Moving and a Little Update

This post is more on the personal side of my life, not really all too much about sewing or quilting...

Over the next week and a half we are going to be moving into a new place, from an apartment to a house. (Yay!) Most of my sewing supplies are already over at the house with the exception of my fabric, sewing machine, iron and board, and cutting mat..... So maybe "most" of my sewing supplies aren't over there yet. I guess I just personally wanted to escort them over.

I'm so excited to move! We've been in the apartment for 3 years exactly and I do love it here, but it's just too small now for the four of us. We will have more room than we will know what to do with in the house (going from a 2 bedroom, 1 bath to a 4 bedroom, 2 bath) and that is a very good thing. The girls will have a yard (a big one that wraps all the way around the house and even has a cherry and an apple tree); my husband gets the smallest room for an office; we get our own master bedroom with our own bathroom (no more toys in the bathtub?!); the girls get one bedroom to sleep and one other bedroom for a play room.

What do I get? Besides the joy of moving into a beautiful house that I absolutely adore, with a fantastic kitchen and a laundry room, I'll have my own little sewing area. The dining room is a nice size and has a great bay window which will be the perfect area for my sewing table. I'll be looking right out a nice big window which is one of my favorite things to do. There's even two lights installed right above that spot so I wont be frustrated over casting a shadow over my work. My husband had offered me the extra bedroom for a sewing room, but I just wanted to be out where everyone else will be where it's light, open, and easily accessible. I'm sure sometimes I'll want to be left alone and then I'll just kick my husband out of his office and I'll sew in there. :)

Although I am very excited to move, I will miss my little apartment - it's been very good to us and I'm emotionally attached to it. If you'd seen where we were living before we came here (and some of you have, ugh, it was awful!) you would know how much of a dream come true this apartment was to us. My husband was able to get us into this place before I had even seen it. I remember when he showed it to me... he unlocked the door and I walked inside and melted. It was so much nicer than where we had been that it felt like we had come such a long way - and I was relieved. We had struggled really hard financially after we were married and having two little ones so early was very hard for us. Coming to this apartment, in what felt like our own little corner of the world, made us feel like we had finally made it through the hard times. We have grown a lot over the last three years, some of it with help from family and friends (we couldn't have done it without you), and some of it on our own. I'm proud of where we are.. and this move into a house - even though we are still renting - feels like the payoff of the last 8 years of hard work.

Anyway... enough of that. Here's the updates for my to-do list. I mailed out my jar blocks last week for the jar block swap. I can't wait to get the new ones back. I finished up my string blocks and have them packaged and will put those in the mail tomorrow. I may be putting the pincushion I made in the mail as well but I am just not sure yet. There is a little flaw in it that I'm not liking so I feel like I need to make another one. We are moving this weekend and the deadline for mailing is on the 1st. So I think I'm pretty sure I'll have time to make the second one.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend. :)

My Little 30s Quilt

Last night at Scottie Dogs' Girls Night Out I was talking with Denise about my fear of machine quilting and I appreciated her encouragement. She told me that it doesn't really matter, just do it. It helped me to realize that it's more important to at least try - and let the experience teach you - instead of never trying at all. Thanks Denise. :)

I wasn't planning on going to GNO but at the lasts minute decided I really wanted to. I didn't have a project ready to work on so I grabbed some little 30s prints 3-inch charm squares and just sewed them together. Tonight I added some borders, spray basted it, and machine quilted it! I've done a little machine quilting before, but never going over my own lines because I was too afraid of the dreadful puckers. This time I took Denise's advice and did it anyway. I stitched in the ditch along the seams and did a free zig zag in the borders. I didn't look at the back the whole time. When it was all done I was ready to see how awful the back looked. So I closed my eyes, turned it over.....peeked.... and to my surprise there were NO PUCKERS! Not one single nasty pucker.

So thank you Denise for giving me the push to stop worrying. I know there will be puckers in the future, but I will not let them stop me. :)

Here's the quilt.. I still need to add the binding. (Of course, Tinkers is already sniffing it...)

Heart Blocks Arrived Today!

I was at work when my husband called to tell me that a package came in the mail - the heart blocks have arrived! I got home and let Isabella open the package. Here's the photos I took of her thumbing through them and picking out her favorites. (Yes her shirt is spotty, but if you're a parent then you know that preschool is not conducive to tidy attire. Heh.)

Thank you Debby!!!





Some of her favorites...


I enjoyed looking at them, feeling them, and finding little hidden surprises (some of the blocks even have the names of the people that made them!) The seams are all so nicely pressed and all the pieces just so. I have the perfect white on white fabric to make up some more of these little cuties to make a good sized quilt for Isabella. :D

And finally....

"Let's see if this is my size..." she says as she tests out her soon-to-be-quilt. :)

String Blocks are Done!

I finished sewing the corner squares onto the string blocks for the string block swap tonight. It's definitely my least favorite part of these blocks, but so worth it. I only made 20, so I think I'll probably make a few more and just turn the swapped blocks into a lap quilt. I'll mail these babies out in a couple of days.

And as soon as I laid the blocks down to take a picture, Tinkerbell decided she had to give them the cuddle test.

Jar Blocks are Done!

I finished my jar blocks early last weekend and just needed to take some pictures of them, label them, and get them packaged. I made 54 jars - 4 fruits, 3 bugs, 2 novelty - for a total of 9 sets. I hope to use the blocks to make some wall hangings for my girls preschool and kindergarten teachers class rooms, but the girls might graduate high school before they get them!

Here's the pics of the different blocks I made. They are wrinkled, I failed to iron them before takings pictures. :)

100th Post Giveaway

So I'm starting to make plans for my 100th post. Should it be a fabric giveaway, something I've sewn or painted, gadgets, what?

I hope that if there is anyone out there reading they give me some feedback on this. You can vote in the poll on the side of the blog, so vote now!

I've just added a subscription option so be sure to check that out too.

To Do List: February 2008

I think I'll start a monthly to-do list and see if it ever gets smaller or just continues to grow. I'll start with projects that are top priority regardless of how old or new they are, and then go from there. This wont be for things I plan on getting done in February, but just my list as of February and every month thereafter.

Keep in mind I am not the fastest quilter. I tend to think and read more about it than actually doing it. *I'm rolling my eyes at myself.* I do have spurts of creativity and hope that I can stop adding to this list before things actually get finished. But I do think that this will take me on into 2009.

So here goes.

To Do List: February 2008
1. Finish sewing corners onto the string blocks for string block swap. Done!
2. Take pictures of the jar blocks and get them in the mail. Done!
3. Make a second pincushion for the pincushion swap.
4. Make Lydia's AB Bag!!! (Kicking myself for forgetting about you!)
5. Make SIL's Nursing Tote.
6. Finish 1st blanket for Baby S. by June (Buy backing, baste, quilt, bind.)
7. Start (and finish) 2nd blanket for Baby S. by June (Ack!)
8. Make an assortment of bibs, burp cloths, swaddling blankets (?) for Baby S. by June
9. Start Isabella's Heart Quilt
10. Start Gabe's BBQ Quilt
11. Start Bento Box Quilt
12. Do a little work on my Dresden Plates (I'll be 50 before it's finished)

I've Been Under a Pile of Blocks!

I'm not sure if I have any regular readers out there, but I've been neglecting my blogging lately. Since I was trying to finish my jar blocks for the block swap (finally finished the beginning of last week!) and trying to also finish my string blocks for the string block swap (finally finishing today!) I've just been able to do much here. Pretty soon I will be able to post pics of all the blocks I made, and then soon enough, all the different blocks coming in! Woohoo!

I made around 50 jar blocks and 20 string blocks. I wish I had more time to make more than 20 strings, since I need a lot more to make a large quilt, but I will be moving and I know my sewing machine will be out of commission for a while until we get settled in - so 20 was all I had time for.

I've been feeling the need to make a To-Do list... so I'll post that next. I'll hopefully be posting photos of the blocks in the next couple of days so if you are reading, be sure to check back. :)

31 Heart Blocks Are On Their Way!

Would you believe it? I won something! Debby (check out her amazing Jane Stickle quilt) from the About.com quilting forum posted that she was hosting a giveaway for some heart blocks that she didn't have time to put to use. Commenting on her blog entered your name into the drawing and out of 59 names mine was 1 of the 2 to be drawn. I am soo happy. Isabella has been asking for a heart quilt for some time now and I've been struggling to make one for her. I had thought of only applique (a method I'm not fond of yet) and had started one with a couple of blocks but I just really didn't care for it... so off to the UFO pile it went.

Then along came the block lotto for February which was these cute little heart blocks. I really wanted to enter but our surprise move is coming soon and I wasn't sure if I would have time to make the blocks necessary to enter me into the drawing. I came across Debby's post and commented on her blog and didn't think anything else of it. I thought the drawing was on the 14th (it was on the 2nd!) so I wasn't paying attention to the thread that had the information in it until someone sent me a message that said, "She's looking for you!" I almost lost out on these great blocks because had she not heard from me by tomorrow she was going to have to draw a different name. Phew!

Isabella will be so happy. I have a few projects that I'm working on to finish before my friend has her baby and a request from my SIL for a large tote to take to work and after those things I will start on Isabella's heart quilt. Thank you SO much Debby, we really appreciate it!

I'll post pictures of the blocks as soon as I get them.