Once in a blue moon

Did you know that tonight is a blue moon. Now I wish I had a great picture to share, but I don't have a tripod or a lens meant for distance so this was the best I could do.

However, that isn't really the purpose of this post. I am more thinking of the saying... see I did a bit of free motion practice tonight and when I was shocked and amazed at how well my first ever try at a paisley turned out I turned to my mom (who is visiting) and she said and I quote "once in a blue moon".

It seems to fit, because I am simply amazed and I wish I had a quilt to quilt right now, because I would stay up all night, while it was the blue moo,n just so my quilting would turn out this lovely. Even my little bit of stripling and loop-dee-loos turned out lovely.

It isn't perfect, and I am going to ignore the ones that are funny shaped or that didn't do exactly what I wanted and focus on the fact the back and the front look lovely and the tension was just right. I am very happy with this little sample. Of course it wasn't with bright thread that was easily seen, but none the less this is my once in the blue moment. At least for tonight's blue moon.

Work in Progress

I really wish I could claim that I made much progress since last week, but the truth is all I did was add the stitches for the bricks on my embroidery 101.

If you are a follower you had already seen that little bit of progress on Friday.

I guess the good thing is my mom is coming up tomorrow and bring her sewing machines. Maybe we might sew together during her visit. Although, her visit is really so she can teach/work with my niece on sewing. My niece is in 6th grade and  is going to be sew her Halloween costume for the first time. I think my mom may have learned from me and she is actually going to make my niece the sewing instead of trying to teach me and then ending up staying up late on October 30th to finish my costume.

I don't know about you all but I have some fabulous homemade costume memories. A unicorn, Guinevere, poodle skirt, robot, Tinkerbell are just a few that come to mind. I wish I had pictures, but sadly I don't... I might have the robot one some where. That might make a funny Halloween post when it comes around.

I just hope my niece gain the same love of sewing that I did from my mom. It may have taken me a while to get there, but I do love sewing and I know it was because of helping her all those times when I was little.


Linking to:

Sharing...

I found this really great coupon though another blogger today so I thought I would share it.

About 10 days ago at fabricdonkey.com they share a coupon for spoonflower and basically the coupon is you just pay the shipping for a fat quarter.

I have no idea how much longer it is going on, but it worked earlier today and I just ordered some labels that I designed. It should look something like this.

We will see though, but I am not too worried about it because it only cost me $1.00. Yep that's right peeps... you heard me right... just one dollar. So if you have something in your cart you have been wanting. I think now is the time to get that fat quarter.

Oh and in case you are wondering what this spoonflower thing is. It is basically a way for you to print your own fabric, or purchase someone else design of fabric. I suggest checking it out, even if it is just for browsing purposes... This is a totally unsolicited post. I just wanted to share. I have never tried spoonflower before, but have seen/touched fabric guild members had shared and felt that for a buck I could try it out myself.

Quilter's Blog Hop Party Giveaway

I know it has been a long time since I have done one of the these, but it is long past time to host another giveaway. This time I am participating in the blog hop party over at quilting gallery.

Today I am going to be giving away my most favorite tool of all.

It is the The Binding Tool. Now I will admit, it can be a little tricky to use, but luckily Jenny at Missouri Star Quilt Company  put together a tutorial to help out with that issue. And I do use this video everytime I do a binding.



Now here is my favorite thing about the tool. It makes that last little part of your binding, where you have to match it up perfect for it to fit perfect, work out amazingly. That is unless you forget to follow all the directions and then well.. Sigh! You have to figure out a solution. However, trust me you only make that mistake once and then you are very very careful with you binding tool :)

Now lets make this easy to pick a winner. I am going to use the rafflecopter app. You will have to chances to win. The first is just leave a comment about binding, do you like it? any tips? The second chance is to follow my blog. Since I am asking you to follow I thought I would add a mosaic of some of the things I have created or you could always check out my completed quilts, completed sewing project, recipes, or tutorials to see what I have been up to :) As a side note, yes I did use the binding tool on all but maybe three of the quilts here and the orange and blue quilt is the one that I forgot to follow the directions on, but you can hardly tell :)

1. gramps quilt finished july 2012, 2. Kaleidoscope Quilt, 3. Small bag, 4. Circle quilt full, 5. Posh Quilt detail, 6. Storm at Sea Close up, 7. Orange and Blue Quilt Folded, 8. Simple little table runner, 9. Baby Sudoku , 10. Logan's Little Allstar close up, 11. crochet roll up, 12. My Paris Traveler's bag, 13. Dish towels and Dish Mat, 14. Carnival Quilt Top Finished, 15. zig zag rug mug, 16. Owl mug rug

I will pick a winner on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. I will email the winner and that person will have 72 hours to email me back or it is time to pick a new winner. This is open to anyone I will ship internationally.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Linking up to:

Insta Friday

It has been one busy week, between work and doctors appointments and not feeling the best, it has been one long week too.

I went back here again

and they did this to me.

Luckily everything came back with in the normal range. But I got left with one gnarly bruise that is still there from Tuesday. It is more blue now, but the fact that it is still there just shows how bad it was.

I also got a CT scan for my abdominal area; kidney and tummy hurting issues, but those results take 3-5 days and it has only been two.

I did get to work on some quilting. I added one of the two borders onto my geese in the park quilt.

And made some more progress on my embroidery 101 quilt.

And a bit more progress, yesterday. 

Most of my time this week at work was spent testing students, which has been making my brain into mush. It is funny how boredom can do that to you.

My husband did take me out to a new restaurant in town.  It was fantastic and I want to go back to actually have the margarita for myself, since I have finished my antibotics and can have more than just a taste.

Oh and last night I decided to make focaccia. It turned out very yummy but a bit flat. I really like this recipe it is so easy, but I think I made it too thin this time. And it got a bit toasty.

Wow that was kind of some rambling there, but it works :) hope everyone had a good week.



Linking up to:

A little bit late WIP Wednesday

I actually had some progress this week. I was able to get all my rows together in time to share at the Sacramento Modern Quilt Guild meeting.

 

I was also able to add one of the two borders.

 

Additionally since I have been stuck on the couch and I have been sitting in waiting rooms for dr appointments or medical tests I have had a bit of time to work on my embroidery 101 block.

I am feeling better than last week, but still not great. At least I am getting slowly better. I really appreciate all the well wishes I have been getting from bloggyland people.

 

Linking up to: freshly peiced work in progress

Posted with Blogsy

Geese in the Park - continues

I actually did spend sometime sewing during Friday Night Sew In. I sewed as long as I could before my back started hurting too much (darn kidney infection).

I started with this pile of pinned rows. They are very long rows, basically the size of the top of a queen sized bed.

I kept sewing and repining and I was almost able to finish putting the rows together before I had to stop. Luckily I only had 3 more seams to do in the morning and I was ready to share my geese in the park almost completed top at the Sacramento Modern Quilt Guild Meeting. I am hiding under the quilt :)

Yeah for Friday Night Sew-in. It always takes place the night before our quilt guild meeting, which means I set aside just a bit of time to work on something right before the meeting. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have  put all these rows together.

All I have left to complete this top are two borders. Then on to another project. Normally I like to quilt a top right after I finish it, but with my back hurting from my lovely kidney infection, that just isn't going to happen. Actually sitting here and typing this isn't making my back feel so great. Ohs well that is life.

Now I am off do some quick vacuuming (two big dogs it can't be avoided any longer), throw a load in the laundry (I do need clean clothes to wear to work next week), go grocery shopping (need food too), and  then lay on my heating pad (awwh relief) with my ipad so I can check out what others accomplished during the Friday Night Sew In.

Have fun!

Insta-Friday

Happy Friday all!

I actually took some pictures this week. Just not as many as I should have to really capture a week in the somewhat creative life of Jenn.

I am really enjoying my new job. I like seeing all the classrooms and helping teachers with what they need help with/finding answers out to lots of things. It is really fun! I also spend a lot of time with this view

of my desk (notice the Kate Spain notepads, yep I went there). I seem to be sending lots of email and working on lots of projects that require me to work on the computer. However, I really like it. I thought I would miss teaching in front of a whole class of kids by now, but I really don't. I am going to go work with some kinders in just a little bit after going over all the 4th grade student leadership applications. I actually feel like I see more kids now, as I am going into classrooms all the time (mostly for checking books right now). It doesn't feel quite so isolated. I am really liking how teachers are already asking me for support. My  predecessor in this position must have done a fantastic job. Actually I know he did because he was super helpful to me too. I have some be expectations to live up to.

I also went to the doctor this week. I have a kidney infection and a really bad stomach ache. I have to go get an ultra sound done. I am just waiting for them to call to schedule my appointment.

It has really cut down on my creativeness. When I get home I just want to lay down on the couch with a heating pad. Actually I want to do that earlier, but I have to wait to get home.

However, I have made progress on my geese in the park quilt.

I took this on Wednesday, but since then I have pinned all the rows together and I will be sewing them together tonight because I plan on participating in Friday Night Sew In. For as long as I can before I am in too much pain. My goal is to have all the rows sewn together so I can share at the Sacramento Modern Quilt Guild Meeting tomorrow. I guess if it is too much I could always work on my embroidery 101 project.

Well there we go that was my week. Hope everyone has had a great week :)


Linking up to: 

Work in progress

The only work in Progress that I have going on around here is my geese in the park quilt. Look how lovely all those rows are together. Now I just have to sew the rows together and cut the border.

Then I will get my guest bed back.



Linking to:

Posted with Blogsy

I survived

The first two days of school. Phew! It was much different not being in the classroom, but I was still super busy and on my feet almost all day. Next week should be much different, but so far I am liking my new position. It is really fun seeing all the kids in the school, not just my class.

It has been a good yet not very productive week around here. I did a little sewing an plan on doing more in just a little bit :)

Oh yeah! Don't forget to vote for Suzie and Gus over at:

I mean just look at those cute faces. They are #98. See the whole post here.

Shameless plug - Pets on Quilts

I would love it if you could vote for me over at Lily Pad Quilting for the

I mean aren't Suzie and Gus just the cutest doggies on quilts ever, you can see the whole about them on quilts post over here.

Plus if you vote you will get entered in the drawing to win the prizes too. So it is win win. :)

Pets on Quilts

I don't know about in your house, but in my house it is not usual hard to find that one of my quilt has been taken over by my dogs. Especially this dog.

She has been known to move the quilts into a more comfortable position for herself and any quilt let unclaimed in definitely hers.

I mean they did help make it so I shouldn't be surprised that she thinks it is hers. As soon I lay out my quilts the dogs think that it is their place to lay down.

Now they really can't be blamed for that. We did teach them that place is where they go to relax and be safe. I even made Suzie her own quilted place.

But it turns out Gus likes it a bit more, he doesn't seem to care that it is girly or a bit too small for him. 

Whenever we put each place down, he always picks this one to lay on and she lays on his big ugly blue one.

 

Now, I could show you many more pictures of Gus and Suzie laying on quilts around here, but since there is a contest going on over at Lily Pad Quilting, you may want to go check out those pets on quilts too :)