Hey June....wait it's July!?!

Hey everybody, remember me? I seem to have let the month of June slip right by. I was quite busy with summer classes, 2 sixteen week classes crammed into 6 weeks! My children only knew me as the lady behind the computer with her eyes glued to a text book! Thank goodness that is over with. Luckily I was able to find a few minutes to get some sewing in. Nothing like letting your cares slip away as you sew away...until you need the seam ripper.

I manged to make 8 more memory bears and I have all but abandoned my Farmer's Wife quilts. I will get back to those later I think. I finally got another Splendid Sampler block done! #42 Pencils and I found my antique pencil box to sit by it.

So much goes by in a month. My littlest guy turned 5 in June. Father's day came and went. I did manage to make a fun shirt for my dad. I used my Silhouette machine to cut the iron on material (I love using that machine!)

On a whim...ok my almost weekly stop to the local quilt shop I came across a pattern I have been wanting for some time now. Plus it was on sale! The Spicy Spiral table runner, it's my new favorite pattern. I'm thinking that these would make wonderful Christmas gifts. This one is mine though. It has all my favorite colors in it, what a coincidence.

I'm off to work on more fun stuff. 

Happy Sewing!

~Amanda

Spring has sprung

As normal, time has flown by and I have neglected my writing. As usual I have been so very busy, spring semester finished up and my summer courses just started this week. I am so close to being done with school I cannot wait! Then I will have more time to sew and talk about everything sewing and quilting.
At the retreat last November I scored some beautiful batiks in pastel colors, I knew they would make a gorgeous baby quilt, I just needed to figure out who that was. It just so happens a co-worker was having a baby girl soon and so I got to work and made my first Hunter's Star quilt. I used the tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Co and it went together quickly.

This gave me the opportunity to get some much needed practice in on my Platinum 16. I made up a meandering pattern with some free form flowers mixed in. Practice makes perfect...I need to practice!

Oh, hey there, just quilting the day away.

My free form flower

I had a streak of about a week where I just could not get into my sewing room. I just wanted to sit on the couch and do nothing...yikes! I finally got myself back together and decided I needed to make something quick and fun for myself. I have just discovered how much I love those little plastic clips instead of pins for some projects, but I needed something to keep them in. I saw this tutorial from the Crafty Gemini to make a cute triangle pouch and knew that was what I needed to make. I love it! I tried to get creative with my picture taking, the tree was in full colorful bloom. I am definitely going to make a couple of these for some birthday's that are coming up, it's the perfect size to hold a gift card.

Well, I'm off to finish up some last minute projects, that really aren't so last minute. I just have put them off!
Happy sewing,
Amanda

Teddy Bear Land

It's been quite the month. It feels like we have experienced all 4 seasons in just a couple of weeks! 60 degrees one and and an inch of snow the next, got to love Wisconsin weather. I have kind of lost steam on my Farmer's Wife 1930's quilt along. I managed to get a couple of blocks cut out but have not even got them close to my sewing machine.

So what have I been doing? I have definitely been sewing and quilting! Of course I found another quilt along that I just had to join, because I needed another 100 block quilt to work on. It is the Splendid Sampler and I just fell in love with the blocks. I'm hoping to get caught up on those and my Farmer's Wife blocks soon.

At the beginning of March we lost the patriarch of my husband's family, Grandpa Gene. He was loved by so many and filled our lives with so many memories. I wanted to find a way to honor his memory. I asked for a pair of his striped farmer bibs and some of his flannel shirts. Here is what I came up with.

They were made for some very special people to honor a very special man.

One of my favorite pictures of my boys and their Great Grandpa.

I have been working on a couple of other projects as well, but I will get to those another day. Today I'm just remembering all the memories and stories those striped farmer bibs held

~Amanda

Lots of sewing...not much quilting

Another month has almost flown by, it is spring break for me this week. My last spring break, woo hoo! I am ready to be done with school and focus on other stuff, like sewing and quilting. Next week my kids have their spring break and we have a couple of fun things planned. In between school work I have found some time to sew, I am excited to be launching a new business. I have not did much quilting at all, but I have been sewing like crazy. My first crafty love is quilting, my second crafty love is doll clothes. You may have seen a picture of my tag on Instagram or Facebook.

I have a bunch of nieces and they all have 18" dolls and they had birthday's recently. I was enlisted by another Auntie to make some doll clothes. I haven't sewn any in a while and had forgotten how much I loved sewing them. Long story short, I have decided that I am going to make some to sell! I am hoping to do some local craft shows and sell online as well. Scroll through and you will see some of the fun outfits I made for gifts.

    

I do have to say that I despise glitter tulle and will not be using that again anytime soon. I am still finding glitter everywhere in my sewing room!

    

I had so much fun making all of these, and they were loved my the little girls that got them.

Swimsuits or gymnastics leotards in colorful sparkles.

Last, but not least...my favorite outfit inspired by the movie Frozen. One of my favorite Disney movies.

I am working on a custom order that I will post pics of soon, it is turning out so cute and I can't wait to share it with you. Keep an eye on my Facebook page I plan on posting a couple outfits when they are done for sale. You can always contact me at quiltingpanda@gmail.com I have made my first brochure, you can see it below. Please be aware that the prices listed do not include shipping.

Well I better be off, time to go back to reality and make supper. I can't spend all my time sewing...unfortunately. Thank you to everyone that takes the time to read to the bottom, this blog is a work in progress and I can't wait to see what the future holds. 

Have a great day!

~Amanda

Time flies when you're having fun!

I guess this is going to be a every couple of month kind of blog for a while. I'm going to have to work on that! I've been meaning to catch up, but it's been crazy busy around here. This is my last year of college classes and they certainly keep me busy, especially when I would rather be playing with my kids or working on a project...or both. I have barely had a chance to work on my 1930's Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long blocks. I am way behind, like way way behind.  But spring break is coming and I took some time off of work, hopefully I can get a little sewing in! I've managed to get block #2 Aimee done in both my fabric choices. I've been very busy on other projects that I can't quite share yet, but soon, stayed tuned!

Downtown Abbey Fabrics

1930's fabrics - I love this one!

I know Christmas was a couple of months ago now, but I still want to share with you my wonderful memories. I had an amazing Christmas filled with family, fun and lots of food. 

Of course I made sweet treats to share, they were a hit.

The best of Christmas for me is making gifts and giving them to those who are special to me. I made two very special quilts this year, both for my brothers who unfortunately live over 4 hours away from me. But I was able to give them a quilt that I made just for them to remind them how much I care about them and that I think about them all the time. Awwww, warm fuzzies

A french braid quilt for Aaron.

A Mario themed quilt of my own design for Louis.

I am so happy with how these quilts both turned out. I didn't have a pattern for either of them so I had to make up my own. I had seen a picture on Pinterest of a french braid quilt and knew that was the one for Aaron, that one went together pretty easily and turned out beautiful. For the second quilt I knew exactly what I wanted to do, I just had to get it down on paper and start cutting and sewing and then cutting some more and repeat a few times for each block. They both were made with a lot of love and a few choice words when I had to pull out the seam ripper. I hate the seam ripper, but I wanted these to be as perfect as I could make them. Plus I got to get some practice in on my Platinum 16 sit down quilting machine, I love that thing.

After Christmas it was my birthday, yeah me! I did get the most gorgeous flowers ever from my supervisor, she is so thoughtful and always remembers everybody's birthdays and brings treats and flowers!

That's all for now, I'm off to the sewing room for a few minutes before supper!

~Amanda