I mean come on, it's a dog blanket right?

She is such a good poser!  

Anyways, I made a quilt for the dog.  It's relatively small but an exciting project to have.  HOWEVER,  Last weekend I googled searched quilt blogs and found some amazing blogs to follow for inspiration.  P.S. I quilt and Lazy Gal Quilting are a delight to read and I love them for completely different reasons. P.S. I Quilt has wonderful inspiration.  She happens to be a big fan of Moda.  I am sad that I haven't figured out how to order online, but there are several shops I may have to venture to and buy some (and I hear my husband grumbling).  I love Lazy Gal quilting because her quilts are not perfect.  Each blanket has it quirks and her personality all over it.  As a person who feels that measuring and measuring before cutting is a serious waste of time, its refreshing to find to see her quilts and just do what you want!  But in any case, her quilts look awesome and I love the pics of her cats and her reviews of her favorite shows!  

So after looking through my new blogs, I was pretty inspired to say the least.  So I cut and hand pieced the quilt, partially because my sewing machine is on the fritz and I just don't want to try to mess with it and partially because I just wanted to see if I could hand piece something.  Then I hand pieced the whole quilt together.  And then I started the hand quilting process.  I think I was rather ambitious.

I drew small swirls and then hand quilted with two different color thread.  I haven't even finished the first square on the front (Wait for the pic, its coming!) and I am dreading finishing it.  But I think that if I get up the courage to do it, it will be a durable quilt to last for Kina.  SO here is the photo's I promised!

The Front

The Back.

They are very pink and kind of off but I like it all the same!

So help my brain not become extremely frustrated, I had offered to make an item that I had shown on here before.  It was really exciting to make this for her so here is a sneak peak, or the whole thing!

Yea for Headbands!  I saw these two colors at Walmart and just had to get both!  The colors are a little darker than they show in the pic but I love them!

Speaking of Walmart guess what I found!

A Jellyroll that looks absolutely fabulous.  I've been wanting to buy a jellyroll just to see what I could come up with.  I think I may make another bible cover for another bible that I read from time to time.

Brainstorming Corner   

I love to knit and I am loving working with fabric.  I should combine these two crafts right?  YES!  I should.  I have thought about knitting some squares and making a blanket.  I have also thought about making two sided placemats.  One side is knitted, the other side is fabric.  I am excited about the brainstorming that coming out and I am kind of excited to see how it all turns it out.  Maybe if I feel like they are awesome I may toy with the idea of an etsy shop.  Maybe . . . . . .

So to say the least I have a lot of projects in process or in brainstorming process.  Stay tuned to see what turns up here.

Random last statement

I looked up what Kina's name means . . . . .  One place says it is Hawaiian for China, while another is hebrew or Hawaiian for Judged.  I think I would prefer it to be China, but that seems like a weird name for a dog.  But it's better than the one we had settled on before we got her.  Zimmer.  :)  Yep, David was totally in for naming our second animal after the Movie music composer, Hans Zimmer. (cue the laughs from people who know my obsession with Hans.)

New Project!

Sorry, I just could not resist!

Someone's getting a homemade blanket!!!!!  And it has to have pink cause Mom likes pink and Kina is a girl!  I think she likes it.

HACKED . . . . by the New Family Member!

Hi!  My Name is Kina.  I am a mut (possibly heeler and possibly shiba inu) and 1 year old.  I was surrendered on May 1 because my owner got sick and could not take care of me anymore.  I was a little sad that I was given up but I was taken to a no kill shelter in Rio Rancho called Watermelon Mountain Ranch and they took really good care of me.  On Friday, Momma and Daddy came to find a new member for Dad to go on walks with and picked me!  I was a little nervous that day but I had good reason, they took me to the VET!  Who likes that???  But anyways, I have been in my new home for a couple of days and I have gotten comfortable and I am a very happy dog.  I have had lots of walks already!!!

Whit, my new brother is not happy that I am here but I'm not chasing him around and he has not been hiding, which according to mom is a good thing.  I think mom would love to find us sitting together some day, we shall see!

Momma thinks I am a really good fit for the family and a huge blessing, so I guess thats good.  But I am a super happy camper that I found a wonderful home!  Especially since the patio door is left open a lot!

Umm Isn't it May 1? Just wondering . . .

This morning heading to church was super windy with a side of snow.  YES, I said snow!!!  My hubby came to the conclusion that the snow was coming from the mountain, not actually snowing above us.  So that gave us some relief.  But sometime later in the afternoon, this appeared.

But no worries.  It didn't stick, and the sun is out for now.  But I'm sure it's still super cold.  I am sitting underneath my new quilt, which is quite warm (YEA!) and enjoying sunday afternoon.  Netflix has been one of the best things I have ever done.  Especially since we got a WII for a wedding present.  

We cut the cable some time ago and I really don't miss it.  The only channels I'm really missing are bravo, lifetime (ONLY for Project runway), and USA.  But I think you can find most of the shows on HULU.  And when I want to watch a movie or watch an entire series without commercials I turn to Netflix.  They have recently uploaded the movie, "Easy A," which I am kind of obsessed with.  I love the main character, Olive (Played by Emma Stone).  I kind of just enjoy the fact that she, to a point does not care what people think of her, which I admire.  I also her parents and their weird quirks.  Yesterday alone I watched it 4 times.  I might be a little obsessed . . . . but just a tiny bit.  :)  And I just started it.  :)

On the crafting side, I have two project in progress at the moment.

Bible Cover!!!!  I put it together yesterday and started the quilting.  I haven't finished it, but I am still quite proud that I did it.  I used my machine, with lots of patience, to sew the main part together.  After conversing with my wonderful friend Kelsey, I think I have diagnosed the problem with my machine.  It will require a trip to JoAnn's, but who dreads that???  

The other project is Knitting.

From Knitty, "Omelet"

I am excited that this pattern showed up.  I bought this yarn years ago to make this, but the yarn I felt was too small for the project so I bought something else.  I bought two skeins of this tiny pink yarn and it has been sitting in my stash for some time.  Every time I would go through my stash to see what I had and what I could make, I looked at this yarn with disdain.  I mean it's tiny, and there's a lot of it, and only a small quantity of project require it.  So, to say the least it was rather an eyesore in my stash, but no more.  I only hope that it all gets used!!!

So for now the sun is out, I wonder what the mountain looks like, probably very white!

Here is a pic of what Whitacre has been doing all day

Three blankets in a papasan chair makes for a very happy kitty.

A Lazy OCDer

Hmm  . . . . . . an interesting title but I think it completely describes me.  Quilting, as I dive in every time is a time consuming project.  Lot's of steps are involved in putting it all together: picking fabric; washing; ironing; cutting; sewing back together; more sewing; then my favorite part is the hand sewing.  But many of those steps require some perfection.  I do not consider myself a perfectionist and I find some poetry in not caring if it is perfect.  I still love what I have made and those imperfections make the quilt that much more interesting to look at.  In knitting, there is a tale that you always have one imperfection so that the bad spirits can get out.  Well, my quilt has many places for the bad spirits to get out.

Everyone Enjoy your Day!  It's a rather cold one here, but in Texas it's nice and warm and stormy.  Please don't rub it in, I'm jealous!  

BHA HA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Yep, I did it!

It was an interesting adventure to say the least.  The tension on my sewing machine has been acting up.  At first I didn't know what was going on, but when I looked at the manual (DUH!)  I figured it out.  I may need to find someone to look at it though since it's pretty much at 9, which is the highest, which I'm sure should not be.  I got into a fabric shopping spree and want to make some more things but I have to be patient with the machine . . . . . . or learn to hand sew . . . . . . . . .

The funniest part about the entire experience was Whitacre. Every time it was on the floor, he was on it.  As you can tell from the photos.  And he is still there.  I guess he likes it.  Not very manly though, but he's never really been able to be manly.

However, the blanket is awesome.  I got inspired by this pattern but once I cut and sew the pieces together I was not going to sew them all together so I improvised and it turned out good.  Oh and here is the back.

:)

Other than that life is pretty good right now.  I'm sure more projects will show up here soon!

The Knitter that Occasionally Quilts

Good Morning to all,


Yep, you saw right, quilting.  My dear friend Shannah, taught me to quilt in college and I have made two quilts and I am ready for another one . . . . I think.  My hubby finally got his christmas bonus, so he let me use some of that to buy some fabric.  I bought some to make some placemats for our new table and some fabric for a quilt.  I have dived into the placemats first.  Here are some pics of them.

Here is a pic of the two that I have finished for now.  I embroidered around the pink and green "Flowers or leaves".  However, I tried machine quilting this time.  But,  it's been a journey.  I bought the cheapest sewing machine they had at walmart at some point and I don't feel the need to spend the money to buy a nicer one since I only get the urge to do this every so often.  I am also very limited in my knowledge of sewing period so instead of using the foot pedal to sew I used the knob on the side.  Hand cranking each stitch gives me the control that I love and the look that I love but it takes a little longer and it hurts my back and shoulders if I do it for two long.  But hey they look pretty!

The first mat I stitched color on the front and white on the back and then I got a wild idea.

For the second one I decided use white on the front and color on the back and I think it turned out really good.

YEA!  I have two or four more to make.  Depends on how much stuff I have.  Now for the quilt.

This is what I bought to make the quilt but I am brainstorming what I want to do with it.  Thankfully, my quilting friend posted on her blog yesterday about her husband's quilt and another blog that helped her.  So I went over to it and was excited.  Lots of wonderful quilting ideas to help me on my way to being a better quilter.  I think I might try to make a quilt out of this pattern.  Now this pattern requires a few more  fabrics but don't worry.  I have been remnant shopping.

If I get brave enough to start the quilt I will let you know.  But for now I will continue to work on the placemats.  I think my idea is to have one a little different than the other.  I am a little nervous but I think I want to try this.  I always seem to have a problem with the edges of my quilt so maybe this will help.  :)

Thats it for now.  Everyone enjoy their weekend.  My hubby and I are helping a new friend with lighting a high school play.  Which is reminding me of my high schools days.