Aprons

I found this fabric on the 50% off table at Mom's and couldn't resist it. I thought it would make some cute aprons for 6 little girl cousins. So, here are the girls in their aprons learning how to make some Easter Rice Crispie Treats with their Granny.

Another link (or two...)

This blog has the coolest "sew-along" with week by week instructions on everything included- choosing fabric, fixing cutting mistakes, piecing a back, putting the "quilt sandwich" together, even free motion quilting on your machine. You can find it here:
http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/quiltalong.html

Also, I just ordered some fabric from https://zandsfabrics.com, and they had a smoking good clearance section. I ordered five (or ten) yards that was only $3.59/yard. Their new stuff isn't bad either- I needed some of the Moda Sweet line that they didn't have in town, and they had it for only $7.50/yard.

Another cool shopping find is http://www.thousandsofbolts.com . They carry fabric lines that are a little older, but super cheap (mostly 3-6 dollars a yard.) Also, they have 108" backing fabrics starting at $8.95 a yard.

Yes, I do other things besides playing online. Sometimes. Just not today.

Wow!

I'm not sure how I neglected this site before, but I've just planned out five future projects I must do from these fun patterns. Someone smarter than me (so pretty much anyone!) can add a link in the sidebar.

http://www.modabakeshop.com/

Now I have more excuses to keep buying those fabulous little charm packs! (Not to mention jelly rolls, turnovers, etc...)

Hey, Carolyn! (and anyone else who likes aprons...)

Have you looked at any of these apron patterns?

http://tipnut.com/56-free-apron-patterns-you-can-make/

http://tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns-tutorials/

http://tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns/

Maybe one of those would work?

Quilt Hunt

So here is one of the results of my quilt hunt. I found two quilts made by my great grandma Lydia Finlinson.

This first quilt is a double wedding ring that my great grandma Lydia made for my Grandma Isobel Finlinson Williams' wedding. The second quilt is also made by Lydia but I don't know anything else about it. I have found more quilts I will be posting later.

The experiment...

So Carolyn, Sherida and I took the Crazy Quilt class at Snow Goose. It was really fun, and we learned this cool quilt as you go thing where you use decorative stitches on your machine to quilt each block separately and then sash them together. I immediately wanted to try a baby quilt. So I bought a new sewing machine with lots of cute stitches (nothing fancy, mind you- I just needed the stitches!) and set to work on a baby quilt for my friend. Along the way, I learned that I don't like quilting as I go. You can't pull the blocks around and make them line up like you can with just one layer of fabric, so all my sashings don't line up at all. It's okay for this, since the project was all kinds of crazy patterns anyway (and my friend who is receiving it is the nicest person I know and will love it no matter what.) But if I was doing something fussy that I wanted to look really perfect, I would definitely not try this.

I debated including this picture, since it really shows off how crooked by sashings are, but I think it is still kind of cute, and you can see how it would work if someone smarter than me was doing it.

Oh, well. At least it is a project checked off my to-do list. And it gave me a good excuse to buy a new sewing machine. Now all I have left to do today is finish my snowball exchange blocks (don't worry- they'll be straighter that the baby quilt!), make my block of the month block, work on a UFO, tend a sick baby, and maybe have surgery or break my leg so Shanda will make me a quilt.

Thanks for the Invite!

Hi all,
No, I don't know where all my kids are, but then they range in age from 24 to 38, so I guess they don't have to answer to me anymore.

Yes, my children have clothes. My second daughter has WAYYYY more than she needs, but she has great taste! She also rivals Imelda Marcos for her shoe collection and has just as many purses.

If they haven't been fed, it's their own fault.

Quilting news:
I am so excited because I just purchased new sewing room furniture that will be arriving in 4-6 weeks; hopefully sooner. I've been having back problems from my less than desirable setup, so I'm hopeful this will be a great solution. (Sounds like enough justification for buying it to me!)

I also finished my first Guild UFO and it is off for quilting.

I am leaving for California on Friday with my daughter (the one with all the clothes, shoes, and purses). Don't know when I'll be back --- sometime next week, but I definitely plan on hitting some quilt stores. We're flying though, so I don't know how much I will be able to bring back.

When I get my new setup, I will post pictures.
Sherida

A great thought to remember...

Gigi's girl for Chelsea!

Does this look familiar? I don't know why I am so incapable of an original idea. I guess that Lisa's designs are so cute that I just have to copy them. This is actually one of two that I am making in this pattern. This is the baby of the original. I made it for my niece who had surgery. The day that I sewed the border on this, my other niece, Mckenzie, broke her leg, so now I am going to have to make another!

New Classes at Mom's

March 23 Pillow Case Class

March 24 Purse Class

April 23 Quick and Easy Receiving Blanket

May 6 Binding Class

May 7 Apron Class

May 13 Turning Twenty Quilt Class

May 29/30 Retreat

June 4 Bargello Flag Class

June 10 Christmas Stockings Class

I think we all carve out a special spot to sew.

This is my spot! It's in our basement.

I can leave what ever I'm working on and

no one has to see the mess!!

I just need to get down there more often!!

Pam Jensen

Quilt Hunt

So I have realized that I come by my love of fabric and quilting honestly. I was reading about my grandma Isobel Finlinson Williams. She grew up in Oak City and her family owned the Oak City Cash Store. She told about how much she loved the fabric in the store. Her mother Lydia Finlinson was known for having everyone over to quilt. So I guess I can blame my quilting addiction on my Grand Sew Mama and my Great Grand Sew Mama! I know that there are some quilts out there that were made by my grandma Isobel and my great grandma Lydia, in fact I think I might have one or two myself. So I am going on a quilt hunt to find some of their quilts and the stories behind them.
This quilt was my bedspread when I was a little girl. I loved this quilt as a little girl, and was excited to find that my mom still had it. It was given to my mom by my Grandma Isobel, but my mom didn't know who made it. I will have to see if I can find out the story behind my first quilt! Wish me luck!

First Attempt

Thanks for the invite, Carolyn. I am not much of a sew mama, but here is a picture of my first attempt at a turning twenty! I LOVE this fabric!

Sew Mama Test

I guess I need to add "Make sure two year old does not have a bottle of nail Polish" to the sew mama test. I was sewing away this morning when my little girl came in to show me that she had painted her own finger nails, fingers, and the carpet in the playroom. I then lost a good hour of my sewing time scrubbing my carpet! Well, the good news is I got all of the polish out, the bad news is my UFO is still not finished.

I am a sew mama!

Funniest thing just happened. I was sitting at my table sewing and having a great time. Cole came in and climbed up on my chair, behind me, gives me a huge hug and says, "You my sew mama!" I guess I really am a sew mama!