Total Self Indulgent Post

Finn 1 and Maddy 8

For a few days this week I was hanging out with these two sweethearts. My daughter was not feeling well so I came over to give her a hand. Maddy had field hockey camp and Finn is a 15 month old who has no intention of sitting still! A handful when you don't feel good.

Maddy loves arts and crafts so mom mom delivered! She has been wanting to do the melted crayons that have been on Pinterest forever. While ours did not turn out exactly like the ones on Pinterest, she loved doing it and we had a good time.

This was our Van Gogh day. She used oil pastels in school and wanted to use them on our project. She was the teacher and I was the student......I loved how these turned out and we plan on doing it again some day. Kids have a great eye for colors . We also cut out parts for a quilt that I will show you later.

Finn was happy trying on his sister's flip flops and testing all the new words he is saying. He is such a good boy.

Jaxon almost 11 months old

Cameron almost 11 months old

I did get to see the boys last week and they are growing so fast! Cam is about ready to walk with Jax not too far behind. They are such good natured boys. Cam looks just like his daddy as the same age.

Not a lot of sewing going on but these colors make me happy!

I was hoping to have this ready to show by the weekend. It's going to be one of the auction quilts for our quilts show in May of 2017. Maybe it will be done next week!
Happy Independence Day!

Kelly

Opinions Wanted!

Sorry no pictures today.......I am looking for opinions on irons. As the workshop person in my guild we are looking to replace ours. Some of the requirements are......

Can be put away while still hot (the most important in my opinion!) Does anyone have any experience with those covers you can use to put them away? Hard or soft cover?

Stays on for a decent amount of time

Does not need to be charged

Last longer than a couple of years

Reasonably priced

This will be a major purchase so anything you can contribute good or bad will be appreciated!

Kelly

Spools

This block  (4" x 5 1/2") was fun to make and used up some of my scraps. I am making a quilt for my guild's auction next spring. Finished size will be 16" x 24". I am hoping to inspire other members to get some made over the summer.

There will be nine blocks altogether and these are the fabrics I am using.

My basket block is complete but it needs to marinate a bit before I quilt it. I am thinking of a border or maybe not. I love those flying geese in the fabric and was thinking of those in the border......we will see.

Kelly

Random Monday

Are you making a heart? It's for the victims and their families in Orlando. I made one block that will be put into a quilt. For more information  you can go to the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild

For me summer means lots of reading on the porch. Even when the air conditioning is on we sit outside every night, thank goodness for screens! I came across this book on Good Reads and can't wait to start it. First I need to finish up my book club book called The Girl Who Wrote In Silk

This is my awesome kitchen tip. To shred chicken quickly, after it is cooked put it in the bowl of a KitchenAid stand mixer. Put in the paddle, turn it on slow so you can control how chunky you want it and in about 30 SECONDS you have shredded chicken. No mess!
I told you this was all random......

Kelly

Projects

This was one of the 2 projects I worked on at our retreat. I love it and can't wait to finish it. Pattern is by Diary of a Quilter and the fabrics are by Alison Glass. I chose a non white background and went with a Bella called Mist. It's a bit grayish green and is hard to see in this picture.

I got all my strips cut, sewn and cut. they are ready to be put together.

The fun part will be matching them up into blocks......

that will look like this! I really felt like this needed a design wall so now the fun can begin!

I cannot remember if I showed this baby quilt or not. It is for my niece who is having a baby boy in early July. I enjoyed searching through my stash of baby/little boy/blue fabrics to come up with this quilt. It's little bit I-Spy!

Last night was book club night and we read the book, The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz (I think) and had a fabulous discussion. I highly recommend it and thank you Judie for recommending it to me! Everyone stayed until 11:00, there was much to talk about!

Kelly

Ahhhhhh

Our lovely view every morning of Whitney Lake.

After 3 days of hard sewing,

we made a good creative mess!

Jane's layout is yet to be decided.

Cheryl's quilts from her Mosaic Pet Retreat. This is her beloved dog Bailey.

This was all that was left of the coconut cake this morning. I am pretty sure it was gone before we left today.

We even googled the translation of Japanese directions for this adorable pouch. Anyone have any hints on how to do this?
Overall we had such a good time and the weather was beautiful, cool and sunny. Thanks again Cheryl for our good time in the Poconos!
I promise to show you my projects when I catch my breath.....

Kelly

Getaway Prep

My sewing room is a disaster! I pulled out all kinds of things to get some projects together for a getaway next week. I always feel like I don't have enough projects and I never finish everything I bring with me. There are those times that you don't feel like working on a specific thing you brought, so I need variety.

I like to test things out as well to make sure I can make the best use of my time. The Quick Curve Ruler is a great tool to bring along.

My very fancy sketch of an idea......

But something simple could work too.

These scraps will be used to make.....

 little 4" stars.

My basket of leftovers will tag along as well. These are harder to work with because I need my design wall.

Last but not least a paper pieced project (pattern by Diary of a Quilter) using my Alison Glass fabrics and a very light gray/green Bella solid called Mist. I think this one could be a fast and easy project. I still feel like I need one more.....
How many projects do you need on your retreat?

As a side note, is anyone having issues with Blogger? It takes like 15 hours for my posts to upload, what's the deal?

Kelly

Picture Heavy Post!

Yesterday Calico Cutters Quilt Guild hosted a workshop with Jane Davila. I am in charge of the workshop and did not actually do it but learned everything so I could do it on my own. Today I bought these circles and made some stamps. So much fun and so easy! I love that they are not perfect and definitely look handmade.

The ones I bought today are harder than the ones used in the workshop but still very easy to do.

These are some examples from the class, they did such a good job!

Here painter's tape is used to mark off sections, how cool is this!

Congratulations ladies, I am inspired by all of you!

I was at the Chantilly Virginia quilt show this past weekend working with my friend Cheryl in her booth. We squeezed in a little time to see the quilts and do a teensy bit of shopping......

I loved this! little swatches of fabrics taped onto a calling card. How very creative!

I am behind in gardening but my pots are looking great! I love coleus.

A perfect foxglove...

This is the second year for my front garden and I only lost 1 plant.

An errant sunflower, I am leaving it be.

A little black in the garden adds a lot of interest.

More coleus....

and one more!
So this is what I have been up to lately. I am going away again this weekend and should have some sewing to show you next week.

Kelly