do.Good stitches in action.

i am very lucky to be the moderator of the heal circle of do.Good stitches.  very lucky indeed.  we make quilts that we donate to hospice patients.  the following two people are very dear to me.  i see them often.  we talk about lots of difficult things.  death, grief, family coping, personal coping...  lots of hard stuff.

i can't tell you how happy it made me to give this quilt her.  she was so touched.

she loved it.  i told her about all of the members of our group, who each of them were and where they lived.  she was overwhelmed.  she couldn't believe that we had people from texas and alabama and ohio and colorado and georgia and....

i loved giving this quilt away.  it was so special to me.  i feel a bit bad because i got to do the best part.  i got to see the tears in her eyes as i explained it to her.  i wish so much that all of the ladies from my circle could have been with me.

so thank you girls!  your hard work made these wonderful women so happy.  made them feel so loved and cared for.

and a HUGE thanks to rachel for thinking up this great group and organizing it all.  it is a treat to be a part of it.


xx
nicke

p.s. i asked both of them before i took pictures if they were agreeable to it.  i asked them if it was ok if i shared with the ladies in my circle and on my blog and both said they wanted me to.  i am so happy that they agreed.

i hope this inspires you to join a do.good circle.
if you want to join my circle let me know, i can keep you on the waiting list. ;)  or maybe i could convince rachel that it would be awesome to have a few more people in my group... ;)  xo

the dirty dirty dirty dash...

last year my sister, niece and i ran the dirty dash in boise.... remember....

well, this year it was just my sister jacqi and i and we had a blast!
here we are all clean and sparkly before we started...

last year i was not happy with my attire.  i wore capri workout pants and they about fell off throughout the race...  mud is heavy you know...  and the huge one ton hay bales we had to jump over tore the hell out of my legs
so this year... we were all about the long socks and short shorts (a skirt for me, since i am such a lady!)...

it was fantasticly muddy and the mud pit at the end was heavenly!

i love this race.  it is so much fun.  i am so happy to have ran it with my sister.  so happy she and i made it to the top of that damn mountain and played in all of the mud!


i can't wait for next year!

xx
nicke

late... shamefully so...

i am in a couple bees....
and i have to admit that this summer has been a doosie!
but alas, the blocks are done, even if they are 20 days late...

for july do.good heal circle


for july ba{m}s


and a little something i am working on... plan to finish it by friday and hopefully it will be loved and cherished by its new momma... but first a little hand stitching.


xx
nicke

so happy!!

so here is what i received from Lindsey, who i love!
this absolutely amazing journal cover.

i have been meaning to make myself a journal cover for sooo long.  this is so much better than i would have done for myself!  love it with my whole heart!

this perfect perfect perfect for me basket.

oh heavenly!

i love it so.

and my perfect cover for grace.

it is everything that i ever hoped and dreamed of! grannies, linen, dots...
love~
(snagged this photo from lindsey)

best swap ever!  love love love it all!  over the moon happy!  grace is so warm and snuggly under her cover. she whispers thank you to lindsey every night when i put her to bed.

and so do i!

xx
nicke

my inspiration for the do.good host swap.

a few weeks ago my dear friend Maureen posted about this pillow and by so doing and started an amazing conversation about inspiration.  and about using that inspiration to make something inspired by something... when is it appropriate and when is it not?  as the conversation was going maureen and i were chatting about it and she thought that having an inspired by challenge would be really fun.  i totally totally agreed!

so, inspired by this pillow and with a plan in mind i set forth to make something awesome and totally different for my awesome partner Jennifer for the do.good host swap...  

it started out as this....

and using this tutorial from i'm feeling crafty, it quickly turned into this...



i was really happy with it and i am so glad to say that even though i sent it off late she got it today and loved it!  i love that she loves it and i am also so glad that i was able to use the inspiration of the west elm pillow to make something a bit different but totally mine, well hers.  ;)

the inside...


and that orange ds uterus that was so disturbing to me the other day... became this cute little basket made with ayumi's tutorial.


all in all... success!

xx
nicke.

p.s.
i also received my goodies today from my amazing partner lindsey and i can tell you that i cried and swore a little when i opened it.   i am so totally loooooove with my new sewing machine cover and my new notebook cover and i promise to share pics soon but be warned; you will be a little jeal! ;) xo

on giving birth...

both of my deliveries were a bit traumatic...

like, i don't want to do it again.

so that is why every time i have to turn something out i get a little nervous...

flashbacks.

how in the world will this come out of that little hole...

but it does
and sometimes the thread rips and i want to pass out.

xx

nicke