Check out these Giveaways!

Have you been to Green Fairy Quilts? Judi is a busy mom, a great quilter, writes a fun blog and runs an online quilt store; I don't know how she does it! She always has a great selection of the newest lines and stocks a ton of kits, pre-cuts, patterns, and threads. This is one of my favorite stores for two main reasons: 1. She always includes a picture of the whole line. This is very important to me as sometimes when I buy a pre-cut, I end up not liking the whole line and just loved the top fabric. This way, I can decide whether the whole line speaks to me or if I just want some yardage of certain fabrics. 2. Her prices. They are always the lowest and oftentimes she will have fabulous specials like buy a layer cake and pick a free charm pack. Awesome. Oh, and did I mention all her amazing giveaways?

Right now she's giving away a Layer Cake and a Charm Pack, so head over and enter!



Another fun blog to follow is Leona's Quilting Adventure. Leona is a quilting mom with a stash to die for. She has such an eye for color and is always making the cutest projects for bees and swaps. I think she has more giveaways than projects! This time she is giving away a pillowcase kit, a tabletoppper pattern the 11 pink fat quarters pictured above! Head on over and become a follower, Leona's projects are so inspiring!



This last giveaway ends tomorrow, so hurry over! Dawn's Quilt Corner is giving away 7 yards of Dr Seuss fabric. That's right, 7 yards! This is probably two baby quilts in the making! I'm a fairly new follower of Dawns. I think I found her in the Fall into Fall Giveaway. She doesn't post often, but her projects are darling. Check out her Hawaiian quilt in the post below her giveaway post.

So there's three giveaways to enter, and 3 awesome blogs to check out. I just realized last night that I follow 125 blogs. And I read every post on every blog! Whew! Luckily, I have an iphone and spend the majority of traveling time reading blogs from there! Thank you bloggers, for brightening my day with your posts, each and every one of them!

SMS winnings

Did you have a great time in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway? I did! I saw some amazingly talented artists, read some brilliant bloggers and even won a few prizes! My gifts have arrived and without further ado...



I won these pretty earrings from Lomagirl over at What we've done. Cynthia is a mother, artist, and a wonderful photographer. Her blog has a ton of cute little snippets from her daily life. I love that; she keeps it real. I also recieved one of her amazing photo calendars. I keep it in my cubicle to add some color and whimsy! The photos are just breath-taking. Thanks Cynthia!



I also won this awesome shirt from Kristen at Ola Mae's . This shirt is FABULOUS! I immediatley fell in love with it when I saw it on her blog. But in person, this shirt is UBER-FABULOUS! Wow! It hugs my body but not my fat (amazing, I tell you!), makes a perfect neckline and looks even better on. I was so excited to wear it that I wore it to work the morning after I recieved it. I got so many compliments! Thanks Kristen! You are one talented girl! Check out Kristen's blog, it's full of fun, DIY projects and yummy recipes!



I am so happy with my gifts. Thank you!

Thanks Santa!

We had 3 Christmas's this week-end! That's the way it's always been in my family and that's the way I love it. All the traveling on Christmas Day i can do without, but I love seeing and spending time with everyone.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with my mom. She had to work for a few hours so I cooked a turkey dinner while she was away. Actually, I mostly cooked the fixings and let my stepfather worry about the turkey. He told me when to baste it and kept checking it all day while I laid on the couch watching Lifetime Christmas movies. It was fun! My mom decorated the table:



I didn't get anything quilty there. We got new dishes and sheets, which we needed bad! See that giant candle holder on the table? That was my gift also!

Next we headed to my grandparent's house for a huge party. I got two Charm Parks and a pair of Gingher Scissors! And a 5 pack of rotary blades. Score!



I also got to see some family I haven't seen in a long, long time and to meet some family whom I've never met before! There were probably 20 of us. We had a great time!

Last stop was my Dad's house. We had a small wind-down after-party there. Opened up the last of our presents and dived into my stepmom's homemade cookies. Yummy! There I got a programmable crock pot, and some Hexagon Dies! yay!



Here's all my loot laid out for your viewing pleasure!

Of course, my house is a mess. We got home from Christmas and basically just dropped everything on the floor. Since then we've been doing laundry (new clothes!) and dishes (new dishes!) and slowing unpacking and putting everything away. Hope your Christmas was as good as mine!

How do you do it?

I don't know how you do it. Work full-time, take care of the house and bills, the kids and cats, decorate for the holidays, home-cook meals and churn out these beautiful amazing quilts! Since taking on this full-time job I feel like I'm sweating to keep up with even the simplest tasks. And I'm exhausted! Sometimes I crawl into bed at 9pm because I can't keep my eyes open anymore!

Granted, my job does take up 12 hours of my day. I wake up at 5am in time to shower/hair/make-up for work and don't get home until 5pm. I've learned to catch-up on blog reading on my commute to work (don't worry, I don't drive!) or in the afternoon, get a bit of shut-eye. I've learned to do all my cooking for the week on one marathon Saturday afternoon (after waking up early and doing all the grocery shopping for the week). I peruse recipes for casseroles and soups and slow cookers during my lunch break so I can prepare grocery lists in advance. I delegate some cleaning to my husband (what I can trust him with, anyway). Throw in my weekend job waitressing on top of that and there's still hardly any time for sewing. Maybe 5hours a week!

How do you do it? After work, I come home, pop a casserole in the oven, pet my kitties for a little while, talk to my husband, eat dinner, clean the cat box, dishes, pick up a little bit, take off my make-up, pack my lunch, put out my clothes for the next day and it's bedtime! My husband says that my body just needs to adjust to my new schedule. I sure hope it happens soon; I'm tired!

I've decided that some things just aren't that important. So I stopped making the bed. I make my husband do more dishes. I don't clean my bathrooms every week; instead I'm stretching it to every 10 – 14 days. The living room isn't immaculate before I go to bed every night. My husband can handle the laundry just fine. And guess what? Our house hasn't fallen in on itself! I wonder what would happen if I stopped sweeping the kitchen floor every time I cook?

I have quit my part-time job too. There are just not enough hours in the day and I have to re-prioritize what is important in my life. And it ain't money! So even though that extra $500 a month was sweet, we can make do without it and spend more time together loving each other. I had my first week-end off recently and it was sweet! I forgot how long week-ends can be when you are not dreading work. I forgot how much faster the week can go when you don't work 7 days a week!

So that's where I'm at now. Re-prioritized, re-organized and rearing to go. I'll have more time to devote to my husband and more time to devote to quilting. Pretty soon you'll see some completed projects in this space!

Better than Santa...

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I know we did! The first Christmas I got to spend with my family in 5 years. We had a Christmas weekend full of delicious food, loving family, relaxing, teasing, having fun and even a little bit of cheap wine! Delicious! The only hand-made gift I made this year I forgot to take a picture of. I know, I know. I made my mom an XL hot pad from the tutorial by Vickie of Sugar Spun Quilts. I was lucky enough to win her giveaway for a kit and threw it together one day while watching Christmas movies with my husband. It's super easy and useful too.

Speaking of giveaways...



Look what else I won! No, Santa didn't bring me this stocking! I won this from Diane at Quilting is Blissful! I won a stocking just stuffed full of fun stuff! Some of my favorites are a snowman broach that I wore for Christmas, a fun Christmas stitching pillow pattern, some super-cute snowman ornaments, yummy hot cocoa mix (that I already drank!), a snowman tea towel and some darling snowmen baking cups. And that was only my favorites! There was a ton more fun stuff to unwrap. Watch out Santa, you have some competetition! Thank you, Diane!

And if you are reading, Thearica, you will see your lacy table covering I won from your blog still in use. I've already posted about this and thanked you, but I still want to point out that we love that table covering. It hasn't left our table since we recieved it!



Have you checked out the giveaway at Retro Mummy? Up for grabs are 2 fat quarter packs of the lot.....that is 20 fat quarters of the gorgeous Flower Sugar range from Lecien as featured in this lovely picture. (yes, I copy and pasted that) I'm crossing my fingers! Imagine what you could make with those babies!


I have some quilt blocks to share with you, but I think I'll put that in my next post. I've also made a list of UFO's I want to complete in 2011. But that will come later too! Until then, quilt on!

Friday Night Sew In Results

How fun! I had another fabulous Friday Night Sew In! This time, my husband joined me! Well, kind of. He sat in my sewing room as I sewed and he played computer games. Ahh...my perfect Friday Night!

I'm not doing any homemade Christmas gifts this year. Instead, I thought I would work on getting closer to finishing some of my UFO's. It seems like I'm full-steam ahead on patchwork but once I hit borders, basting and quilting, I run into a snail trail. Stuck in my own path. I put it away and forget all about it. So I've decided that this month I'm going to concentrate on my 2 B's. Borders and Backings. I hate Borders and I hate Backings. Whenever I get to Borders and Backings I somehow convienantly forget about my work-in-progress.



So I pieced together the backing for my Bliss quilt. I had got this really soft, thin blanket from somewhere that I really wanted to use. Only problem, of course, was that it was too small. Maybe I should start making quilts that fit my backings. Hmm...there's an idea.



So I used my leftover Bliss squares and some pieced triangle scraps to make my back bigger. I might cut it again to make the Bliss run down the middle. RIght now I'm feeling a bit lazy. Maybe if I put it away for a few weeks, I'll find the motivation.

Wait, that's how I got into this situation in the first place!

I also put a border on my second Love Quilt. This is the one we are keeping here in the house. It's a good copy of the one we got married in front of:



That's all I did. I chatted with my husband, drank some wine, snacked on chocolate and lazily pieced. Like I said, a perfect Friday Night!

Did You Hear?

It's time to play Bingo!! Yay! The Quilt Shoppe is running another Bingo game. I did this last time and had so much fun (and strange looks from the husband) that I even set an alarm for my phone to remind me of the Christmas Bingo! Today I picked my 25 words and emailed them to the Holly Jolly Blog. I posted my words right next to my work computer and now I'm ready to scream "Bingo!"



As if that's not enough fun, it's also another Friday Night Sew-In! Yay! There's going to be 2 this month in preparation for Christmas. I'm not making any handmade gifts this year but I will participate in both Sew-Ins! Because I need more sewing time. And that's my gift to myself this year! Come hang out with us, and let's get our Sew on!



And have you heard about this amazing giveaway?! It's this 28 piece bundle of fat quarters (that's 7 yards of fabric!) from the Shelburne Calico Garden fabric collection. Wow!

Click on any of these pictures to join in the fun! I'll be back Saturday with some pictures of my works in progress! Until then, happy sewing!

Whew!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I sure do love these EATING holidays. I'm a foodie, and luckily my best friend and my husband are also foodies, so we like to get together and eat!! This year I had the good fortune of splitting the holiday cooking with my best friend. Wow, this was so much easier! I am so thankful to be around my family again. I've known my best friend for over 10 years, and she has become close to my family also, so she is considered family. Besides her, I had my mother, stepfather, brother, sister, and brother-in-law over also. A full house in our tiny apartment, but what fun!



Look at all this food! The next morning my friend and I went shopping at 2:30am. We went to Kohls and got some amazing deals! Diamond earrings, beautiful jewelry and cashmere sweaters, oh my! We had so much fun. I love getting all my Christmas shopping done in one day! I just have three more people to shop for and I'm all done!

No quilting in these last few days, but I've got my eye on my room tonight! While you're online, make sure to surf over to Stray Stitches, she is having a fabulous giveaway. She's giving away the mostly complete set of Thimbleberries Quilt Club 2006 BOM Quilt Kit. While you're there, become a follower. Linda writes a fantastic blog, full of encouraging thoughts, gorgeous pictures, and awesome quilts. I make it a point to save her blog for my bus-ride every morning so I can start my day off on a good foot!

See you later, I'm off to quilt!

Friday Night Sew In results

I haven't had a night like that in a long time! It sure felt great to be in my own sewing room surrounded by my things with plenty of room and no interruptions! Let me show you what I worked on!



I put this on my design wall. It's Charming Squares from Moda Bake Shop, recipe by Stephanie of Little Lady Patchwork. I made it in Bliss. And since I'm looking for a lap quilt, I decided to make it from 2 charm packs instead of 3. It's going to be my cubicle quilt. I think it will really liven up my workspace!



Here's my cute little bunting! This will go in my cubicle too. My poor cubicle is industrial blue and one of the most boring and depressing places you've ever seen. But it won't be when I'm done with it! I used the triangles scraps I cut from my lap quilt and just sewed them straight on a ribbon I found. No hemming or turning or planning, just plucking and sewing! Then I really took the easy route and glued buttons on! I wish I had some colorful buttons, but all I had were white and clear. They're still very sweet though!

I was thinking of leaving the quilt on the design wall and the bunting on my wall until after Thanksgiving. That way, my mom and my best friend can see for the first time my creative process. Yeah, I'm hoping they'll have fun moving my squares around and decide they want to quilt with me!



I also worked on my Autumn wallhanging. This pattern is a free pattern from Sandy Gervais. I got it during the Fall-O-Ween Blog Hop. I changed it around a bit (of course!). I stitched Happy Autumn on the top and bottom (even though it looks like Hoppy). Still need to stitch down the binding and put a cute little orange bow on the stem of the pumpkin. Then it will be ready to hang for Thanksgiving!



I free-motion quilted swirls around it. It's not too impressive, but it was practice!

It sure was fabulous to block out some ME time! I drank my bottle of wine, watched Bones and House and just sewed!

I'm so glad I live in BlogLand!

Look at all the fun we have here!

Have you checked out SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show? Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year and just seeing these fabulous quilts parade through BlogLand gets me so excited! I don't yet have my own Christmas quilt, so I won't be posting. But you can still participate by commenting on the show!



Then there's the Mistletoe Make and Bake 2010.


A fun blog hop of designer projects that includes...cookie and candy recipes!! It's like my perfect Friday night...free patterns, giveaways, and cookies!! I'm not sure who the main organizer is, but I follow Spun Sugar Quilts already (Check it out, Vickie is an amazing designer!). Vickie posts links whenever there's a new post, and I just follow from there. I think I'm going to gain 10 pounds on this blog hop!

Speaking of a perfect Friday Night...It's that time of the month! Friday Night Sew In!



This will be my first Friday Night Sew-in. In the past I've been envious of those Friday Night Sewers, all comfortably in their pajamas, sewing away at home. While I always had to work a busy Friday Night at the restaurant. Not this time! On Thursday I plan to hopefully finish unpacking my sewing room and Friday Night to be busily sewing away! Woo-Hoo! If you want to join in the fun, just click on the Friday Night Sew-in button on the right hand side of my blog and you'll be taken to Handmade by Heidi to link up with us! I'm hoping to start my Layer Cake Quilt Along (see button bar on the right) blocks.



And some more BlogLand awesomeness: Beth from Love Laugh Quilt is hosting a Neighborhood Block Party. Her idea is for everyone to make a house block that represents your blog. Write your blog address somewhere on the house. Send it to her. Cross your fingers and hope you get back 9-12 blocks to make into a BlogLand Neighborhood Quilt. Isn't this the best idea ever? So symbolic of our little community.

So take off your jacket, kick back and stay awhile! There's plenty to do in BlogLand!

Hi again!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've last posted, but in real life it seems like a lifetime ago!

A few changes around here:

I got a new job! It's totally fabulous. I am a state employee. I get to wear really cute clothes to work and take my lunch and decorate my cubicle and earn vacation time. Wow. I also have to ride the commuter bus in the morning but that hasn't been so bad. Better than searching and paying for parking daily.

Another change:



We moved! We got our own place finally! Of course, working full-time and moving don't go together well, so we are still unpacking. We've been here for two weeks now and are definelty loving it. Coming from staying with my parents and having no jobs to living on our own again and having fantastic jobs makes us feel so blessed and happy. It feels so nice to be content with what you have. Even sitting on the couch and having a lazy day feels perfect.

It was a hard time to weather, but we survived moving to a new state and staying with my parents for a few months, being unemployed together, and feeling utterly hopeless and desperate for work. And we stayed strong and in love. And now it's paying off.

So I'll be keeping my second job at the restaurant for as long as I can (right now I'm on 1-2 days per week there, which sometimes means no day off for me). We both quit our retail jobs in favor of office jobs. I've worked on my sewing room (of course!) for two days now because I thought it was Friday Night Sew In. But it's not. I guess I have a head start now! My room is almost ready to sew in. Not organized, but almost ready to sew in!

In other news, I won a giveaway:

This amazing lace table cover. It's meant for a small round table but looks fantastic on my tiny dining room table. We will definetly use it! My husband and I both love it. It has candles and trees and snowmen in the lace. Thearica from Pigtales and Quilts sent me yummy homemade chocolates and a strip of awesome fabric. I love it. And she sent me a 10% coupon for her store: Coveryourlittlepiggies.com. Awesome!!



I also received my Fall-into-Fall prize. It got lost in the mail for a little while, but thankfully found it's way to me! I won this Christmas Tablerunner from Julie at Sweet-Quilt-n-Bee-Shoppe. We put it on our breakfast bar. Yes, I know it's not Christmas yet but it will be soon and that's where it will stay until then!



This little beauty came in the mail too. It's The Rose of Sharon Block Book and matching notecard set. Too cute! I love applique, but am just learning how to go about doing it. I won it in Kay's giveaway at All About Applique. That's such a terrific resource for applique beginners, check it out when you have the time!

So I haven't been just been sitting around winning giveaways. I've been adjusting to a new work schedule (up at 5am, yuck!), learning how to juggle my time more efficiently (like shopping once for all week instead of a ton of tiny trips to the store), learning the ropes of commuting, and (too slowly for me)unpacking and organizing our cute little apartment. I'll post again soon, I promise. Hopefully with something quilty to show!

Until then,

The Mysterious Case of Shrinking Fabric

When it happened the third time in a row, I realized I wasn't going crazy!

I cut the same piece of fabric exactly 3.5 inch square, then matched it up to it's partner and noticed the 1/4 inch discrepancy.

I cut it again, this time paying close attention to the line on which I cut. Matched it up to it's partner and it was still too small.

Hmmm....

Maybe the partner piece is too big. Nope. 3.5 inch square.

This time I grab my sweet and patient husband and ask for supervision. Look, I say, I'm cutting exactly 3.5 inches square.

Yes, he agrees.

Still too small. Is this incredibly shrinking fabric?

My husband has a theory that the water in the air (remember, we just moved from Las Vegas to Sacramento) is shrinking the fabric.

I had some sashing cut out for my second Love Quilt and sure enough, most of them are just a scant quarter inch too short to fit the blocks. So I recut them all half an inch larger than I need and will just have to cut down later.

Is this because I don't pre-wash? Do you pre-wash your fat quarters? I don't like the fraying, so I try not to. If I start to pre-wash, will this annoying shrinkage stop?

Yay! Good News!

I have good news! My husband and I both found jobs! Yay! That means we can move out of my parent's house soon and pretty soon I'll be able to spend more money on fabric! Double-Yay! I should have news by the end of the week if I can get a second job also. I'm crossing my fingers for a second job that will allow me to quilt. Don't laugh, they are out there!

Now that the job search is over, I'll have more time to quilt. I know that sounds ridiculous, but without a job I spend more time looking for one than actually quilting. It will be a lot easier when I get my own space too! But that doesn't mean I haven't been working on anything!



I finished the paper-pieced Christmas trees for my Mystery BOM from Esther's Blog. I had to do 12 of them. Haven't trimmed them down yet. It's always the trimming where I mess up paper piecing.

A new block came out Tuesday that I'm excited to get started on. Only problem is that I don't have the red fabric or fusible webbing I need to do it. It will be my first time using fusible webbing though so I'm pretty stoked. I never realized there was applique you didn't have to sew.

I'm always the last person to know!



I also worked a bit on a neck warmer for my step-mom. She uses hers every night and totally wore out her last one. I used this really pretty purple fabric I had, but regret that now. It's cheap-o fabric that doesn't hold the stitch that well and also doesn't hold heat as well. I think I have some old pink and purple PJ's in my stash that I'll cut up to make her another one. Purple is her favorite color.

Besides that, I've been ridiculously busy with the Fall into Fall Quilt Bloggers Giveaway! How fun! I've been blog-hopping like crazy! My follow list has quadrupled, easily. There were even some blogs I found who I thought were on my list, but weren't. Make sure to check it out and to sign up for some of the amazing giveaways being offered!

Next time I post I hope to have more to show! Until then,

Happy Hopping!

Check out this Giveaway!

Glenna over at Hollyhock Quilts is having a totally fantastic giveaway! It's Fabric! And lots of it! There's a ton of comments over there already, so hurry up and join the party!

Lookee! Lookee! -------->

You might notice I have two new buttons on my sidebar! Let me explain!

The first one is from Momma Made This. If you click it (Click it! Click it!) you'll be taken to Momma Made This blog. There, she links to 44 other Slow Poke Quilters. Poke around, check them out, there are a ton of amazing ladies on this list! Some great reading!



I hate posts with no pics. So I thought I'd throw some pics of me and my husband in here! Here's us working the bar at a party in Las Vegas!

The second button (Click that too!) is from Esther's Blog. She's a very talented designer/artist who is just starting a free BOM Christmas quilt. The BOM (Block of Month) is actually a BOW (Block of Week) project! Every Wednesday, starting today, she will release a new block pattern. There are only 6 weeks worth of blocks, so the quilt should be done in time for Christmas.

I'm really excited about this project. This is the first Blogland project I've participated in since I've started blogging. I'm Budget Quilter at the moment, and Esther has promised that this wallhanger will be a stashbuster! And I have a small stash of Christmas fabrics that needs some busting!



Black and Red Ball!

Also in Blogland, there are some really fun hops going on now! Gudrun from Gudrun's World is hosting a Fall-O-Ween Designer Blog Hop. There are 10 designers all signed up to give you a free design everyday! They each have their own day to post a free design, but every day of the hop the designers will still post on one topic of Fall. So far they've done color and smell and tomorrow is taste. Talk about fantastic inpiration! You will definelty "fall" in love with this hop!



Getting ready for a Toga Party!

Pat Sloan is also hosting an awesome blog hop. This is to promote her new rulers for "Sullivan" notions company. The side of the rulers has a Diamond Carbide Sharpener embedded in it; they actually sharpen your rotary cutter as you use them! The grand prize is an entire set of rulers! Wow! Just go to Pat Sloan's Blog to check it out!



And the infamous 80s party where he proposed to me!

Starting October 1, Debi from Quilting with Debi is hosting a totally awesome Fall into Fall Giveaway. There are over 130 bloggers, including some big companies like The Electric Quilt Company and Fat Quarter Shop, all hosting giveaways on their blogs. How exciting!! I'm totally looking forward to not only winning some sweet swag but also checking out some amazing blogs! Woo-Hoo!

It's a busy week in Blogland!

*Gasp!*

What's this I read?



Is that my name? Does that say Jen from The Quilty Home?!



Oh my God, it is! It is! It is!



I won! I won! I won!



No, not the lottery! Better than that! I won an Accuquilt GO! Cutter! Yay! Karen from Log Cabin Quilter is now my most favorite person in the world. Yup, she has surpassed Santa Clause. Wow.

So now comes the hard part, picking out three dies to GO! with my awesome GO!

I'm definietley going with the Dresden plates. The other two I keep waffling on. I love little piece quilts, so the Winding Ways die and the Double Wedding Ring die are catching my eye. But I really love what I've seen with the Rob Peter to Pay Paul die. Wait, what's over here in the Applique section? Christmas trees and snowflakes? I live for Christmas trees and snowflakes! But I don't have any pumpkins or maple leaves for Fall.

The 2.5 inch strip was originally a definite number 2. But then I thought of my strip cutting ruler (which I totally love and use all the time). It's not really that hard for me to cut strips, so after thinking about it for six hours, I decided not to get it. But I might change my mind. Maybe. Maybe not.

Argh.

Just Sue-ing Around

Well, no job yet. We've both been looking and looking and looking, sometimes up to ten hours a day. Yucky. No time for sewing, although I did get an itchy foot the other night and busted out an Autumn Sue.



This was the first Sunbonnet Sue I've ever made. It actually didn't take as long as I thought it would. I traced the pieces from my book Sunbonnet Sue: The Ultimate Collection.

The directions say to use paper-backed fusible web, but I don't have any of that (or any money at this point), so I just used tracing paper and cut out the old-fashioned way, using templates. I used phone-book paper as a stabilizer and a large zig-zag stitch in brown, since I wanted a Fall-look. I was a bit concerned the leaves would just look like brown blobs floating in the air, so I stitched some veins and did a delicate outline. Then I hand stitched a falling line. I think it looks darling, and it certainly scratched that itch!



And in other quilty news...

When I got back from vacation, this awesome Bobbin charm was in the mail for me. I won it in a Giveaway from Sue Hecker at Featherstone Quiltworks. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, I'm imagining a beautiful quilty charm bracelet in my future!



~Picture from Sue Hecker~

I also just got this new pattern in the mail. It's from Elisa's Back Porch Designs. It's so gorgeous. I can't wait to start it. The perfect Fall quilt! I want to get the perfect fabric for this though, so it'll take awhile (like, after I get a job) for me to pick up some fabric. Since I'm a beginner quilter, I'm still working on building my stash, and am realizing that I have no Autumn fabrics. I need to remedy that soon!



You should check out Elisa's other patterns, she has some beautiful designs. I want to make them all!

We're Back!

And we had a wonderful time! The wedding was perfect, just the right amount of spontanaeity and whimsy that we were hoping for. The awesome Revered LaLa loved her quilt and in a fabulous twist, we actually ended up getting married in front of the quilt! I used it as the background behind Reverend LaLa. No pictures of the wedding yet, because our "photographers" are still recovering from their own trips! Here's a few teasers though:



Me in all my Bridal Glory. I used the parasol after the wedding, to keep some sun out. Also because I felt pretty holding it.



A side view, don'tcha just love my veil? My husband wore cowboy boots and hat, a tux tank (tux shirt with sleeves cut off), cuffs (yes, we saved the cuffs from the sleeves!) and some raggedy dress shorts. He looked amazing! We got married at the Lollipop Guild, which is why I'm holding a giant lollipop with my bouquet.

So the wedding was amazing, the playa was dusty (frequent dust storms for nearly 3 days!), and the people were friendly! We had way too much fun for a married couple! (Wink, wink)

Nothing quilty to report, and my awesome husband just started watching Shawn of the Dead, so I'm going to sign off, cuddle up, and chill out!