Bad Karma

I'm not sure what I did to deserve this, but I'm sick. Stupid summer cold. So I decided to take the day off tomorrow to rest and feel better. To make matters worse, I had a voice mail waiting for me when I left work today. Telling me that I MUST report to jury duty tomorrow. At 8 AM. UGH! The timing just seems horribly unfair.

Sew Mama Sew - Giveaway Day (Part 3: The Winner)

So excited to show you my finished clutch, and even more excited to share it! (I think it's my cutest one yet!).

The winner is Stephanie, who said:
Thank you for the great giveaway. My name is Steph, and I've been crafting since I can remember. I started by learning how to embroider from my grandmother, but now I also do a lot of sewing, cross stitch, and painting.

I hope you all had as much fun "playing" as I did. Don't wait until the next SMS giveaway to come back and say 'hi'!

The End of an Era

I never really watched Oprah's show, yet nonetheless, I felt compelled to watch her final episode today. And I was touched. It made me regret not watching her show sooner! I came away with two quotes that I wanted to post here, so that I can come back to them again and again for reflection. I hope maybe you'll be able to find some meaning in these words as well...

"Please take responsibility for the energy you bring to this space." - Remember that we impact those around us with our words, our actions, and even our thoughts.

"Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?" - Everybody wants to be heard and to know that they matter. Everyone wants to be validated.

Giveaway - Day 2

Confession: I stayed up WAY past my bedtime last night just exploring everyone's blogs. I barely entered any of the giveaway contests because I would get so caught up reading! I hope you're having as much fun with Sew, Mama, Sew!'s giveaway day as I am.

To see my own giveaway post, read below (or go here: http://beepsnrays.blogspot.com/2011/05/sew-mama-sew-giveaway-day.html)

Sew Mama Sew - Giveaway Day

Welcome fellow bloggers! When I heard about Sew, Mama, Sew!'s Giveaway Day, I thought it might be fun to participate and meet new people. So here I am, giving away my very first thing!

I first started sewing as a little girl. My mom taught me counted-cross stitch and signed me up for a sewing machine class. At the time, it didn't really stick. But here I am--more than 20 years later--loving it! I reconnected with sewing because of my dear friend Cobble. About a year ago, we decided to take a quilting class together and the rest, as they say, is history. I've found that my absolute favorite part is choosing fabrics and playing with color combinations. Browse through my blog to see.

Up for the winning is one gathered clutch (made following the tutorial from Noodlehead). I'm working on my giveaway clutch right now, so I don't have a picture to share, but here is a picture of one that I made for my sister:

*Update: I've selected and cut the fabrics for this clutch. I can't wait to see the finished product... it should be cute when it's done!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about your own crafting history. I will choose a winner after 3PM EST on May 26th (make sure that your email address is on your blog/profile so that I can contact you).

Yes, I'll ship internationally!

Read my lips.

No diet.
No bedtime.
No exercising.
No expectations.
No responsibilities.

(at least not for tonight!)

Wordless Wednesday

Color All Around

Look at the vibrant color in those blossoms! This is why I love geraniums so much.

Putting the Pieces Together (Post #4)

I thought I'd update everyone on the progress I'm making with my Skipping Stones Quilt. Although I'm making relatively good time, the pieces would be going together even faster if it weren't for my perfectionist streak. With each piece I'm thinking ahead to how the finished block will look, taking into account its orientation, and making careful choices about which pieces I sew together. To give you some examples...

In this block, I decided that I wanted the one, "whole" cat to be upright. That meant that I had to pay attention in order to sew the shorter side pieces on what would eventually become the side of the block. Had I not been thinking about this, the kitty might have ended up side-ways.

Here, I decided it looked best if the bright yellow color was evenly distributed throughout the block, so I turned the blue strips to make three concentrated areas of bright yellow.

Finally, in this one, I spent some time considering how to assemble the three pieces. I finally decided on the combination you see below, because I thought it looked nice with the light blue shapes "flowing" in a curve from left to right. It's very Feng Shui, don't you think?

So there you have it! A little insight into my quilting process.

Floral Photography Fun

Just wanted to share this, cause I thought it turned out kinda pretty!

Take a picture, it’ll last longer!

I stole the following blog post from my sister, so when you read "I," think "E." (Thanks, E!)

- - -

Last July there was a Groupon for an hour photo shoot anywhere within a 25 mile radius of D.C. from Tomerlin Photography, so I proposed to my siblings that we purchase said Groupon and have a group photo taken (a la the awesome picture below) as a Christmas present for our parents.

Left to right: My parents, my Aunt Sandy (Mom’s step-sister) and her husband Uncle Roger, my Aunt Cheri (Mom’s step-sister) and my Uncle John (Mom’s brother)

One of the pictures from this photo session always hung in my grandmother’s house when we were growing up and we’d always look at it and kind of giggle at how different they all used to look (by the time I was born my mother had chopped all her hair off… and so had my Uncle John, lol). So I thought it’d be fun to have a picture taken of the six of us so that maybe in another ten years or so our kids can look at us and giggle.

So we purchased the Groupon in July and come September attempted to book a date with the photographer to have our picture in time for Christmas. Plenty of time, right? Ha! Nope! Turns out the photographer sold some 1,200 of these deals and was booked on the weekends straight through to December! So our plan was a little thrown off, but we adapted and decided our “Christmas” present, could be a Mother’s Day present and we planned our photo shoot for one morning in April (over six months out at that point). Well, of course it was freezing that morning! So while we ran from place to place at the University of Maryland (5 of the 6 of us graduated from Maryland with the 6th one of us graduating from UMBC, so we figured it’d be a fun background for our photo shoot), we were taking our winter coats off, smiling for pictures and quickly putting our winter coats back on! Fortunately, it didn’t rain on us, and all of the pictures turned out great!

So here’s my favorites, and if you want to check out the rest of our pictures from the photo shoot, just go here!

Wordless Wednesday

Skipping Squares Quilt (Post #3)

Well, I finished cutting today, which meant that I got to start my favorite (FAVORITE) part: mixing and matching colors. In terms of the process -- I tried not to have the same combinations of fabric from one block to the next. This was a little tricky to keep track of since there are different kinds of blocks, so I took pictures along the way, so that I could refer to them. Repeatedly. Enjoy!

(This block is my favorite!)

Skipping Squares Quilt (Post #2)

I'm committed to the process pledge! So here goes...

I've started working on my "Skipping Squares" quilt (pattern from Cluck-Cluck-Sew). BTW: Allison from Cluck-Cluck was so wonderful and sent me a bonus, free pattern along with the one that I actually requested. How cool is that?!

Look at all that yardage, yet to be dealt with...

I'm sure you read (and have since forgotten) about my post from several months ago. You know, the post where I showed off my new collection of prints that I gathered while shopping with Cobble?

Well anyway, this weekend I started cutting. Man do I hate this part! Especially when I have so many little pieces to cut out. Ten fat quarters plus a yard and a half of white fabric had to be turned into over 300 little itty bitty strips and squares. Yuck!

At least the fabric is pretty. That makes is less irritating to work with.

The good thing is that this is guaranteed to look good when it's done.

10 Reasons I Loved this Weekend

1. I spent Mother's Day with both my mom and my hubby's

2. I (finally) started working on my next project. Of course, I spent this weekend cutting, which is my least favorite part. But the sooner I finish, the sooner I get to start sewing!

3. Roast beef. Carne asado. Whatever you wanna call it -- it's delicious and I got to eat it. It didn't hurt that I also completed my "in-house tutorials" and am now ready to make it on my own. 

4. Got the new Radiohead album. Cool!

5. Made Bruno's favorite cake (in cupcakes!): Tres Leches cake.

6. Confession... I fussy cut this piece! Love it.

7. Yuuuuuuuum! Had a burger with my in-laws at Red Robin. It was their first time and they loved it. Who wouldn't? A tower of onion rings, unlimited fries, and a burger with a fried egg on top!

8. Saturday yardsales ready and waiting to be explored.

9. My cute hubby.

10. Time to put my feet up!

Steal of a Deal

This morning I snuck away from the family long enough to find a great deal at our community yard sale: the pax-eco tote from The Sak. (And what a beautiful morning, too.) I hope you have a great weekend and a happy Mother's Day!

What I Saw Today

Happy Florzinhas

I planted these little guys last Friday, just before J&G came over for dinner. However, I've been so busy I didn't get a chance to take pictures. I can't believe how much they've already grown! To give some context, there are three separate plants in the white container (2 cilantro and 1 flower) -- none of which were big enough to touch when I first planted them. Not even a week later and they're getting all friendly! Love it!

Stomp, stomp!

This adorable flannel with elephants stomping all over was just begging to be made into a receiving blanket. I'm sending it to a friend from work. Congrats on your new, baby boy, K!