6 months down, 6 months to go

1. Month 2 - 2012 Designer Mystery BOM, 2. FQS 2012 Designer Mystery BOM month 3, 3. DMBOM month4, 4. DBOM month5, 5. Designer Mystery BOM month 6, 6. FQS Designer Mystery BOM month 1

LOVING how this is looking so far!  Month 6 is in the middle of the bottom row.

Picking up an old hobby

I seem to go back and forth on my hobbies.  The quilting bug has lasted now for a few years but recently I've gotten back into knitting and crocheting.  I've had a granny square quilt in the works for a while now, hoping to get it done for my daughter for Christmas, she's been drooling over the squares for a while now.  I recently made her a hat that she LOVES!  It's a free pattern you can find here.

I followed the pattern for the 9-adult.  That's a HUGE size range.  HUGE!  I did 7 rows of the 'puff' stitches, the hat is kinda slouchy on her and although she's average for her age.  I'd cut out a row of the 'puff' stitches and add another row of the single crochet brim.  I used Hobby Lobby's I love this cotton and a size M hook.  For the flower I used this tutorial.  

I recently ordered some Jacquard acid dyes and want to try dyeing my own yarn.  I can't wait to get started with that one!  I think I'm going to try Kool-Aid dyeing too, the acid dyes can get pricey, Dharma Trading has the best price at $3.55 for a 1/2 oz container.  I picked up Jet Black, Silver Grey, & Hot Fuschia, can't wait to see how that turns out!  I'll definitely post those results.  

The only things I've been up to is decluttering and purging TONS of stuff.  Clothes that are too small for the kids, clothes I don't want or like, magazines that have built up, and just other miscellaneous crap that's built up over the past year or so.  I finally cleaned off my sewing desk and this is the end result:

You can actually SEE the top rather than assume it's there.  The top is still a bit cluttered but it's always been like that.  The floor is devoid of thread and fabric scraps and all of my rulers have been returned to their proper spot.  

We're wanting to buy a house in the near future so I'm hoping decluttering now will make the move a LOT easier.  Especially since we're going to hire movers but pack it ourselves.  

I'm still here!

Not much exciting has been going on here, hence, the quietness on the blog.

I've been working on a few projects, completing very few ;), and dreaming of so many more!  

I won a bundle of Tilly by Daisy Janie from Mary on Lake Pulaski earlier this year and I finally decided on the pattern Coming Soon by Camille Roskelly.

There are 3 people close to me having babies, my friend from high school is due in December, another high school friend is due in January, and my boyfriends sister is due in February so lots of quilts to make.  

I also started making onesies with the age in months ironed on them for my friend due in January.  I found the idea on Pinterest, you can find the original files here, just scroll down to the bottom of the post.  

I also have blocks 4 & 5 done in the FQS Designer Mystery BOM.  I really love this Vintage Modern!!  I am however, getting a little tired of the white with grey dots.  There is a lot of it in this quilt!  I have gotten really good at making flying geese and scant 1/4" seams.  I've never done so many of these in my life.  I think for the setting kit I'm just going to draw up paper pieced geese and do them that way.  

This is month 4.

This is month 5.  

A lot of things have been happening too!  I'm really busy with the kids, of course, my daughter is now in the 4th grade and my son, well he's a handful and drives me battier every day.  I also got a promotion at work!  I'm now an operations supervisor which means I'm responsible for deploying ambulances, signing in/out narcotics, assigning vehicles, and dealing with discipline.  There are a myriad of other responsibilities but those are the biggies.  Not sure it's the right fit for me but I've only been doing it a couple weeks so we'll see how the cards fall.  I may end up going back out on the ambulance and leaving the supervisor position.  I will give it an honest effort but I'm going nuts being in the office, that's for sure.

My Love

It's not very often I share too much about my relationships or personal life but I just want the world to know how much I love this man.  

I think we're perfect for each other.  We compliment each other perfectly and he just makes me feel like the most important person in the world.  I love everything about him, he is truly my best friend.  Never in a million years did I think I'd find someone so wonderful and caring after the horrendous marriage I had.  I also never imagined I'd find someone so soon after leaving my marriage, we met less than 6 mos after each of us ended bad relationships.  Almost 2 years later and I'm happier than I could've ever thought possible.  I love you honey!!

What a long wonderful weekend!

I'm racking up the airline points!  I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Colorado and oh my goodness, what a wonderful trip it was!  It's been a whirlwind since last Thursday, I worked a 14 hour shift, got off at 11pm parked my car at our city location and hopped on the L to Midway for a 625am flight to Denver.   Flight there was great, got in about 20 minutes early and was greeted by my wonderful boyfriend who drove ahead of me a couple days earlier.  We headed up to Fort Carson so he could show me a 'real' Army base, seeing as the local Navy base appears to be inferior in his eyes ;)  I guess when it's not your own branch it's not as impressive lol!

Saturday we went to Garden of the Gods and holy moly it was gorgeous!  All that red rock in seemingly impossible configurations.  

Sunday we went shooting in Pike National Forest.  That's something I wish we could do in Illinois, shoot outdoors.  Shooting indoors at a pistol range is SOOOO much different than outdoors.  Loved it!

Monday we went up to the summit of Pike's Peak.  Such a breath taking drive, in more ways than one, if you've driven it then you'll understand.  When we got to the top it was probably 40 degrees up there.  As we were up there clouds started rolling in, then it started hailing!  Yep, little pea sized hail.  So awesome.  

We had to leave yesterday for the airport by 5 because it takes almost 2 hrs from where we were staying, ran into some awful Chicago-style traffic in Colorado Springs so that ate up some HUGE amounts of time.  Then as we got about a mile away from our exit to the airport traffic came to a screaching halt.  We saw a bunch of flashing lights and about 10 minutes after we stopped a helicopter took off from the scene.  Once they let traffic through there was a very serious roll over crash.  There were no skid marks so there's no telling what happened.  At this point there was serious question as to whether or not I was going to miss my flight as I only had an hour left before it was supposed to take off.  As we finally got past the crash scene I get a text from Southwest saying my flight was delayed by TWO hours!  I breathed a little sigh of relief, I could now pee in the airport and not on the plane (I hate airplane bathrooms).  

I finally got back into Chicago this morning at 2am.  And went straight to work at 5am.  Yea, I'm pretty tired, a few naps got me through but I'm exhausted.  I'll share photos sometime this week.  

Super Mario Bros QAL

So I've decided to do this QAL, I'm undecided if I'm going to make every block and I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't stay on track.  These blocks will happen if they happen!  Angela recommends Michael Miller Couture Cottons but, they don't really exist around my parts but I can get Kona so that's what I'm going with!

Here is the list of colors I've chosen so far with the MM colors in parenthesis:

White (bright white)

Aqua  (aqua)

Corn Yellow (canary or sun)

Navy (denim)*

Eggshell (cream or tan)

Black (black)

Chocolate (cappuccino)

*Kona also has a denim color as well, I might nix the navy and go for a brighter blue, the navy is too close to the black for my liking at the moment.  

Also, Robin at Crafty Musings said she's going to use a Sulky stabilizer rather than the recommended Pellon.  I can't find the 542 around me to save my soul and certainly don't want to order a whole bolt of it at close to $90 for something I might not do every block for.

I spent this afternoon cutting a bunch of 1.5" squares.  I'm going to guess I cut close to 1000 of the buggers today!

2012 Designer Mystery BOM month 2

FQS Designer Mystery BOM month 2.  Love that Vintage Modern!

Anna Maria Horner Art Student Tote

I came across this bag during the Purse-a-palooza blog hop and I knew I had to make it.  I searched flickr for some inspiration and came across some really great bags.  Earlier today I ran to Joann Fabrics to see if I could find anything, after all, I had a 50% off one item coupon, those suckers rock.  Took me some time but I bought these fabrics:

  

The website doesn't have the one I used for the lining but it was in the calico section and was 40% off.  It's very similar to the Denyse Schmidt lines that Joann now carries.  The one on the left is a Legacy fabric, the one on the right is Denyse Schmidt's Meadowlark collection for Joann.  

This is the front of the bag, there are two pockets down the center.

The lining (this is more a muted blue than bright)

That's my 15" laptop in this bag, that's how massive it is

The back of the bag

What I *LOVE* about this bag:

- It's MASSIVE!  This would make a great overnight bag or beach bag.  It's seriously huge.

- You can add as many pockets as you want.

- It totally rocks my socks.

There's nothing I don't like about this bag that's for sure!

As for the pattern, I have some suggestions:

- Measure and rotary cut all the pieces, they're all nice easy numbers either on the whole, quarter, half, or three-quarter marks, no funky eighths or sixteenths.  You won't need to cut apart the pattern sheet if you do this, wish I would've had that light bulb moment before I cut mine up.

- The pattern piece layout is horrible.  She has you open up the fabric and make new folds.  No need for that, you can use the fabrics original fold without a problem.  For the contrast fabric (straps), it calls for 3/4 yard, I had 8 inches x WOF left over, so a generous 1/2 yard will do, especially if you rotary cut all these pieces.  There is also NO cutting guide for the interfacing.  

- This bag calls for lightweight fusible interfacing, get at least a medium fusible.  I, thankfully, had read that tip before I bought it.  Since it calls for essentially denim zippers and 8 metal D rings there's going to be some weight on the front.  You'll be happy you got a heavier stabilizer.  I also had a LOT of leftover stabilizer, close to a yard.  No biggie, I'll use it eventually so it's all good!

- When you construct the lining, you will be sewing through 6 layers of fabric and 2 layers of interfacing, I went slowly with my machine and didn't have a problem with a standard 90/14 needle, you may want to use a sturdier needle.

- You could absolutely get away with regular zippers rather than the metal/denim ones it says to buy.  It also calls for a magnetic snap but I left it off, one snap on a bag that's almost 24 inches wide is not enough.

- I would interface the front pockets if I made this bag again.  

- Steam will be your friend with this due to the interfacing.  It will help it adhere better, especially when it comes to the stiff bottom.  

- Heavier duty pins, your ultra fine quilters pins will cry and collapse when constructing this bag.  

Most Pellon interfacing is 20" wide.  When you cut it do so in this order to make the most of your interfacing:
- Cut the pieces for the strap first.

- Then take the edge and fold over to get pieces for the front of the bag.  You will do this twice.

- Finally, cut the pieces for the lining, cutting the length you need then cutting the pieces you need from that.  

The directions are kinda wordy and you sometimes have to read them a few times to make sense of them.  If you like wordy this is your pattern!  

I would recommend this for a fairly confident beginner at the earliest, this is definitely not the first bag you want to make if you're new to sewing.  There aren't any fancy seams or funky techniques so you're good in that department.  

Go get the pattern and get going!  This is the massive bag you're looking for!

Lucy's Crab Shack

How adorable is this line of fabric?!  I like Sweetwater and all their adorableness but I find myself having a harder time falling in love with an entire collection from them, I normally find that I only like a few prints, and since I live for precuts, I really want to love the entire line.  Well, Lucy's Crab Shack was the exception, I adored everything about that collection!  So I bought a layer cake from Leah over at Burgundy Buttons when she had her 4th of July sale.  Seriously, $26 for a layer cake?!  How is that not awesome?

Anyways, I picked it up at the post office on Monday (wouldn't fit in my mail box), and the darn thing taunted me.  I searched high and low for patterns to use but ultimately ended up doing something of a rail fence.  I'm probably going to add a border or two to make it a little bigger but as of now it's about 47x57, so a decent sized lap quilt.  

ignore the two colored walls, a rack fell off the wall and it has to be fixed before I can paint it

All I did was cut the layer cake up into 2.5" strips, sew into blocks of 5, and squared them up to 9 3/4 inches.  I didn't care that some strips on ended up being skinnier than the others, in fact I kinda like it like that.  

It took me all of 4 hours from start to finish on this one, it went quick!  Certainly nice to have a top done this year :D 

Now to work on my other UFOs!

Month 2 Dear Jane

I finally finished all the Dear Jane blocks for month 2!

Here are all the month 2 blocks, some just aren't laying flat enough so they look a little wonky.

This is month 1 and 2 together.  I'm loving how this looks so far!

random quilt block

Felt the need to make a quick block today, no idea why.  This block is from six white horses.  Decided to use my Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  I love how this one turned out. 

Block One done!

I finished the first block in the FQS mystery designer BOM.  Let me just say I love that there was enough fabric for two blocks because I actually made this one twice and my first was over an INCH too small!  My seam allowance was a perfect scant 1/4" my cuts were flawless so when I made the second I adjusted my seam allowance to it was two thread widths scant instead of one and that seemed to do the trick.  I also pressed uber carefully too.  The second was a perfect 12.5" on the nose!  No trimming required.

Excuse the crappy cell pic...I still have yet to find my camera charger!

Yay! It's here!

Made some excellent progress on my month 2 Dear Jane blocks and I have to get a photo of them yet.  Only have one more to finish up but I'm still kinda trying to figure it out.  Have to go to the blog for some more instructions.

But in other news, the Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOM has landed!  It came with a mini charm pack that's going straight for my hexi pile.  I'm gonna go get whip up the first block now!

Have y'all seen this?!

Over at Angela's she is having an amazing quilt-a-long.  Mario Bros. style.  OMG, I think my heart just stopped.

As a child of the 80s, I can't NOT do this QAL.  I have the FQS 2012 BOM arriving any day now, my Dear Jane, and this.  I've really gotta get cranking on my Dear Jane tho!

Memorial Day

Today is a day for remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  The many men and women who died to ensure the rest of us still remain free.  With my boyfriend being in the military and having men from his company die in the Iraqi war this day takes extra special meaning for him.  We went to the local Memorial Day parade and he chose to wear his uniform to honor those who weren't able to come home.  It was amazing how many kids and adults came up to shake his hand and thank him for his service, makes me proud, not only of him but the wonderful community we live in.  He's also decided to re-enlist when his contract is up in December.  

This is for my two classmates, LCPL Jonathan Collins, KIA August 2004 in OIF, and Capt. Nathan McHone killed when his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan earlier this year, SPC Norman L. Cain III, SGT Christopher P. Abeyta, and SSGT Timothy Bowles.  Your sacrifice for our country will not be forgotten.

Giveaway and a coupon code!!!

I missed the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day but that doesn't mean I can't give something away!

I'm going to give away 3 PDF patterns of either Peaks and Valleys or Around the Block, WINNER'S CHOICE!

You can enter up to 3 times!

1. Just leave a comment on this post telling me which one you'd like. If you're a 'no-reply' blogger please leave me some way to contact you if you win!

2. Be a follower or become one!  If you're just here for the goodies that's ok!  

3. Tell me your favorite new fabric to come out of this Spring's Market!  

Leave one comment for each thing 1 comment with all 3 things is just 1 entry.  

If you don't want to wait you can use the code SAVE50 for my etsy shop!  That means the PDF is just $3.25! 

Entry will close on Tuesday May 30, 2012 at 11:59pm CST and a winner will be posted on Wednesday!  

when time gets away from you

Can't believe I've been away for so long!!!

What's been occupying my time?  Certainly hasn't been sewing.  I'm dreadfully backlogged with projects.  Almost 3 mos behind on my Dear Jane and really haven't made much progress on anything else.  The only thing I've managed to do is read this stack of books (and then some)

Also got some work done on some hexies.  I won a couple mini charm packs from Kate Spain about a month ago along with a charm pack of Joy so I've been busy adding to my hexie collection

I've also been nursing a very sore back from a car accident.  My car looks ok although it does need a trip to the body shop it's still driveable.  There's no telling what kind of damage is hidden under the bumpers.  I was sammiched between 2 cars and the accident wasn't my fault.  Killer part is my first payment wasn't even due yet!  And I've been rear-ended in every single car I've owned with the exception of my truck.  Maybe I need to get another one.  Thankfully the I have the hexies to keep my hands busy while I lounge on the couch.

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!

February UFO choice

I totally didn't get to a UFO for February!  I'm so embarrassed!  Since the month is almost over I'm just going to call it a wash :(  Oh well, I'll show you my choice for March in a few days!

new toy

So I found these on another bloggers blog (sorry can't remember which!) and knew I had to find them.  I was at the store the other day needing to buy more pens for work and these were right there so I had to buy them.  They're the Pilot Frixion and are they awesome!  They're an erasable gel pen that erases with the heat of an iron!

Before:

After:

The kids thought this was amazing!  I let them color all over my little ironing table and they erased it with the iron.  Good 15 minutes of entertainment.

I did notice there was almost a clear haze left behind immediately after ironing that seemed to lessen after a few minutes so I'd be wary of using it to mark a quilt top but it would be great for marking on the back of squares you plan to use to make HSTs.  

I paid about $4 for 2 of them so they're not too expensive.  It's fun to play with too!

First Dear Jane Blocks

Here they are!  My first 6 Dear Jane Blocks.

Top (L-R) A-1, A-2, A-3
Middle B-1
Bottom C-1 C-2

Finished is better than perfect!  They don't look terrible from a distance but that C-2 was such a PITA!  I have no idea why it was so difficult for me but it was, I may re-do it at a later time.  So far I'm loving this project!  Some of the blocks go quickly, others take a little longer, but that's normal for quilting in general.

I know that I have to be super organized in order for me to want to continue this journey so I have my own little system that seems to be working for now.  Each month the individual block instructions are emailed to you in PDF format along with a progress chart.  I took a binder and page protectors to hold all the instructions.  I printed them all off (and will continue to do so) so I can have the instructions at the ready without having to deal with a computer wanting to sleep itself.  It'll also be nice to have in case I get crazy enough to make another DJ.  

This is my binder, book, and needle case.  The binder is only 1" and I'm pretty certain I'll need a bigger one later on down the road.  Since I only have one month's worth of instructions it's just those in there right now. I'm going to continue to organize them by month, then by block number, alphabetically, then numerically.  Triangles and kites will go to the back.  Some blocks only have 2 pages of instructions, others have 6 or 7.  I chose sheet protectors because I decided to prepare the blocks when they come in so I can just grab them and start stitching.  This way I can put all the pieces with the directions.  

As you can see I had a spiral binding put on my DJ book.  A lot of the blocks can be paper pieced so this makes it easier to copy them on my home printer or trace them on freezer paper.  

The little needle case has just a simple piece of felt on the inside and two pockets.  I'm going to make another one because I realized I want elastic bands to hold my spool of thread and my little scissors.  

I also have a little 6x8 rotary mat and a 6 1/2" square ruler that I use for these blocks.  I've also discovered a better way of doing a couple blocks, eliminating some unnecessary steps.  

In a few months I'll do a review of the BOM club in general, so far, so good, I can only imagine it getting better!

good mail day!

I've been feeling really, really crappy lately, most likely it's viral meningitis but since it's the same treatment as any other virus I opted not to have a spinal tap, thus earning a diagnosis of viral syndrome.  I go back to the doc tomorrow for a follow up to my Monday night in the ER.  

That's why today's mail day was AWESOME!!  Fat quarter bundle of some Ruby prints and Camille's new pattern Hopscotch.  Also my first bunch of fabrics for the Dear Jane BOM from Twiddletails!!  Each block will have it's own print, so 225 different fabrics in this quilt, I'm so super excited for this one :D  Sorry for the crappy photo, it's all I could muster up at this time.

2/14

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm spending mine nursing suspected viral meningitis, 5 hrs in the ER overnight getting fluids and pain meds with my wonderful boyfriend by my side, I'm feeling better since getting the fluids but still really blah.  

January UFO results

Here are the Dresdens!!!  I didn't get them tacked down to a backing, but I'm probably going to sew them to a wide piece of fabric since I opted for a single color.  So, here are the plates!

I'm so in love with these blocks it's not even funny.  I often oogle them just because they're so gorgeous.