Coming Up for Air...

I am soooo sick right now, but I didn't want you all to think that I'd forgotten about you! The past few weeks have been a flurry of paper writing and presentations; I'll be done this semester in about two weeks and I could not be happier about it! Unfortunately, right now was the worst time for me to get sick and I'm trying my best just to stay afloat!

How about a picture of what I made for my most recent swap?

I'm taking part in the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on Flickr and this is the one that I made for my partner. What's a mug rug, you ask? A mug rug is basically a large coaster - it has enough room for both your mug and a little treat like a scone or cookie. I made mine using a combination of linen, Nicey Jane, Dolce, and four prints from three Heather Ross collections - West Hill, Mendocino, and Far Far Away 2. The back is a print from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow and the binding is from Kate Spain`s Verna collection. I also made my partner a coffee cozy and included some fun fabrics that I hope she'll like. I haven`t received my mug rug yet but I`ll show pics as soon as I do!

Okay I'm off, I think I may need to go to bed super-early again tonight (I fell asleep at 8:45 last night). I'm going to try my best to blog at least a few times before the end of the semester, but if you don't hear from me you'll know that I've been buried alive under a mountain of papers and notes - please come and save me!

Some Stitchy Goodness...

There's been a little bit of stitching going on here lately - not as much as I'd like mind you since I'm getting near the end of this semester, but still, a teeny bit is better than nothing!

Here's what I've made lately...

This little mini was made for Amanda of msmcporkchopquilts fame. I embraced the blue and orange craze and used a little Flea Market Fancy and Nicey Jane paired with linen to create this paper-pieced starburst pattern.

The back is one piece of Kelp Forest in Blush from Heather Ross' Mendocino line. I can't remember what the solid is (I think it might be Marcus) but I absolutely love the buttery yellow colour!

Here's an in-progress pic of the hoop for my partner in the Scrappy {Hoops} Swap on Flickr. I decided to go "sketchy" with my hoop, and made it interactive so that the little owl peeks out when you open the door. Since this picture was taken I've added a little smoke coming out of the chimney and a little green around the base of the house. Once this is sent out and I receive my hoop in return, I'll show pictures of this one all finished!

I'm still working on my next Moda Bake Shop project so that's taking up most of my free stitching time, and I've been knitting up a storm too! I really need to figure out a good way of taking pictures of my knitted goods once they're done and, trust me, once I do there will be a whole lotta stuff to show you guys! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend; I need to get back to working on a paper, ack!

Header Revamped and the Giveaway Winners!

Thanks for everyone's comments on the changes I've made here on ye olde blog! There were quite a few comments from people saying that they didn't like the quilt in the new header I put up yesterday, and while I did feel a little sad that people didn't like the quilt (it's my favourite that I've designed), my original intention was to not have the quilt in there and to just have the wall extend out. Unfortunately my graphics skills were just not up to par for splicing in some more wall (the corner of the wall is where the original photo ends), and had thought the quilt would look nice and would give me a chance to display one of my favourites. Here's the header that was up yesterday:

The lovely Norma of Petit Design Co. stepped up though and offered to help me out with that little problem. I sent her the unedited image of the chair and quilts and Norma spliced and diced to create more wall for me to work with. Thanks Norma - you rock! So what do y'all think of the new header (look up, look waayyy up, and I'll call Rusty - hehe, you might need to be Canadian to get that one)? Better?

So I bet everyone wants to know who won the Happy Sew Lucky giveaway right? Well, let me remind you what the prizes were.

 

The winner of the babushka kit is: Jeni of In Color Order

And the winner of the Sweet Angel kit is: Sonia of Third Street Handcrafters

Okay ladies, send me an email and I'll mail off your winnings! Thanks again to Berene of Happy Sew Lucky for donating these awesome little kits! I'll be back soon with some new books I've received and a little craftiness; I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Blog redsign underway!

So I've finally started redesigning the blog, hurray! I definitely need to get a new picture of myself (that one is a bit over two years old), but so far I'm liking the brighter look...and my new header too!

I'd love to know what you guys think (if you're viewing this in a reader, come on over and have a look-see)! Let me know what you like, what you don't like, and if anything is broken!