June 2021

 

It really looks like a house! My house is progressing and seems to be on schedule. In one week they added the rafters, put all the outer wood on, poured the concrete for the porch and back patio, added the windows, and wrapped it in Tyvek. Inside they have added in the HVAC venting.

This is where the electric fireplace will be. The builder and I added the windows on either side to provide more light and ventilation as we were adjusting the plans--I am so glad we did. I also had the walk in pantry expanded and the front bedroom's window enlarged because it is going to be my sewing room--it also has views looking north towards the Grand Mesa. Great views and lots of natural light will make it be a peaceful place to work on my quilts. 

Since my daughter left for her new job, she took the Ford Escape we had been sharing since her return from college. She did leave her convertible Mustang behind which is so much fun to drive in the summer, but I needed to get a new and reliable snow car. I got myself this VW Tiguan on my birthday. Currently, there is a car shortage due to the pandemic supply chain lapses. There are not many cars available, so I grabbed one while I could!

I have not been doing much sewing as I am getting my current house ready to sell. I have actually been packing up my sewing room, moving furniture around, getting rid of furniture that will not be moving with me, running the irrigation water, and learning how to operate the riding lawn mower. There is still so much to do and purge!

Pencil Pouches 2021

 

Welcome! I finished sewing my 16 pencil pouches for my 5th graders this week. They are stuffed with pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, candy, mug cakes, gum, and a hand sanitizer key chain. I already wrapped them up and will deliver them the week of May 17th. I have packed up a lot of my sewing room and even got rid of my cutting table. My dad is going to build me a new one on casters, so I can roll it around in my new sewing room since I will have luxury vinyl plank. 

My foundation is in at my new house. This is the west side where my garage is looking southeast. My laundry room and master bedroom will be behind the garage.

This is the view from where my back covered patio is going to be looking southwest. My backyard faces south and will not have any houses directly behind me. Eventually, there will be green space, a sidewalk, and a road. There are a some big sky and mountain views looking south towards Telluride. I am not sure if the trees will stay or go--if they go the views will be even better! It is at the end of a culde-sac, so pretty quiet with no thru traffic. There is also good spacing between the houses which is not typical of the new neighborhoods that are going in. On my westside, there will be extra space between my neighbor and me because there will be a walking path. It should be nice and quiet!

Rainbow Baby Quilt

My spring break is nearly over and I managed to do a little bit of sewing. I finished all the muted rainbow blocks, appliquéd the hearts on, and got them all together. Plus, I pinned, quilted, and bound it!

Sorry for the terrible picture, there was so much glare I could not see the screen on my phone. I used a plush pink backing I ordered it online from Joann's knowing I would be making this quilt soon. I think I am all caught up on my baby quilts for now... The rainbow block sans the heart is from Bonnie & Camille's Shine On book.

I ordered some peach fat quarters for this quilt, but other than that all of the fabrics including the background are from my stash! The finished quilt is 45 inches square.

I am keeping up with the My Favorite Color Is Moda BOM. This is block 4.

This is block 5, so April is complete! 

I am also working on 16 pencil pouches for my 5th grade students as they will be moving onto middle school and I give them a custom made pencil pouch in the color of their choice with their initial. I fill them up with goodies. I have painting scheduled for my sewing room along with some other rooms in my house for the week of April 19th, so I will get the pencil pouches done this week and start carting my stuff out to the garage and shop in preparation. I am planning on purging more stuff---less is more! I want my new house to be pretty minimalist especially in my sewing room.

I go back to work in person tomorrow for the first time in more than a year. I have students to test and it is much easier to do face to face. My actual teaching will still be online to maintain cohort guidelines from our state. I am 3 weeks post my second Moderna vaccine, so I feel protected. I will continue to wear a mask and keep socially distanced, but I am really looking forward to being around other people again!

 

March Madness

 

Hi! Sorry I have been a stranger, but I am getting ready to downsize/sell my house and that is taking up a lot of my time. It is shocking how much junk you can accumulate in 16 years. I remember when we moved into this house, we had empty rooms--lots of them. Going from a 900 sq. ft house to a 2400 sq. ft house was a big change, but we have managed to fill it up along with the garage. We park two cars in the garage, but it is nearly a three car garage, so it has plenty of storage space. I uncovered things I moved here from California that I have not touched especially many UFO quilting projects. I will be donating them to some local quilting groups--if I haven't made them yet, I probably won't!

My new house is being built and won't be ready until sometime in August. The real estate market in our town is crazy with homes selling in hours--one sold yesterday in two hours! Especially homes that are in my price range. With the help of my friend/realtor, she put me in touch with a builder that was going to be building a spec home in the neighborhood I like the best. It has a new section of lock and leave homes where the snow removal, front/backyard lawn mowing, and irrigation water is included with the HOA dues. It is also very quiet and on the outskirts of town. So now instead of him building a spec home, he is building it for me! I have selected my lot, floorpan, and some of the finishes (I will get to pick them all out eventually and get to pick where the electricity outlets go).  It also includes the landscaping and sprinklers for both the front and back. I have never had a brand new house, so it is fun and exciting to get to participate in all these decisions.

My sewing room is actually going to be bigger than my current room and when I told my builder about my quilting, we decided to put an extra large window in it to help with natural light. We actually added in quite a few windows throughout the house. The whole house will have luxury vinyl plank flooring, so I am excited about being able to roll furniture around in my sewing room. My dad is going to build me a new cutting table on casters to take advantage of it!

The block pictured above is from the February block of the month (BOM), My Favorite Color Is Moda. I am doing the coastal cool color way for my new house. My current house is mostly browns and greens.

For the BOM, they had us do all the cutting ahead of time which makes it much quicker for assembling the blocks. This is block 2--it just reads water to me. There is a pond in my new neighborhood that I am looking forward to walking my dog around.

Here is block 3. I whipped up both of these last night.

I did make 2 more Labyrinth baby quilts in February and I already gifted one of them. Here is the other one!

That makes 4 of them in the same color palette. I bought a fat quarter pack with animal prints and with the help of it and my stash I squeezed out 4 baby quilts!

I quilted this batch more heavily and used gray minky on the backs.

I had today off as an end of the quarter vacation day and to get my second dose of the vaccine! It is hard to believe that a year ago today our school district shutdown and we went into lockdown for the rest of the school year. It is devastating how many lives have been lost to this horrible virus.

Today, I started on these muted pastel rainbow blocks for another work friend. She is due next month, so I need to get cracking. I am using the rainbow block pattern from Bonnie and Camille's Shine On book. I am going to appliqué hearts in the space under the rainbows. We have a big snowstorm on the way, so hopefully I won't get any side effects from my second dose and I can stay in my pjs and get this baby quilt done!

Labyrinth Finishes

I have two more baby quilts done and delivered! I used a pattern I bought electronically on Etsy called Labyrinth. It is charm pack friendly. I made mine with 36 blocks and they finished at 50 inches square. Here is the first one 

and the second one. It is just as easy to cut two at one time!

I ordered a couple woodland fat quarter packs in grays and blues also on Etsy to make these. Plus, of course there was some digging into my stash too.

I had mentioned in my last post that there has been a definitely COVID baby boom in my town and I need to make two more of these ASAP. I started cutting out more fabric for them yesterday.

I used the cuddly minky backing on both of them and quilted in a grid pattern with my wavy stitch. I bound one with navy blue Kona and the other with a charcoal Kona.

I have a couple of girl baby quilts up next--one in muted rainbows and the other is another Fresh as a Daisy with a greenish/teal background.

I decided to treat myself for Valentine's Day and I bought a kit for my Favorite Color Is Moda Sampler in the coastal cool color way. This is being done as a Block of the Month. I have so many UFOs, but I really want to switch my house's color palette to more blues and cool colors. I think this will work perfectly on my guest bed. I better put a new blade on my rotary cutter because you need to cut everything first which will make doing the monthly blocks easier, but is going to take me some serious time this week.

My school district has arranged for teachers to get our first vaccine on Friday. They have cancelled school for our students both in person and online to help accommodate our vaccine appointments. Those of us that are getting the vaccine have the day off and those that are choosing not to get it have to work at their school buildings. The district has also decided that teachers who do not get vaccinated will have to use the own sick days if they contract COVID, but those of us that get vaccinated and still get COVID will not have to use our personal sick days. For this entire school year, if a teacher got COVID or was forced to quarantine with their class/child/spouse their own sick days were not used. I am happily getting the vaccine and I will enjoy my Friday off to work on all my quilting projects! Stay healthy!

First Finishes of 2021

Snowy morning greetings! I finished three baby quilts this last week. I used one fat eighth pack and some blenders from my stash.

I set one horizontal and

the other two vertically.

I used minky backings. Two were a silvery gray and one was charcoal.

I quilted two of them with my wavy stitch in following the blocks going vertically and horizontally every three inches.

And I did one vertically with my wavy stitch every 1.5 inches. The design for these quilts is a free pattern/tutorial you can find here: https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2019/08/bricks-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

COVID has definitely brought a baby boom among teachers in my town! I started working on two more baby quilts yesterday. Both are woodland theme and in blues and grays. I cut out fabric to make them both yesterday.

I got the blocks for one sewn together yesterday. I am using a pattern called Labyrinth and I bought it  on Etsy. I ordered some more gray minky for the backings from Joann's this morning--my local store is out. I have two more baby quilts to work on after these--one is a muted rainbow using the rainbow block from The Bonnie & Camille Quilt Bee book and the other needs to be a mauve and green. I have to figure out a design and fabrics for that one! 

Have a great week!

 

Last Finish of 2020

I squeezed in one more finish before it is 2021. This is the Bricks Baby Quilt that I made for my friend that is adopting. This modern quilt really features the fabrics and comes together quickly. I used this free tutorial: https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2019/08/bricks-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

I made my version slightly wider, so finished it is 45 x 51 inches after washing.

I got my Pfaff back last week from servicing and so I didn't get around to quilting it up until yesterday. I used a charcoal minky and quilted it vertically with my wavy stitch. 

I need three grandma quilts for all boys, so I ordered in a fat eight bundle of On the Go from Moda designed by Stacy Iest Hsu. The fabric has cars, airplanes, street signs, tractors, and all kinds of darling transportation related items. There was enough fabric for two, but then I dug into my stash for some blenders to add in so there will be enough for all three. I have another charcoal minky backing for one and ordered turquoise minky for the other two. I might set one of them with its bricks going horizontally. 

We had to put our sweet border collie mix, Lola, down on Monday. She was such a fantastic dog and she had a long life living to 15.5 years old. She will be missed--RIP Lola! Have a Happy New Year!

 

My Sunday Best Sampler Finish

This beauty has been done for awhile, but I hadn't had a chance to get some pictures. This is My Sunday Best Sampler Quilt which I did as a sew along with Corey Yoder and Sherri McConnell. Here is a link to their book:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1683560043/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1683560043&linkCode=as2&tag=aqui-20&linkId=37671bc0274d9de8a9b499a7e2b99d24 I love this quilt, but I kind of regret not making it bigger to use as a bed sized quilt for my guest room. The navy sashing is gorgeous. I may just need to make something similar and bigger...

Rachel quilted it with a sweet floral pattern that goes well with all the Bonnie and Camille scraps I used for the blocks. I forgot to get a picture of the backing, but it is a gray with navy and white flowers.

I preordered this kit before summer as a birthday present for myself and I think I may make it larger than the pattern calls for my guest bed. Isn't it lovely?

One of my teacher friends is fostering a baby that will hopefully turn into an adoption. She and her husband are amazing people and will be fantastic parents. I asked her the nursery's color palette and she did teal, navy, and orange with bicycles as a theme. She specifically asked that the quilt included no name as once their adoption is final it may change--so no name quilt this time. I quickly ordered some bicycle fabrics on Etsy and looked for a simple quilt design. I found this free tutorial for a Bricks Baby Quilt: https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2019/08/bricks-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

I made mine a couple of bricks wider and decided to add in some gray fabrics in the colors. I love how modern and cheerful it looks. I think I am going to straight line quilt it vertically. I already picked up a dark gray minky backing curbside from Joann's along with a navy Kona for the binding.

Speaking of binding, I am hand binding this beautiful quilt for Rachel this weekend and she has another one almost finished with the quilting that she needs in time for Christmas. We have had some snow and it is cold, so I am happy to cuddle up on the couch with some cappuccino and binge on Netflix while binding. Have a great weekend!

 

Touchdown Quilt Finish

Look what is done and shipped! This Touchdown Quilt was made for a 16 year old foster child, Diego. I volunteered to make it through a charity on IG called @quiltforachild. I supersized the quilt by adding an extra column of footballs plus a top and bottom border. It is 70x71 inches.

I can't even count how many Color Catchers I used on this and finally I picked up a bottle of Synthrapol from my local quilt shop. One wash with the 2 teaspoons as it calls for did not do the job, but half a small bottle and another wash did the trick. Diego's favorite color is read and there is plenty of red in this!

Rachel did an amazing job with the quilting! She chose this football pattern that had helmets, footballs in various sizes, and whistles.. The quilting shows up so well on the red backing with the black thread.

The request for this quilt and quilts for seven other foster boys came out in September. The delivery would coincide with Christmas, so Gwen asked if we could include a gift along with the quilt. My daughter and I got several gifts and a stocking with lots of goodies for Diego too--we had to send everything in two boxes to Tennessee. I hope this makes a memorable Christmas for him!

 

Touchdown Top Finished

I finished this Touchdown Quilt top last weekend! It is for a 16 year old foster child who lives in a residential facility. I made it wider than the pattern calls for  and added an extra border to the top and bottom too. It is approximately 71 x 78 inches. It will get dropped off to Rachel for her to do her long arming  magic today!

Rachel sent me a picture on Monday of my Sunday Best Sampler on her longarm.  Do you see out her window? We got 10 inches of snow Sunday night and into Monday! Thankfully, our district called a snow day which was needed especially since our buses were already not running due to a COVID outbreak among the bus drivers. Rachel's window faces south looking towards Telluride, but this storm was worse to the north. For the first time in 20 years, they shut the highway down from Grand Junction to Delta. I love snow days especially when it made it a four day weekend--I had Friday off because of parent/teacher conferences earlier in the week.

I have quite a few UFOs that I need to make some progress on before I can start something new guilt free. With that in mind, I worked on some Farm Girl Vintage 2 blocks this last week. The ones above are 6 inch blocks--they are time consuming when they are so small. 

This one is a 12 inch block. I have three more 12 inch blocks to make and 13 more six inch blocks to make for the suggested layout which I really do love.

We did a grocery pick up this morning for 2 weeks worth of supplies. On almost every grocery pick up order since March, we get a cheese fondue because it is pretty much ready in less than 10 minutes and it is almost like not cooking. Our family loves the cheesy goodness with bread, green apples, and sausage. With dinner planned, I will be quilting and enjoying football. Have a great week!

Baby Quilt Finishes 2X

 

Hi! I have definitely gotten my sewing mojo back--likely only because of some baby births and feeling like I had to make their quilts. This is a Bjorn Bear Baby Quilt. All of the browns were left over from the two I made in February.

I love the one with the glasses. It measures 46x55 inches after washing. I quilted it with my wavy stitch following the seams on the bears. It is quite organic, but that is why I love to use the wavy stitch.

The back is the double sided minky fabric from Joann's--this gray has a more brown tone to it.

This quilt perplexed me--not the quilt itself, but the mom's wishes--gender neutral, but no specific colors for the nursery. I was like huh? I found this line from Moda  Zoology by Gingiber It's a Jungle Out There. Once I decided to order the fabric line, I started to look for a quick design. I decided to make a Stoplight Baby Quilt--it uses a jelly roll. The jelly roll I ordered had 40 2.5 strips, so I made my version a little wider than the free pattern. After washing, it is 46x48 inches.

I quilted it vertically every 2 inches following the seams. It is so modern and gender neutral which is what this teacher was asking for...It has a gray with a bluish tone minky backing. After three quilts in row with minky backings, my sewing/classroom needs a deep cleaning.

When I ordered the Zoology jelly roll for the Stoplight Baby Quilt, I saw they had some Bonnie & Camille yardage half price. The charcoal is six yards and the green is five yards--it will be nice to have some B&C backings on hand!

My family has really continued to stay isolated since mid-March and I really wasn't quilting very much until this last month--the few fabrics I needed I had bought online mostly. I needed to get a binding for the Zoology Stoplight Baby Quilt, so I went to a fabric store yesterday right when they opened. I called Friday and knew they had a Zoology charcoal gray print for the binding and I needed to get a binding for Bjorn Bears too. It was an in and out process with the exception of the end cap that had bolts--finish the bolt and it is 50% off. They had bolts of my fabric kryptonite on there--Bonnie & Camille. I did not even think about it and grabbed every bolt of B&C on sale plus the gray Moda. I had used that in another project and there was 4+ yards of it--can you say awesome backing? All the B&Cs were at least 2 yards--stash enhancement! I spent more than I was planning, but they were great buys and I was still out of there in like 15 minutes...

I mentioned in my last post that I signed up to make a quilt for another foster child in time for Xmas. Diego is a 16 year old that lives in a residential facility--the details so far are pretty limited. He likes football and the color red. As soon as I signed up to make his quilt, I shopped on 

https://www.thousandsofbolts.com/index.cfm?deviceType=WidePC

They have lots of wide backings, good quality fabrics, reasonable prices, and quick shipping. There are a couple of drawbacks--they charge for shipping which I detest and all cuts are by the yard. I bought the red at the top of the picture for the backing--it is wide. I also chose the blacks to go with the reds and the brown between the row of blacks and the row of red will be the footballs.

I am making this Touchdown Quilt for Diego, but it will be wider because I am going to add another column of footballs which will make it nearly square.

I have already made two of these quilts--this Bronco version for my husband

and this Patriots version for my friend, Richard, when he was battling cancer. I think it will be a great quilt for a teenager. If you are interested in making a bed-sized quilt for a foster child, check out:

https://www.instagram.com/quiltforachild/

I am off to vacuum up minky fluff and get organized to start making some footballs. Have a great week and wear your mask!