Backyard Baby Finished

I didn't have a quilt holder for the last couple days and it's super windy here. My yard is literally filled with tumbleweeds, I've never seen anything like it. They are piled feet high everywhere and along the roadways, so without driving to town, pictures are impossible right now! I took a few in my sewing room. The lighting and colors are lousy but I need to get this packaged and mailed.

I hate it when the diagonal quilting doesn't show up in both directions on some photos. It's there, you just can't see it. I guess it showed up good on the first picture, that's what it really looks like :)

I didn't have quite enough of the windy day print so I added some ant maze to the bottom.

For anyone who may not know, the fabric is Backyard Baby by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller. I bought pieces here and there as I seen them, so I can't link to a shop because I don't remember them all for certain.
It finished at 35 x 43. I first saw a quilt very much like this one on Etsy, so it is not my idea. I've had a few people suggesting tutorials. I would love to do one for this quilt. It doesn't use a lot of print fabrics and is pretty fast to put together. Even though mine is shaped different and layed out a tad bit different, it still wasn't my idea and I don't feel right doing a tutorial for this one. I just drew up my own pattern to end up the size I was needing. It is sold and will be off to it's new home tomorrow.

I had a lot of this fabric left and had a request for another boy quilt so I started on a tumbler. I love tumbler quilts for children!

Ignore that crease mark line thing in the top of the photo. Not sure why my camera keeps doing that!
I have all my rows sewn and a few joined so this should be done fairly quickly. I will use the dots for binding and I have another piece of windy day print to use on this for backing again. Not sure how I ended up with so much more of this line than I thought. I have enough left to do one more still I think!
Thanks for stopping by :)

Linking up to Needle And Thread Thursday
And Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts  

Two WIP's, Backyard Baby And Nordika (Again...)

Hi all! I hope you aren't getting too tired of seeing my Nordika posts. The next time you will see it is when it's complete. I promise! I did manage to get half of the quilting done.

 

 I didn't have anyone here to hold it up for me so I couldn't get a shot of the whole half, but you get the idea. This is the most dense quilting I have done on any quilt so please don't look too closely at my lines and spacing! Part of the problem is the little bar that goes on my walking foot will not stay in there tight. The other part was just lack of experience in quilting this many lines while turning. I typically use painters tape but that was a bit tough to do with all the turning, so I'm just going to finish it up and be happy it's done. I did put a couple glue dots from my scrapbooking stuff on the back of the foot where the bar sits in the middle, and it helped a bunch to keep it in place.

I almost have the Backyard Baby top done. I just have to add the final white borders on the outside edges. That will soften up the sharp edge of the gray as well. I will bind it in the snakeskin green print.

I first saw this quilt design on Etsy, so I can't claim it. I have no idea what sizes she used so I just drafted up my own. This one is sold so I'm hoping to finish it up today or tomorrow.
Have a great rest of the week and thanks for stopping!

Linking up to My Quilt Infatuation for Needle And Thread Thursday

Catching Up

Hi everyone! I hope you all had great holidays! I've been seeing all the great re caps from all the blogs for 2013 with everyone's goals, etc. After too many days of contemplating what I should post, I decided on the truth. Craft blogs are our getaways, our happy places and I want to keep mine that way as well. With that said, I do have to share I have a health issue that's become a big struggle for me. I have not been sewing as much (not by choice), my Nordika quilt still sits unfinished and I have no definite goals or plans. I have decided that I am going to stick with smaller projects for now. Getting anything too big done is tough for me right now and adds to my frustration.
My Nordika quilt did get layered after several days of trying to get the back pieced. Each time I thought it was big enough, it just was not. So I ended up adding in every scrap I had and I literally don't have an inch to spare on the sides. I got a small portion quilted.

I set this aside for now and started a new baby quilt with Backyard Baby fabrics from Michael Miller. These prints are so soft and fun looking, it will make a cute boy quilt.

I got some fun things in the mail today. First is a big roll of cotton batting from my husband for Christmas. JoAnn had this one day deal for 79.99, such a great deal! Only a quilter would know how exciting a giant roll of batting is as a gift :)

JCPenney sent me an early birthday coupon for 15.00 and another with free shipping so I got a diamond ruler I've been wanting for 1.04 shipped!

The UPS man also brought me this bundle from Benartex I won in the holiday blog hop!

 It is Palazz (Kanvas) by Greta Lynn and it is gorgeous! This bundle has a gray/stone tone and I already have a quilt in mind for it :)
Did you get any quilty goodness for Christmas this year?
Happy New Year everyone, may it be filled with health, happiness and lots of sewing!

Michael Miller Baby Quilt Finish

I had several pieces of different sizes of pink and gray prints from one of my SAS fabric excursions. I put them all together to make this cute little baby quilt. I have been so fortunate to have sold all but one of my quilts in my Etsy store, so I need to get some more things put back in there. The prints are all from Michael Miller except the medium gray dot, it is Riley Blake. The inspiration for this quilt came from here at The Crafty Cupboard. I started with 6 inch squares to make the hourglass blocks and squared them to 5 inches. The print squares are also 5 inches. I was lucky enough to have a piece of the Flower Shower print big enough for backing. It's so bold and I just love it.

It finished smaller than I like, 31.5 x 40, but I didn't have enough animal prints to do anymore blocks.

I'm really trying to use up what I have on hand already and I'm happy with how it came out. It such a bad time of year to get decent pictures. There's no half great scenery around here when it is summer, much less winter. My camera is really acting up on me lately and I had to fiddle a lot with the photos to get things somewhat presentable.

This is listed in my Etsy shop. sold.
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!
Linking to Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

And The Winner Is...

Congratulations to Pat V! You have won these Sweetwater cuties!

I will be emailing you shortly for a mailing address.
Thanks to everyone for entering! Welcome new followers, I appreciate you :)

More Teacher Gifts And Nordika Progress

I don't have a lot to share this week, I forgot about the other set of teacher gifts I finished. This is for my grand daughter's teacher from last year. God bless her for her wonderful work with the children! She was a huge help for my little Abie, who has some health things that can make school a bit tough for her sometimes. We could not have asked for a better kindergarten teacher for her!

Color Me Retro by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery is such a bright and fun line. I love it for bags and pouch type stuff! Think I need to get some more before it's all gone :)

I haven't gotten a lot accomplished on my Nordika quilt yet, just a few rows.

It's so hard to see in pictures but the solid is Northcott Seafoam green, it's so pretty with this fabric line (also by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery for anyone that doesn't know)! I'm really wondering how I will ever get a good shot to do the colors in this quilt justice. I fiddled around for so long with different layouts. I had it all done and everything scattered everywhere looked way too busy. I decided to put just 2 together in each section, and that toned it down quite a bit. I'm happy with the final layout. It will go together fast, being that it is large half square triangles. I'm back to trying to do a zillion things at once, and when I do this...I get nothing done it seems!
What are you working on this week?

Linking up to Needle And Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Hello fellow crafters! This is my first year participating and I tried to get something everyone would love! I have discovered I love making pillows and I love mini charms! Up for grabs is a 1/2 yard cut along with 2 mini charm packs of Sweetwater's Road 15.

Who doesn't love Sweetwater?! This should make a great pillow cover, table runner, candle mat or whatever you choose :) I'm not affiliated or sponsored by the shop I purchased these from, but if you haven't been to Vintage Fairytale, run over here and check it out. You will thank me when you see the kind of sales she runs!
I know you have lots of places to visit so I will make this fast and easy. Just leave me a comment letting me know what you would make if you win. I would love for you to look around my blog, but being a follower is not necessary to win. Winner will be chosen by random (aka my husband choosing a number from the total amount of entries).
The giveaway will close Dec. 13th at 5 PM PST, winner will be emailed and announced here on this post by Dec 15th. If you are a no reply blogger, leave your email in your comment or a new winner will have to be selected! Giveaway is only open to US addresses due to shipping costs. Good luck!
Here is a link to all the other giveaways posted at Sew Mama Sew. Lots of great blogs to discover out there!
I'm getting lots of no reply bloggers, DON'T forget to leave your email if you are unsure!! I don't want anyone to be left out!! Here is a post from On The Windy Side with instructions on how you can check your no reply status! GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

THE WINNER IS #230, PAT V! I have emailed you for shipping details, congrats!

A New Cabinet And Fabric Finds

My girls were at the JCPenney outlet and saw a cabinet cheap that they thought I may want for my sewing room. Since I am STILL waiting, a year later, for the nice big one my husband is making (it's 1/2 done), I said yes! They picked it up for me and it was waiting when I arrived in Phoenix for Thanksgiving.

It's nothing fancy and the color is much nicer than it looks in the photo. I wanted it for my precuts. I love it and it was cheap! Thanks girls for thinking of me :)

Of course my Art Gallery had to have their place along with my cute pigeon fabrics my friend Moira gave me. I'm sure there will be lots of arranging and re arranging because I have more to fit in here :) It's nice to have a place for some things, as my shelf was over filled and things were constantly falling off of it.

I have mentioned my love of SAS Fabric store in Phoenix before. At 3.99 a yard, it's so hard to not buy tons! They have so much to pick from. I got a quick trip in this time and found a few things I needed. I have been wanting the blue colorway of Modern Meadow and I was soooo happy when I spotted a piece, then 3 more! The fabric is all different size pieces and in big piles.You have to dig a bit and if I'd had more time I'm sure there were more of the prints hiding someplace. I am thankful to have found the 4 that I did. I left with 5.91 yards and it was only 23.60 plus tax. For designer prints, you just can't beat the prices. Next time I'm going to plan better and stay longer!

My 6 year old grand daughter said, "You're the best Grandma ever because you can sew. Well, other ones can too...but you're the best one." It made me so happy and other than being able to see all 5 little girls, it was the highlight of my trip :)