Stash Buster Give Away Feb. 4th.....

Make sure to check out this amazing giveaway here and at a number of other fab blogs.  The brilliant Katy has all the information.  I will post a sneak peak of the stash I will be giving away on Monday!

Peace be with you.

sewing like mad...

So ( sew) I've been sewing my blues away.  With blocks to make for the Sew Connect 2 and Buzz Cuts flickr groups, 1 swap quiltie ( STUD watch it, read it, sing it theme), and my fat quarter swap to finish I've been busy.  I mailed off both the quiltie and my swap package this morning, and will send my blocks out tomorrow.  The Shmoo loves to sing, and so I had to do a kids song for this one.  It was my first time making pieced letters, and clearly I aimed a little larger than necessary!  But, I love the final product, and contemplated keeping it to hang in The Shmoo's room.  

This evening holds more sewing, and some much needed quiet time with J. It's been a long week for both of us.  

All the best to you!  Peace be with you.

D-Day

Well, the call came ( well, I had to call them...but that's a whole different story), and my position as it currently stands has been eliminated for next year.  It 's been a long day.  I've shed more tears than I thought possible, I'm mad, and tired.  I know that everything will work out for the best in the end, but I'm still looking for my " easy button"!  If I had more energy I could probably do some serious sewing, but I can barely keep my eyes focused enough to write this post.

J and I have been looking at houses to buy, and trying to figure out what we can afford financially and mentally.  This growing up stuff is not for the weak and weary, that much I know!

Be well.  Peace be with you.

Fabric Goodness....

Today has been a good day, and it's only 11am.  I " took to my bed" last nigh over come with sadness and fear as Monday moves closer and closer .

 But I woke up this morning without the alarm clock and headed to the gym to start my day.  I laughed out loud for 40 minutes on the elliptical while listening to Podcasts of A Prairie Home Companion.  What a great show.   The main event for today was for The Shmoo and I to go pick up his new Nap Quilt from the quilters.  Yes, I often pay someone else to quilt my quilts. 

And it turned out great!  He will be the talk of the Nursery School.  Every other kid has "rags" they sleep under....but not The Shmoo... not anymore that is!   I love the red dots on the back.  I hope they don't keep him awake.  The child needs a nap--everyday!

The next fabric goodness arrived to the mailroom this morning from the UK.   It was a package of Liberty florals from Katy for the Sew Connected 2 group.  Aren't they beautiful?  They came in their own linen and liberty drawstring bag. Rockin' fabs and a bag...packages don't get better than that!  I'm not sure I can actually cut them up, but I guess I don't actually have a choice.  So, off to do some planning I go.

Here's to a joyful weekend.  Peace be with you

Retail Therapy....

My LQS is having their annual sale, so I induldged in a little retail therapy this morning while The Shmoo was in school.  I have a feeling that I will be back for Round 2 before the sale ends on the 31st!

The stack on the right ( dark red and below) are destine for a zig zag quilt.  The others are for various and a sundry projects. Shmoo needs some new pillow cases ( okay, he has no idea that he needs them, but as his mother I must pay attention to these things), and the light yellow print on the left was just too cute to pass up. With Valentine's Day fast approaching I have bags to make for my advisees, Senior dorm leaders, Shmoo's teachers, and classmates.  Whew...I'm making myself tired just thinking about it!

While I have not been blogging much this week I have been busy crafting.  I'm headed off to quilt my final swap quilt for the month, piece a placemat for a friends little girl, and begin cutting out the fabs for my mothers Valentine's Day quilt.

Happy Day to everyone.  Peace be with you.

Super Sunday!

 We got 5 inches of snow last night meaning that The Shmoo slept in this morning.  I then spent the 2 hours working on my Cowl.  The pattern is from Purl, and the yarn is Cashcotton Classic yarns.  I started knitting it for my cousin who lives in Boulder, but decided to hand it over to one of my friends  here as school.  The pattern is very simple, but it seems to be taking me forever to complete.  I hope to have it off of my needles by tomorrow...we'll see if it really happens.

On other fronts I finished my bits and pieces quiltie this evening while on duty in the dorm.  Nothing like a little hand sewing to pass the time.  I used some black batik for the boarder and binding, and loved the way it turned out.  Even J inquired as to where it was headed.  He was happy to hear it was staying with us.  I can never tell with him sometimes!

This week I have a quiltie to make for a swap, and need to cut the fabric out for a Valentine's Day quilt I hope to pull together for my mother.  We're supposed

to get more snow this week, so it should be a good quilting week. 

 I wish you all a good night.  Peace be with you.

It's been a long couple of days here in cold New England.  It was -17 this morning when I ventured out to the gym.  That my friends is dedication!  

I have been working on a swap quilt based on the Gees Bend quilts, and finally completed it last night while snugged up by the fire.  I hand quilted it ( my first stab at that), and have all the needle pricks to prove it.  All in all I am very happy with the way it turned out, and hope that my swap partner ( who does not like brights!) enjoys it as well.  Since no one is reading this here blog I thought it safe to post before it arrived at its final destination.

On a non-fabric related note ( I know, things not revolving around fabric, WHAT)...I will find out in 7 days wither I have a job or not next year.  I guess I have not mentioned yet that I work at a Boarding School, and run/ live in a girls dorm of 56.  The wonderful young ladies range in ages from 14-19.  I also teach Health to the 10th graders, and advise the school Yearbook.  This is my 9th year here, and I am an alum of the school.  All that being said, notifications of position eliminations will be delivered on Monday January 26th.  My heart aches, my stomach is in knots, and I am really not sure what we will do if I loose my job.  Housing is included in my salary,and we do not own a home anywhere else.  It is scary to think that come June we may very well have no where to go.  I am very much aware of the struggles of many individuals and families due in large part to the economic fall, and feel so saddened that we are facing this again at my school.

So, I send my positive energy out into the Universe, and hope that the love and dedication I put into my job is enough...that I am enough and worthy of keeping here.

I promise to have something more uplifting to talk about tomorrow.  Until then- stay warm and Peace be with you!

Shoes.....

Our darling Shmoo is pretty laid back---as laid back as a 2 year old boy can be.  However, he hates new shoes.  It usually takes 3 separate occasions for us to actually get him to wear a new pair of shoes.  If that was not hard enough, his feet are growing faster than the speed of light.  Well, to make a long story short...his new snow boots arrived yesterday from good 'ole LL Bean, and he loves them.  I put them on the minute we got home from school, and he wore them for hours around the house.  It was such a momentous occasion that I had to take a picture!  It was not until I snapped the photo that I realized there
 were reflective strips on the sides.  Cute in the photo, but what toddler is going to be running around in the dark so much so that they need reflective strips? 

Here's to another very cold day in New England.  Peace be with you.

Sew Connected 2 ...

Yesterday I realized that while Kimmie's fabric sitting on my ironing board were great inspiration they were not going to cut, sew, and press themselves into a block.  With the Shmoo home with me all morning playing Thomas ( an obsession in our house hold) it was not until late last night that I began cutting and piecing my block for Kim.  I will admit that I struggled to stretch the fabric to fit the pattern I had chosen!  But, I did it.  It will go out in the mail today, and hopefully arrive safe and sound across the country.

Bits and Pieces

I took a class at Valley Fabrics last year and there were tons of  "corners" being cut off.  So, being the fabric junky that I am I dug a handful of them out of the trash for a later project. 

Later arrived yesterday with 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground and a napping Shmoo.

We'll see what happens when I sew all these little bits together, but for now I'm happy with it!

Happy Monday- peace be with you.

Post #1

So, it seems that everyone has a blog. I am not usually a trend follower, but this seems like something I might actually enjoy. As a self proclaimed fabric junky I decided I should share some photos of my " stash". It is a large stash, and quite frankly I should be embarrassed to post it for the world to see....but I'm not!

I love fabric! I walk into a fabric shop and feel both calm and overwhelmed at the same time. The calm of such wonderful colors and textures surrounding me, and the overwhelming need to create something out of each bolt. I see bags, quilts, pillowcases, skirts, pj pants for The Shmoo.....So, I end up buying bits and pieces of fabric, and over the last 15 years I have developed a STASH.

In 2009 I hope to whittle down my stash through swaps (using my beloved bits and pieces to create quilties for others), and make quilts for those close to me. I've done well using my stash for swaps, but it seems that I am having difficulty not replenishing. Below is evidence #1- the results of the past week.

Well, everything takes time. A life time of collecting cannot be changed in a few weeks....maybe not even a life time. Until next time- may peace be with you.