Peace

Peace will come when people live
In friendship, side by side,
And cherish understanding
More than hatred, greed and pride.

Peace will come when people see
All people as the same,
And no one has to live in fear,
In ignorance, or shame.

Peace will come when people
Who are needy can reach out
For shelter, food, or love,
And no one has to do without.

Peace will come when people
Learn to listen and to care
About the rights and dignity
Of people everywhere.

Peace will come when love and trust
And kindness know rebirth,
And on that day all people
Will rejoice in peace on earth.

- Amanda Bradley

Today we remember all of those that fought for peace for all of us. Those that had so much courage and honor and love in their heart that they were willing to die for us.

Maybe one day we won't have to face the hardships of war, but we should never forget the ones that gave up so much to reach where we are today.

Even if you've never personally experienced the loss of a soldier, please take the time to remember those that fell. Honor them and never forget....

Much Love!!!

Pillow Talk

I had been admiring the pillows made in the Pillow Talk Swap on Flickr for some time and then they started round three!! I was so excited to join in with this amazing group of crafters!! 

When you make something for yourself, you already know what you like, so it's easy, usually.  However, when you make something for someone else, it's a whole new ballgame! I got a brief description of what my partner liked in design/colors and then I was able to check out the inspiration mosaic and their favouites too. This is definitely helpful research! I was still intimidated a bit because the thought of "will they like it?" is always lingering in my mind.

I am ok with admitting that I changed my mind about 50 times and have many many sketches of what I was *going* to make, but ultimately kept coming back to this one. I love how it turned out, and I hope my partner likes it just as much. :)

... and the back... 

I have to give the quilting design idea to my daughter. I knew I wanted to use straight line (duh..lol) but I wanted to change it up a bit and my daughter says, "Mom, do "L" shapes in each of the corners! It will look cool!". She was right! Thanks kiddo! :D

This will be in the mail on Tuesday. I will try not to shed a tear as I watch it go to it's new home... :)

Much Love!!!

Marvelous Mini Quilts

I got talked into another mini quilt swap. Ok, there was no talking, only a sharing of a link, but close enough! It's all Charlie's fault and he accepts full blame. :) I'm passing on the bug to all of you. I hope you catch it with us! 

It's called Another Little Quilt Swap 4 (ALQS4) and all you have to do is make a mini quilt. The fun part is, when deadlines are met, you get to see all the mini quilts that the participants have made and you get to choose your top 10-12 favourites and the chances are really good that you will get one of them! So it is still sort of a blind swap because you don't "really" know which one you will get, but you will know you will love it because you picked it out! :) Doesn't that sound fun? Well, that's why I signed up. 

Now, the commitment isn't really even final until you send Kate the photo of your completed quilt. If you don't send her one when the deadline is reached, you don't get one in return. Sounds pretty fair to me since you don't have to worry about flakers! Pshew!!

Soooo..I've drawn up my design and have begun a little stitching for it. I'm really excited because I've never really stitched much before but I am finding I really like it! Just a bit of cotton thread, a needle, some fabric and a really cute design....leaves nothing but a smile. :) Oh, and a few finger pokes...but nevermind those!

Do you see the pinwheels? Big surprise huh? Ha!

Want a chance at my mini quilt? Then you gotta head over to ALQS4 and sign up by sending Kate an email declaring your interest. Then you have to make your own! :) 

I will post more photos as it gets closer to being finished. Yay!

Much Love!!!

Tidbit Tuesday #4

Guess What?! It's Tuesday and you know what that means!! :D 

We all LOOOOVVEEE our seam ripper, right? *ducks for cover*...hahaha! Ok, so maybe not love it, but it does save us from catastrophes sometimes!  Today's tidbit is about how I rip my seams. Um...no... I don't mean the seams in my pants either! =P

First off...grab that fabric that needs to be fixed, meaning the pieces you have to rip. Get Jack too. Who's Jack? Jack The Ripper of course!! ;)

Next, you will hold your fabric flat between your fingers and put Jack to work! Start by taking the sharp tip and sliding it under the second stitch from the left. (If you are a lefty, I assume you would start from your right side). Repeat this for every third or fourth stitch until you reach the end of what you need to rip out.  How close together you clip your threads will depend on how loose or tight your stitches are, but this is a nice guide to start with. 

**Note: I know this photo does not show me starting at the left hand side, but I wanted to get a shot of how Jack should situate himself for you.**

Once Jack has completed his task for you, your seam should look a bit like this...

Here comes the fun part!! Flip over your piece, and with Jack's help, pull up the thread from the end you started ripping from, just to get a hold of that thread. Now pull gently. It should come up in one long thread for you!! 

Then just separate your pieces and your seam is gone, baby, gone! :)

The downside to this is picking out all those tiny thread bits, but the upside is that your fabric will be MUCH less likely to distort and stretch doing it this way!! 

It kinda makes you wanna go rip a seam, doesn't it? LOL! 

I hope you found this helpful!! Remember, if you have a tidbit of your own, Email me and I'll feature it here! :)

Much Love!!!

I Got Stash!

Day after day I read blog posts with stash reports or blogs that have photos of all that yummy goodness just piled up. I have to admit I get that twang of jealousy each time because I honestly don't have a "stash". For the most part, any fabric I purchased had a purpose. I didn't buy fabric just to buy it. I know. Terrible huh? Lol!

Up until recently, I didn't even really have a scrap bin. I am now proud to say I have my very own scrap bin and it makes me smile each time I see it, because I know that some day that bucket will be overwhelmingly heaping full and I will be able to make one heck of a scrappy quilt with it!  Oh, if anyone has any scraps they no longer want, please feel free to donate to me...LOL!

I am also pleased to say that I am starting my own little stash. Yayyy!!!

I purchased this lovely stack of Riley Blake Bloom & Grow! Isn't she gorgeous?! I have no plans for her which is so odd for me. I feel like I have to hurry up and find a purpose for her so she doesn't feel bad just sitting there. Oh, but isn't she just pretty? I think I will just muse over her for a while... :)

These came in the mail with her. No plans for them either. I just love them. :)

I MUST toot a horn for Leah over at Burgundy Buttons!! I love her shoppe!! She is so friendly and carries all the yummies and let me tell you she is fast in shipping!! This is where these yummies came from today! :) Go give her a visit, you will be glad you did!

One more thing to share with you. It's a sneak peek....I know...I know...I might get noodle lashed for another sneek peek....but it's all I can show you right now. Keep checking back and I'll reveal it later. :)

Much Love!!!

Quilt Festival - Spring 2010

I know you all are probably sick of hearing about my pinwheel quilt, but please bear with me one more time, at least those of you who have been reading for a while now. :) 

I've decided to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2010 hosted by Amy (Thanks Amy!!). Being newer to the online quilting world, I've never heard of such a thing, but what a fabulous idea to be introduced to so many talented quilters, get inspiration, and of course, to make new friends!! 

The quilt I am entering, of course, is my pinwheel quilt.  This quilt, for so many reasons is very special to me, which is why I chose it. It pains me to think that this quilt almost never came to be because I thought I was going to be too busy to make it.

It all started when I came across a post at Rachel's blog where she posted about doing a pinwheel quilt along. My first instinct was no, I really don't have the time. However I kept finding that I was wandering back to her post again and again and because I loved how her pinwheel quilt turned out. I finally signed up, ordered my fabric, and waited patiently for it to begin. Yes, I said patiently. Poor thing was suffering with morning sickness so it was delayed a bit and I could totally understand why. :)

At first I was under the impression that we were making the same quilt as Rachel's, however when she posted more information, she indicated we were making one inspired by hers and only 16 blocks. Her's was 25. At that moment I knew I wanted my quilt to be 25 blocks but I didn't want mine to be just like hers. I was really happy that we were making a different quilt and that we could make it unique! I started scouring the net looking for pinwheel patterns that I could add to my quilt.



This was the first step in my interest in design as well as straying from a pattern. This was a HUGE step for me because any other quilt I have ever made was straight from the pattern. This project lit that fire in me to start going off in my own direction and gave me the confidence that I could do it. It changed me as a quilter. It changed how I quilted.



This is why I chose my pinwheel quilt. It is sort of the beginning for me, even though I've been quilting for years. It's pretty amazing how one blogger can make such a difference, hm? It's amazing, and I am so grateful. Not only to Rachel, but also to Julie. Julie is the one responsible for my branching out in designing my own stuff because she made a freaking awesome pillow and I had to make something like it, but was too impatient to wait for a pattern so I made one my self. Thanks Julie! You're the bestest, but you already knew that. :)



My gratitude extends beyond those to special ladies though. There are so many many many quilters out there that are amazing and inspirational! I can only hope that one day I can inspire others like so many others inspire me!



I hope you will come and join us in the quilt festival!!

Much Love!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

I know I said that I'd put all the names in a hat and let my daughter choose, but that was before I received 385 amazing comments!!!! You guys totally blew me out of the water with all the nice things said! Thank you so much, you have no idea how much your comments meant to me. I read each and every one. Thank you...again, really..thank you! :)

To all of those that followed me, thank you and welcome. Make yourself comfy and stay awhile, hm? :)

So, in place of the hat drawing (because that would have taken me hours) I used random.org and let their generator choose a number for me! 

Click, click, we have a winner!!!

Congratulations Merlinthecat!!! I've sent you an email. Please contact me back with your snail mail addy and I'll put your pillow case in the mail on the 24th! Yay!

I totally wish I could have given each and every one of you a pillow. That's how much I enjoyed your comments!  I hope you still come back and visit me. :)

Much Love!!!