ACHOO

I am with cold once again this early part of the year and I do not like it one bit.  Ayden has gotten better from his cold which is good {he is much more exuberant after a cold},but this mommy is still toting kleenex and a water bottle around all day.  I usually have a water bottle attached to me anyway,but these last few days have been mainly so I don't have what I call a "coughing attack" and need water pronto:(  If I wasn't so stuffed up,  I could smell that chicken soup cooking slowly in the crockpot.  If my ears weren't so clogged up, I could hear Ayden clearer while he plays with his legos in his bedroom.  Ah well......................time for another kleenex.....blahhhck.  This ugly cold really needs to take a hike though soon as I have an energetic preschooler in the midst and MOPS on Wed.  Getting back to a regular scheduled exercise routine would be a pleasure.  {Though I did just run laps through the kitchen with Ayden a few times}

Enough about the sicky part of my life these last few days.  Time to break free and talk about some happy things that push me to get healthy!  Hey zinc,herbal teas and meds can't do it all you know;)  Episodes of Big Bang Theory never hurts either. 

Before my nose and the rest of my body said "no more!!"  I whipped out February's  Lucky Star BOM with a few seams ripped out,but none the less she's done and I think it looks fine and dandy:)  I added a little Art Gallery Lace Elements in there due to lack of pink from the other fabric lines I have been using for these stars. 

The ironing part is a little troublesome with the 6" size of this finished block,but forward ho!

My creativity was questioning what to do next after that.  I am at a temporary halt with the baby quilt commissions until further notice.  The Dancing Stars QAL was crying out to be next in line.  No arm pulling here!  I pulled fabrics in blues and reds and got to cutting 2 1/2" squares.  100's of those little guys!!

{Red} Fabric to include:
Ruby by Bonnie and Camille
Bliss by Bonnie and Camille
Little Folks by Anna Marie Horner  
Hometown by Basic Grey
Pop Garden by Heather Bailey
gingham in red
red strawberries from Jamie;)

{Blue} Fabric to include:

The Simple Life by Tasha Noel
Children at Play by Sarah Jane
blue and red dots
Blush by Basic Grey
Amy Butler prints
Hunky Dory by Chez Moi

**************************All are my style!!!!***********************************

It did take me FORever to pick out the color scheme I wanted for this quilt.  In the end it was between red,blue and pink or add in green and take out the green or something even different from that.  I really admire people like Camille Roskelley, Sarah Jane and Tasha Noel.  They have such a sweet demeanor and are so REAL!!  Their fabric plays so sweetly with one another all the time that it is hard to resist a playdate ever!

I also saw Amy Ellis' pattern for Dancing Stars in December and knew I had to make it.  Paper piecing did it once again!

With ALL that in my head, this must be a match to unveil in my sewing room!!!!!

Last night while waiting for hubby to return from work and Ayden and I watching cartoons,  I gathered up all of those red and blue squares and put them in that Godiva chocolate box from hubby!  I cut all the Kona Putty background fabric in 3 different sizes and the triangles for setting later on.  This is the *station* I set up quickly last night too.  All of the papers cut and pinned together for each star block, a rotary cutter for trimming those 1/4" seams with the ruler and a garbage can with my bag from Tammie as the fabric scrap catcher.

Once I ate my favorite breakfast of oatmeal with honey and raisins, it was on!  I had to get moving before that munchkin suspected his mommy was up to no good and woke up from his nights rest!

Almost got it all finished and then that cute little boy surprised me with a smile and hug.  I took a break and got him some Raisin Bran (his fave) and then the power. went. ka-pooee:/  All is well 30 minutes later and off I go back to the sewing room.  I can't leave a block unfinished yah know!

Btw, these star block cuties are going to be soooo treasured:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

I wonder how my chicken soup is doing.  It is past lunch time here.  Off to see!

Happy day to ya'll!

Sara

Linking up to: 

Valentines and a Baby quilt

Lots of love is in the air at my house apparently;)  lol   Valentines for Grandpa and Grandma.....

Fabric:Art Gallery Lace Elements and some dots from Moda
Hand courtesy of Ayden
Card reads, "Hands down...I love you the bestest!!!  {made up entirely by muaw}

Cards are one of those things that I look at on Etsy all the time,but never put forth the effort to make any of them.  Lazy bones I'm guessin'.

We had a great Valentines Day!  The hubby surprised me with wooden roses, {yes I said wooden} they last forever!  Also, he gifted me with some delicious Godiva chocolates YUM!  Ayden and I were also lucky enough to be his dates for the evening at an excellent local seafood restaurant.

Finally we went and bought some new phones at At&t that were desperately needed {honest}.  Galaxy has my *heart* when it comes to phones now!

 I found a really great quilting app the other day on there that I was able to plug in measurements to and instantly it gave me the exact amt I needed for this binding!  Sold!

 There is a really sweet,very helpful gal on my MOPS board that is due any day now with a baby boy.  Max will be his name to be exact.  I decided at the last minute that I was going to make her a quilt for Max!  I gathered up all of the blues and greens I could muster from my scrap bins first.  Then I pulled some flannel out from my stash closet and got to work.  It took me 3 days altogether to pull this one together and I was quite taken by the results.

It is sooooo stinking soft and cuddly.  I almost didn't want to part with it ya know.  Usually I don't fall for flannel fabric due to it pilling easily and quickly after a couple washes.  Anyone else relate?  I stay clear for the most part.  Well I bought this print that says "I love daddy, I love mommy."  Joann's had it on clearance and I guess at the time I had to have it apparently.  It finally sprung free and landed softly into this baby quilt!

Can't recall the last time I did a patchwork quilt either.  I need to do some more because they can be pretty *easy does it.*

Besides the flannel luxurious feel,there is also a very near to my heart print in there.  Backyard Baby Windy Day by Pat Sloniger is just unbelievably precious!!!!  Swings and trees are a good thing as is,but then the designer went and added a sweet dog and a carved heart in each tree---oh boy!!!!!!  This had to make it to the back of this quilt.....it was meant to be!

You know I stare at chevron fabric all the time online and in the store too,but I never buy any.  Why oh why do I torture myself.  Again.  And.  Again.  ???  Chevrons are heaven!!!!!

And just because of a certain 5 yr old at my house, here is a pic shared with a certain Angry Bird;)

Side note: The baby quilt was received with a surprise face from the mommy and a sincere thank you.

Goal accomplished.

Happy Day,

Sara

finish it up Friday Crazy mom quilts

It's a Breeze....

Seams to be done {sorry had to add in some humor there,it was too easy!}

Finding a space big enough to pin a quilt can be a daunting task at times:/  It also took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to quilt this bad boy!  Tons of Flickr,magazine hunting and imagination time spent trying to nail down a design I could live with in the end.  Finally I decided to do a diamond pattern to make the colors inside the grey and red diagonal lines stand out loudly.  For each of the clustered groups of fours,  I did a flower design.  Overall, I am very pleased with the geometry of the diamonds and the flowers give this quilt a distinctive contrast to the straight lines with some extra charm.  My trusty hera marker got a workout with this quilt.  Helped me immensely.

Here is a flower close up.  I used Bottom Line in silver and it lived up to its name I do believe.  Blends in as Superior promises and I had no problems with my tension set at 3.

Kona black for the binding.  I wanted to make a nice framework for all the bright and dark colors in this quilt.  Black was my first choice to do the job just right.

Yellow flower print that has been sitting in my stash for some time now and some leftover grey from the top.  Very fulfilling to use up scraps or yardage that you need to find the right quilt for at times!  Easy piecing for this back too which makes for less trouble too;)

So intricate looking to me,but the secret of course is that it is a trick of the eye because the piecing was a pleasure and a breeze!!  Bonnie Hunter is wonderful to have come up with this quilt pattern.

It was a fun project to whisk me away from other things that weren't as much fun;)

Hoping someone will enjoy this one as much as I did creating it!

::::::Available in my shop today::::::


~Sara

Playdate

I thought I would first start off showing you my Paper pieced Good Luck Star on the foyer wall.  (About time eh?)  Makes me smile.  The blues make me think of a serene,calm and peaceful home.

Today Ayden is at preschool and so mommy is having some sewing time to herself for a bit.

I seam ripped this stack last night while sitting with the boys and then clipped each stack of  6 together for today.  You should have seen how many tiny white threads I had covering my shirt.  The hubby says he either finds my blonde hair or threads all over...hehehe...he's right!

12 blocks to go.....

I have a feeling I may be making a few more after that to make this a twin.  Perhaps add a border too.  All the colors for each block don't always match which of course doesn't matter.  It is really fun and interesting to see which ones do though.

I haven't started on my Lucky Star BOM for Feb. yet,but as soon as I get that printer issue figured out I am ready to paper piece:)

I am also dying to pull fabrics for Amy Ellis' QAL,but I am restraining myself a little longer.  I guess;)

Time to sew some squares together now!!

Celebrate your day with some sewing "me" time!

Sara

This girl is Done!!

Not me.............................................................................................................................

;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)  ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)  ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)  ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)  ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

After all that winking above I better have something to show for it right?

A girlie,girlie quilt for my 1st commission of 3.  This may be the girliest thing in my house at the moment.  I am surrounded by manly this and testosterone that;)  (There goes that blinking again, I can't help myself)

All of the fabrics were picked out by my client,R.  Didn't she do a wonderful job?  I think so!

A lot of precise cutting to get special decorative pieces like this ruffle above.  Girls have to have a lot of that little extra to accentuate their cuteness though ya know!

About 6 or so blocks I had to go around the quirkiness of the clothing piece and and tricked it by zig zag stitching it onto a 6" piece of Kona.  Viola it worked.  The next two quilts are going to be a little better executed I will say though.  I did have to fray check a few of them to be safe and keep me free of sleepless nights:)

This one has a soft spot in my heart.  Look at that pretty, stunningly done smocking!!!  Did you know that people sew dress quilts like this one?!  Just gorgeous! 

Her daughter loves butterflies, hence the FMQ butterflies all over.  I had a little bit of puckering on the back with the curly antenna parts,but a seam ripper and determined muaw fixed that.  The gal that is doing an embroidered bible verse for this quilt and the other 2 had some thread she let me try out.  It is called Royal and it's 50wt polyester.  For the most part it worked nicely,but there was some areas that it just wasn't having it.  There were little thread nests every once in awhile sneaking up on me which was aggravating to say the least.  The thread lost in the end.  Thread can be a beast sometimes.  I am still looking for that magic thread to come along.

Some of the wavy lines I did showing on the back.  I was going to do the whole quilt in wavy lines,but I felt fewer was better in the long run.  I wanted the blocks to stand out as best as possible.

I tried out a flower design in the borders on 2 sides and these are the results.  Needs practice,but I am pleased with them.

I think the shades of purple worked to our advantage in this quilt and remind me of a summer garden of lilacs.  Smells good to me!

I was also a little hesitant using 2 1/2" binding for this one.  I usually use 2 1/4",but I wanted to
make sure all layers were snug under the binding because I cut the back a little short this time.  It all worked out well though and the mitered corners behaved.

For the next two quilts, I will be using bigger pieces of clothing.  These could have been displayed on a bigger scale,the client and I both feel.  (I am thinking I got a little carried away with trying to capture all the cute bows,ruffles,words and such.)

She is going to come over next week and we are going to play:):)  I also have her interested in learning how to thread her own sewing machine.  She has been hiding that tidbit from me!  hehehe Just kidding R.

One of the bins from one of her boys that we get to cut into.  Exuberant!

These mermaids made me a little exuberant as well!!!!!!!

Thank you with a HUG Pam!  This Sarah Jane print is super soft and a joy to stare at...over and OVER!  Love some SJ!!!!!

And more thread to try out by Mettler.  Also, Kona Putty,Lipstick and Lauren and Jessi Jung's Flora Blue Window print...too sweet for words with the cobwebs in the corners of the windows.

OH and a stack of Scrappy Trip Around the World strip sets to be ironed and cut.

That is what I have going on here on the East Coast.

Be joyful!

Sara

crazymomquilts

Richard and Tanya Quilts