Speaking of Head Start...

I have a couple of wonderful things to share regarding the bus quilts that I've been making and that so many people have left kind and supportive comments about. My daughter, Jennifer is the executive director of Explorer's Academy/Head Start of Yellowstone County in Montana.

She has received a couple of honors recently - she was chosen as one of Billings' Forty Under 40 , and also selected to be the cover story of Yellowstone Valley Woman magazine! Here's a link to that article if anyone would like to read a little more about what she's been doing locally:

 https://yellowstonevalleywoman.com/cover-story-jennifer-owen/

I'm also quite excited to share these pictures that the Head Start bus drivers took and asked Jen to send to me. My heart just melted! These little faces - ohmygoodness! There's something about a kid who's about 3 or 4 years old that gets me every time. So sweet and ADORABLE! And then to see them wrapped up in these little quilts - I just love it!

Again, thank you for all the wonderful comments and all the interest in this project. I truly appreciate it and it sure keeps me going!

Stacked Coins

A few days ago, I was reading Confessions of a Fabric Addict's blog. Sarah had a guest blogger sharing a tutorial for a stacked coin quilt that was so cute, I had to drop everything and make one. I had a small stack of scraps leftover from a project several years ago and some periwinkle Kona that I thought went well with the scraps. AND, it's purple month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Since I hadn't even started my purple dresden block, it almost felt like destiny.

I planned out the size I would need to make a little bus quilt and jumped right into getting all the pieces cut at once. I wanted a nice distribution of the fabrics so I scattered them all over the design wall and then stepped back to find myself staring at this panel of horrors:

Whoa - what a mess. I really thought the whole thing was going to hit the trash. You couldn't even begin to see the blocks in there. It looked nothing like a stacked coin quilt. Honestly, it looked nothing like a quilt!

Eventually, I blinked and decided to carry on. After all, what else was I going to do with all those little pieces? I kept telling myself maybe quilting would help.

Actually, sewing the blocks together, and adding some sashing, and quilting it, and washing it DID help. By the time it was finished, I was really starting to love it!  So thank you, Sarah for the blog post and thank you, Kristi for this really great tutorial.  :)

While we're on the topic of bus quilts, I have two fantastic things to share. I just need to get the post written up. So, please check back in a few days - I promise you'll love it!


Linking up with Scrap Happy Saturday.

Long Time Gone

Last summer (?fall? I can't remember for sure), I joined a group at a local quilt shop here in Vegas, Quiltique. The group is called The Breakfast Club and it meets once a month on a Saturday morning. We'll spend the next year working on the Jen Kingwell quilt called Long Time Gone. It was recently all over Instagram as a quilt along and it's a fantastic quilt. I'm super excited about it.

We've already had our first meeting and received our fabrics to make the first two blocks. Here are mine:

I cannot wait until next month to do more. Each month as we sign in, we receive a packet of fabric to make that month's blocks. We stash away the scraps to sprinkle throughout the quilt in future blocks. It's just such a fun project. I'm spending too much time on Instagram searching out old posts from the quilt along and studying the blocks.

I'll keep posting as we go. Any advice or hints on this quilt would be greatly appreciated! :)

Put a Little Love in Your Quilt

Welcome to my stop on the Put a Little Love in Your Quilt blog hop! This hop is the brain child of Carol who blogs at Just Let Me Quilt. There are so many great quilters participating, I'm sure you'll find a number of fantastic Valentine projects to add to your To-Do list.


My scrappy heart quilt was inspired by a free tutorial from Temecula Quilt Co that you can find here.

Obviously, I changed the layout a bit, but my heart blocks were made following the tutorial.

I used batik scraps for the hearts and white Kona cotton for the background. The binding is a purple batik. The finished quilt measures about 30" X 40" (which makes a perfect size for a little bus quilt!)

Here is a schedule of all the blogs participating, including yesterday's in case you missed any of those:

 February 5

Life in the Scrapatch

Freemotion by the River

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Vroomans Quilts

That Fabric Feeling

It’s A T-Sweet Day!

Elm Street Quilts

TODAY - February 6

Creatin' in the Sticks

Quiltscapes

Bejeweled Quilts

Creative Latitude

Fabric Scraps

Just Sew Quilter

Ms P Designs USA

Made By Marney

Beaquilter

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

February 7

Kris Loves Fabric

What About Rheema?

Bumbleberry Stitches

Selina Quilts

Quilt Quest

Hazel’s Daughter

Quilt in a not-Shell

Words & Stitches

Sunshine Reflections

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

February 8

Sew Incredibly Crazy

KaHolly

Moosestash Quilting

Kwilt Krazy

Kwilty Pleasures

Patchwork Breeze

Home Sewn By Us

Sew Many Yarns

Seams To Be Sew

Just Let Me Quilt

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Valentine's Day! 

Very Simple Quilts

Last weekend I felt the need to get a few bus quilts made in a short amount of time. I had these orange and green frog fabrics and I was trying to think of a quick-to-piece idea, when the thought of just sandwiching the fabrics with batting occurred to me. So I tried one and liked it. I then measured out the fabric I had left and discovered I had enough to make 4 more.

In no time at all, I had 5 little quilts that needed binding.

A cute little green "bubble" fabric would be perfect. Here are yards and yards of it wrapped around a little binding baby:

And here are the 5 finished quilts all ready to get boxed up and sent off to a chillier climate!

This brings my total to 25 little quilts.

RSC18 and Dresden Neighborhood

This year, I'm going to try to combine 2 quilt-alongs into one. I've done a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt for the past two years and intend on participating again this year. Persimon Dreams has a quilt along that I saw on Instagram called Dresden Neighborhood, that makes funky houses from a dresden plate quilt block.

The RSC18 color for the month of January is icy blue. I pulled as many icy blues from my stash as I could find and then added a few blues that weren't quite as pale as I would've liked, but I needed more variety.

This week, I got the "foundation" ;) of my Dresden Neighborhood in Ice Blue pretty much done.

I still need to add the center circle (I think I have some snowflakes on pale blue somewhere - just gotta find it!) and then I'll sandwich and quilt this block. I'm going to make a large quilt, but I'll be doing each block separately in a quilt-as-you-go style. There's a lot of quilting which will involve spinning these blocks around so much that it would be too unwieldy if it were full-sized.

In other news, I'll be participating in the Put a Little Love in Your Quilt blog hop Feb 5-8 at Just Let Me Quilt, with a great giveaway!



I'm linking up at ScrapHappy Saturday and posting on Instagram with #DresdenNeighborhood.

And 6 Makes Twenty

During a recent conversation with my daughter, I found out that she has 5 buses running at Head Start (I can't figure out why I didn't ask that question sooner). I had sent 12 little bus quilts to her before that. So now my goal is to send them in increments of 5, so there'll be at least one for each bus every time I send a box. I shipped 8 a couple of days ago to get my total to a nice, even 20.

She was here for Christmas and we were talking about the quilts. She told me that she opens the boxes with the bus drivers. I mentioned that the little garden applique quilt had turned out so much cuter than I expected and she paused and said "um.....was there a frog on it? I pulled one out of the box and just caught a glimpse of a frog's eye as it was snatched out of my hands with someone squealing 'I get that for my bus'!" She has no idea how good that made me feel. :)

I had finished two just before Christmas. Here are photos of the other 6 that were sent with them on Thursday:

One of the things I'm starting to struggle with is how to make non-kid fabrics look cute and/or whimsical. I have some kid prints, but not a ton. And my goal is to use up some of my stash, so I don't want to buy a lot of fabric. So now I'm perusing old magazines and Pinterest!

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap! and Show Off Saturday  

Moda Countdown to Christmas

So far, I have 12 of the Moda Countdown to Christmas blocks finished. I love these blocks so much, that I've been neglecting my Christmas to-do list so I could work on them.

I'm going to try and get these caught up before Christmas. After the holidays, I always seem to lose my enthusiasm for anything Christmas-y and I'm ready to get it all put away so I can move on to spring. But I really want to have this finished now so it'll be ready to put out the day after Thanksgiving!

Best Indoor Snowballs

A few years ago, our Christmas decor was primarily snowmen. I had lots of ornaments and stuffed snowmen and figurines and wall hangings and table runners - everything "snowman". I also had fake snow to sprinkle around and the glittery felt snow table covers. I just needed some snowballs.

So digging around through my crafting/sewing stuff, I found an old piece of that white polyester quilt batting (from the days before I even knew there were different kinds of batting!). I cut a big chunk off and tried to wad it up into a ball. That didn't work at all!

But then I tried cutting it into strips and rolling the strips into a ball.  Perfect!

To make a bucket of snowballs, get a crib or twin size polyester batting from the fabric/craft store. Cut strips about an inch and a half wide by 2 or 2-1/2 feet long. (Wider strips do not work better.)  Start rolling from one end in all directions around the ball. When you get to the end, kind of stretch the batting out - without tearing it - and smooth it onto the ball.

This is one of those things that takes longer to explain than to do. It's super fast and easy. And it makes snowballs that could hit just about anything without knocking it over. Great for an indoor snowball fight!

Adding 2

I got these little bus quilts (mostly) done on Tuesday - I just had a little bit of binding that needed to be finished Wednesday. This first one is made up of a few blocks that once again I quit part way through an event. The plan was to make 20 blocks - I made 12. Nine of them found their way into this little 36" X 36" quilt:

Even though I like the blocks, I don't think they're very kid-like. Not really whimsical or bright and fun. So I added this tossed alphabet backing to try and "kid it up". Hmm...I think I like the back better than the front!

The second one I made is mostly from leftover scraps of a bundle. I added a Kona solid and came up with this simple 40" X 40" quilt:

Now I need to get back to making those darling Countdown to Christmas blocks.


Jeez, I sure hope some of those Cinderella mice are taking care of all the Christmas things that I need to be getting done!   :)


Linking up with OhScrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Gift Tags

I printed out the sweetest gift tags a couple days ago and sat down last night and got them all cut out. Then I punched holes in them and tied a little piece of baker’s twine to them.

I usually run out of tags before my gifts are wrapped and then I end up cutting sad little pieces of scrap wrapping paper into squares and writing on those. But not this year! Hehehe!!

Here’s a link to the blog where I got them - they’re free, although you may have sign up for emails or register to get them.

The link will take you to the home page. From there, click on “printables”.

A Few More Christmas Blocks

I can't even explain how cute these little Moda Bake Shop blocks are! Their petite 6" finished size is just adorable. I have to tell you - if you can squeeze out any extra time this month, you should be making these. I'm just using scraps of Christmas reds and greens and a variety of white-on-white scraps.

Here's a photo of mine so far:

I'm already thinking and planning some different setting options. But, I won't make any decisions until I see what Moda comes up with (which is bound to be better than what I could dream up! :)

Here's a link to the first day/first block.

I've got a couple more of those bus quilts almost ready to quilt up, so I'm going to have to pull myself away from these blocks.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Countdown to Christmas blocks

I tried really hard (to no avail) to resist the Moda Bake Shop's Countdown to Christmas blocks. They are sharing a 6" block every day in December until Christmas. The blocks are so darn cute. And only 6" finished - how much time could they take?!?!!  Ha! Well, I'm in it now so I'll see how far I can go. Here are the first two I made:

I took these pictures in the evening - the whites are actually true white.

I believe they're going to offer some layout options at the end of the series. I hope to be caught up by then - what else do I have to do all month?  ;)

Christmas Pillow Cases

Wow - one of the unexpected benefits of this 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is all the stuff I'm getting done!

Yesterday, I made these 3 pillow cases - one for each of our grandchildren. We have two granddaughters (4 and 7) that live here in Vegas and one grandson (4) who lives in Montana. He and his mom will be here for Christmas, so we're having a big sleepover with everyone on Christmas Eve! I can't wait!

(I've also ordered new jammies for the little kiddos, but they're not here yet.)

These kids are all so much fun! It's going to be a great Christmas.

RSC2016 Update

Last year was my first year participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I got a late start and spent most of the year trying to catch up. I chose a scrappy bow tie quilt made up of 2" finished blocks. Nearly 800 of them!

I was so excited to get it all put together and add an appliqued floral border. I wanted to do the applique before I put the borders on so I wouldn't have to do so much twisting and turning of the large quilt. (This quilt top was surprisingly heavy - I assume it's because the extra small blocks have a lot of seam allowances on the back side. In fact, they almost cover the backs of the blocks, so it's like the quilt has twice the normal amount of fabric.)

Anyway, I made the borders but when I laid them out to pin to the quilt, the vines didn't meet at the corners. I felt pretty dumb for not having the foresight to see that was going to happen. And at that point, the quilt immediately found a new home crumpled up in the closet!

I posted a picture on Instagram with just one border and mentioned how I messed up and had kind of given up on it. Then I received some kind and encouraging words from @redbirdquiltco.

I did eventually get it back out and put together as best I could. I made four more flowers and tried to make the vines "grow" out of the corners.

It's a bright and cheerful quilt - it'll never be a show quilt. But, it never would have anyway...even if the borders had been perfect.

And now I'm a big fan of the saying "finished is better than perfect"!

An Elegant Pasta Dish

I have a wonderful pasta recipe to share. It's a fantastic dish and a nice change from some of the typical holiday meals.

Capellini with Salmon and Lemon-Dill-Vodka Sauce

1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup vodka
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups flaked broiled salmon
10 ounces capellini (angel hair pasta)

Cook onion in oil in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned - about 6 minutes. Add broth, cream, vodka and salt; boil over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is reduced to 2 cups - approximately 40-50 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pepper.  Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce, then add the salmon to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until salmon is just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

While salmon is heating, cook pasta in a 6-qt pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in colander. Return pasta to pot and toss with reserved sauce and cooking water. Serve pasta immediately with fish sauce spooned over the top.

yield: 4 servings

Pot Holder Gifts

I like to make little gifts that my grandchildren can give their teachers during the holidays. This year they will need 4 gifts. So I decided to make pot holders. That seems like something everyone could use.

I sure hope I'm not the only one who goes through pot holders like Kleenex! Mine get dipped, sauced, stickied, melted, fried, boiled and baked. Sometimes, a little over-baked:

*thanksgiving 2017

Thank goodness my husband was wandering around the kitchen looking for something to snack on. He opened the oven to see how the turkey was doing and pulled out the pot holder pictured above, saying, "this looks done!".


So, I'm going to pretend this happens all the time to everyone else and make holiday pot holders. I started out with the set shown below - kind of baking themed. I made 2 of these sets. (They're the same - one is just flipped so you can see the fabric on the back.)

Then I made this set - a little more general holiday. I really, really like these pot holders. So I pulled out the fabric and looked for another style of ornament to make a couple more.

I made two more pot holders and one more towel, to finish up with these 2 sets:

Now I probably need to make a few more for myself!

Another Five On The Way

I finished 3 more little "bus quilts" and shipped them, along with the two batik quilts from a couple days ago, up to Montana.

There was this happy quilt made mostly from some old Joel Dewberry scraps:

This next one is one that makes me happy because I started with 4 appliqued blocks (from a quilt along that I fell behind on and, well...you know ;)

I simply added some square blocks from the scrap bin and had a little quilt in no time.

I've had this Bonnie Hunter Bricks and Stones quilt pinned forever. It was super fast to put together. Seriously. Fast.

This shipment brings my total number of HeadStart kiddie quilts to 12.


I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation.

Skinny Pillows as Decor

....or a gift for someone - a teacher or your hair stylist (like I'm doing!)

Quick tutorial:

Here's how make a stunning little pillow from 2 contrasting appliqued blocks. And if you keep the pillows very thin, they can be used as decorations - tucked away on a bookcase, nestled in among some dishes, even slipped in between the branches of your tree!

Here's how I do it:

Start with a perfectly symmetrical template (in this case a snowflake). Before doing anything with fabric, cut the snowflake template in half and separate the 2 halves to add 1/2" for a seam allowance. Tape the template back together to cut out shapes.

Applique 2 snowflake blocks with contrasting colors as shown below:

Cut each block in half, exactly down the middle (where you added the additional 1/2").

Switch half of the blocks so each block has one side of each background color, as shown below:

Matching snowflake edges in the center, stitch the pieces together to make 2 pillow fronts. Cut 2 squares of coordinating fabric to make the backs of the pillows. With right sides together, stitch around the blocks, leaving a pretty good sized opening to turn the pillow and to stuff the insert into it.

Make a pillow insert about 1" bigger than the applique block. You could use muslin or any inexpensive white fabric. I save the filling from old pillows to make my own pillow forms. Fill the pillow form very lightly and stitch it closed.

You don't need a lot of filling - just enough to stabilize the pillow case so it can stand up. Here you can see how thin my form is (haha! I wish that were true in every way!!) :

Stuff the form into the pillow case and hand-stitch the opening closed. Now you have a little Christmas decoration that can be tucked in just about anywhere you need some additional holiday spirit!

This would work really well with a simple Christmas tree shape, a gingerbread man, a candle - really anything as long as it's truly symmetrical.

Tree Decorating Shortcut

I have a super quick way to make your Christmas tree look like you have a lot of decorations on it even when you don't. Some years, I spend hours filling the tree with ornaments. Two years ago, it seemed like the time got away from me and I just needed to get some things put up in a hurry. That's how I discovered the magic of metallic curling ribbon!

This tree only has lights, some red ribbon and one or two ornaments. But the curling ribbon draped all over it brings it to life! I just cut lots of random lengths, curl it with my scissors and drape it everywhere!


  **Coming up: my favorite holiday tip on how to make the greatest indoor snowballs ever!




  muppin.com