Family sewing day!

 I had a great time sewing with my sisters and Mom yesterday. We all worked on our own projects. Sharon started a new Twister quilt on Thursday,  so continued to work on it. She made the oh-so-cute pillow top using some of her leftover squares and then decided to make a border for the bottom of the quilt using them as well.

Nancy started her quilt a couple of years ago and only sews when she comes for visits about once a year. She has 1/2 of her blocks finished now, so it is coming along nicely. I am going up there tomorrow for NY dinner, so I hope to see some more progress tomorrow.

This is her first quilt. Nancy has been here since Thanksgiving, so my folks are enjoying her nice long visit. Her husband came last week, so we visited with him as well....didn't get a pic of him though....hmm...he must've been hiding from my camera!

 My sister Deb isn't a quilter either, but sure seems to love it when we are all together. She finished her lap size layout yesterday and is ready to put on some borders. This is her first quilt as well.

She chose some borders from my Mom's stash of vintage fabrics, so hopefully will have my Mom and Sharon help her get it finished now.

Mom worked on her layout, but didn't sew...she is recuperating well after finishing her chemo in Nov. but still gets tired more easily. I think all the holiday hoopla is wearing her out, though she doesn't complain.

We always need our supervisor on sewing days! Dad helps us with layouts and visits while we sew.  My niece, several nephews and brother-in-law came and ate lunch with us and stayed to visit a while too.

 These two kept us entertained as well...a year really makes a difference! They are becoming buddies!

I cut the borders for my daughter Wendy's Circle and Spin Plus quilt and got the first border sewn on. It's going to be large enough to come down past the box springs on her queen size bed.

 I want to finish quilting the Lotus Quilt today and maybe get the last border on Wendy's quilt. We'll see how much ambition I have!

Lotus quilt

I finished the Lotus Quilt top, loaded it on my quilting frame and got it about half quilted yesterday. Hope to finish it tomorrow. When making this quilt, you piece together large triangles, so when it is all put together, you have to trim the sides if you want them straight. So you end up with some half triangles. 

 Well, if you know me at all, you know I love to play with the leftovers! So I sewed them together. I like to make pillows out of leftovers, so that the person who ends up with the quilt has a pillowcase that matches. So that is probably what this will be.

As you cut the jewel shapes using the HexNMore Ruler, you end up with a bunch of triangles left over that seem to be about the same size...sooooo...

 I started sewing them together the other day, using them as leaders and enders when I was making the pillows, so I hope to make something out of them too. Maybe a border on the pillowcase? There are lots of them, so I might be able to make a pillow out of them too.

 Heading to my hometown today to sew with my sisters and Mom...should be lots of fun. I will take pictures!

Lots of circle pillows

When I saw the seating area in front of the big window in the new library, I knew I had to make some pillows to put along the top row, next to the windows. I started thinking about using the Circle and Spin pattern, since there are circles and stripes in the carpet and furniture. I wanted to use some of the colors already there as well. I remembered a grouping I bought while on a retreat a year or two ago. I had no special plan in mind at the time, just loved the main fabric, so I got a few others that matched. I took them to school one day last week while I was working there and decided they looked good with the color scheme. So I took five of them and made Circle and Spin rectangles...I only had 1/2 yd. of those, so had to make them a size I could cut from 1/2 yds, even though I knew I wanted to make them pillows larger.

 This circle/square fabric is the one that I fell in love with...so gorgeous! I had 2 yds. of this and 1 yd. of a stripe, so I knew I didn't have enough to make the amount of pillows it would take to cover this large area.

  I went shopping at a local store and found the fabric below, which is from the same line. I bought 3 yds. of this, as I knew that I could stretch the other fabrics if I used this on the backs of the pillows. I had plans to sew with a friend yesterday, so took it all with me to work on.

I needed a border around each Circle and Spin panel, as I wanted them to fit a standard bed pillow, so I used the stripe around three of the panels and the small dots around the other two. Then I backed all five with the small dots. I had enough of the larger dots/squares to make two pillows using it front and back.

I can't wait to take these to school when we go back after break and see how they look. I forgot to measure the space across the window, so I'm not sure I have enough to fill the space across, but it should be close. I have some scraps left, so might make one more pillow out of those scraps.

I also finished the Lotus top yesterday. I need to take some pictures, so more on that later. I got a back for it and want to try to get started on quilting it today. It is lap size so shouldn't take long.

I am going to my hometown tomorrow to sew with my mom and sisters, so might have to go somewhere later and pick out the borders for my daughter's quilt. Then I could get it finished. I love having days to just sew!.

Always sewing....

 I was really excited to start the Lotus quilt last weekend. I had gotten the pattern as soon as my local shop got it in and picked out some gorgeous black, gray, red, and gold batiks to use.

The blocks aren't that hard to make, but they are on the bias because of the cutting process, so you just have to be careful not to stretch as you sew.

It's such a fun and different design. I got the quilt sewn together today, and need to trim it up straight now. I will take some more pix when that is finished.

I finished sewing the blocks for my daughter's Circle and Spin the other day, so took advantage of the large design wall at the store Wednesday while I was there sewing with friends.

I forgot to take pictures then,  but here is one while it was hanging out on my kitchen design wall.

I finished sewing the blocks together, and now need to shop for borders. Yes, you heard it right....I need more fabric!

I am sewing with a friend today, so have my bag all ready to go! I was supposed to sew with my sisters and mom yesterday, but we had a snowstorm come through and I didn't want to chance the drive up there. We have rescheduled it for Sunday. My two sisters that really don't sew will be working on their quilts (which I have renamed the five year quilts....and I am being optimistic about that I think, since they are both on year three at this point!). Another sister is working on a Twister quilt and Mom is putting her jelly roll blocks together. Should be a great day....barring any snow, that is!

Surprise sewing...

I did some sewing for Christmas that I couldn't post earlier...it would ruin the surprise. I made this pillow out of some of the matching fabric for my daughter Wendy's quilt...hope to get the quilt top finished in the next few days. 

 I made this pillow for my daughter, Rachel...I think it will match the pillow covers I made last month. She loves pink and cow print! I made my daughter, Angie, and her husband, Colin some pillowcases that I hoped would match their new bed spread. I was in such a hurry to get them finished and mail them off that I forgot to take a picture!

 I made my 3 daughters and my mom some hottie hotpads.

 Doesn't everyone need some of these?

I made my 4 sisters and my brother a pair of 4 patch hotpads.....here is sister Deb with hers!They were all different...I was using fabrics I had already and trying to somewhat match their kitchens. Not sure I accomplished that, but they are very usable anyway.

I had two great Christmas celebrations and am heading off to sew with friends today, with a family sewing day planned for tomorrow. I am going to work on my daughter's Circle and Spin today so we will see how far I get!

Sparkly Dorothy shoes

 I had the idea to do a bit of a Wizard of Oz theme for the move to the newly renovated school building, since our theme has been "There's NO Place Like Home" so I went on a hunt for red shoes!

 I found these dyed shoes that already had some sheen, but decided I needed to sparkle them up some more! These first 2 pictures show one painted and one unpainted.

 So I got some red sparkly paint and painted them. The paint really isn't that red, but is full of red glitter.

I love how they turned out. I then got some striped socks, 2 gift wrap rolls and some batting to make legs and feet. I am going to leave the Wizard of Oz display up for a few weeks, but the legs are going to move around a bit from place to place. 

I spent all day yesterday sewing. I worked on the Lotus quilt for awhile, and started some new pillows for the media center. I need to run and get some more fabric this morning, then might sew some more until time to make dinner. My girls are coming over for Christmas dinner and gift opening. We are going to my parents tomorrow for my family Christmas. Wishing everyone a happy holiday!

Take a tour....there's no place like home....

Moving day seemed to go really well. They bused the younger kids over in the morning, and the older kids in the afternoon, and had sing-alongs and parties going on at the building for the kids that weren't at the newly renovated building. So it was a fun day for the kids. They had their own supplies in paper bags, and carried them over on the bus. So they were able to go to their own rooms and unpack their supplies themselves. Then they toured the building. 

As each group came through the media center I gave them a tour around, ending at the window seating, where I took each class's picture.  Our moving back theme is There's No Place Like Home, so I borrowed some of the Wizard of Oz fabrics from my sis in law (she has collected most of them!) and did a bit of decorating. 

Oops! Guess the witch really is dead! Some of the kids asked if they could see her head!

 I used some books I have, plus borrowed some from other libraries to make some displays.

 I love this seating area, and most groups sat down here to try it out!

 I need to get some baskets so I can unpack these boxes and put the books in them.

I am really glad that I had time to pack and unpack the library...the kids were really excited to see the huge space and it made it so much better to see it filled with books! 

After their time was done, they took their bags and boarded the bus back to our temporary building. 

I am not completely unpacked and have no computers as yet, but as long as I get a computer by then, I will be able to open on the first day back to school after the winter break. The rest will get finished as I have time.