Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along *Ocean Block*

Block #2 is finished! 

However, I feel like I really need to get a Butler Bulldog scrap to add to this block.  My friends and I stayed up until about 1am watching the Bulldogs win and make it into the Sweet Sixteen!  Since their colors are Blue & White, I think it would be a perfect fit.

Indiana is a HUGE basketball state and whenever one our teams is doing well, the town goes a little crazy.  Butler has now made it to the Final Four, so we are excited about the game this Saturday.  The best part, for me, about watching these games is that one of my oldest friends' husband is the assistant coach at Butler, so it is fun to try to watch for them on TV.

Here are the first two blocks next to each other.  Good things there is no deadline on this one because I am definitely taking my sweet time!

I'm linking up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday Linky Party.

How to invisibly hang a quilt to photograph.

I know I mentioned in my giveaway post that I have been keeping these quilts top secret until they were featured on Moda Bake Shop.  Well...for the most part, that was true.  Ok, so I HAD to share them with a few people so an ulcer wouldn't set in, but I only showed a few people, I promise!  When I showed my friend Lindsay this picture.....

...she had a few questions for me.  I figured if she had questions, others might also.  Here is what she wondered:


Linds: Where did you take the pic?

Val:  I took the pictures outside of my parent's shed.  We actually call it the Taj MaShed because my Dad has spent month$ and month$ and month$ building it.  I think it even has hard wood floors inside!

 

Linds: How did you suspend them?

Val:  I used these little clips that I had in our basement that we have hanging from a thick wire to holds the kid's art work.  Now, the sad part about this is, neither my husband nor I can remember where we got these clips.  I think I probably got them at Lowe's, but I can't promise you that. 



 

I used fishing wire to looping it over the top of the door slide.

Since I couldn't remember where I got those little clippies, I thought I'd test out the black clips (pictured above) that you can buy at any office supply store.  I tested it out and it does work just fine!!!

Linds:  Did it take forever to set up!?

Val:  It took me about 15-20 minutes and I was able to set it up without any help.  It was really pretty easy!



I hope this helps if you're looking for a fun way to hang your quilt to photograph.

~Val

Embroidered Child's Artwork

I need your help!!!  (Read on...)

About a year ago, I embroidered these adorable drawings that my oldest son, Ethan, did of himself with his two little brothers, Caleb & Jack.  My favorite part of these little guys is that he drew their arms coming out of their heads.  I used the tutorial found on Little Birdie Secrets.

This embroidered piece of fabric has been floating around my house for way too long.... on the kitchen counter, on my sewing table, on the dining room table, back to my sewing table, and finally in my storage basket with the rest of my fabric stash.  I need to do something with it!!!  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Some ideas I have are:

1.  Staple it around a canvas  (the piece of fabric is 17" x 14", so I have lots of room to work with)
2.  Frame it inside a small embroidery hoop
3.  Frame it in a frame
4.  Uhh ... that's it. I'm all out of ideas.

I just want to get it up on the wall somewhere to make me smile.  Thanks for helping come up with a creative way to display this priceless artwork!


UPDATE: 

Ok, I've had a couple WONDERFUL CREATIVE suggestions...

Dee said to make a mini quilt out of it and put little pockets at the bottom (one for each boy).  They could then put their favorite little toy peeking out of their pocket.  Love this!

Molly had the great idea to turn it into a pillow. 

Benta mentioned to add a new block each year and turn it into an empty nest quilt when they are gone.  I told her this almost made me cry!  Such a wonderful idea, but I don't know if I can even think about them not living in with me!

Wanda had the thought of incorporating it into a bag/purse/tote.  How cute would that be!!!

Jodi had a super cute idea.  She said I could make a book cover out of it and then use the note book to record special memories of my children to help remember every precious day with them.

Keep these wonderful ideas coming!  I may just have to make one of each!


~Val

Rainbow loveliness!

Look what just came in the mail!

Pure rainbow yumminess!!!!

Rachel, over at Stitched in Color,  has made life so much easier for everyone doing the Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along by putting together a fat quarter bundle which is being sold at Whipstitch Fabrics.  Ironically, I had a 50% off Groupon that I had purchased about a month ago and was able to use that.  I'm always lookin' for a bargain! 

I felt like my bundle needed a little more yellow, so I picked up some Kona Buttercup.  In this picture it looks like I have two yellow prints, but the second yellow color is more of a lime green.  I think the stack is now complete.  My problem is going to be removing a color!

 

Check this picture out.  When I first turned on the camera, it was set to manual focus.  Obviously, I did not adjust the focus because I thought it would do that on it's own, but this picture turned out really pretty cool (I think).

I should have another block completed tomorrow and I'll post it right away.

Oh...and make sure to come back on Friday because I have a surprise to share and I am having my very first Giveaway!!! (and no, I am NOT pregnant!)

~Val

{{{"Just Wing It" Jelly Roll GIVEAWAY}}}

This giveaway is now over.

Have you ever had to keep a secret for so long time that it feels like it is eating away at your insides?  I have been busting at the seams wanting to share these quilts with my blog & flickr peps for a few months now, but had to wait until March 25th at 12:00 am (to be exact) when they were featured on Moda Bake Shop's incredible blog!  This is my first tutorial and it is for a circular changing pad & matching play mat.   If you have time, it would mean a lot to me if you hopped over there to check it out and maybe leave a little comment.

The Fat Quarter Shop has generously sponsored a wonderful Giveaway so that you can make these cute quilts too!  I can promise you that you will LOVE Moda's "Just Wing It" Jelly Roll by MoMo!!! 

The cool thing is that all you need is one jelly roll to make the tops of these two quilts!

Now...let's get down to 'giveaway' business.

You all know that you've gotta play to win.  So I'm giving you lots of ways to play!  Choose one, choose them all, it's your choice.  The more you do, the more chances you have, just make sure to leave a new comment for each thing you do.

1.  If you like what you see on my blog and want to become my new best friend, become a Follower.  (No pressure!)

2.  Blog or tweet about this giveaway.  (Feel free to leave your blog address if you blog about it so we can all find new blogs to follow.  Not a bad way to market yourself if I do say so myself!  :)

3.  Follow the Fat Quarter Shop on Facebook.

4.  Follow the Fat Quarter Shop on Twitter.

5.  Subscribe to Fat Quarter Shop's blog.

6.  Leave a comment on my tutorial at Moda Bake Shop.

This giveaway will run until March 31st at midnight PST.  I will let one of my sons randomly select the winner by pulling a number from a hat the old fashion way (let the fighting over who gets to pick begin!).  I'll email and post the winner here on April Fools Day! 

Thanks for playin' and Good Luck!

xoxo
~Val

Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along *Red Block*

I have finally finished my first block for the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along.  I had aspirations of making each block into a letter, which would spell out a 4 letter word across each row.  Love, Hugs, Live, etc.  I couldn't come up with the perfect words, so I scrapped the entire idea and went with just filling in the entire white center rectangle with scraps. 

I put a small white border around each block to make the quilt a few inches bigger without having to add an outside border around the entire quilt.  I cut each white strip 1 1/2" wide x width of fabric so that the final white sashing will be 1".  I am hoping this will make each block pop a bit more. 

I decided to use a straight stitch around each of my scraps.  I know some people doing the quilt along are doing a zig zag stitch around each block, but I really like the scrappy feel after the quilt has been washed and freyed.  The texture gives it an entire new dimension.

I was able to talk a few girls into doing the quilt along with me which I am thrilled about.  Each Thursday evening, we plan to do one block.  They have never quilted before, so it will be a huge accomplishment when we are finished. 

~Val

Featured on Quilt Story!

Today I'm honored to be Featured on the blog Quilt Story.  Heather & Megan have come up with the sweetest blog.  Not only do they feature unique quilts, but they share the story behind each one, written in the words of the quilter.  I am lucky enough to share the story of my Owl Quilt. 

Definitely check this blog out!!!

Another great way to get inspiration is to check out Megan's linky party over at Canoe Ridge Creations.  It is a great way to show what you are working on as well as get new ideas for future projects.

Star Wars Placemats

Moda Bake Shop is having a monthly contest in March, April, & May.  Each month is a different theme and March's is "charm packs."

Here's how you enter the contest:
1.  Go to Moda Bake Shop and in the search bar, type in Charm Packs (if you are entering the contest in March).
2.  Choose your favorite charm pack recipe to replicate (feel free to alter the recipe as you see fit.)
3.  Upload up to 4 photos into the flickr pool (labeling your photos based on the directions given in the contest rules).
4.  Cross your fingers and hope your project is chosen to win!

As soon as I saw the Personalized Placemats that Chris Warnick of Frecklemama created, I knew I had to make them.  I went through my stash to see if I had any Moda charm packs, and look what was peering up at me...

The colors in this charm pack match my kitchen perfectly, plus, you can never go wrong with MoMo!!  There were a few changes that I made to Chris' original recipe.  She used entire charms (5"x5" squares) and sewed them together to make the border surrounding each name.  I decided to cut each of my charms into fourths using smaller squares so that I could get more prints incorporated into each placemat.

Look at these colors!!!!

I was originally going to put our names (Val, Matt, Ethan, Caleb, & Jack) on each placemat.  However, I have a three year old son who refuses to allow me to call him by his name.  Here is how it goes down on a daily per minute basis at our home...

"Caleb"
...no answer....
"CALEB"
...still no answer

"CALEB!!!!!"
...."my name is not Caleb, it's Obi Wan!"

Five minutes later....
"Caleb"
...no answer....
"Obi Wan"
...still no answer

"OBI WAN!!!!!"
...."my name is not Obi Wan, it's Jango Fett!"



Five minutes later...

"Hey Mom, I'm not Jango Fett anymore, I'm Anakin!"

If I was going to go with Star Wars names for the boys' placemats, I figured I might as well make it an entire family theme.  For my placemat, I chose the mother of Luke & Leia, Padme.

Baby Jack gets to be Yoda.  I know when he gets a little older, he will not want to be Yoda anymore, but for now, he's our little Jedi Master.

Chris' recipe called for two charm packs to make 5 placemats.  I only had one charm pack, so I cut up a few Bella solid jelly roll strips that I had and interspersed them throughout.  Worked like a "charm!"

In order to make the letters, I downloaded the free Star Jedi font from Fontspace.com.  I then printed all the names and made sure they would fit on my white piece of fabric.

I then copied each name onto the Heat'n Bond and ironed that onto a Jelly Roll strip.

I then cut out each letter, removed the paper off the back and ironed the letters onto the white fabric, blanket stitching around each letter.

Baby Yoda wanted to help with his placemat.

I quilted each using straight lines starting from the bottom left corner and shooting across each placemat.  I wanted these to resemble light saber blades in action.  Here they are at their new destination!  Now all I need to do it make sure the boys don't spill anything on them (yeah right!)

 

~Val



I'm linking this post to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday Linky Party.  For more inspiration from great sewists, go check the party!!!