Fat Quarter Shop BOM Done!

i finally finished putting together the top from last years Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery BOM. it took me all week but its finished........

and since i did the year priors BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop i thought i would share that one as well.




this is the prior year. un-ironed but my AC is out so - sorry - at least you get a pic of it - wrinkles & all.



and here is this past years BOM top all put together. needless to say i LOVE it!




i love how the colors work together in this one & especially the light blue boarder next to the dark brown.

now for the dilemma for both quilts. do i quilt them myself or send them out to be quilted? and, if i send them out to be quilted - do i have all over quilting done on them or do i have them custom quilted? or maybe i quilt 1 myself (i can always use the practice) & send 1 out to be quilted? i need some help here quilting buddies..... please?????

if i knew what i wanted to do i would have already done it with the prior years quilt. see my predicament???

so, its off to work for me know where there is AC and it will be much cooler then it is in my house. i will be back this evening to get caught up on some quilt along blocks/projects & maybe cut some bags cut out & ready to sew.

let me know your thoughts on the quilting of my Fat Quarter Shop BOM quilts & may you all stay cool today..........

oh, i almost forgot. today starts the countdown. countdown to what you ask???

Dave Matthews Band concerts - what else would i have a count down for???

T minus 30 day until my Dave Matthews Band fest begins - 6 shows in 20 days - i will be like a kid waiting to go to Disneyland marking off the days till the 1st show in Boise.

Charm Pack Winner

so, last week when i was in Houston for work i got an email from Bev at 44th Street Fabric (dot) com telling me i was the winner of her charm pack giveaway. i was super excited - i LOVE winning stuff. i was so excited that i gave her my wrong city & state - right address just wrong city & state. i know major dork. needless to say i am sending a little something Bev's way for the double shipping charges she had to pay because of my being a dork.

here is what i won - 2 Halloween Night charm packs by Minick & Simpson. i totally LOVE them. i haven't decided what to make with them yet but i am sure something will come to mind.

THANKS Bev for the great giveaway!!! go check out 44th Street Fabric (dot) com



on the unexciting things going on in my life...... i lost my AC last night in my house which made for a warm evening. i am trying to finish up my last years Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Block top - 1 more boarder to go. and i need to make about 5 western themed bags for a local artisan barn where i sell them at.

with it being Friday lets hope that mr AC man can get me back up & running otherwise little to no sewing will get done.

have a great weekend whatever it is you may be doing.

Giveaway Goin On....

There is a great giveaway going on over at lovey little handmades. Go check out what she is giving away!!!

Back At The Machine

i am back from Houston and back at my machine. with the help of a couple friends it worked out that my machine came back home while i was out of town - which is great considering it was 2 hours away from my home being serviced. i was sewing last night working on last years mystery block quilt from Fat Quarter Shop.



i plan to spend as much time as possible sewing this weekend - trying to get odds & ends finished up so i can start prepping for my 5 day quilt camp in September. sounds crazy i know but it will be here before we know it & i always like to go to camp prepped & ready to sew.

while i was in Houston quilting wasn't far from my mind. my hotel was connected to the convention center and the follow pics are of the carpet that is in the sky walks connecting the two buildings. for those that have been there for quilt market/show you know what i am talking about. i found them to be inspiring.




oh, i almost forgot about the best part of being gone..... i won a giveaway from Bev at 44th Street Fabric. some Halloween fabric is on its way to me - once i get it i will post some pics of it. thanks for the great giveaway!!!

i am thinking that i should go away more often because while I was in St John on vacation I won EQ7 as well as a fabric/pattern giveaway - maybe me leaving town in a lucky thing.....

everyone enjoy your weekend & check back next week to see what i got accomplished.......

Sister's Part 2 (the purchases) & Some Gifts

this past week was my birthday & i got a few quilt related gifts for that. the French General kit & the new Buggy Barn book i thought were gifts to myself but i later found out that someone else took care of that bill for me - that was a very nice surprise - many thanks!!!!!

the fat quarters on the left were from my BFF & the green shirt on the right was from a couple of my Renegade buddies. we all go to a quilt camp that one night at dinner everyone is to wear red - well i don't follow the rules very well so they all got red shirts & got me a green one - i LOVE it!!!!

the little purse picture frame & green fat quarter is from a Renegade as well. very fitting i thought since i am a purse fanatic as well as a green freak.



the following pics are of my Sister's trip purchases - you don't realize how much you bought until you unpack it all & start taking pics of it - wow! needless to say i have a bit of sewing to get done.



i only bought 3 patterns but i LOVE each of them. the quilt pattern can be made using fat quarters, jelly rolls, layer cakes or charm packs.



several green fat quarters & fat eighths for my asterisk quilt.



yardage of some good basic browns - we all know i don't like setting blocks in light fabric.



some more owl or as my niece calls it "who who" fabric - perhaps a bag - & yes Sharon i did buy this on the trip it was just folded in with some other fabric.



no plans for this fabric - i just LOVED it & had to have it.



same as above - but these colors are so not my norm but i was drawn to them & they were on sale so i got some yardage - maybe a stack & whack.



i fell in LOVE with this line last year & didn't buy it. it was on sale this year so i got some. again, no plans.



maybe some cropped pj pants out of this & a skirt for my niece.



i know, again with the "who who" fabric - no idea but i am starting to build a collection of owl fabric.



refer to comment above



pj pants for myself out of the green snowflake fabric & a pair for my SIL out of the other.

so there you have it. my Sister's trip purchases & potential projects for the upcoming year. i personally have another rule about Sister's & it is just for myself. i (ideally) like to finish/use everything i have purchased from the prior year before i make the trek next year. we will see how i do.......

i took my Bernnina in to have it serviced yesterday & left it there & when i say there i am referring to Spokane which is 2 hours away from me. i didn't know how to behave without a sewing machine in my house so i went to my parents & got my old Viking to use until i get my baby back. crazy i know but what can i say.

i head to Houston on Sunday for work then after that trip i am home for most of August - so the month of August will be devoted to sewing. i can't believe that August is going to be here so soon - crazy scary.

i hope everyone has a great next week or so & i will be back at the machine before i know it - darn job anyways!!!!!

Sister's Part 1

Sister's 2010 is in the books now & so i thought i would share a few of my favorite pics of the trip. 1st is a pic of our group that went on this journey with me.

myself, Bonnie, Debbie, Stephanie, Sharon, Lynette & Kitty

next is a view from the back of the house we stayed at. its high dessert in central Oregon. the closer you get to Sister's & Bend you are in more trees but out where we stayed it was like this.

the next few pics are of some quilts at the show that really caught my eye that i wanted to share. there was over 1,300 quilts but these really stood out to me.

i LOVE the quilting on this one. you can see that it has dragon flies quilted on the black background fabric.
i LOVE the bright colors of this one.


this one was the raffle quilt done by Jean Wells who started the Outdoor Quilt Show 35 years ago. SIMPLY AMAZING!!!!
last but not least my FAVORITE from the whole show. something that maybe someday i will be able to do. a true artist with thread & fabric.


i will work on getting pictures of my purchases & finds together this week for another post. i have a quick trip out of town to the doc on Wed then I fly to Houston for 5 days on Sunday. during this time my machine will go in for a LOF (lube, oil & filter) so it will be ready to go once i get back.

i hope you all have a great week!

Yet, another bag.....

ok, so i got home last night & i wasn't in the best of moods. not good considering i am suppose to finish packing & getting ready for my trip to Sister's. needless to say i needed to change my mood so i went down to my sewing cave & got to work. i decided that my big Sister's bag needed a little Sister's bag to go along with it. i took out my scraps of Brady Bunch fabric & got to work.

what do you think? i am pretty pleased. i just punted & this is what i came up with. its sort of a smaller version of Lazy Girl's Miranda Bag which i LOVE.
it fits nicely into my big Sister's bag & it will be great for the future.
just goes to show that if you focus your energy into something good you might end up with something great. not that i am saying the little Sister's bag is great but its pretty stinking cute & you get might point.

i will be leaving shortly for the journey & i am going to try & post part of our trip so make sure & check back here.

enjoy your day!

Sister's Bag #2 & Some Other Stuff......

so here is Sister's bag #2 the one i will be taking with me to Sister's. its the same pattern as bag #1 but smaller & no appliqued initial. i am very pleased with how it turned out. i used clear thread and quilted around all of the flowers & leaves. i had issues but never the less it is done.

the pattern is The Big Shopper from Whistlepig Creek Productions

the fabric is Brady Bunch from Michael Miller which i found at Fat Quarter Shop

of course i did the inside different with a divided pocket closer to the top for the cell & camera - Hello its Sister's - 1,300 quilts i will be taking lots & lots of pics that i will be sharing of course

i also added a spot for a water bottle you can see it at the bottom of the pic

this weekend i also made my 1st 2 blocks for Sarah in my Bee Splendid bee. i LOVE how they turned out & Karrie liked them so much that she is doing a quilt along with the same pattern using charm packs - go check out her blog & join her on the quilt along i am

i also made the next 2 blocks for the Simple Sampler Quilt Along that Amy is doing

last but not least i made a block for a local group that i belong to. we each have a box with our fabric in it & each month we rotate the boxes & we each make a block (the same block each month) so at the end of the year we have 12 different blocks. not a super exciting block but when you have a deadline sometimes easier is nice.

(this is my bff's fabric we'll see if she notices)
my lime quilt was from last years group

this is a short week for me with leaving for Sister's early Thursday morning & a possible trip to Spokane for yet another doc apt. so little to no sewing will be done but i will come home Sunday totally motivated to spend sometime with my machine.

3 days before we leave & i think i have things in pretty good shape.

we will hit 4 quilt shops on the 6 1/2 hr trip there.

we stay about 25 minutes outside of Sister's in Crocked River Ranch at my BFF's sister's vacation home. which is totally awesome because its FREE. my BFF won't be makin the trip this year & i will miss her tons. she could either do Sister's or Quilt Camp in September & she picked camp. once we get settled & have dinner we head into Sister's & go to the Stitchen Post they are open until 10 that night & last year we closed the place down. Friday it will be quilt shops galore in Redmond, Terrebone, Bend & Prineville back to the house for dinner & a good nights rest before the big show on Saturday.

Saturday we get into Sister's around 7ish - 1 to get a parking spot by the park where we have a picnic lunch & 2 to go to the Sister's Coffee Company for coffee & a pastry for breakfast. we are usually in town until around 3 or so then we re-visit any of quilt shops & head back to the house for a re-cap of the show & our purchases before a good nights sleep & the drive home on Sunday.

i will be taking my laptop in hopes of being able to post some of our trip along the way....... so as always stay tuned for the mis-adventures of me & my peeps as we take on Sister's 2010.

Sister's Bag #1

we have 1 rule for our annual trip to the Sister's Outdoor Quilt Show

each person going has to make a bag to take with them & each year it has to be a new or different bag that they made

this year for me i knew which bag i wanted to make i just didn't know what size so i started with the largest size because you can never have to many big bags - right???? plus for the largest size you could use a charm pack & i had a Freebird charm pack

no brainer on that one

Sister's 2010 Bag #1

its big - really big & i don't want to be carrying that large of a bag

the bigger the bag the heavier it gets

the pattern is from Whistlepig Creek Productions and its called The Big Shopper

the pattern is great and it has cutting instructions for 6 different sizes of bags

i am a bag makin fool so of course i did the inside different then the pattern called for but thats me - i had 2 charms left so i made a little cell phone pocket out of them & also added a sewin in magnet for help with keeping the top of the bag closed


i will be making a smaller size for my trip but i LOVE how this one turned out
i think i will use it for work - i always carry a bag to work with my lunch, junk & other stuff so this will be fun for the summer
*******
the next one will be made out of Brady Bunch fabric
so come back & check that one out when i get it done
considering its 6 days away i had better get started