a new quilt and are YOU a no-reply blogger???

there is something that has been sweeping the blogging world that has been causing much pain and discontent.  

no reply bloggers!!!  

are you one? 

do you know what i am talking about? 

am i talking Greek to you?  

Lets have a little lesson.

all comments made on my blog are automatically emailed to me, if you have your settings on your blogger profile set correctly, your email is attached to the email i get and i can reply right back to you via email.  if your settings aren't correct, then you are a No-Reply Blogger, and i have no way of chatting back with you which makes me S A D!

i love reading all of the comments on my blog.

i love being able to say thanks for a compliment.

i love being able to answer a question.

i love that i have made new friends because of being able to chat it up from a comment.

So, are you inclined I will share with you how to fix this serious problem!  

1. in blogger.com click on dashboard

2. select edit profile

3.  check the box for "show my email address"

4. click "save changes"

now... hooooray!  

all of the worlds problems are fixed!

so hurry off to your dashboard and click away.  

i want to be able to chat it up.

  

yes, emily & becky!  i am talking to you!

and because i am so fun...

here is the pile of fabric that is fast becoming my next quilt

 i've got 8 of the 19 rows done... 

hoping to finish the rest today.

although i might have to put it on hold.

i have GOT to finish my bee blocks...  

words this month!

wind sucks!

the wind in idaho... not my favorite.

 it will  blow and blow and blow...

and then it will just stop.

for a minute.

makes for taking outside pics a bit of a pain.

but sometimes, the wind gods smile upon you (for about two seconds) and you get the perfect picture.

i'm thinking about giving hand quilting a go on this one.

i haven't done it before.  i'm a bit nervous.

not sure how to do it but i think i would love this even more if it was hand quilted...

do any of you know how to do it and can give me some pointers?

how do you do it?

do you use a big ol' hoop or do you put in on a frame?

do you pin or spray baste or both?

what thread do you use?

what thread color would you use on this quilt?

tell me, tell me, tell me!

treats for the eyes.

one thing that i really love to do when i find beautiful pictures is... 

save them to my computer.!

i LOVE using them as my desktop for a while until i find something else...

i cannot source all of these photos, i honestly do not remember where all of them came from. but please know... i did not take a single one of these pictures. 

some of them you will be able to identify. others may be new to you.  

so, without further ado, enjoy. 

 dottie angel

jenni

 heather ross

 beth lofgren

 beth lofgren

 p w ditty

 sarah jane

 this is what currently sits on my desktop.  sweet simplicity.

if any of you can figure out where they all came from.  i will make you a super surprise... it will be big and awesome!  i gave you a couple of hints...

i'm off to go camping with some crazy crazy girls for a couple of days.  looking forward to open faced s'mores and mosquito bites.  be back soon with a surprise...

xx

Kaleidoscope

all of my blocks are finished...

then they were layed out...

words cannot express how much i love my sewing table.

and words cannot express how much Mr. H loves to mess up my blocks sewed into rows.

good thing they are so cute! 

can't wait to share what it looks like now!  

be prepared to have your socks rocked off!

what they got... and what i got...

since my giveaway day was in the middle of my sewing machine crisis and i did not have actual photos to show... here they are.

this is what I sent to vanessa...  

(p.s. thanks vanessa for taking such a great photo!) source

 this is what she said in her email to me after she received the package...

"I got your package today!! Thank you so, so much. Love it! The fabric is gorgeous and the little zip pouch is perfect. I've been meaning to make one for my purse for a while and just never got around to it."


I am so glad she likes it all!

This is the finished bag that found its way to Kiza!  

so sorry about the super crappy photo it was taken at night when the wee ones were slumbering.

 I used this tute to make this bag, but after realizing that there were no actual pattern parts in the pattern I put on my big girl panties... (sorry about the use of that word carolyn) and made my own.  I hope she really likes it.  

this is what she said in the email I got from her I thought it was VERY sweet.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!  The bag arrived today and it is absolutely AMAZING.  I love the fabric.  It's not something I would have chosen for myself, but it's so super cute.  And your workmanship just blows me away.  It's SO beautifully made!  I can't wait to take it out!"

then tonight i bought myself this.  i love it and cannot wait to start. 

little miss S is getting this one for her big girl bed.

i love her

so, grace and i are getting along swimmingly!

i made this little mug rug on saturday afternoon for a new friend.

we didn't argue, i didn't swear, she didn't jam up!

we love each other.

Grace

So, my terrible story with a happy ending...

I had a bernette 82e.  I thought it was going to work great for me.  It had some features that i really liked.  

Shortly after I got it, it started acting up.  The tension was off, the timing was off... blah blah blah...  

My saving grace was that I bought my machine from Larry at the Twin Falls Sewing Center.  He is such a great guy and very helpful and said that they would always take care of any problems I had with my machine.  

When it started acting up, I took it into him and as promised, he fixed it, no problem.  

This became quite a normal occurrence.  

Every couple of months it would act up and I would take it to Larry and he would make it all better.  

So, two months ago it really started freaking out, not working at all.  

I took it into Larry, he waved his magic fingers fixed it up and off I went.  

A week later as I was sewing the elastic together for an adorable pair of shorts for Miss S, the damn thing jammed up.  Jammed up so bad that I was honestly afraid that it was curtains for it. 

enter my grrrrrr post... 

Off to Larry I went, again.  He informed me that timing was off.  

This is when he said, this is too much, something is wrong with this machine.  

And he traded me for a new one... well, new to me.  

The floor model.  I was a bit nervous about it, not sure how much it had been used/abused but hopeful that my sewing machine woes were over... 

I took it home, and sure enough, the first time I tried to sew through the elastic it did the same thing, jammed up!  

I was so mad!!!  I almost had an office space moment!  

Seriously!

But, it was still working and I had some stuff that HAD to be done... (giveaway day... bee blocks... blah blah blah...)  So, I sewed through the weekend just being VERY VERY careful.  Then, on Tuesday, I was off to see Larry again.  He is so good to me.  I told him what happened and that I just wanted him to talk to me about a new sewing machine. 

He agreed.

I went home with Grace. 

 

She sure is a pretty thing and it seems like we are going to be great friends.  I honestly haven't been able to do much sewing on her yet... That will be remedied this weekend, I hope.

I must say, through all of this Larry and the girls at the TFSC were so helpful and gracious to me.  

I am so happy I bought my machine there and cannot say enough about their willingness to listen to my gripes, give me tips, and fix my machine every single time. They truly were the BEST!

but, if this Baby lock doesn't sing for me... I am heading over to the Quilt Barn with for one of these or maybe this one just because it is so cute...

Bee Blocks...

So, I joined a Wonky Quilting Bee a while ago and I have been having a lot of fun making Wonky blocks.

The first month (April) was for Jacey.  She wanted spiral log cabin blocks.  I had a lot of fun with these.  I used the white on this block to do a spiral out.  As it was coming together I loved how the pinks and purples were marrying together so I went easy on the orange.  I loved the sugar pop fabric too.  so so so cute!

 obviously more orange in this block, it sings ORANGE to me.  I like it.

 Melissa wanted Wonky houses and trees for her month (May).  I struggled with these a bit.  It felt good to be stretching myself but I did feel a bit out of my zone...

I feel like this one was a bit of a fail... the tree does not sing for me. i'm thinking about giving this a go for her instead...

  I was having so much fun with the houses I started another but ran out of white before I was able to finish it up.  

With the fabric that was left over I whipped her up a little surprise.  

 above is the front, and below is the back... 

they look like two completely different pouches.  

hope she likes them.

June is Carries month.  she wants Wonky Words... 

I am a little nervous but I am really enjoying stretching my skills...

P.S.  I got a new sewing machine!  Hoooray!  

I will post all about my misadventures of the last two weeks post haste!