TBT and A LONG Time Ago I Got To Meet Tula and Lizzy

I was thinking since I am not sure when I will be able to blog again I would make a Throw Back Thursday post about that one time I got to go to Spring Market.  

It was an awesome time and I got to meet Tula Pink herself!  

Let's travel back to 2011 shall we?

It was the year Prince Charming came out.  Isn't this quilt amazing?

First place booth!!

Tula and her mom!!!

I also got to meet another favorite designer, Lizzy House.  

I love her even more now then I did at that time.  

Pearl Bracelets and Cat Nap, swoon!!

She was so sweet!!  Aren't her quilts gorgeous too??  This was the year 1001 Peeps came out.

So just a peek into some wonderful women that just happen to be amazing designers!

I hope you enjoyed seeing these amazing ladies, it was a blast getting to meet them.

Have a wonderful week!

~XOP~

WIP Wednesday

I want to take a few minutes to thank everyone that took a minute to reassure my insecure self that you are indeed out there and still reading what I write. 

 You made my heart glad!

  I would mention that probably around half of those that commented did not have a way for me to contact them in return! 

 That made me sad. 

 I did reply to your comments on the post if you are interested. 

 If you are only commenting via Google + I can't seem to figure out how to find your email address.  It is not linked to your comment and when I click through to your account I don't see it there either.  In case you were wondering why you are not getting emails back when you comment 

that may be why.  

I have no intention of leaving blogging. 

 I was just wondering what folks thought and if anyone was out there.  

My comments had dwindled to maybe 2 or 3 of the same people commenting (thank you) 

so I was wondering if maybe they were the only ones reading! 

 Obviously you all proved that theory to be incorrect. 

 I always seem to have a lot to say and need a way to express it so

 no plans to stop blogging for awhile anyway.

I did finish the "muslin" (which I actually made using Peacock Kona instead of muslin) last night.  Now I have to pack it for the trip to NC on Friday and have my DD try it on.  

I have to remember to pack pins and marking pencils too so I can get a good fit.  

When we return home from Florida, 

I will be able to make the adjustments and cut out the "real" dress.  

What a lot of work! 

 I think when you factor in my time this was a really pricey endeavor!!! 

 Here is what it looked like when I got it to the try on point.

  Sorry for the bad lighting but it was night time.

Yes, all the seams are on the outside. 

 It was so weird to do that but will make it easier to work on. 

 They had me sew it all together with basting stitches, so I think I will make the adjustments 

and then take it all apart and 

re-sew it together (or in this case adjust the pattern, cut out the real dress and then re-make this one).  Probably the last time I want to do this.  

Maybe if I make anything again it will be for me and probably just a skirt! 

 LOL  good thing I love that kid!

I miss quilting though.  

I now officially have WAY too many things floating around in my head and

this dress business needs to end so I can get them all out of my head and made up!

Blogging may be intermittent while I am on vacation so please bear with me.  

We leave for NC on Friday and stay with our daughter for a few days.  

We will leave her place on Sunday morning and head to Sarasota. 

 If anyone lives in the area and wants to meet up, please email me and I can give you my cell phone number so we can do that! 

 I love to meet new people!

I am going to link up to WIP Wednesday over on the Freshly Pieced blog.  

Have a great rest of the week and thanks again for the sweet comments!

~XOP~

Hey What's UP?

I feel like this blog is being neglected, by me, for Instagram.
 I am not getting many comments so wondering if anyone is even still out there?  Hello?
 I was wondering if there is something you all might like to see over here.
Give me some feedback what you guys are interested in.
 Maybe no one is actually out there.
Sigh.

I am going to share what's been happening over at my little corner of the world.
I have actually been sewing quite a bit!
 I am running a Tula Pink Mini Quilt Swap on IG.
 I designed my top and have it all sewn up.
 I auditioned quite a few backgrounds like this.

This is a purple texty print by Alison Glass, which I really liked

This one is Moda Bella Feather (light gray)

Gray linen

 I was all set to go with the text print and then decided to try Kona Coal.

Kona or Text?

I put it out there on IG to get some opinions and Kona Coal it was!
I sewed late on Saturday night and put it up for a photo.
 Oh NO!  I sewed some of the things wrong!
 I had to un-sew and re-sew.
Then ready for another photo?
Nope, I see a different part is wrong.  GAH!!!
More un-sewing and more re-sewing.
 I now have the top finished.
I don't want to show it just in case my partner reads my blog or pops over here.
We are showing peeks but not full shots.
Although some are showing the whole finished top!

I also started working on the "muslin" for my daughter's dress.
It took me forever to cut the tissue pattern out.
 Then I pre-washed the fabric, pressed it and laid out the pattern.
 I have a love-hate relationship with multi-sized patterns.
So much cutting and folding later, I had the pattern pinned and then cut out and finally marked.

These guys were a HUGE help!
Obviously.
 I would much rather have been curled up napping with them.

I am not fond of garment sewing.
 I did manage to get part of the bodice sewn and the pleats put in the skirt front.
(I'd much rather be quilting my Tula mini).

I hope this thing turns out well.
I need to go back to the store to get some lining after work tonight.
My goal is to get over half way done tonight.
We are leaving on Friday morning really early and I am working all week.
  That doesn't leave much wiggle room for shopping and packing before we go!

Wish me luck!

~XOP~

Bitchesgetsittches Swap Haul

I have some quilty friends at work that are always asking me why I kill myself when I do swaps. Truth be told they don't actually even understand why I participate.  

This swap.  This one, is why.  

I got the BEST gifts back this time.  

Not that my other swaps weren't great, 

but sometimes someone just gets you and goes above and beyond.

This was a secret swap.  

The person that had me had to stalk my social media to learn about me and what I like and don't like.  I try to make things easy and post LOTS of things that I love.  

My package arrived last week and looked like this.

I was super excited!!  

So I carefully took out the contents and just about crapped my pants 

when I saw all the amazing things in this package.  

Holy cow you guys!!!  

Just look at all this loot!!  That little pin cushion is so sweet!!  Just like all the candy!

By FAR the best things in this package were these hoops.  

This first one was based on a photo I took of my daughter's cat in her peacock costume. 

 Remember this?

Last Halloween?

Instead of Lenore, she substituted my cat Atutmn.  Isn't this fabulous!!!???

Just look at the cat's face.  So much teeny tiny detail.

Also notice the detail in the peacock feather eyes.

Next fav was this angry bird yelling at me to tell me, "Don't tell me what to do!!"  

This is something I say with my girls all the time. 

 I actually love the woman that designed the bird too.  Bad Bird Embroidery.  

Her work is great and it is amazing that Lisa chose to use someone whose patterns I love

 to do this appliqued hoop!  

Plus you should see her embroidery work.  

I have NEVER seen such exquisite embroidery work in my life.  

That applique is amazing too.  

This was how Lisa did the backs of the hoops and I love the little year mishap.

The bags were super cute too and 

I thought his little hiccup was well covered with the little heart note.

I have already hung the hoops on the wall in my sewing room. 

 They are in a place of honor right under the mini quilt made for me by 

Amanda Jean Nyberg (Crazy Mom Quilts).

I feel like I was incredibly spoiled by Lisa in this swap.

I hope my partner felt the same (she seemed pretty psyched by her package)

On to the Tula Pink Mini Quilt Swap.

I can't wait to get started on that.

I finished the last block for the wedding quilt and now I need to work on a muslin of a dress.

A mother's work is never done.

Even when said daughter lives in NC!

Hope you are having a great week!

~XOP~

WIP Wednesday

I am still plugging away on the wedding quilt blocks.  

I finished another one last night.  

I know you saw the mosaic but here it is again.

 This is the newest one.  

I love that gray Prisma and the purple Moda crossweave. 

I am linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday post too.

~XOP~

One More Star Done

I managed to get one more of those blocks in the Fireworks quilt finished last night.  

Isn't it beautiful?

I had to put some cats in there some where right?

I did have a ton of help from one after all.

She loves this lamp for some reason.  

Just before I took this photo I had to move her because 

I was afraid I was going to sew a whisker into my block!

How could I even begin to sew without her "help"?

~XOP~

Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild Sewing Retreat

This past weekend was the A2MQG retreat weekend at the Howell Nature Center. 

 I love going to this place in the winter. 

 However I did NOT enjoy the drive there on Thursday afternoon.

This is what I was stuck in!

This was driving up to the lodge

This is the entrance to the lodge. 

Getting things set up.  This cluster of tables had one of the Pams

HI Debbie!

There was not a Pam corner but a Pam row this year.  Rebekah was sandwiched in between 2 Pams!

I was working on making blocks from the Fireworks pattern by 

Thimble Blossoms for a wedding quilt.  

Each block had 72 pieces so they took quite awhile to make.  

Also they suggested pressing all the seams open and that takes a lot more time for sure.  

I had Rebekah behind me telling me what to do (and which thing to make next).  

It became a game and I quite enjoyed the back and forth banter of it.  S

he would tell others not to talk to me as I had to get to work. 

 Not sure I would have gotten half as much done if not for her!  LOL

The colors I am making are gray and purple or purple and gray.  

I got a total of all 10 gray and purple blocks finished and one purple and gray. 

 I finished another purple and gray and have one more just about finished.  

I didn't get pics of everything but here are most of them so far

I will alternate the purple and gray main stars and am not sure about the borders just yet.

My sewing space looked like this at the retreat.

I had a good view of the outside and also of the food/alcohol table, LOL. 

 As you can see in the photo below I was using my Sew Steady table.  

It was the first time I had tried this and it was AWESOME!!  

Last time I was at the retreat I only had the flimsy table my machine came with and it sucked.  

If you travel with your machine I would strongly suggest investing in one of these to fit your machine as well as the travel case.  

I added my Clearly Perfect to this and I was one happy camper!

We also had a massage therapist there and that was so nice!

My shoulders and hands were much happier after the massage.

I feel like it was a super productive weekend, even though I left for home on Saturday night.  

The weather people were predicting a LOT of snow and I drive a small car.  

I was going to stay later but decided against it when I began making mistakes.  

It was a good decision.

We got almost 17 inches by this morning!

One huge benefit to attending a retreat is the people.  

You get to know your fellow guild members and become better friends.  

Of course there is always something new to be learned from others in a group too.  

I thought this was a really great group of women and we all had a great time!

I hope to be able to work on the rest of the blocks this week and maybe begin to assemble them in the near future.  

How was your weekend?

~XOP~