Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it is a day early, but I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I know I am grateful for many things, especially my family.  They mean everything to me and my day gets better just by walking in the door.

If you have been following this blog you may have noticed it takes me a while to get certain projects finished.  I wanted to share some fall pumpkins I have been thinking about for a few months now.  They started out like this.

I used Mod Podge, and fall themed fabric cut into strips about 2 inches wide.  You can see I didn't measure, just started cutting with scissors.  

I painted Mod Podge on the pumpkins and then just stuck fabric to it.

I overlapped the pieces just a little bit.

 

When it was completely covered I added another layer of Mod Podge to the entire pumpkin and waited for it to dry.  

For the second pumpkin I tried something a little bit different.  I cut a circle out of burlap with a hole in the middle and put it over the top of the pumpkin.  

I used Mod Podge again to adhere it to the pumpkin.  The burlap wasn't sticking so I used a few pins to hold it until it dried.  (Sorry about the picture I can't figure out how to rotate it, arghh!)

A little brown rick rack and a few bows on the top and they look like this!  I think they are much cuter than the $4 plain pumpkins I bought at WalMart.  

I am going to be on the lookout for discounted pumpkins just so I can make some more for next year.  

I know it is kind of late for a tutorial for a fall project but I am happy to be able to cross something else off my list!  

Finally Finished

YES! something accomplished!!  I am so glad to have these two quilt tops finished.  They are for a certain holiday that is coming up soon and I am just happy to have them this far along.

I decided to add a monogram to each quilt.  These are made from the chenille strips also.  I just pinned them to the quilt and sewed down the middle.  

I think they turned out quite cute.  And I know they will be well loved and appreciated.  

I have one more top to piece and today I found the pattern I am going to use.  I am never this far ahead with anything I do, but I'm sure there will be some binding going on right up to the end.  Since this is a short work week I have big plans I hope will be accomplished.  If you have a few minutes please hop over to Judy Laquidara's site, Patchwork Times and see who else has linked up to Design Wall Monday.

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving Holiday!

*Edit*  Check out Freshly Pieced for other WIP Wednesday Projects

Little Things

I just wanted to share a great experience I had on Friday afternoon.  I am extremely lucky to be called "teacher."  It is a profession I enjoy and love.  Yes, some times it is hard and emotionally draining.  But somedays make up for all the others.  I had a day like that on Friday.  We were at our final recess, right before we went home when they reminded me of something I had forgotten long ago.  

These Kindergarten students work very hard when we are in the classroom and when it time for recess they burst out of the doors and lap up every minute they get.  It usually consists of tag, slides and running around screaming.  This recess started out exactly like that.  However, after a few minutes it quieted down and as I looked around to see if anything was wrong I noticed about half of the students had laid down on the sidewalk, were talking quietly and pointing to the clouds.  

It was beautiful seeing them enjoy something together.  As I walked towards them I thought it was so cute the way they were talking and agreeing with one another.  I stood next to them and looked at the clouds and could kind of see what they were talking about.  Then I decided to lay down next to them, and something magical happened.  I was instantly transported back to the wonder of childhood.  There was something about laying down and looking at those clouds, the same clouds I saw when I was standing up, but something had changed.  Images jumped out at me and I found myself giggling at the same things they did.  I could see the world through their eyes.  In that moment I was grateful to be their student.  

Something to Share

Yesterday at the end of school just as I was getting ready to leave Robyn, the teacher across the hall, came in with a mission. She had this beautiful quilt to show me.

Robyn started this quilt a few years ago (not quite sure how many, time has become a relative term lately). It is a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden, completely hand pieced, and hand quilted.

Isn't is beautiful! Robyn is one of the reasons I love to quilt, and especially applique. She does exquisite appliqué work and at the time I had no desire to even attemp it. She kept encouraging me to just try, and once I saw the pattern for Vintage Valentine I decided to give it a try. After one block I was hooked! This was a great way to start my weekend.

Almost Finished!

I am getting closer to finishing these two quilt tops.  It is hard to keep motivated!  There are some days I come home from work and I don't want to do anything.  For example, last night I did not accomplish anything productive.  I have to do lists that need to be taken care of!  Then I couldn't sleep because I was worrying about everything that I should have done but didn't.  

Today was a much better day.  Look below, I finished the borders on both quilts!  

They are sure long and skinny!  I really like how they look so far.  I was able to pin the bias chenille fabric to one border.  Hopefully I can sew it on tomorrow after I finish teaching dance.  (Oh yea did you know I teach dance classes once a week?) 

The upper right corner and the bottom left side kind of bug me so maybe I will have to change it before any sewing is accomplished.  My design originally included a monogram on the bottom right corner, but I'm not sure if I will applique anything there.  I guess that will have to be for another post.  

Also, someone else was being creative at my house today.  After the girls came home from school Big K decided she wanted a new outfit for one of her bears.  She picked out a cute fat quarter from her stash and Big L cut it apart and made a wrap dress out of it.  

 I taught her how to sew on snaps to hold it closed in back.  It wasn't much but they had a great time working together.  As a mom it is always wonderful when they are having fun.

Whenever I get the camera out this little one always wants her picture taken and this is the pose we snapped tonight!  Pretty cute if you ask me.

I hope everyone else's projects are going well and if you have any advice on how to stay motivated please leave a comment.  I'm always looking for helpful hints.

Design Wall!

I feel like I have fallen off the face of the earth.  I can't believe I didn't blog anything for two months.  Our life kept going, in fact a little more quickly than I was ready for.  It seemed as if everything kept coming and coming and we were just trying to keep up.  With Christmas coming up I know things are going to get even more busy.  

I am excited to share what I have been working on!  I am in the process of making two matching twin sized bed quilts.  Here are my fabric choices.  

The design is pretty simple, nine patches (shown here) and the plan is to have a green border, then a white border.  Hopefully some fun, funky bright pink embellishment in the border.  Do you love my design wall?  I love hanging my projects on the banister.  They don't get as wrinkled this way!

There is always a lot of dancing and dressing up as I sew and I get easily distracted because they are just so dang cute!  (Please notice their fat quarters on the floor, I think they have as much as a stash as I do.)

One more thing I wanted to share with you.  Recently we went to Disneyland with our cute little family as well as some extended family.  We had a great time, I personally love Disneyland!   

This girl does too.

It was this little one's first time at Disneyland, and she loved it for the most part.  

 Splash Mountain, Matterhorn and Tower of Terror she did not.  I promise we are not bad parents, we tried and tried to get her to stay off Tower of Terror but she didn't want to stay behind.  Even after we said it would be scary she was adamant about going with us.  She was a little freaked out by the time she stepped on the ride.  During the ride she was screaming louder than anyone else and I'm pretty sure she thought she was going to die.  She made it through and even got some sour gummy worms for trying to be brave.

We took a side trip to the beach and even though my husband likes Disneyland he would much rather spend time at the beach.  

Check back soon, I promise I won't be away for long!

I promise!

I can't believe it has been two months since I posted anything.  Like everyone else life has been moving forward at our house.  Lately, two fast for me to catch up.  I have some really cute projects I will be showing you soon.  As well as a new look to the blog (hopefully).  I am not that great with this stuff so it is taking me a little bit longer to get everything figured out!  Check back soon.