A near finish and a finish...

Greetings!  I have some quilting progress pics and a finish to show you!  The first is a near finish on my scrappy quilt!  Here it is without the borders.  It is HUGE!!!  I scaled it up from 6 inch squares to 10 inch while leaving the same number of squares - 54 in all!  With the 2 borders now added - one thinner red border and then a wider border of gorgeous blue butterfly fabric with a touch of red in it (I think it's from the Papillion line) it is now just a couple inches shy of a king size quilt!!!

 A close up of some of the pinwheels and checkerboard blocks.

Here you can see how large it is layed out on my living floor - this is our whole living room (and downstairs living space beside the dining room, where I have commandeered the table and our eat-in kitchen, thank goodness for that!)   For about 1 week,  I had to have my children (and dogs - with less success) tip-toe around the squares until I could get the rows sewn together!  They were good sports!  (Excuse the vacuum in the upper right hand corner of the pic - we have NO closets downstairs and I didn't even notice it was in the pic until now!!)

 I am SO pleased with how it's turned out.  It now has the borders and has been beautifully quilted by Olga my teacher, quilter and friend.  I am in the process of hand sewing on the binding now.  I hope to have pics of a completely finished quilt soon!

Next up is a table runner that I made for a dear friend of mine that will be moving to just south of Boston at the end of this week.  They will be living right near the water and a month ago I found this fun nautical fabric.

 I pretty much made up this pattern using the above scrappy quilt as a guide.  I love how it turned out!!

 The back - love this boat fabric.  I wish them the best of luck in their new home but will miss them terribly!!!

So, that's it for now!!!  I've started a lattice quilt (pretty purples and pinks with white sashing) and I've been sewing some skirts and I'm itching to sew a cute tote bag...  I hope to have some more finished things to show you soon! 

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!!

Meredith

Continuing to quilt!

Still quilting away and loving it!  I made this summery green, black and white table topper from a pattern from a weekly email from allpeoplequilt.com  It's the first piecing I've done completely on my own.  It's being quilted right now and I hope to get it back tomorrow so I can stitch on the binding.  As soon as I put it on the floor my 16 year old pooch, Chance, decided it looked like a pretty good dog quilt!

The fabrics below are ones that I am using in the quilt I'm working on now.  It's the Pinwheels on Point quilt from the Sew Scrappy magazine.  My friend, Tina, that I met in quilting class, and I begged :-) our teacher to teach us another quilt and we were able to talk her into going with us to a fabulous quilting store - Pennington Quilt Works and lunch!.  Heaven on Earth!!  I could not believe the amount of gorgeous fabrics and amazing quilts on display!  We literally spent hours in the store picking out our fabric (yes, it's supposed to be a scrappy quilt but since we've both only made 3 quilts now we don't have a ton of scraps yet - I can see how you build up quite a scrap stash quickly though!)  We had a quick, yummy lunch before heading home.  We have SO much fun together!  We are meeting once a week and chat and quilt and chat some more... 

This new quilt has pinwheels (hence the name ;-)  and yesterday they were kicking my patootie!  I'm hoping to get some more solid time working on the quilt today as it seems like once I get into a groove the pinwheels will move along more quickly,  I need to have 28 more finished by tomorrow!

We've had a nice Spring - a lot of time spent at lacrosse for my son which we all enjoyed.  My oldest daughter and I ran/walked in our 1st 5k this past weekend and it was challenging and fun.  The girls dance recitals are Father's Day weekend.  And, we are into the wind down of school - 2 more weeks until summer vacation begins.  We are all ready!!!  Here are a couple pics of my wonderful family who are kindly tolerating my taking over of the dining table with my fabric and sewing machine!!!

 Mother's Day -

Thank you for visiting!

Meredith

A little obsessed right now...

I am a little obsessed right now...with anything quilting or sewing related...  I made another quilt top.  I love this color combo as much as the first one and I love the math/geometry involved (crazy - because I have NEVER been a lover of anything mathatical!!)   I was about 2 inches too short of my border fabric so at the suggestion of my teacher I improvised and used some of the star fabric to make up the difference.  I love how this turned out!

My first quilt is now being long-armed by my teacher and on Friday she'll show us how to bind it.  I'm still debating on whether to do this one by hand or have her do it for me.  I want to learn but I also want to keep going on learning the piecing part...  Decisions, decisions...   I bought the Quilts and More Summer 2012 issue while we were at Sam's this afternoon.  I am DROOLING over "Mixed Berries" Quilt by Kimberly Walus.  I love the colors and this seems like a good first quilt for me tackle truly on my own.  This maybe require a trip to a "real" quilting store though as I'm not sure the big craft store where I've been buying my fabrics will have exactly what I'm looking for for this project.

I've also picked up a pattern and fabric to make a purse (mind you I've never sewn from a pattern before so this will be interesting!)  And, I've downloaded instructions on how to make simple skirts for my girls...  I have a big list of things to buy at the craft store tomorrow...

So, a little obsessed, as I've said...  I haven't even thought of picking up my cross stitch in over a month (SO strange!) but I'm loving this for now and going with it...  I may have to re-name this blog though...

Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

I'm hooked...

Well...I absolutely LOVE quilting!!!!  Here is a picture of my 8 stars which I brought to class last Friday and then the stars sewn together.  Next week we learn how to add borders and make our quilt sandwich.

I love this quilt.  I love this springy/summery feel of the white background and pretty colors.  However, without understanding color theory at all - I realized last Friday that while the white is very nice, in order to make the white really "pop" there is going to need to be some super quilting...and, that isn't taught in the class!  Infact, I can't seem to find any classes that teach the actual quilting part of quilting...  So, our teacher has offered to long-arm my quilt and the other woman's quilt in the class and then she will add on a 4th class on teach us how to bind the quilt together.

So, because I want to learn how to make an entire quilt myself I decided to start another one (yes, I'm hooked on quilting already!)  This time I chose a completely different color palate and my background fabric has a subtle design in it which I hope will be very forgiving as I teach myself how to hand quilt.  Eventually, I'd like to learn on a machine but I think that is going to mean I need to buy a new machine...and I don't want to do that yet.  Right now I am using my Great Grandmother's portable Singer machine - it is fabulous to use but I'm not sure it will quilt easily through the quilt sandwich.  It's also not very big so I'm not sure that these smaller quilts will even fit on it.

Here's my new fabric...

 

I really love both of these quilts.  They are the same pattern but are going to look so different because of the colors!  I am going to start attending a local Quilt Guild that my teacher belongs to.  It sounds like a wonderful way to meet other Quilters and a great way to learn how to make different kind of quilts.  Thank you for visiting and as always, for all the inspiration you give me!!! 

Meredith

1st Quilting Class

Greetings!! After wanting to learn to quilt for MANY years...today I took my first quilting class - Start to Quilt. It took me 4 hours but I made a 9 patch (I think that's what it's called) block. I LOVED it! I obviously need to work on cutting and sewing straight lines...I'm hoping to make another one of these in the next week before I forget what I did! (Although, the kids are on Spring Break all next week so that may be wishful thinking until they're back in school...)
I am taking a class on 3 Fridays in April to make a Star Baby Quilt. There will be 3 hours of class each Friday and homework (I'm now anticipating spending A LOT of time on homework after seeing how long this took me to make!) Since I have no more babies at home I have chosen 8 pretty, springy fabrics to use. (I am using the 2 I used in the block above and 6 others prints. The background will be a pretty creamy white.) I am looking forward to this class and hoping I can learn to stitch straight in preparation for it in the next 2 weeks :-) Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

Dare to dream...

Well, at least I'll own a stitched Beach Cottage!! I love this design - it's been in my pile of "to-do's" for a few years now and I decided it was time to stitch it up. I love the fabric, the colors and I love the waves!!! I can't wait to stitch them - they look so fun and inviting. I have to pick up the Weeks Dye Work for the trees from my local cross stitch store later today. It's more of a needlepoint store but she does sell some charts, DMC, some over-dyed thread and linen and is able to order me what she doesn't have so I really appreciate that!

Country Cottage Needleworks "Beach House" * 32 count Light Mocha Linen
Recommended DMC, Crescent Colors and Weeks Dye Works

The last time I was up at the needlepoint store I also picked up these two chart. I am looking forward to getting started on them. I have admired MANY Blackbird Design projects for a while now but have never stitched any. I also want to continue with adding to my stitched Christmas Ornaments. I haven't stitched any this year yet so I need to get to it in March!

In other cross stitch news I am very excited to be teaching the twelve 9 year olds in my daughter's Brownie Troop how to cross stitch in April. I will be leading them in a sewing Try-it and have decided that a bookmark will be a good place for them to start. If anyone knows of any free bookmark charts or motifs that 9 year olds girls would enjoy stitching please let me know. I want to keep it pretty simple since, with the exception of my daugher, none of them have stitched before. Thanks!

I am also (finally!) taking my first sewing (machine) class this Friday! I am SO excited as I have been wanting to do this for sew (ha, ha) long! My husband and kids gave me the lessons for Christmas and I signed up for the 1st one for this week. After this very introductory class I can then take classes for clothing, drapery or quilting!! I'm thinking clothing first but we'll see :-)

Thank you for visiting and for inspiring my stitching and soon-to-be sewing in MANY ways!!

XO, Meredith

Just in the Nick of time...barely...

Hello and Happy Holidays! How is it December 6th already?!?! I have been stitching away and have finished up 4 ornaments for this year (just in the last 2 days!) so far (I have 1 more in the works, but time is running short now!) First up though, I wanted to show you some of my favorite stitched Christmas decorations - our Christmas Stockings. I started stitching each family member one of these the 1st year that Patrick and I got married. I have stitched them for my husband and I, our children, my parents, my Great Nana, and my sister and her family. The tradition is as each new baby is born they get their stocking for their first Christmas. Here are my families 5's stockings. I send the stitching off to a friend of mine in Kentucky and she whips up these beautiful stockings for me. They are so special to me and I look forward to hanging them with care every year.
I use a Santa Alphabet for the name and border the name with trees, M & P (my husband and I) and the year the stocking was made.

And, of course, the kids LOVE to see these filled with goodies on Christmas morning!

On the ornament front, I made 2 of the Merry Skaters from LHN. I LOVE this design.

One will stay with me and one will be a gift. (Here is the back.)

Another beautiful LHN Ornament. I love the crystal snowflakes on this and the not-so-traditional Christmas colors. (And, since I actually saw a BIG black bear about 1.5 miles from my house this summer, I think this a fabulous ornament for our tree! :-)

The back....

One more LHN - another favorite design! I tried to make the twig frame for it but didn't have much luck. Still, I like how this finishing turned out. I may have to stitch another one of these in the future and try the twig frame again...

Hope you all are well and enjoying this Christmas season with your family and friends! Thanks for visiting!!

Meredith

Oh my...it's been TOO long!

First of all, hello and thank you for noticing that I posted something new and for visiting!!! I can't believe I haven't posted since January 18th! Where have the last 7 months gone??? I guess to kid's activities, work, a couple trips to NC to visit family and a wonderful week in Disney World. All along, I've been stitching when I can but it's ever so little these days and apparently I haven't had much time to update this blog.

However, I check all of yours DAILY!!! So, I decided it was time to post some pictures of a small WIP and 3 finishes...

First up, this little winter skater girl from LHN. I LOVE this design and happily it's stitching up rather quickly for me, given the time I have. I will probably end up making 2 of these - one for our Christmas Tree and one as a gift.
Here is another ornament by LHN. The design is just adorable and I am hoping to finish it like Vonna did for the model with a twig frame. I better get the kids searching for some nice twigs for me!!!

Here's an adorable little flower from a Spring issue of Just Cross Stitch. I believe it was Karen, SC (Thanks Karen!) that finished it in this little flower pot and I just had to copy that idea as well. I've actually made 2 of these - one I gave to my mother in law when we visited her for Easter. I had actually picked up 4 more pots for more of these...but the lack of time and other cute designs has caused me to move on...

This was a medium size finish for me a couple months ago. I started in on Feb. 12th. Now, I just need to finish-finish it. I found some gorgeous floral blue and green ribbon for the trim but need to find some backing material. I have some antique wooden yarn spools with the yarn still on them in a basket that I would love to add this to. Hopefully, one day soon...

So, that's it for now for me. This week starts 4 nights a week of football practice for my son (crazy!), a visit from cousins, a new babysitter for the next 3 weeks for while I'm at work. And, much too quickly I am beginning to sense the end of summer with teacher assignments due out on the 18th (two 3rd graders and a kindergartener!). As always, thank you for all the joy and inspiration you give me from your blogs! Happy hazy days of August!

Meredith

Tuesday Update

A little update on this cold, icy Tuesday... I made up this little hanging pillow for a friend that loves to garden. The stitching took me 2 nights over the weekend and about an hour this morning to finish it into the pillow. I love this design by The Sampler Girl. I am going to stitch this again this week for another friend who loves to garden and just closed on a new home (and big backyard for gardening)!

I've also made a LITTLE progress on my last house in my LHN (you can see where I was in my post below). I have not had a lot of stitching time between a power outage last Tuesday, a snow day for my kids last Wed and no school yesterday.

Also, I've been spending a lot of time organizing/cleaning my house as I was supposed to start a new job today (after 8 years of being a stay-at-home mom)! However, due to the weather, my kids had a 2 hour delay and when I called my new employers to tell them I'd be in at 11 am rather than 9 they told me to just start tomorrow instead. They seem like a great group of people and I'm looking forward to starting tomorrow. I've been very blessed to stay home all these years and now I feel very blessed to have this wonderful part-time (26 hrs a week) opportunity land in my lap in perfect timing.

Thank you for visiting!

Meredith

Making a little progress...

Hello! Happy Sunday! I haven't stitched much since Christmas but the little bit of stitching I've done I've worked on my LHN Little House Neighborhood. I am slowly working my way toward the bottom and then of course, have the whole border to do. I really love this piece and want to focus on it until it's done and hanging above our couch! I have personalized it a little bit so far by stitching a dog rather than the squirrel. I will add another pooch to the other side as well since we have 2 dogs. I just need to figure out the reverse of it...

This is where I am now - the final house. Since Christmas I've finished the bottom of the main section of the house, the two lower roofs and have started the left side to the house.

I am going to work on it some more now. My oldest daughter is at a birthday party all afternoon, my youngest daughter is napping and my husband and son are off cutting out his pinewood derby car for Boy Scouts. Ahhhhh...quiet time, stitching time... Hope to show you some progress later!

Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

Last 2 Finishes of 2010

Welcome! Can't believe it's the last day of 2010!! Just in the nick of time - here is my Finish-finish of Peppermint Latte - it actually made it to the tree in time for Christmas! I used beads of the edging and I really love the little bit of sparkle they gave this little ornament.

I also finished Partride in a Pear Tree and it made it to the tree last night (a little late but still in 2010 :-) This is also a very cute design.

Well, that's it for me for 2010! It's been such a fun year of reading your blogs and trying new things. My "plan" for 2011 is to keep stitching when I can - to finish 2 big projects and keep going on stitching ornaments so that I have a lot more stitched ones for our tree next year. I am starting a part time job (about 25 hours a week) in mid-Jan. so it'll be interesting to see what happens to my stitching time. I don't want to put too many stitching goals on myself because I think it will just stress me out! I would love to finish the Angel of Grace by Mirabella and my Littlehouse Neighborhood by LHN for sure this year though.

I hope you all have a fun New Year's Eve and that 2011 is a year of filled with blessings for everyone! Thanks for visiting!

Meredith

The busier I am, the more (stitching!) I get done...

Well, I think the old adage, "the busier you are the more you get done", is happening to me right now! I finished stitching 2 more small ornaments! This is A Partridge in a Pear Tree by Nancy Boyarsky of Glory Bee. I stitched it on 32 count linen (can't remember the name of it) using the recommended fibers. This was a quick stitch - 2 days total (VERY quick for me, I'm not a very quick stitcher!!) It is so cute!

And, here is Peppermint Latte. Even in the pure daylight my camera is having trouble photographing this cleanly, but you get the idea.

So, I'm hoping to get these finished into little hanging pillow ornaments by Christmas Eve...I don't think I'm going to let myself start anything else this week, as with all of us, I'm sure, there is SO MUCH else I need to be doing!!!

I hope I can post and show you these 2 last ornament finishes in the next couple of days but if I can't...thank you always for visiting and the warmest wishes to you and yours for a very, Merry Christmas!!!

Meredith

1 stitching finish, 1 ornament finish and a winter hanging pinkeep finish!

Good evening! I'm happy to be able to show you a couple of finishes tonight! The first is Red House in Winter by LHN and I'm pretty pleased with the finish. At first I wasn't sure I loved the ribbon I chose for the bow but it is growing on me. I love the ribbon itself, just wasn't sure it was exactly right for this design. I'd tried to find a deep red gingham the other day and couldn't so I'm going with this for now. I'm keeping this one for myself, so I can always change it out later...

Next up is Going Sledding by The Sampler Girl. I stitched this piece last winter so I'm SO happy to finally be able to hang it up for the winter! I had the hardest time finding the little wooden sleighs - I tried the 2 different crafting stores I go to and neither had them available last winter or this year either. So, I ordered these little unfinished ones from a store online and then painted them. I ordered 10 to make it worth the shipping - they were really inexpensive so I definitely see more of this pattern in my future as some winter birthday presents...

I also finished stitching Peppermint Latte by Casey Buonaugurio Designs in the 2010 JCS Ornament Issue. For some reason my camera did not take good pictures of it at all tonight - I think the red fabric and light threads were throwing it off. I'll try again in the daylight tomorrow. So, I still need to finish-finish it. I want to do a bead border on it so I'm hoping I'll have time to run out and pick-up some beads for that. It was a pretty quick stitch and it's really cute!

So, the biggest lesson learned for me this year with my ornaments - FINISH AS I GO!!! I have really missed my actual stitching time these last few weeks as I've finished up these ornaments. Happy to say that my dining room table is almost back to looking like a dining room table again - well, except for the remnants of the army of 30 clothespin reindeer that have also been residing there all week - as the kids and I made them up for girl scouts, teachers and grandparents. This week will be devoted to finishing shopping, wrapping, cleaning china and prepping for Christmas Eve dinner which we are hosting this year. I'd love to stitch one more ornament I have all kitted up but it might need to wait for after Christmas at this point. We'll see... Have a great evening and thanks so much for visiting!!

Meredith