sweet simplicity...

I made a super simple quilt for my niece for her 8th birthday. We celebrated this past weekend and so I am now able to share this.

I'm never good at naming my quilts, so since her middle name is Lane this one worked great!

to Omaha and back...

I've returned from my Quilt Show bus trip to Omaha, and it was a blast! The months of planning paid off and it sounded like everyone had a great time! The quilt stores along the way were all wonderful and I picked up some great things. I thought I would share my goodies with you all!

I had never worked with paper piecing until starting my Dear Jane quilt, where that paper piecing is a necessity. I have found that paper piecing is fun (you either like it or you hate it). I found this cutsie little paper piecing kit of a watermelon and a pear. They are simple and small and way to cute to pass up.

I found my panel I had been looking for. I had purchased the set of fat quarters a while back and when I saw this panel all by it's lonesome I had to get it. It is a Free Spirit Fabric by Tina Givens called Fairy Tip Toes

Just some of this and that. I just liked these and that was good enough reason to buy them!

I fell in love with this Halloween grouping. Since Max is a Oct 27th baby, this will go to him one day! Until then it will look fabulous on my couch during the month of October! It is a Sheri Berry Designs Trick or Treat Street for Lynd Hurst Studio

Found my Wonderland by Momo! LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!

Discovered this Moda Nest by Tula Pink...couldn't leave Nebraska without it!!

I had to throw in this picture of a Dear Jane quilt at the Omaha Quilt Show. It is the first that I have seen in person and it was VERY inspirational. This one was started in 2003. I'm ready to get back in the groove with mine!!

bags of fun...

I am getting ready for a bus trip to Omaha for their quilt show and I am soooo excited! I'm ready to get re-inspired with my quilting. I made a bag to take along so I can fill it with some goodies...AND ideas!! It was a fun bag to make and it was even more fun using these grommets!

I made this bag for a friend. She is pregnant with twins and has had some medical problems along the way. She is not due until September, so she still has a ways to go. I filled it with word searches, puzzles, and stuff to keep her busy...or at least occupied for a while.

my little trip...

(Daddy and Maxton in Deadwood)

My little family, plus my parents, grandparents, and aunt took a trip out the the Black Hills to visit my brother this weekend. We did the various tourist stops and had a great time. Since I lived out in the hills for 3 1/2 years I had taken many of the stops many times, but one thing I finally did get to go to was the Crazy Horse Monument. It was a pretty fun trip, just wish the fog wasn't so heavy. I never did get to see the actual mountain sculpture from the look out spot, but I didn't get too down as I have seen Crazy Horse many times from the road. I was just happy to hear the storys of history surrounding it!

(Maxton the Newsie)

(Maxton kissing his Donkey- "eeee aaah")

We had a good time in Deadwood, stopping at a casino my sister-in-law had done design work on. I was happy to see the penny slots as we entered (i am not a gambler and rarely stick my money into any machine), but I thought I could part with a penny. The machines did not take pennies, but would take a quarter for credit...I inserted a dollar as I was fresh out of quarters. Did not know what button to push, so I hit the maximum bet button and "pulled"...sure enough out fell 123 dollar chips.....my LUCKY day! I quickly cashed those in and called that a day!!!

(Daddy and Maxton feeding trout at the Fish Hatchery in Spearfish)

(Maxton and Daddy at Dinosaur Park)

All in all we had a great weekend and it was nice to spend it with my family!!

try this one on for size...

My cousin's little guy turned 2 last week, so I made him a little backpack. I used Max as a model so I could get the size right. I think this will work. Not so sure what Keean thought of it, but I know his mother liked it!

Wishing all you mom a very happy Mother's Day!!

hoping to get this totally finished before we leave for Easter...

...and am thinking I will have the top done by tonight so I can quilt it tomorrow.
Thanks to AmandaJean for this pattern! I love it! I am making this one for my nephew and will probably make another like it for my stash.

from this to that...

I've been working on a bunch of different things lately. I did a demonstration in quilt guild on saturday and my program was the infamous Spiderweb quilt. I think it got some excited, so I guess I will see what they come up with!

Other than that we've been busy getting things ready for Easter, a Tastefully Simple party, a trip to the Black Hills, and a camping trip to Snake Creek. I'm excited to also throw a trip to Cedar Rapids, IA in there...just nervous about driving all the way with a 1 year old!

i'm here...

Sorry I've been gone for awhile. The effects of the struggling economy hit close to home as my father was laid off from his job after 25 years of service. He is doing well (probably took it better than the rest of us) and is planning on going full time with his sewing machine repair service. I wish him the best of luck and am glad that he will be able to spend his last working years as his "own boss"!

My featured tool for today is my ipod karaoke system. It's by Griffin, and I LOVE it. I had read some not so great reviews, but found it on Amazon.com for a whopping 9.99 so I had to go for it. I love to sing in the privacy of my own home, and this allows me that freedom!!

Click here for a video about one of my favorite tools!

march, the month of birthdays...

Since there are a lot of birthdays in the month of may in my family, I am always working on some sort of gift. I made this wall hanging for my mother-in-law, as well as a sweet treat bag. I forgot to take a picture of the bag I made before I wrapped it, so check out my sister's. I did mine in the same fabric. The pattern is super cool and you can whip up a bag in minutes!

Since my MIL's beauty shop is attached to their house, I figured she needed something just for her shop...voila, an instant business sign!!

more...

If I can make at least 19 blocks a month, I will have my Dear Jane quilt "top" done in one year...I'm thinking I am going to try my best at it. Flipping through the book I find quite a few challenging, I will take advantage of group night when dealing with those blocks!! Here are a few I made yesterday and a couple I did this morning.

well on my way...

Last night was Dear Jane group at The Pin Cushion and this is what I did:

I am trying to keep my blocks as organized as I can. I color copied each block on paper with the block name, number, and date made. It will be nice to have all the information in a binder once the quilt is completed!

B-4 was paper pieced. This was my first experience with paper piecing. I can't quite say I love the technique, but it sure did come out as perfect as it could. I will have to try more to see if I change my mind.

As you can see I have chose a wild combination of fabrics. Most of the ladies in the group are either doing 30's reproductions or civil war prints, so I'm hoping to bring some contrast to the group.

And I leave you with 2 pictures of Maxton. One is him sporting a "tie" shirt I made him. I think he looks adorable in it...I think I will make a few more of these! The other picture is him sitting in a toy basket. Yesterday he sat in his strawberry toy box for an hour and a half..today we are going on 45 minutes with the basket...he just digs through it and plays away. I think he is doing very well as an only child!!!! Hopefully he can keep that up for another year or so!!!

taking it to the next level...

I have decided to step up my quilting a bit and try a "challenge". Enter Dear Jane Quilt....

This quilt was made by Jane Stickle during the American Civil War. She signed her quilt "In War Time 1863." Jane created a masterpiece consisting of 169 4.5" (approx.) square blocks surrounded by fifty-two 8"x5" triangles and four corner triangles. She pieced and appliquéd her blocks giving a variety for the viewer to behold.

I am going to be using a variety of different fabrics. Most people will use the civil war prints, but I am going to use bright colors to add variety.

I am starting my journey not knowing how long it will actually take to complete, but am very much looking forward to learning a lot along the way!!

i count this as a tool...

Not sure if most of you would consider this a tool, but being a mother that has dealt with diaper rash, I consider this a GREAT tool!

Since Maxton has been teething again he gets those nasty little rashes that are hard to clear up. This is a miracle cream!!

I purchased this from Tractor Supply Company. I know it says it's for animals, but it works a wonder on those little tushes too!!

another tool...

My next tool to share is my Quilt Design Wizard. I purchased the program for a steal of $20. I like to use this when changing a block around by either rotating or by using different fabric combos. I'm a very visual person and sometimes before I start chopping into fabric I do a little playing around. I rarely use the patterns that you can print out, but it gives me a good idea on what about to get into. The program comes with preloaded blocks, fabric, and an array or ideas. Each month you can download a project (for free) that comes with new fabric choices and new blocks.

Look, Heather Bailey's fabric ended up in a monthly project!!

Here is a little quilt I designed. I am going to use this very soon!!

The possibilities are endless with this program! It is so fun that it reminds me of coloring!!

March of the tools...

Heather Bailey started her March of the Tools again this year, and guess who is on her list of participants!?! How fun this will be. I will try to put a tool on everyday....I promise!!!

My favorite tool for today is the Bi-Level foot I have for my sewing machine! My machine is named "Mr. Pfaffy Pfaff"...(real original, I know). I have a Pfaff 2027... I love my machine as I received it the Christmas I got engaged. The funny thing about that is I never cried when my husband presented me with my ring, but the tears were flowing when I opened up my machine...It wasn't like my machine was more important than getting engaged, but I knew a ring was coming..but not so sure about a new machine.

So now on to the tool: Here she is----

You might wonder what this foot does-- well, she can't bake a pie....but, she takes the handstitching out of quilt binding. It lines up your binding in such a way that you can completely bind your quilt by machine without having to dig out your thimble (and it looks fabulous too)! I'm still getting used to it, but it's nice to speed up the final step of quilt assembly.

Unfortunetly I have given away all the quilts I've used my foot on, but I will make sure and point out in future posts what this looks like!

If you are interested in where you can find this little "helper" check with my favorite quilt store The Pin Cushion or your nearest Pfaff Dealer.

on a roll...

I've been very goal oriented lately and have finished another quilt. I do better if I set goals before I start a quilt. I find I actually will stick to it. Here is a quilt for my 12 year old niece Mindy. Since all my nieces and nephew are in one family, I can't just make for one and not all of them. They welcomed 2 babies in 2008..not twins, just one born in January and one born in November. Those little cuties got quilts, so now I need to be fair and make the 3 others a quilt. Mindy's Birthday came first and she got an I.O.U in a card....so here it is.

I somewhat took the simple path and used pre-cut Layer Cakes. They are fun to work with and I can get every piece of fabric in the collection without having to search everywhere for it. I simply place RST and draw a diagonal line from corner to corner, then sew 1/4" on each side of the line so I don't get that dreaded bias stretch. Next I cut down the center line and arrange my blocks and voila...instant quilt.

I have a baby shower to go to next weekend, so I plan on making a little quilt from a panel like this. I think it would be super sweet for a little girl!