getting more sewing done...

and i am getting way braver...i actually tried to piece a quilt block.

or a whole bunch of quilt blocks....

16 of them to be precise.  

if you are an actual quilter and you are reading this, avert your eyes right now.  

because i am no expert...

but i have to say, i am not completely unimpressed with myself.

i didn't think that I would ever be able to do something like these blocks.

even the thought of doing something like them intimidated me enough to think i could never ever pull it off.  but i have seen so many graphic and colorful quilts on pinterest and i was intrigued by them. but it took months and months to even think of attempting it.  and you know what, it wasn't that hard.  

i should have figured that part of it out just by reading the blogs of people that actually know what they are doing when they quilt.  they make lots and lots of them. and rather quickly too.  so it must not be as tedious as i thought it was.  and i was right.  it really doesn't take that long.  i made 14 of the blocks on saturday and sunday.  the most time consuming thing is cutting the fabric.  the sewing of the fabric actually goes really fast.

i am still working on how i want to put the blocks together.

this quilt was another pinterest inspiration.  all i did was sew pieces of scrap material on top of each other in a block with no rhyme or reason.  if i liked it, i sewed it on top of the last piece. 

the quilt is small, about 26 x 36 inches, so i will probably just hang it on the wall.  it's a little heavy too, because of all of the layers of fabric in each block.

i used lace, crocheted scraps and flannel along with vintage sheets and cotton fabric.

i even used a scrap of super soft fleece.  i just love the houndstooth pattern and it's so soft, i just want to pet it all of the time...

and speaking of graphic, i found a great graphic print at joann's for the backing

the edges of the fabrics were all sewn with raw edges so there are loose strings everywhere....

but i think it adds to the quirkiness of the quilt.

it's very colorful and funky.  

 i am still working on the quilts for chemo and have completed 9 of them.  i have a couple more to make and when lisa comes back to michigan in early may, we will take them to the center.  i gave one to my friend who just started her chemo treatments and she was very happy with her quilt.  she wrote me a beautiful thank you note and said that the quilt was a big hit at the chemo center and everyone commented on it.  i can't wait to deliver these.....

i really love the colors in this quilt.  it's hard to believe that they are all thrifted bedding....

this one is still in the binding stage.

each of the quilts have a tag with an inspirational quote on it.

we wanted to make some more masculine quilts for the men too.  i think that while this one doesn't scream "macho man" it's at least a little less feminine that the others that i've made...

back soon with some pictures from photo shoots that i have done recently....
little teeny tiny babies...  :D

the fastest quilt top ever.....

well, that is the premise anyway!!  

the jelly roll 1600 quilt is comprised of a bundle of coordinating fabric pre-cut into 2 1/2 inch wide by 44 inch long strips. this is called a jelly roll.  fabric stores sell them and they run anywhere from $35 to $45 dollars.  

but with all of the lovely vintage fabric i have amassed, i cut my own strips.  so that took some time...

and then sewing them together end to end (40 of them) took some time too. 18 inches is cut off of one end.  this assures that there will be a random pattern when they are sewn together.

the resulting strip measured about 2 . 5 inches by 1600 inches.  you then join the short ends, right sides together, which is now 800 inches, and sew along the long end.  that took a really long time because it took forever to join the short ends without any twists.  it was 1600 inches long...

when you get to the fold, you cut it and join the two short ends up again 

which makes it 400 inches long. 

 this is repeated three (or four, i don't remember) more times until you are left 

with this....a cool quilt top that measures about 48 x 64 inches...

once the first side was sewn, it went pretty fast from there, about an hour and a half...

the only thing left to do is to add the batting and backing and quilt it....

                    this is the result....

 another pretty vintage sheet quilt.   now i know that most (all) of my quilts  have been some sort of strip quilt but they are the ones that go together the quickest.  i am going to attempt something different next time though.  stay tuned!!  :)

i think they peeked into my kitchen......

to get their inspiration from my current makeover.  

i say current 

because my brother-in-law is convinced 

that we are losing square footage in our house because of all of the painting 

we have done in the 11 years we have lived here.

i got this

 in the mail the other day.  it was in with a request for a subscription 

for house beautiful magazine.  those colors look very familiar... 

 this is the new flooring we are putting down in the kitchen.  soon.  you hear that don?  soon!!

here is the backsplash tile...

this is the dresser i just painted for the kitchen and the blue mason jars that i love.

the walls are a light grey

the cabinets are in the process of being repainted creamy white for the top 

and medium grey for the bottom

the kitchen table and chairs

the new rug....

great minds think alike....  ;D

christmas home decor

we have been busy getting our house ready for christmas this year.  we will be hosting christmas eve and wanted to make everything really special.
here are a few vignettes around the house...

 bling on the buffet....

 dickens village.....

which is a far cry from a few years ago when austen had a hand in decorating the dickens village.
i snagged these pictures off of my old blog.  we had set up the village and were relaxing when i noticed that austen was hovering around the village pieces.  we were tired and we weren't paying too much attention to what he was doing.  when he was done he proudly showed us what he had done.
the poor villagers never saw it coming....
there they were, going about their business when out of the blue, they were under seige...
i love how in the last picture, the soldier was heaving a grenade at the dedlock arms inn..lol!!!

what an imagination he has!!!!!
anyway, here are some more displays around our house.

 santa peeping out from in the corner...

 snowmen....

 the tree...a view from the kitchen..lit...

and unlit...

 see the beaded christmas tree on the right?  i'll show you how i made that in a future post.....

 that may or may not be me reflected in that white bulb with my big baggy robe on....  :)

 the red, green and white mantle.....

turquoise mason jars....sigh!!!

remember those pretty goodwill ornaments?

we are getting our decorator on over here!!!!!

linking up at these blogs.....
http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://lbratina.blogspot.com/2010/12/thrifty-thursday-93-plus-tablescape.html
hooked on houses christmas home tours