mommy pics

Here is another entry today

#2

So far 1 entry per day; looking forward to more :)

For those who don't know what this is, it is a cutest pregnant mom contest and the details are here.

Life today

So this is really exciting for me. A picture of one of my reversible baby dresses was posted on another blog Sweetie-Scraps :)

Other than that, we are in the last three weeks of this homeschool year! I can't wait for summer break. In AWANA's the kids received awards for their last night (I have a Sparky and a Cubbie). At the award ceremony I was amazed how many awards some of the children received; they must have been working all year long on the AWANA homework. My kids... well they just got the award they give to everybody; but that's OK, they have had a lot of fun this year.

I also have a little frustration this week - I was quilting for a friend and my sewing machine broke - I don't have much fixing skill (and neither does my husband) so I found myself trying to fix the sewing machine with my high heels - as you can imagine that didn't work out. Today I will be taking it to the shop, and hopefully I'll be back to quilting in no time.

mommy pics

Well today I received one entry so here it is

#1

Looking forward to many more to come :)

Cutest Pregnant Mom (contest)

Have you ever looked at all the cutest baby contests and thought there should also be a cutest pregnant mom contest? Well here it is. In honor of mothers day coming up; I will be hosting a cutest pregnant mom pic contest. You can be pregnant now, or already have had your beautiful baby.

The way it will work is that from now until mothers day you can email me (valdez0803@aol.com) a picture of you as a soon to be mommy (or when you were). At the end of every day I will post the pics I receive - they will be in the "me and my tummy" category of this blog (so everyone can see you and you can see everyone else).

At the conclusion of this contest (midnight on Mother's day) no more pictures will be posted. As I post the pictures I will number them, and the day after Mother's day; I will post the question "what is your vote?" And you my readers can choose the winner - in the comments of my what's your vote post; simply indicate who you think is the cutest by the number of the pic (aside from yourself). And the pic with the most votes will win. If there is a tie; I will have my son (6 yrs old) draw a winner from a hat (of the entries that tied).

What do you win? You can choose either a free reversible baby dress, or 50% off a baby quilt from my etsy store.

Feel free to enter if your baby is too old for the dress or quilt; or even if you have a boy - the dress or quilt can make a great gift for a loved one.

I look forward to seeing all the entries - tell your friends and family, so they have a chance to win also :)

Your picture can be anywhere from professional...


..to taken by a cell phone

Mother's Day

Hello, I just wanted to let everybody know that I am running a Mother's Day sale on my Etsy store (all items will be shipped free). So if any of you know a mom to be or you are a mom to be, come check it out.

One Mothers Day

I can remember when I was much younger and I knew Mothers Day was coming up soon. I had to think of something perfect because mom is so special to me.

As a little girl, I knew that all girls like flowers, and hearts, and pretty designs. So I took a piece of paper and drew all that I could imagine on it (although my skill of drawing at the time was that of a little kid). But that wasn't enough, I also had to tell mom how much she meant to me. So I took another piece of paper, and filled it with "I love You Mom". I loved both sheets of paper, but it really wasn't much of a gift (it was just two sheets of paper). So I got creative - I took the two sheets of paper and filled them with Kleenex, and stapled the border all the way around. Perfect, a pillow that I knew my mom would love; and it would look so beautiful on her bed.

I gave it to mom and she was just as happy to get it as I thought she would be :) I don't think my mom ever slept on it, and I don't remember it ever being on her bed - but, she still had it in her hope chest the last time I was looking in it.

The BIG Tote

There are two things you should know about me. First, I get attached quite easily to stuff. Second, when I am attached to something - I never get rid of it.

Well, I am blessed to have a BIG tote of fabric that belonged to my Great-Grandmother before she passed away (she was probably my biggest influence in becoming a quilter). And I have been so attached to this fabric over the years, that even though there is no fabric that I have ever seen in it that I especially liked; I have kept it and carried it with me through several moves (my husband has never said anything about it, but sometimes he looks like he is mentally scratching his head "why").

So a couple weeks ago I had one of my best friends visiting me (it is nice to have adult interaction once in awhile :). We ended up in the garage and she asked me "what is in this BIG tote?" I told her all about it and asked if she wanted to go through it with me. Maybe since I had never found anything to use from it, I could let her have some fabric she may use, while I lessen the amount of stuff I have cluttering my garage. Sounded pretty good in my mind.

We both grabbed a side and off we went inside the house. Sure enough, she liked a lot of the fabric - and the pile of stuff she was making for herself didn't seem like it would end. Meanwhile as she was talking about why she liked these fabrics, I was realizing I also liked them - this was not good.

Her smile kept growing, my heart kept sinking. What was I to do? I realized not only was I attached, and not only had I been carrying this with me for several years, but this was the same fabric my Great-Grandma would use when she made quilts for my family.

Now I usually don't like loud crying from kids, but as hers began crying - I began smiling (on the inside). She got up - like all mothers do - to make sure everything was OK; and that big pile she had made was put right back into my tote. I did however leave her a two yard piece of strawberry printed fabric.

She came back, and the lid was on my tote. She looked at her pile (it was quite a bit different) and you could see the wheels turning in her head. She wasn't really confused; she seemed to understand what had happened, and was OK with it. We all have those things we can't let go of - maybe I just have more than most.

Either way, I no longer wanted to just keep this fabric in a tote - and I decided to make 12 quilts for a local ministry that houses those who need homes while they get on their feet. I know Great-Grandma would approve. Thank you Elisha for being understanding.

Pea in a Pod

So here it is - an adorable pea in a pod.
What do you guys think?

I made the "pea" hat while my oldest son was doing his school reading (for those who don't know I homeschool) and it took me about 30 minutes.


I made the "pod" after the kids went to sleep and it took me about 45 minutes.


My sister in law does photography and I made this as a prop for her to use in her photos. Her web page is http://eternalblessingphotos.com/

Can you guess what I'm making

So today I was looking at some of my crafty stuff I have and as I was looking at two items... I knew I was going to make something really fun. These are the two things I used:

Can you guess what it will be?

Tomorrow I will post what I made, so write in my comments what you think it will be - let's see who is the closest :)

Take a minute it's important

My Husband teaches a Sunday school class at our church (The Way of the Master). Our class has been learning how to take the Ten Commandments to show people that we all are guilty of breaking God's law.

Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Good enough to go to heaven? Eternity is a long time if you're wrong. Make sure at needgod.com

Thanks for letting me share with everyone.

Commissioned

Well it has been a hectic few days, so I haven't been able to blog as much as I would have liked to. However, I am finding myself with some free time and thought I would share what I have been doing.

My sister recently commissioned me to make a quilt for her (except without the pay LOL). The task was simple in her mind - she had many of her first son's old clothing from his first year and as a way of having something precious to hold on to from that year, she asked if I would make a quilt. The theme was firetrucks (daddy is a volunteer firefighter). And being the generous and loving individual that I am (I am also humble) - of course I said yes.

So I began with designing what I would do, cutting the fabric, then piecing everything together. Then came the part where I had to decide how I would quilt the three layers. Immediately I thought I would tie the center patchwork (the main focus) with yarn. I liked this idea because I love the look, and it would keep the fabric of my nephews clothing from being stitched on (with so many firetrucks, I didn't want to take away from the pictures themselves).

After that was decided, I looked at the border and thought "how should I do this". Well, I have made many quilts that I have brought to long arm quilting businesses, but with the economy the way it is; and knowing as a Christian I should be a good steward of the money God has given (Luke 12:42) I have been learning free motion quilting and practicing on scrap material. It was time I thought to "dive in", take needle to fabric, and do what I have been learning.

I did just that and am proud to have a new ability (which I will continue to grow in) for my quilts. I will also say that the quilt making process was overall smooth, but when it came to free motion I did learn a few lessons. I was tense because I didn't want to mess up something that would mean so much - so by the time I had finished, my muscles were actually sore from my inability to relax. I also learned how important it is to have foot control for even stitches (I will be working on this). But, it was significantly less than other options (I already had thread, so it only cost me my time - and sore muscles).


This is the finished quilt - without the binding completely done. Completing the binding is tedious, so I will let my sister reminisce about her son's first year; all the 3am feedings, the cooing, the smiles, the cries, all of it - as she does the binding :)

Mom, You Truly Aren't Crafty

I can remember my first quilting experience. I was young then and I happened to pass by a free quilting pattern. I knew my Grandma would love it, so I grabbed it and immediately began picking out fabric. I went home and was consumed with sewing for the next three weeks. I also remember after all the sweat and blood (just joking, it wasn't that bad) looking at the quilt top so proud of my 13-year-old self; but - there was a problem; I had no idea how to put the three layers together. I could see the top, the back, and the batting - but how did they get sewn together the way I had seen finished quilts?

So I grabbed my stuff and went to my mom for help. My mom is a great help, and is always eager to be my help when I need it (I love you mom). Now it is important to know my mom had always said she is not a crafty person (that it skipped a generation). Whether I didn't believe her, or just forgot, I never knew what she meant till that moment when she looked at the quilt clueless of what to do.

She finally said, “I got it, we can do it like a pillow”. Well that made sense to me; why wouldn't doing it like a pillow work? And so that’s what we did. We sewed all around the entire quilt leaving an open end - then after all our work, we pulled the quilt inside out and we could see that the pillow way, is not the quilting way; the quilt top was on one side, the batting on the other, and the backing in the middle. Wow, definitely not what we were expecting.

But in all of that disappointment, there were no tears (at least of sadness). Instead of crying we found ourselves both laughing hysterically. We did our best to fix it, and I still gave it to my grandma when we finished. My Grandma loved it :) And you know what, she still uses it today.

My first quilting project could have turned out a lot differently - and more smoothly. I probably would love quilting just the same. But I am glad that this was the experience I was blessed to have. And I know in a lot of ways it contributed to my love of quilting and passion today. Every time I visit grandma and I see that same quilt; I’m reminded of that night laughing with mom (again, I love you mom).

What about your first quilting experience (if you have one) - what was it like?

I'M SO EXITED

I just finished creating my Etsy store :) I have made several reversible baby dresses and so far this is what I have listed on my store. Eventually I plan on having quilts, and other fun things. But don't get me wrong - the reversible baby dresses are quite fun. Other than that, I wasn't able to post a blog today, but tomorrow the sun will rise and a new day will begin. I think I'll share with you the first quilting experience I had with my mother. It was an incredibly fun disaster. Have an amazing night!

The Rewards of Quilting

One of the things I love about quilting is the sense of accomplishment you can experience when you're all finished. You spend time, resources, energy, frustration; and on the list goes - but when you're done, you can look at the finished product and say it was all worth it. Not only was it worth it, but your exited for your next project. And the reward of accomplishment can go beyond the finished product into further wonder.

Since I was a kid I have loved quilting (I will share one of my first experiences with my mom in another future post - so look forward to that). I have made many quilts for family members, but I had never entered any contest. In 2007 I decided I would try something new to see how I would do.

I found a contest listed in a quilt magazine and began the process of my first quilt contest. I was anxious, nervous, exited but I put in a lot of work and found someone to do the quilting for my quilt (this was the first time I had this done, because I usually had tied my quilts with yarn) thankfully it was a fun and a learning process.

I sent my quilt in and nervously waited to see what would happen. So many thoughts were going through my mind about possible disappointment and uncertainty. When my response came I found out that my quilt had been selected to be one of the quilts displayed in the State Capitol building – WOW. I have had many exiting things happen in my life; Marriage, childbirth, etc. And I would say that the sense of accomplishment I received in this response would rank in that same list.

Prairie Points Skirt - for a budget mom

So there are a couple things us mom's are always looking for; one is that we love to have a cute outfit - either for ourselves :) or for our children - the other is the lower the cost the better (I think that's why we love sales so much). I even find myself purchasing items that are so cheap I can't resist, even if I know there is nothing I can think of to use the item for (anything under $2 is usually going to be bought). So what I have today is a cute cowgirl skirt I made for my daughter for only $2.50 and a little bit of easy work.

This is my finished product

Now we move on to the steps. First I bought a skirt from the second hand store (this particular one only cost me $1.50), and a pink handkerchief from a craft store (only $1)
The skirt I was using had a trim on the bottom that I definitely did not need (or like) - so the first thing I did was cut that off. Then I cut my handkerchief into a 16in block and then into 16 4in blocks. Because I wanted as much design in the fabric as possible, I cut equally around the border of the handkerchief to make the 16in

To make the Prairie Points I folded the 4 in blocks diagonally into a triangle (then ironed), then folded that triangle in half to make a smaller triangle (also ironing) - kinda like when my children make paper snowflakes


Then each triangle was placed into another triangle slightly (I used the halfway as my marking point) until it was long enough to go around my skirt bottom. I had 16 would be prairie points and only had to use 14 of them.

I then sewed my prairie points all around the bottom of the skirt, with the points facing the waist. I used a 1/4in strait stitch on my machine, then a zig zag stitch around the edges.


The finishing step was to flip my prairie points down so the points were facing opposite the waist. I ironed the prairie points down and sewed a scant 1/4in stitch. So here is the finished skirt again.

This was easy, fun, and cheap! And my daughter will look adorable in it. For another option I may even applique a pink cowgirl boot on the skirt. Hope you guys have fun making one as well.

Ressurection biscuits for Easter

Easter is a special time for our family and we always try and make it the most celebrated day of the year for our children. Today we had read about a biscuit recipe to show the empty tomb of Jesus and we knew we wanted to try this. So first let me show you what we needed.

Biscuits, Marshmellows, Chocolate chips

The instructions said to push a hole in the top of the biscuits, put a few chocolate chips and the marshmellow inside. This left us thinking that it would be an incredibly big hole to fit the marshmellow, so instead we pushed the middle in a way that allowed us to fit the chocolate chips and marshmellow.




From here our job was to pinch the dough over the top to cover the marshmellow and bake according to biscuit instructions.




What we expected from the instructions was that "The marshmellow will melt, leaving the insides hollow like an empty tomb". However, our result was not such; the middle that we had pinched had opened up and the marshmellow did not melt, but cooked with a brown glaze. It was not what we expected, but it definitely worked because it looked like the tomb with the stone in front. We let our kids roll the stone away just like on the day when Jesus rolled the stone away!



We loved this project (even though everything didn't happen as expected). As you can see, we were left with the chocolate chips behind the stone, and we weren't sure what they could represent - but they tasted good :)


Luke 24:6 (KJV)
⁶ He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Hello and Greetings

Hello, I just created my blog. My name is Glenda and I have a wonderful husband and three wonderful children. I love quilting; it is one of the passions I have in life. The other passion is to serve Jesus and use the talents He has given me for His honor and glory. As more posts come I hope to encourage, edify, challenge, and even make you laugh. From my blog you can expect most posts will be about quilting; but I will also posts on family life as I experience it, thoughts that come into my brain, and who knows - maybe a little of the unexpected here and there.