Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Blog Hopping and Hopping Kids

It's my turn in the Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop! I think we all agree that Beth over at Plum and June has been doing a fabulous job organizing this blog hop, from the guest posts to weekly challenges and *everything* in between. Thank you, Beth, and welcome all you hoppers!


So, here's a bit about me! My name is Suzanne and I am a 32 year old teacher-turned-stay-at-home Mama from Wisconsin. I've been married to my college sweetie, Ben, for almost 8 years (our anniversary is next week and I'm actually making him something!!!). We met on our college track team and after a l-o-n-g break, I've started running again and I've recently started training for a half-marathon. Eek! We have two little ones who insist on getting bigger day by day. Charles is 6 and Abigail is 3, lovingly referred to as the boy and the girl:)


I bought myself a sewing machine for Christmas 2010 without ever using one in my life! When my son started school it seemed like I was constantly having to make costumes for one thing or another and I decided it was time to learn how to sew. I have always loved to craft, but we just didn't have a sewing machine in the house growing up. So with the help of my mother-in-law, I figured out how to use my machine and I haven't looked back! Above is a mosaic of all my quilts I have made:)

A bit more about me:

-How long have you been quilting: About two years

      -Favorite quilting tip: Take your time! I have always been the type of person who wants to finish a project ASAP! Quilting (and sewing in general) has taught me to slow down and enjoy the process.

       - Favorite blogging tip: Um. Yeah. I'm still figuring out how I want this blog to work, so I'm probably not the best person to ask! I guess it would be just let your blog be a reflection of you, no one else.


       - Favorite fabric: Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler. It's what started my love affair with fabric! 



       - Favorite quilting tool: Seam ripper, ahem.


       - Favorite music to listen to while quilting: Chris Isaak, Counting Crows, Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Indigo Girls, Otis Redding...I should probably stop there otherwise you will get a complete list of my Pandora stations:)

       - Favorite TV show while hand stitching: Eek! I'm actually in Rachel's Handstitched Camp and I'm loving it. Therefore I've actually had time to craft this summer, otherwise me and the kiddos are outside! My husband and I have recently discovered the Big Bang Theory (don't know why it took us so long!) or we are usually watching some Milwaukee Brewers baseball on TV. Ripping out seems has proven very therapeutic in this lackluster season:)

       - Binding - by hand or by machine? I'm going to make myself hand bind my next quilt...



These above are my current WIPs. I try not to have too many quilts going at once. I currently have three: My Cloudy Skies Rainbow Picnic quilt, my London Baby! quilt (fan of Friends, anyone?), and my Dogwood Medallion quilt for my Handstitched class. My Rainbow quilt actually will go along with the tutorial I have prepared for you today. You can find the tutorial here. Huh, you say? What do picnic quilts and bean bags have in common? When the quilt is finished, I hope you'll pop back in to see! I'll keep you posted!


For now, here is what I plan to use the bean bags for:


*Number recognition for Abigail
*Sorting objects by number
*Teach Abigail how to spell her name:)
*Bean bag toss in the play room when it's too hot to be outside!
*Adding and subtracting practice (using a complete set up to 20)

You could also make this for toddlers to practice stacking. You could make them and give as gifts, too. Such a versatile little project, no??!!



While I was finishing up sewing the bags shut, the boy and the girl stole their 'C' and 'A' bean bags and went outside to play hopscotch. Clever little cookies:)

In case you missed it, here were the two stops earlier in the week.

    Jennifer from Sewlandia
    Nicole from Mama Love Quilts

And now be sure to hop over to Mina from Kindaquilty. I snuck a peak earlier in the week and I can't wait to see what she has to share! Thanks again for stopping by!


29 comments:

  1. Great post Suzanne. I love reading these - so fun to learn more about you and see your great projects. And it seems the big bang theory is very popular among us blog hoppers - definitely one of my faves. I already commented on your tutorial and I still love that pic! I look forward to the rainbow quilt.

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  2. Enjoyed reading your post and learning about you!

    Love your mosaic of quilts - such fab colours!

    The bean bag tutorial is great! I made a stash of bean bags that I really should dig back out for my kids to play with. Love the idea of painting numbers and letters on them!

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  3. nice to read about you. I too bought my 1st sewing machine without ever having used one! never looked back!

    Love your beanbags. they are so simple yet versatile. it's fun for the kids to have a mama who makes things! (A smaller version of bean bags with sand in them are great for juggling...)

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  4. Hello, I really like the colors and fabric choices that you used on your bean bags and your projects.

    Your just discovering the Big Bang Theory? Tip: Watch Season 1. I laughed myself silly through the 1st few episodes :)

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  5. I love the bean bags, they look beautiful and are functional too! I think they would make a great present. I love the Big Bang Theory, the last series has just finished over here in the UK. I like the fact that it's comedy that translates just through speech, so I can look at my sewing and still get the jokes.
    Cute kiddiwinks too!

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  6. Those bean bags are fabulous! I definitely need to make a set for my sons. We're working on colors (my oldest is two) but I can see numbers and letters coming in useful in the very near future! :)

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  7. So nice to meet you on teh Blog Hop!! I am yet to discover the Big Bang Theory - where have I been, under a rock (or in the sewing room!!)? Yikes!!

    LOVE your beanbags - the painting is a great idea (I'm not so great at applique!!).

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  8. Nice to meet you! I love the freezer paper stencilling - I have yet to try that. Your bean bags are so cute!

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  9. Hi Suzanne! Nice to meet you and thanks for sharing! You are quite accomplished for someone who only started sewing two years ago! The bean bags are so cute and versatile. We love The Big Bang Theory, too, but only recently started watching the syndicated shows. Don't know what took so long!

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  10. Love your story. The bean bags are really cute as well. I can't believe you bought a sewing machine two years ago and now you are so accomplished!

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  11. Suzanne, I love these!! I'm also a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom, and I'm always looking for projects I can make that will be fun and educational at the same time. My girls would adore these bean bags...I'll have to make some this year. So great to get to know you!!

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  12. Fun little project! Thanks for sharing & glad to 'meet' you along the hop!

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  13. These are such fun - what a great idea! Nice to meet you on the blog hop:-)

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  14. Everyone loves the Big Bang theory - believe me you wouldn't anymore once you saw the dubbed version of it.
    I like those bean bags, a snowball fight in the summer, a few minutes in the microwave and you have little heating cushions for the sore shoulders from hours spent on the sewing machine ... a little bit of juggling is possible too

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  15. Lovely to meet you! You've made some beautiful quilts:)

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  16. So nice to meet you! I love the little bean bags...such a cute idea!

    Vicki @ Quilting Lodge

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  17. Loving the bean bags - My little ones are all grown now but I'm thinking these could be cute gifts for big kids too :) ChrissieD (the Blog Hop Late Starter!)

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  18. My daughter will love these bean bags! I'm in Handstitched Camp with you, a little behind on my projects :(

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  19. It's nice to meet you :) Those bean bags are really cute, I don't have any kids, but I can think of some games for adults that would be great for those. The "toss" game. :)

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  20. So nice to meet you:) I didn't like the BBT until recently and I love it now as it so funny!

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  21. Bean Bags - how cute! My grandson would love them with his name on them! Although my first thought was of the adult bean bag toss game. lol! Nice to meet you on the hop!

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  22. Nice to meet you and welcome to the wonderful world of quilting and blogging. Your bean bag idea is really fun for helping the kids learn letters and numbers. I'm like you in that I'm still trying to figure the blog thing out. Good luck with it all.

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  23. Hi Suzane, nice to meet you. You have made some beautiful quilts. The bean bags are such a nice idea.

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  24. These bean bags are so fun and could have great applications in an elem. school classroom. Just catching up on the Plum and June blog hop! Nice to meet you:)

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  25. Nice to meet you! Your quilts are beautiful! I am in the Handstitched Class too, I am so behind already :D. Big Bang Theory is a great show to hand sew too! It took my husband and I awhile to start watching it as well. It didn't seem like our thing and than all the sudden we were obsessed with it. LOL!

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  26. Nice to meet you. I think that your bean bags are very cute! Di x

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  27. I love ur bean bags. What a great idea for training both maths and some spelling. Thanks for sharing.

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  29. These are great!!! I am planning on making these for my son's Kindergarten class and I was wondering how many beans you used per bag...a cup, half cup etc. ?

    Thanks

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