I LOVE thrifting :)

I had my weekly thrift store excursion today- it's just one store, but I love it :) I found such cute stuff! It is always something different, and that's the fun of it! Today I found some darling red shoes, these 4 sheets (I love the beautiful yellows), 5 cardigans- I have gone crazy for cardigans!, and a few odds and ends. Such fun, such fun! I love the surprise of it all and how when I use my 20% off my entire purchase coupon, I get an even bigger bargain :) Sa-weet! I love hunting for good deals! That's why I guess I am a thrifter at heart <3. Good day, good night- sweet dreams all!

And yes, I snuck in 5 other sheets from earlier this week (I made an exception and went thrifting twice this week!). Isn't that top bright aqua flower sheet perfect?! Eeeppppp! What else can you do when you feel cruddy from a sinus infection- thrifting therapy always helps :) ?? Yup, I feel much better now :)!!

My Teensiest Quilt Yet!

It started with this...

And a day later turned into this...

Yes, it is an actual quilt- binding and all. I measures 3.75"x4.5". I came out a touch bigger than I wanted, but close enough :) Not only is it the teensiest quilt I ever made, it is also my handmade name badge for The Sewing Summit!!

There is only a week and a half left, people! I am so excited, I hardly know what to do! I keep pinching myself- ouch- but it's real! I get to go! One of those surreal things in life. I feel like the little kid on a big block, but people don't get nicer than quilters, so I am sure I will have TONS of new friends by the time it is over :).

I wanted lots of different mediums and techniques on my badge, so I went for everything I knew how (and a few new things too) to do! I started with the arc. I have NEVER paper pieced in my life, much less drawn a design to piece. But using Miss Kaelin's incredible instructions (over at www.theplaidscottie.com), I drew and paper pieced my own arc! Step 1- check! From there I added the white pieces and then the fun began. I sandwiched and quilted as I went. This is a fabulous method, especially for something this tiny. I added the yellow and orange yellow felt sun. Then the bunting and hand embroidering the bunting rope and name. Then the binding. Picking out the fabric for that was quite an accomplishment, in and of itself. I wanted something bold (and not being too bold for 3.75"x4.5" is pretty tricky), not too busy, and with all "my" colors. Finally found the perfect print! Then came not liking the way handstitching looked for my blog name, so I fiddled some more and came up with some pinked yellow fabric, with machine drawn title. LOVE! Appliqued that on, and VOILA!! I LOVE it- very "ME", very cute, and I have my handmade something to take to The Sewing Summit :).

Now just to decide if I want to attach it with a pin or with the cutest tiny silver ball chain and wear it like a necklace- I'm thinking the chain! Here's for teensy quilts!

It's NOT mine- sort of :)

See this pile of goodies???? Oh, it just makes me giggle! This came to my door from the amazing people at Riley Blake last week! I have been ooouuuuuu-ing and aaaahhhhh-ing over it the past few days. But it's not mine, well sort of... Let me explain.

Those great afore-mentioned people at Riley Blake have a part of their website that is called Cutting Corners. The fun thing about it is that every so often they have a new teacher, or Course Instructor, give a handmade tutorial using their products. Their fabrics are my favorite! I would sooooo open a shop with their lines, if I only had about $30,000 to buy just part of the bolts I wanted for my shop :) hehe! Seriously, I would love to sell their amazing products- those crochet flowers up there are at the top of my accessories list too- eepppp! Sorry, tangent! Anyway...

I get to be a Course Instructor for the Cutting Corner in November. What I am making will include some of each of the items in the photo above- they wanted me to have a good selection of Delighted, so they sent me the entire line!! W-O-W!! I am just giddy! This is gonna be the cutest __________ and _________ ever!!! You will have to wait til November to see what it is!

Then I also get to go to the Launch Party for Delighted in October and meet the incredible Amanda herself- I am just star struck!! I keep pinching myself!! Wow! For real!!

The BEST PART about the whole thing is that once I use my little bit of things from this lovely, amazing, gorgeous, fun stack, the rest will be a GIVEAWAY on this here cozy blog of mine!!!! Yes, that's what I said- most of that above loveliness will be some lucky person's! I am so excited for the project I'm doing and for the GIVEAWAY!!! Hip, hip, horray for a GIVEAWAY!! So be watching in the next couple of months for a wonderful treat!

Goodie Bag Swap, I hope, I HOPE!!!

1. Mais duas novas bolsas "Casa", 2. Little Red Riding Hood, 3. LynneBobSquarePants, 4. Pretty Little Pouch finished!, 5. sew cherry by lori holt, 6. Chaises rangées, 7. Fresh Lemons Spools, 8. Starry Path, 9. Mod Bento Box for swap, 10. Winter Rainbow Closeup, 11. vintage spools!, 12. pillow talk swap round 4 ~ double wedding ring!, 13. projects all together!!, 14. little red riding hood~ sweetly sitting on a spool!, 15. Polka Dot Flats, 16. P1180692, 17. Russian Sweetie, 18. P1170494, 19. P1160793-1, 20. P1190240, 21. P1180724, 22. Hideaway Pillow Pattern for Moda's Blog Hop, 23. Style Stitches Teardrop Bag, 24. My Market Bag, 25. Jane Market Tote 2, 26. Streets Tote, 27. Turquoise Grid market tote, 28. Handmade Bags, 29. Shinzi Mushroom Tote, 30. frenchy handbag

Woot-WOOT!! Lookie, I am hoping to be in my first swap! The signups start on Wednesday and I am hoping and crossing everything that I get a spot! It's the Goody Bag Swap and is hosted by two amazing Peeps of mine :)! I am a bit nervous (understatement of the year) and anxious, but oh so excited to make something fun and lovely for someone else! It will be so fun! I love getting creative and coming up with surprises! It makes me smile! I got my mosaic done so that I can have it ready when I get in the group- talking positively here, right?! This conglomoration of stuff makes me grin and I love it all!!

Keeping myself Busy!

I haven't had much time to sew lately! (I did get some gorgeous blue minky to back the orange and aqua color value quilt finally though- a LQS had a 30% coupon for the first customer- yay for being the early bird!) We headed out of town this past weekend- again, and this is what we brought back :). So needless to say, it has taken all my time! We are tickled though! A standard size Poodle- we also have a small toy size one too. We've just gone Poodle CRAZY!! It's a blast and a great dog for all of our outings and being our buddy!! Yipee for dog friends. And cute ones at that :)

Vintage Star Top DONE :) LOVE!!

I spent the late evening cutting up sheets. That was the hard part! It was fun to watch the pieces get smaller and more manageable though. I decided to go with a 22" square, a bit larger than Jeni's, just so the finished quilt would be a bit bigger. I am all for big blankets- more to wrap around me to keep warm in winter :) hehe! And the sheets are so soft, who could resist a little extra surface area :) There's my math background coming in!

So I cut, arranged, and sewed until the whole thing was pieced. Then rows came next and ta-da, you have a quilt top all ready to go!! I have a perfect sheet to go on the back, so once I get my sandwich made, it's time to quilt! I am so excited to have such a soft sheet. Vintage sheets are dreamy that way...

Warm Cool Quilt Top COMPLETE!!!

The Warm Cool Quilt top is finally complete!! I am sooooo lovin' this quilt! It is aqua and orange- a favorite combo of mine, and I am taken with it. The little one I made it for REALLY likes it too. I put some fabrics in that are really fun and really make me smile! The little one decided on the centered diamond pattern, so that is what I did. The pinning took for-ev-er, but it is so worth it to have all those corners meet up so neat and nice. I wanna get some glass head pins, as I have heard they pin so much easier. Just got some Joann's coupons in the mail, so I know what will be on the list :). Now we have to figure out fabric for the back and I can get this one sandwiched :) Yummy! Here's to a happy quilt top!! Yipee!

Catching up...one by one

My Skill Builder We Can Do It Sampler quilt along as gotten not along :) ha! I am 3 weeks behind, but only 2 now :) That's a tad bit better :0 I got the Breaking Out block completed yesterday! I love using Miss Lori's way of making these flying geese blocks. You can find her tutorials over on http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com. She's an amazing teacher! I really like how it turned out- and so PINK too!! Now 2 more and then I'll be back on track! Whew!

Giant Vintage Star Quilt Begins

After weeks of debating and getting more and more sheets to find just the rigth one, I finally decided. If you have ever been in a LQS with me, you know I have SUCH a hard time when surrounded by lots of great options! And obviously, the vintage sheets were no different. But, it is done, and I am thrilled with the choices :) Yipee Skipee! Now to cut into them and get sewing!! That's the fun part :).

These are the color sets- I'm going with 16 different sheets for the design. I love the look and tone of the sheets.

Then the bottom sheet will be the backing and this top purple sheet will be the background "fabric". I love how vivid those small purple roses are. I'm not usually a purple person, but I adore this sheet! I almost used it for my bed, but it had a tiny hole in it, so it will be cut up :). It is lovely, nonetheless! I debated between the purple and yellow, but I am 99.9% sure the purple has won! Ahhh, so happy, can hardly wait to cuddle under this one :) Perfectly soft and cozy! And it reminds me of my Grandma- doesn't get better than that.

Remember

May we all remember, everyday, every moment, what it means to be free and that freedom is not free. I am forever grateful for those that give themselves and their lives to keep us free, some I know very personally. I pray for hope and peace- may we each find that within ourselves.

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing!

That's what I wish I could be doing at times! Life has exploded the last two weeks and I only have five mintues here and five minutes there to catch up on projects :). I am working on the aqua and orange value quilt for the Warm Cool Quilt along and am in process of piecing the rows. It wouldn't take long except for the crazy pinning! Lots and lots of them on each intersection! But we're getting there! Closer and closer every five minute chance I get :) YAY!

Ok, I will have to resort to putting some in the shop!

How's that for a concise title?? hehe!
I was driving home by way of my favorite thrift store and just HAD to stop in again :). It is starting to cause trouble- happy trouble though :). When you dig hard enough, you can find some pretty neat things. Today I found 5 pretty neat things, and a cool pair of Harley Davidson winter boots for me- bonus!

I am filling up almost every inch of my space that is in the "half-room" that I have. So I guess I'm going to have to get cutting and put some of these lovelies in my Etsy shop. That way I can share the joy and make room for more pretties :) That's a good plan, don't ya think??!

Now just to find the time for the cutting :) There's always a catch...

Color Palettes

Miss Lynne over at Lily's Quilts (http://lilysquilt.blogspot.com/) has been making me drool lately with her color palette talk! She's doing a Dead Simple Quilt Along which I would love to join and am having a hard time restraining myself! I love colors and the feelings/memories that go along with them. But I must get some of these other quilt tops completed first- and I have a few other projects in the works too :)!! I have, however, been following along with all the wonderful tips and hints for color palette picking. I really like looking at ideas and picking colors that are out of my "comfort zone"- i.e. pink and red, cutesie! I have yet to make a pink and red cutesie quilt though, funny, huh?! Anyway, I have looked at the palette sites and saw a couple that I liked but nothing really struck me.
Then I was getting in bed and noticed the pile of Kona fabric that needed folding on my comic book board folding system, and the palette HIT me!! I had gotten the fabrics a few days before just to refill my stock and add a few more colors- I loved the Pear and Sour Apple! And another new favorite is Papaya! Yum! Sound as good as they look :)! Then the Aqua and Turqouise threw me for a loop, they are so close in color, just a shade different! (Orange and Tangerine are in there too). So, after glancing over at them randomly placed, I sighed and knew I was on to something! I don't know when I'll be making a quilt from this- wonder if there is another Kona Solid Challenge coming up in the future?? But I love the feel of these colors together- gotta find some prints with these bold colors too- ouuu, yummy! What do you think??

Teachers Give Us Wings Quilt

I don't think I ever posted this finished quilt. The summer got wild and it slipped my mind, so I wanted to make sure I got it on the record :).

This quilt was made for a special teacher. She loves aqua and red with some black and white thrown in. I was thrilled that there were so many wonderful fabric options to use. I went with a simple block layout to highlight the bird. There area also a few pieced blocks added in for personality! I "enlarged" a bird on the black and white print for the focal point of the quilt. The bird is 18" square to give you an idea of size. The quilt itself is 72" square. The binding is Kona turqouise. I quilted it with a turquoise thread in a loopy pattern, at a 45 degree angle across the quilt, to match the "flight" of the birdie :). It made me smile.

The simplicity of the quilt really makes the bird pop- which is what I was hoping for! Teachers are incredible people and have a special place in my heart. This teacher made all the difference in the life of a precious little boy I know, and she needed an appropriate thank you. When I was having the fabric cut, the LQS said they wished they were his teacher- hehe! This was the least I could do! And a quilt is like a big hug, so everytime she wraps up in it, she will know she's loved! What better gift!

Without further ado... Teachers Give Us Wings...

Some new Pretties and Thank you Gifts

I have been going crazy over all the yumminess in Miss Julie's shop-- http://intrepidthread.com! She has had sales the last two weeks, and of course, I cannot pass up a S-A-L-E!! It's a weakness, I admit. But with fabric involved, I am just toast! :) hehe! The first weekend, I was good and just bought fabric for a quilt I am making a dear teacher. This past weekend, however, I just lost all control and wound up with the Taza half yard bundle, and the Wrenly fq bundle, and another random half yard print in my cart! It arrived today and just look at the loveliness! It is so soft and the colors are just wonderful! I can hardly wait to find the perfect project to add to my current hugungeous list :)!!

For most of the morning and part of the afternoon, I was busy making some thank you gifts for dear friends. I love rosie necklaces and making them as gifts is always something that is well received! The pink is a new favorite- as well as the aqua and jade. They look so pretty all together! I think it will bring a smile to 3 ladies' faces and that will make me happy! Now off to write the corresponding notes :)
Have a marvelous, sunny day!

A Rainbow...

I was so excited to participate in my very first swap recently!! Miss Jennifer over at http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/ hosted the second Rainbow Charm Swap (I barely missed the cut on the first one). But that was ok, because there were double the people in the second and I wound up with 112 charms- woot! woot!! I waited patiently for my charms to arrive. I had been assigned purple- I went with one of the new Lizzie House prints and a classic print too. Cutting the yards into charms was good until my ruler slipped (I *need* a non-slip 6x24 ruler!!) and I messed up the last 4 charms. So off to the computer I went to order more fabric. I had a good excuse to order a few other things, to help with shipping of course :) hehe!!

These came in the mail Monday- squeal!! I am so debating what to make with them. Trying to decide if I want to follow a pattern or just go with my own thing. Hmmmm.... Either way, I know it will be lovely! How could it not be with such a marvelous rainbow??!! So looking forward to more swaps!