Stockings & Tree Skirt

I caught the holiday crafting bug this week. It was a good thing, because we'll actually have stockings to stuff at Christmas and a tree with a real skirt (instead of a blanket wrapped around the bottom). The best thing about it all was that I only spent $3!! Everything else I had in my chaotic stash.

I made these stockings using this template and piecing together a squares from a charm pack. The fabric is Crazy Eight by Moda. 

I also made this ruffle-icious tree skirt. It was all over Pinterest a few weeks ago. It was super easy and actually took less time than I anticipated. I bought an ugly tree skirt at the store for $3 and glued these ruffles to it as indicated in this tutorial. I can't wait to put up my tree!

Fairy Princess {Machine Quilting}

I had a magical time quilting these fairy quilts this week.
I made them as girl and as frilly as possible.
Flowers, leaves, petals, swirls, loop de loops.
I love the ruffles and 3d butterflies.
We gotta get all the fairy princess magic in at our house before my little girl is not so little anymore. Here she is last Saturday all ready for her baptism.

Three

...good reasons why my blogging has been practically non existent the last year or so.

I am hoping to pick up the pace a little and show you more of what I have been quilting.

My Treasury

Check out my perfectly appropriate Etsy Treasury. Molly showed me the Abbey Road plate and it inspired me to create a treasury. Wanna buy me a present?

It. was. epic.

Friends. Let me digress from sewing and crafting to share with you something ever so relevant to the theme of this blog.

I SAW PAUL MCCARTNEY IN CONCERT!!!

You must know that more than once during the show it occurred to me that I had to share my excitement on this appropriately themed blog. Are you a Beatles fan? If so, you understand. If not, please excuse this sidebar of a post.

Highlights of the concert:

• Live and Let Die with crazy fireworks
• Old ladies dancing, waving peace signs, and crying. Old. I'm talking 70.
• Hey Jude. It lasted forever and everyone was singing along.
• Blackbird. I didn't realize it was about civil rights.
  
• Let it Be. Paul solo at the piano.
• This list could go on forever.
• Every song he sang was AWESOME.

Here's me and my hubs at the concert. Pardon our appearance, we were dying of heat.
Thanks MOM for babysitting!!

Right Now

Right now I downloaded this free pattern.

Right now I am loving Modern Meadow.

Right now I want to combine the above to into a fabulous quilt.

Right now I have a newborn whose demands I follow.

Maybe tomorrow...

doggies!

Thanks for your votes on the logo! Yes, even those of you who voted silently and didn't comment. You know who you are! While I'm mulling over those options it's about time I showed you the most amazingly wonderful adorable doggy quilt that my Grandma Z made for baby A (he's 4 months old now so I've really been procrastinating). Looky!

I love this quilt for several reasons. 1. It's so plush! 2. We love doggies at our house and have two of our own (Zibby the husky and Baxter the boxer). 3. It reminds me of the many hunting dogs we had growing up.

I'm very unhelpful on the details of the quilt. I don't know the name of the pattern or where you can find it. If you're dying to know, and have the patience for those applique/button-hole-stitched pups I'm sure I can ask Grandma Z.

Forget Sewing

If I were to ever give up sewing and quilting, it would be for woodworking and furniture building. My heart skipped at least one beat when I ran across Knock Off Wood this morning. Anna has loads of wood working plans to make your favorite furniture from places like Pottery Barn. I am now on a quest to get husband and father-in-law to build these bookshelves for me.

Auction for Haiti

I participated in Beth's scrappy Christmas block swap last year. It was my first swap and it was really fun. She also wanted to do some charity quilts. I volunteered to quilt one of them (pictured above.) Now she is auctioning two quilts and two tree skirts, with the proceeds going to Haiti. Visit her blog, Modern Jax, for more details.

his quilt

The quilt I made for the Little Man turned out great. But who's looking at the quilt in these adorable photos?

Great photographer! Check out her blog and website!

Spring Boy

I am love, love, loving this quilt my mom made as a sample for Gracie Lou's. I really like how it quilted up. I really like the white background, and my favorite shade of green. Come this spring, I will get to wrap my baby boy up in it. (That is an announcement.)

Fabric: Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey

Little Man

Dear blog world, meet my new Little Man. He's adorable and quite high maintenance. I'll be posting just once a week until...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My Favorite Christmas Quilt

OK, I admit. This is the only Christmas quilt I have ever made. And the only one I own, but I still love it. I must have made it 8 or 9 years ago after seeing something similar in a furniture catalouge. (The quilt wasn't for sale, just in the photo.) I figured out how to make it, and made one for me, and one for my mom. They took forever, and since they were made pre-quilt machine, I hand quilted them.

Someday, maybe when my kids are grown, I will write a tutorial for it.

Nursery Sneak Peek

Hello! Can you believe Thanksgiving has come and gone? I hope yours was as wonderful as mine...except I hope you didn't catch a nasty cold like I did! On top of some seriously savory dinner items, we had some delectable desserts!


I'm only one month away from my due date! Baby is coming soon and our nursery is pretty much ready. Here's a sneak peek.

I'm pretty happy with how the birdie mobile turned out. It wasn't easy to hang that's for sure! I'm also happy with the alphabet flash cards used as wall decor. Once I get the room all organized and clean I'll share more photos. Fun!

Plate Wall

Do you mind if we take a quick break from hand made and move to Interiors? (My educational background is Interior Design.)

I saw this post here, and now I am thinking of changing my hoops to plates. It reminds me of my Grandma's house, but with modern style. I am now wishing I had photos of my Grandma's plate wall. She collected plates from all of the places she visited. (I had one from Amish country with a quilt on it and I broke it - drat.) Now her run down house is gone, and my sister's beautiful house stands in it's stead. I am missing the plate wall.

Christmas Wishes

Random thoughts about Christmas.

I am smart enough not to try and make anything Christmasy for myself after October, my quilting schedule is just too crazy.

I don't think my children or neighbors are getting handmade gifts this year, and I am OK with it.

I usually do the bulk of my Christmas shopping in October. I am just not feeling it this year.

If you are interested in having something quilted by me for Christmas, it is in both of our best interest that you get it to me by the first part of November.

Now that I got that off my chest, I can enjoy Halloween for a while.

Getting Good

When I layed this quilt out to take a photo of it, husband said, "You are getting really good at that." Huh. I am guessing that is his way of saying the quilt turned out really cute without having to admit that he has an opinion about something so feminine. I think he is right though. The quilting turned out fantastic.

Meeting Joel

Deer Valley by Joel Dewberry

Crazy things happen. On Friday, and friend and I were walking through the "craft" booths at our town celebration. It is a common thing here in Utah.

Last minute we decided to check the booths a few blocks away. I spot a booth that says "Modern Quilts." Let's go there, I say.

While we are checking it out, my friend is prodding me to give them my card. I ask them if they do their own quilting or if they need a quilter. They say they need one. I don't have a card, so they grab a notebook.

I mention that they are selling Joel Dewberry fabric. "We are Joel Dewberry they say." I am not sure what I did at this point. I am wondering if I looked confused, shocked, star struck. I turned around and shook Joel's hand. He gave me his card. I like an idiot didn't have one, but he took my info. (I later went back with a card.)

Turns out they live in my neck of the woods. Who knew. I swear to you this is a true story.

Midwest Modern Contest.

I just entered this quilt, which is my original design, in Amy Butler's Midwest Modern contest. Wish me luck!

Home Town Quilt Show

I spent last weekend enjoying my hometown celebration. I love a good hometown celebration, and my hometown's is the best! In recent years, a quilt show was added to the festivities. The quilts are hung between trees on the lawn of a church. And even better, it is right across the street from my parent's house where I grew up. The show is non competitive. No judges = my kind of quilt show.
Here is a sampling of some of the quilts. I quilted all of these but two, which were hand quilted by my aunt and grandma. I am humbled to say that I was well represented.

What's your favorite quilt show?