The FIRST Sew South Retreat was....

... in Charlotte, North Carolina . This amazing adventure called  Sew South was all about ....

 ...meeting new friends....

...shopping at We're Sew Creative....

.... IKEA smiles...

...sewing....

 ...gluing...

 ....more sewing...

....nourishment to sew some more!

Happy finishes...

...and proud, inspiring new friends!!

After a drive home through Virginia....

...and one week later....I still haven't opened my duffle ...I still can't look at all the glorious stash we received...then it really will be over...I don't want that feeling to be over!!

Thanks so much Jennifer....thanks so much!!

~d

ps...I really can't express how awesome this weekend actually was so go here to the Sew South flickr group and read what others so eloquently wrote!

Don't Forget to Be Awesome!

This year at work I'm in charge of Block of the Month program.  

There will be thirty different blocks by years end...

....here are the first eight...very scrappy.  I love them.  

Too bad I have to wait a year to put them all together!

 In the meantime I finally finished the top of the Mystery Quilt we did last year. It's not quite my cup o'tea but it was a nice challenge and I love the fabrics.  Kerry and Penny have to really stretch to hold it up it's so huge!  Penny will be quilting it next month! Yeah!!

 Last year during our visit with the girl in the UK I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday and the girl's roommate, Rose, gave me a lovely package of fabric squares. I used them to make a little case for  the Acer computer my dad gave me and a scarf! Thanks Rose!

Here are a few Reverse Starburst blocks I made for Krista. Each little square is 4" before stitching. Love them.  Google it to see quilts made with this block!

 The girl at work at The Story Museum....being Awesome!;)

~d

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