Lorax baby quilt- giant star

Working on this baby quilt. Used a quilt I pinned in Pinterest as my inspiration piece. I used 11 squares if fabric to start with. A quick and cute quilt top. I also pieced the backing. Happy holidays!

New Bag

I wanted to make my student teacher a bag. She leaves us this week, and we will miss her. She is a remarkable person. This bag turned out darling. It had a lot of fabric though...pretty thick, but very sturdy! Fabric: Amy Butler. Pattern: Penelope Ruffles by Izzy and Ivy.

Headbands for a good cause

I had today off work, so I worked on these headbands. I am donating them to a silent auction benefitting my friend's husband. He went from being this youthful 30ish man, who was quite fit and ran all the time to a man haunted with head pain, instability (uses a cane), and has recall problems. No one seems able to help him. He has been to many hospitsls. Now he has a trip lined up to Mayo. I hope they can help. I hope someone bids on these at the auction, too. Happy thanksgiving!

Baby quilt

Just working on this quilt top. Stay tuned. . .

A finished baby quilt

I finished this just in time for my friend's shower!

Getting ready for a baby shower!

My friend's shower is quickly approaching, so today I whipped up these burp clothes, quilted the quilt finally, and I'm still working on the binding.

That's it for the quilting show here. Fall sure is busy.

Taking Turns Blocks

I finished all of my taking turns blocks. I really like them!

Taking Turns Amy Butler Style

We now pause this baby quilt marathon to work on something new! I'm working on a quilt from the Spring 2012 edition of Quilts and More called Taking Turns. Monica of Happy Zombie is the designer. Today I cut all of my fabrics. This is going to be a graduation present for this coming spring. I'm quite excited.

Sherbet pips finished

This week I managed to clean my sewing room and finish quilting and binding this cute quilt! What have you been working on?

Quilt for a Grandma

Mom and I worked on this baby quilt together. She did the piecing and binding; I did the appliqué, embroidery, and quilting. Mom was going to a surprise baby shower for her friend. Really it was a grandmother's shower. A cute idea, I thought. Our friend lost her husband recently, so each 9 patch has a piece if her husband's dress shirt. On one of those squares I appliquéd a heart and embroidered his initial.

Baby quilting along

Working on these blocks today for a baby boy that my friend is having. Love the material. Farm fresh by Riley Blake.

Summer poncho

I made this towel poncho based on some photo inspiration from Pinterest. This is a terrible night shot but really this towel is bubblegum pink! Quite cute. It was a gift for our little friend Ava. A quick project, less than an hour from start to finish. I made the center hole 16 inches but would probably do 14 next time.

Another baby quilt top finish

Yesterday I was scooting around blog land, and I read Camille's post about fun sewing. She inspired me with this easy quilt top.

Link: http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/2012/07/summersville.html

I had half a jelly roll in my stash, so I used it in lieu of cutting up a layer cake. The only thing I would do instead next time is cut my strips to 10.5 so I could do edge straightening. I am not as precise as Camille evidently. But then again I could have told you that yesterday, and had I listened to the little cutting voice in my head, I would have had at least 3 more blocks. I really like how this turned out, I was super pleased to use up that stash fabric, it is a great baby quilt size, and I made it in 1 afternoon.

Feeling Pippy

What's next? Well, I have 4 baby quilts to make. No time like the present to get started, right? This was a free pattern from Moda's website (United Notions). I saw it a while ago and it stuck with me. I didn't look it back up even, so it might not be just so however it is just right to me. Fabric: Sherbet Pips. I have been hoarding it forever! What are you working on?

Good Fortune Strikes

I'm finished! Just in time to wrap this up for the wedding. Fabric: Good Fortune by Kate Spain of Moda. Inspiration: Red Pepper Quilts blog

Still sewing

Friday's deadline is getting closer and closer. I'm still plugging away at it.

Good Fortunate Update

So I have been debating what to do with this quilt and I finally took the scrappy border plunge. Now I am debating how to quilt it. The plan is to get that done early this week as this gift needs to be done by Friday!

Be a Match

One of my coworkers found out this spring that he has acute leukemia. He needs a bone marrow transplant. I have taught with this giving man for about 13 years. When I was new to the district, I remember he and his wife (who I also teach with) invited me to dinner. Both of them are so giving to our community. They have 2 little boys. It is hard to watch them struggle through this difficult time. I know many of you can relate to this story.

I have learned recently that "being a blood marrow match" is not a painful process, nor is getting tested. They've made such strides in this area. I just signed up to be part of the national registry. You can too! Just use the website: http://marrow.org/Home.aspx

Progress

Good Fortune

Fabric: Good Fortune by Kate Spain of Moda Fabrics

Burp clothes

Still making baby gifts. I wanted some quick but cute burp clothes. I had these leftover number labels from a label crew project. Add some cute fabric and ric rac. Presto...cuteness.

Charming Bibs

I spent my Sunday afternoon working on these Charming Bibs. Extra large bibs for toddlers. I love that they are over sized. This was a pattern by Thimble Blossoms. I used my Lucy's Crab Shack charm pack and my labels from the label crew. Cute, right? I really love the orange buttons and how they have flowers imprinted on them like the fabric prints.

Easy bricks quilt hometown edition

Summer is flying by isn't it? I have been busy working on a quilt for my son. Mind you, he picked out the pattern a year ago and I purchased the fabric about the same time. Sigh. Anyway, this is a super easy layer cake quilt from the website Moda Bake Shop. I increased the size a bit to fit this queen. 7 rows with 20 bricks each. If I had a box spring under the mattress, I would have increased it another 4 bricks at least. I used 2 layer cakes of Hometown by Sweetwater. I still need to press it. Off it goes to the long arm quilter....stay tuned! I will try to get a nice outdoor shot when I get it back.

Summer Reading List for Boys

We've been spending a lot of time reading at our house. I know from both my house and my job sometimes it is hard to find books that boys love to read...therefore, I thought I might share my list. This is by no means, an expert list, just books I often see boys reading. I think these are fun books boys will love.  My little man tends to like books that feature mischievous boy characters, so many on this early elementary list fall into that category. Most of these are chapter books, but if you find your little buddy isn't quite ready to fly solo, then family read alongs are always fun.  My son reads a lot of the books in the 3-4 grades category as well, so don't count out a book that might be in an older grade.  It just depends on your reader's motivation and abilities.  Most of these are also series.

K-2
Flat Stanley  Jeff Brown
Nate the Great  Marjorie Weinman Shermat
George Brown, Class Clown  Nancy Krul
Ready Freddy   Abby Klein
Stink  Megan McDonald
Freddie Fernortner Fearless First Grader  Johnathan Rand
Rotten School Series  R.L. Stine
Captain Underpants  Dav Pilkey
The Magic Tree House Series  Mary Pope Osborne

3-4
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing  Beverly Cleary
How to Eat Fried Worms  Thomas Rockwell
Boy:  Tales of Childhood  Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach  Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  Roald Dahl
BFG Roald Dahl
Big Nate on a Roll  Lincoln Pierce
Diary of a Wimpy Kid  Jeff Kinney

5-6
Lawn Boy  Gary Paulsen
The Hatchet  Gary Paulsen
Touching Spirit Bear Ben Mikaelsen
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo  Obert Skue
The Diamond Brothers Series- Anthony Horowitz
Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling
Skeleton Creek Series- Patrick Carman
Trackers- Patrick Carman

7 and up- a special note:  these titles come straight from student surveys, and my students would tell you that at the beginning of the year, many of them were "reluctant" readers, but one of these books lit the reading fire in them. 
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero Series Rick Riordan
The Fire Thief Terry Deary
Guts  Gary Paulsen
My Life in Dog Years  Gary Paulsen
Liar, Liar  Gary Paulsen
The Alex Rider Series- Anthony Horowitz
Memory Boy Will Weaver
Monster  Walter Dean Myers
Dark Eden Patrick Carman
Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer  John Grisham
The Maze Runner
Eleventh Plague  Jeff Hirsch
The Last Thing I Remember  Andrew Klaven
Lockdown  Alexander G. Smith
Tangerine  Edward Bloor
The Revolver  Marcus Sedwick
Virals  Kathy Reichs
Soldier Boys  Dean Hughes
Search and Destroy Dean Hughes
Sports Fiction Authors:  Mike Lupika, Tim Green, John Feinstein
The Hunger Games  Suzanne Collins
Legend  Marie Lu
The Boy Who Dared  Susan Campbell Barroletti
Pendragon-  D.J. MacHale
Knucklehead Jon Schieska


And if this isn't enough to get you started, here is a guys read website you will probably love. 
Loads of good reading suggestions to be found there, as well as some pretty convincing data about the importance of pointing our young men towards some good books.

Hometown

I am working on a brick quilt for Bud's bed made out of Hometown by Sweetwater. This is a lot of work as there is a total of 140 bricks...his bed is a queen. What are you working on?