JellyBean Stitches

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-02-01T13:08:00.001-08:00

I'm 27 today. Yikes!!

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear me..
Happy Birthday to me.

Dear me is right - I feel old sometimes.. like today when I have so much to do and not enough time to do it!

Progress is slowly being made

2010-01-27T14:01:00.000-08:00

In my house anyway. I have 4 personal mini quilt swaps going out this week, and then my STUD (which got mailed back to me - because me like a dummy sent it to Washington STATE, not DC!!!) At least it got back to me.

I'm making some slow progress on my DQS8 mini - I've got 3 ideas in my head for it, and it's all just a big blend now. So I need to sit and figure it out.

I'm still waiting on my fall mini quilt swap, and the friendship bag. I know who my partner was for the Friendship bag, and she's such a good person, but I'm truly disappointed that I didn't get it. She's got a lot on her plate now and I really don't want to cause hassle for her. Hope I get my fall mini soon.

And a huge thank you to all the people who pointed me in the right direction for some food fabrics. I've got a bunch of different fabrics on order now (I didn't spend too much either - scrap bags are awesome things!!) and I'm pretty darned sure that my husband is going to love it. I've made 5 blocks for it so far, and it's screaming that it's for him.

And my Quilting Bees.. I'm working on them tonight. After I finish my last penguin for Aunt Pitty Pats swap. :)

Still Waiting

2010-01-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

Argh..

I'm still waiting on my "Friendship Bag Swap" hosted by the Quilting Gallery. I've been in touch with Michelle and she's emailed my partner and apparently the good old USPS ate my parcel. I hope they can find it.

Dear DQS8 Partner

2010-01-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

Dear DQS8 Partner,

I know I didn't make a mosaic, and that's because I feel technologically stupid and couldn't figure out how to save and upload the one I made to Flikr. I don't want you to panic, if you are in fact panicking.

I'd like to make your life easy - I love all colors, I really do. Pepto-Bismal pink is even growing on me, and I like it in moderation. I love Earthy tones, blues of all shades, greens, browns, purples, golds. I love nature, especially the ocean. I love birds and owls and butterflies. I'm a book lover, a travel lover - and a huge food fan too.

Please have fun with whatever you make - anything that you make I know I'll love because you took the time to think of something special for me and make it just for me.

Thank you so much already - and have fun.

In Search of Food Fabrics

2010-01-20T20:41:00.001-08:00

Phew.. I finally got THE best idea for my husband's 30th Birthday. He loves food, loves cooking, has tons of gadgets.. but he doesn't have a food quilt. So I'm in search of 5 or 6 inch squares that I can put together into a food quilt for him.

If anyone knows of a good site with a bunch of variety, or has some squares that they'd like to trade, just let me know! I'd love you forever and ever!

Thanks.

Be back tomorrow with a decent sized sewing update!

2 Quilt Blocks - Fight Breast Cancer

2010-01-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Old Red Barn Co. has put out a call for 12.5" quilt blocks to go into quilts that will be raffled/sold to raise money for a cure for Breast Cancer.

Naturally, I had to make 2 blocks. What was my problem you ask? Lack of Pink!! So yea, I had to go out and get some pinks to add to my stash.

If you've read this blog for a while, you know I'm a real fan of the Earthy tones, and Pink isn't that high up on my list. Well, I got some marbles and these pinks are growing on me. It's still not my favorite color, but it's definately growing on me.

Here are my 2 blocks:
Churn Dash:

9 Patch:

And then I'm in a Valentine Swap with the "My Favorite Quilters" group on Flikr, and I've been partnered up with the incredibly talented JMeghlin and we've decided to exchange Table Toppers. And of course, since it's Valentines Day, I'm planning on using Pink.

Naturally, I had to make one of my all time favorite blocks - the Spinner:

I may or may not use it. But I do like it - and since it's so pink - for me anyway - that, is really saying something!

I also made this block for LeighLu for the 3x6 Bee. Her requested colors were Green, Yellow and White.

DQS8 Ideas

2010-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

So yea. My partner isn't chatty on any of the threads on Flikr, and I've read her blog and searched her favorites and I'm torn between two ideas for her quilt. I wish she'd post a bit more so I'd really have something to go by.

Here are my ideas - which one would you prefer?

Idea #1 - Mini Paper Piecing.
I'd love to do this in her favorite colors and put some white sashing between the blocks.

The pattern is from Carol Doak - I love her patterns!

Idea #2 - My own sketch - Singing Birds:

Keep in mind I'm not the best artist!

Not feeling 100%

2010-01-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

So of course I have a three day weekend this weekend, due to the fact that Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Day, and last night I passed out around 7pm, woke up around 2, crawled into bed, slept until 9!! And then went to bed again around 12:30, woke up around 6:30 PM and now.. I feel a bit better.

Thank goodness I've got a great hubby who handled Bean for me. He heated up some of my turkey soup that I made right after Christmas, and I had 3 bowls of that, and I lost track of how many cups of tea I've had. But the fact is, I feel better. I'm still not 100%, but I do feel better.

But I'd be horrible if I didn't post pictures of my newest received quilty things, and quilty mades!

Received from Carla:
These were for my fabrics sent in the My First Quilting Swaps (And Bee!)

Aren't they going to work up so nicely into a quilt for Bean??

In the 6"-12" Mini Swap, I received this a few days ago from Needles-N-Notions:

Bean loves to cover her dolly (the one on the floor in the picture) with the mini!

And stuff I made:
I paper pieced.

For Ruthie in Bee Obsessed:

Ruthie wanted 6-9 inch blocks, and this one came out at 5, so I'm making her a second one, but I'm really happy with it.

And Here's the center of all my blocks for Aunt Pitty Pats swap.. just need to put the borders on them, and I can mail out that swap.
My Penguinos!!:)

Yes, they are paper pieced. I think I'm getting addicted to it.

For QBE: For Mary:

I made this with a left over block from JellyBeans quilt. Mary is planning on making preemie quilts with these blocks. Hope she likes it!

And for the Charming Robin.
Mary sent me her charm pack first, and then I send it on to Shannon. I had enough with my stash and 3 charms to make these two wonky star blocks. Mary sent along the black and white snowflake fabric. Hope she likes them!

QBE Block - 1

2010-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

So yea, I signed up for the Quilt Block Exchange on Flikr, and I'm making 4 blocks for the month of January.

I've got 2 cut and ready to sew (that's on for tomorrow) and 1 done, and one I have no idea what to do with.

Wendy - Brights and White <- DONE!Mary - 12.5" blocks for the center of preemie quilts <- cut and ready to goRaesha - 12.5" blue and white <-cut and ready to goJennifer - 10.5" red/aqua and white. <- my problem child block!Here's Wendy's Block:

And, I've uploaded some of my digital designs onto Spoonflower. I'm going to upload 5 or 6 more tomorrow, then order my swatches and then put them up for sale. What do ya'll think of them? Good? Bad? Terrible? Let me know! They were all done in Paint Shop Pro/PhotoShop/Poser or Daz3D.

These are what I've uploaded so far:

Eating While Mommy Quilts

2010-01-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

And here's a quick photo of Bean eating while Mommy quilts.

And mommy is officially crazy - I joined DQS8! :) Yay!

All righty then...

2010-01-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

And here it is, already Wednesday, and I haven't posted since Sunday. I know. Bad blogger!

But.. I do have things to show for my lack of posting.

First - Teresa received her fall mini quilt and she likes it! YAY!

Second - I made my mini for the 6-12" mini swap on Flikr, and mailed it out all in 2 days. This one wasn't my original quilt that I had in mind, but due to me being silly with the rotary cutter and cutting fabric without checking to see if a miniature block was under said fabric, we had block amputation. And then I had to make a new one because I had run out of one fabric and I want things uniform.

This is the sneak peek I posted:

But this is the whole quilt:

And Tina got it today! YAY! I only mailed it on Monday. It's times like these I'm proud of the USPS.

I got invited by Kimmie to join in a new Quilting Bee. This makes my 4th Bee. :) I'm so excited to have been invited - there are awesome quilters here.
Kimmie has the month of January - and her theme was Black, White and a little bit of Red. Then she posted some inspiration on her Flikr account and I had such a similar fabric to one of the photos for inspiration. And FYI the black fabric with the white swirls was the one that I had that was similar. So naturally I got to sewing and made her block.

I popped it into the mail yesterday.

And for another mini doll quilt swap for Carla. She doesn't like pink at all.. so I think this'll do her some good. No pink at all.

It's just the top right now, but tonight I'm planning on backing and quilting it. Then into the mail it goes on Saturday.

And.. hold on for this one..

I learned how to paper piece.
I went from this:

To:

This is the signature block I sent along with my Birdie Charm pack for the Charming Robin. The next time I see it, there will be 11 names on it, and the charm pack will be almost gone, if not completely gone. :)

My First Quilting Bee - Fabrics are Ready to go!

2010-01-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Yahoo!

I decided what fabrics I was sending out for the My First Quilting Bee. I'm almost done hand quilting JellyBean's Beatrix Potter quilt, and she just needs another quilt. Since we moved in late June I just got around to clearing out one of my filing cabinet drawers, and lo and behold I found the *perfect* fabric for her new quilt.

I got this fabric when I was pregnant with Bean in 2008, and it's been sitting waiting to be made into something awesome.

I've decided to ask for improv blocks, or for the participants of the bee to do whatever they feel like with the fabric. Just be inspired by it.

And naturally I had to make 2 sample blocks. I do have 4 made, but can't find 2 of them!

Here are my sample improv blocks. They measure 12.5 inches, so they'll finish at 12.

Started on my 2010 Coffee Quilt-A-Long

2010-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yep. I did it. I cut into the coffee fabric that I've been hoarding for quite a few years.

There's this Flikr group, 2010 Tea/Coffee Quilt - A - Long that I joined because I needed to do something with the 10+ yards of coffee themed fabric that I've had for a minimum of 4 years and just keep adding to. I'm totally addicted to coffee, so I figured that this would give me a chance to actually make a quilt for me. I've only kept 1 large quilt out of all the tons I've made for me. I've only kept 2 mini quilts for myself too - so I figure I deserve one.

These are my blocks so far:

And this one that I hate:

I'll probably put that one on the back, just because it has my favorite fabric on it.

I know I'm only supposed to get 1 block a month done, but I'd like to have 24 blocks done by June, then quilt this baby up by September.

Goodbye 2009... Hello 2010!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Wow, this seems totally surreal to write - Hello 2010!!

May all of your new year wishes and resolutions come true.

Once, a while ago, my father told me that his resolution every year was to become a better person than he was last year. So Daddy, this one's for you: it's my resolution too, I will be a better person than I was last year.

I miss you Daddy. I can't believe that in May it'll be 3 years since you've left us.

And my other (hopefully stuck to resolutions):
~ Complete 4 baby quilts for Co-Workers
~ Complete my Coffee Quilt
~ Quilt the Red and White monstrosity.. (we'll see on this one)
~ Participate in at least 6 mini swaps
~ Get to 25 states for my personal mini challenge! :)
~ Make 15 mini quilts for the AAQI and my $1000 challenge
~ open up my own little store to sell mini quilt kits and mini quilts
~ Lose 25 pounds or more.

And on Monday - 6 mini quilts are getting mailed out!! So if you've been on my list of mini swappers (personal swaps) be on the lookout!

I promised Pictures!

2009-12-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

And here they are!

My new baby:

And what I've made on it:
Well, I finally quilted the fall mini quilt swap. This'll be mailed with 4 other swaps this coming week, either tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on when I can get out of the house for a bit after Christmas clean-up.

Close up of the quilting:

Finally quilted. I chose to use the new machine and do a leaf motif in the white parts of the quilt, and then do swirly lines on the diagonal through the yellowy/orange squares.

I am totally thrilled with how this one came out. I only hope my partner is as thrilled as I am.

I have just enough of the gold/yellow to make myself one.. this one hurts to part with.. it really does.

This one I did hand applique for the leaf and some new decorative stitching around it. It's for Raesha on Flikr, but I'm still waiting on her address to send it to her.

And the back:

This is the back of the mini for Raesha. I just loved the center fabric and it was gold and brown and just "fall-like" to me.

And I kept playing more with the new machine. I signed up for the January STUD quilt swap with the theme of Rainbows:

I actually made my mini's top.. can you guess what I did with these fabrics?? :D

More pictures of Christmas coming soon - gotta get the photos off of my mom's camera and then I'll pick some good ones to post here!

And I got a SEWING MACHINE!!

2009-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Whoo hoo. The hubby is good. :D I got a new Singer Confidence sewing machine AND a proper sewing table with a drop down spot for the machine. The machine is a little too big for the drop down part, so we're going to get a new table, but yea.. the hubby is good. AND he let me get some more fabric. Not too much, but just a little bit, enough to make a girl happy. :D He got me a fat eighth pack of polka dots which is just too cool.

I'm re-charging the camera from JellyBeans 2nd Christmas, so there will be pictures soon, and there will be pictures tomorrow of my new play toy.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. :D I'll be back tomorrow with a new installment!

Merry Christmas to All

2009-12-25T01:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone!

I hope that your holiday is fantastic!

Mons Christmas Candle Mat

2009-12-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

Just me again.

Showing off the candle mat that I finally finished quilting for Mom. It's got the heat resistant batting so she can double it as a pot-holder too if she wants. The quilting's not perfect, but I'm just happy that I got it finished before Christmas!

Just yay! I'm so happy for them

2009-12-24T06:14:00.000-08:00

Since I live in NJ, this is a HUGE story here. And I'm not far from the Tinton Falls area.

Just yay. See for yourself: HERE. Congratulations David Goldman.

I Miss You Daddy

2009-12-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

My father died on May 5, 2007.. so this is our 3rd Christmas without him. This year, it's hitting me really hard, even though last year was JellyBean's 1st Christmas (even though she was only 10 days old).

I think it's hitting me because this year Terry and I moved into our own house, and JellyBean is a ton more aware of things and has become so much fun. I know my father would have loved her.

And it doesn't help that a few days ago I found the last pictures taken of Daddy. They were taken in late April of 2007, before I went away to England for a week. I was in England the week that Daddy went into the hospital and never came out. He was really sick and none of us knew how bad it was. At least I made it home to be with him the night he died.

Here Daddy was modeling (he looks so impressed - doesn't he??) a laptop bag that I made for my husband.

And here he is showing off the inside of the bag. Terry wanted something "fun and funky" so I put flames inside.

Anyway - this is my sad post - Merry Christmas Daddy.. we all love you and miss you.

Snow Day = Sewing Fun

2009-12-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

After helping the hubby shovel over 20 inches of snow (we took turns taking care of the bean) I got some quality sewing time in.

For Aunt Pitty Pats swap:
I've made 6 of these:

And 6 of these:

So now all 24 of my 9 patch blocks are done.
Here they are in all their glory:

I've also cut out all the light bulbs for the "Christmas Lights" blocks, and I'm in the process of appliqueing all the penguins. Those that I did have done I ripped apart because I thought they looked like crap.

And I've got 2 more mini's in the works.

School is closed tomorrow!! YAY!! So that means I can get more sewing time in before the holidays.. and who knows, maybe even more presents (and I still have to wrap a ton of gifts!)

I haven't abandoned anyone!

2009-12-19T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy creating for Christmas, and having JellyBeans 1st birthday - I've been busy!

Here is the birthday girl eating her Elmo cupcake:

She got a little tired near the end, and just shoved her face right onto the cupcake.

This was the original cake I tried to make. It was from a Build-A-Bear mold, but the frosting was too heavy and it collapsed on itself. We did eat it anyway - and it was good!

A Christmas Gift for my grandmother:

Made for my grandmother for Christmas (Sorry the picture is a bit blurry) it's an eyeglass case at the top part, and a pen holder at the bottom. There are spaces for 2 pens/pencils. Nana keeps misplacing her pens and she almost always needs her glasses to write, so I figured why not get both in one!

A cute little fabric postcard for a swap on Flikr:

Here is my fabric postcard for the ORB postcard swap! :) I'm not sharing who it's going to. Because of the snow it's in the mail on Monday (hopefully!!) It's actually in an envelope to protect it from the snow, and it's waiting in our mailbox to be picked up!

And my re-send to Karol-Ann for the stitchers angel swap:

The only thing you can really see clearly (I want her to have a surprise or two!!) is the rose fabric bowl.

And just so anyone knows - my mother in law mailed us a painting on 19 October 2009 from England. We just got it on 18 December!! So maybe the first parcel is still winging its way to Karol-Ann.

And...
My gorgeous STUD mini quilt from chocolate_is_the_best_medicine on Flikr:

Look at this hand embroidery:

Improv Quilt Block - for Jo

2009-12-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

This is my 12.5" quilt block for Jo from the UK. This is for the My First Quilting Bee and Block Swaps group on Flikr. She sent gorgeous blue fabrics for me to work with, and I had a great time. She requested an Improv style quilt block, and I went for it. Never made one before, but I had such fun.

Here are the fabrics she sent me:

And this is what I made from it:

The bottom has this gorgeous snowflake like print that I couldn't bear to cut apart, so I framed it and had to show it off.

The block isn't horrible, I will get better at it if I practice more.

I send my fabrics in February for the My First Quilting Bee/Block swap group.. now onto thinking of which fabrics I'll be sending.
My ideas for my fabrics:
Anchors and Blues
Puppy Paws and a solid
Greens
Coffee Prints/Colors

And I still don't really know what I'm asking everyone in the group to make.. it's a tough decision!

1st Birthday Party #1 - Done

2009-12-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

Phew, 1st of 2 Birthday parties is done!

We had Elmo cake, a 3D bear cake that kinda.. well, fell apart and my grandmother took us to see Santa today. JellyBean screamed - she was petrified of him!!

Pictures coming soon!

And I'm really disappointed - I mailed my Stitchers Angel parcel on either the 9th or 11th of November, and my partner hasn't gotten hers yet. But that's ok.. I'm making more goodies for her, and they'll be posted on Tuesday. I didn't get a chance to post them on Saturday, and tomorrow I'm preparing for my day off work on Tuesday for JellyBean's 1st Birthday!!! So on Tuesday, we'll stop in the post office and mail another package!

Thinking about opening an Etsy...

2009-12-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

So today I finally seriously started thinking about opening my own Etsy. I don't know what I'd really like to sell there, but I was thinking about putting together miniature quilt top kits.. but I don't know if that'd be a good idea or not. I've got a ton of fabric and I think I'd like to put together kits. I love cutting fabric - that's so calming to me!

Any ideas from my readers?

And.. I'm more mini quilt down in my 1000 promise. Before I want to send them off, I'm going to finish 10, so that means only 4 more to make and then I'm sending my 10 into Ami Simms. :)

Yay for productivity!

And, Terry and I started wrapping the gifts for Christmas. We got our tree today and put it up, so when it's settled down a bit and all decorated (probably Wednesday night) I'll have a nice photo to share with you!

And more

2009-12-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has been here and passed.. and I'm still no where near more ready for Christmas. Mom and I went out shopping on Black Friday, and did most of the shopping then (I was in Kohl's three times!!!) and got most of my gifts. Now they're all hidden all over the house (so Bean doesn't find them, or the hubby) and I have to get them wrapped. Now all I need is more time! :)

Here's more of what I've been working on (instead of wrapping!!)

For Dee, only a little sneak peak: Yours is in the mail on Monday. I finished part 2! :)

This was the mini quilt that I sent to Maya for the Four Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap. She did receive it (so now I can post it!), but was away for Thanksgiving so it took her a little bit to respond.

This is the beautiful Mini I received in the swap from the extremely talented Sara:

Would you believe she said this was her first time doing embroidery?? It's too perfect, and already hanging up on our walls.

This was one I was late on, it was for STUD October to Kathy: (She did receive it in November, I just got around to uploading it.

And...
I conquered Triangles!!
I'm still nervous about making them, but I'm no longer scared.

Show N Tell

2009-11-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

Here are the other things that I've been working on lately.

This mini is going to a lovely lady in a personal swap:

It actually has been bound already, just need to label it.

Here's a close up of the hand quilting:

And this real mini quilt will be going in the package as well:

For Scale:

For Aunt Pitty Pat's Christmas Swap:
I'm in 2 groups, so I need to make 24 9-Patch blocks.
Here are 12 for Group 2.

This shows a truer color:

4 Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap:
This is it unbound, I just need to upload one of it that was bound.

Idea for the Inspired by the Fall swap:

I didn't sew anything for it yet - just playing with some placement.

Some of what I've been working on

2009-11-17T14:30:00.000-08:00

Showing off some of the mini quilts I was alluding to yesterday.

For Dena: She should be getting this one any day now:
For the My Favorite Quilters 6" and under swap:

And the back:

For Jess:
The October (I was a little late finishing) STUD quilt:

And the back of it: (Hand Quilted)

For Kathy J:
October STUD Anything Goes - we both chose to do Halloween:
Hand Quilted:

For Ruthie:
6"-12" Swap Group - Theme - Hawaiian. This is a bit larger than the 12", its 16" and all hand quilted. In the center I quilted a dolphin, then there is a star, a swirl, seaweed and a shell. I chose bright colors because to me Hawaii was all about brightness and fun.

I'm so proud of this one I pieced another top and will eventually quilt the other one or me.

True brightness:

Stitching close-ups (some are in black and white so you can see the contrast):

And the Back of the quilt:

Complete - 4 Seasons Quilt Swap

2009-11-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

I am so very proud of this quilt that I just put the finishing stitches on yesterday!

I'm not showing it yet until my partner receives it - she should soon, at least in about 5 days or so. :)

My partner wanted a winter theme, she didn't want Christmas since she's not Christian, so I went with blues and whites. I also quilted it for the first time using Warm & Natural batting and that was a dream!! I think it's my new favorite batting. I did both hand and machine quilting on it and I'm super pleased. It's not really perfect, but it's been made with tons of love.

Catching Up Photos

2009-11-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

First:

Halloween:

New York:

Washington DC

And in Washington, just look at this architecture!

Phew - Finally!

2009-11-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

I'm so back. We had a friend come over from the UK and spend some time with us. I kept meaning to post, but when the hubby and Bob got together, I got all the baby care, cooking and cleaning duties - no help whatsoever! Plus, then I had stuff to do for work, and that's a ton of stuff, especially since it's the end of the marking period.

We had a great Halloween, Jellybean went as Elmo! I'll get some pictures up soon. :)

October must be giveaway month

2009-10-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Wowzers - are there a lot of Giveaways in October. I just mailed out my mini quilt to AnneLise from my giveaway. I think my next Giveaway will be at some point in the new year - or maybe when I hit 150 posts.

For the first giveaway - go to..
Opal Moon Enchantments

And look at this one:

Raggedy Anne Giveaway
It ends on Oct 12th - so just get in on it while you can!

Blue is Bleu She's giving away an AMAZING table runner - which would look perfect in my house. :)

Patch Andi Wowie! What an amazing messenger bag she's giving away. Go - follow her blog, she's awesome!

And don't forget:
RS Island Crafts

And ANOTHER great giveaway - (but I really wanna win the dollie!!)
Angie's Raggedy Patch

Quick & Easy Elmo and Cookie Monster Cross Stitch

2009-10-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

This was a mini project that I did for little JellyBean. She loves ELMO! So I came up with the pattern from a tiny web graphic I saw and just stitched it out. Took about 3 hours in total.

I got a cheap dollar store frame and just popped it in the frame. Here it is hanging up above JellyBean's crib. Now she wakes up and stands up to look and point at Elmo. You can hear her squealing and it's just totally adorable.

And here's the Cookie Monster one. I also used a computer web graphic to help me come up with this pattern.

First Snowfall is DONE! And a WIP

2009-10-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just have to add the label to it and then I can show everyone! Next time I get it in my head to hand quilt with metallic thread, just smack me. It was so tough to get the quilting right with it. After one swirl, I realized I needed to double the thread (I know Quilt Police.. I know) but I was constantly breaking the thread and the only way I could get it to work and not break was to double it up. But in the end I think the doubled up metallic silver thread really looks awesome, and it looks like swirly snowflakes quilted in..

Hehe.. you have to wait until tomorrow to see the final photos.

And now, I've got no idea what to do with it, or where to put it. Terry and I moved into our house at the end of June, so our walls are still pretty bare.. and I'd like to keep it up for all of winter I think.

And just for fun.. here's Terry and me:

This is the WIP I was mentioning before:

This is going to probably also be hand quilted - the blocks are 12.5 inches each. Terry wanted me to make it for our wedding - 3 years ago! Oops.. I never finished it. I'm unsure of what design to quilt in it, I was thinking in each of the larger blocks something that is representative of us.. maybe in one block an outline of the USA, and one of the UK.. maybe an airplane, I'm just not sure. The quilt is about 120x120 without an extra border, and maybe I won't add one. I'm unsure about that. What would you do?

Butterfly Garden - Is Flying

2009-10-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Garden is flying to its new home in California. I got the binding on it, and I'm pretty proud of my binding and corners on this one. And the label I made into the shape of a butterfly.

I've got a few new things coming up for ya'll to see tomorrow..

But.. adios Butterfly Garden!

And.. one more corner of hand stitching to go, then I'm able to bind First Snowfall. Only 3 more swirls to go!

And for the back - you can see the metallic thread here better:

Sleepy Baby.. now with 3 teeth!

2009-09-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Little JellyBean is getting her 3rd tooth, and she's super tired because of it. But, problem is, little Bean only wants to cuddle her mommy. And that means Mommy can't get the last of her sewing done. Mommy needs to send out 3 swaps, so they'll be done tomorrow night, no matter what - Daddy is taking over the cuddling business instead of playing on his XBox. Mommy wants to have a little fun too!

Then I just need to put the final touches on a few other quilts, and I've got 2 of my personal swaps done! Yay! Go me!

Then, of course, I've signed up for the STUD mini - 2 of them actually: Woodland and Anything Goes (Halloween). And in my 6"-12" group we're signing up for Hawaiian style quilts or Hawaiian Themed. Since I've never made a Hawaiian quilt before, I figure a tiny mini would be an excellent way to try it out. And I've got a TON of hibiscus fabric which will be perfect for a Hawaiian themed quilt. I know just what I'm going to do for that one - and I've started getting out the fabric for it.

Till tomorrow when I get to show off the final versions of a few minis!

Ornament Swap

2009-09-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ya'll need to go and sign up for this quick swap!

I mean quick - it took me under an hour to make all of my ornaments for this swap - and it'll look just adorable. :) I really hope we get 20 participants, it'll make an AWESOME lap quilt. Right now there are only 4 participants - so hurry up - you don't even have to paper piece!!

A few more things to show off..

2009-09-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

And here are a few more things to show off to everyone!

These two trains were made by my father 26 years ago for me to play with. My husband and I were cleaning out my mom's attic (at her request) and we came across these trains. We got them down for JellyBean who's 9 months, and she loves playing with them. It would warm my fathers heart to know that she's playing with them. My Dad never got to meet JellyBean, he died in 2007, and it means the absolute world to me to know that my daughter loves something her Grandfather made with love. You can see JellyBean's hand in the bottom picture. She actually hasn't left the trains alone since we brought them down out of Mom's attic and washed them off. I think they've held up well for their age ;-)

And a Private Swap Quilt:
This is for the lovely Spiced Coffee on Flikr. She's my California! She picked "In the Garden" as her theme, and since I'm not a gardener (bugs need habitats too!!) I picked two things I just love in gardens - butterflies and flowers.

Here it is shown just after it was hand quilted, and before it was bound. The large flowers are raw edge appliqued, and the smaller flowers are backed with interfacing and sewn to the mini by tiny buttons. It's now winging it's way to California where Spiced Coffee will give it a lovely home.

A close up of the tiny flowers. They're about 1 1/4 inches each.

The back of Butterfly Garden. I couldn't really find any good "garden" fabric for the back, so I went with one that had flowers and butterflies and lily pads.

Practicing Machine Quilting (And Hand!)

2009-09-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

By blog hopping by chance, I found this awesome site that helps show you how to do free motion quilting. And she's got some You Tube videos too: Free Motion Quilting

I've got an older machine, my trusty White, and it's been giving me some hiccups. I'm trying with it, but sometimes it's just sticking - and I've oiled it. So I'm going to practice with some of these new techniques that I've learned and hope my machine stitching gets better. But no matter what, I still love hand-quilting little projects. They're just so much fun and relaxing.

Speaking of hand quilting - I'm making more progress on "First Snowfall" It's almost totally done now, just a few (10 or so) more curly-q's.

Progress Photos:
The front of First Snowfall:

If you look close you can see the disappearing ink pen for my guide.

And here's the back:

I used the same white on white fabric on the back as I did on the front for the triangles and the borders. I'm really loving this quilt - but I'm not sure what I want to do with it when it's done. This was originally going to go to the Holiday Quilt Swap - but it's too small by 2 inches for the minimum size so that's out!

I'm working on the final one that will be going to my Holiday Quilt Swap Partner - that one is Penguins! And I'll have a photo of the 3/4 finished top soon - probably in a day or so.

And this is the floor after JellyBean reaches into one of her toy boxes.. Not that I mind in the least bit.

New Mini's!

2009-09-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

First up, a possible mini for the Holiday Mini Quilt Swap. It still needs another 3 inch border or so (or a combination of borders to equal 3 inches) before it becomes 16x16.. but I'm starting to like this one.

I do have 3 others in the works, they all have pieces cut out but not sewn together yet. What do you all think? Would you like to receive this as a swap quiltie? I'm planning on hand-quilting it.

And here's the start of the quilting (again by hand) on the mini quilt top "First Snowfall"

Here's a different view. I'm quilting a swirly snowflake in it.

...and....
Quilted New Jersey:

I drew the pattern for NJ freehand on paper, and then decided that I wanted to applique it on, so I used my trusty machine and machine appliqued it. But since New Jersey's nickname is the "Garden State" and I had a few 4.5 or 5 inch squares of strawberry fabric, and some floral fabric left, I chose to make it a true, "Garden State"

And the label for the quilt (not yet attached) is in the shape of NJ too. I'll post that once it's attached to the quiltie.

Yay!

2009-09-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Yay! Some people want to swap with me! :) I'm in talks with a few people, and so far it looks like I have:
1 - Canada - Newfoundland (confirmed Trade, due in Feb 2010)
1 - MO (confirmed Trade, no date set yet)
1 - Portugal (confirmed trade - December)
1 - Wales (confirmed Trade - Nov-Dec)
1 - Singapore (confirmed Trade - no date set yet/Dec 09?)
1 - North Carolina (confirmed Trade, due in Feb 2010)
1 - IN (confirmed Trade, due in Dec 2009)

I've got some ideas for everyone's mini so far and I can probably have one done a week as long as I get some sewing time in every night.

I finished the handquilting on my giveaway quilt, and that's going in the mail the end of this week, just need to bind it and then it's 100% done. :) Yay! She'll be getting that soon. It took me a little longer than expected but it's 99% done now!

Wanna Swap?

2009-09-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my Flikr profile, and I thought maybe I'd get some more exposure if I post here too.

One of my goals is to swap a mini quilt (15x15 - 20x20 inch or under) with someone from every state in the USA and as many countries as possible - so if you're interested in swapping with me, please just leave a comment here or email me: cashew22206 AT yahoo DOT com. I'm in NJ, USA and obviously willing to ship internationally. And, if your state or country is already mentioned, just message me anyway - I'd love to swap with whoever wants to swap with me. And if you're a newbie to quilting, I still wanna swap!

Totals So Far:
States = 1/50 (California!)
Countries = 0

And here's a general thing of what I like and don't like.
As for colors I like, I like it all. I'm not overly fond of pepto-bismal pink and vomit green, but other than that I'll love it (Oh, I'm not really a fan of Amy Butler fabrics, but they are growing on me). I'm a big fan of trying my own things, and putting my own twists on traditional blocks. Every time I go to work with triangles, my points are off by a bit, no matter how many times I measure, or re-measure and press. I can't seem to get them right. I'm trying though. I'm not a fan of clowns at all. When I was little I was dropped by one, and ever since then I've been freaked out with them. I hyperventilate when I'm in the same room as one and have to leave.

Phew - I can show off!

2009-09-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

On Flikr there's a swap group called Swap Till U Drop (STUD) and I participated in my first swap with them for September. I picked the theme Anything Goes and got my partner, quiltinlady21. We were partnered up on the 1st, and I mailed out my quilt on Monday the 14th! Quiltinlady21 mailed hers out to me on Friday the 11th, and I got mine on Saturday.

Here's what I got:
The absolutely gorgeous front:

And the back:

And this is the one that I sent out. I called it Autumn Moon. It was inspired by a free stained glass pattern I found online. It was the first time that I'd tried a machine applique and hand-quilting on something this small! I'm super duper proud of it (It was so hard to let it go, but I know it's in a great new home)

Close up of the machine applique and hand quilting:

And the back. I wanted the label to be creative, so I free hand drew the same pattern on the front for the label.

And this one is going to be going to my Stitchers Angel. The theme is Roses, and I had some scraps of rose fabrics left, so I decided to make a mini quilt. It's teeny tiny - only 6" square. Super fun to make, I hope she likes it.

And, I won a coin purse from this giveaway!
Giveaway - Ends 9 Sept

I'm now patiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Well, maybe not so patiently, but I am waiting. :)

Phew.. Real Life!

2009-09-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, does real life keep you busy! JellyBean started to walk! Yes, no one or two steps - but 8 for the first few times. I can't believe she's going to be 9 months old on the 15th! Wow has the time flown. My little girl has started to grow up :(. I wanna keep her little!!

And as for my projects, I've gotten a lot done but since I've been taking so many pictures of the baby, the battery died. its charging right now, so in an hour or so there will be pictures!

I won!

2009-08-29T08:49:00.001-07:00

EEEKK! I'm so excited, I won two burlap stitchery pieces from Rhonda over at Ravelly1-QuiltzBlog You can see what I won: HERE Aren't they beautiful?? This is the first time I've won anything, and I think it's an awesome win. I'm so so happy. Thank you Rhonda!

And on another happy note, I've almost finished hand quilting the gift for AnneLise, so I can post a picture of that by Sunday night, I should have it done by then. :)

And for my Stitchers Angel project, I've gotten 2 things totally made, and one more is in the works. I really hope she likes what I'm making for her. I think my big problem is knowing when to say I've made enough.

Last night Terry surprised me by coming home three hours early and he took me out on a date. We only went to a mall about an hour drive away, but it was so nice to have my mom watch JellyBean while Terry and I spent time alone. Then we even went out to dinner just the two of us - and it was superb. For my birthday in February Terry got me a $50 gift card to Borders bookstore, and I'd used some of it, but last night I got 3 different quilting magazines so now I've got a bunch more projects that have been added to my "To Do" list.

What's on your to do lists? Maybe that'll become another post, a link to all my projects on my "To Do" list. :)

Also - you just have to go HERE There is a fabulous giveaway that ends on 9 September.

Back from DC!

2009-08-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

We're back from Washington, and wow, it was a really fun day. It rained a little, and we walked a ton, but it was so much fun. Terry and I went to DC for our honeymoon, and we stayed in the Willard Intercontinental. That is one amazing hotel to stay in. Bloody expensive, but beautiful. And while we were there, we ate at Cafe Du Parc. Terry and I got back and were telling my mom all about how good the food is there, and we were hoping that we didn't inflate the food in her mind. But we ate there again, had the mussels and WOW.. were they amazing. Mom is still raving about them. I'm just so glad that we made her happy.

Mom went to the Vietnam Memorial, and found her friend David Tesh's name. He's on panel 8W, line 33 of the Wall. She ran her hand over his name and filled up with tears. I find it incredibly sad that there are so many names there, and there are still so many men who haven't come home, and are forever missing.

On a lighter note, I'm almost done with the quilting on AnneLise's gift that she won through my giveaway, and then that's going in the mail. My Scrappy Christmas Blocks got delayed a day or two, JellyBean has been super needy the last few days and I didn't get the time to trim them up to size, but as soon as I do, my envelopes are going in the post. I've got the envelopes all written out.

I've started some work on my Stitchers Angel parcel too, it's not bad, it's getting there. I have however not been able to figure out the first project for the life of me. It wasn't clicking in my head, so I might do something different - even though I love the look of that bag. I might have to try it a different way.

And the 4Seasons Holiday Quilt Swap Quilt is in the process of being quilted. I had so much inspiration on it, it'll be done and then I'll just have to remember to mail it out in October! Chalk one up for me on being early. :D

I'll be back with some pictures later.

Ho Hum

2009-08-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's what I'm feeling. Ho hum. Yesterday I was feeling awful about things in general. I've had to do so much stuff around the house, and I wasn't feeling appreciated at all. So I went on a bit of retail therapy. And it's funny because I've never liked retail therapy at all. I've wanted the new Sketchers Shape-Ups for a while, and I finally got them. They were so expensive ($104!!!) but I've been wearing them all day yesterday and so far today and I can really reel a difference in my calves, thighs and butt. Hey, if anything helps me to lose weight and strengthen my core, I'll try it. I really want to lose about 30 pounds, maybe more, and if these shoes can help, I'll give them a whirl. Plus, they're comfortable. :)

I've got a bunch of ideas planned out for the Stitchers Angel swap, and my Holiday Quilt Swap is in the process of being quilted, and my Scrappy Quilt Blocks are going in the mail probably on Saturday. If I can't get to the post office tomorrow, they'll have to wait until Monday. But all the blocks are done!

Terry, JellyBean and I are taking my mom to Washington DC on Saturday for my mom's birthday. The last time my mom was in Washington was probably 15-18 years ago, and she has never seen the World War II memorial, and she doesn't remember the Vietnam Memorial. So as a birthday gift to her Terry and I are taking her down to DC. My grandfather (Mom's father) fought and came home from WWII, and my other grandfather was a POW and KIA during WWII, so my father never knew his dad. My dad was born while his father was overseas and right before my dad's family found out that his father was MIA. So I think it'll be a beautiful thing for my mom to see the WWII Memorial. I know when Terry and I saw it in 2007 I just broke down crying because it was so powerful. And my father was not allowed to go to Vietnam because of the fact that his father died in action. The Navy didn't allow my father to enlist; and my father lost a lot of his friends in Nam. So when I went to the Vietnam Memorial I made an etching of my fathers friends names. Daddy died in May 2007, and I really miss him.

One Mini Quilt Top Done!

2009-08-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! JellyBean went to bed last night at 8:30, and Terry went to bed right after because he was tired from all the driving he did on Saturday and playing in the pool with JellyBean and my mom yesterday so I got some sewing time in! I'm so excited.

I was going to send this quiltie away for the Holiday/Winter Quilt Swap, but I made another one that I think is going to be much better because it'll have some more space for me to quilt. So this is a quiltie that I'm going to keep and use as a wall hanging. But I got 2 mini quilt tops done yesterday, and the pieces for my grandmothers eyeglass case are cut out and ready to be quilted.

So here's my Quilt Top. I'm calling it First Snowfall.
I went from these:

To:

And finally:

To give you an idea of how tiny the blue pieces are, I cut them into 1 inch strips, so they're about a 1/2 inch finished.

And here's the only sneak peak that I'm giving for the Holiday/Winter Quilt Swap. I've taken most of your suggestions and am going to quilt this up in a day or so (maybe tonight?)

And a photo of my little dollar store pail that I filled with scraps and garbage during my quilting last night:

And if you get a chance - go here: Prairies Edge Primitives for a chance to win a gorgeous pin keep.

Making Progress

2009-08-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

It's been super warm the last two days, and I didn't write yesterday because it was my great-uncle's 80th birthday. So we got asked to bring JellyBean up to North Jersey for Uncle Pauls party. JellyBean had a great time, she was the talk of the party and she was having so much fun being passed around and getting some lovin'.

So I'm slowly making some progress on JellyBean's quilt, not much, but it's getting there. And I'm working on the smaller prizes for the winners of my giveaway, and I've got the mini quilt for Anne-Lise almost done, the top is done anyway. I need to quilt it up and then it'll be flying around the world to its new home in Norway. I really hope she likes it. Soon as I charge the battery from last night, I'll take a sneak peak picture of it.

I'll be back later on to update with some pictures! :)

And I joined a group on Flikr called Swap Till U Drop (STUD) and I've signed up for my very first mini quilt swap there. I'm super excited about it, I really can't wait. It's a wonderful group, I've been made to feel really welcome and just feel so comfortable already. I hope to be swapping with them for a long time to come.

We have a winner! and there's more...

2009-08-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

And the giveaway winner is.............

Anne-Lise

I went to Random.org and clicked "get a number" and drew #3. So I went and double checked who was post #3 in the Giveaway, and it was Anne-Lise.

**HOWEVER**
Since there were only 10 people who signed up for my giveaway, I'd like to make a little thank you to everyone for participating - so if you could all email me your snail mail address, I'd get a little giftie to you all in the post soon (by the 2nd week in September - I need to make them!) My email is terryandjennifer4ever AT yahoo DOT com - so just give me a little time. :)

Thank you to everyone for participating! I really do appreciate it, and I hope you like your little gifties.

Look what I found!

2009-08-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Baby Hands! These are JellyBeans hand prints I put on fabric and I've made a mini wall hanging for my grandmother out of it. So ya, here's JellyBean's hand prints. These were traced when she was 6 months old - so 2 months ago. Wow, has time flown

I finally found a Block of the Month that's free and "Manly" because Terry has been really bugging me about making him a new quilt. *Sigh* Yet another project that I need to do. I keep promising, and then getting sidetracked by an 8 month old.
Southern Gentleman BOM

And I know that I've promised you all a block of the month too - I'm right now in the process of putting together the sample block. I'm thinking to make the block 12.5 inches unfinished, so it'll be 12 inches finished. It'll have some teddy bears on it. :D I'm excited.

And ya.. I think I might have found a new little obsession - Siggies I emailed the blog owner to find out what size they are, and what I should exactly put on them, but these look like so much fun. I think I'm going to have to try one (or a dozen). Looks neat. :)

And I've printed out all these patterns, and I hope to embroider them soon. I think they'll be a gorgeous lap quilt. Gail Pan Designs I just hope I can get the time to do them. I really love them.

And just a quick reminder - my Giveaway ends on Friday, August 14th. I'll be picking the winner at 4:00 PM, Eastern Time. I'll be using a random number generator to pick the winner.

Sneak Peaks and more Progress

2009-08-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo. I realized as I was packing up my Scrappy Christmas Block Swap blocks to go to my partners, that they were 1 inch short. I thought I'd fixed them up, but I guess I didn't. So, I had to seam rip all of them and just have to add 1 more border to each block and then - off and mailing!

But here are the blocks so far:

And here is Aunt Janet's Dresden Plate in the process. The petals are sewn together and I'm appliqueing the center. No idea what color background it's going to go on, but I'm really liking it so far.

And as a possible quilt for the Holiday Quilt Swap - here's one sneaky peaky..

Possible Embellishments?

Or here's a pattern for the other idea I'm debating with:

Sewing Love.

2009-08-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

So ya, I've got a request to make a king size quilt for Terry's best friend Andy and his fiancee Lisa. Andy and Lisa live in the UK and they'll probably be coming here to the US to visit us around Thanksgiving. Since I've been on a roll making Dresden Plates I'm thinking that I'd like to make one for Andy and Lisa. They go together pretty quickly and I like the way they look. Only hitch - Andy wants an all red quilt. But I think I'll have to add some other color.. or my eyes will go nuts.

I'm making slow progress on a few other quilty gifts in the works. I'll edit this post later with some of what I've made today. I decided that I'm going to make my grandmother a quilted eyeglass case and a quilted bookmark for Christmas. You can never have too many bookmarks! And maybe a nice little fabric basket with some ribbons. I love ribbon.

And I found a giveaway on another blog. You've got to check it out. Come on, you know you want to - I wouldnt' show off anything that's not gorgeous, now would I? Go check out this awesome wall-hanging. It's a giveaway - so go and leave a comment, and maybe you'll win it. It's made by Sipiweske Quilt Designs, and I'm really hoping that I win it. Terry and I just moved into our house less than 2 months ago, and the walls are still bare - I've got just the spot for it! *crossing my fingers that I win it*
Sipiweske Quilt Designs - go here and leave a comment for her.

And remember, there's still a few days left to get in on my giveaway - just leave a comment and you just might win.

Winter Quilt Progress

2009-08-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've started on 3 different winter quilts, because I really don't know what I'm planning on doing yet. I'm considering making an applique snowflake too, but right now I'm really liking the look of this Snowflake Print Dresden Plate:

And then with some leftovers of the snowflake prints, I've made some coin strips that are 4.5 inches wide, and 2 inches high. You can't tell from the photo, but there are 4 strips here, each measure about 18 inches tall. I've got a gorgeous white on white fabric that would look lovely between the strips, - so I might do that as the holiday quilt.. I'm just not sure. Oh the possibilities!

And for my Aunt Janet - I got the idea while doing the other Dresden plate. Aunt Janet recently found out that she is in remission from Ovarian Cancer, and she absolutely loves flowers. So as I was looking through my scraps of fabric I found awesome brights - and the scraps were the perfect size to make into another Dresden Plate. See?

This is the photo of it not sewn together yet, but I've sewn the blades together, and I'll have to applique the center in, but I just love the way it's looking so far. I'm thinking that I'll make it into either a wall hanging or a table topper. And I'm thinking a white or cream center, with a nice purple border/binding.

I'm still handquilting away on JellyBeans quilt, but every now and then I just need a break. So far, it's the largest thing that I've hand-quilted.

Di - I love the idea of the pillowcases, I'll probably make some for the nieces and nephews.

And - Don't forget my Giveaway - Just leave a comment here!

No Stitching Today - and a Giveaway

2009-08-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, today was really a great day although I didn't get any stitching done. Mom, Terry, JellyBean and I all went out for a ride in mom's boat - and man, it was fun.

I got my partner for the Holiday Mini Quilt Swap - and my partner wants a winter themed quilt. So my brainstorming for that quilt is: applique a snowflake on a blue/black background.. or make a Dresden plate in 2 shades of blue snowflake patterned fabric so it looks like a snowflake and applique it on a white background. OR, do something with snowmen. I'm not sure what else screams winter to me. I've searched all over my partners blog, and I can't find any hint of a favorite color or anything.

If I were your partner, and you'd picked "Winter" themed, what would you like to see on a mini quilt? I know for certain I'll be doing 2 of the Dresden plate snowflake fabric patterns into a wall hanging, so if you leave a comment about what screams winter to you, you just might win one (or win a mini quilt with your idea). You've got until August 14th to leave a comment on this post until I pick a winner for the giveaway. I'll mail the giveaway mini quilt by the second week in September (I promise!)

Till later,
Jenn

Christmas is Coming... and I have nothing..

2009-08-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

Typically, I start shopping and making things for Christmas as of January 1. I'm usually done shopping and crafting by mid to late July. I do this because of all the great "after Christmas" sales, and Mothers and Fathers day sales. I also figure that if I spend a little bit at a time it doesn't hurt as much at the end of the ear. And then I can buy something when I have the money for it rather than putting things on a credit card. This year, I haven't even started shopping or making things. I actually don't have anything made, and only 2 gifts purchased, one for my mom and one little giftie for JellyBean. To make things worse, JellyBean will be turning 1 on Dec 15th! I'm not so worried about that, but in my family Christmas is a huge deal. I mean, everyone spends a ton of time on decorating, and thinking about giving people gifts. I inherited the shopping and making early from my mom, who learned from my grandmother. They're both almost done with their shopping, but I'm not. I do think I have a pretty good reason though - I had JellyBean last year so I've been caring for a baby, and Terry and I moved into our new house. So ya.. but it's really no excuse.

My mom, grandma, aunt and I are similar in a lot of ways. We all love Snowmen (I LOVE them!!!), Penguins (Love) and Gingerbread men/women (feel the love!). None of us do the overly religious decorations. There's so much else that we love too, but those are the big ones for decorating for Christmas. I really want to make something for everyone in my family for Christmas, but I don't know how on Earth I'll be able to get 35+ gifts handmade. And to me, that's the whole purpose of Christmas - giving of yourself.

So here's my potential list of gifts to make:
Mom - candle mat (with snowmen?), she does needlepoint
Nana - maybe a new eyeglass case? (anyone know of a nice free pattern?) I mean, Nana is 86 years old - what do you make her? (I've already made her 2 quilts and 3 bags)
Aunt Janet - _______________________ (she loves cats, prim.. any ideas for free patterns), blue and white
Terry (the DH, he's English but moved to the USA to be with me - so I was thinking something with the Union Jack?)- he loves all things computers, video games, but I don't know what to do that I haven't already done :(
Sandi - one of my best friends - she's a stitcher, she loves cross-stitch, so I was thinking a pin-cushion or a needle keeper?
Autumn - she's my 8 year old niece, do you think a crayon keeper would be good?
Aunt Missy - I have NO idea! she loves cats, and going to yard sales.
Elizabeth - my cousin. She's a teachers aide (I'm a teacher, so I've already done all of the school stuff) and she's super eclectic, plus I already made her a quilt.
Amanda - cousin. she plays bagpipes - and I have no idea!
Ronnie - 10 year old nephew. I have no idea either.
Aunt Peggy - my godmother and a nun. She's Irish and she's already gotten all the Irish gifts I can think of from hats, quilts, totes to flip flops with shamrocks. So it can't be something that's Irish, I think she needs a change of pace. :) LOL

I think for the rest of the people on the list, I'll make a tote or purse since they haven't gotten one from me yet.

I've got the perfect idea for the Stitchers Angel Swap. In fact, I've already made one mini project for it, and I've got part of the pattern cut out for the Holiday Quilt Swap Mini Quilt. That one is my own pattern and I'm so super excited for it. Though, once I find out who my partner is for the HQS, I may change up my idea.

I'll come back later and update if I get more progress on any of my projects and any more ideas.

Halfway There!

2009-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've made considerable progress on JellyBean's quilt. I'm a little over halfway there with quilting the blocks - I've got 17 out of 30 done! :) Yay! Go me. :) I've still got no idea whatsoever for quilting in the border, I might have to bust out my stash of stencils for that.. but then again I really like the idea of quilting quotes from the book on 3 sides. her name is definitely going to be quilted on the top border of the quilt.

So yea, I'm working on it.

Project 1 Completed - Scrappy Christmas Blocks. Will post a photo later tonight.

WIPS:
JellyBean's Beatrix Potter Quilt (Goal - Finish before September 1)
King Size Irish Chain (Needs to be quilted, labeled and bound)

And of course (like I really need another swap - but this looks too good to pass up!) I found this one:

And I really want to join it, but I'm not sure if I pre-made a bag if my partner would like it or not. I think I'd want to tailor the bag I make to my partners likes and dislikes. But I still want to join. I'll be able to know for certain if I can join in on the swap by Friday. Would anyone even like a tote made by me? I always feel super nervous when giving gifts to people, like they're not going to live up to an expectation.. anyone else feel that way?

Scrappy Christmas Swap Blocks are Done!

2009-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! As soon as I get my swap partners (there will be 6 of you because I signed up to make 12 blocks!) your blocks will be going in the mail! I finished all the blocks this morning while JellyBean went down for a nap which she hardly ever does. She slept for 30 minutes and in that time I got to finish the last of the blocks for the swap. I'm charging up the camera battery and then I'll take a picture for you all to see. I had such fun making the blocks, I made 16 of them: 12 for my partners, 2 for charity and 2 for me. :) I really can't wait to get the blocks and put them together into a lap quilt, or wall hanging or something for JellyBean! I hope whoever gets my blocks likes them. Some of the fabric I picked has a little glitter bit to it - thought it added a little pizazz.

Last night I made more progress on JellyBean's Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit quilt. I finished quilting 12/30 blocks, and still am unsure what to do for the borders, but I've got time for them I think. I'd love to get it done before I go back to work, because once school starts I'll be so busy. Here's the progress so far:

And JellyBean is now figuring out how to stand up on her own. She'll try to take some steps when you're holding under her arms, but her little legs give out after about 15-30 seconds. I'm so exccited for her, but scared for me that she'll be walking pretty soon. She'll be 8 months old in 13 days. I really think she'll be solidly standing and starting to walk by 10 months at the latest.

And I've almost finished designing my first Block of the Month for everyone. I've not yet figured out how to get a PDF file to show up here, but I'm sure that I'll figure something out for where to put it.

Till later!

Today's goals!

2009-07-31T09:30:00.001-07:00

I joined a new Christmas Challenge found here Di's Christmas Challenge. The challenge is to finish 3 projects in time for Christmas. Think I can do it? I've got a bunch of stuff to do for Christmas, I'd really like this one to be mostly a handmade one, so I'm going to really try my best to get 3 projects done in August, especially since I go back to work in September.

Currently I'm running a load of laundry - actually pre-washing the fabric I'm going to be using for the Scrappy Christmas Block Swap. Especially since I've got a lot of reds, I don't want them to bleed when the recipients of my blocks receive them.

Edited:

I'll edit this post later tonight with some pictures of my progress. Till later!
Jenn

Photos, Freebies, Idea and a Swap

2009-07-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Phew - the title of the post says it all huh? First things first - I finished 1 more block on JellyBean's quilt - I'll take pictures of that later. I need to charge the camera battery. It's coming together nicely, if I do say so myself.

I also made a block. I used up some scraps to make it, and now that the one block is made, I've no idea what to do with it.

Freebies: While surfing the web I found this site: http://www.lizzyhouse.typepad.com/freeabee/ <- all these goodies will only be available until August 15 - grab them while you can! It's got great ideas for all you crafty people. I'm sure some of you know about the site already, but I figured I'd share anyway.

Idea: Fall Quilt Contest <- I'm entering this one, I've never done a contest before (I've always been afraid of it!) I'll let you all know when I've completed my quilt. I've got a good idea for what I'm going to do for this, and I'll share some sneak-peaks as I make it. My goal is to start it this weekend - and since it can be a wall-hanging, I've got the time to do it. And if I can transfer my idea onto paper and then onto fabric, it just might look good.

My second Idea is coming together for the Block of the Month that I'll be offering here for free. I'm working on a sketch that can be used for Applique or Embroidery for a quilt block, or a mini quilt. I'm going to start the Block of the Month in September, I think that'll be the easiest thing for me to do, and put it up at the 1st of each month. I'm planning on having each of the unfinished blocks be 12.5 inches, so finished they'll be 12". And here's a hint - it'll have a teddy bear in it.

And the Swap: I've signed up for ModernJax's Scrappy Christmas Block Swap (see link to the right). It's closed for sign ups now, but I figured out some of the fabrics I'm going to use for my blocks. This will be my first swap in a long time - so I really hope what I make is up to par with those of you who do swapping regularly. But of course, I just *had* to buy more Christmas fabric, because you can never have enough.. or enough fabric in general. I don't need more fabric, but that's ok.. it's for all those "future" projects. Since I participated in the FabShopHop I found some amazing stores that had Christmas fabric for pretty cheap - so naturally I had to get some. But here is a sampling of the fabrics I'll be using for the Scrappy Christmas Block Swap:

Close up of what will be the center of the blocks:
This one is a little glittery. I love this fabric, and I've been saving it for the right project:

And I love this fabric too -it's SnowPeople!

All the Fabrics I've got so far:

A Few Close Ups of Bordering Fabrics:

And just for fun - my stash:

I do have more in a Rubbermaid tote, but this is the majority of the fabric I have.

Fantastic Deals! And an Idea...

2009-07-29T18:27:00.001-07:00

JellyBean and I went shopping today. We actually went out to get something for dinner - strawberries, mandarin oranges, lettuce, chicken and croutons. It was absolutely delicious, but I digress. So on our way, we stopped into a store that I've seen tons of times, but never actually been in. Today we went in, and wow, there were some awesome deals. The basic set up of the store is kind of like a Big Lots, but smaller - it's got brand name stuff at close-out prices. Of course, I had to walk up and down every single aisle, even if I wasn't buying anything. But then, I saw the aisle "Home Goods" I never ever expected to find crafty stuff in it - but I did. They had brand name quilting supplies for dirt cheap. I got all of this for under $15! In the kit to the left, there is a book with 17 different patterns in it, as well as containing 3 triangle templates for $6.99, the 3 templates at the top of the photo (two purple triangles and one orange diamond) were only $3.99! And the other two rectangular rulers were only $3.99 for both!

And now as I write this, I've got my hoop next to me, and I'm about to work on some more of JellyBean's quilt.

Question for anyone who's reading this - The border of the quilt is just a solid white - should I quilt her name on each side of the border? That's what I'm planning on, but I'm not sure if it'll look "right" having her name 4 times on the quilt.. What do ya'll think? If I take your idea, I'll make a little gift for whoever's idea I do take.

Now, for my idea.. I'd really like to put together a freebie block of the month for anyone to download. I'm not sure if I should do applique patterns for a quilt or wall hanging. What would you all like to do? Is there any interest in this? Just leave me a note and let me know what you think and if you're interested in it or not.

Till tomorrow!

Sewing, Company and Free Furnature

2009-07-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was super busy. I cleaned up the house because I was having company come over and even though we moved in about a month ago, I still have tons of boxes left to unpack. And that's kind of difficult especially when we don't have the furniture for three rooms. So I keep trying to put stuff away but I keep on moving things around.

So A & M came over yesterday to see the house (and my lack of progress in putting things away) but more importantly to spend time with me and the JellyBean. They got here around 3, so I cooked up some lemon pepper chicken with a side of pasta shells, a little salad, fresh carrots and fresh fruit. I really thought that it was good - I love to cook. One of my favorite channels on the television is Food Network. There's just something awesome about cooking up a good meal.

Then, A & M left around 5:30 ish, and I fed the baby, and the phone rang, it was Deb, one of my friends from way back in grade school - I've known her since we were about 6 years old. Terry (DH) and I moved about 2 blocks away from where her parents live! Deb wanted to know if Terry and I wanted to take her parent's extra twin size bed and frame and a lounge chair. Since free is certainly in our budget, I said of course. :) Then Terry got home from work around 6, he brought his co-worker over who's also moving, so she's taking all the boxes that we've unpacked so far. Danielle (his co-worker) brought her sister over and they packed up about 12 boxes!! Deb and her dad came over and set up the bed in the spare room and Terry and I took the baby and we went and picked up the lounge chair. It's got a little scratch in the bottom of it where their cat was, but other than that it's absolutely perfect and it matches our living room so well.

Then we ate dinner and I finally got to do a little more quilting. I got one more block done - not much, but still, it was a bit of progress. I'll post pictures of the progress later today. :)

More Progress

2009-07-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today was pretty busy. One of my friends from work invited DH, JellyBean and me over to her house for dinner and some video gaming on the Wii. We played Wii Sports at the Resort and it was a ton of fun. I won the Frisbee game on it, and nothing else. But I had fun with it - and it was so much fun! DH won a few of the games, one of them was Canoeing and the other was Archery. JellyBean fell asleep about four hours into being there, so we drove back home. It's not a long way, but it was about 30 minutes of a sleeping baby in the car. She hadn't napped at all since getting up at 6 AM, so it was a nice little break for Mommy and Daddy.

Tomorrow I have 3 more of my co-workers coming over to have a mini house-warming party. There are still a bunch of boxes in one room, but overall I think that I have gotten the house to a relatively neat and orderly state. It always seems like there is just "one more thing to do" before I go to bed at night. But, since having JellyBean, I've really learned to relax and let things go - or at least make reasonable priorities.

Here's the progress on the quilt. Since these photos were taken I've gotten 4 more blocks quilted, and it really feels to me like I'm making progress. I just hope to keep up this good progress and have it totally done before I go back to work in September.

And here's a few close-ups of the center squares. I fell in love with the fabric and wanted to make something beautiful for my beautiful little JellyBean.

I've got a handful of these blocks left over, but they're only about 7 inches or so(I forgot the exact measurements of the blocks) and I have no idea what to do with them. Any ideas? Feel free to comment!

And after I finish this quilt, I'll be making miniature quilts for Alzheimer's research. I've been following Ami Simms and her work for a while, and I decided that I was going to make the $1000 promise. Goodness knows I've enough orphaned blocks laying around and ideas to make some miniature quilts. If you don't know about this project check it out here:
The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Till tomorrow night! Have fun

3 hours later..

2009-07-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

With six phone calls, the doorbell ringing twice, a very hungry baby and lunchtime for me, I finally got one block totally done! Yay! I'm on my way to finally getting JellyBean's quilt done.

Here are my progress photos:
The one full block done:

Close up of the quilting:

Started Hand Quilting The Baby's Quilt

2009-07-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

Today I embark on a new challenge. So far, all but one of the quilts I've made have been machine quilted. The one quilt I did hand quilt was only an 8x8 and it wasn't really a proper "quilt". It was made when I was really young and I needed a doll house rug - so I can't count that. And besides, I didn't have a sewing machine back then.

Now, I've started the journey to hand quilting my daughters Peter Rabbit quilt. I started making the top before she was born and completed the top in November 2008, right around Thanksgiving. Because I was due in the beginning of December 08, I couldn't sit in the sewing chair for too long (I was *huge*!!) so the top went unfinished until now. I wanted this quilt to be something super special for my daughter - she's our first child. I poured hours of love into making the top, and I wanted to do something equally as nice for the quilting. But, as I got bigger and bigger, the less and less I could sit in the chair. Even finishing the top before she was born was a true labor of love (pardon that pun). Then after she was born, I was too enthralled with a new baby and I wanted to be with her all the time, so sewing and quilting definitely took a back seat. I packed up all my fabric and other sewing treasures and concentrated on being a good mom. In April, DH and I started looking for our own house. We found a house that we fell in love with and closed on it in the last week in June after I finished work for the school year. We planned it this way so that I have the summer off to unpack and relax before the school year starts again. So again, all my sewing stuff stayed packed up for the move. I've got a lot of the unpacking done now, there's still about twelve boxes left to unpack, but now I can devote some more time to sewing - and now I've got my own sewing space - not just on the dining room table anymore! When I get my sewing space up I'll post some photos.

So now, the hand quilting has begun. I think what I'm going to do is to quilt in the ditch around the blocks, and quilt her name into the border. I've got this awesome variegated thread that is purple, light blue yellow and light green that matches perfectly with the quilt top.

I hope that when JellyBean grows up she realizes how much love went into the quilt, and still loves it - faults and all.

Here's the quilt in the hoop:

Close up of one of the blocks:

15 minutes into the hand-quilting: (Apologies for the lightness. I hope you can see the stitches)

First Post in my New Blog

2009-07-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my first post in this new blog. A few years ago, I had a blog, but in the course of my husband moving from the UK to the USA, having our immigration interview (and DH getting his Green Card!!) having a baby, finishing graduate school, computer crashes and moving house (all while working full time) I lost the URL and password. So here's the new blog. I'm calling it JellyBean Stitches because I love to stitch and JellyBean is the nickname of my 7 month old daughter. My husband and I called the baby JellyBean when I first found out that I was pregnant and we didn't know the baby's gender. JellyBean just stuck.

We just moved into our new house at the very end of June, and it is difficult unpacking with a curious 7 month old who is crawling into everything. My goal is to finish unpacking the one room where all the boxes are before I go back to work in September.

I'd like to say that I'm a craft addict. I love crafting - I'm not really good at it, but practice makes perfect right? I cross stitch, embroider (still learning some stitches), do general sewing, and quilting. Probably like most crafters, I learned from a family member - my Grandmother. My grandmother is now 86 and doesn't really do stitching anymore, she's the one who taught me how to cross stitch, embroider and
quilt. I love the look of crochet and knitting, but for the life of me I can't figure them out (and I've tried the lefthanded books and instructions)

So I guess now I'll do a little show and tell on a few of my quilts. I'm by no means an expert, nor am I as good as a lot of the quilters I've seen online, but it's something I love to do - and that's what matters right?

This one was made for my god-mother who is Irish. It was one of my first quilts, and I created the pattern on graph paper. It's tied with little shamrock buttons.

I just adore this quilt. I don't know why really - the background is really kind of ugly, and it's super bright, but I love it. I call it my Hawaii 5-0. :)

Not really sure what I was thinking when I made this one. The brown is still one of my favorite fabrics, and I have just enough left for another project, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it since I don't have many reproduction fabrics left.

And here is a close up of a crazy quilted fabric postcard I made for a swap a couple years ago. Sorry the quality isn't better, but it was the only photo I could find.