Online Shopping

I have been on the computer non-stop the last few days. Mostly working on my final edit of the book. Yippee!!!  I have to get it to the printer by Monday if there's any chance I'm going to have it by market.

When I take little breaks from the editing I tend to browse the online shops a little too much.

I may or may not have just picked up these beauties (picture from Amazon.com) Along with some fabric, of course. No, the fabric did not come from Amazon. I stumbled upon a cute Etsy shop The Sproutz Store!  They have a great selection of current fabrics and seem to always have a sale going on. The coolest thing is that they live in my town and agreed to let me pick my things up instead of ship. (so I could have it NOW!  :o)  Oh fabric, how I love thee.

Now to get this book done so I can SEW!!!

Just a couple reminders:

 Voting ends on March 31st for the Block Contest. If you haven't voted do it NOW!!!  The winner will be announced on Monday, April 2nd!

Also, SEWING SUMMIT 2012 tickets go on sale Tuesday April 3rd at 9am (MST). Mark your calendars, set the alarm on your phone, tie a string around your finger for petes sake cuz you do not want to miss out!  :o)

Lastly: Pre-sale of my book will begin next Weds! More info. coming soon.  :o)

P.S.- I've turned off comment moderation- I love signing on and seeing the kind words you leave. I'm sorry about the word verification if it's a pain, but if you're willing to endure- I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks.

Craving

I think I may have mentioned before how the creative process works for me. For those new to this blog I'll go over it again. This is how it works:

I wake up first thing in the morning (sometimes the middle of the night) with an idea.

I usually do go back to sleep- I need my beauty rest  :o)

But when I finally get out of bed it takes every part of me to focus on the task at hand (i.e.- getting the kids to school and tidying up the house) before I head to the computer and get to work.

No, I don't start with actual matters that need tending too. I start with that crazy idea that woke me in the night. And....I usually don't stop until I have fabric in hand.

Sometimes I meet a road block like having to order from the internet and then waiting a few days before it arrives. But that's ok because then I have time to get those other matters taken care of. :o)

Well, one of these "awakenings" happened the other day. Although I think this time it happened in the middle of the DAY. Weird.

Anywho- I've tried and tried to set it aside while I get important things done. And I've been partially successful. A little of this and a little of that. Perfect balance.

This whole idea started with these- Cotton Couture solids for Michael Miller Fabrics. I mentioned them in this post about 'I can sew a rainbow'. Well now I'm OBSESSED  and it's only been a week!

See how these creative moments work!?

I literally can not stop thinking about these gorgeous solids. I've designed 3 or 4 patterns already (one of them is still a little if-y, but the other 3 are golden) Now I just have to figure out how I can get them done and patterns ready by market because, well, that's what I do.

Sigh.

So today, I went to lunch with some girlie friends. After getting some not-so-great directions and a mixed-up address I finally found my self at a fun little place.

CRAVINGS BISTRO in American Fork, UT

(find out more from Lucky Red Hen- linked above)

(it's right on Main street ya'll!)

Grilled Cheese for grown-ups.

YUM!!!

I ordered the #2) A.B.C. sandwich

Granny Smith Apples, Candied Bacon, and Caramelized onions (except I didn't have the onions on mine so the 'C' stands for Cheese! :o)

Wow. It was DELICIOUS!!

So delicious in fact that I re-created it for dinner at home. Not as good when I make it in case you were wondering.

Anyway, it was fitting. Cravings for lunch and cravings for fabric.

FRIDAY!?

Is it Friday already!?  GAH!  This has been a busy week!

On Wednesday I had the privilege of going to the Utah Valley Quilt Guild meeting and doing not 1 but 2 presentations! It was a BLAST!!! You can read about it HERE. 

On Thursday (actually late Wed. night) I officially and publicly announced my upcoming book. You're going to hear lots more about that from me for the next little while.  :o)  Thank you all for your wonderful comments and encouragement. I am SO EXCITED!!!

Today we're going to PARTY!!!  Kidlet #2 turns 10 today!

10!

Here he is with his very best friend. My guy is on the right going for the shot. :o)

I decided to post this picture because it describes him perfectly. This guy LOVES basketball.

No really. He thinks about basketball 24/7. He plays almost every moment he can. Now that the weather is nice he can play outside. However if it's raining or snowing it doesn't matter because he has a pretty nice hoop inside too! I

This guy had bad ears when he was little and didn't talk much until he was 2 1/2. But of the few words he did say 'BASKETBALL' was among them. After learning "mama" and "dada", "basketball" was his first real word. I guess it was fitting that he was born in the middle of March Madness.

Not only does he like to play the game, but he likes to research it too!When he's not playing he's watching and amazes his Dad and I with all the stats he knows about players.

Today for his birthday party he decided he wanted to have a basketball game. So we've invited several friends to come play at our church gym after school. That's all this cute boy wanted.

He is one of the most compassionate and caring boys I know. He is always concerned about others' feelings and wants to make sure everyone feels loved and accepted. He is so kind and sweet with little kids too.

He is also a very talented artist and when he's not shooting hoops you can find him drawing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIDGER!!!

(that's his nickname :o)

Lastly, I got an email the other day about troubles with posting comments. I've turned off the word verification but had to turn on the comment approval to weed out the nasties. I hope this makes it easier for you. I'm not sure how long I'll keep it this way. But we'll try for a while and see.

Making it offical!

I have been working on this baby for quite a while and it's finally time to announce it to you all! My first book will be making it's debut at International Quilt Market this spring (May!) I am super excited. In April I will be listing it in my Etsy shop for pre-orders.

YEA! :o)

I can SEW a rainbow!

On friday I told you I was sewing a project in honor of National Quilting Day and St. Patrick's Day. Well, I stayed up late last night and got up early this morning just to finish the quilting (but no binding yet).

I'm calling her 'I can SEW a rainbow'!

She got that name because I kept singing 'Red and Yellow and Pink and Green, Purple and Orange and Blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too!' the whole time I was putting her together. :o)

This quilt came about because I've had a Kona brights charm pack laying around for months. I've layed out the squares several times but each time I ended up just shoving it all back in a box because I wasn't sold on the layout.  

Fat Quarter Shop (dot) com

Then I went to a retreat a few months back and saw a project Amy was working on. It was so beautilful!!!



Amy Smart @ Diary of a Quilter



I had never sewn a rainbow quilt before, but Amy's quilt definately gave me the desire to do it.

Skip to last week when I was walking through my local mall. I've talked before about how I'm inspired by things everywhere. Lots of the time its clothes that I see!

American Eagle

I saw these board shorts in a window display and LOVED them for their inspiration. And then the wheels in my brain started turning.  

I combined the Kona charms with the rainbow of Amy's quilt with the color blocking of these shorts and the rest was history. I couldn't wait to get started and luckily I had 2 good reasons.

  

 I used ONLY fabric that I had on hand. Most of the squares came from the charm pack. I also used a few Sandy's Solids. My favorite solids came from the Cotton Couture fabrics that I used. I don't think I've ever sewn with them before (Really!?) The colors are gorgeous and the fabric is a perfect weight. A little lighter than some of the other solids I've used so it was nice to work with. Solids are HOT right now and these are my new favorites! (and I'm not just saying that because they're from Michael Miller :o) I'm definately going to use them from now on.

 

The only row I'm not thrilled with is the purple/violet. I only had a few solids to choose from in my stash. I thought about running to my LQS but decided to use what I had. There's more contrast than I wanted but it adds personality and depth to the quilt- I just wish the fabrics blended more.

My final piece of inspiration came from HERE. I love her quilting. I have always wanted to do some heavy quilting and this was the perfect opportunity. I used several shades of thread on each color row. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Now I just have to figure out what to bind her with! Any suggestions?