New Year, New Me!

Hey everyone -- long time no blog! I'm pretty excited about the coming year, and I've got a REALLY great plan in place to be successful at this blogging business (which isn't a business at all for me -- I'm not monetized!).

So, here's the plan. For this year, I am working on something really special -- something that's been on my mind for at least a couple of years -- a Quilt Along!

Now, I recognize that I've been pretty silent for a long time, so I assume that it will have to gain a little traction before anyone is actually quilting along... haha. That's okay! You can start whenever you like, and go at whatever pace you like -- so if you're just starting out with my blog and it's June and you still want to do it, then DO IT!

If you're interested in Quilting Along with me, I'll be sharing my first post in about a week and a half -- we're starting January 7. ♥

And, since just about every post needs a pretty picture... here's a little teaser about what I'm doing...

The Olympics!!! (a quilt tutorial)

Hurray, hurray -- the Olympics are here!!  I have a new friend (Jen from Heritage Threads) who just wrote up a blog post -- and it explains EXACTLY how I've always felt about the Olympics! You should totally check it out, it's so stinking cute, and so is her mini Olympic rings quilt!

 

So, here's the backstory on this quilt: When our girls chose "The Olympics -- Go for the Gold" for our Girls Camp theme, I immediately thought about making a quilt. A quilt with the Olympic rings, and the rest just as GOLD as I could make it! And I decided to make it not just for YW Camp, but so I could use it for the Olympics later this summer, and for the Olympics to come. I really wanted to finish it up in time for Camp, but didn't quite make it in time. But I did have it finished in time for the 2016 Rio Opening Ceremonies!

 

 



And I had the foresight to take a BUNCH of pictures along the way -- because I just know I'm not the only one who wants a quilt for the Olympics! Have fun!

 

OLYMPICS QUILT TUTORIAL

 

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS:



• {92} 5 1/2" squares (I used assorted yellows and golds)
• {1} 30 1/2" x 40 1/2" background piece
• assorted scraps for rings and words
• Heat-n-Bond Lite (I just used scraps)

 

1. I laid them some plates on my FAVORITE quilt (it's the perfect size), to kind of test out how big the pattern would be, then used those plates to trace a ring.

 

After I decided to use those bigger plates, I used another plate to make what I think is just about perfect. (I think the little one is 6" and the other is 10".)

  

2. I traced the rings on freezer paper, which was a FANTASTIC idea. You'll see why later!

 

3.  I cut out the circle EXACTLY on the outside line, then folded it in half and marked the line formed between the two rings. I repeated, folding again and again, until I had 16 segments. I didn't take a picture, but after I had the 16 segments, I cut out the middle, about 1/4" from the line. Then, I cut along ONE of the lines, to make a little opening so I could layer the rings just like they do in the official Olympics logo.

 

 

4. Now for the fun part -- fabric selection! I have 16 different fabrics for each ring, so I trimmed each fabric I was using to about 4" x 5". There was a little waste, but I really loved using that smaller size, rather than trying to figure out how to fit my large sections of fabric to the little freezer paper sections.



 

5. I used the freezer paper as a paper-piecing template. When I want to be REALLY precise, I really love to paper piece! And for the Olympics, precision seemed like the thing to do. :)

 

I pressed the first fabric to the freezer paper, adhering the wrong side of the fabric to the freezer paper. Then I lined up a second fabric to one side of the first fabric, making sure there was at least 1/4" for a seam allowance. Then I flipped over the freezer paper and sewed with a shortened stitch length along the line, all the way to the edge of the paper. (And I always did at least two at a time, so I didn't waste much thread.) Then I trimmed the seam, as needed, and pressed the second fabric to the freezer paper.

*One little trick I've learned with paper piecing is to trim the first fabric I'm using to about 1/4" away from the seam I'm about to sew. To do that, I fold the fabric along the line, then trim with fabric scissors. It really helps to line up that second fabric!

 

6.  After all my rings were pieced, I made five more rings, this time on the back of some Heat-n-Bond Lite and cut away about 1/4" from each edge, plus cut one line through the ring (just like you did with the freezer paper). In retrospect, I wish I had folded under the sides and appliqued the rings onto the quilt, but it was so much easier to do it this way! Plus, I used the raw-edge applique technique for the words, so I thought it would probably match better that way.

 

*You can use the centers of these pieces for some of the letters, if you choose to do so.

7. Working with one ring at a time, I carefully peeled away the freezer paper from the back of the ring, then adhered the Heat-n-Bond to the BACK of the ring. Then I trimmed on the line, and pulled the backing away from the Heat-n-Bond. (It totally helps to mark at least a couple of the markings on the paper part of the Heat-n-Bond so you can line things up juuust right.)

 

Here they are, in all their glory -- they look so good!!

 

8. After that, adhere the rings to the 30 1/2" x 40 1/2" backing fabric, interlocking as shown in the Olympic logo (I just googled it!). Stitch them down, one by one, starting and stopping as needed for the "interlocking" to work.

9. I figured out which fabrics I wanted to use for the words, and laid them out in order. Then I adhered the Heat-n-Bond, cut them out, adhered them, and stitched... and stitched... and stitched... for DAYS. But it was SUCH a quick finish once I was done with that part. :) The rest is super simple!

10. After that, I laid out my squares and stitched it all together! I first put 6 squares together in a column, then attached those to one side of the background piece, then repeated for the other side. Then I made the top (2 rows of 10) and bottom pieces (6 rows of 10), and attached them to the top & bottom of the quilt center.

Then, I sent it off to the quilter, and I am so, SO happy I did! My friend Marion, who blogs at My Quilt Diet, is an AMAZING quilter, and I just love everything she did! (She recently blogged another quilt I made HERE.) So, prepare for a picture overload -- I took these the day I brought the quilt home, which happened to be Friday, August 6th, the day of the Opening Ceremonies!! It wasn't bound yet, but I just couldn't help myself, even with a little storm rolling in -- it was just so pretty!

Please note: I mostly used sunny, bright fabrics to make this a really great "Go for the Gold" quilt, but it also made it feel VERY summer-like, so I backed it mostly in this pretty sun fabric from Vanessa Goertzen (it's my favorite!) -- but the Olympics is during the winter half the time, so I included just a strip of this DARLING snowman fabric from Lori Holt. :) Marion did such a great job making it nice and straight with the front of the quilt!

And... of course there were some outtakes! We had a bit of a wind (there was a small storm that was coming), and my #1 Quilt Holder wasn't too excited to show his face... I have to be pretty quick to get a shot of this handsome boy!

Thank you for sticking with me this far! I sure hope you liked my quilt -- I'm absolutely in love with it -- I love it almost as much as the Olympics!!

2016 Primary & Youth Cross Stitch

I was recently called to be the Primary Chorister in my ward*. I was super sad to leave Young Women, because I truly had such love in my heart for those good kids! But I love those cute little Primary guys too -- even the naughty boys in back who think they're too cool to sing. They're not too cool when I threaten them with solos! (hee hee hee -- I might be just a little bit ornery about that.)

*in my church, the members are "called to" or "released from" certain positions as needed -- we don't do it for pay, it's all volunteer. We believe that Heavenly Father calls us to these positions through the Bishop, Stake President, or other leaders. The Primary Chorister leads the singing time for Jr. and Sr. Primaries -- meaning the kids from 3-12 that attend our ward. In our ward, we have a BUNCH of little guys, so they are split into two groups and I teach them church songs.

So, I decided to make a new cross stitch for General Conference -- my Young Women torch is almost done! And since I'm in Primary, I thought a simple, fun Primary theme pattern would be good.  I came up with a boy and a girl version, as you can see here:

2016 Primary Theme - Girl

2016 Primary Theme - Boy

But then a funny thing happened last Tuesday -- the Stake Executive Secretary called me to meet with the Stake Presidency. I went in with no expectations at all -- I thought I might be on a panel discussion or something -- and lo and behold, I am now the Stake Camp Director! (This means I'm in charge of all the Young Women at our annual week-long Young Women Camp -- and there are about 400 or so girls in our Stake!) So I've been secretly pinning my heart out with ideas for Girls Camp, and came across some really fun stuff by Amanda at jedicraftgirl, it's so nice to have a resource like that! I made my boards public this morning, since I was sustained Sunday, and now that I'm in Young Women again, I thought I'd modify my original patterns for the youth as well.  They turned out so nice!

2016 Youth Theme - Young Women

2016 Youth Theme - Young Men

Specs
Fabric Requirements: one package of 15" x 18" 14 ct Aida will yield two different themes (just cut in half so you get two 9" x 15" pieces) -- trim as necessary after finishing the piece. I used white Aida for the boy version and oatmeal Aida for the girl version.

Floss: You can follow my color recommendations, or come up with your own!
For the boy version, I just used scraps of thread I had already used in other projects, but stayed pretty true to the colors in the cross stitch pattern.
For the girl version, I will use these six colors:

• DMC White
• DMC 745, Yellow - LT PALE
• DMC 761, Salmon - LT
• DMC 3712, Salmon - MED
• DMC 3808, Turquoise - ULT VY DK
• DMC 3825, Pumpkin - PALE

I didn't include beginner instructions for this pattern, since I've already put out something similar with the Young Women torch and Provo Temple cross stitches. If you need anything more than what I've included here, please let me know -- but I think any information you need will be either in this post or in those beginning instructions.

And once again, here are the links for each pattern:
2016 Primary Theme - Girl
2016 Primary Theme - Boy
2016 Youth Theme - Young Women
2016 Youth Theme - Young Men

I have to admit, I've already started on my own cross stitches -- I just couldn't wait for Conference to start! I really wanted to get one completely done so I could show it, and I just finished last night.  Here it is, in a 5" x 7" frame:

Please let me know if you complete any of these patterns. Just email me at smileynann@yahoo.com -- I'd love to see them!

General Conference is coming!

EDITED: Since I've received so many requests for this pattern, I've made a Google doc for the instructions and the patterns. You can view all of them through the link on HERE on my Free Cross Stitch Patterns page -- I hope you enjoy them!  Please let me know at smileynann@yahoo.com if you've made either of these -- I'd LOVE to see! :)

It's not often I talk about religion -- but with five kids you know I'm either Mormon or Catholic, right? :) I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and sometimes we're called Mormons. And twice every year, our church has a General Conference, two days of meetings (always at 10:00 and 2:00 for 2 hours each, and another meeting just for the men of the church. The ladies have a similar meeting a week before General Conference).  Many people outside of the western United States have to dress up and go to their local ward (church) building to watch the broadcast, but you can now stream live online at lds.org. Or, if you're around Utah, you can watch it on TV, and sometimes our family calls it Pajama Church. :)

I just love General Conference time. It's always a really peaceful couple of days; we're all together as a family, and the kids know they need to be quiet so we can listen. I've been surprised at how much they really absorb, even though they're playing with cars or dollies in the corner. There are so many wonderful talks -- and the Spirit is so strong - I always feel SO recharged when we're done. And now I'm done preaching at you, and we'll get to the reason why I'm even talking about it.

When I was growing up, my Mom was pretty strict. We were pretty young when we were required to watch all four sessions of Conference -- and for kids whose Mom didn't let them watch much TV, it was a pretty clear indicator to us that she thought it was important. One of my favorite things to do during Conference was to have a cross stitch project. It kept my hands busy and gave me something to do when the talks got a little long. :)

Lately, I've been working on the "Once Upon a Time" sampler from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. It's so, so darling -- follow those links! I haven't gotten very far, and I've found a girl on Instagram (@lumablumahandmade) who is doing the storybook names instead of month names in each block, which I really like. The biggest thing I'm planning to change is the month of March -- it's my birthday month, and I just REALLY don't want to use the three little pigs for my month, even though the big bad wolf is so darling!

So, I'm a little overwhelmed by how behind I am. I started in March, so I was already behind, and I've only completed one full month. And, since I'm the Mia Maid counselor in my ward, I thought the Young Women might really like to have a simple little free project to work on during Conference. They have a symbol, a torch with a girl made of flames.  Is she the original "Girl On Fire"? I think so!  I found a cross stitch pattern on Pinterest that I really liked, but it linked directly to an image and I can't find the original source. It was hand-drawn, and I wanted something a little more professional and easy to read. So, I worked my magic and made a pattern for my girls. Since it was a free pattern in the first place, and quite simple, I think it's probably okay to distribute -- so if you want a copy, I'm happy to email it to you. Just comment with your address and I'll send it to you as quickly as possible. {EDIT} just follow the link at the top to get the instructions and charts you need!

Isn't she cute?!

 



** Random story: When I was a Young Woman (ages 12-18) myself, I took a sweet little Precious Moments coloring page, and the Young Theme, and made a cross stitch pattern of both. It turned out so so cute! I ended up making two -- and giving them to both my sisters. :)  Before my little girls are in Young Womens, I'd love to make them each one too!

Since you need choices in your life, I also made a Provo Temple cross stitch pattern, but I used a pattern from etsy for the Angel Moroni, so I don't feel comfortable distributing that part of the pattern.  But here's the part I used; it took quite a long time to work up, and I'm so happy with how it turned out!

And I last-minute had to reverse the Angel Moroni -- you want to make sure the Angel Moroni is pointing the right way! Again, just comment with your email and I'll send my part of it. {EDIT} just follow the link at the top to get the instructions and charts you need!   And then you can have a great General Conference project too!