Hey gals (and guy!), thanks to all of you for the nice comments left on my blog. All of the comments are so thoughtful and nice. I was abit surprised that I have gotten this much feedback. I'm going to draw the winner Monday morning, so if you know of anybody that hasn't gotten in on it let them know, they only have 2 days to do it. Thanks again and good luck to all of you.

The "Artfull" Bra!

Breast Cancer Awareness

"The Artfull" Bra spectacular brought to you by Quilter's of South Carolina!

Quilter's of South Carolina have created a one-of-a kind show of BRAS for Breast Cancer Awareness, the Artfull bra. The exhibit consists of forty-nine original works of art which are unique, entertaining, humorous and beautiful. All created to make the public aware of breast cancer. See more of the bras here.http://www.quiltersofsc.org/ click on the Artfull Bra Headline.
You have got to see them for yourself, I'm sure you will be just as amazed as I was.

Check out some of my favorites: The Nursing Bra

The Sports Bra

Monkey Business

How About Them Melons!!

I think my favorite is the Nursing Bra, what's yours?

100, Let's have a Giveway!

Wow! how exciting. I can't believe this is my 100th post. Let's have a GIVEAWAY to celebrate this milestone!! When I got to work on Tuesday the girl's had surprised me with my quilt patterns, all done and packaged up. One little thing though, they decided to change the name to Shannon's Quilt. They weren't quite sure on the name we had decided on last week. I thought it was kind of original but they thought we should keep it clean in the quilt shop! That's ok with me though. So in honor of the release of this fun quilt I am sponsoring a giveaway, so if you like to sew and ( if you don't sew and you still)want in on it leave me a comment. The giveaway bundle will include the pattern and 10 skinny quarters to get you on your way to making this adorable quilt. I'll be drawing a name on the 2nd of February so don't wait to long. This is the finished pattern, packaged and ready to sell.

Thanks to the gal's at the Corn Wagon for helping me with this project. And to my wonderful husband who thinks my first love is my sewing machine, not true. He has always been very supportive in all my endeavors. Thanks Stuart, you will always come first. Thanks to my kids and grandkids for always being on the receiving end of my projects. They are always the ones to get the firsts of everything I make. I don't hear to much complaining going on though! Also thanks to my friends and family for letting me create for them too. All of you are my inspiration to keep doing what I love "SEW" much, "SEWING"!!

A little lost!

What is this box and why is it hiding in the corner of the entertainment center? And what is this wire and masking tape doing following the floor and floorboards?

Is that wire following the kitchen floor too? It's going up the bar post, what the heck?


Oh my it's the old reliable laptop. Why you ask? We didn't think we'd miss using the computer that much, well you guessed it. We did! We had to take the computer apart downstairs for the remodeling job that's going on. I told Stuart I'd be ok without it, come to find out he couldn't do it either. He's so smart, this is our make do computer station for a little while.

I think you could say we both missed checking our e-mails and we missed seeing the blogs of family and friends. And needless to say I missed blogging for a day or two. So I'm back, thanks Stuart for thinking of such a great idea, you've always been the smart one of the two of us!

A new blogger!

Please welcome Angie to the blogging world. Angie has joined the Whitehouse clan as Jacob's girlfriend. What a pleasure it is for us to have such a fun spirited red head in the house. I think we talked her into blogging so we could keep track of the fun things her and Jacob are doing in Idaho. She is now on my sidebar as a regular I will be visiting. Check out her cute blog.

It's finished!

Is is ok to brag a little bit? I finished the quilt I was working on last week. It turned out just the way I had visioned it. I did this quilt with the raw edge applique method, all the seams on the dresden are sewn on the outside and then I attached it to the foundation peice by machine. After it is washed all the seams will be frayed just a touch. The girl's at the Corn Wagon thought it was just as cute as I did. They liked it so well they wanted me to get it quilted and bound in time to take to the Winterfest Retreat up at Daniels Summit this next weekend. So Ramona quilted it Thursday while I was at work and I got it bound and washed on Saturday. Thursday I spend the day at work making up the kits for the quilt. It just needed a name so we came up with the name of Dresden In The Raw! What do you think of the name? Funny huh?

Marsha and Mary Ann will be hanging this up in the Corn Wagon booth at the retreat, the kits will be going as well. I hope everyone likes it and buys the kits. We will also have the kits at the store. Stop in and see me and the quilt at the Corn Wagon as soon as it gets back from traveling.

Here's a close up of the raw edges after the quilt was washed and dried, and the bottom picture is the finished quilt. Ok, have I bragged enough about the quilt? Pretty cute if I do say so myself. Who's the designer? ME, ME, ME! I'm very proud of it can you tell?

Let's make bags!

Scrap bags that is! These fun pincushion, scrap bag combo are what's on the agenda for my Simply Sewing 101 class on February 10th. The bags are pecfect for the arm of your favorite sewing chair or on top of your sewing machine or cabinet. They have a small pocket inside for your seam ripper, needles and thread. There's even a leash for your scissors so you don't have to be looking for them again. These would make great gifts for the sewing or crafting enthusiast.

I just love the convience of this bag, everything is at your finger tips. These can be made from just 2 cordinating fat quarters or 2, 1/3 yard cuts of fabric or better yet your SCRAPS! What a great way to use up some of those scraps stacking up. If you think you might be interested, come join us at Simply Sewing 101. I'm always happy to see new faces there. Contact me either by phone or my e-mail, oohsaahsw@aol.com to let me know your coming.

Legal Again!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn Jane, your legal again. Didn't you just turn 16 and was getting your Drivers License? Now your 21!! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, let's go! jk Hope your birthday was an extra special one. We had a girl's day out Friday to help Kaitlyn celebrate. We met at the Italian Place for lunch, and then went to the spa to use our gift certificates we got for Christmas. On the way we had a few minutes so we stopped at Rocket Rebellion a cute new store in Spanish Fork, it carries alot of fun new and old vintage items. Jan and I had a good time reflecting on some of the things they carry. It took us back to our childhood days. We had Kaitlyn and Kira laughing as we talked about the good old days. You need to check this store out when your in town if you want a good laugh. Kaitlyn and her birthday gifts. Last May I helped her and her sister in law, Tori peice a quilt together. The pattern they used was Turning Twenty, to bad it wasn't called Turning 21!! They both did a great job on them. Kaitlyn got hers all done and it's been at my house since waiting to be quilted, so for a surprise I had it quilted and then I bound it for her. She was pleased with the end result.

Look how cute this is, the colors just fit Kaitlyn's personality. She's caught the sewing bug, she can't wait to get started on the kit I gave her for Christmas.

Everyone needs a Cadillac bag! This would of been up my mom's alley, she drove the nicest Caddies for along time. I don't know Kira, it's just not you! Sorry.

Kaitlyn checking out the dresses at Rocket Rebellion, they all looked like something Lucy would wear. They were quite commical and fun to look at. It's to bad we didn't take before and after pictures at the spa. This is the only picture I got as I was in having a wonderful massage. There is four different packages included on our certificates. Kira had her hair colored and trimmed, Kaitlyn had a manicure and Jan had a skin analysis and a facial. Next month we will rotate packages. It's fun to be pampered just a little bit!

The after affect is smiles for everyone.

A Really Fun Swap!

Pop on over to Suzee's blog,(http://typicalandersons.blogspot.com )and sign up for her fun new swap. She is hosting an Amy Butler Bag Swap. How much funner could that be? You can use any purse pattern you like, but it must be made out of a cute Amy Butler print!! There's so many cute ones out it's going to be hard to decide which one to use. I've known Suzee for along time, lets support her on her undertaking of hosting such a great swap. I hope I see your name on the list of swappers!!

Happy Birthday to:

Kaitlyn, John, and Jacob. While Jacob and Angie were here this weekend we thought we better celebrate all the January birthdays. Stuart fixed a dutch oven dinner for us, complete with homemade biscuits. This is one of the favorites here at the Whitehouse. Then I made the kids their own cakes, Kaitlyn was a little different this year, all she wanted was a dozen homemade biscuits from her Dad. Jacob wanted the same thing he has had for hum, should we say just about all his life. That would be homemade brownies. Nothing fancy for this boy. I failed to ask John what he wanted, so I made him the yummy chocolate cake that has the caramel ice cream topping and sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the cake and then topped with cool whip and toffee bits.

Kaitlyn's birthday is the 24th and Jacob and John share the same day of the 28th.

Happy Birthday to all of you!

Here are a few random shots of the day.

Our cute little Karas, isn't this attractive. There's nothing like a yummy brownie all at one time. What a fun afternoon we had visiting and enjoying each other's company. I'm glad they could all be here for the weekend, we don't get together as much as we used to, the kids are all scattered around. I'm so lucky to have such a great family, I love each and every one of them so much. Thanks for making my life complete.

Girl's + Fun= LOVE!

While Jacob and Stuart went snowmobiling on Saturday, the girl's and I had a fun day of lunch and crafting. Kira came up with the cutest Valentine's decoration for us to make. She always comes up with something amazing. We got together and started painting the letters for our Love blocks and we decided it way past lunch time so we loaded McKinley and Thayne up and headed over to Springville to the Art City Trolley. UM, UM! What a decision to make, should I use this paper or this paper? So many fun possibilites with this one.

Kira, Kaitlyn, Angie and myself at the Trolley, I had the best salad but I couldn't pass up the fresh cut french fries so I had some of those too. Oh my gosh, I am a pig! Worth every bite too!

What a cheeser, don't you want to kiss this little guy all over. Thanye is such a happy baby and was entertaining all through lunch.

The lunch break was over so it was time to get some serious crafting done while the babies were sleeping.

Here is the end result, don't you think they are "shut up" cute as the girl's called them. It was fun to add one more to our girl's day out. Angie is such a cute and sweet girl, I hope she had fun hanging out with us all day and didn't think we were to silly, as we can get that way alot.

This is my finished project, we glittered the "O" and boy that made the other letters pop. "Shut up", these were so fun to make. Thanks Kira for finding something fun for us to do. Jacob better bring Angie down with him again real soon, she fits right in and we enjoyed having her here too.

A Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peek of a quilt I'm working on for the shop. I have been wanting to do a Dresden plate quilt for along time, but I wanted to do it on a larger scale than a regular Dresden plate. I came up with this cute idea, (I hope!) and Aunt Mo (Ramona) at the store is pushing me along to get it done. So she has helped me plan it out and drew up my pattern. What a sweetie. This is going to be a 50" x 50" quilt, just the right size for a baby. The finished dresden is 36". Here are the instructions for the pattern, a little bit of chicken scratch right now, but I will get them typed up nice and pretty for the shop. If it turns out the way I want it, we will have kits for them in the store.

I'm making the quilt out of the new Moda line, Hello Betty from Choloe's Closet. It's a fun new retro line we just got in. Watch for the finished project coming up soon on my blog. I can't wait to share it with you.

You SEW girls!

On Tuesday night I taught my Simply Sewing 101 class, what a fun time we had. These ladies are getting better and better each time we get together. I'm really proud of all of them. A couple of my regulars were not there and we missed them alot. I hope they will be feeling better by next month. We did pick up a couple of new ladies and I think they had so much fun they will be back for more. We made self binding receiving blankets or table toppers. It's fun to see the different fabrics and combinations they come up with. Take a look at my girl's in action! Both Nyla and Amberlie did table toppers, they were so cute. And Shanna was doing receiving blankets for her friends babies.

Sewing wasn't going to be on Jan's list tonight, she was just too tired. She came to see how they were made, and then she was going to do them at home. Get rested up for the next class Jan 'cause we have something fun planned and you won't want to miss.

Did you know sewing and chit chatting can be done all at the same time? We do alot of laughing along with our sewing.

Here are some of the finished projects. Aunt Dale, Dondy, and Shanna. DeeAnn and Lou Ella are our new comers. Amberly, Me, Amblerlie and kids, and Nyla. Where was Erin and Angela? Hum, I think they were still sewing! Oh Caralissa must of snuck out before pictures.

After everyone finishes their project they get to put their name in for a drawing, this helps keep them motivated to finish the night of class. I made these cute little boxy pouches for the drawing that night. These were fast and simple, they work really well in your purse or diaper bag for the small stuff that gets lost in the bottom of your bag. They all loved them, and want to learn to make these in a future class.

I'm getting a little more comfortable with this new under taking. I'm having alot of fun with these ladies. They are such a joy to work with, just seeing the smiles on their faces when they have completed a project makes it all worth while.

I love Bargains!!

While I was in St. George this past week I ran onto some great bargains I couldn't pass up, you know me, I love to shop especially if it's on sale! I went into Mormon Handicraft to sign up for some of their quilt classes for the days that I am there in the upcoming months. All of their Christmas fabrics and kits were 75% off. I made out like a bandit. I got backing fabrics to match some fabric I already have, plus a few other great pieces. I picked up six Peace on Earth handwovens charm packs for $2.20 each. I have a cute quilt pattern I want to make out of them. My total bill was around 67.00 for 21 yards of fabric plus a kit and my charm packs. WOW!! I figured my savings on this purchase was close to $240.00. I did good on this one! Now I wish I'd bought a little more of some of them. Oh well, there's always next year right? I can't wait to get sewing some of them. I promised myself I was going to finish up projects that are already in progress before I start something new. I'm movin on it, I've already finished up 2 quilt tops that were started. So maybe it will be sooner than later!! Happy sewing!

Sewing again!

This is my first quilt for the year. I made this one for the store display at Corn Wagon. It's a little quilt, but just right for the car seat or stroller. It's made from several different fabric lines that matched. If you are interested, we have kits for them at the store. You can sew this quilt up in no time, very easy. I added three kinds of ric-rac to embellish it. Cute huh?

Hands off!

For Christmas both Stuart and Jacob got these amazing little branding irons. We found them in one of the western magazines that come here. You can order from their catalog or you can special order your own brand. I thought this was a fun idea, so we also ordered one for John and Stuart's brother Steve. They will brand just about anything you want your brand on, your steak off the barbie, hamburgers, using it as a wall decoration, leather or you can do what Jacob did by putting his brand on his new boots. I'm sure nobody will take them with a Rocking JW on them! Stuart's brand, the JH goes back to his great great grandpa Jens Hansen, it's been past down through generations. He now has the brand. In my display table downstairs I have one of his original iron brands. Stuart is so fond of the farming heritage that runs in his family.

The Rocking JW brand was orgininated about 8 years ago. Jacob designed his own brand and has it registered in his name. He has branded all our horses with it and other things as well, like his business cards when he started Rockin JW Diesel Performance. I know Jacob's brand will be passed on down to his kids and so on. Jacob, like his Dad is so thankful for the family that has taught him to love the skills and trades associated with the lifestyle of a cowboy.

Jacob and Stuart heated up the brand on the stove top and I can tell you, that thing was HOT!! They had a test run on his old boots before he branded his new ones. Boys will be boys.

Here's the finished project. The Rockin' JW cowboy boot! I wonder what else he has branded since his return to Idaho Falls.

Let's Swap!

Hey girlfriends, start the new year off by doing something really, really fun. If you like Amy Butler's designs this is the apron swap for you. This swap may be the best one yet, if you think you may be interested in joining, visit her blog site, mommyholly.blogspot.com. You will find all the info you need there. Come join the fun. Sign up deadline is January 9th, so hurry! P.S. We carry the Amy Butler fabric collections at the Corn Wagon Quilt Shop in Springville. Stop in and say hi when your out shopping for your fabric.