Scrap happy

I've been playing with scraps... but not fabric- scrap booking!

 Our wedding album is FINALLY complete.

It was one of those things that got started right when I printed the photos, but then a few pages weren't looking right, and I got frustrated, and then it sat in a box.... for nearly 2 years. Which isn't nearly as long as my mother has had our childhood albums torn up and stored in a box (ahem, 8 years!), but it was bugging me that I had no wedding photos to speak of to show people.

I was lucky enough to get a Cricut create (medium sized one) 2 Christmases ago, and it is sooooo fun... just kind of a pain to set up. Tim graciously has allowed me to camp out in the living room and take over... I mean, use the card table and every other surface to put our album together.

 So, here it is. Faded cover and all. I've started working on my pictures from Japan, and as soon as my Snapfish order arrives, I'll work on pictures from our recent trip to Kentucky.

And then I'll be back to fabric.

Promise.

Look who got a dog bed on sale from Target:

The dogs were watching an episode of National Geographic's Hunter/Hunted. It is always so funny to see them SO fascinated by something on TV- in this case, dingos.

Keeneland!

I bet a total of $10 all day... won $5.80 off of one $2 bet... so I only lost $4.20. 

I do more damage in a restaurant than that!!!

Home again!

I've been in Kentucky.

At way too much, slept too little, and had

SO MUCH FUN!!!!

I love my brother and SIL.

Horseracing pictures will be forthcoming. Promise.

AND
I have a job interview tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Sleepy...

'Night!

I love coupons!

I've always been a fan of a good deal... and coupons! Jodi at Pleasant Home helped me discover The Krazy Coupon Lady...

Go check it out. I'll be here. I spent about 2 hours poking around yesterday.

Then printed $14 worth of coupons for Target...

Then made a coupon wallet!

 Tim asked me, "Don't you already have one?"

"No."

"Yes, you do, I've seen it."

"No, that was actually my checkbook cover... there are checks in there somewhere, but since I rarely use them, I shoved coupons in with them."

But, now I have a designated coupon wallet. I put the 2 buttons on it in anticipation of how stuffed I know it will become. 

Aren't the chickens cute? They're scraps from the apron I always forget to wear when cooking... I think I'll go get it and hang it up where I'll remember to use it now.

I feel so organized. This is my kind of spring cleaning/organizing: making pretty things to try to be organized!

Today I had to run by Kroger again... but this time I remembered to load some coupons on my Kroger card, and so I ended up saving $8.74- which meant I paid about $18 for ten yogurts, two packs of Hillshire farms deli meats, 3 ears of corn, and 2 packs of deli cheese. I love the Kroger receipts because they tell you what percentage of your bill you saved- mine was 31%!  

I'm going to try to beat that next time... :D

Small projects, big dreams

One of my goals this year is to become a published quilter. Well, today I took another step towards that. I just submitted a quilt to a contest... let's hope it gets past the initial critique and makes it in!!!

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I love being able to sew. It makes things so much more fun when my husband or I need things like a toiletry bag:

 He's going to love it. I made myself a tea wallet and a small makeup bag.

 All three of those things will come in handy! And, let's face it, you can never have too many makeup bags!

So, for those of you who also play the Block Lotto, you'll recognize this block:

When i made my four for this month, I adored them so much that I made another set of four with the SOLE PURPOSE OF KEEPING THEM! I know, I could have entered all 8 into the lotto, but I had to make this table topper. These 4 blocks begged to stay here. And so they shall. I know have a delightful little table topper that is too darn cute. It makes me smile. And, it's made from all scraps, too!

I guess in a way I just had my own Friday Night Sew In. :D

Happy weekend, everyone!

Multi-tasking

I'm working on a new bed quilt for our King-sized bed.

It's for the Naked Bed Challenge. Our bed isn't naked of quilts, but it does need a summer-weight comforter, so why not.

 I've also (finally!) gotten back in the habit of running. Tim and I, along with some friends, have all committed to doing a half-marathon this fall. I wanted to do one last year but ended up with a bone bruise. The heel is healed, so let's try this again!

Oh, and in between all of this, I'm still slowly piecing my Slow Roll Cotton Boll. It's been renamed given how long it's taking me!!

And, I've been enjoying our new couch. Doesn't my pillow look nice there? I've been playing PS3 games with Tim, and watching old episodes of Top Gear, all in between record-breaking productivity.

I also finished my first ordered pillow! It's getting delivered soon...

If she doesn't love it, I think it looks pretty snazzy on our couch... ;) This was the first time I'd ever tried prairie points. I'm very pleased with it.

It kind of feels like I'm going all over the place.... maybe because I am!!!

Talking Tuesdays on Twitter!

If any of you use Twitter, I suggest joining us during Talking Tuesdays tonight! Starting at 9 pm EST, there's a chat on Twitter- all about quilting! Well, mostly quilting. :) Sometimes we get derailed by food, and pets, and all sorts of delightful fun! It's been described as an online quilt guild, an internet family, and some of the best friends who've never met!

Oh, and there are giveaways. But come for the chatter-- it's so much fun!

I'm going to do my best to be there tonight- I'm a bit sleep deprived, but sometimes that just means I laugh easier and more often... which is never a bad thing.

A Walk

 Yesterday we had the most beautiful weather. Tim and I walked along the Nickel Plate Trail, with me stopping to point out all the pretty flowers that had popped up recently.

 We were geocaching, too!

 For the last year, we've been leaving glow-in-the-dark bugs and snakes in caches we've found... but look what we saw on the way home!

A northern water snake! Sunning itself on the path. I shooed it off before the oncoming bikes could hurt it. 

(I'm one of those "odd" girls who like snakes)

Here's hoping we have more beautiful days soon!

Dream land

Last night ended with a horrible, nearly-sick migraine. Not exactly the great ending to the great day I had. But it's gone now, thankfully, and I am spending my Sunday morning wishing I had a little disposable income. "Little" meaning just the small sum of about $7,000!!!! (That was sarcasm... how do you type sarcasm? Still trying to figure that one out). It's all because of a dang promo being run at a quilt shop I visit when I'm back home. Massive incentives on their HQ machines.

One of these days, one of these days... But,  I think if I ever get to that stage, I might as well save BIG and blow it on a Tin Lizzie or an APQS machine! Now THAT is dreaming big!!!!

I leave you with this: do you have any idea what kind of plants these are? There are tons of them along the edge of our yard, and along the road into our neighborhood through the wooded area. I'm hoping whatever they are that they will have flowers!!!

Happy Sunday!

Kindle Sleeve Tutorial- part 2

Got your hexies all stitched together?

Good. Make your quilt sandwich, and quilt as desired! I just did free-hand circles for this one. I used perle cotton, but you can use whichever method you like- hand or machine quilting.

Then,  square it up to measure about 8.5 inches by 14 inches. Bind ONE short side (11.5" by 19" for the larger version of the Kinlde or an iPad).

Next, fold the bound edge up so it creates a pocket that measures about 5 inches deep-- deep enough to old your device. Pin in place, and bind from one edge of the fold all the way around to the other. To make it look finished, I folded the raw edges of the binding ends under before starting to stitch it on. I also machine stitched it on initially, but then hand-stitched the other side.

To finish- fold you flap over and eyeball where you want your button(s). Mark placement for the buttonholes, and use your machine to make them. Attach your buttons in the corresponding point on the case. Ta-da!!!

I hope it was worth the wait. And y now, you're probably thinking, "I could have figured this all out myself!" It really is pretty simply. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to share any photos if you stuck with me long enough to make one!

Friday Photos

 My kitchen "garden" has sprouted.

We've been doing a lot of this lately- looking at the world through every angle, including upside down.

(Is it ever really right-side up?)

Meh.

Attack of the food allergies: Day 2.

Means nothing getting done.

Means I'm on the way to another day in a benadryl stupor.

Means I gotta remember not to use my quilted throw pillow or I'll probably drool all over it, too.

Until sometime later, when my head is clear again...

Of Mice and Men and Women

It seems the more I try to plan, the more life interferes. I guess that's just the way of things.

Earlier this week, I finally made these pretty curtains for our bathroom.

I was on a roll. I had even worked on RRCB (which I hate to admit has been laying on the floor of my sewing room so long in a 2/3 finished state!).

Wednesday, I had big plans for my day. They all got scratched. But that's ok. I had a really fun day with Tim- we were running errands in Kokomo and randomly (or maybe not so randomly on his part) decided to drive to Indy. It was fun being down there, but at the same time, reminded me why I'm a small town girl.

Yesterday, our new couch came! We both cleaned the floors and carpet and dusted and such while waiting for it, and then Scotch Guarded it together. Then is was back to Kokomo for a few more errands, then home to enjoy finally being able to sit on the same piece of furniture together!

I did do a little sewing yesterday- See the ABU in the background? The uniform? I ripped off Tim's old strips and sewed on his new ones because he's getting promoted!!! Whoohoo!!! I did a good job, too, compared to whoever had done the last ones. And, I might end up with a little spending money out of it since some of the other guys need stripes sewn on their ABUs and blues and such. Yay all around!

I hope to get the rest of my Kindle Tut done today. But I know I also have to return a lamp for a non-broken one (don't you hate when you open a box and find a broken piece? SO aggravating!) and pick up a prescription, and who knows what else will come up. But I'll do my best. That's all we can do everyday.