Bloggers Quilt Festival

I think the name of my blog needs to be " LIFE with Sewing on the Side".

Fabric is my passion.... and a quilt will always make my heart skip a beat, however Life here is more often about stash and dream.  There just always seems to be more to life than my time in my sewing room can afford or the more likely culprit and time bandit ... reading blogs and dreaming of more quilts.  For all of the quilts I dream about and want to make every once in a while there is a great moment of  exhilaration when I can say horray, horray  I FINISHED a quilt!
I'm a little slow with the finishes but a finish is still a finish. I am hoping to gain a little momentum now that all my children have left the nest.....but as the story goes....

 now I have grandchildren to love.



It is time for the spring bloggers quilt festival and I am going to add my two cents to the over 500 participants. WOW that is a lot of quilts and it is a FREE show.....  This is my first time participating.  If you want a quilt fix you can get it over at Amy's site.

 Today I am sharing a quilt with you that took way to long to finish. It is not a complicated pattern so I don't expect a great amount of OOOHs and AHHHs from the grandstand.  But I left the land of what I know how to do and tried some new things.... that in itself spells D-E-L-A-Y.  I tend to procrastinate and think too much when I don't know what I am doing.  This is the first ever real life quilt I made for someone start to finish. You can read more about the details of the delay here.

Technically it started out as a baby quilt.......
but it is bigger than you might think of a baby quilt,
and since it took me nine years to finish (GASP)....
I am thankful I had bigger on my mind at the start.
The size is about 60x60.


I painted on fabric with acrylic paint adding textile medium!  I used a stencil.  Yes it was scary to start painting. There is  no turning back once you start.

and I quilted it with my little OLD Bernina sewing machine using my walking foot.

that was a first.

I don't do Free motion quilting yet.

so straight lines it is .

the stars have a little extra stuffing.

A bit of trapunto effect.

It is another new to me creative effort. 

each side of the quilt contains his birth information

full name

 Birth date

weight and length

town he was born in

thinking about warm and cozy....

quilt label

sleeping under the stars......

it would make sweet dreams I think.

A nine year old is not impressed with a quilt with baby info on it...

He is more into star wars,

 but his mommy cried when I unveiled it. 

I know she appreciated all the love and work that went into this.

And I am really glad that I finished it.

 My husband said......some day his wife will love it. 

Marshall's response...."I'm never getting married!"

Yes we had a good laugh over that comment.

So it is done and delivered.

Time will tell what becomes of it.

Perhaps it will be good fort material.      :    )

I'm linking up to the bloggers quilt festival.

 May all your quilts make you smile and feel loved

Happy day to you!

Thanks for stopping by. 

janita

sew finished 2011

how quickly time flys when you are having fun!  I find it really impossible to believe that January 1, 2012 is today.   I spent a part of today reflecting on the past year.  As with every year I found...


 Some things to celebrate,
 some things to say I'm sorry for and start a new,
 places where I have gotten off  and need to get back on,
 somethings to strive for, to live more deeply the life of faith,
 and if at all possible be more with the days gifted to me.

SEW for starters....

I'm celebrating all my sew finishes for 2011!!
this is a story of  HOW....WHY.... I DON'T KNOW.....

 I would be extreeeemely guilty of  starting things and loosing steam to finishing the project.    I had one project that we'll just say I started more than 6 years ago and  even though my family joking says it will be a geat heirloom for the recipiant; HA HA they say his wife will love it because it took so long to finish , I smile because if he doesn't use it, yes she will love it :) cause girls are sentimental like that and it will keep . ( I started this project when he was a baby and now he is 8! yes this is true, please don't gasp ....repeat the above words  HOW... WHY...  I don't know... sometimes life just takes over ) but I just smile and say , I LOVE that it is now sew FINISHED!!  I will not let them burst my bubble!  I love to just touch the FINISHED  YUM  YUM!!   REALLY what is not to love about a quilt that is finished!  I't is 60" square........ still very much cuddle material :) .   there is love in every stitch, somebody will love it ......even if it is his mom!     I still have to deliver it so I can just show you a few peeks.


                                                     block name.... road to Illinois
cottons and flannels used in quilt top ....machine quilted by myself

back of the quilt

 I think what helped me to finally finish this quilt was a small step of organization in my sewing room.  I made a list of quilts I started and needed to finish  in the beginning of my 2011 calendar/ planner.  As I finish one project I had to pick another project from the list.   AND  once I picked a project I made myself  finish it before I could start another NEW more fun project.   Yes I hate that, but I am learning to live with it.   I also purchased a set of 3 big plastic storage drawers and each drawer contains one project. so the projects are out of the plastic bags and it is so much easier to just pull the drawer out and work on it.   Yes I have more than 3 unfinished projects but it keeps it on a scale that I can work with.

So I had 6 projects on my list...... and  I finished 3 ... I started and new project not on that list and finished it all in the same year...... My husband said...." WOW!  how did you finish that quilt so quickly?  "   I'm even amazed my self. 

I pieced a top for my littlest granddaughter..... it still needs to be quilted.

I designed 10 embroidery blocks, then stitched and pieced with another lady a quilt for our church's 100 year anniversary in May  2012.  this was not on my list.

                                                               we used 30's fabrics.
                                   
                                           here is a sample of some of the embroidery done by hand

quilt pieced here but the piano key border needs to be added yet.

The quilt has been finished but I need a sunny day and someone to help me hold it to get a better picture.

the quilt is a very large queen-king size

and one last finished quilt to celebrate is a Christmas wall hanging I gave to my daughters for Christmas.

It is an old pattern  called "the Perfect Tree" designed by Sandy Gervais

I added the words at the top of the quilt

and moved the stars and hearts that were originally there

 to other places on the quilt.  I love how it all turned out.

we are of German heritage and I remember singing the song "Oh Christmas Tree" at school Christmas concerts as a child even with verses in German.   

hand quilted

blanket stitch applique and embroidery

I started a new project in January of 2011   Jan Patek's pattern " Country Paths."

Progress report........... still not finished

but  I 'm putting it in one of the drawers that these projects came out of :)

I think I have turned over a new leaf for a new year ....

I've finished more projects than i ever have in one year! 

I sew and it doesn't really matter if I'm fast or slow,

in the end it is all just the best  way I know how to bless others.

SEW i'm going to SEW  till my little heart is content.

I look forward to my finishes of 2012!

may all of your days of 2012 be sew happy!

leave me a comment below and introduce yourself if you have stopped by.

I'd love to stop by your blog and visit you.

janita

linking to pat sloan's show me your stuff

it's SEW finished!

I've had the pattern for a long while
and now I am so glad
this little bit of sweet  is

                                      Real



                                 Touchable

sweet embraceable

and for someone  who is a lot German and a little bit Dutch

decorate-able!

HAND MADE

 it puts the sweet back in life.

If you are my family by birth or by choice this is my prayer for you

because

I LOVE YOU!

memorial day it is for remembering those we love

sending blessings your way

thanks for stopping by

janita

P is for pick a project and SEW !

I am taking time to create because time has a tendency to take me.   I find it very satisfying to have something homemade by me in my home. I have been sewing since I was a young girl.

I have more ideas for quilts than I will be able to finish in a life time but my goal this year is just to be a steady Eddie  for 2011 and finish some things.   I would love to be cranking out a quilt every couple of weeks but that doesn't seem to be the way it works here.  I guess it doesn't matter how fast or slow I am,  when it's done you'll feel the love in it and that is the most important thing.   So bit by bit my love pile is growing.

Every week I have been Identifying a project that needs to be worked on and when I'd rather be jumping on to the next project or seem stuck  I ask myself each day..."What's the next step?" and I do it. Sometimes that step takes 15 minutes some times it takes all day but the thought process seems to be working. An object in motion will stay in motion so they say so I'm turning myself into a stick to it Sally instead of nothing finished Nanny.  Not a mighty goal but a goal none the less is to finish 12 sewing projects this year.  One thing is for sure I love me some HOME MADE goodness so dust be still I'll have time for you when I'm 80!


meet my latest project of the week #2 

My daughter have received some receiving blankets when Emmy was born that she really didn't care for. I decided to cut them up and put them all back together into a more useable quilt.  I'll never understand the purpose of  a receiving blanket at 27" for a real baby. Babies grow way to fast for a blanket that size.

 This quilt is made with flannel and knit with a fleece back. something we didn't love is now something we love.

This is my first attempt at a pieced back because I didn't buy enough fleece. I think I love it even more with the pieced back  I designed with  the  Sweet little pinwheel.  

"Praise the Lord,
 Praise God my savior.
 For each day
 he carries me
 in his arms."
 Psalm 68:19
 is embroidered
 by hand on the back.







Emmy( granddaughter) is in my preschool sunday school class and we have been working on memory verses each week.  When I asked her if she liked my quilt she said," I think it need some words on it" and then she spealed out the memory verse we had been working on and pointed to where she thought each word should go.  I smiled at the thought and put some words on my quilt.  It adds some extra love that babies need. Thank you Emmy!   Now the name of my quilt includes the word "blessing".

I haven't decided who will be receiving this delight but when it's cold outside it will be oh so snuggly. It has warm and natural batting inside in addition to the fleece.


 Here is my sweet little "BABY BEAR BLESSING"

this quilt was inspired and modified in design from a pattern found here


I think I am happiest if I find time to be expressing my creativity and that is just not a zip-zap done deal.  It takes time to be creative...... and I"M TAKING TIME :o).


sneek peek of Project of the week #3

SEW until next time be creative.....it's good for the soul!

thanks for stopping by!
Janita  ( aka nannyjsewsweet )