family baby....again

I have yet another cousin (his wife actually) that is going to have a baby....this one is a girl...just a few pictures of the quiltie that I sent off to them last week....I was really pleased with how this turned out....the gray, turqouise and pink :)



tutorial/pattern found at Ohfrasson.com (for some reason I can't link it right now!)

Hard to see but from the right, the second row....the 3rd fabric up (looks like 3 swirly flowers) that fabric was cut from a pillowcase that I took from my parents home when my Grandpa was moving out. :( I enjoyed throwing a little bit of nastalgia in the quiltie.

upclose



And here is an upclose shot of my little guy Jack, is this hat not the cutest? I did not make it, I don't know how to crochet or knit....a sister of a friend made it....we all love it.

a new baby in the family

A cousin of mine had a baby on Wednesday, a little girl......

Can you guess her name?

last big project of 2010

Everyone in our home has a quilt on their bed made by me. :) Several people now in my extended family also have quilts from me now too. :) Last spring our 15 year old nephew came to live with us. It was a VERY hard transition for ME, not him but ME. Greg lived with us from March until mid June then moved back to his dad's. My husband and I knew it was a matter of time when Greg came back, not if Greg came back. Greg came back to live with us at the beginning of October and will be staying with us until he graduates in 2 1/2 years unless things really change at his former home. With all of this being said, I knew if Greg was going to be living in our house, he too needed his own quilt made by me.

This is what I came up with.
He loves it, I love it, I am so happy with how this turned out. I backed the quilt with fleece to make it extra snuggly and warm and it does. :)

I went through all of my stash and started pulling out fabrics with oranges and blues, I think it turned out really well. What I was most happy about with this quilt is my quilting, I made sure to use my walking foot this time and TAKE MY TIME. I have a tendency to rush myself at the end of a project, just want to get it done and zip through the quilting part and have had some big ol' puckers on the front and back for doing so. Not this one, I was so, so happy with it.

Greg's mom passed away last Thanksgiving, he has had for a 16 year old kid a really rough road, but the best thing about Greg? He is a GREAT kid and he is now one of my kids too, I always wanted 3 kids, now I do. :)

(Tutorial for quilt found here)

Jerry and Cathy's turn

Back in August I did a post on 2 special quilts I made for Jenny and Lucy. Jenny is my SIL's cousin who had lost her mom to ovarian cancer in May and her daughter is Lucy.
After a busy summer with my kids and then getting back on track with our back to school routines I was ready to start on quilts for Jerry and Cathy, the husband and sister of Janet who had passed last spring.
This is what I came up with for Jerry. I used the pattern "fair and square" from Amanda at Crazy Mom Quilts. I LOVE this pattern, it was so easy and I think it really show cases the clothing and fabric that I used for his special throw.




(The only thing I KICK myself for is not using my walking foot, so stupid, I will NEVER do that again, I was getting a little burned out from a lot of sewing so I thought I would save myself a few minutes and just whip through this project with my regular machine foot. NEVER again.) Although after washing and drying this a few times I felt better about the finished product. :)

As I was cutting up Janet's clothing I was thinking of creative ways to get as much usable fabric out of all of it as possible.....above is a picture of one of the pockets from Janet's corduroy pants. I thought Jerry could put the remote in the pocket or some little snack like candy or just put his hand in the pocket like maybe he did when he and Janet would walk arm in arm on little strolls, maybe he put his hand in her pocket? I dunno, my little imagination working away, I was trying to think of things that might make him feel a little closer to her. :)

Next I did Cathy's quilt, Cathy is my SIL's mom, Janet's 1 and only sibling. I was at a loss of what to do.....then I started thinking about it and thought about a patchwork throw. Who doesn't love a nice snugly patchwork quilt? So patchwork it was. I was able to use more of a variety of fabric's with this one....pieces of clothing I had left and then a lot of feminine florals I had in my stash. I never had a sister. I only have brothers, or bothers I call them HA HA. I found myself thinking of Janet and Cathy laying under blankets or a patchwork quilt as young girls giggling and talking into the night.

Now Cathy will have something for herself made from bits and pieces of Janet's clothing to snuggle under and keep her warm while I'm sure she thinks about her sister and all the memories they shared as kids, growing up, as adults, parents and then the heartache of being apart.

Janet believed in Jesus Christ as her personal Savior as I do too. Although her time on earth was brief (as all of ours will be compared to eternity) I do hope for that the time Jenny, Lucy, Jerry and Cathy are still here on earth without Janet they do have a little bit of some physical things Janet had to keep her memory alive and to keep them warm.

P.S. Lucy is going to be getting a new baby sister in April.....ahhh how the circle of life goes round and round. :)

a little quilt

P1060530
Originally uploaded by kristinemhanson

I have a friend who will be having a boy next week, I could not make it to her shower but I was able to whip this up for her and her little guy Elliott. Such a fun little project, I even like the lines I quilted on the top, I was too scared to stipple it, I am horrible at stippling! Go here for the tutorial. :)

sprouts at Value Village

Monday is one of my favorite days of the week....I go to Value Village after taking my little guy to school....I love looking through VV. First I start with the housewares, then the linens, then girls clothing, then boys and today....I stumbled up this shirt....before my eyes all I see is green sprouts from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy line....(if you read my blog you know I dig this line, A LOT of people dig this out of print line).


At first I thought it was a home made shirt, but if you look closely you can see a tag inside it says (wonderboy) (even made in the USA it says, yahoo!).



I threw this baby in my cart and off I went to the women's section, I spent 2 hours in there today and then before I checked out I went back and forth in my head about buying the sprout shirt....should I? Shouldn't I? I thought about putting it back, even went back down to the isle I found it in, thought to myself...."should I take a chance, leave it here and get it next week instead?" But then I knew someone else might just snatch it up if I put it back and it was only 3.99! why would I ever have debated that in my head anyway?

I get home....get out some of my green sprout fabric from the FMF line...you can see this shirt had been loved before it was given away....a bit faded but it is so stinkin cute!

My model is stinkin cute too! He said he would wear this but we will see....I might have to cut it up and use in something patchworky.....what a fun find today, Value Village of all places!

And speaking of Flea Market Fancy....remember my FMF quilt I did? I still have not put it on my bed, it is just sitting there, all folded up on a chest on the end of my bed. I am thinking of selling it.....after all I did to get all that fabric, buying on ebay, buying on etsy, calling a few quilt shops all over the stinkin country from leads from a flickr group I had been in....getting asked to leave the same flickr group because I decided to sell some FMF fabric I found (AND HAD SWAPPED WITH OTHERS) (enter dramatic music) then to find out others in that group started selling fabric too on etsy (whatever!) anyways....after all that....I think I am going to put it on etsy...I don't know why...I just don't....I just don't LOVE it like I thought I would...I got so many nice comments on it on my blog, on flickr...I don't know....maybe I should put it on my bed and leave it on my bed for a few days....see if I fall in love with it...maybe I should have done more of a patchwork quilt instead of such a "modern" quilt...I dunno.....then I feel I would regret all the stupid time I wasted doing the above to get all the fabric....then to just not LOVE it.

Uhg....at least I found a cute boys shirt at VV that I love....and I can't even wear the darn thing....but I do have a pair of sharp Ginghers I can use to cut into that baby with. :0)

for Jenny and Lucy

About 2 years ago my sister-in-law Kim had told me that her Aunt Janet had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, instantly I felt horrible for her and their family....Ovarian cancer is so, so nasty (what cancer isn't?) My Grandma Heeter passed away from ovarian cancer at the age of 80 so in a lot of ways she was a lucky one....she was diagnosed at 78 and fought it 2 hard years so to die at 80 that is still a really full life. Janet too fought it for 2 hard years and passed away in May at the age of 60. 60 to me is NOT that old. Janet had 1 child, Jenny. Kim (my SIL) and Jenny are cousins and very, very close. Kim and Jenny asked if I could make a quilt using some of Janet's clothing...I had never done anything like it before but I agreed and got a bag of clothing in July and Jenny got the finished product on Thursday.
Jenny liked the quilt I had made for my nephew Garrett so I knew what quilt block I would use and she wanted something modern, not real feminine, no florals, just something nice and clean but incorporating clothing of her mom with the other fabrics I had too. I used a lot of my Amy Butler stash, it felt so good to use it for a project like this.

These are some pictures of what I came up with. In the bag of clothing was a skirt that Jenny really wanted to have in her quilt, it was a bit stretchy and a little challenging to work with but I did it. I also used a pair of her moms brown/camel colored corduroy pants, a pair of linen capri pants and some hankerchiefs. At first I thought it was a little odd that Jenny had included some hankerchiefs but then she told me why. She explained to me in a little note that these were the hankerchiefs that her mom had worn while she was going through chemo (gulp, lump in my throat) but then she also went on to explain that when Jenny was growing up Janet her mom was a single mom, no dad, no help, no support EVER. It was always just Jenny and Janet. Janet worked in a fish cannery and everyday would wear a kerchief to work. (double gulp, lump in my throat) I found myself while sewing these blocks imagining being a single mom, working in a fish cannery everyday to support myself and daughter and realizing how lucky I am to be a stay-at-home mom. Janet did everything she had to/needed to for she and Jenny.

After thinking about the hankerchiefs for the chemo and the cannery I remembered that I have some "kerchief" girl fabric and I knew I had to use it in Jenny's quilt. Above is a close up of one of the blocks with some of Janet's kerchief.

I also used the last of my little scraps of Heather Ross fabric with the little fish in a few of the blocks too....it all worked out so well.

Just for fun I added a little Heather Ross banana seat bike just because Jenny was born in the early 70's and what kid from the 70's doesn't remember riding a banana seat bike? :)

Jenny had also asked if I would make something for her daughter Lucy from Janet's clothing.....I wanted to go more feminine/girlie for this because Lucy is just 3 years old....I used a few of the kerchief pieces left from Jenny's quilt, the same linen as Jenny's and then a white with gray polka dot fabric from a blouse along with several different pink, red and blue fabrics from my stash. I also incorporated some red "kerchief" girl fabric in Lucy's so she has that memory too of her Grandma going to work with a kerchief on her head.

Her is the back of Lucy's, I backed it with chenille, it is so cozy. Jenny sent me a message and told me how much she loves the quilts and that Lucy slept with hers the first night. :0)

I have enough clothing left over to make Jenny's step-dad (Janet did marry when Jenny was 18 I believe) a throw and Jenny's mom too....I am hoping that I will have enough after that to make one for my SIL and her brother also to have a little bit of Janet to remember her by.

{click on any of the pictures to see them closer up}

finally....flea market fancy finished

(sorry about the bad lighting on this picture!) Here it is....the largest quilt I have made to date, my Flea Market Fancy quilt. Every fabric on this is from the out of print Denyse Schmidt line (Flea Market Fancy). I started collecting these prints about 18 months ago and last December started cutting into them...I am so glad I did, I am so glad I don't have all of that fabric just folded up in a drawer (although I did open that drawer quite often to look at the loveliness of all of it). (click on the photo's to see the quilting upclose) Now I am going to make a pillow or two for my bed, I thought about pillowcases but I think I am going to go with some solids for those and make some fun patchwork throw pillows instead, use up more of the remaining fabric. It felt so good to use this, when I was done I actually sold the larger pieces on eBay....I figured it was someone else's turn to enjoy it.

These are two of my favorite blocks. Honestly if I would have had yardage and yardage of these prints I could have seen myself making an entire quilt with just these colors, so pretty.

I did get all of the bindings done on all of my quilts, I only jabbed myself on my thumb a few times and under the nail of my thumb a few times less, OUCH that hurts! It feels good to get all of these projects finished up....now we just need to make a trip to The Hospice House to donate 2 of them. I am getting closer and closer to finishing up a quilt for my parents 40Th Anniversary (it was in February!) I hopefully bought the last of the fabric I need for the sashing, then after putting all of the top together will only need some yardage for a border or two then I.will.be.done.with.that.thank.God. :/

quilt for the camper

I made another quilt this week, this one is for the camper.....I backed it in snugly, warm flannel. All the fabrics for the quilt front except the solids were given to me last summer from my bff's mother-in-law Cynthia. (Hi Cynthia!) I call Cynthia my fake mother-in-law, I guess faux mother-in-law sounds prettier. My mother-in-law passed away 2 years ago, so I adopted Cynthia for myself as her "sewing" daughter-in-law because her 3 daughter-in-laws do not sew/craft. Last summer she gave me a TON of fabrics from her stash, a TON! She also gave me all the left over fabrics she had from making a few of the grandson's camping quilts....so I used those leftovers for a quilt for our camper, ta da!!

All of the print fabrics are from the same fabric line. I was coming up a bit short after I had already started cutting so I ran to JoAnn's and found some solids that coordinated, I think it turned out really well. I'm sure we will put it to good use this weekend, it is supposed to be a bit chilly and damp.....but of course, it is Memorial Day weekend, why would it NOT rain! :/

getting used...

......the quilt I made with the recipient on it.....my nephew Garrett. :)

love all the orange!

not much sewing going on....

So.......we went camping two weekends ago....ummmm.....well........long story short....coming out of our friends trailer I turned my ankle.....BAD....the sound my ankle made was just about as bad as the pain.....holy smokes!!! My husband was sitting by the fire and told me to "walk it off" the other husband (my hubs friend) came running to my aide, never mind that his wife was laughing...ouch, ouch, ouch!!! Needless to say I have not been sewing much this past week but there is good news....it was my left ankle not my right so I can still drive and use the foot peddle for my sewing machine....had an x-ray a few days after my spill....I get to wear a big ol clunky boot on my foot for the next 3 weeks....my husband felt really bad after that for saying "walk it off".

This is my son pretending to be Grandpa, if you knew my dad you would think this is pretty funny, even down to the coffee cup.

Emily and my niece, they are 11 months apart and right now they are missing the same teeth, pretty cute.

It has been beautiful weather here this past week, the kids even busted out their swim suits on Sunday afternoon, yeah for sunny April days!

The only sewing have done this past week was this little quilt. I mentioned this project in this post. It is not my choice of fabrics or blocks but it is not for me it is for a sick kiddo somewhere out there and I was happy to make this for them. All of the fabric was already cut up, all I had to do was sew the blocks, then sew them all together, add the borders....even the backing fabric was in the kit, so easy all it took from me was a little time, thread and a few prayers for a little one out there that will enjoy this.

1/2 way there!!!

In 2008 I joined a "block of the month". Don't ask me why, I had never done it before, don't know if I ever will again. :) The first few months I found it fun to get little padded envelopes in the mail....I never did anything with them other than open up the envelope look at the fabric, stuff it back in the envelope then throw it in a clear plastic shoe box. Then more months came and came and came...and if you read my previous post we had several deaths in the family and throw in the mix a hysterectomy for me at 35. So if you have caught on....I had never done anything with any of these blocks....until now. I have officially finished January-June, whoo hoo 1/2 way!!! At first I had to remind myself "why did I join this particular BOM?" (still can't remember) and "why did I choose this color way?"...the golds, browns, greens and blues, oh yeah....the other color way was pastels and I am NOT a pastel girl, I don't even decorate for Easter because I don't dig pastels (or the Easter Bunny for that matter).

After I finished the first block I was looking forward to the next, I whipped out 5 of these babies in 1 day (I had cut all of them out in January then stuffed them back in the envelopes until I was ready to sew, so glad I did, now I just empty the bag, look at the pattern and start going on it. Today I finished 1, and it was a pain!! it is the one on the top right of the photo above, June....I can't tell you how many times I sewed, ripped out, sewed ripped out, me no likie the June block.

So mom what do you think? I am actually really liking these now and think they will look great once sashed and put together for a big quilt, will this be good for the 40th Anniversary quilt I promised you? :)

If you want you can click on the photo to see up close....there are A LOT of triangles in these blocks, A LOT!

quilts for my in-laws

In 2008 within 6 months of each other, both my in-laws passed away. My MIL in May and my FIL in November. Both of them passed away at The Hospice House in Spokane. Not long after they both had passed my husband asked me to make a quilt that we could donate in memory of them. It took me over a year to finally figure out what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to make one for each of them, with their own label honoring each of them.


This first quilt is for my FIL, Gary. I used several charm packs of the Sweetwater au.then.tic line. My husband says this is his favorite quilt I have ever made. :) I also used up some yardage of the same line to break up the rows of pinwheels. This is a close up of some of the pinwheels. Twin sized, to fit a hospital bed, it was kinda weird making these quilts....I found myself thinking about both my in-laws A LOT while sewing these and also about the patients that will use them in the future, made me kind of emotional actually, but also made me feel good that they will have a snugly quilt on them while in the care of Hospice.

This is for my MIL, Carol. I wanted to use up some of my stash so I went through it all and pulled out a lot of blues/purples and then just did strips. Kolby thinks his mom would have loved it, I hope so.

Close up of my MIL's quilt

I know once I get these back from the quilters they will look AMAZING! I am going to have personalized labels made for them to.

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Totally random....picture of the kids yesterday on a "safari". (note Jack's plastic shotgun and Emily was taking pictures of the elephants)

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!!