Grand illusion link up 1

It is Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt time again over at Quiltville. This year it is called Grand Illusion and was inspired by her visit to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Since it was coming during the travel season I made plans with my mom to borrow one of her machines while I was visiting and to borrow my mother-in-law's sewing machine for any parts that may be given while visiting there.

The plan originally for the holidays had me and my boys getting to Indiana to spend a little under a month with my parents this past Monday. But due to unforeseen complications of my dad's double knee replacement surgery (he had a heart attack), we actually got out here around the end of October. That meant I was lucky enough to get to spend an early Thanksgiving at my in-law's and Thanksgiving with my parents. AND I was able to work on the first clue with my mom. We bantered back and forth on who was in the lead. And my mom came out ahead in the end. As you can see from the picture above, we have each pulled fabric for 2 Bonnie sized quilts. Mom's are on the left in Bonnie's colors, and a second one using her Denyse Schmidt fabrics. My two on the right are Bonnie's colors and fabrics from some logo fabrics, that I acquired way too much of and mom so generously picked up from Goodwill and has been holding on to for me. I also have fabrics pulled for another one half sized out of my own collection of Denyse Schmidt, but those were unfortunately forgotten in my rush to get out to Indiana.

We have both completed all the pieces for part 1 in Bonnie's colors, and have been using the second as rewards when my boys manage to give us a few minutes of freedom. I have just a few yellow and black squares still to cut, and my mom is nearly done with her second set.

Now to join the linkie. You can find more crazy fun-loving people's links to their own quilts with the pattern here. I should be around am number 280.

Lozenges

Slowly working my way through my lozenges. I know they were supposed to be leaders and enders originally, but they have become my main project since they require nearly no thinking. That is a mist if you are going to try and sneak in a few minutes here and there.

The boys are getting more and more active everyday. Kyle has been crawling for over a month and has been pulling himself up to standing for a couple of weeks. He seems to want to skip cruising since he keeps trying to just take a step away from whatever he was holding on to. This makes keeping everything craft related picked up when more important.

Happy crafting. I have to remind myself, "5 minutes of progress is still progress."

I'm still alive

This quilt top is now ready for borders. It was started in 2013 at the local quilt show as part of the mystery class. I tried getting it out earlier this year, but that just brought back all of the thoughts of nausea since I was pregnant when I started it. I'm really trying to push to have this ready to quilt soon.

Trying something new

This is something I'm trying to use up little scraps. It is quilt as you go, and raw edge. The batting square started at 10 but has shrink to 9.5. I have a few other things I want to try on the next block, including a glue stick on the pieces so they don't shift.

Celtic solstice

My Celtic Solstice is bound and ready to hear to my local quilt show tomorrow. Pattern was the 2013 mystery by Bonnie Hunter.

Challenge Quilt

Time to trim and bind. Need to get these done this week to go in the Quilt Show next week.

Morning stitching

I have lots of morning stitch time today since Nate decided to come in and fuss about going back to bed. It woke Kyle up, and since I have no laptop with me, I thought I might as well get something done.

Star struck progress

Finally managed to get a few blocks done for a quilt I decided I needed to do because I wasn't seeing any progress on the other. The pattern is Star Struck by Bonnie Hunter and is available on her blog Quiltville. Blogspot.com. The stars will be in a few Bright colors and not all purple.

Table runner

This table runner is completely done: bound and labeled. While I pushed to finish the top and quilting in a day, the binding took a bit longer. Since my current show us not kid friendly, my TV time has been reduced to naptime and the hour between the boys' bedtime and mine.

Kyle

Apparently my stack of rest hammocks looks yummy.

Vomit quilt progress

I'm slowly making progress on my vomit quilt, which was my January goal.

Leader ender challenge: Lozenges

Finally finished cutting my pieces for a lozenge quilt I'm doing for Bonnie Hunter's leader/ender challenge. That is 540 bricks at 3.5" by 6.5" and 2160 2" squares. I gave myself 10 minutes a day to cut them. And my mom sent me nearly 200 bricks.

January goal: revisited

Finally getting myself going on my vomit quilt again. It will be nice to be able to put something else on my design, or at least to have that option again.

Celtic Solstice in Purple and Blue

Well my April goal remains, unworked on. But on the plus side, I was able to start and finish my May goal between mid-February and the first weekend in April. This is Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 2014 Mystery. This is the second colorway in which I did it. This is the one for my Grandmother-in-law. My oldest loved helping me with the borders, and would continue to measure while I was cutting the next one.

This was my first pieced back. This was caused by necessity. I didn't have time to hunt down a corresponding back because I gave myself a crazy insane deadline to get it done by. I had just finished piecing the back when my longarming friend came to get it. She was kind enough to come pick it up, despite the fact that I was asking to have it back within a week so I could give it to Grandma when I saw her 8 days after I gave it to the longarmer. (Thank again Konda.) I was really glad to have some jelly rolls and fat quarter bundles of these fabrics because I didn't have enough coordinating for the back otherwise. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

I bound it in yellow. And I am absolutely in love with the butterflies it was quilted with. I really like butterflies right now.

Easter

Nate was so excited to look for Easter eggs this year.

We each had a different color to look for. Kyle's was yellow and Nate helped him. Nate's was blue.

Kyle was not sure what to make of it all.

Scrappy Mountain Pinwheels

Made this for my neighbor's new little boy (OK not so new anymore he's older than Kyle) using Bonnie Hunter's pattern Scrappy Mountains Majesty. It was quilted by my friend Konda with lizards and frogs and bugs.

Table runner ready for quilting

This table runner has been planned since we bought the coffee table last year. I wanted to cover up some of the unpretty spots on it. I'm planning on just straight-line quilting the rows. Pattern is Jelly Roll Quick Step.

New Scrappy Square Hammocks

In my cleaning of my room, I discovered that I had a few more fleece scraps than I realized, for some reason. So I decided to see what else I could do with them. This led me to try and new rat hammock style, scrappy squares. Each of the pieces, is a square made up of squares, with a solid piece of fleece on the other side. I had to try a few different sizes to get them, so they could be swapped with any of the other hammock pieces I have in my shop.

I am pleased to say that I was successful. This way I didn't have to throw out the big pieces of fleece that were sometimes left over after making the other hammocks. And each piece can be different.

I love them. They look so poofy. They can now be purchased in my Etsy shop.

Hard to say goodbye

Sometimes it can be hard to part with gifts from others. This was a floss/bead container that my mom painted for me while I was still living at home. I brought it out to Utah with me on one of my trips home (I think long before I got married even). On that trip one of the corners got busted so that 2 of the compartments no longer held beads, which is what I was using it for. I have continued to keep it, with beads in all the compartments but those 2, since it was from my mom.

I finally decided that it was time to say goodbye, especially since, I am passing my beads onto my boys (just Nate until Kyle gets big enough to not put them in his mouth).

I made sure to get this picture, so that I have a record of it's existence, since it was a significant part of my life at one point. Now I have gotten a shoe box sized container and an open bin for my son to use to play with the beads. I hope to use them to work with him on colors and dexterity. For the dexterity, I bought some of the thicker plastic bracelet string for him to work on beading them with. I hope they bring him as much joy as it brought me.

Cloth Books

 While I have 2 little guys, and a bazillion quilts to work on, I've decided that I need to clean up, and streamline my sewing room. I have quite a few projects that have been sitting around waiting for me to do them since before I got married. This means that some of my friends are getting/have gotten yarn, Nate has gotten a good sized stack of coloring books, and a few of the quicker projects have resurfaced. These cloth books are part of that last category.

This first one was acquired when we visited and met my cousin in Texas.

I got this second one from Pine Needles in Gardner Village, which is fun since my sons have familial ties to Gardner Village.

Continuing Celtic Solstice

My expansion of my first Celtic Solstice is coming along slowly, but with Nate's quilt done, I can really focus on it again for the rest of March, or until it's done, whichever comes first.

While avoiding working on my March goal because I got a bit more done on my second Celtic Solstice. Here is part 2 completely done.

I love how both colorways feel so happy.

From April

This is a flannel quilt given to Kyle by one of my quilting friends, April. It is so soft and warm, we all love it. Nate even tried claiming it as his own during a recent trip to Nevada when he got to use it because his blanket got dirty.

I love all the animals in the star. I've been using them to work with Nate on his animals while we let Kyle enjoy some tummy time. Thanks April.

Kyle's Quilt

This is the quilt that my mom made for my new little one, Kyle. It uses the Dr. Seuss fabric. Every time I look at it it makes me think of her. When I was little she loved to read to us. She was sooo good at adding animation to things. Some of our favorites (and hers, too) were Dr. Seuss books. I don't think either of us can read Oh, The Places You'll Go without tearing up. She also always encourages me when I'm feeling worried about something, by reminding me that I'm Brainsy and Footsy. Thanks mom.

Nate's Quilt

This is the quilt my mom made for Nate the Great. I love this one. He sleeps with it every night. I had told her I wanted to do his room in bright colors. We didn't get a chance to paint his room when we moved in (6 days before he was born), but it still looks great in his room. Thanks mom.

March Goal: FINISHED

This finish makes me very happy. This is the quilt I chose to do for Nate the Great. It used 5 fat quarters and some yardage. Each of the fat quarters could get 2 full blocks, so to get the other 2 blocks I mixed and matched. I actually really love how those blocks turned out. Nate seems really excited to be getting it. Or at least as excited as a 2.5 year old gets when you tell him something is for him.

Once I prepare the backing, it will be the beginning of my stack of quilts to take home and have my mom quilt. I may be able to find 5 or 10 minutes at a time to piece, but finding larger chunks of time to practice free motion quilting is a bit harder.

My Boys

Here is the source of most of my joy, anger, tears, laughter, headaches, and exhaustion. These two boys are a handful some days.

The oldest is constantly running around, bouncing, and making noise. And now he can do all that while still staring at a tablet screen. This has led to more falls (looking at the tablet while running is not safe), and tears (for both of us) than I would like to admit. It is amazing to watch him discover the different apps and watch him learn from them. He is working on letters, and numbers, matching, and puzzles. He also has his own songs and even Monsters on it, so I don't have to bring it up all the time. He doesn't throw a fit when the battery dies either; he simply goes and plugs it in excitedly; he sees it as one more thing he now gets to do.

The second sprout is a handful in that he wants to keep my hands full. It is hard to believe that he is already 7 weeks old (almost 8 weeks when this posts). He smiles and giggles, and is curious about everything. I love that I can catch him staring intently at things. There have been times when while burping him I realize he is deeply focused on my hexie quilt sitting right behind us. He is getting better at allowing me to put him down for short periods of time, so maybe my productivity will increase.

March Goal

My February goal is unfinished. I did make good progress on it. My problem (besides having a 7 week old and a 2.5 year old) was that I decided I needed to make it bigger halfway through the month.

My goal for March is to sew the top for Nate's quilt.

And just so I can't try sneaking something else in early here are the rest of my monthly goals:
April-Kyle's quilt top
May-Second Celtic Solstice
June-My car quilt top
July-My car quilt quilted and bound
August-Giddyup in Gingham top
September-Citrus $29 quilt top
October-Pastel $29 quilt top
November-2013 Mystery
December-Konda Mini

In addition to these I am hoping to:
Bind Spencer's car quilt
Finish borders on the moose quilt
Finish January Goal of Vomit quilt Top
Finish February Goal of Celtic Solstice top
Bind Corbin's quilt when it comes back from the quilter
Cut and start lozenges for Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Leader Ended Challenge

A Present from my Quilting Friends

At the last sew day, I was very surprised and pleased to be presented with this lovely quilt for my little boy. Several of my friends got together and put this together for me. They each did a block and their names were each written into the white of their blocks. I love the variety and the thought that went into it. I smile every time I see it. It was also quilted with a wonderful Star Wars quilting. If you are reading this. Thank you ladies.

Big Brother Monsters Blanket (and Pillow)

While I was visiting my mom in October/November I happened upon a large fleece remnant of a Monsters University print. At the time, Nate was obsessed with Monsters, Inc. I picked a green remnant that matched well hoping I would be able to make a good-sized blanket for him. After using my mom's accuquilt die for an 8 inch finished fringe square, I realized I needed just a few extra squares, and luckily I had the purple remnant that I had picked up to use for rat hammocks, which was the exact right color to match Mike's hat. That even allowed me to have enough that I could pull out the squares with Mike and Sully well visible to put on a smaller pillow, so he would stop dragging the one from his bed all around the house when he wanted to watch Monsters.

I was thinking I would give it to him for Christmas, but was quickly convinced that I should save it and give it to him when his little brother was born. This worked out really well. He even tried laying down on the floor at the hospital with it when we gave it to him. He sleeps with both parts every night, and frequently carts it around the house to play with it.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well he has handled being a big brother. Some of his new learned phrases are "Kyle sad," "Kyle wake," and "Kyle asleep, shhh." It has been cute. He also likes to kiss Kyle on his head, and tries to give him his binky all the time. He gives him hugs when he is in his swing, or on a blanket for floor time. He is also way too smart for Mommy. He knows it is harder for me to come after him if he is acting up while I'm holding Kyle.

A Good Bouquet of Flowers

For Valentine's, my husband got me flowers, an Amazon gift card, and we got to go to the arcade together without the boys thanks to my mother-in-law being here and watching both boys.

I always give my husband a hard time about the flowers on Valentine's Day. He doesn't like to get me roses because they are what everyone gives. He is really good about picking out a pretty bouquet that lasts for about 2 weeks every time. I don't know how they manage to live so long. One thing I love about the flowers he does get me is that there is always a wide variety to them. In this picture you can see at least 4 different kinds while still not counting the baby's breath and fern. He is so sweet to keep giving me flowers. I hope he realizes I do love them and smell them frequently while he is away.

Crazy Busy

Well this week I thought I'd try something a little different. I was thinking that if I had 20-30 minutes of time to work on craft stuff then I would add a little to a post that I would then wait and post on Sunday. The problem became that I was just getting way to much done in the little time I had. So as you can tell from the last post I ended up with a fairly long post for me and that only covered through Wednesday. Part of what helped me get so much done this week was the fact that I had a day that I declared a sick day (I was running a fever but seemed completely fine otherwise). That meant I exempted myself from folding laundry and working on dishes and instead let myself work in my craft room. And thus, I got a lot done.

One of the things that has started to fester in my mind is the mess in my craft room. That's where everything ends up when I don't have time to put anything away, that includes all the important papers for the family, any shopping purchases for the house or crafts or even the boys, and the odd present or two. Having tried many different crafts it is also cluttered with a lot of craft supplies for crafting I don't do anymore (or never had time to do) so my goal is to try and consolidate, get rid of excess, and just generally make my room a more pleasant place to be in. This includes the desire to get a better desk/cutting table. My husband even seems to be getting on board with it this time. He even took our little family up to Ikea (40 min drive), so that we could compare some desk/tables that I had seen online and was considering. I'm glad we did because one of the corner desks I had wanted was too small in my opinion to be good for much except claustrophobia, especially if paired with another table for cutting. So now I know how much I need to save up for, which will also give me some time to work on cleaning up/out my craft room to have room for those tables.

If you have craft room storage ideas that you love please let me know. I would love input on this topic.

Quick Projects

Monday- My Celtic Solstice is all ready for borders.
I love how it has turned out.

I also realized that I would need to adjust how much I have to cut out to make it fit on my Grandmother-in-law's bed. Not by much, but just enough that I'm glad I caught it now and can get extra pieces cut for part 1.

I'm wondering at the amount of extra fabrics I have for my Celtic Solstice. I'm thinking I have enough to grow it just a little bit more, so I can guarantee it will fit on my queen size bed. We shall see. I think I will just work on cutting the extra alongside the second one I'm doing.

 Tuesday- I finally managed to finish my tank that I replicated. All I had to finish was the straps. I wanted them to be detachable to I could still use the taking while nursing. I could not find the snaps I wanted anywhere. I finally decided to settle with swim suit bra hooks. I think it turned out really well.

While cleaning up my room and throwing all of my yarn projects into big buckets (since I only need one out at a time) I discovered a little bag kit that I bought a couple of years ago. I decided it needed to be completed finally. Well, here it is. Thank you naptime. Don't worry I also managed to get all my dishes done, laundry washed, and even had Marion come over to get grommets put into a bag she was making, so I wasn't just crafting again.

Wednesday- Slowly making progress. I finished cutting out the extra part 1 pieces I needed to expand the first Celtic Solstice and got them all sewn together. I declared today a me day since I woke up not feeling great.

Fairly Productive Sunday

 Today, I focused on getting the larger blocks of the Celtic Solstice attached to each other. I was sooo close to having all but the borders done on it when Kyle decided he could not let me do anymore because it was bedtime. I love how the pattern is rapidly starting to emerge. Maybe I will try to sneak down there during the week to finish sewing the rows together.

 My poor vomit quilt is waiting very patiently for me to work on cutting up the squares so that I can continue sewing it together. I think it has been very patient, especially since I believe it is one of the oldest projects I have right now.

I picked out fabric for another quilt this week. It was all from my stash again. This is actually going to satisfy two things that have been festering in my mind. The first is that I have been wanting to make a quilt for my grandmother-in-law. I considered doing one for her when I did the Christmas quilts, but decided I wanted to try and do a fancier pattern for her (I just didn't know what yet). The other thought that has been bugging me has been that I wanted to try and do another Celtic Solstice in another colorway, but I just couldn't justify starting another one without a purpose (I started thinking about it, just after part 2 went live). So these are the colors I chose for my second Celtic Solstice. I hope she likes it.

I gave in and let myself start it today. I cut out all the pieces for part 1. I told myself that it would be my reward for working on the things that need to be finished. So for every seam I finished on another quilting project I could do a seam on this one. It may make this quilt take longer, but the idea is that in the process I will make more progress on the ones that have been waiting longer. This means if I get the others done I can then work on this one without hindrance. Of course, this could just lead to more partially finished projects instead.

Until Next Week.

Side Project: Simple Swaddlers

One of the many extra side projects I have been working on are simple swaddling blankets for Kyle. I was given large blankets at Nate's baby shower that have been working great. Unfortunately, if I don't keep up with the laundry I can easily find myself without any. Since Kyle has a hard time sleeping at night unless he is swaddled because his hands bug him if they get free, it can be rather frustrating to be without one. So I chose to use some of the flannel I have to recreate those blankets. They are 39 inches by 4 inches. My mom helped me find a decorative stitch to use on the edge to make sure they don't fray while she was here. It was very helpful to get some more instructions on how to use my sewing machine.

January Goal: Uncompleted

Well, I'm sad to report that my January quilt will continue to be unfinished for a bit longer. I did get some work on it. All of the 5 inch squares have been pinned to my design wall. They have not been cut yet. With only a few minutes at a time, I have actually been working more on my February goal since it was spread out on top of my cutting table. I justified it by saying I was just working my way down to the cutting mat.

Here is the first row of my January goal, which is the pineapple I'm making using greys and the 5  inch squares from the vomit swap, my quilting friends and I did last year.

My February goal is Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery. I am currently putting together the big blocks using the little blocks. I hope to be able to finish the top in February. If I'm really lucky I will be able to get more work done on January's goal too. We'll see how much the boys will let me get done.