Cleaning the house for the summertime

Today I started my annual summer cleaning/purging.  I go through each room washing every part of it and washing towels, rugs, curtains, aprons and everything else in that area. Then I decide what goes and what stays.  Of course my aprons all stay.

This one was made by a friend a long time ago.  Usually I keep it hanging up, but think I should use it.  I use most of them and I definitely enjoy them more when I do.

Each of my aprons was either made by me or by a friend or family member.  I even had to wear one the day of Rob's wedding (over my fancy dress) because one of his friends needed me to make him some food!  The kids all loved that I had an apron on even then!  The photographer took pictures of me cooking with my apron on!  It was funny.

Shiny bathroom!  It only takes a few minutes to overhaul this one since I am always cleaning it.  Look closely and you can see that my nightlight in there is the leg lamp from A Christmas Story!  

The mud room is totally clean now too.  I usually hang all my aprons in here, but like the spare look for the summertime.

This is a block from the Stitchers Garden class I take monthly.  It is a fantastic way to learn about all the feet on your machine.  This block used a circular foot to make the flower centers.  I really liked using that.  I used variegated thread on it too.

Finished block!  I am making this for my daughter Evelyn.  She likes polka dots (me too!) and I think this will make her happy.  I got a polka dot fleece for the backing which will be cozy.  She doesn't like to use a sheet, so likes fleece against her skin.

Evelyn and a few girls had a bridal shower for a friend this past weekend so I made the favors. I embroidered Love is Sweet on a towel and wrapped it over a cup filled with Hershey kisses.  My friend Debbie pulled the edges up so that most of them looked like big flowers.  The little flower on top is a tiny chalkboard.  There are so many weddings coming up!  Bye bye money! 

Some wedding pictures!

Rob and Ali got married two whole weeks ago!  Time is already passing so quickly.  Their wedding was lovely in every way and the Lord provided us with a picture perfect day and night for the celebration.  They were so happy and still have that happy glow about them when we see them.  Here are the pictures Ali sent me from the photographer (he and his assistant are really artists!)

This is my favorite!  It's the old barn in my driveway!

Tap the one above to see how cute my Evelyn is with her big brother.

Don't they look camouflaged?  I love this one!

This is one that a friend took.  I think Ali was looking at us during this one.

Well, that's all we have for now!  I am so excited to see the rest.  I will see some of you tomorrow at Simple Sampler.  Hopefully I will have my block done. I did the cutting tonight, so will sew it after school tomorrow.   Only one week until summer vacation! What a great year it's been!

New sewing center and a new quilting project!

After my mom died in March, my dad and I talked about what to keep and what to donate. I wanted the sewing center my dad made for her a few years back, so now it is at my house.  The cabinet opens and there are nice drawers in there.  Very neat!

It has an extended table top which is nice and roomy.  I also have Mom's Bernina to use at classes which I am looking forward to this week.

Last month Kenny got me some new embroidery packs from the quilt store!  Today I started the quilt and it is really nice so far.  This will be a good summer quilting project.  Only a few weeks to go and I am off.  The year went by so fast.  Next time I hope to post some pictures from my son's wedding on June 6!  What a gorgeous wedding day they had.  It was a lovely wedding for two wonderful young people.  I love my daughter in law so much.  I hear from so many people that they don't get along with their in laws, so we are lucky.

Embroidered napkins for a wedding.

This week I embroidered 96 napkins for a wedding.  The couple wants to use them as place settings and favors, so each guest's name is on them!  How fun is that?  I might just steal that idea one day!

They are using three different fabrics which is very nice!  They are wrinkled because I boxed them before I did this post but you get the gist.  Love this idea!

Basket lattice quilt

I took a class last JUNE to make this quilt and left it in a box for almost a year!  It was very time consuming due to multiple pieces and unfinished seams throughout, so I just lost interest.  Then a few friends finished theirs and they were beautiful, so I took mine out last Friday and finished it just a few minutes ago.

The fabric is Dancin' in the Rain and I loved it from the first moment I saw it, even though I am generally not a batik person.  It's just so pretty.  I was going to give this as a wedding gift to a cute couple but my friends all said no!  I have to keep it! :) so I might.  I was thinking about a border with appliquéd umbrellas  and raindrops which I think would be pretty.  Or I might leave it alone and just quilt it.  Now that the hard part is done, borders will be easy.

Rob and Ali's wedding quilt (border blast by Thimbleberries) is quilted. Bridal shower favors almost done!

Here is the quilted product for Rob and Ali!  I am happy to have it back now.  I will bind it this week so I can give it to Ali at her shower this weekend.  Deb at Divine Quilting did a beautiful job on a very, very imperfect quilt top.  Must I remind you what a nightmare this top gave me?  Seams pulled apart, fabric frayed, sides became elongated, yada, yada, yada.  However, it looks gorgeous and not too many people will see the problems now that it's done.  I have to fix a few things with hand sewing and fray- check but I still do love it.

I made homemade trail mix for shower favors.  Rob saw them the other day and stole one!  He said he needs it for when he is between classes in college.  I have exactly the right amount now, so no one better show up if they didn't RSVP!  Hey, btw what's up with people not RSVPing anyway?  The girls doing the shower had so much trouble getting people to let them know if they were coming or not, but most of them were planning on coming!  Why not let people know right away?  Funny, right? I have been guilty of that too, but won't do it again.  

I also made homemade soap and put them in these bags with a scrubby.  What fun I had making the bags and the tags!  The top of the bag is a folded cupcake paper!  When I saw that on Pinterest, I knew I had to use that idea.

My dining room table is a hot mess right now, but it's all worth it to make Ali's day special for her.

Easter quilt using a fringe foot

This week I am finally getting started on this Easter quilt I got the patterns for a few years ago.  I am in a Stitchers Garden quilt BOM now and we used a fringe foot this month.  Of course I have to practice a lot so added a little poufy tail to my bunny before I use the foot on the Stitchers Garden block.

Then I added a little feathery tail to my little sassy chicken.  She's showing it off.

It's fun to add texture to the blocks and this is fun.  Can you believe that we are expecting more snow tonight?  Not too much but still!  I do enjoy a real winter though so I am not complaining.