Laura with her Quilt

Scarves

Diaper Bag

This is a diaper bag that Jessica and I started while I was in Idaho last week.  She chose all the colors and helped me plan the whole lay-out.  I brought it back home so I could do some quilting on the sides and finished putting it all together today.  It was really a fun project (since I didn't have to do it completely by myself).
I will be setting my sewing projects aside for a few days so I can finish knitting a scarf that I started while on the plane.  Jessica and I found Knifty Knitters on sale for .99 cents so we grabbed up a few at Porters in Rexburg.  I knit and crochet occasionally, but these contraptions seem to make the projects go a little faster, so they're fun.

 

 

Baby Quilt

This is not the only baby quilt I will make for Crystal's baby, who is due in April.  We will work on some other projects and come up with something else...and two twin-size quilts for Audrey and Jane for their new beds.  Be watching for those.  Crystal has planned out the colors and style for those two twin-size quilts, then we need to get together and work on them.  This quilt is made out of flannel fabrics.  The main fabric has ABC's on it.  I pieced the top several years ago and just never got around to quilting it until recently.

What Terry Got for Christmas

Terry's been wanting this solid marble statue of Christ for some time, so when it was half price I decided to get him one for Christmas.  We think it looks great in this spot.

Parker's Table Runner

Made this for the Parker's for Christmas.

Doll House

Doll House, cont.

Doll House

May have to do this in separate postings again.  I was able to get three pics on here for starters...to be continued...

Scrappy 9-patch Quilt

Embroidery Thread

I don't think I showed you all my beautiful quilting thread for my new embroidery machine.

Weekend Project

Pillow

I made this like a pillow case.  It's quilted, of course, and matches Alli's crib quilt.

Christmas AND Birthday Gift

This is my new "toy" that my husband insisted he spoil me with.  He didn't have to twist my arm too much.  We got a great deal.  It's going to be lots of fun learning how to work this thing.  I know the basics, but that's about it.  What wonderful quilting and embroidery projects we're going to do on this thing, girls!

Alli's Quilt--Close-up

I'm having problems posting pictures in a group again.  I tried and tried and finally gave up and decided to post them each separately.

Alli's Quilt--Front

Alli's Quilt--Back

This was my weekend project.  Now my sewing machine is so worn out that I will need to take it in for maintenance tomorrow.

Reasons to Celebrate

Before I totally lose control here, I have to share my reasons to celebrate this time of year--besides the Thanksgiving holiday, the birth of Christ and a New Year on the way!

1.  Snake River Worms & Castings, LLC is up and running and Chandler is excited, Terry is excited, Jacob is excited and can you tell we're ALL excited?!
2.  We just hired a new secretary for Willow Fork Pallet, Inc. and she will start Jan. 4.  This will allow me more time to spend with Terry traveling and working on those baby quilts, etc.
3. Allison and Claire who will arrive into our family in March and April!!!!!
4.  Baby quilts for Alli and Claire who will really care less, but it will be fun any way.

Now the rest of you need to make your own lists!!

Baby Bibs

These are bibs I made for the new grand-daughters.  I was having a hard time uploading images on here the other day.  I actually worked on these last weekend.  They are so easy and fun to make.  I'm sure I will make some smaller ones soon.  These are toddler size.

Machine Quilting

Just wanted to slip a picture of the machine quilting in here.  Of course one would have to click on the picture to get a close enough look at it.  Now I am going to box it up and get ready to ship it.  End of this chapter.

Finished

Getting Closer!

This is a teaser.  I am ALMOST finished with the last of the large quilts for the year.  Carol's should be completed by the end of this weekend for sure.  Just have to attach the binding.  I bungled my way through the machine quilting and I think it turned out pretty good.  Hopefully with more practice my future quilts that are done entirely on the machine will turn out even better.

From Rags to Riches

I accomplished my goal of piecing this top over the weekend.  Now I just have to tackle the quilting part.  No time to waste!

A Little Progress

To be more precise, very little progress.  Have only managed to cut the pieces I need for Carol's quilt and it seems to be taking forever.  I have to keep running to my desk and doing something called "work" all day.  It's so annoying.  I will start the actual sewing tomorrow and my goal is to have it all pieced by the end of this weekend.  I think that's a realistic goal.

Our Trip to Dallas

We went to Dallas to visit Crystal and family and help them to get a little settled into their new apartment. Dave passed the Bar Exam---yippeeeee!!!--we're all celebrating that one. We knew he would pass the first time!
We had fun with Audrey and Jane and just enjoyed our visit very much. I am so happy that they live less than 10 hours away now, so it makes for an easy 1 day drive. We may fly down for our next trip in the spring though because Terry doesn't much care for driving in the city.
We went to a cool IKEA store and I was able to purchase several of those awesome 100% cotton flat sheets to use in my quilts. I am washing them up right now and will start on a new project today. Updates later this week. I should be able to get a lot done because Terry is heading back to Idaho again on Wednesday and will be gone a week. At least I am not home alone with Jacob and Kassie close by.

Another Project

Here are the brown polka-dot fabric ABC's I got to make another cute little baby quilt.

Baby Quilts

Here is the beginning of baby Allison's (Alli's) new quilt! Jessica and I are going to start on this one in December. This could actually make two baby quilts, so if Crystal has a girl, we'll make another one just like the first. If she has a boy, it's back to the fabric store (as you know, that would really hurt my feelings--not!). Fun, fun!

Looking Good

Don't these look great just sitting there ready to be boxed and shipped? I'm so excited to have gotten this far. Such a big deal for me, maybe not to those Grandma's out there that make about 10-20 quilts a year!

My Weekend

Spent the weekend trying to find my sewing space amid the huge mess I had made after working on the last 3-4 projects. Lo and behold, I found it! I wasn't brave enough to show a 'before' picture. I neatly separated all the different little scraps of fabric I had piled everywhere and put them in little buckets, by color. I don't like throwing them away. They come in real handy for paper-piecing projects. Now I am all ready to put together that new Flynn machine-quilting frame (with dh's help) and get going on my next project. Yeahhhh!

Updates

Next week I am going to start a NEW quilt #4. Carol sent me a picture of what she wants, so I've done some serious shopping and next week I will piece it. I should have no problem getting it all quilted by first part of December. After all, I've only been quilting on the other one for a couple of weeks and I'm 3/4 the way done with it. I am going to set it aside and just concentrate on the new one now. It's all good. I will complete the king-sized one at a later date and either put it on a spare bed in my house or give it away in the future.
I am really excited about the pattern that Carol chose. It's called Garden twist. I just hope my fabrics will all work together o.k. If not, it's back to the fabric store.
Jess has been busy choosing her favorite patterns so we can make baby quilts, toys, and accessories for the nursery. She is going to have a girl, so this should be fun! It's obvious what I will be doing in 2010.

Quilt Labels

New day and more rain. Well, at least we had one nice, sunny day yesterday!
I spent this rainy afternoon making quilt labels for the first three quilts that I've finished so far this year. One of the photos would not come out right, so left that one off. Looks pretty much like the other two, except words are different, of course. Just a white computer-printed label surrounded by a blue border.

Progress

I had a hard time getting my pictures to post today, so had to do them one at a time. So, no comments about 'why didn't you do it THIS way?' Back to my quilting chair.

Progress, continued

Completed Quilt Top

I am now in the process of marking the quilting lines on this quilt top. It will have a lot of quilting in it, and I have six weeks to complete it.
I hope now I can find the time to get it done.
This is a king size quilt top, so it will be a
challenge.

New Flower Bed

This is a new flower bed that Jacob made for me by the front deck. We will plant bulbs in there later this fall and hope to see beautiful blooms in the spring! It already looks so much better than nothing at all.

Quilt #4

Ocean Waves Quilt

I have officially completed the Ocean Waves quilt for my sister, Charlotte. This is quilt #3 this year. It's one of those I dreamed about. I knew exactly what I wanted the end result to be, but after using more than 325 yards of quilting thread, I was getting pretty tired of it. Don't know what possessed me to use white thread on dark blue fabric in the border. Now all my crooked little hand-quilted stitches are right there for the whole world to see. However, it's only really noticeable upon closer inspection, not in this picture.

"Repurposing"

I don't know if this is a real word or not, but as long as easy-on-the-eyes Nate Burkus uses it on Oprah, it's a word in my book. It means to take some great piece (preferably an antique at our house) and use it for another purpose other than what it was originally intended to be used. I've been doing this for years! In our world of "going green" I've actually had this one figured out for a long time. Isn't that amazing? See what YOU can repurpose!
I couldn't label the pictures below because there were too many words, so from the top...
I used a park bench in our lighthouse-themed upstairs bathroom.
A crocheted collar made by Terry's Grandma Dean is used as a table runner.
Ammo box was painted (not by me) and legs added for extra storage box.
Antique pickle crock is being used as a utensil holder in the kitchen.
Next to that on the right is an old candle jar I cleaned out and use to hold herb teas.
The soda crate is being used as a spice rack.
Glass cookie jar is being used to hold seashells.
Enamel bucket is being used to hold small towels.
Enamel wash basin is being used as a catch-all on the bathroom counter-top.
This trunk was given to me by Terry's sister. She was going to throw it out, but it had a neat pattern on it, so I put a silk plant in it and covered up the flaws.
The large seashell is being used as a soap dish.
The antique fruit jar (which I used all over the place at our house) holds more seashells.
This is my most recent repurposing addition--Yankee candle holders, which I cleaned out and now use as cereal bowls. They are awesome.