Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Kaelin's doing a giveaway!
Go check out Kaelin's great giveaway! It's her very first one, so give her some giveaway love! Plus I promise you'll laugh...she's hysterical.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Joseph's coat in progress...
Remember these obscure and hard to see photos? LOL.
Well...I've been working on that! No rest for the weary! I have commitments! This is the beginning of a quilt for Spiced Coffee for the Charming Mini swap. For some reason I felt the need to make a whole bunch of mini quilts lately. (I still have one more after this!) Marilyn already sent me her lovely quilt along with all the goodies!!! If you didn't see that, go back a few posts...it's all there.
So those obscure pictures turned into these obscure pictures. I'm making tiny applque petals! And I even got some fun new tools to help make the job easier. A mini iron, which I've been wanting to get for long time, and a mini pressing board...ahh portable ironing! I sat in front of my tv on the floor and starched and turned and pressed my way through 42 mini petals.
But it does get better. After pasting my cardboard pattern in our glass door and placing my background fabric over it, I was able to temporarily glue each petal in place and figure out a layout for my pattern. My husband laughed at me because yet again I was on the floor working on this mini quilt while I painstakingly put each petal in place.
But that glue isn't enough and the petals really do need to be pinned in place...so last night, again, I was on the floor with my quilt on my coffee table putting pin after pin in place and trying to line up all the petals perfectly. It took a bit to find my groove, but I finally figured out a method that worked for me...and now this is what I have.
Lots of pins and lots of pieces! I really wanted to take the time to pin the pieces just where I wanted them so that I didn't need to fuss with them much when I was sewing them down.
So next there is just the small matter of hand sewing each petal in place. Yes, it could be machine stitched in place, but after all the work to make each petal and put it in place, I really feel like it should be finished "properly" and hand appliqued.
Happily today I've started that. I'm working from the center outwards....otherwise you could end up with a bit of a disaster. I'm sewing the tops of where the clusters meet down and then coming back and stitching down the sides. Again, a bit of fussy work...especially because there are a lot of pins in it at this point. I've been pricked a number of times already and there's no fairy godmother to come and save me! But it will get better as I do more... there will be less pins and more satisfaction in having petals sewn. I have one completely sewn and it looks good.
But remember, this is just the top. It still needs to become a quilt. So there will more left to do soon! I will be quilting the layers together too!
Well...I've been working on that! No rest for the weary! I have commitments! This is the beginning of a quilt for Spiced Coffee for the Charming Mini swap. For some reason I felt the need to make a whole bunch of mini quilts lately. (I still have one more after this!) Marilyn already sent me her lovely quilt along with all the goodies!!! If you didn't see that, go back a few posts...it's all there.
So those obscure pictures turned into these obscure pictures. I'm making tiny applque petals! And I even got some fun new tools to help make the job easier. A mini iron, which I've been wanting to get for long time, and a mini pressing board...ahh portable ironing! I sat in front of my tv on the floor and starched and turned and pressed my way through 42 mini petals.
But it does get better. After pasting my cardboard pattern in our glass door and placing my background fabric over it, I was able to temporarily glue each petal in place and figure out a layout for my pattern. My husband laughed at me because yet again I was on the floor working on this mini quilt while I painstakingly put each petal in place.
But that glue isn't enough and the petals really do need to be pinned in place...so last night, again, I was on the floor with my quilt on my coffee table putting pin after pin in place and trying to line up all the petals perfectly. It took a bit to find my groove, but I finally figured out a method that worked for me...and now this is what I have.
Lots of pins and lots of pieces! I really wanted to take the time to pin the pieces just where I wanted them so that I didn't need to fuss with them much when I was sewing them down.
So next there is just the small matter of hand sewing each petal in place. Yes, it could be machine stitched in place, but after all the work to make each petal and put it in place, I really feel like it should be finished "properly" and hand appliqued.
Happily today I've started that. I'm working from the center outwards....otherwise you could end up with a bit of a disaster. I'm sewing the tops of where the clusters meet down and then coming back and stitching down the sides. Again, a bit of fussy work...especially because there are a lot of pins in it at this point. I've been pricked a number of times already and there's no fairy godmother to come and save me! But it will get better as I do more... there will be less pins and more satisfaction in having petals sewn. I have one completely sewn and it looks good.
But remember, this is just the top. It still needs to become a quilt. So there will more left to do soon! I will be quilting the layers together too!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The doll quilt is finished....so you know what that means...!!! A celebration!
*The giveaway is now closed*
Woohoo! The quilt is officially complete, label and all (which is pretty darn cute if you ask me!)
Notice the little reference to Dorothy? I thought I was a genius when I came up that idea! LOL. Sometimes it's the littlest things that make me happy. :)
But....that quilt is complete and it's time celebrate Angela style! So that means a giveaway! And not just any giveaway. Why it's the giveaway of another mini quilt. If you've been following along, then you know what is coming. Otherwise, catch up. ;)
We all know that there was no way that I was going to create a twin to the doll quilt, but I did promise that I would continue to give away mini quilts after the girl on a swing became so coveted. So here is the next addition to my attempts at mini quilts. I blogged about it a few days earlier, so you can go back and read more about it...but this is it:
As yet unnamed quilt...maybe I'll let the winner decide! But this pretty peacock could soon be yours. And what do you need to do to get some entries? Well there's a few ways.
I'm very intrigued by everyone's reaction to my doll quilt "Where Bluebirds Fly".
I did not set out to create something that got a lot of attention. But the reality is that it did. And I'm interested in why. I would love to hear what it is about the quilt that drew you to it especially. No "it's just pretty" answers please. This is an honest attempt to understand what people are liking in the quilting world. This is not a beg for a compliments, but rather a request for solid information. (I don't turn down compliments though ;) ) You can say as much as you like, but only one entry per comment on the quilt.
If you've done that and you still would like to have some more entries, then we're going for some standards here.
You can blog about the giveaway on your blog and link back here.
You can add me as a link in your side bar on your blog.
You can become a follower or tell me that you are already one.
And hey, since it's my blog and my giveaway, you can get another entry by leaving a comment telling me how cute my Caitlyn is...because I don't ever get tired of hearing it. LOL.
So that's it...can't wait to hear what you all have to say and good luck to everyone. This is a random drawing so it doesn't matter how deep your affection is for either quilt...it's all up to the random generator!
Good luck! The giveaway is open until the end of September 6th (central time?) because that is when all the doll quilts need to be mailed out and when my other mini quilt needs to be mailed out. It's just a good deadline for me! LOL.
PS. as always...make sure that there is a way to contact you!!
Woohoo! The quilt is officially complete, label and all (which is pretty darn cute if you ask me!)
Notice the little reference to Dorothy? I thought I was a genius when I came up that idea! LOL. Sometimes it's the littlest things that make me happy. :)
But....that quilt is complete and it's time celebrate Angela style! So that means a giveaway! And not just any giveaway. Why it's the giveaway of another mini quilt. If you've been following along, then you know what is coming. Otherwise, catch up. ;)
We all know that there was no way that I was going to create a twin to the doll quilt, but I did promise that I would continue to give away mini quilts after the girl on a swing became so coveted. So here is the next addition to my attempts at mini quilts. I blogged about it a few days earlier, so you can go back and read more about it...but this is it:
As yet unnamed quilt...maybe I'll let the winner decide! But this pretty peacock could soon be yours. And what do you need to do to get some entries? Well there's a few ways.
I'm very intrigued by everyone's reaction to my doll quilt "Where Bluebirds Fly".
I did not set out to create something that got a lot of attention. But the reality is that it did. And I'm interested in why. I would love to hear what it is about the quilt that drew you to it especially. No "it's just pretty" answers please. This is an honest attempt to understand what people are liking in the quilting world. This is not a beg for a compliments, but rather a request for solid information. (I don't turn down compliments though ;) ) You can say as much as you like, but only one entry per comment on the quilt.
If you've done that and you still would like to have some more entries, then we're going for some standards here.
You can blog about the giveaway on your blog and link back here.
You can add me as a link in your side bar on your blog.
You can become a follower or tell me that you are already one.
And hey, since it's my blog and my giveaway, you can get another entry by leaving a comment telling me how cute my Caitlyn is...because I don't ever get tired of hearing it. LOL.
So that's it...can't wait to hear what you all have to say and good luck to everyone. This is a random drawing so it doesn't matter how deep your affection is for either quilt...it's all up to the random generator!
Good luck! The giveaway is open until the end of September 6th (central time?) because that is when all the doll quilts need to be mailed out and when my other mini quilt needs to be mailed out. It's just a good deadline for me! LOL.
PS. as always...make sure that there is a way to contact you!!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Where Bluebirds Fly - a completed story
So, it's finally happened. Yes, the moment many of you and I have been waiting for has arrived. I got my act together and worked and worked and worked and then worked some more... and now I have a beautiful doll quilt. I started dreaming about this quilt long before I even knew that I would be part of the Doll Quilt Swap. I wasn't certain if I would get into the swap and I wasn't certain what kind of partner I would have.
Well...my partner said that I could make what I wanted to...but I'm not sure that this is what she expected! LOL. I was so happy to have the creative freedom to make the quilt that I needed to make. That's right..needed.
This quilt has a fairly obvious reference to the Wizard of Oz, but I wasn't just trying to make a story quilt. At least not that story. This quilt is about the story of my life for the last several years and my husband's and my attempts to have children.
We knew that we wanted to have children when we were dating. But thought that we might wait one or two years...I was fairly young and we wanted to enjoy our time together alone for a bit. And we did. We took lovely trips and enjoyed our very long honeymoon stage! But it became clearer and clearer that we would like to try to start a family.
But unfortunately for us, that was not a simple task. What we thought would be effortless turned into years of study, research, surgeries, a miscarriage, more surgery, fertility treatments, prayer, prayer and more prayer. All the while we saw families growing all around us.
We knew that God wanted us to have children and for me to conceive, but the years of waiting were extremely difficult as all the things that accompany being a married couple without children in a world focused on married couples with children. It became difficult to maintain hope when month after month, year after year, we still had the same struggle and felt little control.
And then it happened, on a miraculous Easter Morning I discovered that I was pregnant.
We were in a happy but cautious daze for months. I unfortunately get extremely ill when pregnant and by the end of the first trimester I had already lost 15 lbs. I couldn't get off my couch to sew!!! :( But that couldn't take away our joy.
Our baby girl was due December 21st and I was convinced she would be born on Christmas since we had found out about her on Easter. But she proved her independence early by thankfully coming early! She still was our best Christmas present though!
The hardship didn't end with her arrival for me, but we were blessed with an enormous amount of care from family and friends for months afterwards. And Caitlyn has certainly turned out to be an angel baby. Sweet in every way and thankfully allowing her parents to get a decent amount of sleep.
She is the greatest joy in our life and is truly a miracle. We tell everyone that we waited so long for her because God was working hard on making her so precious.
So this quilt is a representation of our journey. We were on the dark side with that rainbow just barely glimmering above to give us hope. But since Caitlyn joined our life, we are living in the colored side. Every day is magical, seriously. We are so blessed to have her and she has brought color and joy to our life.
When we were waiting for our precious arrival, there was a song that always made us smile. It always made us peaceful and left us happy. That song is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World. I'm sure that you've heard it...movies love to use it as a finale song! Well..that is our song. My husband even had a great moment in the hospital when I was (finally!) getting some sleep and brand new Caitlyn was sleeping in my arms. He was video taping and realized that in the background was this song playing on our ipod. He couldn't have planned the moment better. It was the realization of a dream. The reminder that God fulfills his promises in ways that we can't imagine.
And so a quilt idea was born as well. "Where Bluebirds Fly" represents this journey. So many of you have asked me how I could possibly give this quilt away after all the work it took. But the reality is that I don't need this quilt because I am living it. I am in the magical world. I spend every day with this sweet girl.
Well...my partner said that I could make what I wanted to...but I'm not sure that this is what she expected! LOL. I was so happy to have the creative freedom to make the quilt that I needed to make. That's right..needed.
This quilt has a fairly obvious reference to the Wizard of Oz, but I wasn't just trying to make a story quilt. At least not that story. This quilt is about the story of my life for the last several years and my husband's and my attempts to have children.
We knew that we wanted to have children when we were dating. But thought that we might wait one or two years...I was fairly young and we wanted to enjoy our time together alone for a bit. And we did. We took lovely trips and enjoyed our very long honeymoon stage! But it became clearer and clearer that we would like to try to start a family.
But unfortunately for us, that was not a simple task. What we thought would be effortless turned into years of study, research, surgeries, a miscarriage, more surgery, fertility treatments, prayer, prayer and more prayer. All the while we saw families growing all around us.
We knew that God wanted us to have children and for me to conceive, but the years of waiting were extremely difficult as all the things that accompany being a married couple without children in a world focused on married couples with children. It became difficult to maintain hope when month after month, year after year, we still had the same struggle and felt little control.
And then it happened, on a miraculous Easter Morning I discovered that I was pregnant.
We were in a happy but cautious daze for months. I unfortunately get extremely ill when pregnant and by the end of the first trimester I had already lost 15 lbs. I couldn't get off my couch to sew!!! :( But that couldn't take away our joy.
Our baby girl was due December 21st and I was convinced she would be born on Christmas since we had found out about her on Easter. But she proved her independence early by thankfully coming early! She still was our best Christmas present though!
The hardship didn't end with her arrival for me, but we were blessed with an enormous amount of care from family and friends for months afterwards. And Caitlyn has certainly turned out to be an angel baby. Sweet in every way and thankfully allowing her parents to get a decent amount of sleep.
She is the greatest joy in our life and is truly a miracle. We tell everyone that we waited so long for her because God was working hard on making her so precious.
So this quilt is a representation of our journey. We were on the dark side with that rainbow just barely glimmering above to give us hope. But since Caitlyn joined our life, we are living in the colored side. Every day is magical, seriously. We are so blessed to have her and she has brought color and joy to our life.
When we were waiting for our precious arrival, there was a song that always made us smile. It always made us peaceful and left us happy. That song is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Somewhere Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World. I'm sure that you've heard it...movies love to use it as a finale song! Well..that is our song. My husband even had a great moment in the hospital when I was (finally!) getting some sleep and brand new Caitlyn was sleeping in my arms. He was video taping and realized that in the background was this song playing on our ipod. He couldn't have planned the moment better. It was the realization of a dream. The reminder that God fulfills his promises in ways that we can't imagine.
And so a quilt idea was born as well. "Where Bluebirds Fly" represents this journey. So many of you have asked me how I could possibly give this quilt away after all the work it took. But the reality is that I don't need this quilt because I am living it. I am in the magical world. I spend every day with this sweet girl.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
I had the best mail day yesterday!
I got two very fun packages in the mail yesterday!!!
First of all, I received my package from the Fat Quarter Shop that I won. 37 Beautiful fat quarters of Pure by Moda. I can't bear to open it up and pull it apart yet. But I adore the word fabrics especially!
Then I received the most delightful package from Spiced Coffee for the Charming Mini swap. She already has my package to me and I haven't even finished her quilt yet! (it's the Joseph's coat) But I promise it is the very next thing that I am finishing!
I sent her a charm pack of Kate Spain's Verna that I bought but didn't really have any plans for. I just liked the "charm" of the line. And look at the wonderful little quilt that she made me!
Isn't it sweet? Just darling! I love all the hand stitching, the stripe pieced flowers, the stripes...all of it!
And she made a darling label too! And that fabric is one of my favorite from the line...I might have to get some more (husband shut your eyes...you don't have to read that!)
Then she just went ridiculously generous on me with all the extras that she sent. She didn't want me to overshare on those at the risk of others thinking that they should send that much...but she was so sweet. She thought of Caitlyn and pretty much sent it all for her!
She gave us the cute petal dress pattern, the large amount of a beautiful voile fabric, the cutest little buttons, and... oh yeah..just a bit of FFA. I seriously get the best partners!
I promise that I will use it to make beautiful things for Caitlyn!! Thank you so much Marilyn!
Isn't that a lovely mail day? I enjoyed it!
First of all, I received my package from the Fat Quarter Shop that I won. 37 Beautiful fat quarters of Pure by Moda. I can't bear to open it up and pull it apart yet. But I adore the word fabrics especially!
Then I received the most delightful package from Spiced Coffee for the Charming Mini swap. She already has my package to me and I haven't even finished her quilt yet! (it's the Joseph's coat) But I promise it is the very next thing that I am finishing!
I sent her a charm pack of Kate Spain's Verna that I bought but didn't really have any plans for. I just liked the "charm" of the line. And look at the wonderful little quilt that she made me!
Isn't it sweet? Just darling! I love all the hand stitching, the stripe pieced flowers, the stripes...all of it!
And she made a darling label too! And that fabric is one of my favorite from the line...I might have to get some more (husband shut your eyes...you don't have to read that!)
Then she just went ridiculously generous on me with all the extras that she sent. She didn't want me to overshare on those at the risk of others thinking that they should send that much...but she was so sweet. She thought of Caitlyn and pretty much sent it all for her!
She gave us the cute petal dress pattern, the large amount of a beautiful voile fabric, the cutest little buttons, and... oh yeah..just a bit of FFA. I seriously get the best partners!
I promise that I will use it to make beautiful things for Caitlyn!! Thank you so much Marilyn!
Isn't that a lovely mail day? I enjoyed it!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Peacock Wall Hanging
I'm not sure how many of you caught my sneak peak of this quilt. But I would like to unveil a little beauty that I've been working on in my "spare" time. ;)
A title? Proud as a Peacock? I don't this peacock as proud, so much as lovely and beautiful... Hmmm...and suggestions for a name for this fella?
I promised after I made the girl on the swing that I would make another little quilt for a giveaway and I don't like to not follow through on those promises. So here it is..the next quilt for a giveaway.
But not quite yet! You see, I think that I need a little celebration when I finally finish my doll quilt. It's been a labor of love and taken a lot of my heart and energy. And you know what I do when I celebrate....! I give away something! So this time, when I am all done with that doll quilt, we'll all celebrate by a giveaway of this little quilt (sorry but there's no way I could make a twin for that doll quilt!)
This quilt is made with the same basic method that I made the girl on the swing quilt with that tutorial by comfortstitching (you can find a link to her site in my sidebar). But this time I came up with my own theme and found an inspiration for a pattern (an old t-shirt!) and put this fella together. I actually think that it was a lot harder than the girl on the swing because I had so many pieces and I couldn't cut them out a head of time because I would lose the pattern.
Anyway, I LOVE how this one turned out. I keep looking at it and smiling. I was so thrilled when I found the perfect border fabric in my stash...it was made for this quilt!
So if you love this fella even half as much as I do, then stay tuned for a chance to win this quilt. I'll give the details later, but this time I'm doing a random drawing...the pressure of choosing the best answer was soooo hard last time. LOL. Who knows? It could soon be hanging in your sewing room or home!
A title? Proud as a Peacock? I don't this peacock as proud, so much as lovely and beautiful... Hmmm...and suggestions for a name for this fella?
I promised after I made the girl on the swing that I would make another little quilt for a giveaway and I don't like to not follow through on those promises. So here it is..the next quilt for a giveaway.
But not quite yet! You see, I think that I need a little celebration when I finally finish my doll quilt. It's been a labor of love and taken a lot of my heart and energy. And you know what I do when I celebrate....! I give away something! So this time, when I am all done with that doll quilt, we'll all celebrate by a giveaway of this little quilt (sorry but there's no way I could make a twin for that doll quilt!)
This quilt is made with the same basic method that I made the girl on the swing quilt with that tutorial by comfortstitching (you can find a link to her site in my sidebar). But this time I came up with my own theme and found an inspiration for a pattern (an old t-shirt!) and put this fella together. I actually think that it was a lot harder than the girl on the swing because I had so many pieces and I couldn't cut them out a head of time because I would lose the pattern.
Anyway, I LOVE how this one turned out. I keep looking at it and smiling. I was so thrilled when I found the perfect border fabric in my stash...it was made for this quilt!
So if you love this fella even half as much as I do, then stay tuned for a chance to win this quilt. I'll give the details later, but this time I'm doing a random drawing...the pressure of choosing the best answer was soooo hard last time. LOL. Who knows? It could soon be hanging in your sewing room or home!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Oh you gotta love a good giveaway....
I can't help posting all these...they are all too fun! And this one is another amazing one!
Look what you can win! An Accuquilt Go Machine! Crazy!
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