Birdie Baby Quilt

Wow, I’ve disappeared for awhile!  Holy Cow! 

I swear after June (i.e. graduation followed by a wealth of free time) my blogging habits will be much better.  Really!

Lately I’ve become obsessed with precuts especially charm packs.   I bought Birdie charm packs in anticipation that one of my two pregnant coworkers would be having a girl.  No such luck!

Instead, a good friend of mom’s daughter is pregnant and guess what?!  It’s a girl.  So I whipped this up just in time for her shower on Sunday.  I love the binding and backing on this one.

 

What I love even more than this watermelon backing, is the quilt rack made by my Hubby for Christmas.  The tiger maple is gorgeous…. (please excuse the furry floor)

 

Too bad I’ve only made 3 quilts and have given all 3 away!!

Now what do I do?

I puffy heart Amazon.com.

I only had one goal for the Black Friday madness.....to find a food processor. It's been on my "want" list (along with a cricut) for some time now and I thought I'd find the best deals on Black Friday. After scanning the sale ads, the only one I found was a 7 cup food processor for $80 at Macys. I almost went to buy it, but when I saw the news showing the craziness at the mall I decided to stay in bed.

I found a great deal on Amazon for this 12 cup Kitchenaid food processor in black. I wanted white, but who am I to pass up a deal?! Free shipping, no tax, and a $20 rebate! The best part, I received it next day...on a Saturday! I was shocked!

Now I just need to figure out what to do with it :)

Things to be thankful for....

~being healthy and having a healthy family. Knock on wood it stays this way for many years to come.

~my job. My company has laid off a few people and fortunately Hubby and I have managed to keep our jobs. Other companies in the same industry have either gone under or laid off a significant portion of their staff.

~almost being done grad school. Only 4 classes to go! Yay!

~my family. I have such an amazing family that has been incredibly supportive through all the phases of my life, from high school, to college, to marriage, to grad school. The get-togethers aren't as frequent as they were when I was younger which is why the holidays are my favorite time of year. I can't wait to see everyone!

~ and finally Maggie. Yes I am thankful for a crazy, rambunctious puppy! She is a great companion to Paige and is literally a 50 pound, cuddly, lap dog. I'm glad we were able to save her from the shelter system.

So what are you thankful for this year?

Public Speaking Anxiety

I know I'm not alone in this. It was obvious last night during my grad school presentations that there were other people even more nervous than me. I have to say their nervousness put me at ease....just a little.

Speaking in front of a group of people is nerve wracking no matter what the topic of your presentation. I could have given a presentation on sewing or baking and have felt the same way as I did last night presenting a technical talk. I think the more familiar you are with your presentation the better you will do...but let's admit it. That only goes so far.

Each time I have a presentation, the anxiety I experience is a little less. Public speaking is something I would love to do more of (honestly) because I want, no NEED to be good at it.

I also hate having a set time. Saying my presentation has be exactly 8, 12, or 22 minutes, no more and no less, doesn't make me any less anxious. I'd be more comfortable with a range of say 10-12 minutes. Each time I practiced my presentation it was 17-20 minutes...way too long. I almost considered deleting some slides. Good thing I left it alone because I think I was just a bit under...I was able to catch myself a few times, take a breath, and continue much slower. I almost wish someone had recorded the presentations so we could see how nervous we all were.

I have no tips, but if you do, feel free to comment and help a girl out!

Now that that's over ::::sigh of relief:::::, I can look forward to the upcoming holiday and hopefully some much needed sewing time!

Feelin' the Christmas Spirit...sorta

Yesterday was the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I will save you the background of the game...all that matters is the release of this game was highly anticipated and built up by Hubby, my brother, and lots of other 20-30+ year old men (and women including myself) I know.

Hubby preordered the game from a popular gaming store and we picked it up during lunch.  I was lucky enough to not have to go to the midnight release.  When we got home from work, Hubby tore into the packaging.  Watching Hubby, I experienced a weird feeling and then all of a sudden it hit me.... 

I was instantly reminded of the leg lamp.  If you are not familiar with the leg lamp....well you're missing out.  It is from my favorite Christmas movie ever, A Christmas Story.  It's actually played for 24 hours straight on TBS on Christmas day.  Watching Hubby open this "gift" was like watching the Old Man - Mr. Parker open the leg lamp.  The light in his eyes and the pure happiness was a sight to see....Ok so the gift:

The game comes with night vision goggles and a numbered display head.  Yes, for real!  Functioning night vision goggles that have nothing to do with the game and a nifty artwork book!  As for the actual game play, I don't know as I haven't had the privelege of playing yet.

Check Out This Giveaway!

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe is hosting an amazing Halloween giveaway!

The prize is for a Fat Quarter Bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals.  If there are more than 250 entries, Pumpkin Patch will sweeten the pot and giveaway TWO fat quarter bundles.

Go check it out and enter today (open until October 31st)! 

Be A Finisher!

Do you love the rush of starting a new project?  Do you love picking your pattern, materials, and all the new gadgets you might need to complete your project?  Do you have a bazillion unfinished objects (UFOs) or works in progress (WIPs)?  I'm joining Nicole over at Sister's Choice Quilts for her Finish It project.

Here are a few of the projects I've started in the past ten few years:

This is the first quilt I started.  I have no idea why I chose something so large and intricate.  I *thought* I really loved piecing!



I found this quilt pattern in a Women's Day magazine a long time ago.  I had to make it.  I still love it.  Occassionally I'll work on it, but lately not so much.


This one is from the ORB Quilt Along round 1.  I got busy with school and never cared for the colors, so this one was easy to put down.  I'm thinking about making two smaller quilts out of it, rather than one large quilt.  The blocks are completed, I just need to sew the top.



Part of the reason I put down ORB Quilt 1 is because ORB round 2 was starting.  I didn't want to get left behind and zig zagging sounded like so much fun.  I'm proud of how much I have completed of this quilt since I was going to school through the summer (and working full time).  All that's left is the quilting and binding. 


I'm going to work backwards and start with finishing the zig zag.  I actually started quilting it already - barely... I completed one line of quilting after fighting with my thread tension, new thread and new bobbins.  My machine does not like the new bobbins and is apparently a thread snob.  I've been sewing with Gutterman lately but decided to switch up with some Coats & Clark.  My machine literally threw up the thread.  So not worth the stress.  By the time I figured everything out and resolved the problems an hour had gone by.  Quilting is never easy, but it's always fun! :)

I hope you'll join me and finish a project you've started!

No longer newlyweds!

According to my grandfather, you are a bride for one year.  I've enjoyed my year as a bride and our first year of marriage.  I look forward to the many years to come!  Happy Anniversary Hubby!