Our First Baby Gift!

Paul and I registered at Target on Saturday as we're having a couple showers in the next few months and Paul will be gone almost all of Nov. due to work/hunting. As soon as I told Jen she went online and ordered a gift for us. She made me promise that I would open it as soon as it came and not wait for any showers. So without further ado.... the opening of the gift.
First let me say the box was heavy. It was sitting on our steps and took up the whole top step. I scooted it into the living room to open it. I think I could hide my niece in this box it's so huge.

It was wrapped in a cool reusable fabric gift bag.

As I pulled it out, the card was attached to the drawstrings.

The card from the Jen's! Oh I'm so excited to open it now.

It's a pack 'n play! I was so excited to get this as it has the bassinet part and we're planning to use it that way for the first couple months until we get the crib.

Thank you so much to the Jen's for this awesome gift! We can't wait to use it. Paul will be hauling it upstairs though! It's dang heavy and awkward to carry.

More Trick or Treat Bags

Last night I had to get busy and finish the trick or treat bags for my co-workers. I had all 5 cut out, but just needed to finish them. Luckily my little bro had time to visit and we chatted almost the entire time I was making these. It was so fun to catch up with him and hear how happy he is now. He almost sounds like a new guy! I filled all the treat bags and took them to work today. I'll give them away to some of my co-workers and friends.

I'm looking forward to starting the next crown royal quilt for my little bro this time. He's really in need of it now and I think it will be fun to make for him, knowing he's ready to appreciate it. I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll figure something out and get it made for him. Any ideas for patterns would be appreciated. I'm thinking something simple with 4.5" blocks in the center.

Aunt Vi's Double Knit Quilt Tops Done!

Mom has been busy working on the 9 patches for Aunt Vi's second quilt for the past few weeks while I was quilting the first one. We got together at my house on Wed. night and layed them out and started sewing them together. When it got to a point where only one person could sew the seams together, mom took out the leftover blocks. We had enough 12" blocks to put with some 4 patches to make a smaller throw quilt. While I sewed the 9 patch together, mom made 4 patches. We layed them out and we started sewing it into a throw. When it got to the main seams, she sewed them together and I finished the big seams on the 9 patch. By the end of the evening I had the 9 patch together and she had 3 row seams to sew together. She completed them yesterday, so both are ready to be quilted! We are getting so close to being done with this project. I have the backing and binding for the throw, so I can get started on it this weekend. We'll have to get the backing next week sometime for the 9 patch. It's about 90x108.
I took a few pictures of the 9 patch, but it was kind of hard, since it's so big.

This one is where I threw it over my frame.

Wallets

Last night I got busy and made a couple wallets. The first was a wonder wallet for my mom's new purse. It turned out really cute and I'm sure she'll get lots of good use out of it, in addition to the checkbook cover I made for her.

Then I made a cash and carry wallet. I made the large size, but now I'm thinking I may make the small size too. I think it turned out cute, but I could have gone with a lighter colored zipper. It was really easy to make, but different than many patterns I have followed before, so it took some extra time to make it. I'm usually more of a winger when it comes to reading patterns, but for this one I actually needed to do it as the pattern said. Luckily it was a very easy to follow pattern.

Mom's New Purse

This year I decided to make my parents bags for their anniversary. My dad got the pheasant bag and a ladies bathroom bag. My mom wanted a purse with a zipper. I've had the fabric for a while, but just hadn't gotten around to making it. I cut it out and started Sat. night, but was too busy texting and talking on the phone to get much done. Sunday, when I finally got to my studio, I was able to get it made. I think it turned out really cute and will make a nice fall purse.
This is the front with pockets.

I decided not to put pockets on the back like mine has, because it becomes easy to loose stuff in the pockets.

I also had enough to cut out the checkbook cover which I got made Sun. too. I have enough fabric to make a wonder wallet, but I ran out of steam Sun. night. Last night I had my graduate class and after it was over I couldn't move. I was exhausted! I decided to try hand sewing, which I only got about half of one side done on a baby quilt, before calling it a night. Hopefully tonight will be a bit more productive!

Noah's Ark Baby Quilt

Wednesday I was invited to a shower for a co-worker who is having a baby about the same time I am. The shower is this coming week and with not much time, I decided if I could find a panel, I could get it quited and bound in time. She's having a little girl, but I couldn't resist this panel that I would consider unisex. It's a whimsical Noah's Ark and I love the fish border, which is also what I used for binding. The panel is 36x42 and the perfect size for quilting and binding without adding borders. I wish there were more panels made like this. I got the panel and loaded it on the frame Wed. I did a pass worth of quilting Thurs. night to show Jenn. Then last night I finished quilting and put the binding on it.

I used a pastel King Tut on top and a cream Bottomline. I did a large meander and used Warm and Natural batting. I love how it turned out and I think the new mom will love it.

Today Paul and I went to town mid morning. I actually got to sleep in for the first time in months! We were checking into upgrading my cell phone plan. We know that it will be taken over by AT&T in Jan, so will have to get new phones then, but I was ready for an upgrade. I took the plunge and upgraded to a new blackberry since it was super cheap. I guess they are running specials to get everyone into smartphones before joining AT&T. I spent the afternoon downloading apps and getting it set up, but so far I'm in love with it! Paul and I also went to Target and did our baby registry. It was actually pretty fun, minus the fact that we really don't know what we'll need.
I tried to sew tonight, but I didn't get very far. I visited on the phone and just couldn't get in the mood. I finally just quit before I made too many major mistakes.

Cowgirls One Block Wonder

Last night Jenn came out for an evening of sewing and chatting. We had a great time catching up and visiting while we sewed the night away. Jenn worked on a new quilt, similar to a bricks and stepping stones quilt only the stepping stones are strips. It's really looking cool. I worked on the Cowgirls One Block Wonder. Since I had it all cut out, I just had to piece the blocks together. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 to make and I think I got almost 40 pieced last night. I haven't pinned them together to lay out yet, but I did get them in stacks.
This is the original fabric I'm using for the OBW.

I put a few up on the design wall last night, just to see how it would look.

I definately will have to play with the placement as I can see there is a lot of brown in this picture. It was so relaxing working on these last night. I was able to sew and visit without making mistakes and they went together quickly. I realized last night that I made these 4.5" and I must have made the Koi fish OBW about 3 or 3.5" because they were a lot smaller and I had a ton more of them to make. I remember spending days piecing them and weeks putting it together. I always enjoy spending time sewing with Jenn. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the blocks up this weekend.

I have a baby quilt on the frame for a co-workers baby shower that is next week, so I need to finish it up and get the binding on it. I showed Jenn how I quilt with my machine/frame last night, so I did get a good start on it. I found a 36"x42" panel that I could quickly quilt without having to put borders on. I think more panels should be made like this. They are the perfect size and no piecing is required, so they are fast to make!
It's Friday, so Paul will be home tonight. We're hoping to get registered for baby this weekend and do some Fall organizing. I'm sure it will be a busy weekend. No hunting this weekend, but deer season is only 3 weeks away, so lots to get done before then.

It's a Baby Quilter!

It's been almost 2 months since we had our ultrasound and Baby Stephens is growing a little ahead of schedule. Paul decided we would find out and I've kept all my friends and family in suspense as to what we were having. I even bought this fabric and took a picture in black and white so no one would know if it was  a boy or a girl.

It's a baby girl quilter!  I took this awesome flannel and turned it into a nice warm blanket for our new little girl. Being a winter baby, I know I'll need to keep the baby warm and snuggly.

I used a pink with white dots minkee type fabric on the back. It's super cuddly

I just love the fabrics together and the feather stitch I used to put it together. It turned out super cute!
My SIL and I were discussing things to register for and she said well you'll need blankets, but I'm guessing you won't need to register for those. We both laughed! This is just the first of many baby blankets I'll probably make. Yet it's the only one I've made since we found out.


As for a name, we're still in the debating stage and we won't share that until the babies arrival. We're looking forward to a very Happy New Year with our little bundle of joy.

Will it be a girl or a boy ???

Take your best guess... Will we be having a boy or a girl??? Accepting comments through tomorrow night, when I'll share our baby's gender with all of you. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks. The baby blanket from this cute fabric has been made and it's time to share the news with my blogging friends.

Aunt Vi's Double Knit Quilt

Last week I was bound and determined to finish Aunt Vi's Double Knit quilt. I made the backing and loaded the quilt on Tues. night. I got about 3 passes done when I realized the last pass had bad tension, so I took it out. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I left it. It was a case of after 10 PM and tired does not make a quilter think straight!  Wed. night I figured out that it just needed to be rethreaded and did a few more passes. I figured if I did about 4 passes a night I could finish in a week. If you haven't worked with Double Knit, it's not fun! It stretches various ways and shifts horribly. But I was determined! Thurs. night I started to do a couple passes and when I was just ready to quit, I realized I only had 2 -3 passes left, so I finished it up and took it off the frame!
I used a blue varigated Robinson Anton thread in both the top and bobbin which worked really well. It turned out awesome, although I went through 10 bobbins! I couldn't get quite 2 passes per bobbin. I realized I should have used bottomline, but oh well, live and learn. I still have a huge cone of the stuff to get rid of.



It was such a rush to finish the quilt that I trimmed it up and packed it up to go to my parents this weekend. Mom and I cut out the binding and I put it on at her house. I still have to sew it to the top, but it will only take me a half hour or so to do that tonight. I'm so glad to have this one finished. Mom is working on a second and third top, so I'm not done by any means, but the next one I think I'm going to just quilt wavy lines through the 9 patch blocks.
It was such a good weekend! The Grand Opening of Fabric City was held on Fri/Sat. There was a Pattern Party by Karri of Blank Quilting and I learned some cool new ideas to use with the 60* ruler. Saturday we had a parade and demos. The crowd was huge and everyone was having a great time. The sale was awesome and I think everyone enjoyed taking home a few new items. It was a fun day!
Sat. night Paul and I went to my parents. I had taken 3 projects I needed mom's big cutting table for. Sat. night I cut out a baby blanket and got it pinned. I hope to get it sewn up in the next few days and then I can show you what we'll be having. I also cut and bound Vi's quilt Sat. night. Sunday, with the "help" of my niece, my mom helped me stack the Cowgirl fabric for a One Block Wonder quilt. I'm so looking forward to starting it. I ended up having to bring about 3 rows home that still need to be cut into triangles, but they are pinned well! It took me about 2 hours to press and cut it out.
Paul and my dad went hunting Sun. morning and got a grouse and several prairie dogs, so Paul was happy, but his shot gun broke, so he'll have to get a new one. He borrowed a gun from my brother and went hunting with my bro and SIL  mid morning and again after lunch for pheasants. It was opening weekend, but they didn't have much luck.
We got back last night in time for me to finish my paper and get it submitted for my class. Paul got packed up and is gone for another week now. I have class 2 nights and a fun sewing night with my friend Jenn scheduled! I'm so looking forward to sewing with her.

Fall Into Fall Giveaway Winner!

The winner of my Fall Into Fall Giveaway is Brittainy!

Thanks for all the awesome advice and I look forward to the arrival of my new quilting helper in January. Next month I think we'll have a pool going to see who can guess the date the baby comes.  

Trick or Treat Bags

Monday night was my first live session of my graduate class for the quarter. I had planned to do homework after it was over, but my brain was fried, so I sewed instead. I made 5 little treat bags. They turned out super cute! I still have 5 more of the opposite contrasts to do, but it was getting late, so I quit. I didn't realize how small they were going to be, but I just love what they look like, so I think they'll be great for little gifts for friends.

Last night I worked on more hand work on my Baby Blocks tablerunner. I have it about half done. Then I made the backing and loaded the double knit quilt for Aunt Vi. I made two passes which were great, then the next one the tension was totally off. It was so bad I had to take it out. After 30 min. of taking it out, it was late and I gave up for the night. I couldn't figure out what was causing it either, so I'll have to see if I can figure it out when I'm not so tired. I'm thinkin maybe a new needle and I lowered the bar a bit. I've gone through 2 bobbins already because I'm using Robinson Anton thread. It's going to take 20 bobbins at the rate I'm going. I'm going to concquer this quilt if it kills me and it just might. Double Knit is very hard to keep from stretching and the seams are lumpy.  Here's hoping I can finish it this week yet.

A Few Finishes!

This weekend I felt like I got a lot done, but not a lot to show. Saturday night I cut the bias binding for my tree skirt that turned into a table topper instead. I just couldn't cut the hole in it, knowing it looked so good on our round dining room table. Then I worked on binding two samples for the store. I got the binding sewn on and pinned down before calling it a night.
Sunday after church and a nap, I worked on a couple bathroom bags for Paul. I was able to get both of them finished.


He decided he liked the largest one best and took it with him.

I machine sewed the binding down on the two sample quilts, which took me several hours. I just always think binding is going to go faster than it really does. While Amazing Race and Undercover Boss were on, I did the handsewn binding for my tree skirt/table topper and got it done. It went a lot faster than I expected! I also cut out and started 10 bags for Halloween treats. I planned to give one to my niece and I bought way more fabric than I needed, so I'll have a few extras. I'm thinking my co-workers might each get a little bag of treats too. I forgot to get the ribbon to use for handles, so I'll have to make a quick stop at the fabric store sometime this week to pick it up.

So far we have 4 participating in the UFO Sew Down! Feel free to join in and get your name in the hat for several cool prizes!

Essence Tablerunners

Fabric City opened in Jan. of this year and one of the first lines in the store was Essence by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I absolutely fell in love with it, even though it's really not my normal colors. I bought a layer cake, dessert roll, and a honeybun, plus some yardage to make two tablerunners for class samples. I made the Sweet Escape Tablerunner and the Fresh Bloom Tablerunner. I even had the Baby Blocks Tablerunner cut out, but just never got it made. All the patterns are from Heather Mulder Peterson's On the Run tablerunner book.  I've been working on it for the last few days and I had it in strips last night. I figured out I had enough of the purple circles to border it, so I used it and quickly finished the top. It was still early and I had enough fabric for backing for 2 tablerunners, so I put it on the frame and quilted it up. I did make it one strip wider than the pattern called for, but it still makes a nice size tablerunner.

I did swirls on this one, which I haven't done in forever, but they were so fun to do! The swirls reminded me of the circles in the fabric. I used a purple King Tut verigated and a cream bottomline. The backing is the same circles, but in the teal.

As I finished quilting this one, I wasn't sure what I was going to use for binding. I only had one dessert roll strip left. I cut my strips 1.625 to get the widest strip I could and still have enough to go around the whole quilt. I did a narrower seam when I put it on, but it will work and no one will know the difference.

I also quilted the Essence Ripple Effect tablerunner I had made at the quilt retreat back in September. I just did a small meander on it. I used a teal King Tut on top and a cream Bottomline. I had enough of the teal to bind it, so I got the binding on it as well. I should be able to make good progress on the handwork on these since it's raining today and I don't think we'll be walking at break time.  I've made all the tablerunners I'm going to make from this line, unless I use the leftover honeybun strips for a small table topper or something. I have quite a few of those left, but no pattern to use them with. I also have a 3" high stack of tumbler blocks cut out from the layer cake. I used a few of the layer cake pieces for the Fresh Bloom tablerunner and cut the rest into 5" charms. Back before the quilt retreat I cut them into tumblers. I'm hoping to get a throw size quilt out of them. I have enough backing for a tumbler quilt and binding for that quilt and then I should be done with the Essence fabric. I love it, but I've gotta use it before fall is over!

My hubby comes home tonight, so last night I quickly whipped up this bathroom bag for him. I think it's a little small, so I'm going to have him decide before I cut the fat quarter sized piece up and make another bag. It was quick and easy and I hope he likes it. It's made from the leftovers of a pair of shorts I made him last year.



After such a productive night I'm hoping I'll get a lot done this weekend too! I trimmed up the tree skirt/table topper and need to make bias binding for it. I have a purse I'd like to get made for my mom and I have 2 quilts to bind for the store. I've also got to check my UFO list and see what projects need to be added to it. UFO Sew Down 2010 starts on Sunday!