And so it begins...

I did my first official weigh-in yesterday for my weight loss goal....I have about 2 pounds more junk-in-the-trunk than I had thought. I will weigh-in each Monday and am hoping for a 1 pound loss per week.

In quilting news, I just finished a quilt for Bubby. It is a construction zone front panel with roadway fleece for the backing. I had bought the fabric quite a while ago, but got sidetracked with baby quilts and the holidays. I put the last stitch in today and gave it to him...
To say he was thrilled is an understatement. I would love that kind of reaction every time I give someone a quilt. First, he jumped up and down. Then he spread it out on the floor and ran and got his cars and lined them up on it. Then he ran circles around it cheering. It was the cutest thing I have seen. Here are some pics of him enjoying his new quilt:

The Countdown Begins!

I found the cutest pattern for an Advent calendar last year in a quilting magazine. I purchased the fabric and put it aside to make for this year. Last night, I put the final stitch in...yippee!! It hangs on the wall and has 24 pockets for treats. Some of the small treats fit in the pocket, but some of the larger ones did not. So, I put them in little baggies and labeled them with a # and then put a slip of paper in the pocket with that number on it.

The kids got their first treat tonight...little chocolate Santas. They are thrilled with the "treat calendar". MissyMiss kept telling me what a great job I did. :)

I have been busy baking...recipes and pics will be coming this week!

Shoo Fly for my nephew

My little nephew was born last month and I sent him a quilt just after his birth. Their nursery was animal/jungle themed, so I was happy to find some cute fabric that seemed to coordinate with the theme. I did a basic shoo-fly block with a simple border and was pleased with the results. Here are some pics. The background fabric was a cute crayon print I found on my Lancaster trip.

In other quilting news, one of my fav local quilt shops had a "Cookies and Cocoa" open house today...what fun! Not only did they have delicious cookies, but everything was 25 or 30% off. This specific shop is about 30 min away and I don't get there often, so I stocked up! My wonderful husband stayed home with the kiddies while I went to a craft fair and then a quilt shop...what a guy!

Friday Favs

So...I am starting something new today! Every Friday I will be doing a "Friday Favs" post. I will highlight one of my favorite things. I always love it when people say things like "This is my favorite recipe!", or "These are my favorite socks!". To be deemed a favorite, something must be pretty darn good.

So, here is my first Friday Fav...........

My Janome Sewing Machine! Here is a pic of it in all its sewing machine glory:



My wonderful husband surprised me with it this past fall! MissyMiss was in on the surprise and was so excited to give it to me. About 3 years ago, I decided that I wanted to learn to sew/quilt. I bought an inexpensive Brother machine from Wal-Mart and taught myself. Once I got really into it, I thought about an upgrade....and then my wonderful husband surprised me with one.

See the table the machine is sitting in...also a surprise from Hubby...for Mother's Day. He is so thoughtful...sometimes. :)



Below is a pic of my cutting table. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.


This awesome cabinet I got at a garage sale for $20! It is from Pier 1...it was marked $35, but they were starting to close up and I offered $20 and got it! It works great for organizing all of my little stuff and my scraps.


This is my fabric cabinet. It is a reproduction icebox that I got at a local furniture store...I LOVE it!






This is the cabinet opened up. Look at all that fabric!!! Sometimes I just open it and stare at it all. If I am having a bad day, it makes me happy just to look at all of my fabric...seriously.



This little shelf has all of my sewing/quilting books. Nothing fancy either...


Well...that is it for today. Tune in next week for my next Friday Fav!