gingerquilts

I'm baa-aaack!

2009-09-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my scruffy boy at 7 months old. I love his little fuzzy self. He's been a pretty good dog, all things considered. I need to get his hair cut but I love it scraggly.

I've signed up for two swaps on Craftster to get my crafty mojo agoin' again. The lap quilt swap, where I will send fabric to people they send to me. We all make a 12 1/2 inch block out of the fabric we receive and send it back. I'm heading to the cutting table to get it all fixed up for mailing and will post a pic of my choices when it's ready.

The other swap, which I'm incredibly excited about, is a Christmas stocking swap. I'm paired with the amazing kittykill, who I adore. I swapped with her in the bird swap and loved it. I have a huge list of things I want to make for her. The stocking will be for her DH and it is already designed in my head. I can't wait to get started. I need some projects to take to all these football practices and games.

Speaking of football, OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN! My oldest son's high school varsity team is 4-0. FOUR AND O. They played a killer game last night and the score was

At one point the score was 6-7 and it wasn't looking too good for our team. Then we had an incredible push to the endzone and our tough defense held off a touchdown by the other team. My ol' ticker can't take much more of this! This is one of the best starts by our school's teams in many years. So much fun to be a part of it and feed the boys afterwards. I love 'em all and am called "mom" by many. Cheesy I know, and I love it.

My big guy is #78

My other guy't team is 1-1. He is number 77 on the left of your screen

He plays both offense and defense and rarely gets a break in the game. He loves every minute, except when we lose like the last game. Their first game was awesome, and they won a tough battle in the last minutes.

So proud of both my football players!

The girls are both in college. Oldest dd is home for the weekend. She met us at her brother's game last night and we are going shopping soon. Younger dd is three hours away! ug, I miss the little darling. Her daddy is on his way there today. He decided to design his own "Dad's Weekend" since Miami doesn't have one like OU does. I made pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies for her and her roomies.

Off I go to put together lap quilt packages and make Christmas surprises! The first set of goodies will be crocheted. Shhh, no more hints though!

Peaceful piecing,

Jenni

Slacker!

2009-08-10T06:12:00.001-07:00

Such a busy summer! I have no pictures to post today. The puppy is 6 months old now and looks completely different than the picture posted last. Since I last posted:

My daughter graduated from high school and we had a huge party at the house
My other daughter moved out of the dorm and into an apartment and started summer school
Hubby and I went to Las Vegas with his sister and her hubby
We took the kids whitewater rafting in West Virginia for a weekend
Hubby and I celebrated his birthday weekend in Put-in-Bay with some great friends (and missed the ones that didn't make it horribly)
Hubby had back surgery (and is recovering nicely - going back to work today)
My dear niece got married in Michigan to a fabulous guy. The kids and I went so hubby could recover from surgery and had fun seeing family and cousins and dancing the night away
We went to a big family reunion for hubby's side and got to visit with his sister and her hubby, son and DIL.

Hubby goes back to work today, finally. It's actually only been two weeks, which is hard to believe. The first week was rough for him but he's doing well now and can walk pain free. His neurosurgeon is a superstar!

Hubby bought a "scooter". I can't tell how it differs from a motorcycle, but oh well. He can't tell my serger from my other machine, lol. I'm not letting him ride until he gets the okay from his doctor. He can't play golf for a few months so I hope he can ride before winter.

The boys are playing football, therefore so am I! As a team mom I am helping feed the high school boys almost daily during two a days. So far injuries to the team have been minimal. We had a huge group of football players and friends here Saturday for "the fight" on HBO. I would further show my ignorance if I tried to explain what the fight(s) are called or are about but I really enjoyed having the kids here and keep realizing that I'll only have them for a little bit longer.

My baby girl goes to college in 10 days. MY college, the one I hold dear sweet memories of. Where I met her daddy. Where her grandpa and her uncles went. I'm so excited for her to begin this phase of her life but I miss her already.

I'm gonna cry.

Craftwise the only swap I've done is a "44 cent" swap on craftster. We had to fill an envelope with craft supplies and homemade goodies and have it weigh less than an ounce and be PO machine friendly. I hope mine make it. I'm sorry to say that I'm not as overly excited and consumed by swapping as I once was. I'd really like to swap with people that do more fabric and fiber things like quilting and felting I think. Must be time to get over it and move on to other types of swaps or do more projects just for me. I think I'll look for some fabric ATC or some quilty ones.

Off to feed the team. I got my embroidery module for my machine for my birthday and haven't used it much. I won enough money in Vegas to buy a laptop to hook it up to. Yeah! Now when school starts I hope to practice a little more. I'd like to make some early Christmas things.

Off to feed the team. My no-bake cookies didn't come out right this time. I must have been off on the boiling part. Oh well, they'll still eat them. It's so insanely hot that I think I'll take a box of popsicles too.

Here's hoping someone is stitching and I can get up to my sewing area soon to do the same!

Jenni

Cricket is here!

2009-04-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

We've had the little dickens for a couple weeks now. He is 10 1/2 weeks old and keeping me pretty busy! Happy, our 8 year old lab, is very stressed about his existence. She is constantly growling at him to keep him in line. Good thing I watched Cesar Milan of the Dog Whisperer! What an amazing person. I love his show. I've definitely learned a lot by watching it. I think he is so kind to the owners and great with the dogs. I've learned enough to know that my little stinker's growling when he has to have his paws wiped needs to be nipped in the bud NOW before he gets aggressive. Housetraining is getting there. We go outside MOST of the time. He is doing well in his crate. We also have a doggie playpen, a portable thing that he can go in when we can't watch him constantly.

The cat is getting a lot of chase time. I was initially worried until I saw her come back for more OVER and OVER again. When he is in his playpen she hisses at him at teases him. He learned to go UP stairs by chasing her. Still too little, at 5 1/4 pounds, to come down.

On the crafty front, I made more houses in the chunky swap. I had a flash of inspiration and made them all from neckties. It was much less involved than the last sets, other than prepping the bases for them, but I loved the results!

Here are the houses I made:

I used the labels as doors and the tie ends as chimneys. Here are the ones I received from my partners:

I just love them! They are from stunnedbanana, WYOKrista, playswithneedles and alteredmommy. They are really different and look great on my mantle.

I also made costumes for my youngest DS middle school play. They did a "jr" version of Willy Wonka. I gussied up a jacket I had for Willy (a girl in our version) by making it bigger and adding sparkles. It was an old silk jacket I had dyed purple years ago for oldest DD to wear in horse shows. I also made squirrel tails and ears and the giant blueberry suit. Unfortunately the suit was stuffed with newspaper and used in between scenes as a bean bag chair by the other cast members. The only pic I have is of it squashed down with the paper fallen to the bottom and not distributed evenly. She only had a minute to get into it off stage. It worked and all was well. Here is a somewhat blurry shot of the Violet in the blueberry suit and Willy in her jacket.
The kids were great and I helped do makeup which was fun. My son was "Mr. Bucket", Charlie"s father.

The most fun I've had in the last week was playing with MY NEW EMBROIDERY MODULE! Hubby got it for me as an early birthday present. The dealer was offering them half off so I took advantage of the sale. Now my Bernina 440QE can embroider too! There is quite a learning curve and I need to take the classes but I managed to make a little doggie embroidery to make a bed for Cricket and made two hooded baby towels using a tutorial I found on the net. I already gave them to the momma to be without taking a good pic, unfortunately. The momma is my dd #2's friend and is having a boy in June. Oh, speaking of DD#2, she is headed to Miami U, my alma mater! Hubby went there too, as did my dad and two of my brothers. She is very excited and I'm proud of her for getting in. Now we're planning the high school grad party and gearing up for her first year of college (sniff!).

DS#1 got his license! It's a mixed blessing. He can take his little brother to football and to school but I don't see as much of him! Good thing he's always hungry - he finds me when he wants to eat!

I'm looking for a laptop now so I don't have to haul my sewing machine from the third floor (my sewing area) to the first floor where the computer is. My machine needs to be hooked up to the computer as it embroiders. I also am starting to finally get my serger in operating order. I took a class at the Sewing Expo in Cleveland last March and it inspired me to take it out of the box (three+ years after I got it, shame shame!).

Gotta take care of my new baby. Peaceful piecing to all!

Jenni

Chunky Houses two

2009-03-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the fronts of the little quilted chunky houses I made for my partners on Craftster for the chunky house swap.

And here are the backs of them.

I used different techniques on each house. The green on the left was pinwoven on the front and then stitched. The black and white was kind of a mismash of things to get the ying yang affect I wanted. The little hut had a roof woven of ripped fabric strips, that was fun. The one on the right was pieced and then I loved the idea of the backyard tree with a swing. It was made on a very cloudy blah day when I was yearning for spring weather.

(Yes, I really wrote "yearning"!)

I received some lovely houses as well. The swap gallery is well worth a peek if you have some MORE time to waste.

I'm also posting a pic here of the quilt I made for a flickr swap. It had to go to Australia and I'm really not sure if it made it through the fires or if the mail REALLY takes 6 weeks!! Crazy! The theme was favorite things and my partners favorites were red, yellow, ricrac, birds, flowers and trees. (If I remember correctly). I'm not happy with the quality of my handquilting but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I love love love stitching!

I hope it makes it to its new home soon!

In other news, I keep looking at the picture below (it's our background on the computer and on my cell phone). I've fallen in love with that ootsy cootsy widdle face. (Puppy's bring out the baby talk, sorry). We have a list of names on the fridge. My son still likes "Cricket" even with major opposition on most fronts. I like "Gus" and "Rudy". Time will tell. We will visit the little bugger again when oldest DD is home on Spring Break. We can't take him from his mama until the 4th or 5th of April. In the meantime I have learned that his black and tan coloring is called "phantom" coloring and am slowly bringing in supplies we need for him. (And many we don't!). We still need a crate and maybe a playpen type pen to keep our things safe from him and him safe from Happy until we know if she will accept him. I'm still convinced he will be "her" baby and she'll love the company. Dream on Pollyanna!

SPRING is coming! I saw a Robin last Thursday. It was the morning of the funeral service for one of my best friends' dad. He would have loved any extra celebration of his life and would have appreciated the Robin showing up at that moment. I know I did. RIP Ed!

Off to work on projects of the non sewing variety, unfortunately.

Peace and piece! Jenni

New addition

2009-03-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

We will be adding a new member to our family in April! Today Mac (youngest DS) and I went to Croton, about an hour away, and put a deposit on a cockapoo. They were only 3 weeks old and the momma was the sweetest most gentle thing! She didn't mind us handling her babies at all and was very lovable herself. Mac, in true Mac fashion, fell in love with the first little critter she put in his arms! It was hard to choose but that it "his" new puppy, and he is naming him "Cricket". He can't leave his mommy until he's 7 weeks old which will give us time to get things ready and get a crate, food, dishes, etc. We also need to study up on introducing a puppy to an older dog. Happy may not be so happy when she has competition for our affection! Mainly my affection I think. Anyway, we researched that cockers and poodles are not really territorial and don't get "little dog" syndrome where they try to be the leader or the boss. I think Happy will be fine. DH thinks we just put a deposit on a very expensive "Happy snack". He said the same thing about the kitty last year at this time, that she would be a snack but they very peacefully coexist giving me hope that puppy and Happy will do the same. I personally think she will love having something to baby. I hope I'm right! Anyone with any tips, they're welcome!

2009-02-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

Amaryllisroze wanted a sacred heart quilt in the craftster IYP swap we were doing. The only twist, she wanted it in the immaculate heart style, with a knife through it. I enjoyed the challenge and had lots of fun coming up with this version. I made the heart separately with lots of trims and stitchings couched to it, then finished the edge so it could have stood by itself. Then I made button hole type openings for the knife, which was sewn to heavy peltex stuff. A few roses, some embellishments and there you have it! I had wanted to make a fun border with crazy quilting or charms in it but ran out of time. The background was reverse appliqued but I did a crummy job so I ended up zig zagging it. Everything was from my rather extensive stash, too.

A close up version of the flames

And of the handle:

And a picture of the great triptych she sent to me:

Isn't it great?! It matches my living room well. I love the little paper doll clowns on strings.

On the diet front, I had a lot of "fun" between Christmas and February. So much that it added up to gaining 15 pounds since Thanksgiving! I decided to join Weight Watchers with a friend. We go to meetings on Thursday nights so today is weigh in day. As of last week I had lost 7 of my 15 fun pounds and am hoping I had a good week this week, too. I'm still trying to follow the basic principles I learned in South Beach, mainly eat lots of whole grains, fiber, lean protein and fruit. I'm trying to avoid sugar, the devil's food, because it usually sets me off and makes me want to eat more of it. I need the portion control and points counting of Weight Watchers PLUS I like that you can allow yourself some of the good stuff once in a while, as long as you account for it.

Being a grown-up and accountability. Bleh. I need to get my big butt moving, too. Happy and I have been trying to walk more. It will be easier when it stays warmer. Here she is sporting the same "Hey I just wanna lay here" attitude that I have!

I'm off to make some more chunky houses and get my hair cut today.

Piecefully,
Jenni

Chunky House Love

2009-02-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

Oops, I originally posted the chunky houses I made for the first chunky swap but realize now I did that earlier so I've taken them off. Sorry!
See below for the houses from the last chunky house swap on craftser.org. I am currently working on the houses for the next swap, which are due to go out Saturday (yikes!).

Anyway, I did two mini quilts for the 6-12" mini quilt swap on flickr. The first hasn't been received yet by dearfii in Australia (it takes forever for the mail to get there!). They've had all those terrible fires there, I hope it survived! Here is a sneak peek (DON'T LOOK fii!)

And a gees bend inspired quilt for cecysg, which she HAS received.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the wonderful triptych I received from amaryllisroze and the quilty (which I hope she gets by then) I sent her.

Off to work on more chunky houses!

Piecefully,
Jenni

2009-02-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

So January is gone and most of February with out a blog post! I so stink at this but really would like to get better!!

Let's see, since the New Year youngest DS has been in several basketball tournaments with his 6th grade team. His last one is this weekend. He also tried out for the school play "Willy Wonka" and will play the part of Charlie's dad. I'm not familiar with the part but I'm sure it will be great! I'm going to the parent meeting in a few minutes to try to get on the costume committee. Who wouldn't want to outfit Willy and the Oompa Loompas?!!

Older DS has been working out for football (yes, ALREADY). They had a powerlift competition last Saturday and he got fifth place (and there were more than five in the class!). He also sang a beautiful solo (Yes I'm biased) in the solo and ensemble competition and received a ""1" which is a "superior" rating for a class A (most difficult) solo. I'm proud, he seems to care less. Typical almost 16 year old, right?

Younger DD has finished swimming, got accepted to Bowling Green and their school of Business and received a partial scholarship as well! Very proud of her, sad she's graduating soon. Seems impossible in a lot of ways. We are starting to look for prom dresses and planning her graduation party.

Older DD is back at college and working hard. She was home this past weekend for some R & R and family time. I suspect part of the homesickness was also related to no clean laundry! Both girls had pneumonia the week before Valentine's day so I'm very glad they are feeling better!

I'm off to the play meeting but will be back soon to post some quilt and chunky house pictures!

Piece out, Jenni

Time is running out!

2008-12-31T05:40:00.000-08:00

Here it is already folks. The end of 2008. I did okay on my resolutions I guess. I mainly wanted to keep my weight off which I successfully did until the last two weeks! I have a biiig list of resolutions I'm working on for 2009. Mainly to stay fit, stretch my creativity and get some stuff done. I will post it in January.

Sitting on the edge of your chair just waiting with anticipation now, aren't you?! lol. I wonder if anyone reads this anyway! (I bet my mom and dad do!) Love ya!

Anyways, above is a clock I made last year from a cd and hair clips. The atc's were also tags for a 12 days of Christmas swap I did. I need to make another of those clocks! It's based on one made by my good friend rackycoo. I'd love to make one for myself and my girls both want one.

I finished some hand applique on my quilt for dearfii and our flickr swap. It is almost ready to go but I feel guilty that I didn't get it mailed in December. It will go out Friday though.

Friday is the open house of the new Studio 202 for Susan N and Susan S. They are moving locations and I can't wait to see it. What a dream, to have your own studio to work in daily!! Very cool.

I'm off to try to find the rick rack I misplaced and to try to clean around 5 sleeping teenagers that are crashed in my living room. Tonight we go to dinner with our friends and come back home to ring in the new year. My kids are all doing something elses. Em is celebrating her boyfriend's birthday (tomorrow, happy bday Mike!), Jill and Jake are hanging out with their boyfriend and girlfriend and Mac, poor guy, is babysitting for 10 kids. Oh well, he's 12 and doesn't know better! The parents will all be next door so it SHOULD be okay. Probably his first and last babysitting job and not worth the fifty bucks!

Be Merry!

2008-12-23T07:18:00.001-08:00

So, since I get a bit nostalgic at Christmas time, here is the Christmas card photo of my kids from December 1999.

And here is this year's photo, nine years later.

I know it's a bit of a cliche' but SERIOUSLY, where did the time go? When did I get old enough to be their mother! Why did they have to quit humoring me that they believe in Santa?!!

On the quilty front, I made one small one as a gift that I forgot to take a picture of and have sent it the recipient. I've started on a cute mini for my flickr partner, dearfii. The theme is favorite things. I've also VOWED that 2009 is the year of UFO finishing and destashing. (Nevermind that I was shopping online for some cute new fabric I saw on another blog. I closed it before I actually bought it).

I'm off to make some Christmas goodies. I spent the day yesterday looking at recipes for Christmas eve and Christmas day and grocery shopping. Apparently everyone else in town had the same bright idea. It took 3 1/2 hours to get everything and get it home. That was AFTER I cleaned up the 12 pack of Diet Pepsi that exploded in the back of my car from the cold. It was a mess, all over the windows, the ceiling, the carpet. I got it up as best as I could. I cried. I think it is the holiday blues. My best friend's dad had to go to the emergency room yesterday and it doesn't look too good for him right now. That made me miss MY mom and dad, six hours away, even more.

Life is precious people! Enjoy it to the fullest!

Wishing you peace (and time to piece),

Jenni

2008-12-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

Once again I am way past due to update.

We had the best Thanksgiving EVER! My kids got to see all of their aunts and uncles and first cousins and grandparents on both sides of the family. We live in Ohio with one Grandma and aunt. The rest of our family lives in Indiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, DC. On thanksgiving day we had hubby's side of the family, plus our "adopted" friends that are like family at our house. 16 people for dinner and I loved every minute. My kids were troopers and cleaned like fiends to help me get ready. (Wish it still was clean but you can't have everything!).

Here's a pic of the family at my house.

The day after thanksgiving we packed all 6 of us in the car and drove to South Bend, Indiana to see my parents and brothers and their families. It was WONDERFUL. If, by any chance, anyone is reading this we love you all!! Here's a pic of some of the cousins in a group hug

And one of me and one of my brothers. I love it because it makes me look more "petite" if possible. I'm 5'11" so I rarely look like anything but a giantess unless I'm with my family!

I really have been sewing. This is something I made my SIL a few years ago that she had displayed at her house. I found the pattern and enough fabric to make myself one when I cleaned my sewing room. I need to get on that!

Chunky houses for craftster swap. First up is the gnome one I made for knickertwist.

The back:

The front:

Here is the one I made for amaryllisroze.

This is actually the back:

The front:

The back of alteredmommy's house:

Bad scan of the front with a "five" for her "new" age:

The back of the little Christmas house I made of IllusionsOfNormal

ho ho ho!:

The front:

Sew, I have been sewing some but now it's time to get the holiday cards out, do laundry and get the decorating finished. Oh yes, and wrap presents before the kids start peeking in the bags. Maybe I should finally finish the stocking I started when I was pregnant with my youngest. He's 12!

My wonderful hubby has already spoiled me by getting me an early present, a blackberry curve! Probably got tired of all my "Craaaaackberry" comments when he is on his. At least now I can check my email when the kids are home. They have a knack for hogging both computers.

Peace and joy to all! Jenni

Chunky page and Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T06:09:00.001-08:00

Seamstress chunky page , originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

I thought I would show a pic of the chunky page I made for crafty_dame in the IYP (invite your partner) swap. I wasn't happy with the arms, wishing I had done something clever for hands but I ran out of time. I love those little boot beads I got at Hobby Lobby.

I cleaned my crafty room! I cleaned my crafty room! We can actually go up on the third floor and not leave with floss, thread and fabric bits clinging to the seat of our pants (or worse). I'm not ashamed now for the kids to take their friends up, either.

Until I start the next project, anyway.

I can't wait until my partners receive their chunky houses I did for craftster. I'm very pleased with the ones I made and can't wait to see what I receive. If you add me as a "friend" on flickr you'll be able to see them early.

Feeding my family of 6 PLUS 10 more for thanksgiving. I'm off to pick up all the goodies. The turkey is defrosting in the fridge and I'm anxious to get the pies made. Hope everyone has a fabulous holiday!

Sacred Heart Quilts

2008-11-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the sacred heart quilt that I sent to crafty_dame for our Invite Your Partner Swap on craftster.org. I hope she loves it as much as I love the bag she made me in my last post. I've made several sacred hearts. My first was a postcard I sent as a thank you several years ago.

I also sent another sacred heart quilt to stifflersmom.

I really should make one to keep around here sometime!

Still fighting my cold but feeling better after the antiobiotics have started to kick in. I'm going to go spend some quality time in my craft room to try to tame the beast. I am far too embarrassed to show before pics. I think I'm going to have to clean up better as I go and quit collecting oddball stuff for things I want to make "someday"! I have a lot there to keep me busy for the entire year of 2009. I feel a New Year's resolution coming on!

Piece and Peace to all,
Jenni

Vinyl Bird bag looove!

2008-11-16T15:36:00.001-08:00

Vinyl Bird bag from crafty_dame, originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

Look what I got from crafty_dame! It's gorgeous and I love it. She also sent me a checkbook cover and some yummy canadian candy. The candy didn't last long with me and my two boys!!

I haven't been too crafty. I am cleaning and organizing my craft goodies and all my ufo's (oops, I didn't realize there were sooo many!). In between dragging it all out and spreading it all over to organize it my cold kicked in. Probably aggravated it with all the dust. Anyway, I've been sick enough to not want to budge or do anything. DH finally succeeded in getting me to go to our local First Care (doc in a box) and I got antibiotics. I had really hoped they would have worked in one day (imatient, I know) but I really couldn't do much but sit on the couch and drink mass quantities of tea and water. I'm sure I'll be perfect tomorrow and ready to conquer the crafties AND thanksgiving. I did make it to the turkey farm yesterday to pick up a 22 pounder. That ought to feed the 16 folks we have coming.

I am in a chunky houses swap on craftster. I have two sides done, a front and a back but have four total houses to make. Hopefully I can make a little progress tomorrow after cleaning MY MESS.

Speaking of craftster.org, I am honored that my Big Mac costume was mentioned in the craftster.org blog as a notable costume. I know my little "big mac" loved it!

Off to get more tissues and tea. I hate being sick. I've decided not to do it anymore. If only it were that easy!

Piecefully, Jenni

Want Fries with that?

2008-11-04T10:37:00.001-08:00

Cheeseburger Costume, originally uploaded by gingerquilts.

I made my son a cheeseburger costume to wear to school for Halloween. His name is Mac. He's a "Big Mac". Get it?!! I also made a couple little quilts for craftster swaps. Batgirl has received but crafty_dame hasn't. I will post some pictures of them when they have both received. You can check out my flickr site for more cheesburger pictures and a mini tutorial. I also posted it on Craftster in the DIY costume challenge. Such fun!

Here's a bad pic of the quilt I made for batgirl

Alive and Kickin'!

2008-10-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the tree that fell across my stree a few weeks ago during the windstorms we had after the big hurricanes. It took out a power pole and left us without power and cable for a few days. We lost some food in the fridge and freezer but were lucky that was all. Another huge tree fell by the schools my boys attend.

I'm still here, and still living the "football mom" life. I also have a senior daughter and one in college so there is college prep and college "pep talk" time, too. Three more weeks of football games then maybe some "all star" games for youngest DS.

I'm thinking lately that "gingerquilts" wants to be "gingerknits". I received some "knitpicks" yarn from a swap partner last December with some koolaid packets and some dying instructions. I really want to learn to knit socks that fit my lovely long (big honkin') feet. I'm thinking a "dye job" might be in my future!

In crafty notes, I have started two swap projects for my Craftster partners, batgirl and crafty_dame. I can't show them yet, to avoid spoiling the surprise, but it is good to be inspired and spending time in my crafty space. I have been loaning my big table to the football quarterback club so I only have a small table to work on right now. Our last home game is Friday. Hopefully we will remember to pull it from the shed so I can have a larger space for sewing!

I was bad and bought some yarn from ebay this week. I want to make some felted purses. I hope it will even felt! It's 100% wool so I'm thinking it should. I've only knit some straight boring scarves before. The last thing I need is new project materials and tools. I have enough fabric and ideas for hundreds of sewing projects. I have several rooms that need to be painted. My kids need to eat EVERY DAY! lol.

I wanna knit.

I must be nuts!

Shame, shame, shame

2008-09-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Yikes. Over a month since my last post! I've been doing the very busy mom thing and no quilting or sewing other than mending this and that for people. I have three back to school, two in high school and one in his first year of middle school. The college student is busy packing up. She goes back to school on Saturday. Next Monday is reserved on the calendar for SEWING all day! I need to get everything set up again so I can go sew whenever I have a few minutes. My DD takes over the third floor (my sewing area) when she is home.

Let's see, what has been going on since I last posted?

Football - DS1, a sophomore has played two JV games. He gets to dress for varsity. He just told me he will play on a special team for Varsity on Friday! (Kick return). I'm so proud. I keep telling the other kids I need a cowbell to take to the games but they won't let me have one. He dresses on Friday nights and plays on Saturday mornings.

More Football - DS2 is in 6th grade and his last year of biddy league (thank goodness!). He has had two games, which they won, and is looking forward to the rest. He gets to play offense and defense this year, which apparently is the best thing EVER (next to the new cell phone). Life is good when you're 12! He plays every Sunday. That's right folks, football every Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!! Two weeks down, eight to go. DS2 will probably play all-stars again which will prolong the season.

Decorating-DH went on a bike trip to Canada last week and I decided to redecorate my bedroom. Four kids, a dog, a cat, school starting and football, football, football and I decide this was a good idea! Reserve my room at the "funny farm" please. I was up EVERY night until 1 am but it is done, and beautiful. It used to have magnolia wallpaper everywhere. Now, after painting the ceiling, woodwork and repapering it is white on white. I put up some pretty slate blue curtains I found at Pier 1 to complete the look. Now I just need a quilt. Or two or maybe even three.

Ugh. I tried posting a picture but my photobucket picture won't behave correctly and I'm clueless as to what to do. I'll try to post a picture of the "before" and "after" as soon as all 400 of the football pictures I took last weekend load onto the other computer.

That reminds me! I bought a new camera!! It is a digital Canon Rebel XT. I had an old Canon Rebel 2000, a 35 mm film version and loved it. My good friend is a photography nut and was upgrading her camera to the newest model so she sold me hers. I can use my old lenses but am researching new ones. I don't really want to spend too much money since I just bought my fancy shmancy sewing machine and have been adding new feet every month. I used the money from selling my old viking sewing machine to buy the camera.

I'm off to do laundry for DD1 to help her get ready for college. Otherwise we'll either never be ready or will be packing at 2 am on Saturday. I'm going to miss DS1's JV game but will hear all about if from DH I'm sure. Maybe I'll let him use my fancy camera for the game!!

Wish I was piecing. Hope you are!

Jenni

Summer Fun

2008-07-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

Above WOULD BE a shot of the boys in the pool at Put in Bay but the picture won't post! We went with 9 couples to celebrate DH's 50th birthday. Such fun! We had a great time. It's still hard to get back to the real world.

Two a days start Thursday for DS1's football. DS2 is at summer camp this week. DD2 and I went to look at my alma mater last Thursday. Sniff, I can't believe she is a senior this year! DD1 is busy working at her internship at the health clinic. We jokingly call it her "big girl job". It has been a wonderful experience and she is very motivated to go back to school in the fall.

We are spending a few lazy summer days before we gear up for back to school shopping, etc. My youngest DS has outgrown everything. Much bribery will take place next week to get him to try on clothes and shop for new. I don't think we have too much that still fits other than ratty t-shirts and gym shorts. His outfits of choice, I'm sure. We will have to shop for football cleats this weekend as his practices start on Monday.

As far as quilting and sewing go? I'm dreaming of it, but not much else. My sewing area is on the third floor of our old house. My DD1 has her bedroom there. Everything she brought home from college is spread EVERYWHERE. I moved my machine to the kitchen to do some mending but haven't had a chance to do any quilty projects. I plan to practice with my BSR foot this afternoon so I can start quilting the star quilt. To pin baste I usually tape the backing to the carpet, spread the batting out and then the quilt on top. My vaccuum burned up last Friday and is at the repair shop. It's an Oreck and I love it. One black lab and one calico cat equal too much hair to lay out a quilt without vaccuuming daily. Hopefully it will be ready for pick up today.

I'm off to the store to buy mass amounts of pasta salad ingredients. I agreed to make pasta salad for 100 hungry players and coaches for the first two-a-day meal on Thursday.

What was I thinking?!!

Piece all. Hope you're being quilty. I do SEW miss it!

Jenni

Bor-ing!

2008-07-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Boring, that's me. To me Boring = No sewing. I've been doing things like taking the laundry to the laundromat because the washer can't be repaired until Monday and cleaning my MIL's carpets. I did manage to see some movies with the kids this week. Youngest DS and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie and Older DS and oldest DD and I saw "Wanted". Both enjoyable.

DD2's friend brought over a dress for me to alter for her little sister who is a flower girl in a wedding. Sigh, couldn't say no. I'll be sewing up the sides tonight and then both girls are inviting friends over to have a late "chick flick" movie night with me. We are watching 27 Dresses and 2 others I have already forgotten the names of. I haven't had a chance to start quilting the star quilt yet. I did show it to DD's friend because I can't keep a secret. She is very excited. I need to get it done before her next hospital stay which, sadly, could be soon. Busy weekend with a sewing class at my Bernina dealer's and another fundraiser for DS1's football team. Who knew football was a year round sport and if the KID plays, the MOM does, too? Seems like it anyway. The mom's had a meeting this week to plan how we will feed the boys for 2 a days in August. Football is a grueling effort, for sure. I admire the commitment these guys have to it. DS2 will start playing his last year of biddy league football in August. Next year he'll move to jr. high. This will be his 5th season. It's amazing what happens to incredibly kind, sweet boys when they get football pads and helmets on and the testosterone starts flowing. It still takes some getting used to for me!

DD1 and I went shopping for "business casual" clothes today. Her current wardrobe is "college casual". Lol. She starts working full time at the local health clinic on Monday. She will work 40 hours a week until school resumes in the fall and will also work on her breaks from college. She wants to be a physician's assistant so this should be good training and give her some idea of what the job requires.

Here are the dotee dolls I received in the Craftster swap.

Love them! It was a fun swap.

Time to sew the flower girl's dress before it's time for "Chick Flick Night". DD2 doesn't get home from her lifeguarding job until 9 p.m. anyway.

Happy stitching! Hope someone is making something wonderful out there. I hope to, SOON!

Jenni

Dotee Dolls

2008-06-27T19:12:00.001-07:00

In between running around like a madwoman and packing for Myrtle Beach I got my Dotee Dolls sent to their new owners. Here is a group shot of their little faces. Hopefully my partners on Craftster aren't blog readers but if they are, sorry for the spoiler!! The dolls were fun to make but I definitely would do them differently next time. I plan to show them in their full glory once they make their way to their new homes.

We're off to the beach! I'm not sure if I'll be able to post much from there. We will have wifi but I'm not sure if I will have access to my dd's laptop. I have lots of summer reading and some hand applique all ready to go.

Have a great week everyone. Sew something for me. If you need a project to do there's a sadly neglected Orange Crush quilt in my sewing room . . .

Piece!! Jenni

More loot from the NQA show

2008-06-26T14:15:00.001-07:00

I finally got the picture loading to work today on blogger. I thought I would post some more pics of my goodies from the NQA show last week in Columbus, Ohio.

The first pic is of the four feet I bought for my new Bernina 440. I think, sadly, her name might be Sewphie. Pathetic, I know. My son recently informed me that I am becoming the person I used to make fun of. I think he's right! Anyway, Sewphie's new feet:

The number 2 foot is an overlock foot that we tried out in class. It will be great to finish seams. The number 10 is an edgestitch foot that can be used with all needle positions. I think it will be great for topstitching AND for stitching in the ditch on smaller quilty pieces that don't need the walking foot.

The number 57 is 1/4" piecing foot that has a little edge on the side. I didn't like the foot similar to this that I had for my Viking but this one is heftier and I am finding that the Bernina feet actually do what they say they do!

Number 43, the last foot is a freemotion couching foot. It feeds the fiber, narrow ribbon or the "couchee" while you stitch it with the feed dogs dropped. I think this will be fun on some artsy quilts. When I get to them of course. Foot 23 is on order for me by my fabulous sales folks at Beth's Creative Stitchery in Columbus.

My next "had to have" is a circle cutter that was being demonstrated by the Olfa guy at his booth. It works like a compass. You basically decide what size circle you want and then cut it out of fabric with this spiffy tool. He even threw in the extra blades for free and showed us how to practice before we start cutting.

Below are my spiffy fibers that didn't show up in my last post. Aren't they pretty? Wool roving in the big bags and wool yarns wrapped on card below them.
The paper piecing pattern that will probably make me crazy but looks like it will be beautiful. I loved the sample they had. It looked like they used small scale repro prints in it. Anyway, it won't be real large and all the foundations are INCLUDED. Oh yeah.
Last but not least is this button. Sandy was buying buttons and fun things at an antique button/trim booth. I saw it, grabbed it and paid for it in less than a minute! I love him. He's pretty big and will someday be on a jacket, I think. For me, turtles are the new rooster, but you have to see my kitchen to understand the rooster thing. I have tooooooo many.
So, there we go. Lots of projects to keep me busy for quite some time. I haven't even THOUGHT about all the unstarted/untouched projects already sitting in my messy sewing stuff. Time for a reality check. That can wait until I get back from vacation though.

I need to go find a good hand project for the car and the beach. I think I'll pull out a wool penny rug and the Baltimore style block of the month I bought from my LQS before it closed. It needs attention.

One more dotee doll to make and then they go to their new homes tomorrow. The link to the one I received already is here. First I need to put away all my laundry. I went to the laundromat today with 15 loads of towels, clothes and bedding so I could get it done all at once.

Tonight I make one more dotee as a reward to myself.

Piece! Jenni

Happy 25th to the Hubby and Me!!!

2008-06-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Wow. 25 years. Where did the time go? Four great kids, a dog, a cat and a huge house later we've had a great life. I'm a happy, very lucky girl. Happy Anniversary baby!!

Quilt Show Goodies

Here are some great wool roving and wool fibers (looks like yarn scraps, lol) from Della Jane. (OOPS-Pics didn't show up. Gah!) I can't wait to use them with my felting attachment for my Bernina. Maybe a purse or a sweater this fall/winter? For now I'm just taking them out of the bag and admiring them. This booth had a little kit to dye fibers, too. It was mainly a pack of koolaid and some plain wool. I was excited to see it as this is what I intend to do with the wool roving I bought from ebay recently.

More goodies:

Thread and batting for star quilt (from earlier posts). The one on the right is for the back. I can't wait to see how they look!

Batik's were calling to me at the show. I've been wanting to play with jelly rolls and also try some bargello style quilting. I drooled over the green one and bought it. The girls at the booth at webfabrics.net laughed at me when I went back first thing the next morning to get the pink one, too! I kept thinking about how badly I wanted it. Now if only I'd gotten the gold set . . .

The same booth had the lovely "Bali pops" set. This is the one I'm going to try to do a bargello with, just to play. They're so beautiful!

The last pic is of the squares, already cut, for the 5 easy pieces

Mmmm. Better than ice cream!

Other purchases:

Four new feet for my Bernina. Probably the priciest big buy but I knew the girls from the shop where I bought my machine, Beth's Creative, would be at the show and feet were 20% off. Carol, my saleswoman, even went to the shop early in the morning to bring the feet I wanted to the show. There was one that they were out of that I wanted and she is going to hold it for me when it comes in and give me the discount. What a sweetie! Can't wait to play with these!

Eleanor Burns was there and signed this Christmas book I bought. It's a little outdated but with the right fabrics the projects I liked should look great. They also had a patten and easy piecing method for a Jacob's Ladder in the book, a quilt I want to make for DS1. I also bought one of those rotating Olfa mats, a cool Olfa tool that cuts perfect circles, a great turtle button and a paperpiecing pattern of a star. It looks complicated but lovely. Unfortunately, it's taking pics FOREVER to load today and I have to pick up DS1 from summer gym and meet hubby for an anniversary lunch.

Will there be Dotee's? There have to be! Three are done, two to go. Hope to post the little group for you soon.

Piece! Thanks for stopping by! Jenni

Five Easy Pieces

2008-06-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

I'm home from the NQA Quilt Show in Columbus and trying to catch up on laundry. When I got back Saturday we had an all day hog roast fundraiser for DS1's football team and Sunday we were invited to a lovely cookout. Trying to put things away and do damage control on the house. I always feel like a maid when I get home from a trip!!

Anyway, my dear friend Sandy and I took a class at the show called "5 Easy Pieces" by Diane Hire. She's written some great books and had one of her quilts there that was awesome to see up close. The class list had us bringing two sets of 5 six inch squares of fabric that we would put into a quilt, some thread, batting and a backing. Naturally I bought way too many sets plus extra batting and backing. It was a good thing, though because Sandy brought some fat quarters we decided not to cut up and used my fabrics, which worked well for her. Here she is having fun.

Here are our sets when we finished the class.

Mine are on the right. I actually got them pieced, cut out and quilted during the class. I finished the edges but am not real happy with them. The threads kept catching around the corners and they need to be ironed here! I intend to join them somehow and embellish them. I'll cover up the bobbles with some beads or something. I borrowed a Janome (they were provided for the class). It was very nice but I am so used to my old Viking Lily 550 (for sale if you're interested) and my new Bernina 440 QE. I needed a walking foot I think. Anyway, it was a fun class. Here are Diane Hire's samples. The one on the left is the class we did. She joined them all on a quilted strip of fabric.

In the middle, the turquoise/purple set are some squares she's doing and trimming for a quilt. Sandy and I bought some batik fat sixteenths to make one like this. We thought we would work on it in our hotel room but were exhausted from all the quilt viewing and, of course, SHOPPING!! We did get them all cut into squares and ready to go. We both bought the same set of green batiks and are sharing some cool purpley and pink sets. I'm excited to get going on them.

Tune in tomorrow and I'll share everything I bought with you. I'm so excited to use it! Unfortunately, I have to finish my dotee dolls and we are going on vacation soon and then I need to quilt the star quilt when we get back. I'm planning on forcing, and I do mean FORCING myself to clean up my messy, horrible sewing closet before I get started. I figure that once it is cleaned up and the kids go back in the fall I can sew to my hearts content.

Well, sew to my hearts content when laundry, cooking, cleaning and the possible threat of needing employment to help pay for college educations don't hamper my fun. Reality is such a creativity killer!

I'm off to take the DS1 to his football "camp" at the high school. DS2 and DD2 and I are taking my MIL out for dinner. We've been terribly neglectful of her lately!!

Piece friends! Jenni

oops

2008-06-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Been slacking at the blogger front! We took everyone to Cedar Point over the weekend. The kids talked me into riding the Dragster and the Millenium Force. I lived to tell about it and my neck isn't killing me so all is good. It was a lot of fun, actually.

Football conditioning is in full force for DS1 so the "Mother's Club" has already been busy. I had to cook 22 lbs of hamburger up into taco meat for a concession stand fundraiser we were doing. I don't think I can ever eat a taco again. My kitchen smelled AWFUL!! The fundraiser didn't do as well as hoped, either so we are looking towards the next one as a money maker for the club. We try to raise money to pay for the food we feed the boys during 2-a-days in August and for end of season gifts. DS2 went to football camp last week and is at basketball camp this week. He turned 12 last Friday!! Hard to believe my baby is that old.

DD1 is home from college and officially a sophomore. She is catching up with friends before starting her job in a couple weeks. DD2 has been working as a lifeguard. Her friend is back in Children's hospital and we are hoping for good news and better health. I did get the top pieced for her quilt.

Hmm. It kind of wrinkled when I folded it. The pattern for this quilt is "Lucky Stars" by Atkinson Designs. The instructions are fabulous and she has you make the stars larger than you need and cut them down to the right size so everything lines up really well. I would definitely recommend the pattern and may try it again with some of my stash. I bought the backing to match her bedroom. It's the lighter blue fabric. The dark blue will be the binding.

I'm planning on quilting it next week. I am headed to the NQA quilt show with my friend Sandy on Wednesday. We are going to stay there for a couple nights and take a class called "5 easy pieces" on Thursday. I'm so excited! Sandy is the one that got me started with quilting in the first place. She moved about 45 minutes away and is working full time so I don't get to see her as often anymore. I'm off to run kids and work on my Dotee Dolls for the Craftster swap. The last step of the Orange Crush is going to have to wait until the Lucky Stars quilt is quilted.

Piece everyone! Jenni

I got a GNOME!

2008-06-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here is my handsome new gnome. He's actually pretty goofy looking but I've always wanted one and he was 40% off at Cracker Barrel this morning. I'm sure the kids will be starting to worry.

It's been quite busy since I last posted. Hubby and I went to Key West and had a great time. It's beautiful, warm and fun. I would definitely go again even though I've never seen so many surly bartenders in my life. We had a couple good ones but many, one jerk at Schooner's Wharf in particular, were surly. The food was fabulous and we have lots of great pics and memories.

Youngest DS played in the Gus Macker this weekend. He and his team wore the shirts I stencilled using freezer paper, acrylic paint and textile medium. They didn't win anything but they played well and I'm proud of them! Older DS decided not to play this year. He's giving up basketball all together after a lousy freshman experience. Just when he's growing, too! He's probably close to 6'3" and still going. Oh well, he's committed to football at the moment.

GUS MACKER TEAM: Mac and Cheese (Mac is mine, on the left)
The other team members were the "cheese". We had Cheddar, Stinky and Colby. They had fun coming up with their names! I made cheese "holes" in the numbers when I stencilled them. It amused me at least!!

No quilting to report. I need to get the next clue started for the Orange Crush mystery and work on the star quilt but I have been so busy with end of school activities and I came home with a head cold with a wicked headache from Key West that is just now letting up. Hopefully I can get the machine set up and work a little tonight.

I signed up to do the Dotee Doll swap on Craftster. I've always wanted to make some of these. Should be a fun one!!

I worked in the yard this afternoon. I was afraid the neighbors were going to start calling the city. If anyone has a good way to get rid of poison ivy plants, please let me know. I found several batches. I sprayed with a very concentrated batch of Round Up but am afraid of that stuff. I probably killed everything around it, unfortunately. I feel like sneaking over in the neighbors yard tonight to spray it on their side of the fence. Anyone ever been arrested for illegal use of pesticides?!! I hope I stayed far enough away from those evil leaves of three.

Anyway, tomorrow I put in some very late flowers so my yard and patio will look nice again. Besides, I need to dress it up now for my gnome. Maybe I should have a gnome naming contest . . . .

Piece! Jenni

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-05-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working on the star quilt for my DD2's friend and packing for our trip down south. DH and I are going on a second honeymoon to Key West! Should be great. Sadly DD's friend is now in the hospital and having surgery tomorrow. They still aren't sure what is wrong with her but I'm praying that they find something soon that they can treat. DD and I drove up to see her two nights ago. She is an amazing, lovely person with such a strong will and a big heart. She sent me flowers today from her hospital room for my birthday. I pray that everything goes well for her and she starts to improve soon.

Above is a sacred heart postcard (sideways, sorry) that I sent to a swap partner on Craftster. It was my first postcard and still my favorite. I'm hoping to get involved in some groups that swap fiber postcards soon.

Piece everyone! I'll be back in blogworld next week. Jenni

What happened to APRIL showers?!

2008-05-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Lots of rain lately. Luckily it was nice on Tuesday for youngest DS's field day. I got to run the long jump event for all the 3rd through 5th graders. It was lots of fun for all.

My quilt kit (see below) for the Lucky Stars quilt finally came yesterday. The fabrics are gorgeous. Gotta love Moda! I had a few "to wash or not to wash" moments and decided to go ahead and pre-wash the fabrics since the fabrics are so bright and I was worried about bleeding. Luckily my front loader is easy on fabrics and I used the handwash cycle with a color catcher sheet. Nothing bled and they are all pressed and ready to go. The pattern is really well written and should go together easily. I hope to cut tonight and begin piecing as time allows. Hubby and I are leaving for Key West soon so I need to get the house in order, laundry done and packing started.

I'm currently working on stencilling four shirts for youngest DS's basketball team. There is a street ball three-on-three tournament (four on a team) coming up soon. I have the design done and cut almost all of the fronts and backs out of freezer paper last night. I had a tough time finding sleeveless shirts appropriate for the team that would fit everyone. Three boys can wear men's sizes but one of the guys is small but mighty and needs a boy's size. I finally went to a T and Top shop that does screen printing. They had two of the shirts in stock and ordered the others for me. I feel like I need to get these done before our trip so I don't have to go crazy when we get back. I'll post a pic when I am finished.

Time to clean and then maybe sneak up to my sewing room.

I'll leave you with a tree quilt I did for a Craftster swap from a Carol Bryer Fallert pattern. I need to make some more of these. It was fun and not as tough as it looks.

Piece! Jenni

What I've been up to lately . . .

2008-05-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Starting on Friday I sewed, sewed, sewed! I am really loving my new Bernina.

On Friday I finished my OC steps 2 and 3. On Saturday I went to the shop where I bought my Bernina for a class to learn how to use my needle punch attachment. I am really looking forward to playing with that some more!! It is great for felting roving, yarn and wool fibers together. I see some fun artsy creations in my future!

I worked Saturday evening, Sunday and this morning on Step 4 of the OC quilt and pleased to say I am DONE! All caught up and ready to go. I changed my original yardage choices though. The colors I originally planned were very bright, with a limey green, a bright pink and a very bright neon blue. I decided they really clashed with the scraps I had chosen so I dug into the stash and decided to make a "blueberry crush". The star colors I used, green and deep rose/burgandy blend with the scraps well. Hopefully there is enough contrast. My rose color is actually three fabrics.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4 with all three fabrics (plus one to make it look good)

I also took a picture of all the blocks (steps) waiting in their box with my other yardage. We are readly for step 5!

I still haven't received my quilt kit I bought on ebay. Even though I was notified on the 8th that it was shipped the post office tracking site says it shipped today. I think I will try to get some spring cleaning done around the house before it gets here so I can have a few more crazy sewing days.

School days are coming to an end for the school year. My youngest DS has "Field Day" tomorrow. I will help the 4th and 5th graders with their events. He will go to the middle school next year so it is my last elementary volunteering experience. Kind of makes me feel a bit nostalgic!! We had a meeting tonight for the "Football Mother's Club" for my other DS's high school team. He will be a sophomore next year. It takes a lot of behind the scenes work for these teams to do what they do, not to mention the tremendous commitment the players make. I thought we'd have a summer break but they start June 2nd. Football season here we come!

Enjoy your piecing everyone. Summer's coming! Jenni

Still Stitchin'

2008-05-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

I've slowly but surely been working away at step two of the Orange Crush Quilt. Hoping to finish sewing on the big triangles and start Step 3 tonight.

I took my MIL today to buy her Mother's Day flowers. We found a beautiful big planter of petunia's and verbana that she loves. I also planted some other flowers that she bought and some tomato plants for her. Hopefully all danger of frost has passed!

I ordered the quilt kit pictured below from ebay on Monday. It will be for my dd's friend (pictured in the red dress below). She may be hospitalized soon. As my mother's day treat to myself I am sewing ALL DAY on Friday, Saturday (when DH, DD1 and DS1 are biking), and hopefully Sunday, too. I'd really like to get it done for her ASAP. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew!! The pattern is called "Lucky Stars" by Atkinson Designs and the fabrics are Moda Botanicals. I just need to find a fun backing, although I could just hunt through my stash and piece one for her!! I may add a pieced heart and a big "A" which is the first letter of her name on the back. Time will tell!

Stay tuned. Idol tonight. Who will go home? I'm hoping Jason. Sorry Jason, can't stand the dreads. I must be too old.

More soon. Same Bat time, same Bat channel! Jenni

First project on my new bernina!

2008-05-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

I made this chunky page for a book that alteredmommy, a swapping friend from craftster is making. It's 4 x 4 and the theme is "Hope". The back, which I forgot to photograph, has an appliqued butterfly and says "Hope is the dream of a soul awake". I hope it makes it to Canada in time for her to use it!! Check out her relay for life page. She's using the pages she receives to make a book to raffle off.

I am still getting used to the new machine and wondering if I should have gotten the Viking with all the embroidery instead. I'm dying to find out when the classes are but they aren't posted yet.

I had a great time in Athens, Ohio for Mom's weekend on Friday and had several wonderful adopted daughters and sons!! Prom on Saturday was lovely. My daughter looked gorgeous and a great time was had by all. The mother of one of her friends put on a fabulous dinner for four couples, which was nice for all involved. Here she in coral with another friend in the red dress that I altered. Gorgeous girls!!

I'm off to practice some more on Bernie. Piece out! Jenni

New Baby!

2008-05-02T04:34:00.000-07:00

Not my picture but same machine!!

I'm a lucky girl! Hubby wanted to get me something nice for my birthday (on the 22nd) so he offered to get me a new laptop. Wow! A computer of my own that I wouldn't have to share with him (the one in our bedroom) or the kids (in the family room). I was really excited until I started thinking . . . do I really need one?! I mean, if we're going to spend that much money, (we were looking at a Mac), I could get something I really want.

Then I quilted the star quilt below. Now folks, I'm PROUD of that quilt. First of all it's finished and in the momma's hands and the baby's not in grad school. Second, I've been working on my quilting and free motion techniques and I've improved to the point that I'm not embarrassed to show it to others or give it away.

Still . . .

I started dreaming about the Bernina BSR. My machine is very nice, a Viking Lily 550 with quilting stitches and I have the plexiglass table and all that good stuff. But, that BSR would be dreamy, right? So I mentioned it to hubby. Now he's a biker (bicycle, not Harley) and we've had a new bike every year to every other year it seems. All the kids and I have NICE bikes. Most of them are TREK's. He told me he wanted me to get something I really want. It can be my anniversary gift, too. (25 years in June!).

I tried out the new Viking Sapphire 870. Nice, bigger bed, it was ok. I almost got a Viking Quilt Designer II with all the embroidery stuff (I don't embroider at the moment) which would have been within $100 of the Bernina 440 QE without the embroidery module. The thing I didn't like about the Sapphire was that I couldn't upgrade or "add" an embroidery module.

To make a long story short, I was sold after 5 minutes of sewing on the Bernina. The BSR is a dream. Even though I didn't feel I could afford the embroidery package, I can add it later. They were on sale and are supposedly going up in price as of May 1st because of the economy. I bought one!

I pieced 110 triangles to squares for step two of the Orange Crush quilt and it was a dream. I could tell the difference immediately. I have a really busy weekend but I'm planning on holing up in the sewing room on Monday and playing all day.

CHUNKY BOOK page for Craftster swap. This is for my good buddy and former college roomie rackycoo. It has a bunch of hidden meaning from our college days and the theme of the swap is "The creative life".

I'm off to visit my oldest dd at Ohio University for Mom's weekend and then we are coming back tomorrow for second dd's prom. Big weekend = no sewing until Monday. I'm sure I'll dream up several projects that I HAVE to do by then.

Piecefully, Jenni

Baby Log Cabin Quilt DONE!

2008-04-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

I finished the baby log cabin quilt and sewed the binding on while visiting with my parents. My youngest son and I gave it to his teacher yesterday and she was thrilled with it. She asked me an interesting question, "How do you know how to do this?". I could only answer that it is my hobby and obsession. As soon as I decided I wanted to make a quilt, 9 years ago, I started learning, obsessing and collecting. Anyway, I washed the quilt and it was all puckery and soft and I'm very pleased with the results.

Here is some quilting detail and the back of the quilt, which is flannel, before I sewed the signature square on.

While in South Bend we went to the "Blue and Gold" spring football game at Notre Dame. Older son was very happy about that and got "the shirt" to wear. 99% of his friends and classmates are Ohio State Buckeye fans and he enjoys parading his "Irish" fan-ness whenever he can. Anyway, "the shirt" is an interesting fundraising effort for Notre Dame students and I'm sure we will be looking for next year's shirt to add to his collection.

The prom dress I'm altering for my dd's friend is almost done. I'm rehemming the front so she doesn't step on it. The poor kid lost more weight after I altered it so it had to be adjusted again. We're hoping she will be healthy enough to make it to the prom. At least the beading part is done and I can readjust it more easily now.

Time to watch "American Idol" soon while I work on clue two of the OC quilt. I have one, count it ONE of the 142 squares done. I had to do that one so I could say I was working on it!

Say a prayer of good health for dd's friend and enjoy your evening.

Piecefully yours, Jenni

Road Trip

2008-04-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

I'm taking off with three of the kids (oldest DD is away at college) to the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana to visit my parents. Hopefully my brother and his family will be able to find time to visit with us, also. It's a 6 1/2 hour trip so the kids are getting out at noon. My oldest son loves anything to do with Notre Dame so I'm sure we'll have to check out the campus, AGAIN!

Here is the quilt I made a couple years ago for my parents' 50th anniversary. There are 50 leaves and a heart for each child and grandchild. I even hand quilted it. It hangs in their living room by my mother's grand piano. It's shown here hanging from a broomstick on the window of a cabin we had rented for a family reunion. Classy, right?!!

Back to the grind Sunday evening. I hope to finish the prom dress when we get back so I can start the next clue of the Orange Crush quilt.

Piecefully,

Jenni

I won!

2008-04-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

I won something! A few months ago I dutifully filled out a questionnaire for Fiskars and I was notified by a very nice representative through an email that I won a $50 gift card! Yahoo! FedEx delivered it today. I'm saving it for the NQA quilt show to buy more goodies! I never win so this was a great surprise! Fiskars rocks!

This is as close as I'm going to get to anything related to Orange Crush for a while. I was excited to find DIET Orange Crush! It doesn't taste too bad, either. Clue 2 will have to wait for me until next week. Sooooo tempting, though!

Procrastination update! I finally MADE myself do a big free motion quilting practice square this afternoon. I squiggled and wiggled and adjusted tension until I decided that maybe, just maybe I didn't stink so badly after all. I got brave and quilted the center of the baby quilt. I ran out of bobbin TWICE and also ran out of thread but had another color that was close enough. It's scrappy, right?! Here's my star squiggles so far.

Finally, something I've quilted doesn't look "wilted" on the back! I think I may have solved some tension problems. It's not perfect but it's a start. I'm excited to get back to it after I feed my kids.

DD isn't too happy with me because I called the Red Cross to arrange for her to take her final life guarding test AFTER she recovers from pneumonia. Some things just aren't worth it. To make her feel better I promised to start her friend's dress tonight. I finally moving forward! Well, everywhere BUT on the exercise front. I didn't make the bike ride. I need to get the quilt and dress going. That little quilt is getting a lot more exercise than I am!

In pieces, Jenni

Procrastination Station

2008-04-16T07:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of the chunky pages I sent Katxena in our craftster chunky page swap. I paperpieced the little quilt square and went with a "zetti" theme for the rest. On the back I machine stitched the words "When life gives you scraps, make quilts". Katxena is a fellow quilter and follower of Bonnie's scrap system so I thought it was appropriate. You can see what she sent me here.

I'm here blogging because I'm avoiding what I really need to be doing.

Quilt the baby log cabin. Once again I freeze and can't decide what to do and then freak that it won't look good. Anybody have a good swift kick they can send my way?!
Alter a beaded, red silk prom dress for my daughter's bff. She is a very sick girl and has lost 15 pounds since she bought it. She's all of about 105 pounds now. I'm afraid to ruin a $400 dress. I'll get over it, there's still 2 weeks until prom. Adrenline in the form of PANIC will kick in soon.
Chunky page for a Craftster swap for MY bff, my college roomie. Rackycoo is an awesome artist, heck she majored in art. This lil' ol' elementary ed major is STUCK on ideas. It has to be fab. I still have over a week.
Another chunky page for alteredmommy for a book she is raffling off. She's another awesome craftster that has a very inspiring story. The theme is "hope" and I have drawn my design. This isn't due until May and is what I really WANT to make, but am not letting myself until I get the above three done. Pooh. Life.

Of course there's always laundry, dinner, cleaning, walking, doing that exercise thing. I'm probably going on a 2 hour bike ride with hubby and oldest son tonight so I'll call that my moving for today. They are intense cyclists. I'm not. I like to cruise through life and look at the scenery instead of see how hard and fast I can go. At least it would be something to do while avoiding the above!

I am trying to force myself NOT to look obsessively for the next orange crush clue. I'm not even close to being successful, but trying.

On the home front, my poor daughter was sick all weekend and the last two days with walking pneumonia. She went back to school today but is extremely tired. We were planning to head to South Bend to visit my parents this weekend. I need to check with the doctor to see if she is contagious after being on antibiotics. Poor kid. Hope she feels better for the prom!! She's supposed to take her final test to get certified for lifeguarding tonight. I'm not real excited about her getting in the water or trying to do this with pneumonia.

Youngest son had a 5th grade band concert last night. Very amusing. It was a really strange crowd with lots of hooting and hollering at the kids as they went on stage and performed. My mother, the ex-music teacher, would DIE if she witnessed that. She always taught me that concerts were a formal, dignified event. Not that one!!

I'm off to find some other means of avoiding the quilt and the dress. Heck, maybe I'll just jump in and do it. Piece out! Jenni

Star light, star bright!

2008-04-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Progress! I finally got the top of the log cabin baby quilt put together. I realized a lot while doing this. I have been doing so much freeform artsy type stuff with my atc's, chunky pages and other "fun" stuff that I have totally gotten away from good clean piecing techniques. I got out my moleskin and my rulers and changed the feet on the machine for this one.

About half way through these log cabin blocks I had a big WHAT WAS I THINKING moment. Geez, why so many strips Jen?!! I could have done it with bigger strips or something but I really, really LOVE log cabin quilts and am dying to make more. I made a few mistakes in this one but overall I'm happy with it and hope the recipient doesn't mind "scrappy". I don't know the teacher well that I'm making this for. I just know that my son really likes her and is excited about her new baby.

I was very undermotivated this weekend to exercise and didn't. Last night I realized, as hubby and I were looking at places to go in Key West, that I need to get my act together and get in swim suit shape!! We are going there for our 25th anniversary, sans kids. I'm very excited and got off my butt to do another 3 mile walk. I may have to up the workouts.

When I'm motivated.

Tonight I'm going to quilt like a rock star to try to get this to the new momma before she has to go on maternity leave. The baby's due May 1st but it is her second so who knows how long she'll be able to hold out.

Besides, I'm looking forward to some new OC clues soon! I'm really enjoying all the new "friends" I'm making by visiting the "quiltville" and mystery blogs. Leave me a comment to let me know you've been here, I love getting them!!

Piecefully yours, Jenni

Baby log cabin progress!

2008-04-11T06:29:00.001-07:00

Here are the strips I gathered and cut for the baby quilt I'm making. It will be dark blue, bright blue, white (ish) and light blue. I got lucky because a friend that was moving gave me a HUGE tub of her scrap and unwanted fabric. There were lots of strips already cut in the bin which I immediately sorted in Bonnie's method. Between her fabrics and mine it will be nice and scrappy but stlll look good.

Last night, after THE most disappointing American Idol ever, I finished the star points, which I think will be the hardest because I had to think as I did it. I tried to use the brighter blue between the star points and the dark along the edges to give it a "starburst" effect. I plan to do all dark blue squares in the corners and all light blue squares in the center.

What do you think so far?

I'm pleased. I'm off to sew for an hour on it. I'm trying to fit in one hour of exercise and one hour of sewing everyday. The two things that keep me fit and sane! I got up early to do the three mile portion of Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds. If I get some more squares done I will hopefully be able to post more tomorrow. My oldest daughter is coming home today for the weekend and I'm hoping to get through the boys outgrown clothes. I'm planning a mega garage sale in May as incentive to clean out the house. I'm planning on using the proceeds for spending money at the NQA Quilt Show in June. Talk about incentive! Clean house AND stash? I'm all over that!

Piecefully yours, Jenni

Sewing frenzy!

2008-04-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

After my three mile walk this morning I gathered up dark blue, light blue and white 1 1/2 inch strips to make a log cabin baby quilt for my son's teacher. She's due May 1st so I need to make it snappy! She told my son she is decorating her room in chocolate brown with dark blue, light blue and white stars. I don't really have any brown in the quilt. Maybe I can go shopping for the back. My goal is to use up my stash, though. I only want to buy tools and thread right now.

Oh well. Maybe just a yard and a half. It's for the baby, after all! I hope to work on it tomorrow, too and post a pic. So far I have half the blocks almost done. There are going to be 16 blocks total.

For you American Idol fans, HOW SAD are you?!!! I just love Michael Johns. I didn't vote on Tuesday so I blame myself (like I would have made a difference).

Off to finish the first half of my log cabin blocks.

Peaceful piecing! Jenni

The little purse that is

2008-04-09T05:57:00.001-07:00

Kittykill received her package yesterday! I can finally show you the purse that I made to replace the one posted about below. The front pocket is a mini quilt that I stitched to the outside by the binding. Here's a pic of the inside

I also sent her an embroidery floss roll up she wanted. I designed it to work kind of like knitting needle roll ups. I randomly pieced the outside with red and white fabric scraps (don't have a pic of that unfortunately) and embroidered birds and a heart on it.

The inside has a zippered clear pocket for extras, a scissor pocket and needle spot. The part I'm most proud of is the area with the pockets for floss. The sides pieces I used to attach them with aren't uniform, which irritated me when I was done but I was proud of how the rest of them turned out.

I had fun making this crow pillow holding an anatomical heart.

Last but now least, happy 15th birthday (yesterday) to this handsome guy! Here he's with his sis last May before his 8th grade dance. He's almost 3 inches taller now!!

>That's all for now, Happy Spring everyone!! Jenni

Orange Crush Step one DONE!

2008-04-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

I finally finished pressing all my four patches for the Orange Crush Mystery quilt. I stitched them in little batches with the big finish last night but I pressed them all tonight. I have 17 sets of 10 so I will have 20 extra four patches to play with in another project. I'm thinking there could be a table runner in my future!

I'm still waiting patiently for my package to arrive in Oregon for kittykill so I can post pictures of it. I've gotten so many compliments on the bag and necklace she sent me (posted below)!

On the fitness front I've exercised everyday since last Monday and added a new weight loss ticker to my blog. I've also been working on a plan to get organized. I figure that's my answer to getting more time to quilt. I'm going to start with my sewing room and move on from there. I'm thrilled to find Bonnie's scrap organizing system. Tomorrow I start! I'm too embarrassed to post a "before" photo although I may take one for my own punishment so I never let it get so bad again! You'll probably never see the photo of me 70+ pounds heavier for the same reason. It's painful to look at it sometimes. I figure I'm cruising toward some national reality show embarrassment if I don't fix it ASAP!!

I drove 1 1/2 hours one way this morning to have lunch with my oldest dd at her college campus. It was a beautiful day for a drive and a great day for a hug and some smiles.

I'm off to bed so I can get up and walk, then organize!

Peaceful piecing, Jenni

Busy, busy, busy!

2008-04-04T14:06:00.001-07:00

No time for stitching today but I did get some awesome swap packages today. One is from kittykill for the Craftster birdswap. Look at the awesome embroidery on the tote bag!!

More pictures can be seen here.

I did get my 50 minutes of walking in and got through a few piles of laundry. Mostly I worked on my hospice fundraiser. Tonight we have a special birthday dinner for my dear MIL who is 80 years young. Happy Birthday Bess! I'm so lucky to have you in my life.

Tomorrow is the big show and then I hope to get back to some sewing.

Peaceful piecing everyone!! Jenni

Orange Crush progress

2008-04-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

I foolishly thought I could finish step one of the Orange Crush quilt yesterday! The dog, kids, phone and laundry had other plans for me. I did get all my "two patches" done and one set of ten four-patches. I feel pretty good about it because I can slip up to my sewing area to sew up a few at a time. I'm really having a hard time with the totally scrappy thing. I know that if I obsess too much the quilt will never get made. If it turns out to be hideous I'll either hide it under one of the many other projects that need to be quilted or let the dog have a quilt of her very own. Then she can quit sleeping on the piles of dirty laundry! The piles are so big it must be cozy. Pathetic, isn't it?!!

I have lots and lots of work to do on the fundraiser I'm working on for our local hospice. They put on a huge variety show each year and have a cash raffle to help make money. I'm in charge of the raffle. We sell up to 400 tickets with the chance for the winner to take home $20,000 and the other half of the money goes to hospice to help people that can't afford to pay. Great cause, lots of work updating my database and printing the tickets. The show is Saturday, so I better get busy and quit playing with my fabric!

On the exercise front, I've done a minimum of 30 minutes each day this week. Time to get off my hiney and go for a walk. Maybe I'll make the dog get off her laundry pile so she can go with me.

The little purse that won't be . . .

2008-04-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

Sniff. I stayed up late into the night last Thursday to make a purse for kittykill, my bird swap partner on Craftster . Okay, so late for me is past midnight people. I'm getting old. Anyway, I've been playing with a technique where you take leaves and petals from artificial flowers, arrange them on a muslin/batting/muslin sandwich , cover them with netting and quilt them down. I used the technique for my Fabric ATC's here

(The backs look like this)

I also used it for my Craftster Chunky Page Swap that I sent to Original Youth

I thought it would make a cute purse so I had fun with the fabric, machine appliqued a little birdie on it and started to finish the purse when I noticed the netting was torn in spots and melted in others.

Bah! I was tired at that point and decided to scrap the whole thing. I might try to stitch something over it and give it to one of my girls or use it myself. I did make another purse yesterday that turned out great to replace it. Pics of that to come since kittykill won't receive her package until next week and if she reads this won't be surprised anyway!!

On another note, for those of you that don't know me (ha ha, like all of you most likely) I have lost 75+ pounds since January 1, 2007 by following the South Beach Diet. In the past couple months I've put on 6 pounds. I actually feel as if I were as fat as I was when I started! All you amatuer anaylsts can have some fun with that one. Anyway, this week is THE week I'm starting to kick up the exercise. I've successfully changed the eating habits, I'm just eating too much of the right stuff and not moving enough. My goal is to do 45 - 60 minutes of walking or exercise per day and up my water intake. I love Leslie Sansone's walking videos. Time to pop on in now.

IDOL tonight! I'm going to start my Orange Crush quilt while I watch as a reward for all the walking I'm about to do.

Geez, this blogging thing is exhausting!! I hope I get the hang of it soon.

A new beginning

2008-03-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've decided it was high time to start a blog and track all my projects. I'm currently working on pulling out fabrics for the Orange Crush mystery quilt Bonnie is doing. I'm almost always working on a swap for Craftster and now is no exception. I need to finish my bird goods for kittykill and a chunky page for katxena at the moment. Here's the bag I made for RondaS for the One Tiny Thing 18 swap.

It's hand appliqued of 100 percent cottons with cotton threads and silk threads because poor Ronda has a slew of allergies.

I got the pattern here.