Amy rules! :D

First up, I want to show off this awesome quilt Amy made me for my birthday!! She brought it to sit and stitch tonight, but I told her it was to early to give to me. She proceeded to ignore me and gave it to me anyways! I'm glad she did, because it's really awesome. It's made from the Chubby Chicks pattern using some of the new Jay McCarroll fabrics. She has been posting little pieces of it on her blog for the last couple of weeks, and every time I saw a little corner of it I was hoping it was for me. :D





Next up is some stuff that I actually made. I made another one of my skirts. This one doesn't have any pockets because I didn't want to mar the beauty of the fabric by putting pockets on it. I haven't worn it yet, but maybe I'll wear it to work Thursday night (and get someone to take better pictures of it).



Early last week I felt the urge to alter a t-shirt. So I grabbed one that I'd bought at the thrift store for that exact purpose and started hacking away! It's actually inside out, as it had Goofy on the front originally (I bought it for the color). So, I made a v-neck in the back, split it down the front and tied them on the sides and brought in the side seams. I then discovered that I really don't take good pictures of myself. You can sort of get the idea -



Next up is this super awesome bag!!!!! I've been wanting to make this bag since I went to Quilt Market last fall and grabbed the New Handmade book. I finally conned my mom into letting me make a sample this week. I used fabrics from the Wonderland line by MoMo for Moda. The main fabric that I used for the outside of the bag is a twill. We have three of the prints in twill and 17 in quilting weight. The deal is that I have to sell X number of books before I can get it back and use it, so if anyone is feeling sorry for me, go to Quilting Adventures and buy a copy of the New Handmade. It's a really awesome book. Not only does it have this cute bag, but it's also got some really awesome quick and easy projects. There are a couple of other bags, potholders, laptop sleeves, notebook covers, and a scarf. I adapted the pattern slightly - I used fusible fleece instead of stabilizer (I ended up ripping it out of the seams cuz it was too bulky), I sewed the handle into the bag as opposed to the outside, and I didn't put a closure in. Oh, and I added more pockets to the inside. I love pockets.











Virginia weather is notoriously stupid. Last Wednesday it hit 80, the next day the high was 30 and it snowed. Not only has it made me sick, it really screws with our flowers. I love springtime, so I was quick to jump out with my camera last week and try and grab some pictures before everything froze to death.





I love this statue. My mom has had it ever since I can remember, and there's just something about it. A charm that is there, but yet unexplainable.....




"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.....

Update from my last post: I finished another skirt using the same pattern, except it has two, non-embroidered pockets. That are two different colors. I also bought fabric to make three more skirts from the same pattern. Birdcages by Michael Miller Fabrics, Smart Bugs from Jay McCarroll for FreeSpirit with Ants for a pocket, and a batik that I think was made by Timeless Treasures, but I can't find it on their website. I'm also getting ready to start working on my dress for Kristal's wedding. I'm doing this dress (I think) in the hand-dyed looking batiks in this color. It's going to be a slight (and I mean slight) gradation between four blues right in that category. However, first I'm going to make a mock up. I was going to use muslin, but then mom pointed out that I could get sale fabric and hope that it turns out cute; because it's gonna cost me the same as doing muslin anyways. Well, that very same day, 18 various pieces of Freshcut came in the shop. We'd gotten a special price on them, which we're passing on to our customers. So, since that's only going to be a little bit more expensive than muslin (with my great discount), I'm doing the mock up out of Freshcut.


I don't know how many people read this blog. And I don't know how many of you know that I play the guitar. I'm not seriously good, and I don't play very often, but I've been getting back into it recently. I love my acoustic guitar. It was a gift from someone who bought it at Guitar Works here in Richmond. It's wood, but with a blue finish, so you can see both the grain and this gorgeous color. Here is my beautiful guitar....



You can't even truly appreciate the color in that picture.

So yesterday, mom and I (along with Selina) made our annual trek down to the Hampton quilt show. We've gone every year for probably about 15 years (including the year that she had bronchitis/pneumonia and I had some weird virus which made it so I couldn't eat, drink, or speak). Selina had never been to a quilt show before, so it was pretty awesome bringing her along. She hasn't been into the whole quilting thing for very long, however, she has already figured out how to cost me money (and add to her stash!). When we first walked into the Hampton Convention Center, there were these weird/cool sculpture things, so I thought I'd post a picture.



Here's the loot picture:



On the left is a pre-printed sashiko sampler thing from Maeda Importing. I got this one, and I couldn't find Selina's to take a picture of, and I couldn't find it on their website. I finally found it now - I would describe it as three flowers diagonally down the middle with water-y things in the background. The three batiks in the front with stars on them along with the circular patchwork thingy (there's a template set for it in there too) all came from Sew What/Batiks Etc. Mom and I have known the owner Carol for awhile, and it's always fun to catch up with her. Selina and I both have a thing for stars, so she happened to spot all three of those fabrics for ME to buy (and now thinks I'm gonna share them with her ;-D). The black/white/red was just a great novelty print, so I got two fat quarters. The little pins were from Quilted in Clay. We're looking into maybe carrying some of their jewelry in the shop.

Show and tell! This was a shop sample I made from the new Jay McCarroll fabric out of one of the Valori Wells sewing cards. It only took me 15 mins or so and a little bit of fabric. I did the small size - a fat quarter would give you enough fabric for four of these! They would make cute gifts for your quilting buddies.



A cute journal cover for someone who loves glitter (there's glitter on the mushrooms and on the green fabric). It only took me a couple hours Saturday night. The front panel is hand embroidered.



The inside cover has a little pocket, which I embroidered the heart onto.



Ah..... the most important news of the day! SNOW! Estimates show that we got 10 to 11 inches. Which looks about right, however, I haven't gone outside yet. :) It started snowing on our way home from Hampton last night, and between the east end of Richmond and our house it went from rain to 2 inches of snow... on the roads. The local paper says it's the worst storm in seven years and the worst March storm since 1980. Here's a couple of pictures from my window around sunset today:





The roads were sort of plowed, but nothing melted, and there was ice under the snow. As I write this I can hear people driving down the street and the crunching of the ice under their tires. Not pretty. However, it did get me out of school for tomorrow!!! Snow has always given me something special lately, more than just getting me out of school. I'm learning to love it, which is weird.

I'm brainstorming on a quilt that would be in what I would call slate blue and gold/hazel. Let's just say I'm really intruiged by those colors right now. Something along the lines of this, and this or this(but maybe a little darker and not quite so lime). In theory, I'm also hoping to start on Kristal and John's wedding quilt sometime in the near future...... (But I won't post pictures even if I do. Sorry!)

Wow, I'm wordy tonight. Here are my parting words:


I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about

Happy!

So, I bought this fabric last night after one of my co-workers and I started bouncing ideas off of each other. It is a cute reproduction, and I felt the need for a simple skirt. Then we looked at each other and just both kind of exclaimed "pockets!" Here is my new skirt, complete with a pocket! And embroidery.



Here you can get a better look at the fabric and embroidery:



It's an adaption of one of the patterns from the Sassy Skirts book by Carol Taylor Oates. I took the simple elastic waste skirt and shortened it. Here's a slightly better picture of the fabric - it's a bit washed out in my photo.

I ran some errands today, and just happened to end up at Michael's. And, they just happened to have conversation hearts. And I couldn't resist the picture. There's so many pink ones because that is the only flavor I won't eat, and I'd already eaten a third of them, so that's what was left. :)



I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful weather! Something about this warmth makes me incredibly happy......

love notes

So, I started another project. This is what happens when I get upset. :) I cut out all of the pieces and sewed them together when I woke up disgustingly early this morning. It's from the Bareroots pattern Love Notes.



Obviously, I haven't done much embroidery yet, but I'm having fun. I've already marked the embroidery lines, but you can't see them.

my sword and shield

Tomorrow I am driving to Charlottesville after work for a long needed day of vegging on the couch with my sister. The last week and a half have gone from relatively bad to......well, ickier. I have done some sewing, however, not on anything that I've started on here. I made some birthday presents for the aforementioned sister, and I have pictures, but they are on the camera at work. I've got all the stuff together to start on some Artist Trading Cards for Sunday, but I don't think they're gonna get done. Oh well. C'est la vie.
Until I get my act together and actually post pictures of stuff, enjoy the picture above of our legs. :) I know that some people might not get it, but somehow that picture just screams friendship to me.

more stuff!!!!

So, I haven't done anymore work on the quilt, but I've been working on a lot of other fun stuff. I've been at work a lot for the last few days, so all I've done is work on small projects. Here's a picture of the newest shop sample I've been working on. It's from one of the Valori Wells Sewing Cards called Project Bags. They are so quick and easy (and cheap! Each sewing card costs $3, I think) - I will definitely be making one for a birthday present this week. For the small and medium size bags, she calls for 3/8 of a yard of two fabrics. I discovered that I could get two different small size bags from 3/8 of a yard, so I decided to make two of the small one out of the blue and brown fabric, which is from House by Annette Tatum for Free Spirit Fabric. The brown one with the elephants is the large size which takes 1/2 yard of each fabric, and is Ellie Fun by Karen Neuberger for Quilting Treasures.



Here's a closeup of the blue and brown bags. They don't have the drawstings yet because I didn't buy enough. I'm using twill tape. On the elephant one I ran a line of green stitches down the middle of it, which adds a little pop.



This is some little embroidery that I started the other night. I left the ruler in the picture to give you an idea of the size. Obviously it's not done, but I wanted to show you what else I've been working on. I've suddenly gotten the urge to do small embroideries of cute characters - I've already got another one that's all marked.

'

Alright, I've got to run these bags to work and then drive to Dulles to pick up Kristal and John. Their plane is already 70 minutes late! Which means that I get to drive through Washington at rush hour - Woo Hoo!!!!


PS - The car is fixed, and it didn't cost me to amazingly much; and the car accident thing is being dealt with in the best way I could come up with.

"you've also made a fool out of me"

Okay....so my life has effectively become a living hell. Lots of bull crap involving my boyfriend. I know that the next couple of months will be really hard and right now I'm just trying to live day to day. It's especially hard as my two best friends are gone - to UVA and England. On top of that I got in my first accident the other day (just a fender bender) and the following popped up on the way home from lunch yesterday:



On the other hand, I suddenly have a lot of time to do whatever I want. I have all this time off of work, so I decided to work on a quilt for myself. I've had the fabric for a little while, and I had already designed the pattern, so all I had to do was cut! The fabric is all from Pop Garden and Bijoux by Heather Bailey. It makes me so happy! It reminds me of springtime.



I made a few miscalculations, but at least they were over estimates, so I was able to just trim things down. Here is the progress on the sewing so far (it will not look like this when put together):



When I'm upset, I usually get this deep urge to clean. So, I suddenly have part of my room back. I had started working on this a little while ago, but now I have on whole corner of my room organized. It helps me feel better about my life, even if it is a corner that I hardly use. (I didn't realize how beat up the floors are - the house is 120 years old) I also get this weird urge to watch movies, especially kids' movies. Which means that in the last 36 hours I have watched Mulan, half of Singing in the Rain, half of Princess Diaries, Honey, Charlie's Angels, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (In case you actually wanted to know) I guess that isn't to many kids' movies, but all the other movies in the stack are, in fact, kids' movies.



I found this cool lamp packed away in a box the other day, and I hadn't ever had the chance to hang it, so I decided to hang it over the stairwell to my room. I rigged up an elaborate electrical contraption which boils down to it being on a timer, so it's only on from 5:30 PM to about midnight or so.



Don't you just love the half of the hex sign you can see on the left? Hex signs always make me so happy and they are a huge inspiration for me. Here is what Zook's Family Crafts says about that particular hex sign:
"This more simple design is quite typical of older geometric designs. A large, six petal rosette forms the design's center. The rosette is one of the basic "good luck" symbols of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Red hearts are prominently placed between the rosette's blue, red and gold petals. The rosette ensures luck and success in love. The hearts, carefully placed in a closed circle, provide endless enchantment and happiness. A decorative, scalloped border completes the design. A life filled with love and romance is offered to all."
I have another one hanging directly across from it at the other end of the room....

So, on to another totally different subject.....
I made quite a few holiday gifts this year, and had every intention of taking pictures of them to show off on my blog. However, that didn't quite happen. I think I'm gonna go back and demand to be allowed to take pictures of all gifted items. Here are some pictures of the gifts I gave Kristal.

The embroidery on this bag was inspired by the fabric that is the main part of the tote bag. She had asked for something with little birds on it....so, TA DA!





Since she is in England right now, I decided that she needed a fun, warm scarf to take with her. More birds of course! With the heart in honor of her recent engagement. The back is a flannel that is actually part of one of the Olivia the Pig collections.







With the leftovers from the project I made this quick and easy card. You just take a piece of card stock and fold it in half to make the card shape. Then you unfold it and sew pieces of fabric on the front. I didn't pin or glue them down, just held them in place while sewing. I went up and down each piece first and then came back across the whole thing with the big zig-zags. It was inspired by some cards that one of our customers had made.






PS - The title to this post is actually a quote from a movie. Can anyone name the movie?

Another substitute to actual pictures

Yet another meme (I've always hated that word). This time I took it from my friend Ardent Peace. You're supposed to bold all the things you've done. I'm warning you in advance that I probably won't have done that much.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book - I haven't published, but I've been in a published book a few times
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Okay, it's now certifiable that I am boring.