HMQS Judge's Choice Award

What an amazing week last week was! I took Miss Mia out for a walk last Wednesday, and when I got home there was a message on my answering machine. It was the director of the SewBatik Challenge I had entered. She recommended I be at the awards ceremony the following day. I hadn't planned on attending, since I didn't think I would win anything, so I'm so glad she called!

I jumped up and down in my kitchen, called my husband, put a post on Facebook, and made arrangements to be at the awards ceremony. I was so stinkin' excited to win an award.

My wonderful friends from Handi Quilter sat by me and cheered me on as I received a Judge's Choice Award. And my wonderful customer and friend, Shirley, was also there cheering me on.

I felt so honored to win that award because all the quilts were amazing and I could see all the imperfections in my quilt, but a judge was willing to look past those mistakes and see the beautiful things about the quilt.

It's so much like life! When others choose to look past our imperfections and choose to see the beautiful things about us, it makes us feel like a million bucks! Another lesson about life learned from the journey of quilting together!

HMQS 2013 Sew Batik Quilt Challenge

I've always thought Batik fabric is beautiful, but when I worked in the Handi Quilter education department we often had ladies call in with nightmarish experiences trying to quilt their batik quilts.  Getting good tension seemed to be a problem. With that in mind, I put off using batik fabric in quilts.

However, this past winter I decided to try out batik fabric. I signed up for the HMQS 2013 Sew Batik Quilt Challenge.

A few weeks after delivering Miss Mia and the April 8th deadline only weeks away, I decided I needed to get down to business.  Thanks to a wonderful mother-in-law and friend who came to watch and hold Miss Mia while I quilted, I was able to finish this challenge quilt and the Riley Blake Challenge Quilt.

  I was given the blue, brown, and two multi-colored cream/bluish batik fabrics.I added the center cream fabric and dark border fabric, which were both Sew Batik gradient fabrics I had purchased a couple of years ago at a show.

 I had very little problems with tension while quilting, but strangely I did have some issues while piecing the quilt.

All in all, I enjoyed creating this quilt and trying out batiks.

I don't expect to win anything, but I can't wait to get the quilt back and showcase it in my own home.  I think it turned out great!

And I fell in love with the rich colors of the backing/binding fabric I ordered from Sew Batik!

Beautiful Baby Mia!

Our little baby Mia entered the world on February 5, at a whopping 5 pounds 9 ounces! She was my smallest of my four kids-surprising for being my last baby! My first thought when seeing her was, "That's all? She's so small!" She reminded me of a tiny mouse with her solid black eyes.

Because I wanted my parents to be able to be in town when she was born (and I was tired of my huge kankles), I was induced a week before my due date. I loved the labor room at LDS Hospital. It was huge! It had a sitting area for my mom, mother-in-law, daughter & husband with a curtain that could be drawn when I wanted privacy.

We are completely in love with this little girl. As my 9-year-old son says, "she is the cutest cutie pie ever!"

We all celebrated her 6-week anniversary by sleeping a straight 6-hours!

The beautiful photos were taken by Melissa Burnett (melissaburnettphotography.blogspot.com)

Makeup Bag

I designed this makeup bag based on one I bought but wanted something bigger. I've now made two of these makeup bags as gifts and still haven't made one for myself.  I will get to it someday! What I love about this makeup bag is that there is a specific place for each brush. I used the vinyl-coated fabric for added durability.

Last Customer Quilt Before Baby

My baby bump is getting in the way of machine quilting, literally!  I'm finding it difficult to move the handlebars without bumping my baby bump into the "belly bar." So, this is my last customer quilt until after little baby Powell decides my belly is too cramped for her.

I loved this beautiful soft and silky lap quilt done by Tammie.  Being the busy mom she is, she allows herself to do one a quilt a year. Even one quilt a year can be so satisfying!

Fun with Blocks!

I started quilting this amazing block sampler quilt done by Shirley shortly after Christmas.  I used a mix of freehand and Pro-Stitcher.  I had so much fun with each block, but tried to keep the entire quilt consistent with the use of feathers and similar curves and lines.

Beautifully Modern

This beautiful quilt was a Christmas gift for my customer's sister, and it was her first quilt. I thought she did a great job, and I have to admit right now I'm in love with the navy blue/yellow color scheme, so of course I loved this modern quilt! She chose an edge-to-edge floral pattern, which nicely complemented her floral print, but this would've been a fun quilt to do some modern custom quilting on too!