WIP Wednesday

I have several works in progress or shall I say a few I am actually working on at the moment. I decided to take a reality check this year on my long list of incomplete quilts. I printed out a photo list of all my wips listed by oldest to newest and hung it up on my cork board. This quilt is my oldest wip. It is the first quilt I ever made. I made this quilt top in 2003 after I lost my beloved cat “Pusskins”. It was kind of my therapy at the time. I had no pattern all I had was a few books on quilting and I also watched a few shows on PBS. One of the shows was on applique and that is how I got the idea to use a cat and heart motif and applique them onto some of the blocks. My cat Pusskins was a black cat so naturally I wanted the cats to be black. All of the fabric in the top I found at JoAnn fabrics. I just kind of made it up as I went along. I set up my quilt station in my kitchen on the little table in the corner. This is when I discovered the rotary cutter and mat. Little by little I pieced this thing together. Then when I got to actually making it into a quilt is where my troubles began. I bought a big thing of acrylic high loft batting. I also was not confident in my quilting so I bought clear acrylic thread. When I made my sandwich I just laid it out on the bed and pinned it all together, not knowing I should have secured the backing on a surface before putting the batting then top down to pin. I did my quilting by stitching in the ditch around the square blocks. What a nightmare. It was a total mess. It was so thick from the batting and the thread was awful. I ended up rolling it up and putting it in the closet for the next 10 years, always thinking I would fix it. Now I know a little bit more about quilting. So fast forward to 2014 and me finally deciding to clear out all those old wips. Last week when we were all kind of iced in from the big winter storm of the south, I pulled out this quilt and began to hand pick out all the quilting and separated the top from the batting and backing. It took me three days and it is ready now for some proper cotton batting. I am going to switch up the backing fabric a little too. I am so excited that this quilt is on the mend. It looks like Cosmo is already staking claim to the quilt once I finish it.

 

Still working on my nephews quilt made using the economy blocks. I plan to make another strip of bricks for in between the last two rows using a few of the fabrics from the top row of blocks. I am using a light tan as my neutral for around the blocks and outside border. I am thinking of appliqueing my nephews name onto the top border. His 1st birthday is tomorrow so I should deserve a few spankings for being so slow on this one. I blame my design board. Every time I make a block or complete another stage of the quilt and put it on the design board, I sit and stare at it. Seriously long moments just staring at the board and thinking about how I might put it all together. I love how this is turning out.

 

Here is the progress on my Woodland Sampler cross stitch. I just have the last month left. I ran out of the brown floss that is used to outline each block. I ordered some and just received an email that the floss has shipped. My goal is to get this one done by the end of the month. My fingers are itching to start a new cross stitch pattern.

 

Here is the biggest Work in Progress in the house. Koda is 9 months old and is as big as a horse, or at least it feels he is that big. He is lucky he is so adorable. He is all puppy and bad dog rolled into one, lets just say he is a work in progress.

Linking up

Wip Wednesday at Freshly Pieced  

Stitching Sundays with Chrissie Crafts

The Economy Block Quilt Wagon

I am not immune to all the economy quilt blocks that are popping up all over Flickr and instagram. They are all just so stinkin adorable. It just so happens I have procrastinated an entire year on making a baby quilt for my nephew, a year and a half if you count when my sister-n-law was pregnant. Well my nephew Trevor turns one years old at the beginning of February and these economy quilt blocks will make a perfect baby/toddler blankie.

Here is what I am using. I am using a fabric panel titled “a fun day in the jungle” along with pulled fabric from my stash. I don’t have an exact quilt design plan yet. I will make up maybe 12 of these blocks and see if I need more or not. For my economy blocks I am using a 5 inch fabric center with a 4.5 inch middle round and outside is 5.75 inch trimming as I go. I prefer to make larger triangles then necessary that way I can trim them down to square up. My block size squared up are coming out at 9 1/2 inches. If you are interested in making some economy quilt blocks you can find the tutorial at Red Pepper Quilts blog

Here is my January block for my quilting bee. I joined the Stash Bee for 2014. There are actually 12 hives this year and I am in Hive #8. Kat is our Hive Mamma and also our Queen Bee for January. She blogs over at FlutterKat. She requested a Tonganoxie 9 patch block in colors of grey & aqua. I enjoyed making this block and am looking forward to seeing all the blocks our hive members request. My month to be the queen bee is May. I have a few ideas we will see how many times I change my mind by the time May rolls around.

We just had a 3 day weekend and spent the majority of it in our pajamas. My little Minnie me insisted on trying out some hair curlers after seeing me with hot curlers in my hair. Yes I am 41 and still play with my hair. Yes for no reason at all I plugged in the old hot curlers and rolled them up in my hair just see what it would look like. I had not curled my hair with curlers in many years and yet I have a linen closet with random bags of curlers and 2 hot curler sets. I had fun rolling Chloe’s hair and telling her all about when I was a little girl and going to bed with curlers in my hair and how we would sit under a large weird object with a dome and holes that blew warm air drying your head full of curlers.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week.

On My Mind Mondays

Welcome to what’s on my mind. I thought I would start a little spot for me to unload some of the things that I am thinking about or into at the moment. I use this blog as a journal in a way and I thought it would be nice to look back and see what interested me. You know the whole reminiscing of remember when I was obsessed with “fill in the blank”?. Anyway here are something’s on my mind.

It never fails this time of year when it gets super cold, I always start dreaming about gardening. I start to think about what I might plant in the spring. Unfortunately we are still renting so major gardening will not take place here. I am not going to rule out a little gardening and of course there is always container gardening. Last year I clipped out an article on Kumquat Trees and how they do well planted in pots. I have been googling these trees for several months now and learning what conditions they like and how to care for them. As soon as there is no chance of a freeze I will be scoping out local garden nurseries for one of these babies to call my own. Yes I can see it now once I have it and planted in a perfect pot looking at it everyday and hoping for it to fruit. Does anyone else think about plants like this and the future plants they might have?

Ok I just need to put this out there. Finally the next season of Downton Abbey started last week. This show makes me giddy. It is like an event when I watch it. I usually work on my stitching and make sure there is no outside distractions. I sit and let it evolve in front of me and think thru out how much I love this show.

Ok occasionally I will watch the singing talent shows that come on. I started watching the last season of X Factor and was hooked from the beginning due to these two people Alex & Sierra. I love their voice combination. At first I was drawn to Alex he was text book the type that I fall for. Then after watching the two of them together you can not help but fall for the both of them. When they sing it is so genuine it gives me a feeling of right now in the moment and being a live. My favorite song they did on the show was a remake of One Directions song titled “The Best Song Ever” I love this song and at any given moment I am singing it in my head. You can find the Utube video of them singing it HERE I can not wait for them to put out an album.

This photo is from Mias Landliv blog. This photo makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have been following Mia’s blog for a long time and her photos are always breath taking. This was beauty overload for me with the cable knitted pillow in the background with the crochet blanket on the side and then the wowzer stack of tweed fabrics in the center. Seriously I had visions of my own stack of tweed fabric and all the wonderful things I would make with them. This is one of those images I will file away and someday maybe in a few months or in a few years I will be in some quilt shop or fabric store and will come across possibly a bundle of tweed or wool fabrics and I will have to have it.

Well there it is a little window into what has been twirling around inside my head. I will end this with a quote by Emerson. I do love a good quote.

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year! Wow a whole new year ripe for new beginnings and a clean slate. On Christmas Eve Chris and I got to bed a little after midnight after setting up for the next days festivities. Chloe promptly woke us up at 5:00 am. As you can see in the photo thru the windows it is pitch black outside. We all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed our time with each other. I was planning on writing a big post with lots of photos but I am feeling it is time to move passed the holidays and start the new year. So I will keep this short and sweet.

I did want to share a supper easy treat Chloe and I made over the holidays that is fun and easy for little kids to make. You just need some small pretzels, Hershey kisses, & some M&M’s. You lay out the pretzels on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Then you place one Hershey kiss on each pretzel. Heat in the oven on low heat just long enough for the Hershey kiss to start to soften. Pull it out of the oven and let it cool just a bit so it is not to hot for the kids to touch but warm enough that it is still a bit soft. Then place 2 M&M’s on top of the soft Hershey kisses. Place tray in refrigerator until they set. Chloe had fun making this tray of treats.

We put a few of these on a plate along with some milk for Santa and his reindeer to enjoy while he visited our house.

December was a tough month for me. I don’t want to get into too many details. After some unexpected events my biological Mother moved in with us for a little over 3 weeks in December. In this time we tried hard to get things in place to have her move to our state and set her all up with social services for her health and other needs. After all our efforts in the end our help was not wanted and she has moved back to where she was. A brief background on my mother – her and my Dad were divorced when I was 2 years old and my Father got custody of my older sister and I. My Dad raised me. I don’t have that whole bond where I feel some big connection to my mother. Even with out that bond I felt the need to try and help her. The whole experience was a huge eye opener and a learning experience. The sad part is that I had so little expectations for my mother and she still let me down. I normally would not post this kind of stuff but sometimes I feel the need to share incase it helps someone else that might be in a similar situation. Plus sometimes it is good to show the real side of life and that everything is not always rosy. Anywhoo, glad for the growing experience and super glad to be moving on.

I am looking forward to 2014. Of course I have an endless list of projects I would like to work on. We already have a few travel plans for 2014 that I am looking forward to. One of those trips is a family vacation where we finally get to see my new nephew that was born in 2013. I joined a Quilting bee for 2014 that starts up this month. My daughter turns 5 this year and will officially start kindergarten in the Fall. The list goes on and on of all the things I am looking forward to and am excited about.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Wishing all of you a happy and safe holiday. Here is Chloe with Santa. When he asked her if there was something she would like for Christmas she replied by asking for a rocking horse. Today we are relaxing at home with family visiting from other states. It is nice to finally kick back and relax after all the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations. I am still in shock that it is the end of the year and 2014 is right around the corner. I can’t wait to go thru my blog reader and see what everyone has been up to and plans for the new year. A big hug from me to you and an extra one if you need it.

Batten Down the Hatches

We spent Thanksgiving holiday with family up in Oregon. Here is Chloe all dressed up for a big turkey dinner. She is standing with Coco my MIL Doberman.

I did manage a little crafting while I was there. I made my first beeswax rolled candles. They are not as easy to make as it looks. I watched a Utube video and they gave me bad instructions. After I rolled a few and they looked like a 2 year old slapped them together, my hubby came over and tried one and of course his was perfect looking. Turns out it is better to be heavy handed then light on your fingers as I was instructed. So I unwrapped the ones I did and re made them to more satisfactory looking candles.

Here are a few pictures from our visit.

My MIL and I were able to sneak away to her local quilt shop Grandmas Attic. I never leave that place empty handed. I came home with two lovely fat quarters, a flying geese ruler, and Eleanor Burns book “Quilts from El’s Kitchen”.

We took the red eye flight home to South Carolina. I had not taken a night flight since my 20’s. I think I am still recovering from the long flight and 3 hour time difference from Oregon to here.

I had been working on my Woodland sampler cross stitch. I am hoping to really pick up the pace and get this done by January.

I have a whole pile of different projects I plan on sewing for the holidays and of course that did not stop me from adding a new one and moving it to the top of the list. I am making this small bunch of fabrics into a advent calendar. I know December already started. At least if I finish it I can use it next year. One too many sugar plums dancing in my head, we will see how much I actually get accomplished this year for Holiday sewing. I do cheat a little because I tend to sew thru January. Always seems like there is way more sewing time for the holidays after the holidays have just passed.

October Fun

October is my favorite month of the year. It always feels like the beginning of all the happy holidays and the welcome of cooler temperatures. Here is Koda getting into the Halloween spirit. I will warn you this is a long and heavy photo post.

 

We love to go to the pumpkin patch in October. This is where Chloe picked out her pumpkin to carve this year.

 

Nothing like a hayride on a beautiful South Carolina day.

Of course we ran to the petting zoo and hung out with all the little animals. They had the coolest baby animals this year.

 

It is time for persimmons to start popping up in the produce section. Such a sweet treat.

The key is to wait until they are very ripe. Wait till they are so soft you might bruise them if you touch it. Then cut off the stem peel if you like. I slice mine up like a tomato and eat it with out the peel.

 

We went to the local Blue Crab festival and enjoyed a bucket of crabs. They had a bunch of bouncy castles for the kids and also plenty of other festival food besides crab.

 

The best part besides the crabs was walking along the property and looking out over the water.

 

I slacked a little on the Halloween decorating and just put out a few pumpkins and a pumpkin door cover. I strung a small string of ghost lights in one of our rose bushes out front.

 

Here is a Halloween wall hanging I made a few years ago using a fabric panel and sewing a few borders around it. The other side is a pumpkin motif that I usually use as a table topper thru the holidays. Chloe called dibs this year and had me hang it in her play room.

 

This was the first year I let Chloe carve her own pumpkin, with a little help of course. She loved taking the guts out.

 Here is her pumpkin. Not bad for a first time, and a little spooky.

 

Chloe was a Pirate Princess this Halloween. She did great at trick or treating this year. She remembered to say trick or treat and thank you, and even thru in a few Happy Halloweens. She is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it.

I had big plans and dreams of all the Halloween crafting I was going to do this year but sadly I only managed to whip up this Pirate Booty bag. It was the perfect bag for Halloween candy. I also dressed up as a pirate this year. I carried this bag around and when Chloe’s treat bag got to heavy and full I would dump it into this bag. She was able to continue on trick or treating or shall I say Pillaging and plundering the neighborhood.

5 on Friday

I thought I would link up today for the 5 on Friday. It is fun to go thru peoples list of top 5 things for Friday. Here is my number one. We found this fish made out of an old license plate and bottle caps made by a local artist down at the Charleston Market. We have been looking for art to put up in our new dental office and spotted this fish. After bringing it home I decided I wanted to keep it for the house. This guy is hanging over our dog Koda’s crate.

 

number two – I am hooked on these Turkish Figs I found over at nuts.com .  These are so delicious. I have been on a diet for a little over a month and these are like candy to me. I eat about one or two a day and it hits my sweet tooth and makes me happy.

 

number three – I snatched up some of this Halloween fabric from the Spooktacular line. They are pumpkintopia & witches brew, both in color charcoal. Not sure what I will make with them but had to have them.

 

number four – I came across this wrapping paper organizer found at 2littlehooligans blog. It is made out of an old bar stool. I love this craft idea. I have some serious wrapping paper issues and keeping it all neat and tidy would be lovely. Next time I am out thrifting I am going to look for a stool I can use to make one of these.

 

number five – Here is my daughter Chloe. She has started to sneak her way into our bedroom after we put her to bed. Obviously she was busy this night moving several of her babies into our bed before passing out.

 

Well that is my 5 on Friday. I am looking forward to the weekend. We have family in town and are planning to go to the Taste of Charleston. Feel free to post your 5 on Friday and link up to one of the blogs listed on the button ; a. liz adventure, Carolina charm, hello happiness, or the good life blog. Have a great weekend.

My Design Board

I have been working on unpacking and putting together my office / craft room. I finally put together a design board and got it up on the wall. I have been thinking about making a design board for years. Here is how I made mine.

 I picked up 2 Styrofoam tongue and groove insulation from the local hardware store. They are about 2 ft by 4 ft.

Then I used colored duct tape along the seem on front and back side. and also put a few up and down pieces of tape on back across the seem to reinforce it.

I used Warm & Natural batting to cover the foam boards. I think I picked this up at the local Wal-Mart a few years a go when it was on sale. The board once together is about 4 ft by 4 ft so you need enough to cover width wise.

Then I stretched the batting width wise across the foam and stapled it to the back. The batting does not cover the top and bottom. I then used colored duct tape to seal down the batting to the back. The staples would not stay forever since they are in foam. Then I used the duct tape on the top and bottom because I planned for my board to be mobile and able to take it down and up off the wall often. It also created a nice border.

I used 2 large curtain tie backs to mount the board on. I just drilled them into the wall using a level to make sure they both were even. Then my board just sits on top of them and I can move it up and off them whenever I like.

Here is the board with some quilt blocks on it. It is about a 4 ft. by 4 ft. space. It is pretty light weight. The size works perfect for the amount of space I had to work with. I like the fact that I can take it down easily to put things on it or even bring it to another part of the house if I need to. There are several tutorials on the web if you are interested, just Google DIY design board or design wall. Ok back to unpacking the house.

Happy Labor Day

Wishing everyone in the US a Happy Labor Day. Look how big Koda is getting. Love that face, such a handsome boy.

 

I couldn’t help but mention there is a Clematis vine in my front yard and it is blooming. I am so excited that there is some lovely plants and flowers in the yard at this rental home. I miss gardening. Looks like I will be able to get my hands dirty again and watch some flowers grow. Now I need to go web search to see if I can find the name of this particular bloom.