April OMG: Two for H2H

I always look forward to Sara's H2H Annual Quilt Challenge.

And this year I'm setting out to contribute two quilty hugs.

First up: Left-overs from a 2014-15 Sat. Sampler quilt. I have the panel that goes with this line of Deb Strain's Bloomin' Fresh fabrics and plan to create a little backpack quilt for Little Lambs.

Second in line: I'm gong to use last month's Summer Song pattern and sew these lovely Bonnie and Camille fat quarters that have been in my stash wayyyy too long into a lap quilt for Happy Chemo.

These are both my April OMG. I plan to have them both created and quilted by month's end.

I'm really looking forward to this colorful bunch of sewing this month.

Linking up with everyone else at:

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Dec. OMG: Dotty Christmas Flimsy Finish

Welllll....I started the year and now ended the year joining all of you for:

I set out to make this quilt last December but it didn't get done:

But this year, this December, I enjoyed transforming that pile of fat quarters above into this 

Dotty Christmas Finish:

This finish measures 48"x 68".

I would like you input on the backing. I put these choices in my 

Fat Quarter "Cart" and of course, want to take advantage of the fact they are all on sale:

  

Which one do ya think? They are a little blurry, but the red has words and the green has little Scotties.

Please feel welcome to comment to let me know what you think. And....thanks ahead of time.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Superhero Walk-A-Thon

Introducing our new class of "Super Second Graders"!

Okay Ladies, we are never too old to wear a tutu! (OMG!!)

 My cooperating teacher keeps me young and I truly love her for that!

This is our annual fundraiser for misc. classroom supplies. 

It's fun and makes for a great Friday.

I hope you'll stop by this weekend as I'm looking forward to sharing the beginnings 

of my grand guy's Spiderman quilt with you.  I even took the little guy fabric shopping
with me and he helped me pick out ALL the fabric! So fun and he was so decisive.

Yes! He has TWO suckers in his mouth. Oh man! I love being a grandma! He ended up sharing one with me and of course, I'm practically immune to kid germs, so I enjoyed it right along with him. 

He knew immediately THIS was the fabric he wanted for the back. 

(Good thing I DID bring him, as I would have picked the Spiderman one!) He loves his superheros and could name every one them on this fabric! He played with the fabric all day, rolling himself up like a burrito, making tents and sharing with Jackson. 

The fabric is now all washed and ready to be put on the quilting frame. I'm predicting my little grand guy has a new "favorite" quilt in his very near future. What do ya think?

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

LINKY: Time to Share! 4th Annual Piggy Bank Savings = Money for Quilting Challenge

It's that time of year when we finally empty our piggy banks and splurge on something quilty!

This year in our household: I'm the WINNER!

Barely!!  He saved $116.77 and I saved $118.41. And truth be told...he had most of his in change. But I was good at tucking dollar bills this year, so he gets to buy me, the winner, the ice-cream!

So what did we splurge on?

He found himself a great deal on golf clubs and got himself a never used set off Craigslist for $120.

They are just what he needed to enjoy golfing with his Father and Son-in-Laws.

Me? I couldn't resist joining Lori Holt's Bee Happy Sew Along coming up in August.

I'm soooo excited as I can't remember the last time I bought a yummy pack of fabric like this.

The quilt will measure 72"x80" when finished and I got a good discount by pre-ordering through a nearby Quilt Store. Which meant I only had to add a little bit more money "to the pot" to get things purchased. YEAH!! (Click right HERE  to read more about this Fall Sew Along.) 

 

NOW it's your turn to share!

Last July 15 of you signed up for this year's challenge and even more joined through email after the linky closed. Well, this week is the time to empty those that piggy banks my friends and create a post to link here with us exclaiming your total amount saved and share what quilty purchase you're going to make! (FYI: The linky will be open for a week)

Also, the code to our challenge button is on my sidebar. 

Please feel welcome to share it in your post or on your blog to invite your followers to join us here next Thursday, July 13th, as sign-ups for the  5th Annual Challenge will begin.

WIN quilt batting this summer. Click HERE to read how.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

WIN quilt batting this summer. Click HERE to read how.

Happy Mail Coming!

Okay, okay....don't be calling me all crazy....but I can't honestly remember the last time I bought fabric!!! (I know! Seriuosly, insert an awe struck emoji right here.)  I got inspired after our grand guy's visit and ordered enough fabric to make him a small quilt of his favorite Brown Bear book.  And I have to admit, I couldn't resist adding an additional charm pack of some oh so soft baby flannel to make a quick baby quilt....because ya know, the anticipation of another grand-baby is always exciting and creating baby quilts is always fun!

Hoping your week is sprinkled with a little bit of anticipation too. 

And just in case you didn't see...there's still time to take advantage of this sale.

I soooo value the excellent customer service I've received from Fat Quarter Shop.

Fun Happy Mail!

The mailman delivered my turn with Bernie's, over at Needle and Foot,  Fabric and Fiction book share. (Click HERE to read all about her cool happy mail/quilters book club of sorts.)

We receive (and send forward) three new fat quarters that relate back to the novel in some fashion. My person sent me these three fun fabrics below, each representing one of the main characters in the story. Her character captions have me intrigued.   

I laughed a little when she said the circle design represents the character Samantha whose thoughts seem to keep her running in circles. I smiled in thought of the pink representing the character Lydia, because older women often mentor younger women without even knowing it. And finally, those trees, they represent King, the character who is cool with himself, steady and stable. (I'm so grateful to have my own King) After this wonderful introduction, I'm looking forward to meeting these characters myself as I spend a few hours this chilly morning reading: Open House.

Next week's theme: Anything GREEN!

Tuesday Archives #128: Kids Sewing

Welcome to the linky party that rejuvenates your old quilting/sewing posts! 

Please click here to read more about this linky party.  

This week's theme is: KIDS SEWING 

I love sewing for and with kids!  But I sure didn't expect a trip to the store would leave me with a cart filled with "tractors",  "trains" and  "dinosaurs"....but our grand-guy got soooo excited when he saw all these fabrics he just starting pulling them off the shelf and loading them into our cart. 

Need-less-to-say, my daughter and I were cracking up!

 

We finally had to narrow it down to "two". Luckily one was a flannel, so it was easy to...

...sew them together into a quick "receiving blanket" he can use for preschool and for play.

So as you can see, I spent the better part of my long, last weekend of summer getting in one more weekend with our Grand-guy. Yet, admittedly, it was nice to have yesterday as a day off. I'm tired. I needed a home day filled with sewing, relaxation  and house-hold chores attended to.  In reflection, it's been a wonderfully busy, fun-filled summer I am so very grateful for. But, I'm welcoming this transition into Fall as a time of self-rejuvenation. A season to get back into my own routines of life. Which by the way, will kick off with me starting this little guys birthday quilt and dusting of the long-arm. More to come!

FYI: September's themes are posted on the sidebar.

Studio Reorganized & One Tip

While I should be working on my raw edged flowers and nine patches, I mean after all, they are my June OMG....but noooo instead: SQUIRREL!!! I got back from my retreat all inspired to rearrange my entire studio! (I have no idea why!) I created a larger cutting/quilting area:

Jackson was a great help! NOT! LOL!!Okay, see that big sectional in the background....

well I sold half of it (More...cash for fabric!! LOL!!) and...

... moved my little table and chairs over there (so cozy) :

My mom would call and after the third time of dropping the phone while she was talking, she asked: "What are you doing?" Reply: "Rearranging my fabric!" She laughed reminding me that I do that every summer...in reflection, I guess she's right. But I can't tell ya how rejuvenating it is. So I spent another day rearranging ALL my fabric. Truth be told, I was hoping to go through all my fabric in hopes of reopening my Etsy shop and getting rich selling my fabric stash...LOL!! NOT!...I found myself ooohhh and auughhhh way too much and only ended wishing I had more time to create.

I emptied my entire glass cabinets and here's how I always seem to end up organizing:

I organize my STASH in a RAINBOW spectrum.

My one tip: whether it be my thread or fabric organize them in a rainbow order. I start with green. 

Why haven't I finished this Metro-Rings quilt?? Until then, I 'll enjoy it here.

Here is my stash revamped: 

And now that I'm all reorganized...I got back to creating. I ending up backing my crazy jelly roll race classroom quilt with these pearl rings I found in my stash. I quilted it with a bubble pantograph.

Today I plan to sew a green binding on it and put it in my back-to-school pile.

Last thing I want to do is organize my WIP hand projects as inspired by Karen who blogs at Moose Bay Muses especially as our July will be a busy month filled with travels and family. She made these adorable vinyl bags and though I love their colored zippers, I'm pretty sure mine will be organized into gallon-size ziploc bags, put into a cute basket, of course. Thanks for the inspiration Karen.

So that's what I've been up to this week...no Etsy shop reopened...but never the less, reinspired am I.

Join us! Click picture to read about our Tuesday linky.