I have SO many pretty vintage hankies that were my mother's and my grandmother's. They are too pretty to keep hidden in a drawer or to blow your nose on !!! (even though that was their original purpose ......yuck!) So...... what to do with them ? 
How about wrapping them around plastic or wood Easter eggs and tie up with some ric rac !!! REALLY easy to do !!! 
Well it's April already !!! And hopefully we'll be seeing some pretty colors outside soon ! ( Still gray and muddy here in Northeast Pa.) 
Well I goofed and forgot to post yesterday for my March finish at Elm Street Quilts One-Monthly-Goal .... BUT I actually did accomplish my March goal ..... pretty much. My goal was to machine quilt 1/3 -> 1/2 of this baby quilt. I got 1 out of 3 houses quilted ..... so I'm gonna call it a win ( at least in my book that 's a win.....) . I'm machine quilting using my walking foot ( because I'm really lousy at free motion quilting ..... oh well ..... hoping that will improve one of these days!). Anyhow, I'm pretty happy with how this is coming out so far ..... the wavy lines on the roof to look like shingles ......
.......and the outline quilting around the clouds and windows etc. I have to say even though this is not a huge quilt, it's still not easy to wrestle it around to stitch around the clouds ..... my shoulders are getting a workout !!! 
But this batting seems to be making everything stay in place nicely !!! This is the first time I'm using Warm & White and I have to say , so far I'm 
Arriving in my mailbox today from Catching Stitches was this luscious fresh as Spring Fig Tree Coney Island jelly roll and layer cake ....... it is SO pretty !!! I plan to use the jelly roll to make the Fig Tree Ferris Wheel pattern (eventually). I'll have to look through my layer cake patterns to decide which one will work best so I don't hyperventilate by cutting these pretties up too much !!! I just love each and every one of the fabrics in this bunch ....... I think so many of them would sew up into a cute summer shift / sundress or skirt too !!!!
.......and a little happy message ( that is such a good reminder ) came innocently wrapped around the layer cake ..... the Bonnie and Camille selvedge that says "You do not find the happy life .... you make it" . So ...... SEW ON and make some happy !!!!
Well there's never a lull in the action in the quilting world !! There are SO many activities going on to participate in that it can make your head SPIN !!!!! One is the 12 months, 12 designers, 12 contests that Moda is hosting. I missed January, but the February designers were Sweetwater. Their contest assignment was to make a 6 inch block ( or more than one if you're more organized than I am) ..... and you had to use Sweetwater fabric. 
So, I have a basket of their "Noteworthy" scraps that I just LOVE and thought would make for some cute Beach Houses !! 
Next on the agenda is this baby quilt .... I'm signing up again for Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March edition to keep my momentum going and get this baby quilted ..... or half quilted (at least !!!) 
Baby quilt basted ....... check ! That's it ..... just one baby quilt basted . Knowing how I roll, I only set myself up for a simple little goal for the February 
......and there it is ..... Ta Daaaaaa !!!! Now you may not think this is a big deal, but I'm feeling rather proud of myself for ignoring oh so many other things that I really should be doing and spending an hour focusing on accomplishing this teeny tiny goal. And now I'm motivated to start quilting this baby !!! In fact ..... I think I'll make that my goal for March ..... but of course I'm not about to overwhelm myself and say the whole thing will be quilted by the end of the month ....... unless of course my fairy godmother plans on making an appearance to declutter my house and get all my stacks of paperwork for the day job all caught up. No ..... nope .... lets just go with getting 1/3 -> 1/2 of the quilting finished . Yep ..... I think just taking small bites at a time is the way to go !
So..... here is this year's Valentine's project ..... put together at the very last possible minute ( well not quite ... I guess if it was 11:59 it would be the last possible minute ) . Anyway , this is a simple, easy mug rug I put together really quickly when I really didn't have the time to step over and shove over piles of work I should be doing instead !) 
First I made 2 different size paper heart patterns. The smaller heart is about 3/4 inch smaller all around than the larger heart.
I used pinking shears to cut out a red wool felt heart from the larger pattern. 
Next, using the smaller heart pattern, cut out 2 fabric hearts and 1 heart out of batting. (I just had to use my I Love Lucy fabric ! Perfect for this project !! )
Layer the batting to the wrong side of one of the fabric hearts.
Next layer the fabric/batting combo on top of the other fabric heart , right sides together.
Now with 1/4" seam allowance , stitch all the way around the heart sandwich , through all 3 layers. 
Clip the curves and the point to make smoother turning. Also, I found it helpful to trim the seam allowances around the curves for smoother turning and less bulk. Careful not to cut into your seam !
Now pull the layers apart.....
and CAREFULLY cut about a 2 inch slit in the fabric heart . Now turn the heart out to the right side through this slit. No need to stitch up the slit since it will be covered by the wool felt heart. 
Smooth out your points and curves and press.
Last step : layer your fabric heart (slit side down) on the wool felt heart. Stitch 1/4" around the entire fabric heart to attach it and quilt it. You can stop there or do more quilting on the fabric heart ( maybe more smaller concentric hearts or cross hatch) .
So there it is ..... my quick and easy Valentine Mug Rug ! Perfect with my I Love Lucy mug!!! Happy sewing and Happy Valentine's Day !!!
(SIGH) .......OK ....... so here we are a month later and so much for my big plan to participate in the January "One Monthly Goal" by Elm Street Quilts. I was all"I plan to spend just 10 - 20 minutes a day sewing" blah blah blah . OK .... so that didn't happen . Let's just move on to this month's "One Monthly Goal" challenge ...... which I signed up for at the last possible minute ...... well I signed up with just 2 hours left until the deadline ( thus the title of this blog post )
ANYWAY ....... this is my February goal. This is a baby quilt I started about 2 years ago for my niece's baby ( who is now 15 months old).
I finished up all the applique ......
and now my goal is to get it basted , quilted, and get the binding on and send this quilt off to my niece and her baby girl before that baby girl is old enough to go to college !!!!! OK ...... so maybe basting, quilting AND binding is biting off way more than I can chew for a one month goal ........ so lets just go with getting this thing basted ....... anything else that gets done from now until the end of February will be icing on the cake !!! I better get moving ...... February is a short month !!!! Here's the link Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal February
