August Aurifil BOM

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August's Aurifil Block of the Month is BARI'S!!! Bari's pretty rad, I got to meet her at Sewing Summit last year and she's pretty hilarious!

She has a really neat blog called We Love French Knots that is all about hand stitching, full of tutorials and neat links. Her main blog is here & she just finished all these really neat projects from her new line of fabric, LillyBelle! I'm totally out of the fabric loop and somehow missed this line (maybe I'm living under a rock?!), it's BEAUTIFUL! I have my eye on some of these prints, especially the navy and mustard ones, just really pretty! And I really love Art Gallery's base cloth, it's quite nice!

She's designed a cute block with a lily on it! Awesome!

If you stitch up Bari's or any of the other Aurifil Designer's Blocks, be sure to add them to the flickr group (which is BURSTING with cute stuff!) and if they pick your block, you can win thread! best!!!

I recently used the 12 wt cotton in my sewing machine for some free motion quilting, you can read about it here, so even if you don't do a lot of hand work, it's really versitile for both!

:):)

Let's Make Salsa!

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Salsa Party!

Let's make salsa today k?

This is totally the easiest stuff on earth. I never bother with store bought stuff anymore because this is so fast, so fresh and totally customizable.

My favorite salsa involves: lots of tomatoes a little heat tons of garlic and onion heavy on the cilantro light on the cumin sweetness

If your perfect salsa doesn't involve these things, feel free to switch it up!

Ingredients:

3 medium tomatoes 1 can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes 1 Anaheim Pepper, seeds removed 1 Jalapeño Pepper, seeds removed 2 TBLS honey 3 cloves garlic, peeled 2 TBLS dehydrated garlic (vampires won't want anything to do with you!) 2 TBLS dehydrated onion dash of cumin dash of red pepper flakes dash of chili powder giant handful of washed cilantro juice of one lime

Take everything and toss it into a food processed and whirl until it reaches your desired constancy. I like mine finely minced. If my tomatoes aren't very watery I'll add a TBLS of water at a time until it's less paste-like and more salsa like!

Each time I make this I'll do it a little differently, sometimes more peppers or if my peppers aren't ripe, a can of rotel. Sometimes I'll roast the tomatoes myself if I have a bunch. Or I'll use agave instead of honey. Really, whatever you like!

I don't add salt because I like salty chips and I like to use my salsa in chili, tortilla soup, on eggs, etc. You can of course add salt to taste!

PLEASE REMEMBER! While I keep my salsa in a canning jar in the fridge, THIS IS NOT A CANNING RECIPE. It doesn't contain the proper amount of acid to be safely canned and shelf stable. If you want to make salsa for your pantry that is safely canned, this is a recipe I've made numerous times with great results.

Happy Friday! Adios!

Guising Mini Quilt

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Remember when I knew how to use the straighten tool in photoshop? No? Me neither! I need photoshop for dummies ;)

Today is my 30th birthday & I'm probably doing something fun for myself, like baking a chocolate coconut cream pie. Or eating potatoes au gratin in stretchy pants. Or knitting some new socks. I have lots of things to think about today. My 20s, I'm excited to say, are behind me. Woo Woo!!! 30 year old me is already way smarter than 28-29 year old me. I'm sure I'll talk about this more this upcoming year.

One of my favorite things EVER is Halloween (did you miss this memo ;)) and I made this Halloween mini last month and never shared it! One of my goals is to share more. My goal in August is to make myself a Guising quilt, just a simple lap quilt. I can't wait to start it, this line makes me SO happy!!!!

The template I used was this one which was SUPER fun but I somehow lost the directions (of course! ;)). I'd bought it years ago and this was the first time I'd tried it! It was my first time doing lots of curves and lots of y seams. Not too great but not shabby. I'll share it either way! ;)

I quilted it using 50 wt Aurifil in a chocolate brown, it's really pretty. I used a scrap of Quilter's Dream Orient batting and it's so soft and drape-y, very dreamy, even for a mini!

Normally I don't wash my minis but this one I SOAKED because I used gray chalk to mark the lines. I'm glad I soaked it, it gave it a little crinkle but nothing too crazy. Perfect!

Cross your fingers that birthday me is eating lots of treats & hopefully wearing a Pusheen tshirt. It feels weird to schedule posts in the future but I'm going to go with it! I feel like I'm Alan Rickman leaving myself voicemails. Only a few of you will get that joke, the rest of you will think I'm crazy! ;)

Come back tomorrow for some Farmer's Wife blocks k?!

Happy Shawl Knitting: Traveling Woman

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I'm mad at myself for not taking notes during this project. I love it so so so so much, I wish I had another. I used two skeins of Tosh DK in Port. I bought onsies from Jimmy Beans Wool and I'm not quite sure why these were onesies, they matched beautifully and are gorgeous!

The pattern is Traveling Woman and it's super easy and FAST. I've pretty much only been knitting with fingering weight yarn since the first of the year so DK felt HUGE and FAST. I loved watching the tiny bits of hot pink happen. The color is really beautiful. I'd knit this again, the pattern comes with different sizes and whatnot, I love that!

Here is an instagram photo of me wearing it to starbucks in the morning. It's WAY too hot here to wear it right now but if I get up first thing in the morning I can toss it over my shoulders and it feels perfect!

:):)

PS: This post is scheduled to display on August 7th...I turn 30 on the 8th!!! eek!

Sad Shawl Knitting

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Kayanna & I decided to join WendyKnit's Mystery Shawl-a-Long this summer. It was super fun and a really challenging knit for me. Lots of stitches on the needles, 200+ which is a LOT for me. I'd say this was my first *real* lace project. I used beads for the first time which was really fun too!

The yarn is Swan's Island Fingering and it is DREAMY. It is one of my all time favorite yarns, it's so soft, it seriously felt like knitting with a cloud. I love the color too, it's called Oatmeal and it was just PERFECT. I looked forward to picking it up each time.

So why is it sad? It's tiny! It just isn't a shawl I'd actually wear, it falls firmly into the shawlette category, I think I like shawls that I can snuggle into. It's not the patterns fault, it's just something I didn't know until I knit it! The pattern was written perfectly and it was a fun knit. You can tell by the photos I didn't even weave in the ends, I blocked it to take photos of, tried it on and then frogged it. It was kind of painful to frog but the yarn was too pretty to just sit around in a project that I wasn't sure I'd ever wear!

I realized I'm kind of fearless when it comes to knitting things, if I don't like it, I don't hesitate to take things apart. Porkchop thinks I'm crazy and he HATES watching me take things apart. But at $30 a skein, shouldn't it be something special that I'll wear a ton?!

Are you a frogger? Do you take things apart?

ps: I'll share with you a shawl that is a happy shawl next!

Patchwork Smash Book Cover

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Yesterday I got a Smash Book! They seem to have been popular for a while now but I only learned about them yesterday when I saw them in a cute craft store in Grass Valley. I decided to get one because I *love* gluing and pasting and sticking things in books.

In college we had to keep sketchbooks, I remember seeing classmates frantically scribbling in a brand new book the morning of finals so they'd have something to turn in. Not me! I had multiple filled moleskines. I just love starting with a flat book and cramming so much stuff in it that it barely closes anymore.

I've kept up pretty well with Project Life, I stopped in Mid-May, I couldn't seem to find a binder solution that worked for me and I realized...I'm kind of dull. My days are pretty similar and my cards started to get boring. Big time.

SO! I decided to get this Smash Book and give it a try. I tend to hang onto things, my purse is usually filled with little scraps of paper and torn magazine pages. I think this will be a really fun way to collect memories from this year. For some reason turning 30 is *really* exciting to me!

I used only scraps to make this, my scrap bin is out of control so I thought I'd better use what I have. I did one of my favorite blocks for the center, it's called Friendship! I have bits of fabric that friends have given me in here, Lindsay, Karyn & Lizzy all contributed to this. I love sewing with bits from friends. The inside has a little pocket and I boxed the bottom corners so the bag will stand up on it's own on my bedside table when filled with stuff. It closes with a fold over snap.

I decided to try something new to me, free motion quilting using Aurifil 12 wt cotton. The weight that folks usually use when sewing is 50 wt, it's standard sewing thread. I'd say 12 wt cotton is similar to 2 strands of embroidery floss. Embroidery floss has 6 strands and most folks ply them down (pull them apart) to two for cross stitch or embroidery.

I've been knitting a pair of oak leaf socks and thought my book needed an oak leaf. I used a leather needle in my machine simply because it had the largest eye out of any of the needles I had on hand and then 50 wt cotton in the bobbin. You really want a large eye for the thread to go through, otherwise the thread will rub and break.

With the thicker thread, you really want to stitch SLOW. For some reason people free motion quilt with the idea that FASTER IS BETTER, I'm not sure why. This has never worked for me (I'm not an expert though ;)) Slow is much better with this thread, really let the machine take the time to place the stitches and the needle pull up the bobbin thread. I didn't draw the leaf on the fabric before quilting, I'm rubbish at following lines.

I love that the 12 wt looks like hand embroidery, it's has really neat stitch definition and the cotton has a really beautiful shine.

Did you guys know they make gray sharpies?! I died when I saw this yesterday!

:):)

Aurifil July BOM

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I'm totally bummed out that my blog didn't post this right away because I super love Sarah! And I love this summer-y block. I started stitching it onto a tote bag for my library books, all summer long I've been obsessed with mysteries and visiting the library 3x a week! I guess summer is just a time for sitting outside and reading (and stitching!)

I've had a crush on this quilt for the past year or so, it's seriously dreamy. My grandparents used to take me to a lot of antique stores in New England and I saw these very traditional & primitive eagles on things and I love them. But this! Wowzers. It's so fresh & fantastic. I'm not sure it's something I could ever sew, I *love* hand applique, but mostly because I don't have very much of these colors in my stash. I think it's one that I'd want to just drive to Sarah's and steal. It just appeals to my traditional Yankee soul and my California boldness. Does that make sense?! I think this quilt is in her book Quilting from Little Things?! But I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I can ask for the book as an early birthday gift? *wink wink*

Don't forget, you can post any of your completed blocks to the flickr group and you can win thread! Woo woo!

Garden Peppers

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Look at these beauties!

I've been able to pick a decent amount of peppers from the garden about every two weeks so far this summer. I have 4 plants, two bells and two Anaheim's. They are loving the mild summer we are having for sure!

Last summer I planted a large garden, this year I've kept it kind of small and everything in containers. I have two tomato plants, one is a black krim and that seems to be the happiest. I'd go as far as saying that it has become my favorite tomato, it's beautiful and very meaty. I have 14 lemons on tree. We've had lots of potatoes and onions.

I pulled up all my garlic that Jackie & I grew together on our cross country garlic experiment. We went through school together, she still lives in MA & I live here in Northern California. This fall she sent me hard neck garlic bulbs to plant and it was SO much fun. We were constantly tagging each other in photos on facebook as our garlic grew. I ended up with over 20 heads of garlic. I have them hanging in our pantry and it's really satisfying to just walk in & snip a head off as I need it.

We have a mystery plant too! I decided not to use our raised bed this year, we planted corn/tomatoes/peppers/etc in it last year and I thought the soil could use a rest. We've been spreading compost in it every once in awhile and now...MYSTERY PLANT! I've been posting photos of it on facebook and instagram, the majority thinks it's either a cucumber or a pumpkin. I'm leaning towards pumpkin because I've always wanted to grow pumpkins.

Once I have another ripe tomato I'll post my new favorite salsa recipe. I canned a lot of salsa last summer and we went through it SO fast, this year I've been making 2 jars a week of fresh salsa and I keep thinking "ok, this week I'll put some in the freezer" but it never happens. It's just easy to put it on everything, eggs, tortilla pie, chicken breasts..we are salsa addicts and we might need a 12 step program!

If you've noticed July was quiet around here, I had a blog glitch but I think Chop fixed it last night so I'll be posting July's Aurifil BOM post, a Farmer's Wife Block that I hand pieced (!!!), a new Guising mini quilt and two shawls I knit last month. And! The Pumpkin's have a new tomato pattern exclusively on kitschy digitals!

:):)

Kitschy Digitals & The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

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Eek!

We are so excited!

Danielle Thompson, who is an amazing creative force, designed/curated/worked her butt off on this incredible digital online marketplace. Imagine Ashleigh & my surprise when she invited us to take part!!!

You can find some of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's patterns along with so many other super talented designers now all in one place!

Even better! A grand opening sale until Friday! Use code GRANDOPENING15 to score 15% off!

We have a super cute exclusive to Kitschy Digitals pattern called Drinks All Around that is soooo perfect for summer road trip & picnic stitching!

Yayayay! How's that for a rad Monday?!

Things I've been doing: Brandywine Shawl, Books & Guising Needlebook

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I knit a shawl called Brandywine which is I *think* the hardest thing I've knit to date. It took me about 3 days and it was SO satisfying. Totally a boost of confidence.

I need to get more blocking pins, I accidently blocked the center point incorrectly and I want to re-do it so it doesn't look crooked.

I'm so obsessed with historical books right now. Like, I can't even contain how much I love love love love them. Here's what I've read so far:

Shadow of Night The Dark Monk The Lady Julia Grey Bundle (I totally loved this so so so so much!) Ravishing in Red

These ladies are ALWAYS talking about grabbing a shawl, their woolen shawl, sitting around the fire with a shawl, walking outside with a shawl. I was going shawl crazy. Ignore that it's 100 degrees here, I decided I HAD to have a shawl. Haha.

Lizzy very, very, very, very sweetly sent me some Guising.

Can we talk for a minute about how much I freaking LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween? In case you missed it, I'm addicted to Halloween. It's my very favorite time of year and it's just so much FUN.

And then my head & little heart exploded when Lizzy designed this line. It's like she took all the things I ADORE about the holiday and turned it into fabric I could have and love forever & always. It's that good. Halloween fabric is either hit or miss for me, there are some lines that recently came out that are a definite miss for me but this is the hugest HIT! Even if you aren't into Halloween, the jewels and tiny little stars are so great, I'm going to save up and buy a yard of them because I think they are GREAT classic basics in fresh colors. I'm not just saying this because Lizzy is my friend, I genuinely ADORE this line. Phew.

I accidentally lost two pairs of Addi Turbos (cue crying fit) last week and I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I'm getting my sock needles under control. I made this little case last Monday but I didn't bind it until yesterday, the Porkchop's are a little under the weather and some couch time and binding was necessary. I love the sparkly numbers and that binding fabric is my favorite.

Can we talk about these nifty things?

My friend Audrie, who's pretty much the cutest ever, sent me these Clover Binding Clips! These are a DREAM COME TRUE! Soooo clever and amazing! Thanks pal! <3

:D

June Aurifil Designer of the Month

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Oh boy. This month's Aurifil Designer of the Month is one of my favorite people EVER. PKM! PamKittyMorning!!!

Here's what PKM & I have in common: We love gobblers (the sandwich) We love stitching! We love kawaii We love car trips We love Haven

I have a truly LOVELY photo of PKM & I from last summer that I'm debating posting but I'm pretty sure she'll murder me if I do. It might be snuck in this post later today ;)

Anyways, she is a gem. And she doesn't live TOO far away from me. AND! She designs super super super pretty fabric!

Hope on over to Auriful's blog to learn more about my friend PKM and stitch up her block (uhh how cute is it that she found matching clips?!) and post the block to Aurifil's flickr group & you can win thread! Score!

Happy Weekend: Knitting & Reading

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TGIF!

It's a long weekend! Woo woo! Happy Memorial Day! Tomorrow we are going to a BBQ and Sunday we are going on a long drive to the high desert! I'm pretty excited.

My two favorite weekend (and evening) activities are knitting and reading. I like to knit while we watch tv (I'm currently obsessed with Fairly Legal & wishing Haven was on RIGHT NOW) and I love to read outside and before bed.

I'm part of a book club online and my friend Shelly, who's pretty much a professional reader, has started a book review blog! She got us all hooked on the 50 Shades series months ago, she's good at finding neat reads. I personally like my reading light hearted/smutty/supernatural. I look at books as my escape and I love love love to read. Anyways, this weekend I'm reading a few of the books she's recently reviewed. I got a kindle touch & I'm working on getting used to it. Some days I wish it was backlit (usually in the evenings before bed!) but I really love the screen on it!

I've started knitting something new and fun. Squirrel Sampler Mittens! They are by far the most complex thing I've knit yet, I've learned lots of new things: picot edge, how to hem a knit good, stranded knitting and...

Yarn dyeing! I bought a skein of gray yarn off etsy but unfortunately it was much more BLUE than GRAY. My friend Amy had sent me a big box of acid dyes last fall and I decided..what the heck! I'm going to try this! And it worked! My blah blue gray went to the rich deep charcoal I had hoped! woo! I sort of felt like a backyard scientist when I was working on it.

I also completely understand the hype behind Plucky Knitter. I'd bought 3 skeins from her back in 2009 and used them and loved them. I was able to get a few skeins recently, honey wilkes was one I was dying to get in plucky feet. I'd made a honey cowl from the same color in worsted weight and knew it was super pretty. Now that I'm using it in these mittens...oh boy! The color just G L O W S! It's kind of silly for me to be knitting these mittens, it's rarely cold enough here for them but I *really* want them. I'm obsessed with all things autumn/acorn/halloween/sampler/new-england-like, so this just HAD to happen. I haven't quite decided what to change the numbers too, I thought about 1982-2012 for my birthday or Fall 2012?! I have a little more knitting to conquer before I get there :)

Also, if you haven't signed up yet, check out Dessert of the Month Club, June is coming out and it seriously is the cutest thing ever. I've stitched him on 3 different things in different colors. He is THAT CUTE. And addictive.

Phew! Have a good weekend :)

Amy Butler Frenchie Bag: A Summer Project Tote

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I decided I needed a new bag for all my knitting. Something I could toss some yarn, some cross stitch, a book and various other crafty treats in. I was rummaging through my patterns and found my copy of Amy Butler's Frenchie Bag.

This was the first bag I'd ever made from a pattern before, back in 2007, I made one two summers ago and now this one! 3 Frenchies!

I love how FAST this bag is to make. After cutting and interfacing, it's only about an hour of sewing. Hand stitching the handles on and choosing the fabric took me the longest! This is totally a beginner friendly bag for sure.

One thing I forgot? How narrow this bag is! haha! It's SO cute but it doesn't fit nearly as much as I'd hoped! This weekend I had: knitting book, sock, needles, little zip pouch and little notions bento box. It all fit but it was squished! And I left a bunch of little things home >:( It's not that the Frenchie isn't big because it's TALL but I think it needs some gussets or something to give it more DEPTH. I'm going to need to make another bag, this time with Anna's Go Anywhere Bag pattern. That one looks like it has more space & I think I'd love the outer pockets so much for little things like my notions bento and bunny tape measure.

I do like this bag though, I used some of my precious Heather Ross fabric and some amazing Clover Handles. I love, love, love using Japanese handles on bags, I think they just take handmade to a different level of sturdiness and cuteness. It's hard not to like something when it's in all your fav's (actually, speaking of Heather Ross fabric (Snow White?) Was anyone else really excited to see the previews for that new Snow White movie, only to be let down when you saw Kristen Stewart? She is forever making that same mope-y bored face. Lame.)

This is a bag I'd totally make again and probably will soon, I have a few friends with birthdays coming up. But I think in the meantime I'm going to give Anna's pattern a try! I kind of want to hold off until Heather Ross's new line of fabric is available though...those little mice kill me!

Nutkin Socks in Cakewalk Yarn

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I finished these cute Nutkin socks last week. I modified the pattern so it was toe up, gusset heel and taller. I really love tall socks. I think I'm going to ask for a pair of knee high sock blockers for my birthday.

I used my very favorite yarn, Cakewalk Footsie in Weenie. I can't even talk about how amazing this yarn is because I kind of start to fall over and drool. I genuinely didn't want to finish these socks because I *loved* watching the grays turn into pops of orange & black. These are my first pair of halloween socks, my goal is to have a weeks worth of halloween inspired socks. That would be rad right?

One of my goals before I turn 30 (in August!) is to knit a sweater (or at least start a sweater!). I think I'd like to knit this one with some Cakewalk Weenie Worsted. It's going to take me a while to save up for the yarn and I'm not even sure they sell sweater quantities of yarn but I'd love to try! I'd love just a simple gray but fun sweater for hanging out at home.

:):):)

Pow Wow Quilt

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Last week I made myself a new little quilt.

I love little lap quilts. I like knitting in bed with one on my lap or sitting outside in the evenings with one. I saw Allison, Cluck Cluck Sew, had a new quilt pattern, Pow Wow & I knew I wanted to make one ASAP.

I've never used one of her patterns before and this was so easy, so well written...it was seriously perfect. Sometimes I don't want to *think* when I sew, I want to just space out, chain piece and listen to music. This quilt fit the bill perfectly. She gives you all the info you need in a very easy to understand manner. One of my favorite things is she marks each size quilt separately in nice & neat little boxes, I hate when a pattern gives you 5 quilt sizes and they are all jumbled up within the pattern and you have to hunt around for your size. I'm going to buy more of her patterns now that I know how great & easy they are! (ps: I'm not being compensated for this review, I purchased the pattern myself & while I've met Allison, she doesn't know I'm reviewing it or anything. Just so you know this is an impartial review ;))

I'm kind of obsessed with hot pink & navy blue right now so I used some scraps and random pieces for this. And then I added a sneaky little mustard yellow in there for good measure. My background fabric is Lizzy House's Outfoxed Peach jewels. I'm so obsessed with this fabric, I've already mentioned that before but it's the most perfect background color, I have 3 quilts now with that as the background. In some photos it shows pink, in some it shows a cool white, in some a peach. It's really versatile.

I used a bunch of voile for the back, various squares and left over pieces, it's so soft. It has the Quilter's Dream Orient batting which is one of my favorites, silk/bamboo/tencel. Oh! And I used Lizzy's candlesticks in the peach-y color for the binding. I think that's everything.

Today the newest Mortal Instruments series came out and last week the new Sookie! I'm dying for a good few days of reading but I'm anxious to finish my socks & little sweater. I really really really super want a skein of Bernie Bott's yarn! crazy fun right?!

:):)

knitting a small sweater:

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Last month I started knitting a sweater for a good pal who's having a baby! I'm knitting it a little bit big so she'll be able to wear it in the fall.

It's my first sweater, one of my goals before I turn 30 in August is to knit a sweater. Since she's due in June/July (I think?) this will meet my goal! rad!

The pattern is called Korrigan and the yarn is Viola & so very amazing to knit with! I've been researching little buttons, I think either tiny wooden owls? Or maybe something more girl-y like flowers? I have time to decide at least! ;)

This is a very fun knit so far, it's tricky enough I have to pay attention but not to hard that I can't watch Top Gear while I work on it.

:):):)

April Aurifil Designer BOM

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Isn't this pretty much the cutest block?

It's for April's Aurifil Designer Block of the Month! I had this post pending to post on April 7th but apparently it didn't work. I'm so not blog savvy.

This block was designed and created by Gail, her blog is new to me & it's super cute! She's been traveling in Europe and it's been fun reading about her adventures!

Don't forget that if you stitch up ANY of the designer BOMs and put it in the flickr pool you can win thread! I honestly wish I could enter, I only have one spool of white left & I have a feeling once I finish this quilt that I'll be threadless! Oi! I wish I had a thread fairy! ;)

Happy Stitching!