Enter Now For Your Chance To Win

(or don't enter so I have a better chance of winning!)

Rachel at P.S. I Quilt is having a sponsor giveaway. Shannon of fabrics n quilts is giving away a Moda 1933 Jelly Roll.


Go on and check it out (but if you want me to win, don't enter :-D)

~QB29

Be watching my blog ....

A surprise will be coming soon :-)

~QB29

I Spy A Swap

I am participating in Sewing in the Wendy City's I Spy swap part Deux. Here are my 20 sets of 10 ready to go:

Here are the prints:

Bows, chickens, starfish
snowflakes, paw prints, cherries, dogs
bees, letters, stars

I didn't even have to buy any for this swap. I had them all in my stash (imagine that, lol).

I can't wait to see what I get back!

~QB29

Friday Night Sew-In on Saturday morning

I sewed, but not until this morning. My Sunday School class has an outing later today and I volunteered to bring cookies. I went to bake them last night and finally gave up in frustration. I'm going to need my landlady's maintenance man to come out and look at my oven. It would bake the first cookie sheet fine, and then manage to turn off and not keep the temperature for the 2nd sheet. By the time if finally decided to reheat, the cookies would be in over 30 minutes. After burning half the cookies (checking every 2 minutes :-() and having one batch come out half raw (after 30 minutes!) I decided to call it quits. I'm going to run to the store and buy some here in a bit. It got to the point where I was turning the oven off completely between cookie sheets, letting it cool, and then turning it back on. I don't know how long it's been doing this, as I usually am not putting consecutive items in the oven. One pizza and I'm done. One batch of brownies and I'm done. One tray of open faced sandwiches and I'm done. :-(

So after spending hours in the kitchen last night, I knew I was too tired and frustrated to even attempt to sew. I let myself sleep in this morning and then got up and worked on a baby quilt. I'm going to quilt as I go (using the sashing to connect the blocks, as shown in Quilter's Cache Method 2). I made 6 large blocks, have the batting and backing cut for each, and will work on quilting them the rest of this weekend. I used 6 fat quarters in a stack-and-whack method. Below are five of the rectangles. The sixth is basted and ready for quilting.



Below is the backing. It is Amy Bradley's Funny Babies Pink Diaper Pins.


So how was everyone's Firday Night (Saturday Morning) Sew-In?

~QB29

need advice: looking for a basic backup machine

Hi everyone,

My mom is looking for a basic sewing machine to have as a backup when hers is in the shop. She just wants to be able to do basic piecing with it (straight and some zig-zag/buttonhole/applique). She found one that is on both Amazon.com and Overstock.com. It is a Brother LX 3125. She also found another Brother on Amazon.

Brother LX 3125 @ amazon

Brother LX 3125 @ Overstock

Brother XL2600I @ amazon

First question: Does anyone have any experience with either machine or Brother's in general? Good? Bad?

Second question: If you don't recommend either machine, what are other(s) you would recommend? She'd like to stay under $100.00 including tax and shipping.

Third question: Has anyone ordered off Overstock? Do you recommend (or not recommend) it? I order off Amazon.com all the time, but have no experience with Overstock.

Fourth question: Anyone have a basic machine they would like to sell (and in the Lex or Cinci area) that would be a good backup?


Thanks,
QB29

Cookies!

My Sunday School class is having an outing next weekend. I volunteered to make cookies. I want to make 2 or 3 different varieties. I may do some Chocolate chip cookies, but I also want to try making lemon cookies out of a lemon cake mix. Has anyone ever made cake mix cookies before? About how many do you get out of a box? Besides lemon, what other cake mix flavor are good for making cookies? Any other ideas for easy cookies besides a cake mix?

Thanks!
~qb29

VBS Crafts

5 - 8 boys, 9 - 12 boys & girls - decoupaged a clear plastic plate using modpodge, scrapbook paper, and cutouts.




Wednesday's craft - 5 - 8 girls - Made a keychain out of pony beads and plastic lacing.

Wednesday's Craft - 3 & 4 boys/girls - They threaded the yarn through the holes and then decorated the plates using leftover tissue paper from Tuesday and with crayons and markers


Monday's craft: Paper Windsocks!


My sample from Tuesday disappeared, but it was tissue paper popsicle stick frames. We glued 4 sticks together to make a frame, added a hanging ribbon, and then glued a piece of white paper in the middle. The kids decorated the paper and then glued tissue paper onto the frame. You can see a similar craft someone did here.

We were in charge of the 3/4 boys & girls and the 5 - 8 girls.

Friday Night Sew-Out

I had a Friday Night Sew-Out tonight at a friend's. She and the other two ladies paper crafted

Jen's notebook - she takes the black and white composition books (on sale for a quarter right now!) and decorates them:

Jillian's Happy Birthday banner (sorry for the poor angle) -- her grandma turns 75 in the next few days and they are having a special party to celebrate. Jillian used the Cricut to make a cute Happy Birthday Bannner:

while I worked on hand quilting my Bonnie Quilt. I got six fans done. Tonight was my first night doing Baptist fans and so far I am enjoying them. Of course this is a small quilt (wall hanging), so I'm sure that helps.





We also ran to Walmart to get supplies and stopped by the dollar store.

~QB29

Super Simple Fruit dip and craft night with friends

Take thisAnd this


And you've got fruit dip!

Add some fruit and you're good to go :-). A friend's invited me over tomorrow for a craft night. Some other ladies from church are coming as well. We're going to order pizza and everyone's bringing a side dish. I'm bringing a fruit tray (minus any kiwi, though I was tempted to get it to add some more color to the tray, lol.) I think I'm going to work on hand quilting my Bonnie Quilt. With school going on, it's just sat in my sewing room since I finished the top. I'll be attending a retreat in the fall that Bonnie's coming to (not as a teacher) and I would like to be able to show her a finished project. So I guess I better start quilting!

~QB29

No Sew Week

This week is VBS at church. We have it each evening through Thursday. I am working in crafts. Originally we were told to plan for 30 to 40 5 to 8 year-old girls. Turns out we also have 3 & 4 boys/girls. Last night we made paper windsocks. We had 54. Tonight we had 71. We made Popsicle stick frames and decorated them with tissue paper. Tomorrow night we are planning on having 2 different crafts. The 5 - 8 girls will use plastic lacing to make key rings. The 3 & 4's will decorate paper plates and thread yarn around the edges. I am roughly estimating 90, based on prior experience. Everything is a patriotic theme, so we are using lots of red, white, and blue :-).

That said, it is a no-sew week for me. If I remember tomorrow, I will get pictures of all the samples to show off.

QB29

cute idea for a geeting card

I've been seeing this quilt pattern mentioned a lot lately:

Butterfly Block Tutorial
Bee in my Bonnet's Butterfly Quilt

Isn't this a cute block? I think one butterfly would look really cute on the front of a handmade card. Don't you?

~QB29

My fun afternoon/evening .... and my mom sews

Look whom my mom and I babysat for a few hours today.... Isn't he getting big? He's almost 19 months now! His big brother had a baseball tourney.

Also, my mom sewed for me. I'm working on a Bonnie Hunter Star Struck quilt for my dad and brought up several squares/strips to make the blocks. She wanted to sew for me, so I all I had to do was "match" the small squares to the rectangles. She even got into the matching with me on the last set :-).

My mom sewing:


2 of the ones she worked on. I had all the strip sets made. She just added the corner triangles. I even got her to do the bonus triangles :-).




The stack that she did:

All for now :-)

~QB29

~QB29

I'm a winner (again :-))

I just saw over on Diary of a Quilt Maven that I am a winner. Thank you! I'll be looking forward to using the bundle. It looks beautiful :-)

Thank you!

~QB29

I'm a Winner!

The other day, the Dabbling Mum had a giveaway. I won! Isn't the card the cutest?

Thanks DM!

~QB29

I think I need to start Basting ...

I've got four baby quilt tops ready to baste and quilt. A fifth is almost done. It just needs the border and the rest of the applique stitching. :-). Guess we know what I'll be doing this weekend!

~QB29

Another Design

Yet another MS Paint Design. I found some golf fabric on sale last weekend. I'm planning on using it in the center of the blocks. Block A is the diamond - I will make it with a cream background. The center is golf tees on green. Block B is the Framed Square. It is a golf course. The blue will be close to the water on the print. I may not have enough to make all the Block A/Block B blocks, but will supplement with other greens. The border will be a green. If I can find another golf print at a fantastic price, I'll use that. Otherwise, it will just be green :-)

This will be for my Uncle - he loves golf.

~QB29

I started a 2nd blog

Hi everyone,

I started a 2nd blog to talk about what God shows me during my Bible time, what I learn during church, etc. If anyone wants to visit, I'd love to have you. It's called Becca's Bible Reading and is at http://beccareadsthebible.blogspot.com/

~QB29

Girl Baby Quilt Design

What do you think? This sketch was made in MS Paint, so don't mind the simplicity of it. The blocks are 8" and the sashing is 2". The border is 4". It should finish around 40" square. The green will be the same throughout all the blocks. The flower will be scrappy (I'll use 9 different prints). The yellow will be the same throughout. The flower, leaves, and sashing will be tone-on-tone of small prints. The border may be one of the flower prints or may be a medium to large scale print (not necessarily pink, will depend on what I have and what works). I'll probably bind with the border. I'm hoping to use up some more of my floral stash that went into this and this.

Once I look at the fabrics I have left, I may use a pale pink for the flower centers/sashing instead of the yellow.

Comments?

~QB29

Bible Reading this Morning

I was reading in Proverbs 7 this morning and noticed something.

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.
11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)
13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.
21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;
23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
(I bolded for emphasis)

I've read this passage several times over the years and haven't given it much thought. This morning I realized that if we put ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time (vs. 8/9), then the decision's been made. (vs. 13/21). The harlot caught him, she caused him to yield, she forced him. The young man didn't choose to go with the harlot. He chose to make himself available to her. Applying this to my life, I see that it is even more important that I watch where I go places and when I go places. Even if I have no intentions of sinning, if I put myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, I may get caught up in the sin and not have a choice. It will find me. (vs. 15).

~QB29

EQ7

So any one have any thoughts on EQ7? I got it in my mind that I want it :-). My mom told me she'd buy for my bday since I've not really asked for anything yet. When shopping this weekend, we saw that the local store carries it. My mom asked about the price and the girl said it's eligible for the birthday discount (1/3 of your age percent off). So my early birthday present is turning into a late present :-(. Oh well, it's not like I need to design any quilts right now. I've got plenty of other patterns to choose from.

So the question for y'all, is, do I need EQ7? Pros/cons of using? Please share!

~qb29

Jill's 1000th Post Giveaway

Hi everyone,

My friend Jill is celebrating. She just made her 1000th post. She also has her blog anniversary this month. She's having a great giveaway. Go check it out! But, to give me a chance to win, please refrain from entering :-) JK, enter if you'd like. She's got awesome prizes. I also have a link in my sidebar.

~QB29

funny video

A blog friend posted a link to this and I just had to share. Enjoy!

~QB29

Cool Giveaway

Monica is having a special giveaway. She is celebrating her blog anniversary and her 100th post. Check it out. :-)

~QB29

Friday Night Sew-In

Some of my friends have been mentioning the Friday Night Sew-In for awhile now. I thought I would join them. This month's Friday Night Sew-In is July 23rd. To participate, go to Heidi's blog post about it.

I'll let you know that weekend what I was able to sew!

~QB29

If it's not one thing, it's another ....

My sewing yesterday morning basically set the tone for my sewing last night. I managed to redo the seams on the binding, but then it took me an hour to finish off the binding. I don't know what I was thinking, but I kept sewing the beginning and ending of the binding together in a 90 degree angle. Then when I finally got the angle right, I kept making it too big or too small. I think I literally spent an hour working on it. Oh, and both my bobbin and my spool ran out on separate attempts. But, the good news is that I finally got it finished and machine-sewed the binding down.

But more was to come...
I went to print the labels and realized I only had about 30 minutes on my laptop. And that my power cable was sitting on my desk. At work :-(. So I went to print the labels. First I had to change my black ink because it was out. So I did, but did not do so correctly, because when I went to print the labels, only the colored part of the name printed. Nothing in black printed! By then my laptop died. I fiddled some more with the printer and tried reinstalling the cartridge, but I won't know until later when I'm back home and ready to print again with a powered laptop if it's correct now.

Of course I couldn't find my quilt label pen anywhere, so I couldn't hand write the info on the label. I'll get one this afternoon to have on hand.

I did get photos of the quilt this morning, but since I'm at work I don't have a card reader. I'll upload the photos this evening. I also finished a UFO top. It's ready for basting. I'll post a picture of that as well.

I'll use this for a baby boy at church who is due in July. We have 2 more boys coming up in October plus a "surprise us" that month as well. We also just had a baby girl come a few weeks ago and the ladies are having a shower this month for her. So that's four quilts I want to do over the next several weeks before school starts back up.

~QB29

Valuing a Quilt for Donations

Hi Everyone,

Maybe you can help me. Please do so if you can.

When I mail the two quilts (Dillon's Critters and Floral Rows) for the auction I have to include a value. This is what they will reference when sending the tax receipt and should be the value I could sell it for. What price should I use for each of the these quilts?

Dillon's Quilts - all fabric & batting from stash, including a charm pack (so only had to cut 4 of the squares)
40" X 40", machine pieced & quilted

Floral Rows - all fabric in top from stash, some pre-cut from other projects, including batting. Did have to buy backing/binding
about 40" X 48", machine pieced & quilted

So the question is, what do I value them at? I've never sold any of my quilts - My family, friends, and church family give me more than enough babies to quilt for, so I have no need (or time) to make quilts for sale.

Thanks,
~QB29

Sewing in the Morning

probably shouldn't be done by me:


My attempt at making binding this morning. I have no idea what I was thinking, but at least I was consistent. I did this on all 4 seams!

~QB29