What Are You Looking Forward To?

With only one week of the semester left, and the Christmas season upon us, I find myself thinking about all of the things I am looking forward to doing in the next month. Of course, as with everything I do, my list of wants is far longer than what reality will probably allow. However, forever an optimist, I like to set my goals high and see what happens. With that in mind, here is part of the list of things I am looking forward to:

*Vacation days spent at home playing with my kids.
*Being more than a train passing in the night to my husband.
*Baking sugar cookies with the kids from my Grandma's fantastic recipe.
*Not buying a tank of gas every 3 days.
and, of course, *More time for sewing and quilting! (can you say home-made gifts?)

So, what are you looking forward to this season? Send me a comment with your favorite holiday "look forward to" and I'll comment back to you with a coupon code for 40% off your Christmas fabric and/or pattern purchase! Send your comment before December 15th!

New Stitchery/Quilt Patterns On the Way

I just ordered some great new patterns from Pumpkin Berries Stitchery. They are small applique wallhangings with just a touch of stitchery thrown in. I had to slap my hands not to order some of the super cute Fall/Halloween themed patterns and focus on the Winter ones for now. They will be up online as soon as they arrive!

Piece, Love, Applique Under Way!

The P,L,A Block of the month is underway! There are over 10 people participating, and I've run out of the right fabrics to kit up any more in similar color ways. (although I can see this quilt in other exciting colors, so don't worry if you are still wanting to join I can make you up a fantastic kit!)
You can view the pictures as they come into me on the shop's Facebook page. Just search for "The Crazy Quilter" on Facebook to find me!
I also promised to give tips, hints, help, etc. for those of you who are participating. Since you have received blocks 1 and 2 so far, and 3 is being sent next week, here is a tip to save you time:

Block 1: The pattern tells you to cut 2.5" squares and then sew them all together individually. Instead, try cutting one light strip 2.5" x WOF, and two strips from a dark fat quarter 2.5" wide. Then, sew the dark strips to the light strip and place the dark strips against each other but not overlapping when the first one runs out. Then, you can sub-cut this unit into 2.5" units, cutting around the middle where there is a break in your dark strip.
This strip piecing prevents you from having to sew a bunch of little squares one by one. You can use this technique throughout the quilt top whenever you make checker board units. It also saves time later, because you will have leftover strip sets to cut more 2.5" units from for other blocks!

You can use the tag at the end of this post to view the rest of the Piece, Love posts if you need to.

Happy Quilting!

To Market or Not to Market? That is the Question.

I'm having a horrible time deciding whether or not to go to Quilt Market. So horrible that I've put the decision off until now, and it's only a month away! I've got to get down to business, before the price of plane tickets sky rockets, and the only hotel rooms left have cockroaches! So....I've posted a little poll on the blog. Help me out! Would ya?

When Did I Become a Real Mom?

I've been a mother for over 13 years now, but I was never a real mom until just recently. Without me even trying, true motherhood just snuck right up on me.

It started back in August, as I was preparing the kids for school to start. Kylee and I had a conversation about getting ready for school in the morning. Kylee is not a morning person. In fact, she is just the opposite, as in don't even think about looking at her, talking to her, or asking her to do anything she might not want to do until at least 10 a.m. unless you like to be growled at. (And I do mean growled)
In an effort to save the rest of my household from unneccesary agony, I discussed laying out her clothes for the following day. "I'll lay out an outfit for you, and then when you get up you can just put it on," I told her.
She gave me "the look," but didn't really say much.
Two days later, the topic came up again. "Remember, I'm going to start laying clothes out for you the night before, right?" To which Kylee replied:
"Yeah.......But could you make it look like you didn't?"
"Huh?"
"Well, if you pick my clothes out, could you make it look like you didn't pick them out?"
Hmmmmmmm....
Then, fast forward to last week, when Bailey came home and shared that she was running for school Vice President. I, being a super-excited, proud mom, immediately began coming up with great campaign slogans. I was quickly informed that I was "embarrassing and un-cool, and under no circumstances was I allowed to tweet or blog my campaign ideas!"
Then: The final medal on my "Real Mom" chest. Shopping on Monday, I noticed that one of my favorite clothing stores is now selling their own leggings, which are very in style right now.
My exclamation of, "Look, Bailey, they have leggings!" elicited this response:

"Oh. My. God. Mom. You cannot buy leggings."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because, Mom. You can't wear leggings. That's just wrong."

Wow! Suddenly I was having flash backs of my mom's stirrup pants. Specifically, of how un-cool those stirrup pants were. But suddenly, it's me, and what are leggings if not stirrup pants without the stirrups?

Oh. My. God. I've turned into my mother! But I thought I was so much cooler than that....

Groovy Girls Club Update

I will begin offering a Brand-New club in October, organized by Terry Atkinson at Atkinson Designs, called "The Groovy Girls' Club." I'm super excited about it, the information and design of the first meeting is loads of fun and includes a great learning opportunity. The club will be offered the 2nd Saturday of each month, for 1-2 hours, it's up to you if you stay and sew or not. Benefits include free patterns, demonstrations, door prizes, and fun! If you're a Groovy Girl, join me for coffee and fun on Saturday, October 9th, at 10am!!

*Club runs for 6 months, beginning October 2010, on the 2nd Saturday of every month at 10am.
*Club fee is $10/month. This includes free patterns and gifts each month. You will receive MORE than enough in club benefits to pay for your fee. (In month 1, you'll receive a FREE zipper and 2 FREE bag patterns with multiple options for customization!)
*Members receive a special punch card. Fill your punch card to receive a free gift by completing a club project, bringing a friend, or making a $25 purchase. A full punch card can be exchanged for a free club gift. Punch cards are exclusive to club members, and there is no limit to how many cards a member can fill!
*Bring your sewing machine and supplies and sew for the day up until 3pm in you like! Work on the club project, or work on anything of your choice!

Hint!: For month 1, we'll be learning about how to use zippers in a fast and easy way to make customized "Cash & Carry" bags to carry everything from your glasses to your credit cards to your change!. The new zippers from Atkinson are fabulous! Here is a sample preview:

This bag is one of the options for your first free pattern. This version is the perfect size for reading glasses, and only takes about 1.5-2 hours to put together! There is a perfect zipper color available for any fabric choice!

If you're interested in becoming a "Groovy Girl," contact the shop during business hours. You can find hours and contact information at www.crazyforquiltng.com.

When I Grow Up

It seems I still haven't decided what to be when I grow up. Yes, believe it or not, I've returned to college for round 2. After the urge to finish an Education degree I dabbled with during my Business degree years hit me last month, I decided "Why not?" and enrolled for the Fall term. Now, I'm a Secondary Ed./Math major, with an even stronger addiction to Starbucks, fed by my 7:30am Calculus class.

Yes, I said 7:30am......4 days a week.

It has been a very long time since my last formal math class. I frequently leave that class with one of two attitudes:

(1) The misconception that I actually understand the day's lecture. This misconception is quickly cured as I attempt to complete the day's homework. (Notice the word "attempt")

(2) No misconception that I understand the day's lecture, just a combination of fear of the homework and the feeling my head might explode if I don't get more espresso soon.

Yes, I am fairly convinced that Calculus was invented by a bunch of expert mathematicians.......while they were drunk.......as a cruel joke to torture the rest of us.

I am still here, I am still quilting, and I promise to post about something quilt related soon. Just as soon as my head stops throbbing.