First Finish!

I have my first finish of the year! :)

Problem is, it's not on my WIP list! Oops. But at least I have momentum!!!

Here it is.

My awesome SIL gave me 2 iPhone cases for Christmas, both cross-stitch! We found them on Pinterest . . . here is the link from it.

I decided to use the pink one to make my own design. I wanted to showcase my love of quilting, so I put a wonky star on it . . . then wrote out Wonky Star, mostly because I like to say "wonky"!

I wanted to white one to show my quirkier side . . . if you don't know what this is, you may want to skip to the end. If you do . . . it's DOCTOR WHO! I ADORE this show! :) I got the cross-stitch pattern from an amazing shop on Etsy, the CraftyCompanion! This woman is wonderful! :)

Well, it's a finish at least! Stay tuned for more!

:)

EL

Happy New Year!

I bet you never expected to hear from me again!

The past year or so has been (as you might expect) extremely busy. Not much crafting has been going on in this house, but I think that's about to change! (Knock on wood).

In the past month, the house has gotten mostly organized, thanks to Christmas guests, and Miss A has decided that napping in her crib is finally acceptable! Hurray!!! :) Things are falling into place for crafting.

Basically, for the new year, I made a list of all of the WIPs (Works In Progress) that I have at least started. There are 30 of them. YIKES!!!!!

My resolution for this crafty year is to have half of them done by Christmas 2012. Think I can do that?!?!

I've made myself the counter to the right to keep track. I won't bore you with the whole list, but I will keep you up to date on my progress.

Until I actually have progress to report, though, I will show you a Christmas present. My grandmother and great grandmother pieced this top while my grandmother was pregnant with my mom. My grandma quilted it and gave it to my mom as a high-school graduation present.

I love this! This Parasol Lady is my favorite!

I plan on making something similar for Ali, and my mom (probably tired of me asking for pictures so I can work on a design) decided to give this to me. I ADORE it!

Yea for quilty gifts! :)

Thanks for sticking with me. Hopefully I'll talk to you soon! :)

Bye!

EL

I have a problem . . .

I'm MESSY!

But the first step is to admit it, right?

Now, I don't mean messy like leave the bed unmade (which I do . . . A LOT!), but I mean messy like I don't like to throw things away in case I need them in the future. Seriously, I found pieces of batting less than an inch square. BATTING!!

Now this is a problem because S is a CLEAN FREAK! It stresses him out to live in clutter . . . and seeing him stressed out means I'm stressed out. So, before Alison was born, I decided to de-clutter. This still isn't done, but I'm close!

This week, I decided to work on the guest room/craft room. And, boy, do I have a situation.

The good news is this pile is gone.

The bad news is this pile is still in progress!

(PS: the cat, correctly named Ralph, gets stressed out by piles. So I've had additional cleaning today!)

My process is to pull EVERYTHING out into another room (in this case, the dining room) and then go through making piles and lists.

Here are my lists (on the door).

Here are my pile markers (for my book problem only, they had to be done separately!)

I have everything separated out, 5 bags of trash and 3 bags of charity/Half Price Books. Now I'm just working on finding room for everything. As this is a guest room first and foremost, there is limited space. So, I'm culling ruthlessly (yes, I have cried. No, I haven't gone back through the trash . . . yet!). So, until I knock a few projects out and get some more space, no more starting projects (A HUGE difficulty! I'm a starter, not a finisher!) and no more buying random fabric! Please keep me honest!!!!

I know this isn't a flattering picture of me, but if I can't be real here, where can I be real? So this is what I'm working on . . . should be done in a few days. I have a trip to the Container Store on schedule for this week. Hopefully it will get done without too many more tears!

See ya on the other side!

Finally! A Finish!

So, here is a finish for you!

I made this sweet quilt for Mr. Alex (a new baby of a VERY good friend of ours!) Man! It seem like a baby boom around here!

I got the pattern from Moda Bake Shop . . . courtesy of V and Co! I love both of these sites! So much inspiration! :)

Mr. Alex's parents decided he would be a surprise, so I needed a gender-neutral quilt for him . . . and this one was PERFECT!!! (pre-approved by Mama, of course!)

The front is exactly like the pattern; the fabric is Make Life by Sweetwater, but the back is a fabric from Ikea! Super fun animals!!!! Instead of doing a straight quilting, I "Machine Tie" quilted it, by quilting polka-dots all over it (the red dots you see in the above picture). I got the idea from my SIL, who did it on the quilt she made for A. It keeps the quilt soft and floppy, and is REALLY fast and easy!

I love this family & I'm so happy for them!

Now, a little sneak-peak of my next project. The Dallas Modern Quilt Guild is having an Earth Day Challenge, and our pieces are due May 12.

I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!!!

See Ya!

Worst Sister-In-Law EVER!

That's ME!!! :(

I feel awful! My last post was about the quilts that were given to A . . . and I forgot about the one given to her by her Aunt Beth!

It's AWESOME! The reason I forgot it (reason, not excuse. There are NO EXCUSES for this!) is that it is not kept with the others. All of her blankets/quilts are kept in her room, except this one because we work on our tummy time with it EVERY day! So it's hidden in the living room until we need it.

Sorry Aunt Beth . . . We LOVE our quilt!

See ya!

A's Quilts

So . . . I'm still working on showing you my own finishes, so I'll show you some of the lovely quilts that have been given to little A.

As many of you know, I learned to quilt from my grandmother, and I love to quilt because I love quilts (so, not the process, but the finished product!). To me, they mean home and comfort . . . and I hope A feels the same way. Since I do make quilts, I understand all the love and hard work that goes into making them, and I truly love and appreciate ALL the handmade gifts given to A. We received 3 handmade quilts, 4 crocheted/knitted blankets, and 2 sewn receiving blankets (along with a TON of fuzzy blankets from stores). Since this is primarily a quilt blog, I'll show you those, but we love and use ALL of them. Little A will NEVER be cold!!! :)

This one is the most special to me . . . it was made by my grandmother.

I'm tearing up right now writing this . . . but it means the world to me that A has her own quilt from NannyPud. It will always be loved and used!

This sweet one was made by the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild officers for her! It has Beatrix Potter prints, which we love! (We have all the baby books and have been telling A all about Peter Rabbit!)

This bright, happy one was made by a sweet lady at our church. I was shocked during the shower they threw me to open up this amazing quilt.

Again, it means SO MUCH to us that people love her enough to spend so much time and love before they met her. I hope as she grows up, she will remember and appreciate all the amazing people who love her, like we do.

See ya!

WOW!

It has been 3 months since I last posted! CRAZY!!!

It has been a very busy 3 months! S was promoted, so I am now able to stay at home with little A!

Speaking of . . . on February 9, at 3:31PM, Alison Grace Lamb was born!

She was 6 lbs, 5 oz and 19.25 inches! She is healthy, happy, and growing like a weed!

Last week, at her 2 month check up, she was 11 lbs, 14 oz and 22 inches. It's amazing how much she has changed in the past 2 months. She LOVES to be outside with Daddy, and she's talking up a storm (just like Mommy!!!)

We have been settling into a routine, and (knock on wood) we have one pretty much established. She's pretty structured with her sleeping/hissy fits, but she's a VERY happy baby and it is SO MUCH FUN to be home with her (she just won't let me take a picture of a smile!!!)!

Tonight is the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild Meeting (at Bernina of Dallas) and Alison is SUPER excited to meet all the lovely ladies (and sweet babies)!

I do have a few sewing finishes to show you, but I will wait a few days before I do. I don't want to overwhelm you with pictures!

See ya!