Happy 4th!! Sale & Giveaway!

I have been quilting Mabel's quilt with the sun shining through the window, and it made me think that I should have a sale! :) And because it's the 4th of July tomorrow, and that definitely merits a sale.

Use code:

HAPPY4th 

in my Etsy shop to save 15% off your purchase of $5 or more.

I also marked down some pattern prices in my Craftsy Store. I hope you'll stop by and check them out!


And why not throw in a giveaway as well?! Use the rafflecopter for your chance to win a pattern of your choosing! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm excited for tomorrow. The Mr has work off and we are heading over to some friends house for yummy food, pool time for the kiddos, and of course, some very welcome socializing! (I don't get enough of that these days). :) I even picked out some perfect patriotic outfits for the kids! (and that never happens).

What are your plans for the holiday???

Dreams & Inadequacies ... it's a long one.

Source: Uploaded by user via Stacey on Pinterest

Mentioning dreams, can I just say that I have been having THE weirdest dreams lately?! I think it's because I'm trying to change my diet, but really this is a different story.

Source: Uploaded by user via Natalie on Pinterest

I have been thinking a lot about my dreams lately. I am not one that is content with sitting around being idle. I love doing and going and being. I like to know where I'm going, and get there. I don't think I'm over-the-top busy, though my hubby might say otherwise. ;) But what is life if you don't have something to look forward to?

Source: Uploaded by user via Natalie on Pinterest

So I've been trying to compile a list of all of my dreams. Here are my dreams in relation to quilting/sewing:

• I would love to write a book(s), or be in a book(s). I have a few ideas that I think would be great and would love to write. (Time is the biggest issue here, as well as priorities. This is more of a down-the-road dream, I guess. Though it doesn't have to be. I'm just taking these as they come.)
• I would love to publish more patterns. To go along with this dream is to get all of my patterns stream lined and to have a more professional feel to them (this is on my to-do list). Maybe even have some printed patterns that I could sell in quilt shops!
• I LOVE to teach and would love to teach some quilting classes. I would probably contact some local quilt shops and see if I could teach there, if they weren't so far away... too much driving involved with where we live now. bummer.
• I would love to have a quilt in a quilt fair or a show or something. no.idea. where to even start with this one.
• I would LOVE LOVE love to design fabric! This is a huge one I've been thinking about a lot lately. I've really started to look at fabric in a different way. Becoming an observer more than just an admirer. What is it that I love about one print but not another? What are my favorite color combinations? How does it all fit together? There is so much to learn...

Source: mobilephun.com via Kin on Pinterest

Thinking about all my dreams has kind of led me to taking a head dive right into all my inadequacies. For the last couple of months I keep thinking about the fact that I call myself a "quilter" - only written. I have never told anyone out loud that I am. I don't even know how many quilts I've made, or that any are very professional, but I wonder if I am even adequate enough at making quilts to call myself a quilter. I'm sure that people who are avid and professional quilters would be appalled at some of my techniques or results. lol. (Does that make me an underground quilter, hiding from the quilt police?!) ;) I don't really mind, but I don't want to put a label on myself that I am not. Which is fine, I can be a wanna-be-quilter. But where is the line? I don't know. Is there a line? When does one *become* anything?

Source: picmonkey.com via Coleen on Pinterest

That whole issue has a big impact on a lot of my above mentioned dreams, since they all revolve around quilting/sewing. I know we all have inadequacies, and I definitely don't want to let them stop me. That is one thing my dad taught me... when we fall, we get back up. We don't quit, we keep going until we've crossed the finish line, no matter how far behind we are.

Source: Uploaded by user via bettyvision on Pinterest

Next, do I really know what I'm doing design wise? I don't want to sulk or be a downer, but there are sooo many amazing and talented people out there, and sometimes I feel like I'm back in college, it's the first day of my painting class, my oil paint busted out of it's tube and there is paint all over my hands, which I wiped all over my pants, it's all over the inside of my bag, my painting looks horrible and the teacher walks by and all he says is, "oh, so you're one of those..." yep. That's me. (I dropped out of that class pretty quick. lol. That experience is not why.) The summer after second grade my dad put me in some summer classes and everyone got a real hoot out of my descriptive writing of some boxer shorts, when I guess they were just shorts. lol. They looked just like the boxer shorts my sister and I would wear to dance in, which I guess were actually called wind shorts. Actually I think I explained them as boxing shorts. I don't know. lol. It all makes me laugh. I have no shame. But the point is, I tend to see things differently, and it's true. I like to think outside the box, and I think sometimes I stray so far from the box that it gets a little absurd. So extreme that all the good stuff has fallen out of the back of the truck along the way, and all I'm left with is weirdness. That is me. I guess I've just learned to be a little less obvious about it. :) Anyway, point is... well, perhaps there is no point, but rather just the roller coaster ride that any designer rides of the current trends. The ins and outs of what the people are going to want. But I don't like doing things for other people. I like designing for me. And I like different.

Source: Uploaded by user via Natalie on Pinterest

Which leads me to my next point. Sometimes people laugh at something I say, which I guess was actually humorous, and I think, that was such a stupid comment, why are you laughing? I don't think I'm a very funny person, and I often don't like the things I design. Not that I think they are ugly, but it's not my taste. I don't know what my taste is. Is anyone else like that? You make things that are awesome, but you hate it. Not that I hate it, and I'm not saying that the things I design are awesome. I am standing on neutral ground here. I do like some of them, and I am proud of a lot of things I've made (for the fact that I actually made it with my own hands! I love that!) But seriously. Does it just mean that I need to dig deeper? Have I not even scratched the surface of what I can do? In high school we had an art exhibit and a bunch of us included some tempera paintings we did. They were supposed to be reflective of who we are. I definitely painted on the side of self expression more than aesthetics. I got first place. What? There were other paintings that I liked way better than mine. What is it about art that people love? Do you love what is aesthetically pleasing? or do you love the things that come from deep within the designer? Is it the picture or the emotions it stirs that we are drawn to? I don't want to just please others. I do want to reach deep inside me and pull out whatever is in there, but it's scary. Inadequacies swarming like a swarm of gnats... whatever. :)

Source: Uploaded by user via Carole on Pinterest

I also feel the constant pull to do too many things at once. I used to let life get in the way of me doing what I wanted to do, and instead lived in front of the sink doing dishes. lol. We have since moved to a place that has a dish washer. Thank goodness! ;) No, our house isn't disgustingly dirty. It does get messy, but it also gets clean. I am fine tuning the balance of life, responsibilities, and recreation. Anyway, what I was saying, I just figured that one day I'd get to it. Then I realized that one day is the ultimate thief of dreams becoming reality. If I don't start now they will never happen. So I started doing. And it has been such an amazing journey!! I can't even believe where I am now. I'm so grateful! The problem here lies in what to focus on. I feel like when I focus on one thing, I feel like I'm left in the dust in another area. Obviously no one can do it all. And I have a problem of wanting to do everything. I don't want to just do patterns. I don't even want to only do paper piecing patterns. I have so many ideas... and I want to make them ALL!!! (insert evil laugh). But as I put one thing aside, and still see others making all these accomplishments in that area, it makes me feel a bit left out in that I'm not making progress there also. Does that make sense? I don't so much have a problem with this, as I realize that I don't want to drive myself crazy trying to do it all. Just today I felt a little overwhelmed by this, so I might as well include it in my long ramblings. ha. :)

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Natalie on Pinterest

Anyway, after lots of thinking, and lots of talking writting, I don't think I've come to any conclusions. yet. I am definitely enjoying lots of family time, and lots of time with my cute little ones. It's been a fun summer. So for now that means more time to think and ponder and figure it out. Who knows where I'll be in a year, or in half a year, or even a month from now... I sure don't. But I'm excited to find out! Life is good, and the more I live the more I realize how great it really is, and how much of it all depends on our perspective! Attitude really is everything. I'm so glad that we really do have the power to make life what we want it to be!

Source: Uploaded by user via LeeAnn on Pinterest

Now I wonder, what are your dreams???

 

Sewing Accessories... Blog Hop!

Do you know Jamie Mueller of Sunflower Seeds? Well, she is so great!! AND she just released her first book, Sewing Accessories at Home & on the Go! How exciting!! Her and her mom wrote it together and she is doing a blog hop about it starting yesterday until August 5th. Each week they will be sharing a project from the book along with another guest blogger. I hope you will go check out Jamie's blog and follow along. I'll be sharing a project from the book on the 29th, so be sure to come back here to check it out as well. I'm so excited! I am still trying to figure out which project I want to try out first, but I think I've narrowed it down...

Here is the schedule for the Sewing Accessories....Blog Hop:

July 1^st-Jamie and Jill www.jamiemueller.blogspot.com     www.constantlyquilting.blogspot.com

July 8^th- Steffani       www.sewwithsass.blogspot.com

July 15^th-Janice         www.betteroffthread.com

July 22^nd-Jamie         www.jamespurejoy.blogspot.com

July 29^th-Diane          www.fromblankpages.blogspot.com

August 5^th-Jamie and Jill www.jamiemueller.blogspot.co m www.constantlyquilting.blogspot.com

Each of the guest bloggers will also be giving away a copy of the book. But if you don't want to wait, you can find it on their website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Annie's Publishing.

Happy Sewing!

Travel Duffels 1 + 2

Do you know that it is now time to link up your finishes for the second quarter of the Finish-A-Long over at She Can Quilt?! Well, it is. And that means that I am racing to get at least a few things finished from my list. Yep, if you've been around my blog for a while, I'm sure you know that the last week of the quarter is my favorite time to finish a ton of projects! :) My original 2nd Quarter list can be found HERE. You have until the 7th to link up your finishes.

My first finish is my second travel duffel. I made my first bag in April, so that I could have a big bag to take all my stuff to the hospital in. It was the perfect size!

I used some Amy Butler home dec weight fabrics that I've had forever. Originally I was going to make a diaper bag with them... glad I never did. :)

The same time I started that one, I started a second so my kids could have their own to share when we traveled. I might make a third for my hubby, but not now. Anyway, I never did get the second finished, until now!

More Amy Butler.
I didn't have enough of the main fabric in this one, so the outside pockets are the same fabric as the handles. 

I like that the bags kind of match.

I used this pattern for the Quilted Travel Duffel by Studio Cherie on Etsy. I think you can find the pattern on Craftsy as well. I bought this pattern a few years ago, so I don't know if it's been updated, but I wish there had been a few tips the first time I made it:

• prewash your jute webbing - it shrinks when you wash it, as well as softens up. I think the ink in the webbing might also bleed - another good reason to prewash. (You can find jute webbing on Etsy. Some shops are better priced than others, so look around. I was excited to find some with a light grey coloring rather than the red and blue that was most common. but it really doesn't show, so not a big deal anyway.)
• Cut your webbing LONG. Measure the length she says from the short ends of the angles, rather than the points. The first time I cut it, it ended up being short. The next time I was about an inch too long, so really, I don't know how to cut it, but longer is always better!
• I did not zigzag around all my pieces as often as she suggests. For the end squares, I only zigzagged around them after I had added the pockets.

I can't remember what else...

On the white bag I added zippered pockets on both ends, as well as the pocket between the straps on both sides. I also added one extra pocket between the straps on the inside. I love pockets. I would have added more to the blue bag, but I didn't have enough of those fabrics. Oh well. :)

And I must add that these bags are HUGE!! They don't seem so big just carrying them around, but they hold a LOT. We went on a day trip to the Field Of Dreams movie set and brought a picnic blanket, snacks, water bottles, our baby bjorn, another blanket, some jackets, etc and still had room. We also did an overnighter in Nauvoo and fit all of our clothes, diapers (for the kids and baby), swimsuits, bathroom stuff, etc, in it (that is two adults, 3 children and a baby). Usually we have to bring two suitcases. It was awesome to only have one bag!!! We are driving to Utah later this month and I'm excited to see how much we can fit in these two bags and not have to bring as many bags as usual. :)

Hooray for a finish! 

Stay tuned for more in the next few days. :)

Do you have any fun plans for the summer???

Happy Monday!

Google Reader vs. Bloglovin

There may have been some competition between these two blog reading platforms, but that will soon come to an end. Have you heard the word that Google Reader is going by the wayside come July 1st? That's Monday. Do you have a plan for how you will read your blogs once they are gone??? May I suggest something???

Bloglovin! You can import ALL of your blogs from google reader to bloglovin in just a few simple steps:
 (I've included two screen shots that may or may not be beneficial.)

see the top right

1. Open an account with Bloglovin
2. Go to the drop down menu by clicking the heart in the top right corner
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to Other and go to Import Blogs, then click a few more buttons,
   and there you go!

Do the pictures help??? probably not. lol.

(rolling my eyes)

It imports your folders as well, which is so nice!!

I hope you'll add me so you can keep reading along with me and all my adventures! :)

Modern Yardage Pillow!

Here is my last pillow for the month. I love this one! As I was finishing it up last night my hubby asked, "What are you making? a wall hanging?" "No, a pillow." "Yeah!" Did I mention he likes pillows? :)

I had fun photographing this out in the daisy's. I think they go well with the fabric. :)

 

The sashing is Kona Marine.

All of the prints are by Emilie Daly for Modern Yardage.

I love the white, but really, I can't decide which print is my favorite.


I used Burst in Robin, medium, for the back.

I was recently contacted by Modern Yardage and asked if I wanted to try out their fabric. Um, YES PLEASE!! :) I've been keeping an eye on their website since they launched earlier this year. Their fabrics are great and I love all the options that are available with each collection: lots of color options, as well as sizes! Most prints can be ordered in either a large, medium, or small print. For an indecisive person like me, it makes it almost too difficult to decide. (not a bad thing). :) And they are constantly adding new designers and collections, so there is always something new. If you haven't checked out their website, you really should. I'll just throw in really quick too that there are a lot of ways to search or browse for fabric (by designer, color, theme, scale, color, etc.) pretty cool. 

Anyway, so you know how it works, they print their fabric on demand. So when you place your order, all of your prints come together, on the same continuous cut of fabric. I was too excited to start cutting that I forgot to take a picture of my fabric when it arrived. But it was all in one sheet with a panel along one edge that had care instructions, a free pattern, and some other cool stuff (you'll have to order some fabric and be surprised with what else they print on there.) ;) Since they print the fabric on demand, I think that also means that the cotton they use is a little different. I am no connoisseur of fabric, but it does feel different. It is SOOO smooth! It's nice. But I was still a little weary as to how it would sew up. I can happily say that I am very pleased with my finished pillow!!

The pattern I used is my Illusion pattern. I have changed it a little, so it's a bit different than what is in my Craftsy store and Etsy shop. I will update those with the new version soon (Illusion2). I'll let you know. I do like this version a lot better, as it's also a lot more versatile in how you can arrange the blocks.

Like this example.
I was originally going to make the pillow like this, but after finishing the first 4 blocks, my hubby said he liked the other way better. I'm still not sure. I guess I'll have to make another pillow soon. :)

So a HUGE shout out to Modern Yardage!!! An awesome company with beautiful fabrics! Thank you so very much for letting me try some of your fabric. :)

I am definitely not the only one who is happy with this new pillow. :)