Bridal Hankies

I read about this cool idea on one of the bridal sites where they used the cut off hem to make bridal hankies for the parents. My dress only had 5" taken off it, so that wouldn't work, so this weekend I made these using my mom's embroidery machine and software. They turned out really cool and last night I did a rolled hem around the edges. I think our parents will like them.

Quick Bag

I made this quick little bag last night from some leftover fabric from my jacket. It turned out really cute and didn't take me long at all. It's about 11X15. I used two pieces of fabric, sewed around all the edges except a little bit on one short side, with the serger. Then I serged the corners off and both ends, turned it inside out, and sewed the bottom of the bag lining with my machine. I put the lining in, and evened it all up, sewed a row along the top and addeded two handles. I serged them, turned, and sewed two rows of stitching down the sides and attached them. I think it will make a great gift for someone who's helping with the wedding. I didn't use a pattern, just let my rotary cutter fly!

Embroidery

This weekend Paul and I went to my parents. We didn't get a very early start because we had to dig out from the snow and it was the first Sat. of the month, so I went to Strip Club at the Quilt Corral Too. They have closed their store at Misteltoe Ranch and moved all the fabric to the QC II. So there are over 8000 bolts of fabric in the store!! We got to see pictures of Joan's quilt that she had displayed at the AQS show in Paducah too.
We arrived in time for Mass and then met with the priest who is marry us. We planned the ceremony and where people are going to sit and who's walking in where. Sunday morning Paul replaced some boards on my parents deck and mom and I worked on some embroidery labels for my quilts and a couple hankies I wanted to make. With her software and embroidery machine it didn't take long to get them all made.
In the afternoon we took the banner over to the church and hung it. We need to figure out something different for the rings as they didn't really stand out the way we wanted them to. Then we went to the wedding shower that was hosted by my godmother. She did an excellent job and we had a great time. We played cards and really had an enjoyable time visiting with the local people. We received some very nice gifts as well. We got home just before 10 and we were both exhausted. Last night we sat down and worked on the thank yous and got those all done. Paul was tired, but I wanted to have them all written and sent today and he helped me with them.
Tonight I plan to sew. I have two projects that require my serger, so I'm going to be getting it out and doing both projects before I put it away again. I wish I could have it set up all the time, but that just doesn't work with my set up, so I make do with it.

April Quilting Accomplishments!

I don't feel like I accomplished a whole lot in April. I think I've done more in May than in the whole month of April.
Quilt related accomplishments:
Bought Emilie Richards Quilting book series and quilt along book,
Made Leslie's Miranda for her birthday,
Made Paul's fish wall hanging,
Received my PIF gift from Joan,
Made the quilters wall hanging Jen gave me,
Appliqued, and quilted, and bound the church banner quilt.

Other Accomplishments: (All wedding related)
Had my trial run of my hair for the wedding and tried on veils,
Made and sent the invitations for the wedding, catfishing, rehearsal and morning after party
Attended my bridal shower in Rapid.

I really have gotten a lot accomplished for May already, but I know I'll be busy with the wedding. It's one month, 2 days till the big day!

Awesome Blizzard!

Okay, I know some of your are ready to scream that a blizzard isn't awesome, but for me it really was today. I got to sew for a whole uninterruped day. Last night I came home in rain at 8:30 and the wind was really starting to blow hard. By this morning when I got up at 6, the snow covered the screens and I couldn't see out. I called our closure line and it said to report at 10. Paul said I don't think you're going to get out as there's a 2 foot drift behind your pickup. I went back to sleep and got up at 8 and called again. This time we were closed for the day. There was no travel advised, the interstate and several state highways were all closed. There were snowplows stuck in the ditches! My little brother is a heavy duty tow truck driver, so he has to go pull out all the trucks that are stuck. They can't do anything while it's blowing, so he was sleeping today, knowing it was going to be a long night and day tomorrow.
So I slept till 11 and then got up and started sewing. I had all my stuff packed as I had taken it last night to sew at the store, which got cancelled because it was supposed to get bad. So I had luckily hauled it all in last night! I started on the medium Miranda bag I was making for myself. I made it 20% smaller, so it's more like a purse than a bag. I also just used one front piece and one back piece instead of two smaller ones.

Then I fixed the purse I had made for my mom. The handles were too long and there wasn't a closure, so I said well give it back and I'll fix it. So I put this closer on it and some velcro as well as took the long handles off and put on 20 inch ones. It turned out really good with the new handles. I didn't like the ones I had put on it when I gave it to her, but she hadn't said anything until last week. So now it's fixed and ready to be returned to her.

Then I took a pack of 8 fat 16th I think they are called that I had been given a couple years ago and made a tablerunner. I know it's really simple, but the lady I'm giving it to works with me and she loves browns and black. I don't particularly like to use these colors, but they worked perfect for this simple impromptu tablerunner. She's graduating next week with her PHD, so I thought she would like this. I didn't think I would have time to get something made, so I planned it to be simple. Thank goodness for the snow today and time to get it done!


Then it was on to my next project of making a cover for the guest book. I found one where I liked the inside, but not the outside, so I decided to make a cover for it. Mom did the embroidery last week and brought it to me and today I made this cover. I just winged it, but it turned out pretty good. I used dark and light purples from the Fairy Frost line. I just love these elegant fabrics and they are so nice to work with. They have a glitter on them. The LQS I got to carries the entire line!

So as if that wasn't enough, I decided to start my May UFO. It was a bag for a friend who loves Wizard of Oz. I had gotten the fabric at a quilt show in March, but hadn't had time to work on it. Today was the day! I made the Miranda bag, including the middle cinch, handles, and closure in under 3 hours! Since I've made 6 Miranda bags already, I guess I just kind of know the pattern. I'm not real impressed with the quilting on it, but I didn't have a lighter thread that would work, so I guess it shows I'm still learning to FMQ.



This afternoon Paul went out with the snowblower and the 4-wheeler with plow and started working on clearing the 4 foot drifts we had behind the vehicles. He was out for 5 hours and only got two of the three out. He even had help from the neighbor who has a tractor! We have a fence by us, so it was acting as a snow fence and all the snow piled past it. Right behind our vehicles! Luckily we didn't have to go anywhere and could enjoy the time at home. I feel like I accomplished so much!
This weekend we are going home to help my brother with their new house and my godmother is throwing a wedding shower for us. It's supposed to be 50 tomorrow, so hopefully the snow will melt fast and we won't have any problems. Otherwise I have several more projects just waiting in the wings to finish up for the wedding!

Church Banner Revealed!

I've been telling about the church banner I was making for the wedding for several weeks now and it's finally time to reveal it!


I quilted all afternoon on Saturday and finally got the quilting done. I wasn't impressed with the sand on the bottom, so Sunday after church I took it all out, went to Hancock's and got basting spray and put all 4 layers together. Then I took out part of the applique, readjusted it and started over again with the quilting and it turned out fabulous. It still needs to be washed and pressed, but I'm happy with how it all turned out. I spent all evening last night hand sewing the hanger down in the back. I am not a fan of handwork! The binding is on and it's ready to go! Just one more thing off the wedding to do list. I'm hoping to make a Miranda bag tonight, so we'll see if that happens.

I got to sew this weekend!

This is probably the last weekend before the wedding where we won't be busy or at my parents house, so I was really looking forward to some sewing time.
I spent several hours quilting the church banner on Saturday afternoon. The last section was giving me fits, so I decided to leave it for a while and work on the quilters wall hanging. Jen sent it to me for my birthday and I bought fabric to border it which was done, so I just had to quilt it and bind it. I ended up getting it quilted and the first half of the binding done before supper. Paul made Manicotti and frenchbread and we had a date night at our house. It was really good. Since it was date night, I put away my sewing and we watched a movie.
Sunday morning I finished pinning the binding in place and after church sewed it down. Last night I finished the hand stitching on the hanger. It looks great and will hang in my sewing studio. Thanks again Jen! I absolutely love it and it'll give me inspiration.

Pay It Forward!

A few weeks ago I decided to participate in a Pay It Forward On Joan's Blog. Well this week while I was sick, I received my pay it forward gift from her. It's a cute little bag and fat quarters and candy. I haven't taken a picture yet, but it's so nice of her. So now it's my turn to Pay it Forward!
I'm going to presume you don't know anything about Pay It Forward. Here are the rules...I will make a gift for the first three bloggers who leave me a comment wishing to participate. They in turn will need to make the same promise on their blog. I waited to post this until I received my PIF from Joan. You could do the same (except your gift will be from ME, not Joan...just clarifying).
The first 3 people to leave a comment asking to participate will receive a handmade gift from me within 365 days (most likely much less than that). Obviously you need to have a blog to participate.
I can't wait to Pay it Forward, so leave me a comment and let me know you want to participate!

Sick of Being Sick!

I am so sick of being sick! I came down with a cold on Sunday and ended up coming home early from work on Monday, stayed home Tues, and Wed. and today I'm back at work, but still don't feel the best. Whenever my co-worker is sick I always tease her about getting a lot of quilting done while being sick, so she had to tease me! I got NOTHING done! I pin basted the church banner on Sat. and it's all ready to be quilted and I haven't had the energy to even touch my machine or go to my sewing room. Tonight is the weekly sewing at the quilt shop, but I'm going home to either veg or sew on my own. I sure hope I get to feeling better!

Bridal Shower

Thursday night was my bridal shower, put on by my two friends who are co-workers. There were 20 people there and I received many nice gifts. My aunt crocheted a piece with my new last name which was really cool and the ladies from the LQS gave me a gift certificate to the quilt shop. Here's a picture of me with the cake.

My bridesmaid from SF came all the way out here for the shower and surprised me. I couldn't believe she came. Here's a picture of Nichole, me, and my friend Becca who is one of my personal attendants.

The shower was so much fun and a nice variety of friends, co-workers, and family.

Reality is setting in!

Reality is starting to set in and it finally feels like the wedding is getting closer! No I'm not stressing out! I started stressing about a month ago one night when my mom, Paul, and his mom Leslie were all at the house. Leslie and my mom decided they would drink a beer every time I got stressed out about something for the wedding. I said you can't do that you'll both be alcholics! My mom said, well then shape up. Sooooo, so far I haven't really stressed yet, or my mom will say where's the beer and I just let it go.
I haven't really been anxious yet, but this week I had to make a few calls to ask people to help and to confirm details. I got a lot of things taken care of and I feel pretty good about what is left. The church banner top is done and we are going to baste it on Fri. I'm hoping to get it quilted this weekend. We are also planning on completing the invitations and getting them mailed out this next week. We're at 7 weeks to the wedding!
Yesterday I received our first shower gift from a friend who won't be able to make the shower as she is having surgery. It was so fun to open it! Tomorrow night is my bridal shower up here. Two of my friends who are co-workers are throwing the shower. I really had good intentions of having a signiture quilt done, but that didn't happen and it doesn't look like it's going to get done before the wedding, unless I get really bored, so everyone will have to sign the boring book. What kind of quilter doesn't have a signiture quilt for her own wedding. I seriously am considering just getting a big piece of white fabric and having everyone sign it and making a wall hanging later and using it as the back. Who knows what will happen by then.
I'll leave you with pictures of my hair done on Saturday as practice for the wedding. We went and tried on veils and it was snowing/raining/ windy, so it went flat in a hurry. I really wanted a tiara, but after trying them on, I didn't find anything I liked or was willing to pay for. I do like the length of the veil though, so I'll be working on making that too.

Sunday Sewing!

Although I needed to work on the church banner and applique the star on, I just didn't feel like sewing for the wedding yesterday, so I decided to make this wallhanging for Paul. He helped me pick out the fabric and I have enough to probably make two more just like it. I used steam a seam 2 and traced the pattern, put it on the fish fabric, cut it all out and appliqued it to the blue background. It actually turned out really well and I even did a small stipple on the fish. Paul helped me pick a King Tut thread that matched perfectly and I was really pleased with the results of my first attempt at small stippling. I kind of wanted to do the blue, but didn't have the right color thread, so left it and did the green border with Bottomline thread which worked well too. It's supposed to resemble a Rainbow Trout and then the small inner border is kind of like a rainbow.
Christine Bump of Quilts and Stithes, who makes these patterns is local and she has several out already. I have the deer head which I am making for my dad and possibly my bros and Paul and the fish. She also has a moose, elk, buffalo, horse, mountain cougar, and maybe others. She's working on a Pheasant.

Leslie's Miranda Bag

Friday was Paul's mom's birthday, so with all the events of last week I wasn't home enough to finish up her Miranda bag for her birthday, so Sunday I finished it up. It' kind of a dark coral, pink/orange color that she picked out and I mixed it with a blue/purple batik that looks pretty cool together. I even put in the cinch which works great. She loved it! I put 40" handles on it as that's what she wanted and though the picture color isn't very good, you can still see what it looks like.

Paul's PJ Pants

In December I made Paul PJ pants for Christmas, but since then I haven't gotten a picture of him in them. I was updating my quilt journal this weekend, so while he had them on I snapped a picture. They are of construction tools, since he's a custom home builder, they are perfectly fitted to him. Yesterday he spent the whole afternoon in the garage making frames for presents for our family for the wedding. He does such an awesome job! He also put up shelves in the laundry room and made a door for the crawl space.

The Prize Patrol Stopped at My House!

It wasn't quite Ed McMann, but just about as close as I ever expect to get. The fourth package on Friday was from Regina A. of the Queen Bee's Buzz. I had won her 100th post giveaway a while ago and she sent the most incredible notecards, card holder, and a bag to hold them all. Thanks so much for the gift Regina! Now I need to get around and send the one for my 200th post. I've had it sitting around, just need to get it in the mail to the lucky winner.

Books, Books, and More Books

Last week I had a little too much fun on Amazon.com and ended up ordering some new books. I went to order Emilie Richards The Wedding Ring, and ended up with the Quilt Along book for it, as well as Endless Chain, and Lover's Knot.


There are a few more books in the series along with the Quilt Along Books, but I decided to get these to start with. I need to finish reading the Elm Creek series books before I start these, but I'm getting close to the end of those, so I thought I would be prepared. These are the first three boxes I received on Friday!

Last Week

Last week went from bad to worse, so this weeks gotta be better. Since I've been gone all week I'll have several posts with pictures. Tuesday my mom's cousin died. She was 24, so we had gone to school together. I spent Wednesday and Thursday coming to work early and staying late trying to make up the hours so I could be gone on Friday for the funeral. We also were in the midst of a blizzard warning, so we knew weather could change plans too. Thurs. after work mom and I left and went back to Philip (1 1/2 hours away) for the prayer service and then went to my parents for the night. I designed labels on my mom's embroidery software, so she can sew them out when I'm not there. Fri. morning we went back to town for the funeral, burial, and lunch with the family. Both my brothers where there as well as Jim's wife and my parents. After lunch my little bro Ed and I headed back to Rapid so I could work the remainder of the afternoon. After work Paul picked me up and we took his mom to Hill City (30 miles) to the Alpine Inn. We had their famous Filet Mignon and desserts. It was so scrumptious. They only serve one menu at night, Filet Mignon - small or large, a baked potato, and a 1/4 head of lettuce with ranch dressing. It's outstanding and reasonably priced at 8.95 for the small or 10.95 for the large. We took the scenic route back and had a nice time. I got home to several packages to open which was fun!

Two Months till the BIG DAY!

Today marks two months until our big wedding day! Jen really thinks I should be freaking by now, but I'm not, yet. Last night we put the final touches on the guest list, wrote out the engagement announcement, and discussed what the invitation would say. We still have to tweak the invitation saying a little more, but it's coming along. Yesterday I finished the applique work on the church banner. It still needs a star, but that will come on Thurs. night, then I plan to baste it and start quilting yet this week. Tonight we meet with our sponsor couple from church and we'll have our third week of dance lessons tomorrow night. We're half done and getting better each week.
Mom is working on the groom's vest, bridesmaids dresses, and ringbearer pillow. She's also working on shortening my dress. I'm having my hair practiced on Sat. and trying on veils. We priced food for the reception Fri. night and know what we're having and how much it will cost. The showers are planned and I'm working on the cover for the guest book.
I really feel pretty confident that everything will come together. Jen'll be telling me I told you so in another month probably, but that's to be expected!
We helped my little brother move this weekend and had supper with my parents, brothers, and their signifcant others this weekend which was nice. I also helped my future MIL pick out her dress and shoes, so she's pretty much set as well.

Happy Blogoversary to me!

I can't believe it's my blogoversary today! It's been 3 years since I started blogging. When I started I was teaching high school English and I was trying to encourage my seniors to express themselves, so I started my blog. Then I started one on quilt blog just for writing about my quilts and then moved back over here last year when that site was having so much trouble. I find this a lot easier to use. Thanks for reading my blog, commenting, and encouraging me. The next two months are going to get hairy, so bear with me.

Fat Quarter Wall Hanging

Last night I met up with my friend Becca after work for supper. We had a nice visit and I also met her friend she is staying with until she leaves next month. I got home about 7, so had plenty of time to sew, but no energy to start something new. I finally decided to work on the wall hanging Jen gave me for my birthday. I put on two borders and now it's ready to be basted and quilted. I'm going to have to finish later, but at least I got the borders on, so the top is done.
Tonight I am going to sew with some friends and hopefully get the applique work done on the church banner so it can be quilted. It would be such a good feeling to have it done. We'll see how much I get accomplished while I'm visiting and having fun.

March Accomplishments

I made a few quilting accomplishments this month!
~ I finished the tabletopper UFO I started at the 2007 Wall Quilt retreat
~ Made my Miranda bag and ended up making two mini ones too
~ I attended the Wall Quilt Guild trunk show and helped with it since it's my guild
~ I attended the Joan Davis Quilt trunk show at the Wall Quilt weekend
~ Paul and I took engagement pictures
~ I put the binding on two YBR quilts that Jen quilted so awesomely for me!
~ I made a 4'x7' design wall with foam board and flannel.
~ I received some beautiful Wales gifts from my blogging buddy Gina in Wales.
~ I got my Janome Table for my 6600!
~ I finished the quilting on the YBR for my flowergirl and put the binding on.
~ I made a musical tablerunner for my pianist.
~ I made one churn dash block using the crown royal bags as the sides.
~ I worked on the church banner and have all the landscape pieces steam a seamed to the background.
~ I made the muslin for the flowergirl and two more muslins for one of my bridesmaids. We have the sizes right, so we're ready to begin making the dresses.

Mini Quilt

This weekend I also finished the quilting on another mini YBR quilt. It turned out pretty well after my machine and I quit fighting. I think the tension is off when the feed dogs are down. Once I put them up it was smooth sailing! I guess she'll have to go visit Tracy to see what the problem is. Chalk another one off my list of things to complete before the wedding!

Musical Churn Dash Table Runner

This weekend I was on a mission to make a tablerunner for the pianist for our wedding. I had the black and white music fabrics, but wanted something to go with them, so I stopped at QCII and the ladies helped me find the border fabric. I made this tablerunner for her. It's 9" churn dash blocks, a 3/4" white border and 3" outer border. I quilted it in gold and it turned out awesome.

thanks to the gals at the Quilt Corral Too who helped me pick out the fabrics, it turned out awesome. I bought the book The Quilter's Workbook and it has a bunch of blocks you can make and all the directions to cut out either 6", 9" or 12" finished blocks. It rocks! I finally found the name of the book and a link to it online.

Crown Royal Quilt Block

I finally got a picture last night of the Crown Royal block I made last week. It's a churn dash pattern and uses 2 bags per block. Crown Royal is an alcohol that the bottle comes in a purple bag and has the name embroidered across the front. I made the block 12 1/2" and I figure using a 7x9 layout I will need 63 blocks for a total of 126 bags. I probably have that many since my dad has a friend who works in a bar and sent a whole bunch to him so I could make the quilt. This is my test block since I wanted to know if the black would be okay and how much fabric I could get out of the bag.