Exciting...

I quilted it!  I quilted it!  And took it on vacation and put the binding on too!!  Hoping to get pictures in daylight this week - we'll see!  :)

Not the only Crafter

(I finished the quilt!! I finished the quilt!!) - Wait a minute - this post isn't about me.  We'll get back to that (See, we have been gone a week and there is ALOT to show...soo excited - gonna be a big week in these blogland parts...but anyway - to stay in chronological order...ahem, where were we?!?  riiight...)

Not the only crafter...

So I have not been the only one crafting around here.  My hubby has been busy free handing patterns, cutting them out (using all my cool scrapbooking tools that have been severely neglected) and then painting...

and painting.... and painting some more....

But I think the results are pretty cool - what do you think?

I think $70 worth of spray paint went a loooong way and I know Eric is really happy with it and very excited that it is ready in time for duck season.  I am still learning what it means to be married to a hunter (aka earlier mornings than working days - but lots of free time to craft while they hunt...) but I didn't know until last week that a hunter also needed to be a crafter!  I think he makes a pretty good one huh?

FMF Giveaway

I have never had the pleasure of using Flea Market Fancy fabric because by the time I got around to quilting (and obsessing over fabric) it was already long gone.  But I do love the way it looks on all the quilts around the internet that I see...

That's why I am pretty excited that some people really want to bring it back, and have started a (valid) petition to bring it back.  Not only that - but they are also giving some of it away!!

So click here - and check it out - sign the petition - and hopefully I win the fabric so you can see it on my blog :)

Birdie Sling!

Yea!!

I LOVE this bag!  Yes, its huge - and I am well, short and kinda small - but whatev!  I am totally and completely in love with AMH fabric and this bag....love love love!

Wanna see another one?!  Because once I finished this bag I carried it around the house like I was gonna go somewhere (yeah right - at 10pm!) all night long.  I changed it out to be my purse today -and I might carry it forever and ever - b/c I love it!

Now I am thinking - My SIL loves BIG bags - maybe she needs one...but I am not sure I could give one up if I made it! 

Okay - one confession - I am going to lose ALL my stuff in this bag and carry waaaayyy too much stuff (because I can!) And using a bag this big - there really need to be way more pockets (and maybe not so deep).  Lesson learned - but honestly - I don't care!

Yeah!  I finished something - AND I like it - yeah!  :)  Hope you are having a good week too!

Weekend Sewing

So.. I did sew this weekend - I didn't get the whole quilt done as I had hoped... but I got the back made,

 

Laid the whole thing out and basted

and then I froze again (well, not completely.  I did quilt a few rows - and I'm not happy with it.  I love this quilt front and I don't want to mess it up with my crappy quilting skills...ugh!) (and please forgive the crappy pictures too - seems we have very little natural light ANYWHERE in our house).

Anyway - I decided on Sunday to procrastinate some more and made some squares for the quilt along.  I have been really interested in joining an online quilting bee - but I am still a little nervous that my piecing skills aren't up to par for sending out to other people.  I did add them to the flickr group though, and I am feeling very official.  Ha!

 So how do you think I did?!  Am I an official quilter (or quilt top maker anyway!)  High hopes for the rest of the week - we'll see!

Not so Productive...

I had hoped to have more to show you this week than pieces of a bag just cut out - but it turns out I can't read directions very well and didn't order fabric for the lining.  Even in that cabinet full of fabric I didn't have anything that would work with these big bold colors.  (probably b/c its mostly other big bold colors!) 

So I ordered some online that I hope will come in soon *crosses fingers* and next week I will have a finished birdie sling.
 

Until then though, I did get my Kona Color Card - AMAZING!!  I want to order more colors just so I HAVE them now!!  I can't wait to try some of the grays and khakis instead of just white - now that I can see them ahead of time and take a much better guess at ordering the right color!

I already ordered the solid color for the back of my first quilt (yes, finally) and pieced part of the back last night.  I hope to finish that this weekend and actually have something to show you!!
To be honest, I am just really excited to have a weekend at home!!  :)  Hope you have a good weekend too!

A little more SAFF

There are a couple more fun things to show you from SAFF.  First, you might have noticed that almost ALL of my yarn came from Miss Babs!  Well, when checking out Miss Babs herself was ringing us up and I took the opportunity to take a quick picture of her with Millie (and oddly enough -she was the one who took our group shot the next day!)

Also - Millie and I had gotten quite winded from our shopping and took a view overlooking Miss Babs crazy crowded booth and lo and behold - we see Morgan...

Finally besides all the yarn oogling, and shopping and fun we had - we also took some classes.  Millie and I both took a class to learn corrugated ribbing...

Then on Sunday we took a class to learn fair isle knitting.  Silly me was thinking intricate colorwork sweaters - which I guess is the point when you get good at it - but we worked on this handwarmer.  (seriously?!?  what good is a handwarmer? without a thumb hole even... but the star was pretty and I did take a picture before I ripped it all out!)

 Little did I know that I had already done 'fair isle' knitting - its color work with only two colors in any row (vs. intarsia - which is what I REALLY need to learn).

This is one of my FAVORITE things I ever knit - my center square hat.  Eric will tell you its b/c its pink and brown (my FAVE colors together!) but I think its that and the circles and the accomplishment of the colorwork (okay, it doesn't hurt that its pink and brown!!)

That is really all my SAFF photos now (well that I plan to post anyway) - and I am working on some new crafts - so hopefully something to show by the end of the week!

Baby Shower Details

Thought I would keep the baby shower details off the main blog (especially since it includes alot of things we crafted for the weekend!) The shower was for our good friend Kelli. (here she is with her diaper cake - isn't she the most adorable pregnant! She LOVES it too - says she'd be a surrogate if we need it - keeps her MS at bay and she is super happy! - you can see it!)


Our theme was Nursery Rhymes (and books - we had each guest bring a book in addition to their gift b/c as a teacher we thought Kelli would appreciate the books! - see them all on the mantel!)


we also had nursery rhyme plates, and napkins...


and an amazing spread of desserts!


That is monogram cookies and candy bars, chocolate covered strawberries, decadent brownies, peanut butter chocolate rice krispie treats, chocolate covered pretzels, biscotti dipped in white chocolate, and cupcakes (oh and some veggies - but blah! ha!) It was soo amazingly yummy!

So decorations, and food and diaper cakes - but we were also working hard last week to make (part) of Kelli's gift. This is a rag quilt I sewed for her. (The printed fabric has nursery rhyme characters on it too!)

We also made a basket full of other goodies (tag blanket, burp cloths, more books!) It was alot of fun and a great success!

I sure hope a good time was had by all! We sure had fun planning and making everything - (oh and I am soo looking forward to making something for ME this week! lol!)

Fabric - Friday Eye Candy! (sorta)

Earlier this week I decided I needed to organize my fabric. You might remember the yarn cabinet from the beginnings of this blog - well, I finally decided to boot the acrylic, the peaches-n-creme cotton and the UFOs from the cabinet to plastic bins and make space for fabric.

I have started to sew alot more, and digging through bins to find fabric was starting to get old. Not to mention its gorgeous to look at too - so it took its rightful place in the cabinet this week.


The first shelf is all my 1/2 yd (and less) cuts for random quilting and just general making of things. Arranged by color - this won't surprise most of you. Pinks, blues, cremes, greens, and brown and blacks.


The second shelf is fabric I have 'reserved' for projects. There is all my Red Letter Day (girl colors, and boy) for my niece or nephew's play quilt (after I know which its going to be!), and all my orange fabrics (for a Clemson quilt), some Christmas present fabric (won't reveal that here - as some of my readers will be receiving those!) and my new Amy Butler Love and AMH's Good Folks fabric stack. I am getting antsy to cut into that!


Finally on the bottom are my pre-cuts, my solids, my scraps and my larger cuts of fabric (probably gonna be quilt backs). (or at one delusion point in my life I thought curtains - ha ha ha!)


After this week of baby sewing (which I should have to show you soon!) I will resume my normal sewing and I can't wait to pick from the cabinet instead of wasting my time digging through bins! yeah! Have a great weekend!!

This week...

We are planning a baby shower. So I have my schedule chuck full of making and baking and decorating and doing. This is what I got done so far this week...

Not sure it turned out as good as the girlie version I made last year.

Tonight its off to sewing. Hopefully a small rag quilt, taggy blanket and burp cloths. Well - that might take me longer than tonight - but will hopefully explain my absence for the rest of the week a little bit!

Still Knitting...

Andrea asked me for a new hat for Lily for this winter - last winter she was itty bitty and in this teeny purple hat (geesh isn't she cute?!?)


I was happy to have a small project (to distract me from my sweater) and knocked a hat out for her in two nights. She asked for brown - but I couldn't see a sweet little girl in a plain brown hat - so I added spumoni to it (didn't turn out like I had hoped -too much pooling; was hoping for striping - but its okay).


I have plans for another one for her (b/c it was soo quick and fun - and maybe it will be closer to what she actually asked for!) Its getting cooler here (44 last night!) so hopefully I will get pics of her in it soon!

Apples, Apples and More Apples

I talked on my real life blog recently about the Forrest Gump line "there's shrimp kabobs, shrimp gumbo, shrimp creole... etc etc" ... and that's how I am feeling about apples now. Last week I used up some more of our apples from our anniversary trip and I made applesauce,


Apple Jelly

Apple Pie Filling,


and still sits half a bushel of apples behind this pile of cans - mocking me!


And alas, cutting into my knitting, sewing and other RELAXING crafts. Oh well - at least these taste better. Back to your regularly scheduled programming later this week... promise!