The Recap...

Is anyone else completely baffled that tonight is the end of 2011? This year was wonderful and more than I ever could have imagined, but even though I'm sad to see it go, I'm excited for 2012 to come.

So, this year was full of wonerful things, here's a list of highlights:

I started off the year posting on the Moda Bake Shop with a recipe for scarves, and added a few more tutorials later on.

Sew As You Go Scarves

 Layered Valance

Dueling Personalities

I went to some new places:

Ben and I went to Paris for the first time!

 I went to Shipshewana a time or two

 I went to the NQA Show for the first time

 Ben and I went to the Western Caribbean with some friends!

And Mom and I made the trek to Holmes County, Ohio for a couple days

I was featured in a couple magazines:

 June 2011 Issue - turn it over to find:

 My quilt!!!!!

And the back cover of Perfect for Precuts had the Moda Bake Shop ad that included my quilt!

I made some new quilt patterns:

 Charmed Living Casaba

 Charmed Living Tote

 Sciuridae

 Cake Topper

 Alphabet Stitchery: Farm Animals

 Alphabet Stitchery: Bugs Bugs Bugs

Alphabet Stitchery: Noah's Ark

I was entertained by some critters in my tree:

Even these three little ones
Currently nobody is residing in the tree, but winter hasn't truly hit yet...

I did some quilting:

 And I started a new feature to the blog:

Back to Basics!!!

So, whew, I'm exhausted. Looking back I can't believe I got all that accomplished!

I'm looking forward to some exciting things in 2012 including more topics in the Back to Basics tutorials, a new Moda Bake Shop recipe (coming very soon!), more travels, new patterns, and who knows what else!

But I could not have done it without all of you. The encouragement and support I get from all of those that comment, e-mail, follow my blog, or I meet when I'm out and about make this so much more rewarding than I ever thought possible! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!

So here's a farewell to 2011 and hello to 2012! See you in the new year!

How Does Your Garden Grow???

Before I get to the garden, I forgot to show you all this bag I made out of Bliss. Yeppers, it's another Charmed Living Tote (small version). This one is uber girly and I just love it! I made it a few weeks ago and promptly took it to the quilt shop to show it off and forgot to take a picture first!

 And can I say, I am so proud of my garden - it's been so nice to have! And some of those plants are just growing so big! The tomatoes, cilantro, dill, and corn are all waist high on me...

 The herbs have really taken off and it's been wonderful to just run to the garden and grab some fresh whatever for dinner that night. So far the purple basil and cilantro probably have been used the most.

 And the tomatoes!!! They're HUGE!!! Can you see all the green ones in there?

 But the coolest thing of all about this garden are the tomatillos. These are just big puffs right now, but eventually we are going to have Mexican night quite often around here to use up some of these. And I might try and make my own Salsa Verde - any suggestions on a good recipe???

 Look at the corn. It was knee high last week, this week it's waist high. At this rate by next week it'll be taller than me!!! And I thought it wasn't going to grow...

To go along with Mexican night will be our first crop of Cubanelle Peppers!!! I foresee plenty of tacos, burritos, nachos, and whatever else we can think of very soon - which is fine with me!!!

And this all started here on Memorial Day... big difference a little over a month can make!!!

Are you gardening? How is it going over at your place? Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a good focal bush or plant for the shaded area of my yard, ideas would be appreciated. I'm having a hard time finding something "pretty" with substantial size to fill this shaded void of my yard. And unfortunately it's the first spot your eye goes to in the yard and right now it's a pile of dirt...

Oh, and FYI - poison ivy has berries on it for those of who who might not have known that little tidbit like myself. Luckily I'm not allergic, but we have a corner (well, you could see it at the top left of the last photo) that was getting overgrown with this stuff - we had no clue what it was but it looked like poison ivy...

Meanwhile some little berries started to grow, we live in a wine-ish country and we have wild grapes in other areas of the yard, so naturally we thought it might be grapes. To shorten the story, killed the plants anyway, then decided to double check today... It's poison Ivy alright. And the worst part is all 3 of our neighbors at that corner have it in spots that they don't take care of so it grows over, under and through my fence into my yard and I can't get rid of it!!! I'm running out of options...

Do I just let it grow and avoid it at all costs while having this horrid corner to an otherwise well kept yard, or try to kill it and kill it and kill it every time it creeps over from one of the neighbors...I'm feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one...Any ideas on this subject would help too!

Thanks for chatting and please let me know if you have remedies for any of the "stuff" I mentioned above. I thank you in advance for any suggestions you could throw my way.

Gotta go sew for a bit and work on some other projects before heading back to work tomorrow. I'll talk with you later!

The Latest On This End...

So, the two newest patterns will be ready to ship this week! Here's pictures as promised of the larger version of the Charmed Living Tote:

So the one on the left is the larger version compared to the smaller version on the right. They're both quite large, but the larger version is HUGE!!! It would be the perfect bag for a day at the beach or to haul a quilt around or something...

Or I was also thinking this could be a wonderful reversible bag if you made the lining out of lined fabrics that are more and more available these days to coordinate with the outer fabrics. you could have the lining out while at the beach and then flip it with the lining in to put all the soggy clothes in for the drive home. Just thinking...

And I'm planning to start a new project sometime soon (if the garden and weeds let me!) I wondered what you think of the fabrics and colors?

I love the paisley print in the stack above, but I'm a sucker for paisleys...

I'm not quite sure of the goldish one in the center there, but if I blend in a couple other prints it might not seem so bold. It's actually pretty neat and I didn't notice it til I got the fabric home - that piece fades from milk chocolate brown to gold.

It was all inspired by this piece here. I was looking for the newest and greatest three color quilt combination. I was so afraid of something too traditional or primitive, and I didn't want to do the same thing that's been done a hundred times over. Any guesses on what this might turn into?

Speaking of that, I need to go sew a bit before I have to cook dinner. I'm going down to the NQA Show in Columbus on Thursday, I've never been to it before and I'm so excited to go! I'll take tons of pictures and show them later this week.

Also, I'm going to be at Shipshewana in a couple weeks for a day with the Moda Bake Shop at the Farmstead Inn. If you're planning on attending, let me know and I'd love for you to come up and say Hi! I'll have all sorts of goodies there and it should be a fun time.

So, tonight's the first dinner with herbs straight from the garden - Fish Tacos with fresh salsa using some of the Cilantro from the herb garden. It smelled so good when I picked it! I can't wait to try it! I'll let you know how it went! Talk to you all soon!

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!