Cutting fabric …

Or not!!!!

My dads quilt given to him

Here is my dad with his quilt!  I think he likes it :)

 

He was definitely surprised!!

Dad quilt top done!

Here is the top all laid out (it sure was hard to get a full picture of it!!)  I chose a smaller white border then a wider black border.  I had wanted to do a yellow border also, but then I would have struggled finding batting to fit it! as it was it JUST fit on the batting.

I tried to get a picture of the quilting here.  I stitched inside the letters 1/4" (of the Chiefs and the KC) and then inside the yellow of the arrowhead and white of the arrowhead.  I also stitched around the black border.

This quilt was probably one of the quickest quilts I have ever made. Now I haven't always kept track of when I started projects (I am doing that now) but I started this one on January 3rd (designing it) and finished it on February 16th (minus the label).  It's amazing how fast something will come along when you are motivated!

Rainbow scrap challenge

After getting my Bonnie Hunter quilt books I proceeded to fall in love with a few quilt patterns.  One I thought that I would be good for the rainbow scrap challenge, of course, this means that I have to revisit January & February's colors.  (Which kind of works out, because I am not doing March's color of Teal).

This block will allow me to practice my flying geese (which I am not real fond of)

This block requires string blocks!!! Which I love!!

You put the string blocks together with a 9 patch (sorry I forgot a picture of it on it's own!)

And VOILA!!! the finished block! I LOVE it!! I have a layout all picked out, now I just need to get the blocks done!

Shout out to my husband who says he reads my blog :p

I am linking up to rainbow scrap challenge (I will make the link prettier when I get home, we are on the road) http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2014/03/scraphappy-saturday-between-blue-and.html

Rescues!!

I have shown pictures of my two kitties, but never told their stories.  Lily Pad Quilting is having a blog hop/giveaway for people that share about their rescues!!

I have two kitties.  Minnie & Pepé.  Minnie I got right after my husband I got married, and we were living apart (we both accepted jobs three hours apart on the same day! oops) and I wanted a friend.  I was looking around Craigslist and I saw this little face looking back at me:

The lady I got her from was actually just cat sitting while HER friend was in Germany (her dad was sick).  But the lady I got her from had a baby and Minnie would NOT stay out of the crib, and the baby was allergic to cats (but only really affected because Minnie was in her face).

So she came home with me.  We became fast friends.  She was my little shadow.  She would even shower with me.  Well she would sit between the two shower curtains.  She slept with me every night.

I always felt like Minnie wanted a friend.  So when we moved to Indiana I begged my husband to let us get her one.  His moms' best friend is the kind of person that kitties just FLOCK to!! And she had a little boy kitty (I wanted a boy because I know Minnie is dominant) that was three-ish years old.

And I got my little Pepé (yes like Pepé le pew) my husband named him!

Minnie & Pepé did NOT get along at first.  But now they are FAST friends! Almost always together.  Minnie takes care of her "little" older brother.  They love to cuddle and play!

I am also linking up with Feline Friday.

extension table for a featherweight

I have the coolest Mother in law!!! First of all, she let me "steal" her featherweight. (I posted about it here) really I have been borrowing it for a long time ;) But my MIL is happy that it is getting used (and you bet it does!!)

Well for Christmas this year she got me this extension table to use with the featherweight! I hadn't really had a chance to use it until I did my sit n stitch the other night. 

It is SO awesome!!! It is big enough I can lay out a quilt block (or here two since they were smaller) and I just have such a big work space!  They will be doing sit n stitch next week too.  So I will be there!! (with my table extension!)

I don't know where she bought it, since it was a Christmas gift, but it says "Sew Steady" on it.

Sit n stitch

A local quilt shop (that I JUST found out about) was doing a sit n stitch.  I decided to go by last night.

I had started parts of these at home, but I finished these leaders and enders.

And I worked on a few of these (I think I got about 3 done).  I am not sure if you can tell how small they are. They finish at 5"!

And here is my progress on my celtic solstice!

I am linking up with Work in Progress Wednesday!

Quilting my dads quilt

I'm still amazed I was able to quilt this on that tiny machine!!

I quilted this while I was in DC visiting my friend.  I will say I am kind of glad I did it there, so that I could use the table behind the machine to lay out the quilt on.  But I had to throw it over my shoulder to support it!

And here is what the back looks like:

It doesn't match the red on the front, but they aren't next to each other so it's ok :)

Falling leaves

I have a few more leaves done.  I sure do love them! I am not as in love with the dark colored with the leaves on it, but it will fit nicely with the others!

I am linking up to work in progress Wednesday at freshly pieced.

Dad's quilt - top done!!!

The top was finally (almost) done!!! I haven't added borders and I think I will add a row of red to the bottom (where it says Chiefs) and the left side of the arrowhead.  But to have this top done!! I am SO excited!!

New "toys"

We got our tax refund back, and I begged my husband to let me buy some Quilt books.  For the most part I don't buy them, you can find just about anything on the internet, and sometimes books can be bulky.

But these books I had to have!! I bought them from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. I really wanted String flight & Leaders & Enders, but if you buy 3 books you get free shipping! So I bought the 200 blocks from Quiltmaker! I am going to use it to make my own little sampler quilt :)

Bird blocks

I have a few bird blocks done.  I was stressing about the colors, but I think they turned out cute :) I even got a little wonky on their heads and beaks, they are different sizes.

 

I am linking up to:  Work in progress Wednesday!

 

My dads quilt cont.

This thing came together very quickly, even though it was a lot of 3" squares!

Pepé blended in ;) Even though I was trying to be very careful I still messed up a row or two.

Pepé didn't care.  He just thought it was cozy!

I am linking up to Feline Friday

Bird Block

I found these birds.  And I just thought they were ADORABLE! so I decided to make some of my own!

Here is one of my favorites (even if his legs are kind of far apart ;) )

 

Goals check in

1. Post in my blog 7 times a month. Well since I have been in my sewing room a lot, I have been able to post way more than that! I just hope it can keep up!!

2. Finish 2 quilts on my home machine that is not just straight stitching.  If I do end up doing this one it will be baby blankets.  After doing the monster that was my dads quilt, I don't want to do anything that isn't just straight stitching.

3. Finish 5 UFOs.  Not a one done! but it is only the start of March.  Maybe I can work on one during my spring break.  Course I am not sure how viable this goal is, because I have three or four quilts that need to be finished, that I only want to do on a long arm.

Maybe I should add a fourth goal to hold myself accountable to it!  Making my husbands and my Christmas stockings!  I have made them for two friends, but I would really like to have some for him and I!