Author: renegadequilter

http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · WIP Wednesday

WIP………

renegadequilter2 Comments
WIP…….  work in process
this week that is me and my life.  i am a work in process.  always.
sadly today i said goodbye to a lifelong friend.  someone who had one of the biggest hearts i know of.

someone who i spent half of my life with on a regular basis.  its not until people like that are gone do you realize the impact they had on you and your life. 
this week i pause to remember her.  pray for her son.  send good thoughts to her family.
and remember that ‘life is short but sweet for certain’
so hug a little longer, laugh a little harder and love a little deeper.
you will be glad you did.

WIP Wednesday

WIP Friday

renegadequilter2 Comments
its Friday……
and yes i missed posting on Wednesday but with work & life it just didn’t happen.

i wanted to share with you my newest little tool.

its a mini iron from Dritz & i love it.
i keep it beside my machine with the pressing pad & it works great.
i used it when i made this bee block this past week.

i also made this bag which the name of the pattern escapes me but it is from Me and My Sister.  i am in love with the bag.

so in love that i am in the middle of a 2nd one.
and i have plans for a 3rd one.
happy sewing.
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Resolutions……

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new years resolutions
Wikipedia defines this as a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. this goal must be reached by the Next New Year. keep in mind that this is a goal, not a wish and should be something that you as a person could strive for.
do you make new years resolutions?
i usually do.  in the past they have always been along the lines of learning something new, challenging myself, or just plain nonsense.  i really haven’t given much thought to them this year until last night and then again today after a conversation with Someone.  i think that what i have decided upon falls within Wikipedia’s definition of a new years resolution.  not that it really matters because in reality the resolutions are mine and mine alone.
so….  i give you my list
1.  sell my house
2.  continue blogging
3.  spend more time with these monsters
4.  see DMB more then i did in 2011
5.  (maybe) travel some
all of these are actual things that i can physically do.
now for the things that are more mental and emotional.
1.  to rise above the little things
2.  continue to live in the present.  the past is just that.  the past.  the future is unknown so why spend time worrying about the unknown.  it will be what it is.
3.  spend my energy on the things that i can control
4.  live for myself.  make choices for myself rather then based on someone else’s needs.  i am not being selfish here.  i just don’t want to live how certain people think i should live just to please them.
2011 seemed to blow by me with lots of changes and challenges.  some not the greatest while others were mind blowingly awesome.  i want to take the positive from 2011 on into 2012.  i want to go after what i want and see where i land.  so i know that 2012 will also bring lots of changes as well as some challenges – however as the saying goes ‘if you always do what you have always done then you will always get what you have always got.’  i am tired of what i have always got and i want something different and i am the only one who can make that happen.
above all i want to make 2012 the best year yet.
WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday

renegadequilter1 Comment
i am back on track with this post.
not much to share as i am sort of taking a break from the holiday sewing rush.

i have finished the top for my cousin’s quilt.  she had a little boy the 1st part of December.  the quilt was simple to put together.  i used a charm pack of Pure & some brown Kona cotton.

i am backing it with fleece.  i just need to quilt it & bind it.

i came across this great blog Thirty Hand Made Days & i love it.  i got these great thank you post cards from there which i am sending out for some gifts i got.  Mique has a lot of great crafts & ideas on her site.
super cute!!!!
a new semi related to quilting project that i have started.  like the rest of you i have several old quilting magazines that i can not part with because there are projects/ideas in them that i might need someday.  so….. awhile back i got this idea from someone on Twitter & it has become a new project for me for 2012.
nope i won’t be using my sewing machine for this.  i will be using my scanner.  i have started going through the old magazines & tearing out the projects/ideas that i want to keep.  i then scan them into pdf files.  heck of a good idea.  i love Twitter for stuff like that.  it takes time to do this.  that is why its a project for all of 2012.  i did one today so i have a head start.
i have another long weekend coming up so i hope to get the quilting done on the baby quilt & maybe work on a couple other things.
happy sewing.
12.29.11 update Carolyn over at …just one more stitch is having a giveaway.
WIP Wednesday

WIP Almost Caught Up

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hey there.
here is some of the stuff i did for Christmas gifts.

i made the Renegade’s each a sweatshirt.  light grey hoodie with ‘Renegade Quilter’ embroidered in one of their favorite colors.
Sharon – black
Lynette – red
Denise – blue
me – green

this is the 1st one i did as a test on just a regular sweatshirt.  the gals loved them & the next time we are all together & wearing them i will get a pic to post.

i made several of these zipper bags as gifts.  they went together quickly & made great little gifts for friends & family members.  my niece’s even got one with the Disney Princess’s on them.

a couple of weeks before Christmas i was hired to make a quilt for a 7 year old girl.  this is the fabric that i picked.  i had free range for the pattern.
i randomly selected fabric & sewed together blocks slightly larger then 12 1/2″ x 12 1/2″
i then trimmed them all down.  layed out the quilt & sewed it up.  i added a brown boarder to it.  its super cute.  the mom that hired me was very pleased with it & i learned today that her daughter calls it her ‘special blanket’.  makes me smile.  needless to say in the rush to get it done i failed to take a pic of it.  so, the mom is working on getting one for me to post.
tomorrow i should be back on track for my regular WIP Wednesday posts.
happy sewing.
giveaways · renegades · WIP Wednesday

WIP… What I have been up to….

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oh how time gets away from me……….
seems like forever since i have done a post.  which it has been awhile.  sorry.  i have been busy with all of the holiday stuff.  i will do my best to get you caught up on what i have been working on.
but first.  some things that have come my way.
like this box.

from Moda.  yep.  Moda did the 12 days of Christmas & i won one of the days.

i won a layer cake of Half Moon Modern.  it came all tied up with a pretty bow.  i love this line of fabric now & i will be getting more of it.

the Renegades got together & we had our Christmas party a couple of weeks ago.  funny we all made our gifts for each other this year.  i made embroidered sweatshirts for each of us.  i forgot to take a pic so i will do that & put it in another post.


Denise made us these cute 3″x5″ notebook covers & also gave us a Starbucks card.

Lynette made us these etched wine glasses with a bag to put it in for when we go to quilt camp.  She also gave us a bottle of wine.
Sharon made us each one of these super cool oil cloth bags.  i love mine.  she also gave us the coolest gadget.

they were on our gift bags & i thought they were like a pin you would wear on your sweater or jacket only they are magnetic.

they are made of a ceramic material & you do wear them on your shirt.
however you put your pins on them when you are sewing.  super cool.  i love it.  maybe you have seen them before but i had not and i think its the neatest thing ever.  i used mine while i was doing my holiday sewing and i love it.  i think they are called ‘cling ons’.  funny i know.
so that is part of what i have been up to.  a little holiday cheer with the gals & a little holiday cheer from Moda. 
come back for my next post which should be tomorrow to see some of the stuff that i made for gifts this year.
happy sewing.
WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday

renegadequilter1 Comment
hi everyone.  there has been a little bit of everything going on this past week.  i have a few projects that i still can’t show you because of Christmas.  but, i can share with you this.
this is just some of my Pure stash which is from Sweetwater by Moda.  i have been holding onto it waiting for a project to come along.  wait no more.  the project is here.


my cousin is expecting her 2nd child this Friday & so i am making a little baby boy quilt for her & the little guy.  i have some more work to do on it but it will be done & delivered before the end of the year.

i have also been cutting out these cute little Christmas dresses.  a year or so ago i made my niece a paper doll quilt & now she will be getting some holiday outfits to go with that quilt.
i still have a few hats to cut out but i should get that done this evening.
tomorrow night i hop the plane to Boise to spend a long weekend with my nieces & their parents.  i am looking forward to this time with them since i haven’t seen them all since August.  criminal.  i know.  they are coming home for Christmas but with how crazy things get around that time i like to take the time now to just have some me time with them all. 
i hope that you are all making progress on your Christmas projects & that you have a wonderful week.
http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday

renegadequilter2 Comments
right now i am mad at Blogger or myself for not being able to figure it out.  i have the pictures going the right direction in the file but when they upload they are all going the wrong direction.  so, use your imagination.  i am sure that i am the problem given the day that i have had.
no sewing in this post.  too much Christmas stuff that i can’t share.
however, i can share a cute little project i did for gift bags.

i took scrap fabric in a shade of green & put some steam a seam stuff on it & then cut out triangle shapes.  it did the same with some brown fabric & cut out trunk shapes.

peeled off the backing & positioned them into trees.
then i ironed them down & added a button to the top of the tree.
there you have it.  some simple.  affordable. cute gift bags.  these are headed to Spokane tomorrow with gifts for my friends up there.  i hope they enjoy them.
maybe next week i can show some sewing on my WIP Wednesday post.
happy sewing
holiday

Giving Thanks

renegadequilter3 Comments
according to Merriam-Webster
Thanksgiving is
defined as the act of giving thanks. a prayer expressing gratitude. a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness.
and
Thanksgiving Day is
defined as a day appointed for giving thanks for divine goodness.  the fourth Thursday in November observed as a legal holiday in the United States.
i found it odd that there is no mention of a big feast in the definition of Thanksgiving Day.  because that is what we do right? 

we cook a large ‘special’ meal just for that day.  usually taking the whole day to prepare the meal.  the meal is then shared with family & friends.  where we over eat, nap & watch football.  some people even believe that the food & day will be better if their house is in perfect order.  my mother being one of them.  ughhhhh


 

digging a little deeper.  Wikipedia (i said a little deeper) says that ‘Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions.”  both of these groups celebrated the end of a good harvest season.  overtime this evolved into Thanksgiving as we now know it.

for myself, i enjoy the meal & the time spent with family & friends.  but, i also think that it is important to celebrate, to give thanks, to be grateful for our own harvest of the past year.  the good things in our lives over the past 365 days.

so, on this day i reflect on my own harvest of this past year.  the birth of my niece.  the bond with my friends & the support they have given me.  my health.  the experiences i have had.  the lessons i have learned. 
for all of these things i am grateful for & today i give thanks for them because without them i would not be me.
so as you enjoy your meal with your family & friends pause to reflect on your own personal harvest of this past year.  be thankful for what this past year has brought you & be grateful for Someone special in your life.
Happy Thanksgiving