Man's Best Friend

Tate will be FOUR next month! Of course, we adopted him shortly after we were married, so that means it's been that many years for us, too. Crazy how time flies.

When he was a puppy, his fur was darker and his head was black. Now look at how light his fur is. He is a very loving puppy dog, and I'm glad he's able to road trip and hang out with me when no one else is able to do so. Happy early birthday to my buddy!

Hexagon Designs

I'm I ended up printing out some hexagon design paper, borrowing a box of colored pencils from my classroom for the weekend, and playing around with some designing. Don't mind the colors- I just just trying to get my eyes to look past the illusion of the hexagons and see different designs. 

While all of these are interesting, and Hubby gave his input by insisting on the second one pictured, I might still just like the traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden the best:

Or

Again, don't mind the colors- I was just playing around. Maybe I should just get to work on fabric making flowers! Until I can get my hands on a hexagon die cut, I'm off to work with my sewing machine!

Handfuls of Scraps- by Edyta Sitar

This. Book. 

So, with all the goodies in the mail the other day, I also received this wonderfully inspirational book. Inside are photographs - much like the cover photo - of antique quilts made from what their creators had on hand at the time, aka scraps. Me? I LOVE scrappy quilts. When I first started quilting a few years ago (has it really been that long?!) I imagined the day when I would have had made enough projects to where I would have lots of scraps. Let me tell you, between being given 'scraps' for the PSQ I've been working on for over a year (again, what?!) that were actually pretty big pieces and buying small amounts of fabric here and there, I've accumulated more scraps than I thought was possible. 

I use the Americana fabric for my Farmer's Wife blocks, everything cotton that I can remember not cutting into yet for my PSQ (trying to cut over 4,000 2" squares and not really have any duplicates, phew!), flannel for baby quilts for friends, water themed and blues are being saved for this year's row by row as the theme is H2O, reds and browns for the 12" house blocks I'm supposedly swapping next month, more scraps for the bookshelf quilt, panels to practice quilting, and others I am sure to be forgetting. 

Of course, what does this book make me want to do? Begin a whole new project, that's what! It's right there in the cover- those beautiful, English paper pieced hexagons. I could totally do those while I'm sitting on the couch in the evenings watching tv rather than being here online.  Speaking of paper piecing and hand stitched projects, I was forgetting some things. I am also working on a scrappy pineapple quilt (paper pieced, but I've never tried English paper piecing) and red work embroidery for a snowman quilt. Did I mention I also crochet and just recently bought my first pair of needles to teach myself to knit? I. Don't. Need. Another. Project. 

And yet, there the book sits, cover staring up at me, wanting me to dig out more of my scraps and cut them into tiny hexagons. I did just learn how to reverse appliqué by hand and did recently hand quilt a twin sized flannel quilt (oh, no! Just remembered I still need to bind that one, ugh, my least favorite part), so I know I enjoy stitching by hand. Plus, it's highly portable- even more so than my redwork embroidery that's in a medium sized hoop. It would be another long term project, and I have PLENTY of those going on. 

Well, if you are like me and love scrappy quilts, you should check out "Handfuls of Scraps- Pieced into Amazing Quilts" by Edyta Sitar. Not only does it start out with a different quilt on each page, but it goes on to give you step by step instructions on your own scrappy quilt- including the one on the cover. I'm off to go work more on my current projects, so maybe-just maybe- I can someday make an English paper pieced Flower Garden of my own. 

Sew All the Stitches! Run All the Miles!

Perhaps this should be part of my motto in life. I sure have taken a liking to both sewing and running as of late. Plus, being a teacher on Spring Break at home after cleaning the house sure has its perks! 

I am currently working on paper piecing 10" blocks for a bookshelf quilt. It may or may not turn into a present for a friend, so I won't share any pictures. Although I am tempted because they are turning out so well, so maybe some teasers will come into play some time. Until then, here is what I came up with for Summer decorations for my burlap wreath I conquered last month:

Half a yard of shimmery tulle and a real starfish from France I somehow managed to bring back in one piece quite a few years ago for my (then) boyfriend (who is now my hubby!). Simple, yet elegant- just the way I like it.

Goodies!

Look what came! My package came a couple days ago, and I ripped open the box. See the previous post to find out where all these goodies came from! I'm off to get back to using them. 😃👏

I Won?!

So....I got home from work today and browsed Facebook as my usual daily down-time routine. In my newsfeed, Kim over at Persimon Dreams had posted with a link inviting everyone to read her new blog post, which just so happens to be the revealing of the grand prize winner for PQ6. I clicked on the link and thought please pick me, please be my name as I quickly scrolled down until I saw a picture of one of her daughters with a piece of paper in her hand. My heart fluttered as I realized that it was, in fact, my name!! I couldn't believe it- I even did a little dance and probably hollered out loud! I hadn't even made it inside at this point, so I must have been a sight to my neighbors.. I then promptly went through and read the entire post. She linked to me, so if you are from her blog, welcome! If not, please click on the above link to go straight to the post so you can see all of the wonderful sponsors and the master mind from this year's PQ6. If you have never participated, I definitely recommend it for next year. Whether you win or not, it is really all about the community and the wonderful challenge of completing a quilt every week. I love the feeling of accomplishment I have felt these past two years I have participated in Project Quilting! Thank you, Kim, and thank you to all the sponsors for the amazing prizes I have won! Thank you, thank you!

Pig in a Polk

Edit: this animal themed quilt has been entered into Lily Pad's Animals on Quilts Contest in August, 2015. Thank you for visiting!

I enjoy making simple all flannel baby blankets since they're so cozy to wrap up in. This one is super bright. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but now I have a strange fondness for it. I call it "Pig in a Polk" - a twist on the food since there are piggies on the backing fabric and the front has Polk a Dots!

I brought the farm fabric from behind to make the binding. It's pretty small - 36" by 27" - but is flexible to tuck around a baby. Can be used as a receiving blanket to swaddle! Horrah for another one getting done!