April and James's Inspiration Board

We are so excited for April and James's wedding this September!  We are loving the pinks, purples, and greens together to create a bright, fun, and elegant wedding!

Links: {bouquet}{drinks}{boutonniere}{fan}{table}{lanterns}

The Calypso Star Quilt - Finished!

Yay! First quilt of the year finished... and yes, I know I'm slower then some... but good lord... I can't possibly keep up with the masters!! LOL... I really loved the way this version of a wonky star turned out... bright and wonky... is a great combo for the darling little girl this is off too!



I did have quite a pause here... I couldn't decide which way I wanted to quilt this one... I was hoping to emphasize the ocean features knowing I didn't use traditional ocean colors...





So, I chose to quilt waves through it... I'm loving the effect! :)



I was also very excited by Kate's package arriving this week... I think both packs that I purchased complemented each other very well! Thanks my dear!!

Any whoo... off to start my second stage in my Cathedral Windows tutorial ( if you want to call it that ) ;)

XO, Heather

Joanne and Jay's Inspiration Board

Joanne and Jay's beach wedding is going to be absolutely gorgeous with the sunshine yellows and touches of navy.  We figured with all of this dreadful weather lately, what better than a bright super fun wedding to cheer you up?

Links: {name cards}{drinks}{boutonniere}{bridesmaids}{shoes}{cake}{bouquet}{place setting}

Nautical Inspiration

We think that this nautical themed inspiration board that Courtney in our office made is super fun.  All of the tiny details are just perfect! 

Love. Love. Love.

Links: {cake}{shoes}{groom}{invitations}{sparklers}{flowers}{bridesmaid}{dessert shots}{silverwear}{rings}{candle}

Oh, Fransson... you clever duck!

In my { Sew New To Me Virtual Quilting Bee } this month Faith - Fresh Lemons decided she would like blocks from Oh, Fransson's "Map of the States" and I will admit... I was a little intimidated! Elizabeth is VERY good at her designs... however, I am NO WHERE near as precise as she and I thought I might really mess it up!

But, I shall never doubt Elizabeth again! I was surprised just how simple this block went together and how much fun it was designing it... here's a little looky lou of how it all went down...




I drew out the size Faith was wanting her end block and added in my " states "



Then I separated Faith's fabric ( Amy Butler ) into color piles with matching colored pencils



I decided to add in some Aqua Kona... cause I like aqua and solids ;)



And... I just colored in my " states "



Here's where things got interesting for me... never paper pieced before... I had no idea how clever freezer paper is to work with and how you can basically fussy cut your fabrics... UUummm... FUN!



Then... Ta Da!! A fun little block for my bee partner! I sure hope she likes my version of the pattern... I really had fun with it!



On a personal note... it's my youngest son's 10th Birthday today and I'm off to the Lego Store!!! Have a great Thursday... I know I will ;)

XO, Heather

Cathedral Windows... Easy Peasy!

I'm terrible giddy over the fact that The Pillow Talk Swap has started up again for round 2!! I've been trying a bunch of new techniques in preparation for this round... but call me crazy... I think my (secret) partner would not mind a cathedral pillow coming their way... hehehe...

So... I thought it would be a bit silly not to show you all just how easy they are! Now let me be completely clear... in no way did I make up this strategy, pattern or am I an expert... I'm just showing you how I roll with it ;)

Now my fav tutorial for this pattern... is this beauty...

http://hyena-in-petticoats.blogspot.com/2007/08/cathedral-window-quilt-tutorial.html

And my most helpful friend Lisa was very clever in her cathedral Window block starting measurements to allow for various pillows sizes... {Per Lisa - I went with 9" squares... my pillow was probably a 16 x 16. For a perfect 20" pillow, you need 13.5 squares to start with. (The final square size is about 1/3 of the starting square.) 9 of those will get you an 18" pillow.} Yes... a very clever duck she is... indeed!

So here we go...

I wanted a 20 X 20 inch pillow for my partner, so my template (made from poster board) is a 13.5 inch square



Then I cut my Kona (coal) into 15 X 15" squares about 3/4 inch past my template (for my overage to wrap around my template... BTW - I cut them into strips { 15 x 44 inches when working with yardage } so, I can make more squares at one time :)



Then I stacked the strips ( 15 x 44 inch ) together, placed my template on top and cut squares (again with about 3/4 inch overage, so each side will have the same amount of overage) or you can simply cut 15" cuts, but remember when wanting your ending squares a different size... you're going to want the 3/4" overage...



This left squares... see... super easy so far (wink, wink) Now... no worries that it's a bit wrinkly... just give it a quick iron job ;)



Okay, next place your template on top of your Kona (with your sides even of overage or as even as your cut will allow... if it's off a bit it's still okay) and iron your corners down over the template... this will hold your template in place!



Then fold over the sides of the overage on each side & iron them





Then take out your template



Fold it in half & iron it



And in half again & iron it... see.. still easy!



Here comes the fun part... now, open it back up! Does this remind you of those fortune tellers in grade school??? LOL



Fold one corner inwards toward your square & iron it



Repeat that step all the way around until you have a smaller square



Then do it again!... always ironing your folds



You're left with this... a perfect little folded square (not really perfect, but it won't make a huge difference, so don't worry if the corners are not mitered perfectly)



Now you just need 8 more of these for the front of your 20 X 20 inch pillow! See... this pattern is more origami than anything else!

I'm off to go buy some more Coal colored Kona! This is the first stage of the Cathedral Pattern... once I have my 9 prepared squares... I'll show you how to sew them together... and please no one get nervous... it really is this easy all the way through!

XO, Heather

Keeping it real.

Today I had a thought… what are blogs??? I’ll keep it real… I had no idea when I started one! I think they are supposed to be an outlet for yourself and a tool for communication with an immense virtual world full of compatible people… I still don’t really know. I think many people use them for a variety of reasons… some personal, business, social maybe??? Well… I think I want mine to be a bit more than just for crafts I make and it’s taken me almost a year to figure that out. LOL

I realized my dearest blogs are the ones I connect to on an emotional level as well as a creative one… So I’m personalizing mine. This is me in all my glory ;)

Fun facts:




I HATE cougars… not like anyone would love them, but I just moved home from 4 years in Central Oregon and I was completely convinced that I would get attacked sooner or later.

I’m a candy addict… only the sweet and sour ones.



I’ve been married to my husband for 11 years and with him almost longer than with my parents… He’s my BFF!

I call him my { boy toy }!

There is no place more magical to me then the beach.

This is the second home I’ve owned.

I read every night without fail.

I'm a Sci-Fi junkie!



I have two sons and my youngest has autism.

I’m a HUGE activist and pro-Charity individual.

I believe a person either grows bitter or understanding… being a Mama with a child with special needs… I choose understanding.

I ALWAYS give someone the benefit of the doubt first... until they prove me wrong.

I live by the golden rule.

I’m a generation X and proud of my Alternative roots.

I’m a hippy at heart and have a serious crush on VW’s even though my husband has always worked for Mercedes.



I have a long haired Chihuahua… named Georgia.

I’m a smart mouth who suffers from extreme sarcasm disease.

I truly adore my virtual friends.



I LOVE my family!!! My bestie Sissy-in-Law, Carrie!!

I have 3 tattoo's and ones on my toe.

I also hold a real estate license and a CPR certificate... which means I can save your life after you have a stroke from sticker shock on a home.

This is my hobby not my job.

Take me or leave me… I will always keep it real with all my friends and I hope my sharing shows you a little more about me! How about you....

Have a great Tuesday!!
XO, Heather