one shabby chick

Updates

First of all, Barb emailed me and asked me for an update on Mason.

He actually had another surgery last Thursday and he's doing ok. Had a few setbacks but is getting better - his mommy updated her blog here with more info.

We have all been praying for them and they've been keeping us updated on Facebook.

I finished up my Urban Home Goods Swap items.

This pillow:

and then today I made a little mug rug to add to the package.

I also practiced my zipper skills and sewed up a few pillows for my bed and the living room.

I had already made the fronts and so they went together really fast.

remember this?

Now it's this:

and one more but I can't show it to you yet :-)

I have this pattern on my list next - already picked out all my fabrics and cut the pattern pieces out. I know I could just do it improv style but I love the exact look of this quilt and so I wanted to use the pattern.

Winner

The winner of Amy's book, Modern Basics, is....

# 50 - Beverly Combe

Congratulations! I sent you an email and then will send your info on to Amy.

Covered in Love

I had written up a post about rounded edges and bias binding to go along with this quilt. Mostly about my user-error with bias binding.

But I wanted to deliver the quilt to our friend and had to quickly race over to her house this morning before she left for a round of chemo.

And suddenly, after talking with her and dropping the quilt off, bias binding doesn't seem that important anymore.

She's literally fighting for her life. On Monday she leaves to try a new treatment and will be away from her family {here) for more than a month.

As I gave her the quilt I told her we would be praying for her and that, when she looked at it, she could remember everyone that loves her and is praying for her.

And she told me, "I'll be covered. In love and in prayers".

And she will be.

* Bias binding tutorial here.

* This quilt and this one inspired me to try rounded edges.

And just a reminder:

(source)

All the way from Spain

I ordered these bears in January for the girls - and yes I knew the shipping time would be long (she explains it all on her shop profile but I was willing to wait - so worth it too!)

They finally came today and I surprised the girls with them - they are SO cute!

Baby Girl even drew a little picture of them.

They are happily adopted into the family along with the rest of the gang.

And speaking of the gang - I found these pictures on my camera after letting them borrow it yesterday.

Apparently it was a day of "weddings".

{There's a few more too} - Made me laugh...

I have been doing a bit of sewing.

Working on my Urban Home Goods items:

{pattern found here}

and I need to quilt this pillow top.

And I am going to be quilting this today - it's for a friend of ours that is fighting a tough battle with cancer right now.

I just found out she's leaving on Monday to try a new treatment in CA so I need to finish it {so she can take it with her if she wants to}.

It's a nice day for quilting too - cold and rainy.

Modern Basics Giveaway

I'm the next stop on Amy's blog tour for her new book, Modern Basics.

Amy mailed us all out a copy but since I'm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things take a little longer to get here and so I haven't gotten my copy yet.

But I can show you all the gorgeous quilts in her book and share a little about her.

 

I first "met" Amy in the quilting bee "A Notion or Two". Since then she has started the Blogger's Quilt Festival, written some patterns (I even tested one for her), and now she has a new book filled with 14 gorgeous quilts.

Amy is just so honest and open and always willing to share her experience and knowledge with others. I know her book is just like that too.

I asked her a couple goofy questions to go along with the giveaway:

 

What's your favorite dessert?

Pretty much anything chocolate!  I recently made the Dark Chocolate Butter Cake - it's incredible.  No frosting required even!

Favorite movie?

I'm kinda a bad movie person - I never remember which ones we've watched!  I always have to ask Joe, unless it's something I've loved, and watched repeatedly...like, Return to Me, As Good as it Gets, or You've Got Mail.

  

Do you listen to music while you sew? TV? Audiobooks?

It really depends!  If I'm squeezing time in during the day, I usually don't turn anything on so I can hear the kids, and intervene as necessary.  But after their bedtime (8pm!) I will listen to music or a podcast to entertain my brain.

 

Leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered to win a copy of Modern Basics from Amy!

If you don't win, you can buy a copy of the book here or buy an autographed copy from Amy!

Here's the remaining stops on the blog tour:

March 2 - Canton Village Quilt Works

March 3 - Diary of a Quilter

March 4 - Fat Quarterly

March 5 - Amylouwho

 

** Edited to add: Comments are now closed - I will announce a winner later today!