Long Week

I've been trying to be a better blogger but sometimes depressing live gets in the way.  My FIL had his 80th birthday last week and we threw a party for him.  2 days later he fell on some steps in the garage and broke his hip.  He had surgery on Wednesday and it has taken a LONG time for him to come out of the anesthesia.   We have been spending a lot of time at the hospital this week so not much on the sewing front.  The good news is that he slept until 2:30 this afternoon (yes we were VERY worried) but when he woke up I was in the room with him and he is back to his old self.  Now he just has to go to rehab for several weeks before he can go home.  So I may not be around here a lot in the next few weeks either but I will try my best.

I can't wait for vacation!

A few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Valentine's Mini Doughnuts

Ducky Quilt - Paper Pieced with my new Kumiko Fujita Patchwork 318 book that I got for Valentine's Day.  Shipped from Japan via a friend in Amsterdam.

I finished my February blocks for the Simple Modern Quilt Bee 2 

Trying out the Lil Twister template and turned it into a pillow.  I think I  need to make a quilt with this template. 

Fun family dinner of quesadilla's using the kids new plates from Aunt Amy

Have a great week!

Jill

W-I-P Wednesday

It's been a surprisingly busy week on the sewing front. 

I decided to use some of my stash fabric and was able to complete this baby quilt top.  It's pretty small at 24" by 32" but would be a good size for a stroller quilt.    Just feels good to use some fabrics that have been sitting around.  I hope to get it quilted this weekend, I'm going to be doing it on my machine at home rather than the Statler.

S came home from school last night and wanted to make a pincushion for his teacher.  He had showed her his latest monster he created and thought she might like something.  He picked out the fabric himself, Urban Circus elephants on the front and Joel Dewberry woodgrain on the back. I cut the square and he sewed them together and stuffed it.  He is taking it to school today and hopefully his teacher either sews or can find another use for it.

Finished 2 blocks for the Simple Modern Quilt Bee 2 on flickr.  These are the LynnBob Square Pants blocks made a little larger at 18 1/2 inches each

S is studying Iowa in school and brought home a picture that they had been working on and it was sitting on the back door for several weeks.  I haven't embroidered for a little while so decided to embroider the State of Iowa.  I'm not sure how I will finish this out but it will probably turn into a mini quilt.

W-I-P

Quilt for Church Auction - due in July, pieces are cut
Dino Tumbler Quilt - need to quilt and bind
Star Quilt - need to piece the top
S's Bed Quilt - pieces cut
The Pillow Talk {Swap} - have an idea in mind
4X5 Modern Quilt Bee - have the pattern cut out and just need to sew

Hopefully the list will be shorter by next week. 

Jill

Modern Quilt Guild Sew In

The Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild had a Sew In last Friday night and Saturday.  It was so much fun to be able to spend 2 days with these ladies.  I was able to complete 2 baby quilts.




At a park on my way to work this morning





In my Backyard


These quilts are a special request from my little sister.  She has 2 friends which are both having babies so she wanted the quilts to use the same design and the same 6 colors (one color for each of her friends in the group).  Purple and Yellow were both having babies so I wanted that to be the main focus color of each of the quilts and they have a minky backing and satin binding.  I don't think I will bind another quilt with satin but it has a nice texture for a baby quilt.

Getting better at using the long arm!

These will be send to her today by Fed Ex so she can give them as gifts at their girls weekend this coming weekend.  Not to bad for 2 weeks notice (which for little sis is a LONG time).

Now I can work on my Simple Modern Quilt Bee 2 blocks which are cut and just need to be sewn.

Have a great week!

Jill

5 things to Celebrate

Sorry I've been gone from the blog for a little bit.  Some Oral Surgery was a little more difficult to recover from than I thought it would be.  I haven't been doing a lot of sewing but started again today.

Trying to stay positive although the football game was a blowout.

5 Reasons to Celebrate today

1.  I finally did a Circle of Geese block.  This is the block I'm going to use for the 4x5 Swap on Flickr for 1st quarter.  Just need to tear off the paper and I have 1 finished already.  I really like this yellow and grey combination but it will be sent off to Michelle 

2.  The boys are both sleeping over at a friends house.  I get to spend a nice quiet evening with this guy

3.  I only had to work for 4 1/2 hours today rather than spending all day at work.

4.  It was 51 degrees today.  Gorgeous weather

5.  We got reservations at Pizzeria Bianco for our trip to AZ.

Hope everyone else had a great Sunday also.

Jill

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Season's Greetings!!!

I hope everyone has a relaxing holiday.  I plan to hang out at home today, eat some yummy prime rib and roasted veggies and watch the Packers game tonight.  May even get some quilting bee blocks finished today.

I was able to finish a few projects before Christmas including...

Stockings for the boys

Pouches for Teachers (although my youngest forgot to give them to his teacher,  sorry Ms. Donels you will get yours on January 3rd)

We made a trip down to Pella and Knoxville yesterday for a little Christmas Eve family fun.

Peace Tree Brewery - Root Beer for the boys (the one with the pretzel floating in it) and some Templeton Imperial Stout for Scott

D showing us how he can polka dance before bed.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

McBroom Family Christmas

Today is the day that Scott's family gets together for Christmas.

I wasn't able to complete the pillow for my MIL so I made a Inset Zipper Pouch by Keyka Lou.  I only had to use the Sally the seam ripper once so I consider that a success for a new pattern.  I really like how it takes advantage of special fabrics for the center panel.  Also, the top was a little too tough for my sewing machine to sew through nicely so I decided to add some hand quilting in a coordinating color.  I was happy with how it turned out and my MIL loved it.

Dinner was scrumptious we had Ham, Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole, Brussel Sprouts, Ceasar Salad and lots of desserts.  When your cooking for 23 people it's nice to have a condensed menu.   What is the etiquette when someone shows up 1 1/2 hour after dinner, you have already cleaned everything up and they and their kids are hungry???  Seriously folks 1:00 means 1:00.  Off my high horse now.

I have some time this afternoon to finish some more Holiday Sewing for teachers and friends.

FYI - yesterday S helped me make a bunch of pillowcases for his and D's room.  His first attempt at using the sewing machine and it went pretty well.

Sew Mama Sew Winner

I hope everyone had a lot of fun with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway week.   I used Mr. Randon Number Generator and the winner is

SewLindaAnn said...

My favorite Christmas activity besides driving around to look at Christmas lights, is watching a different holiday movie most every night beginning with Thanksgiving. Love the treats and the relaxing time together.

December 15, 2011 7:21 AM  

I really enjoyed listening to everyone's favorite ChristmasActivities!l Happy Holidays to everyone!

Jill