May's Goals

Wow I cannot believe that May is just about over. I am trying to work on making small monthly goals to keep myself working on all of my UFO's. I decided to share this post with all of you, because sometimes you have to keep yourself accountable to others. So here it is with only 10 days left in the month, my Goals for May Goal #1 Quilt and bind this lovely postage stamp quilt Goal #2 Finish quilting and bind the quilt for my mother-in-law (pictures to come) Goal #3 Make my block of the month quilt block Goal #4 Make a few more City Sampler Blocks and hopefully get some skirts and dresses made for my girls. Man, putting it in writing seems like a lot, but I can do it biting off one bite at a time. :-) How are you all doing with your UFO's? Do you have any Goals for May? Blessings, Angie

I'm back!

I am so sorry to have been away so long. That was not my intentions at all....however, this year seems to be speeding faster than the speed of light. I blink and it is May! Where did the beginning of the year go? Although I may have been quiet here, I have not been quiet in my creativity. Let me try and catch you all up on my sewing bits. I will have lots of pictures, so forgive me for that.  In January, I finished my Santa's House,

 

and started working on the second block, Poinsettia Place. Both of these are part of a 12 part series called Santa's Village by Country Cottage Needleworks.  Then I was given a chance to do my first ever commission quilt (sorta....) My mother-in-law wanted to give her oldest granddaughter a quilt for her great-grandson that had owls on it. She found a set at Babies-R-us that she liked, but when she got it home and pulled out the blanket, she was upset there was no tree. So I got on the manufacturers website and found a tree with the owl, freehand drew it and then quilted it into this great quilt.... 

 

yes that is the mommy-to-be in the background with my oldest daughter. Mommy-to-be loved the quilt which made me relax since she is an Art major (there was no pressure in that phrase...LOL) I also made her some mommy essentials, burp cloths and fleece blankets...they were so useful with my girls. 

 

It was fun to actually do some sewing for a boy! :-) I need a boy in my life to help me enjoy blues, greens, and oranges! Then only a few days after the baby shower, we headed on a surprise vacation to.... 

 

none other than Disneyworld...what a fun fast paced princess filled week. In case you are wondering, I did make that Rapuzel Princess dress for my daughter. It was her Halloween costume in 2011. I intentionally made it a size larger so she could enjoy it as a play dress, and boy has it seen it's share of wear! We came home to the cold springtime here in Virginia, and I got so busy with work that I was unable to complete a UFO for March (my LQS is holding a 6 months of making UFO's into CEO's {completely executed projects!}, I flat ran out of time with a 3 year old birthday party, Easter Musical at church, and Easter services. I was thankful to just touch fabric that month. 

Then came April and on top of a BOM at my LQS ( I know I need to get pictures of these taken,) I was able to finish my oldest daughter's quilt, "Hearts, hearts, Hearts!" by KariePatch Designs that I am sorry to say had been a UFO for over 2 years. 

 

But here it is! I am pleased with it. I did all the quilting and sewed down the binding by machine. I was a little frustrated with my free motion quilting, but I did enjoy quilting with the walking foot. I have learned I need to get a few tools to help ease my free motion, and I know I need practice...but after a wash, it is beautiful and my daughter barely let me use it to take a quick picture of it! My hubs was also helpful enough to hold it for me. I love how soft and romantic this quilt turned out!

 I also got another baby blanket started that my mom commissioned for her co-worker, I will have pics of that to come soon as I finish quilting it. I do not want to ruin the surprise for that now new mommy! Baby N came a little early! :-)

 But so far May has been my most productive month. I ordered Tula Pink's City Sampler Quilt and fell in love with the rainbow of fruit flavor inside (oh wait, we are not talking about skittles!) I could not wait to get started on this quilt and pulling from my stash, I was able to cut and piece 6 blocks this weekend.

  

Each block finishes at 6.5" and they are so much fun to make. I can only hope that my quilt will turn out as great at Tula Pink's herself! 

So if you made to the end of this post, I should really give you a medal....but I hope to enjoyed seeing the first part of my year in a quick flash. Now it is on to grading papers, as homeschooling my oldest is winding down, and hopefully I can plan a few more City Sampler blocks. Thanks for reading and I hope that you have been blessed with some creativity so far this year. 

P.S. I promise I will post sooner than 5 months from now!