Life is good!

Like scraps?  Want some more??  See here! Candy Heart II is finished!  It's a Jelly Roll pattern from Pam Lintott's book; I'm pretty sure it's from Jelly Roll Quilts.  It's a quick one, and the second one I've made from this pattern.  The hardest part of this quilt is finding a jelly roll with exactly the right distribution of colors.      I've finished my quilt-picture hanger, too.  We've got two of these old out-buildings, and it seemed like a good spot to put up something to get some nice pictures taken, outdoors with decent light.  I think I will probably see about taking some of those old remaining shingles down... The back is pieced with leftover pink batiks and marbles.  I've tended to use 108 inch wide fabric for backing, since it's easy, but piecing the backing is a good way to eat up that stash (and therefore justify buying more fabric!!). This one is going to go to Isadora's teacher as thanks for all he...

I've had several people tell me recently that my daughter looks just like me.  Makes me smile every time, even if I see her dad clearly when I see her face!  She is definitely developing her own sense of style, and I love this dress on her. It's based on McCall's 6459.  I mostly followed the pattern, just mixing up fabrics a bit more and adding in additional trim.  The pattern is designed as a halter, but all that fabric made it really heavy, and therefore quite uncomfortable.  So I sewed the straps down in the back, in a criss-cross pattern.  She LOVES the way it both looks and feels now. I love that it's a fun, pretty dress with plenty of coverage, while also being comfortable.  It was a definite stash buster, using up five different fabrics.  She loves it!

This is my scrap bin: It's a bit ridiculous, especially since I've never really ventured into genuine scrap quilts.  (The main reason I had the courage to start quilting at all was that I discovered precuts, where all of the fabrics were designed to go together!!)   I'd like to, but at this point the sheer volume of the scraps is overwhelming me a bit.  And since I know some people are so much better and happier with scraps, and this would make them happy, and not give them palpitations like it does to me, I'm going to give some away. So here's the deal.  Comment here, and I'll pick at least one person as winner.  I will stuff a large priority mailbox as full as I possibly can and send it off to a good home.  No need to be a follower, since my only goal in blogging is to try and keep myself a bit accountable and have a little fun.  Although hey, if you want to join my mother and the world's best babysitter as followers, I will happily give ...

It seemed for a while around here that Spring had actually sprung.  The kids got to spend some time in the tractor with Grandpa, and feeding some very curious baby Holsteins.  It took a bit of patience, but their inherent curiosity won out, and they were eating the grass out of her hands. The cousins were also out on the farm, and practicing the art of fence climbing.  When I first drove Colin down to meet up with Grandpa on the tractor, he said "But Grandpa is on the other side of the fence!! How am I supposed to get on the tractor?"  I told him if he couldn't figure that out, he wasn't going to get to ride.  He figured it out pretty quickly.  :) We let them explore for a bit around the farm, too.  I love their sense of wonder and adventure! My hubby sent me some BEAUTIFUL flowers for Mother's Day, and a card that makes me get weepy every time I read it.  Every time! My son has not quite yet mastered the art of the se...

EQ7 is now available for the Mac.  Do I get it?  Do I not?  Decisions, decisions.  I'd have to hold off on buying fabric to fit it into the budget, but that's probably a good thing...

Gunner, sitting up on the Big Boy seat with Grandpa for corn planting.  Nothing better than a tractor ride on a beautiful Spring Day! I was a little concerned that Isadora would accidentally start driving away...  Is the farmer life for me? I'm not sure, those things are a lot bigger than I am... After a few minutes, the Holsteins' natural curiosity took over, and they were eating grass out of her hand.  Gunner preferred to just watch.  If I can't raise my kids on a farm, at least they get tastes of it.  Life is pretty darned good. 

I got another Avalon BOM cut out last night.  By the time I had cut the background for both square out, I had just the tiniest sliver of fabric left!  No time to get them sewn, but they are all marked and ready to go, hopefully for tonight. I did do a lot of garment sewing.  Or at least some. :)  I finished a maxi-dress for Isadora.  Talk about a stash buster!  It used five different coordinating quilt fabrics, plus several yards of two different trims.  She's not thrilled with it, unfortunately.  It's more a fit thing.  It's a halter style, and there's just so much fabric in it that it pulls uncomfortably at her neck.  So I'm going to look at either putting elastic in the waistband to help hold it up, or changing the straps to go over the shoulders.  I think once it's more comfortable she'll be quite happy with it.  I also worked on a new top for me.  I was hoping to have it done, but I seriously messed up the front p...