Ugly Sweater Mug Rug

I joined an ugly sweater mug rug swap. 

I know I know it is almost time for Christmas why join a swap right?  

Cuz, ugly sweaters ROCK!

The pattern is by Kid Kiddy and can be found here.  

I had the chance to meet Kerri at Glamp Stitchalot and see her original quilt.  

It was adorable and she was so sweet.

So, sign up I did.  I received my partner's name and preferences and sought out fabrics to use. 

I personally would have loved to make one from the first photo fabrics.

I thought this might be more to her taste.

But...cat snowmen were pretty cute too!

In the end I went with the second group of fabrics.  

I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Matching (or trying to match) t

hat stripe on the sleeves was a pain, but so worth it in the end. 

Look at the cute fabric I found for the back too!

I HO HO Hope you are working on some fun Christmas things too.

~XOP~

Sew Beachy 2018

I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Sew Beachy quilt retreat again this year. 

 It is held at Saylor's Sand Castle on the beach in Ventura county California. 

 There is a large group of women that get together and hang out and sew.  

I brought a few smaller projects with me to work on in hopes that I would actually get something done while I was there this year 

(other than seeing my friends again).

Before we hit the beach I spent the night with my friend and her kids. 

It is always so nice to see them!

 My friend, Traci discovered Randy's Doughnuts.  

OM gosh it was Heaven!  

I have not eaten a doughnut in years, literally years.  

Then BAM, Randy's apple fritters appeared!

We arrived to the beach and this was the view to the left of the house,

and the right of the house.

So different from Michigan in November lol.  This is a view of the house, with my back to the ocean.

We also had the most gorgeous sunsets!

The one project I really wanted to get done was the make 4 first aid kits.  

I will fill them with first aid things and give them for Christmas to my kids to keep in their cars.  Believe it or not this took all day and all night 

(for me who is not a bag sewist).

 They turned out pretty cute but I am beyond happy to have them finished!

I also made thirty gazillion HST and trimmed them down.  

I managed to sew 9 blocks together from them too!

I was using the left overs from some other blocks that I made.  The pattern is called broken dishes.

I brought Jack and he was hanging out with my friends all weekend too.

He and Traci had a heart to heart.

He just loved working with Melanie.

Very chill with Jamie, (maybe she shared her rum punch with him?)

Michelle was sad to see us leave.  We were sad to leave too.

Paula gave him a cuddle.

I'm pretty sure the ladies in the hot tub loved having him around.  (Patti, Peggy Katie and Jamie)

Jack is a lover as Rachel found out!

This was the sunrise on our last day there.  So much fun!

I hope to be able to attend next year too.  Sew Beachy 2019 YASSSS!

~XOP~

Meeting Some IG Friends IRL

On Friday I had an eye doctor appointment.  Not significant other than that I drove myself to work. 

 I usually take the bus.  

Normally that is an amazing thing, but when I want to stay after work to do something I can't. 

So on Friday I could.  

Glamp Stitchalot was happening in Ann Arbor this past weekend and 

some of me IG friends were going to be there.  

I decided that I needed to meet up with my friend, Mary (Quilt Genius) and have lunch.  

So her other 2 friends drove her to close to my work and we all had lunch at Angelos. 

 I then took them all on a tour of my lab.  I think, fun was had by all.

 This is Mary and I at Angelos right after lunch.  

She is such a fun person!  

She introduced me to her 2 friends that were equally as nice.  

Win-win!

They all convinced me I should go to Glamp and hang out. 

 I was unsure but because it was basically "free sew" time I decided to go. 

 I got to meet the lovely Kerri (@kidgiddy) 

who designed the ugly sweater pattern in the quilt we are holding.  

I am doing a mug rug swap using this pattern.  This is not the first of her patterns I have used.  

Next up was catching up with Amanda Jean (Crazymomquilts).  

I haven't seen her in several years.  

I can't believe she has a senior in high school.  

Wow, you are OLD, my friend (JK, LOL).

Then came Kathy.  All I have to say about this is OMG!  

Where has she been all my life?!  

We are very similar and it was so nice to actually be able to meet her and 

give her a big ole HUG!!  (or 2). 

She is one of the biggest Ohio State fans I have ever met. 

 It was funny we both had our school colors on and 

just happened to be playing each other the next day!  

She is also the QUEEN of the Ghastlies.

Her team killed ours.  Maybe this was a portent?

Anyway I had a great time meeting old friends and making new ones. 

 I am hoping maybe Kathy and I can connect next year and sew together.  

(Maybe in her gorgeous remodeled basement sewing area? 

Is there room in your heart for this Spartan??)

What a great way to begin a weekend!

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

I am working on a few things I can't show but there are some things I can so here we go.  

I am leaving for a quilt retreat at a beach in California on Thursday.  

Yes it is in Ventura county but not near the fires.  

In perspective, it is nearer to the fires than I am currently but 

1-2 hours away from the fires in California.

I will be bringing my Ocean waves blocks. 

Maybe I will be able to get all my blocks made. 

 Wouldn't that be amazing?  

What if I could even lay out that entire quilt and sew it together???

I have some little first aid kits that I want to sew so I am working to have them ready for assembly.  

I cut and pieced the tops.  

I hope to get the tops and blue sides quilted tonight.  

Then I can pack them and assemble in Cali.

I made some blocks for another quilt but only used a bit of the colored fabric in the blocks.  

They turned out so sparkly and pretty that I decided to cut up the rest of the fabric I had and make more HST to make it all into broken dishes like this block.  

So they are all cut and ready to sew into HST while I am in Cali.  I

 am hoping to get more blocks made like this and made into 2 baby quilts.

I have been dying to make these mice so dove in and made a pair.  

Not sure what they will be used in but I LOVE them!

I was in the mood for some cinnamon scones. 

 I have made this recipe before.  It is a copycat of the original Panera cinnamon scones and it is seriously the BEST cinnamon scone you will ever eat! 

 In addition they are super easy.  

The most difficult part is finding the cinnamon chips!  

They are the mini chips.

 I found them in Amish country but you can probably find them online too.

That's what I have been doing.  How about you?  

I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts.  

You can link up here.

An InLinkz Link-up

If we get 10 link ups I will giveaway some fabric!!

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

I have been furiously working to finish the binding on my Sparty quilt.

This one is staying with me and going in the camper.  

I had Hallie on my left.

And Finny on my right, later joined by Cole, as did the hand stitching on this one.

I picked up that green binding fabric when we traveled to NC.  

It's all gone now, used up in this binding.

It was the exact perfect color for the binding of this quilt.

Fall is going by so quickly here in MI.  

I went to let Hal inside the other day and she almost blended in with the leaves.  

I LOVE this photo of her!

Your turn.  What are you working on?  I am linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts.

Please link up here.  

Let's try for 10 link ups and I have some fabric to give away if we get 10.

Share, share share!!!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Finally...My Purchases From Our Trip to NC

I finally have some time to post about the things I bought while on our trip.  

I didn't take photos of the patterns but here are the fabric acquisitions.  

Have fun looking at all the photos and please come dig me out from under my hoard!

I can't remember what I got at which specific shop at this point, but some of them are labeled.

This Swell Christmas fabric is because I am a WEE bit excited over this entire line.  

If I was rich I would buy all the Swell!

These I bought to make Christmas pillow cases and dish towels with.

 The dots and snowflakes are accents for the pillowcases and dish towels.

I shamelessly have no excuse for buying Thumper or the unicorns other than that I fell in love with them.  I do remember that these came from Millers.

These came from Neffs.  I have plans for that background print, but not the cats.  

C'mon though...CATS!!!  

Cole and Jack.  How could I resist??

One of my favorite lines Sugarplum by Heather Ross.  These came from Calla Lily Quilts.

These were from Helping Hands.  

I see dragon scales and need those for an upcoming baby quilt that is dragon themed.

I can't remember the shop but the blues are for the dragon quilt.  

The other is just because I need more low volume and am out of white dots on red.

More Halloween, low volume and a GREAT stripe for binding.  

Same shop as the Swell.  Country Charm.

Those mice tho...all the heart eyes, AND they are low volume.  

Always looking for that shade of blue and the green on the left is already gone! 

 I used it to bind my Sparty quilt.

More LV and some oranges for the traveling quilt blocks I am currently making.

My FAVORITE find was some of this Coral Queen of the Sea! 

 I was thrilled to find this out of print fabric.

So as you can see, 

I now have way more fabric than I need for more projects than I will probably finish in my lifetime.  

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!~XOP~