My first quilt!

This has been such an accomplishment that came to be with quite a few difficulties. But, I learned a ton! I’d tried piecing and quilting a few times before with no success. This is the first time I end up with a finished quilt and not a bunch of fabric scraps in a bag. Mind you, I taught myself to sew, cut fabric and everything else… so it’s a big deal to me!

First the stats:

This quilt measures 24″ x 32″ (if I remember correctly) and is composed of alternating hourglass blocks. I used two A Walk in the Woods charm packs by Aneela Hoey for Moda Fabrics and two Bella Solids White charm packs. Love the Red Riding Hood illustrations/theme. The backing and binding fabrics are fleece from JoAnn Fabrics. This was not a very expensive project since I got the charm packs on sale from the Missouri Star Quilt Company website (love their Daily Deal and their service is fantastic… also, check out some awesome tutorials on their YouTube channel).

What I learned during the process:

• Being consistent is hard and many seams were ripped and sewn again in the making of this quilt.
• I’m glad I kept going and finished it (even though I broke my machine in the process and bought a new shiny one)… although my quilt is not perfect, I’m mighty proud of it. I think it was very helpful to start with a small quilt. My previous attempts were really big and overwhelming projects that frustrated me quickly.
• I started this quilt with a very basic manual sewing machine… no bells and no whistles. It worked fine for what I wanted/needed it until it broke. I went out and bought a new one (not terribly expensive) with a few extra features (needle up/down, computerized, drop in bobbin). I guess what I want to say is that you don’t need the latest newest sewing machine to make something beautiful… but it helps if you have it. I’m very happy with the sewing machine I have now (and will be using it to gain experience and get good at sewing), but will be saving my pennies to get the one I really want… a Janome (we’ll see what models are available by the time I have enough money saved… right now I’m looking at the MC6600P and dreaming of the Horizon)!
• A dull rotary cutter blade is the enemy… run to the store and get a new one when it won’t cut in one swipe. This is key when you have to square your blocks… many many blocks in my case.
• I can hand sew. I was going to machine stitch the binding but decided to give hand sewing a try. It turned out this was my favorite part of the whole thing… maybe because it’s the last thing you do? I saw a couples videos on YouTube and went for it. It was super relaxing and went way faster than I thought.
• The quilting is not perfectly straight, but after you wash your quilt and it gets all wrinkly you can’t really see it.
• I love love love the process… from choosing fabrics and design to binding the quilt.

I’m just happy to be able to share this finished project with you! Until the next time… Toodles!

Had to share

You are here

From Tara Whitney’s blog. I’m sharing the link because I really identified with her words. I appreciate the reminder to be grateful for what I have and be present. I’m keeping my hopes and dreams, I’m just not letting them lessen my here and now. Thank you for sharing, Tara.

Lush Love

So, I was online and remembered I wanted to check out some Lush (bath and body stuff) products I had read about. Went to the website and checked for store locations just because. And what do you know?! There’s a Lush store close enough (about a 25 minute drive) to my house. I went today and I gotta say, I’m in love. You can smell the store before you enter it and I mean it in the best, most delicious way!

The staff was super friendly and even gave me a tour around the store, describe every product category and demonstrated how to use some of them (the bath bomb was particularly fun!).
So I left the store with the following…

Twilight bath bomb


Limited edition (for Mother’s Day) reusable bubble bar – Madame Butterfly

And a chunk of Rock Star soap. Can you tell I showed restrain?

I already used the soap and it was sooo good. The smell is fabulous while you’re using it and your skin stays soft but it isn’t overpowering if you want to use perfume.

I’ll definitely be back to try other products. If you have any favorites, please let me know so I can check them out too!

It’s the perfect indulgence for me. Toodles!

I’m here!!! (Really really!)

Hello everyone!

I’ve been away… you know that. What you might not know is that I was sick (just a cold) and then I went on vacation for 10 days. It was fantastic! You will quickly learn that the hubster is the awesomest! He sent me and the baby to Puerto Rico to visit my family.

During that time I did some crafting, quilting to be exact, but I wasn’t able to finish the project because I broke my machine. Boohoo! I have a very basic Husky machine and I don’t think it is worth fixing… so I’m shopping around for a new one, hopefully I’ll be able to upgrade. I’ll show the quilt as soon as I finish it. It’s looking very cute so far.

I’m also working on the menu planner project. I’m getting recipes organized before I start printing things out. I will also share everything I’m doing as soon as I’m done. Hopefully very soon!

So, I’ll leave you with a super simple home decor project that I found on Pinterest and recreated on Photoshop. It is “date art”… very cute and meaningful. I used the same fonts and similar colors as the original but change the wording a bit. This is my final product and I love how it turned out.

Toodles!