{*~Some Good Stuff~*}

in

 

Guys! You totally made my day with all your kind comments on Kim's giveaway (Julia won! Woohoo!) & my mug rug tutorial!

I had a few questions & I thought I'd dedicate a bit of this blog post to answering them!

Yahaira asked: if since I do 2 inch binding, do I still use a 1/4 inch seam when machine sewing in down? The answer is Yes! I then just fold over and hand stitch as normal.

Em asked: which color freespirit designer solid did I use? Unfortunately I'm not sure but judging by the swatches on their website it's either gold or spark gold!

Andrea@knittybitties asked about my mug and it's by a gal named Catherine Reece! She makes cute stuff that can be found here.

Jacque asked about the hand quilting of the waves & if I had a tutorial/free hand quilted them. I don't have a tutorial but I first drew the waves on the quilt top & then used them as a guide for the hand quilting!

Hopefully that helps everyone a little bit!

Tonight I'm hand quilting a mini quilt that will be sold with 100% of the proceeds going to Japan. I'll come back later on this week with details. It's a popup shop with a lot of talented folks! I'm very excited that they asked me to join in! Hand quilting is just so relaxing and peaceful. I get up around 5:30 am & run around like a CRAZY person and at night hand work really calms me down and forces me to focus. I love it.

Did I tell you guys I gave up caffeine? This diet coke & iced coffee addict quit cold turkey, no more caffeine! I was drinking wayyy too much & had the jitters really really bad. So now I'm on an ice water & peppermint iced tea kick. The first & second day I had a headache but now I'm fine, it's been about 2 weeks now!

This afternoon I took a break, went down to Starbucks, had an iced tea and planned out my April schedule. One of the best things I've started doing was keeping a planner & calender. I write down exactly what I need to do each day, when each of my bills are due, when I'm due to be paid for projects, when stuff needs to be mailed by, etc. It helps a LOT. Sometimes things come up & I have to shuttle things around but it's been really helpful for me. I also write down weekly goals and check in on them on Saturdays.

Ok, off to quilt! Have a great night friends!!!

{*~Mug Rug Madness Tutorial~*}

in ,

Hi Everyone!

Mug Rug Madness has been SO fun to see all week! Thank you so much Erin for inviting me! The previously posted tutorials are all SO cute and very inspiring! And did you see how fun the flickr pool is? So great!!!

I started making mug rugs a few Christmas's ago, my friend Carolyn who I sewed with in Eureka one day came to our sewing group and was making these cute little things out of her scraps. I was so curious and she said "oh! they are just mug rugs"! But being inspired by all kinds of Japanese zakka sewing, I became obsessed with the idea of these little small patchwork bits that you can use to brighten up your space. I made them for gifts, for myself, for Chop. I made them to match mugs and when I was dying to do some scrap busting.

Today I'm going to give you a brief overview how to make a mug rug using a traditional quilt block called Christmas Star II. I've noticed a lot of contemporary quilters stay away from structured piecework because they are worried their pieces won't match up or they think they are "boring". That's a total bummer because there is SO much inspiration and potential in traditional blocks!

The possibilities are endless for Christmas Star II. I made all my inner brackets (HSTs!) different fabrics, but you can most certainly do them all the same. Imagine this block in solids? Or Liberty? It would be gorgeous. Quilting is all about taking a block & some fabric & making it YOURS.

This will make a 5 inch block that I've added a 5 1/2 inch piece of fabric too after the block was completed.

You will need a total of 16 HSTs in the combination of fabrics you like.  They will be cut at 1 7/8'' and they finish at 1 inches. It's up to you to make your HSTs in whatever method you prefer. I like Thangles personally. I used a variety of fabrics: FreeSpirit Designer Solids, Habitat by Jay McCarroll, Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt and Lush by Erin Michaels. My background fabric is a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton, I have no idea the color name but if anyone does, please chime in! I'd love more!

You will need 4 squares made from your background fabric. They will be cut at 1 1/2 inches.

For the cross in the middle of the block you'll need two squares, 1 1/2 inches each. The rectangle is the perfect size to fussy cut things, 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches!

After you've cut out all your pieces, lay them down in the order in which they'll be sewn. Starting from the left sew each block to each other along the top row. Then continue making all 5 horizontal rows.

Once your horizontal rows are assembled, sew your block together! At this point I use a LOT of pins to make sure my pieces line up as best as possible.

Yay!!! You've completed your block! At this point you can starch your fabric to make it flatter and more crisp, just don't starch it too much or you'll have a little dent in your block like mine! Next, sew a 5 1/2 x 5 inch rectangle onto your block. This is the empty space for your quilting or applique!

After I made my quilt sandwich (I backed my mug rug with Little Folks Voile by Anna Maria Horner), I free motion quilted some waves and then hand quilted some waves with 2 strands of Cosmo embroidery floss. I used three different colors, a dark gray, a coral & an aqua. The free motion quilted waves are done with white thread.

Yay!!!! Mug rug!!! I cut my binding strips to 2 inches, I prefer narrow binding for pretty much all my projects as a personal preference. I then hand sew it onto the back.

 

Use & love your small bit of cute patchwork! You don't have to add the extra space for quilting either, it would be super fun to have a bunch of these 5 inch squares as coasters!

Don't forget to enter the official giveaway post! There are some great mug rugs being given away...mine is coming with me to The Sewing Summit where I'll be talking more about inspiration & mini quilts!

Also, one post back I'm giving away an awesome prize...K. Miller photo actions!!! eee!!! Hop on over & enter to win those as well!

Curious about the pastries? They are homemade poptarts!

 

Thanks again for stopping by! And to Erin for all her hard work on putting all this together. And the other gals who created such great tutorials!!!!

{*~K.Miller Actions Giveaway!~*}

in

Giveaway! Giveaway! Yay!!!!

Today I'm giving away a set of photoshop actions designed by my friend Kim!

If you follow me on pinterest you've definitely seen Kim's photos before. She's one of my favorite food, cat & lifestyle photographers. Bonus, I've known her in real life for years! Her husband is currently touring with his super great band, Harlowe and the Great North Woods, they are basically a creative power duo!

She makes these really great things called photoshop actions. Now, I'm NOT photoshop savvy, I know how to resize, crop & that's about it but actions are SO easy!!!! You simply install them, open a photo & press the little play button. Voila! You can have super rad photos! Her actions are SO pretty, basically they make photos look a heck of a lot more INTERESTING. These would be great to have if you blog or digital scrapbook!

Suddenly my unmade bed looks moody, my jar of thread that I'm supposed to be winding onto bobbins looks romantic and pretty and a very rainy day looks dark & inviting!

I'm not the only one who thinks they are neat, her actions were in Feb. 2011 Shutterbug magazine! So cool right?

Kim has kindly offered a giveaway a set of actions, you get to choose which one you'd like! Did you see her reasoning behind the names? Clever right? You know I love firefly!

All you have to do to be entered into the giveaway is just comment with the name of the action pack you hope to win!

I'm going to leave the giveaway open until midnight PST on Monday March 28th! Then I'll pick a winner & Kim will send you your actions!

I'll be back on Saturday with a tutorial for Erin's Mug Rug Madness!

 

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED! I'll announce the winner later today! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

 

{*~Happy St. Patrick's Day!~*}

in

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Today I've been working on Star-y Log Cabin E-Course PDFs & a very fun project... Erin invited me to take part in Mug Rug Madness! It will be ten days of tutorials & fun stuff...I did a very traditional block & I'll be hand quilting today. Woohoo!

Part of the reason why I love hand quilting is the floss & colors. I love Cosmo floss best. You can buy it by the skein or on little spools. And the little green notion is my FAVORITE, it's an embroidery floss threader. I stuck some ribbon on it so it can stay stuck to my scissors.

I've been sewing along on my new friend & I am LOVING IT!!!! It is amazing to be able to just sit down & sew. No adjusting settings. No drama. Just quick, quiet sewing. I've been whipping up SO many tiny personal projects lately because it is EASY. Laminated fabric? No problem. Making potato bags? Easy peasy. Sewing itty bitty pieces? Simple!

Yesterday I made this bread and because I was skyping while I was baking I accidentally added a full package of yeast, used bread flour, two whole eggs...the list keep going on & on. I just went with it and low & behold..it's AMAZING! Best bread ever! I made the honeyed brown butter as well. I made the butter from scratch, I had some cream in the fridge I wanted to use up. Let's just say this butter is like HEAVEN. I used a new to me honey, Sutter Buttes Star Thistle! It was wonderful. Very light with a mellow flavor.

I wish I had a scrap gnome to do this to my scraps. Or maybe I can convince Karyn to just come over & help me sort!?

I'm absolutely positively craving Mexican Food right now! I'm wondering if I can convince the Chop to go out for nachos.... ;)

{*~Obsession~*}

in

 

 

 

This weekend I got to spend time with my bestfriend & her fiance. Chop & I took them to pinkberry in Sacramento.

One of my all time favorite things on earth is frozen yogurt. Not sugary sweet ice cream-y crap, but actual YOGURT. I love it very tart & crisp. Pinkberry has one of my favorite base yogurts, but it's a little over an hour away from us! :( But we always go whenever we are in the area.

We have a local place called JanYo, we visit there seriously once a week. It REALLY good. Their base yogurt is good but I wish it was a tad crisper. But they are SO nice & the place is immaculate, which is important because who wants to eat yogurt in a dirty place? blech! They also have a zillion toppings, although I'm boring & generally do coconut & almonds. Chop is an out of control yogurt eater. He always gets chocolate with 5 different kinds of cereal, candy bar pieces, nuts...he's basically an EVERYTHING yogurt eater. I do like that pinkberry has honey! I've thought about sneaking honey into JanYo, if there is something I'm obsessed more with than yogurt..it's honey!

I'm amused by how much Californian's love fro-yo, we recently went on a trip down & counted 6 yogurt places within 3 miles of each other! That's crazy! Is yogurt really popular in other areas?

 

{*~Patchwork Palette: Iceland~*}

in ,

 

Karyn & I are back at it! This time it was Karyn's turn to a pick a photo. And oh boy...she CHALLENGED me. In fact...she challenged me so well I missed the deadline big time, changed my block twice and completely did something different than I'd planned.

And I'm SO thankful she kept me at it!

This is the photo she picked:

(originally from krisatomic)

It's a great landscape of Iceland and you can see her notes on what she liked. Aqua, white, shades of grey, black and bits of pink!

 

When I looked at the photo I saw green, black, bright white and pops of skin tones. Lots & lots of March Green. Here in California right now everything is this lush green. I call it March Green.

I decided to improv piece my block which was a challenge for me. I consider myself a traditional quilter, I love traditional, precise blocks. But I'm always drawn to contemporary quilts & their unique rhythm. They are the kind of quilts that I love to look at, but am to intimidated to try. But the whole point of this project is to interpret and try new things!

So I slowly built this. Bit by bit. Color by color. Something about this felt like I was actually BUILDING a block. Not really sewing a block, but BUILDING IT. There are lots of tiny little pieces, this block is only about 10x6 and it made me SO excited to see that Karyn used tiny little bits within hers too. I wonder if it's the way the people swim within the landscape that made us do that? They look so small compared to the mountains and clouds. I found myself curious how small I could piece, I think it was my way of indulging in some traditional precision.

Her block is very light and air-y, the dark bit is eye catching and I LOVE that. I could only focus on the darks and it seems like she was drawn to the lights, she captured them beautifully! I love that she really BUILT a block too. It's like a log cabin only better! Very structural. One thing I've always admired about Karyn is her ability to choose fabrics. She always seems to make a certain fabric shine, one that I would totally overlook in a shop, she's a pro at finding hidden gems. Check out her usage of the metallics within her block. That's so awesome. But from far away, you can't really tell that they are there. It's a hidden detail that is a complete surprise!

I hope you liked looking at our blocks!!!! I'm so excited to start working on the next one!!!! Thanks Karyn for picking such a fun photo! <3

{~*Friday Already?!*~}

in

Where did this week GO? It was like it was here and then POOF! Gone!

Here's what I've been up too!

  • The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is having a GIVEAWAY! And we'd love it if you hopped over entered! Even if you don't cross stitch, give it a try, you'll be surprised how fun it is!
  • Registration opened for The Sewing Summit! Seriously EXCITING. This would be a great way to spend your tax return. Don't forget, I'm talking about mini quilts! Eeek!
  • March's Fruit of the Month is KIWI!!!! So cute!!!
  • Kim shared a recipe (and gorgeous photos) that I'm dying to try this weekend...Chai from Scratch!
  • I'm currently reading this & I have to say...the lead character bugs me. It's like reading rich, show-off, yuppie-ish couple who happen to be a witch & vampire. I'm hoping it gets better.
  • Moving my sewing table has been the best idea EVER. I love love love the light, it makes me want to do nothing but sew sew sew! And my grass egg head is growing nicely in my windowsill.
  • I can't get this scarf out of my mind!
  • This makes me laugh hysterically!
  • I'm hoping to take the Chop out for frozen yogurt tonight! I love realllllly tart yogurt with almonds, coconut & granola. Delish!

What are you up too?

{*~Table~*}

in

I've been feeling a little cramped in my sewing room (aka our dining room) lately and with a new machine coming hopefully soon...I knew I had to do some rearranging.

I sew on our dining room table that is normally centered in the room. Today I pushed it against the window and I'm already in LOVE. Being able to sit today with the sun on my face, watching the orchard across the street, was AMAZING. I'm not sure how it'll be with the air conditioner on me during the summer but for now, I love it!!! It's supposed to rain this week and I'll love whatever natural light filters in...I hate sewing with the overhead light on, it makes everything seem yellow and harsh.

I started working on a project for today based on a fabric that I just HAD to have.

It's called Bonehead by Michael Miller. It's funny because it's not really an "Amanda" fabric but next thing I knew I designed a whole spring-y quilt around it! Sometimes it's really fun to do something that isn't really "you", it feels playful & exciting! I feel like a rebel!

{~*Scrap Management*~}

in

This weekend Chop bought me a big metal Ag bucket to hold my scraps so today I started to sort them.

I added a few more to my pile for triangles!I have about 3 dozen triangles done but these are the few that I've actually sewn together.

I've been carrying this little pyrex tray around with me since this summer for hand sewing projects. Jeni sent it to me and I love it, I think it's technically a lasagna dish?

It's been quiet around here lately, I'm working on a few patterns for The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery & reading a LOT. I really like quiet days!

I'm so excited about my Star-y Log Cabin E-Course. Blocks are being made. Emails have been positive and enthusiastic. The Flickr group has some great inspiration going on. You can sign up at any time but right now Karyn from theworkroom has generously donated some treats & I've put together a great little bundle for a giveaway! I think this weekend I'm going to do a blog post sharing with you some of the great creations everyone has been working on.

I hope everyone is having a good Thursday...rumor is we might see SNOW either tonight or tomorrow. I'm pretty sure my head would explode if that happened.

PS: A few people wanted to know about the cookie in the frying pan..haha. It's a recipe from 101cookbooks and is the BEST cookie recipe ever. This is a pan similar to mine...both are Le Creuset but mine is older so it looks a little different :) I literally can't stop thinking about those cookies. They were that good!

{*~Wednesday~*}

in

My Wednesday

  • getting up and walking 5 miles on the treadmill
  • listening to the same albums on repeat since 5 am (The Avett Brothers, Neil Young, Truth & Salvage Co, The Decemberists)
  • caught up on emails & google reader
  • pinning on pinterest
  • baking beer bread. I added some onions we dehydrated and it's amazing. We'll have grilled cheese & tomato soup for dinner.
  • sewing up a storm. getting caught up on obligations. and a little fun something.
  • scrap bin organization. deciding what I'll use and what I'll toss. Hoping a certain someone will buy me a metal bucket from Tractor Supply (Ahem, Chop!)
  • enjoying some of the flowers Chop got me for Valentine's Day.
  • making about oh, 900 lists.
  • editing some new patterns. (eep!)
  • waiting for my glitter shoes to arrive.
  • wanting this fabric so bad it HURTS!
  • needing a new pouch for my DS. (maybe an excuse for the new fabric? ;))
  • absolutely loving (and a bit stunned by) the generosity of my friend Kristen.
  • wishing it wasn't so dang windy! (that's for you Chop!)
  • missing Buddy fierce.
  • getting excited for tomorrow's pdf of the e-course!

What are you up to today?

{*~Weekend in Film~*}

in

The Chop & I had a great weekend in Ashland, Or. It was border line painful to have to leave. Our hotel, Ashland Springs, was so cozy. Saturday night we had food from the restaurant brought up & we laid in bed & did crossword puzzles while watching old Westerns. We know how to party.

Our weekend was spent reconnecting, eating, relaxing and exploring Oregon. We went up to Medford & Crater Lake. I'd never been to Crater Lake before and wowzers, absolutely GORGEOUS. The snow! The colors of the water! The penny squishing machine! So great. I got some wonderful treasures from Prize & Fabric of Vision. I had a Dagoba bittersweet warm chocolate cake with salted caramel ice cream that just about did me in. And I washed it down with some Rogue American Amber.HEAVEN.

Right before I left I broke my macbook's power cord and just got the new one this morning in the mail. I kept trying to comment on blogs & send emails from my phone but man, what a PITA. It feels nice to have a laptop again!

A few notes:

I'm off to work on this weeks pdf. It's going to be SO great!!!

xo

{*~WIPs~*}

in

I thought it might be fun to show you a few little "works in progress" I have going on around here!

Inspired by Karyn's Sunday Patchwork I decided to sew some scraps together, very improv & by the seat of my pants. I love love love the look of liberated quilts but sewing them is really beyond my comfort zone. This was fun and new, definitely got me thinking!

When Chop came back from Eureka, he had a GIANT bin of all my yarn. I was so jazzed to get it all back! Woohoo!!! I cast on for The Traveling Cowl with some Koigu KPPPM! I love watching the yarn change colors, I'm going to bring this with me this weekend to work on, although I probably won't be able to wear it until next winter!

I've also been working on a needle turn hand applique quilt block for our next round of Project Palettes! Karyn picked the photo this time and it's a real trickster! She challenges me in a really good way!

This isn't really a work in progress but rather some pretty mail. I ordered a Starlette Sparkler from Giant Dwarf! I've been wanting something from Sue for a while. She creates really pretty things. But working from home, I couldn't justify a sparkle crown..however in October I'll be speaking at The Sewing Summit & want something pretty for my steadily growing hair! Now she has HEARTS which I totally want! She shipped it so fast & it was cutely wrapped, I can see myself wearing this DAILY. I'm not going to lie, one of my other motivations for getting it was that on Animal Crossing my little mii wears a star pin in her hair...haha. Obsessed much?!

I also got an awesome assortment embroidery floss in dusty pinks, lilacs, mauves and grays from theworkroom. If you haven't tried Cosmo floss, I really suggest it. It's all I use and I LOVE it. The colors are gorgeous and the quality can't be beat. Plus theworkroom sells clover embroidery floss theaders! It's a tool that I totally can't live without now.

Tomorrow Mr. McPorkchop & I heading to Ashland, Oregon for the weekend! We are staying at Ashland Springs Hotel & I can't WAIT. Ashland is so cute, has some great shops, but if anyone can suggest places to eat, we'd be very grateful!!! Mostly I'm looking forward to relaxing, sleeping, eating frozen yogurt & spending time with Chop! So nice!

Today the first pdf went out for my e-course. Thank you so much to everyone signed up! I hope week one makes you feel inspired! Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery released a new Fruit of the Month cross stitch this week & a sewing pattern, Hoop Travel Bag! And Ashleigh turned our mascot, Sugarloaf, into a cross stitch pattern!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll see you again on Monday!

{~*Serious!*~}

in

This morning Ashleigh came over & we had a serious business meeting. We mapped out our 2011 goals. Planned an advertising budget. Put the finishing touches on some patterns. Took a ton of photos. I made her granola. We drank HUGE iced green teas. And listened to the new Decemberists cd on repeat.  SO perfect for a Wednesday!

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is totally my favorite creative outlet. It lets me spend time with one of my closest friends AND create CUTE things. So really, a win/win sitch!

Today we took the photos for our newest pattern, Hoop Travel Bag. Ash has been asking me to make her one for a while...and I've been putting it off. But I made one for Karyn in the meantime as a bday gift. So Ash decided to grab the bull by the horns and wanted me to teach her how to make one so she could have one for herself and one for her grandma who cross stitches & is in the hospital.

But Ashleigh doesn't live near me! She lives 45 minutes away when she's at school and 2+ hours away on the weekends. I'd planned on just making her a little tutorial and skyping it to her. But then Karyn encouraged me to write the pattern up. And voila! We have a new CUTE pattern. Once I made one out of the new Birch camper fabric for Ashleigh, I knew I needed a new one...my current hoop bag is Halloween themed. So I cut into some very precious Greenfield Hill & Kokka double cotton gauze. Then I made a Kokka & shot cotton bee one! Seriously, the combos are ENDLESS. I think I'm going to put the bee one in the shop if anyone is looking for a hoop bag but doesn't sew (or just loves bees!)

One thing I hear a lot of is how people are scared or hate zippers. Nooo way. Zippers are SO easy and painless. Once you do the first one you'll be wanting to put zippers on EVERYTHING. This pattern has color photos explaining how to insert a zipper so you'll be a zipper sewing guru in NO time! I go step by step and it's FUN. You'll be so proud of yourself & grinning once you do it!

Ash also very kindly worked on my blog for me. I tried to do something this summer & accidentally deleted my ENTIRE list of friends. I'm not so tech savvy. But she helped me put some buttons in my sidebar...next up is re-adding my pals.

Also, tonight is the last night for signing up for a  slot in my e-course and let me say two things:

1: I can't believe how many people have signed up. I'm SO excited & VERY flattered. Seriously.

2: This is going to be SO fun. SO SO SO fun!

After Ashleigh left I spent the day building the flickr group and working on the pdfs. I've been taking photos, writing a LOT and basically, I want people to love quilting as much as I love it. It bums me out when I read about folks who are burned out, intimidated or feel like they can't keep up with other people. I want to show you that it's a-ok to take your time on something & find inspiration all around you! Plus you'll create a quilt that is uniquely you! And that's what counts! Sign ups will end tonight at midnight!

Can I show you some stuff that's inspiring me lately?

I'm off to read for a little bit before bed! Night everyone!

{*~E-Course UPDATE~*}

in

Hi everyone! A super quick update. At some point today my shop went down and people were unable to buy the course. Then there was a strange paypal glitch. Oi!

It seems like the problems are ironed out so I'm going to leave the class open until MIDNIGHT on 2/2. I don't want people to get left behind because of something beyond our control. The first class PDF will go out on 2/3.  Nothing like a dose of inspiration & eye candy to get you through the week! ;)

Thanks so so so much everyone for all your support! I appreciate it so much!

{*~Sunny Tuesday~*}

in

Ok, I know. I'm kind of a jerk for basking in the sunshine when everyone seems to be getting snowed on. This time of year makes me feel SO lucky to live here in Northern California. But don't worry, I'll want to swap places with you when it's 114 degrees in a few months. And you can rub it in my face when it's only like, 80.

This weekend I worked on the nani iro & silk almost whole cloth quilt. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I couldn't get very many photos of it, as I had to go to work & the ground was damp. And I was borrowing someone elses camera. Boo. But I'm thinking about writing up the recipe for it. I'm not sure I'd call it a pattern..it was more of a little of this, a little of that & voila. One of the most wonderful throws ever! I can't wait to hear how it's new owner likes it! I think I might treat myself to some fabric to make one...maybe the navy blue?!

So many exciting things are going on!

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery sent out February's Fruit of the Month last night...a GRAPEFRUIT!!! He seriously kills me. You can buy just him or sign up for the entire year! Woo! I'm still working on January..I'm seriously the slowest stitcher EVER. But I love love love it.

Did you see Jeni's blog? She made her boyfriend a Valentine's Day card using our truffle gang pattern. You can go to her blog & win a copy of the pattern! So much fun. I'm getting REALLY excited about Valentine's Day.

If you've blogged about The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, we'd love to see it! Please shoot us an email so we can come by & say hi, nothing makes us happier than seeing all the different ways people work on our patterns! We have some REALLY cute stuff popping up in our flickr group.

I'm spending the day working on patterns & this weeks e-course pdf! Classes will start on Wednesday! so if you've been on the fence about signing up...time to sign up is dwindling! And Ryan still has a great giveaway going strong on his blog! So you could even win a slot! Sweet!

Ashleigh is coming over tomorrow morning & we will be working on a mini e-course together. It's going to be SO much fun. And! I'm hoping to have a brand new sewing pattern on the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery this week...here's a hint...I've made 3 of them...they make great gifts for yourself or friends who like cross stitching/embroidery/anything that has to do with a hoop...

Have a great day everyone!

{*~Friday Plans~*}

in

Yesterday I had quite a bit of a let down...my beloved Nikon D50 gave out on me. It has been with me for over 6 years, when I started my very very very first blog, moved out on my own, met & married Chop, learned to sew...so much! It's like missing an arm or something. Ok, I know, a bit dramatic. But it's still a total bummer. It had a great life. I really only need a DSLR body so if anyone knows of any great sales on Nikon bodies...feel free to pass them this way.

Big news:

Did you guys see that Ryan is giving away a slot in my e-course?! Neat right?! Run on over there & enter! Ryan did an interview with me too! Signups will last until February 1st/2nd with the first classes pdf going out on February 3rd.

I'm really really excited, I had a goal in mind of how many people I wanted to sign up and I'm half way there! Woohoo!!!! I'm slowly but surely working on my  hand quilting, about an hour or two a day. I've also started..working on it in PUBLIC! Yup! One night Ash & I met up for coffee at starbucks:

And I hand quilted while we chatted! It's not quite the same as knitting or embroidering in public...because you know...the quilt is HUGE. But it was fun & it was in Chico so no one really gave me a second glance ;) I'll share with you soon what I tote around for hand stitching, I think it'll be a handy/neat guide. :)

One thing Ashleigh & I chatted about was our online shop on Meylah. Seriously, their shop platform is amazing. We've started blogging, posting tutorials & we will have some videos coming out soon! In the meantime, Ash created a neat little tutorial on how do half stitch in cross stitch! And I blogged about what Aida cloth is all about! I'm not sure which I find more relaxing, hand quilting or cross stitching. It alternates daily.

Today I'm working on a very neat custom quilt...almost whole cloth (nani iro!) but with bits of silk. It's going to be simple, minimal & stunning. I'm using silk batting & I have the option of either very densely quilting it as silk will maintain it's drape with dense quilting, rather than cotton which can become stiff or just doing a handful of very organic lines. The batting only requires stitching every 8 inches! Neat! The backing is a solid shot cotton that really shimmers so I'd like the quilt to be as reversible as possible. Similar to this I think!

What are you up too this weekend? Anything good?!

.....I heard a rumor of a miniature donkey farm over in Colusa so you know where I'll be attempting to be!!!! Donkeys but small? Count me IN!

{*~The Sewing Summit & Thank YOU!~*}

in

I'm feeling pink today..in so many ways!

Blushing for sure. That's natural pink. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments to my video post. Thank you to whipup for mentioning my class in their newsletter (you should sign up! It's good stuff!) Yes, that's how I talk in real life. And the Drew Barrymore thing cracked me up. In college I was pretty blonde & got that often. If you enjoyed my video you'll be excited for this....

Most of the folks who follow me on twitter or follow msmcporkchopquilts on facebook, may have read that I'll be speaking at The Sewing Summit!

The Sewing Summit is in Salt Lake City, UT on October 7-9th. It's a sewing conference and you can get together, meet all your online friends and take classes! Seriously AWESOME! Look who's speaking so far!!!

I am so freaking jazzed it isn't even FUNNY. I'm going to be speaking about mini quilts. To me, they are one of the best forms of expression and one that I enjoy the most. Over the next few months I'm going to be posting photos of mini quilts..but you won't get to know the story behind them unless you come to The Sewing Summit! It's really affordable which really made me excited, Chop & I are on a budget (like so many others!), the hotel with single/double occupancy is $89 a night. That's amazing. And I can't WAIT to meet so many people that I chat with on a daily basis. I'll be able to jump up & down like a crazy girl with some of you..it's going to be great!

I'll be blogging about it more as they release more info & as I start creating things for it. It's going to be a really really fun time.

Ashleigh & I have been hard at work on new Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery stuff and guess what? We had a *great* month in December and Meylah very kindly did an interview with us! But truth be told, we couldn't have done it without you!!!

You guys are seriously great. I can't thank you all enough for reading my blog, signing up for my e-course, looking at my photos, stitching up Ash & my patterns, blogging about us, the whole shabang. It's GREAT. We are excited for all the new patterns and exciting stuff we are dreaming up.

It's beautiful outside today...I just got some orange cosmo embroidery floss in the mail from Karyn & I'm going to work on my Fruit of the Month Sampler...have you guys seen it?! A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. A cross stitch fruit is delivered to your inbox once a month!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! Don't forget that sign ups are until February 1st with the first pdf of the class going out on February 3rd!

{~*Video Post*~}

in

omg. There is something so surreal about watching yourself on video...haha.

But here's a little video of me jabbering about quilting & my e-course!

It's been *amazing* seeing everyones comments & having familiar names buy my class. Seriously RAD.

info for the class can be found here: http://meylah.com/msmcporkchop/star-y-log-cabin-e-course-sign-up

Thank you all SO much for your support and kind words....!!!