no pins.....

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We spent ours up in the Bay Area (right outside of San Francisco for all of you who are not familiar with California) with family. We only go up a few times a year and it is always a joy when we do! It was also where this quilt found it's new home.

I made this quilt as a gift for my sister in laws birthday, which was back in August....but better late than never, right?

Since we were going up for Thanksgiving, I decided to rush it's finish so that I could give it to her in person.

Now normally I don't like to rush the finishing of a quilt, but this time actually forced me to try something that I haven't had the nerve to do yet...

 

machine bind an entire quilt with no pins!! I can't even tell you how exciting this was for me, the whole time I kept looking at my husband going "I can't believe I am actually doing this". Amazingly it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and took a fraction of the time it does when pinning. I didn't get a picture of me sewing it to the front of the quilt, but that was done without pins also. 

Here is what it looked like when finished. 

I didn't have enough time to picture the finished quilt before leaving, so we did it while my sister in law was out shopping, before giving it to her. I really love the simplicity of this quilt and have a feeling it is a style I will play with more in the future. In the beginning, I was nervous about leaving solid squares, but it turned out to be one of my favorite features of the quilt.

Quilted with diaginal lines in both directions, but not in similar patterns. 

Which you could really see on the back of the quilt.

 Just in case anyone is curious this quilt was made with Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line and Kona cotton in Ash and Snow. I have been on an Ash kick for awhile now, I think it may be time for me to give another solid a try!!

slow going

Just a few things that I am focusing on.....

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you celebrating 

and have an awesome weekend to those who are not!

I don't wanna.....

Sadly, this past friday was my birthday (Izzy thinks all birthdays are her's).

Why do I start the sentence with sadly you ask...well because it marked the start of my last year in my thirties. I know that for most people this is no big deal, but for me it was a hard. I have no desire to be 40!! I just don't like the sound of it....I like 30 something much better. So to make my self feel better, I took a birthday trip to the Purl warehouse here in Socal and bought myself these little pretties..

Liberty of London can chase away the worst of moods! That and my awesome husband taking me away for the weekend (without the children) made the fact that I was 39 feel much better. Although, I have warned everyone that next year we are skipping the day!! I don't wanna.....

I was able to sew up a few new ipad covers yesterday...

One or my sister, made with Heather Ross's Far Far Away 2 and lined with some Liberty to keep her screen nice and safe from scratches.

And a new one for me, made with some cool Echino.

The two together really represent the two of us really well....

I forgot to get pictures of the backs, but I incorporated the same zipper pocket on the back, like the one I made months ago.

I also knitted Izzy a new pair of socks last week. It was my first time knitting child size socks and I love it. They are a breeze to get through, since they are so small.

She loves them and wears them all the time, totally worth making!!