Sorry - I'm still here

I know it's been awhile and I don't even have a good excuse!  I could say I was on vacation (I was, but have been back for a week).  I could say I'm in the process of moving (not currently, but I will be soon).  Either way I know I've got to get back to business!!!!
I will say I've been very short on motivation lately!  I don't know what it is - first a sewing slump, then a blogging siesta!  I have been doing a bit of sewing - not a ton, but I've turned the machine on so we're making progress!  Hopefully I'll have something to share sooner rather than later!
In the meantime, here's a pic to cheer everyone up because it's FRIDAY!!!  YAY!

How can this NOT put a smile on your face?

Quote for the Week

"The best things in life are free. 

The second best are Very Expensive"

                                                                                                   -Coco Chanel

A little bit of Progress

Ok, so I was finally able to get in the sewing mood - and did a couple more of my dachshund (spelling?)  blocks.
I love them, but they aren't perfect.  Which leads me to my favorite question when quilting....."does it have to be perfect?"  I'm scared to ask Mom - she usually tells me what I don't want to hear :)

Here are my concerns....

Are they too big?
Do the stripes have to line up?  I tried to line them up and was successful on a couple.....but not all.
On the text fabric they are puckering a bit.  I seem to have this problem a lot - any suggestions?

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!  I have to work, so this is probably the extent of my sewing for a few days.

Wedding Shower Glitz

Still no sewing going on here, but I thought I'd share some photos from the wedding shower I helped plan for my cousin.  She is having a small destination wedding the beginning of May (Vegas - I am pretty excited)
I can't take all the credit for this event - it was a callaborative effort between my mom, sister and myself. 
The theme is peacocks - peacock feathers and the varying colors of course.  We almost went with an Elvis theme (which would have been FUN), but this turned out very nice and my cousin was happy. 
I put myself in charge of decorations and made several trips to Joann's.  All last week was consumed by this event, so here's another excuse I use for not being productive in the sewing department.

We had a couple different centerpieces

 Cake Table

And I also made chocolate covered pretzels for the tables

And just for fun - here is a pic of my niece - she was making sure the punch turned out ok ;)

Quote for the Week

"Friends don't let friends stay home on a Saturday night"

                                                                  -Shahs of Sunset

sewing slump

I feel like I'm in a sewing slump.  There has been NO sewing going on here lately.  Are there others that fall into this?  I don't know if it's a combination of factors or what, but I'm getting worried. 
I have been busy with the fabric swaps and of course there's always work that I can use as an excuse - but I'm hoping I'll snap out of it soon!

Let me know if I'm not alone in this!!!

My goal is to get downstairs and make some progress on something - anything really, by Tuesday.  Tomorrow's Monday and I always have a hard time being motivated on Mondays. 
So, my goal is Tuesday - I'll let you know. 
In the meantime I do have some pics from the fabric swap - wrapping everything up and just waiting on one package.  Then it's off to the USPS!!!  I'm excited - I hope everyone enjoys their fabrics and posts soms pics of their final projects!

I convinced my husband to take a break from the red wings game to help me sort so it went a little quicker.....needless to say he doesn't enjoy fabric as much as I do :)

 little stacks of rainbow goodness

The Liebster Award

Holey Toledo - I won an award!

I was totally shocked to get a very nice email from Vicki over at Mommy Made It!.  She said she's a follower of my blog and was passing on the Liebster Award. 
Now, of course I headed straight to her blog to get some more det's (details - I picked this up from my daughter).  Here is what I learned:

Someone - not sure who, started this award for bloggers.  It is awarded to your "favorite" blogs.  Here is where Liebster comes in - it is actually the German word for "favorite".  It is passed on to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.  Yup, that's right, an award for us small timers!!!  Yay!

I've always wondered if anyone was listening or paying any attention.  Now I know there are people listening AND there are others out there like me that are newbies to the blogging world. 

So, now for the fun part........

I get to pass this on!!!!  Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who gave me the award and link back to their blog.

2. Choose 3-5 blogs with less than 200 followers and pass this award onto them.
3. Display the Liebster Award somewhere on my blog site!
4. Let them know you awarded them by sending an e-mail or posting a comment on their blog.
5. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

My picks are:

Steph from Hope Sewing is Genetic - love the name because I come from a long line of quilters and if I have half of their talents I'm in good shape :)  And I love seeing the home improvements ;)  I can relate....

Diane from the One Stop giveaway Shop - need I say more?  Why didn't I think of this?  Brilliant!!!  My go-to every day.

The Belle & Bee - adventures in everyday life - kids, family, home....it's something we can all relate to.

So anyway, a few of my favorite smallish blogs and my first award - telling me there are people out there that might be paying attention :)

My First Giveaway!!!

Giveaway Closed - Thanks everyone for the comments!

And the winner is............
#10:  AJ, who said:
 oooh fun - thanks for the chance to win!  I will be sending an email to you shortly!

I don't really have anything to celebrate, but wanted to have a giveaway!

Up for grabs is this jelly roll:

sorry - the pics aren't great.  couldn't get my camera to work with me!

Enter to win two ways:

1.  Leave a comment below
2.  Become a follower and comment that you are

If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave an email in your comment otherwise I have no way to contact you!

EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY!!!

Giveaway will end Sunday, April 15 2012.

Sorting Charms

Surrounded by fabric - does it get any better than this?  I love seeing all these pretty prints just as much as putting different fabrics together and creating a quilt. 

this is just a few for the fabric swap

So the last few days I have spent most of my free time sorting and organizing fabric.  First I took on the project of organizing my fabric stash (not quite finished), and then I decided to get all the fabric for the swap situated.  I love hosting these swaps, but they do require some work.  Anyway, I had one last yard of my orange fabric to cut and sort.  I don't know why I decided to do this late at night, but I did.  Over the last few weeksI have purchased 10 yards of fabric and cut all of them into 5" squares for the various swaps I'm in.  When purchasing the fabric I have bought a little over a yard just in case I screwed up the cutting and needed a bit extra for a redo.  Well, the last fabric I bought I didn't buy that extra yardage.  Ugghhhh - totally jinxed myself!
I cut it all up last night - threw my tiny, tiny scraps in the garbage and headed upstairs to sort it all out.  Halfway through I noticed my one orange print was not exactly 5".  Uh oh - I put it off to the side and thought I'd save that one for myself.  Then another one was short.....then another one, and then another one!  How did I manage to cut these wrong?  And I had no extra fabric to cut more!
Needless to say I headed to the fabric store and bought some more.  What a pain in my a**!!
What do they say in construction?

Measure twice, Cut once 

I'll remember that for next time ;)

completely random

I haven't been doing a lot of sewing this week - mainly because I haven't been feeling good - forever plagued by migraines :( 
If any of you have had one you know exactly what I'm talking about!  I made a trip to my sister who is conveniently a chiropractor and she gave me the Owusu special (2 hours away - wish she was closer).  I just got home and am feeling better. 
The last few days I've been thinking - "what am I going to put on my blog?  I don't have anything crafty to show off.....
So, in lieu of crafty, quilty goodness - here are some random addictions of mine.  Maybe some of you will relate.

I'm addicted to reality TV.

Two of my favorite people in reality tv land are:

Jeff Lewis

Betheny Frankel

I just don't understand why my husband doesn't find it as funny as I do.  Is it me?  A female thing?  Not sure, but regardless, they're hilarious, no question.

I'm addicted to my iPhone

I can't seem to do anything without my iPhone - I might need counseling.  However, I know my mom has the same issues - maybe there's group counseling out there?  Something to think about.....

I'm addicted to the color Pink. 

I love color in general, but if it comes in pink it just makes me happy.  Well my daughter and I were watching tv the other night and we stumbled upon a show called my strange addiction.  Have you ever seen it?  Crazy huh?  Well, they had a woman who LOVED the color pink!  Even her dog was pink.  I like pink, but this is carrying it a bit far.



 And of course I'm addicted to fabric

I did manage to make it to the fabric store.....again.  Hey, I HAD to get the last of the fabric I needed for the fabric swaps!  A couple extra prints just jumped in - it wasn't my fault :)

Here's a pic of some of my goodies

I got some of the new Alexander Henry - pretty excited about that :)

Another WIP

Since my half moon modern project is on hold until my fabric comes in the mail I was looking for a new project to start.  I really couldn't and shouldn't spend more money on fabric so I thought I'd see what I could do with what I have.  Which, by the way, isn't much since I haven't been doing this for years like some of you out there. 

On Sunday I was playing around with scraps and made this cute little pincushion

 Do you like my fuzzy pillow?  JC, the cat, sure seems to think it's the best.  It's a wonder you can't see all the cat hair!

I filled it with crushed walnut shells.  I Love, Love, Love pincushions!  And I've seen some cute stuff out there!

And then when I was done with that I tried to do some improv quilting.  That didn't last long - for some reason I was getting bored.  So yesterday on my way home from the quilt store (I didn't buy anything - just had to get my daily fix) I was thinking about some Michael Miller daschund fabric I had bought a while back and just never did anything with.  The whole way home I was trying to picture how I could use it in a quilt.  I didn't get real far, but this is what I have so far. 

Cutting out all those dogs is a pain!  And again, I didn't continue because I have some of Michael Miller's ta dot line coming soon in the mail.....I know, I know - addicted!  In fact my husband had to move a pile of fabric to sit on the couch last night and said, "we've got fabric coming out of the walls in here" (okay, I edited a bit, but you get the point). 

I don't think he understands completely.  He should be thankful - I don't have a FRACTION of what my mom has!

I just love fabric - the colors, designs, everything!!!

yes, another fabric swap

Swap is Full - Thanks everyone!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What can I say?  We are all fabric hoarders and addicted to online fabric swaps!  I've been exercising some self control.  I haven't signed up for every single fabric swap out there.....kind of.  I figure if I host them I save on shipping costs - right?
Whatever the reason, here is another swap except this one has a twist!  That's right, a bit of a change.

We are swapping three different types of fabrics!

1.   i spy
2.   polka dot
3.   stripes

This swap is open for 56 participants - US only (sorry - I don't have a paypal account set up yet to accept shipping payments).  I am saying 28 and if I get a large response I'll open to 56.
Each person will purchase 3 DIFFERENT yards of fabric. 
One yard will be an i spy print.  When I say i spy I mean a novelty print.  Here are some examples:










Your second yard will be a polka dot print.  I'm not going to separate us into groups or colors - just please make sure we don't duplicate prints or have too much of one color.
Finally, your third yard of fabric will be a stripe.  Again, I'm not going to assign a color, but try to make sure we don't have too much of one color group.  We are looking for a variety.

You need to press and cut your fabric into 5x5" squares. Each yard should yield 56 squares or "charms". When cutting fabric be careful because 1 yard of fabric will give you 56 charms but not a lot of waste.  I usually buy a little extra just to be safe.  Each person will send in 168 charms total and receive 168 charms.
Here's the breakdown:
Send in 56 i spy prints and receive 56 i spy different prints back.
Send in 56 polka dots and receive 56 different polka dots
Send in 56 stripe prints and receive 56 different stripes back.
I have started a flickr group and will use that so people can coordinate with members so fabric is not duplicated.  Please head on over and become a member so I know everyone is participating.
You can find the flickr group here: i spy flickr group

Fabric Rules and Requirements
All fabric must be new, unwashed and come from a smoke-free home.
Must be quality, quilt shop, designer fabric - no JoAnns, Michaels, Hancocks, or Hobby Lobby Fabric please.

There is no cost to this swap, just the cost of fabric and your time of course! You will need to send your fabric in with a prepaid, self-addressed stamped envelope - USPS priority mail so I can use that to mail you your beautiful charms.
Fabric will be due by April 28th.  I am going out of town the fist week of May, so I'd like to send everyone's packages out before I go.
I will try and keep an eye on sign ups and take down the form when I have enough people.  If I don't get to it right at 28 people I apologize :(  Either way, I will keep you posted.
That's it for now - please email with any questions you might have!!!  Below is the sign up form - please complete and submit so I have your information.

Good news and Bad news

Well - Good news first.  My mom and I went on a shop hop yesterday and traversed the west side of Michigan!  Started at 7:00 am and returned at 7:00 pm.  12 whole hours of fabric shopping!!  It was a lot of fun, but by the end of the day I was beat.  We made it to 9 different quilt shops and found some great prints. 

Some Pinks for my collection

My mom was picking up prints for a couple fabric swaps and then for her New York Beauty.  I bought the last prints I needed for my fabric swaps and then whatever I "had to have" I bought!  Before going my husband sent me a text message saying, "have fun and please, please don't spend our life savings on fabric".  Funny right?  Not sure if he was trying to be funny or if he was serious.....I told you I'm quite obsessed with fabric!
Anyway, here are some more:

For my future black and white quilt

And here's everything I bought....oh so pretty

Okay, and the bad news....
because I was traveling all day I didn't get any quilting done, so I don't have anything fun to show you.  AND to make it worse I probably won't get any quilting time today either.  I need to clean the house - Ughhh, and sort fabric for the swap - better, and prepare for my daughter to have a friend spend the night......wish me luck.
Alina is an only child so I'm not used to having multiple children running around. The plan is to get them from school, go to the mall, get pizza and survive the rest of the night. They are pre-teens, and have informed me they are going to be really, really, really, really hyper.....groan!  Now, here's the worst part - my husband is out of town so I will be suffering alone!
Whew - might warrant a cocktail with the pizza!!!

Finished!

I finally finished up my hubby's quilt....well kind of.  I did most of the quilting and threw the binding on so I could give it to him for his birthday.  I still have quite a bit of quilting to do.......maybe tomorrow ;)

Everyone's pics on their blogs look so nice and mine never seem to turn out that great.  I originally used my iphone, then rummaged around until I found my canon camera - still not so great.  So, I called my dad who is really talented when it comes to photography, and asked if he'd help me out.

We went down to the beach and here they are -

I even figured out how to place a watermark on them!!!  Pretty crafty, this girl....
Here's one I took myself

WIP - Half Moon Modern

Ok - here's what I've been working on even though it's been hard to get motivated.  It's been sunny and an average of 70 degrees outside!  I'm in Michigan and this NEVER happens!  We usually still have snow on the ground or it's muddy and rainy.  Hard to stay in the basement sewing when it's so nice.
Anyway - I bought this charm pack of half moon modern awhile ago and had no clue what I was going to do with it, but couldn't resist :)

Started cutting it all up the other day with the intention of doing a fun chevron baby quilt....

Laid it out on the floor so I could decide on a pattern.........

Do you see a problem???????
I have about four teal blocks and a couple grey left - that's it!!
I don't know how I got an abundance of one color and just a few of the yellow and orange.

Now I know I'm new to this sewing thing, but is that common?  This was a charm pack I bought - and I can't remember if it was disclosed as being a random selection or what.  When buying a pack from a collection are the prints random or pretty even in number?

Guess I have to search for some more!......

Darn

Giveaways!!!

Who doesn't love free fabric?  I think I've said this before, but I am addicted to fabric and if I had a money tree in my yard I would need a storage space for my endless stash of fabric.
Unfortunately, I don't have a tree producing money, but blogs hosting giveaways are the next best thing!  I haven't won one yet, but I always keep my fingers crossed!
I found this blog and it's great!  It lists all the free giveaways in one spot!




www.onestopgiveawayshop.blogspot.com



I was pretty excited when I stumbled upon this - check it out!  Couple of flea market fancy giveaways going on.....

St Patricks Day...OR....National Quilting Day?

Happy St Pat's!!  Will everyone be drinking green beer?  Maybe watching some basketball on tv?  Did you know today is also National Quilting Day...I think.  I'm geting conflicting information.  Anyway, we can pretend it is and have an excuse to maybe buy more fabric?

fat quarter bundle from pinkchalkfabrics.com

some green inspiration perhaps?



I'm hoping to get some sewing in later this afternoon. 

Back to work on my husbands quilt.....and then I think I'll tackle a smaller project!  Those large quilts are beasts to quilt.

Pinterest....and the Periodic Table of Sewing

Now I know there are some differing opinions about pinterest, and I can see both sides.  Sometimes we don't give/get credit where credit is due. 
However, I cannot stay away!  I think it's a wonderful place to find great inspiration or maybe just something to make you smile.

I was perusing again tonight and found this

I went to the source and a free printable can be found at thescientificseamstress.blogspot.com
She also posted some pics of her organized workspace, which is what originally drew me to her site.  Look at all these pretty fabrics!