February Progress Report

I seem to be all over the place with my quilting progress. But that is the joy in the journey - right? 
This month I have been slowly blanket stitching my wool trees down on my Winter Wonderland sew-a-long quilt top shown here. 

When I made my goals out for this year, I hoped to start hand piecing on Dear Jane. I am putting that on the back burner for awhile because I need to purchase some foundation piecing paper to help on some of the blocks. I am so new to quilting, that I find it too cumbersome to hand piece such tiny little bits of fabric together. After several attempts, I think I need to try hand piecing something larger first before I jump into a quilt as complicated as Dear Jane. There are great tutorials out there on how to foundation piece Dear Jane. If interested, here is a great one.  

I have added a new BOM to my goal this year. It is by a wonderful designer -  Pat Sloan who is so graciously sharing her talents with us! I am really looking forward to participating in this BOM and am currently up to date on both January and February blocks. This is a first for me LOL! I am not usually up to date on ANY of my projects but due to a few much needed snow days off work, I have been having some fun playing in my sewing room. 

Here's January's block:

 Again, I am not a photographer by ANY stretch but you get the idea. I didn't feel there was enough contrast between the two peach fabrics so I added the appliqued heart in the middle to balance it out. I am challenging myself to only using fabrics from my stash so this will be a scrappy quilt. 
Here is my February block which I am quite happy with:

I added a black fabric to the middle and plan on using black throughout the quilt to tie the colors together. I have never made a scrap quilt before so I hope this works! :) 

My friend and I got together on a Saturday to work on ministry quilts.  The fabrics were already pre-cut so these quilt tops went together fairly quick. We pin basted them and are now working on machine quilting. 

The ministry we are supporting, are quilts that are made for children who are victims of trauma and will go in police cars and fire trucks and given to children when needed. 
I am off from work again today so am heading to my sewing room to complete another pillowcase for one of my students at school. 
Blessings, 
Kymber

Spiritual Sunday

I would like to start writing some thoughts down that God has placed on my heart. I hope to share these thoughts every Sunday.  This will be a time of journaling for myself, but I also pray that it will be a blessing for those who read my blog as well.

 I always welcome any stories or thoughts that YOU may have learned in your journey also so feel free to share in the comments below.

 I try to take time every day to read God's Word through books, devotionals, podcasts and my Bible and I would like to share some of the things that I am learning. 

I posted this on Face Book recently during a 7 day Favorite Bible Passage Challenge:

The Bible passage I would like to share today is very special to me. During a very scary time in my life, my Pastor reminded me of this verse and showed me how to look at it in a whole new way. As we looked over The Lord's words together, he reminded me of God's promise within these words. The word that stands out in this passage is "when". "WHEN you pass through", "WHEN you walk through"...God never promises that life on this earth will be easy. We will ALL go through some very tough times. He doesn't say "IF we go through", He says, "WHEN we go through". God DOES promise that He will always be there right beside us every step of the way through our trials. Such amazing comfort to know that I am not alone and I can rest easy even when I am unsure of what lies ahead - knowing my God is beside me through life's storms.
"But now, this is what the Lord says—
He who created you, Jacob,
He who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior"
Isaiah 43:1-3

God's Blessings to you,
Kymber

January Progress

I really DO plan on posting more than just once a month!  My January was mainly spent finishing up overdue Christmas gifts to send out to my kids. I HATE to be behind on projects, but when you work full time it is so difficult getting things finished. My kids live in different states so I always seem to get their hand made gifts and projects to them after the holidays. Thankfully their online gifts arrive before the big day so they don't ever mind receiving another package from mom a few weeks after the holidays are over.

I made some fun pillowcases

Accidentally put the skull fabric facing the wrong way - oops! Thankfully she loves it anyway! :)

Added her name which she LOVED!

Sorry about the amateur photography - definitely not my forte! LOL!

My sweet little grandson LOVES his special pillowcase. Mom told me he caresses it when he walks by his bed and says, "RAWR!" Too cute! I added their names to all of the pillowcases. VERY time consuming, but well worth the time and effort. 

I made this dish towel for my son because he just moved into a new apartment and is in need of everything for his new kitchen. I wanted to keep it masculine but give him a special touch from "mom". 
I made some other gift towels for my daughters that turned out really cute but forgot to take a picture of them grrr!

After all the gifts and cookies were sent, I could FINALLY get to my new challenge projects!
I am participating in two "stitch a longs" this year (what was I thinking!)

The first one is called "Silent Night" and it is from Norma Whaley of Timeless Traditions. I belong to  a facebook group where everyone is doing this quilt together. January's panel was this one:

I hope this comes out big enough to see! It is quite large and hard to fit in one picture.  It is all done in wool applique. It is only glued down right now but at least I completed it before the month was over! Having a deadline has definitely helped me stay on task.  I have been putting in a few hours each day toward my goal. This is my first time using wool and I am so excited to stitch and add some of my personality to my work. I am waiting for an online purchase of some wool threads so I can get started! Unfortunately, I will need to start on my February blocks now so I am already behind but I am okay with my progress on this so far!

The next stitch a long challenge is called, "Winter Wonderland" and it is also by Norma Whaley. I just LOVE her beautiful designs! I am also participating in a Face Book stitch a long with this beautiful quilt.
Here is my progress for January: 

Again, I apologize for my amateur photography skillz :) These panels are very large. Each panel is 12 1/2" by 38 1/2". I had to lay these below me to get them both in the picture. This wall quilt will be so pretty when it is done! I am loving this one and can't wait to stitch it all down! 

So that is all I was able to complete by month's end. I will be trying to finish my Dear Jane block today while watching the Super Bowl (Go Sea Hawks!) 

Happy Quilting,
Kymber

Happy New Year 2015

A new year. A fresh new palette of possibilities!

As most quilter's will admit, turning the calendar page to a new year excites the mind to make goals for oneself. Plans to begin new projects and goals to finish up old ones.

I have goals in place and will share them over the next few weeks. As of right now, I am confident if I keep the schedule I have set for myself, this will be a year of finishes. As with most quilters though, I am easily bored and swayed by the allure of starting something new so I plan to keep myself busy with a variety of projects to hold my interest at all times.

As of right now I hope to work on the following:

A long term hand piecing project - I plan to make a Dear Jane quilt completely by hand. Obviously this will take me longer than a year to complete. This is what I consider my "forever project" I am in no hurry to complete this one! The joy will be in the journey. Because I have never attempted a quilt of this degree of difficulty, I am planning on a goal of one to two blocks a month. I wanted a reasonable goal and if I go over that amount, that will be great. Too large of a goal will only set myself up for failure which will make me lose interest in the long run. 

I am participating in a stitch a long with my facebook group. We will be making a beautiful wall  hanging called Winter Wonderland by Norma Whaley of Timeless Traditions. 

I want to finish up an applique table runner I am making for my bedroom dresser. It has taken me a long time and I really want to set a goal to complete this soon. Here is an example of one of the squares I am working on:

• In the evenings I plan to put in a few hours of cross stitching on a  stocking for my granddaughter. I have wanted to do this for awhile for all of my grandchildren because I want them to have handmade Christmas stockings from me. There was a wonderful after Christmas Sale at Herrschners. So I bought three kits to work on. No more excuses - I WILL get these done for my grandchildren slowly but surely! 
• And last but definitely not least, I want to finish up long stitch hand quilting on my granddaughter's wall quilt for her bedroom:

I look forward to blogging about my quilting journey this year!
Blessings,
Kymber

My Grandmother's Quilt

Welcome to my first post!

Please excuse my feeble attempts at blogging while I figure out the format. I am not the most adept at the computer, but will do my best!



A little bit about me – I am OBSESSED with quilting and love to read anything and everything that has to do with this wonderful craft. My journey into quilting began with my grandmother. She loved to make things with her hands and did all types of handwork. She used to make me the most beautiful doll clothes – all made by hand. Some day I will dig them out of my sewing room to show here. Her work was truly exquisite and I used to trace my fingers over her stitches as a little girl in admiration. Even when I was young, I understood the value of her beautiful pieces, and instead of using them, I put them in a little suitcase and would only take them out to look at them. I never wanted to ruin them by putting them on my dolls so they look like they are brand new to this day.

My mother gave me this quilt top that my grandmother made after she passed away. It is all pieced by hand. I absolutely treasure it and hope one day to be able to do it justice and hand quilt it. It is because of this quilt top that I decided to try quilting myself. I wanted to pass this legacy on to my children and grandchildren. I love all of the beautiful things that my grandmother passed on to me and in turn, I have carried on her tradition by sewing for my children as well.

I love all types of handwork but like my grandmother, I enjoy doing things with my hands more than using a machine. I have made quilts by machine, but prefer the slower pace of handwork and find myself more at peace when I am sitting in my chair by my sweetheart, with my quilting in my lap.

This will not be a fast paced blog as I do not produce quilts quickly, but I hope that you will sit back and enjoy the journey along with me as I share with you my life, my family, and my passion for quilting.
Blessings,
Kymber