Way back when in January 2011, lulu and I went shopping for fabric for a quilt for her bed.  She chose a fun mix of pinks with a bit of green mixed in.  We set them aside until we came up with a pattern.

That fall, while I was on the Sewing Summit shop hop I picked up the Swoon pattern and started cutting into the stacks.  By sometime in 2012, I had finished two of the blocks and she had decided she didn't love pink the way she used to.

She loved blue and green and I was so happy I had not made any more than two of those giant blocks at this point.

We sorted through my stash and came up with a new stack.  I spent some more time cutting, stitching, quilting and finally last fall (just before the Thanksgiving deadline she gave me) her quilt was finished.

At some point in this whole process, she asked me to hand quilt it.  Since she's on the short list of people I have a more difficult time saying no to, I agreed.  I machine quilted the sashing with some quick matchstick quilting not only because it looks cool, but also to hold the quilt together nicely while I spent the hours it took to hand quilt the blocks.

I took advantage of the left over blocks to fill some space in the back along with a mix of prints.

I also took a huge sigh of relief when I finally finished it and she loved it.

I cannot wait to tell you about this quilt, but first I have to do that thing that we all do at the start of a new year.  I used to do resolutions and lists and words an all that but then I got lazy.  Powerful lazy.  Not moving all day kind of lazy.  Long story short, I started stacks of projects in 2012 that are still hanging around today.  My sloth went to  such extremes I finally talked to my doctor about it and this Spring we found out two things...I need to avoid eating things with lots of fructose and it turned out I wasn't lazy, but my thyroid is. I've spent the past year trying different doses and I've learned a lot.  I'm thrilled to not feel miserable.  I've been tackling many of those works in progress and started a few exciting new projects along the way.  So, as for the new year, my goal is to build on what I started gaining last fall...MOMENTUM.  No more excuses. I'm hoping to keep things moving, more finished quilts, more homemade cookies, more laughs, more fun!

Now for the quilt, making a quilt as a gift is always a bit stressful for me.  Finding the right fabrics, the right design, does the recipient even know she wants a quilt.  This one was for my niece who loves camouflage and I'm so happy to share that she loves it!  I used Realtree and Mossy Oak prints from JoAnn along with all sorts of hushed tone prints from my stash.

These tiny maple leaves are just 1 1/2".  A few more tiny leaves are scattered around the front of the quilt.

The brown along the edge of the star in the shot below was dyed naturally with walnut hulls from my dad's vat of walnut dye.

I used my highly scientific method of laying pieces of fabric out on the floor and then shuffling them around for ages to decide on placement.

I also did my best to use up even the tiniest bits of fabric that were left after making all those flying geese.  I used the larger pieces of camo to make the backing.  Along with a star that was going to go on the front, but once I started placing, I just couldn't find the right home for it.

One of my favorite things about this quilt is where the Realtree and Mossy Oak logos pop up.

My other favorite part was the smile on her face when she opened it.

Happy New Year everyone, I'm looking forward to sharing lots of good things with you this year.

It's the first week of school. To be more precise, it's the second day of school which for our district is the first full day.

I'm normally the first one to cheer the first day of school.  I'm the mom who has the countdown for the first day of school started on the last day of school.  I usually host a brunch for friends on the first day of school to celebrate the quiet.

Even as a kid I looked forward to the first day of school...

...not this year.

Cj started middle school.  This means a new building, new teachers, new paras, new pick up and drop off plans.  Somewhere mid summer I started waking up in the middle of night with my heart pounding...Does he have to change for PE?  Will they continue his binder schedule system?  How will we get him to work a padlock?  When will his teacher have her baby?  Who will be his para?  Will his shoes fit?  Will he be able to open his new water bottle?  The answer to all these questions?  I could say, doesn't matter, it will all work out, but you know that's not my style.  The answers are as follows, no, yes, I found a padlock you that you turn wheels to make a word, in 8 days, two great ladies, no, yes.

From the sounds of things, both the kids had a great day and were ready to head back for more today.

I survived.  I did not cry as I left the school yesterday.  I almost did.  I was incredibly grateful for a group of friends who distracted me with eggy casserole, chocolate pecan coffee cake and lots of laughs.

Lulu has her bestie and the therapy dog in her classroom so she's set. (Her teacher is the dog's caretaker so she spends the first half of every day in their class.)

Cj woke up the night yelling about monsters, but fell back to sleep.  He woke up this morning ready for the day.  On the walk to school, he reminded me 3 times of our pick up meeting place and double checked to make sure he had chocolate chip cookies in his lunch.  Take that autism!!

Now on to something completely different.

My brother's flag quilt is finished.  My aunt did a great meander on her long arm with variegated blue to grey thread.

If he doesn't like it, I'm keeping it.  Well, first I will kick him in the shin and then I will keep it.

This quilt is for my brother and his fiance.  He is a serious history buff and she lived in Great Britain for many years.  They asked for a quilt last year and when I suggested something with flags, they loved the idea.  Then he told me it needed to be king size.  Then I panicked, then I made them this kickin' quilt top. This quilt by Amy Smart became my jumping off point.

Both the Union and American flags are pieced according to their official sizes.

Three of the American flags have 13 stars that have been hand appliqued.

The flags were my starting point and from there I looked to history for my next step.  I loved the idea of a central motif surrounded by border upon border as seen in quilts from the late 1700's to early 1800's.  Unfortunately by the time I came up with this plan, my panel of flags was too wide to have all that extra border on the sides.

Things like this tend to happen when you plan as you sew.

So I went with bands at the top and bottom.  This book cover gave me the idea to make rows of off kilter flying geese.

I kept the feel of the historic quilts by adding corner blocks to the borders.

A red star in each corner that was closest to the flags and then Union shields on the corners of the flying geese rows.

Here's the completed quilt top.

Did I mention it's huge!  We had to bring it outside for a picture and call in our neighbor for an assist.

I've sent it off to my aunt to long arm and I can't wait to see it when it's done.

just a couple of pairs of gloves a stitched up for birthday gifts...

The pattern is from Knitting New Mittens & Gloves by Robin Melanson.

I've been working away at the giant flag quilt

I love my  mini iron.

I also noticed this while brushing my teeth this morning...

Downton withdrawl is hitting hard this week.

Long story short, I'm working on a quilt for my brother. It's going to be king sized which, to be honest, makes me hyper ventilate, but I'm working through it.

Here's what I have so far.

hi  

I've been sewing, honest, I have.  I've been sewing so much that a lot of other things have been thrown by the wayside.  Important things like taking pictures of projects and writing posts and ironing.

I'm doing surprisingly well at keeping up with my 365.

These are a couple of photos from February.

I'm also following along with Faith's Solstice series over at Fresh Lemons Quilts.

Here's what I have so far...

I'm loving how they are coming together.