May quilting

 May is already flying by and since I have self-imposed deadlines, I knew it was going to go quickly. 

Yesterday we celebrated with my brother's family as his daughter was confirmed. It was a beautiful day. It's the first time we've all been together for a picture since a few years ago.

Saturday we were at my brother Jim's ranch for their branding. My brother Ed's girlfriend Rebecca was with us while he was at a shooting tournament. It was hot in the afternoon and by the time we branded it was cold and rainy. I was sopping wet. 

Paul helped with branding too. 

I picked out fabrics for my heart bargello and started cutting it out last week. 

I finished up this butterfly and dragonfly quilt for a special cousin. I hope to gift it this week. 

My hairstylist wanted to gift this fabric as a bag to a co-worker, so I made it for her. It's a panel like fabric and I quilted it and then made the bag. 

 

This week I'm working on binding a baby quilt and making a rag quilt for my cousin's son for graduation. I only have 2 weeks and I need to get working on it at a faster pace!

Binding Week

 This week was dedicated to binding quilts. I have lots of quilts quilted, but they were sitting waiting for binding, so my goal this week was to get 4 quilts bound.

I started binding the Twister table toppers I made for Julie. The little one is 17" and the big one is 25". They turned out great, but the binding on those inside corners was a nightmare. I should have stitched and flipped instead of quilting them. 

I used a Sweetwater fabric that has brands and barbed wire on it. 

Here they are stacked on top of each other. I hand-stitched the binding on these this week. 

I also made a wall hanging for my friend Pat for her birthday. She loves the Sakura fabric and while it's a month late, she completely understands. I hand sewed the binding on this one too. 

I added the binding by machine to the 3rd ABC quilt. I now have 2 baby quilts for when I need them for gifts. I was one piece short and had to look hard to find the extra binding fabric. 

I also did the binding on this Quilts of Valor quilt I made for a family member. It turned out super cute and I think he'll like it. 

I did loops and stars in RWB King Tut on this one. 

This weekend I put the binding on June, the quilt along from last year with GE Designs. I love this one, but I think it's going to be a teacher's gift. 

I used Glamping Gypsies fabric for this one. It's 73X93, so it's big! I quilted it the long ways as I had extra-wide red backing. 

Yesterday I got new struts put on my car. Look how shiny and pretty they are!

My brother has a new auto business and he put them on for me. It gave me a chance to visit with him and catch up without the whole family around. He does such good work. 

Last week I did my last gig of the school year with a career fair at Spearfish High School. I also did one at Stevens High School the same night. It was a lot of fun and my co-worker Susie went with me to the event. 

Saturday I helped 15 4-Hers make tote bags for our Pizza and Craft Day. It was a lot of work, but the kids had fun and they made some adorable bags. There were 4 sewing machines, a mom, dad, and a grandma who helped, and lots of different outdoor fabrics for tote bags. They were simple lined totes with webbing for handles. This is the 3rd year in a row that the kids have done a sewing project. 

Last week of February

This week is already flying by so quickly. We've had 2 late start mornings and I feel like we may have another one tomorrow. Monday was President's Day and I had big plans for a quilting day at my dad's house after the kid's dentist appointments. The weather was supposed to be bad (6" of snow and below 0 temps), so I changed the plan. I decided Friday that I would go out on Saturday afternoon, after morning haircuts. I worked on the side borders for this quilt until 10:30 Friday night (after my birthday supper at Fuji Steakhouse). I couldn't get them on right, so I went to bed. While Paul took the kids to haircuts, I finished the borders, mopped the floors, cleaned up the kitchen, and sorted laundry. 
Saturday after lunch the kids and I went to Dad's house to quilt. I quilted this little boy quilt for Jace, the son of our work-study student Megan. Then I quilted my pillow swap (which I'll show after it's received) and the HST Valentine L'Amour table runner. 

It was going so well and it was only 2:30, so I loaded my Hey June quilt which is 73"x97". It is a big one, but I knew I had time to quilt it. The machine would not work! I messed with it for 30 minutes before giving up! I set up mom's sewing machine and fixed my dad's shirts and a couple things for his wife. I put everything away and decided I'd come back another day. I moved the quilting machine and it worked! It literally was like God said, "fix your dad's mending". I would have otherwise put him off. 

Thursday I had a foot doctor appointment and had enough time to finish sewing this quadrant of my EPP quilt. 

So I quilted Hey June horizontally (as I had 1" of backing and batting on each side). It was meant to be quilted this way. It quilted up beautifully after the break! I couldn't find anything else that could or would have caused the issue. I don't know who this will go to, but it's quilted and that's what matters. I used wide back red and 124" wide white warm & white batting from the Sewing Center. After it was done, I quilted a 40" square of purple Homemade fabric to make some more by Annie bags/patterns. I didn't have a plan, but I just quilted up the fabric and will cut it out later when I decide what to make with it. 

Last night I sewed the binding on my pillow swap pillow, my valentine's table runner (but was short, darn it!) and then I had put these by my table to finish as needed. I ended up sewing the binding I had cut on these 2 table toppers. I just gave them to a student for an adoption fundraiser he is helping with this weekend. I didn't have any other thing planned for them and it just felt like they would help that cause. 

Monday night I finished the binding on Jace's quilt. I think it turned out pretty cute for a "scrap quilt". I was kind of kicking myself for spending $40 on backing and more background for a scrap quilt (which I think of as a free quilt), but I know it was the right decision to spring for the minkee backing. I did frankenbatt the batting together from scraps, so that was free too. 
 
Sunday night Mathew and I played his new Monopoly game. Friday was the 2 year anniversary of my cancer sister's DMX. I wore my Heidi shirt to work as I celebrated what being a survivor means for me. Harmony is the background quilt. 

Teacher Gifts

Each year I plan to make a quilt for the kids teacher's gift for Teacher Appreciation Week. This year I really struggled to find something that they would each like (because I don't know them well and nothing on their intro info gave me a clue). I did a bit of FB stalking to get a clue and asked the kids. 

For my daughter's main teacher I made a Random Shuffle quilt with minkee on the back. Glamping Gypsies is the fabric. She loves camping and biking. 

I used the same label and customized it. 

For my son's main teacher I did NE Huskers and a modified 5 yard quilt. I put Luxe Cuddle on the back. Do you know how hard it is to sew a label on it? Yuck!

My daughter's writing teacher loves to hunt deer and pheasants with her dad (who battled cancer and won), so I knew she loved those things. I made the top and another person wanted to buy it, so I ended up making this as a 2nd one, very similar with more phesants. 

The reading teacher was harder because I knew nothing. I did end up doing this one as I had it cut out and it was all hiking and birds-related, which is what my daughter told me she likes. 

Having been a teacher myself I know how much work goes into teaching. I am so appreciative of the work these teachers do and this is my way of showing it. 

 

National Quilting Day! - Quilting at Dad's House

Saturday was National Quilting Day and I was lucky enough to get to go to Dad's house to drop off the kids for an overnight stay and found some time to quilt too. I made this t-shirt quilt for his wife and quilted it with a primary King Tut verigated thread. 

The backing was an extra-wide gray swirls fabric and went with it really well. I'll bind it in a gray as well. 

I started and almost finished this Hillside Charm quilt with tan minkee on the back. I promised Paul I would leave by 2 and I needed to pick up thread at the Sewing Center before 3, so I left it with 3 rows left to quilt. Turns out the Sewing Center closed at 2pm, but Chad and Tammy were still there, so I was able to get the thread. 

The thread I needed was for Mathew's blanket. It's minkee on the top and luxe cuddle on the back. It's luscious to sleep under it. 

He chose his favorite orange/read Luxe Cuddle. 

The finished Hillside Charm quilt is going to a friend's friend to gift. 

The kids got to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma so we could attend the Construction Industry Awards Banquet. Paul's company won for a residential pool house they completed when he started with the company in July. 

We do not get out often, but we clean up nicely. 

The kids built the best tree fort. They are itching to go back and work on it some more. 

 

Last week of January

For Valentine's Day, my friend Linda hosted a sock exchange. It could be any socks and include anything else we wanted to provide. This was my package from Pam in OH. I love the purple and camping socks and those heart pins are so cool. The kids found the candy quickly. 

Mikaela wanted a new minkee blanket and I quilted this minkee with luxe cuddle on the back. My friend Emilee did the binding for me. It turned out wonderful and Mikaela loves it. 

Mathew needed some additional masks, so I made him a few new ones. 

My leader ender project this week has been mini Brick Road blocks for a table runner. I'm using Glamping Gypsies scraps. 

I'm working on a new baby quilt and these are the giraffe heads. 

Our Chiefs are in the Super Bowl, so we're looking forward to watching on Sunday. 

I finished the Hope quilt along top and bought backing, so I hope to quilt it soon. 

My stash report for January:

In this Month: 14.75

Out This Month: 24 yards
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+9.25 yards of stash used