It's Been a While

I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since I have last posted!! Life has been very busy this summer....I have started teaching a beginning quilting class and that has been taking a lot of time for preparation and all that good stuff! It has been a challenge to me since I have never taught a quilting class before, but there are about 15 participants and it is coming along very nicely! Here are some projects I have been working on....the first is a piano bag for my daughter. She is 6 and just started taking lessons. I love this print!

Not only are there pockets for the lesson book and pencils, but I also made a "hidden" compartment for transporting the lesson payment! I put a little velcro closure on it and it is too cute.

I have also been quilting some of my quilt tops including this Neptune quilt I made months ago! I used a variagated thread with ocean greens and teals and used an all over swirl to make it look like ocean waves...all that I need to do now is binding!

Another quilt top I whipped up this week is using a new pre-cut called a turnover by Moda. Summer fun is the name of the collection and it is very bright and cheery! This is for a friend who just had a baby on the 4th of July.

Last show and tell is this one inspired by Dana's sew-a-long. I used Moda's Twiggy jelly roll. Very simple and only took a couple hours to whip together. It isn't as large as the original pattern, but it used up the entire jelly roll and is a perfect lap size!

My next big project is to quilt this baby!! I need to get it done by the first of August for a birthday. This is my Double Delight quilt that I made in January.

Thank you for letting me share all my on-going projects! What are you all working on this week??

Yet another Zig Zag Quilt!

For this zig zag quilt, I used the Recess jelly roll by Moda that my husband got me for Valentine's Day. I really like the zig zag quilt!! It is easy and creates a really fun quilt! I divided the jelly roll up into the colors, leaving out the solid yellow. For some reason, I am not a big fan of yellow...I know, it is the color of sunshine and it is so cheerful....I just am not a fan of the color.


Now I just have about 7 quilt tops that need to be quilted...I just so hate basting that I put it off and just make more tops! Anyone else like that??

Neptune Quilt Top

I have been wanting to have some of the Neptune fabric from Moda since it came out a couple of months ago. I finally found the right pattern and used 4 charm packs for this quilt. The dark navy on the setting triangles and for the inside squares is also from the Neptune line. I LOVE this quilt top!! I think it is my favorite quilt...of all the ones I have made. I can't wait to quilt and finish it!! This weekend I am heading down to Mary Jo's and hope to find some inexpensive backing fabric for it...I am so excited about the trip!

Finally...new quilt tops!

I have been working on some new projects lately. It has been such a long time since posting anything...wish I could post every day!! I follow Amanda Jean almost daily. She is an amazing quilter with fabulous patterns and a simple style that just makes you want to sew every day! I have loved the look of the zig zag quilts, but all those triangles made me shiver. I will do them, but I do not jump at the chance!! This pattern uses all rectangles....straight lines for a zig zag quilt! My heart was all warm and fuzzy as this one came together :o) It is for Emma's teacher...since teacher appreciation week is next week. The top is finished and now comes the quilting.....I can't wait to make another one!

I went to my first ever quilting class this Saturday at Wish upon a Quilt in Raleigh, NC. First of all, I will be signing up more often...secondly, I learned this great new pattern!! Obviously needs to be trimmed up a bit, but I was very excited to get a picture of it. I loved the pattern so much that I made a bigger one....with the Neptune line from Moda. I LOVE MODA FABRIC!!! Okay, whew...got that out of my system! I need to finish putting the rows together tonight and will post a picture soon, I would say tomorrow, but that might not happen. By the way, this is a disappearing nine patch pattern! Would never have guessed!!

Now if I can just wrap up the rest of my Rainbow Block Swap blocks...

UNC Quilt

A friend of mine is having a birthday this week...and she is a huge Tarheel fan. I found this pattern in a catalog and just copied it. I like the way the dark background makes the 9 patches pop out. I couldn't find the right shade of Carolina blue so I went with the navy instead. Kind of reminds me of the argile in their jerseys. Though I am not a Tarheel fan myself, I am glad a North Carolina team will probably win the tourney!!

I still need to finish the binding, but the overall stippling only took me 2 hours!! I was so excited about that!

Moda 1974 Quilt

Hello! I have had a few people ask about the pattern for my 1974 quilt. I used this pattern from Quiltville.com, but when I laid out the blocks the way the pattern says to, the design got lost and it just looked messy. So, I took the blocks I had cut from step 6 (last one before laying it out) and put them back together like the picture then added sashing. I don't think I had enough contrast to make the original pattern work. I hope this has been helpful!!

Taking a Quilty Break

Like everyone else, I have so many projects in the works...I just need to take a creativity break! Not for long though...Christmas isn't that far away :o)

I think having girls is such fun. My girlies are just too cute for words!! I have found some great hair blogs that inspired me to do more creative things with their hair...starting with rag curls! We will see in the morning how that turned out. They stayed pretty still for me, if bobble heads are still. That is what it was like!

So, I also found this great site to learn how to do make my own hair bows.

I love this ribbon!!

I think this is my favorite bow...I like the 2 colors together.

Here is the last one I made last night. Love the blue ribbon too. I never knew there were so many ribbon choices out there!!

Rainbow Block Swap

Jane at Jane's Fabrics has carried on the idea of the Rainbow Quilt Block Swap! I have never done a swap before, but I am really excited to be a part of this. I think it is going to turn out amazing!

By the way, Jane also has an amazing eBay store that I have purchased fabric from. Very nice fabric, quick delivery too! Just thought I would share! I purchased 30 black and white FQs for the Black and White challenge. I chose my other color (teal) and am working on cutting out all the fabric for my pattern.....it is my own invention so I have to make a trial set to see how it goes!!

Challenges and Changes

I turned 30 last week. I view birthdays as a time for personal evaluation. I have developed 3 main goals for myself this year and steps to meet these goals. I think these are simple things that can make a big difference.

Here are my goals:
#1 Lose weight. I have a "few" pounds to lose since I had my babies. My "few" happens to be about 65!! Yikes! That is hard to post, but there it is!

#2 Find ways to save money. This sounds like a simple goal, but it is sooo hard to actually do!

#3 Use up my fabric. I just cleaned out my sewing room this weekend and rearranged a bit. I had to unload my fabric to move the bookcase. Oh. My. Goodness.

Here are a few things I am going to do in order to hopefully achieve all three goals.

1. Follow a diet plan. For the weight, that means Weight Watchers. I did it before, and I can do it again! I will be posting my progress every Monday. I hope this makes me more accountable. For using my stash, I am putting myself on a fabric diet. I am going to use more than I buy. I will also be posting my progress on this every Monday.

2. I plan to save more by creating and actually following a budget.

3. When going to the grocery store, I will use a list and stick to only what is on the list. I will only shop once a week and refuse to go to the store in between, even if we run out of something. This will force us to use what is in the house and be more creative if we run out of particular things. I may actually use up all the frozen meat in my freezer!!

4. Every pay period, I plan to put $25 in my savings account. Doesn't sounds like a lot, but I get paid 26 times a year and that will be $650 in a year's time. My husband gets paid 12 times a year, so that is $300. That is a small thing that really adds up!! We probably won't even miss the extra few dollars.

5. I will only go to the fabric store once a month and only buy fabric for a project that is either on-going or that is planned for. My random fabric buying has seriously gotten out of hand!! I plan to go the the fabric store on the 2nd Saturday of the month. If I don't go then, I have to wait until the next month.

This is all I have come up with for now. If you have any tips or strategies, I would love to hear them!!

Moda 1974 Quilt

I have always been the one who sought after sales...the best fabric for the best price. I rarely shop in quilt shops because their prices are usually outrageous, in my opinion. Now I know why they charge so much...the quality is amazing! This is the first Moda fabric I have ever used and it felt like butter going through my machine. And it just feels so soft. I am not saying I will only shop at quilt shops, but I can certainly tell you that I will go more often! I went to Wish Upon a Quilt in Raleigh and they have an amazing sale room :o) Here is my first Moda Jellyroll quilt using the 1974 fabrics.

Here is a close up of a couple of blocks.


Edit: This pattern was used using the Strip Twist pattern found at Quiltville.com. However, when I laid out the blocks according to the pattern, it didn't look right...the pattern was lost. So I put the squares with the same fabric back into a square as shown and then added the sashing. I hope this is helpful :o)

Valentine's Day!!

I have always been a big fan of Valentine's Day, even when I was single. I have a lot of good memories from when I was a kid. My favorite Valentine Day gift as a child was a lady bug with heart shaped spots on its back. This year, my husband did the best thing for me. Each day, starting on Monday, he gave me fabric!! Here is what he gave me on Monday:

On Tuesday, he surprised me and took me to a quilt ship in Apex. He said, "Okay, we're here! Go inside and buy some fabric!" I fell in love with the pattern in the front, some charm packs called Tranquility, and a Civil War FQ set.

On Wednesday, he surprised me with these 3 charm packs by Moda...Recess, 1974, and Pumpkins Gone Wild!!

On Thursday, he gave me the jelly roll by Moda called Recess. I love the retro colors!

On Friday, he gave me the jelly roll Twiggy. Twiggy is such a great combo of colors!!

On Valentine's Day, my wonderful hubs gave me this beautiful jelly roll called Pack your Bags. I have always had a love affair with all things Paris and Italy and it is the perfect fabric for that! Oh, I just love it!!

He also gave me this adorable charm pack by Moda. I have the best husband!! Thank you for letting me share :o)

I Won!!

The Quilt Shoppe had a giveaway for this wonderful Moda Honeybun named Hartfield. Each fabric is named after the homes or cities in Jane Austen's books. I have loved her books since I was in high school...my favorite is Sense and Sensibility...or Pride and Prejudice...I love them both! Anyway, I won!! I am so excited to make a beautiful quilt with these wonderful fabrics. Thank you, Quilt Shoppe!!

Tinkerbell Quilt Tops

Okay, I think that I am in a bad habit of making quilt tops and saving the quilting for later...I now have at least 7 to quilt...yikes! These are the last 2 before quilting them all...promise :o)

I have had these 2 Tinkerbell prints for a while and my girls keep asking when I am going to make them a Tinkerbell quilt. So, here they are. I love this pattern. So easy, but the result looks very dramatic.



They each measure 48 inches square.

Zippers....Friend or Foe??

I have begun a love affair with zippers...now that I know how to put them in!! Honestly, they have always scared me in the past, as is the case with most people. This tutorial is what made me bite the bullet and give it a try. I don't think I will ever make another purse without a zipper!! I love the finished product!
Here is my first attempt...a makeup bag.

Here is the purse. Love the cat fabric!!

This is a shot of the inside. I put in pockets along one of the sides.

Last picture of the purse and make up bag together. Sorry for the blurry pictures!!

Scrappy Split Rail

I love the look of scrap quilts, but true scrap quilts are really made up of scraps...the pieces left over from other projects. I have made scrap quilts from yardage. This is my first real scrap quilt though. I used Bonnie's system of organizing scraps (this woman does incredible things with the smallest pieces!!) and decided it was time to try my hand at it. I used this pattern from Cindy at Carter Quilter (her patterns are amazing!) and I will definitely be using it again!! It was super easy and I really loved the way it turned out! As I pieced this, the scraps brought back so many memories of things I have made in the past and who they were made for. I haven't figured out what to do about the border yet, but I am sure I will get around it it eventually :o)

Sew Easy Valentine Heart Blocks

Hello all! I have put together this short tutorial on making Valentine hearts, just in case anyone is interested! This block measures 10 1/2 " square when complete.
1. You will need 1- 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" and 1- 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece of the heart fabric and 1- 4 1/2"x 4 1/2" and 4- 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares of the background fabric.

2. On the back of the 4- 2 1/2" squares, draw a line on the diagonal.

3. Place the squares on the corners of the heart fabrics as shown and sew along the diagonals.

4. Trim the excess fabric and press in place.

5. Sew 4 1/2" square of background fabric to small heart piece. Then sew 2 pieces of the heart together.

These are simple and have become a favorite block!

Valentine Quilt

Hello all! As my husband recovers, I have had a bit of extra time on my hands...time to design my Valentine quilt! This is my first holiday quilt. I have tons of Christmas and Thanksgiving fabrics but haven't yet made those quilts. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. My mother always made it very special for us when we were little. My favorite Valentine present was a red laybug with hearts instead of dots on its back. I loved that ladybug!!

This is the fabric I plan to use for the back of the quilt...don't you just love it??

Bonnie's Double Delight

My husband continues to do well. He's tired, managing his pain, sleeping a lot. All to be expected. Thank you to you all for your prayers and well wishes!

I started the Double Delight mystery on New Year's Eve and amazingly kept up with the first 4 steps. I decided on a bit of a different color scheme than Bonnie chose. I am not a fan of mauve! Anyway, here is the quilt top in the colors I chose. I have been able to work on this in between caring for Branson. This quilt has more meaning for me than many others.

Only in America!

My husband had brain surgery yesterday...they weren't able to remove everthing due to some location complications, but otherwise it was successful. He has been moved from ICU into a regular bed and has been doing just great! He is in pain, but is taking those meds and is managing well. They say he might go home tomorrow! Only in America...one day brain surgery, 2 days later home. Amazing!

Right now I am sitting in the hospital room, surfing the web as he sleeps. Amazing. Wireless internet in the hospital! Anyway, I took some pics last week of the Valentine fabrics that I want to turn into a quilt. I haven't found the right pattern yet because I don't want to cut the one with the children on it into tiny pieces...does anyone have any ideas for cutie pie pattern?? I would appreciate any wisdom, insight, etc. Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment!!

Life Changes

Hello to all!! I haven't posted about family life on this blog (see my family blog here), but I hope you'll all indulge me. My husband is having brain surgery tomorrow to have a tumor removed. He had one removed 3 years ago that was causing vision loss and headaches. It has returned and needs to come out again. We found out about it right before Thanksgiving, but I haven't been able to really process it until now.
My girls are taken care of so I can be with him and I am off work for the next 2 weeks to help take care of the hubs at home. So many things can go wrong, but he has the best surgeon in the world taking it out.
On a quilty note, and without any pictures, I have started working on Bonnie's Double Delight mystery. I chose Americana fabrics instead of the civil war repro, can't seem to love mauve and cheddar in the same quilt yet!! It is turning out well! Doesn't it just clear your head to mindlessly feed fabric into the machine? I will post pictures later on!

Heirlooms

My grandma passed away in 1994 and I still miss her. Just this Christmas, I received a wonderful heirloom...my grandma's sewing basket. I am so excited to have this treasure. It has been used and loved. The evidence of wear is apparent, it has a musty smell, but it is the best Christmas gift I could have ever received.


Here is the inside from each side...her pinking shears with her name etched in the handle, thread with wooden spools, pins, thimble, and elastic.

Christmas Finishes

Here are some of the Christmas gifts I was working on right up till Christmas Eve...the teacher quilt for my sister-in-law.

Here is the Miami Dolphins quilt for my brother-in-law...I love how this one turned out with the quilting...wasn't sure what to do until the very last minute!

Here is the backing...I have a thing for the backs...I love how the quilting looks!!

This was for my sister...the full length pic was blurry so all I have is the close-up. Hard to see the quilting on this one because of the black fabric. If you click on the pic, you can see the quilting.

Here is the Old Tobacco Road quilt I finished (finally!!) for my mother-in-law. She is a native North Carolinian so I thought it was appropriate!

Close up of the quilting from the front.

Here is the backing! I used a variagated fall colors thread....love this!!

Purses for Christmas

I decided to make some purses for Sunday School teachers this year. The girls have a lot of women that teach them in our church so we have many purses! This first one is made with the best pink NC State fabric!

I have a huge collection of Americana fabric, so this one was fun.

Here is the inside of the purses...pockets all on one side. For the diaper bags, I put pockets on both sides.

These two are favorites! I love the pink paisley!!

Old Tobacco Road Flimsy

Don't cha just love the word "flimsy"? I just think it is a great word...anyway, I digress! Here is my OTR flimsy. I wanted to do the flying geese border that Bonnie's pattern suggested, but just didn't have the patience after this was finally finished. Honestly, this quilt made me want to rip my eyelashes out...just kidding! It was stressful, but I love the pattern, really I do. What I did with the border is what I like to call Slab O' Border!

Return to Mary Jo's

Last weekend, my husband drove me down to Mary Jo's Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC, to do some serious fabric shopping...these are a few of my finds!! Now if you've never been there before, you have really missed out!! It is a huge store (more like a warehouse) jammed with fabrics of all kinds. I should've taken pictures of the signs...all hand written. My husband thinks it is hilarious, but their prices are amazing and they have sooo much fabric. You all should really check them out.

This is the Sand and Surf fabric I have been dying for, but not for $9 a yard. Most of Mary Jo's fabric is $5.99 or so each yard.

Feeling the 70's here!

These are the cutest cowboys! I love the 50's retro characters....Dick and Jane, the old Santas, everything so cute!

Love the Turtles!!!

Lastly, my Christmas fabric. The elves are just adorable! I bought more, but how bad is it that I forgot a week later which ones I bought last weekend and which I bought a while ago???

Jelly Roll Quilt

I finished my jelly roll quilt last night. At first, I wasn't sure if I like the randomness of the different fabrics...thought it was too disorganized for my tastes...but I think I like it. I used Bonnie Hunter's pattern for Oklahoma Backroads and I really like it. I used up almost all the jelly roll strips. I may have to do another one soon!!

Here is a closer shot of the patterns.

I used the extra fabric triangles to make this pieced border.

Now I just need to quilt it!!

New Quilt Top

Here is my newest quilt top! I love the batiks against the dark black...Makes the stars just pop out! Anyway, I have too many quilts to get finished by Christmas!! I am almost done with all the tops and then I will get busy with the quilting. How many projects do you have??

Jelly Rolling!!

I have never bought a jelly roll before yesterday...didn't even know what they were until a couple months ago. I found this adorable jelly roll at JoAnn's yesterday and just loved the colors and the patterns in the fabric.

For only $6, you can't go wrong, right?? Anyway, I am thinking of using this pattern for the 2 jelly rolls I bought....yes, I bought 2! They were small!!

Don't you love how they blend in with my old kitchen table that I use for my sewing table?!?

Old Tobacco Road

I was drawn to this quilt pattern because I live in North Carolina and love earth tones!! Plus it was a mystery quilt, which I have never done before.

I started Bonnie Hunter's Old Tobacco Road quilt over Labor Day weekend. What started out as a "weekend" project turned into a two month project. I cut out enough fabric to make 2 quilts and then went to town making these pinwheels....do you see the problem??

The initial measurements were 1/2 inch too big which made my pinwheels 1 inch larger all the way around. I felt so sick that I just put them all away until I could face cutting down almost 200 pinwheels...ugh. I got up the courage and tackled them. Here is my progress so far.

These are the strips before top assembly...I will post more pics as I get the top done!

The Results of the Auction Quilt

A few were wondering how much the brown and pink quilt sold for. I had told my husband before we went that I didn't want to see it sell for less than $50. If it was less than that, we could sell it on eBay and donate the proceeds...little did I know what he had in mind. I think my husband is the best husband in the world, you can disagree with me and that is okay!! Don't get me wrong, I do live in reality and there are days when there are more negatives than positives, but mostly those days are getting to be fewer and fewer. Anyway, long story short, my crazy husband bought the quilt for me!! He started bidding on it when it stalled at $40 and then it went all the way to $95!! What a great guy...he knew I loved it, but wanted to donate it, and then bought it back for me!! If that isn't love, I don't know what is. Truthfully, this is my first quilt that I have made that I actually own. All my other quilts were gifts or were purchased by customers. I was so excited to take it home and it is now on my side of the bed!!

My Addiction...er...I mean...Fabric Stash

I was recently inspired to organize my fabric collection by Amanda Jean and I was very surprised with the results! I didn't realize how much fabric I actually had. When you pick up a few yards here and there, you don't see it grow until it all in one spot like this! I love it though!! I have added some since organizing everything :o) What can I say? I love fabric!

This brown and pink is finally finished!! I have no idea what to name this quilt...any ideas?? For now it is "brown and pink"!

I love how it turned out!! I am donating it to our school's annual Fall Festival. Every year our school has this event to help raise money for the school as well as just have a great time! We always have booths, candy, bake sale, and then, at the end of the night, the auction! This is the first time I have donated and I am really excited! I used Kim's technique to do some of the quilting...it turned out great thanks to her awesome tutorial!!

I apologize for the lighting. I can't seen to get the quilting to show when I use a flash, but it isn't enough light without it...that will be my next project!!

I have a thing for the backs of quilts. I think it is because you're not distracted by the fabrics on the front and all you really pay attention to is the quilting. It is one of my favorite things to see!!

Nurse Quilt

I love nurses!! Some of my dearest friends are nurses and I never fully appreciated them until my husband's brain surgery almost 3 years ago. They are an undervalued resource in our society!! A co-worker of mine wanted me to make her a queen size version of my previous nurse quilt. I love these nurses!! They are fantastic.

Here is the quilt...part of it. It is really 6 rows by 6 rows...but queen size really is hard to hold up and photograph!!

Babies all Around!!

Two of my best friends are having babies!! Actually one is here and the other is on the way. I am so excited to have new babies to snuggle and love :o) I have been rather crafty lately as there have been many showers to attend! This is my first attempt at a diaper bag and I must say I rather love the fabric. I tried to keep it simple with 6 pockets on the inside and simple stippling for the quilting. After making the bag, I had to fill it with goodies! I was always taught that you never give a purse, or diaper bag, with nothing in it...bad luck you know!

Here is the inside of the bag....looking back now, I should have made the pockets quilted instead of just fabric. Filing away for the next diaper bag.

Don't you love my lovely model! She is such a sweetie pie!

This quilt was made for the same friend for those late night feedings. I quilted it with a simple swirl/heart combination. I loved making this quilt because of how easy it was to assemble and quilt. Have I said I love my new machine!?!

Here is a close up of the quilting...

New Baby Quilt

One of my dearest friends is having a baby soon!! I am so excited to have another baby to love!! I made this quilt for her to wrap up in during those late and middle of the night feedings. Although I am not a Carolina fan, she is so I found this great pink Carolina fabric and went to town!!

Here is a close-up of the quilting...an all-over heart and swirl design. It was done on my new machine and let me tell you that machine is a God-send!! I love, love, love it!! I don't know how I made quilts without it!!

Crazy for Crazy Quilts!

I love crazy quilts! Maybe it is the randomness of it all, but I just love them. I am in love with the 19th century, the same time when crazy quilts came to be so popular. Women would use satin, lace, velvet, and other expensive materials and fashion beautiful quilts. Then they would display their artistic talent by embroidering every seam, every open space. I made this Americana crazy quilt using pieces that I had cut for a particular pattern that just didn't look right together. But in this quilt, it became something amazing.

The "squares" are all 4 inches finished and it took a long time to piece each one using very small scraps.

On the back, I used cordoroy, which is another favorite of mine! Since I am not an embroidery pro, I just tied the quilt with an old, thin blanket as the batting. Then I got the hair-brianed idea to make a crazy quilt for my daughter's doll. This is what I came up with. The squares are 1 1/2 inches finished. Talk about some tiny scraps!

New Baby

After much pain and labor, I have a new baby in the house!! This baby is quiet, doesn't need to be changed, and is wonderfully obedient!! If you haven't guessed by now, my new baby is my new Juki sewing machine. Since the beginning of the summer I have been looking for a new machine to accomodate my machine quilting and haven't found the right one for the right price...until now. I bought a Singer in June that turned out to be a complete dud! I was highly disappointed to say the least.

Isn't this beautiful?!? It works like a dream...quiet, fast, accurate...all the things I need.

I am in love with my new baby and plan to hold on to her for quite a while!

Purses...a new challenge

This was my second attempt at making a purse...I must say it turned out better than I thought! I made this one for my bff who recently went to Hawaii. I love the fabric. Paisley is always a good choice! Needless to say, I really liked the finished product!


Check out the pockets on the inside!

Pink and Brown...Beautiful!!

I finished another quilt top last night and got the pictures up today. Can you see my little helper? She tried so hard to hold it out! I love, love, love this brown an pink fabric!! I bought it a while ago and just didn't want to cut it into little pieces...this pattern worked great!

The side blocks were very interesting. They are folded triangles sewn on the corners, then folded back and sewn to give it that Cathedral window, rounded look. I have never done that before, but it turned out nicely.

Fabric Heaven!!

This weekend I went to fabric heaven. Most of you probably already know of this wonderful fabric store in Gastonia, but for me it was a first. I walked in and was blown away!!! I can't wait to go back, even if it is over 2 hours away! Mary Jo's Cloth Store was amazing and I didn't know where to start. I ended up buying some great fabric...I started with some athletic fabrics with my favorite teams...the Angels, Steelers, and Chargers.
Then I picked out a number of other fabrics that just jumped out at me...especially the Eifel Tower, pinks and browns, and other great fabric designs.
All in all, I ended up spending way too much money and walked away with a mountain of great stuff!

Summer Projects

This summer I have decided to make all the quilt tops I am going to quilt for Christmas gifts. I get distracted easily so I need to change projects regularly. I have enjoyed the change of pace that just making quilt tops brings.

This is Dayna's quilt. She loves Dora!

This one is similar to the nurse quilt I did in March. It is using Loralie fabric with teachers. My SIL just graduated college to become a teacher.

My BIL loves the Dolphins. I have never made a triple Irish chain before, but I really liked the way it turned out. I enjoyed doing it, though it was a lot of cutting and sewing! I thought it would work well with a sports themed quilt.

Finished Projects!

Isn't it nice to have finished quilts? I finished this quilt for my younger daughter's teacher this year. She is an amazing woman who is just wonderful with the kids. Dayna just loves her!

Don't you love my helpers?!

This is my first attempt of free motion quilting.

I made this quilt for my aunt in CA who is a wonderful lady! She is a nurse who has inspired me in my own life.

In fact, I liked the quilt so much, I made 3 of the exact same ones!!