Good Morning to me....

I woke up this morning to the peaceful sound of rain... only to realize that it was raining in my kitchen. I ran upstairs to knock on my neighbors door to see if they knew the cause of the water leaking into my place - no answer. I called my apartment management company who send someone right over. They inspected my place and went upstairs. It turns out my upstairs neighbor (who I've never met and hope never to meet) decided to stop the sink, leave the water on and take a nap. The maintenance man said when he got upstairs there was water flowing EVERYWHERE.... right down into my place. Idiot!!!

Modern Swappers 2 - Items Sent

Today was the last day to send my package to my Modern Swappers partner. I stitched right down to the last possible moment and got it shipped off just in time. My partner should have there package Monday if all goes well at the USPS. I will share two items now and the rest of the package after I know my partner received the package in case she is checking my blog. I want some of it to be a surprise.

The main item is several things in one. I love the sewing machine cover I got in the last round of Modern Swappers it looks amazing in my sewing room but it spends a lot of its time off my machine because I am sewing so much. So I thought to myself what if a sewing machine cover could serve a duel purpose. Lots of people have been making weighted pin cushion thread catchers to sit beside you when you sew. So I combined the two. When it isn't covering your machine, it sits under your machine. I have thought about the fact that you might not want this directly in front of you, so partner if that is the case hopefully you have something you can weigh it down with and use along side of you. Also the pin cushion is held on with snaps so you can use it anywhere as just a pin cushion and the thread catcher is also held on with a snap to make emptying your scraps easier. Partner I hope you enjoy your sewing machine cover/pin cushion/thread catcher/notions holder... in one!

I also made a wall hanging to match the cover as a decoration for her sewing room. I embroidered 'sew' on some tiny hoops and attached them to a small quilt. I have had these teeny tiny buttons for a long time and finally found a cute use for them.

The rest of the swap includes some little surprises and 1 1/2 total yards of fabric. I love this swap and can't wait to do it again! Hopefully my package from my mystery partner arrives soon.... I CAN'T WAIT!!! People put together some great packages!

Angry Birds Pillow

For all you Angry Birds fans out there! I personally am obsessed. Here is a project that I am really excited to share, because it turned out even better then I could have possibly hoped. Here is the front:

And the back (if only getting 3 stars was this easy!!!):

Here are some close up shots of the birds & pigs:

I also made a funny little tag to attach to the pillow here is a shot of front & back of the tag:

Happy Birthday, Alan! I hope you enjoy your pillow. I might have to invite myself over to visit it. Even though it was made with the intention of being a birthday gift I had a hard time parting with it.

The Pillow Talk {Swap} 4

I finally joined a round of The Pillow Talk {Swap}. I've been wanting to get in on one for a few months now. It is wrapping up and after going back and forth and back and forth on a design and fabrics, I finally dove in and created something that I was not so happy with. So I abandoned it and dove right back in and came up with something completely different, even with different fabric choices. I'm pretty happy with the outcome and hope to make myself one after the holidays.

Here it is:

Hope you like it partner! If not you can send it back!!

Advent Calendar SYTYC Audition Project

So now that the voting is closed I am able to post my audition project I submitted for the blog contest So You Think You're Crafty! I was in the top 10 so I passed my audition!! The weekly challenges begin at the end of the month. Thanks to everyone who voted for me.

I have to tell you about the fabric geek out I had earlier in the week. I posted the SYTYC logo to my flickr account. I SWEAR that I left no hints about which project was mine and Laurie Wisbrun who designed the amazing Santa Donkey and Holiday Rain Boots fabric commented that, "I voted. And I'm pretty sure I could tell which one was yours :) So cute!!" I was pretty darn excited. I mean how cool is that? I love her fabrics and read her blog often!

Anyway here is the exact post from the SYTYC blog:

Christmas is right around the corner! I decided to make my niece an advent calendar. She is finally old enough to be able to understand counting down the days til Christmas, and hopefully old enough to be able to understand she can only have one small treat a day until Christmas. Luckily I don't have to be the person to re-explain this on a daily basis.

This calendar starts on the bottom at #24 and works backwards.

This is an original pattern. The numbers are machine appliqued and the whole piece is machine quilted.

There is one pocket on the bottom with a card to my niece that reads "Naughty or Nice?". The card is for Christmas morning and will explain that if she has been "nice" she can trade it into her aunt for a big present!

Some recent sewing projects

First up is another installment of the Quilting Journey Round Robin Bee.

This is a block for Krista. She requested 14" blocks (square or rectangle as long as one side measured 14") She is a Kaffe fan and unfortunately I am not so I had a really hard time picking out fabrics.

Below is my block (left) with Krista's block (right). I love how colorful her block is.

And here is the group so far:

Next I finished some fabric post cards for swap. They were supposed to be christmas or winter themed. The snowman one has "Think Snow" embroidered on the left hand side - it went to someone in Florida. I have three partners to send to. They left in the mail today. You can join our swap here.

Finally for the 3x6 bee I signed up to make an angel block. An angel block is a block made for someone that had a partner not follow through and send them a block. I made it just like the blocks I made for the 3rd quarter. She picked the colors: purple, red, gray. I picked the fabric and block style. I love how this one turned out. You can sign up for the first quarter beginning in January here.

So much sewing to do so little time. I still need to finish up my 3x6 blocks for the 4th quarter due December 15. Also due that day is my pillow cover for the Pillow Talk Swap and my swap package for Modern Swappers. I'm also behind on November blocks for Sew to Speak but I hope to get those tomorrow. Then I should be done and able to focus on making some Christmas gifts just in time for the big day.