one shabby chick

So....

Guess I'm not totally back to normal.

Actually Hubs has been home a whole lot since it's been raining which means no work right now.

(he took the kids hiking after school today)

Not that I'm complaining - I'd love to have him around all the time (well, you know for a little while at least - no work means no paycheck).

But he's heading back to work tomorrow and we've slowly gotten back into our routine.

I did re-arrange my room and finally sat down and did some sewing today.

The new set-up feels a little different (think it's just cause I'm facing a different way) but I LOVE our new bed set-up. So much so, I kinda just want to hang out there all day :-)

I have some FUN things I'm working on right now - camera pouches and a bunch of paper pieced blocks for bees. Will post photos when I take some with my "real" camera!!

I also have a tortilla soup recipe to share and a giveaway!

Back to normal

We are almost back to normal (well, as normal as we are ever going to be!).

Hubby and I had an amazing time in California and then, the day after we got back, his nephew from Costa Rica arrived for a visit.

(that's our youth pastor in the back)

(we visited every fast food place we don't have here - lol!)

I tried to keep my phone off during the conference so I only have pics of all the places we ate - lol!

We've been exploring the island and playing tourist with our nephew.

He leaves tonight and then it's back to our normal routine.

They are at the beach right now (it's pouring rain!) and I'm home contemplating re-arranging my bedroom/sewing studio.

Think I might take the plunge tomorrow and do it - I've even plotted it out on paper just to be safe :-)

So it MAY result in some de-stashing this weekend on Instagram and Twitter.

I did get a teeny bit of sewing done this week.

Blocks for Penny's Traveling Quilt:

And Dan's Quilt:

Have already shipped them off to Alissa!! Next up are Ringo Pie bee blocks!

3 little quilts

Well, they weren't so little.

They were twin quilts for 3 sisters.

Their mom is a wonderful customer and I always love seeing their sweet faces walk into my booth at craft fairs. She contacted me in September to make 3 quilts for her daughters for Christmas.

And I finally finished them a few days before Christmas! Major procrastination on my part!

We used Out to Sea by Sarah Jane on all three of them.

and they each had special quilt labels with quotes their mom gave me.

Snapshots

What I've been up to lately:

rainbow watching

big wave watching

coolest market I've ever sold at - in an old warehouse - December 2012 - plus I was right next to Andy South from Project Runway!!

hanging my amazing Christmas present from my brother-in-law!

working on a (now overdue) 1st birthday present for my nephew

low volume blocks for the Scrappy trip quilt-a-long

knife cases for my dad (Mayo knives)

celebrating a certain 7-year-old's birthday

making ipad mini/kindle fire cases

Live Life

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish/do in this new year.

Mostly, I want to LIVE LIFE.

I completely over-committed myself this holiday season and spent a big chuck of December sewing orders (mostly due to procrastination!).

This year I want to spend some time sewing for myself (I know that sounds selfish but you know what I mean right?!).

(One of my low volume blocks for this great quilt-a-long on Instagram)

Re-acquainting myself with cross-stitching:

I do plan on sewing for the shop too.

I've really been wanting to make more of these:

and more word pillows too.

Speaking of word pillows, I just got a magazine in the mail that one of my word pillows is in!

I have an extra copy too and a few more goodies that I'm saving for a big giveaway when I get back.

Hubs and I are leaving tomorrow for a youth leaders conference - can't wait to spend a few days with him (well, and the other guys going with us - ha ha)!

Hope everyone has a great week and I'm going to try and put up a few posts when I'm gone too! I have lots to share from all that December sewing!

Stitch Savvy

Welcome to the the first stop on the blog hop for Stitch Savvy by Deborah Moebes!

I love reading sewing books - especially when they are written by my friends!

Deborah (from Whipstitch) has come out with a truly unique sewing book that has projects for every area of your life.

I love Deborah's voice in this book - it comes through in all the little tips and hints (even the introductions of projects) that are scattered throughout the book - it's like she's just talking to you as a friend, telling you her ideas in such a fun, easy-going way.  Makes a sewing book so enjoyable to use and read.

And the projects themselves are fantastic!

Want to make an adorable Pea Coat for your little guy?

How about a jersey top for yourself?

My favorite is this adorable shoulder bag that I plan on making for Bela.

I'm thinking a Quilt As You Go method would look adorable in this pattern.

Plus once you conquer the Everyday Shoulder bag, Deborah gives you lots of options for where to go next - you can pick and choose your journey through the book, mastering new techniques as you go!

The best part is the patterns are all on a CD in PDF format so you can just pop it in your computer and print them out - no hassling with trying to photocopy patterns out of the back of a book or anything like that.

So go check out Stitch Savvy and start taking your sewing to the next level!!

Sale

Just a quick heads-up to let you know that I added am adding a bunch of items to my shop and I've marked down the prices on most things as well.

In addition to that, you can get 20% off with coupon code NEWYEAR.

Here's a few of the goodies I've added or am adding tomorrow:

It's been a long while

Boy, I meant to take a break but not THAT long! And thanks to everyone who has emailed to see if we are ok.

Yes, we are great! Just taking some time off, I guess, and trying to get back to blogging after a break can be hard sometimes. But rest assured, I'm not going anywhere ;-)

And I do have TONS to share - I haven't sewn much this past week but I did do a bunch of sewing right before Christmas and a little after too.

I also have very overdue winners to announce for the Lunden Designs/Fabricworm giveaway!

#10 - Tiara - 1st place winner!

#47 - AnneMarie - 2nd place winner!

I'll send you both an email shortly!

We are starting school again today and I have a few orders to work on - but I just wanted to check back in with everyone and let you know that yes, I'm still here and still blogging :-)

And I have a few fun posts already in the works for this week!! Plus this post is #1000 and that can't go by without a celebration. But I'll save that for later this week!

We've had a lot of rain the past few weeks and the rainbows have been spectacular so thought I'd share a couple with you!

I hope everyone is having a great 2013!! It's been cozy and relaxing so far for me :-)

Honolulu Night Market

I know I said I was done with craft fairs for the season but I have a chance to be in an amazing market on Saturday.

I've been sewing a few new things for it and working on three custom quilts that I need to deliver next Saturday.

Plus there's still regular life, school, cookie parties, ice skating (tomorrow) and as always, laundry :-)

Yep, I am regretting piling so much on my plate this year - but I'm getting it done and trying to enjoy the season as I do it!

And I have great helpers - my two oldest baked all those cookies and are vacuuming the house as I type this.

And my wonderful hubby - dang I love him.

I got home from the last craft fair to this:

(he said that stands for Head Over Heels For You)

I have been wanting one of those new coffee makers from Starbucks and he bought me one :-)

Now I can have my own lattes at home whenever I want (and yes, so far I love it - just wish they sold the pods at Costco).

ok I'm off to sew.........I'll post the Lunden Designs winners on Monday!

Lunden Designs + Fabricworm Giveaway

Melissa from Lunden Designs has been hard at work creating more stunning quilts.

I got to test a few of her patterns  a while back - mine are still in block stage but I cannot wait to finish them!

Here are her 4 new patterns:

I tested Grand Junction:

and Northern Exposure (I cannot wait to make a cute baby boy quilt out of this one):

Melissa's patterns are really great - they come with paper templates and well-written instructions to help you through each step.

We have two giveaway prizes today.

First prize is for the Flag Day pattern and a bundle of Set Sail from Fabricworm! How fun right?!

Second prize is a set of these four patterns by Lunden Designs.

So leave a comment letting me what gifts you are making this Christmas season (and if you aren't making any, you can tell me what you are hoping to get instead).

I'll pick the winners next week!!

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