The Hippo Quilt

Yay! I just finished this quilt I designed for a fall challenge at a local quilt shop! It's now on display for the month of October at Country Quiltworks in Montgomeryville, PA.


As usual, it's a little bumpy, and the binding is a little wonky...but that's alright. I thought my piecing was stellar! (Goes to show how much piecing I do and little quilting and binding, aka finishing.)
I bought these hippos online because I thought they were too cute. So maybe the don't quite go, but I love them. They're hiding on the back, and that's why this one's called "the Hippo Quilt."

Here's the gist of the rules:

1. Choose a Fall Challenge theme. I decided on Black and White.

2. Take a packet of (25) 2 1/2"x10" fabric strips. Use a significant amount of each print from one packet. We were allowed a second packet, but there weren't any when I needed one!

3. For the top and binding, you can use up to four more fabrics of your own. I chose those four blue/aqua prints.

4. The sum of the sides of the project should be no more than 140". Mine's right on target!

5. Pieced, appliqued, embellished as you wish. Must be quilted.

It will be up soon in the shop, so I can't wait to check it out!

A weekend with the Computer

Wow! What a weekend...rainy outside while inside with the computer! I've been so busy giving my online Etsy store a make-over, and I finally got some of my new wine totes uploaded. It feels great!

I can't believe how much time it took to re-work my graphics, take pictures, and load everything up. I had to put some new projects on hold for the weekend, while I tried to work on my site and get some onesies embroidered...(I'll have to expanded upon the woes of machine embroidery some other time.) Thanks to my friends in the Etsy forums for posting their encouraging words!

Now that I finally have a break, it's time to finish up my quilt for a local quilt store competition!

New Wine Totes!

I'm so excited about putting my new wine totes up on my Etsy shop! Unfortunately, I've been waiting for my photographer to become available long enough to help me out. They've been sitting around just waiting for their big break on Etsy!

A wine tote holds one bottle, and I've used an insulated batting to give it extra cushioning and to keep those bottles of white cold. Each tote has a unique fabric design on the front, usually coordinating with matching fabric on the inside of the bag.

I hope everyone loves them as much as I do! I'm working on some that will be custom embroidered and some that you can go retro and design yourself with puffy paint!

Meatloaf!

I was talking to my friend last night on the phone, and she asked what I was doing. "Oh, I just put dinner in the oven." I could hear her pregnant belly rumbling. "What are you making?!?" she asked. "Meatloaf!" was my response. "...Oh."

Why does meatloaf have such a bad rap? On top of it all, I used this recipe I found online. It was delicious and my husband had to push his plate away and give me his fork to stop eating!


I get so annoyed while reading recipes when people write reviews saying "the recipe was great - and here are the things I changed about it."

Well, I guess I need to get over myself.

I added Parmesan cheese to mine, and used Emeril's Original Essence instead of seasoned salt. I hate onions, so I just added onion powder. Oh, and I didn't meaure anything out, after all, it's ony meatloaf. Just make sure you have a couple hours to prepare so it has plenty of time to cook.