New Couch Pillows

I have been itching to make these pillows for a month now. I bought the fabric when we went up to Anacortes after Thanksgiving. I finally was able to make them. The pillow forms I bought were from IKEA for $6.99 each and are 20" x 20". I used Sew Katie Did's awesome tutorial forinstalling an invisible zipper too, awesome!

The pillows have batting and backing on both the front and the back to make them hold up better, and hopefully last longer. We shall see...

The fabric on the front is from a line called Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry, it is so beautiful.

I tried some straight stitching on it using my walking foot and aqua thread. I am in love :) The quilting took some time, but the effort was worth it.

Feeling a little Owly

Last year Jessie and I made an owl. She was loving the stuffed owls in the Pottery Barn catalog. My sister came to visit and said she'd love to have one for Lilyanne. Well, okay then, don't twist my arm!

Jessie's is on the left, Lilyanne's is on the right.

Jessie once again chose fabric that looks like it belongs together. We used white minkie for the head. Merry Christmas to my niece Lilyanne :)

For the week of Christmas we drove out to Utah. We were hoping to go for Thanksgiving, but the weather wouldn't let us. We visited our families and friends. It was such a great trip! We drove home on Friday so we could spend Christmas day at our house. What a great day we had, I love my little family. I hope you all had a great Christmas as well. My husband bought me a new fancy camera, I am thrilled! I can't wait to learn all about it, and hopefully you'll be seeing some nice photos on my blog now.

McGuffy Schnibbles for Lara at the PMQG

Last month at the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting we were asked to bring a sandwich baggy full of fabrics. The idea was to have somebody else bring home your baggy of fabric, make something out of it and only add one fabric to it. Then they bring it to the December meeting and give it to you. The bag of fabric I received was from Lara. She stuffed in that bag 80 5” x 5” squares of batik fabrics! She had wrote on the note inside that she “loves Batiks and is not ashamed” LOL! It’s okay Lara, I love batik fabrics too, they are so pretty and colorful. You all know what I like to do with 5” squares. Make Schnibbles quilts of course! 80 squares is pretty much the perfect amount to make one, so it was meant to be.

I chose the pattern McGuffy, from the book Schnibbles Times Two, I like the square in a square pattern, it’s clean and simple. It needed to be a simple pattern for this crazy fabric anyway. The fabric that I added to this quilt was the red, I had over a yard of it in my stash, so it worked for the border, binding and backing.

I used a red variegated thread to straight stitch on it. I was happy how it turned out. It’s very busy and bright, and very refreshing for me to make. Thanks for the fun fabric Lara! Jen had my fabric, and I will post photos of it next time, I am in love with what she made. The meeting last night was so much fun. There was lots of food, and the projects that everybody made their partners were AMAZING!! There were so many bags, placemats, journals, quilts, a growth chart, they were all awesome. If there is a Modern Quilt Guild in your area, I highly encourage you to attend, it is worth it.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I will not be posting until after Christmas, we have the week off, and I plan on relaxing and enjoying my time with the kids. I hope you all can enjoy being with your friends and families this coming week. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement, I really have been blessed!

Love, Heather

This is the photo I sent out in our Christmas cards. It was taken last month up in the San Juan Islands at Friday Harbor, it was so beautiful there!

Wool Felt Candle Mat

So, this is a new experience for me, stitching wool felt. It was easy, and fun, and FAST. I loved it! I have had some of these little Bareroots patterns for a few years, along with the wool felt. We went on a drive up to Anacortes, Washington last weekend (a 5 hour drive one way) and I was able to stitch all of it during the trip.

Look at how cute it is! I enjoyed making this little mat, and I have two other patterns I am going to try out someday. I encourage you to try these if you haven't already, it was nice not having to follow much of a pattern.

Quilt #3 from Stash

Making quilts from your stash: Quilt #3

Magazines are one of my favorite things to get. They are full of inspiration, tips and ideas. I love my magazine stash! I’ve said before my favorite quilt magazine is Quilts & More. It’s published by Better Homes and Gardens. You can’t subscribe to it (darn it!), and it’s quarterly. So if I see one I just pick it up. It has lots of simple quilts and fun little projects. Check one out if you can.

This magazine is dated Spring 2008: I was searching for ideas to make a two color quilt. Then, I happened upon this photo. I love this quilt, isn’t it pretty?

My chosen colors are cream and green. I have lots of the colors in my stash and wanted to use them up. Plus the recipient of the quilt would love these colors, it matches their newly remodeled basement. I pulled out the calculator and started figuring out how many squares to cut to make a twin size quilt.

The green fabrics varied in value, lots of dark greens and light greens. I think it would have looked a little better if the greens had all been darker, but I still like how it turned out. There was no way I was buying more green!

The quilt size is: 80" x 80" So, yes it’s bigger than a twin size. I don’t ever make a small quilt… it’s hard for me! I backed the quilt in a green flannel, and put some of my leftover tan flannel stash in the center strip. I stipple quilted it using my domestic sewing machine. The thread color is tan. It's really soft and snuggly.

So, I got all 3 quilts from my stash completed in time to give as Christmas gifts, I am thrilled about that. It was a lot of work, but the people I am giving them to are worth it :)

Snapperville is Finished!

Teach us, that we may feel the importance of every day, of every hour as it passes.

First of all, I'd like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!!! I hope you are able to be with the ones that you love today. We were going to drive to Utah yesterday, but the weather has been so bad we decided to just stay home and be safe. I am so thankful for my husband and kids, they are amazing, and I am very blessed to have them in my life.

While watching the movie Mamma Mia last night (have you seen it?? Super cute), I finished stitching Snapperville by Bent Creek. I added the buttons to it this morning. It is called "Snapperville" because you are supposed to add snaps to it, but I wanted buttons, so I guess I could call it "buttonville" but then that would just be silly wouldn't it?? :)

This took me several years to finish, but that is okay! I enjoyed working on it again this fall. Now to pick up another WIP that has been sitting in my bag far too long. All of you enjoy this wonderful holiday, and thank you for visiting my little blog.

Snapperville Progress

I'm slowly but surely working on my cross stitch project called Snapperville by Bent Creek. You can purchase it here: The Silver Needle, you have to scroll down quite a bit to find it. Bent Creek charts are adorable, and there are so many of them to choose from! I started this project over three years ago, so I've been taking my sweet time on it.

I got another block stitched, the little town, super cute! There is one block left, it has a house and a flag in it. Almost there.

I'm sewing away on my Christmas quilt, all of the blocks are done, now I am sewing rows together. I've been in a "starting" mood lately, so many new projects can't wait to be done :) Have a nice weekend everyone!

Working, working...

Lots of projects are happening...

The Hexagon Quilt using a Plume Jellyroll is coming along nicely, I got 7 rows sewn today (only 6 left)! It's so pretty.

I made all of the blocks for the Skipping Stones pattern. Holiday Happy fabric is adorable!

And a pile of fabric was pulled out to make a quilt I saw on Film in the Fridge. Rectangle Squared. Check it out! Pretty fabrics yes?

Also, two Christmas gifts were checked off of my list, I can't show them until after Christmas though... I wish I could they are so fun :) I've been a busy bee. Now, I am off to bed. Which I need to clear off, it's full of fabric! haha! I loved this weekend.

Quilt #2 from Stash

Last December when the Schnibbles a month was pincushions, Carrie the designer at Miss Rosie’s Quilt Company chose me as the “winner”, and she sent me these two layer cakes.

She is super nice like that, it was the funnest package to receive! I am making three quilts from my stash for Christmas gifts this year. I already made Quilt #1. So, these two layer cakes were used to make Quilt #2. A layer cake consists of approximately 40 fabrics, and are 10 x 10 inches square.

I had the red sashing/border fabric in my stash, and I was happy it matched so well. Reds can be tricky. I did have to buy the backing, a soft red flannel. Making a coin quilt is very simple, I used the whole 10” x 10” square, so there was no waste.

I machine straight stitched using my walking foot a quarter inch from the sashing. Also, I lengthened my stitches just a little from the standard used on my machine. It helped a lot. My machine fed the quilt through much easier, and the stitching looks neater too. I’ve never done that before, and I will from now on.

The size of this quilt is: 88" x 61"

Okay, can you guys believe it is November??? Wow! We were all sick on Halloween unfortunately, my poor kids couldn’t dress up and go trick or treating, I felt so bad for them. We are finally feeling normal again, and hope to start on some Christmas gifts this month. At least I have this quilt crossed off of my list. Quilt #3 needs to be basted and quilted, then I will have them all done.

Halloween Joy Luck!

The weather is changing, fall is here! It’s beautiful outside right now. I love the leaves turning a bright orange or dark red, it’s amazing. I was lucky this past weekend and was able to attend one of my very best friend’s wedding in Montana. Catherine and I go way back, to the 9^th grade. We did everything together, shared boyfriends, worked at the swimming pool as life guards, had sleepovers every weekend. I am lucky to still call her a friend, and we have been able to see each other often since graduation. I love her! Her new husband is a great guy, and I am so happy for them. This trip to Montana was really great for me because I was able not only to see Catherine, but my family as well. I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle in Billings, and it was fun to catch up with them.

Their kids are great, and I was kicking myself for not bringing my family with me (even though I really couldn’t). After the wedding I drove to Wyoming to see my Grandma and my other Aunt and Uncle. The drive was gorgeous and it kept just bringing back all of those memories from growing up. I got all sentimental and was just so happy!

So, this past weekend was great. In between wedding photos, checking out the flowers and attending dinners, I was able to go to a quilt shop. Of course I wouldn’t miss out on some shopping. I looked online before I left for a shop that looked good. I found Four Winds Quilting in Billings. The owner Nancy runs it out of her home, it is only open on the weekends I think, but she sells primarily online, go check her out. I happened to go on Friday morning. Her basement was full of the most awesome fabric! It was hard not to buy some of everything. Here is the stack I walked out with. Nancy says she plans on opening a store front soon, good luck! She has great taste in fabric, and she is very nice, I think I’ll be a long time customer :)

While sitting at the airports waiting for my connections, I brought my Halloween quilt with me to bind. I was stitching away when a lady walked up to me and asked if I quilted. We ended up talking for an hour about quilting and friends, and how much fun it all is. That’s great isn’t it? Here is the Joy Luck Schnibbles quilt complete.

Christina inspired me, her blog, A Few Scraps is really nice. She has all kinds of ideas for free motion quilting. Since this is such a small quilt I dove in and tried out some new quilting. I found a lime green thread and wandered back and forth with it all over the colored fabrics. Then I used white thread to make these weird spider things. The texture of the quilt is really nice. Thanks Christina!

October WIP

This month I’ve been working on a cross stitch (shock!) Here is my progress on Bent Creek: Snapperville so far. It’s coming right along.

I’ve also been quilting my little Schnibbles Joy Luck. This little Halloween quilt needs to be done before Halloween. I’m trying some fancy-schmancy free motion quilting on it.

The Hexagon quilt has 3 rows completed. These triangles are a pain to work with, but the result is pretty cool don’t you think? It took me an hour to do ONE row. I got to be best friends with my seam ripper, holy moley! That’s okay though, we all have to learn sometime haha!

I have basted my second “quilt from my stash” quilt also, that is patiently waiting for me to quilt it. Sorry I don't have a pic of it right now.

And I wanted to say Thank You to Denise of “My Life in Quilts”. She chose my blog for the Sunshine Award! Awww! How nice. I’d like to pass this on to some of my other favorite blogs as of late. Here are my regular reads if you are interested.

Posie Gets Cozy, Quiddity Quilts, The Sometimes Crafter, Suburban Stitcher, Oh Fransson!, Red Pepper Quilts, The Twisted Stitcher, Happy Zombie, LaVieEnRosie