Hello 2014!!

I have been thinking about 2013 for the last few days, trying to wrap my head around all of the wonderful things that have happened this year.  I am so utterly thankful for every part of my life, the good and the bad. I just wanted to write these down, as a way to look back.

Things I learned in 2013:

I'm so much stronger than I thought I was
I am okay with people not liking me, even when it hurts like nothing else
That people deserve second chances
That I really love my kids, even when they drive me up a wall and I feel at a loss at what I'm doing as a parent.  But you keep trying, keep trying, keep trying until you figure things out
That I really love my husband, more today than when we first met.  And 15 years of marriage just isn't enough.
I've learned that my sister and I can see each other every single day and still not run out of things to talk about.  I am so thankful she lives so close and works with me every day.
That praying for and wanting something so badly doesn't make it happen and that I need to be content and patient, even if God says no.
That relationships can be mended

My goals for 2014:

To run a half marathon, come hell or high water :)
To lose the 70 lbs I committed to losing last year and only lost 15
To give more to others, putting my family first.  They usually take a back seat to other committments

2014, you are going to be an amazing year!!

WIP Wednesday

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!!  I ate WAY too much and had SO much fun going shopping Thursday night until 6 a.m. Friday morning.  This was the best Thanksgiving I've had in a long time!!

Over the Thanksgiving break I was finally able to finish my modern maples quilt, yay!!  I haven't been able to get a good picture of the quilting...when I get home at night it's totally dark and the weekends have been a bust. I used this tutorial by Janice at Better off Thread.  I didn't use a walking foot though, just decided to wing it with the free motion foot.  Mine isn't as densely quilted either, which makes it very squishy, just what I love!

 

And as if I needed another WIP, I finally started on the one I've had in my head for a while now, my pixel Eiffel Tower quilt.  The squares are all 2 1/2" and indiviually sewn.  When it's done this will be over 2400 pieces.  I am using low volume prints for the neutral and Dowry by Anna Maria Horner for the color.  It's some gorgeous fabric!! 

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.  Hope everyone has a great week!!

Longarm Quilting

For the longest time, I have been dying to try my hand at quilting on a longarm!!  There is a local shop that has a Gammill, you take the class to learn how to use it and then you can rent time.  It is SOO different from what I have done in the past, lemme tell ya!!  I was so used to the control I had when I was the one making the designs happen with the fabric, but the longarm is so sensitive, moves so quickly that it's harder to control what you're doing at first. At first I wasn't liking it at all, but after about an hour, it was awesome.  I would still totally buy one with my lottery winnings or inheritance from a long-lost uncle who owns a gold mine!  And I would buy a standard, no frills model, just one that can get the job done and I can learn to be a quilting rockstar.

Not a lot to ask for!

It took me about an hour to load this baby, the guy who was supposed to be helping me kept leaving me for bits of time, a little annoying to say the least.

Here is my progress on the hub's quilt...I finished the top a year-ish ago and just never quilted it because to baste it meant taking it to the hub's work and using the bigger floor...just didn't really want to do that! I'm quilting a different design in each color, just for some variety. This a great quilt to learn how to use this machine since I am doing so many different designs.

Took me 2 1/2 hours of quilting to get it almost done, I have a row and a half left!  I had to wait to book another hour to finish on Dec 7th.  I will be so glad to have this finished and put it wrapped under the Christmas tree this year!!  Even though he already knows about it, picked out the colors and pattern, has seen it partially quilted, and knows everything about it...he has to wait until Christmas morning!!

WIP Wednesday

I really need to get back to blogging again!  Seems like WIP Wednesday is a great place to start back since I have so many unfinished projects right now.

This one is my favorite WIP, my modern maples quilt.  I just love this quilt!!  I have seen so many beautiful modern maples on Instagram and I have seen so many different variations of this pattern.  So, here's my version.  I used a LOT of low volume fabric for the background, love me some low volume fabric, and used some of my favorite prints for the maples.  I can't decide what to put on the back.  I had bought some huge cuts of fabrics a while ago at between $4-5/yard so I could have backings available....and now I can't decide!  These 3 are currently in the running.  Thoughts??

This green rosette maple leaf is my favorite block, or one of them anyway.  I think it's all the Paris-themed fabric I've been drawn to lately.

This needs to get finished soon, hopefully before Thanksgiving! Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Google Domains

Without warning, even though I was set up to auto-renew my domain name was not renewed and there is little actual help out there on the Google Admin website.  I am hating them right now, nothing can make you feel like a moron faster than that website.

Anyway, I am starting over with followers again and with a new blogger address: redpoppyquilts.blogspot.com

At least I don't have to move my blog! Silver lining, people!

Technology..... pfftt!!!

New Blog Address

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 because Google domain sucks....grr!!

WIP Wednesday - Pixel Quilt Vanellope Von Schweetz

Fall is here!!  By far, hands down, fall is my favorite time of the year, like ever.  I love everything about it!  My daughter Dayna turned 8 yesterday, can't believe my baby is 8, geez!!  She is such a funny girl...for her b-day dinner she requested Chick-fil-a while riding through the car wash.  I have no idea where she got that from!  She also requested a surprise party, so I had to rearrange her party from this past weekend for 2 weeks from now to try to throw her off the scent.  I hope she loves it!  She has requested a Wreck It Ralph party, focusing on Vanellope and Sugar Rush.  Such an exciting idea!!  My girls always pick party themes that are not things you can easily find at Party City, fun but also challenging and a lot of work.

Another request Dayna had was for a new quilt, of course!  I found a needlepoint pattern on etsy that I just changed into a quilt pattern.  It took a LOT of figuring, but I was able to get the top done is less than a week.  One time saver was to use blocks instead of all squares.  It was MUCH easier that way and I don't think it loses anything as a pixel quilt.  You still have the pixel detail, just without the headache of all those tiny squares. it will look more pixelated once quilted.

Now the backing is ready for basting and I need to get this baby quilted!  It measures 60" x 80" and is the perfect size for her bed, can't wait to get it done :o)

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

WIP Wednesday

So, I am actually alive, and haven't fallen off the face of the earth!  I have not been able to get myself back into my schedule of pre-vacation and have been trying all summer long.  Plus with Instagram, it's easier to just post pics with short descriptions.  Anyway, I'm back :o)

I have several projects in the works and have finished several things since the last WIP Wednesday.  I finished up my daughter's Nancy Drew quilt, finished a baby quilt for a dear friend's new baby girl (will post pic later :o), and got my chicopee quilt actually quilted.

I didn't want to take away from the fabric, so I just quilted in the ditch on this one.  Didn't want Nancy's head quilted all over, lol! 

Binding is attached, just need to stitch it down on the back.

My newest project has been this spiderweb quilt.  I have always wanted to make one, just never got around to making the template, etc.  I found the foundation pieces and the template for the kite shape on Missouri Star Quilt Co. and had to get going!  It goes together very quick, but this is small so far.  If I stop here, it will only be about 36 inches square.  Nice baby quilt, but I kinda think it needs to be bigger!

I have made a little progress on my EPP project.  I was trying to get one row done each week, just picking it up when I was in the car, waiting on my girls, or travelling. This is the progress so far!  I am loving it, even though it's very busy!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced!

Summer Projects

This summer has just whizzed by....I'm a little sad about it, but also excited for this school year.  My girls are both excited about being in 3rd and 5th grade...I cannot believe it!!  This week I am working on some decorated clipboards for teacher gifts and getting the girls' stuff all labeled, organized, and packed up.  One of the items I wanted to make for them this year was a personalized pencil pouch.  I love to paper piece, but these little letters were the smallest I had ever made!  The pattern was created by Diane at from blank pages  and can be found on etsy here.  It is very clear and easy to use, but it still took me 3 hours to do all these letters, ahh!  I love how they turned out though!!

Here are the finished pencil pouches!  I didn't want the other fabric to be so busy it took away from the letters.  The girls LOVED them, I'm sure it's because they had their names plastered across the front :o)

Another fun project I have been working on this summer is another EPP project, pattern by Becca at Bryan House Quilts.  I decided to just use a ton of different fabrics, with the low volume for my neutral fabrics.  This picture isn't stellar quality, thank you iPhone,but you get the general idea.

 I need to start using my "real" camera again, but I still have to dump 1500 pics off my memory card, eep!  Guess I know what I will be working on this fall!

Unexpected Break

I did not plan on being out of the blogging loop for 2 months!!  After getting back from our vacation, it has been non-stop with catching up at work and the girlies' activities.  Vacation was amazing....no other word for it.  I took a little over 1500 pictures and just haven't had a chance to go through them all yet, but soon!  Almost everyone has asked me what was my favorite city-London, Paris, or Rome? Honestly, I loved them all and each one was so different that I can't nail down a favorite.  Although, Paris was pretty much amazing and I wish I could have stayed there at least another forever.  But I felt that way about London and Rome, too.  I confess that I did do a little job hunting while I was in London, you know, just in case :o)

Our days were packed with site-seeing, tours, activities in general.  I loved every second...even when I fell out of the abnormally high bathtub in London on my first day and got a HUGE bruise on my leg that lasted for 3 weeks :o)  Travelling internationally was interesting, too...I got a FULL pat down in both Paris and Rome.  Definitely no boundaries there!  I have to admit though, after the 3rd hand-on experience, I was starting to feel a bit violated and was ready to get home where the TSA agents aren't so touchy-feely!  I missed my girlies the whole time, even though we face timed every day, but I can't imagine taking them at their age.  I fully plan to take them one day when they are older though!  Until I get my camera unloaded and sorted, here are some iPhone pics that aren't half bad :o)

This was taken while we were in the London Eye, amazing views!! London was truly awesome.

One of my favorite churches in Paris, the Sacre Cour.  Set on a hill, overlooking the city.

  Love this pic of my husband doing the Heisman pose.  The Eiffel Tower was breath-taking.

The Trevi Fountain, no other word but incredible.  We went twice while in Rome just to sit and take it all in.

The Colosseum, so much history, monument to Christian martyrs.  Absolutely awesome!