{Sew} Modern Monday

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.

I've been home from visiting family in California for almost a week now & we've had visitors nearly every day since. Not that I'm complaining, I love having people visit.

I have had some time to make a few things though. I made several sketchbooks. 2 are for a couple of my giveaway winners, the other 2 are going in with swaps that are being sent out tomorrow. I am loving these books and have the paper ready to bind for a few more books that should be ready by the end of the week.

I love the third one from the left. It is covered with vintage feed sack fabric that I found in an antique/thrift shop during the winter.

I prefer the graph paper (shown), but I also make sketchbooks with blank paper as well.

I also made some needle books to go with each of the sketchbooks. The vintage buttons are from my husband's grandmother's old button collection.

This weekend I also prepped some Sunkissed charm squares to be made into some Wrapped Candy Pincushions. Sadly, that's the end of my Sunkissed charms because my other pack is going to Mary, who was also a giveaway winner this week.

Thanks for stopping by. If you didn't come over here from Canoe Ridge Creations {Sew} Modern Monday be sure to head over there to see what everyone else has been working on this week.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday's in the Tuckey home are set aside for Sunday Brunch. Sundays are usually the only day that Jake has off. We either end up staying home, watching movies, & working on projects or we'll go out for a drive and explore the area.

Since today is a cold, windy, rainy day we decided to stay home, have a delicious breakfast, & watch Firefly.

Here's what we made:

Fried eggs. I don't like runny yolks so I break my yolk, but I do have the skill (usually) to not break the yolk for Jake's over-medium eggs. :)

Last night we had BBQ. We had so many fabulous appetizers that by the time we got to the steaks I was too full. Jake cut up the steak into bite sizes pieces for a delicious hash.

Next he got the potatoes ready. Peel the potatoes and "pre-bake" them in the microwave for a few minutes. (If you've never cooked potatoes in the microwave before be sure to stab the potatoes a few times with a fork before heating them, otherwise they'll explode.)

Throw the potatoes on the skillet, which has been preheated with plenty of olive oil. Brown the potatoes for several minutes.

Add the steak & continue to brown. We like our hash on the crispy side. Don't forget to add your favorite seasoning. I think he added garlic powder & pepper, and most likely some Lawry's season salt too.

While we were making the hash & eggs we also had some bacon baking in the oven. Serve up, drizzle with some Tapatio for a little kick, add some fruit, & enjoy!

Isn't teamwork great? :)

Jake's mom is visiting from California right now and yesterday we took her to Ft. Laramie, which was a military post and also a stopping point along the Oregon/Mormon/California Trail in the mid-1800s. It's a pretty amazing & historic national park that most don't know about. If you're ever in Eastern Wyoming it's definitely worth the $3 entrance fee!

I'll share more pictures later this week, but I thought you might like to see a picture of the decor of the bar. It has been restored, but this is an exact replica of how the bar looked in its day.

Isn't the wallpaper beautiful? The wife of the barkeep wanted the men to have a little culture.

Fave 5 Friday

As most of you know I was in California for a long weekend to visit family & go to my sister's master's graduation. What I forgot to mention is that we were also celebrating her engagement! So this week's Fave 5 Friday is dedicated to my family and my future brother-in-law.

Wendy with my future brother-in-law, Mike.

The first of 3 planes it took me to get to Long Beach, CA. There were only 19 passenger seats! (Don't mind the cute lady with the crazy eyes. I was trying to snap the photo before she stood up. Didn't quite make it in time.)

Sister right before getting hooded and becoming "Master Wendy." :)

My brother (and Wendy's twin), Brian, with his lovely lady, Maria. She also graduated this week, but several days after Wendy & I just didn't want to be in the city for that long. Congratulations Maria!

And what's a (mostly) sewing blog without at least one sewing picture. These blocks were made for our Quilts for Smithville tornado victims effort. If you like to help visit our Flickr group or visit this post to see what we're doing.

Winners!

523 comments! Wow! Thank you everyone for entering my giveaway and for all the amazing comments. Such a confidence booster! And I've discovered many new collections from your answers.

And now what you were looking for... The winners!

(Winners were chosen with the random number generator on random.org)

The winner of the fat eighth bundle of A Breath of Avignon & the custom sketchbook is a fellow Wyoming girl!

#173 Erin said...

I follow you now, too! Enjoy the Cali weather! Things are cold and rainy at home. :(

I promised a second prize if I reached 75 followers. Well, you gals are so fabulous you blew that number out of the water in about 2 hours! So I promised a third prize at 150 followers. We reached that goal as well. :)

So, without further ado, the winner of my second prize & third prizes are...

#198 Mary said...I made follower 100! Mary http://www.quiltgenius.com

And

#365allysonadeney said...I have also become a follower. Ally <'v'>

Emails have been sent to all the winners. Thank you everyone for entering! Normally I respond to all comments, but with 523 comments (I'm still amazed!) I just can't respond to everyone in a timely manner. Thanks also to all my new followers, I hope you enjoy what you've seen so far and continue to come back for more fun in the future.

Giveaway Day

**This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for such an amazing response! The winners will be announced shortly.**

It's here! Sew, Mama, Sew's Spring Giveaway Day!

This Giveaway Day I am giving away 2 great prizes to one lucky winner. The first prize is a lovely fat eighth bundle (10 pieces) of A Breath of Avignon by American Jane for Moda.

I'm in California right now for my sister's master's graduation & unfortunately I forgot the camera charger and, therefore, cannot post the gorgeous picture of the bundle. If you follow the link you can see what the collection looks like. It is an amazing collection that has been flying of our shelves since I got it onto the website. (For those of you that don't normally visit, I recently got a job setting up the website of my LQS. It's a great job, and who wouldn't want to be around fabric all day long.)

The second prize for our winner is a custom made sketchbook similar to the ones pictured below.

The winner will have to make three quick & easy choices: (1) blank or graph paper. (2) color. (3) padded cover or not.

Leave a comment telling me your all time favorite fabric collection (current or discontinued) for a chance to win. Please leave your email address in your comment if your email address is not connected to your Blogger account. If you are unsure, go here to find out if you're connected.

International participants are welcome.

For a second chance to win become a follower and leave me a comment telling me that you have done so. If I reach 75 followers during this giveaway I will give a different (secret & wonderful) prize to a second lucky winner!!!

Comments will be open until 8 pm (US Mountain Time) Thursday, May 26th & the winner will be drawn and notified shortly after that.

Please also comment here if you have, or plan to, donate to our friends in the US South who have been affected by the tornadoes that ran through that area last month. We are collecting quilts & any other donations and giving away a couple of fabulous gifts to all who have donated.

Have a terrific Giveaway Day! :)

*Holy cow! You guys are amazing! If I reach 150 followers there will be a third fabulous prize!*

Wow! We made it to 150! Can we make it to 250? I'll have a FOURTH giveaway prize if we do. :)

It's Coming!

Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day is less than one week away. I'm participating again this spring. I will be giving away a handcrafted item AND a fat eighth bundle. So come back on Monday, May 23rd for your chance to win!

Fave 5 Friday

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted. Where did the week go? Well, my boss & her daughter went of to Quilt Market in SLC this week, so I've had the shop to myself most of the week. Between that & the dreary weather we've been having, I just haven't gotten much done after work lately.

But here's some of my favorite things from the past few weeks...

Piles of 2.5" scrap vomit squares.

Sunrise from the other morning.

Getting my garden started.

Tying up a new line to hang laundry.

A happy dog!

*Let me just say, when I wrote & posted this I thought it was Friday and didn't realize that it wasn't Friday until about 10 minutes ago. That's how my week has been. Time for a cocktail! :)

A Mother's Day Sunday Brunch

First off Happy Mother's Day to all! I hope everyone, mother or not, is having a wonderful day.

I've got a quick & easy recipe today. My dad used to make this all the time on nights when he was in charge of dinner.

Hot Dogs & Mashed Potatoes

Make your mashed potatoes.

Peel and boil the potatoes until you can stab through them easily. Drain and put in a mixing bowl. Smash the potatoes and add butter and milk. Mix. Add more butter or milk as needed. Add your favorite spices. I usually add garlic powder, but rosemary would be another delicious choice. While your making the potatoes be sure to preheat your oven (400).

Split your hot dogs and put on a baking sheet.

Put the hot dogs in the oven for a few minutes to lightly brown the outside.

Top with mashed potatoes and your favorite cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted.

Delicious and easy and great as leftovers! Enjoy!

Fave 5 Friday

Here are my 5 favorite things from the week. Enjoy!

Flip flops and nail polish.

Cord & Festus hanging out with me while Lotte is at work with Jake.

Cord & Lady (FIL's "puppy" and Cordie's girlfriend). Those 2 playing together are the funniest thing ever!

First prairie flowers of spring.

Goodbye Montana plates. Hello Wyoming bucking horse! Oh, how I've missed you! :)

WIP Wednesday

Yesterday on Talkin' Tuesday we were chatting about our UFO's (unfinished projects) and I realized that I had several projects that I had started before our move in February and haven't even unpacked yet. So since it's finally spring here I figured it was time to finish those unfinished WIPs so that I can have a fresh start with lots of new projects. :)

Here's what was packed away:

A fun wall hanging for my husband's Aunt Leigh. It was intended to be a Christmas present, but I ran out of the yellow to make the binding. I finally got more binding fabric and then it was time to move. It should only take me another hour or so to finish. So sad that it's been in my WIP pile for so long.

This is going to be a Firefly FMQ mini quilt for a swap.

This is all cut up and ready to become an apron.

Just need to cut out the applique paper for all these pieces then I can start putting this fun quilt together.

I was very overwhelmed by all this stuff when it was packed up, but now that I've re-sorted it and shared I feel like I can get all this conquered in the next couple weeks.

On the completed projects front, I finished my sewing room and some bee blocks this week. My father-in-law came for a short visit and helped put new (non-saggy) shelves in my kitchen cupboards. He also tilled up a spot for the garden and helped Jake build a second bookcase for the house. The bookcase is still a WIP because the wood was warped so it's being straightened and then it needs a finish put on it.

My last WIP is my Quilts for Smithville call for donations for victims of last weeks tornadoes, and giveaway. If you don't think you have time to make an entire quilt to donate there is a group over on Flickr where each of us are making blocks and sending them off to the fabulous Selina to piece together and quilt.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Be sure to visit to see what everyone else is working on this week.

Bee Blocks and Other Swaps

Here's what I've been working on this week...

MSQB April block

Lindseykron asked for a wonky star in rust, teal, and white. Although this block was quick & fun to make I never would have tried it on mine own. After making it, I'm looking forward to making many more of these block. :)

Fat Stash Bee April block

Jodi (jkae1989) asked for a modified bento box for a quilt for her teenage son. She sent that awesome grey & black vine-y fabric and asked for her block to be black, grey, white, and red.

String Me Along Bee April block

Franswimmer also asked for modified bento box using some lovely batiks.

I can also finally share a couple swaps that I sent off a couple weeks ago. Remember those gorgeous mermaid/octopus hoops I showed the other day? Well, the hoops below are my end of that swap.

This was for the Diptych Hoopla Swap on Craftster. Sadly, my end of the swap was sent out pretty late because my first plan failed and everything I tried to do to fix it just made it worse. I finally decided to take a new approach and stitch over some fun fantasy fabrics.

The large piece took a lot longer than expected, but I finally got it done.

The complimentary piece was a lot of fun because I got to get creative with the big white open space of the swan. I had a different pattern on its tail at first, but when I started to feather the neck I realized the feathering the whole body was the way to go. The 3 flowers were a lot of fun to make too. I learned a lot of new techniques making these pieces and I hope that my partner enjoys them.

I also recently participated in a mug rug swap. This is what showed up in my mailbox from Jessica, all the way from Australia. Aren't the cowboy silhouette and dresden plate sunrise amazing?

This is what Jessica received in return. She said her favorite fabric designers is Sweetwater so I decided to use the lovely Sunkissed fabrics.

I'm linking up to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday. Please head over there to see what everyone else is working on. Also please check out my Quilts for Smithville call for donations for tornado victims and see what we're giving away!

ABSS Sew Along: Beautiful Balance Checkbook Cover

**If you're house is in need of a declutter session as much as mine was/is please consider donating some things to our friends in the southern US who were affected by last weeks tornadoes. Go here for information on how to help and to check out our giveaway prizes as well.**

Well, between packing the house, moving, unpacking, getting settled and starting a fabulous new job I missed out on the last 2 months of the Amy Butler Style Stitches Sew Along over at My Crafty Crap, but this month I did get my "bag" done. This month was the Beautiful Balance Checkbook Cover.

As I was organizing my sewing room last week I came across some fun upholstery samples that I had picked up at a thrift store a few months ago. I decided to use the 3 below.

Fabrics I chose

I'm finally starting to figure out Amy Butler's pattern writing style. I still wish there were more illustrations, but the illustrations that are there are very helpful. The instructions were easy to follow and the checkbook cover went together in just a few hours.

Finished checkbook cover inside

Finished checkbook cover outside

The problem with using the thicker upholstery fabric is once I turned it right side out it was too thick to put through the sewing machine and topstitch.

It's therefore a little fluffy and unfinished looking, but it will work great for me and I look forward to making another one with a regular quilting cotton next time.

I'm linking this post up with Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and My Crafty Crap's montly ABSS check-in.