And the Winners are...

Congratulations to Angie and Why Not Sew? You are the winners of my Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway. Yeah! Be sure to check out their blogs at NANNA Days and Why Not Sew.Thanks again to everyone that left a comment over the last few days. I am overwhelmed at the response to my giveaway and so grateful for the comments. All 356 of them. Holy Cow! Also, as promised, I added a special surprise for those who are following me and the winner of that is Kareno369. If you ladies would please contact me with your addresses, I'll get these things in the mail ASAP.

Birthday Boy!

My little baby turns 3 today. He was so excited to wake up to balloons in his room this morning. He hasn't stopped carrying them around yet. (Remember when all it took was balloons to make your day great?) Just to see how happy he is about turning 3 fills my heart with so much joy. Of course, Lighting McQueen is the theme of the day... including a somewhat recognizable McQueen birthday cake. (I tried.) Fletcher likes it and that's what matters to me. Hopefully it doesn't taste like Red no.5 food coloring. (It took the whole jar of that coloring to get an almost bright enough red.) Also, thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful comments you have left over the past few days. I have read each and every one and appreciate them all. I am ecstatic to have so many followers and hope that I can do a good job making my blog a place you would like to visit. Hasn't the Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway been great. There are so many talented and generous people out there.

May Giveaway Day!!!

Sew, Mama, Sew! is sponsoring May Giveaway Day beginning May 27th and lasting thru May 31st. If you would like to win the cute little wristlet or a yard each of these two great fabrics, please leave me a comment on this post between the 27th and 31st. I will randomly select two numbers to determine the winner of each. Please be sure to visit the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog and check out all of the other great giveaways. They will be posting a list of all of the giveaway participants. Thanks for joining in on the fun and Good Luck!

Also, thanks for taking the time to look at my blog. If you like it, add to my followers or link to me on your blog list and I'll enter you for a second chance to win something special. Just leave me a note to let me know that you did.

A Productive Weekend

This was a very productive weekend. I was able to get a large chunk of things checked off of my To Do List. I got a needlepoint blocked, two purses made for a customer and I quilted a quilt for a friend. I think that I am starting to get a handle on machine quilting. I tried the machine quilting thread again, and this time to worked great. Go figure! I also got to work on two new bag patterns. One I finished (more on that later) and one will be completed soon (more on that later, too). I can't believe that I am about to say this, but my To Do List is getting smaller and smaller and I am loving it. I am going to spend this week making purses, but there are no pressing deadlines hanging over my head. I almost don't know what not having a deadline feels like. I might actually have time to give my house a proper cleaning, because who knows when the last time that was. I haven't worked on quilting since I came back from the retreat at the beginning of May. I have been itching to work on the Pinwheel quilt again. I am doing a UFO (Unfinished Projects) Challenge and I put the quilt for my friend as my project this month. I feel like I was kind of cheating on that one since I had to do that anyway, so I should make working on the Pinwheel my real UFO for this month. Maybe I'll even piece it on my new featherweight. I haven't even had a chance to use it since I got it. My new job is going great. My first week went well. I had fun and I meet a lot of nice people. I wasn't able to work on Friday because Fletcher was sick. He was up Thursday night with a 104 degree fever. We thought it was strep, but the doctor said it is just a virus. He is doing much better now, thank goodness. Those high fevers freak me out. The poor little guy was just burning up. I hope everyone has a happy Memorial Day and that you take time to remember all those who have served.

Raspberry Salsa Dip

On the quilting retreat that I recently went on to the Black Mountains of North Carolina, I brought this to share with everyone. It is delicious and easy to make and I thought I would share the recipe. You can find Robert Rothschild Farm Raspberry Salsa at your local Fresh Market.

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1 red onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, sliced thin

1 (20 ounce) jar raspberry salsa
8 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded

Layer in pie pan in order listed.
Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or til bubbly

Try it at your Memorial Day Picnic and I guarantee that everyone will devour it.

My New Job

Okay, so a few weeks ago I went to check out the new fabric shop in town. I think you might remember me posting about it. It is called Karen Gray Design and is located Reynolda Village. She also has a fabric boutique on etsy called fabricpalooza. The store is fabulous and the fabrics are fabulous! I told my husband that if I had died and gone to heaven, that is what I would envision it looking like. Well, I now work there. Yes, I am actually working in my own personal heaven. How cool is that. Today was my first day. It went great and I am so excited. I don't even know if I should really be calling it a "job". I mean, come on, who are we kidding. So... if you are in the area or even if you are not, come by and see me at the shop. I would be thrilled if you did!

New Fabric

This is the purse I made my mother for Mother's Day with some fabric I just got. I love this fabric, don't you?

Okay, so the window treatments are done. I didn't exactly get them finished by end of day Sunday as planned. I spent the whole day in bed yesterday trying to get over a nasty cold. I did get them done this morning. Better late than never, right! I am so glad they are done. I feels great not to have any pending window treatment projects. I have been grateful for the work and extra money, but I have been needing a break from window treatments. There is so much other stuff I have on my list to sew!

For all of the machine quilter's out there, I need your help. What kind of thread should I be using to quilt on my domestic machine? I have been using Gutterman's, but I have a feeling that it is not the best thing to use. I also tried YLI machine quilting thread, but that was a total disaster. TOTAL DISASTER! Any suggestion on what to use?

Where to Begin

Hello Everyone. There has been so much going on in my little world this past week that I have not had time to blog. I finished this little baby quilt for my sister. I got the pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts' blog. It is the stacked coin quilt she did for the Moda Bake Shop.

I also made this cute-as-can be fabric necklace. It was super easy to make and I love the way it turned out. I found the tutorial here at Sew, Mama, Sew! I will definitely have to make some more of these. Let's see, what else... I got these beautiful fat quarters in the mail this week. I keep saying that I am NOT going to buy anything else until I get what I have already bought used up. You can obviously see how well I have stuck to that pledge. The worst part is that this is not all of it. I'm not scared, I'll say it... My name is Gina and yes, I'm a fabriholic.

I have really been trying hard to get all of the window treatments I have to make for customers done THIS week. I have two more to complete and I am determined to get them done by the end of day Sunday. We shall see....

And Carolyn, I'll bring the fabric you won to the next guild meeting, if that is okay with you.

And the winner is...

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Timestamp: 2009-05-11 18:35:39 UTC

The winner of the fabric giveaway is Carolyn. Congratulations to Carolyn and thanks to everyone for playing along. Carolyn, I'll get your fabric to you soon.

New Purses

Okay, today I have been in my sewing workroom since 8:30 am. I have been sewing purses all day. To say that my back hurts is a huge understatement. It has been a very productive day. I have gotten several purses made and I even came up with a new pattern. Please bear in mind that this is my first real attempt at drafting a pattern. These two purses are what I came up with. The one above is the first attempt at it and the one below is the second. What do you think? They are basically the same, only I pleated them differently and the second one is a little more tapered at the top. (I'm not real crazy about my fabric selection on the second.) Which do you like best?

My Own Little Giveway

I feel like doing a little giveaway of my own, so here it goes... leave me a comment on this post and I'll select a number at random on Monday, May 11th for 1/2 yard cuts of each of these six fabrics. Good Luck!

I Wish I Had More Time

I love to make purses. I only wish that I had more time to do it. Two local shops, Hip Chics and The Advance Florist & Gifts, are selling my purses for me and I am very behind on getting them new ones for their shops. I did get a custom order request the other day and was so happy to make the purse pictured above. Hopefully, I can get organized and get started making some new ones in the coming weeks. I have requests for some diaper bags and large totes, so I have to get on the ball and get those done. Next week I am going to start teaching a class at Knit One, Smock Too on this Bow Tuck Tote. If I made it bigger, I think it would make a nice diaper bag. It has lots of pockets. I just ordered some great new fabric today, too. I'm excited to get those and make some purses with them. I have and Etsy shop, ginabeanhandmade.etsy.com, and keep meaning to put some things on it, but I never quite get to it. Will this To Do List ever be in a state where it is manageable!?!

Pinwheels

This is the beginnings of another quilt I started while on the Retreat. I got the pattern from this book by Sandy Klop. I would love to make the one on the cover, but I think it might be a little too advanced for me. It has some terrific quilts in it. The fabric is from Heather Bailey's Freshcut Collection and I got it at a new local fabric store, Karen Gray Designs. If you're local, her store is in Reynolda Village and it is beautiful. She carries the Westminster Fabrics. I could buy every fabric she has and not find one I didn't like. By the way, if you go to her blog, she is having a fat quarter giveaway of 12 of Jay McCarroll's Woodland Wonderland.

A Weekend of Many First's

This past weekend I went on my first Quilting Retreat at Montreat in the Black Mountains of North Carolina. It was a blast! I meet so many nice ladies who where all very generous in sharing conversations, quilting tips and supplies with me. I spent the whole weekend laughing and sewing. What could be better?!! The picture is of the beginnings of a quilt that I began while there. It is my first Dresden Plate and it is from a pattern taken from this book, which is fabulous. Some of the great ladies there took the time to show me how to machine applique. I took what they taught me and used it in my first attempt to machine applique the Dresden Plate to the background. I took my camera with the intentions of taking lots of pictures for my blog, but I was having so much fun, I forgot to take any. This was also my first time leaving my son since he was born three years ago. It was hard to leave him and I was so happy to see him today, but I am grateful for the invitation to the retreat and so happy the I made the decision to go.