Sometimes Strep

I know this may sound odd, but, sometimes....strep is good.
Way back in the beginning of April I got strep throat. Almost a whole month later, turns out it either never was fully cured or it has returned. Yes, teaching kindergarten is a dangerous job, all those nasty little germs crawling on my ducklings. 

The point is, getting strep kept me home for 2.5 days. This time FINALLY allowed me to finish the quilt I started for my living room. I'm just a quilt sandwich, quilting, and binding away from a lovely Pom Pom de Paris hexagon quilt all for me!

Sometimes strep is good. 

PS. These are the kind of pictures you get in the evening, with no light, using a smart phone. I miss my 35mm.

Hearts and Headaches

Once upon a time,way back during the summer, when I had all of the time in the world, I started a lovely baby/little girl quilt for an amazing cause, Project Linus. This quilt was to be the sweetest girl quilt yet, until that wicked stepmother intervened, I like to call her over ambitious. Not an actual person this stepmother, just my own foolish ideas that on this quilt I would try a much fancier style of quilting using hearts and swirls. 8 months later, I have finally picked up this quilt again. It has sat on my sewing table, hung over the back of my quilting chair, folded on my rocking chair, all the time taunting me. Constantly calling out to me daring me to start yet another project while this adorable little quilt remain unfinished. Today is the day, I will finish this quilting today!!!

The Good Things

Months ago, I posted about the many interruptions in life. Lately they have led to the demise of my blogging days. I guess I need to stop calling them interruptions and call it life, and really,  the interruptions are sometimes what make you appreciate the good things. 

I have to say that I am blessed to have days filled with good things.

So just for today I'm gonna focus on those good things:

* Morning chats with mom
* That perfect first cup of coffee
* Pizza for lunch with friends
* Students who run down the hall to hug you
* Friends who understand you
* Enough quarters for laundry 
* A nice run that makes you feel strong
* A room filled with fabric and possibilities
* A person still filled with possibility

Christmas in July

Stitch Witch Fine Quilting

Visit my etsy shop to celebrate Christmas in July. 

Just click  the shop name under the banner to visit and enjoy 20% off all items until August! 

Interruptions

My quilting and blogging has been riddled with interruptions. Everywhere I look in my little sewing room (closet) there are reminders of quilts (needing quilting), bags (needing finishing), and fabric in general (needing to be organized).

The beginning of the end? Kitchen renovations! Like anyone else, I thought maybe I would make a few changes to my less than amazing kitchen.. A few little changes, needless to say, turned into a full blown kitchen renovation, and full blown kitchen laziness.  So without further ado, since I have very little finished work to show, my before and after kitchen!

Before

It all became very real the day this happened:

The contractor cut through the soffet, just to see what was in there! A couple of weeks later.....

After

And now to get back on track with quilting!

Something about a snowstorm

There's something about a snowstorm that makes me do a few things:

1. Add new stock to my shop, you can find this table runner here: Stitch Witch Fine Quilting

2. Have a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings marathon- this snowstorm is sponsored by Harry Potter

3. Finish up lovely projects with my beloved Pam Kitty Love for myself!

Hope your snowstorm is safe and quilty! 

Pam Kitty Love

I LOVE fabric. Really, you all know out there what I'm talking about. You see it, and you think oh the things I could make. But you walk away and say "I have so much fabric waiting to be used, I'll hold off on this for a bit."
But you just CAN'T. Sometimes you just CAN"T!!!!  You visit it every day. Quickly shutting the computer trying to pretend it doesn't exist. I tried so hard to resist. I caved. This January I'm in love with Pam Kitty Love and I don't care who knows about it. Today my love arrived. After a particularly exhausting day with my darling kindergarteners I came home to this box.....

See where it is from?!  I'm unfortunately nowehere near a fabric shop where I can visit and gaze longingly (sometimes drooling) at the fabric in person. Love the Fat Quarter Shop!

  Oh and this was inside.....

Stay tuned for some Valentine's Day fun with Pam Kitty Love!

Happy New Year from Stitch Witch Fine Quilting

What a year! So happy to end 2012 and begin a wonderful new year with you!

Enjoy 13% off in my etsy shop this New Years Eve and all week long!

Stitch Witch Fine Quilting

So Thankful

I am so thankful for many things. I am mostly thankful for my family and especially my nephews the smile makers.....

What are you thankful for this year?

Missing in Action

On a weekly basis I sign into my page and shake my head. I haven't felt very chatty lately. Work and life has gotten very busy. In some ways that are very good and some ways that could always be much better. Today, I am ending the silence and am back on my blogging track. And now that I'm back on track, I'd like to talk about Pinterest. Oh how I love pinterest. If you haven't checked it out, do so as soon as you possibly can. It is another way to spend hours and hours distracted by the internet while not getting anything done in any productive way. The general idea behind pinterest is to collect ideas, recipes, things you might like or want to try or favorite and have them on virtual pin boards all in one place. I find it to be a wonderful way to find inspiration for sewing, quilting and cooking. Here are some of my favorite pins this week!

Half Square Triangle Tutorial  ( I have big plans for this)

Make up Bag Tutorial

Matryoshka Doll Ornament

Double Potholder

Prairie Paisley Patchwork Tablerunner

Happy Pinning!

Scrappy Christmas Fun

  

I'm constantly looking at fantastic tutorials where people make beautiful quilts out of the millions of scraps they have saved. To be honest, all I've done with my scraps is shoved them into a bin and pushed them under my cutting table.... GASP....I know!  Recently I came across this panel and ironically enough I have tons of scraps from this line. It was the first fabric I made a quilt from, Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas. As you can see above I started to just add a border UNTIL, I remembered all of those lovely 12 Days of Christmas scraps! Stay tuned to see what all of this becomes :)!

Compartment Living

My nephews have dubbed my lovely little one bedroom co-op as a compartment. I laugh when I hear it because it makes people conjure up images of me sleeping in a glove compartment. For the most part I heart my compartment. I have put a lot of time and effort into making it a home. Most quilters/sewers will sympathize with my difficulty in compartment living. SPACE. One bedroom...no sewing room. Months ago I converted my walk in closet into a little workspace. The problem with space? my stash is growing.  I keep fabric....

here

here

 here

 here

and now after going through all of those horrible books you are forced to buy when you take masters degree courses and though the instructor insists you'll use it in your career, you NEVER do! But when you donate them TA DA....you end up with plenty more space for your stash!

Stuck in a Three Way

Lately I have noticed a pattern. A pattern in my quilting. It seems I am always stuck in a three way. Inadvertently, I am always working on three projects at once. This is so unlike me. I'm more of one quilt kind a gal. Lately, I'm in a three way and I have to pat myself on the back because I have noticed that it is a highly fair and diplomatic three way. 

These are the participants. Let me introduce them and explain how fair I am.

 Participant #1: A quilt being bound to donate. ( I have been trying my hardest to constantly work on quilts for Project Linus)

Participant #2: A quilt, drum roll please, FOR ME! This beautiful quilt I'm sad to say is not my design. You can find out all about it here at Waterwheel House Quilt Shop. It is the design of Shelley Sas.

Participant #3: My design, Five Little Pumpkins, just in time for Halloween. It is being bound in order to sell it here in Stitch Witch Fine Quilting (my shop).

The Fabric

I'm staying up late each night for two very important reason. The first to watch the olympics, I'm always amazed by the gymnasts and the divers. The second reason is I'm trying to finish all outstanding projects so that I may begin projects with my new fabric guilt free. Yes, I too get that guilty feeling from putting a project aside to work on something new. But you could hardly resist, check out the fabric I bought on my trip to Manchester. 

From Waterwheel House Quilt Shop

Penelope from Lakehouse

Kaffe Fassett fat quarters, can you tell something rainbow order is going to be in the works?

From Country Treasures 

 Deco Delight by Fabric Freedom

 Deb Strain Give Thanks by Moda

Skaters Village from Windham Fabrics

As you can see I have a lot to work with and on and MANY outstanding projects to finish!

Manchester Revisited

 Last summer, I decided to visit a quilting buddy (I've known her since kindergarten and thanks to Facebook have discovered we both have a passion for quilting). The trip was SO WONDERFUL that I decided to make it a yearly event. Hence, Manchester revisited. For two days, I spoil myself and stay at a beautiful inn, eat phenomenal meals, laugh with a wonderful friend and spend way too much money on fabric (the shops up there are amazing).

The view on the ride from New York to Vermont never disappoints!

The Inn at Manchester is so beautiful and the owners/innkeepers are so warm and welcoming!

From the front porch to the beautiful bedrooms it is such a treat to stay here! The fun didn't stop here. 

I finally got to meet these wonderful and sweet boys when my friend Laura and her husband took us all on a kayaking adventure! They were too cute and too funny!


Stand by for the fabric.....