Stain Removal

My little family headed out to western Kansas this week for the funeral of a dear friend's father. I took along my hexagon doll quilt so I could work on the hand applique. 

Somehow, either hot cocoa or coffee came in contact with the quilt top. The cup holders are right beside me so I'm sure the top fell that way and soaked up a little drip. Panic! Luckily I remembered that I'd been carrying around a Tide2Go pen in my purse and whipped it out to see what could be done.

I found these at Target and picked them up because my daughter and I usually end up with something on us when we are out. It alleviates a lot of stress and I was hoping it would come to my rescue again.

I tried to just dot a bit of the solution on the fabric but quite a lot came out on the first try. I used the tip for some scrubbing action then blotted with bottled water to make a less definite water line. I was worried the stain remover would leave a stain (Yes, I can find something to worry about at all times!). It dried nicely and you'd never know it happened. I might have to keep one of these in my sewing kit for emergencies like this.

I'm getting a chance to work on this quilt again today since the stomach bug hit our house about 2:00 this morning. Thank goodness I've been okay and can care for everyone and stay on top of the laundry! I'm spending some time sitting beside Jenna watching movies with this quilt top in my hand. We are disappointed to miss a visit with friends who flew in this morning but thankful it hit before they arrived so they weren't exposed.


Hope all is well with you and that you've enjoyed this first day of the year!

Hello, 2011!

I spent a bit of time the other day writing down all of the projects and goals that have been floating around in my head for the last month or so. As my list got longer and longer, I realized that they might not be goals for 2011. They might be goals for the next decade at the pace I went this past year! But it really doesn't matter how fast I accomplish this list. I had so much fun this past year and that's what really DOES matter. I'm so excited to learn and try so much more. I'll include some photos of newly acquired fabric I'm looking forward to playing with. 

Technique/Skills 
Embroidery (starting here)
Zipper
Raw Edge Applique
Circles or Curves
Long Arm Quilting
Free Motion Quilting (on my Bernina)

Projects
A bag or purse
Pillow
Mug Rug
2 Aprons
A piece inspired by a vintage canning quilt
No Prints Allowed Challenge for KCMQG
Whittle down those wonderful WIPS on my shelf

Social
Continue sewing with my small group 
Join the Kaw Valley Guild
Make something WITH Jenna
Blog a bit more
Participate in another swap

Giving
1 Quilts for Kids
2 other baby quilts for charity
Participate in another KCMQG charitable activity

Productivity
Sew a little something everyday (even for just a few minutes).
Organize my craft closet...again.
Set up a little work station close to where my daughter plays to sneak in a bit of play time for me.
Limit Reader and Flickr time to give myself a little more sewing time.

So there's my giant list! I can't wait to get started. It's officially 2011 here in our household as we toasted in the New Year at 9:00 pm with lemonade and cider...an exciting celebration with our 4 year old! 


Happy New Year to you all!

Looking Back

One last WIP for 2010! I put together some of the 6 inch blocks I made for Tia's quilt along to try out some long arm quilting. One of my friends offered to let a few of us try her long arm and it was so much fun. I was a bit intimidated and had no idea where to start but she was a very patient and encouraging teacher. So this is my first wobbly attempt at free motion quilting on something other than a scrap. That little taste has left me wanting more. Luckily, I have some birthday money left to spend on some a class to really get me started. 



Of course, it's the end of the year and I have to take a look back. I could tally up all of my finishes, WIP's, UFO's, swaps, purchases, gifts, donations, and blocks but that will never measure what a difference sewing, quilting and blogging has made in my life this year.

Joining the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, attending a couple of retreats, and sewing with a small group has connected me with some great new friends that I've learned and laughed with. 

Quilting has strengthened my connection with my family. I've loved getting to sew and share ideas with my mom. My sister and I went to a quilt show together in Knoxville and learned to make hexagons with my mom. My daughter has cut and glued many scraps while I've sewn and even pulled my needle through fabric for me. My husband's aunt and cousin helped us document some family quilting history. My dad has shopped with my mom and I. I had to laugh the other day when I was on the phone with my sister. I could hear my niece yelling in the background "Fabric, mom, fabric!" Awesome memories.


I can't even begin to describe how much I've learned from blogs and Flickr. There are some very talented quilters out there and I am so grateful that they are sharing what they've learned and are inspiring so many with their wonderful creations.
  
Quilting has given me a sense of accomplishment and an outlet for some creativity. I've learned to let go of perfection and just jump in and try new things. I absolutely love that when I sew something together it usually stays that way (unlike clean dishes and laundry). And most of all, I love learning and I feel like I could live to be 100 and never learn everything I want too. Oh, and can I just add how much I enjoy looking at and working with all of the gorgeous fabric!


I hope this year has been just as wonderful for all of you!
 

A New Bag

While my mom was here visiting, we had a good time visiting quilt shops in the area. We stopped at Prairie Point in Shawnee, Harper's in Overland Park, Sarah's Fabrics in Lawrence and Stitch On, also in Lawrence. A mini shop hop of sorts. Mom let me pick out some fabric and we spent an afternoon making this Birdie Sling pattern by Amy Butler.

I have been a bit intimidated by the idea of making a purse or bag. Layers of batting, interfacing, fabric, lining, zippers, turning inside out... Now that I've helped with the process I'm very confident that I can go solo next time (without a zipper).

Here's a peek at the lining. I really love these Innocent Crush fabrics by Anna Maria Horner. I've been using the bag as a tote and it's so handy. Definitely room for a notebook or two and a camera plus all the other essentials.

I've been making a list of sewing goals for the next year in my head. I'll share those with you next time. Have you been thinking about next year yet?

Instead of Blogging...

and finishing this quilt....


I've been....


*visiting with my mom and dad 


*celebrating a big birthday

*cleaning my basement and sewing room

*having a fabulous Christmas Brunch with my MOPS friends


*helping a few families have a Merry Christmas


*putting on a puppet show for Jenna at the library


*watching Santa get rescued from the top of Weaver's Department Store


*having dinner and seeing the Christmas Lights on the Kansas City Plaza






*watching the Old Fashioned Christmas Parade in Downtown Lawrence


*caroling and crafting with preschoolers


*viewing Gingerbread Houses (I want to live here!)


*sewing with my mom

*giving long arm quilting a try (and loving it!)

and enjoying every minute!


Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Miss J and I just put a pumpkin pie in the oven for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. She has been calling it a feast all week. We are expecting a small cozy Thanksgiving this year since we've already been to TX to see family and my parents will be coming next week. We are looking forward to some relaxing time together. Everyone has something on their agenda this long weekend. Roy wants to watch lots of football. Miss J wants to go to the movies to see Tangled. And I plan on spending some time sewing and organizing my stack of fabric that's falling over
.

Here's a peek at a top I finished last night. Well, this morning. You know I'm most productive after midnight :) If I can get it quilted and bound this weekend I'll enter it in Project Modern.

I'm feeling so grateful for so many things in my life right now and I'm happy to have a day to reflect and celebrate. I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

A Fall Dress

My mom made Miss J a few dresses this summer and my very good friend commented on how much she liked them. When I told my mom, she sent enough fabric and a pattern so we could have a sewing day to make dresses ourselves for our girls. The fabric is Spirit by Lila Tueller for Moda.

We started about 9:30 and I took a break to pick up Miss J from preschool and grab lunch for us all. We finally finished around 4:30. The three kids played so nicely together while we sewed. My friend's mom popped over to help us figure out the pocket which used elastic cord to gather the top. We both swore making clothes took more time than it was worth but in the end we were happy we did it. In fact, I had a little giggle of excitement when I sewed the pocket. It was so much fun to try something new. My friend made a couple more since then and she said the others went much more quickly.

Have you ever enjoyed sewing with a friend? I've been sharing quite a few sewing experiences with friends lately and it's a great deal of fun!

Lovely Swap Goodies

I've had a wonderful couple of days. The weather is getting much cooler and I usually don't like these darker days. But for some reason I'm feeling cozy and I'm having the urge to organize, clean and snuggle. So I'm doing a bit of each of those and having fun working on a quilt for Project Modern. 

I'm really enjoying the new items in my home that swaps have brought my way. There was much excitement the other day when my Scrappy Hoops Swap package arrived all the way from Australia! Little Miss J and I were having a late lunch when we saw the mail carrier walking up the driveway and I knew exactly what he was carrying. Isn't the packing tape adorable. We had fun opening it and I was just shocked when I saw what was inside.

I had seen this hoop on the group's Flickr and loved everything about it. The colors, the words (Where ever the ride takes me), the polka dots, the bike, the scrappiness. She even painted the hoop aqua. Love, love, love! But what were the odds that I would get the one that I loved so much. Miss J and my husband thought it was pretty cool too. I love looking at it and I'm very impress with the bike embroidery. It will definitely have a special place to hang in my sewing room!

Leah even sent a couple of beautiful fat quarters. They are so pretty! Thank you Leah!

My other swap goodies came from the KC Modern Quilt Guild. For the November meeting we were to bring something we made with a holiday theme (any holiday) or a few fat quarters of fabric. I brought some of my favorite Basic Grey Fruitcake fat quarters and then felt a bit bad because so many people had made the most gorgeous projects to swap. I need to step it up for next year!

We got to break up into smaller groups and participated in an activity where we could ask each other questions and get to know people in our group a little better which I loved.  When it came time to swap with people in our group I had my eye on a little bag with the brown polka dot fabric you see in the potholder above. I knew the fabric was from that very same Basic Grey line that I love so much and was hoping something inside had the same fabric. And it did! These darling potholders were inside.

I haven't seen the Christmas print before but it's just perfect. I love text and swirly prints. It reminds me a little of some Christmas dishes I've seen at Williams Sonoma.

I've never had any potholders this shape before and was very curious about how they'd work. They work great and have already seen some action in my kitchen. I just love opening my little drawer by the stove and seeing them there. Sarah used a neat technique for the binding that I'd like to try soon. Thank you Sarah! I love them!

The Scrappy Hoops Swap

I finished my hexies for the Scrappy Hoops Swap on Flickr while I was riding down the road to TX this past weekend. I put it in the hoop yesterday morning and it was in the mail by the afternoon. It's headed overseas but I can't reveal where yet.

My partner's inspiration mosaic had lots of mushrooms, hexagons, Heather Ross fabrics, lots of bright colors so I tried to include all of that. I put a mushroom right in the center. It was so fun to use my Heather Ross scraps that I'd gotten from Etsy a while back. I pulled some other scraps and fabric from my stash. I just loved working on it and I hope she likes it as much as I do!

I kept all of the papers in while I stitched and traveled to keep it stable. You'll notice I punched a hole in all of my papers. It makes it sooooo much easier to pop them out. I usually just unbend a paperclip and insert the end in the hole to pop them out but this time I had a pair of tweezers handy and just grabbed the paper at the hole. No digging under the seam allowance!

I usually press both the front and back with the papers on and then press again after the papers come out. I was able to leave all of the basting stitches in so seam allowances stayed nice and flat while I put another layer of fabric on the back. I just trimmed up the thread tails and made it look as neat as possible.

 
I was a bit sad when I put the piece in the hoop. There was an owl and butterfly I really liked and some of my other favorite hexagons had to be trimmed off. Yikes!

Here's the little label I put on the back with some Heat n Bond. 

A gorgeous hoop arrived in my mailbox after lunch today and I can't wait to show you pictures!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2010 - Tennessee & Back

I just put the last stitch in the binding of this quilt! I came home after a busy day with my preschooler who had a field trip and a doctor's appointment. In between those activities we made a stop at the bookstore where I accidentally ordered a caffeinated beverage and I was feeling pretty motivated. On a whim I decided to finish the last side of binding and join the Quilt Festival. My sweet husband agreed to pick up pizza for dinner and was so nice to put our little one to bed while I stitched. 

I started this quilt in the summer of 2009. I was visiting my family in Tennessee and my mom wanted me to try her new long arm machine. She cut a stack of squares for me to sew together and the plan was for me to practice on this simple quilt. Well....I got busy visiting and only finished about half of it. So I took it back to Kansas and finished the top at a retreat in October. Back to Tennessee it went with plans to try the long arm during this visit. Again....too busy visiting so my mom offered to quilt it for me and send it back to Kansas in the mail. She did send it back (I believe it was in January of this year) and since I'd started several other projects it sat in the closet for a while. This summer I took it back to Tennessee and put the binding on while I was there, brought it back to Kansas and have been working on the binding a little at a time until tonight. So this quilt has some mileage! For this reason I've named it Tennessee & Back.

Even though this is a simple quilt, it was a stretch for me. My mom had me just pull squares off of the stack to sew them together instead of laying every square out and making a plan like I've always done before. It was really the beginning of moving towards a more intuitive improv process. It was also fun to play with colors I wouldn't have thought to put together - red, eggplant, lavender, peach, sage, olive. I love the mix and can't wait to put this quilt on my bed! Thanks Mama!

I have to thank Amy for hosting the Festival again. It's so much fun to see so many quilts and read about their stories. My entry in the Spring 2010 festival is here. And thanks to all of you for visiting!