DQS8 finished

I finished my doll quilt swap mini today...I am pretty happy the way it turned out...this was the first time I have ever done a project with so many points, might be my last. :) I can see now why the "wonky" style is so popular, you don't have to be so precise. Each of the little star blocks are 3 1/2", tiny! I hope my partner likes it. I will send it off in the next week or so, I need to go and find some goodies to send along with it.
Here is a lovely action shot of the kids "helping" me blow out my candles, Emily was really getting into it....I will post later this week a quilt Emily made me for my birthday, I just love it, and she was so proud of herself.

37 things about me

Today is my birthday, January 29th 1973 I came into this world in Omaha Nebraska of all places (moved to Spokane when I was 2 1/2) I thought I would see if I can think of 37 things to say about myself.

1. I am the middle child between two boys
2. My parents still live in the house we moved into in 1975
3. When I was 5 I asked Jesus into my heart to be my personal Savior :)
4. I love brownies
5. I love to sew
6. I got my first and only tattoo at 20
7. I was a nanny for 1 year in Seattle
8. I like my hands
9. I wanted to be a nurse or a teacher when I was growing up
10. I have been w/2 people when they passed away (my Grandparents)
11. I have seen someone (my SIL) give birth (my niece)
12. I asked my husband out on our first date
13. I am NOT an animal person
14. I can not stand rude people
15. I don't wear a lot of jewelry
16. I had my first "drink" on my 21st birthday
17. I like to travel
18. I was in Camp Fire for 10 years
19. Yellow was my favorite color when I was younger
20. I have worn glasses for 25 years
21. I am getting lasik surgery in a few weeks :)
22. I don't like to exercise
23. I like coffee
24. I gained 15lbs in 2009
25. My brothers and I all have big blue eyes and so do all of our kids
26. I know how lucky I am to still have both my parents alive and still married (40 years next month!)
27. I love to subscribe to magazines
28. This is not as easy as you would think
29. 29 is one of my favorite numbers
30. I don't like clutter
31. I wear a lot of brown and black
32. I love being a mom
33. I love being a wife
34. I love my family
35. I like vintage/antiques
36. Autumn is my favorite season
37. I am going to lose the 15lbs I gained in 2009 plus more in 2010!

doll quilt, student of the month and the croup

Emily was chosen as student of the month for her class, the attribute was "diligence". I had to have her tell me what that was! We are very proud of her, she was very proud of herself. :) I have finally gotten around to making one of the blocks for my doll quilt partner, this little guy is 3 1/2", so small!! I did cut out enough pieces to make myself one of these little quilts but for right now I am concentrating on my swap partners so I can get it done and off to her to enjoy.

I had a nice time in Seattle on my weekend away last week....I did NOT get nearly the sleep/rest I had hoped but still had a great time. I got home Monday to Jack having a bit of a cough....1:30 A.M. Tuesday was woken up to that "seal like bark" cough, a.k.a. THE CROUP....called our after hours doctor, then whisked him away to the E.R. After spending 2 hours with him there, got a breathing treatment then a liquid steroid, we were home a bit before 4:00. At 5:30 A.M. it was Emily's turn, but hers was even WORSE...this time daddy took her to the E.R....same hospital, same set of doctors/nurses...WOW....had never experienced that before and hope we never do again!!

vinyl pouches

What an exciting title to an entry!! I remembered this tutorial when I saw a blog entry recently from these ladies. I had a big remnant of vinyl just waiting to be used so cutting away I went. After my first attempt at these I learned 2 things....#1 I did not like making these and #2 IF I ever make these again I will ALWAYS use a white zipper (hides the stitching and restitching if needed) If I had not already cut out the fabric, interfacing and vinyl for all of these I would have stopped at my first one (made that one for Emily). On all but 1 of these the vinyl slipped and got stuck in the zipper, uhg! So I had to cut away at the vinyl so they look like crap inside but none of my friends that I am giving these to are crafty kind of gals and won't notice anyways! I also used a little wax on the zipper to help it move back and forth because of some of the vinyl issues. I am going to put a few little goodies in these and give them to my roommates for Saturday night.


This one with the Heather Ross gnomes and mushrooms is for me. I was so proud of myself to finally cut into this fabric. Just like my Flea Market Fancy fabric it was time! I just love those little gnomes!

And speaking of my Flea Market Fancy quilt....I have all the rows sewn now with white sashing, yes I went with the white sashing option! Now I have cut out the white shashing that goes between each row, this is going to be a big quilt! I am putting it away for the weekend, hopefully have it all finished up next week then meet up with my "quilter" and get that project checked off my "to do" list.

I really enjoy these two

I really do, they are at such a fun age....a lot of the time they actually have fun playing together, but then of course there are times they don't. Yesterday they were both out of school for MLK day, my hubs was at work so it was just me and these two knuckle heads. :) We made a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house, went to Target and ate popcorn while walking around the store then used up all of our remaining Chuck E. Cheese tokens. No yelling, no screaming, no tears, we had a fun time. After we got home apparently I needed a little nap because I fell asleep on the couch, all snuggled up with them. I have not been doing much sewing this past week but I did get something off my "to do" list that I have been avoiding for YEARS....I finally went through and organized over 20 years of pictures and negatives, wow I had a lot of pictures and why did I always order duplicates? So glad that little project is finished. I do have some vinyl zipper bags that I will show later this week, to be filled for a girls night out coming up this weekend! :)

This is a picture of my Uncle Gary holding my niece Gracie almost 3 years ago. 1 year ago today my Uncle passed away in his sleep. Oh how he is missed. I have so many things that I could say about my Uncle, what a guy he was, he was the best. This past year has been one of the most emotional years of my life. I had never experienced a death so sudden and so shocking before, it has been very hard. No saying goodbye, no last words. One thing I have learned from this is to say what you want to say, give that last hug....you.never.know. you don't. My Uncle has been gone 1 year, while we feel like it has been an eternity we find joy and peace knowing my Uncle is in heaven for eternity, until we meet again, dear friend and Uncle....love you much.

next time this week

As of Friday night I will be here. Saturday night some friends and I are staying here. All of us ladies will be doing this. I hope to do a little shopping here, here and of course here. But I also plan on doing a lot of lounging, some sleep, a few movies (if I can stay awake!) catching up with my bff, no kids, no hubs. Plan on drinking one of these and one of these too. I can't wait! :)

After I posted this I realized I flipped next and this up in my title....I think I will keep it, shows that I am not thinking straight, must go get a cup of coffee.........mmmmmmmmmmmm........

everything AND the kitchen sink

We have kitchen remodel on the brain lately, more like kitchen gutting. We are going to be getting a new kitchen this year...probably over the summer....included in this new kitchen will be an apron front sink. :) I can not wait! We have A LOT to do, this is going to be a big, big project. Our kitchen now is 30 years old...the faux oak cabinets are 30, the faux wood counter top is 30, the drop ceiling with crappy lighting is 30, getting a good idea of what my kitchen looks like now? :) I am excited for 2010, we have a lot of good things coming this year...still finishing up on things from our 2006 addition, new kitchen, a few family vacations getting planned already, a new baby in the family and in March I am getting lasik eye surgery, very excited about that too!

I love being an auntie

My first nephew (on my side of the family) will be born in just a few short weeks, I say few short weeks because I am not the mom and I know how few and short (ha ha) those last weeks can be :P I have a little care package ready to go in the mail later this week....below are a few of the goodies that I have found for the little guy.


This is the back of the quilt I have mentioned before, I think it is my favorite part of the quilt! I took the label then used it to make a rocket ship to go with the theme of the front of the quilt, rocket ships and robots, I think it turned out cute! My nephew's name will be Garrett Stauthie...Stauthie is a family name it was my dear, sweet Grandpa's first name (which at 18 he switched to his middle name but that is a different story). My Grandpa and Grandma lived 4 blocks from our house, they were the only Grandparents that we had in the area....my other set of Grandparents live in Florida and I have only met them a handful of times. My Grandma passed away in 1998 and my Grandpa passed away 8 years ago last week, in 2002. My brother is using My Grandpa's middle name in honor of my Grandpa whom we all loved and miss very, very much....I just love that this baby is going to have my Grandpa's name, it makes me choke up and I have a feeling this little guy is going to be a favorite of mine, my Grandpa was a favorite of mine too. :)

Here is the front of the quilt, I "stitched in the ditch". I know, not very creative but I am not a good "quilter". I can piece as well as the rest of them but "quilting" something STRESSES me out! This is also why I send all of my larger quilts off to the quilter, I can't do it, I have tried, even took a long arm class, the one and only thing I ever quilted on the long arm after that class I cried while quilting it, silly huh? Not worth it to me, I would much rather send it off, spend the money and be happy with the end vs. hating it!

So off to Portland, Oregon this box will go and so will the kids and I on spring break the end of March so I can moosh and goosh with Garrett and my niece Gracie and I can shop at Ikea, whoop whoop!!

family

My sweet Emily, ready for bed My sweet hubs with our sweet boy asleep on him

I have been feeling a bit sentimental these past few weeks....realizing how fast time is flying by....on Christmas Eve I got out the video camera to get it all ready for Christmas morning....I found the tape of when Jack was born...open all the flood gates....I was bawling like a baby, I can't believe he will be 4 in just 2 short months...4? how did that happen? How is it that Emily is 6!?!? I found myself gasping at how tiny Emily's voice was back then and how LOUD it can be now! :) And seeing my boy so little, all wrapped up in a blanket in the hospital now can hold his own with bowling on the wii!! I love my little family. :)

what would you do?

I finally cut into ALL of my Flea Market Fancy stash and I must say it feels good....I have been collecting this collection for over a year now and last month I realized that I just needed to DO SOMETHING with it....just sitting in a drawer for me to open every once in a while is silly, so cutting I did!! This is where I need a little help...I am 99% sure of which design I am going to use but wanted a few opinions....I have 42 blocks, they measure 11" x 11". I have a queen sized bed...with this option I had 7 blocks left over that I would use on the back with the fabric at the end of this post (that I got a KILLER deal on!) and a solid color, same as the blue/aqua in this line of the blue seeds/aqua bouquet. (those of you that know about this line know what color I am talking about, if you don't know about this line...read on!)
So here is the first option, white sashing around each block.
Here is an idea of the 2nd option, group them all together then have a large white border/sashing around all of the blocks (I would use all 42 blocks on this top, none on the back)
Here is the fabric I got a killer deal on, I just love it, click on it to see up close. :)

Like I mentioned above I am 99% sure of which choice I will go with but just wanted to find out any more opinions, likes, dislikes, ideas. Whatever I decide I will be working on this quilt this weekend and get it off to my quilter in the next week or so, I want this baby on my bed by early spring!!!

a few of my favorite things

I have not done a "favorite things" post in awhile.  This is a picture of TWO of my favorite people, Emily and Jack...I had them hold up the quilt top that I made for my nephew who will be making his debut next month, February 26th to be exact.  I used a few Amy Butler dot fabrics and a few of the Robots line from David  Walker, I just love how it turned out so far, so bright and cheery....

The kids are bright and cheery too!

 

throw pillow

I made this pillow for my girlfriend Nissa for part of her Christmas present.  For her birthday I had made her this.  I had asked her to pick out some of her favorite prints from the quilt then made her this pillow cover to go with it, I must say I love the way it turned out especially the buttons!!  I got the tutorial from here.  LOVE her fabrics.  We got a new computer over the holidays, I am a dork and can't figure out how to download pictures from our camera with this new computer, I know that sounds so stupid....I have quite a few things I have been working on and want to post some pics....I will tell this...one is a baby quilt, one is a quilt for our bed of ALL Flea Market Fancy fabrics, one project is making all 12 blocks from 2008 when I had joined a block of the month, about time to get cracking on that!  I look forward to finishing a lot more crafty projects this year, I would like to be all caught up and have NO WIPS, can you imagine?  

DQS8!

just a little sampling of some of my fav's from my flickr account...so fun to look through so many great projects...when in the swap we are asked to make a mosiac for our partner to get ideas of what we like...here are just a few of my favorites :)  I am really digging white with color right now, can you tell?   

My creation
Originally uploaded by kristinemhanson

DQS8

I got signed up for the doll quilt swap, yahoo!! Head over here to get in...they are limiting it to 160 this time, good luck!