Traveling Quilt

TRAVELING QUILT update:

35 stars!!!!

I feel like singing Stevie Wonder's song from his 1976 album, "Isn't she lovely?"

Currently it measures, 24" x 45"

But I'm wanting to make it a queen size quilt and if my math is correct, I will need 221 stars... yikes!  I have a LONG ways to go!

But this quilt is all for me, so I have all the time in the world.

Happy quilting!

Traveling quilt and new clock

TRAVELING QUILT:

21 STARS!!!

 I've been sewing at the park while Emma is at preschool and my traveling quilt is getting some traveling in.

I decided to go with a dark teal border for my outer row of diamonds.

And for the outer border of the entire quilt, I found this great text fabric the reads,

"faith, hope, love"

 in beautiful bright colors. 

It just seemed too perfect to pass up.

But I have a LOT of stars to go before I have to worry about tacking this quilt to a border. 

I am really enjoying this hand piecing.  I'm so glad I came across the blog:

LIFE UNDER QUILTS

Jessica's video tutorial on how to do English Paper Piecing is excellent!  And her "Traveling Quilts" are absolutely gorgeous!!!  Definitely check out her site.  So talented!

EMMA'S CLOCK:

I've completely decorated Emma's room in a "ladybug" theme.  And recently she's been very interested in clocks.  So I looked online for a ladybug clock and thought . . .   I could paint a ladybug on a plain clock a lot cheaper than purchasing a personalized ladybug one.

BEFORE: 

Plain black and white clock

$6.99 at Target

AFTER: 

Ta - Daaaa!

I'm going to wrap it up for her birthday (2 July) and surprise her. 

I think it turned out just adorable!  And I got to paint, which I haven't done for a long, long time.

That's all for now, folks.

Have a great week!

Crafty Update

So far during this pregnancy the whole "take it easy until the baby gets here" as proven to be a very productive thing for my WIPs!

TRAVELING QUILT - although, I think a better name should be the COUCH QUILT

In February, I had completed 7 hand-pieced stars.

.

.

.

.

and now, I have completed 14 hand-pieced stars!

Oh I LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt already.  Such a great way to use up my scraps and the little diamond pieces fit nicely into my purse so I can take it with me to the doctor's office and sew while I'm waiting.  PERFECT for this TYPE A/OCD/hates wasting time/busy body!

OWL CROSS STITCH - 3 . 5 owls completed.

This is going to be so cute!  I love how each one has their own personality. ♥

PINEAPPLE SURPRISE QUILT - remember this one? (click here)

The last time I posted about this quilt was on Halloween!  Scary! :D

Well as most of you know, we do a fundraiser every year for the

 Walk for Lupus Now

in Los Angeles, and this one particular family donates $1,000 EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.  So when I got an email from them that they were sending me another donation check, I decided that they should get this quilt.  I am so grateful for them.  They have always supported me, in everything, from way back when I was in 8th grade.  Such a great family. ♥♥♥

Quilt #44

62"x75"

How am I ever going to let this one go?  =*(

I love everything about it: the design, the fabric, the use of the leftover HSTs as a border, the alternate setting for the blocks, the dark hunter green border... I could go on and on...

I used the pattern from this book:

Now I just need to baste, quilt and bind it!  I'm using the leftover strips from the jelly roll as my binding.  I can't wait to see how this finishes up!

I still need to make some Farmer's Wife blocks and finish up my scrappy Irish Chain, plus make the baby's crib quilt!  Lots to do, but my stash of UFOs is definitely getting smaller.

Have a great weekend!

Ladybug Quilt is FINISHED!

I'm so excited to show you my latest quilt!  It is the 43rd quilt I've made since I started back in 2010.
Without further ado...

58" x 76"

back

I added little yo-yo's with red buttons to embellish the white band along the front!

I'm not sure how long they will last, since Emma has already started picking them off.  But at least I have a few pictures of them on there!

Behind the yo-yo's I free-motion quilted little ladybugs!!!

I didn't even use a stencil, just threw caution to the wind and went for it!

I even did that along the thick red outer border, but you couldn't see it in the photo, so here's a picture of the back of the quilt to show how I quilted that section.

It is currently in the washing machine and I'm PRAYING like crazy that those red fabrics don't bleed!  I pre-washed everything before I started making this quilt AND I added a Shout Color Catcher, so HOPEFULLY it won't bleed.

And what do you do with the scraps???

Make coasters!

CROCHETED GOODIES:

I've also been busy crocheting little things here and there.

I finished up the rainbow blanket for the baby and thought she might need a matching pillow.  (Free pattern found HERE)

Can you stand the cuteness?!?!?! 

I absolutely love these!

And look at the texture on the pillow!  I think the baby is really going to love playing with this.

Emma's room was quickly being over run by stuff animals, so I crocheted a toy hammock.  (Free pattern found HERE)

BEFORE

AFTER

And just for fun, I made a few little butterflies. (Free pattern found HERE)

So what's next on the agenda you say???  Glad you asked!

Time to start decorating the baby's room!!!  Going with an owl theme this time.  I bought this adorable wall decal sticker display:

And this fabric:

Woodland Tails by Sheri Berry

(Riley Blake)

To make this crib quilt:

I also bought this cute owl cross stitch pattern and haven't decided if I'll make it a pillow or frame it.

And if ALL of THAT doesn't keep me busy, then I will attack my stack of unfinished projects from last year. 

One last photo for the post, my cute little munchkin

She says, "Hey!"

It's been SOOOOO Long!

I can't believe my last post was in February and here we are looking at MAY!  EEEK.

I've been crafting the whole time, just not been very diligent with posting.  So here's an update of all things crafty!

QUILTING: (pattern found HERE on Moda Bake shop - slightly adjusted to fit a full size bed)

Poor Emma, I've had her Big Girl quilt top done for a while now, but haven't found the energy to quilt it.  It's so bright and pretty and *lady buggy*  I absolutely adore it.

I WILL get this quilted soon! 

I promise.

She doesn't seem to be too upset.  She's been making do with this adorable blue bow quilt that was given to us by my dear friend Barb.  Barb's mother hand-quilted this beauty and Emma loves to count the bows. ♥

CROCHETING:

My mom taught me to crochet a LONG time ago and I've usually only made afghans with it.  It's a nice hobby to start and stop.  Here lately I've been venturing out and making hats and purses for Emma and her friends.

I found this free pattern, HERE to make these adorable cluster hats:

And I found a free pattern for these adorable Owl Purses, HERE:

And what little girl doesn't want Mary Jane house slippers?  (Well besides mine, that is!)  I found this free pattern, HERE:

Emma hates these.  Won't wear 'em.

I bought some super cuddly soft fleece fabric to make a baby blanket for a friend and crocheted the edges.

Last but not least, found this adorable Owl Hat pattern, HERE:

Again, my kid hates it.  :D

But don't worry I haven't neglected my crocheting roots, I have also been making some afghans for our little bun in the oven! 

Granny Ripple Pattern

(found HERE)

This one is turning out to be WAY bigger than I anticipated and may end up being a blanket for Mommy.  :D   heheheh

Teardrop pattern... my Grandma Rennier taught me this one.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the brightness of these colors!  So pretty! 

I saw this in a book, I'm not sure what the pattern is called.

I love this one too!  This one makes me think of cotton candy. :D

Brian's been pretty craft outside as well.  Take a look at our new front patio:

I think it looks beautiful!  Pretty impressed with the hubs.  Especially since he's never done anything like this before and has taught himself.  Poor guy, it's been in the mid 90's here with 30 mph winds and he's been out there working hard to get it finished before summer.  Can't wait to go pick out patio furniture!

So that's what's been going on in our neighborhood.

What have you all been up to? 

Baby Blanket and my Traveling Quilt

YAY!  Finally I can post what I've been working on!

I made this quilt for my cousin Becky.  She had a little boy on Feb 13th and her nursery theme was monkeys... so when I saw this stamped cross stitch quilt kit, I knew I had to make it.

After he was born, I quilted his name along the top ...

... and birth date along the bottom.

And put a cute Curious George backing on it. 

I really like how it turned out, hope little Alex loves it too! ♥

TRAVELING QUILT UPDATE:

In between cross stitching, I've slowly been adding stars to my traveling quilt.  I'm loving the scrappy look to it.  7 stars done... I have no idea how many more to go!  :D

And when I'm not sitting in a chair sewing, I'm chasing after this munchkin!

We love SoCal this time of year! 

Absolutely perfect weather!

Happy Quilting Everyone!