Candy Hearts for Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  Do you do anything special to celebrate?

For the last few years, I've been making the first two weeks of February all about celebrating my incredible daughters, and letting them know how much I love them.  We call it "14 Days of Love!" Each morning of the month, until Valentine's Day, they wake up to a small surprise.  Sometimes its a gift or a treat, but often its a note from me, or a gift to complete and give to the other sister.  I don't ever spend a lot of money; its about the fun, the thought, the love and appreciation.  One year, I plastered their bedroom doors with cut out hearts on which I wrote things I loved about each of them.  The highlight this year was silly Valentines' Day jokes written on slips of paper and placed in their buckets.  The answers to the riddles were in the sister's bucket, so they had to work together to complete the jokes, then they read them all to Dad at dinner that evening.  It was goofy and fun and we all giggled.

This year, the "14th Day" featured a "big" surprise!  I made the girls a lap quilt!  Blankets get used in our house just about year round.  We have at least 5 throw size fleece blankets in our living room at all times - but nothing that I've made.  Time to change that!  I'm hoping that "Candy Hearts" will be the one they reach for when they need a snuggle.

When I got the idea to make them a quilt, I immediately reached for the Project Planning pages in my Quilter's Planner.  What a great spot to keep all my ideas and notes!

I had made a handful of heart blocks using the tutorial from CluckCluckSew for the #QuiltsforPulse drive last summer.  So, using that block again was an easy decision.

Once I decided on hearts, I just knew they'd need to be in the colors of Candy Conversation hearts.  I always love the way those hearts look in a fancy bowl.  Some pastel, some slightly more saturated colors, and all of them sugary sweet!  I went through my scrap bins and folded stscks and pulled any colors that fit the bill.  This is the first time I've worked with my fabrics since they've been organized.  Oh my what a joy it is!!

I decided that I wanted each heart to be bordered in the same low volume fabric used to make the corners of the heart block.  In most cases I was able to match, but there are a few extra scrappy blocks.

I cut all of the pieces for all of the blocks right away.  This made it really easy to sit down and sew a block or two whenever I had time.  I tried to do most of the sewing when the girls were out of the house or too busy to visit me in the sewing room.  I really wanted this to be a surprise! ( I did get busted by my younger daughter.  She is very observant and loves to pop in to say hi while I sew.)

Why does a pile of trimmings make me so happy?

It felt really good to make this whole quilt from stash!  Not only did this use up some scraps, I also used up LOTS of partial spools and half bobbins.  I got a little thrill each time I tossed an empty spool into the bucket!  It's really fun to use stuff up!   Is that weird?

For backing, I used up a large piece of soft pink fleece, and simply folded the excess around to the top, trimming the corners, and securing with a big zig zag.  It's a quick finish, and I think it will hold up well.

There are plenty of chopped points and wonky seams and not quite squared blocks in this little quilt.  It's not technically even a quilt, I guess, because it's backed with fleece and there's no batting.  It is very lightly quilted, and, because I didn't take time to baste well it's a bit bunchy in spots.  None of that matters.

Please excuse the early morning, bad lighting, bed head and glasses photo!

This was made with for my girls.  It's full of my pride in them, and stitched with all the joy I have in being their mom.  Its beautiful, just the way it is!

Linking up to all the fun at :
                    Sew Fresh Quilts,  Let's Bee Social,
                     the Valentine's Linky Parade at Quilt Fabrication

Off To A Good Start

I'm not sure where it went, but January has come and gone. Already. I sure could have used a few extra days.  But, I have to say, it was a good month.  While we didn't get the snow day I was hoping for, we did enjoy  going back to sleep for a couple hours on our late start day!  And most importantly, we all made it through the month healthy and happy!

I can not even tell you how much I am enjoying my new sewing space.  I still get giddy walking into the room (even though there is still a stack of empty plastic bins and a few odd jobs left to take care of).  Having a place for everything and everything in its place makes sewing SO much more fun.  I can actually find what I need, and I have everything within reach, so I can get right to work.  Most importantly, I am so motivated to keep it that way that I tidy everything up at the end of a sewing session.  (I know, I know, this is all common sense, and the way it should have been all along, but, for me, this is a new concept!)  I just love looking around the room and seeing all these things that make me happy.

I've managed to sew a little bit most days this month, or at least to do something creative if I just couldn't get to the machine.  Some days I just had time for a quick doodle or pairing some fabrics, but I have tried really hard to feed my creative soul every day.  I've felt pretty on top of things in general, and have managed to set and stick with a meal plan most days.  It just feels so good to be in the groove, and not like I'm flailing around.

The tool that is helping the most is The Quilter's Planner.  I treated myself to one this year, ordering almost as soon as the order date was announced.  I am SO glad I did.  It was a fabulous investment.  This planner is gorgeous and substantial.  Its as much a pleasure to use as it is impossible to ignore!   I have quickly settled into a routine of setting aside some planner time every few days.  I go over schedules and update various other family calendars, make to do lists and check off items, and break down progress toward the goals I set at the beginning of the month.

For this first month of the year, Stephanie, the creator of The Quilters Planner, has given a daily prompt on Instagram.  Many of them focused on goal setting, and some were just for fun, like sharing our favorite writing tools.  I haven't posted daily, but playing along and watching everyone else's posts helped me to commit to using my planner actively.  I wish the prompts could go on all year, and I'm hoping Stephanie has something else in store for us later on!  The Planner had become a place to practice doodling, to capture thoughts and moments I want to remember and, of course, to keel information.

The Quilter's Planner is FULL of wonderful quilting resources.  I have only just begun to explore them, and I'm sure I'll be using this book as a reference for years to come.  The part of the resource section I"ve used the most so far is the project planner.  An idea struck one night, and instead of jotting things down on a random paper, I grabbed my planner and got to work!  As I started cutting, I had all the measrements there and could check them with just a glance.  I've even added a little tracker to color in as blocks get finished!  The project is called "Candy Hearts" and it has a Feb. 14th deadline.  If I continue to stay organized and productive, I might just make it!

I haven't quite met all the goals I set at the beginning of the month.  But, I'm focused, and I will keep working toward them.  And that's the whole point, isn't it?  These little check boxes right here made the difference between posting tonight and not posting!  So fun to check one more off!

I look forward to sharing progress pictures for Candy Hearts, and my "When Life Gives You Scraps" project.  February will be a good month for blogging!

Unfortunately, I think that The Quilter's Planner for 2017 is no longer available.  But, do yourself a favor and make a note to order yourself one next year.  I love mine, and the good start it has helped me make in 2017!

Mini-Charm Garland: A Quick Finish

Sometimes, a quick finish is just what I need!  Especially when life gets hectic (wait, when ISN"T it??)  it feels really good to sit down, spend an hour, and get something done, start to finish.

See that cute little garland dressing up the top of my new pegboard?  That was a perfect one hour or less project.  And, for something so simple, I think it packs a pretty big punch.  It makes me happy every time I walk into the sewing room.  Well, pretty much everything in the room does, but the garland is at the top of the list!

I started with a mini-charm pack.  I had received three of these cute little stacks of fun in my Christmas package from my pen pal, Rose. One of them, Handmade from Bonnie and Camille, fit my sewing room colors, perfectly.  I chose fourteen charms that I loved, and laid them out, balancing for color and pattern.

Then, I folded over the top quarter inch of each one, pressing on the fold.

I chose some cute baker's twine (this came from Target's Christmas clearance.  It was a steal!) that coordinated nicely.

Then, I just zigzagged over the fold, making sure to catch the twine with the stitch.  I stitched right over the gaps between charm squares.  It's not noticeable at all!

I tied a quick loop on each end, and it was ready to go!  It was so quick and easy, that I made one for Rose, too!

These could work in several places, don't you think?  The mantel , the top of a book case, a window.  Sew many possibilities!

I am linking up at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Be Social,

I've also just discovered Tips and Tutorials Tuesday hosted by Quilting Jetgirl and Late Night Quilter!  What a great resource for new ideas!  Thanks, Yvonne, for suggesting that just link up!

New Year, New Space

Let me be the last person in the Quilt Blog  Universe to say, "Happy New Year!"  Time has flown and 2017 is already more than two weeks old!  The short holiday break was full of the usual get-togethers and traditions for my little family.  But, it was also a busy time full of working on a very special project - my new sewing space!

I have had plans and ideas for a lovely new sewing room swimming in my brain forever.  Last Christmas, my husband gave me a gift card to cover the cost of paint and some other items I had said I wanted to add to the space. (Romantic, huh?)   A full year went by, and we never set aside time to clear the room and paint!  How does that happen?  Busy kids, busy lives, I guess.  In August, I got serious about purging and boxing up fabric.  But, that means that since August, I haven't had access to much of my stuff, AND, we've been living with a growing pile of boxes and bins in our bedroom!  It was time to REALLY make some changes.

I stayed up late on December 25th and 26th completely clearing the room, organizing non-sewing craft supplies on new shelves in the closet, and taking down existing shelves and fixtures.

I love this closet, now.  The girls and I can find exactly what we need, and it's pretty simple to put thingsome back where we found them.

On the 27th, while my girls and I shopped (it was a "Sister Day", so I had to remain several paces behind them.  Oh, and drive them to the mall and pay for everything!) my husband painted the room!  Yaaaay!  It was really happening!

My first thought was, "Ummmm, that's a LOT of blue..."

Over the next week, we completed several projects.  Well, he completed them for me, really.  He's a good guy. like that.  I now have a peg board, a design wall, and a wall full of bookshelves.  We cleaned up the table that we bought 17 years ago as our kitchen table for our first house.  We used it until a few years ago, in fact, and I can't believe how SMALL it is!  How did we manage to feed two kids and us at that table?  But, it's perfect and cute in my new space!

My youngest daughter and I spent many, many lovely hours folding and organizing fabric.  She LOVES color, and she had a blast organizing the stacks of neatly folded fabric and filling the scrap baskets.  She told me several times how much fun it was to work in the room with me.  I loved every minute of it.

Possibly my favorite part of the room.  I just love the fun and functionality of tiPhil peg board!

So, the construction of the design was almost a deal breaker.  Amazing how different the process in MY head was than in the engineering brain of my husbandaughter.  But, it was worth it!!!  

There are a few areas that still need work. But, I imagine the space will evolve and change as we settle in and get back to the business of creating.  For now, I'm enjoying a little thrill every time I walk in to the room.  I have spent some small stretches of time sewing over the last few days.  The new arrangement of the room and the placement of all my supplies seems to be working out very well.  I can't wait to see what I make in this space this year!

A Lovely Win!

While we visited the City Museum in St. Louis recently, I sat myself down on a bench to collect my wit's and take a breather. Have you ever been there?  Oh my.  I am not sure how to even describe the place.  You will have to Google images of it to get an idea, and even that may not come close.

I was on sensory overload, separated from my family who kept ducking into places and disappearing, and generally feeling anxious and alone.  I pulled out my phone to text my husband and daughter to say I would be staying put , there by the whale skeleton, for a while.

That's when I got a lovely e-mail from Mari of the Academic Quilter ,  letting me know I'd won a giveaway she had sponsored on her blog.  Yay!

Her lovely package arrived a few days after we got home.  Here's what I won!

I love these Moda floral prints,  And, thanks for the bonus needles, Mari!

If you've been to City Museum, I'd love to hear what you thought of it!  And if you have an opportunity to visit, do!  It wasn't my cup of tea, but my family loved it.  And it's something you have to see to beleive.

Blogging Challenge Day Four

Today is my 4th consecutive  day posting as part of The 31 Day Blogging Challenge.  Admittedly,  There isn't really anything sewing or quilting related in this post.

Now, this is supposed to be a sewing and quilting blog, so, to keep things in the up and up, I took a picture of the subject of this post with something quilty.  does that count?

This quilt block is one of a handful that I have, hand-pieced by one of my grandmothers.
An heirloom, for sure.

While we were on our road trip to St. Louis last month, I became slightly addicted to biscuits.  You now, the simple baking soda busicuits, like the ones McDonald's uses in their sausage busicuits with egg? That's the ONLY thing I will eat at McDonalds, because I love those busicuits.  Well, I had one for breakfast at Cracker Barrel on our first morning.  Then, each day following, I had one or two from the hotel's breakfast buffet.  They are just so good.  especially when warm and slathered with just enough butter.

I was delighted when I found a set of busicuit cutters in the Arch Gift Shop, along with my other goodies!  My youngest daughter was pretty excited, too, as baking is her thing.

We decided to give them a whirl this past weekend, trying out the buttermilk busicuits recipe that was attached to the set.  She did all the measuring, most of the mixing and all of the cutting.  She aspires to own a bakery someday, and it would not surprise me if she succeeds!

I think we need to tweak our recipe a bit, as the busicuits were a bit dense and flat, a tad too salty.  They were delicious, even so (I had three!!) and paired perfectly with homemade chicken noodle soup for our first-snowfall-of-the-season dinner last night.

I hope you have lots of good things to eat, and lots of time to sew!

    

Quilty Goodness Everywhere

My family and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in St. Louis.  We have no relatives there, and had no reason to go, other than needing
some family time, just the four of us.

As much as we love our extended families, it can sometimes be challenging to spend time with them this time of year.  Personalities clash, feeling get hurt, eyes get rolled...it's not all Merry and Bright. And, with my husband's recent work travel and the girls' just general level of busy-ness, I had been feeling that we've not had as much time just enjoying each other as I'd like.

So, I picked a driveable destination, we made our apologies to both families, and booked a hotel room.

We left on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, after the girls' commitments, about 8:00.  We made it as far as Rockford, IL.  It would have been feasible to drive further, but my youngest has to do about an hour's worth of respiratory treatments before bed each night, so we stopped there.  After a good night's sleep and a Cracker Barrel breakfast, we continued on the Springfield.

We spent several hours exploring the Abraham Lincoln museum and house there.  Have you been there? If not, it's worth a visit.  I loved watching my girls connect the dots between this display of Lincoln's life and other Civil War museums and sites we've visited in Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee and North Carolina.  And, being in Lincoln's house, holding the railing he held every night on his way to bed was pretty awesome. We all came away wanting to know more about him and his family.  My youngest has even chosen to write a piece about him for her ELA class this quarter.  I love it when history comes alive!

I enjoyed looking at the textiles used for Mrs. Lincoln's dresses.

We made it to St. Louis in time for dinner and a late night swim, and some general relaxing.  Many, many laughs were had throughout the day and it just felt so good to have no real agenda or time constraints.

While in St. Louis, we took in a rather large Thanksgiving Day parade, ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in a steakhouse,  wandered the city gardens, visited City Museum, and of course, went to the top of The Arch.

I am sad to say that I did not talk my family into visiting a single quilt shop,  although there would have been several options on our trip.  Time was unscheduled, but not unlimited, and I am trying hard to not buy fabric I don't have a plan for.  at least until my craft room is reorganized and my stash is unpacked, again.        

I don't know about you, but I look at this and see flying geese! 

I did, however, make a couple of quilt related purchases!  The Arch Gift Shop is fantastic!  Not just key chains and t-shirts (though there were plenty of those, too!)  There were SO many books that it felt as though we were in a Barns and Noble rather than a souvenir shop.  I was happy to find The Quilt That Walked To Golden by Sandra Dallas.  I am always up for tales of frontier life, and if quilts factor in, so much the better.  I read through several sections of the book on the ride home.  I loved the accounts of women who traveled West and the quilts they took with them  The photos are fantastic, too.  And, reflecting on the journey those pioneer families took made the drive through Illinois seem not so bad!

The REALLY exciting purchase, though,  was  the Catenary pattern by Carolyn Friedlander.  Just look at those arches!

 My eyes went right to it when I entered the gift shop and I knew instantly it would be going home with me.  What a perfect way to commemorate our trip!  There was a sample quilt hanging above the patterns, and it was just lovely.  I wish I had snapped a photo, because the quilting was unique.  I have some thoughts and plans about how to proceed with this quilt, and my mind keeps returning to them, so I must be on to something!

This has been my third consecutive day posting, as part of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  Pop over here to visit some others who are taking the challenge too!