Monday, February 18, 2013

Design Wall Monday

On my wall today is this quilt....

Super Zig, a free pattern by Monica Solorio-Snow at the Happy Zombie. You can find the link to the free pattern, and others, by going to Happy Zombie, then click Blog, then Projects, then scroll down until you find the link for the Super Zig pattern.


I chose different fabrics, some of which were given to me by the friend I am making this quilt for. The person receiving this quilt? She came into our lives when my son was in 1st grade. When he was in 2nd grade and it became apparent that my son had some learning issues she offered her tutoring services. She has tutored him since, sometimes even during the summer. She provided his home based tutoring following surgery and a lengthy at home recovery during middle school. She has been his employer the last 2 years through the school's work program. And, she has become a friend. My son is a senior this year. I feel that she deserves a quilt! He will give it to her at the end of the school year.

This has been a fun quilt to work on. She and I have the same taste in fabrics. We like bright colors.
I haven't figured out what design to quilt it with yet, though.



Other things I am finishing up are....

this baby quilt for a great niece. This was a pattern from Keepsake Quilting. I don't think it is available anymore since I couldn't find it on their site. I used the Funky Feathers design board from R&S Design and Petal Pink thread from Connecting Threads.
They baby has been born and the quilt is almost finished. I am wanting to print a poem on fabric to applique to the back, but I have not done that before. I have read several tutorials for printing on fabric, but I am nervous about doing this. I don't want to ruin my printer. I am not sure the ink will not fade. I am thinking I will use my standard labeling method of counted cross-stitch using waste canvas that is removed after the stitching is finished. It just takes time and I really want to be finished with this so I can get it in the mail.

I also finished up hand quilting this quilt for another friend. Her grandmother pieced the top. It is hand pieced. I had to replace some of the large white squares. There were holes; there are stains, too.














I was able to finish it to give her on Valentine's Day which is also her birthday. I think she was pretty happy with it.


Lastly, I finished the donation quilt for the FFA auction.I used the Funky Feathers design board and Sulky 30 wt. variegated thread in Brick. It brought $175. My husband liked it so much he had the winning bid. I am glad for the money to go the the FFA, but was disappointed when a quilt similar in size brought $275 dollars. Again, happy the money goes the FFA, but that quilt was a John Deere panel on the front and one piece of John Deere fabric on the back with straight line stitching. My husband says it brought more because of the John Deere theme. I am only thinking of the amount of work that went into each quilt. But, glad the FFA raised some money.























A new addition to my frame is a wonderful lighting system from Nolting.

The room my frame is in is dark at night. There is a large picture window on the opposite wall, but there is only 1 light fixture in the room and it is at one end of the room. Nolting will make the light bar the size you need to fit your frame. It took both my husband and myself to put it together. It is heavy and sturdy. I love it!

I realize my photos are not placed in the best arrangement with the text, but I just cannot seem to figure out how to place them better.



Monday, January 28, 2013

Design Wall Monday

 On my wall this week...
The annual FFA auction is coming up. I have donated a quilt the last two year, and will again this year. The top photo is the top with borders added. The second photo shows part of the pieced back. I was going to use the pieced red squares as the outer border, but my husband thought the fabric I
bought for the backing worked better.  I think he is right! I could have taken all those squares apart to be used in another project, but I really didn't want to. So they will be part of the backing. Everything is from stash except the paisley red, white and black fabric in the border and backing.



I really underestimated the time it would take to  stitch down the red 'stitches' on these baseballs!
Still working on it. I have that partial row you see in this photo finished now.
 
 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Design Wall Monday

Not much new on my design wall.
I am still spending time working on this....


I spent my weekend watching this....









Thursday, January 3, 2013

Basketball

Starting tomorrow, my weekend will be spent watching this. My son has a tournament this weekend. That means lots of driving, carrying of luggage, loading and unloading sports chairs and equipment, waiting around between games, making sure they get fed and stay hydrated, and doing laundry.
And, especially, lots of cheering this team on!


I am always amazed at what these kids can do. They are all disabled in some way - cerebral palsy, spina bifida, amputations, etc.

 They are boys, they are girls. the are in grade school, middle school, and high school. They fall, they get hurt, they get back up. They help each other out. They lose, they win, they get trophies and awards. They are a team.
We are a family.


 It was been wonderful and exciting to watch these kids grow. When my son started playing a few years ago he couldn't even get close to making a basket. Now he does it pretty regularly. That is amazing to me since he is legally blind, as well as having spina bifida.

The team has lost some of its older players this year to graduation. The team is becoming a younger team again. The have added a few new players. The ones that are younger than my son are improving and that is so exciting to see. You should hear us parents when one of them makes their first basket in a tournament! Even the older players, who make more baskets than they miss, are excited for them. Pats on the back and high fives all around. The older players are really good at encouraging and helping out the younger ones.

So even though tournaments make for long, tiring weekends, I wouldn't miss them!