{~*Farmers Wife Weeks 6 & 7*~}

Wowzers! Life got so busy so fast! And it has been FUN busy! Not stressed busy.

I had two deadlines to finish up last week and  Tracey came over to sew! Two days of friend time! and then Ashleigh came over! It was like my social calendar exploded. Haha. I'm SUCH a homebody and having friends to sew/hang out/snack with has been so much fun.

Tracey taught me how to Swoon. I've made two blocks and keep planning ways to make more more more! I'm going to do all 9 and I'm dying of excitement. It's all I can think about. Don't you love when that happens?

Well then I realized I was neglecting my Farmer's Wife duties so I was up at 6am to work on them...and it was a PERFECT day. It was surprisingly chilly in the morning, I rode my bike to Starbucks in jeans and a sweatshirt! I had the windows open, my favorite music (Blake Shelton's new cd! best!) and a skinny caramel decaf latte...SO GOOD. Just quietly stitching along...Bee fits on the kitchen table and for some reason I like sewing in the kitchen better than in my sewing space.

Have you met Bee yet? Bee is my 1951 Featherweight. She's pretty sweet, I call her Bee because featherweights have a neat little buzzing sound when they sew. And I love bees. Towards the end of the sewing session she wasn't holding her bobbin tension very well, I think she needs a good cleaning this afternoon.

Ok, back to the blocks!

They are:

1. #11 Broken Dishes- Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush & Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley. I like to think of this as a sophisticated Pumpkin themed block ;)
2. #12 Broken Sugar Bowl- This is called the Lucinda block.  She sent me an awesome package of scraps this week, FFA3 scraps left over from a pair of pants she made her son, some halloween fabric, some riley blake! Totally inspiring. You should check out her meylah shop, SO CUTE! I think I might need to do more scrap swapping for these blocks! I'm also glad I got some horseshoe/rodeo fabric! totally fits!
3. #14 Butterfly at the Crossroads- Cake Rock Beach & Heather Ross FFA. This block was REALLY fun to make.
4. #13 Buckwheat. This block. Oh boy. Tricky! I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it and thought I made a mistake at least ten times. I can't remember the teal flowers, but I got them in Eureka, the V&A print I got from Karyn & the dots are Kaffe!

Be sure to say Hey to Angela! Her little red riding hood block? STOLE MY HEART! I'm trying to organize all my block posts into my sidebar, along with links to Angela's posts and the flickr group (683 members! GASP!) Give me a few days to figure it out.  ;)

{*~Camping~*}

We've been doing a little bit of camping lately. It's pretty great! We have an off road custom built trailer, it's kind of like a wall tent meets a tent trailer. You can ride your quads on top of it to haul it around places. Pretty fun.

In the mornings I have hot chai and yogurt. And stare off into space. In the mornings I'm a distracted space cadet.

It was super pretty, we stayed in the McCloud area! It was pretty warm, 90s. But then again here at 8:30 am it was already 88, so waking up at like, 65 was NICE!

I wasn't feeling so hot so I mostly read. A lot. 6 books. All fluff but fun!

The inside of the trailer has two beds...this was our side, my father in law has the other one. We have 0 degree mummy bags that came in super handy two weekends ago but this past weekend we just slept under a quilt on top of the bags. We also got these great camp beds from Cabela's, they roll out and are super soft! Our bags zip together too. I'm a barnacle to Chop when I sleep at night. And I can't sleep without a bear. Yup. I admitted it!

This week is looking full and jam packed full of good stuff, which is always exciting. Our garden is freaking out, the tomatoes refuse to be contained by their cages, zucchini is growing crazy fast, tomatoes EVERYWHERE (but still green), peppers are growing and I got two new plants this weekend so I think we are building another bed tonight.

• I just got this bat pattern, I'm so excited to have a little flock of bats!
• You can now shop theworkroom online! This makes me SO SO SO EXCITED! so much COSMO floss! Japanese craft books! Purse supplies! Ahhh!!!
• The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery has a new caffeine themed pattern!
• Guys. It's JULY. Sewing Summit is in OCTOBER. That is SO SOON!!! I'd love it so much if I got to meet a bunch of you!!! Tickets are selling fast!
• I'm pretty obsessed with my longwinterfarm black coconut perfume. I totally copied Karyn and it was so A M A Z I N G!!! The pumpkin cheesecake lip balm is pretty great too!
• On Saturday I'm taking the entire day off and doing nothing but watching Halloween movies and starting my swoon quilt. Maybe listening to Harry Potter on my ipod. I just have to get my mile long to do list DONE! But first...more Halloween inspiration!
• Check out Angela's super pretty Christmas quilt!

Have a good Tuesday! See you again soon for Farmers Wife week 6!

{*~Farmers Wife Quilt-a-long Week 5~*}

Hey everyone! Week 5! That's exciting right???

Things have been fun and BUSY around here lately. I spent the morning finishing up some custom sewing, finishing star-y log cabin (being proof read! woot!), organizing my scraps and this afternoon I had my first visit with a personal trainer. What an eye opening experience THAT was! ;) I'm heading back out to yoga in a bit so now I'll sit here with some yogurt and chat with you about my blocks for this week.

They were E A S Y. And that made me SO excited. Next weeks look tricky!

Block # 9 Eccentric Star

This is fun right? I made it yesterday when it was pouring outside and I was day dreaming of bright summer mornings!

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink- Prince Charming

Erin McMorris- Weekends. I got this fat quarter two weeks ago and I was DYING to use it.

Block #10 Bow tie!

I was SO excited to open the book and see this weeks block was a bow tie. I've been wanting to sew them for ages, since falling in love with these by Angela, Brioni, & Jess. And then there is this facebook group for a summers worth of bow ties.

Needless to say, I was straight up GIDDY. And now I want an entire bow tie quilt. I can sense a theme going on, I sew a block, fall in love, want an entire quilt worth. Oh boy. This quilt a long is going to be spurring like 900 more quilts ;)

One of my goals for this quilt is once a month, during the last week of the month, embroider the name of the month and year on it. I originally went to dafont.com, picked out a cute font and was going to use that. But it's my personal quilt, so I thought maybe I should use my own handwriting. Here's the thing, I have AWFUL penmanship. Ask anyone who's ever received a package from me, my mom, Chop...it's just known. It's my own messy handwriting and I'm going to rock it!

Fabrics Used:

Anna Maria Horner: Innocent Crush Voile

Denyse Schmidt: Hope Valley

Michael Miller text

Cosmo embroidery floss color #486

I had planned on using a website to create a farmer's wife themed playlist but realized I'm not that tech savvy so it might have to wait until next week. Be sure to say hey-yo to Angela, stop by flickr and post your blocks & encouragement to others! We have 566 members! That is AWESOME! Let's keep up the great sewing. You can join at ANY time, there is NO SUCH thing as being late to the group! If you buy the kindle/ipad edition of the book, check out flickr for where to find templates, links to the yahoo group & tons of other info!

Also, swing by Karyn today & admire her new hand quilted hoop travel bag...it's a looker!

ok! Time for yoga! Have a great night pals!

ox

{*~Soups On!~*}

 

Soups On! Because here in Northern California, it's cold and rainy! I don't think I've ever experienced rain this late in June before. When I woke up this morning I was confused...normally I wake up about 6:30am and it's already BRIGHT outside. This morning? Not so much. I went to yoga and during the last bit it started to POUR outside.

So I came home and threw together soup! I love to cook. Love it. I cook almost all our meals from scratch. It's a pleasure for me.

I like to tweet about what I eat because I like when other people do that! I love getting ideas. But lately everyone has been asking for recipes. So here is my recipe. It's mostly a little of this and a little of that. It's not rocket science or earth shattering but it's comfort food and easy!

Hey Porkchop! Chicken Tortilla Soup

makes 8 servings and freezes well

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts. When I was eating vegetarian I would use 1 cup wild rice instead of chicken and it was delish!
• 1 container Pacific Chicken Broth. Normally I make my own but we haven't had a whole chicken in a really long time.
• 1 can (14 oz) Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes. I LOVE these and always stock up when they are on sale.
• 2 cups of your favorite salsa. I used a jar that I canned last summer. It doesn't have to be fancy, just your favorite!
• 1 package frozen corn
• 1 can of low sodium black beans. Rinse well!
• Dash of Sriracha or tabasco. Or red pepper flakes. Or your favorite heat of choice!
• 1 walla walla onion, sliced thin
• 4-6 garlic cloves depending on your taste, minced well
• Dash of cinnamon. I know. It sounds weird. But trust me. I add cinnamon to EVERYTHING and it gives a great smoke-y sweet flavor.
• Dash of chili powder, cumin, celery seed, paprika, kosher salt, ground black pepper. Or you can use your favorite taco seasoning sparingly.
• Cilantro, avocado, lime, crisp tortilla strips (I just cut a corn tortilla into strips and bake it until its crisp), sour cream, cheese, olives, whatever you'd like to top your soup!

This is where it gets hard! Toss everything except the bottom row of toppings into your crock pot. That's it gang! If your using frozen chicken, be prepared to cook it longer. I used fresh today, started the soup at 11am on high and it was done around 4pm. I have three crock pots and they all seem to be a bit different, so just know your crock pot.

This is a SOUP, if you'd like it less soup-y you can use less salsa or broth. You'll notice 1 lb of chicken breasts, but serves 8. I'm not a huge meat eater and after we've each had a bowl, Porkchop will take some for lunch the next day and I'll have a few days of lunch without the chicken. If you guys like chicken, feel free to add more.

I like to add cilantro, a squeeze of a 1/4 of a lime, 1/4 of an avocado, olives, a few tortilla strips and a bit of shredded cheese to mine. Chop loves sour cream, cheese and tortilla strips. I've been debating maybe making a onion based yogurt cheese and putting some of that on top next time.

Crock pots are AWESOME kitchen tools to have. During the fall/winter we use ours almost daily. I make everything from roasted chickpeas (kind of like a corn nut?!) to pumpkin butter to beef stew to oatmeal in mine. Seriously handy. Sometimes they get a bad rep because it seems like folks dump a can of cream of whatever into it with some random meat and call it good. Blech!

I'll be back tomorrow with Farmer's Wife Blocks...and I think I'm going to share some of my favorite songs with you....that are farmer related ;)

PS: Chop just bought me some Riley Blake Trick or Treat fabric...and the Swoon quilt pattern as an early birthday gift! I'm pretty much dying of excitement. I can't WAIT for it to arrive and to bug Angela & Tracey to help me! I'm planning on sending it out to be long arm quilted with some great Halloween pantograph. If your a long arm quilter who has some Halloween designs maybe you could leave a comment??? ;)

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 4~*}

Hey hey hey!

Week 4! Wow.

Can I just pause for a second and say that I am so glad it's Thursday! Because that means it's almost the weekend. This week was R O U G H. Between rescuing an abandoned koala bunny, a deadline mix up, lack of sleep and it being over a hundred degrees this girl is BEAT! I'm spending today and tomorrow wrapping up two new patterns and finishing Star-y Log Cabin. I'm chaining myself to the computer and just getting stuff done. It's driving me nuts that I'm not quite there yet, it's like I sit down and BAM! Something happens!

So here are this week blocks!

#7 Birds in the Air

So 40 pieces in a 6.5 inch block? Wowzers. That's a lot of small pieces! But not too bad! I want to sew with bright pink like, NONSTOP, mix it with grey and cream...HEAVEN!!!! I was on the phone with my mom for a few hours when I was working on this block and I was CONVINCED I screwed it up but I didn't thankfully.

Fabrics used:

Kate Spain- Terrain       Thanks John for the terrain!

Jessica Goncha Swift for Red Rooster,

Liberty of London..love those bikes!

#8- Bouquet

I seriously LOVED piecing this block. I think a quilt made from this block should be in my future, it's THAT good. Imagine a bunch of bright solid little bouquets?! So sweet! I'm feeling really obsessed with navy and green lately.

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink- Prince Charming & Plume

Michael Miller stripe...I'm not sure what it's called?!

Momo I think dots?! Possibly?

I'm off to the gym and then to finish computer work! I heard a rumor that we are going camping this weekend...;)

xo

a

{*~Bloggy Love Day! Quilt Trippin!~*}

Hi All!!! Welcome to Bloggy Love Day!!!!!

Pat very kindly invited me to take part....so here goes!

#1 What is your most interesting or unusual item in your studio?

Confession:

I am a little thing collector. If it sparkles, is Japanese kawaii or is stationary based...I gotta have it. Here are a few of my small collections! They are a little unusual...Chop thinks I'm secretly a magpie ;)

Ashleigh recently made me a ceramic little guy. Gray is my FAVORITE color. I keep my hand quilting threads in him. He's sitting on top of one of my FAVORITE japanese cat tea towels (Shinzi Katoh if your curious!)

My favorite tape measure! His little cactus arm pulls out! So you can measure stuff! I love him SO much.

I collect fishing lures! Each and every time we go somewhere, I'm buying a sparkly lure/fly. The more glitter, the better. Weird shapes? Awesome. Fake bugs? I'm so there! These are a handful of my collection, I think I have about 25 now. I keep them on the windowsill in front of my sewing machine, when the light hits them they throw little shiny spots onto whatever I'm sewing.

Oh boy. I am OBSESSED with these. I collect shaped paper clips. I also have bunnies, unicorns and pigs. I'm hoping eventually to own all of them. They make boring things suddenly fun, contracts, organizing invoices, etc. Who can deny a smile when your stuff is held together with a whale?!

#2 Who would you like to hang out with for a day and why?

Hands down, without a doubt. MARU!!!! He's the cutest cat EVER!!!! I'd swim to Japan if I thought I could meet him. He's very pudge-y, a little grumpy, he jumps into boxes, makes cute videos. He seriously is the greatest creature EVER!!!!!!! My day isn't complete until I check out his blog and see what he's been up too!

#3 What is your top tip?

(embroidery pattern by Wild Olive)

Ok this is a new tip!

If you aren't familiar with my blog, I co-own The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, which is a LOT of cute cross stitch patterns. Well, with cross stitch (and embroidery!), you separate your skein of embroidery floss. I love Cosmo floss and don't want to waste or lose any! Now, I don't know about you, but I love scrapbook paper. It is so freaking AWESOME. But I don't scrapbook. Like, at all. So now I buy a cute sheet of paper and cut in into pieces. The size doesn't pattern, I usually do 6.5 x 3.5 inches, then I hole punch spots for the floss and for a safety pin. I keep multiple thread cards together with the safety pin and then loop the threads through the holes to keep them organized. I stick a bit of washi tape on the bottom if they are threads I'm using for a specific project! Easy peasy and you stay nice and organized. Plus, it's an excuse to buy cute paper! I keep another group of cards for hand quilting threads.

Be sure to stop by these great gals blogs today, they will be answering the same questions and sharing their tips & tricks! Say hi to them and fall in love with their great creations!

• Amy
• Sarah
• Bonnie
• Pat

Thanks again Pat for inviting me! Her blog is full of great quilt-y stuff (the above ladies as well too!!!) and her radio show is top notch!

Tomorrow I'll be posting my Farmer's Wife Week 4! I'll see you tomorrow!

xo

a

{*~1001 Peeps Summer Camp!~*}

 

Hey Yo!!!!

Let's get excited! It's time for 1001 Peeps Summer Camp!!! This is so fun!! I'm jazzed to be part of such a talented group of people! eeek!!!

Here is the line up!

June 24: Alexia Abegg.

July 1: Lemon Cadet

July 8: The Fat Quarterly!

July 15: Quilt Asylum.

July 22:  MrsMcPorkchop (That's me!!!)

July 29: Flax and Twine

August 5: Heather alamode

August 12:  Make Something

August 19: Whipstitch

August 26: Happy Zombie

I've been sewing with some 1001 Peeps lately...I'm working on a long term quilt for our bed, made up of 7 inch saw tooth stars. I love how fussy cut-able, narrative and just plain FUN her fabrics are going to be in this quilt! I'm dying to make a skirt from the navy blue candlesticks too. And sleep pants from the coral colored ones! Or maybe pearl bracelets? The line is seriously chock full of inspiration!

Fun stuff right???

Be sure to visit all the blogs, say hi to Lizzy (wish her a Happy Birthday!) and come back to check out my project! Oh! And grab a cuuuute button!

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I'm spending the day wrapping up two new patterns, finishing up star-y log cabin e-course and working in the garden! I'll be back on Monday to show you a cute wedding gift I'm working on ;)

Have a great weekend pals! And Happy Birthday L.House!

xo

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long Week 3~*}

Hi Gang!

I'm sorry I didn't post my blocks yesterday! I learned the hard way what happens when you have the AC going at full blast, plus your sewing machine, tv, iron and a few other goodies. I got to spend part of my day without any electricity because I blew a fuse. I did this last summer but for some reason I forgot about watching how many things I have going on at once...eek! I blame 90+ degrees after weeks of like, 60's! Hey Northern California Summer! Nice to see you!!!!

So here is block #5- Bat Wing!

I'm not going to lie, with a name like Bat Wing, I *really* wanted to make it in Halloween fabric. If you are unfamiliar with my blog, I am OBSESSED with Halloween. I know I'm going to want to add some Halloween blocks probably in September & October, so I held off. Barely. Instead I went with a darker block, something still fairy tale-ish & fun!

Fabrics used:

Lizzy House 1001 Peeps (love love love!)

A random polka dot that I bought last weekend with Tracey. It's Marcus Bros, but that's all my fq had of the selvedge.

Block #6: Big Dipper

Wowzers! This block sure looks busy & fancy. Can I tell you that lately I'm really obsessed with lilac & aqua? They are just so fresh together. I know red & aqua is the favorite among quite a few of my pals *ahem, Monica* but I'm all about trying new things. So, lilac & aqua!

Fabrics used:

Tula Pink: Parisville

Rosalie Quinlan: Sweet Broderie

Here are all the blocks so far!

Hey not to bad right?!

Confession: I am the most obsessive quilter ever. I sometimes make the same quilt like, 10 times in my head before I even cut fabric. I sketch, I EQ, I generally need to have 100% control over each & every single project I work on. But! Life *SO* doesn't work like that. And after Chop's health scare, I'm learning to...be a little less obsessive in all areas in my life. Not everything in life is within my control and this is my one, completely out of control project. And I'm not going to lie, it's SO.MUCH.FUN. I'm sewing blocks by the seat of my pants. I'm grabbing random fabrics and throwing them together. I'm making combos & being reckless. And guess what? It's not HEINOUS. I've seen a lot of quilters on flickr stressing out about fabric choices. And that's totally cool. But scrappy is a-ok! I'm rocking it! Embrace the crazy!

I have a tip! It might be helpful, it might not. But it worked for me!

When I started Big Dipper, I grabbed two colored pencils, one purple, one aqua and I scribbled on the foundation paper! This way I'd remember the order of the fabrics. Otherwise I'd get confused because the block isn't assembled the same way as the book.

Be sure to swing by Angela's blog and say hi! Her blocks this week are so freaking cute! A few members of the flickr group have made some great blog buttons, they are a few pages in. Make sure you add your blog post from this week to the thread! And tell us what type of Farmer's significant other you are!

I had a run in this morning with the wind, the car door and my toe, so I'm working on computer work all day, but tune in tomorrow!

xo

 

Guys!

I have so much to share with you but I don't even know where to begin!

Ashleigh & I had a craft date last week...two days of silk screening, tiedyeing, yoga bliss! We screen printed Harry Potter themed fat quarters and ate coconut Popsicles. Then! I had a super awesome day with Tracey who is the cutest pregnant girl ever! So.much.FUN!!!! You can see what we did via instagram!

I treated myself to some new embroidery floss. I'm pretty obsessed with Cosmo, it's the best floss ever. I even got a skein of SPARKLE!!!

I absolutely love to embroider, it's one of my favorite things EVER. So! I've decided every Sunday, I'm going to embroider. Stitching Sunday! I'm currently working on Happy Campers! Mollie's patterns are so CUTE and not hard at all. I used the sparkle floss and I have to say...it's incredible to work with! No snags, tangles & it's BEAUTIFUL! I added sparkle to two parts of the embroidery so far, I'll share when it's done.

Here are some other rad stuff for you to check out!

• Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long! So many have asked how to join! It's simple! Buy the book, sew some blocks, post to our flickr group & add your link to the weekly round up threads!Angela & I post our blocks on Wednesdays, so I'll be blogging again tomorrow with them!
• Rashida is giving away 8!!! yes! 8!!!! paper copies of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's pattern, The Cutest Cute Bot! Head over to her blog, say hello, tell her how excited you are about her new book & fabric! And! Enter to win a pattern! Woot!
• I started a Halloween board on pinterest. I'm hoping by the end of the month I'll be able to get started on some Halloween quilts! It's NEVER to early to work on Halloween stuff!
• The Sewing Summit is approaching FAST. I've been hard at work building minis for my lecture. I think it's going to be a really fun event & I hope some of you can come!
• I'm absolutely LOVING Ellen's version of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery's Hoop Travel Bag! Go tell her how great her hand stitching & fussy cutting skills are!

See you tomorrow!!!

xo

{*~Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 2~*}

 

Hi Friends!!!

Week Two! The Blocks! Let's talk about them! Actually, let's talk about the quilt-a-long in general!

Twitter has been on FIRE! Lot's of GREAT, INSPIRING talk about the blocks, the quilt-a-long, fabrics, etc. Questions being asked and answered. If you tweet to me something about the quilt-a-long, I'll RT! That way EVERYONE feels included, supported and involved. I'm not the type of girl who leaves people out, but there have been a LOT of tweets, so it's kind of easy to lose them. So if I haven't RTed your stuff, just tweet again! I love love LOVE how positive everyone has been about this, I like seeing people chat with each other and making new quilt-y pals.

Flickr. Wow. The group is HUGE! (162 people as of today!) When Angela & I started this, I was hoping for just a handful of dedicated quilters...but it's BIG! Like, shockingly big. And I am EXCITED. I try to check the pool once a day & leave comments. There are threads dedicated to each week's post, I really encourage you to leave your blog link with your weekly blocks so everyone can come by and say hi! Plus check out Angela's email with the author! That's awesome right?

ONTO THE BLOCKS!

Block #3: Basket

Basket! I love basket blocks, I have dreams of a basket quilt. I needle turn applique-d the handle on and my template wasn't quite on the bias, hence the wrinkle. Just go with it k? Since I'm doing my blocks with scraps I'm trying to eek out enough fabric for each template. If I can find another scrap from my stash I'll most likely re-do it.

Fabrics:

Little Things by Sarah Fielke (love her, love those dots!)

Meadowsweet 2 by Sandi Hendersen

Block #4: Basket Weave

I like this block a lot, I used some tiny scraps of some precious fabrics. Plus it's COLORFUL! I don't know about you, but this quilt-a-long is making me OBSESSED with color. I want to be daring and BRIGHT. Because the blocks are small, only 6x6 finished. And there is sashing! So it's ok to be kind of crazy in these blocks. Plus, I bet if you take a step back, look at your stash, and squint...your fabrics make sense together, if you buy stuff you love, it'll all make sense in your quilt!

Fabrics:

Liberty of London- a piece from Megan (I like having my good blog friends in my quilt! ;))

Cosmo Cricket

Far Far Away 2

A few notes:

I'm NOT squaring my blocks up as I go anymore. I'm so not a perfect quilter and if some of my blocks are a smidge smaller, I want to be able to square them all up to the smallest size so when I assemble the top, it's easier. Please keep your inner quilt critic quiet, this is totally a learning experience for us all, if someone's blocks are wonky, let it be & support them for even trying, 111 blocks is no tiny endeavor! I know I appreciate all the kind comments you make and so do others, we have a lot of sewing ahead of us, so keep sewing & smiling! And tweeting! And flickring!

I'm SO excited for next weeks blocks! Is there a block your looking forward too? Dreading? Share with me your block thoughts in the comments!

Well, Ashleigh & I are having a crazy craft day...lots of dye-ing, silkscreening and building! I'll share photos with you later! If you've left a comment since last week, I'm hoping to reply to all of them by Friday!

Happy Sewing!

xo

amanda

{*~June's Lofty Goals~*}

 

Happy Monday!

I had such a fun weekend. And by fun I mean, laziest weekend EVER. I got caught up on two of my favorite shows, Fairly Legal & Bones. Both had total cliffhanger season finales. I made some pouches. I did some embroidery. I ate cake. I went to the movies (The Hangover 2 if your curious!). Ate yogurt. Slept late. Re-read the entire "fever" series. Wore pjs past noon. It was pretty good.

But now it's MONDAY. Back to WORK! I have a giant list for the month of June. Want to hear some of my June goals?

• Sew Date with Tracey!
• Three new patterns for The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.
• Finish the last of Star-y Log Cabin. I'm tongue tied at the moment. I have so much to say but I feel like I'm giving TMI and just becoming confusing.
• Camp!
• We are going to a wedding this month & I think this might be the perfect gift?!
• Keeping up with my garden. We are using some great plant food stakes and liquid food, I think that combined with the strange cold weather has made everything go crazy. So far I've been able to harvest kale 6x!
• More yoga! I've been going 3x a week but I want to go more. It's so fun.
• Sew a Jane Market Bag for all my embroidery supplies! I like excuses to be organized and make more bags! BUT. This pattern uses 1/2 yds and I literally don't own a single 1/2 yard right now. What the WHAT?
• Do a scrap swap with Angela for our Farmer's Wife QAL.
• Finish my star bed quilt! I have 25 out of 61 blocks done.
• I really want to make Swoon this summer.
• Silkscreen fabric for pouches.
• Craft Dates with Smash.
• Find another great series to get lost in. I'm starting to feel like I've read everything out there!
• Start another e-course!

Do you have any goals for this month???

{*~The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-Long Week 1~*}

 

Hi friends!!!!

Phew! What a day! Welcome to The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long Week One!

Angela & I have been working on our blocks, bouncing ideas off each other and tweeting a lot!

We each are doing things a little differently, I'm going talk a little bit about what I'm doing, I'll let her share her thoughts with you!

One of main reasons for doing this quilt is the challenge. I want to get better at piecing, playing with color and learning about traditional quilt blocks. But also, I want to become better friends with Angela, she's going to the Sewing Summit & I thought it would be a great way to chat with her and build a quilt together! And I'm dying to see how YOU interpret these blocks!!!! AND! I'm dying to be a farmer's wife. I want a little farm so bad it hurts. Ok. Back to business!

I'm doing the blocks in order, starting with number one. I'm using fabrics from my stash and scraps. Chris had a great idea the other night on twitter to use charms, I have TONS of charms floating around and used a few in these blocks. Since the blocks are small  (6x6 finished) you can really use the smallest bits & pieces from your stash. Best!

What I LOVE about this is two blocks a week I can handle. I'm doing my blocks in whatever colors I feel like sewing with that day. If this quilt is a colorful bit of crazy, I'm a-ok with that because it's sashed! I have no idea what solid I'll use but I have TONS of time to think about it.

Here is Block #1- Attic Windows

Fabrics used:

Prince Charming by Tula Pink, Plume by Tula Pink, 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House

This block was really fun to make. It was my first experience using a template (all the blocks in the book have templates!) that had notches. And I LOVE THEM. It makes lining things up so much easier. I'm really into navy blue lately so I used some navy's and aqua's!

Block #2 Autumn Tints

Fabrics used: It's a hoot by Momo, Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry, Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks & Prince Charming by Tula Pink

So this block was really awesome to make, think of all the possibilities!!! I love autumn, so I thought about doing it in autumn-y colors or maybe a Halloween block, but I went outside and everything was SO BRIGHT GREEN. And I decided I needed to sew something really bright & spring-y (even though it's down pouring outside ;)) See why I need this project? I get the urge to sew with zillions of colors at all different times! One thing I'm going to keep in mind is stripes. Even though the block is perfectly square, it looks a little off because of how I lined the prints up!

Here is a tool I can't live without:

Clover Fabric Adhesive! I put a dab of it on the back of my template so it doesn't slide around when rotary cutting.

Please consider joining us in making this quilt! You'll need the book "The Farmer's Wife" By Laurie Aaron Hird and we'd love it if you joined our flickr group, even if it's just to encourage us on, 111 blocks is a LOT!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

PS: The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery needs help naming our newest sewing pattern! Please, please, please stop by our facebook page and check out our sneak peek & help us name it! If we pick your name you will win a free pattern of your choice!

{*~Weekend~*}

 

Chop & I just got back from a super great trip! We went up to Sierra City for the weekend. We stayed at the Butte's Resort, they had a last minute cancellation & we were able to book the cutest cabin. On Saturday it SNOWED. And it stuck! We went for tons of walks, took zillions of photos, went for some beautiful drives through Tahoe National Forest, visited some great historic sites and played cards. I read two books & crocheted. So relaxing! I also got a book by a local author all about prostitution in the west, it's super fascinating, I love reading about local history.

I had no cell service the entire time & I LOVED IT. I feel guilty when I'm behind on emails, tweets, flickr, blah blah blah, which is silly because it's supposed to be fun! So I'm going to spend the rest of the summer with limited internet time.

One thing I'm pretty into right now (aside from fishing!) is shooting my bow! Chop & I recently celebrated our five year anniversary & he bought me a compound bow! I was totally surprised and SO excited. I picked pink camo because I'm not really a "pink" kind of girl & thought it would be fun to have something bright. We set up a target & some hay in our backyard and we've been spending the evenings getting the bow sighted in. I love shooting a bow more than shooting a gun, it's really satisfying in a completely different way. I think we might check out a local archery range this week.

As I was packing for the weekend I realize I've accomplished one of my goals. I've always wanted a life surrounded by handmade things. I remember when I very first started sewing 5 years ago, I got this great Japanese craft book and the interiors of the homes featured were filled with patchwork. Not just full sized quilts, but every day usable goods, I was inspired that they put a mini quilt over a computer monitor when it wasn't in use. And I fell in love. This little snap shot includes: Amy Butler Weekender, handmade pillowcases, my crochet carrying box bag, a sewing kit, a kindle cozy, a scarf, a picnic quilt & a little pouch for important stuff. Chop & I joke that as soon as I get something new, I have to sew a cozy for it and it's SO true. I love making little easy patchwork from scraps. It's so satisfying. He's been encouraging me to sell some one of a kind little pouches & stuff, I think I might give it a go this week! I'll let you guys know if I do.

This week Angela & I will be blogged about The Farmer's Wife Quilt-a-long & I'm so excited. I'm going to sort some scraps this afternoon to get ready for it. It's 111 blocks, two blocks a week! A veryyyyy long term project. But the blocks are SMALL, only 6x6! so two blocks a week shouldn't be too tricky!

See you then!

xo

{*~Huh~*}

 

Soooo here we are. May 26th.

I'm so curious where the end of April & all of May went?! Oi.

This morning I woke up early, I've been fighting the flu for a few days, had a little granola and promptly dropped my iPhone into my bowl. Of chocolate almond milk. And it was being ok, then suddenly...no sound. 4+ hrs later, I have sound but no ringtones, apps, photos or videos. The videos is brutal because it's all my work for star-y e-course, plus two other e-courses I'm working on.

I am totally addicted to my phone. It's true. It's because my macbook is using Tiger and that is now out of date. I'd buy Snow Leopard but with Chop being to the drs so much in the past few months...we are on a strict budget!

I'm still feeling very...blech. Which is not fun. But here are some fun tidbits of stuff that's going on!

• New exciting things at The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery! Seriously, click that link. It's going to make you smile. It involves The Pumpkins + Rashida Coleman-Hale!
• I'm trying to learn how to crochet...totally inspired by Kate!
• Chop & I celebrated an amazing 5 years of being together on the 25th! We are going on a little adventure this weekend. I love that grump!
• I am obsessed with Blake Shelton's Honey Bee. That was one of the ring tones I lost. It is SUCH a cute song.
• Angela & I are starting the most EPIC quilt-a-long next week...The Farmers Wife Quilt!!!! You'll need the book, as we won't be giving out any of the measurements, just offering moral support & working on this big quilt together! I'm planning on doing mine really scrappy & all from my stash. It's going to be a very long term project & I'd (we'd!!) love it if you joined us! It's a quilt I've wanted to make since Chop got me the book for Valentine's Day. It's amazing and even if you are a "modern" quilter, there is a LOT to be learned from these blocks technically speaking! Plus, no rush, no pressure. This is purely for fun!

Have a great long weekend!!!!

{*~Seeing Stars..and fish?~*}

It's no secret I love stars. I'm pretty sure I could sew sawtooth blocks 100x and not get bored. And have it look completely different each time. I love that about classic blocks.

This week I made Lizzy some pillows for her Quilt Market booth. She sent me a GIANT box of scraps from her upcoming line, 1001 Peeps. (It's amazing! Your going to love it!) After a few skype dates, I got to work. I made very simple pillows and used some of the scraps to make a giant hoop travel bag for a project I'm working on. But somehow she didn't have a cute bag to carry her embroidery around in, so I shipped off the pillows & bag for her. I hope she loves it and uses it to death. I attempted improv piecing and it's not my strong suit, but it's very fun to play with!

I also finished up 4 big projects this week so that means I can actually breathe deep and not feel so stressed. I'm finishing up 3 more, including the last star-y e-course pdfs. It's going to feel amazing to get everything done. Sweet RELIEF!!!

Our bed currently has our wedding quilt on it and it's starting to look a little rough. I wash our bedding once a week and it's not falling apart or anything but a few prints are looking slightly faded. And I want to increase it's lifetime. So that totally means I need a new quilt right? Right? Haha. I want WHITE and bits of color. And crisp white sheets. And fancy pillowcases. And I want white curtains. I've already mentioned all this in a previous post, so just go with it k?

I drew up a few options in EQ and ended up with something simple. Very classic. But special. I have someone in mind for quilting it. I'm going to hopefully finish it by the end of the month & it'll be a pattern published by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. That's exciting right?

Lately the Chop & I have been FISHING. Like, EVERY night. It's so much fun! We bring chairs, fishing poles, drinks & just sit outside next to a pretty pond. Except I've become obsessed with it. And it's my goal to catch like, a ZILLION. The other night I caught over 15 blue gills! That sounds impressive until you google what they are. Haha. I'm teasing Chop that soon I'll be sponsored by RealTree & suddenly I'll trust my life to my fishing pole ala Jim Shockey (google him!)!

Hope your having a good Thursday!!! :):)

{*~Spring Inspiration~*}

 

Thanks so much everyone for your great comments on my last post! I was blown away! I wish I could reply to each one but unfortunately I'm still playing catch up and I'm behind on projects. But please know that I read, thought about & appreciated all of them. You guys are all AWESOME.

Right now I'm working on a few neat projects for some of my favorite designers for Quilt Market and a few book projects. I'm hoping to get everything done & wrapped up by Friday. It's all fun stuff, cross stitches, mini quilts & throw pillows. Plus a bread basket...but that's for a friend, not QM ;)

In the meantime, I'm day dreaming about a new quilt for our bed. Normally I love all things precise and neutral but lately I want something super CHEERFUL and CRISP and FUN and LIBERATED for our room. I missed the boat a few years back when everyone was making white + tons of color quilts. It's totally in my mind now!

I am really inspired by Penny, she is SO clever with her piecing. Last night I couldn't sleep & was scouring flickr, gathering inspiration and pinning it when I remembered her awesome Asterisk Block! And then I saw Dorrie is making some! Light bulbs were flashing. So I bought Penny's pattern, I think I'm going to make some big & small asterisks, plus some liberated churn dash & stars! That sounds crazy fun right? I'm hoping I can buy some new cute sheets for our bed on sale too.

Speaking of sheets, yesterday I got a new Garnet Hill catalog.

And they had some GREAT quilt inspiration!

These were my two favorites:

(whirlwind quilt)

I feel like this quilt reminds me so much of something Nova or Yahaira would create! Except they'd make it radder! I love the chunky hand quilting. Also, that bed frame is BEAUTIFUL!

(Nantucket Awning Quilt)

I LOVE this one! It's so graphic and preppy and RAD! I grew up in MA and every summer I daydream of fried clams, my grandfather's boat shoes, l.l.bean boat & totes, afternoons at Nahant and humid nights. In reality my summers in CA are 115 degrees, IPA, flip flops from April-October, sunglasses from 6 am til 9 pm, Target tank tops & fish tacos!

REGARDLESS! Back to this quilt! I love it! Those scallop-y-fans! Those colors! <3!

• We planted a garden this weekend. And are building another raised bed this weekend!
• I'm going to try backing some quilts with sheets. The lobster one especially!
• Cauliflower Pizza Crust?! I'm there!
• Instagram is pretty fun!
• Chop & I are in LOVE with Adventure Time, it is so kawaii!!!
• I bought this kit yesterday. It's going to be my summer project that I'll take with me camping & when I'm sitting outside at night with Chop. Now of course I want to sew a new Hoop Travel Bag. Why is it that whenever I start a new project, I automatically want a new bag to carry it around in? Do you do that too?

Have a great Tuesday!

{~*Reality Check*~}

I'm not quite sure how to turn this into a cohesive post but just go with it ok?

I think it's important to keep my blog upbeat because that's how I am in real life, but it's also important to keep it real and sometimes real life can suck.

I got an unexpected reality check last Wednesday. Does anyone ever really expect the scary things life throws at us out of the blue? In this case it was that Chop has a lump & might be sick.

We found out that it wasn't cancer but the days leading up to that phone call have been incredibly crappy and eye opening. I knew in my gut that all would be ok regardless of what happened. I have faith in modern medicine, I have faith in my husband being a strong guy, I have faith that we'd make it through whatever cards had been dealt to us. I love that guy more than anything in the world & it's just a matter of holding on to that love with both hands. And maybe a beer at night to calm down. ;)

Since last Wednesday I've done nothing business/work related. And fallen painfully behind. I think you all understand. I can't focus knowing things are up in the air. I'm not a machine with no feelings. Some people can work through upheaval, I can't.

I spent a lot of time talking to Chop, going on adventures, being his other half, baking & teaching him how to cook. Making lists. Thinking a lot about the future. Debating which projects I genuinely loved & wanted to continue with. Which projects weren't worth it anymore. Organized my finances. I did some reading. And it was the reality check we both needed.

We want to spend more time together & stop working insane hours. Why on earth am I scheduling every.single.second.of my life? Two reasons: I genuinely love to work and I severely undercharge on projects so I'm constantly scrambling to pay my bills. I see all the flaws, rarely charge above $8-10 for custom sewing, give discounts because I feel bad asking people to pay me what I'm worth. A lot of this has been floating around in my mind after a really enlightening skype with Lizzy.

Painter's don't charge $20 for a painting. So why do people charge $100 for queen & king sized quilts? I know some people are fast, but seeing very beautiful & intricate quilts that cheap hurts my stomach. I can't change why people price their hard work cheaply, but I can change my own attitude about it. And start enforcing it more. Minimum wage isn't cutting it when I've been sewing for almost 5 years.

I also have zero patience for the online quilting drama that has been happening lately. I've received a few bitchy comments that I deleted, because my blog isn't a place for nastiness. And people can take their nasty attitudes elsewhere. I highly doubt any of these people would have the balls to come up to people in real life & say the things they do while they hide behind their computers with evil grins & steepled fingers.

We all sew. We are all on different paths with our sewing. We all have different spending budgets. We all have different definitions of what a quilt is. We have different time restraints. We all like different fabric. And at the end of the day, we all SEW. And designers aren't trying to just design for one overly critical person online. So let's stop being condescending & bitchy to each other because all it does is discourage people from posting, designing and new sew-ers from wanting to take up the craft. What if the one person who inspires you decides to stop posting because of negativity? That's a loss for them and you. And countless others who lurk on the internet & are shy. And I know that if a bunch of my online friends stopped posting the stuff they were creating I'd be totally bummed. There is too much serious blah going on in the world, quilting & sewing shouldn't be one of them.

Instead of being the internet quilt police, why don't we spend time with the people in our lives we love, dance to our favorite song (currently Country Girl) in our underwear, sew whatever we want with fabric we love because it's fun, bake because chocolate is delicious, encourage each other during rough patches, paint our nails with the most sparkly glitter we can find because who can deny the amazingness of glitter, leave comments on flickr on things we love, buy cute new shoes because shoes fit no matter what size you are and read trashy romance novels in the sun because it's a great escape?!

That sounds much better than being an evil jerk any day.

{*~What I've been up too!~*}

 

First I made a block for Patchwork Squared's Modern Solid's Quilt-a-long! This post talks a little bit about my creative process and shows you how to create the Tonganoxie 9 Patch! Thanks for having me Ryan & Charlie!

Then I started cutting....and cutting...and cutting...

and more cutting!

Because this weekend is Redwood Sewing Center's Mystery Retreat! When I was tweeting about this yesterday a lot of people were curious so here goes!

You get a packet from them when you sign up. In the packet is cutting instructions and a little chart!

So the fabrics on the left are the ones they are using in their quilt, the right is where you paste your picks. They tell you where the color is featured within the quilt and you pick your fabrics around that. You DON'T know what the finished quilt looks like! It's a MYSTERY! Through out the weekend they give you instructions how to sew stuff together.

I picked some favorites: quilters linen, far far away 2, west hill (I ran short & thankfully Jeni & Megan saved my butt!) some Parisville (Thomas very kindly sent me some scraps to play with!), I also raided my scrap bin and if it was pink or purple, I cut it! I cut over 300 pieces. That's crazy right?! I'm so so so excited! I picked FFA2 moons for one border and Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush lilac-y stripe for the other. It's going to be about 88x88, I'm dying to quilt it myself and give our wedding quilt a break. I have 9 quilts we rotate on our bed and I've been anxious to give them a rest & make a new one. Did you see Sarah is doing a naked bed challenge? That's really fun!

Here is something I love that I don't think I've mentioned before. It's an ArtBin that they sell at JoAnns...probably Michaels too. I think they are used for scrapbooking BUT they are perfect sized for quilt blocks! I keep all my 12.5 inch blocks in here, they lay flat & organized. I have two, one for traveling with fabric, one for storing blocks. They are almost always on sale, they had them yesterday 50% off at JoAnns. Plus, aqua glitter!!! How can you say no to aqua glitter?!

I started my weekender bag! The outside is completely done, I'm not done yet with the lining. It wasn't hard so much as a lot of little steps. I had great company, Katherine was making one too. So we'd tweet back & forth about it. I'm not sure yet how to do the lining but I'm hoping I'll figure it out.

This is a little project I can't talk about because it's a b-day gift for someone who sometimes reads my blog (my mom! ha!).

I've been working on some videos, some orders, writing two new patterns, reading a LOT before bed, but one thing I haven't been doing is hand quilting. I'm not sure what's going on but my elbow gets a funny pain in it...it happens when I knit & cross stitch too. So I'm taking a little break from it which stinks because I have two quilts to be bound & a mini to finish quilting. And the weekender has you hand stitch the lining in! Eeep!!!

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut! I have really straight, like doesn't hold a bobby pin straight (I need to tell you that I typed that at first as a bobbin pin...sew much?;)) so I'm hoping it'll be cute and not helmet like. I'm trying to grow out my bangs. I want something very light & fun for the summer, I tend to be very serious & self conscious so this will be fun. Right now my hair is about 4 inches past my shoulders but you'd never know because it's always in a pony tail!

ok! I'm off to finish up some stuff! Have a great weekend!!!

{*~Rainy Monday~*}

If last week could be summed up in one word it would be "exhausting". Not in a bad way, just a lot of stuff!

The highlight was Saturday! We went to the Red Bluff Round Up! I've never been to a rodeo before and it was SO much fun. I made a little pouch that screamed "SUNNY COUNTRY DAY!!!" to hold my phone & i.d (and beer money ;)) I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, seriously, SO fun. Completely fascinating. The girls doing barrel racing totally stole my heart. I was in awe. I got to see the Budweiser Clydesdales who are the most magnificent creatures ever. And I saw some giant buffaloes and watched mule races (did you know I'm obsessed with mules & donkey's?)  I realize I want a horse so bad it isn't even funny. A small little farm for Chop & I with a barn for quilting. Lots of space for a garden, a cat, a dog (Chop wants a lab!) & a horse. And a burro.

If you told 20 year old Amanda that she'd be at a rodeo having the time of her life, she'd scoff and then go to Nordstrom. 28 year old Amanda is a completely different person. I want a completely different lifestyle than what I started out life wanting. I wish I had found a simpler way of life then, I'd have saved myself a lot of heartache (and debt! who needs expensive stuff when your just going to work at home?!). I love a lot of things that don't have a price tag..riding my bike, sitting outside reading, painting, cooking & baking, going for drives with Chop...I guess that's all part of growing up?

I've been practicing on my long arm lately, I had three quilt tops that were old that I finished up, I can always tell which tops are old because it was back when I didn't believe in using pins...haha. I'm getting more comfortable with it but practice is always fun. I quilted the above quilt using aurifil and it was so pretty to watch it quilt (it's variegated white to aqua!).

I just put pork a l'orange in the crock pot. I LOVE making this. I slice half an onion thinly and put it on the bottom of the crock pot. Then I add the chops and I drizzle homemade bbq sauce on top with some larrupin, cinnamon and honey. And then I add a bit of orange juice, about half way up the chops...cover and cook on low until everyone comes home. So good! Sometimes I add brown sugar but I got a new honey I wanted to try this time. :)

I have so many things to share and work on this week but I want to show you my friend Jackie's awesome book she made, Goodnight Worcester! I think she might be one of my oldest friends & we reconnected on facebook. So great!!! Imagine making a book for your kids so they can be inspired by the place you call home? Brilliant!

Have a great Monday pals!

{*~Friday~*}

 

I almost blogged telling you that I was throwing in the towel, giving up sewing completely, never buying another fabric and deleting my blog.

But that would be a mean April Fool's Joke.

I've LOVING the sunshine here in Northern California. Maybe a little too much. (read that as I gave myself the worst sunburn in my life)

I'm working on the above mini quilt for one thousand wishes, I was hoping to finish it this morning but as I sat working on it yesterday I realized I didn't like the silk thread. So I pulled out all my hand quilting and started over. And I'm much happier. Once I finish the mini I'll give you links & info about Ali's popup shop for Japanese relief.

This morning The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery welcomed a Guest Designer, Kaye Prince! She's designed the cutest cross stitch pattern, Itching to be Stitching! and Ashleigh sent out the newest Fruit of the Month , CHERRIES!!!

I have a LOT of sewing to do this month & I'm so jazzed! It's going to be a B L A S T! I get really excited when I draw something, sew something and then the finished result actually LOOKS like the drawing.

This upcoming weekend I'm going to a quilting retreat and I'm DYING of excitement. It's a mystery quilt sponsored by Redwood Sewing Center (aka Scottie Dog Quilts) and it's at the Eureka Inn. When Chop & I lived in Eureka we'd frequently take walks by the Inn and would swear it was haunted. I'm really hoping it's not. Haha! I've been trying to figure out what fabric to make my quilt from but before that can happen I decided I needed a new bag to carry all my supplies in. That makes sense right?

I ordered the Weekender pattern, cut it all out, started sewing it...and I'm hoping to get it done by Monday. Because I'm leaving Friday. I can do that right?!

Did you see Karyn is going to be talking about Bernina's on her blog now? I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not but I've traded in my Bernina 820 & got a Bernina 440QE & a long arm. I absolutely LOVE the QE. Like, LOVE. I'm currently sewing the piping on that bag, going through 6 layers of fabric using the zipper foot with NO problems. Yeah. ZIPPER FOOT. Not even the walking foot. I just LOVE it.

What are you up too this weekend? I'm hoping we can visit Colusa Western Days tomorrow!