Fall quilt

I actually pieced the top of this quilt last year.  But, I never got it quilted.  I finally sat down and basted it, quilted it, and bound it.  I love it!  And the best thing about this quilt - it is for ME!  I forgot to measure it, but it's a good size.  I sat on the couch with it on me last night and it was the perfect size.  Not that we are having fall weather by any means - we're still in the 90's - but I want it to be fall! 

Baby quilt

I have been trying to get this baby gift finished for over a month now. I finally was able to sit down and do it. Oh how I LOVE this quilt. Isn't it gorgeous??!! It measures 40"x50". It's from Moda's Chez Moi's Hunky Dory line. The pattern if from AmandaJean here.


I love the back - I added an extra strip of coins to make the back more interesting.

Of course I stippled it - big surprise there!

I hope baby Kinley enjoys it.

I Spy finished!

This week was teacher appreciation week at Brena's school. I finished the quilt last night. Brena gave it to her teacher today. She loved it. When I picked Brena up from school today Ms. Wood said they already played I spy with it. That makes me happy to know the quilt will get lots of use in a preschool room! It measures 54x65.

My favorite square, I love those states and capitals!

The back that can be used to play I Spy with too!

I spy

My latest quilt - I spy. It's for Brenalee's preschool teacher. Once again, I'm making a quilt I can't keep! One day I am going to make one to keep.

Give me S'more!

When we were in Colorado last Christmas (2008), my Grandma and I went to the LQS. They had these fabrics on clearance, so Grandma and I each bought a set. My Grandma has already made 2 quilts out of her material. I am just now getting my one quilt put together. This material is SO stinkin' cute - isn't it?? The little marshmallow snow men are s'mores! This is a twin size quilt, and I will be keeping it for us. I can't wait to snuggle up under it. Especially since we haven't even hit 40 degrees here yet today! I can't believe the cold weather we've had here the last week or so. I'm lovin' it, the kids and I spend lots of time snuggling under my covers on my bed reading books. We drank all our hot cocoa. And, for the first time in my life I bought me a pair of sweat pants and I'm wearing them every day. It's fun to bundle up for once!

Neapolitan finished

This is what I did all day yesterday with kids at school. Neapolitan is finished. I LOVE this quilt! Do I say that about all of them? My good friend is have a baby girl and this is for baby Paisley.

Maybe someday I will branch out on my quilting, but for now I am very happy stippling everything. Thanks to Amanda Jean over at www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com I was able to figure out an easy way to make labels. She is also the one who taught me how to stipple (via her directions on her website).

Brena the quilt holder :-)

I'm on a roll!

The kids were next door playing with the neighbors, and since I don't have a hubby to snuggle up with on a rainy Saturday and watch football, I decided to start another quilt. I made some progress! I kept looking at this material before I cut it up and sewed it together trying to decide on a good name for this quilt. I was originally thinking chocolate dipped strawberries, or something like that. Then, after I sewed the strips together, it came to me - it's Neapolitan!

Another quilt finish - finally!

This is for a friend's baby. I have known he was coming since she told me in January. Yes, I just
now finished it, I am really slow. He is now 6 weeks old.
This is a yellow brick road pattern. It did come together very easy. I stippled it as usual.

Doing something...

I finally tore myself away from my husband's side to do something other than watch House Hunters. House Hunters is our new favorite show while Biggest Loser isn't on. Anyways, ignore the really ugly picture of me - I woke up this morning with pink eye. So, I had to wear my glasses all day and no make up, that was really hard to do! TJ went to the gym and took the kids with him, so I decided to work on a quilt.

And, the County finally gave our building permits to the builder! We have the beginning plumbing! YEAH! And, for those of you who are concerned, no there are no alligators in the pond. I keep trying to get a picture of all the turtles and fish, but every time I take my camera over there, they aren't there. For some reason that I'm not really aware of, these retention ponds are ALL over Jacksonville. We have one right now in our backyard. You really can't walk more than 10 feet without seeing a retention pond, seriously, they are everywhere. They are actually a good thing, and a coveted spot, because then you have no neighbors in the back of you.

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week has been crazy. I am the room Mom for Tyler's class and it was Teacher Appreciation week with something going on every day. I finally finished the teacher's quilt and today we gave her the gifts today. I really liked this quilt. I wanted to keep it, but that's how I feel about all my quilts. It measures 70x53. I am a bad quilter - I never named this one.

Green quilt

I haven't been able to sleep well in a week. I am so tired, but the good news is I finished the quilt top for Tyler's teacher. It doesn't have a name yet, poor baby.

Yes, things changed. TJ will be going to Maine and I will go visit with the kids, but we will not be moving to Maine. I was dead set that I was moving to Maine in June and back here next May. But the more we thought about it, we (I - because TJ already knew this) decided it was best for the kids and I to just stay put. I think I mentioned that the base in Maine is being closed down, and the squadrons are all getting moved down here to J'ville. So after TJ's deployment, he will come back here. I have the best church family here, they are awesome and a huge support to me and I didn't want to leave that. Tyler will stay at the same school. I didn't ever want to settle down this early. I wanted to move every 3 or so years. But I guess the economy changed that plan. They shouldn't advertise "Join the NAVY and see the world" anymore!

Next quilt is.....

I figured I better start on the quilt I am planning on giving to Tyler's teacher at the end of the year. I can't believe Kindergarten is almost over. She loves green and St. Patrick's Day. And she's Irish. So...it's a green Irish Chain quilt :) I really had wanted to get it done for St. Patrick's Day (yesterday) yeah right. But I think it will be nice to give it to her at the end of the year too.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom! How lucky am I that my Mom and Dad happened to be here on my Mom's Birthday??!! I gave her the quilt. She of course said she loved it. We have had a fun week...too busy playing to remember to take any pictures!

I stippled it with variegated thread - it look awesome on the back.

I love this back!

Brena having to get into all the presents!

My Mom's just like me - it's hard for us to keep our eyes open in pictures!

Slowly but surely

I'm plugging away at Black & Bright...I got so caught up in it I forgot to pick up Tyler from school today! It's early release day every other Wednesday. The school called and said they had Tyler at the front desk, I was thinking he was sick. Nope, it was early release and they were wondering if I was coming to get him. Wow. I felt pretty bad. Tyler didn't seem to mind. He was sitting there with about half the neighborhood kids.

Borders

Yes, I like quilts with borders better! The top is 100% finished. Now on to the dreaded basting. I. HATE. Basting. But, if you haven't figured it out, I'm too cheap to have someone do it for me ;-)

Paper Piecing class

I have been wanting to learn how to paper piece. I was excited to find a class at my local quilt shop. Yesterday my good friend watched Brenalee for me so I could go. This is what I accomplished in two hours. I enjoy doing the paper piecing. I like that you don't have to cut everything perfect, and you can just grab any old scrap piece of fabric to do it with. I don't know if I will finish this project now, or wait until Valentine's Day next year...we'll see.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Because you were giving me a hard time earlier about not posting lately, I'll dedicate this one to you! Happy Birthday! 29 - you are so old! Love ya!

And, I could never post this before, because this is the sister that does read my blog. I also finished this quilt last year. I gave it to my sister's family for Christmas. I really wanted to quilt it, but totally ran out of time, so I took it to Colorado and tied it on my mom's quilting frames. I really like it, but have decided I don't like working with flannel - it really stretches! When I saw this fabric from the Cozy Cabin Flannel line from Moda, I knew I had to have it for my sister's family. I forgot to take a picture of the back. The back is all one fabric, fish. Because my brother-in-law is a fish biologist for the State of Wyoming, and they love to fish.

Happy Quilt

I think I will call this Happy. It just makes me happy when I see all these bright colors! TJ picked out the back. I wasn't too sure about it at first, but now I love it. It says "girl bugs" all over the back - how cute is that?? I just stippled it all over. I am now a big stippling fan. Although I am not good at it, but I'll keep practicing. Although, I can't figure out why some photos you can click on to get them to enlarge and some don't. I don't do anything different with any of my settings, I do everything the same each time I upload photos. For some reason, these are not enlarging when you click on them. I wish I knew why that was.

Famous

Well, sort of. Do you remember my chicken quilt? If not, just scroll down. So in the pattern book it says if you do one of the quilts, they want to see a picture of it. I emailed my picture in to the lady. She emailed back and said it really stood out to her and could she have my permission to post it on her website? So, here is my famous quilt :) Just click on the top name, Melissa F.
http://www.friendfolks.com/show.php

Chicken Quilt

Well, I finally finished the chicken quilt. The first picture is of just the top, the next 3 pictures are of the finished quilt. It is so cute! I just need to hand sew the binding down, and it is totally done. I stipple quilted it, I got up my nerve and just did it. That's the first time I have done that. It turned out ok, there are some spots that I'm not too happy with, but not enough to go and pick them out!

We haven't been doing much around here. The kids are in swim lessons, so by the time I get Tyler from school, get homework done, get to swim lessons, come home, eat dinner, get kids into bed, there's not a lot of time for much else. I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I LOVE Jacksonville! The best part is I only gas up my big Expedition once every 3 weeks or so, where in Pensacola I had to fill up usually more than once a week. Everything I need is just 1-2 miles from my house, it's great! If it weren't for all the heat and humidity (we are still over 90 degrees with probably that much humidity) I really think I could live here the rest of my life. But, TJ's in the NAVY, so that's not going to happen! But, I will really enjoy living here while we're here.