the stars align, and if I can procure enough wine, I might use this pretty fabric (Modern Blooms by Hoffman Fabrics) to whip something for Miss A to hunt Easter eggs in. Maybe.

And finally, I just wanted to show you something pretty! I got a gift card to my favorite online fabric shop, Pink Chalk Fabrics, for my birthday. I bought stuff for other projects, but I had to slip this bag of pretties into the cart just for me! I haven't even opened them yet! They just sit on my craft desk, making me happy. Maybe I'll bust them out while Ernst is away!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll let you know on Monday how it went!

See ya!

EL

90th Birthday Quilt

My grandmother is an amazing woman! Among other things, she actually had the patience to teach me to quilt! Some of my earliest and happiest memories are being at her house, underneath a quilt on the quilt stand, listening to her and her sisters talk and watching their needles. (Also, watching cartoons. She had cable and we didn't!)

She is the main reason I sew. Quilts mean love to me, and I want to be surrounded by things that remind me of my childhood and of her. So I sew! (Seriously, say it out-loud. So I sew. :)

This weekend, NannyPud turned 90. Obviously we threw her a major party! For my part, I decided she needed a quilt, as she is always making a quilt for one of us!

In October, I sent my family (basically her siblings and decedents) 5" squares of Kona Snow ironed onto freezer paper and asked them to write something and send it back.

Some were elaborate.

(My mother, who hasn't sewn in 20 years and swears she hates it, whipped these 2 up without a pattern. She just drew them out and filled them in! That's talent! :)

Some were simple.

All were filled with love.

I also printed out pictures I stole from her house onto Printed Treasures Printer Fabric. There were ones of her with her kids and grandkids and siblings. This is my favorite, one with my grandfather.

Finally, I laid it all out with random fabric squares.

There is a blue one from DS Quilts Picnic Line for JoAnn's (they don't have it in the stores anymore, so no link), a green one from DS Quilts (I know its Denyse Schmidt, and I'm 99% sure I got it at JoAnn's, but I can't find it online, and I don't know the line, sorry), and the red Mama Said Sew Sewing Guide fabric from Sweetwater.

I blogged about the middle rectangle here, a dedication block I embroidered.

The back is a grey sheet from Target and I appliquéd a fabric copy of the invitation to her party in the center.

 All in all, it turned out really well! Everyone loved it, especially NannyPud! I'm really glad I did this for her, she is amazing and deserves an amazing quilt!

See ya!
EL

PS: Here is my block. It's an iron-on from the same Stitcher's Revolution packet I got at JoAnn's as the dedication block.

Best Day Ever . . .

Happy Birthday NannyPud!

WIP Wednesday

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post . . . we lost one of the best men I've ever known last week, and I didn't feel much like sewing or talking. But this week I've been doing a lot of both . . . so I thought I'd share!

I have been working on a Tribute Quilt for my amazing grandmother who turns 90 on Saturday! NannyPud has been quilting since before I was born, and is extremely talented and prolific! For her 4 children, 8 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren (not to mention countless in-laws, friends, and random people), she has made TONS of quilts! But I don't think anyone has ever made her one! At least, not since she was a little girl!

(This is a block from the quilt.)

So last year, I decided she needed a quilt for her 90th birthday. I sent off 5" squares of Kona Snow to my aunts, uncles, and cousins and had each one send me back something.

(Here is Miss A's)

I added pictures on printer fabric and random color squares, and here is the quilt!

(I'll get a better picture at the party and show you later!)

I'm working on the binding tonight, and hopefully I'll have it all done tomorrow. We'll present it to her on Saturday at her big party! I'll write a post all about the quilt on Sunday and show you some of the amazing squares I got back!

Until then, I'll be binding and reminiscing!

I'll leave you with my view from my quilting spot today!

(Miss A playing with my mom and dad!)

See ya!
EL

Family

My family lost someone this weekend, so I don't really feel like chatting. I'll be back in a few days.

EL

Friday Finish . . . Technically

TECHNICALLY, this week we finished . . .

an ear infection! (And antibiotics and feeling crummy and having multiple baths a day and LOTS of laundry!) In this picture she is using her play stethoscope to make her puppy feel better.

Miss A doesn't always want to be cuddly, so when she's sick we don't do much other than cuddle. So no sewing was done this week, but I can tell she's feeling better since she's running around in circles singing the Cat In The Hat song!

I'll have something to show next week!

Until then, I promise I'm working! (No more sitting on the couch watching princess movies.  Oh well, all good things come to an end, right?)

See ya!
Ellen