Bumblebee quilt

It's kind of a stupid name, I realize. It's just what I've always called it. I made this quilt top years ago -- like 5 or 6 years ago. You know how you get sick of things and just stick them in a bin for a while? Well, I recently unearthed this, and here it is, all pinned and ready to be quilted. This (of course!) was all just scraps. The backing is from my stash too. It wasn't quite enough (as always), so I had to add a couple of strips to the sides. I'll show more pics of the completed project. You can see the back then.

Some cards

The Christmas cards were for card swap in November. I always do two different sets. I made the cards, but I don't know if any of them will actually get sent out! I am so behind on that, and I'm never very good at sending cards, so I suppose no one will be surprised if they don't get a card from me this year. It's par for the course, and I can always use them next year -- try again.

I didn't really have good enough ink on this gingerbread card. Well, it was good ink, but it was dye ink, and I needed some chalk ink or something for this acrylic stamp. Anyway, the gingerbread men look cookie-ish with their sporadic inking. Whatever. They look better IRL than they do in this picture. It's from a Martha Stewart stamp set -- some Christmas one I got at Wal-Mart. I used iridescent white puff paint and red stickles on the gingerbread men.

These are just some cards that I thought would good for weddings. The butterfly stamp is from Papertrey Ink. I stamped it in some Martha Stewart blue ink. It's upstairs, and I'm too lazy to go up and check the exact name. I just used Frosted Lace stickles on the outside of the butterflies. The glittery paper is from My Mind's Eye. I think. The "Celebrate" sentiment if from Papertrey's Little Lady stamp set. I stamped the butterflies, cut them out, and adhered them with a glue dot. I bent them in the middle a little bit just so they wouldn't be completely flat.

I have a quilt ready to show you. Maybe I'll get it posted today as well. Maybe not. I know I've been so unreliable about posting. In the meantime, it has been a while since I posted any cards, but it's not because I haven't been making them. So here they are. I hope you're having a good Christmas/Holiday season. Are you ready?

Updates

Yeah, I know they look very similar. The hourglass one is made from Moda's Seaside Rose, an oldie but goodie. Don't know why it's so dark. I had all the lights on.

The Sawtooth Stars with fancy centers (don't ask me to name them all, please) Quilt is made from Moda's Simplicity.

I'll take more close-ups if I ever actually get them quilted. I have the backs all ready to go, but again, they're not going in the lineup for before Christmas, so maybe in January you'll see something more than quilt tops. Here's hoping!

Blue and Yellow Ragged Squares

Here's a little update on the ragged squares quilt. The top is put together. The back isn't. I don't have quite enough of the blue I wanted to use, so I'll have to add some strips to the sides. I won't have time to quilt it before Christmas I don't think, because there are at least two quilts ahead of it. I'm just not that fast.

There's a reason why I don't try to pin quilts together unless everyone is napping. What a great assistant, though!

Tie-Dyed Onesies

So I made some of these for my sister's baby a few months back, but of course, I didn't take any pictures because I wasn't blogging then. I recently did some blue ones. I plan to sew some cute fabric up the middle of the burpees (maybe not on the tie-dyed ones). I'll post those after I do them. I'm just trying to get a jump on some baby gifts -- all these people giving birth. What is up with that?

I got the idea from Abby's website. She has a great explanation of how to do this, so I'll just send you there. I'm too lazy to do my own tutorial. Hey, why reinvent the wheel? Ya know? Enjoy!

Applique Hearts

So I saw a little snippet of a picture on an ad in a quilt magazine (wow, LOTS of prepositional phrases there) of a quilt kind of like this. Now, I am still on a fabric fast (although, thanks to Jill I was able to break that fast with no injury to my bank account), so for this quilt I just dug into my stash. I had some Shangri-La (by Moda) and some Anticipation (old Sandy Gervais for Moda) that matched perfectly. I also used a piece of pale pink flannel that I had left over from making somebody pajamas a number of Christmases ago and a couple of red fat quarters from Joann's. Don't know who made them. Probably going to regret that because of the fading factor, but I always remember that in hindsight. The squares are 15 1/2 inches cut. I just freehanded the heart on a piece of 12x12 chipboard that was the front cover to a paper pack. I did the large one, and then cut the smaller one out of the middle of the larger one, so I only had to use one template for both. I just machine appliqued them -- little zigzag. There are actually 12 squares altogether, so 3x4, and then I will put sashing in between and a couple of borders to make it into a throw-size quilt. I'll give finished dimensions when it's . . . well, finished. This is a fast, simple quilt. I typically do such complex quilts that they never get done (see my lengthy current projects list), so I'm trying to change that.

Now, on this quilt I did trim the hearts out of the backs of the large hearts and used some of them to cut out the smaller hearts. The rest of the small hearts that I didn't do on the front I am saving to applique onto the back of the quilt. It just seemed like such a lot of fabric (and fabric that I LOVE, too!) to waste in layering. I know you're supposed to trim out the back on applique, but I'm so random with when I do and don't. This time I did.

This is my favorite one, I think. Enough contrast, but mostly subtle blending. I just love it!

Blue and Yellow Ragged Squares

I saw this quilt on Amanda Jean's website and knew I had to make one. I always find it odd that I am drawn to yellow and blue quilts, because individually I am not fond of those colors. I certainly can't WEAR either of them without looking washed out. I'm a red/green/pink/brown kind of girl. I think I have made three or four yellow and blue quilts including this one, though, so on some level I resonate to it. Plus, I just love the ragged look.

I just used stuff from my stash. I have way too much, and I have got to cut it down. However, I'm not as good as Jill. I'll find a way to use it before I give it away. I'm such a packrat! Anyway, this quilt is nice, because it goes together quickly, and it uses up a lot of fabric. I didn't trim out the back on these, because I wanted the extra weight. I used some fabric from my stash that I got back when I first started and didn't know better. Some of it is really thin, so the triple layers are good for that. Plus, if these colors fade at different rates, it really doesn't matter that much, because I have so many different shades of blue. Anyway, I am loving this quilt, and I can't wait to snuggle under it. Of course, it has to get shoved aside a little while I finish stuff for Christmas. Only 27 days left, so said my Facebook page.

Thankful

So, on my family blog I published a post about how thankful I am for all the great things in my life. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, because I truly believe in being thankful. We can always find something to complain about, and that's often easier than flipping it and finding something to be thankful for. My top five things I am thankful for (that I put on my other blog) are my family, my temporal blessings (food, clothing, shelter, transportation), the Gospel, my piano, and my sewing machine. Those last two might seem somewhat trivial, but I get great joy out of both of them. And I think Heavenly Father is pleased when we use our talents. He gave them to us for a reason.

So on an even more trivial note, on Monday the mail carrier brought me two packages. One was the Christmas present from my husband's grandparents. His grandpa makes toys every year and sends them to all 40 of his grandchildren -- yes, 40. That's a lot of wooden trains, let me tell you. The second package was from my sister-in-law, Jill. Apparently she had brutalized her stash recently, and the carnage was sent to me. I am definitely thankful for that.

One of the yellow pieces has already gone into the back of one of my quilts to make it a wee bit wider. There's a blue, red, and khaki stripe that is going to bind my star quilt. The two red/blue plaid pieces are going into my Smoky Mountains Stars quilt for my sixth child's bed. A couple of the greens are going in a green and brown quilt that I have been planning and now can execute. I also plan to make a Happy Hour quilt with all of those great boy prints.

So, I am thankful for Jill's generosity. I think I might have cried just a little when I opened the box and saw all that great fabric. I think my husband might have cried a little too, but perhaps not for the same reason.

Death comes softly . . . and frequently

So, I'm sure all -- both, technically -- of you who read my blog were wondering if I died or something. I'm here to answer that no, no I did not. However, my computer did -- a little at a time. First, we had a no screens week around here. I could only check my email for work and send it back. No TV (not such a sacrifice), no blogging (huge sacrifice!), no reading other people's blogs (ginormous sacrifice). The next week on Tuesday night we had a major electrical storm which fried our modem. I have a surge protector on the plug, but that doesn't stop the current from traveling through the phone line. This is the second modem we have had fried on this computer. My husband bought a new one ($10 internal piece) which he installed himself, but that wasn't until Thursday. Then the weekend happened, and then the monitor died. Oh, yes, completely dead. Everything is black. For a while it did this little thing where part of the screen would start to show up, but the whole thing never did. Anyway, on Saturday we got a new monitor ($100 -- terrible resolution, but it'll do for now). So now here I am again. I'll tell you, though, during all that time of no blogging, I was able to work on some new projects which I will show you as soon as I photograph them! I finished some quilt tops and put together a bunch of backs (had to piece things, because I'm on a fabric fast right now -- not allowed to buy ANY!). I also started a whole bunch of new quilts -- I'm not kidding, a BUNCH! I blame Amanda Jean and her fabulous website. I'll get some quilt pics up soon, but for now, though, I'll just leave you with a picture of a box of cards I donated to the school auction basket (Holiday themed basket for my daughter's class).

A Whole Bunch of Cards

Here are some of the cards that I made with those images that I pre-stamped. I'm only showing you one of each, but I made 4-6 of each card with the images that I stamped. Now, lest you think that all I do is crafting, let me assure you that I did not make all of these in one day. I hope you enjoy them!

Baby Quilt

I made this quilt when I was pregnant with my fourth child, who turned out to be a boy. That's okay, I thought. I'll just save it for the next one. Well, I got three boys in a row after that one. So here it sits at my house, apparently never to be used. I love it. It's too little for my big girls (who are now 13 and 8), so I guess it will have to be for my first granddaughter -- if it hasn't turned to dust by then. Then center is just a panel. The border is pieced. I hand-quilted it. I think it's about 36" X 45".

We call it "Baby Regan's Quilt," because that was going to be the name of our next girl if we ever got one.

Here is a close-up of the fabric and stitching detail.

You can see the stitching better on the back. The green is actually a little pinstripe, but you can't see that detail very well. Apparently I need to take a photography class just so I can blog. I drew the curlicues on the front in pencil and then hand-stitched them -- finishing with a French knot in the center of the curls.

Polka Dot Quilt

This is a quilt by Piece O Cake Designs. I love their stuff, and I ADORE this quilt. I have been coveting it for a number of years and gathering polka dots to go in it. I'm hoping to start it soon, but I anticipate finishing it years from now. Maybe if I put it on the blog, I will be accountable to someone and be motivated to get some of it done. I can at least find all those paper piecing things I photocopied. Now, I have never done any paper piecing before in all these years, so I'm excited to give it a shot.

I'll give you a current projects list as well, although, it cannot be complete, because the bins in my garage hold numerous works in progress. I will just list the ones I am actively working on.

*A cryptic reference to one I am giving as a gift and therefore cannot say more. If I showed it here, the recipient would know who it was for, I think. I guess you can see it after Christmas. *A king size quilt for my bed using Benartex's City Girl fabrics in pink chocolates. Yummy! *Pink and green applique quilt for my girls' bed -- pinned and ready to quilt. *Pink and brown Ohio star that I started forever ago and have recently unearthed. It's reminding me how much I love scrap quilts. *Seaside Rose (by Moda) hourglass quilt *Simplicity (by Moda) sawtooth stars quilt from one of my previous posts *Blue, pink, burgundy, green, yellow appliqued and pieced quilt -- one more strip of applique left to do. *Hand quilting the patriotic star quilt from an earlier post

This is just the quilting project list, but I'm already tired from just making the list. So fun, though! Cardwise, I have a birthday gift to make for my dear friend, whose birthday is tomorrow, and I am still working on the box of cards for a Christmas gift. I also have scrapbook night this Friday at my house, and then next Wednesday is card swap for which I have to make 2 sets of 12 cards and for which I have made 0 cards so far. It's only Monday. I can do it, although I may have to make the cards at scrapbook night.

Ooh, I just keep looking at that polka dot quilt and loving it! Maybe I'll start it tomorrow. I can't today, because I have so much transcribing to do, but I'll try to sneak some in tomorrow maybe.

I know I should stick to what is already in progress, but what fun would that be?

A Whole Bunch of Images

So I decided to make a box of a whole bunch of cards to give as a gift. I was feeling rather daunted, because I wanted them to be unique -- no more than two of each -- and it's a rather large box. Anyway, so one day I just started stamping some images, and I ended up with this. I colored the snail and fish images with markers. I will slowly turn them into actual cards. Some of them have already been put to use, but I haven't taken photos yet.

Oh, wait, I lied. Here's one of the butterflies.

Then I made another butterfly card, because one just isn't enough. Both of these are made with PaperTrey Ink's Butterfly Kisses Stamp Set.

I guess I just wanted to show one way of making a lot of cards a little more quickly. I am finding it easier to have the images already done, and then I can just put the papers together when I'm ready. That way the card is half done. The way I store my stamps and ink is just in a big (well, medium-sized) bin right now, so I suppose for me it's a pain to get all the stamps and ink out. This way, I get it all out once, and then I have images for 30 cards ready to go. I'm sure some of you who like to make cards one at a time and make them individualized will not like this method, and that's okay. I don't do this as a general rule, but when you're trying to make a hundred cards for one person in a relatively short time frame, I'm finding it very helpful. Happy creating!

Ladybug Crib Set

Here is the crib bedding set I made for my sister's first baby girl -- bumper pads, headboard, quilt and dust ruffle (white with black polka dots). There is some pink satin as well as pink chenille in the main part of the quilt.

Pink chenille ric-rac is across the middle of the head board. The side border of the headboard is gathered on both sides to give a rouching effect.

Just a close-up of the center of the quilt. What is fun about a random quilt like this is that you can use some of your scraps if you have them. I really only had two little scraps of the pink satin, but that was just enough to give it some interest.

Not feeling really chatty today. Don't know what that's about.

Pocket Card with Matching Bookmark

So, apparently all my pictures are doomed to be blurry. I never knew I was such a horrible photographer, but this blog is making certain that I know it. Bad photos aside, I am feeling very pleased with my little self. Brandon's friend has a birthday party tomorrow, and this little ensemble is for him.

Next is the inside -- a little pocket that I sewed on to hold the matching bookmark and the gift card. Brandon said the only thing he knows about this friend is that he reads constantly, so I thought a bookmark would be good.

A gift card to Barnes & Noble would have been better, but it is considerably farther away that Target is, and I didn't really have time to go today (plus, running lots of errands with three little boys in tow is not my favorite thing). Hey, they have books at Target, right? And they're even less expensive than the ones at B&N. So, yeah, I'm rationalizing. There's not even a Barnes & Noble in Mansfield. I have to drive 20 to 25 minutes for one. Target is 15. Okay, yeah, I'm whining about being near nothing, and my friend Cheryl is really in the boonies. It probably takes her 40 minutes to get to Barnes & Noble. It probably takes her almost that long to get to my house too, and yet she still comes to quilting very faithfully (and so does Kim, who is her neighbor). You ladies ROCK!

I know that handmade cards are naturally a little girlie, but I hope I achieved sufficient masculinity for a 12-year-old boy.

I am so impressed with how matchy everything is. This is my first pocket card, and I am feeling so proud of myself that I just had to post it tonight. I just finished it like 10 minutes ago. It's 11:15, but I'm still waiting for Morgan to get home from babysitting and Michael to get home from watching the BYU game. Have a great night!

Dandelion Girl

I can't tell you what I love about this fabric line. It is not my usual fare. I love bright colors -- reds, pinks, browns, greens. I don't usually go in for these muted colors, but I just absolutely love this line -- even the blues, (and if you don't know it already, I am not a blue person. I don't hate it, but I don't gravitate toward it either.) Anyway, you can check out the whole line at Hancock's of Paducah, and you can drool over it with me. Abby, from A Feathered Nest, was talking about how much she loved Michael Miller's Farmer's Market fabric line and that her children would have to eat grass for a while when it came out just so she could buy some. I won't go quite that far, but I do relate to how she feels, because I am just loving this fabric (and at this point, my children WOULD have to eat grass if I bought some).

My three quilts

These are the three quilts that hang over my various couches that my children use to snuggle under while watching TV. They don't remotely match each other, nor do they match any of my furniture. It doesn't really matter, though. They still keep us warm, and they're soft -- which my children vow is the most important thing. The first is a Wrapping Paper quilt from the Chez Moi fabric and some Moda chenille. I machine quilted it with various stitches on my regular, old, non-quilting machine.

Next is my Raggy Roses quilt. I used the leftover scraps of my Paris Flea Market (3 Sisters for Moda) fabric to make the roses, just put on regular, unbleached muslin. I machine appliqued the layers, leaving the unfinished edges so that I could get the raggy look. I washed and dried this quilt twice. It will get more raggedy as I wash it more often.

This last one is a quilt that was designed by Peggy Waltman (Hopskotch Designs). Truthfully, I just saw it in an ad in a quilt magazine and figured out the design myself, so it may not be exact. The flowers ended up to be more star-shaped than flower-shaped, and I think the green appliqued edge was supposed to be more rounded than triangular to match the flowers. I'm not great at applique. I'm still learning, so I didn't do so hot on getting it perfect. I do love the colors, though. I had gone through a green/red/yellow phase for a while there. I pieced this a long time ago, but it took me till just a few months ago to finish quilting it. The right-hand side shows the back -- a black and white floral. I didn't have quite enough of that piece (it was given to me by a friend), so I put a strip of red along the two opposite sides to make it fit the front. I'm afraid I do that alot, because when I buy fabric, I don't always have a plan for it.

Peggy Waltman says that the quilting design is as important as the design of the overall quilt and to not be afraid to make your quilting fun too. So for this one I did A LOT of quilting -- A LOT. I echo-quilted the flowers. However, I changed thread colors for each layer of the applique to match the color of the fabric. Hence, the back is sort of a kaleidoscope of color. On the white/black flower border, I echo-quilted the green zig-zag edging.

Changito Card

I made these for a card swap earlier in the year. Apparently I took the picture before I stamped the sentiment -- which just said "Hang in there." I stamped it with some little rubber stamp alphabet that I got at Hobby Lobby 1/2 off for like $3 or something. I stamped the image and the sentiment (which went under the image on the patterened paper near the right side of the image) in SU!'s Close to Cocoa ink. I have used this Changito image before and colored him in, but with the color scheme I used on this card, I didn't think it needed any coloring. You could also use the sentiment "Thanks a Bunch" or something like that with this image.

As I said before, I usually like to mass-produce -- partly because we do a monthly card swap, so I'm usually in that mode, and partly because I'm always trying to build up my stash. Now my stash is too big, and I find that I need to use the cards more quickly than I have been. However, I am overall a "more is better" kind of person. I don't know why that is, but I don't often just make one card. I think I have done that ONE time for one of my friend's birthdays. Because I'm a quilter first, I cut all my mats and cards with a rotary cutter and my self-healing mat. I find it makes them more uniform. I cut each mat 1/4" bigger than the previous one as a general rule. Sometimes I'll cut it 1/2" bigger if I want to see more of the mat. I do all the stamping at the same time. I cut all the mats together. I do kind of an assembly line production (although I am the entire assembly line unless my daughter helps me with putting the sticky tabs on the backs of things).

I started out using more of the rubber stamps. I went to a Stampin' Up! party and bought some. Those were my first stamps. Shortly after that I went to the clear stamps. I do like them better, because it's so much easier to see what you're doing, but some of the clear stamps don't hang on to the ink very well, so you get sort of a sketchy stamping effect. I know I need to use a chalk ink or something on those kind. I've only been stamping for about 7 months. I was a scrapbooker before that, but never with stamps. It was something I always looked at and thought I didn't want to get started on, because you have to buy so much stuff -- all the different colors of ink and so many stamps, et cetera. Well, I was right. Once you start, there's no going back. However, I am totally hooked. We started our first card swap in November 2007. I didn't use any stamps until I think the March card swap. It could have been February, so it could be 8 months that I've been stamping. Anyway, I totally love it, and I have a hugely long list of all the stamp sets that I still want. One of these times I will show you my first few cards so you can see my progression.

Okay, so anyway, enjoy!

Tiddly Winks Baby Quilt

This is just a quick post, because it's nearly my bedtime. I made this quilt about a year ago for my husband's brother's first baby girl. I wanted it to be trendy, not frilly, but also not masculine. This is one of my favorite baby quilts that I've made. The fabric is from the Tiddly Winks line. I'm afraid that off the top of my head I can't recall who did that fabric line, and I'm too tired to do the research. You'll have to Google it yourself.

My friend has an embroidery machine, so she embroidered a label for the back. Clearly, I didn't take a great picture, since you can't even see anything on the label, but as I said, I don't have the quilt anymore, so I can't take a better one. You can even see the flap of the box I was about to put it in so I could ship it. I think she was three months old by the time I finally sent it. Timeliness with gifts doesn't seem to be my strong suit. What is that?

I love putting fun fabrics for the back of the quilt, not just boring solid, plain fabrics. I like it to be nearly as fun as the front.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I'm looking mostly to inspire and share, but if anyone wants any help recreating something here, leave me a comment, and I can give you more detailed instructions.