Quilts and Teeth

Last post, I showed you the quilt top I made for a friend for her engagement pictures/wedding and now that she has actually seen the top, as well as the back (in person) I will share a couple of fun personalization "labels" I added to the back.

I wanted to add something with a monogram, the bride and groom names and their wedding date (which I said she cannot change now that it's on the quilt for EVER) but I wanted it to be something I would be sure would never wash away.  Thought of writing a label, but have heard even those will fade over time, heard a technique of printing on fabric with the printer, but didn't know too much about that, and I'm not good at hand embroidery type stuff so that was not an option either.  As I was chatting about my dilemma while on this year's Treasure Shop Hop (14 hours, 450 miles, 8 quilt shops, 8 women, 1 Suburban...I'd say those numbers deserve their own post, no?  Maybe someday I will get around to it).  So, anyway, a friend of mine who has her own business and own commercial grade embroidery machine suggested embroidering something on the quilt.  So, one afternoon I spent a good 5 hours with her working on the design we wanted and finally came up with something I love.  

Soon I will get around to taking pictures of the complete front and back.  As you can maybe tell from that bottom picture, I quilted around the circles on the front of the quilt, a technique I've done on 2 "circle" quilts now and I love doing it!

Now, and update on the "and the Boys" front, Hunter has lost another tooth (this makes 5 now):

Things I've Been Working On

This one started as a Crazy Nine-Patch Lattice Quilt, but after I made the nine-patch blocks I discovered it was a baby quilt and I didn't have enough to make more....so, enter a little improvisation (mess?).  This is an early picture, there will be the thin yellow border around all of that center grid and the outside border of the larger squares may still change several times as I go.  Back when I did the Treasure Shop Hop I decided to get 1 fat quarter from each shop, these are the fabrics from that adventure.

Geeze, lady!  Been sewing long?!  These blocks for my local quilt group are supposed to look like that.  Beth got her inspiration from the Waverunner quilt along.  Some of Beth's fabrics are also from fat quarters purchased on the Shop Hop, this was a fun idea we plan to do again next year (buying a fat quarter at each shop, I mean).

Veggie Tales is a blanket for West Coast/Central Oddball Knitters (although, I think our group name has changed several times so I don't really know what to call it anymore).  If you are a knitter and would like to join our group, feel free to leave a comment and I can email you more info, or you can find us on Ravelry, I think we're called Western Regions Oddball Baby Blankets there (see how one could get confused on what to call the group?).

For my local quilt group.  I'm unsure of what the pattern is but Terri will end up trimming those little points to create "square" rows and then place them side by side in zigzag form.

Sara borrowed some of my Crazy Curve templates, used up some of her fabric scraps she had on hand and asked us to make a block that looks like this - I'm not sure what she plans to do with them.

I bought this quilt kit awhile back and pieced together the top.  It also came with the binding fabric and I purchased the backing fabric at the same time.  Last week I bought some batting so one of these days I can get it all together.  The pattern is called Fire Escape.

May Block for Let's Bee Together

Before I left for Florida I managed to finish my May block for Mollie in Let's Bee Together (after I found it, because it had gone MIA during the move...along with SOOO many other items - has anyone seen my cat?).  I had hoped to get it into the mail before heading out but that didn't work out so I just sent it last week and she should have it by now.  

I was a bit nervous because I had to stretch a pretty small amount of fabric a long way and I didn't want to be doing any cutting and wasting, especially since I didn't have any of the fabrics in my stash, or any time to get more from Mollie.  I stuck with this simple stacked rectangle look (does this type of block have a name?  I'm sure it does).  You can see where I had to add an extra strip of white (which I'm sure isn't the same 'white' as I was provided with) on the edge.  I added it there because I figured she could choose to take it out pretty easily that way.

I'm working on a hand applique block right now for my local quilt group and I actually love it!  I wasn't so sure on the day we had our lesson from The Applique Addict but now that I can sit on the couch and do it at my leisure it's fun.  The block is of a pair of flip flops, I have the actual shoe part done but just need to add a small flower decal to them and then I'll have some pictures to share.

Annnnd...since June is almost over (when and how did that happen?) I need to also finish start the block for Let's Bee Together for Carolyn and hopefully the Canada Post is no longer on strike so her blocks get to her!

Treasure Shop Hop Day #4

Day #4 found Beth, my 2 boys and I taking a little road trip north, to the mountains!  Our first stop of the morning was at Stitch n' Snip in Garden Valley, ID, an approximate hour and a half drive.  This was a small shop packed full of goodness!

Another hour and 45 minute drive to McCall, ID and we visited Granny's Attic and Huckleberry Patches.  At Huckleberry Patches, I found this beautiful Yuletide Magic panel that I absolutely love - I cannot wait to turn into something wonderful (hopefully).  I decided I'm a sucker for Christmas fabric, I really could have purchased a fat quarter bundle (or more) of the coordinating fabrics in this line.  I haven't noticed this fabric at any of my local quilt shops, but I haven't actually looked, I just happened upon it while in McCall.  I'm either going to have to search down here or find an excuse to go visit this shop again.

Thanks for joining me on our Shop Hop journey.  Next year I'm thinking we'll get crazy with it, maybe have more interested members from our quilt group go with us, do all shops in a weekend and stay in a motel somewhere overnight, dress up - crazy hats, huge sunglasses, sequins...I'm not sure.  I just think it would be fun to get as crazy as we want with a large group of people.  Though, don't get me wrong, I really did love the quality time with Sara and Beth on day 1 (and Beth on day #2 and #4) - we've been friends awhile, but it has been a long time since we've spent so much time together and it was fabulous!

Treasure Shop Hop Day #2/#3

So, my Day #1 post was titled Treasure Valley Shop Hop because that's what I thought it was...turns out, I included the "Valley" on my own (we do live in the Treasure Valley so I thought that's what it was).  Anyway, Day #2 (Monday, April 18th) consisted of my friend Beth and I traveling to Kuna, ID (not much of a travel really, Beth lives about 2 minutes away) where we went to Knit One Quilt Too (no website that I could locate), a quaint little shop that is great for knitters and quilters alike.  Of course, wouldn't you know I didn't take any photos of the local quilt shops...I guess because they're closer I didn't think about it.  Next we went to Nancy's Quilts and More (again, no website) - you might remember me talking about the shop in this post.  After Nancy's we thought we'd take some of the back roads to get to downtown Nampa, ID (Nancy's has a Nampa address too, it's just out in the country).  We figured it was going to be an easy trip and surely we could figure it out despite the fact that neither of us had ever been this way.  This is another reason I really wish I had a camera with me (we did have our phones, but thought about taking photos after the fact): we got lost!  It didn't seem like we were driving for very long (time-wise) but we ended up about 10 miles from where we wanted to be, though, probably drove an extra 20 or so at least to get there.  Well, we weren't really lost, we just ended up taking the back roads, the more scenic route.  We were driving around something neither of us had ever heard about - the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and it was really quite peaceful.  I happened to glance out of the window and saw a huge body of water of which I couldn't see the other side...I had thought, up until this point, that it was just a swampy/marshy area.  I exclaimed, probably rather loudly, "is that a giant body of water?!!!!" And Beth just started laughing hysterically - that was a yes.  It was such a memorable moment and I wish we would have taken our pictures by some of the Wildlife Refuge signs.  

We were just assuming at this point that we were at Lake Lowell - it was the only body of water in that area that we could have been at, unless of course we had drive a whole lot further than we thought.  Stop #3 of the day was Bluebird Quilt Studio in downtown Nampa.  This is definitely not my favorite shop for fabric but everyone is nice and they seem to do a lot of classes, and block of the month type projects that seem fun.

Day #3 was Tuesday, April 19th.  My friend Sara (different than Day #1 Sara) and I were able to go to the 2 shops in Boise, Quilt Expressions and The Quilt Crossing, while my 5 year old was in school (I dropped him off at 1230 and had to pick him up at 3...I was late).  I love Quilt Expressions - it's huge, has a great selection of fabric and my dream is to take their longarm class so that I would be able to rent time on the machines (they have like 5 or so in their shop).  The Quilt Crossing is also fabulous - great selection of fabric and I had 2 gift cards from my Birthday, and I only used one that day!

Join me again to hear about the final day and last 3 shops!

So Much To Look At

I was holding up the backing of this quilt asking my husband which row was the shortest and he said there was so much to look at he couldn't figure out where I was asking him to look.  I told him, it's a Dr. Suess/Cat in the Hat quilt...it's supposed to be crazy!  Tell me I'm right.

Quilt top - blocks made by members of my local quilt group.  We're so original, we call ourselves The Quilt Block Ladies 

The Back - made by me


Something I read this week over at The Bitchy Stitcher  that totally fits this quilt:
(don't go if you can't handle the language, but I laugh at every post)
"Babies need stimulation and perfectly straight lines are far too stultifying for young minds. This kid will be a fuckin' genius, no doubt."

I'm going to be working on getting this quilted in the next day or so.  I'm not sure yet how I'm going to do it - straight lines because that's all I'm comfortable with, but not sure what to follow.  Any suggestions?  I was thinking just 1/4 inch from the seams of the large blocks on the top, maybe 2 rounds...if that makes any sense.

Treasure Valley Shop Hop Day #1

This past weekend was the start of the 10th Annual Treasure Shop Hop.  Last year a friend and I just happened upon the Shop Hop while in a local shop and once we found about it, we were hooked and we visited all of the local shops that didn't require more than a 20 minute drive (because there are also some in Oregon and McCall, ID up to 3 hours away). When we found out that the grand prize for visiting all 16 shops and getting your passport stamped was a $50 gift certificate from each shop (that's $800 in quilt shop money, people!) we knew we'd have to get serious about it this year.

Unfortunately that friend is only 2 weeks away from her due date with her second baby and I think she decided it might not be a good time to drive 3 hours from home in remote areas that we're all unfamiliar with. Though, don't get me wrong, we were prepared - we had talked about a plan for delivering the baby in the car, she was even going to bring sterile scissors for cutting the umbilical cord. We had invited all 12 of the ladies in our local quilt group but most couldn't make the trip, which I think was okay because not really knowing where we were going etc, this gave us a chance to test out the route we were taking and decide if it was the best plan of attack (which, I think it is not). It was kind of a trial run of the entire Shop Hop (which, this year consists of 14 shops) and it was fun, but I think next year we'll be doing things a little differently, as far as driving routes, etc.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures on day #1 - we left about 7:30am and were back at 5pm - lots of miles...I can't remember how many, nearly 300 I think.  I won't explain pictures all in great detail as that may be a bit boring for most of you and I do not want to bore you!

(my traveling companions and good friends Beth and Sara at a rest stop in who knows where)

(stop #1 - Quilts Plus in Halfway, OR)

(Sara at stop #2, Traditions Quilt Shop in Baker City, OR - this was followed by stop #3 at LaDonna's FiberArts, also in Baker City, OR)

(Stop #4 - Charm Shack Quilt Shop in Ontario, OR)

Stop #5 - Marilynn's Pickets and Patchwork in Nyssa, OR

Stop #6 - Cindy's Quilt Shop in Caldwell, ID

It's definitely an experience to visit so many quilt shops, some most have very nice people and others you kind of get the feeling that if you're not a regular, or perhaps fit a certain stereotype, you don't feel as welcome.  Sometimes you go into a shop and wonder how in the world they are still in business.  Some share their space with antiques, coffee shops, and bakeries.  More than one of these 6 shops listed were directly next to a "hole in the wall" type of bar...hmm....

Every shop created and sold kits for a block.  They were all similar in that they used batiks, but other than that I wasn't really impressed with the coordination of the blocks.  Each block is sold for $5 and $2 of that goes to Project Linus.  It's maybe kind of hard to visualize in the picture but these are the blocks from the first 6 shops.  A local blogger has made all of the blocks and posted them on her blog - check it out!  I'm not going to be making all of these blocks.  They are going to be distributed to my quilt group and we'll put them all together for a charity quilt.

  

Maybe, before too long, I'll post about visiting shops #7-14!

An Assortment of Blocks

Today I finished 2 blocks for Just One Block (I hope that isn't a rule to do just one block, because as I said...I did 2 - I'm sure they take whatever you want to give). I can't remember where I first read about Just One Block, it's been posted on so many blogs. Click on the link to learn more about these blocks (including the pattern) and the quilts they will be used in for service members/veterans. I challenged my local quilt group ladies to make blocks and we'll be sending them all together.

Speaking of my quilt group ladies, they've started returning blocks to me and, although I still have several to get back, here's a peek of what I have so far:

My group members are making me blocks based on the tutorial at Oh, Fransson!

Stay tuned to see how things come together!

Keeping Up

things are crazy right now:

-turned in my application for nursing school last friday

(almost cried while standing there as the guy was filling

out my received receipt - can you say PMS emotional).

the application process required some fabulous testing

first and i learned that i really don't know as much

about Excel as i thought i did

-we're trying to buy a house

-i'm trying to keep up with bee blocks

last month's was finished on the last day:

this month's are done but waiting to be mailed:

working on cutting my fabric for my quilt group:

(they all have the fabric now, can't wait to see

what i get back next month!)

(my block design from Oh, Fransson!)

also thought I'd have the group do a charity baby quilt:

-i think i've signed up for more oddball

blankets than my life is allowing right now

recently finished my section in this one:

just finished this one last night:

this one is next - Superheroes

and i'd love to make a batman section

with the batman logo in the center

(never done anything like this so it's a bit

of a looney goal if you ask me) and

a "Wizard of Oz" blanket is in the mail

so i can add a section to represent munchkins

-i've been really exhausted all of the time so

usually i'd rather just go to bed than to work

on the things that are on my to do list

-my iphoto was full so i'm working on moving

pictures to disks so i can get the photos

off of my camera. i had a dilemma, save

photos to disks or thumb drives?

disks seem easier because i can write dates

on them and file them in order.

i would inevitably lose thumb drives.

How are you today?

My Origins' Destination

My fabulous Origins by BasicGrey for Moda fabrics arrived and here are the ones I chose from the line to use for my quilt:

And, after many hours of searching for the perfect blocks, here is what I'm going to have my quilt group do with the fabric:

Based on the Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow at Oh, Fransson!

I think it's going to be just perfect for what I need and it's taking all I have not to complete more blocks on my own before I even give any fabric to my quilt group! I love the improvisational-ness (that's what you'd call it too, right?) and how quickly I was able to complete the block. The only thing is now I'm thinking I may need more of the Grunge in Black Onyx (the 'grout' part of this mosaic). I only ordered 1/2 yard of each fabric because I wasn't even sure what I was going to do with it, but I'm pretty sure I'll need more of that one. Soooo...if you hear of any online shops having a good deal, let me know. Have Origins scraps you just don't know what to do with? Let's make a deal!!

Quilt Group Gathering

In September, our quilt group member who was suppose to host wasn't able to do so and nobody was ready to move up on such short notice so we had the gathering at my house and worked on some baby quilt tops for Project Linus. Everyone was asked to bring some boyish fabric and some girlish fabric cut into sizes indicated in this tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew. Some people used scraps and some bought new fabric so in the end we had a huge assortment of fabrics. This is what our group has decided to do next year since we've all had our turns and we weren't really wanting to do another round for ourselves quite yet. We'll meet once a month (as we do now) and work on tops, once we have a bunch of tops done we'll have a day set aside to get them all tied. Here are some pictures of our day (which started at 10am and the last to leave my house was near 5pm):