giveaway winner!

I used random.org to select the winner and the winner is......

#4 - Me aka Supermom (also signed Margaret), who said:

Lovely - this is some of my favorite fabrics. I would use it to start a Project Linus donation quilt for 2010, ...all in the spirit of giving and Thanksgiving.

I love the idea of this! I'd love to see some pics when you're done.

Thanks everyone!

gratitude and a giveaway

(ooops! I was saving this for tomorrow but hit "publish" before changing the date...oh well!)

I hope this post finds all of you having a safe, relaxing, happy holiday with your loved ones! I am spending it with mine, and am so grateful for so many things....my fabulous husband, my amazing and healthy children, good food, friends & family....

I could go on, but you get the idea! How about a giveaway?

This is for one fat quarter of each of the prints shown below - mermaids, underwater sisters & seahorses in aqua. Leave me a comment to enter....maybe tell me what you'll use them for. I'll leave the contest open until 10PM EST Saturday night. Winner to be posted that night or Sunday morning.

Good luck!

crafty-less??

My posts have been few and far between lately. Not for lack of crafting of any kind, but more due to my inability to find the time each day to post.....or take pictures.....or make anything personal (i.e. - not shop-related).

But the end is near. I really enjoy having the shop, and I am in full-fledged holiday shopping rush sales mode. I'm just riding the wave now until my holiday fabric is gone, and then a well-deserved break is in order. I have so many other things I want to get started/work on/finished....and the rapidly approaching holiday reminds me of how far behind I am on all of that! Many handmade gifts are planned, so I need to get crackin!

But lots is happening still. Most crafting has been taking place in the kitchen.

3 bushels of apples were turned into:

• Applesauce (no recipe needed....apples and cinnamon only!)
• Apple cake (I canNOT remember where I found this recipe...pretty sure it was linked from another crafty blog...anyone?)
• Apple Pie Filling

And during said "kitchen crafting" there was music:


Much less "cutesy" than a lot of kids music. We've been dancing in the kitchen (to which Lilah responds with fits of giggles!) and Noah keeps making regular requests for it. We were at Barnes and Noble buying Food, Inc. and he saw a CD with a plane on it and that was that.... And no, there are no songs about planes. Bummer.

His other regular request is "Please Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna. Go figure. ;-)

I still haven't had a chance to make the item I planned to giveaway as celebration for my 100th sale, but I'll be doing that soon. Check back here on December 2nd as I participate in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! But a giveaway is still in order....check back here on Thanksgiving for some gratitude and a giveaway....fabric related!

another quilt....finished and started!

We've had a bit of illness around here. First Noah, then Derrick, and now Lilah and I. Nothing too crazy...just yucky colds, but enough to make me want to lay in bed under the covers with a great movie and a hot bowl of soup. Oh...wait...I have kids. Scratch that idea!

I was hoping to have a giveaway today, but the time spent caring for the not-so-well little ones left me with no time to finish the item for said giveaway. In good time.... (and I recently scored some recently out-of-print & hard to find fabric....so maybe a fabric giveaway is in order soon as well....).

I at least wanted to show my last quilt. Another wonderland patchwork quilt (AKA, the quilt that Ashley made famous!). In fact, I see that Ashley has two Wonderland quilts for sale in her shop! Grab them before they're gone!


I've also been following the Block Party blog and they rolled out a tutorial for Friendship Stars. I had recently purchased a quilting bundle and thought this might be a fun quilt to make with them! I might have to fit some of the variation stars in there as well (I'm partial to the orange one myself!)

Anyone else following along and making friendship stars?

orange flowers

We had the most beautiful weather here today....mid 60s...sunny...spring-like! Which was such a treat because we had our family photos taken today. The photos below....they are thanks to the hubby. He's taking a photography class and he's practicing every day.

I had this shirt in mind for months for Lilah.....I had this fabric in my shop as part of a line I purchased and since it was more of an accent fabric it never sold - even though it was one of my favorites!

So as soon as I had this idea I yanked the possibility of it selling from the shop. I had to make this top....and I had to have this hat!

First...the top. The top is easily made by using my peasant dress pattern and simply shortening it. And with the serger - I can make the top in no time once cut. The elastic in the arms and neck take the most time! I love this as a toddler top because it fits generously...which in my mind means comfort. And as you can see, it easily layers over long sleeves for the cooler weather. Our pics were in the morning when there was still a bit of chill in the air.

And the hat? ...or hats in this case. They hail from Portland Beanie Company on Etsy. I had actually planned to feature them in my "friday finds" yesterday, but ran out of Friday....where do those hours go?

Anyway - Nili was amazing. I had planned to order these weeks ago (our shoot was actually supposed to happen over Halloween weekend and then with family in town and lots going on we postponed) so placed an emergency rush order last Sunday. I had them in hand by Thursday! And they are so beautiful and comfy and FUN to wear! I actually put Lilah's hat on as soon as we received it and immediately started taking pics....I left it on far too long due to the cuteness factor!

And celebration is in order! I actually hit a milestone today. 100 orders on Etsy! I am so grateful....it has been an amazing experience thus far.

A very special (and somewhat different!) kind of giveaway is in order. Coming later this week - stay tuned!

curveballs

Life is funny. There's always curveballs in there...

Last January I was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance. No biggie (though I'm certain I didn't say that at the time!). It is a huge change, but once you get used to and find really great substitutes for bread, pasta, etc. it gets pretty easy.

But every once in a while I cheat. And the way gluten works....those cravings come back and sneak up on you and then you cheat again....and again...

Last week our little guy was diagnosed with the same thing as his mama. So, back to square one for me...and really means we're going gluten free as a family. Too hard to have wheat-based stuff in the house that your three year old can't eat and then try to explain to him why he can't eat that through tears.

Luckily we haven't encountered too much of that just yet. All these months of "mommy can't eat that or she'll get sick" and "mommy has special bread" have helped. And if you ask him he'll make the cutest face you have ever seen (no seriously....it is!) and tell you it was because of his blood test. Which he was so fearful of, and was such a complete and total champ during - he watched and everything!

Anyway, now I'm trying to plan Thanksgiving (which we're driving 5 hours for) with two gluten free and one vegan and trying to locate a local free-range turkey (our fault for not ordering ours sooner) and all that while also planning a trip with some girlfriends in Vegas in March and multiple quilts I'm juggling and shop orders and ......my head starts spinning!

See now....she has the right idea! I think I'll go join her! ;-)

block party quilt along!

Have you heard the news? The ladies over at Block Party have started a new quilt-along! But not just any quilt-along...there's a book, and bees, and a giveaway...!

Too much to talk about here. Head on over and check it out!

eva

This little baby is something I put together for my new niece. I mentioned it a while back but never did get around to showing you. (and don't mind the creases...its' been sitting and waiting for me!)

This was made with 2 charm packs of Eva by Basic Grey for Moda. I like to lay them out (when for a baby) in a nice 9x9 square pattern, resulting in a finished size of about 39" x 39" - great size for a playmat.

This is a beautiful collection of fabrics, and quite pretty for a little girl I think. I like it because it has some pink, but notn too much, and I love the darker purples, aubergine and lime colors mixed it.

The beautiful paisley and wonderful prints are my favorite!
I will admit when laying out the squares that I felt some of the squares are really dark - almost too dark. But then once you get it all together with the pops of lime and really pale pink it works really well together! I'm hoping to get it quilted and finished this week.

two little fishies

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! My lil guy had a blast trick or treating (though as expected, what a bit apprehensive at first.) You know how it is...once they realize they're actually handing out free candy just for walking up to the door they get a little more excited!

We're lucky to live in a community where the whole neighborhood comes out for the event. Kids, parents - even some of the local cops and firefighters were walking and riding motorcycles handing out candy. Pretty neat!

Well, here is the big reveal!

I have to admit that as I sewed the scales on I was a little worried he was starting to look more like a bird than a fish! Luckily, the backside was a little more telling:

Noah is at the age where Halloween really starts to make sense. We've had a lot of fun making his last two costumes...I can't wait to see what he wants to be next year!