this week's crafting...

... might be put on the back burner. I have felt the need to repaint our main living area and hallways for awhile now, and decided this morning that the priming just had to happen during naptime. Of course naptime is now over and I'm not all the way finished, but it's getting there.

My husband painted the dark red wall before we met, and the "Home Depot Orange" hallway within the first month that we were dating (before I knew I'd be living in this house). As much as I love color and pretty much all of the other color choices he's made in our home, these two had to go. The before:

The during (the orange went all the way down that hallway):

As much as I liked the idea of going neutral, we have too much cold and blah outside most of the year and really prefer color. We're trading the orange for a nice neutral green (Martha Stewart's Parchment Paper) and the red for a softer burnt orange (Martha Stewart's Yam):

Wish me luck! Hopefully there will be some good "after" photos later this week.



and the winner is...

Comment #95, which belongs to Jen of The Quilty Home! Jen, I'll be emailing you for your adress in a bit. Thank you to everyone who entered! I hope you're having a great weekend.

One Year

A year ago today when I started this blog, I had no idea that I would enjoy it as much as I do now. My first posts felt so awkward. I shared the link with just a few family members, thinking I would use this space more for posting updates on the kids rather than what I was making. I had my doubts about posting at all! But I remember the first time I received a comment-- it was from Monica of Quilt While You're Ahead, a blog I had read for years. It sort of blew my mind that someone who I had admired for so long had actually taken the time to look at my measly little blog and give me encouragement. (Monica, I don't know if you realize what a boost of confidence that was for me in the early days-- thank you! If you were here, I'd give you a great big hug.)

144 posts later I definitely feel like a part of the blogging community. I love the inspiration that I find, the friends I've made, and being able to share the things that I make with people who "get it." I know I'm not alone in feeling like I sort of have to justify my hobbies of sewing and quilting. My switch from working full-time to being a stay at home mom brought some insecurities about how I would connect with others and if the activities I did in my free time were, well, dorky. I'm happy to say those insecurities are pretty much long gone, and the time I spend connecting through this space is so vital and fulfilling in my life.

As a thank you to all who have read and supported me this past year, I'm giving away a fat quarter bundle of some of my favorite blue and green shot cottons and an Alexander Henry cotton lawn print. They feel like spring, don't they?

For your chance to win, just leave a comment! I will ship anywhere in the world. Just make sure I have a way to contact you! The giveaway will stay open until I pick a winner on Sunday morning here in Alaska. Good luck, and once again-- thank you!

Liebster Award

Today I got two of the nicest emails from both Andie of Andie Johnson Sews and Alex of Teaginny Designs saying they had nominated me for the Liebster Award, which recognizes blogs of 300 or less followers. I tried to figure out where this Liebster thing started but had no luck. But it's nice to be recognized! To keep with the spirit of the award, I'd like you to take a look at a couple of my favorite small blogs:

Cut. Sew. Iron. Repeat-- I wish I lived a wee bit closer to Indiana so that I could see Jenny's fabric stash in person. She is a true fabric officianado, and makes awesome stuff!

Fluff & Nonsense-- Leslie used to live in Anchorage and she has an Avery too! I've always admired the quilts she makes, but baby Delilah may be her cutest creation yet.

This could be a quiet week. Cooper has a cold and is not sleeping at night. Again. I am soooo tired. But I will at least be back on Wednesday for my 1st Blogiversary Celebration Giveaway! Woo hoo! It's been a good year.

finally caught up

I am finally 100% caught up on my quilting bee commitments! Phew! I hate being late, but that's the way I seem to be these days.

Dresden Plates for Valerie

Square-in-Square blocks from vintage sheets for Sharon

Purple and blue Cross Blocks for Natalie

and a simple log cabin block for Jean.

Now off to chase this little munchkin...

Have a great weekend!

a cover for the iPad I don't even have

Three days ago I saw this iPad cover tutorial by Amber of One Shabby Chick. And for some reason, I just had to make one. Immediately. So I used a gift certificate to one of my local quilt shops and picked up the Alexander Henry Heath fabric I've been eyeing for a long time. The I sewed this up during this morning's naptime.



It's lined with a teal moda crossweave and will house the new-to-me iPad that I'll inherit from Rob once the second generation version comes out later this spring. That's right. This thing won't get used for months, because there is no way Rob is going to forego his nice leather case for this one. Which is alright by me.

Although, I really could have used his iPad today. I kept having to come back upstairs to view the tutorial on the kitchen computer, then remember the instructions on my way back down to the sewing room. Because of this, I messed up on the placement of my velcro and had to re-do it after the cover was all done so that the flap would work. I realized how great it's going to be when I can take a look at my favorite websites and blogs right there on my sewing table!

next up...

Since I've been able to resist joining any new flickr swaps (and there are some REALLY good ones going on right now!), I'm rewarding myself by starting work on a big quilt for our family. I pulled my favorite fabrics-- the ones I've been hoarding, like mono pez and Uptown-- and cut them into 5.5 inch squares. I plan to add a few other prints, linen, and shot cottons to this current mix too.

I originally thought I'd do something with half sqaure triangles. But I think a very simple patchwork quilt is what I want the most. Who knows what will happen once I start sewing things together?

It feels good to create again, and even better to be creating things for my family. I've read from a lot of bloggers in the past few weeks that their focus for the year will also be on sewing for their own homes and family. What about you? What kinds of projects are you working on?

for the birds

First, I must mention that I was so flattered to be featured on Jodi's amazing blog, Pleasant Home, on Monday. I feel so flattered! If someone had told me when I started this blog almost a year ago that I would have so many people reading and saying such nice things about what I make, I never would have believed it.  Expect a blogiversary giveaway to celebrate all of this next week!

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My pink and green bird quilt, made of blocks from members of my Fussy Cut Love Bee, is complete! The members of my bee were so creative with the IKEA bird fabric and black, white, and green color palette. Of course once I had everything laid out, I thought the colors I chose were too limited. The blocks seemed to get lost in their togetherness. I added raspberry shot cotton sashing, and suddenly all of the individual blocks started to pop.

The quilting is pretty haphazard. I started it during a 5 a.m. sewing session when everyone else in my house was sleeping, and my brain was still processing my morning coffee. So I just went for it, and did a different something in each individual block. The inside sashes have some loopty loops, and the outside has my new favorite free-motion design-- hills. The come off as scallops on a border like this, which is kind of fun. In typical fashion, I was not loving the quilting as I was doing it, but a quick wash and dry made everything good. Of course I may never again do quilting with so many stops and starts-- burying all of the thread ends took FOREVER.

The backing is a polka dot flannel sheet from Target. Cozy and perfect for snuggling-- which is good, because we're keeping this one.

Happy Wednesday! Hope you're having a good one.

blue zoo baby quilt

I finally stitched up the binding on this quilt that I'll be sending to one of my friends from high school, who had her first baby in September. I'm a little late with my gifting! A look back through my flickr photostream shows that I sewed the top in early October. I think I had completed the quilting a couple weeks later, and then it sat unfinished until last week when I pulled it out in an effort to put off doing a different project. I've found that when I'm stuck on something, to go and finish up a different work-in-progress frees up my brain and gives me some quality thinking time to figure things out.

I used Alexander Henry's 2-D zoo fabric, various Kona solids, a teal crossweave, and a bit of brown Katie Jump Rope basketweave. If I could have a do-over, I would have quilted the navy areas with a darker thread and maybe done something other than the zig zags. I'm not loving the contrast of the white thread. But it's done!

With the kids out of school today and more cold temps, I'll be spending some time binding my pink and green bird quilt. Half way there!

free piecing fun

I was invited to partner up with one of my fellow Kristas, otherwise known as lolablueocean, for Sarah and Molly's Free Piecing Study on flickr.

The concept is that each month through October, each person make a pair of two blocks (of one or two different "patterns," depending on the month) for herself and her partner. At the end of the project, we should each have 30 blocks to use for a quilt.

January's blocks are a log cabin house block and a mondo bird block. I put together the house blocks this afternoon. Totally fun!

We're having ultra-cold temps here. It was -14 F when we woke up this morning, and it's not supposed to get above zero until later in the week. So while we've been housebound, it's been kind of nice laying low. I hope all of you have had a good weekend!

twins

Since it's been awhile, I bring you a photo of our neighborhood moose twins. I took it standing at our front door this morning. I was hoping they would eat the frozen jack-o-lanterns that are still along our walkway from Halloween (whoops) but they stuck to trees.

You didn't think I was making some sort of pregnancy announcement, did you? At this point, with Cooper back to waking up bunches in the middle of the night and getting into EVERYTHING during the day, being pregnant with twins would be my worst nightmare. It's getting really hard to get anything done. With that said, I feel like my creative juices are flowing again! Two not-to-be-revealed-until-later projects are complete, two previous WIPs are in the midst of getting their bindings stitched, and I've cut squares from some of my most coveted fabrics for a family couch quilt. It feels good! So maybe some things are getting done. I suppose that the laundry should be next.

back in the saddle

I've been in a total sewing funk. I totally fell out of my groove once the holidays were done. After not even setting foot in my sewing room for almost a week, I forced myself to go in and just do SOMETHING. Anything. And what could be better than overdue bee blocks?

The first are for Bee Liberated:

And these are for the do. Good Stitches charity bee:

I also just opened up a package of new fabric from Purl Soho, thanks to a couple of generous Christmas gift cards from family. (Thank you Rita!) There's Liberty! Nani Iro! Lecien stripes! And yes, even a bit of Greenfield Hill. I originally didn't plan to buy any of this new line. But then I felt like I needed those small prints, and they do not disappoint!

With all of this great new stuff, I think I feel some of my mojo returning... and just in time, because I've got things just itching to get done. Stay tuned!