Kami is Quilting

Pinwheel Sampler Part 1

2010-05-08T22:34:00.003-07:00

I am so pleased with

Alyssa's finished quilt top.

I wish I could say that my LQS had more of the white I need, but no such luck so I decided to stew a couple days on the borders before attaching them. I had envisioned a 2" white to continue to "float" the blocks, then either a blue or pink strip, finished with about 6" of the white. They had a pure white at the LQS that was close enough I could use for the thick outside strip, but it couldn't be used right next to the other soft white.

Before I send them both out to my quilter to do her magic, I thought it would be fun to have both girls pick something for her quilt onto the top. Katelyn doesn't even hesitate and and picks butterflies, they'll be perfect with the soft colors of the quilt. Alyssa pipes up after a minute and announces that she wants monkeys eating bananas. It is so her, I think I am going to find out if Amy could do it.

I had a few struggles with the oddly sized blocks, especially when attaching the final vertical strip, I had to rip out an inset seam not once, not twice but three times until the tiles fit together right.

This is one of my favorite blocks, I can't remember anymore if this was once of Rachel'spinwheels or one I choose from Quilter's Cache where many of my other pinwheel patterns came from. I just love the mix of stripes and floral fabric.

Unfortunately, I had other things going on today... buying new tomato plants for the garden being a important one, so I didn't get Katelyn's done. I have the strips ready to go together, but I was so disappointed that I couldn't get more of that white that I lost my drive when I got home to get hers assembled. I thought I would post my in progress picture. I think this one will be perfect too. I am still amazed that I was able to complete 2 quilt tops with 1 layer cake (well, and lots of background fabric--5 yrds!).

Happy Mother's Day to everyone.

Kami

An All-Nighter...

2010-05-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

NOT.

I am giving up on finishing tonight. I have run out of my white background fabric, I'm making poor design decisions, and I desperately need sleep. I only have about 2-3 hours of work left, so I will be up early in the morning.

I think I will still be able to get them both finished I just won't be able to piece the white border all the way around until after the fabric store opens. Cross your fingers with me that they have the fabric. I am not holding my breath, the last time I was in there, I bought 3 yrds and that was everything left on the bolt. They were going to try to reorder since it had been so popular, but you never know.

I am off to dreamland. I will show off the finished tops in the morning.

Kami

Pinwheels

2010-05-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

I have been up to my eyeballs in pinwheel blocks for the last 2 months. If you don't know, psiquilt has been hosting a pinwheel quilt along. I had a layer cake that I loved the fabrics but had been ignored for over a year. So I decided to join.

I started out as a perfectly happy follower, two each of 8 different 12" pinwheels. but I had these small scraps that I didn't want to throw away. At the same time, I realized that 4 rows of 4-12" blocks would not inspire me to finish.... I have two girls, so since we did 2 of each style I decided to split the blocks in half. Eight 12" blocks for each girls, but that would make a pretty small quilt not what I was envisioning them cuddling under watching movies. So I started using my scraps, and sewing various sized pinwheels. Last night I finished the last six for both quilts.

Each quilt has
eight-12" block
one-9" block
three-8" blocks
two-6 1/2" blocks
two-6" blocks
two-5" blocks
four-4" blocks

That is 22 blocks for each quilt, in 7 sizes so I sketched out a map of what I hope each quilt will look like. I want of the pinwheels to look like they are floating on a white background. So far I love it, but since the deadline is this Saturday, to have all the quilts quilted for a virtual parade, I am disappointed that mine will only be a top (or 2) to show off.

Here are my two quilts without any of the white background fabric "filler" Looks like I may be pulling an all-nighter tomorrow to get the two of them finished.

Is anyone else racing to get a project done? I would love to hear about it.

Kami

Hoppy Easter

2010-04-04T15:05:00.000-07:00

We have been having a wonderful day, I hope your Easter is just as “Hoppy”.

National Quilting Day

2010-03-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, since it is National quilting Day, I thought it would be a great time to update my blog. I am sorry that I have been neglectful. I have thought of each of you daily, and kept meaning to share my progress on all my projects, but after I finally got my evening sewing done, I chose to immediately drift off to sleep instead of sharing what I have been creating. I promise to post more often, but will probably write a little less.

Here are some tips for Celebrating National Quilting Day

Step1
To celebrate this age-old tradition of quilting, piece and quilt one quilt square. The quilt square could be made into a pillow, wall hanging, or added to other squares later on to make a complete quilt.
Step2
Make National Quilting Day a special event. Gather your friends together to sew or hand quilt with you. Ask each friend to bring a finished project to share with the group.
Step3
Consider combining all of the quilt blocks completed on that day into one quilt. Once the quilt was quilted and the binding completed, the quilt could be donated to a worthy cause.
Step4
Visit quilt shops. Make the day a "quilt shop hop" all your own. Take a few friends along and make a day of it. Stop for lunch and then get lost in the next quilt shop!
Step5
Sign up for a quilting class. Regardless if you are a beginner or an expert, there are quilting classes available. Take the day to learn a new technique.
Step6
Wrap yourself up in your favorite quilt and watch a movie on National Quilting Day. This is a great way to celebrate if you're not a quilter. There's nothing like being wrapped up in a beautiful, cozy quilt.
___________________________
I celebrated today by teaching the second part of a two part class. I only had 3 students, but they were all enthusiastic and ready to learn. Well, until we started paper piecing... then I mostly heard grumbling and slightly veiled comments that there needed to be an easier way. Thankfully, before I left, the ladies seemed to have a better grip on the paper piecing and were prepared to complete their quilts at home.

Here is a picture of their quilts in progress. I forgot to take a picture of the ladies with their quilts, but I thought that they made great fabric choices. The one on the right, was photographed on a table instead of the design wall, causing the proportions to look a little bit strange.

Also, I thought that today might be a great day to say a very long overdue thank you to Mary on Lake Pulaski. I was one of the recipients of her Pay It Forward Challenge. She made a beautiful table runner for each of us. I couldn't bear to put it away after Valentine's Day, But with the start of spring tomorrow it is time to decorate for Easter, and this will get lovingly stored away with some of my other quilts. Thank you so much Mary! Did I mention one of my favorite parts is the binding? I love all the fabrics being repeated around the edge.

And because it is only 9pm, If I am lucky I will have just enough energy left tonight to sew a little something for me. I have been following the quilt-a-long hosted by Rachel at p.s. i quilt, and since it is Saturday, I am itching to make my next set of pinwheels. I love this week's block it is the most visually complex which usually increases my readiness to work on a project, but I think what I love the most these blocks is the simplicity. I can usually finish both color variations in a couple of hours, and that is with both the girls hanging around.
I hope you got a chance to sew something. Leave me a comment and tell me about it. And if you want to enter a giveaway head over to Spun Sugar, and try and win a layer cake.
Kami

The New Room

2010-02-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about the newest addition to my craft room. When my hubby and I first went shopping for furniture for the room I expected a to have to take out a second morgage on the home to do what I wanted to. But I love my new table, and best of all-- so far the remodel has cost $115.

This is my new table, one of the one of those ultra trendy dining room tables that is a comfortable standing height. When we were shopping for a cabinet for the new big screen TV, we found this in the clearance section for $100. I will eventually get 2 backless barstools so that I can sit and work, and have a friend over to create also. Or a more likely scenario is both the girls can sit while I stand. And the table is so big if (when?) I loose the remote, I won't be able to turn on the TV anymore!

On the other side of the room is my new sewing space. Can you tell my design wall is exploding beyond the borders of the frame! I am hoping the new room will inspire me to finish some of these projects. A few of them are original patterns I need to finish so that mom and I can get them published, and I haven't made the time.

I also wanted to share the sweetest little boy quilts that I am working on. Both a cousin, and a friend from work are expecting boys, so I spent time this weekend working on quilts for both of them. I had the worst time picking out fabrics, but after an hour in my LQS I love what I came home with. The colors and style are exactly what I wanted.

That elusive quality of sophisticated and juvenile, romantic and boyish. The fabrics blend so well, it is hard to tell that there are really 4 different blues in this quilt from multiple fabric lines. This is another original pattern. Or I should correctly say this is an adaptation of an original pattern. I can't even follow my own patterns without adapting them to my current mood!

I chose to back the quilt with a soft microfiber? fabric. I wanted minki, but I was overwhelmed by how much I was already spending on fabric, and chose not to get it at the time. But, of course every LQS near me that sells minki was closed when I got off work tonight so I ended up at Babies-R-Us and found an appropriate soft backing that I could put on the one that gets delivered on Wed. The second quilt for my cousin I will probably go back to the LQS and get the minki I really want.

Have a great day,

Kami

Road to CA Part 2

2010-01-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

I went to update my blog with pictures of my new craft room and a baby quilt I am making and realized that I still hadn't publised the rest of the pictures from Road to California. So I am posting these now and you will have to wait for this evening for all the skinny on my new room.

However, I have to say that the room is so awesome, that I want to be in there instead of in front of the big screen TV we just bought. Just don't tell that to my husband.

Kami

Road 2 California Quilt Show

2010-01-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

I have come back from the Road 2 CA quilt show inspired to get started on the redesign my craft room. There were so many beautiful quilts on display. When I downloaded my camera tonight I was shocked to see that I had taken over 2oo pictures!

This first one is the Best of Show. The Faces were painted, but the most striking to me was the use of velvets for the blossoms (on the tree) roses, & pumpkin. If you click on the picture it should enlarge so that you can see it clearer.

I can honestly say that as beautiful as this one was it was not my favorite Best of Show. As part of the 15th anniversary celebration, Road 2 CA asked all the previous Best of Show winners to display their quilts again. So in no particular order, here are some of the other best of the best.

I didn't take full shots of many of them because I had already taken them, but I wish I could find in my old photos quickly the other pictures of this carousel horse. It was simply breathtaking, all of her curves lay perfectly flat with this stunning applique. Breathtaking.

To keep with the theme of "photo" pictures, here are some others I couldn't resist taking pictures of. The woman in the picture below is the quilter who

Most of the rest of these are traditional quilts, hopefully tomorrow after the Charger game I will get to post all of the more artist ones. That is if I am not to busy celebrating, I hope.

Enjoy, Kami

Makeover time!

2010-01-13T21:47:00.000-08:00

I have been avoiding my craft room. It is hard to feel inspired when there are no clean surfaces on the tables, OR FLOORS! I spent 4 hours in there on Sat. and the room still qualifies as a landfill. Part of this is not my fault. (But, I am usually the one who just gives up and drops things in there to deal with later, thinking at least I can close the mess behind a door!)

My husband and I have spent the last 2 weeks redecorating the girls bedroom. Hmm, things needed to move out of there so we could paint, okay. Then after the furniture was rearranged, well we could finally move the desk which I used for scrapbooking into the girls room (it has been destined for there for years). Which meant I had to empty it. Uh oh, can you see where this is heading? Then the girls wanted their small table and chairs from the craft room back in their own room for tea parties with their dolls. Okay, but now what to do with their crayons, glues, stamps stickers... On top of all this, I volunteered to make some pillows for my office. All those supplies including big pillow forms are in there. Plus any quilts that I may have once upon a long long time ago been working on for me.

My solution is to walk in. Look around. Quickly shut the door again. And dream of little elves coming in while I sleep. So far it hasn't worked. So my question to you is now with 2 big pieces of furniture gone, and a desperate need for storage, what would you suggest for my craft room makeover?

I have considered a couple of kitchen cabinets, like these, with a workbench style table on top, (I thought I could make myself another desk, AND have more storage).

And/Or lots of wall shelves, for magazines, books, buttons....

hmm, but I have a lot of stuff, I might need baskets too.

How about a glass enclosed bookcase so that I could store fabric safely?

and it would be inspirational too.

Unfortunately, I really am not sure where to start and I am overwhelmed by the possibilities.

So back to my original question. What I would love to know from you is...

What do you love about the space you create in?

What can you not live without?

And what do you wish you could have?

Thanks for helping me get inspired

Kami

Its' Christmas time

2009-12-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your kind thoughts on my ankle. It is still really tender to the touch, but I am no longer walking with a visible limp! And the swelling is almost imperceptible now. I think dancing my be out this weekend, thankfully, I doubt the company Christmas party has any dancing anyway. Last I heard we were playing games. Makes sense for a game manufacturing company.

If you are interested in what we are promoting as the hot new game of our line up, head over to Amazon and check out Telestrations. I have played it with friends and it is just as funny as the reviews make it sound. It is even funnier when playing with someone who can't draw--the results are hysterical. Plus I like that everyone is engaged the entire time. I hate waiting for my turn to play.

Assuming that you are done with your shopping and your house is decorated, you are way ahead of me! It is beginning to feel a little like Christmas... spending 40 hours a week at the office has kept me from decorating as I would in years past. I got a few boxes with the girls Christmas houses down from the attic before Thanksgiving, but I haven't gotten back into the attic since to get anything else down to start decorating.

Thankfully, when I went up there last month I got down my Christmas quilts I made over the last 2 or 3 Christmases. This one is a Santa that is very loosely based off a pattern that my mom and I converted so that we could strip piece 5 of them at the same time. That is 5 for her and 5 for me. So we spent a couple of days, and pieced and quilted 10 of these Santas. I have since given the other 4 away, but it is nice to have one to remember the fun of getting togerther.

The tree is batiks knotted onto a flat dowel tucked into a pocket with a star velcroed on top.
We added yarn hair, belt buckles, and a 3 dimensional beard to give him more personality.

This next one is another mini quilt. It is 9" square to rest in my little mini quilt frame. I have a Christmas Star/Poinsettia that I designed that I have put in there for the past several years, but last year I decided I wanted a quilt to soften up the display of Nativity Scenes that I put out each year so I shrunk and tweaked a pattern to make it fit in the little square.

And finally the last quilt I want to share is one I just finished... with the intention of giving it away. I joined the Pay it Forward challenge in May and have just given the first quilt to a new home. This one is going to my friend Sarah. God has blessed her with 4 kids–3 of them boys. So I wanted to make her something soothing, that she wouldn't feel obligated to keep out since her home is small and I didn't want her to feel overwhelmed with more things within. It is so much fun making something for someone else because with every stitch you think of that person and how much you care for them. Her daughter and my eldest are "best friends" so it was truly a blessing that she signed up for my challenge.

For this quilt I followed a tutorial on Moda Bakeshop. If you aren't a regular visitor, then you are truly missing out. They have all sorts of ways to use the precuts of fabric that are so popular now.
This pattern was originally to be used with a layer cake (10" squares), but I fudged the recipe, and used a charm pack instead. The piece were very tiny, but I love to create little masterpieces.
This quilt finished at about 2 foot square, perfect for a table topper or a small wall.

I am still looking for 2 more participants in my pay it forward challenge if you want to participate, sign up in the comments, you just have to commit to making something handmade for 3 others within 6 months or a year.

Kami

The Couch Potato

2009-12-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

I had so many things to do yesterday, I left the house early to to attend a card making class. I went with my mom and we had lots of fun, then dashed away to go Christmas shopping at one store before she had to go to an afternoon Christmas party up in Pasadena. I stayed longer to finish my shopping. I got so many gifts, and as I was leaving the store I found one more and had to go back to the counter to buy another.

So thinking of my excellent purchases, and thinking ahead to my final stop, and digging for my car keys... I forgot to look where I was walking. I saw the curb in my peripheral vision. But I missed it. I badly twisted my ankle, clutching desperately to the car next to me, I tried to regain my balance, only to find out the car was occupied by a young woman. Who thankfully was more concerned about me, than the fact that I could not let go of her car. Finally, I was able to hobble to my car, and since it is my left leg, I could skip every other errand and drive myself home.

I spent most of the afternoon resting on the couch and slowly puttering around the house, but the worst came when I had to go out last night. By the time we got home my ankle was the the size of half a tennis ball, and my pain threshhold had already been maxed out by an hour, and I could do nothing but collapse on the couch. AND my darling husband adamantly refused to give me more that the tablets specified on the motrin bottle for the pain--ONE! He finally, gave in a let me take a second one, thankfully. Today I can hobble around again, but I will once again be spending the day mostly on the couch.

Kami

Catching Up!

2009-11-21T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to share two of the Bunny Hill BOM blocks I have been working on. I got frustrated in June when there was a second basket of flowers so I skipped that month. Then I got distracted applying for a job and starting back to work so I ended up getting farther and farther behind. This month I have made great strides to finish September and November. I still need to add the embroidery details, but I am really pleased with how these look and I am ready to go back and prep the other missing months.

The top block is mine and still needs to have all of the little details... The bottom one is my mom's, she "stole" my football idea, but I think it is fair because I am going to put the little apple in the title School Days on mine.

It picked the fabrics for this month to coordinate with the fussy-cut squirrel's tail. This may be my favorite block of all I love how soft it is. I still need to stitch down the crow and add feet, but that will happen during the Charger game tomorrow. What do you think of the green leaf? Would it look better in a fall color --yellow, red?? I think I may make a couple of more leaves and test them out before I stitch this one down.

More to share tomorrow,

Kami

Finishing...

2009-11-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

It has been over a month since I last sat down to post on my blog. I would love to say that I have been busy sewing, but that is only partly true. I have spent more time reading. Good books, bad books, audiobooks, books that can only be read online... you get the idea. So in the interest of weaning myself off of the computer when I get home from work, I decided that I can't read anymore online books for a while. Hmmm, so why am I in front of the computer again.

BECAUSE, I have been quilting, and I have been waiting to finish this quilt completely before posting. But I am nervous, and have put off for 3 weeks putting the binding on the quilt. I am the worst at putting the binding on quilts. I get beautiful crisp corners everytime so that is not the problem, but the sides are always wavy. Somehow or another after I attach the binding to the front when I go to sew it down in the back I stretch the quilt. I try so hard to not pull, but invariably it always happens. So when I got my Christmas quilt back from Amy and I took 2 weeks sewing on buttons and beads to enhance it. I probably could have finished it in a couple of nights, but I was procrastinating on the binding.

I stitched beads onto the centers of all the poinsettias.

Aren't the buttons cute? Some came in a button pack, others I have collected knowing that some day I would get the quilt finished.

I have had the binding cut for a week.... But I have yet to bind the quilt to hang it up. I have spent so long on this quilt I don't want to wreck it. However, this weekend, I am going to put the binding on. I want to have it hanging in the house right after thanksgiving. So in honor of the fact that for now at least the quilt is amazingly perfect, I am posting pictures of my 3 year labor of love.

As penance for not updating regularly, and because I have so many other things to share, I am going to be posting each day this week the other projects I have already finished or completing. I am planning on posting something new each night, so check back regularly for some other inspiration.

Kami

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night...

2009-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

I have been so blessed this last week. I have gotten 3 packages. YES, the mailman had to come to my door 3 times! The first one to arrive came from Norway.

I participated in my first ever swap through quilting gallery, and the participant who shipped to me lives in Norway. NORWAY! Sabine took the time to look through my blog and design a bag especially for me. Look at those lovely cherries, with the adorable red polka dot fabric on the bottom. Plus as if that wasn't enough, I got a blue and white potholder with dutch windmills on it, and little treasures like cupcake buttons (did she see my pincushions?), magnets, ribbon, and a little snowman panel perfect to adding to a Christmas quilt. Thank you so much Sabine. I treasure everything that you have sent me.

The next package came from Janet of It’s and Evolution. Her beautiful wands were featured on Today’s Creative Blog for one of her Fabulous Friday giveaways and I won. Since I almost never win anything, I was so excited because Janet was willing to design a wand especially for the lucky winner. I fell in love with her pumpkin wands and chose one of those, but told her I rarely ever use orange so look what I got. I love to think of it as Cinderella's Wand because I feel like a princess whenever I see it--with this adorable white pumpkin.

The charms on it are all sewing related, and the handle of the wand is wrapped in the page from a book.---But not any book, in keeping with the theme of Halloween, the page is from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.” I immediately had to find a clear vase and put it on display, so that the page of the book was visible.

The last box came from my MIL who blessed me with many of her gently used clothes. After having spent 6 years at home raising my kids my wardrobe has been stretched to the limit to get me nicely dressed for work. Honestly, if I had my druthers I would wear jeans and a nice white shirt every day. Those are my comfort clothes, but I try to limit myself. Thankfully, I still get to wear jeans to the office! But I digress, my MIL love to shop at Chico's and Coldwater Creek--places I go in and drool over the clothes, but walk away without a shopping bag so it is always a treat getting these boxes in the mail.

I got one other present a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't come in the mail. This one was special delivery from my mom. A Cricut die cutting machine of my very own.

I think that scrapbooking could become every bit as addicting as quilting. It is so much fun to cut out embellishments for making cards. Or do something really elaborate and make my very own Charger cheerleaders. Hmm--maybe I could get the team a new coach the same way.

That's all for now.

Have a great day everyone,

Kami

PIE--apple, cherry, blackbery any kind of pie

2009-10-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

Besides quilting, I love to cook.

Well, the term love might be a little strong. Now if there were never any dishes to do at the end... But, since I like to eat good food, cooking is kinda a prerequisite---and I might as well do it right, so I make a lot of stuff from scratch.

While at work today, I was looking up some stuff on the internet and while on a different website, I found a fun link which I clicked on, and then I clicked to another, which eventually brought me here: Single Serving Pie in a Jar

Is this not the best idea ever!! I have tons of canning jars. Most of them normal sized, some extra tall (that I have baked bread in), but some are EXACTLY the right size for individual pies. I can see the possibilities already.

Doesn't your mouth water? Mine does. I love the cooler fall weather when baking becomes a treat. And these would be sweet gifts for people. Hmmm, I may need to go grocery shopping tonight.

Kami

Sundays

2009-10-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

I love Sundays in the fall. Cool weather, football, and time to sew.

After we got home from church, I turned on the Denver game in my craft room. With the hot iron warming up the room and the girls napping, life was lovely. Inspiration hit me this week, and finally I know whaat I am going to do on the triangular corners for my red, black and green quilt.

So today I started cutting strips and sewing them together.

Then I cut them apart again.

And I have started sewing them back together.

And finally, I will trim them down to size.

I think they are so cute.

I still don't know how many I will need to frame the large black triangles, but it is nice just hearing the whirring of a sewing machine again. I have about a dozen finished so far, and can't wait for the end of the Charger game, when the girls will go to bed, to make about 30 or so more.

Yesterday, we had family pictures taken by a friend, Shari, who is and excellent photographer. We dressed the whole family in tones of pink and green, I hope the pictures turn out as well as I think they did. I took one shot of the girls just to show off their cute outfits.

If they look that cute with my old camera, I can't wait to see the pictures from Shari.

Have a great day

Kami

This and That

2009-09-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend. I put the finishing touches on 4 quilts and got them off to the quilter. It is so nice to not have to step over mostly finished projects. Well, I suppose thats not completely true there are still 2 more quilts that I will finish this week and oh, maybe 8 more works in progress. Am I the only person who gets sidetracked, and is constantly starting something new? I didn't think so.

So how badly do I want to finish the 2 that I am almost done with.... maybe I could put the borders on this quilt instead.

Well it was a thought. temporary. fleeting. whew that desire is gone again.

I think I will fold it back up until inspiration strikes again.

I am going to complete the top of an original design instead. I just need the finishing touches on some applique work. I will share a picture in a couple days when it is all stitched down. If I am lucky the pattern packets will be done soon too.

Now because I believe in full disclosure, this next part only for the brave at heart.

I'm warning you...... it might be time to read the next blog.

Okay, but don't complain to me that there is Too Much Info now.

After picking up the kids, I finally got home tonight from an already long day of work, and notice there is a smell of poop in the car. Okay, maybe someone tooted... A little later I hear this.

KG: Alyss, you can't tell Mommy.

AJ: You can't stop me.

KG: No you can't. Stop Alyss.

AJ: Kaaaatelyyyyyn. [Comes to find me] Mommy, Katelyn pooped in her underwear.

So, I am mostly upset that she is hiding what she did from me. So I clean her up then make her wash the underpants in the toilet, clean up the floor and the side of the tub. I started the laundry, so why do I keep smelling poop. I make her wash her hands again. Still there. So I spray febreeze. better. Dinner, bath.... yuck it still smells. ARE YOU READY... she thought she could hide the evidence of her accident by throwing the poop in the trash. Eeewwww gross.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Kami

Happy 4th of September--a little late

2009-09-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay so it is a day late,

After all the party prep yesterday, meeting with Katelyn's teacher, taking Alyssa's picture, and decorating a cake I crashed early last night. I woke up this morning and after playing with the girls and Alyssa'a new doll, I headed to the computer to post a winner.

And I felt this tickling on my legs. I looked down & I was standing in a swarm of ants. They were all over the floor, I think they were after powdered sugar from making frosting yesterday, but it could also have been water, In-N-Out crumbs, or just the heat. Needless to say I have been busy, busy, busy! The kitchen table had to be moved outside, the floor mopped and believe it or not, even the inside of the dishwasher washed out because the ants were in there. I counted 4 trails of ants coming in from outside spreading out across the floor and going nowhere and everywhere. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!

On a different note, have you checked out the newest Bunny Hill BOM it is the cutest block with a Scottie Dog and apples. I have learned how to get the block a few hours early (I'm not telling), so yesterday before my mom came over for the family birthday gathering I snuck into the craft room for a few minutes and made this adorable dog. And the fabric with the math is going to be my basket! I am going to be taking out one apple, and putting in a football! Honestly, I have to celebrate both the start of a school year and the football season. At least it's not a whole quilt this time right? I don't think I am obsessed...

Alyssa loved her Monkey Cake. It is not my best frosting job, but she was thrilled with it.
She also got a hide and seek monkey toy, a stuffed monkey, a monkey water bottle and a monkey puzzle. Do you sense a theme? So who won her prize with the monkey pattern-well, no one! Since no one really wanted it, I thought I would give a second place prize that everyone would be excited to get. But you have to wait, I need to introduce you to Lily first. Remember Rebecca modeling the selvage dress, Lily is also sporting an outfit I made.....

...Jammies

I think they're cute, and much faster than making the fabric with selvages then sewing them into clothes.

So who is winning the Mommy Prize Pack.... DianeH. And for reading the fine print in the blog, I am enclosing a cupcake just for you. Don't worry frosting won't get all over everything, this is a little pincushion.
And I opened up the 2nd place prize to everyone who posted a comment, and Lori Pierce wins the other cupcake. I hope that you will use it, I love having one by my sewing machine, and another the ironing board.

Have a great day, everyone.

Kami

A Happy Birthday to Me, A GIVEAWAY!

2009-08-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday, and you get the presents!!

I am having my first giveaway. I am really excited I have entered many giveaways, won once, and now not one but two lucky people will get to have something from me.

Since I am starting this giveaway on my birthday, I have decided to end it 8 days from now on my daughter Alyssa's birthday, Sept 4th. So you can choose which prize pack you want or become a follower of my blog, and I will automatically enter you in both. So what can you win?

The Mommy Prize Pack

One book of elegant Christmas gift to make

Two "The Quilters Magazines"

Three coordinating fabrics

and just because a spool of thread

–or–

The Little Girl Prize Pack

One Book "Copy Cats Quilts"

One Pattern "Monkey Business"

In addition to giving away two prizes,

Remember I’m going to give you two chances to win.

First just leave me a comment to enter.

I’d like to hear which prize pack you prefer and a favorite birthday memory.

If you would like a second chance to win,

just become a public follower. I know that many of you follow anonymously, but change your view to public, and you get into both drawings.

Fine Print: if you look through the old posts, and tell me when I finished my Christmas quilt, I will add a little hand made goody to either prize pack.

2009-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

I have come to a realization. I have just enough energy each day to do any 2 of the following:

1. Work 9 hrs a day, plus make the 20 minute commute each direction.

2. Be a mommy to my two girls who miss me terribly.

3. Spend some alone time being creative in the craft room.

4. Blog.

Well, since number 1 is mandatory. And the girls are clamoring for my attention, 3 and 4 on the list have been... well neglected.

But, I am pleased to say I have forced myself to once again

get out my scissors and rotary cutters

and I am have a little bit of fun designing and sewing.

The Be Creative Quilt I started as soon as I got home from

the Long Beach quilt show is coming along nicely.

I am stitching down the first panel, and although I am not usually a brights person, I love the vibrant colors. I chose to put a pink quilt on the line to remind me that one day I hope to have matching bedspreads in the girls rooms. Of course with this new schedule I may need to (gasp) buy them.

I am also entertaining layouts for a quilt depicting my other obsession in life. Football. Not just generic football, but I am a diehard San Diego Chargers fan. I started this quilt last year during the preseason, and got so mad at their dismal performance of the year that I just put it away.

When I brought it back out again this month to celebrate the start of another football season, I was disappointed with the layout I had planned. So although I am trying to keep all of the hard work I have already done on the blocks. I would love some input on the layout.

Also although it is hard to hard to see them at a distance,

the black diamonds are football chalkboard sketches.

Version 1: Get rid of the clutter by just keeping the jerseys and grass squares and still incorporate all the blocks into one quilt. (All of the blue squares will be jerseys)

Version 2: The generic football quilt. I would just have blacks and whites with the football chalkboard fabric. The blue and gold would only come from the subtle colors in the whites although I could buy a blue to replace the solid black.

Version 3: Only show the blocks that have the true Chargers feel and turn them into a stand alone quilt. The biggest flaw in this one is that I do not have nearly enough of these blocks. Plus, even though fusing the applique on is quick, I have been doing a tight zig zag stitch all the way around each jersey number & field number so that it looks really cool taking lots of time. Plus I can't get more football fabric, so it may put the finish closer to a 2010 season instead of this year.

Do you like any of the layouts? Or should I start playing with them again?

Thanks for the help,

Kami

2009-08-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I started back to the daily grind. it was so quiet at my office today I could hardly get any work done. I missed the kids' voices, but I also was tucked away in a corner, and rarely heard other adult voices. The only bright spot in my cubicle is the arrangement of flowers that my mom delivered to me this morning.

Thanks Mom, they really made my day.

A few of the people I knew from working at the company before came by to say hi, others I knew said hello in the hallway. But for the most part my transition to working woman went unnoticed. If it hadn't been for the I.T. guy, I would never have gotten a tour, my payroll handled and figured out how to use the voicemail system. My direct supervisors spent most of the day leaving me to my own devices. Thankfully, I am self motivated or I would have nothing to show for my 9 hours of work.

In short, I wish it was still last Monday when I took the girls to the San Diego Zoo for the day. Hopefully Alyssa first day at preschool will go better tomorrow!

Kami

a little inspiration

2009-07-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

Since my last post was so heart wrenching, I thought that I better keep it light this time. Are you ready for some quilts from the Long Beach quilt show?

First though I have to say that I met Lizzie B.

They had the best booth, it was bright and colorful and completely over-the-top, I could have spent all day there! I bought a pattern from them "Be Creative" and I am already working away on it. It will be a great addition to my new cubicle so that I don't have to stare at boring walls all day. Plus, since I will be in the creative dept. how much better could it be!

Also in her booth was Mary from Marin & Colusa. My mom has known her for years, and she is one of my very few followers!! It was great to get to see her demoing her new stitching lines. If you do a lot of half square triangles check them out... oh, don't forget to look at her patterns too.

The quilts were a little too improve and not enough piecing skills for my tastes, but the following quilts grabbed me enough to photo, so get a cup of cocoa, and sit back for your virtual quilt show.

Two Weeks Notice

2009-07-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

For the last 6 years I have had the privilege of staying at home with my 2 beautiful girls. There were many times in the first few months that I dreamed longingly of going back to work. I have taken in a few jobs over the years but always with my kids with me, I got to watch a friends twins in my home, I worked in the children's dept. at our church, and I have done freelance graphic design. But now, I have to get a real job. I always thought I had one, but since I only got paid in kisses and hugs, it doesn't help to pay the mortage.

So starting August 3rd, I will be one of those women who choose a career over spending the day at home with her kids. My heart is breaking. I keep trusting God that this is his plan, BUT I WANT MY PLAN! I go to sleep in a state of anxiety worrying about them, I wake up all jittery still worrying. But with this recession, there are no guarantees that my husband will have a job next week, and with his hours already having been cut for summer, we needed to make some changes. So someone else will give them hugs when they're hurt, will get to read them stories, and will listen to the funny things they have to say. I miss them already!

I have always wished we had the money to do more for them. Unfortunately, now we won't have as much time to do it. Sigh.

In the words of Anne Shirley,

"I am considerably rumpled in spirit".

Kami

The Reveal

2009-07-17T22:09:00.001-07:00

My baby is already 6 years old. I can't believe it has been that long since my life has been turned upside down. And although life is different, I realize I'm right side up again and life has never been better.

In six years I have learned that

kids ask a lot of questions, and they really do want them answered

even the tiniest of scratch hurts, and the ouchie has to be shown off for days

and that I love to tickle little tummies, armpits, knees, necks, feet, sides...

Katelyn had a lovely day with her cousin Hannah playing in the pool, with little toys on beach towels, back in the pool, eating Hawaiian pizza for dinner, and swimming yet again! Finally, she opened her presents, and we got her an American Girl Doll. Rebecca is the newest historical character and looks amazingly like Katelyn. Because the clothes are almost as expensive as the doll, I chose to make her another outfit for her American girl so...

May I introduce, Rebecca, now modeling the Miniture Selvage Dress.

I still need to hem everything. Because I had already wrapped the doll, it was best to not guess on the exact length of sleeves and skirt so if you see a few stray threads ignore them. I was shocked at how long it took to sew the selvages together. It "seams" so easy, but I really wanted a good mix of dots, and words, and of course I tried to find selvages that were just the right length rather that getting out my long ones. Will I use them again? Definately. Just give me a chance to find the flat surfaces on my sewing table first. My selvages had a way of exploding out of the basket.

Have a great day,

Kami

Sew many dots

2009-07-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the final clue to the selvage project.

I am giving it as a gift tomorrow to Katelyn as part of her 6th birthday present.

Any more guesses?

And I had to include this blue selvage on a conspicuous location, it has a quote from A.K. Rush "Creativity is really the structuring of magic." It is so perfect for Katelyn who lives for craft time.

Also, I am a winner! Yellow Bird Quilts was having a givaway and I won one of their prizes. I really have no idea what to make with the beautiful fat quarters they sent me. I usually don't buy Asian prints, but these are lovely. What would you make with them?

Kami

An All Sewing Day...kinda

2009-07-15T23:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, from about 10 am on I was able to sit quietly with very few interuptions and just sew. Unfortunately, I was on a hard plastic chair in the ER.

About a 1/2 hour after my DH woke up he had a grand mal seizure and after calling emergency services, an ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital. Let me tell you I was a shaky nervous wreck, thankfully the neighbor across the street came over when she saw all the emergency vehicles and watched the kids while I showered and packed. I grabbed my applique bag and a couple of books, clothes for Jason and left just as my dad showed up to watch the girls for the day. What I really wish I packed with everything else was my ipod. Jason dozed in between the docs doing their thing so I got to sit and sew while listening to beeps and the quiet conversation from the nurses across the aisle. I would have loved music, or an audiobook to help the time pass.

Thankfully, he is home and resting well tonight. He had to have a 5 hour drip of phosphates because his levels were "critically low". But he's stable and we are looking forward to a slew of doctors appointments over the next few days. I just hope he stays that way.

So here is your next clue for the selvages. I was first inspired to collect selvages because of Jodie at Vintage RicRac. Look around and you might find my inspiration piece. I am choosing pink as my coordinating color.

Kami

Home again!

2009-07-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I just started trying to post on my blog when I stopped to take a drink of water from my glass. Well in the 2+ hours since I last took a sip, a spider moved in and started making a web. I didn't notice until it started crawling on my NOSE!! I am now sufficiently freaked out.

It is nice to be back home from vacation. Did I forget to mention that I was leaving? We spent a lovely week in Shaver Lake relaxing with family, fishing, boating, and roughing it in our tent. Actually, the weather was lovely, warm durning the day when we wanted to play on the water and cool in the evenings when we could snuggle into sleeping bags. Well, all except Alyssa. From the time she was little, she has never been able to tolerate blankets on her legs... So here are some picts taken in the middle of the night when I kept needing to get up to tuck her back in.

I admit, she looked okay, but it was chilly enough that I kept hearing her thrashing because she was cold. So I would cover her, and a couple of nights before I could even fall back asleep, I could hear her kicking her little feet out again.

Do you notice how in the second picture she is buried under her blanket to try and keep warm. Silly girl. By the end of the week, I just layered her in extra jammies and we both slept through the night.

Like any vacation, this one passed in a blur. There were not nearly enough hours in the day to have all the fun that we had planned. I packed oodles of games, and we only got to play a handful. My mom brought lots of cards that she designed for us to craft with and there wasn't enough time for that. My book didn't get finished until the drive home... But we spent lots of time on the lake shore. Although the water was cold the girls kept going in and swimming, and they loved going riding on the wave runner. The highlight of the trip was the 8 passenger boat cruise around the lake with all of us and Aspen, my brothers' dog. While we liked the coves and floating in the water with no one else around, Aspen was bored. However when we stopped at a deserted island and let her off the leash, Aspen became hyper. Extremely! All week, Katelyn was tolerant of her but a little scared with her on the leash. With this beige blur racing around her on the island, she became hysterical--tears, shakes, screaming.... I could barely get her to walk back to the boat she was so afraid that Aspen would take a short cut and come racing past her again.

Does that look like the face of a killer? I didn't think so either.

I am still itchy thinking a spider is crawling on me. I killed it and can't stop feeling it's little legs tickling my neck. EEWWWWW!

Finally, the laundry is all done; mountains and mountains of laundry. I have washed enough that I have now run out of space to put clean clothes in the girls drawers, so it is time to go through AJs drawers again and see what she has outgrown.

But I thought I deserved a little fun, so here is your trivia question of the day. I have started sewing something together. Any guesses what I am going to turn this into?

I know this last photo is blurry, but I really like the soft colors that show up on the back side when sewing the selvages together. I wish it would show in the finished project.

Kami

Quilt Retreat

2009-06-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

My first quilt retreat was amazing. I left the girls with a babysitter on Thursday morning and my mom and I went shopping at a LQS, had excellent Mexican food for lunch and were finally on our way to the convent. The convent is located on a famous road in Temecula, CA--famous for it's wineries. It seemed an odd place for the nuns to be with tasting rooms for neighbors, but the views from the room of the open fields and grape vineyards was amazing.

We were almost the last to arrive and set up our area in the back of the room. It was so pleasant, we had a lovely group of ladies and one man to spend the weekend chatting with and learning from. Our instructor, Pearl Pereira, was so lovely. She was patient explaining all the techniques for freezer paper applique, being self taught it was nice to have someone who was so patient even with teaching me easier ways to hold the stiletto to move the fabric better.

Here are some of the creations that people worked on or were brought in for show and tell this weekend. The first is from a lady who just stopped by for the trunk show on Saturday night. She made this one for her daughter & son-in-law, the signature blocks are from the guest at their wedding.

The flowers are from this pattern below of Pearls called Wildflowers. I love how unique the top one is. I love when people take a pattern and make it their own.

Linda worked on finishing the blocks up for a summer quilt "Gifts from the Sea" by Verna Mosque. I loved the bright colors. And I am sure that my girls would love the quilt... maybe one day.

This one was from another quilt shop owner Julie. She spent the weekend trying to get caught up making samples for her shop.
Here is Pearl's finished Baltimore Halloween Quilt. Four ladies were working on it at the retreat. After seeing the size of some of the tiny pieces that had to be turned, I can guarantee that this one will never make it to my to do list. But it is absolutely beautiful in person, and I certainly understand the attraction to make one.

Her Christmas quilt with the big pieces is much more my speed. Aren't the faces sweet on these guys?

Here I am industriously working on my applique pieces. The pink fabric is super cute in its finished spot, and the little brown arch turned into the handle on this basket. Do you remember the background I posted about a few weeks ago?

Aren't you excited to see the whole quilt? I am about 1/3 way done stitching down the applique. so be patient hopefully in a couple more weeks it will be ready to be quilted. Of course for each pattern that we are designing, we have it done in two different color ways, so maybe I shouldn't be so optimistic that this pattern will be ready soon, but I hope so.

Happy sewing,

Kami

Whirlwind

2009-06-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

Life has been happening fast around here. Although I thought I was beat after supervising the 33 kindergartners on a field trip. That was a cakewalk compared to life since. So here is my life in a nutshell. (Granted it needs to be a really big nutshell.)

Let me preface everything by saying, I forgot my camera on fieldtrip day. Life would have been much simpler if I hadn't left my camera connected to the computer that Thursday morning. Halfway through the fieldtrip one of the other moms, Cindy, made a comment to me that in her other daughters class a mom collects photos from all the parents and puts together a DVD of the highlights of the school year. Me, without a camera, thinks "hey, what a great way to get pictures of today to put on my blog." So these words come out of my mouth,"I could easily do that for everyone if people give me a CD of their pictures."

WHAT!! Did I just volunteer to get people to give me their photos (Oh, the follow through), organize the photos (I don't even scrapbook), and then put together a DVD (only my second one ever)! And I was going away on the applique retreat in a week with less than 2 weeks left of school. Sure no problem!

To add to my stress, at this time Jason's hours at his job were cut forcing us to have a 20% cut in pay, so I applied for my first full-time job in 6 years! Thankfully, it is at USAopoly the company I worked for before "retiring" to be a SAHM. I had the job interview on Monday, and still no word. But back to my story.

So while staying up til midnight most nights for the next week to try and finish the piecing for the 6 quilt tops for the 3 new patterns mom & I hope to release, I had in the back of my mind this little DVD project. Wednesday morning I mentioned to Cindy that not many parents had given me pictures and I might not have a very well rounded movie since i would be gone for the next two days. Well leave it to the next Sarah Palin to organize the parents at the school. Honest if you have a project that needs to be done don't ask me, ask Cindy. By the time I dropped off Katelyn at school last Monday morning, Cindy had collected 3 disks, one flash drive, got 2 parents emailing me photos and one more set was dropped off to my house that night. In 2 days she got 7 parents to get their photos to me when I got 2 in a whole week!

I was so busy last Monday I didn't have time to look at the disks until that evening. Here is a little taste of my day. I helped in the classroom in the morning, fed my girls lunch, got KG's hair in a bun for her final dance rehersal, got a phone call from USAopoly about the interview time, got all distracted with horrid butterflies in the tummy and left the costume at home, finally got K to the theater, had ice cream with AJ, went to the quilt shop for applique thread, picked up K who was 1/2 an hour late getting out, dashed home dropped off the kids, went to my book club meeting where Marie Botswick actually called us. AND finally came home at 8:30 to start the DVD. Really, how am I supposed to fit a 9-5 job into that schedule. Thus, began week 2 of being up till midnight to get stuff done. Thankfully, the DVD turned out great, school is out for summer, and KG's dance recital was beautiful. I am hoping to finally start slowing down and enjoying life again.

I was going to add pictures of the retreat also, but I think I will wait til tomorrow. Since I refuse to leave the house for anything, I am hoping I will have time to post them early. Well, at least before midnight. I thought I would leave you with this last picture of Katelyn and her "boyfriend".

A first crush

2009-06-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

Mom and I leave 1 week from tomorrow for our 4 day applique retreat. I have been too busy getting ready to even take pictures of my works in progress. So today I got out the camera, and thought I would post a few teaser pictures of a couple of quilts that we will be working on up there. These are parts of the pieced backgrounds, but next week we start adding all the fun little applique details to the quilts to really give them flair. And yes, they will be pattern packets soon!

Tomorrow is Katelyn's first field trip on a school bus! She is so excited I didn't think I would ever get her to sleep tonight. The class is going to the post office, fire station and civic center/library. And I get to go as a chaperone! After spending every Monday this year helping out in her class, I know all the kids almost as well as she does and am looking forward to a fun time with all of them. I promise to bring my camera and take pictures!

So do you want to hear tonight's funny story? Okay well first we have to go back to last week. No, no, lets go back about 3 or 4 months. Do you remember your first kindergarten crush? Well, like most girls in her class K had one. Well, this little boy was REALLY not into girls so after spending all year liking Boy 1 she decided to give up on him and pick a new boyfriend, Chris. Twice each week for homework they bring home a journal with a question from the teacher that they need to answer. Well fast forward to last week and the question was "Do you have a boyfriend (or girlfriend)" K quickly filled the page with information on Chris and how they like to play house together and tag on the playground...

Finally, tonight I really got to see them interact. Chris is just as smitten with her as she is with him, which in kindergarten-ese means that they ate their food at opposite ends of a bench, alternating between giggling at each other and turning their back on one another. And in the peaceful times, it was a lot of loud jabbering about playing house at school and the field trip. When they finally finished it was time to run around and play freeze tag. So what am I doing while the kids are flirting? Listening to Chris's parent tell me how much he talks about Katelyn at home! Can you guess who his girlfriend was in the journal entry? Of course, Katelyn. Aww, a first crush is so sweet, especially when the boy likes you too.

Kami

Giveaway Blog Greatness

2009-05-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Are you as addicted to going to all the blogs that are having giveaways as I am? I have wasted away too many hours looking a the awesome handmade goodies, and tantalizing supplies that people are offering. I will post a real blog soon, promise, but I think I need to go and enter a few more giveaways to try and win some of the awesome prizes.

2009-05-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

For those family members who feel my girls are being neglected, because I am spending too much time quilting, I thought I would show them off in all their little girl sweetness,

and sillyness,

and playfulness.

Yes, they are healthy and fun to be with again.

Okay, on to the ever important announcement: I did it!

I cut into my favorite piece of fabric for this puzzle quilt. I love the look of the way the fabric touches itself and makes this diamond with the turquoise swirls. Even the feathers are fun when fussy cut and put together. Only one major problem. When I finished sewing it together, my seam allowances must have been wrong because the block ended up 1/2" to big! Aargh!

So I left my sewing room in a fit of rage and didn't even go back for a final picture of the block. I am really not sure what to do. I can't redo it, because I had to cut 16 of each fussy cut triangle and I don't have that much fabric left. I hate to just discard it, and I really don't want to rip it all out to resew it back together. I would love any suggestions.

The rest of my sewing time this week has been spent in front of the computer writing instructions for the newest pattern packet. Not very exciting from a picture perspective, but I am so jazzed I can't wait to release this new pattern. Ideally it looks like it will be ready to distribute late next month.

Have a great day,

Kami

The Paris Cats

2009-05-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those weeks? Alyssa's stomach flu moved north and settled into her chest. Finally, on Thursday, we spent time outside playing tag, catching butterflies, basically just enjoying being outdoors. Even cleaning out the car was fun. That evening the girls and I enjoyed dinner a cheap Mexican restaurant with great food. We came home and within 15 minutes Alyssa is in hysterics with her ear hurting. So after a sleepless night for everyone the doctor confirmed that the cold that was finally "gone", had moved north again into her ear and she had an ear infection. Hallelujah with antibiotics, I think we have really truly finished with her being sick.

So are you the least bit curious with what I sewed in those odd minutes I wasn't busy? I completed another block in my Paula Nadelstern Puzzle Quilt... only 9 to go.

I really liked what was happening with some of the fabrics as I was fussy cutting them. I also like how the colors bend at the seam lines.

This week it is time to start the next block and really play with how the blocks blend together with the mirror image fabrics.

My biggest problem is not wanting to cut into my favorite fabric. I am afraid I will run out so I am way too stingy with it. I still have 3/4 of a yard that has nothing fussy cut out of it, so for my next block I am forcing myself to use it! Hopefully I will get over my phobia.

I also started a new stitchery BOM by Jenny of Elefantz. This is exactly the "look" I would love to have my girls bedroom be. Reality is that no matter how soft and elegant the room is the toys would still be all over the floor. I am still going to stitch these up though with the thought that one day (soon?) it may be time for a Shabby Chic room make-over and I will already have this finished to decorate the room.

Until last night that is all I had completed in 7 days. But last night just as the girls were getting ready for bed I left for a sleepover at my Mom's house. We had the awesome martinis, then I got to sew with her for 4 hours, sleep just a little bit, and then get up for another 10 hour marathon sewing session. It was so much fun! We are attending an applique retreat next month, and the goal is to finish three new pattern packets then, so we are busy getting everything sewn together and ready for the applique to be added. And although I am not ready to show pictures of these new patterns quite yet, I will show off what we made to carry all our stuff in!

Aren't they adorable?

We now have matching totes, applique tool cases, humbug bags and covers for our pressing mats.

The brooches on the front of the bags, are inherited from my Grandmothers collection of jewelry. And the shoe fabric on the outside of my mom's bag is perfect because my Grandma always collected shoe charms wherever she went.

After looking at our newest creations, I was teasing my mom that we should change our name from "Quilts with Flair" to "Paris Cat Quilts" from the fabric line. Although most of our patterns are centered around a Paris theme, I think the name stays.

Also, if you are in the Southern California area and want to take a class from mom and I the next one is in August for our Eiffel Tower Quilt. I would love to meet you

Kami

Mother's Day Reminisces

2009-05-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show off the pictures of the gift I made for my mom for Mother's Day. Wanting a pink and black theme, I purchased 2 fat quarters of fabric, a needle threader, a bias tape maker, and the piece de' resistance, was an adorable little pincushion. I first saw them when Sandra at Pepperberry & Co. had a link on her website on Earth Day, and I just knew that I was going to make several as gifts.

They are made out of the top of a 2 liter bottle. Talk about turning your trash into a treasure. The pink and black one was for my mom, and the other was for Jason's stepmom. They both turned out great, and now I just have to finish one for me.

My Mother's Day weekend continued on Saturday at my mom's house. Each of us had a chore to do before going swimming in the afternoon. Mine was to make a "box-style" card. I was allowed to pick any paper I wanted, and then decorate the card. I loved this pink and green ladybug paper and had to use it. And when finished pull the little circle sticking out the side and a panel popsout to to continue to embellish and write on.

I am glad Friday night and Saturday were so wonderful because Sunday.... well, lets just say it stunk. Alyssa woke us up at an extremely early hour, I was allowed to sleep in so I missed the first few episodes of her throwing up. But there were plenty more to follow, and any thought of being pampered flew out the window as I spent the day mothering my youngest instead. Finally tonight I got to open the last of my Mother Day presents.

Jason got me a beautiful necklace and earrings, and the girls each picked out a little notebook. I don't know if you can see the cookbook I got, but it is full of family recipes and photos that my brother and sister-in-law put together. I feel truly blessed.

Kami

Pay it Forward

2009-05-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have joined my first PIF. The concept of a PIF is when acts of kindness are performed without expecting anything in return and are passed on, trusting that the recipients will do the same and Pay It Forward, resulting in a never ending chain of kindness.

By signing on, my commitment is to make and send a gift to 3 friends who post a comment to this post requesting to join this exchange and who promise to Pay It Forward to 3 other persons, and so on.

At this time, I don’t know what my gifts will be, but I can promise you a gift made by me I will send to you within the next 6 months. By signing on, what YOU then have to do in return is to Pay It Forward by making the same announcement and commitment on YOUR blog.

If you comment sign up, please be sure there is a way I can contact you through your blog or email so I can get your contact info. I will randomly pick the 3 recipients on Friday May 15.

So who wants to play?

Kami

Welcome

2009-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

To everyone who is visiting from the selvage blog welcome. It was exciting to wake up this morning ready to blog about everything I got done last night and see, that so many people had come to visit.

Last night felt like an early Mother's Day present. My DH took the girls out as soon as he got home from work to go shopping for a present for me. They chose to go to a Grand Ave in Escondido and stayed for all the fun of Friday night with "Cruisin' Grand" where tons of people come out to show off and see antique cars. I had 3 1/2 peaceful hours to sew! First, I finished the tulip hearts quilt. And I hate to admit it, but I really don't think I like it. The picture is blurry I know, but even in person, it doesn't help the layout. But, with some quick stippling it will be done and make a nice gift to someone. Most of the fun was in the challenge. The petals on the flowers are prairie points, and the leaves are pockets. I really just wanted to learn how to make it.

But I also finished my barn block/mini quilt. I love this one! I found the pattern on a trip to Canada last summer, while and the best quilt store in Canmore. Trust me if the exchange rate had been better I would have had to buy and extra suitcase to go home. I used left over pieces of fabric from "Sunday Brunch at Lake Louise" that already had fusible on the back of them. It looks perfect on the little frame.
Have a great weekend, and happy Mother's Day to all the moms.

Kami

My Works in Progress

2009-05-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I would show you a picture of my design wall. I think that you learn so much about people by how they evolve, and this wall is no exception.

From the upper left, there are the 4 Bunny Hill BOMs the fifth was released this morning, so soon that one will make it onto the wall too. Below those are two little mini quilts that the girls made last November from scraps of fabric that had fusible web on the back. I still need to quilt them. Continuing down, are a series of three flowers that I saw at a quilt show, sketched a picture of and then had to figure out how they were made. Well I made them too big in my opinion so there they sit waiting for fancy setting triangles to make them look proportionally correct.

At the top of the center section is another little mini quilt (I have a 9 1/4" double-sided frame that I display them on). That one is waiting on just a hint more quilting and binding-max one hour of sewing left. The next two blocks are part of a Paula Nadelstern Puzzle Quilt. Unfortunately, I still only have those 2 of 12 blocks.

I took close-ups of the kalidescope blocks, they are also inspired by Paula Nadelstern. I love these, but haven't touched them in over 2 years. The symmetry and design process mesmerize me and I can't believe that I made them, but there they sit. I counted in the lower of the two blocks, and in one tiny wedge are over 40 pieces of fabric, multiply that by eight wedges, and I am not surprised that I never finished my desired 5 kalidescopes for the quilt top.

But all of that is going to change soon, I hope. My goal this month is to finish most of the things on my design wall plus a queen sized bed quilt that just needs borders put on it. Unfortunately, I also have numerous projects that are tucked away in bags, that haven't even made it onto the wall.

I hope that it will be a month of accomplishments. And to prove that I can finish something that I started, here is what I finished today. Or more appropriately today's refinishing project.
This is the top of the coffee table before. The finish was scratched, there were water rings all over it, and even a little few sharpie pen markings.

I took a picture of the front of the sideboard with one side of the panel refinished and the other side waiting to be done. The results were amazing on both projects, I tried to take a good All Done picture, but the flash kept bouncing off of the wood. I may have done a better job than I thought, it really shines now.

I am now off to finish something else,
Kami

May Flowers

2009-05-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day!

It is time to dance around a may pole and rejoice that spring is officially here. Most of the garden has already been blooming, but a few areas are just now waking up. This first picture is of the apple blossoms on our Pink Lady tree. Then these beautiful white rose on a bush "JFK" named after the American president. And finally, since my photos are kinda monotone, here are huge bouquets of flowers from the local farmers market.

I am really looking forward to summer because I am hoping that I am going to win this adorable tote from It's a Wonderful.... How cute will I be down at the beach sunbathing in my size 4 (not) bikini, and sipping on marguaritas that I have cleverly hidden in the bag. Oh, I can just see myself. The reality check is that I never win ANYTHING. So here's to crossing my fingers and toes.

Kami

Geese and Roses

2009-04-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today, the girls and I met my dad for lunch at Lake Miramar. We get together there about once a month and the highlight of each visit is feeding the ducks after we eat. Well this visit involved that after the girls freaked out climbing on the picnic table begging to be carried past a ferocious beast. Who? Well it was a goose.

Later we saw this whole flock of them and they screamed bloody murder in terror. So to explain why my two well-adjusted kids are terrified of geese, I need to reminisce.

Many, many months ago, before we started bringing real bird food and instead tore up chunks of bread. My dad brought with him a homemade sun-dried tomato bread. As we stood on the bank tossing it to the ducks on the water, a group of geese waddled up to us so we started feeding them too. Well they didn't like the bread and began to attack us. They bit one of the girls, my dad, and me, we literally had grab the girls, and fight our way out from them and run for it. Now the girls freak out even when we see them a long distance away. The moral of the story, if you don't like the bread, probably the geese won't either.
I thought that you might like to see the finished piecing of my "romantic roses"? "hot lips"? or whatever name it gets quilt. I should say, I have finished following the pattern for this quilt. I have always wanted to participate in a round robin style of quilt, and I think I am going to do my own round-robin style of borders to increase this to be queen sized quilt.
First thing I plan to do is set the quilt on point. Whew, that was easy! Next, I am going to fill the corners with solid black, and applique cream and red flowers onto them. Yikes, didn't I just finish a whole bunch of applique projects? And, I am working on the Bunny Hill BOM. And, I am designing 2 new applique patterns with my mom. And, I want to applique parts of Vintage Valentines for the girls. Really, do I have to sew all these little things?

Thanks, I feel better getting that off of my chest and now I am ready to run with this quilt. Besides, I love covering little pieces of freezer paper with fabric. It is so theraputic and quiet, and after a crazy day chasing the girls, sometimes it is just what I need to unwind.

I was going to post one more picture of something new I just made, but I am making a couple more for gifts, and I think I will wait to share the photos until I get the rest finished and given away. So just be on the watch for something new and creative that can be done in just a couple of hours.

Kami

Dessert

2009-04-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Jason's dad arrived in town today for the weekend. So tonight I planned an Italian dinner feast. Lasagna with homemade marinara sauce, garlic bread and a green salad. But, the highlight was this plate of Spaghetti and Meatballs I made for dessert. It is really frosted cupcakes for his birthday! The recipe is in this book of easy but amazing decorated cupcakes. I was given it as a gift for Mother's Day last year and use it all the time.

I am off to entertain, but I wish I could sneak back to my sewing room. Just for 5 minutes maybe??

Kami

Kites and more

2009-04-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

Happy day after Earth Day.

Did you go outside and do something special? Here are a few pictures of the girls celebrating. Well at least doing something fun.

Okay are you ready to see my black, red, and green quilt. It really needs a name, but I haven't thought of anything yet. I think I might need to get more parts together before something will come to me. If you have any suggestions leave a comment with your idea.

Here are the pieces before assembling the first block. I get so excited just seeing those little pieces of fabric.
This is where the tiny squares go. These are on all for sides of the block and the whites will create squares when matched together.

And drum roll please......

The first finished block. The quilt top is 4 by 4 blocks I can't wait to see it finished. In fact I am liking it so much I am considering making it bigger. But that can wait until I finish all 16 of these to decide.

Finally, I thought I would post my picture of how I store my selvages. Karen at Selvage blog asked everyone to email her pictures of how their selvages are stored. Mine are in a shallow wicker basket that can slide on top of my quilting books on a shelf. It looks like I might have enough to start thinking about that project.
Have a great day and go do something creative.

Kami

The Newest Quilt

2009-04-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

As I was reorganizing my fabric stash, this weekend, this collection of red floral fabric grabbed my attention. It called to me as I cut off the selvage to add to my collection. It kept calling as Ifolded it up again to repack. I unpacked them, stewed for a little while. Did I really want to sew? I was having fun cleaning up my stash, and searching for selvages. So I set them aside.

But they kept reappearing in my mind, so I finally cut out some squares.I added some greens and this charming black and red fabric. Yes those are lips!

And 4 hours later, I had organized piles of cut fabric and sewn pieces. But before it could put the first block together it was suddenly time for those little squares I mentioned in my last post.

384- 1 1/8" squares. Sewn to those are 248 quarter square triangles. And when chain stitched together I had 17 feet of what I always think of as "prayer flags". But it was to hot to press them open.

Inside the house it was 86° yesterday. Today was a little better, I turned on the AC when it got to be 81° in the house, outside it was 99° and although I ironed, it was too hot to do much else, so look forward more pictures when the weather cools down. It is supposed to be back in the 60°s by Saturday.

Kami

Presents

2009-04-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon I called my mom and she was on her way home from a quilt store, and she had bought a present for me. I love surprises, and this one did not disappoint. The fabrics in the picture are from Bunny Hill's new line of fabrics. The bunny is adorable. The other thing in the picture are these little tags to put in the binding of a quilt that say "P.S. I love you" Isn't that sweet.

Before I left her house, she gave me another gift. It may not look like much yet, but I have been bitten by the selvage bug. I am now collecting those little edges of the fabric that tell the manufacturing information so that some day I can make something as amazing as this. Okay, so I am not even that ambitious, but I am inspired and I often find that a good place to be. So if you want to see more selvage ideas, go to Karen's blog and look at some of the cool things being made.

Hopefully, later today I will post pictures of my newest work in project. A 54" square quilt that has hundreds of little pieces. You think I jest, but the tiny squares are cut at 1 1/8" and I need, well.... way too many of them. What was I thinking?

Kami

Flowers Everywhere

2009-04-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

I have been lurking around the "bakeshop" from moda fabrics, looking at their cute patterns that they have posted on their site. Today I printed one out, and when my mom came over this afternoon instead of the business meeting we were going to have about our new pattern packets, we sewed these cute little door hangers.

To embellish it, the center of the yoyo is a button surrounded by clear seed beads and I found this adorable leaf button in my stash that I have been saving for years. It looks perfectly at home here.

And to continue to inspire you, here are a few pictures of the flower fields in Carlsbad. The ranunculas were in bloom and the colors beautiful. The girls had a great time wandering around the paths and seeing everything. It was even better because they were leading the way! I didn't have to drag them anywhere. They were given "passports" at the entrance, and were constantly on the look out for the flags that denoted a spot for a stamp.

We ended our visit there with a chance to pan for precious stones. It was really a process called sluicing, and involved a bucket of sand with a few pretty stones but the girls loved it. Katelyn was so proud to have found a crystal in her box. Of course she has already lost it, but it was her most prized possession for a few hours.

Kami

Another Month Done

2009-04-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

I finished my April block. I am so excited with the Bunny Hill BOMs, they are quick to prep and quick to applique. And just the right amount of backstitching for people like me who don't want to spend the time on extra stitching and instead play with more fabric. I am predicting that the May block will have a sheep, but since I have been surprised each time, I suppose I will have to wait a few weeks to find out for sure.

I thought I would also post a few pictures of our trip to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, for their annual butterfly fest. We went with the girls' cousin Hannah, Ama, and Aunt Carole. It was so much more fun sharing the Park with other people. We saw lions, a 6 week old baby cheetah, and lots of other animals, but by far the highlight was the butterflies. All the girls were able to hold a butterfly on their fingers for at least few seconds before they flew off to feed again. The butterflies were beautiful and everywhere, I couldn't even count the number of varieties, but I would guess about 25. If we had let her, Katelyn would have stayed there all day racing after the butterflies trying to get them to land on her finger. We tried convincing her to slow down and let them come to her, but she kept forgetting in her excitement.

Enjoy, Kami

Our Shopping Trip

2009-04-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Today while Ama was here we chose to run errands, it may not sound like fun but we brought our camera for the highlight of the trip. And a few witnesses, Jason, his mom and my mom were all at the mall to see what they would come home with

The girls are picking out what they want to buy. Oh, so many choices, pink flowers, diamonds, silver balls...

Alyssa is ready to get her purchase.

Did I mention that they get to wear them home?

Yes, you guessed it the girls got their ears pierced today. Alyssa looked a little panic stricken at the end, but she didn't back out, and surprisingly she didn't cry either. Although later she kept telling me "I'm never getting my ears pierced again." Good once is enough.

Can you see Alyssa's sparkly diamonds? She looks so grown up.

Now it is Katelyn's turn she went second, mostly because Alyssa never gets to go first and really wanted to, but also so that she wouldn't be able to change her mind at the last minute.

The last look at Katelyn's ears before the piercing.

Yikes what is going through that little mind. She jumped about 3" into the air when she got pierced. A much stronger response than Alyssa, although she didn't cry either.

Katelyn always the fashion plate showing off her new look.

Yeah we did it! Both girls seem just fine now and as the mom who has to remember to clean these ears, I am really glad that they both did it at the same time. When the ear cleaning is done in 6 months it is done.

Kami

I can't believe it is done!

2009-04-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

I first saw this pattern on Mother's Day weekend in 2005. My step dad watched my mom and I drooling over this amazing quilt displayed behind the counter and bought the 10 BOM pattern packets and the cutest little button kit of ornaments for the tree. My mom and I slowly worked together making 2 of every block, one for her quilt and one for mine. Once the borders where ready to be put on, we each worked independantly. I taught myself the method of freezer paper applique, I stitched everywhere--dance class for my eldest, gymnastics class for the youngest, waiting to pick up my daughter from school, and of course at home watching TV. But I wasn't very disciplined and the quilt hardly made any progress to finishing.

Then disaster struck and my mom's quilt was shredded. I still don't know if we will ever be able to save it. Suffice to say i started feeling bad every time I worked on mine knowing that hers might never be. And I stopped working again. Then last fall I got commited to finishing this quilt. I realized that I liked applique. I liked having me time in the midst of spending time with my 2 beautiful girls, to create something. But, once again my good intentions to finish the quilt by christmas were thwarted by my disire to create a special quilt for my mom for her birthday.

In honor of a the trip of a lifetime to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, I took a class to design photo quilts and spent hours and hours outside on the patio table making applique templates for the poppies on the bottom of a quilt of Lake Louise. then came the stitching and my fingers got callused, I worked round the clock to get this done in time for her birthday and once again my christmas quilt got left in the craft room. but when she finally saw the finished result it was worth it.
But my calloused fingers needed a break, and I wasn't up to doing the quilt before Christmas. So now it is April and less than a week away from Easter and I am finally done with getting ready for Chistmas. So this Easter I wish you the holly jolliest, ho ho hos of holiday cheer.

Kami

My fabrics are chosen

2009-04-08T10:50:00.001-07:00

Finally, I have picked my fabrics for my Bunny Hill BOM. The little sign on the baskets says friendship is sewn one stitch at a time. I like the flowers on the chocolate bunny, with the dark chocolate accents and the sweet eggs and chick. I am finally ready to baste it down and start sewing. I also made a second bunny block for my MIL. I thought as we sat in the evenings catching up, we could each stitch together these. Hers will be a little stand alone Easter "quilt" or more appropriately "potholder". But I think that they will both be cute.

I made the best dinner last night for when she arrived--if I do say so myself. I got the recipe from Cuisine at Home "Cuisine tonight Grilling" for Chicken burgers. You mix pickle relish, mayo and ground chicken meat together to make the patty. They were so moist and delicious served open face on baguette slices with a basil/honey mayo drizzled on top. Yum, I could eat them again right now. Well, I best go because they will all be back from picking up Katelyn from school and then we are off to play.

Kami

Bunny Hill BOM

2009-04-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Anne at Bunny Hill Designs posted the April basket pattern. This afternoon I started auditioning fabrics. And then changing my mind and re-auditioning fabrics and then repeating it all over again. I have never been so ambiguous picking out fabrics, but the problem is that I fell in love with a basket fabric (blue in the picture below) and unfortunately, have to pick something other than a blue basket. This basket will sit right under the Jan basket which was blue with a snowman in it, and I really didn't want another blue basket right below. I think that this might require a trip to the fabric store. Shucks, did I just say that I have to go shopping?

These are my kinda/sorta fabrics that I have chosen for the block. I love the little chick fabric, and the "chocolate" for the bunny, but I am not sure about the green for the basket. My mom donated it to my search today. It is good, but is it the best? And I couldn't let go of the blue--will it work for an egg? Let me know what you think.

On a happy note, I only have 5 petals left to applique on my Christmas quilt. I am so excited to see it finished and to send it on to the quilter later this month. I will upload the final picture in the next couple of days when it is done.

Have a happy week to all of you, my MIL arrives tomorrow for a week and I am looking forward to lots of fun the next few days and less time on the computer.

Kami

Sew Happy Today

2009-04-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today is Alyssa's turn to shine. At 3 1/2 she finished her first quilt. She fell in love with this fat quarter in my stash, constantly wanting to get into my pinks bin to find this cake fabric. When she also started to ask me to quilt with her and "her" fabric, I realized I probably shouldn't hold onto my thought of what this fabric could become and encourage her. We picked another pink fabric she liked for the border and Alyssa sewed them on to her "quilt top" I did the quilting and binding for her and she is very excited. When it was finished she said "Mommy, no sticking on the wall." I guess I need to start decorating with more than quilts.

I managed to finish a table runner today also. Oh that statement is so misleading, I really didn't do much. After dropping Katelyn at school yesterday, I met my mom briefly to see her great find at a fabric store this weekend. Well in the back of her car was a whole bunch of really cool things from her craft room on their way to goodwill. This tablerunner was on it way out and I had to rescue it.

Look at how soft the floral fabric is and her perfectly pieced pinwheel blocks. How could I let it go to a complete stranger who may never appreciate the workmanship of what she had done. I took it into my craft room and found the perfect blue for the border and added a small hint of fuscia to separate the 2 blues. Now with a little quilting, I will have a nice new tablerunner for when my MIL arrives next week. How cute will this look with a couple of Easter Bunnies sitting on it! I might even go to the farmers market and get a bouquet of fresh flowers this weekend.

It's official

2009-03-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of work at Mission Hills Church. Yes, even churches feel the recession. With giving down, my position, as well as that of several other employees, needed to be sacrificed to meet the actual giving at the church. I am excited to be able to attend church with my husband again, and especially for the extra time it will give me to spend quilting. I suppose that the good news for having almost a 2 month notice of my layoff, is that I was able to find a new client to do graphic design work for. Hopefully, he will make up a portion of that income.

The other good news is that Quilts with Flair is back in business, mom and I have started designing 2 new quilts this weekend. A sweet little bunny with an umbrella and a darling birdhouse and cat. Applique of course. Did I ever think I would give up the details of paper piecing for applique? No not really. But I am having lots of fun, and isn't that why we have hobbies? Look for pictures of the quilts coming up soon!

Kami

Spring is in the Air

2009-03-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

I love spring. I love the birds chirping, the flowers blooming again, finding "baby" grapes on the vines, and digging my hands into moist rich soil. Yesterday, Katelyn and I decided to weed the area around the birdbath in the yard. One thing led to another, and the entire area was cleared while we chatted happily about, school, the books she is reading, life.

After a job well done, I decided to take both girls to Home Depot to pick out a few flowers to plant in the area. Katelyn chose a 6 pack of violas in beautiful spring colors and Alyssa chose to get a 6 pack of cosmos at my suggestion. I picked 3 different types of bulbs--Summer daffodils, ranaculas, and a dahlia. I hope that the Dahlia grows, I have never had good luck with my bulbs because the gophers usually find them before they can bloom, but I am going to be optimistic.

This morning with Jason's help, we moved the rose bush, trimmed, divided and moved a lavender bush, and trimmed back several other plants . Then it was time to plant the girls' flowers and my bulbs. The yard feels so much more peaceful with all the weeds gone and the flowers planted.

After everyone else went inside for lunch, I stayed outside to save the lavender stems that we had to trim off before transplanting it. By the time I was done, I had developed a lovely sunburn and very stained fingers from the lavender oils on the stems, but I had these beautiful bouquets of blossoms. There are 13 bundles of them hanging upside down throughout the house to dry. I can barely walk into my craft room without being overwhelmed by the aroma of 5 of the bundles hanging in there. I love spring.

My UFO

2009-03-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

I hate being on a budget. Today I went to my second quilt store in a week and between both only spent less than 8 dollars. And that was on thread. How did I managed to walk away from the myriad of patterns and fabrics calling my name. Simple, I am totally focused on finishing my current quilt. It has been a two year labor of love, and I am so excited to see it find its way off of my to do list, and hanging on a wall. There is only one corner of poinsettias still to applique.

I have to admit that I have a new love of applique. Never having tried it prior to last year, I am finding it a great way to quilt on the go. Of course, with my 3 and 5 yr old daughters I spend a lot of time on the go. This is great, I get to have me time -- at dance class, waiting to pick-up from school.... So I am excited to start something new, but first I really want to finish this. I will post the finished quilt soon, keep looking for the completed pictures.

Kami