Christmas Gifts and a linky

Can I just tell you that December isn't any less crazy than the rest of the year?! :) I think that should be my slogan, ”life is crazy”. I don't think I'll ever get used to the hectic life of having three small children. This why I am always questioning my future situation. Anyway, I'll save that for Friday (hopefully).

So Hunter has had a fever since Monday night, luckily no one else has gotten it yet, but I worry that it's lasted so long. I also hate that he's missing preschool. Looks like he'll miss tomorrow too. Pior kid. :( we've had some fun though.

Ok, so onto the sewing stuff, because that's what makes all the craziness bearable. I love that my husband is always telling me to not stop sewing. I think he understand more than I do how much I need this outlet. ;)


I have finally buckled down and made my

Handmade Christmas List! 

(though I can't share everything because I don't know who is reading this. I'll have a big recap after the new year.)

• a quilt
• travel bag
• phone pillows
• angry bird bean bags
• some bags and unspecific things (7 - 1 big, 4 small, 2 are finished - to help me keep them straight)
• a superhero cape for Mabel
• a family gift that I'll share a bit below

and if I can get them done:

• I want a purse, but i'm not counting on that getting done
• I want to make the kiddos some infinity scarves, maybe crocheted, so they are faster.
• maybe some doll accessories for Mabel. She will need some. :) (I love having a girl)

Besides Christmas gifts I also need to

• put together an iPad pillow pattern
• finish activity books and a custom order
• take pictures of and post the candy land quilt, I LOVE it! (it's been freezing outside and I don't want to go out in it.)

 I am such a list person. I think that is actually everything. :) I hope so anyway.

So here's my new thing as of yesterday. If you follow me on instagram (I'm @fromblankpages if you're on there!)  you've probably seen it. It's a Mini Stocking!

This one was a practice to make sure it would work and I had the pattern right. The fabrics are not my favorite, and I definitely want the cuff to be in a different color.

I wanted to make these last year as a family gift to other close families that we (I) want to give a little something too. I didn't get it figured out in time last year, and I slightly recall Neil getting mad at me for having too many projects, which I think he's already done this year too. Lol. Anyway, I think this is so cute! It's about 6.5 in tall, which I think will be perfect to put a bunch of candy canes in. :) I want to put the last name of the family on the cuff with Merry Christmas and our name and year on the back. Then put enough candy canes in them for each member of the family. They aren't too big to hang on the tree I think, but maybe I'll shorten it by 1/2 an inch anyway. I'm hoping to be able to finish a pattern and post a tutorial on my blog today tomorrow.


So what do you have going on right now? What is your handmade Christmas list? I think it's funny that I like to make stuff for everyone else, but then we just buy all our presents for our kiddos. :)

 I think I'm going to leave this linky up until the end of the year, and just keep posting the same link each Thursday, I don't know if I'll really keep up with the linky this month with everything going on. Seeing as how I already missed it last week. Oops. Just keep adding posts as you share new things!


**Please make sure to link back here so others can come join in the fun as well! :) and stop and say hi to the other great bloggers too! Comments are always a happy thing!

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!!

From blank pages... Linky #13

It's almost December! That means Christmas is almost here!! Have you started your Christmas sewing yet? I have, and have not... craziness! That is where my life is headed again. :) Anyway, what's on my mind this week is reorganizing my fabric! I have most of it sorted by color in big rubbermaid containers. Then I have a bin just for my favorites, plus a pile over there of more favorites, oh, and that other pile. All those extra piles are things I hardly ever dive into. I have this problem of collecting favorite fabrics and then not using them because I don't want them to be gone! I'm afraid I won't be able to find them again!!! I need counseling. ;)  Anyway, I am thinking it's time to just sort it all out! (except maybe a select few that I want to use for projects, or those super special fabrics.) Otherwise, it ALL needs to start mingling... and maybe that would help me destash more fabrics that I'm not ever going to use.

Here's an example of my blue/purple bin. :)

and here's a pile of favorites! Can you tell what they are?

ew. there are some fabrics on the top that just need to be put away. top left, not one of my favorites. lol.

Oh, and my Heather Bailey/Amy Butler/Denyse Schmidt bin. I like to call it collecting... not hoarding. ;)

Otherwise I'm working with these fabrics to finish some more activity books and an Etsy order (she requested purple. Glad I have at least some good purple prints. Definitely lacking in purple. Yay! :)

this is actually two different bundles put together. One will be blue, one aqua.

I think everyone always says this, but I can't believe that another week has gone by already!! I just went back to see what I shared last week... sadly my cowl has been put to the side. I need to get a good travel pouch to put that in so I can carry it around with me more and get it finished! Maybe it will have to wait until our long road trip to Texas for Christmas. :D So excited to visit my sister in Dallas! (Oh! That reminds me I need to get ahold of all you sewing buddies down there and see if we can meet up for lunch one day or something!!! FUN!) :)


We also have a church Christmas party/talent show on Saturday. They asked if anyone wanted to display something, they could do that too. Someone suggested I display my quilts... so that might be fun! If I ever get around to calling the gal, I think I will. :) I'm kind of nervous about it though...

What are you working on? starting? Thinking about? Do you have a big Christmas list? I'll have to complete mine and share that for next week! I'm actually rather excited about it! I'll just have to tell my sister not to read my blog for a month. :)

Be sure to grab a button and add it to your blog post, or just link back! Let others know where you're linking up to! :)

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from blank pages... Linky and a Thanks kind of day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you have had a wonderful month and have a beautiful day. :) I love this time of year with all these great holidays, and they always seem to come and go too fast. Too much to do, but I love it all! Today I am grateful for the general store in town that carried just enough cans of cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole. Lol. We are going to spend the day with friends and I am SO excited! But that doesn't change that I'm a slacker and forgot to pick up my needed ingredients when I was at the store Tuesday. So I am grateful that my small town isn't TOO small. ;) Of course I am grateful for so many things! Especially my family! I have been spending so much time with them lately, and it has been such a blessing to all of us. I love my kiddos so much! I am also grateful for my wonderful hubby! He is continually an answer to my prayers and I love him. We've had some fun and exciting changes take place in the last week, and I am excited for this new chapter in our life. :) I am grateful for the gospel and the knowledge it gives me! Especially that we have an eternal family!! A few days ago we were in a different town and I lost Jacks. I could not find him anywhere!! It scared me so bad! I finally found him running down the storm gutter next to a busy street (on the other side of the building where we were). It definitely made me reflect on how much I love all my children, and how much they mean to me. But no matter what happens in this life, I'm grateful to know we will always be together. Families are definitely the BEST. THING. EVER!!! I am also grateful for friends, food, our home, and all that good stuff in life. :)

I am also grateful that I bought some knitting needles years ago that I have never used until now! :) My sometimes-tendency to buy things I "want to some day use" definitely has paid off with moving here. :) I started working on a honey cowl! I am so excited! I have wanted to make one for a while, and finally, thanks to Angela, got the motivation to. I cheered when I found that I had a circular needle the right size in my box of yarn. :)

So this is my new beginning. :) Despite my huge pile of quilts that either just need to be basted, or get a back finished and then basted. I'm crossing my fingers for a basting party this weekend! :) Anyway, this is the 2nd knitting project I've ever done, and it is fun! I made a lot of mistakes in the first few rows, but I think I've finally got it down, and I don't think it's anything too noticeable. :) I am really slow at it. I hope I get faster so I can finish it!! and boy does it make my joints get sore. I'll have to see if I can start knitting not so close to my face. ;) heehee. Gotta see what I'm doing. :) I think if I end up liking it, and get faster at it, I want to make one of these for my kiddos too. I'm thinking they'll stay on better than scarves. Which is always good with kiddos. :)


Anyway... what are you working on? Anything fun or new?

And what are you grateful for??? :)

I want to say thank you to everyone who left a comment last week! I haven't had time to sit down and respond to them all, but I want to say thank you!! I really appreciate your feedback! It definitely made me think about things differently, and in a better light I think. All the comments helped. Thanks! :)

Oh, and I did decide to start getting sponsors for The One Stop Giveaway Shop! I am also going to be offering a free sponsor spot every month! So if you are interested in sponsoring, or just getting a free spot to share your blog or shop button, please stop by and enter! :)

<center> <a href="http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/search/label/from%20blank%20pages%20party" target="_blank"><img alt="from blank pages... linky party" src="http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo253/dbByDesign/from-blank-pages-linky-button21.jpg" width="175" /></a></center>

Make sure to link to a post, and not just your blog. And please link back here so others can join in the fun!! If you've got a minute, stop by others projects too and leave a comment! :)

from blank pages... #12 Linky Party!

My planned one week break from this linky party (while I was gone at Sewing Summit) turned into a one month break. Whoops. Well, I'm here to say it's BACK!! :)

For me it's be a bit of an adventurous last month. I had a great time at Sewing Summit, had a couple different boughts of being sick with one thing or another - but don't worry, besides this cold I'm doing MUCH better than I have for the previous 2 months. Wahoo! :) Neil hit a deer with his car and totaled it (not looking forward to buying a new car in no-mans-land). And anyway, my blank pages have taken a bit of an interesting turn in the last week or so.

For a few different reasons, WE decided - yes my hubby is very excited and supportive of this decision, which is also has included a bit of prodding from him to come to this - that I should take my hobby a little more seriously! I am in the process of developing a Business Plan. It sounds so serious. lol. But it's good. He helped me realize that I need to figure out more than just all the different tasks or projects that I can cross off my list, but to figure out WHY I want to do this = motivation. As well as WHERE I want to go = goals. I have a few, or maybe a lot, of different dreams when it comes to my "hobbies", and this has been good reflection to help me solidify them and figure out how to actually achieve them. Getting on the cover, or even in the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 6 magazine I feel was a bit of a lucky coincidence. No idea how that happened, but there is one dream come true. To make my other dreams a reality, it's going to take a bit more work though I'm afraid. Ok, not afraid, but I need to be better organized, have a plan, and have a goal. I even got out my old planner and ordered some refill pages for a few months to help me get started. See? I'm serious about this! lol.

So here is my beginning... and I have no idea what I'm doing. lol. But I do have a couple questions for you on a few different topics, if you are willing to give a little feedback:

• Etsy Shop

I've had an Etsy shop for a while now. It's been up and down, and has definitely followed the trend of how much I put into it is what I get out of it = almost nothing in the last year. ;)  I struggle with what to make. I do buy from others, but since I like to make, I feel like everyone else like's to make too. If I make pouches, will others buy them? or just make their own? I think there are a million shops that sell pouches. Anyway, my question is, is there something you've seen on my blog, or in my shop before that you think would be a good selling item(s)?

• Sponsors

I've read lots of articles on blogs about getting sponsors, and how you need 25,000 hits a month, and this many followers, and crazy outrageous numbers. Which I'm sure all help. But then I see blogs that I know assume aren't to those markers, but they have sponsors, so I know those stats aren't always the case.

As a reader, what do you think about sponsors on blogs? are they annoying? at what point to they get there? do you love them? how to do you feel about them? Personally I stop reading blogs when they become all about sponsors, so I don't want to get to that point at all. But I'm curious as to what other people think about blogs that just start getting sponsors.

As a sponsor, what do you look at when you choose to sponsor a blog? what makes you say yes to one blog and no to another? Do you prefer to pay money? or by product? Do you ever approach blogs? or do you always wait until someone approaches you?

My main idea with sponsors is for The One Stop Giveaway Shop (ok, I know this is usually a topic that I never see on blogs, but I don't mind talking about those forbidden topics. perhaps someone will be offended? idk. whatever) :) I love that blog, it's fun, and I always get excited when people fill out the form and want to use it as a resource, which is becoming more and more common! :) But it's also something I do on my complete free time (which the quantity of is becoming less, and I need to be a bit more choosy about what I'm spending my time doing = now I have a decision to make.) I would love to spend more time on that blog, do more to market it, get more people using it, which would help everyone that posts giveaways on there. As well as spend more time finding and posting giveaways. The one solution that I can think of that would solve my dilemma would be to get sponsors! I'm not thinking a lot, just 5 or 6, perhaps one free sponsor spot that is won through a giveaway every month (since it is a giveaway blog!). I don't want to ask a lot either, just enough to cover where I'm at with the blog. Anyway, if you know someone that would be interested in sponsoring the blog, would you pass along their info, or send them my way? That would be awesome. Or if you just have advice in how to get in contact with sponsors. That would be great too!! I would love to see that blog grow and think it could be really great!

Ok, and secretly I would love to get sponsors for this blog too!!!! I am constantly in this pull of "should I post this as a tutorial? or sell it as a pattern?" One of my favorite things is sharing what I know and teaching others!! I would love to make more video tutorials, post more projects, etc. But it goes back to TIME, as well as other personal reasons that, as much as I'd love to give everything away for free, that doesn't feed the babies, sort of stuff.

• Patterns

What about patterns makes you buy them? Do you have to see lots of examples of it first? or only buy from people who are already super successful and well known?  What is that final lure that lets you say, "ok. I'll pay for that pattern." Anyway, I'm just wondering. I get a LOT of downloads for my free patterns on Craftsy, but selling patterns on there is a different story. Maybe I just give all my best patterns away for free, and try to sell my lousy ones. lol. Just asking for any feedback. Might as well ask, right?! :)



Ok, I think that's all the questions I have. Thanks for any advice or feedback you might have! I am entering new territory here and figure I could use all the help I can get... and perhaps avoid a little more live-and-learn experiences. ;) But then that's what this from blank pages... linky is all about! Sharing new ideas and sometimes getting back feedback as to how to make sure it turns out it's best! :)

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Here's a few things when linking up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) Or Grab a button!
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

from blank pages... #11

SOME BLOG HOP NEWS: 

I am waiting for  two addresses to forward onto The Fat Quarter Shop - I emailed you this morning - so if it's you, be sure to email me! I'll send off all the info for The Fat Quarter Shop together. ALL emails regarding prizes have been sent! For everyone else, I contacted all the shops and passed on your info! You should hear back from them in the next day or so! :) Thank you to everyone who left your email in the comments! That was a huge help so I didn't have to do as much searching. ;) Congrats to everyone! :)

I think September was national sewing month, or at least for some reason that's what I remember seeing somewhere. Well, I don't think I sewed much of anything at all! Last night I started freaking out about the Sewing Summit since I will be leaving in a few hours short of a week!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!!! But guess what, I am not.ready. nope. So do you know what I started this week? ok today? A list.

eww. these photos are yucky yellow. They didn't look like this on my phone. sorry. I need to stop taking so many phone pictures and get out my actual cameras again!

This is definitely the most important list. Priorities you know. If I forget all my clothes and walk around in my underwear the whole time, at least I won't forget to eat good food and get some of my beloved, and greatly missed chocolate covered cinnamon bears! lol. Seriously though, this stuff is important. ;) If only someone was coming down from Logan and could bring me some Lemon Custard Aggie Ice Cream! oooohhhh. melt-in-your-mouth-to-die-for-ice-cream. That's what it should really be called. lol.


Ok, so then I made another list. This one is my BEFORE list. pretty important too, I guess. Lol.

I think if I wasn't still in such a rut of no energy, being sick, blah blah blah, I would also add a purse to the list (which I did start, but need to finish), as well as a pouch, a sewing kit pouch, and perhaps the duffle bag I bought the pattern for last year. I will be with the "heathens" as they call themselves in the google group - the people who aren't making anything pre-sewingsummit. :)

oh, and of course I do need to make a list of supplies. ;) (I do have one started on my phone.


I think overall this is a pretty good starting point! Wahoo! :) But now the countdown is on! I can't believe it!!!

Other sewing summit news... I'm staying in the hotel! Wahoo!!! We finally worked it out and I'm so excited! :) SO excited for the people I'm staying with too! THANKS!!!! Now the only thing I'm a bit nervous about is leaving at 3 am to drive to the airport. I hope I survive that first Thursday!


One note from last week... I was dumb and totally ruined the surprise for what pattern I was going to share for the blog hop. I am now doing something different than the cat... just so you know! So you better come by and see! Have you been checking out the patterns that have already been shared? They're AWESOME!! :) You can get a preview of all of them at Whims and Fancies!! plus there are giveaways! just saying.

So now it's your turn! What beginnings do you have to celebrate?

Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

p.s. since I'll be at the sewing summit next week, or at least on my way, I will not be hosting this linky party next week... unless someone wants to host it for me!! That would be fun! :) let me know.

from blank pages... #10

Despite being down and out this week (which has unfortunately meant that some of my fun blog posts for the Friendship Quilts Blog Hop didn't happen this week...) I did actually start on something new last night! Hooray for progress, right?! I am really getting tired of being tired and sick of being sick. heehee. I hate when it draaaaaaaaaags. Hopefully that I'm feeling a little better last night and this morning means I'm on the mend! crossing my fingers!




Onto my new beginning:
 Did you hear about the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" Halloween paper piecing blog hop at Whims and Fancies? Well, it's almost October already and that means it's about to start!! That also means I need to get crackin on my block! I am so excited to participate in this hop and have an excuse to finally use the cute Halloween fabrics I've had in my stash for a while now. :)


Originally I was thinking a castle, or bats, a witches broom, a black cat, a witches hat... and I'm sure I found a few other images on google that I thought would be fun. Last night I drew up a few images in Illustrator,

a hat

and a cat.

More people liked the cat on Instagram, so I'm going with that... (my user name is fromblankpages if you're on there, come follow me!) 

I was on a roll until I got to the ears. I'm a little stuck about how I want to break them up. I would love to keep the head one piece, so we'll see what I can come up with. :)

I don't know if I'm supposed to do this much reveal before the show, but hopefully this gets you excited!! I can't wait to see what everyone else is making!

p.s. Don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to link up your Friendship Quilts Projects!!! I am LOVING what projects have been shared and hope to see more!! :)

So what have you been dreaming up or working on??? I am really loving seeing your projects that you've been sharing!! :)

Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

from blank pages... #9

Another week gone by already, isn't that how it always goes?! everything just races by too fast! Well, I do have something new to share this week... a new old project. I used to be part of the Harmony Circle of the do.Good Stitches group. I had to drop out due to time constraints, and boy do I miss those wonderful ladies!! SO much fun! My last month in charge was February when I created the Candy Land Quilt (click for tutorials).

LOVE this, but I never did get my blocks made. Until now. yikes. sorry ladies! Rachael finally emailed me and gave me that kick in the butt that I guess I needed. (It always has been on the top of my list, but I guess I just kept skipping over it...) So, I haven't taken any new photos, except of finding scraps... fun. I LOVE using my scraps! Makes me feel like it's worth keeping them around. lol. ;)

I noticed with the blocks that I received that there are so many that are lighter/more pastel colors, and so many that are a big darker in value. I decided to keep the lighter ones in the center and the darker around the outside. I think it will look fantastic when it's finished and hope I can blend my blocks in well enough! :)

I have my strips sewn already, just need to finish with the white. They really are so easy to make... I've just been so lazy and have had no desire to sew lately (what is wrong with me?! lol.) But it's been good to get me back on track... I hope I can be ready for sewing summit!!! :D


Anyway, I am so excited to quilt this! I've known what I wanted to do before I even started on this quilt! Some straight line echo quilting and some pebble quilting... I think this will be a fun one. :)


So now it's your turn...

what projects are you starting on? or beginning again?


Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

from blank pages... #8

It's Thursday! And that means linky time! :) Thanks everyone who linked up last week! I think that was the best week so far! It was fun to see what projects you are planning on working on, or have already started! If you stopped by the Giant Squid at Just Something I Made, did you see her post a few weeks ago? To give you an idea of how big this is going to be... I think it's going to be awesome!!

So for me this week... I have worked on nothing. I don't even know if I've thought about starting something new. Ok, I did decide to join the Modern She Made Swap Round 2, but then I dropped out... before it even began. I just don't think I want to squeeze that in right now. So bummed to not participate, but I think it will be better for things here on the home front. If you want to join go do it now! I have a feeling that signs up will be closed soon. Here's my mosaic I made, even though I'm not participating. lol. ;)

Otherwise I've thought a lot about the Sewing Summit!! So glad that all the chaos of signups are over! Our internet went out at about 10 am that morning until 6 pm! I was freaking out! I called Neil in a panic and he was so kind to get all the info and the classes I wanted and signed up for me. I was on the phone with him while he picked the classes, then when he was ready to put in the credit card we hung up. Then he had that crazy experience of things being sold out and having to go back and pick classes again. He said it was the most stressful 15 min of his life!! ha! But he did GOOD! I got into some fun classes that I'm really excited about! :) (it was probably a good thing that I wasn't on the phone with him through all of that. I think we both would have had a heart attack! lol.)

Anyway, I've thought about making a name tag. Then I decided I'm not going to stress about it... I am not going to make anything for it. Just worry about not forgetting anything and have fun while I'm there! :) Only a month away!!!! But, Rachael DID make a super cute name tag and I just have to share it with you! I hope that's ok! ;)

Isn't this to die for?! I want one this cute!! :) She is so amazing. :)

Anyway, I guess my beginnings for this week are to begin on working on anything! lol. I've been a bit down and out, so hopefully I can get my sewing mojo back soon. :)

What about you? What are your sewing plans looking like???


Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!! :)

from blank pages... a linky party #7

Have you started thinking about your projects for the Friendship Quilts Blog Hop Giveaway Linky??? I hope you'll share any ideas you have in today's from blank pages... link up! :)

If you're new to these parts, I recently started a linky party for everyone to share their project beginnings, or re-beginnings! It can be anything that includes and shares the start of any project. What inspired you, your pile of fabric, who it's for, what it's all about, or a cry for help in some of the deciding factors. It's actually a pretty broad topic, so I hope you will share your projects with us! :) I'm sure there's a lot of new starts going on right now...  the linky is open each and every Thursday! I know I get pretty excited about starting new projects! Hence my overwhelming pile of WiP's. heehee.


Today I want to share with you something I started but then got totally stuck on... a new pattern. I think I mentioned Denise's quilt and how I love it. It inspired me to do my own Lou Lou Thi quilt, but the pattern is not working as well as I'd liked. I know I need to add some solids in there, but for some reason I am totally dragging my feet. 

I'm thinking that on every "star" or 4 blocks, I'll alternate the rings in prints and solids. I need to just go ahead and try it. hopefully soon.

I am also doing a swap with Tiffany. SUPER excited! We have both had quite the journey trying to figure out if we'd be able to go to the Sewing Summit or not, and happily we both are! Yeah! Instead of doing the other swaps we decided to just do one together. We did make mosaics for each other, and decided to just make whatever we are inspired to make.

Here's my mosaic:

I am REALLY loving these jewel tone colors right now. :)

Here is Tiffany's mosaic... I think I know exactly what I want to make for her, but I've still got my thinking cap on. No giving away anything here! ;)

I've also got a list of blog commitments that I have not forgotten about. Things have been so busy here and in real life lately that I feel awful that I've let these people wait around so long... SORRY!!! I haven't forgotten you! Here's my list:

• Tutorial: for putting in zippers to the cash envelope pockets
• Tutorial: Giant Granny Quilt
• earlier in the year someone asked me to draft them a paper piecing pattern for fairy's. I can't find your email. If it was you, will you email me again! 
• Tutorial: for the simple weave pattern. I mentioned sharing this with you during the Winterkist blog hop. I haven't forgotten this and am actually doing this design in a project right now, so I will probably have this up first. 
• Candy land quilt

I think that's all I can remember. If you are waiting on some help for something or a project from me, will you let me know! I may be slow, but I will get there! I promise! :)  I'm just horrible at sticking to a schedule. Marika mentioned yesterday about having too many projects that you get so overwhelmed and can't seem to do anything. I get like that, but instead of just working on what's on my list, I tend to start something brand new or work on something totally random. It doesn't help. lol. ;)

I am hoping that listing my blog commitments here, will help me finally get to all of them! Just keep bugging me if I don't! :)


Ok, that is all my starts for now. What about you? What projects do you have in store or need/want to work on?

Hope you're having a great week! :)

p.s. just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

from blank pages... #4

*** this post is not connected to the Winterkist Blog Hop. While I love comments, they will not count toward the giveaway. I'm sorry for the delay in getting my post up. Today is one of those days where life happens, or rather is happening, and I do expect to get the post up shortly (need the kiddos to fall asleep for their nap first). Thanks for your patience.

***** FYI - I want to let you all know that there is a giveaway open until the 22nd for the Charming Travelers!! Go to Pinks Sweet Treats to enter. Have you looked at the map lately? Where are all the west coast peeps?! Come ya'll, represent! lol. (that was so dorky.) ****

*** I also added a grab button to my sidebar for The Master List of Linky's, so if you have linked up your party, or even if you don't, grab a button and share it to help spread the word! :) ***


After a bit of thought and consideration, I've decided to change my linky just a bit. Instead of sharing projects that haven't been created yet, I think blank pages are all about the beginning. So whether you've started or even finished your project already, maybe you are stuck in the designing phase, or perhaps it's the beginning again on an old UFO. Whatever the scenario, I hope you'll come celebrate the beginnings of your projects with me! I think it's fun to reminisce how great projects began. And perhaps this will open the doors a little wider to get some more participants as well. hint hint! ;) 

I also updated the linky button, so if you already grabbed it, or not, you can grab the new one from my sidebar.


Today I'm going to go into a little more detail on a sneak peek beginning that I shared with you before. Since my post for the Winterkist Blog Hop goes up today, I figured it would be good to tie the two together. I'll put my story here, and a tutorial on the blog hop post!


As I mentioned, I first started out with this idea...

and then received this amazing fabric from Katey! Wowzers! I was SO excited to get some fabric that hasn't even been released yet! I am still geeking out about it. ;)

 
all spread out on the couch

I was originally going to make a holiday banner, but just wasn't feeling it. I think some of the ideas would be cute, but not for this fabric, at least not right now.

As you can see I kind of went back to the first design, and just decided to do an all over pattern of it. I wanted to make sure to make some functional that I would actually use! This fabric is TOO AWESOME to let it just get pushed to the side and forgotten about. Thinking about Christmas often makes me think of food. How great would this be to have as some serving mats and bowls. I went through a few different kinds of fabric bowl designs, and ultimately decided to go with a more boxy design... as a two-in-1 design! (always a bonus!) Have you seen the boxes that you sew a flat piece of fabric and then fold the corners and sew a line up? Well, that's kind of what I did. Anyway, I LOVE them. :) You'll definitely stop by in a little bit to check out the full tutorial and see how I made them into non-permanent "boxes".

It's always interesting to me how projects evolve. Does that ever happen to you? Or is it just me?


Now it's your turn! Will you share some beginnings with us??? :)

A few simple guidelines:
1. Only link to a post that shares the beginning of a project. It can share all the way to the end if you want, but please include the beginning story since that is what this is all about. :)
2. Link to a post, not just your blog.
3. Be sure to grab a button and link back to this post so others can come join the fun!
4. stop by a say to the other "beginners" *wink wink*

Linky will be open until Saturday night.

from blank pages... #3

Hi everyone! It's that time again! Time for another linky party, or link up, or whatever they're technically called (have you noticed I am always shuffling through names). lol. Anyway, I was thinking about the Giant Granny Tutorial that I will be sharing soon and thought it would be fun to talk about the beginning of that project today.

Do you remember when the rave on blogland and Flickr was the Granny Square? Ok, it was only a few months ago and I know everyone is still making them, so it still is. What a fun design! Thank you Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches for showing us all that great tutorial!

I knew I wanted to jump on the band wagon and make one too, but I knew there was NO WAY I could ever make a whole quilt of them. My time and attention span would let it turn into a UFO to waste away on my project pile. lol. Then I thought, "well then, I'll just make one! and make it big!" I don't know if that's what I really thought, but that's what I did.

I could have just taken some really big squares and put them together, but I wanted more variety and interest than that. I think it would look great with super sized blocks if you had the right fabrics, maybe some London?! yes please. But that's another story.

So I went to work to figure out my measurements...

I thought I had it figured out. But low and behold it turned out smaller than I wanted. With a 5" sashing It finished a decent size, but I still wanted it bigger.

I decided to try again. Let me tell you, it was a mess! I do alright with math, and always seem to enjoy some quilt math, but this was not working. Trying to figure out the diagonal and length and what I needed my tiny squares to start out as was hard. More and more time went by, along with lots more math,  and I couldn't get it!


I wrote this email to my dad, who is the math king, I read it now and I don't even understand it. ;)

I have a math question for you. I've attached a picture that I need to figure out the formula for. I'm wondering if you can help me.
Here's what I'm looking for. There is the entire design which is the large square, then each solid color makes up a medium square. Each medium square is made up of 9 smaller squares of the same color. So 13 medium squares. If I know how big I want the complete square to be - say 50" x 50". How do I figure out how big to make the medium squares? I am having trouble figuring it out since they are turned on the corners. I thought I figured it out and made a quilt that ended up being quite a bit smaller than I wanted. Once I know what the medium squares need to be, I can figure out the smaller squares easy enough. Is there a formula to figure it out? Like if the sides of a square are Length x, then the diagonal is y? or visa versa (which I guess is what I need to figure out... the length from the diagonal.
Does that make sense? :) I don't know how well I explained that. :)
Thanks for your help! I love you!

then I sent this email:

Hi. 
Ok, I tried again at this and think I might have it. I figured an equation backwards for figuring out the diagonal length from the side length. I measured different squares and found that if a square is 2" long on the lengths, then it is 3 7/8" on the diagonal. So if the diagonal length is D, and L is 2", x is how many L you need to get the length of your square ( for example xL = 2L = 4" square). Then here's my equation:
D = xL + 1/2(xL) - 1/8(x)
And if S is the size of the complete big square, then D = 1/3(S)
So then if I want S to be 50, then D = 16.5 (really 16.6... but I just rounded to make it easier. it doesn't have to be exact)
16.5 = xL + 1/2(xL) - 1/8x

then 16.5 = x(2) + 1/2(x)2) - 1/8x     then if I take the x out
16.5/x = 2 + 1 - 1/8 - maybe this is wrong??
16.5/x = 2 7/8
x = 47.43
That can't be right can it? I think I messed up somewhere. It's been so long since I've done any algebra. Can you help me out?
Thanks. :)

then here was his reply. lol.

I don’t know what you are trying to figure out? If it is a square then the diagonal is square root of 2 times the length. If it is a rectangle then you square both sides, add the squares together and then take the square root to find the diagonal. If you know the diagonal then you go backwards from above, ie. the length of a square is the diagonal divided by square root of 2. What else are you trying to figure out?
Love,
Dad

yeah, I don't remember anything about square roots. Anyway, so instead of all my confusingness (word?), all I needed was the square root. So there's your answer.

So now to my final, and correct figuring...

but that's all I can show for now. This Granny Quilt is going to be BIG! I decided to Go Big or Go Home! :)

Anyway, this is the project I was wondering if anyone would want to do a quilt along with me. I am going to share a tutorial for my smaller quilt, but I've figured some good tricks and tips for putting this big lady together to make it go MUCH faster, and thought it might be fun to do with others. I'm not finished with it yet, so I don't have a final preview, but then isn't that what Quilt Alongs are all about?!

the yellow is my center block here. 

So there is my story of my blank pages... going from inspiration to paper to lots of paper to some fun quilts and beautiful colors, and perhaps a quilt along! Oh the possibilities!

What are on your pages?! I'd love to read your stories. :)

I just ask a few things:

1. only share a project in the beginnings. It can be something that you made a long time ago, or maybe came up with a long time ago but yet to have started on it, or a brand new idea. Tell us where it came from or what you want to do with it... or just share a sneak peek! Those are fun too.
2. Make sure to link back to my blog in your blog post so others can also come join the fun. Grab the button from my sidebar for extra brownie points. ;)
3. Link to a specific post, not just your blog.
4. Stop by and say hi to other people on the list.

Thanks for playing along! :)