Well She Finally Came to Her Senses!

My Machine that is. She would not work for me. I tried the new cord and NOTHING! Then I blew on her (dusted her), and begged and pleaded and finally she started up! No light though? Halfway through the line stitching on my quilt the light finally came on!!! Thank you old girl :) We are back in Business!

I was able to finish this July 4th quilt just in time! It is the first quilt I have machine quilted, and the first larger than a baby quilt I have made by myself! I would have never been able to accomplish this without the help and support of the Old Red Barn Quilt Along! Thanks to all of my fellow quilters :)The parade was cancelled this morning because of rain!!! So this new quilted blanket will be perfect to sit on and watch fireworks this evening, weather permitting. I have tossed it in the wash so it will puff all up in time. I can hardly wait!

Thanks again for all of the help and encouragement, and special thanks to Dana for making it all possible!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Was it Jealousy?

I was using my ANCIENT Kenmore to quilt my 4th of July quilt when all of a sudden my trusty Modern (circa 1999) Kenmore won't turn on at all!!! I think she is jealous that the old lady was getting sewing time? I have no idea! But how will I finish everything I need to? Maybe (hopefully) she just needs a new pedal/power cord. I am seriously in tears right now. I would love a new machine, but I have a sick attachment to her. She was my first new to me machine. The old lady is a piece of junk! I don't like her, and was just using her to quilt. She was actually 2 steps from being sent away before I realized I could lower the feed dogs to free motion quilt.

I am going to run and get my sister's power cord (she has the same machine). I hope this works!

4th of July Quilt

Well I am attempting to machine quilt! The only machine I have that I can lower the feed dogs on is this super old Kenmore. I really need a machine upgrade!

It is not going so well. Maybe I will finish this quilt for the 4th next year. I like the loops, and the randomness. This was supposed to be my practice quilt for a bigger project I have going on. I may just have to put the old machine away and break out the quilt frames. Hand quilting is so much more therapeutic, right?

Annie.

Last Thursday, when it was super hot, I took Gina to see the musical Annie. We went to an outdoor amphitheatre. The musical started at 8:oo p.m. and ended at 10:40 p.m. It was 95 degrees still at 10! But it was sooooo much fun!

When the show started Gina decided she wanted to be Annie. Then she leaned over and whispered to me that she likes to sing but just not in front of a lot of people! I bought Gina the movie about a week before we were to see it live, but she said she wanted to be surprised! By the end of the show she was singing loudly right along with the girls (those songs do stick with you LOL).It was so hot the cotton candy got hard before Gina could finish it! We had a wonderful time. As we were leaving Gina took my hand and said I had so much fun spending the evening with you. She is so sweet and I Love her so much (I must remember these times when she is a teen)!

*Thank you Dad and Peggy for the great tickets!

The Bunnies are Multiplying!!!

Those cute little bunnies are ganging up on me quickly!!! They are taking over my crafting time. Everyone that sees them wants one. I still have not made Adler one yet. Every time I finish one he hugs it and pats its back. He is so sweet!

These two cuties were for sweet babies under 3 so I embroidered the diaper fasteners instead of using buttons. Also my sister gave me the great idea of using the ear fabric for the belly too (instead of felt). I love these cuties! It was hard to give them away ;)

I Love Melly & Me

Melly & Me is a great blog! Melly is super creative and super generous. Every time she releases a new pattern she gives one away on her blog too!!! I recently won her Feathered Friends pattern. I can not wait for it to arrive from Australia :) She has her first book out now too! I ordered it and it arrived on Monday. I found it at a great price from on Etsy. This book is amazing!!! Scrumptious pictures and full size pattern pieces. It is a great bargain considering you get 12 Melly patterns! I do not think there is a single project I won't attempt to make. Gina starts Kindergarten this year and I am definitely making her the toadstool backpack (seen on the cover above). This cute unicorn Pegasus softie will make a great Birthday present for Gina this year too. I am thinking of using these fabrics from my stash for it. This book is so amazing and well worth every penny. Check out her blog often too, so inspiring. Oh there is a fabulous Argyle quilt pattern in it too that I can not wait to make! Check it out :)

* I also ordered the Clucky pattern shown above. It is too cute!

New Pattern Maker

I am thrilled to announce that Gina is the next up and coming Softie pattern maker :) Sometime around Easter I was looking for the perfect Bunny pattern and came across this one at mmmcrafts . Gina happened to be looking over my shoulder and fell in love with the bunny.

She asked me to buy the pattern and I replied with, "we will see, it might be too expensive". I left it at that and completely forgot about it. Well turns out she never forgot (gotta love a 5 year old)! She came to me last week with the above pattern and said, "Mommy I drew you a Bunny pattern because the other one was too expensive". Melted my heart! I asked her which bunny and she told me the one with the diaper "I just can't stop thinking about it". Well needless to say I got right on line and purchased the pattern .

I surprised her with this little guy this weekend! Not my favorite colors, but they are hers. She was super excited! It's name is Buttons!

Quilts for Triplets!!!

My sweet neighbors are having Triplets!!! We are super excited for them! We adore them, and share so much in common (well minus triplets). Kerry and I had a long path of infertility. We talk openly about it, with the hopes that our journey and struggle will be able to help others. Gina was conceived through Invitro by the best Doctor out there (in my opinion). We had been open with our neighbors and it turned out they were having trouble conceiving, I gave them our Doctor's name and finally they too are expecting!!! Three wonderfully growing baby girls!

When I was invited to their baby shower I panicked because I had not yet started the quilts! I had 3 days to get them started and finished. I work so much better under pressure.

I used my stash only for these quilts, and a simple log cabin knotted quilt pattern. Older babies love to mush their sweet faces in this quilt.

I loved using the Heidi Grace fabric with the houses on it. It was so appropriate for a neighbor quilt :)I wanted them each to have a different quilt. The mommy to be loved the handmade goodness too. I love it when they tear up :)

1 1/2 Birthday!!!

Adler turned 18 months last weekend and we celebrated to the fullest! He is a December baby and sometimes celebrations in December get lost in all of the Christmas festivities. We have decided, until Adler tells us otherwise, that we will celebrate his half birthday instead of his real birthday. June is a much better time for pool parties :)

He chose to have a Mickey Mouse pool party! It was so much fun!

I made him a yummy Mickey Mouse cake, along with colorful cupcakes for his friends :)
I also made him the traditional Birthday shirt! Complete with a 1 1/2 :) This photo was taken after the party. He wanted to carry all of the balloons around! (please ignore my messy house LOL )

*Our immediate family will still have cake and celebrate our sweet boy in December as well.