Making Progress!

I feel like I haven't done nearly enough sewing this summer!  I like to blame in on the fact that I haven't been able to pick myself up off the couch.  I was super tired, kind of sick, and just had no motivation to do anything.  I feel like I have a pretty good excuse (see my last post...).  But still.  How hard is it to do a little sewing?  (I DID finish my beanbag, which took quite a bit of sewing time.)
And then I won a giveaway - from the Ribbon Candy Quilt Company!  I was super excited.  Just in time to start a new quilt!  I have been dying to get back into making QUILTS!  I cut into it pretty quick and forgot to take a picture, so I'm stealing this one from the Ribbon Candy Blog:

It's perfect, isn't it!  I knew right away what I wanted to use it for, but I couldn't make up my mind between a regular square-in-square block and the more complicated out-of-the-box block.  So I decided to do them both.  Of course!  I am having TWINS, after all (yay)!  So I decided to make two matching baby quilts.  The colors are perfect, since we still don't know if we are having boys or girls.
And then Amy announced that it was time for another "One Thing, One Week" challenge.  It was just the boost I needed to get myself off the couch and moving around again.  I wasn't sure how I would be feeling (as far as morning sickness), and summer school has started up, so I only committed to making one set of blocks. 
Luckily, I have been feeling MUCH better lately!  I think I am moving into my 2nd trimester.  Wahoo!  I have a little bit more energy and I don't feel sick anymore.  So I got lots of stuff done this week, AND I finished EARLY!
I managed to make ALL of the blocks for both quilts.  Here they are:

 Looking at them now, I think I like the second one the best.  I found this block somewhere online about a year ago and now I can't find it!  SO I just made it up based on the picture I saved.

Now all I need to do is just add white sashing and sew them all together.  And quilt them.  Any suggestions on how to quilt them?   I am thinking of doing big stars or flowers inside the inner squares on the first quilt.  Other than that, I have no idea - less complicated would be better.  I think I have enough fabric left for a scrappy binding too.  It feels good to be making quilts again!

I'm linking up to Amy's Challenge.  You should go check out what everyone else did!

The Real Reason I Started Sewing...

It's time for the truth to come out!  My whole life I have wanted more than anything to be a MOM.  When the hubby and I first got married, we knew we wanted to wait a little while to have kids, though.  We were both still in school and I was going to be a teacher - not the best source of income, plus I wanted to have a year or two to try it out and see if I really liked it or not.
WELL.  About two years ago, I finally sat him down and we made a plan.  We weren't QUITE ready (hubby still had a long way to go in school), but we made a PLAN!  That was a good feeling.  And then the time came when it was almost time to start trying.  I was so excited I almost couldn't stand it!  Hubby went to China for two weeks and I decided to occupy my time making a few baby sized quilts - just for the fun of it.  I had already made my first jean quilt a few years before and remembered some research I had done about rag quilts.

So that is where I started.  This is what I came up with first.  I'm kind of embarrassed by it, but there you have it.

Then Hubby came home and I convinced him to let me make another one - he even came with me to pick out fabric.  This was my second shot at a rag quilt.  Much better.

And from then on, I was hooked.  I discovered the world of quilt blogs and haven't turned back since!

But the whole obsession started with a desire to make something in hopes that we would have a baby soon.
Well, now we are another year later and I am happy to report that my second dream (second to marrying my sweetheart) has come true!  I'm going to be a mom!  And the best part is... there are two!  I couldn't be more excited.  I just started a new quilt project - matching baby quilts.  Rainbow colored for now, since we don't know the genders yet.  One of these days, I will have to try making some little clothes!  I hope we have at least one girl...
I made these little stockings to tell our parents with.  We gave two to each of the Dads for Father's Day.  It took both of them awhile to figure out what they were for, but once they did, they loved them!  I'm due right around Christmas, so I figured this was the perfect way to make our big announcement.  Plus, I got to try out freezer paper piecing for the first time - it went great!

And for those who want to see, here is our babies' first picture.  Aren't they amazing?

Bean Bag!

I finally finished it!  This should have been done a week ago, but I haven't been feeling the greatest - with headaches on top of everything.  I'm feeling much better today, so I finally got the zipper on this baby.
For those who are curious, this was supposed to be a wonderbag, but I realized that it was going to be much bigger than I originally thought, and that we would probably never use it.  Unfortunately, I ordered enough filling for 3 sets.  So I decided to use my scraps from the original bag, plus all that filling stuff, to make a bean bag instead!  It was hubby's idea, actually (the wonderbag looks like a funny shaped bean bag to start with).  He thought I would be able to make two - but he wanted them pretty big.  Well.  Turns out this one took all the filling we had.  But that's okay.  Now I get to make something else!
I made an inner bag, filled it with stuff, and sewed it up.  Then I used the scraps I've been piecing together to make the liner, which turned out a little bit big - better too big than too small.  Plus, it gives the bean bag plenty of room to be smooshed around.  The beads that we filled it with makes it a little stiffer than a regular bean bag, but I think it will be fun.
Here it is!

A Work in Progress

A couple of months ago I got myself into a project before learning what I was really getting into.  To make a long story short, I ended up not liking it AT ALL.  So I tore the whole thing apart and decided to use the fabric (and other supplies I had already paid for) to make something a little more useful to me.

This fabric has been cut and sewn back together so many times that it is impossible to tell what the original design was (which actually included a whole bunch of wonky four patch blocks in various sizes)!  Plus, I threw in ALL of my scraps from the previous project (plus a few more to make the fabric go a little farther).  It has been quite the process and I am going to end up with a VERY wonky and randomly pieced project!  I can't wait to show it to you when it is finished.  As you can see by the fabric choices, this project was originally intended for myself...

But for now, I thought it would be fun to share the re-pieced (and re-pieced again) panels.  Can you tell what it is going to be?  I still need to make a few more - but I actually ran out of fabric.  Oops.

Mod Mosaic Pillow

I started this project a few weeks ago thinking it would only take me a day or two.  Well, it turned out to be a little more intensive than I realized.  At first I was having visions of making all kinds of pillows using my little scraps - purple, blue, pink, green, whatever.  But now I think I am feeling the need to make an actual quilt.

 Not that I don't LOVE this pillow cover.  Because I REALLY do.  And it was really fun to make.  I promise.  I should have taken more pictures along the way, but obviously I am not very good at that.  Oh well.

I used Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow tutorial to make this.  I love her tutorials!  They are always so crisp and well written.

 

The only thing I wish I would have done differently was the back panels.  I originally intended for the green and orange piece to be the front of the two back panels - not the flowery piece.  But by the time I realized my goof, I didn't really want to go back and fix it.  It's not that bad the way it is.

 

And the hubby loves the pillow already.  It is a nice addition to our very ugly brown couch!  Plus, do you see the blue/green/brown swirls?  They match our curtains!

I'm linking up to Becky's "Share the Love" party!  (I didn't forget this time... just a few days late...)
Go check it out!

Here goes...

I have decided to try another quilt-along!




Even though this is actually my second quilt along (read about my first one HERE), it FEELS like my first, because the last one mostly just focused on different quilting styles.
Usually I just follow the quilt-alongs and then bookmark them for later use once they are finished.  But this time, I think I am actually going to make each block as we go!  This is a pretty big leap for me...
The reason I finally chose a quilt-along is because this one focuses on EMBROIDERY!  The timing is perfect.  I have been a crosstitcher my whole life (mostly sticking to counted crosstitch kits), but never ventured into the world of embroidery.  Now, I think I am ready to try!
This quilt-along will have 9 blocks.  That sounds pretty doable, right?  I am thinking that instead of making mine into a quilt, I will make three separate wall hangings.  Perhaps one for my mom, one for my MIL, and one for me?  Maybe...
Hubby said I could only do this quilt-along if I shopped my stash.  So I did!  Jennie says we will need 9 fat quarters all together (3 for every 3 blocks).  Since some of my fat quarters aren't exactly full fat quarters any more, I decided to go with 4 for each mini-quilt.  After MUCH deliberation and switching around, this is what I ended up with:

Bundle #1

 Bundle #2

 Bundle #3

Can you tell which one is intended for me?  Yep.  #3.  Bright and cheery!  And there are TWO pink prints. :)

Now I have to pick up some thread for them! (I don't have a lot of that on hand... don't tell Hubby!) I think it is going to be hard to choose with this much variety to match.  Wish me luck!

And for fun, I thought I would throw in a sneak peak of the crosstitch pattern I am working on right now.  Hopefully I can finish this one before Christmas! ;)

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I've been following Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival for awhile now (I LOVE IT!) and I finally got up the nerve to enter a quilt of my own...

This is the first bed sized quilt I have ever made.  I'm still pretty new to quilting (and will probably never stop), so this quilt was a major learning experience for me!  I learned a lot about color, precise piecing, arranging, straight line quilting (and the importance of REALLY good basting), and even cutting - I cut this quilt out entirely with SCISSORS!  I know, I must have been crazy.  I was hoping/expecting to get a rotary cutter/mat/ruler set for my birthday and just couldn't wait, so I cut all the pieces by hand.  Don't worry - I have the proper tools now and have been using them for the past year or so (I started this quilt in July and finished it in April).

I originally intended to give this quilt to one of my sisters when they got married - but none of them is married yet!  I was going to put it in the closet for storage, but then I accidentally put it on my bed... and never took it off!  I actually love it on my bed.  Besides, there are SO many flaws in this quilt - my sisters will be grateful to get something a little more professionally done.

And here it is!  Enjoy!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Hopefully there will be a lot more stuff here in the next few months.  Thursday is the last day of school and I am BURSTING at the seams with anticipation!!!