There are some perks to being sick...

Such as actually having time to write a blog post!  And getting some lap time with the kitty.

 

 

Belle has become quite the snuggler, and is actually asleep on my lap as I type this.  Thomas is getting better about letting us pet him, and occasionally hold him for a few moments.  Belle doesn't like being held.  I'm still very happy with how well they are adjusting.  Also, a plug for Fresh Step cat litter, WOW!  That stuff is incredible, and saves our home from smelling really awful.  Thank you to that company and the people who made such a thing possible.  I still think we ought to train the cats to use the toilet though... lol

 

So I am participating in a parade!  Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts is hosting a sew along for this adorable pattern she came up with, and I was instantly attracted to.  I love the colors.  I'm not obsessed with elephants, but I have a friend who is, so I made this for her:

 

 

 

 

 

I have it basted and ready to quilt, and hope to get it done in the next couple days to send off, she lives in Texas and has no idea it's coming

(as far as I know she doesn't read this blog...)

 

I actually had a customer recently!  I had dropped business cards at the quilt shops in case someone needs a small quilt quilted, or for when people who don't sew ask at the shop if someone can make a quilt for them, then they have my information, and a lady called with a top finished but needing quilting.  I was so excited!!  I did learn that I did not charge enough, basically I ended up being paid $5 an hour to quilt this for her, so lesson learned.  I underestimated how long it would take to do this (took over 8 hours) and I will not undervalue my time!  I'm worth more and am well aware of it.

 

 

I ended up not quilting on the bear, but did outline any place with lace, mainly to make sure the lace wouldn't get pulled out by small hands.  Also, that binding was from a yard sale, a JCPenney brand of pre-made binding which was in surprisingly good shape, but probably 40 years old.  I was a little nervous about it, but we shall see if I hear back from them.

 

Super Bowl Sunday was exciting, I made this block, which will become a pillow sham, and I'm trying out a different method of assembly which I will share in the future, when I actually get it finished.  I just LOVE this mottled brown I got, perfect football color.  I made this block based on the Touchdown pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew

 

Made some homemade bread for our chili cookoff, we all ended up winning, because the best chili was made by mixing all 6 of them together!

 

And look!  We used my table runner, Woohoo!

 

 

And I made this bag for my co-worker's other niece, who is a math teacher.  Perfect fabric find!!  Tried an Orange Peel quilting method, and it turned out ok, but next time I will make them smaller.  These were on a 2 3/4 inch grid, and weren't as tight as I would have preferred.  But it turned out pretty well.

 

Ok, off to the doctor's office, I hope you all are staying healthy!

 

~Brandy

 





Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!  I wanted to quickly share our happy news, we adopted 2 kitties from the Walla Walla Humane Society for Christmas!  Please welcome Thomas O'Malley and Silver Belle:

 

 

Thomas is ~1 year old.

 

 

Belle is ~7 months old.

They are very snuggly with each other and learning to be with us too.  Belle is making faster bonding progress than Thomas, but they'll get there.

The red dot is hilarious to play with.

They've already expressed their inherent knowledge of UFOs and otherworldliness as you can see here.

Here they discovered we have a bird feeder for their entertainment.

And sometimes they watch TV with us.

 

This is going to be wonderful having them around, cat therapy and all.  Support the local animal shelter, that's for sure!  Ours supplied us with microchips, they were both already spayed/neutered, had all their shots, and each received a free visit to the vet.  Hard to beat that deal!  We're so happy to be in the position to give these two a forever home, and look forward to watching them grow.

 

Have a super sparkly day!

=^-.-^=

 

~Brandy

 

A quick share

Phew!  Christmas is upon our family, busy busy busy we are.  My mom owns a packing and shipping store, and I have been helping out.  Yesterday I made yarn pompoms (while I was at the store) and finished my Christmas apron. :)  Of course I don't have photos of those... but I have others to share!

 

I completed the tree skirt for my aunt:

 

 You may recognize this pattern, it was inspired by Deonn Stott's pattern which can be found here.  The difference is that instead of doing half square triangles I made full diamonds and squares and used y-seams.  Just my personal preference, Deonn's way is much easier I'm sure!  Plus, with my directional fabric I didn't want to think about how to piece the cuts together.  Anyhow, it turned out beautiful, and was a great learning experience.

 



 

I used a special stitch!  Looks snowflake-like to me.

 

Here you can see the quilting better, my sister says it reminds her of a poinsettia.

 

I came across Lori Holt's sew-a-long she hosted on her Instagram page and she had a free block I couldn't resist (and looking just now there are instructions for a snowman!!):

 

Isn't this amazing?  I'm making up quite a few, will be adding borders and using them for hotpads.  I'm fairly sure the buttons will be ok, they're pretty small.  I may actually set this block on point, then when you hang it you're seeing the block normally.  Hmmm...

 

Then I received wonderful news that I won a drawing from the Kona Cotton 30 Year Anniversary Blog Tour!  Valorie contacted me just this last Saturday, and yesterday I received a package from Robert Kaufman, eee!  Here's the link to the post about Valorie's quilt, I love how she came up with her pattern.  And here's pictures of the charm pack and tote I received:

 

I've already carried this all over the place today.

 

Charm pack and thank you card which states to be sure to #OMG303 and #KONACOTTON

as well as their hopes that I enjoy my prize.  I do, most definitely!

 

Look at these colors!!  I'm sew happy :)

 

And to top it off, John bought me flowers the other day, what a great guy.

 

Just beautiful.

 

I hope you are all in good cheer and enjoy the rest of December, I am unsure if I'll have another chance to post as the next two weeks will be the busiest of the year for my mom's store and then it's Christmas, but I'll try to get some more done and shared.  I do have some things to work on for John and my sister, now I just need to work on my organization skills to make those things happen.  Preferably not the night before Christmas!!

 

Happy sewing to you all, and to all a pleasant night!

 

~Brandy