linques design speaks

Getting Ready

I've got 30 of these jars all set for my teaching session tomorrow night. I have to admit these were fun to make, and fun to look at too. I have 5 different colors of the main crystal drop:

The only things that I still have to do are cut the wire and make up my PDF tutorial. I wanted something that they could bring back with them, in case the jewelry bug bit. Speaking of, the jewelry bug hit me yesterday while I was finishing these up. I went and made a whole new Etsy, this time just for my jewelry. Crazy me!

Turkey and Etsy

I've been cooking my turkey, and in between the basting sessions I've been sewing and updating Etsy. But trust me, no turkeys were harmed in the making of any of these items!

Poor Baby

Poor Cosmo. He had a luxating patella and had to have knee surgery 2 years ago (almost to the day) when he was just 1. Bed rest after for 6 weeks. He's been fine since then, but yesterday night he started limping and favoring his right leg - which is the one that had the surgery. I don't think it's his knee this time though; it almost seems like his hip. He wouldn't even climb his stairs last night, so I knew it hurt. This morning it seems better, but something still seems off. I've got an appointment for him Monday, so I'm crossing my fingers that it's just something like a strain. He could probably handle another surgery if he HAD to...but I'm not so sure that I can!

Anyway, onto happy things. I've been sewing a lot, on little projects. They're nice to throw in while I'm working on my jumbo quilt. I don't feel a rush to get that done, but it is a fun project. The smaller things I've been doing all have some sort of hand work, which I can do on the couch or bed with Cosmo. So far I've got a baby quilt, mini quilt, and spring purse. I really love the spring purse, but I have a feeling I should at least Attempt to sell it, so, you know, I can actually try to make some money! Haha, isn't that what I should be focusing on since I do have a business? Oh, but it's so fun to make things for myself or gifts...

As I've said before, I don't really enjoy cooking. Slowly though, that might be changing. Did you see this post and recipe? And her lovely picture of the quiche? Well I made it right after I saw the post on Thursday and it was SO good! My picture isn't nearly as pretty, so I don't really think I need to share it, but you should really try the quiche out. I did mine with broccoli, no onions. Derek and I ate the entire thing. And you know what I'm going to do tomorrow? Make Thanksgiving!! I wanted to do it on Easter but I was sick and not in the mood. So tomorrow is Turkey Sunday. Yum!

wanna help me out?

Still cleaning here, and still running out of space. So I decided I needed to get rid of some more fabric scraps. Well, scraps in some instances may be the wrong word - chunks? Large bits? Anyways, in addition to my Etsy scraps, I've got another stack here for the taking. All I ask is $5 via PayPal to cover shipping. I'm going to try to cram it into a flat rate envelope, but I just tried and am not sure if it will fit, so I'll make something work for you.

If you would like this lovely selection of scrappy bits, please leave a comment. I'll send the first person a PayPal request. I'd like to get this mailed today, so if I don't hear back from the first person I'll move to the second - if there's any interest at all that is! This bunch of fabrics was just hand picked by me, and includes some of my favorites. There are also bits of Japanese scraps thrown in.

And if you're really in the scrappy mood today I've got another deal for you. If anyone buys any of my scrap bag listings on Etsy today, I'll include an extra bag of scraps for you. Keep in mind that these extra free scraps will probably include some of the new Swell line too! This will be all day, and you will just need to let me know you want the extra freebies when you're checking out. Thanks!!!

Redo

I've been doing a lot of cleaning/ reorganizing over the past few days. My poor little front room was a little worse for wear. It's looking a lot better already, so hopefully (fingers crossed) it should be done tomorrow. The Easter Bunny brought be a regular, full sized ironing board, so that was the start of this whole redo. I needed a place for that board. So I switched around some bookcases, cleared out the fabric shelves, fiddled with the walls. It's getting there. With a few breaks in between. Like that little Moleskin I did. I actually fused the trees to the book before stitching, so they're really on there! And then today I went to the thrift store, and found that cute sheet. Also a cute Pyrex too, with some pretty flowers on it.

The thrift store was fun. It was just really in an out, and I barely spent any money. Good entertainment. I would like to find some more around here, but there are just a lot of expensive vintage stores around here that aren't really worth my time.

I've also been playing around with Photoshop. I've had it forever, but never ever (ok, rarely) use it. Do you know what I use if I need to edit? Paint. I'm not kidding. That's why my pictures never look good. I was going through Alicia's blog and found this older entry which is basically a picture tutorial. It seems like the minimum, but wow it works wonders! Those flowers on the Pyrex up there just popped after I fiddled with it for a few minutes. Now I want to go through all of my picture folders and play around.

This wasn't a very good picture to begin with. It's got the evening sun and nothing was really that clear. The top picture was my Paint version, the bottom Photoshop. Not too bad! Those hangers are from the $1 section (2 for $1 actually) at Target. The flower thing is an old pin board that I covered with some Swell fabric. I don't know if I'll use it as a board or if I'll just leave it as-is as 'art'.

Tomorrow it will be off to Home Depot or Lowe's. I need a few container-type things and think I can get some inexpensively at one of those places. I'm only bringing $20 to spend so I hope so. This room switch is not something I need/want to spend $ on so we'll see!

Pink Patchwork

I've been working on this little quilt along with my X Quilt. It was my original intention to make this quilt bigger, but it just happened to work out to be crib size, which I think is good because it looks like a baby quilt. That strip along the top will become the binding soon, hopefully by the end of the day! The only problem with this one is I'm not sure if I should keep it or put it on Etsy. I've never sold, or attempted to sell, a quilt I've made. I guess I'll just finish it first and then see.

I machine quilted the rows first, and then hand embroidered the 6 flower blocks. Ok, there are lots of flower blocks, but I focused only on the loud pink and yellow ones. I did it in backstitch because I like the way it's kind of like a stem stitch on the backside.

Just a little bit per block. It was a good choice for me to do a little bit by hand for this because I seem to have caught the same cold again, so I was able to drag this with me to the couch and work while listening to podcasts or watching tv.

I hope to have my next row done tomorrow for the X quilt. I'm not even done with the top but I'm already worried about quilting it. I have a problem doing my little ones on my machine...I've never even attempted to jam one this big under it's short little arm. And I want it to be done nice and neatly. But I don't know if I'm up to hand quilting it either. I guess I've got a few decisions to make!

X Update

My X piecing has been moving along. I cut up all the fat quarters into random strips, then started making the slant blocks. When I have 4 I piece them into an X block, and I finished up the first row a few days ago. I love it, and it should actually fit my queen bed perfectly!

LeeAnn and I had an e-mail conversation about this fabric. I told her the green is very pretty - it's a pretty grass green. We also discussed how we cannot believe our local fabric/quilt stores don't carry this, and other designer's lines. When I asked my quilt shop if they would get it, the owner had no idea what I was talking about - and she basically only carries Moda fabrics! Crazy. Amy Butler lives/works near me (Dublin, OH), and I'm sure there is a great crafting community around here that would snatch up her fabrics and all these other great lines.

Speaking of Amy Butler, I was downstairs heating up my lunch (soup), when I had a woman approach me telling me she loved my bag. This one if you're wondering:

She asked me if I made it, and said she likes to sew too. She asked me if I knew who Amy Butler was, and seemed shocked that I did! She wanted to see my websites, so told me her name and asked me to e-mail her. After lunch, I tried to e-mail her, but couldn't find her in the directory anywhere! So hi to her, just in case she happened to track down my Etsy and find my blog!

Yoga Bag (and some odd pictures)

I made Amy Butler's yoga bag Monday. This is for my mom, who's recently found Yogalaties! No, I did not make that up. The pattern was great - I just wish I would have changed it to close at the top. Oh well, it's still good to run to the rec center with!

I wanted to show mom a picture of her new bag before I mailed it, so I took these quick shots to email. I then wound up selling my mini quilt on Etsy yesterday (yay Etsy!), so I boxed up the quilt and decided to mail the yoga bag at the same time. So no better pictures! But trust me, it is cute.

I guess it's technically reversible, but the nice big pockets are on the outside, so maybe not. I don't do yoga, so I don't think I'll be making more of these, but at least I got this one done!

Fat Quarter Shop

I am so impressed with the Fat Quarter Shop. I had ordered a fat quarter bundle of Swell fabrics awhile ago (when I got my bonus!!). I loved this fabric so much so I wanted to make something for myself with it. When I saw this X quilt, I knew that's what I would make. I have not yet made a quilt big enough for my bed, so I'm excited about trying this.

I started cutting my fabric last night into strips. I've never ordered a bundle before, so I didn't know what to expect. For the most part I was very happy - Swell is gorgeous! But as I was unfolding, I saw little flecks of dirt on some fat quarters. Then when I was piecing, I found 2 spots of discoloration.

See that on the pink? Anyways, I emailed Kimberly from the Fat Quarter Shop to ask her about it. I know Moda is the one who packs these bundles, so I just wanted to see if it's common on the fat quarter cuts to get weird bits. That way I would know for the future whether to buy or avoid them. She said she has never heard of it before, and apologized - even though it was not her fault at all!! She then proceeded to ask for the affected SKUs so she could get replacements to me.

I don't know about you, but when I get customer service like this I do not want to do business with anyone else. I will ALWAYS check their site first from now on if I need anything.

Perfectly Pink

This little guy took me awhile to put together. The piecing was easy, but picking out the fabrics was not! I knew I wanted to make an all pink pillow, but there's a lot of thought in this. The heart was fused on then appliqued. Here's the back; it's got lace on it:

I washed the case once it was done so it's got the nice pucker like quilts get. I've listed it here, just for kicks!