10 step applique

This tutorial is meant mostly for my Bee Quilted group so they can help me with my months block. But anyone can use the information.

I've already transfered the pattern onto fusible webbing.

First trim all the prepared fusible webbing pieces down to size.

2. Pick your fabrics that you want for each piece of applique.

3. Iron webbing onto material

4. Trim fabric along the edge of the webbing.

5. Peel paper off of webbing. I've discovered its easier done when it is cool not warm.

6. Lay out applique pieces on Tan background, close to the center.

7. Press pieces into place.

8. WaLa. They are stuck on for good. Now time to stitch them down.

9. Set your machine to a zig-zag stitch set at 2 for the width and .5-1 for the length. I like the stitches closer together. Stitch around each applique piece.

10. Your done. Now just do whatever emboridery you have to do and then quilt the block.

August Bee Blocks

Well August is almost come to a close and school is starting tommorrow. I have no reason to dread or be excited about school starting for I'm done and I have no kids or husband in school. The only kinda sad part is that my mom is back to work. OH well, so goes life. Anyways, so here are my collaberation of blocks I did for the different quilting bees I'm in. So lets get the blocks a rollin!

First up are the blocks done for Valerie in NewBee. These are probably my favorite ones this month. I just LOVE the colors and the stars are so neat. If you want to know how to do these I have directions, let me know and I'll get them to you. Way fun and easy to do.

Next up is the Bee Quilted Group. In this group we are quilting as we sew, so when we get our finished blocks our quilt is already quilted. Its such a fun idea! In fact I used it to make/finish some throw pillows last night. Jennifer was up this month and she wanted us to do a robot block in the Drunk Love style. She is going to be using this quilt for her boy. Aren't they fun?

Next is the Bee in my Bonnet group. Julie wanted us to do large interesting squares framed with the purple print. Here's my version.

And last up is the Sew Bee Wonky Group. Kellie wanted wonky houses. So I did my version of my house I lived in. And look I even included Annabelle's home!

A missed reunuin and a family farewell

This weekend was one full weekend yet I couldn't do everything not with two girls tagging along.

I was planning on going to my five year class reunion on Saturday night. but about a week before it I found out this cousin of mine

Mr. Waylon Savage was going to be having his mission farewell Sunday morning at nine, down in Elsinore. So I had to choose. Well that was easy. I needed and wanted to go down and see Waylon and support him has he gets ready to leave on his mission. So I missed my reunion. I even thought about driving down after the reunion to Richfield but a five hour drive with two little girls, by myself, ya don''t think so.

Well the entire family, minus my dear husband who was out slaving away at work and my twin cousins who were who knows where, were all in attendance.

Yep thats the family, all of the Savage Tribe. Two People fell in love they had 5 kids, who all got married and had kids, which now total at 17 grandkids, four grandkid-in-laws, and 5 great granddaughters. I'd say thats a tribe! Wouldn't you. (We won't even start on the Chew side today, thats a even bigger clan!)

This is my Aunt Missy, but what I want you to notice is the group in the background. Yep thats my immdiete family minus my mom she's much more social then us. :) I find it funny that when we go to our Savage family reunions or get togethers we all say hi and converse with the rest of the family, but us Chews stick together and eat together, etc. Kinda funny huh? Oh and this is the only other pic taken of us besides the big family one. Haha Good at hiding huh!

And then I have to throw in the picture of Grandma and the youngest member of the tribe, Miss Page. You can see Page is wanting her momma, she's a momma's girl BIG time.

Anyways, I had a good fun weekend with my family and seeing Waylon off. I can wait another five to visit with my class. :)

A gift for a Friend

So I've done it again. Made another adorable nursing cover. Remember I made this one for my cousin and posted about it back here. I made this one a bit bigger and liked it even more. I really need to start taking pics of the back and other little details I put in these that make them even more enjoyable.

My friend had a baby about a month ago and we had her shower just the other day. I made her this cover and hoped she didn't already have one. She did, but it was a cheap one and small. This one is double layered and bigger so much nicer. She was happy to have it.

The other fun things about these, so easy to put together and they are very useful too.

Find my first nursing cover I made here.

Clarification

So I need to clarify something about my older post.
I'm jealous of you who love to camp.
I wish I found enjoyment in it.
Same with the horse riding thing.

Because of my Youth

Janessa 1yr & Me 2.5yr

So you probably don't know this and it will probably blow your socks off...

I don't like camping!

I know "What on earth!!!!"

To tell you the truth I don't think camping is very high on any of my siblings list either.

And I have to say I believe its because of our youth.

Look at where we grew up.

Chew Ranch

We love the outdoors, we worked and played outside all day long, everyday if we possibly could manage it. When we'd go to our grandparents in Richfield it was like tourtore, cause yes there was TV to watch and that was fun for like the first hour, after that

BOREDOM!
There was nothing to do in the city, nothing at all.

True it got somewhat better as we grew older, but not much.

Carson

Growing up here we were able to be outside all day long and still come back to a nice cool or warm house with a table to sit at and running water in the house (well most of the time). Therefore we didn't have to go camping to enjoy the outdoors, so it holds no appel to us.

But thats not it.

We can't stand to be idle.

Our whole lives we were taught to

work, work, work,

and

play, play, play,

while you work, work, work.

So camping is boring, we have to be doing something for a reason, and camping is not accomplishing anything for us.

Crazy huh.

See Koda likes to camp when he's hunting, but he's accomplishing something

He's hunting.

I really have no enjoyment in going camping while he's hunting.

Its boring.

Ty & Carson

Another thing I've found I have a hard time with.

Riding horses for recreation.

In my experience horses are primarily used for work and work only.

They are much like a tool that is needed on a ranch.

Just like a pickup or tractor.

I have the hardest time going to ride a horse just to ride.
Whats the point in it?

Daisy

But I will have to say I loved my youth.

My children will hopfully grow up much the same way.

So I'm a little strange and I don't like to go camping or riding horses for no reason.
But now you know

Its because of my youth.

Daisy

19 Minutes

In this emotionally charged novel, Jodi Picoult delves beneath the surface of a small town to explore what it means to be different in our society.
In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents.

Even those who were not inside the school that morning find their lives in an upheaval, including Alex Cormier. The superior court judge assigned to the Houghton case, Alex—whose daughter, Josie, witnessed the events that unfolded—must decide whether or not to step down. She’s torn between presiding over the biggest case of her career and knowing that doing so will cause an even wider chasm in her relationship with her emotionally fragile daughter. Josie, meanwhile, claims she can’t remember what happened in the last fatal minutes of Peter’s rampage. Or can she? And Peter’s parents, Lacy and Lewis Houghton, ceaselessly examine the past to see what they might have said or done to compel their son to such extremes.

Nineteen Minutes also features the return of two of Jodi Picoult’s characters—defense attorney Jordan McAfee from The Pact and Salem Falls and Patrick DuCharme, the intrepid detective introduced in Perfect Match.

Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought-provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone?

This was a wonderful book! If you want a good deep novel to read pick this one. It is a very thought provoking book that makes you really think about how what is said and done to others or to yourself does affect them/yourself.

It was really big on the sterotyping done by kids from elemetary to high school. And I couldn't help but think "was school really all that bad?" I really don't know if it was the school I went to, the class I graduated with or what but I don't think it really was as bad as the book says. But maybe I just wasn't a picked-on student and I didn't hang out with the crowd that did most of the picking on, so I didn't realize it was happening.

One thing this book made me realize is the importance of having a good parent/child relationship, and that also after a certain age they are their own person and they will make their own choices and us as parents have to accept that. One thing is for sure, this book made me realize the 2 year old stage isn't all that bad and I'm not ready for all the emotional drama that comes with having teenagers.

Want more reviews go here. There is a lot of good and bad ones.

I'm in love with this book club, even though we don't have many show up, I love the different styles of books that come forth and many are ones I would never pick up to read. This one is an example of one of those types.

Since everyone seems to have such busy lives and we don't get a very high turnout at our club meeting I started an online discussion forum. We are still going to be doing the hard in person meetings, they are just so fun! But maybe we can get some more discussion this way. So come join us at Let's Get To Reading.

Can it be so?

Am I imagining things or is Fall slowly creeping up on us? School starts in two weeks, second cutting of hay is done and hauled out of the fields, its time to move the cows to the lower pasture, the bulls are starting to wander and trying to find fresh faces, the men folk are starting to talk just about hunting and the elusive "BIG ONE", oh and the icing on the cake it feels like fall early in the mornings. By eight though its defintaly still summer.

I'm not sure I'm ready for fall to come along...

My babies will keep getting older, my siblings and mom go back to school, it gets colder.

Oh well lifes life and it will just keep on going!

I can't decide...Can you help?

Last night I was so excited I'd finished appliquing the last of my watermelon seeds onto my watermelon blocks for my watermelon quilt. And the plan today was to sew the top all together, then I'd be that much closer to finishing this WIP. But thanks to my husband, who told me the way I was laying it out didn't look like watermelon, I still think it does, and after I explained it to him he seen it. So he showed me the way he did it, and we started playing around with different ways to lay this quilt out, and this morning I did some more playing around (you've gotta love the log cabin block so many possiblilities). Now I don't know what I like best...maybe you guys can help me.

Which layout looks the best for you, remember its a watermelon quilt.

Also just look at the placement, I will make sure the colors are all even looking when I do the final layout, and sorry some of the pictures are kinda blurry, I'm really thinking I need a new camera.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7 & #8

These two pictures are the same layout, one is just more extended, I will have to make more green blocks to finish this layout, and that would not be a problem, even then do you like the smaller one or the bigger one!?

Thanks!

Joyous Children!

Life here in our household has been a blast these last couple of days.
Koda has been off work for four days so the girls have had fun actually having a dad to interact with, and I've loved not feeling like a single parent. We are really tired of this job and the hours he works, its to much time away from the family. Anyways, our girls kept us plenty entirtained and hopping.

I went to go make my bed after breakfast, came back and my wonderful child had got syrup everywhere! All over the kitchen and all over herself. I just stood there and said, well might has well get the camera, then clean it up.

Here Daisy is ready to go change water with her dad. Isn't she just a doll in those overalls and watters??

Oh yes, she can get mad when she doesn't get her way!

Page is becoming quite mobile and can army crawl all over the place mixed with a bit of rolling, she is starting to get up on her knees and hands and sway, she'll actually do this leap thing, its like a frog. So cute, I can't believe she's already seven months and well on her way to being eight! She also has two teeth on the bottom, and two on the top coming in, but she is still quite pleasent as long as her sister leaves her alone. But mom is not sure of these teeth, she is a biter, and may get weaned to the bottle sooner then I or her hopes to be.

Ah yes, Papa is the girls favorite! Page loves him and Daisy knows he'll take her to do the fun stuff. chores!

The Farmer's Wife quilt blocks

Postage Stamp Block # 68

Kitchen Woodbox block #54

So I've started my 'The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt', I've gotten two blocks done. Remember I'm aiming to do this entire quilt hand pieced and hand quilt it. My goal is to have it ready for fair by next year.

I think they are looking good so far!

Simply Solids Giveaway!

Mandy over at Simply Solids is having a giveaway today! The winner gets a Moda scrap bag. Pretty cool, the bags contain selvage end scraps from 2"-4" widths. Jump on over and check it out and mabye join in the fun? Go check out her blog for the giveaway!