Boy, Oh Boy, I am blogging again!

I know it has been awhile but a lot has been going on! 
The biggest thing is - I AM PREGNANT and IT'S A BOY!!!


I am around 19 weeks pregnant and doing great. We decided to wait and tell everybody after we found out the gender (immediate family knew mths ago). Since I am of "mature maternal age", in my late 30's, I have been considered a high risk pregnancy and we wanted to wait until all my screening work was done to make the official announcement. Everything has been great so far and the little one is looking healthy. I am due sometime around late March/early April and we couldn't be more excited.



We already have a name - Kellen Grey Woolf. The name Kellen came from a dear family friend who had a son named Kellen that past away when he was young. We are very happy that she has given us the permission to use this beautiful name. I can't wait until we get to meet him.


Of course now that I know what I am having the quilt ideas have been swirling around. I know I am going to do something with blues and greens.  And probably have some sort of a underwater theme.


But first I have to get through Christmas!


Even though I have been pregnant I have still been sewing - just not much. I did have the lovely morning, noon and night sickness and lot's of fatigue. 
I did get one baby quilt made. I did a gender neutral (since I didn't know he would be a boy) quilt using the Castle Peeps line. Its quilted and the binding is ready to sew on!





The pattern is from this wonderful tutorial by Jeni at In Color Order. I am so excited that Jeni is going to be apart of my online quilting bee next year. Check out her blog. She makes some beautiful things.


And on my design wall now is the start of a Christmas present for a member of my family!



Everybody keeps asking me to post photos of myself and my baby bump. Maybe I will do that soon!
Its good to be back blogging!


Happy Sewing
Kim

Fabric, Fabric & More Fabric!

I have spent most of this week playing around with my new sewing machine. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!! I can't wait to start quilting my mermaid quilt next week.

I did finish the binding on my apple runner for our kitchen counter.

I love how it brightens up the kitchen.

It has been a happy mail week! I used some of the money I got from my birthday to by more fabric.

Lizzy House Castle Peeps - LOVE, Amy Butler and AMH Little Folks Voile

More AMH Little Folks Voile - Can't wait to start on this quilt!

Tufted Tweets by Laurie Wisbrun. I have a special plan for this fabric!

Happy Sewing!

K

My New Toy

I did it! I traded in my Janome 6600 (which I loved dearly) for the new Janome Horizon 7700 and I am in love again! This new machine has all the wonderful qualities that my 6600 had and more. The best feature is the added throat space. It has 11" from needle to base and 4.7 " in height. They added a free arm and a automated plate converter (no more fabric getting stuck in the hole while doing points!).  Also, this machine comes with 3 different free motion quilting feet. 
So far I have only done some piecing work with the 1/4" foot and it is working great. I am hoping to start quilting my mermaid quilt this week. It is going to be a dream on this machine!

Oh the beautiful things we will make together!!

Happy Sewing

K

Birthdays, Mermaids & Apples

My Birthday was last weekend. Another year older and a year closer to one of the "big one" birthdays (I am not going to tell you which one). I had a great weekend just hanging out with my husband and family. For my birthday, my husband got me a cake. Just to let you know something about me - I LOVE BIRTHDAY CAKE!! I could eat it every day if I allowed myself too. This year my hubby made it extra special by adding crayon candles! 


And yes, the cake tasted as good as it looked!!!


I have been busy working on the Mermaid quilt and finally got the top done this week (this is why there has been no blogging!) I am so excited about this quilt. As you know, I love this fabric and I am so excited about how colorful it has turned out.

Really happy about the pieced border I decided to add. It give the quilt a little more color, and you know I like a lot of color in my quilts!


I decided to take a quick break on the Mermaid quilt and start a runner for my kitchen counter/bar. It will help brighten up the kitchen and has inspired me to make some new place mats too. Hopefully I can find some more of the apple fabrics.



Last week I went and looked at the new Janome Horizon sewing machine. Of course, I fell in love with it but can't decide if I want to trade in my Janome 6600 for it. I love my 6600 and feel like I will be abandoning it if I trade it in! It is nuts how we become so attached to our machine!! I am going tomorrow to look at the Horizon again. You never know - I just might have a new machine next week!


Happy Sewing
K

Mermaids

I started working on my Mermaid quilt which involves my most favorite fabric in the world!!!
Thanks to all the lovely girls in my Sew New to Me Quilting Bee for making these beautiful blocks. This quilt is going to be wonderful.  Now I need to decide if I want to add a pieced border around the top using the various fabric from this line????? Decision, decisions..... Oh, and what to do for the back?????



I also decided to treat myself to an early birthday present. I just could not resist these lovely pieces from the Heather Ross Far, Far, Away 2 collection. I love the way the linen/cotton feels. I might just have to order some more!





Happy Sewing!
K

Ready for Football Season!

The orange and white quilt is finished and ready for Tennessee Football season!
And since I took the process pledge, here is how it all happened....


I have been wanting to make an Orange & White quilt since I started quilting. Both me and my husband are from East Tennessee so we were raised on Tennessee Football. My husband also graduated from UT so he is more of a football fanatic than I am!

I started collecting different Orange & White fabrics and they sat around for a while. I was waiting for just the right pattern to come along. Then I ran across a great tutorial from Oh, Fransson! called a Crazy Nine Patch Lattice Quilt and I knew it would be perfect. I wanted the quilt to be bigger so I added more rows! I started making my blocks which were really easy.

Once the blocks were made I had to decided on which solid color to use. You are probably wondering why I didn't use White?? I have 2 Black & White dogs and a Dark Gray cat who love my quilts so White is not an option for me to use (unless I want to wash them all the time!). I decided on going with a Khaki color to help tone down all the Orange. I went with Kona in Stone. I love this color - it goes great with everything.

Then I started piecing the top. 

Of course that is when we moved so everything had to be boxed up! After the move I finished the top which was also very easy to put together and started designing the back. 

I wanted the back to be very simple so I used the Kona Stone and did a Orange & White "Wonky Stacked Coin" on the back. 

I also like very simple quilting so I decided to do random diagonal across the quilt. For the binding I just pieced together the left overs of the Orange & White fabric. I finished hand stitching the binding while I was home in TN. Very fitting! This has now become my favorite quilt.

Now on to my next project!
K

20 years

This weekend I attended my 20th class reunion in Clinton, Tennessee. I was a graduate of the Clinton High School class of 1990. It was great to see friends that I haven't seen since our 10 year reunion. The most fun was spending the weekend with my best friend since Kindergarten, Greta. We did a lot of girly stuff the day of the reunion - shopping and having our makeup done! I think we look great for being out of High School for 20 years!

Bee Blocks & New Friends

I got a few things accomplished last week! I finished all of my Bee Blocks for the 3x6 Quilting Bee and the June block for Katie from my Sew New to Me Quilting Bee. I am very happy with the way they all turned out.


Black, Red & White Block for Nanotchka



Gray, Green & Off White Block for Alexiaabegg



Blue, Breen & Yellow Block for Tigglegiggles



Orange, White & Aqua Block for Epban



Brown, Green & Pink Block for Lizzi Whizz



Orange, Gray & White Block for Mollie



Red, White & Aqua Block for Chaletgirl13



SNTMVQB June Block for Katie
I love that we got to use the "Liberty Of London" car fabric. This will be an adorable quilt for her nephew!


The Orange, White & Khaki quilt has been quilted and the binding was attached today. I will be taking this quilt with me to TN next week. Can't wait to post photos!


Last night I attended my first meeting of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild. It was so nice to finally meet some of the ladies that I have become friends with online. I carpooled with Melanie - Texas Freckles. I also got to meet Lisa - Vintage Modern Quilts and Michelle - Tapestry Tree. It was nice to see all the beautiful projects that the members are working on. I will really enjoy being a part of this wonderful group of ladies!
K

Sewing again!!!

Everything is unpacked, set up and I am sewing again! It feels soooo good!
Lot's of projects have piled up since the move. I have started working on my 
- Orange, White & Khaki quilt
- 3x6 Quilting Bee blocks
- Katie's June SNTMVQB Block
- 3 different skirts ( it is hot here in Texas and I need some skirts to wear!)



I finished my Paint Box quilt before we moved and finally took photos of it last week.



I love how it turned out. I did really simple straight line quilting on it. Just enough to highlight each of the blocks.



I love my square Color Wheel back!



This is my favorite block. I love how the Owl is looking out the window. I liked the gray print fabric so much that I used it for the binding. I like how it picks up all the colors in the quilt. The "little bug" that made it into the shot likes it too.


I only have 3 blocks left to receive from my SNTMVQB group. As soon as I get all of them I will take photos. The ones I have received so far are Beautiful!!!


Happy Wednesday!
K

Finally in Texas

We are finally in Texas! It was a long trip down but we made it. It was nice to stop in TN to visit the parents and take a break for a few days. All of our stuff made it down without any problems. Now we just get to unpack. I was really hoping that the unpacking elves would show up one night and just unpack everything and put it in its place! Oh well, that must only happen in movies and books. I will post photos soon of the new place. Now I need to get back to unpacking my sewing room! I am going through withdrawal!!!


Oh! I can't wait to show you the lovely blocks that I am receiving from my SNTM VQB girls. My quilt is going to be beautiful!!

Packing

They are packing my house as I write this post.
I am very excited about our move but I hate seeing all of my beautiful fabric packed up in a box.

But, it will be like Christmas when I get to TX and open it up.
I look forward to setting up my new sewing room!

Tennessee & Kaffe Fassett

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately but a lot has been going on. I am preparing for our big move next week. YHEA!!! 


I also went home to Tennessee to visit my parents. While I was home our LQS was having a Kaffe Fassett event. He was in town with Liz Prior Lucy to sign and talk about their new book "Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts". I was lucky enough (because of a cancellation) to attend the lecture and book signing. His "Glorious Patchwork" book was one of the first quilting books I read and he is one of my quilting inspirations. He talked a lot about his use of color and pattens and how you shouldn't pay attention to the "color wheel" instead just listen to your emotions when it comes to laying out your colors. I really learned a lot! I wish I would have been able to attend his design class the next day but of course it was filled up!! Maybe next time.

The Floral Snowballs will be my first project from this book. It will be a gift for a very special person.

Since I have been packing, I have not done a lot of sewing on big projects but I did manage to do a few small things. 

I made these lovely pleated zipper pouches for some of my friends. I also made them for Mother's Day gifts (forgot to take a photo). The pattern/tutorial is from Skip To My Lue. It is really easy to follow and quick to make!

This is the first pillow I have made using Hexagons. I love how it turned out and it is going to a great home!

I also made this fabric flower for myself to wear on my new green cardigan! You can find the tutorial on Cluck. Cluck. Sew. What a great way to use your binding strips!

Happy Sewing Everybody!

K

Good News and Quilting Bee Blocks

We Have Sold Our House!!! Finally!!!! Fort Worth, TX here we come!
Our move date is May 16th and now we have to find a place in Fort Worth. That is my husbands assignment for this weekend. 
Of course we are moving during my Sew New To Me Quilting Bee month, but no worry I am currently cutting up fabric and getting it ready to mail. Here is a little sneak peek!


Yes! I am cutting in to my favorite HR fabric !



And here is a peek of an example block.


I also realized that I have never posted the other wonderful blocks I have made for the lovely women in our group. Here is a little mosaic - 

1. SNTM VQB Sneak Peek May, 2. SNTM VQB April Block for Jessica, 3. SNTM VQB March Block for Corey, 4. Sew New to Me VQB - for Faith, 5. Sew New To Me VQB January Block for Cristin, 6. Sew New To Me VQB January Block for Cristin, 7. Sew New To Me Virtual Quilting Bee November Block, 8. Sew New To Me Virtual Quilting Bee November Block, 9. Sew new to me quilting bee - Blocks for Heather 1, 10. Sew new to me quilting bee - Blocks for Heather 2


Drop by our Sew New to Me VQB flicker group anytime to see some more beautiful blocks and quilts!


I also finished the Paintbox quilt top & back. It has been quilted and the binding has been sewed on since the photos were taken. 




I decided to do a big square color wheel on the back.


I am now hand stitching the binding. I am hoping to get this finished before the big move!!
K