i have eleanor shellstrop's file. i do not have a cactus.

i cannot believe this day has already come...
the SERIES finale of the good place is tonight!
how i've come to adore this show the past 4 years and shout from the rooftops that EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT.
while cruising etsy, i found myself searching the good place, and landed on this perfect gem to add to my wall.  my first attempt was a fail, something about my fabric's count size was off, which made the pattern not fit on the cloth i had cut.  i started again fresh, and finished it this past weekend, just in time to make this post.
plus, i found the super adorable janet funko pop i had preordered (that wouldn't ship until the END of february from amazon) in store at box lunch, so she had to come home with me :)
i won't lie, i'm absolutely going to miss new episodes of this show.  between eleanor's arizona trashbag self, jason's antics and janet's not a girl/not a robot life... i'm just always entertained by it.
it is most certainly going to be regularly binged on netflix along side parks & rec.
and now that this is posted, maybe... just MAYBE i'll get my janet halloween costume posted... but that might not happen until summer time when i wear it again :)
welcome! everything is fine - pattern by IrisRaeStitches

pug life & tea parties - ruffle apron sets

as a follow up to the 2018 apron extravaganza, i had a few custom orders placed last year.
first off, jenny asked me if i would make a tea cup themed apron for her mom for her birthday.
her only parameters was that it was that theme, and let me know her favorite color was purple.
i found this adorable teacup print that was in an alice in wonderland line of fabric from cotton & steel and rifle paper co along with this marbled purple and blue from joann fabrics that meshed perfectly!
the second batch of aprons is a twofer, and was another for my aunt's work.
this time, it was for a round of secret pals, where the recipient was a huge pug fan.
oddly enough, it was VERY difficult to find a variety of pug fabrics.  Her favorite color was green, so it was very lucky that i found a pug fabric that was also green.  The realistic pugs tied in quite well with the bright green print, and gave that bold pop that it needed against the black.
the pug faces front and center just crack me up!
its always nice to have a brain break and sew something other than a quilt that goes together as quickly as these do.

100 acre woods quilt - for baby w

oh hey there, blog-o-sphere.
we're back with a finished project post, and january isn't even over yet!
my unposted projects of 2019 list is much longer than it should be... and given that i already have one finish for 2020 under my belt now, i've got to get things underway!
so why not kick it off with this little paper pieced cutie?
remember this guy? the lion king quilt?
well, lion king quilt had a brother!
my dear friend amy had baby number 2 in the summer of 2018, and i had high intentions to get them another coordinated quilt before he made his debut.  that didn't happen. but it's all good!
big brother got the lion king quilt when he was born, and when baby 2 was on the way, i had to figure out what my next option was.  well, the other disney character i associated amy with was tigger!
this collection of winnie the pooh characters was perfect, and i magically had just enough of the same blue and green to create the background and sashing the same way.
i decided to align the main four down the center row, and then offset the other based on the browns.  the tigger block is easily my favorite, but gopher is pretty dang adorable too.

when doing the finishings on the quilt, i kept the quilting the same as i did on the original lion king one.  i stitched only in the green, framing the characters.  for the backing, i didn't find a fitted sheet, but i found this PERFECT yardage and had to make it work.  to make it the right width and add some coordinating colors to it, i searched the scrap bin and created some blocking to the side of it.  the binding is ALSO the same as the lion king one, but this time i machine bound it.
it was fun to get this set of patterns out for amy's littlest, even though i know she STILL doesn't allow the lion king quilt to get used.
ha!  i was also able to gift this quilt in person this summer when amy came to visit, which was an added benefit (as well as the cause to create a deadline)
pattern: fandom in stitches winnie the pooh blocks
quilt count: 125

ok, so maybe 2019 had some good times.

6 major concerts
a whole lot of movies
(peanut butter falcon, a beautiful day in the neighborhood & yesterday are probably top 3)
sew fest in utah
quilting
cats
holiday festivities

bye, bye, 2019. hello 2020

i will not miss you in the saddest fashion (unlike li'l sebastian, that is)
2019 was exhausting, emotion, and all around rough.
i know i briefly mentioned it in the TMNT baby quilt post that our grandma passed away in late september and the whole year leading up just made it one long blur.  she fell in march, and her health declined the rest of the year which made it feel like it was a never ending.
know that once she passed on, we all as an extended family felt a sense of peace and relief as she has been ready to go for years now, especially with granddad and aunt donna passing the year prior.
the day before grandma passed, my mom texted me saying elroy wasn't doing well, and he very well might be going to the vet and not coming home the next day.
the day after grandma's passing, elroy crossed the rainbow bridge after almost 15 years of grumping around.
earlier on in the year, we also lost 2 of his brothers from both litters prior, Murphy and Rufus.
Velcro still is with us, but also giving us some scares recently that are truly showing his age as well.
safe to say, blogging really fell to the wayside with all these losses.  well, crafting and sewing in general really fell off the radar for the most part as well.
i felt like i was starting to sew when i had to, and not when i wanted to.
my maker monday sewing group was dissolved and then ultimately cancelled, so there went that outside sewing group.  i have a new roommate who doesn't sew, so now we're just back to pre-maker monday sewing talk with lisa via text and marco polo.
BUT
here's to trying to make that change.
turn those HAVE to craft back in to WANT to crafts
an acquaintance from high school started a local crafting group on facebook with hopes to get together and craft and chat.
i stumbled across a posting on nextdoor about a monthly crafting get together group (which is surprising, because most of my notifications are about found cats)
i joined another facebook group about a yearly UFO sew along to get work in progresses finished.  this month is a christmas quilt that i purchased the pattern and stuff for probably 2 years ago now and have tried to convince myself to do.
craftster.org is gone, but it is now lettucecraft.com which has helped revitalize my sharing online as well.  hopefully that will kick blogging in to gear.
2019 had about a third of the blog posts that years prior did... so it is time to make that change!
i've got about 8 posts of projects currently that are photographed and needing to be blogged, so buckle up!  things will soon be coming your way.
here's to 2020.
fresh start.
new adventures (quiltcon in februrary!)