Free Motion Quilting... Check!

I can officially check that off my goals for the new year!

I wanted to learn how to do free motion quilting, and I finally did. I'm so excited about this! (Probably more excited than I should be.) Thanks to some very generous donations from my friend Jen and my mom (Muchas Gracias!) I was able to learn this new skill and whip up this cute little blanket for Dimitri. He loves blankets and this one is no exception. I just made a quilt sandwich out of two pieces of fabric and batting, nothing fancy, but it was just for practice. My stitches are not very even but the more I practiced the better they got. I just love the way it turned out. I can't wait to finish another quilt so I can try more free motion quilting.

Sophie loved it too. So much that she promptly kicked Dimitri off and took over the coveted new blanket spot. I had issues with the backing, the bobbin was pulling funny, but in the end I think it worked out okay. You can't really tell from this pictures but the white has a white snowflake printed on it. Gotta love the white on white. For the binding I used some blue that was also donated by Jen (thanks). I'm also getting better at binding, the more I practice.
We also went and saw Wall-E over the weekend. Yes, I am a total Pixar fan, or almost a Pixar nerd. It was super cute! Loved it and will definitely purchase it when it comes out on DVD. It gets an A++ from me.

Don't worry, that is totally me standing next to the life size cardboard cutout of Wall-E. Yes, I made Dustin take this picture, and yes the cashiers at the snack counter were totally staring. Wall-E!
Let's just say that a theater full of kids can make you think twice, or even three times, about having kids.

Mom... the five year rule, might be pushed to six. You can thank Pixar!

A Slow Work in Progress

Emphasis on the Slow part, I might add.

I bet you thought I had forgotten all about my dutch pinwheels quilt, right? Well, I haven't. I am still working on it, when I get the time. I have all the half square triangles cut out and ready to be made into adorable dutch pinwheels. I just love this orange fabric and think this is what I will back the quilt in when I am done. Or the yellow! I can't decide. I just love them all. Maybe I'll piece the back too with all of the fabrics. Maybe I should finish the top first, and then worry about the backing. Sometimes I have to rein in the horses a bit, because I just get too excited and carried away.

Interview

Carina of Crafty Blog asked me to do an interview for her blog. At first I was all sheepish and kinda scared because I'm sure I could think of a lot more people who would be better to be interviewed than myself. I did however, put all the fears aside and gladly accepted this honor. Thanks Carina, for helping me come out of my comfort zone. To read my interview, click here.

Final TA DA!

It is finally finished! I love it so much! I couldn't bear to part with it so I'm going to be keeping this one. It was a first on many levels for me: first time with applique, first time machine quilting (technically my second but the first time I had help, lots of help!), first time trying to get grease out of white material (I did get it out by the way). I absolutely love the way it turned out. I can't wait to make another one. Here is the backing. I didn't have enough of the white to do the whole thing, or even enough of the blue to put across the top so I just used what I had. Tonight I'm going to put a label on it.
I love all of its crinkle goodness!

Great Gas Mileage

Yuck-O! That is what I have to say about gas prices. I know I'm not the first one to complain about it and I probably won't be the last...but I just think it is ridiculous. It seems to be hovering around the $3.99 mark but I'm sure it will race past the $4.00 mark any day now (it already has at some gas stations here).

Sure I'd love to be getting this kind of gas mileage... but unfortunately it only lasted for a few minutes.

With gas prices the way they are we have been trying our hardest to save on gas. First, we sold my beloved 4-runner (see ya later 16 mpg expensive gas guzzler) and I am now walking to work. We still have our Hyunadi but now we just share a car. I was always so proud that we were able to get 32-34 mpg in our car. But now Dustin has figured out a way to get even better. We coast a lot more, only drive 65 to 70 on the freeways instead of 80, don't race to the stop lights just to stop, and don't accelerate as fast. This is the kind of mileage we have been getting just by changing the way we drive. It sure it a lot better than before and we have been able to go a lot longer on a tank of gas than we used to be able to.

Happy Father's Day!

A day late! It is okay though, I saw my dad the day before Father's day, so he got the message. We went to Logan this weekend to spend some time with my dad. We hardly ever get to see him since he lives in Montana. So when he comes to Utah, it is nice to get to spend some time with him. He does craft shows, and sells his "crafts" (apparently he is a crafter not an artist!) all over the place. One lady (customer) even has a whole room dedicated in her house just to stuff made by my dad. Pretty neat hey!? This is what his booth looks like. He spend all his time setting this up and then taking it down. I spend all my time opening up the garbage can hiders so that people can see what they are. It is so funny because people walk by, see them, and walk over and close them. Then I get up and open them again so the next person can do the same thing. You can tell by this picture I'm pretty good at it since they are closed. (It is the green cabinet in front of the stroller).Dad and Kathy (She keeps dad in line).
Here is something interesting. Please explain if you understand but I don't get it. What is this advertisement supposed to be saying? Move dad, you are in the way? Move dad, I want a day dedicated to me not you? Move dad, this is my space? Move dad, you are getting chunky? Does anyone get the logic behind this?
Dustin was pretty excited for Father's day because he got lots of new games. I found this fantastic game store (thanks Britten) and so most of his presents came from there. As did my present to my dad. He finally got the game Ticket To Ride and a new one we haven't heard of called Carcassonne. We haven't played them yet because we spent all weekend playing Balloon Cup. Very great game for two players. I highly recommend it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's day! Lots of love to my dad and Dustin on Father's Day!

*Please excuse the crummy photos, they are from my camera phone which isn't the best.

Red Butte Gardens *picture heavy*

It is Friday already! I can't believe it. This week has gone by super fast (thank goodness). Last weekend was fun because we spent it in Salt Lake celebrating Dustin's Birthday. We had so much fun just getting out of town for the weekend. We spent Saturday at the Red Butte Gardens at the University of Utah. Last time we were there it was in March, and it was bleak and dry and no flowers in sight. This year, it was full of flowers and so green. Trust me, Utah is never this green. I loved it! We found this hike that led up the mountain. When we got to the top you could see out to the Salt Lake Valley. It was really nice and peaceful.

We spent a few hours just walking around the gardens. They have a children's discovery garden which was probably my favorite (a child at heart, I guess). Some nice couple took our picture and we took theirs. Thank you random strangers!I laid in the sun with the Lizards, and even found me a new boyfriend. Dustin isn't jealous because this guy doesn't have a heart (ha ha)!I also really enjoyed the fragrance garden. It smelled so good! I think we just kept circling the garden smelling everything.

After that we went to Sam Weller's Bookstore. This is Dustin's favorite spot to visit in Salt Lake. There are so many book and you can really get lost in this store. We just take our cell phones and head off into different directions. Usually Dustin knows to find me in the craft section! I think there is something like four levels. Seriously, there are just books and books around every corner. Then we ate at the Red Rock Cafe. I got a sugar high from drinking too much root beer! Just thinking of it makes my mouth water. We couldn't get a good picture, and we had to try like five times. I was laughing so hard (thank you sugar rush)!All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. And now we get to do it again! TGIF! This weekend we are going to visit my dad!

Check out this sunset action we saw from our 12th floor motel room. It started at 6:30, then 7:30, finally 9:00. For a second I almost felt like I was in Africa, then I remembered, I wasn't.
Oh- I finished my applique baby blanket. I decided I liked it too much to part with it, so I'm going to keep it. It was my first time with applique, and my first time machine quilting. It was brutal, but I loved it. I can't wait to learn how to do free motion quilting. I'll post pictures when I get around to taking them.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

1 –I love that he is my night in shinning armor. Don’t try to mess with me, or he’ll come after you.

2- I love that he gets so excited over the Jazz basketball games or any pro football game. “Watch this…sweetie, watch this replay. Yeah, wasn’t that amazing?” Screaming and yelling really does help the team to win.
3- I love that he can eat a whole bag of chocolate covered gummy bears but won’t touch the chocolate covered cinnamon bears. 4 – I love that he tries to race Sophie up the stairs. (She only wants to race me!)

5- I love that he loves the weather. Everyday he tells me what the weather will be like. I don’t ever have to watch the news.

6- I love that he loves to play tennis. He even lets me win occasionally.

7-I love that he is always up for an adventure. Even the maximum adventures!

8- I love that he is such a hard worker and is always willing to give it his all.

9- I love that he says all of my projects are fantastic, even if he isn't quite sure what it is I am making.

10- I love that he loves desserts. Brownies, cake, ice cream, you name it, he loves it!

11-I love that he takes care of our cats like they were our children. I know he will make an excellent father!

12- I love that he has every single “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy” quote memorized, and quotes them to me often. (I think they are ridiculous by the way).

13- I love it when we pass people on the road or in the mall, and I make a comment. He just says “Yeah, look at that.” Like this.
Me – “Hey look, that guy works at Wendy’s.”
Him – “Yeah, look at that.”

14- I love that even when I am at my worst, he still loves me.

15-I love that even when he is at his worst, I still love him.

16- I love that he loves to cook. One of his must haves is a big kitchen.

17-I love that he is super smart. I think I get smarter the more time I spend with him.

18- I love that when he finds something new, he will devote all he has to learning more about it.

19- I love that he wants to watch a movie on my zune every night before bed but falls asleep within the first two minutes.

20- I love that when we went to spend the night at the cabin, he spent the whole night catching moths in a tissue and then letting them go outside. (I have a huge fear of moths.) Oh, by the way, after catching and releasing moths for about 2 hours, we finally left and came home to sleep. We left the bugs and moths at the cabin.

21-I love that he challenges me everyday.

22- I love that he can make me laugh uncontrollably.

23 - I love his real “happy as could be” smile.

24- I love that he lets me take tons of pictures of him, even though he really hates it.

25- I love that he spent 2 weeks building a 7 foot cat tower for our cats because he knew he could make one better than the kind you can buy in the store. (It is our cats favorite!)

26- I love that I am at number 26 and I could still keep going.

Happy 26th Birthday! I Love You!

Basted and Ready to Go!

I am finally ready to quilt. Okay, so I already started last night, and I hope to get more done tonight. This quilt is going to my friend who just had a baby (I'm a tad late, but better than never), so I really need to get it done.

I had plenty of help (I mean A LOT of help) basting this, but I'd really like to quilt this without any help, if you know what I mean.

Dear Grandma...

I love my bench in the window. I lay in the sun everyday, if mom remembers to pull up the blinds. I just wanted to remind you of how cute I am. Also, Sophie is cute too, I guess. At least mom says she is. But Sophie picks on me and makes me sad. I would feel better if you sent treats.

XOXO
Mitri

Dear Grandma...

Don't listen to Dimitri. He is a baby and a mama's boy. I am the princess and rule the house. I am the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. Send me the treats.

Praise to me,

Sophie

I Missed the Rain...

but not the rainbow!

TA DA!!! TA DA!!!

The quilt retreat weekend is over (sniff, sniff) but we had such a blast. I can't wait until the next one! Everyone made such cute stuff (be prepared for lots of pictures).

My Aunt Katherine, Aunt Ellen, and Grandma were the teachers and spent all of their time helping everyone learn how to applique and then unpicking stuff that we (mostly me) messed up on. It is so much fun! I have always been scared to try it but I'm so glad that I learned how. We spent Friday - Sunday at my Aunt Katherine's house. She has a screened in back porch that we used. Tons of space, although we were thinking we might need more. We each brought our sewing machine and cutting mats and then just sat around and sewed out little hearts out.

(There is grandma on the right unpicking some of my mistakes, Mom and Trish in the center working really hard, Carrie, Aunt Joan, and Aunt Ellen in the far back working hard too. Me, I was taking the picture!)

Here is what I made. This pattern originally called for two inch squares but I decided that was way to much work (too many seams and sewing) and so I switched it up and used nine patches and sashing instead. I like the way it turned out. I am going to add a small yellow border around it but I didn't get to that before the weekend was over. Isn't it cute!?

And that is my mom's quilt. She did six different applique bugs. They are adorable! She only has the embroidery left (another skill I am going to learn one day). The lady bug is my favorite! This is her Ta Da photo. She later put on a yellow border and then she will put on a smaller border around that.

My sister is super talented and is doing a bedspread with all hand applique! HAND APPLIQUE! The whole thing by hand! Crazy, I know, but it is beautiful. And she isn't even going to keep it! I'd never attempt such a thing because I definitely would not get it finished. But look at how gorgeous it is.

My Aunt Joan made this adorable duck! I love this one, and almost made it myself but decided against it because she had to make a million flying geese (they border around the duck.) It took her all day just to sew and square up the flying geese. I'm more of a fast and easy project type of gal. I love the pink cheek and the fishes in the blue of the puddle. When she is done, she embroiders rain drops above the umbrella. Okay, he is so cute I might end up making one of these two (since I know how). Doesn't he just look like a happy, friendly duck?! I almost want to go play in that puddle with him.

My cousin, Trish, made a bug quilt like moms, but different. I loved all the fabrics she used. She was really good at doing the super small circles on the bugs antennas. I stuck with the straight lines of the stars. She went home on Saturday and did the embroidery on hers and they are so dang cute when they are finished. (Hint Hint Mom) This is her TA DA! All she needs is the borders, and a few pinwheels in the corners. It will be adorable when she is done. Okay, I might attempt to make this one as well. They are all just so cute, I don't think I can stop with just one.

Carrie, (another cousin) who is going to have a baby girl in October, made this adorable lamb quilt for her baby. Isn't it cute? All the fabrics she chose worked so well with this pattern. They all had swirls and circles that looked like the fluff in the sheep's fur. I can't remember if this one gets a border or not, but I think it looks good just like it is.

Aunt Ellen was working on one also, but she didn't get much done since every time she sat down someone would need help. Hers was even smaller than the two inch squares I was too lazy to make. I think she only got two strips sewn all weekend. Very busy gal. She did make this beautiful doll quilt (and a baby size one as well) for my Aunt Joan's granddaughter. Isn't it cute?! I love this moon. She has a really nice machine that does all this fancy embroidery on it. One day... one day.... that is what I keep telling myself.

Well, that is it for the Ta Da's! What do you think? Everyone's quilt turned out so cute and I loved all the fabric and patterns. I definitely will be making more applique stuff in the future. It was a fun weekend filled with lots of chatter, food (lots of food), and sewing. I can't wait for the next one.