Summer in the Country + Exciting News!

Today is the first Day of the Island Batik Summer in the Country Blog hop!  I am so excited to be participating in this blog hop - I'm still working on my special project, but I'll have it done by the time my day comes around!  Make sure you go read the blog post - click on the picture and it will take you right there - a delicious recipe for Nutella Pie is included.  When I finish the birthday cake I will have to try it for sure.

I had a nice birthday yesterday, it was a quiet one, but I am good with that.  After all, you can't expect a trip to Paris every time your birthday rolls around, right?  Here's a picture from 5 years ago - such a fun trip!

And I had a fun present for my birthday!  I won a Giveaway!  I received an e-mail from Sew4Home saying that I won a 4 box sampler of the new Aurifil thread packs.  So happy, I love Aurifil thread and can't wait to see what I am getting - I know for sure I will use it!

The winner for my August Giveaway #2 is Karon Henderson!  Congratulations, Karon!

Make sure you enter for the Island Batik giveaway - you just might be a winner, too!

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WIP Wednesday - 6-12-13

I have so many things in the works right now that it's hard to keep up!  This week I worked on Barcelona Nights and got all of the A blocks done and the B blocks - good progress for a week that was half out of town getting to greet my new grand daughter.  The B blocks gave me a bit of an issue as the directions did not match up with the illustration.  I tried to reach the writer of the pattern, but haven't heard from her as yet, so I made an executive decision and went with what I felt looked right.  I am doing this as a shop sample, so when I write up my hints and tips for the kit will include directions for how my version varies from the written instructions.   The next blocks are paper pieced so I am looking forward to doing those.  The red and black are very dramatic and dark, not really my usual choice of colors, but they are very striking and I think I will like the finished quilt.  Pictures definitely don't do it justice!

I also completed the piecing for my Giant Dahlia quilt!  I have loved working on this and can't wait to choose a pretty background for it!  I thought it was really easy to piece - now the cutting, that's another story!  It was really great to go digging through my batiks for these bright happy colors, though.  This quilt is one that's been on my "life list" and I actually can see myself doing more of these in the future.  Not as hard as they look!

And speaking of cutting I got this in the mail this week - the new Olfa Splash cutter!  What can I say, but I love it!  The feel of it in my hand, the way it cuts so smoothly and the gorgeous color - this is my new favorite tool.  And the best part - it is guaranteed forever!  Wow!  My grandma is 94, so I'm pretty sure I have a lot of good quilting years ahead, so I will be putting this to the test.  My original Olfa cutter is going strong at over 20 years worth of cutting, so I'm sure this one will stand the test as well.

Next week I'll be at my daughters house snuggling the new grand baby, and playing with my sweet grandsons - so I'm not sure if I'll be getting any sewing done, but I might pack up some Dear Jane blocks to hand sew.  We'll see!  I will have some cute baby pics to share, though.

Catching up...

Today I spent most of my day catching up on overdue projects. I was totally lazy this weekend and didn't do any sewing at all! It was kind of nice, but I had quite a list of projects that needed finished this morning. I had a good day of working, and three projects crossed off my list. The first one was a pink dress that I was asked to make for a wedding. Not my cup of tea, but it's ready to go for hemming and I can move it out of my sewing room - always a good thing! The skirt had 8 panels with 8 gored inserts, so it was a lot of sewing to put together.
The next project was a fun one. It involved taking an old needlepoint cushion apart, stitching the front onto a new piece of fabric and making a buttoned back for it. Don't you love this beautiful peacock? So pretty, I wish I could keep it! The buttons for the back came out of my button jar - so that's two down! At this rate, I could use them all in...about 10 years!

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Speaking of buttons, I finished the journal for my givaway - isn't it pretty? I got it mailed out today, so excited to see what Mruna thinks of it when it arrives! It's so much fun to send my creations out into the world, and this one is going all the way to India - very exciting!

Nothing quite like the cheerful combination of blue and yellow, I think - especially when we've had such a damp and dreary spring.

Now it's off to bed in hopes of a good nights rest and a productive day tomorrow!

Pamela

Peace, Love, and Recycling

One of my resolutiions for 2011 is to kick the plastic grocery bag habit. It's not like I don't have plenty of wonderful fabric totes of all kinds to use, it's the fact that I always leave them in the trunk. So this year I am going to work on that. Maybe I should start fining myself 50 cents for every plastic one I bring home. Or make myself donate a fat quarter to the raffle table at our guild meeting. Hmmm. That one might work.

At any rate, I am going to try to come up with something fabric related and frugal on Fridays - so today I wanted to show you this awesome Tote bag I won in a blog give-away! This was from my friend Emma's blog "Quilties". I knew it would be nice, but I was totally delighted when I opened up the package today! It is so well made and attractive, I'm sure I will use it all the time! I absolutely love the little embroidered patch on it - so cute. How nice to have such a practical bag that also makes me smile - I'm sure it will help me to be better about using my fabric bags instead of the plastic ones.

So, working backwards, exactly what is "frugal"? I think of it as being thrifty (or cheap as I have been called by members of my family!). But there is more to being frugal than just watching your money, according the the Mirriam - Webster Dictionary the definition of frugal is: characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources. This means not only our monetary resources, but all other resources in our life. So I want to explore that idea and how it relates to quilting and sewing as well as other aspects of our lives.

By not using plastic grocery bags I am doing a small part in eliminating the need for making the plastic, and the waste that it produces. I don't have to store more bags, or even worse, throw them away. It might not actually save me money, but it does save on resources so this is definitely a change I want to make in my life.

Many thanks to Emma for the great bag, I will use it proudly! If you are interested in one for yourself you can check out her Etsy shop - Quilties. She does beautiful work and I am sure you would be happy with anything she has made.

Frugally yours!

Pamela