the real name of my new blog

oh my goodness - i'm so excited - one of my friends helped me come up with a fantastic name.   you ready?

i am now the Patchinista.  AH!  it makes me smile every time.


so http://patchinista.blogspot.com should get you there...

moved

okay, this is a new blog, but my husband and i came up with a better name for it, so it's being moved to stitchinstein.blogspot.com

Blogger's Choice Bundle Contest

Edited to add:  My blog has moved.  Come check me out at Patchinista.

Oh, this is exciting! My first picture on the blog... I entered a contest recently, but had to enter under the "non-blogger" method. I just deleted my non-blogger entry, and am re-entering through the traditional method.

In case you haven't seen it (and by you, I'm speaking hypothetically since I am well aware that this blog is pretty much just an exercise for me, with no readers yet), Quokka Quilts is hosting a contest sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop. Bloggers can pick 12 prints and 3 solids from the Fat Quarter Shop's extensive selection, and put it together in a bundle. Three winners will be chosen, each recieving a half yard of each fabric selected.

I originally put together this as my selection:

I really do love those fabrics, but in a theoretical sense - the colors don't go with my house, etc. If I were going to win that much fantastic fabric, I would want to use it. Like I said earlier, I'm planning pink/rainbowy I-spy quilts for my girls, so here's a bundle to go with that concept:

I just showed this to my 5 year old, and she about fell over with excitement - "I can't decide which is my favorite, Mama!"


1. Cotton Couture - Peony
2. Cotton Couture - Tangerine
3. Elephants on Parade - Yellow Maze
4. Cotton Couture - Apple
5. Elephants on Parade - Blue Maze
6. Timeless Treasures - White Birds and Apples (this was my starting point - love this!)
7. Urban Zoologie - White Staggered Owls
8. Remix - Summer Beautiful Butterflies
9. Remix - Bright Argyle Plaid
10. Elephants on Parade - White Elephants
11. Urban Zoologie - Pink Tossed Whales
12. Urban Zoologie - Spring Monkeys
13. Sorbet - Yellow Giraffe Love
14. Remix - Garden Floral Mosaic
15. Alexander Henry - Pink 2D Zoo

Collecting Charms

Sometime this year, my daughters will share a room - the little one is turning 2 in March, and the older (5) is just dying for her to move in! I would love to make them coordinating or matching quilts for the two twin beds that we have.

I recently did the Color Wheel Charm Swap, and am currently doing the ELQ I-Spy Charm Swap, so I'm collecting a rainbow of fun charms.... I've got lots of inspiration quilts in mind, but haven't decided yet what to do.

I just recently realized that Pleasant Home is hosting "A Month of Scraps." Sounds perfect to me, as whatever I do will definitely have a scrappy, rainbow feel to it!

Step One

I can't sew in chaos - I really like a clean craft room.

Let's see how long it takes me to get it back to the "everything has a place even if the fabric is kind of shoved in boxes" phase...

Ugh.

So as much as I am dying to get into the craft room and restore order after the CHAOS that was December, I'm stuck with a stomach bug. Way to start off the New Year, huh?

I've also resolved not to start cutting out my husband's quilt until I get a little bit of order restored to the house - all the laundry tamed, the presents finally put away, some of my cupboards and closets restored to their organized state... and oh, yeah, the craft room.

Hoping to get a lot done today, even if I'm not feeling 100%!

A New Beginning

I have a confession to make. I currently read 453 blogs. That's right. A bit obsessive, don't you think? Of those, the vast majority are either crafting blogs or quilting blogs...

Today, I was sitting here reading all sorts of bloggers' New Years Quilting Resolutions, and thought to myself, "Self, you should do that. Too bad you don't have a blog to do it on. Hmm. Self, it's time." So here I am.

A little bit about me - I've completed one almost-twin size quilt, two lap quilts, three baby quilts and two NICU quilts... all since January of last year. Not bad for a newbie. Most of those have been given away, and I'm notoriously bad about not taking pictures of things, so if I can find pictures of some of them, they'll be documented here, hopefully!

This year's quilting resolutions:
1. Participate in the Free Motion Quilt Challenge!
I'm particularly excited about this - I have done some stippling, but don't feel very comfortable with it. I recently tried a couple of Leah Day's patterns on a small project, and found them freeing and exciting - can't wait to learn more.
1 b. Make a sample quilt with my sandwiches from the FMQC.
2. Make a quilt for my husband.
This is first up for me this year - I have the fabrics all chosen and waiting in my craft room for me...
3. Use my charms from the Color Wheel Charm Swap.
I'm thinking about a variation of the Warm-Cool quilt.
4. Attend a meeting of the Central Illinois Modern Quilt Guild.
I'm an intimidated quilter. I'm fine when I'm by myself - I am confident, free, etc... but I think in the presence of "real" quilters, I'd feel awkward and untaught.
5. Make something with my winnings (Fluffy Sheep / Our Busy Little Bunch) from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day.
On a related note - don't enter any other fabric giveaways unless I've used up one of the two winnings! I think this should spur me on, don't you? I'm a sucker for a giveaway!