I'm in a Magazine....sort of!;)

 Really my pal Jo of Avery Homestore in Edinburgh, Scotland (MyBearPaw) is in the new UK magazine Homemade!

Here is the cover of the first issue.  I made the little owl...

 ...using Jo's pattern that is featured in the magazine!  Isn't he cute?  Everyone should have a guitar tummy and flannel back!

 Jo also has a two-page spread in the magazine and this is where I come in....see that red sticky arrow up above the table in Jo's workshop room?  It's pointing to MY little mini hanging on her wall!! Hahha!!  That awesome couch/pillow/lampshade piece is something Jo made for me in the Hoop Up! Swap!:) Aren't you jealous?  Jo said I was the first person to ask for her autograph.  I'm sure it won't be the last time she's asked as Jo is an amazingly creative person and I foresee many more projects in magazines from her! Thanks Jo!

 Here's another finish...the boy has a good pal who just became a daddy for the second time.  The wee owl is going to two year old big brother Cash, the quilt is going to his new baby sister Clarabel!:)  Daddy is a musician....I think he'll like the fabric! The flannel backing is fantastic. I need to use flannel more often!

You know that when something is finished there is always another project waiting in the wings.  My pal Amy at During Quiet Time sent me three fun charm packs of Asbury that I won in her giveaway.  I'm going to use those with this great stack of solid charms Pam gave me last year for the perfect and perfectly easy picnic quilt....now the weather just needs to warm up!

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day....I did!;)

~d

Little Finishes

Hope all in the Northeast are staying warm...we dodged that storm just having about 1.5  inches of snow and loads of wind.  Today is glorious!

With all this messy weather I have been getting some things done.

 This is Eclectic Manor made from the windows/door theme at the Bitty Block Swap.  If you want to read the Manor's story and see who made each wee block check it out here.  I made the mouse door in the attic!:)

 Here is Eclectic Theater made from the movie theme blocks....read the Theater's story here! I made the drive-in theater block in the middle row on the bottom....I should have picked better fabrics for it!

 January's theme at The Sketchbook Challenge was Artist Dates....I really never made time for myself to go somewhere and just draw.  At the end of the month I realized I was going to mess up my streak of posting a picture every month since the Challenge began January 2011...so I got to it!  The boy gave me a French Press for Christmas so I had coffee on the brain!

It's Ruthie's turn at the Bitty Block Bee.....she picked Harry Potter so I made her a feather and the Knight's Bus....I forgot the bus should have been purple but Ruthie didn't care....thank heavens!!:)  My turn is coming up in May...I have finally have an idea....it's a secret for now!!

Things are really starting to heat up for the Sew South Retreat next month in Charlotte, NC.  I'm doing a few of the fun swaps and one of them is a Sample Swap.  We'll be put in random groups of five and swap little homemade goodies.  I made jewelry pouches.

Little drawstring bags with six pockets on the inside.  Love those colors.  Should have made one for myself!!  We just received our Supply List and I'm so excited. We will be making a clutch purse, a duffle bag, a foundation paper piece project AND some lounge pants!  I've made all that before but this time I'll be with a bunch of like-minded peeps....sewing+talking+food=so freaking much fun!!  

I also received some fun mail this week...aren't these itty bitty wooden birds adorable? I showed my Dad a picture and he made these for me.  I want to put a more colorful trim on them but for now this will do.  They are sitting on my shelf....just being cute! Thanks Dad!! xoxo
~d

Love From Utah and California....and Back Again!

  Wonderful friends have I...yep...wonderful friends and I'll give you a couple of examples! 

Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter had several copies of 

Sweet Celebrations  for sale in her shop.  Amy has an awesome project in the book! Alas I was too late to buy one but lookie, lookie what she found and sent to me!!! For Free!! No pay....nada!!

How wonderful was that?  A thank you note just didn't seem like enough so...

 ...I made her this!  It's a copy of the little apple she has on her logo.

Oh...and look inside the book!!!:) Thanks bunches pal...I can't wait to try out your Love Notes wall hanging and my little thanks is flying to you right now!:)  

See this cutie...this is Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts....she sent me some Julie love via my pal Kerry who helped out at Road to California.

 Kerry took this photo of Julie at the show in front of her booth....look at that smile and her booth was amazing!  You can see more photos here.  Julie wasn't content to send me this paper note with Kerry...no...

...she sent me ALL this....her new book Toes in the Sand and her Hex N More ruler!!

 So this is my thank you to Julie....her blue jay feather logo.  I think her brother drew the logo.

Inside... another autograph...I'm getting quite a collection of those!:)

Ladies....my heart is full...thank you so much. I hope you both feel the love I put into these little minis!:)
xo
~d

I Have a New Baby Brother!!

Yep, I'm a new big sister.

We fixed up Daddy's workshop carport....

...added a few lights, some greenery, rugs, quilts and bows....

 ....got the girl and her friend in the UK on Skype....

 ....placed the girl on a ladder....added a very nice local minister....

 ....and now our family is bigger.... my baby brother is 6'6"!!:)

Welcome to the family Jason!!

xo

~d

ps....thanks for the photos Ant.

Two and a Half Years Later...

....my Old Red Barn Quilt Along Pork Chop Swap quilt is done!

I wasn't sure how to quilt it but I did make it easier on myself by piecing it in three sections. If you go here you'll see what I mean....and the sections are labeled with my swapping cohorts!:)

 I wasn't going to post a photo of it on the bed until I made new pillow shams but then I remembered our wonderful penguin pillowcases given to us by my in-laws and I love how that looks!

You can't tell from this photo but all nine big blocks are quilted differently.

I also picked some special minis to put something new above the bed....

...Window Tree by Max in the upper left, My Garden by Nan, Girl Pals by Mandy and a couple of my minis.  Lynz gave me the lovely Dresden pillow.....did I stage properly girlie?:) 

It's a two quilt Winter so my ARRR8 quilt is underneath!!

Starting to get ready for the Sew South Retreat in March....eight packs of 25 charms for the Charm swap....don't you wish you were going?:)

~d

2013 Starts and a few Finishes

Wow, January 18th already?!! I have to admit I'm not having any problems writing 2013....I kinda like how it looks and I've finished and started so many things....it's going to be a banner year!:)

Here's a little block that went to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts, who has organized the Sew South Retreat coming up in March, is going to take all the house blocks she gets from those going to the retreat and make a lovely wall hanging for the Ronald McDonald house there in Charlotte.  Won't that be a wonderful and cheerful thing to greet the families?!

Remember the 3 yards of fabric I made last year...once in a while I'll have the photo as my blog banner...now I have cut into those pieces....any guesses as to what I'm making? Ha!  Maybe I should give a goodie to the person that guesses correctly...or closest!:) What do you think?

Another start began as a drawer clean out.  Sooooo many tee shirts....never going to wear them all....how about making some knit "yarn" and crocheting something? Yep, that's what I am going to do!  The boy cleaned out two of his drawers so now I have another stack twice as big as this one!  Stay tuned!

January Bitty Block Bee Queen is Sil from Brazil...love how that sounds!:)  Her theme is doors/windows and she wanted one of each size so I made a window looking out to a garden and "Sil's Sewing Shop" complete with sewing machine button sign and button flowers.....she loves them!:) Sil is an amazing talent on the sewing machine so I'm always touched with how much she loves and appreciates all her "soft" mail!:)

At work we sell precut packages of "Colorstory" and "Brick" batiks. Carly gave me several packages of "Colorstory" and said have fun....make a sample of what you can do with them....so I did!;)  I didn't have my camera so this was taken with my phone...you can't see the hand quilting in the cream colored areas. Every

piece is a different pattern!:)

Last year Bitty Block Committee had a "calendar" theme.  I took them out, framed each up with a little grey, added a loop at the top and made a perpetual calendar.  Next month the lovely heart with replace the wee little penguin and so on.  The little block hanging in the upper left corner is my spacesaver...it goes wherever there is an empty space!:)  The adorable owl pin in the center was made for me by my pal Karen's hubby...Mr. Bill!:) If you look here I labeled each bitty so I'll always remember who made it!:) Thanks ladies!!

Love those sections of fencing pickets....might need to sneak them away from my parents...but in the meantime they are perfect for showing the crazy ninepatch fun of Frolic.  Isn't that birdcage fabric adorable...that came from Urban Outfitters!  The boy likes this quilt....so he shall have it....

....and the kitty likes this place to sleep....it is yours from now on Slate....it is yours!!:)


~d

Merry Kissing Frog to You!

I didn't send any last year...and felt terrible...so I made amends and made some Christmas cards.  

Fabric scraps win the day again!!  I wish I had kept one for myself!

 A couple Humbug bags....helicopters for my brother and Hello Kitty for the boy's girlfriend!

 We did Secret Santa this year and I drew my niece.  After a little snooping I found a quote from Dinosaur Comics that she likes:

"The time for questions is over.

Now is the time for unbridled optimism."

I so agree!

 Embroidered it on some linen and made it into a pillow.  I also put a loop at the top in case she just wants to hang it.  Love that fabric!!

This year's tree is a two foot tall Cryptomeria  'Black Dragon' . Isn't it adorable? Several days after Christmas we will plant it near our front porch.  It only gets about ten feet tall and five feet wide. Perfect!

(Sketchbook Challenge December theme..."Gift")

Here's hoping your day has been Merry and Bright and that you have been smooched by your favorite frog!;) HaHa!!;)

xo

~d

We miss you girl! xoxo