Happy Thanksgiving!

Double Digits!!!!! GRACE IS 10!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl! I love you!

Cute Little Baby Quilt

I'm looking forward to attending the birth of the baby boy for whom I made this quilt. I machine quilted it free hand...not with the Flynn Frame....I'm still trying to get a handle on that thing. I think I've decided that my machine and the frame don't like each other, so I'm going to try the frame on MSA's machine and see how that goes. Anyway, this quilt was super easy and fast to put together and I really like how it turned out. The meandering quilting I did is just so-so, but I think I just need some more practice.

I Like....

....tea pot blocks....
...this thrifted chest covered in fabric...

.....Simple quilts that look great.....
....wonky quilts.

...this color combo of red and aqua....
....this dress quilt...

....this block....it looks pretty easy.....
.....and lastly, this seam-ripper wall hanging.
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Have a great Sunday!

4 Babies in 6 days...UPDATE: 5 Babies in 7 days!!!

All Born at home with the loving assistance of midwives, doctors and nurses who feel so blessed and honored to help these moms and dads bring their babes into the world.

.....its been a little busy.....my pocketbook and my heart is full and grateful.....but boy, I'm tired!

**BTW...I don't know any of those babies pictured..just thought they were cute.

9 months in the making....

......NO, not that........

THIS!!!

I love it!!!

Scraps, 2009....WIP

Fall wall hanging.....

...hung on a freshly painted wall (thanks Danny). The mini quilt serves two purposes. 1) Looks great and 2)covers a really ugly vent.

I like this quilt....

...someday I shall copy it.

My Nemesis....

...I WILL CONQUER YOU!

vegies are good for your body

Quilting Frame thingy...part 3

Well, its 3p on Friday afternoon and I've spent all my quilting hours this week working with this thing. The same baby-sized quilt is still on the frame and its still not done. Every time I think I have the hang of it, something gets effed up. It's not so much the frame, but the sewing machine too. The thread breaks or gets jammed in the tension or the bobbin is dinked up or I'm sewing too fast or I'm sewing too slow. Each time I have to stop, assess, fix and restart. Frankly, I'm surprised I lasted this long. I definitely have the frame thingy down...how it goes together and what-not and I do think it is a cool tool to have.....I just need a break from the whole thing. I'm going to work on my scrappy quilt now and this weekend.......and I think I'll send it to auntie to quilt when its done. Auntie, lemme tell ya, your a really, really good stippler....and I ain't just sayin' that to be nice!

Happy Birthday, Mary!!!!

John Flynn Quilting Frame thingy....part 2

(Part 1 posted yesterday) Okay...more thoughts and ramblings about this thing. I think (especially since its morning time as I blog this) I can grow to love this frame...someday. I just need to be patient and work out the kinks. I need to have a dedicated space for this frame so that I don't put it in the closet to collect dust. Also, I need a table and possibly another machine just for quilting projects. I'm thinking about buying an inexpensive machine...I'm going to watch for some that might be on sale. I've seen bare bones straight stitch machines for around $50. Altho, I would need the feed dogs to drop and that doesn't usually happen on inexpensive (read cheap) machines. And a cheap machine might just give me more headaches. Hey...maybe I should just upgrade the machine I have now!! Look at me everyone.....all of a sudden I'm a Rockefeller!! (deep breath)I'm going to work with Henry this morning so I'll be taking a break from it...which is probably a good thing. Have a great day! Karen

Veterans Day

I have many family members who have been or are in the service. Thank you to all of them. A special shout-out to cousin, Adam Brown ,who is currently serving in Afganistan and to Dan's friend, Marty, who is currently serving in Iraq. Also in my prayers are all the folks down at Fort Hood...including Dan's friend, Hoovy...aka Mike Hoover.

John Flynn Quilting Frame thingy

Well, my Quilting frame arrived on Monday afternoon. I spent Monday evening ,Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon (I went to the gym and took a nap in between on Tues) putting it together and trying to figure it out. I got it going last night and .....well, the jury is still out. Not sure if I love it or hate it. I can only sew about 4.5 inches across before I have to unpin, unwind the side thingies, roll the quilt 4 inches, repin, put the side thingies back on, tighten everything up and sew another 4 inches and then start the whole process over again. Not to mention there's a HUGE learning curve in driving this thing and making a nice quilt pattern. I've quilted about 8 inches so far and it looks like crap. But that's okay, I'm starting to get the hang of it. Oh and another thing. it's a pain when your bobbin runs out or your thread breaks. I'm going to work on it a little more this morning but plan to stop if my frustration level starts to rise again. BTW...this was why I was irritable on FB yesterday;) Oh wait, there's more. If I do decide I love...or just like it...I need to set up a dedicated space for it and maybe a dedicated sewing machine. I've already knocked over a cup of coffee fiddling with the thing...aaarrgghhh. I do think once I get the hang of it, tho, I'll like it. BUT until then......sorry auntie....your not off the quilting hook.

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3pm Update:Things are going a little smoother this afternoon with the frame. Stay tuned.

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346pm: I spoke too soon...aaaarrrgggghhhh. Pulling stiches out. Oh, and btw, I can only sew 3 inches across before I have to rework everything.

Really. Big. Baby.

11 pounds 12 ounces. Born at home the old-fashioned way. No drugs. No 'emergency' c-section. Mom, who is 5'1, just got it done. Yes, she pushed for 2 hours to birth baby B, but she was all smiles and so very proud of herself when the job was done. Dr. Z. did an incredible job of helping baby get out. It is an honor and a blessing to be able to work and learn from him. But back to baby. Did I mention that 'noggin in 15 inches....oh and baby is 23.5 inches long. This was #591 births for me and the biggest, longest baby I've seen in my 10 years of helping moms deliver at home.

Slowly,slowly, its getting there....

I started the Florida quilt back in March of this year when I went to Florida with my dad. I finished piecing it in September and auntie quilted it in October. The binding is cut and ready to be sewed on, I just need to GET TO IT! It's sitting on the middle of the craft room floor. Every time I step over it, it says, "Finish me....please!" Great, now my quilts are talking to me. This can't be good.....

My latest project.

I started quilting just over a year ago and have amassed 3 big plastic pretzel jars full of scraps from all the projects I've worked on (some finished and a lot not finished!). I had the brilliant (insert lightbulb) idea to sew them all together into a scrappy quilt, calling it Scraps, 2009. I showed it to MSA* yesterday, and she turned up her perky little O'neill nose and said, "that's ugly" or maybe she said, "I don't like it". Oh, what does she know. Grace liked it. I thought this quilt would be a great reminder of my first year as a quilter.

Update: Also included in this quilt will be some leftover blocks I made but never got sewn into any quilts...good eye, auntie....and ur right...what do the A's know....obviously nothing!

*MSA: my sister amy

How cool is this....

I was just looking at the live Feedjit thingy and this came across:

Europe arrived from google.com on "karens crafty world" by searching for karenscraftyworld.blogspot.com.

...most likely cousin Kate?.....that's right...I got friends in Europe! Blogging is so cool!

Sewing Day

Grace and I had a sewing date yesterday afternoon...she's really moving along on her quilt. Jack got into the sewing action too. He used the first machine I bought for Grace a few years ago. Another budding quilter? Cool!

Lucy....

....is getting huge!

Fall

The tree in front of our house is so beautiful this year. It's colors are changing really slowly and I've so been enjoying watching it.

Sweet Jess

Holloween 2009

The Bride of Darkness, a Skeleton and an American girl. Scary.

Kenny and Jack

Kenny took Jack on his first hunting trip a few weekends ago. Jack got to shoot the BB gun he got for his birthday earlier this year. Isn't that top picture cool? The bottom pic is sweet too.Kenny is such a good daddy.

Embroidery Machine

I impulsively bought this machine 3-4 years ago and it has been sitting collecting dust since then. Over the last year, since I've been into sewing again, I've slowly got it out of the box, watched the DVD and finally, this morning, figured out how to use it..and wouldn't you know it, its really cool. I can now tag all of my quilts with fancy labels! Oh, and speaking of my impulsivity (is that a word?) and the buying of expensive machines and not using them right away..... I bought an Accuquilt Go a few months ago and haven't used that yet.....altho, it is out of the box.

Really? A Vera Bradley Backpack? With the tags still on?

If you know me at all, you know I love backpacks. I spied this one last week at the thrift store. $2.80?!? Are you kidding me?! What?! It's half price day?! $1.40?! Cha Ching!! Looked it up on line, and it retails for $75.00. Score!

Fall Wall hanging.

I was inspired by this over at Cluck. Cluck. Sew. She made a pillow cover and thats what I was going to make too, but my tree kept getting bigger and bigger so it turned into a wall hanging.

Down by the river.

Baby Tantrum

Charlotte...practicing what Henry taught her;)

Big Brother Cooper

....beautiful!

Welcome to the world, baby boy!!

After a loooooooong labor (which is just wrong for a second baby.....sorry Sarah-girl) little Dexter John Parisi has made his appearance. Born to Cousin Sarah and John and big brother Cooper, all are doing very well. He's a tiny little guy...6lbs 15ozs.

Happy Birthday, Chuck!!

I Love You, baby!!

What I'm liking lately....

Above: I like these elfy looking stockings (in non-traditional colors, of course)....especially the one all the way to the right. Might have to whip some up. Below: I found a huge bag of vintage patterns for $3 at the thrift store.....felt like I hit the lottery. Again. The thrifting lottery that is.

I like the quilt above because the pattern is super simple yet the quilt looks great.

Danny and Jessica

Danny and his girl, Jessica....ain't they sweet?