I'm off to Vermont to sew the weekend away with these lovely ladies:

the authors of these two wonderful books:

See ya next week! :)

Autumn.

I am so happy that fall is just around the corner. It is my favorite season of the year. I love crunchy leaves, pumpkins, sweaters, hot soup, apple cider, and warm quilts. Here are some new autumn-inspired crochet cloths now available in the shop:

A good read.

I stopped at the local library to pick up some audiobooks yesterday. Do any of you listen to books on CD? I love to listen while I am cutting fabric, planning quilts, and crocheting. I also enjoy listening to a book while I am driving, so I picked up a some old and new reads for my big trip to Vermont next weekend. It'll be a long trip (7 hrs each way), and I'm happy to have some good books to fill the hours with.

And here is a photo or two for my fellow fabric junkies. I was able to swap a travel quilt and some other fabric for 2 full yards and a fat quarter of Flea Market Fancy sprouts in gray this past week. I am one happy fabric geek. :)

Updates!

What a crazy week it has been! I am trying to get the shop stocked before I head off to my sewing workshop with Heather Ross and Denyse Schmidt (yay!) next weekend. I added six new travel quilts to the shop this morning. I just adore them all, but I think these are my two favorites (click on photos for more picture):

I also added a new collection this week for Halloween. I really love these colors together, and I am currently using my own set:

As for sewing for myself, it just has not been in the cards this week. Not enough hours in the day, are there? I have been getting some wonderful new fabrics in from my designer fabric swap group, including some great Heather Ross fabrics to add to that coin quilt I am planning for myself. I also was able to ship out some fabulous items for me fellow swappers... Here is a photo of just a few of them. Hope you love them, ladies!

Wow.

A bit of randomness...

I love the Twilight series. Yes, it is drawn out and over dramatic, but I still like it. I love Jacob, but Edward is my favorite. I might have to change my mind after seeing this.... you have to check this out.



I am anxiously awaiting my new IKEA catalog. I could spend hours (and do) browsing through the lovely pages. I ordered it almost two weeks ago, so hopefully it will be here soon! If you haven't requested yours yet, you can do that here.

I have been sewing, sewing, sewing the last few days. Remember that photos of the super cute Amy Schimler Owls I posted a little while back? It makes really cute quilts. I will be posting 6 or so new travel quilts this weekend.

Okay, that is enough randomness for now. :)

A quilt for me.

I think it is about time I make a quilt for me. Or maybe two. I have been collecting Heather Ross and Denyse Schmidt fabrics, and I think that I am ready to cut into them. I am going to start with a coin quilt for myself, one that will be very similar to this one by Oh Fransson:

I haven't made a coin quilt yet, and I am in love with this one. I love the graduated colors and how it showcases so many beautiful fabrics. The one pictured is actually a tablecloth quilt, but I am planning on making a throw size. I have many many rare Heather Ross prints like those featured, but I do not plan on using nearly as many. I want to feature only my favorites. I am going to start cutting the fabric this week. After I finish up a couple orders, of course. :)

Sweet summer.

It has been an amazingly sweet summer, and this past week was exceptionally wonderful. It was full of fair rides, funnel cakes, playing in the sand, and swimming in the lake. We had a wonderful time at Lake Erie. My favorite moment was when Weston came up to me and said, "Look Mom, my fingers have wrinkles!" The boys had so much fun playing in the sand, and we had so much fun watching them. Same with the rides at a local fair this week. Weston had so much fun, we were filled with joy because of his joy. It is wonderful, and God is just so good to us. Here are a couple photos from the lake...

Onto my world of fabric and sewing.... I just love this world, in case you haven't noticed. I absolutely adore the beauty of fabric, and I love spending time at my sewing machine. I've been involved in a wonderful fabric swap group that has been so much fun. Check out the button on the left if you'd like to join our group on Flickr. If you are a fan of designer fabric, Heather Ross or Denyse Schmidt in particular, you'd love this.

What am I sewing these days? I am currently working on a Love a Tree quilt for a dear customer. I am so thrilled to be making another one of these rag quilts, this fabric is just gorgeous. I am also working on a travel quilt featuring the same fabrics. It should be up in shop early on in the week.

I am also starting a new quilt for... me! About time, isn't it? I'll show you my inspiration tomorrow. :)

Happy Monday.

My three year old Weston is constantly making me laugh. He is quite the talker, and he has so much to say. Most of the time, it is about trains or something stinky. I guess that is a boy thing. He is at the phase where he speaks very clearly (when he isn't being shy) and says most of his words correctly. Which is a good thing, right? But now when he says something wrong, I don't really want to correct it because it is just too cute. This week the words are locomotive and skunk. He says the first about 50 times a day, due to his obsession, but he says "loca-remote-ive." As for the other, whenever we are driving and there is something smelly outside he says that it smells like a "stunk" instead of a skunk. One of these days I'll correct him. But for now it is just too adorable.

On a shop-y note, I posted three new rag quilts yesterday. I really love all three, but my favorite has to be the Grumpy Owls. I can't get enough of them, and I also just happened to throw in some green from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope line... And if you don't know by now, she is one of my favorite designers. :)

Cheer up.

Today has been one of those days. First of all, I have a cold. Sick in the summer, don't you just hate that? I've been sneezy and sniffly all day long. Second, Steve was gone for a good portion of the day. And third, the boys have been fighting over the silliest little things. Those three things all mixed together = one cranky Mama. Can you relate? Like I said... one of those days...

Well, thanks to the good old mailman, my day has definitely taken a turn for the better. This is what was waiting for my outside of my door this afternoon at 3:30...

And inside... some of my favorite fabrics! A swap or two from my great fabric swap group, four different colors of the kerchief girl, and my favorite... the 13 (gulp) yards of Flea Market Fancy that I purchased (at typical yardage prices... really, between $8-$10 a yard!). Ahhh, happiness.

I am always buying fabric for my shop, so it is about time I get my favorites for myself. Now, off to plan some quilts before the boys wake up from their naps. But sorry, these quilts are just for me. :)

Random.

I have a bunch of thoughts floating around in my head today... Just thought I'd share a few.

I am a big bookworm, and my dream job is to be a school librarian. Really. I am a certified K-6 teacher with plans on getting my master's degree in reading. Someday, when my kids are all in school, I would like to do that (while running a sucessful etsy shop, of course). I bet you didn't know that.

Last night I watched Stranger Than Fiction for about the 100th time. Have you seen it? It is about a man named Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) who is stuck in a real-life book. Big surprise that I love that storyline, isn't it? Go figure. Nevertheless, it is my absolute favorite. Check it out:

And last but not least, I ordered some new fabric today! Don't you love these owls? I've got some big quilt plans for these cuties.

Okay. That is it for now.

Exhausted.

Hi friends. It has been a long two days of work. We've are just about finished laying the tile in our kitchen/mudroom/bathroom, and more than half of it is grouted. It looks beautiful! But man is it a lot of work. A big thanks to our wonderful friends Doug and Shelly for coming to help us (and Paige for watching the boys). We could not have done it without you. Love you guys!

Onto a fun fun fun fabric note. If you are a Flea Market Fancy fan, you will appreciate this. This morning I found an Etsy store. It is owned by a woman who decided to sell her fabric stash in order to pay for some medical supplies for her son.... What a great Mommy, isn't she? I bought a total of 15 yards (gulp) from her... all glorious, out of print, hard to find Flea Market Fancy. I can't wait to get them. I am planning a few fabulous quilts and projects for my own, and maybe will share a little bit of the wealth in my Etsy shop quilts and Designer Fabric Swap Group. Pictured are just a few of the yummys that I got my hands on (in multiple yardage, too!):