By the way....

OH YEAH!!! I passed my test!!! Finally! I needed a 161 to qualify as a teacher in the State of Oregon, and the first 3 times I took it I got a 155. Great if I lived in Arkansas or Alaska, but not so great for an Oregon teacher... Lo and behold, this last time (#4!!), I FINALLY got a qualifying score!! Thank the LORD!!! I'm finally done taking the most useless test on the planet, AND I get to start my Master's degree in January!! I don't know why or how this is, but I am SUPER stoked to be back in college! AhhhH!!!! Must be the crazy in me...

Quilt Number 2!!!

Introducing... the second quilt I've ever made! My mother-in-law decided that it would be in Elise (my sister-in-law) and my best interest to take a quilting class, so she signed us up! Thank GOD for that because we have learned so much!!! The class was 'Beginning Quilting 101' and was at "Let's Quilt!" in Oregon City. It was one Thursday a week for a month, and the goal was that in the 4 weeks worth of class, we would be able to make an entire quilt! And, not just a wall-hanging size one either.. No, it's bigger than a twin! Well, guess what! We did it!!! The quilt here is again the same pattern, but very different fabrics. It is called a Nine-patch and rail quilt. Elise and I worked our BUTTS off each week to complete these and we are so proud of the work we did!!! My mom will be getting mine for her birthday in October. In fact, tomorrow I am going to my mother-in-law's house to start the finishing touches (machine quilting, backing, binding). The next quilt I'm working on is a quilt for my sweet baby nephew-on-the-way! It is going to be absolutely the snuggliest sweetest quilt ever! Sorry sis! No peeking! Also, Elise and I signed up for a second class, that starts on September 10th! We are going to be making a "Martha Washington Star Quilt". Mine is going to be made out of Christmas fabrics. I'll post pics of the fabric soon so you can all see the quilt from start to finish. So anyways, check out my pictures below and let me know what you think!!!

Quilting

Last October, my Sister In-Law Elise and I decided we would like to learn to quilt! Mike's Stepmother, Claudia, is an amazing quilter, and in fact, taught Mike's mom to quilt before she passed away in November of 2002. We thought it would be an honor to be taught by her, and asked if she would help us out! She agreed, and we began our first quilting project. We decided we would both do the exact same quilt pattern, but just use very different fabric. We went shopping in the "Shop of Claudia" (she has more fabric than anyone could imagine!) and both picked out very unique Batik fabrics. Mine were incredibly bright and almost tie-dyed looking. Elise chose darker, more subdued colors. For a few weeks, once a week we would meet at Claudia and Paul's house and work away! Neither of us had sewing machines yet, so we shared Claudia's machine and even got to use Claudia's mother Ann's antique Singer. After a short while, we were done! Check out my work below: