Mt. Rushmore and more...

Well, folks, this last week quilting, sewing, or otherwise crafting has been the furthest thing from my mind. We were fortunate enough to have three of our amazing grandkids visit us for the last week. There were days at the pool, a children's museum, a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, and a quick weekend trip to Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding area.

Mt. Rushmore was amazing. The Black Hills are beautiful and Mt. Rushmore is magical.

It's very kid-friendly, and the "Presidential Trail" around the base of Mt. Rushmore lets you get close to the magnificent carvings. One of my grandsons did a report on Gutson Borglum and Mt. Rushmore last year in school, so he filled us in on specifics as we traveled around the site.

We also took advantage of a water park in Rapid City and the next day went to Bear Country USA, which was really amazing. Bear Country is a park where you can observe black bears, grizzly bears, mountain lions, buffalo and more from the comfort of your car. In other words the animals roam free and the people are the ones that are caged. We literally had bears walk right next to our car. One even came up to the front of our car, sat down, and scratched his back on our front bumper. So funny. The kids loved it, and so did we!

They also have a well-kept, clean area where you can view park offspring -- particularly bear cubs.They entertain young and old alike!

I had no idea that the Rushmore area was so incredibly family-friendly and that it has sooo much to do. We could have easily spent four days there and left without seeing everything. So much fun!

Today the grandkids leave, and I'm left to my own devices. That is until another bunch of grandkids descend on us this Sunday for a week. Yay!

As for quilting, sewing, or crafting -- I could care less about that stuff when I've got family visiting!

Ellie's Quilt...

Guess what? I only have 13 more quilt tops & bottoms to make. I already have 15 quilts totally done, 7 quilts at the quilter's home waiting to be professionally quilted, two quilts waiting for binding, and four quilt tops and bottoms in the closet waiting to be transported to the quilter's home for quilting.  So... that leaves a total of 13 left to make. I'm cautiously optimistic that I will finish them all by November.

Today I realized I'd counted one quilt for two grandkids. {That's not going to work.} I was going to make two very similar quilts for those two and ended up making one and counting it for both. Geesh. This is complicated. Anyway, I'm plugging away at these quilts that I'm making for grandkids and kids for Christmas 2017. This week I made four adult size throw/lap quilts {at least 55" x 65"}. Doing that many in that amount of time almost did me in. I'm taking next week off.

Today I completed Miss Ellie's quilt. I love it. Ellie's favorite colors are pink and purple, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping she likes this red and pink quilt. When I saw this adorable floral fabric, it screamed "Ellie"...

That little floral print is seriously one of my favorite fabrics ever. I just love it. Ellie is a girl {almost 6 years old} who knows her own mind and is full of personality. She has three brothers, so this little one has learned to stand up for herself and be counted. I think this vibrant quilt has her name stamped all over it...

These quilts look small compared to the fence, but the fence is actually eight feet tall, so this one is plenty big for a six-year-old. It measure 45" x 55" finished.

I love this "Just Another Walk in the Woods" fabric that I built the quilt around...

The quilt also has sprinkles and lots of polka-dots.

For the back of the quilt I used more pink with a strip of the same fabrics I used on the front...

One more completed, and I'm loving this little quilt for my spunky granddaughter Ellie.

Loving #3...

I am loving #3 quilt who is for Miss T., our four year old granddaughter. It measures 45"x50" -- which is plenty big for her because she is such a little peanut! I don't know what it is about this one -- it's certainly simple -- but I love the design with the cute fabrics...

I've finally figured out how important it is to have white or some other plain fabric to give your eye a rest. The white also frames all the other cute prints and colors. This is just my opinion, of course, not necessarily the experience of a great quilter.

I used a lot of my stash for this fabric. I loved picking all these shades of pink and incorporating them into something fun...

I posted a video recently on my Just Another Hang Up Facebook page about how to join the binding "tails" on a quilt. I followed the simple instructions to a "T" and it worked perfectly!

For the back I used Moda, Just Another Walk in the Woods, Forest Furries in Pink...

...and Camelot Fabrics, Wilderness Arrows White. {Love. Love. Love.}

Those two fabrics together are A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

Once again I used the flower long-arm quilting pattern that I've used on several other quilts. It's perfect  for little girl's quilts...

It was so warm and beautiful outside today -- in the 70's. It makes me want to plant flowers and mow the lawn. In a week or so I'll start cleaning up the yard and planning outside projects! Can't wait!

One down, 39 to go...

Since I arrived home from California I've been doing the proverbial sweat-shop thing and working on my goal of making a lap quilt for every person in our family for Christmas 2017. That didn't seem like such a big deal, till I added us all up. {Yikes.} This is the first one completely finished, but I have seven more waiting to be professionally quilted or with just the binding to be added! This first one is for a little two year old bundle of joy that loves "bink" {pink}. Finished it is 46 inches x 46 inches. Below it is back from the longarm quilter and ready for binding...

I'm new to this quilting thing, and as I was sewing this quilt I was thinking I should have put another constrasting color in it besides pink. It's a little Pepto Bismol-ish. Let's all just think of it as monocromatic, and call it good. This two-year-old peanut loves pink, so it might just be dreamy in her eyes. Here's the finished version...

I mentioned previously that I attended a quilt show last weekend. I looked at all those intricate quilts and realized mine are veerrryyy simple, but I love showcasing the fabrics themselves.The fabrics on this quilt are adorable. Some are from my stash and some are more recently released lines...

Moda, Just Another Walk in the Woods, Tiles A Pretty Cream...

Moda, Just Another Walk in the Woods, Forest Furries Pink

Moda, Just Another Walk in the Woods, Ruffles & Ruffles Dark Pink

Riley Blake, Snug as a Bug, Snails Pink

Riley Blake, Butterfly Dance, Caterpillar Pink

I buy most of my fabrics at Fabric.com. {This is not an endorsement per se, but I do like the ease of ordering online and getting free shipping.}

I have fallen in love with long-arm quilting. Having this quilt professionally quilted made even this all-pink-quilt come alive. The texture professional quilting adds to a piece is amazing. Here's the back of the quilt -- more Forest Furries and scraps of the other fabrics...

One down... 39 to go.

Children's Ice Cream Shop... the big reveal!

A few weeks ago on a blog post I mentioned that I had bought a used TV stand to repurpose into an ice cream shop for children. I finished it shortly after that post and it's time for the reveal. You might remember that I talked the cashier at the thrift store down to $5 for this "beauty." {I'm embarrassingly cheap when it come to repurposing items.}

Here are the steps it took to repupose this TV stand into a fun treat shop for the grandkids...

1. I disassembled it -- the top, kick plate, knobs, and cupboard doors all came off.

At this point, the back of the TV stand became the front of the ice cream shop, so when I refer to the "front" and "back" I am referring to the front and back of the new ice cream shop.

2. I applied a coat of Kilz Original Oil-Based Primer on all the pieces.  I also bought a piece of hard board and cut it to size for the front of the ice cream shop. {There was no "back" on the TV stand before.}

3. I used Behr "One to Remember" and Behr "Misty Isle" to paint the shop. These are beautiful colors reminiscent of peach and mint chocolate chip ice cream -- perfect for the little shop.

4. When the pieces were painted, I reassembled the stand -- turning the top around to the (now) front of the ice cream shop and placing the kick plate on the front of the shop. The hard board was also put on the front of the shop. New knobs were placed on the cupboard doors.

5. I bought two 1-1/4" x 48" round dowels at Home Depot. Two round holes were drilled in the top of the shop. I also cut two 2-1/2" cubes and drilled a hole through both of those. They were glued to the inside of the shop to help secure the bottom of the dowels. {See below.}

6. Strips of cotton were cut 1-1/2" x 16" to make the fabric banner. It was strung across the dowels.

7. A cute ice cream sign was purchased from Amazon to add to the front of the shop.

8. Two "Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Scoop Sets" were purchased. This magnetic play set makes it easy for little ones to scoop up the ice cream and place it on the cones!

The result was more than I'd hoped for... 

The ice cream shop was revealed at our family reunion. It was my hope the little ones would enjoy playing with something new. It did not disappoint...

It was especially fun when the adults got into it and ordered real ice cream from the kiddos. 

From a junkie old TV stand to a fresh new children's ice cream shop, this repurposed item was one of my favorites of all time!

My thanks to Mindi, at My Love 2 Create, for inspiring this project with her Frozen Treat Stand!

And one more thing... aren't my grandkids adorable!?!