I made a quilt!

My first finished quilt since returning home! It was a slow process because I am still recovering, but I am SO happy with how it turned out. This is Latitude fabric by Moda, but is no longer available. I did find this similar fabric line and I love these prints, too! 

I used a black-and-white polka dot as the background.  

I love how it turned out and I'm snuggled under it right now, as I post these photos. 😍 

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Rainbow Baby Quilt

One of our best friends recently welcomed their third daughter. I made her a baby quilt and finished it just in time for a trip to my husband's family cabin. It is the location of my favorite barn and so many beautiful spots, I had to bring the quilt along for photos. 

The fabric is the Lori Holt Bee Basics charm pack, with some purple added because purple is my favorite color and a rainbow needs purple. 

The background fabric is Riley Blake Bee Backgrounds Cross Stitch. (On a side note... I just found this honeycomb fabric while I was searching for the links - SO cute!!). 

 The backing is a very old print from IKEA, binding is a B&W polka dot. 

I love the pretty colors with the bright white background.  

I had SO much fun photographing this quilt at the cabin. I told my husband I may have to bring a bunch of quilts next time we go and do a full photo shoot. 

Peek-a-boo... I have been pretty open with my health struggles on this blog (I think?). I have multiple sclerosis and have difficulty walking. I went from the cabin to the barn to take photos and my son came with me. He said he was my "look-out" and was there to protect me. He was being playful and silly, but I think he really did get nervous seeing me walking away from everyone by myself. Sweet boy. 

 With my favorite barn in the background (also seen here and here). 

A photo of the four of us, soaking in Springtime at the cabin, one of our favorite places. 

If you're following along on my health journey, we are getting ready to begin my stem cell transplant in just a few weeks! I'm very excited for the chance to "restart" my immune system, but very nervous to be away from home and away from those faces for quite a while. It's a great opportunity for my health and our family and I am trying to keep that as my focus. I post more about this treatment and my updates on my You Caring page here: https://www.youcaring.com/jodie-bissig-436264

Bullet Journal

My life is a bit crazy right now! I recently won my insurance battle and will be heading to Denver in a few months for a life-changing stem cell transplant that has the promise to stop my multiple sclerosis. This is such a blessing! But... I'm also panicking a bit. It's going to be a BIG couple of months for me and very difficult to be away from my kids for 8-10 weeks (hopefully with visits, of course!). Anyway... I am a chronic over thinker and this is a lot to process. 

Link to my beloved letter board here. 

I've been distracting myself with a new project - bullet journaling! I am a huge fan of lists and always have a million going. Bullet journaling is (for me), a way to make my lists pretty! I originally saw this trend on Pinterest and there are so many ideas out there! 

The book I am using is linked here. It's nice quality, has a very pretty cover, and you just can't beat that price! I use Flair Pens and they don't smear, they don't bleed, and the colors are adorable. They're great for drawing and have been a favorite for writing for over 15 years. They make my handwriting look so much neater and come in so many pretty colors. Have I mentioned all the colors?  :) 

The first page I made is to track my photos. I store my images in monthly folders and back them up at the end of each month. I am meticulous (ridiculous?) in my photo storage! My pictures are my most prized possession. Now at the end of the month, I can check off each box and know that I've completed my ritual of over-protecting pictures of my kids. I can't find the exact washi tape I used at the top, but I did just find this one that I am so wishing I had used instead!  CUTE!

The second page I added is a "book shelf." So far I've only added books I've read this year (P.S. If you haven't already, read The Alice Network! So good!), but I may add books on my wish list, too? Not sure yet. I LOVE how this page turned out. It was pretty easy to make because of the dot grid on the journal pages.  

I also added some of my favorite things on the "shelves." 

This is our "House Projects" page. Mostly a dreamer's wish list since this year will likely only have room for my stem cell transplant and recovery, but it's a fun page nonetheless. Someday...

My craft list is always growing! Love the washi tape on this page. 

 My wish list page has a similar design using washi tape. I LOVE washi tape. 

 A travel page detailing the states I've traveled to. Is it obvious I'm a West Coast girl? Once I'm healthy again, I think we need to head East for some adventures! I printed a US map and traced it onto this page in black ink and then used color pens to mark the states I have visited. 

I'm not sure what other pages I'll add, but I'm having fun and it's an excellent distraction. 

Thanks for visiting!

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Mosaics Classes

I’ve taken a couple of classes on mosaics from a local art studio. I think I LOVE it. I wish I could go there everyday. 

For the first class, I attempted to make a hot air balloon. It didn’t quite turn out how I hoped (I think it looks more like a topiary), but I love the colors and the idea. 

Here’s the hot air balloon, before grout...

And after grout... 

The second class, I decided to try a tree. I found this photo to use as inspiration. Clearly I attempted a much more simplified version! 

Here’s my glass, glued down and ready for grout. 

The grout was messy, but fun! 

The final (or almost final) pieces from the class. 

And the final... after grout and ready to hang. 

 Thanks for looking!

A Tree & A Rainbow

My daughter's teacher asked for one of my tree pillows, with an emphasis on orange leaves. (You can see all the tree objects I've made by clicking here and here and here and here).

 And also a rainbow pillow, inspired by this quilt. 

 The square and rectangle scraps are attached with matching thread. Love love love me a rainbow! 

I hope she loves her new pillows! I really enjoy making pillows - it's a fairly quick project (well compared to a quilt, anyway!) and a fun way to add color and comfort to a room. 

My First Mosaic

I took a class at Kings Art Center and learned how to make a small mosaic suncatcher!

The grout is messy! I felt like I was smearing tar!

But the finished piece looks pretty fun!

I think I am obsessed with rainbows........ 

I have two quilts almost done and a bunch of pictures of gifts I made for a friend's wedding. I'll share those next week after they are married!

Scrappy Rainbow Quilt

On St. Patrick's Day, I made a little rainbow quilt. I loved my little piles of colorful scraps. 

It's about 20 inches square and will be a wall hanging, although I'm not sure where yet. 

Am I the only one who feels like there's zero breeze until I attempt to photograph a quilt? 

The colors of the rainbow are made with small squares (about ¾- 1 ½") and quilted with matching thread in an arch shape. 

Above the rainbow is quilted with big loops (to look like clouds in my mind). 

And below, the quilting mimics the arch of the rainbow and some little hills and landscape shapes. 

The back is rainbow polka dots on white and it turned out to be pretty fun with the colors of the thread I used for the quilting. 

I think the back is almost as fun as the front... 

... almost...   ; ) 

My love of rainbows goes back to when I was a little girl. I love this quilt and I think (?) I am done with rainbows for a little while, after several projects in a row! We will see!  : )

Rainbow Star Quilt

 My rainbow star quilt is complete! The mother's group I am in met for a craft night last night and I was able to get the quilting done (in between chatting, snacks, and coffee!). 

This quilt is made from some of my favorite vintage sheets and was inspired by this quilt block and my beloved sewing machine cover. I'm thrilled at how well my points lined up. After 55 quilts, might I assume I finally have the hang of this sewing thing?!

Nice points, 'eh?

 The binding is an adorable gray chevron print and the quilting was done with white thread in a my favorite meandering free-motion. 

 The back is a lovely soft floral vintage sheet. 

It's happily at home in my sewing room. I hung it up to take pictures before I've even washed it...... I love it so much I don't want to take it down even for an hour to run it through the wash. Maybe tomorrow.  ; )

Now I'm off to have dental surgery on a tooth that I somehow managed to crack in my sleep last week. Wish me luck (and good painkillers!).