Lovely fabric Scraps!!!

So I was on a chat forum with Piece N' Quilt (called Talkin' Tuesdays...LOVE IT).  Anyways, the question was asked whether people enjoy quilting with new fabric or using scraps better.  I thought my answer was a bit expected and dull....duh..BOTH!!!  But to my shock and surprise there are actually some who don't like scraps!  Unbelievable to me, I didn't think it was possible! :)  I'm the maniac who just drove 30 minutes out of my way to go pick up another lady's bag of old scraps free off of 'Freecycle'!  (Then again, I always knew I was a little nutty.)

Anyways, to get the point...I LOVE SCRAPS!...And there is an amazing!!! scraps giveaway at Comfortstitching.  It's a new blog I've found that I haven't had nearly enough time to search through thoroughly enough yet.  :)  But it looks really cute, and I can't wait to win all of those beautiful scraps!  Wish me luck!!! :)

I SPY....

An amazing quilt on the horizon!!!  :)  Or at least a mediocre quilt...that I'm going to try to make amazing, but will still be really proud of anyways. ;)

So I found this AMAZING fabric sale this weekend!  I was taking a "quick trip" to Walmart with the fam, and I saw that their entire fabric section was 1/2 the size of normal!!  I said "WHAT??"  They said they're moving locations and not taking any of the cut bolts of fabric with them, which equals=75% all fabric!!!  I just about cleaned them out!  (At least of the good stuff).

Husband wasn't too excited about waiting around with the kids for hours while the slowest fabric cutter EVER cut my cart full of fabric, but he was amazingly understanding...(and that's why I adore him). :)

I even had to go back the next day, because I felt I didn't get quite enough, and thought, you know, you really just can't pass on fabric that's 50 cents a yard!!!  But I think what I was most excited about was the Disney Pixar's CARS fabric ($1.20/yd) that had little roads on it...my first thought was 'PERFECT FOR A QUILT BACK!'.

So I started cutting fabric for my I-Spy quilt for the kids at the hospital. (I know...I haven't finished quilting my first quilt for Lilly...but I'm going to be going to the hospital to drop off other stuff for the kids soon, so I'd like to have a couple of quilts to bring with me.)  Anyways, I am SO excited to get this little quilt going...and it is little, the first two I'm making are going to be about 20" x 28", just big enough to fit on their laps at the hospital and play with.  Especially with the little roads on the back...perfect for playing cars on while sitting in bed! YAAY!!

So here are pics of just some of the fabric I scored on!!! :)  Can't wait to be able to share more pictures of the quilt as I get more done!

Yeah...they even had Marine Corps panels!! What!!!  I've never even SEEN these before, and now they're $1.00 for two square panels!?!  I don't know yet what I'll do with these, but of course, I HAD to buy some! :)

September Already???!?

I can't believe it's already almost Septemeber!  That's crazy!  Man time sure does fly!  Sept is a busy month around here...my husband's birthday...my sister-in-law's b-day...my niece....my mom...my in-law's anniversary...MY anniversary....busy...busy...busy!
  This year will be 7 years that my husband and I have been married!  I can't believe it!!!  Talk about time flying!  And what a crazy adventure it has been! :)  Looking back, the fact that I was only 20 when we got married seems SO young, but at the time it felt like the most natural thing in the world.  My husband and I met while we were both stationed in Japan while serving in the United States Marine Corps....(insert long, crazy story about young crazy Marines!) :)....and the funniest part, we only dated for 3 months before we decided to get married!  What!??!??!  That's what our families said.  :)
  But we were inseparable, (and still are).  He is my best friend in the whole world and I couldn't ask for a better friend, companion, and father for our amazing little family.  And the fact that he didn't get at all mad when I spent a huge sum (at least for our small budget) on an AMAZING fabric sale this weekend, just reinforces the awesome opinion I have of him.  :)
  So that's us...in a nutshell...and I'm pretty darn happy with it!  So in case I don't get a chance to bring it up later in the busy month to come....happy anniversary to us. :)

~Teresa

Another GO! Giveaway!

Ryan Walsh at I'm just a Guy Who Quilts is giving away an Accuquilt GO! Cutter!!!!  Man would I love one of these!

Another GO! Giveaway!

Gosh, they seem like they're ALL over the place.  (Which is absolutely FINE by me!!)  The more giveaways, the better chance I have of winning one! :)  That would be SO amazing.

Head over to A Quilting Life to enter the giveaway! :)

I've made a decision!

I've decided that I'm going to share ALL of the stuff I make!  Good and BAD!  I know, I know, you're probably saying...this has been the GOOD stuff!  YIKES!  Well, just wait til I show you the 'other' stuff...you'll probably agree.  :)

So...here is the ugly doll I made yesterday:

Back-story: I'm going to try to make some dolls for the kids at the hospital (the nurses use them for all sorts of games and explaining 'stuff' to the kids).  So, this was my first attempt...well, to be honest, it's really my second attempt, the first one came out with a giant head and one leg sewn crooked, so that my sister said it looked like it had a broken leg.  So I took it apart (love those seem rippers!), re-did the head, and sewed it back together.  Better, but still not great.  But the little one I made it for really likes it, so that means a lot.  (She get's all my trial projects...:)  good and bad).

 She named her Shirley Temple, and insisted on sleeping with her last night.  :)  Maybe next one I make, I'll try and do a tutorial, and then everyone can make ugly dolls.

Second 'bad' project revealed! :)

Recycling old Crayons-
So crayons are on sale EVERYWHERE right now, so of course, I've bought a few boxes.  But the kids already have a TON of old crayons...(but who doesn't love a box of brand new, never been used, freshly sharpened crayons???  I DO I DO!!!).  Anyways, I decided to find a way to use the old small and 1/2 pieces of crayons to make a fun project, and make way for new crayons!

Here's what we did:

• Strip the crayons down.  (I think that was the most fun part of the whole thing, sitting and chatting with my daughter while we went through all the crayons.)

• Then we laid out some wax paper on a cookie sheet and Lilly got to pick out different colors and I cut them with scissors into small pieces.

• Then I covered it with a second piece of freezer paper and used an iron to melt the crayons.  It kind of felt like it was going to ruin my amazing and expensive iron, so I tried to put a towel down, but it wouldn't get the crayons hot enough to melt.  So I risked it, and I think the iron came out fine.  The project...not so sure about that.  Here's what it looked like:

• It was supposed to look like a "stained glass window"...ummm, not so much.  So I pulled the pieces apart to see if they looked any better.  Not really....

• Well...one side was salvageable at least.  So we cut out our 'frame' (Lilly chose a heart shape...of course!).  And since only one side of the wax paper looked ok we used some tissue paper on the other side.   Final result!

Not quite what we intended, but it will still make a great gift for Grandma in St. Louis.  So there's my first tutorial on a wonderful craft project I'll never do again! :)  At least not with 3 kids tugging on my pant leg...literally....  And we've still got lot's of left over crayons, so I'm sure we'll be trying more crayon projects in the weeks to come.  Wait with eager anticipation for those! :)

But THIS makes it all worth it..over and over again!!!

Luv 2 Kreate is having a Giveaway!

Renee of Luv 2 Kreate is giving away an amazing doll quilt that she made.  It is SO adorable!

Go check out her amazing blog!  And enter her giveaway...just don't win...because I'd like to.  :)

My new sewing machine

So...I think I mentioned that I bought a new sewing/embroidery machine because it was HUGELY discounted.  Well, I'm so conflicted.  I thought it came with the feet that I needed to do quilting...but it doesn't.  I wasn't sure what the names of the feet were (because they seem to sometimes be called different things) so the picture on the side of the box looked like a darning foot...NOPE, it was the embroidery attachment!  And no walking foot!!  So I'm no closer to quilting!  AAAHHH....I didn't realize I didn't have all of the tools when I first started....I just began, and now I'm at a road block.  -poo-

Secondly, I really liked the little decorative stitches with leaves and little flowers that come with the Brother machine I had been eying.  This machine doesn't have those either!  And 'PED' which allows you to download designs from the internet didn't come with the machine like I thought either!  Of course not, that's an extra $100!!!  So...why am I keeping the machine????  Because even if I return this one and get the one I was originally looking at, I'll want to get an embroidery machine eventually, and then I'll kick myself if I have to pay full price!  Phwew...money is stressful!

Oh, and did I mention that the other 'Brother' comes with BOTH walking foot AND darning?!??!  I really don't want to have to spend the extra money to go get that machine too...but I'm not sure what else to do.  I'm feeling a bit discouraged.

Plus I just heard from the woman at the Hospital burn center, it looks like making children's hospital gowns are a no-go.  They outsource their laundry, so there would be no way to ensure they got the same ones back.  What a bummer...I had thought that was such a great idea.  I'm not giving up, I'll find something that I can do to bring some color and cheer to the kids.  I collected a TON of beads from some very generous people and I can't wait to take them in for the kids to do crafts with.  And I'm going to try out some other ideas for things to help them.

Besides all of that...I'm having fun trying out my new embroidery machine.  I've embroidered a couple of designs, one that I made into a little shirt for my daughter's little stuffed puppy...it was pretty cute.  And I got to test out the new machines stability when my brother came over and asked me to sew a couple of patches onto his leather motorcycle vest.  Worked AMAZING!  And the patches looked pretty good too.  Nice.

Weeks 1/2 over.  Can't wait for the weekend! :)  Happy hump day!

GO! Giveaway!!!!

A La Mode Fabric is having a giveaway...for a GO!  I love these...have GOT to get myself one!!!  So here's another chance.   http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/

Good luck everybody!

Lot's of new things!

What a weekend....a great weekend, but whew, felt like a really busy one.  First things first...I finished the Snow White dress!  It's far from perfect, but Lillian loves it, and that's what counts.  I think it actually came out better than I thought it would, so that's a bonus.  I tried to send a picture straight from my phone, but I can't seem to get that function working...like so many other techno problems right now.




I also made her an adorable little skirt.  It was so easy to make, I made it Sat morning before going to our family picnic...everyone liked it...bonus! :)  She didn't want to take it off that night.  I think she just really liked that mom made it special just for her.  I think I'm going to make her a couple more since she liked it so much.  Of course, I didn't take any pictures of her wearing it, so I'll try and get one soon.  :)

And lastly....I got a new sewing machine........ohhhh....the anxiety!  I don't make large purchases like this!  And I'm really a pretty big spaz when it comes to spending money.  I have to research everything out there, compare prices EVERYWHERE, and then him-and-haw about it until I finally go out and buy it.  Well, I knew I wanted a machine with more functions available, so I think I'd narrowed down a Brother on Walmart.com.  But when I was in Walmart yesterday, they had an Embroidery/Sewing machine on clearance for $184 marked down from $380!!!  That's HUGE!  I've wanted to try embroidery, but didn't want to spend the money.  I'm totally going through buyer's remorse, and having terrible anxiety about if I bought the right thing!  Spazzy...I know!  I like that it has the embroidery function, but I DO NOT like that I have to buy a separate piece to connect online (thought it was included...bummer), and it doesn't have all of the cute stitches that I wanted from the smaller Brother...I just don't know! Or as my husband has been teaching my daughter to say....IDK!  :)  (Too funny)!

So, here's a picture of the mammoth new machine....okay, it's not really that BIG, it's just totally intimidating!  I'm a little afraid to even turn it on...I don't want to ruin it!  HELP!!!

Giveaway and Free Motion Quilt Along

A Few Scraps is having a quilt along to learn how to do free motion quilting.  I know...I'm big into giveaways right now...there's just so much great stuff people are giving away.  And so many wonderful blogs to oggle over! :)  So go check out the blog, and maybe...just maybe I'll see you in the quilt along.  (I don't know yet though...because I'm still a pretty big chicken....although it does sound like just the thing I need...HELP!!)  :)

I've got some plans....

So I just got home from the store with some awesome new fabric. I love it!  I loved even more at the store, but I had to restrain myself.  So here's what I got:

I've got a couple of skirts that I want to make for Lillian, a Birthday present to make for her little friend, who's B-day party is next weekend.  I want to make an I-Spy quilt, and I'm going to make some little sewn dollies.  I really can't wait to get started...but I'm waiting for the towels in the dryer to get done so I can move on to drying my new fabric.  I wish I had some more followers, because I really need some advice on how to not have all my fabric fray into oblivion when I wash it?  I actually thought about zigzagging the raw edges...but I just don't know if that would be WAY too much work and just be kind of silly??!??  I tend to have mixed feelings when I go to wash my fabrics for the first time....Glad that I'll be able to use it soon...but Sad to know that it will come out of the dryer looking so tore up and 'less' than it's former self. ;(

On a positive note, my daughter is adorable...a bit biased, I know...but she needed another princess crown, so we threw this one together in a few seconds time and she decorated it with puffy paint.  It was so funny...she used her imagination for what the little blobs were, things like mermaids and flowers...VERY imaginative.  :)

Did I mention we're attempting to make a Snow White dress???  Not going so well.  I should have bought fabric for THAT today.  But I'm stubborn and thought I could still use the stuff I have lying around at home....hmmm....we'll see.

Janey Mac Friday Giveaway!

I love giveaways!  So check out this cute blog and enter their giveaway for a 'Swirl Tree with owls and flowers', new design wall decal.  This would be REALLY cute in a nursery! :)

Janey Mac

Found a great new blog...and they're having a giveaway!

I guess giveaways really are a great way to spread the word about your blog, because I find so many amazing new blogs that way....I never win anything...but I now have a new blog to obsess over.  :)

So, they're having an AMAZING giveaway...Accuquilt GO!  How sweet is that!?!??  I could TOTALLY use one of these...I'm pretty terrible at cutting, or maybe I'm lazy, or just don't have enough practice yet.  How about all of the above.  :)

Anywhoo, this machine would make my life just that more complete.  ;)  So go check it out...all of my one follower (who I actually found this great giveaway from).

Here's the blog link: Sew Many Ways

~Teresa

Overwhelmed...

Title pretty much sums it up.  I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed right now.  The house is a disaster!  Dishes, toys, laundry...laundry...laundry, messy yard, dirty floors, ANTS!!!  And to top that off....my cat keeps dragging crap out of her litter box onto my playroom floor!!!  How am I supposed to handle that?  I looked at getting an auto litter box...but they're hundreds of dollars!  She's literally never been closer to being out the door.  But Lillian loves her, and it would break my heart to make Lilly sad.

I just don't know.  I'm trying to keep everything together and be optimistic about my 'business', but right now it's just feeling so far away.  What do I have to offer that's unique from anyone else?  Doesn't feel like much lately.  {Insert HUGE sigh}....maybe it's just been a rough week.

On a crafty note, I started piecing together a Snow White dress for Lilly...sans pattern of course, we'll see how this one turns out.  At least it's just play clothes and no one has to see it if it's a trainwreck! :)

I better go try and do some dishes....plus I've got a cup of coffee that's going to get cold if I don't get to it soon.  And Allen will be home soon...he always brightens my day.  OH!  I Just remembered 'House of Smith's' has a hilarious video of them dancing that they put up on their blog....I'm going to go watch it again...that's SURE to lift my sour mood.  :)

This is just nuts!

Okay...it's 2:44 in the morning, and I can't sleep!  Why...why can't I sleep?  Quilts...quilts....quilts!  That's all I can think about!  Visions of quilts running through my head.  This is crazy!  Really, it's almost 3:00 in the morning and I'm wide awake 'day dreaming' about quilting!!!  And I'm afraid it's only going to get worse the more into quilting I get.  I've only barely scratched the surface and I'm already obsessed...I think this is going to be a problem.  :)  A good one, of course....but a serious addiction, I'm sure.

~Teresa ;)

Project MODERN

Wow!  Not even done with my very first quilt, and I'm going to try to enter into a quilting challenge.  Project MODERN by The Modern Quilt Guild, and they're sponsored by Janome!  I could definitely use some fabulous prizes, but I'm most interested in just trying to keep up with the challenges and see if I've got what it takes.  :)

I'm really nervous, but also VERY excited!!!!  I just really hope I can keep up, and don't embarrass myself.

YAY! YAY! YAY!  My first quilt challenge, and it's a biggun...  :)

Whew...what a day!

I actually got some stuff accomplished today!!  Hooray!  Last night I started making some shorts for Matthew out of some pretty cute camo print with monkeys flannel I had, so I finished those this morning.  Pretty cute for not using a pattern.  :)  (I don't know why I don't use patterns...I have a whole box full!...weird).  

Then I FINALLY made the little pink princess dress with the material I bought from the remnants bin...>STEAL!  Of course, I realize that it's cheating because the material already comes smocked...but it's still cute, and I made some straps out of little flowery material I had, and I really liked how it came out.  

Lilly before I added the straps....messy morning hair and all!  I love it!!! :)

And...the straps! :)

And THEN I worked on my quilt.  I'd been putting it off, because I was intimidated by the binding/trim.  Here's the deal:  I'm making due with material I already have, which wouldn't normally be such a big deal, but it's my FIRST quilt, and I don't know what I'm doing!!!  So...my backing is smaller than the size I'd like my quilt to end up, so I added a 5" border to my backing that will be a wrap-around binding.  And I actually did it!!!  I have the backing all done, now I just need to sandwich, sew the binding to the front and figure out how/if I'm going to quilt it.  My first thought was to just do straight lines say...1/4 inch from each block seam, vertical and horizontal....but I'm not sure if it will even all fit through my machine.  So I may end up tying knots of either yarn, or floss.  Not sure yet.  Can't wait to see what it looks like tomorrow!!!  Hopefully I'll actually have time to get to it!

Picture of my wrap-around binding///trim///border....not sure what you'd call it.  :)

Facebook Trial

Okay, so I'm trying AGAIN to try and connect to Facebook!  Phwew!  Come on it's Facebook!!??!  it shouldn't be this difficult.  :)  Maybe I'm getting old.

Here goes nothing!

What a weekend!

Hot...hot...hot!!!  In the 90s, which is hot for Seattle.  Plus no air-conditioning in the house OR the car!!!  Whew, what a weekend!  I went to a bar-b-q to meet my oldest friend's very new baby.  He's only 4 weeks old.  :)  What a cutie.  I made some rag-tag little baby shoes for him after I got home that night.   I wanted them to look like Chuck Taylor's, but I don't know if they quite make the cut.  Oh well, they're okay for my first pair ever made...sans pattern, btw.  :)

Lasagna in the oven, Cinderella II about to start and 1/2 naked worn out kids hanging out after a day playing in the water in the hot sun.

What a wonderful life!!! :)

OH!!!

And I cleaned and re-organized my craft are today, can't forget that.  Of course, it's nothing they'd put up in a magazine, but it's better than it was yesterday.  ;)  Can't wait to go do some damage....as in 'make something'.

I hate ANTS!!!

First thing this morning...ants!  Under my kitchen table (I mean...of course they're under the kitchen table, between Matthew and Lillian they drop enough food to feed those little pests all year long!!  I digress.)  I was having a perfectly fine morning until I spotted them down there covering an innocently overlooked gold fish by Matthew's chair.  To be honest, I'd rather see a gigantic spider go across the floor than all those ants!  Something about them just makes me bonkers.  Anywhoo, they're cleaned up now, and I'm sure they'll have found the cat dish again by the time I walk in there next.  I just can't escape them.  {sigh} What are ya gonna do?  (Besides sweep an infuriating number of times a day?)  Ah well, such is life.  At least it's Friday, and we're going out for pizza tonight.  Hooray for pizza!

~Teresa :)

Actually got something done.

Okay...so it's not much.  ;)  But I finished a new tutu for Lillian's ballet class tonight.  No progress on the quilt, with 3 crazy kids running/crawling/falling everywhere...laying a quilt out to pin and quilt just isn't going to happen without some spousal help.  :)

This is what I've been doing with my day today!!!

 Taking care of monsters...and indulging in chocolate!  (it's just been one of those kinds of weeks...and it's only Tuesday!...yikes!)  :)

Sew, Mama, Sew is giving away a Husqvarna Viking Serger!!!

What an amazing giveaway!!! To enter, you must answer the question: 'How would your life be better with a serger?' And here is my answer...sorry if it's a bit long-winded. ;)

~Oh, let me count the ways I could use a new serger....My sad little crafting area is so lonely with only my simple little 10 stitch Singer sewing machine, it needs a friend! I have been in the process of trying to start my own at-home sewing business for the last couple of years. Every time I start making some real progress, something comes up and slows me down. Don't get me wrong, that's not going to stop me, I'm absolutely determined to make this work! It's just going to take some patience. Just as I started trying to inventory my fabric and get ready to start making some products for selling, we had a devastating fire in our apartment. (When those little aerosol cans say flammable....THEY MEAN IT!) Like lots of people I kept my spray paints on a shelf in the laundry room, when one accidentally got knocked down and began to spray, I thought nothing of picking it up to try to fix it. Unfortunately, the heat from the dryer was enough that it ignited the fumes in the tiny little room and the spray can burst into flames in my hands, inches from my face. Somehow, miraculously, I came away from the incident with only second and third degree burns on my hands, face, fingers and arms...which was incredibly lucky considering the circumstances. In fact, the fire Inspector told my family after the incident that I was lucky to have gotten out of laundry room at all. As the force of the fire had closed the laundry door behind me, if there had not been a sprinkler in the room that instantly put out the flames, I most likely would not have been able to get out. Although my physical injuries healed incredibly fast, the trauma of the whole ordeal still remains...even just writing about it makes my eyes well. But out of this horrible incident has emerged some amazing good, some redefining of my goals in life. While at the Burn Unit of Harborview Medical Hospital I joked that I had never slept on more uncomfortable blankets in my life! It also opened my eyes to the unbelievable pain and trauma that fire victims go through, and it was absolutely more than I could have ever imagined. I decided right away that I wanted to do something. I was able to collect donations from my family and friends and brought over 15 bags of crayons, markers, puzzles, and coloring books to the children's wing of the Burn Center. And I'm about to make a second trip in the next few weeks. Ultimately though, my desire is to have my business support making blankets and colorful children's hospital gowns for the Burn Center. I am in the process of coordinating with the hospital right now. And this is where your help could come in wonderfully! :) I don't know that my little beginner's Singer is going to be able to create the hospital-grade products that are needed, so I may have to replace it to move forward. But a big-time Serger could definitely help do the job!! So not only would MY life be better with this amazing machine, but so would so many others who I hope to help, even if just by giving them a soft blanket to comfort them in a very painful and scary time in their lives.

Thanks for the opportunity to share. :)
Teresa Weatherly

To check out all of the information, head on over to Sew, Mama, Sew!

Feed Test

I hope this works...I'm tired, and ready for bed.  And computer mumbo jumbo is making my eyes even heavier.  Sleep is calling!!!

New Sponsor at Sew Picture Perfect

Okay, so I love Pleasant Home, and Sew Picture Perfect.  They have a new sponsor and are having a great giveaway.  Head on over and check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ladybugquiltshop and http://sewpictureperfect.com are having a GIVE AWAY!

Grocery Bag Holder

I completely forgot to add my pictures of the grocery bad holder I made!!  Crazy...I know.

So, I've needed a grocery bad holder for a while, and I couldn't bring myself to buy one, because I just knew I could make one, {even though I had no idea how} :).

Then I found this tutorial on making a quilted grocery bag dispenser, it gave me all of the information for the basics of putting one together.

When my sister came into town I found out she needed one too, so I put one together for her, {except skipped the quilting...I'm just not there yet...it would have probably taken me forever to fuss over getting it perfect}.  So, anyways, I got it done, it was cute...and I was left without one! :)  So I made another...but I didn't care for it as much {I'm terrible...and didn't really measure...I pretty much just winged it}, so the second was too long and skinny...so I gave it to my mom.  :)

One more try and I've finally got one for myself...hooray!!

So, here's a picture of it.

 OH!!!  And I finished my skylight curtains....the pictures not great...but I really like them! :)

 Last, but not least~ I made some fabric covered containers for my Box Tops for my sister's kids, and to hold straws.  And yes, I realized after I made it that Box Topps only has one p in it...guess I was thinking back to collecting baseball cards...TOPPS brand.  :)  Too funny...going to have to leave it.

Finally decided on a Name I like!!! Hooray

Whew!  It's done...I've decided on a Name for my blog/business.  A Needle Pulling Thread...I really like it.  I can't take full credit for it, because it was really a collaboration between my sister and I (thanks Kate)...and, we both really want her to start her own business too...and we've already got a name that would tie in wonderfully.  I'm going to hold off on talking about that yet, though, because it's still a long way off...and still too many unknowns to start sharing all that jazz yet.  :)

But I'm excited, I can now start linking and getting all "connected".  And apply for a business license and really get going. Of course, I know it won't be that easy, and the process will be even harder than trying to come up with a good name.  :)  But I'm ready to get started!  YAY!!!  One step down....I'm practically already there. :)

Making major progress on the Quilt!

I finished the front of the quilt!!! Hooray!  Spent most of the day today staring at it...trying to figure out how I'm going to attach the trim...didn't make much progress in that department.

But I think I've made some final decisions about how I'm going to do it.  I keep having to change my measurements because I'm trying to just work with what fabric I have on hand.  I think it will work out nicely.

Instead of a traditional binding...I'm incorporating a thick border that will be self-binding.  Hmmm...I think that's all the correct verbage.  :)

I'm just figuring it all out as I go....but that's okay.  I've got to start somewhere.

Here's a picture of the quilt front....the border is going to be 6" thick and a light pink...(she's just a 'pink' kind of girl.)  :)

Oh!  And I think I'm going to leave the top 10" and try to applique her name at the top....and maybe add a couple of applique flowers at the bottom.  Not sure yet, I don't want it to be too busy...or have too much stuff going on.  We'll see...


On another note....I was SO excited!  I bought my very first jelly roll!!! YAY!  I don't know why, but I was really excited.  But now I've got so many projects going on, I don't know when I'll get to using it.  Can't wait though....I'm just going to put it somewhere where I can just keep looking at it.

I know....DORK!  :)

Having Second Thoughts

Okay...so my 'first quilt' has been sitting on the back burner for the last week or so while I've been busy with visiting family and other crafty projects.  And now I'm having second thoughts on how I should put it together.

I was going to just have it be all squares on the front, kind of randomly put together...but now I've been looking at so many other cute quilts and can't decide if I should make it more interesting.....put a little 'border'? around the squares or in between the rows or something....I can't decide!

I should probably just stick with my original idea, because the point after all was to actually COMPLETE my first quilt...so I should just do it...quit thinking about it too much and just get it done.  Then I'll have one quilt done and can move on to more complicated designs.

Did I just talk myself into finishing my quilt?  Yes...I think I just did.  :)

Bittersweet weeks end

My sister and her kids just left...headed first to visit my other sister's house, and then back home to Montana.  Visiting family or having family visit is always a bittersweet experience.  You miss everyone so much, and have such a great time visiting, but it's always nice to go home and get back into your everyday routine.

The fact that Lillian is sick just adds to that desire for normalcy.  Poor little thing actually got sick in the middle of dinner out at a restaurant with the family last night, it was so sad!  And then again in the middle of the night.  Poor thing actually apologized for getting sick...I felt so bad for her.  She's just so skinny that anytime she get's sick she just seems so fragile!  Now she's just laying on the couch watching movies...(okay, so the watching movies part isn't so out of the ordinary)...but normally she's at least running around playing with the movie in the background.  I think she's going to fall asleep any minute.

Looks like it's going to be a lazy day...at least that part I'm okay with.  :)

Can't get enough JUST DANCE!!!! :)

HILARIOUS!  My family is now addicted to Just Dance for the WII...it is too much fun!  Couple nights ago my niece came in and told me I had to come and see Uncle Allen (my husband) and Tyler (my 17 yo nephew)!!!  They were doing a dance off to Hot N' Cold by Katy Perry....I don't think I've laughed that hard in a LONG time.  It was just TOO funny.  I got some of it on video, so I'm going to try to upload a video when I get a chance.  I can't wait to share!  It's hilarious!!!  Yeah, and now we're addicted and my whole family including my 3 1/2 yo and 18mo can't get enough.  And I'm sweating profusely {TMI??? :)} so I feel like I'm also getting a work out...BONUS! ;)