The Quilts

OK I got the word that everyone finally got their Christmas boxes. So I can unveil pictures of everyone's quilts.

Justine and Gregg------

You've seen this quilt before.

Megan and Mark-------

This one had a soft, fuzzy backing.

Melanie-------

Isabel and MJ---------

This one got done under the wire. As you can see the Christmas tree was already up.

Cara and Luis-------

This is the picture after they opened it. I'll get better pictures soon.

Kaylee and Derek------

You've seen this one before too.
And there they are. It took me most of the year. I made each one because I loved the fabric and the pattern. Dave helped me decided who got what quilt. Enjoy.

Christmas at our house!

This is how much fun we had for Christmas this year.

This last one was the aftermath.
I hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Ethan funnies and one finish

Ethan went with the YM to laser tag the other night. He was telling me how awesome it was and I asked him if he got shot. He said in a deadpan voice, "No mom I didn't get shot." And I said really excitedly, "Way to go, give me a high five!" And he said, "Mom stop being sarcastic to my sarcasm!"


This is a fireplace cover that has been in the works for a while. It is made up of flying geese which I've wanted to learn how to make for a long time. My friend Vivian had one on her fireplace and I liked the idea. So this is what I came up with.

Scary Monday, Exciting Tuesday, Productive Wednesday

Sometimes this blogging thing is hard. OK enough whining.
Scary Monday----
We were driving on the freeway coming back from a beautiful drive along the river, picnic lunch, then a drive through the state park looking at the changing leaves, when an 18 wheeler threw a 2 by 4 into our windshield. Everyone is OK, but it was scary. Luckily it hit just right and only cracked the windshield and dented the top by the passenger door. We are definitely counting our blessings. It could have been a lot worse. Here are some pictures.

Exciting Tuesday-----
Dave got his cast off and is feeling free! The scar is about 4 inches long and still healing. He is in a walking brace for about 3 to 4 weeks, but he can wear a boot and drive his truck and get around much easier. Unfortunately I realized I did not take any pictures of his cast.

Productive Wednesday----------
Yesterday I was busy with Dave and then the car's new windshield installation, but today I got all the laundry done, then went over to Chris' to quilt this quilt. Now all I have to do is make the binding and sew it on. Very productive!

 And here is a picture of Ethan recording a song.

Have a wonderful day and I hope it doesn't take me as long to post the next time.

Matt funny and leaving Sequim

First of all is the Matt funny:

Ethan was saying something funny, but was trying not to smile (you know like Dave does). I started smiling at him and he asked what I was smiling about and I said "you are so cute. As cute as a button!" Ethan says "Buttons aren't cute." And Matt says,"They are, especially if they look like pigs."

Now to dampen the mood. We packed the car and are leaving Sequim in the morning. BooHoo.

missionary ambush

The missionaries are now living in our basement. We don't see them much, just quickly at breakfast or lunch and as they come and go. Well a couple of days ago the boys waited (almost an hour) at the top of the stairs with their nerf machine guns and as the elders came out of the basement going to the front door (approx. 6 steps) they got ambushed. It was so hilarious!

Now forward to last night. The boys decided to get them when they came home at around 9pm. They planned well. They dressed in black and draped the guns in dark towels. They turned off every light in the whole house.... and waited. Little did they know that I had put 2 of Ethan's pump action nerf guns on the porch with a note to the Elders saying they were for their own protection.  Here is a play by play according to Ethan:

"I was next to the basement door ready to strike and there was no way they could see me, but they came in looking kind of confused and then saw us and started firing. Matt said not to fire until the door closed, but they started shooting before that so they gained the upper hand in the battle.

After that I started shooting and they ran into the other room. It was then I realized my gun was making funny noises. I inspected it and it was jammed. By that time Elder Merkley had gotten into the kitchen and was firing at me. Meanwhile, Matt was taking on Elder Falkner. So here I was, being fired upon one of the elders, frantically trying to unjam my gun. I ran through the kitchen and took out the belt of my gun and couldn't fire anymore, but it didn't matter because the battle was over. All the while evil Mom and Dad were laughing hysterically at the top of the stairs, watching the whole thing unfold. It turns out that I only got off about 5 or 6 rounds at them. "

OK let that be a warning to anyone coming to the Sequim nerf war unarmed!
Wish I had pictures, it was priceless.

Ethan funnies

This is our conversation after school today.

Me:  Have you cleaned out your locker yet?

Ethan: Just my gym locker today.

Me: Your gym locker? What did you have to clean out in there?

Ethan: Lots of stuff.

Me: What kind of stuff?

Ethan: Just some clothes.

By this time I have started to laugh.

Me: Did you bring them home?

Ethan: Well I had two bags full and I could only fit one in my backpack. So I only have one bag.

Now I am laughing hysterically.

Me: How big is your Gym locker anyway and what clothes did you have in there?

Questions that I can barely get out.

Ethan: Why are you laughing?

His gym locker is 1 foot by 1 foot. And the clothes have been there since cross country season in the fall!

Back to quilting and a correction and Ethan

First in regards to my last post, apparently my link was not ok with NBC. To understand my thoughts on Veganism you must watch the video on you tube. Go to you tube and search scott pilgrim vs the world. You want the one called Evil Ex Fight #3 Todd Ingram.

Now here are a few pictures of Ethan playing his new guitar.

Now back to quilting. As you know we have decided to retire next year and move to Sequim. Some of you are a bit skeptical if this will happen as planned. Well Dave told me he wanted a wall hanging with this saying on it and this is what I came up with.

Can you see that it says "Next year in Sequim"? It's got the mountains, our house and the ocean. And the sun because Sequim is in the rain shadow.
I am almost done with the blue and cream quilt that I was working on at Quilt camp. It wasn't big enough for our bed so I am adding another border. I am glad I had extra fabric.
More soon. Have a great day!

"Being Vegan just makes you better then most people"

So Dave is going Vegan for a month. I have learned alot about the superiority of vegan's in the last week as I was searching for recipes and what it involves. I will keep you posted as I try the recipes. And also how Dave is enjoying it. Watch this video from Scott Pilgrim VS the World. (Very funny movie BTW) It explains alot.

Link to Vegan Video

Saving!

Before I begin with my savings post I need to tell you that I went to the AQS Quilt Show in Paducah, KY. It is a big thing in the quilt world. I enjoyed it. I went last year with a group of friends and this year only 3 others were going to go. But one got sick and another had to many things going on, so it was just me and Carol. We had lots of fun shopping and looking at all the beautiful quilts. Really works of art. We left at 7am and got back about 8pm. The river was flooding so they had to put up the flood gates and had to move some of the show to different locations but not hard to find and we had a great time.

Ok now for the savings. These were my shopping trips last week. At CVS I did two transactions so I could use my extra care bucks immediately. I haven't done this before because I feel bad for the people in line behind me, but I waited for a lull in people and went ahead.

I got the milk and Zaditor for $13.72 using coupons and got $1 ECB and $3 ECB.

I then bought this candy for $1.37 with a coupon and the ECB's I just got.  I also had to get a rain check for the cheerios and shaving cream on sale they didn't have. I saved $14.36 on both of these transactions together.

Then at Walgreen's I got this.

My total with coupons was $8.79. My total savings was $22.03. I wanted to get some Cream with Mushroom soup but they were out of stock so I got a rain check.

This is not a massive haul, but I am not the extreme couponer that needs to buy things I don't use just because and I haven't figured out how to get everything for free. Saving money is a good thing though and that is why I use coupons.

Have a wonderful day.

Two finishes

Ok, I have a pile of finished quilt tops that have been yelling at me to "quilt and bind us" for awhile now. One was the Chocolate quilt that I made for Dave. I was going to quilt it on Sally (My friends long arm machine), but as I was crawling around on the floor pinning it together it was telling me to straight stitch it with my machine at home, so here it is........

Not a very good picture. Here is the back.....

The other on that I finished is called Round and Round. It was a quilt along on a blog called Crazy Mom Quilts. She would put up a section of instructions each week and we would have the week to finish up til the next part would be put up. They are fun. But sometimes I'd get behind. Or I would finish really fast and have to wait for the next instructions. Well enough explanation.

You can't see the colors very well but I love the blues and greens together. Here is the back. It is just blocks of a few of the fabrics from the front.

I did straight line quilting on this one also. Three lines in the cream fabric and I stitched in the ditch on the patchwork. This is one of my favorites. Have I said that about too many?

I have also been helping the SA branch sew some quilts they are making to donate. They are cutting 10'' squares and sewing 8X10 quilts. And I'm slowly working on my quilt camp quilt. Pictures of that soon. Have a wonderful day!

Non-stop sewing

I sewed for 2 and a half days. Such fun! And no that wasn't sarcastic. I found out my sewing eyes are bigger than my ....... I took to many projects and did not even finish one. But I did get a lot done. Christine and Lelia went up first. And Vivian and Deor went up on Monday morning. I got there on Tues. morning. I started sewing right away. This is the project I was working on.

That is a box filled with tiny squares of fabric all cut and ready to sew. A sample of the finished block is above the pattern. I have to make 102 of those blocks. I got about 60 done at quilt camp and I put 4 rows together. My camera ran out of batteries while I was up there so you'll have to wait on a picture. I am so excited to get some progress done on this quilt. It is for our queen size bed. Huge.

It is a tradition of theirs to give pillow presents at quilt camp. These are just little fun things. Deor made cute canvas bags with spa socks inside. Lelia made a pin cushion with a scrap bag attached. She also bought us these cute button braclets. Chris did a little something everyday. She had us decorate a little plastic box and then she would add things to it at different times throughout the day. And this is what I gave them:

They are little quilt block magnets that are 1 1/2 inches big. Just made out of scraps. I like making little things. And I also made these fabric fortune cookies.

Inside were some sewing fortunes that Dave helped me make up. Like "May your feed dog never bite or press 'yer' foot."  Ha Ha.

Here is a picture of the 5 machines set up in the living room.

That is Chris in the first picture and Vivian in the second.
Well I had lots of fun and will add some more when I get some pictures from them. Enjoy your day.

Quilt Camp

I am off to quilt camp for 2 1/2 days. I wanted to post some pictures of what I will be working on and my little pillow presents, but the camera wasn't cooperating yesterday. You will have to wait until I get back.  Sew, Sew, Sew..........

Matt funnies

Ethan, Matt and I were laughing at the funny things that Cara had on her blog that Jackson had said, and then Matt said he can't wait till he had kids. He paused a second then said, "I need to find me a wife!"  Send your suggestion directly to him.

Vote

Well I'm wondering if you care to vote on my next layout? I found this video on youtube about tube quilting and had to try it. It is by Missouri Quilt Co. I made all these blocks and I'm wondering how I should lay them out.
 

#1 the most traditional.

#2 scrappy stripes

#3 Zippy Zigzags

What do you think? Vote now.

Here it is!

Here is the finished Postage Stamp Quilt made with a jelly roll of Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain for Moda fabrics.

Isn't this cute?

Love the back!

I machine quilted it on my home machine in diagonal lines. What do you think?

My fun bright and springy quilt.

I started in Jan. with this jelly roll quiltalong that started on the blog www.psiquilt.com It is called a postage stamp quilt. A jelly roll is made up of 2 1/2" strips of fabric (about 40 of them) all from one collection. These are the pictures of the process.

These are the strips sewn together with Kona solid white cotton.

Then I cut them into 2 1/2" segments. Aren't they pretty. So bright and cheery.

And this is a few of the squares up on my design wall. After I got them all done (48), it was a process to lay them all out and make sure that none of the fabric with right next to the same fabric. So the top is done, the back is one seam away from being done. I had some left over segments so I am using them on the back. Hope it works. I've got the batting. I will pin it together and start quilting it today or tomorrow. I plan on straight line quilting it with my home machine and the walking foot. Unless I have a drastic change of heart before than.
I've got to many projects in my head, but next is a "Chocolate" quilt for Dave. It's a semi-surprise.