Fair Banner, work in progress

Here's a picture of the banner I'm making for the pygmy goat kids to use over their pens. In case you're wondering- I do realize that font is hard to read and kind of weird looking. I'm just too cheap to go buy another set of stencils! Aren't the cows cute though? I love my happy cow fabric (Alexander Henry, In the Moood).

A bag for Great-Grandma

This is the first project I've made using the "Feathered Friends" fat quarters I purchased for my birthday. It seems only fitting that I make birthday gifts using the birthday fabric! I don't really like the light blue bottom of the bag- I'm worried it will get dirty very easily. Other than that, I really like the way the bag came together. Very stripey!

Dave's Grandma's Quilt!

My fourth post of the day! It must be a record!

This is the unfinished quilt top I pieced for Dave's Grandma D.

Better Fabric Pictures

Here are the fabric choices

Amy, Here are the fabrics I've collected so far. Of course not all of them will be used in the quilt. The pallete is looking too brown, there are not enough reds (or at least not the right reds). I'd like more blues and cool colors. In short- there is not a quilt in the works yet.

On a totally selfish note- I'm making a queen size quilt for myself once I complete the baby quilt and the lap quilt that are already in the works. It will be a good six months or so before I want to tackle Mom's quilt so I have a good long while to shop.

Anyone want to quilt with me?

Since spring is a full, busy time around our house and I don't have nearly as many hours to sit around thinking deep thoughts... I decided that in the interests of keeping my blog going (without philosophical discussion) it would be a good idea to do a few craft posts.

At the moment I am working on a quilt for my friend Christine. She is having a baby just about any day now- on Monday at the latest (since she has an induction appointment on Monday morning). I bought a set of Darla (by Tanya Whelan) fat quarters from Hancock's of Paducah (my all time favorite fabric store!). I anticipate using about half of each fat quarter to make a generous size baby quilt.

Quilting is more of an art than a science for me. What that means to you is that until the quilt is finished I will not know how much fabric I'm using or what the final dimensions will be. I'm planning on constructing the top using 8.5" squares.

Today I cut 4.5" strips and 2.5" strips from all of the Darla fabrics. I also cut a 4.5" strip of pink minky fabric (to add textural interest to the quilt).

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll post pictures and directions for the two different types of blocks I'll be using to piece the quilt top.

Would you buy this?

Ok, I'm about to share a horrible mistake. I love the green cow fabric. It makes me happy. The colors, the images, the happy cows... I love it all. Yesterday I made a bag for Dave's mom's birthday. The idea of making some bags to sell on Etsy has been hovering around the edges of my mind for a couple weeks now (since I love making the bags and I'm about to run out of family and friends who still need one). Last night I decided to try making two bags at the same time (assembly line style) and see if I could shave some time off (and to figure out how many bags I can feasibly make in a week).

The first bag I had planned out in advance. It went together with no problems. The second bag (the Happy Cow Bag) I pulled fabric from my stash and just started cutting. I wanted to finish before bed and didn't spend much time planning it. I made both bags with the same dimensions. Pat's bag- I really like. The Happy Cow bag- has a huge orange stripe and nothing else to really recommend it. I did iron some fusible web on more of the cow fabric and make some cute little appliques that take up some of the orange space. But now the question is- should I put the bag on Esty or dispose of it some other (less public) way. Would you buy this bag (no, an affirmative answer does not constitute a binding legal contract for the purchase of said bag)?



Here's Pat's Daisy Bag.

Labor Pains

I've started a quilt for Dave's grandma but it's not going very quickly. This may have something to do with me being an idiot and dual enrolling my oldest son in homeschool and "specials" at the local elementary school. This means we spend about 2 hours a day running back and forth and waiting (with not quite enough time to accomplish anything). It also means we have to fit the structured part of our lessons in either before or after school instead of at our leisure (which worked very well during Christmas break). I think next year we're going to commit 100% to homeschooling because running back and forth to school every day is getting in the way of our education :-)

Here's the fabric for the quilt. It's a much more mellow, earthy pallette than I've worked with before. I hope it all comes together the way I'm picturing it in my mind.

Here are some of the completed and partial blocks. Does it look too much like an old lady?

Miranda's birthday present

I've been pretty lazy since Christmas but I did start a lap quilt for Dave's grandma and yesterday I made a tote bag for Miranda. Chris and I also made a bunny softie. Chris even sewed the arms and legs himself- too bad I forgot to take a picture!



Here's a picture of Miranda's bag. I really like the fabric combination. Chris donated the fabrics out of his personal stash. He didn't mind sharing since it was a present for Mir.

To Satisfy Amy's Curiousity

Here are the completed projects I've been working on lately. Yes, it seems there are very few of them. Just a reminder to anyone who may have forgotten- I have a 7 year old, 4 year old, and a barely 3 year old. They are sooooo helpful when it comes to my crafting projects too. You would not believe the assistance they offer in organizing my fabrics, keeping track of my applique templates, and re-arranging my quilt block layouts.

The first quilt is one that Amy pieced and didn't ever finish. She kindly shipped it to me (I still owe her $4.80 for shipping) and I backed it with green micro-cordouroy and then stippled it. She even included the fabric to bind the quilt! It makes a beautiful baby gift for a friend of mine (if I ever get over to see her). Thanks for sharing your unused quilt top Amy!

The second quilt is Sophie's Christmas present (I'm working on James' quilt today). It a very simple strippy quilt that I backed with some fairy covered flanned I bought when we found out Katie was pregnant with a girl (yes, it's actually taken me that long to make a project for Sophie). It is randomly stippled with variegated pink thread. I hope she doesn't mind the very linear look of the strippy quilt. They're not my favorite but time is of the essence so I opted for simple piecing and actual quilting (instead of tying).

The cute little tote bag is a present for someone (somewhere). I found the applique pattern at Anna Maria Horner's website and it looks like a Lab to me, so everyone is getting a puppy for Christmas this year (especially those who really don't want a live dog)! It's done in Christmas fabrics and I think it looks very festive. These little lined bags are so easy and so fun I could make new ones every day.

Now I just need to finish James's quilt, a few more tote bags, some Christmas ornaments, two table runners, and a wall hanging. There are 10 days left- I'm sure some of the projects will get done!