OMG Accomplished! And a Pressing Question

Thank goodness I ramped down my expectations for myself this month!  With a senior graduating from high school, I have had no time to sew during these past two weeks.  Fortunately, my One Monthly Goal for May was to finish my neice Cacey's wedding quilt top (she got married this past Saturday, congratulations Cacey!!)  and I did that early on in the month.  So happy I was able to finish and get it into the OMG Parade!   Cacey understands that there is no way I was going to be able to get this done in time for her wedding so I am grateful for that grace.

Tonight is graduation night so I've got a lot to do and I'm afraid this is going to be a short post.   This is my last child and then I will be an empty nester.  I don't like to think about it because it's going to be weird.  My baby is going to college to become an English teacher!  And I will miss her like crazy.

I do have a question I've been wanting to ask you more experienced quilters though.  It has to do with pressing.   What has been your method of choice?  Do you always press your seams open?  Always to the side?  A little of both?  What is your preference and can you tell me why?  I do so appreciate gleaning from those of you who have much more experience than I do and I think others will enjoy reading your comments as well.  I realize that some are just going to say to do whatever works best for you, but I want to know what YOU do.  

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts

One Monthly Goal May Finish Linkup

  

Do You Need Something Quilted?

I will tell you in a little bit why I asked that question.  It will be worth it, I promise!  I have to tell you this story first.  It's all related.  

See this gorgeous little quilt?  This was pieced by Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting.  When I saw it, I REALLY REALLY wanted it.  I have only been quilting on my own for a year now but so far, every quilt I've made and quilted has been for someone else.  I have no quilts of my own!   And I'm not seeing any time in the near future where I will be able to make one.  Now don't you think it is a shame for a quilter not to have any quilts?  ME TOO!

So I bought it!  My intention was to quilt it myself so I could at least say I had done that much, but again.  It is not looking like I'll find time any time soon.  

Aren't these fabrics just gorgeous?

Yummy, yummy colors!

Anyway, back to the story . . . one day I happened to be chatting with Jen Strauser of Dizzy Quilter who is right smack dab in the middle of starting a new quilting business.  Yay for entrepreneurs!  I love having adventurous friends!  I asked her teasingly if she needed any quilts to practice on and she said she does!  She is offering to quilt something for the first ten people who express interest for only $50 (queen or under).  $75 if it is king size.  So I am going to send her this quilt to quilt for me!

How special is that?  Not only will I finally have a quilt of my own, but I will have a quilt made by a blogging friend in Minnesota and quilted by another blogging friend in New Jersey!  I am so looking forward to having it to snuggle under!

And yes, I did get permission to "out" her offer before she did.  So if you have any quilts you want quilted for a very reasonable price, give Jen some practice!

And on the quilting front in my own sewing room, I got Cacey's top finished!  Cacey and I need to get together and choose some fabric for the backing and binding.   I will hopefully be starting on Kenzi's quilt next.  Then finish Ashley's  . . . then make one for my son Morgan who graduated several years ago.  I feel so bad for getting to him so late!  I do have the pattern and fabric picked and purchased though.  He has been so patient and telling me not to stress about it.  Thanks, Morgan!  And somewhere in there, finish quilting my mom's quilt too.  (sigh)

On the house front, we just got a full price offer!  Plus they want us to build a shop too.  We have until the end of June to live in the house we're in, and after that, not sure what we'll do.  Probably some kind of RV for a couple months.  I'm trying to imagine how I'm going to sew but I guess if Louise (Quilt Odyssey) can do it in a boat, I should be able to figure out something!  This will be interesting.

State track meet tomorrow!  This young lady is competing in four events in her senior year.  This will be the first state meet that hasn't been freezing cold.  It is supposed to be sunny and warm this weekend.  Yahoo!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to:

Needle and Thread Thursday

Temporary Scrambled Up Mess

FINALLY some progress on Cacey's quilt.  Here it is with chunks and strips sewn together.  I am hoping tonight to have it assembled in a recognizable form.  Right now it's just a mixed up mess.

Sheesh!  When you have a graduating Senior, the last month of school is crazy.  In the last week, I have only sewed one night!  

This will be a very short post because I am headed out the door to the rest of our District Track meet today.  Yesterday my trackster qualified for the State track meet in three events!   High jump, triple jump, and 100m hurdles.  Yahoo! 

Here is the update on the house.  Siding is done and now painted!  The white stuff on the front is where the stone is going to be go.  Next week will be a lot of progress on the inside.  Right now it's just still the studs.  They have begun installing the insulation, and will be starting on sheetrock.   We had some potential buyers come by and look at it yesterday.  They have been looking at a lot of houses and scratched most of them off the list but ours is still on!  They are looking at a bunch more today so we'll be waiting to hear back from them.  In the  meantime, we'll just proceed as if we're going to move in.  If they decide to buy it,  we can rent where we are for one more month but not sure what we'll do after that!   

Have a great Saturday!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Busy Hands Quilts

Sewing? What's that?

It has been five whole days since I have had time to sew.  What with my niece and my daughter's graduation activities, it's been nuts!  I forgot to tell you that my niece (the one I'm making a wedding quilt for) just graduated from college on Saturday her wedding is in ten days.  She really knows how to pack things all into one month!   On top of that, my beautiful daughter-in-law is getting ready to have a new grand baby for me in a few weeks.   It hasn't seemed real before now, but reality is starting to sink in!

Photo taken by Francelle's Photography who just happens to be my daughter-in-law's sister.   She is AWESOME and doing Ashley's senior pictures too.  I can't wait to see them!

So anyway, I don't have any quilting things to share today but for those of you who are interested, here's a building update for you.  Things are moving along very quickly!

Here is what the outside looks like now.  The roof and walls are all enclosed now.  You can see on the left that the siding is going on.

Closer view of the front porch with the designer and builder (my hubby) taking a look around!   Let's go take a look at the inside.

Corner fireplace being framed in . . .

The ceilings are taller than normal in this design.  Most ceiling heights are 8 feet but these are ten.   Makes the rooms seem much larger than they are.   You can see that the doorway has a small arch.  That is going to be moved down lower to make room for some crown molding around the top of all the walls.

Today one of my husband's workers was in an awful crash.  Do you think we have guardian angels?  I do!  He should have been killed.  He was driving 55 mph down the freeway when a semi pulled out right in front of him and he had zero time to react.  Hit that semi so hard it spun it around 180 degrees.  He is very lucky to have walked away with only a broken arm and a few broken ribs.  I'm thanking God today for His protection and a well-made Chevrolet.

DrEAMi Moment and May OMG

Sandra at Mmm! Quilts! coined a new quilters phrase called DrEAMi (Drop Everything and Make It!) Moments.   She has a linky party for anybody who has had a DrEAMi moment.

I am facing several big projects and decided to stop and take a break and just do a quicky little project for fun.  I am doing a Block of the Month project by my local quilt shop.  Block 1 has been patiently waiting for me to make it.   So that is my Dreami Moment for today.  Turning this little pile of fabric . . .

to this!  Block #1 done.  (Sorry about the color of this picture)

Last month I submitted my one monthly goal and BOY was I overestimating what I could get done!  Sheesh!   I thought I could finish, baste, and quilt three quilts!  What was I thinking?  Out of the three I thought I would get done, I only got one flimsy finished and that's it!  Not only did I not meet my goal, I forgot to post the April finish.  That's the third time in a row I have missed it.  What is up with that?  I'm going to try again.

So, for the month of May, I am going to be more realistic.   My goal is to get Cacey's flimsy cut and sewed together.  I got the cutting part done tonight!
(Kenzi, your's is next!)

I'm going to have to take a break to get some graduation announcements done one of these days.

Building update:  The roof trusses are up and most of the sheeting on.  

Next comes siding!

Linking to:

Mmm! Quilts!

Elm Street Quilts

Let's Bee Social
Midweek Makers

Quilts for Ashley, Cacey, and Kenzi

So as you know, I am making quilts for three beautiful young ladies.   My senior daughter, Ashley, my niece Cacey (she's getting married), and one of Ashley's best friends who is also graduating this year, Kenzi.

If you've been following me for a while you've already seen Ashley's finished flimsy.  I just need to trim the edges, baste and quilt it.

She wants minky on the back.  So minky it is!  I couldn't find any periwnkle or coral so we went with gray.  I just bought that a few days ago so now I can proceed with basting.

It will look nice thrown across this comforter we found for her dorm room.  It's reversible coral on one side and gray on the other.

Next up is Cacey's quilt.  I will be using the exact same pattern as Ashley's quilt but with different fabric for her.   Thank goodness she likes this pattern because it goes together quickly.   Here's what I have so far . . . but I'm not in love with this layout.  I laid all the coral one way and all the turquoise the other direction.

Here is layout #2 with a more random arrangement of colors.

Which do you like best?  Layout 1 or Layout 2?

And last is Kenzi's quilt!  Thank goodness Kenzi also wants a very simple to make pattern.  Here is the picture she sent me showing the pattern she wants.

I think I can handle this!  This one is a baby sized quilt and she wants a lap size so I will have to piece the strips together to make it wide enough for a decent size lap quilt.  Kenzi went shopping and brought me these fabrics to make her quilt and even told me the order she wanted her fabrics.  I LOVE getting specific instructions!   The white with pink polka dots is for the binding.

OK, time for a building update!  Last weekend I was gone to a quilting class and this is what was done while I was gone . . . the floor and one wall.

Then on Monday, THIS happened.   See those two large windows side by side?  Those are the front room picture windows.

Here is the view from the inside looking out those windows.  They are huge!

The framing would probably be all done this weekend but we found out that the framers can't get a crane for placing the trusses until Monday.  Booo!   The construction market around here is going crazy!

Well, that's the latest.  I've got my work cut out for me!  Where in the world did that phrase come from anyway?  Who actually has their work cut FOR them?  That would be great!

Linking to:
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts

Quilting Class Review

Hello there!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I did!  It started off with a 3 hour drive up to Hailey, Idaho to take a quilting class.  It was SUCH a beautiful day!  I stopped once to take a picture of the scenery.  Should have taken more!

Bellevue and Hailey are such cute little towns!  Bellevue is the home of Barb of the Mountain Quiltworks blog  (hi Barb! ).  Barb's quilting bee, the 5 Bee Quilt Guild, was hosting Cynthia Brunz (hi Cindy! ) of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework fame.   I was curious how the 5 Bee Quilt Guild got it's name.  It turns out Hailey is in Blaine County which is 5B in Idaho . . . so 5 Bee Quilt Guild.  Makes sense to me!

So here are the three bloggers, me on the left, Cindy in the middle and Barb on the right.  I was a mess.  Forgot my brush and this weekend was a makeup free one for me.  So there ya go.  Anyway here we are!

The first thing I learned in today's class is that Cynthia actually goes by Cindy.  She has the most beautiful, deep, rich voice and we loved her laid back, easygoing style.  (Barb had been in a class where the teacher said as long as I'm teaching this class, you're going to do it my way.  Yikes!)   The class was a lesson in color value and Cindy was using a pattern she designed called Geese Migration.  It's a mini lesson in color wash design.  She even brought a bunch of 2 1/2" squares for us to borrow from.  She found some clear plastic silverware holders which were the perfect size to organize those by color.  Great idea!  I forgot to take a picture of that so borrowed one from Cindy's blog (thanks, Beatrice for finding that!)

We all made about 2 or three blocks using her method and then threw them up on a design wall in no particular order.

Then she started putting them together, on point, by color family . . .

And here's the final version . . .

None of us had any idea what the other class participants were going to be making but when we put them all together, it would actually make a pretty nice quilt.    I have often considered joining in on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and this block would be a great one for that!

Here are the blocks I made.  The green one hadn't been finished yet when we put them all up on the design wall.  These finish at 10 inches.  By the way I had some serious stash envy going.  Some of the other participants had the most BEAUTIFUL fabrics!  My stash is filled with old fabrics anywhere from 5 to 20 years old and this is a great way to use then up.  But I still enjoyed myself and like Cindy said, it wasn't about the fabric design but the color on the fabric.

So thank you Barb and Cindy for inviting me to join in your class!  It was a wonderful getaway for me.  Barb, I enjoyed getting to know you while we both stressed our way through picking out the right fabrics for our blocks.  This was outside our comfort zone as it is much easier for us to just follow a pattern and do what it says.  Picking out this many fabrics for every block was a challenge!

If you have a chance to invite Cindy to do a class for your quilt guild, I highly recommend this class in color!

I would have a house update picture to show you but it's dark outside and I forgot to take one.   The framers got the floor joists in and floor added onto the foundation while I was gone this weekend and tomorrow, we should see the walls start go to up.  Things are moving right along! 

Oh, guess what!  My daughter's track team had a "for fun" meet within their own team on Friday and everybody had to do a sprint event, a jumping event, a throwing event, and a long distance event.  She was so excited to actually get a personal record in the high jump on Friday at five feet!!  Too bad it doesn't really count for anything; however, now we know she can do it!  I didn't get a picture of the high jump but here is one of her doing the 100 meter hurdles at a recent meet.

Hope everybody had a wonderful weekend!  What did you do this weekend?

Linking to:

Monday Making

Main Crush Monday

Bambi's Show and Tell Monday

Three Quilts in the Works & Happy Mail

Cacey, if you don't want to see your quilt in progress before it's finished, do not read this blog post.

I have three quilts that need to be done fairly soon.  My daughters dorm quilt, one of her friends who is also graduating this year, and my niece, Cacey who is getting married next month.   I think the grads are ok having their quilts before school starts in the fall, so Cacey's project goes to the top.

I created a Pinterest board and pinned a bunch of fabrics to it in the colors she likes and had her edit it down to the ones she liked the best.  She is a turquoise lover.  I picked a bunch of fabrics to use out of the ones she said she liked.  Matching fabrics online doesn't always go so well!

Here is the fabric I WAS going to use to choose as the main focus:

But when they all arrived, this one just didn't go with the others. It's too teal. They looked good online together but just didn't work.  In fact there were about three that didn't work.  Here are the ones that I ended up keeping.  Cacey loves turquoise and her fiance loves blue so trying to get both colors in here.  I'm still not totally sold on this fabric pull.   I'll be using the same lattice pattern for Cacey's quilt that I'm using for Ashley's (you can see that here).

In the mail this week came a wonderful mini that I have been anticipating for a long time!  My blogging friend Kate at Smiles from Kate and I decided to do a mini exchange.  You can read about the one I made for her here.  And I was so happy this week to receive the one she made for me!  She called it Home to Roost which was appropriate considering that I love house quilts and what I named HER mini!  :D   Isn't this the best???

I am currently writing this blog post from a motel room in Bellevue, Idaho, getting ready to attend a quilting class taught by Cynthia Brunz of Quilting is More Fun Than Housework!  I can't wait!  I will also get to meet Barb at Mountain Quiltworks as it is her quilt guild that scheduled this class with Cynthia.  I live about 3 hours away and drove up to spend the night so I can be fresh to learn new things from Cynthia.  So worth it!   Here is one of the beautiful views I got to see on the drive up here.  Isn't Idaho gorgeous?

I had LOTS of other happy mail this week in addition to Kate's great mini.  One was Cacey's fabric (seen above) and the other was an impulse buy.  You know the ones.  Facebook knows what you like and keeps showing ads to tempt you.  Well, I gave into one of those temptations.  This one came from Robin at Fabric Pantry and she had it packaged so pretty!

Here's a view of all the fabric:

Yes, I know they aren't very modern, but I still have a soft spot for traditional fabrics and I guess I probably always will!

And last but not least, at least not in my mind!  Our building update.  All the concrete has been poured.  Here is the front porch:

Back patio:

Triple car garage:

They started framing today!  YAHOO!!  So I'll have lots to show you by Monday.  Everything I learned in Cynthia's class and something that actually resembles the beginnings of a house!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts

Busy Hands Quilts