indecisive Much?

I didn't decide what to do with these fabrics from my previous post. OK...I did decide.

I decided to do the zig zag quilt.

And then realized I didn't have enough of the gray solid to do it the way I wanted to, which was alternate rows of print & solid. My second choice is a disappearing nine patch. I still think zig zag is the way to go with those fabrics but I really don't want to shell out any more money on that particular project since the prints were on the expensive side. So I've moved that quilt to the UFO pile until I decide once and for all.

In other quilty fronts, I went to my first retreat as a new member of my local quilt club. The club is called Piecemakers...cute, huh? The ladies who are members have been quilting forever and they have sooo much knowledge and expertise. I'm thoroughly enjoying being a part of it and I think I'll become a real quilter yet, if only by association with this great group!

At the retreat I took a class on how to make a half log cabin quilt. SO much fun! And so addicting! The log cabin is one of my all time favorite quilts, and this block allows you to use a log cabin layout but takes less fabric and about half the time for the blocks.

Here are the layouts I'm thinking of doing with my finished blocks. Will be small...think lap sized.

To Zig Zag or Not to Zig Zag?

Not too long ago I made a baby zig zag quilt for a gal at work. It was my first attempt at a zig zag quilt and my first "non-pattern" attempt at a quilt, period. I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out, considering my lack of quilting experience. Before I'd ever completed it, I decided I wanted to make another one that didn't scream "BABY". I thought about using 30's fabrics, but what I really wanted was something a bit more modern...I thought these fabrics fit the bill. They're from a line called Timber by Jessica Levit.I don't usually go for deep pinks, but I thought I'd step outta my turquoise/brown and 30's boxes for a change. Although that blue is a bit turquoise-y, huh?

As it always is with me, it was hard cutting into that first piece of gorgeous fabric! Somehow I managed, and for the last few nights I've been cutting everything into 5 inch squares. Once I had all my squares cut I started playing around with them.

I think they'll work well for a zig zag quilt! Imagine it's wider, longer and has more prints.BUT...what if I just do simple nine patch blocks? Oooh, that could be really nice. I like it!OK, now what if I make the nine patch blocks more random? Blech. Don't like that.And now I can't decide. This is what I get for playing! What do you think? Stick with my original plan? Go with the nine patch? Make a bunch of half square triangles and play with that layout? I'm just avoiding getting down to business with it, aren't I?

Goin' to Jockey

It's been a while since our last trip to a flea market, hasn't it? Now that summer is right around the corner, I think it's the perfect time! In the summer months, this flea market, also known as Jockey, is held every Tuesday morning in the buzzing metropolis of Greenville, Ky. It has been for as long as I can remember. As a kid I went to Jockey with my Aunt Rosemary and my cousins Keely and Sandy a time or two. We'd eat junk food and wander around the grounds(being silly, no doubt). I'd marvel at all the junk, not to mention the goats, chickens, ducks, and other small animals that were sold and traded. This was before my love of all things vintage kicked in, mind you, and I can't help but wonder what kind of wonderful treasures I walked right past back in the mid 70's and early 80's that I'd be drooling over today.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mark and I hit up the Greenville flea market, er, Jockey. It was uber hot so I lost interest in taking photos after the first 30min. or so! But I do have a few to share. So, let's see what they've got today...Is it just me, or does something evil seem to be lurking behind those eyes?Favorite photo of the day.
You can't really see them in the photo but there were also GOONIES , GREMLINS and PAC MAN lunchboxes! Ridiculously expensive, however.
That little tiger...I wanted it....badly. And that Little People A Frame house? Totally had one.Wondering if the vendor meant to be funny by putting the elephant on the scale...it tickled me.I'm strangely drawn to rusty old junk like this. Apparently ET will talk to you when you get close enough. Thank the Lord his batteries were dead.This was actually pretty darn cool...can someone convince my husband to clean out our garage and fill the walls with these old signs?More rusty junk.Mark haggling with a vendor.This quilt was lovely....as was everything in this little booth.
Only at Jockey. What's sad is that someone probably used this cookbook. blech.
And even more rusty old junk. En Masse.

I bought several things. Two sets of vintage pillowcases, a set of vintage sheets, two vintage aprons, some pin up girl playing cards from 1955--they've been mailed to a swap partner, so no photo. I did take photos of two of my favorite finds of the day.

This lovely little candy dish.
And this fabulous picnic set for which I will be making matching placemats and napkins! Perhaps we'll have a picnic on our next flea market outing!

And that concludes our trip to Jockey, folks. Hope you had a good time and will come back and join me for my next flea market adventure!

Where Kellie Sees the (near) Future

Today was the last day of school for our students! This means I have four more work days until I am free until the first week of August! FREE! To do absolutely nothing that I don't want to do! Oooh how I like the sound of that! What, you ask, do I have planned? I'll tell ya!

• sleeping late
• playing with the dog...one Miss Mya Claire, more widely know as "Goat-Dog"
• catching up on plenty of reading
• Cooking...yes, you read it correctly. I will cook this summer. Me. Mmm Hmm. Someone might want to notify the news media about this. Just sayin'
• Sewing...aprons, lunch bags, clothing(gasp!), monsters, etc.
• Couch time & movies
  
• quilting, hopefully lots of it!
• a train ride to Chicago and a 5 day stay with my kid sister
• Not Working!
  

The (near) future is looking mighty good, y'all!

Bloggers Quilt Festival!

Hello to those of you who are taking part in the Blogger's Quilt Festival! I'm so glad you are taking the time to stop by! I'm Kellie...I haven't been quilting for very long...maybe 3 years. Three years sounds like a long time, but for me it's been three years of sporadic quilting at best.

As of late, however, I've become more and more enamored with this pastime! I've joined an online quilting bee, which I'm really enjoying and I've even joined the local quilt guild and am going to try my darnedest to complete two quilts for the club sponsored Quilt Show at our local Fine Arts Center.

The quilt I'm sharing with you is one that I've blogged about it before, but it's my best quilt to date and the one I'm most proud of so far, so I hope you don't mind a little repetition.

I made a couple months ago for a gal at work having her first child( a sweet baby girl named Zoey). I'm a sucker for a pinwheel quilt, so the choice of what quilt to make was pretty simple once I saw the tutorial at the Moda Bake Shop. This is Miss Zoey's quilt.

One thing you should know about me is that I have a tendency to be an all or nothing type of gal. If I can't do it right, why bother doing it? And for someone who isn't an experienced quilter...and I suspect for someone who is...perfection is just not possible. Being only my second attempt at machine quilting(and I haven't really pieced that many quilts, either), this quilt reminded me that I need to take that perfectionist mentality of mine and toss it out the window.

While it was not an easy thing to do, I had to go with the flow. I eventually realized there aren't quilt police who are going to come and haul me away for committing crimes against quilting. I had to simply accept the wonky seams, the weird stops and starts on the back, and the not-even-close-to-straight quilting lines and live with them.

A few random thoughts I had while making this quilt:

• Slow Down!
• "Straight", for me, is a relative term.
• I should have taken the bindings class I took two days after sewing the binding on this, before I sewed the binding on this.
• Longer stitches look better than teensy ones.
• I ♥ the walking foot.
  
• How in the blankety-blank am I supposed to stop and start a line of stitching and keep from getting knots on the back OR the thread from pulling out?
  
• Aaaargh!
  
• Why is it that I am nearly finished before I finally start to figure things out?
• I hate basting.
  
• The quilt police aren't really going to come after me. After all, the fashion police have yet to find me and I've been committing crimes against fashion for years!

In the end, those mistakes I mentioned earlier didn't amount to much. The quilt got plenty of "oohs" and "aahs" at the baby shower and more importantly, the Mom-to-be absolutely loved it. And really, that's what mattered.

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the blogosphere! I hope you'll become a follower or at the very least stop by and visit again sometime. I've been taking somewhat of a vacation from blogging lately, but now that it's summertime and I have two months off work, I'm feeling the need to get those creative juices flowing again!

Now, I'm off to check out the quilty goodness that is the Bloggers Quilt Festival!

Fresh Comfort Blocks Rock!

I am really diggin' being a part of the Fresh Comfort II virtual quilting bee! My fellow bees are sending me some wonderful fabrics and patterns to play with!

I made two of these for Shelly. They were fairly easy and the end result is pretty daggone awesome! I thought I would share the process...you're gonna want to make lots of these! Perhaps enough for a quilt?

Start with a 9 patch. I'd say any size block would do, I think the the individual blocks Shelly sent started out at 4in.Once you have your pieces all joined into a nine patch...SLICE IT! Make your slice somewhat wonky.Next, sew a 1.25 inch strip to join them back together.
Turn and wonky SLICE IT! again. (I love that part...it was a little scary, though)
Again, add another 1.25 inch strip to rejoin....Voilà! A nine patch, interrupted...aka fractured nine patch!

Blah Blah Blog

I haven't been in a very bloggy mood lately. What I have been is lazy and running waaaay behind. I'd hoped to have had about 20 aprons ready to take to an art/craft fair/flea mkt. at the local Mule Day celebration on May 1st. Right now I have 10 made. I'm so slow at sewing and I get distracted VERY easily. Honestly, if I get 20 done, it'll be a miracle. Still, the booth only cost me 25 bucks, so I figure if I sell a couple of aprons I'll have my money back and it should be a fun day. It's all good.

Despite it's awesome name (Material Girls) the sewing group we started at school didn't really pan out like I had hoped. We all wanted to come home at the end of the day instead of staying at school for sewing time! All is not lost, however, because I've joined a new local sewing group. This new group is going to be awesome. The gals are all young and energetic with lots of good ideas that they freely share. I'm excited!

So that's it. My house is a complete pit and I need to look past and ignore the dirt and sew sew sew aprons for Mule Day. "Sew", I'm out for a while.

One Week=Two Finished Projects!

So we had our second baby shower in about a month at school this week. I don't know what was in the water there nine months ago, but I'm relieved I didn't drink it.

After making the quilt for Baby Zoe, I knew I would indeed have to make a second for Baby Levi(we think that's going to be the name, anyway). I had originally thought I'd use this quilt, but decided at the last minute it wasn't going to work. So it's folded and in the sewing closet...some day I'll finish it for the Quilt Club's charity project. Really, I will.

I'd seen quite a few zig zag quilts online and decided I wanted to try one. So, without a pattern I set out making half square triangles. I used the equivalent of 7 fat quarters worth of fabrics. It ended up being adorable, but too small, so I improvised an added a border. Here's the result:I think it turned out quite nicely. And those appliques? Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but one of them is hiding a seam that split when I washed the quilt!

Second finished project this week was these two Ticker Tape blocks for Rachel in the Fresh Comfort II Sewing Bee. Now, I'd never heard of a ticker tape quilt until I got the package of fabrics in the mail, but I'll tell you...I am in LOVE with them. Here are some finished examples. I need to make one. Seriously.

Dear Broccoli, I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said about you.

I admit it, I am a broccoli hater. Truth be told, there aren't many vegetables that I do like. Corn, potatoes and the occasional raw carrot, that about does it.

However, a couple Christmases ago, while at my grandmother's house, I tried a tiny helping of her broccoli salad. This was following my trip to Europe where I tried several weird foods. I didn't die from any of that stuff, so I figured a little broccoli at my grandma's house wouldn't kill me either.

To my surprise, I actually liked her broccoli salad, which also included broccoli's ugly cousin, cauliflower.

So lately I've decided that I have GOT to start eating healthier. I'm about 50 pounds heaver than I need to be and as much as it irks me to say, at 41, I'm not getting any younger. Yeah, yeah, I know you think a 41 year old shouldn't be such a wiener about eating her veggies. But I am.

Anyhow, I am trying to cut way back on the amount of meat and dairy that I eat on a weekly basis. I'm not going full on vegan mind you, just cutting back. However, in order for me to eat healthy, I have to learn to tolerate--if not like--veggies. I remembered trying this salad and asking my grandma for the recipe. I figured if I could get used to eating broccoli & cauliflower prepared like this, that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad in the next dish.

And tonight, I actually enjoyed eating a bowl full of broccoli and cauliflower! Alright, so the fact that the dressing includes mayo(fat free, thankyouverymuch) and sugar helps. Baby steps, people, baby steps!

Here's the recipe!

SUNNY VEGETABLE SALAD

What you need:

• 5 cups broccoli florets
• 5 cups cauliflowerets
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup sunflower kernels

What you do:

1. In a large salad bowl, toss broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Sprinkle with the bacon and sunflower seeds when ready to serve.

Robot on the Loose

In addition to trying my hand at straight line machine quilting, I really want to learn to do free motion quilting.

Here's a little block that I used to practice on. Would this be considered a mini-quilt? Or a practice block? Whatever you call it, I call it Robot on the Loose. The cat appears to appreciate it.

Baby Pinwheel Quilt...FINISHED!

I thought I'd go nuts. I thought I'd toss my sewing machine out the window...but I finished it!

This is the quilt that I finished for a friend& co-worker's baby last weekend. I used a pattern from the Moda Bake Shop and machine quilted it myself. It's far from perfect, but my friend seemed to truly like it and it did receive a few "oohs" and "aaaahs" at the baby shower. I have to say, I am proud of how it turned out and I'm proud of myself for not giving up!

This was not actually my first attempt at machine quilting. Back in 2007, I made small lap quilts for my sister and my brother. Those, however, were complete straight lines sewn vertically...so other than trying to keep my stitching straight, they didn't give me too much grief. Photos in this post.

For this quilt, I also used straight lines, so I really didn't think it would be all that difficult. The hardest part was having to shove so much fabric through my sewing machine on the diagonal. This is a baby sized quilt, I can't imagine how people work with anything bigger!

A few of my random thoughts as I was working on this quilt....randomly presented.

• Slow Down!
• "Straight", for me, is a relative term.
• I should have taken the bindings class I took two days after sewing the binding on this, before I sewed the binding on this.
• Longer stitches look better than teensy ones.
• I ♥ the walking foot.
  
• How in the blankety-blank am I supposed to stop and start a line of stitching and keep from getting knots on the back OR the thread from pulling out?
  
• I prefer sewing to seam ripping...besides me, who'll care if my points are perfect anyway?
• Aaaargh!
  
• Why is it that I am nearly finished before I finally start to figure things out?
• I hate basting.
  
• I will NEVER attempt this again. Ever.
  
• Hey, I CAN do this!
• The quilt police aren't really going to come after me. After all, the fashion police have yet to find me and I've been committing crimes against fashion for years!
• That wasn't sooo bad, maybe I'll give it another go!
  

Because Ziploc baggies just won't do!

I've developed a bit of an addiction to Facebook, but today I refused to log in. I've not only managed to go grocery shopping, cook real food, walk the dog, clear out the laundry room from Hell and actually do all the laundry, but I also completed two sewing projects! All in ONE DAY!

For my first project I used the instructions from the book One Yard Wonders to make a cute set of cafe curtains for the aforementioned evil laundry room from Hell. I goofed a bit on the upper casing and made it a tad small, but I'm leaving it for now.They were very quick and easy to make. The fabric had been hanging out in my sewing room closet, just waiting for the perfect project..and this was it! I love that it only took a yard, which means I have an extra yard to make the laundry bag from the same book!

For my second project, I made a bag for Mya's "doggy day care" supplies. I saw you roll your eyes & smirk at the mention of "doggy day care"! It's really just a day kennel...we hate leaving her alone in her kennel while we are at work. Being out of her kennel is not an option due to the four cats and the fact that the dog is completely wild and eats anything not nailed down. So, we decided to try the day kennel thing a couple days a week.

Rather than continuing to carry her toys and food in a handful of Ziploc baggies, I decided to make a reusable bag. I didn't use a pattern for this, just sort of figured it out as I went along. Just a simple tote using three fat quarters. I decided to add a thin layer of plastic over the lining; I figured it'd be easy to wipe clean.

The things we do for this dog!! But seriously, can you blame us? And there you have it, a fun filled, super-productive day! I may just have to give up Facebook for good! Yeah, like I have that kind of discipline.

Snowy Sewing Projects

We've had a lot of snow days this winter. As a member of the school teaching staff, I can tell you that the adults in the building get just as excited as the kids do! At least for the first few snow days. Now, we're to the point that it's cutting into our Summer just a bit too much and we are ready for the snow to stop!

Secretly, though, I hate getting out in cold weather and I love a good snow day. And I love spending snow days gettin' my craft on! I have spent these last few rounds of snow days sewing. I've made two quilt tops and two bags. However, today(yes, it's ANOTHER snow day today) my project du jour is laundry. But if the laundry gets done early enough, I'm firing up the ole Kenmore.

But before I tackle that hellish nightmare that is my laundry room, I thought I'd share the two bags that I made on previous snow days.
I made this purse using fabrics from JoAnn Fabrics. I'm pretty please with the outcome, but I'll tell ya...it took HOURS! Lots of seam ripping and fussy sewing with this one. I plan to give it another go, but there are some things that I intend to change around in the pattern to make it easier for me to sew and there are a few cosmetic things that I might fiddle with. But I do like it and it's gotten me many compliments!

And during the snow days we had last week, I made this purse. I started out thinking I would use one of the patterns from The New Handmade, but ended up doing my own thing. I used a charm pack of the gorgeous Nicey Jane fabrics from Heather Bailey for the outside of the purse. Something about these fabrics say "vintage sheets" to me and since I couldn't find anything in my stash that I like for a lining, I used a vintage sheet to line the bag. It's not perfect, but I LOVE it, but I'm going to save it to carry this Spring and Summer.

Finished!

Well, sorta. The top is finished, anyway!

I fretted over prairie points for nothing! They were easy and FUN! I'm really happy with this quilt top....even though the color arrangement of the pinwheels isn't exactly what I wanted. It looks like the person who made it sorta knew what she was doing!

As worried as I was about prairie points multiplied times 10 = how freaked out I am about quilting it myself. I've only quilted a few things, all straight vertical lines. So yeah, I'm nervous. If any quilters happen to stop by, perhaps you could give me some suggestions.

I'm also a tad worried that the quilt in this post is going to pale in comparison to the pinwheel quilt. The problem is that both baby showers will occur at the same time, which I think stinks. If they weren't at the same time, I wouldn't think anything about it, but side by side...huge difference. Now I'm thinking I should make another quilt and donate that one.

Pinwheel Progress-N- Prairie Point Pondering

How's that for alliteration?

So, the baby pinwheel quilt is coming along. I didn't have enough of the charms to get the exact color layout that I wanted and still have enough for prairie points. Still, I'm OK with how it's looking so far.

Now, on to cut and add the gazillion little prairie point squares turned triangles. Yikes! I'll report back next year, when they're finished.

Decision Made!

Finally decided on a quilt pattern for the baby quilt from my previous post. I'll be doing the Baby Pinwheel. Spent last night watching the LOST recap pinning squares together for the 1/2 square triangles. I had to stop to focus FULL attention on the the new episode, though!

I can't wait to get started! This will be my first attempt at a pinwheel quilt and first attempt at prairie points! Wish me luck!