Get out your sunglasses

We have a few options once again! First option is to have sashing or no sashing, and if sashing is included, then what color: Pink or Yellow
Second is the border options, I have some of each fabric left but I wanted to use this strip in the border (maybe). These are two border options....or I was thinking of a sawtooth border with the scrap fabric I have left, but then should I use yellow as a background color? Hmmm...

And I am planning on using the strip as binding, doing a scrappy back maybe with some "wonky stars". What does everyone thing?

Great weekend so far!

So far I got some things accomplished this week. I did manage to sew the Crazy Nine Patch blocks together, I am still working on a scrappy border that I want to add to it but at least these are done. I used a white sheet and don't think I will be doing that again. I really don't like the quality of the fabric. Another learning experience!
I also need an idea of what color thread to quilt it with, any ideas? This is the fabric I ordered on clearance 50% off, I got 18 yards for just over $50! I am very happy with a couple of them (the teal and brown dots!) The others are still nice and will make a nice addition to my stash.

I also needed more fabric for Aliya's Star Bright quilt and I could not resist buying FQ's in the Moda Blush line!!! I think its my new favorite! I plan on buying more of this for sure. Maybe when I go on the Houston Shop Hop I will find some charm packs or jelly rolls on sale (crossing fingers, toes and eyes) Isn't it so pretty!! Anyone know of a cute quilt I can make with FQ's? I have a total of 13.

I have some Heather Ross fabric that I ordered online too. I got some money from some special people for my birthday so decided I wanted Heather Ross Mendocino, I used my 20% off coupon!

Assistant needed apply within!

Ok, so I need an assistant for this quilt! I am trying to see what pattern I like best for the Crazy Nine Patch quilt that I just finished the blocks for. I also have two sashing colors, but I am leaning towards the white, the tan is just too dark of a tan for these blocks.
So let me know which one you all like best!!!

Number One..... Number Two....

Number Three....

Number Four....

Number Five....

Number Six....

If you have any other ideas that my look better please let me know! I would love to hear everyone thoughts!

Thank you in advance!

(So far I am leaning towards number one)

Today is my birthday!

Well, I am still working on the Crazy Nine Patch blocks.
I had a lot of cleaning to do yesterday due to leaving the house to my husband and daughter for part of the day Saturday and then to Sam's Club on Sunday. Let's just say it was not pretty! I still have to do floors, my vacuum is fighting with me and I don't blame it.
I did manage to get the blocks half way done yesterday so hopefully today I can get the second set finished and brainstorm on whether or not I want to make a third set out of my remaining scraps or if I want to do something different.

And, Yes, Today is my birthday! I turned 30 today! I mean 25! Now where are my presents...lol
Just kidding!
I did get a clover iron from my mom, along with a cute fabric box, some awesome makeup and perfume!

Now to go and spend my Birthday the same way I spend every other day!

Crazy Nine Patch Blocks!

So I wanted to try a tutorial with some leftover fabric I had from my husbands quilt and I found this tutorial on Oh Fransson! I just love her quilts and her tutorial is awesome too!

You are supposed to make a "wonky" cut but I messed up there and made a really "wonky" cut and thought I would add some interest and curve it a little.....well lets just say you can't make that work, at least I have no idea how it would! So if you are following her tutorial when it says to make a "wonky" cut, make sure it is a straight "wonky" cut! or it will not work and you just wasted fabric!

So the pattern calls for 3 sets and I only have enough fabric for two sets so I will have to make a smaller quilt, or figure something else out, but here are my blocks from the first set, I like how they look.

We also had our first meeting at the Houston Modern Quilt Guild and it was fun! 7 of us showed up to chat and we had some show and tell of some beautiful quilts! I enjoyed my time with every one of them. Our next meeting will be a stitch in and it is in March! So if you are in the Houston Area and would like to join us sign up now!

Muwwaaahhhaaahaa...

(Muwwaahhhahhhaaa, That is my evil, however you spell it...lol)

I ordered more stash fabric. Probably dont even know what I will make out of it, but at $3 a yard I had to get it. Order some here while they still have it!
I got 18 yards for $50! Free shipping.
Can you tell I love a bargain! Keep this up and maybe I will start seeing stuff that actually goes together.
Plus I also ordered a Quilt 4 Kids package to be sent to me, It takes 1-2 weeks to get the package but I can't wait to get it! Order your own today! lol

Fabric needed here!

Ok, so I haven't really worked on anything to show except some of the blocks from the Star Bright quilt, but I am at a stand still because I ran out of yellow fabric.

I don't know what I want to work on next. I keep looking at a couple things but nothing really calls out to me. I guess I just really want to buy some more fabric. I am thinking about driving to La Porte to spend the rest of my G.C. on some fabric.

Lets just face it, I want more fabric....lol

Other than my dire need for more fabric (you get the idea by now I am sure...lol) I do have an interesting weekend planned. The first meeting is this weekend for The Modern Quilt Guild, Houston Branch! I am very excited to meet everyone!

If you are in the greater Houston area join up, it should be fun. If you are not go here and see if there is a branch in your area!

We also have a giveaway alert, awesome fabric and a fun blog see and read about it here, and enter for the givaway!

I got mail!

I received a package today, the fabric I ordered online. I am very impressed with the quality, it looks so much better in person than online. I bought it at Fabric.com, they were having a Presidents Day Sale and I got all 15 yards for about $50. (all clearance fabric) You really can't beat that deal! I do not have plans for any of it as of now, but I am trying to build a stash since I don't have one yet. (the sale ends tonight, you still have time!)

Plus this weekend I managed to finish the last two blocks for the Star Bright quilt. Except I decided that I cant just do 6 blocks, it doesn't look right to me. So I am adding 3 more blocks to the pattern. They will look more like the one in the bottom center.
Plus I changed the block in the top right corner to look like this (below) I just thought it would look better if I had 4 of each block with similar corners. I have all the blocks cut with the but I did run out of the yellow background color; I have to try to buy this weekend.
Still trying to decided on a border.

Also, I just had to share these pictures of Allie. She was being so cute this weekend and it was pretty warm outside. High 60's to low 70's. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather! Wish it would stay.

Happy Valentines Day!

I just wanted to share my Valentines Day with you all, I hope yours is as wonderful as mine!
First Aliya and I made cards, from left to right: Aliya's card made by me, chocolates for the husband and a lolly pop for Aliya from Mommy, "Be My"... card for my husband, and finally Aliya made a Valentines Day card for her Daddy!


When Aliya woke up this morning she got her surprise! A card and a lolly pop from Mommy!
Then Daddy gave us both a surprise, We each got a red rose for love, and I also got a yellow rose for friendship because he is not only my true love but my best friend! We also each got a card and a box of chocolates, what a loving father and husband! I love him so much!

I will leave you with this, I just think getting special things from that special person is always great; but its the thought not the price! I'm not the kind of girl that needs dozens of roses, I would rather have the sentimental rose that symbolizes our love and friendship! I thought that was awesome and so perfect!

I would love to read about everyone's Valentines Day, who is your special someone!?!

My favorite quilt!

No I did not make this one, my mom did!

Since tomorrow is Valentines Day I figured I would say how great of a mom I have! (no mom didn't get my birthday present yet...lol)

She is a great quilter on top of everything and she introduced me to quilting, although it took her a few years to get me really interested :) So far she has taught me everything I know, I have not taken a single class...mom lessons are free!

I just want to show you my favorite quilt she has ever made, its for my daughter's room and it could not have been any better! Perfect fabric, pattern, quilting! BEAUTIFUL!

Have a Happy Valentines Day! Happy Quilting!!
Wish you were here Mom!!

ETA
ALSO!! I am looking for a fun online quilting bee! Either one where we finish projects together, or exchange blocks, it does not matter. I am open to options, so please if you know of one, or know where I can find one let me know.

Allie's new dress

I am just going to apologize about the hair ahead of time...lol
She loves her dress! Me, not so much! Although I did learn that my Janome and buttonholes do not mix, at least I don't care for making buttonholes! I had to do that for the collar and it has buttons on the back also. I will be looking for patterns that do not require the use of buttons in the future...lol
I did have to take the dress in a lot, when I first fit her the dress looked more like a parachute than a dress.
Overall she likes it, I will be practicing on more dresses (ones that she can actually wear in public...lol) in the future.

Now, I am going to get back to sewing my blocks for the Star Bright quilt.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Or you can just wash all my troubles away while you are here!
Found out yesterday that my other car broke down too... My husband has been driving my car to work lately because his car was in the shop this fall and $700 later something else is wrong with it and the shop refused to fix it. My husband has replaced the water pump and still something is wrong with it, we don't know where it is leaking water from.
Now, after 3 weeks with no car, my husband goes to change the spark plugs in my car (which by the way has less than 60k on it so this is ridiculous!) the spark plus is stuck inside the engine and he cant get it out...I think it may have broke off inside the engine. Anyways, looks like we might need major repairs to both vehicles now.

Sorry for the rant....as for quilting, I have not accomplished much this week. I did start the dress yesterday and I got most of it finished so hopefully I can finish it up today and post some pictures of it tomorrow.

And for the vehicle situation...
Prayer and thoughts are much appreciated.

Giveaway alert!!

This is a wonderful blog that I frequently visit, Kerri is celebrating her 100th post with a fab givaway! Go and check it out here! Become a follower today!

Have to get some quilting done soon

Well, I have some things I am working on and I haven't worked on anything really this week.
So far I have to.....

Make a Valentines dress for Aliya

Sew some more quilt blocks

Work on this months applique

Work on my show entry (haven't even started this yet)

Make a Valentines Day card for the significant other

I really have to get moving. I haven't been feeling that great this week, I hope I can feel better soon so I can get to sewing. I am going to try to start Aliya's dress today, then maybe I will feel like doing some other stuff.

I did take advantage of the Fabric.com sale this week. I ordered 15 yards of fabric for $50. Mostly for my stash, not anything that I plan on making out of it. Plus my Birthday gift from mom is on its way and that has to be full of tons of quilting goodies. She has been buying stuff for months now...lol. I love my mom!

Title goes here...

As for a title, does anyone (besides me) ever have a problem creating a interesting title? Sometimes I sit and think about titles to put on my blog and the only things that come to my head is "Finished block 4" or "Went Shopping" I really have a hard time being creative with writing, but when it comes to fabric look what I can do!!!

Ok, so I may not be the expert quilter, and I am definitely not an expert blogger but I do enjoy showing people what I am working on, and even more I love to see what other people are working on at the same time. I am really inspired by all the creative people out there and that's what keeps me moving.

I did manage to go shopping this weekend, I bought some items to make a Valentines dress for my Little Valentine.

......and my LQS was having a HUGE sale this Sunday. It was the Super Bowl Sunday sale and so cool. Every half an hour they would draw up a different sale and it lasted 4 hours. I only stayed for a little over an hour but I did manage to stay for 3 of the drawings, 40% off cut fabric, 40% off patterns, and 30% off kits. It was a great idea to have a sale like that and everyone was very nice to me and my daughter! I will visit again!

I really didn't see much fabric that I wanted. I kept pulling out bolts and trying to match them up but was never satisfied. Too bad, with such a good sale going on.

I have really been searching for some contemporary fabric but its practically unheard of in the LQS in my area so I have to keep searching, but in the meantime I did manage to find this pink fabric that I really liked and a purse pattern that is oh so cute.

One final note....my mother has her own blog and I'm sure she will be much better at this than me. She has been quilting for 11 years and is responsible for my quilting, well I will take responsibility for her blogging. Anyways, she has started her blogging days out with a bang
and posted a tutorial...does anyone have problems sewing curves...well she has figured it out. Read about it here
Hopefully more to come in the future. I am also thinking of adding a tutorial so what would you rather have me add...paper piecing or hand applique? Your choice!

TGIF

TGIF....because I get to go shopping tomorrow. I got permission from the hubby to go to any quilt store for as long as I want! Now to just figure out which one(s) I want to go to. I need some modern fabric but to date haven't really found a quilt store that has good modern fabric.

As for my quilting day yesterday I finished peicing block 2 or the Star Bright quilt, cute name right! I'm paper piecing so it takes forever to do one block but I have a goal to try to get a block done a day...of course thats not always possible but thats my goal.

Here are my first two blocks, I took the picture last night so the lighting isn't the best but you get the idea. Thanks for looking.

Finished Block One

Ok, so I finished the first block of the quilt and it only took me forever. I'm not sure if I like the orange on the outer corners yet and I may put yellow there instead that's why I haven't sewed the pieces together yet.. Overall I like it, the colors go well together.

Now.....I need to start on the next 5 or more blocks for this quilt, and I need to start cutting and piecing the quilt the might be in the show this year (key word is "might")

Oh, and here is my sewing space, I think it is set up perfect right now especially for this project. Now just picture me in the middle :)

She has been wanting a quilt, so...

My daughter (4 year old) has been asking me to make her a quilt so we sat down yesterday and picked out some fabric that I had already (I really need to start building a stash, I keep using everything I buy) and we sat down and she picked out some blocks that she liked. She picked 6 blocks to start with and we are going to see how that works and add more if we need to. Of course I made a couple changes to the blocks so they looked harmonious with each other.

Here is a preview of what her quilt will look like. I will be using some of the fabric I picked up last week along with some fabric that I had from a sale before.

So what is everyone else working on this month? I would love to know!

Which one is it?

Chuck or Phil? The big news today is .... are we going to have 6 more weeks or winter or is spring approaching. Sorry, but I vote for winter. Living in Houston Texas I cant see starting spring already, do you realize how HOT it would be this summer if spring officially started now. Although I can deal with our weather for a few more weeks I know how it feels to suffer the freezing cold because I grew up in Michigan, and got out as soon as I could!
Sorry Mom, but I vote for Winter! Only since winter for us means 50's and 60's for a few more weeks with the occasional chill here and there.

As for quilting goes, I have been working on things, I have been practicing my free motion quilting on scraps quilt sandwiches and lets say I'm getting better. At least now I know what the tension needs to be for my machine (took me a while to figure that out) and I have some practice under my belt. Not enough practice to take on the project I tried to take on....whew I really took three steps forward on that one! I attempted to quilt my Valentines quilt with feathers and some crazy hard quilting designs and wasn't quite ready to take on that adventure yet, lets just say I stopped mid quilt and put that project in the closet for a rainy day.
Today I will show you another part of my workspace, well its my sewing machine and my favorite accessory....my extention table. Its 24x24 and I really don't even notice that I don't have one of those fancy tables, this thing is awesome! Gives me the flat sewing surface I need and I love it. If you are looking to buy one of the name brand sewing machine tables, think about getting a sturdy table and an extention table first. You may find that you love it and it could save you a pretty penny. (or a pretty thousand dollars or more!)
This is everything I need! Well, except a table that doesn't vibrate at high sewing speeds....lol


........And YES! I love my Janome!!