Thrifty Finds and a Book Giveaway

Yesterday was a nice and much needed rainy day, so Isaiah and I headed off to the thrift store. It was slim pickings around the store until I hit the craft area and found some yarn. There were two huge bags stuffed with yarn. Usually the yarn found at the thrift store is stuff that I'd rather not knit with, but upon further inspection, I noticed one of the bags had two balls of Debbie Bliss cotton. I'm sure you can imagine my excitement. I quickly threw the two bags into my cart, knowing they were a deal at $3.95 and $1.95 a bag. Seriously. The Debbie Bliss yarn still had the price tags on them, $6.50 for each ball!

Anyway, there were some other good yarns in there two. Some Encore, which I think will be perfect for a sweater for Isaiah. And this pretty green yarn, which feels like wool, but I'm not completely sure. I'm wondering if it would be good sock yarn. I'm really wanting to try to knit a pair. All in all, there were 14 skeins/balls of yarn for $6.00. Now I just need some suggestions on what to knit, after I finish knitting my Rusted Root, of course. Something quick, easy, and satisfying. I only wish I were prolific as some knitters I know.

I also picked up some new books for Isaiah, as is our habit every time we go. It's my go to distraction for him while I shop. There were two bags of books by Rigby Mathematics and they seemed interesting, so I figured I'd give them a go for .80 each. What I didn't realize, however, was that there were 4 copies of each of the 4 books. I obviously don't need that many, so I thought I'd give them away to whoever wants them. They're thin paperback books, written by math professors. They have a rhyme to them with numbers. I think they'd be perfect for kids who are learning to count, or even beginning readers. Isaiah has been enjoying them, but I do think they'd also be good for kindergarteners , whom I think they are really aimed at. They might also be a good addition to homeschooling. I have 3 sets to give away, each containing four books : Fish for Supper, Penny Penguin's Party, Birds, Birds, Everywhere, and The Queen of Hearts. Just leave a comment if you're interested, and I'll pick three people on Monday. I'm going to limit this to U.S. and Canada for shipping reasons. Have a nice weekend everyone!

grapes.

My mother in law came over Saturday with a huge bundle of concord grapes in hand. She figured I would do something with them because they are not entirely edible off the vine. I instantly remembered that I had seen something on the food network about making grape pie. I was intrigued and this gave me the perfect opportunity to try it out. So I popped grapes, simmered them, pressed them through a sieve, dumped them into a pie crust, and in 40 minutes we had a delicious pie that came from picked only hours before. Of course, there are no pictures of the pie because it didn't last long. I loosely based my recipe on this one.

Luckily, there were tons of grapes left over and my little assistant loved popping them out of the skins, full of deep belly laughs. While he napped, they were made into a delicious jam. Only problem is, we have one jar. Hopefully nana can pass on some more grapes. Isaiah thoroughly enjoyed the process. Perfect for little fingers that don't mind getting dirty.

Hello again.

ever notice how hard it is to take a picture of a curtain??

There's been a lot and nothing going on at the same time around here. Does that ever happen to you? John started his 2nd round of chemo on thursday and is now sporting the bald look. As I was shaving his hair, I remembered how good he actually looks without hair. I'm sure that I would not look so good without mine. We also had some good news on John's progress. I won't go into details (you can read them here if you want to), but we're happy with how things are going. Anyway, we had two days without Isaiah before his chemo started again. We were able to have a nice date night out together, dinner and a movie (Tropic Thunder, hilarious!), which we haven't done in a long while. I was also able to fit in some sewing. We've been in our house almost 2 years and I still haven't put up curtains in Isaiah's room. It wasn't really a problem until Isaiah started sleeping in a toddler bed. Now, every morning, he wakes us up with "It's not dark outside anymore. I ready to go downstairs." Every morning. This morning I was trying to explain to him that even though it's light outside does not mean it's time for everyone to wake up. It was really no use.

Anyway, he now has one shade in his room. I opted to go for a little bit more of a tedious patchwork pattern, because I obviously like to create more work for myself. I used blackout shade fabric for the backing which was a bit tricky to work with. Although I'm not sure if it was the blackout fabric or the combination of using it with linen. Whatever it was, there was a lot of slipping and stopping to readjust everything. I'm happy with the way it came out, although I could have made it a little bit wider. A little bit of light shows through each side. I'm just dreading having to make a second one now! At least Isaiah likes them. He said "those look cool mama." I'm glad he appreciates the effort.

More Dear Baby Janes

This past week I have been feverishly trying to catch up on my Dear Baby Jane blocks. I fell very, very behind and some of those blocks are very time consuming! So far, I think this one is my favorite.

I thought it would be harder, but it turned out to be pretty simple. I finished up 19 blocks and have only (I think) 4 left. Two of those are already in progress. This one is already cut out, but it is giving me a lot of trouble. I had to put it down and give it a break. Hopefully this weekend I can catch up on the last of the blocks. I have been trying to save the appliqué ones for Olympic watching at night. It keeps me busy so that I'm not falling asleep. I hate that these events are on so late. It's really ruining my sleep schedule! In other exciting news, my sister is moving down here tomorrow from NY and I couldn't be happier. Her move just happens to be perfect timing with all that's going on in my life. My parents will also be helping move her in along with some other family that is in town for the weekend too. I had the brilliant idea to have a family Olympics tomorrow night, so stay tuned for the hilarity that will surely ensue. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Doll Quilt Received!

Today was an exciting mail day. I was opening packages for the swap I am hosting, and as I was opening one, I realized it wasn't for that swap, but it was my Doll Quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap. What a great surprise! I knew some had already started going out, but I honestly wasn't even thinking that mine was on its way!

Isn't it gorgeous?? It's from Leah, who has a beautiful blog and makes some incredible things. The colors are just beautiful and match my bedroom wall perfectly. My MIL was here when I opened it, and she said "how did she know what colors your walls are?" I don't know how, but I do know that I'll enjoy looking at it every time I am in bed. So, thank you, Leah. I love it! (you can see leah's photos of it here )

Oh, and is anyone else enjoying the Olympics as much as I am!??! That 4 x 100m race was crazy awesome last night!!

Doll Quilt and some other stuff

Yesterday, I took advantage of being kidless and finally finished up my doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap 4. I had a hard time deciding how to precede after reading all of your feedback the last time I posted about it. In the end, I decided to just use both the white and black and I love the effect that it gives. The piecing on the edges were done on John's advice, who really liked the look. I really hope that my partner likes it. Hopefully I can get it in the mail tomorrow.

Isaiah stayed with John's parents yesterday and he'll be staying with them again tonight. It's giving me a good opportunity to get some things done around the house, things that would probably be undone in a matter of seconds with Isaiah around (you know, like cleaning up the living room). I wanted to thank you all for your comments on the last post. A little bit of an update: John just finished his first round of chemo on tuesday. We found out that if loses his health insurance, that the Leukemia and Lymphoma society can pay for it. That's a big relief. On the job front, I'm still looking. I have a B.S. in Chemistry, but have never used it. I basically got married right out of college and then had Isaiah pretty shortly after. We'll see what comes my way.

I've received several e-mails about donating bone marrow, and I wanted to pass along the info if you are interested in being a donor. John is adopted, so we are relying on the bone marrow donor registry. You can go here for more info on becoming a donor. If you do sign-up, please let us know because it would mean the world to us and we would want to properly thank you.

Also, a quick thank you to an anonymous person who sent us a dinner gift certificate in the mail. I would have thanked you privately, but since there was no name, this only seems appropriate to thank you here. So, thank you, thank you, we really appreciate your kind gesture.

Pheew, that was sure a long post. Now John can stop bothering me about not posting all week :). Hope you all have a good weekend. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful one here!

Unexpected

John has his PET scan yesterday and it revealed some findings that the doctors totally did not expect. They found some signs that the disease had spread to two other parts of his body. So he is unable to undergo radiation following the chemo as planned. Instead, he will undergo at least 4 rounds of chemo followed by a bone marrow transplant. Yesterday we were just flooded with information and everything is so overwhelming. They can't even give us statistics on how well they think this will work because John's lymphoma is very rare and unusual, with basically no literature or other studies like his. At the beginning of each chemo cycle, he spends the night in the hospital to receive one of the drugs through a 12 hour drip. He did this last night and I spoke to him this morning. He said he is feeling o.k. now, but woke up with chills followed by a fever early this morning. He'll then have a 96 hr infusion of chemo this weekend, which is the same as he had last time he went through this. At least it's a little comical that he has to carry around the chemo in a fanny pack. He's definitely not the fanny pack type.

Anyway, we thought that he may be able to work during radiation, but with this development, he'll most definitely have to take a leave from work. I'm hoping that we'll be able to maintain his health insurance and other benefits while he undergoes this. In the meantime, I'm job hunting, but I have no idea what I'll do, seeing as I haven't worked in 3 years. I know we are very supported by friends and family, but there is just a feeling of helplessness I can't shake.

So, that's the update. I'm sure John will be updating his page from his perspective once he's home and rested. Thanks to everyone who's been sending e-mails and well wishes our way. W really, really appreciate it.

More DBJs

I've spent the last couple of days trying to catch up on my Dear Baby Jane Blocks. I am very, very far behind (like 15 out of 40 something), but I made a lot of progress this weekend. I really enjoy the paper piecing ones, but the appliqué has been giving me a really hard time. The great thing about this quilt is that it really helps you practice all sorts of techniques and I have been learning little by little. I also followed this tutorial by Anina to make my own little quilt picture and I am in love with doing it. It's so fun to see my progress. Also, it'll help me plan a little better. I wasn't really keeping track of which colors I was using for each block and as a consequence I have a lot of groupings of colors. Also, I was wondering if anyone had any more red or aqua fabrics to swap. I have plenty of fabrics to swap, or some vintage sheets. E-mail me if you're interested katiebhandbags@gmail.com . Now, I'm off to order some more background fabric. I definitely didn't get enough!

Thank you

Hi Friends,

It's been a rough couple of days, but we're doing o.k. over here. The laughs and smiles have not faded completely, and I know that these will get us through the rough times ahead. I, of course, wanted to thank you for all your support and prayers. They really do mean a lot to John and I, and I have read each several times. I wanted to share with you John's page. He is planning on keeping it up to date, but will be dependent on how well he is feeling once he starts treatment. You can go here and read it if you are interested.

I also wanted to mention that I have added some new things to my sidebar. There are some new widgets (what a weird word), from amazon and goolge Adsense. I never considering adding these before, but with this round of treatment, John will be taking leave from work and I am trying to make a little money here and there. I am only mentioning it because I don't want any of my readers to be upset or offended that I am adding it. Once John is back to work, I will in most likelihood remove it. I am not even sure if it'll even amount to anything, but we'll see.

Anyway, again thank you for everything. I'll be returning with some crafty things this week. I swear nothing cures the soul better than sewing.

ugh

Right now I can't even think of the right words to express how I'm feeling. Today, John had his 6 month check-up and after having such a good report last time, we found out that the tumor is growing again. There will be more chemo followed by radiation treatment. The doctors are optimistic in treating it this way, so we feel very positive about that. Tomorrow he will have a biopsy on the tumor, followed by several other tests next week. He'll start chemo at the end of next week. Last time, he had 6 treatments, this time he will have either 2 or 3 (followed by the radiation). It is unimaginable that this is happening again, but these are the cards we have been dealt and I plan to help John fight this in any way I can. So, if I am sparse around these parts, this is reason. Although John has ordered me to continue to sew and he understands it as therapy for me. I think John is planning to document this round on a separate blog of his own, and I will be sure to share it with you when he starts it. I know many of you will offer kind words of support and prayers and I just want to thank you all in advance. You all had a part in us healing last time and I know this time will be no different. Thank you, friends.

Doll Quilt Swap sneak peek and advice needed

Between finishing my zig-zag quilt and working on my Doll Quilt Swap quilt, I have quilting on the brain. I have a lot of old quilting books and there are so many ideas floating through my head. I started on my doll quilt a few nights ago after finally narrowing down my options. I ended up choosing a kaleidescope pattern which was inspired by an old quilt I had seen called a "strip circle." I really love how these blocks came out, but now I'm not sure if I want to remove the white corners and replace it with all black.

What do you think? I keep going back and forth and I just can't decide. I think the black makes the colors pop, but I also like the contrast the white brings.

It's really a sewing dilemma. Hopefully you guys will have some insight. I need it!

Zig-Zag Quilt

Sewing on my new machine has been nothing but amazing. I really love how smooth it is and its nice even stitches, both something my old machine was lacking. I had started this quilt at the beginning of July, hoping that I'd be able to finish it in time for my SILs 30th birthday. I greatly overestimated how fast I could put it all together and add that to broken sewing machine situation, and it sat out for a while before I bought my new Bernina. I finally finished it this morning and I have to say I wish that I weren't giving it as a gift. But, I know she'll really enjoy it so it is worth it in the end. The pattern, the zig-zag quilt, is from Denyse Schmidt's book, but I think it's a pretty standard pattern.

It's obvious that I didn't sew the seam allowance exactly because there are absolutely not points in the zig-zags. Oh well, I still really love how it came out. And for some reason, I really thought quilting zig-zags would be really easy, but let me assure you, having to stop and start at all those points was a pain in the butt.

I decided to use the cream for the rest of the quilt because I ran out of the chocolate brown solid. I was hoping that they would have the same color at Joann's, but they didn't, so cream was the next best option. I actually like this a lot because it makes the binding stand out. This was also my first time using bamboo batting and I can only say good things about it. It is soft but not too fluffy and gives the blanket a really nice feel. I haven't washed it yet, so I suppose that'll be the final test.

There are some more pictures on my flickr, if you're interested. There will be a lot more sewing posts this week. My sewing machine and I have been busy!

Sheet Goodness

I've been waiting patiently all week for this box to arrive on my doorstep. I could hardly contain my excitement when I went to check to the mail today and it was there! These are the FQs I received from the Vintage Sheet Patchwork Swap.

I'm not sure how many exactly there are, but there's probably about 40. I can't remember how many I sent. Anyway, I can't wait to put these to good use. Any ideas on what to make? I'm thinking there might be a quilt, but I'm not sure what else. And didn't Elizabeth do such a cute job of packing these up? She was quite the hostess, there were 72 swappers and over 2,300 FQs for her to sort through. Crazy, right? Thank you, Elizabeth!

Tonight's Plan

Finishing up this super late birthday present

and gearing up for a new season of Project Runway. Could the night get any better?!?!

Hooray!

Yesterday I took a trip to G-Street Fabrics and met up with a very bad influence, Stephanie. It took me a while to decide, but I ended up coming home with a brand new sewing machine!! I was nervous to bring it home to John, but he was nothing but supportive of my new baby.

It was a great deal too, 35% off (originally $1099, on sale for $699). I think the only stipulation of me keeping it, is that I have to sew my little butt off. I still am feeling a little guilt for spending so much money, but it was such a good deal that I couldn't pass it up. It is really nice to have a new machine and I am just dying to hone my free motion quilting skills. Stephanie and I tried to yesterday at the store and it was a lot harder than it looked! I worked on a very belated gift for my SIL today and I have to say that I really like sewing on this.

A little side note : if you are participating in the swap, I sent out e-mails today. If you didn't get one, please send me an e-mail at seekatieswap@gmail.com

Sweet Finds

A few weeks ago, I discovered a new thrift store near my house. I knew it existed, but since I avoid driving on the beltway, I waited until the perfect opportunity arose to explore. My parents and sister came to visit, and they're just the type of people that appreciate such places (unlike some, John...) To my surprise, we found that it is not one, but two thrift stores together, in the same building. What a find! I didn't pick up much, as I'm trying to limit the amount of crap treasures I'm bringing into the house. Anyway, I was very excited to find a huge bag of vintage fabrics. Usually I have to question what the people are putting together in the bags. More often than not, I end up bringing home 5 ugly pieces for just 1 good piece of fabric. But this bag was different. It was filled with all these fabrics, most of them more than likely being vintage. Only one has something printed on the selvedge, which I'm having a hard time reading. This bunch is my favorite. I'm hoping to use these for my doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap.

And don't forget. There's still time to sign-up for the fabric/sheet swap. You never know, you might get one of these vintage fabircs ;)

Just a reminder...

Sign-ups for the Vintage Sheet & Fabric Square Swap end tomorrow. If you're interested in participating, please e-mail me at seekatieswap@gmail.com . I'll be back tomorrow to show off some thrifted, vintage finds!

Vintage Sheet/Fabric Charm Square Swap Sign-Ups

It looks like enough of you are interested in a swap, so here are the details :

You will be put together in groups of 11, with one person being the swap mama. Each of you will choose 20 different fabrics and cut 10 6" squares from each fabric. These 200 squares will be sent to your swap mama, who will organize all the squares and send them back out to the members of the group. You will also enclose return postage for the box back to you. For this swap, you may choose to send vintage sheets or fabric squares. If you have a major preference over which one, please note that in your sign-up and I will try to organize the groups accordingly however best I can.

Sign-ups will end July 11th. Send outs will be by August 18th.

If you'd like to join, please send an e-mail to seekatieswap@gmail.com with the following:

Name:
Address:
Blog/Flickr:
preference for sheets or fabric

Sheet Square Swap

If you're interested in participating in a Sheet Square Swap (or maybe just a fabric square swap, or both), please leave a comment on this post so I can get an idea if enough people are interested. If there's more than 10 people, I'd need to know if anyone else would be willing to be a "swap mama". Here's how the swap would work:

A group would consist of 11 people (10 + 1 swap mama). Each person in the group would choose 20 fabrics (or sheets) and cut 10 6" squares of each fabric. That would amount to a total of 200 squares. You send your squares to your swap mama, and she in turn, organizes and assembles the 200 squares for each member and sends them out. Last year I did this same swap but we did 500 squares. I loved getting all those fabrics, but it was definitely a lot of cutting. I think 20 is much more manageable.

Please note that this is NOT a sign up for the swap. I just want to get an idea of how many people are interested. If enough are interested, I'll have sign-ups close sometime next week and mail out deadlines at the end of July/ beginning of august. If you are interested, please let me know the following:
would you be interested in swapping vintage sheets or fabrics, or both?
Is 20 different fabrics too much or just right?
Are you interested in being a "swap mama"?

Thanks!

Spoonflower!

I was totally psyched when my invitation for Spoonflower came a few weeks ago. I'm sure all of you have heard about it by now, but for those who haven't, it's this awesome new website that allows you to design and have your own fabric printed. I immediately started drawing and trying to think of designs. I have to give a lot of credit to those that design entire lines of fabric because it is quite challenging (well at least for me!) Anyway, when I finally decided on a drawing, I took a picture and played around with it in Gimp. I'm no computer expert and exploring Gimp was a lot of fun and easy. It's a free computer program similar to Adobe Photoshop. When I was done, I ordered a FQ of my design and I impatiently waited for it to get here. When it came, it was nicely wrapped with a wonderful handwritten note. There would have been pictures of that too, had I not ripped into the package. I'm sure you would have done the same thing ;) So, It came out pretty well, although I do wish that I had payed attention to the scale markers on their website. It would have been better had it been a smaller repeat pattern.

I'm not sure if I'll order more of this. I am, however, looking forward to creating more designs. I am so excited for this website and I can't wait to see how it evolves. It would be great if you could eventually buy other designer's fabrics. As it stands right now, the cost to print your own fabric would not be really cost effective to sell by the yard. But we'll see. The website is only in its beginning stages and I've read a lot of other great raves and reviews on it.