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

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!!!

 

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!!

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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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!!!

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!!!

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

Introduction Post!!!  

Fabric, How To Play, and Prizes Post

Week 1 Pieces for Block

Week 2 Pieces for Block

Week 3 Pieces for Block

Week 4 Pieces for Block

Week 5 Pieces for Block

Week 6 Pieces for Block

Finishing It Up!!

Parade and Grand Prize

Happy Father's Day!!!

He Loves It!!!

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

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 :)  

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 ;)  

Patchwork Car Shade - A Tutorial for TNT

Sew Mama Sew is doing a wonderful Ready, Set, Go!!! series full of great tutorials to aid you on your summer travels.  Well for our family, the biggest issue about summer traveling is the beautiful Sunshine coming in through the car windows.  So I whipped up a fun little tutorial as part of the Ready, Set, Go!!! series.  A Patchwork Car Shade, that doubles as a Tic-Tac-Toe board.  Pop on over and check it out.  

And I was super excited to try something new for this little tutorial.  I tried using the automatic button hole maker (very techincal term) on my machine.  And I love it!!!  So much easier than the good old days of manipulating the zig-zag stitches at least 7 times to create 1 button hole.  Now I just type it in, stomp on the presser foot, and wham!!!  A button hole. And it's got me thinking I need to make some more projects with button holes :)

So what have you been trying new this week??  You know what to do . . . Link on Up :)

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I Love Summer Reading!

One of my favorite things about summer is all of the great summer reading programs the libraries have.  A little enticement of  getting a treat or prize of some sort and my morning look a little like this . . .

Yes, even the little ones get in on the fun, although I think the baby just wants to eat the book.  (My middle child was sleeping in this particular morning :)  Reading time . . .  A little slice of heaven.   I would be joining them but somehow the book I was reading seems to have grown legs and walked away (I fear the 3 year old has something to do with it :)

Our library program this year asked the kids to keep track of their minutes but didn't have any type of form  to track them on.  I guess they were just supposed to write them down.  We'll for my kiddos, half of the fun is getting to mark off that you have read, so I whipped up these little reading charts.  (yes, I need to get new fridge magnets :)   I have put the template into Google documents, so if you find yourself needing a Summer Reading chart you can find one here.  (they mark every 10 minutes of reading)

 Oh, and one final note for today, Yes, my children do have pajamas that fit them and are more appropriate for the season, they just choose to wear the old, worn out, hot ones.  And after several discussions, I ended up conceding that it wasn't that big of a deal and if those are the ones they like they can wear them.  (even though it drives me nuts :)  My husband just reminds me that you just have to let some things go :)

Swapping and Quilting-Along???

It's coming soon!!  I am working on some of the details but go here for a little clue :)  Interested??  We'll be doing a Color Wheel Charm Swap first followed by a super fun and entertaining quilt-a-long :) (OH, an you know there will be lots of prizes!!)  So are you ready???  Any preferences on colors??   Watch for more details to come :)

Winner of the EZ Dresden Ruler

It's time to choose a lucky winner!!  But first, a huge thank you to all of the super sweet comments you left about my Double Dresden Delight!!  I was just tickled pink with them.  You all sure know how to make a gal feel great.  And I hope I see lots of Double Dresden Delight's start popping up here and there :)  It really is a fun little quilt to put together!!

Now . . . Let's get onto the winner.

Mr. Random. Org says the lucky owner of a new EZ Dresden ruler is . . .#61

Who happens to be . . . Kathrynn!!  Congrats Kathrynn, I have sent you an email :)

And I am off to tidy up the house.  My Mom and Dad are arriving today to spend the rest of the week with us. My dad competes in the Utah Summer Games each year and since they are in Cedar City they get to come and stay with us :)  Which means my mom and I will have lots of time for sewing.  (she is bringing down her machine :)  I am so excited!!

Not What I Planned

Saturday the family and I were planning on going to the Annual Panguitch Quilt Walk!!  Panguitch is about an hour and a half up the mountain. We actually moved here last year on the same weekend of the Quilt Walk and I was so bummed we missed it because Judi from Green Fairy Quilts was doing the trunk show.  I sure wish I could have seen that!

So I was super excited this year to be able to attend on Saturday.  There is a tractor parade and car show for the kids which all but 1 were super excited about (the one was upset he would be missing Saturday morning cartoons) , and a Trunk Show and Quilt Show for mom.  Perfect combination for me to go to a quilting event but still be able to make it a family day.  And it had the double bonus of meeting up with my new friend Emily (check out here Happy Chemo Quilting Campaign, it is awesome)   that I met at the SLMQG who was teaching this year.  That was the plan.

 But, instead we woke up Saturday morning to one child running a fever and another one with a nasty cough. Grrr.    I contemplated options for a bit and in the end came to the conclusion to let it go another year.  Such is life right.  I mean the last thing you want to be doing is driving 2 sick kids (who are like their mother and prone to car sickness) up a windy mountain, that's is just looking for trouble :)   So instead of going to the Annual Panguitch Quilt Walk  the sick kids sat on the couch and watched movies while the others helped dad with some yard work.  But, (after some grumbling) I tried to look on the bright side and was grateful  that I happened to get this in the mail on Friday from Burgundy Buttons so at least I had something new to play with  to help me with my change of plans :)