Sew ... It's Midnight Mama

I need some taller assisstants ...

2012-02-03T16:23:00.002-05:00

My kids want to help me hold up quilts. They are 5-years old and more than helpful. Here is a picture of them holding a quilt I did for a customer at Christmas.

Clearly, I need some taller assistants! Although it is nice that they want to help Mommy.

This was one of those patterns that I was so happy after I "created" it. I thought man that is a good block. You can use lovely florals and showcase the fabrics. I was so excited and I asked one of my quilty friends what they thought of it. Her response was ... yeah I love "Swoon" by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms.

SAY WHAT? I thought this was a Jennifer Blosser original! I looked at her pattern and I did make some of my pieces different. I do not know what size Camille's is, but I do love her "Ruby" line! Oh well, it is still a good star pattern. I would highly recommend getting Camille's pattern. And her book is cute too!

You can get "Swoon" here.

Bugum's Quilt - A Winner!

2012-02-03T10:53:00.001-05:00

I taught a quilt class a few months ago. Each class that I teach, I give away a coupon to have the top from that class quilted by me for FREE!

My friend Bugum, a real sweet lady, won the coupon for my Dresden Plate class!

Here are some pictures of her quilt after I finished it. She did a great job and the colors she used are lovely!!!

A NEW Machine

2012-01-16T10:14:00.001-05:00

Ok, I have a lot of sewing machines. Let me really put it into perspective. I have a lot of OLD sewing machines. I have a Husqvarna 940, Viking #1, a Viking D-1, and an old Singer Featherweight. I have never purchased a NEW machine.

I broke the bobbin case on my old #1. This was my all-time favorite machine. Alas, it is worth nothing (like for trade-in) and the bobbin case costs $100 + shipping. This means it is no good and it is not going to take up anymore room in my sewing room. Good-bye my old friend!

Then I went to my new-to-me Viking D-1 that I got on vacation in Nebraska. But it started making a funny noise. The foot would go up and down and it would act crazy. I wanted to get it serviced to fix the thread cover that I broke ... it was a bad sewing day for me ... and there is no warranty because I did not buy it new. So it would have been many hundreds of dollars to fix an old, not originally mine, maybe it could break again machine. NO! I am not going to do it. I will cut my losses, salvage the feet and other goodies, and move on. Good-bye D-1!

I braved the snowy conditions, drug two 5-year olds to the Husqvarna Sewing Center an hour away and bought this NEW Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 875 Quilt.

I decided on this machine because it was affordable. I did not feel the need to pay thousands of dollars for a machine to sew straight lines. Let's face it people, when you piece a quilt top, you sew straight lines. Most of the time. This was the highest quality machine before you get into the embroidery machines. If I want something embroidered, my Mom will do it.

My twins' birthstones are sapphires. My son was thrilled because the machine was blue. My daughter was mesmerized because it could sew without using the foot pedal. Come on people, it's the little things in life that make it worth living. How could I go wrong?

A Traditional Baby Quilt

2012-01-16T09:42:00.001-05:00

One of the high school teachers, I think she teaches science, is having a baby boy. She told me that she and her hubby are decorating very traditionally with blue. Easy enough.

I have been waiting to dive into my stash of Picnics and Fairgrounds by Denyse Schmidt. I love the simplicity of this quilt. And I love the plaid on the back!

I hope that she likes it!

Beary Good Friends

2012-01-02T00:06:00.000-05:00

Sew I have this old teddy bear. His name is Mr. Patches. He sits in my sewing room and my daughter is always wanting to play with him. I keep telling her that we will make one.

About 25 years ago my mom helped me sew Mr. Patches. My older sister was making a 4-H project and I really wanted something to sew too. I remember my mom letting me sew the squares together and then she sewed the bear. I stuffed him and stitched closed his holes.

As you can see now he is a little thread bare and wearing thin. He's been loved a lot!

I asked my mom if she still had the pattern for Mr. Patches. She said no. Sew I tried to draw his pieces. He is too fragile to seam rip apart and make a pattern that way.

I think this bear turned out ok, but her legs are a bit skinny. Mmmm ... and her tummy is a little lopsided. These can be fixed before the big sew day tomorrow.

Tomorrow my little girl and I will hopefully make one together

just like my Mom and I did all those years ago.

And they will be beary good friends!

A New Purse for the New Year

2011-12-31T10:49:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry for the sideways pictures.

I cannot make them turn upright.

* Insert giggle and eye roll! *

I was looking at my friend Julie's blog the other day and she posted an adorable picture of a bag she had made. It reminded me of my Halloween purse, which was made from the same pattern.

The body is Alexander Henry's "Sugar Skulls" and the handles

are from an old Moda line called "Pumpkins Gone Wild" by Sandy Gervais.

It's called the Pinafore Bag by Me & My Sister Designs. You can get it HERE.

This is the same bag, my New Year bag. The fabrics are from the "Karavan" line by Valori Wells for Free Spirit fabrics. I love this line! It is so beautiful!

I bought the fabric at a soon to be all-time favorite shop called Feather Your Nest. You can get to it HERE or HERE. And if my new friend Denise, teacher at Mt. Carmel sees this post ... I thought of you as I sewed this last night with my sister who is in nursing school at Mt. Carmel!

Sweet Sewing

2011-12-31T09:30:00.003-05:00

My sweet little girl loves to sew! It warms my heart to see her sitting at her sewing machine just stitching away. She has good taste in fabric. She loves to pull a Moda charm pack off my shelf and start sewing squares together.

You can't see it, but she takes her shoes and socks off to sew. Just like me.

Don't you love her Gingher scissors that hang down to her waist?

But this particular charm pack sewing day has given me an idea ... stay tuned.

Quilting for My Husband

2011-12-31T09:12:00.000-05:00

I love to quilt for my husband.

1. He is very grateful and uses things and keeps them forever!

2. He doesn't care if the fabric is a new release or an old line. Really he doesn't even care if they are fat quarters from Joann's.

3. He doesn't care if my points are all crisp and sharp. Thanks honey!

4. When you are quilting it, he doesn't care if you empty 7 bobbins of miscellaneous colors of thread. In fact he doesn't even look close enough at the quilting to notice what color it is! Or if you accidently cross on your stippling!

5. And lastly, with other things to do and sew, he doesn't care that they binding is only half sewn on. Sidenote: I sew my binding on by hand. I like the look of no stitches.

We have orange, white, and yellow thread!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-30T17:23:00.001-05:00

Let me begin by saying that Cord Camera has had my SD card forever to fix their mistake. There was a snafu and I'm "Sew Sweet" and all so I have been patient. Sorry for the extremely high volume of posts back to back to back!

I just thought I'd share this picture of my hubby reading our twins The Night Before Christmas!

Here is one of our twins in front of the tree. They look like they are really sweet children hugging on Christmas ... however if you had been in front of the tree with them you would know that they were really squeezing each other so tight that they were laughing from lack of oxygen to the brain! Thanks Jen for taking such a great picture!

I hope you had a blessed Christmas spent with people you love!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2011-12-30T16:59:00.002-05:00

One of my former principals asked me to make his daughter a wall hanging. It had flowers and butterflies on it. It was springy and very cute. Then he asked me to make a Charlie Brown wall hanging for his daughter-in-law. He asked that it be tan, black, and white to match their living room.

After I was done, my daughter asked me if she could have it. She was disappointed when I told her no. Maybe next year.

Meant to "B" Forever

2011-12-30T16:22:00.000-05:00

This summer my husband's cousin got married. James and Hannah had a lovely wedding and they are lovely people. I made this quilt for their bedroom. I thought I better put some pictures of the quilt on here!

I used Rachel Griffith's "Escapade" pattern.
I added white strips between each row to add width.

The label is wonderful. I print all my labels on t-shirt transfers and then iron them to coordinating fabric from the quilt. Then I fuse them to the quilt and sew them on.
You can get lots of details and pictures on your label.

I truly love to make quilts for people. I think James and Hannah liked it!

My Friend's Buckeye Quilt

2011-12-13T12:00:00.002-05:00

Sew ... my friend Amy Beth came over to quilt a quilt that she made for her husband as a Christmas gift. She was so excited to use the longarm and finish the quilt on her own.

I think it turned out fabulous! It is really, really well designed and the layout is awesome!

Some Nebraska Sewing

2011-11-30T22:03:00.001-05:00

My friend Janice has inspired me to start blogging again! She recently moved back to Ohio from Nebraska. She has a fantastic new blog! Check it out here!

This summer my family and I headed West to visit Janice and her family. We went to a rodeo, a real honest to goodness, full American pride rodeo! We went "road farming". For those city slickers who frequent this site, "road farming" is where you drive around in your car pointing out different fields and other farming interests. We went to the Kool-Aid Museum, the Pony Express Museum, a Train Switch in North Platte, and few other landmarks.

Now for the sewing part of the trip. Janice wanted to learn how to quilt. And I think it's safe to say that she has been bitten by the bug! We mapped out one day, left the kids with our hubby's, and set out on a 6 quilt hop hop in Nebraska. It was so much fun and the countryside was beautiful!

Inspired by our shop hop, we came home and a all day sewing marathon began! We sewed 3 or 4 quilts in a day. In one day peeps! Janice sent me some photos and I thought I'd share.

Janice and her husband own a feedlot and have some beef cattle.
She appliqued these steers herself. A very good job!

This one was a gift to little girl on her birthday.

This one was made for her Grandma Poorman.

I've been asked for many things, but ...

2011-11-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Sew ... I have been asked about many things sewing. Some of them include ...

Do you know how to sew on a button?

What kind of string do I need to buy to use in my sewing machine?

Can I sew a half inch seam with my quarter inch foot?

Can you help me fix this old quilt of my Grandma's?

Can I come to your house with all these triangles and will you teach me to sew them together?

Can you sew plastic with a sewing machine?

Me: "I have a longarm at home to quilt my quilts."
Some one who will remain nameless: "Jennifer, I didn't know one of your arms was longer than the other!"

Do you have any blue fabric with white polka dots?

But I have never been asked for burlap to sew a sleeve for a "stop sucking your thumb by putting a metal dome over it and pinning it to your shirt" device. Two of my teaching colleagues are making this device for a class they are taking. It's called a "thumb mitt".

I had to laugh. It looks like Captain Hook's hand ... minus the hook!

A Buckeye Baby Quilt

2011-11-29T15:57:00.001-05:00

A friend that I graduated with asked me to make her a custom baby quilt. She is expecting a little "Buckeye Boy". She has not seen this quilt yet and wants to be totally surprised when she sees it.

I hope she's not disappointed!

Christmas Table Runner

2011-11-29T11:52:00.001-05:00

So my sweet friend, Jennifer P. came over last week for a sewing lesson. You see she is a wonderful cook who shares the most delicious canned chicken in the world with me! To repay her, I gave her a quick sewing lesson.

We made a "10-Minute Table Runner". It took a little longer than 10 minutes, but it was Jennifer's first time sewing. We added a little something extra to our's!

We added this little tree on each end to give it a little more pizzazz! I think it turned out super cute!!

I think this might be a copyrighted pattern. It is simple enough to find the directions online. Just google "10-minute table runner". You will get lots of choices. There is a wonderful tutorial here for the runner and a cute little placemat.

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-06-13T10:44:00.007-04:00

So, my hubby bought me an anniversary gift ... kinda. It is our 10th anniversary in a couple of weeks. I've wanted a Singer featherweight sewing machine for awhile now and I found one! Sew ... he said buy it! I love the hubby!

One of my former teachers, Mr. Meyers, restores them. He lives in Florida and was up this past week visiting friends. So he brought me his shiniest machine!

This is a 1957 model 221 Singer featherweight. Happy anniversary!

It comes in the original case.

It came with a box of attachments, extra feet, and a little pack of needles.

This is the original manual and sales receipt. It was sold on August 22, 1958 in Illinois. The lady who bought it paid $143.95 for it.

How much did I pay for it?

$400! Can I get a woot, woot?

I do my regular sewing on an old Husqvarna #1, my traveling sewing on a Husqvarna 940, and now my new toy ... a 1957 Singer featherweight!

What do you all sew on?

Gnomeo & Juliet

2011-05-30T15:33:00.002-04:00

We got the kids "Gnomeo and Juliet" over the weekend. And you now they wanted some dolls to play with. They turned out pretty cute, huh?

I got the pattern at one of my favorite shops, Sew to Speak. The pattern is by Wee Wonderfuls.

And the winner is ...

2011-05-27T11:02:00.003-04:00

WOW! I can't believe how many of you wanted this fabric! I tried to respond to everyone, but if I missed you I'm sorry. Know that I did read every single one!

I used the true random number generator to pick a winner ... and the winner is ...

Mary Carole Dolce said...: If I won I would make a beautiful rag quilt, because that's what I do. You never know though... I may just have to go for a traditional style quilt with this fabric!; May 24, 2011 3:12 PM

Send me an e-mail so I know where to send your fat quarters!

Picnics & Fairgrounds ... A Giveaway!

2011-05-22T15:25:00.008-04:00

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED!

Ok, so everyone in blogland keeps talking about this new line from Denyse Schmidt ... ummm my favorite fabric designer!

Then my friend Rachel was telling me about this line called "Picnic & Fairgrounds". She said it is sold exclusively at JoAnn Fabrics.

Well, I had to have some. It was not as easy as I thought it would be to find all 21 prints. I had to drag my family to quite a few Joann stores ... but I have all 21 prints!

I did not go crazy and buy the whole bolt, but I did buy a few yards of each. I know how hard it was to find all the fabrics and I would like to share!

I'm giving away a fat quarter bundle of each of the 21 prints.

You'll have 5 chances to win ...

1: Follow my blog by becoming one of "My Peeps".
2: Leave me a comment telling me what you would make if you won these fat quarters.
3. Being a country girl, we like county "fairs". Tell me where your county fair is.
4: Tell me your best "picnic" memory.
5: Spread the word via twitter, facebook or your blog.

The winner will be drawn on Friday!

And the word on the street is that there will be 10 prints that coordinate with this line released exclusively in Australia. I have a friend on the hunt downunder for these prints. I will be doing a giveaway of these too when I get them! So be sure to check back in!

A Cup of Hot Chocolate

2011-05-20T16:31:00.003-04:00

My little girl brought me a "drink" the other night. She made me hot chocolate.

She brings it to me and sits it down where I was cutting some fabric. I picked it up and slurped ... you all know the drill.

I said, "Mmmm, hot chocolate my favorite. Oh, you even put a big marshmallow in it for me! Just the way I like it!"

She runs back over to me and says "Don't eat that marshmallow Mommy! It's really a wooden block!"

I laughed until tears rolled down my leg!

A Quilt for Sam

2011-05-20T16:19:00.009-04:00

A lady I work with shared with me last week that her husband has cancer is getting ready to begin a 48-week treatment period. As she is telling me this I am thinking about some way to help her and her family through this process.

As we were finishing up our conversation, she told me that her husband wears a sock hat because he's cold all the time. I instantly knew what I was called to do!

I'm not a very good cook.

I don't like to clean house. Just ask my hubby!

But if this man is cold, I can make him a quilt.

These people are both Christians and I wanted to make a special label for the quilt. I added some scripture to offer hope and reassurance. Some pictures of the label.

You can see the quilting really well on the black on the backing. I did a square meander that overlaps randomly. I think this is a very masculine style of quilting.

The sun was out at my house today so I took advantage of the weather and snapped a few pictures of it on my front porch swing. His favorite color is green ... same as me! I had some green fabric to spare.

Brynn and Her Momma

2011-05-16T16:25:00.004-04:00

Remember my friend Brynn?

Well, she taught her Momma everything that I taught her about making a quilt. They went shopping. They bought the same fabrics just in different colorways and make a set of mother/daughter quilts.

Is that cute or what?

Here is a closer look at the two quilts. Brynn's is the red and blue one and her Momma's is the pink and orange. She used a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop. Doesn't this make you want to make a quilt with your Momma?

A Baby Quilt

2011-05-16T16:16:00.004-04:00

My friend at school is having a baby! She is having a little boy. She told me that her husband loves cars and her name is Katie ... sew ... I broke into my stash of "Katie Jump Rope" by Denyse Schmidt. I do mean broke into. I have a BIG stash that I am waiting for just the right pattern to use for that fabric.

I used my folded star pattern for the stars and some cute Alexander Henry "Monkey Buziness Beep Beep" for the solid squares. I put some minky on the back of the quilt.

I pebbled the blue sashing fabric. It was a plain fabric and I wanted to give it some texture.

Now we just need to think of a name for Katie's baby. Any good ones you'd like to share?

Hope

2011-05-08T22:17:00.007-04:00

My girl Rachel has some great patterns out! Her latest is "Smitten" ... and I'm ... well ... smitten! I needed to make a quilt for a Relay for Life team. They wanted purple so I used her pattern to create "Hope". It is a raffle quilt for them to raise money to find a cure for cancer.

The Mr. was in the fields. Being that he is my quilt holder, I needed to improvise. Yes, I have two four year olds = 4 hands! Score! But wait ... they have short legs. Grrrr. I know we'll throw it over the porch railing.

And they couldn't resist peeking over the top. Cute stuff on this Mother's Day!

This is a "make again" kind of pattern ... simple ... versatile ... quick!

Terrain

2011-05-03T15:30:00.004-04:00

I cannot wait for this fabric to come out! Kate Spain, my darling, you have outdone yourself! I borrowed this gorgeous photo from her website. It is amazing!

I LOVE IT!

A Quilt for A Friend

2011-05-03T14:50:00.004-04:00

One of the members of our quilting guild is dying of cancer. She has been working on this quilt for her son for a long time. Some of the ladies helped her finish the blocks and piece it together.

I quilted the top for her. I think it turned out lovely! It will be a treasure that her son will have always and will remind him of his mother.

A windy day ...

2011-05-01T16:04:00.005-04:00

It was a windy day at our house ... but at least the sun was out and its not raining! The Mr. would like to see it stop raining for a few weeks so he can get into the fields and start planting something. Sew, until he can ... he is a quilt holder.

I finished this quilt over the weekend. It is a donation quilt to the Ross County Relay for Life team. They are raffling it off. They wanted to represent the different colors for the different types of cancer. I had seen this pattern by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. You can find her right HERE!

I wanted to take a few pictures before I quilted it. The wind was uncooperative ...

Oh well, back into the house where there is no wind.

A Great Giveaway!

2011-04-22T11:12:00.003-04:00

My girl Rachel Griffith is having an awesome giveaway! Do you like Longaberger?

Hmmm ... better go check it out here!

Brynn's Quilt

2011-03-09T09:37:00.003-05:00

My friend Brynn came over to my house last weekend. She is new to quilting and she wanted to make a quilt for her godson. We work together at school and she is a fellow farm-wife. I sew enjoyed talking with her and spending a day sewing.

And ... I've found a new pressing winch!

I think it turned out so cute! I pilfered the idea from Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew.

Now Brynn is teaching her Mom to quilt. They are currently working on quilts together. Is that sweet or what?

Amy Butler Meet & Greet

2011-02-17T20:13:00.005-05:00

Sew, my quilting guild made our first donation quilt recently. We are donating it to the Special Olympics. We are selling raffle tickets for it and giving them the money.

It is made from Amy Butler's "Love" collection. My favorite quilt shop, Sew to Speak, was hosting Amy Butler on Tuesday evening for a little meet and greet.

Some of us went up to meet her. We took the quilt and signed it! Yes, Amy "The Real Thing" Butler signed our raffle quilt! She even asked if she could take a picture of it to put on her blog.

*EEEEKK!!* Amy Butler! -----> Insert squealing and fanning of face!

She was such a lovely lady! She spoke with each person for several minutes and was very genuine. She loved our quilt and thought it was lovely. It was a lovely way to spend my birthday!

My Birthday

2011-02-17T20:06:00.003-05:00

My birthday was Tuesday. I got some great birthday presents ...

1. My school teacher friends remembered me. I got a cookbook (Thanks Terri!), some diet snacks and very pretty earrings (Thanks Krista!), some chicken & canned apples (Thanks Andy and Jenn!), and a giftcard to Hobby Lobby (Thanks Tolli you always know what I like!).

2. My twins drew me pictures. Love you B & B!

3. My husband gave me money to go to my favorite quilt shop. Sew to Speak

4. My other sister, Jamie, made me a very special cake that was filled with diet ingredients and VERY tasty!

All in all a good day!

A Dresden to call my own ...

2011-02-14T13:08:00.002-05:00

It's no secret that I love to quilt. But sometimes sewing time cuts into time with Ben. He likes to watch all these crazy t.v. shows at night. And he wants me to watch with him. Now I love the crazy shows too!

I needed a hand project to do while watching t.v. with Ben. So I thought I'd make a Dresden for myself and sew the flowers on my hand. Actually I conned my sister into pressing for me and gave her half the plates as payment. :) She's doing hers in pinks, I think?

I am keeping this Dresden plate quilt ... for myself ... nope not sharing ... mine all mine ...

You get the drift?

The blacks and whites are right up my ally. I love green ... it's my favorite color. So I've been sitting on this fabric for awhile. Just waiting for an opportunity to make something with it. I have 9 blocks. They will have a lime green floral center, solid lime sashing between the rows, and then some funky borders. I will post a pick when I get more done.

Ice Cream Lasagna

2011-02-14T12:56:00.004-05:00

Me: "Do you want some ice cream lasagna for dessert tonight?"

Family: (with mouths hanging open, channeling the souls of Pavlov's deceased dogs, jumping up and down, squealing with happiness) ... "Yes."

Geesh, I though my being on a diet was hard on just me. I guess they feel my pain too.

Recipe for all you dieters out there ...
12 skinny cow ice cream sandwiches
2 tubs fat free cool whip
1 jar of Smucker's sugar free hot fudge topping
1 jar of Smucker's sugar free caramel topping

1. Place the ice cream sandwiches in the bottom of a deep, glass baking dish. You might need to slice and dice so that they fit with no spaces in between.
2. Spoon some cool whip over the top.
3. Drizzle the fudge and caramel over the cool whip. Then repeat.

Oodles of Noodles!

2011-02-03T16:18:00.003-05:00

My friend Jamie called the other night and wanted to sew.

But I was hungry ... so we cooked noodles! Oodles of noodles!

Volunteer Quilts ... to be ...

2011-02-03T14:16:00.004-05:00

These are some of my volunteer quilts for this year. I can't tell you who they're for ... but boy are they lucky girls! *wink*

I might need to make another one. :)

I appreciate all my helpers!

Special Olympic Quilt

2011-02-03T13:30:00.006-05:00

The back of the quilt is just as important as the front! I love a pieced back!

Using Amy Butler's "Love" collection was a good idea. It brought a lot of color to the quilt. Oh, did I mention that Amy Butler - THE AMY BUTLER - is signing this quilt for us! How awesome is that?

The ladies in our guild did a lovely job! I think that the label is an important part of a quilt.

Tickets are 1 for $1 or 6 for $5. Buy some and help support the A-C Special Olympics!

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-19T16:57:00.003-05:00

I am super excited! It seems someone thinks I'm "stylish"! Oo-la-la! Well, Staci at The Confused Quilter does anyway! Thanks for the shout out girl! You rock!

So with this award come some guidelines ... you need to tell 8 things about yourself and share 8 websites that you love with everyone. Here goes!

8 Things About Jennifer, aka "Midnight Mama" ...
1. I am the only woman alive in the western hemisphere that does not like chocolate! It makes me sick!
2. I have a freckle in the palm of my left hand.
3. I love the show Burn Notice! I watch it late at night while I am quilting.
4. I enjoy giving to people, especially my quilts. God gave me a gift and I should share it with people who can benefit from a quilt. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
5. I love fabric! Moda, Kaffe Fassett, Kate Spain, Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey, - oh, I could go on and on.
6. I am an obsessive list maker. Check!
7. I love black jelly beans. I always score at Easter b/c non of the kids like them! They come in the ziploc bags by the dozens!
8. I am afraid of birds. I mean it ... they dive bomb me when I walk ... they try to peck at me ... and if they can hiss, you know they hiss at me!

8 Fabulous Websites ...
P.S. I Quilt
Cluck Cluck Sew
Quiltsalott
The Moda Bakeshop
Pitter Putter Stitch
Crazy Mom Quilts
Jaybird Quilts
Quilt Dad
Retro Mama
(Ok, another thing to know about me ... I am a 3rd grade math teacher and cannot count! That's 9 websites! Muhahaha!)

It does my heart good ...

2011-01-18T21:36:00.002-05:00

It does my heart good to have such good "quilty" friends.

Tonight was out first guild meeting of the new year. 23 wonderful women came out in the drizzling rain and cold to socialize and help with an important donation quilt.

We made the blocks for our first donation / charity quilt of the year! We are donating this quilt to the Area 6 Special Olympics. Raffle tickets will be sold and the winner will be drawn the day of the event on May 14th. I brought the blocks in the hope that a few ladies would help me by making one block. To my extreme pleasure, all the blocks were made and some even took them home to make them up for the next meeting!

My friend Claudyne offered to piece the top together and I am going to quilt it!

The blocks are maverick stars made from Amy Butler's "Love" line. Each star is special and unique just as each Special Olympian is special and unique. I chose the fabric because we should love all people for the special qualities that they bring to this world.

But wait ... it gets better. One of the ladies, Jackie, said that she is going to a quilt shop on Thursday where Amy Butler, the Amy Butler, will be. She took one of the blocks with her this evening in the hopes that Amy will sign the block. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Here's a sneak peek ...

Halloween Quilts

2011-01-13T21:15:00.003-05:00

When the mood strikes, you gotta go with it!

My family went on a little Christmas vacation this year. A few minor mishaps, but all in all a pretty good time. My great hubby made some time for me to stop by some quilt shops on the way home. What a sweetie!

I saw this quilt hanging up in a shop and I loved it! Most of the fabrics were by Riley Blake and some were from my stash at home. I made two of these, one for each of my little hob-goblins! Braeleigh's has purple in center and Brandt's just has orange and green.

They didn't have a pattern so I improvised. Basically, make a whirlygig block and then cut it in half on the same diagonal line as the first whirlygig and sew it again. They turned out ok. I would probably make it again.

Dresden Progress

2011-01-13T21:08:00.002-05:00

Well, if you can image 9 of these lovely Dresden plate blocks being sewn together in a little while ... I must make some calzones for two of my co-teachers. A nice Friday treat!

I'm thinking of copying the book and putting a little circle where the blocks meet. My blocks turned out really big, huge in fact, because I cut the trapezoids (wedges) small. The finished block is like 22" square! I'm thinking a nice vibrant border will do nicely.

Check back soon ...

A Dresden Plate Quilt

2011-01-12T09:36:00.005-05:00

I have always loved Dresden plate quilts. They are sew beautiful and can use a large amount of fabrics in one quilt. They are a great way to use up your scraps as well!

I bought a book over the summer and like most things, once school begins, they are put on the back burner until summer again. I love my job and quilting is my hobby, sew ... school comes first. The book is called "Material Obsession" by Kathy Doughty & Sarah Fielke. An awesome book. The cover quilt attracted me ... well my friend Rachel attracted me to it.

Sew ... I set out on my own Dresden adventure!

1. I cut long trapezoids that were 5" x 3 1/4". (The colored square piece.)

2. Fold the trapezoid in half lengthwise and sew a seam along the top side, the longest end. The turn the seam inside out and poke the point out. I use the end of a mechanical pencil. Then press. Now you have one Dresden plate. The point is already "appliqued" for easy attaching.

3. For this size of plate, you will need to sew 24 together to make a whole circle. I back-stitched the end closest to the point for extra strength. You could cut them bigger and sew less together.

This is going to be for one of my high school helpers, Amber. Her favorite color is red. Since today is a snow day (YIPPEE!) there should be a lot of progress! Check back in later!

T-Shirt Quilts

2010-12-21T17:14:00.005-05:00

One of our friends asked me to make her kids a t-shirt from their old shirts. It was more time consuming than I thought. But the end product was lovely in both cases.

This one has all of the great-grandkids on it. It is for their great-grandma. It turned out really cute.

Mr. Blosser is in trouble ...

2010-11-30T17:34:00.002-05:00

Well, I am happy that I have a nice husband. He usually loads the dishwasher in the morning while the kids eat breakfast. And on Sunday, as per his rituals for the past 10 years, he does the laundry.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, he got backed up on his laundry. This is not why he's in trouble.

I finished a lovely quilt over the holiday and put it on our bed. The Ohio State quilt that I made for him came off the bed and our new one went on. {As a sidenote, I am a quiltmaker by nature so I gift most of my quilts. It is a rare thing to make one for our bed.}

Mr. Blosser washed the Ohio State quilt, as he done before. Oh but ... he ... forgot ... about ... it ... in ... the ... washer! The red fabric bled through the rest of the quilt!

He came to me with his head hung low, "I ruined the quilt." "You what?" says I. Oh dear, a sad night in the Blosser house!

I was bakin' in Houston ...

2010-11-18T13:26:00.006-05:00

Wow! I just saw some pictures of the Moda Bakeshop Booth that was at the Quilt Festival in Houston. WOW! I was so excited to see my quilt!

Here are the pics that showcase my "Endless Possibilities" quilt.

To see all of the pics from the show, click here.

Twitter

2010-10-31T03:07:00.001-04:00

I think my blog posts will go to Twitter now ... let's see if I'm right?

Thirty-One Skirts

2010-10-24T20:09:00.004-04:00

To all those ladies out there who love Thirty-One bags ... this is your post! This company makes a skirt purse, that is you have your bag with the handles on it and you can change the outside (aka the "skirt"). I found that they are extremely simple to make and quick! Sew I have been making them left and right. Here is a pumpkin one for my friend Joanna.

School Days ... dear old golden rule days!

2010-10-24T19:55:00.003-04:00

I had to buy it! Some lovely "Punctuation" by American Jane from Moda. I think its safe to say this might be my favorite line of all time! My twins are in preschool and they are learning their letters. I picture this quilt with the ABC panels in the middle of some lovely maverick stars. Two little lap quilts for my two favorite little people.

Fogive me my darling ... my Viking ... my #1 sewing machine!

2010-10-24T19:48:00.002-04:00

I knew it had been a long time, but oh dear I never thought it had been this long! I am mildly ashamed for my lull in blogging. Once the school year begins, I always find myself totally immersed in school stuff. Teaching is one of those jobs where you bring a lot home with you. My machine actually called to me last night ... "Why don't you love me anymore?". Well, I do love it and I need to start pulling my weight in this relationship again! I'm going to be a better quilter, just give me one more chance!

Easy Squares

2010-08-02T00:50:00.013-04:00

I have a lot of things to do.

That being said, I am always looking for ways to maximize my minimal amount of time in a day. Thus, I give you ... easy squares. This is a good way to do watercolor quilts. It allows you to see where colors will be before you sew them down.

You will need ...
1" gridded Pellon
squares of fabric (I used 2" squares)
1 hot iron

I always start out with a drawing or a computer generated image of what I'm making. I quickly made a pattern of what my finished product would look like.

Then lay your Pellon sticky glue bumps up. Arrange your squares where you want them. Be sure to keep them in the grid lines. Press to anchor them down (only on the fabric squares!).

I just mark the squares off as I go to keep track of where I'm at. Follow?

This is my layout before sewing. Notice that there are very few and slim lines of the white Pellon showing through. Never fear, this will be caught up in your seam allowances.

This is a pic of the back. Can you see the grid lines? Because you have used squares, the next step will be very easy.

Working from the back, fold over on a "seam" or the edge of a row of squares. Sew down the entire length of the piece.

Then repeat all of the vertical "seams". It should look like this when you are done.

This is a view from the front. All of the vertical seams have been sewn. Sidenote: I suppose this is what it would look like to Dumbo after he drank the bath water! *wink*

Then, again working from the back, sew all of the horizontal seams. Some of you might prefer to press all of the seams the same way. I am lazy ... lots to do you know? I just make sure when I come to a seam that I flip it to face the same way. Sew all the horizontal seams across the whole piece.

Finished result. An easy way to do squares. If you are making alot of these "gridded" pieces and you're not sure when you will get around to stitching them ... the Pellon holds your squares in place until you are ready to sew. Tadah! The magic of Pellon!

This is going to be a wall hanging for one of my teaching colleagues. He is an Ohio State nut. This will hang on his door. I just have to sweet talk my mother into embroidering his name on the top.

Another Ice Cream Recipe

2010-08-01T22:18:00.004-04:00

So my friend Jamie gave me another ice cream recipe.

You will need ...
a 2 liter bottle of orange pop
a can of sweet and condensed milk

Yep, that's it! Blend it together with a mixer in a big bowl and then dump it into your ice cream freezer.

It tastes like orange sherbet. You have to turn it and then freeze it a little longer than normal. But it's good!

WARNING: This has been turning in our ice cream freezer for a long time ... like 2 hours already! Give it a while. It's worth the wait.

APOLOGIES: My pictures are small and well, not studio quality. These are pics taken with my EVO phone. Man ... I love that phone!

I should be working ...

2010-07-31T13:59:00.004-04:00

Ok, I am supposed to be writing lesson plans ... getting ready for a new school year and new grade ... we have a team meeting on Monday so I need to get organized ... have 3 quilt ideas running through my head ...

Do you think I might have ADD?

I seriously need to buckle down and get to work! Listening to the new Eclipse soundtrack is helping. I've got to be honest peeps ... this is not my fav of all the soundtracks. I'm working extra hard to like it. I'm really trying.

Back to the grindstone ...

Nebraska

2010-07-26T23:25:00.003-04:00

Our friends moved to Nebraska in June. They are living their dream and operating their own feed lot for cattle. ~ Janice, if you read this laugh at my explanation of your business! ~ They are fixing up the old house that is on the property. I wanted to make them something to help them remember their friends in Ohio.

I poked around some websites looking for blocks having to do with Nebraska. I found one (called "Nebraska"), spruced it up a bit, and started cutting. Imagine the binding sewed down. They came back this week for a visit and we're having a cookout on Wednesday. I hope they like it!

Viola's Quilt

2010-07-24T00:00:00.002-04:00

My best friend's mother-in-law fell and broke her hip. She is recovering in a rehab/nursing home right now. Her room is very drab, not a lot of color. The bedspread leaves something to be desired. Sew ... Viola's favorite color is purple and I just happened to have some purple 30's prints in my stash. My BF and I picked a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop called Avignon Picnic. Andrea made it ... you should check out her website here.

Another great website to check out for a quilt using the same pattern is Brooke's webby over here.

Sugar & Spice ... Frogs & Snails

2010-07-18T00:35:00.003-04:00

I usually don't post pictures of my kids, but these kids are funny! Smile for the camera ...

My little girl is like this picture ... Sugar and spice and everything nice!

My little boy ... well ... frogs and snails and puppy dog tails!

They went to see old time cartoons at the historic Ohio Theater this morning. I asked my little boy how it was? He said, "I like Superman!" Typical ... action!

I asked my little girl. She said, "It was great! There was an organ and he played songs. I saw a little yellow bird, and a cat, and a dog who growled. It was a fancy place. But I don;t want to go back." Why not I asked? "They didn't have any popcorn!"

Siggy #1 ... DONE!

2010-07-17T23:23:00.004-04:00

Ok, in the words of Michael Westen ... "Even the best laid plans never survive the battlefield."

I had to change my layout. I did not count the number of blocks correctly. Oh my, don't judge the math teacher too hard! LOL!

Siggy Swap #1 Sneak Peek & A Confession

2010-07-16T23:01:00.003-04:00

Ok - sew I have a sneak peek to share.

Yes, that is Rachel Griffith's block right beside mine! Well, you might ask ... why is her block right next to Jennifer's block? The answer ...

"Rachel, I have a quilty crush on you!" ha ha ha ha ha (And she knows what I mean!)

I got the chance to hang out with Rachel a few weeks ago. We e-mailed and set up a time to go shopping. We hit it off like we had known each other for years! She is a very sincere and kind person. Rachel has an honest to goodness sweet southern charm. She knew someone or had a connection with people at lots of the shops we went to. She wasn't even afraid when I turned down the wrong street (which was a one way) and we heard sirens! She endured my messy sewing room ... although she did give me 10 minutes head start to clean it up! Thanks Rachel! She is truly what you would expect from her website. I really am glad to have met her.

I am sashing my blocks now, but I just had to post a picture of my progress thus far. More to come ...

Rose Guild Nametags

2010-07-16T22:51:00.004-04:00

I belong to 2 guilds. One guild is called "The Lancaster Rose Quilters". They are a traditional guild where one must be an accomplished quilter to join. There is also a long waiting list. I am happy and lucky to have gotten in.

Each year the guild ladies work together to make a raffle quilt. Last week, people volunteered to sit at a local bank during an art walking tour to sell raffle tickets. There was some talk about name tags. A few of the ladies said that they would just write their names in slips of paper. That just wouldn't do! I stamped up some nametags this evening (while rewatching Burn Notice). Nothing fancy, but hopefully the ladies will like them.

One of the ladies showed me a pin that they had hand appliqued a long time ago. She said that not everyone has one and they took a long time to make. I have a quick and easy applique method. I think I might give it a shot and revamp the nametags! I'm working on a tutorial for you! To come in the near future ...

Quilt Holes

2010-07-16T11:51:00.003-04:00

One of my quilty friends, Ethel, sent this to me. I thought it was so lovely, I decided to post it. I did not pen it, but I wanted anyone who had not read to read it.

Quilt of Holes

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt
before the Lord along with all the other souls.

Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles;
an angel sat before each of us sewing our
quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.

But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the
pile, I noticed how ragged
and empty each of my squares was. They were filled with giant holes. Each
square was labeled with a part of my life that had
been difficult, the
challenges and temptations I was faced with in
every day life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me. Nobody else had such
squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled
with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own
life and was disheartened.

My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.

Finally the time came when each life was to be
displayed, held up to the the scrutiny of truth. The others rose; each
in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been.
My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise.

My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn't
had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life, and laughter. But
there had also been trials of illness, and wealth, and false
accusations that took from me my
world, as I knew it. I had to start over many
times. I often struggled with
the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and
begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in
prayer, asking for help and
guidance in my life. I had often been held up to
ridicule, which I endured
painfully, each time offering it up to the Father
in hopes that I would not
melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of
those who unfairly judged me.

And now, I had to face the truth. My life was
what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.
I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of
my life to the light.

An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around
at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light
flooded the many holes,
creating an image, the face of Christ. Then our
Lord stood before me, with
warmth and love in His eyes. He said, "Every time
you gave over your life
to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My
struggles.

Each point of light in your life is when you
stepped aside and let Me shine
through, until there was more of Me than there was
of you."

May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing
Christ to shine through!

The New MBS ad . . .

2010-07-13T18:00:00.004-04:00

Ok . . . are you sitting down . . . dah, you're probably already sitting at your computer . . . Moda has invited me to be in their next magazine ad! Aaahhh! I know, right? Can you believe it? I used my "Endless Possibilities" quilt (my latest bakeshop goodie) as the backdrop.
I had my Mom take some pictures of me.

Maybe this side is better?

This is me saying "OMG, they want to put me in their next ad in a magazine!!!!

I'm such a dork!!!!

Chocolate Ice Cream

2010-07-13T17:54:00.002-04:00

Ok, sew I'm like Duke (you know that dog?) from the Bush's baked beans commercials. Don't tell my husband that I am giving out the secret family recipe for his famous chocolate ice cream.

Here it is . . .
1/2 gallon of chocolate milk
1 can sweet condensed milk
1 tub of Cool Whip

Mix the ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Pour into an ice cream freezer and turn until it's ice cream!

It tastes just like a Wendy's frosty! I promise, it's really good!

A Get Well Quilt

2010-07-13T17:49:00.002-04:00

Our friend and neighbor broke his neck in a farming accident. He will be on the mends for about 3-4 months. He can sit up for a few minutes at a time, and then must go back to laying down.

I can't cook very well, but I can quilt! I made him a quilt to keep him cozy while he recoops. LOL - it's only about 90 degrees outside!

Endless Possibilities

2010-07-13T17:39:00.002-04:00

Ok, so nobody got food poisoning from my first Moda Bakeshop tutorial . . . sew . . . they let post another! The quilt is called "Endless Possibilities". It is made using HST's. Go check it out at the MBS!

Just click the picture!

A New Purse

2010-07-13T17:28:00.002-04:00

My new friend, Rachel Griffith, and I went on our own little shop hop last week! We went to a charming little shop called Sew to Speak in Columbus. There were lots of great patterns there. I bought a purse pattern by Anna Maria Horner. It's called the "Ruthie Clutch". I used some Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt. But don't tell Anna!

It is too cute! A quick sew ... really easy!

Volunteer Quilts

2010-07-13T16:22:00.008-04:00

I make volunteer quilts for the parent helpers that I have in my classroom each year. I appreciate their help throughout the year and a giftcard says "I appreciate you $25 worth." But a quilt, well to paraphrase Cousin Eddy, "It's the gift that keeps on givin'!"

Sew, four of my volunteer quilts this year were disappearing 9-patch's. They give a very pleasing effect from a relatively simple cut of a 9-patch. I'll show you how to make one sometime. Thanks for your help Barb, Gabby, Keith & Tolli, and Amy!

One was a whirligig made from my favorite pieces of fabric! This mommy has four boys and she could use some quilty TLC! Thanks for your help Kennie Jo!

The last one was a folded star. I used my coveted Heather Bailey Pop Garden stash. I fussy cut the flowers. My head room mother loves yellow. Thanks for everything Katie!

I'm still here . . .

2010-07-08T13:48:00.002-04:00

Ok, I am still alive in blogland. Promise! If anybody else out there is a teacher they will understand this next one . . .

When June rolls around, I vanish. I am out of school for the summer and I just veg out!

List of other excuses for my absence ...
1. I disconnected our home internet connection. (We paid ... get ready ... $90 per month for our internet. We live out in the sticks and we had to have satellite internet.) Expensive. So I got an HTC EVO phone last month and it is a wireless hotspot. For only $30 a month. Great deal, not so much. See the next excuse for an explanation.

2. Which bring me to #2 ... BLOGGER WON'T WORK WITH THIS PHONE!!!! Yikes! What a pain in the sit-upon! I can surf my favorite webby's and look at mine, but cannot add photos or anything! FRUSTRATION ABOUNDS!

3. I am quilting 20 quilts for Quilts of Valor! Need I say more?

4. I am president of a new quiting guild "Twisted Stitchers" which is a learning guild. These ladies are fabulous and making great projects. It is a lot of work coming up with projects for us to do! Lots of work and time consuming!

5. I made another Moda Bakeshop quilt! Can't wait for you to see it!

6. I have 2 friends in need of quilts. One friend had a stroke and the other friend broke her hip.

7. I have 3-year old twins. Aaah, whoever said "terrible 2's" never had a 3-year old. Let alone two 3-year olds. I love 'em but, well, let's just say they're scratching my name off my "Mother of the Year" plaque.

8. I have sooooooo many projects going right now. There are not enough hours in the day!

9. We are halfway thru the new season of Burn Notice! Yow yow! Hello Michael Weston - just sayin'.

10. I am repainting the inside of my house. I've got lots of help from the 3-year old beasties ... I mean lovely children!

As you can see, lots on my virtual plate!

I guess I'm going to have to reconnect my $90 per month internet back up so I can blog. Are there any good support groups for my condition?

Whew,
Jennifer

PS - I feel like Bella Swan e-mailing Alice Cullen. I keep typing up blog posts but they just don;t go anywhere! LOL! For my Twilight peeps! Go Edward!

Red Whirligig

2010-07-05T21:14:00.003-04:00

I just love Heather Bailey's "Pop Garden"! This whirligig was for a class at one of my favorite quilt shops called Pleasant Mountain Stitchery. I think I should have used another red for the gigs in the quilt. It will look nice on my bed!

1930's Wonky Stars

2010-04-26T13:01:00.004-04:00

I made this quilt for our school secretary, Beth, for Christmas. Her favorite color is red so I used some of my 1930's stash. I had to put green in there because I LOVE green!

The pattern is for wonky stars. The tutorial can be found here.

For the quilting, I "pebbled" it. Just made random sizes of circles all over the top.

I sewed too many stars. I had exactly enough for two quilts. A happy mistake - a number doubled when it didn't need to be - oh well . . . I had enough for a quilt for myself. A rare occurrence! Mine has more green on it!

Little Boy Blue

2010-04-25T11:51:00.006-04:00

Friends of ours are having their first baby in about a month. My little girl and I went to the baby shower yesterday. Meant in the nicest way . . . that was the longest baby shower I've ever been to!

At first, they were not going to find out what they were having. Now, as a quilter, you knew my concerns - pink or blue? Sew I had a plan. I would make two quilts and give them both to her. I would have her give me the one not needed back. Luckily for me they opted to find out.

One "Little Boy Blue" baby quilt.

Ace of Spade Stars

2010-04-05T23:19:00.007-04:00

My school district is proud to sponsor the Area 6 Special Olympics each year. Being a staff member and proud supporter, I try to think of ways to donate my time. This year, I made a quilt from fabric I designed on Spoonflower for Christmas gifts for my fellow first grade teachers.

I used our school colors. I am donating this quilt for the committee to sell raffle tickets. Any money they collect will be theirs - 100% profit. This money will be used to support and finance the athletes that participate in the Special Olympics.

The quilt finished 66" x 82". Perfect for wrapping up at a football game this fall and displaying that Aces Pride, sending a graduating senior off to college, or displaying your loyalty across the back of your couch!

Help support the Special Olympics. If you would like to purchase a raffle ticket to buy this quilt . . . the cost is . . .
1 ticket for $1
6 tickets for $5
Please e-mail Jennifer Blosser at jblosser@amanda.k12.oh.us for details! GO ACES!

I've Been Baking . . .

2010-04-03T08:38:00.002-04:00

I am soooo excited! Look what I have been cookin' up over at the MBS! My first tutorial on the Moda Bakeshop! Go and check it out!

A Sneak Peek

2010-03-26T20:29:00.003-04:00

I have been working on a top secret Moda Bakeshop tutorial. It's done! You'll have to check out their website on April 3rd to see my quilt. I am so excited!

The 3rd Baby Quilt

2010-03-26T20:25:00.001-04:00

Oh . . . and this one! BIG mistake!

This lady is not finding out what she's having. So I used some of my Michael Miller stash. I love the striking contrast. But when I assembled it (probably too late one night) the seams did not match - the squares did not stay squared - and the four corner blocks just got really MESSED UP! Aaahh!

I need to think of a very clever way to cover up this big boo-boo. Do you think she will notice a few bandaids on the quilt?

Baby Quilts

2010-03-26T20:05:00.006-04:00

Sew . . . there are three ladies who are pregnant in our school district. We always have a district-wide baby shower for everyone. So I made them each a quilt. I am teaching a class for a church tomorrow and quilting them will my #1 priority this coming week!

This one is for a a lady having a little girl. I love these colors!

This one is for a lady having a little boy. I hope it is boyish enough with that blue swirly fabric in it.

Whirligig Class

2010-03-26T20:00:00.002-04:00

My friends at Pleasant Mountain Stitchery are letting me teach another class on April 8th. I made the top for the sample. I am trying to meet a bunch of quilty deadlines so it's not quilted.

I think that the red fabric by Heather Bailey is lovely, but the it gets lost with the white fabric due to the big white flowers. I think it's too white.

Pickled Pigs Feet

2010-01-31T15:40:00.004-05:00

Well, Reid's quilt is all done! I had to hang it on my new shelves with binder clips for the pictures.

What do you think?

Reid's Quilt Block Tutorial

2010-01-24T21:53:00.017-05:00

As you may or may not know, we have twins. My husband and I worked very hard for a long time to get them. We went the infertility route and were blessed with a boy and a girl. They were 6 weeks early when they were born. I'm getting back to the reason for this posting . . .

Sew, friends of ours had a baby boy who was born 2 months early. Their son was born at 17 inches long and 3 lbs. 14 oz. That is the exact size our son was when he was born! They named him Reid. Very cute! I thought that he would need a quilt.

Sew here's my stab at a tutorial.
~This is for one block. I made 12 for my quilt.~

Supplies:
rotary cutter, mat, & ruler
sewing machine with a 1/4" foot & thread
fabric - a background and two main colors

Cutting Directions:
From brown fabric
16 - 2 1/2" squares
2 - 2 7/8" squares
From green fabric
1 - 4 1/2" square
2 - 2 7/8" squares
4 - 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles

From multi-colored fabric
4 - 4 1/2" squares

Piecing directions:
1. Draw a diagonal line on all brown squares.

2. With right sides together, place a brown 2 1/2" square in the upper right corner of a multi-colored 4 1/2" square. Sew on the diagonal line. Trim excess, fold back, and press.

3. Repeat this process in the upper left corner. Do this for all four multi-colored squares.

4. With right sides together, place a brown 2 1/2" square on the left side of a green 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangle. Sew on the diagonal line. Trim excess, fold back, and press. Do this for all four of the rectangles.

5. With right sides together, place the 2 7/8" brown square on the 2 7/8" green square. Sew 1/4" on each side of the diagonal line. Cut apart on the diagonal line, fold back, and press. This will yield 4 - half square triangle sets.

6. Sew the remaining 4 - 2 1/2" brown squares to these half square triangles.

7. Then sew the yielded pieces from steps 4 & 5 together, fold back, and press.

8. Now you will have 9 - 4 1/2" square units. Sew them together like this.

2 rows like this one (above)

1 row like this (above)

9. Now attach the three rows. You have a 12" block. I made 12 blocks with 3 different colors. Arrange them however you like and quilt as desired.

Pinwheel Quilt ALong

2010-01-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Again, Rachel over at http://www.psiquilt.com/ is having a quilt along. She made this great pinwheel quilt and we are making it! Yay!! I'm stash busting at the moment and I've been sitting on these fabrics for awhile now.

What do you think?

Modern Siggy Swap

2010-01-20T21:46:00.001-05:00

I'm part of a modern siggy swap over at http://www.psiquilt.com/. We have to use modern fabrics. What do you think of these?

I'm not sure about the blacks?

Sneek peek

2010-01-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

I'm currently working on a scrap quilt of 1930's prints. I made a quilt for our school secretary for Christmas. I had some fabric left over and I'm making some maverick stars. I need to piece the rows together, add a green border, and quilt it!

Here's a sneak peek of some of my favorite blocks!

What are you working on?

Aces Purse

2010-01-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

I made some great fabric on http://www.spoonflower.com/. I did our school name and mascot.

I made purses for the other first grade teachers and gave them to them for Christmas presents. I have since had people ask me to make them one. Here are some pics of them.

Squares & Stars

2010-01-10T21:21:00.000-05:00

My friends Nick & Britney are having a baby girl in March. Her shower is Sunday. My sister-in-law was over on Saturday "sew" I enlisted her help. She pressed while I sewed. When we were done, we had this great quilt.

It was an easy sew and we had it done in about 3 hours - start to finish. I pinned it on the longarm and quilted it in another hour. I finished up the binding before church.

I used the large floral fabric on the back of the quilt and some of the polka dot. I labeled it and it is ready to go. Well, after I show it off at my guild on Tuesday night during "Sew & Tell".

The floral fabric had 2 great designs. I fussy cut them out for the squares. I call this one "Squares and Stars".

Making Ornaments!

2009-12-19T15:49:00.001-05:00

My friend and her kids came over the other night to make ornaments. We used the equal parts applesauce to equal parts cinnamon. Mix it up, roll it out on wax paper, cookie cutter it out, poke a hole with a straw to hang it, and let it air dry.

My two are the little boy in the gray shirt and the little girl with the pink shirt. Isn't my friends little girl too cute with that red hair?

My guy rolling out some dough. We needed rolling pins, so a can of soup works good for little hands! He doesn't like his hands dirty - wrong activity for him!

My little girl is in the pink. Her "best buddy" is beside her. They are so cute together!

Making snowmen!

2009-12-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

Here in Ohio, we have not had snow yet. Sad, I know. My 3-year old twins have never really played in snow before. They were too small and last year it seemed like they were always sick if we did have any white stuff. What was it called again?

Oh, snow! Well, it snowed last night and they were so happy this morning. After a quick road trip to Tim Horton's for chocolate milk and Timbits - we made some snowmen and snow angels! Daddy helped.

Hey - where's my snow mommy?

Label Tutorial

2009-12-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

Here is the way I do my labels.

1. I use t-shirt transfers. You can get several labels from one sheet. I type what I want on the label in Word, usually in a text box. You can change the font and add clipart if sew desired.

*Be sure to mirror image the document before you print it on the transfer!*

2. Next, I cut a piece of white fabric (you can use any color, I just always use white). Make a sandwich = the white fabric, the transfer upside down, and then a scrap piece over top. The directions are in the tranfer envelope.

3. It will look like the picture above. I then trim around the label. I use applique wonder or heat-n-bond to adhere my labels. Cut a piece of applique wonder and put the glue side on the back of the label. I use that scrap piece of fabric again. If you don't use that fabric, it tends to gunk up your iron.

4. The applique wonder has a peel off back on it. When you peel the back off, it is sticky. You can position this on the back of your quilt. If it is not where you want it to be, it is still removable. Once you iron it, though, it becomes permenant! Put the label where you want it to be.

5. Again, before you iron, put that scrap piece of fabric over the label. Iron.

6. Walah! You have a label that does not require any turn applique or stitching down. This will stay forever and not ravel or fray. Happy labeling!

Disappearing 9-Patch

2009-11-30T16:14:00.000-05:00

Long time no type . . .

Sew I am teaching a couple of classes at my favorite quilt shop! I'm looking forward to it. I decided to do a disappearing 9-patch for the first one. It is a fast and simple top to piece. I used some great new fabric from the quilt shop. Here is the finished product - well almost done, I am sewing on the binding this evening.

This one is a close-up of the quilting. I just did a simple loop pattern all over.

Suzy's Quilt

2009-11-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

My friend Suzy brought me a quilt that she had started, but could not get motivated to finish. She had some blocks done and the rest was cut out. I pieced the remaining blocks and then we added a burgandy border to finish it out.

I quilted it on my longarm with a gold thread in a stipple pattern all-over. Iis the biggest quilt that I have ever done! It was a monster!

A New Quilt Guild

2009-11-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

My new friends Liz and Mardee wanted to start up a quilt guild where seasoned sewers could help beginners out and teach them to sew. We had 30 people at the first meeting! WOW! I was so pleased to see everyone and the spectrum of abilities that they all had. I was very inspired.

We are going to meet every other Tuesday. It should be lots of fun!

I'm Happy . . .

2009-10-24T23:18:00.000-04:00

Okay, sew I usually just stipple or loop or something all over that is basically just holding the layers together. I decided to use my Christmas projects and donation quilts as a means to practice free motion quilting. I love feathers! I started with the peachy squares quilt.

Here's the front . . . I like the design that it makes from a distance.

And . . . ta-dah! Here's the back! Click on the picture to make it bigger. And baby I free-handed, free-motioned this bad boy. I'm calling my sister in CA because she is the only one who is still up (they are 3 hours behind us!) while I am dancing around the basement to the song "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse. Wahoo - I am liberated from the iron chains that bind me to stippling! I can't wait to show my new friend, Liz. She is a longarm goddess!

A "Spooktacular" Halloween Mini Bag

2009-10-24T14:29:00.000-04:00

I made this mini bag for my friend Kellie. She is having a Halloween, pumpkin carving, bonfire, hayride party today. She was sew sweet to invite my family. She is a fellow quilter like me so I know she will love this bag.

I put a charm pack in the bag. It is "Spook Tacular" by Sanae for Moda. It is CUTE fabric! I also made her a card to say thanks for inviting us to her get together. I'm sure we'll have a ton of fun!

The tutorial for this awesome mini bag can be found at www.psiquilt.com/2009/08/friendship-bag-tutorial.html Check out Rachel's website. It is the best!

Thimble Quilt

2009-10-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Another Chritmas present waiting to be quilted. I saw a tutorial on http://www.modabakeshop.com/ for this kind of a quilt. It went together super fast and there was no pinning of rows. Mama likes!

A Baby Quilt

2009-10-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

My friend is having a little girl and doing her nursery in John Deere. I found this fabric and knew that she would love it so much!

I went outside of my comfort zone on the quilting. I did some free motion flowers with swirly middles and then echoed around them to get to the next spot. It turned out ok. I might try some more of this "free motion" quilting.

Fair Quilts

2009-10-18T14:23:00.000-04:00

Sew . . . my husband kept bugging me to put some quilts in our county fair. I put in 3 quilts and got a third and fourth place. My daughter was happier than anyone because she got the "pink" ribbon as a prize!

One was my Eddie Stone Light quilt for the "old" category. I put in my husband's OSU quilt for the "new" category, and a baby quilt for one of the teachers at school.

Another Christmas Quilt

2009-10-15T12:11:00.000-04:00

Here is another Christmas quilt! I love the colors on this one. One of the center squares is this coral color and I am going to bind it in that fabric.

Christmas Presents

2009-10-13T03:41:00.000-04:00

I am making some quilts as Christmas presents. I will not disclose who they are for b/c one of you might read this blog! I'll just put on pictures of what I have so far.

This quilt was a happy accident. I was shimming up my squares and I cut about 4 of them and realized that they were crooked. I had to keep cutting that way b/c I was out of fabric.

My little cousin is crazy about horses! Sew . . . this panel seemed perfect for her!

This is called "Trip Around the World". I plan on using it to practice my pantograph designs.

This is a disappearing 9-patch. You sew a 9-patch and then cut in half and in half again. I made two different blocks and when I sewed them together, it made this. I kind of like the effect.

This one was just some fabric that I had gotten on clearance. I only had a little bit. I wanted a quilt that had big squares so I could practice some custom quilting in. Again, from a distance, I like the effect.

Slumming at JoAnn's

2009-10-13T03:20:00.000-04:00

What should I make?

Okay, sew everyone slums once in awhile. EVERYONE does it whether they will admit it or not. I could not resist these fat quarter packs at Joann's. Sew . . . I bought 6 of them over a period of time. I just love the browns and greens and blues and oranges! The colors and the patterns are to die for! They came in these cute little boxes, which are now perfect for holding my colored scraps of fabric! My shelf was getting too full!

Eric Carle Quilts

2009-10-13T03:02:00.000-04:00

I ordered this Eric Carle fabric from a quilt shop in Washington state. I'd love to visit there someday. My twins love EC books. These are going to be their Christmas presents.

Christmas Quilts

2009-10-13T02:47:00.000-04:00

I made these Irish chain Christmas quilts for the kids last Christmas. Man, I really need to quilt them! I think I might applique something in the middle of the white.

Snowflake Quilts

2009-10-13T02:33:00.001-04:00

I saw a picture in a magazine of this snowflake quilt. It was awesome! I ordered the product called "Chenille It" and I made my own from some scraps that I had in my stash. After you wash it, the snowflakes fuzz up and it looks really cool. I think I'll quilt it in white thread with some stars or somthing on it.

Little Monsters

2009-10-13T02:20:00.000-04:00

I made these two monster quilts in a class, with my mom. Okay, sew mom made one and I made one. But it's the thought that counts, right?

These are for the kids to use at preschool during naptime.