Whew!

Things here are slowwwly returning to normal. Thank you for all the well-wishes. I haven't been great at replying to people; sorry if I haven't replied to you. Right now I'm working on some doll bedding for my daughter's third birthday. I wanted to do something tiny to get back in the swing of things. So I've got a cute little blue doll quilt on the go. Question: Do you use smaller binding when you make a doll quilt? I never have, but I'm wondering if I should try.

I found some wonderful white material that belonged to my mother-in-law, who passed away 10 years ago this June. It makes me so sad to know my girls will always be missing someone so significant. I'm always trying to find ways to include her in our daily lives. I worked another fabric she owned into both the girls' baby quilts. I'm planning on using this white fabric for the new blocks quilt.

Reason for my absence & back to quilting

Thank you for all the well wishes. I came home from my girls nite to find that while my hubby was removing the broken dishwasher, he'd flooded the house! He felt so bad, and we've been dealing with a lot of damage, including some to my sewing corner. Things with me were almost back to normal and then my husband's job ended sooner than expected. So I haven't been doing much quilting, so no posts. But I've got a block of time this afternoon and I'm determined to finish Robyn's quilt top. I'll post again soon. Now I'm off to catch up on a couple of weeks worth of blog reading. Hooray!

Howdy everyone! Here's what I've been up to: knitting longies for baby Robyn (pants to go over her cloth diapers), taking care of a teething baby (Robyn again!) and lots of baking with Grace. Not great for my waistline, but we're having a load of fun. I made Grace this little apron to use. She's been wearing it around as a skirt.
I have an appointment today which I'm kind of worried about. I'm going to a friend's house tonight for a girls nite out, which should help me to relax. And I'm really hoping to get in some quilting this weekend....I'm missing it. I may even sneak in a bit this afternoon while Grace is at a play date.
Happy Friday

Oh Quilty Friends,
I have done no quilting for a few weeks now. I'm trying so hard to make time for my quilting, but the sun is shining, the snow is melting and my kiddies and I are having so much fun. Plus, by the time the girls are in bed at night and I finally get 20 minutes alone with my hubby, I can't really go downstairs to quilt can I? Can I? (heehee!) So I'm using my short breaks to read all of your wonderful blogs and dream about the 25 hour day.

Not much quilting going on here

Yup, you read it right, not much quilting going on here! Hence the star pics (see Molly's website). My dishwasher broke, so I've been spending most of my time at the sink. I pride myself on trying to live as green as possible, and I do have an energy star dishwasher, which I really depend on. I'm just finding out now how much I depend on it!

I'm trying to put my quilting and knitting projects on hold and focus on an Easter something for my little ones. I'm torn between making the girls bright patchwork dresses and little bunnies or bears. I really should try the dresses; the kids have a lot of stuffed animals. Wish me luck!

My Mom's quilt is on hold indefinitely. She's decided to paint her room robin's egg blue and white. That black quilt will just not fit! So it may become another 'tent making quilt' for Gracie. Oh well :)

A productive evening

Well I got waaayyy ahead of myself. My hubby was out last night and I was not used to having that time to myself that I went a bit crazy! I decided to do this quilt by Amanda Jean, with a little variation. I'm going to put a thin boarder around each block before I add white sashing. This will have to wait though, as I'm out of white. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make a little trip to the fabric store.......

Girlfriend's Giggle and the Next Project

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement on giving away my first quilt to a non-family member. My friend loved the quilt, and even called back later to gush about it a second time. Hopefully this will help me to get over my fear of gifting quilts and move some finished ones out of my closet and on to people's beds!
This picture is of fabric for my next quilt.The white with green dots actually has a texture to it. And the flower print in the background matches my daughter's spring bedding. The sheet set came in this fabric bag. So I plan on using the fabric in this next quilt and then it will relate to her bedding. I've pretty much decided to do something simple, maybe just squares. I'd like to start cutting by the weekend, so I'll have to pick a pattern!
Some of you may be wondering what happened to my mom's quilt. Well...I really don't like it! I loved the fabric, but the quilt is very busy. So it's shelved for a bit. She's planning on painting so maybe I'll start something new.
Speaking of those quilts in my cupboard, you know those ones that you finish and dislike or almost finish and just 'forget' about. What do you do with these ones? I'd love some ideas...I'm in purge mode lately and they're taking up valuable space!

Edit** I think I'm going with this one. I have a lot of white backed patterns for this quilt and I think this will work out. This will be a lot of cutting, but it should give me that fun and QUICK result I'm looking for**

Spring Break was Great!

Not much quilting got done, but I had a fantastic week with my family. We'd planned to go away for a night, but instead we accepted a last-minute invitation to go away with friends to Niagara Falls. We saw the sights and just really enjoyed being together. I feel totally relaxed, but it was hard to see my hubby go out the door this morning!
My friend's birthday is tomorrow and her quilt still needs to be washed and wrapped. I'm really excited to give it to her, but I'm also a bit nervous because I've only ever given quilts to family. Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine :)

Girlfriend Giggle and Giddy Up!

Oh of course I've got these all in the wrong order! Oh well! I lucked out this morning, my little one was napping and my oldest just wanted to boot around in the play room, so I got in some serious quilting time :) Here is a close up of the whirly giggle for my friend, which I've decided to call 'girlfriend giggle'.

Here's a not-so-hot shot of the quilt. I'm still undecided on the diagonal lines, and if I should go the opposite way as well. This baby's only taken me 2.5 hours to quilt and I'm not sure if I should just leave it, bind and label it. I could actually be done early for once!

And here's a new pal for the baby. My dad picked up this sweet little horse by the side of the road. My oldest played on it at my parent's place and then I took it home to do up for the nursery. And 4 months later, I'm just getting to adding the ribbons today :) This idea is from Tracey. Love her blog and everything she does. Boy do I wish I could go to her booth and buy enough stuff to decorate my whole house!

March break is just about to start and I can feel the anticipation of a week off in the air. My hubby and I are both teachers (I have the year off of course) so this is always an exciting time of year. This week I think we're going to do some painting, play with our 2 beautiful babes and try to go on a mini trip. Little does he know, I have lots of quilting/fabric shopping in the works too! Hope your weekend's wonderful :)

Girlfriend's Giggle

I got in some speed sewing yesterday and here is the finished top of the whirly giggle for my friend. Now I'm off to the LQS to grab some batting and something cute for the back and this baby will be ready to quilt! I'm NOT going to do the same quilting I used for my daughter's, it took way too long. I think I'll be sticking with straight lines. You may notice some of the fabric I won from Fran's giveaway. Since I didn't buy any fabric for this top, just used scraps I had plus the wonderful stuff I won, I think it's okay to give as a gift. A quilt is definitely waaaay out of our circle's gift budget, so I'm rationalizing it this way.
Got whirly giggle fever? I know I do! Check out this beautiful quilt. Once I've got this one quilted I'm moving on to a whirly giggle for the baby. And then I think I'll take a giggle break. I'd love to try this, but I'll need to do a bit of fabric shopping first, my stash is really shriking. I should be working on the stars quilt for my mum, but I need a break from it....something about it needs fixing and I'm just not in the mood!

I'm back :)

Hi everyone! Thank for the well-wishes; I'm doing my best to sort everything out health-wise. I'm still working on binding my whirly giggle quilt (by the way, someone commented on it and was 'no-reply'. I got the pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts-see my side bar.) and working on the one for my friend. Her birthday is in 2 weeks, so I've gotta get moving.
I'll post some pics of my progress soon!

See you soon

Hi all,
I'm taking a bit of a blogging break. I've got some health problems and I've got to take some time to get them all sorted out. So I'll be taking a blogging break, but I'll see you all soon!

I'm done (lots of giggles!)

It's finally finished! Here is my daughter's whirly giggle (the quilt I've been working on for a very long time). It still needs to be bound (my weekend project) but it goes so nicely in her new room. Now I just have to make curtains and pester my hubby to put up shelves and art and the room will be done.
Now I'm moving on the my friend's whirly giggle. Here's my plan:
1) Put together my friend's whirly giggle and layer it
2)Put together my younger daughter's whirly giggly while I'm quilting my friend's quilt (which is what I did this time)
3) Finally put the sashing for my mom's quilt on so I can quilt it and have it wrapped and ready for her birthday.
With the way things have been going here, this might take me until the summer to complete. I'm not kidding!

Cherry pie? Yes please!

I actually watched a bit of tv last week, no small feat in this house! I caught an episode of Martha, and saw a crafter named Hilary make some cherry pie out of felt. Check her out here. No pics from me yet (it's been one of those weekends!) but I'm almost done my own cherry pie. Now, back to quilting!

*Here's a pic....I guess it's now strawberry pie!"

Meet Ellen!

Here's what I did last night instead of quilting. I wanted to do something small that I could finish in one day. And so I made this little doll for my daughter and named her Ellen. But then Ellen needed clothes and facial features and hair...I was up half the night creating like Frankenstein! It's a bit unclear in the picture, but she even has a little pocket with baby ric rac on it. Ellen's dress still needs straps and velco on the back. And I'm going to pick up some pink fabric paint today to paint on some shoes and maybe underwear.

I think this little lady will make a perfect Easter gift for Grace. I also have some fabric play food on the back burner, but for today I'm back to quilting!

Half done giggle

I've brought my daughter's quilt upstairs to show you. I'm officially half finished the quilting on this baby and it's taking for..ev...er! But I'm happy with how it's coming along. I've also been using the leaders and enders technique, so I'm getting other units together while I'm quilting.










I've started cutting for my friend's whirly giggly quilt. She has such a bright, bubbly personality that I thought these fabrics would match with it. Her birthday is in March, so I'm hoping to have this one finished before then. I'm making it 4x6 blocks, making it about 45x65 inches. Do you think this is a good lap quilt size? I've only made bed quilts and crib quilts so I'm not sure of the size.
**I've just spread the bed quilt out and 4x6 will not be big enough. So I'm going with 6x6. Back to the cutting board!
Happy Family Day!

New quilt shop!

Oh I 'found' a new quilt shop today. It's not really new, but new to me. The fabric was a bit pricey, but there was so much selection and great service. So even though I'm trying to use up some of what I have, I bought a few new things. Check out these great fabrics! The pink and turquoise ones will be for the baby's whirly giggle quilt. And the flower print and purple plaid were just too cute to leave in the store!
I haven't done any quilting today, but I did spend a perfect day out with my sweet little family. Quilting will have to wait until tomorrow.
So 2 posts in one day. Again Happy Valentine's Everyone!

Thanks Fran!!!!!

Yippee! I received my squishy from Fran yesterday and I'm telling you all, it made my week! No pics, since I need to go out today and get some new camera batteries, but what a great package. Fran was very generous and even included a third fabric. My hubby was very sweet last night and took over bedtime duty so I could cut. I'm using my new fabric, plus some from my stash, to make a whirly giggle quilt for my dear friend who just lost her baby. I think it's the perfect use for it; fabric from a friend going to a friend of mine in need.
Here are my big quilting plans for this 3 day weekend:
1) Work on quilting my whirly giggle quilt
2)Finish cutting for my friend's quilt, and start putting blocks together
3) Square up the blocks for my mom's quilt and put the sashing on.

Will I get all this done? You'll just have to come back and see!
Thanks again to Fran, like I said, you made my week :)

And Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!!

And the winner is....

6
Random numbers generated Feb 13 2009 at 12:14:39 by http://www.psychicscience.org/.



That's Snoodles! Please e-mail me at nannergirl@hotmail.com so I can send you your fabric. Thanks to everyone who entered, and to Fran for the idea. I'll be doing another one soon :)

Kim

Giveaway

Even before I won Fran's awesome giveaway, I was thinking of doing one myself. I like the idea of sending something from my stash to someone else. So here's what I'm giving away; about a half yard of ME fabric, a strip of red fabric with leaves on it, some embroidery thread and some heart buttons. If you'd like these, please leave me a comment on this post and I'll draw Friday at 6pm .

Good Luck :)

Whirly Giggle

Well here is my finished whirly giggle top. I am so pleased with how it turned out! I've already started cutting to make a second one for the baby in greens, blues, pinks. The quilting is also going well. I'm trying out a new technique and the going is slow, but it feels good. I'm hoping to get the quilting done in the next week or so - I'd love for this to be bound and on my daughter's bed by March. And I'll try to resist the urge to start the next one before I finish the top for my Mom's quilt. Try.
On a sad note, the nursery quilt I was planning for my friend will be put on hold. She miscarried and we're all devastated. It's such a hard thing to deal with. So I'm putting my fabric away but hopefully I'll be bringing it out again for her very soon. I'm actually thinking of making her a lap quilt just for her.

I was away with the girls earlier this week and stopped in to a quaint little quilt shop. I wasn't wowed by any of the fabric but what I couldn't get over was the service. Or lack of service I should say. I was the only customer and there were 4 employees and not one of them said as much as hello to me in the 20 minutes I was in the store. Unbelievable, especially with the economy the way it is.

Hooray!!!!!

Oh did I have a great shopping weekend!!!! I have been unhappy with the curtains in my nursery for a long time. I went to visit my parents this weekend and had the luckiest shopping days.

I already owned the lamb bedding. I found the strip bedding at IKEA and the lamp shade at Pottery Barn Kids, which is where the bedding is from so it matches.

On the way back to the beach I stopped in at the fabric store and found the perfect fabric for curtains (piled beneath the lampshade). It was...$3.00/metre, and it's double wide! I can't wait to get to these.

I also picked up fabric to do my older daughter's curtains and some more fun fabric for my whirlygiggle quilt.

I found this great quilting video by My Aunt June, can't wait to try it out.

Just had to brag about my great luck.

Baby quilt

Here are some pics of a baby quilt I made. It's kind of hard to see some of the letters because I used a light tan embroidery floss. My husband drew the pictures in the 4 corners and I embroidered over them. I made this quilt a few years ago, when I was pregnancy with my daughter. I also made a girl quilt, which she now has.
For my friend, I guess I can copy this same layout and use some animal print for the boarder.
Anyhow, thought you might like to see what I'm planning :)

Looking forward

I found this cool website and made the photo above. I love the drive-in that's close to my house and look forward to it opening every summer. And since I have 2 little ones, it's a great date night for my husband and I, plus no sitter needed. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the winter, and definitely don't want to wish away the spring, but the summers here are great.
My whirlygiggle quilt is coming along really nicely and I think I may have it together by the end of the weekend. I've also been cutting for a second whirlygiggle quilt to put on the wall in the nursery.
I'm looking for a pattern for a baby quilt for a friend. I've made some alphabet quilts in the past and may make another one. She has a jungle theme going in the nursery and I've got nothing in my stash that will go. I'm having a hard time visualizing an animal print baby quilt.
I'm also trying to make some roman blinds for the nursery. I've looked for ones I like for a few months and can't find any, so this weekend I'm going to try and make some. Wish me luck!

Progress!

Not a great picture, but here's the beginning of my daughter's blue and lime quilt. I am just in love with how the blocks are turning out. And it's coming together very quickly, which is nice. I had this white eyelet fabric leftover from a project so I've used it on some of the blocks. And I've cut a few extra pieces from each fabric. I'm hoping to make a second quilt with blue, green and pink pinwheels. I think I could have this top completed by the weekend. I also bought black fabric to finish that stars quilt I was working on. And I've been slowly working on the blue,green and yellow baby quilt.
I'm having a hard time getting to all the blogs that I love. I'm going to have to schedule in some reading time soon - I miss seeing what everyone is up to.

New quilts!

I've finally found the perfect pattern to make a quilt for my little girl's 'big girl room'. I got the pattern from Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts, who I just love. No pics so far, I'm still in the cutting stage, but I'm doing it in white with pale blue and lime green.

I love these basket blocks that are turning up everywhere. They're from Bunny Hill Designs. Check them out! I think I'm going to have to do this BOM, just to see how it all turns out.

I also did this quiz, suggested by Fran. It quizes you on how many blocks you can name. I only got 43%. What's your score?

It's a cold one!!!

Boy, is it cold here today! I volunteered to take the dog out this morning, since DH had hockey late last night. I nearly froze, even with my long underwear and wind pants on. I have a very active pup, and even he wanted to come back inside!

I took this picture out my side window (from inside) and it is beautiful out.



Here's a picture of the baby quilt I'm basting. I know the colours seem a bit weird for a baby quilt, but remember I was in pretty advanced labour while I was picking them. The blue fabric was really calling to me, and so I bought it, and searched around the store for coordinating prints. My nursery is green and yellow, so this will look alright in it. I bought some chocolate brown to use as the binding. I've decided to hand quilt it, so Babe might be waiting awhile for it.

I did some more work on the quilt for my mom's birthday and I'm not too happy with it. The fabric is pretty busy. I think I'm going to have to add in some solid black sashing to break it up a bit.

Sorry about the layout of this post...I can't seem to correct it.

First block

I just couldn't wait to get going on

the new quilt. I cut fabric today while we painted and sewed while my daughter helped DH to shovel the walk (because we got another huge dump of snow). So here's block #1. It's not been pressed, but I'm very excited about it. I'm not sure if I have enough of the black pattern to make all of the setting blocks. (see post below) I can't decide if I should just do as many as I can and then switch to black, or if I should do all setting blocks solid black. Help?

First 2009 quilt

Well here it is, my plan for my first 2009 quilt. I'm planning on making this "true blue" quilt from Time Crunch Quilts. I'm using this black and bright print instead of the white and brights for the stars, instead of just blue. I think this will make a great quilt for my mom's 60th. I started cutting yesterday while my daughter painted. I'm hoping to have it all cut by the weekend so I can start sewing by Sunday. I'm planning on hand quilting this and since my mom's birthday is in July, I should have enough time to get it done.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I've really missed reading my quilting blogs and spent the last hour or so catching up. I've got no pictures to show you...I haven't quilted in over a month. So I decided to make my quilting plans for 2009 instead:

1. I've been really interested in simple quilts lately, so I'd like to make at least one simple quilt this year. I'm thinking squares in green and baby blue for my daughter's 'big girl room'.

2. I'd like to give a gift quilt to my mom, who will celebrate her 60th birthday this year. I'm going to have to think about this one a lot. My mom really appreciates my quilts and always takes the time to admire them, so I'd like to make a really special one for her.

3. Small quilts/ wall hangings. I saw a few really beautiful ones over the holidays and would like to make some for my house.

Happy New Year!