Blogger's Quilt Festival

(or "Didn't She Just Write This Post?")

Amy's Creative Side is once again hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival and I'm entering Noah's Doggy Park Quilt in it! So, I'm sorry that this is basically a repeat of my excited post a couple weeks ago when I just finished it!

This is the first quilt I have made for my son, Noah. I've only been quilting about a year, and have managed to make multiple baby quilts, a twin sized quilt and tons of table toppers/runners, yet nothing for my boy! This quilt is a modified Hexigon park, the sashing is Kona white, the back is brown minky (drool...) and I bound it (binded it?) with Robert Kauffman's quilter's linen in chocolate which is so lovely.

I quilted it 1/4" inside each white sashing strip and through each hexigon which made an awesome argyle-ish effect (which is super cute on the back). The finished quilt is about 50" x 60"- perfect for Noah to sleep with or for me to steal and snuggle with on the couch.

Just sayin'....

mmm... chocolate (Homer Simpson voice)
early morning pictures before school = akward shadows, sorry.

Here's the label and a peek at the snuggly back.

This quilt is so special to me because it's for Noah. I know that sounds cliche, but there's a reason- the whole time I was cutting, sewing, quilting and binding it, I was thinking about and praying for Noah (ok, so I was watching a movie while I was binding it, but still, the little Beans was on my mind!). I know most of us pray for our children on a regular basis, but once you get past the intial "please watch over him, protect him, help him to grow in Your word", etc. you start really thinking about his future. At one point I found myself praying for his education and future wife- someone who may not even be born yet! My parents have always told my brothers and I that they have prayed for our spouses since birth, but it's weird when you actually do it for your own baby!

As far as sewing/quilting go, I learned that minky isn't nearly as hard to deal with as I thought. I had ZERO puckering on the back and only a couple tucks on the front (but I blame that on taking the pins out after I quilted all the left-to-right diagonals- I probably should have left them in until I came to them quilting right-to left). Also, I learned that hexagons (especially half-hexagons) aren't scary at all! I also learned that I am in love with quilter's linen. It's so pretty!

That's about it! If you're stopping by from the BQF, thanks for dropping in!

I've got a plan...

Which is good, because my goal is to have these quilt tops finished by next week, since they have to be quilted (not by me, thank goodness), bound and ready to give as gifts on June 4th.
I can do that... right?
Right?!

Oh, and if you've ever wondered what teachers do during their lunch, this is one possible answer. Draw and color little shapes with colored pencils.

wordless wednesday.

who needs a vacuum when you have a Noah and a Rufio?

Well isn't that snazzy!

(disclaimer: my brother-in-law is in Europe (unfair!) with my Nikon so get pumped up for some Droid pics!)

This past weekend I finally found the kind of office chair I was looking for (no arms, adjustable height, fits under my sewing table) at the price that I was looking for ($12!). I headed home to find- as luck would have it- this month's Hancock flyer had arrived in the mail and this charming yellow and white chevron zig zag upholstry fabric was featured on the front page.
SCORE!

A couple hours later I have an awesome new (to me) sewing chair!

I still want to get in there and fix a couple things- namely staple down and trim up the bottom side of the seat and force the two halves of the back of the chair together a little more- but it's usable! Hooray!

I linked this up to Fabric Tuesday- button in sidebar!

Lookie there! I'm on gen X quilters today!

If you're coming over from gen X quilters today- hi! I looove that blog - Annemarie is so awesome! I just got my fat quarters in the mail from the Kona Your World swap and love them. I can't imagine how much work that was, so thanks, Annemarie!

In other news, I have 16 and 2 half days of school left (SCORE!)

.... & I finally finished Noah's quilt!

It's a modified Hexigon park, the sashing is Kona white, the back is brown minky (drool...) and I bound it (binded it?) with Robert Kauffman's quilter's linen in chocolate.
I quilted it 1/4" inside each white sashing strip and through each hexigon which made an awesome argyle-ish effect (which is super cute on the back). The finished quilt is about 50" x 60"- perfect for Noah to sleep with or for me to steal and snuggle with on the couch.

Just sayin'....

mmm... chocolate (Homer Simpson voice)
early morning pictures before school = akward shadows, sorry.


It also equals running out the door as soon as you upload the pics, so I didn't get a pic of my favorite part- the label on the back! It's a hexigon and I did a smidgen of hand stitching around the edges with embroidery floss. (I'll have Joe email me a pic to upload!)

ta-daaaa! Here's the label and a peek at the snuggly back.

So what do you think?

chasing my tail

Do you ever feel like you just can't catch up?

Like, for instance, I usually have a list of 5 or so things to do at home after work in the 2 hours I have from the time I leave work to the time Joe and Noah get home from work/Grandmama's. I feel like every day lately I am ready to do stuff immediately after school, but then I realize that I have to run by my church office/go to the grocery store/have a rehearsal and 9 times out of 10, Joe and Noah beat me home and I get ZERO things on that to-do list done... nor do I have dinner even figured out.

Which makes no sense because I just had spring break, which I should have spent checking things off the to-do list and planning for the weeks to come, but instead my dad came to visit from Nashville (only his 3rd or 4th visit since Noah was born) and we just hung out and then did Easter things.

... and ate banana bread my dad made.

we worked on our letters a little,

blew bubbles,

and hunted Easter eggs.

So now I'm a week past spring break, having still not finished projects I started then and making lists of new projects to do (like these Mothers Day corsages or this beach bag)... or spending time on ye old pinterest. Did I mention that those quilts that I agonized over fabric selection are still just stacks of fabric? Or that I need to have them finished the first week of June?

Eh, you can't win 'em all.

Happy (2 weeks after) Easter!

... and hey teachers (and those of us moonlighting as "real" teachers)- summer's not so far off. 19 and 2 half days left in this school year. I pray that summer will bring the ability to get back into my regular at-home routine quickly and I will feel more organized and in control of everything around me- because right now I'm just hanging on.

Oh yeah, I finished Mary Catherine's quilts!

I mentioned before that a friend of mine from college sent me her late grandmother's aprons for me to make into small quilts to be framed. I finished them a while back, but only got cell phone pictures of them (due to the infamous camera-hiding bandit). They are only a front a back- no batting or binding- so that they will fit flat in the frames.

I think they turned out pretty cute considering none of the fabrics coordinated!

I made three- they are all the same layout, and fabrics vary only slightly due to availability.

This was my favorite print from all of her aprons. Vinatge-y goodness!

In other news, Noah's quilt is halfway quilted in a diagonal straight-line pattern, almost argyle-ish (modified Hexagon Park in Max and Whiskers by Moda)!
It's backed in minky is dang HEAVY!

... and just for fun here's a picture of my child pretending to be Richard Simmons.

My husband has (well, HAD now!) longish hair and wears headbands when he cuts grass and plays soccer. Noah loves putting on headbands too and this day, he decided to wear them to a restaurant to eat with the in-laws. Lovely.

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday again! :)