Honored!

Welcome if you are visiting from Stash Manicure!

Great to have you here!

I am absolutely honored that Madame Samm chose my simple little quilt "tuitti-fruitti" to be in the banner for her wanna be a quilter campaign!

Here is the other side, in case you were curious :)

Make sure you pop on over to Stash Manicure and see all the other quilts - they are all mouth watering gorgeous!! I am thrilled to have a few extra visitors to my blog! It's such a tiny little thing, and like my header says... really just all about the things I love in life! I don't post as regularly in the summer, because I don't sew as much - and I'm just plain busy running around having fun with my kids! :D But school is starting in 2 weeks (ack! can't believe it!!) and then I will be left to my own devices again! LOL Not quite sure where the follower buttons have gone here in blogland?? They show up and then disappear again? If it happens to be here today, I'd love it if you'd follow me! I have a few things up my sleeve for the coming weeks that you might be interested in! :) Have a great day!! xo Bren

Calling all Quilters too!

Oh, did I forget to mention all you experienced quilters can play too??!!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to be giveaways for people that already quilt!

But you need to be signed up before you start entering the contests on August 1st!

Follow me and Stash Manicure, and then

Send me an email to get qualified, so you are ready when the kickoff begins! :)

Only a few more days!!

Go take a peek at Madame Samm's personal blog - Sew I Quilt to get some sneak peeks at some of the things that are rolling in from the sponsors... all to be given away! Hundreds of chances to win!

This is gonna be HUGE people!!

:D

hee hee... too much fun!

now if i could just get back to sewing! lol

Calling all Want-to-be-Quilters!

Ladies! (and gents!) Are you hungering to learn how to quilt?

But don't know where to start?

Don't know what tools you should buy, which do you need/not need?

What if I told you you could win FABULOUS PRIZES? (do i sound like vanna?)

This is going to be soo much fun!

Read below for a very exciting campaign - put together just for people who want to learn how to quilt!

Madame Samm from Stash Manicure has put together one of THE LARGEST most sponsored giveaway campaign in blogland - just for you!!

Read below...

Calling all Wantobe Quilters? "Hello friends and followers, I would love to welcome you to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over here. ( http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com) They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks. Supplies that will have you quilting before you know it...From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters, to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles, rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines...everything you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter. Even if you are already part of this community you can win quilting stuff too...Tuesday and Thursday are days for us.. All you have to do is give me your name and phone number and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win anything I can win something too. All you have to do is be my follower and a follower over athttp://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/... That is all! There are over 49 Sponsors involved. I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you. I love being a QUILTER! ( p.s you will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register with a blogger where you see this message)

It starts August 1st. Girls you don't want to miss this!!!

OOohh AND it's going to last for THREE MONTHS!!

You need to sign up with someone that is participating to be able to enter in each of the giveaways (which are being held DAILY!!)

To sign up through me, send me an email to HeyDiddleWool@aol.com with your name, your email and your phone number.

(no, i wont be calling you unexpectedly lol - that is so Mme Samm can keep everyone straight)

Then, when you start entering the giveaways you enter with your own account and let them know you signed up through me, Brenis :)

It's that easy!

And if YOU win, I might win too! :) Fun stuff, right?

I know several of my friends have been wanting to learn to quilt. Whether it be hand quilting or machine quilting, you still need tools to cut your fabric straight and easily. You still need fabric to work with! And on and on the list goes!

You all know I am still a new quilter. I don't have a ton of tools and gadgets, and I'm a believer of trying a craft cheaply until you know you love it and are going to stick with it - and then... well then jump in with all fours! LOL!

Girls, you can't get any cheaper than FREE! LOL!

Come and join the fun!

Send me your emails, and I will get you qualified to play and win! :D

woohoo!

This is gonna be funnnnn!!!!

xo

Bren

Sooo glad my kids are home!!!

Calli and Bailey were blessed to be able to go to camp this year! They were gone for 8 days. I thought I would be all thrilled with the quiet time while they were gone. You know. Get alot of sewing done, read a book or two. Watch a movie uninterupted for a change.

Yah. No.

I hated them being gone!

I got a little peek into what it will feel like being an empty nester. Nope. I don't like it. LOL

Can I just stop time RIGHT HERE?? Say for... oh... the next 10 or 15 years?

I LOVE the joy, the laughter, the goofiness of my kids. And the love between them/us all.

So it was a very LONG 8 days!

And the reunion was sweet! :)

So many stories to tell!

And they were lucky enough to go to this gorgeous Christian camp up in the mountains - Colorado is sooo gorgeous this time of year! (ok, well any time of year)

It was also a music camp. They worked very hard learning new intruments and put on a big show on the last day. Calli took percussion - and learned the basics of playing drums, reading music, and understanding music. She also learned basic keyboard.

Bailey already plays trombone and electric guitar. So he was in advanced band, and learned acoustic guitar. Sooo neat for both of them!!

Emily spent almost the entire week with her best girlfriend, and painted her girlfriend's room.

Mom and Dad were home trying to enjoy the break, and not succeeding! :) Pathetic huh?

Here's some snapshots I took the day we went up to get them. What an awesome day it was!

Did I mention I was thrilled for them? Did I mention i am soo happy to have them home??

They've been home all of 3 days. And they are leaving tomorrow for a week long trip with Grama & Grampa in the RV to South Dakota.

Wishing I had made plans for myself and hubby to take off for a week together! House is going to be altogether too quiet! Whaaa!!!

Anyone wanna come over and make noise at my house??

Bernina Blessings

So, I didn't realize I was going to chat so much in the last post! So I split them up, since I knew this one was going to be lengthy as well!

I have one more thing to add, as mentioned earlier... Good faithful sewing machines!! I am a BERNINA GIRL! A faithful, loyal Bernina devotee! LOL! Nothing else sews like them. There is nothing a Bernina can't do well. And the QUALITY of their machines so far surpasses all others on the market! Well... that's MY die hard opinion anyway! :) So, you've heard me mention that I want to heff my machine out the window. That's because I know how it's supposed to sew. Beautifully. Perfectly. As all Berninas do! And I have higher expectations for the machine that I saved for for 2 years, and passed on cheaper models and brands so I could get the machine that would do what I wanted it to do - and KNEW unequivically that it COULD!! And Berninas are built to last - like i said - total quality!! So I had no hesitations in buying a used one! And oh how thrilled I was to finally get it! Imagine my surprise, and total disappointment to find out that the previous owner had run her machine into the ground. Obviously, she didn't take care of it, service it, or even oil it! Now who in their right mind does that to such an incredible machine that takes such good care of you?? I've had it serviced and fixed twice now by the local Bernina store - they are so awesome! And sadly the machine has been so mistreated, there's no telling if we'll ever get her working correctly :( I've just run out of money to keep trying! ;( *cry* And of course my husband is having a hard believing me that Berninas are the end all be all, after experiencing this. So he won't be buying me a new one any time soon. *cry cry* So what's a girl to do? Pull out old faithful, that's what!!

My Dad bought my Mom this top of the line machine when i was... 9?10? 12? Somewhere in there. I was sewing on my mom's old singer at the time, and having fits because the timing was so messed up. LOL But i didn't know that wasn't normal, at the time! And I made it work for me, because I LOVED to sew! :) This machine was off limits to me - a child - until several years later. I think I was about 15 when I asked my mom if I could use her machine to sew some shorts. That's the day that my life changed in sewing! It wasn't a constant struggle and tug of war with the machine. It's like she did all the work and I didn't have to! She purred instead of clanking! The knee lift was M A G I C! And the perfect consistancy of the stitches blew my mind! I was in love. For life! LOL! Over the next 4 or 5 years I used this machine solely. Then I moved to Colorado. With NO machine. Heartbreaking. It's true! :) Bought what I could afford, so I could keep sewing. A cheap Brother. I gotta say though, that that cheap Brother sewed like a work horse day in and day out sewing every single day for 6 years! It finally konked out, and being a young family with a small budget, my only option was another Brother, or a singer. Had my experiences with singers always breaking down, so opted for another brother. And still missing "my" Bernina every day, I tried that whole "too bad I don't have my bernina here in colorado" subliminally on my mom a few times :) Nope.. didn't work! LOL

But a few years ago, she passed it on to me. Yes, it's now around 30 years old. And not nearly as fancy and cool as the new ones! But she's a treasure! I know this machine's quirks, it's favorite threads, it's happy sewing speed - how can I not? I grew up into adulthood sewing on this girl! Soooo when I was absolutely desperate last week to sew, I remembered my old faithful girl tucked under my table and pulled her out! Cleaned her, oiled her... and yes.. admittedly whispered sweet nothings to her, saying she was my last hope... she came through like the champ she was built to be! And I was reminded again of why I loved Berninas -and sewing so much!

I whipped up the little pouch for my Mom, and the little bag, and still needed to sew some more, as I was enjoying it again for the first time in quite a while! So I made my bag. And loved every minute of it!

Do I wish the artista 180 was working just as beautifully? Oh yah, you know i do! But am I happy to have something to sew on - and not just any old machine - but my faithful old best friend? You'd better believe it! I hope she continues to hold up until I can afford to upgrade to one made in this century! LOL!

In the meantime, Bernie and I will continue to be the best of friends!

Now, if only my Mom could find her accessory box!

:D

Birthday Bags

Howdy!

Thought I would show you a couple of the projects I worked on this week!

Last week I was going stir crazy since I didn't have a sewing machine to sew on. All these grand ideas and projects swirling around in my mind - and could I get any machine to work??!! agurrr!! But you can't keep a good woman down! LOL! Or a good and faithful Bernina down! :D

More on that in a minute!

I just recently had a birthday, and my mom's birthday was coming up. So I decided we both needed a new bag to start our "new year" off with positive notes! :)

I've been itching to use this fabric I picked a while ago. And although I envisioned making a grocery type carry all out of it, I changed my mind at the last minute. It's SPECIAL fabric. Special because I absolutely ADORE it! LOL! And I can only bring myself to use it in projects that have meaning to me. Go figure, huh? :)

It's not too often that a whole line appeals to me, or speaks to me. But Sweetwater's "Authentic" did... and does still! And I happened to score some of this in a wide width canvas - I just love it! Sooo... for my birthday bag, I decided it was time to pull out this much loved fabric and turn it into something that would make me smile every day!

What started out as a carpenter bag, kind of evolved into a taller version because of the way the fabric was printed and the idea that had taken hold. Oh.. and the 4 3 you see? That's how old I am now. LOL Not thrilled about the number. But completely happy and confident in who I am at this point in my life. So why not shout it out?! Authentic 43. Seems appropriate, right? :D I'm also not usually a matchy match kind of girl - meaning I don't usually use things from the same line together. Somtimes. But not often! In this case.. it was a must! :) So the inside lining was the black authentic with words

And I made the long strap handle scrap pieced together from three of the other pieces in the line. I love my bold numbers, and bold words! I padded the strap with warm and natural, and just ran three quilting lines through it. Man... it is soooo comfy!! After using it for two days, I know I do need to put some kind of closure on that top flap, like I had originally planned. Thinking maybe a magnetic snap button. But all in all, I love it! It's totally NOT my norm for a purse, and yet so totally me! :)

I also made a little bag for my Mom. She's a para educator at an elementary school, and starts back to work when the kids go to school. She's always loved red and black together, and takes her lunch to school with her. Sooo I thought it might be fun for her to have a little lunch tote for the new school year!

I think this chicken fabric is from Alexander Henry... I had already cut off the selvedge - so not sure. And the inside is fun black material with quilting words on it from Barnatex (called Wordplay). If you like word fabrics as much as I do, and would like to score a few, come back tomorrow - I'll be giving some away!

Also made her this little pouch to keep other goodies in.

My Mom is an amazing seamstress, but doesn't sew much anymore. And she's always so appreciative of anything I make for her!!! So it's always soooo much fun to make goodies for her! And for the woman who taught me to cross stitch at age 8, and how to sew at age 9, and started a life long passion in me - she deserves no less than LOTS OF GOODIES made just for her! :D

Wow... I didn't realize I had so much to say today! I think I will make a separate post with the rest!

Hope you have a wonderful creative day today!!

Blessings, Bren :)