bloggers quilt festival.

my siblings and i spent most of last week going through my mothers things.  

she has so much stuff.

my sister becky and i were very excited when we opened my moms trunk that contained her hoarded quilts.  my mom didn't do much sewing, she was more of a crocheter but she did LOVE quilts.  

she would buy them at auctions and yard sales and flea markets... 

she was fun like that.

this is the quilt i chose.  absolutely beautiful in its vintage loveliness.

falling apart in places and sadly it has a few fade marks on the blue solid, but it tells a story.

a story of how happy it was.

how it was hand quilted with much care.

how it was loved.

it is going to lay on the end of my bed for now. i want it to be close to me.  every time i see it, it brings a smile to my face.  it makes me think of my mother and how beautiful she was.  how much i miss her.  and the beauty of the quilt, makes me a little warmer inside. 

stats:
measures: 64x82ish
techniques used: hand piecing, hand quilting
quilted by: i have no idea but they were amazing!
best category: scrap quilt, hand quilted, bed quilt.


i am entering this beauty in amy's quilt festival.

it seems fitting.

also, thank you so very much to everyone who has offered me so much love and support as i am going through this very hard time.  i thank you for your kind words from the bottom of my little heart.

xx

nicke

my mom ♥

my mother was such a strong woman.

she loved spending time with all 8 of us and all of her grand and great grand kids.
but she was lonely without my step-dad.

my children love her fiercely!
i love her more than i can express.

her absence leaves a gaping hole in my heart.

i don't know how to do this.
i don't know how to be 33 with two very young children and no mom.
i am so grateful for my sweet husband.
he is everything to me and i crave his presence as my heart is breaking.

we told miss S last night as we put her to bed and she was so sweet.  it was so sweet to listen to her as she tried to make sense of gramma being in heaven.
where is heaven and how does she get there and is heaven in the clouds and what does it look like there and why can't we see her again and i'm really going to miss her and is god in heaven and is jesus in heaven and can we see them and has anyone seen them and why can't we see god...
such hard questions to explain to a 4 yr. old.

she promptly told mr. H this morning....
"hey buddy, gramma joyce's heart was too sick and it stopped working and she died and we are going to miss her a whole bunch, i'm sorry."
he looked at me and then at her, smiled and said... "No Way!"
my sentiments exactly my sweet boy!

the rest of this week leading into this weekend is going to be hard.
i look forward to spending time with my siblings and family, soaking up their presence, grieving and crying and honoring her; remembering what an amazing amazing woman she was.  how she helped me to become the person i am.
i strive to be a quarter as amazing as she was.

xx
nicke

sew south...

i have a friend... her name is Jennifer.  she is such a wonderful and talented friend.  she has organized a sewing retreat for the MODERN SEWIST.  it is going to be a small event with ample time to chat and sew and chat and sew.  

Tickets go on sale Wednesday... as in Wednesday... yes Wednesday!  there are only 50 spots available so make sure you are johnny on the spot!  

Sew South is a modern sewing retreat where you will sew, create, learn, play and connect with other modern sewists and bloggers. 

Sew South is a boutique retreat, big on substance and style but small in size for a wonderful, personal experience. 

It's a place to be inspired, relax and learn something new. Come spend a weekend sewing, laughing, and creating. A spring weekend in the South sewing with friends, taking time for yourself, finding your inspiration- that's the Sew South Retreat.

What's included?

• 4 Make & Take workshops including quilting and paper piecing, bag making and garment sewing taught by experienced sewists and bloggers
• plenty of open sewing time
• a fabric field trip to The Little General in Winston Salem, NC
• a cocktail reception
• breakfasts, lunches and snacks during the retreat
• fabric and goodie swaps
• opportunities to connect with other modern sewists and bloggers
• a swanky swag bag

Sew South is March 21-24, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Come be a part of our inaugural year! I hope you'll join us! 

Tickets  are $275 and go on sale on Wednesday, October 24 at noon, EST. 

This retreat is limited to 50 people so don't miss out!

xx
nicke

my fmq fail...

i was supposed to send my stack of fabric and started/finished blocks to jacey a week or so ago and i was really excited about my blocks.
i used this page, one of my favorites from the book, and made my block.

"I will catch your tears

in a blue cup

and water the yellow flowers

and they will grow

 more beautiful."

i drew my yellow flower and tried to do some fmq...

tried is the operative word in that sentence!  

and then all hell broke loose
my tension was totally off.
i'm honestly not sure what was going on because i practiced before and it was fine.

maybe it was all of the seams...
maybe it is because i
s-u-c-k...
maybe it is because i need to
p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e!

it really bums me out.
well, actually, it made me angry and i was really happy i had this hanging next to me.
as this word may have escaped my lips..... a few times.

(totally love this btw... it was my favorite part of the loot i got from the sailor mouth swap!)

i sketched the flower and was planning on going crazy with the fmq... instead i am trying to pick it out.  

and so, i tore it apart and may just send it along to my friend jacey so she can start.
and i will send my fixed block in a week or so.

the plan for this little flower is quite elborate at this point so i can erase this mess from my brain.
i am talking elaborate embroidery as it would appear that is where i should stay...
until i can spend a week with maureen so she can show me her tricks!


xx

nicke

fly girl..........

while i promised myself i wouldn't do it i am caving....  

here is the picture i took with my new toy last night and posted on instagram...

you see that quilt behind my head.... 

fly girl.  

finished quilting her late last night!  

wahooo!

need to bind it now but my shuffle list is getting smaller.

xx

nicke

scrap your stash...i dare you!

Hello hello and welcome to my stop in Jennifer's Scrappy Stash Quilt Along blog hop!  i have had such a great time seeing how everyone else stores their scraps.  I was amazed by my lovely long lost sister Dana and her ability to get rid of scraps and only keep the most precious in that amazing little case!  I don't know how she does it.  And I loved Mermaid Sew's story about her sneaky storage, her husband seems awesome.

I am pretty excited about this quilt a long... as you will see very shortly, my scraps are one hot mess and I really should do something else with them.  But I am sure that Jennifer is going to blow my socks off with this quilt along and my scrap basket is going to be empty by the end of it!

scrap basket you ask... yes, scrap basket.

 this is my basket.  it is a lovely vintage painted wire potato basket that my grampa gave me.

 and it holds this huge mess of my scraps... there is no rhyme or reason to it.  it is all just stuffed in.  

like a stuffed pepper.  mmm... stuffed peppers... reminds me of these...

mmmmm... #itswhatsfordinner

sorry... off topic.

 there are small pieces and large pieces and triangle pieces and square pieces...

basically, it is all here.

 all of this madness does have a method to it.  

you see, i reach down (as this basket sits at my feet as i sew) and randomly choose a scrap...

and magical things happen...

like this...

♥.love.♥

so... i think i will keep it crazy for now but it might be a good idea to at least try to come up with something more organized so i can be ready to sew along...

Are YOU ready to sew along with Jennifer and all us girls?!?!? 

are you? are you???

well, buckle up because the QAL kicks off on October 9 with giveaways, special sales, discounts and all the details to get you started. 

Sponsors: 

The many prizes offered to those of you that join our quilt-along are graciously donated by the following sponsors. 

Timeline: 

Scrappy Stash QAL starts October 9. 

Scrappy Stash QAL ends November 13. 

Link up finished quilt November 13-15. 

Prizes drawn November 16. 

Blog Hop: 

The following fabulously talented ladies have so kindly offered to share their scrap secrets with you as well as helping spread the word about the Scrappy Stash Quilt-Along. Be sure to stop by each day and check out their scrap storage! 

10/1: Old Red Barn Co. 

10/2: Imagine Gnats

10/3: Mermaid Sews and Fresh Lemons Quilts

10/4: Craft Buds

10/5: Kiss Kiss Quilt

10/6: Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle

10/7: My Go Go Life

10/8: Petit Lyons

10:9: QAL kick-off day at Ellison Lane Quilts! 

10/10: Maureen Cracknell Handmade (QAYG tutorial!) 

<a href="http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/p/quilt-alongs.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Ellison Lane Quilts" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l623/ellisonlanequilts/buttons/scrappystashQAL125_zps8d07ca3b.png"/></a>

 xo, 

nicke

tuesday at my table...

i am finally joining debbie in her super fun series, Tuesday at the Table.  i have loved following debbie.  she is so sweet and wicked talented and gets sooo much stuff done.  and she posts some really great recipes.  i tried the cornbread muffins she posted last week and they were delicious and i feel so good about eating them since i know that they are not filled with tons of preservatives like the box mixes are!  blech! 

so, without further ado....  my recipe for the table...

CINNAMON ROLLS!

mmmmmmmmmmmmm......  are you drooling yet???

well make these and it will help with that problem...  also, these are so so easy.  virtually fool proof and super fast.  you don't have to let them rise, they rise as they are baking so you could have hot cinnamon rolls in seriously 1 HOUR!  the only requirement is that you use a mixer of some sort.  i have a Bosch and i love it to pieces but a Kitchenaid or any other stand mixer would work just fine.

Delicious No-Rise Cinnamon Rolls
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 TBS yeast
In a small bowl add the yeast and sugar to the water.  You want the water to be hot but not too hot that it kills the yeast...  you know, just out of the tap is fine.  Let the yeast rise as you mix the following ingredients

1 cup scalded milk
(heat in microwave for 2ish minutes)
6 TBS shortening
Add the shortening to the milk and set it aside to allow it to melt.

6 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

Put flour, salt, sugar into mixer (Kitchenaide, Bosch).  Add eggs, yeast mixture, and milk/shortening to the flour mixture.  Mix in mixer on medium for about 5 minutes.

Roll out so that it looks like a long rectangle and it is about a 1/3" thick and top with mushy butter, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon.  you can also add nuts or raisins if that is your thing.  Roll it up long edge to long edge and cut them into 1 1/2 to 2 inch sections.  spray your pan with cooking spray and place them into the pan.  i usually put 8 in a 9x13 glass pan, 4 in an 8x8... you don't want to overcrowd them.  remember, they rise as they bake.

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until the tops are slightly brown and the middles don't feel doughy.  i usually have to bake for 25 to 30 minutes because i cut mine so thick!  slather them with some cream cheese frosting and eat up!

xx
nicke

um... hi.

round three of Wonky Bee is starting and i have never been more excited about a bee in my life.  we are jumping right in the middle of the traveling quilt craze and as i said... i can't be more excited..

i pulled my fabrics...







and THIS BOOK is the inspiration...  i found this book at the library about a year ago.  i have to admit i judge most books by their cover and this one looked very good.  i was not disappointed.  i LOVE this book.  it is the most beautifully written and illustrated childrens book i have ever seen.  i can't wait to see what these girls come up with.


i will be back tomorrow to show you my first blocks!

p.s.  i am joining the blogtoberfestivities again this year!


kat took the time to personally invite everyone that participated last year and that kind of dedication deserves to be rewarded so let the 31 days of blogging commence!
p.s.s.  full disclosure: i only blogged 18 of the 31 days last year... i'm hoping to do half as well this year!   ;)

xx
nicke