Monday, January 30, 2012

Feeling Grey

Grey has been the 'IT' neutral for a while now- and I don't think it's going anywhere soon. At least I hope not. I just bought these today from 3 different online stores because no store carried any two!  Gotta love that. But these are some of my favorite greys and are needed for 3 separate projects.


 This first one is LOVELY!  I believe it's called 'Dove' and is a ColorWorks by Northcott fabric. I first found this when I was shop-hopping in Houston. I love that it's very, very light. It's a perfect median between white and my next favorite-

  Ah, Kona Ash. This is a GREAT light grey. Perfect for a light neutral when you don't want as light as 'Dove'  :o)  This has been a go-to color in my stash for a long time. I guess lots of other quilters love it as much as I do because it was out at 3 local stores!

Lastly, Hometown by Sweetwater in Concrete for Moda. *sigh*  I could love on this whole collection all day long. Today I was in search of a dark, dark grey. I wanted charcoal. But every 'Charcoal' I found had either a green or blue tint. I love the more taupey greys. This one is PERF!!!

If you're interested in purchasing any of these beautiful greys for yourself I've linked each color to the online shop I purchased it from. 

HAPPY SHOPPING!  :o)

Walking Dead

Ugh. I've been sick all weekend. I have one of those nasty colds that just makes you want to curl up and die. I'm feeling a bit better today- but not completely myself yet. Luckily the hubs has the next 2 days off so I'm going to milk it for all it's worth. :o)

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I started coming down with this Friday morning. I knew I was getting sick but since the hubs had been working open to close shifts all week I was NOT going to miss date night because of a little (HA!) cold. I needed a break from the kids just as much as they needed one from me. The hubs and I decided to meet for a movie.

I've been doing lots of quilting lately and realized that my walking foot wasn't walking very well. Time for a replacement I guess. I think I got my money worth- but I really didn't want to buy another one. Bleh! I searched online and was able to find one....but I felt like I should wait.

I'm not going to complain here. I mean, my kenmore walking foot is only about $25. Much less than some other machines. But I didn't feel like spending that money right then. Glad I waited.

________________________________________________

While waiting for my hubs to meet me for the movie I decided to poke into a couple stores. At the last minute I thought "I'll run into Sears and see if they have any machine stuff." (the last time I was there- several months ago- they were getting rid of their sewing machine section) I wasn't hoping to find anything when I saw this:
a Walking foot, Quilting foot (I go through these even faster than the walking foot), some other stuff and a 1/4" seam foot!  I've NEVER had a 1/4" seam foot!

The best part- guess what I paid for all these goodies?

$7.97!
Seriously.

Best. Deal. Ever.

Just thought I'd share this deal with you for anyone who has a Kenmore machine or a machine that kenmore accessories fit on. I looked it up online and the set is around $55. In my Sears store there were at least a dozen- all prices at $7.97 and that was the REGULAR price. Might be something worth checking out. I'm just saying.

Now I just need to get over this dumb cold so I can feel like quilting again.

Happy Monday!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Brrrr

I wish I was HERE


taking classes from HER

beacuse it's WINTERFEST

and she's AWESOME and practically in my backyard.

This is me being JEALOUS! :o(

Completos

I just finished quilting my variegated thread combo quilt.


It looks SO COOL!!!


I'm so glad I decided to alternate between the two patterns.

I can't show you the front just yet- but when I do you'll know why!


Want to know more about 'Completos'?
Look here My kids (and I) LOVE them!   :o)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Threads of Change

 Two firsts for me this week:

1.) Quilting with a variegated thread. I LOVE the way it looks!


2.) Changing thread during a project.

Because of the layout of this quilt, I have to change back and forth between the variegated green and the brown thread. It is turning out SO GOOD! 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Lunch Lady

Several months ago I had a great time at the Frenchknots quilt retreat. Did you know she's having another one? Go find out more and JOIN US!

Anyway, along with quilting with some old-er friends I met a few new ones too. We've had lunch a couple of times since- and plan to continue every month. (In case you're wondering, it was April's idea to call us 'lunch ladies' :o)

This month we had a special occasion- APRIL was not just featured in a new magazine...

her quilt made the COVER!!!

We all made sure to get a magazine, then had one of the ladies working at the restaurant ask April to autograph an issue for her. At that point we all brought ours out for an autograph. She was so surprised!

April is AWESOME!  She has done lots of sample sewing for me- but that's not what makes her awesome.
She's a very talented woman. She has a very successful Etsy shop that you've got to see to believe :o) And has recently started one of the cutest BOM I've ever seen.

CONGRATULATIONS APRIL!!!



Thursday, January 19, 2012

Pink Elephants

I grew up watching Disney on VHS taped from the TV. I know "What's a VHS!?"  Remember in Dumbo when Dumbo gets drunk and hallucinates the pink elephants? It was one of our favorite parts as kids. We would watch it in slow motion. Seriously. :o)

Elephants have been my favorite animal for a long time. Partly because my name starts with 'E' but also because they're just so amazing. They're so giant, yet so gentle. If I could own a pigmy elephant, I would!

Latley I've been seeing a fun trend in quilting fabric- Elephants!
I thought I would share a few fun ones that I found.

 Pink Elephants from Violet Craft's PEACOCK LANE for Michael Miller

 Pink Elephants from Michael Miller. These are perfect 'Dumbo' elephants *wink*

 Deliciously fun elephants from Valori Wells for Free Spirit fabrics. LOVE these. I just have to make something fun for myself from these. YUMMY!

Lastly, this cute little number from Timeless Treasures.

So what are your thoughts- do you think elephants are the new birds or owls?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Who needs snow...

When you've already been buried alive!?

This picture was not staged. I mean, I'm not that crazy. :o)

I'm not sure if I told you all about our "move". We moved a few blocks away a couple months ago. Actually, my husband so graciously offered to "move" us while I was in Houston at market. (Note to women: if your husband ever offers to do this- DON'T LET HIM!)  You see, he moved some things- but not everything. So for the last couple months we've been moving the rest a couple boxes a day. Last night we finally made a big haul and moved the last big furniture pieces. Because I had a nice big open space on my sewing table- it was nominated to be the catch-all for "stuff". UGH!

So my day is pretty much booked while I clear this crap off so I can actually work.  :o)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Friday, January 13, 2012

Aussie Winner!

Thank you for all your nice comments on 'Hang 10'. You are all so sweet!  :o)

I have a busy day today so I'll get right to it:


My winner who was chosen to recieve the Australian Homespun magazine featuring my quilt is Vrooman's Quilts. I'm super excited too because she has been a follower for a long time and always has the nicest things to say in my comment box. So an extra big THANKS to you!

Hey all, we have a long weekend here- gonna be a busy one. Hope you have a great weekend. I'm hoping to have some fun things to share on Monday. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

No Signal

About 2 months ago my husband and I started watching The Big Bang Theory. Have you seen it?  HILARIOUS! So the other day I was watching an episode and Sheldon was wearing a shirt much like the one shown below:


Are you thinking what I'm thinking? What a cool wuilt that would make! Definately brighter colors and not quite the combo I'm used to. But I think it would be fun. And since solids are BACK, that makes it even better!

Ok, so who's gonna make it? My WIP list is already too long.  :o)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Slow Start

Is it just me or is 2012 rolling in s-l-o-w-l-y? My kids agree with me. I know this because I can't seem to get them out of bed for school in the morning and they've been tardy twice in the last week (the first times this school year!)

I allowed myself a little break during the holidays and I think thats where the problem started. I should've just kept going and not lost momentum. Now that I've stopped, it's so much harder tp get going.

In all fairness I haven't been sitting around all day playing Angry Birds (well, not EVERY day) I finished up my next fabric collection. WooHoo!  Of course there's still work to do but the hard stuff (designing) is done.

I've also quilted 1 1/2 quilts. Working on finishing the second one but for some reason my walking foot isn't walking very well. I think I may need a replacement. Then there's the 4 stacks of fabrics I've gathered for 4 more quilts I need to have finished by the end of the month. Yes finished. Pieced. Quilted. Bound. Ugh!

So even though I have done 'some' stuff I still feel like a slug in the morning. I have to pep-talk myself into getting in gear. Maybe it's just January. At any rate I'm working hard on being more productive in this new year.

Thanks for being patient with me  :o)

Don't forget to enter to win a copy of Australian Homespun in yesterdays post!!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Summer down Under

Several months ago (has it been nearly a year!?) I contacted the wonderful people at Australian Homespun magazine. I'd worked with them once before on this project. But this time I had something exciting the share. I was sharing the news about Going Coastal. Since it's a beach-y collection I thought it would fit nicely with an Australian magazine.  :o) 

We worked for months on planning and I am happy to finally announce that it's been published in the current issue of:

The quilt is called 'Hang 10'

 There's so many fun techniques in this quilt. It's a perfect 'class' quilt. There's piecing, HST's, fusible applique and raw edge applique. Not to mention the fun you can have quilting with all the different parts. It was such a fun quilt to design.

I LOVE Australian Homespun magazine. The projects in this publication amaze me. I always feel a bit inadequate with my projects when I see the rest in the magazine.  :o)  Besides the fun projects this magazine is fun to read. The write-ups on each quilt are wonderful and the pictures are spectacular (Don't you just LOVE those VW buses in the pic w/ my quilt?). This is definately one you should add to your subscription list. Just go to ZINIO.COM where you can get single issues or a subscription.

Want to win you're own issue of Australian Homespun featuring my HANG 10 quilt? Leave a comment and I'll choose a winner on Friday!!!  :o)

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Class of '73 (Hall of Fame)

I have wanted to tell this story for months but I wanted to wait until it all came together. It's a long one, so hang in there. Hope you enjoy hearing about it as much as I enjoyed living it!  :o)

Early last summer I began scouting my local antiques shops for sports equipment. I wanted to find items that were old, worn, used- because they have the most character. In between days of searching I came across a magazine article which showed an old megaphone. It was so cool!  I knew my chances of finding one were slim (and all the ones on ebay were either cheap or way out of my price range). I continued my frequent trips to the antiques mall in search of other 'artifacts'. I found all sorts of fun things; and old hockey stick, ice skates, old metal roller skates, lots of baseballs, a couple old bats, and some tennis raquets.

I had pretty much given up hope of finding a megaphone when I walked into the store one day and there was one sitting in the very first booth. I checked the price and put it right back down. It was way too steep for me. I tried to wander through the store looking for other items but I just couldn't stay away from that megaphone. Besides, I knew I wouldn't ever find another one. I decided to take it to the counter and see if there was anything they would do on the price. As I picked it up I noticed the inside. Someone had written in black marker 'Head cheerleader- and don't you forget it!' There was also a name- Wendy Olsen. For some reason I knew I couldn't leave the store without it. I was given a tiny discount and left the store quickly so I wouldn't feel any buyers remorse.

 You can see the megaphone in my booth picture from market. It's in the bottom right corner with a '73 on it.
(Sorry for the picture quality. I lost all my photos and this was the only one I had- from my phone)

I went to lunch a few days later and talked with Shannon. She had been to the antiques mall and saw the megaphone and wondered if I had bought it. I told her and Terry about the writing inside and how awesome I thought it was. There was story there, somewhere. Terry mentioned that her husband had graduated from the same school (Provo High School) that same year and said she'd have to ask him about 'Wendy'. 

I went home and thought about the megaphone over the next few days. It may seem sillly to some, but I thought of how much I would've wanted to share that megaphone with my kids and their kids had it been mine. I had to try and find this Wendy girl and give it back to her. I was too impatient to wait to hear from Terry so I decided to do a little digging on the internet. My first search brought me to the class website. I was quickly able to locate Wendy's name and clicked on the link to send an email. I started writing the email and stopped. It's kind of hard to word an email- "Um, I just bought this megaphone...is it yours?" I went back to the website and realized there was also a snail-mail link. I gasped out loud when I saw it was in texas. A quick google maps search and I found out it was less than an hour outside of Houston- the very town I would be visiting for market!


Picture taken from PHS c/o 73 website

I know it's crazy, but I just felt so connected. It's funny because as soon as I saw the inscription it immediately took me back to my high school days. I wasn't even a cheerleader but for some reason I could relate to this person. It wasn't until I checked the websites yearbook pictures that I was brought back to reality. I wasn't even born when this girl graduated high school!  This made it even more important for me to contact her. (She's the second from the left on the bottom row)

I sent an email and kicked myself afterward for feeling like a dork. But a day later I had a reply. She didn't remember the inscription but said she'd always wondered what happened to those megaphones. We decided that after market, while I was still in Houston, we would meet for lunch and I would give her the megaphone. (I still needed it for my booth display, of course! :o)  But as luck would have it- she was visiting Utah the week I was in Houston!

We exchanged information about eachother. I told her about quilting, patterns and fabric. She then told me a little about herself. She married her high school sweetheart- Gifford Nielsen. They went to college at BYU where he played football. He then went on to play for the NFL on the Houston Oilers (which was what brought them to Houston). How cool is that!

We continued to correspond via email but missed our chance to connect again during Thanksgiving. She still has children in the area and visits quite frequently. This Christmas break was going to be our next chance but with all the hustle and bustle, again it was hard to connect. Fearing that another opportunity wouldn't come for some time we decided to just meet really quick at a gas station to connect.


Picture taken from PHS c/o 73 website

Wendy is gorgeous!  I hope when I'm her age I look that good. She was so kind and cute! As she read the inscription she made some comment about teenagers and how they think. I told her I was so glad it was there because that's exactly what drew me to it. We hugged and parted ways.

And that's it.

Wendy Olsen- Head Cheerleader and don't you forget it! Has her megaphone once again. And I have, what I think, is one pretty cool story! :o)