Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Blog Hop Winner, Table Runners, and a Paper Pieced Christmas Wall Hanging

I must first begin by saying WOW! Thank you all so much for entering my Giveaway as part of the Thanksgiving Blog Hop hosted by the Quilting Gallery. I received so many comments and new blog followers! So much fun!

My 4th grader, Mikko, randomly selected comment #50...
... And the winner is Lee. Like so many of you she is thankful for family and friends. I generally reply to each comment or take a look at your blogs (if you are a blogger) and comment, but I don't think I am going to be able to reply to all of these comments! I have emailed Lee to let her know she won.

The Prize - 6 FQ of Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille


Table Runners - Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille

A couple of weeks ago, I finally started thinking about Christmas, after being consumed with Nursery Decor for so many months. I wanted to make something handmade for my 5 year old's Pre-K Teachers. He goes to a little private school a couple of days a week, to get out of the house, and perhaps learn how to sit and listen and take turns.wait his turn (yes, if he masters those two skills I will consider the year a success!).

I knew the gifts had to be quick and easy, because my quilting time is limited and I have a bunch of "cooked" goodies I plan to make for neighbors and friends. I decided on table runners, I have a few go to patterns that I generally use, but this time I went even easier and did strips.

I cut 20 - 2.5 inch strips (15 inches long) using two different color schemes from my fat quarter bundle of Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille. I backed them with Kona Olive and free motion quilted them, bound them with Kona Olive as well.

Red, Green, and Light Blue


Orange, Green, and Light blue


Finished Orange, Green, and Blue


Free Motion Quilted - Steppling Pattern w/ White Thread


Red, Green, and Light Blue (needs binding)


Free Motion Quilted - Loop-ta-loops (That's what I call it, I just make crazy loops all over the place)



Christmas Wall Hanging - Winter's Lane by Kate and Birdie

Of course with thinking about Christmas I really wanted to make a wall hanging and table runner for my own home this year. In March/April I had seen Winter's Lane by Kate and Birdie and put it on my "Fabrics I Want" list, but May rolled around and I was hit hard by pregnancy. Once I was finally feeling a bit better (September) I had a lot of nursery sewing to get done, Christmas decor was pushed from my mind.

I wanted Winter's Lane, but it looks like a LOT of us in the quilting world love that line of fabric because finding it online was not easy. I could find a shop here and there that had a couple of yards of one or two prints, maybe some charm packs, or a jelly roll, etc. Since I was ordering online, I really didn't want to order a yard from one place and then another yard from another, and pay shipping from each store, so it was a bit of search.

Finally I decided on two charm packs and a couple of yards of two different prints would have to do, and I found a great deal at Old South Fabrics. They still have quite a bit of yardage left, the fabric shipped right away, and I had it in my hands within a couple of days! It came cutely wrapped in red tulle with a personal thank you note from the store owner. I don't have a LQS, so the personalized service was charming.






One Lone Star Burst Complete


I had originally thought to keep things simple, but then once I got the fabric and loved it so much I wanted something special, that I would really love for years to come. My plan is to paper piece 4 Lone Star Bursts by Six White Horses and then sash them together, quilt, and bind for a Christmas Wall Hanging. One Lone Stone Burst is complete, and one is in process... and I am really hoping to find time over "Thanksgiving Break" to get it done, because the last several days have not been productive at all in my sewing nook!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Giving Thanks with a Give-Away - Blog Hop Party

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways


I am running a little behind joining this Blog Hop Party, so I am going to make this short and sweet!

For those new to my blog -

I have so much to be thankful for! This has been a year of unexpected blessings and even though some of these blessings seemed overwhelming at first, they are blessings and I am so thankful for them.

My name is Jessica, I am a wife and mom of two boys, 9 and 5, and we have a surprise blessing (baby boy) on the way (due mid-January). I work from home doing accounting and bookkeeping.  I love to quilt and craft, and have been learning to sew things other than quilts over the past year. Since May my life, quilting/crafting, and blog have been hijacked by my pregnancy and all things baby!

Pretty much this is what I have been working on since September - Crib bedding, curtains, wall art, burp rags, fabric baskets, etc. 

I am giving away 6 Fat Quarters of Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I love this line of Fabric and thought I would share some with my readers!!!


To Enter:

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment. Share with me something you are thankful for. 

If you follow me, please leave an additional comment for an additional entry. 

The contest is open through November 26th. The winner will be selected randomly on November 27th. I will notify the winner via email, so please leave me your email address in the comment if you are a "no-reply" blogger. 

A list of other blogs participating in the Giving Thanks Give-Away Blog Hop Party will be available on the afternoon of November 21st at the Quilting Gallery

Also, I am willing to ship internationally so feel free to enter if you do not live in the United States. 

Happy Blog Hopping and Thanks for Stopping By!!!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Few More Additions to the Nursery

Before I get to an update on what seems like a never ending Work in Progress, the baby's nursery...  I have to show off this gift set I made for a friend having a baby girl in December. I used Rock-n-Romance by Pat Bravo and Coral Minky to make a blanket. I also used Rock-n-Romance to make three burp rags and a wipes case. Because my life is filled with boys, it is always fun for me to get to make something girly!



Okay, so on to the BIG project that has consumed my sewing/crafting life over the past two months.

I am pretty sure the Nursery is almost finished, but it seems like just when I think I am finished, I come up with something else to make or do.
We are waiting for the changing table/dresser combo to arrive, and once that arrives all of the furniture will be in place, and I can make sure that I like how the room is arranged.

In my last post I mentioned I was starting to work on some art for the walls. I am happy with the way it turned out, and at this point it is on the wall above where I plan to put the changing table.


Next I began decorating letters with his name for the opposite wall. They are not hung yet, apparently my hubby thinks it is going to be a big project to get them centered and level, so he has not wanted to put them up. 


Now you can see, that his name will be Matias (Mah-Tee-Ahs), which is the Finnish translation of Matthias. All of our boys have Finnish names, as my husband's family is Finnsh (his father was born there). Of course there is always the complication of finding a Finnish name that is fairly easy to pronounce and doesn't sound ridiculous to Americans.

I was randomly given a white shelf a couple of weeks ago, and thought I might be able to use it in the nursery. It turned out to be a perfect fit by the glider, to use as a side table. There are three shelves; on the bottom I put blankets, on the middle shelf I made another fabric basket and put burp rags in it, and then on the top I put a lamp.

I bought a plain lampshade and covered it with some of the elephant fabric. My elephants are "dancing" around the lampshade as I struggled to get the elephants perfectly straight so I just let them go at an angle.




I realized last week that I didn't have any burp cloths for the baby and I didn't want to go buy cloth diapers to turn into burp cloths... So I went through my scrap stash of flannel, minky, and fleece and came up with some fabric that I could turn into burp cloths. I made five this week and would like to make a few more. They are nothing fancy, and they only took about 10 minutes each to make, but they are so soft and turned out pretty cute. 



I hope that the next time I post about the nursery it will complete! I can't wait to post pics of how it all came together.