me? procrastinate? nah...

Well... okay, I do procrastinate. A lot. So much so that I decided yesterday afternoon to make a present for a birthday party today. A party I've known about for, oh, three weeks. A challenge to finish something on time, for sure.

At any rate, this was a combined birthday party for two kiddos, a brother and sister. Brother just turned four and Sister turned two three days later. Life is busy at their house!

I made another edition of the fabric dollhouse, this time turning it into a barn.

I added an owl on the roof of one side and some trees on the other. I love me some hot glue!

I think I like it better than the first one because I played around with the inside this time. There's a watering hole, some hay, and a flower garden. The farmer and his piggy look pretty happy!

I was pretty happy, too. :) I had to leave the birthday party before presents were opened but I hope the birthday boy and girl like it!

I finished off the gift with a homemade birthday card and I made a simple drawstring bag to put it in.

quilting mania!

I feel like the quilting Tazmanian Devil. In the last few weeks, I've started three different quilts. And I actually finished one of them.

Besides the quilt along quilt and the baby quilt, week before last I started a table runner for my mom's birthday present. It came together really quickly, thanks to this tutorial from Diary of a Quilter via V and Co.

Unfortunately, I finished it, gave it to her, and neglected to take a picture. Bad Carmen, bad! But since every post needs a corresponding picture, I've included an illustration for your viewing pleasure... not *nearly* as good as the real thing, but you get the idea. :)
The tutorial was great, however... it combines piecing and quilting into one step! The whole thing went really quickly.

On another note, I want to wish my hubby a very happy birthday!! I love you. :)

hot, sticky, sunny, humid, rainy... take your pick

I'm in Florida this week visiting family, so there won't be much time to work on my quilts. I did, however, bring my crochet along, so hopefully there will be some progress with that.

Did you know that flying overnight is awful? I thought I'd maximize my time here by sleeping on the plane. Plane sleeping sucks, and it brought new meaning to the phrase "red eye". :)

it was a humdinger, boys and girls!

It poured here on the Fourth. Our town's fireworks display was rained out and it was, in general, a dark and gloomy day. Some of our neighbors braved the elements to set off a few fireworks in the street, but they got soaked. Plus, it was cold! Too cold for July, for sure.

I needed a break from the quilt along... I'm ready for the quilting part but wanted to wait until I found a free motion presser foot. I decided to start working on the baby quilt I planned to make for a friend's first baby. I bought some great fabrics... a set of fat eighths with eight different prints, and a few coordinating fabrics for binding and backing the quilt. All are in different shades of purple... they look so pretty together!

I really didn't have any idea of what kind of quilt I wanted to make, so I did some cruising around blogland and came across crazy mom quilts. She has a Stacked Coins baby quilt tutorial on Moda BakeShop that I absolutely loved. The only caveat was that I wanted to make a smaller quilt, so I needed to do my own math...bummer.

Fortunately, I had my very own super-fast-math-equation-loving husband on the couch not four feet away! I fired random math equations at him and he helped me figure out measurements... although I'm proud to say I did most of the math on my own!

At any rate, cutting and piecing went super quick, and before I knew it, I had the entire quilt top done! I was really surprised at how fast things came together. I started quilting it last night... just straight lines here, so I could use my regular presser foot.

I'm about halfway done with quilting (it's a small quilt, only about 32 x 32, so it will be good as a playmat or stroller quilt). Plus, I've already thought of a use for the scraps! How fun will it be to have one of these that coordinates with the quilt?

two fourths

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm officially caught up with the fourth week of the quilt along... my quilt sandwich has been pinned and is ready for quilting. Right now I'm on the hunt for a free motion presser foot for my sewing machine.

quilt along, week three, part three (the finale!)

The quilt top is complete! Mistakes have been fixed and the whole thing has been crisply ironed. Yay! Check out what Nancy and Mia are up to with their quilts, too. :)

versatile blogger

My bloggy friend Nancy gave me the Versatile Blogger Award! I suppose this speaks to my inability to commit to only one crafty genre... short attention span, much? :)




The rules for this award are simple. Thank the person who gave you the award, tell seven things about yourself and pass the award along to some bloggers you love.

Thanks, Nancy! Truthfully, I love all the crafty things I do and I really think that sticking to only one thing all the time could get very boring!

And now for seven things about me...

1. Repetitive noises drive me nuts! Snapping, whistling, humming, etc. tend to send me into a red rage... okay, maybe not a red rage, but I don't tolerate them well. Thanks for passing that particular little quirk down the line, Mom!

2. I'm a definite bookworm, but I don't read the kind of books that broaden your horizons and make you smarter. Nope, that's not for me! I read purely for pleasure... mysteries and chick lit top my list. Plus, I'm a closet Twilight fan... I loved all the books and movies and feel ridiculous for it, but who cares?

3. I love, love, love country music! I have since I was twelve or thirteen... and I also love to crank a really good song in the car and sing at the top of my lungs, bopping up and down at the same time. Sometimes I bop up and down AND side to side. :) I really don't care who sees me or what they think, haha!

4. I love my job... I think Kindergarten is a great age for me, and I'm feeling more comfortable in my teaching skin... learning lots and challenging myself to be the best teacher I can. But even more than that...

5. I LOVE SUMMER!! To be completely honest, it's one of the best parts of being a teacher. I think it's so important to prevent burnout, for teachers AND their students. I love the time off to rejuvenate and relax and be lazy. I can be REALLY lazy if I want. I'm very good at it. ;)

6. I've lived in Colorado for almost four years, and I love it here! As a native Florida girl, I though that was the most beautiful place on Earth with beaches and water as far as the eye could see. But since we've come here, I've fallen in love with the mountains... plus, if you can see the mountains, you always know where you are direction-wise. It's very helpful when navigating for a husband who has this *thing* about not making u-turns.

7. I hate cleaning the bathroom. (This one's for you, Nancy!) In fact, I hate it so much that I'm debating getting a cleaning service in regularly to do it for me. Don't tell my husband.

If you're still awake, I'd like to pass this award onto Mia! Go and show her some bloggy love, whydontcha?

quilt along, week three, part two

I had sewed twelve strips together. Eight more to go. I decided to sew those eight together and then connect it with the twelve-strip piece... simple, right?

Apparently not.

I sewed the eight remaining strips together and then went to pin it to the other piece. Do you see what's wrong with this picture?

The two rows match! They are not supposed to match. They are supposed to be offset.

I'm pretty sure that when I ironed the final eight strips last night, I pulled from the bottom of the pile when I should have pulled from the top of the pile. This is why I like small projects that are quick to make... when I take a day or so off I forget how I organized things. :)

It's really not a big deal, I'll just rip a few seams and fix it.. but I was *thisclose* to finishing the quilt top and I was so excited! Oh well... live and learn.