MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hoping you all had a wonderful Christmas making memories with those you love most and wishing you the happiest of New Year's!

 

I will be back in full blog mode soon.  This broken leg of mine has affected me in more ways than I was prepared for.  And I owe you all a couple of giveaways (I bet you thought I forgot)

 

 

Until then please enjoy our Christmas card

 

Smiles~Beth



WELL, HELLO THERE. IT'S BEEN A WHILE.

Wow, where did the last 6 weeks go!?!  A lot has happened, Sam turned 10 (say what?!), Halloween (we still have so much candy left!), 6 Fall baseball tournaments (2 first place & 1 second place...woot woot!), I broke my leg (yep, both bones in my lower right leg) and Thanksgiving.  Whew, no wonder I have been MIA for so long. 

 

Since I broke my leg I won't be able to sew this Holiday Season. Yep, total bummer. Luckily, I broke it before Black Friday because I was able to do 90% of my Christmas online over the past 2 days.  A blessing since I won't be able to drive for 6-10 weeks (anyone want to come over and hang out so I don't go completely stir cRaZy?).  And I got some really great deals :) 

 

I figured that just because I can't sew doesn't mean that everyone else won't be sewing, right? So, I will be holding a couple of giveaways over the next week or so (Don't worry, I will get the hubs to mail them out).  Not sure exactly what the goodies will be yet but I know 1 of them will be for my 2.5" strip scraps from this quilt top.  Perfect for a quick table runner or whatever your creative mind comes up with :)

 

That's it for me. To help livin up this post here is a pic of me and my cousin at our Thanksgiving day celebration at my parent's house.  He had surgery on his knee just a few days prior so he & I got to sit in matching recliners all day while people waited on us :)

 

 

 

I would love to hear what you have been up to or what wonderful projects you are working on.  I will try not to be too jealous ;) Be sure to come back for a visit next week and enter in my giveaways!

 

Smiles~Beth



COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS~QUILT TOP

I started this quilt in June 2011 during a quilt~a~long hosted by P.S. I Quilt.  Sadly, I had too many things on my plate and wasn't able to finish it before Christmas.  Then I kinda forgot about it. 

 

A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a few days away from every day life and head up to West Des Moines, Iowa to visit my best girlfriend.  We had plans to do some sewing and I was so excited to rediscover my Countdown to Christmas blocks while going through my fabric.  In our short couple of days I was able to get the quilt top sewn together, yay!!

 

 

This quilt has some raw edges.  I can't wait to get it all finished up so I can wash it and see how scruffily it is. 

 

 Now I just need to figure how to quilt it, or better yet, have someone else do the quilting ;)

Linking this finish up to the wonderful:
Finish It Up Fridays @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Smiles~Beth



A T-SHIRT QUILT~LET'S GO TITANS!!

   Two years ago my brother-in-law gave me some very special t-shirts (memories from coaching his oldest son's Pop Warner football team) and asked me to make him a quilt out of them.  He even offered to pay me and had cash in hand.  I turned down the cash, we are family after all ;)  Besides, I knew it would take me a while to get it done.  He has been patiently waiting and didn't even ask about it on his last visit in town (he had strict orders from my sister not to inquire...ha!).  Well, I finally got it finished and it is now in his hands.  What a great feeling to get it off of my To Do list!

 

I didn't quite get the 'perfect' picture of it but I still wanted to share it here. 

 

This one is too dark but probably shows the overall quilt the best.

 

 

This one shows truer colors.

 

 

This one shows the simple quilting a little better.  Pay no attention to all of those not-so-straight lines!

 

 

Here is one of the back.  I used Robert Kauffman Kona cotton in Ash.

 

 

And this one makes me smile because of all the little football players in the backgroud.

 

 

I wasn't able to be there when he first saw it but I did get this text from him so I am pretty sure he was smiling ;)

 

"Thank you soooooo much for the kick ass blanket!!! I would have given you a humongous bear hug if you were here.  I love it! You rock!"  He even went on to say that besides his children it was the nicest gift anyone has given him.

 

I think that is best reaction I have ever gotten from someone after making them a quilt.  For sure good enough to forgive him for calling it a blanket...ha!

 

I am linking up to~

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
 

Happy Friday!

Smiles~Beth

MY MAD FOR PLAID BAG

A fellow 'soccer mom' was carrying the cutest bag last week.  I knew that she dabbles in sewing and couldn't help but ask her if she made it.  She did! (I was not surprised one bit, she is very talented).  The pattern came from a book she has and she was kind enough to share it with me.  Isn't she sweet :)   

I used this lovely little bundle of 2 Denyse Schmidt prints (from her JoAnns line) and a simple navy & white dot I got at my local quilt shop.

 

I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

Happy Thursday to all!

Smiles~Beth


100 QUILTS FOR KIDS: WHEELS TODDLER QUILT

After a summer of very little sewing I am happy to have more time to spend with my sewing machine.  I sure did miss her ;)  I think I have gotten more projects done in the last week than I did all summer!

 

My latest finish is a baby/toddler quilt.  I put this stack together a while back with Katie's 100 Quilts for Kids challenge in mind. It's so nice to have it crossed off my list.  Especially knowing it will be going to a special little one.

 

Fabric is Wheels by Riley Blake along with a couple other prints from my stash

 

Backing is by Michael Miller

Since Katie recommends donating to a local charity if you can, this little cutie will be going to my local Quilts for Kids chapter.  They will then give it to Children's Mercy Hospital (in Kansas City, MO). 

 

If you have some extra fabric and a little extra time I encourage you to join Katie's 100 Quilts for Kids.  There are so many children in hospitals that would cherish your talent & kindness.

 

Smiles~Beth

 

 



MONSTER PENCIL POUCHES

It's no secret that my boys love all things 'monster'.  So, when I saw these cute little pouches over at Make It Love It I knew I had to make a couple for my own little monsters.

 

 

They are now happily living in monsters #2 & #3's desks at school :)

 

Smiles~Beth