My how time flies....

My last post was in June.  Wow.  Can't say that I've had much to post about.  Kind of got bogged down in mundane day to day life stuff and lost that crafty side for a bit.

But I'm currently working on a crocodile stitch baby blanket and will get caught up on my Craftsy and English Garden quilt blocks.  Haven't so much as laid a finger on them since then. 

My garden did okay.  Got quite a few tomatoes and I'm still getting baby tomatoes.  Just hoping the weather holds out long enough for these to get to a good size as they are from the German Giant plant I had all but given up on.  Also got some baby okra growing.  They did nothing during the heat wave and now they are growing.  Same with the jalapeno.  Go figure.

But so as not to leave this with just words, here are pictures of my flowers that I was very happy to see grow and blossom.  I'm already thinking about planting bulbs now for spring.

Red and white dahlia

Purple dahlia

One of the sunflowers

White dahlias

Pink and white dahlia

Also, I've purchased a couple of new cookbooks.  One is "Food in Jars".  I've loved the blog that inspired this book from the moment I first saw it and I love that the recipes in this book only make 3 - 5 jars instead of a dozen or more.  That means more canning for me!  The very first recipe I'll be making is the Pickled Green Tomatoes as I had a lot of green tomatoes that pretty much aren't going to ripen up with the weather getting chillier and I don't want to be hit with a bunch of ripe tomatoes at one time.  And, let's face it, I LOVE pickles.

So now back to prepping for the canning.  Shouldn't take too long as it will only be six jars.  I'm very excited about this book!

Playing Catch Up

I'm about 3 months behind on my block of the month work.  Here are blocks 3 and 4 for the English Garden quilt.

I've finished the first of the April Craftsy block but I won't post it until I've finished the second.  Then I've got to do May and June.  The creative energy kind of drained out of me for a while there, but it's back now.

I also planted these in front of the house:

I saw the bulbs at my local grocery store and fell in love with them.  We've been having a draggy spring and it finally got to the point where I felt it was safe to put them out.  Hopefully by the end of summer I'll have these gorgeous Dahlia's popping up.  The colors are so pretty.

I also planted seeds for watermelon, tomatoes, basil, cilantro and sunflowers.  The sunflowers were the first to peek out from under the dirt.

Basil

Sunflowers

The itty bitty tomato just peeked through today

I'm toying with buying some plants that are already started to transplant just to have something going already.  Either way it will be an adventure.  It looks like the sunflowers will lead the way.  Once they get 3 sets of leaves they get transplanted and I would love to see them reach their full bloom.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Okay back to crafting, more later.

Second March Craftsy Block

I've been working on a baby quilt so I'm just now getting around to the second Craftsy block for the month.  Here it is:

Craftsy March Block 2

Now I HAVE to finish the baby quilt.  The machine quilting is giving me fits.

Craftsy Surprise

Imagine my surprise when I was reading the new Craftsy newsletter and I saw that the block I made for the March quilt along was chosen as part of the Project Spotlight.

Here's the link to the newsletter.  Craftsy Newsletter

Needless to say I was floored and flattered that my block was chosen.  I only hope I can continue to live up to the challenge.

Thanks Craftsy!!

Cross Stitch Expansion

Last year I saw the "Christmas Village" designs by JBW Designs and had to have them.  I contacted my LYS, Stitch in Time and asked if they had them.  They didn't but the did order them for me and they are finally here.

I had never been into this shop before, (my husband would speed up when we got within range of it) and finally got a chance to do just that.  I now know why he sped up every time...I only spent a short amount of time there, but I could still be there if I hadn't made myself leave after one additional purchase.

I also bought the Little House Needleworks "Warm Winter Woolens" chart and the 32 count linen and floss to go with it.  I have only ever used DMC, because that's what came in the kits I purchased and that's what was usually listed in charts I'd seen.  I know there's a vast and wonderful world of alternative flosses out there and decided today to venture into that world with the purchase of floss from Weeks Dye Works.  Pricey?  Yes,but hand dyed and beautiful colors.  I ended up swapping out one of the colors for a hand over dyed version (Kudzu - even the names are great) and just love it.

They also have all kinds of yarns that had me swooning.  I could see myself spending a lot of time and money in that shop.  If you're in the Howell area and have never been there, go if only for the experience of seeing the wonderful colors and patterns that are available.  Not to mention the super personnel.

There's a hooking class next week end that I may go to, just to learn a new craft (not to mention I've already got design ideas floating in my head after seeing an example).

But I can't touch what I picked up today until I complete a couple of items in progress.  The baby leggings (1 done, 1 to go) and machine quilting the baby quilt.  No to mention I've decided to thin out some craft books and let them go to new homes.  So I'd better get to it.

New stuff

Okay, here's the first Craftsy March block.  It is called the String Block:

Craftsy String Block 03-06-2012

And up next are the first two blocks from a block of the month quilt from Grandma's Attic Sewing Emporium called English Flower Garden.  What drew me to this block of the month was the combination of embroidery and batiks.

English Flower Garden Block #2

English Flower Garden Block #1

I'm having a lot of fun with these blocks.  It's keeping me moving forward in my crafting.  I spray basted the baby quilt yesterday and I've already ripped out the first two attempts at quilting it.

I then went to my Craftsy course and reviewed some of the walking foot portions of the course and will give it another shot this weekend.  I will figure this out, I'm only doing straight lines, it can't e that difficult...at least I hope it doesn't continue to be.  The perfectionist in me is rearing her loony head.

I should have the second Craftsy block up by the weekend.  Back to L&O SVU now.

February Baby Quilt

My sister emailed me requesting a baby quilt for a friend who is due in March. My sister's one request/demand was "don't make it all pink." Nothing like a little notice. 

Well it gave me a reason to make a pattern I saw and loved in the April issue of American Patchwork & Quilting called "Sticks and Bricks".  I planned to downsize it for a baby and used the yardage for the color option they gave which is a perfect size.

The toughest thing was finding enough large scale prints that worked color-wise. Found tons of nice prints that tended to read as solids from a distance.  So I cut up everything that had potential and started playing with the layout.  This is the finished top:

Baby Quilt Top 02-24-12

Now to quilt it.  I've decided to machine quilt it as it needs to be done fairly quickly.  I'm thinking straight lines as I'm still a novice at machine quilting.  Now off to shovel some more snow that was dumped on mid-Michigan today.

Craftsy Block of the Month - February

The Balkan Puzzle Block.  Ended up just shy of 12 1/2"

Balkan Puzzle Block

I'll work on the Chunky Chevron Block tomorrow.

And now for the Chunky Chevron Block:

Chunky Chevron

I have learned I prefer the drawn line method of half square triangles.  This course is showing me some great ways to put together blocks.  I could put together a chevron quilt very quickly and may just add it to my to do list.

Wow, wow and WOW!!!

I subscribe to a lot of quilting and craft newsletters always looking for new ideas and tips.  And I think the one I got today is going to really change my quilting life.  It's all about spray basting quilts.  Take a look:



I've got 3 tops just begging to be quilted and one thing that always slows me down is the prepping for quilting.  Ugh! 

I'm already thinking about what to move so I can set up a wall to use and track down some 505 Basting Spray.

Thank you Quilt Show for sharing this wonderful tip!

Craftsy Block of the Month - January

So after thinking and rethinking and thinking again, I finally decided on a color scheme for the Craftsy Block of the Month course.  I'm doing black, white and red.  There may be a few spots of other colors with the black, it will depend on the block.

So I went to Joann's and used my 10% VIP discount card that I got with my AQS membership and bought some fabric as well as a couple of rulers and some floss.  Here are the results for the two January blocks.

Asterisk - January

Wonky Pound Sign - January

 They were really easy to make, the only problem I had was with one of the wonky arms lining up.  I ripped the stitches and tried it again, but it wouldn't line up so it's staying the way it is.

Can't wait to see February!

A little block

I went on a bit of a binge and bought three kits (which I mentioned previously) and joined a block of the month club. 


The block of the month sent a bonus block that I think is just a thank you and warm up and I pieced it today using my new machine.  It's a small step in the process forward.

I need to trim it a little to even up the edge.  I like the autumn colors, but lately I've been in a batik lust.  I just can't get enough of looking at them.  I believe I'll be doing the Craftsy blocks out of batiks.  I'd better get started on the January block as the month is half way over.

First crafty completion of the year

This is a market bag I made for Angela using Michigan State fabric.  It folds up neatly to be stashed away.  Pretty easy to put together.  The most time consuming part was the bias tape.

I started this on my old White Jean Machine and finished it on my new Brother CP7500 which I got mainly for the quilting features.  What I can say is that so far I LOVE THIS MACHINE!!  It is easy to wind the bobbins, thread the machine and sew.  I love the 1/4" piecing setting, no more fiddling with the seam allowance.  Now to really learn machine quilting.  It came with a walking foot and the free motion quilting foot as well as the quilting guide for straight lines.  I was blown away with how easily I got started, but there's still a lot to learn.  It's quiet, fast and user friendly.

Brother CP7500

Not the best picture in the world, but here it is.  It also came with an extension table for quilting and a hard cover.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!! I realize that I actually avoided sewing because of the old machine and now I am thinking of all of the projects I want to do this year.

While looking for a biscotti recipe I read a post about Connecting Threads.com and popped over to see what it was all about.  Well it's about some really great fabric for not a lot of money.  I have been looking for a quilt kit to work on for quite a while. Something I didn't have to look at putting the fabric together for, something I could just pick up and do.  And boy was I pleasantly surprised when I bought not one, not two, but three kits for under $70 (including the backing fabric).  One kit I purchased is called Scrappy Diamonds and cost all of $29.46 for the top, binding and backing!  If you don't believe me, look for yourself.  They have a Kit Builder option where you can trade out the fabrics to get an idea of how it will look. 

I was a little skeptical about the fabric until it arrived.  Now I am completely sold on this company.  Trust me, give them a look, you will love the way this fabric feels when you get some and you will really love the prices. I will definitely be going back to them for future projects.

In closing, I'm still learning to live without Jay.  I can see that at some point I'll get to a "new normal", but I'm still having my moments.  Crafting (reading blogs, looking at projects, going through my stash, and actually working on things) is helping me to make it through.

Here's to what I hope is a peaceful, crafty new year for myself and everyone out there in craft land.

Getting the inspiration back

It's been three months now.  Only three months, but it seems like an eternity.  I've mostly been working and coming home and going to grief support and trying to just keep moving forward.

I've had some fairly good days and then I've had some really bad ones.  Extremely bad ones.  But I just keep moving forward.  I feel like a shark, constantly  moving because if I stop it will all crash down on me.

So in the interest of moving forward I think crafting is going to help me get through things.  I've already crocheted a few dishcloths.  I washed the fabric for an overdue baby quilt and now I need to cut out the pieces and start the applique.  I don't think the wolves cross stitch is going to make the Christmas list, but I could prove myself wrong.

Work has kept me occupied.  Thank God for my friends there.  They have given me so much support.  I am so grateful for them.

So with the goal of crafting to occupy my mind and keep my hands busy, here is a photo of the fabric for the baby quilt.

I'm not sure how they are going to work with the pattern I've chosen, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Updates later.

How do you go on when everything is turned upside down?

I'm not going to kid around.  I have been absolutely miserable since Jay passed.  I've had little to no appetite for the most part.  My doctor has me on an anti-depressant and Xanax for anxiety.  It's helped some with the crying, but I still break down.  Everyone at work has been wonderful.  They all thought I came back too soon, but financially I didn't have a choice and as it turns out emotionally it was probably the best thing for me because while he's always on my mind, keeping busy helps to keep the hurt away.  I will be starting a grief support group in a couple of weeks.  Luckily my managers are all for it and are working with my schedule to make sure I can attend.

I promised a friend a baby quilt and they are due soon.  So far I've only washed the fabric.  I've yet to press it or cut one piece of it.  I've got to get moving on that.  I think she'll understand when the baby gets there before the quilt.  I'm finding it hard to concentrate on things I used to have fun with.  The games on Facebook that we both enjoyed are now just a colossal waste of time to me.  I haven't farmed, built a city or anything like that since he was in the hospital.  Don't think I ever will again.  I learned the hard way that things can change at the drop of a hat and sitting in front of this computer plowing a made up farm just doesn't cut it any more.  Sorry to all of my Facebook friends who relied on me to gift them things they needed, I just don't have it in me any more.

The colors of the quilt I'm going to be working on are blue and brown (the colors the mothers chose)  I am doing a Hawaiian quilt as one of the mothers was born in Hawaii.  However, I'm using prints instead of solids so I'm hoping all turns out well.  It will definitely be an experience as Hawaiian quilting involves a lot of applique.

I did finish the blanket for Ashley's baby, but I didn't get a picture of it.  At least I don't think I did.  If I find it on the camera, I'll publish it, but it was a basket weave crochet pattern with a through the back loop single crochet border.  I found the pattern online.

I've also got to get back to work on the wolves cross stitch I started as it is intended to be a Christmas present.  It was something we decided on together for his sister and brother-in-law and I have to get it done.

But for now I'm going to go back to scrubbing my kitchen floor.  I'm doing it on my hands and knees with a brush and it looks like new.  More of that keeping busy thing I'm trying to do.  Prayers are helping too.

Jaliyah's quilt

Finally, I've finished Jaliyah's quilt.  Here it is:

Finished quilt

Jaliyah Quilt label

It was very easy to put together and quilt.  I just wish I had worked at it more diligently so it would have been done earlier, but either way it is DONE!!!  Now to ship it out and on to the next project!

Still quilting

I've just about got the left side of the quilting done, then it's on to the right.  I was going to take a picture, but changed my mind...maybe I'll post one later.  In the meantime, I've learned about Aurifil thread and I have to get my hands on some as it sounds absolutely wonderful.

Let the quilting begin

So today, I finally basted the quilt and started quilting.  I'm hand quilting the top and since I haven't done it in what seems like forever it took a little time to get my rhythm back.  Here's what I've done so far.  Just outline quilting the letter and inside and around the applique background.  Then it's off to the body of the quilt which should go fairly quickly because it's all straight lines.

Here's a picture.

My Ott Light is bleaching out the top of the photo and the angles a little weird, but you can see the progress thus far.  We're getting a bunch of snow right now, so I'm kind of hoping that tomorrow will be too much to get out so I can stay home and quilt.

Jaliyah's quilt update

Today I'm working on finishing the quilt top.  I'm up to putting on the borders.  Here's what I have so far.

This picture actually gives a pretty good rendition of the colors even though I used a flash.  I'll be adding white borders tonight.

"J" is for Jaliyah!

I'm not the world's greatest at applique, just haven't had enough practice, but I thought this came out pretty good.  I had to track down a font that wasn't all curlicue because I just couldn't deal with it...lol  And I wanted a letter that was a little more modern.  Considering I have a Baltimore Album quilt as one of my "to-do's" I'd better start practicing more.  I did needle turn applique on this one, maybe freezer paper would have made it easier.  Anyway...moving on to the borders now. 

First quilt start of the year

My cousin became a grandmother for the first time in September (of last year).  I decided to make the baby a quilt.  Chose the pattern, purchased and prepped the fabric and haven't touched it since then.

Today I cut all of the pieces and have started piecing it together.  Not a difficult pattern, but I love it.  I'm hand piecing it, which is actually my preference and will probably hand quilt it as well.  Here's my progress thus far.

The pictures aren't that great, but this is the center portion of the quilt and I will be appliqueing the letter "J" to the center of it in a shade close to the dark pink in the roses.

This is actually the first quilt I have pieced in about four years.  Way too long.  Time to hit the fabric stash with a vengeance.  Cutting out the pieces and sewing them have reminded me of how much I love to quilt.

Loft Creations No Strings Attached Challenge

I've been meaning to post about this but things have been a little crazy with the full time and part time seasonal job lately. But finally, here it is.

I've joined a string block quilt challenge that I found on the blog Loft Creations. We can only use fabric we already own (stash busting at its best!) and can make anything from the string blocks that we like. I've got some fabric at the house to start playing with but the majority is in a storage locker (towards the back with a LOT in front of it) and with the current cold snap it's not coming out any time soon.

So with a deadline of June 30, I'm going to work on technique with what I have and think about the fabric that will get hauled out as soon as it's warm enough to be able to stay outside for a good amount of time.

I've put a link to the challenge in the side bar. Unfortunately the sign up time is closed, but it's really cool to see what others are doing with their string blocks. There are a lot of really nice things coming out of this challenge. I just hope I can create something worthy. I'll be posting updates as I go.