Virtual Baby Shower

Yesterday some of my online buddies held an online virtual baby shower for me. Having never done this before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a ton of fun. Thurs, Fri, & Sat. boxes arrived on my doorstep from Target & the USPS. I kept them all closed up until the shower, so even I didn't know who had sent gifts. Colleen organized the shower on Google Wave and Jen B., Linda, Cindy, & I were able to chat away. We chatted for an hour or so and played a game using my name and coming up with crazy baby names. I got to open gifts and I promised to take pictures so everyone could see what I received.
Colleen sent two pink changing pad covers (changing pad is being sent), a ribbon blankie, a book
Are you my mother? (which I loved as a child), and 2 infant gowns.

Cindy sent baby monitors which I love and can't wait to try out.

Linda sent the Slumber Buddy which plays sounds and has a night light to calm the baby to sleep. Paul was already playing with it last night. He's getting excited to be a daddy.

Trish sent the Musical Mobile, hat & booties, and 3 sleepers.

Jen had previously sent the pack and play and it's already set up, collecting quilts and blankets for the new baby. She made me promise to open it as soon as it was received, so I happily obliged. We can't wait to have our new baby in it. It should be here in less than a month and a half!
It was so much fun opening the gifts and talking about them, but I promised I'd share, so they could all see what I received. Thanks girls for such a fun shower and taking the time to chat. It was wonderful!
For pictures, all the gifts were placed on the backing of the quilt I finished this weekend, so stay tuned for pictures of my hospital quilt. I figure it's always cold in those places, so I made myself a quilt to put in the hospital bag to keep warm. I absolutely love the backing fabric and have been saving it for over 2 years to use on a special quilt for me.

November Quilting Accomplishments

November was an extremely productive month for me. I put in 105 hours, which is the most I've had in the last 9 months! Actually it ties for the most hours per month this year. I did a lot of handwork on my EPP tablerunner, spent a whole weekend at a sewing retreat, and spent 2 nights sewing with the girls, which really pushed me to the top. I actually accomplished my goals and I got more done than I expected. I don't expect December to be as productive, but then it'll depend on when our Little Miss Jackrabbit decides to make her appearance.
My November goals included:
Pink Ribbon Bags - 2 I made one for mom and I think I'll be sending another to a former teacher who just found out she has BC. It always feels good to give to others, so I think she'll like it.

Groovy Girls Samples - 2  I made the monkey bag and the pocket coin purse. They were really well received at GG's and we had a great time. There's still time to join and get all the patterns.
 
Quilt Aunt Vi's Quilt - 1 Quilted - Still needs binding.
Sewing Bags - 4 I planned to make 4 sewing bags for the girls I was retreating with. I've had this sewing fabric for 2+ years and when I got to quilting it I had enough to make 6 bags. I ended up giving them to the girls, keeping a couple for myself, and giving one to Jenn for her birthday. I still have fabric leftover to make something.

Deer Wall Hanging  - I made this wall hanging for Paul's boss for Christmas. It actually turned out great and I'm looking forward to gifting it this week.

Other projects for the month included:
A selvage coin purse for Groovy Girls Sample.
 
Two project bags to take to retreat

A small project bag for retreat

Quilted a wall hanging for mom

Made a bag for Jenn's birthday to match her little bag and block roll-up

Block Roll-ups for Jenn and I

Sewing Themed quilt for me - Top Done

One Block Wonder - Top Done

Groovy Girls samples - Napkins

More Napkins

Medium sized tabletopper


I also finished 3 sets of Wonder Block blocks, but haven't taken any pictures of them. They are slowly being pieced at sewing nights with the girls because I don't have to think too hard on them and they aren't a huge priority to get done. I have the borders on the sewing quilt and hope to get it quilted in Dec. I also made a special gift for a friend this month, but I can't show it until it's given which should be soon. I finished the UFO SewDown with 32 projects finished! Only a couple UFO's though, so I need to keep plugging away at them.

December Goals
Baby Bag
Quilt Sewing Themed Quilt
BOM Setting Blocks
Quilt OBW Quilt

December Groovy Girls Samples

December 1st kind of snuck up on me! I keep thinking it's a long time off and all of a sudden it's here! I've had the stuff to make Groovy Girls samples for quite a while, but just kept doing other things. I decided I better get these done this week, in case we wanted other samples done. I made two napkins and folded them. They turned out pretty cute and the pattern was easy to follow. I can't believe I put them off, since they were so simple!

This one turned out to be my favorite. I love the poinsettas.

I'd already made two samples of the Happy Holidays tabletopper, but I had cut the one set of pieces too small and had plenty of fabric leftover to make the medium sized table topper. It's pretty much the same as the large tree skirt size one, but I'm not sure that the strips are in the same order. I was able to get this top finished last night. I didn't quilt it, figuring it might be easier to see how it went together on the back. I love this pattern and the medium size is great. I feel like I accomplished so much in a few short hours last night.

Deer Wall Hanging!

Last night I worked on finishing up the Deer Wall Hanging for my husband's boss for Christmas. I had the binding and hanging sleeve done, but needed to trim all the threads and fray check any places I thought needed it. It actually turned out better than I expected. I used a tan King Tut thread in the tan part and brown King Tut on the deer and borders. I used a brown Bottomline as the back is the same as the borders.
This is probably the closest to the real colors of the wall hanging, though I had a lot of light on it last night when I was trying to take pictures. Paul made a dowel hanger to put through the hanging sleeve, but it is still drying. He used a dark cherry stain and I think it's going to be gorgeous with this one. Usually he uses a golden oak or something along those lines.

I did small stippling on the tan and the deer. It was very intricate and I had to slow the machine down a lot ot be able to get my motions and stitch length correct.

From a ways away you can't even tell that it's quilted. I just love the pictures within a picture that Chris Bumps patterns create. I also love using batiks for them, but it's very hard to find the solid color batiks in the right colors. I had been to four different shops in town and not found what I wanted before Paul and I drove out to Mistletoe Ranch to find the right ones and even there we were limited to about 2 selections in the colors we wanted. Paul picked them out, so I'm glad he was a part of it. His Christmas party is Fri. night, so I'll get it wrapped up and ready to gift yet this week.

Here's a close up of quilting I did on the background and trees and deer. It's not nearly this yellow in person, but I suppose that's how the macro on my camera portrays it.

I was also able to work on binding another quilt, but I can't sit at my machine as long as I used to, so I finally gave up and went and relaxed in front of the TV with some hand work. This could be a long month if I can't sew for more than an hour at a time!

Thanksgiving weekend!

This was a busy Thanksgiving Weekend! Paul and I went to my parents Wed. night. Thanksgiving day we went to my bro & SIL's house for a wonderful meal. The guys all went hunting in the morning and afternoon. My sweet niece spent the night at my parents as her parents and Paul were going hunting the next morning. Uncle Paul had to read her a good night story. She was really into Uncle Paul this weekend... it was Uncle Paul's turkey, Uncle Paul's pie, and she was going hunting with Uncle Paul. It was so cute! Uncle Paul even found one of her Christmas presents when he was shopping Fri. night, so I'm sure it'll always be known as the gift Uncle Paul gave me! Paul got two does on Fri. morning, so we headed back as he wanted to spend the weekend at home. We did a bit of shopping on both Fri & Sat.

Friday night I joined friends Jenn, Showna, Heidi, and Gaila as we sewed at Gaila's house. We had lots of fun sewing, chatting, and eating. Gaila gave us each a little coin purse she had made from the last Groovy Girls club. I think it's so super cute. Mine ended up being perfect for my camera, so it's found a place in my purse.

There's a pocket on each side of it.

This weekend Paul and I cleaned, organized, and moved furniture before setting up the Pack and Play for our Little Miss to sleep in. It was a bit tricky to set up, but with Paul's help and reading the directions, we got it done. We also went shopping for a stroller/car seat, so we were busy this weekend. I'm looking forward to another relaxing weekend getting things done next weekend. We have Paul's Christmas party next weekend and an online baby shower, but otherwise, we don't have any plans to travel! Thanks to the Jen's for this awesome Pack N Play! We're going to get so much use out of it.

Baby Shower

Last weekend my good friend Jenn hosted a baby shower for me and our little Miss. Family and friends joined me for the afternoon at Jenn's. It was such a nice shower and we received a lot of nice gifts. I haven't gotten them all put away, so I pulled a few off the top of the pile and took pictures last night.
My friend Karen and her son Brandon gave us an SDSU Sweatshirt jacket and hat. Brandon is going to SDSU and Karen said he's always looking to buy stuff for our baby. I went to State, so I was really excited! Go Jacks!

My quilty friend Cindy, who I've worked with at the last two quilt shops gave us this flannel raggy quilt. I absolutely love it and it's so warm and fuzzy. I haven't made many raggy quilts, so I love having one made for us.

My friend Lindsey gave us this cute Cowgirl Tuff outfit. It's so super cute and perfect for our little cowgirl.

Mom made this swaddling wrap. She's so clever when it comes to figuring things out and whipping them up on the serger.

Our flowergirl Emily has grown up and I hadn't seen her in a while, so it was great to see her and her mom at the shower. Emily picked out this stuffed bunny that is so soft and cuddly.

Jenn's mom Tracy made us a cute scrapbooked picture album. It's super cute and so much work went into it. She made one for each grandma as well. I'm not a scrapbooker, but I appreciate all the work that goes into them, so I'm excited to take pictures and put in it.

This is one of the monthly pages.

The most special gift was made by my Aunt Jane. She crocheted this baptismal gown and bonnet for our little girl. It's so delicate and absolutely beautiful. I can't wait for our little girl to wear it. She also gave us a receiving blanket my grandma had made and a bonnet that both mom and her had worn. She always comes up with the most special gifts.

The shower was absolutely amazing and Jenn did an awesome job with games and treats. It was all purple and brown themed. She made us a signature baby quilt as well, but I'll have to show it when it's finished. It was so nice to have so many of my friends and family come. My co-workers are having a shower after the baby comes and there's one planned for my hometown afterwards as well. My online friends are throwing one this Sunday for me and I'm so looking forward to it as well.   This little miss will be here before I know it!

Christmas cactus

I think my Christmas cactus is messed up. It's blooming at Thanksgiving!
Paul got to come home last night, so he surprised me! It was nice to have him home a day early and for 5 days! We'll leave earlier for my parents now & he'll get to hunt tomorrow. I did get the quilt on my frame quilted. He took a nap. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Sewing Retreat Weekend

This weekend was so much fun! I was able to get away and have a fun sewing weekend with my mom and two friends. Mom and I left early Friday afternoon and met Michelle and Darlene in Hill City. We were going to Darlene's house, but because of the roads up the hill, we had to drive in, in a 4-wheel drive. We loaded all our stuff in Michelle's vehicle and headed up the hill. It's in the Black Hills and the roads were snow packed and slick after you got off the main roads. We arrived and got unloaded and started sewing while supper cooked. I decided to work on a quilt top that I've been putting off for a while because I couldn't decide which fabric to use for sashing. The girls helped me decide and I got it all sashed and the borders on that night. I didn't get any pictures to share, but the sashing totally made the quilt and I was so excited to have the top finished.
Saturday morning I took the top to work with me and picked out threads to quilt it with. Luckily I was able to find just what I wanted. I worked till 2 and then headed back to Hill City. The girls watched the sewing shows and lounged and took naps before I got back. They say they sewed for a couple hours too... but I don't think I missed much sewing time by working.
Saturday afternoon I worked on my sewing themed quilt. I've wanted to do it for a couple months, but just wasn't sure about the last 3 fabrics. I finally found them and got it cut out and ready to sew at retreat. This is a quilt for me to snuggle with in the hospital and at home, so it's a throw size. I love all the sewing/crafty fabrics in it. I was able to finish it about 8 Sat. night. It still needs 2 borders, which I have cut out, but can add at home without using the design wall.

Since Darlene has a whole wall with foam board/flannel on it for a design wall, I layed out my Cowgirls One Block Wonder. I started with the boots in the lower corner, then legs, bodies, faces, and hats going through the center, the horses on the outsides, and the cactus green at the bottom. The blue and red kind of spiral in the middle and I love how it turned out. I wasn't so sure the last time I layed it out, as all I could see was tan/brown. Now it's spread out a bit more. Everyone went to bed, but I worked on sewing the blocks into strips and finished about midnight. It felt so good to have them in strips.

Sunday morning we had omelets in a bag. They turned out to be so good and super easy. We'll definately be doing that again. Not much for clean up either. The girls made the 10 min. tablerunners, though we kept track and they were more like 45 min. tablerunners. There might be only 10 min. of sewing in them, but the prep work and pressing take longer. They were all finished by the time we had to leave Sun.

Michelle made the fall leaves tablerunner, Darlene made the apples one, and mom made the sewing themed one. They all turned out so cute. I have the fabric for mine, but wanted to get the OBW sewn together, so I skipped the project.
  
I spent the morning sewing the OBW together and was able to get it all done before we had to pack up and leave for home. It was a lot of fun sewing with the girls and I accomplished my goal - 3 completed tops by the end of the weekend. I can't wait to get them all quilted up now.

We packed up to leave early because mom and I were going to a baby shower thrown for me, by my friend Jenn. Jenn and Gaila did an awesome job of hosting and were so wonderful to me. My friends and family that came gave us some awesome gifts and we really enjoyed the party. I'll have to take some pictures of a few gifts. I left them all in their bags until Paul has a chance to look at them. The most special gift was a hand crocheted baptismal gown made by my Aunt Jane. It's just so delicate and beautiful and I can't wait for her to wear it. Jenn made me a signature quilt too which is awesome. It's purple and brown and simply awesome! I love siggy quilts.
When I got home, I unloaded everything and relaxed for a while, but at 8 I couldn't just go to bed, so I went down to cut the batting for the quilt I want to quilt this week. I cut the batting, then I thought well maybe I'll just load the backing, so I got that done and figured I might as well load the batting and top too. I got those done and it still wasn't 9, so I put the thread and bobbin in and practiced. I couldn't just practice, because the practice came out perfect with no adjustments. I started quilting and did the top row and then did another row. They both looked awesome, but I was tired and my eyes hurt, so I called it a night. I'm so looking forward to finishing the quilting on this one, so I can show it off.
All in all, I got 20 hours of sewing time in this weekend and I'm already even for hours with the last two months. I can't wait to see how many  hours I get this month. I'll be quilting away!