Craft Hope Project #4

Craft Hope Project #4 is underway! This time they need sock monkeys! Ugh. The last time I tried to make a sock monkey it didn't turn out so well. I've also got a full plate right now as far as projects go, so, I don't know if I'll make a sock monkey this time around. BUT, one of YOU could make a sock monkey!! The monkeys are headed over to Little Heroes Preschool Burn Camp, and they will benefit the smallest of burn victims through the Firefighters Burn Institute in Sacramento, California. Deadline is September 18th, plenty of time. Head on over for a Sock Monkey Tutorial.

Numbers are in...

The numbers for Craft Hope's Project 3: Bhawani, Rourkela & Sooch Village are in!

Beanies: 494

Booties: 379

lBankets: 465

Pillowcases: 302

Hankies: 776

Bibs: 7

Balls: 23

Total Items: 2,446

WOW!

Yum

Finished, finally, two years later. Got put up and forgotten. My picnic quilt! It's pretty big, and hard to take a picture of. Some of the quilters on Flickr have such nice pictures of their quilts, and I can never seen to get a good picture. But, here it is, finished. I really like it and had a lot of fun picking out all the different food fabrics, and now I have a TON of leftover food fabric that I'm not sure what to do with. I finished this yesterday and it has already been used and spilled upon by two little boys having a picnic. Did I mention that I really like it?

Projects....

More blocks done for the Quilt-Along over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I'm behind, but catching up.

These are my blocks for the block swap at my quilt meeting tomorrow afternoon. This meeting's block is the Bow Tie, I made these from my stash. I put them into the hat to win a set of blocks to turn into a quilt. Never participated in this before and thought I'd give it a try.

Got my fabric cut out for the In the Leafy Treetops Quilt Along over at Whosies. I'm using "vintage" sheets, not really sure that they are all vintage. This is all the rage right now, I'm told, and wanted to try it out. This picture doesn't do these justice. The green fabric on the left is actually more polyester than cotton, but was from my Great Grandmother's stash and I'm using it. When the In the Leafy Treetops Quilt Along is over I should have something that looks like this:

I love this!

Craft Hope

My Craft Hope donations are done and mailed off. My final total was 7 quilts, 1 pillowcase, 7 handkerchiefs, and 5 baby hats. You should head over and check out the numbers so far! Many, many children will be getting lovely items in a couple of weeks.

In case you missed it on my facebook...

Today's Haiku:

Oh wondrous spray starch,
Where have you been all my life?
I think I love you!

True story.

Success!

This is my fourth green bean "harvest" from my garden, and there's more coming where that came from. Every two days I have to go back out there and pick some more. I love my green bean plants! So far they're the only things really going. My basil went to seed, my pea plants didn't get staked up so they're everywhere, my lettuce did ok, zucchini should be coming and looks promising, pumpkins look promising, sunflowers are a no-brainer, potatoes I'm not sure about because they're underground and I don't really know what to do with them (they were given to me), and my peppers are not doing anything at all. So, yeah, I LOVE my green bean plants. However, the only family member not getting sick of green beans is Duncan, he can't get enough. My garden is fenced (good thing!) and when that gate opens Duncan comes running! I always give him a little something, I mean they're just vegetables. I noticed something weird though a few days ago. It looked like some of my green beans had bites out of them. But my garden is fenced...weird. Then I caught him in the act. Duncan goes to both sides of the garden fence, sticks his nose through the chain-link, pulls whatever plant he can reach through and helps himself. He loves his veggies!

Another One!

Like I don't have enough projects I went and joined another Quilt Along, the Zig-Zag Quilt-Along over at Old Red Barn Co. I know, I know...have I finished the last Quilt Along quilt? No, not yet, but I will! I had to get quilts done for Craft Hope so I could mail them out tomorrow so they'll make it by the deadline. My new Quilt Along starts tomorrow, and I went out today and got my fabrics. This photo is not very true to the colors, but I really thought a rainbow like effect would be pretty. I guess we'll see!

We need a bug identification book...

Maddox is a bug boy. He finds bugs interesting. I do not. I try to encourage his interests, even the ones that sick me out. He has a bug kit, magnifying glass, etc. Lately he's wanted to know what kinds of bugs he has caught. I try to find them online, but it isn't easy because I know nothing about bugs, because I do not like them. We found a new one last night:

Polyphylla decemlineata

It it a 10-lined June Beetle, or Hissing Beetle. It does hiss, LOUD. Seemed like a nice tame beetle sitting on the house, but the thing was not happy in the bug kit. It lifts it LARGE antennae up in the air and hisses, LOUD. Add in that this beetle is seriously 2 inches long and it makes for a freaky bug.

This picture was not our beetle, our beetle was bigger, I'm sure. Where is the bug now, you ask? As Maddox likes to say, in nature. We try to release our bugs, but Maddox knows that spiders aren't held to the same standard.

Hats Done!

I said I'd let y'all know when I had some things done for Craft Hope.

Five Hats Finished!

Here is Maddox's baby Lucy trying one on for size.

Click HERE for a tutorial on how to make some of these hats.

You still have time to contribute to Craft Hope, deadline for items is July 25th.

More done...

Finished!

I got the 2nd block for Shannon done!

More Progress...

More nine patches done for the One A Day Quilt-A-Long...

And one of the blocks done for Shannon, and the Stash Busting Bee International. The fabric she sent is the center square. I have one more block that I need to make for her this month. The quilt she's making has a Hunting Lodge theme for her nephew, so I figured a Hunting Lodge quilt needed a Log Cabin block.

Craft Hope

Craft Hope has teamed up with the Miracle Foundation and just started Project 3. The Miracle Foundation is an organization dedicated to empowering children to reach their full potential, one orphan at a time. They will be traveling to the Bhawani, Rourkela and Sooch Village children's homes in August.They are desperately needing blankets, booties and beanies for these children to be kept warm. The blankets, booties and beanies can be knit, crocheted or sewn. Deadline for these items to be mailed is July 25th. Project 2 was a success, and delivered 405 handmade dolls to the children at Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua. Having worked for a week (mission trip) at a Mexican orphanage, my senior year of high school, I briefly experienced how great the need really is. I plan on making a quilt, and trying out at least one beanie. I'll post pictures as I get them done. There are also plenty of opportunities to contribute locally to organizations that need help. In the Spokane area alone there is a huge need, especially for blankets. The Craft Hope website is working on getting more links up to tutorials for people interested in helping out. You can click here for a tutorial on making a simple knot newborn cap.

I'm behind again....

So I'm behind on my blocks for the Quilt-A-Long. Not a huge surprise.

However, I have gotten a lot of other things done.

What's this you ask? It's my newly finished sewing machine cover! I LOVE IT!!!!! It ties on either side with ribbon, so it's fast and easy to get on and off. The fabric I used was from Sorbet, by Moda. I got the idea over at Sew, Mama, Sew! Check out the tutorial from Jessie over at Tiny House.

I have also just finished my first two blocks for Stash Bustin' Bee International. Basically, every member is assigned a month. When it's your month, you send a “scrap” of fabric to each of the other 11 participants by the 1st of your assigned month. The quilters will use their own stash to complete your block, incorporating the fabric you send.Quilters will send back the completed block by the end of the month, along with a scrap from their own stash, just to spread the stash love!

This was my first block. Lish, who had this month, requested pinwheels, stars, or spinning things. The flower print was the fabric that was sent to me, the red and blue are from my stash. This block was 12.5", and I was pleased with it.
I had enough fabric left over to make this 6.5" pinwheel block. Again, I was pleased with my first effort. Until I saw Marilyn's block. Her block blew mine out of the water.

More Progress & a Giveaway!

I'm caught up...for today.

These are my latest blocks for the One a Day Quilt-Along. I've also joined an International Quilting Bee, can't wait to get started. It's a year long commitment, but by the end I'll have a quilt made up of different blocks from people all over.


And hey.....Check this out
Head over to The Fabric Shopper by this Sunday and enter to win 30 fat quarters of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric!!! Click on the picture above to shoot straight over to the giveaway.

Quilt-Along Progress Report...

So, a while back I joined the One a Day Quilt -Along over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I'm making progress, but am still a little behind. Hope to be caught up tonight. Below are week 2's blocks.

And here are week 3's blocks

Co-op Graduation Video

Maddox's co-op graduation was last week. The video starts out with him practicing in the car on the way, then shows the program. Maddox is wearing a white polo and dark blue shorts.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What We've Been Up To...

We have been BUSY!

We got the house painted, laminate flooring down everywhere,

the slate tile down in the kitchen,

landings, and hearth, and got the fireplace done.

Cut back the rose bushes that didn't do very well through the winter, and planted some flowers.



Maddox fell asleep waiting for the "lumberjacks" to come cut down the trees out back.

Got Maddox's new swing set put together...

....And tested.

Got the new fence put up. Wood in the back, vinyl out front.

Got the back yard cleared and leveled.

Practiced riding a bike.

Shop got delivered.

Shawn really excited, until...
...the forklift operator hit our house with it.

Shawn and Maddox got hair cuts.

I got a wallhanging made.

Duncan has his knee replaced and is doing well.

Sophie is just Sophie.

Won Again...And Free Samples!

So I won again! I won a prize pack of outdoor products to include Sidewalk Crayons, Rainbow Rake, and 3D Jungle Safari Activity Set from Crayola and Mudpies and Mary Janes!

On a different note, I have discovered that if you go over HERE, Walmart has a list of products that you can request a free sample of. Nothing is better than free. It takes 4 weeks to get your samples, but they're free so who's complaining?! So far I have a new hearing aid battery coming for my Grandpa, pull ups, perfume, lotion, sunscreen...the list goes on. You should check it out.

I Won!

I won a giveaway over at Something Snappy! What did I win?!? I won a complete set of natural and organic kid's products from Kiss My Face! Woot! Maddox is looking forward to the whale soap!

Something Different

I made Apple Fritters this morning. My Dad always talks about my Great Grandma's Doughnuts so I thought I'd try to make some. I got this recipe from Rachael Ray's magazine and they turned out pretty well. I used Splenda instead of sugar so they weren't super sweet.

Caught Up!

I joined the One a Day Quilt Along over at Crazy Mom Quilts yesterday, four days behind. I'm not behind anymore, this week's blocks are DONE!

I also got my blocks done for WSQ (Washington State Quilters). These four blocks will be in the raffle quilt at the 2010 Quilt Show. They aren't due until the September meeting but I'm ahead of schedule, for once. This is what I have been doing today.

Another Project!

So I was checking out some new quilting blogs, like I need any more blogs to follow, and came across Crazy Mom Quilts. She has started a One A Day Quilt Along, so I'm going to quilt along. Like I need any more projects! But...this one is about making just one little block a day. I can do that. So by about the middle of Summer I SHOULD be ready to put the quilt top together, which SHOULD look similar to the one pictured above. Plus, I can use my scraps for this! But...I'm already 4 days behind so now I need to catch up. I'm off to find my scraps...

Been a While... & a Giveaway!

So it's been a while since I've posted last. Since Shawn has been laid off we've really been getting things done around the house. Haven't been posting, but have still been checking out all the blogs. Speaking of....I found another giveaway, and it's fabric no less. I REALLY didn't want to post about it because then there's less chance that I'll win that awesome Moda jelly roll, but I am. Head over to Mid-Ohio Quilter to enter for your chance to win!

Here we go again...

So, Maddox is sick, AGAIN. And I did what I always do, took him to the doctor a million times. Actually, just twice this week, but it's only Wednesday. Here Shawn and I are, convinced that he's practically dying, just to be told that he has a really bad cold. AGAIN.

Interesting...and a Giveaway!

So I've been become a fan of Google and have been checking out a lot of Quilting Blogs lately. I've run across a really interesting one... Selvage Blog. A blog devoted to sewing and quilting anything and everything using the selvage. For those of you who don't know, selvage is the part at the end of the fabric that everyone always tells you to be sure and cut off, and usually gets thrown away. I find this to be particulary clever and the results unique. Now I can't wait to cut some selvage off of something and try it out.

Check out Moda Lissa & you could win a selvage ball, or one of two bags of Moda selvages!

Yoga Time!

Downward Facing Dog according to Maddox:

Doing Yoga with Maddox is almost pointless, for me at least.

It's not at all relaxing. He, however, thinks it's hilarious.