sorry

I've been absent for a while, sorry about that. I never, ever get sick - hubby got swine flu while that was going around and I didn't even get the sniffles. I haven't been notably sick since sometime in high school.

Until this week.

I took my first sick day off of work last Friday after only making it in for a half-day on Thursday. I left early yesterday. Some crazy sinus infection that's now turned into a barking cough.

Bleck.

The lamest part is that I had all that free time and didn't get ANY sewing done. My brain's been foggy from not sleeping well. I did, however, watch two and a half seasons of Mad Men. Mmmm.

Anyway, hopefully your regularly scheduled programming will return shortly.

Remembering

If you look at my feets under my sewing table (formerly known as my dining room table), this is usually what you'll see.

If you read my blog, you'll see the title "Hope Sewing is Genetic."

Yes, the two are linked together, and I'm going somewhere with this, I promise!

My blog title refers to my grandmother, who was an expert in all things crafty, it seemed - she sewed tiny Barbie clothes and clothes for me as a child; everyone in my family has an afghan she made; she tried to teach me crochet and counted cross-stitch when I was a kid, but I didn't quite have the patience for it yet. Check out photos of a sweater and the afghans that she made me here.

My grandfather had his own sorts of crafts, too - he did all kinds of woodworking, including making very detailed dollhouses for the ladies of the family, and later would do all kinds of painting (I see another blog post in all these things, don't worry).

Anyway, back to my blog. When I started looking for a hobby a year and a half or so ago, I decided on sewing because, well, I've got such a great family history of doing it, and hopefully it's written on my genes.

Now the slippers (we're coming back around!).

My grandmother wore slippers like this. My dad wears them, too. I saw them at Target not long after I started quilting and knew I had to have them...for sewing in. I do wear them at other times, but I almost always wear them when I sew (except when it's 100 degrees out over the summer, because, well, the fuzz is a little hot n' sweaty then!).

So there ya go. Another little sewing quirk. Do you have any of those? Perhaps a chant you perform before starting a new free-motion quilting project, or a totem that has to be nearby when you start on HSTs? ;)

Fugly winner!

Alright alright, I told myself that I'd wait until noon Pacific time to draw the winner, but, um, I'm impatient and pretty excited to find out who won and where I'm sending this stuff!

Winner of the fugly fabric:

Is lucky number 7, Kathy, who blogs at Kathy's Quilting Blog!

And winner of the Fabric Painting book is #15, Kristi, who blogs at My Ponderings, rambling, and other various thoughts!

Congratulations, ladies! I'll be emailing you for your addresses shortly. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and wow am I excited to have so many new followers! I look forward to doing another giveaway at 100! ;)

Finish-a-long progress

I've made a bunch of progress and finished up three of the items on my Q1 finish-a-long list! I posted one f hte finishes the other day - it was the first quilt I sold. :)

Here is another of the ones I've finished for the finish-a-long. I started it sometime last fall and it was supposed to be done for Christmas.

Christmas, February 10th, they're pretty close. Who's counting?

It's a child sized ticker tape quilt - full of boy things like dinosaurs, puppies, elephants, lions, and a few trucks thrown in for good measure. For information on how to make a ticker tape quilt, check out Rachel's Bottled Rainbows project at Stitched in Color. (Check out her blog anyway, since it's pretty awesome).

Detail of the front and back. The back is all dinosaurs and snakes and turtles - icky boy things. ;)

A close up of some of the bits I used. I bought a box of scraps off Etsy that really helped with this. I probably have enough to make another one like this.

I think that every quilt comes with a lesson. The lesson from this one? When making a ticker tape quilt like this (one that doesn't really require too much precision), use safety pins instead of straight pins to keep the "ticker tapes" on while you're sewing them on! I was stuck with a LOT of pins while working on this one!

We delivered this to our friend Kerra and her youngest boy yesterday. I gave her another quilt for Christmas, for her youngest daughter. She has two more little ones to go (the next one's already on my UFO/WIP list for the finish-a-long, too - whoops!), plus one for her of course (which is already done!).

I hope everyone is having a productive weekend, too! :)

Edited 3/29/12: This is my first of three finishes for the Finish-A-Long hosted by Quilter in the Gap! :D First quarter to-do list can be viewed here.

WIP Wednesday - fugly edition

(linking up with Freshly Pieced for W.i.P Wednesday)

In honor of the Fugly Fabric Giveaway hosted by Charm About You (click here to find MY offerings!) I decided to whip out my fugly WIPs.

No, I don't ever intend to finish them. Don't worry.

Up first is, literally, a mishmash of all the ugliest fabrics that came in a fat quarter lot (which I got ridiculously cheap, I can't imagine why!?!?) on eBay. Note my terrible attempts at HSTs, back when I didn't realize that using an iron that was too hot would screw up fabric and before I knew what squaring up a HST was.

Keep in mind, also, that this was started about a year ago! What a long way I've come (I hope, anyway). Overall it's roughly, um...lap sized. If you have a lap that needs to be covered by something fugly.

Don't those fruits look delicious? Not. Also note my failure to follow my own made up pattern.

Then there's this. I'm not sure what it is. It's maybe a bit bigger than mini sized, and this was fabric from a lot of 3" charm squares, also from eBay. Not sure what I was thinking here, either, but I do like some of the combinations...

Like the one on the left here. The one on the right? Chunks of dalmations and cat bodies. No idea.

Just to reassure you, no,  I have no intention of finishing either of them...though I'm not sure what I will do. They're sort of quilt tops, and they definitely demonstrate my learning process! Any ideas what i should do??

Fugly Fabric Giveaway!

Welcome to my contribution to the first ever Fugly Fabric Giveaway - and, well, my first ever giveaway at all! I fell in love with the idea of the fugly fabric giveaway when I first heard about it - because who hasn't gotten fabric and thought, "My gosh. Whoever thought THAT was a good idea?" ...and then somehow found it in your stash? Whoops.

This is perhaps not exactly the best giveaway to start with, is it? "Here, take all my crap, and hopefully stay a while and read about the things I do with fabric I actually like." Hrm.

Oh well. Anyway, here you go - in all their glory, here is a 16 fat quarter bundle (give or take, anyway - after all, it's fugly, which means it's not exactly the best...right?) full of fug. Fugliness? I don't know, I like fug. They're all from lots I purchased on eBay, all cotton, and all fug all the time. Fug fug fug. I just like that.

You see some batiks in there, but mostly tone-on-tone prints that, um, just aren't me. But hopefully they're you!

Also up for grabs is this fugly book. It was a prize in a contest - not the prize I actually won, but it was the one I was sent. Seeing as I already have enough hobbies without undertaking this one, well, here it is, another fugly prize for you all. I present to you Fabric Painting with Cindy Walter.

You each have two chances to win - as if you want any chances at all, right? Hah!

Note: You must be a follower to enter and win!

Chance 1: Leave a comment - perhaps tell me about your fugliest fabric, the fugliest thing you've ever made, or maybe what you'd do with this fugly fabric.

Chance 2: Spread the word! Tag me on Twitter (@stephmabry) and tweet about it, post it on your blog, pin this, somethin'. Leave another comment with a link back to where I can find the word-spreading.

So there you have it! Fabric that's full of fug and a giveaway that's full of fun. I hope. :)

I'll be using good ol' Mr. Random to choose a winner on Monday, February 13th. That gives you all week to follow, spread the word, enter to win, and maybe give away some of your own fugly fabric. Check back at Charm About You for more linky fun!

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to winners Kathy and Kristi!

First Sale!

So as I posted yesterday in a fit of excitement, I sold my first quilt on Friday! Wow!

I had taken another finish (which I haven't blogged about yet) in to work on Thursday just to show off - the gals in the office know I quilt, but I hadn't taken in anything to show them in quite a while. Everyone oohed and aahed over it, and there was a teensy bit of interest from a couple people about possibly buying one, so I figured the next one I took in should be one that didn't already have a destination in mind...so that's what I did. :)

Yup, that's my silly face peeking out over the top. :) It's basically a jelly roll race quilt that actually started out as being the other half of the very first quilt I actually finished (which you can read about here). I backed it with some flannel remnants from Joann. It's child sized, probably 50 by 40.

To be completely honest, I started out not really liking this quilt top very much, which is why it sat on my WIP shelf for a few months (or seven...but who's counting). I picked the bright blue solid as binding, though, and it just seems to make the whole thing really pop. I'm SO pleased with how it turned out!

Anyway, back to the sale story, I took this quilt in on Friday to show off and hopefully sell - a coworker of mine thought I should bring in one that was girly so that I could hopefully sell it to my boss, who has a two year old granddaughter he totally adores... And yup, that's who bought it!

...for $60! Not a huge profit or anything, but it definitely paid for, um, at least most of my trip to Joann yesterday for more fabric. ;)

Have you sold anything you've made? Does my price seem reasonable? (He accepted the price, so I guess it isn't a bad offer, right? haha!)

**Also! Tomorrow is Fugly Fabric Day and I *will* be having a giveaway - make sure you're a follower so you don't miss the chance to win fugly fabric OR a fugly book!!**

Edited 3/29/12: Linking up to Quilter in the Gap for the Finish-A-Long drawing. This was part of my Q1 Goal list, found here!

Sold!

Great news! I sold a quilt!!!

Pictures to come tomorrow, but I'm super excited and had to share!