Quilt Blocks & Educational Opportunities

The block below is Block #1 for the "Layer Cake Quilt Along."  The layer cake I'm using is Punctuation by American Jane for Moda fabrics.  I thought it would be a fun design and has that vintage feel I like.  This block is an "Alabama Spinner" block designed by Gene Black. 

It was fun to make and only took me a couple hours on Saturday morning to piece together.  The best part is I learn some new things each time I work on something which I figure can only help improve my sewing.  Gene let us decide whether we wanted to applique the circle in the center.  Using the Bernina (which has some really fancy stitches I haven't tried yet) it was so simple.  The machine did a fantastic job!

When I heard the boys wake up I took the block upstairs to show them.  Clark was so excited the first thing he did was start telling me all the shapes that were on it!  Circle, triangle, square, rectangle.  He then started in on naming letters and we had a lesson on punctuation marks!

The boys were so smitten with the block I had a hard time photographing it without little fingers pointing at it :)

I'm excited to see what the next block will be!  I thought this fabric choice would be a perfect one for me to snuggle under while watching evening TV - looks like I may be sharing it with some little boys learning their letters and shapes (and punctuation marks)!

Scraps

Yesterday, during our 10 hour drive home from Indianapolis (while the boys tried to catch up on sleep by napping most of the way) I needed a way to stay awake.  While listening to my favorite Trans Siberian Orchestra CD (which is listened to any time of year I might add) I worked on some sewing ideas.  However, before digging into any new projects I need some fabric organization.  I began thinking about how to organize my fabric.  Of course, anything would be better than what it is now - sitting in big see through tubs sorted by color.  This was not my choice mind you - this is what happened when flood waters seeped into the basement.  

Today I started digging into all my containers and sorting them.  It was somewhat like Christmas finding fabrics I forgot I even had.  My family is probably tired of all the little squeals they heard from the basement today!  

Of course there were also pieces like this:

What was someone thinking?  OK, it might have been something I picked out in the 80's (for some 4H project) or it could be something I inherited stole selvaged absconded with (yeah, that sounds right) from my mom.  I'm pretty sure that piece wasn't one I inherited with my grandma's stash (although there are some funky finds in that stash too).

I first sorted out all the scrap pieces and put them in scrap color bins.  Then I folded all my 1/4, 1/2, and 1+ yard fabrics - these will go in small plastic bins sorted by color and type.  Finally the large pieces and pieces more for clothing and home decor were folded and put back in large tubs but better organized so I can actually see each piece.

All of the plaid was sorted out separately and has its own bin.

After all of that I figured I am ready to start piecing some scrap blocks for the Pleasant Home Sew Scraps Along.  However, I ran into an issue.  The scraps I would love to use are some I picked up at an auction awhile back.  I believe these are truly vintage.  

They may have come from a sample board (since many of them have numbers taped to them).  As a purist, I would hate to add new materials to these vintage scraps so I think they will need to wait for another scrappy project.  Any thoughts?

Back to using up some scraps - I find myself with LOADS of blue scraps.  Maybe I should challenge myself to do purely blue scrappy blocks.  I would do blue and yellow for my husband but I have practically zero yellow scraps (dang).  Bah!  Maybe I'll just go work on a couple Christmas ornaments.

Speaking of Christmas - look what was waiting for me in the mail when we arrived home yesterday:

The first of the Ho Ho Holiday Swap items from Becky.  Such cute fabric - I love the Christmas Tree print and the wreath towel is so pretty (and so appropriate for this family who will be turning to wreath making shortly).

Take Me to the Quilt Show

Thanks to my wonderful hubby I was able to attend the American Quilter's Society Des Moines Quilt Show yesterday!  He set up so the kiddos were cared for and off I went to the show!  The picture above was what greeted people as they rounded the corner of the skywalk in HyVee Hall.  It stopped you in your tracks.  You had to look through the big windows.

Below are some pictures of some of my favorite quilts.

Dang - I should have collected patches when I was in Europe instead of postcards.  I thought this was a neat idea though for those souvenirs.

I have always loved Sun Bonnet Sue.  This is such a neat take.  It is Sun Bonnet Sue around the world.

Little Red Hen - the pictures and fabric choice were so good and of course it was so well executed.

The above quilt simply goes in the I can't even imagine category.

Homer was a must photo to bring home and show my husband.

Along with this next one.

I think some space themed quilts for the guys someday would be fun!

The next set of pictures are board games that were made completely out of fabric.  It was one of the special displays.  These were so much fun to look at.

Finally, a couple tie-ins to the Iowa State Fair.  The Des Moines Quilters Guild had special display about kids and quilting.  During the Iowa State Fair there is a State Fair Sew-In for Kids.  Each day in the Fabric and Threads Department quilts are worked on to be distributed to organizations that work with children.  It's a really great project.

And the raffle quilt had this pretty ribbon on it from the Iowa State Fair.

Ahh - so many new ideas (like I need more at the moment).  I was proud of myself, I only bought one little pattern at the marketplace - whew!  It was hard to remember a budget surrounded with so many beautiful things.

"Olive" the Pumpkins

After 3 nights of frost we decided today was a good day to pull up all those wonderful backyard pumpkin vines Clark planted.  (Clark still has his blue ribbon winners proudly displayed in his room :)
I couldn't resist the above photo.  That was Grant's pumpkin that he proudly carried around (until he saw daddy working on the tractor).  Yes, it is an Oliver tractor, but my husband lovingly calls her Olive.

Clark wanted a photo of his pumpkin too - so may I present: Clark's Pumpkin

And some photos of the boys helping with the tractor.

Here are the photos of the harvest:

 And some more . . .

 wait - a few more.

We still need to harvest the ones in the trees and the ones growing up the chicken coop.  Now to finish cleaning the house so we can decorate.  I don't think we'll run out of gourds/pumpkins to brighten the house up!  I can't resist the warty gourds so a few choice ones are already displayed inside.

Before nap time I started laying out some blocks for a quilt I'm doing as a quilt along on another blog.  It was all material I had buried in my stash and thought the vintage looking fabrics would be fun together.  As I started laying them out Clark decided to play along.  He thought it was a GREAT floor puzzle!  Really - he wants to help mommy with another "puzzle."  Actually he did help me out because I am horrible at being random on things like this - I always try to find a pattern or order.  Clark just started setting them out and I happily followed his lead!

Back at It!

Whew - lots going on since our spur of the moment drive on Thursday to Iowa City for early hospital appointment the next day.  First, my surgery went just fine.  Actually, much less pain than I expected.

On Saturday, Alan and I hosted/presented along with Heather a Science Fair Workshop in Ankeny.  I was still feeling pretty good (although tired) by the end of the presentation.  Later that night Alan put the boys to bed while I rested a bit and then he headed to the ISU game and watched us beat Texas Tech (whoo hoo)!  Sunday I made it through church and then pretty much crashed.  Slept most of the afternoon.  As Clark said to me, "mommy, a really long nap will make you feel better."  He was so right.

I did find a little time this weekend to sew up both Halloween lap blankets I am working on for the boys.  In hind sight the white squares with dots may not have been the best choice.  Anyway all the blankets need are the borders and then I plan to stitch them to a fleece backing.  Clark wants them to glow in the dark so I will use the glow in the dark thread and cookie cutters to make some Halloween shapes.

This morning I finished painting the west side of the basement.  All that's left is to paint the floor.  After looking at these colors I realized they match a quilt fabric line I would really like to purchase but haven't spent the money on yet.  The colors remind of Pure by Moda.  A lovely quilt in that fabric line would work wonderfully down here! Ha - so many other projects that isn't even in my top 10 right now.

Ah - but the UPS man did stop this morning.  In my package were these fun John Deere fabrics.  I had actually picked up the top piece (flannel) in the clearance bin at JoAnn's.  So what a fun surprise to receive some matching pieces.  Grant loves the flannel piece so I think I'll make him something fun for Christmas.

I also found some pinks and purples in my delivery.  So sweet.  Maybe a nursery gift for friends or relatives.

This afternoon as I was reading through some blogs I follow I came across a weekly meal plan at Living Locurto.  I am all about meal planning but have not been doing very well recently.  These recipes seemed yummy and things my guys would eat and I had most of the grocery list items already on hand.  Made up a grocery list of other items needed and the guys and I went grocery shopping.  So easy when it's pre-planned.  I tend to get in a rut when I do my own planning so this is nice to try some new items.  I went to Our Best Bites website as well and found some other yummy recipes - you might even see some in my test kitchen this month!

Today we took the baby tub out and Grant was on his own in the big bath tub.  He made the transition with no complaints!  More baby items going back into storage.

Now to go fold all the laundry that was washed last Thursday but never folded.  Need to find some items so Clark has something to wear to preschool tomorrow.  Tomorrow is school picture day!