H2H Finishes!!

Well it is time to post about the H2H finishes. I have done a great job of staying in the "Shannon" way. . .last minute. I started on these quilts a few weeks ago. I have had since April to do them. I always joke about how I work better under pressure. LOL! I really believe that, it must be true. I never do anything early. I of course want to change that. We will see. My favorite joke is: Procrastinators unite...TOMORROW!

Here is the first quilt fabric I received. I thought it was so cute. I love the kitties.

Here is the finished quilt. I added the green and the spotted fabric. I used all the scraps and then some of my fabric on the back.

My partner and I trade twice. This is the second set of fabric. Some very pretty browns, gold, and green.

I went and bought the monkey fabric and the tan. I love this pattern. I will defiantly using it again. Such a fun pattern. I used most of the left over fabric and some of my own for the back.

I just want to add a photo of my daughter's quilt. I LOVE IT!! It is such a striking quilt. She has already decided that she is going to make another one. I might even make one. (Sorry about the white spots. We were getting a storm and the flash lit up all the dust in the air.)

I have had so much fun making these quilts. Thank you to my partner Karen, for sending my such great fabrics to work with. Thank you to Sarah for getting us all together to do a wonderful thing. And THANK YOU to Judi and her husband for going to a foreign country to help so many people. I sure hope they love all of our quilts.

Blocks, Quilts, and Sheets OH MY!!

What is happening...

I have been very busy getting my H2H quilts done. I have quilted one and will be working on the other today. I have also been very busy with this new puppy. Oh my how it is just like a little baby. He needs me, or think he needs me, all of the time. Things have gotten quieter since the death of my daughters bird and sadder. She is doing better but that scar will always be there.

Also my son's fiancee moved in with us over this last weekend. Crazy! She is a good and nice young woman. They will be getting married on August 13th. She will be attending BSU (Boise State University) full time starting the 22nd. She wants to become a nurse. My son will continue to work full time with my husband. Oh to be young and just starting life.

This is them after her Graduation from High School in May. Yes they both have red hair. My whole family has red hair, LOL!!!

What I accomplished...

I finished my swap block for Let's Bee Together. I was not all that happy with my block. I wish that I would have been sent three dark colors. That light color just did not play well with the others. I thought about putting it in the dark green spots but I was afraid that it would be too much light around the outside. I am just not happy with it. I love the pattern just not that third color. The background is the same for all of her blocks and that is the tan with little red hearts. I hope she will be ok with it.

Next is my July Designer Mystery BOM block. When I first got the package I was not to impressed, what kind of a flower was this. But as I started working with the fabrics it turned out to be a fun block. LOTS of little pieces. I think there is about 85 pieces. I love it. I still do not know what kind of flower it is but it is so pretty I don't care. LOL!

Here is a picture of the quilting of my cat quilt for H2H. I just did a straight stitch 1/4 inch from the seams. I really need to get a walking foot. It would make that so much easier. I love the look of this kind of quilting. Now I just need to bind it and wash it. I will be quilting my monkey quilt today. I am not sure how I will do that one.

This is a picture of my daughters quilt for H2H. I LOVE IT!! She had the idea in her head but could not see how it was going to turn out. I sat down with graph paper and drew it out for her. From there she started sewing. Together we made her idea into a work of art. She is off to Girls Camp for the next few days so I will be quilting it for her on Friday so Saturday when she gets back she can bind it. Then all three quilts will be placed in the mail.

Here is another fun way to look at her quilt.

Sewing thought...

It is hard sometimes for me to come up with a good sewing thought. LOL! I have learned that my least favorite part of quilting is pinning. I hate it. It makes my back hurt and I don't know if my thumb will ever have feeling in it again from all of the pin sticks I got yesterday. Now I have to to this two more times. LOL! What is your least favorite part? Do you have more that one? I love every step from planning, cutting, piecing, quilting, binding to when it comes fresh out of the drier. I just don't like that one part.

Sewing Goals...

I need to get the backing and quilting done on quilt #2. See ya later!!

Oh one last thought...I bought a few more sheets. I hope I have not posted these before. I have added them to my collection. I am looking forward to cutting them up into various shapes for using in quilts. Do you like the look of vintage sheets in quilts?

Wantobe Quilter Campaign

(Some of you might be wondering what this little picture here is about. Some of you may already know. Check this out and see if it helps.)

"Hello friends and followers, I would love to welcome you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over here. ( http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/)

They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks.

Supplies that will have you quilting

before you know it...From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines...everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too...Tuesday and Thursday are days for us..

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something too.

All you have to do is be my follower and a follower

over at Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure....

That is all! There are over 49 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER!

( p.s you will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with a blogger where you see this message)

A Death and a Few Flimsies for H2H

What is happening...

It has been a sad day in our house. Do you remember the bird I mentioned on this post? Well he died today. He has been doing so good. He started to fly a few days ago. Not a lot but enough to know his time was coming soon to let him go. We had put him in a small bird cage and he was so happy. We had been taking him outside to take dust baths. He had been climbing up trees and trying to eat bugs. We had bought him some seeds and was trying to get him to switch from so much oatmeal to bird food. It was not working so well. But he was trying. This morning he was a little jumpy so I took him out of the cage and he sang to me and I sang back. He feel asleep in my hand three times. It was so sweet. We had a nice moment. This after noon DD#1 was sewing with me in the kitchen and DD#2 was in my room on the computer. I told DD#2 to come out and feed her bird. I walked over and immediately I knew something was wrong. He was under his ladder and was moving funny. I moved the ladder and tried to pick him up, it looked like he was having a seizure. I got to looking and he had broken his neck while trying to get unstuck. I held him and we all cried. It took about 20 minutes and he finally died. Oh it was so sad. We cried and cried. We placed him into and checkbook box and buried him in the backyard. DD#2 got up about every hour for the last 22 nights to feed him. I miss him, his name has Trouble Maker. The hardest thing is to watch her heart break. She is 15 almost 16 and considered him her baby. I am sorry for unloading this her on my blog. We are animal lovers. We have three dog and three cats. We love nature. This is very hard on us! OK now on to happier things...  

 

What I accomplished...

I have been very busy the last few days of last week putting my H2H quilt tops together. I know I am a slacker, LOL!! Truly I work better under pressure. I love both quilts. The first one is a pattern I made on graph paper trying to make the most of the fabric that had been sent to me by Karen at K's Quilting Korner. It was so fun.

The second I used a pattern from Shiners View called Tutorial for Jenna. I saw the pattern on Confessions of a Fabric Addict done by Sarah as one of her H2H quilts. I fell in love with the pattern.

I finished my Block Swap Adventure block. It was an interesting combination of colors.

Sewing thought...

It is more like a shipping thought not a sewing thought. I finally got Annmarie's winnings off. I have been putting things into the flat rate boxes when I mail a medium amount of stuff off. With this give away I would have had to use the medium box  because I would not have been able to fit the book into a small box.The small box was $4.95 and the medium box would have cost me $10.95. I received something in the mail a few days ago in a flat rate envelope. It was a card and some fabric and a pattern. I asked the Post Master about the envelopes and he said you can stuff that envelope as full as you can get it and it will still ship. It just can't be to misshapen. WONDERFUL!! I could fit all of my goodies for Annmarie into the envelope and it only cost me the $4.95. I was so happy! I hope I have not just confused you. There are a lot of ways to ship stuff. So just find the one that works best for you. 

Sewing Goals...

Tomorrow I will be working on the backs and sandwiching the H2H quilts and hopefully getting my block done for my Let's Bee Together block. Chat at you later!!

WINNER!!

I love give aways don't you! Well I am late. I am sorry. I am finally sitting down to a quiet moment to let you know we have a winner. 

Over at the blog Dorinda 2011 Mystery she co-hosts they are doing an awesome Quilt Along. You really need to go check it out. I am thinking about adding it to my list of "things I want to do someday" LOL! I have spent some time looking at all the wonderful things those ladies are doing and it is so cool. Good job!! Send me your snail mail address and I can get these goodies plus some out to you today! Oh and my "follow" thing is back on my blog if you would like to follow me.

Thank you all for playing. I really love the friendships I am making here with blogger. You are all special to me.  

Well I am off to work on my H2H quilts. I will report back later.

Give Away info!

Well it seems that I kind of dropped the ball on the rest of the info for the give away. I was just so excited to have one that I forgot a few things, LOL! I will keep the give away open until sometime Tuesday morning. I think that is a good amount of time. I will email the winner and get the package mailed off that afternoon. I have added a few extra goodies to the package for the give away, it is always fun to get extra stuff.

He have named the puppy Chomper. As we spent the first few days with him we tried out SOOOO many names. He needed to find on that fit his personality. Well with him teething he is "chomp"ing on anything. Fingers, toys, rocks, weeds, other pets. He is so funny. So the DD came up with Chomper. There are two movies this is in reference to: Land Before Time 2 and Meet the Robinsons. So I guess in our eyes he is just a dinosaur that has "big head and little arms", LOL! So here is another picture. See you in a few days.



Designer Mystery BOM and a Give Away:)

GIVE AWAY NOW CLOSED

 What is happening...
I had a very busy day yesterday. I did get most of the things on my list done. It is amazing to me how my family and I can make such a big mess when we are just flying through the house from one family event to another. The puppy is doing so well. We are getting him used to sleeping in his box by himself for a while. That helps me at night as well. Do you know how hard it is to sleep with a tiny hot water bottle around your neck that you can not squish. Talk about not getting any sleep. Not to mention all the times I get up with him so he can eat or go potty. Here is a picture of him in his box. LOL! He is so sweet.

What I accomplished...
Yesterday I finish two blocks while taking breaks between cleaning. I finished the first block for the 2011 Designer Mystery BOM. I have to tell you how much I love this BOM. It is from Fat Quarter Shop. The fabric they are using this year is Strawberry Fields collection by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda Fabrics.

The second block I finished was for Sew Fresh Fabrics. They are having a Scrap Quilting Bee. I signed up back in the last part of January and forgot all about it. I received a package the other day that had these scraps in it. By the time I took this picture I had already cut up some of it. The white and brown flowers in the upper left corner is my own fabric. I have gone back tonight and signed up again. Go check it out!

I made this block and did not like the green in the four corners. so I remade it, that is the second picture.

Sewing thought...

How do you find a fabric that you are looking for? I am looking for more of DS Collection. I have done some reading and found out that they released about 10 or so fabrics in Australia only. And of course I would like to buy three of them. How do I get my hands on it? Darn, I think that is dirty pool!!

Sewing Goals...
I think I better work on my H2H quilts tomorrow.
Oh I almost forgot. In celebration of my Blogaversary I am having a Give Away. Below are 2 yards (1 yard each) of Summer Breeze by Sentimental Studios for Moda. Then a pattern book On A Roll by Heather Mulder Peterson. Then I might add a few fun things!

Day Late and a Dollar Short

What is happening...

It seems like I am never on time for anything. On July 1, 2010 I started my blog. It is so weird to have been blogging for a year. I have had so much fun with it. I have really enjoyed reading other peoples blog and have made some great bloggy friends. I have won prizes and I have learned more about the art of quilting. I am very grateful for the Internet and this chance I have to be around so talented ladies and gentlemen who will not roll there eyes at me when I say I LOVE FABRIC!!! I am getting some stuff together to have a give away to celebrate my blogaversary. I hope to be back in a few days to have some goodies for someone to win!!

(This is a wall hanging I made last year)

We have had a very busy and wonderful 4th of July weekend. We went to a birthday party of a friend of my husbands. They were high school buddies. It is cool to get in touch with people you have not seen in forever and it feels like it was just yesterday when you said goodbye. Saturday we went to a dessert/fireworks get together with the company my husband works for. We had a great time there. Sunday we had a BBQ at a brother-in-laws house with great food and great family. Monday I gathered a bunch of nieces and nephews (and their moms and dads) to go to a nearby town that my brother's company had set up an animal petting zoo. The kids had a great time. My brother set us up with free pony ride for all the little ones.

Now today I am just relaxing and cleaning and laundry and sewing and taking care of a new puppy and helping my daughter with a bird and watering the grass and watering my flower beds and cooking dinner...wait didn't the first part of this sentence say I was relaxing, what happened. LOL!! I just am trying to get back on some kind of a schedule. I love being free with my time but then I get nothing done.

I did mention a bird my daughter has. My parents found it in there camper last week when we went camping. DD#2 has been caring for it, feeding it about every 45 minutes day and night, since Sunday last week. So for 10 days she has been a mommy to a baby sparrow. She has named it Trouble Maker. It has been great watching it grow.

What I accomplished...

Nothing but spending great amounts of time with my family and that beats sewing any day!

Sewing thought...

How often do you get to sew? For me right now not much. I did not get any finishes done and I did not finish the top of my Le Petite. I feel bad but not enough to worry about. I just feel off the horse and now I am getting back on.

Sewing Goals...

To many to count. But for today I would like to just get organized again. Then we will see what happens. oh yes, I would love to get the rest of the give away figured out!