Flower Power :)

It's finished! It's finished!

This darling little quilt for my sweet Minion Sofie :)

Who is that handsome guy hiding behind my quiltie?

My hubby is the bestest!

OK....

back to the quilt.

I had the quilt top finished for quite some time

and then I finally got around to sending it out for quilting.

I mailed it off to Donna's Lavender Nest.

Didn't she do an AMAZING job? 

I love the way she quilted flowers that mimic the flowers

of the orange boarder and backing fabric.

This is the first quilt that I've sent out to be machine quilted

and it won't be my last.

Her service is excellent and Donna is a dream to work with!

Here is a photo of the backing fabric. 

I made a matching pillow case as well :) 

I stopped by my son's house last night 

and Sofie thanked me again for her new quilt.

I love my Minions!!!

Better Late Than Never :)

I've been sewing so much for my etsy business lately

that I needed to take a day to sew just for fun.

I decided to use the time to get caught up on 

some long over due projects.

I stitched these Halloween/Fall charts for my friends,

Gena, Denise and Amy.

My plan was to have them ready to go before October.

Well I finished all the stitching,

but never made them into pillows.

Until now :)

I also stitched Captain Kirk for Gina for Christmas.

(Yes....he is also late)

Then I turned my attention to a table runner

that I had completed the top last year some time

and I machine quilted it and did the binding by hand.

I think it will be cute for Easter :)

It's made from a Riley Blake charm pack.

Love the colors! 

It always feels so good to chip away at my "to do" list.

Now it's on to the next thing :)

Daisy May....your quilt is finished :)

Woo Hoo!

Another finish for 2015 :)

Daisy May's baby quilt is done!

I used the same pattern as I used for her sister Evie's quilt

and you can see it here.

This time I used "Sidewalk" by October Afternoon

and used a fun polka dot flannel for the backing.

I hand stitched the label :)

I hand quilted it with big stitches 

using perle cotton floss size 8.

I can't wait to see her wrapped up in it.

She makes everything adorable....

don't you agree? 

Play Time

Sometimes you spend so much time working

that you just need to step away and play :)

I decided to play hookie from "work" yesterday

and spent the afternoon making this fun little play mat 

for my sweet little Daisy May. 

The fabric is "Surrounded by Love" by Deb Strain.

I used a charm pack and a pattern called "Roundabout" 

from the book - Another Bite of Schnibbles".

I changed the outer edge a bit to use up my remaining scraps.

I used nice thick batting to change it from a table top quilt

to a thick and squishy baby play mat.

I also wanted to share with you the super cute

Chicken Matryoshkas that my son and daughter-in-law

brought me from Sequoia.

I was babysitting their 4 Minions for a few days

while they spent some much needed time away.

How cute are these? 

Apparently there is a Nesting doll shop that was just across 

the street from where they were staying.

Lucky me :) 

I guess I'd better get back to sewing.....

I'm baaaack......

Well you may have noticed that I haven't been blogging

for a while.

I've been a bit busy :)

My beautiful daughter is due to deliver

our little granddaughter Daisy

any day now.

I went with a "Daisy" theme for the shower.

We had fun photo props......

It was a truly lovely party

and so many of her friends attended.

I can't show all the photos because there are just too many.

I had to buy this little jacket and high top tennis shoes....

I just had to.....

I also made her a dozen new flannel washcloths.

The tutorial for these is on the right hand side of the blog.

I took David to Bubble Fest at the Discovery Science Center

for his Birthday "Nana and Me" special day.

I took Gabriel to the movies for his 

Birthday "Nana and Me" special day.

I'm still hand quilting Daisy's new quilt.....

I finished up 2 cross stitch projects......

And I made a new liner for Daisy's bassinet.

Jose and I went to Pioneer Town with 

Star Yamaha Chapter 230.

We had 40 bikes on this ride.

Great people and yummy lunch :)

And because we've gone on 3 consecutive rides

we were officially voted in to the Chapter.

So I'm officially a "Biker Chick" now :)

Who knew?

Oh...and Barkley had a tumor removed from his face

and

the church we planted 10 years ago lost our lease

and so we have to close our doors.

That means I will be doing all the paperwork

to dissolve the church.

I'm excited to see what God has in store for us.

We attended a wonderful church this Sunday

and it already feels like home :)

God is so good!

Quilt top D O N E :)

I'm super excited that I finished the quilt top this weekend!

I have to stop by Joann's tomorrow morning 

and pick up the batting I need.

I also need to finish up the backing

and I'm hoping to have that done by tonight as well.

The photos make the fabric looks pale green,

but it's actually pale teal.

This fabric is from October Afternoon for Riley Blake.

It's called Sidewalks.

Years ago I spent every waking moment

(and every single dollar)

on Scrapbooking and all the supplies that go along with it.

October Afternoon was my absolute favorite line of paper.

To this day, I actually have some paper packs 

that I can't bring myself to cut in to.

So when I saw this fabric I swooned!

I know my daughter really likes teal 

and she loves the look of vintage things

so this fabric line was a win win :)

The pattern I used is called Lemonade Lollipops by SweetJane.

It's totally FTS.

I used this pattern for the very first quilt I ever made 

a few years ago for my granddaughter Evie.

You can see it HERE.

This quilt is for her new sister Daisy

who is due in April.

I can't wait to meet Grandbaby #7 :)

I have the binding all pressed and ready to go!

I'd better get back to work.....

And sew it begins....

I have to admit

that one of my favorite parts of quilting

is cutting all the fabrics into the different sizes.

I love the way they look

when they are all perfectly organized.

Of course,

in my eagerness,

I ended up cutting 4.5" squares 

instead of the called for 4.25" squares

and cutting 2.5" strips 

instead of the called for 2.25" strips.......

*ugh*

Anyhoo....

after re-cutting 36 squares and 36 strips

I'm ready to sew!

But not tonight.

I'm tired.

I can't wait to get started piecing this lovely quilt :)

I'll show you my progress tomorrow.

For now I'm going to sit on the couch

and watch my DVR'd Survivor episode.

A bit of handwork...

I can't believe that January is almost over.

How did that happen?

Today is your last chance to get your projects

posted in the Week 4 Flickr Group.

I will post the winner of the $75.00 gift certificate

to the Fat Quarter Shop tomorrow morning!

I spent last night doing some fun needlework.

I can't show you exactly what I'm working on yet

because I'm in a super fun blog hop next week.

Be sure to stop by on Feb 4th to see my completed project :)

And in the meantime,

click on the She Who Sews link on the right

to see all the cool projects so far!

I'm feelin' the LOVE

So this is what I worked on last night.

I used the adorable charm pack 

of "Surrounded by Love" by Deb Strain

and I used a block pattern from the  book

"Another Bite of Schnibbles".

The block is called the Round About.

I did 16 blocks instead of 25 blocks

and I used the 1" strips left over after cutting the blocks

 for an accent between sashing strips.

I'm pleased with the way it came out.

I have some fun ideas on how I'll quilt it.

It measures about 30" square.

Great size for a table topper. 

I suddenly have a craving for foil wrapped chocolate hearts.......

ACSA Week #2 and My Evil Minion Moment

OK.....

I'll give you too much some information about me

you might not know.

I don't always answer my door when someone knocks.

What?

How very unfriendly of me....

There's no law that says I have to.

Case in point,

a few years back I was dying my hair

and bleaching my mustache

and wearing my stained old ratty tank top

(because of the hair dye)

and no bra 

and it was about 10:00am.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

I looked through the peep hole

to see the husband of a dear friend of mine

with his arms loaded with Christmas gifts.

PANIC!!!

I think I stopped breathing ...as if he could hear me.

Needless to say,

I didn't answer the door

and this sweet man left our gifts on the back porch.

So you see, there are good reasons to not answer the door.

Anywhoooo,

on Saturday my hubby had to work so I was home alone.

I walked the dog and came home and took a shower.

I got dressed and left the towel on my hair.

I had every intention of drying my hair and putting on make-up.

But I got sidetracked in my sewing room playing with my

Vintage Singer 128 machine.

I took the towel off my head

and proceeded to play with the shuttle bobbin.

Such a weird contraption, but I finally figured it out.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door

and I jumped up to answer it.

I looked through the peep hole to see

a friend of my husband's who has never met me.

I answered the door and he asked if Jose was at home

and after a few moments of chit chat he left.

About 20 minutes later I was walking past a mirror.....

OH THE HORROR!!!

I'm not exaggerating here,

I had no makeup

and my hair looked like I slept on a bus stop bench.

1/2 of my bangs had been pressed against my forehead 

from the towel and the other 1/2 stuck straight up,

STRAIGHT UP!!!

True story.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Nice first impression right?

At least I was wearing a bra :)

I chose to laugh.

Poor guy.

He's probably scarred for life!

I told Jose when he got home

and he said I always look beautiful to him :)

Yep....he's a keeper.

After my less than stellar morning,

I decided to do a bit of piecing.

I grabbed a charm pack of "Delighted" by Riley Blake

and "Little Charmers 5" patterns

 that I bought from Fat Quarter Shop.

I paired it with some fun tiny hounds tooth fabric from my stash

and Viola!

I need to sandwich and quilt it,

but I love the happy bright colors!

So now on to the After Christmas Sew Along -

Have you ladies been using the great discounts

offered to us?

You can review them HERE

I've placed several orders myself

and I'll show you pics when all my goodies arrive.

I'd love to hear if you have been using the coupons.

We've got another great prize for one lucky winner this week

and the flickr group is ready for your creations!

Flickr Group for WEEK #2