A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

... I was supposed to have finished this quilt.  This one has been a long time coming because I'm such a procrastinator.  This quilt was for my nephew's birthday, which was May 23.  I even got a reprieve when we decided to celebrate my son's and nephew's birthday together in early June, but I still didn't finish it on time.

Nevertheless, the quilt has been gifted to it's new owner, he loves it and all is forgiven.

My daughter turned 10 yrs old last week and one thing she asked for was a sleep mask that said "Save the Nerds" (she saw this on some pajamas at Kohl's and was really inspired by this phrase).  I did a pretty poor job on this sleep mask, but she wears it to bed each night, while pondering the best way to carry out her mission.

Amanda, of A Crafty Fox, was offering up a free mini-charm pack with each order over $30 from her Etsy shop this past weekend, so I decided it was the perfect time to buy some fat quarter bundles I had been ogling for a while.  (It really doesn't take much to convince me of that.)

Ocean Depths Ombre Blue FQB and La Creme Low Volume Polka Dots FQB, along with a Pot Luck mini-charm pack

I had pre-ordered a Briar Rose FQB also from Westwood Acres and added a coordinating solids FQB via Instagram and I am really loving these beautiful fabrics.

I received my July Stash Stack Club picks from Pink Castle Fabrics and right now, Brenda is running a promotion that for every $50 you spend, you get a prize code with your order that could be worth anywhere from $5-$100 or it could be for the grand prize of the whole first year's Stash Stack Club collection of 144 fat quarters.  I might have placed an order for this bundle of low volume fat quarters, along with a few other necessary items just to see if I can win the grand prize. (even though I already have almost every one of these, but just look at it!!  who can resist wanting more?)

I hope to have several more quilt finishes in the near future, plus my sister has charged me with making some custom couch pillows for her new living room set, so I will be busy, busy, busy in the coming weeks.

It's raining!?!

I can't believe that it's been raining for 2 days straight in the middle of summer and I am so grateful!  It's been miserably hot and dry around here lately, so this is welcome relief.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a quilt I made on the Craftsy blog.  It is a disappearing 9-patch quilt I made for a friend at church who was having a baby girl.  You can find my Craftsy member page here.  I love Craftsy and have purchased several classes (which I need to finish watching).

Alyssa at Pile O'Fabric is hosting a Stash Share each Monday in which she selects a color scheme and pulls fabrics from her stash to coordinate.  She invites other fabric lovers to do the same and link up their pic to her post.  This is her color palette and stash pull for today..

and this is what I came up with from my stash...

I think this is a fun way to challenge myself regarding color selection and design possibilities, so I plan to participate as often as I can.  

I am participating in the Triple-Zip Pouch Swap hosted by Stephanie from Quarter Incher and based on my partner's preferences, she is pretty much up for anything.  This is my first fabric pull for this pouch...

I plan to do a few more fabric pulls and see what kind of vibe I get from my partner (if any).  I ordered from Zipit for the first time for this project and was really impressed with the value and speed of delivery, so I will definitely be going to them again in the future.

I have 2 quilts that I hope to finish quilting and binding this week, so fingers crossed that I get those completed. 

Let's Get Acquainted, Shall We?

Today's my day on Plum and June's 2013 Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop and I've been thinking about this for several weeks.  I'm going to share a little bit about myself and my crafty journey thus far and then introduce you to a new little series that I'm starting.

I was laid off in 2011 from my job in the financial industry and my husband and I decided that we would try to make it work with me becoming a stay at home mom (which I had always wanted to do).  I do not consider myself to be a creative person naturally and definitely not artistic in the least, but I decided that I needed to find a hobby to keep my hands busy given that I now had a small amount of free time.  (Please see my About Me page for a little more info, if you would like.)

I started off doing a little bit of crocheting, making a hat here and there and starting this huge queen size afghan (which will take several more winters to complete).

I then ordered a sewing machine with the bank reward points that I had saved up and that's when I timidly dipped my toe in the sewing and quilting waters.  The first several things I made were a pair of Dallas Cowboys fleece pajama pants (how bout dem Cowboys?) for my husband and several aprons.  

Then I moved on to quilts after taking Jenny Doan's Quilting Quickly class on Craftsy.  This was my very first one, which was made using a batik charm pack and jelly roll purchased at (gulp) Wal-mart.  Please go easy on me, I didn't know any better at the time.  And here is a mosaic showing some of the others that I have made since..  

1. Blue Hues Peacock Quilt, 2. Baby Boy Zig-Zag Quilt, 3. Vintage Baby Girl Quilt, 4. Baby Girl on Parade Quilt, 5. Vintage Modern Baby Quilt, 6. 10 Little Things Baby Boy Quilt, 7. Good Fortune Zig-Zag Quilt, 8. A quilt I made for my niece, using this tutorial: http://www.hookedonneedles.com/2011/09/rainbow-quilt-picture-tutorial.html, 9. My first quilt

I love fabric and, much to my husband's disgruntlement, I have collected quite a bit.  Some of my favorite fabric designers are Sarah Jane, Sarah Watson, Bonnie and Camille, American Jane and Tasha Noel.  I have 2 Singer sewing machines, but aspire to one day be able to get one with a much larger throat space, which would help tremendously with free motion quilting.  You can see a little of my sewing space in this post.  Here's a picture of my current fabric stash (I know it's a mess).

You may notice that I have pretty much only made quilts for children so far (except the peacock one, which was for my great aunt), which leads me to introduce you to my new series, Selfish Sewing.  I know that the term "selfish sewing" is not a new idea in general, but it's a fairly new concept to me.  I have a hard time doing things for myself sometimes.  For example, my husband gave me a gift certificate for a massage and facial for Mother's Day 2012 and it is still waiting to be used.  And the only reason I made pajama pants for myself this winter was because my sister gifted me the fabric.  I really don't think it's selfish to make something for myself, but too many times, it feels that way.  I decided recently that I will start making more things for myself.  So, without further ado, here is my Selfish Sewing creation...  

A WASHI DRESS!!

I bought the pattern from Made by Rae quite some time ago and then I bought the Dear Stella fabric with this dress in mind.  I didn't pay attention to the yardage requirements and only bought 2 yards of fabric, which left me in a bit of a bind for cutting out the final piece, which was the top front bodice piece.  My lovely sister came through with the suggestion of piecing 2 halves of the bodice together and covering the seam with some sort of decorative strip of fabric, so this is what I came up with.. 

I think it turned out okay.  Actually, I think it turned out great.  I am so pleased with the dress.  The pattern was really easy to follow and I plan to use it many times over.  I definitely want to make a few tunics and another dress.  I would like to try voile fabric next time and see how that feels.  

I hope to do a Selfish Sewing post every few weeks or at least once a month, so please feel free to check back with me soon.

You can find me on flickr, instagram or pinterest or you can email me if you would like.

Please check out the other bloggers on the hop today also:  

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Anna @ The Crooked Banana

Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After 

Stephanie @ Quarter Incher

Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs

Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness

Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

Thanks so much for stopping by and as a reward to making it to the end of my post, you get a treat!  I'm doing a dance for you (or something)!

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July yesterday.  We went to see our little city parade, cooked hamburgers and steaks on the grill & watched the fireworks from our backyard.  We couldn't have asked for a better day, especially given the mild temperatures and cool breeze (usually it's an inferno here in Texas on July 4th).  

My daughter walking in the parade.

My sons playing Angry Birds Star Wars to pass the time until the parade started.

I have an exciting finish that I'll show on my next post, which should be later today or tomorrow.  Until then, here's some pretty fabric I got from Elizabeth's recent Instagram destash sale.

Secret Tote Swap Completed

I finished the tote for Lia's Secret Tote Swap for my partner just in the nick of time and got it mailed off to her.  I used Anna's Super Tote pattern, which I had been wanting to buy for some time now.  It is a great pattern and the bag came together very easily once all the cutting was done.  Please feast your eyes on my masterpiece...

My partner's mosaic had lots of orange, yellow & aqua and some pretty paper-pieced designs, so initially I wanted to try making kaleidoscope blocks for the pocket.  This is what I came up with..

It just didn't seem to be coming out right and paper piecing is hard, so I just switched gears and went with the pieced rectangles.  I did a circular quilting design, which has numerous mistakes personal touches.  

I packed it up along with some goodies and shipped it off to my partner.  I really hope that she likes it.

Today, I received my tote from my partner, Sue, who blogs at Curlyque Sue, all the way from Australia!  She did an amazing job with the colors and design (the other side has some strip piecing).  And let me tell you that this tote is huge!  I don't know anything that I couldn't fit in here.  She also included a beautiful card and that little fat quarter of selvage prints.  

I really had a great time in this swap and the good news is, I think there will be a round 2 coming up in the not-so-distant future, so keep your eyes peeled on Lia's blog.