Warning: Chain Piecing May Lead to Quilts

There's nothing I love more than charm packs ...

... and scraps ...

... stitched into rows ...

... combined with other rows ...

... until suddenly you have three new quilt tops that took virtually no time at all!

Two of these (top) will be for sale online while the other one (bottom) is for my dad's co-worker. But I kind of love that one so much I might recreate it to sell. Thoughts?

I still have to figure out how I want to quilt these, I basted them all with backing so now they are just waiting around. I'm debating between random diagonal lines or straight echo lines, but not stippling. Or maybe straight diagonal lines corner to corner. Stippling is always so much quicker, but I like the fluffiness created by straight lines. Or maybe I'll try something different on each one. Thoughts? :)

Have a good day!

Yumberry

A new Pinkberry opened in town and they were giving away free frozen yogurt as part of their grand opening. Curt & I love sweets, especially when they are free, plus we had never tried Pinkberry before, so we made sure to check it out.

This is the second location in the Nashville area, but there are dozens of other frozen yogurt places in town. We've only been to one other, but we both agreed Pinkberry is heaps better.

They have lots of toppings like granola, organic gummy bears, nuts, and even fruity pebbles!

And don't forget about all the fresh fruit - even blood orange, mango, and kiwi. Yum!

Curt went for pomegranate & mango yogurts with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. 

He really enjoyed the yogurt. And the decor - very cool, right?

I opted for blood orange & mango yogurts with kiwi, mango, and gummy bears.

It was really good; really, really good. The gummy bears were different - more like gumdrops. Both the yogurts were delicious, and the fruit was all perfectly ripe. 

It left us craving more, and while we don't go out for treats like this very often, Pinkberry will be at the top of our list over the other yogurt joints in town, no question! It's probably healthier, the atmosphere is cool, and the prices around here are comparable to other high end frozen dessert places. Either it's really good stuff or they put some kind of addictive ingredient in the yogurt, because I haven't been able to stop thinking of it since :)

The Hubs

I know this is a week late, but how about a little Valentine update? 

Curt & I are super cheap dates, so we opted for Qdoba, where they were offering buy one entree get one free. The only catch? You had to smooch at the register to claim your free dinner. Duh! Of course I'll kiss for free food. 

Who wouldn't want to kiss those fat lips?! 

After dinner (he had a burrito, I had tacos & gumbo) we walked over to Target to see if Curt could find a new pair of pants before he leaves on tour. Curt needed a slick pair of skinny jeans, so he tried on about 6 different kinds.

Low and behold he found a pair of black skinny jeans that look great on him! Happy Valentine's Day to him. (I'm considering the jeans my gift to him, that's fair right?) In case you were wondering, Curt got me raspberry chocolate truffles and a card that says he is a nut about my butt :)

A few days later we ventured out to find him a jacket of sorts - he wanted a look like Zach Efron in 17 Again (?!) but didn't know if he wanted a leather jacket or something else. Forever21 had just the ticket - a slightly shiny bomber-type jacket with all the right zippers and pockets.

I love shopping with Curt, but he always takes way too long in the dressing rooms - now I know why - he spends 10 minutes looking at every possible angle. I'm more of a "throw it on, if it's not perfect take it off and move on to the next thing" kind of gal - in & out, lickity split. 

So I was happy when he quickly settled on this jacket, I really liked it and he did too. It will be the perfect look for onstage, and as it happens, is a very nice weight for spring. 

{Aren't the Forever21 dressing rooms way cooler than Target?!}

We had a lot of fun shopping together, Curt especially because now that he's lost weight (19 lbs so far!) he feels more comfortable in lots of different clothing options. It's good to see him reaping the benefits of his hard work. 

We also happened to find a couple spotlights that night. Don't you always wonder where they are coming from? I know I do. So when we found them, I made Curt run up and pose for a picture:

Curt's leaving next week, so in addition to a few wardrobe enhancers, he needed new band merchandise. I spent a couple nights creating shirts and buttons. Here's a preview of one - grey & orange on a charcoal shirt. I can't wait to see how everything turns out! I love new merch because it means I have three or four new shirts to add to my closet :)

That's about it for now - I spent the better part of this weekend sick in bed. I don't know where it came from, but a nasty bug invaded my system, leaving me with a high fever, sore throat, runny nose, and terrible headaches. I feel like I'm breaking the fever today, which hopefully means I'll be done with this soon. In the meantime, I'm spending the day in bed, writing up a few more posts, ordering fabric for a nursery, and drifting in & out of consciousness. It should be noted, if there are any typos in this post, kindly disregard them as my disillusionment. Thank you.

More Rainbowing

Wednesday us stitchers of the greater-Nashville area gathered once again to work on Anna Maria Horner's Rainbow Around the Block. This time we met at Anna's (beautiful!) home, where the fabric was flowing and the sun was shining. 

Check out that stack of finished quilts lounging in the sunshine. 

I spent most of the day sewing binding on a lot of those quilts. They all got the AMH treatment with Innocent Crush binding (samples from her fabric company, and hopefully a new product with her next line ((sneak peak on that desk above!)) coming in a couple months). 

Did I mention her house is beautiful?! I mean, just the studio alone is a work of art - sewn samples, fabric stacked to the ceiling, a giant cutting table (my dream)... We were lucky to have wonderful weather so we enjoyed open windows and a refreshing breeze all day. Her home is exactly the comfy-cozy aesthetic I would decorate with if Curt wasn't such a contemporary minimalist. 

She let us snoop through the strike-offs from her new line, and let me tell you - it's really, really cool. As in, start stuffing your piggy bank now because you're going to want it all. How can I convince Curt that I need to buy every piece? 

Mmmm .. quilts. A number have already been delivered to flood-relief organizations; these will join them, and then we will have to get together again to finish more quilts returning from the long-armers. I said it once and I'll say it again, these sewing days have been such fun for me - we get to chat, design, and snack, all while being productive. Anna said she's taking photos of the finished quilts before handing them over and I can't wait to see them all. I hope the families who receive them appreciate the love and care that went into making the quilts. 

I took home three more tops to finish, two made from just blocks and one that will be another puzzle. I am still trying to figure out that purse for my sister, so they may have to wait a couple days. Brianna's been waiting since Christmas (I'm a terrible sister) so she gets priority.

Bedtime for now; I'm going to try not to sleep in too late tomorrow so I can get some of this work done. Ta ta for now! 

Is It February 15 Yet?

Actually, I'm more interested in getting to February 16. After I make sure all the people who don't care enough to plan ahead get their heart cakes on February 14 (aka VDay), I have to do clean-up on February 15 and get everything back to normal; then on February 16 I can sit down.

Not that I'm complaining, I love my job. I just don't like the people who call last minute and expect us to answer "How high?" when they say "Jump."

Or  the people who don't understand what it means to consume an ice cream cake. In case you were wondering:

~Yes, you DO have to keep it in the freezer. It is ice cream, it will melt if you don't.

~Set it out a couple minutes before you are ready to eat it, get a big knife and run it under hot water. Slice that baby up to your liking, and then {this is the key part} stick the remainder back in the freezer. Because, yes, if you leave it out, it will eventually melt.

~That said, it WILL BE OKAY for the 4 minutes it takes you to cut and serve. And no, you don't have to cut the entire cake at once. After you return it to the freezer, you can repeat the whole process until the cake is gone.

~And finally, no, I will not cut the cake for you before you come to pick it up. That's just sad.

Special shout-out to the lady I spent 7 minutes with on the phone explaining all this and more. Also apparently up for discussion: While the heart cake doesn't fit the "round" description, it will qualify for that $3 off coupon. I recommend a plain, non-serrated knife. It will only take you 20 minutes to get from here to Antioch, but if it makes you feel better, I'll put it in the deep freezer. The point of taking a phone number is so I can contact you in case of a weird emergency, so please don't give me a number and then tell me not to call it because the cake is a surprise. And no, I probably won't be there when you pick it up, so you'll have to bother someone else with all your questions. Ten bucks says this lady forgets the coupon when she comes to pick up the cake, but still wants her $3 off.

So yeah, I'm ready for no more Valentine's nonsense.

Nashville got hit with a 'blizzard' - did you hear? Curt got stuck in traffic for over 5 hours on his way home from work. It usually takes him about 20 minutes.

The roommates and I decided to suit up and take a walk in the snow to see what traffic looked like. It was chaos, to say the least.

The main road to our neighborhood has one big hill that turns into a disaster with even a little snow. Cars (and the people driving them) don't know how to make it up the hill.

Once they get up, they have to get down, but by this point they are so desperate that they've driven in all five lanes and there is no 'right way' anymore. Nothing but squealing tires, fishtailing cars, and mass confusion.

Lots of people had to give up and abandon their cars on the road and walk the rest of the way, even in our neighborhood.

This was the scene the next morning - I counted 40 deserted cars within a mile down the road. Oh yeah, did I mention this was all because of 1.5 inches of snow? One and a half inches.

I had a video, but I can't get it to upload, boo :( 

I'll try to figure it out and post it when I do. 

How about a little crafting? I had one last quilt top to finish up for Anna Maria Horner's Rainbow Around the Block. 

It came in the forms of a small quilt (the middle part in the black) and a stack of blocks that seemed to mesh well enough.

It worked well - I cut about half an inch off each side of the already-assembled top, then added the nine-patch border by deconstructing the corner blocks so they would fit in the mix. The result is a little wonky - the corners are a nice checker pattern while the middle sections are more elongated, but overall I think it was effective.

Last week, Katherine asked how I blogged from my bathtub - here you go Kat. Laptop + upside-down laundry basket = bathside office.

Which brings me to another exciting response: a winner to my little giveaway last week!

 Ann said...

Love the heart garland- so cute! I hope I win the amazeballs crochet dishclothes:)

Congrats Ann! I'll send you an email and you can claim your prize :) 

As for the rest of you, thanks for trying, I'll be sure to do another giveaway soon! 

I'll leave you with this little snapshot: my sweet husband wearing a shirt he hasn't been able to wear for YEARS. Curt has been working very hard to lose weight this year and I couldn't believe how skinny he looked, so I had to take his picture.

The One Where I Blog Whatever Comes to Mind

Presently blogging from my oversized bathtub, full of Midnight Pomegranate bubbles, while eating mint ice cream with Oreos and marshmallows. I told Curt I would eat the whole thing, but I fear I will not be able to finish, thus forcing me to go back downstairs to put it in the freezer before I can go to bed. Phooey.

Okay, so here we go - random stream of conscious blogging. I hope you stay along for the whole ride, I'm sure it's going to be good.

- I want to try this.

- My sister has requested this bag, but stitched by me instead of who knows who Vera has doing her dirty work. She wants it a little smaller and all the bells and whistles aren't necessary, but I'm going to try anyway.

- I'm going to use some Amy to make said bag.

- Curt has to help teach CPR tomorrow, what a superhero. I wanted to snuggle with him all morning, but I guess I'll have to sleep in alone. As usual.

- I've turned into a one woman assembly-line at work, pumping out heart cakes like it's Valentine's Day or something.

- Speaking of VDay, I cut out a bunch of hearts today and strung them all together. Hung one string on the mantle and another on the back door. They look ridiculous next to the Christmas tree, but tomorrow I think I'll take down the green & blue bulbs and replace them with more hearts.

- Yeah, I did just say our Christmas tree is still up. I'm in a stand-off with a couple people and I have a good feeling I'm going to win. Soon it will be a Valentine tree and you won't be able to judge me anymore.

- We have a new roommate moving in this weekend, yay! She's from Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain. I dare you not to think that when you hear Oklahoma. 

{where the wind comes sweeping down the plain}

- I've been doing lots of late night crocheting. Dishcloths mainly. Three for my Aunt Dianne because she requested them and supplied the yarn, so how could I say no? I think I like crocheted dishcloths better than knit ones because they are thicker, scrubbier, and heartier. 

- I got a new desktop wallpaper for my computer. For the month of February. I lurve it.

- Get yours here. I get a new one every month to keep things fresh. But I might keep this without the calendar for a long time because it's uh.maze.ing.

- I also got a new vday wallpaper for my iPhone from here.

It took my iPhone from this:

To this:

- In case you were wondering, the old one is Anna Maria, naturally. And I will switch it back when THE DAY is over, but maybe to something new. 

- Anything else I simply must share? I'm out of photos and links, so probably not. 

- I made a new pillow cover for the couch. I need one more pillow insert.

- My bubble bath is slowly cooling and my ice cream is quickly melting. 

- I think I'm developing a gallbladder problem. Current symptoms include pain in my upper, right abdomen, just under my rib cage, dull followed by a sharp burst of pain, like a running cramp when your gym teacher tells you to walk it off. Except I couldn't walk it off today at work, it just made to curl into a sideways ball like a potato bug. Also, pain in the right arm and back. WebMD says I'm on to something, but I'm hoping it's just a bad case of you-know-what. 

{Gas, in case you don't-know-what}

- In case you thought all these photos look like we are living in a romance novel, you're not crazy. Picnik has a new filter that makes them look that way, I thought it fit with the Valentine's theme I have going here. 

- Whew, did you make it to the end? To reward you, I will offer a prize. Leave a comment on this post and I will randomly draw a name to receive something handmade by yours truly. 

{it will probably be a crochet dishcloth, but they are amazeballs}

- You have the weekend to enter, spread the news.