Teacher gifts!

I usually give the boys' teachers a giant tote bag for Christmas, but this year I was so overwhelmed and busy, they got NOTHING. Not even a PROMISE. So, anyway, I have been working hard on getting some of this IOU stuff out the door this week.

 This tote is for Lukey's DK teacher's aide.

 This GIANT bag is for Lukey's DK teacher.

 The classroom mother wanted to give the DK teacher a memory quilt, so we had the kids each draw a cow with the new Sharpie for fabric markers- they work ok, tend to bleed a little, but the color is very vibrant. The teacher's favorite animal is a cow and she lives on a farm, which is why we did a cow. The kids are really excited to give it to her on Monday during the family fun day.

 This bag is my favorite- this one is for Brady's teacher and I cut out the fabric for another one as I made this one. I WANT IT! There are over 300" of gathering in the flower. I sweated bullets on that one- wish I had a ruffler attachment for my Bernie. But it was worth it and I am totally going to make myself one when I get some time- HA! Time? What's that?

It's not a quilt...

... but it does have a rainbow!

Lukey is in DK this year, so I imagine I will only get away with stuff like this for a teeny bit longer. I better make this year count!

Also, somehow, with TWO little boys, I had no ripped knee jeans in our house. So I got these at a rummage sale for a buck, and when I explained what I was doing the girl gave me two more pair that she hadn't put out because of the rips. Can I get a Woot Woot?

All these babies are good motivation!

It seems like everyone I know is popping out or cooking up a baby right now. This is fine by me- baby quilts are nice and quick to make! This week the quilt is going to my pastor and his wife. They are having their first baby and the whole church is super excited. The shower is today but I actually had the quilt finished YESTERDAY. Something must be going on here- I am never that early! Maybe I am turning over a new leaf? Hmmm... doubt it. I am calling this an aberration.

Their nursery has a jungle theme with green and brown as the main colors. I found some "Jolly Jungle" fabric at work and fussy cut the squares, and then added some animal print for the strips around.

Close-up of some squares

I wanted the boys to give this special baby a gift, too, so I made a fabric memory game. I thought I invented the idea, but it turns out they've been around a while. One of the girls at work said she was making one to go with an I-Spy quilt- how cute will THAT be? I did do something a little unusual, though. I only had 8 pairs of animals and I wanted a dozen sets. So I stole some photos from the parents' Facebook pages and sewed them into squares. I just put some of the plastic seat protector stuff over the photos.

It will be a while before the baby can play with this game but his mama and daddy DO have a silly streak... I would bet a fat quarter they play it at least once. :)

 Lukey and I played a round this morning and I won! But not by much. I thought a clever way to present this would be for the boys to lay out the game (face down) and ask Miss Tobi to play it with them when she gets there. She will be so surprised when she draws the first photo one! And that would just tickle the boys. 

I thought of putting one of myself in there wearing a tiara or crown or something but maybe that would be confusing to the baby since I don't normally wear one to church...

HA! I actually worked on a QUILT! Also, have made Awesomest Diaper Bag Ever.

Lots of pictures, not too many words. I have been BUSY this summer with my kiddos... and my new job at my LOCAL QUILT STORE!!! (And yes, I HAVE brought home a paycheck... once.)

 

 

 

Spinning Wheel- FINALLY quilted!

My first try at quilting with variegated thread. My FMQ needs work, but it's serviceable.

My SIL asked for an owl tote, oh a couple years ago I think. Well, then she got pregnant so I killed two birds with one stone and made an owl diaper bag for her. She LOVES pockets and stuff so it's LOADED.

She packed it up to take to the hospital and was able to put all her stuff AND the baby's stuff in it! Probably needed a forklift to pick it up after that, though.

 

 I have for a long time been mulling over in my head how to finish off Amanda's Mandala Tree Wall Hanging. (So far it's been duct taped. Don't judge me.) Decided to use random squares that match the embroidery thread and make a binding which I have been hand sewing to the edge. This is actually working pretty well.

 Another thing I have been working on is the other half of my payment to Amanda- a large teacher sized tote bag. I picked the orange, yellow and green vintage fabric for the lining and then based the outside of the bag on those colors. It's yet another version of "that Anthropologie pillow" applique. I want a bag like this for myself now! Good thing I have enough of the vintage fabric (tablecloth) left!

 I have been super busy with life/kids/work and really have not been able to sew much at all this summer. Hopefully that will change- I have MANY UFOs to complete! Also, MANY IOUs. And of course, there is the never ending stream of projects I want to START running through my brain...

If anyone is local... or semi-local? Come to a QUILT SHOW!

I attended the last show put on by the Northwoods Quilters- this is a local guild. I live in a "twin cities" area (that's tongue in cheek- really they are "twin towns") so this guild has quilters from both towns (Marinette, WI and Menominee, MI) as well as from the surrounding small townships and "country folk". There's a lot of talent in this area! In these "twin towns" of about 20,000 people we have two thriving quilt shops. That says something about the quality of work you will see at this show.

I was VERY impressed by the range of work that was displayed here. There truly was something for everyone. I am not a member of the guild- with the boys being young, I just can't add another thing to my plate, but in the future I can see it becoming a large part of my life. If you are within driving distance I highly recommend making the trip. 

And I WILL have one quilt entered. They accepted some entries from non-members so if you go you can see my pride and joy, Cherry Surprise, hanging. I'm gonna wash it- we've been sleeping under it during this cold winter, and get her all ready to go soon. THEN I get to work at the LQS right by my house while the show is going on. So if you DO come to town for the show, you have to come to Quilter's Haven and say hi to me! :)

(I'll be the one with the goofy smile petting the fabric.)

Conversation with a 5 yr. old

Luke (as we drive past a soccer field): "Hey, they are praxticing."
Me (vacantly): "Mmhmm"
Luke: "I'm not good at that."
Me (still vacantly): "Well, you just keep kicking it and kicking it and you get better."
Luke: "No, I mean saying it. Practicing. HEY! I said it! Practicing, practicing, practicing."
Me (not as vacantly): "You're practicing saying 'practicing'!"
Luke: "Haha!"
pause
Luke: "Practicing, practicing, practicing, praxticing... AH, MAN."
Me (vacant again): "Just keep practicing."

By the time we got home I didn't think I could say it anymore... I guess that's where all the vacancy comes from. If you pay attention all the time you'll go nuts.

Seriously? Seven Entries? Well, you guys had good odds...

I know that a lot more than 7 of you looked at the giveaway... does no one want free things? Does no one like my stuff?? Were people just really busy last week? I guess next time I'll have to give away some fabric.

So... I used a random number generator where I put in 2-8 (one person had added to her comment) and it spit out number 7, which is Naomi! Naomi is my Husband's Cousin's Wife, so is a kind of shirt-tail relative by marriage kind of person. We have a similar sense of humor and share a love of crafting, writing, thrifting and decorating. She is working on her THIRD quilt ever and it's absolutely freaking adorable.

Naomi's oldest daughter loves the movie Wall-E. Like, LOVES it. So Naomi found a tiny scrap of Wall-E fabric and built this entire work of art around it. There are bits of everything in here: vintage sheets, textured fabrics, new fabrics, old, everything. I JUST LOVE IT. 

The center is an applique she designed and made herself. Each piece in this is appliqued or sewn- nothing painted on here.

Not too shabby for a first try at applique, no?

The back is mostly a vintage sheet with some cute appliqued and thread painted squares on it.

This square has two hands on it- the green one is Sydney's version of tracing her hand, and the orange one is Mommy's version of Sydney's hand being traced. How absolutely awesome is this idea? And what stellar execution! Naomi is basically self-taught, too. She thinks of something and just dives right in to it. 

 

This gal is crazy good. I am so proud to call her my Husband's Cousin's Wife! Naomi, I will contact you for your snail mail addy. Or maybe someday I will just surprise you and show up on your doorstep... well, ok, I wouldn't do that to you. Unless I called on the way or something... :)