Two finishes this week :D

Yes, you read that right, I got two quilts finished this week. I feel pretty good about that. Maybe I will get the UFO list down to a reasonable size before the end of the year.

Tisket a Tasket Quilt- pattern from the book 'More Strip Clubbing'

It has been a real struggle for me not to buy fabric for new projects. In fact, there is a shop hop going on in my area this week, but I have decided not to participate. I just don't need any more distractions than I have already.

Four Patches and Friends quilt- pattern from the book 'Open a Can of Worms'

And speaking of distractions, I made a couple new bags this week from the stash. I wanted a new beach bag to take camping this summer. And I had so much fun making it, that I made two. I'm not sure what I will do with the other one yet. I got the pattern here.

So Sew easy Schlep Bags-pattern from Sentimental Stitches.com

A day of sewing brings progress

Yesterday was open sewing day at my local quilt shop and I was lucky enough to be able to go. I don't know why, but I always seem to be able to get more done when I go compared to what I can do if I am at home in my sewing room. And I definitely made good use of my time yesterday. I took several things along to work on, including two quilts that I got back from the long-arm quilter last week. I am thrilled to say that I got both quilts trimmed and they have the binding machine stitched down and are ready for the hand stitching to finish them up. That will be my busy work during TV time for a while.

I also finally got the outer border on my woolly flower quilt top. I have been putting it off for over a year, as I wanted the border to be more than just a plain border. Here is what I finally decided on. I am happy to have it finished.

Now I just need to figure out how to quilt this thing. Any suggestions?

Last day of May already?

This month has just flown by. I wish I had lots of quity goodness completed to show for my time. I have been doing just a little sewing. And making tiny bits of progress on some projects. But, I have only one finish for the month.

A question or two for you

I have been sewing for most of my life. I started out sewing clothing. At first just for myself, then for my kids.Eventually my quilting took over, and now I do almost no clothing construction. It's pretty much all about quilting for me.

The owner of my local quilt shop mentioned that many of her quilting customers have only experience with quilting, but have no idea how to construct a piece of clothing following a pattern. So now I am wondering how common that is. Do you do any sewing other than quilting? And if you wanted to learn to make a non quilt item, what would it be? What sewing skill would you like to learn?

Happy Mother's Day

Today I want to wish all the moms reading this a Happy Mother's Day! I hope you get a chance to spend some time with your loved ones, as I will. I will share with you the beautiful flowers I got from my son who had to leave Friday for his summer classes at the university. Thanks, Kyle.

Kyle

I come from a large family, and am happy to say that my parents are still here with us. As is typical of all kids, I never fully appreciated all that my parents did for me until I had kids of my own. So let me just say "Thanks, Mom!" I know how lucky I am to be your daughter. I always knew I was loved and you were always there when I needed you. What a great role model I have!

My mom with my daughter, Annie, on her wedding day last year. Two beautiful ladies.

And I would like to add another "Thanks, Mom!"to the other mom in my life, my husband's mom. I love your son more than I ever knew was possible. And I know that much of what he is, he is because of how he was raised. He, too, was blessed with good role models as parents.

My other mom

I love being a mom. I cannot imagine my life without my kids. My youngest is making plans to go away for college in the fall. The last to leave the nest. I hope that I did my job as mother well enough. I know I sure tried.

My youngest, Matt

In a quilting funk

Note: I came back and edited this post to add a picture of the apron and made a couple other changes/additions as well.

I'm not sure why exactly, but I don't seem to have accomplished much lately. I have done a bit of sewing. My bear claw quilt top is finished. Judy called hers "Bears in the Farmhouse", but I think mine needs to be called "I Bear the Long Michigan Winters by Dreaming of Hawaii". The floral border fabric kind of reminds me of leis.

And I have made some progress on my Time to Water quilt as well. This one has taken a bit of thinking for me, as the fabric was purchased with a specific outcome in mind, but I had not marked it or cut it. And since two years (yikes!) have passed since I bought it, I could not remember which fabrics went where in the quilt. Here is a picture showing a bit of progress. I'm working on a flowerpot border for it now.

Since it took a few days to add the apron photo, I have a bit more done on this top. Here is how it looks today as it hangs on my design wall.

I did finish one thing so far this month. It is an apron from the Clothesline Club at our local quilt shop. It's not really my style, so it will probably be gifted to someone eventually. Here is a peek.

My happy scrappy house quilt is still not done. But it is partially quilted, and shouldn't take too long to finish up. There has been a lot going on here, so it won't likely happen this week. This is what I have so far. And yes, it really is still sitting in that position just waiting for me to come back and finish. Someday. Soon. I hope.