Victorian Motto

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Bee in My Bonnet Row Along

I couldn't resist joining Lori's Bee in My Bonnet Row Along once I saw several of her completed rows. Her quilts are always so cheerful and creative, and her instructions are clear and easy to follow. She is one talented lady.

I am using mostly American Jane fabrics with a few other bits and pieces I have in my scrap bag thrown in for good measure. I really like the true reds, blues and yellows in these fabrics as well as the clever prints.

Since I was a bit late starting on my rows (I think row 6 was already out before I began), I have been rushing a bit to try to catch up with the group. Yesterday I finally finished the tulip row and began to sew the rows together. That is until I noticed a very glaring mistake in my tulips. The tulips are "supposed" to alternate going up and down as if dancing along the row. All was well until tulips 9 & 10, which were both up and both yellow. Ack! I guess I will be ripping those last 3 tulips out to correct it.

Anyhoo, here are my rows not sewn together yet and not including the aforementioned tulips

Pieceful Nights QAL

I know; I am a very poor blogger. I am going to try to be better as I have so many projects going and would love to share them.

I joined Jo's Country Junction's Pieceful Nights QAL for 2013. We are piecing this gorgeous quilt designed by Lori Smith. Don't you just love it! I really enjoy sampler quilts as I am a new piecer and sampler quilts introduce me to many new techniques and block designs.

I chose to make my quilt in a variety of browns, blues, and neutrals. The colors look so vintage to me. Most of the other quilts I am working on use bright or modern fabrics, so these rich browns and blues are a very nice change.

Here is my January block:

And here is my block for February:

I am excited to get choosing fabrics and piecing my block for March!

I am linking up to this post at Jo's Country Junction.

Small Projects Sew Along

I joined Amanda Jean's challenge to complete small projects during the month of May. I just so happen to have several small sewing projects in my queue. While my list is no where near as daunting as Amanda Jean's, I am nevertheless going to try to complete each one.

1.  Cathedral window pincushion.
2.  Patchwork Gift Bag.
3.  Card Trick Schnibbles quilt top.
4.  Windy Point Park table runner.
5.  One block for my Mary Belle quilt.
6.  One block for my Classic Sampler Jelly Roll quilt.
7.  Four blocks for my Civil War Journals quilt.
8.  Three blocks for my 36-patch quilt.

Non Sewing projects:
1.  50 gift cards
2.  Knit one pair of socks.

That's it. Not as ambitious as some, but I will feel a sense of accomplishment if I can make it.

Blogging Again

I began blogging several years ago as a way to post my digital scrapbook pages.  I was on several design teams and needed a way to advertise the products of the designer. I love to scrap. However, I found I didn't enjoy meeting deadlines or using products I may not have liked very much. Thus, I quit my design team duties and went back to what I enjoyed  -- scrapping with what I like when I like!

Along with scrapbooking, I love papercrafting. I especially love to make cards and unique gift boxes. As they say: "It's all in the presentation." Including a handmade card and one-of-a-kind packaging makes any gift more special. Sometimes the card and packaging are liked more than the actual gift. I like that.

One of my 2012 goals was to learn to piece quilt tops. I purchased a new Bernina sewing machine, took a few refresher sewing classes, and dove into the world of quilts. I am completely hooked. I wake up in the morning wanting to sew and go to sleep at night dreaming of lucsious fabric and quilt designs. I have not yet discovered what kind of quilter I am going to be (vintage, modern, traditional, etc.) and am just trying a bit of everything. I have started several quilts and am excited to keep track of my progress by blogging again. Only time will reveal if I can keep up to date.

Week 3 of Scrapping Survivor

So I made it to week 3! The theme this week is "I'm Hungry." The challenge was to create a layout of the food you would miss most if on a survival safari. The rules were to include at least one photo of the food you would miss, to make it the largest photo on the layout, and to write why you like this food and why you would miss it. I made my layout about fruit smoothies. I love them for breakfast or lunch. They are quick and easy to make, and I can add some protein powder to them to help get the protein I don't get because I don't eat meat (ick).

Credits: Sweet Temptations by Fruit Loop Sally and Kimla Designs

The Earth Laughs in Flowers by Graham Like the Cracker

A Day in Paradise by Gingerscraps Collab Kit

Fruits, Nuts & Other Family Members by Wyld Web Designs

On to week 4!

Scrapping Survivor

Gingerscraps is having another season of Scrapping Survivor. This is a digital scrapping contest that is based on the television show Survivor. Contestants sign up to enter, and a specific scrap challenge is posted each week. There are weekly eliminations until one last survivor is left standing. The winner will receive a huge prize package. We are now on week 2, and I am excited to see if I will make it to week 3.

Week 1's challenge was to create a layout with a safari theme. The requirements were to include in your layout a monkey, tiki torch, the word "safari," foliage, at least one animal print paper, and a big title. Here is my layout for week 1:



The challenge for week 2 was to scrap a layout with a photograph of either the sunrise or sunset from your (my) home town. I live in Spanish Fork, Utah, and in order to get a good view of a sunset, I went up to the reservoir for my photo. The other requirements for this layout were to make all the colors in the layout come from the colors in the photograph. This is what I came up with:



I am so excited to see what the challenge for week 3 will be!!