Costume

And this is what I have been doing instead of quilting lately. 
I did start on my nephew's quilt but don't have a picture yet.



I got the basic in formation on how to make this costume from the following blog:
http://sewlikemymom.com/strawberry-shortcake/

I didn't do the applique.  I just didn't have time.  I made a stensil out of freezer paper and painted the strawberry design on. 

FINISHED

I actually finished it! 

Sorry about my little lady's hair.  She just had got up.  I told her a soon as she was dressed she could have a surprise.  I finished it last night after she went to bed.

This was supposed to publish yesterday.  I got in a hurry and didn't make sure it did before signing off.

Too Precious To Start

Some thing in life are just too important to rush.  Since I finished my daughter's quilt I thought I would get out the quilt top my mom recently gave me to see how big it is.  It was a top my Mom Mom pieced.
As I spread it out over my bed the familiar but long lost smell of my Mom Mom's house greeted me.  Oh the memories!  I just wanted to wrap up in it and feel her close to me again.  I always held her in such wonder.  She passes when I was 17.  Oh how I loved her.  Being in her house and seeing all the beautiful things she made was more awe inspiring than any trip to a museum ever!
In that moment I realized that even though I would love to finish the quilt, I am not ready yet.  You see, I am new to quilting and am not sure I could do it justice yet.  Better to practice and grow in my ability before working on such a special project.  So for now I will fold it back up and store it lovingly.

Confessions of Messiness

First confession...The room I intend to be my sewing room is horribly messy.  I consider it still in the construction phase.

Second confession...I am horrible about finishing projects.

So I ordered a Grace Z44 handquilting fram back in August.  I tried to save money by ordering it without a finish.  I thought it would not be any big deal to just spray a finish on it and put it together.  WRONG!  First of all, I didn't sray a finish on it.  I decided to get creative and stain it blue.  That was a disaster.  I couldn't get the stain to go on even.  I had drips all over.  With two kids, I just didn't have much time to spend on it so I would grab five minutes to sand it, then a couple of days later I would come back for ten minutes to stain.  Then I had to do the same to stain the backsides.  Anyway, what a mess. 

So I finaly get it home to put it together only to find out that since I ordered casters to go on the bottom, I had to replace two of the stained peices with new unfinished peices.  At this point I so did not care that they will not match the rest of the frame.  It has been over a month and I still do not have this thing together.  The instructions are fine, I just have no time to go to the basement to finish putting it together. 

Eventually I will get it together and I will make beautiful quilts on my ugly frame!  :-)

Mismatched frame
Mess of a sewing room

Distractions

Haven't had a chance to do much quilting lately.  I am working on some Strawberry Shortcake costumes for my daughter and her best friend.  I will post pictures later. 

Got some bad news about my Granny Martha.  Not in the mood to do much.

Inspiration

I am still working on my daughter's quilt.  I hope to finish it soon.  I am trying to decide on how to label it.  Since it is flannel, I am not sure if I should use flannel or muslin.  Any ideas?

I visited my Granny this weekend.  Here are some of the quilts she had displayed.  

Quilt Top Peeps

Well I didn't have much time to quilt today, but look at the beautiful quilts my aunt has on her guest beds! 

Worklist

As of today I have the following quilts either in the plans or works:
Receiving blanket quilt for my niece (Not Started)
Receiving blanket quilt for my nephew (Need to quilt)
Receiving blanket quilt for my son (Not Started)
Top pieced by Mom Mom (Need to quilt)
Top pieced by Mammaw Meade (Need to quilt)
Moda Little Apples brick style (Work in Progress)
Yellow/Black jelly roll lap quilt (Work in Progress)
English Paper pieced hex quilt based on an adorable little deer print (Not Started)
Something out of my husband’s old work shirts (Not Started)
Sunbonnet Sue (Work in Progress)
Moda Modern Vintage lap quilt (Not Started)
Repair to one of Mom Mom’s quilts (Not Started, but badly needed)
With a full time job and two small kids the list just gets longer and longer.  I am only able to squeeze in about 30 minutes a day on my hobby.  I am addicted to fabric though.  I find something I love every time I go to a fabric store.  I really try to limit my trips!  With each new fabric, I find new inspiration for another quilt. 
I think I will have to make the decision soon as to which ones I will have machine quilted.  I wanted to do mainly hand quilting, but it takes so long.  I am soon going to have more tops than I could hand quilt in a decade.

Current Project

Hand stiching the binding

Re-Introductory Post

It has been a while since I have posted.  Life happened and very little quilting.  I am trying to carve out some time to get back to something I really enjoy.  Since it has been so long I wanted to repost my Introduction Post. 

I am a happily married, mother of two beautiful young children, and a quilting newbie.  My family has a long history of quilters.  Of the quilters in my family that I got to know and love, there was my paternal grandmother, Gladiola Meade, her daughter, Sandy Thomas, and most notably, my double maternal great grandmother, Lillian Kelly Yount, or Mom Mom as I called her.

I have fond memories of each of these women, all for different reasons.  Aunt Sandy was very industrious.  She made a living sewing for others.  When my sister and I were taking violin lessons, she made a killing making the little neck pillows and an elastic band that make it more comfortable for kids to play. 

Mammaw (Gladiola) was what I consider a mountain woman.  She knew everything there is to know about herbs, gardening, cooking, and could make pretty quilts out of all sorts of scraps.  She also taught me to crochet. 

Mom Mom was a very creative person.  She designed and helped build the house she and my Great Grandfather lived in until they died, including the kitchen cabinets. She made most of the furniture in the house, and even made the quilts to cover the beds she created with her own hands.  She farmed, went to church, crafted, and loved her family.  Is it any wonder these women are a great inspiration to me?

I have three or four of the quilts Mom Mom made that were handed down to me, each a special treasure.  As I started having kids, I started thinking about who would make a special quilt for them or their cousins now that all these wonderful quilters have passed.  So here I am.  I have completed two baby quilts for my nephews, one hand quilted and the other machine (I ran out of time).  I can’t say they would win any awards, but it is a start.  I am currently working on a quilt made out of my daughter’s receiving blankets.  I should be done soon.  I have only been working on it off and on for three years.  J  (Update- I finished this quilt.  You can read about it here.)

I made the jump and bought a Grace Z44 hand quilting frame.  Now, I just have to put it together!  Once my mom found this out, she gave me a quilt top my Mom Mom pieced but never had quilted and my grandmother offered some more she has stored.  Such a blessing!

I am starting this blog basically to share my journey.  I hope to catalog my quilts as I make them so that I will be able to see my progress.  I hope that along the way others will enjoy the posts and be moved to post inspiration and tips along the way.  Lord knows I need all the tips I can get!

I hope to post pictures of some of the quilts made by these lovely ladies very soon.

Please leave a comment describing the person that has been the biggest inspiration to you as a quilter.