Monsterz Mini

A mini quilt made with a left over block from the twin sized quilt I made ages ago but have never shown. I did the quilting! ALL. BY. MYSELF!! I free motioned quilted this and a large quilt. How many different ways can I say it? It's a huge thing to free motion quilt something yourself! I'm so super proud of myself. Pat pat pat (on my back). 

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See the Zombie on the left? That's an Emily and Mommy collaboration. The "Dude" on the right is something from Emily's brain:)

Quilt Pattern is "Spools" by Thimble Blossoms. The fabric line is Monsterz by Cloud9fabrics. AND, I spray basted this and the twin size. I had brought the spray baste stuff back with me from the states last December.  LOVE that stuff and will never use pins again. I don't remember the brand I have but it's from Joann's.

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A project below in the works. I pinned a million pom pom projects on pinterest trying to find color combos I liked. I'm using pom pom makers I got from Joann's back when we went home on the 1st emergency leave for Jon's mom. I bought all the sizes they had. I love these things. I had made about 20 red ones while sitting in the hospital room. 

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Below are 3 instagram photos. Sorry that I post these on facebook 1st and then you see them again here:) 

1. Emily did this in art class with the help of one of those how-to-draw books. 

2. My silly girls love my phone.

3. And yesterday we finally went to the Nuremberg Christmas market. It was wayyy to crowded to have kids there. It was so beautiful though and I can finally say we went. It's something Jon wanted to do very badly. He really wants to see the Dresden one but now that we saw this one and how crowded it was....We'll see. 

Wild Things Quilt

A baby quilt for some friends from Stuttgart (Jon's BFF). 

They are now in Texas and the baby is about 6 or so months. Better late than never!

The fabrics are all stuff I had in my stash, the pattern is Thimble Blossoms, Wild Things. It was quilted by the lady in Montana. I have since done my own free motion quilting so I will most likely not send her baby-sized quilts again as I can now do them myself!

The backing is the same fabric I used on my Landofnod floor cushion knock offs here.

Did you gasp when you saw the picture below? The ugly Frankenstein stitches around the binding??  Oops. Should have used yellow thread and concealed my stitches but I'm not capable of pretty hand stitching:)  It's OK . I'm OK with it and can admit my talents don't lie* in hand sewing:) (**lay, lie?)

The quilt that doesn't match anything

Another project I kind of had finished before I left for the States. I finished the top in maybe October, sent it off to be quilted and waited for it to arrive while in San Diego so I could put the binding on while there. It's for my sister-in-law Jessica. I have a feeling she is regretting telling me to choose the fabric (she chose the pattern which I wouldn't have chosen but only because I had never done triangles before)! It's just not as cute as I had envisioned and doesn't really match her yellow walls and pepto pink curtains.

The fabric is Sherbet Pips and the quilt pattern is Little Ones from Thimble Blossoms.

I had bought a grey for the border (a Kona cotton) here at my old work and a different one while in the states and hated both of them when it came time to sew the border on. So I bothered some people on flickr asking if anyone knew of a gray that went perfectly with this line. Someone was actually kind enough to help and told me about a line of solids sold in the UK. I ordered their swatch card and when it came they gray matched perfectly so I ordered some yardage. it's from backstitch.co.uk and the fabric is 54" wide Klona Cotton (not to be confused with Kona Cotton!).

And backed in my favorite print from the line.

And here it is on her king-size bed.

More Swoon

More Swoon blocks (quilt pattern by Thimble Blossoms).

And here is something to keep your kids busy for HOURS!! Crayola Window Markers.

I have to say though that it sucks cleaning it up but it's so worth it. They love being able to draw on a new surface and stand in the kitchen window. The best thing to get it off with is one of those Magic Sponges. They tend to get hand prints all over the sill and wall next to the window so the Magic Sponges get that off. 

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What's new:

Jon is on R&R and in the States visiting his mom.

Piggy, the kitty no one believes we have, has been missing for weeks now.

I had a dream last night that I found her.

Ava is fully potty trained and almost completely potty trained for nights (that is solely her doing not mine).

Swoon, faint, gasp (not in that order)

A giant block for a new quilt.

The pattern is Swoon by Thimble Blossoms and let me tell you, that (swoon) is exactly what I did when I fist saw this quilt!I have already made 3 of these blocks out of different blues and greens. It's sooo pretty! The blocks are 24" squares and there will be 9 total making something like an 80"x80" quilt. .
 *the fabrics used above are: Denise Schmidt for Joann's (the floral) and Happier Cottons (the stripe) by Riley Blake.

I took this photo at the San Diego Zoo just to show how pretty it is. That is the polar bear exhibit (what gave it away?) with a beautiful building from Balboa Park in the back ground. We visited the Zoo 3 times while home and Emily went for one week to the Zoo camp. It really is the best Zoo.

And one thing we did while visiting was see Shrek the Musical (this is the best of the photos) It was really cool but very very long. They sang about everything. It got to the point where you're thinking, "no don't do that! Now you'll have to sing about it!". There must have been 50-75 songs during the whole thing. Bleh. I do realize it was a musical...but still that was a lot of singing.

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And this is so weird: our weather was 97 degrees yesterday and today was 60, windy and rainy. Yesterday I had on shorts and flip flops and was so hot I didn't want my girls to get near me and today I had on pants sneakers and a hoodie. Crazy!

 

 

Strawberry Tunic Ottobre 3/08

The Strawberry Tunic.

I made this before I left for America so about 3 months ago! I lost my sewing and posting mojo while in San Diego. Anyway, this little knit top pattern is from a much sought-after Ottobre magazine (3/2008). I finally got this issue on ebay after months and months of waiting for someone to list one. The fabric is from Joann's but purchased on etsy. I love this style top on the girls. Love it. The pattern instructions though were not that great. I had a hard time with the neck binding and will have to make it smaller next time. If you've ever sewn from an Ottobre magazine you'll know that they give very little instruction and even less pictures. But I'll make it again.

Jon's sister Jessica with the girls.

 This past April when we went home on emergency leave, Jon's sister asked me to frame a bunch of photos as a surprise for their mom when she got out of the hospital. I hung stuff in her room too but this wall was my favorite. I also framed this print and this print for each of the bathrooms.

 Pappa J and Grammy Dar paid for a week of Zoo camp at the San Diego Zoo as a gift for Emily's 6th birthday. She loved it!!! Also above is the quilt I am in the process of making for Jon's sister, Jessica. I started it while in San Diego on their Brother sewing machine. It aint no Pfaff that's fo sho! But it did the job. I still have to add borders and quilt it. The fabric is Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hooey and the quilt pattern is Little Ones by Thimble Blossoms. I convinced Jessica to redo her bedroom (after starting the quilt above) so we got new curtains (pink) and I framed this print as a present for her (the blue and pink version which matches the quilt. I swear it does. That blue and pink are in the quilt!).  

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Isn't jet lag fun? The girls (I suspect Ava woke 1st and then woke Emily) woke me at 2:30am two nights in a row now. Lovely:) So both nights I've been awake from 2:30am to about 11am or so then napped. But I have the hardest time keeping Ava awake after that. Oh how I love that child (strained smile).