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Sunday, March 31, 2013

A Lovely Year of Finishes - March

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate!!

I just have a minute for a quick post
(once again, in the nick of time!!)
for my project post for 


I signed up to do the Lucky Stars BOM
and as of the end of February, I hadn't started yet.
So my 'to do' for A Lovely Year of Finishes in March
was to complete the four blocks I was behind in making.
(a practice block, January, February & March blocks)

Here they are in all their glory!
(the purple & yellow is the practice block,
which will go on the back of the quilt.)



I needed a whole lot of work in the paper piecing department,
which is why I signed up for this BOM.
I have to say I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment!

Now it's time to run off to my mom's for Easter dinner.
Yummy!!

I look forward to seeing what you all have been up to!

xoxo
Cindy

Friday, March 29, 2013

Introducing Josie

Sorry it's been a while.
I've been working on cleaning my sewing room.

As embarrassed as I am to show you this,
I can't lie.

Here's a sneak peak before I got started


That was just part of the room.  
I'm too ashamed to show you the rest!
LOL

I can't hardly believe this is the same room now


I had to make my room
presentable for my new little girl.

As you know,
I have two sons.
Each time I was pregnant (over 20 years ago!)
we had a girl's name picked out.
Josephine Elizabeth.
Little Miss Josie Smith.
How cute, eh?

Well..............

I now have my girl
(and she doesn't mouth back)


Yep,
I did it.


Thanks to my amazing blogger friend, Elaine,
(I purchased her machine)
Josie Janome arrived on my doorsteph
on Monday.

Of course,
a gal always like to show her backside


Yep...she is the bomb.
The cat's meow.
My dream come true.

It was sure funny how everything worked out,
but as Elaine said,
I was meant to have this machine..

She wasn't lying.

And I have to make a disclaimer,
that never, ever
would I trade my handsome sons.
There's something to be said about being the 
only female in the house.
And they both are so good to me.
(But I believe it's because they know what they've put me through!)

I'm excited to share all the projects my girl and I will create.

Thank you so much again, Elaine!
I promise to take care of her!

xoxo
Cindy

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Peace Quilt

 
I wanted to make sure I did a post on this before
things got even more carried away.
 
A little while back
my friend Stephanie from
hosted a giveaway.
It was the pattern for the
Peace quilt
 
Isn't it gorgeous?
 
Image of Peace Quilt Pattern
 
I know exactly who I could make this for too.
 
If you are interested in purchasing the pattern,
you can do that
 
This just may be the first thing I create when
 
Thank you so much again, Stephanie!!
And thank you, Rene, for designing such an awesome quilt!
 
xoxo
Cindy

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Across the Pond Sew Along

A quick post before I head to work!

I finished my project for this month's 

This month the project was given by Amanda from The Patchsmith.

which was a recipe she did for 

I would love to give that a whirl someday,
doing a recipe for the bakeshop.
That would be awesome!

Here's my scarf.


I used my a charm pack I had on hand
of Sophie by Chez Moi for Moda.

The back was some flannel I had in my stash.
It's so warm and soft.


I am very happy with how it all came out.



It's not too late to join in!
What I love about this group is there is no pressure to finish anything.
So if you have a month that is totally nuts,
it's OK!
You can always work on the project later.
I have a couple that I'll be working on as time permits
(because they are too cute not to finish!)

and join the fun!

xoxo
Cindy

Sunday, March 10, 2013

I Took the Plunge

 
I can't believe I did this.
I have been dreaming of a new sewing machine.
 
After a lot of looking around,
and reading,
and researching,
I decided on this beauty.
 
 
The Janome Horizon 7700
 
I went to my LQS yesterday,
(thanks to my sister for driving!)
 
I asked if they had any sort of layaway plan.
 
Actually, my sister asked.
My mind was so garbled that I couldn't get the words out of my mouth!
She could see I was struggling.
Spending this much money on just myself
makes me break out in a sweat.
 
So from now until July 1st,
I won't be buying any fabric.
I won't be buying any 'extras'.
I will be sending all my extra pennies
to my LQS so I can have this beauty paid for by July 1st.
 
If you're interesting in knowing why I picked this machine,
you can read about it
 
I'd love to hear what machine you have.
 
If you'll excuse me,
I have to take another shower.
Thinking about the $$$ again
is making me break out is a sweat.
 
xoxo
Cindy
 


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Beautiful Day!!

It was 5 degrees when I went to work this morning.
An absolute beautiful day!
It was a tad bit foggy
and the trees and shrubs were glistening with frost.
Everything was so beautiful I decided to
 take the back roads to work.

I wish I would have taken my camera with me.
During one part of my drive
I was going up a steep hill.
The road and ditches were 
covered with snow,
so all  you could see was white.
As I was driving up the hill,
the only color I saw was the light blue sky 
peaking through the fog.
The low fog level, with the snow white ditches & road,
made it seem like I was driving right into heaven.
No wonder I love white & blue combinations in my sewing projects!

So I will leave you with some pictures I took around our house this morning before I left
for the most beautiful drive I've ever had going to work.







What did you find good in your day?
xoxo
Cindy



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Crafty Cooks Apron Swap

 
Grab button for Celtic Thistle Stitches
 
If you are in the mood for a little apron swaping
and sharing one of your favorite recipes
there's a new swap going on.
 
It's the Crafty Cooks and Apron Swap
on Flickr.
You can read all the details
 
I wasn't going to join another swap,
but when I heard about it from my blogger friend
it just sounded too fun not to sign up!
 
There's a lot of fun ladies signed up already,
so I hope you can too!
 
xoxo
Cindy
 
 
I

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal

I'm excited to be blogging a little more this month.
 
I  needed to get signed up for the next project for
 
I am still in shock that it's March already.
I cannot let this year get away from me yet again!
Guess it's time for me to grab my lasso,
hop on my horse,
and pull the reigns on the year
to slow it down a bit.
Yeah.
I have control like that.
LOL
 
So my project for this month is to start and finish
the 4 blocks assigned so far for the BOM I signed up for
It's a foundation paper piece block of the month
(and for those of you not familiar with BOM,
BOM = Block Of the Month).
I need a lot of practice with paper piecing,
which is why I signed up for this,
which is why I haven't started it.
LOL
 
It's called Lucky Stars.
You can read about it
 
 
So, there ya go.
My goal.
My project.
My out on a limb,
make me grow
kinda thingy.
 
Wish me luck
and wish that I keep all the hair in my head
and the chocolate out of my mouth.
 
:o)
 
xoxo
Cindy

Monday, March 4, 2013

Just a Bunch of Fun Stuff

I tried to blog yesterday, but my internet was giving me a bit of grief.

I'm sharing a few updates on
some projects and a swap I participated in.

First up is the tabletop I finished.
I used Melissa's tutorial found


This is now sitting on our conference table at work.
This way I get to see a little bit of quilty love during the day.

Of course, in the center of it sits a candy dish.
What office isn't complete without a candy dish?

Next is the goodie I received in the mail from the Sew Sew Modern swap.
I had a sewing machine cover on my list,
and that's what I got!
And I REALLY needed one.


And I also received some awesome gnome fabric
(Love Happy Zombie!)
a a pin cushion, zipper and more pretty fabric.
Did I make out or what?
Thank you again, Krista!

For this same swap a call came out for angels.
So I volunteered.
This partner needed grocery bags
as their local market was going to start banning 
plastic bags
(good for them!)

She had the Jane Market Bag
in her mosaic,
so I made her one.



I love this bag and think I just may make a couple for myself.
And of course you can never go wrong using Flea Market Fancy in any of your projects!

For this Sew Modern swap your project was to be pretty amazing
(we originally had 3 months to create something)
but since I had to rush to get mine done so my angel partner didn't have to wait long,
I thought I better make her two bags,
just so she would know she was being taken care of properly.

So I made her my favorite grocery bag from Michelle Patterns.
I used Seed Catalog fabric purchased from sewmeasong on Esty.
You can find it
(by the way...if you want great, fun fabric, I highly recommend this shop!)

I received a very nice email when she received her package,
so that made my day!

Here's to more creative days!
xoxo
Cindy