An Uber-Organized Storage Wall

This weekend was a fun construction weekend for my Hubby. We found this terrific peg board organizer idea in Do it Yourself Magazine and just had to make it for my studio. All it took was a 2ft. x 4ft. piece of pre-painted peg board, 4 pieces of pre-painted chair railing for the frame, and an assortment of peg board hooks.

Here it is...waiting to be hung up.

Me & my Hubby hard at work. [It was a great way to spend a chilly Friday night together].

The finished product! It works perfectly above my sewing desk. I'm just so excited to be super organized...and it looks cute, too!

They suggested using a pants hanger to hang ribbons and various spools on. That way I can see all of the ribbons I have and I can easily unwind them without taking them off the hanger.

I was extremely happy that I could finally display some of my favorite rolls of paper. They'd been laying in a corner since the summer and I couldn't enjoy them. Now they're on display for me to see and I can actually remember I have them for future projects.

For the longest time, I've had to keep my paint brushes stored in my art trunk b/c I haven't had any shelf space for them. Well...the hook kit came with two shelf brackets and my Hubby had some left over oak wood from another project he's working on, so he cut it, sanded it down, and painted it the same color as my studio walls and now I have a delightful little shelf that holds my paint brushes. Oh the joys of organization!

Happy Halloween Give-away!

I found another give-away today!

Win a fun basket full of goodies at Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe

Handful of Happiness

What a delightful weekend. Filled with good food, good friends, and good times. On Saturday we had breakfast with our friends Joel and Kellie over at their house. Everything was homemade...homemade biscuits, sausage gravy, banana bread, and scrambled eggs with bacon. After breakfast Kellie cut my hair and we perused some fun craft magazines. Then I was able to take Kellie to Clementine's. It was her first experience in the oh-so-lovely dry goods boutique. We both bought some amazing Heather Bailey fat quarters. I can't wait to figure out what I'm going to do with them!


That night we fixed an amazing hot dog recipe featured on Martha Stewart's show. It's called the Ditch Dog and it's a hot dog with homemade macaroni and cheese on it. It was scrumptious.


After we ate, I finished my Fall Foliage Wreath from Martha Stewart's November issue. I'm pretty happy with it and I think it makes a lovely edition to our dining room accent wall.


While I worked on my wreath, our beloved Kitty laid in his newly found cuddle spot. It's right beside my quilt and the quilt I won from Old Red Barn Co.


I guess he likes to be surrounded by creative genius and pure quilting beauty!

And today I made a homemade beef stew in the crock pot and let it cook while we were at church. We went over to our friend's house and enjoyed the perfect brisk Fall day lunch, followed by an afternoon nap. [I don't have any pictures of it because we ate all of it before I could take any.]

*Sigh* I just love weekends like this! I hope everyone had a great weekend and is looking forward to a delightful week.

Multi-Crafter

This Fall Season and upcoming Christmas season has kept me so busy in my delightful little studio. I'm currently working on three different projects and have two on the waiting list that I'm planning on starting in the next 2 weeks. I also just purchased Martha Stewart's Holiday Special Issue filled with 151 different homemade crafts for Christmas! I am on craft overload! AND...I picked up the recent Better Homes & Gardens "Do It Yourself" magazine. I highly recommend this magazine to anyone who loves doing fun and easy project around their home.

Here are some photos of my current projects...

My Fall Quilt


I'm following the swirly pattern on the main block of fabric as my quilting pattern. I'm using some beautiful burnt orange thread that shows up nicely on the backing.

A fun Fall Foliage Wreath from the Martha Stewart Living November issue. It's a wreath made of paper leaves, so it will last for many seasons to come!


This is what it will look like when it's complete...


And here is my Christmas table runner. It was quite a pain to work with [I've never worked with such tiny pieces before so I had to get a handle on piecing them together] but I think it's turning out to be really beautiful. It's going to be a nice elegant touch to my Christmas decor this year.


So yeah...I'm definitely a busy little bee, but I'm not complaining. It's just wonderful! I hope everyone has fun weekend plans and gets some time to enjoy these brisk Fall days that are gracing us all.

Oh Boy! A Quilt Giveaway...

Wanna chance to win this beautiful quilt? Visit Pigtails & Snails blog for a chance to win this Fall beauty!

Leave a comment on her blog and you have one entry. Post about it on your blog and you get 5 more entries. Insert her banner in your sidebar and you get 5 more entries. Holy cow! It's just so exciting I can't contain myself!!!

It's Finished...

In June I discovered Amy Butler and instantly fell in love with her beautiful fabrics and projects. Well...after 3 1/2 months, I have completed my very first quilt. The pattern I used is Amy Butler's Brick Path Quilt and it is amazing. I've had such a great time working on this and I'm so excited to have it completed. So without further ado...here are some photos of this beauty.

A Visit to Apple Works

Last year we made a visit to the wonderful place of Apple Works, an apple orchard and pumpkin patch down in Trafalgar, Indiana. It's a wonderful place that brings the kid out of me. Since the in-laws were in town, we thought it would be a fun place to visit during this beautiful Fall season. And of course, I brought the camera [because every event is blog-worthy to me!]






Feeding the goats...As you can tell, I'm not used to the feeling of wet goat tongue on my hand.

It wasn't as bad with these guys...by that point I was a professional "goat feeder" (if there is such a thing).

Me & my Hubby. We found the best pumpkin ever and can't wait to carve it for Halloween. You can be sure that I will show off our carving expertise on All Hallow's Eve.

Paper, More Paper, & Fabric...OH MY!

Yesterday was a delightfully lovely day in the world of this graphic designer and quilter.
First, I made a visit to Hobby Lobby and bought 10 pieces of fun scrap-booking paper...all 10 pieces for a total of one dollar!



Then I went to a paper show that Xpedx put on at Marian College. There were companies like International Paper, Domtar, Mohawk Fine Papers, Sappi, CordenonS, WausauPaper, and NewPage. It was a graphic designer's dream come true! My Hubby tagged along and got to be the lucky one to carry the two full bags of samples that I picked up as I visited each booth.


For those of you who may not know, these types of paper shows are full of so much inspiration for any graphic designer out there. Yes, the papers are amazing, but the way they display them is what is even more amazing. I have so much more inspiration for future projects now! It's incredible!


I mean look at all this! There has to be at least 50 different amazing pieces of print work here!



On another note...
Recently, I was able to put all of my fun fabrics on display in my studio. Back in April, my Hubby built me some really fun box shelves and I had lots of my books on them. Well, since my fabric collection has increased so much and it wasn't fitting in my vintage picnic basket anymore, I decided to fold it nicely and place it on two of my shelves. Just look at this beautiful array of colors and prints...




I hope everyone is having a delightful Friday and that your weekends are filled with fun family time and just enjoying life!

Happy October & Quilt Update

Since July, I've been working on Amy Butler's Brickpath Quilt. It's the first quilt I've ever made entirely by myself. I'm so excited about how it's coming along. It's my goal to finish it this week before my Fall Break is over. I've been quilting by hand, which is why it's taking so long. But it's been a really relaxing process. Just being able to sit on the couch while my Hubby watches TV and quilt, has been lovely. Here are a few photos of this lovely quilt. All of the fabric, except one print, is from Hobby Lobby. The brown piece is from Amy Butler's Lotus Collection. It's probably one of my favorite prints. The backing is a white on white, which I love. I'm drawn to the simplicity and delicacy of white on white fabrics. I think they make such a beautiful contrast to heavy bold prints, which I love so much as well!



I was also able to piece together my Fall Quilt this week! All I need to get is a piece for the backing and then I can begin quilting it. Here are a few photos of this seasonal delight.







I hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful Fall morning. I know I am. I plan on getting it started with a bowl of oatmeal and hot tea. Perfect for a chilly morning!