Sarah & The Primary Bee (#1)

A few weeks back, my youngest, Sarah, decided she wanted to learn to sew.  About that same time, Michele announced her Primary Bee.  Seemed like a perfect fit :)  So here we are at the end of December and her first blocks are ready to go.  I'll let her introduce herself and tell about the blocks ...

Lesson Learned

Before Christmas I had two projects that I was rushing to get done.  One was for hubby and the other for one of Sarah's friends.  Both involved FMQ, and thank goodness they were pillows, because I just couldn't get the tension right.

Merry Christmas!

Have a very merry Christmas filled with family and friends and the true Spirit of Christ!  May we all carry this giving spirit into the new year and bless the lives of everyone we meet.

Winner, Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by for SMS Giveaway Day.  What a fun week of exploring new-to-me blogs and tons of inspiration!  I truly appreciate all my followers--new and old--and all who took a minute to leave comments.

Monday I promised to give away two sets of rice bag hand warmers.  I'm loving this simple project that is so useful, and I hope ... does too.  Congratulations to Allison!  She was lucky #27.

1. 
   
   
   AlisonDecember 9, 2013 at 4:56 PM

   candy and lip gloss!

A Quick Reality Check

Thanks to everyone stopping by the last couple of days for the SMS Giveaway day.  If you're looking for that post, it is here.  The giveaway closes Friday, December 13 at 5pm.

When I woke up this morning, I had a lot on my to-do list.  Mail Christmas packages, wrap the kids' gifts, finish Rhett's ...

Anyway, here is what my sewing area looks like.  I guess its time for a little housekeeping here.

1.  My Stash Bee blocks from my month (June).  All trimmed up and in the middle of adding the sashing.  You can just see those strips peeking out from under #3.  I'm excited to get this top done, but it keeps getting pushed back.

2.  The stripes here are the backing fabric for Samantha's trek quilt.  It's been basted and marked for over a year now.  I thought that rolling it up and putting it on my sewing table might motivate me to actually work on it :)

3.  There are 3 blocks here that I made for my tutorial for my next Stash Bee block.  I get to be a Hive Mama next year (yippee!) so I need to have my tutorial post ready to go for January.  Finished the sewing this morning ... just need to put the finishing touches on  the blog post.

4.  These are my charm squares from the Kate Spain Swap.  I think I know basically what I'm going to do with them now that I've been staring at them for a couple of weeks.

5.  I stopped by my LQS this week to pick up the Kona Snow I need for #4.  While there I also bought some black quilter's linen and fat quarters for my stash :)

6. This is part of my order from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I'm going to be using some variation of these solids for the Kona Solids Hop (I'll be posting my project for that on January 16!)

7.  Under the rulers are the fabrics and half-finished square that Sarah is working on for her second bee block.

8.  This is the other half of my FQS order.  It includes yardage for my Salt Air Diamonds quilt that I dream of making someday.  There is also some beautiful Bake Shop fabric that I ordered for fun.

9.  Finally is my Christmas project for hubby.  He has asked me to make a quilt for him (not necessarily for Christmas, thank goodness.)  I'm working on that (the yardage for that is just outside the picture by the surge protector.)  In the meantime, I'm making him something to hold him over until I get that done.  I have some machine applique and quilting left for that project.  Here's a link to the free pattern if anyone is interested.

Hope you are all enjoying December.  My kids certainly are--they've missed the last 4 days of school due to snow.  Well, I'm off to spend some unexpected extra time with them!

It's a Giveaway Kind of Day

Welcome visitors!  This is my first time participating in Sew Mama Sew's bi-annual Giveaway Day.  I'm so glad that you decided to stop by today and visit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  I hope everyone is enjoying a blessed day and feels the warmth and gratitude of the holiday.

A Working Vacation

Here is part 2 of Helping-My-Parents-Move.  The house was put on the market the first weekend in August, and only took about 8 seconds to sell.

New Year of Stash Bee!

This week I officially signed up for the 2014 Stash Bee.  This online quilting bee is a group of modern quilters who use our stash to make beautiful blocks for our hive mates.  Here is the link to the sign-ups for this next year.  We will be assigned to groups of 11 and only go for 11 months (December off!)  Danny, our Bee Mama, is awesome!  She has a clear vision of how things should work and is so organized.  Even though she will not be sewing along with us this round, she has agreed to stay on and be our fearless leader.  Thanks, Danny!!

9607 Gardens

I've been meaning to do this post for about 8 weeks now.  There are a lot of pictures ... but mostly for my own benefit.  I guess you could consider this part 1 of Helping-My-Parents-Move.  My dad is an expert gardener.  Since I was in about 6th grade he discovered gardening and began transforming our suburban home into an oasis.  Everyone always knew our house because of the amazing plant displays.

I couldn't leave that home without documenting this year's garden.  It has come so far in almost 30 years and Dad collected some amazing plants.  I don't know what all of them are. I also know he'll start reacquiring in his new home, but I wanted to remember it this way.