Must be crazy....

Man, I am really slacking on the technology front!

Life is crazy busy and I just haven't had 2 seconds to sit down at the computer.

Aside from the usual holiday hustle and bustle (as 

well as my boy's crazy game/practice schedules) I decided

to take a custom order.

It's probably not the best time to do it but I couldn't resist!

I love working on projects where I have 

a lot of creative liberty with the fabrics.

Especially when they are baby quilts.

This quilt has bit pieces of Garden District, Nicey Jane, 

Vintage Modern, and Marmalade in it.

She wanted a very simple pattern with lots of white in it.

I'm really torn!

Should I bind this quilt with white binding?

Or should I use the yellow stripe?

I'm a huge fan of striped bindings buuuuuuut.......

It feels like it might be a real shame to interrupt all of that clean framework.

Thoughts anyone?

Black Friday!

Hi everyone!

Shall we get Black Friday started or what?

All of my patterns are 40% off starting now until midnight Sunday

Go here to get your shopping on!

Patterns will download immediately upon purchase.

Coupon Code is BLACKFRIDAY40

I took your advice....

I took a break from my Bella Granny Squares quilt.

Maybe, just maybe, I will love it when I pull it back out.

Thanks for your suggestions :-)

In the meantime, I pulled out the leftovers from this project

and sewed up a simple patchwork quilt for my shop. 

I only have 1 quilt left in my store.

I feel like I need to hurry up and produce a bunch more!

The first time around, I really felt like these fabrics 

needed a touch of black 

but it just wasn't right for the photo shoot.

So I just had to make another one 

so I could put that notion to rest!

I backed it in Cream Seaside 

by October Afternoon

Quilted it with wavy lines.

So fun and fast!

Now it can be found in my little Etsy shop.

I'm hoping to add more this month 

but with all of the added time I've been spending in my kitchen

I've had less time with my sewing machine.

Speaking of time spent in the kitchen.....

I finished my Whole 30!!!!!!

Some moments were very challenging, like the weekends.

And some moments were easy peasy.

I had a partner in the process and that is the ONLY reason 

why I made it an entire 30 Days!

I have another round of blood work coming up and I'm hoping

for stellar results.

I have had small portions of things like olive oil and apples

with no adverse effects.

I will continue to slowly add these things back in permanently.

Surprisingly I lost several lbs. and quite a few inches off my waist and hips.

I wasn't expecting that!

I would totally recommend doing a Whole 30 to anyone 

who is struggling with depression, anxiety, acne, PMS, joint pain,

allergies, asthma, diabetes,

etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. 

Here's the BUT...and it's a big one!

It doesn't take long for old habits to creep back in.

Apparently, I have not slayed my sugar dragon.

But I will continue to work on not letting my sweet tooth run the show.  

Anyway, there is a little update for those of you who have asked for reports.

Feel free to let me know if you have more specific 

questions or want more information.

Regrets

As soon as I finished my Scrap Vomit quilt

I was just dying to cut into my Bella!

I still haven't put my new bedding on yet 

because I wanted everything to go on together.

Silly I know.

So, I dove in and chopped it up into bits for 

a large Granny Square quilt.

But I'm just not in love.

This collection has so much repeat in pattern AND color.

It was near impossible to keep things from being too close together.

Now that the top is done I really wish I had added 

additional fabrics from my stash.

Initially I wanted to keep it clean and simple.

Without a lot of variety the Granny Squares pattern is a bit lost.

Maybe the Heath was a mistake too.

I normally go for a clean white to offset the patterns and colors.

But this quilt is going to sit at the foot of my bed and will likely 

meet a cheeto or chocolate candy in the near future.

White wasn't really an option this time.  

Oh well, it's too late now.

I might take this opportunity to do some experimental FMQ'ing

since I'm not head over heels for this quilt.

.........sigh

Back from the dead!

Boy have I been sick!

Dead sick!

Snow is officially on the ground here.

I seem to get really sick every time the seasons change.

So weird.

Anywhoodle, 

I finished my Scrap Vomit!!!!!!

This is a huge celebration for me because I lost momentum for a bit.

I may or may not have been avoiding my sewing room because of it.

The ironing, oh the ironing!

I truly don't know how Katy has made 4 of these already!

But I managed to power through

and I'm so happy I did!

This quilt means so much to me!

I love every single little 1.5" square that's in it.

Each piece has meaning or memory to it.

I'll be sending her out for proper quilting.

I wouldn't dare mess this one up myself.

I will treasure this quilt for all of my days!

Go here, here and here for more posts on this quilt.

A boy and his balloon...

Remember this guy?

He finally got his fancy photo shoot.

Katie does such amazing work!

Isn't he the cutest thing ever?

For this prop I made the wrap around the balloon and the quilt that he's laying on. 

It was really fun to work on!  

Katie always has the best ideas.

Aside from that, I did not attend the Sewing Summit this year

but I did pop in to see a few friends.

First, I grabbed Amber from the hotel and we went to 

lunch at the Blue Lemon and wandered around

Temple Square and City Creek.

This girl is funny! She basically knew her way around downtown better than I did!

I'm so happy that we got to play.

Then I had the pure pleasure of hanging out with Diane and Cindy 

who I met last year at the Summit.

I love these two ladies so much!

And I've gotten to know them both much better in the last year.

Visiting with them made me so sad that I wasn't going this year.

Now it's back to life as usual.

I am finishing up my Scrap Vomit Quilt Top today.

YAY!!!!!

I decided it wasn't big enough so I added extra rows.

And I'm cruising on my Whole 30!

I have made it through 2 weekends without any slipping.

It's been tough for sure.  

Especially when I smell the cookies baking on Sunday.

But I'm feeling so incredible that's it's worth the sacrifice!

Commitment and Accountability

Let me just start by saying that this is 

completely off the subject!

Back story: several months ago I posted a bit of a meltdown 

about my food allergies and eye hemorrhage and other such nonsense.

If you dare, go here to read more.

To make a long story short, I have become obsessed with food.

I can't really eat anything that is prepared by anyone else but me because 

my allergies are complicated, to say the least.

I have always loved to cook but now this regime is really quite easy for me.

I won't lie, in the beginning I might have grieved a little bit.

But life goes on.

After several months of being allergen free my blood work 

still wasn't coming back ideal.

At this point, my Dr. told me I really needed 

to cut Gluten out of my diet.  

But wait, Gluten is in everything!

So I said to myself, "Okay fine!  If I'm going to go Gluten Free 

then I am just going to go Paleo!"

So I grabbed a copy of this book and got started...

Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo

First of all, I'm not writing this post to sell you on this book.  

But I will tell you that it's hands down amazing!  

And it has really changed the path I'm on.

For the last 8 weeks I have been eating in this style and 

have seen some changes that I was dying for.

My blood work is coming back so great!  

My eye doctor was beyond pleased that the swelling in my eye has all but subsided.

Apparently, I'm in "remission" so he says

 whatever you're doing, keep doing it!

Other nifty little places I've seen change are as follows:

*I lost a lb. a day for the first week or so.  Now I'm at my ideal weight.

*I have more energy than I have ever had before, ever!

I used to feel if I sat down in the middle of the day I would slip into a coma!

*I sleep like a baby all the way through the night

*I am never bloated or gassy (TMI, this was a real problem before)

*My mood is stable and all symptoms of PMS have subsided

Okay, so that wasn't really a long story made short.

But it was the best I could do.

Here's where the commitment and accountability come in....

I'm taking the Whole 30 challenge!

I am not doing this to lose weight, although sooooo many people 

have experienced remarkable weight loss 

through this 30 Day Challenge.

It is my goal to clean up my immune system so I can 

start trying to bring back some of the healthier foods 

that I'm allergic to, like Olive Oil, Red Grapes and Apples.

This means no more reaching for a handful of chocolate chips 

after every meal, 

or eating a chocolate chip cookie (or two or three) 

on Cookie Day (Sundays) 

or indulging on Sushi on the weekends 

(the white rice is killing me)

for 30 Days!

Now that I've sad it out loud there is no going back.

If you've read this far I thank you.

This post is already a novel so I won't go into the details of the Whole 30 Challenge.

But you can check it out here, here and here

How's that for totally random!?!