Scrap Happy

Being new to quilting, I have never had scraps before. I must be a quilter, because it was an instinct to save any scrap of this lovely discontinued Freshcut Fabric by Heather Bailey. My favorite fabric line of all time had to be used with nothing to spare. :) So I took my pile of scraps and sat down at the sewing machine. I randomly started sewing pieces together and it transformed into this beautiful mini lap quilt top. I'm in love!

One Happy Homemaker!

I have never been known as the greatest bargain hunter, but last week I hit the jackpot! With a new house comes new windows. Never needed curtains, yet always wanted some. Now is my chance. Only one problem. There are 7 windows and Joanne Fabric's fabric is 25$ a yard!! That means, I can only afford a window every 3 months. That's a lot of waiting and saving up.

I had my heart set on this beautiful fabric from Joanns for my master bedroom. Isn't it beautiful? sigh. I found it and knew this fabric was for me.

25$ a yard was a bit much, but decided I would save up for this must have fabric anyways.

 Then Home Fabrics outlets came into my life. I decided to stop by last Friday to see what this store was all about. I walked in and my mouth dropped open. Bolts and bolts of home decor fabric and the average price was 5$ a yard. I started scanning the isles of bolt after bolt of lovely fabric. Then I saw it, my FABRIC! Normally 5$ a yard, I got it for 2$ a yard! The only catch was I had to buy what was left on the bolt because it was on clearance. No problem, 4 1/2 years was do-able.

I even came across the fabric that is on my couch. Then I found the perfect fabric for my living room draperies! Heaven!

Want to know how much I saved on all this lovely fabric? I bought 20 yards total at an average of 3$ a yard. At Joanns this would have cost me 500$, but I only spent 60$ That is a savings of 440 dollars!!!! I was in fabric heaven leaving that store. Hugging my fabric in excitement, I headed off to show my husband my amazing bargain. Now I can start on my curtains! This will be my next challange. I have never made curtains before. Want to join me for the ride?

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Pacific International Quilt Festival with my quilting group. We had a great time looking at all the amazing quilts from around the world. I especially loved the shopping! Sadly, I had a budget. In the end my budget saved me from buying out all the merchandise. :)

Here is only a taste of what we saw at the exhibits. There were so many unbelievable and creative quilts.

For the rest of my photos you can check out my flickr set: HERE

I am looking forward to next year. Better start saving my money now! :)

Our Move!

I cant believe how long it has been since I blogged last! I have so much to do and share on here in the future. I cant wait to get started. But first, I want to share some picures of my move. :)

Enter: The Bevelry Hillbillies! :) One of many Loads.

The first item to move into my new home. My Christmas Present Hutch purchased from my favorite store: Room With A Past!

Unpacking, way more fun then packing. :)

I finally could pull out and use the wreath I made 2 years ago.

Next Post: Pacific International Quilt Festival XVIII

Moving Obsession!

I just realized last night as I picked up my crochet hook, that I put a hold on crafting! What is a matter with me!? Then it hit me! I am obsessed with moving and decorating ideas!

For the past 2 weeks, I have pulled out my favorite magazines and started sketching all sorts of ideas for the new home.

My poor crafting pile sits on the couch waiting to be finished. Now the couch crafting pile is only 1/4 of my unfinished projects. The rest is in the craft room! Ugh, I better get crafting again!

Frantic Packing?!

We could be moving in a month! So excited! If all goes well, this month will be full of frantic packing! So excited! SO LONG Apartment living! House living here I come! woohoo!

My quilt is still laying on the floor waiting to be sewn. Cant seem to catch up with anything! But, I have been crocheting like crazy! I am making these really cute face scrubbies to sell in my shop that I designed. Now I just need to list them and make a set for me. :)

This month is going to be one busy month. Full of packing and organization. Which means I will only be able to craft in the evenings.

In my new place, I just might be able to get more things done! I have a terrible time concentrating when there are noises around me. For example, constant stomping above, slamming doors, people talking outside my craft room....and so on. With a house, it will be peaceful. I will be able to concentrate on writing patterns as late as I want without worrying about bothering neighbors.....October cant come fast enough! :) House living will look good on me. :)

Quilting for Soldiers

This past weekend I was able to join up with my quilting group. We meet once a month and quilt for our wounded soldiers. It really is a fun time to get together and quilt for a cause.

A couple months ago, I was working on a Mary Engelbreit quilt for myself using charm packs. I ended up with a lot of left over squares in colors that I didn't need.

Now this is a no-no in the quilting world, but I was thinking of tossing them. sshh....don't tell anybody. lol Anyways, I ended up realizing that they would make a great baby quilt! Not only does my group make patriotic quilts but they also make baby quilts for their families.

So, I ended up sewing together a quilt top using these fun fabric squares. Not being able to do the machine quilting part, a lovely lady and friend of mine from my group took it home for me, quilted it and even added the binding. She did a great job!

I'm so excited because this last meeting, I was able to find out where this blanket was going! :) It is the first quilt that I have made that is going to a soldiers family. This baby blanket along with the lovely patriotic quilt below is going to a very special local family. This soldier came home wounded and woke up from a coma finding out that he was missing both of his limbs and that his wife just had their baby. They are having a homecoming celebration for him and will be presenting his family with these 2 quilts.

It is so fun and exciting to see these quilts we make go to such special families who put their life on the line for us and our country. What special men and women in the service we have.

Aqua Knobs and Chaotic Quilting

Look what came today! SO excited! I found these delicious Antique Delphite aqua milk glass knobs on ebay. I am so in love with these! I have no clue what I will use these for, but whatever use, they will fit right in! I cant stop drooling over these 6 beautiful aqua knobs. I love ebay!

Below is a quilt in progress. It has been in progress for 2 months! ugh! The way I have been feeling, I just cant seem to get this done! Last week, I spent a few hours on it trying to get this off my craft room floor. So tired of stepping over it. So my main goal this next week is to get this quilt top sewn. It is made from Heather Bailey's Freshcut fabric collection using the Lap Quilt Pattern "Freshcut Quilt" from her site. I still have to sew more strips together, then cut and sew together the blocks.

I cant wait until my energy comes back! But until then it is mindless crocheting as seen below that will be my choice of craft.