December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas!!

Since I hate posting without pics, I thought I would share a finished-just-in-time project... 4 new stocking for everyone in the family. The two above are the smaller doggy stockings. Below are the ones I made for my husband and me.
We did have other stockings that I made a few years ago but no names were ever put on them... still not sure why I did that. So since this was our first married Christmas I thought it would be fun to make new ones to last us the rest of our live.
If you are interested in creating your own it was super simple. I followed the pattern on Purl Bee except I quilted the outside fabric with batting. Then I hand embroidered the names with the thicker DMC thread.


I hope you have enjoyed all fun family time. Don't forget to take advantage of the sales tomorrow... great time to restock up that stash!

take care mucho,
-Natalie

December 15, 2009

Christmas Bingo...


The Quilt Shoppe is hosting a great giveaway game. It is a blog Bingo game. There is a fantastic grand prize for the BINGO winner and every day smaller giveaways. This is just such a brilliant idea! I haven't had too much luck, only two out of 14 words so far, but I get so excited as I check first thing in the morning.

OH.... and they have some discounts on some days, so quickly head over to their blog In Stitches so that you can shop with out too much guilt... um... I mean as a Christmas present to yourself :)

Take care mucho,
-Natalie

December 12, 2009

A new quilt in the works

Here are some circles I cut out of a new pack of fabrics that arrived from the Fat Quarter Shop. You can see my inspiration quilt here. I have so many projects started that I really need to finish some of them up, haha.

Take care mucho,
-Natalie

November Swaps

I participated in a few swaps in November before leaving on my trip. The first is from Sandy for STUD (Swap Till yoU Drop).

Isn't this one just SO adorable. She tried a very cool technique. She painted on the cute little elf and added embroidery and quilting. It is so unique! The little goodies she added in the package were a great bonus.
Janet sent me this great package. This was part of the Little Fabric, Little Chocolate Swap. Ok... so I ate the chocolate as soon as I opened the package, so it was a little hard to get it in the picture, haha. The fabrics are great!! Not sure what I am going to use them for but when the project comes I'll be sure to share.

If you haven't browsed through the Flickr groups I strongly recommend it. I get inspired with every picture that I see. They also host the best swaps so check it out :)

-Take care mucho,
Natalie

December 9, 2009

Yay... the holidays have come!!

I LOVE Christmas!! It is my favorite holiday and puts a smile to my face every time I see lights and decorations up. It took us a little longer to feel like we were a part of the holiday season this year since we were gone for most of November.

This past weekend was exactly what I needed. All day Saturday was spent getting our boxes down from the attic and getting everything out. My husband was a little scared at the mess I had made by noon. No fear though.. I get so excited and motivated that by nightfall I had everything put up and empty boxes back in the attic. I swear I am never as productive as I am as when I get to put up Christmas decorations (it also helps that I only live in an apartment... I am sure once we move into a house it will take me at least three days. I like to decorate EVERYTHING!)

We put up our tree, decorations, and of course have been working on some holiday crafts (to be posted later this week).

I got so wrapped up in the Christmas season that I made my boys join in on the fun. Above you can see Arnie in his cute little Santa suit. You can tell how excited he was, hehe. He just looked too darn cute to pass up the photo opp.

Hope the Holiday season has hit your home and brought lots of cheer!
Take care mucho,
-Natalie

December 2, 2009

I have come back with a husband :O

So I finally got married!! It has been quite an adventure. I was married in Florence, Italy and afterwards we traveled to Switzerland and France. It was awesome but very tiring. I returned on midnight on Sunday and just have gotten around to feeling settled in.

I can't believe it has been a month since my last posting?! As you can imagine there has been little to no sewing/ crafting going around in my neck of the woods. I did have great intentions on finishing up a sweater I have been knitting while I was away, but I think in total I worked on it for maybe half an hour.

I haven't even been able to sit down at my sewing machine yet or even open up some packages of fabric I ordered before I left (it is an obsession I try to keep under wraps from my new husband, haha). After today's final laundry day I can safely say I will have to get in my studio no later than Thursday. I hope to have some fun things to post this month since it is my favorite of the whole year!

Hope holiday cheer is spreading to all :O)
Take care mucho!
-Natalie


P.S. I get to shop for my Christmas tree this weekend!! Pics to come for sure!