Rainbow Around the Block

I haven't even finished my first quilt (which I have put aside until I resolve some tension issues I'm having while free motion quilting) and I'm thinking about what quilt project to do next. I really want to work on my block construction skills since I just used easy 4x4 blocks for my quilt.

I was so excited when I came across this on Anna Maria Horner's blog! If you haven't ever heard of Anna Maria Horner, then you probably aren't a sewer or a quilter. Anna Maria is a fabulous fabric designer, textile designer, quilter, seamstress, etc. I have yet to use any of her fabrics, but have been drooling over them for some time now. Anyway, Anna Maria lives in TN right by where they had all that horrible flooding. In an effort to help the the families who have lost their homes, she has put together Rainbow Around the Block. She is asking for quilters to send her 12.5x12.5 squares that will be used in quilts and given to the families. This is perfect for me to practice my piecing skills and help others along the way.

I'm off to the fabric store today to choose some fun fabrics for this projects and some others! I will post pics of my blocks before I send them off to TN.

Oh and on another exciting note (well, exciting for me to say the least...you may roll your eyes if you choose) I made my very first skirt yesterday! I cheated a little bit and used an old pair of jeans that don't fit me, but I'm pretty proud of myself. It ended up being a really cute dark denim pencil skirt! I think I even impressed Phil a little bit with my skills! But I really can't take all the credit. I used THIS tutorial. I'm not pregnant, so I didn't even touch the waistband. Anyway, I'm pretty excited about it and I've been patting myself on the back since last night! I will post pictures when I decide to get the camera out...Lately I haven't been taking too many pictures because I'm really unhappy with my camera. Oh well, I'll have to suck it up until we buckle down and buy a new one.

Happy Saturday!

Newest Creative Adventure

So I have recently taken up quilting. Well I guess it's not so recently, I started this quilt in December and am just now preparing to quilt the "sandwich". So it's taken longer than I had expected, but it has been very fulfilling for me. I started with choosing a color pallet and fabric, then I created my own design and started sewing. The thing with being a novice quilter is that measuring is still an area for improvement. Once I got all my squares sewed together I realized my quilt was rather narrow, so to remedy this I put some panels on each side. I actually really like the way it's turning out. It's not done yet. I still have to quilt it (I had to order a new part for my machine to do this) and then I need to bind it. I think because this is my first quilt, I'm going to keep it rather than give it away, for memories sake! Here's a sneak peek. More pictures to come when it's finished.

I was featured!

I got an email from a fellow "etsian" (yes, that's an official term) that she had featured the vintage apron that I have in my store on her blog!

I've never really gotten much exposure with my etsy store. Recently I haven't really been focused on it. Getting this email has made me realize that I really enjoy selling stuff on etsy...maybe I should get back in the game?!

Fashion 2.0 Social Media Awards

Check it out!

ideeli has partnered with Style Coalition to create the Fashion 2.0 Social Media Awards to celebrate fashion designers and brands for outstanding social media activity.

To cast your vote visit HERE and HERE.

Bloginion (Blog + Opinion)

Many use their blogs as a way to gauge public opinion. I for one, think it's a great use of technology. And I have to admit, I do occassionally dabble in the opinion gathering myself. ideeli.com blog (a great on-line sample sale site) wants to know your opinion of pop-up shops and fur!

Now, I like the idea of pop-up shops, although I think they are mostly found in NYC. I have yet to hear about any in the Boston area. Pop-up shops also are a great idea for budding designers and boutique owners. You don't have to commit to a long-term lease and you can do some "street testing" of your products. I'd say they are a win win. (now we just need to move the phenomenon across those state borders...)

Click on the link to add your opinion.
Pop Up Stores: Love Them?

As for as fur goes, I'm not a proponent of it...but "to each his own."
Click on the link below to let ideeli know what you think about fur.
The Fur Debate

Check them out and add your opinion!

Oh, and if you don't belong to ideeli, just click here!

here are some of my favorites....

Because I know you're all so interested (ok, maybe not, but since this is MY blog, you're going to have to deal) I'm going to share some of my favorite blogs with you.

Hip2Save

This one is great. Colin shares her secrets about bargain shopping. She posts coupons, store sales, on line deals, etc. Check this out to read more about her story.

I really love this one because sometimes the comment sections have some great conversations going on. Sometimes they can get quite heated...people criticizing Colin, then fans defending her. Really does get entertaining sometimes. Another great thing about this site is that it's like a community. Colin gets information from readers about sales, deals, freebies, and they will also leave information in the comment sections about deals that Colin hasn't highlighted.

I know what you're thinking...this doesn't sound very interesting. But really, I enjoy this one and she posts throughout the day. Colin speaks to the part of me that LOVES getting a bargain!

Thanks Cara for this recommendation!

NieNie Dialogues

If you've never been over to NieNie Dialogues you must. I think I spent a whole afternoon once reading through her past posts just so I could learn her story. Stephanie Nielson and her husband Christian were in a airplane crash in the summer of 2008. Christian and Stephanie survived the crash, but their pilot did not. Here you can read more about their incredible story (warning: I cried through some of this...typical). Both Christian and Stephanie were severely burned during the crash and her blog (kept up by her sister during her recovery) is a an inside look into a woman's struggle to become the mother and wife she used to be. Before Stephanie's accident she already had a strong following on her blog as she recounted her experiences as a wife and mother. After the accident the blog has been reported to have received tens of thousands of hits a day.

I enjoy reading Stephanie's blog posts daily to learn more about her recovery, and to be inspired by her strong spirit and her adventurous kids. The way she writes lets you look into her inner thoughts and how she is feeling as she goes through experiences many of us couldn't even imagine.

Style Rookie

I have just recently found this one via another blog that I read. The Style Rookie is a blog written by a 13 year-old girl named Tavi. About a year and a half ago Tavi started getting more curious about fashion, so she decided to start a blog (unbeknown be her parents) which started getting a lot of buzz. Tavi is a very original girl that thinks of fashion as an outward expression of art. Tavi become so well known in the blogosphere that she got invited to exclusive fashion shows and after-parties during fashion week, even the hard to get into Marc Jacobs (accompanied by an adult of course). She also was part of the inspiration for the Rodarte line for Target. In fact, apparently her parents didn't even know much about her blog or how popular their daughter was getting until she asked for permission to appear in a New York Times magazine story.

Apparently there were some who were skeptical that the blog was actually written by Tavi herself and they argued her parents were doing the writing. But Tavi truly is the only one behind this blog. She's original and I would want to be her friend if I were 13...ok, I would be her friend at the age of 25 if only I were cool enough for her. ;)

I think Tavi is very funny and also very insightful when it comes to fashion. Check her out it.

DECK THE HALLS

If you're looking for some cute holiday blogger templates, just click Here. This is the post I did last year. Sorry, I don't have any new ones, but I hope to find some time to start doing this again.

Happy Holidays to all!