Dr. Seuss

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I just thought I'd share the little quilts I finished the other night.
A co-worker will be a first time grandma in October to twins and

as a school teacher she loves Dr. Seuss, mainly One Fish, Two Fish.

After much searching on the internet I found that there isn't an entire One Fish, Two Fish
fabric line, there were only a few pieces designed so I added them to other Seuss fabric,
backed it with red and white cuddle and bound it in the Seuss red and white stripe.  All in all, two super cute quilts for two yet to be born babies.


I'd also like to brag just a teeny bit.....
My daughter likes to paint and create.  I haven't yet been able to bring
either daughter over to the dark side of quilting (LOL) but I am happy that
Sarah likes to paint.  About a week ago we took a trip to a little Goodwill store
nearby and picked up a two drawer file cabinet for I think $6.    Here is what she
did to it this week.


Here's hoping everyone is enjoying their
Saturday.


Peggy

Staycation

    Last week was a "staycation" for us.  We normally go away but with planning our daughter's wedding and then hubby needing a new car, we decided that day trips was the way to go this year.

     We started off on Monday morning taking a drive into Burlington, NJ.  Hubby wanted to check the navigation system on the car to see how it worked and see how "user friendly" it was.   
     Hubby is pretty accommodating when I ask if he'll "chauffeur" me to a quilt shop or two or three  :)    We visited a really nice quilt shop called "Olde City Quilts".  It's in a very historic area of Burlington that has an old working train that goes thru the center of town and the streets are cobblestone! 
After that we went on a search for a Joann's Fabrics for some notions and quilting accessories that your normal quilt shops don't carry.  He treated me to a favorite lunch spot, Panera Bread, and then a quick visit to Wegman's.  We don't have a Panera or a Wegman's locally so those two places are treats for me.
 
     On Tuesday, Sarah was off work too so we took  the
Statue Cruise and went to the Statue of Liberty!
We've always lived in New Jersey but for some reason we've never gotten onto the island for an up close and personal with the Statue!
It had only opened to the public again on the 4th of July so it was a great time to go over and see the island.  The elevator was out of order so we had to walk the 170+ steps up to the area below the statue's feet to go outside and look out over the river to New York.

I have seen the statue before but to actually be able to see it up close is an amazing feeling.  The original torch is inside the base of the statue outside the museum and heard the story of why it's inside now by a really nice park worker.

 

Ellis Island is still off limits since it had quite a bit of damage during Hurricane Sandy so we could only look at it as the boat passed.

Hubby and I have been on the island, back about 20 years ago for a company anniversary dinner....His company rented the island for an evening to celebrate and after dinner, dancing, speeches etc. we were treated to a boat ride around the statue with fireworks.   One day we'll go back but for now we were happy to ride past it.

 

Wednesday we drove to Maryland with boxes, bins, newspaper, packing tape etc for our newly married daughter who is moving back to NJ with her husband for a job transfer!   Can you hear me cheering ????

 

Thursday the hubs and son golfed and gave me a little relaxation time....

 

Friday was an overcast/sprinkly day so I talked hubby into another trip to yet another quilt shop.  I didn't even know it existed until I did a Google search of NJ Quilt Shops.  We got to Mouse Creek Quilts and dashed to the front door thru raindrops only to find it closed AND the shop was empty.  Guess I didn't look at the web site carefully enough because it clearly says that they moved  :)   So, off we go on another adventure, found it and did some shopping....   Great shop, great fabrics and very, very nice ladies in the shop.  So willing to help me pick stuff out and spend my money  :)

All in all, it was a really nice and fun staycation.  I went back to work feeling rested and refreshed.

 

2013 Designer Mystery BOM

     Yup....I'm keeping up with this year's block like I did last year..... 
     Block # 2 Is called "Bows & Baskets" which was designed by Sandy Gervais of Pieces From My Heart. 
Once again, Fat Quarter Shop was super generous with their fabric cuts so I think I'm going to make some half square triangles and make some 9 patch blocks with them so that when I'm done, I'll have a second quilt to show for my efforts!!! 

Is anyone else doing anything with their scraps?

     I finished a Moda Bake Shop project too last night....It was a snowball quilt using some Aneela Hooey fabrics. I'll take pictures and make a separate post about that one.

      97 and super humid here in NJ....perfect day to stay inside and sew!

Peggy

Two Finishes

Here are 2 small kiddie size quilts I finished including the binding and washing them to get the desired "crinkly" effect

This "bright" quilt is made from a pattern that my local quilt shop owner designed herself and she calls it "Bricks and Stepping Stones".  I've probably made about half a dozen of these over the past few years.  They're fun and easy and as you can see, you can use scraps from your stash or even use one particular line. 

Now...the interesting thing about the backing:

Can you read that selvage?  1999?????  It's a Mary Lou Weideman green yellow and black stripe that I've had in my stash for YEARS!!!  The piece was perfect for the backing and I used STASH!!

I have another piece that's a red stripe exactly like this one....I'll have to make another kiddie quilt to use that up!

 

Then there's the zig zag.  I used a pink and white stripe for the binding which was perfect for this one and it washed up very nicely.  I still have quite a bit of this fabric line left in my stash so I'm sure I'll be making another quilt soon.....

Lets get started on that list

     Ok, lets get started on that "10 Things to Do This Summer" list. 

     Since I finished assembling the zig zag quilt last night I thought I'd start sandwiching and quilting that.   It's not a big quilt, 40 X 48 and it's made from a tutorial I found on "A Quilt is Nice" blog.  Her tutorial was easy to follow and the entire quilt went together in 2 nights.  It's made from "Out to Sea" fabric and came out super cute.

I'm just following the zig zag on my machine since I think it will really look sharp.....









Here are two pictures of what I have started quilting so far......

Ten Things This Summer

     While surfing some of my favorite blogs the other day I came across "A Quilting Life's" post that she referenced to another girl's blog about how quickly summer came and the need to organize ourselves for the summer or else it will be fall and we'll be saying "where the heck did the summer go?".

     It's shouldn't come as a surprise to close friends that I'm a list maker.  I make lists in work and I used to make more lists as the kids were young but in my sewing room I'm a free spirit......and sometimes that can be detrimental.  So, when I saw the ten things this summer post I thought to myself "I can do that!!!!"

     I don't have pictures of everything, but I think as I start the projects on the list I will post pictures then.  So, here goes.....

            Peggy's Ten Things for the 2013 Summer (in no particular order)

1.   Organize my bins of kits and make a list of what I have

2.   Pull out BOM kits, Thimbleberries kits etc. that I won't ever use and have   an online yard sale.

3.   Pull my Crabapple Hill "Snow Days" quilt out and get the binding sewn on.

4.   Take the "fox" fabric I have and make my great niece a small tote bag from it.  Her last name is "Fox" so before I misplace the fabric, I need to make her a bag.

5.   Make a reasonable bucket list of quilts I want to make.

6.   I have 2 sewing rooms....organize fabric, backings, kits etc. and get everything into 1 room.

7.   Take my HUGE pile of 5 inch kiddie charms and get them cut into triangles and get them assembled into a triangle quilt.

8.   I have 4 quilts out at the quilters.  When they come back I need to make the binding and get them sewn on and tacked down.

9.   Quilt my Zig Zag quilt, get it bound and washed.

10.  3 finished quilts need quilting and binding.....decide if I'll do them or send them out (purple star baby quilt,  black/white/pink baby quilt and scrappy star top)

So, there you have it.  My 10 things to do this summer....and that's a small list.  I have wool BOM's to keep up with, my 2013 Designer BOM to keep up with, some baby quilts to make when we find out what the babies will be and other fun projects to work on......

This will be a fun way to keep track of things!

Peggy in sunny, hot, hot, hot New Jersey!

Happy Birthday Dan!

See that handsome man on the right?  Yes, that's my boy.....and today is his birthday.  He's 28!
This picture was taken in April the night before our daughter's wedding...it's occasions like that that I can get all 3 kids together for a nice picture and not get grief over it  :)

It's days like this that I ponder the day he was born, his first haircut and even putting him on the bus for the first trip to kindergarten.  Life with Dan was never boring but fortunately he was never a troublemaker.....

Happy Birthday Dan!