Happy Easter!

Quilting Away and Pincushions!

First I want to share with you the first pincushion I made! I got the pattern in a better homes and garden's quilting magazine. It was created by Heather Bailey, so I had to try it. I didn't use her fabric line for it, because I am saving that for a quilt. By the Way! Thank you Heather Bailey for commenting on my blog! That was really cool! I am such a fan!

The fabric I used for the top of the pincushion is from Anna Griffin's Line. It turned out really great!

My Current project is a quilt, well 2 quilts to be exact! My first quilt is my practice quilt. I decided to try everything for the first time on this quilt. I have never done the quilting before! So keep your fingers crossed! For my practice quilt I am just doing a simple patchwork quilt. Polka Dots and Flowers! I have already sewn most of this together, which I will share with you when I completely finish the quilt top.

Practice Quilt


For my second quilt, I am using a layer cake by Moda. The fabric line is Simplicity. A Layer Cake is a pack of 10X10 fabric squares. In the pack I get one Fabric square from each fabric in the line. For the pattern, I took each 10x10 square and cut it on the bias/diagonal and then paired each triangle with a different fabric and sewed them together. I then arranged each block on the floor as seen in the photo below. I am now in the process of sewing together each square.

Last night Harrison and I decided together how it should be arranged. And we are very happy with the result. Below is a picture of part of the quilt. I cant wait until it is finished, so I can show you the end result. Until then....

Quilt #2

Lots to Blog!

I have sooo much to blog about! But for now, I will make this one short. Just wanted to share with you a couple of necklaces I got! Harrison bought me the Heart one just for fun! Isn't he great?


I blogged earlier that I am trying to make a charm necklace of Rosie the Riveter! So with lots of help from my mother, I am well on my way. I have my picture, she has the glass and the silver tape. Now all I need is the time to do it! She started practicing and came up with a first necklace design and gave it to me? Isn't she great too? :) That's all I have for now. Will post more later! I'm off to the Concord Sewing Center to get myself a quilting foot and a 1/4 foot with guide for my brother sewing machine!

Knitting, Knitting, and more Knitting!

While buying yarn for the patriotic scarf I promised to make Harrison, I found this lovely Blue, Brown, and Cream yarn. So I decided to make a scarf for me too! The yarn is so soft!

For some odd reason the scarf is turning into a zig zag pattern. I am very happy with it! This pattern is super easy. Using a size US 11 needle, I cast on 25, then *knit and pearl* to end then repeat until it is at the desired length! Then Bind Off.

Harrison's was a little bit more difficult. He wanted a patriotic scarf. He wants the colors to be in bands of Red, White, and Blue. He searched for the pattern and found just what he wanted. A scarf that was ribbed. I haven't got much done on it yet, but am swiftly working on it in between getting ready for a garage sale, house and bird sitting, quilting, and fabric hunting.

The pattern for the scarf I am making Harrison is as follows: Using Size US 8 needles cast on 35 stitches. Row 1: K3,*P1,K3* Row 2: K1, *P1, K3*, end with P1, K1. Repeat rows 1 & 2 until desired length. Bind off. This one is pretty simple too!

Overwhelming Crafting Desires

These past 2 weeks, I have become aware of a new addiction. I have a fabric addiction! Yes, I can't get enough of fabric. I love fabric! But what good is fabric if you don't do anything with it. So I have decided to remedy that and take up Quilting. I like to sew, but hate sewing clothes. I can get by with the basic clothing sewing such as costumes for our church Harvest Festival and the occasional pajama bottoms. But that is not my forte. I think quilting just might be my forte. We shall see.

I love shabby chic and retro fabric, but never knew where to find such fabric that didn't cost a fortune. I grew up only knowing about your local Joanne Fabrics and your typical craft/fabric store. But what I didn't realize is that there are all sorts of quilting shops that specialize in stocking the newest fabric lines and quilting! I am now addicted!

I found one quilting store in Danville thanks to the world of blogging, which caused me to look up other quilting stores! I found out that there are 3 really good quilting stores within 30 miles. I have their store websites on my links list or at the end of this blog.

I have 3 absolutely favorite lines of fabric. The first would have to be Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey, second would have to be Swell by Moda, and third would have to be Simplicity by Moda! Below are pictures of some of my fabric finds!

I have been searching far and wide for any store that carries Heather Bailey's line called Fresh Cut. It has been like a scavenger hunt. Many of the stores are out of her line and since her new line comes out soon, they will not be reordering. I will post all of the fabric I purchased from her line in a later blog. I went back to the quilting store today searching for anything I can find by Fresh Cut. I came to the realization, that I would have to order some of her fabric online. That is if I can still find it online.

Just when I decided to give up, I started talking to one of the employees and found out she has some extra fabric that she doesn't need! So we are meeting on Thursday and she is going to show me her fabric to buy. I cant wait! Isn't the Lord wonderful?! He dropped it right in my lap.

I found 3 great quilting stores in my area! The first is in Danville, The Quilters Inn. The second is in Concord, Thimble Creek. And third is in Lafayette, The Cotton Patch. I was able to get some great fabric and quilting idea's from these stores!

Screen Cleaner

Thanks to my friend Marian for this great new cleaner! Great for cleaning your dirty computer screen. Click on the link for an easy way to keep your screen clean and germ free! Thanks Marian! ;)

New Great Product!

Pictures

I will be posting a blog soon on my fabric spree and all of the new goodies thanks to tax money returns. But until then, I wanted to post some pictures of my Grandfather and I.

A Kiss So Sweet!

My mother and I headed back home on Monday night from Washington. I was ready to come home, but leaving was extremely difficult. My Grandfather, in my opinion, was doing a lot better. We can only pray that he will recover from this stroke and that the Lord would keep him from more strokes. I have a peace, because I know the Lord is in control. Most the time when he was not sleeping, he was able to recognize everybody. There were occasions when he didn't make any sense or he did make sense but it had nothing to do with anything. Still just knowing that he recognized me was enough.

Our plane was leaving at 8:25pm Monday evening. We needed to drop off the rental at 6:00pm which meant we had to leave the hospital at around 5:00pm. The closer it came to saying goodbye to my Grandfather, the more my heart broke. I don't like goodbyes. But I really don't like the kind, where you don't know if you will ever see them again. My mom and I were able to have some time alone with my Grandfather which was a very sweet time. We sang in harmony the song "In the Garden" to him. We started singing and his face lit up and emotion crept into his face. When we were finished he whispered "I've always loved it when you sing". This was very special.

The time passed and the inevitable came...saying goodbye. I told him how much I loved him and that I had to head back to California. But that I would be praying for him every day. I hugged him and then looked into his eyes and told him I loved him. He then kissed me on the cheek and I even got to hear an "I Love You". I hugged my grandma goodbye and then we left the hospital room. My heart was breaking because I was afraid I would never see him again. All I can do is leave it in the Lord's Hands. I will always remember what if felt like to hug and kiss him goodbye. And I pray that he will get better so I can hug and kiss him again.

This song keeps running through my head today giving me comfort. It is titled "My Redeemer is Faithful and True" by Steven Curtis Chapman. It goes:

As I look back on the road I've travelled,
I see so many times He carried me through;
And if there's one thing that I've learned in my life,
My Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

CHORUS My Redeemer is faithful and true.
Everything He has said He will do,
And every morning His mercies are new.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

My heart rejoices when I read the promise
'There is a place I am preparing for you.'
I know someday I'll see my Lord face to face,
'Cause my Redeemer is faithful and true.
My Redeemer is faithful and true.

(chorus)

And in every situation He has proved His love to me;
When I lack the understanding, He gives more grace to me.

(chorus)