New Pattern!

I've had this quilt done for a while now, I just had to deal with the winter blahs weather wise to get some decent photos.  This one is called Around the Block and uses a charm pack and a jelly roll.  I used Central Park by Kate Spain.  That girl has not designed a line I didn't like!  I've been a stalker since Verna.

SO, here is my new quilt pattern!

Sorry for the last 2 crappy pics, they were taken on my wall and I didn't really have much space to work in a photo.  The trees really are straight, they just look wonky.  

I have this in my etsy shop if you're interested.  You can use the coupon code newpattern for a 10% discount, valid through next Saturday!  I have both PDF and hard copies available!

Such a great week!

This has been such a spectacular week and it's only Wednesday!

Monday I bought my first new car!  I've always paid cash outright for used cars to last me a couple years or so then buy another.  A lot of that was due in part to my ex-husband destroying my credit.  I was always a stay-at-home-mom, never held more than a seasonal job our entire marriage.  I foolishly opened a couple credit cards and he jacked up the balances then got mad at me for paying them, so he took over the checkbook and quit paying them.  So, my credit was less than stellar.  My ex bought a mini van shortly before our son was born and that got repossessed a couple years later.  Then he bought me a crap car from a buy here pay here place a couple weeks later and that was repossessed on my 25th birthday.  

So my mom gave me the $750 I used to buy the 1991 Acura Legend I drove for almost 3 years.  She gave me the $$ because my ex was very controlling and abusive and she wanted me to have something he couldn't touch.  It had it's fair share of problems, non-working speedometer, power windows only worked with a wad a foil stuck in the window lock switch, passenger side wiper quit working, had fits of not wanting to start, and most recently would die out at random times, sometimes at highway speeds.  And on my way to the dealership Monday one of my brake calipers began sticking, so new brakes were in order soon.  

But I didn't have to bring it home, I bought a 2010 Hyundai Elantra!  I love it.  It's still not real to me yet.  Maybe when I write the check for the first payment it'll be real.   

I also found out I won a part of Kate Spain's Joy and Good Fortune giveaway!  I'll be receiving something from either her Joy or Good Fortune line in the mail!  I love surprises, I'm so excited :D

And!  If it couldn't get any better I won the FQ bundle of Tilly from Mary on Lake Pulaski!!!  Tilly is from Daisy Janie and is organic cotton.  I have a sister who's last name is Tilley, I'm thinking I may need to make a potholder or two for her, she'll love it!  

Because I've been so lucky in life I'm going to put together some kind of giveaway hopefully by the end of the week.  I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket now!

Dear Jane BOM review

I've committed to making a Baby Jane.  I signed up for the 23 month long BOM from Twiddletails and I have to say for $25 a month you get a LOT of fabric!  You get a fat eighth of each fabric for the blocks and a half yard of the background fabric which in this BOM is Moda Bella Solids in White.  Each month the instructions are emailed to you in PDF format the same day the kit ships.  The instructions are very detailed and illustrated, if you have any troubles you can also go to the DJ blog at That Quilt.  Anina does a great job of explaining how to best construct the blocks.  And as a bonus, there is a TON of extra fabric so if you screw it up you'll have plenty of extras to play with.

This is DJ month 2 fabric

Another really cool thing is that with the rainbow Jane BOM you will get 225 *different* fabrics so no two will be the same.  How cool is that?!  So if you're wanting to do a Dear Jane but are nervous about choosing the perfect fabrics, this is definitely the BOM for you!  One thing I noticed is that the pattern of the fabric might be the same, just a different color.  The blue fabric 2nd from the top is one of them, it's the same pattern as a green from last month, obviously, just a different color.  I wouldn't mind so much if it showed up in a later month, however, in the grand scheme of things, I don't think it'll be a big deal.

After finishing my month 1 blocks, I have a LOT left over.  There is one block that I might re-do only because it looks horrendous and I think I might be able to figure out a better way.  No biggie, because I have TONS of that fabric left over.

My DJ binders

I'm a MAJOR paper organizational freak.  Any binders I had for school were organized to the nth degree.  I've decided to keep smaller binders so it's easier to find the month I'm looking for.  I'm not above getting index dividers and a making a table of contents ;)  The top binder should hold 3 or 4 months, the next one might hold 3.  

And, here are my month one blocks!

 

Sorry it's sideways!  I took it with my phone, my camera battery is dead.  I will say, this project is MUCH less daunting than I originally thought, if I can keep up at this pace, I think it may work out ;)

Happy Quilting!

**Disclaimer--This review is my own honest opinion, I'm not compensated in any way for this.  Just trying to take the DJ fear away from other quilters out there who may be intimidated by this project :)

today's agenda = running & school

And oh Holy Hell did that suck!  I've been wanting to get in shape for a while now but, as always, have plenty of excuses not to.  Well, excuses are done, gone, out the window and today I went for a run.  I'm using Couch to 5k podcasts and today was just a disaster.  I had Starbucks this morning, huge mistake #1.  Huge mistake #2, not getting enough water before hand.  Huge mistake #3 not having the proper shoes.

We'll start with #3 as the other two were moron mistakes on my part.  I bought new shoes that I wasn't fitted for.  They're Asics which are generally highly praised.  I scored them for $30 at Kohl's.  They're super comfy to wear around the house, running not so much.  My left shin and my right foot were KILLING me halfway through.  This week is payday and I can guarantee first thing Friday, I'm getting fitted PROPERLY for running shoes.  Not completely out the $30, I do need new everyday gym shoes.

I do have a couple good things to talk about today tho!  

I'm making progress on my Curio quilt.  My sister just closed on her first house this week so it's time to bust this one out!  My LQS still has a bunch of Curio yardage and I'm excited about that!

I wanted something to track my runs and the easiest was the Nike+ shoe sensor and iPod.  I did have to buy a new iPod but since I hate the new nano's I bought a used 4th gen on eBay for $60 that's in perfect condition!  I got the sensor kit at Target for $30.  It worked pretty well except the battery on my iPod crapped out so it only got 1.01 miles, when I mapped my route on mapmyrun it was 1.77 miles, good thing tho, Nike+ sensor is fairly accurate, I mapped out the run to the point where my iPod died and it was spot on mileage wise.  I ended up walking home after the iPod died because 1) I was using the C25K podcast with cues and no watch, and 2) my shin and foot had me wanting to crawl home.  

Finally, the other good thing today is that I met with an advisor in the nursing program at my local community college.  I just need a couple more classes for the gen-ed requirements but have everything else I need just have to take the NLN test and go to an informational meeting and I'm good to apply.  All my transcripts safely arrived.  Now, nothing is set in stone, it's still an idea I'm floating around but it's good to know that I'm pretty well set!!

March UFO choice

Well, here it is, March already!  This year is just flying by so far.  I can't believe I spaced out on a UFO for February.  This month I'm bringing a quilt to you I've never shown before.  I'm using Saltwater Taffy by Fig Tree Quilts with Curio by Basic Grey for Moda.  I'm really excited to get this done, probably going to be a housewarming gift for my sister who is trying desperately to close on her house after a whirlwind of delays due to some true BS.  She doesn't read my blog so we're safe ;)

I'll post a pic of my progress later next week!