I made this Chevron quilt for Damon's friends who just had their first baby.  They live in Pittsburgh and are Steeler's fans, so I wanted it to be black and yellow.  

  I picked out 1930's reprints for the black and yellow, and used thangles to make the design--it was very simple!  

  Unfortunately, I used grey thread to sew it together, and didn't realize that when it was all done you'd be able to see the grey thread through the white fabric, causing it to look dingy. It was so disheartening too since I had it custom quilted.   

For the inspiration for the quilting, I found this on pinterest.  I was really in love with it.  The quilting that my quilter did wasn't exactly like this, but she did a really good job!

For the backing I just used the remander of the yellow and black fabric.

The name of the quilt is actually 1930s Chevron, but this was the first tag that I made a little mistake on (it accidentally said 1980s Chevron on this tag!)

Love you two!

This quilt right here is a quilt for one of Damon's pals that lives in upstate New York.  I named it "chocolate flowers.'   Damon actually did most of the work on this. He picked out the colors and pattern, he cut the squares, and sewed them into rows.

I sewed the rows together and did the boarders.  The binding I initially attempted a decorative machine stitch again, but it was a disaster and I hated it.  I tried to pick it out, but the intricate machine stitches were so small that I couldn't get it out.  So in desperation I decided to undo a bit of the binding that hadn't been stitched on, cut into it, and just put a new binding over the old binding stretch that had the machine stitching on it.

I was going to hand-stitch the binding on after that, but Damon wanted to machine sew it on in a straight line so he did.  I have been completely and utterly converted back to hand-stitching the binding on after this experience!

The backing.

Close up of the brown and pink grunge.  I love the way the pink thread used in the quilting drifts in and out of being visible on this quilt from the brown areas and then onto the pink & patterned areas of the quilt.

I can't wait to show you my next quilt! It's a chevron, with 1930's and I had it custom quilted!

How I wish you were here so I could show you my latest quilt! Think of the fun! 
We'd sit around a treat-filled table and drink herbal tea. Nothing seems to right the world like a cup of piping-hot peppermint tea. We would laugh and talk and laugh some more. I'd be so happy for the time to spend with two of my favorite people in the whole world!

Sounds nice.

I made this quilt for a dear friend who shared the same nanny job as me in New York. The family I nannied for was just as rude and unkind to her as they were to me. Maybe even worse. I believe this is one of the many reasons we are friends. When you go through something traumatic it really bonds you to the person who goes through it with you.

My friend, Amanda, adopted a sweet little girl almost a month ago. I had this quilt ready to go for her then. But Damon and I decided that we are taking a quilting break. So I had the quilt shop quilt it for me, nd it took them three weeks! It almost killed me! I'm not sure if Damon and I will ever quilt again. Right now the cost is about the same to have the shop do it and it's just easier. We don't have to find babysitters which is big. My mom and dad would always come when I asked them to (they are very reliable), but the drive is really hard on them and they are just sick a lot. And even though they will come when they feel crappy, I can see how hard it is for them to help when they are here.

I neglected to take some snapshots of the finished quilt. This is all I have right now. Once Amanda receives her quilt I will ask her to send me some photos and I will post them.

I call this my Strawberry Shortcake quilt. It reminds me so much of that little strawberry girl. But man, it's a busy quilt. I'm not so sure how much I like it. I think I should have put in more solids.

 Now, get ready for the really happy part...for the binding I used a dark green Moda Grunge! 

I must tell you something about grunge fabric. I LOVE it. I need it. Whenever I see grunge, I buy it. A yard every time. I'd love to have every color in the Basic Grey collection. It's so versatile. It looks great with everything. Love grunge forever!  

So on the binding-- I machine sewed it on instead of hand-sewing using a decorative flower stitch. I did this because of time constraints and also I just don't think my hand-stitching is that good. I was really pleased with the outcome. There were clear mistakes but I think the decorative stitch I used helped it look okay. 

I can't wait to hear how Amanda likes it. 

In other news...We are going to New Mexico again this year. Yippee! I love family trips. 

What fun do you have planned this summer?

P.S. Amanda sent the photos!

My latest quilt.

It is for my amazingly talented cousin, Shannon.  I guess she's technically Damon's cousin, but I claim her. :) I really admire this girl. Her and her Mom have always been lovely to me.  I'm grateful for them.

I used Windsor Lane by Bunny Hill Designs for Moda Fabrics. Love this line. When it first came out I was smitten. I actually bought the Windsor Lane fat quarter bundle with my cousin in mind, but knowing that I would be able to get several baby quilts out of it.

 I did end up using minky again, even though I vowed not to. Damon

said I should. 

Hey, if my hubby tells me to buy minky, I buy it.

I was so happy too, because I found a remnant just the right size for the backing that was 40% off!

Yeepie!

The problem was that the minky was the exact same size as the top. So when it was time to quilt it, we had a bit of a struggle and the lady helping us was not too happy. But, as you can see, it got quilted. 

Damon worked his magic. He did freestyle for the first time and it turned out beautiful!

So I really hope Shannon likes it. Her opinion matters alot to me.

She is brilliant in all she does-- as well as her Mom.

So today I only ate raw food!

I want to try this raw thing out!

 I feel really happy about it right now.

If I'm successful for longer than a week then I'll talk more about it. :)

My 10th anniversary quilt!

I so happy that it is mostly finished. I need to bind it. But that won't happen for another year. If I'm lucky. So serious.

The story of the anniversary quilt goes like this. Damon and I were discussing anniversary gift ideas and he was shooting down every gift idea I had for him, left and right. I was cleaned out, I had nothing left.  When all of a sudden Damon had this vision and it came to him with angels singing. 
The idea of the anniversary quilt was born. 
It was a great idea and I loved it! However in my mind it was a lot cuter. I did not have the time that I needed to make this quilt into the grand thing that I wanted to. I would not have finished it at all if it weren't for all of Damon's help. He saved me. It's amazing the amount of time that went into this thing. I was setting my alarm to wake up before my children and working on it after they went to bed. I gave up exercising to have that time to work on this quilt. That is love.

You can see the blue marking pen since I have not washed it yet. All the pets we have ever had are on this quilt. Man, if it wasn't for them this quilt would look rather sparse.  This orange kitty, Miss Muffet, lived with us for only about a week or so. She died when she ate a black widow. I was telling this story to my children and they just giggled at the irony of Miss Muffet's fate.

I filled the 'g' with colonial knots.

Our love for gardening.

Damon designed this "A" and then made it for me. He's the man!

All the quilt squares are paper pieced. I sewed all of the pieces together so they were in units and then Damon would sew the units together turning them into the complete picture.

Damon also designed this paper piecing arch (though I appliqued the rounded top of the arch--the only applique on the quilt)

We love snowmen! Each one represents a favorite holiday: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Birthdays. I wasn't sure how to make the snowman into a birthday snowman. So it doesn't really look like a birthday snowman. But, hey, I did the best I could.

The Salt Lake Temple. Awesome!

There are many things that make me so sad about this quilt. There are so many mistakes it's pathetic. The quilting is one of the major things that brings me down. Damon and I didn't get to quilt this one. The shop had double-booked our appointment and so we chose to let the shop quilt it. I chose the design but I thought it was going to be smaller like what I saw in the sample book. I've been thinking about taking out the stitching. Damon says no. I haven't decided yet.  Damon says he has already decided for me. We'll see who wins this one.  :)

Hello, Dear Sue!

I've missed you and think of you a whole lot.  :) 

I've finished a baby quilt that I made for a dear friend who is about to give birth any day now. 

My ward had a service action where I donated an offer to make a baby blanket. The lady that won my donation told me she wanted it to give to my friend, Janae, who I wanted to make a baby blanket for anyway. Win-win!

It has minky for the back side.  My first time working with minky. And wow, I love the stuff, it's great! I can't keep my hands off it. I just hate the cost. So mean. Won't be working with minky again for a long, long time.

Damon quilted it! We both are now certified to work on My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe's long arm. But he is the one who knows how to work it. He is so talented, seriously. This guy puts me to shame! 

No contest.

He did such an awesome job! He's so good to humor me. 

All the fabrics I already had in my stash (expect the minky). Which makes me sooo happy!

I feel justified in all the yards of fabric I buy when I can whip up a lovely quilt without having to stop by the shop. This was an easy quilt too. It was such a nice breath for fresh air to finally be working on something easy. It was rejuvenating.

So, back to everyday life.  I sliced my finger today with my rotary cutter. Nice. So much blood came pouring out I thought I was going to die.

 Let's talk soon.

xoxo!

I'm so so happy to announce that I just finished my Hocusspocusville quilt last week! Yippee! And it only took me two years. :) Double yippee. :) I am so in love right now. Smitten to the bone. Seriously, I can't take my eyes off this thing.

Can you see the pumpkin quilting on the black square? They are hard to see but so cute!

I googled Hocusspocusville and saw on images a lot of these quilts by other quilters. One gal said it took her 3 months to complete hers. WoW.  I also saw one made with all color thread. I didn't think it was as cute doing it that way. I did see one, though, that the quilter put the embroidery on lime green instead of muslin and I loved it. I wish I could of seen that one when I was starting mine.

The marking pencil that I used to draw on the houses, that cost me like $12 or $14 bucks -just so you know-, was suppose to come out when washed. But it did not. There are places on the quilt where you can clearly see the green markings. It makes me so sad!

Also there is one block that Colton got to with a pen that did not come out either when I washed it. Colton was younger when he did this, so I can't be mad. You know, I fished the haunted houses a long time ago. They've just been setting around collecting dust forever. Such a happy feeling to have it finished!

Anyway, I am very happy with it. I can't wait to see you very soon!

xoxo