Saturday, June 30, 2012

For The Kids!!

First off . . . I can not begin to express my gratitude to all of you for your wonderful well wishes to our daughter.  I was so incredibly touched and I thank each and every one of you.  She continues to get used to the noises around her.  Last night I sung to her and she grinned from ear to ear.  It was a tender moment :)

And while we are on the subject of children . . . 




Have you heard of it???  Here is a quick rundown:


100 Quilts for Kids is an annual charity quilt drive co-hosted by Katie Blakesley of Swim, Bike, Quilt and the DC Modern Quilt Guild


The idea is simple: 


Make a quilt or 2. Donate it to a child in need, locally if you can.  (I will be donating several from my Mother In Law and myself for Operation Wood Hollow this weekend, Yippee Skippee :)  

Enjoy a blog hop that runs from July 2-September 25, 2012, complete with inspiration and mini prizes. 

Join in on a 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Along (Kick-off post on July 15 at Swim, Bike, Quilt)


Have a chance to win great prizes from sponsors, including Moda, Fat Quarter Shop, Westwood Acres, Rowan , Free Spirit, and Ty Pennington Impressions, among others that will shortly be announced.

Spread the word to family and friends!

and mos importantly, Smile, knowing you used your skills for good. 



Swim, Bike, Quilt
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We would love your help getting the word out. Just copy and paste the code above and paste it into your sidebar, or blog post.  Tweet. Instagram. Facebook. You know the drill. Thanks!

The Blog Hop Starts on Monday and it will be chuck full of inspiration and ideas!!


100 Quilts Blog Hop Participants

July 2: Lynne @ Lily’s Quilts

July 16: Lee @ Freshly Pieced

July 23: Katy @ Monkey Do
Erin @ Sewing Summit

July 30: Dana @ Old Red Barn Co
Heather @ Olive & Ollie

August 6: Jessica @ Twin Fibers
Holly @ Bijou Lovely

August 13: Leigh @ Leedle Deedle Quilts
Heather & Megan @ Quiltstory 

August 20: Melissa @ Happy Quilting    (That's Me :)  

August 27: Jeni @ In Color Order
Miranda @ One Little Minute

September 3: Ellen @ The Long Thread 
Faith @ Fresh Lemons Quilts

September 10: Elizabeth @ Oh, Frannson!
Anne Marie @ Gen X Quilters

September 17 Cheryl @ Dining Room Empire
Jane @ Quilt Jane

September 24: Angela @ Moda Home Mom
September 25: Sara @ Sew Sweetness


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Friday, June 29, 2012

She Can Hear!!!

Let's start with a bit of back story.  Since our sweet little Jocelyn was born she has not been able to pass a hearing test.  She really doesn't respond much to loud noises (which, with 4 siblings who tend to get loud, can actually be quite nice during nap time.)  We have been going through the process of testing, monitoring, and waiting for her to grow.  She has had liquid junk in her middle ear which has blocked the ability for sound to travel to her inner ear.  There were times we thought it was clearing on it's own, but just as soon as we were hopeful, it would get all blocked again.

 So . . . At her 9 month follow-up and failure of another auditory test on Tuesday, and checking-up with the ENT on Wednesday, it was decided that she needs tubes put in her ears on Thursday!!    So . . . bright and early Thursday morning we arrived at the hospital. Now I know this is a totally routine surgery, (our second had it done at 9M for ear infections) and that the physician's will do a wonderful job, and that Josie would do great, but I still couldn't help but get nervous.  I guess that is just part of being a mom, we worry!!!



Jocelyn got to wear a cute little gown with tiger's on it. Isn't she cute!! She was a pro waiting for the surgery.  She just played with her toys and examined her new surroundings.  I was quite impressed considering she should have been super hungry.  She is such a good little girl.


Her new favorite toy arrived in the form of a monitor.  This one was hard to keep out of her mouth :)  She liked that the part on her toe kept glowing red.   . . .   And before you knew it she was headed back for surgery.

I didn't take anymore pictures as she came back feeling pretty lousy trying to shake off the anesthesia.  We took her home and after a bottle and a nap she was back to her happy self . . . with one slight change.  When I hollered down the stairs for the kids to come up for lunch (I am to lazy to walk down them) I was shocked that Josie started crying behind me.  I had startled her with my hollering.   This has never happened before.   And then a few minutes later, when my son let out a Hooray for Mac and Cheese shout, she startled again and began to cry.

Those tears are such a blessing!!!  She can hear.  I am just so happy for her.  What a wonderful ending to a nerve-racking 9 months.  We started out fearing she was deaf, to hoping she would be able to hear with hearing aids, to perfect hearing (I hope, we have to follow up in a few weeks) with the aid of tubes.  I am just overjoyed.  Now the kids and I just have to work on keeping our voices down.  I can't imagine how it must be to go from a soundless/muffled world to a noisy and loud world. But, I can say, I am so happy that we will be going through the transition!!
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Thursday, June 28, 2012

TNT gets Swapping

So what have I been trying new this week??  I have been hosting my first swap!!!  And it has been so much fun!!!  I got my fabric on Tuesday evening and cut my charms Wednesday morning.


And then when I checked the mail on Wednesday I found 2 packages!!  Yippee Skippee!!! I have to say, opening these packages is so much fun.  I get so excited to see the charms that come out.


I am going to try to really stay on top of this swap so I can get the charms back to everyone as soon as they all arrive.  I started sorting the piles as soon as I opened the mail :)  If I keep enjoying this so much I bet it won't be long before I host another :)

UPDATE - The postman just dropped off 4 more packages!! Look at all these beautiful prints!!   This is so much fun :)  I am off to do some more sorting :)



So . . . What have you been trying new this week??  Link on up :)


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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Operation Wood Hollow


Today I received an email from Julie at Having Fun Quilting.   She and her community have been greatly affected by the terrible wildfire burning across Sanpete County.   The fire has burned over 39,000 acres and 29 homes have been lost so far, with 575 more homes in it's path.   You can read more about it here

So Julie is starting up Operation Wood Hollow to help those families who have lost their homes.  Her goal is to get at least one quilt to every family who have lost their home.  And she needs your help :)  And we all know, quilters are the most generous loving people in the world!!


If you can donate fabric, extra quilt blocks, finished quilt tops, or completed quilts she would love to have them.  Every little bit helps!!  Please contact Julie for details on how you can help.  She will be so happy to hear from you!!  You can read more about Operation Wood Hollow here :)

I am actually heading north this weekend so will be delivering my game  time picnic quilt to Julie.    I imagine it will bring some happiness to a family who have lost so much.     (If I have time, I might try and whip up another little something to help :)



Each of these families have sustained such a loss and will have to replace so very much of their lives. A beautiful handmade quilt can bring so much comfort to them as they being the process of rebuilding.
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A Lot of Works

But not so much progress.  But is is summertime, what can I expect :)  (And July is only going to be busier :) Although, the nice thing is that I haven't posted a WIP post for a few weeks so it looks like I have quite a few things done, but ya, it is spread out for a while.  I figure that is kind of like making to do lists and adding things you have already done just so you can cross them off :)

The Braided Irish Chains continue to make steady progress :)  I usually pin some blocks each night while we unwind to a movie or old episodes of friends and then sew them up first thing in the morning before the kids wake up.  It has been a good way to keep these 2 massive quilts in progress.


I started a new project using solids!!!  I have never done an all solids quilt and I am totally excited.  This will eventually be for my bed.  So I went with some lovely earth tones that will match the painting in my room as well as be masculine enough for my husband :)  Oh, and the reason I said eventually . . . because this quilt will be shipped off for quite some time, meaning I won't be able to show any more of it for quite some time :)


I am so excited about the Christmas Blocks that are coming in from the Sew Bee Create group.  They are using  my Spinning or Spiraling Block tutorial and the blocks are just coming out amazing!!!  I can't wait to get the last 4 so I can get it all sewn up :)


So . . . That's about it.  How about the rundown :)  And I just realized, as happy as I am to have more completions and projects moving down the list, I think I added just as many into the Designing Stage.  That seems about right for me :)


Designing Stage
  • Circle Meets Square Quilt
  • Ashlyn's Quilt
  • WIC with MSS Quilt
  • Lots of Blocks - H, Q, B
  • Tetris Quilt-A-Long
Piecing Stage
  • Jessi and Me Quilt 
  • King Size Serenity Quilt
  • Sew Bee Create Quilt
  • Braided Irish Chain - Queen and King
Quilting Stage
  • Solids Quilt for Free Motion
  • Snip and Clip Quilt - Just Waiting on Fabric to Arrive :)
Completed Stage
  • Father's Day Rolling on Out Quilt - Convoy
  • 10 Little Happy Kids - Patchwork Car Shade
  • June Bee Block

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Mod Mosiac Block

I have always loved Elizabeth Fransson's Mod Mosaic Blocks so I was super excited when Erica asked us to make one for this month's Beejeebers Bee Block.  Erica asked us to use the same color palette as last month . . . which I was super excited about because 1 - it is just a joy to work with as it is so calming.  And 2 - I had not put away my scraps from last month so I was all set to go :)  Ahh, Beautiful blues, aquas, grey's, and yellow based greens.  This is what I made.  Such a fun block to put together :)  I think I will have to make more of these some time.


Oh , and happy update . .  My On The Go quilt is being featured at Sew Mama Sew -  Trends with Melanie feature.  Yippee Skippee!!!



 
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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Some Quilting Time

My mom left to go home last night.  We had a marvelous time together. (as we always do).  And we got so much done.  (Which is impressive as we had my niece and nephew as well so there were 7 kids to keep happy).  My yard looks like it has gone through a virtual transformation, I finally have living room curtains, and my entire house has had a super cleaning.  But with all of that . . .  Sadly, there was no time left for quilting.

After my mom left I found myself standing in my living room with nothing to do.  My husband had taken the 3 older kids up the mountain for the night and day and the 2 younger ones were sleeping soundly.  So, after taking a moment to enjoy the silence,  I decided to turn this on


And enjoy some prime chick flick time while pinning these together.


Ahhh, a little slice of heaven!!  Now this morning, I am ready to get piecing :)   I am so looking forward to it!!


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Thursday, June 21, 2012

TNT in my Living Room

So my mom has been visiting for the last few days, and our huge plans to sew all day together, not so much :)   We started in the yard, and it took the entire weekend and then some to get my yard and garden to a state that my mother was okay with.  (Which I soooo appreciate because I am far from a good gardener.)  Once my yard looked passable we pulled out the sewing machines.

We decided to start with the Living Room curtains.  (There are several rooms that need curtains, this one was just top of the list.)  So we figured we would just whip that out during nap time and then move on.  Ya right :)  Whenever I think I can just whip something out, I should plan right then for it to take 4 times as long.


2 different curtain rods later, 2 different color sets of grommets later, and about a million interruptions later which all equaled about 2 days later . . .  The new living room curtains are done :)  And I love them!!!!   (It is really hard to take a picture of curtains with the sun pouring in the window :)

We went with grommets (first time trying them in a curtain, Yippee for TNT) because we want these to be super easy to open and shut.  We love the sunlight in the day but are a little tired of living in a fish bowl at night :)

My mom found this beautiful upholstery fabric at a depot center in Salt Lake.  $3.00 a yard!!!!!  Can you believe it.    The grommets were so easy to put in.  We found them in the curtain rod section of JoAnn's and you don't even need a tool to install them.  Super sweet and I just love the look of them!!

And I couldn't help but add this shot.  I put my daughter in her high-chair with some cereal to keep her happy while we put the finishing touches on the curtains and hung them up.  When we finished I came into the kitchen to find this.  Yes, that is a Corn Pop coming out of her ear.   Too funny!!!!


So that is what I have been trying new this week.  Breaking out of the quilting comfort zone (I have not pieced anything in over 5 days and I am really starting to have withdraws) and playing around with upholstery fabric, grommets, and curtain rods :)  Good Times!!!

What have you been up to this week??  Link on up :)

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A Finalist!!!

So I was doing my regular blog inspiration surfing this morning and came across a wonderful surprise!!! My Double Dresden Delight quilt has been choosen as a finalist in Jennifer's Summer Sewing Contest. Yippee Skippee!!!


There is some amazing sewing goodness going on in the finals.  So take a second and pop on over to Ellison Lane Quilts and vote for your favorite finalist entries :)   Trust me, you will be glad you visited, I am talking major fabric inspiration!!!

And once again, thank you for all of your sweet comments on this quilt!!  I really can't believe how many "hits" it has had since it has been posted.  I am just thrilled with the wonderful response it is getting and each of your comments just make me grin from ear to ear!!  Quilters really are the nicest group of people!!!


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Monday, June 18, 2012

The Tetris Quilt-A-Long and Color Charm Swap!!!!

Yippee Skippee!!!!  It's time for another Quilt-A-Long.  And this time it's Tetris!!!  (Insert Doh do Dut Dut, Dut, Dut, Dum, Dee, Dum, Music here :) It's a game I loved playing as a kid and I think it is going to be a blast to Quilt-A-Long to!!!  Interested???  Here's how it's going to work!

 

We will be playing with the standard Tetris pieces and using print fabrics in the colors of Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink, Green, Blue, Purple, and White. (The Color Charm Swap will be a great way to accumulate all of these prints, more on that later :)
 
Once a week you will start with a blank grid that is 6 x 6 square.  You can draw it, use graph paper, or just print this little picture off.  
In the weekly Quilt-A-Long post I will give you a piece and the alteration shapes it can convert into.  Then you will get another piece, and another ect . .  until you have enough to fill the entire block.  

 Your job . . .  To play Tetris!!!  Start with the first piece in the post and color it into your grid.  Then insert the next piece.  Just pretend it is dropping down into place.  Don't think about this to much, just pretend you are playing and the higher up it gets the faster it gets, to where you just start throwing things in there.
 Once you get tot the top of your grid you are done.  You will have some white spaces, that is the way the game works :)  Now just simply take your color grid and sew a duplicate.  We will be using 5" squares.  You can participate in the swap to accumulate these, or if you are on a fabric diet, you can use your stash, or if you like solids, you could accumulate a few Solid Charm Packs.  Whatever works for you, I just want to make it super easy for every one to play along!!!
We will be making 6 blocks in 6 weeks and in the end you will have something that looks a little like this!!!  So fun huh :)  The Quilt center will finish at 55 x82 and then you can add on borders as you desire to make it the size you would like.  How perfect for colorful, happy, random picnic quilt!!!


And since I know you all love fabric as much as I do, and since I know this is a busy time of year,  and since I know it is easier to keep up when you are motivated . . .  this Quilt-A-Long will have Prizes Galore!!!!!  Grand Prizes Drawings for those that finish their project, Weekly Prize Drawings for those that finish their blocks, and just good old Random Prize Drawings, just for fun!!!  Lots of Fabric Goodness and lots of Gift Certificate Goodness!!!  (There will be more details on the exact prizes as the start date gets closer :)  Thank you to my wonderful, generous, sponsors for providing these prizes!!!

   


The Quilt-A-Long will be starting around Mid-July!!!!     This will give those participating in the Color Charm Swap time to get their fabric and those of you participating from your stash time to cut up your scraps :)  (You will want around 225 ish 5" squares in the colors mentioned earlier.  Or if you don't like a color, you can always swap it out for a different color, just know which one it was originally as the pieces will be shown in the weekly posts in the original colors )    If you will be Quilting-A-Long please feel free to join my Flickr Quilt-A-Long group :)  


And now that we have gone over the general layout of the Quilt-A-Long, let's get the the Color Charm Swap!!!  This is going to be a fabulous way to get all of the fabric you need for the Quilt-A-Long with lots of  yummy variety.

So this Color Charm Swap is a monster!!!  Because each Tetris piece is made up of 4 squares, I thought it would be fun to do a 4 yard swap!! So you provide 4 yards of 1 fabric cut into 224 charms and will be receiving 224 . . . 4 sets of 56 charms in 8 colors, 28 charms of each of the 8 colors)  This allows you to make each Tetris piece out of the same fabric using the 4 charms.   (But you are welcome to mix them up as well if you like :)

Now, I know, lots of us are on fabric diets and trying to keep the fabric purchases to a minimal.  So . . . to help you out with the purchase of 4 yards (since most of us don't have 4 yards of the same fabric lying around in our stash) Julie over at the Intrepid Thread has created a special custom listing in her shop just for this Quilt-A-Long.  Here's how it works.  Shop around (And yes, you can add more than just the custom listing in your cart if you find something you want for yourself and want to save on shipping) and find the perfect fabric in the color you are assigned (assignments will be made soon) .  Then go to the Custom Listing Here and in the notes section list the fabric you want.  No matter what fabric you pick, your 4 yards will only cost $28.00.  That's $7.00 a yard!!! Sweet!!!  A huge thanks to Julie for this great discount :)



So do you want to Swap Along with me???  Sign-Ups start Today and will end as soon as the Swap is filled.  You can read all of the official guidelines, rules, ect and officially sign up at the Tetris Color Charm Swap Flickr Group here ;)   So yes, you need to go here to sign up!!!!  (And if you want to participate in the swap but not in the quilt-a-long, that is fine too :)


I think that just about covers it all!!!  Hoolay that was a long post :)  Sorry, lots to cover :)  I hope you will Quilt-A-Long with me, we are going to have so much fun!!!!  If you have any questions just email them my way.  happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.   And one last thing . . . Everyone loves buttons!!!






Edit - Here is a quick link reference to all of the posts in this Quilt-A-Long series

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!!!




He Loves It!!!

To all the Dad's in my life . . .  I Love You!!!   Have a Happy Father's Day!!! 


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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Looking for a Pattern Writer

Good Morning all!!  First off I wan't to say Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on my Convoy quilt!!  You all sure know how to make a girl feel good.  I sure love my readers!!!  Thank You!!!  I will be sure to get some great pictures of him opening it :)


Second off, I have a friend in the fabric industry that is looking for a couple new pattern writers to work with them going forward.  They have  a fantastic designer that designs their quilts and projects, so they are really looking for someone to break down those quilts and write very detailed instructions. Then they have another quilter make the quilt based on those directions and then give everything to their design department to make their pamphlets.  


So is this something you might be interested in???  If so, please email me  (happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com) and I will get you in touch with my friend.  Thanks so much!!


And because every good post needs a picture . . . . But my husband has the camera up the mountain and I can't take a picture of anything "quilty" . . .  So you get the family racing paper boats .   (They only lasted about 2 runs and then they were just wet paper , but we had a marvelous time none the less :)  







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Friday, June 15, 2012

Convoy!!!!

Well, thanks to the help of the amazing ladies of the Beejeebers Bee, each of them making one of those awesome semi's around the border of the quilt,  this  is ready to Roll On Out in time for Father's Day!!  Yippee Skippee!!!   Convoy is a special quilt for my dad designed to fit in the cab of his truck.  He started driving trucks again last year (after a 20ish year hiatus while we kids grew up) and just loves being on the road!!


I struggled for a while trying to decide on how to quilt this without taking away from all of the awesome semis.  In the end I decided to go for a basic straight all over stipple that I think tied it together without distracting to much.  Most of the quilt is done on a larger scale in white but I wanted the semi in the middle to really pop.  I designed that particular block to look just like my Dad's Semi.  Down to the logo on the door :)       So I quilted it with blue thread instead and did a slightly smaller scale of quilting.    I really like the way it turned out :)

I found this super fun backing fabric in my stash.  It really ties in well with all of the fun colors from the front and just reminds me of my dad because it is a little on the wild side!!  (His nick name is Wild Man because of all of the crazy shorts he wears that my mom makes him out of the wildest fabric she can find, including flames :)

So now I just need to wrap it up for Sunday :)  I can't wait to see his face.  I will be sure to take lots of pictures :)  Thanks again Beejeeber's Ladies!!!  You all rock!!!

EDIT - -  Several of you have requested dimensions for making this quilt.  While I don't haev all of the dimensions for each of the trucks as my Bee Mates made up their own, this post has the basic small truck block  dimensions that we used for most of the trucks, and this post has the basic large truck paper piecing pattern I drafted for the large semi in the middle.   Hope that helps ;)  

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