How I Spent My Summer

Woo Hoo! I finished my Kelsey's 3rd year of college quilt! You can see the first here

and the 2nd here

For her 3rd year quilt Kelsey picked out her own fabric. We were at a quilt store and she fell in love with the animal prints in Kate Spain's Central Park collection. I bought a layer cake bundle of the collection. I needed to find a pattern that was fast, simple but that would show off the beautiful fabrics. and I only had that 1 layer cake. I did decide to order backing instead of piecing a back or just making do with something that I already had.

I decided on "Flower Show" The pattern is from the Spring 2010 issue of Quilts and More magazine.

The quilt was soooo fast and fun. It finished at 67 x 98 1/2. I handquilted it by simply quilting an X in the blocks and sashing. I outlined the "berry" solid stripes and just did some straight line quilting on the borders.



The back is one of the animal prints front the collection. The solid is Kona cotton Berry. I loved making this quilt for my sweet girl. It is hard to believe that this time next year I will be finishing up her 4th year of college quilt!! Time sure does fly when you are having fun:)

Our summer is winding down fast. Cade starts school Monday and Kesley goes back to school next week:( I look forward to being able to post more!

Just Sick!

Well, I finally finished my Pinwheel Baby Quilt. This quilt will go to my nephew and his wife. Their baby girl is due at the beginning of July. The beautiful fabric is Moda Bliss. The sweet pattern is by the amazing Jodi and can be found at Moda Bake Shop.

I made a HUGE mistake on this quilt. My prairie points are pointing in instead of facing out like they should:( I didnt notice until I was hand-quilting the borders:( I truly wanted to throw up when I saw the mistake:( I have made this pattern before and it is such a stupid mistake:( I know that unless you see the pattern it probably wont be a big deal but still.....I really wanted it to turn out wonderful. The fabric is SO pretty and I love the pinwheels. I can look at it without feeling sick...almost:(

I really love the Bliss fabric. The back is a green that I found at Joanns. I didnt take a picture of the back. The quilt finished at 43 X 50 1/2. It is hand-quilted.



I am putting the label on today then plan on boxing it up. I'm going to give it to them Wednesday and try to get it out of my head:(

Happy Memorial Day

 We still have a sick kid  so today we are staying home and enjoying (cleaning) our deck.  We are planning on cooking out later today.  Andy is home so it is nice to have a full house!   These are the flowers that Andy planted on our deck for Kelsey's graduation party...way back in 2009.  They are so pretty and bright.

I am finishing the binding on the pinwheel baby quilt.  I have been fretting over the label.  I want to make a hand embroidered label but I can't find a font that I like.  I do know that I am using some of the cute, cute flowers from the Daisy pattern that I got from big B.  Love them!

I hope everyone enjoys this day with families and remembering.  I just can't think of anything braver than serving, fighting and giving all for our country!

FNSI Results

o.k., o.k., I didnt get much done last night. What can I say except my sweet husband was home. I did some hand quilting then we had some strong thunderstorms move into our area. I spent the rest of the night in the living room with him watching tv and reading. Not a bad evening though! I am almost done with the quilting on the blocks. I should be able to move on to the borders this week! and another picture of Wendy enjoying the creek! Look at that smile!

FNSI Results

Woo Hoo! I got my Pinwheel Baby Quilt all pieced last night. You can find the pattern here..

It still needs a really good pressing....

Hmmmm...

Friday Night Sew In

Tonight, during Friday Night Sew In, I will be making these pretty little squares into cute little prairie points for my Pinwheel Baby Quilt.



Have you signed up yet? Go here to join the fun!

Baby Quilt

I have been enjoying these pretty Spring Days that we are having here in Georgia! Also, my sweet girl Kelsey was home for Spring Break. It was so good to have her at home. With Andy and Joey working (and Joey treating this house like a hotel) I never got everybody home at the same time but it was a nice weekend anyway!

I finished piecing the Pinwheel Baby Quilt. I need to put the borders and prairie points on it but I took a picture anyway!

The pattern is by Jodi and found on Moda Bake Shop.

I am also getting ready to start another stitchery. You can read more about it here.

Catching Up

We are still on "Winter Break" It seems more like Spring Break. We have had beautiful weather, highs in the 70's. We did have a "spring like" rain come through this morning. Sunny skies now though. We have our Spring Break in April...it will probably snow! lol

Jill's PIG question for this week is " What was your last finish? and. What UFO are you working on right now?" Hmmmm...well, I havent done a single thing on my PIG/UFO list! I started a baby quilt for my niece-in-law. This will be the first "great grand baby" on the Dillard side. They are having a sweet girl in July. I am using Bliss (LOVE) and Jodi's Pinwheel pattern from Moda Bake Shop. I have made this quilt before, it is a great pattern and perfect for a baby gift!

Andy and his brother took Cade and our nephew on a Guy's Only Day. I was happy to be left at home! They went to Dahlonega Ga, and panned for gold. Here they are at a still!

and Cade panning for gold. Why is it so hard for a 10 year old boy to smile at a camera??? or atleast try to look like you are having fun?? They all had fun and Andy said they laughed and laughed at the boys! Cade told me that they told alot of jokes but he couldnt tell them to me. Hope he doesnt repeat them at school!

I hope that everyone is having a great week. I dread school starting back:( On a good note, though, I am going to go to a new bible study at our church. It starts on tuesday morning. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. Tuesdays are my days at the library..I will have to swap..Please pray that I am strong enough to tell the school "no" and go to the bible study. If I want to keep "Balance" in my life I have to learn to say "no" to the school. Now, that Sherry is back, I should be able to do this!

Back to School

Thought that I would share the little label that I made for my Sister-in-laws quilt. This was my first embroidered label. I was happy with the way it turned out. This is the little Sunbonnet Sue quilt that my Mother-in-Law and I made. Nanny hand embroidered the blocks and I put the quilt together and quilted it. We had the baby shower Friday night. it was beautiful and special. We are all so excitied for this baby!



Cade started school this morning and I guess I have the "empty house blues" It will probably get worse because Kelsey moves back to college on Friday. I know you hear it all the time but kids really do grow up too fast!

I am hoping to get some much needed cleaning done and maybe a little sewing time! Today will be the first time ever that Cade has ridden the school bus. He is trying it out this afternoon!! Maybe that is why I'm nervous and flitting around getting nothing done!



Have a great day!

Libby

Hating On My Baby Quilt!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th. My sister and her family came up so we meant at my parents house cause they have a pool, pond and my Dad is the best griller around!! We ate too much, shot off a ton of illegal fireworks, laughed way too loud and enjoyed every minute of it!!

I finished a baby quilt that I am giving to my sweet SIL. She and my BIL have tried and tried to have a baby and finally their baby girl is due on Halloween!!! My MIL embroidered these little Sunbonnet Sue blocks and asked me to make them into a quilt so that we could give the baby a gift from both of us. The blocks are darling and her embroidery is beautiful. I did think that they were a little pale and needed a little kick. I found the sweet pink floral for the border and knew that I wanted to use it for this quilt. I tried all sorts of fabric for the sashing around the blocks. I went with this green because: 1. I love this green. 2. The floral has little green leaves in it. 3. I thought it added a nice kick to the quilt. WELL, let me tell you! People around here have been hating on this quilt!! My husband and daughter do not like the green at all!! I thought about going with a sunny yellow or blue, maybe I should have. It is quilted now so I'm not changing it. What do you think?

Wednesday

Here is the other baby quilt that I have made using that same pattern. I have shown 3, there should be 1 more. I will look for it. I made this one for the same lady that I just made the purple quilt for. She took this one to an embroidery shop and had the babies monogram put on it. It turned out very sweet.



I don't have to go to the library today. I have a drs. appt. later. I plan on picking up a little and going for a walk. It snowed here Monday, Tuesday it was 70 and beautiful! My 3 favorite guys and I all went for a walk. Maybe I will get some sewing in too! I am embroidering a squirrel on a pillowcase for Kelsey. Squirrel is her sorority mascot!



Cade gets his braces tomorrow and we are celebrating by going to the movies to see "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"



Have a great day!

Libby

FNSI

Once again, I LOVED my Friday Night Sew In! Thank you so much Heidi and Bobbi for hosting!

I did not cook, I had a Doctors appt. so I picked up some take out on the way home! The boys were thrilled with that and my hubby was at the Fire Dept.



I got this little baby quilt all bound, washed and dried! Ready to take to church tomorrow!



It's from an Alex Anderson Baby Quilt book. I tried to show the hand-quilting.

After I was done with that, I started working on an embroidered pillowcase for my daughter. Her sorority mascot is a squirrel so I'm doing one for her to give her "sister"

It was a lovely evening here and today the temp. is 73 with a nice breeze! We are planning on grilling out for supper! We better enjoy because we are getting storms and cold weather tomorrow!

Can't wait for the next sew in!

Libby

Why?

Every time that I piece a quilt, I always, always, always go ahead and make the binding. Everytime...so please tell me why I was so happy to finish quilting this baby quilt, only to find out that I had NOT made the binding ahead of time??!! So, instead of spending the evening sewing on the binding, I am making the binding! Oh well..it has to be done.



I finished the quilting on this quilt because I have had some free time at home. Monday morning, Cade woke up with a fever. Trip to the Doctor and he has strep throat. No school for him Monday or Tuesday. I will admit that I have enjoyed having that boy home with me! I feel so bad that he was so sick! He is much better today and will be back at school on Wednesday. I am staying clear of the Library, and Sherry, until I am sure that I'm not going to come down with strep.

I hope to have pictures of a finished baby quilt really soon!

Libby

Sewing Circle

I finally got a little sewing done! The ladies in our church have been talking for over a year about starting a "craft" group. The have been trying to find a date, what to call it, etc. We wanted to have an event that any women of the church could come to and work on any kind of "craft" They struggled with the word "craft" They finally placed an ad in the church paper saying "Gather at the church to fellowship, eat and work on your portable craft. this could be sewing, quilting,knitting, crocheting, mending, scrapbooking, painting, tatting, embroidery, paper arts, jewelry making, etc. They sure tried to get everything in there!! Well, we had our first "Gathering" on Saturday. I really did not want to go because Kelsey was leaving for school, and I knew that I would run my mouth instead of getting that darn baby quilt done! I have been so tired from the library, I have not sewn anything for awhile! I really wanted to have a Saturday to myself to relax, clean up my sewing room and get some quilting done! But, then I thought back to how alot of these women have been so supportive of my quilting. They always make a big deal out of my quilts!! And, I have been wanting this group to get started! So, I got all my sewing and my little hoop up and went. I had a blast! There was a large group of women there! I had never met some of them (it is a big church) We had ladies quilting, knitting, crocheting, tatting, doing paper arts, one lady set up her paintings, and one lady cut out 3 or 4 garments to sew up later on. We did talk alot and ate lot but I got alot done on my baby quilt! I can finish it this week! It was wonderful being with the ladies and talking to them about all our "arts" I was the youngest lady there (we are working on that) so it was so nice to listen to these older women talk about how they learned to sew, knit, etc. Quite a few were shocked to see that I could hand quilt! I am so glad that I went! We have already set the date for the next "Gathering"

I am back to the library this week. Sherry worked some last week with her little chemo bag at her side. She is also having radiation. She will have the mass removed in about 6 weeks. She is so upbeat and such a happy, smiling girl! Thanks so much for your prayers! Some ding-a-ling picked our school as the venue to have a county retirement celebration event. In the library... guess who gets to set up for it?? Sherry! I am going in to help clean and set up for the event!

Have a wonderful Monday! BTW...I didnt take pictures at "The Gathering" but I will at the next one!
Libby

My Friday Night!

o.k. The next time I post that I am going to cook supper before Friday Night Sew In, someone please write to me and remind me that it is not a good idea for me to do that!! Because of Winter Break, the boys had ate lunch after 1pm and Andy had gone to a funeral home so we planned a late supper. That put me in the kitchen til after 7pm. My sewing room has real shadowy lighting at night so I have a hard time doing handwork in there.

I gathered my supplies early and got everything ready! Diet Dr. Pepper, a movie, chocolate and some hand quilting!!


I did enjoy my time! I'm not near enough along on that quilt but hopefully when school starts back, I will get more done! The movie was alright, the ladies were beautiful, I loved looking at the costumes, "King Henry" was cute enough to take my attention away from my quilting!! I will say the book was better.

I have my little embroidery bag packed and I am ready to go to my Redwork class this morning!

Thanks Heidi for hosting Friday Night Sew In....now, when is the next one?

Libby

TGIF

I am so ready for Heidi's Friday Night Sew In!! Yesterday afternoon, our phones and internet went out! There were outages all over our area! Everything came back up today around 10. I sure hope it stays up!! I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else works on tonight!

I have to work on the little purple baby quilt but I know that I won't let the night go by without doing some piecing! Tomorrow, I am taking a Redwork class so I need to get my supplies ready for that!

I am setting in a nice supply of diet Dr. Pepper, I still have plenty of chocolate from my Valentine's Day gift and I think that I may bring a dvd player into my sewing room and watch "The other Bolyen Girl" I am making chicken quesadilla's for supper. I am not going to get sidetracked with housecleaning this time!! I will post my pictures tonight since I have to leave early in the morning for my class!

Enjoy your Friday Night!
Libby

Baby Quilt...again

This is the baby quilt that I am making for a lady at church to give to her friend. The lady said to make it purple and girly. This is a pattern that I have made before. It is from Alex Anderson's Baby Quilts book. It is so so easy to make! I wanted to show my fabric choice. Andy thought that it looks too "old" but I think that when I'm done it will be ok. I have a purple gingham for the back and I will bind it in the yellow. When I finish quilting the quilt, I will cut the curved border which really makes the quilt special!

Here is the same pattern. I made this for the quilt shop to show off Moda's new on-the-roll bias binding. The fabric is Moda Shangri La.

Cade said that he would pose and act like he was using the quilt! This poor quilt hung at the shop for a long time then I brought it home and hung it on the ladder in my living room. It has never been used or loved like a quilt should be used!!

He is really getting into it isn't he??!! This little quilt is 38x42. It is hand quilted in a 1 inch crosshatch.

I hope that everyone is having a good week! Thursday is my last "free" day before the book fair starts up. I may not post much next week. I will be at Cade's school everyday. I'm not used to being away from home that much!

I am hoping that my sweet girl will come home this weekend! Since we are due more cold rain she will warm our house up for sure!!!

Thanks for reading!

Libby

Pillow Cases

I love the way my pillow cases turned out! I really hope that Kelsey likes them! Not only are they a special gift but I had so much fun making them! I also learned so much! Both patterns are from BigB! be mine pack. I used plain old white pillow cases that I bought at Walmart. I had to go to Joann's yesterday so I picked up two different trims for them.

My comforter looks dirty but it is really a cream color! Cream colored with alot of cat hair!

This is what my sewing room looked like last night! I can't believe that I made this big a mess just doing some embroidery!

Today, I have all my running around to do. We have a busy week with the book fair starting up and 2 birthday parties to go to. Also, a young lady from church asked if I would make a baby quilt for her to give to a friend of hers who had a baby girl. This will be a very quick quilt. She asked for it to be purple and girly. I didnt have any yardage of purple fabric so I had to go shopping. Sigh, such a chore! Anyway, I picked out a pretty purple floral but Andy says it isnt babyish enough. I will take some pictures of it and you can let me know what you think!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Libby

Pinwheel Baby Quilt Finally Finished!

Sorry the pictures arent that good, I was so glad to be done that the minute it came out of the dryer, I took the pictures, sewed the label on and wrapped it up!! I think it turned out o.k. The pattern is from Moda Bake Shop! It is a fun easy pattern. I did add an extra row to my quilt because I had alot of charm squares. I measured it after it came out of the dryer and it came out 40.5 X 50..I did not prewash any of the fabric so it did shrink some and is nice and wrinkly!

I hope the Mom and baby like it and I really hope that it gets used!

Thanks for reading!

Libby