Thursday, May 28, 2009

Create!

Just a short video to watch that will help you want to be better today than you were yesterday! Maybe this is why I'm always itching to be in my sewing room!

I love this man! He is a member of the first presidency in the quorum of the 12 apostles in "The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints".
He is from Germany, and was the chief pilot at Lufthansa airlines before his calling to serve.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Too vain to be Amish

Ellen (our 72 year old fabric buying friend) Kim (Melanie's sister and genius entrepreneur), Me (Happy to be a tag-along fabric buyer and Melanie (My Sister-in-Law).
Snapping a quick picture at the Liberty Bell...in between 5 million school kids on field trips.

I'm baaaack, from a fabulous week of fun in Pennsylvania. I went with this fabric buying bunch to buy fabric for Kim's growing business. What a whirlwind trip it has been! We've driven across the state twice, and seen amazing things. I'm so tired from it all, it's taken a few days to get back into the swing of things. I've missed so many posts it will take me forever to get caught up on my blog reading...I hate that!

Let me first start out with the finishes. I managed to get 2 purses sewn before I left. The brown one I was still stitching at the 11th hour. I didn't want to get either one of them dirty, so I left them both home. Boring, I know, but it was one more thing to carry!One of my new bags. This time I used drapery clips for the rings. (Just remove the clips!) Big rick-rack poking out the top adds a feminine touch.

New bag that matches my half sewn trench coat. "the Carmen Convertible Bag" by Serendipity Studio. Kay has great ideas, and this bag has a removable liner that you can take out and add to another bag without removing the contents. Cool huh. I ordered a black and white damask print at market to make another trench coat for spring. I know, I'm crazy...but I got caught up in the moment, and I had 3 people telling me it would be "stunning".

Day 1: Touring around "Independence Mall"
This is Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Do you recognize it from the movie "National Treasure"?
The Betsy Ross House.
I didn't realize what a tragic life she had, being widowed twice before she was 30. I admire her so much, and boy could this girl sew!Day 2: Living the Amish life
Ellen and I were to cheap to want to go on this buggy ride. $30 bucks without tip, for an hour. It was raining, and I wasn't in the mood, but Kim insisted, and she paid for us, so we reluctantly went. (I'm making her a quilt, so this was my payment she said.) I'm glad I let her drag me along. We learned a lot about Amish and Mennonite life, and it was a beautiful carriage ride, in the rain.

With Siobhan's amazing instructions we took the "back roads" and saw how the Amish really live. Kim and I were ready to buy a farm and move to the East, However....I must say, even though there are many things I could really dig about Amish life, one thing would be a real problem for me, and that's vanity. Many of the Amish women have facial hair and not just a little bit! I think I would have to keep my razor, and a few other toiletries.

A quilt in the Museum and the "Old Country Store" in Intercourse, PA. I thought it was a nice museum with some gorgeous Amish quilts. It wasn't very big, but it was done really well. The quilt store here is amazing! Moda fabric for $6.50 a yard! I haven't seen prices like that....since I've been quilting!
Kim and I bought fabric to make an Amish quilt. Kim's not a quilter so I offered to piece her top for her. Hey, I got a buggy ride and free fabric out of it, so I'm game. I'm thinking about a sunshine and Shadow pattern. I think I'll end up designing my own quilt, to reflect the two quilts I really loved in Lancaster county.

I fell in love with this Mennonite house. All these beautiful quilts hanging up on the line! It reminded me of the Told in a Garden cross stitch patterns with the Amish houses and quilts. I'm definitely adding some of these patterns to my "To Do" list!

Here is the yard that goes with the house. Could you not just live here?!

The lady that owned the house sold quilts and a little fabric. I bought these two pieces from her to make a bag. Aren't they gorgeous! It surprised me that they were in her fabric selections. So different from what their quilts look like.
I splurged and bought this Pennsylvania Dutch lithograph. It's signed and numbered. I wish it was the real thing, but I can imagine that would be way out of my price range. It says, "courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice saying I will try again tomorrow."

Day 3 & 4: Surprised by Pittsburgh
Riding the "incline" tram to the top of the coal mine. An amazing view was to be had at the top!

I expected Pittsburgh to be a dirty, yucky, steel mill city, but those days are long gone. I was surprised at how beautiful and clean this city was. There were so many great things to do as well. Definitely a must visit city!


For $2.50 you can ride to the top of this area and walk around. The residence up here are lucky folks to have such a great view. There are restaurants, shops, and houses. It was a great way to pass the time. After looking at fabric literally All Day Long, it was a needed change of pace.
A fabulous view!

This is a new fabric line by Riley Blake Designs. They are in Utah. This is fabric for a pillowcase. I thought my DD would like it.

Quilt Market finds. It would be hard to post all of the wonderful things that we say at quilt market. There are quilting celebs galore, and amazing new fabrics. It's hard not to want it all! I didn't take my camera in, as I thought that would be a big no, no. But afterwards I regretted that decision, because I think it would have been okay. I met Amy Butler, Anne Sutton, Paula Prass, Lila Tueller, Jo Morton, Bate from Bate and Taylor, Scott Hansen (a promising talent, that is sure to hit it big), Jennifer Paganelli, and the list goes on. So amazing! I was bummed that the Blackbird girls weren't there. I was hoping to catch up with them. I bought this pattern by Abbey Lane. It was done with pink and green. A great way to use up black and white Fat Quarters.Clothworks fabric was selling these little table toppers. I thought this would be cute on my outside table.Here is the progress I made on "Shores". I was only able to stitch on the plane, so I was happy with what I got done. This block is taking forever!

There's no place like home, but I love going on these vacations! I'm hoping to take my kids back to Philly next month, as it would be a perfect learning vacation.

Take Care all my bloggy friends. I love your comments!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Is it May already?

Today, as always, I got up and checked my blog roll to see what was new in every one's life. There is a new pattern for "A Tisket A Tasket", so that must mean it's the 5th already.

Here are the blocks I have so far. I'm hoping to finish the embroidery on the airplane to PA next week! (It will be here before I know it, ready or not. Most likely NOT the way life is going right now!)Bunny Hill's "A Tisket A Tasket"
Block of the month. May block is now available

Block #3 on Shores. My goal was to have this block done this month. Well, as you can see that didn't quite happen, but I did get my rear-in-gear and started it on April 29th. Aren't you proud of me? I love working on this block, so I'll try and get it finished along with #4. I was able to go to Women's Conference at BYU, with my Mom and several friends last week. We joined 18,000 women who share a common faith. We were able to be spiritually uplifted for two days. I took many classes that helped me be a better mother and wife. It was a great time, and I'm so glad I was able to go.
You should have seen my Mom and I steadily working on our needlework projects. We had so many people ask us what we were up to. I learned to have "busy hands" from my Momma!

Button Up Buttercup by Friend folks
I pulled out this quilt from my closet. It's been hiding away for about 4 years now. I found the pattern and fabric at "Shop Hop". This is an annual pilgrimage that my Mom and I take to about 15 quilt stores on the Wasatch front. I've made a deal with the quilting fairy that I will try and get some of these older projects started before buying new ones. Getting these quilts cut out, is half the battle. Once I've got that done, I can stop staring and start sewing!
My best sister-in-law, Melanie gave me this darling quilt kit for my birthday last month. I was blown away. The colors are my favorite right now, (You know, red and turquoise!) I can't wait to get going on this project. Can you see a pattern here? I'm always ready to sew something!
Serendipity Studio "The Sophia Tunic"
Here is a tunic I'm working on getting done before market next week. I'm not finished with it yet, and sadly after trying it on, I don't think it looks as good on me, as it does on the floor.

I've redecorated for summer. I know it's still spring, but I'm lacking in the spring decoration department, so some things had to be summer! Here is my little bench in the kitchen with Blackbird Designs June Berries, and some wool strawberries in a basket. The wool runner is from a book called "Serendipity", By the Ginger Cookie Company.
We had a really weird storm the other night. It was otherwise a pretty good day, until all of a sudden we had a wicked burst of wind. Then a few minutes after that, we had a huge hail storm! It covered the ground about 2 mins after it started. I headed straight over to the computer to get it shut down before it was zapped by electricity. It went as quickly as it came. Later we found out that there had been a tornado that touched down 5 mins from our house! The first one in 100 years. Crazy, huh! I was glad that no one was hurt. We don't live in tornado country, so it was a crazy day indeed!

Have a great day! I'm pretty busy getting ready for my trip next week, so I will have to write more later.