More Scrappiness

The other day I was at Lowe's and bought this.

Then I added some of my scraps to it and came up with this.

I'm thinking I'll use it as a trivet; I'm just not sure if it's functionable as it is nylon rope wrapped in cotton fabric.  I would think it'd be fine, but I'll let you know if there's a fire in the house!



Yesterday was my half marathon day so I'm at home resting up today.  I'm a little sore, but feeling pretty good. 

This was last year's finish.  This was the photo I based my quilt on.

 This is yesterday's finish.

This is our travelling quilt.  For now, my AWESOME brother who ran with me both years will display it in his home.  It'll be inspiration for both of us to keep up our running!!  

A Lovely Surprise!!

The BEST part about a Monday is coming home from work and finding this lovely gem in my mailbox.  Cheryll from Gone Stitchin' sent me a wonderful thank you note and a "needle/pin" purse from Australia!!  I LOVE it!  Thank you so much, Cheryll.  It was my pleasure to make the two baby blankets - such a worthwhile cause.

I'm not sure if I'll get any sewing done tonight, but I have posted a few pictures under the "Envelope" tab.  There's a theme going on as I'm sending each of the girls in the running club a "have FUN" with the marathon/half marathon that we are running on Sunday.  If I had more time, I might have tried to make the faces actually resemble the girls (okay, women)!!

More Quilty Goodness

It's been a wonderful weekend so far.  Friday night I found these two lovely presents in my mailbox.  Both of these were ordered from Etsy:  Down to the Wire (earrings) and Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 (zine).  I'm pleased with both of them.

Saturday morning was a nice 39 degree 5k run in downtown Houston.  It was my 3rd year for running the Houston Rockets 5k and this year B. ran with me.  We both set PR's.  Well, since this was B's first ever sanctioned race, he was going to set a PR no matter what.  In the end I managed to also set a PR so I'm pretty happy with that.  Next weekend is my Houston Aramco Half Marathon so I'm gearing up for out of town company and getting my head around the 13.1 miles.  Piece of cake, right??!! 

Yesterday I quilted up the fabric I was going to use to make my next yoga bag.  And then this morning I got after it and made the yoga bag.  I quilted a piece of fabric that can make two yoga bags, but I might make a tote out of the leftover fabric.  We'll see.  After the sewing I went out and ran 3.1 miles.  Now it's time to go make some dinner and then settle into drawing more envelopes.  It's been a wonderful weekend.  I hope all of you have had the same enjoyment from your creative projects!!

  

Supporting Fellow Artists/Crafters

I have this thing about the written word . . . I love it!  And I love how people are so creative.  I've been searching out zines that interest me and I'm purchasing them.  My collection is small right now; today's arrival makes my sixth one.  You'll have to check out torta gialia for her crafty goodness.  I found this zine "pensieri" (thoughts in Italian) in her Etsy shop. The zine is brilliantly made out of an envelope and various and sundry items are attached throughout.  The pocket at the back is filled with scraps to incorporate into a journaling project.  I haven't finished reading the zine yet, but I am intrigued by the creative way it was put together.  In 2011 I'm trying to purchase smaller items to help the independent artists out.  We'll see what I end up with by year's end.  Should be exciting!

 And speaking of books . . . my Sketchbook Project moleskin book was mailed today.  It goes on exhibit beginning in February and will be in Austin, TX in March.  Hopefully I will make it over there to see the exhibit.  There's some insane number of sketchbooks that are in the exhibit.  Mine will be digital at some point.  It's not my best work, but it was FUN (and stressful) and I'm glad I undertook the challenge.  Next up . . . ???  Oh, yeah, I have the half marathon in less than two weeks.  I'm feeling good!!

Winter Wonderland

In 2008 I designed and made this wholecloth quilt.  It was to be my entry for IQF in Houston, but alas and alack, it all fell apart days before the deadline.  Oops.  I finished the quilt and at Thanksgiving time that year I presented it to my brother for his birthday.  I really enjoyed making this quilt and there were lots of lessons learned especially about having enough thread from the same dye lot from the get-go.  I spent numerous hours one day going from store to store trying to match thread color.  Not fun!!  In the end I was very pleased with the quilt although I have no decent pictures of it.  Oh, well.  This is a queen sized quilt and I would really like to design and make another one.  But it is very time consuming and right now I'm all about the instant gratification!!  Maybe later this year . . .

Meditation Anyone?

Awhile back my SIL asked me to make her a yoga bag.  I put it on my list of 53 things to do and today I get to cross it off the list.  Yay!  Of course, this is just a prototype as I think I can improve on it.  I will be sending it back to Kansas with my niece in a couple of weeks and then I can find out if it needs to be bigger, pockets, etc.  But, I must say that this was relatively easy to make and if I get into yoga (which I'm sure I will), then I'll be making some more.

And The Winner Is . . .

Sarah from Sunnyvale, California!!!  Congratulations!!  Please send me your address and I'll get this giveaway package in the mail to you.  Thank you to everyone who dropped by my blog and commented and became followers.  I was overwhelmed by the number of people who responded and I wish that I could send everyone a package!!  I plan on doing another giveaway in the near future, so please drop by again.  Until then, ENJOY your quilting adventures!!

I've Been Tagged . . .

by Cheryll at Gone Stitchin' who's helping to spread the word about smaller blogs (like this one).  So, thank you, Cheryll, for this award!!!  I'm honored.  Now hop on over to Cheryll's blog and enjoy the lovely projects she has going.  Take a look at her pictures with the absolutely fabulous scenery in Australia.  And to think that those locations are in her own backyard . . . ooh, I'm so jealous!!

I'm going to continue to share the award and name some fellow blogger friends who I'm sure would love your company also.  If you choose to participate, the rules are:  1)  Tell your readers who tagged you; 2)  Add a link to their blog. 3. Award 3-5 bloggers who you think deserve this award.

Inform them & post directions to your blogspot. Please don't tag people who already have 300 followers. The goal of this award is to get more publicity to blogs that are good, but not so well known.

So in the spirit of the award, I'm tagging Jan-Maree, Mariliz, Heather and Cherry.  Go check out their blogs!! 
 

No Time for Sewing - Boo Hoo

It's crazy busy at work again. I did manage to come home last night and run 2.5 miles and then I sat down and did some drawings for the sketchbook. They aren't complete yet, but I thought I'd post a couple of pictures. I need to get my butt out of this chair and headed to work, but it's just so much more FUN here than there!!! Heavy sigh!!

Okay, I'm off . . . I'm having too much fun here and if I don't leave soon, well . . . I'm just saying . . .

Drum Roll Please . . .

Okay, FINALLY, I've taken some pictures and now I'm going to announce my first EVER giveaway!!!  Yay!!  I just realized that my first post was on December 26, 2007.  Wow!  That was a long time ago.  Tomorrow will be 2011.  Yikes!!  Here's wishing everyone a WONDERFUL new year and may all your quilting/creating journeys be filled with excitement and JOY!!!

The giveaway includes: 

1. Five one yard cuts of assorted fabrics
2. Six one-half yard cuts of assorted fabrics
3. Package of 40 basting pins
4. Set of Bohin Patchwork and Quilting Needles (for handwork)
5. Set of Bohin Machine Needles (size 75 and 90 or 11 and 14)
6. Two glitter pens for paper or fabric

If you are interested in this giveaway, please leave me a comment and then rush out and tell all your friends about the giveaway and have them hop on over and leave a comment.  If you blog about it, leave me another comment, etc., etc. . . . Lots of chances to win.  Lots of fabric to give away!!  I'll keep the giveaway open until next Saturday, January 8 (US time) and I'll pick the lucky winner on Sunday January 9.  This giveaway is open to EVERYONE and I'll ship internationally so not a problem, just comment away!! 

Here are a few more pictures of the sketchbook project.  This morning I woke up and I said "hey, don't I have some watercolors around here somewhere?".  And, yes, I did.  So, today I've been experimenting with the watercolors and markers.  I still have a ways to go, but I'm enjoying the ride.

 

This one was painted awhile ago so it is acryllic paint.