Mini Messengers

Another project off my list.  Happy to have them done.  2 are black and one is a Hometown patchwork.

Can you even see the black ones in that picture??  LOL!  Okay, here's one of it by itself.  I did a gray lining.

I hope the girls like them.  They will be getting them on Saturday.  I also had some time and got my next Swoon block cut and 2 granny squares done.  With Memorial Day weekend coming up, Punk is going to spend a couple of nights with my mom.  My husband is working so guess what I will be doing ALL DAY on Sunday??  Oh I can't wait!  I have a list.  Swoon is at the top of that list.  Next is getting my 12 Days of Christmas blocks sashed and pieced into top form.  Also on the top of that list is getting the last border sewn on my Postage Stamp top.  Imagine that??  I have had 3 out of 4 side borders done for months now.  I would like to get the last border on, figure out backing yardage and get this one quilted. 

What plans do you have for Memorial Day weekend?

Enjoy your day!
Jen

What I got

Hello there!  How's everyone doing?  I finally got a minute to sit down and show you what I received from Jennie for the Quilter's Day swap.  It is so totally ME!  I want to make more. 

It's a rainbow Swoon pillow cover!  OH I LOVE IT!!!!  I haven't gone to get a pillow form for it yet so I'm just admiring it.  But as soon as I do, it will be going on my bed.  Matches nothing on my bed but I do not care.  Thank you so, so much Jennie!!  Oh.  Jennie was kind enough to add some sweets to the swap package but um, they are gone.  :)

I lucked out and did some sewing this weekend!  I got those three mini messenger bags done.  Finally.  And did I ever show you my husband's bag?  He has a briefcase but hates lugging it around.  He just needed something to carry in the truck for paperwork and a calculator and whatever else he feels he needs to have.  He bugged me for a bag for months.  I finally broke down and made him one.  I used black duck cloth and  blue tractor lining.  Kept it as simple as I could so it wouldn't be too "girly" looking.  The handles are short too.  Beats a plastic bag, I guess.

A chick update.   They are big.  They aren't "chicken" big but they aren't cute chicks anymore either.  And I'm happy to say that they are finally out of my garage and in a bigger pen in the barn.  They are still too young to be loose.  Hawks you know.  So they are penned.  Probably by July they will be big enough to be let out and roam around freely (in a fenced in area).  I'm happy to have them out of my garage.  They stink.  I have no photos of the chicks because they are no longer cute.  :)  No, no.  I will get up to the barn and snap a picture to show.

That's all for now.
Enjoy your day!
Jen

Quilter's Day Swap

Hello there!  I'm a bad blogger these days, aren't I?  Well to be honest, I have nothing to talk about.  Terrible, I know.  I haven't really been sewing.  I am working on something but it can't be revealed yet.  I also have those other projects hanging over my head but I won't list them here again.  It just depresses me.

I joined the Quilter's Day Swap hosted by Heidi and I got my items out on time.  I'm sure my partner has gotten them already but I haven't heard.  Here's what I sent:

I was on my Granny Square kick (still am; fighting the urge to go cut 2.5" squares) and I made my partner a mug rug.  I just shrunk the squares down just a bit.  I made the same block with 2.5" squares, intending to make that one the mug rug but it was too big.  Some wonder clips, a cute zippered bag and done.  I wanted to do more but I just didn't have the time.  Work is for the birds.  :p

You know this time last year, I was spending my days just sewing away.  Not making any money but sewing, sewing, sewing.  I still have the quilt tops that I finished last summer hanging over my bannister, heckling me every day.  Finish meeeee!  QUILT MEEEEEEE!  UGH.  QUIET!  I will finish you when I have time!  GRRRRRR.  Kicker is... I have backings for 3 of the tops.  Sigh.  So sad.

Enjoy your weekend!
Jen

Cheep! Cheep!

Guess what we got yesterday?  Cheep!  Cheep!!  We got chicks!  6 of them. We'll be getting 6 more next week when the store gets a shipment of other breeds.  I have no idea what kind of chicks these are.  I asked my husband and he just shrugs.  Men.  I was working when he and Amelia went to the store to get them.

 Aren't they cute?

Enjoy your day!
Cheep!  Cheep!
Jen :)

Jumping on the Granny Square Train

Hello!  I'm sorry my blog has been so quiet.  I just haven't been doing much sewing.  Life has been busy.   Work has picked up and Summer/Spring hit.  But I did carve out some time and found my way back into my sewing room.  However, instead of working on the many projects laying around on my cutting table (Hello SWOON! - Need.  To.  Finish!), I decided to get some 2.5" squares cut.  I also decided that I'm going to get the GO! die for my cutter and do the rest of them that way.  Maybe FINALLY using the gift that my husband got me, oh, 3 years ago for Christmas.

I digress.  Where was I?  Oh yah.  Cutting squares.  So I started cutting some squares and put this together.

ME - Basket of Flowers

Oh. I like it!  How about two color combo block?

Oooooo!  I'm liking this one too!  How about one that is totally "not me"?

Totally Scrappy = Totally not me

 All three together?

How bad do the three look together?  Because I am torn as to how I want to work these blocks.  Fabric line coordinated, 2 color combo or totally scrappy.  I'm thinking if I do a few of each type and stick them in one quilt, 2 out of 3 I've made already won't go to waste.  What do you think?

Here's my pile of scraps that I've cut so far.

This granny square project is going to be something that's going to be an on the side project.  Something I want to work on in between other things.  I'm sure we all have projects like that.  This will probably be the last you'll see of my granny squares until I get Swoon, 3 mini messenger bags, a bag for my husband and Punk's Twirl bag DONE. 

I better get cracking then!
Enjoy your day!
Jen  :)

Happy Easter!

How was everyone's Easter holiday?  We had a very nice day.  Weather was great.  Sunny but a bit breezy.  But it was a loooong day.  Amelia and I left our house at 9:50 am and we drove into our driveway at 8pm.  I was wiped out yesterday.  Thankfully it was a slow work day.

I have a few pictures to share.  Amelia made out like a bandit from the Easter Bunny; as usual.

Amelia and her new bunny "Milk Chocolate"

Her "sweet" pose

Amelia and her cousin Abbey

The girls with their Baba - my Babci is going to 90 this year!

All the kids

We ate until we couldn't move.  Laughed and talked and just had a good time.

Enjoy your day!
Jen  :)

Twirly Mallory Big Box and Some Other Stuff

Wow.  18 votes for green, 10 for raspberry.  Green was my first choice but I was torn.  I couldn't commit to it so thought I would ask.  Glad people agreed with me.  Never fear.  Amelia spotted my bag and asked for one herself.  I showed her what "Twirl" charms I had left and she picked hers out.  I will be getting her bag done soon and hers will have the pink zipper.

I do love the size of this bag.  It's going to be a great bag to hold all our meds on vacation.  To clarify, we don't take medication on a daily basis but being at Disney (168 more days!) and without a car, I would feel better having everything we could ever need with us in the hotel room.  Tums, Advil, cough medicine... you get the picture.

What I DON'T like about this bag is the exposed raw edges on the inside.  I tried to figure out how to do it simply without a raw edge and I hurt my brain so I followed the pattern.  Made it easy on myself.

blogger turned my pic.  View of the lining.  Love that stripe

Even with it all "girly", my husband said it would fit his razor and toothbrush.  Guess he likes it.

Here are a couple Easter gifts I worked on. Aren't these chicks CUTE??  IF I have time, I need to make 3 more.  I made 2 and honestly, forgot about them.  And Easter is on Sunday.  Geez.  Time snuck up on me!  They are an "in the hoop" project.  If you have an embroidery arm attachment for your sewing machine, these are super quick to make.  There is one "error" in the machine steps but if you're standing there, you can stop the machine, cut the felt where you need to and continue.

I bought some fleece for myself and Punk to make a couple new blankets for the cooler weather.  I couldn't pass up finishing off the bolt of the ladybugs, it was too cute to leave in the store.  I ended up making baby doll blankets for Punkie and my cousin's little girl for Easter.

That's what I've been working on these last couple of weeks.  Swoon is crying for me.  I need to get back to those last 2 blocks.  Soon.

Enjoy your day!
Jen