red and white trees!-a completed quilt

I finished my red and white trees! quilt last week. It took me a few days to get around to hanging it up, but I think it was worth the wait. I LOVE how it looks in my entryway!!! It's so nice to have a seasonal quilt hanging there and I'm thrilled that I was able to complete it BEFORE Christmas. Amazing.

(There is a free tutorial here for the snowflake pillow sitting on the fireplace.)

Most of the fabrics in the quilt are red and white dots, with the exception of the asterisk print, which is from my Emma and Myrtle line. Red polka dots were a natural choice for the back, and I used a little bit of red good neighbors fabric for the binding. The quilt was made 100% from my stash. That feels great! The quilt measures about 39" x 60 1/2". The trees! pattern can be found here or here.

I hope the last few days before Christmas aren't TOO hectic for you all....remember to breathe! Have a great weekend! Merry Christmas to you and yours! xoxox

another new floor!

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Well, I haven't sewn a single stitch on my machine since LAST Friday. I can't remember the last time that happened!

I've been working on redoing my daughter's room off and on since January. Any of you that have ever done a home remodel project knows that everything takes longer than it should. Right? This past weekend I FINALLY got to the fun part of this huge project...laying the new laminate floor! I used the same flooring in my own bedroom a few years ago. It's held up remarkably well and I still like it, so I thought it would be smart to put matching stuff in my daughter's room. It only took me 2 days to install it. Of course the finishing details are the real bugger and I have a million of those left, but we shall celebrate progress!

The flooring is Distressed Brown Hickory laminate from the Home Depot. I'm so pleased with how it came together!!! The wall paint color is Plateau by Pittsburgh Paints (purchased from Menards). I LOVE this color so much! The trim got a fresh coat (or 12, haha!) of white paint, too. SOOOO MUCH work when into this, so it's good to see it taking shape. Finally!

Here are a few before photos...



Wallpaper border circa 1998...had to go!

Of course it didn't go without a fight. (It never does...)

This photo is a pretty cringy and a little gross...but it's evidence that it was all worth it! All the blood, sweat and frustration. (I don't think there were any tears. YAY!)

My daughter and I are planning out the quilt that I'm going to make for her new room, but that won't be ready for awhile yet, so this is her temporary bedding situation. She slept in her new room for the first time last night and she absolutely loves it. I'm pretty pleased with it so far, too! I totally need a nap, though!!! (Maybe I should borrow her new bed....hahahaha!)

 

Alright, that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes for the week. Thank you SO MUCH for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a GREAT weekend! xo

WIP Wednesday

Over the past several days, I have been splitting my time between two big projects: quilting my arithmetic quilt and ripping down a wall paper border in my daughters room. Fun times! Both are hard on the arms, so it was wise to split up the tasks over several days.

This is my arithmetic quilt. (You can see a full photo of the quilt top here.) It's a twin size, so I'm pleased that I was able to quilt it (off and on) over a 5 day stretch. That's a pretty moderate pace! I went with a simple loop de loop all over for the quilting. Nothing fancy, just something to keep the layers together and add some lovely texture. It's kind of fun that the quilting shows up a lot more on some of the blocks and a lot less on the other blocks. I used Aurifil thread in the color 2600. It's a beautiful light gray thread that blends with almost everything.

Here's the wall paper that got it's eviction notice...finally! I'm guessing that it's from the 90's? It totally overstayed it's welcome. I'm so glad it's gone, gone, GONE. This project also took several days. I am mildly disturbed that I actually ENJOYED ripping it down. (How sick it that?) I am glad that it was just a border, though. That was plenty!

Now it's time to move on to binding (yay!) and painting. Progress is good!

Before I sign off for today, that you SO MUCH for all of your kind comments on Abby's Sunset quilt top. I appreciate each one! I hope you are having a fabulous week! xo

Maine socks and stash organization

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I managed to finish another pair of socks! I bought this yarn in August when my husband and I went to Maine to celebrate our 20th anniversary. As much as I LOVE colorful socks, this black and white self-striping yarn caught my eye because it's so practical. These socks will match 90% of my closet. :) I'm pretty pleased with how well those stripes lines up. Not exactly perfect, but pretty darn close. Hurray!

 

This is my 23rd pair of hand knit socks that I've made to date. You can find the free pattern here.

 

The other BIG project this week was to organize my stash. It was in quite a state of disarray, so I spent quite a bit of time folding, organizing and rearranging. It felt AMAZING to get this all in order.

I've used the same folding technique for my stash for years and I can't recommend it enough. (See this post.) If the fabric is not large enough to wrap around a 6" ruler, it goes into the scrap bin. Having a consistent folding technique helps maintain the organization long term.

Lest you think that everything is perfectly perfect over here, this is was hanging out just out of the frame of the previous photo. (See? I AM a normal quilter and a real person. Hahahaha!)

I shuffled the piles a little farther out so I could get a decent picture of the whole corner. I have a bunch of scraps that I need to get in order next, but one step at a time....right? It feels good to have the stash neat and tidy, at least.

 

Ok, that's it for me today! Now it's your turn to link up your finishes. Thanks, as always for joining me for finish it up Friday!

 

 

a little of everything

I've been walking around my house singing "it's the MOST wonderful time of the year", but in a slightly sarcastic manner. I just can't seem to keep up! I know I'm not alone, but I still don't care for the ridiculous pace of early to mid December. This post is a little random, so please bear with me! :)

Thank you so much for the sweet comments on my gingham quilt! I had a few requests to see the pillows a little better, so here you go. I made pillowcases with Lotta dots in Coral, the chenille pillow shams were made from an old bedspread and the kindness pillow was finished earlier this year. I love the simplicity of the whole ensemble. It makes me smile every time I walk into my room! It's wonderful to have new bedding to brighten up the dreary winter days.

I've been working on a lot of different things this week...

I started knitting an origami top hat for a friend. I LOVE this shockingly pink yarn. It's been a great project to work on while I'm on the go.

This panel of hexies is part of a larger project that I will share more of soon. I estimated that it's taken me between 12 and 16 hours JUST to sew the hexagons together. Sometimes it's better NOT to count the hours. Hahaha! It did force me to just sit down for awhile, AND they are super cute, so it was totally worth it!

My neighbor ordered a pincushion to give as a gift, so I made one for her as well. I had a blast making these from my teeny tiny scraps.

And, I had to make an extra one, just for good measure. It felt so good to finish SOMETHING! Playing with scraps and finishing a few small projects was just the boost I needed to keep going.

 

I hope you are able to find a few moments in this busy time of year to breathe and enjoy the little things, too!

miscellaneous Monday

Last Thursday & Friday I had the chance to visit Stitch Supply Co. in Altoona, Wisconsin. The store has been open for just over a year and this was my first visit. (For shame!) While I was there, I had the chance to take part in a retreat with a few good friends. The retreat space is AMAZING!!! (I failed to take photos, but you can see some here.) The store is quite lovely, too! Lots of amazing fabric, which made it overwhelming....but in a good way!

The first thing that you see when you walk in the front door is this amazing paper pieced elephant quilt that Ann made. Isn't it beautiful? (Pattern is by Violet Craft.)

There is a lot of gorgeous yarn at the shop, too. Everything is as cute as can be! The staff was wonderful and helpful! If you ever get a chance to stop by the shop, DO IT! :)

I took a bunch of tiny scraps to play with while I was there. They were literally flying. Hahaha! I did some tiny piecing.... I can't wait to get back to these scraps and do some more!

This mini is a brighter version of my remainders quilt (pattern is in No Scrap Left Behind). The mini measures about 10" x 12 1/2" and it took me all afternoon and evening to make it. It was totally worth it, though! I am planning on making a bright & white lap size version of this quilt sometime soon. Can't get enough of those tiny triangles!

I also made a 9 patch mini quilt, which took slightly less time. The squares in the 9 patch blocks finish at 1". That feels big to me....which is actually quite disturbing. Ha! The mini is about 15" square.

I immediately used the binding triangles from the mini above to make a little star pincushion. (Pattern for the pincushion can be found here.) The background fabric is a lovely chambray by Andover, which I also used in the mini. It's such a great fabric, so I bought a yard of it. It will be fun to incorporate into all kind of projects! I already gifted the pincushion. I LOVE giving them away!

On Saturday, I did my first trunk show and class from my new book at Gruber's Quilt Shop. Many thanks to the wonderful women who attended! It was a great day! It was awesome to finally show all the quilts that I worked on in secret in my basement for 6 months! It was also inspiring to see how the students dove into their scrap piles. Lots of fun, lots of progress!

I've been doing some stash enhancing lately.... these goodies below were purchased at quilt con, actually, from Cassie of Sew Stitching Happy. She makes the cutest bundles!

I finally broke down and bought an Uppercase fabric bundle while I was at Stitch Supply....such great colors. Such good blenders! My daughter squealed when she saw it. She wanted to claim it for her very own. I think we will be sharing it. Maybe.

I also purchased a quilt kit.... my first one ever! The fabric is Tag, by Cheryl Arkison for Connecting Threads. The pattern is Arithmetic by Jeni Baker. I'm super excited about this quilt!

One last thing for the day....

While I was at quilt con, I was on a panel about stash management, which was a lot of fun! When they showed this photo (above), there were several audible groans from the audience. Well, just to set the record straight, here's the rest of the story....

 ...this is the other side of the room. It needs a good cleaning!

And here's the reality of my cutting table today. See, I'm a normal quilter, after all!

Happy Monday to you!

let it go...

A few weeks ago, I gave away my epic quilt top. Yes, that's right. I sent it to a friend.

I had so many emotions wrapped up in this quilt. I didn't know if I loved....or even liked it, for that matter. A few different times I put it on my bed, just to see if I could convince myself that I loved it. I wasn't feeling it! Granted, it was just a quilt top, so the quilting could have helped it. Washing and drying probably would have helped, as well. I couldn't decide what to back it with and it was nagging at me. For some reason, I was quite unsettled about it all. It was really strange! So, one day, I called a friend and asked her if she wanted it. She said, "wouldn't say no", and I sent it off the very next day. At first I felt a little bit weird about it, but I'm so relieved that it went to a good home. She already has plans for it! I've had a few weeks to think about it, and I'm super happy with my decision. After all.....It's all just fabric, right?

(There's a reason why I have this hanging in my sewing room! Some days I need the reminder.) I still have plenty of scraps from making the quilt top, which I have plans for....but more on that later.

As for my new bed quilt, I have a plan for that as well!

This is a twin sized string quilt, but I've been using it as a second layer on my bed. I love the way it looks in my room, so I'm going to make a larger version of it. I'm super excited about my new plan. After all, you can't go wrong with scrappy! :) And....

...it just so happens that my string basket is literally overflowing. Perfect timing!

 

Have you ever passed along a project that you were stuck on (or had a hang up with)? Did you feel relief? Or did you later change your mind? If you have had a similar experience, I'd love to hear about it!

epic quilt top complete



Thanks to my younger two kiddos, who played together quite nicely on Saturday, my epic quilt top is finished! I think it will work out just fine and dandy on my bed! Now, to figure out what kind of backing to make for this huge quilt....it measures approximately 110" x 99". (!!!!)

The block measurements can be found in this post, and the construction methods can be found in this post, (although I pressed the seams open on this one).

The fabrics are from various Denyse Schmidt lines, including Hope Valley, Chicopee, Ansonia, Shelburne Falls, Hadley, Florence, and a few prints from her lines at JoAnn's.

I haven't said it in awhile, and I can not say it enough. Thank you for stopping by, reading and taking the time to comment on my blog. It means so much!

Happy Monday to you!

floor pouf

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

For something a little different today...I made a floor pouf for my home!

I actually bought a kit (which might be a first for me) from Modern Textiles. I fell in love with the floor poufs while they were still developing the pattern. It was a fun, practical project and I highly recommend it!

The pouf is filled with a combination of wool batting, (the old, old stuff that we would never put in quilts these days) along with some fabric scraps, batting scraps and a little bit of polyester fiberfill to the top to keep the top nicely rounded. There is an insane amount of filling in it!

I made sure to fill it quite densely, as recommended by the pattern, so it can be used as an ottoman or even a chair for a little person. My kids love it! This one was made using decorator fabric, but you KNOW that I'm already dreaming of making a scrappy version. :) 

 

It's so nice to have a BIG finish to share today!

 

I also wanted to give you a heads up...Craftsy is having their best sale of the year right now and it runs through Monday, 11/30/15. All classes are $19.99 or less, so if you had your eye on one, now is the time to purchase! I'm currently taking the class Basics of Digital Photography, which is fabulous. It's about time that I actually learn how to use my camera properly! On the quilting front, I'm taking Jacquie Gering's class Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot, which is filled with great information. I've been watching both classes as I trim HST blocks and while I am chain piecing. It's so nice to be able to maximize my time and keep my mind occupied while I do those mundane quilting tasks. My class, Colorful Scrap Quilting is on sale, too! Craftsy classes never expire, so you can watch on your own timeline and re-visit the lessons as often as you like. That's a good thing! 

 

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday! Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

an epic thrift store day

I had a bunch of errands to run today (along with everyone else in the country!) and one of the fun stops was the thrift store. Man, I cleaned up today!!!

First up, this funky, but super fun rug. I paid 79 cents for it! It is so fabulously homemade! I thought I would put it in my kitchen, but it's a little small for that, so it will either end up in one of my bathrooms or else by the side of my bed.

I love, love, LOVE the color scheme. I think I need to build a quilt around this color palette! It's so good!

This shelf was obviously homemade in someone's garage.....and I love that it's not quite symmetrical. :) I've been on the lookout for something tall and skinny with storage for my sewing room. This is just the ticket!

I found a board in my garage (already cut to the perfect size) and I covered it to use as an ironing board. I only paid $11.99 for the shelf and the rest of the materials were things that I had on hand. The best part? I got the project done within a few hours after I got home. Hurray! Oh, and my husband approves of it, so THAT'S good, too! Ha!

I covered the top with the tomato red cross stitch print from my good neighbors fabric line. I kind of love it! I purposely chose a darker color to cover it with so hopefully it will wear well and last for a long time.

And the last deal of the day....this quilt is hand made, tied and it is in really good condition. I paid $7.99 for it. I certainly don't NEED another quilt, (are you laughing with me yet?) but for that price I just couldn't leave it there!!! I love it so much!

When you add it all up, I spent less than $23 total! I'm thrilled!

This is my favorite week of the year...and thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday. For those of you in the States, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a wonderful, blessed day! xo

mini coffee cups

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

First off, thank you so very much for all your kind comments on my 9 year blog birthday post. I appreciate each and every one! xo

Today I've got a few mini quilts to share. I came up with this design to go with my good neighbors fabric line. I had to test out the pattern on other fabric first, so I have two versions to share. One with a scrappy background and one without. I love seeing different versions of a single pattern anyway, so it all works out! :)

I went through some trial and error before landing on the right proportions.

block 1--the corner cut outs are a little too big...the mug looks tippy.

block 2--the corner cut outs are a little too small--you can barely see them.

block 3-just right! (This is, of course, after I made several coffee cups that were huge and some resembled beer steins. True story...they were hideous! Haha!)

And here is the good neighbors version! It has a single background rather than a scrappy one.

For this version, I quilted it with wavy lines (stitch #19 on my Janome Horizon) which kind of looks like steam rising. Isn't that fun? I love how different the two versions are! SO many possibilities.

The pattern can be purchased here and there are kits of the good neighbors version available here.

This one hangs in my kitchen/dining room and I smile every time I see it! I love it so much!

I have plans to make a whole quilt (lap size or larger!) out of these mini coffee mugs....some. day.

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!