Bloggers' Quilt Festival

     I am so excited to be writing a post for the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival over at Amy’s Creative Side .  
If you are visiting from that site.... welcome! If your are visiting from another place such as Facebook or Pinterest please go check out the beautiful quilts at Amy's Creative Side. They are amazing!

     The quilt I chose to write about is the first quilt I ever made. I was so proud to make it all by myself from start to finish.

     Being the daughter of a quilter and an owner of a fabric shop, I resisted sewing completely for a long time. However, after several years of visiting my mom who owns Mountain Stitches in Gatlinburg, Tennessee I caught the fabric bug. I bought the Hushabye by Tula Pink fabric and the Scribbles pattern I used at the AQS quilt show in Knoxville, Tennessee several years ago. (I am so sad they aren't coming back this year)

    I think I broke every rule known to quilting when it came to binding this quilt but I don't care. I thought it was beautiful. It is my favorite fabric of all time and it will always be special to me.

    Now it sits on the back of my daughters chair at our dinning room table. I know it's my daughters because she threw a fit once when I moved it to another chair. I had one unhappy four year old on my hand. So my little girl will get to keep my first quilt and maybe someday...a long time from now....a long...long time....lol... I will hold my grand babies in this quilt!

 here is the bonus photo....on my way outside to photograph my quilt I saw this pretty bunny sitting under a tree...it was so hot I just couldn't blame that bunny at all...

Hexagons

     So besides the baby quilt I made(that my mom helped me with) I also worked on a wall hanging for my niece. My hexagon wall hanging was to go with some pieces that my mother-in-law embroidered and put in embroidery hoops. Hers turned out beautiful and were so meaningful. Hopefully I can update with a picture of them all hanging on the wall in the nursery. For now here is a picture of the hexagon quilted wall hanging I made.

I didn't cut of the edge of the hexagons around the circle. I just pressed them toward the front so that it almost looked like a flower.

It looks so wrinkled but it's just the way the late evening sun was hitting it. It really wasn't that bad.

All you need is some fabric, 1 inch paper piecing hexagons, needle, thread (my sister uses silk), an embroidery hoop, and a ribbon or just hang it without one. 

If you need a great tutorial on how to do English paper piecing then you have to check out Jaybird Quilts website. There are alot of different ways to go about it. Hopefully I can put a more detailed blog up in the coming weeks on how to do it!

My sister is my inspiration for this project...check out her blog to see her hexi's at Under the Evening Star
Here is a sneak peak of a beautiful project she has on her blog! She is so talented you can find lots of quilting inspiration there!

Baby Blessings

  I am so excited about my niece that will be born sometime in June. I have been crafting, sewing, and baking in anticipation of my sister-in-law's shower. I am so excited that the time is finally here! I wanted to post a few things that I made for the baby and for the shower....

The front of the quilt.

The pieced back.

An up close picture of my mom's amazing quilting. She is so talented she quilted the baby's name on the quilt.

This is an example of how you can take beautiful fabric and a simple pattern and make an amazingly beautiful quilt. I can't take full responsibility for the quilt. My mom really helped me and she did the quilting on top which is just so pretty.

Below is a picture of the bunting that I made for the shower. I used scrapbook paper and the Ellison machine that we have at school to cut out the letters. This was done old school style because I don't have a Silhouette machine....awww some day soon! I think it turned out pretty good though.

Bunting I made using scrapbook paper and the Ellison machine at school.  A good camera would have come in handy for this shot. I tried all the tricks but my point and shoot just wouldn't do this paper justice. It was so pretty!

I have a couple other projects to show off but I must go to bed. I just fell asleep in the office chair. It really is pretty comfortable...all things considered.

Bathroom Vanity Update

     So I wanted to give an update for my bathroom vanity I have  been working on. I put a coat of shellac on the vanity and then put a second coat of the Annie Sloan Chalk paint I have been using. I think I will put one more coat of paint on it. I hate to do it knowing that I am just going to be taking a sanding block to the whole thing but there are a couple of spots I want to have better coverage.

After the shellac but before the second coat of chalk paint

After the shellac and the second coat of paint

I also had to post the knobs for the false drawer I got for a total of 6 dollars. Totally beautiful. I had to take a picture with them next to my jars I got from the antique fair. They matched perfect which makes them all the more special. So after one more coat of paint I guess I will be moving on to waxing with the Annie Sloan wax. Slowly...but surely I am getting this vanity done.

   

And in the spirit of this beautiful blue color I love so much. I am posting a picture of my Hydrangea that somehow despite the frost that got it has started to bloom.

 

Travels and Treasures

     What a beautiful and blessed weekend I had! It started off right... hanging out with two great friends at a local spot. Good food, friends, and a second to relax...I couldn't have asked for more. Then Adam and I were up early(ish) and we headed to the The 8th Annual Clinch River Spring Antique Fair in downtown Clinton, Tennessee.

     On the way I stopped at Hobby Lobby to get a few craft items. Now I have been to Joanne's and Micheal's but I don't think I have ever been to Hobby Lobby. It was like a craft mecca. Don't laugh if you have been there before and aren't impressed by it's awesomeness. I just couldn't get over it. I found a shelf for my bathroom that I am praying will be there in a couple weeks. I just have too much going on to afford it right now but if I have anything to do with it...it will hang on my wall.

      After that we went on to Clinton and I was in another kind of Heaven....the complete opposite Heaven. I am talking expensive, antique, made in America kind of Heaven. A shabby chic kind of Heaven where pieces of furniture whispered sweet nothings and begged to go home with me. I found one thing that stopped me in my tracks and almost made me cry I wanted it so bad....It was not for sale but ohhh it had my name all over it.

This trailer belonged to Julie at Vintage Southern and Vintage Wedding Rentals.

   
 My friend, Amanda, who lives and teaches in Clinton met us there and had a milkshake with us at Hoskins Drug Store where they have an old school soda fountain. It was so much fun to eat lunch at a place with such history.

Adam not amused by my photo taking!....lol

     So your wondering what did I get after a day of antique shopping? Well.....my wonderful husband bought my Mother's Day gift. You know I love antique Blue Ball jars and we found a 1/2 gallon jar and a square quart jar. I am in love!

 After we spent the day exploring and window shopping we were off to get Belle from Mamaw's and head home to hang out with our friends. It was our first campfire of the season and summer sure felt like it was here for good! What a perfect weekend!

Sophie thinking she is a Hollywood Starlet!