Recent Reads

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!

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

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

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

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

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!