Finally Swooning

i am finally swooning

and i couldn't be happier who i am swooning with

i have had this little stash of Tula Pink's Parisville living with me for some time now.  i knew that i just couldn't make anything with it.  i knew that i wanted to make a quilt that would showcase this line of fabric. 

somewhere over the past few months i got hit in the head out in blogland by all of these swoon blocks.  i am a little slow to catch on but once i did i knew exactly which quilt i would be making with my Parisville stash.  the blocks are 24 1/2" x 24 1/2" with larger pieces to show off Tula's amazing work.  i struggled a bit with the background color.  if you know me then you know i almost never set anything in white/neutral/cream fabric.  i wanted a solid but nothing super dark.  after much deliberation i ended up with a light purple.  totally not me but i love it.

so...  i have one block done.  i started it a couple weeks ago and finished it today.  i did have a trip to Chicago in between so i am not a total slacker.  i still have a few or more quilts that need to be quilted and bound and that is still my main focus.  but, i was itching to start on the swoon blocks and quickly became frustrated.  a friend suggested that once i completed either quilting a quilt or binding one that i make another swoon block.  i loved the idea.  thanks Sarah.  i already have my next quilt basted and ready to be quilted.  i need to make another swoon block.

i might also be doing a little something with this stack of lovely fabric.  i know.  i know. i have quilts to quilt and bind.  however, i also have quilts to make for H2H.

check back to see what becomes of these fat quarters.

happy sewing

A Memory Keeper

awhile back i was in search of a container to keep some items and memory's in.  it couldn't be just any old container because they are not just any old items and memory's.  they are things that have a special meaning to me and i wanted them treated as such when i stored them.

so off i went in search of the perfect container.  i found lots of options out there.  the majority of them being the plastic type.  clear plastic or colored.  those wouldn't work.  way too generic for me and my stuff.  so then i remembered seeing the pretty storage boxes at a local craft store.  so, i went there.  they did have the pretty storage boxes in various sizes.  the problem.  they only had two patterns.  a victorian themed one and a floral themed one.  neither of them spoke to me and told me to take them home.

what was i to do?

i pondered the idea for some time before it hit me.  if i can't find what i want at a store then why the heck can't i make it.  winner.  winner. 

that is exactly what i did.  i made my own special container to keep my special mementos in.

i found a box that would work and some fabric from my stash that i love but didn't have a plan for.  i only had 1 yard of it so i had to make it work.

then i got some Mod Podge and a brush.

i also picked up some polyurethane to protect it and give it a nice finish.

add all of those things together and i ended up with this.

my very own, one of a kind storage container.

for my special items and memories.

i added a ribbon to help with keeping the box closed.  i made it long enough so that i didn't have to re-thread it through the slots each time i got into the box.  you can see in the pic above that i had to piece some of the fabric on the inside of the box.  i am ok with that.  to me it gives it some character.

i love how it turned out.  i love that its totally me.  but most of all i love that my special things now have a place to call home.

so, when you can't find something that you are looking for stop and ask yourself 'can i make that?'  nine out of ten times there is a chance you can.

happy sewing

Happy Mail

i love getting mail.

doesn't really matter what it is.  i just love getting mail.  i know i am a little strange like that.  last week and this week i got wonderful mail.  what is better then getting fabric in the mail?  well....  maybe one thing but that's another post.  anyways, back to getting fabric in the mail.  fabric that you won is even better then fabric you bought right?

last week in the mail i got this Moda Bella Solids jelly roll from Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  i am in love with it.  it is right up my alley.  i have no idea what i am going to do with it yet.  maybe just stare at it for awhile.  it was a giveaway prize for H2H.  if you don't know what H2H is then you need to hop over to Sarah's blog and read all about it.  the jelly roll was contributed by Sue who blogs over at Sue Daurio's Quilting Adventures.  thanks Sue and thanks Sarah for putting together H2H.



then this week in the mail this amazingly wonder fabric showed up from Heather who blogs at {House} of A La Mode.  Heather was doing a giveaway of an entire FQ set of Laurie Wisbrun's new line Perfectly Perched from Robert Kaufman.  its not even released yet.  for some reason that makes me smile.  lol.  it should be out by late spring or early summer.  i am thinking that i need to make a bag with some of this fabric.  i am in love with the chair print - both patterns.

to enter this giveaway you had to make Heather laugh.  so, i shared an irish joke with her that Someone shared with me.  it made her laugh hard and its a good joke.  so giveaways are not always randomly drawn.  sometimes the entries are for the bloggers entertainment.

happy sewing

Another 1st

another 1st

my second niece turn 1.

her birthday was earlier in the month but the family party was this past weekend.  with them living out of town and crazy schedules its just how it worked out. 

hard to believe she is 1 already.  i was at quilt camp last year when the call came that my SIL was in labor and we made the mad dash south. 

i love this little monster.

I am......

i am still alive.......

i have been busy with life.  it some how seems to get in the way of my sewing.  ugh.  stupid health issues.  none the less i have been back to quilting.  i made this deal with myself that i can't start a new project until all of my tops are quilted.  what was i thinking?  i don't think i was thinking at all.............  the good news is that i finished quilting another one today.

here are the 6 that i have done so far.

the question now is do i quilt more or do i start putting the binding on these?  also, if i have the fabric, the pattern and the project stated in my head (months ago before this deal i made with myself) does that count as starting a new project?  wondering minds (mine) want to know.  i am itching to start putting these Swoon blocks together.......

note to self - don't loan out your camera to your brother who goes on a trip to Mexico and doesn't give your camera back for a month....  no matter how many times you ask for it back.