and on to the next quilt

I have been collecting orange and yellow fabrics for a while now. And a few weeks ago I finally cut into it to make a zig zag quilt. At first I thought I'd make a string quilt with it but I somehow changed my mind and it is now a zig zag. Turns out I probably have enough fabric for 2 or 3 more quilts. Oops.

how to patch a shirt

A few years ago I bought this adorable turtleneck for Charlie. The first time he wore it he cut 2 small holes in it with a pair of scissors. I vowed to fix it, but I wasn't sure how.

Finally, about a month ago, I figured it out. I knew I could applique some sort of animal shape (and what animal shape would be approriate for grey, red, and white stripes?) but I hadn't thought of the square background. The final shape needed to cover the holes AND the embroidered bear in the corner.

I was working with my friend Tabby on making some 1 onesies and had this aha moment. I also love the etsy seller moonmum and have been wondering how to use some of her designs on something without outright copying her. I tried to change her robot up a little, so it wasn't exactly the same. I LOVE how it turned out.

So if your 3 year old cuts your favorite striped shirt (I think each of my kids has done it) now you'll still be able to save it!

also been working on . . .

something that's been on my list for a while. My closet door. It has now been freshly painted (2 coats on each side) and hardware cleaned of old paint. That hardware (doorknob, plates, hinges, and all screws) was a bugger to clean. It took a few days and several toothpicks to clean out all the layers of old paint. But I am so happy with the result! And I am pleading with you all - PLEASE DO NOT PAINT YOUR HARDWARE. If you can't remove it entirely at least tape it off so you don't get paint all over it. It takes more time, but it looks much nicer. Okay. Enough of that. Now for the photos.

I love my doorknobs.

The door and doorway (which was also repainted). I'm also going to add some hooks to the inside of the door for towels and scarves.

Of course, I don't have before pictures, but this is an example of a hinge that's been painted over. This on is in the hallway. It is next on my painting/stripping project list.




These are the hall closet doors. Almost every door upstairs looked like this (with the grey inside). The closet door was the last of 9 doors to be painted (and hardware cleaned) upstairs. The hallway is the next job. The yellow on the right is wallpaper glue left over from when I finished stripping the wallpaper. It needs to be cleaned off (the white wall on the left has been cleaned of glue), then all the cracks and holes filled and sanded, then painted. It is the next house job on the list.

I've waited long enough

I finished this quilt several weeks ago. But I wanted to make sure Ash and Andy saw it first.

I LOVE it! I want to make a bazillion more of them!

I also tried a new quilting pattern this time. It's a kind of a vine and it's on the diagonal. I like how it turned out and it wasn't too hard, but next time I think I'll mark at least some of the lines.

New

I have a new niece!

big foot

I just took Jack to get new shoes. He is 9. He now wears the same size as me. Any guesses on how big his feet will get and how tall he'll be?

I was lazy today, but then I made up for it

This morning I hung out with Dan until 10:30. Then I called my bff from 20 years ago and we talked on the phone for an embarrassingly long amount of time. When it was almost time for the kids to come home from school I figured I'd better get something done today.

So I built a shelf to go under my sink, cleaned the bottom shelf (I have never cleaned it in 5 years of living here, but Dan probably has) and organized all the stuff under there. There's even extra space!

After all the stuff had a place to go I cleaned the bathroom! It is my most hated job of all time, but I did it. It may never happen again.

Then I decided that the broom closet/cleaning closet needed some cleaning and organizing. So I cleaned it and organized it. Amazing. It looks so lovely (as lovely as a cleaning closet can look).

Finally, I made dinner for the boys (thank goodness for frozen burritos - I'll have to get some more of those.) Have I told you how Charlie requests "brocamole" nearly every day? That's all he ate.

I got even more stuff done after that, but I can't show it to you yet.

I feel like this post needs a photo but I can't think of a good one. Sorry.

Next up

Now that I've finished a quilt, I feel justified in starting another one. Technically, I should probably finish another one (since I've just recently started Luke's dog quilt) but, you know, I'm just not really like that.

These fabrics have been staring at me for the last few days (because I left one of my boxes out and open and these happened to be on top). I am going to make a quilt like this one with them. It's going to be so great! I even got a few squares done today.

wonky star quilt finished (finally!)

Remember when I showed you this quilt top? Well that was way back in August (just before my surgery). The other day I got it out and finished it! Quilted it. Bound it. Washed it. Photographed it even. Amazing. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it. So I'll keep it in a safe place until I figure it out.

Quilting inspired by this quilt (though mine was not nearly as nicely done).

Wonky stars inspired by this quilt.

Binding is Heather Ross lightning bugs stripe. I love a striped binding.

destashing a bit

I was looking through my quilting/sewing books today and found a few I could part with. So I've listed them in my etsy shop at some great prices. I haven't been making much jewelry as of late, but there still are several goodies in there. Go on over and check it out!