Kiara's 4th Birthday 2012. 
We had a great day with the grand-daughters at Chuck E. Cheese.  Jayda was as cute as a bug, Pyper loved Chuck E. Cheese but from a distance, and Kiara and Pyper both loved playing all the games and collecting tickets.  Thanks to everyone that made Kiara's birthday so special.  Nana and Papa loved spending time with our three grand-daughters.

Quilt for Manit's little girl due in March 2012

This is called "Pacific Northwest".  It features animals that are endangered.  This pattern can be found in Quiltmaker's All-Time Favorites Winter '05 magazine.  It is one I  have been itching to make for years and have enjoyed seeing it come to life.  It was originally made to be a wall hanging so to be able to make it large enough to be a crib quilt I think I will be adding a row of hearts to the top and bottom before adding the finishing borders. I love all the bright colors.  I will add a new picture as I add the hearts and borders.

Dear Jane Quilt 1863

                                      Dear Jane Rainbow Quilt  by Jane A Stickle 1863

I've probably lost my mind but I started this quilt a couple weeks ago.  It has 255 blocks in it.  169 blocks are 5" blocks and 86 triangles.  The original was in various fabrics but I am really drawn to this Rainbow bright design.  I love the placement of the colors.  I am also very drawn to the history of the quilt.  Unfortunately a lot of the blocks are appliqued and since I don't like and have never successfully appliqued anything this is going to be quite the learning adventure for me...  I'll be forced to look for an applique method that works for me.  I will post blocks as I make them trying to keep a good running record of my progress.  Unfortunately I always seem to have ten projects going at once so I figure this is at least a five year commitment for me.  With that in mind I would like to have this completed by March of 2017.  At least there are a lot of sites with advice online for completing the blocks and I will try to post some of those as I find what works best along the way.

Cary's End Tables 2012

Cary made these in January from a pattern we bought from The Winfield Collection over ten years ago.  He is currently working on an end table/printer stand for the living room.  He also would like to make a coffee table and a couple of end tables for us, too.  He did a great job and we are looking forward to the rest of the tables to complete our new living area.

A couple of my UFO's

I figure I better post a couple of my current UFO's.  They have been setting around uncompleted for too long now.  Kay's quilt I have had laying around for at least a year and a half.  I can never seem to find the right fabric to bind it with.  I bought a fabric for the binding a year ago and hated it and haven't tried again.  I considered using the fabric from the back of the quilt to bind it but the two colors of green clash in my opinion and I just can't do that.  Now I'm considering adding prairie points because I have always loved that look but still have to consider color choices. I at least have it ironed and hanging in plain view in my quilting studio so it is in my face as wanting my attention.  Randi's potholders wouldn't be hard to finish either, mine sure went together quite nicely, they are just currently buried under a ton of fabric. I am buried under request for baby quilts.  Working on my third for the year and at least two more to go.  My family may never see me again. I sure find pleasure in bringing my creations to life!

Finished Owl quilt

I finished the owl quilt in the nick of time and gave it to Ashley at her baby shower for Makenzie Jillynn on Saturday February 11th. I think it turned out great and can add it to my finished projects for the year. Yeah me!!!  I started this blog to inspire me to finish my many UFO's that have been waiting for years to be finished. Instead I continue to want to start new ones and I have chosen to do so again.  I am starting the Dear Jane Rainbow quilt.  It will be a work in progress for a while.  It has 255 blocks and many of them are applique and I have never been successful at applique. So this may not have been a brilliant choice for me but I am drawn to the history of the quilt and couldn't resist it once I saw it in the rainbow colors. I am going to start posting them as I complete each block to inspire me to keep going and maybe inspire you to give this quilt a shot.  I have completed 4 blocks in the last five days so not a bad start.

Here is the quilt top with all the owls in the window with there big eyes.  I made the eyes by cutting out a 1-1/4 inch circle from thin felt.  I actually was able to stamp them out with a paper scrap booking stamp.  The dark part of their eyes I cut out 1-1/8th inch circles out of fabric that I though would make good eyes.  I put silver stickers on the fabric and then cut out around them.  Then I just layered them on top of my larger eye cut outs and sewed them onto the owls.  The picture below is how I decided would be the best way to fussy cut my eyes for the owls.

Pink Owl

Brown Owl

Ashley wanted a pink and brown baby quilt for Madelyn so I designed these owls for her.  Ashley likes stars so I added some stars in it for her.  I just imagine the quilt is really the night time view out of Madelyn's window.  The owls are her guardians watching over her by night.  I have the quilt top made and have one week to finish the rest of it before the baby shower. I just got the fabric for the back and am washing it so I can hopefully get it ironed and layered together tomorrow. At least after my 4 year old's grand-daughter's birthday party at Chucke Cheese's tomorrow.

Stars

I finally have finished Jenny's quilt. Her baby shower is in 9 days so it's just in time.  I'm very happy with the finished result.  The gray zebra stripe is very complimentary to the quilt.  Of all the quilts I have made this is the first one I have given a name.  I call it "Packy and her Posies". I hope her little one will cherish it for years to come.  I have been working on another baby quilt for Ashley and I will be posting those pictures soon.  I need to have this next quilt done in 7 days and I don't know if that is possible.  I will have to kick it into high gear.