Texas again!!

It has been forever since I last posted on the blog!  I have been doing a lot of sewing and quilting, and a whole lot of other things too.  It feels like we have been to the moon and back while spending much of the last couple of months taking several family vacations!  Can't complain about all of great memories and family time we have though. 

 

The month of June was filled with summer school, and lots more showings on the house.  We, sadly, still have not found a buyer, but are now up to 26 showings, and I can honestly say I am so sick of cleaning my house and would love to live a dirty house for a bit! (Never thought I would hear myself say that!)

 

 

As soon as summer school was done, literally, we picked up Olivia from school, drove to the airport and hopped on a plane to Dallas,Texas.  We spent a week visiting my Aunt and Uncle once again and couldn't have had a better time. 

 

Shore Bag from The Tiny Seamstress

 

I made these bags to take along and left the chevron one with my Aunt. The pattern is the Shore Bag from the Tiny Seamstress and was fun, easy and quick to put together. They rolled up and fit suitcase nicely, and were much nicer to tote around for day trips than the bulky backpack I took on the plane, simply because it fit more and strapped to my back.

  

 

I also made lots of luggage tags, as we have never flown as a family together so there wasn't any need for these until this trip.
 

I made sever small zippered pouches for all of our plane tickets and paperwork, and also coin purses for the girls' spending money.

 

These drawstring bags were really easy to make and worked great for colors, games and snacks for some organization in the girls' backpacks.

 

And these were a couple of wall hangings that I made as a little thank you to my Aunt for all of her wonderful hospitality, but also for all the love and support that she has given me. 

  

 

This is a pattern from Camille Roskelley's new book, and I decided to try it in red, white and blue since we were staying in Texas over the 4th of July.

 

 

There are fireworks everywhere in the Dallas- Fort Worth metro, and EVERYONE goes to see them.  I have never seen such a turn out for this holiday, of which was just amazing to see the patriotism of Texans!

 

 

Dallas is such a fun city to visit.  We tried to take in as much as we could including the Fort Worth Stock Yards, Mesquite Rodeo, and the George W. Bush Memorial Library, and still tried to find time for lots of swimming and relaxing in the pool.

 

 

I'll have more of our travels soon, but I didn't want to have a picture overload, so that will have to be for another post.

 

 

 

Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Quilts for Oklahoma!

Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Quilts for Oklahoma!: Dear Quilt Friends: I have been contacted and asked to spread this info to you. It's important to get the word out to all the quilte...

Spring has finally arrived!

Spring has finally arrived here in Wisconsin, and it is a long time coming.  My daughter had a snow day from school on Tuesday, and today we are all wearing flip- flops!  It is wonderful.

The last few weeks have been crazy busy.  My sweet baby bug, Caroline turned one!  I can't believe we made it through this last year, it certainly feels like a year since I have had a good nights sleep.

 

 

We celebrated with a pink John Deere party. My brother-in-law made these adorable cakes. Caroline had the most fun picking off the polk-a-dots to eat.

 

 

And let me tell ya, she is going to be the best dressed little lady around. 

 

Spring has also brought us a lot of showings on our house. Sixteen to be exact!  No offers yet, but we still have some more looking by the end of the weekend, so keep your fingers crossed for us. 

 Since we have had so many showings, I have spent more time cleaning and not so much time sewing.  My sewing machine is in my dining room, and I cut quilts on my kitchen table, so everything has to get packed up for every showing. Hence the need for a bigger house!

I have finished one quilt though and am in love with it.  I was waiting for a nice sunny day to take pictures of it, and today is my day!

 

This is Spin Cycle from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I have been in love with this quilt since I first saw a picture of it, and finally got some time to make it.  I have not quilted it yet, but it will be one of the first to quilt once I get my  quilting frame set up in the new house.  It is just the perfect picnic quilt for the middle of summer.  I love the bright colors and bold pattern.

 

And this is a hint as to what is coming next.  I hope to write a pattern for this quilt depending on how it turns out, but it is a fun scrappy quilt. 

 

That is all for now, hope to either sell the house soon, and get busy packing, or get a little break from showings so I can get some sewing done.

Petals and Patches

I have shown you latest the quilts that I made for my older two girls, and I couldn't leave out my Baby Bug, Caroline.  

It is a scrappy patchwork called 'Petals and Patches'.

The quilt makes me think of spring, with it's bright colors and the polk-a-dot printed flannel backing. Then I look out the window, see the snow still falling and realize that even though it is officially spring, it hasn't made it here yet!

And that face just makes the quilt that much more sweet!

Mommy Vacation...

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed with a much needed Mommy Vacation! 

 

 

Caroline and I flew down to Dallas, Texas to visit my aunt, who has recently taken a position with Southwest Airlines  and moved down there from our hometown in northern Wisconsin.  I am very blessed to have my Aunt Terri and Uncle Jack in my life.  I love and miss them dearly and don't know what I would do without them in my life. 

 

 

 

 I had the most wonderful time, loved every moment of it, and can't wait to go back.

 

The weather was amazing.  My body didn't know what to think, when I left home it was

 -16 degrees (actual temp) and when I walked out of the airport in Dallas,

it was 71 degrees!!

 

 

Caroline and I got some much needed R&R.

 

 

 

And we spent some time here.

 

 

 

Got to see some really cool places.

 

 

 

And the sky is always bigger in Texas.

(excuse the van in the picture, it was taken driving down the freeway)

 

 

 

The farmer's market was amazing, 

and was a great place for some color inspiration, 

even in January.

 

 

 

Spent a day being a cowgirl at the Stock Show.

 

 

 

Enjoyed some great food!

(real Tex-Mex, not Taco Bell's version)

 

 

 

But in the end, I missed these two little beauties,

 

 

 

And even my Mr. Amazing,

 

 

 

And I had to come home to this,

 

 

 

So we could be our crazy little family once again!

 

Thank you so much to my Aunt and Uncle for an amazing time,

I can't wait for my next adventure!

 

 

 

Now a little Horsin' Around

Since Allyson made her monkey quilt with me, Olivia couldn't be left out and wanted a quilt of her own.  So, on one of my many trips to the quilt shop, Olivia came with and picked out this horse (of course!) fabric for her quilt.
 

I decided to do something similar to Allyson's monkey quilt, at least along the same lines of simplicity, and this is what we came up with.  

Christmas.... A Little Late

I am trying to get caught up on posting some of the projects that I have made.  It just seems easier to move onto the next project, then to sit down and write about the one that I just finished, so I am a little behind on posting. 

I try to make some Christmas presents every year, and I got a few things made, just not as much as I would have liked to.  But here are a couple of the things that I did get done.

  These snowflake ornaments were an idea from Pinterest, and were fun way to use up some of my buttons. A lot of the buttons came from my mother-in-law, so inevitably, she received one as a gift. 

The red and white table topper was given to one of my daughter's teachers and was one of four toppers I made from a charm pack.  I had wanted to make something else out of this charm pack and I got it together and did not like it at all, so I took it apart, and made  several small projects instead.

Again this is a charm pack project and again was gifted to one of Olivia's teachers.  I got the idea from the owner of my local quilt shop. It is a version of the cathedral window pattern, and was fun to make.

Well, that is all for now.  Maybe this year I will get my Christmas things posted at Christmas time and not over a month late!

Pillowcase Dresses for Haiti

So this week I have been spending some time making dresses from pillow cases for girls in Haiti.  A member of our church is leaving in a couple of weeks on a medical mission trip to Haiti, so a few of us from church are making some dresses to send with.  

Here is Olivia, Hailee (a little girl I watch), and Allyson modeling a few of them. 

The picture is a bit blurry, but it is not at all easy trying to get the three of them to stand still!

The pillow cases were donated from a local hotel and some youth members spent some time tie-dying them all, and others of us are sewing them into dresses.  The are very simple to make and are quite fun. 

The girls are having fun helping me with them, and I hope it is teaching them to give to others that aren't as blessed as we are.

Monkey Business

First of all, I apologize for not posting in forever.  I didn't have time to get one done before Christmas, and since then I have not been able to upload any pictures. But finally today I got it figured out.  I have several blogs written, just waiting for pictures, so now I can get them posted.  

Here is my little Ally-Kitten all covered in snow.  The girls sure loved the 20" of snow we got right before Christmas.  Myself, not so much, but the girls spend most of their waking moments outside, if it's not too cold!

Allyson, picked out this monkey fabric while at the quilt shop on the first day of school for my oldest daughter, Olivia. There was only a 1/2 yard cut left in the shop, so we had to get creative. It is adorable fabric, so it was easy to be creative with it!

 Allyson was really missing her big sister and felt very left out not getting to go to school herself. So to keep her busy, she and I made this quilt together while Olivia was in school. I had a great time teaching my three-year-old to sew, and it was a great way to keep her mind off of her sister.  

She got a chance to be a big girl for once, and now she has her "monkey quilt" to snuggle up on the couch (or in this case on the floor) on those days that it doesn't get above zero and it's way too cold to go out and play.