Little Quilt - Sew, Vote, Swap! Received!

Look what I received!

Isn't it beautiful?! :) and guess what? It was my first pick (I'm really excited about that too!) But really I just love this mini. It was made by Four Monkey Quilts, and she did a great job with all of these yo-yo's!

the back

I have this hung on my wall right where you enter the living room, so anyone who comes to the door will see it. :) And to be honest... it looks better than my own Christmas tree. ;) (if only it were a little bigger, it'd be our Christmas tree. heehee)

Thank you!!! :)

I feel like a deer in the headlights!

I have to admit that I am having a mini freak-out moment! In the world of crafting and sewing, flickr, blogs, etsy, and all that stuff I am feeling like a deer in headlights right now. so.... the best thing to do? make a list! (though I have to admit I am really nervous about this!) :)

• I need to make up/finish 3 orders I've received in my shop.
• Christmas present(s) for us (since my boys can't read this yet: superhero capes for them, uh. I forgot what else. And no, I have not even started the placemats yet. Maybe I'll have to make those in January for next year. ;) )
• Christmas presents for extended family (I think I'm set on what we're doing. I am sad that I won't be able to do my original idea... maybe later)
• I still need to make up our Christmas cards and letters and send them out
• I have my do.Good Stitches blocks to get out in the mail, plus the blocks for this month
• Make a final decision on which block I am going to use for the [3x6] bee and make up 7 blocks (one for me to practice on) this isn't due until the middle of Jan, but I don't want to wait until the last minute!
• I want to make something for the Giveaway Day on Monday (though it should be quick!)
• I need to figure out what I want to do for our Moody Blues swap that starts in January. My month is February. Luckily we are only making two blocks each month, and it only lasts 6 months.  
• I am also in charge of do.Good Stitches in February, which means I need to figure out what I want to do for that too in case I need to make up a tutorial.
• I need to finish up some alphabet books I'm making for the kiddos - so excited for these!!! :)

ok... that is starting to get pretty far in advance. I will say that I have cleaned our house pretty good! Our kitchen looks AWESOME! I guess there is some good that comes from being overwhelmed in the "other" department - it motivates me to do housework. ;) 

I also have made new buttons for my blog! The new header, all the pinterest, flickr, etc buttons (these are my favorite! Do you want to use them too? You can if you want!). And a new blog badge. :) So fun!

You can even put this on your blog if you want! ;) heehee. (I'm really not trying to be sneaky). :D

<center><a href="http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="from blank pages..." style="width:170px" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6480509597_863f8b15f1_m.jpg"  width="200" /></a></center>

and... just because I love my dad, here's a picture of him taking my boys for a ride on his motorcycle.
They loved it!

When I was little we used to ride motorcycles in the mountains as a family ALL the time! I always rode with my dad. It was seriously the best! We'd ride back into the mts a long ways, camp over and play. I love being outdoors! And I love that some of those memories can at least in a small part, be passed down to my own children. :) Thanks Dad!

Btw, I feel much better now. ;)

Thanks!

Our Story: Growing up and getting funnier!

I can't get enough of these cuties... and lately it seems like they are growing like weeds!!!



read more here.

Little Quilt - Sew, Vote, Swap Christmas Round

The sewing and voting is done, and this little quilt is well on it's way to it's new home! I really loved this little quilt, ok pillow, when I saw it and was dying to try it! Thus... my Christmas Stars mini.

I used Riley Blake's Holly Jolly collection. The backing is something I picked up a while ago, I don't know what it is. 

For the binding I used Rachel's Zigzag Binding tutorial at Stitched in Color. It was different from what I am used to doing, but I liked it! I think it gave it a fun finish.

I love how crisp this is. Too bad I quilted it. ;)

I thought it was kind of funny when I asked Neil what I should call it. He said, "Not Pinwheels". If you look at the white space they look like little pinwheels. It would be fun to do this design in a reverse pattern, making the stars white and the negative space different colors. Maybe I'll get around to trying it sometime. :)

If I remember right, it finished up 12.5" by 12.5".
I used this tutorial by Silly BooDilly for the stars. They are super easy and fun to make!

Giveaway Day: Monday Dec 12th (thru the 16th)!

I remember when Sew, Mama, Sew! had Giveaway day last year, and I loved it! I didn't win anything. But I didn't care! It was so much fun finding so many awesome blogs and feeling all the giveaway love in blogland! Anyway, they are doing it again this year... on MONDAY in fact, and I am super excited for it! I decided that I for sure want to participate this year too! This season I have definitely felt blessed by so many people around me that I can't help but give a little something back (or a lot. I can't decide)! :)

Anyway, whether you just want to enter to win a ton of great prizes, or give something away yourself, go here to learn more.

and make sure to come back here on Monday to enter my giveaway! 

(All giveaways will remain open until Friday, December 16th.)

here's a little sneak peak of what I am going to offer... with more things in the works.

W.i.P. Wednesday #18

Here is a sneak peak of one thing I sporadically started working on yesterday... what is it? We'll see. ;)

I really love these bright colors!!! Nest by Tula Pink

Otherwise for recent projects, I finished Mikaela's quilt! Yippy! :)
aaaaand that's about it. Oh well. The holidays get busy and I certainly get in super family mode. Everything else will just have to wait. :)

Linking up at Freshly Pieced

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!