Saturday, April 30, 2011

Playing Catchup!

I have been MIA for quite sometime now. I feel like April was a blur it flew by so fast for us. We were out of town all of last week for a fun and much needed family vacation. Do you have friends where their whole family is friends with your whole family? We are lucky enough to have a family that we love to be with and are lucky enough to call our friends. The Jarvis family invited us to go to Mexico with them and stay in their vacation home with them. The rain here in Portland has been endless and we were all wanting some sun! The house is near Puerto Vallarta, we swam in the ocean, played in the sand and just rested. It was heaven!
We got home to me being sick with allergies... Yuck! I am just feeling normal again *love Claritin*. I also had my bithday this past week. My family is so sweet and got me gifts for the new deck in the backyard.

So it is needless to say that I haven't sewn for two and a half weeks!!! I miss it and finally started up again today.
Dianne at Suburban Stitcher has been working hard on her Stella Blue quilt. I started in on making some flying geese. There are a lot of them and we are going to be pros by the end of this quilt! I am using the fit to be geese ruler to make them. The ruler does make perfect geese!I have three quilts to baste quilt and bind by June. I hope to start working on them this coming week. I can't wait to start quilting them.
Here is to a productive week! Have a good weekend everyone!

One more thing,
I am selling a lot of cross stitch charts at a great price, go and check it out!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Inspiring Friends

We had quilt class at church a few weeks back, and I took some photos of what my friends are making, because they make some awesome stuff, and more people need to see their hard work. They inspire me to keep trying new things, and to keep sharing what I love.
Karen has been working on this quilt for a few years, I was with her on multiple shopping trips when she was collecting all of those blue fabrics. The pattern is American Pie by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company (I made the same quilt in Red and White) I love it with blue too, now I may have to make it again LOL!
Karin loves to make her own patterns, these fabrics are Bliss fat quarters, she cut them wonky and sewed them back together. I love it!
Karen is getting hooked on cross stitching, and is making this adorable bib for her nephew.
Victory has had fun putting this quilt together, it's very scrappy and gorgeous. Wait until you see the pinwheel quilt she is making right now, it's going to be awesome.
Closeup.
Victory brought a design wall with her to the class, so we could hang our blocks up and check them out. These are Karen's blocks, in black and white.
These are my blocks in orange and aqua, it's been fun so far.
The blocks I taught in class are these two, teaching how to cut and sew quarter square triangles two different ways.... fun!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Cross Stitch Charts for Sale!!

All charts listed will have notes whether they were used, or not! They come from a smoke free home and have been taken care of! Shipping will be determined upon sale, and will be very inexpensive. Please email me: oregonsurfers@gmail.com if you are interested, or leave a comment.

Little House Needleworks:
Faith Kit: with 5 Crescent Colour Threads $10.00
Never Used
America $3.50
Never Used
Garden Pleasures $3.50
Gently Used

Apples with Crescent Colour Threads $10.00
Never Used
Blessed are the Peacemakers with Crescent Colour Threads $10.00
Never Used
Pineapples with Crescent Colour Threads $10.00
Never Used
Colonial Homes $3.50
Never Used
Quilt Time Sampler SOLD!
Never Used
Starlight Sampler $3.50
Never Used
The Bookshelf $3.50
Never Used

Lizzie Kate
#F21 February Flipit with Charm $3.50
Never Used

Country Cottage Needleworks
Forest Snowfall $3.50
never used

JBW Designs
French Country Apple SOLD
gently used

Heart in Hand
Star Spangles Summer Chart $1.00
Never Used

Shepherd's Bush
ABC Complete Kit: Threads and Linen $8.00
Never Used
Bee Scissor Fob Kit: Scissors, Threads, Linen etc. $20.00
Never Used
Chanukah Chart $1.00
Never Used
My Garden Chart with Remaining Silk Threads $3.00
I stitched this kit, only threads leftover remain, which is enough to stitch again
Long May She Wave Needleroll: Complete Kit $9.00
Never Used
Americana Needleroll: Complete Kit $9.00
Never Used

Waxing Moon Designs
Apple Harvest: No Buttons $3.00
Bent Creek
Educated $1.00
Never Used
Mill Hill
Holiday Weathervanes: Gingerbread House Kit $5.00
Never Used
Mr. Snowflake Complete Kit $5.00
Never Used
Star Snow Charmer: Complete Kit $5.00
Never Used
The Victoria Sampler
Satin Hearts: Complete Kit $5.00
Mistletoe: Complete Kit $5.00
Never Used
Please email me at: oregonsurfers@gmail.com, or leave a comment if you are interested in purchase these kits, shipping will be very inexpensive!! Thank you for looking!!

Friday, April 08, 2011

Stella Blue Friday

Stella Blue construction has begun! I am starting with the many flying geese, there are three different versions of them, so I starched and ironed my fabric (for the first time!) and am getting the squares and all cut out.

I had to try out the "Fit to Be Geese" Ruler too, it does work nicely! Carrie has a tutorial of how to use the ruler. I had to sit down and re-figure the pattern to cut the flying geese out, because using the ruler requires different sizes of squares.

While cutting out strips to cut into squares, I took some photos of how I speed up the process, I am sure it's nothing new to many of you, but I found it helpful. I learned it while making a pattern by Eleanor Burns.
First you cut your strips, then lay them evenly out on your cutting mat.
Lay down your ruler and cut off the selvages. Line up your ruler to the size of square needed and cut through all of the strips. Repeat until the strips are used up.
And Viola! A nice stack of squares that were made quick!
Today is my son Curren's birthday, I can't believe he is 10 years old!! Tomorrow is my daughter Jessie's birthday, she is 9! Life is sure going fast, but we are having a lot of fun :)

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Weekend Warrior

Over the weekend I got a lot done due to having all day Saturday to MYSELF. What?! How do the stars align so this happens? My husband went to some car swap meet thing downtown and took the kids with him! Thank you Mark, you rock.

In between loads of laundry I sewed, went to lunch, sewed, etc. Mostly I just sewed! I started a quilt a few weeks ago using the fat quarter bundle I've had forever by Bonnie and Camille called Simple Abundance. It's so beautiful! I chose the pattern from the book Fat Quarter Five by Heather Mulder Peterson, because the patterns are obviously fat quarter friendly :) I have lots of white yardage too, so no need to buy anything.

The pattern is called Gypsy Girl. You like my design wall? I lay it out in my living room then go up on the landing and look down at it, it works okay if the kids aren't running around too much. This quilt was fun to make, and came together easily. I still have the border to add, but it'll get there. This quilt is going to a teacher...
AND I got another quilt top together from the book Jelly Roll Quilts. The pattern is Garden Trellis. I used the Jelly roll Martinique by 3 Sisters. Oh man, when I laid it out on the couch, it just matched my house so perfectly (except the pink).... and I am in love with this fabric. This still needs borders as well.
I just had to share, I was so excited to have a productive sewing weekend.

Friday, April 01, 2011

Stella Blue Quilt Along

I have been sewing, but life is getting busy for me right now, so I haven’t been able to post a lot lately. Dianne over at Suburban Stitcher and I have been chatting.


We both have the pattern from Miss Rosie’s Quilt Company called Stella Blue.

We both have the fabric.

We both have the Fit to be Geese ruler to make the bazillion Flying Geese blocks.


So, we are doing a quilt along!

I’ve been eye balling this pattern for a few years now, and have always wanted to make this quilt. The fabrics I am using are Rural Jardin (a fat quarter pack) by French General for Moda. I love love love this fabric. It’s antique looking, elegant, and so beautiful. I typically don’t like florals on fabrics, but these floral prints speak to me. Obviously, as FQ bundles don’t come cheap. So, every Friday Dianne and I are going to post our progress on this quilt.

And this fabric was purchased last year while on one of my buying sprees. I am so excited to use it, this quilt is going to be awesome!

Also happening these next few weeks… we are building a deck off of the back of our house, Curren has the Pinewood Derby next week, Curren and Jessie’s birthdays are next week, it just never ends does it? Life is great :D