Winner of the Anniversary Giveaway!

Congrats to D'Anne for winning the fat quarters and Schlep Bag pattern in my anniversary giveaway. I'm so appreciative of all my blog readers and commenters. I may not respond to all comments, but do read and enjoy them all. Thanks everyone for playing! I hope to post more about what's been going on, but it's been crazy!

Flowers & Thank You

Yesterday two of my co-workers and I received a huge bouquet of flowers and 3 Thank You balloons. The card was unsigned, but we're positive we know who they are from, since we'd done a lot of work for one of our campuses. The flowers are on a file cabinet in the hall because they are so big, but we each took a balloon back to our office. I chose the purple one!

There are all kinds of flowers in the vase and a couple butterflies sticking out. The ribbon even has butterflies on it. When I say it's huge, it's probably 1.5 feet across in width and almost 2.5 feet high. The vase itself is a foot high.

In the bottom of the vase are seashells. I thought they were so cool compared to the normal rocks.

It was such a nice surprise and very appreciated thank you gift. It always feels good to be thanked for going the extra mile for someone.

Baby Stephens update: 2lbs total gained, my BP & baby's heartbeat good! 4 more weeks and we can find out if it's a boy or girl, if we decide to find out... and I can go tubing on the river this weekend!

French Braid Quilted!

Last night could have been a very lazy night. It was hot and I was tired and I wanted nothing more than to lay on the couch and take a nap. I actually did for quite a while, but about 8 last night I realized I wanted to have this tablerunner to work on the binding during my appointment today, so I went to my studio.
I pieced the backing and loaded it on the frame. I used a thermore batting and cranked the tension up a bit. I quilted with Lime green King Tut on top and Lime Green Bottomline in the bobbin. I had planned to use orange, but when I put the lime green on it, I liked it better. The backing is the green with orange moons and purple houses, so the bobbin needed green.
I quickly quilted it, which in my world is great. I had to do 3 passes to finish it. It's about 13.5"x 48" so pretty long.

I did a small meander all over, missing where the points meet up. It was pretty easy to manuver around them.

Then I took the fat quarter of stripe and made bias binding. It turned out perfect and I didn't even get my book out. I'm getting beter and better at making this type of binding. I did run short though, by about 8 inches, so I took the end piece I had cut off and cut it on the bias and added it to my binding and it worked. A few more seams, but oh well, at least I didn't have to go buy more yardage.

I love how the tablerunner turned out and I'm looking forward to teaching this class this fall. I love the 60* ruler and how easy it is to match up the points. The only part I don't like...not being able to piece it with my walking foot, but I'll live!

French Braid Top Done

After my graduate class last night,  I started sewing the remaining 8 rows together for my Halloween tablerunner while talking to my mom on the phone. It's so relaxing to visit and sew at the same time. I got all the rows sewn and started to sew them together, when I realized I had the white piece next to the orange ones on wrong side out. Normally it wouldn't be such a big deal, but the fabric is glow in the dark, so everyone would notice when the lights are out! I started taking the pieces apart and fixing them, but then got wrapped up in the new show Bachelor Pad and ended up hand sewing binding on Aunt Lil's quilt while it was on. Dating in the Dark came on afterward and I went back to sewing. I got a few more rows together when I realized I had another piece wrong. Apparently I should have been sewing in the dark! I would have been able to see the fabric and know I had it the right way. In the end I was able to get all 12 rows sewn together and it looks pretty cool. This tablerunner was quick and easy, but I think I'll be making it shorter for the wedding gifts I intend to make. It's 48" long which  is pretty long for most tables. I still have to trim all the triangles off on both sides to square it up and then I'll quilt it.  I love how it has turned out so far! I tried to take a picture of it glowing in the dark, but it didn't work so well.

French Braid Tablerunner

Saturday at work it was a bit slow, probably because all the bikers have arrived in town and the locals stay home. I was trying to come up with ideas for classes and wanted a class that I could use my new 60* ruler with. I found the French Braid Tablerunner in the Let's Do Lunch book by Atkinson Designs. I'd been wanting to make one for a gift, but wasn't sure how it would turn out, so I decided to give it a try. Instead of using 8 4.5"x2 1" cuts, I used 4 fat quarters, background, and binding. I cut 2 strips 4.5"x21 off all 4 fat quarters stacked together. Then I put the ruler on and started cutting. I'm using a new specialty ruler by Creative Grids - The 60* Double Strip Ruler and I fell in love with it!

In 15 min. flat I had all the fat quarters and background cut out with this ruler.

I did two different lay outs and couldn't decide which was more pleasing. I ended up going with the 2 rows on the bottom, doing all the rows the same and flipping the 2nd row 180*.

In just under an hour I was able to get 4 rows completely sewn together. I have 8 left to go. The fabric is  Chic or Treat. The background is glow in the dark Rock Candy. I figured since the class is in Oct. Halloween fabric would be the way to go. I'm loving how it's going together using just the 4 fabrics instead of the 8. I'm thinking I'll have enough left of my fat quarters to make a small tabletopper too.

I can tell I'll definately be using this pattern again and I'll use up some of my batik purple scraps to make tablerunners for the two wedding gifts I need to make before the end of the month. I absolutely love this ruler and I'm thinking I may even try my hand at doing another One block wonder using it.

Aunt Lil's Quilt

Aunt Lil's quilt is almost done and it may be one of the quickest quilts I've ever made. Wednesday night Paul's mom picked out where the fabrics would go and which pattern I should use. I ended up using a GE Designs line called Amma's Garden. I used the focus fabric of poppies and the stripes for the second center, border and binding. I could have done bias binding, but I chose to do it straight of the grain to match the borders. I cut it out during lunch on Thurs. Thurs. night I made the poppy blocks and sewed the stratas for the second block. Fri. night I cut out the stratas into the pieces and made the second block. I put the blocks together into the top. At work on Sat. I picked up a tangarine colored Shadow Play for the backing. After work I put the borders on, pieced the backing together and quilted it. Today I put the binding on and started the hand sewing while the race was on. I have about 1.5 sides left to finish the hand sewn binding. Tonight I put the label on, so I need to hand sew it down too, but I feel great about all I got done. My MIL can't believe how quickly I got the quilt made. I hope Paul's Aunt Lil likes it, but I'm sure she will. Four days is pretty fast for me to make a throw size quilt. I used a thermore batting since she lives in MO and doesn't need it to be super heavy. I had to adjust my tension higher, since I used King Tut and Bottomline to quilt it, but it turned out great.

Merry's Cat Quilt

Last night after I quilted the Baby Sign Language quilt, I had the cat's quilt out and the leftover batting was the perfect size. I had the backing and just chose a verigated pink/purple/blue/green/yellow King Tut and pink Bottomline to go with it.  I quilted a very large meander all over it. It's probably the biggest one I've done, but it doesn't need to be super close, it's for the cat!

My stitches are becoming more and more consistant with every quilt I do. I'm pleased with how this turned out.

I even had enough time to put the binding on. I cut it at 2.25" and sewed it to the front, turned it to the back and sewed it down by stitch in the ditch. All the fabric is leftover or sale fabrics I picked up, except the cat print, which I specifically picked up for her. It's all LQS fabric, so it's a nice quilt. I just hope Merry likes it and will sleep on it, since she hates fleece blankets, but seems to love my quilts. I love a cat with good taste!

This was my 90th quilt on my frame! Oh how I've learned so much since that first quilt. I'm still learning, but I can see vast improvement over the previous ones I've done. My MIL was so excited about Merry's quilt she took it to work to show her co-workers today. I'm just glad to have another UFO completed!

Baby Stephens First Baby Quilt!

Last year in September we got this new line in at the shop. I has baby sign language on it and is so super cute! I instantly fell in love with it and bought enough to do something with it. In October I was going to Jenn's and needed a project to take along, so I took the fabrics and cut it out at work. I sewed all the blocks at Jenn's and it's been like that since then. I just didn't have the special baby in mind that I wanted to make it for.  When Jenn, Shonna, and I were going to Gaila's in June, I picked this up and decided the time was right to finish it. I got the blocks together and put the borders on it. It sat in flimsy stage until last night! I was itching to actually quilt something and I had enough batting and the backing for this one, so I put it on the frame and an hour later it was quilted! I quilted it with a pastel King Tut and tan Bottomline.
Introducing Baby Stephens Baby Sign Language Quilt!

Our Little Jackrabbit says Hello...

To Mommy...

and Daddy...

Yes, we are expecting our first baby in January and we couldn't be more excited! I finally will have the baby I've wanted to make this quilt for all along. Since we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl, this will work for both. We can find out at the beginning of September, but I'm leaving it up to Paul if he wants to find out or not.... I have 2 baby boy and 2 baby girl quilts already in the cedar chest for our baby.

Last night I was extremely productive! I finished quilting this one and put the binding on as well as another quilt. It feels great to have this much energy again and be quilting again. I accomplished 2 goals for Aug. in one night!

Aunt Lil's Quilt

My husband's great aunt Lil is a special woman in his life. She's always been very supportive of him and his mother, even though it's his dad's aunt. My MIL asked me to make her a throw quilt last night and I agreed, but I wasn't sure what I would use. I've been thinking about it all day and finally decided maybe I'd use some of the fabric I got for making a sample quilt last year. These are the fabrics I got and each is at least a half yard, but some are as much as 3 yards. I'm still trying to figure out what pattern I'll use, but I think the poppies will work as a focus fabric. I'm open to suggestions for a pattern. I don't really have a plan or a time frame that this has to be done because we'll have to send it to her as she lives in MO. What pattern would you use? Which pieces of fabric would you use? She's over 80 years old, so I think these would be more up her ally than most of the brights I have in my stash. Any and all suggestions are welcome!

I love the stripe fabric, so that may have to be a small border and binding.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to play tonight. Mom and I are going out with the girls for supper to celebrate her birthday, but it shouldn't be a late night.

Happy Quilting Anniversary!

Happy Quilting Anniversary to Me! I'm celebrating 12 years of quilting this year and what a ride it has been. I've truly enjoyed all I've learned and I still have many quilts on my "bucket list" of quilts I want to accomplish - Winding Ways, Double Wedding Ring, Storm at Sea, just to name a few.
Four years ago this month I started blogging about my quilting. I had blogged for a year before that, but mostly about teaching. What I found in quilt blogging is so unbelieveable! I couldn't ask for better friends. Jen and her mom Cindy were my very first blogging friends and to this day Jen and I are the very best of friends, having gotten together twice in the last two years and I got to meet Cindy as well.

When we started blogging, it was a very small group, but after moving to blogger, the friends I've made have just kept growing. With the invention of Google Reader I've been able to read a lot more blogs. I have over 350 blogs I have on my reader as well as Quilting Bloggers blog roll, so I get lots of inspiration.
I attended a quilting retreat where I got to meet Regina, Trish, Cindy, Jen, Patti, Jen V, Cathy, Linda, and Jennifer. It's so neat to meet blogging friends and really get to know the people behind the blogs. I love blogging and don't know what I'd do without it. While I've never met Deb, Colleen, and Cindy they also inspire me with their projects and comments. I now have 51 awesome followers and look forward to meeting other followers/commenters in the future as well.
This summer also marks two years that I've had my quilting frame. It has seriously been the best investment I've made in my quilting, other than new machines and quilt shop quality fabric and thread. I've been able to make a lot more quilts and finish my projects more quickly. Plus I love to play with the designs. It has also provided me a challenge compared to just sewing straight lines.
For the past 2 years I've worked at a quilt shop and a sewing center and I love every minute of it. I've really enjoyed getting to know the customers and learn more about the quilting market. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
To celebrate my quilting anniversary, I'm having a giveaway. I'll be giving 8 fat quarters of Moda's Sweetwater fabric and my pattern to make the Schlep Bag,  to a lucky follower/commenter who leaves a comment before August 14th, my half birthday. There's no need to blog about my giveaway and tell others, this is just for my loyal followers/commenters. I appreciate all the comments I receive and I wouldn't be blogging without everyone following me.

Mom's Birthday

Thursday night my bro called and invited hubby and I to join his family and our parents at the river fishing and camping to celebrate mom's birthday. We couldn't decide whether to go or not, mostly because Paul wanted to install the neighbors windows and I had a paper due Sun. night I hadn't started. Alas, late Fri. night we decided to go. The neighbors had company, so he couldn't do the windows.  We got up Sat. morning, had breakfast, and packed for the trip. We were at my parents in time for lunch, then naps, and hubby and my dad went to get the camper hooked up. I baked mom a birthday cake while they were gone.
My bro & his family arrived around 5 and we headed to the river. Everyone, except my parents went swimming in the river. It's running pretty slow now, but was a bit muddy. My niece had her life jacket on and was so super cute! At 96 degrees it sure felt good! After swimming we fixed supper on the grill. Hubby and my dad were both fishing and each caught a fish. Some clouds moved over and gave us this gorgeous sunset.

We had just gone up to change into jeans and get our fishing poles as it was finally dark, when out of nowhere a downpour of rain got us! We quickly loaded up the chairs and our stuff and headed for home. Where we were there is a lot of dirt and we didn't want the campers stuck. There is no cell service down there either. It poured all the way home!  We ended up taking the coolers in and a few friends came over and we sat around and visited late into the night!
We went to church the next morning and had breakfast before my bro's family went home.  After lunch, hubby and I shared the cake I made with mom and dad.  Today is mom's birthday, so we were celebrating early. I used a heart shaped bundt cake pan to make the german chocolate cake with coconut frosting, my mom's absolute favorite cake. This is the first time I've used the pan where the whole cake came out without sticking! My dad insisted I take a picture of it!

After lunch hubby and I headed home. We got home around 3 and had time for a nap before I started on my paper. I got the 8 page paper done in just 5 hours and I felt good about it. I'm so glad that we went with my family camping as we had lots of fun, even if it did pour on us.

July Quilting Accomplishments

July was a productive month for me! Maybe not in the quilting department, but definately in the bag making area. I was able to accomplish all the goals I set and still had time to make more bags!
My goals for July included:
Bind 2 Wanna Be a Cowboy quilts - DONE!


Finish Lego Wedding Quilt - DONE!

Make Margo Bag - I finished 3! I also made a wonder wallet to match.


In addition to my goals I made lots of BAGS!
I also finished a pink/brown Runaround Bag for Macie.

I made a Runaround Bag for the Wedding and a wonder wallet.

I made a purple/green Margo, checkbook cover, and wonder wallet to match.

I finished checkbook covers for the teal/brown Margo and wedding Runaround.

I made a schlep bag out of Adoring fabric.

I made myself a Margo bag out of Wanna Be A Cowboy fabric, with a wonder wallet and checkbook cover to match.

I made a Summer Tote for Hannah out of Pink/Brown John Deere fabric.

I made a Lots of Dots Schlep Bag and taught the class.

We attended the Lego/Grieme Wedding in MN!

My goals for August??? Let's see, I don't have anything too pressing, but I should set some kind of goals.
Make Fabric Book
Quilt Baby Quilt
Tablerunners for Pfeifer and Kuhn weddings
Throw quilt for Aunt Lil
Work on 1 UFO