In a Quilting Frame of Mind!

I recently added a long arm, or should I say medium arm quilter to my 'tools' collection! I have quilted for several years, but always finished everything by hand, so this is going to be a fun addition which will likely increase my fabric purchases by about a 120%! 

 

 First on the frame was some scrap fabric. Don't get me wrong, I really had no desire to actually PRACTICE before I tackled a project, but in the spirit of not completely ruining a quilt, I figured I had better run a few stitches through the machine to make sure I actually had it threaded right!

The whole quilting *thing* is catching right now... Miss Quin also has the sewing bug and is busy making a rag quilt. Exactly how can ANYONE sit on the floor and SEW? Both my daughters do this and it truly makes me cramp up just watching them!

I've warned Quin that sewing a rag quilt is the easy part of the project. The true endurance test comes when it is time to snip all the seams!

Back to my project! I did a simple free hand stipple all over my quilt...

...with flowers sewn into each of the circles.

Here's a nice shot of the colors... the majority of the material was from moda layer cakes. I think I had a new layer cake of Lollipop and then I scavenged the rest. The original pattern and inspiration for this project came from this Raw Edge Circle Quilt Tutorial!

I was very excited to do this first project and excited by how FAST it was to complete, once it was on the long arm it was maybe 3 hours!!

That's it, that's all! Want to read another blog? My daughter Alix is just starting one and would love you to drop by! nowthativecaughtmybreath

xxoo
Heather

The Fireplace Project

My office is in my basement. It's a lovely walk out basement with a very inviting view, but baby it's COLD inside!! And so, having a husband who is very handy and really NEEDS to keep busy, I developed a little project for him to do... upgrading my office fireplace so it actually generates heat.
Follow this link to see the fireplace before we started! 

This unfortunately turned into a year long project for him that I feared would never end... thank goodness that it is now done and in fact, I have enjoyed warmth all winter long!! As reward for completion, I will one day make him cheesecake brownies... they will probably take me a year to get to! haha

 

Once the huge gaping hole in the wall was gone, filled with a new and improved fireplace, (yes we did have it inspected), the rest was sort of easy... My husband gave everything a fresh coat of paint and then I started planning on the decorations!

 

I wanted to create a wall of pictures (very popular these days) and so I went on a frame buying spree and laid them all out on my floor to determine where each of them would go.

 

 I am pretty happy with the results! Not all of the frames are filled yet, but I will work on putting 'special' pictures into them as time progresses...

 

Pretty much every single frame has a favorite picture in it OR a letter from one of my children! It is pretty fun to see their thought process and handwriting, 15 years or so after they wrote these. <3

 

Now all I need is a new project for my husband! shh! Don't tell him I am plotting! lol

 xxoo
Heather

anybody home??! Our Pink Lamb Baby Shower!

I have been officially reprimanded for not posting on my blog... by several people in fact!! In an effort to placate those that care, I thought that I would post a picture or two, or three! You see, it's not that I have stopped crafting, it's more that I'd rather be creating that writing about creating!

The good news is that I have LOTS of fun projects to share with you... if you are truly wanting directions, let me know, otherwise our future together will be me providing you with some good eye candy!!

First up.... some of the decorations I did for my grand baby's baby shower. Cupcakes, made with Cricut cake!  These beautiful pink cupcakes even included an edible gem!I also did a lamb diaper cake and some pink tissue flowers,,,

Here are some of the results of my Google search that lead to the cupcake's creation:

Bakers Cakes

 Flickr

Curiouser Desserts

xxoo
Heather