bijou lovely

this week.

2012-02-24T15:04:00.006-06:00

As usual, I took a lot of instagram pictures this week! Here's a little summary.

I spent last weekend in Appleton for my sister's dance competition. We shopped, ate Mexican food and drank margaritas, and watched a whole lot of dancing. My sister's team did amazingly well and won a ton of awards.

My husband bought me flowers this week! He's so sweet.

I found this picture of us at about 17, we look so young here! So happy that we had the chance to grow up together.

I painted my nails a bright coral color (Rimmel Sunset Orange) this week, the pop of color makes me happy every time I look at my hands.

We made some delicious dinners this week, including homemade pizzas (the crust was so good!)

and pasta with lemon garlic butter sauce and prosciutto wrapped asparagus. Yum!

Progress is being made on our master bathroom, so maybe our bedroom won't look like this for too much longer!

We're almost finished waterproofing the shower, and then we can start installing tile!

I've been working on my herringbone cowl at night. I'm not enjoying the process as much as I did with the honey cowls, but I know I'll love it when it's finished.

I finished quilting this quilt last night! I'll share proper pictures next week when it's finished.

We bought a new rug for the guest bedroom! I love the pattern and the fact that it was on clearance.

I found two cute things while thrifting today, this awesome small metal globe and a milkglass vase (and yes, I already own two of this exact vase!). I just can't get enough of the geometric shape of the bottom.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

quilting away.

2012-02-23T12:06:00.000-06:00

I've been busy quilting this week. I'm using wavy lines again for my do.Good Stitches September quilt, I just can't seem to get enough of them! A few people have asked for a tutorial on this method of quilting, and I do want to put one together but it will require video, so I'm trying to figure out how to make that work.

I'm using gray thread, and while I don't love it, it will work. The back is a really dark purple so I didn't want to use white. Purple or orange would've been fun but I didn't have enough of those on hand, so gray it is.

I still have a lot left to do on this one, it's a big quilt!

I also finished quilting my neon quilt! I opted for random straight lines all over the gray sections, with a little echo quilting through the chevron and stripes. I used my hera marker for the first time to mark all those straight lines, it worked great! I'll be using it much more frequently from now on.

Just need to bind this neon quilt and it's finished! If only I could decide on a binding. Any suggestions?

happy friday!

2012-02-17T15:41:00.001-06:00

It's Friday, friends! Do you have any plans? I'm off to cheer on my little sister in a dance competition this weekend. Should be fun!

Here are a few of my Instagram photos from the past week or so.

I feel like I can't say it enough, I love Instagram! It's great for keeping up with friends and family. Things I'm making usually make it there before they ever get to my blog, simply because it's so easy to share there. My name on Instagram is bijoulovely if you want to follow along.

more neon.

2012-02-16T13:37:00.001-06:00

I'm finally quilting this neon quilt that I had finished last summer. It's been basted and folded, piled in the corner the entire winter because I wasn't sure how to quilt it. Honestly I'm still not sure how I'm going to quilt it other than echo quilting the chevron! I'll figure it out as I go.

I often don't have a solid quilting plan when I begin, just kind of go about it until I think it looks okay. If I hate it, I rip it out (but I try to decide that early on of course to avoid spending too much time with the seam ripper).

I'm not really a fan of marking my quilting pattern on the quilt, I'd much rather freehand! Although that's kind of difficult if you're straight line quilting without following any lines...so I might have to mark this one somehow. We'll see.

I'm still not sure where this one is headed when I finish it, maybe to my shop?

starting something new.

2012-02-15T13:07:00.001-06:00

I picked up some DS Quilts fabric from JoAnn last weekend, and I'm loving the bright colors paired with this gray chambray. The start of a Swoon quilt, maybe?

This chambray is seriously so pretty! Definitely going to test it out as the background fabric in a quilt, Swoon or otherwise. It's from the lisette collection, by none other than Liesl Gibson. It's soft, a great color, and has a nice weight to it. It's hard to tell if it's the right color on the website, but the tobacco chambray is on sale for $5.99 right now which is a steal!

I think I'm going to gather a few more fabrics for this stack and start cutting. Because sometimes its nice to start something new, even while trying to finish all those old things we're working on, right? And because I can't resist a Swoonalong.

washi + a winner!

2012-02-13T11:16:00.001-06:00

Did you all have a nice weekend? My husband and I went on a little shopping trip, it was nice to get away even though it was just for one night. When we got home I found out my order from cutetape came in!

I had ordered quite a few sets of washi tape, some glassine envelopes and some divine twine. Partly because I wanted to make valentines, and partly because I'm a sucker for rainbows.

These are going to look so pretty hanging on my pegboard once I finish that project! I was constantly using the yellow and orange sets I already had, so it made sense to buy some other colors. I find that the basic color sets are the best deal (three rolls of tape for $8.50) and they have cute patterns that are versatile, so I bought those to round out the color wheel. I also bought a silver and a gold bundle, and a couple rolls of black and white stripes.

I was so excited when I opened the package, I got right to work on my valentines! Only a few more left to finish before tomorrow, but they're fast since they're so small.

Also, I think it's time we pick a winner of the single girl mini, don't you think?

The winner is comment #191, Debra!

Congratulations Debra! I hope you enjoy your mini! Thanks to all of you who entered!

inspired by: neon.

2012-02-10T11:39:00.000-06:00

Every now and then there seems to be a theme within the things that I'm making, wearing, buying, and decorating with. For awhile now I feel like a lot of things around me are following a current trend that I never thought I'd get behind: neon.

Maybe it's because I'm craving a serious dose of color (it is white and colorless around here in February) but honestly I pieced together that quilt and pincushion last year sometime. I agree that sometimes neon can hurt the eyes a bit, but when paired with crisp whites, calming grays, and more pastel versions of the neon shades, or grounded with a deep purple or coral they are so pretty to me!

I think my obsession with neon started with this quilt. I've had it basted for a long time now, just need to quilt and bind it!

I found neon hanging on my wall, on my fingernails, and in my sewing and office supplies.

In a pincushion I made (there are a few in my shop), Cosmo floss, and some twine.

I bought this twine at Home Depot of all places, and plan to make a few bracelets with it for Valentine's gifts.

I found this wooden "D" at Walmart recently, and painted it to add a pop of color to our living room shelves. I found the scarves I've used as a backdrop here while thrifting this week. I think I'm going to frame them and hang them in our guest room!

I think it's pretty safe to say that neon is everywhere in our house at the moment! Good thing we have a lot of gray walls to break up all the brightness. What about you? Have you jumped on the neon bandwagon?

new look!

2012-02-09T09:33:00.000-06:00

Notice anything different around here? I did a little blog redesigning last night. It's still a work in progress but for the most part it's implemented. I want to clean up my tutorials, quilts, and category pages to make it easier to find what you're looking for around here, but it was 2am and I needed to go to bed! (Stop over from your reader to the blog to see the new updates!)

I put together a new header, added a few new pages at the top, and made the text a little easier to read, added some social media icons that I designed, moved the search bar up (still working on the layout of that, not loving it at the moment), and cleaned out my main sponsor section. I've decided to take on some new sponsors, so if you're interested in advertising on Bijou Lovely, please check out this page.

Further down I've added a new blog button, feel free to add it to your blog if you'd like!

I also moved my blog list to the sidebar instead of including it on a separate page. So check there if you're looking for more sewing inspiration!

Please let me know what you think of the change! If there's anything else you want me to improve on while I'm at it, let me know in the comments! Threaded comments would be nice...I'm looking into that as well.

single girl mini + giveaway.

2012-02-07T13:39:00.001-06:00

Remember way back in March of last year when I finished this single girl block? It's okay if you don't. This block had been sitting in my closet for months. I finally finished quilting it last week and turned it into a little mini!

I'm loving the color wheel of fabrics! I used a lot of my favorite prints in this quilt.

It's time for a giveaway around here, don't you think? Since I made two of these blocks, I'm going to give this one away! It will bring lots of happiness and color to your wall or tabletop, I promise.

To enter this mini quilt giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post! Followers, please leave a second comment for an extra entry. I'll announce the winner next Monday, Feb. 13th. International entries are welcome! Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

I feel like I don't say it enough, but thank you all so much for taking the time to visit this blog, and especially to those of you who make the extra effort to comment! I appreciate you all very much! xoxo

mustache quilt.

2012-02-06T10:30:00.001-06:00

Here's the simple stripes quilt I spent most of my time working on this past week. Our friends Sara and Ryan are having a baby boy in April, and their baby shower was this past Saturday. Of course I waited until six days before the shower to start making their gift! Why I procrastinate so much, I'll never understand.

Yes, this quilt has a mustache on it! My husband made me do it. When I told him I was making a quilt for them, he asked if I could add a mustache to the quilt. This new baby boy has a grandpa that is known for his mustache. The baby shower even had a mustache theme, so this fit in quite well!

I used lots of basic yellows, grays, blues, reds, and greens in this quilt that were slightly desaturated. The backing is a Denise Schmidt print from JoAnns. I bound it in some Kona Medium Gray. I quilted it with wavy lines (my new favorite!) in a light gray thread. The wavy line quilting is so fast and gives this quilt a little bit of texture. I appliqued the mustache on after the quilting was finished.

So there's my first finish of February! It definitely won't be the last.

Did you finish anything this weekend? Leave a link in the comments... I'd love to see what you've been making!

catching up on do.Good Stitches.

2012-02-03T11:30:00.002-06:00

I finally finished the top of my do.Good Stitches quilt from September last weekend. Why it took me so long to sew these blocks together, I have no idea. But we're using February to finish all of our previous quilts so it was perfect timing.

I added some borders along the width of this quilt to make it a little wider. I don't like really long and skinny quilts, the proportions just aren't right to me. Since this one was 4 blocks wide by 6 blocks long, it needed something to make it wider.

I love this quilt! The color scheme and the blocks are so much fun. The ladies of the Inspire circle did a fantastic job putting these blocks together.

I figured out what I'm using for backing on this quilt, now I just have to find the time to baste and quilt it. Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to get this one checked of my never ending list of WIPs.

I also finished up my January blocks for Heather this week. She wanted string blocks using Ashley's tutorial They were fun to make...but took a lot longer than they should have since the first two I made were 1/2" too small! That's what I get for cutting my foundation paper while chatting with a friend.

I'd love to make an entire quilt like this at some point, it's such a good use for scraps!

This is definitely going to be a happy quilt when it's finished!

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

simple stripes.

2012-02-01T12:05:00.000-06:00

I've been working on another simple stripe quilt this week. I love making these quilts, they're so fast compared to some of the other quilts I've been making.

I'm using lots of graphic basics from my stash for this quilt in green, yellow, blue, and faded red.

My strips are 2.5", 3.5", and 4.5" tall and the width of the fabric (usually about 42"). I just cut one strip of each from each fabric, and end up with enough to make 2 or 3 of these baby quilts depending on how many fabrics I use.

I need to press the seams open and trim the sides and this top will be finished. Hopefully I can quilt and bind it before the weekend!

improv mini quilt.

2012-01-30T11:10:00.000-06:00

I spent so much time sewing this weekend! It felt great to start crossing things off of my endless list of WIPs. My first finish was this improv mini quilt, made from the block I made during the Improv Sewing class at Sewing Summit. This one had been basted for awhile, but I had started pebble quilting it and it just didn't look right. So it sat for a long time waiting to have the quilting ripped out. That part wasn't fun at all, but it was really easy and fast to finish once I had spent some quality time with my seam ripper.

I used a thrifted purple shot cotton for the sashing, and I am really sad to say that I'm almost out of this fabric! It's got great texture and I love the look of the graphic stripe.

I quilted this in wavy lines using yellow Aurifil thread. It was my first time using Aurifil thread and I can say that I'm officially hooked. It makes such a difference, and my stitching turned out beautifully.

I used a Denise Schmidt print from JoAnn's for the backing, and a black pindot for the binding. I wish I knew who made this print, I'm almost out and I want to buy more, it's so versatile!

I handstitched a little heart on the quilt using a hot pink Cosmo floss, just for fun.

This one is hanging up in my sewing room! I'll probably move it to another wall once I finish another project I just started... a framed pegboard to hold all of my sewing tools and ribbon. We bought the supplies for that last night so hopefully I can finish it sooner than later. I have a bare wall that needs a little love!

I'm looking forward to posting more of my finishes this week! Hope you're having a great Monday.

quick sewing.

2012-01-23T12:15:00.002-06:00

I haven't really been too inspired to sew recently, but yesterday I was in the mood for a quick and easy instant gratification type of project. Something I could finish in one short little session to remind me how good it feels to finish a project! This lined drawstring bag using Jeni's tutorial was just what I needed.

I used Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelet print in Green from the 1001 Peeps collection for the exterior. I'm currently obsessed with this color! The black and white dot prints are just random fat quarters I had laying around, not sure who they're by. The ribbon is a Martha Stewart faux bois ribbon I bought at Michael's a really long time ago.

I'm traveling again this week and needed a bag to hold my current knitting project (another honey cowl). This bag will work perfectly!

This bag was so fun and fast to make I have a few more already planned. I think they'll make really cute gifts for Valentine's day.

another kind of stitching.

2012-01-18T15:09:00.001-06:00

Yep, I've caught the knitting bug. It started shortly after Sewing Summit. After seeing all the pretty honey cowls being stitched up there, I wanted to make one myself. And well, one turned into three, and now I can't stop.

This is the one I just finished, a late Christmas gift for my sister-in-law. I gave the other two away without taking proper pictures, other than a few Instagram shots.

I love how cuddly and warm these cowls turn out when they're finished.

Here's the one I just started this week for myself. It's an alpaca/wool blend that I got from a local alpaca farm/yarn shop called Rainbow Yarn & Gifts. The color is lemon chiffon, it's kind of like a citron-y yellow.

Here's my little furry alpaca friend I met at the farm. Isn't he the cutest?

It's nice to have a yarn store in the area, I'll definitely be visiting again. I might have to pick another pattern to work on soon so I can learn a few more stitches and have an excuse to buy more yarn!

Any recommendations for what I should knit next? I'm thinking one of these herringbone cowls would be fun to try!

colorblock quilt.

2012-01-17T11:00:00.001-06:00

I finished my first quilt of 2012 last week! It's a repeat of the baby quilt I had made for Kelly awhile back, but this one is for a little girl.

I have had a lot of requests for a pattern for this quilt, so I'll be releasing one within in the month or two.

I love the colors in this one, girly but with a little bit of an edge to it. The kelly green really pops in the chevron stripe.

I quilted this one the same way I did the boy version, with straight lines parallel to each block.

The back is a lime gingham, and it's bound in my favorite gray, Kona Ash.

For the pattern, which sizes are you interested in? This is a larger baby quilt, about 42" x 55". Should I include a lap size and twin size as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts on size, as well as any other input on what you like/dislike about quilt patterns!

master bathroom plan.

2012-01-04T14:53:00.000-06:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were planning to renovate our master bathroom. We started it the day after Christmas, and it's definitely still a work in progress. But I thought I'd share a little bit about what we're planning to do in there while it's happening.

Here's what the bathroom looked like before. This is the view from the doorway, and as you can see, even though it's actually a good sized bathroom, it looks pretty small here because of the linen closet that juts out on the right and the shower that sticks out into the room.

Here's a better view of the linen closet. It completely ate up the open space along the vanity wall.

Here's the view of the shower and tub. Not horrible on this side, but we really disliked the bisque colored shower, tub, and tile.

Here's another view of the vanity wall.

Here's the view from the wall near the shower looking towards the bedroom door. It bothered us that the door favors the tub wall, and it's even more of a problem from the bedroom since the bedroom and bathroom doors overlap each other (so if the bedroom door is open, it blocks the bathroom doorway). Also notice the randomly spaced light switches at different levels along the left hand side.

Another thing that you can't see in these pictures is the condition of the walls. There was previously wallpaper in this room and it had since been removed and painted over, but there must have still been a lot of glue on the walls when they painted because the paint was all cracked and chunky on the walls, with some moisture spots since they used the wrong kind of paint. It would have taken us forever to repair them enough to repaint!

Now that you've seen what we've got to work with, here's the new floorplan.

And here's everything we're using in it.

Let's start with the shower. We've ripped out the shower surround, the wall framing it in, and the tub and surrounding tile, so the entire left side of the room is a completely open space. That entire wall and a portion of the side walls will be tiled in 2x4" white subway tile with gray grout. The floor will be tiled in 1x2" honed carrara marble herringbone tile (also with gray grout). There will be a frameless glass door (with the actual door opening in the center) similar to the one in the picture above, and inside the shower area will be two shower systems, and a bench made of the herringbone tile along the entire back wall. Here's a sketch of what the shower will look like when standing directly in front of it.

The showerheads will each come out from an arm in the wall (they're rain showerheads) and there will be a built in square storage area of the herringbone tile to store shampoo, etc. Glass shelves will line the center of the back wall for towels, etc. Each shower will have a recessed light above it as well.

Now onto the vanity wall. The vanity is this one, which we bought on Overstock. It has an espresso finish with a carrara marble countertop and chrome faucets. The mirror came with the set as well. We'll be using these pendant lights from Restoration Hardware above each sink. We're using the same Kohler toilet we used in the first floor bathroom since we've had good results with it. There will most likely be shelves above the toilet for additional storage since we removed the linen closet and medicine cabinet from the room (we do have another linen closet down the hall though). We'll fill the shelves with baskets to hold our things so they don't look too cluttered. There will be some type of white wainscoating along the bottom of the untiled walls, and the top of the walls will be painted a light gray.

There you have it, our plan for the bathroom. Of course right now it looks nothing like the final renderings, but I'll share our progress in another post since this one is getting long!

happy 2012.

2012-01-03T11:19:00.000-06:00

I'm a few days behind but happy 2012! I hope you all had a wonderful time during the holidays. I've been on vacation since December 20th, so it's a little sad to go back to work today. Here's a little taste of what I did with my time off...

Turned 28.

Finished Christmas shopping and wrapping.

Visited with friends and family.

Attended and hosted a few Christmas parties.

Ate (way too much) good food.

Started our master bathroom renovation.

Rang in the New Year (with sparkly nail polish, of course!).

Read a couple books (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, this series is amazing).

Did a little sewing...

knitting...

and quilting.

So that was my time off in a nutshell, mostly through Instagram pictures. My username is bijoulovely in case you want to follow me there.

november blocks.

2011-12-13T13:31:00.002-06:00

I am so behind on blogging and blog reading! The Christmas making and baking are in full effect, and I'm just trying to get it all done in time. I'm planning to take a few extra days off next week to finish everything. On top of the usual holiday stress, we are starting our master bathroom renovation the day after Christmas. We're busy ordering all of the supplies we need so we can make a big dent in the renovation during our week off before the new year. Maybe I'll post more about the bathroom plans this week if I have time!

Here are my November blocks for the Inspire circle of do.Good Stitches. Becky asked for Bottled Rainbow blocks in a smaller size. I had orange and green!

These blocks are a great way to use up scraps!

I realized just how many green scraps (and scraps in general) I have while making this block. I definitely need to spend some time organizing them a little better.

I didn't have many orange scraps, so I actually had to cut into a few fabrics just for this block. I guess I should start using more orange!

fainting couch love.

2011-12-08T11:32:00.001-06:00

Our fainting couch just got delivered in all of its reupholstered beauty yesterday! It's completely transformed!

It's a far cry from what it looked like two weeks ago.

The fabric is Robert Allen Cameo Ovals in Bleached White...which is really a silvery gray color.

The wood looks so much richer against the light colored fabric.

I asked the upholsterer to add nailhead trim along the edges, I love the extra sparkle it adds!

Now I just need my husband to help me move it into it's spot in the living room. It weighs a ton!

guest room reveal.

2011-11-30T10:03:00.001-06:00

The guest room is finished! Okay, nothing is ever completely finished, but it's close.

My husband and I were so busy during the week leading up to Thanksgiving redecorating our guest room. We had family staying with us from Wednesday through Sunday, and we didn't start on this room until the Friday before that. Which gave us five days, only two of which were weekend days. Here's what it looked like before we started (minus all the boxes, this picture is from when we moved in. Not much had changed since then).

It's amazing what a little paint can do! The color is Behr Cloudberry. There was also lots of wallpaper stripping to get rid of the butterflies, along with a ton of spackle and sanding. The walls were a mess! It looked like it had snowed in this room after we finished filling the holes in the walls and sanding them smooth.

The bed in this room is from Adam's grandmother. We had painted the frame white with a pearl finish in our previous apartment, but it looks great in here. Eventually we'll be swapping out this full size bed for a queen, and we'll need to find a new white bed then. I love the way it pops against the wall color!

The blue quilt is also from our old apartment, along with the blue pillows. I added in the orange and purple pillows to brighten up the room a bit.

The artwork above the bed is really what makes the room I think. I found it at World Market when I was in Appleton shopping for all the accessories for the room the Sunday before Thanksgiving (yes, I have to drive 2 hours to go shopping in a real mall!). It was actually the last thing I found for the room, so the fact that it went with everything in the room and tied in the orange from the pillows was really lucky!

We added a chair from the living room in our apartment in the corner to make a little reading nook. All I need now is a little table or ottoman to set in the corner near the window as a second nightstand/reading nook table to set a few books on. I also need to add some art in the corner above the chair.

The pillow on the chair is from HomeGoods, I love the graphic print on it! I threw a chenille throw on the chair to make it looked more lived in.

The bookcase is also from our old apartment, and even though it doesn't match the walnut wood of the nightstand and trim, I think it works here. I love the way the purple curtains frame it within the space!

I styled it with some books, vases, and some extra blankets from around the house. I had found the tree picture on top at a thrift store, and painted the purple around the frame and for the flower petals (they were previously the bronze color of the branches). I also painted the frame silver to freshen it up a bit. The only other thing I bought for the room was the silver coral, which is really beautiful in person and gives the shelves the metallic pop that they needed.

This is my favorite vignette in the bookcase. Who knew all of my sewing books would be the perfect colors for this room? I love that little West Elm mercury glass vase too!

We used a side table I had found at the Restore as a nightstand in the room, topped with a white lamp I found at HomeGoods and a blue tray from West Elm. The flower diffuser and flower plate are also from West Elm, and the clock is from Ikea a few years ago. The milkglass vase was thrifted.

We added a new chandelier in the room as well to dress up the ceiling a bit.

Here's the whole room one last time! I think we'll be staining the storage bench the same walnut color as the nightstand eventually and adding in a long dresser on the left wall with a mirror above it, but we're happy with how it looks for now!

felt garland stocking tutorial.

2011-11-29T14:52:00.001-06:00

Want to learn how to make this felt garland stocking? It's fully lined and super fun! I'm guest posting about it over at Purple Panda Quilts. Here's a link to the tutorial.

Lyanna is hosting a Stockings for Kids drive to give stockings to foster children in her area. There's only a couple days left of the drive (stockings need to be mailed by Dec. 1st) but with so many fun tutorials, you can finish one or two cute stockings by Thursday!

Have you made a stocking for Lyanna's Stockings for Kids drive yet?

this week.

2011-11-16T11:59:00.001-06:00

This has been kind of an unusual week for me. My husband is at our camp for the week deer hunting, so I've been left to hold down the fort at home. My sister Dani is home from school for a little while, so I've been spending a lot of time with my family. Not much sewing has been done, but I've been doing other fun things like making Christmas decorations with two of my best girlfriends, cooking, and trying to remember how to knit.

I made 5 little trees on Saturday (not the bottle brush trees in the back!), and I really like how they turned out.

I made this little plaid tree by wrapping strips of plaid fabric around a styrofoam cone. The gray tree was made using paper for the cone and just wrapping gray yarn around it.

The white tree was paper wrapped in burlap fabric, the green and white one is crochet yarn that looks like baker's twine around styrofoam, and the little gray one is crochet thread wrapped around paper.

After a day of holiday crafting, my friend Kate and I enjoyed some wine and cheese...

roasted some veggies...

and made bowtie pasta with chicken, cherry tomatoes, and pesto cream sauce for dinner.

Last night my mom and sisters made homemade pizza with spinach, artichokes, olives and tomatoes.

I've been practicing my knitting with this simple scarf, but I really want to make one of these!

My little sisters are kind of crazy, as proven by this picture.

Here we are all together. I love these two girls so much!

It's been a pretty good week so far!

more minis!

2011-11-11T11:11:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday! I have a few things to talk about today. First, today marks two years since I started this blog. I think that warrants some kind of a giveaway, don't you? Stay tuned for more on that next week, because I'll admit I don't have my act together on it yet. But I do want to take a second to say thank you all for reading this little blog of mine! It wouldn't be nearly as much fun to post if you weren't here. Your friendship, comments, and support mean the world to me! You're all the best! xoxoxo

Second, did you know that Amy is having a mini quilt party today as part of her Sew & Tell Friday series?

Write a new post about a mini quilt you've made, link up to her blog, and enter to win lots of great prizes! I'm linking up with the mini I made for my Pretty {little} Pouch partner this week. I had high hopes of finishing a new mini in time to link up today, but it's taking a bit longer than I anticipated. Here's a little taste of what it looks like though! Let's just say that my free motion foot and I are becoming fast friends.

Also on the topic of minis, I started a new flickr group this week called Modern Mini Quilts.

It seems that there's been a ton of fantastic minis popping up in our community since Amanda's class on them at Sewing Summit (sadly I wasn't in the class, but I heard it was excellent!), so I figured it would be nice to have a place to share them all! There's already lots of pretty minis in the group, so it's a great place to go if you're looking for some small quilting project inspiration. If you're a mini maker, be sure to add pictures of your mini quilts to the group! Don't forget to add a button to your sidebar while you're at it!

Lastly, I just wanted to say Happy Veteran's Day. For all of you who have served our country, thank you for all that you've done for us! I made this banner for The White House recently, and this quote wouldn't be true if it wasn't for your service.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend!

side projects.

2011-11-10T14:01:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd share a few things I've been working on that aren't fabric related. First off, baby shower invitations for my cousin. She asked for a Winnie the Pooh theme, so I came up with these simple invites based off of a quote I found on Pinterest.

I've also been working on a few blog headers, including one for my friend Megan

and one for my friend Amy

I put together this button for my new Modern Mini Quilt flickr group too, but you'll hear more about that tomorrow!

I've really been enjoying working in Illustrator lately. It's nice to be able to create something without having to sew every now and then!