New Year - New Goals

 Hello Friends

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  I was blessed with some wonderful gifts.  And time with my family.  There are only 6 of us and we wore masks and stayed apart.  We had good food and watched White Christmas.  

As I am reflecting on this past year, I am encouraged to come up with some goals.  I did a very bad job of sewing this year.  Yes, I did finish some things.  But not as much as I could have.  I made a lot of masks that I really did not want to make.  I think this next year will be a year of sewing what I want.  I have lots of patterns and fabric just waiting to be used.  Here is a list of goals for next year - sewing and other things:

1. Read more!  I really need to step up my game.  Get the tv off and read!  I am hoping to finish at least 12 books next year.
2. On Ringo Lake Quilt.  This was a Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt in 2017.  It is time for borders and quilting.
3. Unity Quilt.  This is also a Bonnie Hunter quilt.  She created it when Covid first started.  I started to play along and got most of the rows together but ran into a problem with the final rows not fitting.  I tore this all apart and need to remeasure my seam allowance.
4. Organize my fabric.  I am still trying to figure out my sewing room space.  Lots of scraps need to be organized.
5. Work on house projects.  I need to paint the kitchen, repaint the dining room and paint the dining room table and chairs.

That is all I am putting on here for now.  I know there are a lot more projects and things I want to do, but I need to focus on these things first.  The rest will come in time.

I am also working on my word of the year.  Any guesses?

I will leave you with a picture of a gift I received for my birthday.  Yes, I turned 50 this year.  But given Covid, I think I will turn 50 next year when it is hopefully safe to celebrate!

Happy New Year!

Blessings

Amy

An Introduction

 Hello Friends!

How are we doing?  Hope you are all staying healthy.  So far so good for us here.  I wanted to take this post and talk a little about myself and why I started this blog.  There are some new readers that have come to visit.  Hello and welcome!

I am Amy.  I live in a little village south of Madison Wisconsin, called Monticello. I work for the largest medical software company in the country.  I am a receptionist and get to talk to our customers everyday.  They are so fun to talk to!

I am the mother of Samuel.  He is almost 24 years old.  His father and I divorced when he was 2.  He currently lives in Oshkosh WI with his girlfriend, Iolanda and their puppy, Roxy.

I have a sister, Lisa who lives in Madison WI with her husband, Austin and their puppy, Ruby.

I also have 2 brothers from my father's previous marriage.  

I bought my parent's house in 2018.  It is the house I grew up in.  My dad was in the nursing home and my mom moved to an apartment shortly before I purchased the house.  My dad has since passed but mom is still enjoying life at her new apartment.

I love to read other peoples blogs so I thought I would start one here to document my life and quilting journey.

Now to the fun stuff!  I have been quilting for 10 years.  I found a quilt blog and started asking questions. Everyone was so helpful I knew I needed to be a part of this group. Then I heard about Merry Mayhem. Merry Mayhem does a mystery quilt along on New Year's Day.  I decided to follow along.  I did not know much about fabric and measurements.  I bought some fabric from Walmart and was excited to cut into it.  This is the first quilt I made:

I didn't know much about color and value either.  I didn't know about batting and binding.  But I have learned.  And I am still learning.  That is what is so wonderful about quilting.  There is always more to know.

I have made around 50+ quilts.  Some are small doll size and some are queen size.  I do like to finish projects quickly so I tend to make smaller things.  But sometimes you just have to make the bigger quilt.

I do like a challenge.  In the past I have been a part of Project Quilting, doing those challenges. My friends Kim and Trisha run it.  They are a lot of fun and I have even won a couple of the door prizes.  If you like a challenge, I really hope you will play along with them.  I never know if I am going to do participate until I see the challenge and see if my time will permit.  There are 6 challenges in 12 weeks.  You get the challenge on Sunday and it must be complete before the next Sunday.  It really is amazing to see what others make.

I think that is enough about me for now. I do use this place to talk about my family, my house remodel and quilting.  You can always look back at earlier posts to see what I have been up to.  Do you have any questions for me?  You can always email me too at theturquoisebutton at gmail dot com.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings!

Amy

My bedroom

 Hello Friends

Well, I have mostly finished my bedroom remodel.  There are a few touches I would like to make but those will come in time.

Here is part of the room.  This photo was taken from the bathroom looking into the bedroom.  The walls were white and there was red carpeting that I had just removed.  This was a year ago.

This is that same view.  New and improved.  The lamps were purchased at Target.  My wonderful friend and Bestie, Cathy,  gave me a gift card when I bought the house.  Thank you Cathy!!

Found this cow picture at the store At Home.  I could spend hours in that store.  The sewing machine and thread box were bought for my mom from my dad.  The Singer machine still works.

This is a view from the hallway into the bedroom.  I still need to find a little table to put by my chair.  My wonderful neighbors at my previous apartment gave me a gift card for Pier 1.  Luckily I used it before they all closed.  That chair will get lots of use.

Here is the view from the chair.  I just love my IKEA furniture!  That little green chair may get repainted.  Not sure if I like that color now.

Another view from the hallway.

I am hoping to share a new quilt on that bed someday soon.  It's not really a new quilt but one that needs finishing.

I am currently binding my Maple Leaf quilt.  My other friend and Bestie, Marilyn and I exchanged blocks.  My friend Heather did the custom quilting.  Wait until you see it!  It's now one of my favorites!

Not much going on in the sewing department at this time.  Now the holidays are coming and I need to focus on more cleaning.  I must say that the house is about 98% of my things and only 2% of my parent's.  Starting to feel like home.

Still need to decide if and what to make my coworkers for Christmas.  I have a few ideas but nothing that really jumps out at me.  Do you make holiday gifts or buy everything?

Blessings

Amy

Catching Up

 Hello Friends

I know it has been a while.  With Covid it's hard to do anything fun.  Just go to work and go home.  Somewhere along the line I've lost my sewing mojo.  I think part of it is Covid and the other part is working on things in the house.  This little red chair was found in the attic when I had a/c installed this summer.  I decided to paint it a spring green.  This little pop of color will look nice in my new bedroom.

I decided to paint the spare room.  This was my room growing up.  My sister painted it this purplish color.  It was a challenge to cover it, but I am glad I did.  This is a corner of the room before.

This is the same corner after.  I love the bright yellow with the navy curtains. The blue carpeting was on my wish list growing up.  Dad had it put in the year I moved out. 1990.  Eventually it will be wood laminate.  That cabinet is my mom's old Singer.  She still runs.  

Here is the same corner just a bigger angle.  That quilt was made by my friend Charisma.  We met on the Quilting Board and swapped scraps.  Those are my fabrics that she used.  I just love this quilt and I think it is perfect in this room.

I will show more pictures of this room when I have the rest of the furniture in it.  Hoping to get that this weekend.  Stay tuned.

The summer wasn't a total loss.  When I had the a/c installed they cleared out the attic for me.  I have gone through all of the boxes and totes and taken a van load of items to the donation site.  I have about 2 more loads to take.  This house is starting to feel like my home not the house I grew up in.  I am loving my little country farm house.  Still lots to do, but it is slowly coming along.  I was able to talk to the guy that put the metal roof on years ago.  He is pricing out windows and siding for me.  Might be able to swing that next summer.  It was part of my 10 year plan but I am going to do it now if I can.

I did actually sew something this summer.  This little applique apple pillow cover was made for my chair at work.  I love to change it out for the seasons.

My quilter just finished my Maple Leaf quilt. Hoping to show you all that soon.

Looking for ideas for gifts for coworkers for Christmas.  I have made rope bowls, aprons, rice bags, lunch bags, mug rugs, coasters, dish towels, dish cloths and Chapstick holders.  Any ideas?  I have men and women to make for.  I was thinking of shopping bags.  Maybe the kind that fold into a pocket size?  If you have any ideas, please leave me a comment or email me.  Theturquoisebutton@gmail.com.

Blessings

Amy

A Mother's Day Quilt

Hello Friends

I want to share another quilt finish with you today.  I have completed 7 quilts so far this year.  I am not trying to finish 1 a month like last year, because honestly, I am running out of quilts to finish.  That just means now I can create new quilts.
A few months ago my mom asked me to make a Spring/Summer quilt for her bed.  She has a twin size adjustable bed.  I had purchased this quilt pattern - Summer Blossoms by Allison Jenson from Woodberry Way.  When mom said bright colors, I knew this was the pattern.  It calls for 20 fat quarters.  I had about 13 of them already.  I took a picture of them with me to my quilt shop.  Here is the finished quilt:


 The colors are very bright.  And she just loved it.  Here is the back of the quilt:

This floral backing was purchased at another one of my favorite quilt shops - The Electric Needle.


My friend Heather did the quilting.  Beautiful as always.

I am working on another quilt but it is really ugly.  My friend Gael passed along some vintage fabric.  The fabric alone is pretty, but together not so much.  I may end up loving it when it's finished though.  Stay tuned.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings
Amy

Sewing Room part 1

Hello Friends

Hope you are all staying healthy.  We are doing well.  I was finally able to hug my son after 2 months.  He moved to Oshkosh in May and is looking for work.  I am sure he will find something.  He is now 2 hours and 20 minutes away instead of just 2 hours.  But we have a lot of family up there, so I think it will be a good thing for all of us.

I have been working on my sewing room.  This room was my mom's bedroom when she was living here.  When dad was in the nursing home, we decided to update their bedroom and make it just for mom.  She was only in it for about 8 months when she moved to her new apartment.  The color of the room was onion skin tan.

This is after I pulled the carpeting out.  That whole back wall is a closet.  Perfect for my sewing notions and fabric!

I wanted to brighten up the room so I chose a light teal color for the walls.

It has actually made the room look bigger.  I also put peal and stick tile on the floor.

I had bought this to put in the master bathroom but was told that is not recommended for bathrooms.  I love the color and feel of the floor.  It's easy to take care of too.

Like I said, lots of storage.  This is over 100 yards of fabric.  Not including Christmas, fat quarters and scraps.  Time to get sewing!!!

I bought myself a sewing table too.  This has a cut out drop section for my machine.  I love being higher up than my machine so I can really see what I am sewing.  I was using a card table and this is so much better on my back.

I will be posting more pictures of my sewing room as I finish it.  I thought I was done and realized I did not account for a cutting station.  Working on ideas for that now.  Stay tuned!

I have been sewing a little.  I am in the middle of making Bonnie Hunter's Quarantine Mystery Quilt: Unity.  This quilt will be the death of me.  I have all parts pieced but now they won't fit.  I am tearing it all apart and remeasuring everything.  I will get this finished before I start anything else.

I have a quilt ready to be quilted.  Think I might try some other local quilters this time.  My usual quilter is very busy.

What are you working on in the summer?  Do you sew more or less?  I had the heating and cooling guy over this week to give me an estimate on cooling units for my house.  I don't have duct work in the house so I need to find another way to cool the house.  A/C units in the windows are too expensive.  I will let you know what they tell me.  Is it weird I am excited for this?

Hope you are enjoying your summer!  Stay cool!

Blessings

Amy

More finishes

Hello Friends

Thought I would catch you up on what I am working on and have completed.  Are you staying in because of Covid-19?  I could work from home but I am going  in to work for now.  I have an office and don't see many people.

I have found time to sew on the weekends though.  I am trying really hard to finish projects before I start new ones.  I think I am doing a good job too.  Here are 2 more Bento baby quilts.

These are for friends.  They are a quick finish.  Just look up Bento Baby Quilt.  One thing on Pinterest has the measurements.

I am trying to make a pillow cover for my office chair for the seasons or holidays.  I needed something for Spring and decided it was time to break out one of my favorite fabrics.

I don't keep up on designers.  If I like something, I buy it.  This blue border fabric was hard to use but that is why I have it, to use.  It's so pretty!

I just used a template from google and scraps for the flower.  This makes me smile everyday.

My friend Charisma is so talented.  She was one of the first people I met online when I started my quilting journey.  She lives in Washington state and has her own long arm business.  Now she is also a pattern designer.  This pattern is called American Country.  She asked for some testers and let me try it out.  She is doing this as a BOM so please let me know if you would like her information.  She blogs at Charisma's Corner.

I think I may have shown you this before, but now it is finished.  My quilter Heather, did a wonderful job on this.  She quilted waves all over.  Looks like the wind is blowing.  I had so much fun making those trees.  I do know that paper piecing takes time and a lot of fabric.  But, the finished product is so worth it!

I am currently finishing my Vintage Christmas quilt.  Wait until you see it!  Heather outdid herself again!  That will give me 6 finishes for the year already.  And Heather has my mom's quilt now too.

Stay safe!

Blessings

Amy

Baby quilts completed

Hello Friends

Hope you are all doing well.  And by all I mean the one person who reads this.  Hi Izzy!  Thanks for reading!  And anyone else who happens to read this.  Thank you!
A coworker had a baby late last year and I wanted to make a quilt.  Also, I found out that my Godchild was also expecting.  I went to Pinterest like a lot of us and found the Bento Baby Quilt pattern.  It won't let me attach a link so you will have to search for it yourself.  I am trying really hard to use the fabrics I have.  I buy them because I love them, but I should use them too.
Here is the quilt for my coworker:

It looks wavy in this picture but it really did lay flat.  I used 2 layers of low loft batting and quilted straight lines on my domestic machine.  For extra durability, I sewed the binding by machine.  These were all fabrics I had on hand.

The second quilt I made is this:

When my Godchild had her first son, I made her a quilt with some of these same fabrics.  She is big into sharks so I used as much of the nautical fabric I had.  I quilted wavy lines and machine bound this quilt.

My mom has been a knitter for as long as I can remember.  She makes a lot of baby afghans and a few larger lap size afghans.  This is the one she sent to my Godchild:

I have a chair in my new office and decided to make a pillow for it.  I had this fabric in my stash and just went for it!  Sometimes, things work out without a pattern.  I printed a shamrock and traced it on my interfacing.  Sewed the green strips together, ironed on the interfacing and cut it out.  I am so excited to be using my stash!

Last summer, my friend Marilyn and I decided to make a Maple Leaf  quilt.  She wanted to swap blocks so we decided on 6.  We weren't sure how big we were going to make it and 6 was an easy make on a weekend.  While I was sewing hers, I decided to sew more for my quilt.  I had made 17 before I knew it.  I sent her 6 and she sent the same to me.  I decided on layout and made the remaining blocks a couple weeks ago.  They are pretty simple to do if you assembly style make them.  I used the free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.  Here is my layout:

The big border is actually fabric I bought at a second hand store.  I used this fabric as a table cover when Marilyn and I did a craft show together.  It's fitting to put this on here as my friendship quilt.  I have the backing fabric ready to sew together and will get this to my quilter soon.  She is almost finished with my Vintage Christmas quilt!

I have much more to share, but I will do that another day.

Thanks for reading!

Blessings

Amy

Word for the year-2020

Hello Friends

Hope you are not dealing with SAD (seasonal affected disorder) this time of year like I have been.  We had 11 days with no sun.  It was terrible!  I am on Vitamin D3 and that has helped a little bit.  I must say though, having a few snowy days has been nice.  If it's going to be dark and gloomy it can at least snow. :)  We had over 4 inches yesterday.  Luckily the roads were clear this morning.  I live farther from work now and do not like to drive on bad roads.  But I made it.

Yesterday was my son's 23rd birthday.  I just can't believe he is that old.  This time really does fly, especially when they fly the nest.  We got together with my mom, sister, brother in law and Sam and his girlfriend on Saturday. We went to Texas Roadhouse for supper.  It was a great day.

At the end of the year I decided to make my word of the year quilt.  When my local quilt shop went out of business, I stocked up on fabric.  I bought a bundle of shiny fabric.  It is cotton and sews like other cotton fabric.  I had some red with gold dots left over from a Christmas quilt I made.  So here it is:

I am going to be 50 this year.  To me that screams gold.  And we have to SHINE while we still have a light. :)  I used Sam Hunter Designs book Quilt Talk.  I use this book every year and just love it!  The letters are paper pieced and Sam gives great directions.

I was able to sew for the past couple of weekends.  I have 2 baby quilt tops done and 1 of those quilted and bound.  Pictures next time.

Blessings

Amy

Finish Along 2020 Q1

Hello Friends!

Hope you are all doing well.  I am good.  I have 2 quilt tops at the quilters right now.  I think that gives me permission to start something new. I have a long list of quilts I would like to make but I am going to use what I have fabric for and make something with that.  I have a few things that need finishing but I am going to try to sneak something new in too.  Here are my goals for Q1:

• On Ringo Lake quilt-needs more border and backing.  Would like to at least get the borders on.  Hoping to get it to the quilter
• Finish the Vintage Christmas quilt-this is at the quilter so I will only need to do the binding
• Finish the American Country quilt-this is also at the quilter.  Will just need binding.  Will blog about that when it's done.  If you are interested in the pattern, it's a BOM from my friend Charisma.  Check out her blog.
• Swoon Sixteen runner-I made 3 blocks from that pattern and was going to make a runner.  The blocks are pretty big so I am going to tear them apart and turn them into 3 pillows instead.
• Word of the year-I have my word and it's almost finished.

I think that is enough to try to get done this quarter.  I am still working on house projects and I am doing a little more traveling then I ever thought I would.  More on that later.

Since I hate to blog without a picture, I will leave you with this.  I am making a grandmother's flower garden quilt.  This is not mine, but I am using the same color palate.

 

If you are wondering how to join in the Finish Along, please check out Instagram.  They are using hashtags this time instead of having us link up.  #2020FALQ1List

It's been a great resource and motivator to get things finished.  Won't you join in the fun?

 

Blessings

Amy

FAL Q4

Hello Friends!

I have done really well with my list this quarter.  Here is my list:

• Put borders on my Floral Birch Bark quilt and send to quilter
• Do the embroidery and put together Vintage Christmas Quilt and send to quilter
• Finish 2 of the 3 Advent calendars I am working on
• Finish stuffed cow for baby gift
• Bind quilt #10 and hopefully #11 and #12

These are the 12 quilts I finished this year.

So what did I get finished?  I put the borders on Birch Bark and actually finished it!  That was quilt #12.  I did the embroidery and put together Vintage Christmas and that is now at the quilter.  I finished 2 Advent Calendars.  And I did the binding and finished quilts 10,11 and 12.  The only thing I did not finish is the stuffed cow.  That got lost in the mounds of fabric and I am not sure where it is.

I think I did pretty good this quarter.  Things are changing with the FAL.  No more link ups.  It will all be done through Instagram now.  Well, I best be starting my list for next quarter. :)  I am linking up here.

Blessings

Amy