Keep Me In Stitches

What was I thinking?

2012-01-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't feel like I had nearly enough unfinished projects cluttering up my sewing room, so I decided to jump in on a couple of sew alongs.

When Anne from Bunny Hill announced that she was having a Dresden sew along this year, I decided to dig out my old Delilah dresdens that I started clear back in...who knows. I spent two days flipping blades, ironing, and arranging into plate groups, and have started sewing them together. My original plan was to make a quilt for my bed, but now, I am thinking I must be nuts, because I would FREAK OUT every time one of the boys, or the husband, flopped down on my bed. Now maybe I will just hang it on the wall behind my headboard.

Four down, 16 to go! And don't worry, I won't be putting them on fuschia backgrounds! They will be soft and sweet on white backings, hopefully with tiny yellow dots if I can ever find some somewhere other than Joann's!

The other sew along I joined was the Swoon-Along with ImAGingerMonkey. I bought the Swoon pattern, and my fabrics back in June, during the shop hop, but I never started the quilt, this was just the inspiration I needed. I am making my quilt out of a mixture of Sew Cherry, and Cherry Fizz. This quilt is just for me, can you tell =0P

I made my first block last saturday, and it took me literally all day long. I started at about 7:30 AM and finished at about 8:00 PM. Of course I had to take about two hours out of that to run to the quilt shop for replacement fabric that I screwed up which is another adventure all in itself. I had been there the day before and they had a bolt of the yellow check Cherry Fizz on the clearance shelf. It was about half gone, and I thought about buying some more, but didn't. So when I messed up, I really wasn't worried and off to the quilt shop I went. But guess what? The entire bolt, and every last fat quarter was gone! I panicked and asked the girl in the shop if she knew if they had sold it, or if the bold was behind the cutting counter. She checked for me and no bolt. UGH, what was I going to do? Then she said she would check the swatch drawer and see if they had a little piece of it in there and they did! it was a strip about 4" wide! She asked if that was enough and I said yes, I just needed four pieces 3.5" X 6.5"!

So I came home and finished up my block and after spending all day working on it...I didn't like it! I was so bummed! I don't know if it's the red and white dot background, or the fact that there's not enough contrast between the colors, or what it is, I just don't like it. I was really bummed. I posted my obligatory pic on flickr and one of the other Swoon-along participants said the sweetest thing "They can't all be the star, some of them have to be the supporting cast" and instantly I felt so much better! This not so little block is just fine, it will be a sweet back up to a fabulous block!

So check out the links above if you are crazy, like me, and don't feel like you have enough unfinished projects going on =0P

Well, hello there!

2012-01-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

Wow, it seems like I have been gone forever, and I wish I had tons of fun things to show you, things that I made in my time away, but sadly...I don't.

This year I was very ambiguous about Christmas, I just didn't really care, and because of that, there was an acute lack of home made gifts. I did make a pillow case for my sister-in-law, and a commissioned quilt for a cute little three year old girl, but that's it.

I was contacted in October and asked if I would be willing to make a doll quilt for a little girl for Christmas. My gut reaction was NO!!! I have made quilts for other people in the past and it has never gone well. They don't appreciate them, or recognize how much time, effort, and love goes into a hand made quilt. But something in my heart told me to say yes this time. Maybe it was the idea that I would get to make something pink and girly when I have all these boys at my house =0P But I did say yes, and I am so glad that I did. Laura restored my faith in mankind. She showed genuine appreciation for my work, and I felt so much better making this quilt for her, than I have for any of the other people I have made them for. It was a really good experience for me.

This is the quilt that I made for Laura's little granddaughter.

I even made a little matching pillow, with pillow case, from the scraps =0)

I also joined in the holiday mug rug swap. I sent this mug rug to my partner.

Along with a little bracelet with sewing themed charms that I made.

And received this cute little mug rug in return...

Went to the first band concert for these two (Don't worry, I finally broke down and cut their hair!)

Played board games with my boys, went Christmas caroling at the nursing home on Christmas Eve, had family dinners, and played more games, sang more carols, tore my sewing room apart to instal the 8' counter top that B gave me for Christmas and then had to put it all back together again (Still working on bits and pieces of that) and finally sent the boys back to school at the end of Christmas break with a big sigh of relief that it was all over with and life could get back to normal!

How was your Christmas?

Shrinky Dink Fun

2011-11-13T08:32:00.001-08:00

If you've ever worried how you are going to keep your children from killing each other during a long, rainy, cold day, maybe I suggest you grab your 40% off coupon, jump in your car and make a mad dash to Michaels, or Hobby Lobby and buy a package of Shrinky Dink Plastic.

It was about $6 (Before coupon) and there are ten sheets of plastic.

My kids spent the ENTIRE day together and didn't argue once, we made shrinky dinks all day long and we had a ball!

Here is a view of most of what we made. Each of the boys made a key tag for their house key. I made the cherries tag for my new car keys =0) I made the little vintage trailer for our trailer keys. I think my kids had more fun making things out of the little scraps than they did making their actual item. They made little things to put on their shoelaces, their zipper pulls, their backpacks. We didn't even use two full sheets! We still have eight sheets left!

We are spending the day at Grandmas today and I am going to take the shrink plastic with us to curb the "I'm boreds" and maybe grandma will have fun making one too =0)

Keeping Busy

2011-10-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

I have been so busy at work lately that I come home pooped and have no energy left for crafting. Things are finally starting to slow down a little though, so hopefully I will get my craft on soon.

This past weekend my mom, sister and I had our twice yearly girls sewing weekend. The guys all went golfing, the kids played with their cousins, and the girls hid out in mom's sewing room making tree skirts. I didn't get very far on mine because I decided to be sick that day *Sigh* so mine is only pieced and basted. I love the way our different personalities come out in our projects, even though we all make the same thing.

Last night I was browsing through pintrest and came across the photo of a crocheted minion hat. I LOVED IT and thought "I could easily do that" so PF and I ran to Wally World for some yellow yarn and off I went.

In hindsight I wish I hadn't put the space between his goggles, it looks kinda weird to me. And I made his mouth so it's saying "Whaaaaaa" cuz that was my favorite part of the whole movie =0)Now my other two boys want one too. Guess I know what I will be up to for the next few days!

Going Batty!

2011-09-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just around the corner! Are you excited? I am, I love Halloween!

My husband however...loathes Halloween. He kinda rains on my parade sometimes LOL But I don't care, I just go crazy decorating without him.

Christmas however? He goes NUTS at Christmas =0)

DQS11 Received!

2011-08-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, round 11 of the Doll Quilt Swap is winding down. My little quilt has been mailed away, and my new little quilt has arrived.

I was so excited to open this, I knew exactly which one it was as soon as I saw the backing fabric! I loved this soft, sweet, little quilt. There is just something about it that gives me little heart sighs and I'm glad I get to keep it and hang it on MY wall, not be jealous because it went to someone else =0P

Isn't it darling?

She sent me fun little goodies as well! A little packet of scraps which I plan to use on a matching mug rug for my nightstand. Some new pins Hooray, a used needle case, and an adorable little pin cushion that went straight into my handwork bag =0) Now I will be able to take this little piece of happy along with me when I take my handwork.

Thank you SO MUCH to Adrienne for this darling quilt that I absolutely love!

Random things

2011-08-19T09:20:00.001-07:00

My DQS11 quilt is all finished and ready to be mailed off in the next day or two. I am so pleased with how it turned out and I hope my partner loves it as much as I do.

My baby went off for his first day of sixth grade. Nothing makes you feel older than realizing it's your last year as an elementary school mom. And even harder because I don't work at his school anymore. I took a position in a Jr. High when they discontinued my reading program due to budget cuts.

We went to visit the UP! House. I could totally see myself living here, but it's massively overpriced! I can't see myself paying that much for a house this small!

I weeded my flowerbeds and took pictures of little friends found there, while PF stood at the ready with a bottle of bug spray in case any of the hornets came too close. I'm not sure a hornet sting would have the same effect as a bee sting, but he wasn't taking any chances! And for the record, ant spray will drop a hornet like a hot rock, but doesn't kill it.

Watched a beautiful sunset.

How was your week?

PS Mrs. JP, I always want to respond to your sweet comments, but I can't comment on your blog (says I'm not allowed) and I want to see pictures of your mug rugs!

Another night, another new recipe

2011-08-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

In my pleading for dinner ideas, my friend Reina sent me OurBestBites It was there that I came across the menu for tonight's dinner Cowboy Quesadillas

My picky eater #1 didn't like them at all, picky eater #3 said he would like them without the beans and the tomatoes. B said he liked them but I'm not convinced.

Picky eater #2, my mom, my sister and I all loved them. So it's a toss up on this one. I'm not sure, but I think I will make them again and maybe just make sandwiches for the kids that night. Who knows.

A Culinary Success!

2011-08-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

So last night I bit the bullet and tried something new, and what do you know? It worked!

We made Ham and Cheese Roll Ups. I used sliced Virginia Ham from the deli, and shredded Colby Jack cheese because it's what we had. These kinda remind me of hot pockets, only, you know...eddible LOL

Not as simple to throw together as I expected, but still tasty and I see so many possibilities here.

Add scrambled eggs for a yummy breakfast sandwhich (Can you say Christmas Morning?)
Add peppers =0)
Add Pepperoni and Mozzarella and dip in Marinara sauce (For the boy, not for me, yuck)
Roast beef, green peppers and Swiss
hmmmmm

I'm also liking the idea of cinnamon and sugar. Wonder how that would work...

Confessions of a failed Mormon Housewife

2011-08-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know, I may even get kicked out of the church for this confession =0P but here goes.

I HATE cooking! I am horrible at it, I can take a perfectly well written and easy recipe, and totally screw it up.

I'm not kidding, I have been married 16 years and still can't make Jello (See why I have a lingering fear of excommunication? Can you be a Mormon and not be able to make Jello?, isn't that in the rule book somewhere?)

All kidding aside, I am a terrible cook, so I don't enjoy it. None of us like to do the things we suck at, right?

The bad news is, we eat out...a lot! Like seriously 5-6 times a week! It's BAD! I'm fat, I am teaching my kids terrible eating habbits, and if they didn't have metabolisms that function at warp speed, they would be fat too! I'm not doing their future 40 year old hearts any favors and IT HAS TO STOP!

So what is a girl to do? Why, beg for help of course!

I need to come up with some healthy recipes that even a kitchen moron with a house full of picky eaters can pull off.

We have very few go to recipes because no one in my house likes the same thing! So here is what I have on my list so far, I would like to come up with at least 30 meals so that we aren't eating the same thing over and over week after week (Cuz who wouldn't get sick of that?)

Family Faves
1-Flat Bread Pizza (This works well for us because we can use BBQ, Alfredo, or red sauce so everyone has something they like!)
2-Fajitas- Amazingly something we all like
3-Cowboy Dinners (You know the one, piece of meat, potatoes and carrots etc all wrapped up in tinfoil, sadly I screw these up more often than not!)
4-Grilled chicken/pork chops etc
5- BBQ Chicken wraps (usually using left over chicken from grilled chicken night)
6- Tuna Casserole (My family loves this, me...not so much)
7-Breakfast for dinner
8-Lasagna (Again, family fave but I don't like red sauce so I don't eat it)
9-Pulled Pork, or chicken sandwhiches

So you see, I'm a long way from 30 recipes. I feel frustrated. I hate to try new things because what if I put all this time/effort/money into something and no one likes it (Thinking of ham and cheese quiche here which had a violently negative response LOL I was the only one who thought that was even slightly edible.)

So, here comes the begging! Help me, what are some easy, healthy recipes that I can feed my picky family? They do NOT have adventerous tastebuds, nothing spicy, or exotic. I buy cookbooks and the things in them are so crazy that no one in my house would touch them. I was NORMAL, good old home cooking type ideas. I need something that will keep my family interested in dinner at home and not at McDonalds! I need healthy food before I die of a heart attack at 40! I need to stop spending so much money on eating garbage!

*Sigh* I wish I could just hire a personal chef LOL

Yellowstone 2011

2011-08-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

After the single day we were able to spend in Yellowstone last year, we decided that we really wanted to go and spend a little more time there. So DH, the kids, my parents, my sister, and my inlaws all piled in our cars and headed for Montanna.

I made a little slideshow to share a few pictures with you. There are so many amazingly beautiful things to see in Yellowstone that I had a hard time narrowing it down. Everything is so different and it really is truly beautiful there. Not one single picture in this slide show has been altered. The colors are all real, it really is that gorgeous! We got rained on nearly every day we were there, but it was nice because it wasn't so hot.

So sit back and enjoy your not hot, not smelly tour of Yellowstone. I have tried to name features when I could remember what they were. Although I have a crappy memory and I may be wrong on some of them.

Animals spotted on our trip this time...
Ravens (By the thousands)
Red Tailed Hawks
Pika
Elk (Lots)
Deer
Bison
Black Bear
Grizzly Bear (No picture sadly, couldn't get the camera out in time).
Marmot (LOVE THEM!)
Wolf
Coyote (Actually crossed the road in front of us in town)
Squirrel
Chipmunk
Mountain Goat
Ground Hogs
Antelope
Bald Eagle
I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but I think that is a fairly complete list.

New School Year= New Job= New Mug Rug

2011-07-29T04:56:00.000-07:00

The reading program that I used to run at the Elementary School has been discontinued due to budget cuts and I was very lucky to find a new position in the office at the Jr. High.

I am so desperately going to miss the kids at my old school. I worked with every single kid in the school, either one on one, or during PLC's where we would do reading in each classroom every Wednesday. It's going to be a big change moving from these little kids, to the big kids in Jr. High (And I mean BIG! Most of them are taller than me LOL).

I'm nervous and excited and ready to go! So I decided to celebrate my new job with a new mug rug for my new desk. I'm looking forward to trying something new, but my heart aches for all the little faces that I have come to know and love at my old school. I worry for the struggling readers, and what is going to happen to them without the one on one help, but I can't afford to work for free and I have to go where the jobs are. I will miss my little ones though!

Pretty in Pink

2011-07-26T10:34:00.001-07:00

A pretty pink pillow case, with a matching mug rug.

When I saw this fabric, I just had to have it, even if it WAS from Walmart =0P

Pyro Flowers

2011-07-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Have you tried melting polyester yet? If not, get thee to the store and buy some polyester! You are in for loads of fun!

This is the first one I made, there is a tiny tiny bit of a learning curve, but just simple things like "Don't actually stick the fabric IN the flame because polyester is rather flamable!" I got some of these a little close and there are some scorches, but I don't think it's too bad, do you?

This is the second one, note to self, Taffeta doesn't really work very well, and is even MORE flamable! DO NOT go near open flames at the Prom people, you will go up like a Roman candle!

And the last one...all of my fabrics came from Walmart (Except the turquiose, it was left over from 100 years ago when I made one of those fancy schmancy covered binders. Remember those? With the ruched frame on the front and the silk flower? Oy!)The best part is, that they were like $1 a yard, and you don't need anywhere CLOSE to a yard. I think you can easily get a couple of flowers out of an eighth of a yard, so we are talking pennies here!

Just cut a circle out of polyester material, wave it over a candle flame, it melts and curls up, stack them and put a button or a bead and voila! you have a flower! Sorry, I don't really feel like I can make a tutorial for you since it wasn't my original idea, and it makes me crazy when people put a tutorial on their blog for something that they learned from a tutorial on other people's blogs, KWIM? But if you google "Melted fabric flower tutorial" you will come up with a million and one tutorials to choose from! Have fun!

Trailer Pockets

2011-07-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

So, remember last October, when my husband was out of town and on a whim I bought a trailer while he was gone?

We're getting ready for it's maiden voyage! We have been shopping, and preparing, and stocking our little piece of heaven (not) on wheels. I am seriously hoping that camping sucks a little less in a trailer, even if it's only a tiny tent trailer

I had a problem though. Well a couple really.
#1 I'm an insomniac
#2 I like to read myself to sleep
#3 I wear glasses.

No way did I want to get out of bed and freeze my bahookey off to walk across the trailer (Three whole steps, but still) and set my glasses on the counter, because surely getting all cold would just wake me up again right? I needed some way to stash my stuff without having to get out of bed! So I came up with a solution for all my problems!

Trailer pockets!

A cute little spot to store my ipad, glasses, and flashlight! No getting out of bed and freezing bahookies! WOOT!

I bought this cute fabric at Joann's. I wish it came on the big rolls instead of a bolt so I could buy lots of it and recover all the cushions. This is MUCH cuter than the couch fabric. Why do they make trailer upholstery so ugly anyway?

Version two

2011-07-20T08:52:00.001-07:00

Totally forgot to post the second quilt, sorry, it's been done since the day after the other quilt.

Oh well, life is nuts, what can I say?
Not the best picture I know, I really should take one in better light I guess.

And side by side for your viewing convenience. It's kind of funny, I thought everyone would prefer the non-pink version, but I was wrong, the pink one seems to be the most popular. Go figure.

I'm also making a little mug rug for my desk. I have so many cute mug rugs from various swap partners but I can't bring myself to actually use them! What if I ruin them? So... I am making one, a simple one, that I won't feel bad about using, and if worse comes to worst, I have left over fabric and can always make another one!

Now I just need one for my desk at my new job. Yesterday was my first day, and frankly, I'm more than a little overwhelmed. But, I have been overwhelmed before and done just fine. I'm sure I will be fine this time too! I am going to miss working with kids though, little ones that come up and wrap themselves around my legs and are happy to see me. Working with teenagers is going to be a whole new ball of wax.

Another Swap quilt

2011-07-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Another round of the Doll Quilt Swap has begun! This is seriously my favorite swap!

Our theme this time is "Back to our Roots" so they want us to go back to making a mini quilt, something that looks like a shrunken version of a full size quilt, rather than all the art style quilts that seem to have become the norm for the group. I am really excited about this. Piecing tiny blocks and making tiny quilts!

When I first started swapping, I would get so attached to my quilts that I would cry when I sent them away to someone else. I solved that problem by making two quilts instead of one. One to send, and one to keep.

That's what I did this time.

I made 148 1 1/2" HSTs to start. Aren't they cute? They were a booger to iron, I burned my fingers several times trying to hold on to them because they were so little!

I was making this quilt based on one I had made several years ago. Here is the original...

This quilt has MUCH against it!
1- I made this when I very first started quilting, and since I was a self taught quilter, no one had taught me how to match seams or make my points come out right.
2- This quilt was made from waste corners on another quilt. When I cut the corners off of the blocks on the real quilt, I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. Trying to match up 1" triangles that have not exactly been carefully cut from another quilt...I'm amazed it turned out as good as it did! LOL
3- It's in primitive colors, which fit my decor at the time I made it, but most certainly does not now!
4- I never could figure out how to quilt is, so I never finished it. Oh who am I kidding? I never finish anything LOL but I still don't know how to quilt it!

That being said, I love this quilt. It hangs on the wall next to my computer desk and I sit and look at it often (and cringe at all those chopped off corners!) So when this theme same up, I decided "HEY, it's a chance for a do over!" and I was off an running.

I got all my HST's done, then pulled my original quilt from the wall to use as a guide, and started laying out triangles. It wasn't until I got the top section sewn, and ironed that I realized....

I FORGOT THE PINK! Major oops!

Well, I wasn't about to rip all that apart, so I laid all my blocks out and made sure I had enough squares to make a quilt with pink, and one without. I did! So once again I started sewing!

I love love love how this turned out! I wish it had more red than it does, but I had to use most of the red in the other quilt. I still like it though!

I'm kinda hoping my partner will choose the one without the pink (Or maybe I will just send her the other one and not give her a choice LOL) Only one problem remains...I still don't know how to quilt it *Sigh*

Check back soon (maybe later today) for the finished top in the other color way. Putting that one together is my plan for the day!

That, and vacuuming up the carpenter ants that are swarming and coming in through my badly sealed window right now ICK!

Luckily this is a spring event. I will come down in the morning and my curtains will be covered with them. They tend to stay on my curtains, so I just spray the canister on my vacuum with ant spray, then vacuum them all up. Voila, cannister of dead ants! It will be like this every morning for a week or so, then I won't ever see another one til next spring. As bad as I hate them, I guess it could be worse...like spiders or something LOL

Booooooooring!

2011-07-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Seriously! The WORST thing that can happen to a quilter with ADD! But, I am so excited about the little quilt I am making for my STUD (Swap til U Drop) partner, I think it's going to turn out so great, that I am willing to make 3 million (ok, slight exageration) little half square triangles!

I am making one for me at the same time, which is why there are three million of them, but I couldn't make one for her and NOT make one for me, I love it THAT much!

I am so excited, can't wait to show you more!

Hey, it's good to be back home again...

2011-06-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorite things on earth, home, and John Denver! I'm not sure why, but going home makes me want to listen to John. It drives my husband nuts because he can't stand John Denver.

I haven't lived in my home town since I was nine years old, but to me, it will always be "Home". It's the place where my soul feels the most as peace. I am a country girl at heart, but married to my city boy who would rather die than live in a small town *Sigh*.

Luckily my sister and I have great plans to move into an old victorian after our husbands die and become crazy old cat ladies =0) I even have a picture of the perfect house in my slide show here, it's just down the street from my grandmother's house and my Great Grandma lived there while she was going to school because her family lived too far out of town for her to be at home and still make it to school during the winter. It's the house of my dreams!

So sit back and enjoy a slide show of the sheer beauty of my home town. I hope it stirs your soul and makes your heart sing the way it does mine.

WHEW!!!

2011-06-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Two of the worst times for me are #1 The Beginning of the school year, and #2 the end of the school year!

The great news is, I AM DONE! All reports written, all files filed, all students celebrated! I have to go in on Monday and finish cleaning out my classroom (I'm homeless next year, and will be rotating from classroom to classroom which I am NOT looking forward to!) and after that, I am free for the summer!

I spent yesterday celebrating by doing a much needed tidying job on my disaster of a sewing room, then working on my STUD Swap quilt (P.s. STUD stands for Swap Til U Drop, get your mind out of the gutter!)

Our theme this round is Disney. I, of course, was VERY excited having just come back from two weeks at Disney World. Disney is special to me. I have always loved Disney so I was thrilled for this swap.

My partner said she LOVES!!! Pirates! Hmmmm what to do, what to do! I had an idea, but while browsing around the internet found a way to make it even better and the end result is a quilt that I am so proud of. It's one of those quilts that has just worked out every step of the way, no disasters, it just went smoothly, which is unusual for me!

Since this is not a blind swap (My partner knows who I am) I can only show sneak peeks until she gets to see her quilt in person. So here is my latest sneak peek. I am just so beyond thrilled with this quilt. It's one of those that just makes me giggle the whole time I'm working on it. I really hope she loves it as much as I do! I am all done save the binding (Which I still have to find fabric for!)

As a little extra addition to my partner's package, I made a mug rug for her little guy who is also a pirate fan, so I'm told.

Sure signs of Spring

2011-05-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about spring is the baby animals.

Our parakeets are joining in this year. I'm not sure what hit them, we have had them for several years, but all of the sudden this year they decided "Hey, let's pro-create!"

It all started with this little dude back in March.

He's all grown up now. He was instantly claimed by PK and named Mickey (Can you tell we had just come back from Disney World? LOL)He is a gorgeous mixture of his parents, green, tempered with soft blue. He's really very pretty.

Sadly our little Mickey is handicapped. He was attacked by the other adult female in the cage (She was removed to another cage). We believe she broke his leg, and it healed incorrectly which leaves him without the use of his right foot. He also has a damaged left wing and is unable to grow flight feathers on that wing which means our little Mickey flies like a rock! He doesn't let it slow him down though and I believe he will live a long and happy life.(If you look closely in the background you can see Hermione's cage inside the birdhouse but we had to take her out because even in a separate cage she would not stop picking on the baby, who with his crippled leg found the top of her cage the easiest place to perch. She would reach through the bars and pull his feathers out, or pick at his little feet. I don't know why she is so mean to him.)

No sooner was little Mickey out of the nest than Stormy laid more eggs. This time around we got not one, but THREE babies! Sadly one of the little ones didn't make it, but we now have Cricket who hatched on 4-28

And Squeak who hatched on 5-01

Squeak is quite the adventurous little chick and has already launched him/herself from the nest and is now hanging out in the bottom of the cage. Luckily we have a very large birdhouse with plenty of room for all the new family members!
Here is a very bad picture of the beautiful cabinet that my husband built to house our little feathered family members.

Mini Dresden= Mini Pinnie

2011-05-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the HMQS Quilt show. I went with my mom, on friday, and the just couldn't leave without this darling little Dresden ruler. I think it's only meant to be a key chain(It came with a key chain thing on it) but hello...mini Dresdens???

I couldn't wait to try it out!

My sister and her family came down for Mother's Day and we had a girls' sewing day on Saturday. We try to do this a couple of times a year, it gives us a chance to just hang out together without having to run here, or do that etc.

I took several projects with me to work on, but that little ruler was calling to me so I got it out and dug into mom's scrap basket. It's rather funny, I was planning to make her a little pin cushion and while I was sewing she sad "Man, I wish I had a pin cushion!!! Somewhere to stick a needle where it won't get lost!"

I love how tiny and sweet it is! I also made a full Dresden circle with these teeny tiny plates. No idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but I made a fabric covered button to go in the middle of it =0)

Springy Mug Rugs

2011-04-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

A new round of the mug rug swap has started. My partner asked for Linen, Texture, and Bright colors. I was playing around with ideas and thought of a ruched strip down the side and couldn't wait to try it out. I decided that since I'm not familiar with working with Linen I would make a sample one first and thank heavens I did because guess what? One of those freak things, I totally scorched it.

I said a bad word. In front of my Mother :O

The weird thing was that I tried to scorch it again, to try to even out the color and maybe save it somehow and no matter what I did, it wouldn't scorch again. SO WEIRD!

I was ready to just trash it and start over, but my mom suggested coffee dying it, adn since I just happen to have a HUGE (like gallon sized) baggie of instant coffee crystals from my "Primitive Decor" days, I thought....what the heck.

Guess what? It totally worked! I made some weak coffee and poured it into a squirt bottle, put it on mist, and sprayed evenly over the surface of the mug rug and Voila! you can't see the scorch mark anymore!

I'm really glad too because I love the way this mug rug turned out, even if my flickr friends say that it's a little too bright =0P

Now it's back to the drawing/design board to figure out something a little less bright for my expectant partner =0)

January

2011-04-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

I am WAY behind, and this has actually been done for a couple of weeks, but this is my January block for the Granny's Hankie quilt. I have February done as well, but no pictures yet, sorry.

Personalized Mugs

2011-03-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

Our family bought a trailer (Ok, I did while B was out of town and then told him when he got home ack!) But we are WAY excited to be able to go camping and not have to haul a tent and sleeping bags and all our things in big totes.

Our trailer is an old and tiny, but very very well taken care of, tent trailer and we are thrilled.

We have been going nuts buying things for our new trailer. Cute dishes, and mixing bowls, and measuring cups, and rugs, and sheets and comforters (HOOORAY, NO MORE SLEEPING BAGS!!!!). Which brings me to the reason for this post.

When we camp, we drink hot chocolate by the gallon, so when I stumbled across these "Decorate your own mug" mugs at the dollar store, I had to have them. B and I went shopping today, the goal was scrapbook paper but since we couldn't find any that we liked, that we thought represented each of us well, we went with fabric.

I think they turned out pretty cute.

Hello??? Echo....

2011-03-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

Sorry, bit of an un-intentional blog break there!

May 12th was my 15th wedding anniversary and B and I decided that we would love to go on our honeymoon again. We started making plans and getting excited, but then came the dreaded word from his company...layoffs! We decided that if they were looking for reasons to get rid of people, we weren't going to give them any (Like taking long trips, or anything else for that matter) and we cancelled our trip.

Luckily B made it through the layoffs (He was never worried but I lost a lot of sleep over the whole thing) and we decided to try again on the trip and maybe even take our kids with us since our honeymoon was at Disney World.

We even took my MIL along =0)

We had a fabulous time and made some really incredible memories.

I have been working on some things, mug rugs, doll swap quilts that I can share soon.

Hope everything has been going well for all of you.

On the cutting table

2011-01-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

On the cutting table one 4 1/2" stack of delightfully delicious Delilah dresdens!

Well, mostly Delilah, I had to add a few extras and some yellows in there. I am so excited to start sewing! I haven't been this excited about a quilt in a long time!

I heart Delilah!

2011-01-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Nadine from Material Girls, and Tanya Whelan, and the poor girl that had to cut all this, are my three favorite people today.

I went to Material Girls with my mom this weekend. They were having a HUGE New Year's sale and we wanted in on the action. Plus mom had $100 gift card burning a hole in her pocket, so we HAD to go!

Then I saw it, from across the room, and it was love at first sight. It was the choirs of heavenly angels singing kind of love at first sight! A whole shelf of Tanya Whelan's Delilah line!!!! Can you hear them singing? I instantly knew what I wanted to do.

I had visions of heavenly Dresdens in my head.

So a huge thanks to Nadine for giving me 40% off even though it wasn't technically on sale, and a huge thanks to the poor girl who had to cut 1/4 yard each of 31 different prints. And a Huge thanks to Tanya Whelan for designing fabric that makes my mouth water and my heart palpitate!

Quilting, it's not just a girl sport!

2011-01-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

A few months ago my middle child made his very first quilt block. Since then both of my other boys have been bugging me to let them make one too. I have put them off as long as I could, but today my oldest was having a rough day. He was feeling left out of the play while his two brothers had friends over.

I figured it was the perfect day for a little Mom/PK one on one time. We pulled out the scrap bins and he chose his colors, I threw together a rough sketch of a sailboat for him to sew and we spent the afternoon making a little quilt or pillow to put in his room.

He was pretty proud of himself but doesn't want to advertise his talents too much because he's afraid his friends might make fun of him.

I think he's pretty awesome =0)

I also got two blocks done today for my liberty quilt, the two I finished are the bottom right two. I did have a moment of panic on the bottom middle block when it said the little red and beige half square triangles should measure 2.5" and they were only 2" but happily figured out it was an error in the pattern. Then I had a second moment of panic when it said the block should measure 9.5" and it was only 9" thankfully just another error *Whew*

My Life is Awesome

2010-12-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

I have started a new blog for my "My Life is Awesome" project.

My Life is Awesome Blog
If you are joining in the fun, please come on over and sign up =0)

Temple Square

2010-12-28T11:39:00.001-08:00

The same night we went to the Grand America, we took the kids to Temple Square. This is the first time they have been to see the lights at Temple Square because I was always too terrified to take them up there in that crowd.

I haven't been to Temple Square at Christmas since B and I were dating, so it's been a long while for me. I don't know if things have really changed, or if my childhood memories of Temple Square are grander than the reality, but I was disappointed. It seems like only the small trees were decorated with lights, and the only place that resembled my memories of Temple Square at Christmas was the small courtyard between the south visitors center and the Temple itself.

Main Street Park was also full of lights, more so than the square itself.

It's not the Temple Square I remember, but it was still beautiful and worth the trip I think, even though it was raining the entire time we were there.

I still think the Salt Lake LDS Temple is one of the most beautiful buildings in existence. And for those of you who are not LDS and are curious about what the inside of a temple looks like, there is a diarama in the visitors center that shows what the inside of the Salt Lake Temple looks like.

The Windows at the Grand America

2010-12-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

When I was little, the ZCMI Center downtown used to do a Christmas Window display.

Sadly the ZCMI Center is no longer there, and the tradition of going to see the windows was lost.

This year the Grand America Hotel decided to take over the tradition of the Christmas Window display. You go to the hotel and you are given a card. You go around to each window and record what each of the letters represents, then you take your card to La Bonne Vie and trade it for a little bag with cookies and an alphabet card.

I was instantly smitten with the retro feel of the cards and asked if there was a way to buy a whole set. Happily there was and I brought home this sweet set of cards that I plan to turn into a holiday garland.

Funny story about the hoity toity toilets... apparently my kids are solidly locked in their middle class world. B took them into the bathroom and PK was totally stumped, he washed his hands then said "Dad, I can't find the paper towels!" as he was standing right next to the nicely folded pile of cloth towels.

This hotel is something else. I am glad I got a chance (an excuse) to go inside and see it. It is beautiful, but I kept waiting for someone to grab my arm and escort me out becuase it was obvious that we didn't belong there.

I hope they do the windows again next year, I would definitely like to go back.

Rest Home Lap Blankets

2010-12-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

My Mother In Law volunteered me to make a blanket for a lady in a rest home.

I started with a super soft minky throw from Walmart, but it was too long, so I squared it up and I sewed a cute little red edging along the top.

Then I put her name in the bottom corner.

I hope she likes her new cozy blanket. Merry Christmas Ina!

Recent Reads

2010-12-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Mayflower

This book read a little like a text book at times, but I personally found it fascinating. I learned so much from this book. For example, I NEVER knew that the pilgrims sold Native American's into slavery. This is a great, though slightly heavy at times, historical read.

Little Bee

I'm not sure that I can recommend that anyone read this book, simply for the fact that as a very empathetic person, this book was very emotionally difficult for me to read. It was this month's SDBBE selection and the subject is VERY tough. It is about the attrocities that occur in Africa and one girl's personal story of horror. There is no salvation, there is no joy in this book. It left me greatly disturbed, gave me nightmares and panic attacks. It was very well written and told a great story but the emotional price was too high for me. It left me feeling weak, and hopeless, and ineffective. Knowing what is going on over there, and not being able to do anything about it. It was very disturbing to me.

Saavy

This was our neighborhood book club selection for this month. I really enjoyed it. I so desperately needed something light and witty after reading "Little Bee" which put me in such a dark place emotionaly. This is a fun youth literature book about a family with special powers. Their powers begin on their 13th birthday and the main character in the book drags a group of siblings and friends on an adventure trying to get to her father who has been in an accident and is now in coma in the hospital. She believes her "Saavy", or special power, will be to save her father. There are some really funny moments and it's a great, light, easy read. Very enjoyable!

Dear America- Diary of Margaret Ann Brady
These books are written for youth, but if you haven't ever read one, I highly recommend them. I buy them at my local thrift whenever I find one, I absolutely love them. This one is about a girl named Margaret Ann Brady, she is a ladies' companion abord the RMS Titanic. These books are all written in journal form. And they teach kids history at the same time as telling a great story. Aside from this one we have read one about a Japanese boy in an internment camp in California during WWII. One about a boy that went with the Donner Party. And next up we are reading about a little blonde girl who was kidnapped and held captive by the Indians during the pioneer era.

The perfect pillow

2010-12-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

Years ago I found the perfect shirt for my youngest, it combined his favorite things; Orange, bears, and moose. Of course I HAD to buy it for him and it became his favorite shirt. The second it came out of the dryer he put it on, and if I would have let him get away with it, I am sure he would have worn it every single day.

Sadly, it's only a 6x and K is now 10 which means this shirt is too small for him, unfortunately that doesn't keep him from trying to wear it. So I told him today that if he would take it off, I would make a pillow for him and he could always keep it with him on his bed.

The trick to making a pillow out of a T-shirt is to baste it to muslin before you sew it together. That way, when you try to stuff it, the fabric isn't stretchy. If you don't baste it to muslin first, when you try to stuff your pillow, the fabric will stretch and your pillow will be very lumpy!

So here it is, a perfect pillow for a boy named Moose, who's favorite color is orange, and who's best friend is a bear!

New Snow

2010-12-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

We had a blizzard last week, it was all over the news, they wanted the roads cleared by 3 pm to make sure everyone got home safely. I made sure the water bubbler was full, I made sure all the flashlights had batteries and we had plenty of firewood in case the power went out.

The Great Blizzard of 2010....was an epic disappointment. I had visions in my head of Little House on the Prairie blizzards. Tying ropes around our waists to get to the barn so we wouldn't get lost kind of blizzards. Meh, I never even lost sight of the houses at the top of the block. What a bummer! The worst part was the B teased me about over reacting and that it wasn't going to be a big deal, I hate it when he's right =0P

A few days later though we got the follow up storm with lake effect snow and that was more like the storm I had in mind. 20" of fresh, fluffy, gloriously white snow! Which was absolutely stunning...until I realized that I had to leave the house and my driveway was more than knee deep in the white stuff *Sigh*

It took me two hours to snow blow my driveway. That was the first time I have ever used the snow blower myself, I usually leave that pleasure for B, but he was sleeping off his night shift.

The real problem however, was when the snow got between the man and his ability to set up his Christmas light display! NO WAY is he letting two feet of snow slow him down! Oh no, he'll just snow blow the front lawn *eyeroll*. And if you're thinking his legs are looking a little thin....well the man has put on a little weight this year and doesn't fit into his ski bibs anymore, so guess what he is wearing instead?

His hip waders! What a goof ball! I can only imagine the neighbors hiding behind their curtains laughing their hineys off at the weird guy across the street! He did get the lights hooked up to the computer last night, so the dancing lights have begun for 2010. We only have a few little details left to go until we are 100% finished. Sadly our display is missing a gingerbread house this year thanks to our thug neighbor kids who destroyed it, and with the cold weather, we haven't been able to build a new one yet (Too cold to paint), but it should be all ready for next year!

Super Simple, Super Cheap Christmas Decor!

2010-11-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

Glittered Merry Christmas Ornament from Walmart-$1
Black 8x10 Frame from Walmart- $3
Blue Snowflake Scrapbook Paper- $1

Really cute Christmas decor- $5

Shared Here

My life is awesome!

2010-11-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

My friend posted this on facebook. I think it is such a monumental idea!

I am so in love with this idea that I am making it my project for 2011! I am going to do "A whole year of Awesome!" If you break it down to two things a week, that is 104 things that are awesome and a great way to reflect back on the little, and big things that made your year amazing. It also teaches you to look for things to be grateful for!

Wanna Join me? Sign up and I will create a list in my sidebar of participants.

Owl Mug Rug

2010-11-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

Mug run for a swap partner.

One for me

2010-11-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with this block by Krommama on Flickr and wanted one like it.

I didn't have any newsprint, but I did have three 6" squares of this word print in my scrap bin and two squares of the yellow. I love the yellow and gray combination so I thought...why not.

I still like Krommama's better, but this will do =0) Maybe if I can find some newsprint fabric I will try again.

Yep...another one.

2010-11-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

I just can't seem to help myself. It's a sickness really.

This one is made from scraps of Moda Dream On left over from my candybar pinwheels quilt.

Gobble

2010-11-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

I'm getting into the spirit of Thanksgiving!

Not to mention these little mug rugs are addicting to people like me who love instant gratification, these whip up so quickly and you have something to show for your efforts where a quilt just takes so long to come together.

So here is Gobble, my little turkey mug rug that is a little on the LARGE side for a mug rug, I might have to call it a trivet or something since is 12X7 =0)

My amazing and incredible Elephant quilt!

2010-11-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is me feeling HORIBLY guilty! Poor Cindy is probably thinking I am so ungrateful! I wrote a post all about the incredible quilt I received in the STUD swap and I hit SAVE instead of PUBLISH! So while my blog post was there, it was never visible! I feel so bad!!!

So I am going to rave all about Cindy's quilt!

She had made a similar quilt for another swap, so when she asked me if I had any idea what I would like, I jokingly said "It's too bad you already gave that elephant quilt away, you could have just sent it to me and I would have died a happy woman." She told me that she actually hadn't sent it away, but her husband wouldn't let her part with it. However, maybe she could do something similar for me.

The Original Elephant Quilt

Then she emailed me and said she wouldn't be able to make one the same because she couldn't find the fabrics. I was totally bummed, but I knew she would still make me something great, so I wasn't worried.

She tricked me! I was so totally excited to open the package and find a little elephant similar to the other one she had made before. The fabrics were different but I love it so very very much! You really can't see all the detail in this little quilt! The elephant is sitting in a crowd of people and is spraying water (Little irridescent beads sewn on one at a time!). The circus tent is loose, you can put your fingers underneath it. The crowd of people is a fabric print that she has painstakingly cut around each person and then appliqued it on. His ear flaps and is wired so that you can pose it. His little braided tail is 3 dimensional as well...It's just amazing to see it in person!

And not only did she send me the elephant quilt, but a whole chuckload of other amaging things as well!

A spring for bag with a tiger applique (great to hold all my little sewing supplies!)
A pin Cushion with red beads sewn around the edge (With horses)
A Mug Rug (With hippos heeee!)
A little sewing kit
A box of animal crackers (my fave!)
and all the left over fabrics!!!

I don't know what happened, I got side tracked, I meant to take a picture of the fronts and backs of all of these so you could see how awesome they were on both sides and I don't know what happened to the picture of the fronts...

Anyway, I have thanked Cindy for this quilt, profusely, several times. I really want her to know how much I love my little elephant and how happy it makes me when I go down my stairs (about a million times a day) and there he sits, right about eye level, where I see him every time!

STUD Swap

2010-11-05T07:16:00.001-07:00

Well, my partner Cindy has finally received her package so I can share with you now.

Cindy is the one who sent me the amazing Elephant quilt that I love so much, along with a mug rug, a bag, and a million other fun little things. Let me tell you, it's hard to compete with a package that awesome and I really felt the pressure to send her something worthy in return.

This quilt started out as the very first block in my "A Tisket A Tasket" quilt. I didn't have a bias tape maker so I used ric rac for the handle and it was a total bugger to sew on. After making this block I decided that there was NO WAY I was sewing 11 more months of ric rac handles, and I didn't want this to be the only basket with a ric rac handle, so I set it aside and made another January block. It's been hanging on my design wall ever since and I thought it was the perfect foundation for Cindy's little quilt with winter being right around the corner. And since she lives in the south, she probably doesn't get much chance for real snowmen, so I hope this brings a little winter nip to her home.

And since I am obsessed with mug rugs right now, I thought it would be fun to send along a little matching mug rug. I created this penguin using the companion print (on the back) as a guide. I think he turned out so cute, I used flannel for his earmuffs so they are soft and fuzzy =0)

I also wanted to send her something great to make up for all the goodies she sent me and made her an Abbey Bag. I made the one for me, and the one for her at the same time and it was really hard to give up because I loved hers even a little more than I loved my own, but I figgured she would rather have this one than the cherry one, so off it went.

I also threw in a few other little goodies, the requisite red lace that I send to all my swap partners, and a little christmas notepad and some fun magnets.

It was fun swapping with you Cindy, I hope you had as much fun as I did!

The snow did it!

2010-10-28T20:52:00.001-07:00

The three inches of snow on my lawn inspired me to start thinking about Christmas.

I whipped up this little mug rug this afternoon, it's going off to a friend in a day or two. I think I might have to make another one for me!!!

*Disclaimer- this is not my original idea, I copied it from a gift bag I found at Barnes and Noble last year.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2010-10-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

It was my dad's birthday yesterday. He asked for a mug rug :D

Well...you don't have to ask my twice! These are my new addiction! I put his initials on it because things tend to disappear off his desk and maybe this way someone will leave it alone.

A funny story about this mug rug. I sketched it out and showed it to my 11 year old PK, who was playing beside my desk. I wanted to see what he thought and he let me know right away. "Mom" he said, in a way that would totally sound like rolled eyes if you could hear rolled eyes..."That is a driver, you need a PITCHING WEDGE to get out of a sand trap!!!" I had NO IDEA this kid knew so much about golf clubs! And of course I had to go google it so that I could make it look like the right kind of club. Heaven forbid I should use a driver in a sand trap LOL

Feelin' Stitchy

2010-10-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Our semi-annual girls sewing weekend! A couple of times per year my mom, sister, and I get together for a sewing weekend. Sadly, my poor sister was sick this year, but between the three of us, we managed to get her top finished.

We take turns choosing a pattern to make. It was my turn this round and I chose to make Candy Bar Pinwheels by Antler Quilt Designs for Moda Bake Shop. Click the link for the free pattern!

Here is a picture of my top. I loooooooooove it!

I really wish I had a picture of my mom's top, hers is absolutely gorgeous, it's in darker reds, blues, greens. Mom is a fan of the darker shades. Her quilt more closely resembles the quilt on the pattern page.

My sister and I both went bright. Since this quilt is made with a candy bar, and we didn't have one, we bought a charm pack of Moda's Dream On and cut it in half and we each had a candy bar =0)

While at my mom's we were talking about what we are going to do for our next sewing day (Sometime around April 2011). Mom had a pattern for a pin cushion bag, and since my sister is a new sewer, I decided to test the pattern first to see how beginner friendly it was before we tackled it.
I'm happy to say that it's a fairly simple pattern to make. It took me all day to make this but I was trying to make two at a time, and coming off a migraine, so don't let that intimidate you! But hey, if I can sew this with a massive headache and not totally screw it up, it has to be pretty easy right?

I did, of course, manage to get my flower center (aka the pin cushion) way off center. So typical of me, now matter how hard I try, I'm crooked LOL

I love this little pocket for my scissors and thread!

This should work perfectly on the arm of the couch when I'm working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden! No more having to dig through the couch cushions to find my scissors! No more little piles of thread clippings that inevitably wind up on the floor.

Cherries and Cherry blossoms, it's so ME don't you think?
I have a few more mug rugs to share, but that's a post for another day =0)

I love to spoil, and be spoiled

2010-10-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I joined another swap, crazy I know, especially with so much on my plate, but I just couldn't help myself!

And besides, they were small, so it was no big deal right?

I joined a mug rug swap!

My partner was scrap studio and I made her first mug run within five minutes of getting my partner assignment. She was just that easy!

Then my nerves took over, as they always do, and I started to panic, what if she didn't like it??? So I started stalking her, reading her blog, and checking out her flicker photostream, and favorites. And I discovered she collects Ampersands!! How cool is that? I love ampersands, they have such a fun shape, and I knew I had to make an ampersand rug for her as well. But I knew I couldn't even show a sneak preview, because the minute she saw it, she would know exactly who it was for. So I sat on it, kept it under tight wraps, and that was HARD for me! I like to share!

So here is my partner's final package (Picture taken by her because I totally spaced out on taking a picture of the finished mug rug UGH) I also decoupaged a chipboard ampersand for her to add to her collection, made a beaded scissor fob,a cute Christmas note pad, and sent some of my favorite red lace.

Luckily she loved it! Either that, or she's a REALLY good liar =0P

And because I love to be spoiled as much as the next guy...I totally have to brag about my awesome swap partner and the fantabulous package she sent to me! You can tell that she stalked me as much as I stalked Kelly, and that she totally got me, and made things just to make ME happy! How awesome is it when that happens? I feel like I have hit the swap partner jack pot lately!

Look at this buch of amazingness that I received!

I literally opened this package with my mouth hanging open!

When I saw the sneak previews, I commented "How nice of you to give me marshmallows to go with my hot chocolate!! Of course she had that darling little cherry tart blocked out on her picture because she said it was a dead give away as to the recipient, so I didn't get to drool all over that until it got here! And on the asterisk one I said "Pour moi sil vous plait" Which is French for "For me please" and guess what? It totally WAS for me! Who would have guessed? Certainly not me! I am beyond thrilled! And can you believe how dang cute that little matroyshka zipper pouch is? I have to carry it around in a death grip because everyone who sees it, wants to swipe it. And that cute cherry fabric, and cherry quilt pattern...it's all too much cuteness, I can't take it!

Are you jealous? I am so thrilled with how this swap turned out, and I am only half done! I signed up for TWO partners! And then I got all crazy and signed up for a private swap with another partner, so there is more to come, stay tuned!

There is some serious talent in those mug rug swappin' ladies, I'm tellin' ya!

Loosing my marbles!

2010-10-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your son comes to you and says "Oh, I forgot to tell you that it's Nick's birthday party today!"

You run to Wally World and grab a box of marbles, then hit your scrap bin and sew up a cute little marble bag to go with it!

Fully lined, for added strength of course, cuz those buggers are heavy!

Then you make a matching one for your kiddo. Because he's loosing his marbles!

DQS9 Wrap Up

2010-09-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

So, another Doll Quilt Swap has come and gone, and this one was quite the ride for me!

In our little questionnaire, when it asked what colors we were hoping for, I said that I am currently grooving on yellow and gray. I see it here and there and when I do, I just love it. It reminds me of my life right now. Partly cloudy =0P

Anyway, the best part of the doll quilt swap is seeing little sneak peeks pop up on flickr. Since it's a blind swap, you don't know who your partner is until your quilt arrives. This is very hard for me because I tend to fall in love with every quilt I see and I am crushed when it doesn't come to me. I know, I'm a dork, but seriously, if you saw the talent these ladies posses, you would fall in love too!

So up pops this gorgeous little number by Freida and instantly I KNEW it was mine! It was yellow and gray, and one of only two quilts posted with that color scheme, and I knew the other one simply could NOT be mine because I was HER partner, and you don't get each other!

So, I figured I was pretty safe in my guess that this quilt was mine and mine alone, and I gave my little heart free reign to fall in love.

Imagine my surprise when someone else got MY quilt in the mail!!! It was a shock let me tell you, cuz I was SO sure LOL

Anyway, I knew that the other quilt couldn't be mine, because like I said, I was HER partner, so now I was confused, wondering if my partner decided to go a different direction and so I went through all the quilts again, trying to guess which one could be mine.

The second surprise came when my package arrived and my son read to me the return address on the envelope (I was out of town at the time)! I just started laughing, those silly swap mommas had played a trick on us. My partner, was my partner!!!! I didn't even have to be there to open the envelope to know exactly which quilt was inside.

It was this darling little birdie from 2hippos! How fun is this sweet little quilt? She has sewn some little matching beads to the fuscia flower squares. Such a fun, happy little quilt!

Meanwhile, I had written a little note to Frieda to let her know that I had just believed that her quilt was mine, and that I was bummed that it didn't come to me (Not that I don't love my little birdie, I just want them all LOL I'm greedy like that!) and that I would have been absolutely thrilled if it had come to me because it was awesome and I just wanted her to know that I had really liked it!

She was so sweet and totally surprised me by sending me a little mug rug made like the quilt. Isn't she awesome? She was sneaky and got my address from one of the swap mommas! It was such a great surprise on a day that I REALLY needed something good to happen! (See post below about problems going on around here!)

I got the best of both worlds, two totally awesome gifts of gray and yellow happiness! Thank you so much Ronit, and Frieda! You both rock!

Meanwhile, here is the little quilt that I made for Ronit! I hope she likes it as much as I like mine! She said she likes jewel tones, so I used Amethyst, Aquamarine, onyx, yellow topaz, and peridot =0) And my favorite "Make Life" print fabric!

(This is the picture Ronit took, I am using this one because it's a much better picture than the one I took!)

I love swaps, even though I fall in love with all the quilts and am sad because all but one of them go to someone else =0P I love the little pieces of my flickr friends that get to live with me in my house and brighten my day. Thanks again ladies!

One Flower Wednesday

2010-09-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to One Flower Wednesday. When I started this hexie journey, I was whipping out hexies lickety split and thinking I was going to have this quilt done in nothing flat! Then I realized that it's actually a lot of seams to sew just to join one flower, and now I am realizing that this little quilt of mine is so much more involved than I ever dreamed.

I have found my groove on assembly though and despite those first torturous flowers, things are going much more smoothly now. Well at least until I try to add the next row anyway. I am going to try to be really random with this quilt, I may have to throw all my hexies into a bag and just sew them as they come out because I am going to drive myself nuts otherwise trying to get everything evenly spaced when I don't have an equal number of flowers in each color. Some colorways like green, I have a ton, while others, like aqua, I have very few.

Anyway, I have seven flowers in my first row assembled so far. I plan to make my quilt either 11 or 12 flowers wide, gonna have to see how it fits on the bed before I know for sure. I want to make it a full/queen and use it in my guest room (Someday, don't have one yet LOL).

Things are lookin' up!

2010-09-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry, things are kinda crummy around here, I gotta get a laugh in wherever I can!

Last year I got the wild idea to make a Mad Scientist's table as part of my Halloween decor.

I had so much fun dreaming up weird little things that would be found on a mad scientist's (Or a witch's) shelf. I have kind of an odd sense of humor, and it seems to really come out at Halloween. I got off to a good start last year, and have some ideas for more things to add this year. I have spent the year watching my local thrift store for unique bottles and jars.

We have Rotten Sweets- A nice little jar full of webs and spiders.

I got this bottle from the thrift. Filled it with polyester stuffing from the craft department and then added plastic spiders. I got these at Target for about $3 I think. It was quite hard to find plastic spiders that weren't #1 Rings #2 Fluorescent green or orange.

Vampire Blood-

Another thrift store bottle. I mixed Caro syrup and A LOT of red food coloring! I mean A LOT! You also need to add a little blue to make it more blood colored. It's still not as dark, or as opaque as I would like, but I don't know how to fix that. After I got my blood as close to blood colored as I could, I poured it into my bottle, and corked it with a cork that came in a multi sized pack from the craft store. Then I turned on my Scentsy tart warmer. Once the wax had melted I carefully tipped my bottle upside down and dipped the top portion of the bottle in the hot wax, let it cool then dipped again. I did this several times until I liked the way it looked, the added the tag with a bit of raffia that I wrapped around the bottle a few times.

Werewolf fur-

My plan was to go to the craft store and buy a little piece of fake fur. Well guess what? I couldn't find any! I don't know if it's something they don't normally carry (I swear I have seen it there before) or it if was just scarce because it was Halloween and everyone was making costumes. Who knows! I hit every craft and fabric store in the valley and came up empty handed. So, I decided to go to my local thrift and just buy a fluffy teddy bear and shave it. Found a good bear, multicolored fur, good length etc. Bought him for $.50 and brought him home. No one in the house would let me shave him, he was too cute UGH! The hunt continues! So I stumbled across this fake fur trim at Walmart in the craft section. It's about an inch to an inch and a half wide, and I just wrapped it loosely around my fingers then arranged it in a pickle jar with a spray painted lid. I think it looks great! Very convincing!

And Swamp Fog-

Which is another thrift store jar with polyester stuffing pulled very, very thin.

So, this year my plans are
A Jar of Eyeballs- I have already made one, I think it turned out awesome, don't you?
Witch's fingernails
Flies and Maggots (Found both at the dollar store today YIPPEE!)
Snow White's poison apple (They have really cute, realistic apples at the dollar store)
Vampire Fangs (if I can find some that aren't green and orange this year!)
Snake oil

Any more ideas for me? I would love to hear them!
I am also hoping to make a tutorial so that you can have some eyeballs too! =0)
And if you want some totally AWESOME vintage looking mad scientist labels, you can get them at the Love Manor! I asked her last year for a Poison Apple label, hopefully she hasn't forgotten =0)

A Message for Mothers

2010-09-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

I try to keep this blog mostly about crafts, but sometimes I have other things I need to say, and this is one of those times, so please bear with me.

My twins were born way too soon. And among the long list of things we were told could go wrong in their early fight for life, we have managed, by some miracle, to avoid most of the major battles. We were left with a few issues to deal with, and the most trying of which has been my oldest son's Sensory Integration Disorder.

While my son looks perfectly normal on the outside, there are some things in his brain that, due to being overstimulated before he should even have been born, have changed the way he processes things.

For him, a noisy place (Say Walmart for example) can be over stimulating to the point of being painful for him. Every! Single! Time! we go to Walmart, my poor child has a massive meltdown, and I am getting the "Looks" that say "Geeze Lady, get your brat under control!"

Even though I am his mom, and have been with him since day one, sometimes I forget. I think he's "Normal" and I forget to have patience with him when he comes crashing down into a screaming rage.

Sometimes I think it's all my fault, sometimes my heart breaks that this poor kid has to go through what he has to go through. Sometimes I think it's not fair, sometimes I'm angry at him, sometimes I'm angry at me, sometimes I'm angry at both of us. Sometimes I just feel that my ability to cope is exhausted and I can't take one more day.

My son has to go to counseling at school. As he has matured, his over stimulation has changed the way it manifests itself. Now that he is more able to express himself verbally, the crying, screaming fits have mostly stopped and his outlet has become extreme anger. He can be very rude, belligerent, and verbally abusive. Some days he is not, at all, pleasant to be around, and I am afraid for him.

I have told him if he continues to treat people this way, people are going to desert him, he will run out of people who love him. And while that is the last thing I want to have happen, I can see people closing off from him, and I want him to be surrounded by people who love him.

I love him, I cherish him, but even I will admit that some days it is harder than others. It's hard sometimes to look at him, when he's screaming how much he hates me, and think of how precious he is to me.

More than anything I wish I could find a way for him to be happy.

He has been ordered by his school counselor to take anger management classes, so guess where I will be every Thursday night?

Please keep us in your prayers that if nothing else, this will teach him positive ways to cope with the emotions that are constantly boiling inside of him.

I just love that kid so much!

In the meantime, here is a video message from the LDS Church for days when you feel like you can't cope.

150 Flowers!

2010-09-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! I'm done sewing flowers together.

I now have 150 unique flowers, there are no two flowers made from the same fabric, that's 1050 hexagons! And I have made 330 of the white spacer hexagons as well. Yep, that is 150 unique 1930's prints in this quilt! I love looking at this stack!
And now, it's on to the scary part! Assembling the quilt top. YIKES!

Even more yikes, they are way bigger than I expected them to be. Holy cow, this quilt will be HUGE!

Would you like some fries with that?

Recent Reads

2010-08-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

Have been doing a bit of reading lately. The problem with me and books, is that I tend to get addicted to whatever I am reading and I ignore everything else until I am done with my book. And heaven help us all if I have another book ready and waiting to dive into as soon as I am done with my current selection!

My most recent reads are as follows...

A Vintage Affair

This one was loaned to my by my friend Becky (I need to give her money for the late fee from the library, oops). I enjoyed it, but it was a little sad. Her best friend dies and she blames herself. Then she meets an elderly woman who has a similar story, she failed to save her best friend and was mistakenly responsible for her capture by the German Army during WWII. Through sharing their stories, the two women help each other to heal.

Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech

I picked this book up because it is by the same author as "Walk Two Moons" and "Ruby Holler" but I have to say, I didn't like it! I thought it was boring and predictable. Oh well, they can't all be winners right? The only amusing part about this book is that it parallelled "Walk Two Moons" it had some of the same characters and happened close to the same time. But that was pretty much the only thing I liked about it.

Master by Toni Sorensen

I started this book around the 4th of July and I read about 80% of the book really quickly. But then I got to the part where Christ's appostles start to realize that the reason Jesus becomes so fervent and tireless in His ministry is because He knows he running out of time. And I know what is coming, and I don't want to go there, so I have been stalling, and dragging out the end of this book. But I am now forcing myself to finish it. As much as I can't bear to read about the torture and crucifiction of Christ, I need to finish the book.

And last but not least, my most recent SDBBE book club selection...
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I have to admit that the fact that there was a playing card on the cover, and the page in the middle that I opened up to read contained a card game, I thought this book was going to be about Poker and I had absolutely NO desire to read it! Then I decided I had better get started so that I could pass it on to the next person and in the front read what Britt had written about not liking the book etc. Then I really didn't want to read it. But guess what? I loved it from the first page. I couldn't see what she didn't like about it because I was entertained from the beginning. One of my favorite things about this book had nothing to do with the author himself, but with Britt, the one who selected this book for our book club. She had gone through and used white out on all the swear words (And there were a LOT of swear words!). Some of them were already filled in with substitute words, but others were left blank and it was fun filling in the blank spots, kind of like a mad lib =0)

Here is a little peek inside "I Am the Messenger" so you can see what I mean.

Anyway, this book is about a guy who is present during a bank robbery. When the burglar bungles and drops the gun as he exits the bank, he runs out and picks it up and uses it to hold the guy until the cops get there. It's his first heroic act. Shortly after, a playing card shows up with three addresses. He has no idea what they mean, but when he starts to investigate, he discovers that at each address, there is someone who needs to be helped in some way. Once he has helped them all, another playing card arrives with three more missions and so on. It takes him on a journey of self discovery and despite all the swearing, I thought it was a pretty good book.

Magazines, Quilt Shops, and Prizes OH MY!

2010-08-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

You know this magazine?

It's my favorite magazine, and probably the only one I will buy sight unseen. The rest I have to thumb through first to make sure it's worth my hard earned dollars, and I buy very few magazines as it is. But this magazine, I have them all, they are all incredible.

I'm a lucky girl, I live right in the middle of some really fabulous quilt shops. And three of them now have been featured in this magazine. Pine Needles is the closest to my house, though it's not really all that close either, which is probably a good thing! And it's the one I go to more than any other. I love the ladies there, they are all really fun and love to help you figure things out, help you chose fabrics, anything you need.

So I was really excited to see them featured in this awesome magazine, and to celebrate they hosted a little party at the shop last night. Mom was worn out, she didn't want to leave the house, but too bad, I dragged her down there with me because if we were one of the first ten people in the door, we got a prize! I'm all about free stuff (have to be on my non-existent budget LOL). We lucked out, mom and I were #'s 9 and 10!

Our prize was a free Moda Candy Bar. Mom and I both got dark, civil war prints, and there was a lady inside who had a Bliss. I said "Oh you are so lucky! Wanna trade?" Well it turns out that what I had was more her style so she said "Sure" and HORAY! I got a Bliss candybar! It really is more blissful than chocolate! We got the license plate frame free with purchase! Don't you love what it says? It's perfect for me!(How did they know I wanted a license plate frame with my blog title on it? LOL) And there was also a drawing to win free backing for the quilt and guess what? Mom and I BOTH WON! Can you believe it? Maybe we should have bought a lottery ticket while we were at it LOL Thanks Pine Needles! You are awesome Hostesses!

The store was a mad house, lots of people. Dad was sitting on the bench outside impatiently tapping his toes, so we decided to just grab a few little things and head out. I bought some fat quarters, and fat eights, and a half yard of the light gray dot. The bigger piece of the light gray dot is the backing that mom won.

When we went back today to pick up our prizes (mine was the dark grey dot pictured above) I bought some fabrics to make the quilt with.

Now this quilt! I have to admit I was a little bummed when they said they had done a Halloween quilt. I already have several Halloween quilts. Dang!

But then I saw it! IT IS SO DANG CUTE! Guess I will be making another Halloween quilt! It was designed by the shop owner, Sandra Workman, who is also the owner of Pine Mountain Designs. And also the creator of the darling quilt I made recently...

They look similar no?

I'm in heaven, I can't wait to get started! Go buy the magazine so you can make one too =0)

Doll Quilt Swap 9

2010-08-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am currently participating in DQS9. Also known as Doll Quilt Swap Round 9.

If you have never heard of this, you really should check out the DQS flickr group. It is a group of the most spectacularly talented women! I am constantly amazed at the quality of their work, and the brilliance of their imaginations!

Here is a little sprinkling of finished DQS9 quilts.

The Fox by Hanies

Pink and Purple Applique by Mini_Milly04

Absolutely love this quilt by Alexia Abegg

Modern Painting Interpretation by Poppyprint

The Black Sheep by Lochside Quilter

Desert Landscape by Mamamary2

80's Rock Star by Traceyjay

And these are only a few of the most recently finished! Can you believe it? If you have an afternoon to kill, check out the DQS Photostream on flickr. Prepare to be amazed and inspired by these talented ladies!

Been Quilting

2010-08-23T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have to say, the beginning of the school year is NOT my favorite time of the year. It's the time of the year where I wish alcohol wasn't against my religion! The beginning of the school year means lots and lots of paperwork, and starting new schedules from scratch. They are not easy to figure out, and they leave me feeling very stressed and overwhelmed.

The good news is... I'M DONE! Well, not 100%, still waiting on D-track, but I have the nastiest part behind me now and I can breathe again! HOORAY!

Since I was a Deer Widow this weekend, I spent a lot of it with needle and thread. I worked on these...

Current count is 104! Only 40 more to go and I can start joining them in rows!

And I started on these, any guesses? I have to say, this quilt is going to be MUCH smaller than I wanted! I have never tried anything so fussy and irritating. As much as I love them, I just don't think I am cut out for these!

I tried out two different tutorials and the blocks ended up 1/8" bigger with one version, so I decided to make another one and turn them into a pin cushion for my DQS Partner. Unfortunately, this is a pretty bullet proof pin cushion, so she will have to just have it for show LOL

And this is my inspiration, does it make you feel inspired too? It makes me drool!

1. Charming Mini Quilt Swap for Kelby30, 2. John: one-ninth done? or just one-sixteenth?, 3. Stained Glass Windows, 4. DSCN0333, 5. Pillow Swap 2 pillow FINISHED! =), 6. Pillow Swap Pillow 16x16 -Front, 7. More June STUD from AntiqueRoses, 8. completed pillow for pillow talk swap 3, 9. Cathedral Window Doll Quilt for quilt swap 4

I plan to flat out copy #1 up there, don't you just love it? I do! I hope they don't mind!

Epic Update

2010-08-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't been crafting much lately because my craft room has been torn up since the 16th of June so that it could serve as a guest room for the past month. My guests are all now gone *Sniff* and I will start putting my craft room back together (Have to, have a swap quilt due out in the next few days!).

In the meantime I have been working on my hexagon flowers. I now have all of the outsides put together and have started adding the centers. I don't like this part, so I strongly suspect it will go much slower than making the flower outsides did. However, I am really driven to get this quilt done, so we will see which wins out, my desire or my sloth LOL

Here is a little peek at the eight flowers I have done so far. I think I am going to absolutely love this quilt!

I've also been doing some reading. I finished "Walk Two Moons" for the SDDBE book club and loved it so much I went out and bought my own copy. Even though it's a juvenille fiction I highly recommend it. It was an enjoyable, gripping book with a sad ending that gives you that snotty, unattractive, sobbing cry.

In fact, I loved it so much that on a recent trip to the thrift with my sister, I saw the authors name on a book and just grabbed it, didn't even look to see what it was about it, I just bought it LOL. It's another great story, thankfully without the snotty sobbing cry at the end, though there are some tense parts. And apparently I'm not her only fan. When I set the book on the counter at the checkstand the man behind me started to enthusiastically tell me how much I would enjoy it =0) I plan to read more of her books as well, and my 11 year old is now reading Ruby Holler and begging to stay up later so he can keep reading.

Also at the thrift I found these three Cath Kidston-ish plates. I have no idea who makes them, on the back it says MSE Dishwasher safe china. I put a temporary halt on my plate buying freeze and bought them to display on the shelf of my Vintage play kitchen. I don't know who makes them, but I think they're stinkin' cute!

This month we have had trips out of town, visits, pool parties, and BBQ dinners with family, and this week I had a sweet visit from my BFF Brandy Ann.

She moved to Chicago about eightish years ago, and I miss her desperately. The boys were so excited to see her kids, they don't remember them much, but we used to get together for playdates back in the day, and I enjoyed getting a little snuggle time in with "Scooter". I was really sorry to see them pull out of the driveway and wish our visit could have been longer.

Also recently, these boys had their first day of school! I now have two sixth graders and a fifth grader. I don't know when they got so old, it snuck up on me! I start back to work next week and I am dreading it, I have really come to enjoy my time at home =0P Especially since I have the most hated part of my job every single week this year instead of twice a month. NOT looking forward to that! But it will be good to get up and moving again, I have gotten really lazy in these weeks off.

Hope you have all had a fabulous summer as well!

Miss You

2010-08-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

I promise I have new posts coming soon, but I am trying to get my computer put back together after a virus and I don't have my photo software uploaded yet.

Hope to be back soon with some updates!

Books

2010-07-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted about what I'm reading, and it wasn't because I wasn't reading, just because I forgot. I do that a lot...forget things. I hate that.

Right now I am reading book club selections. I am currently in two book clubs.

#1- Our neighborhood Bookclub
We take turns chosing books and we meet at the park at the top of the hill and chat, and have treats. I look forward to it every month. I love these ladies. We are currently taking a break for the summer, next month is my month to chose the book and I have chosen Cane River by Lalita Tademy. It's about several generations of slave women and though it's kind of an epic novel, it's one of my all time favorite books. I love books that make me see things from another point a view, and consider it in a new way.

#2 SDDBE- I don't even know what that stands for, but this is my first time in this bookclub. These ladies are all spread out and I am just now getting to know them. The interesting thing about this book club is that, since we can't get together to discuss the books, and we're not all reading the same books at the same time, we write our thoughts in the books. I can't wait to get my own book back and see what everyone thought of it!

The girl who mails to me lives in Reno, Nv. It's like Christmas getting packages in the mail, don't you think? I just got her book in the mail a few days ago and she has chosen "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech. I am really excited about this book. I was subbing in a classroom last year and the teacher was reading this book to her class. I read several chapters of it, and it really intrigued me, I wrote down the title of it so that I could hunt it down later and read it, now I don't have to because It's Apryl's book this month. She has done the hunting for me =0)

And MY book choice for SDDBE is another Juvenille Historical Fiction (I love historical fiction, can you tell?) It's called "Someone Named Eva" and it's about the Holocaust, but in a different way. This young Czech girl is kidnapped from her family and taken to a center where she is trained to be the perfect German girl because her blonde hair and blue eyes fit the Aryan Ideal. She is then adopted into a German family where she feels torn apart inside because she's trying not to forget who she really is, but starts to love her German family, who are kind to her and treat her like their own daughter. It's an interesting look at both sides of the picture, and you really can't decide how you feel for her other than sympathetic.

Have you read any of these? I would love to hear what you thought about them!

One Flower Wednesday

2010-07-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's One Flower Wednesday! Horay! I have been working on my grandmother's flower garden for about two months now, and have 112 flowers put together. I am really excited with the progress on this quilt. My goal is to have it done by August of next year. Think I will make it?

I have really enjoyed these. I love hand work, and I love that I can take it outside and sit on the swing while the boys swim in the pool. I can not wait until it's all put together and I can snuggle under it with a book.

Where I have been lately...
Working hard on my out of control back yard
Playing with my kids
Sitting on my swing sewing hexies
Swimming
Hanging with my mom
Eating icecream with my girlfriends
Visiting family up north
Getting ready for my best friend to visit
Reading a good book
NOT sleeping (In another insomnia cycle...yuck)

I hope you're all having a fabulous summer.

One Flower Wednesday

2010-06-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well gee, if it weren't for OFW I wouldn't be posting at all here lately, would I?

I have made some great progress on my quilt! Considering I am only three weeks into the project I have over 125 white hexies, and over 70 flowers. I am on bedrest right now and this is a great project to do when you are stuck on the couch all day long!

If you're wondering why none of my flowers have centers yet, it's because I want to figure out the layout of the quilt, and try to match the centers to the flower fabric and have them all evenly dispursed color wise. I am a little OCD that way.

Our local quilt shop hop was last week and I had a ball running around with my mom, sister, and Peggy (a family friend). We all spent way too much money (no regrets here though) and have some fabulous projects planned for the coming year.

My sister Shanae and I are both doing a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and we decided the best way to go about it would be to buy 1/8th of a yard each of as many different fabrics as we could so that our quilts would be amazing. I ended up with over 148 different fabrics! I love the fact that no two flowers on my quilt will be the same.

I am off to a good start, but I still have a looooong way to go!

One Flower Wednesday

2010-06-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

We left on vacation on my first "One Flower Wednesday" and come back just in time for my second "One Flower Wednesday". So much has happened in the space between those two days.

We had adventures, saw some amazing things, did some amazing things, and came home to hear of my dear friend's heartbreak over the loss of her house to a fire. It seems like I have lived a year in the space of this week, yet it has only been a few short days. Sometimes it feels like the world spins too fast for me to keep up.

So here is my second flower for one flower wednesday. And I got lots and lots of little hexies done during all our driving time, so I should be able to keep up with OFW for a while yet!

Be sure to stop by and check out all the other flowers posted by the lovely OFW ladies.

One Flower Wednesday

2010-06-02T06:26:00.000-07:00

My first ever One Flower Wednesday!

I am so excited to finally be able to participate. I made this flower yesterday, but I'm counting it!

I have wanted one of these quilts since before I was a quilter. I have always loved old, vintage things, and Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts have always been right at the top of my list. I knew they were sewn by hand and always just assumed they would be way too hard for me.

I even tried making a flower once and gave up because I was too frustrated. I have been researching all the tutorials I could find and took a little information from each. And now I have a flower with plans for many more!

Here's to many more "One Flower Wednesdays!"

STUD swap

2010-06-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

You have already seen the quilt that I received in the STUD swap, but now I want to show you the quilt I made for my partner. I can show it now that she has received it.

Her favorite colors are orange, green, and blue. A color combo I also enjoy, so it was fun making this quilt for her. This pattern was a pain in the hiney though, there were many measurement errors in it and I had to wing it a little.

It turned out pretty good though, and I was proud of it when I was finished.

I hope it puts a smile on Kolleen's face whenever she sees it, and I hope she enjoys it for years to come.

Because I like to send little extra goodies, I made a cute little pincushion from the tutorial found here. The little gold thing is a pocket mirror with her initial on it. And a cute little pencil and some posty notes (you can never have too many posties if you ask me!)

A laptop bag to brag about!

2010-06-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, I really wanted to title this post "A little lap dance" (Get it? Like a little lap top happy dance...)but I didn't want to offend anyone, so I didn't. I have a weird sense of humor LOL

Anyway... the mighty hubster bought me a netbook for my birthday this year. He wanted to get a little black neoprene sleeve to keep it in so it wouldn't get damaged, or scratched, but no way was I going to walk around with a boring old BLACK laptop case! Does he not know me at all? Sheesh!

So yeah, I vetoed the black and told him I would make my own. I don't think he really believed me, but I made him take me to the fabric store and buy fun fabric with the money he would have spent on the boring laptop case.

(The back)
This is so much more fun don't you think? Boring Black???? Get outta here!

Utilitarian doesn't mean boring!

2010-05-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have had a need to do some utilitarian sewing lately. I joined our local city band a month or so ago and we have two concerts tomorrow. Because these concerts are out and about, we need to bring our own music stands. I hate having to try to hang on to my music stand, and my music, and my horn as I am walking, so I decided to make a cute little case for my music stand. And while I was at it, made a cute little draw string bag for my valve oil and slide grease.

I of course chose cherry fabric (I know, you're all shocked) and red polka dots and threw together this little case. In hindsight I would have done a few things differently, but considering I just threw it together, I don't think it turned out too bad, and it serves it's purpose. And now I can travel to my concerts in style! (now if only my French Horn would fit in the trunk of the Miata, I could REALLY travel in style *wink*)

STUD Swap received

2010-05-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is my first time participating in the STUD swap. STUD stands for Swap Til U Drop.

You make a mini quilt and send it to your partner. My quilt came out a little bigger than planned, but I added some extra sashings because it just looked lopsided without them. I hope my partner loves her quilt. I think she will. But you just never know.

Here is a little looksie. I can't show you the whole thing until she receives it because it's supposed to be a surprise. Her favorite colors are orange, green, and blue. I thought that was going to be hard, but then I found the floral fabric and it all worked out perfect.

Meanwhile, my quilt came in the mail yesterday! Kolleen, my partner, looked through my favorites folder on Flickr and just happened to chose one of my alltime favorite quilts to use as her inspiration. Pair that up with cherry fabric and I'm a gonner!

I absolutely love this quilt! I love the wonky blocks, and I love the ric rac, and I forgot to take a picture dangit, but the fabric on the back is adorable too!

Thank you Kolleen! I adore it! And just as much as the quilt, I love the little fabric pieces, and the doily. I can't wait to make something fun with that fabric!

I am having a really rough go of life right now and my spirits are pretty down. MIL came to the rescue and took the boys and I out to lunch and to see Shrek yesterday. It was a nice escape from my reality, if even only for a few hours. Thanks MIL, you're the best!

Joy is found in the little things

2010-04-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

I very rarely buy kits, in fact, I have now bought a sum total of two quilt kits in my entire life.

But I saw this little quilt on the wall at my LQS and loved it, and the kit had the exact fabric used in the sample except for one, and I while I didn't really care for the substitution, I went ahead and used it anyway. I love how this little quilt turned out, it will go on my living room wall when it's finished.

I also made a little disappearing nine patch quilt for my son's teddy bear. He has been asking for a quilt for Jack for quite a while now, and I finally got around to it. Now I know what not to do when I make the baby sized quilt next week (Make sure all prints are facing the same direction!!!).

And since I was all warmed up and crafting anyway, I decided to make a little coffee cozy for my son's teacher. I kinda winged it from a cardboard cozy I picked up at Carl's Jr. this afternoon and it didn't turn out too bad I don't think. I sure hope it fits since I don't have any coffee cups to try it on.

So what have YOU been up to lately?

Shortcuts are overrated!

2010-04-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

It looks simple, I think to myself, as I chose the pattern to make a new table topper for my living room coffee table.

Cut out 64 2 1/2" squares it says. So I do, and I lay them out, and I think....I don't really like that! I think the blue, and the dark green, is throwing it off. So I start over. And I think, HEY! I will take a shortcut (aka strip piecing the squares)!

Yeah, the shortcut didn't work out so well. I can't even tell you how many times I unpicked and resewed that little green and white checkerboard section, and it still has a mistake and guess what? I am calling it my Amish humility square! I can't take it anymore!

This quilt took me two solid days to make and it's only 32" square! It's a good thing I am happy with how it turned out because I do not have happy memories of my time spent making this quilt.

If you want to torture yourself making this cute pattern, it's called "Sunny All Around" and it's from the Spring 2010 Quilts and More. Just don't try to take shortcuts and you should be fine.

A little happy making.

2010-03-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have made a couple of stops at the fabric shops the last few weeks. I was looking for backing for my happy hour quilt and wasn't coming up with much. I was also looking for a Hunky Dory Layer cake so I can get started on the pinwheel sampler quilt along over at p.s. i quilt.

In my travels I stopped first at Pine Needles but didn't find anything that I loved for my quilt back, and they didn't have Hunky Dory yet. I did pick up a couple of fat quarters though. Two of them were orphans for $1.88, and a little Happy Camper. I love Happy Camper so much, I wish I could just buy a jelly roll, or layer cake of it. I looked around hoping for a charm pack, but couldn't find one =0(

A few days later mom and I went to Quilts Etc. They didn't have Hunky Dory either, but they had the new Feed sacks line and they were soooo yummy! I bought 1/8 of a yard of a bunch of them for my scrappy feed sack quilt.

I also bought a half yard of the aqua and red plaid (same fabric that I used in my pincushion) and a little floral FQ.

Then on to Material Girls where I finally found my Hunky Dory layer cake...AND a piece of backing fabric for my Happy Hour quilt!

And just because this is a post about fabric, here is a really crappy picture of the baby quilt top I finished today. It's for a very special little man, and his mommy, whom I adore.

(Pardon the wrinkles, I wanted to hurry and get pictures while I still had sunshine!

DQS8 Swap

2010-03-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

So we just finished round eight of the doll quilt swap. I have really enjoyed participating in the last two rounds!

I made two quilts for my partner. I made this one first.

But when I started stalking my partners comments and saw that she loved a certain kind of quilt, they were the ones she gushed over, I decided to send her a different quilt that was hopefully more her style. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the quilt finished, so I had to wait until she received it, and posted a picture so I could share with you. And thankfully she loved this little quilt. I was kinda sad to see it go, I am going to have to make another one for me!

I also have an idea working around in my brain for another quilt (maybe for DQS9) that involved mushrooms, snails, and birds! Can't wait to see it in fabric!!

I have also received my quilt from this swap! Horray, no agonizing waiting for me this round! She went with my love of cherries and made this darling little quilt for me. I just love it so much, I can't decide if I want to hang it on my wall with the others, or use it as a table topper, doesn't it look so cute on my little iron table?
Thank you Jennie!!

I have so much fun with these little mini quilts! If you like to make quilts, you should join in on the fun!

Checking in!

2010-03-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Lots going on around here lately...

We finally got our piano paid off and got to bring it home.

B put it together,

And I helped =0P

More little boys sewing pillow cases.

My littlest,

and my biggest.

Two little boys had a birthday, and one of them in one of his smart allec moments clasped his hands together, gave me his best angelic look and said "All I really want for my birthday is a double cheeseburger from Mickey D's" so... guess what he got?

The other threw a fit and said "So what???? We don't get a REAL present??? THAT'S NOT FAIR, I DON'T EVEN LIKE MCDONALDS!!!" He was much relieved when he found out he got a "Real" present too. We will have their party next week when everyone can be there.

And my favorite picture of the week is this one. I remember when I was little and my mom would sew, I too would take her pincushion and arrange all her pins. I would get so upset when she would mess them up. I love that I now have this memory with my own child =0)

And I have another big event, but I forgot to take a picture, so I will have to do that tomorrow when I have a little daylight, and hopefully a little less snow!

The finish line

2010-03-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

When it comes to craft projects, I am a great starter, but a lousy finisher! I am really good at getting 1/2 to 3/4's done with a project and then walking away and starting something else.

It's my ADD coming out full force, I get tired of something long before it's done.

The only things I ever really manage to finish are the things I make for other people, and sometimes not even then. I have a couple of MIL's half finished birthday gifts from years past in drawers around here.

So this year, my goal is to keep track of my finishes, maybe I can actually motivate myself by seeing how short the list is and wanting to make it longer. We'll see.

So I am adding a list of finishes in the right hand collum. Lets see how big I can make it before the year is over. And who knows, maybe I do finish more things than I think I do, and I just don't notice because I'm not keeping track.....bwahhhaaahhaaa yeah right!

It's Happy Hour!

2010-03-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

It's typical of my life to get to the party after everyone else has gone home.

I am not a spur of the moment kind of girl, I have to think, and plan, and analyze, and worry over every little thing. It's just who I am.

About a year ago, these Happy Hour quilts were popping up all over blog land. I fell in love and wanted to make one, but it took me a good three months before I could commit to buying the pattern. I have been collecting fabrics for about a year now, and I finally, today, took the leap and started cutting.

I can't say that I am in love with it. It looks nothing like the luscious quilt in my head. It's too busy, and the prints are too small. But...it's all cut out, so I might as well finish right? I still think it will look cute on the back of my couch.

And just for fun, here is a picture of the man and the boy feeding the birds.

Pin Up

2010-02-24T21:36:00.000-08:00

So I had this great idea, I wanted to make a little pin cushion to send to my swap partner. Unfortunately, there were a few too many mishaps.

I didn't shrink the pattern enough, so it turned out bigger than I had planned.

Then, when I filled it full of sand...it weighs a TON! I can't even imagine how much it would cost me to ship this baby!

So, it will stay here with me (I desperately need another pin cushion anyway) and I will come up with something else for my partner. Maybe make the same thing but with fiberfill instead? Who knows...

Don't you just love the little beads for the pin heads? I had little aqua dyed fresh water pearls that I planned to use, but the holes aren't big enough =0(

In the meantime, I am thinking I need to join swaps more often, this swap has gotten me out of my crafting void and back in the swing of things. It feels nice to be creating again.

Lost and Found

2010-02-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you start a quilt, out of fabulous 1930's prints, that you have been collecting for over a year, then decide on a whim to move your sewing room across the house. The completed blocks get separated from the fabrics, and you KNOW...you SWEAR that you have some that are done, but they aren't here, and you can't find them anywhere.

So you totally dismantle your sewing room. You take out EVERYTHING, because you just know they have to be here somewhere.

Luckily I found my missing blocks.
And while digging I also found several unfinished Valentine's day projects from last year that would have been so cute to display this year but...Unfortunately I have to put all this crap away before I can do anything with them!

I have a specific drawer for UFO's now and my goal is to start emptying it out.

Man I have a lot of Valentine and Halloween projects that are half done LOL

Adore Pennant Banner

2010-02-22T14:55:00.000-08:00

I know Valentine's Day is over, but I had this idea in my head and didn't have time to get it done.

A close up, can you see the irredescent glitter on the edges? It has such a pretty sparkle! The fabric is a thrifted bed sheet.

I think, since this matches my bedroom though, I may put it on my headboard and leave it up all year long.

Oh, I forgot to tell you! After 14 1/2 years of sleeping on the worlds ugliest waterbed, B finally bought me a REAL bed, with a REAL mattress! I can't tell you how heavenly it is to wake up in the morning without a back ache! Although I do really miss rocking myself to sleep at night. We got the mattresses for a killer deal at RC Willey, and the bed frame is from Ikea. We also went from a King to a Queen and now I actually have room for a bed table HORAY!

My only complaint...This bed is so high off the ground! We got the low profile box spring, but the mattress is so thick that I feel like a little kid crawling into bed, I have to throw my leg up and then hoist myself in. B might have to build me a little step stool while he's building my bedside table!

DQS8 Quilt finished!

2010-02-21T22:25:00.001-08:00

K, here it is, my DQS8 Quilt is finished! She asked for red and aqua, and she has commented on every single red and aqua quilt on the flickr group BUT mine. It's making me a little worried. I hope she likes it, and if she doesn't, I hope she lies to me and says she does LOL

I was a little unsure of it to start with, but I love it now and I have plans to make a second one for me to keep!

DQS 8 Sneak Peek

2010-02-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

So, I had this idea for DQS 8.
Simple, clean, classic...I got the idea for the trees from an add I saw somewhere, couldn't even tell you now who it was for, but I loved the trees.

I hope it turns out to be awesome instead of just blah.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Little Blue Birdy

2010-01-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

So I got this little bird at my local thrift. It was a souvenier from the Guadelahara Shereton apparently. It started out white with black flowers and the hotel name painted on it. I painted it aqua, added a little glitter and a pin cushion.

So far no one in my family likes it. I think it's cute and I hope my friend does too since it is a gift for her.

Heart to Heart Valentine Swap

2010-01-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally accomplished something. I decided I was going to sit down and JUST DO IT, whether I liked them or not, whether I was happy with how they turned out, or not. I had to get these done so that I could get them in the mail!

The bingo cards are vintage, the lace is thrifted, the music note hearts are vintage sheet music. There is red glitter on the bingo card, and irredescent glitter on the little cupid valentine.

I don't absolutely love them, but I like them and that's just going to have to be good enough, I am tired of worrying about it.

I just hope the ladies in the swap like them.

I've been avoiding you...

2010-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, I know it's terrible, but it's true.

The truth is, with my recent health issues, I have come quite depressed. I don't want my blog to be whiney and mopey, so I have been avoiding it. I don't want to write poor pitiful me posts, but I guess that's just where I am right now.

I don't feel good, I haven't for quite some time now, I am tired of it. I am just plain tired, all the time. Working for 4.5 hours per day totally wipes me out, I come home so tired I can barely function. I am retreating to my bed each night around 4 or 5 pm and when I am not in bed, I am stationary, fighting off sleep. I could probably sleep for ten days straight if left undisturbed.

I don't know if this is a flare of my "probable" MS (Never been difinitively diagnosed, my diagnosis is "Probable" MS) or if it is something else entirely.

It all started with severe stomach pain a week or two before Christmas and while the stomach pain is lessening over time, all the other symptoms are multiplying ten fold.

All I know is that is that I feel like a giant wuss. Like I am such a loser for not being able to cope, and it is very depressing. I feel worthless.

My wonderful husband is very patient with me. My kids just roll their eyes. I try to put on a happy face and work and not let anyone know how truly bad I feel, but it's getting harder and harder.

I just feel defeated.

I haven't been crafting much. I made a couple jewelry pieces around Christmas, but since then, nothing much creative is going on. I am struggling to come up with ideas for my Valentine swap, and for the DQS8 swap, and hopefully inspiration will strike soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

I haven't been thrifting, I haven't been reading, I haven't been doing much of anything other than trying desperately to get through my 30 minutes on the treadmill and stay awake until dinner.

Keep your fingers crossed that this all gets better soon, I am not coping well.

On that note, it's 2:40 in the afternoon and I am ready for bed *Sigh*

Abused

2009-12-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Why do they never believe me?

I have more of a history with hospitals than I ever wanted to. Before the removal of the evil organ (aka my uterus) I would find myself doubled over, clutching my stomach, and walking into an ER several times a year. I had funky ovaries, the outside skin of them was very thick, so when I made little bubbles containing little eggs to be released once a month...the little bubbles didn't burst. They just grew bigger and bigger until they were anywhere from the size of a lemon, to the size of a grapefruit. At which point, they would break and it would be the equivalent of being hit in the stomach, from the inside, by high speed shrapnel, that is exactly how my doctor put it to me once. Which helped to explain why I could be walking on along then all of the sudden be on my knees fighting to breathe over an intense, gut wrenching pain.

Another note, free fluid in your abdomen is painful.

So anyway, I have spent more than my fair share of time in emergency rooms. And every time I go, they need to start an IV, for pain meds, for blood draws and other various things. I have learned a few things over the course of time and one of them is that my veins SUCK! My blood clots off before they are done drawing blood, or my veings collapse, or they just explode.

Every time I go in to have blood drawn I tell them, right up front, if you want blood out of me, it has to be with a butterfly (tiny) needle, in the back of my hand. EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! they refuse to believe me. They insist on stabbing me over and over and over trying to prove to me that they can do what nobody else can!

Every time I need an IV I tell them, it has to be in the vein on the side of my thumb, they always say "That's a last resort because it's really painful there." Yes, I'm aware, but truly, that's the only place it works.

And EVERY! SINGLE! TIME! They think that they will be the magic one who can make it work. Even with my mom, and my husband, standing there saying "No really, she's right!" But they say "This vein right here is fabulous, I can get it, no problem!"

And EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!....THEY'RE WRONG!!!

I think I am just going to refuse to let anyone touch me unless they are the anesthesiologist, or they put the needle where I tell them to!

This is just one of my blown veins from last night, I have four others just like it and guess where I ended up getting my IV? Why, oh why, can't they just believe that I know what I'm talking about? I am so sick of people trying to prove that they are the one in a million who can do what no one else can!

Dear Santa

2009-12-15T18:29:00.001-08:00

Dear Santa,
Just in case you are a blog reader, I thought I would drop you a little hint and let you know that I would dearly love to receive the following this year...

I would love this fat quarter bundle from The Fat Quarter Shop so that someday I could make my very own Dear Jane quilt.

Or maybe a couple of Happy Camper jelly rolls, who doesn't love Happy Camper?

And the awesome people at The Fat Quarter Shop are having a give away, but since I NEVER EVER win give aways, I am counting on you, you jolly old elf to make my dreams come true!

See you Christmas Eve, although PK says he is sleeping next to my bed this year to keep me from sneaking out of my room in an attempt to prove that I am really putting presents out for him instead of you, so I may not be able to sneak out and peek at you this year!

Fly safe and Happy Christmas!

Happy December

2009-12-05T07:21:00.000-08:00

I have been on blogging hiatus. There just hasn't been much going on that is blogworthy and when I start to feel stressed trying to come up with something to blog about, I know it's time to step back and just let it go for a bit.

The boys have been off track from school and I haven't had much free time lately, so not a lot of crafting going on, but I have made some new winter hats for the boys. They picked the pattern and it's a free one found here...Visor Beanie Crochet Pattern. (Ps, check out the name of her site, it totally cracks me up and brings back memories of being a teenage girl drooling over cute boys.)

Here are a few that I've made...

I kind of winged it on this cute hat for my neighbor's new baby.

And used this pattern... Olivia's Butterfly Hat for a hat for my niece, because she needs a girlie hat, not a hand-me-down boy hat from her brothers LOL And here is my darling boy, very unwillingly, modeling it for me.

I have also been bitten by the beaded watch bug. I have seen them around for a while, and thought they were cute, but when I went to a craft boutique with my mom and they had watch faces, I fell in love with a little green one and it came home with me. I have had it for about two months now and finally got around to making my first couple of watch bands yesterday.

The first I made with natural stone beads and I love it.

The second one is made in my favorite color combination; red, aqua, and green. (If I ever need to match my living room, this is the watch to wear!)

I have a few other things to blog about, but this post is long enough. So Ta Ta for now!

Peace and Quiet

2009-11-24T06:45:00.000-08:00

Most mornings it is chaos in this household. Kids running around, fighting over bathroom space, the last of the milk, and who stole my socks?!?!?

Mornings are frustrating for me, everything is rush rush rush, and I feel the deadline of being to school on time hanging over my head.

But this week...the boys are off track, B is off work (Until Thursday of course, he goes back just in time to work Thanksgiving!) and I am the only one moving in this house of mine.

Part of me really enjoys the silence, the getting ready at a leisurely pace, no taking turns in the bathroom, no having to curl my hair over a little one brushing his teeth. It's nice. I take my time eating my breakfast, read, catch up on blogs, enjoy my morning and get to work feeling much less frantic.

But at the same time, I miss them all. I miss hearing about their dreams over breakfast, I miss hearing them talk about what they are going to do at recess today, and can they take their football to school please?

It's a weird feeling. I enjoy so much this time to myself, but at the same time, I miss the noise and hustle.

And an update on me. I went to the doctor yesterday. My "Migraine" on Sunday wasn't a migraine at all, as I had suspected as the day progressed and none of my meds were working. I have a severe sinus infection, in both sides, and my ear drums are so retracted that they are pressing on the bone in my ear, hence the extreme pain radiating through my head and my sensitivity to sound. It also explains the feeling of my eyes wanting to pop out of my forhead.

I now have steriods, antibiotics, probiotics, and a brand new 40 count box of Advil Cold and Sinus, my own personal box of salvation! I have never found anything that works better! Here is hoping I feel human again in a day or two.

Getting back in the groove

2009-11-19T12:41:00.000-08:00

I've been gone forever.

I have been sick, the boys have been sick, I am sick...again. I am on my third cold in four weeks and this one is, I believe, developing into a sinus infection. Just in time for Thanksgiving I might add. I have a sinus infection over Thanksgiving EVERY SINGLE YEAR! It's like clockwork. I can measure time by it.

Anyway, I am starting to come out of my cold medicine induced haze and trying to get back to life.

Today is a birthday. The birthday of my uncle Kevin. He died when he was 35, a year younger than I am now. He has been gone for a long time now, somewhere close to 16 years, maybe 17. The sad thing is, that his death was pointless.

He didn't die in a war defending his country.

He didn't give his life to save someone else's.

He didn't make a great sacrifice, his life was stollen from him.

He was killed. Murdered if you ask me, by a stupid man. A man with weaknesses. Addictions that he couldn't control.

My uncle was hit, on a freeway, on his way home from vacation. The man who hit him was lighting his bong. He crossed over into the opposite lane of traffic and hit my uncles truck head on.

He died because he was crushed by the steering wheel. They had to cut the steering wheel off to get him out of the truck. He didn't die immediately, he was screaming and in pain for HOURS! Brenda, his girlfriend, was pinned underneath him and had to listen to his screams for help, knowing she couldn't do anything to help him. She had serious injuries as well that have changed her life for the worse. She was still in the hospital on the day of Kevin's funeral. Cherie, Brenda's daughter was ejected from the vehicle. She landed on her face on the road. She was at the funeral with her broken arm and her damaged face.

There is a hole in our family where my uncle belongs.

There are holes in many families where someone, who was loved, is now missing. Missing because someone made the choice to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

I don't care if you're Superman, I don't care how FINE you feel, I don't care how competent you feel, if you have been drinking, or using drugs PLEASE do not put keys in the ignition of a vehicle and turn it on. Call a cab, call a friend, call your parents, walk, ride a bus, get home some other way.

I will never EVER forget the sound of my mother's gasp and the sight of the phone flying across the room as the Sheriff told her that her baby brother was in an accident and he didn't make it, and could my mom please make the two hour drive to be there when the sheriff came to tell her parents that their son was dead.

I will never forget that numb, lip tingling feeling. The surreal feeling that life had changed and my consciousness hadn't caught up yet. The drive that seemed endless, the look on my grandma's face when we walked in the door and she turned and put her face in the corner of the wall and said "No no no, I don't want to know, don't tell me, I can't hear it!" She already knew, she KNEW, in that sense that mother's get, she knew her son was gone, and she couldn't bear to hear the words that would make it all real.

Please, PLEASE don't drive under the influence!

Don't leave parents without children, don't leave children without parents. You may make it home alright this time, but that's just sheer luck, you were LUCKY that someone isn't getting a phone call tonight saying "I'm sorry, we did everything we could".
JUST DON'T DO IT!

Finished

2009-10-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

Frame from the dollar store, it was white, I spray painted it black. It's the perfect size for my cute little pumpkin.

I'll admit it, I'm a geek

2009-10-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

I know it's not fashionable, or cool, or in style, but I have to say, I love to cross stitch, I always have. I haven't done anything in cross stitch in years, but when I went in to my local thrift a while back and they had a HUGE stack of old Cross Stitch magazines, I had to take a peek and see if there were any worth buying.

I ended up buying six issues and have found quite a few things that I really love, and some that I may even get around to making.

(Click to enlarge)

For now, I am going to start with this sweet little pumpkin. I have a little, tiny, square picture frame to frame it with and I think it will make a charming addition to my fall decor.

I think next might be this...

More UFO's

2009-10-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

I am counting this as a UFO because I bought the big round box and the paper's to decoupage it almost six months ago.

I bought the box to hold all of my large, seldom used utensils like the big soup ladels and the pie server. My utensil drawer is tiny and I got so tired of fighting all the time to get to the spoons and spatulas that I actually use. The only bad thing is...they don't fit in the box either *Sigh*

But, the good thing is, the box is the perfect size to hold my pressed glass water goblets, that I got at the thrift, and will only get used on special occasions (Please pardon the price tags and hard water from the previous owner, I haven't cleaned them up yet). They are safely tucked away and I don't have to worry about them getting chipped or broken by my overly enthusiastic little boys.

This looks so much better up above the black cabinet in the kitchen than the plain old cardboard color. It's so perky and happy don't you think?

And since I had all the stuff out anyway... I decoupaged two little signs for some co-workers. They are doing that little "Boo" thing at school where someone gives you a secret little treat, and then you have to "Boo" someone else by leaving them a little treat. I figured rather than candy, which there is already plenty of this time of year, I would do things a little different and make them something. I love how these turned out and can't wait to make one for myself! I hope the ladies at work love them!

And in farewell, a picture of our beautiful sunset last night.

2009-10-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Tuesday UFO finish...
I stuffed and blind stitched my ruffled T-shirt pillow closed.

I wish you could see in the pictures what color it really is, it's a rusty, earthy red, not as red as it seems. It looks really cute with my two little fall pillows that I made last year or the year before, I can't remember.

Wednesday UFO finish-
I started these little skeleton heads several weeks ago then they have just sat in a little stack on my computer desk since then. I cut out backs, stuffed them, and sewed the backs on. They look so cute mixed in with my little candy corns and halloween colored yo-yos.

UFO Sightings...

2009-10-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

My sister and I, while chatting the other day decided to have a UFO Challenge week. UFO stands for Un-Finished object and sadly, I have a million of them.

My goal is to finish at least one project a day.

I started yesterday with this table. I bought it at my local thrift for $3 and brought it home and sanded it that same day, but it never got any farther than that.

Yesterday I took it out and painted it, and in typical yellow fashion, the color is ten times brighter than what I wanted, so I will probably end up repainting it a lighter color. I wanted more of a butter yellow than a sunflower.

I also think I like it better without the sanded edges, so when I get around to repainting it, I won't sand it again.

In the meantime, I am counting this as done...for now, and crossed off my UFO list.

Mini Quiche Review

2009-10-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I got a wild hare today and decided to make Quiche for lunch.

I love quiche, but aside from a very BADLY failed attempt at it in Jr. High cooking class, I have never tried to make it. After all, if a Jr. High kid can screw it up, it must be hard to make right?

WRONG!

I found this recipe at RecipeZaar.com

Leftover’s Blender Quiche
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup cooked and cubed chicken meat or ham or bacon
• 1/2 cup frozen zucchini or spinach or broccoli, cooked
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup baking mix
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Directions
1Preheat oven to 350°F.
2 Generously grease a 9 inch pie pan.
3 Spread shredded cheese across bottom of pie pan.
4 Cover cheese with meat and vegetables.
5 In a blender, combine eggs, baking mix, salt, garlic powder, onions, parsley, and milk.
6 Blend until smooth, then add olive oil.
7 Blend until combined, then pour mixture over meat and vegetable layer.
8 Sprinkle with paprika.
9 Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
10 Cool 10 minutes before serving.

I made mine in muffin tins and baked at 375 for 20-25 min.

The thing I loved most about it was the fact that I had all the ingredients, I didn't have to run to the store for anything. No exotic ingredients like asparagus or half and half or any of those other crazy things I never have in my house.

I used fresh green onions, and dried parsley, colby jack cheese, and broccoli. I also added a little Lawry's Season Salt because I am my mother's daughter and nothing comes out of this kitchen without a little Lawry's in it.

I let the boys help, they took turns filling the muffin cups with cheese, ham, and broccoli, and they each cracked an egg into the bowl.

First impression right out of the oven, they look a little greasy. I hope they aren't slimy.

First taste- light and fluffy, not slimy, not even oily. I did use less oil than called for, and will probably use even less the next time I make them.

Two out of three boys, and one mom, gave them a thumbs up.

PF gave it a less enthusiastic so/so but the boy has the flu, so take that for what it's worth.

The best part about this recipe? This totally inept cook made them without any trouble at all! We will definitely be making these again!

Quilt Festival

2009-10-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Park City Girl is hosting a quilt festival, come join in the fun!

For my quilt I am going to show my mini quilt. I am proud of this quilt. It's the first quilt I have ever 100% finished all by myself (I usually beg my mom to do my bindings for me).

I started it out for a "Thumbelina" quilt contest. Considering it was my first pieced quilt, I didn't expect much, but I was proud of myself for doing something I didn't believe I could do. Not only did I piece blocks, but I pieced 3" blocks and had to convert the patterns down from 12" blocks. I chose the blocks by myself from a website of free block patterns and chose where to lay them out and the colors etc.

I worked on this quilt while my grandfather was very ill in the hospital. Working on the tiny blocks occupied my mind and helped me fill time between phone calls to the hospital to check on his progress. Sadly, my grandpa passed away and now when I see this quilt, I think of him. I miss him.

More amazing things about this quilt, it won the contest at the quilt shop, and later won a blue ribbon at the state fair. It's name is Validation and it is truly that.

Now that you have seen my quilt, head on over to Park City Girl and join in on the fun!

Angels

2009-10-08T19:34:00.001-07:00

Apparently there are people who sign up to be Angels. When someone totally drops the ball on their swap, these angels fill in and make sure that no one goes un-quilted.

Today, I got a package in the mail, what perfect timing don't you think?

And what is even better, it made me kind of glad that the person who was assigned to me was a flake, because I am so in love with the quilt I received!

Not only did she send me this darling, wonderful, yippy skippy I love it so much, quilt, she sent me the sweetest, handmade card.

And a packet of other handmade cards for me to use. This is one talented lady!

So Tina, if you happen to see this, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! I went from being totally depressed yesterday to grinning like an idiot today. I can't even tell you how much I love this little quilt, and I am not even going to hang it in the stairway with the others, I am going to hang it in my sewing room where I can see it and smile every single day.

I am grateful to you for taking the time to step up and fill someone else's shoes and bringing a little joy to my life. I have needed a little joy lately.

Feeling dejected

2009-10-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

It has happened...again.

Everytime I join a swap B rolls his eyes and in an irritated voice says "I don't know why you keep doing this, you always get screwed!" And in a way, he's right.

Part of me feels like I am not allowed to complain because I was late mailing mine out this round, and I owe my friend Jen a package that is long overdue. But at the same time, JUST ONCE, I would like to get a package that makes all my hard work and effort worth it.

You have all seen my mini quilt for the DQS7 swap.

I kept hoping that my partner was just running behind. Hoping that any day now, she would surprise me with a package in the mail, the but mail out date was nearly a month ago and it looks like once again, I am being let down.

It's not fair! It makes me feel like I have done something bad and Karma is punishing me *sigh* I just wish people wouldn't sign up for things if they don't finish. And why is it always ME that is assigned the people who don't follow through.

I'm just sad, that's all. I was really looking forward to this.

Quilt blocks for a cause

2009-10-04T09:03:00.000-07:00

Please pop over to A Yankee Quilter and consider sending a 9 1/2" block for a cause. The quilt will benefit the family who's dad lost his leg this past week in an accident.

A little Sewing

2009-10-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

While browsing around online I saw the cutest quilt. I wish I had saved a picture of it, or the link to it so that I could show you. I can't even remember where I saw it.

But the point is, I liked it. It was simple, and yet striking. Sometimes I forget that simple is just as nice as complex and sometimes, even nicer. I loved that you were able to see what the fabrics were and that the colors were the focus, not the pattern of the piecing. I decided I needed to make one and happened to have lots of Halloween fabric on hand.

Today while watching LDS General Conference on my computer, I put this simple quilt top together. I really like it! A funny story though. As I laid the blocks out the other day, I worked so hard to make them random. After about 20 minutes of rearranging blocks, I was finally satisfied and took a picture of the layout with my camera. It was only after I uploaded the picture to my computer that I noticed that my perfectly random pattern wasn't random at all, but went in kitty corner stripes. I can't even be random when I TRY to be.

Another funny story. I was piecing away, intently listening to the conference speaker and out of nowhere a hand appears on the side of my sewing machine cabinet and places a little bouquet of flowers beside my sewing machine. My son had crawled in on his hands and knees so that he could surprise me. He surely did, in fact, he scared the crap out of me, it took about five minutes for my heart to cease pounding. This sweet boy, the one who eats, sleeps, and breaths guns, explosives, and fire power, sweetly picked a little bouquet of flowers to surprise his mommy. Melts my little mommy heart, it does!

When the quilt top was finished, I grabbed a T-shirt that I had bought at the local thrift and set to work on this tutorial from Floral Showers. I must admit that it wasn't as simple as I had expected, and it took me longer than I thought it would, but I like it. It's a nice rusty red color, perfect for Autumn decor. I still need to stuff it, but am out of stuffing, so it will have to wait. (Pictured here with some recent thrifting finds).

I have also made one Three Musketeer Tabbard. I made the neck WAY too big, so I will have to figure out how to fix that, but at least I know what not to do on the next two, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.