My Sweet Charli workings...

I am excited to report much progress on my current quilt. I've started this quilt a little while back as a quilt specifically made for my Goddaughter, I even made a matching pillowcase!

I am following the apple carte quilt pattern exactly and so far it is working out wonderfully. I have all of the quilt blocks pieced, and I have pieced almost the entire quilt top. It is at the point where I just have to piece the rows together.

This is definitely one of my favorite prints from Tula Pink's collection. I just love the sea foam-y aqua color. 

 

I have to bust a move on this quilt, as it needs to be finished and ready for Germany by next Thursday. No pressure, right? 

 

I also am going to try to make some Christmas cookies this year. As part of my shower gift, my Aunt gave me lots of family recipes in a binder and there are quite a few cookie recipes in there that I must try. I'll try to share some pictures if I don't eat them all immediately. 

Are you making any Christmas cookies this year? Any good recipes to share? 

Holler! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I don't know about you, but I am sooooo unbelievably excited for the feasting that is upon us all. What do you guys eat for the holiday? A traditional Thanksgiving meal?

I am actually celebrating Thanksgiving at an Aunt's house for the first time and I have no idea what to expect. The food there is always fantastic and my aunt is quite the hostess, so I'm sure it will be amazing. 

Then, on Sunday I will be cooking a second Thanksgiving meal for another sect of my family. There are going to be between 12-15 people. It will be the 2nd Thanksgiving that I'll cook, so I still consider myself a newbie. Here is the menu, pretty standard items mostly:

• Turkey! I am following an America's Test Kitchen turkey recipe this year for the most moist turkey ever.
• Gravy, duh, I know.. Considering last year when I cooked I felt like the gravy was the most frantic thing that I've ever cooked. Then when I think back to all of my Thanksgivings, gravy is wicked frantic for everyone. So. Given that, I am making my graving the day before by using 5 pounds of turkey wings and some giblets and such and then just re-heating it on Thanksgiving Day. I hope it works.I just hate being that frantic and I want to be able to spend time with my guests!
• Cranberry sauce. I loooove cranberry sauce. 
• Buttery rolls in our bread maker.
• Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Mashed potatoes probably loaded with butter.
• Sauteed peas and onions.
• For Dessert --- Pumpkin Trifle! I made it at my housewarming party and it was seriously outstanding. Outstanding! Maybe I'll share the recipe with you. 

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is for sure the leftovers. I CANNOT WAIT to have a turkey mashed potato and gravy sandwich at work on Monday. Woohoo!!

Ok everyone, have an amazing Thanksgiving with your friends and family

Craft Room Progress & Giveaway Winner

Welcome to my craft room (in progress). 


I finally have everything unpacked and put away. Well, let's be honest, it's not really put away, it is more like ... put somewhere. 

 (view from upstairs hallway)

 (my worktable)

Here is most of my fabric stash. The very top row is all of my fabric that is either reserved for another project or not quilting cotton. I have an old bridesmaids dress, some linens, home decor weight, and a pair of jeans. All of my quilting cotton is organized by color, obviously. I am clearly low on red, orange, and purple. 

This section of bookcases has more sewing/quilting stuff on it. The top shelf is reserved Heather Ross Far Far Away II fabric that I am hoarding, followed by the fabric for the My Sweet Charli quilt that I have been working on. The second shelf from the top is my Anna Maria Horner shelf because I am her #1 Fan. The 3rd shelf there is my Famer's Wife Quilt-a-long shelf with all the fabrics that I have reserved for that there. The other shelves are miscellaneous quilting/sewing crap that is in desperate need of organization.

 

This set of bookcases houses my entire yarn stash and collection of knitting needs and crochet hooks. Oh, and the top shelf is apparently where I store the 16 birdcages that I bought at Michaels one day. Woops. Impulsive much?

Although this set of bookcases doesn't look particularly organized, I at least started. The top shelf is all of my scrapbooking goodies. Down from there is my jewelry shelf, embroidery, notebooks/cards (really? An entire shelf for notebooks and cards?), then a bookshelf, then a shelf for my gocco and its supplies, and lastly a totally miscellaneous shelf. 
 

My window. Thank God I have a window in the room. I am pretty sure that I'd go nuts without one. Also, apparently that's my shelf for wrapping paper. 

My blank wall with only the ironing board. Very exciting, I know.

Ooo and my closet. It isn't really a full closet because it has a staircase which leads to the attic, but it certainly has enough space for my extra crap.
 

Now that I've shown you my messy crafting room, I absolutely have to get it tidied up over the next year. I am getting a great feel for where I want things and stuff like that, so this will be fun!

Ok. Now to that GIVEAWAY WINNER! The winner is Kimberly who had like 11 entries into the contest because she linked my blog to her blog post. I would have been shocked if Random.org didn't select her. Wooo hoo! Hey Kim, check your e-mail!

Thanks for entering, everyone.

Holler!