Schnibbling!

Hello on this frosty friday! Brrrr....it's bitterly cold in central New York today. The windchill was -7 when the kiddos went to school this morning. We were thinking it might be cancelled but no such luck. Oh well, they have Monday off so it's a three-day weekend anyway.

It's a good day to stay inside if you can....which is what I plan on doing! Who needs to go to the gym when you have a house to clean? I'm scrubbing all the bathrooms, doing laundry, vacuuming, etc. I like the fact that I get my exercise while doing something productive. Once that's done, I'm going to keep working on Madeline...I've got a few blocks started. By the way, this is a FUN pattern, if you haven't tried it! The directions are clear, simple, and a joy to follow!

I'm having such fun picking out pinks, reds and creams! Funnily enough, one of the reds I got specifically for a Valentine's quilt is not doing it for me, so I'm leaving that out and using ones from my stash. I don't have a lot of red  but I think I have enough. There's that red polka-dot again! Sigh! Is there anything it can't do??

So I've definitely got the fabrics picked out for my nephew's quilt. (I'm making one for each of my nieces/nephew...two down, four to go!) These are from Riley Blake's All-Star line.

I love the boyish-ness about them, but they're not too juvenile either. And I wanted to make a red, white and blue quilt anyway! I like the dashes of brown in there too. I got it from The Sproutz Store on etsy...they have a great selection, give them a visit if you get the chance!

The pattern I'm thinking of is this one by Amy Butler. Nice "masculine" shapes, I think! I may put sashing between the blocks though...like a solid blue or something...what do you think?

Well that's it for me...laundry's calling! Enjoy your day, your weekend, etc.!

♥ Jen

Going to the bathroom

What? No! Not for THAT! Silly! I just want to show you the new rug I put in the powder room. I had gotten it from Gooseberry Patch's after-Christmas sale and then I tucked it away. It has blue in it which I normally don't decorate with...except for this room. After cleaning it I thought, hmmm, this room could use a new rug...lightbulb!

I wonder why the stars are off-center, now that I look at it? Oh well! Thus the CLEARANCE, I guess! So anyway, here's a few more views if you'd like to see...

A closeup of the border, that goes 1/2 way up the wall..

I painted this room myself a few years ago. Do you find that bathrooms are the worst to paint? This one was! First, the ceiling is 9 feet tall, so I needed the big ladder to get near the ceiling. Very difficult to maneuver in a small space! Then getting around the sink, toilet, etc. It took all day to paint 2 coats.

While we're on a blue theme here, check out this egg plate I got at Marshall's the other day!

It looks kind of Wedgewood-y, don't you think? I love it!

Hey, guess what? My Fat Quarter Shop order arrived today! I am always so impressed at how quickly their orders come! Lookie, lookie!

It was a Miss Rosie kind of order! :-) So now I can get started on that Valentine little quilt...and I've always loved the 4OT pattern. I figured now was a good time to get it, I'll worry about the "plan" for it later. And the Tuffets are just fun! This came too..

Ooooh, my Fig Tree fix! How can you not love this line? Ah! It's so fresh and sweet. Speaking of Fig Tree, I'm getting started on my February block for my coffee quilt. I'll show that once it's done. I know you can't wait! Hee hee...

Next time I'll show the fabrics and pattern I'm going to use for my nephew's quilt. Making a boy's quilt is a challenge...so many choices are too feminine or cutesy, especially for a 10-year old...but I think this will be great! Have a great day friends!

♥ Jen

Rainy day doings

Hello everyone! It's a rainy Monday here...it's strange, all the snow is gone and it's 53 degrees out. Must be a January thaw! Don't go blaming global warming just yet, it's supposed to really cool down this week and snow is on its way. The rain, in addition to it being the 4th anniversary of my mom's death, is making it kind of a blah day. But press on we shall, right?

I spent a bit of the weekend working on the butterfly quilting of my TAT quilt. See that blue butterfly there?

It's really quite simple...I just trace a couple on each block and then quilt. My very unambitious goal is to get one block done a day. It can be more than that but not less. So far I have four blocks done. I tell you, this is one snuggly quilt. I think it must be the super-soft muslin on the back. Whenever I have it in my lap I just want to take a nap. I have a new-found respect for muslin. I'm using Gutterman cotton thread #1105 for the quilting and it goes just perfectly.

I ordered a few patterns from the FQS this morning. I've been enamored with the Madeline Schibbles pattern for awhile now...plus it's been popping up a lot in blogland...so I finally ordered one. I'm hoping I can use these for it, even though it's a charm squares pattern...

I'd love a little Valentine quilt, for a table topper or the wall or something. Hey, my kitchen table needs something, right? I also ordered a few other patterns and a Whimsy charm pack...need some more Fig Tree, of course!!

I love the dollar section at Michael's and their Mary Englebreit stuff, don't you? Look, they have ribbon now!

I cannot resist cute ribbon! I love to use them on bags, crayon rolls, even just for gift-wrapped packages.

Time for another cup of coffee...it's just that kind of day! I think once I get my work done, I'm going to curl up with that quilt and stitch some butterflies. And if a nap ensues, well, that'd be fine too. First, here's a funny picture my dad sent, of a little visitor that snuck through someone's doggy door.

Maybe it was a rainy day where she was too!

♥ Jen

National Pie Day is tomorrow!

The best thing about making Elizabeth's Lemon Angel Pie?

Licking the spoon.

Celebrate National Pie Day on Saturday and be a good American!
If you're not American, have a slice anyway!

♥ Jen

Let's go shopping!

Do you have Hobby Lobby in your area? It's a humongous craft store...but I usually don't have much luck there. It's so big I think I get overwhelmed. Today though, I found two awesome fabrics!

This one is the same fabric I made curtains out of last year...but mine are in the reverse colorway, sage with ivory dots. I had gotten that at Joann's. I haven't seen this colorway before! I'm thinking some pillows for the bed! A funny story about that day at Joann's...I was all set to get the fabric cut, when I realized I had forgotten my 40% off coupon. I wouldn't buy it without it, since it was $9.99/yd. Expensive for Joann's, no? It is nice fabric though, not thin and stretchy like some of theirs. Anyway, I put the bolt back and tried again a few days later. I couldn't find the bolt and then I saw a woman walking around the store holding MY FABRIC! The nerve! I needed something like 8 yards too. I stalked her for awhile, hoping she'd put it back. She looked uncertain, kept comparing it to a paint swatch she had. Finally she went to the cutting counter. Wouldn't you know it she got 4 yds? Not enough left for me. UGH! What luck, right? So I got the four left on the bolt and had to order the rest, which came in a week later. TOTALLY annoying but I did love the fabric so it was worth it. Here's a picture of one of my windows...

Sorry, not the best picture, too much outdoor light. Anyway, as you can see, nothing fancy, I just hemmed the edges and draped it in such a way that you can't see the selvedges.

I got a yard of this one today too...couldn't resist the states for my favorite little guy!

Of course the cats had to inspect my new purchases...they don't look very impressed, do they?

I also got another Aunt Marta's iron-on pattern...look at this cutie! I see some more dishtowels in my future!

The other day, I made Mason a pillow out of those cute snuggly flannels I had gotten awhile back...here he is, snuggling with that and the new quilt...

The binding's all done...you can see a little nugget of it, there on the right...it's the red polka dot fabric I used for the sashing posts. That's another fabric I can't get enough of! I made a little butterfly template so my next step is to trace some on the quilt and do some hand-quilting. Which means this quilt should be done in about 6 months.

A shot of Annabelle and Willow...this cat loooooves her, she will purr on Annabelle forever and sit on her whenever Annabelle's sitting still. Me, she runs away from. The cat that is.

Have a great day friends...here's a sweet flower I got at the market to brighten things up!

♥ Jen

Apples!

It's Tuesday and the kids are back to school after the three-day weekend. It was fun...we went to a museum and then out to lunch on Saturday. I had the most delicious buffalo chicken wrap, yum! I'm still dreaming about it. The museum was great too...it's called the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse. We go every so often and it's a good time. Lots of hands-on things for the kids and very interesting displays about the solar system, human body, etc. There's a huge display of major architectual landmarks made entirely out of toothpicks! If you're ever in the Syracuse, NY area, I highly recommend it!

So I've been putting the binding on my Tisket, A Tasket quilt, and it's coming along nicely. In fact I just have a little bit left to do. I do want to add some hand quilting after though, in each block. I'm thinking I'll make a little butterfly template and add a few to each. You know, kind of echoing the butterfly idea going on in the border. Then once that's done I'll add a sleeve of some sort to the back so I can hang it up, probably in our bedroom. We need stuff on the walls in there!

You know these cute little fabric apples I got from Gooseberry Patch?

Well, I was inspired to make my own after looking through this book...

There's a pattern for making your own! Cool huh? So I set about my task and made a half dozen! I changed it a little bit...I ran some embroidery floss from the top to the bottom a few times to make them more apple-y shaped instead of little balls. Plus, I embroidered veins on wool leaves instead of cotton ones. And I used cinnamon sticks for the stems (actually, come to think of it, I think that WAS part of the pattern).

I think I need something in the bottom of the basket...I don't know, raffia maybe? Or just more apples? What do you think?

I just can't get enough of this cute elephant fabric! :-) I know it's not apple season but they just make me happy! And it's always the season for that!

OK, so back to getting that binding done...I'll be sad when that part's over, I really do enjoy it! I'll just have to start another quilt I guess!

Check out the US map my son made over the weekend...he's six, mind you!

We printed out the outline but he added the state names, colors, and the years in which they became states and when their state quarters were released. This kid loves to learn!

Have a great day!

♥ Jen

Quilty day

I'm spending the day at home today, working on my Tisket, A Tasket quilt. Since it's really a wall-hanging, I'm using some Robert Kaufman unbleached muslin for the backing. For a regular quilt, I'm all about a fun backing fabric. In addition to being completely reversible, it's so cute to fold a little of it back when it's on a bed and see a nice print on the other side. Don't you think??

I did the basting...

And stitched-in-the-ditch for a few of the blocks so far...

I noticed that if I line my seam up with the LEFT side of my walking foot, instead of the right like I always do, the stitching line goes perfectly in the ditch. Glad I finally figured that out! LOL

See on the left side of the sashing, that line of stitches I already did? Eureka!

The table runner is done...for now it's on the kitchen table, hanging off a tad and irking me a tad more. Meh.

Off to make ziti for dinner...have a great day!

♥ Jen

Wednesday what-nots

Hello friends! What's new on this wonderful Wednesday? I'm sitting here in my kitchen with a de-li-cious cup of coffee from my Keurig...yum! This one is Tully's Kona Blend. Oh so good!

I was so excited to see that not only Pam, but Joanna left comments on my post about the coffee quilt! As you may recall, Joanna designed the fabrics I am using for my coffee cup quilt, and Pam designed the pattern. Thank you ladies for taking the time to visit and especially to comment! It means so much to me!

I'm almost done with my "Looking Back" table runner. It's quilted...

And the binding is almost done...

But guess what? I neglected to measure my table and this thing is TOO big! Arrgh! Oh well. It will hang off a little, which will probably drive me crazy, so then I'll move it to the dining room table and be right back where I started, sans runner for the kitchen. Back to the dining sewing room, I guess! Silly me. Anyway, isn't that backing fabric cute? I was going to use it for something else but I thought it went well with the front. This way it's reversible too.

I used tan thread for the bobbin but variegated thread for the top, in cranberry-tan-blue. You can kind of see that in the first picture of the runner.

I went to the LL Bean outlet this morning, since I had a $10 gift card from ordering for Christmas. I found cute little summer sneakers, that I thought were $14.95, but they ended up being $9.99 so I got them for free! Don't you love deals like that?

Time to get some lunch...but first, check out this deer that was in our yard the other day! Cute huh?

Bye!
♥ Jen