Happy 4th of July!!!!

the quilt label

I had shown Amanda my quilt making label kit and in about 2 seconds of thinking about it......she wanted to make one too.

After she finished with the binding.........she still had a little bit of time to work on the label.

I set her up on the couch with my version of a lightbox...

All you need is a glass shelf that was tucked away in the basement and flashlight held between your feet. It actually works well. Unless the phone rings and you don't want to move just yet....

The next step was to sew it on. We found a stitch that she was comfortable with and would look nice when she finished. Then it was time for her to go home. She took the needle and some floss and off she went.

It took a couple days of sewing here and there to get it all done. She was so excited by it. She called me every 2 inches or so to tell me how well it was going....here is a closer view...

......and best of all...Amanda was finally able to give her gift to Carter and I think he loves it too

I love it when babies lift up their arms and they barely go over the top of their heads.

I have a quilt for Carter too, it not done yet though.

Amanda's 4H quilt

Amanda's pictures finally came. Last spring the 4H girls went to the quilt shop to make a quilt top. They all did the same rail fence pattern, but each chose the fabrics they wanted to use.




She knew this would be a baby gift and worked at making it gender neutral. (I had made a "girl" quilt, thus sealing the fate that the baby was a boy. More on that later.)


Since this was a 4H project that would go to the fair, she needed to do all the sewing herself. She wanted it done NOW, and as long it was "nicely" sewn, she could machine sew the binding.



I showed her how to cut, trim, press and sew it. It all seemed to take FOREVER. We had problems like....finding a matching thread color.


I dreaded hearing her say "oh oh" or "oh no"........and I had to find my seam ripper.


She also made happy noises too. She loved this quilt and wanted it perfect for the baby.




When the binding was all sewn and we looked it over....she didn't think it was perfect enough. The front looked great. The blue thread I had found looked just right..........but the back, the stitching was rather wavy.

She was ready to start over.

I told her......

1...this is your first quilt and binding

2...you aren't that concerned about judging at the fair

&

3...Carter will not care, he will love it



Her Mom said the exact same things when she came to get her. So it is what it is........a quilt Amanda can be so proud of....even if it isn't "perfect".....

it is PERFECT.

gentlemen hunters

I actually had pictures developed before DNA jones could send me any of his digital shots from our weekend in Duluth.. This is what you look like when you go to the club for target practice......... tractor joe did a phenomenal job, he got a high score his first time out there.







DNA jones was having computer problems while we were there. Maybe he still is...


its only been 2 weeks.





Another hobby of Mr. DNA is feeding the birds, he has all kinds of feeders. I was looking at them and wondered


Does that greenish/blue thing really keep the squirrels out????....or just keep the rain out??










He wasn't around to ask. He and tractor joe had gone down into Wisconsin, into the wilderness of bugs and bears....your only protection---a rusty, musty old camper. At least when the bear shows up in Duluth, the house is a nice solid place to hide in....and its only happened a couple times.



So I continued to watch the feeders. The burning question was answered...


Yes the greenish/blue thing is a fancy umbrella to keep the rain out. It is hard to see but there is a pesky squirrel sitting in the feeder munching away.

A gentleman hunter is one who doesn't get out to hunt until VERY late morning or even noonish, thus giving the birds or deer a chance.

random squares

When I am not sure what to work on....I will work on these. It is a good way to clean up random strips, and small pieces that are laying around gathering dust. They go fast, I'm always amazed at the stack when I am done.

I straighten up the side I will be adding fabric to, and when they get so big.....I get out the handy dandy 6 1/2 inch ruler and square them up. The strips are somewhere between 1 and 2 inches wide. I don't pay much attention to value, or color or contrast....if it looks about right I sew it.

I wasn't even sure what I would do with these when I started.... so my stack grew and sat in the drawer.

Recently I made a baby quilt. I put his name on it and some other stuff.......it's at the quilter getting quilted right now. I found these to be the perfect border! I think I use about 32 of the blocks.

Last week my niece was here putting on binding. She made a quilt for that same baby. We took all kinds of pictures, but she hasn't sent them to me yet. The sound you hear are my fingers drumming on the desk.

Maybe I'll remind her again.....

baby gift

This was a shower gift for a teacher at the school where I work. I put the baby's name on it. The corners and date are stamped with acrylic paint, it is probably about 14x14 inches.
One thing I would do differently.... is make the heart in 'love' a different color. A darker pink or light purple....
OR....
make the letters L,V and E different from the green hearts. Oh well, I am still learning with each 'experiment' I do and happy with the with the way it turned out regardless of all my second guessing.

BOM stitchin'

I am trying to get caught up on this BOM. I have 4 done, one almost done and 'believe' only has the stitching lines drawn on it.

It will be a Christmas wall hanging with Christmas words stitched on it.

I may set it aside and wait for the next block and do them together in July (or whenever)

I'm not crazy about my fabric choice. In my mind it looked fantastic, but as the blocks get finished, I am not so sure. I even debated stopping and starting all over with lighter fabric. In the end I decided to just leave it as it is.

I also changed some of the floss colors, there is orange & pink in some of the blocks.

I showed it to my Mom while we were in Duluth. I don't remember her gasping in horror at my color choices. She doesn't like orange and pink if they are anywhere near each other. I think it's a rather fun combo, just not two colors that come to mind when you think of Christmas.........it will be interesting to see it all together next fall.

http://gailpandesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/a-.html

Check Gail out...she has some cute stuff!!!!