Dresden Madness

You should know by now, I love dresden plates.  So when Denise said dresdens for a block swap, I was all in!.

Here is a sneak peak!







This last photo gives me all kinds of 3-D ideas for a candle mat!

I don't have enough hobbies

You see, I like to learn things.  I love trying to do new things.  Sometimes, I really enjoy them, like sewing, and other times not so much, like scrape booking. 

Let me intro this with the fact that my dad, my brother, my cousin, several friends all do this.  I get to travel to really cool places and have not been able to do this yet because I was not certified to do this.  Sometime between now and the end of the year, I am going to Fiji for work.  Yes, I know crazy right?  Everyone tells me I need to extend the trip and do this there. 

A while back my husband went to the shop and asked all the questions, signed me up for the class and all around got me going on this.  So for the last month, I've been to the lectures and to the practical training. But on Sunday, I went for the real test. Can you guess what I'm doing? Yes, that's right, I'm learning to Scuba Dive!  On Sunday, I was able to complete 3 of the 5 necessary dives to get my NAUI certification.  Next Saturday, I hope to finish up so I'll be ready to go to Fiji when the time comes.

I'm really enjoying it and hope that I get do a lot more it in the years to come.

Here is where went diving - yes at dawn too!


And here is me getting ready to go scuba!


A couple things I didn't know - yes, you can get motion sickness from all the surges under water..not fun.  Sea urchins really can prick you through your 7 mil gloves.  You burn a ton of calories keeping yourself warm in the wetsuit.  It's a total body work out doing beach entries.

National Sewing Month

September is National Sewing Month!

So the last two years (I think, but at least last year for sure), I celebrated by not buying ANY fabric during the month of September so I could focus solely on using the fabrics I had on hand.  The idea is to actually get some sewing done, instead of buying fabric and thinking I'm really going to get the project done.  You know what I mean!

So, here is one project I am going to start this month.  The Starry Eyed Quilt over at Moda Bake Shop but using Moda's Nature's Charm fabric.




















I sure hope I can get the quilt top done this month so I can buy the backing and binding in October!

I finally got something done!

I know I'm busy but it seems like I never get anything done. However, this weekend I was able to finish up one small project.  As you read (hahaha) in my previous post, I had these quilt squares from the Crafty Girls weekend that we made (one each from Regena, Karen and Denise) that we swapped.

So, I dug through my stash to find some sashing, made up some make-do squares for corner stones out of the scrapes I had and came up with this little table runner.

I decided to do free-motion quilting - at which I'm still learning.  I crossed a few lines and got some points, but in the end it doesn't look too bad.








I know that last photo looks like it's wonky, but it's not in person, I just suck at photography.

I also, finally added the sashing and make the quilt sandwich of the scrap quilt I started way back when.

I hate glue...

in all shapes and forms.  Now I know that spray bast for quilts is great stuff and all.  Up until this little gem of a quilt, all my projects have been relatively small.  The undertaking of spray basting this queen size quilt sandwich just about caused me to say "this ain't fun".

This is the spray bast I'm using.

 

Here is the first step, basting on the backing to the batting.



Yeah right, there were a few wrinkles I decided I'm OK WITH!



I'm sure the quilt police will tell me later on, that I'm gonna regret that, but they don't understand my true hate of glue, sticky substances on my hands...drives me insane.

I got it done, and only just wanted to drown my sorrows in a cool beer after rolling around on the driveway for an hour putting this together.

Shaking and a Grovin'

Over the weekend, the hubs and I attend the Grand Cru event.  It's a local charity event put on by Legal Aide.  There were over 1,000 wines tasted and some wonderful food from local restaurants and market.  We had a really nice evening at the downtown park, sipping some amazing wines.



Then early the next morning we headed over to the antique flea market, where I added not one, but two new pottery pitchers to my collection. The hubs was not thrilled.  However, this was the most fun thing I saw all day. It's a spider man pogo stick..hahahaha




I took a day off from work this week and this is pretty much what I did all day.


I'm playing swappy goodness with the girls again, this time it's Dresdens (YEAH) made out of this.




Someday when I have loads of spare time, I plan on sewing something with this stack of fat quarters.  Oh and the hubs has grounded me. So I should be home a lot more so maybe I can get caught up on my sewing.

Summer Summer Summer

I've had a very nice summer so far.  However, every now and then, I catch myself looking at sweaters and boots with a longing for fall. What a shame!

At the end of July, we had our 2nd Annual Chica's Weekend.  Denise of My Whittle Adventures and Regena of The Distracted Domestic drove down to visit with Karen of Sew Much 2 Luv and I.

 We saw some amazing quilts at the festival.  We also had several friends join us - Sam, Oma, and Marcia - it was a great day!



 We spent a day at the International Quilt Festival and a day sewing on our swap blocks.  We bought the charm packs last year at the IQF.





Then I had a business trip to Iowa and I found this little quilt shop that I had to stop in to see.  Found room in the suitcase for all my goodies.


Sam, recommended I visit Country Threads shop in Iowa when I was there, but it was too far, so I ordered online of course!.  I bought this quilt pattern called America's Quilt

Then yesterday, it was HOT, and I mean HOT for around our parts.  Too hot to garden or do much, so I stayed in and sewed. This is my version of the America's Quilt.  Earth tones, to go in our master bedroom.  Not so patriotic now, but in person the colors really do blend really well.