oh mylanta.
there is so much to say….

my family got me fish for mother’s day. along with adorable handmade cards. and a few other goodies. it was all lovely. we were even able to sneak in an impromptu campfire before bed. it was a nice way to catch up after being gone for several days. even though the kids talk all at once. almost all the time!!!

And now. i think he was trying to hide the perpetually messy landing, LOL!!!  no, actually, he was talking about doing this for awhile now, so it wasn’t like he took it upon himself to redesign our house on a whim. which is a good thing….a very good thing. I’m looking forward to seeing it finished! (That’s just for you, retreat ladies!)

Speaking of market….I’m headed to quilt market in just two short days. WOW, that came up quickly. If you are planning to be there and would like to meet up, shoot me an email!

Happy Monday to you!

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/catching-up.html

I am slowly but surely making my way through my small projects list. It feels good!

Also, I made close to 20 of these babies. Thread catchers, tiny trash cans, whatever you want to call them. It’s a pattern I made up (which I’m thinking of selling when I get around to it…). I love these. It was fun to play with just two fabrics at a time. I loved putting together the different color combinations from my stash. I gave these to my retreat attendees and we used them to catch our trash and threads when we sewed. They also doubled as a little gift basket. They held a few goodies including their name tags, a tiny 9 patch pin cushion along with some fabulous soap and lip balm (a la Tara). They were fun little projects to make and to give!
So here’s what my list looks like now:

1. Patchwork lanyard
2. Vintage sheet skirt with lining
3. Dress!
4. Zippered box bag
5. Tiny trash cans
6. 9 patch pin cushions
7. Van trash cans x 2
8. Guitar strap
9. Granny square pillow cover
10. Thread catchers (with tiles)
11. Color coded storage boxes for stash
12. Patchwork belt
13. Another flirt skirt
14. Drawstring backpack
15. Kitchen curtains
16. Ticker tape on canvas
17. Kitchen chair pads  I bought some, so they are off the list!
18. Dress for my daughter
19. Table topper for TV console table
20. Mini quilt for front entry table

Hurray for progress!!!

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/more-small-projects.html

Today I learned that Sunday Morning Quilts is already headed for it’s second printing. What?!?!?! It was only 2 short months ago that the first batch arrived on my doorstep. This whole book experience has been quite surreal. A big THANK YOU to all of you who have supported us throughout this journey. It means so much. Really. I would be remiss if I didn’t say a big THANK YOU to the folks at C&T, who have been aMAZing to work with. Seriously amazing.

I found a bit of time to play with some scraps today, just for fun. That totally made me happy. Now that I’m posting this photo, I’m not sure that anyone else can appreciate the beauty in this mess. I’m nearly drowning in scraps, but I don’t mind. Not one bit. The possibilities in this basket make me giddy. (I may need help.)

I’m headed to Madison tomorrow for the book signing and then the retreat! It’s been months of planning, prepping, sewing, planning. The piles I have been making are ready to take over. And so are my lists. :o) I’m so ready to retreat! It will be fun to sew for the entire weekend and as a bonus, I get to meet up with my pal Terri. I can’t wait!

As far as the small projects sew along, I’m still working on it. More on that later!

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/happy.html

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my small projects list. These pin cushions are proof positive of that. They are small-only 3.5″ finished. The more I made, the cuter they looked. I may have squealed (a lot) when I was making these. I had to make myself stop at a dozen and move on to the next thing on my list.

I wanted to say thanks a bunch for all the sweet comments on my dress!!! You all sure know how to make a girl feel good.

———

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/dozen-pin-cushions.html

I finished my dress! And it fits!

I LOVE it!!!

I’m very happy that it won’t be graded by a Home Ec teacher because I don’t think I’d get a very good grade. BUT…it fits, AND it’s wearable…even out of the house! I’d call that a success.

Pattern: New Look 6557
Fabric: clearance cotton ($3/yard)
Total cost of fabric, pattern, zipper and supplies: less than $20
Not. Too. Bad.

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/dress.html

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be doing a book signing next week in Madison!

Where: The Sewcial Lounge, Madison, WI
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2012
Time: 6:30 pm

I’ll be showing my quilts from the book Sunday Morning Quilts, (plus a few alternate designs) and talking all about scrap quilting. I’ll be signing books, too! If you live in the Madison area, I hope to see you there!

<center><a href=”http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/small-projects-sew-along.html”><img border=”0″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cR7tK2xqkJA/T6CVbh1kVsI/AAAAAAAAAL0/0I39lnJF6z8/s320/blog+button+test.jpg” /></a></center>Also, thanks to those of you who are joining me for the small projects sew along! Carmen so kindly made a button for us to use. Thank you Carmen! Feel free to grab it and post it on your blog. Hope you’ve had fun making your lists….and I hope they aren’t as long as mine!

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/book-signing-and-sew-along-button.html

Happy May Day! As I eluded to earlier, my May is going to be CraZy! So, why not add to the craziness with a small projects sew along? I don’t know about you, but I have a bunch of little projects I’d like to complete. Since May is going to be so busy, small projects might be all that I get accomplished. I thought it would be fun to host a (low key) sew along so we can work through our projects together.

Here’s how it would work.

1. Compile your list of small projects you would like to complete.
2. Write it down in a blog post.
3. Throughout the month, work on your projects, as time allows.
4. As you complete a project, blog about it, cross it off your list and do a little cheer.
5. Share your photos in the quilting with crazy mom flickr group. Make sure to link to the source of your pattern/tutorial/inspiration if you used one.

(I’m in list making mode, can you tell?)

===========
Here’s my project list:

1. Patchwork lanyard
2. Vintage sheet skirt with lining
3. Dress!
4. Zippered box bag
5. Tiny trash cans
6. 9 patch pin cushions
7. Van trash cans x 2
8. Guitar strap
9. Granny square pillow cover
10. Thread catchers (with tiles)
11. Color coded storage boxes for stash
12. Patchwork belt
13. Another flirt skirt
14. Drawstring backpack
15. Kitchen curtains
16. Ticker tape on canvas
17. Kitchen chair pads
18. Dress for my daughter
19. Table topper for TV console table
20. Mini quilt for front entry table

I think that’s it for now.  They are listed in no particular order. Now, I’m not delusional or anything. I know I won’t get them all done, but if I accomplish even a portion of them, I’ll be pretty excited!

So, anyone want to join me?

(would someone want to volunteer to make a button for this? I’d appreciate any help!)

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/small-projects-sew-along.html

Also over the weekend, I started sewing a dress for me! There was much trepidation surrounding this event, but my sister, who has garment sewing experience, was visiting and she helped a lot. (It was sweet. At one point she said, ”this is what I feel like when you are at my house and I’m trying to make a quilt.” That made me feel so much better! I’m so thankful that I have a sister to sew with. Thanks, Clair, for your help!!!) Anyway, back to the dress….I’m over half way done and not sure that it’s going to fit. But it’s been a great learning experience so far. I’ll keep you posted!

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/04/guest-post-and-dress.html

Welcome to finish it up Friday! I’ve decided that this will be the last week of the finish linky party, at least for awhile. I may start back up in the fall? I guess we will see then. I’d like to thank each and every one of you who have joined me in finishing. It’s definitely been a great motivator for me and I hope that it has for you, too! I’m going to be switching gears just a bit here on the blog. I’m looking forward to the busy months ahead (that will start in May, for me…yikes), and trying to work around that. I think it’s going to be good!

For this last installment of finish it up Friday, I’d like to show you my quilt top that I’m calling Sixteen Tons. A bit odd for a quilt name, but hey, it’s got 16 patch blocks and coal colored setting blocks…so it actually fits. The quilt top measures 46″ x 57″. I was SO close to using the sprout green as a background…I even had it ironed, but at the last minute I switched to coal gray. (Honestly, I’m kind of hoarding that sprout green!) In the end, I’m very happy with my choice. I’m excited to quilt this one…it’s going to keep getting better and better.

How about you? Do you have a finish to share? Please share your links below. Thanks again for joining my linky party over the past several months! It’s been a lot of fun!

A very happy Friday to you! document.write(”);

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/04/finish-it-up-friday-week-25.html

This quilt has been in progress for a few years, quite literally, but this is the first time I’ve shared it here. Over a month ago, I pieced the back, and since I liked that so much, I decided to rework the front, which I wasn’t completely sold on. And this is how it goes in my world!

This is the top, before. The green and red (bottom) sections were bothering me. Some of the green fabrics were too drab for my liking. Some of the red fabrics weren’t red enough for me. Since I had gone to the trouble of adding the borders already, the last thing I wanted to do was to chop it all apart and reconstruct it. I decided to do a little quilt surgery instead.

Source: http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/04/quilt-surgery.html