Done!

I am officially done with my first quilt! I finished last night and am extremely happy with my finished product. It is far from award winning quality, corners don't match up exactly and I'm sure a few other things are poor but I love my quilt!


I started the process last August when I started cutting out squares with a square cardboard template, yes, cardboard. I simply used an old cereal box. Those of you who have quilted realize this is the wrong technique but it worked well enough. Then I started cutting the pieces out with a scissors, once again not the best method but I didn't have a rotary cutter or cutting board yet so I used what I had. 


In September I purchased my sewing machine so that I could start putting my pieces together as I had already determined that hand quilting the pieces together would be way too much work. My pieces went together fairly easily and then my machine malfunctioned, well I thought it did but this set me back about a month because I wasn't able to connect with my neighbor lady to diagnose the problem. The day after Thanksgiving she helped me out so that I was able to put the board around the blocks. 


Finally, in February I got together with W (my neighbor) and she helped me put on the batting and backing after which point I started the hand quilting. I don't know if I will ever hand quilt again but I am glad I did this time despite the immense amount of time required. My stars look pretty wonderful and I'm glad that in some ways I put my quilt together in a very historical method all the way from cardboard template, to scissors and then hand quilting. 


About two weeks ago W once again helped me out by teaching me how to put the binding on and yesterday she walked me through the final step of the binding. Hand stitching the binding last night took much longer than I thought it would but it wasn't nearly as time consuming as my stars. So after many hours at least 70 maybe more I am done, enjoy!

Changes

Since Tuesday there have been some changes in my life which are exciting. As of Tuesday night I accepted a new job as Principal and 6th grade teacher at Black Hills Lutheran Schools! I am excited about this new chapter in life and know that it will be a chapter filled with lots of new learning where I am able to hone my skills and build upon what I have learned in the past five years as well as what I learned while earning my Masters in School Administration. 


Many of the skills that I have gained in the past five years at TIE will definitely help me in my new position especially as I move to a school that is 1 to 1, how exciting that I will be able to infuse technology into my students learning! I have truly enjoyed my time at TIE and will miss my colleagues but I won't miss some of the random hotels I have stayed in over the years. But even those random hotels have helped shape me into the person I am today and I am thankful for the opportunity I have been afforded and look forward to my new position. 


I may be excited for infusing technology into my teaching and learning but I am most excited that once again I will be able to focus on infusing the Gospel into curriculum. This opportunity will definitely build my faith and I can only pray that it will build the faith of my future students. Go Falcons! 

Another Free Sample

Once again I love going to the mail box and some days in the last two weeks it has been one of the rare times I have been outside. (The whole 90's and 100's keep me in the house as much as possible.) So when I went to the mailbox and found another free sample I was super psyched again! 
This sample was once again from Target and included an adorable blue make-up bag, Neutrogena UltraSheer 70 Sunblock (this would have been more useful before it was 90 degrees outside), a Revlon lip color sample and three samples of shampoo/conditioner, Tresemme, Garnier and Aveeno. 

I love saving money with free samples especially of hair products that I use each day. Too bad I can't use the make-up bags for flights. If only they were clear then we'd be good to go but they are the perfect size. Perhaps the airlines should rethink this on my behalf. ; ) Either way I definitely encourage you to check out the many free samples you can come across online or advertised on television they are definitely worth your time!

Golden Birthday

Last week one of my good friends celebrated her Golden Birthday and I helped her husband get the party ready. As I was looking for a few minimal decorations I came across these adorable little metal buckets that I'm sure were being marketed for Independence Day hence the fact that they were white. However, white wasn't going to fit into the theme of Golden Birthday so I decided that I would simply paint them so I purchased two acrylic paints, one solid gold the other gold sparkles and set to work. 

Before

 After

The buckets were a smooth surface thus painting with strokes was not going to work. I had to use my sponge brushes but they worked perfectly! After two coats of the solid gold and one of the gold sparkles the buckets had been transformed from Independence Day white to Golden Birthday Gold! I must say I was quite pleased with myself for looking at something and seeing in a split second what I could do to make it fit the theme. 

Napkins

I have heard several references recently to Christmas being only 6 months away which is crazy. However, when I think of the 109 degree high we had the other day cooler Christmas temperatures sound great. Then thoughts of Christmas turned to what can I make for Christmas? Last year I purchased a few Christmas fabrics, one of which you've seen on this blog because it's the same fabric as I am using for my Christmas quilt. The other is a new fabric that when I purchased it I thought I would make place mats but as I started thinking this week I decided that I would make napkins instead. 


Yes, I could have made traditional square napkins but that would have been too easy so I searched for napkins and came across a circle pattern where the napkins can be folded into Christmas trees, perfect! I was excited for these and have made two sets of 4 already. They aren't for sale yet as I'm waiting for Christmas in July but here you can get the sneak peak. They are stitched with a gold thread to accent the gold stars on the white Merry Christmas print and to add a little extra shimmer to your Christmas decor. 

Being Away

I have been away for awhile now as you've noticed. The first week of June was incredibly busy as I was working, teaching Vacation Bible School and came down with a bad cold and major sun burn so then I was nursing myself back to health as well. Since then work has been busy and today I finally sit down to sew and as I go to turn my project right side out I realize that I sewed it incorrectly! Yes, I was upset by this and decided that it was time for me to put the sewing aside for the day because obviously I was too distracted as I was working to really be productive.


However, I have been productive on my quilting and after tonight I should have all my small starts finished so that I can meet up with my neighbor lady and do the trim and I will finally be DONE! Yes, finally done after a 6 month project that has taught me a lot about quilting. 
1) I will not hand quilt my next quilt and I may never hand quilt again unless it's a place mat then I may consider it...
2) 6 months is too long to drag out a project
2) Sewing baby items is more my style because I see immediate results


So stay tuned for finished pictures and remember anything on the blog can be purchased! 

Beer Cap Coasters

Today I was eager to finally make some beer cap coasters so I went garage sale-ing to find exactly a cork board. As a child we went to garage sales and second hand shops which I must admit were of little interest and of slight embarrassment as I entered jr. high. Then throughout high school and college the only reason I went to such places was when looking for a costume and this has carried into my adult life. Now, with my new direction of crafting I have started sale-ing again at least a little. My favorite sales are those at churches because they often have loads of goods for very little money. I searched high and low but there was no cork board to be found at the sale. Then as I was nearing the end of my search I did come across 2 foam place mats and decided they would be perfect! 

When I got home I gathered my materials, sorted out all of our beer caps as we've been saving them with the help of friends for a year and a half and had over 225, and then I began working. All in all my project took about an hour and a half and when I was done I had 12 completed coasters or 3 sets of 4. Below is the full picture of what I completed but I've divided them into sets of Coors Light/Bud Light, Shiner and Leinenkugels/Schells.