at last!

Spring!

When I was young I remember seeing a contest on the back of a Cheerios box to win a trip to Washington D.C. Living so close to the city I wondered what the big deal was. As I've grown older - I understand. After living away and moving back - I understand. I love this city!! It's beautiful and has so much to offer. One of them being the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. It's gorgeous! Will you join me on my walk?

march quilt block and another quick project

I love being part of a quilting bee! This block is for Sarah of A Flower for You. She requested some texture. My group, A Notion or Two, has only been going three months and already I've learned so many new things.

Things like - how awesome all the people in my group are, how to do a wonky log cabin, how to "applique", and this month - Honeycomb Smocking! I saw this first on Creative Little Daisy. I looked over the tutorial and thought it didn't look that hard. And it really wasn't! I'm so glad I risked it - I think it turned out pretty great. This is something I never would have tried a few years ago. And I still dragged my feet on it - that's why it wasn't done 2 weeks ago when I first saw it!

I will say ironing and starching the pleats were probably the most difficult. But once you get into a rhythm even that's not bad. Starching is a must it makes handstitching the design so much easier.

Another thing I love about being in a quilting bee is how much I've been challenged. I wouldn't really call myself a quilter - I haven't ever done traditional quilt blocks. Most of the things I've done were strip pieced and scrappy. So it's been great to get past my apprehension to try new things and realize I actually CAN do this. Thanks ladies (and gent)! I'm loving it! Can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.

*****

We had a birthday party to attend on Saturday morning - to include in the gift, I whipped up this little headband that I think is darling. I need to make another one for the model you see here.

click on the photo to see the reverse

a little spotlight

Have you been to this blog yet? I just discovered it a little while ago and Jodi has all sorts of fun things to look at. From cool blog finds, to fun projects that are easy to do, giveaways and tips on using Blogger.

Blogger has some great tools - and I figure most people who are blogging know about them, so even though the techy-geek inside gets really excited about a new trick, I never write about it. But she did! And I wanted to share with you.

1. noreply- comment: I get really sad when someone leaves a comment (which gets emailed to me) and I can't email them back because they don't have an email address attached to their profile. She explains here how to fix that! And it doesn't mean your email address is published for the whole world to see - just the person on whose blog you commented.

2. Scheduling posts: How about only having a little time to blog - you can work up several posts and schedule them to post on different days through Blogger's Post Options. She explains this too!

3. Following and Labeling posts: The followers feature is fairly recent. She explains how to put it in your sidebar as well as the importance of labeling your posts.

4. Embedding links: I've had some people ask how you set up links within a post. Super easy!

• Select the text you want to be a link,
• Click on the link button (to the right of the text color button)
• A box will pop-up where you can type/paste in the web address to where you want the link to take your readers.
• The selected text will then become a different color and underlined all on it's own!

Some of this may seem elementary, but I just discovered Google Reader with in the last year, and it changed my whole blogging experience! Hopefully this is helpful to some of you too!

*******
In other blogging news:

Are you following Lollychops Big Time Bunny Week??

Make sure you check out the posts for each day this week. She has lots of free downloadable patterns, labels, etc. Her projects are fun, she is hilarious, and your day will be brighter and better for visiting her sweet, crafty site.

** these two lovely ladies had nothing to do with these posts, I just love them. There wasn't anything in it for me. Just sose ya know.

a story of fabric, food and friends!

I had a feeling it would be a good weekend when this showed up on my doorstep Friday morning.

These are all Amy Butler prints. I'm sure you are shocked. I got the red for the binding of my Notion or Two quilt, the pink because I love it and the blues knocked me over with their cheery sunshine-y goodness. I thought I might make a bag out of it, but now I just want to wrap myself up in it.

And then I got to pick up my friend from the airport. We had so much fun catching up all weekend. We went to Wegman's, that I raved about, to have lunch on Saturday. Plus I wanted her to see the bakery and patisserie. Being French and all, I knew she would appreciate it.

And of course we brought something home, in this pretty box.

Telling us thank you on the price sticker, in french no less.

A gorgeous, tangy, sweet and crumbly-crusted lemon tart. (Don't mind the picture - it was dark)

One day I'll have the guts to ask if I can take a picture inside the store. You wouldn't believe the fruit tarts they have - they are gorgeous!!

We had so much fun talking about decorating ideas, thrift store finds, our kids, our memories together from when we lived in France. We pretty much talked non-stop the whole weekend! It was great!

We didn't get much accomplished besides eating and catching up. But you know how it is with old friends. You pick up just where you left off. No matter how much time has passed.

a baby shower story

no, this isn't a new TLC show. But I did go to a baby shower tonight. The evite came with this cute little graphic. Isn't it sweet? I knew I wanted to do something with it, but what?

How about I turn it into an applique for a sweet little baby tee?

and put it on a burpcloth?

Maybe that star-shaped cookie cutter would make a cute applique too.

and then I can do up some burpcloths to match that one too.

I've never done baby tees before. I want to make a MILLION of them now! How easy and fast (about and hour for all this) and cute. And I realized that you really CAN use some of those little scraps. I need to get a scrap saving/storing system in place!

In other news, I found out a dear friend of mine who I haven't seen in years (due to her being French and living in France until just recently) is coming to see me tomorrow for the weekend!!! And she tells me she's a fabric hoarder. I'm telling her to bring her sweats and her stash and we'll glue ourselves to the sewing machine all weekend!! I'm so excited to see her!

free stuff i've found

*****

My friend Mary pointed me in the direction of this wonderful little blog called Heirloom Paperie. She designs paper products that you can purchase, download and print. She features Free Template Tuesday! This one came yesterday! How cute are these little labels? (click on the image to go get the PDF)

image from Heirloom Paperie

*****

Fabric.com has FREE shipping on orders over $35. They have one of the best selections of Amy Butler fabric I've found. And there is almost always a coupon to use. I may or may not have ordered some more Amy Butler fabric yesterday. And then I may or may not have found another site, Quilt Art, (thanks Quilt Dad!) that is having a 50% off sale on EVERYTHING, including pattern books. That means 5$/yard for designer prints! Let's just say I'm looking forward to the mail . . .

*****
While on a little drive to get out of the house for a few minutes I saw this out in front of someone's house.

With this price tag on it.

It's now joined the other misfits in my garage waiting to be sanded and prettied up! I needed a new sewing table and had one picked out at IKEA - I just saved $100!!


*****
I won a pattern giveaway on the FreeSpirit Fabrics blog! This came in my mail yesterday:
image from HeatherBailey.com


*****
My friend Robyn has a blog called The Grotto where she posts all sorts of fun things, like giveaways and product reviews!



It's nice out today, I'd better go dust the sander off!!

on creating and playing

This one is about our need to create from a message that one of the leaders of my church shared at a meeting for the women of the church. It has been making it's rounds so you may have seen it already. I love the message. (you can read the full text of his talk here.)


and don't miss the two giveaways I posted on my right sidebar! Fun creations by some fun women!

the land of misfit furniture

Do you remember in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special, the Land of Misfit Toys? I'm afraid I'm becoming the social worker for misfit furniture!

I decided to go to my local Goodwill again (I haven't had much luck there) and see if there was anything interesting. I've been looking for a table for my entryway. Preferably something with drawers to keep phones, chargers, pocket change, etc. You know, all the stuff that gets lost. And I found this:

Sure it's got some character and needs a little TLC and some sandpaper. And that lonely soccerball knob just looks so sad. But at this price, I think I may be able to splurge for some fancy new hardware.

The only question now is, do I buy new paint? or use a color I already have?


Stay tuned for, Extreme Makeover: Goodwill edition!

it's about time

I mentioned this little unfinished project a few posts back. Actually, it's been almost a month. I finally finished up the binding yesterday and got it nice and crinkly in the washer. There were a few frustrations in working on it, but, in the end, I'm pretty happy with it, considering it's the first quilt I've ever designed and pieced, quilted, and bound all by myself (with a few tutorials from my mom!). That being said, if I were to make a quilt for my friend for her birthday this year - it would look nothing like this. Even if her birthday is on the 4th of July.

Since this was the first thing I have quilted with a walking foot I wasn't ever really sure I was doing it right, because it just seemed like there was something off. That it should have been easier than it was. My stitches were uneven and the fabric wasn't feeding well. I was borrowing my mom's foot and remembered not having this much trouble working with it when she was here.

So I was on the phone with her working on those minky baby blankets, with the walking foot and expressing my frustration - being the day AFTER I finished this quilting. Our conversation went a little something like this:

my mom: Do you have the little black arm attached to the presser foot screw?

me: what??! what little black. . . . (looking closer). . . oh, you mean that one. (attaching the foot properly - and grumbling)
Well that's interesting - it works just fine, NOW.

my mom: I didn't know you didn't know how to attach it.

me: you mean the way I also didn't know that a fat quarter measured 18"x22" until last fall?

my mom: (chuckles)

me: The problem here is that you know so much you just assume I've learned it all through osmosis! I'm totally going to blog about this. A post entitled: Things my mom thought she taught me, that I wish I had known.

my mom: Oh no you're not!

me: we'll see.


I guess we know the outcome of that one. (Thanks, mom!)

I love how the binding turned out. I think the stripes really complete it and make it a little fancier. I used to think I hated sewing on binding, but I knocked this out during a viewing of this. And it's not as hard as I used to think. I reccomend running your thread through beeswax to keep it from tangling. I learned that from Bend the Rules Sewing (and yes, I think my mom knew about that trick too).

extreme makeover: craigslist edition - the reveal

One of my goals for the year has been to bring more color into my all-white rental. The Nester has inspired me to be more creative (like putting my dresser in the closet), to stop pouting about renting and make it beautiful anyway. So I'm trying.

My kitchen is a little challenging - while large square feet wise it is tiny on storage. So I had a baker's rack (read: boring and open-storage messy) and decided a cheap bedroom dresser painted up all fun would do just the trick.

(There is a reason there is not a paint color named craigslist brown.)

plus

and a little modge podge and fabric equals

After the first coat of paint I was really skeptical if I was going to like it. It's SO bright! It is exactly the color I picked out, but in reality brighter than I initially wanted. I moved it into the kitchen so I could give it a test drive, see if I needed to go darker, or calmer, or something-er.

I was thinking about glass knobs, but I was trying to keep this little project within a tight budget. So when I got these cute little fabric covered button magnets (Thanks Lolly!) made with the scraps from my quilting bee quilt, I realized that fabric covered knobs might be just the thing!

and I think they are.

budget: dresser 35$ + paint 12$ + primer 3$ + scraps (on hand) + modge podge (on hand) = 50$!!

(This dresser is going to be re-purposed to my sewing studio when I have a sewing studio. And when it's not needed in the kitchen!)


*****In other magnet news*****

Have you ever made these? little flat glass rocks + modge podge + amy butler scrapbook paper =

I think modge podge is going to be my new best friend.

hooked on . . .

BLUE!!

I'm joining in on Hooked on Fridays blog party, hosted by Julia of Hooked on Houses. She has great decorating ideas and other fun home things to read about. Head on over to the party to see what everyone else is hooked on this week!

I love this color blue. I have for a long time. I didn't realize my love affair until one day about 8 years ago I looked in my closet and realized half the stuff in there was some shade of light blue/turquoise. Then I bought this car:

And my friend gave me this

as a "baby" gift. (Sad I had to sell the car once I started with the REAL babies.)

Now I've embraced my love of blue, so much so as to declare it my signature color! These are pictures I've taken of my blue things and a few blue places I've been.

1. made-over yard sale chair, 2. most of my fabric stash is blue, 3. my "betty rubble", 4. mini quilt, 5. turquoise and red coral necklace, (for sale at etsy) 6. baby quilt, 7. beach sky, 8. my duvet, 9. crocheted baby hat, 10. my favorite bag, 11. bear lake, 12. made over bistro chair, 13. new rug, 14. crater lake, 15. blue minky (also for sale)

so there you go. It's official. I'm hooked on blue and don't think I'll ever get over it.

PS - I just got these in the mail today from Melanie of Whimsical Creations!

a bee update

So I have all of my blocks for my Notion or Two quilt. Well, except do you see that spot that's blank? That's where my block goes! I decided to wait until I had all of them together to see what kind of block I needed to make, light or dark, busy or simple, red/pink/orange bird, etc...

I think I've got an idea of how I will place them, and I bought the sashing fabric. However, my artsy orthodontist brother made some interesting suggestions for me to think about doing. I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle what he suggested, but I may just go for it. I'm being vague on purpose, because if it doesn't turn out, I don't want to be held accountable!!

in other project news (pictures to follow in the next few posts):
*I'm working on the binding of that quilt - hope to have it in the mail by Monday.
*The dresser is painted and in my kitchen, but I'm trying to figure out what to do with the knobs.
*I started a diaper bag, changing pad project with Megan for a mutual friend.
*I started an online Photography course that I'm totally excited about. I think I may get the hang of the manual setting on my D40!
*I managed to time a fabric order (several yards of Daisy Chain by Amy Butler) to arrive the day DH left for a month. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've done that without even planning it! It's a boost to get a pretty package like that on a day that bums me out. I'll have to figure out something REALLY good for the day he leaves for Afghanistan for 3 months.

another duvet to dream under

I said I'd probably never make another duvet again - but I don't think I knew you could get toddler sized ones at IKEA. You don't have to piece any fabric for this size! Unlike I had to do for this one. Here is the big view. Of course it had to be PINK!

The nice thing about this was that all I needed to do was buy enough length because the duvet is ~45" wide. I purchased Michael Miller's Eiffel Tower toile (which I adore and have been trying to find a reason to use a LOT of it) from Fabric.com along with the Dandy Damask and some Dumb Dots. Then I bought some of the coordinating pin dots while I was in Utah.

Initially I thought I would just do the whole thing out of the Eiffel Tower print and use the others for dust ruffle and extra pillows. But then I found that cute dust ruffle on clearance at Target for 5$! It matches pretty well - so we're keeping it. Plus, I realized that I didn't actually buy enough of the fabric.

And then I cut it in the wrong place and had to piece a strip of the dots on the top of the opposite side for everything to match up. But you didn't know I didn't mean for it to look like that, right? (really, I was just trying to keep some of the eiffel tower for myself - that's partly why I did the other side a little different - I L.O.V.E. this stuff).

Alison was excited to have cover just like mommy and daddy's and now she actually sleeps under something. I just like to go in there and look at that cute fabric every day.