Sew Happy Geek - Wall Hanging Swap sent

I am shocked how quick time flies as an adult.  And it picks up speed each and every year. 

Le'sigh!

I signed up for the Sew Happy Geek's Wall Hanging Swap, way back, at the end of September.   

I'm happy to report that I meet the required mailing deadline {November 14}.  I so almost didn't because of my day job.

I was lucky enough to sew for Jenna of Sew Happy Geek! But because of that . . . the pressure was ON!  Jenna is super sweet, uber talented, responsive to comments on her blog, but she also tweets. Where does this woman find the time?

I wanted to keep my ideas simple.  No need to break new ground when the deadline was quickly approaching.  I somehow turned these fabrics . . .

Into this. . .

I {heart} Dresden Plates!

I did add some hand-stitching!  You know something I've never done until this project.  

I added a spash of different fabric into binding ohhhh!  I felt like it was such a contrast but you have to look really hard to find it!  :)

To hang this I added these super triangles that I wouldn't have thought of on my own as a wall hanger {tute found here}. I added these to all four corners  for dearest Jenna to a) decide which way to hang this and to b) be able to change things up.  I think it feels like a different wall hanging depending on which direction you hang it.  Yeah that might be just me - sigh.

I am a little anxious to receive my wall hanging - just ask my fella!     But once I do - I'll let ya'll know!

Where have you been?

I've been stuck traveling for 30 hours round-trip to attend a conference in Baltimore.

Was it worth it? It was a great time with people that I don't see often. Being away from home for 6 days, away from my routine, away from my fam, and away from my sewing. SIGH

What did I do while I was out of state? I walked around so much that my calves and feet are paying the price.  I think my hips are off kilter too.

I went to the National Aquarium. Here's a photo from the dolphin show.  I sat crying during most of this show.  My fella says it is because I know these animal are slaves.  For some reason it really was sad to me. Overall this was a great aquarium.  For the record I didn't cry at any of the other exhibits.

I also had a tour of the baseball stadium.  This was kinda lost on me because this is not my fav pastime sport. But it was fun.

I kept telling myself to go and do things as I more than likely will never be back in Baltimore.

Food was the best part of this trip. . as it usually is for me.  I found two great places.  I ventured into Little Italy for a place called Cafe Gias I had the homemade pasta and some lovely wine I was SO happy.  The other place was a busy place called Miss Shirley's there were people taking photos of their food before they ate anything - oh I laughed!  How many of those people blog? 

So being back home is so wonderful!  I've cleaned and re-arranged my sewing room {again} Thankfully I'm the queen bee for two bee's this month so I'm not too behind.  Also thankful that many of the bee's are taking a break this next month - ahhhhhh!

I still have some recovering to do. Getting back into a routine.  It doesn't help that a lot of tasks have to be accomplished in a short time.  Cleaning and Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. My fella and I brine our turkey and it's AMAZING!  And then to sewing!  I'll share some of my new creations soon! Happy Thanksgiving peeps! ♥

New Look - looking good

Did you see?  I have a new banner!  I finally broke down to pay for a real image.  

Luckily I have a talented friend, Kristin, from grade school.  She's not only one of the sweetest people I know but she is uber talented.  She's starting to grow an amazing portfolio. 

If you are interested in contacting Kristin for personalized web, button, badge, pretty cool looking things, she can be found at:  Modjeska Designs or email Kristin(at)ModjeskaDesigns(dot)com

{That's right I have a siggy block too}

Handstiching

Handstiching, a photo by h2ogirl76 on Flickr.

A sneak peek at the swap package I finished up today. Oh and then frantically packed for my week-long work trip.

A finish for little ol' me

During a trip down to Bend, Oregon I picked up a pattern for Amy Butler's Birdie Sling.  I saw one in real life and fell in la-la-love and knew that I needed one.

Yeah that trip was over 6 months ago.  I slowly started gathering the fabrics.  Finally 2 weeks ago I cut into these fabrics.  And this my wonderful past Tuesday I finished this baby!



Joel Dewberry fabrics make me giddy.


Look at that top-stitching.  I did all the finishing touches!  Ahhhh!

I loved adding all of these fabrics. I had brief moments of frustration so I consulted this lovely tutorial with lots o' photos. ♥

I even added buttonholes for the magnetic strips as found here in this tutorial.  My first attempt at a machine buttonhole on this machine and they are lovely.  You just have to trust me :)



I pretty much followed the directions on all of this except the large pocket. I created a HUGE pocket instead of the divided pocket.



This lovely bag is huge. Can you believe that I couldn't find it at lunch.  I kept asking my fella if he could see my bag.  He didn't realize what I as asking for.  Finally as I found it he said oh "YOUR GIANT BAG"  Yeah honey, my giant bag.

It's perfect.  Especially for my two trips coming up.  My first trip is this weekend to show off my mad sewing skills with my girlfriends.  And my next trip is to Baltimore.  Do you know how many knitting projects can fit in this giant bag!  Whoop!

Carefree Cowl Knit Along progress

Progress report - working it!

This KAL deadline is November 9

As my friend, Jovanna, would say - I'm giving myself homework.  Pfft you would think I would learn! NOPE

Well happened that today I took a few photos of the progress I've been making.  It's coming along - but I'm not done yet.

I'm knitting the Infinitude Scarf found on Ravelry.♥    This is a pattern by Jeni.

 

 I'm using ~400 yards of local handspun BFL Wool.  I bought this at my "local" yarn store Knot Another Hat.  LOVE it!  Go check out the KAH's blog by the owner, Sarah . . . I heart it!

 

 I'm heading out for a relaxing weekend. . maybe I'll finish it with my lovely girlfriends.  What a grand time to share what we've been doing this past year. 

What can a sick girl do in a month

What can a sick girl do in a month.  Yeah I'm officially behind in some of my bee blocks.  But I'm putting it all in perspective.  What did I actually do this past month?

This . . .

17  blocks isn't too shabby! 

If you are interested in any of these blocks click on the photo to direct you to my flickr photos where all these live.  Or some previous posts. 

And I'm not sick anymore. . let's get to sewing!

I'm linking up to It's Fresh Sewing Day at Lynne's  go check out the other's that are in the Fresh Sewing Day but ALSO the Small Blogger Meet up. 

Happy November 1 peeps!

A few months back and a little this past weekend

I have a quilting day with a friend, Jovanna, this past weekend.  Yeah you wouldn't know I did anything by the meager 3 packages that went in the mail today.  Oh it is so disappointing to see I haven't made a big dent in my late  and almost late bee blocks.

But no more moping around!  What have I been doing?  It has been a lot. . .

I've finally completed all my September Bee Blocks (yes. . roll your eyes SEPTEMBER)

Sew Modern Quilt Bee

I finished these two blocks for Rachel I adore Sherbet Pips!  I also loved how quickly this came together.  Her directions were so clear.  She assigned us specific blocks for her to complete a The Lemon Squares Quilt is seen at Fresh Lemons

Aren't these FUN! 

Orange You Glad

Well this month's blocks were a joy to work with!  Yummy Heirloom prints from Joel Dewberry.  I made a  bow tie block (plus two more bows) for Nydia Kehnle Photography.

Twice as Nice

FUN!  auntem1 choose these rocking blocks.  Go check out the tutorial we used found here

I really like how I learned how to break up grey's.  I la-la-love greys but find it's so dark.  Well the light sashing helps! 

{Sew Bee It}

Yeah I was late even in the bee that I'm hosting.  Bad Bee Mama! 

But life hits! 

I made these lovely beauties for Jenna who blogs over at Sew Happy Geek. 

She even posted a tutorial for these beauties! 

This is the first time I've sewn with black.  OMG it's awesome. 

I just learn so much from everyone!

Aqua & Orange

This bee we made a Modern Mosaic block for domestiCass.  I seriously tried to channel any wonky I have in my body.  It's difficult!

But this is what I came up with. Oh the learning!  Look at some of these fabrics! I hang my head in shame as this is one of the blocks I mailed off today.  And I was the last person.

Red and Aqua

This is my two gals a month bee.  I was lucky one of the Queen Bee's for the month of September.

The other bee-mate that we all got to sew for is Karen and she wanted a block o' pinwheels.

This block is 12.5" square.  16 - 3" finished pinwheels. 

I used SO much starch in these beauties they are like paper!  And I have to show off the back view of my block.  Look at how grand.  These puppies are FLAT!  I followed the most awesome Tutorial found over at Why Not Sew?'s blog.



I'll dream of pinwheels for weeks to come.  All these little babies came from 2-3/8" HST's.  I needed TWO of these for each pinwheel creation.  It was Voila times 16.  :)  This was a lot of work but really fun. 

~~~~~

So I mailed the last of these off today.  And I completed a few October blocks but nothing that can wait for another post. 

Here's to getting more things done! 

I did a few of these things last weekend so I'm adding this to

Jenna's Manic Monday Linky

and

Megan's {Sew} Mondern Monday Linky

Go check out!

Guest Post over at Sew Happy Geek

I have a guest post over at Sew Happy Geek.  

Go check me out.

♥ 

Able to sew again - finally

Well, I was going to complain about how late I was at the end of August. . and now it's October. 

Being kicked down by multiple colds just isn't right.  Thankfully the bee's that I'm in have very nice and forgiving women.  At least they aren't bashing me - yet.

What a lesson learned about wanting things done and done now.  Sometimes life happens.. and look it happened to me. 

So I'm finishing up October blocks.  A few that put me outside where I normally sew.

Bottom line is that I love sewing outside my comfort zone, I love sewing for others, and I wouldn't know what to do with myself without peeps.

So on with the show -  

Aqua n Orange Bee

 Katherine requested two blocks with the following criteria: circles, one vespa that she provided, and a letter "k" on each block.  She provided some awesome 30's reproduction fabric.

There are the two blocks I stitched it up.  Finally breaking out some rulers I've picked up along the way - circles!  Yeah!

There are some fancy smancy stitches in there. . really. I was breaking out of my zone and learning some new stitches on my machine. I apparently need to move beyond white thread to have it show. All in good time.

I like the K on this block because it's a free hand.  Ohhh pretty! And the first time this is washed it will have a few raw edge love- YUM!


Some of the other blocks are a-ma-zing! Go check out the flickr group. No seriously. . these ladies ROCK! 

{Sew Bee It}

You know the bee that I'm Bee Mama for.  {Insert eye roll here}  How could I be late for the bee that I'm hosting!  Sigh!

Well I got to sew for the wonderful Sarah.  She blogs over at Issabella the Cat.  This isn't the first time I've been late with Sarah's blocks - sigh.  I may be late but I adore Sarah!  I'm sure that if we met that everyone would be annoyed from us going on and on! 

I'm late on her blocks because I've wanted to make them perfect.  I first knocked this Girl's Favorite Block out of the park. . snazzy

But I also have leftover fabrics.  What in the heck was I going to do?  Not only couldn't I decide then the other bee-mates kept coming up with some ROCKING blocks.  So I got 'sewers block' on the next blocks.

This is what I finally decided on. ♥ 

And all three of them in one shot . .

Quilting for Kids

A wee bit back I found a post from Sarah over at Sew Sarah Sews for her heartfelt request for assistance to make a few quilts.  These are for a few girls that are in foster care.  I had so many lovely adults in my life and feel so sad for anyone who doesn't.  One of the blocks she requested was a garden fence block.  Well that was TOO easy.

Here are the two blocks I made for her to incorporate into the other blocks. 

Finished my third round of meds. Feel human again - soon I'll post about my September and October bee blocks soon.

What a WEEK or Pre-Sewing Rant

So you all have heard that Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy is coming out with a re-print.  Ahhhhh (this is like angels ahh-ing)  I'm staying tuned at DSquilts.com at on Denyse Schmidt's facebook page and even at hawthornethreads.com for them to email me when this is arriving.  Or the flickr groups found here, here, here, and here. 

 

This fabric should be out in February!  Oh how I pine to have more seeds like this gift from a fabulous bee-mate.

This re-print is something SO high on my holiday list I almost want to cry about it. This is what I'm asking my fam to give to me. . money or fabric in this line.  Sad it comes down to fabric! ♥

~~~~

Oh and didn't you know, I stumbled across Kate Spain's blog.  OMG I just about fell out of my chair. . go look! Another awesome line coming out.  I've barely resisting Terrain.  Ahhhhh (this is a freaking out a bit ahh-ing)

~~~~~
And today it was confirmed my lovely, wonderful, precious Bernina 1008 is not perfect.

I received an awesome 4x5 block from Chelsea who blogs over at Pins and Bobbins. 

*photo from Chelsea's flickr page.

After awing at Chelsea's great blocks.. observe the stitch on the inside circle.  Do you see how wonderful that stitch is!  Yeah I spent hours this past weekend trying to get my machine to do this.  I have lots of cool or interesting stitches that I'm sure are great.  Can you tell I don't care as I am only interested in this one stitch. 

Yeeaaaah - I don't have a machine blanket stitch.  Confirmed by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew in a pre-interview for the Sewing Summit.  {Insert huge deflating sigh here}

Maybe my Mom will buy me a Bernia 550 QE for the fun of it!  Yeah or another machine I'm not sure what is best. If she had money falling from her pockets I would be so begging! Never mind I make more money that my mother - lalalalala not listening!

~~~
So, for all these reasons and many more, like having to WORK all week; I'm going to throw a mini-pout session for myself and order myself to sewing all weekend.  That should teach ME!  I need something to feel like my very plentiful glass is not draining out the bottom.  Some me time should help with this for sure.  *Sorry family you need to be on the back burner for a bit.* 

Oh gads I need to catch up on my many a bee I'm late in.  I sure feel like a white rabbit right now!  But some of my sewing should be shown soon.  Yipee!

Remember when

Oh the memories. 

Okay not really it's just that I've been so out of it. 

I found that one of the charity blocks I made for Sew Fresh Fabrics waaaaaaay back in January, sent, received, and has been quilted up.  Ohh how wonderful are these!

Here's the finished "girl's" quilt with the one block I sent in. 

Someone gets to cuddle in this - made of all scraps.

Here's both of the two quilts made for Round 1 ready to be shipped. 

Well this charity bee with SFF just keep going.  Go check out the blog post on these two quilts.  And to keep tabs on future rounds just keep tabs on the blog in general.

Oh and there's a flickr group site too!  Whoop Whoop!

*Photos from Sew Fresh Fabics found on Flickr.