Nice list

I must have done something REALLY good this year because boy was I on Santa's nice list! Unknowingly, my whole family get together and got me everything you could possibly need to be a quilter!

My sweet husband got me a sewing machine! It's not quite a big girl sewing machine yet, but, hey, it's new, it's mine, and it has some decorative stitches on it, so I'm a happy girl! He also got me Elizabeth Hartman's new book that I've been drooling over and some good old fashioned cash for fabric! What a guy! :)

My parents got me a huge 6'x6' design board! I've always had to lay my quilts out on the floor and it's hard to make color choices when the color of the carpet is acting as a second background. I'm really excited to have my own design board! And, it even folds up into it's own cute little carrying case so I can take it with me places or store it when I'm not needing it. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

My husband was the best man in a wedding in Houston this November. My in-laws came to the wedding, too, and it just so happened that we were in Houston over the International Quilt Festival! I told my mother in-law about it and she agreed to go with me one morning while my husband was doing best man duties. We had so much fun wandering around the show and just did a lot of taking it all in and looking at all the beautiful quilts and fabrics. One of the few booths we did stop at, though, was the Easy Quilter booth. The gentleman at the booth was very sweet and let me sit and try out their long arm machine. It was fun to sit and play with, and my mother in-law and I each took a little handout and continued on our merry way. I honestly thought nothing more of it. Care to guess what made an appearance under the tree this year?

My very own long arm set up! I still can't believe it! It's like a quilters dream every time I walk into the basement. Sigh. This little table and I are going to have many good years together...

The only complaint I can make is that nobody took our "quaint" little 1300 square foot house into account with all these gifts. Right now the long arm is in the "man room", as is evident by the neon Minnesota Twins sign in the background. :) Honey, I think we better get a contractor over here to start looking at adding on. And I suppose he'll want to be paid, so better stop and pick up some lottery tickets on your way home. I'm sure who ever would look at buying our house down the line would love a big, custom sewing room!

Merry Christmas!!

Fabric Tuesday!

It's that time again over at Quilt Story and I actually have something I can share this week!

I'm still all Christmas presents all the time, and am almost done with my second of three (or maybe four if I can) Christmas quilts. This one is for my in-laws. My husband is a third generation Eagle Scout on his Dad's side, so scouting has been a big part of their lives. My husband's grandpa was an Eagle Scout and also a vet, so in my in-laws basement they have a flag from when he passed away, as well as all the Eagle Scout certificates and patches and the like of all of them in the family. When Robert Kaufman came out with the scout line, I quickly snatched some up and have now turned it into a quilt that will (hopefully) make a nice addition to the wall of scouting! :)

I'm really happy with it and can't wait to get it basted and binded! I love this quilt pattern because it allows more of the pretty fabric pattern to show, and it's really easy and went together super quickly!

Happy Fabric Tuesday!

Sneak Peak

My first Christmas project FINISHED! Yahoo! Now I just have to keep the momentum going and do three more in less than three weeks... :)

Enjoy this sneak peak. I'm really looking forward to showing you the whole thing. I'm really happy with how it turned out!!

Christmas Cards - for free?!

I discovered Shutterfly a few years ago and just love using them to print my pictures and make gifts. My favorite thing I've made with them is a picture book of our wedding. I love having all the pictures together and the designs they have make it look like it was professionally done (for a much better cost, too!) This year, they're having a promotion where bloggers can get 50 FREE Christmas cards from them - how great is that?! I've used them for our Christmas cards the past three years and they always turn out great. They have hundreds of cards to pick from in just about every style you could imagine. I'm having a hard time narrowing down which one we'll use. Here's a few of my favorites:

I can't wait to order them and get them out in the mail. There is something so fun about sending a receiving Christmas card and hearing what everyone else has been up to in the past year. This is definitely my favorite time of year!!

I am officially 1 for 4 in my Christmas quilts! I'll post a peek tomorrow for Fabric Tuesday. I love the way it turned out and I think the recipient is going to love it too!

Thanksgiving

I saw this on another blog and thought it looked fun, so here's to nothing! :)

1.   My Thanksgiving plans this year will include ... Thanksgiving day with my dad's side of the family at my grandparent's house, Friday and Saturday with my husbands family at their house, and a quieter meal with my immediate family on Sunday.

2.  My favorite Thanksgiving was ... I don't know that I can even pick! thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because my dad comes from a very large family (he's one of 9 children, and his dad is one of 12) and we all get together and cook and share a meal. My grandparent's house isn't huge, so there are people everywhere and so much great food and fellowship. There is just nothing like it and I live for those family times.

3.  My signature Thanksgiving dish is... Fruit Salad! It was my job in the kitchen many years ago and it stuck, so now I always help cut everything up and get the cream whipped. Yum!

4.  My favorite Thanksgiving food is... Cheesy potatoes. My Aunt Sandy makes the best potatoes I've ever had. The first year I took my now husband along I told him about them, but he missed them on the first pass and by the time he was ready for seconds they were gone! Now we laugh when we got here because he ALWAYS makes sure to get some of her potatoes! And Aunt Rosanne makes some killer rolls, too. There is honestly so much good food it's hard to limit my favorites!

5.  Thanksgiving free association!  Turkey, potatoes, family, travel, love, happy, weight gain ;)

6.  Thansgiving is... So much fun! I love time with family and the kick off of a season of love and happiness.

7.  I am thankful for... My husband, my parents, my family, my puppies, our jobs, our house, friends, and the abundance of love we have in our lives!


Head on over to the little things we do and link up, but most importantly have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

A trip down memory lane: My first quilt

I am full swing into Christmas quilts, and I know many of those who are getting homemade things from me this year read here (Hi Mom! ;) ) so I'm going to be pretty light on new content over the next few weeks. I'll probably do a few sneak peaks of bits and pieces here and there, but for the most part I thought I'd go back and show you some of the quilts I've done in the past.

I've fairly new to the quilting world, but not at all new to quilting and crafting in general. I am lucky enough to have wonderful mother who has taken all sorts of time to show me how to sew, knit, quilt, cook, and pretty much anything else you'd need to know. Growing up, she'd always let us pick up a counted cross stitch kit or skein of yarn when we were out and about. It gave me so much appreciation for the hand crafts and lots of skills I'm so thankful to have now that I'm an adult.

Fast forward to early 2009. My husband and I were over at my parents house for a weekend dinner when I mentioned something about sewing. Longs story short, they offer to let me take my Dad's aunts old sewing machine and table home to play around with. It was so much fun to play with and I fell in love with the idea of quilting again. One of my dearest friends had just announced she was pregnant with their first, and would be having a little girl that summer. I got really excited about the idea of making a quilt for her. On my birthday in April, my mom took the day off and we had a mother-daughter day and I got to pick where we spent the day. My big choice was the fabric store. I asked her to help me pick out fabrics and a pattern for this quilt and I love what we came up with. I whipped up this little beauty and was able to give it to my friend at her baby shower.

Man I tell long stories! (I'd apologize, but, hey, it is my blog! :) ) Here is the quilt!

*I have to put in a little plug here for my friend, Ingrid Barlow. This is one of her many amazing quilt patterns! She has a great website with lots of tricks, recipes and general crafty goodness. I love checking in with her on Monday's because she does a great thing called "Movie Monday" where she offers some tips for the week. She's like a Midwestern, crafty Pioneer Woman. Her tag line is "quilting for the modern traditionalist" - right up my alley!

(I'm on the left, new momma's on the right)

Overall, I'm thrilled with my first quilt. I wasn't adventurous enough to do any quilting on it, but the colors are great and fun for a baby girl. (They remind me of those pastel wedding mints) The only bummer is that I know it is stuffed in a closet some where and hasn't seen the light of day. One of those hard lessons as a quilter, I guess, is that not everyone wants a quilt or will use one. All I can do is hope that someday she'll be cleaning out things from her mom and dad and find it and at least know that someone loved her and spent time making it for her.

Happy quilting!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am SO excited to be linking up to my first quilt festival! I love looking at all the amazing quilts made by others, so I hope you enjoy a peek into my quilting life as well!

It is really easy for me to pick my favorite quilt. The Hope Valley fabrics jumped into my bag during a trip to my local fabric store this spring. Don't you just hate it when fabric some how jumps in without you knowing?! My husband thinks I may have something wrong with me because it happens all the time! :) Anyway, the fabric sat in my sewing room for a few months and I just couldn't find the right project for it.

My husband and I have been trying for a baby, and as with most great things in life, it's taking a little while. One Saturday this summer, he was gone at Poker Night with his guy friends and I was surfing the internet. I pulled up Facebook and found that yet another friend was pregnant. As happy as I was for them, it was hard to hear that yet again it was someone else's turn and not mine. After a good few minutes of sulking, my eye caught the fabric. I decided that although I couldn't do anything about when our little one would arrive, I could make something for them. The evening turned into a wonderful time of prayer and thinking about my hopes and dreams for this little one. Before I knew it, the quilt top was done and I LOVED it! I went to the fabric store the next day and got the backing and this quilt now happily sits in a drawer that I'm slowly filling with things for a baby. I can't wait for the day it will be puked on and loved on! :)

Without further ado, here's the quilt!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out tons of other projects at Amy's Creative Side!