Summer

Well, It has been a long time and a long and busy year. As of June 4th I am officially retired. When school begins in a few weeks it will be a very odd feeling, I am sure. Hopefully I can get back to the computer, my blog and a few other things.

A teacher at school commissioned me to make her this and I am happy to say it is finished. A king size quilt, 4 pillowcases to match, 2 king size pillow shams and a small pillow that is monogrammed I would say it turned out rather nice. She is happy and so am I.

Good things come in 3's

I made 3 quilts this week with the same pattern. The same pattern I have used.....I don't know how many times. It is a Shabby Fabric pattern. "Easy as 1,2,3 and ABC" It is my go to when I need to reduce my stash, a gift, or a quick quilt.  I have used it for all the teacher baby quilts at my school. I don't even know how many times I have made it and it has been made in every size from baby to king. A teacher who  worked with left our school a year ago and she had twins, a boy and a girl. I decided to make her some quilts and when I got cutting for the pattern I just kept going.

 The baby girl quilt is completely done and I think I squeezed the last of my favorite scraps in here. Yes , you have seen these fabrics before. I also added the last few pieces to the other pink top I made.

The boy version is ready to be quilted and will be finished soon. I only bought the border for the boy quilt, everything else was leftover in my stash. That makes me happy!!!
As you can see below. I LOVE pink and green. I started cutting pieces and just kept going. My intentions were to make a lap size but I just kept finding fabric and.... it turned into a twin. Oh well, I am hoping to get this one quilted up this weekend as well. I used up lots of stash!  So, three quilts,, same pattern.. easy...quick..great late night sewing with a movie!

Linking up to  Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a fabric addict

Sisters!

My sister asked a few weeks before I went up to Ohio about a queen size quilt. She was looking for one for herself. She wanted dark colors. WooHoo. I had some dark colors in my stash from long ago. I had a chance to use them up since I am a bright color girl! Off I went. Since I had a small amount of time I took the easy pattern AGAIN! Was not sure I liked it but it turned out OK and she was pretty happy. I finished at the last minute so I only got a couple pictures before it went in the suitcase.

 It really is prettier in person. I used a lovely copper thread to quilt it and that was nice.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts 
Confessions of a fabric addict
My quilt infatuation

Soap Time!

I will veer from my quilts for just a bit. I learned to make my own homemade soap about 4 years ago and have not turned back. It is another fun thing that feeds into my desire to live clean and healthy wherever I can. It is wonderful on the skin and I know all the ingredients. No detergents! I taught my sister to make it a couple years ago and she is hooked as well. We made 9 double batches last summer and this year we made 11. We also went to a soap conference in Cleveland and learned a lot. I am thinking I might have a business going when I retire! Hmm. What do ya think about that one! Everyone that uses my soap loves it, so why not start selling some.  we shall see. anyway, here is a sample of what we made.

 This is a lavender swirl. My middle daughter is getting married this December and I will use a nice bar of soap and some home made lotion "from our shower to yours" as a favor. here are the first of the bars. They smell divine!

The 2 dark ones on the left are the manly man soaps. My husband LOVES it, and so does my son in law.  Barber shop and Deep Amber Musk. Its hard to see but they are swirled in light and dark brown, and light and dark green, with spirulina powder which is thought to be wonderful for the skin. Of course the pink and green is the girl soap.  there were 7 other beautiful big batches. Not sure which one to use first when they are done curing.

Feel the Force!

My daughter has a very good friend from college expecting her first baby. Both she and her husband are Star Wars super fans. So, my daughter thought it would be fun to make her a Star Wars quilt. She bought the fabric and off I went. She originally wanted a design with squares in it but I thought it would hide the great pictures in the fabric. So, I kept the pieces intact and went from there. I am really feeling the force and so was her friend. It turned out pretty cute. A bit bigger than a baby size but that is good too. I used the leftovers to piece the back.  I was lucky to snap a few pictures before it ran out the door!!

I also made a couple easy and quick dresses for my sweet little girl.

 Her brother had a Sesame Street birthday party so I made this one with Abby on it from the show. I made the shorts and t shirt for brother too.

Hello Summer

It has been pretty hectic around here the last few months and I have used my time to really try and get some sewing done and the blog has fallen by the wayside. BUT, summer is coming and I have gotten some things accomplished. I will have to space out the old with the new. This was my first with minky on the back. It was the nubby kind but it turned out really, really nice!

 I made this twin size for a teacher at work. Sorry about the poor picture quality but the fabric is from the quilt show in Houston and It is really very pretty and so calming. She loves it.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a fabric addict

Happy Baby

A teacher at school asked me about making a quilt for her third sweet baby girl. I was happy to jump in. I had some beautiful fabrics I was holding on to for the right thing and....there it was!! So out they came and Mom helped pick a pattern she liked and I was a happy sewer for a few weeks. I made it a big lap size, so she can use it for awhile. I LOVE how it turned out. Mom was happy and so was Baby! I even put her name on front.

I am getting a bit braver in my quilting and that is fun!

And that's a happy baby too!

 I think I showed this top earlier but I took some chances in my quilting and really experimented.

 I also used variegated thread. Why not experiment and have some fun with all those scraps.

The quilt top is not that pretty but the quilting makes it much better. VERY scrappy.

My next quilt is already pieced and sandwiched together with Minky on the back. I'm really scared!!! I know I need to jump in, so that is next time.