And the Winner is....

...drum roll please... Congratulations Tricia you are the lucky winner of my 2, count them, 2 fat quarters of Heather Ross Matroyshka in lilac fabric. I hope that you love them and make something wonderful with them.

****don't give up hope. there are more giveaways out there. go on over and check out this giveaway on Sew Many Stitches Later blog. She is so generous and is sharing some fabric and a few other treasures. go on go look, you know you want to.***

Fast Finish and Giveaway

By Sunday afternoon i had pinned the whole top of my Matroyshka Quilt....then i started asking myself. why so many other unfinished projects? The only thing i can come up with is that i was not terribly invested in this one. Mostly a stash buster with nobody for it to really go to...just made it because i liked it!

Avery got to be my holder this afternoon since she was the only one around. The wind was giving us a little trouble but it was the only minute of sunshine we have had in days. Almost did not know what it was!

When i went on the hunt through the stash to find something to back this with i was really at a loss....then i remembered this tablecloth i bought. I just loved the colors... but it did not match anything in my house. Turned out it was the right size and the right colors.

So i got to quilting...just a simple straight line outline of the blocks.

Now for the fun part....to make this quilt i only used one of my 5 fat quarters of this Heather Ross Matroyshka fabric. Simple math says i still have a few left...so i would like to share with all of you nice ladies and giveaway 2 of the fat quarters to one lucky winner. So all you have to do is leave me a comment, just say hey or whatever you feel like. I will plan to choose a winner over the weekend. Sound good? Please make sure to leave me your e-mail or some way to contact you.

Brown Paper Packages

...tied up with string! Who does not love a package in the mail? I know i do and this one was only made better by how pretty it was. I did not want to open it even though i knew what was inside was even more lovely than the envelope.

I seem to be gravitating to some pretty amazing art on etsy lately. I can not help myself. There are so many that i want but i know i can not have them all....so i narrowed it down to these and another that is on the way. I found these prints through a blog called hide & seek, and her etsy shop, of the same name, is awesome. All the prints are amazing, but these really caught my eye. Click on these to see them bigger, the details are worth it.

The first one is called "Dad, this is the Friend I told you about..." and the second is called "Hide and Seek". I love the little squirrell and the owl hiding in the tree. I am excited to get them up on my wall...probably in my living room where i can enjoy them, or upstairs where i can enjoy them too....i guess i am undecided. They came unframed but i had some frames ready and waiting when they got here.

and making the package all that much sweeter she included some really cute stickers and a bookmark form her store. Chris says it is always about the extras!!! so true...because they are so unexpected and fun. Go check the store out! Please take a minute also to check out Craft Hope on etsy, they are listing donated items and all the proceeds go directly to Doctors without Borders to support the efforts in Haiti. You can donate a small or large amount based on your purchase and then have something pretty and know you helped a little too!

2010's First Top

It is unusual for me to settle on a quilt plan so quickly, but when i got the idea for this modified log cabin i decided not to over think it and just go with it!! Overall i think i am happy with it. Thanks Angela for helping me with my squaring up issues. They are likely a little off, but it is hard to tell.

Also, thank you ladies for all your wonderful tips and advice about mixing these fabrics when i blogged about them the other day. I think i am pretty pleased with how it turned out. What do you think?

My helper acquired a helper while holding the quilt for me. Sorry about the weird light in all the pictures. Even a nice camera can not save you from a dark house with bad lighting.

I am going ahead and posting this over at Amylouwho's for this weeks sew and tell. Go and check out what all the other ladies have made this week. I have been checking through the day and there is a lot of great stuff.

Where Did My Shoes Take Me?

Super wordy...so sorry...but there is no other way to tell this other than the long version. i am finding that my big night out was so amazing that it is hard to tell the story here...simply because you can not hear me SCREAMING with delight or see me JUMPING up and down because i was and am so excited!!!!! IT WAS AMAZING!!! Every part of it. Ask my sister(if you know her)...the story is pretty animated...so try to imagine. She pointed out that there should be some caps and exclamation points!!!!
As part of my Christmas presents Chris bought us tickets to see the Swell Season. Some might know who i am talking about you, some maybe not....but if you fall into that second group you really should go have a listen. They are amazing...and see the film Once, they are in that too!

We headed into the city, thank you Kate for watching the kids when i know that you would rather have been where we were!!! Cause it was AWESOME!!! sorry...back to the story. It is nice to go to the city with the kids but so great to go without....no wrangling busy children....i did not have to carry any bags because the husbands pockets worked just fine. We had a nice dinner within throwing distance of Radio City. While we were eating Chris wondered aloud if i thought they would busking on the street(background..Glen Hansard the lead musician started as a street busker and that is the premise of the movie). I said "surely not, not when they have a venue like radio city to play in".

SO after dinner we decided to walk around before the show and enjoy the city. As we were walking it occurred to me...lets see where these shoes take me!!! Certainly you have heard of Rockefeller Center...the shoes and i stood right on the very spot that the tree stood. I pretended i was a tree. :o)
Chris thought it would be fun to get a shot of the shoe with Radio City in the background. I laughed. He said "get your foot up in the air"...i said, "my foot does not go in the air". But i hugged a tree and stuck it up there!!! He knelt in the street to get the shot. I am sure everyone around was grumbling about the ridiculous tourists!! oh well. Then as we walked around the block there was this crowd and then i heard this music and all the cameras in the air, i smacked chris (lovingly of course) and said, "NO! no way!!"... cause yup that is them, playing on the street right outside the concert hall.


LOOK how close we were...i was standing around to the right in this picture about 2 to 3 rows back from them...2-3 rows. i was star struck!!! That is Glen with the guitar and Marketa Irglova standing beside him. There were people walking up and asking what was going on...i met this nice lady who turned said to me that this was the perfect NY moment. i agreed wholeheartedly. it was really amazing. After they played a few songs they turned and started walking in the direction we all had to go. SO what did we do, we followed. It was like a impromptu parade. The Sousa phone was tooting and the guitar was playing and we kept following.


There were people climbing light poles to get a better view. it was amazing. As we were walking/marching away with our swell season parade, i walked right over the spot where they had been standing. I had to take a moment. Star struck i tell you....then told chris to QUICK take a picture!!! take one of these shoes standing on the very spot Glen Hansard stood (click for a quick article on one aspect of tuesday's concert). Here they are.... standing where he played and sang and was amazing.....(see me swooning!)



As we were heading in i squealed with total joy...."I don't even have to go to the concert now"...i told chris, "that was enough for me". i stood 10 feet away. This was shaping up to be a amazing night. The picture does not do our seats justice. it was better than it looks....the i phone was all we had for picture taking. The concert itself was awesome, amazing, enthralling, outstanding, moving. It was a emotional experience. I was getting a little teary...i know i am a dork but i can not help it. A couple times the music was so amazing i caught myself closing my eyes and really loving it and then i was like "dummy open your eyes...you can do that at home...this guy is right in front of you for real!"

The concert started at 8 and ended around 11:30. It just went on and on. in a good way of course. He was funny and told stories and wanted the crowd to sing along. it was amazing. have i mentioned that already. There were multiple encores because we could not get enough. I was said when it was over. I had such a great time. Dinner and a concert in the city with my hubby...brand new shoes that went to amazing places...how could it have been bad?

Someone was sleepy on the way home...it was late....and he had to get up very early the next morning so he took a wee nap on the train!!! Super cute, wonderful husband. Thank you thank you thank you for taking me out and having a great date night with me. I love you!!! Here is one of the songs from the concert...i was there..in that room...singing along....amazing!

Steppin' Out with my Baby...

Got a hot date in NYC tonight!! I am so excited!!!

I got myself some new shoes for the occasion!!! I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

Is This What Cabin Fever Looks Like?

When i was a little girl i loved to make lists and put my crayons in rainbow order. Now i see this orderly "thing" coming out in my children. This is what Mitchell does with every clementine that he eats. He peels it carefully, and then puts it all out in a neat tidy little row, and then after that is all done he can eat it...one slice at a time.

They also got clever with a old rope that Mitch had from my dad. Mitch tied it to his old ride on bike, then through both of his giant dump trucks.Do not be confused by the outfit, he became a train conductor...i know he looks quite a lot like a cowboy but he insisted that he was a conductor. Well, ok then!

He got Avery to be his passenger. They then promptly rode circles around my house with Mitchell calling "All Aboard" as they went, as loud as he possibly could! And for anyone that knows him well you know that that is louder than one mommy can stand. He is crazy loud!! But they are both crazy cute so i can get over it.

Fabric Find

Do you see those pretty little faces? I could not believe my eyes. I knew the minute i saw it what it was.... Heather Ross Matroyshka in lilac...and did not hesitate to buy all that the joanns had. So fellow fabric lovers...hurry and see if there is any of this at your local joanns. hurry!!! I already have my sister on the lookout for more where she lives.

Can you believe it, right along with all the other fat quarters and for the same price too!! that had to be the best part, making this my find of the year(so far). It was only 1.29 a fat quarter! i know....run!!!

As soon as i got it home i was hit with inspiration and motivation...why does that happen only at the beginning of a project not at an ending too? But here is my dilemma. I am loving this pile of fabrics. The colors are not my usual choice but i love them, so i just want to go with it and start making but this is Heather Ross i am talking about cutting up, and the rest is from my stash, likely bought at Joann's or Walmart( i know, but i can not always afford the designer, you know?)

A friend of mine once told me not to mix fabrics. By this she meant don't use the really good stuff with the cheap stuff or you might be sorry. However, if i wait to have enough other fabrics up to Heather Ross standards to go with this matroyshka fabric i may never get to making it.
HELP!! What do i do? What would you do?

Bear with me

If you are new here and did not know this already, you are about to find out in a hurry that i am a nerd...a bird nerd!! I just can't help myself.

red bellied woodpecker

photo: birdingconsultant.com

This gorgeous guy was in my backyard today. A first time appearance. I wish i had taken this picture but i was too dumbstruck to move...i did not want to scare him away. The kids and i stood there and watched him until he flew off. I was so distracted watching the feeder hoping that he would come back that i burned Avery's lunch. oops!!!

School Crafts

Crafts are probably the biggest highlight of school. i am bigtime guilty of not doing them enough, but i confess i just don't like the mess.

We had tried a new/different history curriculum at the start of the year but it just never caught on with us. It was boring and we all knew it. So as January came around I was beginning to re-evaluate what we were doing and what we were going to use. So i pulled out old faithful, Story of the World. I want to order the next book, but while we are waiting on that i went ahead and picked a lesson that we did not complete last year.

The chapter was on the rise of Christianity...and the craft project was to make mosaic crosses. What i enjoy about this book(Story of the World) is that it gives you a variety of crafts and projects to choose from that you can select based on what you have and the age of your children. Since i did not have grout and caulk and tiles lying around to make real mosaics, i went ahead and used the cardboard and pretty paper version.

I pulled out some scrabook paper scraps and the glue, scissors and cardboard and we got to creating. They had fun and did such a great job. I loved how Avery cut her pieces up into little triangles and fit them all together.

Oh homeschool, it is ever changing. that is part of the beauty and aggravation.

An Award!!!

I was flattered to see that this week Anna at Noodlehead had nominated me to be part of the list of ladies she thought should get a lemonade stand award. It is to be awarded to bloggers that show great attitude and gratitude. So thank you Anna.

Now i must admit that i do not read many blogs that are not craft or quilt related so I am going to nominate my 10 from that group(except my sister who is in the list too) . These are the rules of accepting the award.

• Put the Lemonade logo on your blog or within your post.
• Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude.
• Link the nominees within your post.
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.
  

So drumroll please. my chosen blogging ladies are

1. Use the Loot
2. the Cutting Edge Quilt
3. Summer at Grandma's House
4. Making More with Less
5. Dee's Doodles
6. As is Proper
7. My Three Sons
8. Mountain Home Quilts
9. So Much for My Plans
10. Twin Fibers

and one more for good measure because she is awesome!

11. Works in Progress

thank you all for being such amazing inspirations and for sharing that with me and everyone else out there reading.

Come out Come out Wherever you are

This is the sight that greeted me tonight when i walked into my living room. As you can see even Mitchell has a computer/electronic devise in hand. Everyone was so intent on what they were doing.

Then i found the kids snuggled up under a quilt playing a game together on Chris' i pod. They look so cute!

Also I saw a wordle the other day on Emily's blog, so much for my plans and i thought it looked like fun so today put in my info and gave it a try. You have to click it to make it larger. They are so fun. try it yourself on their sight.

Continuing on with tonight's totally random theme.... about that title!!! This week is national blog de-lurking week...so i hear. In the case that this is true why don't you lurkers come on out of the woodwork and say hello!! Tell me where you live or what you are up to these days or anything you feel like!

**I would like to amend this to say thank you to all my regular readers who do comment. i would not blog if i did not know there were people reading my nonsense. So thank you i appreciate you all.**

Sew and Tell Friday, it's back!!

These are the only pictures of sewing projects that i made this Christmas. And right off the bat i have to admit that they almost were not photographed...that is why these pictures are so bad. i took them in a dark room right before i wrapped them to give them to their new owners. Sorry.

This first little pouch was for one of my nieces. How about that fancy fabric flea market fancy lovers? i hesitated a little when i took it out of the fabric closet, same with the wallet below, but then i told myself, "self, why do you have all this nice fabric if you are not going to use it?"...clearly i made sense to myself and so i went for it. It was the first time i did a zipper and it is not a experience i want to have again anytime soon. I needed a little husband hand holding for for this project.

This little wallet was made for my nephews girlfriend. We see her a lot while we are there visiting and i did not want to leave her out of the gift giving. After the fact i added on a snap so she could actually close it. More flea market fancy, people!!!

Last was made for my sister. It is a mini quilt/wall hanging...a teaser of sorts. See, it is all made from fabrics she chose for a quilt that i am working on making for her. I used amandajeans at crazy mom quilts...can we all pause here for a moment of silence, and mourn a little that she is no longer posting...ok so this was made with her ticker tape quilt tutorial. It was fun. I did not have time to wash this, but am sure that it will look better once it is.

I guess i work really well under pressure. I was not planning on making things this Christmas. I did not think i had the time, but at the last minute, i think the night before we left for my sisters, i sat down and made all of these plus a rice bag warmer...tutorial by v and co(oops no pictures). I am happy to say that everyone liked the gifts. Now hurry over to Amylouwho's and see what gifts everyone else made and gave this Christmas...and then tell them what a great job they did!!!