Blooming Where I am Planted!: 01/01/2013

Wednesday, January 30

Etsy orders shipped

Here are a couple of Etsy orders that shipped this week.

Bloomers for Madelyn in St Louis, Missouri in hot pink and black. I think Madelyn is such a pretty name!

And an Austism Awareness Zipper Pouch for Miss Michelle in California. Most of the time, I embroider these in red or navy but this customer requested pink. I think it looks cute and makes it look more feminine and not so schoolish.

As I look at this picture, the pouch looks wonky but it's really not, I just didn't flatten it out before I rapidly took the picture, stuffed it in the gift bag and mailed it out...

Hope you have a great day!

Sew Much to do!

I have sew much to do and I am basically too busy to go to work. Ha! I wish that excuse would work for my boss! Sad thing is, when I am at work, all I can think is "I am too busy to go home". Do you hear the violins playing sympathy music for me??? Ugh, the story of a working Mom!

Besides the Etsy orders, I am in the process of finishing up swap items for my partners in Austria, Ontario, Utah and 2 in Texas. I am been sewing alot and will hopefully be posting pictures of everything in the coming weeks.

In addition to the swaps, I am hosting a Sewing Baby Shower for one of my dear sewing friends in less than two weeks. I am excited about the shower because I haven't had an opportunity to host one in a while, all of my girlfriends had their babies 8 to 5 years ago.

I was originally going to host the shower at our home but decided the the new fabric store in my neighborhood would be a fun option since all of the ladies that are invited to this particular shower are members of the Plano Quilt Guild.

During the shower we are all going to decorate plain bibs for the baby. Isn't that fun?

Here is the invitation.

The colors for baby Diana and pinks, black & white. I am excited to make some baby items in those colors. I better get going. Thanks for stopping by!

Dare to Dresden Day #5

It's Day #5 of Dare to Dresden. What an incredible blog hop this has been. All of the dresdens are so incredible. Here is a list of today's participants. Stop by and see what they made!

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

It Seams to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

Tuesday, January 29

Dare to Dresden Day #4

It's Day #4 of the Dare to Dresden Blog Hop. Here is a list of today's participants.

A Peach in Stitches

Nancy W @ “that Other Blog”

Charlotte's Creations

Quilt-n-Queen
Domesticity and Other Ponderous Things

Sew Much 2 Luv

A Quilt and a Prayer

Amanda Murphy Design

Little Mushroom Cap
Kathy's Quilts

Sandra Kaye Design

Dare to Dresden Thank You!

What a fun day yesterday was. I have been been blogging for 5 years and I had more fun yesterday than ever before. It was hard to concentrate on my work at the office with my email chime on my phone going off throughout the day. Mil Gracias, many thanks to everyone. There were more than 500 visits to my blog, more than 100 comments and many new followers. Thank you to everyone who commented and decided to follow.

Tonight I was visitng the Sew We Quilt blog to grab the list for Day #4 and I browsed at the recap of Day #3, as I scrolled down to see the wonderful top picks and was shocked to see my little Dresden Stool picked for Most Creative! Oh my goodness was I shocked! The whole house was asleep so I had to dash down stairs and wake up my husband to tell him the wonderful news.

I won a set of the "I Like You" fabric by Amy Sedaris (Windham Fabric). Woo Hoo! I didn't even realize there was prizes! I knew that Windham Fabrics was a sponsor but I did not know how the prizes worked. This is their site!

Check out: http://www.sewwequilt.com/2013/01/day-3-of-dare-to-dresden-blog-hop-with.html

Thanks again for a great day!

Monday, January 28

Dare to Dresden Day #3

So today is Dare to Dresden Day #3 and I am up! Yikes! I am very excited about this but feeling a little unworthy since I have seen two full days of fabulous projects by some incredibly talented women. Welcome to anyone who has never visited my blog before. Feel free to look around and see some of my other sewing projects. Please comment so I know you stopped by, tell me where you are. I am going to be doing my first give away ever.... a custom zipper pouch to one lucky person who comments and follows my blog. (I promise my zipper pouches are way better than my dresdens, check them out by going to the Sewing & Embroidery section of my blog).

Ok, back to the Dresden... Scroll down to see my attempts at this. I divided this into multiple posts because I have a hard time working alot of pictures into one big long post.

Before I forget, special thanks to Christine of Quilt Monster in My Closet, and Mdm. Samm of Sew We Quilt for all their hard work in organizing this great blog hop!

Here is a list of today's participants. Please stop by and check out what they made. Be sure to leave a comment.

A Reformed Heath'n

Meadowbrook

Rosemary B @ “that Other Blog”

Stitch Duchess' Crazy & Sane Quilting World

Blooming Where I am Planted (me)
Quilting Lodge

The Tilted Quilt

Life in the Scrapatch

Pretty Bobbins
In The Boon Docks

Sew Much and More

Threading My Way
Pink Ribbon Quilts
Thimble Mouse & Spouse

Practicing to Dare

When the Dare to Dresden Blog Hop was announced I knew I needed to participate. I purchased the Stampin' Up! Dresden Die a few months ago and was itchin' to try it out.

I started out by making a practice dresden. Here it is...

This plate was made using the larger of the two petals, it measures 18 inches across. We liked it but this matches nothing in our house. (I was afraid of messing up good fabric so we used this fabric from my "what was I thinking pile" just in case we messed up).

Ok, moving on....

Micaela asked me to make some in her new bedroom colors which are hot pink and black. For these I used the smaller of the two petals. I used 16 different fabrics. Notice the weenie dog, music notes and scissors in the black & white prints.

Now that we had the dresden plates made up we were ready to brain storm about what to make.

Read on....

My Dresden Attempt #1

Here is my first attempt at the Dresden Dare. I wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary so my daughter and I explored 'different ways" to use the dresden plate around the house. After much thought and discussion, we Mod Podged a Dresden plate to this little step stool Micaela (our 7 year old) uses around the house to reach things.

Tada! This little step stool has been around since before Micaela was born (a whole 8 years). It started off pink and green circa 2005, then later pink and purple around 2009. And since we are now in the process of redecorating once again, it is now black. Micaela had the idea to put a dresden plate on the stool so we trimmed it down to fit by making it the exact size of the top and mod podged it on.

I think it would have turned out better if the stool had been white or if the fabrics had been darker, live and learn but our first attempt was fun. Read on for attempt #2 and comment if you would like a custom zipper pouch.

My Dresden Attempt #2

Micaela's second request was something to put on her new desk in her room, so we decided to make a doily. (Doily was a new word for Micaela...LOL).

Here is the Dresden Doily sitting pretty on her desk.

I quilted the dresden by pinning the plate to a solid black fabric with batting on the bottom and sewing very very s-l-o-w-l-y around each petal.

Then I trimmed carefully and turned the inside out through the hole in the center.

Here is a close up.

The next thing I did was stitch in the ditch between each petal (diliberately skipping the scallop part-- after all I am not crazy!), then added the circle in the center and top stitched around it.

So there you have it... My two attempts to dresden. I know they are little attempts but this made me finally use my dresden die that had been screaming "use me" for more than six months! Please stop by all of the other blogs today and show them some love. Be sure to comment if you would like to win a custom zipper pouch. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sunday, January 27

Sunday Trip to Fort Worth

We took a little trip to Fort Worth today.

Our first stop was the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. As we walked from the parking lot towards the stock show grounds, the first thing Micaela said was, "It smells like poop here". Yup, this is not a petting zoo... this is the real thing. Needless to say, we are raising a city girl! This gave Micaela the opportunity to see alot of animals that we normally see while driving down the road, up close. Here she is with a prize winning steer. Sorry the pic is blurry, I took it with my phone.

While we walked around the stock show area, I spotted this man wearing a cool FFA jacket.

Isn't this cool?

On our way home we made a quick stop at the Fort Worth Water Gardens that are located downtown. You can read more about the gardens here. Troy and I had not been there since we were dating, so it had been almost ten years. Micaela thought the gardens were very cool and wants to wear her swim suit next time... (Lord help us... LOL).

It was a fun Sunday... now to get my dresdens done by midnight. Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, January 26

Saturday Sewing

I spent a good part of today-- Saturday sewing. I started the day off by going to Sew N Tell at Stitched with Love, the new fabric store in my neighborhood in the morning. Then, I came home to an empty house (very unusual), changed back into my pajamas and proceeded to sew the rest of the day. It was glorious! I made some cute things. I am dying to post pictures but I can only show sneak peaks because almost every item I worked on is for one of my four swap partners or a gift. I will show the items once I get them in the mail and they are received.

Here are two sneak peaks... This is an embroidered blanket.

This is the bottom half of a valentine finger tip towel.

The one thing I can show is this hand towel I embroidered for Micaela's bathroom. We are transitioning her bedroom and bathroom from cute girl springy pastel stuff to pre- pre- teen young girl stuff. She picked hot pink and black for her colors. This is the first thing I make for her bathroom.

It's amazing what ribbon and a glitter fabric can do for a towel, right? Notice the Hello Kitty stuff? Can't believe this that cat is still so popular, I remember having Hello Kitty stuff when I was a young girl too. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 25

Card & Zip Pouch

Hold on tight! I made a card the other day. Gasp! I know it's hard to believe. My Cricut and my paper cutter had two inches of dust on them!

Over the holidays I did some organizing in my paper craft room. I've decided that if I am not going to do paper crafts I need to get rid of some of this stuff. So now, I am making an effort to make more cards and use up some supplies. I have years of SU stuff that I am cleaning out. I have given tons (maybe not tons but certainly many pounds) of older swap card fronts and scraps from my demonstrator days to one of my former customers who makes cards for Hospice and I have donated some of my surplus tools and things to some teacher friends that need stuff for their classrooms.

So back to making a card... I made one. Nothing fancy. Here it is. Sorry it's not a "staged" picture, I literally took a quick snapshot with my phone right before putting it in the mail. I used the Alphalicious cartridge and a variety of SU cardstocks (once upon a time I knew all the colors, right now they escape me).

I made the card to match this zipper pouch I made for my friend Debra for her birthday. She likes turquoise moderny artsy stuff so I thought this fabric with the spirographic design was a nice choice for her.

The seamless lining and zipper was lime green to match the initials embroidered on the front.

It took more than a week to arrive in Arkansas but she finally got it and loved it! Your probably wondering if I make anything besides zipper pouches lately, I do! I've been monogramming up a storm. I'll be sharing some towels I just did in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by!

Dare to Dresden Day #2

Today is Dare to Dresden Day #2. Please visit these fabulous quilters and show them some love by commenting on their gorgeous dresden projects. My day is next week!

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Jane's Fabrics & Quilts

Tea Time Creations

Mo Broker My Creative Side

Jane's Quilting
My Patchwork Life
2muchfun

Pumpkin Patch Quilter
Quilt Monster in my Closet

Thursday, January 24

Visit Local Quilt Shop Day

Today is "Visit your local Quilt Shop Day". This should be a national holiday as far as I am concerned. We must support local businesses, they are the bread & butter of our communities! Had I known in advance I would have scheduled the day off.

In McKinney, we are extremely fortunate to have THREE (Yes 3) quilt shops. Not many cities can top that! All three are locally owned and incredibily different from one another. I plan to make it to all of them. Luckily two are very close to my office.... The Quilt Asylum off Central Expressway & Virginia and Happiness is Quilting in our Historical Downtown McKinney Square. Lastly, Stitched with Love which is brand new (just opened this month) is very close to our home off Custer Road & Virginia.

If you don't have a local quilt store in your community visit mine online, (tell them I sent you) many are having specials! Enjoy your day, I better get some sleep and rest up for tomorrow-- it's a big day! Thanks for stopping by!

Dare To Dresden Day 1

The Dare to Dresden Blog Hop starts today. More than 100 quilters are participating!

Here's a list of everyone participating in today's hop.

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Apple Avenue Quilts

The TreeHouse

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much

Quilts My Way

Buzzing and Bumbling

Marjorie's Busy Corner

The Raspberry Rabbits

I Like to Quilt Blog

Cherry's Prairie Primitives

Spoilt Dog Quilts

Wednesday, January 23

Modern Earthy Zipper Pouch

Here is a zipper pouch I made as a thank you gift for one of the speakers a couple of weeks ago. This is the pouch I gave the person who presented at my rainwater harvesting seminar.

I absolutely (heart) this fabric. It's from Michael Miller's Eco Collection and called Save Water & Energy! I love it because it's everything I try to promote in our city.

Here is a close up of the Earth charm I attached to the zipper. I found these earthy charms at Oriental Trading and went bananas because I thought they were so darn cute.

I used a bright yellow gingham for the seamless lining because it's easier to find stuff when you have light colored lining.

I wish I could buy a bolt of this fabric and keep it forever (yes, I am crazy like that)! Thanks for stopping by!

PS: If you love this and want one, they are available in my Etsy Store.

MLK weekend blur

So MLK weekend just passed and I had a wonderful three days off. We got a few projects done around the house and I got some sewing done.

We took Micaela to Ikea and she purchased a pink desk chair with her Christmas money. She was so excited. (No, we did not plan to match her outfit to the chair, somehow it just worked out that way!)

The dresden blog hop is next week and I made a practice dresden. I love how this looks, just need to figure out something clever to make with it.

Most of the stuff I am sewing these days is for the swaps I am participating in so I won't show the items until the gals receive them. In the meantime, here is a sneak peak.

Patchwork something

Bright color something

Hope your weekend was great!

Wednesday, January 16

Gypsy Girl Tote

Good Afternoon and Happy Wednesday!

From the moment I saw the Gypsy Girl fabric collection by Lily Ashbury for Moda, I fell in love with it!

All I could think was: I need a jelly roll, charm pack and yardage. On Black Friday when one of my LQS, The Quilt Asylum was having a sale, I made my way to the store to buy a jelly roll with a discount. Woo Hoo!

It took me a while to decide what to make. I decided to make a tote with the jelly roll first. I played with the strips of fabric a long time and finally decided on this combination. I made this tote one day last week when it was cold, raining and really foggy outside. I had to wait several days to photograph it because I could not get good enough lighting in the house.

Tada, here it is!

I love these colors, they say spring and Easter to me. I top stitched the seams with a cross stitch stitch on my machine. Here is a close up.

I lined the bag with the pink & white large gingham in the collection which I purchased online at the Fat Quarter Shop. I added a pocket and magnetic snap to the inside.

I really love this bag and I can't wait to make more projects with this fabric collection. I plan on making some patchwork zipper pouches and a few accessories in the coming weeks. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Tuesday, January 15

Moda's Flirt Zipper Pouch

Valentine's Day is just a month away. Here's a zipper pouch I made for my PTA secret sister. Her favorite color is turquoise so I thought this Moda Fabric from the Flirt collection by Sandy Gervais was a nice choice for her since it was kinda Valentine's Day theme but also had her favorite color in it.

I embroidered with the Bella font from Embroidery Boutique. I think it turned out pretty cute and I am looking forward to giving it to her this week.

1st International Swap

I mentioned last week how I am on a sign up frenzy. Here is the newest addition.... I signed up for my first international swap. It's the Sweet Pouch Swap hosted by Ros at Sew Delicious in Australia.

The swap is for a zipper pouch and candy. I can totally handle that! I am so excited. I already received my partner assignment and it is someone in Austria. I am snooping and trying to figure out the perfect thing to sew for her and the perfect sweet treats to send. Wish me luck!

Snow Today

We woke up to about four inches of snow this morning. Unfortunately it really wasn't enough to cancel or postpone start time at school or work. We didn't even have time to play in it before sending Micaela off to school and us heading off to work.

Here are a couple snapshots of my daffodil pots.

I got this new plant stand for my birthday last week and I am so excited, I had been wanting one for a while. Can't wait for my daffodils to bloom.

Hope you are staying warm today. Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, January 12

Daffodils 2013

If you have read my blog the last couple of years, you know that I am "into" growing daffodils. It's a fairly new hobby that I started in 2010 when I started a program centered around daffodils at the city.

The week of Christmas when I was surfing the internet, I spotted some daffodils on sale at an online store and could not resist buying a few more bulbs. I have never purchased bulbs online so we will see how this goes. I got the bulbs last week and I finally got around to planting them yesterday because it had been really cold and wet outside.

For now our patio table is serving as kind of a plant stand. I have all of the varieties labeled with plastic spoons and spreaders that I save from fast food purchases (you know I am into reusing stuff). The pots in the back are 10" and the pots in the second row are 8". Be assured I will post pictures of their progress in the weeks to come. (I tend to watch them like a hawk...lol). Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 8

Thank You Gifts

I kicked off 2013 at work by hosting a day full of Green Seminars on January 5th.

The speakers I booked for these seminars have become dear friends so I wanted to make them a little something to show my gratitude for spending their day off to come teach our residents about rain water harvesting and daffodils.

Here's what I made:

Looks like a small stack of stuff, but this was about 8 hours of sewing! I guess next time I need to use more batting so the stack can be taller...lol. This is five zipper bags and three mug rugs, believe it or not!

I'll show them each individually so this post won't be picture heavy. I am having some issues with blogger and lately adding on each picture is a real challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, January 7

Love Day Swap

I am on a sign up frenzy. In addition to the Dare to Dresden blog hop, I just signed up for another swap at at Pink Stitches hosted by Bonnie.

I participated in Pink Stitches' Halloween and Christmas Swap so I thought Valentines would be kinda fun.

I've gotten my partner assignments (I volunteered for two) and I got someone in Utah and someone in Ontario Canada. I am so excited.

Sewing is always fun when you are making something for someone and it's especially rewarding when you make a new friend in the process. I'll be posting pics of the things I am making in the coming weeks.

Wednesday, January 2

Daffodil Seminar

If you're local, this may be of interest.

Nothing adds more to your spring garden than daffodils, they are perennial, easy to grow, drought tolerant and magnificently beautiful. Once they're planted, you do nothing and they lead the floral parade every spring.

Come learn all about them from Texas daffodil expert, Keith Kridler on January 5 from 1 to 3pm.

Register online at www.mckinneytexas.org/green