Tag: baby

What’s Going on here?

So, I have been working on this baby quilt. I love the cute whimsical fabric. I have the top finished. I hope to get it on the longarm this weekend. That is the plan anyway. It is set on point and a decent size for a baby quilt.

So, I have been working on a couple of other things. I am dredging up some half-done projects to try and get them completed. I am an ADQ – attention deficit quilter. Meaning I have to go from project to project. Some of them I am not sure why I did not finish them, others I know why. Hated them. There are a couple unfinished tops that I need to finish but refuse because I don’t like the method. Stitch and flip. ARGH. Not sure why this one bothers me so much. I am going to try and make a plan to get one block a month completed on that one. It would be easy to not finish it all, but I set out to make it for someone and I have bought all kinds of special fabric, so I need to get over it and get it done.

I drug one out a couple of days ago that was circs late 1990’s. Not sure why I did not finish it. Maybe it just got lost in the shuffle. Surprisingly, it appears that I had all the pieces. I now have all the blocks done and will get them together and put on the borders. Hoping to knock that out tonight. We’ll see.

I have had the orange nightmare quilt on my design wall for quite some time 1.5 years. Going to take it down, finish some other half-done projects and maybe get back to it. But, I need the design wall. I know I have at least one more where all the blocks are done. They are just sitting in a box.

I was photobombed by Ruger. He is our little tiny (8lb) Jack Russel. I often refer to him as “Tiny Dog”. He rules the roost here. Pushes the other dogs around (even my 80 lb lab). He is the only boy, so all the girls are his, including me and my daughter. He is very needy these days because Haley is away at school. He was my late husband’s dog. Haley is now his person. He feels it necessary to sit on me a lot. He does not take up much space, so not a problem.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

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Baby Quilts, my favorite

For as long as I remember, I have loved making baby things. I think it may be because both my older sisters had a baby when I was about 17. I spent every moment I could with the boys and as a teenager, most of my extra money. I wanted them to have everything, especially things their parents did not want them to have. Both of these boys are getting close to 40 years old, but I still love them both dearly today. I also made them many things. My niece and nephew had some awesome Halloween costumes. One year I made my nephew a dinosaur costume. The tale was so long and big they tied a roller skate to it so he would knot drag a hole in it. I did make my own daughter costumes (as long as she let me). She was an adorable witch and a pink poodle at one point.

About the Quilt top – I was visiting my friend Lynn and she was telling/showing me that she joined one of those monthly quilt subscriptions. She showed me everything that she had received. The fabric for the holiday baby quilt was in one her boxes and she said she would not use it, so she gave it to me. Thanks Lynn. I am not sure she knows of my affinity to make baby things, but it was perfect. It was also something simple for me to actually get done. The panel came with a charm pack. I added the green and used every piece in the fat quarter pack.

Monthly Subscriptions – I have looked at many of them over time. I had a difficult time finding one that I thought was a good value and have things I could use. So, when Lynn told me about he Creative Notions one, I decided to investigate. She had been doing it for a few months and showed me what she had gotten. Fabric, patterns, notions and cute quilter stuff (which I kind of like). The cost was $45.00 including shipping. So, I figured I would give it a try. If I don’t like it, I could cancel.

I got my first one. It seems like a good value. The makers planner is awesome. It has plastic sleeves for fabric samples, places to draw, planning pages. There is an entire section on abbreviations measurements. Mostly everything you would want to know. I really like it. I am hoping that I use it. While I make my living planning and implementing large scale IT projects, I find my personal life is not that organized. Maybe this will help. The fat quarter pack is so pretty. I will certainly use it. It came with a pattern and the first directions for a quilt along they are doing. I have not read everything, but will work on that. In case anyone is interested in trying, it is from Creative Notions.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

I learned something new

So, I have acquired quite a few fat quarter packs that have five fat quarters.  I wanted to figure out something to do with these.   If you only have on fat quarter pack of the same design you could be limited to what you can do.  I do love babies so I decide that I needed to find a pattern that was friendly to these 5 fat quarter bundles.  Baby quilts it is.

I could not find any pattern that was suitable or that I liked, so I made my own.  I really liked the dog fabric, so I wanted to make sure that I could showcase the dog prints.  I had a few issues with the size of things, so this is not perfect, but the next one, I will have just right.  I don’t have any fancy quilting software, so I was just drawing on paper.  It was super simple to make and with the 5 fat quarter pack and a yard of solid, I made a cute baby quilt.  I sort of like it.

20190618_191938I quilted dog bones into the quilt with my homemade dog bone ruler and put dog fleece20190618_191900 on the back.  I like fleece on the back because it is very forgiving.  However, I find it much harder for some unknown reason to quilt.  My shoulders are killing me after quilting when there is fleece on the back.

 

So, what did I learn?  I managed to sew the 20190618_192631binding on by machine entirely.  Never did it before.  Watched a couple of video’s.  For a first time, it is not too bad.  I don’t mind the hand binding on the back, but for some things, I think sewing it on is acceptable and I have to tell you that I have never had better looking corners. ever.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

What did I do this weekend?

I know you are all dying to know.  LOL. I made this baby quilt top.  I have some fat quarter packs that I have received as gifts and was trying to find a good way to use them.  I still have a few things to work out, but overall came out kind of cute.  I guess I find anything with dog fabric kind of cute though.  Good way to use five fat quarters.  I made a few mistakes in piece sizes because I forgot to properly account for seam allowance, but I think I have it figured out now.

I made the mistake of not putting all the pieces on the design board, so I have some fabrics together that I don’t like, but I will not make that mistake next time.

So, the Connecting Threads warehouse was this past weekend, in Columbus, Ohio.  SO I went, almost didn’t but then on my way home from something else, decided to check it out.  Glad I did and also glad I went in the afternoon.  Apparently there was a 2 hour wait to get in the building when they opened.  I am not patient and would not have waited for 2 hours to get in the building which was a warehouse with no air conditioning.  I don’t black Friday shop either.  I want/need nothing that bad.

There was still plenty of stuff for me.  I bought 18 yards of fabric @ $2.50/yd.  Pretty good.  I did have to stand in line for abut 30 minutes though.  I was a hot mess.  Next time, I make Haley go stand line immediately while I shop.  She tried to get me to go to the car and she would wait in line, but I toughed it out.

First picture is what I bought.  Second picture is the warehouse.  The fabric is on rolls, and there are rolls and rolls.  The third picture is the line which wrapped around the aisle of the warehouse and up another.  They also sold yarn there, lots of yarn.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Happy Memorial Day and a finish

Happy Memorial Day and to all that serve(d), Thank you.  My father was in the Army Air Corp and my late husband Derrick was in the Army.  I miss them both dearly.  The army Air corp is what brought my parents together.  My father was stationed in Germany when he met my mother.  They are all awesome people to remember on this day.

I made this quilt for a lady I work with.  She is having a baby in July.  I love babies so anytime I can have an excuse to make something for a baby, I am going to do it.  I also think a lot of this person.  There has been only a couple of times I have met a young person and thought to myself, WOW, they have their act together.  This lady is one of them.  Super smart, knows what she wants personally and professionally and is not going to let anyone stand in her way.  She is having a boy and the nursery will be Ohio State (another reason to like her, LOL).

I needed to experiment with batting and minky after the last quilt I made without WaterMark_2019-05-22-12-53-07batting.  I like it much better with the batting.  This one has minky on the back.  It does not seem overly heavy, so I think I prefer it to have batting.

About Minky….  For me, there are good things and bad things about using this on the back.  You can see none of the quilting on the back.  In this case it is good, because I quilted the babies name into the quilt.  If you could see it on the back, it would be backwards.  Love how soft it is for the baby.

Something I did not like…For whatever reason, I found this very difficult to move while quilting.  My shoulders hurt for three days after I finished.  I thought it would move more easy.  Nope.  I have my slider that I put down and it works perfectly for every thing else I quilt, but this was crazy.  Maybe between the slider and Minky it was too slippery and did not move at all?  I have no idea.

I really like this patter (see previous post for link).  IT is quick and easy.  I think it is also a great way to practice new quilting designs.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your Family

I finished something….and I can not get my act together

I finished the dinosaur quilt.  Well, that is easy when you get laid off and have no job. 20180917_133908 Right before the holidays.  Yeah.  Ugh.  Oh please, let me add some more crappy ass news (sorry for that).  My favorite uncle died on Thanksgiving day.  He was the last bit of my Mom that I had.  He had the best sense of humor.  He loved to tease my Mom (when she was still here), which us kids found hysterical.  He lived in Germany (that is where my other was from).  I loved when he called me.  He always made me laugh and it reminded me of Mom.  I will miss him dearly.

The picture is my Uncle Uwe, my dear sweet sister Kellie and my cousin Holger (who is coming to visit in August.  Very excited about that).  It is a great photo.  Holger and Kellie were about a year apart.  He came to live with my parents for a year and went to High School as a teenager with Kellie.

So, while job hunting, I am sewing, which is sort of good.  Helps to keep my mind of my super crappy life.

About the Dinosaur quilt (rant over)

It came out cute.  I really like it.  No fancy quilting, just meandering, which seemed to work fine for this quilt.  I pieced the back, which came out pretty good.  I find this adds personality to the quilt and takes way less fabrics.  I can use up random one yard pieces that I have.

I feel guilty for not reading everyone’s blog, I need to get back to that.  it is one of my happy places.  I really love to see what everyone is doing.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure your loved ones.

 

I’m still here … Hand quilt along and other stuff

I have missed you all.  Just have not been myself for a host of issues.

I have managed to do some sewing.  It helps me think and sort of work things out.  I finished my dinosaur quilt top.  It came out nicely.  It is for Kevin’s sister.  Her baby theme is dinosaurs.  I think it will be cure for a boy.

watermark_2018-11-18-13-10-04.jpgFor my Hand Quilt Along, I have finally picked back up my dog bone dresser scarf.  It is nearly finished.  I added the last dog bone, so hope to have it finished soon.  This is the lat one in the set of 4.  Please visit all the wonderful ladies in the Hand Quilt Along and check out what they have been up to.

Kathy, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen
Happy Sewing
Happy Quilting
Treasure your Family

One Monthly Goal – October

For my One Monthly Goal, I am going to quilt and bind this baby quilt.  I have made this quilt for Kevin’s (man-friend) sister who’s  pregnant.  I kind of did my own thing.  I really liked the center baby pin fabric, so I did not want to cut it up too much.  I plan to use my heart ruler for this one.  Not sure of thread color, but it will likely be something multi colored.

Kellie, another story…

You may have seen this photo before.  But I need it to tell my Kellie story.  This is my lateFB_IMG_1503081791295 husband Derrick and Kellie.  We were in Las Vegas together because Derrick was in a Pool tournament.

So, when I married Derrick, Kellie was the only one in my family that did not have something negative to say about it.  Whether she liked it or not, she kept it to herself.  She was always kind to Derrick, which is more than I could say about anyone else in my family.  Yes, I met/knew him in an odd unconventional way, and yes he was younger than me.  But when my first husband took his own life and left me with 2 kids, he was the only one that stepped into a really ugly, messy situation and was willing to do whatever was needed. He was coming to town to visit his sister for the holidays.  He asked if he could stop by to check on me.

He never left.  He did not feel like he could.  Things just went from there.  I know Kellie and her husband, Matt, talked about it.  He told me when we were sitting in the hospital by Kellie’s side.  They decided if he made me happy (which he did) that was good enough for them.  This is just one of the many many reasons I can’t imagine life without her.  She stood by me, always.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Love the Ones you are with

When life throws you a curve, quilt

This is my One Monthly Goal Project.  I actually finished it.  It was completed before my sister died.  I think I needed something to do rather than sit around and wait for something to happen.  I actually finished the binding on the evening before.  I needed something to do with my hands.  It is a cute baby quilt, even though my fire fly looks like it has mated with a bee.

For the first time, I pieced a back.  Nothing fancy, but I did it.  Learned a few things.  If watermark_2018-09-24-19-02-24.jpgyou can piece your back, you can save a lot of fabric.

I used my heart-shaped ruler for my quilting.  It does not look watermark_2018-09-24-19-02-49.jpgto bad. I find quilting with shapes and rulers relaxing, which is why I probably got this completed.  I needed to do something that was sort of mindless. For some weird reason, the color looks goofy in this photo.  Maybe because it is a close up

I hope you don’t mind….for a while I will likely add pictures of my sister Kellie.  I think honoring her helps me a bit.  It has only been a week and there were many time I said oh I will ask Kellie, burst in to tears when I suddenly realized I could no longer do that.

KELLIE – When, I had issues with my first husband, My sister drove down and picked up Haley for

20180917_134023 (1)
Kellie and Lori

the weekend so we can try to sort out what we were doing.  Unfortunately, that same weekend, my husband Jerry took his own life.  Kellie kept Haley for a couple of days so I could make arrangements and then brought her home.  She wanted to protect her for as long as she could, from how hard life was.  Haley was only 4.  I was so thankful that she did that.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Treasure those you love like there is no tomorrow

Sarcasm is running amuck…..amuck…amuck…amuck…

I finally found a use for flannel.  Yeah.

I do say that with a hint of sarcasm.  I like flannel, just not in quilts.  Then why do I have so much?  Good question.  Maybe I just can’t pass up a sale.  Ohhhh, that is very likely.  Don’t get me wrong, I have made a  few flannel quilts with scraps.  They came out fine.  I just feel that by the time I am done, the fuzz on flannel looks dirty.  I know, weird.  But I do like these cute receiving blankets made with flannel.  Super simple and cute.  I would like to make them a bit larger, which I will work on for the next one.

20180414_085845-1.jpgThis past Saturday our guild had a quilt in.  Name tags with your name or your code name.  Hah!  Well, I could not help myself.  The sew-in was fun.  They had someone teaching free motion quilting, or you could just work on whatever you wanted to.  I took my $11.99 Bernina and sewed up a storm.  It was a rainy Saturday in Ohio, so it was perfect for sewing and I won a door prize.  $25.00 gift certificate to a local quilt shop.  WooHoo!

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting