Christmas Quilts of 2014

You guys!!!!!

I did it!

Remember all those crazy #christmasquilting photos back in April? Well, planning early and actually sewing early paid off. Now, I was sewing away for about a week straight (literally, I’m surprised my kids fended for themselves so well… kidding, kinda. hahaha). How did your holiday projects go?

Each quilt was delivered on time and wrapped. Someone pinch me, I’m still not sure I believe it all got finished!

Thankfully we had a bit of nice weather for pictures, though there was tons of mud…. And the little guy was in desperate need of a nap, so sorry for the grumpy shots.

Ha, someone even convinced me to take a picture of ME with the quilts. Why would I want a picture of me? And to share it….

Gotta love this crazy bunch!

I love Sew Together bags!

I’ve only made two so far, but I absolutely LOVE making these bags!

I mean, just look at how cool they are.

The pattern is by Sew Demented and can be bought on Craftsy. It’s a great pattern. If you’re afraid of zippers I would say try this pattern, the zipper ends are hidden by the sides! (Don’t jusdge the TP in the background… I ran out of tissues and my allergies have been kicking lately.)

There are lots and lots of photos in the pattern, and lots of options for the exterior so you can really make it personal.

And, since both of these bags were given away, so clearly I must make more!!!

7 Down… and counting

What were you doing at 3am this morning?

Me, oh, I was just very awake thanks to my 2 1/2 year old. He awoke (I think, not sure if all this happened in his sleep…) at 1:30 this morning and began to talk very loudly about completely random things. Honestly, I can’t even really remember what he said, but I do remember it was loud and kinda funny. Funny until I saw that it was 1:30 and I knew there was no shot at me going back to sleep. Sigh.

What did I do you ask??

Well, after I laid in be for almost an hour praying to go back to sleep, I decided it was a lost cause and got up. I went downstairs and cranked out this quilt top:

Oh, I love it!

I rarely use brown, it’s just not a color I gravitate to. I have made an entirely brown quilt before (once), but it worked for me.

But this, oh I’m smitten.

And, today was such a perfect day out that I just had to take some photos of my growing pile.

This is what 7 quilt tops and 5 backings looks like, in case you were wondering. Been working on these since April, yes April. I knew that there would be little to no sewing time this summer, and for once I tried planning ahead!

Now, lets see if I actually get these finished when I need to….

Something I can Share!

I’ve been doing lots of secret sewing this year, between swaps, gifts, and getting ready for Christmas, I simply haven’t had much I could share which has been a real bummer.

This has been my leader/ender project for a little while now, and I LOVE it!

Leader/ender projects are nothing new, just google it and a bunch of really beautiful projects will come up, even a few books.

I simply used 2in squares for the centers, then bordered with 1 1/2in strips, then again with 2 1/2in strips. These are some of the pieces I cut my scraps up into as I am cutting for other projects. I have a box for each different ‘scrap busting’ piece and I just sort everything into it’s box when I’m done cutting for each project. That way I can just grab a box and cut out the pieces for my next leader/ender.

Here’s what I used for each block: 2in square; and two of each of these rectangles: 1 1/2in x 2in, 1 1/2in x 4in, 2 1/2in x 4in, 2 1/2in x 8in.

I cut everything at once and put all my pieces into a dish. Then, I completed one step for ALL blocks before moving to the next piece to add. It was much much easier for me this way, and easier to stay on track/keep organized.

These blocks end up at 7 1/2in finished. I did 48, so this quilt is 45in by 60in. It’ll be a great baby quilt!

My next one will just be a postage stamp quilt, there’s a QAL on Instagram #scrappypostagestampQAL (I’m bluestripedroom). I’ll be using my 2in squares, I still have a ton of them after this one.

Purple Patchwork Cargo Duffel

In the midst of summer, and all it’s fun, I whipped up a Cargo Duffel among other things I have yet to blog about.

I absolutely love it! There will definitely be more of these.

I did make a few changes, which are:

– I used 2 layers of cotton batting in all the pieces of the main part of the bag.

– Linen was my interior fabric, no canvas.

– I added 10 inches to the strap length, I prefer a longer strap.

I also made a matching triple zip (which I made 2 inches longer than the tutorial) for the inside. I used my snap press to attach it to the inside of the bag, that way it can be removed. My secret sister I made it for requested lots of pockets, so I needed to improvise 🙂

I also used a baby corduroy for the bottom of the bag, I really like how this turned out. I really feel like it added more to the bottom, and hopefully it won’t wear out as fast as quilting cotton.

I’m telling you, this one was a little hard to give away. But, she absolutely LOVED it, so that made it much easier!

3 down, too many to go

I started this post about a million times in my head, but nothing seemed right. You see, it’s summer break for us right now and I have 5 children, well 6 if you count my husband (joking…).

All the traveling, pool days, gardening, canning, playgrounds, and rainy video game days just take a toll on a mother’s brain. My abilities to do much else seem to be weaning as of late.

I was successful to sneak in a little sewing time this week and I finished another Christmas quilt top in only a week. I feel like doing the happy dance, fabric pulling to quilt top in one week guys!

It’s funny how every single photo I took of this quilt looked washed out as a whole, and yet there is a lot of color in it see:

It does feel good to have three quilt tops done though! Is July really almost over??

For Pinks Sakes Blog Tour – Nelson’s Victory Quilt Block Tutorial

I am so pleased to be a part of this blog hop. I mean, how cute of a name?? For Pinks Sakes!

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It’s almost impossible for any of us to go through life without having at least one person that is near and dear have to endure the trials of Breast Cancer. For me, it was my high school art teacher. She was someone that I considered to be like a mother to me. She got me through some serious stuff, and she encouraged me to reach farther into my creative soul. I love you Andrea Henderson, I pray you rest in peace.

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“In recent years, perhaps coinciding with the decline in prescriptive hormone replacement therapy after menopause, we have seen a gradual reduction in female breast cancer incidence rates among women aged 50 and older. Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, in part to better due to screening and early detection, increased awareness, and continually improving treatment options.” via: http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-facts

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Anna over at Life Sew Crafty is dealing with this disease at a much closer level, her Mother-In-Law is fighting the fight. With this being a large part of her life right now, she is raising awareness of Breast Cancer and trying her best to raise money for the ever growing medical expenses her family is enduring (click on the link to donate, every little bit helps!).

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Another way to contribute is to make blocks and send them to Anna. She’s assembling quilts and donating them to the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion in Grand Rapids, MI. For block info & where to send the blocks go to Life Sew Crafty.

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My block for this hop is a Nelson’s Victory Block. I really liked that it had the word victory in the name!

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It’s super easy!

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You only need 3 fabrics: light, dark, & background. A fat eighth would be enough of each.

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Cut Fabrics:

– Two 4in squares of Light

– Two 4in squares of Background

– Four 3 1/2in squares of each print

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First, match up each 4in light square with one 4in background square and draw a line diagonally across the wrong side of the light square. Pin the squares together, and sew 1/4in from the line on both sides. Cut along the line. You’re making 4 HST blocks. Trim these to 3 1/2in.

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Sew the HSTs together to create a windmill block, pictured above.

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Next, sew each of the light 3 1/2in squares to one background 3 1/2in square.

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Sew one 3 1/2in square of dark fabric to both ends of two of these strips you just made. This is what you should have at this point:

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Sew the two smaller strips (pictured on the left & right of center block above). Press, and sew the longer strips on.

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I’m thinking this block would look awesome in a scrappy, colorful & low volume colorway. It was so quick to put together too! Oh man, did I really just put another quilt on ‘the list’??!!

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There will be a giveaway via Life Sew Crafty on August 2nd to all those who participated in the blog hop in some way, including: donating, sending block, posting, & sharing blog posts.

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Want to see some more awesome Pink blocks?? Check out the fellow bloggers participating in the hop:

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May 10

Anna @ Life Sew Crafty

Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Robin @ Miscellaneous Thoughts

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

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May 24

Jess @ Quilty Habit

Melinda @ Quirky Granola Girl

Kristyn @ Melon Patch Quilts

 

June 7

Amy @ The Calico Cat

Leanne @ Devoted Quilter

Terrie @ Quilting Nonnie

 

June 21

Carla @ modern bias

Meli @ Munchkin Quilts
Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt
Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

 

July 5

Erin @ Sew at Home Mummy

Lyanna @ BlueStripedRoom
Heather @ Quilts in the Queue

 

July 19

Katie @ Swim Bike Quilt

Sarah @ {no} hats in the house
Katie @ Snuggle Up with a Dish from Karma

Am I Really Sewing for Christmas in June??

Yes, yes I am.

And, it feels awesome!

I’m doing my first ‘rows’ quilt. Gotta make a cool quilt for a cool person right??

Right now I’ve got three rows done, and two more are about half done. I can’t believe I started this a little over a week ago and the top is almost finished!

My plan is coming along nicely. Sorry, there won’t be any full quilt reveals till after Christmas. You understand right??

Surprisingly, this is my second quilt top for Christmas that I’ll get to cross off the list! Oh yea!

The ‘May I Please Have Some More?’ Green Smoothie Recipe

This smoothie isn’t green in color, but it is dairy free & gluten free.

It’s no secret that I love smoothies. I could drink one every single day and not tire of them. Oh the variety!

This year my family decided to participate in the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). With this decision has come a box every week containing new and old favorite produce items.

My third week into the CSA I received 7 heads of baby bok choy. Since baby bok choy was a new veggie to me, I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Purchasing a CSA has brought this dilemma almost weekly, which I absolutely love! Thus, this smoothie recipe was created.

Yes, it was so good that you get a photo of a half drank smoothie. Once I tasted it, I almost couldn’t stop.

My eight year old is an excellent apprentice to smoothie making. He even suggested some of the ingredients.

 

May I Please Have More? Green Smoothie Recipe

1 Ripe Banana

6-8 Strawberries (a good handful)

1 Head Baby Bok Choy

1 T Local Honey

1/2 C Frozen Berries

1 C Apple Juice

Handful of Ice Cubes*

 

Simply put everything into your blender and blend till smooth.

*I usually use frozen cubes of juice. When you open a jar of fruit (peaches, pears, or mixed fruit) I usually save the juice and freeze it in ice cube trays. No need to throw away the juice the fruit is packed in!

2 FOs This Last Weekend

How is that even possible??

Either way, it was quite awesome.

First finished object was my Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. The pattern is a free ravelry download, just click on the link and it will lead you to the pattern.

This is the first kerchief I’ve even made, and it was definitely a easy/fun knit. It’s a little smaller than I would like, so I gave it to my oldest daughter. She has been asking me for a shawl for a while now, which I think it funny all on it’s own but that’s another story.

The second project I finished was a crochet bolero for my oldest. She really likes to wear boleros, especially over her dresses to church. This one has been a WIP for a long while, honestly I’m glad it fits her.

The bolero is also a free pattern on ravelry, although I did make some modifications.

I feel like I need to start something for each of my other kids now. I can’t believe these both got done in one weekend!