Saturday, March 28, 2009

A Thrifty Find



I found this adorable fabric bowl at the thrift store. I paid .99 for it. I think its made out of vintage sheets. Its so soft and pretty. My pictures don't do it justice. I haven't decided what I'll keep in it. Right now I'm happy just looking it and smiling.
Update on my sewing machine status: Jason was unable to fix my foot pedal. It appears that I will be off to buy a new one this week. :(

The Frugal Monster



I have my very first post up at The Frugal Monster. The blog isn't set up exactly as I wanted it, but I figured if I waited until it was "perfect" I just might never start it. Kind of like waiting until you can actually afford kids before you have them, right?!?! Anyhoo, I hope you stop by and say hello. I can't wait to get some of my best frugal ideas up there!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

More Goodwill Love

Two weeks in a row I've gone to Goodwill after Hockey (on Monday's) and two weeks now I've found PYREX!!! This is huge for me! As I've stated before, Pyrex just doesn't pop up at thrift stores around here. Jason and I have a theory about this. With the economy the way it is, a lot of the antique stores in our area just aren't getting the business they are used to. Also, when times get tough, the first thing to cut out of your budget is collections. So, I'm thinking the Pyrex just isn't getting snatched up as quickly as it was. Our Goodwill has 50% off sales every weekend and I think they set the new stuff out on Monday and I just keep popping in at the right time. We don't have hockey this Monday because of Spring Break, but we just may go on a thrifting adventure anyway :)
I found this pyrex casserole in the Colonial Mist Pattern. I also found a teensy little corning ware casserole. Its just so cute! Three more thrifted shirts that will go into my fabric collection.


I'm still working on The Frugal Monster. Blogger has been giving me issues and I can't get it just right. But I promise, its coming.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

Six years ago today I became a mother for the first time. It seems like just yesterday. Yet, I cannot remember not having you in my life.

We celebrated with your friends at the local bowling alley. And being the "kid friendly" place that it is, they placed our table right in front of that pretty & very child appropriate red shiny sign.



You ate cake, but being a cool six year old you wouldn't actually pose for a picture for me.


You have been a sweet and sensitive little monkey since the day you were born. Your first three months you put Daddy & me through hell. We used to joke that you were hazing us to test our loyalty to you. There were nights where I hid in the closet and cried because I didn't know how to comfort you. I thought I was a bad mommy because I couldn't stop your crying. Then one day, you just stopped. And you've been smiling that dashing smile at me ever since.



You love to have fun and you love to laugh. Although quite reserved at times, you never miss a thing. You watch people and your wheels are always spinning. You observe others and file every single thing you see away in your little brain. All information is tucked away for safe keeping as you never know when you may need it. You have a memory like an elephant.




You can be quite discriminate with your emotions and who you let see them, but once you love someone you love them fiercely. You are such your Father's son. The two of you were cut from the same mold and I'm honored to have you both in my life. You are so much alike and I can't think of anyone else in this world that I'd have chosen for your role model. For the good and the bad......

Like I said...your father's son.

You are my big boy now. I love you more than you will ever comprehend. Each day you grow bigger and stronger (even though you won't touch a vegetable) and I'm so proud of the man you are becoming. You are the best big brother, the best son and the best friend. I love you Benji - Bear. Happy Birthday.



Phew....

Its been one whirlwind of a weekend! We're all EXHAUSTED! Today we plan to relax, do some (much needed) laundry and just hang out. My sewing machine still isn't fixed and hubby doesn't think he'll get to it for a week or so. A WEEK without my machine???? AAACCCKKK!!!!! I guess maybe I should start on my Spring Cleaning? HA!
I think I may go through some of my UFO's and WIP's and get those prioritized and catch up on any cutting that needs to be done. Then, when my machine is good as new my projects will be all lined up like little soldiers just waiting for their orders. Right? In theory anyway!

And don't forget The Frugal Moster. It should be making its debut in the next day or two. I'm so excited about it!!

I'll be back later today with a very special post about a very special person. Be sure to check back!!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Oh *&^#@



A double oh *&+$#@!!!!!! Note to self, don't leave the foot pedal of your sewing machine on the floor when you a teething puppy in the house.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Pyrex Love!!

Have I shown you this tote bag yet? I don't think so. I made this one for my friend, Amy. But they just weren't her colors. So I decided to keep this one for myself. I didn't do a flat bottom on this one and it works great as sort of a file bag to hold a book and a few magazines to take in the car while I'm sitting waiting at school or for various appts.



I am in love with vintage Pyrex. It reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen from when I was a little girl. The colors and patterns are so pretty and in general, just speak of a simpler time in our history. Living in a small coastal, tourist town there are lots of little antique stores all around. The people running these stores tend to snatch up all of the vintage Pyrex within seconds of it hitting the thrift stores and then charging obscene amounts for it. After hockey on Monday night the boys and I decided to stop by Goodwill real quick since we were in the neighborhood and look what I found!! Two gorgeous pieces of vintage Pyrex, some fun glass tumblers and an awesome 3x 100% cotton shirt! SCORE!
I'm having some out of town company over the weekend for Ben's birthday so I'll be taking a little blogging break. I should be back around mid week next week where I'll show you some things I've been working on here. I'll also be launching my new blog, The Frugal Monster, and can't wait to get that off the ground!
See you next week!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

New Blog...

I've started a new blog. There are no posts yet and I probably won't get around to posting until sometime next week. Its called The Frugal Monster. This is where I will continue my coupon tutorial, where I'll post great bargins, some of my scratch cooking ideas and give other various frugal tips.

I've tried incorporating these things into this blog, but my heart just wasn't in it. This blog is for quilting and my day to day life. I think I need a seperate outlet for my frugal ways :)

I hope you stop by and I'll let you all know when I start posting there.

And the Winner Is....


Number 11 !!! Angela had this to say:
"i have been quilting 13 years..no prewashing here.. i love crisp quilts.. ohhh your uppose to change your needle.. and man Wips ohhh to count them would be dangerous to my outlook on life.. ok well i bet I have 20-30 in a started phase..then fabric to do another couple of thousand quilts."
Congrats & thank you everyone for playing!!
~Jessica

Fabric Giveaway is CLOSED

I will announce the winner later this evening. Thanks for playing everyone!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Its your last chance....

I will be picking the winner to my giveaway sometime tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday March 17th). Happy St. Patty's day!!! Remember, to enter you must comment on *that* post. Comments left on other posts will not be counted. Thanks for playing!!
~Jessica

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I thought we've covered this already....

You know, the fact that it doesn't snow here. However, this year that doesn't seem to be the case.
Yesterday I worked on these blocks for the Sunshine Quilters group I'm in on the HGTV Quilter's Board. I may make some more today or tomorrow. It depends on how I'm doing on time.

I started a quilt for my mom. She's been harassing me for quite a while now about a quilt. She'll be here next week. I'd like to at least have the top done by the time she gets here. We'll see.
And about that WIP Challenge?
  • Barney's Blocks ~ still need to piece the back
  • Alycia's QOV pillowcases & quilt top ~ well, here's a funny story. The pillowcases have made their way to Alycia. The quilt top?? Not so much. Since the blocks were half string blocks I thought going a little wonky would be fun. BUT I forgot that there was a secondary design in the pattern. Sssooo, that wonkiness ended up killing the whole thing. I was beside myself when I'd realized what I'd done. So, I just folded that dern thing up and put it aside. Someday, when the wounds aren't as fresh, I may pull it out and finish it up for an around the house quilt. But I couldn't bring myself to give it to on of our honored soldiers after I'd screwed it up so bad.
  • Ainsley's Quilt ~ blocks still sitting in my basket.

You may have noticed that this WIP Challenge has kind of stalled out. I think its because all of the projects are in the final stages. You know, where you have to sit for a while and work (either putting rows together, or basting, quilting, etc....) and lately I've only had little snippets of time that lend well to piecing, not the "big stuff". So, yes, I've gone against my word and started another project (see Mom's quilt above). I've come to realize, also that these projects aren't really WIPS, they are UFO's. They've been sitting around forever. And I'll get to them, but in the meantime I need something going that I can piece a little here and there when I get a few random minutes throughout the day.

I do really need to finish Barney's Blocks. There is a sentimental story attached to this one, so I'm going to try to carve out some time today to piece the back and baste it together. And I'll share the story later.

~Cheers for now!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Freaky Friday Fabulous Fabric Giveaway (again)


Last month I hosted a fabric giveaway on Friday the 13th and thought I'd do it again this month. So here we go: These four FQ's are up for grabs. This time I'm going to quiz you a little just to get to know you better. So, answer these questions in my comments section and you'll be entered to win this fabulous fabric. I'll keep this open until sometime next week (but I'll give you a heads up before I close it).
  • How long have you been quilting?
  • Do you prewash your fabric?
  • Do you pin while piecing?
  • How often do you change your needle? (be honest here) :-)
  • How many WIPs are currently lurking in your studio/quilting space?

Wanna see another expample of how to enter?

Hi, my name is Jessica and I've been quilting for a little over two years. I don't prewash my fabric and I tend to not pin while piecing, but notice I'm a lot more accurate if I do (maybe this should be a lesson to me?). I dont' change my needle nearly as often as I should ~ whenever it finally breaks...bad, bad me! And I have two many WIPs to count. YIKES!

See there...easy peasy!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Where does it all live???

So, now I've shown you all of my stash I thought I'd show you were it all lives. Its a really small space and I'm actually fairly impressed that I got it all to fit :D

I moved an old coffee table into my closet. All of those tubs & baskets are stacked on it. There is also a box of patterns/books/magazines Next to the coffee table I have a set of drawers:

The top drawer is my novelty & children's prints. The second drawer (which wasn't pictured) is quilt tops and some backings. The third drawer is my yarn stash. I'm trying to be very good and making it all fit in that drawer ~ its trying to bust out as we speak. The tubs, shoe boxes & baskets on top of the drawers are my scraps. I'll show you those another time, another day. So, while it looks fairly cluttered ~ its way better than how it used to be and in reality its pretty organized....

This is where I used to sew. In the spring and summer it is so bright and full of light and its tucked away in a back corner of the house (thus the name of my blog). Its the corner of our bedroom. Lately, though I'd been having a hard time staying motivated feeling so far removed from the rest of the house and the family. I rarely walked past my machine so I didn't just sit down and sew randomly for a moment here and there. Then, just after the beginning of the year I had my sewing machine on the kitchen table and I was all sorts of productive. Sewing up a storm. It was great. And the the leaf came out of the table and I no longer fit.....so I moved my whole desk and machine. It doesn't really match the living room, but this house is only temporary for us (well, once the market turns around....) so I'm stressing too much over how it looks. At least its out in the open and I can sew anytime I have a few spare moments (because, you know...that happens so often around here!!)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

A question for you experienced bloggers....

how come sometimes you can click my pictures to see larger views and sometimes you can't? I didn't change a single thing between my first stash post and my most recent one. In my first post you can click on all but the last picture (why?) but in this most recent post you can't click on any of them.....again, why??? Thanks for any help!

Jessica's Stash, part Deux

Ok...as promised, there is more and more and more. Oh goodness, is there ever more??? Ok, you guys ready for this??


There are my holiday fabrics, recognize that top fabric on there? UGH...still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with that one.


Here is my flannel collection. Its not huge, but it seems to be growing as well. Anyone ever heard that fabric is a lot like rabbits?

This little basket is holding current WIPs. I think they're multiplying, too.

This guy is holding fabric for my "next up" projects. I'm keeping a very close eye on this one so it doesn't start multiplying!

Here we have fabric "sets". You know, groups of fabric that I'd like to keep together and not just thrown into the rest of my stash. I have patriotics, repros, cherry prints, etc....

This is a full drawer or novelty & children's prints. I'm not quite sure how I manged to have such a collection of these....?? I guess they multiply, too.

This bag has more novelty prints, smaller pieces though. At one point in my life I considered doing an I-spy quilt for each of the boys....then I came to my senses. Maybe someday ~ for college, maybe?

And when my husband suggested that maybe I should just get rid of some of my fabric, this is where he ended up.....(just kidding, he was playing hide and seek with the boys)

And my next post will be showing you where all of this fabric is now living. Because I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not ~ but we live in a two bedroom house EEK!!!!!

So, I'm off to sew something!

More stash...

I know I promised more stash pictures today. I just uploaded my pictures and they came out awful. I'll try to find time to take the pictures again later today. If not, stay tuned for tomorrow: Jessica's stash part deux

Sunday, March 8, 2009

I need to go on a diet....

A fabric diet, that is. Remember my mess? Turns out when you let your fabric get that out of control you also lose sight of how big your stash is getting. I spent the better part of last week folding, organizing, refolding, sorting and folding some more. And here is what I've got:




My Reds, Red & Whites, Blacks, and Black & Whites.


My Browns & Golds. My Amish Solids.




My Pinks & Greens ~ I think I'm set on these two colors for a while, what do you think??


My Blues, Purples, Oranges & Yellows ~ I'm surprising low on orange & yellows, go figure??


Ok, those were all 1/4 yd (or FQ's) up to a yard. This last tub is 1 yd cuts and larger. Recognize that purple sheet? See that vintagey looking neutral next to it? I have over six yards of that. I got it for .33 at a yard sale. I think it will make a phenomenal background for one of Bonnie's patterns, dontcha think? Now, just to decide which one???
So yeah, I'm going on a self imposed (and husband encouraged) fabric diet. Stay tuned for more stash pictures tomorrow. Like where I put it all, some more fabric that isn't pictures (EEK!) and more!!!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Wanna see what I've been working on?

Have you guys noticed my sewing and creating has come to a screeching halt? Wanna guess why? Just scroll down......



























Keep scrolling.........





















TADA!! Could you work in this mess?




I can't. We took the leaf out of our kitchen table, so my sewing machine no longer fits there very well, so it was time that I tackled this mess. My poor sewing machine, sitting here among the clutter. Its so sad. I think its mad at me, it won't even look at me.


But look ~ its a start. You can see a corner of my table! So, today I am folding fabrics and getting my stash completely moved into my closet. My table will be taken down and we're bringing the rocking chairs in so the new puppy doesn't chew on them. We are considering moving my sewing desk out into the living room.....will that help me keep the mess under control? I hope so. I really feel like I'm showing you guys my underwear drawer :D




Over the weekend Ben drew this and said "Look Mommy, I designed a quilt for you".....



...it just so happens that I already had these squares cut and in my scraps bin. I guess we'll be making Ben a small quilt sometime soon.