Anyone for a RETREAT?

If you take a peek at these two links you just might recognize someone you know teaching classes. Pop on over and take a peek at all the eye candy. You won't believe all the classes being offered at both of these retreats.

Super Spring Retreat, April 6-9, 2011

www.pieplatepatterns.com Click on Retreats

Panguitch Quilt Walk, June 9-11, 2011

www.quiltwalk.com Click on Quilting classes

Are you thinking about attending one, or both? The classes fill up really fast, so don't wait to long. It would be "SEW" much fun to see some of you there. Just think of the good time we could have. Hope to see you there!

Here they are. . .

as promised. I finished up the two quilts I was working on late last night. These are some really fun quilts. If you thought the last quilt that I posted made you happy, take a look at these little beauties. All ready to go to Winterfest!
This first one is called Blissful Day and I made it from the Amy Butler Love Blossom collection. The background fabric is Kona Snow. The bright pink ric rac just makes the whole quilt look complete. You can find this pattern in the March issue of Quilts. This is the second one I have made from this pattern. I love how fast this quilt goes. You can have it cut and sewn in a day. Now that's the kind of quilts I like to do. Fast but fun!
The backing and binding are of the same fabric, also from Love Blossom. I cheated on this one and bound it by machine. Kind of liking that look on some quilts, and this just happens to be one.
The second quilt is called Sugar Rush. This quilt features different lines of fabric. The most used is the Riley Blake line called Sweet Divinity by The Quilted Fish. Amanda Herring is the designer. I also used a little of the Bliss line from Bonnie & Camille from Moda.
The giant flowers I machined appliqued around using the button hole stictch. Emily has a great tutorital right now if you want a lesson on it. The big scalloped border is also machine appliqued. Pretty easy to learn.

You can find this pattern in the Simplify book by Camille. This book is a fun one to have. It features quilts used from pre-cuts. I can't wait to make another one out of it. But before I do any of that I need to finish up some bags that have been pushed aside so I could finish quilts. I've been missing my bags and bag classes. Tomorrow night though, I get to see some of my bag lady friends. It seems like it's been forever, since the holidays anyways.

P.S. Have any of you done anything happy today? Let me in on some of your happiness!

DONE!!

You know those two quilts I was working on Monday. Well guess what? They are done! How about that? I pieced, had them quilted and bound them both in two days. I'm just running them to the shop. I'll post pictures later when I get home, your gonna love em', I hope!
P.S. Do something that makes you happy today!

Double Clutch It!

Good morning my blogging peeps. I'm back to the land of the cold, and sewing! Today is a double clutch day. That means I have to get alot of thing done today especially two quilts. Can it be done? You betcha it can! First I have to sew all these blocks together to make the 2nd of my Blissfull Day quilts out of the Quilt magazine. Then it's time to move onto this cute quilt from Camille Roskelley called Sugar Rush.

It's a good thing it's all cut out or I probably couldn't get both of them finished by tomorrow for Ramona to be able to quilt. Then they both have to be bound by Wednesday. I think one will be callling my machine for help! I bet you are wondering why such a hurry to complete them. It's Winterfest at Daniels Summit in Heber canyon and the shop has a vendor boothe there. It will be a snow day for sure (oops I mean a sew day)! What are all of you doing this fine Monday morning? Oh, and I just about forgot to wish my youngest daughter, Kaitlyn a very happy birthday. Wait til you see what we got her! Adorable!

Do we have to go home?

Look at that temp would ya. 70's and loving it. Do we really have to go back home to snow? Look at that sun shining in the background.
I think that calls for a BBQ.

And shrimp!

See ya back home, oh shucks! Not really, it's time to see the kids and grandkids.

This makes me happy!

Here it is all bound and ready for show and tell. This is what I have been sewing on while relaxing in St. George. This is my Skip Around the Block quilt out of the Feb/March issue of Quilt. The red and aqua together make me happy, so happy I'm skipping. Not really! The quilt is made almost the same way you do the Twister quilt. First you piece all your blocks together and then cut them on an angle. The hardest part on this quilt is all the cutting, but in the end it's all worth it.

Ramona quilted it with an all over swirl design in aqua thread.

So what do you think of my red and aqua bliss? Check out this cute quilt in the same color ways from Alli. I guess you could say I got my inspiration from her quilt.

Oh by the way, you can skip right on over to the Corn Wagon and they can set you up with a kit for this little beauty.

Calling all Simply Sewing Girls!

SEW(Sewing enthusiasts welcome), its time to get back to the fun. The project for February 16th is a really easy apron. Let's turn all of this....Into this! This apron is pretty cute don't you think? It's made out of a kitchen towel and small amounts of fabric. Just bring the supplies listed and you can have one for yourself(or make it as a gift). Here's what you will need:

1 tea towel

1/4 yard fabric for straps

1/2 yard fabric for ruffles

3/4 yard jumbo ric rac

Thread to match

Basic sew kit to include scissors, pins, seam guage, etc.

Sewing maching in good working order

And last but not least your smile and laughter!
Contact me if you have any questions on our project. See you on the 16th at 6:00 p.m. My house and you all know where that is, don't you?

Our Holland Express!

Christmas all over again. After six weeks of waiting(we knew it was coming) our package arrived from the Netherlands. Our friends there were so thoughtful with our gifts. One for Stuart and one for Myself. Sorry, Yvonne but the tree was already down before we could get them under it! What a lovely message she wrote us. Now let's open them, should we?

Inside my gift was a beautiful calendar of the Netherlands. Beautiful pictures of the pretty things surrounding their area. Perfect for my sewing room. And Stuart's gift was a apron, because they know he likes to cook and entertain. Motifs of everything about Holland were represented on it. Thank you Yvonne and Alex for thinking of us this Christmas season. I hope we have many more to share. See you in 7!

Stuffing the Christmas Goose!

Stuart took the boys to Wyoming goose hunting. This was the first time John & Jacob had ever been goose hunting. Rick Ainge also went but he wasn't at the house when we took these pic's. Angie and I had a nice relaxing weekend while they were gone. Sewing and looking at all the latest and greatest wedding trends.

After getting a group pic they sorted out four of the biggest birds so they could have them mounted. You can guess now that I will have some flying around inside the house.

Of course Thayne became the resident expert on size, and softness. That helped get them into groups for the big decission.

For us girls the shopping was a lot more fun than stuffing the Christmas Goose!

A Special Visit!

Karas' school class was to put on their little Christmas program the day before they would be out for the holidays.  It turned out to be a snow day and they had to cancel the program.  Oh shucks, we were all abit disappointed, especially Kira and John. This would be Karas' very first school program. But after the kids got back in school the teachers decided to go on with the show.  Just a week late but worth the wait.  Karas' special needs Kindergarten had a special visit from the man in the red suit.  Those kids were delighted so see him, well some!  Santa had a special gift in his bag for all the kids.

 Karas is so happy with her gift.  It's her favorite thing in the whole wide world, a coloring book and crayons.  So cute. Just look at the smile on her face. 

Dad, John even made it in time for the program.  Karas has come along way and is doing well in her all day Kindergarten class. We are so blessed to have such a special spirit and cutie in our lives.  We sure do have a whole new out look for children with special needs and all of their caretakers.  It takes a special person for this kind of job.  We love this little girl to pieces.

Cutie Patudies!

Here are a few new shots of Teegan.  He is growing by leaps and bounds daily.  The cutie in the background is Angie.

 McKinley can't get enough of him.  She's such a loving big sis.

Grandma can't get enough of him either.

Oh no!

My heart sank when I saw this at the church the other day.

They really mean business now.  Who knows maybe by the time we get back from St. George it will be gone.  I hope not, I want to see it when it's time.  Bad day ahead.

Sneek Peek!

Here's a little peek of the second quilt I'm making out of the Quilts magazine. I'm liking the red and aqua. Are you? Some say this color combo is on it's way out. Is it or isn't it? There's still alot of it out there if it is.

Just about ready to sew and cut. Yup, I'm going to cut those blocks up just like I did for the Twister quilt. Wait til you see it.

Give Me Some Sugar!

Now on sale at your local quilt shop or magazine rack at the grocery store. This issue of Quilt has some really run projects to do. I have already made one quilt out of it and I have just about finished the second. So here it is my first quilt of the new year. The cover quilt was designed by Bonnie Oveson of Cotton Way. She is the mother of the mother/daughter team Bonnie and Camille, designers for Moda. She has used her Bliss fabric line for her quilt, which is called Blissful Day. This is a quilt you can get done in a day, Sunday counts doesn't it?

Now this is where the sugar comes in. I chose to make mine out of Sugar Pop by Liz Scott for Moda. It so reminds me of the 70's. Maybe the Brady Bunch years. Remember that era?
I bound this quilt by machine which is so different for me. It wasn't really that bad to do either. I don't know though there's just something about hand binding I like better. Maybe it's the warmth and the comfiness of the quilt on my lap.

The walking foot is really helpful when you are binding by machine.

Not to shabby for my first attempt. Look at that lovely corner, just perfect!
After all the ric rac is added and it's all bound you stick it in the washer and dryer to get the raw edge on the circle.

Finished quilt, ready to go. Go where, I wonder!

This quilt was so fun I'm making another. So now I showing you a little Love Blossom from Amy Butler. Can't wait to show you the finished one.

You can find a kit for this quilt at the Corn Wagon. Stop in and see it for yourself.

Adding Another!

Teegan is here, and this little guy makes me smile. I recieved this little package in the mail from Lucy Ann. I was expecting it but not this quick. Have you heard of this fun jewelry line called the Lucy Ann collection ? It's not a new line of jewelry that just came out. She's been around since the 90's. This company probably was the first to do stamping on silver. My kids, bless thier hearts gave me a necklace back in 1999 for Christmas. They had a retail store in The University Mall back then and you could order your charms there. Now you can only get them online. I loved it then and I still do. It's one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. This is what was in my cute Lucy Ann box.
It's Teegan! Isn't he cute just like the rest of them.

And this is my special piece of jewelry. The long dog tags are my 3 kids and the round ones are my grandkids. The more I add the heavier it's getting. But don't ya just love it. I get so many compliments when I wear it. There have been changes to the charms over the years, but that's not stopping me. I wonder how many more will join the family chain?
Check our http://lucyann.com/ to see their whole collection.

Are you caught up yet?

Sorry I let things go for so long. I still have lot's of things to show and tell you, so hang in there with me. I think this will be it for the day. Watch for post from sunny St. George and Vegas.Yup, that's were I'll be all week. Gotta run and pack! Don't worry I have packed sewing too!

New Bags or are they "OLD BAGS!"

For those that may have missed it. The Madalin Bag from Kati Cupcake was the very last bag I made in the year 2010. This bag is the January bag ladies class. The class is on the 27th if you want to come join us. It is a very large bag so it would work out nicely for a travel bag, computer bag or a great diaper bag. Contact me or the shop if you are interested. The ruffled pocket on the front just adds more cuteness, don't you agree?

Lots of space inside for all that important stuff a girl's gotta have!

And the first bag of the new year is the Pockets of Plenty tote. This pattern is done by Whistle Pig Designs. I made it from the newest line from French General. It has a bit of a vintage feel to me. I accented the pocket with an old doily I have had stored in the sewing room for years. Something left from making dolls, so glad I keep so much junk! Then I added vintage buttons across the top band.

I would change just a few things on this bag. The inside pockets could come up a little. And I would probably leave the drawstring closure out and put a snap. It take to long to get inside the bag when you have to undo the ties. It makes it cute but not functionable for me. Just my preferecne.

This is going to be the bag for March. Keep it in mind and I will repost closer to the class if you seem to have forgotten by then. Oh, it's great to be back to sewing and enjoying the more simple life after such a busy holiday season.

Dinner + Friends = GOODTIMES!

We like to get together with good friends and meet up for dinner through the holidays. This one was no different, just different places to eat! We had supper one evening with Ellen & Don and Karen & John. These two ladies have been a part of my life since I worked at Heritage. I am so glad we still get to see each other during the boutiques and through the year for lunches. We all met at Texas Roadhouse in Orem. You can't have a bad meal there I'm telling ya, but there is alot of noise going on. Ellen, Don & Karen.

Karen and John there at the end of the table. We exchanged some fun gifts that night.

Our second dinner was with Bonnie & Doc. Their favorite place in PF Changs. Now that's a yummy supper too! No wonder my pants were feeling a little tight at the end of the month! LOT'S of good food = tight pants.

Doc & Bonnie are great people. We have enjoyed their friendship for lots of years now. They are just like family and we hope we have many years to celebrate Christmas with them. As all of our other friends.