Give Away!!!

The drawing is now closed. Check back again for another one in the future.


Today I have spent much of my day doing grocery shopping which wasn't supposed to be much, but Hubbin and I went hungry (BIG mistake) and squaring down a gazillion and one Half Square Triangles for a new pattern I'm testing. It's a big one, it's going to be beautiful, and once it's done I promise that all of those Half Square Triangles will be so worth it. I just keep telling myself I'm channeling my inner Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.) or Edyta Sitar (Laundry Basket Quilts). These two ladies are constantly creating quilts with tons of Half Square Triangles in them, Edyta so much that she did a book on it! Seriously, you need to check these ladies out, they're a huge influence on me and I love their quilts.

These two are just a small part of who inspires me in the quilting world and keeps my head and heart going from day to day. Other people that I really look up to and think they're worth checking out are Camille Roskelly (Thimble Blossoms), Jo Morton who's brilliant with her Civil War Reproductions (Jo Morton Quilts), Joanna Figueroa (Fig Tree & Co.), Anne Sutton (Bunny Hill Designs), and many many more! These ladies all have something different that they bring to the quilting world and they all inspire me in different ways. If you're new to quilting, I'm sure you will see these ladies featured all over and get influenced by them as well in the future.

So that's who inspires me, who inspires you? Getting to my little give away...leave me a comment on who inspires you. It could be anybody and a brief message on why. You can leave an entry through Midnight (Eastern Time) on Friday, September 3rd. That's it, leave a comment on who inspires you and you're entered. I will post the winner on Saturday, September 4th.

And what will you win? Duncan was intrigued himself when I was trying to get a snapshot for you. In this adorable little container from Moda you will get...

These! Two "Candy Bars", one of Remembrance by Brannack and Patek and one of Clermont Farms by Minick and Simpson. I will also throw in a copy of the latest pattern Candy-Coated Dreams and maybe a real candy bar or two...

That's it! I can't wait to see what comments you will leave. Oh, and getting back to the recipe segment. It's underway as well, I am planning to do it tutorial style as well with step by step pictures (just no smell-o-vision, sorry). I'm still trying to decide which recipe to make first...but stay tuned.

I have a bit of paperwork to do and then I'm off to sew for a bit before crashing for the night. Think good and hard and check back to see if you're the lucky winner!

Friday is here!

I'm so glad it's Friday! And to make it better I have tomorrow off for the first time in a long time! And I'm planning on spending Sunday in my pj's and sewing until I can't sew no more! (Yet another sentence my High School English teacher would just love me for :] ) Tomorrow the Hubbin and I are heading to look at yet another car, love my Rendezvous, it's just not loving me right now. And then we are heading to the outlet mall for a little retail therapy!

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, I see big things getting accomplished in my future (or I can hope)! *Candy-Coated Dreams should be hitting stores this week, ask for it at your local store. *Hoping to get another quilt quilted this week. *Attempting to at least get the blocks made for my largest quilt yet. *Went from working out on my new elliptical for 3 minutes to 17 in a week or so. *We'll see where else the wind might take me this week.

This past Tuesday I had another Wonder Woman Day (before 9am I cleaned 2 bathrooms, washed the dog, trimmed the other dog's nails, washed sheets and towels, vacuumed the house, scrubbed the kitchen floors and managed to eat breakfast and watch the news for a bit too). I'm crossing my fingers at this moment in hopes that another one of these amazing days will hit me this week as well. I love progress, it makes me happy.

So, sorry for the rambling today, just relaxing right now with an adult beverage after a long week and enjoying the night jamming to my new music bought from iTunes. Not much else on the docket for tonight. And that is perfectly fine with me. Hope you enjoy your weekend and let me know what you've been up to. Oh, and just a thought, since fall will be here before we know it and it's my favorite time of the year to cook, I was thinking of sharing some of my favorite recipes. Let me know what you like or would like to try. Maybe we could make it the Fall Featured Recipe on here? Thinking and typing, can you tell? Take care and until next time!

Sweetness!

The latest pattern, Candy-Coated Dreams is officially in printer land and will be ready in the near future for you to purchase and enjoy. As promised here is a snapshot of the front of the quilt (you all have been so patient!). The colors are all inspired by that great focal print from the good people over at Michael Miller Fabrics. Everything that coordinated with this line was golden in my book.

I will let you all know when it is ready to ship, but until then, it will be here on the blog for your viewing pleasure 31 (sorry, I've been watching Two and a Half Men. This was Jake's idea instead of 24/7 - 24+7=31. This one stuck with me for my own personal comic humor)

This morning my husband and I did something a little crazy and purchased this brand spanking new beauty. She's new, fun, and green! With all of the 54 miles on her at the moment, I hope we have a good and long lasting relationship.

Other than that in the other realms of the quilting world I was reading a bunch of blogs yesterday and just messing around online while I was at work (ssshhhhh, don't tell my boss!) and found this take on my Moda Bake Shop project from last month. This is obviously a translation of a translation possibly of yet another translation. I couldn't stop laughing at it. The original wording from me went like this:

Hi all! I'm Rebecca Silbaugh from Ruby Blue Quilting Studio. I'm pleased to introduce you to my Charmed Living Runner design. This is my first project for the Moda Bake Shop (Thanks Moda!) and I could be more excited to share it with you. It's a great project to make for you or as a gift. With the variety of charm packs available, you can make this out of any fabric and it will look spectacular. Also included are optional applique instructions. Feel free to change the applique to suit your fabrics or leave it out entirely.

However the translation of it I found went a little like this: (nothing like I had imagined)

Hello everyone! I'm Rebecca Silbaugh Ruby Discouragement Patchwork Studio. I'm on the moon you up my life purpose Hales protected. This is my first occupation for cooking Look for Moda (Moda Thanks!) And I could be more frenetic cut it with you. It's a noble take to one's heels for you or as a gift. With the kind of sophistication to the packages' you can see the view on any fabric and it will look spectacular. Also included are instructions discretion applied. Do you want to spend the freed applies to your fabrics or appropriate permanently retired. La Moda Leather Inform on allocation Moda Fabrics which provides recipes online that you can use with the line Moda spacious pre-cuts. All sizes and types of projects will be presented by various designers and boutiques. Tutorials Projects Moda many cards will be illustrated with photographs withdraw care. Some techniques and products will also be presented throughout, often so slow to what is "cooked" by Moda Fabrics.

My first question is - Ruby Discouragement Patchwork Studio? The more I read the more I giggled. Now it has turned into a huge joke and I hope you get a chuckle out of it as well. You truly never know what you are going to find online, that's for sure.

The last thing I have to show you is a small sneak peek into what's been cooking for my next Moda Bake Shop project. This is all I have to show for now, but the tutorial will be posted in the near future. I will keep you updated on that as well. I think that's everything. Keep on sewing, keep getting inspired and remember to giggle along the way, even if it is at yourself through the eyes of some translator. I'm off to cook dinner, so until next time, tata!

Oh, one other small thing. I had gotten some questions on my brownies that I had baked. Here's the condensed version. They were the Ghiardelli Caramel Turtle mix found at my local Giant Eagle. Yes that is a silicone pan. Yes I like it but it is a bit wobbly with the bigger pans unless you use another cookie sheet as I do most of the time. I will warn that the cooking times can vary from using other pans, for baking these brownies it was pretty close to the metal pan time on the recipe, however I have made banana bread in silicone bread pans and they seem to take at least 10 more minutes in these than a typical glass pan would. Each is different and with any baking it's best to keep an eye on it anyways. The only downfall I have is some pans do not have rounded corners and make it impossible to get all the gunk out when you're cleaning them (if you have ever baked anything in a perfectly square pan with square corners, you know what I'm talking about). Other than that, they're great! Alright, now I'm really off to cook dinner!

Almost finished...

I swear I'm working on the pattern cover right now, but for now here's another little teaser picture.

This is the first quilt that I have made a striped bias binding for and I have one thing to ask, why did I not do this sooner?! Isn't it just the most adorable thing? I promise once the cover is finalized and sent off to the printers you will finally get to see the front. Trust me, it's worth the suspense.

Oh, and on a side note, these were the awesome brownies I baked yesterday. They're so yummy and are slightly my motivation to work out really hard on my new elliptical. Eat some brownie, work out, eat some more brownie, work out even harder, you get the drift. I finally broke down and bought one and set it up in my living room, no excuses now not to work out. Wish me luck!

I've got a hot date!

That would be with my sewing machine. This stack of blocks have been replaced by yet another (or two) and I am planning on spending my day in my pj's sewing away until I can't sew no more! (As I was typing that last sentence I know if my high school English Teacher saw that, she'd smack me) Well, I'm getting much closer to being able to show you pictures of what I've been working on. But, it's not going to happen if I spend more time on here, so see you later!