It's Nearly October

Wow, I had known I was doing some serious neglecting of my blog these past few months. FEW months??? I was shocked when I logged in and saw i've been neglecting since March. I was still working at H&R Block this past March and that seems like it's been eons ago. The summer days that seemed to so slowly crawl by are gone and now the crisp fall air is setting in. I love fall though and am glad to see this past summer be just that, the past. It was not a kind summer at all! Although, I wont complain. Im a firm believer in that there is a "lesson" to learn for every tribulation that life deals at times. They are lessons/answers that i'd much rather not have to soul search to find. Sometimes, I find them. Other times, I dont. Irreguardless, trials and tribulations along with the good things in life are what makes me who I am. And since I still wake up each day, able to see another sunrise and sunset, life is still good even in it's darkest hours.

So what's new on the sewing/quilting front? Not a thing! I had started a Dresden Plate Table Topper way back when and it's still not finished yet. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE to make Dresden Plates? I had started it with a fat quarter bundle and didn't have enough the print that I wanted for the border in it. Two weeks ago, I went to a Quilt Store in the hopes that they may have had the line of fabric I needed. I hit gold and they had it. The new fabrics, ric rac and started table topper have been lying in a nice little neat pile ever since. Sorry for the quality of the picture, it stinks, i know!

My good friend (sewing machine), that sticks by me through thick and thin has also been feeling quite neglected. She sets upstairs in her room just waiting for me to find some time to spend with her. Im feeling a few dates coming her way in the near future. Christmas will be here before I know it and I have several gifts planned. Christmas??? It's time to start thinking of that again too? But first, I must put the room back together again. I tore down the folding tables that I use for cutting and sewing for various reasons and that room had become a real mess through the process as I quickly needed the tables and had just thrown everything wherever there was room to throw.

I had also learned a new craft over the summer. Stitching Cards! They are so fun to do and so awesome to give away. I have made a few of them now for additional gifts. I do them in way that they they are able to be framed if the recipient so chooses and bought the frames to include in the packages given. Both recipients had thought they were the neatest thing. Both had been personalized with their names and such to fit the occassions. I have also made myself 2 bookmarkers. I laminated them with clear contact paper and put little tassles on them. So cute! This is a really cheap craft also. To get started, you just need some embroidery thread, card stock and needles. Oh and of course something to "punch" the holes in the card stock with. I just used my awl that I use for quilting. It worked perfectly. You could just use a regular sharp need too for punching. While i'd love to post pictures of the bookmarks that I have made, I don't understand all the copyright laws posted on the website of the patterns, so id better not put up pictures. However, you can take a look at the different patterns at www.stitchingcards.com if you'd like to see.

I guess this is all for today. Perhaps later in the day, I will reacquaint my sewing machine and kitchen table again. They had a relationship long ago before the days of my taking the time to turn a spare bedroom into a sewing room. And if I sew, then i'd have a reason to come back and keep updating with the finished table topper pictured above and get some incentive to start on other projects.

Hopefully, i'll be back soon with something fun to talk about and get reacquainted with Blogland.

For now, take care and see you soon.

Holly

Still Living

Oh yes, it's true! I am still alive and life is busy, but good! Although, I've not did any sewing at all. I havent even been in my sewing room for several weeks now. I hear it calling my name at times and i just cant find the time to escape into my own little haven and let all my cares of the world roll off my shoulders by the way of sewing.
I started back to work for Tax Season on January 4th and as much as I really do enjoy my job and get to see people, I really miss my sewing time.
Today, I had to work only for 3 hours and as I was finishing my short but much enjoyed shift, i was wondering what i'd do with my afternoon? I didnt really have any plans to speak of. As I was on my way home, it suddenly hit me. I hadnt been to my LQS since before Christmas. So off the the LQS I went to visit. They had the cutest pattern there with 9 little mini quilts. Of course, it had to come home with me. As well as 4 fat quarters. I was in bliss!
A few months ago, my camera stopped working. It no longer has a working flash. WOOhoo, a new camera is in the future soon. One just cant keep up a decent sewing/quilting blog without a decent functioning camera, right? Hey, it sounds like a good excuse to tell my husand!
Life in general has been treating me very kindly these past few months. There's been very few downs and alot of ups!
And there ya have it. My life for the past few months while I wasnt very successful at keeping up with blogging. As you can see, there wasnt much by way of sewing to blog about. I hope to be back at sewing, blogging, picture taking, etc again very soon.

Holly

I Am So Excited

Just what could have me so excited enough to keep me wide awake at nearly 3am? I'm going somewhere tomorrow. Somewhere that is new to me. Somewhere that im hoping will throw me into a transe. Somewhere that I hope I find the day trip worthy enough to make many more trips in the future. So where could this place be?
Well, let me start from the beginning. I believe it was Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. I had crawled into bed at what seemed like my normal bedtime this past week. Approximately, 4:30 am. The television was playing and I really wasnt paying much attention to it at all, as I was exhausted.
Oh no, I did not hear what I thought I may have just heard? Or did I? My eyes flew open, I rolled over and glanced at the tv. Ah yes, I did hear it right. It's a commercial for a Quilt and Antique store. The video of the store was awesome and showed bolt upon bolt of fabric. The best part? It is much bigger than anything that i've been in to this point and looks very sophisticated. I tell myself to make a note of the store and look it up on the internet when I awake later that morning.
I fell asleep thinking about that store and I woke up thinking about that store. As soon as i'd gotten the boys off to school, it was time to look on the internet for this seemingly wonderful place. I find, it's about 1 1/2 hours from my home. The next thing I want to know is if they carry Moda precuts and yardage? Oh darn, they have very little exact fabric lines listed on their site. Ok, the phone number to the store is listed. "I'm saying to myself, "Holly, get the things done you need to do, then call this store to ask your questions".
To make a long story short, they do carry Moda precuts and yardage. I am especially interested in Lila Tueller designs. However, when I asked specifically if they carry Lila Tueller fabrics, the girl on the phone wasnt sure. Oh Darn!!
After giving it some more thought, I say I can live with them possibly not have exactly which fabrics I prefer. They still carry Moda and that's good enough for me. I have yet to find a Quilt store in my area that carries it. It's still worth a trip to go and see just what they do have. Moda has many wonderful designers and im sure that I will find another line or 2 that I am nearly as crazy about.
So, tomorrow after my DH gets finished with doing the few things he needs to get done, we're on the road to go and visit this place. And, that is why im so excited!
I hope to remember to take my camera along and snap a few pictures to post. If it's allowed, ill be back hopefully Sunday Evening to post the pictures.

Super Sunday

Ahh, FINALLY a good day! This past week had been totally manic in every way possible. My husband and I got a good dose from Wednesday to yesterday as to what people were talking about when they spoke of Teenagers. Nope, they werent exaggerating a bit. In fact, perhaps they were understating? Or was it that I was really naiive enough to think my 15 year old teenager would be different? Perhaps, a little of both? Anyways, enough of that. Today is the start of a new week and hopefully much better days. :)

There's not really much to report on the quilting/sewing front. However, I did find some really fun things to share about while browsing the web last night. I will share those ideas in a bit.

Remember the Dresden Plate Quilt that I posted about? I did finish it and gave it as a wedding gift. The happy couple loved it. We were camping that weekend and before I started to put the Quilt into a gift bag, I wanted to take a picture of it. Leaving home without checking the camera batteries was NOT a good idea to say the least. I didnt have any pictures to speak of! Luckily, the bride is a family member and she was kind enough to get pics of it for me. I picked the best one to somewhat show you how the quilt ended. It really is pretty. The picture isnt the best, but I was happy to have at least one.



And if that "forgetting to check the batteries in camera" mishap wasnt enough to learn from, what did I go and do today? I forgot to completely take a picture of last nights project.

While scouring blogland last night, I found a tutorial to make the most adorable little apron ensemble, complete with a chef's hat. As we were visiting my husbands cousin last week while she was baking cookies with her 3 year old little girl, I knew I had the perfect recipient for the apron set. Omygosh, it turned out so darn cute! Actually too darn cute. But, alas I dont have pictures again. Mom said in passing that she would take a picture of Nattie baking her cookies this afternoon. I sure hope she does. Of course, if i do get a picture or 2, I will post them here.

So, what did I find interesting last night in blogland?

1. Did you know you can dye buttons? I didnt either! There's several ways to do this. Since I didnt request to quote anothers' blog, my suggestion is...if this is of interest to you, go to google and type in "how to dye buttons" in the search field. Sites will then pop up and you can choose the best method that works for you.

2. As an avid looker, or rather dreamer of Etsy, I found the most adorable Christmas Ornaments. Again, I didnt contact the seller to ask if i could post pictures of her creations on my blog, so you will have to do the work and go to etsy. In the search field, click on the drop down menu and click "sellers", in the box beside that, type "snowfish" and her items will come up in a new window. I assure you, it was very much worth the minute or 2 that it takes to get there. I'm really having a hard time restraining myself from buying several of these adorable ornaments.

Thats pretty much my blog ramblings for today! I'm looking forward to a new week and several ideas are brewing up on the quilting/sewing front. I hope to post a few later this week.

Life

Wow, it's been nealy 2 months since i've last posted? Yes, life surely does get in the way at times! However, i've still had some time to create here and there!

This wallhanging is my lastest creation. Although, it's not quite finished yet and I still need redo the checkerboard patches in it, I think I will be quite happy with it in the end. I am contemplating on doing this up in all blues or some other color to match my house. The design in itself is just do darn cute. If, I had one to leave up all winter long, id be so happy!



Mr Joe Cool Pumpkin here, what can I say? I LOVE HIM! This was the 2nd of these I made. I had to learn blanket stitching in this project. It is by far perfect, but for only the 2nd try, ill live with how it's done. Mr Joe Cool still looks cool!



This little jacket, I machine appliqued the Tinkerbell on the front of the jacket and also added another applique to the back! Little Miss Tinkerbell lover was quite happy with this when it was finished. I so love to create things for little girls!

And, there you have it! Other than one other project that I cant post at this time, that's what i've been up to in the way of sewing!

On a few other notes...

I just recently discovered Google Reader. What a surprise it was to find out how convenient this is. Daily, i'd scan all the blogs i so love to read, in fear that i'd miss a post. You do know, that would be traumatic right? ;) Neeless to say with an ever growing list of about 50 blogs now, this did take some time. With Google reader, ya just pop all the blogs into the program and Google tells you which blogs have been updated. If you dont have this and you like to keep up with several blogs, I greatly recommend it.

As a very good friend was kind enough to remind me the other day, Christmas was only 64 days away (I think it's now 62 days). Am I the only one who says that friend just can't be right? 60 some days away? Omygosh, lets change the subject already!

With that all being said, im gonna stop here before I bore you all. Plus, yes life is calling me and i've got all those Mom and Wife things to do today. Im back to blog again and I do have some of what I think are awesome things coming up to tell you about. So, keep checking back!

Have a great day,
Holly

Sweet Little Girl

This sweet little girl is my friends daughter. The one I mentioned about making the book bag for. She is just the sweetest little girl, I loved making this bag for her! Here she is on her first day back to school with her new book bag.

I've got the Dresden Plate Quilt nearly finished. It's one of my favorite traditional quilt patterns. I have always loved the pattern since I was a little girl. The intentions for this quilt was to keep it for myself. However, I needed a wedding gift for this coming Saturday. Guess where the quilt is going? Pictures of that quilt will be included in my next post.

Back to school

It's getting very near that time of year, again. 2 weeks from today, the boys will be heading back to school. One of my favorite things to do to prepare for back to school is to go out and shop for the junk. Although, i don't always enjoy the prices as much. To see the neat pencils, crayons, notebooks etc always makes me feel like a kid again.
This year though, i get to do something different in preparation of the upcoming school year. My best friends daughter wanted a Tinkerbell backpack. But, sometimes ya know those store backpacks are so cheesy when they are themed. My friend asked if I'd be interested in making her daughter a book bag for school. What? Are you kidding me? Would i be interested in making something so cute for a little girl? You bet, I would be interested! Here's a peak of what I've come up with this far. I'm still brainstorming for some more ideas to add to it.

The finished product will have cording around the flap and main body. A few pockets here there. It will still be a standard type of book bag, but much more cute than what can be purchased in the stores. I just hope this little girl is as pleased with it, as i am thus far. And yes, of course I cant make anything without adding at least some quilting here and there.

Stay tuned, ill be sure and show the pictures of the bag when it's finished.

In other "back to school" news. We're off to go camping for the weekend. Although, we do have a few more camping trips planned for later, this will be the last one before the kids return to school. We're going with the same friend and her family,who asked if I'd make her daughter the backpack. It's been a few weeks since we've used the camper last and I'm really looking forward to this coming weekend.

What Have I been Doing?

Well, Last week we took the boys camping for 5 days. While we werent all that far from home, it was a nice get-a-way from all the hussle and bussles of life. It was probaly the last big camping trip that we'll take before school starts up again in about 4 weeks.

Also, i've been trying to figure out what silly element I was missing on getting my pictures to align on this blog. I finally got that figured out. Thanks to blogspot forums. I had an answer to my question in less than 5 minutes. People are totally amazing when it comes to helping others out.

So what's new on the quilting end?

So far, I've made 10 of these Dresden Plate blocks. I still have at least 10 more to do yet. Possibly maybe even 20 more. I havent decided yet for sure, yet.

This quilt also came back from my LQS. I so love the subtle changes they made to it. First picture shows the quilt top before it left to go to the ICU. The 2nd shows it now that it's back. It's not quite all put back together again. The girls were working on it when I arrived to pick it up. They were more than willing to finish it up. However, it was just some simple sewing that needed finished up. I could handle that. Can you see any of the changes that they made

And last but not least, i'm still keeping up with Crazymomquilts quilt-a-long making 1 a day 9 patch blocks. Somedays, I do find myself making more than just 1 block.

And there ya have it, that is pretty much what i've been doing with my time this past week or so. Oh and not to mention, I tried so many times to figure out how to align my pictures with text in between, to not avail. Thank you blogger for having such a thing called forums where we can go and ask questions. Now, why didn't I peruse those about 3 weeks ago??

Dresdens

Ever since I have started quilting, I have always been fascinated by dresdens of any sort. They looked way to much difficult for me to even attempt though. Last Night, I was browsing the web and what did a come across? A wonderful way to easily complete them! The picture shows my first block that I did last night. I just couldnt wait to do at least one.

I cant decide what color scheme to use in a big quilt. We're in need of a winter quilt. So, i'm thinking possibly dark colors with a cream background? Shall I use only certain colors or go totally scrappy? I have a HUGE amount of scraps! Perhaps the dresdens will help to use those up a bit if I should decide to go that route.

I saw my other quilt at my LQS yesterday, it looks fabulous! Its not much different than before, but there are some little differences. Best of all, at least the blocks all line up now. It will be done tomorrow for me to pick it up (actually it was done today but I was busy). I can't wait!!

First of the 9 Patch Blocks

They are started! These are the beginning blocks of the 9 patch quilt-a-long. I was very pleased with the way these blocks finished. It's exciting to start more tomorrow.

These blocks are so easy to create. It took about 1 hour to cut, iron, sew these blocks. I cant wait to make more of them tomorrow.

I plan to make approximately 3 blocks per day. Im going to give this quilt to my mom, who has just recently been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She will be having surgery in the near future. I thought this would be a nice, bright and cheery quilt to give to her.

This and That

Woohoo, I finally figured out something that is at least close to the desired effect of how I wanted my pictures to align on blogspot. Now if only I could figure out how to type in between the pictures instead of having them all in a row with nothing in between.

Anyways, this is the same quilt that is in my header and also at my LQS getting fixed. These pics were taken before I left it at the LQS, can you see any of the booboo's in it???

Im very excited to go this week and see how the quilt is coming along. I am really anxious to get it finished up after i get it back and enjoy it for awhile this summer. I love the color Orange and the quilt is very girlish (perhaps even a bit childish?)imo. Im sure my dh will love having the quilt on our bed. ;) Thank goodness he's a go with the flow type of guy and really wont care. As long as there is a blanket and pillow on the bed at night, he doesnt care what it is. What a great guy!

So, tomorrow starts the beginning of crazymomquilts quilt-a-long. Ive joined the fun. Have I looked into my scrap bins for my first block to sew tomorrow morning? Who are you kidding, of course I haven't!!! This weekend flew by so fast that I really didnt even have time to think about sewing.

And speaking of the weekend... it was a great weekend to say the least. Friday night, the boys went to see a movie. Bob and I spent most of the evening just lazy'ing around the house not doing too much of anything. Yesterday, we went to some Amish Farms and bought some fresh vegetables. Today, I spent much of the day cleaning and making homemade Chicken Noodle soup. My Parents came to visit this evening and we played a game of cards with them. So as you can see, nothing overly exciting but it was a nice, quiet and relaxing weekend for the most part.

Well, i guess i'd better go and hit the scrap bins and see what I can round up for my first 1 or 2 block for the 9 patch quilt-a-long. Stay tuned this week, as i hope to have some pics of finished and unfinished projects that i've done in my quilting adventures. :)

My first Quilt-a-long

Oh, im so excited, Amanda Jean over at crazymom quilts is hosting a quilt-a-long. I decided to join this one. It's a 9 patch one a day block. At the end of 70 days, we will have enough blocks to make a 66x90 quilt (with sashing). Sounds like fun huh? Thank you Amanda Jean!
If you'd like to check it out, the addy for Amanda Jeans site is http://www.crazymomquilts@blogspot.com/. It starts this coming Monday, July 20.

I havent gone to see about my quilt yet at the LQS. I dont want them to think im in rush to get it back, because really i'm not. It will be just one more project laying around needing to get finished! And I just joined a quilt-a-long??? LOL I will maybe stop by later next week. They sell scrap bags there from the projects they make in the store. They will be great to use for Amanda Jeans quilt-a-long. I may tho, wait to pick up a bag or 2 until i've used up some of my scraps here. I think that is idea of the quilt a long anyways (well, at least MY idea). To use up scraps at home, not go buy more.

If I dont make it back to posting before Monday, have a great weekend.

Hi,

My name is Holly. I've been reading quilting blogs for about a year now. After learning so much from blogs and seeing all the fun, I decided it was time for me to give this a try.
I am currently working on the quilt that is pictured in my header. Well, sort of working on it. Im a quilter that never has a plan when I start a quilt. Well, as you might have guessed or even known from previous experience, not having a plan is not a good idea!
The quilt is absolutely gorgeous. It actually has a bit more added to it than what the picture shows. However, not having a plan did catch up with me on this quilt. It is now at my LQS getting "fixed". I so love the girls at my LQS! I was going to throw the quilt in the trash. No, they wouldnt let me do so. With quilting for just 3-4 years, finding a way to fix mistakes does not come easy to me. Let alone I detest ripping anything out, especially nearly a whole quilt. These girls have graciously offered to rip out what needs ripped out, put another border into it and get it back on track for me to finish up. What awesome quilters they are! I will be sure and post pics of it again when it returns.
So, this is my quilting blog for my first post. I hope to learn more about blogger as I go along. I wanted to take todays post in a completely different direction and had a completely subject in mind. However, I couldnt get pictures to line up as I wanted them.
Im already planning a giveaway when I reach 50 followers (who knows, maybe even before then). So, add me to your list and keep checking back. You never know if you might be the lucky winner(s).
Holly

P.S. - I have listed just SOME of the blogs on the right side of my page. I didnt ask anyone if i could do so. ;0 If, I have listed your blog and you'd prefer that I hadnt, please contact me and i will be happy to remove it. And, yes im working on getting just the page titles to appear with the addy's embedded in them. I guess the sensible thing to do would be read the tutorials that come along with blogger????? lol