Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of what I am working on for Trae. I am so excited about it all. I am loving how all of the fabrics are coming together. Some of these I happened upon very randomly and unexpectedly and they are some of my favorites.

Here are other pictures from our drive to California this past time. All of these pictures are in Truckee. We love it there.

Bella loves the snow just as much as we do.

Is that what I think it is?

Yes, that is my finished quilt. After only 19 months of working on this thing it is now complete! I am so excited to be done working on it. It is not hanging over my head just waiting to be finished. The fabric is Heather Bailey's Pop Garden. The backing and binding is all Paisley blue from the Pop Garden line. Since I am without a big fancy quilting sewing machine and sending it to a long arm was entirely too expensive for my budget, I hand quilted in simple straight lines. I like the simplicity of the quilting and how it does not compete with the variety and business of the fabric.
I am really happy with the way it came out. I may not do another hand quilted one for a long time.

Please enjoy the pictures!! I worked so hard! Yay!

New Fabric!

So I was out yesterday running errands. While I was out in the nearest city with a mall, I thought I would stop by the JoAnn's to see if they had any fabric that I just really needed. Well, turns out, they were having a huge sale on fat quarters!! YAY! .99 for 1 fat quarter. So needless to say I thought I should take advantage and get some that I liked.

I really liked the leave prints on this and the color is just so bright and cheerful. Then I started to think about the quilt-along I mentioned in my last post. So I picked up some fat quarters for that too! This is the whole lot:
The top print is so bright. The background color is lime green, one of our favorite colors. The bottom has pretty aqua swirl pattern.This top print is very unique. It has some yellows ans whites in it. I just liked it. The bottom is just some squares in squares. Pretty colors.This top print has a very unique swirl print with a dark and lighter green. The bottom one is my favorite of this bunch. I'm not sure why, I just loved the bright contrast and the style of the flowers.So what do you think? Will they all look ok together, or should I add another color to them?

Machine Quilting

Here is my first stab at machine quilting. I say stab because I think it could be considered a disaster. I can't really believe I am posting these pictures. My attempt is very humbling, but please remember I do not have a free motion machine yet. I am still working on a 60-something model Singer. I would stitch until I needed to change directions and then I would have to move that little lever on the right all the way up or down to change from forward to reverse and vice verse! Crazy I know. The hunny and I are shopping for a machine and are looking to get one in a few weeks. I was not trying to follow a stencil or pattern, just doing the pattern that came to me at the time. Some came out ok really, but others tanked.I think I like the flowers best, but only because my execution was better on those. I am not normally a flower person.Well I can just say this is a very good learning experience. I can do straight lines very well. One of the girls at the quilt shop told me I could even use masking tape as a guide if I just wanted to do straight lines. I think I may take her up on that until I get a free motion machine!!
P.S.- Don't laugh too hard!

Valentine's Day

I am so excited about this Saturday. No, not because it is Valentine's Day. Actually, because it is V-Day, I should be pretty sad because I am about 2500 miles away from my husband! Not fun. I will discuss this later. I signed myself up for a sewing class and I am so excited about it. I have dabbled in sewing quilts for a little while. My first was one for my best friend's first baby. Then a big one for my sister's high school graduation, and my most recent one was a really big one for my grandmother for Christmas. Each one has been more complicated than the previous. The last one I actually did a lot of hand quilting for. I really liked how it turned out but I would like to get better. So for a birthday present for myself, I registered for this class. It is a really really nice and expensive quilting store in my area. They have absolutely gorgeous fabrics and they are kinda pricey so I don't feel too bad about signing up since I used money I got for my birthday. Anyway, I am excited to share the finished product with you all after Saturday!
Yay!! Picture upload worked!! Above is the fabric I am using for my quilt!! I am just so excited!