Playing at Grandpa & Grandma's ranch

Grandpa and Grandma are building a new house and daddy had to help with the foundation, so we tagged along and played at the ranch. There was lots of sand to play in.





Mathew hung out on the trailer with Grandma and his crawl ball.

He's just not so sure about the hat.


This was at the beginning of August and the house is almost ready. We're planning to help dad move this weekend.

Central States Fair Ribbons

This year I set a goal of having as many quilts in the Central States fair as I possibly could. I worked up until the night before to get them all ready and finished. I was bound and determined to show the nasty quilt lady that I could bring in more this year than I did last year.
This is my purple hand pieced star.

My lone star for Mathew

A panel baby quilt I made for Mathew

Hugs and Kisses from Scrappy Batkiks

The Owl panel baby quilt and Emilee's scrappy swap quilt

Poinsetta table toppers

Friendship Stars wall hanging

Scraps from Briar Rose table topper

Let it Snow Batik pillow

Mocha Meriengue Wonder Blocks, Briar Rose, Let it Snow Batik

Unity Wall Hanging

Happy Hour Farm Friends

Easy 4 Baby quilt

Blush Hexies

Thangles BOM

Pink Chevron, Race Cars

Hexie Diamond Wall Hanging

Beach Bag

Sewing Pants

Mikaela's Skirt

Mikaela's Dress

And Finally - My Christmas Purse that WON best in class and Judges Choice! I was so excited, since I hadn't planned to enter it, but did at the last minute.

September is off to a Great Sewing Start!

September is off to a great start. I set some lofty goals to kick my butt in gear and I feel like I am already doing really well on them.
While we were camping over Labor Day weekend I finished this Ahhhh, named reflection. The picture is supposed to be trees and sky reflecting in the water.

I finished this Merry Go Round table topper that I will be teaching in December. I'm also thinking I'll make one in Christmas fabrics as it went together so well.

My big lofty goal for this month was to put this wolf top together. I started with this much completed.

I worked on it last week and got this far.

On Sunday while the rest of the family slept, Mathew was wide awake, so he played with his Tonka truck and I worked on the wolf. I got the entire thing put together, but stopped with the pick dots. I just hated it, luckily hubby agreed, so he picked a different fat quarter out and now I can continue to work on it. I really like how it turned out. Applique pressing sheets are my friend right now! I am so tickled pick that I have gotten this far on it since it is my oldest UFO.


Friday night I spent the evening sewing with Gaila, Emilee, and Tammy. I got so much accomplished! I made 2 more Swoon blocks, completing my Sept. goal to get them done.




I also pieced together this Central Park Happy Hour quilt. It's for a co-worker who gave me quite a number of things for Mikaela, so I wanted to give her a little something. She loves orange, so I think she'll like this. I'm also thinking I need to make her daughter something maybe a doll quilt to match or something. We'll see what I can come up with.

Saturday night while the family watched the race, I loaded and quilted this one up. It's really not my style, but the quilting was perfect and I think the orange thread I used really made it pop. I have the binding on it and will work on it this week during breaks. I've pulled some scraps to do the Star Surround quilt a long and I'd really like to get it done yet this week. We'll see how much I can get accomplished. I have a lot of things pulled.

I finished my last paper yesterday and today at lunch turned everything in and I am now just waiting for my grade. I don't foresee it being anything lower than an A, but I'm always nervous until all the grades are turned in. I am so looking forward to having 3 weeks off to get a lot of sewing done.

Saturday we met my dad in Keystone for the Holy Terror Days parade. He wanted to take Mikaela on a little trip, so they went up the boardwalk and look what he did... He put a quarter in the pony and let her ride. She loved it! We've always let her play, but with no money or movement. She thought Grandpa Hugh was the best. She wanted to ride again before we left, so we let her. She really caught on to picking up candy at the parade She's growing up so fast!

Finish it Up Friday

This week turned out to be a bit more productive than I expected. It's finals week for my graduate class, so I didn't expect to do a lot of sewing.
Last week I worked on this sample for a class I am teaching. I was going to finish it in one evening, even checking how long it was taking me to sew it together. Then I realized I had failed to match up the seams correctly and it was completely off. So I did a bunch of ripping and left it.

On Monday night after a long weekend of camping I was able to get it put together.


I thought for sure I would get it quilted on Tuesday night, but I didn't have the right thread, so I bought thread Wed. night and got it quilted. I did some echo quilting on the hexies. I really like how it turned out. I put the binding on Wed. night and sewed it down during my pumping breaks on Thurs. & today. The color is more accurate in the pictures above, but I am so happy to have it done. It is supposed to have 4 fat quarters and background, but I added the 5th for binding as I liked the zigzag.


This is the back.

Tonight I am off to sew with my amazing friends. I can't wait to spend time catching up with them. Have a great weekend.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Up Friday!

September - A Lovely Year of Finishes

This is the month I plan to get a lot accomplished on my UFO list. I will be done with my graduate class on Monday and then I can devote some time to finishing up a few lingering projects.  My goals for this month include making this Merry Go Round table topper for a class sample for a class I teach in December. I had a few errors and went back and ripped last week. Then we were camping all weekend, so nothing got done until Monday night when we got home.


I was able to get it to quilt top stage. I didn't have the right thread, so I stopped and bought it last night. I should have this finished this week some time.

My major goal is to finish my oldest UFO. This is a wolf for my husband I bought shortly after we were married - 5 years ago. I want to give it to him for Christmas, so I'll work on it after he goes to bed a bit each night. I started with this much done.

Tuesday night I had this much done and last night I got a few more pieces of the beard done. I'm scared to quilt it, so I haven't put it together even though it is all cut out and just needs to be put together. I hope to get the top done this month, if I finish that will be a bonus.


My other goals include:
1/4 of my Rubic Star - hand pieced
1 Swoon block
Central Park Happy Hour top
2 Ahhhh's
1 UFO