I'm back...

OK, so I haven't completely abandoned my blog.  Sorry for the unintentional summer break.  Living in the Pacific Northwest we've been taking advantage of the sunshine and spending more time outside, which of course means time away from the sewing machine.  I've been working on more portable projects.  Lots of hexie making and though I don't have a picture to post, I've been knitting a bit.  I'll fill you in on the knitting project after Christmas as I'm making something for a friend.

Here are some of the squares I'll be sending off for Round II of the Mod Bento Block Swap.  I didn't get a chance to participate last time.  Everyone in the house had a cold and well, taking care of the kiddies was more important.  Can't wait to send these off and see what I get in return!  It's still a few weeks before they're due.  Still time to participate if you're interested.  :)

Meanwhile I had a few scraps left over until I saw this.  I just had to make one like it.  It's been a fun little project and it's taught me a lot, like how to baste diamonds, triangles, and half hexies.

It also taught me that I needed to make smaller whip stitches so that they wouldn't show as much on the front.  Here's the little mini quilt all pieced together.  I really enjoyed every minute of it.  That is up until this point...now what?  I'm going to attempt to hand quilt it, something I've never done before.  Of course, since I've never hand quilted anything, I've got lots of questions which = lots of Google searches.  :)  Which leads me to ask you...know any good hand quilting tutorials?  What color thread should I quilt with?  Should I add a border or should I leave it as it is?  Then of course, what will I use for the backing fabric and binding?  Should I only quilt the stars?  The hexies?  So many decisions and I tend to be a bit indecisive, if you haven't noticed.  That folks is why I don't get projects finished, I just move on to the next thing.  Such a bad habit!  Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this.

New To Me

So, my brother sent me the camera.  Yipee!  I'm still getting used to using it.  This camera is a Kodak and my previous camera was a Canon.  It may not be a new camera, but it's new to me, so these pictures aren't all the best, but they're definitely better than no pictures at all.

So, these are the fabrics I'm going to use for the Mod Bento Block Swap.  What do you think?  I've been looking at all of the gorgeous blocks on flickr that others have made and am a bit intimidated.  I'll share my finished blocks with you after I make them.

Another thing that's new to me is paper piecing or foundation piecing.  I decided to give it a try and found this site.  I continued looking and found this site.  And this free pattern.  This Silly Chicken Block was a lot of fun to make and I have a friend who loves chickens.  I'm thinking that I'm going to follow Elizabeth's tutorial and make a potholder or two for my friend.  Of course, I have more projects to finish before I finish this one. 

I had so much fun making the chicken that I also found this pattern and made a few tea cups.  My husband has an aunt that is quite fond of throwing tea parties, so this may just end up as something for her.  She also loves blue and white dishes.  I need more blue and white fabrics to finish this project.

Anyhow, that's what I've been working on lately.  What have you been working on?

No Pictures

You may be wondering where I've been, or maybe not.  Well, this past weekend my mom got married.  I was the matron of honor.  I'd love to show you pictures, but well, the two-year-old got a hold of my camera.  She pried open the lens and now the auto focus, amongst other things, does not work.  My brother to the rescue!  Yes, my brother just happened to have a spare camera and is sending it to me.  While I'm not sure exactly what this camera looks like, or how to work it yet...I'm very excited!  He shipped it today and it should be here by Friday.  Hopefully, I'll be able to make it work and will be sharing lots of pictures with you soon.

Joined A Swap

I'm so excited!  I just joined the Mod Bento Block Swap.  Jessica is hosting this one over at Give It A Go.  Looks like it's gonna be lots of fun.  You should sign up too.  :)

M.I.A.

Sorry blog, I have not forgotten you.  Things have just been a little crazy around here.  That's why I've been Missing In Action.  Yes, even more crazy than the normal chasing of the two-year-old and entertaining of the six-month-old. 

Let's see, where do I begin?  Hmmm...yes, well, I left off trying to make a couple birthday gifts for two little girls.  Well, I ended up making this.  Sorry no pictures.  Not what I had planned at all, but it turned out to be the perfect gift.  I love it when the unexpected works out.  :)  Not sure if I mentioned it before or not, but the birthday party was for a cousin.  Well, actually my husband's cousin's little girl.  The party was great, a fun time for all. 

Skip to the craziness a few days later...we bought our home almost five years ago.  We love our home.  Well, the Mr. and I had been talking about refinancing, seeing as rates are quite low right now.  Wait, here it comes...seems the house we bought may have been built on the wrong piece of land.  We may own the empty lot next door.  No, I am not kidding!!!  See, when we bought our home, it had just been built and we were so excited to be young, in love, and buying our first home.  Now, we've been talking to the title company, realtors, a real estate lawyer and so on.  Let me ask you, what kind of dummy builds a home on a lot he doesn't own?  Further more, what about all of the county permits and inspectors that let him do it?  Why did no one catch this five years ago?  Yes, it's a gigantic mess!  We are hoping it's all resolved soon so that we can get a decent night's sleep around here. 

Now, if that's not enough...there's more.  Remember the birthday party?  Well, the day before Mother's Day, my husband's cousin's wife, mother of the adorable little girls (ages 5 and 7) and mother of an equally adorable baby boy (four months) was diagnosed with MS.  Suffice to say, we've been praying non-stop.  She has a really positive attitude and we are all anxiously awaiting what her doctors have to say.

Now, on a lighter note, my daughter has been wearing a dishtowel as a cape all morning.  I wish I had pictures of this to share.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get one this afternoon.  It's a beautiful day and I think we'll be going to the park shortly.  We have to take advantage of the fact that it isn't raining.  :)  I'm hoping to work on making some more hexies this evening after the kiddies go to bed. 

Small Roadblock

There was a bit of a roadblock with the bird embroidery project.  Turns out the embroidery hoop I have isn't quite big enough.  So, that project is on hold for now.

I did however stitch up this Pegasus and Unicorn from Badbirds' pattern.  I plan on using these two cuties for a couple presents I need to make for two little girls.  The birthday party is this weekend and I'm still not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them. 

Don't you love getting mail?  I do.  Well, not the bills, the fun kind.   I got the sweetest package yesterday from the lovely Melanie of Texas Freckles.  She sent little squares of gorgeous fabrics and a few hexies she made.  These will all be incorporated into my hexagon quilt eventually.  Thank you Melanie!

This afternoon my two-year-old daughter brought me this drawing.  When I asked her what it was a picture of, she said "It's you mommy."  Isn't that sweet?  In real life I'm not quite so wide-eyed and nervous looking.  :)

I Don't Have A Light Box

Making all those hexies, I realized that I needed a needle book.  So, I searched around for a tutorial and here is what I found.  I cut out the pieces Thursday night after the kiddies went to bed and sewed it up Friday during nap time.  So CUTE!  The tutorial was really easy to follow. 
 

Even the inside is cute.  It's been quite useful having a needle book.

This has been today's project so far.  I don't have a light box or a transfer pen, but I do have a window and a blue water soluble pen.  It took me a while to trace, but again I got this done mostly during nap time.  I found this embroidery pattern over here and she has many other cuties. 

Here he is up close.  I hope to get him embroidered soon and add him to my two-year-old's room.  I'm going for a bird theme in her room.  He'll either get framed or possibly become a small pillow.  I'll figure it out later.

 

At one point while I was tracing him, my daughter came up to me and said "I have tape too."  I gave her two pieces and this is what she did.  She taped up Elmo Fred.  Yes, she's recently decided to call him Fred.  She'll also tell you she's seven.