Still here. Still sewing.

I finally finished and delivered the last of my handmade Christmas presents this weekend. Yes, I know it's the middle of January, but there's been a lot going on around here.

I took a Color Play class with Nancy Rink to learn more about the color wheel and how to use it when choosing fabrics.

I made these cute little pumpkin pincushions for a pin cushion swap.

We celebrated the holidays in style. (Harry is a very tolerant dog!)

We launched model rockets.

I made a quilt for my Grandpa. I pulled out all of the blue-green fabrics from my stash and used Amanda Jean's Easy As Pie quilt pattern. This quilt is a queen size.....one of the largest quilts I've ever made.

And I made a quilt for my Mom to use out on her porch swing.
(Pattern is Square One from Simplify by Camille Roskelley.)

Phew! That just about catches us up on everything.

Oh wait, one more thing..........after more than 9 years as a full time stay-at-home mom, I've gone back to work! I was hired at a local middle school as a Special Ed Instructional Aide. I started last week and they threw me in with the kids right away. Kind of sink or swim. The kids and staff have been very accepting and helpful. I've gotten some good feedback and I think I'm going to like this job!

It's a dog's life!

Harry

Halloween

Yes, I know it's November 6th, but better late than never...

We made a quick trip to the Pumpkin Patch for pumpkins.

Nathan thought he should get this ginormous thing to carve.

I did have him talked into this slightly more reasonably sized pumpkin, but it had some bug problems.

He finally settled on this larger-than-usual-for-him beauty.

And yes, he wanted to photograph all the goop inside his pumpkin.

That's me, the official Pumpkin Goop Cleaner Outer.

The finished pumpkins

I was fortunate that Nathan chose a simple costume this year. No pattern. No ridiculous fabric fluff. Very little sewing.
Mario only needed to have some big yellow buttons glued onto a pair of thrifted overalls and a cool hat made of fleece. I followed this tutorial, but increased the measurements to fit his head.

beebolt block

If you've read just about anyone's recap post from The Sewing Summit, you know that we each received a swag bag filled with some great stuff. Included in our swag bag was a small pack of fabric squares from beebolt.com. Each attendee was asked to use these little squares to make a quilt block. The blocks will be collected by Kate at beebolt and made into a quilt which will be auctioned off at The Sewing Summit 2012. The proceeds from the quilt auction will go to Project Linus.



I had to play around with the squares and look at quite a few block ideas before I made up my mind. I didn't want anything too complicated, so I decided on a Shoofly block. It was pretty easy to put together (except for the piece I put in backwards) and I'm happy with how it came out.

I can't wait to see the finished quilt at TSS next year!

From My Garden

Evidently my garden doesn't realize that November is quickly approaching.

Or that I stopped watering it a few weeks ago.

I went out yesterday to start clearing out the debris from the summer garden and this is what I found....

a dozen or so little eggplant

a few "Early Girl" tomatoes

tons of yellow blooms on the Grape Tomato plants

There are some benefits to living in this warm California climate.

Finished: The Nikki Tote

There were so many great bags being made by people attending The Sewing Summit, that I wanted to make one too. I needed a bag to function as both a tote and handbag. I decided on the Nikki Tote by Michelle of Paisley Pear Quilts.

The pattern is easy to follow, with simple instructions. The bag was more than big enough for all my regular handbag stuff plus a few extra travel necessities. I wish I had added a closure to the top though. (My bag fell over when I was getting out of a car and my phone fell out.) Overall, I'm very happy with how this came out.

The Sewing Summit - Recap

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend The Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City. It was an amazing, inspiring, fabulous, exhausting weekend. We packed a lot of activity into a very short time.

I started out the weekend with great intentions of documenting my experiences. I started during breakfast on Friday. I met Melissa and Ali for waffles and frites at Bruge's.

Bruge's Waffles & Frites
It's a tiny place, where we sat outside to eat, shivering just a little!

Vanilla liege waffle with creme fraiche and peaches.
(Just look at that scoop of cream!)

Frites!
And since they served fries too, we had to have some with aioli and andalouse sauce.
(BTW, I was on vacation, so all food was calorie free!)

Now comes the funny part......I was having such a wonderful time that I apparently forgot to take pictures!

I only took 3 photos with people in them. And one of those was taken in a dark restaurant and isn't really viewable.

(Sorry to catch you with your mouth open Dana!)
Dana and I have been online friends for over 4 years and I jumped at the chance to meet her in real life. She is just as amazing in real life!

The amazing organizers of The Sewing Summit - Erin and Amy!
I cannot say enough good things about these wonderful gals. They did an incredible job of organizing this event. I know we're all looking forward to doing it again next year!

And now we get to the architecutal part of the post. I did manage to take some nice photos of some well known buildings around Salt Lake City.

Cathedral of The Madeleine

Mormon Temple

Salt Lake City & County building

The view from our balcony at The Little America Hotel
If you travel to Salt Lake City, I highly recommend this hotel. The accommodations were luxurious and the staff was very helpful and friendly.

So, now I'm home and nearly finished unpacking. My husband and son kept the house in reasonable shape while I was away. I only have one load of laundry left to do. And so much inspiration in my head that I have to get to sewing. SOON!