Coach, Circus, and Cranberry Pie!

My friend Ali came to visit last weekend and we had the best time! We went shopping and ended up at Coach where I had a 25% off coupon and convinced Ali she NEEDED that yellow tote!  Yellow is Ali's "signature" color, so it really was a necessary purchase!  I needed no convincing that I needed the yellow clutch! :)  I just love a good leather bag!

We also went to this local craft fair.  I had heard all sorts of hype about it and how it was the best one. Um, lets just say Ali and I felt it wasn't our style.  We did manage to snag this AWESOME pie!  It was a cranberry-almond pie, but it was kind of like a tart or coffee cake in reality.  Whatever it was it was fabulous and we ate every last bite in two days!

I got a bee in my bonnet about making this quilt.  It's a pixelated heart based on one Jolene made with Kaffe fabrics.  I knew I wanted to use Anna Maria Horner's Field Study as soon as I saw it! I was very focused on finishing this one over the weekend!  When I get really into a project I tend to sing to myself.  My song of choice this time was "do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-CIRCUS!-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-AFRO! CIRCUS AFRO! CIRCUS AFRO! Polka-dot, Polka-dot! Polka-dot! AFRO!"  So anyone with kids will know the reference there, but Ali had no clue what it was from!  That didn't stop her from getting the song stuck in her head! ha ha ha!!!    Ali got a ton of stuff done, but I'm not allowed to show you anything because it's top secret! 

Jolene's quilt.

I'm so happy with how it came out!  It's hard to see the quilting from this picture, but the heart is quilted with straight lines that form a "V" in the center.  The neutrals are free motion quilted.  I *think* I may list this one in my shop in order to help pay for this:

Eeek! I have no idea how to use it, but I'm going to take my Pixelated Heart quilt out for a REAL photo-shoot to break it in!

Not to get all mushy, but I just love all the friends I've made through this online sewing community! It's so special when you actually get to spend time with one of them in person!

Chugga-chugga!

I think I can I think I can I think I can! I'm chugging on through some projects!

I finished my Modern Maples quilt!  I'm still a bit undecided on how to quilt this so it's been put aside for now.  All ideas are welcome!

This is my backing for my Modern Maples, but I don't have quite enough so I'm still brainstorming the best way to make it work!

I also finished the custom order table runner.  It's a larger version of a tutorial I have on my blog.  This one is 20"x80".  The font is from Word and is called Georgia.  Heads up if you make one of these, it is spot clean or hand wash only!  The center portion isn't quilted so it's gets a bit wonky if you wash and dry it like a normal quilt!

I finished this custom quilt top too!  It's been nick named "The Beast" since it is 108"x156"!!!!  It's at a long arm quilter now because I was not going to even attempt to wrestle that!

I also finished a few gifts for my best friend's baby shower! I won't be able to go (she lives in TX), so I may have gone a bit overboard with the gifts.  This is a peek-a-boo play mat based on Anna Maria Horner's pattern in Handmade Beginnings.

I modified the original pattern by only making 6 blocks instead of 9.  I did this for a few reasons: 1) I wanted to eliminate some of the girly colors since she's having a boy 2) I wanted to personalize it a bit by adding the applique  3) I really didn't have any cute I-spy type fabrics in other colors.  Oh, I also didn't add the border that the pattern calls for.  The mat is 36" square.

Peek-a-boo!  I used some precious fabric here (not that my bestie would know that), but it's for someone special so I needed special fabric.  Had I to do this over again, I think I would have added some batting or at least some top-stitching to the flaps--just to make it feel more polished.

I raw edge appliqued the letters in matching thread rather than blanket stitching to add even more texture after it's washed.

I was especially happy to find a home for that squares fabric! I was gifted that fabric by a friend and have always loved it, but I never had the right project for it.  This was a match made in heaven!

I also made a minky-backed monogram blanket, two appliqued onesies (Texas and the Apple logo), and three bibs!  

Here's a better pic of the monogram blanket.

Whew!  Off to work on some more projects!!!!

Project Overload

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.  Lots of custom requests, lots of project for family members I've left undone for far too long, lots of projects I want to start but have no time for, lots of Christmas presents I want to make, lots of opportunities from Sewing Summit I need to follow up on, the list goes on.  When I get overwhelmed I tend to freeze and do nothing (or at least it feels that way).  I'm trying to get my act together, but in the mean time, here's a glimpse into my world lately!

This is my mom!  She'll probably kill me for posting this pic (yes, she reads my blog religiously, even if she doesn't understand half of all the fabric mumbo jumbo).  You can see I come by my silly faces naturally!

My new, and LOCAL!, friend Stephanie made this for me--for no other reason that she totally rocks!!!!  She used my alphabet pattern but shrunk it down to a virtually impossible 1.5"high! That is some kick ass paper piecing my friend! I totally cried when I opened it! Thank you again!

I made a shower curtain for Ann Kelle's blog! I don't know how she made my crappy pictures look that good, but she's pretty fab!  

My oldest kiddo turned 6! I had to make his cake because he wanted Green Lantern and that's not "in" right now.  I hate to bake so this was a labor of love! 

My youngest is growing naughtier by the day, but he's just so dang cute!

Went to the Franklin Pumpkin Festival and ran into these cool dudes!

Both boys got an A+ at their doctor and dental appointments! We like to pass the waiting time by making silly faces.

A Flickr friend, Jenny, asked me to make her some boxy bags--she even sent me the fabric!

I was super happy with how they came out! They both have laminated Lizzy House Pearl Bracelet on the inside!  They are also HUGE! That's a FQ bundle of Prince Charming on the inside!

It wasn't until I finished this one that I realized the radios matched up along the zipper.  TOTAL ACCIDENT! I'm simply not that talented to do it on purpose!  I really wanted to keep this one!

The rugrats had fun Trick or Treating and I had fun passing out candy!

Hopefully I'll get my act together soon and have more projects to share!

Sewing Summit 2012 Recap

I know you all want to see the swag and goodies I got at Sewing Summit so I'm just going to put that up front and save you all that work scrolling down. :)  There are a couple of things missing from this pic since the second box I shipped from Sewing Summit hadn't arrived when I took this, but you get the general idea! Pretty cool, huh?

I left at the crack of dawn on Thursday for Utah!  I was sleepy but excited!  I met Elizabeth at the airport in Dallas where we were making a connection to SLC.  It was so great to finally meet her in person!!!!  Amy (Sukie Sukie to me) picked us up and took us to the hotel to drop off our stuff and then a few of us late stragglers (who missed the Shop Hop bus) hopped in Amy's car for lunch and a shop hop of our own!

This is Faith, Lee, me, and Terri acting like total dorks at a crosswalk.  The flags are supposed to make you more visible to cars, but frankly I think the flags are to make tourists look like idiots for the amusement of the locals.

After shopping we met up with some other ladies for frozen yogurt.

My good friend, Elena, and me at the Craftsy mixer the Thursday night.  I have to say, I was a bit surprised by how many people knew my name/blog name.  I felt a bit like a unknown going into this since I was a fill in teacher, but I had a lot of people recognize me.  Weird!

Have I mentioned that my roommate, Terri, is the BEST roomie ever?!?!?!?  She brought me this bundle of Anna Maria Horner goodness because she knows my obsession.  So very sweet of her!  We decided to room together before we even knew each other and it couldn't have worked out better!  Terri is one of the sweetest people I've met!

As I said before, I was a fill-in teacher for my good friend, Michelle.  Well, Michelle, being the thoughtful, talented person she is, made Elena, Ali, and me pillow cases to use at the hotel and had them sent ahead for us.  We were all SO SO SO excited!  She made each one unique for our own style, we didn't even need the labels to know which one belonged to us!

The most exciting thing that happened the first night was meeting this little guy.  I was innocently drying my hair when I felt something on my foot.  I looked down to see a bug of some kind.  I shook it off and looked a bit closer only to realize it was a SCORPION!!!  Yes, you read that correctly, a SCORPION!  Commence cursing and squealing like a little girl.  I called the front desk to request someone come up and kill the evil thing.  After the operator freaked out a bit, she sent up a manager and a security guy.  They didn't seem to believe me at first, but I showed them the eight-legged thing I trapped under a glass and the reply was, "Well I'll be damned!  It IS a scorpion!"  Uh huh.  Kill it now, please!  

The first day of classes kicked off with my first go at teaching a large group.  The teaching itself went well, but I discovered at the end of class that half of the students had the wrong sized template and their pouch was too small to fit into the metal frames!  I wanted to cry!  Some of them had used the template copies I brought and some had printed at home, but when they were copied they must have been slightly shrunk.  I was so sick to my stomach over this!  It was all my fault!  I copied the template the night before I left and I never thought to compare it to the original.  For any of you in my first class, I'm so so so so so sorry!  Thankfully, I had my originals and the next two classes made sure their fabric was cut the correct size.  Lots of people went home with a completed pouch and the confidence to make more so, mission accomplished!  I did end up with a bit of tendonitis in my wrist after helping so many people glue their pouch in the frame! LOL!  

Jeni's color class was awesome and we all got color cards from Michael Miller!

Me, Elena, and Terri hanging out before the SLCMQG mixer.  Love these girls!

My mini from Christina's curves class!  I didn't get a picture of Kati and Faith's Shapes and Angles class, but that one was my fav.  So many great little tips and tricks for me to use!

Got to hear Joel Dewberry and see his new collection, Notting Hill. 

Final morning breakfast with a lot of my favorite people!

The three musketeers, Ali, Elena, and me.

My sister in law, brother in law, and nephew live in SLC so I stayed an extra day to hang out with them.  Isn't he the cutest?!?!?  Yes, this is the infamous Ezra Stegosaurs (for real, that's his name). 

He's a hoot!

I fell a bit in love with Fall in Utah!  I may blow this picture up and hang it in my house! 

So beautiful!

I made my brother in law stop in the middle of a street for me to take this one! The light was amazing!

I participated in Amy's bunting swap (I made a Mendocino one) and this is the one I got!  I love it!  Jeni made it from vintage sheets and it's so colorful and the perfect addition to my mini quilt wall!

My sew-fantastic roomie, Terri, made me this Bohemian one so I wouldn't have to fight for it in the bunting swap (she made a second one for the swap).

So there you have it! My Sewing Summit recap!  There was obviously a lot I left out, but with all the blog posts going up I'm sure you can fill in the blanks! :)  I had such a great time and I can't wait for next year!  Whether I go as a teacher (puh-lease Erin!) or just an attendee, I know I want to be a part of it!