My favorite past time...

has got to be sewing! I hear a lot of people say that it seems to be a very stressful hobby, and not one that they would choose. I however find it to be very stress-relieving. Over the last year I have completed several projects, some for fun and some for others.

Below is a quilt I made for the Nebraska MCC Sale. I found the pattern in a magazine and fell in love with it. All the fabrics are polka-dot and the back of the quilt is a brown bubbly fabric, very soft. It is a large log cabin block. Very simple and fun to do! This is another one I made for the MCC Sale. All of this material was given to me and I just started cutting squares and then put them together in this pattern. These were both baby quilts and they sold well.This is a project I was really excited about. I decided to make a headboard for Madalyn's new twin bed. (that is when she finally decides to sleep in it). I found some great fabric online and it was clearanced, so I went with it. All of my supplies: First you start out with lots of batting and you staple it to the plywood. Then you do the same with the fabric. It is really a quite simple project.

The finished project! I am so excited about it! I hope Maddie enjoys it as much as I did making it.

I also added a piece of fabric to the back just to cover up the ugly plywood.

Now on to my next big and fun project! I decided that since we will be moving and Maddie will have her own room, I wanted to make her a quilt to go in her "big girl" room. I found a pattern in another magazine that I loved and it looked simple for my first twin size quilt. Jay Dee even went shopping with me for the fabrics and he actually picked out most of them. Below is what we came up with.

There were several more fabrics that I added as I went along. Below is a photo of part of the quilt top before I had it quilted. I have yet to hand quilt anything myself. Maybe some day I'll get addicted to it like my two sister-in-laws, but so far I'd just rather pay someone else to do it. So after I get the binding on, I will show you the completed project. These are just pictures of some of my trusty supplies...all the beautiful colors of thread.

my trusty sewing machine...

another trusty friend...the hot iron.

On to the next big project...and it was a BIG one!!! I agreed, more like volunteered to make a prom dress for my cousin Kara for her senior prom. She has been dealing with some health problems over the last few years, and I wanted to do something for her, so I thought this would be fun, and it was...but it was a bit stressful too...which before I know I said that sewing isn't stressful to me. But since I had never done anything like this before, the stress levels increased a bit. Thanks to mine and Kara's wonderful Grandma Burford though, we got it done just in time for prom. If it wouldn't have been for Grandma's help with ironing and just talking through things, I'm not sure if it would have gotten completed.

I found this material while Kara was in Michigan so she knew nothing about it. I just had a hunch she'd like the colors and I was right. The green was like a kiwi green and the black was sparkly.

And the completed project... BEAUTIFUL!!! If I do say so myself!

A picture of Kara and her sister Sondra on prom night. Just a side note, I also picked out Sondra's dress from a catalog. I told her about it, so we ordered it, and she loved it! Guess I know what these girls like! Aren't they both just so pretty?

Grandma and I with Kara. I'm surprised we didn't have bigger smiles. We were SO relieved to be done with that dress! But I must say I loved every minute of making it. Memories with my grandma that I will never forget!