Seriously..I think it needs stitches.

Leap Day Winner and Thursday Think Tank

2012-03-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

The blog hop was so much fun yesterday! Thanks to everyone who entered--I haven't had time to answer each and every comment personally, but thanks for entering and making it a fun day!

I just picked my winner randomly via the Random # Generator, and it picked Quilt Happy, who blogs over at wont-to-be quilter. Congrats!! I will be emailing you! Your prize will be coming very soon, as it will arrive in your email inbox and won't have to depend on the postal service. :o)

I also found out that I WON something! Yay! I won this pattern from Teresa in Music City.

So this Thursday Think Tank has me thinking about how much fun giveaways are. Not just the winning part, but the giving part. And when you have a tandem giveaway with a blog buddy like Rebecca, it is even MORE fun!!

I am also thinking about how I need to bite the bullet and finish cutting Swoon #7. I have hit a stall point, and I absolutely CANNOT lose steam, like I typically do.. I don't want this one to end up an eternal WIP or gasp! UFO. I have just been excited about other things in the last week or two, blog related and non-blog related, but I definitely need to get back on the bandwagon and keep Swooning along to a finish! Hope to have some time later tonight to blog surf and see what everyone's been up to!

Happy March 1st!
Congrats Quilt Happy!!!

Gonna link up with Rebecca Lynne @ Making Rebecca Lynne for Thursday Think Tank.

Leap Day Giveaway & Blog Hop

2012-02-28T21:06:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness! This sounds too fun to pass by. Elizabeth at Such a Sew and Sew is having a Leap Day Giveaway Blog Hop.

Even though I just had a giveaway last week (maybe we should have a weekly giveaway-lol) with Rebecca Lynne, it is LEAP DAY after all, and there won't be another Leap Day Giveaway opportunity for FOUR YEARS!!! That's a LONG TIME!

I plan to head over to the hop tomorrow and enter at all of the links.. maybe I'll get lucky, and if not, that's okay too. I'll also be having fun paying it forward a little bit. Since I didn't know about the hop much in advance and just found it earlier in the day, I decided to make it easy. That means YOU get to pick your prize.

One lucky follower will win:

A Fat Quarter Shop Gift Certificate for the amount of $10 which you can use to pick out the charm pack of your choice. Or a pattern, or to put toward anything else you choose. :o)

You can enter from now until 11:59 p.m. PST on 2/29/12.

Just leave me a comment letting me know you follow. Unless I've known you for a really long time, then you can leave a comment telling me your middle name. lol That's it, only one entry per person. I'll announce the winner on March 1st.

HAPPY LEAP DAY (Year, for that matter!)
xo

After you enter, hop around and enter the others. :o)

A non-Swoon Doggie Post

2012-02-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

Today is the Share Your Pets edition of Tuesday Treasures over @ Melody's house on the side of a hill.

I could not write this post without mentioning our dog, Duke, who we lost the summer of 2009. He was 13 years old, and we had to make the dreaded decision. I originally blogged about it at my old blog in the summer of 2009 and posted this slide show:

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but haven't had the time or energy to sit and go through these photos on the computer... We lost our dog, Duke on June 22nd. He was almost 13 years old. He was just a puppy when I met my husband. We really got to know each other taking him for walks. All these years later, he was a big part of our lives. Saw many changes. Protected me and made me feel safe when I lived alone.. it was while walking the dog that Chris, my husband, proposed to me.., he was there when I sold my house and moved into Chris's house, when we brought our baby home from the hospital, and when we moved to the house we now live in. I feel lucky to have had such a good dog. He taught Austin a love for animals and how to be gentle and kind to the elderly since he was already a "senior" when Austin was born. He was such an easygoing dog. Anyway, here is my little tribute to him, along with some listening enjoyment.. We will always love our Duke the Dog!

Austin was not quite three when we lost Duke, and he grieved hard! We all did. :o(

Then, a few months later, we were needing another dog in our lives and along came Buster.. our new family member who stole our hearts right away! He's a mess but we LOVE him!!

Baby Buster:

The look that said
it all!

My little one is definitely a 'dog person'. :o)

and there is sure enough of this one to go around! He's grown so much in two years!

Both of them have.. :/

Time just flies by too fast!! Gonna link up @ Melody's Tuesday Treasures. I heard a rumor that there might be prizes? Maybe you'd like to link up too! Happy Tuesday. xo

Swoon #6 brought to you by a cancer PSA

2012-02-26T09:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I had a very important decision to make.

Finish Swoon #6 or clean the house. If any of you think I cleaned the house...

THINK AGAIN! ahahaaha :o)

To be fair, I cleaned a little. And sewed a lot. One has to stay sane, right? I was able to get a picture of them all together, barely, but I don't know if I will be able to after this.. they take up a lot of room!

And now for the cancer part of this post. I was contacted a few weeks ago by Melanie Bowen from the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance and she asked me if I would be willing to post an article she had written and link to the blog.

Of course, being a cancer survivor, I said yes. I did not have mesothelioma, however, but Hodgkin's Disease. In stage 3A of 4 stages when diagnosed, and 8 months of chemo and 4 weeks of radiation, which ended just before my 20th birthday and I have been cancer free ever since. I believe Melanie's article can apply to all who have experienced or are experiencing any kind of cancer, and can even apply generally to life. Thanks for finding me Melanie!

Write Yourself Well

For anyone dealing with any health challenges: from depression to mesothelioma cancer, writing can become part of wellness therapy. Recording aspirations, thoughts, feelings and occasions is therapeutic and inspirational both in the writing and in the reviewing of what has been written. Dr. Weil cites medical studies showing that people who journal experience higher immune function and lowered frequency of chronic physical symptoms.

Goal setting is not only going to get you where you want to be, it will give you a sense of direction and a sense of accomplishment. If you don’t know where you are going you cannot choose your path. Embrace your life; take charge of its direction.

Accomplishments require three main steps: dream, discipline, and delight. Identify your desires and record them. Whether you choose a journal or an online blog matters not. This proactive step is about finally living on your terms, whether it is for wellness or for dreams you’ve always possessed but never acted upon. Whatever your desire is, take the first leap into making it come to fruition by journaling about it.

Discipline does not have to be a scary word; all it really means is that you are at the action stage of reaching your delight. Record your plan in your chosen format and continue to add to it, change it and edit it as you go through the discipline process. Take joy in being self-motivated and accountable to yourself. Take comfort in the flexibility to change every single thing about your plan if you want to do so. It is your plan.

Record your thoughts and events that occur along your road to fulfilling your lifelong wishes and along your road to wellness. You will enjoy reading through it, and it is a tangible reminder of how far you have come. Reviewing at least part of your records each day is a tool to stay focused and optimistic.

The delight of accomplishing your goals is the reward you reap from going through the discipline process. Imagine how you will feel to write, “I did it!” in your journal or blog. Later, reading about your delight will buoy your spirits as you head toward the next goal on your list.

Writing your dreams down suddenly makes them more real and more reachable. So, write it all down. Write about taking the doctor’s prognosis and tossing it out the window. Write about the trip you’re saving for. Write about your fitness goals. Write about the book you’ll write, the degree you’ll earn, the healthy foods you’ll eat. Make a list a mile long if you wish. You can accomplish anything with three simple steps: dream, discipline, and delight.

See? Blogging is healthy! :o) I KNEW it! Thanks again, Melanie!

You know what else is healthy? Having a dog. Random fact: Petting a dog for 10 minutes releases oxytocin in both you and the dog. This is the bonding hormone that is released in nursing mothers when they are feeding their babies. It also lowers your blood pressure and your heart rate. :o)

Buster the other night at the dog park. He had such a good time that he collapsed in the bushes for a rest on the way to the car.

Blogs and dogs. :o)

Healthy and Drama Free!

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

2012-02-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

Rebecca of Making Rebecca Lynne and I drew our winners today in our Tandem Drama Free Giveaway. :o) She has posted her winner.. congrats Sana, go and visit her blog. She really really REALLY wanted to win, so I am very excited that she won--and now for my winner..

(I'm less computer savvy than Rebecca so you'll have to imagine the Mr. Number Generator and the pic of the entry that won itself, but I promise, I drew it random!)

Drum roll....symbols clash!

Congrats to..

Ida from My Sister Made Me Do It. Whose blog is named so, because well, her sister nagged her into blogging. :o) Congrats Ida, so nice to *meet* you in blog land. Thanks for joining our giveaway. As Rebecca states in her post, we could be having more Drama Free giveaways in the future, as 2012 marches forward, so stay tuned. This was honestly so much fun!

I am also planning a giveaway in March to celebrate a blogging milestone, so stay tuned for that.

So happy for Ida, and Sana! OH, and I almost forgot, Ida is having her own giveaway right now too. So head over to My Sister Made Me Do It and check it out! If you didn't win here, maybe you'll win over there! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks again for playing with us and making this a ton of fun!

xo

(Off to work on Swoon #6.. or clean the house.. ??)

swooning along in the sick house..

2012-02-22T19:07:00.001-08:00

So I finally got over whatever allergic reaction I had to whatever I'm allergic to..just in time for my son to come down with bronchio laryngitis. :( Raspy breathing all night, barely able to talk..

One Dr. appt., plus one inhaler, plus a trip to the store to get a new humidifier b/c we couldn't get the old one to work, plus the ENTIRE (as in did not move) day on the couch watching cartoons-which has NEVER happened in his 5 years of life, and the entire night with the humidifier going and he woke up breathing better and talking. Whew. What a relief.

He has rarely been sick in his life, (all those times I caught him chewing on the cart handle at Target as a baby must have built his immune system!) so when he gets this sick, it just almost makes me physically sick. It's so hard to watch your kid be sick. Parents who have kids with chronic illnesses are my heroes. I can't imagine the strength they have!

So while he was on the couch, I spent my time Swooning over #5. (in between surfing the DVR for cartoon after cartoon--thank goodness I hadn't erased all of the ones we had recorded, they really came in handy!)

So here is #5, in my classic blurry photo style. :o) It's red and black, I like it a lot.

This particular secondary fabric reads as a solid, but it really isn't. It has a cute little swirly pattern that I love. The lighter green in the #4 block has this same swirl print. So does the yellow I'll be using next.

Next, I will be cutting out #6. I have the yellow pieces cut, now just need to cut the blue.

Here is the Swoon family so far all laid out in the floor with my little step stool hiding a little stain on the rug. LOL

I will say it again.. I LOVE this pattern, it's so much fun to sew. :o)

Giveaway is still open, just scroll back a couple of posts to enter. And have a great Wednesday/Thursday. Gonna link up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Making Rebecca Lynne for TTT. xo

Sunday Swoon #4

2012-02-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I have still been busy swooning yesterday and today. Here is #4. It isn't my favorite. I really thought it would be but eh.. I really really like the yellow and black one the best so far I think. But I do like this one, though.

I had a hard time getting a decent photo of the four of them together.

We'll just have to see how they all look together in the end. I'm cutting one now that will have black for the star color and red as the second color.

I can't believe I'm starting #5 of nine. I might actually finish a quilt in 2012! Yay! Oh wait..if I celebrate too soon, I'll jinx it. :o)

Things I'm thankful for today:

My allergic reaction/itchy spots are going away!! Hooray!
I'm thankful for my favorite little pirate who likes to sneak into my photos.

And then insist I take photos of him posing.

I'm thankful for the message he left for me all by himself on his chalkboard after he saw that I'd left him one. *real life swoon* He said "I sounded it OUT Mommy!" I love the spelling. HAPY VALnTiMe TOO MOMME. It almost looks like one of those blogger comment verification codes. haha

I'm thankful that when I get in the car to drive it after my husband has driven it, I don't have to readjust the seat. Even though he is 6" taller than me. We've decided his super hero name would be "Torso-Man". :o)

It's all about the little things! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

xo

P.S. Not to sound like a broken record, but in case you missed it, Rebecca Lynne and I are having a giveaway together, a layer cake at each of our blogs. You can enter at this post and then head to Rebecca's and enter at this post until February 25th. :o)

FNSI Swoon Edition

2012-02-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

Aside from today being "Pirate Day" at preschool, it was also

..along with the day my husband left on a 3-day work trip after being on vacation for a while. Which means I am solely in charge of the pirate for the next 80 hours in a row. :o)

..which also means that FNSI results could be iffy. ;o) BUT, my favorite pirate was very well behaved, and I was able to complete my goal of one FNSI Swoon before midnight. And since he's sleeping like an angel, I'm going to blog about it now, in case I don't have time tomorrow.

Fabrics:

Messy kitchen table:

Made the SAME cutting error--ugh, see ~~excuse~~ reason later in post:

..but managed to patch this one together, too. Someone commented on my last post about "if someone on a galloping horse can't see it" .. which made me feel a lot better. :o)

Ha! Lame attempt at "artsy" photo:

Photo for Flickr pool:

Wow, I could really use some photography lessons! I really admire all of you out there that take such great photos.

So even though I've screwed up the cutting TWICE now, I still love this pattern. It would be really fun to make a scrappy one some day.

I'd like to blame my cutting errors on the fact that I'm taking a medication right now that "may make you drowsy". Don't they all say that? Anyway, it's true confession time. I'm taking it to combat the mother of all allergic reactions that I developed last weekend after apparently being allergic to some new vitamins I was taking. Well, I'm not allergic to vitamins of course, but I may or may not be allergic to whatever is in the vitamins that shapes them into gummy animals with fruity flavors. That's right. I had to admit to my Dr. that I was taking gummy bear vitamins. Yah.. I'm mature. LOL ??? Anyway, that's the back story to the reason I am blaming all of my Swoon cutting errors on one tiny white pill that allows me to function throughout the day without my skin itching so bad I want to jump into a pool of acid!

Anyway, if you're new to my blog, sorry for the over-sharing. It happens sometimes. :o)

Here are the three I have done so far. Just hanging over the back of the couch. The Mary Englebreit fabrics are so happy, I'm looking forward to #4 which will have some red in it.

Really lacking good pic taking skills!

I'm looking forward to checking out all of the FNSI links this weekend. It's a 3-day weekend here in the U.S. Hooray!

Oh, don't forget about the giveaway that Rebecca and I have going on right now. Two layer cakes, one at each of our blogs. You can enter here and here, four chances at each place. We will pick the winners on Feb. 25th.

Have a great weekend!
xo

Swoon #2, and a GIVEAWAY!!!!

2012-02-15T23:06:00.000-08:00

**If you're not interested in the Swoon update, be sure to scroll to the bottom and enter the giveaway! :o)

Oh, Swoon..

Well, I still love it, but it did have a few hiccups along the way. The biggest one was cutting one of the 3 7/8" squares into a 3 1/2" square. Which is tragic if you're using a FQ pack for this quilt. Because there is no room for error in the cutting. It even says on the pattern to cut very carefully. I thought I was.. woops.

I barely had enough of the selvage scrap edge to piece together a 3 7/8" square.

The 3 7/8" squares get sewn together to make 2 HST's so it actually effected two small sections of the block.

If you look super close, there is a tiny sliver of the white selvage that you can see, but not enough to notice too bad. It's all I could do to save it.

That being said, I still love how it turned out.

Yep, still swooning for the swoon.
Gonna link up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced for W.I.P. Wednesday.

And now, finally we get to the fun giveaway part of the post!!! Rebecca @ Making Rebecca Lynne and I made a pact before the start of the year to have a drama free 2012. Last year was tough for us both with illnesses, family issues, deaths in the family, you name it. So we got together, made a pact, and a blog button (two actually!) and have been planning to do a tandem giveaway on Valentine's Day.

Since she has somewhere very important to be right now, and will be without her computer, we put our heads together and decided that I would post both giveaways on Thursday. I will be guest posting her Thursday Think Tank for her while she's away and setting up her giveaway, too. That way she will have something fun to look forward to when she gets home. So after entering here, be sure to head over there to enter there too. That way you will have multiple chances to win!! :o) And who doesn't love to get FREE fabric in the mail?!

So here it is..in honor of all things healthy, happy and drama free, you can win a layer cake of Little Apples by Aneela Hoey! :o)

A layer cake can be made into so many cool quilts. I found this really neat pattern that can be made with a layer cake. You can find it at the FQS:

There are also lots of free patterns at the Moda Bake Shop!

Also, b/c it just seems appropriate for a drama free giveaway, you can win a little bonus prize to go with your layer cake. A "peace, love, quilt" coaster from Cafepress.com.

How to enter (you can have more than one entry if you choose):

1. This giveaway is for our followers. So leave a comment to that effect, whether you are an existing follower or a new one. If you are a new follower, Welcome!

2. If you want to hop on the drama free band-wagon and have grabbed one of the drama free buttons from my sidebar, leave a separate comment telling me for an extra entry.

3. If you want to share the giveaway with your friends and choose to blog about it, you get two extra entries. (But don't feel obligated to do this, it is not a requirement.)

That's all you have to do. :o) We will be drawing our winners on Saturday Feb. 25th. I hope you'll enter. The more the merrier. Like I said, we've been looking forward to this for a long time. And remember, after you enter here, head over to Making Rebecca Lynne and enter there, too. All in all, there are two layer cakes, each with a little bonus prize up for grabs. :o)

Good Luck!!
xo

My FIRST Swoon is done! :o)

2012-02-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

It worked, it worked! I have a Swoon block completed, and without any major complications! AND.. in spite of the cutting involved, it was so much fun to put together. Of course, whether all nine of them turn out the same size so that I can piece them together remains to be seen. ;o)

It turned out to be a pretty productive weekend. I finished all of the background cutting and labeled the stacks. Then cut my focus fabrics and laid them out like the pattern suggested.

Then there are really only two units to make, that then get sewn into rows with the center square.

Rows:

And Voila! It really is worthy of it's name. I love it and can't wait to make more.

And on top of that, I whipped up this pillow case this morning for A. to bring to one of his school mates who is recovering from having his adenoids and tonsils out. We dropped it off this afternoon. I really hope he loves it.

I'm happy to say it is made from scraps that I had already. Bananas from my son's sock monkey quilt, a random fat quarter, and a skinny scrap of orange. :o) I hadn't made a pillow case in quite a while. I think I have the bug again! They are so much fun, and such a happy thing to make.

Oh, and before I forget.. be sure to drop by on Thursday. I will be guest-blogging at Rebecca Lynne's Thursday Think Tank, and also announcing our tandem giveaway, in honor of a drama-free, all things healthy and happy 2012. We will each be giving away a Little Apples layer cake, so if you enter at both of our blogs you will have double the chances of winning one. :o) I will post all about it on Thursday.

xo
Kelli

Friday Progress Report-YAY!

2012-02-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Swoon cutting has commenced! Posting about my lack of progress a couple of days ago really motivated me to GET GOING and MAKE time for myself to do something fun. I will say this.. this baby has lots of cutting involved!

Cutting is my least favorite part of any project, but now that I have started it..

I can't WAIT to get done so I can start piecing some of these blocks. Piecing is my favorite part. I love watching a block come together.. like putting a puzzle together. YUM.
Here is the progress:

Had to cut three sets of strips, so far.. (I'm saving the strips for the sashing to cut when I actually need it.) Twelve strips, then nine, then six.. Which will be turned into..

72 pieces, 108 pieces, and 54 pieces. For someone who really dislikes the cutting process, I have my work "cut out" for me! Bleh. BUT, I can't wait to have it done! Because then comes the fun part!

Other things keeping us busy this week..

Pajama day at preschool, complete with pillow-making and a pillow fight..

Walking the preschool class about four blocks to a Greg and Steve concert, where there were about 400 screaming 0-6 year olds..

I read that Europe is having a record cold winter.. but winter seems to have forgotten to show up here. It has been perfect Spring-like weather lately, and Buster has been loving the dog park!

And working up quite a thirst..

And Austin has been practicing his writing at the dog park, too. :o)

"BUSTR" (Buster) :o)

A heart and "MOM"

My perfect Valentine.

Swoon.

I'm swooning in more ways than one! :o) Have a great weekend everyone! xo

Sew Failing To Sew!

2012-02-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here.. b/c really we have been so busy that I haven't been able to work on my Swoons. :-(

I did manage to clean up my sewing space, though, and get all of my fabrics that have been kind of multiplying and going rogue all over the place stacked into some clear plastic zip bags. The kind that comforters, sheet sets, or curtain panels come in when you buy them in the store. I knew I was saving a couple of those for some reason. Now they can go neatly (even in the floor) in a spare closet and I can still see the fabrics. They would even slide nicely under a bed.

This is the ME F&F yardage I found to use in the backing of my Swoon. Tucked into its zipped up container.

Here are lots of random FQ's and larger scraps. Underneath is one with bigger pieces in it.

Combine lots of preschool activities and play dates, and another trip out of town to the in-laws for a family birthday dinner over the weekend (turned into a four day trip), and then throw on trying to clean and organize the house and conquer the laundry, and kablam, where did the time go?!

For some closing eye-candy, look what was staring at me when I clicked on my Pinterest page this a.m.?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74953425@N06/6826346421/in/set-72157629192402683/

I love houses, and I love wonky stars, and those trees.. The cuteness of this is almost unbearable! I think I need to add a version of this to my quilting bucket list.

Off I go to do more laundry, dinner-making, cleaning, and catching up. And then maybe some Swoon-cutting. (fingers crossed!!)

Happy Wednesday! xo

A Swoon-y & Pinteresting Week.

2012-02-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Swoon pattern arrived. Yay!
Spent some time working out pairings for Swoon blocks.
Got background fabric for Swoon blocks.
Realized said background fabric wasn't working out when laid out with all of the fabrics.
Went back for different background fabric.

Here is the fat quarter pack all laid out on the table:

Okay, this FQ pack had lots more than 18 FQ's. But I stuck to the dots mostly and avoided the directional fabrics. Which would take me forever to try and match, and would end up looking really bad if I know my own skill level..

Here are some of the cast-offs that were vetoed:

And here are my pairing choices along with the (second try) background fabric. I didn't want just white, but I didn't really want another solid color background either.. so this is where I ended up. Hopefully it will end up with a scrappily delicious feel.

The picture is a little blurry, but you can kind of see some green checks up at the top.. that was my original choice for the background.. BUT when laid out with all of the colors, it kind of swallowed up the greens and I started thinking it would look pretty messy with all of the seams. So I really like the white with green dots a lot better! Maybe the checks will make it onto the backing!

A closer look:

Almost ready to start cutting!

OH! Something else I saw on Pinterest and couldn't stop thinking about.. A chore board for my son.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83249330/set-of-10-custom-chore-magnets-custom

These chores were a little advanced for my son, and I didn't want him to have money attached to each one, so I decided to make my own. Of course it's not as fancy as these, but it was WAY cheap and super easy, and I can't wait to put it to use.

I used:

small sheet of steel
plain wooden cabinet knobs
pkg of round magnets
black permanent marker
letter decals
electrical tape
hot glue
(husband to drill two holes for ribbon used for hanging)
moda ribbon from my FQ bundle

I spent only about $15:

Thank you Pinterest, and Moda. :)

Also found on Pinterest today, a fact that I would be willing to testify to, under oath, in a court of law:

It doesn't change when they turn five either. Some days I feel like I'm being pecked to death by a duck, but most days I just love it! One morning I laughed so hard b/c he saw my bra (shh.. no men read quilting blogs do they?) in the floor and asked me, "Are those your boobs in the floor?" Er.. yes.. (thinking that's just what he was calling my bra).. He then looked very pointedly at my chest area (I was in my pajamas) and with a puzzled look said, "but you're still WEARING them!" Oh boy. Sometimes the relentless questioning can lead to some good laughs.

Hope you're all having a great week!

New Swoon-y Project

2012-01-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I started out the year with good intentions. Finish my WIP's. No new fabric, no new projects, and all that. And now, I must confess, I'm getting ready to abandon those goals. (I guess I already partially did, since I made the EPQD blocks, but those were scrap blocks at least.)

I've been fighting the urge for a while, and the other night, while innocently browsing the fat quarter shop page.. (like an alcoholic innocently hanging out in a bar) I tripped all over my good intentions and fell flat on my face!

I bought a *SWOON* pattern! *sigh* It's winging it's way to me right now, and should be here by Monday. (I also choked and bought some fabric for something different--but that's another post for another day.)

I just kept seeing all of these cool swoon blocks, and they just kept sucking me in further and further, and then I realized that the pattern calls for 18 fat quarters. ACK--I have a fat quarter pack with 18 fat quarters that I've been hoarding for a LONG time, and I think it will make a really sweet SWOON quilt.

It is Mary Englebreit's Friends and Flowers line .. Love all of the colors..

And it has this panel..I could incorporate it into the backing..?

And, just on coincidence, I happened into the quilt shop across the street from my son's school (my car just veered there) and out in the bin on the sidewalk.. the 50% off bin, I see three prints and think hmm.. those look like ME F&F prints.. and they were! So I stocked up on backing yardage.. I haven't seen that yardage around in ages, and there it was for $5 a yd. Another sign that I should make the Swoon quilt with this fabric!

So, at least I can feel good that I didn't buy new fabric for the project. (except the backing that was WAY cheap.) Even though I didn't make it out of the FQS website w/o getting some other fabric for something else. Ugh. I'm soo weak! I need help. It wouldn't help to take my credit card away either. I have the # memorized. Security code and all. Yep, I really need help!

I'm always the last person to jump on any bandwagon, and I never know what the current "it" fabrics are, either, but even though I'm late to the party, I will be swooning along with everyone else. Oh well.. What else can I say. Good bye NY resolutions.

OH! Except for the No Drama in 2012 one. That one is going great. :o) In fact, stay tuned b/c there will be a giveaway soon in celebration. A tandem giveaway with Rebecca Lynne. Woo-Hoo!

Happy Weekend!
xo

Felt Hair Brush Pin Cushion

2012-01-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

A hair brush pin cushion.. Yes. :o) Remember my previous post where I was daydreaming about pin cushions? Well, ever since I pinned this one on Pinterest, it has had me hooked. So this afternoon-- armed with two sheets of felt, some torn up batting scraps, a couple of small pieces of card stock (taped together) and some embroidery floss-- I set out to make one. And it turned out like this:

It maybe took an hour, and I just love it. Thank you Pinterest!

Here are some pics of the process:

And now my little tomato is not so all alone. :o)

Cross that off my list of 2012 things to try. It was so much fun, though, I will probably be trying some more.

This was my inspiration:

It is from Phar-ma.com, and there is also a tutorial there.

With pin cushions on the brain, I'm going to go and link up @ MRL's Thursday Think Tank. Can't believe I made something *Pinterest-inspired*. It might just become a habit. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Friday Night Sew-In Results!

2012-01-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

I did it!! I can't believe I finished all four of my EvaPaige Quilt Design SNY blocks for FNSI!

It actually turned out to be a "Friday Sew-In" for me, since it took me the better part of the afternoon to decide on which scraps to use/pair together and cut all of the little pieces. Once I got the hang of it, it went much faster but since it was a new pattern, and for a group quilt/swap I wanted to be extra careful to get it right.

Here is the first block..Ta-Da!

(I kind of LOVE it!)

Then there is #2:

(I had to incorporate some sock monkey scraps.)

And then there is #3:

(Now can you tell that I love dots-they are everywhere.)

And then for #4, oranges:

(the very lightest fabric came to me from Kathy in Australia. That will be a well traveled fabric. From Australia to California and now winging its way to Massachusetts.)

No pin cushion making went on last night, just block sewing, but I am so glad I got to spend some QT with my sewing machine and make these fantastic blocks. I just love the pattern.

Thanks Beth for finding me in blog land. If you're interested in making some of these, visit Beth's page, EvaPaige Quilt Designs. It helped me to keep plugging along last night knowing that there were others out there sewing away, too. :o) I'm looking forward to having some free time later to surf through the FNSI links and also the Pin Cushion Parade links at Love Laugh Quilt.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

**Update** I just found out Beth is no longer taking volunteers to make the Scrappy New Year blocks.. also, she is planning on publishing this pattern in a few months, and so I whited out my little measurements that I had written on some of my pieces. So as not to give away someone's copyrighted material. Woops! My real blocks don't have little white blobs all over them. :o)

FNSI & Pin Cushion Parade

2012-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

Tonight is....

...sign-ups are over at Crafty Vegas Mom.

I plan to tackle these blocks..

for EvaPaige Quilt Design's Scrappy New Year group quilt project.

I'm also jumping into a Pin Cushion Parade at Love Laugh Quilt because I love a cute pin cushion! Not that I have any cute ones to show.. Here is the sad extent of my pin cushion collection:

She's old and she's faithful. :o)
I do have one other one, that mostly just sits on our computer desk..it's a cute little chair.

But though I only have two at this time, I have been finding lots of pin cushion inspiration online and in books, and have been hoping to get a couple, at least, made this year. This really simple one I saw on Pinterest and I just LOVE it.

http://folksy.com/items/564613--PIN-cushion

I actually downloaded a free pattern for this one a few months ago, and then saw this version on Pinterest from bhg.com.

Here are some photo inspirations of cute pin cushions I've found in books and on Pinterest.

Maybe if I finish my scrappy blocks for tonight's Sew-In, I can start on a pin cushion. Looking forward to sewing with you all, and if you love pin cushions, too, head over to Love Laugh Quilt to see them all. :o)

Sewing Peace by Cutting Clutter

2012-01-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have been having withdrawals from my sewing machine.. I have so much I want to do.. Fun just waiting to be had, but I can't bring myself to concentrate on anything like that. Why? Clutter! Aaaaccckkk!

Clutter can be just as much of an "energy vampire" (thanks Rebecca Lynne for that genius term)as any person or situation or drama.

Today, I hit my tipping point where the clutter in this house was driving me insane!! So armed with an idea of how to declutter our coat closet, for starters, I set out to buy some cheap (and I mean CHEAP) plastic shelving and whip this mess into shape!

I feel kind of naked posting a pic of my big mess! Sadly, this isn't the half of it. I don't know how it all fit in there! Stuff just kept coming.

You see, our coat closet in the hallway has generally been the catch all, place for the vacuum (when it fits in there), random coats that are so old they haven't been worn in years, plastic bin of gift wrapping stuff, my wedding dress box, and.. the kicker.. ALL of my sons games and puzzles.

Recently the games and puzzles have taken over. I frequently stack them and restack them, trying to make room for the other things, but every time he gets one out, here come all the games and puzzles tumbling out into the hall floor like an avalanche. And there they stay until I muster up the courage to restack everything, knowing that the next time he goes to get a game out, it will all tumble down again. So frustrating. *sigh* It is probably draining your energy to just read about it! (stick with me though, the after pic is worth it!)

It took the better part of the afternoon to sift through, reorganize, and whip this closet into shape, but I did it!! A few trips to the trash can and recycle bin, and a pile to donate later, here is my now organized coat closet.

I actually can breathe easier now, and I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight! Now he can go and get a game or a puzzle, he can see what's there, and they will be easily manageable. Ahhhh. I should have done this a LONG time ago!

And there was room to sit a small lamp in there, since there's no light in the closet.

The right side of the closet is fairly empty, leaving plenty of room for the vacuum (yeah!), and room to walk in and get things off of the shelves. A few things were relocated to the garage, which led to more cleaning out there, and overall, I feel 20 pounds lighter. Just from losing some clutter! *whew*

Excuse me while I go and sit in the floor of the closet and soak up the organized serenity... ;)

Really.. I should've done it a long time ago! What things make you feel less stressed and more peaceful?

Gonna head on over to and link up with my Drama Free 2012 partner in crime and her Thursday Think Tank.

Happy Thursday! xo

Sew Peaceful Saturday

2012-01-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

I have been needing a weekend like this for a long time! Just a relaxing lazy weekend. It helps that my hub is on vacation, too. He usually works weekends. It's really great to have him here with us, and throw all of our "need to do's" out the window and just have a fun family day. Ahhhh.

And on top of the wonderful day we were already having, look what came into my inbox today!

Beth Helfter of EvaPaige Quilt Designs (visit her blog here) was asking for some volunteers to make blocks for her. Each volunteer has to make four blocks.. out of scraps.. one for her group quilt project, and then each of us will get three blocks swapped back to us.

I haven't signed up for any QAL's, although it's been tempting, b/c of the time involved, but I figured four scrappy blocks could be something I could commit to. Very doable. :o) And might even help me (force me) to get out of my rut.

You can read about the project over at her blog. She is a funny, talented, mom of three, quilt designer. Who claims that we may have been separated at birth.. the DNA will prove otherwise, but a solid circumstantial case could be made from the brief exchanges we've had over the web. Although she is a talented quilt designer and got to be in the Brownies, and I'm not and didn't. lol I am looking forward to working on these blocks. :)

Some other high points to our relaxing day have been:

Dusting off the cruiser for a ride around the neighborhood with my son.. the weather can't be beat right now! Very spring-like.. although we need rain and the mountains need snow really bad right now! Might as well enjoy it though.

Went to Lowe's (a home improvement store/center) for their free Saturday project for kids.. which included the cute apron and mini goggles. :o)

his tongue is always out when he's concentrating!

Here is the finished project:

And we couldn't leave the store until he collected paint chips.. his favorite pastime at Lowe's. :o) And today he had an apron with pockets to keep them in!

Buster went for a walk, took a dip in a pond, and then hung out by the tree enjoying his collection of toys that Austin dumped out for him on the lawn.

He is a big furry beast but he sure has my heart!

I am hopelessly in love!

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend! I'm looking forward to the four blocks I have to make, and picking out the scraps. :o) Off I go!

Crafty Friday

2012-01-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm going to do something a little different and link up with Vanessa @ The Crafty Nest for Do Something Crafty Friday.

I have thought about blogging about this project before, but I don't think I ever did. So with the kids back in school, and making all those art projects and papers that they come home with, now seems like a good time to share it.

I had a box to keep some of the things in that Austin brought home from preschool, and now preK, but it was quickly filling up. At the same time, his room was being turned from a Toddler room into his big boy room. His room already had a partial wall covered in cork (you can buy it by the roll in JoAnn's or other craft stores), but I hated to just thumb tack everything to the wall and have a wall of jumbled papers and projects. So I came up with a simple solution that works for us.

What you need:

length of small rope (found a bit of green rope at Lowe's for a couple of bucks)
various craft shapes for boys or girls (50 cents each at JoAnn's)
household clothespins
hot glue/gun
push pins to hang/support rope

And if you're careful with the hot glue, the kid(s) can help. Austin loved this project.

Helping me with the rope/You can see where it is stretched across the top of the wall. You wouldn't even need cork on the wall for this..it was just there when we moved here.

various (boy) craft shapes, glue to the clothespins.

His room had a car/transportation theme..he picked out the dogs, too. :o)

We hung the rope with simple push pins at both ends, and one in the middle for support, and Voila!

He loves to help me pick which pictures to hang and change out, and it looks much less messy and chaotic than having papers just tacked all over his wall. AND the whole project was under $10. And made for a fun afternoon where he could help me and take some ownership in his new room. :o)

If anyone has any other ideas of how to manage the paper influx that comes our way when kids start school, please let me know! I will be needing all the help I can get!!

Have a great weekend!!

xo,

Kelli

P.S. Still ~~shamelessly pushing~~ casually mentioning the drama free blog buttons up there in the side bar. Thanks to all of you who have grabbed one! Feel free to grab one if you haven't, if it's not your cup of tea, that's okay too. :o) It's going to be a peaceful, crafty, quilty 2012!

P.P.S. I was also asked to link up with Toy's In the Dryer and their Fun Stuff Fridays by Lindsi. Thanks Lindsi! :o) If you have kids, head over to their site and check it out. Looks like some fun things going on!

Squishy package to start 2012!

2012-01-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hooray for squishy mail! Esp. when it is sitting on your kitchen table waiting for you when you get home from a long trip. :o)

When I got home from our Christmas trip, I had a package waiting from Kathy @ Sew-Happy House. All the way from Australia. She had a generous giveaway of some fat quarters from her stash. Look at these goodies:

Love black and white, and LOVE LOVE polka dots.

Love these prints, too.

And these..aren't the scissors and measuring tape cute?

And this panel. I love it, and I am happy to be the home for Kathy's wayward fabrics! :o) Thank you so much, Kathy! I was beyond excited as this was the first pkg I ever received from Australia!

I'm thinking I need to think of a good giveaway to have sometime soon since I have had such great luck in the giveaway dept since I started blogging. Stay tuned.. I'll be thinking up something good. *wink* Maybe it will include one of these shirts.. they are soo cute. And some yummy fabrics.

The shirt goes so well with our motto for the year. Don't forget to grab a button. And check out MRL's Thursday Think Tank this week.

I'll try to post about something sewing related soon. Now that round three of Christmas is over (some presents with Daddy before going to my parents, presents at my parents, then more presents @ my inlaws this last weekend), I think I will finally have time to get the Christmas tree down! Oh, and more presents waiting from the school party when we got there yesterday, since we had flown out to my parents on the day of the party.. This was seriously the Christmas that would never end! Now home to stay, for a good long time hopefully, so we can get back into some sort of routine.

Oh, and just because .. here is a little glimpse of what Buster does to entertain himself. I have been hearing a squeaking noise in the garage and thought he was just playing with one of his toys out there, but this is what we found him doing one day. And now, of course, we encourage it. :o)
Happy Wednesday! (Thurs. to those of you around the other side)

First 2012 post!

2012-01-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

It is so good to be home. Still getting back into the routine of things, though. Got home Wednesday night in time for this, which really looked better in person:

Then got up Thursday morning and met some other moms and boys for a little going away party at Chuck E. Cheese.. one of A's school-mates is moving. :( Here they are "bear hugging". The four little musketeers. They have really bonded and become buddies, the four of them.

So now we are about to leave again tomorrow. This time to my in-laws. Just for the weekend, and on the way there, we will be stopping at a baby shower. Busy, busy so far. No time, unfortunately, for sewing yet, though. Although, it seems I'll have some baby things to make when I get a chance (a late gift for tomorrow's shower, and... ahem..Rebecca Lynne!) :o)

Teaming up with Rebecca, and in keeping with our joint resolution for a drama-free New Year, I made my first ever blog button!! Feel free to grab it over there in the sidebar and join us for a drama free 2012, and occasional posts on stress relieving things/drama busters. There is also a more blingy one a bit further down the sidebar. I couldn't have done it without the free tutorials out there and most of all, without Rebecca and her HTML smartness!!

Our new year had a couple of minor glitches but, all in all, kicked off VERY relaxed and drama free. Minus the two hour flight delay when we went to catch our flight home.. and a certain little boy suddenly doing the pee pee dance and telling me he had to go NOW, only to find five people waiting in line for the loo (I like British words).. two different times.. big thanks to a couple of sweet ladies for letting us cut the line--crises averted! And Austin throwing up upon landing. Oops, a little motion sick. But those are just minor hiccups in life.

He was a real trooper and napped most of the way home.

Remember his Christmas list?

He really was so happy to get his own toilet paper! hahaha Still mulling over ideas for a special holder for his personal paper! ;)

My Mom loved the bow-ties quilt and used it every night that we were there after opening it.

And I found some cute little crafty ornaments the day after Christmas--so fun to hit the sales with my Mom and SIL.

Looking forward to getting back into some sort of routine soon, and playing with some fabrics.. and these two beauties that came home with me. :o)

I was going to bring these home with me.. 9-patches sewn of scraps that my Mom and I have both sewn through the years. There are enough to make a queen, if not king, size quilt plus sashing fabric. I forgot them this time, though.

Oh well, I have enough to keep me busy this year! 2011 had its share of dramas, in all different forms, but my wish this year is that we all have a drama-free year. I suppose things will happen, plans will be changed, hard times may come, but I will be trying to stay focused on all things positive. Blogging has really helped me to do this, as I said before, and thank you all so much, again, for reading! And for taking a moment to comment, now and then. Wishing you love, blessings, and happiness in 2012!!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-12-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hi!!! I hope you're all doing well and have had a wonderful Christmas! I've been having blog withdrawals. Still at my parents' house visiting. My Dad's computer is finicky and s..l..o..w.., and sometimes won't let me read your blogs. I'm probably the last person on the planet that doesn't travel with a lap top or iPad, and I really haven't had anything of note to post about sewing wise.

Christmas pics are stuck in the camera right now, as I forgot to bring the cable to download them.. :/ I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can do a post from here. We are having a fabulous time, though, and the weather has been so unseasonably warm! It's been beautiful!

SOOooo, since I don't have any recent pics to share, I thought I would make a public New Year's resolution... using a (scary?-ha) pic I found on my Dad's computer.

Okay, here goes.
*************************
I hereby solemnly resolve --wait I should change the ink color to black as it's more serious-- I hereby solemnly resolve to never *EVER, never ever ever NEVER* wear red tights with white open toe sandals and a mini dress again. :o) I'm serious. Really. If I do, please sic those What Not to Wear people on me!!

I'm wearing a coat.. so it must have been chilly. Not sure where the bottom half of my outfit went. lol And I love the big giant patches on the knees of my brothers' jeans. :o) This was taken in the CA Redwoods.. one of the best places to camp, EVER. Oh yah. We were camping. WHY am I so dressed up?

Second part of my NYR for 2012 is to finish my UFO's. You've heard about those a few times. I really hope to finish them all.

Finally, I'm wishing 2012 to be a drama-free year. :o) 2011 was a tough year for family and other relationship drama, illness, death, natural disasters, etc. One thing after another it seemed like. I'm ready for a slow, mellow year. A year devoid of drama, and full of love and respect, good health and all things quilty of course. :) Rebecca Lynne of Making Rebecca Lynne and I are thinking about teaming up and making a blog button, as we shared some similar experiences and would love a DRAMA-FREE 2012!!! :o) With occasional posts about fun stress relieving things.

Blogging was one of the best things I did for myself in 2011. It has been almost five months now, and you've all been so kind and welcoming and supportive. It has really helped me to focus on the positive and creative things in my life. And has really just been a ton of fun! So thank you, thank you to all of my readers for reading, and for your sweet,sweet comments. It has been great fun getting to know all of you/reading and commenting on your blogs, too.

The ticker is counting down to 2012, and I am ready to welcome it with open arms!!! :) I think I need one of these. haha

Photo from Cafepress.com

P.S. I am missing me some hubby and Buster. Will be seeing them next Wed.! He is off work now, and took Buster to the beach yesterday and they had a blast!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Druletide Greetings!!!

Having a good time at my parents' house, but missing my hubs and furry beast! Hubby has to work a trip over Christmas weekend. :( And beast is going to the kennel for three days. :( Not much time to blog surf and comment over here, but thinking about you all, all around the world, and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! xo

(and a Happy Newf Year *wink*)

P.S. If you haven't finished your shopping, DO NOT look at the Christmas countdown! Look away, before you have a heart attack!

Which state does Jesus live in, and ice cream cone trees..

2011-12-19T00:25:00.000-08:00

I had never thought of this.. but it's a FAB idea and wonderful solution to the "gingerbread house disaster" that plagues some of us during the holidays. I didn't even post or mention the gingerbread house kit that we attempted this year b/c it was so hideous. (the train went miraculously well, and I didn't want to ruin that post with a pic of the house!) I ended up doing most of the work while my son ate the candy, the frosting was too runny, etc etc. Embarrassing result. ha!

But the other day my son's little bestie from pre-K invited him over to make Ice Cream cone Christmas trees. SO FUN! And easy. Fool proof!

Stick the cone to the plate with white frosting (snow) and let them proceed to slather green frosting on it (tree) and then provide various sprinkles and candies. Just stick them on or sprinkle away.. (ahem-ON THE TREE, son!)

OH MY.

Voila!

They have been firmly planted next to our train..minus the candies that were eaten off of them. :)

In other Christmas-y news, today, the mini-mister was playing with his United States puzzle, when he looked up with a quizzical look and asked me,

"Which state does Jesus live in?"

(er.. Jesus doesn't live in the United States.)

"Well, where does he live?"

(...Heaven.)

"But where IS Heaven?!"

(um.. the sky?)

"Do you.. take an airplane to get there then?"

(no.. -thinking of how to explain the concept of a soul to a 5 yr old-)

"How do you get there then?"

(..you have to die to go to Heaven, God takes you there.)

"But HOW does he take you there?!"

(--ugh--haha)

(well, your body gets buried,like remember --my gma's-- funeral? then God takes your MIND to Heaven.)

"Oh. --frowns--"

Ahh, sometimes I feel like such a failure at trying to explain the abstract to my very concrete thinking little boy!

TGIFF--Friday Finish!

2011-12-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

It's a TGIFF kind of Friday! I finished a quilt this week.. and am going to head over to Lucy's @ Charm About You to link up! She is this week's host. When you're done here, you MUST go and check out her robot quilt, it's to-die-for-cute!!

This is possibly the quickest that I've ever:
a) come up with a quilt idea
b) pieced the quilt
c) quilted the quilt
d) FINISHED a QUILT!

In about a month's time.. usually I am soooo slow! Plus, not so experienced with the machine quilting.. BUT, here she is in her crinkly goodness:

(sorry for the quality of the photos, didn't have anyone to hold it up for me, or any good light to take them in tonight.)

The only way I was able to make it so fast was that when my grandma passed away last month, I was given her fabric that she had, and lots of it! And, if you'll remember my blogging about it, you probably saw this pic of the box with all of these tiny squares in it, they are two inch squares:

I also used a dark blue cotton scrap from her fabrics to make the border and then ended up deciding to use that for the binding as well.

The back and the batting are the only things I purchased for this project. I really enjoyed sewing through these little squares that my grandma had cut, who knows how many years ago. It brought many wonderful memories to mind. This quilt will be a Christmas present for my mom. :o) I just love it!

Here is the back:

Here is a pic or two or three of the quilting.. it's kind of hard to see. I just stitched in the ditch and then did diagonal lines through all of the bow-ties. FMQ and I don't get along.. Yet.

(They look like little bow-tie pastas to me--what an easy, quick block)

So happy to have it finished! Hope my mom loves it as much as I do. But then again.. if she doesn't like it, I'll get to bring it back home, so it's a WIN-WIN! :o)

Have a great weekend, and head over to Lucy's to check out other finishes.

Thursday Think Tank

2011-12-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hi, Rebecca Lynne! I'm joining your Thursday Think Tank this week b/c my brain is crammed full of things I need to/want to do and some of them are falling out, so in order not to lose them, I'm going to write them here.

This is what has been on my mind: (some of it is useful and some nonsensical but that's how my mind rolls since I became a mom..it just wanders all over the place!)

Need to bind quilt for my mom for Christmas. (flying out next Tuesday) First, must pick out which fabric to use for binding. Maybe I'll just bind it with the leftover backing fabric. ??

Did Kim Kardashian really spend a katrillion dollars on a wedding only to change her mind after a couple of months?! Wait.. focus!
Did they really find a baby seal napping on someone's couch in New Zealand? Ahh, focus, focus!
Need to pack for above mentioned trip to my parents' for Christmas. The up side to that is my hubby bought me a great new suitcase for Christmas to use for the trip as my other one's zipper decided to break on our trip back from FL in Sept. (Oh, look..some poor person's zipper broke and their clothes are hanging out onto the luggage carousel.. :( .. OH WAIT! Ack! It's mine.. that's my dress! Thank goodness nothing embarrassing was hanging out!)

Maybe I might be getting more done if I didn't finally cave to the pressure to join Pinterest. Hopelessly addicted. And kind of obsessed with brown pillow ticking.. and red, or any other color.. thinking of creating a board just for ticking.

nanacompany.typepad.com

willowdecor.blogspot.com

potterybarn.com

Quilts I'd like to make in the New (drama free) Year of 2012 (hehe-Rebecca)

photo from Pinterest via Google.com

Love the tiny wonky houses and have scraps calling its name!

an argyle quilt.. I swoon for argyle and have for years! :)

All things jelly roll related. I have some jelly rolls just languishing and waiting to be used. Why spend lots of time cutting when precuts are just sitting there staring at you? This is on my Christmas list..

Must finish these two projects!

okay..three.

Oh, and CANNOT forget my three PIF gifts to make. Don't want to procrastinate until the last minute on that one. Have until August to get those out! What to make?!! What would you love to receive from a PIF pal?

Don't think the link is up yet, but head over here later to see what others are thinking/brainstorming about @ Rebecca Lynne's. Happy Thursday!

Almost done!

2011-12-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

As the weekend went on, I was feeling much better and was able to get the bow-ties quilt top done. I think it is going to my mom for Christmas, since it is made with all of my grandma's fabrics. I have been working on finishing up the quilting today--on my machine--ACK. (You know I am not that experienced at machine quilting right? I just stitched in the ditch and then some diagonal lines.)

Ta-Da! Here is the completed top.

The border is a dark blue cotton that I also found in my grandma's fabric stash. The only thing I bought for this quilt was the backing fabric. Oh, and the batting. I am just using some bright green circles for the back.. sometimes I have a really hard time picking out the backing fabric.

This was last night.. started pinning and away I went. Had thought about trying the spray but forgot to pick some up.

And now it is almost done! We also made some Christmas cookies, at my son's request. He is still spreading the cheer around here. :)

We not only have Christmas shapes, but every other cookie cutter shape that we have.. animals, trains, planes, letters of the alphabet.. I manned the frosting (embarrassingly enough--my frosting job was terrible-ha!)and of course I chose the easy way out. ;)

I also used the cheater dough, the premade, prepackaged stuff in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store. :) Our mess was really kept to a minimum. Just a small cutting board to clean up.. and every cookie cutter that we own.

Oh, and lots of sprinkles, how can we forget the sprinkles.. I'm still finding them all over the house.

I didn't think they were going to turn out very well, but someone sure likes them..

A LOT!

Actually, they are pretty tasty.

Thanks to all of you for the well wishes.. I am feeling much better. I was battling a sinus infection, and my thyroid levels are low (I had thyroid surgery when my son was 6 mo. old, and have taken thyroid rx ever since), and I am Vit.D deficient. That's it in a nutshell. I am already feeling so much better and will probably feel even better when my thyroid levels come up a little higher. God Bless the man who invented antibiotics.. if he were alive today I would KISS him!!!!!!!

Hope you're all having a terrific week so far. Hope to have a finished quilt pic for you later in the week after the binding is on. Thanks for stopping by! xo

That's right, we even have cookies in the shape of dog bones.. ?? haha

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-12-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I had big plans for this Friday's ...

I planned on working on the bowties, and actually got three more rows sewn together.. (before my plans were squashed).. no photo, though.

I also planned on maybe playing with these, which I purchased with a recent gift certificate win @ Hoodies and Flipflops.. (Thanks again, Jennifer Gail!!)

Or some of these which I recently got with a gift certificate won way back in August for the Pets on Quilts show @ SewCalGal... (I shopped the clearance section to get the most bang for my buck!)

But none of that happened on this Friday night. :( I have been sick recently, and the meds I am taking are kicking me down! If I ever write another "TMI" post, like the last one, maybe I'll tell you about it. ;) Otherwise, I'd like to forget most of the last month and a half. There have been a few bright spots for sure, but the sickness and the grief have been hard. Anywho! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else got accomplished. :o)

I just sewed a few seams and took a great big nap! Do naps count as FNSI accomplishments? ha!

A Must-See for Christmas spirit!

2011-12-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, truthfully, no sewing has gone on since I got the 40 blocks put together over the weekend. Still need to assemble them. BUT-- I have to share this photo of my son's Christmas list. Written all by himself.. spelling and all.

Okay, can you decipher that first one? Let's see, it says "leapad" (Leap Pad-techno gadget for five yr olds)..and "modris mrbl set" (motorized marble set).

Now this is the funny part..

This pic..can you get that one? "TOYLIT-PAPR" Anyone? ....
YES!!!! Bwahahahahahaahaha My five year old son put toilet paper on his Christmas list. hahahahaha Now there is a gift I can get behind. It's not another toy to trip over, it's useful, and very economical! Oh, my little practical boy. :o)

But.. there is a back story to that, you see. My husband, well... let's just say he is a champion consumer of the toilet paper. We don't have bidets here in the U.S., it's just good old paper. And my sweet, slightly OCD husband will go through a roll a day and often leave the paper roll empty. I don't know if he wraps his arm up with it like a cast or what, I mean that is a LOT of paper! Okay, maybe that's TMI...

BUT that bit of TMI has led my little sonny to put toilet paper on his Christmas list. Oh my. haha I first thought he was just trying to make me laugh, (since boys go through a toilet humor phase) but he told me "no, Mommy, I really want my OWN because Daddy keeps using it all so I want my own toilet paper to write my own name on it." :o)

Yes.. the name writing isn't new either. My husband, also champion snacker, is known to graze through a box of crackers in no time flat. (Even Austin's special snack crackers... while Austin is sleeping...which can be tragic the next day.) So if there is something that A. likes to have for snacks sometimes I will write on it so that my husband knows to save it from being victim of a late night snack attack.

Soooo.... I think I need to put these on my Christmas list, what with all the labeling I'm sure to be doing in the future:

:o)

Weekend Accomplishments

2011-12-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday the five year old in my house managed to pull some more Christmas spirit from the depths of my soul by talking me into this little project:

I managed the frosting, he managed the candy. I might have used my paint program to white out the mess we made all over the table. ha! We made one last year, and he has been begging and begging to make one this year! I wanted his hand in the picture so in ten years I can remember how small it used to be. :o)

Buster got into the spirit of the season by getting a belly rub. My son took this picture.

I love letting him run around and take pictures, and then seeing the world from his perspective when we look at them. Thank goodness for the digital age.. he wouldn't be doing that if we had to buy and develop all of that film! Wow, cameras that use film will be something that he will read about it history books, probably, or marvel over in antique stores. ha!

We enjoyed the tree being up. Here he is standing by a special ornament given to him by our story-time librarian. I am so sad that we've outgrown story-time at the library.. going to school five days a week we don't make it anymore. We went faithfully for almost 3 years!

AND... I made 40.. yes FORTY more blocks for my bow-tie quilt. Now just need to join them up! I love sewing these blocks with my grandma's scraps.

She was on my mind a lot yesterday, too, since it would have been her 94th birthday. A sweet lady who left us with hearts full of wonderful memories.

Also had a lot of fun checking out the Christmas quilt show at SewCalGal. I hope you all had fabulous weekends and are enjoying the holiday season so far. :o)

A Friday Finish? YES!!!!!

2011-12-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

Still haven't found my Christmas spirit, still kind of in a funk, after November.. BUT someone found some today!

Leave it to my five year old.. begging my husband.. Before I knew it we were all cleaning the living room, vacuuming and making a space for our tree. Oh yah.. after the most important part (if you're five)... the TRAIN that goes around the tree!

Wait!! Wait. Before all of that, I made myself finish this!! I DO NOT need another UFO sitting around! Have a little look..

It's not perfect.. but overall I'm pretty happy with it. For using scraps that I had, and having no pattern, and just winging it most of the way. I think it will be cute on our red/chrome 50's dinette table. Or as a wall hanging. It started with a little Kate Spain 12 days of Christmas fat quarter. I thought making something might be fun and help me get into the Christmas mood. Playing with bright fabrics always cheers me up!

I found some random fat quarters/scraps that I had in diff. shades of red and green, some white, and cut some random wonky strips. Not all of them worked out.

Sewed said strips together. No rhyme or reason, really.

Decided to quarter my FQ and frame it like a window. Look! Out the window! People skating! ?? :)

Like I said, no rhyme or reason.

Cut my wonky strip borders and sewed them on..

I wasn't quite satisfied yet, so I put a border of light blue solid. And then some candy cane binding. Aside from the solid light blue and the binding fabric, I didn't buy anything to make this. Used scraps of batting, and plain muslin that I had for the back. Oh, and I machine quilted it. ACK. I am SOOOOO not good at that. But it was good practice. I just winged it, and it sort of turned out like this. Not perfect for sure.

Here it is on the wall.. b/c my sewing stuff is still all over the red table. ha!

But we did get the tree up!!

After the train was set up, of course!

Alright, I may have found a *little* Christmas spirit today. :o) I'm even going to go and enter the quilt show @ SewCalGal. Go check out all the entries and ways to enter, lots of great prizes up for grabs! Happy Weekend!

A Possible Friday Finish?

2011-12-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

Well, if I get the binding on tonight, I will have a Friday finish! I've been trying to find my Christmas spirit (it's been hiding from me this year)by playing with some fun fabrics.

Speaking of Christmas, will someone please make that ticker at the top of my page STOP counting down? I am NOT ready yet!!

Doesn't this binding look good enough to eat?

More pictures tomorrow, if I actually have a Friday finish to share..

Meanwhile, a sinus infection has left me feeling like this:

And outside we are having high winds, and our yard looks like this:

It is literally raining leaves!

If you find my Christmas spirit anywhere, would you please overnight it to me? ;o)

Vintage Apron Goodness

2011-11-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

No more progress to show yet on the bowties quilt..

Started a new little Christmas project last night, though.. no pictures yet. Liking it so far, hope it turns out. A little table topper using a FQ that I had of Kate Spain's 12 days of Christmas.

So I have Quilter's A.D.D.? Does anyone else have this too?

No new quilty photos, but want to share this photo.. my mom brought me this little apron from my Grandma's. I don't know exactly when it was made, or who made it.. my Grandma sewed a lot, but she also had lots of things that her mom and her aunts sewed.

All I know is that it was made ages ago. Not a repro. And that it is sooo adorable--I LOVE navy and I LOVE polka dots. **swoon** I wish I had a skinny figure to show it off, but that all flew out the door after I had my son. ha!

If you love vintage aprons, you'd better sit down.. Here she is:

Okay, maybe I over-sold it. ha But it really is the cutest little apron I think I've ever seen. I never EVER saw my Grandma wear it, it feels brand new and delicate and fancy. She probably didn't want to get it dirty. ;) Neither do I. I think I'll just get it out once in a while and touch the fabric and *swoon* over it. :o) I know my Grandma is in a much better place now and not suffering but I sure do miss her!

Weekend Sewing

2011-11-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

The Inspiration--

I've been wanting to make a quilt like this for a while:

by Ashley @ filminthefridge.com

So I took these tiny squares that I inherited from my grandma:

Cut some squares out of this fabric, that my MIL found earlier in the year at a thrift shop for about $6 for the entire bolt:

And in no time at all, I have this much done:

So simple and so fun! Even more fun when you recognize a scrap. My grandmother had a house-dress robe type thing that she wore around the house all the time. If she went out to do errands or whatever, she would get all dressed up, jewelry and all, but at home, she would just wear that. Her "work" clothes. :o) Well, all these years, I had no idea that she made it. Until I saw a little scrap. Here it is: (the pink, red, and blue stripe and WOW, that is the worst corner match EVER)

I think I'll make it (the quilt top) twice as big as it is right now. It seems like I haven't even made a dent in those little squares. I think scraps secretly multiply when we're sleeping.

I also made these two pillowcases this weekend that were on my to-do list. :o)

My son picked out the airplane FQ @ the quilt show that I blogged about.

I have a SERIOUS crush on these robots!!!

*Gonna link this up with Sew Modern Monday*

Happy Monday to you all!!!

xo

P.S. Just found about about this great giveaway over @ muchashilachas.blogspot.com. Go check it out!

Quilt Show!

2011-11-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

First, I have to say thank you so much for all of the blogland love that you sent me the last couple of weeks. You are all so kind! Things are slowly getting back to normal around here. S-L-O-W-L-Y. As normal as it can be, anyway. November has been a rough month! To cap it off, my son and I both have colds so we didn't even make it to the family Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. :( But I think we are on the mend now hopefully!

Before my grandmother passed away, I had gone to, and planned to post pics from, a Quilt Show here in town. So I will post them now. It was the weekend after Veterans' Day so there were lots of patriotic quilts. So many quilts, and vendors.. oh those vendors, can be so bad on the wallet.

Anyway, my phone battery died, so I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked, but here are some that I did take.

The Round Robineers.

Cute cats. (I'm more of a dog person)

This applique was amazing!

I heart houses.. *swoon*

My little mister standing by a patriotic quilt and those stars in the lower pic were really cool!

Love orange and blue!

So many cute ones to see!

Love roosters. :)

The applique on this one was so beautiful!

Dog eating a shoe.. sounds familiar. ;)

Sweet 30's prints.. and my little one peeking between the quilts to the other side.

I wish I could have taken more pics before my battery died. So many gorgeous things to see! Such talent.

Here is a pic of something else that may or may not have come home with me.

Oh, I love it! :o)

Fabric Surprises

2011-11-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, my grandma passed away last Sunday. With family flying in and out of town, the funeral, etc., the last week has flown by. Yet, at the same time it seems like we've lived a month or two since that time. So so busy, and emotional.

My mom has also made a couple of trips to my grandma's house to look through all of her things (along with her siblings), and pick out special things or things to keep.

I was shocked when she brought these two tubs of scraps to me the other night. I had no idea that my grandma had all of this fabric.

On top in the above picture is a quilt top made of wool scraps.

I had so much fun looking through these bins and finding little treasures. Scraps, cardboard quilting patterns (used before the days of rotary cutters), and a couple of stray quilt blocks.. even some stacks of cut triangles, squares, and tiny squares. Wow.. and the thing that is the best of all.. when I opened these bins, the fabric smell smells just like I remember my grandparents house smelling when I would spend the night there as a little girl! Inside these bins, time stood still. *tear*

The first scrap that I saw when I opened the first bin was this, which warmed my heart b/c I actually wore a black houndstooth top to her memorial service on Thursday.

Some other eye candy fabrics that I found.. the elephants are yummy!

Look at these.. I have plans for them!

The large double-knit 9-patches I'm not so sure about..

(sorry the pictures are so dark)

One more poignant photo to share. After the graveside portion of the service was over, my cousin Kristi and I were visiting, when they started the burial. We started to leave, but our kids wanted to stay and "watch the dirt". My son loves any kind of dirt moving machine! They sat down on the grass and settled in, and I snapped a couple of photos with my phone. Not until I cropped the photo did I realize how Karli was holding the flower. This photo melts my heart.

I am so thankful for all of the memories and times I got to spend with her, and that my little boy was born in time to have 5 years with her. Hopefully he will have memories of the times he spent at her house. (and maybe a quilt or two from her scraps) I miss her!!

Gonna link this post up to Melody's Tuesday Treasures.

Good News and Bad News

2011-11-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Good news first, of course.

I made my very first ever improv and mosaic block last night. And I guess you could say my first modern-ish block. Very much a trial on error process. But I'm liking it:

That is the color palette inspiration next to it. Plus, you could add grey. It's actually for a charity quilt--another first for me.. first time to make a block and send it off in the mail. BUT, now that I'm looking at the inspiration quilt again, I think I need to make another with my white strips all the same width. I cut them different widths on purpose.. trying to embrace improvisation. You can read about the charity quilt HERE.

One more photo:

In not so good news..

To everything there is a season.

our view on our way home today~leaves finally turning

Last week, it was my Aunt that we lost. Today it is my Grandmother. She would have been 94 on Dec. 3rd. She passed away in her sleep last night. I'm comforted by the fact that she didn't suffer. She was the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful human I've ever known. I never heard her say an unkind word about anyone, and she never complained. She lived several years with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, and had breast cancer surgery in her early 80's. During that time, she was taking care of my grandpa at home, and took care of him until his last breath, even when their double bed had to be replaced with a hospital bed and a twin bed in their room. She was a wonderful giving person. A finer woman I doubt I'll ever know.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her.

@ our wedding six 1/2 years ago

Mother's Day 2011

2008, when my baby was 2, learning to do chores at her house..he loved to bring in her mail, swiffer the floor, put her recyclables in the blue garbage can, and water her plants on the porch.

With Austin in 2007

The two of them in 2009, sitting on this scrap quilt. The last one she quilted. It was in her drawer for years and years as just a top, and I kind of badgered her into quilting it.. I just love the orange. Her mother had made the top many years before. I am so glad I got to help her quilt it.

I definitely learned to have a love for quilts at her house, looking at the many quilts and quilt tops in her drawers that were made out of scraps, by relatives that had come before me, when times were tough and everything was saved or reused.

I will always love and miss her!

Please pray for my family. On the heels of losing my aunt last Sunday and my dad just settling in after flying back home, my parents will be flying out here again tomorrow. Your thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated!

A Friday Finish

2011-11-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

*************

But first, thank you to all of the veterans who have fought for our freedoms. This summer, I started searching out our family history through ancestry.com and found out that I have had relatives who fought in all of the major wars. As far back as the revolutionary war. History is so fascinating to me. If it weren't for all of the veterans who fought for our country, who knows how we would be living today..

In honor of Veterans Day, I would like to post this picture of my Great Uncle Troy. This picture, of him with a buddy, was taken in Germany during WWII. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. (he is on the right)

He never talked about the war after he returned home. When I was in High School, I asked my Dad to talk to him and see if he would tell me about the war. He agreed, for the first time, to talk about his experiences. He died of an aneurysm in his sleep, before I had the chance to meet with him and hear his stories. I will always be honored that he agreed to share his experience with me, but sad that I never got the chance to hear. It was so touching at his funeral to see other WWII vets standing all of those years later, in salute at his casket.

Hug a veteran today. Hug them every day. xo

In other Friday news, as if this has any importance when compared to honoring veterans, my little pouch is done. A Friday finish. The one I botched up, and had to add trim to hide my obvious mistake. It didn't turn out too bad, though. Not sure how I feel about the ruffle and ric-rac. I mean, I LOVE ric-rac normally, ruffles, eh.. I just don't know if I'm loving the pouch trim. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I'm indifferent. I had to put some kind of trim on it though, so I'm okay with how it turned out, and I think I will give it to my mom for Christmas with her gift inside, a watch with her initial. It'll make a cute gift bag turned useful little bag for makeup or whatever. I think she will like it. I hope she likes it anyway!

Ta-Da:

With the watch: (it's okay, she doesn't read my blog)

Not bad for my very first one, I guess. :/ Next time, I'll know what to do differently!

WIP Wednesday

2011-11-08T17:09:00.000-08:00

I feel like I haven't been able to get much done lately. It has just been such a hectic couple of months. Just been stitching along here and there. So I thought I would write a true WIP post, in hopes of motivating myself to soldier on and finish these items. Also gonna link up with W.I.P. Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. I need to get out of this funk I've been in!!

WIP #1

A quilt I started a few months ago, at my husband's request.. he saw it in a book. I cut all of the triangles completely out of scraps. Nothing purchased for it, except for a couple of neutral FQ's for the background.

My design wall consisted of some batting tacked to my dining room wall. We had company staying and it got taken down and rolled up, and is waiting for me to get back to it and sew up the blocks.

WIP#2

The pouch from the Pouch-A-Long with Rebecca Lynne .. I have actually been stitching on this one in the evenings, sewing the frame to the pouch. But I can't decide whether to ditch it and start over. I'm not completely satisfied.

WIP#3

This one is actually calling out to me tonight. I really want to start stitching my hexie layout together so that I can applique it onto its background. I think it will be really unique when it is finished. I'm loving it.

WIP #4

I am starting to get the hand quilting bug again, also. It comes in waves. I am halfway done with this quilt, and I'm sure once I get going again, it won't take that long to finish. I originally blogged about it HERE.

WIP#5

And then there are these blocks which I've blogged about recently.

Oh boy.. I have my work cut out for me. Not to mention...

WIP #6

Finish carving a sewing space for myself out of our spare bedroom/office.

ACK! I'd better get going on some of these things. I feel like a great big slacker!!

Happy Wednesday!

Thank You(s) & Pouch in Limbo

2011-11-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a rough week. My aunt lost her battle with Chronic Lupus this morning. She suffered from Lupus for many years, and it finally got into her lungs, and she was unable to recover. :o( Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers! I think I have the kindest blog friends/followers in all the world! You are greatly appreciated.

My little pouch sits untouched. I think I will try to curl up on the couch tonight and stitch on it a little and see what I can do. It has been a long day and that sounds very relaxing at this point!

I also need to throw out some public thank you's to some very generous blog friends! I had some very good luck in the giveaway dept in the month of October.

Chris B. @ Weekend Wisdom sent me this cool mug rug, and fat quarter assortment. :o) Look at those tiny pieced rectangles!! Thanks so much Chris! My husband thanks you too, he loves using it.

Then, Snoodles, over at Lily Pad Quilting posted a giveaway of a jelly roll of the non-caloric sort. Sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop.. Northcote Range. And look what showed up in my mailbox.. Thank you, thank you!

Here is a better look @ the fabric line..

On the same day, look what arrived from Linda @ Little Bits and Pieces.

The Devil's Puzzle, (can't wait to read it!) along with two BROWN fat quarters.. um, have I mentioned that I love LOVE brown? :o) What a sweet surprise to include them in the package! Thank you Linda!

This week, I also rec'd this in the mail. I think after the last month, I will likely never win anything again. I think I used up all my luck in one month! Jennifer Gail from Hoodies and Flipflops sent me this!

And do you believe that in all those goodies there is also a $25 gift cert. to a quilt shop?! Thanks so much Jennifer! Please go and visit these ladies @ their blogs. They are so kind. These thank you(s) are way overdue!

I also need to say thank you to Erica and Raewyn for nominating my blog for this:

I really appreciate it, and appreciate everyone who reads or follows along! There are rules for receiving it though, and questions to answer, but I have had a hard time figuring out which blogs to pass it on to, since I love reading all of the blogs I follow. So I will just say please, please read a few of the blogs on my blog list, and follow along with them. :o)

Gonna go and take a rest now, today has been a long day, but wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers and let you know that I'll be back soon. Whether or not my little pouch makes the cut or not remains to be seen. ;o)

Pouch-A-Long Stalled.

2011-11-03T13:07:00.000-07:00

The pouch was going great.. until I kind of botched up the top. The all important part... where the FRAME goes on! I have some ideas of how to fix it, but that may have to be put on hold.

I will be AWOL for a couple of days, as my aunt is in the hospital, quite seriously ill. My dad and two of his brothers have flown out to see her. So I don't know when my little pouch will get fixed and finished. I still have high hopes for it. I love it so far.

But I don't think I'd use extra heavy pellon again, though. Plus, I interfaced the outside, instead of the lining. I love how sturdy the pouch is, but when I sewed the lining and was trying to turn it, it was like trying to turn a wet suit inside out!!

~~LIVE~~ SEW and LEARN. :o)

**Linking up with Thursday Think Tank.**

Hi, Becca! (hand waving) :o)

Pouch-A-Long Progress & Tidbits of Life

2011-11-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

The past week has been a little hectic. The finishing touches were put on the Pluto costume--some hemming, button closure for the top, mitten paws.. and Voila!

A surprising number of people kept calling him Goofy. I think they need to go to Disney College. ha!

Buster was a hot dog..his first time to trick or treat with us.

My inlaws, some neighbors, and one of A.'s little besties from preschool came over. They were able to trick or treat together for the last half of the block and were so excited to see each other! He was a lollipop kid from the Wizard of Oz..

This all threw me a little behind on the Pouch-A-Long over @ Making Rebecca Lynne. BUT last night, I was able to steal a few sewing minutes, and I think I've caught up. First I had to sew my fabric together, since I decided to make it with a pieced look.

Then draw out the pattern, etc.

It's not looking so straight ...

I sure hope it turns out! I'm afraid that the interfacing I had was too stiff. But we shall see what I can do with it. Fingers crossed that I can actually sew it together, and it actually turns into a cute pouch!

Linking this up with W.I.P. Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

In celebration of fall, here are some scenes from a 5 year old perspective. (my son is IN LOVE with the camera on my phone!)

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween, and Happy Wednesday to you! :o)

WIP's & Halloween preview..

2011-10-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Remember Rebecca's Pouch-A-Long? (PAL).. well, it starts Monday, so today armed with a 30% off coupon, I finally settled on these:

I am thinking that if it turns out okay, it may be a Christmas gift for a certain member of the family, who doesn't read blogs. ;o) I have some ideas, but nothing set in stone. I'm not a pattern drafter, so I'm a little worried about designing the pattern around my frame, but I'll give it a go. Remember, I got a larger frame with black snapper:

I also picked up a curved needle and some green floss.. Hmm.. Hope it turns out like it is in my head.

I also picked up a brown solid for the background for my meandering hexie project. That may or may not be a gift for someone, if it gets finished in time. I think I'm done making hexies, though. It is going to be a small lap size quilt. Here it is laying out in the living room floor:

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the dark brown background, but I like it. I am thinking that a border might be nice, too, out of the leftover fabrics. A piano key border or something.

In pre-school-y news.. their little carnival was yesterday morning, and they all wore their costumes. A. wore his pants and hat, but is saving the top and mittens for Halloween. Thought the long sleeve tee would be more comfy for school.

Is everyone ready for Halloween?

(Someone is ^^^^ teasing me!)

Happy Saturday!!

Robots and the Danger Zone and OPD

2011-10-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

So.. taking my son to his new preschool program--which is GREAT--may not be that great for my wallet. Turns out that said school is right in the middle of a danger zone.. i.e. my LQS. It is literally maybe a quarter mile away. Practically just across the street!

So the other day when I was early to pick him up, I thought I'd just pop in to look around. A perfect way to kill some time. More like a perfect way to kill some money! Look what I found in the 50% off bin.

ROBOTS! (David W. for Free Spirit)

Seriously adorable! Crazy cute!!

A DOG!!! :o) I swoon for cute little boy prints.

So does my cute little boy.

My hexie virus is well documented as of late, but if you haven't noticed before now, I also suffer from Obsessive Pillowcase Disorder. If you don't believe me, revisit my Pillowcase-palooza post by CLICKING HERE. I had made a couple for my son, and then when Joplin, MO was hit by an EF-5 tornado in May of this year, I decided to make a bunch to send to my bro. to give away there. Both my parents and my bro/sis-in-law live in Joplin but were unharmed. That started my obsession. They are so much fun and so easy!

So, there. I have now admitted to two documented fabric related illnesses. I think I will need professional help. ;o)

Still Hexing Along.

2011-10-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who visited from the FNSI. I love visiting the links and seeing what everyone got done and making new blog friends. :o)

I'm still working on these:

Since this is kind of the plan I have for them:

I tried to lay some of them out this afternoon:

Need more of the dark ones.. but that is kind of what I was thinking.. just to have them meander like that, in kind of an ivy type way, from the top right corner to the bottom left corner.

This is the link for printing hexie papers that I found:

Snippets and Blabbery Hexie Templates

These go as small as 3/4 in. but I have been thinking about (gasp!) trying to make a 1/2 in. one. I know, I have the hexie virus pretty bad. I would HAVE NEVER thought I would want to try something so small! But I'm intrigued.. Hmmm.. Hadn't even thought about the possibility until a blog friend mentioned making them 1/2 and even 1/4 inch!! ACK! ;o) Since I have some pretty tiny scraps, I might try the 1/2, but no promises! ha!

I'm also not stuck on the dark brown as the background, that is still not set in stone.. will just have to wait and see I guess. I think I only have maybe a third of what I need, so I will just keep hexing along until I have enough.
*sigh*

Happy Tuesday! :o)

Friday Night Sew-In

2011-10-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't get to work on this..

..because I was working on this..

While at DisneyWorld last month, little Mr. Five saw this hat..

..and immediately insisted on being Pluto for Halloween. Found some felt the exact color for a couple of bucks a yard, and a pattern to use as a guide.. and Ta-Da! Pluto.

Made the top tonight, now just need to finish the mittens.

Did manage to eke out some sewing time for myself tonight, too, though. :o) Made some hexie flowers.

Kinda wanna make this hexie quilt for my mom. Going to post the plan again, just to keep myself motivated.

That is it for my Friday Night Sew in results. Looking forward to checking everyone's posts out tomorrow. :o)