1. Started your own blog 
 2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
 5. Watched a meteor shower
 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 
 7. Been to Disneyland 

Disneyland, April 2009. Wow my kiddos are tiny! And since this picture, I’ve lost about 35 pounds.

 8. Climbed a mountain 
 9. Held a praying mantis 
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightening storm 
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight 
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort 
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse 
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise 

Porthole on cruise. My friend Holly and I went on the Kenny Chesney cruise in 2006.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

Backyard view at my Uncle’s house. I’m lucky to have been raised in the place of my ancestors. January 2008.

35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language 
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 
52. Kissed in the rain 
53. Played in the mud 
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business 
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching 
63. Got flowers for no reason 
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt

Hhmm, I don’t have any quilt pictures on my phone. Here is half of a paper pieced star. I haven’t had any lessons in paper piecing, just jumped in and am trying to figure it out. And man, it is tough! There are two mistakes in this half, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it feels like it is.

73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle 
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car 
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper 
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox 
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous 
92. Joined a book club 
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby 

My three babies, on Ash Wednesday, 2010.

95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone 
99. Been stung by a bee

Well Holly has me beat! I’ve only done 43 of those things. How about I add a few more:

100. Been to the Black Hills
101. Went to the top of the Space Needle
102. Saw Clark’s signature

Clark’s signature, at Pompey’s Pillar, Billings, MT

There, that is 46 and I beat Holly.

99 Things is a post from: me being crafty

Mil Spouse Fun is a post from: me being crafty

My 20 FQ’s

Fat Quarter Tuesday is a post from: me being crafty

Ha, just noticed it looks like JW is smoking something blue in this picture. It’s a whistle that was in his basket.

The boys got new suits for a wedding this summer and they wanted to wear them to church yesterday. Too bad we didn’t get a picture with what JW was really using for his Easter basket – a pumpkin from Halloween. He insisted on transferring everything he got into the pumpkin, even a few swiped candies from his brother and sister.

I hope your celebration was wonderful. Chris emailed and said he didn’t get any eggs, but he did eat duck, so he figured that counted for something.

Happy Easter is a post from: me being crafty

Yay! I’m going to the Sewing Summit!

I, like many others, was ready at 8 AM (my time) earlier this week when the tickets went on sale. I didn’t realize that last year tickets were being sold up until the conference started, I just wanted to buy my ticket and get a small discount (I lucked out and was one of the first fifty to register!). I have a room reserved and will probably get a roommate.

I promise I’ve been sewing up a storm lately! I haven’t had time to blog about any of it, but I finally uploaded pictures to flickr so here they are.

The first hexies I made. I just went for it one day and whipped up a bunch of them in a couple of days. I am making a window covering for a friend of my Mom’s, I’m almost done with that so pictures soon!

Here is one of the first mug rugs I ever made! I made a Turning Twenty quilt with these fabrics and had enough left over to make a mug rug. It is a little busy, but I still love it.

Back of mug rug. Straight line sewing!

And the other of the first mug rugs I’ve ever made – I’ve made two so far. I love this strips of color one.

And certainly not least, the mug rug I received from Sister Diane in the Craft Social mug rug swap! I love this and use it when I am sewing.

Sewing Summit 2012 is a post from: me being crafty

With the recent MegaMillions hoopla, there’s been a lot of dreaming about what we’d do with all that money. What are three things on your “if I won the lottery” list?

1. First thing, I’d pay off all our debt, pay off our houses (though let’s all cross our fingers that the house in SC sells quickly!), pay off the debt for my brothers and parents and make sure everyone has a house. Let’s face it, even if someone had extravagant taste, that is WAY less then a couple million dollars.

2. Set up college funds for all my nieces/nephews (the newest nephew was just born ten days ago! Baby Buzz, or maybe I’ll call him Buzzer? Not his name though LOL makes grandchild number fourteen for our parents), and set aside enough for future generations. And really, that wouldn’t be that much – in the grand scheme of the mega millions.

3. Set up a foundation and give money away. After my family is all taken care of, there are a lot of people who need help. I’d give away scholarships and give money to tribal colleges. I’d give money to artists and crafters. I’d set aside money for the elderly so they are taken care of. I’d try to fix a lot. Most of all, I’d try to not waste so much money.

The mega millions is such a HUGE amount, I can’t even imagine spending it. I can imaging paying off debt and buying houses, but what was the final number, $640 million? That’s crazy!

First 3 on Thursday is a post from: me being crafty

So I joined the over the rainbow charm swap (my color for this one is red), 5 yard color wheel charm swap (AKA monster charm swap) (black and white for this one), and the rainbow fabric charm swap (green for this one). I cut all ten yards over the weekend and have my stacks sorted and hopefully I’ll be able to mail all three out tomorrow! I’m excited to have this done already, I have a couple of trips planned and don’t want to get to close to the deadline. Because of these swaps, I discovered a couple of new (to me) etsy fabric shops and fell in love. I have already made a couple of purchases from Pink Castle Fabrics so you can imagine the thrill I got when reading about the blogger bundle fabric contest over at I’m a Ginger Monkey.

Here is my fabric bundle! My kids named it “Colorful Collision” which I think is perfect. The hardest part was grabbing the images and putting a collage together. I wanted to crop the largest pic, but decided not to so I could get my choice out there. I may do another because it was fun! My fabrics are:

Left, top to bottom:

Prairie Rose in Fiesta Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt
Modern Meadow Napsack in Lake Blue by Joel Dewberry
Free Spirit Designer Voile Solid in Sky Gray

Second column:

Bursts in White – Fruit Slice for Anthology Fabrics by Khristian A Howell
Hello Pilgrim Pearl Bracelet in Green Lizzy House
Modern Meadow Herringbone in Berry Pink by Joel Dewberry

Third column:

Sea Garden in Ocean – Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda
Hop Dot in Tangerine Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit Fabrics
Sea Garden in Summer – Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda

Fourth column:

Washi Tape in Charcoal by Rashida Coleman-Hail for Timeless Treasures
Metro Living Lattice in Dusty Blue by Robert Kaufman
Summer Totem in Grapefruit Pink Floral louLOUthi by Anna Maria Horner AMH Quilt Fabric

Blogger Bundle Fabric Contest is a post from: me being crafty

This post is late. The snow I am speaking of is the snowmageddon everyone in Seattle was talking about in January. I’m north of there a couple of hours and we got a week off of work and school, and then Friday night that week the rain came and we haven’t seen snow since!

I am thrilled to say I finished an entire quilt during my snowed in time! I just mentioned this and shared my fabric choices when I posted my first WIP of 2012. I stayed off the computer and really enjoyed sewing and watching tv. I am kind of shocked, in a pleasant way, that I was able to finish this! I thought this would be the quilt along I worked on throughout the year (like last year). I’ve been steadily busy around the house and with my outside the house job so I love that I finished a quilt so fast. I loved being able to take advantage of this time to not read (for school), not have to write, not have to study, and just sewed and quilted! It was awesome.

Since I didn’t have charm packs, I had to cut fabric into squares first. Not a big deal, I own this fringe ruler which made the time go a little faster. A few years ago I learned how to stack fabric and cut four pieces at a time, so that also helps.I decided to chain piece since the process would go quickly.

Chain piecing always looks pretty.

As boring as it can be, squaring up your blocks really does make a difference. Sometimes I skip this step, in this case I did not. And to show how hard it can be for quilters to throw material away, I saved the strings for my Mom who will use them in a landscape quilt she is planning!

I have to admit that along with cutting the fabric, I enjoy the ironing. Everything ends up crisp and neat.

One block!

The quilt!

This is laying outside on my back patio. I used one of the patterns from the original quilt along blog post and I love it. I need to add borders. I wanted to add white but could not fight the white on white print I used anywhere in town, so I grabbed two batiks instead.

Snow Week Quilt – WIP Wednesday is a post from: me being crafty

When I went to grab the links I discovered they are sold out of memberships, sorry!

Here is February: Good Fortune by Kate Spain and the coordinating solids are perfect!

I have no idea what I am going to make with these fabrics. Maybe a quick baby blanket? I have a few quilt patterns that use charm packs, and you can never go wrong with a simple block quilt. I do have a few small projects I want to make for friends or family such as mug rugs and coasters. I am drawn to mini quilts and recently, finally, tried doing paper pieced hexagons so these charms will be put to good use I know.

I found a Strip Tease Quilt over at Always Expect Moore that she just posted over the weekend. Great idea! I love the idea to challenge yourself to use the fabric each month. I know I would end up with a huge stash of charms and extra wide fat eighths. I know this because I just went through my fabric over the weekend while I organized things and yep, found a lot of stuff.

What are your ideas for this fabric? Oh what about a reusable grocery bag! I can always use another tote.

New Monthly Fabric Club is a post from: me being crafty

Deb said:

What a wonderful idea – I’m an educator, too, and have seen first hand the ripple effect of helping one student learn and grow.

I’ve taken Diane’s “Tune-up” class for blogs, and have become so much more confident and competent in my blog writing. I’m looking to take my crafty enterprises to the next level, and think that this class will really help propel me into the future. I have some great ideas, and need to get a little more education and support to make them a reality.

Busting the Blog Myth starts in just a few days so head on over to sign up now.

Contest Winner – Busting the Blog Myth is a post from: me being crafty

I’ve been thinking about the impact that supporting people has on others. The American Indian College Fund recently started a new campaign titled Help a Student, Help a Tribe:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The impact that one student can have is tremendous. The student from NWIC who is profiled as part of the AICF campaign can help stop 1,800 kids from being dropouts. That is a huge number! The difference one person can make can be measured and success can be the outcome.

This has definitely spilled over from my job into my online craft community support. I have also been supporting free (here is my inspiration for doing so – Sister Diane’s January update) and I’ve been thinking about how to take it a step farther. I love being able to buy an awesome Craft Sanity magazine (link is to the print copy) and know that doing this helps Jennifer continue to be able to put these magazines together. She isn’t a huge business, with financial backing, she is someone who has knowledge to share (in the form of writing and collecting stories, as well as photography, tutorial writing, layout, etc.). Supporting Jennifer allows her to reach more people

One thing I would like to do for February is to gift Sister Diane and Tara Swiger’s “Busting the Blog Myth” class to someone. Leave a comment on this post to be considered – tell me how taking this class would impact your business and online work. 

photo credit: nhburdick

From Sister Diane’s post: “Busting the Blog Myth: How to make a blog that actually markets your business (without being gross). It’s a four-day intensive, starting on February 20, that aims to help each participant dig deep into how blogging can best work for their businesses.”

The contest will run from today, Monday February 13, through Thursday, February 16. The winner will be picked using random.org and I will notify them (and post here) Friday morning.

Contest – Busting the Blog Myth is a post from: me being crafty

7 Things I Don’t Do

1. Knit – regardless of how many times I want to or I am interested or I look at classes in town, I’ve never just done it. Completely lack of motivation to take another step tells me it just isn’t happening. Then I see beautiful pictures of yarn and I want to use it!

photo credit: orchidgalore

2. Deep cleaning – When the kids and I lived with Mom not too long ago, she remembered that I’m not the tidiest person around so we split the cost of a housekeeper. When the kids and I moved out, I kept using the service. I’ve never loved cleaning, I mean I do it because it has to be done, but that’s it. I am happy to turn this over to another person!

3. Drink coffee regularly – I was lucky enough to grow up living next door to my Grandma. For kids in my family, that meant meeting there before school and having breakfast (or just a snack) and coffee. This only lasted until we had to ride the bus, so from kindergarten until 6th grade, I had a cup of coffee just about every day. That coffee’d me out and now I just enjoy how good it smells.

photo credit: subsetsum

4. Iron clothes – While I like ironing fabric and even don’t mind ironing while I am quilting, ironing clothes is not appealing to me at all. I try to fold clothes as soon as they are out of the dryer.

5. Escape the clutter – I don’t know how I can be organized and know where everything is and still have a messy table! I know it is a matter of not having a place for everything, and this is an issue as long as we continue to move and move since every house is different and the storage opportunities at each house are different as well. This house is the smallest we’ve been in lately and the mess can drive me crazy. I’ve been getting rid of a lot of stuff as a result.

6. Scrapbook – this, like knitting, is something that I want to be able to do. I tried in the past – I have an album with probably eight pages finished – but it just doesn’t stick. I keep memories in a box which is so much less pressure then cutting them up to fit on a page! I have seen this cool page system over at Wendolonia and wonder if that will work for me? I got a Smash Journal and can’t wait to do something with it! I feel like if I find something that works, I’ll be more inclined to do it. Maybe this isn’t true though. Maybe I have to be satisfied with my photo boxes and other boxes of memorabilia.

7. Meal Planning – I have a calendar that has a space for meals, I have a notepad on the fridge for keeping track of a list for when we run out of food, but nothing works to help me meal plan. I have even tried cooking food and freezing it – that actually works really well – and having my kids help. I can plan for a few weeks and then lose the motivation or will or whatever it is. For example, last week – we did great with meal planning! Over the weekend I cooked a few things and froze them too. This is something I need to improve because once my classes start again, I am going to appreciate the planning. And I can plan and organize every other area of my life, why not this! Maybe it’s my changing mind during the day of what I am interested in eating. I wonder what can overcome that.

To put a spin on things, here are 4 Things I Do

1. Let my kids help – sometimes it is hard to let your kids do things because they won’t do it right (meaning your way). Of course this gets easier as they get older but I start early. I’ve let JW help quilt, he loves to sew. He asks “help sew?” and sits on my lap. I go slower and he is thrilled. He is fascinated to sit on my lap and touch the quilt, to help move it.

2. Make birthday cakes – so far I’ve made Dora, Elmo, a drum, a gumball machine (two or three times!), a strawberry and I’m not sure what else. I like having birthday parties at home, a throwback to how things have always been done in my family. I try to keep this tradition alive even though we move all the time.

3. Have a library – books are expensive and we use the library all the time. But I have a lot of books and love having them. I love that JW “reads” and that Alice and Jake read at any chance they get. Jake almost reads more then Alice does, which kind of surprises me. We have enough books for at least three, maybe four, bookcases. Most of the books are packed up as the house we are in is too small and there isn’t room for our bookcases. The important thing is to love the books that we have, so I do go through them and make sure we are getting rid of text books or pass along books to friends that we are done with.

4. Cook – I love to bake and cook. I don’t mind making a big dinner, even if it takes 20 minutes to eat after I cooked for two hours. I will try new things and cross my fingers it is delicious. And even better, if you see number two I don’t like cleaning (okay that says deep cleaning) so I have trained myself to clean up as I go when I cook. I put dishes in to soak or in the dishwasher and put ingredients/food away while I’m making it. The kitchen is rarely a huge mess after I am done. I may not be able to plan a meal, but I can cook.

Feel free to play along, and also enjoy Carrie’s 9 Things I Don’t Do.

Seven Things I Don’t Do is a post from: me being crafty

My plan is to pay attention to my favorite bloggers and figure out how I can support them. Do they have a tip jar or a shop I can purchase from? I know that the money spent doing this does not have to be a lot so that isn’t a concern of mine, but if it is a concern of yours just focus on reaching out to one person.

photo credit: Schtumple

Today is Friday the 13th. Break the curse of bad and do something good for someone you know! I’ll check back at the end of the month to update how I did.

How To Support Some Free is a post from: me being crafty

Picture from Christy’s blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything

These are baked chicken taquitos. Click that link for the original pin. Here is the link to the original blog post. Now go make them and eat them because they are delicious.

Bye.

Oh you want more from me?

Seriously, these are amazing. They are SO good and super easy to make. I made double what the original recipe called for because I made them when I was visiting my Dad, one of my brothers, and my nephews. When you have a household of mostly boys (all of them plus my kids outnumber Alice and I by 8 to 2), you need a lot of food and it has to be good. Everyone loved this. My brother took them to work the day after I first made them and shared with his co-worker. He declared them delicious and wanted the recipe for his wife.

I’m not going gluten free or carb free, but I am trying to stay away from bread, tortillas, etc., for a couple of weeks so I don’t see myself making these anytime soon. I bet there are gluten free tortillas out there…I wonder if they taste good. I bet if they aren’t good, these will make them good. The chicken mixture is magic.

Pinterest Challenge – Baked Chicken Taquitos is a post from: me being crafty

For the first WIP Wednesday of 2012 – I am working on a few projects!

Here are my fabrics for the older (2010) quilt along I found:

The fabrics are not a charm pack like the author is working with and I’m okay with that. I love these fabrics, but after looking at this picture I realize I should probably replace the two with light backgrounds. I don’t want them blending into the white on white background. I can’t wait to get started on this quilt, I am going to work on cutting everything out and maybe some beginning sewing this weekend.

I haven’t picked out any fabrics for the HST BOM yet, but I am thinking about what I want to use. I have a lot of fabric and it’s not out on shelves so it can be tough to remember what I have. I end up with boxes and bins open all over my sewing room and it becomes a mess that I don’t want to go through, I just want the room clean again! I take this as a sign to clean up the space and have a better system for my fabric. I don’t want it tucked away never to be seen again.

I also commented on Amy’s one week challenge and am working on an oven mitt. I am using the pattern from this blog post and these fabrics, I stitched them last night and will work on cutting them out, etc., throughout the week.

I tried making an oven mitt myself during the holiday break and it went horribly wrong.

That oven mitt, it only fits my kids. This is my lesson on using a pattern. I haven’t even finished it because I was frustrated. Now I think it’s funny and I’ll get the binding on this weekend.

First WIP Wednesday of 2012 is a post from: me being crafty

photo credit: coɴᴅoᴙmaᴎ™

I mentioned how crazy busy I am, how I am taking a total of five classes this semester and then I will be done with my undergrad studies. Well I got a phone call yesterday that said the two classes I was going to take from NWIC will not be accepted because they are not exactly the equivalent to the classes at UMUC. I was also told that I was wrong in thinking I only needed five classes to graduate, I actually need ten more total classes. That is partially my fault because I read my degree progress report wrong, but I also blame my advisor because I have been speaking with a couple of different people regularly and I kept telling them I could finish this semester. Why didn’t either of them say anything?

I decided to fight to get the Native American Art Appreciation class to transfer as Art Appreciation. The woman I spoke with from UMUC said it was too specific since it was Native art, and not art in general. Well, it is from a tribal college so I guess you can say there is a focus, but isn’t that the same as art from a mainstream university focusing on western art for their art appreciation class? What if I took that class to begin with and then transferred to UMUC, would they deny the class at that point? Who knows, but I am going to try to go higher and get the class accepted. I do not see why it wouldn’t be but we’ll see the response I get.

I am going to take a DANTES test to take the place of one of the classes I would have transferred from NWIC. So that takes care of the two NWIC courses. I am still registered for three classes online.

photo credit: elxedder

That still leaves me with six classes to take. Ugh. I am so not interested anymore. I was practically bouncing off the wall excited that I could finish this semester. Now I feel like it is a never ending thing, that I just keep taking classes and am not getting closer. I am trying not to feel discouraged, I am still very close. It may just take me a few days to feel completely motivated and excited again.

I guess I could look at it as though I will still be done this year, but that feels so far off compared to this summer. I need to play with a cute baby and sew, maybe after that I’ll be motivated again.

Wind Out Of My Sails is a post from: me being crafty

That blows my mind. I am excited way deep down inside. The excitement will come to the surface the closer I get, or maybe not until I apply for graduation? It’ll happen though. I have to get through these classes, but this has been a long time coming. I can not stress enough the importance of finishing your undergraduate degree in a timely manner! I am so ready to move on with my studies.

I am still working part time and the older kids are currently in basketball. The baby will probably go to daycare an extra day of the week so I can get my schoolwork done and also attend a couple of classes in person (I am taking two classes locally, from NWIC, which I am transferring to UMUC). Once basketball is over, the kids will play soccer. We are starting the semester off by not watching tv, this happened in the fall and the winter break was plenty of time to get caught up on my favorite tv shows. TV is something I can definitely sacrifice.

But I did want to find another quilt along to do this year. Last year I did the postage stamp quilt along, and it was so much work – and so very worth it. I loved making that quilt, even if it took much longer then the initial quilt along. I haven’t finished it beyond the top, but I think I will send it out to be quilted. I found an old quilt along – the Charm Pack Quilt Along that was posted in 2010. The link will take you to the blog posts that are all labeled with that, so start from the bottom and go up. I have my fabrics picked out and cut into squares already. I’ll post a picture on Wednesday for WIP Wednesday’s!

I also found the HST BOM:

This looks very fun and since it is one block a month, this is easily do-able despite my crazy schedule. I will have to have some down time otherwise I will just be crazy, and not crazy busy. I haven’t picked my fabrics for the HST BOM, but I am going to do so before Wednesday so I’ll share then!

Classes start today and I am working all week because we are implementing a new database program in my office. Here’s to being crazy busy!

QA, BOM, & Being Crazy Busy is a post from: me being crafty

One of the first craft projects I pinmarked were these page corner bookmarks. They looked fun and easy and I am always looking for projects for my kids to do. We have made these a couple of times since I found them. My son was the crafter both times and he loved it. The hardest thing about this project is getting the teeth to fit right, don’t forget to leave some room to glue to tape them to the inside. Jake gave them to his friends and heard nothing but praise for how cool they are.

Tally’s pic, from I Could Make That

 If you have really little kids, it’s easy to cut everything out and just let them glue it down. If your kids are a little older, just help with the main body of the envelope. My son is 8 and once the main body is constructed, he likes putting the rest together on his own.

Pinterest Challenge – Monster Bookmarks is a post from: me being crafty

I am currently working on quilting a small quilt that I volunteered to make. I plan on having it completed tomorrow so it can be mailed on Tuesday. I also have a couple of pot holders that I made that need the binding put on them.

I also registered for two classes today. I have five to go until I complete my undergraduate degree. This is HUGE. So huge I almost can’t process it just yet. I am hoping I can get all five classes done this semester, I know that sacrifices have to be made in order to get what you want and I am willing to sacrifice things so I can graduate sooner then later. Of course later would be this summer, which isn’t too much longer I know.

I look forward to another busy semester! I am going to rewrite my priority list and get to work.

Happy Holidays and here is to a great 2012!

Starting Out Right is a post from: me being crafty

Nothing like some motivation to get a lot of sewing done! Two of my classes ended (I still have one more this semester) and it seemed to open a huge block of time! Add to that my Dad came for a visit and so JW was interested in Grandpa so I was able to nab time here and there to sew and I really finished a lot over the past week and a half.

I posted about my postage stamp quilt a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been working on this since January! I started the quilt along when it was posted but one thing I did was made the mistake of buying yardage for my neutral. For some crazy reason, I thought it would be easier! Ha! After cutting it into strips, I took a break rather then getting started sewing. Once I finished the blocks, the top came together so quickly. This joins my quilt stack now, I don’t have any plans of when I can finish it and I have other projects I want to get done before the holiday season.

I am thinking of quilting in a diagonal, to go against the squares.

I also put together a quick and easy Halloween table runner. This was super simple, I used the fabrics from a previous W.I.P. post and they are all fat quarters. I cut varying widths on the 18″ side of the fat quarter. The one on the top is my original table runner, and the bottom is intended for the back. I wanted to use up the fabric and this way I can have a reversible table runner. I don’t have any plans to quilt it anytime soon, but when I do I want to use glow in the dark thread.

A little hand snuck in the picture! Table pictures are always terrible, so I’m sorry for that. I need to figure out a better way to take pictures, I live in Washington state where it rains a lot so I can’t do many outside pictures in the winter!

A late W.I.P. but it’s still Wednesday where I am!

W.I.P. Wednesday Three is a post from: me being crafty

In the process of looking at all the beautiful projects people are working on through the W.I.P. Wednesday, I found a Sew & Tell Mini Quilt Challenge. Of course, I failed to notice the date at first and once I did, I knew I couldn’t have anything done in time. But I wanted to share how happy I am to have found so many really great quilters to follow online. I’ve been online for years now, primarily in the work at home mom (WAHM) arena. I don’t know why I didn’t find quilty bloggers until now, but I am thrilled that I have! The pictures shared, the numerous really active flickr groups, the challenges, the sewing summit (which I really want to attend next year!) and so much more is active in this community. I am inspired to finish more of the projects I am working on and share them with my new friends.

I didn’t get a mini quilt done, but click the button and see the amazing quilts others finished. I am heading to my sewing room to find fabric to put together a mini quilt this weekend!

Mini Quilt Challenge is a post from: me being crafty

A whole week already! What a sad state my sewing room looks like. Not much has changed actually. I left last Thursday for a conference and didn’t get home until late Sunday night, which really was early Monday morning because it was 1AM. Monday was spent cleaning up and getting ready for Halloween, and vegging – because I was just so tired from the amazing three days I had in Portland, OR, attending the first NIKE N7 Sport Summit. It was a fantastic experience and I am so excited to share what I learned! I’ll do a post here soon, I need to edit my pictures!

And so all that I managed to finish were my kids Halloween costumes.

But I can’t take credit for the hats! I bought them on etsy. I LOVE the blue one, it fits JW perfectly. I have to admit a slight disappointment with the black bird and green pig hats though. They are WAY bigger then my kids heads, bigger then I think they should be anyway, and the yarn that the green one is made of stretches very easily, so it’s totally stretched out already. Despite my slight disappointment, the kids loved them and wore them from the day they arrived and still do. I’m going to throw the pig in the wash and see if the agitation makes the yarn shrink.

Sure the sewing was super easy for the costumes, but I’m glad I got to work on a little something! I’m back now and am going to continue on my postage stamp project this weekend.

W.I.P. Wednesday Two is a post from: me being crafty

I am thrilled to join in my first W.I.P. Wednesday. I always have W.I.P.s (works in progress) and love looking at what others are working on. The majority of my W.I.P.s are quilts or table runners that I need to finish. Once I make a quilt top, I usually fold it and put it away. Since moving into this house (almost two months ago) I decided to have my completed tops in a separate space. For right now, that means a small pile on a short bookcase. This is a huge reminder to me that I need to get these quilted!

Two of these quilts are at the top of my priority list. They are for Operation Kid Comfort. I have the batting already and I am sure I have backing, I am striving to get them both done by next weekend.

Another W.I.P. I’d like to share is a postage stamp quilt. This is a quilt along that was published earlier this year over at P.S. I Quilt and I cut the fabric the same week that the quilt along started. And that’s where the similarities end. It was a lot of sewing strips, and then a lot of cutting, and I am still sewing my block together. I divided them into the two groups and just finished one group yesterday. I have a short stack of strips left to sew together, than I can move on to the construction of the quilt. I’ve enjoyed this and really love the fabrics I am using.

And of course since Halloween is right around the corner, here are two projects I’m working on.

I meant here is the fabric for two projects I need to make. Oops. The top fabrics are for a reversible wall hanging and the bottom is for a table runner. I am going to quilt them in glow in the dark thread. I also have fabric for a Halloween quilt, and I am making it a goal to have it done by next year.

I have the best intentions but just wasn’t able to get my Halloween projects done this year! I am going to work on them anyway, over the next couple of weeks and then quit. I don’t have too much sewing I need to do for the holidays so I won’t be behind like I am here.

First W.I.P. Wednesday is a post from: me being crafty

I almost forgot about this week’s 2 on Tuesday, which is surprising because I’ve actually been able to keep up! I promise I’ll share some crafty and this is what I’ve been doing posts. I’ve been crazy busy! I’m heading to Portland on Thursday for the NIKE N7 Conference and other then being excited for that, I am beyond excited to see one of my BFF’s Holly! It’s been way too long since we’ve seen each other, almost six years! That’s the military for you. She is flying to Portland to watch JW for me so I can attend the N7 Summit. Yay!

On to my pictures…

I like this picture so much it is my icon on several websites. Twitter for one, despite the picture being about three and a half years old. Yes I have a camera and even a phone with a decent camera – you would think I could take a new pic for my profile! But no. I like to have makeup and my hair look decent and I never feel like I have time to take those few minutes to take a new one. Showing this just proves it is so time to do so! Anyway, this picture was taken when Chris was in OCS.

Sure my hair is a hot mess and the craft room behind me is messy, but what a great shot of Jake and I. He was holding the camera and I remember he and Alice had been playing with it, taking pictures of whatever. He came in the office/craft room and wanted to take a picture with me, so I grabbed him and this is what he got. I love it because we are both so happy.

Two on Tuesday Favorite Pictures of Me is a post from: me being crafty

I’ve become picky about my restaurants. I really try not to have fast food anymore and I don’t like going to the typical chain restaurants – though I do love Outback! As far as I’m concerned, Outback is awesome. Maybe that is one of my favorites. Another is Phad Thai, which is a local restaurant that changed the name to Asian 1 this summer. I don’t understand why, maybe they have new owners, but the food is the same so that makes me happy. The restaurant is has a relaxing atmosphere and the wait staff doesn’t try to rush us out when we are done eating. I found my favorites there so I don’t stray too far outside of that, but they have a huge selection you can choose from.

photo credit: Mark Faviell Photos

The other local favorite I have is CJ’s Beach House (I just found out they don’t have a website!). It is a bit pricier then what I like to spend on a meal out so we don’t go very often. They have a great outside seating area, and since it’s on the beach it can be the perfect evening out. The food is good and most of the time the wait staff is great. If they are really busy, the wait staff seem to be flustered, but that’s only happened once or twice when we’ve been there. That isn’t a picture of Birch Bay from CJ’s, but the entire area looks that way so it could be.

Two On Tuesday Favorite Restaurants is a post from: me being crafty

photo credit: Triplejohnny

Ah fashion. It never looks bad when we are in the midst of it! Hands down – spandex shorts. I’ve never been skinny enough to wear them alone, so mine were always worn under gym shorts. What was the point of that! Who needed to wear two pairs of shorts! Looking back on things, my 7th and 8th grade years were probably the worst, fashion wise. That whole rolling of the jean legs (anyone else!), bangs curled up and hair sprayed so the strongest wind wouldn’t move them, little bootie boots. Ugh those boots. I am pretty sure there is a picture of me in band wearing a sweatshirt, stone washed jeans and probably the worst pair of shoes ever. Who knows what I was thinking!

HHmmm, that is more then two. How about any time I wear black jeans and shoes and white socks. That’s not nearly as bad as seventh and eighth grade, but it’s bad enough to warrant me wishing I had black socks!

Two On Tuesday Biggest Fashion Mistakes is a post from: me being crafty

Hands down – Barbies and Strawberry Shortcake.

I loved Strawberry Shortcake. I even had a canopy bed with Strawberry Shortcake bedding on it! And yes, it smelled like strawberries. I loved her so much that one year my Mom threw her a birthday party – complete with my friends and a strawberry shaped cake! She was fantastic. I always did love dolls and babies. My Grandma, Mom, and one of my Aunt’s made my babies clothes, which of course adds to how awesome the dolls were. I still have the babies and clothes, though sadly I don’t have Strawberry Shortcake. The new version of her looks okay but look at that picture! That is vintage Strawberry! I might have to buy that for myself, just to have.

And Barbie. How can you not love Barbie! I don’t fall into the whole she’s a bad role model for girls and she doesn’t look like a real person. She’s a doll. Of course she doesn’t look like a real person! If you parent your children, then they won’t think that dolls should be their role models. They will think dolls are dolls. My Mom parented me and thus, barbies were barbies. They were fun to play with and dress up. Even if my brothers did steal Barbie so she could marry a GI Joe. Ken was never good enough I suppose. I didn’t have everything Barbie offered, I can’t even remember if I had the car, which I suppose means maybe I didn’t. I did have a Barbie trunk with clothes in it.

I still have a lot of my Barbies and my daughter plays with them once in a while. I even have a Michael Jackson doll, complete with the red and black jacket and one sparkly glove.

Two On Tuesday Childhood Toys is a post from: me being crafty

Alice has been taking her lunches to school most of the time and I knew it was time to invest in something other then wrapping sandwiches and the rest of her food in plastic bags and paper towels. I bought some reusable snack bags for lunches from my friend Angela over on etsy at Sea Sow USA. I love them! They are the perfect size for snacks or for a pb&j. She has a lot of designs and recently added more. She also has a facebook page that you should join! When I bought my bags, I snagged a free shipping code from the fb page.

My snack bag, then Jake’s robots, and Alice’s flowers.

Healthy Lunches is a post from: me being crafty

Many fall shows are starting up again this week. What two shows are you most looking forward to?

I love when the tv shows are back. Of course, I’m so busy this semester (the reading! Why is there so much reading!) who knows if I’ll actually get to watch the shows I’m most looking forward to. I did watch Two and a Half Men last night – which was funny! I also watched How I Met Your Mother – a full hour of that show and it was really good! I did watch one HIMYM this morning, so maybe that doesn’t count? I don’t get up early regularly so it was a fluke to watch this morning.

But what I am looking forward to the most is Sons of Anarchy (okay it started two weeks ago) – have you seen this? I didn’t start watching until last season or so but I caught up through netflix. The other show I am looking forward to is New Girl with Zooey Deschanel! She was great in the handful of episodes of Weeds that I saw and I love her in Failure to Launch. She’s just a funny actress.

In all honesty, my DVR is going to be packed. But I have so much reading to do, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to watch anything! Probably at 6AM like I did today.

Jump in with Two on Tuesday is a post from: me being crafty

Simply beautiful. This months selection is purples and oranges – I already have a project in mind! This year I am making the kids Halloween treat bags to take trick or treating with them. These solids will go perfectly with the other fabric I have.

I highly recommend joining the monthly solids club as soon as you can.

Pink Chalk Studio Solids Club is a post from: me being crafty