Lulu quilt, finished!

Do you ever see those giveaways on Instagram?

I have fun with them, usually you only have to become a follower and leave a comment.

Last summer, I won this pattern, designed by Amber Johnson.

Her company's name is Gigi's Thimble, 

her Instagram name is gigis_thimble.

Not only did I win the pattern, but I also won the machine quilting for the quilt I made with Amber's pattern!!!

It takes a jelly roll to make the Lulu pattern, that's all.

I only had a couple of jelly rolls, but I chose Sew Cherry, maybe my all time favorite fabric line.

It's Lori Holt's original fabric line.

I am still hoarding this fabric, so it was a little difficult to break into!

The quilt came together really fast, with a lot of chain stitching.

Here's my quilt, all machine quilted!

I just love it.

Stephanie Romney did the quilting, 

her instagram name is stuphfromsteph.

I highly recommend her, she did a fabulous job :)

I back the quilt with a soft minky.

I thought about giving it to my newest daughter in law for Christmas, but just couldn't part with it.

This quilt means a lot to me since it's Sew Cherry, Stephanie quilted it for me, and the back is minky.

It's my first minky quilt to keep for myself :)

I usually bind my quilts with a bright red, but didn't have any 

Sew Cherry.

I chose this gorgeous aqua with red cherries for my binding.

I could just stare at these beautiful fabrics all day!

Isn't it pretty with the beautiful aqua binding?

More Sew Cherry love!

I love the aqua against the pretty pinks.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at all the photos of my pretty lap quilt, it's so nice to be able to share with my quilty friends.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Doesn't this photo look like it's straight out of a Tim Burton movie?

They are 4 of my grandchildren, portraying Alice in Wonderland.

Bridger is 11, he is the Mad Hatter.

Kennedy is 9, she is the Queen of Hearts.

Charlotte is 6, she is the white rabbit.

Lucy is 3, she is Alice.

My daughter Lindsay is so creative, she always creates fantastic costumes and themes for her kids on Hallowe'en.

This is the first time I haven't trick or treated with my grandchildren.

I'm trying not to think about it....

Here are some looks back at other Hallowe'ens, we always have a lot of fun!

Hallowe'en 2012

Hallowe'en 2013

Hallowe'en 2014

I guess I didn't have any good Hallowe'en photos to show you from last year....

Have a fun and safe Hallowe'en!

Day of the Dead Party

My daughter Lindsay and her friend Brook, throw an incredible party every year before Hallowe'en.

This year's theme was Day of the Dead.

They send out invitations to their cooking group and then to some of their friends and family.

Lindsay's friend Kim did my makeup and let me use her beautiful skirt!!!

I don't even recognize myself :)

This is her home, and she created all the decorations herself.

Kim is a very talented artist!

These are some of Lindsay's friends who helped her with the set up.

Lindsay created all these huge paper flowers to decorate the wall, for a backdrop for photos!

Kari and Sean, the newlyweds, helped serve and wash dishes.

Lindsay made this huge piñata, it was about 40" tall.

One of the many appetizers were chicken tacos.

Isn't the presentation beautiful?

Lindsay and Kim :)

Kim is the artist who did my makeup!

Here is a shot of my dinner plate.

Then menu is on the right, if you can read it :)

The dessert plate was incredible!

Lindsay made the sugar cage which tops the flan.

It was an unbelievably fun night, with so many gastronomical foods!

Can't wait to find out what the theme is next year!!!

This is a look at Lindsay and Brook's party 2 years ago.

This is their party last year.

Snapshots Quilt

I finally finished my Snapshots quilt from Fat Quarter Shop's quilt along!

I just needed to finish the bottom three blocks, frame them all in red, and add the sashing.

I've really enjoyed making this quilt.

All of the fabric is Bonnie and Camille, by Moda fabric.

I used many different lines and loved matching up the colors and prints.

I'll show you another photo when the quilt is machine quilted and bound.

It's always so great to finish a WIP!

Fancy Forest is quilted!

I machine quilted and sewed the binding on my Fancy Forest quilt, by Elizabeth Hartman.

I was thinking about different ways I could machine quilt this little quilt for my 13th grandchild, baby Jacob.

I saw this wood design and really loved it!

I watched a few tutorials on how to create the free motion look, did some practice drawing with pen and paper, and was set to go.

I was nervous to start for fear I'd ruin the quilt, but luckily, I didn't ruin it :)

Here is a closeup of the quilting.

To tell you the truth, it wasn't that hard, but my neck got very stiff hunched over the sewing machine for hours.

It probably took about 5 hours of quilting, and a lot of thread!

I used a light gray Aurifil thread.

I backed the quilt with a really soft steel blue minky.

The nap makes the fabric look like it has different shades of color.

The minky fabric melts into the stitches, it has a great effect!

I really want to keep this quilt....but no, I made it for Jacob :)

I hope he falls in love with it and rubs the softness while he sucks his little thumb!

Lol!!!