A Little Bit Biased

V-Day {or any time of year} Table Runner

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:34:00 +0000

You know how certain colors just call to you? Well, I was cutting some of these Breakfast at Tiffany's {Fig Tree} fabrics for a customer the other day and had to scoop up some of the corals and creams before they were gone. I knew I wanted to make a little Valentine's Day something out of them but didn't have a plan in mind.

Of course, it would be in the form of something quilty.

But I didn't want it to be too cutesy or heartsy {are those words???}

This is what I came up with.

I kept the runner pattern simple so I could really highlight some custom quilting. Don't you just love feather circles? I thought they would be perfect in the blocks, definitely keeping with Fig Tree style.

{Kaylene Parry in Lehi, UT. quilted this for me and did a beautiful job!}

I used four 10" squares for the blocks and 1-1/2" wide sashing strips.

(This would be a perfect way to use up some left-over layer cake squares :)

I also used the EZ Flip 'N Set ruler by Darlene Zimmerman

to figure out the cut size of my side setting triangles.

Have I told you how much I love that ruler?!?

This runner measures 15" x 60" {from point to point}.

I have a feeling I will enjoy this simple runner throughout the year.

Happy Quilting!

~ Amber

Scrap Jar Stars Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:54:00 +0000

Have you seen this?

I thought I'd share these pictures.

Leanne from the blog, Lizzie the Quilter,

whipped this quilt up. Ten days after posting my tutorial for these Scrap Jar Stars, Leanne had made 20 blocks! Boy was I impressed. I don't even have the attention span to do that!

Leanne made a total of 25 blocks and added on a very fun, scrappy border. I'd say this project is one fabulous stash buster! I haven't touched my little red, white and blue version since I posted my tutorial -- so I am grateful for the kick in the pants, Leanne! You definitely inspired me to go on making more Scrap Jar Stars!

Thanks {Leanne} for sharing and congrats on a fabulous finish!

Happy Quilting everyone!

~ Amber

Scrap Jar Stars Tutorial can be found HERE.

A {New} Finish!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:44:00 +0000

Happy Monday everyone!

Thanks to all of you who offered names for my orange and turquoise quilt. There were lots of great ideas and I'm going to stew them over for a bit, but I will announce the winner soon :)

For today, I thought I'd share my latest finish with you.

You like to see finishes, right???

I talked about this quilt a little HERE and HERE.

It's my Accuquilt Go! Quilt. That's not the official name of this quilt, but I did use the quarter square - 4" finished triangle die. It was awesome. It saved me hours of time and my points are way more accurate than they would have been if I had cut them all by myself!!!

The color scheme is a little different for me and I am loving it! My friend Liz gave me a bunch of the fabrics for my b-day a while back (Hi Lizzy!) and then I threw in a bunch from my stash to mix it up a bit.

For the background I used a beige fabric with little white polka dots

[Naturally Naturals II for Red Rooster Fabrics #19039].

And for the binding, I used more polka dots! I'm one of those people that really doesn't mind putting dots next to dots (as you may have noticed :) As long as you have enough contrast in color and/or scale, I think it works.

The more the merrier -- in my opinion :) The taupe/dot fabric for the binding is printed by Lecien, but that's all the information I have on it right now.

I used a Riley Blake solid blue fabric for the backing. Since the quilt is queen size, I felt really happy about the $6.99 per yard purchase (plus my employee discount!)

My quilter did some free hand quilting on it with loops and flowers. She always throws in one hidden object, just for fun. As you can see, we found the butterfly! Jen Ostler in Cedar Hills, UT. did a FABULOUS job quilting it! The density was perfect, she was fast and she had it all trimmed, wrapped up with a chocolate on top when I picked it up. I was a happy customer!

I started this quilt at the beginning of August. 7 months later and she's finally finished! She's going on our guest bed, so now I just need to get those walls painted, buy a dresser and get some accessories.

Oh, one of these days, right???

Happy Quilting!

~Amber

Calling All Sew Inspiring Rooms!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Hello. How are ya?

Did you notice there is no "Sew Inspiring Rooms" feature today?

Kinda sad, I know. I had a guest blogger lined up for today but unfortunately they had to cancel (last minute) and I didn't think I had enough time to find a replacement. So I apologize. It's a busy time of life. I think we're just going to take a break for a week or two but we'll have some fun guests later on this month!

In the meantime, if you, yourself, would like to share a fabulous photo or two from your Sew Inspiring Room ~ feel free to send me a picture! I'll post your picture and give a shout out to you/your blog. Or maybe even have you do your very own post. Sew Inspiring Rooms can be big or small, fancy or simple. Please send photos to me at adctd2qultng@gmail.com

As for me and my house ~

I finished up this quilt and am almost done with the instructions. Like I said before, this is just a simple, patchworky, charm - friendly quilt.

Pattern coming soon.

Needing a name for it though...any ideas?

There could be a free pattern in it for you if I pick your idea?!?

Bribery :)

Does it work?

Jumping on the Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:34:00 +0000

I've succumbed!!!

At work we decided to form a Farmer's Wife club (which will be starting in March for anyone around Highland, Utah who wants to join in the fun!)

Yesterday, I finalized my color scheme. I bought 8 of these fabrics and pulled the rest from my stash/scrap jars. I'm sure I'll have to pick up some more fabrics along the way though. Especially some lights and darks (as you can see I've got lots of mediums). My first inclination is to sash the whole thing in white with red posts but we'll see.

A red and white quilt has been on my quilting "bucket list" for a while now, so I decided to go this route for the FW club. Although, I do have another pattern that I've been planning to do in red and white, as well, so I may just end up with two. Which makes me happy.

I can already tell that when doing a two color quilt you have to have lots of contrast. I think this will be a great lesson in color value for me. Which, I think will add another level of difficulty to this quilt.

Last night I made my first 5 blocks. These little 6" cuties were fun to make and came together quite quickly. In the club, we are starting with the most basic blocks and moving up to the more difficult ones.

#4 Basket Weave

#68 Postage Stamp

#2 Autumn Tints

#73 Rainbow Flowers

#48 Homeward Bound

I'm getting a little nervous for some of the more difficult ones, but I am happy anticipating how much I will grow as a quilter.

If you live around here and you're interested in joining the Farmer's Wife fun (and having a local support group :) then call Just Sew at 801-492-7929. The cost of joining is $40, which covers the cost of the book, monthly block demonstrations, a show and tell party at the end of the year and the chance at winning a great (I mean GREAT) prize!

So am I the last Farmer's Wife quilter out there?

Happy Quilting!

~ Amber

Sew Inspiring Rooms {Sweetwater}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:37:00 +0000

Welcome to:

(which once was "Tuesday Tips". See yesterday's post.)

Man, I feel pretty darn lucky today because Susan from Sweetwater is here to share a sneak peak into her creative space. She shares the space with her mom and sister, where [together] they design fabric and quilt patterns for Moda. They also create all sorts of labels, home decor and much, much more. I don't know if you will ever see a more beautiful, clean and organized design studio than theirs! I met these ladies at Spring Quilt Market and they were all so sweet but can I say that Susan won the award for the friendliest designer. She is so sweet and every time I saw her at Market she was smiling! Thank you SO much Susan for sharing your space with us!

***

Hello! We were honored to be asked by Amber to be a guest blogger for her. We were fortunate enough to have a booth close to her at the last Spring Quilt Market. Her booth was absolutely adorable and we would have loved to take some of her quilts home with us and keep them for ourselves! She asked me to talk about ORGANIZATION. Well, if you would look at my desk as I am typing this you would say, "This girl needs to take a class on organization herself!" I would totally agree but when it is all neat and tidy it is nice and since it is my mess I usually (not always) know where everything is. In a perfect world (not just on picture day) our studio would always look like this:

We started our business in a storage room just outside of my parents house. The three of us all worked in there along with our kids and it tended to get a little chaotic and crowded. We were fortunate enough to be able to add a studio onto our "storage room". We now each have our own workspace and are no longer tripping over each other (just toy tractors every once in a while).

It is nice still to have us all in the same room. We do all of the designing together so it is nice to be able to bouce ideas off of each other and get immediate feedback. Our studio functions as a place to design and create!

We have multiple stations in our studio which works great since we always have multiple projects going on at the same time. Our three main areas are: a long counter that works as a cutting table and project center; a computer center where all of the designing, order processing, and printing take place; and a corner "rest area" to you know just kick back read a magazine and relax. What were we thinking??? I renamed this corner the dust collecting corner because it never gets used!

We feel right at home in our rural setting. We are able to decorate our studio with items we have designed - quilts, subway art, and our own photography.

Since we are continually producing new items, we are able to redecorate several times a year. We have fun finding storage items at antique stores and garage sales. We use old tin boxes while creating our charms, long wire baskets to store ribbon, and an old wooden shelf for paper storage.

We feel very blessed to be able to share our creativity with our customers and are equally blessed to be able to work together as a family!

***

Thanks so much Susan for sew much inspiration today.

It was dreamy looking around your studio!

Please feel free to leave Susan some comment love below.

A Winner & A Few Items of Note

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

Well, last week was an exciting week. We had our 350th post and exceeded the 1000 follower mark here at A Little Bit Biased! Fun milestones :) Thank you all for following along and letting me share my quilting journey with you! I love blogging and I try to keep this a fun place for you to spend your time. I always appreciate your comments and friendship. Thanks to many of you for participating in my scrappy giveaway! I was planning on giving away a flat rate envelope full of scraps but once I started filling it I quickly realized that it wasn't going to cut it! So I grabbed this medium flat rate priority mail box instead and filled it to the brim with tons of scraps and possibly a few patterns :) And, it's dying to go to the home of...

Jackie, who said,

"Love this block! Thank you for the tutorial..."

Jackie, you can thank Random Number Generator for picking #36, but I would like to thank YOU for being a long time follower and for all your sweet comments over the years. I hope you'll enjoy this box of goodies! Please email your snail mail address to me at adctd2qultng@gmail.com so I can send this baby your way!

One other item of business is regarding the Tuesday Tips series.

I've been thinking about it for a while and I've decided that I'm just not happy with the name. It doesn't clarify what the series is about.

Yes, the series is held on Tuesdays and yes,

there are some tips about how to organize your creative space,

but the title and button needed to say more than that.

So, I've decided to make a new button and a new name for this series.

So what do you think of this new name/button? Better?

Feel free to put the button on your own blogs to help spread the word about this fun series.

And be sure to come back in the morning because Susan {from Sweetwater} is giving us a tour of their design studio. I'm so excited. It's beautiful. You won't want to miss it!

Scrap Jar Stars ~ Tutoroial & Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:22:00 +0000

I L♥VE scrappy quilts!

I love the idea of making something beautiful and original out of seemingly nothing. I love the idea of making something useful with little or no cost.

I love that sense of nostalgia I get when I see an old, worn, hand-quilted quilt, that was pieced together with scraps saved over the course of many years. Scrap quilts are charming to say the least! That's why I had so much fun making these little cuties a few weeks ago. I called them my Scrap Jar Stars.

Shortly after posting this photo, my friend Jodi {from Pleasant Home} emailed me and said those stars were just the thing she was looking for to round out her 2012 Sew Scraps Along! She's a girl after my own ♥ and I love that she's dedicating the whole month to sewing with scraps, including lots of great tutorials and giveaways! Head on over to Pleasant Home for all the fun details!

Jodi asked me if I'd post a tutorial of my Scrap Jar Stars and maybe give away a few scraps as part of the fun. I was flattered as could be that she asked and happy to do a giveaway. Hopefully, one gals scraps will be another quilters treasure!

So here we are. A little tutorial just for you!

As part of the Sew Scraps Along, I decided to make up another colorway of my Scrap Jar Stars. I pulled out my reds, navys, blues and aquas from my scrap jars. I'm loving these colors against the white. A happy and fresh combo if you ask me. Of course, there's a million different possibilities, so pull out some of your favorite scraps and let's get started!

Cutting

(per block)

(12) 2" bright squares

(12) 2" white squares

(4) 2" x 3-1/2" white rectangles
(4) 4-1/4" white squares*
(4) 4-1/4" bright squares*

* Note: Cut more than 4 for more variety!

I like to make one block first and then when I know what I'm doing I use an assembly line for the rest. So you might like to multiply the cutting requirements (above) by however many blocks you are making. It seems to go quicker that way.

Assembly

Make Star Points:
You will need 8 Half-Square Triangle blocks for each star. Each pair of bright/white 4-1/4" squares will make two HST blocks. Make extra HST's for more variety in your star points :)

Step 1: On each of your bright colored 4-1/4" squares, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Pair up each bright square with a white square with right sides together (RST).

Step 2: Use a 1/4" seam allowance to sew along both sides of the line.

Step 3: Cut on the line to form two HST's.

Step 4: Press the seams towards the dark side.

Step 5: Use a ruler to trim the HST blocks to 3-1/2" square. By starting out a little big and trimming down to 3-1/2" square your star points will be more exact. I like to use my small 6-1/2" square ruler to do this step. Set the HST's aside.

Make 16-Patch:
Lay out sixteen 2" squares next to your sewing machine (alternating 8 white with 8 bright). Use a 1/4" seam allowance to sew the squares together in rows.

Press seams towards the bright fabrics. Then, sew the rows together (butting up alternating seams against each other and pinning in place). Press row seams in one direction. Set aside.

Assemble Star Blocks:
First, lay out 2 HST blocks on each side of the 16-patch block to make the 8 star points.

Sew each set of HST's together with RST. Press the seams open.

Sew two of the sets of HST's to opposite sides of the 16-patch. Press seams towards the 16-patch.

Before sewing the other sets of HST on, you will need to make the corner blocks. I like to sew them together at this point (instead of earlier) so that I can make sure the bright corner fabric is not the same as the two star points on either side of it. So lay out the desired 2" bright colored squares in what will be each of the outer corners of the star block. Then lay out a 2" white square next to it (on the inside) and a 3-1/2" rectangle above or below them (depending on which side of the 16-patch unit you will be sewing it on to).

Make the corner blocks by first sewing a bright 2" square to a white 2" square with RST. Press seam towards the bright square. Then sew that unit to a 3-1/2" white rectangle and press seams towards the white rectangle.

Sew a corner block to each side of a set of HST's, making sure to keep the bright square in the outer corner (see photograph below).

Sew two of these units to the sides of the 16-patch unit to complete the Scrap Jar Star.

This unit should measure 12-1/2" unfinished.

I made four blocks and sashed them with (4) 2" x 12-1/2" white strips and (1) 2" bright colored square in the middle. I'm still deciding whether to make a table topper or a throw size quilt. Any thoughts???

So there you go! I hope you liked this tutorial
(and I hope it all made sense ~ my brain is fried right now :)
They're really fun to make and if you haven't been there already,
go to Pleasant Home to see Jodi's "camping" colorway!

Speaking of Jodi, ever since she contacted me about her Sew Scraps Along, I have been looking forward to emptying out my scrap jars for a giveaway. It's a new year and time for a fresh start! If you'd like to enter to win some of mine, please leave a fun comment below.

Here are the details:

Giveaway will end on Saturday, January 21st at midnight.
Leave one comment below for one entry.
For a second entry, leave another comment telling me that you're a follower.
I will announce a winner on Monday.

Happy Sewing!
Amber

Hop For Your ♥

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I was really excited when I got an email from Leah at Burgundy Buttons (the other day) asking if I would like to participate in the

Sew Red Blog Hop. I jumped at the chance to help bring awareness to this important cause.

What is the hop about?

Well, it's about hopping! And raising awareness about heart disease!

Each month, Sew Red for Women will feature an original quilt block designed especially for you by some of today's most inspiring designers and bloggers. We will provide a special link to hop on over to the blogger and/or designer's site for details and instructions for completing the featured block. And you just might learn a thing or two about heart disease while you're there!

The hopping begins on February 3rd, which happens to be Wear Red Day!

Who's Participating? And when?

February 3 - Leah of Burgundy Buttons

March 3 - Fat Quarterly's Tacha of Hanies Quilts

April 3 - Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt

May 3 - Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting

June 3 - Charlie of Qubee Quilts

July 3 - Jessica of Twin Fibers

August 3 - Melissa of The Polkadot Chair

September 3 - Amber of A Little Bit Biased
October 3 - Amy of Diary of a Quilter

November 3 - Amy of Amy's Creative Side

December 3 - Sherri of A Quilting Life
January 3 - Lynne of Lily's Quilts

What fabric are we using?
While we do not yet have a final fabric supply list as the designer's are still creating their block, we will be using fabrics from Chemistry by Cosmo Cricket and coordinating Bella Solids. Naturally you may use any fabric you like!

As the blocks are released, Burgundy Buttons will offer a block-specific fabric pack for purchase while supplies last.

Will there be a flickr group?

What fun is it if you can't show off? Share pictures of your block and finished projects with the group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/sewredforwomen/

We are so excited to bring you this heart friendly hop and raise awareness about heart disease at the same time! Please help us save lives by sharing information about this event on your blogsite, twitter and facebook! Grab a button over from the right and add it to your side bar!

Together we can make a difference!

Ten Little Things

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:35:00 +0000

{I'm grateful for}

A boy that wakes up every morning immediately talking in silly voices (at least he's happy, right?)
A girl that calls down to me every night, asking me to come stay for her personal prayers.
A politically informed guy that listens lovingly as I inarticulately try to describe Newt Gingrich's speech from the other night (which I liked).
An unexpected offer from a mom & dad to offer to watch their grand-kids so their daughter and son-in-law can have a date night.
Sparkly taupe nail polish that symbolizes sisterhood (and the memory of the fact that aqua nail polish makes my older sister "want to throw up").
5 lbs. lost
Using Christmas money from in-laws to get a queen-sized quilt quilted (for .05 cents an inch! Yay!!)
The same politically informed guy calling me while I'm out shopping to tell me he is going to donate some cash to the "get new church clothes & shoes fund" when I didn't want to ask for anything more since he spoiled me for Christmas.
A little girl that prays to make {more} girl friends, {better} girlfriends.
5 hours to myself to hit some local quilt shops/market patterns, look into "going back to school" and do some shoe shopping and if there's time, hopefully get some sewing in :)

If you want to share the little moments that inspire, beckon, excite or move you, you can link up to Cassie's "Little Things Series" HERE.

Tuesday Tips {Between The Lines}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Hello! Hello! Welcome to another installment of
Tuesday Tips
{for your creative space!}

I'm excited today because I have my dear sister {Cassie} here to share some organizational tips from her creative space! She is a writer, a crafter, the most beautiful bookmark you've ever seen maker, an amazing mommy, a fabulous wife, a vintage finds huntress, a baker, a photographer and an all around amazing little sister. She shares these talents (and others) on her blog,
A Serenade for Solitude.

Cassie also owns one crafty Etsy shop called, Between the Lines
where she sells all things that have to do with books and their lovers (bookmarks and home decor and such).
Check out what makes this creative girl tick...

♥ ♥ ♥

It is so fun to be part of this series and share with you my creative space tips!

What came to mind when Amber asked me to do a post for her series of Tuesday's Tips, and what I feel is key in one's creative space is:

There are a whole ton of things that inspire me--pictures, words, color and a sprinkling of rustic and vintage are a handful of things that make my heart happy, so I've done my best to incorporate aspects of these things into my studio space.

Inspirational words keep my purpose in mind.

I also have one of my favorite books by Sabrina Ward Harrison on display, that to me is the epitome of creativity in both writing and art.

I find it especially fun to decorate with items from my shop!

Pennant banners, chalkboards and chalk board erasers are

here on this armoire.

I also have an inspiration board to gather bits of inspiration for future projects

or to display pretty pictures. You can see it below. It still needs lots of love.

My husband helped me make this stand for my most recent craft show.

The antlers and whitewashed wood is just my style, and it is so fun

having pretty creations on display. I'm a firm believer in enjoying what you create! Do you display what you love in your space?

Organization:

I think it should be functional and display pretty, too.

I love to thrift.

Using old trunks and vintage tool and tackle boxes is one of my favorite ways to store and display items craft items.

This rustic and industrial drawer system is one of my favorite thrift finds!

It has since been turned into my sewing caddy.

This rusty old toolbox is where I keep some of my order supplies.

One of my greatest investments as someone who works with beads and charms was this:

A sectioned tray to store my charms, pendants and beads. Again, having it stored pretty makes such a difference when I'm trying to get inspired.

However, once I get going, my table goes from tidy to this:

Thankfully, the mess is still beautiful. These vintage trays help me keep organized and focused on projects as well:

Since one of the main mediums I use in my work is ribbon, I have a slight obsession with ribbon shopping, and have come to love growing my collection.

Lastly, I definitely have a notepad nearby, always.

You never know when inspiration is going to meet you.

What inspires you and have you incorporated it into your space?

♥ ♥ ♥

You can visit Cassie

on her blog HERE

or check out her shop

HERE

I hope you enjoyed Cassie's rendition of Tuesday Tips!

Can't you relate (as quilters) to so much of what she said?

Feel free to leave a comment below.

We'd love to hear about what inspires you!

Orange and Turquoise

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

I've been working on a little of this and a little of that.

Not much to show quite yet, but I thought I'd give you a little sneak peak of my next pattern...

A simple charm pack friendly pattern. I'm just finishing up the binding and have to write the instructions still but I'll show pictures soon.

I don't use orange very often but I was really happy when I got my allpeoplequilt.com weekly e-newsletter at the end of December and it said that the PANTONE color of 2012 is Tangerine Tango! They even suggested pairing it with Turquoise! Wow. I'm not really a "trendy" person per say (I try to think outside of the box) but I have been loving this color combination for a while now. Here are some of my favorite pics from Pinterest that I've been collecting in that color scheme:

click HERE for sources.

Fun right?

I actually got started making this quilt because of a challenge that my quilt group was doing. Each person picked a brown paper bag that had two crayons inside. We were challenged to make a project using those two colors. We could use any shade of the two colors and we could also add one other color (white and black counted) if we wanted. In my bag were orange and turquoise so I chose to make a quilt using lots of shades of both with white as my third color.

More pictures coming soon.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

~Amber

Tuesday Tips {Thimbleanna}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Welcome to Tuesday Tips!

Today we have a special post from a special friend of mine ~

Anna, from the blog, Thimbleanna. I've been following Anna's blog for a long time now and I am so happy she agreed to share a little bit of her creative space with us. She's got some great organizational tips and I know many of you will be able to relate to Anna's room ~ so check it out!

♥ ♥ ♥

Hi Everyone!

I'm Anna from the blog, Thimbleanna and I'm very excited to be posting here on Amber's blog for Tuesday's Tips. I had the honor of meeting Amber at quilt market in Salt Lake City last spring -- and she's just as sweet and talented as you'd imagine from her blog (which I stalk, btw!). I really had to laugh though, when Amber asked me to post for Tuesday's Tips. My sewing room is anything but glamorous, but then I thought that my ugly might be beneficial?!?

Tip #1: Work With What You Have!

There are so many beautiful, inspirational sewing rooms on the internet and it's easy to become discouraged if your room isn't drool-worthy. I love seeing those gorgeous rooms and I often get some great ideas from them, but that's not my reality. My sewing room is in the basement of our home and my sewing companions are the furnace and water heater. I've often debated about turning one of my now-grown-boys' rooms into my sewing room -- it would be much prettier and I could have a window, but I wouldn't have enough room to store all of my supplies. So, I'm working with what I have and staying in the basement. I lovingly refer to it as the dungeon and I try to put a positive spin on it. My fabrics and threads won't be damaged by sunlight, right? The reality is, I don't need a beautiful room to create pretty things. I just need some supplies, my sewing machine, a few notions, and a little organization to be able to find things. When we moved into our home, the mechanicals were all on one side of an unfinished storage room, so I blocked them off with a few old hutches so that I can't see the ugly stuff. That left me with three walls -- two walls were unfinished but lined with shelving (perfect!) and a third wall was unfinished studs. The first thing we did was put pegboard up on the stud wall. I love this wall for holding notions. Someday, when I have time to frou-frou-up my sewing room, I'll put some cute stuff on this wall.

The two walls with shelving hold all of my supplies. Over the years I've picked up plastic storage bins on sale (this is the perfect time of year to buy them!). This group of bins hold my fabric scraps. (See those unfinished walls back there -- I hardly even notice them anymore.)

Below the bins are some of my fabrics.

Tip #2: Fold Your Fabrics Nice and Tidy!

When I first started blogging I stumbled upon Monica's fabric folding technique. It took me 3 days to fold all of my fabrics, but it changed my life!;-) Since my shelves are all open it's really nice to have neat fabric stacks instead of the unsightly mess that I used to have.

I'd love to have some of those really cool ribbon shelves but I don't have anywhere to hang or set them. So, I improvised. I took a dowel rod and suspended it from one of my shelves with some wires. It works great to hold a lot of my ribbon spools.

I do have one really cool Pottery Barn organizer that my sister gave me a few years ago for Christmas. I helps cover up some of the unfinished walls -- you can see how the ribbon looks hanging above it.

Now, one last tip -- my favorite.

Tip #3: Add a Little Whimsy to Your Sewing Room!

It will make you happy. Here's my favorite embellishment to my unfinished room -- Shandi the Chandelier.

A few weeks ago I had a few of my work friends over and they begged to see my sewing room. I was very hesitant to let them see it -- I know all of you crafty types would understand, but none of them are obsessed like we are and I worried that they might think I need psychological help when they saw all of my fabric and doodads. I finally gave in -- I'm not sure what they were thinking, but I do know that when they saw Shandi hanging from the floor-joist-ceiling, they all laughed and ooohed and aaahed. It was a fun moment for Shandi and me!

So, that's it! Thank You So Much Amber for letting me share a little of your space here today! XOXO, Anna

♥ ♥ ♥

Some great ideas Anna! I definitely want to check out that link to Monica's fabric folding technique and I love how you've displayed all the loveliness that allows you to create the beautiful things that you do.

Please leave Anna some comment love below. She's so sweet to have shared her creative space and some great tips with us today.

A Handmade Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:05:00 +0000

First, there will be no Tuesday Tips today.

I didn't have the heart to ask anyone to even think about guest posting during this busy time. But please join us next week for a fabulous Tuesday Tips guest post by the amazing and talented...

Oh you'll just have to come back. It's gonna be so great!

Anyways, do you often feel bogged down during the holidays?

I know I do. There's always a million things to do. With neighbor gifts, teacher gifts, friend gifts, family gifts, decorating, card sending, baking...well, it can get a little overwhelming at times. This year, I set a goal to be finished Christmas shopping by December 1st. We did go past our deadline a little, but having that goal definitely helped us be more prepared this year. It gave me the extra time I needed to do the card and gift sending, the cookie delivering and the enjoying-the-Christmas-season-feeling that I so desired. It even gave me time 2 days before Christmas to have an impromptu sewing session that resulted in my one handmade {family} gift.

I used scraps from my stash to make a little doll quilt for my daughter. I couldn't resist these 30's prints that I recently acquired.

I cut one hundred 2-1/2" squares.

I had to dig deep into my stash since I don't have a lot of 30's fabrics. The red gingham back and green polka dot binding aren't 30's, but I felt they still kept the integrity of the quilt.

These two red fabrics featured above are ones that I collected from my grandmother {Gigi} so they add some sentimental value to this little gift.

I got all of the piecing done while my husband and daughter were out on a daddy/daughter date Friday afternoon. I got the binding hand-stitched on that evening. And I got the very simple quilting done on Saturday {Christmas Eve}. I finally got to take advantage of this Tiger Tape that I purchased many years ago. The big stitch style and minimal lines that I actually quilted made it possible to get done in an hour or two. I would have liked to have quilted it more, but seeing that it was Christmas Eve I knew I had to be realistic with my time. Also, I sort of thought it would take over if I quilted ever row in both directions. What do you think? Should I go back and quilt some more lines?

A 20" x 20" quilt for little Izzy {the newest member of our family}.

So, did you do a handmade Christmas?

Either way, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

~ Amber

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Tuesday Tips {Gigi's Thimble}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to another installment of

Tuesday Tips!

I'd like to invite you into my studio today...

You've seen bits and pieces here and there. But today I will show it to you in it's entirety. I really wanted to do a walk through video with you, but this will have to do :) I hope you'll enjoy the pictures!

This little shelf is a place to display things I love; wooden spools (in the apothecary jar) that belonged to my husband's grandmother, a little collection of antique irons, and some fabric. The magnetic board was a gift from my sister and is great for keeping notes and keepsakes on.

What quilter doesn't love color?

My Moda Bella Solids color chart is a great reference and fun to look at.

The damask boxes add a pretty visual, while storing specialty threads that I don't use very often. It also doesn't hurt to display fabric that you love in a sewing room. The fat quarter bundles inspire me and remind me about future projects I want to do. Below the shelf, I have two curtain rods. I found them at Ross for $3.99 each! Yay! I wanted Freezer Paper at an arms length since I use it so much for applique. And polka dot wrapping paper is another necessity (perfect for every occasion!)

The newest addition to my studio makeover is my peg board. I love having my rulers accessible, yet out of the way. Before, they were precariously piled on a shelf in my closet just waiting to fall off (which can lead to breakage).

I also hung a few patterns on my peg board that are either too big to fit in my pattern binder or that I just think are pretty. A red and white quilt is on my quilting bucket list and I think Petit Fleurs by Fig Tree is just the one I want to make.

I keep all of my small scraps (1/8 yard or smaller) in these jars. I have 6 jars (three on this dresser and three on the floor next to the dresser). I divide the scraps into different colors groups. For example, the large jar in the back left holds red and pink scraps. The other large jar holds blue, green and purple scraps. The small jar holds oranges and yellows. I also have a jar for light colored neutrals, a jar for grays and blacks, and a jar for browns.

I keep my threads near my sewing machine (right behind it, actually). I like having them in this little cupboard that I bought for about $4. They're kind of hidden behind the doors, but not entirely. I can easily see what colors I have or do not have.

This large, double-wide dresser allows for everything to have a specific place. The small drawers at the top hold my gadgets, pens, lint roller (gotta have one!) my scissors and rotary blades and my embroidery floss. All the other drawers hold my fabric and a few random projects. I like that it's all hidden away, but easily accessible. I keep every thing folded in color order and it makes me want to keep it that way :) You can see more pictures and details of this dresser (and what's inside) HERE.

You may wonder why I'm showing you a picture of a trash can...

Well, I often find that I'm walking across the room to dump scraps and clippings into my trash can. Now, I have two trash cans. One right by my machine (because I'm always clipping dog ears and threads there). Another (bigger) one is at the other end of my cutting table so I can discard of unusable scraps after cutting. With two trash cans around, I have no reason to not have a clean and clear cutting area.

My design wall.

The tutorial for it is one I got from Heather at the blog, {House} of A La Mode. I actually have two but I only keep one in my sewing room. The other one is in our basement. The reason I have two is because when I take photographs of my quilts for my pattern covers I like to lean the two design walls against my house (I always take the photographs outside). Then I stick my quilts on them (they just stick right up because the design walls are wrapped in batting). Then I smooth out any wrinkles and make them nice and straight. The design walls are only 4 ft. wide and my quilts are often times wider than that. I like the walls though because they are big, lightweight and portable.

My sewing room, is actually an extra bedroom in our house, so I'm lucky to have a walk-in closet with a few built-ins. In here is where I keep some of my quilts, patterns and a big Rubbermaid box full of random pieces of batting. I've also got a few boxes and baskets that hold ric rac and my 30's prints. I keep my works in progress in clear boxes on a shelf so I can easily see what I've got going. The brand of these boxes is called Protect 'N Store and the two sizes I use range from $4 - $6 dollars each. I like keeping all of the fabric for each project in its own separate box with the pattern inside on the top so I have everything ready to go.

So that's it. That's how I roll :)

I'd say this room is a sewing room on a budget. There are no high-end cabinets, just my little dresser that I picked up for $40 at a thrift sore. There is no fancy cutting table. I got mine for $50 at an antique store. My cutting mat is relatively small, but it works. I like to look for deals and find things that are pretty but don't cost a lot of money.

I hope I've encouraged you to get organized and display the things you love.

After my little sewing room makeover, I feel more inclined to keep it clean and put things back in their places when I'm done with them. I like the way it looks and I feel that my creative juices can flow more freely!

Thanks for stopping by! And remember, a room can be functional and pretty without spending a fortune.

Have a wonderful day.

~ Amber

Congratulations!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:54:00 +0000

to Nancy who said...

I am a stalker...um...follower of your blog...love it! Love all the creativity..and color...and...Dresden is on my bucket list. A pattern would be a start... lol

Nancy, you are the recipient of all these goodies: 4 patterns, 3 fat quarters, 2 kinds of treats and a partridge in a pear tree...no, no partridge actually, just a dresden pillow cover and a red and green pennant banner as well!

Happy Holidays to you, Nancy! Please send me your snail mail address and I'll send these on their way.

And, to the rest of you, my sale is still going on in my shop. Just enter PRETTYPEPS11 for 20% everything in the store!

A little gift from me to you...

Sweet Mary

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 03:06:00 +0000

I am shamelessly stealing this photo off of Mary's blog without her permission to let you all know that "in honor of her being a guest on my blog today" she decided to give away a kit to make this beautiful table runner. Isn't it beautiful and isn't she sweet?!?

I guess she forgot to mention it to me (and you) so I thought I'd pass the word along. So, go on. Click on over to Mary's blog. Leave her a sweet comment and get entered in to win. And, if you didn't see her "Tuesday Tips" post yet then keep scrolling down.

And, if you didn't enter my giveaway yet, click HERE.

Good luck!

Amber

Tuesday Tips {Mary's Cottage Quilts}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Tips!

If you're new to this blog, Tuesday Tips is a new series where I invite well-known quilt designers and crafty bloggers to share some tips and ideas from their own creative spaces. Tips that will help us be more organized and efficient in our sewing endeavours! And, if we can glean some ideas on how to make it all pretty, as well, then ~ BONUS!

Today we have Mary from Mary's Cottage Quilts here to share with us. She's a local Utah quilt designer. I met Mary about 2 or 3 years ago when I first started designing quilt patterns. She came into the fabric store that I had just started working at. She was more than willing to answer questions for me about the business side of things. Mary is the sweetest and most down to earth gal! I consider her my mentor and a friend. Her patterns are fantastic and I'm really excited to see where she creates!

♥ ♥ ♥

Hello all of you out there in Blogland!!

I am Mary Cowan of Mary’s Cottage Quilts and I am so excited to be a part of Tuesday Tips!! Amber asked me to do this quite awhile ago so I have had A LOT of time to think about what I wanted to say... I think, for me, the most important thing is to have organization! If things are cluttered and messy it makes me crazy (my husband would say “hmmm, that explains a lot”).

I used to have all of my fabric in giant Rubbermaid totes in my closet. It was a nice way to have every color in its own little space. But the problem was that I couldn't really see what I had without hauling everything out of the closet. For instance, if I wanted the reds I had to drag the “red tote” out and dig through all the reds to find the perfect few.

A couple of years ago all of that dragging around got very old and, using my best salesperson-ship (is that even a word??) I talked my husband into buying me some super awesome IKEA shelves. I think it’s actually called the Expedit bookcase. It comes in many different colors and configurations. The one that works best for my space is the 8 shelf design. I also have the 4 shelf design that holds more fabric (imagine that) and some of my favorite quilting books. I totally LOVE having all of my fabrics neatly folded and out in plain view so I can see what I have. I am really trying to use my stash when designing/starting a new project and this is the perfect solution for me to be able to see what I have and then to add to it as necessary. It sure beats dragging out my totes every time I want to start a new project.

I loved the Expedit bookcase so much I even used one in my booth at Spring Market in Salt Lake City. I also have a cool set up with my counter where I can sit and design/write patterns, surf the web, feed my addiction to pinterest or just keep up to date with all my facebook friends.

My husband totally SPOILS me and bought me this tv so I can watch college football on Saturdays while I sew. It also doubles as a huge monitor so I can design and step back and really see what things look like. There is a pretty big closet behind closed doors but that’s all I’m sayin’ about that – there will be no pictures of that nightmare.... It's a work in progress ;)

I am very visual so I love to have things up on the walls that inspire me. I try to make my studio a fun, comfortable, organized place where creativity can flow freely. And if it’s a mess, I can simply close the door.

So, there you go, thanks so much Amber for letting me yammer on and share my studio and a little tip or two with you all. Stop by my blog http://www.maryscottagequilts.blogspot.com/and you can see what I am up to next.

♥ ♥ ♥

OK, Mary IS spoiled if she gets to have a TV in her sewing studio! :) What a dream! I think it's cute that she likes to watch football while she sews. Ha! My husband would be in heaven if that's what I chose to watch in my free time. Anyways, I love the idea of displaying what you love (especially in a sewing room). What a great space, Mary. Thank you for sharing it with us!

Please leave Mary some comment love below.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you're enjoying Tuesday Tips!

~Amber

Finishing

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:29:00 +0000

First, thank you for all of your sweet comments on the giveaway. You guys are awesome!! If you still haven't entered, click HERE to win some fabulous holiday goodies. The giveaway is open until Saturday the 17th at midnight.

Second, after starting a few new projects recently (like THIS and THIS), I realized that I really need to check off a few older ones from my list. Maybe you can relate to this, but I have about 5 or 6 quilt tops that are just about finished. This one has been almost done for a while, but I decided it needed one more row. The fabric had been cut for 6 more blocks and two had been sewn together. After working on it for about an hour this weekend, I have just one more block to go. It seems that if I can just pull it out of the closet, then I will actually make some progress on it.

I also finished this quilt top. The middle has been done for a few weeks so this weekend I put the borders on. Now I just need to pick up some minky for the back and she'll be ready to send to the quilter.

Fabric: Sherbet Pips plus a lot of scraps from my stash.

Pattern: Snickerdoodle (small version) by Cotton Way.

And last but not least, I finished the last piece of THIS puzzle. There was a little bit of space I needed to fill in on my Block of the Month quilt, so I decided to fill it in with a label. After working on the embroidery (a little here and a little there) I finally finished! I can finally sew the last row together. This is about a year after the fact, folks.

For me, it's all about baby steps. I have quilters ADD (as you might have guessed if you've been following this blog for any period of time). I work on multiple things at a time. But I do make progress just by doing a little here and a little there. Slowly but surely, folks. Slowly but surely.

So today, I encourage you to pull out an old work in progress (you know you have them :) Make a block or maybe two! Sew the borders on or make a label. Or, just look at it. Feel the fabric. Just make a plan. Just take one step in finishing it up. It will feel so good...and start the ball rolling.

Happy Quilting.
Amber

A Giveaway From Me 2 U!

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Blog Hop Party

There's a blog hop party goin' on right now and I couldn't resist joining.

I wanted to take the opportunity to join in the fun and host a giveaway to say thank you!!! I love doing them and I'm feeling extra generous right now :)

But first, let me say "thank you!"

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read this blog. Thanks to those of you who take a minute from time to time to leave a comment. It really makes my day and makes all the time I put into this ~ worth it. I really enjoy blogging. I get so inspired when cruising around Blogland. It makes me happy to get a little bit of "eye candy" each day. It feeds my creative soul. I started this blog, thinking that if I could do the same for others ~ then fabulous!

So this giveaway is for all you (my followers). THANK YOU.

The winner will receive one of these 14" dresden plate pillow covers,

a few of my latest patterns, including Pretty Peppermints

PLUS a few other little goodies.

We'll keep it simple.
Just leave me a really nice, sappy comment below (j/k).
Please make sure you're a follower.
This giveaway will end December 17 at midnight.

And, don't forget to click on the button above to get a list of the other bloggers who are hosting giveaways! There's over 250 participating!! The list will be ready Saturday morning :)

***

P.S. If you need a last minute gift there are two more pillow covers and a couple of new pennant banners up in my shop right now.

And, for those of you wanting to get your hands on
Pretty Peppermints ASAP,
enter the coupon code:
PRETTYPEPS11 at checkout for 20% off that pattern.

Thanks again!
Amber

Tuesday Tips {Quilt Story}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

I am so thrilled to have Megan from Quilt Story here today

to share some Tuesday Tips with us!

But first, a little introduction...

I met Megan and her sister, Heather, at the Spring Quilt Market earlier this year. They write {darling} quilt patterns and host a fantastic blog together. Quilt Story designs are fun and original so you definitely need to check these girls out! They're hosting a Holiday Gift Tutorial series on their blog every Monday through the end of the month. I LOVE the modern holiday wreath tutorial they designed recently. Now, over to you Megan!

♥ ♥ ♥

We were very excited that Amber asked us to guest post on her great series, Tuesday Tips. It couldn't have come at a better time as I was just moving my sewing room around. It gave me a little motivation to get it done! Let me start by saying that my husband is in medical school, translation: extremely limited budget and space for my sewing ~~hobby~~ obsession! So if any of that applies to you hopefully I can offer something insightful!

I have more of a sewing corner than a room. It sits in the corner of my master bedroom! I've learned to use my vertical space and as many storage pieces as I can find. Here are some tips I've found helpful in my space:

1. Keep things at hand: Things I am constantly using I have at my fingertips. I keep my scissors and rotary cutters by my machine in cans/cups, my scrap bins are under the table, a trash can to my right, my WIPs in the next cupboard and a patterns/books/bulletin on the wall in front of me.

2. Work-In-Progress Spot: There needs to be a dedicated place for projects you're working on. Whether it's a large tote in a closet or in a cupboard. This way you can actually see how much you have going on at any given time. They all need to be in one place. For me it's a closed cabinet below my fabric. See picture below. I have at least four quilt tops in there, a messenger bag, some fun stuff! :)

3. The Little Things: I try to keep a designated spot for my notions. I used to have them all in a few drawers, but then I would never realize when I was out of elastic or how many zippers I had on hand. I got a great Pottery Barn cubby-thing at a garage sale for $5 years ago. There are 24 open cubbies and 8 of them I filled with cans. They are just large 28 oz tomato cans, cleaned and decoupaged. Inside I have zippers, left-over bindings, marking pens/pencils, pins, etc.. See the next two pictures.

4. Fabric Organization: I have had a lot of thought and conversations on this topic, and this is what I've decided to do. First I organize by size into three spots. I have scraps bins for pieces a few inches to around 1/8 yard. In my PB cubby-thing I keep pieces around the size of a fat quarter to half yard. Pieces half yard and larger I keep in my hutch (also a great pottery barn find for $25). Second I organize by line/color. For large lines I keep it all together, and if I have a lone print that matches I put it with that whole line. For all the leftovers, say 3 fabrics or less that go together, then I organize them by color. Hopefully that made sense! See the pictures below. (There's a great tutorial on how to fold your fabrics using comic book boards on That Girl That Quilt that I used on my larger fabric pieces, love it!)

5. Keep Inspired: Keep things in your sewing room that inspire you and make you happy! I decided to use pinks/purples in my corner because I am the only girl in my family :) Every room in my house is green or blue so I took advantage and used those girly colors! I also added the mini buntings because they make me happy!

Hopefully you've found something useful!! Thanks to Amber for giving us a spot to blabber :) And make sure to stop by Quilt Story :)

Thanks so much Megan!!! I love the ideas for working with a small space and I LOVE the sewing machine area! So cute!! Please leave Megan some comment love below! She's so sweet to share her creative space with us ♥ ♥ ♥

Scrap Jar Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:11:00 +0000

I'm easily distracted... so what? :)

I did get my banners done though. And I'm almost done with the binding on that customer's quilt. And, I'm going to work on the store quilt when I get back from my trip...And, I did clean my shower, my bathtub, my laundry room, my pantry, and folded lots of laundry over the last few days. justification.

But I really didn't need to start a new quilt. I have about a hundred others in the works. But, I was just fightin' that feelin' for so long!!! There's something about starting a new quilt. The planning, the choosing, the testing...

Do you hear what I'm saying???

Tuesday Tips {The Quilted Fish}

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Welcome to Tuesday Tips!

I am so excited today because the ever so talented, Amanda Herring (otherwise known as The Quilted Fish) is here to give us the scoop on her creative space! Amanda is a friend of mine, who I first met through Alpine Quilt Retreats. She's been an inspiration, an encourager and kind of a mentor to me for the last year or so. She's a fabric designer (for Riley Blake Designs), pattern designer, crafter of all sorts. She's funny. She's creative.

She's a one-hundred-and-ten-percent-kind-of-gal.

Get your "pins" ready because I know you're going to love this.

♥ ♥ ♥

Hello! I am Amanda from The Quilted Fish. I am so excited to be here to share a little bit of my studio with you. Amber is so amazing that she does all of this and gathers lovely bits from different people, don't you think?

So when Amber asked me to share some of my organizational techniques, I nearly choked on my drink. Let me make one thing clear. I am a lot of things, but organized is NOT one of them. In fact, I had to clean my studio to take pictures! I like to make messes. It is part of who I am. I do not, however, enjoy cleaning up after myself! It was a good thing that she had other options for me to share! So I am going to share almost everything (not my cutting table because that is where everything is piled that I didn't want in the pictures).

I can't wait to show you around!

My sweet hubby (Mr. Fish) built me these beautiful shelves. There are six shelves and they are all bursting with my favorite things. I collect bottles and jars, antique scales, antique sewing machines, vintage trims and buttons and of course FABRIC!

One of my favorite storage things I have is this metal chest that I bought at Hobby Lobby (aka the mother ship). Each drawer has something special in it......

I love this little spot in my studio. It is where I write patterns and work on my laptop when I have it in there. We made this "pin board" from a window we had in one of my market booths. It has chicken wire in it and I use clothespins to hang all kinds of treasures and special ribbon.

Then there is my actual sewing space. I don't sit here as much as I would like to!!!

But when I do sit there, I often have company. So I had to have a nice place for people to sit....

If I don't have every tool I own strewn all over the studio, they are here in these pretty little urns.

And I like to keep the selvages from my fabrics, so I use them as a necklace for this poor fellow...

Which on closer inspection is likely a woman. Boy do I feel bad. I thought it was a he!

So there it is. Most of the studio, minus the mess!! I hope you have found something fun that you could use in your studio. Thanks to Amber for having me!

♥ ♥ ♥

What a great room, eh?

Thank you SO much, Amanda, for sharing those pictures with us. You gave us lots of great ideas on how to decorate/organize our creative spaces! I LOVE how you draped your selvages over the bust and all of your shelving is making me drool! You've got it organized so pretty!

I'm having so much fun spying on all of these creative spaces. Aren't you???Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of this Tuesday Tips!

2 Hours to Kill

noreply@blogger.com (Amber) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:20:00 +0000

There's a lot to do before I go to my hometown, Vancouver, WA. on Thursday.

Cleaning, laundry, organizing.

I'm leaving the kids and hubby to go hang with my sisters.

The parents will stay one night until my hubby gets home from a business trip.

Gotta make sure things are in order :)

But I'm dying to get in some sewing time

before the kids get home from school today.

Project #1: six more burlap banners for Christmas neighbor gifts:

Project #2: hand sewing a binding on a quilt for a customer.

Project #3: work on this new quilt for the store.

Pot o' Flowers from the book

Sugar Sack Quilts by Glenna Hailey.

(I work at a fabric store 2 days a week. This quilt will be mine in a few months after they're finished displaying it.)

I'm loving the checkerboard sashing. These squares are tiny though. They finish at 1"! Agh!!! I'm excited to be working with 30's prints. I haven't worked with them much before, but the ones I picked out sure are happy and sweet.

Do you do 30's?

Well, I gotta get busy! Have a good one!