A New Summer Quilt!

I can remember a time I use to make a quilt every month...

...now here I'm posting one I made last summer that I finally got quilted and 

the binding sewn just in time to enjoy it for the summer!!

The pattern is called: Friendship Scrap Block from www.quilterscache.com.

The very best part...it was made from left over fabric from this Lori Holt Kit: 

(Which by the way, makes me smile everyday as it brightens my little laundry room.)

What else makes me smile is the fact that I loved this fabric so much, I now have an oversized 

lap quilt to enjoy and ALL my extra fabric was used!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!

I hoping more sewing is in my future, as I find myself at another cross road. Yep! Last week I hung up my school lanyard and recess whistle after 33 years of teaching.

But! I'm NOT retired! 

I have actually been transitioning into a new District job as our very first Talented and Gifted Coordinator. This has proven to be the most empowering transition I have made personally in quite a long time and one that is worthy of one of my "Life and Learning" post. Hopefully some words of wisdom and inspiration will come to me, but for now, I'm simply relishing the process of change and personal growth I'm experiencing. 

I just turned 57 and got to happily celebrate with these two:

I feel blessed in so many ways and am looking forward to having one more chapter in my career.

I hope this post finds you, my old blogging friends, doing well.

With Smiles, Val:)

My New Year OMG & BOM!

Happy Happy New Year!!

 Lucky me, I'm on winter break for the rest of the week yet, still get up early and have breakfast with hubby before he leaves for work. Then I sit right here at our breakfast table and catch up with all of you in the blogging world until daybreak. (Which in our neck of the woods doesn't happen till about 8:00 am.) With that said, I decided to jump in and join two challenges this year in hopes to make a dent in my Quilty Inventory List.

First up: I'm joining many of you at Patty's OMG:

My January goals are to:

1. FINISH my Anne Downs quilt and have it sewn together into a flimsy

2. Get our grand-guys cow quilt quilted and gifted!

Next, I'm joining Deana who blogs at Dreamworthy Quilts for her Create Your Own BOM,

Mine will be by Lori Holt Picture Quilt:

There are twenty blocks in all and I plan on completing four blocks a month.

January I will make the bird, butterfly, cake and camera.

Thanks for the motivation Patty and Deana.

June OMG: Bee Happy Progress

I set out to continue to be intentional about using projects in my stash this year, so I tackled my  Lori Holt's Bee Happy! applique blocks this month as my June OMG. I wanted to make some obvious progress in getting more of these blocks done.

I went from this: 

...to this: (Obvious progress right!)

I think I did good! I will continue to work on this one in-between other projects with the motivation to have it done and quilted by the end of my summer break. I also crossed an eye-spy quilt off my list this month and got another quilt's binding done. I appreciate Patty's OMG as it rejuvenated this project which provides the perfect summer sewing for me .

Also...LOTS going on here at the ol' blog.

Click HERE to participate in my Tuesday Archives Give-Away.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Eye Spy Swap.

Piggy Bank Savers...mark your calendars for July 6th...as that's when we empty and count our quilty savings for the year. I think I'm going to beat hubby this year!

June OMG: Bee Happy!

HELLLLOOO SUMMER!!!!!!!

I want to continue to be intentional about using projects in my stash this year, so I'm tackling my  Lori Holt's Bee Happy! applique blocks this month as my OMG. I want to make some obvious progress in getting more of these blocks done.

I had purchased the kit with my last year's Piggy Bank Savings so I'd like to get it done before this year's Piggy Bank Challenge comes around again NEXT month already! 

(Savers mark your calendars for our linky coming July 6th.)

 I'm using the fuse applique method and machine stitching these with a blanket stitch, so they are fun and fast to finish. I only have 12 more blocks to make and think they'll be easy to get done during an afternoon movie on a hot summer afternoon.

 I have a whole list of projects I want to play with now that I'm on Summer break, including:

1. Make a summer tablecloth for our patio table.

2. Finish a family size Eye-Spy quilt that will be gifted in August.

3. I have two quilts that need the binding sewn.

4. I'd also like to get my Anni Downs BOM finished...I'm sooo close!

June will be fun filled month as I have Grammy Camp scheduled with my little buddy. I'm teaching an eight day Photo Journalism Discovery Camp to Middle Schoolers. This is going to be so fun as I'm going to introduce them to the world of blogging!! (Stay tuned) Annnndddd hubby and I have two weekend golf get-aways planned! (Yes! I accidentally became a golfer and LOVE it!!!! Really! My husband started so he could go golf with our son-in-law. One afternoon I said I'd go along and drive the cart as he got in a practice round. Well, before he was even done with the first hole I found myself out of the cart giving it a try! And guess what! I'm pretty good at it!! LOL!! )

With all that said, it looks like I'll have many fun posts to share this month. So stay tuned!

OUR SWAP IS CLOSED! 

Hey Guys! What better way to collect 200/400 different Eye-Spy fabrics than by swapping with fellow blogger friends. Click HERE to read about our Eye Spy Swap and perhaps think about joining us.