Placemats

Had a little sewing time Friday & Saturday so I finished up these two sets of place mats. Aren't they adorable?! I love the cocoa and candy cane fabric. I'm thinking about giving these as gifts this week, so they won't be in my house for long!

Snow Day

The first snow day of winter 2014 hit last Monday. I was planning to go with my friends and sew in Elk River, but the weather changed our plans. I was still able to sew, but by myself at home. Accomplished a lot and finished two projects.

First was this cute table runner of Santa hats and candy canes.

Then I completed this quilt top using a pattern called "Busy Bee". It went together really fast and was a lot of fun.

I'm glad to be able to cross these two off my to-do list!

And of course I'm still working on this cute daisy quilt. Everything grows and grows! I love watching this grow as each circular row is added. Should be ready to "plant" on someone's bed this spring!!

I'm hoping for another snow day so I have an excuse to stay home, be safe, and sew!!

Sewing with Friends

Today was my monthly sewing day at The Noble Quilter in Elk River. After breakfast at Perkins, and a quick shopping spree at JoAnn's Fabric, we were ready to sew. I added some more hexies to the Daisy quilt. Isn't it growing nicely?!

And sew it grows!!

Then I sewed the rest of the day making this bag. I think it will make a great beach bag for Florida!

All and all, it was a wonderful day full of laughter, friends, food, and sewing!

Shelby Grace Bator

Two posts in one day?! Actually this was sitting in my draft box. I saw it when I posted my other post today about the towels. Oh well, better late than never...

Our newest family member arrived early Wednesday morning, September 24th. She is beautiful and looks like she will be very active! Weighing in at 6 lbs 2 ounces, she will have to bulk up before taking on her older brother & sister.


I love the big pink bow on her hat.



Ethan admires her already!

Grandpa is loving this little bundle.

This is the day she went home... eyes wide open to check out her new home!

Showing off her long fingers. Or is that her Kung Fu move? She may need that someday!!

Ethan and Capri welcomed her home with lots of attention.

Sweet little toes. I wonder where she will go?!

Crafty

I was feeling crafty again and needed some new kitchen towels. Not just wanting plain towels, I saw some cute patterns and decided it wouldn't take too long to whip up a few. Sure enough a few hours later and I was smiling!!

 

 

I understand witches in the kitchen are good luck! Time will tell.

Backpack

A little late night sewing produced this finished project! Sammie has been waiting for this since the first week of August... she will be excited!! I hope she likes it. Black and white were her color choices. This would be cute in just about any color.

It's Been Crazy Around Here

Yes, it's been a long time. I haven't been too productive this summer for good reason. My dear mother passed away in May, another dear friend in June, and then most recently the passing of my nephew Bill in August.  This has been a very difficult summer and I'm still feeling a little punk. I'm trying very hard to push through it all, and I think it's working. Each day becomes a bit better.

Quilting remains my sanity enhancer, but lately there has been little time to sew. I did do some Quilt Shop Hops with friends and that was great fun. Now I have even more projects to complete!
These fabrics were purchased on one of the shop hops.....

.... and will become this backpack with ruffles. So far it is all cut out and ready to sew! Samantha is waiting patiently!

Here are a few updates on what I have accomplished....

Remember these cute daisies? They are sloooooowwwwwly becoming a quilt. I'm really liking these hexies, but they take extra time to sew (because I'm a perfectionist)! I can only sew a few of these at a time and then I need to take a break.

The following child's quilt was completed from leftover scraps from another quilt. I gave the first quilt to my school teacher daughter, Tawnya. This one will go to some lucky little child!

And then one night some Relief Society sisters came to my home and I taught them how to make a quilt block. We then made a potholder out of each one. They turned out really cute and the ladies had a fun time learning some basics about quilt cutting and sewing (all the while eating roll-ups, veggies, chocolate, and cheesecake)!

 That is all the news for now. Hopefully my next post will have some serious completed projects to share with you!!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

I've been working on the cutest quilt this past winter. The fabrics are so cheerful - just what was needed to get me through the longest MN winter in history! It is very detailed and time consuming, but the end result will be delicious!

So 138 of these cute little petals.....

Will make 23 of these wonderful daisies...

And they will all be incorporated into one darling quilt...

 
Stay tuned!!

Easter Dresses

I just had to take a break from quilting and whip up these two Easter dresses. Aren't they cute? But not as cute as the two little girls that will be wearing them! I can hardly wait to see them walking the red carpet in these. 

Colored Ice Balls

I saw this fabulous picture of balloon ice balls on pinterest. Sounded easy enough to do, so I tried it. 

Pinterest ice balls:

Fran's ice balls:

Don't you think I nailed it?!?!
There must have been a step they forgot to write into the directions. Mine didn't have that sparkly shine to them. They had cracks in all of them, and one of them broke completely in half. 

Pink Slip Lounge

The National Rural Electric Association had its Annual Meeting in Nashville this year. John and I flew down on Friday night (Feb 28th). It turned out to be a great time. We stayed at the Preston Hotel by the airport, and it was quite the trendy place! Each evening there was live entertainment in the Pink Slip Lounge -- of course it was jazz and country music.

An interesting piece of art was this "Pink Slip". A local artist makes sculptures out of crayons, and was commissioned to make this pink slip for the hotel. It is quite interesting to look at because it is made entirely from pink crayons with yellow wrappers on the crayons.

The pink bust part of the slip is unwrapped crayons with the pointy end out.  

I think this is very unique and I would have loved to see other sculptures this artist made!

Monday Visitors

It was a surprise to see these gems waddling around the estate last Monday. They are such an awkward looking bird, but very fun to watch. 

 This one looks like he is trying to practice his skills at riding the rail!

I thought the one below was the brave one. 

He almost made it to the front door to ring my doorbell, but got scared and ran away when he saw my camera flash!

Alfred Hitchcock

I woke up to an Alfred Hitchcock kind of day. It looked like the fog was rising out of the ground in a very eerie kind of way. I tried to capture it with camera, but it's a little hard to see! Sure reminds me of the good old movies that were a little suspenseful but not too scary. 

A Few More Completions (Almost)

I was able to find some time to sew this past week. First to get completed are a couple pillowcases for grandsons Joshua & Ethan. They are in love with the different characters. So here's to Batman and Spiderman! 

Then I focused on another stack of fabric that has been sitting around for a while. Here is another almost finished quilt. It needs a wide border before it's really done. I'm not sure what to use for it, so I just might have to go shopping! It's always a fun trip when a quilt shop is involved. 

I also cut out hexagons for another quilt. This will be revealed later, but I will give you a teaser. It has about 180 flower petals to be sewn onto the quilt. I've cut them all out, so let the fun begin!!