Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

So things don't always go according to plan, right? I have spent all of Leif's nap cleaning the house in preparation for a playdate tomorrow. I finished with enough time to get started pinning one of the baby quilts I need to have done by 4/17. Well, I am 3 inches short on backing fabric!!!! 3 stinking inches! I could piece it together, but it's directional so that won't work. I am so frustrated right now. I pulled the two folding tables out to the living room and was all set to get to work and now I can't do anything. I won't have the car all week to go to the fabric store (and with construction right now it will take 15 min. to get there and over an hour to get home no matter when I go!) I have a sewing class on Saturday, I don't shop on Sundays and Monday I have plans in the other direction. So it looks like Tuesday is the soonest I might get over there. Not much time to piece the backing, pin, quilt and bind the thing before next Friday.

Update: Thanks for offering to take me to the fabric store Bethany! Luckily, Cory came to the rescue and stopped on his way to UH on Wednesday. So now I am quilting away. Should be done by Friday. Yay!!!

Secret Garden

"A Secret Garden for Sofia"

Size: 26" x 26" (I think)

Pattern: original design (used "Puss in the Corner" block from Marsha McCloskey's Block Party)
Completed: September 2008
Made in: Hawaii
Given to: Sofia Herman

Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301
.

The story: I picked up this kit at a wonderful shop in Canmore, Alberta in Canada when we were there for a Family Christmas in 2004. But after I got it home, I realized they had replaced one of the fabrics and I just could never get myself to make the project because I didn't think it looked right with the replacement fabric. So this bag of beautiful Moda fabric sat, and sat, and sat in my closet for years. Then when I decided I wanted to make a sweet little quilt for Leif's little friend Sofia, I knew I had just the right fabric for it. I scrapped the pattern (and the replacement fabric I couldn't get over) and started from scratch- with a little help from a book of block patterns.

I wasn't able to finish it before Sofia and her family moved to CA, but I sent it off to her a couple of months later. It is the perfect size for a little cuddle quilt, for a doll quilt or for the wall.

Here are a few close-ups so you can see the sweet fabric:

Tatum

"Tatum"
Size: 8 1/2” x 28”
Pattern: original design
Completed: September 2007
Made in: Hawaii
Given to: Tatum Erickson

Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301

.

The story: A little background first. About a month before we moved to Hawaii I saw my dad's cousin Marylou at a family gathering. She mentioned that her son Will and his family were also moving to Oahu that summer. He would be attending nursing school and they were hoping to live near his school on the windward side of the island, which is about an hour from where we were moving.

I hadn't seen Will in close to 10 years, but had spent some time with him and his siblings while were growing up - holidays, family reunions, etc. Well, I went to church on my first Sunday in Hawaii and about 1/2 way through Sunday School I realized that the guy sitting a few rows away was Will! Now it's not like my church only has one meeting house and on congregation on the island - there are tons - so the chances were pretty slim that we would run into each other at church.

After class I went up to him and he recognized me right away. Not only were they at my church, but they had moved into a condo on the same street as us and were literally minutes away. Crazy! Anyway, I met his wife Kristy and their 3 girls, Mariah, Brinlee and Asia. They lived here for three years and just moved back to WA last May. We miss them and try to keep up with them on their blog. Hopefully we'll see them again one of these Christmases.

Anyway, while they lived here they added one more daughter to their family, Tatum (and have since added another - yes, that's 5 girls!) So for Tatum's 1st birthday I made her this wall hanging for her room. Kind of hard to see, but it has the cutest fairy fabric. It was fun to make and I learned a lot doing it. It was only the second word I had done and I would do the "M" differently if I ever did it again and the "T's" turned out a little wider than intended. Oh well. It's all about learning and having fun, right?

Caitlynn

"Caitlynn"

Size: 8" x 41"

Pattern: original design

Completed: August 2008
Made in: Hawaii

Given to: Caitlynn

Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301

.

The story: This past summer my mommies group (honolulumommies.com) was holding a silent autction to raise money for a local charity. They were soliciting donations for the auction and I volunteered to donate a custom wall hanging of a child's name. The winner was Molly and she wanted one for her daughter Caitlynn. So, just knowing that Caitlynn's room was done in shabby chic and with a few ideas from Molly I went fabric shopping. I found these prints from Moda (one of my favorites) and thought they worked really well together. I finished it in about a week, including design time - should have only taken a few hours, but with a toddler everything takes 5 times longer!

Here are a couple of close-ups to hopefully see the fabric better. Sorry they are a bit blurry.

A Little Bit Country

"Country Stars"
Size: 17 1/4” x 17 1/4”
Pattern: from a kit
Completed: December 2005
Made in: Hawaii
Given to: Laurelyn Miner

Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301

.

The Story: This was a kit from a very cool quilt shop in Fremont, NE (Cory's hometown.) It is a huge shop with an amazing selection of fabric. Needless to say everytime we go back to Nebraska, we have to stop by and I never get out of there without doing a little damage to the bank account.

Anyway, once again I decided to make a few Christmas gifts in 2005 and my friend Laurelyn was the recipient of this little wall hanging. It's hard to tell in the photos, but most of the fabrics have some kind of star pattern in them.

Sewing Class

A couple of months ago I started a little "sewing group" with my mommy friends from Honolulu Mommies. At the first class there were 4 mommies and we made backpacks. I found this pattern online and modified it a bit. We had a lot of fun and decided to do it again. At the second class there were 7 mommies and we made crayon roll-ups. They turned out super cute. Our third class is next Saturday and we have 8 mommies coming (I can't fit anymore in my house than that!) When I posted the date for this upcoming class it filled up within hours and we have a waitlist. Most of the mommies are beginners and it is so fun to share something I love with good company!

Here are some pics of our projects:
A sideways shot of the backpack I made for myself.

Leif and his McQueen "PACKPACK." Speed!!! It's perfect for him to wear to church with all his quiet toys in it. I made one for his best buddy Ronan, too.

Trish's crayon roll. This was the first thing she has ever sewn. She did awesome! And she chose the cutest fabric, too.

This is Jessica's. She was also a first-timer and did a great job.

Nicole and her project. This was her second class and it turned out pratically perfect.

We are making these cute little pincushions next week. I got the idea from a Moda Bake Shop Charm Pack Recipe. But I'm not sure the group is ready for half-square triangles so we're sticking with a small little four-patch block with little bit of quilting on it. We are also making the most adorable hanging book displays from Ohdeedoh. I'll post pics after the class.

Noel

"Aloha Noel"
Size: 10" x 23" (I think)
Pattern: Original Design
Completed: December 2008
Made in: Hawaii
Given to: Mary Bennett
Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301


"Noel"
Size: 8" x 21"
Pattern: Original design
Completed: December 2008
Made in: Hawaii
Given to: Ric and Lori Packard, Mike and Billie Bennett, Mike and Stacy Bennett, Irene Thor, Jake and Maggie Liljenquist and one for us
Machine pieced and quilted on a Pfaff Hobby 301
.
The story: This past Christmas I decided to make quilt gifts again. Since I had done Leif's name (and a couple others) I thought I could do a Christmas word for our parents and siblings. Since I would be making 7 of them I needed a Christmas word that wasn't too long or too complicated. I settled on "Noel" and went fabric shopping. The top one was for Cory's mom, Mary, and we wanted to do something a little less traditional for her. She loves all things tropical so when I found the red and green print with turtles and palm trees I knew it was perfect. For the rest I just chose a simple subduded green and red with a tree-ish patttern. It was a lot of work to finish them all, but once I got going with an assembly line strategy it went fairly quickly. This was the first time I had made more than one of anything, and some definitely turned out better than others.