DJ's Labyrinth Quilt

This is my hubby…isn’t he cute?  

This is my favorite picture of us.

Goofball and our oldest Daughter.

He is the light to my life and I love him more every day. 

I made a quilt for him when we were dating but didn’t really love it…it is now the quilt that lays on the couch (usually under the dog in fact).  Anyway, he deserved a real quilt!  A few years ago, the Stonehenge fabric line came out.  Along with that fabric, there were a number of quilt patterns that were designed to complement this particular fabric.  Every time I saw this pattern in a magazine advertisement, he would say ‘Oh, I like that one!’. 

After about the sixth time of hearing the Ooooo-ing, I got the hint.  A couple of months later, we were at the Asheville Quilt Show.  The is a vendor there every year that carries a great array of fabric that always speaks to me.  Well, this particular year, they happened to have not only the pattern of the quilt he liked, but also all of the fabric to make it with.  He picked out all of the fabric to go in HIS quilt.  I can honestly say that I only suggested changing one of the fabrics so that there would be more contrast and the pattern would show up better.  Mind you, he is married to a quilter but his color theory is somewhat lacking.  That being said, I think he did an amazing job picking the colors, don't you?  Now, I tend to be a bargain shopper and rarely buy most things (including fabric) at full price.  I do think that this is the ONLY quilt that I have every bought all the fabric, not only at once but NOT on sale.   This puppy is not only king size but big enough to drop all the way down the sides of our California King Size bed to the bottom of the rails.  The finished size is 124” square.  It is the largest quilt I have ever put on my Gammill.

When it came time to quilt it, I thought ‘Yippie, I get to do some super fun custom quilting on this one!’  But alas, my man has simple taste, I tried to steer him toward some detailed quilting but he would have none of that.  He says ‘can you do all over feathers?’  Seriously??  This could have been SOOO detailed!  But it is his quilt so he gets what he wants.  He picked a very neural (read taupe) color of thread and an all over loose feather pattern.

I do have to say that is looks pretty good draped over the most COMFY bed ever!  It was a joint effort of love and it makes me so happy that it keeps up both warm and snugly at night. 

Last Year's Teacher Gifts

I am soooooo far behind that I may never be able keep up.  I have a considerable amount of empathy for the hamster I had as a child these days.  I have been brain-storming and designing teacher gifts (ahead of time for once) with the kids lately.  I then realized  I never even posted about LAST years teacher gifts!  What a slacker I am! I mean really, what DO I do with my time???  So, in an effort to be frugal about this post, they are all going here.  This is going  to be longer than most of my posts but hang in there, it will be mostly pictures. :)

First Up, Mrs. Ferguson's Laptop Case:

This is my youngest boy's first grade teachers.  She was one of those great southern ladies that always had a big smile for you and kind work to say.  My biggest memory of her is going in for a parent-teacher conference and talking about his improvement and behavior in class.  We chatted a bit about his English grade and what not.  Then she pulls out a folder with his math work in it.  She says, and I quote "Oh LORD, baby Jesus! What ever can I say about Jordan and his math work!"  Now you have to hear that said like Julia Sugarbaker and the appropriate head toss and accent.  It was beautiful!  Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad thing, it was actually a good thing.  See, my boy is something of a math wiz, he was doing multiplication (for fun) before starting Kindergarten.  He may be the key to my retirement!

Next Up, Mrs. Mayo's purse:

This is my daughter's second grade teacher.  She also is a sweet woman who really showed her interest in Isabel.  She was the first teacher she had that believed me that she was struggling to understand what she was learning and and suggested that we get her some medication to help her.  She made a complete turn around in the 2nd grade and yesterday brought home a certificate for A-B Honor roll!  Anyway, Isabel saw me making one of these bags and asked if we could make one for her teacher.  She found all the fabrics and helped me put it together.  She kept saying 'It NEEDS to have butterflies and it has to be blue!"

Next up, Mrs. Ferguson's Tree Wall Hanging:

My other daughter was in 5th grade last year.  It was her first year of having more than one teacher.  She LOVED her science teacher.  She was one of those people for her that really helped her see the world in a new way.  She is a self proclaimed tree-hugger!  Aubrey and I decided early in the school year that whatever her gift was, it would have to be a tree!  So we opted to make a wall hanging.  Aubrey took a stack of various green fabrics to school, gave them to her switch class teacher and asked if all the kids would sign a piece with a permanent marker.  Somehow she managed to get all the kids to sign some without Mrs. Ferguson knowing.

Then we took all of those pieces and stitched them to a lining layer.

Once they were stitched down, we cut them out and turned them right way out. and started playing with the placement of them on a 'tree'.

This is what the tree looked like with it was naked.  I simply fused some batik fabric down on a dark and sparkly background.  It looks kind of sad this way doesn't it?

 We, added the leaves by quilting them onto the tree and this was the end result.

I think she liked it. ;)

Oh and a side note, this is a picture of Aubrey getting a prize for being voted 'most likely to be elected president' by her classmates.  The fact that we are politically neutral made this an funny moment.  The irony was not lost on her teacher.

Next up, Mrs Borland's Computer Bag.

Aubrey had a harder time deciding what to make for her math teacher.  She is not nearly as open about things as Mrs. Ferguson.  So we did some spying and asked her other teacher for some hints.  We got  a list of things that she was interested in.  One of those things was gardening and that she liked the color purple. So, we opted for a purple flower set into a computer case like the one I had made for Jordan's teacher.

Did I mention that she had recently survived cancer? Aubrey always has to find a way to ad some sparkle to things so we found this blingy survivor ribbon.

We lined the inside with the same fabric that was the background on Mrs. Ferguson's quilt. Bags always look best with striped handles.

I think she liked it too:

Last Up are the big boys' teachers, aren't my boys handsome?

I had the great experience of going to a Ricky Tim's seminar about a year ago.  ONE of the things that I knew I would have to make was a Convergence Quilt.  It would be the perfect gift for a math teacher, no?  Too bad Mr. Thomspon was their English teacher, LOL.  He was one of those teachers that really stood out though, especially with Jaydin.  He loves to read and Mr. Thompson really opened his mind to new books and ideas, not only that but ideas that were positive and up-building. I knew that he would need a special gift early on in the year.  I showed the boys a picture of this style of quilt and they liked the idea.  I used two pieces of hand dyed fabric and started cutting. I liked it when the middle was done but it just needed something...

I had a few random scraps left over and just started laying them around.  I ended up with this very sort of futuristic deal going on.  I was very happy with how this came out in the end.

 They were very happy to give it to him

Last but not least, Mrs. Tomberlin who was in fact their math teacher.  The boys discovered the awesomeness of Pi last year.  What would be cooler for a math teacher than a computer bag with the Pi symbol on it? Yeah, I couldn't think of anything either.  She always challenged the boys to excel and I appreciate any teacher that goes that extra little bit to make them think!

Well there they are, all 7 of them!  That is a lot of teachers!  This year there are 12 of them!! Needless to say, I need to get to work!!

I hope that all my kids teachers know that they are appreciated and thought of as part of our family structure.  That is why we do this every year!

It's a Blog Hop Party!

This was so much fun the last time I did it, I have been looking to do a Blog Hop again.  So this time, the universal quilter organizer, Michele asked if I wanted to play at her party, I jumped  {waited until the last day to get} on board. So, without further ado...

Since I gave away a bottle of my Magic Starch last time, I will be giving away a bottle of her sister Super Quilt Soap.  I also make this soap and I use it on all my fabric as well as my quilts.  It is available for purchase to my customers and hopefully will soon be up for grabs at a local quilt shop.  I use up-cycled glass bottles and it has a super yummy smell.

Here is a picture of my 'Vanna ' posing with the bottle and a quilt that now smells so very nice. ;)

Just leave a post for me with your favorite soap scent to be entered in the drawing (the soap only has one scent - I call it Lavender Rain). Also, like us on Facebook for a second chance to win. Included with your fancy schmancy bottle of homemade soap I will also include a $25 gift certificate toward longarm quilting service by yours truly.  It can be used on any quilt size or pattern and will be deducted before any other promotions (I also give first quilt and referral discounts).  Batting, thread and shipping are not included in the discount and there is a $50 minimum charge on all quilting orders. I will ship internationally if you win.

My very own 'Vanna' will be drawing the lucky name on Sunday, December 16th at (or around) 4:00 p.m. est. I can't wait to see what everyone has in the works...happy hopping!

Aubrey's First Quilt

I know I haven't been around much lately, just too much life and not enough time.  I plan to make a bunch of posts this week so hang on to your socks....

This is my girl, I call her 'Mo'.

By 'my girl' I mean she is my clone for the good and the bad. {As much as I try to improve on my good, I am not delusional to think that the bad doesn't balance that scale.} I am fortunate enough that the quilting bug bit her when she was 9.  She may not be as eager of a quilter as I am but she will be.  It took her 2 years to finish her first quilt, but as with most things, she did it all the way.  She didn't take the easy route and pick out a panel to dress up. No, she didn't even find a pattern in the giant stack of magazines and ideas I have been clipping for years.  She sat down with a piece of paper and drew a block.  Then I gave her a piece of graph paper and said 'ok, now put it on here so you can make sure it works'.  She whipped that out with no problem too.  She doesn't have it in her to say "I can't do that". 

Here is a picture of the compete block that she designed:

This whole making a quilt thing started when she was rummaging through some scraps one day looking for some other project for school. She found a bunch of left over 3 inch squares I had cut to make this quilt.  Red is my signature color so I always have lots of that laying around and what goes better with red than black and white right?  It didn't take long for her to collect enough fabric to make a lap quilt.  True to form, she didn't want much help, she wanted to figure it out on her own.  This particular personality trait, I find to be especially endearing.  ;)  Once she figured that part out, it became a long and drawn out process of distraction.  This personality trait...not my favorite.  However, like I said, she is my clone so I can't complain too much...I have quilts that are 5 years in the making.  Anyway, those blocks turned into this:

Again, this is the stage it sat in for quite a while.  While on a shopping trip to one of my favorite quilt stores (which sadly turned out to be my last trip there because it closed down) I found the perfect border and backing fabrics.  When I brought them home and showed them to her, she was once again excited about finishing the quilt.  We put the borders on that weekend.  It is amazing to see how much her sewing skills have developed, I am sure it is simply an age thing and that whole 'doing it right the first time' thing is starting to kick in (again, good trait).  I am proud to say that even though the seams in the center are not perfect, the borders are, look how flat they lay! 

Didn't I tell you the fabric for the borders was perfect? ;)  The same black and white hearts that is in the outer border is on the back and the black polka dot is the binding.

She even tried her hand at the quilting.  I helped her lay out her pattern and load the quilt on the rack but she did the quilting.  She also did all the binding herself.  I made the hanging sleeve but she attached it along with the label.  Her final motivation to finish was to put it in our quilt show, which she did.  All the junior quilters that put a quilt in the show get a ribbon so she was proud of that.  After the show was over, she entered it in the county fair where she won a 2nd place ribbon in her category...she is even more proud of  that one.

So that's my girl, ain't she somethin'?  

Jaydin's Kindle Cover

We have this family tradition where for one day of the year, the kids each get to choose what they want to do for the day.  We put all the months, except for the really cold ones (December-February) and August since that is when our anniversary is, into a hat.  They each pulled a month out of the hat, whichever month they picked was their month. On the first Saturday of that month is their day.  June is Jaydin's day. He opted to have funnel cakes for breakfast then go Geocashing with the family. Then it was lunch at Jerusalem Garden and back home to drop off the smaller kids and Dad.  After that, I took him and Damian along with another friend to the skate park where I watched them try not to break their necks.  Once they were good and messy from that, we came home and watched a movie.  Needless to say, Mom was tired! 

As part of their 'special day' we, the parents, surprise them with a gift.  Jaydin is a huge book hound, he also has thing about documenting everything so there are notes all over the place. He really wanted some sort of e-reader.  After reading reviews on which one would be the best for someone his age, I got him a Kindle.  He was delighted to say the least.  Since he is after all a 12 year old boy, I didn't want him using it much before it had some sort of protection on it.  Dad took him to my favorite fabric store to pick out two fat quarters.  He brought home a red Lorax fabric with a complimenting blue and white fabric.  I found a tutorial to make a cover.  I think it came out pretty cute...