Super Sized Nine Patch

I have wanted to make this simple fun quilt for quite a while.  The problem was I had no excuse to make a baby quilt! Luckily a friend and coworker decided it was time to have a baby! It was super simple.  My only criticism is of myself.  I made it from flannel, quilted the first one  too tight and caused the quilt to ripple a bit.  I decided it made no difference as this sweet baby won't care too much!

Stash report/Catching up

******YEAH!!!! I'M BACK ON!!! COULDN'T LOG IN! ACTUALLY FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS AND CLEARED COOKIES AND VIOLA!! HERE I AM AGAIN!! WHOOHOO!!!!

So funny, I haven't blogged in two months, the urge hits me, blogger is down and it drove me nuts! I guess I'm really NOT ready to quit blogging!!!

Lots to catch up on…
In the department of stash busting….

INCOMING- I bought 5 yards of oriental prints to make an anniversary quilt for my daughter Serena and her husband Chris. I had NOTHING in my stash that would even remotely qualify for oriental. Since it’s their quilt, I figured I’d use fabric they would like!

*****EDIT SINCE THIS MORNING******Went to a friends "getting rid of my fabric" sale. Bought 5 lbs at $3/lb.....equals 20 yards!! I'll take pics of it later and show.....I'll take the "hit" as I got a bunch of wool felt, a few nearly finished projects, and all blenders,neutrals, and tone on tones, mostly pieces but a few bits same as or bigger than fat quarters...things I need!


OUTGOING-I finally finished my April UFO! I used 10 yards of fabric on this! Aviva has a whole room devoted to the Simpsons and I knew she would love this.



Individual blocks.





Doesn't this fabric just scream the Simpsons!



Plus I finished this little cutie! It’s a doorstopper. It didn’t use much fabric but something is something. I used a pattern from Thimbleberries but the door stopper was my idea. It didn’t quite work as planned and it ended up like a big pillow but I still love it!



Used this period: 11
Used year to Date: 59
Added this Week: 25
Added Year to Date: 101.5
Ahead or behind 2011: 42.5 purchased...therefore behind

Presents for the bride

My design wall looks very empty...that's because everything I'm working on right now is 3 dimensional! I managed to finish everything on my list for last week...unfortunately we are now in a new week and the craziness re-starts!

I went very simple for Ms. Aviva's shower gift. First, I made her this bag. The entire wedding is candy themed. I made candy fabric kippot and used the same fabrics to make this bag.









This is the bag pattern.





I also made her pillowcases from this adorable fabric.

The best thing I included in her gift bag was a pair of booties!!! (they were $1 at joanns and I couldn't resist the joke) She wanted to kill me! I couldn't stop laughing!!! "MOM!!!!!!" (yes, I unashamedly would like grandchildren but no there are none on the way!)

Stash Report

I've decided to use this stash report to track my fabric as opposed to feeling guilty for purchasing. I really do not want to buy...often. However, on occasion, it is a necessity...whether physical (need to right shade of fabric) or mental, (need to fondle some new fabric)

I did however clear 13 yards! I made all of these pillowcases from flannel. I had bought it from Joanns the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted to make myself a robe but gosh it is too thin and (so aggrivating) printed off grain! My friend didn't realize what she said when she told me to make a pillowcase! I made a few for me, a few for my fellow roommates at retreat, plus a few from golf fabric for my husband (hey, he supports my quilting habit and deserves something once in a while too!) I made the pillowcases a few inches bigger all the way around to try to compensate if they shrink.




I discovered that it requires a boatload of fabric to make the number of kippot needed for Aviva's wedding. Naturally I don't have enough candy fabric! I bought M&M and Tootsie Roll fabricsthat are so cute!

The tally....

Used this Week: 13
Used year to Date: 13.5
Added this Week: 6
Added Year to Date: 6
Net Used for 2011: 7.5

Scoot on over to Judy's blog and catch up on all the other participating stash busters!

Playing with my Friends...Presents

Ilove playing with my friends...whether they are young or old! These two, Miss Kitten and Miss Monkey, happen to be my most favoriteist friends of all. We haven't gotten together for quite a while and I missed our playtime. One afternoon I picked them up from school,for an afternoon of fun. We began at my house for a snack. It was cold (uhmmm , that's relative here. It IS south Texas) and I had hot cocoa. I really didn't want to give them cookies or more sweets, but what else can you eat with cocoa? Ms. Monkey took her cookie and instead of dunking it, dropped it in the cocoa! She thought it was hysterical! One spoon later, she decided she didn't want cookies. Not want cookies!!! Are You KIDDING me?



Cucumbers? YES! YES! This is what they want with their cocoa. CUCUMBERS! This little thing, cookies vs. cucumbers assures that we are totaly unrelated! Then to boot, they dunked their cucumbers into the cocoa! Nummy!



I had so much fun making them a present. I was at Joanns and they had fleece blankets...a monkey and a kitten! How could I resist???






Ms. Kitten was particulary thrilled. You see, Minkee loves fleece blankets. The day I made the kitten blanket she decided to uhm.. investigate (read, scratch at it). Well, the back is a lovely solid pink.....so.....When Ms. Kitten discovered that Minkee "signed" her cat blanket, she was thrilled!!!

Gifts

(why the gift post now when Hanukkah is looooong over? We are just exchanging gifts this weekend as this is the first we've been able to get together)



These are the items I made for my kids...the true gift is mine....the reason....

Last year I made these apples. They were the September gift of the month. I didn't think much of it but Chris2 said "Oh. can you make pears?" I never gave it another thought. Obviously he did. When Ms. Aviva took the apples out this fall he told her, "You know, I really do want your mom to make me pears." Chris2's gift.






A month or so ago, during a family dinner, Chris1 said, "Hey, I need you to make me one of those bowls like Serena's. I later asked my daughter if he serously wanted a bowl! Yup! Seems he wants one for his toiletries. I did something a bit different with this one. No fabric wrapping! Thread only. I like the way it turned out. I was testing different threads so that is why the bottom is different. It looked to "girly" for a guy. Chris1's gift.









Earlier this year our guild had an owl swap. Serena came over one day as I was furiously making owls. She ooohed and aaahhed and said she wanted a pillow. My friend made me a shirt with the owl on it and I wore it one day when Serena and I went out. She ooohed and aaahed and said she wanted a pillow. In October she spotted one of the owl blocks and reminded me that she "wanted one of them." I forgot that she wanted a pillow but made her this shirt. (naturally I remembered the pillow after I'd finished the shirt!) Serena's gift.




I had a gift for everyone else so I needed to come up with something for Aviva.....I decided to make her one of these loopy scarves. (I just used this link for a pic. I bought it from Joanns). It is stlylishly being modeled by my iron! Aviva's gift.




What is my gift in this? Well, all this sewing, crafting and patchkeying around is NOT in vain! They not only like but want the things I make. It make my heart sing that the boys asked for homemade items. Chris#1 is always asking when I'm going to feel like making pj pants again! Chris2 is excited that his kippot (Jewish, traditionally male. head covering) will be made from candy fabric.



I think my girls picked winners when they chose their mates!!

Summer 2010

Remember the kippot I made for Hudson? Well his Bar Mitzvah was the weekend that I left for Ohio. It was lovely, lovely, lovely. These are the pictures they took at his party. The first one is a photograph of my BFF and I. We were obviously being silly and sassy.

These are two of my former students. Hudson is on the left. The boy on the right had his Bar Mitzvah in January or February. He then promptly grew 3 feet taller!! LOL! Of the 5 boys in this class (I taught them for 2 years) these are the only two that haven't moved away. I was so pleased that they both agreed to have a picture taken with their ol' teacher.

Quilty!

OH My goodness! I finally have a quilty post and I FORGOT to take pictures!!! URGHHH!!!!

We have been making these potato bags here. I don't know what has set us (my friends and I) off about these silly things but we are all busy making them. They are nothing more than a fabric bag filled with cotton batting but supposedly they make the most scrumptious microwaved potatos. I don't eat potatoes so I have to take their word for it. Since I don't have pictures of mine, I thought the least I could do is provide a link! LOL! I don't make mine exactly the same but you get the idea. I make them in all sizes because they are so versatile! You can use the basic idea to resize for many, many uses.

I made potato bags for my sister to share with all of her volunteers. She cannot leave my BIL alone and volunteers often help out. I thought it might be a nice little token for her to give for their help.

Hopefully I will find time to blog surf......I miss you all!

I have a job for life.

A number of years ago I made kippot for my Hebrew School kids. (A kippah-singular- is the "cap' Jewish men wear). That year I had all boys in my class. They loved them. One boy in particular wore his.....and wore it and wore it and wore it! Now you have to understand that I made the kippot from matzah fabric (you have to scroll down to the bottom to see the ones I made) for the holiday of Passover. I never meant for them to be worn at any other time ....b..u...t....Noone told that to Hudson. For the last four years he has proudly worn his matzo kippah every time he goes to synagogue. (his mom had had me make a few for their household so I'm sure he hasn't had to wear the same one over and over and over) For his Bar Mitzvah, I told him I'd make him a kippah out of any fabric he liked. He chose hockey fabric.
I really think I have a job for life with this kid. He enjoys wearing the homemade kippot and I enjoy making them for him!




For some reason, this one came out a little bit cone head! Naturally I had waited to the last minute to make them so I chose not to remake it. I figure 13 year old boys are a bit coneheaded to begin with so it shouldn't be tooooo, tooooo bad!

This one looks much better!

He was very impressed, as was his mother, with the monogramming. It took 10 minutes with my machine! I may rarely use the bells and whistles on my machine but they are sure nice to have when you need them!

Gift of the Month

This is going to be fun....but for different reasons for me. Check out the GOM Blog and join the fun.

I wondered if my girls were thrilled with their gift of a gift each month. They didn't seem as excited about it as I. I was late in getting to the post office to mail Ms. A's January gift. Yesterday I called her to tell her to check her mailbox. She said, It's January 7th, I was wondering about it! I guess they are looking forward to this.

January Gift

One of my goals for 2009 is to give my girls a gift a month. January has been taken care of. February is finished and waiting and I am working on March.

Another gift

Before I explain the photo, let me tell you something about my family. Without using real names, I'd like to explain the guys here. My husbands name is ABCDE. My sister's husbands name is also ABCDE. My brother's name is LMNOP and DH's brother is named LMNOP. My daughter, Mrs. S is married to PQRST (known as Mr. FancyPants) and my other daughter (Ms. A.) has been dating for a long time now,)a boy named , yes, you got it, PQRST! Now both of the boys, PQRST's names start with the letter C. Therefore, Ms. A's boyfriend will be known forevermore on my blog as C2. Add to the mix that Ms. A goes by her given name at home and for legal purposes but her Hebrew name everywhere else and I use the names interchangeably, you really need to concentrate on the conversation if you want to know which ABCDE, LMNOP or PQRST or daughter we are discussing! (For many years my friends thought I had three girls. Mrs. S, Ms. A by her given name and Ms. A by her Hebrew name!!!!)

Sometime this fall C2 and Ms. A came home. During the course of their visit I heard C2 say,
"What does it take to get a quilt around this family!" I cracked up because in my sewing room was his gift. I made this quilt in record time. Pieced and quilted in 3 weeks.

It is free motion quilted on the longarm. I used an allover patter and was amazed by how even I was able to get it. I used Brytes thread. The picture is a bit fuzzy

I am upset that I didn't get a betert picture. It sat there waiting for me to give it to him and get a picture and then I was sick and could have cared less! This was the best I could do. You'll have to believe me when I say the quilting is pretty cool.

PJ Pants

Here is one more photo of presents I gave. I made each of the kids and DH PJ pants. I only got photos of one set. It was too funny because they had to settle for whatever flannel I got on sale last year at Joanns. DH had tootsie roll pants, Mr. Fancy Pants got little tractor pants, C2 got Nascar/Coke pants, one girl had a childlike flower pattern and the other, fruits! They were all such good sports and didn't mind. Whew!

Where does time really go?

I know it's bad when a non quilty friend calls to ask if I'm ok. "You haven't posted on your blog since December 18th!!!!!" Let me go back and recap.

December 19th was our big Hanukkah Celebration at school. I arrange the entire day. The whole school (125 kids, 20 or so teachers ) cycle through various stations. The culmination of the event is a gathering (which I lead) with songs, candle lighting etc. My duties, in addition to arranging each station, setting up, shopping, finding volunteers (I had a great PTO helper with this one), included arranging an entertainment basket for a family in our school. ( The dad of the family has been deployed to Afghanistan. ) Now realize that I love doing all of this. As a matter of fact, it was all my idea. I just didn't know two things. One, was that either parents don't read school mail, the tough economic times were too much for families to be able to provide for another family (the entertainment basket was to be a school wide collection), or I didn't provide enough in the bombardment of information, but we only received 3 donations to the entertainment basket. There I was the day before the party, shopping, with my own money, and filling up the basket! Two was that I was going to be incredibly sick the day of the party!!!

Imagine my trying to oversee all of the activities, food and volunteers all the while trying desperately not to throw up all over everyone! (it was especially delightful picking up the 22 doz. donuts and smelling Krispy Kreme donuts all the way to school!) Luckily the volunteers were fantastic and ran the stations beautifully and the teachers just carried on. At one point, I went into the office, closed the door and laid down on the couch. Naturally, that was the exact moment my NEW BOSS chose to walk in the office!!!! Ugh! I was miserable, not sure if I was contagious and trying so hard to make it to the big gathering so I could lead songs, be cheery, and pretend like I was having fun! I didn't make it! Twenty minutes before the big gathering, I had to leave. It was awful. I had to leave my "baby", my gathering, the party I'd planned for so long and go home. I felt awful, just awful for one full day and not so great for about 5 more. Ms. Minkee the cat, never left my bedside the entire day I was sick. The next day, Ms. A and C2 arrived (after postponing their arrival by a day) and we created a new Hanukkah custom. Hanukkah Pizza! There was no way I was going to make latkas!

Before the Hanukkah sickness, I was furiously quilting and tying! I made 12, yes you read correctly, 12 fleece blankets.

After I'd made 11 I decided to make one for myself.

This is a pile of a few I made. All totalled, I made 4 Cleveland Browns blanket while the rest were various prints. Of the 12, 2 were 2 1/2 yds. instead of 2 and 3 were 2 1/4 yards. That's a lot of tying!!!! My next few posts will show the rest of the things I made for my family. I didn't buy them gifts this year. They were all handmade. The photos aren't grand. I was still half sick and could have cared less about taking pictures!!!!!!!

Finished in ADVANCE!

Well, almost! I just need to tack down two sides of the label. This is for Mrs. S and Mr. FancyPants 2nd anniversary. I never ever finish things in advance so this is uncharted territory.


This is the back showing the quilting. I paid no never mind to using the thread cutter. It also doesn't bother me that there are a few areas of built up thread. You should be able to click on it for a better view. A closeup of the back.
A closeup of the quilting from the front.