Owls!

Ok, so it all started when I noticed that Dallas left me a comment. I clicked over to her site, and ohmygoodness there was an owl swap that I didn't know about! And then I noticed her owl scarf that she received (gorgeous), and then I clicked over to flickr to try to find the pattern. And of course, MORE owls. And here is the result of my owl hunting:

1. advanced wriggling, 2. owl, 3. owl cushion, 4. Owl #4, 5. owlpillow, 6. Olwen the Owl with Patchwork Quilted Belly, 7. owl quilt back, 8. bound, 9. Orlando the Horned Owl

In any case, Dallas' site is GORGEOUS, and I ordered a owl quilt pattern online today. I'm so excited for it to come!

(oh and yes, the baby is kinda random, but the quilt behind him is beautiful, and he has a cute owl sweatsuit on!)

S-T-R-E-T-C-H bag

I'm in on Ravelry! I'm so excited. It really is everything I've hoped for. I'm really bad at explaining things, so you should just go check it out. But essentially it's a place online where you can organize your yarn, projects, project queue AND check out other people's finished objects in the yarn that they used. It's great. If you're on Ravelry already, please add me! My username is Lydigann.

But because I'm so excited about Ravelry, I've been running around my house looking for things that I've made to post, and I found an object that I never blogged about. A while back I made a Saturday Market Bag, with Liesl's changes. I believe it might have been when Al Gore's movie came out since it is a reusable grocery bag. It was an easy-peasy project, and super quick too. And stretchy! Now I just have to remember to take it to the grocery store and use it!

Quick Update and Reno Trip

I am so excited because I am #315 in line for Ravelry! Which means I'll probably be getting my invite today... hurray!! So I am almost caught up with my block of the month at the local quilt shop. I've spent all week working on it. I only have the embroidery left to do. And I made a swatch. Except that now I can't decide which needles I like better... both sides of the swatch look good to me!

And just because no one likes posts without photos... here are some from my recent trip to Reno.

New yarn for a new project

Here is the yarn I talked about yesterday from Oceanwind Knits. It's gorgeous. The color is berrijus, and was not what I expected, but I absolutely love it. This will turn into a lace project, but since it's a Christmas present, I'll just leave it as that. :)

Free Vogue Pattern

Ok, quick post today. I was searching the forums on sewing.patternreview.com and I came across a post that said that Vogue is giving a free pattern (you still have to pay for shipping). I believe it's any pattern that's not designer or Marfy. The details are in this link. I am thinking of getting this one:

I'm not sure how long the promotion is for, but there really isn't anything that jumps out at me.

I also got yarn from Oceanwind knits today, it's gorgeous! It's for a Christmas gift. Hopefully I'll be home before the sun goes down so I can take photos for you all...

Embroidery Lesson 4

Oh wow! Thanks everyone for your input to my quilt! Of course everyone has different opinions... I'm leaning toward #3 because it is one of the easier ones and it is more friendly on my limited amount of fabric. Now I just have to actually start it....

Have you ever had one of those weekends where it seems live EVERYONE in blogland has gotten tons of stuff done and you have nothing? It was one of those weekends for me. Here is my homework for Embroidery Lesson 4, finished this morning:

Definitely not a dress I would wear out, but it was fun to do all the french knots and try out all the new stitches. I especially like the herringbone stitch, even though mine turned out super uneven from one side of the dress to the other.

Lookie what I got to help with embroidery! I've really been enjoying the embroidery school at Crafty Daisies, and I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while.....

A light box from Michaels! With a 50% off Labor Day coupon of course.

Simple Quilts are so hard!!

So with making a quilt in mind, I had bought 1 meter of 6 different, coordinating fabrics. Since some of these fabrics are pretty large scale, I wanted to do a simple quilt pattern that would allow you to see the fabrics. Well playing around with Microsoft Photo Editor and Powerpoint (my computer is having trouble running Photoshop) here is what I got.

We'll call this #1. Based on one of Maritza's doll quilts

#2 - Loosely based on the Half Moon Bay quilt I did

#3 - Who doesn't like squares and linen? I guess like looks like another one of Maritza's too!

#4 - similar pattern found here by googling "simple japanese quilt". Actually, I like their original pattern quilt a bit...

#5 added on after I added the link for #4

So what do you think?

Sara is the nicest person ever!!

Here's a bit of advice, if Sara asks if you want to do a swap, you say "YES PLEASE!!!!". Look at all this fun stuff she sent me! And on time too (bad lynn!).

So this photo has so many things! Super cool paper, some cram cream stuff, a MN magnet, embroidery pattern, fabric pushpins, some super cute fabric, an even cuter no-coin wallet, and best of all, a large tote!! How did she know I have been planning on making the Lotta Jansdotter tote since I got the book, but never got around to it? I brought it to work today, and it is FABULOUS.

I love the fabrics too, especially the orange and purple one second from the right. Hurray! Anyway, Sara thank you so much! I am so amazed by everything you sent. I feel like I should send you a supplemental package to what I've already sent! Hopefully you will get your package soon...