Jessica's Quilting Corner

A Very Merry Maukmas!

2011-12-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

Not much quilting going on the last few days. The clock's a tickin' and I'm not sure if I'm going to meet my deadline! (but sshhhh, don't tell anyone, I think the Juki might be already under the tree!!) Squeal!!!!

We're having our Christmas (A very Merry Maukmas) tomorrow, as my husband has to leave on the 25th to head to work for a trip.

I probably won't be checking back in here until after Christmas, so have a super holiday, blogland!

Dusting off the Pfaff

2011-12-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

Hello!! Hello Hello Hello!!! It's been quiet around here. I'm not sure if this blog is even listed on anyone's reader anymore ~ but I just wanted to let everyone know that I've been quilting up a storm lately and I'm blogging all about it over at my new blog ~ please come visit. I miss my quilty bloggy buddies! Come see what I've been working on ~ and how I"m going to get myself a new Juki!!!!!!

Just a reminder....

2010-04-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

That I'm blogging over at my other blog.

And its GIVEAWAY TIME!! WooHoo!!

Just a reminder......

2010-02-19T08:22:00.001-08:00

......that I'm blogging over here now. I don't want anyone to get left behind. And I finally got a new camera so I can finally share the quilty projects I've been working on. Come on over for a chat : )

Keeping it REAL....

2009-12-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

I've decided to change the direction of my blog just a wee bit. Don't worry there will still be plenty of crafty quilty stuff (well, "plenty" is a relative word 'round these parts). But I want to include some other things and I wanted to change my url (blog address). So, I'm gonna be packing my bags (widgets, really) and I'm heading out. I'm not going far. I do hope you'll follow me. The new page is still under construction a bit....but please stop by and look around. Feel free to leave a comment. I love those.

Do you have a favorite?

2009-12-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Do you have a favorite Christmas song? We have listened to this one over and over and over again. Ben has learned how to spell Christmas just from typing the title into youtube. He's obsessed with this song. I had no idea I had such a little social activist on my hands : )

(Ben doesn't believe me that Boy George is a boy! HA!)

Building & Drawing & Markers, oh my!

2009-12-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

A while ago (ok fine, like back in Sept. I know) I bought a book case that I asked Jason to put together for me. Of course Ben helped and we called it Life Learning. Ben called it playing during school time. Either way, my book case got built and then Jason came up with the idea of tracing the boys' outlines and letting them color them in.

"This is a little more complicated than Legos."

Wow. Look at that mess behind Ben. My house doesn't normally look like that. Alright, alright. It does. Don't judge me.

Just realized I do not have pictures of the finished paper men. They are hanging in our kitchen. I'll try to snap some pictures of them tomorrow.

The Breakfast of Champs

2009-12-11T09:06:00.001-08:00

I'm having a CT scan today to confirm a hernia diagnosis. Let's just add that to the list of random medical issues I've had to deal with this year. I have not chugged something this unpalatable since my college years. At least then I got to have a nice buzz and a killer hangover the next day. Now all I have is an unsettled stomach. And I get to drink another one in about twenty minutes. Yay me.

**ETA: I just drank the second one. Today will be a success if I don't throw up.**

Homeschool Stuff

2009-12-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Not much sewing going on here lately, I thought I'd share some pictures from our homeschool. As I get more comfortable with the new direction of my blog, I'll post homeschool stuff a little more frequently.

Just ignore the glare here. I had a hard time getting a good picture. Check out those lower case a's. I don't expect 100% perfect handwriting from my son, but I expect that he is taught the proper way to write his letters. Those first a's are what he was permitted to get away with last year in Kindergarten. He was shown the letter and then told to write his own. He was given no direction about where on the line to start, what shape to draw first and how big to make it. Pet Peeve # 1. We are starting from scratch this year with penmanship and trying to break bad habits he's already formed. Ggrrrrr......

This picture just warms my heart. The boys have journal time every morning. They are allowed to draw or write anything they choose. Most pictures involve army guys, explosions and various bad guys. However, on 9/11 Ben chose to draw a picture of our nations flag. The caption reads "I am doing the pledge of allegiance". Now, I should tell you that because of my husband's job, we have sheilded the boys from any news coverage concerning that horrible day. My husband used to be based in NY and now he is based in Boston, so my children do not need to see those awful images of airliners plowing into the WTC. They have no idea that 9/11 is significant or any different than any other day. So the fact that my son chose to draw the above picture on that day leads me to believe that some higher power was at work here.

2009-11-29T21:21:00.000-08:00

So I didn't manage to get a birthday post done for my little guy again this year. Thankfully we have relatives that are more on the ball than this guy's Mom. I tear up whenever I watch this. How did my little baby get to be 4 years old already. I love you "wee one".

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T08:18:00.001-08:00

Gobble Gobble

I have so many things in my life for which to be thankful. I have an amazing husband who puts up with more crap than any man should ever be expected to deal with. I have healthy and happy children and we have a home and warm beds to sleep in every night. I have made some wonderful friends through this blog and the online quilting community and through Facebook I have reconnected with many old friends. For all of this, and so much more, I am eternally grateful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Getting Caught Up.....

2009-11-15T22:49:00.001-08:00

I apologize if you've seen this post about 100 times in your blog reader. I've been toying with Flickr a bit and blogging from there. I didn't like it. I'm more of an old school kind of girl, I guess. So, this is my block for September of the Stash Busting Bee. I know. I'm behind. I'm getting caught up. Really, I am. Seriously. Don't laugh. I might even get to show you October's block in the next few days. I'm on a roll, kids!

Getting Caught Up

2009-11-15T22:48:00.001-08:00

September Stash Busting Bee Block
Originally uploaded by jessicaquilts

This is my block for September of the Stash Busting Bee. I'm a little behind. But I'm getting caught up. Really, I am : )

Betrayal.....

2009-11-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

Well, we all got sick again. And this time it looks like it was really the H1N1. The last time my doctor just said it was "highly likely", but this time the pediatrician actually tested Ben and it came back positive. All four of us got sick, so I'd bet my last dollar that my doctor was wrong and NOW, we've finally all had it. Our pediatrician basically admitted that we have all of the antibodies we need now and the vaccine would be redundant. So tell me, why is he still pushing the vaccine anyway? It just annoys me.

I've been able to sew the last few days and it feels so great! Its such an emotional outlet for me. I'm going through some things right now and I'd love to let it all out here, just get it all out and know that afterwards I'd feel much better. BUT, several of my local friends read my blog and nearly ALL of my local friends like to gossip. *sigh* It sucks being back in highschool.

Stay tuned for some yummy, quilty, gorgeous pictures soon!!

Ch, Ch, Changes!

2009-10-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

It seemed last year around this time, everyone kept talking about Change. And while I'm still not on board with that particular brand of change, I do believe that changes are good and allow us to grow. Having said that, I've decided to make some changes. Both in my life and in my blogworld. Here we go (you ready?).

1. Education ~ we've kept Ben home this year and have begun our homeschool. It requires a great deal of my time, but I love it. I wouldn't have my life any other way right now. Carter still goes to his preschool. We absolutely love the school & the teachers and they've known him since he was just a few months old.

2. Blogs ~ I have this blog that was originally dedicated to my quilting and my life. I have another blog that was to be all about frugality and pinching pennies. I was also in the process of starting a THIRD blog that would chronicle my homeschooling adventures. It was my dream to show that any average everyday mom could do it. Because, without fail, everytime I mention to someone that I homeschool their response is "oh, I could NEVER do that." And I want to scream and shake them and say "YES YOU COULD!!!"

Each time I go to write a post on any of my blogs I always have to pause and think "which one should it go on?" For instance, I made a few great deals on some homeschool supplies, should I post that on the homeschool blog or the frugal blog? What about just our regular homeschool days? That's my life. I want to share it here, but it also should go on the other blog.

So, I've made a decision. I will have ONE blog. Afterall, this blog is about my life. I'm a quilting, frugal, homeschooling mom. I wish my life were so neatly compartmentalized, but its not. All of the little pieces keep overlapping. No matter how hard I try to keep them all seperate :P.

3. Another recent change has been the daily addition of Green Smoothies to our routine. They taste fabulous, they make us feel better and it gets some veggies into the kids. Something I've rarely been able to do in my 7+ years of being a mother.

So, if you've made it this far in this post, I congratulate you. It took me several tries to get here myself, and I'm the one writing it! Quilting has been put on hold while I'm trying to get everything caught up still from being sick. But I hope you'll continue to join me & my family on our random adventures!
Cheers!

OINK OINK!!

2009-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

It appears my house has been infiltrated with the SWINE FLU!! I've been in bed for the better part of two weeks. I'm just now starting to feel human again, but I fear the kids may be getting sick. I haven't even touched fabric or looked at my sewing machine in weeks.....I'll be back. Soon.

I'm alive.....barely

2009-09-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

There is something pollenating here in our small town that has KO'd half of my friends. My allergies haven't bothered me at all since we've moved here until this year. Ben and I are both miserable. It rained last night and I woke up finally being able to breath, but I have a nagging cough that is irritating my asthma.

So now that you've heard all the gory details of our funk, go back and enjoy your coffee! : ) I'll be back when my head either explodes or drains empty!

How do you design??

2009-08-16T19:11:00.001-07:00

I decided to throw my hat in the ring for DQS 7.

I had an idea in my head, so I started with these (which is evidently where I start with every doll quilt swap...

I put them together like this......

....and then it grew into this. Which is absolutely nothing like the orignal design in my head. But I love it. And I don't want to send it away.

Sometimes when I have an idea in my head, its hard to get it to work with fabric. So I don't stress about it. The fabric and the blocks will tell you how they want to play, you just have to open enough to listen. So how do you design? Do you tell the fabric what to do? Or do you let the fabric call the shots?

Some Eye Candy....

2009-07-30T14:20:00.001-07:00

These pictures were all taken last week before my emergency cleaning spree, but I didn't get a change to post them. Since I haven't done anything blog worthy all week, I thought they would make a good filler post until my life becomes interesting again!

This fall I will be making the boys matching bed quilts to go on their bunk beds. I need 21 different fabrics. Ben vetoed one of the fabrics in this stack (the yellow one under the red & white stars), and I've since purchased a few more. I'm almost ready to start cutting. There will be a little bit of extra fabric from each cut, so I think I'm going to make a Bento Box out of the scraps for a floor quilt or picnic quilt.

This is another set of strings for my CYOC swap. This was random purples around a white center.

I've also mentioned in the past that I'm involved with the Sunshine Charity Quilts (online group). For the month of June (I know, I'm late, don't judge me) Bonnie was collecting string blocks to donate to the Heartstrings Group (of which I am also a member). We're only requested to send in two blocks each month, but I was on a roll with my string piecing and I wanted to make a dent in my strings stash. The dent was negligible.....

We are actually able to breath today, even the though temps are still in the high 90's. I'm considering turning on my sewing machine tonight or maybe tomorrow. I sure hope I don't melt.

I'm here....

2009-07-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm here, I'm alive, but I'm melting! The house showing went off with out a hitch. But we won't be selling. I don't think we'll be able to come together on a price. They want to pay fair market value (and I can't blame them), but we aren't really prepared to move, or sell. So, in order to do so, we'd need a little more financial motivation. And they aren't willing to pay that. So, we're ok with it. This is where we are supposed to be. My friend, Sarah, just had a beautiful addition added to her house and she gave her contractor a glowing recommendation. It just so happens that she's not only a great bloggy friend, but a Real Life friend as well. And we live in the same small town. So, we're going to talk with her contractor and seeing about doing an addition here. Then our house will nearly be perfect. And we could live here indefinitely, you know. In case this market never really does turn around!

So, I got the house all tidied up and lookin' spiffy. But I haven't sat down with my machine yet. Good Lord, its been so HOT here! The thought of sitting in front of a machine, with a hot computer and hot light. Next to a hot iron. ...... ugh, I couldnt do it. I think the heat has peaked and so hopefully it'll only be a few more days before we're back to "normal" ~ whatever that is....

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Blog.....

2009-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

You may remember last summer when we put our house on the market, because we were going to move into our "dream home" (HA!), but then it all fell apart and we stayed right where we are. Do you remember that? Probably not because I had like, maybe four, readers at that point. Anyhoo, it was a fun summer last year. Trust me. F - U - N (NOT). Well, last week we had someone randomly knock on our door and say "hi, we know your neighbors and we heard your house was on the market last year. We think we'd like to buy it." WHAT???? Seriously? I shouldn't be surprised, because this is exactly the type of crap that happens to Jason and me all. of. the. time. We aren't normal, we don't lead normal lives and normal stuff just doesn't happen. Ever.

We'd had our eye on a house in town and so we called the Realtor and went to look at it. We had every expectation of falling in love with this house, working out a deal with these random people and living happily ever after. Well, the house was awful. Just awful. Ok, maybe not that bad, but it wasn't the house for us. We called Mr. & Mrs. Random back and told them that we appreciate their interest in the house, but moving just isn't what's best for us right now. Then we went on with our lives. Three days ago we got a letter from them explaining that they've spent three days looking at houses with their realtor and they can't find anything. (really? nothing? In this market? Surely they aren't looking hard enough). They are in love with our hosue (they've only ever walked around the yard, they've never been inside) and they want to live our their retirement here. They understand our position but would like us to keep them in mind should we decide to move anytime soon. Crap!

See, we have outgrown our house. Two growing boys and two big dogs in a two bedroom house. We don't fit. We realize this and we also know that this is NOT where we want to live out our retirement. However, we had just resigned ourselves to staying here probably another five years or so. Until (fingers crossed) the market turns around a bit. Then we got to thinking....right now, in this market, someone wants to buy our house. They seem to be desperate to live here. We're nuts if we don't try to go for it.

......so, all of this to explain ~ I've been cleaning like a mad woman for the last several days. My sewing machine is accumulating dust and I'm not working on any of my WIPs. :( They are coming on Saturday to view the house and I've explained to Jason that I will be spending Sunday evening glued to my sewing machine. He seems ok with that ;)

See y'all in a few days!

Stringing Along.....

2009-07-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

I've been busy getting caught up on my string blocks for the CYOC String Block Swap. I only have five more sets to make, so they should be done and out of the house this weekend. Freeing me up to get starting with my WIPing Through Summer Challenge!

OwenJulesMommy requested a bright pink center with BOW on one side and WOB on the other.

KC1930 reqested the same, but with a limey green center (she provided the center strip). For some reason these two blocks gave me fits....I don't know what it was, but I'm glad they are done : )

Knot Me requested a black center strip with WOW on one side and pinks on the other.

Lace Angel requested a white center strip with lemon yellows and strawberry pinks. I wasn't sure about the strawberry pinks, but I really like how these turned out!

Karol0405 requested a WOW center strip with mostly green prints and some florals thrown in. She wanted it to scream Spring. I hope I managed that!!

and finally, Bluesnail wanted a bright green center with bright florals. I wasn't sure about my fabric choices for this one at first, but I think it just might be my favorite set so far!

I'm in Love.....

2009-07-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

I went to play with my dream machine yesterday at the local Juki dealer. I'm in love.....and my husband seems receptive ;-) Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

My First Quilt

2009-07-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Have you heard?? Camille and Carrie are hosting a Parade of Quilts. You show your very first quilt that you made (no matter how awful!) and then you show your most recent quilt. Well, I just finished a quilt several hours ago (how's that for timing?) so I thought I'd play along, too! Here is the quilt I just finished. You can read more about it here. I'd say the most inportant lesson I've learned along my quilting journey ~ take the time to PRESS!! It makes life so much easier. It really does...just do it. With a smile :)

And now for the first quilt......its actually still a quilt top. Folded up and stashed away in my closet. It was my first and I started it right after we completed our paperwork for our adoption. We had first applied for twins and I didn't want to finish the quilt until we knew for sure how many daughters we'd be brining home (if two, I was gonna break it up into two quilts, one for each daughter). We've since found out we no longer qualify for twins because we already have children....so maybe I should finally finish it up? Oh ~ and the back of this quilt? Not a single seam was pressed. I just kept sewing. THAT should be fun to quilt, right?! Maybe I will just leave it as a flimsy :)

So, I thought I should also show a pic of the first quilt I finished. It was a gift for some friends and it was started the same evening the above top was finished, so its all in the same time frame. Sadly (or maybe fortunately), I dont' have a picture of the finished quilt. Its bad....oh so bad. It wasn't square AT ALL. Do you see those ruffles in the top right corner of the picture? Its not just the way the quilt is laying....its all ruffled and funky up there. I had my mom embroider some pink airplanes in the corners because it was for a baby girl whose parents are pilots. In an attempt to square it up, I nearly chopped off half an airplane (um, wouldn't it make more sense to square it up BEFORE embroidering???) Very few of my intersections match (which could explain the lack of squareness) and instead of machine quilting, I tied it. Oh yea, that yellow inner border? Its minky. Nothing like jumping in with the most difficult fabric on your first go 'round, eh? I didn't know how to piece a backing properly, so I just sewed a strip on to one end and called it good (and the seam was lopsided). But alas, I did learn a lot. I learned not to be afraid. I learned that one the final quilt was all washed up and ready to ship off, that although the quilt itself wasn't perfect, the hugs that it provides are. My quilting is still not perfect, but it gets better with each and every quilt and I've learned that there are NO QUILT POLICE! :)

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see everyone else's firsts!

Its done!

2009-07-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

My second finish of the year......I started slow, but I'm on a roll! I'm thinking about a "WIPing Through Summer" Challenge. Anyone game? I'll start a flickr group and lets challenge each other to see how many WIPs we can bust out between now and Sept. 1st.

ETA: The new WIPing Through Summer Flickr group has been created. Let's get WIPing!!

(please excuse the mess, between moving my sewing machine back into the kitchen and preparing to homeschool in the fall, my kitchen looks like a tornado has run through!)

I used my purple thrifted sheet for the back. It measures approx 36" x 52". It will be delivered today to a very special, cute little baby girl.

It felt really really stiff after all those lines were quilted, but once it was washed and dried it softened right up and came out full of snuggle, crinkly awesomeness.

My new best friend....

2009-07-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

Oh, 505 Quilt Basting Spray, where have you been all my life???

Without a doubt, basting is my least favorite quilty task. All those safety pins, my achy knees on the hard wood floor. The little divets that I would leave in said floor with said safety pins (oops). That would probably explain why I have a house full of flimsies and very few finished quilts. Then I ran across this post and my life has changed forever. F.O.R.E.V.E.R. Seriously. I was skeptical at first. But I bought some spray and I just finished basting a quilt in like less than five minutes. I KNOW, right?!? Awesome!

Thanks for all of the input yesterday. I agree that a green or turquoise would have looked fab, but I was working from my stash and I just didn't have any of those :( I went with Option A with the darker brown on top and the lighter tan on the bottom. I'm just using random, "organic" straight line quilting. The quilting is halfway done. I'm taking a break for lunch and then I'm back at it. By golly, this little number just might be finished my Monday afterall :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend, we've been blessed with glorious sunshine this holiday weekend and I'm trying to soak up as much of it as possible :)

I need your opinions....

2009-07-03T10:46:00.001-07:00

Please excuse my wrinkles! :)
I am making a baby quilt for a friend who just had the sweetest baby girl. I'd like to deliver the quilt on Monday (I know, I know...) but as I was pulling out my original fabric I starting thinking maybe the other one would work better....I won't tell you what my original plan was, but I'm going to give you three options. Please tell me which you think would look the best. ;) The quilt will be in this style with a whole cloth, the row of strips and then another whole cloth. Thanks so much for your help! So....drumroll please.

Option A: One color on tope and the other on the bottom (and if you chose this one, which color would you put on top?)

Option B: Dark Mocha Brown on both top and bottom

Option C: Like Khaki on both top and bottom.

Ain't Nothin' Better....

2009-07-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

RWB Strings

2009-07-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

It seems that whenver Jason is home for more than just a few days my sewing time (and blogging time) takes a big hit. I hate just abandoning my blog like that and since he has a few more 7+ days at home at various times throughout the summer I think I may start playing around with scheduling posts to pop up while I'm away playing housewife :)

Anyhoo, I was able to get a few photos snapped this afternoon and my RWB strings have been streaming in from the mailbox. I now have 6 complete sets and I wanted to show you a picture of all of them laid out together.

Run, baby, run!

2009-06-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, Jason ran in the Seattle Rock And Roll Marathon. He did the half marathon. All 13.1 miles of it! YIKES! The boys and I are so proud of him. The race was nearly two hours from our house and he had to be there around 5:30ish. The boys and I slept in and met him later at the finish line. We parked our car on this side of the water and walked onto the ferry and then walked the half mile to meet Jason. It was PACKED! We didn't get to see him actually cross the finish line (*snif snif*) but we did see him just moments after.

Below are some pictures of the boys and me while we were crossing Puget Sound to go cheer daddy on.

Lofty "To Do" list update

2009-06-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

These blocks came in the mail yesterday. Aren't they pretty?!? I can't wait to get more and set them all out next to one another! I mentioned that I'm part of the Sunshine Quilters Group through the HGTV Boards. I had some catching up to do and below are some of the blocks I've made. There are more, but for some reason they didn't seem to follow me to blogger. I'll have to look for them and post them later.

I also wanted to give an update on my Lofty Goals for this week.

4 sets of the CYOC string blocks for the swap. ~ two sets done
Finish up the 4 patches for the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt ~finished, just need pressing
Finish up a baby quilt for a friend
The block for the Stash Busting Bee ~went to start this one and cut wrong. Back to the drawing board!!
Quilt top sewn together for the Old Red Barn Quilt a Long
Piece backing and baste "Barney's Blocks"
Get to work on the Sunshine Charity Blocks for this month ~caught up, now need to do this month's blocks.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Jason left this morning, so we celebrated Father's Day a day early. I made pancakes, eggs and bacon (per his request) and the boys gave him his gifts and cards while we enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Sorry for the horrible glare in the picture, I was trying to get a shot of him leaving and he wasn't playing along. I only had time to snap one quick picture.

I showed you other day that I had completely taken over the dining table, right? So, how do we eat? Easy, I pile everything ever so delicately on top of the ironing board. Heaven help the child that knocks into it because they may just be buried alive!

And as soon as the breakfast dishes were cleared and the sticky syrup wiped up, look where all of my stuff landed once again?! It didnt' take long, that's for sure :-)

I've completed two sets for the CYOC Strings block swap. This first set is for zizzybob. She chose 2" cut center white strings with 30's repros randomly on either side.

This next set is for ssharon334. She requested 2.5" center cut white strips with 30's repros randomly on each side. I have one more set to do with the 30's fabrics and then I can put them back away. Usually I love quilts with 30's repros, but I haven't been in the mood lately and right now I'm just sick of 'em :-)

I'm also part of the Sunshine Quilters, but haven't really been that active recently. So, I have both of last month's blocks done and one block for the month prior finished. I'll finish up one more for that month and then start working on this month's (more strings!). So, I'd say I'm moving right along on my goals and its only been 24 hours! I gotta get some thread to finish up a baby quilt that I'm working on and then I gotta clear some floor space to get the rest of the stuff done! :-)

Lofty Goals

2009-06-19T13:40:00.001-07:00

I'm setting some goals for this coming week. School is out, Jason is working a lot and I'm gonna have some time on my hands. So, I'm hoping to get the following done by next Friday: June 26th.

4 sets of the CYOC string blocks for the swap.
Finish up the 4 patches for the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt
Finish up a baby quilt for a friend
The block for the Stash Busting Bee
Quilt top sewn together for the Old Red Barn Quilt a Long
Piece backing and baste "Barney's Blocks"
Get to work on the Sunshine Charity Blocks for this month

Its a lofty list, but I think I can do it. Just gotta stay away from the computer and the TV :-)

Because I need a few more projects....

2009-06-16T17:07:00.001-07:00

(sorry about the cooked picture, I was in a hurry)

So, our last day of school was today and to celebrate, I've decided to fill up my schedule with all kinds of quilty committments LOL! In addition to Dana's Quilt a long (which I have finished all of my blocks for, finally), and the Stash Busting Bee (of which I'll be making the first block early next week), I've also joined into a swap over on the HGTV Quilting Board. Well, two swaps actually. YIKES! The first is a "Chose Your Own Colors" string block swap. There are 15 participants, so I will receive 56 blocks (we make 4 blocks for each person). I choose patriotic blocks with a white center string. I will assemble these blocks into a quilt to send to Alycia for her No Soldier Forgotten project. I made my own four blocks and that's what's pictured above.

The second swap I've joined is scrappy 4 patches. Because have you seen the new Quiltmaker Magazine? Well, have you?!?! Bonnie Hunter is doing another mystery and I wanna play! I've never done one of her mysteries because they usually move just a little too fast for me. But this one gives you three months in between steps. I think I can handle that. I think. :)

And, its the time of year to start thinking about Christmas gifts. Every year I have grand plans to give all homemade, and every year I don't leave myself enough time. So I'm startin' early this time! We'll see how it goes! :)

Cheers!

My first finish

2009-06-08T21:25:00.001-07:00

Its sad. So, so, so very sad. This is my first finished quilt of 2009. And its a panel. *hanging my head in shame* BUT, I have a good reason for being so far behind, right? I was without a machine for months!! RIGHT?! RIGHT?! And the little guy that this is going to was born almost two months early. How dare he! So, I bought a panel and added some borders and a quilt was born!
But there will be more finishes this year. Many, many more. Hold me to that. Please?

So Groooovy

2009-06-07T20:59:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting a house coat for quite a while now, but I didn't particularly like any of the ones I've seen in the stores and I definately didn't like the prices that came with them. Then I was thrifting with Ben the other day while Carter was at preschool and I found this gem for $2.99. I fell in love.

I also just discovered that our Value Village has a "vintage clothing" section. How did I not know this before?!?! AND they were having a half off deal the other day, so check out this groovy orangy red jacket I found. I'm thinking a white tee and some cute jeans. What do you think? Check out this collar and the super cool stitching!! Price? $5.

This coat is a little darker than it looks in the picture. Its HEAVY. Wool and gorgeous. Price? $5.

And then, my first find of my super cool groovy vintage clothing. This 100% double knit polyester jacket. I didn't find it on the half off day, so I paid a whopping $6.99 for this one. But I fell in love. Its just sssooo, sssoooo.....vintage? Either way, I love it. We just finally got summer here, but I'm already looking forward to fall!

Oh, it feels good to be back!

2009-06-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

I think that creative slump might be over. What do you think? I have totally taken over the dining room table. Who needs to eat? Mama's gotta sew! I have all of my strips cut for Dana's Quilt a Long. That quilt folded up in the front of the pic has about 10 more inches of binding to be sewn down, but I ran out of thread. The solids are out for my first Stash Busting Bee block.

And do you remember my challenge with my friend Kristin? As all diets go, our stash diet came to an end and I went on a binge. But only a small one. I bought a few yards to even out my stash a bit. See that Farmer's Market print up front ~ the green one? It was on the remenants table. 33" for $4.99. Considering how much I love that print and the fact that I just sliced up the last of it for the quilt a long, did you think I could pass that up?!?! HA! Right. I'll be headed to this place on Sunday. Its the closest thing we have to a mill end store around here and I've never been there. We'll be in the neighborhood, so I'm gonna stop by. Then starting on Monday we're back on our stash diets until August 1. Wish me luck! I'll leave you with some eye candy. My strips for the quilt a long quilt. That purple sheet will be the backing.

Am I the only one....

2009-06-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

...who's heart is all aflutter right now? I was preparing dinner the other night and looked out my kitchen window and saw this (pic taken through the screen, excuse the fuzziness, please). I love this man.

Busy Busy Bees

2009-06-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

We've been very busy around here and now both of my kids are sick. I guess it was God's way of telling me to slow down. Just wish he had inflicted this yuckiness on me and not the boys. They are so pitiful (and cranky) when they are sick! My punishment, maybe?! LOL!

I mentioned here that I joined a virtual quilting bee. I'm having so much fun getting to know the other gals in the bee. I got the first fabric the other day and I'm STUMPED. I had a fantastic idea, but I don't have enough of that fabric. Our rules state that we can only send a scrap of fabric and we have to use ALL stash when making the blocks. Its going to be a challenge, but its going to be a blast!

I also completed my first 5K race (official) last weekend. I know, I know, it hasn't been 8 weeks and that means I didn't actually complete the program. But I finished a 5K. I walked some, I ran some and I did it! It was hard, but it was amazing and I'm already making plans for my next one on June 14th! In addition to the 5K that I ran, there was also a 1 mile race and Jason ran that with the boys. They had so much fun and looking foward to running more of the shorter distance races throughout the summer. I'm excited to have running become a fun, family activity that we all share (Jason's a runner and currently training for a BIG ONE) :-)

The boys got their summer haircuts this week. Notice that Jason has the same one! All of my boys are now bald, but with this heat wave we've been having, they are glad to have some relief up there. Now I just gotta remember to apply sunscreen to the top of their heads, too!

Oh What the Heck?

2009-05-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that every single blog I visit recently (well, my quilty friends ones, anyway) I am being bombarded with Dana's (of the Old Red Barn Co.) quilt-a-long. The quilt-a-long schedule of events is posted here. So, sheesh, enough already. I'll do it. Okay? Because, you know, I need one more project. I know. I know. But it will help me use some stash. And then maybe Kristin will let me buy some more fabric. (I only have two more days left until I can go shopping!). But we've decided to do it again. We'll get to shop for a week and then we're back on our stash diets. Why do I do this to myself?

I went through my entire stash. All of it. And I couldn't decide on anything. Nothing looked good. I had some fabrics pulled for another quilt that I'm getting ready to start and I looked up and they just asked to be in the quilt-a-long. Seriously, they did. What? Your fabric doesn't talk to you? Ok, I know you're lying. Any quilter worth her salt has had conversations with fabric. Its just me? Crap. So anyhoo, after asking so nicely, I couldn't deny the fabrics their request. So they are going to play. And they are going to be beautiful. I've got some catching up to do this weekend, but it shouldn't take too long.

And remember this sheet? That will be the backing of this quilt. I'm so excited. I can't wait to snuggle under it. Its going to be beautiful and girly and MINE. :-) Join us, won't you?

Growing Up

2009-05-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

No, not the boys. Although they are growing up at lightening speed, I was referring to myself. I've been 29 for several years now, and I'm finally starting to figure some things out. During my recent funk, I thought about a lot of things. I've never been much of a follower. My whole life I've been more of a leader, or I just do my own thing. I'm ok with it. I like it, actually. Why follow someone when you can blaze a new trail all on your own? However, for the last several years I seem to have fallen into a trap of doing things not because I want to, but because someone else expects me to. Don't get me wrong, I'm still somewhat quirky and that's what everyone claims to love about me. I say "claims" because its become clear that some people that I thought were my friends aren't really my friends at all.
See, I decided that I no longer wanted to do things that other people expected me to do. I was going to do the things that I wanted to do and be happy with it. Well, suddenly I had all sorts of peole asking me if I was ok? Telling me that I didn't seem happy anymore. Mentioning that I wasn't the same Jessica I used to be. All of this seemed odd to me because I was thinking "that's strange, I'm happier than I've been in quite some time. I'm doing things I want to do and I'm enjoying every day of my life." But a funny thing happened. When enough people tell you that you "seem down" you start to second guess yourself and before you know it, you are down. Right about that time, everyone (well, all of *those* people) disappeared. They weren't concerned about me anymore, I was left off of several invitation lists, some people started gossiping behind my back and suddenly I was even further down in the dumps.

(I should pause here and mention that I'm a member of a fairly large chapter of MOMS Club and the power struggles that go on there are unbelievable, but entertaining to watch. And to have that many women, in one group, competing for power....well, you know how that goes)

And then I looked around me and saw the people that were still there. People that never once told me I didn't seem happy. The people that called or emailed me daily to see what my plans were and did we want to grab lunch, or join them for dinner? The people that just let me be me and loved me anyway. They didn't love me because they thought I'd do something for them. They didn't love me because they thought they could manipulate me. They loved me because of who I am and the type of friend I am to them. And I realized, that's all that matters.
Studies have shown that as you get older, and once you leave college (specifically) making life long true friendships gets harder and harder. At this age I realize that most friendships are formed out of convenience or simply because our kids hang out. To be able to find a friend that really gets you, at this age, is golden. And not something to take for granted.
While *those* people are still in my life (and will be for the forseeable future, the joys of living in a small town) and I still consider many of them aquaintences, I'm able to see our relationship for what it is, or what it was.
And I guess that's all part of growing up, right?

CANCELLED

2009-05-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

***Due to a lack of participants, the Quilt Around the USA has been cancelled. I know its a busy time of year, so maybe we'll try again later. In the meantime, I've joined a virtual quilting bee on flickr.***

Thank to those that expressed interest. I'll let you know when we try again :)

Run Forrest, Run!!

2009-05-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the generic picture. I was planning on taking a nicely staged picture of some of my gear, but the battery in my camera died. And its not a rechargable. And we're out of AA's. I considered stealing some from the kid's toys. But I didn't.
If you are my Facebook friend, you know that I've been attemtping to start a running program. You may have noticed that I got frustrated and started walking. Well, I've decided to up the anty again and go back to running. Only this time I'm gonna do the Couch to 5K program. Its an 8 week program and its only 3 days per week. I'm pretty sure I can swing that. I also just completed week two of this program. I WILL have buff arms. I will. Just you wait and see. Anyone want to join me? Running buddies? Buff Arm Babes? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Quilt Around the U.S.A.

2009-05-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I read over the two posts from yesterday and I think I must have been smoking crack or something, because they really didn't make a lot of sense, did they? I'm gonna try again. I saw this post over at SummerSadie, but I missed the sign ups so I'm gonna host one of my own!. If you'd like to participate, leave a comment to this post. Once we reach our participant limit I will edit the post and close sign ups. Feel free to post about it on your blog, linking back here, to help get the word out! If you have any questions, please let me know. Let's have FUN!!!

Quilt Around the U.S.A.

Participants will be limited to 20. This will make your quilt 4x5 squares. I will take all of the participants and put them in a list, we will always mail to the same person ~ the next person on your list.
To start you will make one block. Any type of block you'd like, any size you like (keep in mind that all blocks that you get back will be the same size as your original, but not necessarily the same type).
Take your first block and mail it to the next person on the list. They will then look at your block, shop their stash (or a quilt shop) and make a block to coordinate or compliment your block. It does not have to be the same style or pattern, but it does have to be the same size. They will then take both blocks and send them on to the next person who will make a third block of the same size, also coordinating. And so on. When your package gets back to you, you should have 19 blocks that coordinate with your original. You then put them together into a top and finish it up.
I'll ask that each person complete and mail their blocks off within two weeks of receiving each package, just to keep this show moving. We all understand that sometimes life gets in the way of our quilting and if this happens, please just let me know and I'll get the word out. Just to be clear ~ you are committing to make a block every two weeks, 20 times. This is an ongoing project and could take up to a year to complete.
Each person will be responsible for their own shipping charges. When making the list of people, I will try to form it into a "loop" to keep the shipping charges as inexpensive as possible.
I also ask that each participant have a blog and I will list them all in the sidebar so we can keep up with our quilts progress. I'll also start a flickr group where we can show pictures of the blocks we're making. I've decided its ok to show the blocks as we go, a year is just too long to wait to see all of your blocks!!! :-)

And lastly ~ does anyone know how to make a button?!?!

Bliss.....

2009-05-22T07:49:00.001-07:00

She's back out. And she's purring like a kitten. All is right with the world.

A few more details....

2009-05-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

So, I decided I should probably add some details on the "Quilt around the U.S." instead of just asking your to click to another blog ~ sorry, I hadn't fully woken up yet this morning when I posted that :)

Basically, you will make a quilt block. Any kind, any size. And you will mail it to the next person on the list (you will then receive a block from someone else). You will look at the block you received and make another block (again, any kind) of the same size that will match ~ or coordinate with the one you received. Take those two and mail them to the next person. Then you will receive two blocks....etc, etc.. You will always receive from the same person and you will always mail to the same person. It will be a "mail loop" of sorts. I will try to place the order so that each person is mailing to the next closest person.

Does this make any sense? When we are finished, you should end up with 20 (or 24) coordinating blocks that you get to make into a quilt.

This does require an ongoing committment and we don't want this dragging on forever, so I think a two week time limit per block is adequate, don't you?

I would prefer that all participants have a blog, and I will make a list on my sidebar so we can keep tabs on each other. We will decide as a group if we want the blocks to be shown on the blogs or if we are going to keep them secret.

So, this is all clear as mud, right? Let me know if you are interested!

would anyone be interested????

2009-05-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

....I'm just puttin' out some feelers because well, I seem to be having so much extra spare time recenly (HA!). But I saw this post a little too late and missed getting in on the fun. So I thought about hosting something similiar. Again, in all my spare time! I would lean towards keeping all of our participants in the U.S. though (for ease of shipping costs). I would tweak the rules a little, but you get the general idea....would anyone be interested? I, too, would cap participants at 20 or 24.

Let me know if there is any interest. Again...just puttin' feelers out! :)

Grocery Finds...

2009-05-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

Fot those of you that were interested in my grocery finds....I just blogged a HUGE score on The Frugal Monster. Click on over to see how I got $73.72 worth of groceries for $4.00!!

Pyrex...again!

2009-05-20T07:54:00.001-07:00

I mentioned that Jason and I went junking and thrifting while at the beach this past weekend. The Spring Blossom Pattern was everywhere! I've been seeing lots and lots of Corelle with this pattern lately and the same was true at the beach. However, at one thrift store I found quite a few real pyrex pieces dumped in with the Corelle. SCORE!!

I'm not sure how vintage this set really is, but I love the lime green color and its perfect for a cup of tea and some cobbler or some other equally delish sweet treat!

I had just mentioned to Jasont the other day that I really wanted a Pyrex butter dish. We found one at an antique store, but it wasn't a pattern that I particularly cared for and it was a little more expensive than I was willing to pay. So I left it. They next day, amidst the Corelle, I found this butter dish and the two smaller mugs. They match the mugs I bought back in December. I found the larger mugs at another thrift store and the pinkish dish I already have one just like it, but you can't have too many 8" casseroles, right?!

I'm headed to Goodwill again today (more pyrex?!) but hopefully I'll have some quilty things to show you here soon, too!

Cheers!

~Jess

More Pyrex Love

2009-05-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, before leaving for the beach, I was able to hit the thrift stores again. Here is my loot from two different days. I seem to hitting pyrex gold recently, and I couldn't be happier! While at the beach, my in laws took the boys for both days and Jason took my antiquing. I love that man! I found some great pyrex there as well, but its still out in the van and its pouring down rain. You will have to wait until tomorrow! :)

In the above picture the pyrex is sitting on some vintage sheets that I also picked up. They are hard to see, but the two bowls up front match the set of casseroles I picked up recently. And the small casserole in front matches my first piece of pyrex. The Christmas dish is exactly like one that my grandmother had when I was growing up. I just recently lost both my Grandmother and my Grandfather and seeing that brought back some wonderful memories of Christmas at their house. I miss you Grandma and Grandpa. Love you.

Stay tuned for more pyrex love tomorrow :)

We're Back

2009-05-18T14:26:00.001-07:00

We made it back from the beach in one piece. I forgot my camera, but my FIL usually has at least four of them on his person at all times, so I'm sure I'll be getting some pictures soon! LOL! Still getting unpacked and settled in, but I have lots to share. Stay tuned!
~Jess

Fashion Show

2009-05-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

Ok internet peeps, its time for a fashion show, or rather ~ let's help the fashionably challenged Jessica get all dressed up and look pretty for an evening. I live (seriously, LIVE) in jeans & tshirts. Occasionally I'll throw on a pulloever sweater or the dreaded hoodie. That's the wardrobe of my life. I'm sad. I'm pathetic. But deep deep down there is a girlie girl and I have to let her out every once in a while. Well, our annual beach trip includes a dinner out in honor of Jason's grandmother's birthday. While its not a super duper fancy place, I like to get dressed up a bit. So, I have this skirt and I love it. I found it several years ago at Ross for something like $5. Giver or take a few pennies. Anyway, I've decided I want to wear it this year. But oh what to wear what to wear? So I have several questions for you guys.....(keep reading)

(sorry for the blurry pictures, I was in a hurry). If you were going to wear this skirt and you had an unlimited wardrobe, what would you pair it with? Just sayin' ~ unlimited. Every option in the world. Just cause I want to know. Ok, got that question? Now you can keep scrolling....

My wardrobe isn't unlimited, but I wanted to get your ideas in case there's something in my closet that maybe I hadn't thought about. Now, here are the choices I came up with (remember, I'm fashionably challenged. If its hideous, you can tell me. I won't be offended) :-)

Option #1: A black shell with a pepto pink one button jacket over it. See, my main problem with this skirt is how to incorporate color? Hubby thought the skirt was too busy for that much pink. I think I may agree with him....keep scrolling.

Option #2: plain black shell with some fabulous bling from the amazingly talented Cricket & Ann. Seriously, these women are great. And they are going to cause me to go broke because I want to buy everything they make! Check out this totally cool necklace Ann made from an old chandelier!! How cool is that?!? Sorry, I got distracted. Upcycled bling does that to me :) Ok, so here's some close ups of the bling that I have paired with this outfit.....(keep scrolling)

Super cool bracelet made from Ann's collection of vintage buttons. All in my favorite color: pink

A gorgeous necklace from Cricket that she made from a vintage broach. Can they be worn together? Or is that too much? Or does this whole outfit just suck? HELP ME PLEASE!!!!! ~And~ if this outfit works, since its only a shell, I may get chili. I have pashmina scarves in every color of the rainbow (well, almost). Would you wear a black one? Or a deep magenta pink one?

Hello??

2009-05-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

*tap tap tap*

Is this thing still on?

*que sound of pin drop*

hmm, quiet bunch out there.

Hello?? Hello??? llo?? lo?? ooo??? Its a little dusty around here. Sure looks like a ghost town. Well, on the off chance that anyone still reads my blog I'm just gonna go from here :)

Sorry for my absence. I've been in a funk of monumental proportions. I'm a mess. My house is a mess. My whole life is a mess right now. I'm not the greatest house keeper on the planet, but I can usually maintain a somewhat respectable level of clean and tidy. Right now I fear the Dept of Health may just very well condemn my house. I packed up my sewing machine and put it away thinking maybe it had been distracting me from my daily chores and well, I'm still falling behind and now I'm just cranky because I haven't created anything in weeks (or even months). I'd get my sewing machine back out but every flat surface that it fits on has been taken over by clutter. I can't handle it anymore.

The sun has been shining here (finally!) and that's helping A LOT. This weekend we are going on our annual beach trip with Jason's family and when I get back, watch out folks! Jessica is BACK!

Can't wait to catch up with all of you guys again!
~Jessica

Clean Along Postponed....

2009-04-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

The Clean Along is being postponed. I'll let you know when I decide on a date. Thanks to those that planned to participate. For now, I'm going back to bed.

Spring Cleaning Clean Along

2009-04-22T14:54:00.001-07:00

Don't forget tomorrow is the Spring Cleaning Clean Along. Is anyone planning to participate? We'll start at 8am PST. Thursday morning. Let me know and I'll link to all those participating!

No Soldier Forgotten

2009-04-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

Do you remember way back in June of last year when I posted this blog post about my friend Alycia and her Quilt of Valor Challenge? Her story (in a nutshell) goes like this. She got involved in the QOV project and went to her kids' school to talk about the project. The kids asked if they could help and so she helped that class make a quilt. Last May (of 2008) she made a delivery of approx 40ish quilts (give or take). The chaplin pulled her aside and said "do you think you could bring 100 next year?" She hesitantly said yes and then went into a full panic. So she sent a call out to fellow quilters in her community (both in real life and online). Then one day a friend said "how many soldiers are in that unit at the hospital?" To which Alycia answered "400" and her friend said "wouldn't it be amazing if you could give a quilt to every soldier?" And a challenge was born. She's blogged every. single. quilt that she's received. Then a few months ago, as she was making final arrangements to make the delivery (background checks, student lists, etc...to get on the army base) she was told that the size of the unit had increased to 700 wounded soldiers. With only a few months left she was sure she wouldn't be able to cover every soldier. She hadn't even reached her 400 goal yet.

Just to confirm how absolutely amazing the quilting community truly is, go check out Alycia's Blog. Her finished quilt count is up to 616!!!! I cannot believe it! She is still collecting quilts, although at some point she will begin setting them aside for next year (I'm not sure when this year's cut off date is). Her delivery will be in early May. She is so close to being able to offer a quilted hug to every soldier in that unit. If you have any finished quilts laying around, looking for a home please consider sending one (or a few) to Alycia's "No Soldier Forgotten" project. They don't have to be patriotic in nature. This truly has grown from a small project at an elementary school to a world wide effort right before our eyes this year. Its touching and heart warming and brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.

I can't seem to shake.this.funk.

2009-04-17T19:14:00.001-07:00

I'm in a terrible funk. I'm cranky, I'm tired, I'm unmotivated and I'm driving everyone in my family crazy. I think it is directly related to my lack of sewing machine. But truth be told, even if I had my foot pedal (and I've actually borrowed Karen's) I couldn't sew anything because there isn't currently a single clean flat surface in my house.

I was caught up on my laundry, but I'm not anymore. I'm in need of a some serious Spring Cleaning, but I still can't even get motivated enough to start. I mentioned a Spring Clean A Long on my last post and there was a little bit of interest, so I'll be hosting that next week. Right here on my blog ~ Thursday, April 23. Every hour I'll post a task to do. It'll be a short task, just 15-20 minutes or so. I'll do them all in the same blog post, I'll just keep editing it to add the new tasks. Let me know if you are participating and I'll link up to everyone in the beginning of the post. I'll post from 8am - 5pm (PST). If you are on the East Coast, you are welcome to participate, although it may run late for you. You can also wait until Thursday and do it all then :)

Hopefully this will get me motivated to get off my bum and clean the rest of the house! I need to get some furniture moved and some other things organized this summer in order to start homeschooling in the fall. I think that may be part of my funk. Making the decision to homeschool has been so liberating, but getting started is also very overwhelming. Add to that the mountains of house chores in front of me and I think I kind of just froze. When I get very overwhelmed I tend to just withdraw and do n.o.t.h.i.n.g. Not this time....pity party's over and its time to crack the whip!

I'll see you Thursday! :)

p.s. sorry if this post sounded whiney. that's the mood I'm in...strangely I feel better though. even after this short little post of just putting it all out there. I'll just go one step at a time and get 'er done! Thanks for "listening"

sigh

2009-04-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. I just have nothing to show you because I am still sans sewing machine.....just thought I'd check in. My laundry is nearly caught up. I'm going to tackle the kitchen next. Cleaning really cuts into my sewing time, so maybe its better that there is no sewing time right now? I can really concentrate on my Spring Cleaning?

Speaking of Spring Cleaning... I've thought about hosting a Spring Cleaning Clean -a - long. Anyone game? I'll chose one day ~ probably April 23rd, 24th or 25th (anyone have a preferance). At the top of every hour, I'll post a task to do. It'll be as short task, probably no more than 15-20 minutes. I'll link to everyone's blog that is participating and if we're feeling really adventurous we can post before & after pictures??? Let me know if there is any interest and I'll post more details later.

Cheeers,
~Jessica

Oh Yea...

2009-04-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

I forgot to tell you...I'm not allowed to buy any more fabric. *sniff sniff*

See, after seeing my stash photos, my friend Kristin decided to get to work on her yarn stash. Let me tell you about Kristin ~ she is amazinly talented. Just take a look at her etsy store. Its amazing. I own several Kristin originals, and I love them all. This woman can just look at an object and a few minutes later she has made an exact replica out of yarn. Its awe inspiring (look for some of her creations to show up here...just as soon as I get my sewing machine back).

Anyway, we got to talking and realized that we were both drowning in our addictions. Me: fabric. Kristin: yarn. So we challenged ourselves. Neither of us will buy any fabric/yarn until June 1st (unless its for a custom order ~ which I dont' really have to worry about....). On June 1st if we've both made it she will buy me a yard of my choice of fabric and I'll buy her a skein of her choice. Deal? Deal.

And then we're going to start all over again. Because, lets be honest, two months really isn't going to put a dent in either stash now, is it?

SCORE!!

2009-04-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

I love yard sales and with the sunshine we (finally) got today, there were several in our small town. We stumbled upon one sale that was way out in the middle of nowhere at an old farm house (my favorite kind of sale!). Their garage was PACKED full. Stuff was spilling out of everywhere. I wish I could have spent all day there and just sorted through and touched everything! It was an antique dealer's dream. I would have bought every piece of furniture there if we room for it. But I'm not collecting furniture just yet. But I did walk away with these goodies. A brand new, still in the box cutting table. I can't find any information about this particular brand online, but I know other tables like this go for $100 and up. The woman told me it was $145 new. Its still in the box, hardware included, never opened. Another great piece of Pyrex and the boys picked up two plastic light saber toys (they've recently entered a Star Wars phase). All for the grand price of..........wait for it.......$26!!!! TWENTY SIX DOLLARS!!!! Woo Hoo!!! SCORE!

I'm in a FUNK!

2009-04-03T08:13:00.001-07:00

I don't know if its the weather, I don't know if its my lack of sewing machine, I don't know if its the new puppy (that still isn't sleeping through the night ugh!), but I'm in a funk big time. We've also had some big decisions around here that we've been talking about (hang on Cricket ~ it doesn't concern moving to NH yet)....we're thinking about homeschooling next year. Well, we've actually pretty much made up our minds to do it. Its absolutely what is right for our family, but the whole thing still seems a little overwhelming. I actually think my quilting time will increase because we'll be home a lot more and the kids will work independently on a lot of stuff. So, I'll be busy this summer picking our curricula, planning lessons, getting organized, etc.

I have been working on several quilts and I'll be posting pictures of them (along with free patterns) just as soon as I get a chance (and get my new foot pedal so I can finish them up!!)

A Thrifty Find

2009-03-28T23:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-28T23:08:00.001-07:00

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!

More Goodwill Love

2009-03-26T08:30:00.001-07:00

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.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

2009-03-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-03-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

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!!

Oh *&^#@

2009-03-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Pyrex Love!!

2009-03-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

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!

New Blog...

2009-03-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-03-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

Its your last chance....

2009-03-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

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

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

2009-03-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

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!

Freaky Friday Fabulous Fabric Giveaway (again)

2009-03-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

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!

Where does it all live???

2009-03-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

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!!)

A question for you experienced bloggers....

2009-03-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-10T18:17:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-03-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

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

I need to go on a diet....

2009-03-08T19:47:00.001-07:00

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!!!

Wanna see what I've been working on?

2009-03-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

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.

Let me introduce to you....

2009-02-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

The newest member of our family: LEGO

Lego is 3/4 Mastiff & 1/4 Lab. He is 8 weeks old and weighs 23 lbs. My boys are over the moon excited!

Again???

2009-02-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

I thought we've covered this already? SNOW??? My son is in afternoon Kindergarten. The school district has an automated phone call that goes out at SIX A.M. to all families to notify of school closures, delays, etc...Seriously, why are afternoon K families on this list? I think by 1:00 in the afternoon I'd be able to figure out whether not my kid has school. Is it really necessary to wake the whole family up? ugh...

For Tiff's Good Stuff Thursday post I wanted to show you what I picked up at Goodwill last week. Another cracker tin (.99), some beautiful vintage corning ware ($1.49), a 100% cotton twin sized flat sheet ($1.99) and a great graphic printed pillowcase (.49). I also found a Battleship game for Ben. He's been wanting one for a while now and we found it on Amazon for $14.99. He was saving his quarters and counting them out nearly everyday. While at Goodwill I asked Ben if we should look at their games. We found an almost brand new game with all of the pieces for $2.49. He was so excited! I'm passing on the thrify genes to my kids! :) (game is not in the picture because it has been played nearly non stop since we brought it home).

I'm so excited about this top sheet. I feels great, its a good quality cotton and its equivalent to close to three yards!! Oh, you want to see a close up? Ok, here ya go:

Now, onto an update of my WIP Challenge:

Barney's Blocks ~ still need to piece the backing (but I've at least pulled it out and its sitting on the ironing board).

Alycia's QOV Project ~ 14 pillowcases are made and ready for shipping. The blocks are done and I've started putting them in rows. I ran out of bobbin thread and then lost steam after that. I'll continue working on it this afternoon.

Ainsley's Quilt ~ blocks are done.

Superior Thread Giveaway!

2009-02-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

Mother Superior Blog is hosting a giveaway of a $100 gift certificate (HOLY COW!!!!). I sure hope I win! :)

Mountain Baby Blankets

2009-02-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered a new blog and I immediately felt a call to DO SOMETHING. As if I need another project on my plate, but this one is too dear to me and I can't let it go. I've been thinking about this all weekend and trying desperately to think of something to do. I'm not so overly ambitious that I feel like I can just whip something up and put everything else on hold. I know better. It would just end up in that pile of WIP's that I'm currently working on. So, for now the best I can do is share it with you guys in hopes that maybe one of you is available right now, or has an extra quilt hanging around that you might want to share. In the meantime I'm continuing to work on my WIP list and then this little project will become front and center.

Have you seen the Diane Sawyer special on the Appalachian Mountain Region. If you haven't, you must watch it. I had to watch it in parts because it just moves me to tears and tears tend to freak my little guys out. I grew up in KY and while I wasn't in eastern KY, I was only a few hours away. I went to college with quite a few people from "mountain country" and I'm humbled to see that this area is not being forgotten about. Please, take the time to watch the special and if you aren't too busy with life take a moment to say a prayer and maybe whip something up for a baby in need.

God Bless

~Jessica

Update...

2009-02-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

Update on my WIP Challenge:

Barney's Blocks - need to piece backing and baste/quilt it
My QOV top for Alycia's QOV challenge - all blocks are finished.
My stack of QOV pillowcases - 5 pillowcases done. I have several more cut.
Ainsley's Quilt - all blocks are finished.

All in all, I've made a dent, but I'm not as far along as I'd hoped. My most pressing WIP right now is Alycia's QOV stuff. She asked that if I'm only donating a top that I get it to her sometime in March. My goal is to have the top complete and pillowcases done and in the mail by next week.

I took a break from sewing this weekend and the boys asked to do a craft. We had picked up a box of foam airplanes at JoAnn's earlier in the week so this is what my kitchen table (aka my new sewing desk) looked like this weekend:

Ben wanted his to look like a Blue Angles airplane ~

Carter's started to take on a Picasso ~ esque look. I wasn't sure either one of them would ever dry.

And all of my sewing stuff got pushed aside to the very edge of the table....

Another Winner....

2009-02-16T14:13:00.001-08:00

Do you guys remember this giveaway from months ago? I finally got the gift made and in the mail and I know the winner has received it so now I can show it on my blog! CAB won my giveaway when she was several months pregnant with a little girl, her FIFTH child! She told me her favorite colors at that time were pinks & browns. (and she made the cutest little quilt for her baby, too ~ her first quilt, I might add ~ in those colors). I had some pefect fabric in my stash so I got to work making her a bag. I made the straps extra long so she could fling the bag over her shoulder keeping her hands free for the rest of those kids :)

I'm so glad you like it, CAB!

And the winner is.....

2009-02-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

Number Four: Amandajean. Just email me your address and the newest addition to your stash will be on its way. :)

WIP Challenge

2009-02-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've let my list of WIP's get out of control again. Last April I did UFO Personal Challenge. and it really got me moving. Sadly, some from that list are going to be included in my new challenge. OOPS!
I dug all of my WIP's out and I'm going to get those finished before I allow myself to start anything new. That's gonna be hard! I have so many projects in various stages of completion. I'm also counting anything that I've started since the first of the year a "new project" so they are getting pushed to the bottom of the list. Here we go, anyone care to join me?

Barney's Blocks
My QOV top for Alycia's QOV challenge
My stack of QOV pillowcases
Ainsley's Quilt ~ that poor girl still doesn't have her quilt!!

These are my most pressing projects that I want finished and out of my sewing room. Once I get through these, I'll post another list of projects that I've recently started and get those finished up. If you care to join me, just let me know and I'll post a list (with links to your blog) and we can cheer each other on. I plan to keep this challenge going until the end of March. I should be able to get through (both) lists by then. I hope. Who's in??

Freaky Friday Fabric Giveaway

2009-02-13T11:23:00.001-08:00

In honor for it being Friday the 13th. I am hosting a Freaky Friday Fabric Giveaway (and if I remember, I'll do one in March, too). Up for grabs is two half yard cuts (basket not included) of "At Water's Edge" fabric by Moda. I believe this line came out last Spring. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post and tell me if you believe in superstitions and what are some that you currently practice? (unfortunately due to the cost of postage, I must limit this to USA residents only, my apologies). Make sure you leave your email address or some way for me to contact you in your comment (if your comments aren't already hooked up to an email). And in stealing an idea from Amandajean, who stole if from Camille, I'll give you an example:

Hi, I'm Jessica. I am very superstitious. I rarely walk under ladders and when I was playing volleyball in highschool, I had a lucky pair of socks and a lucky sports bra. I would make my mom wash them for every single game.

See, easy peasy! I'll leave this open until Sunday evening at which point I will draw a number by random generator (or maybe pick a name out of a hat, haven't decided yet!). Good Luck!

Something I've been working on...

2009-02-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

I got a random idea one day to try to make a floor game out of a quilt. So....I made up some squares and this is as far as I got

I think I'll finish it off, quilt in the ditch and I plan to make some "checkers" out of yo-yo's. What do you think?

I bet you thought I forgot, huh??

2009-02-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

So, I posted Step One for a coupon tutorial and then *POOF* I disappeared. But I never forgot. If the truth be told, I could have used some serious coupon butt kicking these last few months. I completely let my coupons get disorganized, piled up and effectivelly useless. Shame on me. But...that's in the past. I am reorganizing them now and will have my tutorial updated shortly. So, if you want a refresher, I'll repost my first step:

As promised, I am starting a coupon/grocery shopping tutorial to help you make your dollars stretch. And who couldn't use a stretchier dollar in this economic environment?! I'm gonna do this in steps so as not to overwhelm you. I will add links to the steps in my side bar so you may refer back to them at a later time. Good Luck & Happy Savings!!!
The very first thing one must consider when grocery shopping is attitude. If you truly want to make the most of your coupons and your money, you really have to shift your thought process. Most of us make a menu for the week, then make a grocery list. This works for some people, but its not very cost effective. The most frugal way to grocery shop is to check out the sales and make your grocery list accordingly, matching the sales with coupons (but we'll get to that later). Once you have made your grocery list, look at the list (and what's already in your pantry) and make your menu based on what you own and what's on sale.
This one step alone, will make a noticable difference in your grocery budget. I will end step one here and allow this information to sink in. As this truly is the most challenging part of changing your habits. Once you have started to look at shopping in this light, the rest is easy.
Oh, and someone asked about doing these trips with kids ~ both of my kids are with me for 90% of my big shops. I'll have some tips on how to make this less painful in the following steps.

I promise, I won't leave ya hanging this time!

Hotwheels get a lot of miles around here....

2009-02-07T09:37:00.001-08:00

...and ambulances, and Army trucks and Thomas tracks. Just about anything with wheels, my boys love. And that is why every pair of PJ bottoms in our house look like this:

I've taken a short break from quilting to make these, as I felt my children should have warm knees. Even if only temporarily.

I have a few more pairs to make and then its back to quilting!!

Just checking in....

2009-02-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

I've been knocked off my keister recently and this amazing man has been holding down the fort. He is truly my best friend. I didn't do a proper tribute to him on our anniversary. See, we picked the most busiest time of the year to get married. It all starts with Carter's birthday at the end of September. We get through October and Halloween and then my birthday in the beginning of November. The holidays get started and soon we're looking at Thanksgiving. The red & green are in full swing and we have to take a break from it to celebrate our anniversary on Dec 10. Christmas rolls around and we aren't done yet! I've barely caught my breath and then its Jason's birthday on January 10 (he requested I not dedicate a post to that this year). We take a short breather and then its Ben's birthday in March. We have a six month reprieve and then we start all over again. Phew...

All this just to explain why I didn't do an anniversary post this year :P I've got some sewing time all planned out for these next few days and I can't wait to show you guys what I've been working on.

I have pants

2009-01-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

Several of you asked about making pants out of towels. I had never done it before, nor had I seen it done before. I know a lot of people make things out of towels and these were so soft and so bright and fun I just had to try.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of your own legs??? Its not as easy as it sounds. So, I apologize for the awkward pictures (and never mind that cottage cheesy looking thing sticking out of them...that's just my leg). They turned out very cute and since they are just bummin' around the house pants, I wasn't overly concerned about perfection. Although I do need to re-sew the waist band. I can sew a 1/4" seam like nobody's business, but a 5/8" seam always seem to knock me off my game! I may go get another towel and make myself a "shower wrap" because these towels are just too pretty and I wanted to be surrounded by them at all times :-)

More shopping, but I swear it all has a purpose!!

2009-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have more fabric to share with you. I'm sure right now you are all thinking "does this woman ever make anything or does she just buy fabric all of the time?" Well, recently it seems that I only buy and never create. But that's about to change. All of this purchasing really was for a purpose. My computer time will be hit & miss over the next two weeks. But I will be creating and I will have loads of great things to share with you upon my return. So hang in there with me and watch the beauty unfold (how cheezy does that sound??). Now, for my most recent purchases:
I just love aqua fabrics. I'm starting to collect them for a particular quilt I have in mind.

My pink stash is strangely low...so I just have to buy some more.

You guys know how I feel about greens and these cute little numbers were begging to come live at my house. I couldn't deny them that, could I?

I bought this piece to match a jelly roll and charm pack that I have. Stay tuned to see the awesomeness that this will become!

And this piece....well it was $1.99 a yard. And its polka dots!! Love it! I ordered 1/2 yard and I got over 23". I love this place! :)

I'll try to post as much as I can over the next two weeks, but Jason is home and my computer time gets severely limited when we all four have to share! :-)

I've been shopping...

2009-01-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

I haven't been creating much lately. Although I have a lot of stuff cut and ready to sew ~ that will be next week. I have, however, been shopping. That's always fun! I found the cutest flannel for $1.99/yd!! Its so soft and cuddly, but it has some body and strength to it, too. I originally planned to make myself some pj's but after I got it home I feel like its just asking to be a cute little quilt. I haven't decided yet. Maybe it needs to be folded up and put away to "age" and then I'll see what it asks to become.

I also found these gorgeous towels for $2!! That's TWO DOLLARS! I plan to make some 'round the house pants. I love wearing capri's around the house and my current ones are looking like...well, like I love to wear them around the house every day. I thought these might brighten up our cold gray winter we're having.

And then, remember that "mistake" in my fabric order last week? Well, in that same order I had ordered a 1/2 yd of this fabric. I ended up with over 23". Do you think its because they not only can't read orders, but they can't cut straight either? In all fairness, every piece of fabric I ordered came with at least 3 extra inches, and one piece I ordered half a yard and it must have been the end of the bolt because I ended up with a horribly wrinkly piece of fabric that was 42" long!!! So, I guess I can't complain too much about messed up fabrics and strange cutting angles, huh?

Phew.....I'm exhausted!

2009-01-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

Amy left yesterday and I spent the better part of the day cuddled up under my blankets in bed just trying to recover from the weekend. I'm not in my 20's anymore and I was made painfully aware of this yesterday. It wasn't even that I was nursing a hangover (there was drinking but not that much). I was just exhausted. We never stopped moving all weekend. She arrived Friday evening and I met her and some other friends for a late dinner and a few drinks. I got home that night and bid Jason farewell as he left for a trip. Then those friends came over to my house and we continued to catch up and have a few more drinks. Amy and I stayed up until 1:30 am chatting and Carter got us up at 7:00 am Saturday morning. We headed to another friend's house Saturday morning for breakfast and then went straight out to shop and eat lunch. I picked up the sitter and we went to see Bride Wars with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. It was a cute movie about best friends ~ so appropriate that I saw it with Amy & Tracy. After the movie we raced home, changed clothes and then we were off to BUNCO. We got home around 11:30 pm and again stayed up until 1:30 am. We met 20 of our closest friends for Brunch at 10:00 am and I was back home and in bed by 11:30 am. Like I said, I'm exhausted! But we had so much fun!!

I did manage to get one thing made while Amy was here. I used this gorgeous fleece to make a wrap using this tutorial. I had no idea they made fleece so pretty. I wore the wrap to BUNCO and I plan to make several more in various colors. They are easy, comfy and pretty. What more could a girl ask for?

I'll be back soon....

2009-01-17T01:21:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Amy is in town for the weekend. Not much blogging will be going on, but lots of fun, alcohol, staying up late, BUNCO and other silliness. When I get back, I will have some fun new crafty things to share!!

Does this look like something I'd buy?

2009-01-13T23:01:00.001-08:00

So, I ordered some fabric online the other day. I ordered a half yard of Kaffe Fassett Aboriginal Dots in Blue:

I ordered other fabrics, too. But the Dots were not in the box. But this was:

Now, don't get me wrong. This is perfectly good er, uh, pretty (?) fabric??? I guess. Maybe. However, I'm going out on a limb here. But the type of quilter that might order Kaffe Fassett (on a regular basis, from this particular store) doesn't strike me as the type of quilter that might also order fabric with wreaths and poinsettas and jingle bells. But that's just me. Maybe I'm wrong. The store gave me a refund for the Kaffe Fassett fabric and is letting me keep this other stuff. I don't even have to send it back. Oh Yay!

**disclaimer. This post is not meant to offend anyone that may like the above fabric. Its just not my style and I found some irony in the whole situation.**

2009-01-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

50% on Fabric.com Designer Fabrics. This includes Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett and others!! They already have low prices to begin with....that's Kaffe Fassett at around $4.00 per yard!! FOUR DOLLARS???? And Amy Butler.....oh, how I wish I had a money tree in the back yard!