Catch Up...

So I realized that I have had some crafty pics that I haven't gotten around to uploading, mostly because they were gifts and I didn't want to ruin a surprise!

Made these little fellows for 2 teachers at school having little boys...

Are they not the cutest thing you've ever seen?!


Diaper Wreath I made for Amy's baby shower.


A couple of quilts: The first one is a t-shirt quilt made of vacation shirts that a lady at work has collected over the years. The second is a SUPER cute baseball quilt made for a friend having a little boy.


These 3 quilts were an order for Christmas. Can you tell that I am into stripes right now? Love how clean they look. The middle one is backed with University of Tennessee fabric.

If you want to read more details about the quilts, check out my quilting blog http://www.courtneyquilts.blogspot.com/

Whew, I think that is just about everything... now I can clean off the camera card!

So Bad...

I am sorry I have been away... I was reprimanded by a blog reader today (you're right Sarah, I am slack). So here's a quick recap of the past few days, I think you will understand why there has not been a lot of time to blog...

Thursday Thanksgiving Thug

Who knew that thugs knew how to make giblet gravy? Check out those Reynold's grillz...

Friday Friend- The Always Helpful Mike Griffin

Way to carve that Turkey Mike, I can tell that Lene is impressed.

Friday also provided a full day of painting for Matt and I...

Matt's Office. Painting done, so close to complete!

Saturday was a great day, we were able to go to breakfast and the flea market with Stephanie and Chris. :) I also got another coat of paint on my $20 bed frame, it is going to be awesome when it is complete!


On Sunday I took Cindy's Quilt from this...


To Finished!

First quilt completed in my new studio ;) Check out the tacks, love those little x's.

Another T-Shirt Quilt

Shelia's T-Shirt Blanket is complete! This one is sooooo cuddly!

This is 20 of Andrew and Shelia's shirts combined to make a snuggly couch throw. This blanket has no batting in the middle but instead is lined with flannel to make it extra comfy. The shirts have been hand tacked at every corner. I hope to get this to Shelia sometime soon and I really hope that she loves it!

Put This On The Want List *Edited 9/18/09*

EDIT: 9/18/09 - Bought this at Borders this week, had a 30% off coupon... seems like I had too. :)

Actually the NEED list...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0740783955/?tag=wwwpinkchalks-20

It is a different sewing project for everyday of the year from some of my favorite blogs! I really really really hope this comes to me for my birthday or is in my stocking! :)

Quilt Updates...

Whew! I updated somethings over at

http://www.courtneyquilts.blogspot.com/

Go check it out :)

Fabric Giveaway

There is a great giveaway over at Sheree's Alchemy http://shereesalchemy.typepad.com/sherees_alchemy/

An Amy Butler pattern and a box full of scraps! Awesome!

New Quilt Pattern

Today Matt and I were super busy. Matt and I washed and vacuumed all 3 cars,. Then while Matt was finishing washing the cars I straightened out the laundry room and made lunch. After lunch I decided to try a new pattern I have falling in love with...

The Whirlygiggle also known as a Scrappy Cartwheel...



This is just one I made out of some left over fabric. I have bought lime and turquoise fabric to complete the "real" blocks with. But I really do love how the polka dots look on this one! I am also working on an Appalachian themed couch throw for Matt and I.

The End Is Near...

Of Law School that is. Matt is busy working on a take home exam *see Wordless Wednesday for picture* and has a paper do sometime next week. After that it is Graduation! :) Wow! I can't believe it is here!

Matt was able to deliver my latest quilt to a friend of ours Jessica that Matt goes to school with. Now that Jessica has her quilt I can post pictures. I am pleased with it. I just love a rail fence pattern for college colors!

Jessica had this idea for a "house divided" quilt. ECU colors on one side, State fabric on the other. With a black binding to match both. I think it turned out well!


Here is an up close of the ECU colors and the State fabric. The purple looks blue in these pictures, but trust me it is ECU purple!


Here it is just before Matt took it to Campbell for me...

Carrie's Quilt Complete

Carrie's quilt was delivered today! I think she really liked it. I can't wait until she opens it up and really sees it. Thanks for the order Carrie! :)

Here are some pictures of the largest quilt I've ever made...


Here's the front and the back. 35 shirts and the cutest little owl fabric for the back

This is a close up of the owl fabric. And here it is bundled up and ready to go!

And what is that little bundle next to the quilt? Well it is left over fabric and 2 little goodies since Carrie has been so sweet and was my very first order!

Little owl pillowcases!

You Gotta Learn To Reuse

Earth Day was Wednesday. I spent all day talking to the kids about the 3 R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Thanks to Jack Johnson for that awesome song! Anyways, the kids know that I like to quilt and have seen a few of my creations. My favorite comment has been, "Wow! That looks like I could buy it at a store!" Thanks kids :)

So we were talking about all the ways to reuse things. An old refrigerator box can be a great playhouse, or a pringles can could hold colored pencils. So I had a reading packet for them on the 3 R's and the last sheet had 3 items with lines beside them to write what else you could do with them besides throw them away. They said a old soup can could hold pencils or flowers or coins. The empty egg carton could be used to sort buttons and beads or plant little seeds in. And then on the page was an old T-shirt. Most kids wrote give to the thrift store or people in need, but one little boy wrote "Give it to Mrs. Quinn and she can make you a quilt". Thanks kiddos, you rock!

They also complained to the cafeteria ladies about using Styrofoam trays... yikes. Oh well, at least they understood that Styrofoam is horrible. Out of the mouth of babes, right?

Speaking of give a shirt to Mrs. Quinn and she can make you a quilt... I finished Carrie's Quilt today... I will hold off on the full pictures until she receives it on Saturday, but here is a little sneak peek of it under my sewing machine's presser foot.....

A Satisfied Customer

Stephanie sent me these awesome photos of her using her quilt. I am glad she loves it so much!

Ready to Go!

I am really happy to announce that I am starting an at home business with my quilt making! CCQuilts! I have a blog dedicated to just the quilts: http://courtneyquilts.blogspot.com and also an email for ordering: courtneyquilts@gmail.com

Over spring break I designed some business cards, flyers, and tags. Here is what my cards look like, in lovely teal and green.


I am going to the beach for a girls weekend tomorrow, and I am driving through Wilmington to get there, so I get to see Stephanie! Yay! She finally gets her quilt!

Here it is ready to go!

Lovely little bundle isn't it?

Bookworm

I love books. Really I do. I wish I had time to read more, and money to buy lots of books. I miss Appalachian's Library. We had a wonderful library and they built a brand new one right after I left that is even more awesome...

I had a lovely lunch with Matt today, since it was my last day off from school for Spring Break (thanks Snow Days). After our lunch in Lillington, I stopped by the library and picked up these little gems.


I can't wait to dig into these books. Where to start...

Speaking of books, have you read anything good lately? I checked out the New Fiction and New Non-Fiction tables and didn't see anything that caught my fancy. I would love to hear suggestions!

On Top!

Carrie's Quilt Top is complete! I had a wonderful night of sewing, while listening to my iPod. I bet there are not too many people that jam out to Outkast and Jay-Z while they quilt! Haha!

This quilt is one row longer than Stephanie's. So it is officially the largest one yet! Whew!


Here is Dutch being Quality Control. This is a good "in process" picture.


Here it is laid on a Queen sized bed and on the floor of my living room. I had to move furniture and stand on a chair to get this picture!

Carrie is having cute little owl fabric (her sorority mascot) mailed to me this week for the back and as soon as it comes in I will get busy quilting it! I hope to have it complete by the weekend! :)

Sewing & Spray Paint Saturday

Well actually that title is partially incorrect. I didn't sew one bit today but I did 5 hours of prep work so that I can start sewing tomorrow. Yes, ironing on the interfacing for the t-shirt quilt takes forever! But it is done and the squares are cut and I am hoping that after I lay it out and get the pattern right that I can start stitching away on it tomorrow! Here are some pictures:


Check out this setup. I do not have an ironing board big enough for a whole t-shirt back to fit on. After I cut the backs apart from the shirts I have to iron on interfacing to keep it from stretching. I do it is layers: t-shirt, interfacing, towel. Spray the towel, press with the iron... and about 5 mins later you have one shirt completed, times 35 shirts= long process. But the craft table I bought from Craigslist awhile back with a towel on it provided a great surface to do this on!

So then I got out the rotary cutter and the shirt pieces went from pieces to squares!

*Don't mind the dark spots on the shirt, it is just water from pressing*

Check out how thick the stack is! I love the macro feature on my camera...

This is going to make a really rocking quilt for Carrie...

I also started on another project that I have wanted to get busy on for awhile. I am using spray paint made for plastic to change my little drawers from clearish purple to white. Too bad that I didn't finish because I ran out of spray paint. Oh well, I have Monday and Tuesday off. I think that the white with look much better in my sewing space...


And while I am up to all this, poor Matt is studying for exams. But here is the good news! It is the last time Matt will ever have to take a Law School Exam! Yay!

Its Official...

I am making quilts for others and I am super stoked about it! I am currently making a T-Shirt Quilt for a friend from H.S. and 2 more throw size "spirit quilts", one for a lady I work with and one for a friend that goes to Law School with Matt. Jessica and I went to Joann's tonight to pick up fabric for both. I am really thrilled that these people think that my little past time is worth owning! :)

The Wordless Wednesday this week is the latest T-Shirt quilt. I have a few days off from work so I plan to get a lot done on that. I am really hoping to get the top made by Tuesday. Here's to that!

I think I have invested in something that will make my sewing all the more enjoyable! An iHome speaker for my iPod, complete with a little remote, since my sewing room has 1 outlet across the room from where my sewing machine is (hence the drop cord that runs the entire length of the room along the wall). I think I am in love with this thing. Best part... you can change the speaker cover! It even came with turquoisy blue to match the rest of the room! Score!

You can have your own from Target.com

Another Quilt

This is my favorite quilt for a few reasons. I love the pattern, I really think it turned out well! Another reason is why the quilt was made in the first place. I made this quilt from start to finish in 4 days (I skipped Saturday).


Names have been covered up...

I had to be quick with this quilt because it is being given to a very special person Tuesday. There is a little boy at our school in the 4th grade who was diagnosed with t-cell ALL leukemia in August. I had his little brother last year in my class. When you teach you get to know not just the kids in your room, but their families as well. This is a wonderful family and great kids. I am happy to say that the 4th grader is doing well and finished his last day of radiation on Friday! To celebrate radiation being over, the school decided to put together a bucket of goodies for the family. I felt really moved to make this quilt for him. He is a HUGE UNC fan and I had 1 1/2 yards of UNC fabric left from Stephanie's quilt. It is the perfect size for a couch throw. So I got busy!

Tuesday- Bought Fabric for the top of quilt, batting and binding
Wednesday- Cut all the fabric out
Thursday- Sewed all the squares together
Friday- Put the squares together to make the pattern and created the top (bottom right pic)
Saturday- Joann's for a little more white fabric for a border (no sewing on this day)
Sunday- Added border, basted, quilted, and binded!

Newest Creation

I really really love this quilt top. I plan to go to my Nema's tomorrow and quilt it (I do not have the room here to baste it).

It is for someone very special. I will reveal more on Monday after they receive it.

Gotta Catch Them All!

The past 2 days have been great! I am really enjoying intersesssion, in fact it is going to be really hard to wake up at 6am on Monday morning...

Wednesday I got to do a phone interview with the Sanford Herald about Affordable Honeymoons and I got to talk about Vegas, Yay Vegas! Look for that April 4th. They might even post a picture! I also found out that Dana of DWA Photography has 2 of my bridal portraits on her website! That is really neat, she takes such beautiful pictures and is a lot of fun to work with! Funny how I had two wedding related things on one day.

Thursday has been fun! I went back to the quilt shop that my mom found in Fayetteville. Be proud of me, I didn't buy a thing this time! A pattern that my grandma wanted had come in and I went with her and my neice Heather down there. Heather bought some Amy Butler fabric, it is so hard to resist her designs. In fact, the Wordless Wednesday this week was an Amy Butler fabric (the brown and green) and a Heather Baily print. Also a very neat Amy Butler purse pattern and a skirt pattern that I am hoping to make out of the cream colored fabric.

I was able to do a little sewing tonight after I got back from bowling with Dad and Amy for Amy's birthday. Amy and I shared the world's largest banana split...


I finished a lunchbag for Alex and an iPod Touch case. It is out of Pokemon fabric, which is what he wanted. I had ordered a yard over a year ago for like $2.00 when I was buying some other fabric thinking I could make my youngest neice something. I never did think of what to make her out of it, so I am glad I was able to use it! They are all lined in the same green.


While I was at it, I decided that I need a case too. Love that lime and turquoise!


Here are links to the tutorials that I used to make the bag and cases. I changed the lunchbag a good deal because I lined mine and did not use oilcloth but regular cotton fabric fused with interfacing to make it stiff.
Lunchbag: http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?page=section/classroom/sewprojects/lunchtote/lunchsack.html
Cases: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=740

Wordless Wednesday 5