Christmas Presents

I've been super busy sewing Christmas presents for my girls.  My husband is even in the crafting spirit and made the girls American Girl Bunk beds...photos to come later.  I am in the process of making bedding for both beds...yes, in the process.  Thanks to the good old USPS my fabric that was supposed to arrive last Thursday isn't going to be delivered until sometime today.

In other news, we got the best Christmas present ever today.  My Dad was diagnosed with glioblastoma in March 2013 and receives MRIs every 8 weeks to check for growth and look at the overall health of his brain.  He had a scan yesterday and we got the news today that he had another CLEAR scan.  It totally made my Christmas and made me so excited!  I am thankful for all the thoughts and prayers of all of our friends and family.

Merry Christmas!

I will post Christmas crafting photos after the Holiday.

Fabric Donation

Well before I started quilting and discovered the quality of quilt shop fabric I made rag quilts...cute and utilitarian and great for my minimal sewing skills.  I had acquired a lot of flannel fabric to make these quilts and then I discovered quilting...there it sat and sat and sat.  In fact one bundle had a price tag from 2008.  I packed up a whole garbage bag of flannel fabric and dropped it off at the local Humane Association along with a few blankets.  Their eyes lit up at the flannel which will help to make some cozy bedding for the pups.  My girls came with me on to he donation drop off and their hearts were so full afterwards to know we had helped out someone else.  So very thankful for little moments like these at the Holidays.

Every Last Scrap

I was able to use up almost every last scarp of halloween fabric from my table runners to make my sister a mug rug.  The only fabric I had left was some black polka dot binding that I added on to my scrappy black binding roll and about 1/4 yard of grey spiders that I'll use in some pillowcases next year.  Here is the mug rug I whipped up for my sister.

 I will be hand stitching the binding down while we are snowed in tonight.

A Momma Quilt

Our four year old loves to be cozy and told me that the only thing she would like for Christmas from me and her Daddy is a Momma Quilt.  This was a super quick one to put together with leftovers that will be a doll quilt to match.  The fabric is Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille and the pattern is now a Moda Bakeshop tutorial.

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Halloween Table Runners and Scrap Busting

I made two Halloween table runners and a table topper with scraps from table runners that I made for my sister and I.  One is for my Mom and another is a Christmas gift for some friends.  My sister has requested the table topper.

I was able to use up all my scraps from the table runners and make a decent dent in my batting scrap bucket (between the table runners and the doll sleeping bags).


The first photos are of the table topper for my sister.  Since I had a bunch of smaller sized jellyroll pieces I sewed them end to end and used the jellyroll speed method.  I also tried some fancy (to me) quilting and quilted a spider web.

 

A better view of the spider web quilting and the cute spider web fabric that I had to purchase for the backing (and yeah for a great sale!!)

I have to add binding to this one and I will have a little project to take to dance and finish up and one that requires no brain cells.

 

This one is for my mom.  The binding is sewn on but not attached.  Yeah to scrap busting, including the solid black. 

 

This one is for our friends for Christmas.  Again I have to sew the binding on later tonight, but it is finished.  I have a set of fun tea light holders to go with it.  I know you may be thinking a Halloween table runner for Christmas?!?  They have a huge get together every year at Christmas and everyone always gives them Christmas stuff....how much Christmas stuff do you really need so I decided to change it up and give them something for one of my favorite holidays. 

 

This one is quilted in a simple meander pattern with black thread.

Giving Tuesday

It's ‪#‎GivingTuesday‬ and I would love nothing more for Christmas than donations, any size, to the ‪#‎NationalBrainTumorSociety‬ in honor of my Dad and his fight against ‪#‎GBM‬ and all other people fighting ‪#‎braincancer‬. You can donate online.

No donation is too small...it all adds up! Please select the "Defeat GBM Research Collaborative."

In addition to my donation to the National Brain Tumor Society, I am making quilts for the Brain Rehabilitation Unit where my Dad was treated.  Every little bit adds up!

A Birthday Present

My daughter is on a competition dance team and she is super close with the girls....she has been dancing with most of them since she was 4.  They usually have sleepovers and all love their American Girl dolls.  I asked for favorite colors and have started making sleeping bags for each of the girls' doll.

This is the second sleeping bag I've made and this is for a little girl who loves yellow.

I love the little bicycles.

And every doll needs a pillow for her sleepover.

The doll quilt uses 1 charm pack and 1 yard of fabric for the lining and binding.

Another Brain Rehabilitation Unit Quilt

Another finish...I am up to 4.  I will be bringing them up to the unit with my Dad in the near future.  In other news...he had another clear scan!!

I love, love, love the Elephants!

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Doll Sleeping Bag

My daughter is really close with her dance team and they like to have sleepovers (as a team). They all also love their American Girl Dolls.  Since there are several birthday party sleepovers coming up, I decided to make sleeping bags for each birthday girl using her favorite color. 

I will write up a tutorial for this one day, super easy...a charm pack, scrap batting and 3/4 yard of lining/binding fabric.

My daughter lays the charm squares out, picking some for a pillow too :)


I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

A Quilt for a Friend

This quilt finally made it to its new owner.  I received a text that her husband was beyond excited about an SU quilt for their new baby boy (early 2015 arrival).  Here are some finished photos.

(My quilt holders)

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Monday Stars (on Tuesday)

I traveled for work last week and put in a whopping 60 hours so not much sewing around here.  I did manage to get 2 stars finished (I was parked when I took these photos :) )

This one is from backing fabric used for a quilt for the brain rehabilitation unit.

This one is from the backing to my sister's 30th birthday quilt.

No end in sight because I really don't have a plan...just making stars with scraps from projects.  

Another Amelia Baby Quilt

My boss and his wife just had a baby girl who has some potential heart defects (which will hopefully resolve on their own).  I had scraps of Amelia fabric from another quilt and whipped this one up.  I am pretty sure I have enough scraps for at least 3 more Amelia baby quilts.  I originally bought a kit and there was so much left over so I ordered the blue paisley for the stripes and the blue flowers for the backing.  I have added pieces of lavender Amelia that was scraps from another Amelia quilt.  I love, love, love this line...I even have the entire thing in 0.5 yards in my stash for a project for my girls.

                                                         

My quilt holder was a lot more fidgety that I thought.

                                                         

                                                         

                                                         

                                                         

The pattern is an altered version of the Me and My Sister Designs Easy as 10 pattern.  I messed up and forgot the top and bottom strips of white.  The batting is from my ever shrinking stash of scraps :)

In other news my old sewing machine went to sewing machine heaven.  I took it in for annual service and because I was having some issues with it when I was FMQing.  It turns out a little teeny tiny piece of needle broke and severely damaged the shaft.  It was going to be a minimum of $500 to get it fixed.  Instead of fixing it, I traded it in and got a new one.  I am in love with my new Janome Memory Craft 7700.  It is faster, has a bigger throat space and quilts amazingly well!

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Baby Quilt

Last year I made a large blue, orange and white chevron quilt for a charity auction and had a bunch of half square triangle blocks leftover.  There were not enough to make the quilt any bigger and there weren't enough to make a smaller chevron quilt.  The baby quilt below came from those leftovers.  I ended up needing to add 2 white half square blocks to finish the quilt out and I have to say I kinda love it.

It is quilted with a simple meandering pattern with block color appropriate thread...I didn't want the quilting to take away from the quilt.

The little "pull throughs" of blue will disappear when the quilt is washed.  Even the backing is leftover from the auction quilt.  I did purchase the orange fabric for the binding and will use up the extras binding with another donate quilt.  Even the batting was pieced together...yeah for destashing!!

This quilt is going to a dear friend who is pregnant with her first baby, a little boy.  Syracuse University brought us together as friends through sorority volunteering and her hubby is a huge Syracuse fan.  Lots of meaning with those colors.  Now to find the perfect book to go with the quilt before her shower :)

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Sunday Sewing

I whipped up pillowcases for my neice and nephew and I have one more pinned and ready to go for my youngest.  She wanted to sew it herself (at 4) so we will make it tonight.  Super simple tube method pillowcase with French seams.

Halloween Table Runner

I made a similar table runner forever ago...my sister loved it so I gave it to her.  I had plenty of fabric left from the initial table runner so I made myself one.  Yeah for using up scraps and scrap batting!

 

The binding has since been sewn down by hand (so therapeutic!) and it has been through the washer.  The great thing about this table runner is you layer the backing and batting and then sew the strips down...essentially a super easy quilt as you go project.  We have a large table so being able to make my own quick and easy table runners is a must...most store bought ones are too short and look ridiculous. 

My Godmother is going to be a Grandmother

My Godmother is my Mom's best friend and while not a "blood" aunt she is my aunt through and through...my fairy godmother :)  Her stepson and his wife are having a baby in October and my Mom asked me to make a quilt for my Aunt to keep at her house...something to snuggle the baby up in when they visit.

I have had this quilt kit of Punctuation by American Jane forever and in the spirit of cleaning house and using up what I have I picked this quilt...it is actually perfect for my Aunt and her house.

 

My now 4 year old was a willing quilt holder.  She loves the fabric store as much as I do :) How is my munchkin 4?!?!  Her birth marks my quilting "anniversary" too...I had made 1 quilt before she was born and while I was preggers with her and during my maternity leave I made 2 queen size quilts.  She would fall asleep in her bouncy seat to the hum of my sewing machine.  I was bit (hard) by the quilting bug right before her arrival.

 

Instead of putting birth stats in the bottom corner I added this quote from a picture frame my Mom saw at a store. 

 

I love the alphabet backing!

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Jelly Roll Jam 2-Updated

First things first...my Dad had another stable brain scan!  In his doctor's words, they are flying by the seat of their pants with him...he is 18 months post glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor resection and has been stable with clear scans (Thank you God!!).  A google search of GBM will tell you why they are flying by the seat of their pants with him.  A new study was just initiated this past week on the characteristics of long term GBM survivors and hopefully things will get published quickly so we have some more guidance with his treatment.

I saw the Jelly Roll Jam 2 pattern over at the Jolly Jabber and knew I wanted to make one.  I have been hoarding saving a Jelly Roll of Ruby for what seems like forever.  I love, love, love Bonnie and Camille fabrics.  I ended up ordering some Miss Kate flannel to back my Ruby Jelly Roll Jam quilt what should arrive sometime next week. 

In the mean time, I figured I would try the pattern out.  I went through my stash and pulled a bunch of fabrics that would play off a half yard of "Happy Bugs" by Lioyds & Barton for Timeless Treasures.  I bought this fabric back when I started quilting in 2009 (the copyright on the selvage is 2007).  When I bought the bug fabric I also bought some green and yellow solids from the Shadow Play line by Maywood Studio.  I continued digging through my stash to find fun, bright and neutral fabrics for this quilt and ended up with both a blue and an orange print from the Clementine line by Me and My Sister Designs.  These fabrics were auditioned for my sister's quilt binding but I ended up using the green print.  A black and white stripe, a strip of kona black and 2 miscellaneous kona solids from a jelly roll (blue and red) ended up making it into my super scrappy Jelly Roll Jam 2 baby quilt.

I have to say I love the fabrics together and am excited to whip up another one with leftover strips.  Yeah for stash busting as well!!  I am going to be able to use the black and white stripe for the backing fabric with a strip of leftover pieces from the front (no fabric waste in this house!!).  I also plan on piecing together some batting scraps to further get rid of use up scraps from my fabric closet.  This quilt will go with the others to the Brain Rehabilitation Unit that took such great care of my Dad. 

I have it all quilted up and it is bound...more photos after a run through the washer and dryer.

**Updated Photos**
It is super gloomy and grey here so indoor photos will have to suffice.

 

Not a scrap was left behind.  The extras from the front were trimmed down to 2.5" wide and sewn together to add a visual pop to the backing.

Seriously, not a scrap was left behind.  The extra fabric that was trimmed from the quilt backing was made into binding with the addition of some yellow strips.

The dots below were the color inspiration for pulling the coordinating fabrics.