WIP Wednesday

So I was feeling mostly out of steam for the craft fair, but I decided that I needed to have money in something.  A box didn't seem pretty or all that practical because there's not much room in an 8'x8' booth.  We're using up most of our room to display our stuff.  So I followed this tutorial and made an apron. 

I like it.  There are four pockets so I think I'll keep money in them like this: ones & pennies, fives & nickels, tens & dimes, and twenties & quarters. 

The other thing I think will be really useful at the craft fair is the Square Register and iPad app.  I can take credit card payments with the little square thing I plug into the iPad and the app looks really good.  I have set it to automatically calculate state sales tax for each item and I can have pictures and prices of my inventory.  I just tap on the picture and it goes to the register.  And if people pay with cash and want a receipt, I can enter their email and the app sends a receipt.  Pretty cool.

So, actual works in progress other than the ridiculously long list are making signs that show prices for our items, getting the Square App all full of our products, and maybe I'll do a little last minute sewing.  I made this Union Jack pillow and it was my first sale, so I think I'll make some more. 

After the craft fair, I hope my WIP Wednesdays will be more interesting and I can show progress on those things that are sitting there calling to me.

Oh, and Linda informed me that Tom Selleck's mustache doesn't work!  Shoot.  I'll try to get that fixed.

Catching up

Since I was busy enjoying time with family on Saturday, I forgot to post something funny so I'm catching up and doing that today.  Otherwise, I'm mostly working to get ready for the craft fair this Saturday.  If you are local, please come!


My apologies to Paige if I stole this from her blog.  I don't remember where I first saw it.

Just in case you needed the info again. :)

Hungry for bread

We have been reading from the book of John with Tomás at bedtime recently and the section we've been in for a while is chapter 6.  It's a long section, so I'm not going to type it all out, but you can read it here.  So it starts out that Jesus feeds more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.  The people like a free meal and full bellies so the next day they go looking for Jesus hoping for more.  He's on the other side of the lake because He walked on the water in the middle of the night and then hopped in the boat with His disciples.  Anyway, the people hop in their boats, find Jesus and He tells them that they are just looking for another free meal and that they should be working for food that leads to eternal life.  They want to know what work that is and he tells them that they need to believe in Him.  They, still wanting to get a free meal out of Jesus, basically tell him "We'll believe you if you give us some more food.  Moses gave our fathers food every day!"  So Jesus tells them that God gives the true bread from heaven for life and they are like "Yeah, give us some of that always!"  Jesus makes it even clearer for them.  He's the bread.  Feeding your soul is more important than feeding your belly.

Reading this has challenged me.  I like to feed my belly and have material stuff and enjoy things around me.  None of that is necessarily bad, but Jesus wants me to love Him more.  I need to be hungry for the true bread.  I need to put time with Him and time in His Word as priority above physical needs.  This is an especially appropriate time to be reminded of this.  We get busy enjoying the holidays and can forget to enjoy Him.  So before we stuff another tasty butter slathered roll in our mouths, let's remember to feed our souls with the true bread and spend time in the Word and in prayer. 

Oh, I almost forgot!

For the first time ever, I won a giveaway on a blog!!!  And I got some cool stuff!

Becca at Bryan House Quilts has made some really great quilts and has a few good tutorials, so check her blog out.

Festivities, Family, Food, Failure

Well, it's been a couple of packed days around here, but good days.  On Wednesday we met up with my husband's family at Wasserbahn water park/hotel.  My son had a great time with his cousins and it was a pretty good deal. 

These are random strangers, but you get the idea.

play area

 We then headed to Cedar Rapids for Thanksgiving dinner with more of Andrew's family.  As usual, all the food was delicious and it's always good to see family.  One of Andrew's cousins and his wife somewhat recently got a dog so they brought her over to meet the family.  We all got a good laugh watching the dog herd the children into a group. 

Obie loves herding children

It used to be that my husband's grandmother made those cookies made from Ritz crackers and peanut butter and dipped in chocolate, but she hasn't been in good enough health to do that for a few years.  So when I joined the family, Andrew and I took that job.  The first year we made them, I melted the chocolate almond bark in a pan, but there was scorching and while the task was still accomplished, it was not great.  I was then given a double boiler as a gift and those make the whole process much better. 

Melting chocolate almond bark in the double boiler

Oh, these cookies are so yummy

Let's see...we've covered festivities, family, and food.  My failure was in my fun sewing attempt.  I love the Anna Maria Horner Feather Pattern, so I thought I'd give it a try, especially since it's a free pattern.  I'm not sure if the directions are not super clear or if I didn't read well or what, but I messed up.  And this was even after reading another blogger mention how she made these and messed up.  I should have learned from her error. 

sewing strips together and cutting them up

This is not correct.  The diagonal stripes on the left side of the feather are supposed to angle upward toward the middle.

Oh, well.  I'll just have to sew some more strips together and do those pieces the right way and I'll have more feathers.  No problem.  I was thinking of making a table runner or pillow, but now with as many feathers as I'll end up with, I might make a whole baby quilt or something.  I dunno.  Any suggestions? 

Sewing like the wind!

Okay, if you haven't seen The Three Amigos you might not get the title of this post, but I'm sewing like crazy around here to get stuff done.  Last night I finished a bajillion pairs of pajama pants.  I forget how many zeros there are in a bajillion.  Anyway, pajama pants!

A bajillion pairs of pajama pants

Although sewing all those pants was not my favorite sewing ever, they did turn out cute and some will be Christmas gifts for nieces and nephews.  Today I plan to sew some more, but I think I'll do something fun.  Maybe not something assembly line mass production.  We'll see. 

With Thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I thought I'd share a couple verses that relate to the holiday. 

Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

I remember memorizing these verses and joking with my mom about where to stop in this sentence.  We would say "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything!"  I'm not usually an anxious person, but I do need to remember that my first reaction to anything that could cause worry should not be worry, but prayer. 

I find the inclusion of "with thanksgiving" interesting in this verse.  It changes the whole attitude of the prayer.  If you are praying with thanksgiving it means that you have thought about what you have been given that is good.  You are reminded that God has cared for you before.  You are alive, you have had enough to eat, you have a relationship with God in Christ!  If he has taken care of so many things in the past, we can easily come to him in prayer with concerns now, knowing that He is able to care for them now.  That may not mean that He will necessarily answer your prayers the way you want Him to, but the answer will be what He knows is best.  You will be able to look back on the answer to that prayer in thankfulness, too. 

We shouldn't come to God with whiny complaints about what we don't have.  Not that it's bad to ask God for things.  He loves to give what is good to His children.  But the gimme attitude just shows that it's not God we love, but stuff or comfort or something else.  A thankful heart shows that we recognize that everything we are given is a gift from a loving God and that anything else we are given in addition is a mercy and we will respond with thankfulness again. 

Kids are funny.

Some stuff (creative title, I know)

I have a few various things to share.

1)  You may have noticed a fantastic picture of Tom Selleck over on the right side of my blog ---->
No, not me.  Scroll down.  Well, I'm pretty excited that Tom is announcing my participation in my very first quilting bee!  If I did it right, when you click on Tom, it takes you to our Flickr group.  We have the mustachioed Tom as our mascot because it is the Mo-Stash Bee, meaning we will use fabric from our own stash.  There are 6 people, including myself, in my group and we will each make 2 blocks for each person for 6 months.  I'm first up in January (eeep!), which means I need to choose a block for my hive mates to make and a color scheme.  I'm neck deep in craft show plans now, so I'll have to ponder that one later.

2)  We had our holiday meeting for the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild last night.  The new guild leadership had a meeting on Tuesday, too and I'm excited about all the plans and ideas that we have for the group.  Some things coming up are:  a challenge, using Madrona Fabric.  (free fabric!), a sewing day in January, making placemats for Meals on Wheels, a quilt show in Ames, and some other things in the works.
We had a gift exchange last night and I made a little tree pillow and added one of my chapstick cozies, too.  I didn't take a picture of the pillow!  I'm sure someone else did, so I'll add that once it's available.  Jill got my pillow and chapstick cozy and at first I received the really cool Christmas tote that she made. We allowed steals in the gift exchange and I knew as soon as I opened it that it was going to be stolen.  I had briefly pondered how I might use the tote (to carry gifts, to use as a gift bag-but I'd want it back!, somehow decorate with it?) and sure enough it was stolen.  Ah, well.  That's the game.  So then I picked up Leila's gift bag and it was this pillow:

The trees and borders are all selvedges!  I really like it.  Leila did a wonderful job.  As usual.


Okay, off to accomplish things!

Exciting times!

Well, I had intended to post a WIP Wednesday, but I got home kind of late last night from a meeting and then woke up feeling pretty yuck, so I just stayed in bed and watched old Psych episodes for half the day. :)  But I have responsibilities, so I got myself up, finished the rest of my chapstick cozies, made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, and a big pan of green bean casserole.  I'm still feeling pretty yuck, but I'm cheered up by two recent things.

1)  I have business cards!

Okay, you might be able to see my etsy store information on there and you can visit if you like, but I kind of have to ask you not to buy anything until after December 1st for a couple of reasons.  A) Most of my stuff is at our mock booth set up at Crystal's house.  She lives an hour away from me.  It's a bit tricky to get those things and mail them out in a reasonable amount of time.  B)  I need inventory for my sale on December 1st.  If you see something you would like, send me a message.  I might be able to make another one for you or I might be able to hold something aside for you.  We'll work something out. 

2) I made my first Etsy sale!

Yay!  I'm making money!  It's a good thing I'm already headed to Des Moines tomorrow because I'll need to stop at Crystal's to pick up the item.  So I am glad I made a sale, but I do hope that I don't have too many more before the craft show.  I guess if I do, I'll just have to kick it into high gear and crank out some more items.  All made with love, of course.  :) 

Technique and/or Tool Tuesday

When I married my husband I got a really good deal.  For starters, he's a wonderful guy and my best friend.  I love being married to him.  But not only that, I got lots of extras.  I have in-laws that I genuinely really like.  I mentioned before that my mother-in-law was the one who got me started quilting.  My father-in-law is a pretty great guy, too.  I also got a brother-in-law and I'm particularly happy that I got a really cool sister-in-law, nieces, and a nephew in the deal.  My sister-in-law, Alex, made this quilt recently.

 Alex isn't on Flickr and she doesn't have a blog, so somebody had to share this lovely quilt with the world and say how great it is!  I love all the splashes of color.  She did swirly free-motion quilting all over.  I haven't really tried that yet, so that's how I'm tying this in with Technique and/or Tool Tuesday.  I sort of tried it once, but the thread tension was all off on my machine, so I gave up for a while, but I will do it!  I'm really impressed that she made this quilt while taking care of three children, her home, and all the while battling cancer.  Alex is an amazing person.  She is a delight to be around and loves God, her husband, and her children.  Love ya, Alex. :)

Lame excuses

Sometimes the Bible records things that people said and I find those things humorous.  For example, in Exodus 32, the people have escaped Egypt and Moses has been up on the mountain for a while.  Then they get the idea that they need to make a new god to go before them.  Aaron, who has been left in charge, tells the people to take off all their gold earrings and give them to him.  The text states clearly that he fashioned this gold with a graving tool and made it into a calf.  Then he built an altar to it.  Meanwhile, Moses is up on the mountain with God and God tells him to go down because the people are sinning...big time.  So he heads down, finds the people in the middle of a bunch of sin, and is furious.  He asks Aaron what the people did to him to cause him to bring such sin on them.  Aaron summarizes.  The line that really gets me is when he says "So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." 
Really?  You really believe Moses is going to buy that one? Aaron's excuse is pretty lame.  And I find myself judging Aaron as if I've never made a lame excuse for my sin.  I excuse myself for anger, telling God that it was someone else's fault because they made me angry.  Lame.  I excuse myself for laziness, telling God that I needed a break.  Lame.  I make too many excuses.  I need to take a cue from David, who had a heart after God.  He sinned.  He sinned badly.  But when he was confronted with the sin, he didn't say "Well, she shouldn't have been taking a bath on her roof!"  or "Hey, sometimes war is hard and people die."  He admitted that he sinned and desired to be close to God again, following His ways.  I pray that I would be like David and take correction with wisdom and true repentance, asking God to forgive and give strength to obey Him. 

It's Saturday, so I'm going to post some things that make me smile or laugh.

via Threadless

 

Isn't he though?  This was a drawing submitted for a t-shirt at Threadless, but never chosen.  I think that's sad because I would wear this.  Yes, I'm aware I'm in my 30's.

I always follow this advice when I plan to sew.  :)

pretty things others have made

I'm going to borrow an idea from Jeni of In Color Order (also another really great blog I follow and she has her first fabric line coming out next year!) and show you some things I have made a favorite on Flickr lately.  I have not made any of these items, I'm just inspired by them.

PTS 9 front...finished!, 2. Untitled, 3. "Orange Animal Quilt", 4. inburst2, 5. Finished MSM Swap Pillow, 6. Low volume New York Beauty#7 done, 7. Button Box Quilt!, 8. Progress on Nicey Jane Bee Tweet quilt. Makes me so happy!, 9. PTS round 9, 10. Yeah this is WAY too cute not to carry around all day!!!! @trilliumdesign #pts #sewingsummit @sewingsummit, 11. Pillow Talk Swap 9 - idea # 2, 12. Little Orange Peel, 13. Echino Quilt, 14. Size Matters... ;), 15. PIF Gift for Bree and Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Challenge Throwdown finish, 16. Mini Quilt for my Swap Partner Salty Oat">

Some of modern quilting is so simple in design, like in picture #2, and some is pretty complicated, like in picture #9.  I love the creativity found in this group.  If you like any of these, feel free to click through on the links and let the person who made it know.  It's always encouraging to hear that other people like what you have worked hard to think up and create. 

Other Favorites

It was kind of fun to tell you about some of my favorite blogs last week, so I thought maybe I'd tell you about some of my other favorite things on Thursdays until I run out of things.  Maybe some of my favorites will be new to you and you can discover and love them, too.  So the category this week is favorite musicians!

Christian Artists

Jimmy Needham - We love Jimmy.  Here's his website.  His style is kind of soulful pop.  You can listen to some samples from his latest album on amazon.  He's a talented musician and is very good at putting words together to make a point and be musically interesting.  He loves God, his wife, and his two little girls.  "In the Middle" is a really great song and probably one of my favorites from his latest album.  It's about how his wife went through three miscarriages and his promise to be there for her.  He then changes it to focus on how God promises to be there for us through the hard things in life.  The other song on this album that is really good is the title track "Clear the Stage."  It is about making God first in our life and not letting anything else become an idol.  I was pretty excited to find out that he'll be playing at the Okoboji Bible Conference next year. (My husband's family is always at Lake Okoboji during that time for family vacation.)

Downhere -  Unfortunately, I don't think these guys will be making albums together anymore, but the few most recent albums that they did do were really great.  They are pretty much rock-ish.  The two lead singers have two very different voices, but both very good and the lyrics are also very good.  They made a lovely Christmas album a couple years ago and the song "How Many Kings" is such a nice song. Listen to a bit here.  If you like the sound of the band Queen, these guys have a number of songs that sound very Queen-esque, especially "My Last Amen." Hear a bit here.

Andrew Peterson - My husband introduced me to the music of Andrew Peterson.  It is lovely.  I would call his music folk.  He has made many albums and has even written a few books.  I should try reading them sometime.  His "Behold the Lamb of God" Christmas album is wonderful.  Here's his amazon page with a bunch of parts of songs you can hear.  When I want to hear a pretty song, I listen to "Isle of Skye."  He, along with his friend Randall Goodgame, who has also written some very good music on his own, did a kids album called Slugs and Bugs.  My son loves this album and it's not painful for me to listen to.  Win win. 

Sara Groves - We had the pleasure of seeing Sara Groves in concert this past summer for free!  For me, it was one of the best concerts I have attended.  She's such a likeable person and it was nice to hear some of the story behind a few of her songs.  Here's her amazon page if you want to listen a bit.

Newsboys - These guys are mostly fun dance type music.  Some of their songs have kind of silly lyrics, but some are really wonderful.  I really like their album titled "Go" and their worship albums are nice, too.  Amazon page here.

Non-Christian

Burlap to Cashmere - Ok, technically these guys might be under a Christian label or at least they used to be, but good luck understanding any of their lyrics.  While they make no sense, musically they are quite amazing.  It's this mix of styles ranging from Simon and Garfunkelish to Spanish and Greek sounding to kind of regular pop.  Here is their amazon page.  My husband's favorite is "Santorini" and I really like "Live in a Van" and "Orchestrated Love Song."  We have listened to their most recent album quite a bit and it is impossible to memorize the lyrics, but fun to join in for a few words here and there!

Jack Johnson - His music just makes you feel happy. :)  Here's his amazon page.  My son really enjoys the Curious George soundtrack.

 Michael Buble (I don't know how to make the accent over the e and am too lazy to google how right now.  Pretend it's there.) -  Sometimes I like a nice crooner kind of song. Amazon page here.

Norah Jones - I haven't listened to her much lately, but I do like her music if I'm in the right kind of mood.  Amazon page

Juanes and Shakira - I have spent a fair amount of time in Latin America, mostly Venezuela, and I learned about these two artists there.  This is dancing around the house pretending you have moves and some sense of rhythm music.  Amazon pages here and here.  Warning about Shakira...she doesn't really wear much in the way of clothing.

A couple others that my husband likes and who are really growing on me are Simon and Garfunkel (it will take longer for me to like just Paul Simon.  I really like some of his alone songs, but some are just weird.  Also, he makes no sense.) and Billy Joel.

Okay!  That's a lot.  And there are many other artists and bands I like, too.  Those are just some.  Who are your favorite artists/bands?   

WIP Wednesday

Okay, so last Wednesday I showed you the many things I have on my to do list.  I have not started David Kovach's book yet although I really want to!  I feel like I should finish the book club book first, but it's not grabbing my attention yet.  Maybe I should read more than one chapter, huh? 

I have completed a number of things!

Dots and chevrons baby quilt.

Sprout blocks for Tracey's quilt for her friend Chelsa, mailed today

Pajama pants for my son.  They are maybe a little too short.  The boy keeps growing!

Pleated pouch (pattern from here)

Some Chapstick cozies!  These were fun to make.  I think I'll need to make more for the craft fair.

Okay, so now here's what I need to get done.

 

 

 

More pajama pants!  And probably some hand warmers.

Hmm...I guess I don't have pictures of other things.  They are not so much works in progress as plans to get things done. 
Anyway, hopefully I'll just be posting lots of things that are done over the next few weeks.  I'll try to get the etsy shop link up by the end of the week.

I haven't practiced.

I was hoping to give a little review of EQ7 and show you some cool things I had designed on it, but I've been busy making stuff for the craft fair. So here's the flyer! If you are local and can come to this, please do! My friend Crystal will be selling the great stuff she has made, too! If you aren't local, I have just opened an etsy store, but I need to get all my items in it. I'll add the info to the blog when it's all ready. If you want to check Crystal's etsy shop, it's http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoSheStitches

Safe in the Ark

I've been in a study in Genesis for a couple of months now and the past week or two we have been looking at the account of Noah. My husband and I have noted that it is a strange thing for baby toys and decor to show cute floating zoos with Mr. and Mrs. Noah happily bobbing along. This account is anything but cute or happy. We are told that "every intent of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil continually." God would not hold back judgment forever. However, in His mercy, He saves Noah and his family. God sends rain, but not only rain. He made the great deep burst forth. This was catastrophic. How did Noah and his family survive? They were safe in the ark that God had given specific instructions about building. Jesus says in Matthew 24:37 that His return will be like the days of Noah. People will be eating, drinking, getting married. What is missing from this list of activities? Worship of God. God is patiently and graciously giving time for people to come to Him, but as in the days of Noah, he will not hold back judgement forever. And it will be catastrophic. How will anyone survive? In Christ. We've also been reading the book of John with our son and I'm reminded again of John 3:16, but there are a few other verses after 16 that are very important. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the the only begotten son of God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." Out of God's love, He offered an ark. And out of His love, he offered His Son.

Dude, you slapped a fish

Just something funny today. The presidential debate bad lip reading "Eye of the Sparrow" is pretty funny, too. Have a good weekend!

A Winner and some other stuff

So I did things old school and wrote the numbers 1 - 14 on slips of paper and then had my husband pick a number.  The lucky winner is Veronica!  I'll send you an email, Veronica. :)

I've been kind of unsure what I'd post about today, but now I have a couple things so I'll start with something I think is neat.  It goes right along with the goal of my sewing and blog.  I thank my friend Crystal for inviting me to join in making a couple of quilt blocks for another quilter I don't even know.  Traceyjay quilts is another quilt blogger and has a good friend with cancer.  So she's making a quilt that I think will be really nice for her friend and has invited others of us to make a couple blocks to add to it and to pray for her friend.  If you click through to her blog, you can read more about it as well as the story of what her friend Chelsa has been going through.  Here are some of the blocks already done.

The other thing I thought I would show you are some upcoming fabric lines I have seen that I look really cool.  I'm not sure on rules about putting pictures of fabric lines from stores on my blog.  I don't want to make you check out a bunch of links, so I'll link you to Hawthorne Threads' Coming Soon section and tell you the ones I think look really great.

Well, this one is actually out now, but I love Ed Emberley and now there is a Happy Drawing 2.  I didn't buy some of the first one when it came out and I'm kind of kicking myself now.  My son loves elephants and that elephant print is hard to get...well, for a reasonable price at least.

Anyway, here are the ones I like coming soon:

Joel Dewberry Notting Hill - I have always really liked his orange and aqua prints, but never bought any.
Patty Sloniger - Les Amis - cute foxes, turtles, and owls!
Carolyn Friedlander - Architextures - I have a feeling this one is going to sell like crazy. 
Julia Rothman - Type - This one will be flying off the shelves, too.
Lizzy House - Pearl Bracelets - I love these prints and now they are in one bunch with many colors. Yay!
Lizzy House - Constellations - The constellation print depicts constellations of previous characters from other prints.  So cool. 
Rashida Coleman Hale - Tsuru - I like the cranes.  :)

Any fabrics coming out soon that you hope to add to your stash?

My Favorites

You can still get your name in for a chance to win a cool bit of fabric!  Comment on this post

I'm listing my favorite blogs on the right side here ----->
But I thought I'd tell you a little about them and maybe you can check some of them out.
I'll group them by categories.  Oops, I noticed that I didn't make them linky!  Fixed now.

People I know, non-sewing:

 http://andrewscode.blogspot.com/ - This is my husband's blog.  I have to admit that I don't really understand his blog.  He is a computer programmer and he has blogged about computery things.  So if you are of that inclination, maybe it will be helpful to you. :)  He has told me that he has gotten some traffic from my blog.

http://teamvanvoorst.blogspot.com/ - This is my friend Paige.  She blogs about, um...all kinds of stuff.  She's funny and smart and loves God, her husband, her kids and others.  Every Wednesday she has Video Vednesday where she puts up a funny video.  I like that feature so I'm doing a similar thing on Saturday. 

http://onceforalldelivered.blogspot.com/ - This is the awesome Paige's really cool husband, Todd.  Todd shares the Word of God with passion.  What he writes encourages and sometimes convicts me.  I'm very glad I know this couple.  Their kids are pretty stinkin' cute, too.  Their most recent baby was the recipient of a quilt I had a lot of fun making.  His name is Finneas Foxe (I think there's a Haddon in there, too and then the last name.  All together, this kid has 8 syllables in his name.) Anyway, I made this fox quilt for him and I understand he really enjoys it.

People I know, sewing:

 http://madebyabrunnette.wordpress.com/ - Doris is one of the co-founders of the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild.  She's clever and creative and even has a couple patterns for sale.  I really like the mug rug she made for another member of the guild for our most recent swap.

Isn't it so cool?!

 - http://flourishingpalms.blogspot.com/ Linda is the other co-founder of the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild.  She has serious quilt skills and even won a Bernina Aurora QE 440 sewing machine for winning Best in Show.  She's now in Florida, which is kind of a bummer for those of us in Iowa, but I think she's rather enjoying it.  Here's her prize winning quilt:

People I don't know personally - I guess these are all sewing.  :)
http://cuttopieces.blogspot.com/ - I showed you Angela's amazing pillow on Tuesday.  I think I love everything she makes.  Both of us caught "Anna Maria Horneritis" recently and joined a swap where each of us in the swap will end up with a charm square of almost every print from Anna Maria Horner's collections.  Recently she's been doing a really fun Mario Bros. quilt along.  I'm hoping to do at least one of those blocks sometime.  Check out the Mario block.

http://sotakhandmade.blogspot.com/ - Svetlana frequently uses happy and bright colors and I love the scrappy things she makes.  I really like this pillow.

http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/ - Faith also frequently uses really great bright colors.  I love her Summer Sampler Series blocks.

http://www.stitchedincolor.com/ - I think this is probably my favorite sewing/quilting blog.  Rachel makes beautiful things, provides really wonderful tutorials, and as I've said before, I really enjoyed her Handstitched Class this past summer.  I think she tries to respond to everybody's comments on her blog and she just seems like a really nice and cool person.  Her Bottled Rainbows quilt is great.  I have a thing for Roy G. Biv.  My MIL is making one of these quilts, too!

http://www.nobigdill.com/ - Katy does amazing sewing, but usually clothing for her kids.  One of my favorite things on her blog is "Once Upon a Thread", where people make things inspired by children's literature.  She also takes really good pictures of her kids and the world around her.  She also seems like a really thankful and joyful person.  Look at this dress she made recently for one of her daughters.  I love the sleeves and how they look like waves.

Okay, so that's the list!  Check some of them out if they are new to you and if you have a blog and want me to add you to my list, let me know.  I'd be happy to!