Crafty goodness (and other nice things)

Being home with my folks is so nice. We're close - always have been - and it's just a very comforting place to be. Even if it's chilly (oh Upstate, NY).OF COURSE my mom and I have been fueling our fabric/quilting/crafting obsessions. We've been planning projects, looking at her stash, ordering a few items (really, just a few, I swear!), etc. We have plans to go to a LQS and probably Joann's today (among other, non-quilting-related errands, of course).

By the way, thanks to these noisy ones, I'm up early. Oh well.My mom sent me a bundle of Laura Gunn FQ from her new line (I love everything she does) and I'm turning them into this quilt. They're all cut up and ready for piecing. My machine is back in my apartment and even though I could use my mom's, I'll probably just wait.

My mom also bought me the original fabrics that Elizabeth used for that quilt (they were featured on Fabricworm as a bundle). So another New Wave quilt is in the works...

She also got me this:


She also has a selection of rotary cutters in different sizes. I've found it's so much easier to use the smaller ones! Will have to save up and get some for myself. Do you use smaller sizes?

Finally, I got my hair done (touched up the color and had it blown out) yesterday. Ahh, feels so good.And yes, those are flying pigs on my pajamas. :)

Happy Saturday everyone!

Some things never change

...and that's a good thing!

I'm home for a weekend visit at my parents house in Upstate, NY. Slept in my old room (thanfully, my parents have left it as MY room - they occasionally use the empty desk to pay bills and what not but it's definitely still filled with my stuff), indulged in our excessively full snack cabinet, laughed hysterically at the boys playing together, and drooled over my mom's sewing room. By the way, are you reading her blog? You should be!

Plans for the weekend: hair color appointment (yes, even though I live in one of the most stylish cities on earth, I still come back here to get my hair done by the same woman who has colored it for over 10 years), local fabric store (big sale!!!), out to dinner (Dad's treat), and plenty of sewing with Mom.

More pictures to come. What are you up to this weekend?

My turn

Next month is my month for Bee-Stitched. I'm so excited! I've known for a while what fabric I wanted to use but only just decided on the TYPE of blocks this week. I'm going to have my bee buddies do 2 blocks: one with circles and one with triangles. I couldn't decide so I figured why not do both! (More instructions soon to come, ladies.)


In other news, I've got a nasty change of season cold. I'm a whiny patient so even though it's just a cold, I make it seem like the plague (much to my sweetie's frustration). We've had crazy weather this past week or so but I definitely think we're moving toward spring (at least I hope so!)

I'll be heading home this weekend (it's funny, I don't live there but I still think of the place where I grew up as home) for a little break to spend time with my folks. Louie is coming with me (even though I'm mad at JetBlue for charging me more for his reservation than my own ticket!) so he and Winston will get to play together.

Next week will be a busy week for me. I'm still working in retail but the company I work for is opening a new store and I'm part of the team that will be working there. For the next 3 weeks, we're helping set up the store so they need all hands on deck (read: pretty much full time - yay money!). So I apologize in advance if I'm a little more hands off next week. I'm still here. :)

Just playing around

ISO (in search of)

I'm not really the kind of person who feels like they always have to have a complete fabric line. However, a while back I got a bunch of Denyse Schmdit's "Katie Jump Rope" line and find that I like it more and more (it's a little "country" looking but for some reason I'm just drawn to it!).

So now I'm on the hunt to complete the line. This is hard because it's discontinued. I fear that it will become like all the other hard-to-find fabrics out there ("Flea Market Fancy" and anything by Heather Ross).
I've found a bunch of websites and Etsy sellers that have some of this but I'd be interested in swapping (so economical!). I'm going to post some pictures later today of fabrics I'd like to swap so check my Flickr later (and the swap group) if you're interested.
Do you have any of these prints???

Sunday

My sweetie: folding laundry while watching his team (they're winning). "I LOVE CLEAN LAUNDRY! NO MORE PILES."

I'm a lucky girl.

(Sorry for the lack of pics these past few posts. Will get some up later or tomorrow. Promise. For now, back to browsing blogs and eating Cadbury Easter candy. Yum.)

Happy National Quilting Day!

Yep, it's true. We quilters have our own holiday. :)

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here so I probably won't spend much time quilting. Whatever you do, hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

Whoops

Have you ever tried to be crafty when you're frustrated? Bad idea.

Yesterday I was just having "a day." We've all been there - silly frustrations and general distractedness (word? eh). Anyhoo, I like to quilt/sew/etc. to ease my tension level but yesterday it was just too much and totally bit me in the ass. I ended up sewing pieces wrong side to right side, measuring incorrectly, etc. I mumbled and snapped at myself the whole time until I just I had to step away (not to mention the dog was giving me funny looks). I'm new at the whole running thing but just HAD to put on my sneakers and head down to the park. Thankfully, all it took was a mile to clear my head.

Will have to fix those mistakes later. Oh well. At least it's Friday!

For me

It's almost my turn to send out fabric and instructions for Bee-Stitched. I keep debating about what kinds of blocks to make. At first I wanted triangles; then it was circles. Today I realized, why not both?! I'm not 100% certain but I'm leaning toward asking the ladies to make one triangle block and one circle block. I'll be using Jessica Levitt's "Timber" and Denyse Schmidt's "Hope Valley" in blues, greens, grays, etc. I'm going to have a white background (Kona Snow). I created a mosaic for inspiration.

I've been scribbling away, actually using that high school math (ugh, painful) and trying to figure out how much to send, how big to make the blocks, etc. Hopefully I won't goof up the math!

Heading to work for a few hours. Hope everyone is enjoying their day - especially if you're having as nice weather as us!

Bloggy stuff

Every few days, I decide I don't like the way my blog looks. I spend some time, poking around the internet and admiring other people's blogs, then I try things, but I usually end up going back to the same old thing. I definitely like a minimalist approach but I'm now thinking my layout/template is kind of dull. Hmm...

On another bloggy note, I love reading other people's crafty blogs. I've been reading blogs in general for a while but now that I'm quilting (and always learning!) blogs have been a wealth of information! On a more personal note, many of the people who blog have inspired me both in my crafts and other aspects of my life. I always find it brave when people post about "real" issues and am still figuring out how much of myself to expose here. But seriously, the only drawback is that I often find myself wishing I could sit down and have a cup of coffee with many of the bloggers! I've always loved reading in general so it's no surprise that I find myself connecting with bloggers as I read about their lives, adventures, mishaps, etc. All in all, I have many bloggy-friend crushes and hope someday to meet many of these amazing people. For now, I look forward to their next posts. :) Keep 'em coming guys and know you've always got a buddy here.

Here are just a FEW of the blogs I regularly read:
jaybird quilts (Julie)
i am. i am. i am. (Brooke)
Red Pepper Quilts (Rita)
A Friend to knit with (Leslie)
Quilt Dad (John)
you know what i love? (Ara Jane)

Some morning inspiration

(From sewdeerlyloved, fabricworm, and Hawthorne Threads)


Be back later!

More bee blocks

This afternoon I finished Rachel's ticker tape blocks for Fresh Comfort Two. I've never made these before and they were a lot of fun! I especially like making tiny squares.

Musings

Today it's raining. Again. Every time I ask Louie if he wants to go out, he gives me this look like, "would you want to put your naked butt down on wet, dirty pavement?"

Mondays are slow days for job searching. Buh.

One of the many reasons that I need more money is to be able to make creative, delicious dinners. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that you can make yummy food on the cheap. But it's so much more fun when you can buy things like sage butter and organic avocados (no, not to be eaten together - blech).

We need more lights in our apartment. Even though overhead lights were here when we moved in, they're not cutting it. (No direct sunlight = very dim and dreary, especially on rainy days).

Today is my mom's birthday and I wish I was there to celebrate with her!

{Obviously, I'm feeling random today. How are you doing on this Monday?}

Rainy, chilly evening

We're sitting here, hiding from the scary torrential rain and blustery wind. It's nice and cozy inside and feels good to just...be here.

Brooke posted this video - I love this John Mayer's cover of this. Perfect for a rainy night.

Before the day begins...

...I just wanted to show you what I finished last night! Here is Greta's block for Bee-Stitched.

I LOVE it. Seriously. It looks like it was a lot of complicated work but honestly, it wasn't! And trust me because I'm new at this. I'm seriously considering this for one of my other bees. It's definitely something that would take a long time to make by myself and it would be fun to have blocks from bee buddies that included bits from their stashes.


On another note, look at my boys asleep together last night!

So innocent...

I'm off to tackle my to-do list. Unfortunately, crafty stuff will have to wait until this afternoon. It's a gross, rainy day here in NYC. Hopefully that means I'll be productive (ha, yeah right...).

Happy Friday!

Today

Assembling pieces for Greta's block (Bee-Stitched)


Can we go outside now?

Take a deep breath

It definitely feels like spring today here in NYC. The past few days have been positively lovely - sun shining, warmish temps, low wind... New Yorkers are out in full force - I couldn't believe how packed the park was today!

We don't typically get much of a spring up here (read: usually goes straight from cold to hot) but it really feels like winter is on the way out. Something about spring makes you want to start fresh, you know?

So it being Monday and all, I decided to embrace the start fresh attitude and attacked my to-do list, including a number of phone calls I've been putting off (ugh, being a grown up sucks sometimes). Feeling good after checking off my list, I went for a run. Over the course of last summer and into the fall, I had gotten into a steady routine of running at least 3 times a week. I was up to 3 miles in the fall and then when all the craziness of moving happened, I sort of fell off the wagon. But now I'm back! I took it easy today, only running 1 mile and was so surprised how good it felt (I was so worried it'd be a BIG struggle). I'm so lucky to live half a block from a park and be able to enjoy the scenery. I know I'll probably be a little sore but you gotta admit, it feels good.

Crafty news update: received fabrics from 2 out of my 3 virtual quilting bees. Sooo excited! Rachel wants us to make ticker tape blocks and Greta is looking for blocks like this (I was a little intimidated but once you break it down, it's not that bad). They both send bundles of beautiful, bright fabrics. It seems spring is everywhere!

I'm off to enjoy the breeze through the open window for a bit longer (before it actually gets chilly) and feed the dog, who keeps poking me with his nose. How does he know it's dinner time?!

Baby quilts!

What is it about baby quilts that are so gosh darn cute? Here you can see the two that I've completely finished (and will be for sale in my Etsy shop probably some time next week or the week after that...) as well as one more quilt top.

A good start

I woke up in a good mood this morning. I think mostly because it's Friday! My sweetie and I don't have any specific plans for the weekend but he doesn't have any work lined up so that's good. It's supposed to warm up here a bit which means a trip to the dog park is probably on the agenda (Louie is wagging his tail as we speak). What are your weekend plans?

I'm not sure how it got to be March already! That means we've been here in the Big Apple for over 3 months. It feels both way shorter and way longer than that (funny how that happens, huh?).

I may be going into work this evening (on call) so I don't want to make the day TOO busy. I do plan to do some crafting this afternoon.

In light of the economic times (ahem, my sad little bank account), I've been trying to be thrifty. I'm a total book-lover, the type who loves to OWN my books, but I've been so good lately and haven't bought anything in months. One of the many benefits of living in New York City is a fantastic public library system. This week I requested a whole bunch of books and they're slowly making their way to my local branch. Yesterday I got a copy of Sublime Stitching and after a quick trip to Michael's (embroidery has to be the cheapest hobby - spent only $5!) started to work on stitching. It's easy! I'm definitely going to keep this up and integrate into my quilts.

Speaking of quilts, I've been steadily making baby quilts to sell on Etsy. I know that there are many more experienced quilters out there but I like to think that I have good taste and a decent ability and people will want to buy my quilts! I'll post some pics later. So far I have two completed quilts, one quilt top, and one other top in the works (squares cut, ready to sew).

I've also decided to make my first quilt gift! I have a dear college friend getting married this summer...in Hawaii! Unfortunately, my sweetie and I won't be able to go - it's just too expensive - but we still wanted to give a meaningful wedding present. Will keep you updated on the progress (though maybe not too many details in case she reads this...)

And I still promise to post about my knitting. This week somehow got away from me.

Oh! And yay for a new month for quilting bees! Can't wait to get fabric in the mail!

Love

I love my sister. She's six years younger than me (but about 5 inches taller!) and until she reached high school, we weren't really that close. Now she's more than halfway done with college (eek!) and continues to develop into a beautiful, wonderful - and super smart! - person. I've been feeling sort of down lately and my sis continues to offer words of support and encouragement. While working on the never-ending job search at home today, I received surprise package: a funny card, peanut butter cups, and the biggest bag of Twizzlers I've ever seen (one of my faves). Yup, from the sis. :)

Behind

Sorry I've been delinquent about blogging this week! I promise I will today or tomorrow. Hints at what's to come: knitting projects, baby quilts for sale, embroidery beginnings...

Stay tuned...