Little Hearts

I have a confession to make . . . I'm secretly one of those girls who loves a glittery, sappy, goopy, pink-drenched Valentines' Day! I never indulged in this, however, because I was too embarrassed. I know, silly! But I have never been the most confident of people. For some reason, though, since Miss A was born, I am a bit more comfortable in my skin. Since I'm pretty sure the hubby didn't want pink hearts for V-day, I'm very happy I have a 2 year old girly-girl who loves pink hearts! (Her exact words were "Baby wuv pin hurt".)

Since Miss A's birthday was less than a week ago, we decided to include Birthday Thank-you's with our Valentines.

When I cut out the hearts, somebody decided they were hers, so I had to cut out more! Then Miss A added her own touch to the inside!

 Next I decided to make her a pillow from this Tutorial from V and Co! (I love her stuff! She has the prettiest heart quilt I really want to try! Maybe someday, huh?)  It's really well written, but my first pillow didn't turn out well.

I'm pretty sure it's because I used Essex Linen as the pillow. It didn't work as well as muslin. I think it was too stiff. Also, ruffles are hard!

The second try turned out much better!

 At least you can tell it's a heart! Like I said, the tutorial was really great. The only thing I changed though, was making the ruffle. She said to use a running stitch, but when I tried that, it didn't work very well. A straight stitch worked better for me, but I still didn't make the ruffle very well. It takes a certain touch I just don't have!

Next, I decided to take the pre-cut hearts somebody stole and stuff them for her. (I think they are her favorite part, she takes them everywhere!)

Add a Fancy Nancy book, and you have the perfect Valentine's Day present for a 2-year-old! (Sorry about the pictures. I finished them up pretty late Wednesday night, so the light wasn't so great! I really want one of the OttLites that Don't Call Me Betsy was talking about!)

The hearts for Miss A and on the cards are Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott for Moda (I got mine from my LQS Quilt Asylum a while ago). The first pillow is Hoot for Moda and I have no idea what the second pillow is. It's from my stash!

I have Saturday to myself (I love my MIL), so I plan on making forward progress on some of those WIPs from Wednesday!

See ya!
EL

WIP Wednesday

Honestly, I have a TON of Works-In-Progress (WIPs). I counted last year sometime and had about 30. That number has only increased! The problem is, I love starting quilts, but don't have enough attention span to work through them when I get stuck. My favorite part of the process is cutting the fabric! (And yes, I will cut your fabric if you piece mine! I get asked that ALL THE TIME! ;)

But I will show you the WIPs I'm focusing on this week!

First of all, I became an Aunt for the first time last week! My sweet niece was born on Wednesday, February 6. We didn't know she was a girl until she was born, but as soon as I found out, I ordered Anna Maria Horner's Receiving Blanket! My SIL  made Miss A one when she was born, and it was the BEST BLANKET EVER!

Anna Maria Horner puts together the absolute softest flannel and sweetest voile! I wanted to pick my own fabrics, but I'm not good at matching colors, so I ordered her kit. I'm so glad I did! The Raspberry kit has the most beautiful colors!

I received the fabric yesterday, and put it together last night.

All I have left is to finish the binding so I can give it to her next time I see her!

I'm also working on a real quilt for The Niece from Material Obsessions called The Zoo. Her nursery is done in wild animals, so this works for her!

As you can see, I have a bit more to go!

Finally, I decided to make myself quilt labels. I ordered some amazing ones from an Etsy Shop called MommieMadeIt last year, and LOVED THEM! The only problem was I had to buy a TON (like 60) and we all know how bad I am at finishing things. I think I only used 5 or 6, and they had the year stamped on them, so it didn't really work out. This year I'm making my own.

I simply made 4 columns in a word document, wrote my name and year, and inserted a clip art picture. I'm planning on cutting the columns out and hemming the sides. Then I'll just cut them out as needed and sew them into the binding.

I hope they work out!

See ya soon!

EL

Missing You

I've been missing ya'll. I think I might try and pick up blogging again. We have a semi-schedule going here and I've actually been finishing things. I find myself thinking about what I would say on the blog, and missing the feeling of sharing what I've done with everyone. This is just a a trial, so, until next time, I'll leave you with a picture of one of my many Works-In-Progress (WIPs)!

See ya!

Facing Reality

I've finally decided to pay attention to what's been beating me over the head lately; I rarely have time to craft anymore, much less blog. The baby takes up A LOT of time! (Who knew!?!?) I am working on things at such a slow pace that I don't finish anything in time to blog. I've decided to take a break from blogging to keep the pressure off of myself. I don't want to feel like I HAVE to finish something, it adds stress!

I may be back at sometime, if I ever get organized enough, and I will still be reading all of your blogs!

Miss you already!
EL

Finishes!

I know I said I'd get back to you sooner, but the only finishes I had were secret, so I couldn't show you.

I've been working on my Round Robins for the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild, and we can't reveal them until after our July meeting, so it will be the end of the month before I can show you any of that!

I finished my brother's 30th Birthday Quilt about 3 1/2 hours before his party . . . and it was a 3 hour drive to see him. Just call me Nick; Nick of Time!!! Here we are with it.

I got the pattern from Robert Kaufman called Ravel. I used Kona solids to make it more "manly", and really fell in love with using solid colors. Everything looks much more crisp and clean!

I also made some Mason Jar Pin Cushions I saw on Pinterest for me, my bestie, and my grandmother. They are so stinking cute!

Finally, Miss A and I have been taking swimming lessons the past 2 weeks, and we LOVED our teachers, Lori and Mason. So I made them Coffee Cup Cozies (pattern by Crafty Staci) and gave them a Starbucks gift card.

I have 2 goals for July. First, it is my Christmas in July month, and I plan on getting as many Christmas crafts done as possible. Mostly I want to finish our stockings, but I also plan on working on a tree skirt, coasters, and Christmas quilts.  Second, the end of July begins the OLYMPICS! I LOVE THEM!!!! It is my first year home to watch anything and everything, so I plan on having several quilts quilted and half bound so I can veg in front of the TV and finish binding them.

So there's my plan, but we all know what happens with the best laid plans of mice and men!

See ya!
EL

PS: USA, USA, USA!!!

Mental Progress

I've been making a LOT of that!

Hee hee!

Things have been topsy turvy here with plumbing problems, bathroom remodels, and a 15 month old, so not much has actually gotten done, but I have a good plan!

What you see before you is  my to-do list!

I have 4 quilts basted and ready to be quilted, 2 borders to work on for the DMQG Round Robin, 2 tops with blocks done that need to be pieced together, and a receiving blanket that needs binding put on.

I leave for vacation in 10 days, and I'm hoping to put a pretty good dent in that list. If I get the quilts quilted and half bound, I can take them with me to finish the hand-binding part of them sitting by the river drinking wine! :)

The DMQG borders have to be done by June 14, and I've already screwed the rotation up once, so I HAVE to get it right this time! Again, I have good plans . . . but no action!

I'm working hard, but someone doesn't like my theme music!

So cross your fingers for me!

I'll let you know before vacation how I'm doing! :)

See ya!
EL

SORRY! :(

Hiya!

I know, I know . . . I COMPLETELY bailed on my promise to blog more.  My only excuse is that we recently had a family situation that pretty much knocked me off balance. Once I got back on balance, I still didn't do much sewing, so I had nothing to blog.

But I plan on rectifying that RIGHT NOW!

*warning: this will be a photo heavy post! ;)

"Somebody" had their first birthday . . . AND their first cupcake!

We tried desperately to get a standard Texas photo: baby in the bluebonnets.  Did not work.

Miss A met cows for the first time! I think I have a farm girl in the making!

My amazing Grandmother turned 89. It was a good party!

I had an AMAZING birthday! (Found this beauty in an estate sale, and bought it for $100.)

 My amazing SIL and BIL brought me back birthday presents from Australia. They are 2 templates and a mini-quilt kit from Material Obsessions! Kathy Doughty actually picked out the templates for me herself! :) I'm too cool for school now! ;)

What little sewing I have been doing has been for the DMQG Round Robin. This is a quick "in progress" picture of my center block. We will be revealing our final quilt tops in July, so I'll have a post about all the borders I've been doing then.  Once this is complete, I will be able to FINALLY cross one thing off my 2012 to-do list . . . a Christmas Quilt for the guest bedroom! :) Hurray!

This weekend I was able to get 2 quilt tops done. The top one in this picture is one on the list, a big-girl quilt for Ali. The bottom one is a surprise, so I'll post more once it's been delivered.

See, there has been some minor progress, but it's forward motion. I'm pretty happy with it, but now I need to keep up momentum. I'm off to make some backs and baste these quilts!

See ya!

EL