Star Crazy - Month 1 Done

Today I took advantage of the freezing cold tempatures outside, to stay inside and quilt!  I have gotten the first month of the Star Crazy blocks done.  This is the first of the 12 months for a block of the month from The Quilt Show that have decided to do.  Yea, like I really needed another project. 

I really love the bright colors so far.  The blocks this month were two 8" stars that will go in the center and six 6" stars for one of the boarders.

I have also started another quilt.  This one is for a friend at work.  Her husband has just deployed to Afghanastan today for a year.  She has two little girls and a more than full time job.  Her husand is also a co-worker of mine.  I have been trying to think of something that I can do for them to give them some support during this difficult time.  I thought a good start would be a quilt.  I hope that this can provide some comfort for them during the next year.  Maybe a place for them to snuggle at the end of a day. 

Kristin

How about a look at a few quilts I have been working on while absent from my blog? 

2009 seemed to be a baby boom at work.  Here are the last two baby quilts for the year.  A co-worker and good friend is having twins!  A boy and a girl, they should be making their arrival by the end of the month.  Knowing my friends tastes, I really didn't want to make the quilts using the typical baby fabrics.  Instead I decided to use bali fabrics in a traditional block.   I used the same pattern for both the boy and the girl quilts.  I really like how they turned out.  Hope the babies do too!

The other top that I have been able to get together was the Fall Mystery quilt from Yankee Pride, my local quilt store.  This is for my son and he picked out a lot of the fabric.  I have to say, by the time I was done with this I had seen enough orange to last me quite a while.  He loves it which is what is important.  Now I just need to get it quilted.

Well, that is all for tonight. 

Kristin

Happy New Year - 2010

Well, it is high time that my unplanned and extended absence from my blog end. What better time to get back in gear but a new year. I have been plugging away on projects even though I haven't updated the blog. I will get caught up on pictures over the next month.

So here is what I do have for recent updates. First, I have used the holiday break to clean and re-organized my stash. Here is my closet now. I didn't take a before picture, but this is much nicer...trust me.

Now that my stash is in order I can work on finishing projects that are in the works. I am also starting a new project. The Quilt Show offers a block of the month project to its members each year. This year there are two free BOM projects, one pieced and one applique. While I love both of them, I am going to make the pieced quilt called Star Crazy. I have seen this mentioned on some other blogs today too! Cactus Needle and Canton Village Quilt Works both have great posts about the BOM if you are curious to see more. I was able to get some time today to sew. Oh right, that is because we have gotten 30 inches of snow in the last 24 hours!!!

So what does our yard look like with the greatest single snow fall on record? That is saying something considering we live in Northern Vermont. This was first thing this morning.

And this was at about 4 pm. Yes, it is STILL snowing.

Quite a birthday present for me. Oh, really mother nature, you shouldn't have!

Well that is it for now. It is nice to be back.

Kristin

VQF

I can't believe that VQF has come and gone already. I really enjoyed it as I always do. I feel like I have really gotten a creative boost just viewing all of the beautiful quilts.

This was the Best of Show.....words can not even begin to describe the workmanship of this beauty. This was from a special exhibit, the thread work was AMAZING. There was also a VQF shop hop quilt from the vendors that were there. Although I had no intention of participating as of the first day, by the second day I was buying the blocks. Well, for a change I actually jumped right into this and as of about 30 minutes ago, all 12 blocks are put together! This is my favorite block. This was from Mary K. Ryan. The instructions were great and went together very nicely. Love this one! I was also lucky enough to take a class again this year. On tap this year was hand applique with Becky Goldsmith of Piece O'Cake fame. This was the best quilt related class I have ever taken. Here is the quilt the block we worked on is from. The individual squares are only 8 inches in total, so a lot of teeny tiny pieces. I managed getting a stem and a leaf done. Now I will have to stick to it and keep practicing.

Well that is it for today. Keep cool and enjoy the summer days.

I Heart These Blocks

I just don't know how the days turn into weeks so quickly. Tomorrow is June, huh??? Let's see....what has happened since my last vacation post. After vacation the DH and I both got sick with a nasty cold that also involved spring allergies. Thankfully that is over and we are all better now. Little league baseball is moving into the final few weeks. We have had a lot of fun with that this season. I have to say this is the nicest team and coaching we have ever had. The only other not fun thing is our computer is misbehaving. It seems as the battery has shorted out and the USB ports don't appear to be working. A mystery for tech support, aka the dear husband.

Other than that, I have only worked on quilting for the MANY babies that seem to be on the way. Here is a completed baby quilt for a girl that is on the way.

I have also started on the next baby girl quilt for another little one on the way. I just love these colors. This is not the layout for the final quilt, just a nice grouping for a photo.

I have also started knitting a baby blanket for another little one that is on the way. I don't know what this one is so the colors are pistachio green and cream. I will take a picture of that soon and post.

I have also worked on cross stitching. Here is what I have done so far for Quaker Virtues. (36 ct Sandcastle by Silkweaver and Belle Soie Silks that are in Spring Violets and Lily Pad).

Last but not least, is some 3rd grade homework that my son and I had a few weeks back. We had to make a loaf of bread to donate to the food shelf and got to keep a loaf to share as a family. I don't bake much mostly because I don't want to eat what is hanging around. My son was shocked that I knew how to make bread from scratch. We followed the recipe together and he did most of the work. He was surprised at how much effort it took to knead bread. Ohhh it smelled so good.

So here is the before picture:

And the after picture: YUMMMMY!

Spring Vacation

We went on our first trip to Washington DC for spring vacation. We had a great time, the weather was really nice. It is already so green and lush there. That, of course, has kicked my spring allergies into full speed ahead. Not to mention the cold that the husband and I seemed to have picked up. Oh well, it was great to get away.We got to see the White House, from the outside at least. We walked, and walked, and walked. There is so much to see there it is really incredible.

We also got to see the US Capital, this was on our last day and the weather was PERFECT!

We went to 4 Smithsonian Museums. The family informed me their favorite was the Air & Space Museum, while my favorite was the National Art Museum. I made them get some culture, heehee.
We also got to see all of the Monuments, very moving. Abe is so distinguished. We actually spent some time with him during a brief shower.

So, there was a lot accomplished, but NO quilting, cross stitching, or knitting. A great week anyway. Time for some allergy medicine, I can't breathe very well.

Yes, I'm still here

First, Happy Belated Easter. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We went to visit my parents and had a great time. This is a picture of their backyard. If you look very closely to the right of the big tree in the middle, there is a doe that spent the day watching us and resting in the nice pine straw. We were wondering if she was going to have a fawn or if she was sick, but no baby deer or obvious injuries. She was gone the next day.

Next up is an update on the knitting front. A woman I work with got a group of us interested in knitting blocks for a blanket for refugees. The blocks are to be 13" sq, any pattern, and the blanket will be 6 x 7 blocks. Here is what we had collectively as of Wednesday (with a few that are done but not in the picture). This has been such a fun project that we have decided to continue to meet at lunch on Wednesdays and see what else we can do. One suggestion is hats for premature babies.

An update on my mystery quilt. Here are assignments 1 thru 5 all done. Hmm, I still really have no idea where we are going with this one. The big mystery reveal will be in two weeks. My son is anxious for the results as this quilt is for him.And my final progress is some cross stitching that I worked on while away for Easter. I just love this design. The only bad thing I have noticed, is the words are stitched over one thread. I seem to have finally reached "that" point with my eyes that I have had to borrow my husbands reading glasses to see.