#nonstopChristmassewing at the Beach!

I LOVE Christmas time! I love the spirit of love and giving that fills the air through out the world! Whether one believes in Christ, or in something else, there is a stronger sense of kindness, friendship, love and giving. It warms my soul. :)

It's a little different living in Florida though. Usually that "warmth" is in strong contrast to the cold winter air that blows around outside. Not so much this year. Yeah, it was 85 degrees outside yesterday. Being the non-local locals that we are, we took full advantage of that and went to the beach! again. (we also went the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was heaven! I think the ocean is warmer than Bear Lake is in August! (that's where we'd go every summer in Utah.)) I would be lieing if I said I didn't enjoy it.

 I even blogged about it!! If you are interested you can see loads of pictures over on my family blog here. Maybe the photos will help warm you up! heehee. ;)

Anyway, besides adjusting to this new type of Christmas, and going to the beach, the beginning of December always hits with a mad dash to get everything sewn up! I LOVE making handmade gifts, and always want to make more than I could ever possibly accomplish in a month. But I try nonetheless. Over on Instagram and started a hashtag for people to share all their Christmas sewing too. It's fun to be involved and see what everyone is working on! If you are doing Christmas sewing, tag your pictures with #nonstopChristmassewing and play along! :)

I've been trying to finish up my advent calendar that I cut out about 3 years ago! It's been on my to-do list forever, and I'm sure you've been sick of seeing pictures of it in the ziplock bag, if you have been following my blog for a while. lol. :D Anyway, I finally completed the top (the applique numbers took forever!) and since we were going to the beach... I brought it with me to take a picture. My hubby is the BEST EVER for helping me out!!What a stud!

The sashing is white, I had the camera setting on a weird setting and it didn't turn out how I'd hoped. But anyway, here it is all together! I kind of really messed up making it, but oh well. I'll share more when it's totally finished. :)

And because I never did share a finished photo of Mabel's quilt, I brought that along too. I so love this quilt! Mabel loves it too. I'll get some more pictures another time too... but I have been wanted to share it for a month or so now, so here it is! :)

Quilt is made of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection. The white shashing is Kona white. It measures about 60" x 65"? (I don't remember. oops.) The back is a pink minky dot. I quilted flowers all over it, which means I do need to take more pictures of it. :)

To add a little Christmas cheer, Neil and I watched this short Christmas video last night. I thought it was really cute.

Tonight is also the yearly Christmas devotional, at 6 pm MST. You can watch it online here, or on Facebook. Or on The Mormon Channel. It's a few Christmas messages with loads of beautiful music by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir! They are amazing!

Wishing you all a beautiful Christmas season!!

and as always, happy sewing!! I hope to see you on IG. ;)

Numbers & Punctuations and Blogging!

I have so many things I want to blog about... but I feel like I'm running around with my head cut off as it is. I really need to learn to simplify! Anyone have any tricks? ;) Either way, here I am stopping in to say hi! I'm still alive. :)

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway last week! It was SO much fun reading all your birthday wishes! I would gladly celebrate with many of you. ;) I did pick a winner, but stalled in announcing who it is because I wanted to finish up another pattern to make available for the pattern pool. :)

Yep, I FINALLY finished the

My ABCs: Numbers & Punctuations 

an alphabet paper piecing pattern

 

 

I started this at the beginning of this year, but for some reason didn't finish compiling the pattern. Well, here it is! :) 

I started making a cute little counting fabric book. Here are my pages so far:

 It will go up to ten. I fussy cut all the "pictures" for the pages and look forward to putting it together. This would work well to embroider or applique pictures too. (another pattern added to the list.) :)


About the Pattern:

This pattern includes 24 pages! 53 patterns total!
:: 4 pages of instructions and diagrams for using this specific pattern
:: 2 sets of the numbers 0-9. One set with E and one set without E.
:: 2 sets of punctuation marks. 14 different characters in the set without E, 19 characters in the set with E.


I made this pattern completely compatible with any and all of the My ABC patterns (lowercase, uppercase, and the complete set). In order to do that, there are two different sets of patterns. One with E and one without E.

See how there is that extra piece on the bottom? That piece takes out all the hassle of using letters such as j, g, p, q, and the punctuation marks , ; ( ) all of which extend below the letter line (is there an actual term for that?).  If you are using any of those characters, simply use the pattern pieces with E. If you are not using any of those, use the other pattern and you have one less piece to deal with. The Lowercase only pattern contains the E set. The Uppercase only pattern only has the pattern without E. The Complete set has all of them (uppercase with and without E, and lowercase with and without E = 4 total sets of the alphabet)! The perfect mix and match pattern. And now there are numbers and punctuations to go with them!!


 I was so lucky to have Martha of Weekend Doings test the pattern for me months ago! Thanks Martha! You can see her blog post about it HERE. She said I could share her pictures with you too.

 

 I love them!

(You have to go stop by her blog. It SO great! Her photos are so beautiful, and it's just comfortable. I want to stay and read for hours.) :)


Here is what she said to me in her review email. I hope she doesn't mind. ;)

"Thank you for the opportunity of allowing me to test your new pattern. You have done an amazing job! I have to admit though, when I first printed out the pattern and flipped through the pages I was very intimidated by it. I was like "holy smokes how am I going to do this?"  I don't have much experience with paper piecing. This was actually my second time using a paper piecing pattern (the first one being your Illusion Pattern). Well, it is not complicated at all! The instructions you included with the pattern are very concise and explain very well how the pattern works. The examples are very helpful.

I wish I had had more time. I really wanted to test all of the numbers and punctuation sings. But as you know, sometimes life just gets in the way. I was able to test the question sign, the exclamation point and  the number 5. I pieced the exclamation point and the question sing enlarged at 150%. The number 5 I pieced it at 100%. The end result is stunning. It is amazing to see how they start to take shape piece by piece. I found the pattern to be very accurate. All the pieces of the pattern that I tested consisted of two sections and when the time came to put them together they aligned so perfectly. 

This is a very versatile pattern and I can see myself using it again and again."

I am so honored to have such a kind and positive review! Thank you Martha from the bottom of my heart! And... for all of you who are intimidated by paper piecing, DON'T BE! It's so much fun! :) You can try it out on any of my patterns, and if you have any questions or problems along the way, I'd be more than happy to help you!


Tammie of craftytammie also reviewed the pattern for me. Her numbers are so cute! (I forgot to email her until right now to see if I could share her pictures. I'll blog about them later if she doesn't mind.) :)

Here is what she told me,

"I will be honest with you, I've only paper pieced 4 or 5 blocks, ever. And I was nervous about some of those teensy bits in these numbers. But so far, so good, the only errors have been mine (forgetting to trim, or not using enough fabric to cover the seam allowance) I'm enjoying the process, and they are so stinking cute when they're finished!"

  Everyone always tells me my patterns are so intimidating. lol. I'm SORRY!! ;) I don't mean for them to be. Trust me, you don't have to be intimidated. I'm too lazy to make complicated blocks. Honest. :D And I make the same errors. Thank you Tammie!! (be sure to check out her blog too! She has some, ok a lot of, awesome projects! I've gotten to know her better on Instagram, and I think we're good friends (I think so anyway).  ;) I totally forgot she tested this for me, so when I saw that she did, I was really excited about it. It's fun to remember where I first "met" people. She did find some mistakes with the pattern, but they have all been corrected.


If you are new to paper piecing, you can find a full tutorial on my blog, including Supplies, Cutting, Piecing Block, and finishing. Although the pattern used in the tutorial is not the same, the principles are all the same! You can find the tutorial HERE.

If you are on Instagram, check out my feed right now! I am hosting a giveaway for you and a friend to win a copy of this pattern as well as My ABCs Complete Pattern! I'll pick a winner tomorrow sometime. :) Just tag a friend on my picture, AND repost the picture for an extra chance to win!

My ABCs: Numbers & Punctuations 

can be found on Craftsy and Etsy.

Thank you for supporting small business!

Merry Christmas!

I'm Back! with a Blog Hop Party Giveaway!

I cannot believe it's been an entire month since I've blogged! If you are just stopping by for the first time, WELCOME! :) We just moved to Florida, and moving in and getting settled is definitely a process. ;) I figure the Blog Hop Party with Quilting Gallery would be a fun way to get back into blogging. :)

If you haven't heard of this event before, you can visit THIS PAGE and see all the participating blogs, and enter all the giveaways.

So what can you win here today?

A pattern bundle! 

You pick any three patterns!

(and combination of patterns: paper piecing or my Grandma's Lawn Chair quilt pattern, or mini stocking, etc.)

 You can find all available patterns on Craftsy or on Etsy.

To enter, use the Rafflecopter below. I will pick a winner on the 27th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by!! 

Good luck on all the giveaways! 

and may you all win something. :)

Hemispheres Quilt Along and Giveaway!!

 

 Do you know Megan of City Stitches? She is AWESOME!! We shared at room at Sewing Summit, and I'm so glad we got to know her better. She was so sweet to let Thomas and I room with her. Not only is she so nice, she is an amazing quilter!! AND she just came out with her first pattern, Hemispheres.

 

 Isn't it beautiful?!!

She is also hosting a quilt along for this pattern on her blog. You can purchase the pattern here at Aria Lane. You can also find kits for each size of the quilt (from wall size to King) at Marmalade Fabric. Then follow along on her blog for the quilt along.

 Here is the schedule for the quilt along:

 

Oct 21: Color and Fabric Choices/Cutting Tips

Oct 28: Piecing with Pins

Nov 4: Piecing with Glue

Nov 11: Piecing Freehand/Curve Master

Nov 25: Quilting

Dec 9: Link Up

Dec 10-12: Voting

Dec 13: Grand Prize Award

Maramalade Fabric is graciously offering up a fat quarter bundle for the grand prize. 40 kona solids! Isn't this the perfect rainbow of fabric?! There will also be 2 smaller prizes given away during the course of the qal.

If you join in, be sure to share your pictures in the Flickr Group:  http://www.flickr.com/groups/2357757@N23/. And tag your pictures with  #hemispheresqal on Instagram!

The back of the quilt. 

I think this is just as amazing as the front. It would be cute for a simple baby quilt!

I definitely want to try out the pattern! It would look great in some AMH! How about you? Would you like to win a copy of the pattern?? Megan is offering a free copy of the pattern to one of my readers! Just use the Raffelcopter below. I'll pick a winner Monday night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want more chances to win the pattern? Here are the previous bloggers who are also giving away a pattern. Some of the giveaways are still open. :)

Oct 8: Alyssa Pileofabric.com
Oct 9: Lindsey lrstitched.com
Oct 10: Christina thesometimescrafter.com
Oct 11: Jennifer knottedthread.com
Oct 12: Sara sewsara.blogspot.com
Oct 13: Emily esposetta.blogspot.com
Oct 14: Angela cuttopieces.blogspot.com
Oct 15: Rachael thefloralsuitcase.com
Oct 16: Shannon littleluvins.com
Oct 17: Kelly craftytwinmommy.blogspot.com
Oct 18: Shannon masteringtheartofbeingme.blogspot.com
Oct 19: Diane fromblankpages.blogspot.com

Congrats Megan!!!

and good luck with the giveaway, everyone! :)

We are MOVING!!!!

My husband got a new job and we are moving... in less than a week!! If you follow me on Instagram (@fromblankpages) then you probably already know that. I've been wanting to blog about it for a while, but it's all happened so fast, I really haven't had a lot of time... and totally should be packing right now. :) oh well.

We are going to....

I love these old postcards. 

(all images were found from google images.)

Yep, FLORIDA!!

 

It seems so crazy! I don't know anything about Florida, but I am really excited!! 

Especially for beautiful beaches and sunshine...

 

More specifically we are moving to the Daytona Beach area/ Deltona area (that is where my hubby will be working).

What I'm NOT excited for are these:

 Um, more like, jump in the vehicles when gators are approaching.

Then Megan brought to my attention that there are also sharks. After a little googling, I found out that New Smyrna beach is the "Shark Capital of the World"! So much for spending every day in the water. It definitely won't keep me out of the water, but it's good to be aware. I found a few website that had some good safety guidelines. They also said that your chance of getting bit/attacked by a shark is 1 in a million. Just be smart, and you should be ok. (I'm more worried about my small children being bate for the gators.)

 All those dark spots are sharks off of New Smyrna Beach.

 This is also on New Smyrna Beach. I would be FREAKED OUT if I were that surfer! Though I'm sure he had no idea. "DON'T FALL IN!!" LOL.

This one is actually a dolphin. That would be cool. :)

So, Florida... here we come!

 The countdown is ON. We will be loading the truck on Tuesday and driving early Wednesday morning!!! In less than one week (by just a few hours from now) we will no longer be Iowa residents. Crazy!!! It has been stressful and exciting and a roller coaster ride!! But everything is coming together. :) We'll be staying in a hotel until our house is available, but it will be worth the wait. :)

So I will see you in a few weeks!!!!

Happy October! 

(I am sad to not be able to decorate for Halloween this year, and hope we'll still make it for trick-or-treating. :)

Come and Listen...

... to a prophets voice.

 

Yep! It's my biannual invitation to learn a little bit more about the LDS (aka, Mormon. aka, Latter-Day Saint. Real name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) faith. The first weekend of April and October, there is General Conference. There are 5 - 2 hour sessions where leaders of the church talk on inspired subjects ranging from family, gospel, the Bible, Jesus Christ, faith, service, some are directed to adults, other to children, and many other topics. And there is always something uplifting and edifying. It is a great way to build your own faith, whether you are LDS or not, or just to see who we are.

Usually I forget to blog my invitation until the moment it starts, but I remembered a little earlier this year. :) Here are my previous posts if you want to read them (they are always different): Oct. 2012, April 2013

This year I decided to compile a few of my favorite quotes from past conferences, to give you a little taste of things that are shared.

The most recent, and from the Prophet, and President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson, is actually from this last Saturday. The weekend before conference weekend there is a special session that is specifically for the young women (girls ages 12-18) in April (last weekend in March), or the women (also refered to the Relief Society, all women 18 and older) in October, or rather the end of September. (You can view, listen to, or read the entire Relief Society session here.)

"My dear sisters [and brothers], your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.

"As we seek our Heavenly Father through fervent, sincere prayer and earnest, dedicated scripture study, our testimonies will become strong and deeply rooted. We will know of God’s love for us. We will understand that we do not ever walk alone. I promise you that you will one day stand aside and look at your difficult times, and you will realize that He was always there beside you. I know this to be true in the passing of my eternal companion—Frances Beverly Johnson Monson." - We Never Walk Alone, September 2013

Another quote from President Monson,

"...a woman needs to be told she is beautiful. She needs to be told she is valued. She needs to be told she is worthwhile." - See Others as They May Become, October 2012

 Quotes like this are ones I want to hang on my wall where my husband will see them so he can always remember to tell me things like this. ;)


Here is a quote from a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It illustrates a major way of thinking, and of life, for the LDS faith.

"The Lord’s Way

There are many good people and organizations in the world that are trying to meet the pressing needs of the poor and needy everywhere. We are grateful for this, but the Lord’s way of caring for the needy is different from the world’s way. The Lord has said, “It must needs be done in mine own way.”⁹ He is not only interested in our immediate needs; He is also concerned about our eternal progression. For this reason, the Lord’s way has always included self-reliance and service to our neighbor in addition to caring for the poor.

In 1941 the Gila River overflowed and flooded the Duncan Valley in Arizona. A young stake president by the name of Spencer W. Kimball met with his counselors, assessed the damage, and sent a telegram to Salt Lake City asking for a large sum of money.

Instead of sending money, President Heber J. Grant sent three men: Henry D. Moyle, Marion G. Romney, and Harold B. Lee. They visited with President Kimball and taught him an important lesson: “This isn’t a program of ‘give me,’” they said. “This is a program of ‘self-help.’”

Many years later, President Kimball said: “It would have been an easy thing, I think, for the Brethren to have sent us [the money,] and it wouldn’t have been too hard to sit in my office and distribute it; but what a lot of good came to us as we had hundreds of [our own] go to Duncan and build fences and haul the hay and level the ground and do all the things that needed doing. That is self-help.”¹⁰

By following the Lord’s way, the members of President Kimball’s stake not only had their immediate needs met, but they also developed self-reliance, alleviated suffering, and grew in love and unity as they served each other."(I added the bold) - Providing in the Lords Way, October 2011

From another talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf,

"True love requires action. We can speak of love all day long—we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it—but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but “sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” ¹¹ 

Christ did not just speak about love; He showed it each day of His life. He did not remove Himself from the crowd. Being amidst the people, Jesus reached out to the one. He rescued the lost. He didn’t just teach a class about reaching out in love and then delegate the actual work to others. He not only taught but also showed us how to “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” ¹² 

Christ knows how to minister to others perfectly. When the Savior stretches out His hands, those He touches are uplifted and become greater, stronger, and better people as a result.

... As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit." - You are my Hands, April 2010

And one more from President Monson. (I promise they are not the only two people who speak... it was SO hard to narrow down just a few quotes.)

"Reinforced constantly during my own review of the years has been my knowledge that our prayers are heard and answered. We are familiar with the truth found in 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon: “Men are, that they might have joy.”¹ I testify that much of that joy comes as we recognize that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father through prayer and that those prayers will be heard and answered—perhaps not how and when we expected they would be answered, but they will be answered and by a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us perfectly and who desires our happiness. Hasn’t He promised us, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers”?²
...our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives." - Consider the Blessings, October 2012

These are from more recent years, but General Conference has been going on for years and years! You can find them online going all the way back to 1971. (and they go back even further than that) And the messages given then are just as good and relevant for now as they were back then! They even have videos! (it's kind of fun to see how they are dressed, in their 70's suits and glasses.) ;)

One of my favorite speakers, is Jeffery R. Holland. He gives amazing and powerful talks about the Savior. A few favorites: "Lord, I Believe" and None Were with Him.


Ok, anyway, maybe that gives you a glimpse into who we are, and what we believe. Maybe not. Either way, I want to let you know that the invitation is always there to come and find out more. The church is a world wide church, with congrigations all over the world. If you see a church building, you are more then welcome to attend the Sunday service. (If you watch conference you'll be able to get an idea of how we dress for church, girls in skirts and dresses, men in white shirt and ties. But feel free to come in jeans and a shirt. You are welcome the way that you are.) You can even find the closest meeting house online at Mormon.org. Simply enter an address and you can find the address of a church building and the time it starts.

The first session of conference starts this Saturday at 10 am MST. Then there is a session at 2 pm MST, and at the same times on Sunday. You can watch online on LDS.org, or listen, or watch on The Mormon Channel (which is an app you can download, or we have it on our Roku box), or on BYU tv, which is a channel that comes with most cable bundles. You can always come back later and watch, listen, or read it on LDS.org as well. :) (If you click this link, you can find all the links where you can watch it. it's even on facebook! who knew?!)

And on Sunday, you can start watching at 9:30 am, to watch the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform for their weekly program, Music and the Spoken Word. :) I think a few people might have gone to it while at Sewing Summit just barely. (at least those who didn't have early Sunday morning flights). :)

Ok, so that's it. :) If you have any questions, feel free to ask away! :) 

Otherwise I'll invite you again in 6 months! ;)