It's About Time

...this quilt is getting quilted!

Quilt Food

I've been busy in the kitchen today; the quilt "kitchen" that is. 

Cooked and ready to serve I have on the menu:

a quilt wrap...

and a quilt sandwich....

Who's hungry? :)

Stay-Cation

At my new job we rent our classroom space from one of our local churches. Just like most churches this one holds a week of vacation bible school every summer. Since our school has no religious affiliation the teachers that teach during the summer get a week off  so the church can use our classrooms. :) So I must ask, what better way is there to start a week of work off than to visit local fabric stores!?

Can you tell what the theme of this future quilt is going to be?

I also visited Joann's to get a few staples and use my coupons. While I was there I couldn't pass up these yummy Denise Schmidt prints:

I'm going to use them for a scrap quilt I have in mind. You see as I was going through my scraps I came across A LOT of tiny strips and scraps of fabric that I don't have the heart to throw away. My grandma was a big hoarder and I clearly inherited some of that trait when it comes to craft materials (crafting was also passed on to me via my grandma Lil).

Unlike my grandma I have organized my hoarding. Here we have usable strips for a future scrappy spiderweb quilt, or colorful strip block quilt, or BOTH. :)

And here we have the teeny tiny, pretty much useless scraps that I don't have the heart to throw away. This is where those Denise Schmidt prints come into play, these will be made into a quilt, a ticker tape quilt, inspired my Amanda Jean's and Penny's.

I cut some 12 1/2" squares of white Kona cotton and I plan to sew these little bitty strips and scraps to the white blocks. As I work on planned and normally pieced quilts throughout the year I will toss the crumbs into this box then work on adding them to these squares in my free time, or as I need a break from working on other quilts. As I slowly move away from a beginning quilter and into a more seasoned one I am developing quilter's ADD...I have 4 quilts going at once right now, not including this new project.

It is going to take awhile but when I have enough of these ticker tape blocks the result is going to be a pretty and scrappy quilt full of my favorite prints, the pieces that I can't stand to put into the trash.

*Disclaimer, this is not all of my unusable scraps. I have a separate bag of really tiny strips that I am going to use for greeting cards. :) I may have a problem!!!

Scrap Sorting

Going through my scrap bin. I've got Netflix in the background and high hopes for enough scraps to get a small quilt done. :)

A Place to Relax

Independence day in America...loud and busy. I'm not sure what most people's neighborhoods are like but in ours you can easily imagine what it's like to be in a war torn country. It makes me thankful for all the soldiers and vets that protect our country! Lee works with a guy that served 4 tours in Iraq and he has a hard time listening to the fireworks this time of year, they sure are beautiful at night though. To all those that have or are serving in military service, no matter the country, thank you for all you do!

We had a quiet holiday at our house, filled with some house work and then relaxing. We were more looking forward to our weekend camping trip with friends. It was a blast to have great company while relaxing this weekend. The weather was perfect, the company was better, and the toasted marshmallows were excellent! We joined my good friends Cristy and Drew and their wonderful kiddos.

Penny had a blast but did not enjoy her post-camping bath today.

While snapping this photo I thought I would take a few shots of our recent bathroom makeover to share with you. This was one of my many crafts I worked on during my break from blogging: a new shower curtain and decor for our bathroom.

I made this shower curtain using a flat sheet I got on sale at Target a long time ago, some rectangle cuts from my Flea Market Fancy stash, and some large eyelets. I recommend browsing clearance sections for flat sheets, they come in handy for these kind of projects! I didn't have to worry about large seams here, just one large cut of the sheet then hem the sides. I stitched the pieced stripes of focal fabric over the white sheet so that when I wash it I won't have to worry about any fraying. 

It came together in a matter of hours, then I worked on new shelves, artwork and decor for the much needed bathroom makeover. I'm working on a shaggy rag rug for next to the sink, all other decor was simple and cheap. Like the owl, yellow pitcher, and jars, all under $10! I used a mason jar to make a soap dispenser too. :)

For the artwork I framed a few scraps of Flea Market Fancy to go with photography prints I got at our local craft store: hot/cold tub handles. One of my favorite features are the photos of Lee and I as kids in the tub. A "Bath Time" theme. :)

We will be printing and framing the one I took of Penny today, then when we have a future child he/she will be added to the wall too. I really want to add bath toys to a wire basket by the tub, but we don't really have a need for them yet. I also want to get more decorative frames for the bath time photos. Oh, I almost forgot; for some light reading I placed one of my favorite picture books out, The Tub People. If you have kids, check out this cute story, it was one of my childhood favorites. Now this bathroom is a place to relax....or play. :)

I Spy

I spy a witch's broom, monkey, owl, and train,
6 snowmen, 2 rebel scum, a saxophone, and rain.

I made these two quilts back in 2012, one for a good friend that I never see anymore and her little boy, the other for an old co-worker and her little man. I love making baby quilts, and had wanted to do an I spy quilt forever, when I finally got to it I made two!

The thing about I spy quilts for babies is that they tend to be so busy, and in my opinion (the early childhood educator in me is coming out) overstimulating! I knew I did not want to do that for any I spy quilts I made, so for these I went with small 2.5" squares on solid background, that way there was some calm space to wrap in the busy area. On one quilt I added ribbons around the binding, I think I like the ribbons best, a feature I've been adding to a lot of baby quilts lately.

For both quilts I used a Kona khaki solid fabric for the quilt top, then a khaki flannel on the back. I quilted using straight lines of different colored thread; orange, blue, green, red, and yellow.

For my good friend I added small pieces of me into the quilt, such as Princess Leia, Han Solo, coffee cups, owls, and bicycle wheels. For the other quilt I did a 4 by 4 block of green squares then branched out to more colorful blocks, I love this and may do something similar again.

I used the same Kona khaki cotton for the binding, which I love because it makes the quilt feel so organic, almost unfinished. I will definitely be making more of these, perhaps when I start up an Etsy shop these will be for sale. :)