The Finished Project

I know this is hard to see, but I finally finished this project that my sisters and I have been working on for about a year. It's my first Lori Holt pattern, one of many that I have, and it was sure fun to do. We adapted some of the blocks to be more personal for our family, which made the quilt even more special. I am glad that I solicited my sisters' help in this, but feel that I could tackle a whole quilt by myself next time...at least I will know what to expect! We presented it to mom and dad for their 59th Wedding Anniversary over 4th of July weekend at the cabin. They were pretty touched. Life is good...

One BIG Present Down...

I've been working on this for a few weeks as a Christmas present. I won't say anymore on the subject, because I don't want to let the "cat out of the bag". Love the warm colors, love the easy pattern, love who gets this quilt!

Latest Projects

This is a sneak peek at the latest quilt I am working on. For those of you who are family members, no fair telling, as this is a surprise anniversary present for grandma and grandpa Packard next July. Two of my sisters have taken different blocks to work on also. The pattern is Lori Holt's Reunion quilt. We have personalized it to fit our family with a four wheeler, projects, and our own deck of Make-A-Million cards! It will be so fun to see the finished product. The center block of the quilt is this family tree, complete with names on the leaves. They will be more noticable after I stitch the names on...

These may be hard to see, but these are the fabrics I am contibuting for the "I Spy" quilt swap that my daughter is heading up. She made one of these quilts herself a while back, and I loved the idea so much that I wanted to be in on her swap. The finished product will look like this.

It was so fun finding these fabrics. I usually don't look for these kind of prints for my sewing, unless I am making a quilt for my grandkids - which is exactly what this quilt will be for. (Although adults would probably love playing "I SPY" with it too!)

I'll be back when I get the rest of the squares for the entire quilt. Yay!

My New Project

Lately I've been working...AND working on these aprons. I am involved in a "swap" with 14 other ladies to get this quilt done. I am making 14 of these apron blocks by September 1st, when we will all get together and swap blocks, each coming away with 14 different aprons. This pattern calls for turn-under applique, which I love, and has been so fun. It will be REAL fun to get 13 other aprons at the end of the month! Here's a block in progress...
My stack of finished blocks. I have 4 more to go then my 14 will be done. At the end of the cherry stems on the pockets go "cherry" buttons. I have decided to leave them off and let the ladies choose their own buttons. We were also advised to use "vintage" fabrics on these. I am happy to say that I only had to get 2 pieces of fabric that I didn't already have. Yay for me!

Sorry this picture didn't turn out. I tried to get a clear one about 5 times. To no avail...

We used one of Lori Holt's cute patterns. I love her stuff. You can check out her site here. My next project will be her "Reunion" pattern for a fun family surprise! Got to finish this one in time though first...

Quilt for a Cause

For those of you who don't know, my third daughter is legally blind. She is 26 years old, a wife and mother of two little boys, and is on a mission to get treatment for her vision. After years of wearing glasses (which didn't help) and seeing eye doctors, she has finally been diagnosed with a birth defect - Optive Nerve Hypoplasia, or ONH. A birth defect usually means that there is no cure for the condition, but with the help of the internet, and some persistance, she has come across a site that offers help. Long story short, we are raising money to send her to China, where she will stay in a hospital for 40 days and receive injections of umbilical cord blood stem cells that will start renewing her vision. To us it is a miracle, an answer to prayer, and the only positive approach to "fixing her eyes." So... on to this quilt. As part of our fundraising, this quilt, made by me, will be raffled off at our first major event. It was made with an "American Primer" jelly roll and some extra yardage. I love this pattern so much that this is the 2nd quilt I have made using it. If you are interested in our daughter, you can click on the button on the right.

Here's to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

Revealed Secrets...

For Christmas this year, I made a lap quilt for each of my girls, 5 in all. They were all different, from different fabrics, and kind of specialized just for them. Kira's, on the left, is made from "Gypsy Rose" and worked up pretty quickly. Michaela has been eyeing my "Aviary" charm packs for months and has always wanted a pinwheel quilt, so that is what she got. Tibi, on the right, got a cute, funky quilt from the "Objects of Desire" line. My son, Landon, is thrown in there just for fun! He got a rag quilt last year for Christmas.

The two girls in Arizona got their quilts when we got there on Christmas night. Lexie's was done in "Hello Betty" and Connie's was done in "Spring Magic" by April Cornell. Connie's quilt took the longest to make because I used the Confetti Cake pattern. Lots of fun, but very time consuming. I had so much fun doing these quilts, not necessarily because of the piecing and quilting, which I LOVE, but because they were going to the most important girls in my life. There's just something about making something for someone you love. It's giving part of yourself.

The girls have been using their quilts ever since they opened them up. They cuddle, sleep, and canoodle with their quilts, which is why they were made. I told them that they could do anything with them and not have to hang them or not use them. It was definitely a labor a great love for me.

I also did my very first stippling job on my new Janome machine since I bought it. I was very nervous about doing this, as this is Lexie's tabletopper I have been promising her for months. I was busy trying to get all of the quilts done for Christmas, so this ended up taking a back seat for a while. I gave it to her unwashed and dried so that she could decide herself whether to do that or not. I actually think it turned out okay. It definitely takes practice, practice, practice!

Flannel on the 4th?!

Well, here it is the 4th of July, one of the hottest days in Nevada, and I finally got my flannel quilt done. I guess I'll be saving it for a few months before we start using it regularly. Actually, the kids just got back from the pool, and there's nothing like cuddling up in a new, soft blanket. I figure that we won't have to wait long after all...
I especially love the back all pieced together. I don't think I will ever use just one piece of fabric for my quilt backs, as long as I have scraps to use. I love how the different fabrics tie everything together. There's also nothing better than washing and drying a new quilt for that soft, snuggly, warm feeling.

Super Saturday!!

Today I finished my "Be Attitudes" quilt top. I took the advice of my good friend, Sherri, and made the border a scappy one, using all of the border prints that came with the kit. I only want to put one border on the quilt, but they give you four different fabrics to put four borders on. I didn't want it to be too big to put on the wall, so I went with one border in all colors. I am in the process of putting together my quilt back, using a lot of different fabrics again. You know me and not being able to throw away scraps...

I also had the chance to head into Vegas to pick up my youngest daughter and had some free time to check out the sewing machine store that Sherri sent me to. I ended up putting $200 down on this lovely machine, a Janome DC3050, which I will make payments on until the end of August...then it is mine, all mine! Just in time for all of my Christmas projects to get done. Yay me again!!

FLANNEL - (just in time for a hot, Nevada summer!)

We've started our women's sewing group project this month and one of the quilt patterns that some of us are using is the "Fields of Flowers" pattern by Pieces From My Heart. I bought a flannel jelly roll of "Timber Creek Flannel" a few weeks ago with the intention of making some kind of quilt with it. I thought that this would be the perfect easy pattern for this cute, cabin-y line of fabric. I love the colors. I told my husband that I was going to make it and take to use at the family cabin. He said "Forget it! It's staying home with us!" What d'you know? He's converting!

My First "Quilted" Quilt!

I am so excited to introduce you to my very first "quilted" quilt! I have been doing quilts for all of my grandkids when they are born, but they are crib size and hand quilted, which I love to do, but is just different. I picked up my quilt today from the quilt store and just looking at it makes me happy. I love the fabric, love the daisy edge-to-edge on it, and love the fabric incorporated into the back. All I have left to do is bind it, then it becomes the granddaughters' quilt that stays at grandma's house. I have charm packs in "Zippety Doo Dah" to do one for the grandsons. Stay tuned...Yay me!

A New Project

It's a real bummer when you finish what you're working on and you think you have nothing else to do. Actually, I have PLENTY to do - like vacuuming, cleaning, walking, etc., but who wants to do THAT when you can sew?! Soooo, I found some more fabric, actually Michaela found it, and started asking questions about what could be made with it. I told her the cut strips were perfect for making a "stripes quilt" that I have been wanting to work on. I had a little free time, so thought I would start it for her, as she was nervous that she would mess it up. Whatever. So here is the startings of it, I still have more strips to add to it. The colors in the photo don't do it justice. They are brilliant and rich. I'm thinking I might just make this for my bed. It would look great with the right border and some yummy pillows to match. Be back soon...

Next Phase...

I have finally gotten back to my "butterfly" quilt. I have been busy with Landon's games and Pre-Ward Conference visits. This is one of the squares all cut, rotated, and sewn to make a block. I took all of the blocks, each one a different color scheme, and this is what it will look like. I wish that you could see the colors "Live" because they are all so much brighter than what you see. Off to the next phase...sewing the blocks together to form the quilt top.

"Butterfly Fling" Fabric

Yesterday was a great day for sewing...and sewing I did! The kids had no school, it was raining most of the day (love those rainy Mondays) and so I got a jump on the wash to do and got busy on the machine. I have decided to make a quilt with these cute, bright fabric pieces. It will end up a fun patchwork look when it is done. So to begin, I had to sew these 9-patch squares together. Don't you love the colors? You know me...the brighter, the better. This should end up a pretty flashy quilt. Who knows, maybe it'll end up being more of a "grandma's house" quilt. Come back later for the next phase...

BE ATTITUDES QUILT

I have been working on and off on my "Be Attitudes" quilt since the kids left after Christmas. This is a project that is going to take some time, as I have to do quite a bit of embroidery to each square. I have all of the blocks put together (12 of them) so they are all ready to be stitched. The quilt store, and the instructions in the pattern book call for sewing machine blanket stitch around the appliqued pieces, but I wanted to hand blanket stitch them instead. I find that it is great therapy for me and very relaxing. Hence, they will take longer to do. I am not in any hurry though, so here is a rundown on the finished blocks...


This is the block for January. This is one of my favorite ones. There are stitched snowflakes that go along the top part of this block that I haven't done yet. He also gets a carrot button nose after the quilt is finished and put together.This one is in the February spot. I didn't realize that these blocks go with the month until I really looked at them. Some of them are generic, but the overall look of the finished quilt is seasonal, I think.
This one is kind of funny. Who would have thought that an ant would end up on a quilt, but the little guy is about the best example of someone being positive, don't you think? This one ends up with a big red (cherry) button on top of the cupcake.
This is also one the favorites in the family. The big girls especially like this one. This guy ends up with BIG black button eyes at the end, and "berry" button around the leaves.
This is the one that I just finished today. This block also has quite a few buttons on it when it is finished. On each seed packet goes a flower button, with 3 different flower buttons going down the right side plaid strip.
I will post as I make them, so that you can see each block. I have been working on a "Block of the Month" quilt that I got free from a blog I follow. It includes some stitchery as well. Stay tuned for that...