Super Saturday or How I Played with Cricut

Our Stake Relief Society had a fun craft day on Saturday.  Several of the sisters presented various classes, and I was asked to do a class.  I needed something fun and easy, and DD#1 suggested that I do this plaque.  She has one made by her DMIL and I admit that I had been coveting it.

The plywood boards are available at Michael's and JoAnn's and I bought every one in town for this project.  They were painted with acrylic paint, and then covered with Mod  Podge after the letters were applied.  My friend BB has a Cricut (can you believe there is a crafting tool I don't have???) which I borrowed to make the letters.  It was a little tedious to get the backing off the vinyl, and the placement was a little tricky, but I think the sisters who made them enjoyed it.  And I just may have to put a Cricut on my Christmas list!

The only downside was that I didn't get to do any of the other projects at Super Saturday, although I did bring one home to do, when I get around to it.  I guess that will be the subject of another post.

How Can the Weekend be Gone Already???

I planned for this to be a sewing weekend, but I certainly didn't accomplish all I set out to do!  I have a long list of things I need to get done by the end of the month, and while I did make some progress, I still have a lot left on the list that isn't finished.  But I am determined to have a "glass is half full" attitude, so aside from the wonky cross blocks I shared on Saturday, here is the rest of what I accomplished this weekend.  These are the "From My House to Yours" potholders I made for the PP9 swap.

I wanted to make a castle, but I'm not sure if this doesn't look more like a football goal post.  In any event, the castle "keep" is the theme of this house.

And this one is the cottage out back, I guess.  Much more traditional, and with a totally tidy front lawn.

I hope my partner likes them.

Fun Mail

Despite the fact that I have been so distracted by all that has been going on, I managed to sign up for several fall swaps.  The end of October is looming large, and I am still way behind.  But motivation arrived at my house yesterday in the form of this adorable package from Christine, a/k/a owenjulesmommy, from the Mug Rug Swap Adventure 3 swap.  Isn't it a great package?  I asked for something for Thanksgiving, and Mr. Gobbles, so named by my partner's little one, fits the bill.

I love that his "feathers" are all attached like petals on a flower.  He is the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

And would you look at the great pouch that came along with Mr. Gobbles?  I have been admiring it(, and I was so surprised when it showed up at my door.  I love the dresden motif - that has always been one of my favorites.  Just too cool.  And it is filled with thoughtful goodies.

Thank you Christine, you made my day!

Teal We Meet Again

 

This was intended to be a sewing weekend and here is what I have to show so far for this weekend's effort.  These are the wonky cross blocks I made for the Teal We Meet Again block swap.  The tutorial for these blocks is here.   I am pretty pleased with these overall, although I think all my crosses pretty much go the same way.  Perhaps that is a good reason for swapping with others, aside from the different fabrics that other swappers provide.

I only have 10 blocks to swap - I made the others too small.  I hate to waste fabric, so I cut the outer blocks smaller than the instructions called for.  So maybe this is really a lesson in following instructions!  Anyway, I think this will be a very fun quilt, once I have all the blocks.

Can't wait!

Off to Sewing Summit - Another Great Adventure!

This white stuff greeted me last Friday morning in Rexburg, Idaho as I got ready to head to Sewing Summit!

Last week I headed off to Sewing Summit and decided to do a little family visiting while I was in the neighborhood - that is if you consider that the neighborhood is within 250 miles!  I landed at SLC at about noon on Wednesday and it was partly sunny and 62*.  By the time I got the rental car and met BD#1 for lunch in Draper, about 25 miles south of the city, it was 46* and raining.  I did remember to take a jacket.  I did NOT take cold-weather clothing!

From there, I drove north to Rexburg, Idaho where BD#2 and new husband are living.  By the time I got to Rexburg, the temperature was in the 30's.  Brrrrr!  The next morning it was 36* and before 10 am the rain turned to snow.  At one point, there was about 2-1/2 inches on the ground.  I was certainly not prepared for that!  Every time I have been up there this time of year it has been gloriously sunny during the day and cool-ish at night.  To say I was surprised was putting it mildly.  We just don't get that kind of weather in Florida!

Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew taught free motion quilting at Sewing Summit

Nevertheless, BD#2, NH and I had a lovely visit, and I headed back to SLC for Sewing Summit.
I wish I'd been better prepared to participate in the fat quarter swap and some of the other after hours events, but that just wasn't happening this year.  The hotel was lovely.  If you ever get a chance to stay at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake, do so.  I highly recommend it.  I haven't enjoyed such large rooms in a hotel in many years.

Sadly, all of my photos of SS are about the same quality as this one. Unfortunately the lighting in the meeting rooms was not conducive to photography.  However, that didn't deter me from having a great time at SS.  Of all the meeting rooms SS used, the one in the above photo was my favorite.  What's not to like about a room with 50+ sewing machines in it???

There were some great classes, including a thought-provoking class on blogging and an interesting discussion about photography, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the hands-on classes the most.  (Tomorrow, when the light is better, perhaps I will take pictures of the samples I made in the classes and the tote bag I made from fabric I bought at one of the vendors at the event.)  I came away feeling like I had learned a lot, and met some amazingly creative ladies!  And, incidentally, I picked up some really cool stuff, some of which I have duplicates of, so look for a giveaway or two when I get back in the blogging groove (which I hope will be soon - I've missed you all!)  All-in-all, a weekend well-spent.

Meanwhile, while I was gone, I got an email from Carrie, the swap mama for the Scrappy BowTie Block Swap wanting to know if I was still playing.  Oops!  Totally missed that deadline.  When I signed up for the swap I was sure I would have plenty of time to get it finished.  But this one slipped under my radar for sure.  Luckily, I had some time mid-week and got these in the mail on Thursday.  Guess I'd better re-examine my schedule.

Bow-tie blocks are really fun to make, and they go pretty quickly.  If you want to try them, I used the tutorial here.  In fact, they were so much fun, I think we're going to do it again.  If you're a swapper, join us on Flickr at the Scrappy BowTie Block Swap!  If you'd like, email or FM me for an invite to the next round, which I think begins in January.  The more the merrier, I say!

I'm a Winner!

You know, I have often said that I never win anything, and for most of my life , that has been true.  But this year, I have actually won a bit of blog candy.  First, I won some Aurifil thread from Leona's blog.  Leona was one of my first swap partners, so I started following her blog, and of course, you can't come across a giveaway without entering, right?

Then, I won this great pillow from my friends Yvonne and Renee, after entering the giveaway on their blog. 

Then, yesterday, Kathy from Pink Chalk Fabrics emailed me to tell me that I had won a Little Apples Pencil FQ Set.  Can you believe it?  That's pretty amazing to me - the girl who never wins anything.  To be honest, I don't even remember entering, but there seem to be a lot of things I don't remember lately.  But won't this be fun?  Can't wait.

And if you want to touch me so my luck will rub off, just let me know.  {grin}

Another Block Party Weekend

Finally, after all the wonderful craziness and chaos that was summer here in our family, I think things are finally - kinda - back to some kind of normal.  A new normal, to be sure, since WH decided to go to law school and thus I am home alone.  I am, of course, desperately behind with everything, and so my plan for the weekend was to start getting caught up.

My VQB friends have been very patient as I totally dropped out of everything to make a wedding happen.  I am glad to say that the dress - and the wedding - turned out wonderfully, and BD#2 and DSIL#2 are happily embarking on their new life together.

And, after a wonderful visit, BD#1, DSIL#1 and beautiful little Abby have gone home.

So this weekend, I planned nothing but catching up.  First, my friend had a birthday a month or two ago, and luckily she was understanding about the whole wedding thing.  I'm sure you'll agree that a friend like that deserves a gift, after all.  So here it is, more than a month late.  (Hopefully she will receive the gift before she reads this blog!)

I guess her kitchen colors are the same as mine, because this would go great in my kitchen. I toyed with the idea of keeping it....  But no, that would just be too lame.

Then on to the blocks...  First thing was to finish the Christmas Fabric Bee. This bee should have finished up in August, and here I am dragging it out and preventing everyone from getting their quilts done for Christmas.  These ladies have truly been very understanding.  First, for Kari.  This one was a humdinger. 

These blocks are gorgeous, aren't they?  And they are just about as difficult as they look.  And since I apparently can't READ instructions (I was following the pictures in the tute) my seam ripper and I became even better acquainted.  I was actually afraid there wouldn't be enough fabric left to sew it together.  Should you decide you want to try it, the tutorial is here.

Next, the August blocks for Cassie.  These are drunkard's path blocks, which I had never tried before, but the curves aren't as hard as you might think.  The tutorial for these is here.

There.  All done.  Another bee officially finished.  It's kinda sad, really.  These ladies were great to work with, and lots of fun.  I love a bee that stretches your creativity and skills, and this one certainly did that.

Some of these same ladies are in the Fall Bee, which turns out not to necessarily be fall-themed since it goes into February or March.  It should maybe be a holiday bee.  The first block (August again) was Halloween, so that one qualifies as fall.

This one is a Triple Irish Chain, and it was really easy.  I enjoyed putting this one together.  Easy peasy.  I'm not a particularly Halloween-y girl, but I can't wait to see this quilt finished.  Love the purple in it.  Very fun!

This starburst block is supposed to be fall, but to me this block screams SUMMER!!!  I'm not great at paper piecing yet, and this block has its issues, but Carrie said she wanted wonky, and I think she got it.  I made the mistake of doing one side with the "ink" toward me as I worked, and the other side of the block with the "ink" away from me.  Needless to say, the centers did NOT meet.  So wonky it is. Still, I like the block.  It is so wonderfully colorful.  I'm thinking of this as the inspiration for my next pillow talk swap pillow.  What do you think?

Sarah wanted a Christmas-themed block, and what's more Christmas-y than a present?  Well, lots of things, perhaps, but a present it is, nonetheless.  This block too was great fun to put together.  I'm thinking maybe one day a whole quilt of presents, all different fabrics and shapes and sizes.  Wouldn't that be fun?

And, in my spare time this weekend (mostly while watching General Conference), I made 100 thank you notes for the newlywed couple, so folks don't think they're ungrateful sots. (I find that I'm more successful at watching GC if my hands are busy with some mindless task - it helps me stay awake and lets  me focus on what's being said.)

Now, what do I have left to do?  Well, I'm participating in the Scrappy Bow-tie Block Swap, so I need 20 bow-tie blocks by Saturday.  I also need the next installment of the Santa Sack Swap to magically get in the mail tomorrow (no, I doubt that will happen), and I leave Wednesday to visit family and head off to Sewing Summit, so naturally there's packing to do.  Of course, I had planned to make the CUTEST name tag, a tote bag, and some other stuff.  Nope, don't think that will happen either.  And, I think I can have fun at Sewing Summit without any of that.  I'm excited to meet everyone and learn some fun new stuff.  Hope you're going too.  See ya there!