Once upon a time there was a girl who liked to quilt (and other such crafty projects).  One day, not very long ago, she took a trip to a faraway land. 

She visited her beautiful family:

and her long lost friends from the days of yore:

          

While onst this special retreat, the young girl happened upon a magical place that held treasures and troves beyond her wildest beliefs (o.k. that's taking it a little far.  It actually was a little scary being in the Goodwill in downtown Portland, OR., but let's just say for the sake of the story that it was a WONDERFUL place.) 

Quickly, upon her arrival, she found it ~ a diamond in the rough.

A plaster framed mirror with intricate roses abounding.  The price?

Perfect.

She carried her little treasure home with her, unsure of where it's final resting place would be.

With a little tender loving care, she gave her new treasure a fresh, new start.

After a few coats of heaven's mist

and a hint of glaze (in all the right places), her little treasure was ready to make it's new home in a special corner of the girl's sewing room.

What once was a mirror, now is a message board (who needs to see who the "fairest of them all" is?  It's a craftroom for Pete's sake!)

All was fine in the kingdom and the girl was quite enjoying her new treasure, until a little troll decided to work her magic on the new treasure's friend (the throne ~ that the girl lovingly sat upon day in and day out.)

It was red, permanent and hideous!  The girl was sad.  She wanted to get the little troll but the troll was cunning with her cute smile and big blue eyes.

She decided to forgive the little troll and quickly realized that her throne friend might also benefit from a makeover.  So she got her tools and went to work.  It was a blessing in disguise.  The throne loved it's new look

and they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

Have I shown you this before?

RaeAnn asked me to guest post again over at Stash Manicure.  I'm posting there today about this beautiful, hand-quilted quilt that my grandmother (Gigi) gave to me:

It's really dear to me, so go on over there to read more about it. 

Upcoming projects

My next Moda Bakeshop project is out of Punctuation by American Jane fabrics.  Perfect for back to school, right?  And for kids...and for mom's with kids...and well, any guesses what I might be making with this?

And, I'm dying to cut into this Wee Woodland Layer Cake that Moda sent me a couple of weeks ago.  This will be the fabric for pattern #6 (which I received inspiration for a few weeks ago while dining at The Old Spaghetti Factory in San Diego!  Funny huh?)

But first, I'm trying to wrap up the pattern writing for this little gal:

(I can't show you too much yet, but here's a little sneak peak.)

She's off to the quilter today. 

Do you recognize this line of fabric (coming out in stores any second)?

I'm really excited because my next pattern (not this one but another one) is ready for printing!  Yay!  I finally got a good picture for the cover (which is always the hardest part for me).  I will show you guys very soon.  I hope you like it?!?

So I've been a very busy girl, as you can see.

I do want to let you know that I am doing a giveaway very soon.  Hopefully that will be announced in the next few days.  So check back soon.  I've got a lot going on that I want to share with you!

Blueberries

One of the highlights from my trip to the Northwest last week was picking blueberries at the Valley View Blueberry farm in Vancouver, Wa. (where I grew up.) 

Who knew that fresh off the bush blueberries taste like candy?!?  Seriously!  We were snacking on these delectable (and healthy) little morsels for days!

We had a good size crew picking for us that day...

My little sister, Cassie:

My nephew Ammon and niece Olivia :

 

My other cute little niece Brooklynn:

My sister-in-law, Jeannie:

Her son, Hunter:

and myself:

Excuse my enormous sunglasses (I didn't realize they were so big when I bought them. That's what I get for thinking I got a $3.99 "steal" at the Shade store. )

With everyone's help we were able to get at least 15 pounds of blueberries that day, which resulted in fresh blueberry pie and blueberry cobbler for days ~ Yumm!

   

 

And all of that would not be complete without a little homemade vanilla ice-cream on the side!

   

Chickens, Cherries & Checks

This little baby made it's way to a new home this past week.  I finished the binding while on my flight to Portland, OR. and we didn't even make it to my sister [Cassie's] house before I pulled it out of the bag.  I was so excited to give it to her!

The pattern is "Chickens, Cherries and Checks" from the book, Quilts for All Seasons...and Some for No Reason by Sandy Klop for American Jane. 

Finished size measures about 42" x 42".

Sandy's instructions for using fusible web and machine applique made this one of the most fun quilts to make. 

And the quilting?!? 

[Kayleen, you are my new BFF!] 

Kayleen Parry in Lehi, UT. did an absolutely AMAZING job quilting this.  I LOVE the cross hatching she did around the cherries and the chicken wire around the chickens.  Top notch, quality work and a great price ~ I so appreciate you Kayleen!  I'm one of your biggest fans!

Of course this gift wouldn't be complete without an embroidered label on the back.

And for the first time ever, I actually made two of these quilts at the same time.  One for me and one for my sis [sorry, but I couldn't resist! I just knew I had to have one too.]  I didn't even notice that I was doing twice the amount of work.  It was so fun!  Mine looks pretty much the same as this one, but since I was in such a hurry to get Cassie's done, mine is still at Kayleen's.