Sew Shabby Quilting

Right before I had Mr. A, I was contacted by Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting about machine quilting. Since I had just finished a quilt for Mr. A, I was excited for the opportunity to have it quilted. Nothing brings me more pleasure than to "hand off" my quilt top, batting and back and say "Work your Magic". Melissa is a lovely quilter. We instantly clicked and she really knew her stuff. Which made it only that much easier to hand over my quilt. We discussed a few patterns and styles and she was confident the cute star pattern I chose would look great.



I love how the machine quilting turned out! Melissa did a great job and it only took about a week. I think I picked up the quilt 2 days before I went into labor. It felt so good to know I had little A's quilt back and ready for him to use and enjoy. I have been so pleased with the quilting I am anxious to finish another quilt (maybe my 30's granny squares!) and drop it off. Her pricing is affordable and her studio is clean and pet free. Subscribe to her newsletter and you'll be conected to all sales and specials.

Check out the cute little pendants I made for the center block and the star pattern machine quilting. Looks perfect! I am a firm believer that machine quilting should only enhance your quilt not distract from it.

Here is a shot of the whole quilt. I am in love with granny squares at the moment and can't get enough of them! The boarder is my favorite,  "Reunion" by Sweetwater for Moda.

Right now Sew Shabby Quilting is running a pre-Christmas special where your get 20% off OR you can tell Melissa I sent you over: "Pamela from Frenchknots" for 20% off your quilting charge. Either way, now is the time to get your quilts finished and check some Christmas presents off your list. Whatcha waiting for? Hurry up!

A Much Needed Break

(dresdens)

(baby binding)
 

My baby is a month old. How on earth? Why does a month in pregnancy seem to literally take an eternity but once the baby is here life seem to flash forward? My husband's out of town on business and he called me this morning to tell me he had a dream we had a FIFTH boy! Oi!

Because he is out of town, I got a baby sitter last night and got away with a long time friend, Kristin, and we spent the evening quilting. Kristin helps runs the Utah County Modern Quilt Guild of which I am a member.  If your local, and want to join a "quilt group" the UCMQG is fantastic and so worth it.

I didn't realize until I was sitting there sewing away on my machine how desperate I was of a much needed break, doing something I love, without the distractions of husband and kids. (Of, course I had cute little Andrew, but he just slept and was easy peasy!) It was great to just visit and work on a few projects.

Leaving my house last night I was highly ambitious on what I would get done. Ha, Ha. I thought I'd work on some 30's granny squares, put a binding on my baby's quilt and make a dent in my Dresdens. Double Ha, Ha. I got 2 out of 3 accomplished and I felt leaving so energized, I resolved to steal bit of time each day (realistic, no?)  and do something "quilty". I am sure some days it just won't be in the cards, but sometimes is better than never. Right?


Happy Friday!

The Fourth Arrival

Wow! I can't believe I've done this FOUR times now. We brought home little Andrew one week ago today. He is such a delight and everyone is enjoying him immensely included Mr. H. He loves and loves on him with an occasional jealous outburst (tantrum) but I think two older brothers really help keep him happy and busy.

Labor and delivery were (of course) in the middle of the night, but I love the still of it all and the rush of the day isn't there to distract us. Andrew was born at 6:14 AM right as the sun was coming up over the mountains and it was a great way to start the day. He weigh 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. We were a bit shocked when we first saw him. He has lots and lots of dark hair. Who knew my husband and I had the "DNA" for a little dark haired wonder, but after going back thru my baby pictures ~ yes it is possible.

me and my daddy!

The Waiting Game

Today is my "Due Date". I feel a great sense of accomplishment making it to my due date, but that is just personal. I feel like now that its been 40 weeks I'm out of the woods and can have this sweet baby. I always go a week over and if this baby doesn't come until after the 21st no one won't be more surprised them me.

A little over 20 months ago I had Mr H. and needless to say I am having a bit of dejavu this go around. When I hit my due date with him, I also wrote a blog post and I knew I would be remissed if I didn't this time as well. Since I am not a "heavy writer" in my blog posts it is really fun to go back and read my thoughts about "where my head was at" last time around.

I have loved every stage my family has been through since H. birth. I feel like as a family we have gotten into a good groove, minimal rough patches and much smoother sailing. It been so rewarding to watch my two older boys and see how they have loved and looked after Henry as he has moved thru being a baby then infant and is now a toddler. It will be even more exciting to go through those stages with this new baby.

In May, we had family pictures taken. Close friends and family thought I was crazy to take family photos 6.5 months pregnant, but our family was at such a cute stage, even if I didn't look my best I still wanted to capture how I felt.  Kimberly our photographer was amazing, if you live in Utah or ever visit look her up! You won't be sorry.



From here on out its a Waiting Game. The boys were funny this morning: "Mom, isn't today your due date?" ME: Yes. Boys: "So the baby could come any day now???" Me: Yes! Boys: Wahoo!!! You forget how long the 9 month wait really is in the lives of a 7 and 10 year old and how patiently and lovingly they wait for little brother to arrive.

Summa Time

We spent last week visiting family in California...just what the doctor order for this 32 week preggers Momma.  It was such a great trip...we loved every minute of it. In April I found an amazing steal on airfare so for the first time in about 5 years we were able to fly. I with confidence can say that it will probably never happen again. With H. turning 2 in the fall and eventually having a fourth child to buy a ticket for we won't be flying as a family anytime soon. Which just made the flights all the sweeter.

It usually takes us 11 hours to drive from my doorstep to to my sisters ~ including the time change, traffic and usual stops. It was incredible that in 1 and 22 minutes we were saying goodbye to Utah and Helllllllooooo SoCal.

As usual we are totally spoiled whenever we visit my sister. The sunny, perfect weather, the pool and spa {right in the backyard}, Magic Mountain, the beach, the home cooked food and local restaurants. Ah, heaven. Here are a few highlights from the trip.

The Getty Museum

The Original Farmers Market

Zuma Beach ~ Malibu CA

Backyard Pool Shenanigans

....more Shenanigans

The Best Strawberries evah!!!

Granny's a Go-Go!

Summer is here. Finally! The kids are out of school ~ no more lunches, homework and finding socks for school. I don't know about you, but every morning I heard "Mom,. where are some socks!" Hooray, for flip flops. Swimming lessons and soccer camps are in full swing this week and I am finishing up last minute details for our big family vacation.

Before we leave for our vacation, I have one pressing issue to finishing up: GrAnNy SqUaReS.  Some girlfriends and I are doing a granny square swap, we each have to make 24 GS, the only requirements were to use: Kona white, any 30's prints and don't trim the squares. 


I want to make 2 quilts with my GS blocks and 24 would only make 2 very small quilts...so I'm adding a few of my own blocks to the mix. I've got one of the quilts in mind for a sweet friend who just loves feed sack prints. I've been working on a few color combos that I knew the other ladies weren't using: peach, mint green, purple. I'm just infatuated with these blocks!

The block below is really special, I found the fabrics at a friends yard sale and I got some awesome "vintagey" 30's prints. I think they are from the 80's.


Happy Summer Quilting.

Busy, Busy

Happy Tuesday! I have been swamped this past week or so: end of school projects and programs, soccer, quilting getaway, swimming, gardening and vacation planning. Luckily I get to include quilting in my busy schedule. The last week or so I quilted 2 quilts on my machine (at home) Double Yikes!! It was challenging and fun. I bought my machine 6 years ago with the premise to quilt my own quilts, and finally I am just going for it. It feels great.

I tried my hand at stippling (below) on my improv quilt and straight line stitching on my 9-patch on point I had basted at the begining of the month. I had a few hiccups on my 9-patch because of a feed dog issue which I was very discouraged about....but once I figured that out it was smooth sailing.
 

I got to "escape" here and there last weekend to attending a scrapbook/quilting getaway my friend Ella hosts. I worked on BINDINGS,something I always procrastinate doing, one quilt hadn't been bound from 2 years ago! Oi!! I bound 4 quilts over the weekend. Feels like a weighs has seriously been lifted. I also started work on a block swap: Granny Squares in 30's prints. I love how they are turning out: red/yellow/peach. I am using a strip piece tutorial so things are moving along quickily. Most of the ladies at the getaway are participating so it was fun to see their fabrics and progress.

I can't wait for summer to officially start, school to be finished and to really enjoy the last 10 weeks before this baby arrives. Happy Quilting.

Weekend Catch-up

My husband was out of town all last week and I had a laundry list of things I wanted to get done. On the top of that list was basting 2 quilts that I had finished at the end of last year. Since getting pregnant I've had only baby and baby quilts on the brain, but with the weather warming and hubby out of town I pulled out my frames and got to work.

I basted my improve quilt  (above) as well as my 9-patch on point. Basting for me is the easy part, the hard part is "tacking" down the quilt. I have really good frames, its just making the quilt taunt enough and working with three layers of material that's tricky. Just handing it over to Ella's for quilting is sooooo much easier but in the same breathe I am learning to love machine quilting and as we all know, practice makes perfect.

I borrow my SIL's kwik klips for basting and they are a life saver. I didn't even know these existed until I helped her baste a quilt last summer and wallah: kwik klips ~ soooo genius!!

The Best Kind of Quilt

{I am really having a hard time writing this post, because its hard putting into words how much this gift means to me.} Some dear friends surprised me yesterday with a BABY QUILT, for baby #4. I wasn't expecting it at all! {Which is always the best surprise} These "friends" I met through the quilt retreat I held last fall and we were visiting yesterday and all of a sudden they placed this amazing gift in my hands {see above}.

I was just sitting there looking dumbfounded. It was taking me a minute to register what was happening, because lets face it...my pregnancy brain is really bad this 4th time. {It takes me a whille to catch on.} I know how much effort, love, time, resources, and energy it takes to make a quilt let alone a quilt for someone else. These sweet friends got together {without me even knowing} and spent the day piecing, quilting, binding etc. a BEAUTIFUL quilt for me. I just couldn't really express my appreciating and love at the time. I was just staring and stumbling over my words ~ it was the oddest feeling.

Look how adorable this rememberance tag is: that doggie is just the sweetest thing! April's impressive handiwork.

Thank you April, Ella, Emily, Sue, Maggie and Kristen. XOXOXO

Just when you think it can't get any better, you turn the quilt over! Ahhh, just as perfect as the front. The back is from Emily's Going Coastal line from MMF. Love it!!

Granny Squares + Friends

The whole quilting world is just crazy about granny squares right now. Can you blame us?! You can find granny squares all over flickr, pinterest and instagram, even Dana at Old Red Barn Co. is doing a granny-square-quilt-along, so FUN!!!. A few weeks back my quilty friend Jeanette (who really should have a blog!) and I got together on her day off and made ourselves some Granny Squares. As  Jeanette puts it "What's not to love, its almost like a nine-patch but better".

Jeanette and I became friends after I got married (Dec. 2000) and moved into her neighborhood. She was already a big time quilter and I was just getting started. This was back when scrapbooking was HUGE and I didn't really know anyone else who was quilting. She was a great mentor for me and really helped me learn how to pick fabric, work on techniques and the always helpful quilting tips and tricks. We quilted once a week for about a year and then I moved an hour a away and she moved to Spokane for Law School. She moved back in (Dec) 2006 and we've gotten together to quilt consistently (not as often as once a week) for the last 6 years. Our conversations always revolve around work, kids, family and of course our latest quilt project.

She sent me a picture of her finished blocks and I am insane over them. (To see what I worked on click here) When she pulled out her fabrics last week I knew this quilt was going to be fantastic: the cool aquas, bright fuchsias, butter yellows, tantalizing tangerines, luscious lavenders and more. I Swoon! Now that she has all 16 blocks laid out it couldn't look better.

A day of Quilting

Before I knew "what" I was having, I was planning to make the baby a granny square quilt. These blocks are so hot right now and so dang cute. Blue Elephant Stitches has a great tutorial I referenced when starting my quilt,  so check it out before beginning. By the looks of it; can you guess "what" I am having.

The quilt will be a 3 by 3 and I am planning to use this Reunion fabric as by border from Moda. I was at my LQS and noticed they only had a yard left and snatched it up. I had been eyeing it for sometime and I think it will be just perfect. Because the border fabric has so much color I coordinated my granny squares with the pendants: yellow, red, green and grey.

We are experiencing full fledged spring here in Utah: daffodils, soccer, and of course spring cleaning. Happy Tuesday.

{Two} Work in Progress

I've been working on two quilts simultaneously this past week.  I do this frequently. It helps keep things fresh because when I get bored with one I can switch to the other.

Currently: I finished the top {minus borders} for my split 9-patch. I am so happy with its progress. The small pattering of cream looks fantastic.

I am also working on this beauty. I was inspired by THIS quilt but I switched out the plain white for black and whites prints. So far I've done 6 rows and I am still planning on adding a purple row and orange row. The bricks measure 4" by 12" and the quilt is 16 bricks across.

You can see my quilts and others at W.I.P.s at freshly pieced

 

St. Patrick's Day Favorites

Be sure to wear green this St. Patrick's Day and check out these other great treats and crafts from St. Patty's Day past!! Enjoy.

Little Leprechauns ~ How-To make this lucky beard

Mint Brownies ~ St. Patty's Day Must

Somewhere over the rainbow Carmel