Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011...a year in pictures

January 2011 started us out with snow.  The kids wanted to go play and of course my daughter had to make a snow angel.  Here is her back after she was finished.  lol
In Feb....my daughter was elected by the Seniors to be the little princess at the basketball homecoming.  She got to dress up, give the flowers to the Senior girl elected homecoming queen and got some professional pictures taken.  I think she had a lot of fun.
In March we took a family day trip to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson KS.  Great museum....and the kids loved it.  Here is my son reading up on one of the planes at the exhibit.
In April....of course we celebrated Easter at the farm in Oklahoma.  The farm always has such wonderful sunsets and I probably have countless sunset pictures because I just can't resist them.  lol  Also the month were my Quilting addiction started and I join the Apple Patch Quilting Guild!
In May we celebrated both of my kids birthdays....my son turned 11yrs at the first of June and my daughter turned 7yrs at the end of May so usually we combine the days for one party.  They both decided on a water gun fight party....we had my daughters first, with her friends and then my son had his friends over at a later time....or that was how it was suppose to work....lol

In June and several other times throughout the summer we went to my families pond in OK to get some fishing in.  Unfortunately, the summer was soooooo dry and the pond was sooooo low, I was worried if we would even catch anything.  For us it didn't really matter however, we like to just go and explore.
In July we took a family trip to Nebraska and to Colorado.  It was such a great time, hope we can go to Colorado again this upcoming summer.  Always so beautiful and the places we went were so green and pretty.
In Aug I don't think we did a whole lot.....or at least I didnt take a whole lot of pictures.  I did however catch my very first catfish (which I was NOT actually fishing for....I like to catch bass).  I think the family pond was soooo low that I was getting close to the bottom when I would cast.  So....here is a picture of my catfish I caught.
In September we are always gearing up for school.  My husband and I both work at the same school my kids attend. It's great being together.  Here is there first day of school moment.  lol
In October we enjoy Halloween, football season, and a lot of outdoor time in the cooler weather.  Here's a pic of us at a Zoo we had never been to before....was a nice little zoo for a small town.
In November we enjoy a lot of family time.  I always realized that my son is growing up so fast.  Here he is driving the tractor all by himself and feeding cows hay with a little supervision from his dad at the farm in OK.
And finally we get to Dec. were we spend a lot of time visiting family, going to Christmas programs at the schools and gearing down at work ourselves until after the new year.  This year in our travels we visited several Christmas light displays.....they are always so pretty lit up at night.
OVERVIEW......I think this last year was wonderful, spent with lots of family time together and lots of love and laughter.  I only hope this upcoming year will be more of the same and better.
Happy New Years to You All!!!!!!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Oh my stars....2nd star pattern

So...here it is, or should I say, here they are....the second set of star patterns. I really like the way the pinwheel colors turned out but my star points are pretty sorry looking....oh well. I just hope I improve as this quilt along progresses.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

First set....and fat quarters

Here is my first set of stars for the Oh My Stars quilt along....join in button to the side if you want to do this too!
I am not sure I am going to survive doing all the stars required for the quilt....I finally had some progress but the little stars still are a little wonky but they will do, especially since the quilt is just for me.  lol


I also purchased some fabric today....it is fabric from walmart but it is super cute and I know a few projects I can do with them....now I just have to find time to get started.
 I plan on using this dragon fabric for a wall hanging in my kids' bathroom.....super cute and will be age appropriate for a while and will work for my daughter and my son.  It's called possibilities.
Then I found this Mary Engelbreit fabric....I bought it mainly because of the two fabrics that have owls on them.  My step sister is pregnant and she will be decorating her room with woodland animals but mainly owls I have been told.  lol.....so, owls it is!!!  Such cute fabric!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Frustrations....

I hate cutting out fabric....can I say that??  Is that allowed?   It never fails that I'm off just enough that it messes up my block.  Typically....because I know I have this problem...I cut out the fabric for one block at a time.  Well....I started the Oh My Stars quilt along and I thought "HEY...I will cut out all the stuff for the blocks at once to get that part out of the way because I hate that part so much!"   BAD IDEA....tried my first block and yep, it's off by just a smidge.  Enough so that it is noticeable.  Soooooo....now I have to recut the stuff for the blocks.  GRRRR!!!!  I need to say that again...GRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Any tips or tricks for this new quilter!  I am in desperate need of assistance.  How do I measure accurately each time??  I don't have a lot of gadgets and tools so the less of those types of things used the better.

HELP!!!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Gifts

My first christmas quilted gifts were given away today....I think they both were loved!

Oh.....and here is a picture of me and my family....my daughter was being a bit of a monster and not smiling for the camera

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Oh my stars!

Cut out but not together.....poor stars :(   I have all the fabric cut for star pattern one and two....just need to find the time to put them together.
 Also....my mother's quilt is finished and ready to be wrapped.  I love it and know she will too! 

Monday, December 12, 2011

New Giveaway

Head on over to Fluffy Sheep Quilting for a wonderful giveaway!
Here is the URL
http://fluffysheepquilting.blogspot.com/2011/12/giveaway-day-giveaway-day.html

Friday, December 9, 2011

Show and tell!!!

First off I'm going to post some pictures I took while quilting the top to my mom's quilt I am making her for Christmas.  I am still a novice so please forgive my uneven stitches....I hope to keep improving.  But my motto was to just dive in and do my best.  *smile*




And another empty spool!!!  *smile*

Then I came home today to a nice squishy package.  A few months ago I won a prize from the online Fabshop hop....This gift came from Spider's Web Fabrics.  *smile*  Lovely!!!!
 **smile**  see....nice and squishy!
 A lovely package full of goodies!
 Look at all this stuff!
How did she know I was collecting greens to do a quilt for my brother!  *smile*

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Christmas with the Quilt Group


Christmas evening with the ladies in my quilt guild (Apple Patch Quilters - most of the ladies work or have worked in the school where I currently work)
Lots of good food
Lots of laughs
Lots of great conversations
And wonderful gifts for our secret sisters and for those that don't participate in secret sisters!
I really enjoyed myself and can't wait for our next meeting!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

some fabric and a Question

First I will post some new fabric I purchased.  The creamy batik I will use as a background fabric for a quilt along or for another quilt I have planned.  The greens and blacks I purchased for my brother's quilt.

For the Oh My Stars! Quilt along I am getting ready to start, I had a question as to background material.   I can either use the creamy batik pictured above or a kona white.
Here are some picture samples....sorry the kona is so wrinkly....it was horribly stacked on my shelf.


here's a closer picture of the batik.
Soooooo.....let me know what you think.  I like either one so either choice works for me!!  *smile*
Thanks!!!

Edit:   I've decided to go with the white background material.  I was going to order in some pale grey but I'm ready to get started on this quilt and don't feel like waiting any longer (don't want to get behind on the quilt along).  I like the white and think it will look pretty.  The batik will find another quilt to go with in the future!  *smile*  Thank you for all your input!!!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Fat Quarters!

Well....I finally got the fat quarters required for the Oh My Stars! QA......I think they look nice together.  What do you think??

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Oh My Stars!

Well....I've decided to join my first online quilt along.  It's the Oh My Stars! quilt along.  Here's the URL if you are interested.   http://thoughtandfound.wordpress.com/oh-my-stars/

I've decided to go with a dove white (off white for the back ground material).  And I'm using three different quilt lines to complete the 16 fat quarter requirement.   I'm using Secret Garden (tea green color), Taza (grey bundle), and Pear Tree (green bundle).

I just ordered the Taza, Pear Tree, and the dove white this evening so when it all comes in I will post pictures of them all together. 
I'm kind of excited to get started on it.

I've also almost completed the wall hanging/ lap quilt for my step dad and I'm ready to piece the backing fabrics together for my moms quilt and to get it machine quilted and done.  I will have a busy few weeks in order to get it finished before we have our Christmas get together.  So exciting!!!!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Picture time....Or....Show and Tell

Well....I have a couple different pictures to post.  The first is a non-sewing related picture.  After eating out one evening as my husband and I were leaving, we notice all the orange hats.  Hunting season was just starting that weekend but the image from outside the window was fairly humorous. lol

On to picture number 2, 3 and 4.  My husband gave me some money and talked me into going to an estate sale.  I have never been to one before and didn't really know what to expect.  My husband had wanted me to look for a loveseat to put into our sitting/reading area in our bedroom.  Well, no loveseats but I did walk about with these beauties.  The needle point (or whatever the process on the fabric) is is a bit worn in places but the chairs are in over all good shape and they are comfy.
Here they are....I just love them.

 The leg has a little flower design on it.  I think it looks neat.
Here's a close up of the fabric design.

Okay....now for some quilting things.... My purchases from the Etsy quilt shop I read about on a blog and had to look into.  Sure am glad I did.  Here is the etsy shop URL
http://www.etsy.com/shop/quilttaffy?utm_source=transaction&utm_medium=trans_email&utm_campaign=purchase_ftb




Sunday, November 13, 2011

Getting prepared

In Dec. my quilt guild has their Christmas get together to exchange gifts and announce who their secret sister was for the past year.  They also draw new names for the next year.  Well....since I was a new member half way through the year I wasn't in on the secret sister swap (which I plan to participate with this year) but if I wanted I can bring a gift for a gift swap with someone who didn't want to do secret sisters or for another new member like myself.  (Does that make sense....lol).

Well....I figured I should get on the ball and figure out what I wanted to give as a gift.  We don't have a quilt shop here in our town and even our walmart doesn't carry fabric.  But I am always finding some great deals on various online quilt shops and thought I would just order something from one of them.

I ended up finding a really cute charm pack pattern on sale.  It called for one charm pack, a fat quarter and 5/8 of a yard for the backing.   I bought a cute charm pack on sale that I love and a pretty yard of fabric to go a long with it.  (I actually doubled the order so I could have the stuff also, I liked it so much -all except the yard of fabric...I'll find something else to use.)

I am excited about getting my new buys....I also have another order of stuff coming from an etsy shop owner (I follow her blog and she announced a good deal on sales so I checked it out and bought some cute stuff)....can't wait for the packages to start arriving.

Quilting can be expensive but with the right shops and the right deals, it can be more affordable!!!!!  Love getting all the new pretties to use and love and give away!!!!
Happy quilting and Happy Sunday!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Super Awesome Giveaway

So here is an awesome giveaway.....with several chances to win.
Take a look and give it a try!

Here is the URL   http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/2011/11/manly-giveaway.html

Monday, November 7, 2011

Oklahoma

I was born and raised in Oklahoma and still go down often to visit family.  This weekend I was staying with my husband's grandparents (as we do often to help with farm work around there) and as I was laying in bed I felt the bed shake and the pictures rattled on the walls.  It was an actual earthquake.  I have never felt one before....it was a little offsetting once I figured out what it was.  And now there are reports of tornadoes on the ground today (glad I am back home in Kansas even though they felt the earthquake up here and we are in the tornado warnings also).  Crazy Mother Nature!! 
What next??  I'm almost afraid to ask!  lol

Sunday, November 6, 2011

New Stuff!

So.....in my inexperience, I am unsure about different battings.  The first kind I tried was a poly blend and it worked fine and washed up fine but then I read someplace that it isn't good on your sewing machine.  (Not sure if this is true but with my brand new machine I didn't want to take chances).  When I purchased new batting for my mother's quilt (which is still a work in progress) I bought a cotton batting.  Will see how it does.   Does anyone have any other preferences??   Here is the batting I bought.

I also purchased the backing material for my mom's quilt as well.  I think this will go nicely with the top and I may even use some of it as a border if I can.    The picture doesn't really do it justice.  It has a nice blend of creams, greens, blues and tans.  I really like it!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Friends!!!

There is nothing like a good friend giving you a call.  They bring a laugh to your lips and a smile to your heart, making your whole day better!!