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Friday Check-In

Feb5

We are on the brink of another glorious, beautiful weekend!  My husband is enjoying another birthday today, so we have a weekend long celebration of family and food and relaxation.

My daughter and I are invited to a tea party birthday for our neighbor tomorrow.  Her birthday was this week as well.  I decided to convert my plans for my Valentine table topper into a gift for Emily.  Here is the quilt top I pieced based on a free pattern put out by Allison through Cluck Cluck Sew:

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I was going to use it just for seasonal decoration, but I thought it would make a perfect pillow sham for a 9 year old who loves pink and purple.

Now, for some personalization…

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Ignore the wrinkles and such…

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It has been a while since I did some embroidery work.  But I love how it turned out!

I just need to back it with some white fabric and do some quilting, then make the envelope-style backing pieces with a purple polka dot fabric I picked up last night and stitch it all together!

After that – I think I am going to knock out the last blocks for the Snapshots Quiltalong.  Getting so very close on that finish.

Last weekend I was able to finish up the car block and started with all my prepped and labeled pieces (I really want the BLUE set of Alphabitties now, but I have two packages of the pink ones already!):

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Then the final result:

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And lastly – my Mom is planning the wedding for my brother and sweet fiancé in May, so she brought over some sample dresses for her granddaughter to try on.  This was early on a Saturday morning during cartoon hour, so it isn’t intended to be a glamour photo.  I think she will be getting a hair cut this weekend also, now that I see this picture again… 🙂  I can also spot in the background that it is time to rotate my Lori Holt Bee in my Bonnet calendar now too!

 

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Have a super weekend everyone!

Jennifer

Another Weekend – Another Snapshots Block

Jan29

I’m ready – are you?  Friday is here and I’ve got no big plans for the next two days.

Last night I pulled out my Snapshots box and sorted through fabric to decide on the next block.

I decided that I was going to do the original #10 block in the series, called GONE SURFIN’.  You can do this block too, by following this link to the Fat Quarter Shop blog site for the Snapshots Quiltalong.  As with all of their blocks, they have the PDF pattern and a video tutorial.  Picture below grabbed from that web page.Snapshots10Pic

 

I have been doing my own color scheme, using a variety of bright fabrics, from the beginning.  Now that I have the majority of blocks done, I’m working on these last two to repeat some fabrics and create balance in the overall quilt top.

Here’s my pull for fabrics last night.

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I’m hoping it goes quickly, because this will only leave Block #12, WALK IN THE PARK, and the bonus CAMERA block for the back to do.  Then on to framing out each block and adding the sashing and pieced backing.  Still a long way to go before it is ready to quilt, but I can’t stop now.  Too close to the end, right?

On another note, I was able to leave a wee bit early from work yesterday and we had a particularly nice evening ahead of us here in Houston.  The traffic was still terrible, so during the stop-and-go periods I took a couple of pictures of the pretty skyline.

This is my city.

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I wish you a wonderful weekend ahead!  See you on the other side!

Jennifer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Sewing continued…

Jul21

Loving this quilt as it comes together.  I wanted to share a quick update on my progress as of last night.

DM Quilt R3

A little blurry.  I find that I am only really working on my quilt projects when it is dark outside.  Never really good pictures.

It’s already too big for my design wall.  There should be a total of 8 red blocks going around.  Next round will be the light green from Little Joys.  The pink on cream Swiss dot background is working out perfectly.

Have a great week!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Jennifer

 

Who is this? Combining play at work

Jun30

Hello patient follower!  I think this is the longest gap I have had since I started blogging back in the summer of 2012.

All kinds of boring stuff is going on here, because I have to go to work to make a living and afford my fabric indulgences.  Lots of work.  Too much work.  Which is a good thing for the success of our company, but also puts a lot of pressure on everyone to keep up.

This weekend, I gave my kids a treat and brought them to the office with me while I did some exciting Accounting stuff for a few hours.  They love to come to the office, so they can write on the big whiteboard in the conference room:

Kids at Work

They also like to act like they are in school (or at least Nora does – she loves to boss around her brother!)

While I was at the office, I brought in my latest quilt top that I was making for Oliver.  Something big enough to really cover his queen size bed and tuck in at the ends and corners.

I needed a large open space to lay it out so I could accurately measure the sides for cutting my borders.  I think right now it was around 76 x 84.

It kind of looks like a nuclear warning flag.

Minecraft Mayhem 3

I bought many layer cakes of the Military Max collection and an olive green dot print from Riley Blake (along with a solid black).  I started this with a split nine patch unit and then added some stitch and flip corners to create some interest in the middle.  It’s not my favorite quilt, but Oliver likes it a lot.  He is really into Nerf guns and Minecraft and playing military with friends, etc…

Minecraft Mayhew 1 Minecraft Mayhem 2

I’ll post it again after I get the borders done.  It will look a bit less chaotic.  And huge.  I think it could fit a king size bed.  Finished size will be around 88 x 96.

Once this is done – I’m super excited to cut into something new.  I really loved the collection “Little Joys” when I first spotted a preview of it on this post from Pretty by Hand.  I’m waiting to see what Kristyne is going to do with her fabric.

Little Joys Project 2Little Joys Project 3

For me, I’m going to put it together in the “Classic and Vintage” Delectable Mountain pattern that was showcased recently by Fat Quarter Shop (they even have a YouTube tutorial).  They used the BasicGrey collection Evergreen, but I think this will do great too!  I took a chance and ordered some of the Le Creme Swiss Dots – Baby Pink on Cream Dots to coordinate with it for the background.  And a Jolly Bar of the new Jingle collection by Kate Spain to bring in some blues and make it a tiny bit scrappier.  Planning on the lap size.

Little Joys Project 1

I’m also intrigued by this pattern because it gave instructions to optionally use Triangles on a Roll paper for HSTs.  I have never used this before, and I’m eager to give it a shot:

Little Joys Triangles

So, if all goes well – likely to start on this project next week!

Do you have a Christmas in July project planned?

Finally, I have joined Instagram and started s.l.o.w.l.y posting some pics online there.  I’m not sure exactly about the proper etiquette about jumping on hashtags without being invited.  Is that ok?  I just don’t know.  I tried it out by tagging some pictures with #littlejoysfabric

I appreciate your input on that for those of you who are now experts in Instagram.  I’m going to see about setting up the IG account under this website name instead of my own.  Try to keep some sense of privacy, but who am I kidding.  It’s all out there in the cloud, right?

All the best,

Jennifer

 

Change up in Design

Mar13

After playing with my growing stack of blocks and browsing Pinterest and other blogsites, I have settled on the Arkansas Crossroads pattern instead for my school gift quilt.

I have a perfect layout in mind that will give me just the right number of signature blocks for every child and faculty/staff member.  Total number is 156, if I remember correctly.

Arkansas Crossroads Start

The kids are on Spring Break next week, so I’ll work to have all the blocks ready to take up to the school when they get back.  I’ll also work on putting together the 16-patch blocks during the break.

I am adding in some cuts from my layer cake of Prairie Gathering by Pam Buda, which really enhances the red variety with some deep saturated colors.  It mixes great with the Crazy for Red collection by Minick & Simpson.

Prairie Gathering

I didn’t even realize I had recently seen this same pattern done up in “Halloween” colors.  You can check out the latest blog entry from Ms Carrie Nelson to see a really great example.  I remember reading her post and loving that quilt too!  I so want to make one like it.

Lori Holt did a post on doing up a Scrappy Crossroads block also.  Very detailed tutorial when did she a sew along back in July 2014.  Check it out here.

But the one that got me started down this path was a post by Cathy (aka Mrs Main Street).  She does a border treatment that I plan to copy shamelessly.  Take a look at her wonderful blog too!  Click here to see her post about the Go Four It quilt along.

I know I have seen them on other blogs, but some of them don’t have search boxes for me to look them up again.

Anyway – I’m off to get home and do a little more sewing time.  My layer cake of Bella Snow came in yesterday – so I should be all set now.

Be well and have a great weekend!

Jennifer

Are you kidding me?

Mar13

I need to get an eBay seller site set up.  This is craziness…

Ruby eBay

This is a $40 layer cake people!  I know, it’s an old out-of-print, hard-to-find, very rare, etc… collection by Bonnie & Camille …

I did really like that one though.  I have a couple of kits with it in my stash that I should be able to get at least $1000 for online based on this interest.

Hmmm….

Go Four It! Progress

Mar6

I had a unique opportunity this morning when both of my kids got up at 5:00 am to do a little quilting.  I don’t know why they woke up so early, but it got us all off to a good start regardless.

I feel much better now that I have enough units to throw up on my design wall.  As it progresses, the blue patches will be more dispersed.  I only want to have a hint of them in the final quilt result.  I may even decide to remove them completely.  Not quite sure about them…  Or move them to a border treatment…  hmmmm….

My picture is so muted because it was taken early this morning with only bulb light to be had…

Go Four It Quilt

My intent is to piece a School House in the center of the quilt, to celebrate Dr. Black’s 18 years with the school.  Got to find me a good block pattern, which I know there should be plenty on Pinterest.

The other splurge (in advance of my birthday next week) is to enroll in Fig Tree Quilts newest BOM program!  This is my birthday gift from my husband.  I sent this picture and told him to print it off and put it in a card for me.

FTBOM Yuletide

Last I saw, there were a few spots open through their Shop/Website.

Have you signed up?

Thankfully, there is no homework to mess around with this weekend.  It should be all smooth sailing with the kids and perhaps a birthday pedicure with my Mom tomorrow!

Have a great weekend and see you on the other side!

Jennfier

Another Quilt I Wasn’t Going to Do…

Mar1

Just like the Snapshots Quilt A Long, I had decided that I was going to enjoy the “Go Four It” bandwagon by living vicariously through all the great blogger posts.  Have you seen my earlier posts with the Cake and Sewing Machine blocks from Snapshots?  ha ha

But, an unexpected life event happened and I had a great reason to make a special quilt for someone at my kids school.  The school has had the same principal since they opened their doors 18 years ago.  It was just announced a few weeks ago, however, that she was having to take a medical leave for surgery and would return to the Office of Education on campus (University of Houston), but they would be seeking an immediate replacement for her in the position she has held all these years.  Dr. Black is a wonderful woman and cares deeply for all of her students (ranging in grades from K to 5).  She is loved by all and will be greatly missed.

We are lucky to be in a small school, with one class per grade.  I thought a signature quilt would be perfect, if I could pull it off before the end of the school year.  I heard that they planned to give Dr. Black a celebration type event in May.  My idea is to get every student, faculty and maintenance staff to sign a block.  The question was then – what block and what pattern??

I didn’t find a lot that suited me on Pinterest, but then I kept looking back at the APQ “Go Four It” quilt along.  One of the three choices of layouts offered in the April edition of American Patchwork & Quilting was a pattern by April Rosenthal called “Buried Treasure”.  You can see a great example of it also by Ms Thelma Cupcake in her post here.

This offered a great size block to do signatures (4 inch finished with corners)!

Go Four It Design

I also picked up a great tip from Nicole at Sisters Choice blog that gave me the idea to iron down the blocks to freezer paper before handing them out for signatures.  This would give a good foundation to write upon where the fabric wouldn’t shift under the pens.  Most of the signers are young kids between 5 and 12.

Signature blocks

The colors of the school follow the University of Houston – which are red, white and dark navy blue.

Go Cougars!!

Go Cougars!!

Perfect for my stash of Crazy for Red and Midwinter Red precuts, along with a scattering of some Lexington blues.  All the collections by Minick & Simpson.

Fabric with Blue

My concern was what solid neutral color should I use to coordinate with Minick & Simpson?  I had a charm pack of unknown color (it was old enough not to include the SKU # on the back of it).  Just to be safe, I ordered several charm packs of different Bella Solid neutrals.  I ended up with SNOW as my choice.  (Does anyone need to buy Porcelain, Natural, Neutral, or Fig Tree Cream?)

Bella Solid Samples

So, I hesitate to talk about making this quilt, because of such a close deadline.  I hope to pull it off.  I won’t even take the signature blocks to the school for signatures until I have all of the four patches done as well.  That way I know I have a great shot at getting it pieced together in time.

I have 65 of the signature blocks half done this weekend.  I have a lot of the four patch units half done.  I’ll have to see how much progress I can make in the next week because Spring Break is in two weeks and I could really use that time to try and do the assembly.

Hope you have a good week lined up ahead of you.  Enjoy and see you again soon!  Thanks for stopping by!

Jennifer

Snapshots QAL Block 2

Feb15

A beautiful weekend and an opportunity to do some sewing.  I already had my plan for today … Block 2 of the Snapshots Quilt Along.

Snapshots Banner

The Snapshots Quilt Along is being hosted by Bonnie & Camille and the Fat Quarter Shop during the entire year of 2015.

It is a special Quilt Along in that the patterns are free, but donations are for the direct benefit of St Jude Children’s Hospital.  The initial goal of $10,000 was already reached in the first month, so they have bumped up the goal to a wonderful $20,000!

If you would like to participate, you can find everything you need on the Fat Quarter Shop blog.  Here’s a link to Block 2, named Sew On and Sew On.  The pattern, donation link, material requirements and YouTube videos about each block are available on the 15th of each month.  Click HERE to open up today’s post from FQS.

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I couldn’t stop working on this block today, until it was done.  It was really fun and quite easy to make.  Love it!

SS B2 Done

I’m really curious about how the color plan will come out with these blocks.  I have stocked up on a lot of these bright fabrics and I am really enjoying them on my design wall.

SS B1 and B2

Here’s to an easy and relaxing week ahead!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Jennifer

Another 10 days gone by…

Jan28

I’m back!  I was doing so well there for awhile, right?  I just can’t believe that 10 days can be leapfrogged in a blink!

My parents stayed with us this past weekend, so that always makes the weekend move along.  My mom is not one to sit on a couch (like I tend to do), or lie in bed watching reruns of Modern Family.  She is out shopping and …well, mostly shopping.

Anyway, I did get the first block of the Snapshots quilt along put together on Saturday.

I set a timer, but I’m kind of embarrassed at how long it took.  I thought I would be bragging here at the end of it, but …wow … I guess I’m slower than I thought.

I cut all the pieces out on Friday night:

SS B1 laid out

I have lost my “G” Alphabittie.  Hence the out-of-place “Z”.

Do you recognize these fabrics?  With the exception of the white gingham background fabric, these are from the Greg Jones Blogger’s Choice bundle from Fat Quarter Shop.  They were all so bright and fun.  It took me the longest to decide which ones to use in the Birthday Cake block.

If I had not stopped along every step to check my measurements, it would have gone a lot faster.  But I have no regrets at all.  It took me about 2 hours start to finish:

SS B1 Done

 

And because I am so lazy, here is another picture – only from my cutting table with a lot more natural light coming in around it:

SS B1 Done 2

Lovin’ It!  I don’t know if I will make all of the blocks, but … you know … just in case … I went ahead and got the 3.5 yards necessary of the white background so I would be ready.

If you love the fabrics as much as I do in this bundle, you could take you chance at a GIVEAWAY by Greg Jones himself!  He is offering a bundle through his blog post HERE until Jan 31st.  Check it out!

Next time I’ll tell you about an early birthday present that may or may not be an old Singer treadle sewing machine in working condition!  :):):)

All the best for a great end to the week!

Jennifer