Such a Wonderful Day!

Today has been such a wonderful day!  It didn't start that way though.  I have had so much homework lately, so that is what I started the day doing.  My mom called around lunch time and asked if I wanted to go eat with her, my grandma, and my sister.  Of course!!! Any reason to not do homework.  So, I put away my homework and headed out the door. 

After lunch we went to Walmart.  Grandma loved just being able to look around.  I got a new magazine and some embroidery patterns. 

I had to get this just for the ladybug! 

Then we went to a local antique/junk store.  It is so true..."one man's trash is another man's treasure."  Lois Jean and I looked at some quilts and talked to the owner about them.  He said that we were probably the youngest quilters he has ever met. It is probably true!

We stopped by Grandma's and she started pulling out quilts and fabric.  This must be where I get my obsession from.  She literally has quilts and fabric stashed everywhere!  She gave me and Lois Jean quilt tops that she put together out of pieces that her mom put together.  I can't wait to quilt them!!!

For some reason this picture is really small.  :(

I have so many projects to work on now!  I wouldn't have it any other way.

P.S.  Be on the lookout for a post about my most recent quilt.  I finished it last night...just waiting for prettier weather to take some pictures.

Abby

Building My Stash #8!!

This weekend I went on a few shopping trips with my mom and sister.  On Friday we went to Lexington.  I got some new dresses!!! It has been forever since I got a new dress, so I was super excited.  Of course we had to go to a craft store.  We stopped at Hobby Lobby.  Lois Jean was looking for a SMASH book...they didn't have any. :(  I just went to look.  And, of course, I ended up buying some fabric.

I love this with the different nursery rhymes!

Mother Goose!

Yay for new fabric!  For some reason the picture of my Hello Kitty fabric didn't load.  I can't wait to find something cute to make with it.

I said that I went on a few shopping trips.  Today, we went to Joann's...we let Alex be our chauffeur today.  ;)  We went today because they were having their "Coupon Commotion!"  We went anticipating lots of savings.  Plus, I really needed some fabric for the Ladybug quilt I am going to make.  (No promises, but I hope to finish my current project this week and then get started on the Ladybug quilt!  I'll keep you posted!) 

This is going to be used in my upcoming Ladybug quilt!  I can't wait!!!

Such cute little cars.

I also got a new book.  I look at this book almost every time I go to Joann's.  I had a 50% off coupon, so I finally bought it.  I can't wait to make some of the cool quilts inside!  Tula Pink always has awesome, modern quilts.  My sister got me her City Sampler book for Christmas and I love it.

Now that I have replenished my stash it is time to start quilting so that I can find uses for all of the great fabrics I have!

Abby

The Happiest Place On Earth!!

My husband and I got back from our vacation to the "Happiest Place on Earth" one week ago.  We had an absolutely wonderful time while at Disney World. 

This is a picture from our first night there.  We took the boat from our resort to Downtown Disney.  I'm not usually one to ride boats...I always get sick, but this was so amazing.  It was so relaxing to just ride along with the cool breeze blowing. 

We enjoyed everything we did, but one of our favorite things was the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour we took.  If you ever go to Disney World and are over the age of 16, I encourage you to do this once.  It was so cool to learn some "behind the scenes" things about Magic Kingdom.  

We spent five days in the parks, so when we got home we felt like we needed a vacation to recover from our vacation.  ;)  Unfortunately, we didn't get that.  Alex went back to work and I had one more week of summer camp to work.  I also started two more master's classes.  The next eight weeks are going to be very busy for me...don't worry, I'll still make time for quilting!

We drove to Florida, and believe me, it was a loooooooong ride.  That's what happens when, along with boats, you're afraid of flying.  :)  To pass the time I took along a project that I have been working on off and on since January.  My postage stamp quilt.

I bagged up all of my 2 1/4" pieces and took them on the road with me.  This is one out of three bags of the postage stamp pieces I took with me.  These pieces came from scraps I received from both of my grandmother's fabric stash, my mom's fabric stash, and from my own.  Many of these fabrics have been used in a quilt that I have made since I started quilting in 2009.  It's amazing how many scraps you can accumulate in such a short time.  I've already filled my scrap bucket again....thankfully my sister is helping me empty it by doing some improv piecing.  I'll have to make a post about her fun squares later. 

I am making 16 block squares.  They all look different.  I know it looks kind of crazy, but I am so excited to see how it looks once they are all put together.  Here is a picture of what they look like beside each other. 

I love seeing all of the different fabrics!  I think it will look very cool.  I just love scrappy quilts!

Like I said, I have been working on this since January.  I made 10 blocks while on vacation and didn't even put a dent in my pieces.  My goal is to make one square a day until I use up all of my pieces.  It is going to be a long process, but I am having so much fun with it. 

33 squares are complete!  Many more to come. 

Happy Summer!!!

Abby



 

Building My Stash #7

I have been searching for the perfect ladybug quilt to make for my husband's cousin.  Surprisingly, ladybugs are pretty hard to find.  I have so many quilt books and magazines, so I pulled them all out and began my search.  I searched and searched....nothing.  Then one day, laying on my coffee table (more like buried under other quilt supplies), I found a magazine with a ladybug quilt on the cover!!  YAY!!!

I didn't really like the design of the quilt, but it inspired me to come up with my own.  I am going to use the ladybug designs from this quilt and add a different, more interesting (at least to me) pattern on the back.

I am using a pattern from "Growing Up Modern" by Allison Harris for the main part of the quilt.  If you don't have this book I strongly encourage you to get it!  It is awesome.  I have made probably four of the quilts in this book and they always turn out great!

After I decided on a pattern I began looking for cute ladybug fabric.  This was also harder than I imagined it would be.  After ordering the wrong thing and having to cancel that order I finally found the perfect fabric.

I found this fabric on Etsy.  I ordered it from The Wild Raccoon.  Everything with the order was great and the fabric was just what I needed!

Ladybugs!

Flowers!

Both of these come from the Riley Blake Designs line, Ladybug Garden.  I can't wait to cut in to these!

Abby

Building My Stash #6

There is no doubt that I love fabric.  More specifically I love to get beautiful fabric for really cheap prices.  When I have a project in mind I will usually buy nicer, more expensive fabric.  Usually I just buy fabric on impulse...so, I try to get all of this fabric for as cheap as possible.

One of the best ways to find awesome, cheap fabric is going to yard sales.  My whole family loves yard sales.  Honestly, I've never really been a huge fan of them.  But, when they have fabric I can't help myself.  This weekend was the Glendale city wide yard sale.  I knew that there was going to be quilting stuff at one because I received an email early in the week.  So, I rode over with my mom and dad to see what I could find.

We really didn't have very much luck.  I think we saw maybe 15 different yard sales, and my mom only bought two things.  She got my sister a pair of overalls (she has been begging for overalls...). 

Don't they just look too cute!  (Love ya LJ!)

I found some great fabric.  Since Moma had gotten the overalls for Lois Jean she got me the fabric.  So, technically I got this fabric entirely FREE!!!!

It all looks so cute and vintagey (I don't think that is really a word...).  Here are some close-ups of each of the four fabrics.

Love the ABCs and apples!

Scarecrows

My favorite!  Schoolhouse

Snowmen?  That's what my mom said they were.  I'm not sure.

I'm so excited about this find, and can't wait to find something awesome to make with these beauties!

Until next time,

Abby 

My Quilt Label!

I spend lots of time on Pinterest looking for quilt ideas.  One day I found a pin about quilt labels.  I had never heard of this and didn't really know what it was.  I researched more and found that they are really pretty interesting.  There are so many different ways to label your quilts.

First question you probably have.  I know it was my first question.  Why label a quilt?
Labeling your quilt helps you remember when you made it and who you made it for.  This is the cool part (I think so at least...you will probably just think I'm weird)...labeling your quilt helps people know who made the quilt.  Years from now people will know that I was the one who made this quilt because I labeled it.  I think that is pretty neat.  So, here is the label I just finished for my current quilt.

I think it turned out pretty good!  I'm not really great at embroidering, but hopefully I will get better.  This is something I've just recently started doing...I labeled one other quilt, but honestly I usually get so excited about finishing it that I don't take the time to make a label.  My goal is to label all of my quilts from now on....we will see how that goes. 

Now I get to start quilting!  My favorite part!!!

Abby

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Father's Day, especially my amazing Daddy!  I am so thankful for everything he does for me.  Even though I'm married and have moved out of the house, he still spoils me and gives me everything I want.  I think the saying is true.  I will always be his little girl.   

My dad is an amazing carpenter...the best in the whole world in my opinion.  When I started quilting Daddy made me a beautiful quilt rack to display my quilts.  I absolutely love it! 

The front and back quilts were made by my Grandma, and the one in the middle was made by my Mama Jean.

I told you that my dad always gives me what I want.  That is true with my quilting as well.  On my Urban baby quilt I decided I wanted to quilt it in this straight line grid design.  I knew that I needed to draw all of the lines on the quilt in order for them to come out straight.  Daddy went out to his wood shop and made a template for me and then proceeded to draw all of the lines for me.  He loved every minute of it...yeah right.  Don't worry...I'm going to get him hooked on quilting just like I did my mom and sister. ;)

A close up of the quilting on my Urban baby quilt. 

The quilting turned out amazing.  I definitely couldn't have done it without him.  Thanks for your help Daddy!

Abby