A little Valentine finish - finish Friday

Happy Valentine's Day!

The girls were very excited to be going to school today.  In kindergarten, they are planning to really party!  My 2nd grader was even looking forward to her valentine exchange, even though there was no party for them.  I guess they are more focused in 2nd grade.

I found a moment last night to sneak down to the garage and put my EKG mug rug in my husbands car so he would find it as he left at the crack of dawn.  I wanted him to know I was thinking of him first thing.  He even came back upstairs to give me an extra kiss goodbye before leaving.  Aw!

This morning I've been slaving away trying to make a special dessert for our night tonight.  The kids are going to a parent's night out event, so it is just me and my DH.  I've been wanting to try out a recipe for Salted Caramel Pots de Creme, despite never having made caramel before.  It didn't go extremely well.  I had to make it twice and completely guess when my caramel was ready, and then water got into two of my pots ruining the custard.  You know, water baths really are tricky!  Luckily the recipe made several pots, so fingers crossed they taste good later.  I am also making a few cookies, as a backup plan.  A girl should always have a backup plan!

How will my Valentine wish me a happy Valentine's Day?  I don't know, but I hope he says it with bacon.  Ever since my cholesterol numbers came back just over "what they like to see", I can't help myself, I've been thinking of almost nothing besides BACON.  Is that wrong?

In other news, for those of you not fasting, Craftsy is having a flash sale this weekend on matched classes.  Craftsy Perfect Match Flash Sale  Show yourself (or your Valentine) a little love!   I have been watching my classes regularly, and still haven't had a bad one.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen

Linking up with:

Mood Mug Rugs (Giveaway!) - April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop Stop

Welcome April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hoppers!  First, I would like to thank Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for putting together all these marvelous blog hops.  They are so much fun!  And Erin at Sew at Home Mummy for being our cheerleader for the Hop.  I have felt inspired every day.

As I understood it, I was challenged with creating a mug rug, with anything that "April" brought to mind.  While yes, April showers bring May flowers.  April in general, makes me think of spring and spring flowers.

I should explain first....I grew up in South Florida, which didn't really have seasons (unless you count "snowbird season").  Also, despite its name meaning land of flowers, Florida didn't really have the kind of flowers that I wanted to see in springtime.  I loved the flowers that sprouted from bulbs in particular.  Tulips, lilies, iris (technically a rhizome), and especially daffodils.  Oh, how I yearned to have daffodils cheerfully showing their faces in our yard.  But Florida is too hot, too many bugs, too hungry squirrels....you get the point.   Luckily, my grandparents lived in Connecticut in an adorable little woodsy cottage.  The perfect place to have all these beautiful spring flowers nestled around the stone foundation.  I was still in school in the spring, so there is no way I could actually be there to see all these glorious flowers, but I could live vicariously through my grandparents.  And being the economical child that I was, it only made sense to get as many beautiful bulbs as I could for my $money.  I only realized once I got a little older more mature, why my poor grandparents were never really delighted to unwrap a bushel of 200 daffodil bulbs that would need to be planted in the rocky soil.  Never-mind that is was also a gift that they would have to wait another 6 months to actually get to see the benefits of.

Well Gram, here is a daffodil that doesn't have to be planted and can still herald the coming of spring!  I made it using a FREE pattern  at Craftsy made by Beth at Piece By Number.  Yes, I did say "Free", it is one of my favorite words in the English language!

My second favorite words are "on sale", and for my next few mug rugs, I used a pattern that I got on sale at Connecting Threads called "Let it Rain" by Jo-Lydia's Attic from The Joy of Sewing.

I decided to make these "mood mug rugs", because while I find little umbrellas cute and spring-like, every storm runs out of rain.  I am usually in a much sunnier mood after finishing my morning cup of coffee.  So, I made these reversible with suns on the back.  You get to choose which mood you are in - drizzly or sunny!

Wake up in a funk?  Need a little brightness in your morning?  Flip it over for a little sunshine.  Way too perky barista a little too bright for your morning?  Making you feel like you need a parasol? - flip it back to the umbrella side and breathe a little.

The Giveaway is now closed.

Did I mention a giveaway?  Yes!  I am giving away all of my mood mug rugs - one mug rug each for four lucky winners.  All you have to do to enter is:

• Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite FREE or on sale pattern is right now
• If you are follower of mine, you get a bonus entry!  Just leave me another comment telling me how you follow me (Bloglovin', Google Friend, etc).

That's it!  I will randomly draw 4 winners on Friday, April 19th around 9 am PST, and notify those winners by email.  International entries are welcome - I love to surprise those guys at the post office with interesting destinations.

****Please note!  IF you are a "No-Reply Blogger", I am not going to try to track you down, I will just draw another winner.  Wordpress people - this is usually you, I don't know why.  If in doubt, please leave your email address in you comment!****

Don't forget to visit all the other stops on the blog hop today.  There have already been some amazing mug rugs throughout the hop, and I know there will be more tomorrow too.

Here's the rest of the schedule:

Wednesday, April 17

Marjorie @ Marjorie's Busy Corner

Elita @ A Pieceful Perspective

Green @ So Sew Green

Mara @ Greco Mara

Wendy @ Why Knot Kwilt?

Gmama Jane @ GrandMama's Stories

Debby @ Debby Kratovil Quilts

Britt-Inger @ Hill Valley Quilter

Connie @ Freemotion by the River

Beth @ Words and Stitches

Kathy @ iHeartSquishy

Thursday April 18

Merry Gay @ Merry Gay in Stitches

Mary @ Sew Maybe I Can

Joanne @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Linda @ Buzzing and Bumbling

Mary @ NeedledMom

Sherry @ Peanuts Patchwork

Fredrika @ Feltfree på Åsly

Shauna @ Welcome to Shauna's World

Sharon @ Dancing thru Threads

Madame Samm @ !Sew WE Quilt!

Thanks for reading today and good luck in the giveaway!

Jen

Les Amis sneak peak

I couldn't resist for long.  I finally cut into some of my most adored fabric, Les Amis.  Here is a sneak peak.

Whoa, I know - squares.  Wonder what those will turn into???  Isn't this the most adorable fabric you've ever seen?  I love foxes, and owls, and this fabric line has foxes AND owls.  What's not to love?

I had to put these away to work on some other things, but I am eager to get back to them!

Speaking of owls....I realized recently that I rarely show you the goodies I receive from my various swaps/bees.  I think between the excitement of receiving "squishy mail", and the need to squirrel my goodies away before the kids get their hands on them, I forget to photograph them.  Well, here is the most adorable mug rug I received from Kristie in the Winter Mug Rug swap I participated in.

Oh, and here is the back complete with my initial!

Isn't it wonderful?  I just love that owl fabric!  And I think she even put some thermo-batting inside because it is a little crinkly sounding -- wasn't that thoughtful?

Thanks for reading,

Jen

I obviously didn't get far - WIP Wednesday

My DH gave me some unexpected sewing time on Sunday, and I was able to finally put my top together using the How Far Will You Go? QAL blocks!  I really like how the blues turned out.  This is only about half of the blocks we were supposed to make.  After ordering 3 different colors to try to match the background fabric I ran out of, I gave up.  Terrible.  So as you can see, I didn't get very far in the How Far Will You Go? QAL.  Yet, my top measures 40 x 50 inches - OK for a toddler quilt or really big baby blanket.  I decided not to add borders to it, since it seems a little busy already with all those different fabrics.

I also have a backing and piece of batting ready for basting.  Unfortunately, I've been feeling a little under the weather the last few days, so I haven't progressed further.  I also have no idea how I am going to quilt this top.  Samplers always give me quilter's block.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Winter Mug Rug for Kristie

• Bee Blocks from yesterday's post here.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• My Blue & White One Block Wonder -This is my January UFO - I decided to add some thin borders before backing this quilt.  They are only half put on.  :(  This quilt has also been stored for so long that I have no idea what (if any) plan I had for the backing.
• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - I am ahead of the game for January Bee's, but I haven't started the BOM's yet.
• Star of Africa Bee - catch up time!!  
• Curves Class goodies - Class started Monday!  I am already super excited about several of the projects!!
• Discontinuity Quilt - this is a class I am taking at Road to California next week.  During the class, we are supposed to complete 1/2 of a crib-sized quilt.  I am determined not to let it stay 1/2 a quilt.  Since I need to make 2 baby quilts, this might end up serving as one of them.
• How Far Will You Go? QAL -  Now that it is a flimsy, there is hope it might get done soon.

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  I have the center done and am working on the middle borders at the moment.  I do a little bit here and there whenever I'm in front of the TV and the kids aren't climbing all over me (the 2 rarely happen at the same time).
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top needs to be put together. It is ridiculous that I haven't just slapped this one together
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   
• NEW Baby quilt - two friends are having a babies soon, and it sounds like a perfect reason to make a couple new quilts, right?  

The Back, Back Burner:

Lightning would have to strike twice, but I like to keep this category going just to remind me what I have in the pipeline.

• Handstitched goodies - several small projects in limbo.  
• Star Circles aka New York Beauty blocks - time is coming to get back to these

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 2
New projects - 3
Currently in Progress - 6

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



Linking up with
 

Have some cake! - WIP Wednesday

One of my good friends had a birthday this week.  As usual, I struggled with what to get her.  Since neither of us really need anything (or the stuff we need is way to pricey for a gift), we typically trade cookbooks or generic gift cards.  Complicating matters, my friend recently bought a new house, that she hasn't moved into yet because they are doing major renovations.  In fact, they are held up in a tiny guest house until said renovations are complete.  Because of this, I figure my friend probably wouldn't want any additional "stuff" at this time.  So what to you get a gal that has everything and no space for anything new?  You make her a mug rug so she has something special to drink her morning coffee with...

A couple of weeks ago, Jennifer at Ellison Lane had this adorable paper pieced cake pattern posted for FREE on her blog.  She actually made a gorgeous table runner with multiple cakes, but I wanted something smaller for my friend.  I adjusted the pattern to be a little smaller, and I totally took the easy route by sewing ric-rack for my cake instead of the lovely layers Jennifer had on her cakes.  I added the border and decided to try out Leah Day's paisley filler from last week's free motion quilt along segment.  I'm not sure if it is a bit too much for this mug rug or if it adds a bit of glam.  I wonder what my friend will think.

This Wednesday......

Completed Projects:

• Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - more blocks done, will post on Tuesday
• And a block for the Beginner QAL 
• Happy Birthday mug rug for a friend

On-going Projects:

• Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop Item - TOP IS DONE!  QUILTING is DONE!  It needs binding.
• Vintage Holiday Quilt Along - blocks done, top needs to be sashed and borders put on.
• Totally Groovy Quilt Along - not started, but this one is really calling me!
• How Far Will You Go? QAL - I might need to put this one aside for a little while.
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - they took a week off, but tomorrow we get directions for putting the top together.
• Star of Africa Bee - get an early jump on September's block??
• "Tree" themed quilt for the guild - since I got my top done for the LGABH, I actually started this one. I am not sure I like how it is going nor am I sure I will get it done by the deadline.
• Grammie's placemats - STARTED!  One top done, one in the works.  Quilting should be relatively easy unless I get too fancy. deadline Sept 19th
• 12 Bee Blocks - this quarter I am in two groups!  I haven't even chosen which blocks I will do yet!  I just can't make up my mind.
• Leaf's Me Happy block(s) - I finally got my date for this blog hop - October 10th.  I need to at least choose a design by next Wednesday.

Back Burner:

I am determined not to forget these projects!  Keeping them in this category reminds me of them on a weekly basis.

• Handstitched goodies - several projects in limbo.  I didn't want to put these on the "back burner", but realistically, unless I have a spark of inspiration and a bunch of time, I won't be working on these until October. 
• Batik Stripe Quilt - still sandwiched and ready to be quilted!  
• Red, White, Blue New York Beauty - piecing in progress, but put well out of the way.  I need to be in a paper-piecing mood to resume.
• June UFO - "A Christmas Something for myself" -EPP in progress.  I figured out this weekend that if I want a table runner of a normal-ish size, I am going to have to baste some more hexies.  Perhaps, I should just make a collection of mug rugs instead?
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started

This week's stats:
Completed projects - 1 + 5 blocks
New projects - 3 (but 1 is done)
Currently in Progress - 10-ish

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to yesterday's post!  The linky stays open for a whole week, so feel free to add them as you complete or wait for next Tuesday (or both)!



Linking up with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday's and Quilt Along Wednesdays.

What a nice surprise!

The finalist for the Modern Mini Challenge at Ellison Lane have been announced and my itty bitty mug rug was chosen!  I can't believe it!  I am so excited I could almost pee my pants!

Anyhow, get on over there to vote.  Vote for me, vote for someone else, just vote!  You'll make someone's day!  I know just being chosen has totally made my month!

I really hope Jennifer at Ellison Lane hosts another mini challenge sometime in the future; it was so much fun to participate.

Itty Bitty Mini Mug Rug

It's super fun if you say it fast, "Itty Bitty Mini Mug Rug, Itty Bitty Mini Mug Rug.."

I was right in the middle of sewing my Name Game Swap Quilt when I saw there was a Modern Mini Challenge at Ellison Lane.  I thought I might enter that quilt in the challenge, but I haven't heard word yet that my partner has received it (it had quite a way to go).  So, I decided to finally make myself a mug rug using some of the same mini blocks, the spools of thread and the sewing machines.  I added a half square triangle border and when all was said and done it is about 6.5 by 6.5 inches square!  Just big enough for a cup of coffee.

Now, I know what you are thinking, why brown??  Well, I supposed I should have chosen some more modern colors, but I tend to frequently spill my coffee.  Do you see where I am going with this?  Plus, the UFO that I am supposed to be working on for March is all blues and browns.  After all those bright colors in the Name Game quilt, I thought I would ease myself back into other colors.

If you want to make your own mini spools and sewing machines, click HERE for the patterns.  More free stuff from me to you!