Summer Sewing Mojo

I headed into a clean sewing room yesterday and tried to decide what to work on...I have lots of new projects waiting, but I decided to work on the Bloom Blocks from the Lori Holt Sew Along. I was pretty productive. This is Block 10.

Bloom Block 14

Bloom Block 11

Bloom Block 13

Bloom Block 12

 Bloom Block 15

 and Bloom Block 16. I have four more blocks to go. My machine started acting up during these blocks for some reason this blanket stitch is not a good one for it, but was the main reason I bought the machine in 2011. It is very frustrating because I already had it "fixed" back in March for $100 and that shop has since closed. Now, it needs to go to a repair shop an hour plus away. I made an appointment for when I go to my post op appointment on the 21st and busted out my Singer Featherweight for piecing at least, but all my appliqué projects will just have to wait.

I went into my local fabric store to check in and see how I could help prep for our upcoming local quilt show. They are participating in the national row along as well as a local row along. For the local row along, she had designed mountains and trees to go with our locale. I said it needed a log cabin and she asked me if I wanted to design one--this is what I came up with. I am really pleased with how it turned out. It was a little bit of a challenge because it is a 9.5 inch block and getting the sidewalk right took several tries.  Of course, the embroidery detail makes it so sweet. Now, I get to write up the pattern--another challenge.

Well aside from my Pfaff going down and limiting my appliquéing, I think my summer sewing mojo is back! 

Week 1 Summer 2016

My first week of summer is over--I don't count my two days last week especially since they involved surgery! This first week included my birthday and I hosted my book club. We read a pretty light and fun read

Although, it is a beach read, we managed to have a lively discussion about marriages and dating. I served amazing banh mi sandwiches with the pork cooked simply in my crock pot. Here is a link to the recipe:  http://www.greensnchocolate.com/2015/03/slow-cooker-pulled-pork-banh-mi/

I also made an ice cream pie using a tutorial from the Pioneer Woman on Instagram. I am thrilled to say I had no issues with starting to eat regular foods again.  By the way, I am tanyaquiltsinco on Instagram and I would love to connect with some of you.

Did you see the picture of the Summerville Vintage Picnic Box? There is a gorgeous kit to make it that was my birthday present from my sister. It is so much fun getting presents from fellow quilters. She also gave my mom the same kit for Mother's Day and got one for herself. We are going to have our own quilt along this summer. I am planing on adding a border of additional blocks to make it big enough for our bed. One of my quilting goals this year was to finally make a quilt for my own bed, so here is the perfect opportunity.

 My mom and I celebrated my birthday with a visit to the fabric store, the antique mall, and thai food from our local thai food truck. I found this great vintage picnic basket already painted with aqua chalk paint for only $12. The inside is in great shape. I could not pass it up since I am obsessed with baskets and it was indeed a "treat yo self" item as my daughter would say.

 My mom and dad got me a giant cutting mat for my sewing room table--5 feet long and a small cutting mat. Then, mom had me pick out some of these gorgeous fabrics to add to my stash. I love quilty presents!

I have been back in my sewing room being productive. I am comfortable sitting at my sewing machine, ironing, and cutting, but not quite ready to pin baste a couple of projects that I need to get quilted--too much bending at the waist. This week I tidied up my sewing room to prepare for a productive summer and made these trees.

The trees will be part of this quilt--Town Square from Lori Holt's Quilty Fun. It is so cheerful and scrappy--my favorites.

I intend to use mine for a tablecloth, so my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for June is to get this top pieced. Check out everyone's goals here: 

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/06/one-monthly-goal-june-linkup-goalsetting.html

I plan on working on my sheep--all that is left is to add in the flowers. This will be my project for Slow Sunday Stitching. Here is the link to more handwork inspiration:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/06/slow-sunday-stitching-needles.html

I am also up to some secret sewing, but I won't be able to reveal it for awhile! Have a great week!

Summer Begins with Surgery

Our last day of school was Wednesday. It was a great end to an excellent school year! However, I realized I missed more days of school this year than any year of my 20 years of teaching all because of my gallbladder. I saw the surgeon on Thursday and he agreed my gallbladder needed to be removed ASAP. I was begging for sometime next week, but he could do even better--he scheduled me for surgery the next day!

The surgery went well--ahead of schedule. I got lots of attention from the nurses as there were not many surgeries on the docket for the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend. I arrived at 11:15am and was home by 4pm including the hour drive home. I only needed ibuprofen for pain.  Aside from my incisions, I already feel better having my gallbladder out. My doctor thinks I should be back to eating normally in two weeks and be able to attend my week long training in Denver in mid-June

I spent Saturday in bed, but managed to start embroidering this sheep and finished reading my first book of summer. I think I will remain in bed today and keep working on my sheep for Slow Sunday Stitching. Check out what everyone else is up to here

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching-muscle-memory.html

 I wanted to share this sweet end of the year present I received. It was all in an adorable summery box which included a journal that says "Queen Bee," a monogrammed mug, a Starbucks gift card, and the dahlia plant. So thoughtful!

This week, I hope to feel up to sitting at my sewing machine and working on my Scrap Dance Tango project. I am also supposed to host my book club on Thursday and I hope I can pull that off with some help from making pulled pork in my crockpot and making my hubby clean the house. 

Have a great week!

Graduation Day

Today was high school graduation day for my only child, Heather! 

 

 We took a couple of selfies before hand--she looks gorgeous and I look sick. Friday morning, I was finally diagnosed with a gallbladder full of gallstones, so I spent the weekend in bed trying to make it to her graduation. I made it!

She was ranked number one in her senior class and has nearly a full academic scholarship to Colgate University! She is planning on double majoring in mathematical economics and political science.

 

 Here she is giving her Valedictory. It focused on not peaking in high school--it was a little "spicy," (her word for controversial) but got the most applause of all the speeches. I think everyone liked when she said, "I sure as hell didn't learn anything in American government."

 Here she is with her friend, Matt, he is a math genius like Heather and will be going to the Colorado School of Mines.

This is her and Kyle. They have been academic rivals since the third grade. He will be heading to the Air Force Academy.

 Meg and Heather have been seated next to each other for years because of their close last names. They will remain in close proximity as they are the only two heading east for college.

And last, but not least, here she is with her bestie, Lexi. She graduated early and has been at CSU this last semester. I think they will enjoy the summer.

I hope to get my gallbladder removed this week, so I can feel like doing something besides lying in bed watching TV. I also want to eat normally again--I am so sick of oatmeal and toast and would kill for a cocktail. The sooner, I can have the surgery, the sooner I can feel better and start my summer vacation!

I Joined the 21st Century!

 Happy Sunday! I confess, I have not touched any sewing this weekend. I am going to pin the Modern Herringbone Baby Quilt after I finish this post. I did pick up this quilt from my LQS on Friday afternoon. I made it several years ago when my friend still owned the shop. I do not recall what the pattern is called, but I made it from the reproduction section and it was my first time using my Pfaff for the machine appliqué. The quilt shop sold to a new owner who I did not care for and she is selling the shop to someone else, so I thought it was time to get it back. After several unpleasant visits, I finally got this beauty back. It is pretty good sized 65 x 75 inches after washing.

 I  am not sure who quilted it, but each block has a large rose and the sashing has leaves quilted. The small cornerstones also have tiny flowers quilted in them too.

 The four corners each have a rose quilted in them and they show very well in the black with white polka dots.

The flowers, berries, birds, and vines in the borders have been quilted around highlighting their detail. I like the black and white polka dot for the binding. I took these quick pictures with my new iPhone 6S this afternoon--I finally upgraded my dumb slide out phone. This phone takes much better quality pictures than my iPad! Now, I may just have to explore a new frontier--like Instagram. Have a great week!

Mother's Day 2016

 Happy Mother's Day to everybody! I celebrated yesterday with my mom. We had an amazing day quilting together--I got there at 9am and did not leave until 6pm. We did take a break to run to the Thai food truck and grab lunch. I worked on this Modern Herringbone Baby Quilt.

These were the fabrics that I started with. I think they look amazing in the quilt! The good news is I have lots of leftovers and I am thinking of making another baby quilt out of them or maybe something for me...

My daughter spoiled me today with a lovely present--some gorgeous bracelets, bath bombs, nail polish, and salted caramel cookies. We also went for fro yo, stopped by Jo-Ann's, and finished up at Target. At Jo-Ann's I picked up this lavender fabric for the baby quilt's backing and the navy for the binding. I am going to make a few herringbone strips to make the backing wide enough. The baby shower is Thursday--I am not sure it will be done by then, but it will be done before the school year is over! Have a great week!

May OMG Goals

 Happy Sunday! We have a gray day ahead with likely showers--perfect sewing weather. I made this sunshine bucket this week to donate for a silent auction to benefit our high school band. I hope it sold for a pretty penny...

 The last couple of months I have not set any goals for Red Letter Quilts' One Monthly Goal (OMG), but it is now May and time to go big. My last day of work is May 25th which means I will have a whole week in May to just sew and relax. First up, I need to finish these 24 Pixie Baskets. They are gifts for my fifth graders since they are moving on to middle school. I asked them their favorite colors and shopped in my stash to find them personalized fabric combinations.

 My second goal is to turn this fantastic grouping of fabrics into a scrappy baby quilt. This is for one of my coworkers who is expecting a baby girl in mid-June. She told me she was thinking of navy and coral for her nursery colors, but she also loves purple. I decided to add in some aquas. I think it will be gorgeous! I am thinking of making a Modern Herringbone Quilt like the purple one in my blog header.

My final goal for May is to quilt my Butterfly Garden Top. I bought the white with navy swirl yesterday for the backing. I want to use this quilt as a table cloth for my dining room table and I think it will be fantastic for summer. Join the OMG May Link Up Party here

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/05/omg-may-goalsetting.html

We are heading over to my mom and dad's for gourmet pizza dinner tonight, so I will bring my Down in the Garden for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Here is the link for that

http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/05/slow-sunday-stitching-muster.html

Have a great week!