Getting Woolly

Today was the day for our 4th annual celebration of my prim-loving friend Brenda's birthday! It's becoming something of a tradition! You can read about previous ones HERE, HERE, and HERE! My girl Sofia made the cupcakes and all three kids and I had fun piping the frosting on them to decorate. Can you say yummy? White cake with vanilla lime buttercream frosting! I did discover tonight that carrot cake is actually her very VERY favorite, so next year we might have to mix it up a little! She wasn't complaining about the lime this year though! It's fun each year to come up with something different to make for her present. Brenda is one of the few people I love to make presents for, because she really gets the time and effort put into them and really truly treasures them. Since she's the one that introduced me to wool applique a couple of years ago, I thought I'd go in that direction for this year's present, a little pillow/pincushion. I had to take some pics outside with it - it was gorgeous outside today! I had SO much fun making it, and truth be told, it's sadly one of the only pieces of applique I've made this year. It has given me the bug again though, so once again here I am vowing to quilt and blog more!! Happy birthday Brenda!

Fabric Shopping!

Nothing makes a quilter's heart beat faster than being surrounded by beautiful fabric! I unexpectedly had the chance to go to my favorite local quilt shop today. Local as in an hour away, but soooo worth it! I took the family on a surprise date for the day - up to Maine for lunch at Bob's Clam Hut (featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) for some yummy clams and fish'n'chips... We then went to Portsmouth NH to visit a decommissioned submarine, which was actually fascinating!

Check out the sleeping quarters...

So tiny! We were going to head home when my lovely hubby said, "Why don't you go to the quilt shop?" I hadn't even considered it - I hate making my family wait around for me, and it's not exactly the kind of place you spend 5 minutes in, but hubby insisted so how could I say no?! The quilt shop is called Portsmouth Fabric Company and they carry every single Kaffe Fassett fabric made. That won't mean a thing to some of you, but to others, you will know why I was in heaven! I was a naughty girl and bought some of the new Kaffe Fassett Spring 2012 collective fabrics, the reprinted Flea Market fancy and a few others.

I also bought some Kaffe Fassett laminated fabric to make myself a makeup bag. While handy, the ziplock bag I've been using for the last year just isn't cutting it anymore! Here is the laminated fabric next to the same regular cotton.

Aren't they lovely?! If you're a Kaffe Fassett fan then you'll like these scenes from the store...

I took just two of the kids in with me while the other stayed in the car with hubby. They were both fantastic in the store, though you can see how happy my boy was about being there...

I love that photo! The classic pose of the son of a quilter who's been to one too many quilt shops in his short 8 years!

The Bookshelf

A couple of weeks ago my lovely little green bookcase in the hallway which you can read about HERE went from this...

to this...

UUGGGHHHH!! Yes folks, it completely collapsed! What was a girl to do? I needed that storage for my cookbooks and church books. My little house just doesn't have anywhere else to put them! Soooo I got myself down to the thrift store quick smart, and found this beauty...

Best of all was the price!

Yes, I know it doesn't look like much with its nasty beat-up brown paint job, but it was the perfect size, and heavy duty. This thing isn't collapsing any time soon like the predecessor! A couple of coats of white glossy spray paint, and it now looks like this...

So lovely! I finally have a place to put my books, extra dishes, and my little collection of green 'stuff'! Also, the fruit and vege quilt is the perfect size to go right above it.

Just for a size comparison, here's a photo of both the old bookshelf and the new one together...

Now I need to do some serious rearranging of the rest of the kitchen so my framed pavlova tea towel has a home too. Stay tuned!

Quilt Room Neglect

Since I haven't blogged or quilted very much so far this year (going to change, I promise!), my quilt room has become very neglected. In fact I've avoided going into it at all expense, but today was the day. My daughter was home sick from school...(having a nap on the couch with her vomit bowl!)

which meant I needed to stay home from work, and well, what better day to clean my quilt room up?! I had no idea where to start, so I did the same thing I tell my kids...just bend over and pick up the first thing you touch. Whaddya know, it actually worked! It went from this...ugh...

to this...

Yay! Sofia hasn't been using her little sewing are too much lately, so she kindly said I could set up my laptop and drawing tablet on her desk.

I filled up 3 large bags full of trash...

And filled a large box with fabric to get rid of... (if anyone local wants it, come and get it - sorry I'm not mailing it anywhere - it's too big! There's nothing fancy in it - mostly older chain store calico type fabrics)

I also put my bobbins into the handy dandy bobbin holder I bought in my last post.

At last, I feel like quilting again!

The Leprechaun Did It...

Did what you might ask? Well just look for yourself...

Our little resident leprechaun had fun before the kids got up today doing things like pinning up my quilts, hanging pictures upside down, moving chairs and pots to the wrong place, and of course, turning the milk green! My boys totally believe in it...my 11 year old girl, hmmm...not so much!

First Fabric of the Year

OK OK OK So I know I've been the worst blogger ever. My sister-in-law even told me on Facebook that it was time for me to do another apologetic post. So, with apologies out of the way, let's get on with the show...

Today I bought the first quilt fabric I've bought all year. There is ONE quilt shop in our town, and it's so tiny and out of the way that I lived here for 5 years before I knew it existed. It's really not my kind of shop - absolutely no modern fabrics, but a good supply of basics. I received an email from them yesterday saying they were having a 40% off absolutely everything sale, so how could I not go?!

I even managed to find some goodies to take home - some mustard and purple Kona cottons, 2 grey monochromatic pieces to add to my grey stash (yes I'm collecting greys!) and there was no way I could pass up the Little Golden Book fabric. It's begging to be made into a book bag! Or maybe a nice padded cover for my new Kindle Fire which my hubby surprised me with this week! (On a side note, I've been watching the first season of '24' on it - yes, 10 years after the fact. How did I not see it the first time around? It's FABULOUS!!)

A bobbin spool holder also came home with me. I've been wanting one for years, and at 40% off it was a no-brainer...

We've had a fun week as it was Spirit week at the kids' school. Each day had a different theme - Mix-match day, Pajama day, Crazy Hat day, Crazy Hair day, and finally today, Green Day. I have a couple of pics of the kids and their get-ups...

First, Mix-match day...

and secondly, Crazy Hair day...

So you see, even though I've been a terrible blogger, some things never change around here!

Hanging My Head In Shame

Well here I am, FINALLY writing a post, but just like the title says, hanging my head in shame. When I last posted on December 31st I said I would still be posting 2-3 times a week. January came and went and I didn't post a single thing! I think the whole year of daily posting just burnt me out. Every time I thought about posting, I just thought, 'Ugh", and then time got away on me and I felt worse and worse. You know how it goes! But here I am now!

I really haven't done much quilting this last month. Between the holidays and kids at school and my new job, I just haven't had the same amount of time as I used to. I need to get better at using the time I have.

Two nights ago however, I sat down at my sewing machine and forced myself to sew. I really want to get my zig zag quilt finished for our bedroom. It's been in the making for over a year now, and it's time to get it done! A block here and there just isn't cutting it, so I sewed for a few hours and made 200 units which will be turned into 25 blocks which is just about the number left that I needed.

If you want to make your own zig zag blocks, I made a tutorial HERE that you can use. They are SO much fun to make, and it's a great way to use scraps you have lying around.

The next sewing I need to do is curtains. Remember when I sewed 180 yards of fabric into curtains for a local hair salon last year? Well they want more curtains, so I will once again be up to my elbows in sheer curtain fabric again! Hey, my roots are showing and I am in desperate need of highlights, so the timing couldn't be more perfect!

Phew! Now that I've done a post, I feel like I've got over the burnt-out-bump and I promise I'll be more faithful in posting regularly! Thanks for hanging in there.