STAR BURST!!

Hi Everyone!

Here it is. My quilt entry into the McCall Design Star Challenge.

Star Burst

This quilt has about 1600 pieces. There are 7-12" Amish Star Blocks, and 36- 6" Amish Star Blocks. I was given a total of 27 days to design, cut and sew this quilt top. I am so darn happy how it turned out. This picture does no justice to the colors in this quilt!

Here is a link to the quilts in the amateur category in case you would like to vote! And the direct link to my quilt is to the right :)

Hope you all like it!!

Christine

Design Stars!

I have been busily working on my quilt top for the McCalls Quilt Design Star Challenge 1! Voting for Challenge 1 Starts June 19th! You will be able to check things out here

Here is a wee sneak peek of what I am working with!

lots of pieces cut out and ready to be sewn

some pieces sewn together

a bucket full of chained pieces

Final quilt top will be shown early next week!! I have to have it submitted by June 17th, and voting will start June 19th. I am so excited to share this with everyone!!

With myself being busy designing, cutting, sewing my little sweeties had to join in on the fun. The pictures say it all!!

See my little design stars at work!! I am so very proud of them!!

playing around with the layout of charm squares

put her layout on a towel and rolled it up until we were ready to sew, she is carefully bringing it  to the table to start sewing now

sewing pieces together

carefully ensuring the seams are straight

some intense focus

Very proud girl with her finished quilt top. Pretty darn good for a 4 year old!!

getting ready to sew

sewing pieces together

such intense focus!!

Very proud boy with his finished quilt top!  Pretty good for first quilt and being 4 years old!

It has been a few really busy weeks! And while all of this has going on, there has also been some birthday parties, a wedding and the flu!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!! 

Christine

Busy, very very busy!!!

So much to say, and lots to show!!

I have managed in to get so much done in the last couple of weeks!!  I had fallen in love with this dress from Fairytale Frocks & Lollipops.  I looked at the dress for a couple of days and decided I just HAD to have that pattern. It is an E-Pattern, so I was wondering how that would work for making a dress. Well, I must say it was AMAZING! The directions were fantastic and the service was amazing. I emailed them with a question, and they replied to me in a very timely manner, answered everything, and were so nice.

I had originally started making the dress for my girls for Christmas. BUT, I ran out of time sewing other projects. I had managed to get everything cut out, but that was about it. Then I thought, hmmmm, perfect Easter dresses, but just never got to it. Now that we are approaching summer, we have 3 weddings to go to. So, I finally made the time and got both dresses done. I am so happy with how they turned out!

The Girls love their new dresses.

When we get dressed up for the wedding the bows will look much better :)

It is a full skirt, and all those pleats...hand pleating both the dresses took  almost 3 hours!

I am so happy with the pattern, the service and the outcome, I know I will be going back to Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops to purchase more patterns! They have very large selection of patterns, you can get paper patterns or E-patterns. I highly recommend checking them out :)

Now, on to some rather exciting wowing news!  I shared with everyone that I had entered into the McCalls Quilting Quilt Design Star Challenge. Well, the other day I received notice that I was selected to move on to the challenge 1.  I was so surprised, really there was 148 entries, and they were all amazing, and they narrowed it down to 15 contestants! What a tough decision for the judges!!

So, for challenge 1, I have about 3 weeks to make a quilt top following a certain criteria that has been given to us.  Needless to say, my mind has been going into overdrive, thinking, planning, envisioning, and deciding what I am going to create. I think I have it figured out. And I think I have a fabric selection picked out.  

What do you all think of this selection??

I really think the black background really helps these bright colors pop!!

I am looking forward to creating this and seeing the final product!!

Thank you everyone for the support :)

Christine

McCalls Design Star 2012

A few posts back, I mentioned I entered into the McCalls Design Star 2012 Contest.  The voting is still going on for the entry round.  I am hoping that I will advance to the next round, oh that would be so exciting.  This is the first time I have entered in this. There is such amazing talent out there! All the quilts are fabulous!!!

This is the one that I entered in for my entry quilt:

This quilt by far has been the most challenging piece I have done!! This was a "I can whip this off in a couple of weeks" kind of project! Well, over 2 years later I can say that it is FINALLY finished!  This piece if work, really pushed me out of my comfort zone. I like things rather symmetrical, rather balanced.  So the fact that this quilt is more "unbalanced" took a lot of work for me to position and like how it looked.  This step alone probably took me over 2 months. I would tweak it, add something, move it around, take away. Then I would put it away completely as I needed a break from it...lol.

But before all of that, I had chosen these amazing fabrics, I fell in love with them and they look so great together...however the are NOT cotton! Silly me, they frayed, I used fusible interfacing which helped but it was still a large undertaking.

To add some more detail to this beauty, I did some decorative stitching, machine embroidery, and added some beads to it.

When this was all said and done, I LOVE IT!!! Would I ever make this again....nope....at least not with the fabrics I chose!!

There is a botton on the right side of my post that will take you right to my quilt if you would like to vote, and if you pop over there, check out all the hard work that was done!

Hope you all have a fabulous night!!

Christine  

Need some blogging help please :)

Hello Everyone!!

I am seeking some help! It may be a simple thing, but to be honest I really have no idea how to reply to comments that are left on my blog :(  The only thing that I can figure out it to send a private email if the person who left a comment has an accessible email.  I have seen some blogs where you can post a reply right to the comment ( I hope that makes sense!)

I have had some truly amazing comments left, and I am super grateful for each and everyone, but I would like to thank people for them personally.  So if anyone can help me out that would really make my day!!!

Thanks you so much!!

Christine :)

Progress!

Some days you just get on a roll, and for me today was one of those!!

I managed to get all the vacuuming done, floors swept, bathroom cleaned, laundry washed/dried/and put away (all 3 in one day is a huge task...lol),  lawn mowed, grass seed put down, lawn watered, playing outside with the kids, games inside, cuddle time with all 3, and all errands done...phew what a productive day!

Tomorrow, hopefully I can get the rest of my "to do" cleaning list done for this weekend and maybe get a bit of time to do some sewing.

I will share a picture of what I am working on at the moment. More details will come on another post.

Have a good night all!!

Christine

Self Reflection

Sometimes life just gets so crazy, so much happens...good and bad, and sometimes we need to just stop, step back and take a look, and act.  This is where I am now, I am trying to to stop, step back, and look.

This last year has been non stop for me, but the last 3 months have been over to top. It was getting to the point that I was struggling to keep up with everything, staying focused was hard, sleep was minimal, and just overall, I was so overwhelmed with everything.

I did manage to alleviate one of the significant stressors, and started a new job a few weeks ago. Leaving the one place of employment was such a good choice, and removed a decent portion of negative stress. There is still stress with learning a brand new job, but I consider that more positive stress as its a new challenge and I am learning new things and growing as a person.

With being in such a funk, I find that even things around the house has slipped. I really REALLY need to purge A LOT of stuff. I feel that my place is over run, and cluttered. Its clean enough, but right now I really want the less is more. I feel that if I can purge at least 30% of everything (Hopefully more!!) that having the open clean space will help me in feeling refreshed....seeing less clutter hopefully will help with decluttering my mind.

As a result of everything, my balance of work/family/personal time/ has been out of whack. I do spend most of my time with the kids, which is tremendously important. But I think I need to try and steal a few minutes of time for myself, to give me a bit of a lift and refreshment.

I know what I would like, changes that need to be made, and the goals to be reached. Now comes the acting part. This seems to be the biggest challenge. Is it fear? Change? or plain and simple where do I start? There is the desire, the want, but not the energy, and the lack of time.

So, here is what I am thinking....DETERMINATION!!! I want to achieve things, I want to be out of the funk, I want to feel refreshed, and really, there is only one person that can do that, and that is ME!! I need to make a plan, and stick to it! So, I think tomorrow I will make a list of to do's, and then try to cross off 1 or 2 things a day. I think if I make all the tasks small and easy projects it will be more motivational. and the more I can cross off the more uplifting I think I will feel.

What do you all think?
How do you get yourself on track? and keep yourself focused?
What do you do to keep a happy lifestyle balance?

Here goes nothing, tomorrow will be day 1 of being  a better person, and achieving some goals!!

Om a good note, look at the sweet item I found, I am so gosh darn excited!! I have wanted one of these for so so long.

look at how pretty it is on the outside!

Look at all that room on the inside!!

It is in amazing shape, and what makes this even better is that I got it for $10.00!!! I am looking forward to filling it with some goodies!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Christine

100 and pretty excited!!

Hello Everyone!!

I was looking over things and I realized that this is my 100th post!! Wow, that really is a milestone for me!

What a great post to share something really exciting, at least for me :)  I entered into a McCalls Next Design Star Challenge, and my submission was accepted!!!!! Voting starts today for the first round, and everyone can vote everyday for 1 quilt.  There is such amazing work and creativity that has been entered. This year, there is 2 different categories, amateur and professional. I have entered into the amateur category. I would love to advance to the next round

There is a link to the right of my page that takes you to the quilt that I entered into the contest. Feel free to click it and if you would like you can vote to :)

This quilt has been a long time in the making. This was supposed to be a quick to do wall hanging. Little did I know that it would take me quite some time to finish. This quilt challenged me on so many levels, I learned lots, I discovered things I like, and some things I dislike, but I can say I tried and learned :) And I can finally say, I have finished this...one UFO off my list...wooohooo!!

Hope everyone is doing well, and have a fabulous day!!

Christine

Where did January go??

Sheesh, this month is basically gone!! And I must say I feel like I have not managed to get much done!!  However, I did finish that sweet little backpack for the wee missy, I have a table runner almost complete, and 2 dresses cut out...just need to sew them together!! Had 2 birthday parties for the wee miss.

Along, with that was the every day stuff such as working full time, trying to make headway on the purging and cleaning of the home, working on arts and crafts with the kids and all the daily little life errands...AND the flu...oh that flu :(

FINALLY, everyone is healthy and just dealing with wee miss and some teething (which is almost done too..woohooo )

So, my plans for this weekend is to finish up that table runner, and maybe even the dresses. The dresses I was going to originally make for the girls for Christmas, but just ran out of time, so now I am determined to have them ready for Easter. The trick will be keeping them a surprise!!

Then I can move on to some other projects. Miss K really wants to get some more time on the sewing machine, so I think we will make some bean bags that she can take to the daycare. This way it teaches her sewing, and the great feeling of giving. I am sure that both her brother and sister will join in on this fun as well.

Ending on a sweet note, my dear son told me today "Mom, I am going to give you 20 pounds of smooches!!" Awwww, he is such a little sweetheart <3

Last Quilt of 2011

I love to sew, and with quilting I only began that about  2-2 1/2 years ago. There is always a reason as to why I make things, whether it is a gift, or a special outfit for the kids. But every now and then, there is a special reason to make something, and this was what the last quilt of 2011 was for me.

Just over 2 years ago, my father-in-law passed away after a long battle with cancer. My brother in law, brought over some of my father in laws shirts to make a quilt (we both ended up having the same idea without talking to one another) I had these shirts for over a year. They sat in a box and I pondered how I was going to make this special keepsake for mother-in-law.  Finally, I thought I would make a rag quilt. I was short on time with deciding to have it ready for Christmas. So, one night when the kids were in bed I cut up all the shirts. This step I had to do while the kids were sleeping as all 3 of my kids LOVE scissors and cutting, so I did not want them to get the idea to cut up their own cloths. Once all the squares were cut up, the kids and I sat there and sewed them together. Each passing be squares, but they were careful in not giving me two of the same square in a row. Eventually, all squares were sewn together, and wow were there 3 happy kids!!

Then came the snipping...I can honestly say that definitely took much longer than I thought it would...lol

This is what it looked like once it was all snipped. Not too bad for making a rag quilt with really having no idea.  But I can say I really learned a lot making this one :)

I finished this quilt 1 hour before I had to leave to give this quilt to mother-in-law.  She fell in love with the quilt when she first saw it, but when we told her to actually look at the fabric that was used, she realized that those were the shirts of my father-in-law. She cried and hugged the quilt, and all she could say was thank you. This quilt, really meant a lot and I am so happy that I was able to make this memory quilt for her!

She's two!!

Well, my sweet little girl turned 2 this week!! Where has the time gone!! I am so proud of her, she is such a sweet thing. She is a petite little girl, she has finally hit the 20 pound mark! But she is such a kind little soul and she is such a cuddle bug. Oh she just melts my heart :)

Her sibling were much more excited about her birthday that she was.  The twins are 4, so now they are understanding things and really getting into these celebrations and milestones.  K is my big helper.  This year we decided to make little miss a backpack of her own (I used this Moda bakeshop pattern and made some of my own changes along the way). So off to the fabric store we all went (and this I must say was a big challenge with 4 year old twins and an almost 2 year old!!) to look for just the right fabric for this special backpack. K being the girl that she is, and one who already LOVES fabric and sewing, went right to the pinks. I let K pick out the fabric for her sisters backpack. Oh and how I wish I had a camera handy to take a picture of her. She was very proud of her choice and carried the bolt of fabric. (Yup, I am a proud mama that my kids are right into the sewing). Once we found the fabric, off to the buttons to find just the right one. My little man W took charge of this. He carried the buttons and thread all the way home :)

Once we finally got the chance to get going, the twins helped me cut the fabric (that would be watching mainly, but also included smoothing out fabric, and taking away the scraps which they always claim). Then the pinning. The would take turns handing me the pins, and in between passing me pins, they would pin their scraps, and they are amazing as they know to be very careful with the pins as they are sharp and can be pokey.

I was able to do most of the sewing when they were asleep, but the last bit of sewing I had to do, they were there right beside me. K was so excited when it was done, she was very content with the finished product. On   little misses birthday, I think that K was more excited to give it, than little miss was to receive it. And let me tell you, little miss was over the moon excited. She wore the backpack for at least an hour, and now uses it daily!

Here are some pictures of the finished product (sadly I do not have any pictures of little miss using this just yet!) I just love this backpack. I have made a few of these already, it really is a great simple pattern!

Here is the finished product. Love the choice of fabric

here is the button that we chose, I love the detail

back view of the backpack

and the inside, I used the same fabric as the outside

So, this was my first finish of 2012.  I have a few projects that I need to finish, and I am hoping to have a great successful year in completing many things and getting lots of sewing time in. I need to research methods of Quilt As You Go techniques. I have a fantastic sewing machine, but its just a tiny domestic machine, and the throat is just not big enough to handle a quilt for quilting. And since a new quilting machine is not in my budget, the next best thing I can think of is QAYG techniques. Does anyone have any ideas of great resources, or tutorials or books that would show me some great ways to complete quilts this way?

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

C :)

Great start to the year!

I had decided that this year, I was going to try and do things a bit different for New Years Day.  This year, the kids and I stayed home, in our jammies all day long! We played games, built puzzles, watched a few movies.  Cuddled lots...ahhh it was wonderful. I also did manage to tackle the ginormous mountain of laundry, and get a few other wee household tasks done.

I must say that it was wonderful to just relax, enjoy and not have to rush around. The kids were in great moods, helpful, happy and pleasant!  If the rest of the year follows suit, well then I am thinking that 2012 is going to be a wonderful year :)

Tomorrow I will be breaking out the sewing machine to get some things finished for my wee girls birthday coming up this week!

Have a great day all!