Ooh La La! A Winner!

It was a great holiday weekend, but I sure am glad it's over. My kids have been out of school for over a week, so it's nice to get back on some kind of "normal" schedule.
We went to relatives for Thanksgiving weekend, so I got to play with some Parisville on our way there. I took my hexie supplies. This was my favorite. It's made with the Cameo print. You can just see the bottom of the lion face. I didn't even plan it this way or fussy cut it.

I even got my sister in law hooked on making hexies. She's also a very talented crafter/sewer/quilter, but hasn't gotten to do any sewing for a few years. I also had some Meadowsweet 2 squares with me, which she liked. So, they all stayed there with her. I can't wait to see what she makes.
Thank you to everyone that posted a comment to enter the fat quarter giveaway! If you haven't picked up some Parisville, you really need to! Really. I mean it. It's pretty much amazing if you ask me.
So, the winner of the fat quarter bundle is comment #20, Ann, the Renegade Quilter! Congratulations!

Email me your address! You get to pick out 5 prints out of the ones I carry in my shop!

Black Friday Sale!

Why do they call it Black Friday anyway? Sounds so spooky and ominous. Well, I guess the threat of getting trampled to death at 3 am would be pretty scary! At least you don't have to get up at 3 am to shop for fabric (well, only if you really want to)! Plus, you get 25% off everything in the shop AND Free Shipping on orders over $60.00. So, sit back in your jammies and leftovers and not get trampled.

Ooh La La Parisville

It's finally here. It seems like it took UPS forever! If you were lucky enough to get in on my Parisville Preorder Sale, yay for you!


If not, here's another chance at getting your mitts on some Parisville! How about a little stack of 5 Parisville fat quarters of your choice? Leave a comment and tell me what you plan on making with Parisville and what your favorite print is. You get extra entries if you follow me on Twitter and are a Facebook fan!
As for me? I haven't decided yet. Probably a couple skirts. Maybe a bag. And most likely, a quilt will be worked in there somewhere. I've got high hopes, but it might all have to wait until after the holidays. But who know. I might just get a wild hair!

Quilt Market Whirlwind and a Parisville Preorder Sale!

I'm a little late on the Quilt Market post, but oh well! Fall Quilt Market was a crazy, whirlwind of a trip! But, oh the fabric and the friends! One of the things I look forward to most (beside ordering fabric) is seeing all my great sewing, quilty and crafty friends. This trip was no exception.

My new friend, Beth Dunn, my sweet, dear friend, Melissa, me and my other sweet, dear friend Violet at the Fabric 2.0 party.

I only had one full day of market. So trying to fit in missing (different story) all my fabric ordering appointments, socializing and booth ogling, was hard. Needless to say, I missed out on seeing a lot of booths. But one that I was hell-bent on seeing was Tula Pink's Parisville booth. I was not disappointed!

Me and Tula! Yay!



Parisville was one of my favorite lines that I saw. I am so excited that it is finally shipping. It should arrive sometime next week! To celebrate, I am having a preorder sale! Take 10% off all Parisville preorders!

Anna Maria Horner's booth


From the imagination of the Michael Miller crew!


Patty Young in her booth!


Bari J. in her beautiful booth!


Me being a dork because I was too late to get a picture with Ty Pennington. Did you know he's got a new fabric line coming out with Freespirit? I got some.
Gosh, I look pregnant in this picture! Well I'm NOT!


My girl Elizabeth, signing her new book "The Practical Guide to Patchwork"


Jana in her booth!


My homegirls Violet and Mo at Lizzy House's cake party

Tune in for some Quilt Market shwag giveaways. I still have to see what I came back with!

Quilt Market Sale!

It's just about time for the Fall International Quilt Market again! Yipee!! I need to make some room on my shelves for more new and fabulous fabrics. So, now, until 10/31/10, save 20% off your entire order when you use the coupon code QUILTMARKET.

Vacation Sale!

We're actually going on a little vacation! Well, we're just going camping, but I'm so looking forward to just lounging around the lake, riding bikes with the kids and doing a little hand sewing.
So, while I'm gone, why don't you take 20% off your order?! Just use coupon code VACATION at checkout!

Jealous? I know you are.

Fabric and Friends

Meadowsweet 2 by Sandi Henderson for Michael Miller Fabrics is due to arrive at the end of this week! Meadowsweet 2 has many of the same prints as the original Meadowsweet, but in different colorways. I'm having a preorder sale on my website, so all Meadowsweet 2 orders will receive 10% off until it arrives!
Last Friday, I got to meet up with my new fabric friends, Mo, Monica, Terri and Violet again and also got to meet The Quiltdad himself, John Adams. John was in town to take Heather Ross' class on fabric design. It was a beautiful summer evening, made even better with lots of laughs!

And lookie what Ms. Monica gifted us all with!! She brought everyone a little bundle of her new line Holiday Happy for Lecien! This should be in the shop soon!! Could you just die at the cuteness?

I've also begun my first quilt! I'm using Heather's (a la mode fabric) spiderweb block tutorial and the periwinkle and midnight colorways in Amy Butler's Love line. What do you think?

Feeling a Little Quilty

I never had any desire to quilt, or even thought much about it. I always thought I didn't have enough patience for it. Well, that's all changed. I think I'm officially hooked! I even joined a block swap, The Modern Siggy Swap. The block looked simple enough that I could even do it! I chose to use prints from Art Gallery Fabrics' Sugar line.


Next on my quilty project list was a quilted patchwork camera strap cover for a girlfriend that recently moved away. I used Amy's tutorial and just tweaked a little bit.


My other obsession as of late has been pot holders and oven mitts! Yep, only because one day I realized just how bad I needed new ones. Pot holders are the perfect little "mini quilts" to get you started if you're new to quilting. You can practice fun quilt blocks and your binding. I made my first log cabin block on my first pot holder. I totally cheated on the binding and machine stitched it because I was nervous about hand stitching it.

I really wanted to make one like these and wished Elizabeth had a tutorial for them. Well guess what!? She then posted this tutorial. I quickly got to work. I chose to use a layer of Insul-Bright and batting, instead of the canvas and used fabrics from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna line. But after using it a few times, realized I actually needed a couple layers of Insul-Bright.


On this one I thought I would try my hand at free motion quilting. It definitely takes some practice. My stitching is uneven in a lot of places, but I have to say that it was so much fun! I really like how the stitching ended up looking like the bees' flight path!

I even made a set of oven mitts!

On another note, I recently got to meet up with a bunch of inspirational, crafty, quilty, talented, fabric-loving ladies! I've gotten to know Monica recently from Twittering with her and last Thursday, she invited me to meet up with her and a bunch of others at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I was a little nervous at first since I didn't know anyone except for Jona. But that changed as soon as I got there! Everyone was so fun, I felt like I had always known them. Besides me and Monica, there was Heather, Mo Bedell, Terri, Tammy, Violet, Joan and Jona.
After dinner, we headed over to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting where we learned all about hexies. I had never made a hexie, but thanks to Monica, I have a new little obession!

A Great Weekend

Happy belated Mother's Day to all you fab Moms! So how was your weekend? Mine was jam-packed, fun, but relaxing too. Friday night, we sent the kiddos off to the grandparents and the hubs and I went on a fun date. We had a nice dinner and then saw Iron Man 2 at the IMAX. We got there a little late and had to sit waaay too close to the screen. But, it was well worth it. Totally loved the movie!! I liked it so much better than the first Iron Man. I definitely recommend it!
Sunday morning I actually got to sleep in a little! Then I got woken up by excited kids wanting me to open their presents. So cute! I got a custom piece of artwork and a beautiful little ceramic handprint! And look what else I got!!

Yep! The hubs actually came through on this one!! Of course, it was no surprise, since he called me to ask me the name of the cookbook I wanted like three times! But that's ok! You see, he's not all that great at special occasions, so I'm not complaining. Oh! And I got some flowers too!
I got to spend the rest of the day browsing through my new cookbook and watching movies.
Later, we even made one of the recipes from the book! We made the potato skins!
Check it out! YUM! They turned out sooo good!!

Now I'm trying to decide what to make next! I think it might have to be the cinnamon rolls!

I have to show you what else I've been busy doing lately! I've had a lot of requests from neighbors recently!

First, some embroidered towels

Then, a toga. Yes! A toga!
(The BEST toga at any Oregon State frat party, that is!)

Then, some cute zippered pouches for my hairdresser (also my neighbor)

She wanted them to look like this generic one, but only cuter! They are cuter, aren't they?

Doing all these zippered pouches inspired me to whip up a couple more and put them in my Bloom Design Etsy shop! And, I'm also having a sale over at Hip Fabric! 15% off your entire purchase!

Oh yeah!! And how could I forget! We also got a new puppy! He's a West Highland White Terrier named Scooter! He is the cutest, most fun, little fur ball around! But, he is definitely a little fireball full of energy!

Notice the dirty face? He has mischief written all over him!

More puppy love!

Weekend Sale!

Yay! It's the weekend! What are you up? I'm hoping for a little relaxation and finally a little sewing. I've been sick for a little while and I'm hoping I will be feeling back to normal again this weekend. And because of that, I totally slacked on announcing the winner of my Sugar fat quarter giveaway. Soo Sorry!! The winner was Amy Priddy of Priddy Creations. Have you seen her camera bags? They are to die for!
And to hopefully make up for being such a slacker, I'm having a weekend sale. Everything is 15% off. I've also added some new sale items. And don't forget Fat Free Fridays! All purchases made on Fridays will receive a free surprise fat quarter included in there order!

Fat Free, Baking and Sugar?

It's been a while, hasn't it? What's everybody been up to? I'm seriously getting some Spring Fever! While the East has been getting blasted with snow storms, the Pacific Northwest has been getting unusual sunshine and Spring temps. But, as I sit here writing this, I can hear the rain on the roof! Oh well.

Well, I've been busy with the usual family, kid and business stuff. A lot of changes and "stuff" going on around here. Hopefully it will all turn out to be good and positive. I haven't been sewing a whole lot, even though I've really, really have wanted to. Instead, I've been baking a lot. When I need some self-therapy, I usually sew, but when I can't sit and sew, I bake. I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy freak and sometimes I feel like Izzy when Denny died and she baked a gazillion muffins. Remember that? No, no one's died and I haven't gone wacko and baked a gazillion muffins, but sometimes baking just makes me feel better when I'm feeling off. Luckily, I have some great neighbors that love to eat what I bake, so I don't have to (even though I still eat a lot of it)! I'm planning on making some bread pudding tomorrow and some cranberry coconut cookies this weekend! I guess I will get to do some sewing too. I'm planning on making a lavender and flaxseed therapy pillow for a friend. I'm going to some Dolce by Tanya Whelan for the cover. I'll post some pics when I finish.

Sugar!
One thing that I know will help my Spring Fever is getting in the new line, "Sugar" by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics. Getting in new fabric shipments always make me feel better! I got to meet Pat at Fall Quilt Market. She is the cutest thing! She is so fun and has the cutest accent. I had tweeted with here on many occasions and couldn't wait to meet her. I wasn't disappointed!
Here's me and Pat at Quilt Market. Sorry it's such a blurry picture. I had to use my phone.


Check out the new line here!


Fat Free Fridays!
I'm also restarting "Fat Free Fridays"! To make your stash a little fatter, every order placed on Fridays will receive a free surprise fat quarter included with your order!

Giveaway!
Want to win a sweet fat quarter pack of Sugar? Leave a comment and tell me what you would make with Sugar?