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.