Visiting Kansas

Well, Toto, we're in Kansas.

Thankfully, it won't be too hot while I'm here! One thing I don't miss about Kansas is the heat!

It seemed like a L-O-N-G trip, lol.

I'm here for my nephew's wedding and I'm really excited for that.

BUT...before the wedding, there will be quilting!

My mom is a quilter and I'm here surrounded by all here new quilts and her machines. PLUS, I have my machine that I take to classes and guild, etc.

FUN, FUN.

Hope you have a quilty day. I plan to, lol.

How to Eat an Elephant

How do you eat an elephant? the old saying asks.

One bite at  a time.

The quilt that I'm quilting for my mom is the biggest I've ever quilted. Plus, it's a special quilt and I want to do a good job on it.

So, when I started it, I wasn't sure quite where to start.

So, I decided to start with the hardest stuff first...the micro stippling.

Well, I guess I should say the micro stippling isn't hard...just time consuming.

My next step is a motif in the setting triangles.

I garnered inspiration from one of my favorite bloggers, Alycia at Alycia quilts.

I found this image on her website and I altered the motif a bit.

Here's what I came up with.

So, the next step will be to quilt each block. Then, I'll do the sashing. Then I'll do the borders.

Then, I'll have consumed the elephant, lol...and quilted the largest quilt I've ever quilted thus far.

WooHoo!

Two Rows Down...

Eight to go, lol.

Here's my progress so far.

I love the way it's turning out!

I'm off to Kid's Quilting Camp today and then more work on the quilt this evening, lol.

Hope you all have a quilty day!

Out of Chaos...Beauty

Well, I hope so, anyway, lol.

I am gearing up to get a quilt done...a very special quilt.

I've been thinking of this quilt for a long time, and now, the time for it to be birthed has come! My "little nephew" is getting married!

Of course, I've waited until the last minute...as is my habit.

My hubby doesn't think I can get it done, but I hope he's wrong.

This is the state of the quilt as of this morning.

It's the courthouse steps block and I'm going to use the Chinese lanterns setting.

drawing from Donna's Place

I was so excited to get the first row finished yesterday and I'm really working to get two rows done this morning before I go to Kid's Quilting Camp...which has been SOOOOOOOO fun!

I have had the honor of being there while a young lady has finished her first two quilts! (Well, someone other than my daughter...which was AWESOME!)

Anyway, I hope you're having as quilty a day as I'm going to have!

Have a quilty day, ladies and gents!

One final picture, lol.

I LOVE living in North Dakota, because in the summer, it's light EARLY in the morning until LATE at night. But, it plays havoc on little kids. They wake up too early...and fall back asleep, lol.

Finishing Up a UFO

I'm finally finishing quilting the Java Jive quilt!

Piecing was finished on September 11, 2010. I'm not sure when I basted it, but it's been a while.

I've been quilting the black background with back thread...

...so you can't see my boo-boos, lol.

It's been slow going, though because there's a lot of background to fill.

I've got this little quilt waiting in the wings.

It has to be done before the Kid's Quilting Camp...What?...I didn't tell you about the Kid's Quilting Camp yet?

I have a Facebook page for my quilting business and we've talked a little about it there.

My friend Kari (from RumpelQuiltskin...donja just LOVE that name?) and I are teaching a Kid's Quilting Camp. It's Monday through Friday afternoon next week, and we have two young men signed up for the camp!

The other day, we did the tops...

...and now it needs to be quilted. I guess you know what we'll be doing over the weekend, lol.

We'll also be cutting strips, lol. But we're SO excited to pass on quilting to the next generation.

Hope you have a quilty day!

Animal House

Is there anything more cute than new kittens?

This is our first batch of kittens and it belongs to the white calico kitty. The darker kitty is going to have her kittens any day now. Our cats are so close, they nurse each other's kittens, lol. The darker kitty is nursing these kittens even though she hasn't given birth yet!

And, the kids found this turtle wandering through the yard today.

Look at the size of this guy!

Tomorrow, I'll have the kiddos look up what kind of turtle it was.

Have I told you how much I LOVE homeschooling?!?!

School's In Session

Today, my kiddos were learning about gardening...

Well, the older girls were. The little ones were just being...little ones.

Olivia is excited about planting the garden this year.

And Sophia is just being pretty.

I love homeschooling!

Kids Growing Up

My kids are growing up, and I'm not liking it!

What happened to those days when you dressed your kids (and they didn't have an opinion about it), you fed them (and they ate it without a discussion), then you put them on the floor with a few toys and they played happily until one of the other rug rats took their toy away?

Now, they dress in stuff I don't understand, complain about the fact that (today) they don't like what's for dinner, and then need to be entertained until one of the other kids looks at them crosswise which causes an argument which can quickly escalate to fisticuffs!

This morning, I filled out a form to send my two oldest kids to basketball camp.

Because I homeschool, I've avoided this kind of thing until now, but now it's here.

Olivia has decided that she wants to "go out for sports" next year, and so we're trying basketball. We decided that she should try the camp for a week and that would let her know if she enjoys it enough to go out for the entire season next year...and Sophia decided that since Sissy was doing it, she needed to.

Let the games begin! Wait...I'm not ready!

Eleonor Eat Your Heart Out!

Eleonor Burns is one of my favorite quilters, and today, I took a page from her life and made a "quilt in a day!"

I went to my friend Kari's studio, Rumpelquiltskin, in Wishek and we worked on the quilt for the kids quilt camp that we're having next week.

It went together really quickly and I think the kids are gonna LOVE it!

What did you do today?

Goofy Kiddos!

OK

Does this happen to you?

You download your camera card expecting to find certain pictures, and you find out that your kiddos have been playing with your camera.

I love my kiddos!

Sew Much Going On!

There is so much going on in my life right now, I don't even know where to start!

I'm really LOVING Emily! She's AWESOME!

I've finished ten or twelve quilts...I'm not even sure!

I took her to a quilt show. That was fun, lol.

And now, my friend Kari and I are doing a BUNCH of beginner classes over the summer.

I just can't wait!

So, now, I just need to keep you guys updated! I know that there are readers out there that are waiting for me to get in gear and start blogging again.

Today, I'll be going to Wishek to put together the quilt that we'll be doing with the beginner kids. I'll post pics of what we get done today. We're going to be doing a rail fence with them.

Hope you have a quilty day!