Exciting Progress

I did an earlier post about a bedroom makeover and I'm very happy to announce that my first pillow is done! Well, the hard part is done.









I was gone all last week skiing so I didn't get to go to week 6 of Natalia Bonner's Mystery Quilt but I did get my block finished from the previous week once I got home.


My ski week was also a little bit productive, I finished a project I was assigned last year. Ann is going to make all her grand-daughters Easter dresses and she wanted a little cross stitch with their initial on it so here they are.
These were the originals, the only three girls at that time, but since last year my sister and I each had another girl so here is a picture with the names of our 7 mo. olds. They are two days apart...
and I ran out of floss!

Mom should have done them last year and she would have only had to sew 3. Thankfully she draws the line at making clothes for boys or else she'd have 3 little boy babies to make for as well. That's right folks Ann McEuen had 5 grandbabies born within 5 months in 2010. Three of them were within one week! Mines the baby with no hair on the right.

Mystery Quilt Block of the Week

WEEK 5! We're almost there and the quilt is only getting better. This is going to be so cute finished and we only have 2 more weeks. Natalia has been doing such a great job.

A Change in the Weather

"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and us." Marcel Proust 1921

How true. Every sunny day lately I've gone outside to sit on the stoop and read a magazine. It's usually in the afternoon during nap time so it's great because my son comes out with me too instead of having quiet time watching TV. I've really been much happier since I started with considerably less guilt for the TV watching.

But I think it can apply to your house as well. If you can change one thing you can recreate your space. So here comes a makeover for my bedroom.

Alright, clean up first.
I love my duvet but that's about it. The shams are boring my lamps don't match, the walls are bare except for my cross stitch which is actually super cute but doesn't work there. Wow, I like one thing about my bedroom right now.
Stay tuned, this is a master bedroom makeover!

So Many Great Things

Kathleen Whiting won McCall's Next Quilt Design Star with her final quilt entry, "It's For The Birds."

She worked so hard during this contest and every quilt she did was made with the greatest care and, well, love. All of the ladies at Seasons of Home were practically jumping up and down with joy when we heard the news.

Now on to other interesting things this week. I've had a super productive week so I'm really happy to be able to blog about it finally. Well, first off I didn't get my mystery block of the week done because I was busy in SLC getting this...

My very first mini van! All of you mothers out there will, I'm sure, share my excitement. DVD, XM, wireless headphones, a cooling drawer, 15 cupholders! I hope Honda reads this and decides to give me something cool, but regardless, I love this van!

But to reassure everyone, my block is almost done so I plan on being caught up by next Tuesday.

Another great thing came out of this week. I made my beautiful baby girl a beautiful baby coat. Sewing clothes is fun and the outcome can be adorable. Isabel was a fan but she could only wear it for a minute because there was still a pin in it where I needed a button. Once I get the buttons on it'll be complete. It was a pretty fast project and the whole time I was doing it I was super excited so it seemed to go even faster.

Reversible Apron

Saturday at Seasons of Home, Tamara Ellis taught this super cute reversible apron. I used the "Domestic Diva" line that she used in her example except I used the cupcake on one side and the apron print on the other. It turned out really cute. I did have to unpick one part after I'd finished and resew it but that's life. You have to check your project before you sew, lesson learned.


"The Joy of a Beautiful Quilt"
I also wanted to share this beautiful little statue I bought myself. She's a quilting angel from Jim Shore. I love her!


Today's project is this week's mystery quilt block. I'll see you tomorrow at Natalia's class!

Inspiration

I'm INSPIRED! Winterfest at Daniel's Summit was awesome. I took two applique classes and both were totally great and the projects are something I really, really want so I'm going to stick with it. I think hand applique is kind of fun and with practice you can get pretty fast at it. I was getting frustrated looking at quilt patterns because I'm drawn to the ones with applique, so now there is no excuse to not make those fabulous quilts. That's my tiny basket, one of 200 or so. Yikes. The other is Shelly's beautiful "Blessing Baskets" that you have to see to appreciate, it's beautiful.

There was one project that Paula showed us that really got my creative juices flowing.
It's her childhood. The farm where she grew up, her neighborhood, her family, children in sleeping bags. I immediately started thinking of what I would do. It was perfect.

Also at Winterfest I bought a new sewing case. I think you can see why I couldn't resist it.

Mystery Quilt

I just got my first look at this week's block and I'm so excited!

The thrill of quilting is wonderful. I got my border finished this morning and took it around to show it off.

Barbara Brauer's Beginning Quilting class has been a big hit. It's a class for real beginners so they learn everything from the ground up. Don't miss out when this class comes around again. Let us know if you're interested and we'll get another one scheduled.

And don't forget to vote for Kathleen Whiting for McCall's Next Quilt Design Star.