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

Friday Finishes!

So, I'm still grouchy and a little sick. The problem is I spread the cold to the husband and Miss A. Then Miss A got creative and turned a little cold into a double ear infection! So this week has mostly consisted of cuddling on the couch and watching princess movies.

I have also been jealously following all my friends (and a bunch of people I wish were my friends) at QuiltCon on Instagram. The grouchiness has increased greatly.

But I channeled that crabbiness into a little productivity.

From the couch I finished up the AMH receiving blanket for The Niece.

I can't tell you how rich and beautiful these colors are! The pictures don't do it justice. I really want to keep this for myself!

Since it's supposed to be soft and sweet, I went old school on the labeling. No tags or iron-on labels, just embroidered initials.

I learned this from  my amazing grandmother. Here is one of the many quilts she made me and her embroidered initials.

Speaking of my phenomenal grandmother, she turns 90 on March 16th. (This is also National Quilting Day! An awesome coincidence!). We are having a big party and, even though she said no gifts, we are giving her a quilt. She has spent the past 40-some-odd years making quilts for everyone, so we decided to make her one! I am getting blocks from my cousins and aunts and uncles and putting them into a top with fabric pictures of her and blocks of Sweetwater Mama Said Sew fabric. It's dictionary definitions of sewing words. (I ♥ Sweetwater fabric!)

In the middle of the top will be this:

(I embroidered this dedication block instead of using a label.)

The heart is an iron on by Stitcher's Revolution (I got it at JoAnns).

I just printed out a pretty font for the words and traced them on.

That silver thread looks awesome, but it was a pain in my you-know-what! (I'm not saying here as my mamma might read it and get mad. She's whipped me before for saying certain words and she might whip me again!) I'm pretty excited about the quilt, though. I hope it looks as good put together as it does in my head!

See ya!
EL

Happy Colors

That's what I need right now. Partially because of the crazy Texas weather that can't make up its mind if it wants to be warm or cold; partially because of the "push-Mamma-to-the-limits-of-her-sanity" phase Miss A is going through; but mostly it's because I have a cold and I'm a pretty crabby patient!

With my Christmas money, I bought myself two things, a membership in Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars BOM club and a stack of this QuiltCon Kona Solids bundle from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I didn't mean for them to go together, but this week I decided I needed something happy, so I put them together!

This was our December Practice block! Paper piecing has always been a sore spot with me. I get pretty frustrated, and this was the first time I've done it without my friends Lisa from Vintage Modern Quilts and Michelle from Urban Spools with me! They are amazing teachers and definitely had a ton of patience threw my little hissy fits during my last paper piecing projects!

This is the "Funky Star" from January! I'm feeling more confident in the paper piecing now! I wouldn't say I love it, but I definitely love the end product! I'm pretty satisfied at the end of an hour when I've completed something that looks this sharp! That never happens!

Here is February's "Exploding Star"! It's my favorite so far! I find I get a little cocky in the middle of the blocks ("Hey, I can do this! No problem!") and then I mess up. I have had to do a LOT of "unsewing", but again, the end product looks so nice it's almost worth it!

I also had to whip up a fabric tray from Noodle Head's tutorial to keep my instructions in. It's extremely easy, and so cute! I used more of my seemingly endless stash of Essex Linen and a fat quarter of Tula Pink's Prince Charming.

Here it is holding my paper piecing supplies!

Here are two more random happy colors I've seen today. The yellow Jonquils in my garden, and my pretty mug full of tea!

All this makes for a much happier patient!

See ya!

EL

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