The Final 100 Day Hustle Update

MY TO DO LIST:

1.  Make 15 to 20 quilted bibs for craft show, which are excellent practice pieces for trying new designs on the long arm

2.  Make 15 to 20 burp clothes for craft show.  Ended up not having time to do this.  Big surprise. 
3.  Make baby girl quilt for craft show.  Started to do this but my long arm started to act up so I ended up ruining it and it became a practice piece.  
4.  Make baby boy quilt for craft show.  This piece became a practice piece to "fix" the long arm and I ended up practicing my feathers on it.  
5.  Make a quilt for my sister in law to photograph for me to use as "new banner" pic to update my website.  

6.  Make myself a Halloween table runner.  Bagged this for now.  I do have the pieces parts and will do that sometime this winter.  I am kind of making two different ones now at this point.  

7.  Finish my mother in law's quilt that she started.  How did this get on my list?  LOL.  In process.  
8.  A Craftsy Class called Machine Quilting Negative Space by Angela Walters.  I purchased the class and at half price!  I hope to do this really really soon.  I got a little bit behind in my present making:)  
9.  Make a "Family Tree Quilt" for my mother in law for Christmas with my sister in law.  This got pushed back because my sister in law had a baby and we couldn't agree on a pattern as of yet, so if you know of any good family tree quilt patterns please let me know!
10.  Make my husband a coffee quilt per his request because my youngest daughter got a hold of the ink pen and inked his current deer quilt I made him before we were married, so now he wants a new one that is coffee themed and has flannel on the back.  Talk about picky!  I have the fabric purchased and the quilt pattern picked out.  That should count for something:)
11.  Christmas stockings for my daycare lady's family as Christmas gifts this year.

12.  Christmas stockings for my parents to hold their Christmas gifts.  I decided to hold off this year because my mom decided she wanted a Christmas cactus which sent me over my "budget" for her for this year.  In addition, I wanted to quilt it with straight lines and I am not getting my table extension, which she bought for  until Christmas, so again this is her fault as well:)  
13.  Christmas stocking for my daughter's kindergarten teacher.  (I am going with a sort of theme this year, so hopefully these are easy to make.  I intend on purchasing Camille Roskelly's pattern to make these.

14.  Melia's petal pocket pillow  Changed my mind and going to do for next year.  Want to give to the girls together and Mae has decided to use "everything" in her crib to stack up and try to escape.  This currently terrifies me, so I may wait another year when the girls are older.  Melia would have really loved it and could have used it since she is a such a hoarder and literally takes EVERYTHING to bed with her.  
15.  Maelyn's petal pocket pillow  See Item #14.  
16.  A baby quilt for my new niece or nephew after it arrives in late November.  I purchased the embroidery designs.  I want to quilt this by doing some custom quilting on it and need my table extension.  I should be getting it really soon!
17.  Long arm quilting samples to show customers.  I want 3 samples of 3 different allover designs.  

18.  Christmas table runner for me and my mom.  Postponed for another year.  
19.  Baby girl quilt for a family friend.  The fabric is all cut and I am working on sewing it into hourglass blocks, which are coming along nicely.  
20.  Baby doll quilt for Angel Tree child.  Was added after my list posted, but still completed.  Yea!!!!

I must say that I feel a lot better about this list now.  I did get more things crossed off.  I have learned though that a list of this magnitude is probably a better idea for a "year long hustle"!  I definitely want to thank Kelsey for hosting such a fun event and for helping me in getting some more "projects" accomplished!

Hooking up to The 100 Day Hustle at Kelsey Sews.

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A Super Hero Christmas!

I promise this is my last post on Christmas stockings.  After this batch, I am done making them for this year!  I must say though they have been a lot of fun to make, so I am a little bit sad.  I gave this batch of stockings to my daycare lady's family yesterday and I was so thrilled that she loved them.

I wish you all a Very Super Hero Christmas and a great Holiday season!

Linking up with Plum and June.  

Happy Quilting!

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Santa's Workshop

Have you ever felt as though you are a part of Santa's workshop?  I do and I must say that I love it.  I must be crazy, but I just love making Christmas presents.  The only thing that I wish that I would do is start sooner, but one of these years I will be more organized!  I just finished up a Christmas stocking for my daughter's Kindergarten school teacher shown below:

And now I have started an assembly line to quilt up 4 superhero stockings for my daycare lady's family.  Talk about fun and each stocking is getting easier as I go along.  Thank goodness!

My daycare's family is obsessed with wonder woman and superman, so I thought I would make stockings for the entire family using this theme.  They even painted their camper superman colors!  So I think my choice is safe.  I can't wait to show you the finished product this weekend.  I should have them done by then.  

Linking up to WIP Wednesday link party hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

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Baby Doll Quilt Finish

I am very happy to say that I was able to finish this over the weekend well before my Wednesday deadline.  It feels so good to check another item off of my list!  I must say that this pattern was very easy to do and did go very quickly.  You can find it as a free tutorial on Vanessa's website here.  Here is the finished quilt top before quilting...

I decided to quilt some basic wavy lines on it.  

I must say that I am really happy with how it turned out.  The fabric is Vintage Modern by Camille Roskelley.  The top thread is Superior So Fine Thread #50 in color 451.  The bottom thread is The Bottom Line by Superior Threads in color 621.  I just love using this thread once I figured out I just needed to use a 16 gauge needle.  I was using 18 and it just shredded the stuff.  Anyways, here is the finished product.  I hope the little girl loves it just as much as I enjoyed making it!

Linking up with Plum and June.  

Happy Quilting!

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Baby Doll Quilt

Today the company that I work for decided to host an Angel Tree.  An Angel tree carries a bunch of tags that has names of different kids with their ages and what they want for Christmas on them.  All of these children have a parent who can't be with them this year because they are in jail.  It was actually sad to see so many kids on this tree.  My heart just broke looking at it.  The child I selected was a little girl who is 1 and she wants a doll for Christmas.  Totally up my alley since I have two little girls myself.  Sometime this upcoming weekend, Melia and I will shop for the doll portion of the gift.  I like to take her with me so she learns that not every kid is as fortunate as she is.  The other portion of the gift, will be a little doll quilt to go with the doll.  I used a free tutorial by Lella Boutique.  You can find the pattern here.  It was a very nice and simple pattern to use because it is actually made for a doll, which means you don't have to do a lot of thinking on re-sizing a pattern.  I am hoping it goes rather quickly because I have to turn in my Angel Tree gift on December 19th.  I used a mini charm pack that I had of Vintage Modern by Camille Roskelley.  It is an absolutely adorable fabric collection for a little girl.  I hope the girl really loves it just as much as I am enjoying make it.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday link party hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

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An M&M Christmas!

This year I wanted to do something extra special for my daycare people because they really do a lot for my girls.  I stumbled across this pattern by Thimble Blossoms called "Merry", which is a stocking pattern that can be purchased here.  Again this was another opportunity to "practice" a different design on my long arm.  Not to mention get another item crossed off my "100 Day Hustle List".  It was a rather easy pattern to follow.  Camille's patterns usually are, which is why I have purchased several of her patterns and highly recommend them.

This stocking is for Miss Mary, who is the mother of my daycare lady.  She helps out at the daycare a ton and I usually try to get her something at Christmas time to say "Thank you" as well.  She absolutely loves M&M's and had a whole basement area where she displayed her "M&M memorabilia".  Well she had to move last year and had to depart with a lot of it because she wasn't able to fit everything into her smaller place.  So when I found this Christmas M&M fabric, I knew that it would be perfect for her.  So here is her "M&M Christmas Stocking" that I plan on filling up with a few "fun" goodies for her as well.  I quilted it alternating a wavy line and a loopdy loo pattern.  I also embroidered her name on it with my embroidery machine.  I just love personalized gifts!

I hope she likes it!

Linking up with Plum and June.  

Happy Quilting!

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Blog Tag

I was tagged in blog tag by Amanda from the Fabric Engineer.  

HERE ARE THE RULES:

• every tagged person has to tell 11 things about themselves

• the person who tagged you asked 11 questions, answer them

• ask 11 questions for the 11 blogs you're going to tag (the people you tag should have less than 200 followers)  

• mention the blog that tagged you, but don't tag them back.

So 11 things about me.
1. My favorite food is Italian.  I just love spaghetti and meatballs as well as pizza and would be more than content to eat that every single day.  
2. I absolutely LOVE fountain Pepsi.
3. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
4. My favorite color is red with black being a very close second.  
5. My favorite TV shows are Love it or List it and House Hunters.  Yes I really enjoy looking in "other" people's homes to see how they have decorated and live.  I find this fascinating!
6. I love taking Sunday afternoon naps after church and a big Sunday lunch.
7. I have 4 sisters.  
8. I have naturally curly hair and would do anything to have nice straight hair.  Go figure.
9. I enjoy watching movies and hand sewing binding on a quilt.  
10. The only Christmas tradition that we have so far is my kids get 3 Christmas gifts each in their "Santa" bag because the wisemen gave Jesus 3 gifts.  Hopefully we will develop more as the girls get older.  
11.  I haven't slept through the night for an entire week in over 2 years.  I wish my youngest who is now 18 months old would sleep through the night!

The questions I was asked:

1. What is one of the best places you've been to?  Mackinaw Island with my husband.  I have not actually traveled very much.  
2. Where would you like to travel to, even if not possible at the moment? Italy.  I have always wanted to go there and have pasta and pizza!
3. What's the best thing you've made?  Chicken Tortilla Soup in the slowcooker.
4. What do your family/friends think about your blogging? They have been very supportive and think it is pretty cool.  
5. What else do you like to do in your spare time other than make stuff? Watch movies.
6. What's the last good book you read? I haven't actually read that much lately.  The last book I read was the Berenstain Bears "Bedtime Battle" to my oldest daughter.  
7. What's on your "to read" list? I still would like to read the Quilters series by Jennifer Chiaverini and catch back up on the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.  
8. What's your real job? Controller (accountant)
9. Would you choose it again? Why or why not? No.  What I do does not provide any real good.  I either make rich people richer or rich people poorer depending on the month.  In addition, once you are an accountant, everyone asks you tax questions, which is okay, but I do have other interests:)  
10. How many places (different towns) have you lived in since you were born?  1 - Michigan
11. If you weren't living where you are, where would you live?  Maine.  I have always wanted to go to Maine.  From all the pictures I have seen it appears to be very beautiful and it reminds me of a "slower paced" life, which I crave.  

I'm also only tagging one person and the lucky individual is Lisa at Hilltop House Creative Works.  Here is my list of questions for Lisa:

1.  What is your favorite holiday?  
2.  What is your favorite Christmas tradition?  
3.  What's your real job?
4.  Would you chose it again?  Why or why not?
5.  What is your favorite part of the quilting process?
6.  What is the next project you plan on working on?  
7.  What is your favorite fabric line of all time?
8.  What is your favorite movie?  
9.  What is your favorite food?  
10.  What are some of your other hobbies besides quilting?
11.  Where would you go on your "dream vacation"?

Happy Quilting!

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New Blog Look

I have been working with Lena at Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates to give my blog a much needed face lift.  I think she did an excellent job at capturing what I wanted to portray.  I also again wanted to thank my amazing sister in law for taking pictures of some quilts for me.  She did a really great job as well.  So what do all of you think of the "new look"?

Linking up with Plum and June.

Happy Quilting!

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Finished Quilt Samples

Last Friday I was able to quilt up these samples with just a couple of my favorite quilt designs.  I am having someone do a "face lift" on my blog and I wanted some "quilting pictures" for her to include in the blog banner.  As a result, I created a couple of samples so far.  Here is a picture of the quilt sample before quilting:

Here are some pictures of the sample with the wavy quilting:

Here is a picture of the wavy quilting on the back:

Here is a picture of a sample with the double loop quilting style:

Here is a picture of the double loop quilting on the back:

I can only take credit for the very first picture shown at the top, my wonderful sister in law took the rest of them for me and she also did "edit" the first picture for me as well.  Didn't she do an excellent job!  You can certainly tell a difference between a "lamen" like me and a "professional" like her!

Also this will complete Items #5 and #17 on my "100 Day Hustle List".  Yea!!!

I am linking up to "Finish it up Friday" at Crazy Mom Quilts.  

Happy Quilting!

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