My first quilt.

I have been reading several blogs over the past few days, and they are posting their very first quilt. Camille and Carrie are doing a little giveaway for those who are posting, so I thought I’d join in. I want to add I made a baby quilt before I did this one, but don’t have a photo of it. I made this for my sister when she got married. I had fun making it, and as always, I make everything big the first time I try anything.
And the latest “big” quilt I finished was American Pie, all red and white fabrics. By the way, I am in love with this quilt.
I have learned many things in the 5 years I’ve been quilting. A ¼” seam is crucial, take your time choosing your fabrics, buy GOOD quality fabrics that you know will stand the test of time (and kids). I love quilting, it’s good therapy for me, plus I love giving people quilts I make, they always love them, and it makes me feel good to give them something so heartfelt.

Also… Judi over at Green Fairy Quilts is having a very awesome giveaway. Go see her beautiful quilting!

4th of July Weekend

I hope you all had a great weekend! We did, but we are still trying to recover. It was just way too much fun. We left our house on Thursday afternoon to go see our friends in Anacortes, Washington. On Friday we got on the ferry to the San Juan Islands. The island we visited was Orcas Island. Have any of you been up there? It was just beautiful. We had a good time driving around and seeing the view. It was incredible. We didn’t see any whales, but a dolphin popped his head up to check us out. Friday night we stayed up late to catch shrimp. We headed down to the boat docks loaded up with nets and flash lights. The kids had so much fun shining the lights along the water and looking for shrimp. Saturday we went to a really fun parade in the downtown of Anacortes. We did some shopping, and then went over to go on our friend’s boat for some tubing and crabbing. Mark and Matthew had to jump off of the boat of course :) The fireworks that night were really pretty, they put a big barge out in the harbor and shoot them off, the house our friends have overlooks the harbor, so we had a good view. This is why I love the 4th of July! It’s always such a great day.

I promised pictures of Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I finished that big ship! It is looking so pretty. I enjoy this one. Now to stitch a dolphin, anchor and compass. Well, back to reality. Curren has cub scout day camp all week, and we have more family coming next week. The fun continues at our house! Thank you all for visiting my little blog, it means a lot to me. See you again soon.

I heart Oregon

It’s July?!? What?! What are you all up to? I hope you are having lots of fun this summer. The weather has turned warmer here, and I am happy. It was 95 yesterday, and it is supposed to remain that way through the weekend. I can’t wait for the 4th of July, it is my favorite holiday.

We had a wonderful week, Mark’s mom, dad and sister came to visit us for 5 days. We showed them all around our beautiful state of Oregon. There is so much to see and do here, it is hard to pick just a few things. They have been here before, so they knew what they wanted to see. We took them to the Columbia River Gorge, beautiful scenic drive looking over the huge Columbia river.
Jessie is confused, she can't see out of the telescope!!We took them to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Yum!
Of course the beach had to be visited, so we drove up through Cannon Beach to have some lunch and then went to Astoria. By the way, you Goonie movie fans… we stopped at the Goonie house and Curren even did the Truffle Shuffle! Love it!
And the Rose Gardens were a must see for us girls. The boys stayed home and hung out in the garage. Too bad for them. Don’t they know you are supposed to slow down and smell the roses?? My sister in law Emily and I made a flag cake, we used the recipe from Pioneer Woman. It was divine, you must make it. Though, you’ll gain a few pounds just by looking at it. The frosting was pure butter and cream cheese. Go and make one right now!
There was so much to do, and so much to talk about. Mark’s mom was in the car with me during the drives and it was great to catch up and talk to her. I get along with her so well. She is doing so much better. Last year at this time she suffered a very bad heart attack. We are so happy to have her with us. She is a cross stitcher and quilter too, so we got to go shopping! I love having shopping buddies.
I don’t have much to show you for quilting or stitching. I have been working on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow again though. I am about half way done with the big center block with the ship. I hope to work on it more this weekend. I’ll post photos next week of it.

So, when are you all coming to visit? I hope I’ve convinced you that Portland is a fun place to see. My fellow Americans, enjoy Saturday and celebrate our freedoms, we are so blessed to live in the United States of America. Love to all!

2 more finishes!

Well, I finished two more small quilts this week. I am happy with them both! I like small quilts, you can get them done quick!

This is the pattern called XRated by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. A Schnibbles pattern again. Aren't these patterns great? I have 2 more now to do someday soon. I did stipple quilting all over it in a dark gray thread. I am happy with how this one turned out. The fabric line is called Neptune by Tula Pink. I think it is beautiful fabric. But anything that has to do with the ocean I tend to love.
And I finished my "cash" quilt for my new nephew. I backed it with a light yellow flannel, and did stipple quilting on this too. So fun!! My nephew's name is Casch, which is why I made the money quilt, we couldn't resist the fun. Isn't little Casch the cutest baby??
I have really been enjoying the quilting lately. Now that I have become more comfortable with it, it's rewarding to be able to do this now. For those of you wanting to try it out, don't be shy! You have to give it a shot. Let me know if you do!

My in-laws and sister in law will be visiting us this week, so my sewing machine is getting put away for awhile. I can't wait to see them, it'll be wonderful!!! Have a great week everybody.

School is out!

Hey, guess what you guys??? School is out!!! I know, I should not be so excited about it, the kids should be more excited than me. I just am so glad because that means no more making lunches, no more getting up extra early, no more homework, for a few sweet months. I get to keep my kids and we get to relax and play. I am so happy. Here are my kids yesterday after school. Happy kids! I’ve been sewing again. I finished the top last night for the Pop Garden quilt. I found this pattern on the Crazymomquilts blog. Isn’t it adorable? I plan on making two of these, for Jessie’s bedroom. She has a bunk bed. And here’s a close up. I pieced the backing for it last night too, so I can just pin it all down and start quilting it sometime soon. I am going to use striped fabric for the binding. Then I’ll start the second one. I bought lots of extra yardage of this fabric for pillow cases, table runners, and curtains. It’s going to be one bright bedroom! A few months ago I bought a fat quarter pack of Shangri-La from Nicole at Sister’s Choice Quilts. She makes the most beautiful quilts, you must go and see her blog. She likes using the Miss Rosie’s quilt patterns like I do, and it’s fun to see what she is always up to.

So, I have started cutting up the Shangri-La fabric. I’ve loved this fabric ever since it came out. I made a small quilt out of it, and have it on the back of my couch. This quilt is from a magazine, and it’s designed by Heather Mulder Peterson. I’ve been having fun making it, it’s a little more slow going (lots of piecing). I’ve been doing easy quilts lately, this one has slowed me down. I am not complaining, just saying :D What are your plans for the summer months? Are you going anywhere exotic, or just sticking around home? We plan on sticking close to home. Camping, and the beach are what I’ve got in mind for the weekends coming up. Mark’s family is coming to visit next week. It’ll be a fun time! Mark’s sister had her baby on Monday, and all is well. I am so relieved. I am an Aunt again! Lucky me. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Another Schnibbles... I told you I was addicted.

Well, this weekend consisted of me cleaning a bathroom, picking up a bedroom, sewing, cleaning another bathroom, going to a movie, sewing, making a meal, cleaning a bathroom, and sewing! You know, I try to get enough sewing in to balance the not so fun cleaning part. Gotta keep it even!

I really enjoyed making this little quilt. I got the top completed tonight, and had to share with you. :) I'll try and quilt it this week.
I am glad I used the green as the background instead of white, it makes the fabrics stand out so much better.
Mark's sister is having a baby any time now, and it's a boy! She'll be naming him Cache, I believe that is how she's spelling the name. Well, Mark had wanted me to make her a "cash" quilt. I found these fabrics at Joann's and put it together over the past few weeks. I need to find some backing for it so I can finish it. We all think it's funny, and I had to share a picture of what Mark likes to do while I am sewing. You see how he appreciates my hard work? :)
Tomorrow is Monday, and I have to go to the dentist, why did I have to do that on a Monday? Monday's are bad enough on their own LOL! Enjoy your week, we have a week and a half left of school now, can't wait to be done.

Neptune...

Thank you all for leaving such kind comments on my last two quilts, you are so nice :) I love blogging because you always keep me motivated to make more, and most of all to enjoy the process.

I've been hoarding and collecting the fabric line called Neptune. It is all sea greens, blues, and coral pink, it's just so pretty. Anyway, I've been wanting to make something with it, so I started another mini quilt last night. It's a Schnibbles pattern called XRated. It'll be really cute! Here it is so far...

Instead of white background fabric, I chose the sea green, I think it makes it even more "oceany"
I also finished another quilt top but the pictures I took were really bad. So, I'll have to try again another time. It is the blue/green Amy Butler fabrics. I've been working on it for a few months. I now need to quilt it.

I think I am in a Blue and Green mood right now! :D

We went and saw the new Pixar movie UP this afternoon. It was amazing. I loved it! Pixar always blows me away. You must go and see this movie, you'll be glad you did.


And I'll leave you with a picture of Sunny and her rawhide bone, she carries them around like that, and I think it's pretty silly :)

Another Schnibbles quilt, I'm addicted to Schnibbles

Well, since I love these little Schnibbles patterns so much, I decided I may as well do as many as possible right? I have 2 more kitted up to do anytime. This one uses the April Cornell fabrics by Moda called Portugal. They are so pretty. Oh, this pattern is called Gentle Art, and is also by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company (same as my red and white quilt).

I made this for my friend Megan, who is moving away this week. I am going to really miss her. She is such a sweetheart. I wish her all the best.

So, some of you asked how Mark painted that beetle bug (see post below). Jessie held it on her finger and it just sat there the whole time, it didn't even try to run. I think it knew that it was hopeless LOL! My husband is full of things like this, it's never boring at my house... EVER.

American Pie, all done!

Well, it's finished! Another quilt oh yeah! I am happy about it. I managed to get the binding done this weekend. So it is now in the washing machine so we can use it :)
Here are my photo helpers helping mom out!
The pattern is American Pie by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. I've used several of her patterns now, and I have loved all of them. I highly recommend her :)
Here's a closeup..
And the backing and binding.
Last Monday we went to Indian Beach to play in the surf. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures of it.

And Mark caught a beetle bug, painted it and took these photos, I love them!! The "Warrior Bug" is now out protecting my garden.

Quilting is done tra la la!

The quilting is complete!!!! yay!!!! Now on to the binding.

Today has been AWESOME. We have had such lovely weather. The pool is now open for business. yes, they have wetsuits on, it's still cold in there LOL!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Plans, always making Plans

So, I’ve been thinking about all of these projects that I’d like to get done in the upcoming summer months. There are so many! How about you, do you have any plans on what you want to make this summer? Anything new to you, that you’ve never done before? It’s pretty fun to think of all of the things you want to try.

Jessie, my 7 year old, has commissioned me to make her some table runners for her dresser and armoire. She even went so far as to go through my stash and pick some things out. She is a girl after my own heart :) Well, she saw the Pop Garden quilt I am making right now, and she really likes that fabric. So, I am thinking I’ll get some more of it and make 2 quilts (I’ve already got 1 started) for her bunk bed, so they match… some table runners and some curtains too. Then maybe we can paint her room and spiff it up for her.

Okay, these pictures were taken several years ago, but the room is essentially the same, no curtains, mis-matched blankets on the bed, etc. It just needs to be "put together" I think. Consider is a before photo :D
I want to make a skirt, or a few anyway! The book I picked up Sew What! Skirts is going to be a lot of fun, so many options. Have you made a skirt before?

And of course there are some old UFO in my closet that need some love. I hope to get at least one of those quilts completed this summer. There are several Christmas tablerunners I’ve begun too, and I want to get them done so I can give them as gifts at Christmas time.

Do you think of your handmade Christmas gifts now as well?

Mark and I have been mulling over updating our kitchen and dining room floors, and our downstairs bathroom. We’ve already updated our living room, and we’d like to finish the downstairs now. The problem is, there are too many options, hardwoods, or tile? What color of paint? And the list goes on… it is fun to think about, just hard to nail it down you know. It doesn’t help that I have subscribed to Coastal Living magazine.

I like every single room pictured in them, and it makes it really hard to decide LOL!

Back from visiting Lily, and some other things...

Well, I am back! I went to Colorado last week to see my sister Nikki and her new baby Lily. It was so much fun. Nikki is a wonderful mommy. And little Lily is pretty cute, I almost took her home with me :)

Here is me, my brother Casey, and my sister Nikki... we haven't all been together for a long time, so we had to take the pictures you know.

On my way to Colorado, I had a layover in Salt Lake. I got to see my Aunt Phyllis!! She is looking so good. I miss her.

In other news, I've begun quilting my red and white quilt.

I really like this backing fabric I found, it's by Amy Butler, cute huh?

I've been working slowly but surely on Shores of Hawk Run, I have a boat!

And look at these cool books I found, making skirts, and clothes and whatnot. I can't wait to try some of them out...

My cute, adorable children. My gosh, I love them :) How come they are growing up so fast??

*Pop* Garden begins

I could not resist the pull of making some blocks from this fabric tonight, so here are a few, and Oh MY Gosh, I LOVE them!!! I just had to share the cuteness.

And another thing, I am about halfway through this book called Mistborn: The Final Empire (book 1) by Brandon Sanderson. It is fabulous, it's a fantasy story. I love the way he writes, I can barely put it down right now.

Have a good night everybody!

Baby Lily :)

My sister Nikki had her baby this Sunday!!! Everything went well and everybody is doing great. I am so excited for her :) She named her Lilyanne Nicole, and will call her Lily, isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen??

Nikki said the delivery was good and she weighs just over 6 lbs. I get to go and see her on Friday and I cannot wait!
So, I've been jumping around being all excited for the past two days. We went to Bend, Oregon this weekend so my hubby could ride his dirt bike. We had a good time, even though it rained off and on. Here is Jessie wanting to go for a ride...

And Sunny the dog, she was a happy dog getting to run around in the desert for the day.

I have been sewing, even though we left for the weekend. I was able to put together the quilt top for Melissa (my SIL). I love how it turned out. I am quilting it a little bit too, so it's almost done, but not quite.

And tonight I cut out my pieces for the quilt I am making for church. I got the pattern from crazymomquilts. It's all fabric from Pop Garden by Heather Bailey. It's so bright and cheery, it'll be a fun quilt.

So many projects to work on, so little time!

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. Mark took me out to lunch, and then that evening when I came home, he and the kids had picked up the house, and then took me out to dinner. Aren’t they wonderful? They even got me a cheesecake. I think I’ll have to keep them all, they are so good to me. Some of my friends came by with beautiful flowers and I just feel so blessed to have all of these good people around me. Life is great!
I’ve been a busy bee working on several projects. I have sewing ADD at the moment and can’t devote my time to any one thing for very long. So, I’ve started several to keep me happy :) Since I had added my blog to the Online Bloggers Quilt Festival over on Park City Girl’s blog last week, I’ve been slowly going through the hundreds of blogs posted there, and I’ve been so inspired by them. You must go look if you have not yet, there are SO many of them to look at! I’ve been leaning more towards working on quilts for the past several months than I have cross stitching. I am not sure why really.

My sister is due to have her baby on April 30th, which is in a few days, and her baby girl is showing no signs of wanting to come out in the world yet :) I am so excited for my sister Nikki, she is going to be such a good mommy. When she came to visit me last November we bought all kinds of fabric to make blankets with. This was the final one to finish up for her. I decided to practice some machine quilting on it, so I put a thin batting between the two flannel layers, it is so soft and warm!
I got the middle section sewn together for the little Schnibbles pattern I am working on, isn’t it pretty? I am going to give it to a good friend of mine when it’s done. Not much to do on it now, so I plan on working on this during the week.
And I’ve started cutting out the quilt for my sister in law, who is due to have a baby boy in June. I am making this one much the same as what I made for my sister last month. I have some blue minkie fabric I’ll put in this as well.
My friend Colleen and I got together on Saturday to plan what quilt we’ll be making for the church quilt group. I found a great quilt over on the crazymomquilts blog called Flea Market Fancy. I loved it, and so did Colleen. She is making a quilt similar without the sashing, and I’m doing it with the white sashing. I have lots of Heather Bailey fabric I plan to use for it, I am happy to finally be using it. We want to have the quilts out on display this summer and start teaching it in the fall. I can’t wait to cut into this quilt!!!

That is all for now, more to share this weekend :)