Finally Basted

With yesterday being President's Day, my husband was home from work, and I got to work on some quilting. YAY!!!

I first had to rearrange my home a little to make some space to baste my son's quilt. What I would give to have a space like below without having to move my dining room table and chairs... 

Sorry for the not so great photos...they are from my phone. For some reason I don't think I took any with my good camera.

I was completely overcome with emotions while basting this one. It was very odd. I think it was because this will be my first quilt that stays in my home. It is for my younger son and he has picked out each fabric and had a major input on the design. This one has taken me yrs to get to this point.

When I turned it over after thinking I was done, I realized that the backing was not at smooth as I would have liked.  I am such a perfectionist and so I had to go back, take out the pins and fix the back.  I baste with a spray baste but am always nervous about moving so I pin it also but not with a lot of pins. Once I fixed the back, I felt much better and repined. I know, lots of extra work on my part but it is what it is. A little ocd I guess. This one really has to be perfect. Now to figure out, quickly, how I am going to quilt it. Any suggestions?

 

Linking up with:

 Randi from Fresh-Squeezed Fabrics.

 Lee from Freshly Pieced.

 

 

Love

 

Fifty years of marriage!  Now that is love!



January Finish!

I know it is February, but I did finish this in January and still can't get pictures that are really capturing this quilt the way I want.  For those of you who are new followers, this quilt was made for my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.  It is made up of 10" blocks that were sent to relatives around the country.  I requested they write a note to my parents and send them back to me.  My siblings and I (there are 6 of us total) planned a surprise party for them back in June of last year.  I was able to have the top completed in a short two weeks or so, before the party.  I wrapped it up as was and included the fabric I had chosen for the backing.  I then took it back and planned on having it completed in a short time after.  Well, as you can see it is still in my possession and it is Feb. (So very disappointed in myself, but hey, life happens...) 

 See, way too many shadows.  But no matter where I go in our yard, they are there.  Unless I go in the middle of the parking lot but as you could guess by all the snow in this picture, the parking lot is super wet and very dirty.

It is very difficult to tell but it is quilted in the ditches and I tried for the first time FMQ in the rectangles.  I will work on better pictures of that too.

I am loving the backing. Birds and flowers. Perfect for my parents.  And I do actually love this picture.

I love how the binding came out.  I typically machine stitch the binding, due to time.  It is so much quicker and I am usually ok with the extra stitching that ends up showing, but this one I chose to hand sew.  I felt it deserved that and couldn't bare to see the extra stitching. 

Looking forward to washing and drying this to see all that wrinkly goodness!

I will try for some more and better pictures too. I might have to go hunting for the perfect spot around town. Hmm.

 

Happy Sewing!!

 

Can't wait to dig into some fabric this weekend.  Hoping to work on my boys' quilts.

 

 Linking up with Finish it up Friday



Grow Your Blog

 Hi! I am Jean. I am fairly new to sewing and quilting. Have only finished seven quilts, but have a few in progress.  This blog is all about my sewing adventures and an occasional post about life.  I hope you enjoy what I have to share.

 

I started following blogs to learn about quilting. My boys asked me to make quilts for their beds and that is how it all started.  I started my blog to journal my experiences, and with the hopes of having followers that might be able to help if I get stuck. :) 

I do all my piecing and quilting on my very basic home machine. I love growing my fabric stash and have become very particular about my thread. I have discovered online fabric shops and have a few that I love.
I am a wife and mom of 3, love to play indoor soccer and will soon be training for a marathon. It has always been a dream of mine to complete one.

I look forward to finding new blogs and 'meeting' you.

Linking up: 2 Bags Full

Pinterest

Today I found three of my photos from my blog on pinterest!

How cool is that?

 

I am soooo excited!!!



A Good Year

So I am not going to do a post about my finishes in 2013 because I don't have too many and you have probably seen them too much already. But I am very excited to have completed 4 quilts, 32 coasters (I have yet to show you those so they will be in this post. hehe).  There are 3 more quilts in the works also. Two of which are really close to completion.

 

I do wish to share my goals for 2014 with you. There are a lot of them. Let's see how many I can accomplish.  Some are sewing related, some home related.

1. Clean out clutter. (Am off to a great start with this already)
2. Home upgrades: floors, heater, paint, interior doors, bath remodel, quilting/scrapping space redo (I am sure this list will grow, got to get ready to sell our place in 2015! Yay) 
3. Break out my new darning foot and finish my 50th Anniversary quilt.
4. Finish Little Man's quilt
5. Finish my oldest's quilt
6. Great Strides Walk to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis is in May. I would love to make 4 quilts this year to auction and sell with all profits donated to CFF.
7. Create a quilt label for Angel Quilts and find out about protecting the name or if someone already has it.
8. Train for and run a marathon.  Hopefully the local one in November.

 

Well, I think that is plenty. I'm sure I will add more as the year goes on.

 

Now to share my coasters with you!

I used this tutorial I found on Lori's blog, Bee In My Bonnet. I just love her blog. I knew they would be perfect gifts for the kids teachers. And the kids thought so too.  I had bought two charm packs of Scrumptious by Bonnie & Camille for Moda Fabrics, (love, love this line) and knew it would be perfect. The kids picked out which pieces they wanted for each set and for which teacher. The rest was up to me.

 It was so nice to see them work together. They didn't fight over even one piece! Which is truly a miracle when it comes to my kids.

When I was a kid, we had one teacher, but these guys have a teacher, or two and a paraprofessional (or two) and one has a 'grandparent'. So that makes for 7 sets of coasters. Wow. So when my oldest asked to make a set for the translator that works with a boy in his class, I was more than happy to oblige. What was one more set?

 That's a lots of sets of coasters!  There are two extra stacks of squares on that table. With the left over fabric, I was able to pick some for a set for me and even one more. (Those two sets didn't get made yet. I was way too tired.) Hmm, something to add to the list of to dos.

And lots of sewing. I really should have started this sooner.  I have two days. Once I started there was no turning back.

 Tops are finally done and now it is time to add the backings. I stayed up till 4am to finish these. I was exhausted but it was all worth it.

These next pictures are from my cell, so they aren't great quality.

 

I love them!!!

 

 



Needs vs. Wants

I am going to apologize for the philosophical post you are about to read. (chuckles)

 

I tend to say I 'need' something, but I guess I really just 'want' it.

 

There are definitely things we need, but those aren't the things I find myself 'needing'. We need food but we never really need the food we crave; pizza, chocolate, coffee, etc.  We need relationships to help us feel less lonely, but do we need certain people to be those friends or will anyone do?  I can think of a few people that I definitely feel like I need in my life. They make my life brighter, every day. Do we need the latest phone, car or toy? Or is it just fun to have? I need to clean my house, but do I really? It isn't dirty per say, just... cluttered.  A clean house would make me feel less stress, and more comfortable in my own home. So maybe I do need to clean my home. But I don't need that fancy tv. 

 

My boys asked me to make them quilts going on years ago... one is almost complete. The other, well, let's just say I have my work cut out on that one.  Then there is the anniversary quilt. All it needs (there is that word again) is some more quilting and a binding. The anniversary was in Aug, and the party where I presented the top to the couple (my parents) was in June. I think it is time to get it finished.  Sigh 

 

There are so many things I want to do and so many that I need to do.  How do I even begin?  I am so overwhelmed it is crazy!  So much so that I sit here at 12:30 at night and know that I should be sleeping because I have to get up in the morning and deal with my children, but instead my brain won't stop.  It just keeps running thousands of thoughts 'round and 'round.  I need sleep. I want sleep. But I can't.

 

What do you want? What do you need?

I want quilting time, I want a clean beautiful home, I want to see my friends more, I want....

I need air, water and food. Shelter. Wait... I have those things. I need to be thankful for them.

 

I want to finish my parents' and my boys' quilts so that I can start making more Angel Quilts. We need a cure for CF!!  That is a definite need.  But I have other things that I have made given priority to. When they are done, then I can quilt, then I can have 'me' time. Till then, I will continue to feel as though I need to do a better job at managing my time so I can do all I want to do and be the person I want to be. And that is... Happy.

In the mean time, I must not complain. I must not 'need' so much.  A very good friend of mine has taught me that. Live for today, not in the past. We cant change what has happened, we can only live for today and wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

 

(ok, maybe philosophical wasn't the best word)

  



These kids make me smile. Every. Single. Day.