my heart sings for you!

Have you seen the adorable birdie quilts that Erin of Why Not Sew? has made!?! They are simply the sweetest!! On Monday she made a sweet valentines one, that totally inspired me!! I had to make one, and it couldn't just go on my list, I had to make one now!! Though I have a kazillion other wip's, they could wait!! :)

I did a version of her sweet valentines one but changed it up a bit so it could go above my piano. One thing about me, I heart music, and really have a special place in my heart for it... so a birdie quilt mixed with a music theme is what I went with.

A bit of a close up of the quilting. For the border I tried loops for the first time which was fun!!

My daughter instantly wanted a picture with it, as it matched her new panda sweater!! :)

In its new home above the piano!!

I hope you are having a wonderful week so far!!
See ya next week!!

a shabby pinwheel quilt

This month on !Sew WE Quilt! they have the theme "Tool Time". I'm a guest blogger tomorrow and will be sharing a simple tutorial of my favorite quilting tool, and can you guess what I chose!?! I'm sure you know what my favorite new tool is... the Lil' Twister (I'm out of them now in my shop, but you can find there here). Yep, I'm sure you were right!! :)

I had lots of fun making a fun little lap quilt with most all of Atsuko Matsuyama's fabrics...also a new favorite!! Oh, simply some of the prettiest fabrics, how can you not love them!! And, it was perfect timing as I got my first shipment of her fabrics for the shop!! Yep, I did say first, so there will be more soon.

I used 42, 5 inch squares, so this would be perfect for a charm pack!!

I did a few borders in some Moda Bella solids and the aqua is Astuko Matsuyama's Elegant Bouquet.

A close up of the quilting.

The binding is the new flower sugar, floral stripes in red, and the backing is a soft vintage sheet!!

I have to share one of my favorite, Hey Girls!! If you haven't seen them they are the funniest!! My hubby and I have had quite the laughs over them!! As I had my hubby holding the quilt up like usual this one came to mind as it is a favorite. :)

Make sure to stop by !Sew WE Quilt! tomorrow and say Hi to me!! :)

Hope you have a fabulous day, my friends!!

a little late

It has been a little quiet on my blog lately!! We've had lots of family in town the last little bit, and have enjoyed all the time we've had with my husband family and some of mine!!

I started this fun little pinwheel pillow back in November for the Savvy Seasons swap, but ended up going in another direction. I set it aside for awhile but got it done right before Christmas so we could still enjoy it. I really love how it turned out and how it has just a little touch of winter to it.

To make the pinwheel blocks I used the Lil' Twister tool!! It was sure a fun way to make them. All you do is use 5 inch charm squares (I cut my own), and then sew them as a patchwork. Then you take the tool and place it on the seams and rotary cut around it, and voila you have your blocks for the pinwheels.

I also got our Little Miss Winter all finished up right before Christmas too. I did a few adjustments to the pattern, but am thinking I need to do a few more before I post a tutorial. So hang in there...it will come. :)

I also added a cute little crochet flower and button as a little hair piece. I wish I would have thought of that for my first one. For the lace I used some vintage lace that came off a sheet!! :)

Now that we are back to a normal schedule, it will be nice to get more sewing done! At least I hope so. :)

Happy Tuesday, my friends!!

a polar bear pillow and thank you sale!!

Polar bear, polar bear, what do you see? I see a pillow to cuddle and snuggle, in these cold winter months!!

I started this ever so sweet double wedding ring pillow quite some time ago with Laurie's polar bear spoonflower fabrics. After seeing her new Brrr! fabric that will be releasing in June, it made me want to finish my pillow!! I sure can't wait to see these lovely fabrics on the bolt! I may just have to make a quilt to match my lovely new pillow!!

I used Essex Linen in white for the background and a white ticking for the binding. I love how the double wedding ring really pops!!

For the hand stitching I used DMC floss in red, aqua and grey to add a nice clean touch!

Here is Lauries new fabric collection, Brrr! in red and aqua!! It also come in the traditional Christmas colors, red and green.

I'm so glad I finally finished my pillow!! Now I get to enjoy all its loveliness!! I need to pull out my other wip's and get those finished up too!!

As a thank you for all your support through the year, I'm having a little sale in my shop till the end of the year. So today and tomorrow, you can take 10% off your purchase in my shop!! Just use coupon code thankyou10 at checkout and it will automatically be applied to your order. This is the first "sale" I've offered all year so make sure to take advantage of it if you've been wanting to get any fabrics, patterns or trims. :)

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!

sew to swap...blog hop!

Today I get to share with you another exciting book I was able to contribute to!! The fun thing about this book is it is all about swaps!! With running quite a few swaps on flickr this book has a special meaning to me, as I really love swaps!!! Being able to get to know other crafters that have the same passion as I do, is one of the best parts. I also love that I get to make something that is most of the time a little out of my comfort zone, and probably wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the swap. It is always fun to me, the stalking, the creating, and then the sending and waiting to see what their response will be. And then in return, being so excited to receive that special item in the mail that was created just for me!!

The book...Sew to Swap was written by Crissie Grace, illustrated by my dear friend Ariel Eldridge and published by F+W Media. The book was fabulously written and has all the information on how to make a quilt from start to finish...so would be wonderful for even the beginner quilter!

A pretty stack of quilts that are in the book!!

Here are some lovely pictures of some of the different collaborative swaps that are in the book!!

From the Super Small Swap section, the Hexie Table Runner. These three grandmother flower gardens are from Heather, Tasha and I. This one I put together and quilted, and it is on the cover!! Yippe!! :)

Also, from the Super Small Swap Section, the Selvedge to Selvedge String Pillow
Made by Chrissie

The Curvy Block Swap is from the Marvelous Medium Swap Section! Lovely blocks all with curves. I love how this one turned out, so modern and vibrant with the Tufted Tweets!! My block in this one is a dresden plate. :)

The Invisible 9 Patch Swap is in the Gorgeous Gigantic Swap section!! I really do love 9 patches, and the colors of yellow and grey are sure pretty!! This one Tasha and I quilted!! It was fun to work together on quilting this one!!

The Wonky Siggy Swap...wonky stars and all the contributors signatures!! I love how this one takes the modern wonky star, but then adds an old tradition of doing a signature quilt. Also you gotta love the colors, red, aqua, and pink!! :) In this quilt each one of the contributors did one block.

I really wanted to also include one of Ariels illustrations!! She did such a fantastic job!! She is so talented, and I have to say that I am so lucky that she designs for my shop!!


Aren't those some spectacular quilts, and that is just a small portion of them!! F+W Media is offering to any of our blog readers a special discount during the blog tour if you'd like to purchase the book. Just use promo code SEW2SWAP.

Also, here is the schedule for the blog tour, if you'd like to follow along~

November 7 Lovely Little Handmades

November 8 Stitches & Scissors

November 9 Cluck Cluck Sew

November 10 My Three Sons

November 11 Twin Fibers

November 12 Stitchy Quilt Stuff

November 13 The Creative Juices of Ariel

November 14 Texas Freckles

November 15 Quilt Dad

November 16 Artsy-Craftsy Babe

November 17 Little Miss Shabby

November 18 A Cuppa and a Catch Up

November 19 A Quilt is Nice

November 20 A Little Sweetness

November 21 House of A La Mode

November 22 I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts

November 23 Little Bit Funky

November 27 In His Grace

simple patchwork

Lately there hasn't been much craftiness going on in my house. With the kiddos back in school I thought I'd have much more time for sewing, but sadly that hasn't been the case. It feels a little pathetic, less children at home = less sewing??? Doesn't quite make sense to me!! Maybe since my helpers are gone, now my little ones seem to get into much more mischief so that equals more work for mommy, and more difficult to get a few moments away here and there to sew!!

The other week-end I did do a little sewing with my girls, little patchwork doll quilts!! They picked out their fabrics and we cut them into squares and then they sewed the simple little patchwork together. I did simple line quilting and then added the binding!! They were soo excited to have cute matching doll quilts for their dolls!! It made it even that much more special since they did most of the sewing!!

a little quilt for Little Red Riding Hood!

she looks so happy under her comfy little quilt!

the polly dollie quilt!

most of these squares are from Hoo's in the Forest charm pack! !

I think I'll help them make matching pillows next. Wouldn't that be cute!! :) Though, I learned one thing while giving them this little sewing lesson, to work with them one on one instead of working with them together. They seemed to compare and have several little arguments during the process. So even though it was enjoyable to teach them a little bit of my love of sewing, I learned from this experience.

halfway??

I am technically halfway finished with my Farmers Wife Sampler blocks if I do a throw size. I have 25 done and only have 25 more to go. I'm having so much fun with these that I may go bigger. That will be a big step for me as I've always been scared to go bigger than a lap size because the quilting would be quite a big task!! I've only quilted a lap/throw size!! I think the Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt might just give me the courage to try!!

Here are all 25 on point!!

My week 12 blocks! I did one extra one this week, so I may just do one next week!

{12} Broken Sugar Bowl

{31} Evening Star

{21} Contrary Wife

It's so fun to see them all together! Do you see why I'm thinking of going bigger than a throw!! It is going to be such an amazing quilt!!

Hope you are having a terrific Tuesday! See you later this week!!