Versatile Blogger Award!

A few weeks back not one, but TWO lovely ladies gave me the Versatile Blogger Award!

A huge thank you to Chelsea at pins & bobbins,

and Jenny at Sew Kind Of Wonderful!

Make sure to check out their blogs, they are both WONDERFUL! Chelsea has ordered a long arm, and I'm anxiously waiting to see what she creates with it. Jenny also has a long arm, and her quilts are amazing.

Now, let's see, I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself:

1. I ran my first marathon Sunday, November 27. Yes, 2 days ago. Not too sore, thanks to the torturous post-run ice bath...

2. I applied for graduate school on Monday, November 28. As in yesterday.

3. Within 5 minutes of submitting my application to grad school, I realized that I had messed up part of it. (No redo's. Whoops.)

4. I didn't fall madly in love with Seattle the way that I thought I would. I like it here, but it's quite different from the midwest. Chicago will always be "home".

5. I never, ever crave popcorn. In fact, I will tell people that I don't like popcorn. But if Matt makes some and I have a little bit, I can't stop eating it.

6. I am totally and completely addicted to Red Mango fro-yo. I eat it almost once a week. (At some point it would probably be cheaper for me to just buy an industrial fro-yo machine!)

7. My biggest pet peeve is when people talk politics and get angry, blaming everything on the other side (whichever side that is). I'm not sure why they think that angry will change people's minds, but as a middle-of-the-road thinker such as myself, it's just a giant turn off. (Lather, rinse, repeat when it comes to religion.)

Wow, I think I hit on all of the hot topics in this post, who would've thunk it?? :)

And now, I'd like to award the following with the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Michelle at CityHouseStudio

2. Sarah at BlueSusan Makes

3. Linh Vu at Elvy Crafts

4. Felicity at Felicity Quilts

5. Cindy at Live a Colorful Life

6. Kirsten at Gemini Stitches

7. Kristie at OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder

8. Val at PinkPlease!

9. Heather at Crafting...

10. Gail at Probably Actually

Make sure to check out all of their wonderful blogs! And thanks again to Chelsea and Jenny!

A Mendocino Bedroom!

I finally have a few images of Addy's big girl room to share!

First up, her big bed with coordinating pillows:

 Another shot (this is from the doorway):

 The fun wave mirrors we found at IKEA on clearance! (The white door leads to the bathroom, the stained door leads to the kitchen. Confusing, I know.)

 If you're standing where I was when I shot the above photo, the closet door is to your left. And next to the closet door is this awesome toy box. My mom's friend hand painted it as a gift before I was born. LOVE IT.

And there you have it! A small room with a giant bed for a cute little girl. :)

Potholders and pillow cases!

A few weeks ago I was wandering through a fabric store when I found one of those Alexander Henry prints. If you've seen then, you know what I'm talking about: the prints featuring shirtless men. Yeah, *those* prints.
There happened to be a print with firemen on it, which made me think of my mother in law. No, she's not a man, nor is she a fire fighter. But, my father in law is the mechanic for their fire department, and a few years back he was part of the yearly calendar. For the entire month of May, many calendars were open to a pic of my father in law, shirtless, posing with his toolbox, fire engine in the background. Having three boys, I don't think my father in law will ever live that down. But my sweet mother in law insisted on having the calendar set to May for the entire year. (It may still be up at their house, I haven't checked recently!)
So anyway, I decided that my mother in law needed a pillow case made from this fireman fabric. And being the equal opportunity shop that it was, I was able to find an equally awkward print suitable for my father in law.

Who wouldn't want to receive these awesome pillow cases from their daughter in law? Well, a lot of people, I guess. Luck for me, my in laws have a great sense of humor and they seem to appreciate my quirky gifts!
Now you're probably wondering how this could possibly relate to potholders. Or maybe you've already forgotten the title of this post. Well, in truth the two have little to do with each other. See, I included a Halloween picture from Addy in with the pillow cases. We had another picture to send to my parents, and I wanted to include something hand made. I haven't made potholders in a looong time, so I thought I'd use some of the fun fruit fabric that popped up at the quilt shops recently!

The strawberry potholder is a square in a square in a square. The orange potholder is my first try at a wonky star!

 A fun batik on the back, quilted with organic lines.

 Random straight line quilting, another of my favs! (The back of this one is the lime green print used in the border.)

I used insul-brite for batting in these potholders.

Finished size 9" square.

So there you have it, 1 blog post encompassing innocent potholders and scandalous pillow cases. I'm happy to report that the gifts were loved by all. Do I know my audience, or what? :)

An Aviary Mini

I had some Aviary 2 scraps left over from this quilt, and I wasn't sure what to do with them. Then I had an impromptu sew-in at a friend's where I was admiring all of the mini quilts she has made. So the next time I was staring down the pile of Aviary 2 scraps, I knew just what to do!

 I tried to go with the flow and do some improv piecing. I also went with an organic straight line quilting style, which I LOVE! It was so easy and fun to do, and I think it goes great with the piecing in this quilt.

 For the back I used a large chunk of the only print that I had left, along with some solids.

Finished size is 20"x20"

Fabrics are Aviary 2 and Free Spirit solids

I think there are lots more minis in my future! In fact, I have a fabulous idea to incorporate some mini quilts into the photo wall that I'm creating in our dining room.

Oh, speaking of mini quilts, I was thinking of setting up a swap. Would anyone be interested in that? We can wait until after the rush of the holidays, if that works best. Leave me a comment if you'd be interested!