Bueller....Bueller....

I'm here, I really am!  Things have been a bit crazy in the house of Shmoo, but I have not forgotten about all of you quilt sewing blog readers.  

We graduated the class of 2009 on Sunday.  I shed far too many tears.  We cleaned out the dorm, had a little graduation lunch with my most favorite girls from the dorm, and then.....we hopped in the car and headed to Maryland to see one of The Shmoo's Godmothers. She works at an all girls school outside of Baltimore, and many is it different than what I'm used to. 

However, we are here, on vacation, and loving every minute of it.  The Shmoo has 2 new cats to chase/ play with, and J has never been to the DC area.  We braved the National Aquarium in Baltimore today, and it was wonderful.  It was quite possibly the most expensive day trip we have ever taken ( $55 for the Aquarium tickets, $20 for parking- come on now people, and $48 for lunch), but the most fun too.  Tomorrow will take us back to Baltimore for the Children's Museum, and Saturday we are off to the Zoo.  

Grades are due by 9am tomorrow, and instead of writing comments I am writing to you all:-) That's the way it should be if you ask me!!!

Well, I wish you all peace filled weekends, and I will be back next week with a zillion photos of all the sewing I have been up to.

Until then...Peace be with you. 

Happy Mother's Day....

To every mother out there. I hope that you feel loved, appreciated, and valued on this beautiful day.

Peace be with you!

Overdue Thanks

Oh do I have some overdue thanks.  My mailbox has been over flowing with swap packages, and

my manners have been poor in the " Thank You" department!

The first goes out to Andrea who made me this beautiful table topper for the Spring Swap.

I love it, and cannot wait until we find a new home to use it 

in.

The next goes out to Hermione who was my partner in the Seams to Me swap.  Although I don't have a photo ( I know, shame on me), I wanted to thank your publicly for the beautiful bag she made me ( the Taxi Tote) from Anna Maria Horner's book.  It will definitely be used quite a bit this summer for the trips to the pool and lake this summer.  

And finally, a  THANK YOU to Jennie for the beautiful quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 6.  I am a huge dot fan, so this could not be more perfect.  She also included 30+ 6" charm squares of Amy Butler fabrics, the coolest coloring/ sticker books for The Shmoo, and a lovely card.  I have to admit that I have not hung this beauty on the wall.  Instead, it is living in my car so that I see it every day.  That may sound a bit strange, but I spend quality time in my car bringing The Shmoo to and from school.

On another topic I have joined 2 more swaps....it's an addiction, I'm aware! 

 The first is Amanda Jean's Quilt-a-long where we make 1 nine patch a day for 10 weeks.  This will be the new quilt for J and my bed once we move.  It will be scrappy, completely from my stash, and hold many, many memories.  These 9 patches are a bit addictive ( I've made 24 in the last 7 days).  Here is my first round of blocks:

The second is Quilt Around the World hosted by SummerSadie.  I will keep you posted on how things are going in swap world...cause I know you are interested :-)

Peace be with you.

I love my Fruits and Veggies...

Some of you may remember that I'm currently in love with RJR's Farmers Market line.  Well, one of The Shmoo's babysitters ( okay, the only one not related to us) just had her first baby last month and so a quilt was in order.  She and her partner are very " back to the earth" kind of folks, so the fruits and veggies felt like the perfect fabric.  I started with pinwheels....

...but the quilt felt too narrow.  It needed a few inches on both sides without adding more pin wheels-- not enough fabric. 

 But, I did have the "scraps" .....

... I made two sets of piano keys, and added them to on.  I love it!  I'm so happy with it, and hope that once it's quilted, washed and dried it will be even better.  This is the first quilt that I have not washed the fabric for before cutting and piecing.  Fingers Crossed!

And, seeing as I had 12 blocks left over I whipped up this little baby---

It's soooo cute!  Would make a cute doll quilt for some little Shmootle out there.  It needs a little boarder or something.  I'll have to see what I can scrounge up in my scrap pile.

It has been a productive weekend, and hopefully I can complete these beauties over the next week.

Peace be with you.

Blogger Quilt Festival

I've never been to an actual quilt show, so when I saw the posting on Park City Girl's site I had to join. It took me awhile to decide which quilt was my favorite, but I had to go with this one of The Shmoo's nap quilt for school. The story goes a little something like this....

When The Shmoo started Nursery School last year he refused to sleep at school...okay, he didn't really sleep at home either. Well, as he got older ( and wiser) he started napping at school EVERY DAY. One day I asked the teacher what he slept with. She pulled out a rag. No, really, it was a rag. I was horrified. How could my Shmoodle sleep under a rag when I have more fabric than a quilt store? So, that weekend I started a " Nap Quilt" for him. I pulled out scraps, and yardage, and began cutting 2X7 rectangles. I wanted it to be scrappy, and happy, and fun. I wanted him to be able to look at all the different pieces while he fell asleep, but more than anything I wanted him to be wrapped in my love while he was away from me. Once it was complete I knew it needed to be professionally quilted to last the weekly washings it was going to have to withstand. I picked red thread to match the red and white polka dot backing fabric and a dragon fly pattern for fun and funk. I love this quilt. The Shmoo loves this quilt. There are fabrics from almost every quilt I have every made. It has pieces from pajama pants I wear all the time, Grants Qwillow, my mom's many quilts, etc. It has history, and when he sleeps under it his is wrapped in all the love that went into it. At some point he will out grow it, but I made it 36X47 so we have a little time before that happens:-)

Hop on over to Amy's blog and check out everyone else involved in the festival. There are so amazing quilts out there in Blog land, and the best part is you can look at them all in your pajamas!

Happy Weekend to you all! Peace be with you.

Scraps to share?

You may have noticed my " To Do" in the right hand margin on my blog....well, if not take a look.  Well, one of the items on my list is a scrappy braid quilt for Grant ( the son of Isaac's God Father and the only real father figure I've ever had). 

 I made Grant a Qwillow when he was about 7 years old.  We went to the fabric store together, and he picked out 3 coordinating fabrics - on his own.  9 years have passed, and this qwillow is still on his bed.  He brings it on all car trips, and allows no one to touch, much less use, it.  When The Shmoo and I visited in March Grant was a bit jealous of The Shmoo's braid quilt.  Realizing that his next birthday is the big 1-6 I thought he might just need a braid quilt of his own.  

SO- that is where you all come in.  Might you have some scraps to spare.  I have  many, but it seems there are more pinks than blues in my pile.  I am in search of fun and funky fabrics roughly 2.5 inches by 7 inches.  Please leave a comment if you are willing to share your scraps with an almost 16 year old who truly appreciates the art of quilting :-)  

Thank you in advance.  Peace be with you.

Hopping Bunnies...

Well, I've felt like a hopping bunny this past week.  My sewing machine has been going non stop I tell you, and it didn't stop until 9am this morning!  I sent a fabric basket filled with chocolate, and other goodies to both my mom and my aunt ( they loved them) . 

 I then made 4 more baskets for my Senior Leaders ( one was still on the sewing machine when I took this picture).  They are made based on the tutorial on Orange Flower.

This will be the last holiday for my Advisees, so they got 

mini duffel bags filled with pencils, note pads ( with their first initial on in), bubble gum tape, jelly beans, and chocolate.  These were made using a pattern from Love the Fabric.  The pattern I used is not actually on her web site, but she has great patterns non the less.  

Now, I am a glutton for punishment, so I also made a little drawstring bag for The Shmoo's favorite student in the dorm.... The embroidery pattern is from Orange Flower, and the bag pattern from Pink Penguin.

Whew....All bags and baskets have been delivered, and appreciated.  Now I have some serious catching up to do on all of my swaps.  Plus, I am determined to make J and I a new quilt for our up coming move.  PS- we have no idea where we are moving, but we're going to have a new quilt on our bed if it kills me!

 Peace be with you.