My 4th of July

BEFORE

AFTER

So we did have a picnic and do all the regular 4th of July stuff....fireworks and all.
But, we did use the three day weekend to get our garage cleaned also. Sadly, now that I look at the pictures, they don't do it justice. It really is much cleaner...promise.
We moved everything out and put our stuff away where it goes. Then in the middle of the floor is some of my parents stuff and a big pile for the yard sale. We will do a yard sale this year, we will do a yard sale this year - if I say it enough it will happen right? Our prime yard sale weekend isn't until the end of September, so it will be difficult to keep everything organized until then, but I am determined.
I bought shelving yesterday to help, so I am headed out there now, while it is still cool out.
Wish me luck!
Ohh, and as for the fun stuff we did - here is an example! Lilly has learned that it is fun to jump into the water.

Winning is fun

As I mentioned in a previous post, I won several giveaways recently. One of them was a design your own fat quarter bundle from the Fabric Shopper. I was super excited to win this one, since it was 12 fat quarters that I picked. These are them:

I have been checking the mail everyday for the goodies to arrive, and imagine my joy when they arrived yesterday. I was actually a little bummed, the note attached said they had to make some substitutions based on availability.

Turns out I only got one of the ones that I had picked out. Bummer, but....looks at the adorable ones that were substituted. Aren't they cute? Sadly, though, I don't think that they will all go into one project. The fabrics are just to different. This means lots of new projects! Yeah!

The Green Bag Lady

The Green Bag Lady makes fabric bags for people around the world. It is a great way to reduce our impact on the planet. I won a bag, lucky number 5821, in the Sew, Mama, Sew contest. Although I received the bag a little while ago, and have used it several times, I am always by myself...no picture! I finally ran some errands with the hubby yesterday and got a picture of me using the bag.
If you check out her website you will see lots of posts of people with their bags. Plus they are doing another giveaway right now! Check it out.

Other Blogs

So I started my wee-little blog because I was enjoying reading everyone else's blogs. I know that hardly anyone reads mine, but I am trying to keep it up because I feel like it is cathartic (plus no one in my family is crafty - so they really don't appreciate the stuff I make!).
I have won a couple of things (I posted one below, will post the rest as I receive). There is a new giveaway on the Quilt Qua site that has some great fabric up for grabs. I decided to let anyone that reads this know about this great giveaway. Join me in trying to add some holiday cheer to your summer.


TELL A FRIEND GIVE-AWAY


Win: 1 Frosted Memories Fat Quarter Bundle by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics !
To enter simply "tell a friend" to spread the word about Quilt Qua. You can send an e-mail to people, post on your blog, comment on someone else's blog, put info in your guild newsletter, etc. Then send an e-mail to: quiltqua@gmail.com and let me know what you did. Enter as often as you wish. Random drawing for the winner will be at 10 pm July 31st.

Good Luck!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I woke up to the weather person promising us that we would see sun at some point today. I think people will be running around screaming that the world is ending. It seems like we have had rain for soo long.
The rain has diverted me from my crafty endeavors and I have spent a bit of time working, cleaning, and baking instead. I am thinking that I will reward myself with some time in the sewing machine today, but also have to bake Dad his father's day cupcakes. I found a recipe for Dark and Stormy cupcakes, since it is Dad's favorite drink, I thought he would enjoy it in cupcake form.
This weekend the hubby got a new grill. He grills almost every night during the spring/summer months, and the old grill just died away. Sooo, as a grill warming present I made a reversible apron and oven mitt. He looked very snazzy when he grilled for the first time on Sunday!

A weekend of work

So I had pulled out the sewing machine and had hoped to get a chance to work on some sewing this weekend, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Saturday (while the husband worked!), I finished sewing the capri pants that have been on top of my WIP pile. I just need to hem them.
Sunday turned out to be a work around the house day. Didn't get any sewing done, but the other work I got done was fantastic. I woke up early made homemade hamburger rolls for dinner - husband got a new grill on Saturday, so I knew we were going to be grilling. I then cleaned the kitchen- boy flour can make a mess!- the bathrooms, and even mopped the floors. Then while the husband put together his grill, a three hour process, that involved much cussing and murmming, I power-washed the house! Our house had turned green over the past few years and it was time to take it back. To give you an idea:

Before...look at all that green!


During...see me hard at work!


After...doesn't it look years younger?

Then we had my parents over and had burgers, and all the traditional picnic sides. It was a great end to a productive day. And now husband thinks we are done work for a while....guess that means I can pull the sewing machine back out today! Tee, hee, hee.

Crayon Roll

This is a crayon Roll that I made for my nephew. It was really quick and easy to make and he just loves that his crayons are in "pen-pens". I followed this tutorial, as I am not clever enough to have created it myself.

Also wanted to share a giveaway that I just joined. The Fabric Shopper is hosting a giveaway with the WhipStitch blog. You get t have the fun of designing your own fat quarter bundle, harder than it sounds, and then name it and enter away. Too fun!