DE-STASH #2

Today's offering on my de-stash:

 a NEW IN BOX Accuquilt Go! Baby.

Retail approx. $140

As a matter of fact it is still in an unopened shipping box! I need to open it up to see what dies I have to offer as well. 

Okay, opened the shipping box and this is what I had ordered/received;

Feathers

retail approx $30

 Triangle - 4 7/8"

retail approx $25

Half square 3" finished Triangle

retail approx $30

 TWO cutting mats one is 5x10" (retail approx $8) and the other is 6x12" (retail approx $10)

Total retail value - approximately $243 and that doesn't include the shipping (the box said it was 14 pounds)

I am offering the entire package at 25% off of retail

$182.25

you pay shipping (USPS or UPS)

USA addresses only

PayPal



Don't forget to visit FingertipShopping for more bloggers taking part in the De-Stash event!

Praise - it is a GLORIOUS Indian summer day here! I love fall and the beauty it brings in this part of the country. I am so thankful for seasons!

Prayer - continued prayers for my hubby's leg. He is even giving up volleyball tonight so I know it isn't good.

DE-STASH #1

What could bring me out of the woodwork? A chance to DE-STASH! I saw mention of this LINKY Party at SewCalGal's blog and have been waiting for the day.

  Unfortunately while I was waiting - instead of going through my stash to get ready for this event, hubby and I started looking for a new house. And we found one. So all that entails is now in motion. The house closed today, one week early! How often does THAT happen?

 I would prefer to only ship to USA addresses. I might make an exception if someone pleads their case. Shipping is not included in the listed prices. I can give you a total amount due once you tell me what item(s) you want to buy. Payment by PayPal only.

 So I have a few items ready for the De Stash with MORE on the way. I needed to do this De Stash before but now that I am moving it is really in order!

First up-Amy Butler's Style Stitches. I was going to partake in a sew along with this and then I just couldn't get my act together. I have looked through the book very gently. The pattern packet has not even been opened (see second picture). The book is in LIKE NEW condition. $16

Clover Large Yo Yo maker - who was I kidding? I do NOT like doing any sewing by hand. Bindings are my limit.

Never opened.   $5

 Next up a "La Petite Ecole" jelly roll by French General for Moda

I won this in a blog sew along and have never figured out what to do with it. It isn't my go to colors and so it keeps getting pushed aside for other fabrics in the stash.  $20

This is a Hope Cove Fat Quarter Bundle in Mint, by Robyn Pandolph for RJR Fabrics  

 9 fat quarters. Never opened. Again, I just haven't come up with something to use this for. Sweet prints. For sale at The Fat Quarter Shop for 32.50.  You can get it here for $22



A sweet fat quarter bundle of Irving Street Flannels by Erin McMorris.  You can see the full prints at Quilthome.com (where it retails for $10.95 per yard). 

6 fat quarters of flannel  $12

Various patterns - quilts, aprons, rug, child's top.

new and unused

$3.50 each, please specify which pattern(s) you'd like!

That is it for today. Leave a comment letting me know what it is you are interested in. Make sure that I can contact you - leave an email address if you happen to be a no-reply blogger. I have more to list so please come back soon!

Visit FingertipShopping for more bloggers taking part in the De-Stash event!

Praise - oh so many things to Praise the Lord for since I last wrote! My friend who had bone cancer just learned this week that her blood work shows NO active cancer in her body!

Prayer - for my hubby's left leg. For some reason it has been swelling just over his knee over the last few days and getting worse.  Prayer for healing and for wisdom on how he should handle this.

Merry Christmas

A little video greeting that my College Boy just made for Timbersled Products, featuring their Mountain Horse Snowbike. You'll see my College Girl and her boyfriend at the beginning. :)



I don't know why I can't get the full video there. Here is the link to watch it on YouTube.

Share the link for the video with your friends and family (my son would love to see the views count go UP!). I'm sure all the guys would love to find that snowbike kit under their Christmas tree.

Hubby, myself, College Girl and her boyfriend, and College Boy will be celebrating Christmas on Saturday. Adding in the serious boyfriend, travel for him and College Girl to celebrate Christmas with his parents and brother (who has to head back to his job early Monday morning) made for some interesting logistics that we think we have finally figured out. The time and date does not matter. What does matter is that we stay focused on THE reason for the season - the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior and that we spend the day with loved ones.

I hope to be back sometime the week between Christmas and New Year.

Merry Christmas to all!


Praise - for the incredible news we just received from my sister in law. The cancerous tumor on her lung has shrunk by 50%!

Prayers - for continued healing in my sister in law's lungs.

FNSI update

I finished the quilt just moments before hubby arrived home! I will wash & dry it in the morning and take pictures then to post.

Praise - College Girl's boy arrived safely and Hubby's travels were safe!

Prayers - For a good nights sleep!

FNSI again??

How time flies! Rene just asked me if tonight was the FNSI and I had to go check. Yes indeed it is. PERFECT timing!! Hubby is going to play volleyball until late and I have a project that needs to get done. Get done? Correction - I am JUST starting the project but it needs to be done by the time I go to a baby shower tomorrow!!!!

I am using this quilt as inspiration and using Riley Blake's All Star scraps that I have.



Praise - College Boy came home last weekend but was sick the entire time. He is back at school and feeling much better. I was so thankful to have him home so that I could attend to him.

Prayers - for safe travels for hubby tonight.

Progress report

Well I can call my FNSI a success! This is what I accomplished;


Yes, I know it is a bad picture. The lighting is pretty low in this room, the lights and flash made it look worse. Soon I can be finished, take it outside and have someone tall hold it up for me. Stay tuned.

I have the first borders cut out. I need to sew them together and then sew them to the quilt and then get my outer border strips cut. I would say that I usually cut everything before I get started but this time I just wanted to SEW, so I cut the bare essentials and got to work. I actually like doing it this way as it breaks it all up a bit so nothing gets monotonous.

I know that I said I liked ALL the fabrics in this line but if I HAD to choose one favorite this would be it;


College Girl is still six hours away (spending some time with College Boy this morning) so I can get quite a bit done if I just get to work. Off I go.

Praise - for cooler temperatures for the house building work party that hubby is taking part in today. I hope they are all safe and make a lot of progress.

Prayers - for College Girl and her boyfriend's (hmmmm, I need a 'name' for him)safe travel back home today.

Jamie Dress Sew Along Complete

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures from our trip to Big Sky country last week.
College Boy taking some pictures;

Hubby and I walked up this road so that College Boy could take some pictures of us for a photography assignment. It was such a gorgeous day.

I really did not even think of flowers when I asked hubby to go to the grocery store for me before coming home from work the other day. He will only buy flowers at this one particular grocery store (and never at WM). A warm room and some sunshine and they were all opening up.


So here is what I'm all excited about;

I finished the dress!!! Now remember this is for College Girl to HOPEfully wear on Easter Sunday. I asked her numerous times for various measurements, I read and read and Reread the comments by others in the sew along and then finally I just bit the bullet and prayed a LOT while I sewed. I packaged it up and sent it off via Priority Mail this afternoon. College Girl might get it tomorrow but surely by Monday and then we will know if it fits.

I would do a few things differently sewing with this pattern again but overall the instructions were good and there are lots of great pictures. Putting in the zipper with a glue stick was a great idea. A side zipper at that. I had never done one of those before. I wasn't thrilled with how wide the stitching was on the zipper opening or how it is done around the bottom of the zipper. I would do that differently next time. For the hem the instructions just say to stitch around the bottom of the skirt. Well I think it is such a nice dress and deserved a nicer job on the hem. I just hate that hand stitching and knew it would never look as good as something my mother or mother-in-law would have done. Hmmmmm, I KNEW there was this technique for doing a blind hem stitch on the machine but I could NEVER figure out the whole fabric folding thing. Well I got out my Bernina manual that has failed me miserably in any other situation and tried it on some scrap fabric. It was easy and I LOVED the results! On to the real hem!
On some sections you can't even see the stitches because the thread is such a great match. I was soooo happy with that! Looks nice and it was quick. I will definitely use that technique again and again.

Here is the finished dress, in what sunlight I could get from our front window.
The dark fabric you see at the neckline is the lining of the back as that rides higher than the front neckline.
Fabric is Poppy in Aqua by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller.

Won't you pray along with me that it will fit College Girl? I'd really appreciate that.

Praise - College Boy earned a super grade on a recent test and has handed in his application to go on in the film program.

Prayers - for College Girl and some decisions/situations that she has before her. For wisdom and knowledge and discretion.

Stash Report - week ending 4/3 and something sweet

I was asked to make a cake for a baby shower. The mother likes chocolate and strawberries. I didn't want to make a sheet cake so I looked around online for some ideas and came up with this;


3 layer milk chocolate cake, strawberry jam and sliced strawberries between the layers, chocolate frosting, ganache poured over, chocolate dipped strawberries drizzled with pink candy coating (she had a girl). I didn't even stay for the shower because my back was killing me but the reports back were that the cake was a success.
I instructed a couple of gals on how to cut it so that it served a lot of ladies. Cut a good sized round in the middle of the cake then cut 1" or so slices from the outer ring to serve. When you get to the middle round you can cut that into small wedges. They said the middle was difficult to cut but the outer ring sliced up beautifully.

Here is the quilt I made for the newborn girl using the Aviary charm pack, some pale pink Kona solid and a dusty pink Kona for the binding. The backing is an off white flannel. Yes, the sides look all wonky but it must be because I just pulled it out of the dryer and asked hubby to hold it up for a picture. I didn't take any time to smooth it out and hand press it into shape. It was not like this once I had it on the table and folding it up.

I machine stitched the binding. Time was short and I was tired but I really like it and think I will do that more often, at least on baby quilts.



Stash report is really for two weeks, I never got around to reporting last Sunday.
Fabric out consisted of yardage for the camera strap, my cherry blossoms pillow, the bridal shower apron and this baby quilt. The fabrics that came in consisted of backing and binding for the quilt as well as a FQ of a Sandi Henderson Henna in Springtime. I paid too much for it but it is scarce and I 'needed' it!

2 yards in week ending 4/3
5.5 yards out week ending 4/3
18.625 yards YTD IN
43.875 yards YTD OUT

25.25 yards TOTAL BUSTED 2011

I'm reporting in HERE with my totals.

Next week's report is going to be BAD, verrrry bad. I have fallen off the fabric diet and purchased quite a bit. I think that it is all for projects that I have in mind and want to be working on and everything was on sale! So hard to resist when the conditions are right. I need to get sewing so that I have SOMETHING to show in the OUT column.

Praise - for the sweet baby girl added to our church family - Annalee Rose. Our church has lots of babies right now but most of them are about a year old. Annalee looks soooooo small in comparison.

Prayers - for Annalee's family and her upbringing. That she would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal saviour.

I love me some weekend sewing

I actually made this late yesterday afternoon for College Girl's camera.
I used this tutorial found at Moda Bake Shop. Moda's Bliss charms leftover from the baby quilt that I made recently.

Then I started cutting up some soft pink Kona solid and part of the charms from an Aviary charm pack that I won.
Today I'm doing the sewing. I'm working towards something like this. I don't have enough for a border but that's just fine as it is for the newest little girl born into our church family.

I have no idea why I love weekend sewing when all of my days are pretty much the same, but I do. I did run to town this morning (which is such a time waster in my opinion)to get some Kona solid for a binding and some off white flannel for the backing. I guess my stash report is not going to be very impressive this week.

Break is over, back to the machine.

Praise - Joanne's surgery was a success! She is recovering in ICU now.

Prayers - that Joanne would avoid infection and that her pain would subside. Also for hubby and College Girl, that they would be safe while playing in a volleyball tournament today.

March Pillow Party - in pictures. Lots of them.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get my entry posted for the

Well seriously I DO have a few more hours, so in my procrastinating mind I am way ahead!

The story of this pillow begins back in October 2009 when I saw THIS tutorial by Alison at Cluck Cluck Sew. I loved the pillow and the tutorial and made one for College Girl to match her sophomore year quilt. But I knew I wanted to do more with that same method. The mug rugs that I made recently were branching out from that pillow, using the free motion quilting to applique the shapes on to the background fabric. I liked giving the pieces some texture with the quilting stitches.

My idea for this month's pillow starting brewing back in January. I knew that I wanted a cherry blossom tree for March. My first rough sketch.

Yeah I sketch in a graph paper spiral notebook. I also draw out quilt blocks, quilt layouts, figure measurements for yardage and even cookie designs.

My refined sketch;

Notice how I can't even commit to an entire page? When I sketch the graph paper means nothing as far as size of the finished project, it is just paper.

I was determined to use what I had on hand for this pillow since I AM trying not to purchase fabric unless absolutely necessary. These are the Kona solids that I had in my stash that would work;

Although in my head a lighter, shimmery, sheer pink would have been lovely.

I didn't trust myself to draw the tree and sloping grass covered ground backwards onto the WonderUnder so I drew it out the way I wanted the end product, made notes on it and then flipped it over and traced around it on the WonderUnder.



I decided to use a pale pale pink Kona solid 'cloud' under all of the petals so that most of the area seen between petals would appear to be pink petals and not sky.


College Girl wanted to help so I set her to work with my Sizzix die cut press to cut out all of the petals. Neither one of us counted how many she made but I used them all. In fact she made one petal backed with WonderUnder and then I decided that was not going to work but late last night I ended up pulling the backing paper off and using that petal as well. I arranged them and rearranged them. I too pictures to see the placement from a different viewpoint. I used a Elmer's Washable School Glue Stick (in Disappearing Purple)to glue each petal down. I pulled up a few of the glued down petals and relocated them. Then I let it all sit overnight. I wanted to see if I would like what I saw in the morning.


I did! So I got to work with the free motion quilting. What I had envisioned for the grass didn't work out so I just started moving the fabric and this is what I came up with.

The tree bark was easy. I had done the trees on my mug rugs and really liked how they turned out so I just went with that same style. I used black thread to make the bark appear darker than just the brown Kona.

Free motion quilting of the flower centers;

I just went from blossom to blossom and cut all the threads when I was finished. MUCH quicker that way.

The finished pillow - Cherry Blossoms.


I left it on the couch after College Girl and I both took pictures of it and when hubby came in from work he said "CUTE PILLOW!".

I'm going to link up with amylouwho's Sew & Tell too.

Praise - for the new baby girl born into our church family!

Prayers - continued prayers for Joanne. She was to have surgery yesterday and her husband has not posted an update yet.

Stash Report-week ending 3/6/11

I've tried to be strong. I've tried so very hard to stay on this fabric diet. I look at fabric online almost every day. I even fill up carts and make wish lists. I'm weak. There are so many fabrics that I'd love to buy. Some have even been on sale. I've resisted most of them. My all time favorite Fig Tree line since I have gotten back into quilting has been Patisserie. I have a layer cake of it and a teensy bit of yardage that is set aside with a pattern in mind. But I've been looking for another layer cake. I found one, full price and was about to buy it and then I got a sales notice from The Quilt Shoppe. I thought they had already closed their doors but this said that all remaining fabrics were 50% off. So of course, being weak, I went to take a look. There was ONE layer cake and ONE Jelly Roll of Moda's Patisserie! I put them in my cart and thought about them for a bit. Just for a bit, because I knew that at 50% off they wouldn't last long. I bought both of them thinking that surely one or the other or maybe both had really already been purchased by someone ahead of me and they site was not updated yet.

This is what showed up in my mailbox yesterday!!!



I want to use the Jelly Roll to make THIS pattern by Margot. I can hardly wait for that pattern to be released. I'm not sure what I will use as the border at this point. I'll have to start searching for some yardage and hope it will be available in June. I'm still undecided which pattern to use with the layer cake but I have a few ideas. I know that I will keep at least one of these quilts.

So all that to say, here is my stash report for the week.

6 yards in week ending 3/6
9.875 yards out week ending 3/6
15.75 yards YTD IN
28.50 yards YTD OUT

12.75 yards TOTAL BUSTED 2011

I am linking up here with my stash report.


The yardage OUT is what I've used for the Thimble Blossoms 'A Piece of Cake' quilt using Moda's Cotton Blossoms daughter colorway. I am sewing the binding to the back now and should probably finish that up tonight or tomorrow night while hubby and I watch a movie. I should have pictures of the completed, washed & dried quilt later this week.

Praise - Today we had sunshine AND snow. At the same time! God is so amazing.

Prayers - continued prayers for Katy (church friend), Grant and Joanne. For healing for their bodies. For strength and comfort and rest.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is a sampling of the cookies I made last week and mailed off to my college kids.



Taking pictures of cookies at night just isn't a good idea. The flash pictures were even worse. I shall keep practicing. The cookie decorating and the picture taking.

Praise - Hubby and I are celebrating today - it is our BIRTHDAY! 16 years ago on Valentine's Day we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior! HE showed us the very best expression of Love.

Prayers - that we would continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, first and foremost.