Let me catch you up

Well hello there!  No excuses on my blogging absence.  I just didn't have much to say.

Let me catch you up on the last 6+ weeks or so.

Amelia graduated college and she's off to Super Hero school.  Just kidding.  She successfully passed 2nd grade and on her way to being a 3rd grader and a "book buddy" to a kindergartner.  She's looking forward to that.

Last day of school

Ellyn made Amelia the dress that she wore for her last day of school... 2 years ago!  It finally fit her.  She's a petite little thing.  I wish I had her metabolism.

Her teacher loved the apples wallhanging.  I had Amelia write the label.  She added the last sentence all on her own; "Thank you for this wonderful year".  She really liked her teacher this year.

I had some quilting done by Jill again.  Wonderful job, as usual.  Here are 2 of the pieces I had done.  I finally got my pinwheel quilt (quilt in my header) quilted but I haven't had a chance to trim it up.  I will show you that one soon.  The Valentine heart wallhanging - Carol made one earlier this year and I really like it so I made one myself.  The Lucy's Crab Shack table runner... I pieced it last summer.  Nothing like procrastination at it finest getting it quilted.

Lastly, I made a couple of pillowcases.  Next week, Punk and I are flying the friendly skies to Texas for a mini vacation.  We're off to go spend some time with my BFF and her family.  We haven't seen each other in 3 years.  We email/Facebook pretty much every day so we keep in touch but there's nothing like face to face.  We are all super excited about the trip.  The pillowcases are for her girls.

That's it.  Not much.  Trying to keep cool in this mega heat we've been hit with.  Spending lots of time in the AC and pool.  My sewing room doesn't have AC so it's a bit warm in there.  Probably why I've been staying away from my sewing projects.  I have a few things in the works that I would like to get motivated to finish.

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Ready for the Beach

Seems like my blogging time gets further and further apart.  I hope to NOT have a repeat performance of last summer and my lack of blogging. 

I bumped into a very fun (and quick!) project earlier last week and it was on my mind for most of it.  So I gathered my supplies and went to town in my sewing room over the weekend.

Did I say this was a quick project to sew up?  Yes?  Well, trust me.  It was.  2 hours and I had a new bag done.

Isn't it CA-UTE??  It's big too.  If you want to make one... click here!

It really is a nice size and has six pockets on the outside.  I put two beach towels rolled up on the inside to give you an idea but there is so much more room for lots more stuff.

I made mine with a home dec weight on the outside and DS Quilts fabrics from Joanns for everywhere else.  I love that orange print that I used for the lining.

Now I'm ready for the beach!  Or at least the pool.  I love bags and totes.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

An Apple for the Teacher

The end of the school year is fast approaching and of course, I am scrambling.  I had this mini quilt idea way back, when Lori posted her apple row in her Row Along.  I put it off and put it off: "I have PLENTY of time!" and look - June 1st is Saturday!

In between rainy days this weekend, I worked on this mini for Amelia's teacher.  Happy to have the top done. 

Here is my question... what color do I quilt it in?  I'm going to a simple straight line quilting of some sort but I don't know if I should go with a red or a neutral - like a gray or cream?  Thoughts?  I'll welcome any ideas because I need to hustle to get it done for the last day of school. 

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

To ease myself back into sewing, I worked on getting all the pillowcases made that I bought fabric for when we went away back in April.  Our weather for the Memorial Day weekend was terrible.  Raw, cold, and raining.  We were very happy that we decided to stay home and not go up north.  My in-laws went and New Hampshire got 4 inches of snow Saturday night.  I heard that upstate New York got upwards of 3 feet of snow!  It felt more like March than the end of May!

Thankfully, the sun found its way back and Monday it was nice and sunny.  End of this week, the weatherman is saying we are going to hit the 90s!  From winter to mid-summer with no Spring.  As usual for New England.

Question is... which ones will go on the beds this week?

Enjoy your day!
Jen

Picking a new winner!

Well, it's been 5 days and I haven't heard back from Reba on her win of the Large-Block Quilts book.  You know what that means!  I picked a NEW winner!  WOOHOO for you!

The *new* winner is....

Margaret!
"I love pinwheels to Yours is beautiful Thanks for the chance to win this book. I need it"

Congratulations Margaret!  An email is coming your way to collect your mailing address.


Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

Vote for Hope!

Google is sponsoring a "Doodle 4 Google" contest where a doodle created by a school-aged child will replace the logo online for 24 hours.  And guess what?!  My cousin's daughter, my God-daughter, won FIRST PLACE and is representing Connecticut in the national contest!  Hope is 8 years old and I'm spreading the word.

VOTE FOR HOPE!  There is a week left in the voting process and it just dawned on me that I could blog about it!  I hope my blogging friends will cast their vote for Hope and bring her closer to the win.  She would get a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for her school.

VOTE FOR HOPE!  Here's the link.  You can vote once a day.  Here is Hope's doodle.

She and her school were also featured on the local news.

Please.  VOTE FOR HOPE!!

We couldn't be prouder of her. AWESOME job Hope!

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)

We have a winner!

Thank you for all the great comments on my quilt top.  I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to reply back to all the comments but be sure that I've read them all.

And the winner is...

Reba!
I would love to win this new book. I am a huge fan of the big block quilt.

Congratulations Reba!  I've sent you an email regarding your win.

I hope those that didn't win will purchase a copy of Vickie's book.  You won't be disappointed for sure.

Enjoy your day!
Jen :)