Like a hole in my head...

Life 'round these parts is not busy at all. I've got oodles of free time on my hands as I try to finish my dissertation, search for a job, traverse the skies between Nashville and Tampa, paint the bathroom, help the boy landscape the yard, and try to figure out why there are always huge piles of laundry to be done. Free time....HA!

Yet even with all these demands on my time, I still have the urge to create something. I know I could be working on those long promised patterns for you guys (they are coming, I promise), but wouldn't it be nice to have someone else do all that pesky thinking? And make a pretty quilt? And maybe win some sewing supplies in the process?

That was exactly the thinking that sucked me into my latest adventure. I was blog cruising the other day and ran across this post on the Old Red Barn Co. blog. Remember the quilt giveaway from last summer? Now Dana's doing a quilt along for that same pattern, with plenty of giveaways along the way. And the grand daddy giveaway at the end is a Janome 6600! Yup, same as my baby. Obviously I don't need it, but one of you should win because its an awesome machine. Totally not to late to join in the fun as I'm just getting started myself!

I tried to go for a stash-busting quilt as I should not even be starting this project, never mind buying more fabric.






I bought more fabric. Just a little, I promise!

But look: pretty, green, and featuring a lot of my favorite fabric designers! Yippee!


Left to right:
Top row - Paula Prass, Anna Griffin, Paula Prass, Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner

Bottom row - Heather Bailey, random stash fabric from JoAnn's, Amy Butler, Jessica Jones, Amy Butler, Patty Young

I'm a little behind the official steps of the quilt along, but I've got strip ready for when I get a free moment to sew:



I'll keep you updated on on my progress (or lack thereof) here, but in the mean time you can head on over to the flickr group to see how everyone else is sewing along!

Win a quilt!

So through the wonderfulness that is blogland, I stumbled upon this awesome quilt giveaway from Old Red Barn Company. In this post you can see the fabulous quilt made with Sandi Henderson fabrics. LOVE!

Quilts are an amazing amount of work, so this is one cool giveaway. I hesitate to share as I want the quilt myself, but it's just too pretty to not show the whole world! Be warned, however--if you are related to me and win, I will be stealing the quilt from you!

P.S. How much do you love the Sandi Henderson fabrics? Soo cool!

Flea love

Last weekend was the Nashville flea market and I trucked over there determined to find some treasures. Waste not, want not, right?

The day started out threatening to rain, and I was hoping that it might be somewhat non-crowded. What a pie in the sky dream! I ducked into the first building, which turned out to be "new" items like designer knockoff perfumes, cheap jewelry, beef jerky, and made in china tote bags/doggie purses... I fought my way through baby strollers, rolling carts, and clueless shoppers to get to the GOOD stuff!

And did I find good stuff. Lots of eye candy with antique furniture, and beautiful dishes I don't need. I kept myself in check but did manage to score bunches of lovely trims from various sellers:

If I ever get back into my sewing studio you'll see those making an appearance on some bags!

But the pièce de résistance was this gorgeous cathedral window table runner:

Hand quilted. Beautifully done. Lots of lovely patches. A labor of love by someone that was sold to me for $25. Fortunately I know the value of this hard work and wouldn't DREAM of doing something irrational like cut it up into pillows or dolls. (shudder)

The runner is HUGE--100 inches long, and wayyyy to big for my table. I'm thinking of giving it the glory it deserves as a wall hanging. Wouldn't look fab hanging on a blue wall--the one that will soon be in my dining room?

Of course, AFTER my excursion I come across this useful post of the top 5 flea market tips. Cash? Check. Tote? Check. Tape measure? Check. Hmm, I think I'm only lacking a hard core flea market buddy. The boy gets bored just about the time we get to the good stuff (thus turning into my shadow) and mom only comes up a few times a year. I usually shop alone because of the whole "too much talking, not enough shopping" issue but an extra set of eyes would be helpful.... Any takers? :)

Shameless semi-self promotion

Thanks for all the lovely comments you all have been leaving! I'm super inspired to get the totes done, although the perfectionist in me is rearing its ugly head so it's taking longer than I anticipated. But good for you all, as they are going to be gorgeous (if I may say so myself!). The pattern is coming along too, and as always I have a billion more ideas and not enough time get them all done. Be prepared for some pretty cool things to come though, providing I can get it all to work out sometime before you-know-what freezes over!

So, in other news, today I'm going to take a little time to feature an artisan as thanks for getting me to where I am today. That's right, my darling Mom.

My Mom is a super talented quilter that started my love of sewing and has supported me in everything I do. She's got the entrepreneurial spirit herself, running her website Quilted to a Tea. Really, her work is amazing:

She's where I get the perfectionist tendencies, although I have no patience for sewing tiny squares together as perfectly as her!
This is one of my favorite quilts she made--the colors are just sooo pretty! And look at that workmanship:

Her next endeavor is children's tea, which will be coming soon as Toadstool Tea Parties. I'll take credit now for creating her cute banner, but that's as far as I go--the woman's got vision! :) I mean, can you get any cuter than this? And the price? Wow, what a value!

Also, some of her children's quilts are on etsy at Tea Gal Quilts. Love love love this one in particular:

So, while you are waiting for the Tremendous Totes, pop on over to Quilted to a Tea and see what my dear mother has whipped up lately. Tell your friends and help me say thanks to the woman who made it all possible! I love you Mom!

"Uncommon Quilt" #2

"Holiday Aftermath" 8x10

This quilt uses leftover holiday bits. The background is printed tissue paper, and the decorations are paper package tags and other bits cut from wrapping paper, along with some curly ribbon! The letters and tree are from scrap fabric that I hoisted from Mom's scrap bin before I left.

Note to self: Sewing on tissue paper is a one shot deal; make sure everything is set before you stitch!

My first "Uncommon Quilt"

Inspired by this book, I tried my hand at a so-called uncommon quilt:

"Overindulgence" 8x10

I used pieces of fabric that I pulled out of mom's scrap bin, some red, pink and purple nylon net, bits of gold ribbon I had stashed away, and red heart rhinestone that were left over from Jen and Ray's wedding gift. Most of the stitching was done on my mom's Bernina; I would have never been able to do that free-motion-esque heartbeat on my machine!

Christmas book reviews

The boy has promised to build me a new sewing table for my Christmas present. I'm such a lucky girl! But since he wanted me to have something to unwrap he got me two awesome books that I'm already in love with...This book is so inspiring. The author, Jeanne Williamson, pledge to make a small art quilt per week for a year--and then kept doing that for several more years! She amassed a collection of quilts and expanded her technique, using uncommon materials in her quilts. I'm a packrat too, so I'm inspired to try my own. I've started one that I'll post soon.Adorable! Aimee Ray has some great ideas. The projects are super cute, but the stitching ideas can easily be adapted for many more projects. She had a unique way of combining stitches and colors that wasn't obvious to me at first but now seems so intuitive. Pictures of my attempts will be here soon!