Graduation 2014

I graduated!  While I've been done since March, on May 17th National American University held commencement at the civic center. Family & friends were able to celebrate with me as I walked across the stage & received my hood. 

Dr. Kerr performed the hooding.

The hood is a symbol of the degree & has the school colors, blue & white,  as well as the degree color, a light tan.

Later in the evening we had a party at the house to celebrate.  It was so much fun!

A Year of Lovely Finishes May Goal Finished

May has completely caught me off guard. I've been doing a gazillion projects that were not on my goals list.  My AYLF goal  for May was to finish my scrappy swoon. Since I'm not really a fan of this quilt I just wanted it done!
Last week I squared it up, put the binding on by machine and did a decorative stitch around the star. I still can't see the star, so I may have to add something to it, but for now it is as done as it is getting.

I used a dark purple Aurifil thread on it,  but ran out, so now I need a road trip to get more. I looked online,  but couldn't tell for sure which one it is. I used a light purple variegated Aurifil thread to do the accent stitching around the star.

I'm so excited that I have been able to finish 5 projects on my UFO list, simply by participating in AYLF and making myself work on them. Here's hoping I get to do some fun projects in June as well.

HIT THE ROAD WITH AMERICAN MADE BRAND

Welcome to the AMB Blog Tour! Designed to take you on an inspired trip across the USA, this blog tour visits all 50 states over 25 days starting May 19th, with no gas required! I am excited and amazed to be part of such an extraordinary group of designers creating a block for this blog tour. I am currently in the process of designing the South Dakota block and look forward to creating a license plate block representing the many faucets of life in this great state. My block will be posted on June 13th.

Every Blogger has been specially selected as a representative of the state they call home. At each stop on the tour, explore how each designer re-interprets their 12″ x 6″ state license plate in a finished quilt block of the same size and sign-up for giveaways of American Made Brand fabric. You’ll find all types of blocks – truly something for everyone! You are going to want to collect them all.

The American Made Brand fabric is truly unique in the quilting industry. It is 100% made in the USA and is so reasonably priced. I can't wait to get my hands on more of it.

So check back every day starting May 19th and explore this great country with AMB; no gas required! The listing of all those participating is located on the AMB blog tour site, with more information about the tour.

Fabulous Sewing Week

This week has been awesome in the sewing studio. We had a few cold days that we stayed inside during break, so I finished up 4 rows of the Sewing Hexie table runner. I think I have only 5 more sections to make into rows and then I can start assembling them. This project has been ongoing for 3 years now, so it's time to get it moving a little faster. My goal for the month is to get 4 rows pieced and I've met that goal.

This week I've been crazy busy creating samples for a Triangle Frenzy Swirl table runner and the Hexagon Table Topper. I got them pieced earlier in the week and last night I burped and quilted the swirl runner. I didn't have the pattern for this one, so I winged it.

I used leftover fabric for the backing. I just did a bit of echo quilting and some hexie's in the center.

I had time to quilt the bigger hexie table topper so I did. This one is also quilted with echo, but I also added hexie's to the centers of the cream. This one I put binding on in black and am working on hand stitching it down. I am loving my new Samsung Galaxy S5 for the picture quality. It is AMAZING compared to my old Windows phone which I HATED!

A close up of the quilting on the topper.

Then because I am crazy and I just wanted to try, I made this miniature. It uses 2.25" triangles and 1/8" seams. It's not perfect, but is pretty cute. I used the leftovers of my strip. Finished size is 8"x 9.5"If I'd had more than 1/4" of the red I think it would have turned out better. Still it was fun to try. I used the #HexNMore Ruler by Jaybird Quilts to make all of these. It is the most universal ruler I have seen for a "specialty" ruler. Mind you, I do have at least 8 60* rulers, but I really like this one because of its versatility.


Linking up for Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts &

Finish it Up Friday

This week has been very productive! I feel confident I can meet my deadlines after this week. I was able to complete two different quilts. I appliqued the stars on this Americana quilt, created a back, basted, and quilted it this week. It is a table topper that will be used as a sample for the Quilt Show in June.

I hadn't appliqued in a long time, but with Totally stable on the back, using the Bernina 1329 stitch, it went together very quickly.

I pulled this large piece of material from mom's stash for the back, but I was just a wee bit short. I pulled this excess piece of the front off and sewed it into the corner.

I'm really intrigued with the new mini quilts on the market. I used some scraps to make this mini Northern Lights quilt. I quilted on the opposite sides of every other color, using thread that matched the unquilted section. It turned out really well and went very quickly. I put the binding on Wed. night and was able hand sew the binding down during breaks yesterday.

My cutting table had become a piling spot for a lot of stuff in the room, including unstarted projects. I was getting frustrated, so I spent some time this week cleaning off my sewing area. I have only the projects I am working on in the box to the left. These include some Candy Dish pillows, Trip Around the World Blocks, and the AMB blog hop block. On my cutting table are a bunch of 60* triangles for a Triangle Frenzy table runner I am making for a class sample. My finished TATW blocks are in my box on the right.

This week I also made Mikaela a little Dora dress. My aunt got the fabric for her, but didn't know about size, so she gave it to me to make. Mikaela's excited for her new dress. She's playing with my new duster. It works so slick to get rid of all the dust around my sewing area.

This week we've done a lot of finger painting. It's been so fun to see her playing with color.


Linking up with Amanda Jean at CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it Up Friday.

Mathew is 17 Months old

Some days it just works out to play outside and take pictures of the kids. Last night on Mathew's 17th month day we got to do a lot of playing. The kids with their Beep Beeps

Mikaela picking up rocks.

Mikaela picking flowers for mommy.

Mathew playing with his beep beep.

Mikaela running. She's constantly on the go.

Mathew showing how well he can walk, even on rocks. He's taken off since he started walking a little over a month ago.

He loves the slide daddy put on the swing set last week.

He went down the slide a lot.


The kids are growing so quickly! He's officially part of the time out club. He knows what is going on and how to get a reaction out of us. He's super cute though, so he gets lots of hugs and kisses.

Random Tuesday

This week has been rather random in my sewing. I keep jumping from project to project and not really getting a whole lot done to show for it. Last night I finished up 5 blocks for a Modern Log Cabin Cross block quilt my friends and I are making for charity. I am having a lot of trouble with these and I am not sure why. I keep running out of fabric when I get about half done. I think I'll have to do a few switcharoos with my friends so I can finish the others up. I need to make a few more too, but couldn't get started last night.

So I switched to this table topper that I am making as a sample for the store. It's turning out cute, but the directions and my seams are not matching up, so instead of pulling, I'm going to cut off the end of the red. I did the blues on Mikaela's machine and my quarter inch wasn't the best.

I started on the appliqued stars last night and got the first 4 done before calling it a night. They turned out pretty good considering it has been a long time since I have done any applique.

I used a blanket stitch on my Bernina and it is turning out great.

The other night the kids and Paul and I went to the park to play. Mathew loved crawling around on the equipment.

Mikaela was enthralled by the teeter totter.

Both kids loved the slides.

They even got daddy to go on the slide.

This weekend we went to the circus. Mikaela got to ride on the pony.

She loved the motorcycles flying through the air.

She was excited to get Minnie Mouse ears too.


It was a great weekend, but not real productive in the sewing room. We are working on a kitchen remodel, so a lot of time playing with the kids and trying to keep them out of daddy's way. Hopefully I'll get a few more projects completed this week. I don't teach this week, so I have an extra night of sewing at home.

A Year of Lovely Finishes Goal

This month I have a lot going on with graduation coming up and a lot of other projects to work on. I've decided to keep my AYLF goal pretty simple. I need to add some embellishment and then bind this Scrappy Swoon. Since it doesn't have a home, I'm hoping this will motivate me to finish it.


Other goals for the month include:
4 Scrappy TATW blocks - Done!
4 Winding Ways Blocks
4 Rows of Sewing Hexies
2 Candy Dish Pillow Tops
Quilt Amish Rubic Star top
Radio Way Mini Top
Triangle Frenzy Swirl Runner
Log Cabin Cross blocks
American Made Block

Lots to do and so little time. I must get busy!

Finish it Up Friday

This week I was a little more productive because I had two sewing nights last weekend. Both Friday and Saturday night I sewed with friends. I finished up a drag blanket for Mathew.

At work during breaks this week I put together the Giraffe. Mikaela loves it.

I finished the two bags for Mikaela's friends.

Last night I made 4 more blocks for my Scrappy Trip Around the World.

I have lots of big goals for this month, so I must get busy and get my samples done. So many projects so little time. Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday.