The Debut...

So, you've seen some pictures of the newest Charmed Living Series pattern, Charmed Living Tote. But you gotta look at these too:

 I loooovvvveeee this fabric, Basic Grey has outdone themselves again!!!

 Now, this is the smaller bag of the two, I'm in the process of making the larger one and I should have pictures soon to show you. It's going to be more like beach bag size and a little deeper...

 And this is Sciuridae... (Cy-ur-day) it's a smaller wall hanging or crib quilt with some spunk to it.

 I went and took these pictures in the woods between storms (we've had just about one storm every day for the last forever it seems). Even as I was taking these I could hear the thunder getting closer and closer...

 The good thing with all of the rain is everything is soooo green right now. The fields are the most beautiful emerald green and everything smells fresh. Sciuridae is a scrappy quilt that's Fat Quarter friendly. Included in the pattern will also be instructions for an optional pillow with the left over Flying Geese.

 The other good part of Spring in the woods is finding all sorts of tracks. I came across these deer tracks about 15 feet from where I hung the quilt and there's plenty more around.

 I love the woods, that is except for the bugs - little suckers. Yep, they got me a couple times, but I'll be more prepared next time. And maybe I won't be trying to avoid thunderstorms.

 The thing that gets me most is how there are overgrown spots that completely block out the sun... The woods are so magical.... And back to reality (focus)

 So, one last peek of the quilting on this version of Sciuridae.... I'm almost finished with the binding on the other one and I'll show you that version as well with the larger Charmed Living Tote.

 And my last little thing, my little Paco will be 11 this year and he's starting to show his age. I mean just look at those adorable (yet cloudy) eyes. We keep teasing soon he'll be like the Helen Keller of dogs. It's just a matter of time before he's blind and deaf...

And he's turning white in spots. Mostly around his face like most older dogs, but he's also getting this streak of white down his back...And this adorable white spot at the base of his tail! It cracks me up. We've been referring to him as our Silver Haired Fox... I'm not sure he appreciates that much...

So that's the latest goodies from around here. This week I'll be heading off to Shipshewana, IN again to work with the fabulous Moda at The Shipshewana Fabric Show! If you're a shop owner planning to attend I will be demoing the latest and greatest from the Moda Bake Shop and I'll have an array of my quilts there too including the two newest patterns. Also, Stars All Around featured in the June issue of American Patchwork and Quilting will be there too! Stop on by and say hi! I'd love to meet and chat with you!

Have a great holiday weekend and thank all of those who have served, whether it was decades ago or yesterday. Remember those we have lost and the families they left behind. And don't forget those who have volunteered to work in such an environment all across the world. Civilian Contractors help our soldiers and are the unsung heroes in troubled times. I am privileged to know and love two of them, one of which who is my Father-In-Law.

Tom, we love you and miss you and are counting down the days til you return. I believe we're now down to 9 or so days til he comes home for good, and I can't wait for that moment. My Hubbin and I as well as the rest of the family have been waiting for this moment for over 6 years now, and he's gonna get a warrior's welcome when he gets home. That I can be sure of.

Have a great weekend and we will chat again soon!

Like a marathon...

Did I mention before that I should have 2 new patterns out very very soon? Yep, you got that right, 2 new patterns. It's been a week or so of marathon quilting and this week will be followed up by marathon binding and movie marathons (Yay!!!)

 This is the first of many bags I'll be making in the near future... This is the newest Charmed Living Series pattern, the Charmed Living Tote. It's going to have instructions for two sizes (this is the smaller of the two) and I just love it!!! By the way this bag and the next few projects are made with Curio by Basic Grey from Moda (Thanks Moda!!!) it will be in stores this September. Trust me you'll want to add this one to your wish list!!!

 I also made for Moda a Charmed Living Runner out of Curio (Mom pieced this one and the next one, I just quilted them - Thanks Ma!) with one of my favorite quilting designs.

 And the Charmed Living Topper with a modified version of the quilting design from above.

 And this one is the color version of the newest quilt pattern Sciuridae, which should be out shortly too. As I said this is the color option, the main pattern is out of gorgeous Civil War scraps... It will be getting quilted this weekend....

 And I apologize now, but I love my new camera and I love my squirrels. If this page takes forever to load, it'll be worth it. Much to the disappointment of my Dad and all my "farm" friends - I admit - I, Rebecca Silbaugh, have turned into a "yuppie". How so? I bought a corn feeder for my squirrels and corn cobs to go with it. Yeppers, according to the people I grew up with, I'm probably on the same level as the people who show up to the county fair in stilettos and suits... Owell!!!

 Oh, and I put out some really old peanuts, this one really liked them...

 My Hubbin and I were standing right inside the glass doors to go out to the patio literally feet away from this table. This squirrel was whipping it's tail trying to scare us, but he couldn't resist the temptation of a table full of peanuts...

 Loved watching him eat and bury peanuts in the yard... I hope we don't get peanuts growing now...

And just look how HUGE my Japanese Maple got. I swear I blinked and it tripled in size from last year. Here's how it looked last September...

It's at least 4' high and 5'-6' wide at this point. If nothing else all this dreadful rain we've been getting is giving some love to my tree!!!

So, patterns should get finalized this week and in stores in a couple weeks. Let me know what you think! I'll be showing more pictures too and hope to have the larger sized bag done soon too! Alright, it's past my bedtime and I'm falling asleep, so I'm gonna log off now while I'm still awake. Show you more soon!

Things to remember...

Okie dokie, there's a few survival tips I would like to share for all of you lucky gals going off to Spring Market:
1. Wear really comfy shoes, trust me.
2. Bring a bottle of water, a big one.
3. Have a great time and most importantly...
4. Don't forget to stop by the United Notions Booth and see my quilt!!!

Yeppers, don't forget to stop by and give it some love. Charmed Living Casaba is being missed something major over here, but I know it will get some love in Salt Lake City.

And onto the latest updates around the studio...Well, I thought there were only 2 baby squirrels, I was wrong! There's 3 adorable furry angels living in my tree. I'd like you to meet:

 Squiggy, Squishy & Squirt. Seemed fitting for three crazy squirrel babies. Squiggy's the one front and center who decided to take a leap of faith out of the hole.

 I mean leap, he almost fell. Once he got his bearings and grabbed onto the tree here, he just froze for about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get back home. He's so little!!! But he always has to be the most daring and attention grabbing. This one's going to be a trouble maker, that's for sure.

So Duncan and I sat and watched from inside to make sure Squiggy got home safe and sound (which he did thank goodness). I'm almost finished with the next quilt pattern which still has yet to be named... That's always the hardest part for me. I'm planning to quilt it soon and then I can show you more!!!

Well, have a great time at Spring Market if you're heading there, and if you're not (like me) may you be inspired by all that you may see on the internet in the coming days. Gotta get back to work so I have things to show you!!! Until next time!

Small Triumphs

 So this is what I have been up to for a while now and not by choice... I have this "thing" (I'll call it a thing because it's not a disease it's not an infection, just a thing) called Costochondritis where from time to time the cartilage that connects your ribs to your sternum gets inflamed and is quite painful. So I rest and take it easy for a couple days until it goes away. So all the plans I had for quilting last weekend were toast before the weekend began.

This time around it's been worse than it has in a long time so I've been off my game longer than anticipated. I have nothing good to show you for quilting but I do have a discussion...

Small Triumphs - As in knowing your limits to a point. I've heard from several people that the best course of action with anything is to fight small battles. I heard of this awhile ago described in the Rule of 3 - each day only focus on the top 3 things on your to do list and get those done. If you focus on these you'll more than likely get way more done than you imagined and you actually get things done since you're not focusing on the HUGE to do list we all give ourselves.

 So today even though it could only be for a few minutes I tended to these and fertilized them for the Spring...

And gave these little lovelies some sun and TLC. That was #1. #2 was to send out my Quilt Guild's newsletter - done! And #3 was to quilt within my limits. It was only for an hour or so broken up with small breaks in between. But since I only focused on those few things I also was able to work on new pattern designs, take a nap, read some of my book and go grocery shopping.

Basically I want to inspire all of you that even when there's difficulties put in your path, plans get ruined, or you are laid up on your back for a few days there are still Small Triumphs to be had and all is not wasted.

I myself was forgetting this only a few days ago when I thought I should have been better but wasn't. I was angry, depressed and worst of all bored which made matters worse. But then I had to take a step back, relax, breathe and get my bearings.

So it's going to be a few more days before I'm fully back to 100%, but since I took these small victories (however small they are) it's still a victory and I can look ahead and prepare. That way when I am back up and running full speed I can breeze through what should have been done and move on to the next thing - 3 items at a time.

I hope this helped some of you out. Sometimes it's good to have a roadblock of sorts. How do all of you seem to cope with day-to-day difficulties and bumps in the road? Let's just have an open discussion (just leave me a comment) and we can all help each other out. Maybe there's an alternative to what I mentioned above. Maybe another tip or trick you might have up your sleeve. Whatever it is I'd love to hear it.

Have a great weekend and I will hopefully have some quilts to show you next week!